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U.S. fighter jets scrambled to intercept Russian warplanes near Alaska

U.S. fighter jets scrambled to intercept Russian warplanes near Alaska

CBS News reports: U.S. fighter jets were scrambled Wednesday to identify and intercept four Russian warplanes flying near Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement. NORAD said two Russian Tu-95 long-range strategic bombers and two Su-35 fighter jets were flying in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which is international airspace that abuts U.S. and Canadian sovereign airspace. NORAD responded Wednesday by sending an E-3 early warning and control aircraft, along with four F-16s and…

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Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of some of its AI and data services in mass surveillance of Palestinians

Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of some of its AI and data services in mass surveillance of Palestinians

The Guardian reports: Microsoft has terminated the Israeli military’s access to technology it used to operate a powerful surveillance system that collected millions of Palestinian civilian phone calls made each day in Gaza and the West Bank, the Guardian can reveal. Microsoft told Israeli officials late last week that Unit 8200, the military’s elite spy agency, had violated the company’s terms of service by storing the vast trove of surveillance data in its Azure cloud platform, sources familiar with the…

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The rapid MAGA media takeover

The rapid MAGA media takeover

David Karpf writes: American mass media has been transformed in these early months of President Donald Trump’s second administration. We’re about 35 weeks into a term that will last for 173 more, and in that time, we have seen a tech titan gut a once-great newspaper in an apparent act of capitulation to the commander in chief, government accounts gleefully spreading hateful memes on X (the far-right platform owned by a billionaire tech oligarch), a defamation lawsuit filed by Trump…

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Noem and Lewandowski — ‘worst-kept secret in D.C.’

Noem and Lewandowski — ‘worst-kept secret in D.C.’

New York magazine reports: The story of [Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi] Noem and [her de facto chief of staff, Corey] Lewandowski goes back to 2019 on a remote Pacific island off northwestern British Columbia. They had arrived via helicopter as guests of the multimillionaire Republican donor Foster Friess, who was hosting his annual deep-sea-fishing fundraiser. Noem was a rising conservative star recently elected governor of South Dakota after an eight-year stint in Congress, while Lewandowski was the former…

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Ukraine’s plan to starve the Russian war machine

Ukraine’s plan to starve the Russian war machine

Anne Applebaum writes: In one section of a sprawling warehouse in central Ukraine, workers have stacked what appear to be small airplane wings in neat rows. In another section, a group of men is huddled around what looks like the body of an aircraft, adjusting an electronic panel. In makeshift locations elsewhere in Ukraine, workers are producing these electronic panels from scratch: This company wants to use as few imported parts as possible, avoiding anything American, anything Chinese. Jewelers, I…

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Trump says Ukraine can win back territory from Russia, shifting his position on the war

Trump says Ukraine can win back territory from Russia, shifting his position on the war

CNN reports: President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Ukraine could restore its borders from before Russia’s invasion and that he believes NATO member countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace, escalating his rhetoric against the Kremlin as its war in Ukraine drags on. Taken together, Trump’s remarks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly about shooting down Russian aircraft and his later post on Truth Social about Ukraine’s borders seemed to reflect a significant…

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Trump’s most lethal policy: ‘People are dying every day and night’

Trump’s most lethal policy: ‘People are dying every day and night’

Nicholas Kristof writes: The Trump administration has claimed that no one has died because of its cuts to humanitarian aid, and it is now trying to cancel an additional $4.9 billion in aid that Congress already approved. Yet what I find here in desperate villages in southwestern Uganda is that not only are aid cuts killing children every day, but that the death toll is accelerating. Stockpiles of food and medicine are running out here. Village health workers who used…

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Adelita Grijalva wins special election in Arizona, delivering decisive signature for Epstein files vote

Adelita Grijalva wins special election in Arizona, delivering decisive signature for Epstein files vote

CNN reports: Democrat Adelita Grijalva has won a special election in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, which will deliver the decisive signature to the push for a vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein case files. The race was held to determine who would fill the seat vacated by the late Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva, who died from cancer in March. Former Rep. Grijalva’s daughter was heavily favored against Republican Daniel Butierez, who ran for the seat against the elder Grijalva in 2024, losing the…

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Trump’s restrictions on H-1B visas may results in jobs being moved out of the U.S.

Trump’s restrictions on H-1B visas may results in jobs being moved out of the U.S.

Reuters reports: The Trump administration’s hefty new visa fees for H-1B workers have prompted high-level talks inside companies in Silicon Valley and beyond on the possibility of moving more jobs overseas – precisely the outcome the policy was meant to stop. U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday announced the change to the visa program that has long been a recruitment pathway for tech firms and encouraged international students to pursue postgraduate courses in the U.S. While the $100,000 levy applies…

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The Roberts Supreme Court is winning its war against American democracy

The Roberts Supreme Court is winning its war against American democracy

Matt Ford writes: Twenty years ago, Chief Justice John Roberts took the oath of office and ushered in a new era for the Supreme Court. His 2005 confirmation vote marked the transition from the Rehnquist court—where a narrow majority of conservatives and moderates had largely maintained the status quo on abortion, affirmative action, and voting rights—into something much more reactionary. At his swearing-in ceremony, the new chief justice spoke eloquently about the immense weight of the court’s duty to preserve…

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The MAGA movement is ready to dump Trump and turn to Jesus

The MAGA movement is ready to dump Trump and turn to Jesus

David Rothkopf writes: We have seen the future of MAGA, and it is not Donald Trump. But even Trump has to be impressed with who he is being replaced with. Sunday’s memorial for Charlie Kirk was, on one level, a moment of reflection on the conservative activist’s life—and one of catharsis for his supporters given the trauma of his murder. But on another, it was the most significant high-level gathering of MAGA leaders since Trump’s inauguration and, in that respect,…

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The cost for dumping Kimmel turned out to be more than ABC/Disney could afford

The cost for dumping Kimmel turned out to be more than ABC/Disney could afford

  Make no mistake about it, Disney/ABC’s decision to fold under intense public pressure lead by Hollywood Agents, Actors, Writers and producers, to “replatform” Jimmy Kimmel has nothing to do with protecting the First Amendment or flipping off Trump. Popok explains that Disney was effectively told that they would be blacklisted and made a pariah in Hollywood and no top flight talent would ever work for them again if they didn’t support Jimmy. In one sense, the “concept” of what…

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Only a fascist regime would outlaw opposition to fascism

Only a fascist regime would outlaw opposition to fascism

Christopher Mathias writes: President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday declaring “antifa” a “domestic terrorist organization.” “All relevant executive departments and agencies shall utilize all applicable authorities to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations — especially those involving terrorist actions — conducted by Antifa or any person claiming to act on behalf of Antifa, or for which Antifa or any person claiming to act on behalf of Antifa provided material support, including necessary investigatory and prosecutorial…

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Trump’s use of FBI to target ‘enemies’ echoes FBI’s dark history of mass surveillance, dirty tricks and perversion of justice under J. Edgar Hoover

Trump’s use of FBI to target ‘enemies’ echoes FBI’s dark history of mass surveillance, dirty tricks and perversion of justice under J. Edgar Hoover

The building in Media, Penn. where burglars in 1971 found evidence of decades of FBI abuses against citizens. Betty Medsger By Betty Medsger, San Francisco State University As a candidate last year, Donald Trump promised retribution against his perceived enemies. As president, he is doing that. At the Department of Justice, a “Weaponization Working Group” has a long list of Trump’s perceived enemies to investigate. At the FBI, director Kash Patel has conducted a political purge, firing the highest officials…

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