Oldest Wine in the World Is Still Liquid Inside 2,000-Year-Old Roman Funeral Urn ZME Science
Videos showing groups of people entering NYC sewers at night baffle residents and investigators AP
EVs are getting more affordable worldwide — except in the U.S. Rest of World
Climate/Environment
Warming unlocks ancient carbon in Tibetan permafrost, triggering climate tipping point Phys.org
Rising seas could ‘drown’ mangroves and release carbon EurekAlert!
‘An equal and habitable world is possible’: academics set out sweeping vision for planetary survival The Guardian
India’s Heatwave Is a Warning for the Future Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Scientists say a record amount of seaweed hit the Caribbean and nearby areas in May AP
Ebola
WHO Investigates Ebola Patient’s Travel Through UAE as Uganda Cases Rise Assahifa
Pandemics
Meet the ‘superdodgers’: The few who never had COVID Boston Globe
China?
Xi closes the door after promising US CEOs to open wider Asia Times
China, EU slam proposed US tariffs, reject forced labour allegations South China Morning Post
Southeast Asia
Washington pays the price for losing Asia’s trust East Asia Forum
Syraqistan
House passes resolution to end Iran War, challenging Trump The Hill
Trump Says Iran Blockade Could Last All Summer Amid Fears of Oil Supply ‘Powder Keg’ Common Dreams
LMAOOO pic.twitter.com/6tHT922FK1
— VolgaLad (@cym27s) June 3, 2026
Confirmed — Donald Trump Believes Iran Has The Bomb Larry Johnson
Israel is building more military posts in Gaza, satellite imagery shows Al Jazeera
Israel and Lebanon agree to implement ceasefire if Hezbollah stops attacks BBC
When Diplomacy Can No Longer Restrain War Savage Minds
’When you’re shooting in a more moderate manner’: Trump gives a new definition of Iran ceasefire First Post
***
NEW: Buried within the Senate Intelligence Authorization Act is a provision to increase intelligence sharing with Israel and impede the president’s ability to reduce cooperation in the future. pic.twitter.com/ET2ZWnfJWP
— Daniel Boguslaw (@DRBoguslaw) June 3, 2026
‼️BREAKING: Prime Minister Netanyahu to U.S. Member of Congress: Thank you for endorsing “MY PLAN” for US defense cooperation… pic.twitter.com/Y6eWszniTy
— A New Policy (@anewpolicyorg) June 3, 2026
European Disunion
Chinese firms that help Russia are next for EU sanctions Politico
Germany loses vote for UN Security Council seat DW
Freedom of speech ends with “Lügenfritz”. NachDenkSeiten (machine translation)
Poland formally requests new permanent US military base Notes from Poland
The Western take-over of Hungary Thomas Fazi
The Slovenian Government Gets the Last Laugh–Or Does it? Lily Lynch
New Not-So-Cold War
US House advances Ukraine aid bill, setting up final vote Kyiv Independent
Germany, France, UK Sketch Plan to Engage Putin in Ukraine Talks Bloomberg
This is consistent with Zelensky’s recent statement where he also mentioned the E3 format which sidelines the EU.
One simple reason why E3 is a non-starter is Britain, which combines extreme hostility towards Moscow with the absence of any serious leverage against it, apart… https://t.co/BFatF7x72U
— Leonid Ragozin (@leonidragozin) June 3, 2026
RBK reports that Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina has disappeared from the speaker list for this year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Two sources close to the regulator confirmed she will not attend.
Nabiullina had initially been scheduled to speak… pic.twitter.com/y8F6GIXPaz
— Brian McDonald (@BrianMcDonaldIE) June 3, 2026
Imperial Collapse Watch
South of the Border
Denial is Not a River in Egypt, or in Venezuela Black Agenda Report
Trump 2.0
Senate GOP drops $1 billion for White House ballroom from budget package The Hill
Oz addresses questions about Trump’s frequent visits to doctor: It’s ‘a routine, regular exam’ The Hill
Mullin Says DHS Would Obey Courts If They Were Not “Politicized” Truthout
Trump Strips Job Protections for Nearly 8,000 Federal Policy Staff TeleSur
Democrats Suck
Democrats Opposed to Tlaib’s Resolution to Stop U.S. Joining War on Lebanon Truthout
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
Exclusive-Meta scales back plan for internal mouse-tracking tech, citing staff concerns Reuters. “Scales back”=They get 30-minute breaks from surveillance.
Governments escalate the global war on online anonymity WSWS
you used to be able to rent a hotel room under a fake name now i need an app to do my damn laundry
— arne ness (@arne__ness) May 29, 2026
Groves of Academe
My Students Can’t Read The Chronicle of Higher Education
AI
OpenAI and Anthropic Sign Letter to Prevent AI-Developed Biological Weapons Wired
AI Dark Output: The Visible Cost of Invisible Output SemiAnalysis
Data Center Developers Want to Build Their Own Power Plants. How Many Actually Will? Distilled
Sam Altman Eyes Bernie Sanders as His Pope Gizmodo
Amazon’s AI-Generated Animated Series Canceled After Relentless Derision Futurism
National Abortion Hotline workers fight against implementing AI Prism
Cory Doctorow: Hell is other people – so billionaires are using AI to replace them The Nerve
Economy
Hormuz disruption: 50% oil price increase can add $20 billion to import bills of vulnerable economies Down to Earth
Immigration
Immigration Ban and the US Health Care Workforce JAMA Network
Agriculture
How flesh-eating screwworms in cattle could raise US beef prices Reuters. Confirmed in a Texas calve yesterday.
Biggest diesel shock since 2022 deals blow to U.S. farmers Bloomberg
Farm Bankruptcies Hit Six-Year High Morning Ag Clips
Demand Is Booming for New No Tech, Repairable Tractor 404 Media
Class Warfare
‘Happiness is not just about GDP’: ambitious plan or utopia? The Guardian
Congressman Jeff Van Drew on Delaney Hall, where detainees are paid $1/day or less for their work and are on hunger strike: “This is better treatment than people generally receive… the conditions are better than 90% of the world lives in, and probably half of America.” pic.twitter.com/zAIwWgJVrP
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) June 3, 2026
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
“Sam Altman Eyes Bernie Sanders as His Pope”
Of course he would. When Bernie came up with the idea of the US government taking a 50% stake in AI corporations – along with all those debts – Altman figured that he had identified his patsy. He may want Bernie because he figures the guy has ‘moral authority’ but that boat sailed the second time Bernie bailed on his supporters and told them to support the Democrats like his good friend Joe Biden. Are young people enthusiastic about Bernie Sanders anymore? Those that did are older and wiser now.
Nothing much to argue with in the article.
Should be first order of business for the board of peace.
Its members’ implacable reluctance to put their hand in their pocket (save to scratch their nuts) might well be an obstacle.
Democrats Oppose Tlaib’s Resolution Because They Adore War.
Viva Rashida Tlaib!
This is likely to be the geostrategic thinking of the Dems:
“Historic opportunity” for the keyboard generalissimi and generalissime who run the Democratic Party. You know, the same group demonstrating with Belazel Smotrich in NYC just days ago (with a reported cameo by Ben Gvir). In short, authoritarians.
So who cannot be trusted? At this point, I would rather trust the Lebanese government than a bunch of corrupt-to-the-bone conformists who don’t know geography or history.
Sheesh.
PS: These are the same geniuses who thought that the Russian Federation would fall apart if they just killed off enough Ukrainians, with Zelenskyy only to happy to oblige. And they were all hoping for a war with Iran — although they didn’t want a Trump victory in Iran, which they thought would be inevitable. They wanted Hillary Clinton to go in and “obliterate” Iran (her words) to show her Brass Balls and that liberals can assassinate people, too.
Germany loses UN Security Council Vote.
The bad news for Merz and the other panic-stricken Nordics: “Germany was in competition with Austria and Portugal for two seats in the “Western Europe” and Others” group. Both Austria and Portugal won those seats as they had received more votes than Germany. Portugal received 134 votes, whereas Austria had received 131. Germany, meanwhile, had garnered 104 votes.”
Of course, Portugal won. And this brings up some interesting speculation about the North/South and Germanic/Latin split in Europe, which is still one of the great cultural divisions, even within Germany, where the old “Roman” Germany differs from Prussian/Protestant Germany east of the Elbe. Several commenters mentioned internal divisions within Europe that color relationships.
Of course, I am a resident of one of the PIIGS. But I will also point out that any country that contributed fado to the world is going to win out over Wagner any day.
PS: Portuguese! I’m sure Ursula von der Leyen is coming up with some creative punishment. Keep an eye on the bacalhau.