A Swedish Library Forgot to Close Its Doors and Something Beautiful Happened ZME Science
Construction Costs Rarely Fall Construction Physics
Of Nopales and Prickly Pears, or, Why You Should Be Eating Cactus Pax Culinaria
Climate/Environment
Weirdly reminds me of the monthly CO2 chart from Mauna Loa https://t.co/k4JRaSaBoU pic.twitter.com/NPEzVjQljo
— Prof. Ryan Katz-Rosene (@ryankatzrosene) April 24, 2026
Over 2,500 people evacuated, 200ha burnt as wildfire in north-east Japan spreads Straits Times
How Fires Burning In Georgia Now Are Worsened By 2024’s Hurricane Helene Forbes
Why millions of adorable bees are emerging from this cemetery Grist
Pandemics
The US CDC on the brink The Lancet
Water
Corpus Christi plans to declare a ‘water emergency.’ What does that mean? The Texas Newsroom. “While city pools and splash pads consume almost 2 million gallons of water over the course of a summer, a single Exxon plastics plant consumes 13 million gallons per day.”
China?
DSET Drone Reports: Taiwan-Europe-Ukraine Cooperation Deepens, Calls for Stronger Co-Production Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology
Southeast Asia
ASEAN inflation: Vietnam and Philippines hit hardest by Iran war Nikkei Asia
Not-so-sweet deal for Singapore’s refineries as they shift to US, alternative crudes Business Times
Singapore inflation accelerates to 1.8% in March amid higher petrol prices Straits Times
India
India’s fertiliser output falls to a five-year low in March Hindustan Times
India to Purchase Fertilizer at Nearly Double Pre-War Price Bloomberg
Syraqistan
Trump’s online threats deepen US split as Iran talks stall Al Mayadeen
Collective slap: Heads of Iran’s three state branches strike back at Trump Press TV
The U.S. State Department published its legal defense of the war against Iran on Tuesday.
A few observations 🧵
1. As a matter of public diplomacy, it’s notable that collective self-defense of Israel comes first, individual self-defense of the United States comes second. pic.twitter.com/5l03XsCkSe
— Adil Haque (@AdHaque110) April 23, 2026
US Secretary of Navy Resigns (Or Is Fired) Just as Third Carrier Group Arrives In Iran Theater Simplicius
Last Rounds? Status of Key Munitions at the Iran War Ceasefire Center for Strategic and International Studies
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Israel launches fresh strikes in southern Lebanon despite ceasefire extension Anadolu Agency
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Meet the Top “Content” Producers Linked to Canary Mission Drop Site
Met Opera’s $200 Million Saudi Arabia Deal Falls Through Broadway World
European Disunion
Central and Eastern Europe emerges as new defence industry hub, KPMG says Intellinews
O Canada
Asia’s appetite for Canada’s ‘liquid gold’ grows but supplies at risk from climate change Channel News Asia
Old Blighty
Making troops accountable for war crimes threatens US alliance, ex-SAS colonel warns The Canary
New Not-So-Cold War
France Deploying Nuclear-Armed Rafale Fighters to Poland to Simulate Attacks on Russia and Belarus Military Watch
Government submits proposal to Parliament on amending Nuclear Energy Act and Criminal Code Finland Ministry of Defence. “The Government proposes to remove the legal barriers on importing nuclear devices into Finland and on transporting, supplying or possessing them in Finland in the context of Finland’s homeland defence, the collective defence of NATO or defence cooperation.”
If Finland allows NUKES on its territory, ‘safety of Finnish people will DRASTICALLY decrease’
— State Duma Def Committee Chairman Kartapolov EXCLUSIVELY to RT
If previously there were no targets in Finland for ‘priority destruction,’ now ‘there will be’ pic.twitter.com/O6ObNcNWRT
— RT (@RT_com) April 23, 2026
China’s Russia ties mean EU trade deal is off the table, Finland says South China Morning Post
The KGB and Perestroika Events in Ukraine
South of the Border
Latin America oils up as Hormuz crisis reshapes global energy supply Intellinews
The Neocolonial Plunder of Venezuelan Resources Venezuelanalysis
L’affaire Epstein
Ghislaine Maxwell seeks to overturn conviction as US lawmakers split over possible pardon Firstpost
Scientists Stumper
Chinese Scientists Have Been Dying Mysterious Deaths Too Newsweek
Read the deflating debunk by WM Briggs, Statistician to the Stars before needlessly panickinghttps://t.co/1gNx3RHD0p
— Monadversteher (@monaderc) April 23, 2026
Trump 2.0
Trump’s Huge AI Data Center Project Is Falling Apart Behind the Scenes Futurism
Trump’s roving banditry will undermine the US economy FT
Senior DHS Counterterrorism Official Suspended Over Sugar Daddy Scandal DD Geopolitics
This chick somehow goes from being a U.S. Secret Service agent, to working at FEMA under Biden, to being Trump’s Deputy Secretary of Counterterrorism — and you wonder why all our scientists are getting whacked!!
We are not a serious country… 😑 pic.twitter.com/yF20DTqMiw
— James Li (@5149jamesli) April 23, 2026
Democrats Suck
Despite Denials, AIPAC Is Now Funding Campaign of Ala Stanford In Philadelphia Drop Site
GOP Funhouse
Republicans introduce extreme bill to ban lawsuits against Big Oil forever HEATED
SCOOP: Republicans Want to Add ICE Money Into the Farm Bill Migrant Insider
Police State Watch
THE SHORT AND RIDICULOUS TRIAL OF A PROTESTER ARRESTED IN AN INFLATABLE PENIS COSTUME The Intercept
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
The Wyden Siren The After-Action Report
The Accelerationists
How the American Oligarchy Went Hyperscale Mother Jones. Commentary:
Palantir and the Pentagon are the same thing, there is no separation. Same with SpaceX. They’re both marketing gimmicks, a label so we don’t freak out about the centralized total control system being built all around us. https://t.co/itrRdaP0sz
— The Milgram experiment had an exit door (@milehijules) April 23, 2026
Sports Desk
The Jeffrey Epstein guide to the playoffs True Hoop
Italy dismisses replacing Iran at the World Cup after suggestion by Trump official Sportstar
Economy
Iran War Is the Latest Shock to the Prescription Drug Supply Chain The Economic Populist
Trump Moves to Extend Jones Act Waiver 90 Days as Maritime Industry Says Fuel Relief Never Came gCaptain
At the risk of sounding alarmist, the shortage of sulfur and ammonia is a genuine global catastrophe.
Forget about oil and natural gas prices.
I spoke with a friend at the United Nations World Food Programme, and he is desperate. Funding has been drastically cut and food prices… pic.twitter.com/WSqRxzLWUx
— Yet another commodity guy (@tleilax___) April 23, 2026
‘Possibly the least pressured person ever’: Trump says he has ‘all the time in the World’ for Iran conflict Politico
Immigration
just remembered that Lutnick claimed on the All In podcast that he sold 1,000 gold cards on the first day and that Trump thought the program would raise $5T.
The Polymarket spiked but then it resolved to 0 sold in 2025.
Now he says they’ve sold 1 card and raised $1M https://t.co/vzW2Ojtpuk pic.twitter.com/BuDx5MVcVe
— Sheel Mohnot (@pitdesi) April 23, 2026
However stupid you think the people running the country are, they’re stupider.
The guy running border patrol last year thinks that 1 in 3 people in the country is an illegal immigrant. A total hallucination based on literally nothing. https://t.co/jBOzJAKYBa
— Jeremiah Johnson 🌐 (@JeremiahDJohns) April 24, 2026
Casino Nation
Army Special Forces Soldier Charged With Insider Trading on Maduro Capture The After-Action Report
“Are you concerned about insider trading on these prediction markets re: the war?”
TRUMP: “The world is a casino. It is what it is.” 🤷🏼
And there you have it, folks! pic.twitter.com/9fy5Z7T9CV
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) April 24, 2026
Guillotine Watch
“A Punch in the Gut”: After Years of Waiting, Many Opioid Victims Will Be Shut Out of Purdue Settlement ProPublica
Number of billionaires set to soar on AI gains – report RT
Billionaire philanthropist warns US democracy ‘won’t survive’ AI race Semafor
WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT BILLIONAIRES AT JEFF BEZOS’S PRIVATE RETREAT The Atlantic
Class Warfare
After Decades of Quiet Rumbling, an Epidemic Is Erupting Among California Stoneworkers In These Times
Good Vibes as Ideology: Emotional Management in the Dictatorship of Capital William Murphy
An Inspiring Story of Workers’ Power Craig Murray
N.C. Largest School Districts to Close for May Day Strike – NJ Unions w/ 1 Million Members Back May Day – 85 Cities Holding May Day Actions Payday Report
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
