{"id":36170,"date":"2026-05-13T04:02:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T03:02:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kaizen-blog.org\/?p=36170"},"modified":"2026-05-13T04:04:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T03:04:54","slug":"13-mai-2026-kurznachrichten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kaizen-blog.org\/en\/13-mai-2026-kurznachrichten\/","title":{"rendered":"May 13, 2026 \u2013 Short News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cuba Pushes Back Against Hegseth - Havana Calls the United States the Real Threat!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Cuba has sharply rejected Pete Hegseth\u2019s statement that the country poses a threat to the national security of the United States. Ernesto Sober\u00f3n Guzm\u00e1n, Cuba\u2019s ambassador to the United Nations, said Tuesday that it is not the small island of Cuba that represents an \u201cunusual and extraordinary threat\u201d to the world and international law, but the United States itself. Guzm\u00e1n pointed to American policy toward Venezuela, Iran, Greenland, Canada, the Pope, Palestine, Mexico, Cuba, and many other countries. Washington\u2019s actions, threats, and attacks demonstrate exactly that, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trigger was a congressional hearing. During the session, Republican Congressman Mario D\u00edaz-Balart of Florida asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth whether he viewed the Cuban government as a threat to American national security. Hegseth answered briefly: \u201cYes.\u201d Havana is now turning America\u2019s own security rhetoric directly back against Washington. While the Trump administration describes Cuba as a threat, the Cuban diplomat points to a long history of American threats and interventions. That, Havana argues, is the real danger - not to the United States, but to international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Russia\u2019s Quiet Collapse - Why More and More Small Businesses Are Simply Disappearing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Russia\u2019s economy now effectively lives in two different worlds. While defense industries continue operating and major state corporations move billions, small and medium-sized businesses are increasingly struggling simply to survive the next month. For many, it is no longer about growth, new customers, or investment. It is about somehow staying open, paying bills, and avoiding complete collapse. Business owners describe a country where nearly everything becomes more expensive, payments fail to arrive, loans have become unaffordable, and fewer workers remain available at the same time. The mood is bleak. Many openly say that each year is worse than the one before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most dangerous problems for many companies is the growing crisis of unpaid invoices. Outstanding bills worth trillions of rubles now run throughout the economy. Businesses wait for money from contractors, suppliers, or government entities while continuing to pay wages, materials, and taxes themselves. The situation appears especially severe in regions near the Ukrainian border. Even companies repairing damaged homes or replacing windows now report that many projects technically exist, but the money often never arrives. Business owners describe government compensation payments being delayed for months while small companies collapse under the pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added to that is the massive labor shortage. Hundreds of thousands of people have left Russia, others were drafted, or now work directly for the war effort. At the same time, migrant workers are missing because immigration laws have been tightened. The construction industry has been hit especially hard. Many companies continue losing employees despite raising wages. Some business owners are operating at a loss simply to keep their teams together. Even so, more and more companies are shutting down or drastically reducing operations. In some regions, business leaders openly speak of the economic collapse of entire industries. Construction projects have stalled, transportation activity is declining, and even the real estate market is visibly slowing down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Credit costs are also crushing many businesses. Anyone financing machinery or vehicles today often faces interest rates between 25 and 30 percent. For small agricultural operations, that has become almost impossible to sustain. Many farmers are now giving up and leasing their land to major agricultural corporations. At the same time, prices for spare parts, fertilizer, fuel, and equipment continue rising. Business owners say they now compare prices even inside grocery stores because costs have changed dramatically within only a few months. Some rental contracts are no longer linked to the official inflation rate, but directly to prices at \u201cPyaterochka,\u201d a well-known Russian supermarket chain. Eggs, milk, and bread are now considered by many people to be more trustworthy indicators than the government\u2019s official statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, pressure from new tax rules continues growing. Many small businesses are now deliberately trying to remain below certain revenue thresholds in order to avoid additional taxes. Entrepreneurs register companies under relatives\u2019 names, artificially divide businesses into smaller entities, or partially return to operating outside official structures. Many openly say that the government\u2019s policies are achieving the exact opposite of what officials claim to want. Instead of generating higher tax revenue, more and more economic activity is disappearing into the shadow economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the few sectors currently experiencing growth is information technology. Companies there are increasingly making money by solving problems created by government restrictions themselves. New censorship measures, internet blocks, and digital restrictions constantly generate fresh contracts. Businesses develop replacement software for Western systems, build new platforms for Russian companies, or help clients bypass restrictions. Demand for virtual private networks has risen sharply. Many entrepreneurs in the sector openly say that almost every new government restriction has now become a business opportunity for someone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, risks remain very real and highly visible in many places. In regions like Belgorod, even ordinary work has become dangerous. Business owners report rejecting government contracts because construction sites could become targets at any moment. Some openly say they do not want to be responsible if \u201call that remains of their workers are burning sneakers.\u201d Others fear investigations, corruption, or problems with security agencies whenever government money becomes involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who profits from the war is something many business owners discuss only quietly. Large state corporations, banks, and companies with direct ties to the Defense Ministry are most frequently mentioned. Small businesses, meanwhile, increasingly feel abandoned. Many entrepreneurs no longer describe their work as business at all, but as a daily survival struggle inside an economy increasingly organized around war, control, and a handful of major power centers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now the FBI Is Interrogating America\u2019s Own Intelligence Agencies<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The FBI has begun questioning current and former CIA employees. The background is a new investigation surrounding the 2017 intelligence assessment that concluded Russia interfered in the 2016 American presidential election. At the center of the investigation is former CIA Director John Brennan. Investigators are now examining whether Brennan may have lied to Congress during testimony in 2023. According to information from American security circles, interviews have already taken place directly inside CIA headquarters in McLean, Virginia. Additional interrogations are expected in the coming weeks. Investigators are particularly interested in how the original report was assembled and what role the so-called Steele dossier played. The dossier was the controversial collection of allegations about supposed ties between Donald Trump and Russia compiled in 2016 by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The political background makes the situation especially sensitive. Donald Trump has described the Russia investigations as a \u201choax\u201d for years and is now openly attempting to pressure those who participated in the investigations at the time. Although multiple later reviews - including investigations by the U.S. Justice Department, the Senate, and internal CIA oversight - confirmed the central findings of the Russia report, a new investigation is now targeting officials from America\u2019s own security agencies once again. In April, the Justice Department also replaced the lead prosecutor handling the case. Joe DiGenova was appointed instead, a former federal prosecutor and conservative commentator who has publicly attacked Brennan and the Russia investigations for years. That move is now causing growing concern even within American intelligence circles. Many former intelligence officials increasingly view it as an attempt to reopen old political battles through the use of state investigations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A conflict that has followed the United States for nearly a decade is now entering a new phase. What once began as an investigation into Russian election interference is increasingly evolving into a power struggle inside the American state apparatus itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Washington Declared Iran Defeated - Intelligence Agencies See Something Very Different<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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For months, the Trump administration portrayed the war against Iran as a massive military success. Donald Trump claimed Tehran had \u201cnothing left.\u201d Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly stated that Iran\u2019s armed forces had effectively been crippled for years. Behind closed doors, however, American intelligence agencies are now painting a very different picture - and that picture is reportedly causing serious concern inside Washington. According to multiple individuals familiar with classified assessments, new intelligence evaluations conclude that Iran still retains a large portion of its missile capabilities. The situation around the Strait of Hormuz is considered especially alarming. Thirty of Iran\u2019s 33 missile sites in the region are reportedly operational again or at least partially functional. The area remains one of the most sensitive trade routes in the world. A significant share of global oil shipments passes through the strait every single day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

American intelligence assessments also reportedly conclude that Iran still possesses roughly 70 percent of its mobile missile launchers. Around 70 percent of missile stockpiles themselves are also believed to have survived. That includes both ballistic missiles and cruise missiles capable of targeting ships or regional facilities. In addition, roughly 90 percent of underground storage and launch facilities are reportedly partially or fully usable again. Those findings increasingly undermine the public statements coming from the White House. As recently as March, Trump claimed Iran\u2019s missile systems had essentially been \u201cscattered\u201d and that little military capability remained. Yet the new intelligence assessments come from only weeks after those statements. The evaluations are reportedly based on satellite imagery, electronic surveillance, and additional intelligence methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation is especially uncomfortable for Washington because the war apparently consumed enormous amounts of American weapons stockpiles. According to internal figures, more than one thousand cruise missiles, over one thousand Patriot interceptors, and large quantities of other precision munitions were used. Many of these systems are produced in significantly smaller numbers than were consumed during the conflict. Rebuilding those stockpiles could take years. European allies increasingly see that as a growing risk as well. Several countries have ordered large quantities of American ammunition for Ukraine and now fear deliveries could be delayed if Washington prioritizes replenishing its own reserves first. If the fragile ceasefire with Iran collapses, pressure on American stockpiles would intensify even further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added to that is a military problem that was apparently already known during the war itself. American planners reportedly possessed only limited quantities of so-called bunker-busting weapons. As a result, many Iranian facilities were not completely destroyed, but merely blocked off or damaged. That may now have allowed Iran to regain access to large portions of its infrastructure far more quickly than expected. While the White House continues insisting Iran has been \u201ccrushed,\u201d concerns are apparently growing behind the scenes that the war achieved far less than publicly claimed. Because one central question remains unresolved: What happens if the fighting escalates again - and Iran turns out to be militarily far stronger than Washington claimed for months?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Europe Wants Stronger Protection for Children on Social Media<\/h3>\n\n\n\n