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Musk’s Doge conflicts of interest worth $2.37bn, Senate report says

Musk’s Doge conflicts of interest worth $2.37bn, Senate report says

The Guardian reports: Elon Musk and his companies face at least $2.37bn in legal exposure from federal investigations, litigation and regulatory oversight, according to a new report from Senate Democrats. The report attempts to put a number to Musk’s many conflicts of interest through his work with his so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge), warning that he may seek to use his influence to avoid legal liability. The report, which was published on Monday by Democratic members of the Senate…

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Did ‘Vatican diplomacy’ change Trump’s mind on Ukraine? Three reasons for being skeptical

Did ‘Vatican diplomacy’ change Trump’s mind on Ukraine? Three reasons for being skeptical

Orysia Lutsevych writes: Hope can lift the spirit, but it’s not a good strategy. Trump’s second term has torpedoed the world order, in a manner that is especially dangerous for Ukraine and the rest of Europe. Three factors make the diplomatic efforts to defend Europe and achieve a good outcome in Ukraine precarious. First, the disturbing alignment in worldview between the White House and the Kremlin. Both Trump and Putin believe the world is a superpowers’ playground, where the powerful…

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Hegseth more focused on managing his image than running the Pentagon, says former top adviser

Hegseth more focused on managing his image than running the Pentagon, says former top adviser

Politico reports: A former top adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described a head office gripped by paranoia and more focused on photo ops than leadership, the latest in a series of brutal accusations about the inner workings of the Pentagon. Colin Carroll, who was fired this month from his post as chief of staff to the deputy Defense secretary, told the Megyn Kelly podcast that Hegseth was obsessed with the spread of leaks and spent half his time investigating…

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‘I’m having a lot of fun,’ Trump says, as ‘I run the country and the world’ (into the ground)

‘I’m having a lot of fun,’ Trump says, as ‘I run the country and the world’ (into the ground)

Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer write: We asked the president if his second term felt different from his first. He said it did. “The first time, I had two things to do—run the country and survive; I had all these crooked guys,” he said. “And the second time, I run the country and the world.” For weeks, we’d been hearing from both inside and outside the White House that the president was having more fun than he’d had in his…

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‘Fragile, impermanent things’: Joseph Tainter on what makes civilizations fail

‘Fragile, impermanent things’: Joseph Tainter on what makes civilizations fail

Jessica McKenzie writes: In the introduction to his seminal 1988 book, The Collapse of Complex Societies, anthropologist and historian Joseph Tainter explained that lost civilizations have a vise-like hold on the human imagination because of the implications their histories hold for our own, modern civilization. Untangling how and why civilizations fall could, in theory, help humanity avoid a future calamitous collapse. “The reason why complex societies disintegrate is of vital importance to every member of one, and today that includes…

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An American panopticon of databases

An American panopticon of databases

Ian Bogost and Charlie Warzel write: If you were tasked with building a panopticon, your design might look a lot like the information stores of the U.S. federal government—a collection of large, complex agencies, each making use of enormous volumes of data provided by or collected from citizens. The federal government is a veritable cosmos of information, made up of constellations of databases: The IRS gathers comprehensive financial and employment information from every taxpayer; the Department of Labor maintains the…

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Gaza on brink of catastrophe as aid runs out and prices soar, groups warn

Gaza on brink of catastrophe as aid runs out and prices soar, groups warn

The Guardian reports: Soaring prices of basic foodstuffs, diminishing stocks of medical supplies and sharp cuts to aid distribution threaten newly catastrophic conditions across Gaza, Palestinians and international aid officials in the battered territory are warning. Humanitarian organisations including the World Food Programme and Unwra, which supplies food and services to more than 2 million Palestinians across Gaza, have now distributed the last of their stocks of flour and other foodstuffs to the dozens of community kitchens in the territory…

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Rising up from a collective silence, universities organize to resist Trump

Rising up from a collective silence, universities organize to resist Trump

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration’s swift initial rollout of orders seeking more control over universities left schools thunderstruck. Fearing retribution from a president known to retaliate against his enemies, most leaders in higher education responded in February with silence. But after weeks of witnessing the administration freeze billions in federal funding, demand changes to policies and begin investigations, a broad coalition of university leaders publicly opposing those moves is taking root. The most visible evidence yet was…

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Federal work shaped a Black middle class. Now it’s destabilized by Trump’s job cuts

Federal work shaped a Black middle class. Now it’s destabilized by Trump’s job cuts

NPR reports: Shirley Hopkins built careers for herself and countless other Black workers through a federal government job. While working in the National Institutes of Health’s human resources office, she became known as the “recruitment lady.” It wasn’t spelled out in her job description, but she made it her personal mission to encourage more Black students in the Washington, D.C., area to apply for the federal agency’s internship and youth employment programs. “When I was young, I was not able…

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They criticized Musk on X. Then their reach collapsed

They criticized Musk on X. Then their reach collapsed

The New York Times reports: Anastasia Maria Loupis runs a popular account on X that used to receive hundreds of thousands of views each day for her far-right commentary, conspiracy theories and antisemitic statements. In late December, she criticized Elon Musk, the site’s owner, over his support for visa programs that many of President Trump’s supporters despise. Her reach plummeted on X and never recovered. When Mr. Musk purchased X in 2022, he promised to create a free speech haven…

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Orangutan healed his own wound using a known medicinal plant

Orangutan healed his own wound using a known medicinal plant

Smithsonian magazine reports: In June 2022, a team of researchers observed a behavior never before witnessed in the animal world: A Sumatran orangutan named Rakus self-treated an injury using a medicinal plant. At Gunung Leuser National Park, a rainforest reserve on the western Indonesian island of Sumatra, scientists heard from the treetops a series of “long calls,” a behavior that usually preempts assertions of male dominance or aggression. The next day, they saw Rakus with an open wound on his…

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The Trump administration is trying to intimidate the judiciary

The Trump administration is trying to intimidate the judiciary

Adam Serwer writes: The arrest of Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan over allegedly obstructing the apprehension of an undocumented immigrant is an attempt to intimidate the judiciary. You can just ask Attorney General Pam Bondi. “What has happened to our judiciary is beyond me,” Bondi told Fox News, commenting on Dugan’s arrest. “They’re deranged. I think some of these judges think they are beyond and above the law, and they are not. We are sending a very strong message today: If…

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‘Build bridges, not walls’: Pope Francis held a moral mirror to modern politics

‘Build bridges, not walls’: Pope Francis held a moral mirror to modern politics

NBC News reports: Even in death, Pope Francis’ moral voice rang out across the world. With 40,000 packed into Vatican City’s St. Peter’s Square, another 250,000 in the surrounding streets and millions more watching on TV and online, world leaders, including President Donald Trump, were reminded of Francis’ central messages during his funeral Saturday. “‘Build bridges, not walls’ was an exhortation he repeated many times,” Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said during the homily for the late pope. “His gestures and…

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