Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

A CIA operations officer provided explosive sworn testimony Wednesday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, accusing Dr. Anthony Fauci of directly intervening in the intelligence community’s review of COVID-19’s origins.

James Erdman III, a veteran CIA special operations officer, told senators that in August 2021 the intelligence community was on the verge of concluding the virus most likely leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China. Days later, that position reversed with no clear explanation.

Erdman stated under oath: “Dr. Fauci’s role in the cover-up was intentional. Dr. Fauci influenced the analytical process and findings by leveraging his position to ensure the IC consulted with a conflicted list of curated subject matter experts, public health officials, and scientists.”

BREAKING: A CIA whistleblower just testified UNDER OATH that Anthony Fauci DIRECTLY meddled with intelligence agencies to cover up the COVID lab leak.

Every day that Fauci remains free is an INJUSTICE.

Per the whistleblower, the CIA was on the verge of calling it a lab leak —… pic.twitter.com/V6c4Xx67zd

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 13, 2026

He added that intelligence leaders “purposefully downplayed the lab origin” and “knew the virus came from Wuhan but pushed the natural origin narrative anyway.” Erdman testified that CIA scientists had circulated papers noting “all the conditions were present for a lab leak,” yet senior analysts ultimately buried or softened those assessments.

Senator Rand Paul pressed Erdman on the timeline. Paul described the Biden administration’s final moves as a “clean-up operation,” noting: “Scientific analysts concluded multiple times between 2021 and 2023 that a lab leak was the most likely origin of COVID-19. Yet those conclusions never shaped the official narrative… It was not until after the 2024 election that the outgoing Biden administration directed the CIA to issue an assessment not because of new intelligence, but so officials could walk out of the door claiming there was nothing left to find.”

Sen. Rand Paul: “CIA scientists from an early time…were concluding that a lab leak was the most likely hypothesis?”

CIA whistleblower James Erdman III: “There were agencies within the IC circulating papers…that said that all the conditions were present for a lab leak.” pic.twitter.com/qBp8BCrYvg

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 13, 2026

Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) demanded accountability. He told the witness: “All these hearings are important. What you said is super critical… But where is the accountability? This is what I hear from my constituents all over Ohio… they want to see the perp walks.”

Moreno continued: “Anthony Fauci is sitting sipping margaritas somewhere with his multi-million dollar financial success as a result of duping the American people into putting an experimental vaccine into their bodies or risk losing their jobs. He’s not accountable to anybody.”

Senator Bernie Moreno just demanded the one thing everyone has been waiting for on Covid:

“Where is the accountability?”

He told the CIA whistleblower James Erdman III that hearings are nice — but the people want perp walks, starting with Anthony Fauci.

MORENO: “All these… pic.twitter.com/uV0i7mpNmF

— Overton (@overton_news) May 13, 2026

Senators Ron Johnson and Rand Paul pushed back after the CIA labeled the public hearing “political theater.” Johnson stated: “This committee needs an apology! This is not political theater. This is what the American people need to see.” Paul added: “Closed-door testimony doesn’t provide oversight. Public testimony provides oversight.”

? NOW: Sens. Ron Johnson and Rand Paul go off on the CIA for calling their COVID coverup hearing with a CIA whistleblower “political theater”

JOHNSON: “This committee needs an apology! This is not political theater. This is what the American people need to see.”

PAUL: “The CIA… pic.twitter.com/B4KVfuM8gP

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 13, 2026

Fox News reporter Bill Melugin noted the complete absence of Senate Democrats from the Homeland Security Committee hearing, despite several members serving on the panel. One Democrat, Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, walked past the media setup but did not enter the room.

Fox’s Bill Melugin just exposed the stunning no-show by Senate Democrats at the CIA whistleblower hearing on Covid.

Not a SINGLE Democrat was in the room — even though several sit on the Homeland Security Committee.

MELUGIN: “There are no Senate Democrats inside of that hearing… pic.twitter.com/dERE0QpHWY

— Overton (@overton_news) May 13, 2026

Erdman also raised separate concerns about oversight of declassification efforts. He claimed the CIA “took back 40 boxes of JFK and MK-Ultra files” that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was reviewing.

The whistleblower further alleged the agency “illegally monitored the computer and phone usage” of investigators working on the COVID-19 origins probe under presidential direction. He said: “These were Americans being spied on illegally while carrying out duties directed by the President and under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence.”

CIA whistleblower claims the agency “took back 40 boxes of JFK and MK-Ultra files” that Tulsi Gabbard was reviewing for declassification.

The whistleblower also alleges the CIA “illegally monitored the computer and phone usage” of Gabbard’s investigators during the probe into… pic.twitter.com/AIRfS2utQE

— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) May 13, 2026

The testimony aligns with earlier official reviews of the pandemic’s beginnings.

It builds on the White House’s comprehensive lab-leak assessment released in April 2025 and Department of Defense and Defense Intelligence Agency reports indicating the Biden Pentagon may have suppressed aspects of the origins investigation.

It also connects to prior reporting on gain-of-function research and public statements downplaying alternative theories, including pieces examining the experiment that may have started the pandemic.

The hearing underscores ongoing scrutiny of how federal agencies assessed and communicated the virus’s origins more than six years after the first cases emerged in Wuhan.

No immediate response from Fauci or the CIA was available at the time of publication beyond the agency’s statement criticizing the subpoena process. Further developments in related inquiries are expected.

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.

Soon on the heels of the successful 3-day and US-backed ‘V-Day’ ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, Russian forces have unleashed several days of drone and missile barrages on Ukrainian cities, especially the capital. It seems the Kremlin is bent on ‘payback’ for several weeks of effective Ukrainian long-range drone attacks which have badly damaged several Russian oil refineries and energy sites.

BBC reports Thursday that “At least seven people have been killed, including a 12-year-old girl, in Kyiv after Russia launched a massive wave of drone and missile strikes on the Ukrainian capital and other regions, officials have said.”

The death toll is expected to rise given bodies are still being pulled from under the rubble of a destroyed apartment building in Kiev, while local emergency agencies say at least 20 people are feared missing. Dozens more were wounded in the attack, with at least 21 initially being transported to the hospital.

via Associated Press

Thursday marks the third day in a row Ukraine has witnessed deaths from the now unrelenting drone attacks, which followed the last day of the ceasefire, which expired on Monday.

President Zelensky later announced that the military tallied that Russia sent more than 670 drones and 56 missiles targeting the country overnight. This ranks it as among the largest aerial assaults since the war started in 2022.

Zelensky stated that the strikes hit at least 180 sites across Ukraine, including over 50 residential buildings, but also claimed an “overall interception rate” of 93%.

He additionally added a 48-hour tally: “In total, since midnight yesterday, Russia has used more than 1,560 drones against our cities and communities,” he said on X.

“These are definitely not the actions of those who believe the war is coming to an end,” he added, referring to Putin’s Saturday speech wherein he hinted a the ‘end’ of the special military operation ending.

This week’s strikes have been particularly devastating against large civilian neighborhoods. According to an Associated Press description:

As dawn broke on a clear day in Kyiv, a scene of devastation came into focus in the capital’s leafy Darnytsia neighborhood, located between a suburban forest and the Dnieper River. Wisps of smoke rose from the collapsed nine-story apartment block, where emergency workers dug under concrete slabs and took people away on stretchers. The building’s entrance was smashed in the strike, preventing residents from escaping.

All 18 apartments in the building were destroyed, officials said. Among the dead was a 12-year-old girl, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Zelenskyy said seven people were killed, with at least 20 people believed to be missing.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha in the latest overnight attack aftermath took to X to appeal to world leaders: “At the very time when leaders of the most powerful countries are meeting in Beijing, and the world hopes for peace, predictability and cooperation, Putin launched hundreds of drones, ballistic and cruise missiles at the capital of Ukraine,” he wrote.

🗺 Approximate map of Russian missile and drone strikes across Ukraine over the past 24 hours

The map highlights particularly massive attacks on Kyiv, as well as a large number of targets in western Ukraine.

As a reminder, since yesterday evening alone, Russia has attacked… pic.twitter.com/GJ8UGmMrNG

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 14, 2026

Speaking of Putin, he added: “Only pressure on Moscow can make him stop.” However, it seems White House attention has been absorbed in the Iran war and ongoing Hormuz blockade standoff, and the impact on global energy.

While Presidents Trump and Xi are expected to dialogue on finding a way toward peace in the Russia-Ukraine war, most attention has been paid so far to what’s next in the Persian Gulf. The question of Ukraine peace has taken a back seat for much of the past year.

By Michael Every of Rabobank

In the UK –where the 30-year gilt yield sits at 5.74%, the highest since 1997– politics is abuzz with rumors centre-right Health Secretary will resign to take on PM Starmer in a leadership contest, which left-wing Energy Secretary Miliband is expected to join to prevent any Coronation Streeting, as left-wingers Rayner and Burns may try to as well. This is 24 hours after King Charles read out the Starmer government’s legislative agenda, which includes using a Henry VIII-era statute to force the UK to readopt EU laws without (yet) wanting to rejoin. As UK political commentators put it, the struggling Labour Party needs to decide what it’s for – and depending on what happens next, it remains to be seen if that includes the markets. Indeed, several left-wingers have been openly derisory about concerns over potential Labour policies lifting gilt yields. 

Logically, a (successful) political party should try to understand the context in which its policies will operate. As a social media commentator points out, while Labour built the welfare state in 1945 when the UK was broke, which remains its proud legacy, “Attlee’s settlement was bankrolled by imperial surpluses, Marshall Aid, sterling’s privileged role within Bretton Woods, capital controls that turned domestic savers into a captive bond market, and inflation that quietly torched the real debt. It sat on top of a state a fraction of today’s size, financed by a young workforce, riding reconstruction productivity growth.” Raise your hand if you think the present geoeconomic backdrop, and that of the UK, meets those criteria – and the bond market will also get a vote. 

As the Financial Times relatedly underlines ‘Why global imbalances matter’, as they are the root of our geopolitical and geoeconomic problems (which, ironically, is why we rarely talk about them?), another long-running soap opera is playing in Beijing. 

In Eastenders, Trump, with a billionaire CEO entourage, is meeting Xi after posting in Air Force One that he will be asking him “to ‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level!” Indeed, as some talk of UK Labour going back to the 1970s, the US language is also of Nixon–Mao 2.0, albeit from a very different starting point. Everybody gets how important these talks are, but few consider the full US *and* Chinese contexts, and many takes are colored by what they think of Trump. Some think Xi now has all the cards; others that the US still has some aces. 

We will have to wait and see if we get a Grand Bargain that reshapes geopolitics and geoeconomics – and, yes, imbalances; smaller agreement on tariffs, tech (as the Netherlands protests a US proposal to further bar chip giant ASML from the China market), and even Taiwan; a de minimis Farce Two Trade Deal can-kicking exercise, or a Great Escalation. 

On which note, some media suggest China might be prepared to put pressure on Tehran, yet the New York Times reports that Chinese firms are plotting arms sales to it. Which will it be? 

While Europe is on the sidelines of the UK, US-China, and Iran dramas, that doesn’t mean it’s absent. Yesterday, the FT reported Euroclear, one of Europe’s largest financial intermediaries with over €43 trillion of assets under custody, is considering accepting China onshore bonds traded in Hong Kong as collateral, not just offshore bonds as now. Euroclear states this would support Beijing’s efforts to promote yuan internationalisation to counterbalance the global dominance of the USD… at a time when the EU’s push for strategic autonomy, heightened by the Iran War energy crisis, is accentuating the need to boost global usage of the euro, not the yuan. 

That’s particularly the case in trade commodity finance, where the single currency only accounts for around 6% of the global total in SWIFT, and even less considering more of that trade is being done on China’s CIPS system. 

Of course, Euroclear is free to do whatever it wants, but it remains to be seen how this plays out politically and geopolitically now the news is out – the US will note the timing well, just as Trump is in Beijing looking for bargains. 

If this is seen as a European bargaining chip vs. the US in a game of geoeconomic poker, note USD swaplines have now been openly politicized by the US Treasury via Argentina and the UAE, and next Fed Chair Warsh has stated that even Fed swaplines are not an area subject to central-bank independence.  

Or is this a plan for Succession from the current Eurodollar system, which the US is now openly advertising it is going to transmogrify into something else via neo-mercantilist tariffs, economic statecraft, and US dollar stablecoins? Note successions can be disputed, and the candidates aiming to fill some large shoes can fall far short of the giants they have to replace. 

Against that backdrop, Warsh was just voted in as Fed Chair by the Senate, in the narrowest confirmation (55-45) in US history – that shows how contested even ‘apolitical’ central banking now is. He will take over that key role with his predecessor Powell refusing to leave the FOMC table, which will be an ‘interesting’ dynamic; and with the 30-year US Treasury yield hitting 5% for the first time since 2007 as headline and core CPI rise due to the Iran War.

On which, the Middle East remains on edge. Not only did the UAE, and Saudi, reportedly strike Iran pre-ceasefire, but the Saudis and Kuwait both just hit Iran-backed militias in Iraq; the Iranian foreign minister threatened the UAE after Israeli PM Netanyahu claimed he and the head of Mossad had visited Abu Dhabi during the fighting – which the UAE has denied; Lebanon has filed a UN complaint against Iranian interference; and the Gaza Board of Peace envoy has stated the stalled ceasefire has failed to meet the expectations of both Israel and Palestinians, which appears to be down to Hamas’ refusal to disarm.

Things are also fluid re: Ukraine. The Ukraine Support Act won enough signatures to force a vote in the US House of Representatives; the US is close to signing a strategic defence deal with Ukraine for drone tech; NATO boss Rutte is asking allies to commit 0.25% of GDP to Kyiv but is running into opposition from France and the UK; the US just cancelled the deployment of troops to Europe as part of Trump’s drawdown pledge; Switzerland is considering rival defence systems after Washington delayed delivering Patriot missiles to it; and the Russian parliament voted to allow Putin to order troop deployments abroad to protect Russian citizens facing arrest, detention, trial, or other perceived persecution by foreign nations and international courts – note the EU has several countries with Russian minorities, and aims to eventually expand to include others that also do.

So, back to today’s soap operas – Coronation Streeting, Eastenders, and Succession.

Cisco Systems shares posted their biggest gain since the Dot-Com boom-and-bust era after the networking giant delivered third-quarter results that beat analysts’ estimates. The company also announced a workforce restructuring, aligning with a broader hyperscaler playbook that cuts labor costs and redirects capital toward AI infrastructure and data-center buildouts.

Cisco raised its fiscal 2026 outlook, guiding for $62.8 billion to $63 billion in revenue and $4.27 to $4.29 in adjusted EPS, while also issuing a stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter sales forecast.

The catalyst that sent shares into a parabolic move early in the U.S. cash session was demand for AI. Cisco boosted its expected fiscal 2026 hyperscaler AI orders to $9 billion from $5 billion, signaling stronger traction in supplying the networking infrastructure needed for data center buildouts. Shares surged more than 16%, marking their best day since May 2002.

Stock is at a record high.

UBS analyst Simon Penn summed up third-quarter results and guidance:

They reported EPS and revenue beat and Q4 guided EPS and revenue was upgraded.

Q3 EPS was $1.06 versus forecasts of $1.04 and Q3 revenue was $15.8 bn versus forecasts of $15.5 bn.

Looking forward, they increased Q4 EPS guidance to $1.16-1.18, above forecasts of $1.07. Q4 revenue guidance also beat, at $16.7-$16.9bn versus estimations of $15.82.

Cisco reported FY2026 orders from hyperscalers $9 bn, up from prior $5 bn.

CEO Chuck Robbins wrote in a blog, “The companies that will win in the AI era will be those with focus, urgency, and the discipline to continuously shift investment toward the areas where demand and long-term value creation are strongest.”

“While we are reducing roles in some areas, we are making clear, strategic investments,” Robbins added. That includes spending on chips, fiber optics, security, and the use of AI by its own employees, he noted.

Robbins said the company will undergo a workforce restructuring and shed fewer than 4,000 jobs, or less than 5% of the total employee base. This restructuring comes as it pivots toward data center buildouts.

Here’s analyst commentary from Goldman’s Nelson Armbrust:

Cisco Earnings Validate Networking is an AI Bottleneck

Drivers of the Earnings Beat : Cisco +15% pre mkt, the primary catalyst was a massive acceleration in AI infrastructure orders, which reached $1.9 billion in the quarter alone. Year-to-date AI orders hit $5.3 billion, prompting management to nearly double its full-year AI order guidance from $5 billion to $9 billion. Beyond AI, the beat was supported by a 50% year-over-year surge in networking product orders and a multi-billion-dollar campus networking refresh cycle. Additionally, Cisco announced a strategic restructuring to cut approximately 4,000 jobs (5% of its workforce) to reallocate capital toward high-growth areas like silicon, optics, and AI.

Broader Market and AI Infrastructure Implications

Validation of Hyperscaler Capex: Cisco’s results provide a “clean” data point confirming that AI spending by hyperscalers (Meta, Microsoft, Google) is not just sustained but accelerating. This reduces fears of an imminent “AI air pocket” in capital expenditures.

Networking as the New AI Bottleneck: The shift in demand toward Cisco’s Silicon One and Acacia optics suggests that the market is moving from a “compute-first” phase (Nvidia GPUs) to a “connectivity-first” phase, where high-speed networking is critical to prevent data bottlenecks in massive AI clusters.

Goldman’s Delta One desk noted:

Cisco delivered strong guidance while continuing to cut heads… effectively reinforcing the “AI replacing labor while driving infrastructure demand” story.

Across the major hyperscalers, white-collar workers remain on edge as layoffs accelerate – from Meta’s plan to cut roughly 10% of its workforce to Oracle’s elimination of thousands. The pattern of behavior among hyperscalers is capital reallocation by slashing labor costs to free up more spending for AI infrastructure, with capex estimates approaching $700 billion this year. That AI-driven 

It appears the Iranians have boarded and seized another ship in the Persian Gulf region – this time as the vessel was anchored off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, and while it was reportedly en route to Iranian territorial waters.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Thursday that the vessel was seized by “unauthorized personnel”, with the initial incident being reported about 38 nautical miles northeast of the UAE port of Fujairah.

via Reuters

The agency said the ship’s company security officer reported that “the vessel has been taken by unauthorized personnel while at anchor and is now bound for Iranian Territorial Waters.”

UKMTO said it is seeking more information incident and urgently advised vessels operating in the area to report any suspicious activity. While the agency did not immediately identify the vessel, Reuters in follow up interestingly described that is a mere fishery research vessel. According to the report:

A vessel was boarded by unauthorized personnel ​on Thursday while at anchor northeast of the ‌United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah and was heading towards Iranian territorial waters, United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said.

Two maritime security sources ​said the ship was believed to be the Honduras-flagged ​Hui Chuan fishery research vessel.

Ship tracking data on the MarineTraffic platform indicates vessel ⁠was last seen in the Gulf ​of ‌Oman, just within Iran’s exclusive economic ​zone (EEZ) on ⁠May 12; however, an EEZ can still be considered international waters – though the Iranians are apparently not interpreting it that way.

In the face of the ongoing US naval blockade of Iranian ports, Tehran is seeking to assert its geographic and military leverage, enforcing an ‘Iranian protocol’ over the vital Strait of Hormuz oil and goods shipping waterway.

This week has seen Iran begin to let more Chinese vessels through, at the request of Beijing, and reportedly without imposing tolls either.

Bloomberg freshly reports Thursday of 30 Chinese ships, “The vessels were allowed to pass the Strait of Hormuz with the coordination of the Iranian authorities and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ navy, state TV reports, citing an IRGC naval official.”

Diplomacy has taken a back seat at the moment, as each warring side seeks to ‘wait out’ the other in hopes that enough economic pain can be imposed to ‘cry uncle’ – as President Trump himself has recently expressed.

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. government has reached a settlement with a former New York Times reporter who was kicked off Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic for posts about vaccines.

Officials in a settlement agreement dated May 11 and obtained by The Epoch Times said that the government “did in fact violate the First Amendment by exerting substantial coercive pressure on social media companies such as Twitter to suppress disfavored speech like Plaintiff’s,” referring to former New York reporter Alex Berenson.

Officials said they were paying Berenson $150,000 to settle the case, which was filed in 2023 against then-President Joe Biden, Pfizer board member Dr. Scott Gottlieb, and others. In exchange, Berenson moved to dismiss the case.

“I’d like to thank the Trump administration for acknowledging the government’s unconstitutional actions against me in 2021 and standing for my First Amendment rights as a journalist and American,” Berenson told The Epoch Times in an email.

The government under President Donald Trump already settled a case raising similar issues and involving multiple states, agreeing not to take actions “to threaten Social-Media Companies with some form of punishment (i.e., an adverse legal, regulatory, or economic government sanction) unless they remove, delete, suppress, or reduce, including through altering their algorithms, posted social-media content containing protected free speech.”

Twitter banned Berenson in 2021 after he wrote in opposition to mandating COVID-19 vaccination because “it doesn’t stop infection or transmission.”

Berenson and Twitter settled a different lawsuit arising from the same incidents, with Twitter acknowledging that it should not have banned the journalist.

Emails disclosed in other litigation showed that U.S. officials during the Biden administration, as well as Gottlieb, who is also a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, communicated to Twitter executives their view that Berenson’s posts violated Twitter rules and that he should be punished.

Berenson said in his lawsuit that the actions violated his First Amendment rights.

A federal judge in 2025 dismissed the suit against Gottlieb, a former White House adviser named Andrew Slavitt, and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, concluding that Berenson had not alleged “discriminatory animus” by the individuals. She later threw out the litigation against the government, finding that Berenson did not have standing to bring a First Amendment claim against federal officials.

Berenson, in an appeal, said that Twitter’s permanent suspension violated company policy, which required leadership approval, noting internal emails that showed top Twitter executives did not approve the ban.

He also said the case should not have been dismissed because he had adequately alleged discrimination.

“Defendants targeted Berenson’s speech by reason of his status as a representative speaking for and to unvaccinated Americans,” the appeal stated.

Berenson told The Epoch Times, “I look forward to continuing to pursue Pfizer board member Dr. Scott Gottlieb and chairman Dr. Albert Bourla for their role in the conspiracy to deplatform and silence me.”

Lawyers for Gottlieb and Bourla said in a May 11 brief to the appeals court that Berenson’s claims fail in part because unvaccinated Americans do not constitute a recognizable class, undercutting the discrimination allegations. They also said Gottlieb’s communications with Twitter were “noncoercive expressions of opinion on matters of public concern,” and thus protected by the First Amendment.

Today’s news cycle centers on President Donald Trump’s summit and state banquet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with early messaging from both sides pointing to a constructive first day. Once Trump concludes his China trip, if a peace deal emerges to de-escalate the Iran conflict – likely with Beijing leaning on Tehran to reopen the Hormuz chokepoint – the Trump administration’s attention may quickly pivot to the next pressure point: Communist-controlled Cuba.

As of mid-week, Cuba’s energy crisis has worsened and likely reached a breaking point, with Cuban Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy warning on state media that the island nation has run out of fuel for diesel generators, and blackouts now extend up to 22 hours per day in parts of the Havana metro area.

“The sum of the different types of fuel: crude oil, fuel oil, of which we have absolutely none; diesel, of which we have absolutely none … the only thing we have is gas from our wells, where production has grown,” De la O Levy told the BBC. 

The ongoing power grid crisis follows a months-long U.S. fuel blockade that has choked off oil imports, including supplies previously sourced from Venezuela and elsewhere.

Overnight, reports indicated that protests broke out in Communist-controlled Havana, with hundreds in the streets shouting, “Turn on the lights.”

The Trump administration says it is prepared to provide $100 million in direct humanitarian assistance if Havana permits it, while also pressing for political reforms, according to the State Department.

Related: 

Trump Says Cuba Is Seeking Help: ‘We Are Going To Talk’

“The decision rests with the Cuban regime to accept our offer of assistance or deny critical life-saving aid and ultimately be accountable to the Cuban people for standing in the way of critical assistance,” the statement said.

On Tuesday, ahead of Trump’s visit to China, he wrote on Truth Social that “Cuba is a failed country and is heading in one direction – down – while they’re asking for help and we are going to talk!”

Protests broke out across the Cuban capital of Havana as the city confronted its worst rolling blackouts in decades amid a U.S. blockade that has starved the island of fuel https://t.co/EDhaEqxJFR pic.twitter.com/R6301DXmNi

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 14, 2026

⚠️⚠️La Habana arde en protesta esta noche… imágenes de Lawton y Dolores que me envían con este mensaje:

“Hola Jorge, imágenes de calle Lawton y Dolores ahora mismo” pic.twitter.com/4Qq4mn282t

— Mag Jorge Castro🇨🇺 (@MagJorgeCastro) May 14, 2026

All in all, the messaging from the Trump administration and the current state of affairs in collapsed Cuba suggest Havana will soon be at the center of the news cycle.

The Trump administration is certainly trying to accomplish a lot in sprint fashion this year ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary. From Venezuela and cleaning up the Western Hemisphere to Iran and the Hormuz chokepoint, it appears the push to protect the empire, rewire energy flows, and ensure dollar dominance is in full effect.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time rose last week to 211k (more than the 205k expected), but remain well within the range of the last five years, near record lows…

Source: Bloomberg

Florida and Texas saw the biggest rise in initial claims while California and Michigan saw the largest declines…

Continuing jobless claims also rose modestly last week, up to 1.782mm Americans (but still well below the 1.9mm Maginot Line)…

Source: Bloomberg

Combined with last week’s positive payrolls print (and this week’s surging inflation data), expectations for Warsh rate-cuts have now evaporated (market expects 10bps of hikes in 2026).

During President Trump’s ongoing state visit to China, he and President Xi Jinping agreed that the ‌Strait of ‌Hormuz must be open for ‌the ⁠free flow of energy. They along with their senior officials have expressed agreement that no country can ​be allowed to exact shipping tolls in the Strait of Hormuz.

Following this, Thursday saw Iranian state media proclaim that some 30 Chinese vessels are being allowed safe passage by Iran. Bloomberg also freshly reports, “The vessels were allowed to pass the Strait of Hormuz with the coordination of the Iranian authorities and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ navy, state TV reports, citing an IRGC naval official.” While it’s as yet unknown or unclear whether the US Navy side of the de facto blockade will also let them pass, Reuters has also reported the following:

Iran ‌has begun allowing some Chinese vessels to transit through the Strait of Hormuz following an understanding over Iranian management protocols for the waterway, the semi-official Fars news agency said on Thursday, citing an informed source.

via Reuters

In particular the move also follows formal requests by China’s foreign minister as well as Beijing’s ambassador to Iran, with Tehran reportedly agreeing based on safeguarding the two allies’ strategic partnership.

Bloomberg cited the IRGC official as saying of the Iranian protocol for passage, “A new era in the Strait of Hormuz has started as many countries of the world and fleets have accepted that the best, quickest and simplest way for transiting this very important waterway is only though coordination with the IRGC’s naval forces.”

This was after Wednesday saw the key milestone of a Chinese supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude having successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz, after previously being stranded for more than two months.

Also of note is that the Chinese Cosco Shipping tanker did not have to pay tolls. According to The Wall Street Journal:

Lloyd’s List Intelligence data show the Yuan Hua Hu crossed the waterway through the corridor in the north controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Ship trackers said the vessel switched off its transponder while sailing from an anchorage in Dubai towards Larak, then came back online for a couple of hours before going dark again. Ships crossing through Larak pay an average of $2 million each, according to brokers.

The Yuan Hua Hu is the third Chinese state-owned tanker to leave the Gulf since the start of the war.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott emphasized earlier this week that Washington and Beining “agreed that no country or organization can be allowed to charge tolls to pass through international waterways like the Strait of Hormuz.”

China imports the bulk of its energy from the Middle East, and while it has amassed substantial crude oil stockpiles that are helping it weather the worst of the crisis – anecdotally over 1.4 billion barrels – restoring normal flows from the Persian Gulf is important for one of the world’s top energy importers.

Are Iran and China coordinating behind the scenes to seek to take negotiating leverage away from Trump?

Chinese companies are in talks for major new arms sales to Iran, explicitly ignoring Trump’s letter to Xi before his arrival.

And in return, Iran just granted more than 10 Chinese ships, including oil tankers, passage through the Strait of Hormuz — preempting any U.S. attempt to… pic.twitter.com/k4H3vG0vgb

— MeidasClips (@MeidasClips) May 13, 2026

Earlier in the war, reports emerged that Beijing had pressured Iranian officials to stop attacking vessels carrying crude oil and LNG via Hormuz. Judging from later events that involved Iranian strikes on vessels in the chokepoint, Tehran did not yield to the pressure.

After a big jump in March, retail sales likely cooled in April, according to BofA’s almost omniscient forecast as they see spending on gasoline providing a smaller boost and auto sales moderating, after an early Easter pulled forward some seasonal demand into March. The “holiday shift” dynamic also may have contributed to softer activity after Easter.

However, the actual print was +0.5% MoM (as consensus expected – and hotter than BofA’s forecast), lifting sales by 4.9% YoY – the strongest gain since Aug 2025

Source: Bloomberg

Gas Stations and Nonstore (Online) Retailers were the biggest positive factor while Motor Vehicle & Parts and Clothing were the biggest drags…

Source: Bloomberg

Most importantly, the ‘Control Group’ which plugs into the GDP calculation rose 0.5% MoM (better than expected) and March was revised higher…

Source: Bloomberg

Interestingly, ‘real’ retail sales (admittedly crudely adjusted via CPI) have rebounded from a negative print in December…

Source: Bloomberg

So far it seems spending continues despite record low consumer sentiment?

Who exactly is UMich surveying for this?