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Leaked documents expose deepening ties between Israeli army and Microsoft

Leaked documents expose deepening ties between Israeli army and Microsoft

Yuval Abraham reports: Microsoft has a “footprint in all major military infrastructures” in Israel, and sales of the company’s cloud and artificial intelligence services to the Israeli army have skyrocketed since the beginning of its onslaught on Gaza, according to leaked commercial records from Israel’s Defense Ministry and files from Microsoft’s Israeli subsidiary. The documents reveal that dozens of units in the Israeli army have purchased services from Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, Azure, in recent months — including units in…

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‘My neighborhood was one of the most beautiful in Gaza. All that’s left is rubble’

‘My neighborhood was one of the most beautiful in Gaza. All that’s left is rubble’

Ahmed Ahmed reports: As soon as the ceasefire came into effect in Gaza on Sunday, Hamza Othman had only one thought in his mind: to go and see whether his home was still standing. The 22-year-old had refused to leave the Fallujah neighborhood of Jabalia refugee camp for over a year — even after he was wounded by an Israeli airstrike that killed his mother and brother as they sold candy from a stall in front of the house last…

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Imperialist posturing by the United States has always spurred resistance from its southern neighbors

Imperialist posturing by the United States has always spurred resistance from its southern neighbors

Antonio De Loera-Brust writes: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s public threats to retake the Panama Canal, by force if necessary, have already done meaningful damage to U.S. standing in Latin America. Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino responded immediately: no way. Other Latin American states, including Mexico, Chile, and Colombia, were quick to offer their solidarity to Panama. United States began building the Panama Canal during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, who once advised, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” Trump…

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Trump’s immigration plans are already wreaking havoc on the food industry

Trump’s immigration plans are already wreaking havoc on the food industry

The New Republic reports: Fear of increased ICE raids have already negatively affected the nation’s agricultural sector, causing alarm that food prices could skyrocket in the near future as a result of Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration policies. Bakersfield, California, saw a massive drop-off in the number of field workers showing up for work Tuesday while ICE agents in unmarked Chevy Suburbans rounded up and detained immigrants in the area, profiling individuals they believed to be field workers, reported CalMatters. The…

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Trump’s immigration crackdown met with defiance from local police

Trump’s immigration crackdown met with defiance from local police

Axios reports: Police departments across the country are pushing back against President Trump’s hardline immigration policies, saying they won’t take part in the administration’s deportation raids. Why it matters: Just days into the new administration, Trump’s campaign pledge to oversee mass deportations of immigrants is taking shape, with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids expected. Driving the news: Trump has already declared a national emergency at the border and rolled back longstanding protections that restrict immigration enforcement in sensitive locations, like churches and schools. Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan told…

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Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons — the potential for political backlash is real

Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons — the potential for political backlash is real

Ankush Khardori writes: Even though President Donald Trump had vowed to deliver pardons to those who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, siege of the Capitol, his sweeping clemency for roughly 1,500 people was stunning. The recipients of Trump’s incredible generosity included Enrique Tarrio, a onetime leader of the Proud Boys who was convicted of sedition and serving a 22-year sentence; Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, who was serving an 18-year sentence for his involvement; and about…

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Convicted U.S. Capitol rioter turns down Trump pardon ‘because I was guilty’

Convicted U.S. Capitol rioter turns down Trump pardon ‘because I was guilty’

BBC News reports: One of the people who served jail time for taking part in the US Capitol riot four years ago has refused a pardon from President Donald Trump, saying: “We were wrong that day.” Pamela Hemphill, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 60 days in prison, told the BBC that there should be no pardons for the riot on 6 January 2021. “Accepting a pardon would only insult the Capitol police officers, rule of law and, of…

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Bishop explains her plea to Trump to ‘have mercy’ on LGBTQ+ people and immigrants on The View

Bishop explains her plea to Trump to ‘have mercy’ on LGBTQ+ people and immigrants on The View

  Just one day after she delivered her remarks in front of Trump, Bishop Mariann Budde said on The View on Wednesday morning that her responsibility on Tuesday was to reflect and “pray with the nation for unity”. “As I was pondering what are the foundations of unity, I wanted to emphasize respecting the honor and dignity of every human being, basic honesty and humility,” she said. “And then I also realized that in unity requires a certain degree of…

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Increasing climate losses threaten the insurance industry and financial stability

Increasing climate losses threaten the insurance industry and financial stability

Ilan Noy writes: The impact of climate change on insurance markets has been systematically underestimated, with profound implications for financial stability and the sustainability of the risk-sharing services insurance provides. In my research on the economic impacts of climate change and other disasters, I’ve observed a persistent pattern: insurers treat climate change primarily as a future risk while failing to recognise how it has been transforming the risk landscape for some time now. This misunderstanding is now coming home to…

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TikTok short video use linked to lower academic performance in children, research finds

TikTok short video use linked to lower academic performance in children, research finds

PsyPost reports: Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences recently published a study in PLOS ONE examining the effects of short video usage on elementary school students’ academic performance in China. The study found a negative relationship between short video usage and academic performance, mediated by reduced attention spans. The findings highlight the potential influence of digital media on young learners. Short video platforms such as TikTok and Kwai have become a significant part of young people’s lives, including elementary…

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Episcopal bishop of DC pleas with Trump ‘to have mercy’ on LGBTQ+ communities and immigrants

Episcopal bishop of DC pleas with Trump ‘to have mercy’ on LGBTQ+ communities and immigrants

  The Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, D.C., implored newly inaugurated President Donald Trump on Tuesday “to have mercy upon” communities across the country “who are scared now” after his election. “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families — some who fear for their lives,” Budde said during remarks at an interfaith prayer service at Washington National Cathedral with the president, Vice President JD Vance and their spouses in attendance….

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‘America First’ Christians are growing more critical of Israel — and they are turning on Trump

‘America First’ Christians are growing more critical of Israel — and they are turning on Trump

Amanda Kadlec writes: The war in Gaza has forced a conversation about Israel among American Christians. Christians make up 72% of the United States electorate, and 56% of Americans who identify as Christian voted for Donald Trump in 2024, according to a report by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University. Although this conservative segment initially signaled strong support for Israel’s war in Gaza, its thinking on the issue is becoming increasingly diverse. With the stratification of echo-chamber outlets…

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Neo-Nazis love Elon Musk’s salute to fascism

Neo-Nazis love Elon Musk’s salute to fascism

  Wired reports: “WE ARE FUCKING BACK,” the administrator of a Nazi meme channel on Telegram wrote under a clip of Musk giving the salute. Members of the group responded with the lightning bolt emoji, a well-known neo-Nazi reference to the SS. “I don’t care if this was a mistake, I’m going to enjoy the tears over it,” Christopher Pohlhaus, the leader of the American neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe, wrote on his Telegram channel under a gif of the Musk salute. Keith Woods,…

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Elon Musk is ‘either a Nazi or an idiot’

Elon Musk is ‘either a Nazi or an idiot’

  Elon Musk has defended making an ‘awkward hand gesture’ at Trump’s inauguration that some have likened to a Nazi salute. James O’Brien and his listeners are broadly unconvinced. While addressing a crowd of MAGA supporters during a celebration of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the influential billionaire made a gesture putting his right hand on his chest before raising it it in the air (01:22). Then he turned and made the same hand gesture to the crowd behind him. He…

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