Federal Reserve quietly buys $44 billion in U.S. Treasuries last week

The Federal Reserve has quietly purchased $43.6 billion in U.S. Treasurys over four days, including $8.8 billion in long-term bonds on May 8. This move resembles stealth quantitative easing, despite official claims of tightening policy.

Some traders have noticed the shift, with gold prices rising as investors react to potential monetary instability. Meanwhile, China has increased gold imports, signaling concerns about holding U.S. Treasurys. The global financial landscape is adjusting as central banks prepare for potential economic shifts.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-fed-quietly-buying-billions-112500917.html

Ed Martin to investigate Biden autopen, subpoenas involved

Republican lawmakers are ramping up their investigation into President Biden’s use of autopen signatures for presidential pardons. They plan to issue subpoenas to determine whether the pardons were properly authorized and if standard legal procedures were bypassed.

Concerns have grown over whether executive authority was exercised correctly, with critics arguing that autopen usage could undermine transparency in presidential decisions. The probe will examine whether officials played an active role in the process or whether pardons were granted with limited oversight. The inquiry signals a broader effort to scrutinize presidential powers and accountability as Republicans push for more disclosure on Biden’s pardon practices.

https://thenationalpulse.com/2025/05/19/biden-pardon-probe-will-include-autopen-subpoenas-pledges-top-republican/

Supreme Court allows Trump to revoke protected status for thousands of Venezuelans

The Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for thousands of Venezuelan immigrants, potentially leading to deportations. The ruling reverses a Biden-era policy that extended protections to nearly 350,000 Venezuelans.

The decision follows an emergency request from the administration, arguing that immigration policy must remain flexible and discretionary. Some legal experts have criticized the ruling, calling it one of the largest actions stripping immigration status in modern U.S. history. Litigation on the issue will continue in lower courts.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-allows-trump-revoke-protected-status-thousands-venezuela-rcna205657

Judge strikes down DOGE takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace

A federal judge has ruled against the Trump administration’s takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace, declaring the actions of illegitimately-installed leaders as null and void. The ruling reverses the removal of USIP’s president, the termination of staff, and the transfer of its property to the General Services Administration.

The lawsuit was filed after DOGE-affiliated officials took control of the Institute with law enforcement assistance, leading to mass layoffs. The judge’s decision reinstates George Moose as acting president and bars further interference with the Institute’s operations.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/doge/judge-strikes-doge-takeover-us-institute-peace-rcna207741

Nvidia cuts robot training time from 3 months to one day

NVIDIA says its latest general-purpose robot update can teach a humanoid machine using software entirely, bypassing the months of motion capture sessions most rivals still depend on.

The chipmaker unveiled “GR00T-Dreams” at the Computex trade show in Taipei on Monday, pitching it as a shortcut that turns a single photo into short simulation videos and, from there, into the step-by-step instructions a robot needs to move. In effect, engineers feed the robot a “dream” reel instead of hours of recorded factory walks, cutting development time and cost.

“Physical AI and robotics will bring about the next industrial revolution,” Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, said in a press release. “From AI brains for robots to simulated worlds to practice in or AI supercomputers for training foundation models, NVIDIA provides building blocks for every stage of the robotics development journey.”

NVIDIA’s research team claims the approach already trimmed training its previous GR00T model to 36 hours — work that previously took three months of of live motion capture and annotation. The company generates the footage inside its Omniverse and Cosmos simulators, then runs the best trajectories through Cosmos Reason, an AI filter that tosses out awkward or impossible moves before they ever reach a motor.

In short, the robot watches thousands of ultra-realistic practice rounds that only exist on a server, learns what succeeds, and steps onto the factory floor already knowing how to stack boxes or sort parts.

“The age of generalist robotics has arrived, with breakthroughs in mechatronics, physical AI and embedded computing — just in time, as labor shortages limit worldwide industrial growth,” a promotional video during NVIDIA’s Computex presentation said. “A major challenge for robot makers is the lack of large-scale, real and synthetic data to train models. Human demonstrations aren’t scalable; limited by the number of hours in a day.”

That stands in stark contrast to China’s humanoids, which still gorge on real-world footage. Unitree, a Shanghai-based firm, furnished its H-series robots with an open-source trove of full-body motion capture data so the machines could nail a folk dance routine at this year’s Spring Festival Gala. AgiBot goes even further: the Shanghai startup runs its sandwich-making, shirt-folding prototypes in 17-hour warehouse shifts, records every step, then feeds footage into DeepSeek overnight so the robots can relearn their chores the next morning — an approach Beijing is backing with billions in subsidies. Neither NVIDIA, Unitree nor AgiBot responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.

By eliminating the training bottleneck, NVIDIA could speed past its hardware-rich Chinese competitors and set the de-facto operating standard for humanoids — a market Goldman Sachs pegs at more than $38 billion by 2035.

https://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2025/05/19/nvidias-new-robot-uses-fake-data-to-learn-faster-than-humans-can-teach/

Mexican Ship in Fatal Crash Accelerated Before Hitting Brooklyn Bridge

A Mexican naval ship, the Cuauhtémoc, crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge after unexpectedly accelerating in the wrong direction, killing two crew members and injuring at least 22 others.

The ship had just left Lower Manhattan with a tugboat’s assistance when its speed suddenly increased. It struck the bridge within five minutes, reaching six knots before impact. Investigators are working to determine what caused the acceleration.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading the inquiry, which could take up to two years. Officials are collaborating with Mexican authorities to inspect the ship and interview crew members. Despite the incident, the bridge did not suffer significant structural damage.

https://dnyuz.com/2025/05/19/mexican-ship-in-fatal-crash-accelerated-before-hitting-brooklyn-bridge/

First ‘self-deportation’ flight from US lands in Honduras – with US citizen children aboard

The first flight carrying migrants who chose to self-deport from the United States as part of a new Department of Homeland Security initiative offering free flights and $1,000 stipends has landed in Honduras.

A group of 38 Hondurans arrived at Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport on Monday afternoon after applying through a mobile app provided by US Customs and Border Protection, Honduran Deputy Foreign Minister Antonio García said.

“There was a bit of everything. There were mothers with children. Each one was given $1,000, including the children,” García told reporters at the airport, saying that up to 19 children had arrived.

At least four of the children were born in the US and one was born in Mexico. They left the US with their Honduran relatives to avoid family separation, according to Honduran Migration Director Wilson Paz Reyes.

“In this case, the US makes the decision, along with their families, that they return to the country so that family disintegration does not occur,” he said.

One of those deported, Wilson Sáenz, said that after he requested to be removed, authorities flew him to a hotel in Houston, Texas, and from there, he was dropped off at an airport and provided food before his flight home.

Another, Kevin Posadas, said that after applying for self-deportation, officials messaged migrants telling them when to present themselves, and “depending on what state they’re in, they move them to a place that’s closer to send them to Honduras.”

The flight carried 64 people, according to a Homeland Security official. It is expected to continue to Colombia to drop off the remaining migrants who opted for self-deportation, García said.

“Today, DHS conducted its first Project Homecoming charter flight of 64 individuals who voluntarily chose to self-deport to their home counties of Honduras and Colombia,” Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem said. “If you are here illegally, use the CBP Home App to take control of your departure and receive financial support to return home.”

The US Department of Homeland Security announced on May 5 that it would offer undocumented immigrants financial and travel assistance to facilitate their return home through the CBP Home app, through which people can notify the government that they intend to leave the US voluntarily.

Any undocumented immigrant who uses the app to self-deport will receive a stipend of $1,000, to be paid after they confirm their return home through the app, according to the DHS.

The DHS says the initiative will cut deportation costs, which it says currently average more than $17,000 per case.

Those who sign up for self-deportation through CBP Home will also be deprioritized for detention and removal, “as long as they demonstrate they are making meaningful strides in completing that departure,” according to the DHS, which portrays the procedure as a “dignified” and safe way to leave.

“If you are here illegally, use the CBP Home App to take control of your departure and receive financial support to return home. If you don’t, you will be subjected to fines, arrest, deportation and will never be allowed to return,” Noem said.

The app was previously called CBP One and was used by Customs and Border Protection to schedule arrivals for people seeking asylum during the Biden administration.

The self-deportation initiative is part of a $200 million DHS ad campaign pressuring undocumented migrants to leave the US and “stay out.”

https://lite.cnn.com/2025/05/19/americas/first-us-self-deportation-flight-honduras-intl-latam