Zero Rss

Another OPEC Exit? Iraq Warns It Could Abandon Oil Cartel If Quota Hike Rejected

Iraq is sending a warning shot to OPEC: raise Baghdad's oil production quota to better reflect its capacity and fiscal needs, or risk yet another defection from the oil-producing cartel.

"The ministry currently has no intention of withdrawing from OPEC, and we remain committed to operating within the organization's framework and mechanisms," Oil Ministry spokesman Salim Al-Rikabi told Bloomberg via a text message.

Al-Rikabi warned, "Of course, taking into consideration that the Ministry is moving forward with increasing its production to align with its capabilities and needs, the organization should raise Iraq's production level. Otherwise, a decision will have to be made regarding whether to remain in or withdraw from OPEC."

Iraq's threat to leave OPEC comes two months after the UAE formally left the oil cartel, which now comprises 11 members, including Algeria, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.

The UAE ranks among the top producers in OPEC (4.05 million bpd) and left the group due to its growing capacity ambitions (targeting 5 million bpd by 2027).

We noted at the time...

OPEC finished https://t.co/RtxJdZQeQh

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 28, 2026

On a normal, pre-disruption OPEC basis, Iraq and the UAE were huge:

A possible exodus of Iraq, on top of the UAE's recent exit, would only further weaken OPEC's ability to defend price floors, especially during periods of glut.

However, a separate Bloombreg report said Iraq walked back its threat to leave... 

"The reports suggesting that Iraq is considering ending its membership in OPEC do not reflect the official position of the Iraqi Government. Neither the Prime Minister nor the Government of Iraq has proposed withdrawing from the Organization," the Oil Ministry said in a statement.

Tyler Durden Thu, 06/25/2026 - 07:45

The AI Race Will Be Won Or Lost On Power Infrastructure

By Amanda Simonian, chief marketing officer at TerraFlow Energy, first published in UtilityDive

Over the past several months, moving between conversations on Capitol Hill, industry conferences, and meetings with operators, developers and policymakers, I have been struck by how often very different discussions keep circling back to the same underlying concern: power. In congressional offices, it comes up through the language of energy security, industrial policy and what it will take to keep infrastructure ahead of rising electricity demand. Across the industry, it surfaces through a more operational vocabulary: interconnection bottlenecks, volatile load growth, transmission constraints and the practical question of where the next gigawatt comes from.

Data centers in Stutsman County, N.D. 

What made those conversations interesting wasn’t simply that policymakers and operators were focused on the same issue. It was that many of the proposed answers still seemed rooted in an assumption that deserves more scrutiny. Much of today’s discussion treats AI-driven load growth primarily as a supply challenge. Demand is rising sharply, so the answer must be to build more generation.

That’s true, but only partially.

I’ve come away increasingly convinced the sector may be treating what is fundamentally an infrastructure performance challenge as though it were only a generation problem. Those aren’t the same thing, and the distinction matters. In many places, the strain emerging around rapid load growth isn’t just about whether enough electrons can be produced. It’s about whether the systems carrying, balancing and responding to that power can perform reliably as loads become denser, more dynamic and far less predictable than the grid was originally designed to support.

There are signs of that pressure showing up across the country already. Recent warnings from the PJM Interconnection around reserve margins, rising demand scenarios in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and analysis from the Electric Power Research Institute projecting major increases in data center electricity consumption all point toward a common reality: this isn’t a regional anomaly, and it isn’t a problem sitting comfortably on the horizon. It is beginning to surface now in ways that challenge longstanding planning assumptions.

That is part of why the “just build more generation” framing feels incomplete. More supply matters, but supply alone doesn’t resolve congestion at constrained nodes, instability caused by volatile load behavior, or the local system stress created when large loads concentrate faster than infrastructure can adapt. In some cases, responding to those pressures primarily through generation additions risks solving for scarcity while leaving unresolved, or even exacerbating, the performance challenges underneath.

That isn’t simply a fuel problem, but a systems problem, and systems problems tend to get harder when they’re diagnosed too narrowly.

Even actions like Executive Order 14156 and subsequent federal actions on grid infrastructure suggest growing recognition that energy systems are becoming a strategic competitiveness issue. But the more important question may not be how quickly infrastructure can be deployed, but whether the infrastructure being prioritized is designed for the character of demand now emerging. Speed matters, but architecture matters too.

If infrastructure performance is becoming a limiting factor, then planning, procurement and policy frameworks need to start valuing flexibility and operational capability alongside megawatts. Resource adequacy models should account not only for how much capacity a resource provides, but also for how effectively it responds to rapid load variability. Interconnection and permitting processes should encourage architectures that reduce stress on local infrastructure rather than simply adding demand. Utilities, regulators and large-load customers should be evaluating infrastructure based on its ability to improve system resilience, absorb volatility and support grid performance under real operating conditions.

As the character of demand changes, the metrics used to evaluate infrastructure likely need to change with it. The question is no longer only whether new resources can produce electricity. It’s whether they help the system operate more reliably as load growth accelerates. That matters because the public debate is still asking a narrower question than the moment demands. We often ask whether the U.S. can build enough electricity to support AI growth. A harder and more consequential question is whether we can build power systems capable of supporting that growth reliably. One is fundamentally about supply. The other is about whether the system itself can hold under stress.

Those are not the same challenge.

Tyler Durden Thu, 06/25/2026 - 07:20

Heat Dome Sends European Power Prices Soaring

An intense heat wave continues to bake France and parts of Europe, with temperatures surging well above the 30-year average for this time of year.

Welcome to summer. 

They think we are stupid, that our memories cannot stretch back to when life was normal, and when our lives were not based on fear...

Summer, it gets hot, Winter it gets cold...

It's NORMAL. https://t.co/hYHvZ3dI2w

— 🇨🇭🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿InLucysHead🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇨🇭© (@InsideLucysHead) June 24, 2026

In France, the average daily temperature reached 85.6F on Tuesday, according to Météo-France, while Pissos in southwest France hit 111.7F.

The heat dome parked over Western Europe is set to fade by the end of the week, but temperatures will remain well above the 30-year seasonal average.

French evening power prices on Tuesday soared to their highest level since the 2022 energy crisis, while German power prices hit two-year highs. In Belgium, peak-hour power prices for Wednesday evening jumped to 933.28 euros per megawatt-hour on EPEX Spot.

French grid operator RTE is preparing for possible heat-related disruptions, including de-energizing power lines.

The heat is also straining climate-friendly power grids because of low wind generation, while heat-related restrictions at French nuclear plants have created a perfect storm of tight power supply just as millions of residential and commercial buildings crank up their air conditioning.

Red heat warnings have also been issued across Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the UK through Thursday.

Bloomberg noted, "France is at the epicenter of this month’s heat wave, as a high-pressure heat dome is reinforced by atmospheric shifts linked to a developing El Niño." 

Latest El Niño coverage:

• Super El Nino: Famine Follows War?
• Trader's Guide To Navigating The "Super El Niño"
• First Major Weather Organization Declares El Nino Onset As Food Inflation Risks Intensify

Meanwhile, it's quite nice in Washington, DC, right now, with average temperatures holding below 30-year averages. 

When Democrats are not ramming through radical de-growth climate bills, their climate propaganda machine goes quiet. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 06/25/2026 - 06:55

Chinese Humanoids Take On Penalty Challenge As Messi, Ronaldo Light Up FIFA World Cup

Authored by Jijo Malayil via Interesting Engineering,

As the World Cup fever grows around stars like Messi and Ronaldo, Shanghai hosts a unique penalty shootout featuring humanoid robots.

Humanoid robots are stepping up for a penalty shootout.Boston Dynamics/YouTube

At MWC Shanghai 2026, humanoid robots are stepping up to the spot in the Humanoid Robot Football Penalties Challenge, testing the limits of robotics, AI, machine vision, and real-time motion control.

According to Chinese media outlets, the event showcases how embodied AI performs under pressure, highlighting next-generation autonomous technology through football-inspired challenges.

Ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Hyundai Motor recently launched a football-themed campaign featuring Boston Dynamics' Atlas humanoid robot.

Humanoid football test

On its opening day at MWC Shanghai 2026 on June 24, the spotlight quickly shifted from keynote speeches to a live demonstration of embodied AI in action: the Humanoid Robot Football Penalties Challenge.

Held within the Mobile AI Innovation Frontiers Zone at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, the event is designed as a controlled stress test for real-time autonomous decision-making, where humanoid robots must read the goal, judge angles, and execute penalty kicks without pre-programmed sequences, external control, or resets, reported CGTN.

While official details of the participating humanoid robots remain limited, videos circulating online suggest models from Booster Robotics and Unitree Robotics taking part in the challenge.

In the penalties challenge itself, participating humanoids are evaluated on perception accuracy, balance control, motion planning, and adaptive response under game-like pressure. Each robot must independently interpret ball position and goalkeeper movement before committing to a strike, making split-second corrections based on sensor feedback.

The format escalates through semi-finals and a final scheduled for June 25, intensifying constraints to simulate high-pressure competitive conditions. By turning a universally understood sports moment - the penalty kick - into a robotics benchmark, the showcase highlights how far embodied AI has progressed toward coordinated, human-like physical intelligence in unpredictable environments.

Atlas soccer showcase

In a recent football demonstration by Boston Dynamics, an Atlas robot is shown standing before a large display screen, closely tracking player movements, body positioning, and in-game reactions across football footage. After each clip ends, Atlas moves into a practice zone where it immediately attempts to reproduce the actions it has just observed, effectively linking visual perception with physical execution in real time.

The footage highlights a series of football-inspired motions. In one sequence, the robot shifts its weight, swings a leg forward, and smoothly guides a ball across the floor with controlled contact. It then progresses through rapid training drills focused on balance, coordination, and timing. As the session continues, Atlas's movements appear increasingly fluid, suggesting the system is being evaluated not only for strength but also for agility, reflex response, and adaptive motor control.

Some of the most notable moments show Atlas imitating human emotional reactions. After completing a drill, it raises its arms in celebration, mirroring a footballer's goal celebration. In another instance, it drops to one knee and pauses, recreating an injury response seen in match footage it had just observed.

Hyundai Motor Company, parent of Boston Dynamics, described the demonstration as Atlas's first exposure to football under its "School of Football" initiative. The company has also indicated potential plans to showcase Atlas and the quadruped robot Spot at the FIFA World Cup, though their exact roles remain undisclosed.

Tyler Durden Thu, 06/25/2026 - 06:30

European Rearmament Efforts Snuffed By Chinese Control Of Critical Materials

Yesterday we reported that, in a tit-for-tat move, China announced it is targeting US rare earths firms in response to a Pentagon list of Chinese firms: this, as Rabobank noted, is largely a symbolic move, but it still underlines the tensions in this area. So does the Nikkei reporting that ‘China minerals control threatens EU rearmament, as bloc seeks new sources’: because, as Rabo's Michael Every notes, even if you can afford a dagger, you can’t make it without rare earths, and Europe still hasn’t secured enough supply. 

Taking a closer look at the report, Nikkei writes that the European Union's aggressive plans to boost defense capabilities are hampered by China's export controls and sales restrictions on critical raw materials, with the bloc's leaders now calling on countries to accelerate the diversification of their supply chains.

The European Commission last week said that it will propose a new law that will require companies in the bloc to expand their suppliers to address economic imbalances, although it did not name China.

Russia's war in Ukraine and growing uncertainty over Washington's security guarantees have pushed governments in Europe to increase military spending and production. But for 17 of the 34 materials classified as critical by the EU, China accounts for at least 70% of global mining or refining, a report published by Teer in May shows. Eight of those 34 materials are subject to Chinese export controls.

"China is in the process of pulling the rug out from under Europe's rearmament efforts," said Joris Teer, a policy analyst at the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), the bloc's agency for foreign, security and defense policy analysis.

"By just deploying this weapon, China has already increased its leverage, signaling both its capacity and willingness to squeeze supply at any moment of its choosing," Teer wrote.

Escalating geopolitical developments and intensifying global competition for critical raw materials underline the growing need to strengthen Europe's supply chains, said the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe. The organization represents over 4,000 companies including the U.K.'s BAE Systems, France's Thales and Germany's Rheinmetall.

European defense manufacturers are pursuing several strategies including vertical integration, recycling, diversification and stockpiling. Rheinmetall told Nikkei Asia it had "no dependencies" and was "well prepared with regard to critical minerals."

"Rheinmetall has stored key raw materials, enough to last for several years," a spokesperson said. "We have implemented IT systems that enable us to centrally monitor and control raw material consumption across the group with precision."

Rheinmetall's FV-014 loitering munition drone on exhibition at a recent aerospace trade show in Berlin. The German multinational company is repurposing two plants that make automotive parts into weapons manufacturers

But analysts warn that stockpiling alone will not be enough.

"Stockpiling is an important buffer against immediate disruptions, but on its own it is unlikely to reduce structural damage over the long term," said Maria Shagina, senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. She said it would take years for alternative sources to replace either the volumes or the range of critical minerals that Beijing controls.

In 2024, the EU introduced the European Critical Raw Materials Act, aimed at rebuilding domestic supply chains for such minerals. It sets 2030 targets for domestic extraction, processing and recycling, while capping reliance on any single third-country supplier at 65%. A 3 billion-euro ($3.5 billion) fund was launched last year to accelerate strategic projects.

But the European Court of Auditors notes that the 2030 targets are nonbinding and that the bloc remains far from achieving them. Industry groups say policy inconsistencies could slow progress further.

The Cobalt Institute, representing an industry vital to jet engines, advanced batteries and defense alloys, said proposed EU rules involving chemicals risk hollowing out the sector.

"Europe is one foot in, one foot out," said Michael Blakeney, head of government and public affairs at the London-based institute. "It is saying all the right things, but what it is doing is incoherent."

Europe's efforts coincide with an aggressive approach by the U.S. to secure critical mineral supply chains.

"The U.S. is deploying more capital, taking larger financial risks and in some cases acquiring equity stakes to secure and build capacity," Shagina said. "By contrast, Europe has generally been more cautious ... leaving [it] at a relative disadvantage in competing for critical minerals."

In April, the EU signed an agreement with the U.S. to coordinate critical mineral supplies. Following initial resistance over fears it could dilute the bloc's strategic autonomy, member states authorized the commission earlier in June to sign up to the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative, which coordinates investment and export-control policies.

Teer urged the European bloc to use ongoing U.S.-EU-Japan negotiations as the "nucleus" of a wider coalition to make non-Chinese critical mineral production financially viable, backed by state support, price floors and procurement rules.

"Particularly important are raw material producers, or deposit holders, like Malaysia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil and Indonesia, as well as countries with vast skilled-workforce potential like India," he wrote in the paper.

To deter further Chinese restrictions, he said the EU also should activate its anti-coercion instrument, which allows it to impose tariffs and restrictions as a response to economic coercion by countries outside of the bloc.

A European Commission spokesperson said the bloc had "long recognized the risks linked to the EU's dependencies on critical raw materials."

"The objective is clear: Anticipate disruptions early and reduce the EU's vulnerabilities as we scale up our industrial and defense capacities," the spokesperson said.

Tyler Durden Thu, 06/25/2026 - 05:45

EU Commissioner Claims That Ukraine Is Gaining The Upper Hand On The Battlefield, In the Air, And At Sea

Via Remix News,

Ukraine is gaining the upper hand on the battlefield, in the air and at sea, while Ukrainian drones have stopped Russia’s ground advance and are causing serious disruptions to Russian logistics, EU Commissioner for Defense and Space Policy Andrius Kubilius said on Tuesday in Brussels.

In his speech launching the European defense and security summit, the commissioner pointed out that Ukrainian drones can paralyze the supply of the Russian army up to 300 kilometers from the front lines.

According to the EU commissioner, Ukraine is no longer just a beneficiary of international subsidies, but also contributes to the protection of other countries.

Kubilius said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is reacting to Ukrainian successes with increasingly desperate attacks. He cited last week’s attack on the Kyiv monastery as an example, which he called an attack on culture, religion and civilization.

According to the commissioner, Russia continues to pose a threat to Europe’s security, and Moscow may be able to test NATO’s Article 5, which establishes collective defense. At the same time, he emphasized that Ukraine’s successes do not mean the end of the war, nor do they mean that Russia is weak.

As he said, Russia is still able to produce weapons and drones in large quantities, so Europe must prepare to strengthen its own defense capabilities.

According to Kubilius, the United States is increasingly encouraging Europe to take greater responsibility for its own security. He emphasized: “Europe must be prepared for the fact that some capabilities of the American forces may be regrouped in other regions, so European defense capacities must be urgently strengthened.”

Kubilius warned that without replenishing American strategic capabilities, Europe’s defenses and deterrent power could be weakened.

“If European countries do not fill these gaps in ability, it could be an open invitation for Russia to test the West’s resolve,” he said.

He added that the necessary resources for this can be available primarily at the national level. He reminded that based on their commitments to NATO, the member states can spend a total of around €7 trillion for defense purposes over the next ten years.

At the same time, the Commissioner stressed the need for these resources to be utilized in a coordinated manner and within a European framework.

He also emphasized that the EU should integrate Ukraine within the framework of a future defense union.

“It would be difficult to understand if we Europeans did not see it as a vital interest to integrate Ukraine’s military power into the European defence system,” he said.

He also noted that the European Commission is expected to present the first proposals for the further integration of the European defense market as early as next week, which include a detailed analysis and ideas for further steps.

Kubilius added that even this year they will propose amendments to defense procurement rules and other market regulations.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Thu, 06/25/2026 - 05:00

India's Imports Of Russian Oil Set For New Record High

India is set to import a record-high volume of Russian crude in June as the Hormuz crisis and the U.S. waivers on Russia’s barrels have pushed the world’s third-largest crude importer to gorge on Moscow’s oil again, OilPrice reported.

India has imported 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude oil so far in June, according to preliminary vessel-tracking data from commodity analytics firm Kpler cited by Indian media.

So far this month, Russian crude has accounted for as much as 53.5% of all Indian oil imports, per the data.   

Russian crude now makes up HALF of India’s oil imports in June!
India is importing 2.66 million barrels per day of Russian oil — which is nearly 40% higher than May.
This has strengthened Russia’s position as India’s largest oil supplier.
Key Points:
• Russian oil share has… pic.twitter.com/A5zWie3U4B

— Dr. Rakesh Bansal (@iamrakeshbansal) June 22, 2026

India’s full-month imports of Russian crude are set for a record-high of 2.35 million bpd in June for any month ever, Kpler has estimated. This would exceed the previous record of 2.2 million bpd from May 2023. 

Going forward, Russian crude will remain a key source of supply for India even if the U.S. does not extend the waiver for Russian crude already loaded on tankers, analysts say. Which is odd because when viewed from the other side, the picture is a mirror image: as shown in the chart below, Russian crude oil exports to India have reportedly plunged to just 555kb/d in the last week, the lowest volume in 4 years.

In other words, there is a disconnect in the data. 

In any case, last week, as it announced the memorandum of understanding with Iran, the U.S. quietly let the waiver on Russian oil sales expire without renewing it.

“India’s imports remained strong through June, supported by continued discounts and steady refinery demand,” Sumit Ritolia, manager, modelling and refining at Kpler, told Financial Express.

“Regardless of whether the US waiver is extended, we expect India’s imports of Russian crude to remain robust, even if not at record-high levels.”

India turned en masse to Russian oil in 2022, when the U.S. and the EU imposed sanctions on Moscow due to the invasion of Ukraine. Four years later, India is a major buyer of Russia’s crude, and Russia is India’s single-largest oil supplier.

As supply from the Middle East crashes, India is also buying growing volumes of crude from West African producers Nigeria and Angola, as well as from South American producers Brazil and Venezuela.

Tyler Durden Thu, 06/25/2026 - 04:15

London's West End To Be Blanketed With AI Facial Recognition Cameras

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

In the latest dystopian lunge toward a total surveillance state, the London Metropolitan Police has confirmed plans to deploy static live facial recognition cameras in the West End, including Soho and areas around major theatres and retail spots, with installation targeted for the end of this year.

Six additional areas are slated for rollout in 2027. The fixed cameras, mounted on lampposts and street furniture, will operate continuously and can be repositioned based on shifting crime patterns.

Privacy campaigners warn the move creates "digital police lineups" for innocent theatregoers and shoppers in one of Britain's busiest tourist zones, escalating a technology already used to scan millions of faces.

Police expand live facial recognition to one of Britain's most touristic areas and key crime hotspothttps://t.co/cp14lziQ1C

— GB News (@GBNEWS) June 23, 2026

The expansion fits a clear pattern of UK authorities layering physical biometric surveillance onto existing efforts to shape online narratives, restrict speech, and monitor public discourse under pretexts of safety and disinformation control.

During a six-month pilot in South London earlier this year, static cameras scanned approximately 470,000 faces, resulting in over 170 arrests, and they claim recording just one false alert. Police claim that non-matches have their biometric data deleted immediately.

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley described the technology as "one of the most revolutionary technology advances in policing in recent years," adding "Public confidence in this is clear - around 80 per cent of Londoners support its use.

Rowley also stated the force wants "to build on our success by introducing this capability to the West End and Soho by December. The use of static cameras will help us continue cutting crime in high-footfall areas in central London."

Policing Minister Sarah Jones has backed nationwide expansion with record investment. Dee Corsi of the New West End Company welcomed a potential West End pilot, saying it offers "a significant opportunity" to tackle crime and boost public confidence.

Millions face having their faces scanned as Met Police expand the use of facial recognition to London's West End https://t.co/f8oCnM6y25

— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) June 23, 2026

Critics see something far more intrusive. Big Brother Watch's Silkie Carlo called the fixed-camera expansion "an alarming escalation of an intrusive technology which has already scanned the faces of millions of innocent Londoners."

She further stated: "Forcing people to enter a digital police lineup in the capital's busiest and most popular destinations is an affront to the idea that you should not have to identify yourself to the police if you have done nothing wrong. To see a play, you must now pay with your privacy."

?Breaking: Met Police to expand Orwellian FIXED live facial recognition cameras into London's West End by Christmas & six other areas in 2027

"Expanding the use of live facial recognition to static cameras is an alarming escalation of an intrusive technology which has already... pic.twitter.com/pSaMkJCh3D

— Big Brother Watch (@BigBrotherWatch) June 23, 2026

Jack Coulson, Head of Advocacy at Big Brother Watch, echoed the concern: "Legislation to regulate the police's use of facial recognition is expected in the Autumn. Yet the police are rushing ahead with AI monitoring of the public under their own rules. We are calling on the Met to stop this experiment until, at least, Parliament has spoken. Policing by consent is a cultural inheritance we must protect. Permanent biometric surveillance of the public square is incompatible with that ideal."

??The Government is expanding the use of Orwellian facial recognition surveillance

Here's why YOU should be worried & join the fight to #StopFacialRecognition

??Take action: https://t.co/KIFHRGsYLj pic.twitter.com/qz6a3G4EF9

— Big Brother Watch (@BigBrotherWatch) June 13, 2026

Liberty director Akiko Hart described the West End move as a "major escalation" and urged the Met to pause expansion until proper legal safeguards exist. A joint civil society push, including Article 19 and Big Brother Watch, has already written to the Home Office demanding future facial recognition laws protect privacy rather than enable unchecked state power.

?Stop the uncontrolled use of facial recognition

Together with leading rights groups, we've just delivered this message to the @ukhomeoffice calling on the Government to rein in this Orwellian tech

Read the joint statement??https://t.co/SueHOsuwcH pic.twitter.com/KydCl6e7rW

— Big Brother Watch (@BigBrotherWatch) June 10, 2026

Previous deployments underscore the rapid creep. Big Brother Watch highlighted live facial recognition operations in Waltham Forest and Islington in mid-June, labeling them an "enormous expansion of the surveillance state" that sets a dangerous precedent.

??Police are deploying Orwellian live facial recognition in #WalthamForest and #Islington today.

This tech is an enormous expansion of the surveillance state & it sets a dangerous precedent worldwide.

Sign our petition to #StopFacialRecognition??https://t.co/9do8SIF81t

— Big Brother Watch (@BigBrotherWatch) June 18, 2026

Earlier warnings detailed government moves to broaden the technology's use nationwide and documented cases of innocent people wrongly targeted, including shoppers ejected from stores via facial recognition systems.

??An innocent man was WRONGLY kicked out of a Sainsbury's shop using facial recognition

This dangerously authoritarian surveillance is a threat to our privacy and freedoms — it has no place on the streets of Britain.#StopFacialRecognition pic.twitter.com/ACnmZE8GrB

— Big Brother Watch (@BigBrotherWatch) June 19, 2026

This street-level biometric dragnet does not exist in isolation. It forms part of a wider architecture of control.

The facial recognition technology is presented as essential because root problems - including crime linked to failed integration and lax border policies - remain unaddressed. London's West End, long a symbol of British openness and culture, now risks becoming a permanent testing ground for mass biometric monitoring of ordinary citizens who have committed no offense.

Permanent AI enhanced surveillance infrastructure in public spaces undermines the principle that the state must justify intrusion, not assume it. Real security comes from competent policing, secure borders, and addressing the policy failures that create high-crime environments in the first place - not from turning every street corner into a digital checkpoint.

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.

Tyler Durden Thu, 06/25/2026 - 03:30

Albanian PM Pooh-Poohs 'Pink Flamingo' Protesters Opposing Jared Kushner Resorts

After weeks of daily protests, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama is digging in to defend two luxury resort projects backed by Jared Kushner's investment company that have resulted in thousands of people protesting in the streets of the capital Tirana and on the southern coast, where one of the resorts is slated to be built. 

Protesters opposed to two planned resorts in ecologically sensitive areas, in Tirana, on June 12.Photographer: Atdhe Mulla/Bloomberg

The opposition has dubbed itself the "Flamingo Revolution" due to the impact on a protected wetland home to flamingoes, seals, and sea turtle nesting sites - with protesters hoisting inflatable pink birds and signs opposing the projects.The demonstrations began late last month as site preparations began on the Zuvernec peninsula - while Kushner's wife, Ivanka Trump, went on a podcast and discussed plans to develop the island of Sazan. 

The resort development he champions is the brainchild of Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, who described falling in love with Albania a few years ago while visiting on a boat. Rama met them on that trip and found ​them to be "very nice, humble...humanly good people."

Now, ​Kushner's investment firm Affinity Partners is ⁠involved in the €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion) project near the Vjosa-Narta protected area, and another one on nearby Sazan Island.

Together the projects are worth up to €5 billion, Rama said. -Reuters

According to Rama, the protesters are not engaging in genuine demonstrations - rather, it's "political theater," he told Bloomberg on Tuesday - claiming that the protests are backed by "an enormous digital amplification ecosystem that is clearly not organic," and has blamed Iran and others due to the fact that Albania is home to 3,000 members of an exiled Iranian opposition group, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (REUTERS/Florion Goga)

"Neither a loud minority, joined by every opposition force, nor a wave of digitally amplified outrage fueled by the global fascination with the Trump name attached to what I believe is an extraordinary opportunity for Albania (and further amplified by the interference of malign foreign actors) will divert us from implementing our Albania 2030 Vision," he told the outlet. 

Abandoned former military housing on Sazan island, Albania.Photographer: Atdhe Mulla/Bloomberg

"Our standard is clear: law, science, transparency and European obligations - not hysteria," Rama told Bloomberg. "We are opening the country, protecting its natural assets, attracting serious investment and moving steadily toward EU membership."

Tyler Durden Thu, 06/25/2026 - 02:45

So, How's Spain's Mass Migrant Amnesty Working Out?

Authored by Aaron Hanscom via PJMedia.com,

Half a million.

That's the number that made headlines in April when Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialist government approved plans to grant legal status to 500,000 illegal migrants.

But a leaked police report warned that the true number could be much higher, estimating that between 750,000 and 1 million illegal migrants living in Spain could apply for amnesty, in addition to 250,000 to 350,000 asylum seekers.

The report described the amnesty plan's "very intense media impact, especially in Latin America" and warned of a "highly relevant pull factor," which we will return to in a moment.

The conservative Popular Party (PP) also disputed the government's estimates, saying the true number could be double and calling the plan an "outrage." Sánchez, whom The Economist has called the leader of Europe’s anti-Trump resistance, anticipating such criticism, wrote in a New York Times op-ed in January that "MAGA-style leaders may say that our country can’t handle taking in so many migrants — that this is a suicidal move, the desperate act of a collapsing country."

Well, the numbers are starting to come in and, just as Joe Biden's weak border enforcement in the U.S. created a "pull factor" that led to average monthly border crossings of over 100,000, Sánchez’s policies are having a similar magnet effect, far exceeding his government’s estimates. 

Even though the asylum application window remains open until June 30, 900,000 applications have already been submitted, a record number for Spain. The European Conservative reports that "approximately 350,000 additional applications have been submitted since the start of June, a surge that has caught authorities off guard." The publication notes that these numbers are much higher than the last time mass amnesty was tried in Spain, in 2005 under the Socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who these days spends his time in court as the subject of a graft probe. Zapatero's program granted 576,000 residence permits from 691,000 applications received.

Sánchez, of course, looks at every new immigrant as a potential future voter who won't care about the mind-boggling corruption within his Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). As increasing numbers of Spaniards take to the streets to demand the prime minister's resignation, Muslim migrants are among his most loyal supporters. In the video below, we meet a Muslim store owner a minute in, with a poster of Sánchez on his shop wall, who says Muslims are “100%" going to vote for  the prime minister if they become citizens. Why? Because he "stands with Iran and Palestine." Indeed he does.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a poster of Santiago Abascal, the leader of the rising populist/conservative Vox party, in any Muslim-owned shops in Spain. Abascal, who has said that it is "inhumane to tell all of Africa and all of America that they can fit into Spain," warned in April that mass amnesty will increase crime in the streets of Spain and accelerate the country's housing and public healthcare crises.

And it's not just Spanish politicians who are criticizing Sánchez's policies.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told Sánchez in a closed-door meeting in Brussels last week that his amnesty plan negatively affects all EU countries. It was at that EU leaders' meeting in Brussels that Sánchez opposed, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, plans for offshore migrant deportation hubs. Politico reports:

The disagreement comes days after the EU approved legislation allowing members to establish deportation hubs in third countries as part of a push to ensure failed asylum-seekers leave the bloc. While it’s still unclear how many capitals could take advantage of the rule change, 19 of the EU 27 signed up to a joint Danish-Italian letter, first reported by POLITICO, calling for swift action on deportations.

“Countries are now working … to implement the new possibilities, including hubs in third countries. We will personally lead the way to make sure our visions are brought to life,” the letter circulated Friday morning reads.

Spain opposes EU plans for offshore deportation hubs, arguing they raise legal and humanitarian concerns, while other countries including Italy and Denmark view the hubs as a key tool to deter irregular migration and speed up removals.

What Sánchez calls a humanitarian immigration policy, an increasing number of European politicians, including Abascal and Meloni, see as an invitation to invasion.

Watch the video below and decide for yourself:

Tyler Durden Thu, 06/25/2026 - 02:00

National Insecurity: America's Continuing Reliance On Critical Chinese Materials

Authored by Benjamin Weingarten via RealClearWire,

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 - with face masks, gloves, and other basic protections in high demand - Chinese leaders threatened to plunge America into the "mighty sea of coronavirus" by withholding essential medical supplies in retaliation for measures such as the U.S. travel ban on visitors from China.

The threat, issued through a Chinese Communist Party organ, brought into stark relief China's strategy to subdue would-be foes by rendering them reliant on its exports for life's necessities - prompting a pledge from U.S. policymakers to address supply chain issues that made the country vulnerable to a hostile power.

Six years later, despite a raft of initiatives - including tariffs, made-in-America requirements, and the makings of a responsive U.S. industrial policy embraced by the Biden and Trump administrations - America's effort to reduce dependence on China in pivotal sectors has been slow and faces a slew of challenges.

Headlines heralding the decline in U.S. imports from China to levels not seen since the depths of the pandemic mask the fact that America's chief rival continues to control chokepoints in supply chains that provide urgent military assets, key technologies, and important medicines.

The Chinese government recently demonstrated its ability to weaponize critical sectors when it responded to U.S. tariffs by restricting exports of rare earth materials and magnets that are critical to American defense systems and weapons. War-gamers have indicated that the control over those supply chains may become paramount should China invade Taiwan or engage in other hostilities that might draw an American military response. Some estimates have indicated that such a struggle could wipe out 10% of global GDP - albeit damaging China and the U.S. alike.

Some experts say the major stumbling block is the private sector, which remains at odds with policymakers in tilting away from China, and has long relished its large market and cheap labor pool. Isaac Stone Fish, the CEO of Strategy Risks, a China-focused business risk analysis firm, told RealClearInvestigations that "Despite all the tough talk," and economic and geopolitical tensions, his firm's analysis shows that dozens of major U.S. companies have increased their engagement with China during 2026.

To treat supply chain threats as an economic problem and leave it to be addressed by free enterprise - rather than as a national security challenge requiring whole-of-society mobilization - is a fatal error, according to Leland Miller, a U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission member.

"[A]s long as you allow market dynamics to dictate what the U.S. is doing...you're going to lose," Miller said.

China's Commanding Position

The Trump and Biden administrations have both highlighted the significance of the supply chain challenge to our national security, economic security, and public health. These include China's commanding positions in:

• Global rare earth materials, where China controls more than 60% of production and nearly 90% of refining capacity, giving it a chokehold on inputs vital to the manufacturing of everything from automobiles and medical equipment to defense products and spacecrafts;
• Components or materials key to U.S. military hardware, ranging from U.S. aircraft carriers to missile defense systems and tanks, which are produced in or sourced from China;
• Foundational semiconductors, used in practically all applications that include advanced chips from vehicles to medical devices and military systems, where China is the global production leader;
• Printed circuit board fabrication, a core component in modern electronics, from telecommunications satellites to ventilators and smartphones, where Chinese firms control more than two-thirds of the global market;
• Medicine, a field in which China controls approximately 90% of the global supply of key starting materials in active pharmaceutical ingredients in generic drugs, with over 60% of U.S. drugs containing key inputs from China and India.

To attain these positions, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission wrote in its 2025 annual report, "China has deliberately pursued a strategy of expanding production and deepening global dependence on Chinese exports while reducing its own reliance on imports. This strategy builds on decades of industrial policy that led to a concentration of supply chains in China and undercut competitors by flooding global markets with subsidized, underpriced goods."

China's tactics in pursuit of this strategy have ranged from government subsidies and currency manipulation to intellectual property theft and industrial espionage, forced labor, and product "dumping at artificially low prices - and, as it has increasingly been met with resistance, export controls."

Tariffs and Stockpiles

The tariff regime, enacted during the first Trump administration and mostly continued under the Biden administration, is one key tactic the U.S. government has used to counter China's playbook. Other policies have included directly stockpiling critical resources; securing strategic sectors through fostering international alliances and public-private partnerships; permitting reform; trade enforcement actions; incentives for re-shoring; and export controls.

"This is a whole-of-government effort across key industry sectors including critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, autos, steel, aluminum, and copper," White House spokesman Kush Desai told RCI. "Hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment commitments across these sectors reflects how the administration's long-term agenda continues to bear fruit."

Still, experts remain concerned that the U.S. is ill-equipped to solve the complex problem.

Ideally, experts say, the U.S. government would comprehensively map the supply chain risks and work with all relevant stakeholders to mitigate them. The Trump administration has focused in particular on rare earth minerals and artificial intelligence technologies. Similarly, the Biden administration laid out a number of areas of concern from batteries to biotech as detailed in its Quadrennial Supply Chain Review. And, to varying degrees, both administrations attempted to coordinate their risk-mitigation efforts with foreign governments and the private sector.

Yet experts lamented that the government lacks the information necessary to comprehensively identify and attack supply chain vulnerabilities - rendering policies to date "ad hoc," according to Meg Reiss, a former national security staffer on Capitol Hill and founder of SolidIntel, which uses AI to identify supply chain risks.

Leland Miller, who was appointed to the USCC by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, told RCI that the U.S. still has to do a lot of foundational work to to "map the [various] supply chains" and to identify "the vulnerabilities."

Miller pins the slow progress to the lack of data from an often resistant private sector.

USCC Vice Chair Mike Kukien, an appointee of Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, concurred, asserting that "anytime Congress has attempted to wade into this space of...pulling information out of the supply chain, the first people to come and bang on your door and say, 'Don't do it,' is industry."

Pushback From Business

Companies argue that identifying areas where they are reliant on China and transitioning operations elsewhere would threaten their business models. They also claim it is costly and onerous to collect information on the multiple tiers of suppliers on whom they rely, and in some cases, they lack the wherewithal to do so. For its part, China has sought to impose costs - including ending market access - on companies that cooperate with supply chain transparency efforts.

Miles Yu, who served as principal China policy planner on strategy at the State Department during the first Trump administration, identified "Wall Street and Silicon Valley globalists" as influential opponents of Washington's efforts to combat China's supply chain chokepoints more broadly.

The task is further complicated by China's efforts to avoid Trump's tariffs by routing their products through more U.S.-friendly countries as a workaround.

"China's ability to sort of hide its hand from a manufacturing perspective, unless there's a real attempt to do country of origin work, is pretty strong," Joshua Hodges, a former senior director at the National Security Council, told RCI. "And you're seeing that in the defense industrial complex. You're seeing it in cell phones. You're seeing it really in any place where there are parts of a supply chain that have become commodities."

Miles Yu concurs. "[T]oo many opportunistic allies and partners in EU and Asia [are] not in sync with Washington," as well, making grappling with the global nature of the problem even harder, he said.

On the U.S. side, basic problems of coordination within the government threaten even the most comprehensive effort to take on the supply chain challenge. The National Defense Authorization Act is perhaps the seminal bill aligning the executive and legislative branches on China policy. Reiss notes that "the way...the legislative cycle works," when it comes to mitigating supply chain risk, "everything's based on NDAA timing."

Should one NDAA cycle pass in which vulnerabilities go unaddressed, then remedies will not be included for the next "year and a half for beginning implementation, much less being fully implemented. So the timelines start becoming significant if we don't have movement."

Bright Spots

Despite their bearish conclusions, experts did note some bright spots. Stone Fish called tariffs "the biggest forcing mechanism yet - high enough costs might finally do what politics couldn't. But China controls critical minerals that American factories can't do without, so escalation cuts both ways."

Miller noted that tariffs may be an effective defensive tool for protecting industries under attack from a China that often floods the market with goods to undercut foreign competitors. Tariffs, he says, should be used to ringfence critical sectors as their participants shift to alternative suppliers and rebuild their domestic production capacities. "But you can't just throw around a tariff wall and expect industry to miraculously develop domestically as a result of that," he says.

Miles Yu has a more sanguine view. He said that in the areas of defense, automobiles, and telecommunications services, the U.S. has been making progress on mitigating supply chain risk from China. And he believes that prohibitive tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum, automobiles, including electronic vehicles, green products, and "enhanced SEC scrutiny" on publicly traded Chinese companies in the U.S. have borne fruit. Conversely, he argued that pharma and bio product restrictions remain wanting.

While concerned about the lack of strategic coherence in America's risk mitigation efforts to date, Reiss hopes that efforts from the Defense Department reflect increasing strategic discipline. She cites, for example, initiatives out of the Office of Strategic Capital - which has backed domestic processing of rare earth minerals - as positives.

In the long term, Miller says, the U.S. only has to modify, not reinvent, the supply chain. "It's not that we have to go back and figure out where every single input to every single supply chain is," he says. "We have to make sure that enough of it comes from outside of China... so that China doesn't have a stranglehold over any particular supply chain no matter what happens."

In the interim, in the wake of the May 2026 summit between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the American side touted China's stated commitment to "address U.S. concerns regarding supply chain shortages related to rare earths and other critical minerals," as well as "prohibitions or restrictions on the sale of rare earth production and processing equipment and technologies."

Still, the conflict between the two nations continues. Earlier this month, the Department of War added nearly two dozen Chinese companies to its blacklist. In apparent response, Chinese authorities imposed trade restrictions on dozens of U.S. defense companies, including barring exports to two American rare earth producers.

Tyler Durden Wed, 06/24/2026 - 23:40

Troubling Pattern Of Left-Wing Revolutionaries Targeting "Capitalists" Raises Alarm Over Youth Radicalization

A troubling pattern appears to be emerging.

In a recent foiled terror plot targeting UFC Freedom 250 at the White House, authorities said the suspect of an underground network, led by an illegal alien ringleader, planned to use suicide drones and a sniper team against "capitalist elites." Separately, Rebel News described the Montreal shooter earlier this week as an "antisemitic Communist."

While the cases appear separate, both point to a broader concern: revolutionary and radical-left rhetoric is increasingly bleeding into real-world violence, with younger and younger extremists resorting to violence targeting wealthy individuals or even right-leaning political figures.

Earlier this week, Rebel News released the full 104-page manifesto of the "antisemitic Communist" shooter, who was killed after shooting and killing a Montreal police officer in a Jewish neighborhood, killing a local suit seller, and leaving behind a manifesto railing against capitalism and law enforcement, among other things.

"Be unflinching, go forth, and KILL THEM ALL!" Seth Hatfield, the shooter, wrote in the manifesto.

Rebel News pointed out, "He was an antisemitic Communist."

He was an antisemitic Communist.

Read the Montreal murderer’s full, 104-page MANIFESTO here:https://t.co/Msvx6IvaUz

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) June 23, 2026

Why is that important? Just days earlier, news broke in the US that Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, an illegal alien, was the ringleader of a foiled terror attack targeting "billionaires" and "capitalist elites" at UFC Freedom 250 at the White House.

Both incidents, whether an actual attack or a plot, appear anti-government, anti-elite, anti-capitalist, and revolutionary in nature. None other than Hasan Piker, a prominent figure around the Democratic Socialists of America, has echoed revolutionary rhetoric to millions of his online followers: kill capitalists.

"Yeah, kill them! Kill those motherfuckers and murder those motherfuckers in the streets. Let the streets soak in their fucking red capitalist blood, dude."

Hasan Piker calls on his followers to kill capitalists:

“Yeah kill them! KiII those motherfuckers and murder those motherfuckers in the streets. Let the streets soak in their fucking red capitalist blood, dude.”

Democrats are campaigning with him. pic.twitter.com/YiZxGgRkgc

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) April 9, 2026

The radical pattern of behavior emanating from the left appears to be fostered in the far-left NGO sphere, with possible linkages abroad, as we have detailed in Cuba, China, and Europe.

🚨🧵 MAJOR BREAKING: German government has been grooming DSA leaders for over a decade, and nobody noticed? 🇩🇪

Last night, Darializa Avila Chevalier — endorsed by NYC-DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) — beat a five-term incumbent to win New York's 13th congressional… pic.twitter.com/UtXDQRSDJf

— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) June 24, 2026

These revolutionary movements seek to destroy the West from within, throw wrenches into the capitalist machine, and, more importantly, as we have seen play out time and again, resort to violence.

The FBI failed to address the rise of the revolutionary left, the NGO sphere, and foreign connections because, under the Biden-Harris administration, the agency was preoccupied with investigating white Catholic families.

Latest reporting to catch up to speed:

• How Bad Is Foreign Influence In America's Nonprofit Universe?
• Is There A "Cuba Connection" Behind The Radicalization Of America's Nonprofit Left
• "No Longer Tolerate Radical Marxists": Rubio Sanctions Revolutionary Cuban Influence Network Tied To U.S. Left-Wing NGOs
• Hasan Piker Says Quiet Part Out Loud, Maps Radical Left NGO Network To China-Based Marxist Financier
• Bessent Signals Crackdown On Dark-Money Funded NGOs In "Weeks, Months Ahead"

Democrats are facing a watershed moment as parts of the party descend on a new political framework: anti-capitalist, anti-West, and anti-America.  

 Even the globalist at The Atlantic had to admit...  

In low-turnout elections, far-left DSA-aligned candidates are gaining power city by city, raising the risk that the Democratic Party has been hijacked.

BREAKING: Rep. Espaillat concedes. Mamdani-backed socialists have officially gone 3/3 and won all of their respective Democratic primaries for U.S. House in New York tonight. Their positions are some of the most extreme & far left Dems have seen:

Darializa Avila Chevalier… pic.twitter.com/Fal1lHmair

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) June 24, 2026

In just a few decades, the "old-school Democratic Party" has partially shifted from a party rooted in working-class economics, labor, and Main Street concerns ... 

...  into one increasingly shaped by anti-capitalist rhetoric, pro-globalist, pro-illegal-alien, Islamists, and a growing revolutionary socialist-Marxist presence.

On CNN NewsNight, Brad Todd bluntly says the Democrat Party has become the "Democratic Socialist Party of America," embracing antisemitism, confiscation, and anti-capitalism — while noting Hakeem Jeffries is a big loser.@BradOnMessage: “The Democratic Party now is the… pic.twitter.com/KUJ0sfW7k8

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) June 24, 2026

Hakeem Jeffries has a problem. 

Tyler Durden Wed, 06/24/2026 - 23:15

US Escalates Crackdown On Overseas Scam Network Targeting Americans

Authored by Arthur Zhang via The Epoch Times,

The United States has taken coordinated action against a Southeast Asia-based scam and money-laundering network that officials say used forced-labor compounds and online investment fraud to steal billions of dollars from Americans.

Scam center workers and victims from China arrive at the border checkpoint with Thailand, in Myawaddy, Burma, on Feb. 20, 2025. Hundreds of Chinese workers were heading home after being freed from online scam centers. STR/AFP via Getty Images

The Treasury Department on June 23 sanctioned 35 individuals and entities linked to the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization, a Cambodia-based network that U.S. authorities say operated scam compounds and laundered illicit proceeds through shell companies and financial channels.

Huione Group is a Cambodia-based conglomerate that U.S. authorities say provided laundering services for scam proceeds, including through Huione Guarantee, also known as Haowang Guarantee.

The Justice Department separately announced the seizure of a cloud-computing account it says helped run Huione-linked laundering services used by scam operations.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, also proposed extending a section 311 anti-money-laundering measure against Huione Group to H-Pay Service PLC and successor entities.

Together, the actions target three parts of a scam-and-laundering ecosystem: the Prince Group network, accused of running scam compounds; Huione-linked services, accused of moving illicit proceeds; and online infrastructure, allegedly used to support laundering services.

Treasury said U.S. authorities estimate that Americans lost at least $10 billion in 2024 to Southeast Asia-based scam operations, a 66 percent increase from the prior year.

"Scam centers in Southeast Asia steal billions of dollars from American victims each year," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the announcement. "Treasury will continue using its tools to disrupt the networks behind this egregious fraud and protect Americans."

Prince Group Network

Prince Group is a Cambodia-based conglomerate led by Chen Zhi, also known as Vincent, whom U.S. authorities have accused of directing forced-labor scam compounds across Cambodia.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed an indictment against Chen in October 2025, charging him with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. Prosecutors alleged that people held against their will in Prince Group-linked compounds were forced to carry out cryptocurrency investment scams. Chen remains at large, according to the DOJ.

Concurrently with the DOJ indictment, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, FinCEN, and the UK Foreign Office imposed coordinated sanctions on 146 targets tied to the Prince Group network. It alleged at the time that Prince Group operated online investment scams targeting Americans and others worldwide and used a web of businesses and shell companies to launder illicit proceeds.

The June 23 action expands that pressure. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned nine individuals and 26 entities linked to Prince Group, including people it described as leaders, scam-compound investors, and front companies.

The Treasury said the new targets include Hu Xiaowei, whom it described as Prince Group TCO's "second-in-command," as well as several people it said were involved in investment, management, payment-gateway, or company-director roles tied to the network.

The Epoch Times could not contact Prince Group for comment.

DOJ Seizes Cloud Account

In a concurrent action, the DOJ said it seized a cloud computing account used by Huione Group's subsidiaries that allegedly facilitated the movement of proceeds from cryptocurrency investment fraud, cyber scams, and other criminal activity across blockchains and into the banking system.

Huione Guarantee allegedly operated Telegram channels that included discussions about stolen credit card and identity information, malware-enabled theft proceeds, the procurement of individuals for human trafficking schemes, and the laundering of proceeds from romance and investment scams.

The department said the seizure is part of Operation Riptide, an FBI campaign targeting the actors, infrastructure, and financial networks behind cybercrime, cyber-enabled crime, and fraud against Americans.

"The FBI is committed to disrupting the infrastructure and services that cybercriminals rely on to profit from their illegal activity," said Brett Leatherman, assistant director of the FBI's Cyber Division, according to the DOJ's June 23 press release. "Today's action targets a key enabler of cyber-enabled fraud and money laundering schemes."

DOJ said the FBI's San Francisco Field Office and IRS Criminal Investigation are investigating the seizure case.

FinCEN Moves Against H-Pay

FinCEN's notice of proposed rulemaking says Huione Group remains a foreign financial institution of primary money-laundering concern and that the existing section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act targeting Huione Group remains in effect.

The proposed amendment would add H-Pay Service PLC and any successor entity to the Huione Group definition.

FinCEN said the proposal is intended to address what it described as Huione Group's effort to circumvent the earlier measure by continuing to operate under a different name. The agency said H-Pay has effectively assumed Huione Pay PLC's business role within Huione Group.

The proposal is not final. Written comments on the H-Pay proposal must be submitted within 30 days after the NPRM is published in the Federal Register.

Scam Operations Target Americans

The Treasury said one common scheme involves digital-asset investment fraud. Citing FinCEN's 2023 alert, Treasury said perpetrators often contact targets by text message, build trust through claims of friendship or romance, and steer victims into purported digital-asset investments on websites controlled by scammers.

Southeast Asia-based criminal organizations often recruit workers under false pretenses, including fake technology or customer-service jobs tied to casinos, resorts, and front companies. Once workers arrive at the compounds, operators confiscate passports and use debt bondage, physical violence, threats of forced prostitution, and other methods to coerce them into scamming people online, the Treasury said.

The Justice Department said reports of cyber-enabled fraud involving cryptocurrency continue to rise, with complainants reporting more than $7.2 billion in losses to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2025 from cryptocurrency investment fraud alone.

Tyler Durden Wed, 06/24/2026 - 22:50

Tennessee Considers Up To 26 GW Of Gas-Fired Generation

By Diana DiGangi of UtilityDive

The Tennessee Valley Authority released its preliminary 2026 integrated resource plan on Monday, saying load growth in its footprint is already outpacing the reference case forecast in its draft IRP, and that it has incremental capacity needs for between 7 GW and 26 GW of natural gas between now and 2040.

“TVA’s actual and forecasted electricity demand has increased relative to the draft IRP’s Reference scenario and is approaching the Higher Growth Economy scenario primarily due to data center growth (e.g., artificial intelligence, hyperscaler, etc.),” the IRP said. The higher growth scenario “evaluates a higher gas price environment driven by substantial economic growth.”

The federally-owned utility also plans to add up to 5 GW of nuclear, 1-5 GW of storage, 2-5 GW of renewables (1-8 GW nameplate) and 2-3 GW of energy efficiency and demand response additions.

“New capacity is needed in all scenarios to support load growth or replace expiring and end of life capacity,” the IRP said.

TVA said that gas expansion is necessary to provide “firm, dispatchable capacity,” while new nuclear technologies “support load growth and reduce fuel volatility and regulatory risks” and solar expansion can play a “complementary role, meeting customer needs and providing economic energy.”

“Storage expansion continues, driven by both battery storage and the potential for additional pumped storage,” TVA said. “Energy efficiency deployment reduces energy needs, particularly between now and 2040, and demand response programs grow with the system and the use of smart technologies.”

TVA will take public comment on the preliminary final IRP until July 22, and will hold a public webinar on July 2 to discuss the plan. Final recommendations will be shared at the TVA Board meeting in August.

The IRP noted that the region has “recently experienced extreme winter temperatures in each of the last few years,” with a new winter peak record of 35,319 MW being set in January 2025, and for the 2026 IRP the utility used a 26% planning reserve margin target for winter, compared to its 18% planning reserve margin target for summer.

TVA established three potential strategies in the IRP: Strategy A, which sticks with TVA’s baseline and relies heavily on natural gas generation; Strategy B, which embraces technological innovation and nuclear expansion in particular; and Strategy C, which focuses on distributed energy and would increase renewables and storage.

Strategy A’s higher reliance on natural gas means it has a “higher financial risk exposure than alternative strategies,” while Strategy B is the most expensive overall, and Strategy C “increases the risk of unserved energy or energy curtailment,” TVA said.

The IRP recommends the utility “pursue solar to reduce total system costs or meet customer needs,” but “suspend wind additions given cost and portfolio fit challenges.” It also recommends investment in TVA’s hydro and nuclear fleets and pursuing “nuclear license extensions to maintain low-cost generation.”

In the IRP’s high growth forecast, the scenario which the region is edging closer to, nuclear capacity growth is the highest due in part to increases in the natural gas price forecast.

TVA noted changes in U.S. energy policy since its 2025 IRP, including the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s curtailment of the investment tax credits available to renewable projects, and the Trump administration’s focus on coal and gas generation.

President Donald Trump has pushed for TVA to turn back toward coal, and fired three Biden appointees from the TVA board in July after the board authorized the retirement of coal units at TVA’s Cumberland and Kingston power plants so natural gas could be developed there. After Trump appointed three replacements to the board, the board voted to operate Cumberland and Kingston’s coal plants past their retirement dates.

In the IRP, TVA’s forecast for coal involves the “continuing operation of [its] coal fleet, subject to regulatory requirements, as an immediate, cost-effective option to reduce total system cost and system reliability risk.” Through 2040, TVA will “evaluate [the] existing fleet, as needed, considering material condition, system reliability, system cost, regulatory requirements, and replacement generation.”

Tyler Durden Wed, 06/24/2026 - 22:00

Medvedev Calls For International Law Mechanism Banning Western Military Bases Abroad

In a hard-hitting Wednesday address at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum (SPILF), Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, didn't mince words regarding the sprawling global footprint of Western military power.

The former Russian president called for the immediate creation of aggressive "legal mechanisms" to counter and dismantle Western military bases stationed on foreign soil, framing them as a direct threat to global stability. Russia has long accused both Washington and NATO of being hegemonic powers - whose policies sparked the Ukraine conflict.

Image source: United Russia

According to Medvedev, the unchecked deployment of these foreign outposts has evolved into a primary driver destroying what remains of the collective security system, while simultaneously eroding the sovereignty of independent nations.

"They are, frankly, provoking international and regional tensions," Medvedev warned.

The Kremlin top official signaled that Moscow is looking to weaponize international law to push back against Western geopolitical encirclement, arguing that the current status quo is unsustainable and manufactured by Washington and its allies.

"This is why it is necessary to develop specific legal mechanisms aimed at dismantling the existing system of foreign military presence that the West is imposing on other countries," Medvedev concluded.

The timing is important, and no doubt related to Ukraine's stepped-up drone attacks especially on the Moscow region, which has put key oil refineries out of commission for several months.

Russia has accused Western intelligence agencies of providing targeting data for Ukrainian forces in a 'hand and glove' kind of way.

As the proxy conflict between NATO and Russia continues to heat up, Medvedev’s remarks signal a new diplomatic and legal push by the Kremlin to also rally the Global South against Western military hegemony.

Common estimate say the United States operates approximately 750 to 800 military base sites across roughly 80 foreign countries and territories...

Source: Kelly Martin Designs

However, the so-called international community is not likely enforce such "dismantling" given global institutions are dominated by Western - and specifically - Washington interests.

Russia has long advocated for a multi-polar order, and this has remained a key theme of Putin speeches, but this theme has fallen on deaf ears especially among European and American hawkish officials.

Tyler Durden Wed, 06/24/2026 - 21:40

Judge Strikes Down Trump-Era Courthouse Arrest Policy

Via American Greatness,

A federal judge has vacated Trump administration policies that allowed immigration agents to arrest noncitizens at immigration courthouses nationwide.

U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts ruled Tuesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents may no longer conduct arrests at immigration courts under policies implemented by the administration last year.

Pitts, a Biden appointee, concluded that the Department of Justice (DOJ) failed to provide adequate justification for the changes and described the policies as “arbitrary and capricious.”

The administration had expanded courthouse arrests through executive action, contributing to a sharp increase in detentions at immigration courts, where individuals facing removal proceedings often appear while pursuing legal status.

In his ruling, Pitts said federal officials failed to properly evaluate the consequences of allowing arrests at immigration courthouses.

"It is now clear that the lack of connection between ICE's stated rationales for the 2025 courthouse-arrest policies and the expansion of arrests at immigration courthouses results not from merely unreasoned decisionmaking but a complete lack of decisionmaking," Pitts wrote.

The decision follows an earlier order in which Pitts temporarily blocked courthouse arrests in the Northern District of California, including the San Francisco area.

The Justice Department had urged the court to limit any ruling to Northern California, arguing that a nationwide order would interfere with federal immigration enforcement operations.

Pitts rejected that argument.

"It is far from obvious that vacating the courthouse-arrest policies will significantly hinder ICE's operations," he wrote.

The ruling invalidates one of the administration's enforcement tools at a time when federal officials have sought to accelerate deportations and increase immigration arrests.

Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival criticized the decision and defended the administration's approach.

"When a judge sentences a defendant, the defendant is taken into custody. If an alien is ordered removed by an immigration judge, the same should happen," Percival said in a statement.

"A district judge ordering otherwise is naked judicial activism in service of an anti-American, open borders agenda," he added.

Tyler Durden Wed, 06/24/2026 - 21:20

Anthropic Accuses Alibaba Of Running Major "Adversarial Distillation" Campaign To Extract Claude Capabilities

Anthropic has accused Alibaba Group of orchestrating one of the largest known efforts by a Chinese company to extract capabilities from a leading U.S. artificial intelligence model, according to a letter the AI company sent to several U.S. senators and White House officials.

The letter claims that operators linked to Alibaba’s Qwen AI lab used nearly 25,000 fraudulent accounts to conduct 28.8 million exchanges with Anthropic’s Claude model between April and June. The activity focused on the model’s most advanced functions, including software engineering and agentic reasoning, in what Anthropic described as an attempt to replicate those capabilities at far lower cost through a process known as adversarial distillation, Bloomberg reports.

Anthropic said the campaign represented the most significant effort yet by a Chinese firm to leverage outputs from top U.S. models to accelerate its own development. The company warned that such distillation attacks are being carried out at industrial scale and that the resulting systems often lack the safety measures built into frontier U.S. models.

"These distillation attacks are carried out illicitly, systematically, and at industrial scale to harvest US Al capabilities across frontier labs and repackage them as their own without incurring the training and R&D costs required to train US frontier models," Anthropic wrote in its letter.

Alibaba declined to comment. An Anthropic spokesperson declined to discuss specifics of the letter but stressed the need for coordinated action between government and industry to address the issue.

The practice has alarmed US developers to the point that Anthropic, OpenAI and Alphabet Inc.’s Google have joined forces to share information about distillation attempts that violate their terms of service. Anthropic and OpenAI have each warned that Chinese AI startups, including DeepSeek and Minimax, have employed distillation to develop their own models. -Bloomberg

The letter arrives as U.S. policymakers consider new measures to restrict Chinese access to American AI capabilities. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-TN., and Sen. Andy Kim, D-NJ, are preparing an amendment to defense legislation that would blacklist or sanction Chinese firms found to improperly use U.S. model outputs for training competing systems. A related bipartisan bill in the House, sponsored by Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-MI, and Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-CA, is also under consideration for inclusion in the annual defense measure.

Anthropic’s letter noted that the Alibaba-linked activity continued after a White House memo in April directed agencies to crack down on large-scale exploitation of U.S. AI models through proxy accounts. The company urged the administration to take stronger steps to halt the practice, including clarifying antitrust rules to allow greater information sharing among U.S. firms and imposing penalties on entities engaged in systematic distillation.

The accusations add to existing pressure on Alibaba. Earlier this month, the Defense Department added the company to its list of Chinese firms designated as supporting the People’s Liberation Army. Alibaba has denied any military affiliation and filed a lawsuit this week seeking to overturn the designation.

The letter also comes at a moment of friction between Anthropic and the Trump administration. Less than two weeks ago, the Commerce Department imposed export controls on two of Anthropic’s newest models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, citing national security concerns. Anthropic disabled access to those models for all users while it works to comply with the restrictions.

Anthropic said the Alibaba campaign fits a pattern seen in earlier efforts by other Chinese developers that the company flagged publicly earlier this year. The firm has joined OpenAI and Google in sharing information about suspected distillation attempts that violate their terms of service. Those companies have argued that the practice allows Chinese labs to acquire advanced capabilities without incurring the full research and development costs or implementing comparable safety controls.

Tyler Durden Wed, 06/24/2026 - 21:00

China's Refiners Slash Runs To Lowest Since 2017, As Asia Refiners Slow Purchases Of Mid-East Oil

A little over a month ago, we explained that energy traders are "Traders Puzzled As Physical Oil Prices Tumble Amid Surging Chinese Crude Sales, Plunging Imports", and highlighted how already razor-thin independent refiner (teapot) margins had plunged to record negative as a result of the war in Iran and government policies meant to keep prices from rising.

Fast forward to today when the previously discussed dynamics have gotten progressively worse, and this morning Bloomnberg writes that China’s independent oil refiners have slashed operating rates to a nine-year lo.

Run rates at so-called teapots fell to 50.5% in the week to June 21, dropping below pandemic-era lows to the weakest since 2017, according to consultant JLC. High feedstock costs, weak domestic fuel demand, and curbs on product exports have squeezed processors’ margins, prompting them to scale back.

As we noted previously, China - the world’s largest oil importer - sharply reduced crude imports after the conflict erupted in late February as prices initially spiked, sending oil imports to a 9 year low, a key reason why oil prices did not spike even higher in the past few months.

As Bloomberg notes, the nation’s sustained slowdown in flows has brought into focus a nationwide shift away from fossil fuels that’s been driven by greater electrification.

The teapots’ downturn in run rates comes as Iran is now seeking to revive crude exports under a temporary US sanctions waiver. Still, the weak refining economics could limit any near-term rebound in their purchases.

“Teapots are not short of feedstocks, with private-sector commercial inventories in Shandong still above 2025 highs,” said Emma Li, lead China market analyst at Vortexa Ltd., referring to the coastal province where many teapots are located.

Teapot run rates slid further in the second half of June, which means July “could represent a trough before utilization begins to recover,” she said.

In a separate report, Bloomberg also notes that Asian refiners have slowed purchases of Middle Eastern crude after a buying spree over the past three weeks, with oil majors and traders stepping in to take some of the surplus barrels.

Purchases from Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) eased after three rounds of tenders, with a fourth that closes this week set to show a similar pattern, Bloomberg reported citing traders familiar with the matter. More barrels were snapped up by majors and trading houses including Shell and Mercuria.

Adnoc sold around 60 million barrels that will load over June to August across its first three tenders, most of which will flow to Asia. The offers are for grades that are loaded within the Persian Gulf, although buyers will be able to take cargoes via a ship-to-ship transfer outside of the Strait of Hormuz.

Some of the barrels being sold in the latest Adnoc tender are expected to flow toward Europe, said energy traders. That would follow a recent trend, which saw a wave of Middle Eastern oil heading in that direction as China stepped back.

Most refiners have already completed their orders for this month and next, and available crude would need to be significantly discounted to prompt any more buying, traders said. Adnoc has also asked customers with long-term contracts to immediately resume loading supplies, crimping spot demand.

Iraq and Kuwait have also been ramping up output as producers position for a reopening of Hormuz, with talks over a lasting agreement to end the Iran war showing some progress. That’s led to prices for Middle Eastern oil tumbling, with the forward curve of two of the region’s main benchmark grades — Dubai and Murban — now in a bearish contango structure.

A temporary US waiver allowing purchases of Iranian oil has added to swelling supply options, although complications surrounding the financing and insurance of cargoes remain and could be too risky for some refiners. Still, as we reported earlier this week, "Iran Oil Exports Through Hormuz Hit Wartime High,"

Some in the market are assessing whether storing crude could be an option for the impending wave of supply. Traders said freight costs remain too expensive for floating storage to be effective...

... but countries with sites on land should be able to easily accommodate surplus barrels.

Tyler Durden Wed, 06/24/2026 - 20:40

Maryland Protests Data Center Costs

By Ethan Howland of UtilityDive

A group of 80 Maryland state lawmakers are backing a complaint at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission over the PJM Interconnection’s cost allocation for transmission lines that support data centers.

Driven by the way PJM spreads transmission costs, Maryland ratepayers will pay $1.6 billion over the next decade for transmission projects that were approved in the grid operator’s last three regional transmission expansion plans that are designed to mainly serve out-of-state data centers, Maryland’s ratepayer advocate — the Office of People’s Counsel — said in its May 7 complaint.

“While PJM’s rules are unfair for many PJM states, they impact Maryland disproportionately simply because Maryland sits next to Data Center Alley in Virginia,” the Maryland lawmakers said in a Wednesday filing at FERC. “Given the projections of massive data center growth — more than 80,000 megawatts over the next 20 years — PJM is likely to bill Maryland customers billions more for future data center-driven transmission costs.”

The complaint at FERC comes amid an intense focus across the United States on how data centers can affect the electric bills of existing ratepayers through increased generation and transmission costs. The complaint centers on the transmission side of the equation. It contends that FERC is barred from approving transmission cost allocation methodologies that assign costs to ratepayers that won’t gain “roughly commensurate” benefits.

PJM’s cost allocation methodology assigns half of certain regional transmission projects based on a load-ratio share across its footprint, which assumes that all transmission built will benefit the entire grid, according to the ratepayer advocate’s complaint. The other half of transmission costs are assigned via a “solution-based distribution factor analysis,” which fails to capture certain reliability issues caused by data centers, the ratepayer advocate said.

Spreading data center-driven transmission costs across PJM’s footprint could lead to overbuilding, according to the complaint.

“By socializing data center-driven transmission costs to all ratepayers, it insulates states and utilities that attract speculative load growth from overbuilding and stranded asset risk while shifting those risks to neighboring states’ ratepayers,” the ratepayer advocate said.

Further, state-level large-load tariffs fail to address, and may make worse, the misallocation of transmission costs caused by PJM’s transmission cost allocation methodology, according to the complaint. 

Also, recent FERC-approved utility “transmission security agreements” between utilities and data centers are “often confidential, highly variable, and fail to protect existing customers,” the ratepayer advocate said.

The agreements leave ratepayers exposed to transmission costs caused by data centers, according to the ratepayer advocate. “Moreover, they carry potential legal consequences that may prove difficult to unravel,” the ratepayer advocate said. The ratepayer advocate said FERC should order PJM to revise its cost allocation methodology so that data centers pay for the transmission projects that they cause.

As a start, PJM should be required to assign the costs of transmission projects that are designed to serve data centers and other large loads to the grid operator’s zones where the data centers are located, according to the complaint. That would allow state-level large load tariffs to address those transmission costs, the ratepayer advocate said.

“The upstream leakage of a substantial portion of data center driven costs at the regional level to other zones through the current operation of the PJM tariff creates an unjust subsidy for that data center load,” the ratepayer advocate said.

The complaint calls on FERC to order PJM to re-study the baseline reliability projects approved in its last three regional transmission expansion plans to determine the costs caused by forecast load growth from data centers. 

FERC has extended the comment deadline on the complaint to July 27.

Tyler Durden Wed, 06/24/2026 - 20:20

Bessent Insists US Treasury Will Oversee Unfrozen Iranian Funds: Food & Medicine Only

There remains a major divergence in how Iran and the United States are interpreting the results of the MoU signing in the wake of the historic Switzerland peace talks, as lower-level teams remain in place to hammer out the technical details of the agreement.

The divergence/contradiction continues to be seen in not only the latest statements from President Trump himself, but also from the US Treasury:

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has insisted that a large portion of unfrozen Iranian assets would go towards purchasing US food and medicine, despite claims from Iranian officials that they have made no such commitment.

“Any money that the Iranians get is going to be used, first, for the benefit of the Iranian people,” Bessent told CNBC.

It must be remembered that the "Iranian people" that Washington claims to look out for were subject to many weeks of heavy US-Israeli bombing raids, in which men, women, schoolgirls, and children were killed in mass casualty events.

Image via Forbes & Caspian post

Likely the funds will be distributed through Qatar - and Bessent also emphasized in the CNBC remarks that "A very large percentage of it will go to buy US foodstuffs and medicine."

He said further, "So we will be recycling the money back into US products."

On Monday, President Trump said that "If the sanctions go out, money is going to be put into this country,” Trump said. “All that money is coming back in the form of purchases of food, which they desperately need… The money that we lift is going to go to our farmers, largely to our farmers."

But once again this is a situation where Iran's public-facing rhetoric obviously doesn't match up. Nothing regarding the Iranian position has changed:

But the Iranians deny that's part of the deal. A spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, said any agricultural purchases would be based on “prices and quality,’’ not terms dictated by Washington.

“It is interesting that the philosophy and goal of the war, which was the destruction of the Iranian civilization and the collapse of Iran, has become enriching American farmers,” Baghaei said.

Iran’s ambassador in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, rejected Vance’s contention that the U.S. and Qatar would dictate how Iran uses unfrozen funds. “Iran is the only country who decides what to do with those assets,” he told reporters.

As a reminder, in total a whopping $50 billion could eventually be released under the MoU framework - something which will drive Republican hawks mad. Al Jazeera reported Tuesday, citing the Iranian side: 

A spokesperson said the agreement would allow Iran access to previously frozen assets, although the US says restrictions would remain in place under the arrangement.

According to sources familiar with the negotiations, two separate tranches of $6bn were originally agreed in Doha, with the final signing ceremony intended to take place in Switzerland. The Iranian spokesperson now says that process has been completed.

Under the reported framework, an initial $12bn in Iranian funds would be released. During the 60-day negotiation period, a further $12bn could be unlocked. If the parties ultimately reach a final agreement, the value of sanctions relief and released funds could reportedly rise to as much as $50bn.

Another point of disagreement remains the entry of IAEA nuclear inspectors into the Islamic Republic. Vance had hailed Tehran already agreed to this, while Iran's leaders are in effect saying not so fast.

It's but one of several major contradictions in public rhetoric coming from either side in the wake of the top-level round one meeting in Switzerland.

Tyler Durden Wed, 06/24/2026 - 20:00