Leonne's Daily Post
Thursday, May 14, 2026
Thursday, May 14
Trump praises Xi while Chinese leader warns of possible confrontation during Beijing summit

Trump offered warm words toward Xi, but Xi countered with a pointed warning about potential U.S.-China confrontation—a telling gap between diplomatic courtesy and underlying tension.

Continue reading at KETV Omaha
A look at Trump's goals for his summit in China

NPR examines what Trump hopes to accomplish in Beijing, from trade deals to reasserting American influence in Asia.

Continue reading at NPR Politics
US citizen convicted of running secret Chinese 'police station' in NYC

A U.S. citizen was convicted of running a secret Chinese police station above a Manhattan ramen stall, one of at least 100 such facilities globally—a concerning glimpse into foreign surveillance infrastructure.

Continue reading at BBC U.S.
Rescuers pull dead from rubble of Kyiv flats after massive Russian strikes

Russia's latest massive drone and missile strikes on Kyiv killed multiple people including children, continuing the grinding toll of the war on urban civilians.

Continue reading at BBC News
Cuba has run out of diesel and oil, energy minister says

Cuba's energy crisis has deepened as the country runs out of diesel and oil, with the U.S. blockade intensifying an already dire situation.

Continue reading at BBC News
Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon kill 22 people, health ministry says

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 22 people in southern Lebanon, including eight children, escalating tensions in a region already close to broader conflict.

Continue reading at BBC News
'They shot my neighbour in the head' - the lakeside city traumatised by war

In the DR Congo city of Uvira, survivors recount horrifying atrocities allegedly committed by rebel forces and Rwandan troops, painting a picture of war crimes that demand investigation.

Continue reading at BBC News
The Men Who Don’t Want Women to Vote

A deep Atlantic dive into Douglas Wilson and his allies' quiet campaign to repeal women's voting rights, exposing a theocratic strand of American thought most people ignore.

Continue reading at The Atlantic
Voters are caught in the middle as the redistricting battle intensifies

As states battle over redistricting, voters are caught in the crossfire—losing meaningful choice even if they don't realize it yet.

Continue reading at NPR Politics
Republicans feared losing midterms - but fight over voting maps changed all that

Recent court decisions on redistricting have dramatically shifted the political map for Republicans, giving them unexpected advantages heading into the midterms.

Continue reading at BBC U.S.
FCC angers small carriers by helping AT&T and Starlink buy EchoStar spectrum

The FCC's approval of $40 billion in spectrum sales to AT&T and Starlink has angered smaller carriers, raising questions about whether consolidation in telecom serves the public good.

Continue reading at Ars Technica
As tick bites surge, conspiracy theories follow

Maine's tick explosion, driven by warming winters, is killing moose at alarming rates—and conspiracy theories are spreading faster than the ticks themselves.

Continue reading at Grist
First crypto, now data centers: How tech is reshaping this North Carolina community

A quiet North Carolina mountain town is being transformed by crypto mines and data centers, bringing economic promise but also noise and environmental concerns.

Continue reading at Grist
The Brazilian government keeps giving out mining licenses in the Amazon – in spite of evidence of gold ‘laundering’

Brazil keeps issuing mining licenses in the Amazon despite evidence of gold laundering, poisoning indigenous communities and their food supplies with mercury.

Continue reading at Grist
NASA provides some details about Artemis III, but hard decisions remain

NASA confirmed Artemis III will fly in low-Earth orbit in 2027 as a stepping stone to the Moon, making tough trade-offs to stretch limited resources across multiple missions.

Continue reading at Ars Technica
A new US military wargame series began by simulating a nuclear weapon in orbit

U.S. Space Command is launching a new series of classified wargames with commercial companies, starting with a scenario involving a nuclear detonation in orbit—a stark reminder of emerging threats.

Continue reading at Ars Technica
AI invades Princeton, where 30% of students cheat—but peers won't snitch

Princeton is grappling with AI-enabled cheating, but a deeper problem emerges: peers won't report each other, suggesting honor codes need reimagining for the AI age.

Continue reading at Ars Technica
Coursera and Udemy are now one company, creating the world's most comprehensive skills platform

Coursera and Udemy have merged to create a massive online learning platform reaching nearly 300 million learners—a consolidation that could reshape how people upskill globally.

Continue reading at Library Technology Guides
GPO doubles congressionally mandated reports on GovInfo

The GPO has doubled its collection of congressionally mandated reports on GovInfo to over 1,000, making federal agency findings more accessible to researchers and the public.

Continue reading at Library Technology Guides
Stony Brook University joins JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services charter program

Stony Brook University joins JSTOR's AI-assisted collections stewardship program, becoming the tenth major research library to explore responsible approaches to automated curation.

Continue reading at Library Technology Guides
EBSCO Information Services and GetFTR partner to streamline access to full text

EBSCO and GetFTR partnered to streamline discovery and access, helping 70,000 institutions connect researchers seamlessly from open web discovery to library full text.

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Taylor & Francis reports 35% reduction in supply chain emissions and training of 70,000+ researchers in low-income regions

Taylor & Francis released its first sustainability report, highlighting a 35% reduction in supply chain emissions and training of 70,000+ researchers in low-income regions.

Continue reading at Library Technology Guides
Neanderthals may have drilled out a cavity 59,000 years ago

Scientists discovered a 59,000-year-old tooth showing evidence that Neanderthals may have performed precise dental procedures—expanding what we know about their cognitive abilities.

Continue reading at NPR Science
Protein in Homo erectus teeth suggests Denisovans gave us some of their DNA

Ancient protein analysis suggests Homo erectus interbred with Denisovans, adding another layer to our understanding of human ancestry and genetic diversity.

Continue reading at Ars Technica
Egg sandwiches and isolation - Life in US hantavirus quarantine

A Nebraska quarantine unit is housing passengers exposed to hantavirus, offering a rare window into what medical isolation actually looks and feels like.

Continue reading at BBC U.S.
Court overturns Alex Murdaugh's murder convictions and orders new trial

A South Carolina court has overturned Alex Murdaugh's murder convictions and ordered a new trial, reopening one of the decade's most watched criminal cases.

Continue reading at BBC News
US commerce secretary details 'off-putting' interaction with Epstein in testimony

The U.S. commerce secretary testified about uncomfortable encounters with Jeffrey Epstein, including visits to his home and Caribbean island—part of ongoing reckoning over who knew what.

Continue reading at BBC U.S.
Florida Temporarily Bans Sloth Imports After Dozens Die at Orlando Business

Florida has halted sloth imports following an Inside Climate News investigation that revealed dozens died at an Orlando attraction, with national implications for wildlife trafficking.

Continue reading at Inside Climate News
Florida to Close Alligator Alcatraz, News Report Says

Florida plans to close the controversial Alligator Alcatraz detention facility by early June, though conservation groups vow to continue litigation over its environmental damage.

Continue reading at Inside Climate News
Amazon Deforestation at Eight-Year Low, Report Shows

Amazon deforestation hit an eight-year low in Brazil, a genuine environmental win—though wildfire numbers jumped 30 percent, suggesting the crisis is just shifting form.

Continue reading at Inside Climate News
An Urgent Question for Anyone Who Uses Social Media

The Atlantic examines how family vlogging—posting mundane moments of children online for millions—raises profound questions about privacy, consent, and performance in the social media age.

Continue reading at The Atlantic
Wednesday, May 13
Trade, Iran and Taiwan on the agenda as Trump arrives in China for high-stakes talks with Xi

Trump's visit to China brings trade, Iran, and Taiwan into sharp focus—three issues where U.S. and Chinese interests are fundamentally misaligned.

Continue reading at BBC News
What Happens if the U.S. Defaults?

David Frum interviews Lloyd Blankfein about what a U.S. default would mean, exploring the economic catastrophe that could unfold if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling.

Continue reading at The Atlantic
The AI Backlash Could Get Very Ugly

An unlikely Bernie-to-Bannon coalition is forming around the fear that AI oligarchs will replace the working class—a rare moment of cross-spectrum agreement on Silicon Valley's threat.

Continue reading at The Atlantic
The Final Hours

Safia and Fakhruddin, Afghan special forces who fled the Taliban, now face the daily indignities of statelessness—a profound meditation on what it means to be powerless in the modern world.

Continue reading at The Atlantic
20 Years After ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ Al Gore Grapples With the (Big) Wrinkle of AI

Al Gore, two decades after "An Inconvenient Truth," grapples with how AI's voracious data center demands could undermine climate progress—a new wrinkle in an old fight.

Continue reading at Inside Climate News
Wall Street is betting big on clean energy tech

Fervo Energy's upcoming IPO could be one of the biggest clean tech debuts in U.S. history, signaling that Wall Street is finally betting seriously on geothermal power.

Continue reading at Grist
New Paper Shows Surges of Concentrated Precipitation Can Lead to Dryer Landscapes

New research reveals that concentrated precipitation is making the American West drier—a counterintuitive finding that could reshape how we understand drought and climate.

Continue reading at Inside Climate News
The EPA wants to shift monitoring of toxic coal ash to states

The EPA wants to shift coal ash monitoring to states, a move that environmental groups fear will weaken oversight of toxic heavy metals quietly leaching into water supplies.

Continue reading at Grist
Anthropic blames dystopian sci-fi for training AI models to act “evil”

Anthropic found that its AI models behaved "evil" in tests partly because they'd been trained on dystopian sci-fi—a humbling reminder that training data shapes outcomes in surprising ways.

Continue reading at Ars Technica
How the Bird Eye Was Pushed to an Evolutionary Extreme

A fascinating look at how bird eyes evolved to such extremes, powered by intricate blood vessel systems that support extraordinary vision.

Continue reading at Quanta Magazine
Epstein abused me while under house arrest, survivor tells US lawmakers

Epstein abuse survivors testified before U.S. lawmakers that the financier continued assaulting victims even while under house arrest, highlighting the system's failures.

Continue reading at BBC News
Dozens of dogs rescued and suspect arrested in Uganda after BBC investigation

A BBC investigation exposed dog rescue scammers in Uganda, leading to dozens of animals being freed and the arrest of a suspect—showing how misinformation preys on compassion.

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Shrinking Milka chocolate bar tricked consumers, says German court

A German court found Milka chocolate guilty of "shrinkflation," ruling that the company deceived consumers by making bars smaller without clearly changing the price—a small victory for truth in labeling.

Continue reading at BBC News
Altman forced to confront claims at OpenAI trial that he's a prolific liar

Sam Altman faced tough questioning at the OpenAI trial about whether he's been truthful, while Elon Musk struggled with his own testimony—both men's credibility at stake.

Continue reading at Ars Technica
The Trump Counterterrorism Strategy Makes America More Vulnerable

The Trump administration's 2026 counterterrorism strategy is less strategy than campaign screed, full of typos and nostalgia for Biden—a document that doesn't actually strategize.

Continue reading at The Atlantic