Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. Supreme Court late on May 15 rejected an appeal by Virginia officials who sought to challenge the Virginia Supreme Court’s recent decision to block a congressional map approved by voters that favored Democrats.

The unsigned order in Scott v. McDougle provided no reasons for the decision. No justices dissented.

The Democratic officials had asked the nation’s highest court to block the state supreme court’s ruling.

The referendum was approved by voters, 52 percent to 48 percent, on April 21. The change in electoral district boundaries was expected to give Democrats a 10-to-1 advantage over Republicans in the state’s U.S. House of Representatives delegation. The delegation currently has six Democrats versus five Republicans.

🚨 IT’S OFFICIAL, WE WIN!

“The US Supreme Court moments ago has ruled AGAINST Virginia Democrats when it comes to reviving their pro-Democrat redistricting map ahead of the 2026 midterms.”

WOULD’VE BEEN: 10D-1R
MAP WILL REMAIN AS: 6D-5R

Another Dem embarrassment.

🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/sfWWvumcnJ

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 15, 2026

Don Scott, speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, told the high court in a filing that the state Supreme Court ruling should be stayed because that court was “deeply mistaken on two critical issues of federal law with profound practical importance to the Nation.”

“The decision below violates federal law in two separate ways. First, it predicated its interpretation of the Virginia Constitution on a grave misreading of federal law, which expressly fixes a single day for the ‘election’ of Representatives and Delegates to Congress,” Scott wrote.

The lead respondent, Virginia state Sen. Ryan McDougle, a Republican, who is also legislative commissioner for the Virginia Redistricting Commission, filed a brief in opposition to Scott’s application.

The application is “extraordinary” because it asks the high court to halt a state supreme court’s ruling “on a state constitutional issue governing the state constitutional amendment process, all so that they can redraw congressional districts weeks before early voting begins in the primary.”

Even more extraordinary is what the application omits—“any mention of a deadline for relief, any discussion of the injunction in a separate case that renders the application meaningless, and any federal question providing this Court a basis for review,” the brief said.

Virginia’s highest court on May 8 threw out the voter-approved electoral map that was designed to flip four Republican-held congressional ⁠seats to Democrats, dealing a setback to Democratic hopes of retaking the U.S. House. Republicans also hold ​a majority in the U.S. Senate.

In a 4–3 decision, the Virginia Supreme Court blocked the results of the Democrat-backed ballot measure, finding that Democratic lawmakers had not followed proper procedure last year when they rushed to approve ​the referendum in time to reach the ballot ahead of the November 2026 vote.

Normally, state legislatures redraw congressional maps after the U.S. census takes place every 10 years.

Last year, the redistricting battle started when Texas, with President Donald Trump’s backing, launched its redistricting effort to protect the Republican Party’s narrow majority in the U.S. House. Other state legislatures, including Republican-controlled Florida and Democratic-dominated California and Virginia. State lawmakers in several other states are currently in the process of redrawing their congressional maps.

Those redrawing efforts accelerated after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 on April 29 that race may not be the predominant, overriding reason for how congressional district lines are drawn.

McDougle hailed the new ruling.

“The Supreme Court of the United States has affirmed what we always knew: you cannot violate the Constitution to change the Constitution,” the state lawmaker wrote on X.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, criticized the decision, which she said had the effect of nullifying “the votes of more than three million Virginians.”

“As Governor, I will make sure voters know when and how to cast their votes this year. Because our votes are how we choose the representation we deserve,” she wrote on X.

Yet another reason for privatizing mass transportation emerged Saturday morning, after a left-wing rail union launched a strike set to snarl the nation’s busiest commuter railroad network.

The labor action threatens to paralyze the Long Island Rail Road, a critical transportation artery spanning the New York City-to-Long Island corridor and linking Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens with Nassau and Suffolk counties.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET), which endorsed former left-wing and failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris, said its 3,500 members who work for the LIRR went on strike early Saturday morning.

“No agreement on wage increases was reached between a coalition of five unions, including BLET, and the LIRR. In accordance with the terms of the Railway Labor Act, the coalition’s 3,500 members went on strike just after midnight,” BLET wrote on X.

No agreement on wage increases was reached between a coalition of five unions, including BLET, and the LIRR. In accordance with the terms of the Railway Labor Act, the coalition’s 3,500 members went on strike just after midnight on Saturday, May 16. Story: https://t.co/UcCgIVItiA pic.twitter.com/BW9Un14kHc

— Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (@BLET) May 16, 2026

BLET’s National Vice President Kevin Sexton was quoted by AP News as saying that negotiations between the union and the LIRR have collapsed. 

“We’re far apart at this point,” Sexton said. “We are truly sorry that we are in this situation.”

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said LIRR “gave the union everything they said they wanted in terms of pay,” and that to him it was apparent the unions always intended to walk out.

In fact, we detailed in August 2025 a comprehensive “Color Revolution: A Strategic Assessment (2025-2028),“ outlining how left-wing unions and NGOs were planning “coordinated, targeted, and nonviolent strategic action such as national strikes and boycotts, large-scale disruption to economic activity and civil society, and other forms of mass political defiance designed to damage a government’s legitimacy, authority, and capacity.”

The rail strike threatens major disruption for roughly 270,000 daily riders and could cost the region an estimated $61 million in lost economic activity per day.

The labor action will likely backfire because LIRR riders are mostly middle-class, and the shutdown of the transportation network will hurt working households the most.

Limited shuttle bus service is planned beginning Monday, but capacity will cover only a fraction of normal ridership.

This is the first strike on the LIRR since 1994, and the timing could not be worse, as commuting across the service area will be a nightmare come Monday morning. This is also unfolding in a state controlled by unhinged Democrats, alongside a socialist mayor in NYC.

Submitted by QTR’s Fringe Finance

Bond yields are doing exactly what I warned about yesterday: forcing reality back into a market that had become increasingly detached from it.

Heading into Friday’s cash open, U.S. equity futures are under pressure, with S&P 500 futures down roughly 1% and Nasdaq futures off even more sharply as global bond markets sold off overnight.

CNBC reported that by Friday morning in London, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield had climbed nearly 9 basis points to 4.544%, marking its highest level in almost a year. The move wasn’t isolated to the U.S. U.K. 10-year gilt yields jumped another 15 basis points as investors continued digesting fiscal and political instability abroad, while Japan’s 2-year yield surged as much as 19 basis points before cooling modestly.

Government bonds, precious metals, and international equities all sold off simultaneously as investors began repricing inflation risks, geopolitical instability, and the growing realization that central banks may not be rushing to save markets anytime soon.

That matters because this is how stress sometimes tends to emerge in overextended markets. It rarely starts with equities themselves. It often begins in credit markets, rates markets, or funding markets before eventually spilling over into stocks.

Bond markets are significantly larger than equity markets and tend to be less interested in speculative narratives and far more focused on inflation, fiscal deficits, growth expectations, and the actual cost of money. When yields move this aggressively higher in such a short period of time, financial conditions tighten almost immediately. Mortgage rates remain elevated. Corporate borrowing costs rise. Refinancing becomes more expensive. Valuation models become less forgiving. Most importantly, the higher yields go, the less rational it becomes to pay extreme multiples for speculative growth stocks that have been pricing in a near-perfect future.

Yesterday I wrote that this market increasingly resembled a late-stage blowoff top fueled by “mechanical options activity, concentrated speculation, and a level of complacency that tends to emerge near the end of major asset bubbles.”

I also argued that this no longer resembled a traditional bull market built on broad participation, earnings growth, or healthy economic expansion. Instead, I described a market increasingly driven by narrow leadership, speculative options activity, and momentum chasing concentrated in a handful of names. Bloomberg’s Simon White’s observations reinforced that thesis. He highlighted the fastest rise in S&P gamma ever recorded, historically low correlation, and extreme dispersion beneath the surface.

That combination matters because it tells you this rally has been heavily dependent on a shrinking number of stocks doing most of the work while market structure becomes increasingly fragile underneath.

And that fragility becomes far more dangerous when interest rates begin moving against speculative positioning.

🔥 50% OFF FOR LIFE: Using this coupon entitles you to 50% off an annual subscription to Fringe Finance for life: Get 50% off forever

As I wrote yesterday, call buying in individual stocks has exploded while broader index participation has weakened. Zero-day options have accounted for roughly 60 percent of call volume. Those dynamics can create powerful upside reflexivity when markets are moving higher, but they can also create violent downside reflexivity when momentum breaks. Dealers who were previously forced to buy shares as markets rose can quickly become forced sellers when positioning reverses. The same machine that helped levitate prices can accelerate downside volatility when sentiment shifts.

Lauren Hyslop, investment manager at Mattioli Woods, summarized the situation well in comments to CNBC: “Rising bond yields are once again imposing their will on markets, tightening financial conditions and sapping risk appetite across asset classes,” she said.

She added that investors are confronting the “uncomfortable reality of ‘higher for longer’ rates in the U.S., as stubborn inflation and surprisingly resilient growth push back any meaningful pivot to easing.” She also noted that a stronger dollar, fading expectations for liquidity support, geopolitical uncertainty, and fiscal concerns are all adding pressure simultaneously. That combination is particularly dangerous because it removes the easy narrative markets have relied on for months that rate cuts were inevitable and policymakers would remain quick to intervene.

The fact that the Fed is stuck between a 3.8% CPI and 6% PPI rock and a market-teetering-on-the-brink-of violently-pulling-back hard place was the core of yesterday’s concern. If the bond market starts to get violent, what options does the Fed have to start printing to buy bonds and do yield curve control with inflation already where it is? The central bank’s hands might be tied — and this is a scary (and somewhat unprecedented) thought.

Markets had become increasingly comfortable assuming inflation would continue cooling, rates would eventually fall, and liquidity would remain abundant enough to support elevated valuations indefinitely. Meanwhile, as I noted yesterday, consumer stress has continued quietly building beneath the surface. Credit card delinquencies have been rising. Auto delinquencies have been climbing. Student loan repayment pressures are returning.

That disconnect was never likely to resolve itself quietly. Eventually either yields had to fall fast enough to justify equity valuations, or equities had to reprice to reflect a higher-for-longer reality. Today may not be the full unwinding event. Dip buyers may once again step in. Momentum could persist longer than fundamentals suggest. Blowoff tops often last longer than rational investors expect. But today’s bond move is a reminder that the underlying fragility I wrote about yesterday is very real.

The broader issue remains unchanged. The Federal Reserve still looks trapped between two deeply unattractive choices. Tighten policy further and risk breaking highly leveraged parts of the economy and financial markets. Pivot back toward aggressive liquidity support and risk reigniting inflation while further damaging confidence in the dollar. Neither path is clean. Both paths create volatility.

And that is why caution remains warranted. When markets become this speculative, this narrow, and this dependent on cheap money assumptions, it does not take much to trigger instability. Sometimes all it takes is the bond market reminding everyone that money still has a cost.

—

QTR’s Disclaimer: Please read my full legal disclaimer on my About page here. This post represents my opinions only. In addition, please understand I am an idiot and often get things wrong and lose money. I may own or transact in any names mentioned in this piece at any time without warning. Contributor posts and aggregated posts have been hand selected by me, have not been fact checked and are the opinions of their authors. They are either submitted to QTR by their author, reprinted under a Creative Commons license with my best effort to uphold what the license asks, or with the permission of the author.

This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stocks or securities, just my opinions. I often lose money on positions I trade/invest in. I may add any name mentioned in this article and sell any name mentioned in this piece at any time, without further warning. None of this is a solicitation to buy or sell securities. I may or may not own names I write about and are watching. Sometimes I’m bullish without owning things, sometimes I’m bearish and do own things. Just assume my positions could be exactly the opposite of what you think they are just in case. If I’m long I could quickly be short and vice versa. I won’t update my positions. All positions can change immediately as soon as I publish this, with or without notice and at any point I can be long, short or neutral on any position. You are on your own. Do not make decisions based on my blog. I exist on the fringe. If you see numbers and calculations of any sort, assume they are wrong and double check them. I failed Algebra in 8th grade and topped off my high school math accolades by getting a D- in remedial Calculus my senior year, before becoming an English major in college so I could bullshit my way through things easier.

The publisher does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided in this page. These are not the opinions of any of my employers, partners, or associates. I did my best to be honest about my disclosures but can’t guarantee I am right; I write these posts after a couple beers sometimes. I edit after my posts are published because I’m impatient and lazy, so if you see a typo, check back in a half hour. Also, I just straight up get shit wrong a lot. I mention it twice because it’s that important.

Heavy selling swept across Asian markets on Friday, with South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI plunging 6% as traders aggressively reduced exposure to the country’s semiconductor sector. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led the decline. The catalyst for the sell-off was labor action risk headlines at Samsung, where the company’s union threatened a strike that could disrupt production lines at the world’s largest memory chip manufacturer.

By Saturday morning, there was a major sigh of relief: Samsung and its labor union would resume government-mediated pay talks on Monday, according to a Reuters report.

The union released a statement earlier explaining that Samsung had replaced its negotiation team, and both sides would meet later Saturday for separate meetings ahead of Monday.

Chairman Jay Y. Lee issued a public apology over the labor dispute, alongside Samsung’s decision to replace its lead negotiator:

“I sincerely apologize to customers around the world for causing anxiety and concern due to issues within our company,” Lee said, telling reporters that he also “deeply bows in apology to the public.”

South Korean officials, including the labor minister, prime minister, and finance minister, have urged both the union and Samsung to resolve their labor issues, as a strike could threaten production lines for some of the world’s most advanced memory chips, which are critical for AI data center buildouts. 

The collapse in talks on Friday sparked a sharp decline in the KOSPI, ending weeks of gains. It also comes as the world is suffering from a deepening memory supply crunch (read here). 

Shares of Samsung in South Korea closed down 6.66%.

However, Taiwan-based market intelligence and research firm TrendForce wrote on X:

Samsung’s strike is set to formally begin on May 21. Because the company’s semiconductor fabs are already highly automated, the impact on production is expected to be limited.

However, there will likely be noticeable disruptions to packaging and logistics, R&D and design, and customer relations. In terms of unionization, about half of all employees across the Samsung Group are union members, most of whom work in the semiconductor division. Internally, management has already extended an olive branch to the DRAM division, but has not yet reached an agreement with union members in the Foundry and LSI divisions.

Samsung’s strike is set to formally begin on May 21. Because the company’s semiconductor fabs are already highly automated, the impact on production is expected to be limited. However, there will likely be noticeable disruptions to packaging and logistics, R&D and design, as well… https://t.co/l2ibgeXEIL

— TrendForce (@trendforce) May 15, 2026

Given that memory is a critical component of data center buildouts, why would the union suddenly feel compelled to risk seizing up memory-chip production lines unless there was an ulterior motive?

In the U.S., unhinged socialist Bernie Sanders has pushed a data center bill moratorium, which is very suspicious because it would only allow China to catch up to the U.S.

Separately, it is worth noting that DEI has effectively been backronymed into “Data Centers, Electricity, and Infrastructure.”

Via City AM,

The UK government will introduce legislation banning new North Sea oil and gas exploration licences as part of its Energy Independence Bill.

Critics argue the policy will increase Britain’s reliance on imported fossil fuels while damaging Scotland’s oil and gas industry.

Rising oil prices and disruptions tied to the Iran conflict have intensified political pressure on Labour to reconsider the ban.

The government will make it illegal to grant new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, the King said at the state opening of Parliament, in a sign ministers are refusing to buckle in the face of a barrage of criticism that the policy is depriving the UK of billions of pounds in tax receipts without helping the environment.

As part of an Energy Independence Bill announced in the King’s Speech, the government will bake into law its pre-election pledge not to explore new oil and gas fields in a bid to “take control of our energy security”.

In its 2024 manifesto, the Labour Party made a ban on all new exploration and drilling licences in the North Sea a key pillar of its promise to turn Britain into a “clean energy superpower” by 2030.

But since entering government, the party has come under growing pressure to renege on the promise, with critics arguing it strangles one of Scotland’s most vibrant industries and fails to improve the UK’s environmental footprint.

Backlash against ‘deluded’ North Sea policy

Oil and gas still accounts for three-quarters of the UK’s energy mix. And the majority of those fossil fuels are now shipped in from abroad, meaning other economies benefit from the job creation and tax receipts that are derived from the lucrative drilling and refining processes.

Calls for the ministers to rethink the ban have grown louder since the outbreak of war in Iran led the price of crude oil to nearly double in a month.

Last week, Norway, which drills for oil in the same area of the North Sea as Britain, approved plans to reopen three gasfields that had been shut for decades to help sate the global demand for fossil fuels caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane.

Two of Labour’s main political opponents – Reform UK and the Conservatives – have both vowed to overturn the ban, in a move they say would help increase the UK’s tax take and inoculate it from any acute supply shocks.

The ban, which the government claims will help Britain off the “roller-coaster of fossil fuel markets”, has also drawn criticism from the US’s ambassador to the UK, who has used multiple interviews to urge Britain to make more of its reserves.

Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho accused her opposite number Ed Miliband of being “utterly deluded” for seeking to put the ban into the statute book.

“He is not making us more independent. He is making us more reliant on foreign imports,” she said.

President Trump’s earlier previewed controversial troop cuts for the European continent may already be in progress, and could happen more rapidly than previously thought. 

The US Army has canceled the deployment of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division to Poland, NBC reports this week. The deployment would have involved over 4,000 soldiers as well as military equipment.

Getty Images

Various reports say that top Pentagon staff were ‘blindsided’ by what is being characterized as War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s sudden U-turn on the plan to send troops to Poland, amid Trump anger at Europe.

Politico says that troops and equipment had actually started arriving in the country:

The decision was even more surprising because troops and equipment had already started to arrive in the country. It sent fresh waves of anxiety through European capitals and inside the Pentagon on Thursday about whether such moves could embolden Russia — and which ally might turn into the next target.

“We had no idea this was coming,” said one of the U.S. officials, adding that European and American officials have spent the last 24 hours on the phone trying to understand the decision and figure out if more surprises are coming.

Some of this surprise and frustration was echoed in public, with Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, stating that the Army’s role in Europe “is all about deterring the Russians, protecting America’s strategic interests and assuring allies.”

But it remains that “now a very important asset that was coming to be part of that deterrence is gone.” He added: “The Poles certainly have never criticized President Trump, and they do all the things that good allies are supposed to do. And yet, this happens.”

There was no command announcement, with some troops learning of the deployment cancelation by text among their friends and members of their unit.

As for Trump’s plan to reduce the US presence in Germany by 5,000, this is expected to take many months – possibly over a period of six months to a year.

The Pentagon scrapped plans to send about 4,000 Army troops to Poland, people familiar with the matter said, part of a broader review of the US military presence in Europe https://t.co/b4DX9pr3Hc

— Bloomberg (@business) May 14, 2026

The large US presence hearkens back to the post WWII division of Germany and post-war order, and is also a legacy of the Cold War. Ironically at this very moment European leaders have hyped a ‘new Cold War’ with Russia, as the Ukraine war continues raging.

“The officials characterized the move as a signal of President Trump’s discontent with the level of assistance that European allies have offered in the U.S.-Iran war,” CBS has noted previously.

Via Remix News,

A recent study conducted on behalf of the city of Vienna highlights a concerning trend among young Muslims regarding their religious and political views. This follows the recent announcement that Muslim children now comprise nearly 41 percent of the population in Vienna’s compulsory schools, making them the largest religious group.

The study, published on May 12, 2026, was led by Kenan Güngör. He classifies the results as “very worrying,” noting that religion occupies a much larger space in the lives of Muslim youth compared to their peers.

One of the most significant findings involves the hierarchy of legal and religious authority.

Forty-one percent of Muslim youth agree with the statement that their religious laws take precedence over the laws in Austria, compared to 21 percent of Christian youth, as reported in Austrian news outlet Der Standard.

Furthermore, 46 percent of Muslim respondents believe that one must be prepared to “fight and die in defense of one’s faith,” a view shared by 24 percent of Christians.

Specifically, 73 percent of Shiite and 68 percent of Sunni Muslims identify as religious, while only 41 percent of Catholic and 38 percent of Orthodox Christian youth say the same.

The study also delves into social and everyday religious expectations, showing that 36 percent of Muslim youth believe that all people should follow the rules of their religion, and more than half believe Muslim women should wear headscarves in public.

Additionally, 65 percent say Islamic regulations apply to all areas of everyday life and must be strictly observed. Regarding these figures, Güngör speaks of social pressure within these communities.

Views on governance and social equality also show a distinct divide. While 82 percent of Austrians view democracy as the best form of government, support drops to 47 percent for Syrians, 50 percent for Chechens, and 61 percent for Afghans.

Conservative gender roles are also prevalent among these groups, where almost half think men should make important decisions and a quarter do not want a woman as a boss. Only around a third consider homosexuality to be okay.

The research, which surveyed 1,200 individuals between the ages of 14 and 21 across 10 different ethnic backgrounds, indicates that a third of Muslim youth have become more religious recently. Their identity is shaped much more by religion than for Christians, manifesting in higher rates of praying, fasting, and mosque attendance.

However, the study authors state that religion alone was not the only factor. They suggest that lower education levels, authoritarian upbringing, social isolation, and the influence of radical content on the internet also play a role in shaping these perspectives.

Austria is not the only European country dealing with the troubling views seen within a worrying number of Muslims. In Germany and France, a majority of young Muslims also put their religion above the laws of the state, as two recent studies illustrate (here and here).

The contrasting belief systems have also led to tension. For example, a majority of Germans now believe that the country should generally stop taking in more Muslim immigrants.

Read more here…

Just when it seemed as if the European energy landscape couldn’t get any more fractured, Ankara is stepping up with a massive, off-grid proposal. Bloomberg reports Friday that Turkey has “proposed building a $1.2 billion (€1 billion) fuel pipeline for military use to help meet the energy needs of allies on NATO’s eastern European flank, according to people familiar with the matter.”

“Following a push by the alliance to expand its military pipeline network, Ankara is proposing that the new link be built from Turkey to Romania via Bulgaria, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity,” the report adds. 

Source: Envato

Insiders claim the Turkish route could cost a mere one-fifth of the alternative proposals, amid several alternative routes being floated of late, specifically via Greece or Romania’s western neighbors.

Officials told Bloomberg that Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and the escalating chaos in the Middle East – including recent supply shocks from the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz – have forced NATO to realize its current fuel supply model is dangerously brittle.

The timing of the quiet proposal comes ahead of the highly anticipated 2026 NATO Summit which will be held in Ankara on July 7-8. It will mark on the second time that Turkey has hosted the alliance’s major annual summit.

Sources explicitly stated that this pipeline will be 100% restricted to military use. Exact capacity, flow rates, and technical specifications are being kept strictly classified, with no official statement out of Turkey’s defense ministry.

More broadly, Turkey has long been seen as central to reducing Europe’s dependence on Russian energy, with its Eurasian geography – and the fact that it has the second largest military in NATO – being key.

Turkish media and experts have been busy hyping Turkey’s role in reshaping the alliance, including at an event this week in Washington:

The event, titled “The Turkish-American Alliance at the Heart of NATO’s New Geopolitics,” was organized by Türkiye’s Directorate of Communications and the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) and moderated by Kadir Üstün, executive director of SETA in Washington.

The panel came ahead of the 2026 NATO summit scheduled for July 7-8 in Ankara, marking the second time that Türkiye will host a NATO summit following Istanbul in 2004. Communications Director Burhanettin Duran delivered a video message at the beginning of the panel. “In our 74-year journey with NATO, we have faced many challenges and difficulties. Each time, in keeping with the principle of mutual loyalty, we have managed to overcome these tests,” Duran said.

He added: “With its geostrategic position, military capacity and deterrence capabilities, our country has been an indispensable central state in NATO’s collective defense architecture and a geopolitical balancing factor from the Cold War to the present day.”

*TURKEY SAID TO FLOAT $1.2B FUEL PIPELINE TO EASTERN NATO ALLIES

It will just cost the “eastern NATO allies” $12BN to build it

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 15, 2026

And of course, related to this and high on the agenda will be utilizing Turkey’s strategic location and ability to provide alternative energy routes which increasingly cut out Russia’s ability to influence Europe’s energy policy.

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

The Telegraph has published a piece so tone-deaf it reads like self-parody. According to the outlet, the “far-right” is no longer the domain of bald men in boots and tattoos. No, it’s now being led by “strikingly telegenic young women” who dare to look good on camera while warning about mass migration, grooming gangs, and cultural replacement.

Three foreign activists – Ada Lluch, Valentina Gomez, and Eva Vlaardingerbroek – were banned from entering Britain for a Tommy Robinson rally, and the Telegraph can’t stop gushing over how “pretty” this makes the movement look.

The government has banned at least seven foreign voices from attending the rally, including the women highlighted by the Telegraph.

Not so long ago, the stock image of someone from the far-Right was easily summoned: they’d be male, obviously, and very probably bald, and questionable tattoos.

The face of the far-Right, it seems, is changing – and it’s becoming a good deal prettier ⬇️https://t.co/K8xXWHSdgK pic.twitter.com/irtXPyGD9X

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) May 15, 2026

Critics point out the blatant double standard: pro-Palestine marches with openly extremist rhetoric are often tolerated, while a native-focused demonstration drawing tens or hundreds of thousands draws preemptive visa blocks on speakers.

Kier Starmer’s government waves in unvetted migrants and certain extremists but draws the line at articulate critics of mass migration.

The Telegraph profiles the banned women in breathless detail. Catalan activist Ada Lluch has called out “complete invasion” of western democracies, American influencer Valentina Gomez warned about “rapist Muslims taking over,” and Dutch commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek spoke of “the rape, replacement and murder of our people.”

All three were barred from the UK, along with several other activists. Meanwhile, the government continues to wave in the very people these women are warning about.

The Telegraph also warns about attractive home-grown women, including British influencer Saskia Teague. With over 100,000 Instagram followers, she mixes “happy happy happy” selfies with calls for “England for the English,” mass deportations, and an end to shame-free multiculturalism.

The Telegraph acts shocked that she also praises her “Anglo-Saxon hair” and rejects the idea she’s being “used” by men.

Of course the usual suspects are wheeled out to clutch pearls. Hope Not Hate researcher Alex MacKinnon calls it a “glamorisation” effort to shed the “violent thug image.” Institute for Strategic Dialogue’s Hannah Rose says looking desirable builds followers and fits the ideology that women should be “aesthetically pleasing.”

The implication is that these women can’t possibly believe what they’re saying – they must be grifting or being manipulated. Because in the eyes of the legacy media, no normal young attractive woman could possibly notice what’s happening to her country.

This is the same media that files stories on “far-right” threat while ignoring grooming gang scandals, no-go zones, and skyrocketing violence against women and girls. The Telegraph even admits the shift comes from young people “profoundly disaffected with mainstream parties” and disillusioned with modern life.

Yet instead of asking why that disillusionment exists, they obsess over Instagram filters and “zhuzhing” the image.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has today claimed he’s all about “championing peaceful protest” while simultaneously blocking entry to those he dislikes. Starmer declared:

“I’ll always champion peaceful protest. But the Unite the Kingdom march organisers are peddling hatred and division,” then admitting that “We’ve already blocked visas for far-right agitators who want to come here to spew their extremist views.”

I’ll always champion peaceful protest. But the Unite the Kingdom march organisers are peddling hatred and division.

We’ve already blocked visas for far-right agitators who want to come here to spew their extremist views.

They don’t speak for the decent, fair, respectful Britain… pic.twitter.com/hdu8kgxHFp

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) May 15, 2026

Why are intelligent women who take care over their appearance being maligned as ‘far right’? Well, take at look at this lot:

It’s no wonder they’re rattled. That’s the clownworld alternative the establishment promotes – and it terrifies them that normal, feminine, attractive women are rejecting it in favour of common sense.

This is also the same tired playbook the left has run for years. Remember when the likes of MSNBC insisted health and fitness was the “new gateway drug to the far-right”? Even basic self-improvement triggers the mob. Now being attractive, articulate, and female while opposing open borders gets you labelled “far-right agitator.” Apparently only frumpy, blue-haired nose ring radicals are allowed to have political opinions.

X users were not impressed with the Telegraph writer’s take.

It’s always the ugly jealous unattractive cat ladies that hates attractive women trying to stand up for their country pic.twitter.com/UqYGMEi5Hl

— Zee 🔥 (@Zeeeee_xx) May 15, 2026

So, we’re winning.
No longer fringe.
The norm is our way of thinking.
Rattled.

— Nate, or, Mr H Reviews (@MrHreviews) May 15, 2026

The Leftwing establishment is so accustomed to the freak show they attract that normal, feminine women are an oddity that terrifies them. 😂

— Caldron Pool (@CaldronPool) May 15, 2026

Ah yes, young women couldn’t possibly be concerned about the erasure of their safety, culture and freedom.

What a woeful and pathetic excuse of so-called ‘journalism’.

— Emily Wilding Davison🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (@Wommando) May 15, 2026

The face of the far-right is just the Native Europeans who are sick of the ongoing conquest of our lands by 3rd World Savages, thank god that our women are waking up too & joining us in this fight 💪🏻🤍 pic.twitter.com/7ZKZ4z9jdW

— Ardan (@ArdanXXII) May 15, 2026

The left’s panic is understandable. When healthy, fit, attractive people start rejecting open borders and woke insanity, the narrative collapses. Being patriotic, noticing patterns, and wanting your country to survive is not “far-right.” It’s normal.

The real extremists are the ones importing chaos, silencing dissent, and branding beauty, fitness, and common sense as threats. The more they smear, the more people wake up.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Via The Cradle

The two-day meeting of BRICS foreign ministers in New Delhi ended on Friday without a joint statement due to “differing views” on the US-Israeli war against Iran and the current situation in West Asia, the Indian government said in a statement. 

Representatives expressed “their respective national positions and shared a range of perspectives,” the Indian statement read. The statement added that one member state had “reservations” about issues related to Gaza, as well as security in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said during the meeting that “Iran is a country that cannot be divided. The era of American dominance is over.“

via Associated Press

He also singled out the UAE for blocking the ministerial BRICS statement, and pointed out its “own special relationship with Israel.“

The BRICS meeting coincided with major tensions between the Islamic Republic and the UAE – both bloc members. Tehran has repeatedly slammed the direct Emirati involvement in the US-Israeli war. 

On Thursday during the BRICS summit, Araghchi urged all members of the bloc to condemn the “unlawful aggression” by the US and Israel. 

Araghchi directly addressed the Emirati representative during the meeting, calling Abu Dhabi an “active partner” in the war on Iran. 

“I didn’t name the UAE in my [opening] statement for the sake of unity. But the truth is that the UAE was directly involved in the aggression against my country. When the attacks started, they didn’t even issue a condemnation,” Araghchi said. 

The comments were a response to remarks made by the Emirati representative during the BRICS meeting, according to Iranian media reports. Iranian media did not specify exactly what the UAE representative said.

The Emirati government denied a statement this week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said he visited the UAE during the war. 

According to a newer report by Israel’s Broadcasting Corporation (KAN), Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir and other military officials also visited the UAE during the war on Iran. 

Since the 2020 Abraham Accords, Israel and the UAE have dramatically accelerated cooperation in security, trade, and other fields.

🚨🚨🚨Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says that the UAE is a direct party in the war:

‘The same country that prevented the issuance of a BRICS statement is the one that provided its airspace, territories, and military bases to American and Israeli forces.

For us, they… pic.twitter.com/AeqwEAdXvk

— Middle Eastern Affairs (@OpsHQs) May 15, 2026

The UAE and Saudi Arabia both opened up their air bases to US jets for attacks on the Islamic Republic throughout the war. Israel also deployed an Iron Dome system to the UAE, along with a crew to operate it. According to new western media reports, both the UAE and Saudi Arabia carried out their own military strikes against Iran.

In a mid-April letter, Iran’s UN envoy said Tehran will be demanding compensation from five Arab states, charging them with direct involvement and participation in the US-Israeli war.