Dear valued readers,
Today, I want to address a few pressing issues that are affecting our online experiences, particularly in terms of search functionality. The quality of search engines has deteriorated, largely as a consequence of the rise of AI technologies. Browsers such as Firefox and Safari have narrowed the options for default search engines, effectively sidelining alternatives like Yandex or Kagi. Moreover, Google has become increasingly unreliable. When performing searches on various websites, I often encounter misleading results, which is a critical feature for many of us.
On a positive note, this situation is nudging me to explore using Orion and Kagi, both of which do not track user histories.
‘No one believed it’: how a YouTube video accidentally proved Libya’s sand cat really does exist Guardian (Rolf A)
Mountain lions changed everything in this tiny California preserve Science Daily (Kevin W)
Lost in Translation Nible (Micael T)
War and Peace Mauricio Berman (fk). Important.
When the Waiting Is Over Oldster (Micael T)
Kids Are Flying Into Lunatic Rages When Their iPads Are Taken Away Futurism. Relevant as ever.
#COVID-19/Pandemics
Sri Lanka’s dengue outbreak reaches epidemic level as cases top 50,000: Health officials Anadolu Agency
Climate/Environment
The race to understand how and when Thwaites glacier will collapse New Scientist
Warming Skies Have Triggered a New Era of Unpredictable Storms Atmos
Ocean warming above 1.5°C triggered year-round marine disruption across globe, study shows PhysOrg
Record coal output contrasts sharply with emissions-cutting claims Energy Live
‘This is terrifying’: The Colorado River, a lifeline for seven states, is drying up at its source Los Angeles Times
Iowa’s renewable energy push is paying off Cedar Rapids Gazette (Robin K)
China?
US Navy’s repair gap could hand the Pacific war to China Asia Times (Kevin W)
China blacklists more Japanese entities as row deepens Japan Times
Not even the World Cup can save the American travel industry, as China takes over top spot Kevin Walmsley
Japan
Yen Hits Four-Decade Low in Historic Slide That’s Rattled Japan Bloomberg
Japan protests against China’s maritime claims near southern island Straits Times
India
The Thirst Beneath the AI Revolution: India’s Data Centres and the Coming Water Crisis CounterCurrents
Southeast Asia
Why $20 durians are now being sold at half price – or given away for free BBC
How war and poverty are driving Myanmar’s drug crisis UCA News
Africa
Sahel: how the return of El Niño could exacerbate instability 24ORE
Tanzania hit by nationwide blackout following major national grid failure ChannelAfrica
South of the Border
Satellite images show destruction from Venezuela earthquakes Al Jazeera (Kevin W)
Government loosens dollar lending rules, raising echoes of 2001 crisis Buenos Aires Herald
Struggle continues in Bolivia’s Morales heartland France24
How Venezuela’s earthquakes have shaken President Delcy Rodriguez Al Jazeera
Peru’s Keiko Fujimori wins presidential election, in latest victory for Latin American right Guardian (Robin K)
European Disunion
Trump threatens 100% tax on European imports if countries impose tax on digital services Associated Press (Kevin W)
Europe risks starting winter with gas stocks at 15-year low Financial Times
EU confronts ‘China shock’ ahead of pivotal Brussels trade talks South China Morning Post
A visit to Hüseyin Doğru’s family – readers can see for themselves on site Nackdenkseiten via machine translation (Micael T)
European heatwave is worst ever and impossible without climate crisis, scientists say Guardian. Still relevant this week.
Extreme heatwave across Europe raises energy and inflation concerns CGTN
Germany joins push to delay EU methane rules Politico
+1000% de mortalité chez les poules, +200% chez les porcs, +45% chez les bovins. Plusieures millions d’animaux d’élevage sont morts sous l’effet de la canicule. Nous sommes en train de vivre une catastrophe agricole majeure, qui rejoint le traumatisme de 2003 comme étant les deux… pic.twitter.com/dxJvW9PFS5
— Dr. Serge Zaka (Dr. Zarge) (@SergeZaka) June 26, 2026
Von der Leyen’s office accused of ‘feudalism’ over air conditioning RT (Kevin W)
I’m an American living in Europe during the Great AC Wars Revolver (Li)
Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner Economist (Li)
Old Blighty
The finance curse is devouring the UK LFF (Colonel Smithers)
Burnham’s rise revives talk of war bonds to fund the UK military Fortune
Call for political stability to help farming industry BBC
Pea shortage looms after earliest harvest in 14 years Independent
Balkans
Kushner-linked protests reveal depth of anger at Albanian leaders Japan Times
Serbia: Protests continue after Vucic says he will step down DW
Israel v. The Resistance
Thread on the medical experiments conducted on at least a thousand Yemeni Jewish babies stolen in hospitals by the Israeli government in the early 1950s https://t.co/X57BsqnZOW
— moe tkacik (@moetkacik) June 29, 2026
Report: Israel Reviving Gaza Ethnic Cleansing Plan, Rebranding It as ‘Free Movement Plan’ Antiwar.com (Kevin W)
Bayer in league with Israeli use of glyphosate, white phosphorus Middle East Eye (Robin K)
I really don’t care who ends this evil, but it needs to end. https://t.co/XMjI12o8AN
— Kathleen Tyson (@Kathleen_Tyson_) June 29, 2026
Recently, the Jewish Community Center in Birmingham, which I used to attend (comprising a diverse membership, mostly non-Jewish), received two bomb threats, leading to heightened security measures. The staff appeared visibly affected by the situation:
Michael Kadar, US/Israel dual citizen was indicted in Florida on Monday for bomb threats against Jewish institutions in 2016 & 2017. ADL included Kadar’s incidents in its inflated 2017 antisemitism report, constituting 9% of all incidents. Racially motivated hate crimes such as… https://t.co/NWmeScL5k3 pic.twitter.com/G1cstQLGKB
— GenXGirl (@GenXGirl1994) June 28, 2026
In the shadow of Minab: Inside the US testing of ‘new missiles’ on Iran’s Lamerd Middle East Eye (Kevin W)
This is where it’s going, btw. Trump has made us vulnerable to this reality with his stupid war. And the Iranians are NOT interested in actually ending anything because they know they can win this contest. We are headed off a cliff. God help us all. https://t.co/Wuk5ulGpbK
— Brandon Weichert (@WeTheBrandon) June 29, 2026
Iraq arrests protesters as unrest spreads over power cuts New Arab
Syraqistan
Iraqi officials arrested in major corruption crackdown Associated Press (Robin K)
I can’t stress enough how much this tweet gets wrong. First, Prime Minister al-Zaidi is hardly the person who initiated this campaign. At most, he is overseeing its implementation in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief. The more likely driving force lies within Iraq’s judicial… https://t.co/pN34s97qZY
— Harith Hasan (@harith_hasan) June 28, 2026
Israel says troops kill armed militants in southern Syria, vows continued military presence Kurdistan24
New Not-So-Cold War
One reason to believe that things are not so bad in Russia is that real median wages are up 25% since the war began, inflation has fallen to single digits, and the unemployment rate is 2.5%. Macro-economically, Russia is doing better than anyone in the geopolitical West. https://t.co/oSQR1ulVP3
— Policy Tensor (@policytensor) June 28, 2026
BREAKING: Merchant of Death Warns Russia Is Preparing for a Devastating Attack on Western Europe Tucker Carlson (Micael T)
Russia has begun installing weapons on its tankers, The Times reports.
Two 12.7mm Utes machine guns were spotted on the bridge of the Marshal Vasilevsky, one of Russia’s main LNG carriers, likely to protect against drones and boarding attempts. pic.twitter.com/wmTa7Wt8dX
— Victor vicktop55 commentary (@vick55top) June 29, 2026
Ukraine flexes regional might with tougher stance on Belarus The Times
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service reports that the Kiev regime has stepped up cooperation with Mexican drug cartels, increasing trafficking through the port of Odessa and providing infrastructure to flood Europe with more drugs. This has been a pretty fruitful… pic.twitter.com/89t9vMpKHn
— Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) June 29, 2026
Imperial Collapse Watch
2026 trends: geopolitics and escalation Events in Ukraine
America seeks its McDonald’s model for missile making Financial Times
Steven Spielberg’s Moral Equivalent of War Un-Diplomatic
Trump 2.0
Supreme Court rules states can count late-arriving mailed ballots, rejecting Trump-led challenge Associated Press
MAHA feels betrayed after Supreme Court ruling on Monsanto, glyphosate The Hill (Kevin W)
Our No Longer Free Press
When saving journalism pays better than doing journalism Amphibian (ma)
Economy
Can Energy Become Money? Doug Casey (Micael T)
Water shortages could prevent the US from mining more lithium, deepening reliance on foreign imports Live Science
Mr. Market Needs a Therapist
The Trillion-Dollar Borrowing Binge Lifting the Stock Market to Risky Heights Wall Street Journal
Oil Markets Are Pricing A Supply Surge That Isn’t Guaranteed OilPrice
Big oil’s secretive trading arms are having an extraordinary year Economist
The Bezzle
Zepbound Craze Fuels $1.3 Billion Windfall for Religious Causes Bloomberg (fk)
Class Warfare
College is unaffordable for many Americans — but don’t just blame rising tuition Kansas Reflector (Robin K)
Millions Lose ACA Coverage After Trump and Republicans Let Subsidies Expire The Intellectualist
Why are a record number of American adults living with their parents? RT (Robin K)
Antidote du jour. mgl: “Canada geese + goslings, Potter Marsh, Anchorage, Alaska. It’s springtime!”
And a bonus:
Sammy the seal was always begging for food at an Ireland restaurant, so the staff started feeding him daily at 9am, 1pm, and 4pm. Now he flops out of the water, looks both ways, crosses the road, and awaits his prize at those exact times every day. He is never late. pic.twitter.com/0qkpwR81i7
— Wolf of X (@WolfofX) June 28, 2026
And a second bonus:
Kitty desperately teaching its owner how to retract its claws lololol
Too cute lololol pic.twitter.com/AehXspln3Y— cats with powerful impression 🐾 (@catshealdeprsn) June 28, 2026
Lastly, we appreciate the resilient creativity of artists like resilc. Featured here is a delightful pinwheel sculpture. If I were in the U.S. with a yard, I would surely order one for myself.
For those interested, you can view yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
