US presidential visits to China from Nixon to Trump – in pictures

Tours of the Forbidden City, state dinners, and theatrical handshakes. We look back at previous visits ahead of Donald Trump’s trip

Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State, William Rogers, touring the Great Wall of China during Nixon’s historic 1972 presidential visit. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Matt Fidler
Wed 13 May 2026 

Something startling is happening in the Gulf of Mexico

Eye on the Storm

Its waters are heating up twice as fast as the global oceans, with huge implications for hurricane risk

by Jeff Masters

May 13, 2026

In 2012, the temperature of the Gulf of Mexico began rising along a shocking upward trajectory.

Why Physical Crude Premiums Collapse Despite the Hormuz Crisis

By Tsvetana Paraskova 

May 12, 2026, 

6:00 PM CDT

• Physical crude premiums have collapsed from more than $30 above Brent to near parity as refiners delay purchases, draw down inventories, cut refinery runs, and rely on strategic reserve releases despite the ongoing Strait of Hormuz disruption.
• China’s sharp drop in crude imports, early refinery maintenance, and record U.S. crude exports have temporarily eased pressure on physical markets
• Analysts warn the relief may be short-lived, with buffers rapidly thinning ahead of peak summer demand, raising the risk of another sharp spike in both physical and paper oil prices if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.

Elon Musk, Sam Altman and the world's billionaires are terrified of the Google AI genius behind a 25-year-old computer game, because they think he might actually end up controlling god

News

By Rich Stanton 

Published 7 hours ago

"There is a very low probability of a good future if someone doesn't slow Demis down."

(I've been keeping an eye on the various documents released as part of the ongoing Musk vs Altman legal fight, which centres around OpenAI changing to a for-profit structure and Elon Musk's belief that he was deceived by Sam Altman. The documents, which consist mainly of emails and text exchanges between the various figures involved, turn out to have several themes running through them, and an absolutely huge one is the co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, Demis Hassabis.

Trump says he’s not thinking about Americans’ finances ‘even a little bit’ in Iran talks

NBC NEWS
Trump said the “only thing” that matters is that Iran “can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
May 12, 2026
By Allan Smith 

President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he is not weighing the economic burden of the Iran war on everyday Americans when negotiating a deal with the country’s leadership.

Greece bets big on MAGA, as other EU countries turn away from Trump

While the U.S. president's relations with other European countries sour, he is hailing Greece as "terrific."

Photo-Illustration by Natália Delgado/POLITICO

May 8, 2026 4:01 am CET

By Nektaria Stamouli and Eliza Gkritsi

Nobody should be surprised that the U.S. ambassador to Athens is urging President Donald Trump to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence in the birthplace of democracy — with a speech on the Acropolis this summer.

Nancy Guthrie Update: Dramatic DNA Development Could Solve Case

Martin Holmes
May 12, 2026, 9:09 am

What To Know

• The FBI is still analyzing DNA that could prove crucial in the Nancy Guthrie investigation.
• Nancy, the mother of Today‘s Savannah Guthrie, has been missing over 100 days.
• Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told the press they are close to solving the case.

Three out of four Americans blame Trump for rising prices, new poll finds

News World Americas US politics

Americans generally express negative feelings toward the current state of the US economy, multiple polls have found

Ariana Baio

Tuesday 12 May 2026

With rising gas prices, mortgage rates and consumer prices, most Americans say they blame President Donald Trump for the increased cost of living and worsening economic conditions, according to a new poll.

The New Age of Supply Chain Warfare

Compared to Iran’s stoking of the oil crisis, China maintains a far more formidable ability to bring the US economy to a halt.

May 8, 2026

By: Richard Weitz

Trump Mobile collected $59 million in deposits — and delivered nothing

Politics
Published: May. 11, 2026, 12:30 p.m.
Trump Mobile launched on June 16, 2025, and has since received $59 million in deposits for its gold T1 model. To date, not a single phone has been shipped. 

Photo Illustration by Algi Febri Sugita/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images. Trump Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images

By Nick Moyle | NJ.com

Stephen Miller’s Humiliation Revealed After He Embarrassed Trump

ICED OUT

Several former and current officials have said that the president is punishing his top immigration goon.

Leigh Kimmins 

Reporter

Updated May 11 2026 12:34PM EDT Published May 11 2026 9:17AM EDT 

Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS

Iran hangs grad student accused of spying for the CIA and Israel's intel agency

World

May 11, 2026 / CBS/AFP

Iranian authorities on Monday hanged a post-graduate student from an elite Tehran university on charges of espionage, the latest in a spate of executions against the backdrop of the war against the United States and Israel.

Erfan Shakourzadeh, 29, was hanged after being convicted for allegedly collaborating with the CIA and Israel's Mossad intelligence service, the Iranian judiciary's Mizan Online website said.

Iran’s two-tier internet access fuels anger and exposes cracks in the regime

World Middle East
6 min read
By Tim Lister, Aida Karimi
21 hr ago

The internet blackout in Iran is more than two months old, the longest on record. For millions who rely on being online to make a living, the void has been devastating.

But some have privileged access through what’s called “Internet Pro” – and that’s causing widespread public criticism. The program, launched earlier this year, appears to be another weapon enabling hardliners and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to exert control in Iran.

One evacuated passenger tests positive for hantavirus, another develops symptoms on flight

By AP
Today, 7:33 am
A Spanish passenger is sprayed with disinfectant by Spanish government officials before boarding a plane after disembarking from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius at Tenerife airport in the Canary Islands, Spain,, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo)
Passengers evacuated from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship began flying home aboard military and government planes yesterday after the vessel anchored in the Canary Islands, with one American testing positive and a French traveler developing symptoms for the pathogen aboard their separate aircraft.

Transcript: Trump Cornered as Damning Leaks Expose Fresh War Blunders

The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent 

THE NEW REPUBLIC

As fresh revelations shed glaring light on Trump’s Iran miscalculations, a writer who tracks Trump’s policy failures argues that Trump badly sabotaged himself and the GOP for the upcoming midterms.

A Dem Survival Plan for the Southern Apocalypse

 

The Opposition

There are no easy paths forward after SCOTUS gutted the Voting Rights Act

Lauren Egan

May 10, 2026

(Photo illustration by The Bulwark / Photos: Shutterstock)

WHEN STATE REP. JUSTIN JONES went to the House floor in Nashville last week to speak against Republican plans to redistrict the state, he compared his GOP colleagues to some of the nation’s most abhorrent segregationists.

A data center drained 30M gallons of water unnoticed — until residents complained about low water pressure

Residents in Fayetteville, Georgia, noticed low water pressure last year. The utility discovered two unaccounted-for water connections at one of the nation’s largest data center campuses.

By Arianna Skibell

05/09/2026 

The neighbors of a data center in Georgia are steaming after they discovered the facility had sucked up nearly 30 million gallons of water — without initially paying for it.

Former Polish Justice Minister Ziobro flees to US

Zbigniew Ziobro is wanted in Poland over the alleged misuse of public funds and the deployment of Pegasus spyware against political opponents.

May 10, 2026 2:54 pm CET

By Bartosz Brzeziński and Jordyn Dahl

Fugitive former Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro is now in the United States courtesy of a visa from President Donald Trump after fleeing Hungary.