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Category: Politics

Pressed for evidence against Mahmoud Khalil, government claims power to deport people for beliefs

Pressed for evidence against Mahmoud Khalil, government claims power to deport people for beliefs

The Associated Press reports: Facing a deadline from an immigration judge to turn over evidence for its attempted deportation of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, the federal government has instead submitted a brief memo, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, citing the Trump administration’s authority to expel noncitizens whose presence in the country damages U.S. foreign policy interests. The two-page memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press, does not allege any criminal conduct by Khalil, a legal permanent…

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Russian networks flood the Internet with propaganda, aiming to corrupt AI chatbots

Russian networks flood the Internet with propaganda, aiming to corrupt AI chatbots

“Annie Newport” and Nina Jankowicz write: Scientists, policy experts, and artists have been concerned about the unintended consequences of artificial intelligence since before the technology was readily available. With most technological innovations, it’s common to ask whether that invention could be maliciously weaponized, and there has been no shortage of experts warning that AI is being utilized to spread disinformation. Just a little more than two years after the public release of AI language models, there are already documented cases of malign actors using the technology…

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Facebook whistleblower testifies that company undermined national security by working with China

Facebook whistleblower testifies that company undermined national security by working with China

The Independent reports: A Meta whistleblower testified before Congress Wednesday about how she witnessed the company repeatedly “undermine‬ U.S. national security.” Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former Facebook employee who released an explosive memoir last month accusing the social media giant of retaliating against her after she reported sexual misconduct, testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism with another revelatory allegation: the company was engaged in “illegal and dangerous activities” with China. Wynn-Williams worked at Facebook for seven years,…

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Trump told people to buy. Hours later, his tariff pause sent markets soaring

Trump told people to buy. Hours later, his tariff pause sent markets soaring

The Washington Post reports: Less than four hours before President Donald Trump’s announcement that he was pausing tariffs sent markets soaring, he posted online telling his 9.4 million followers that it was a good time to buy. “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT” he posted on his social media site, Truth Social, at 9:37 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday. Shortly after 1 p.m., he announced on the same site that he would pause most new tariffs, causing the ailing…

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Trump’s drive to dominate can neither be satisfied nor appeased

Trump’s drive to dominate can neither be satisfied nor appeased

Jamelle Bouie writes: The fundamental truth of Donald Trump is that he apparently cannot conceive of any relationship between individuals, peoples or states as anything other than a status game, a competition for dominance. His long history of scams and hostile litigation — not to mention his frequent refusal to pay contractors, lawyers, brokers and other people who were working for him — is evidence enough of the reality that a deal with Trump is less an agreement between equals…

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For U.S. and China, a risky game of chicken with no off-ramp in sight

For U.S. and China, a risky game of chicken with no off-ramp in sight

The New York Times reports: A whopping increase in tariffs, followed by a whopping retaliation. Nationalist Chinese bloggers comparing President Trump’s levies to a declaration of war. China’s Foreign Ministry vowing that Beijing will “fight to the end.” For years, the world’s two biggest powers have flirted with the idea of an economic decoupling as tensions between them have risen. The acceleration this week of their trade relationship’s deterioration has made the prospect of such a divorce seem closer than…

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Trump caved on tariffs after undermining ‘safe haven’ status of U.S. Treasuries

Trump caved on tariffs after undermining ‘safe haven’ status of U.S. Treasuries

Heather Long writes: President Donald Trump is pushing the economy into a recession. The early signs are already apparent with autoworker layoffs in Indiana and Michigan, a stock market sell-off in recent days and Americans pulling back on spending. But as Trump’s tariffs took effect in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, something even more alarming occurred: panic in the bond markets. Investors started dumping U.S. government bonds. They sold and sold and sold. This is not normal. Typically, U.S….

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DOGE is getting audited by the Government Accountability Office

DOGE is getting audited by the Government Accountability Office

Wired reports: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is auditing Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The probe, which has been ongoing since March, covers DOGE’s handling of data at several cabinet-level agencies, including the Departments of Labor, Education, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, the Treasury, and the Social Security Administration, as well as the US DOGE Service (USDS) itself, according to sources and records reviewed by WIRED. Records show that the GAO—an independent auditing, research, and investigative…

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Court tells government to provide evidence justifying deportation of Mahmoud Khalil or case is over

Court tells government to provide evidence justifying deportation of Mahmoud Khalil or case is over

The Associated Press reports: An immigration judge in Louisiana said she would terminate the case against Mahmoud Khalil if the government does not provide evidence this week justifying their attempted deportation of the Columbia University student activist. At a hearing Tuesday in Louisiana, Judge Jamee Comans gave the government 24 hours to provide evidence showing that Khalil, a 30-year-old legal permanent resident, should be expelled from the country for his role in campus protests against Israel and the war in…

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America is at risk of losing a generation of scientists

America is at risk of losing a generation of scientists

Neel V. Patel writes: American science has been a beacon for aspiring researchers since the end of World War II, when a rivalry with the Soviet Union spurred the United States to make huge investments in science and technology research and recruit the most brilliant thinkers from abroad. Scientists saw the United States as a kind of nationwide laboratory for pursuing work under the best conditions possible — a remarkable combination of positive pressure and competition that pushed them to…

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Trump, Musk, and the Christian right are waging war on empathy

Trump, Musk, and the Christian right are waging war on empathy

Julia Carrie Wong writes: Just over an hour into Elon Musk’s last appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, the billionaire brought up the latest existential threat to trouble him. “We’ve got civilizational suicidal empathy going on,” Musk said. “And it’s like, I believe in empathy. Like, I think you should care about other people, but you need to have empathy for civilization as a whole and not commit to a civilizational suicide.” The idea that caring about others could end civilization…

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Rightwing group backed by Charles Koch and Leonard Leo sues to stop Trump tariffs

Rightwing group backed by Charles Koch and Leonard Leo sues to stop Trump tariffs

The Guardian reports: A libertarian group that has been funded by Leonard Leo and Charles Koch has mounted a legal challenge against Donald Trump’s tariff regime, in a sign of spreading rightwing opposition to a policy that has sent international markets plummeting. The New Civil Liberties Alliance filed a suit against Trump’s imposition of import tariffs on exports from China, arguing that doing so under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) – which the president has invoked to justify…

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Trump is doing ‘exactly the opposite of what Americans voted for’

Trump is doing ‘exactly the opposite of what Americans voted for’

Politico reports: During the first two turbulent months of President Donald Trump’s term, the White House has shrugged off scrutiny of its most controversial policies with a simple assertion: The American people voted for this. Now, Trump allies and GOP voters spooked by the tariff-induced market crash are beginning to respond en masse: No, we didn’t. Trump won in November because many voters saw him as an antidote to their economic malaise; as a candidate, he frequently promised to lower…

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‘Truly a moron’: Elon Musk escalates spat with Trump adviser Peter Navarro over tariffs

‘Truly a moron’: Elon Musk escalates spat with Trump adviser Peter Navarro over tariffs

CNN reports: Elon Musk took another jab at President Donald Trump’s senior trade adviser Peter Navarro Tuesday, calling him a “moron” on social media as the Tesla CEO further splits from the White House’s tariffs plan. Musk’s remarks were in response to a CNBC interview with Navarro on that aired Monday, during which the White House trade adviser discussed how Tesla’s position as a “car assembler” rather than a car manufacturer could be at odds with Trump’s tariff policies. The…

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Wall Street billionaires view Trump’s tariffs as ‘stupidity,’ warning ‘the economy is weakening as we speak’

Wall Street billionaires view Trump’s tariffs as ‘stupidity,’ warning ‘the economy is weakening as we speak’

The New York Times reports: Wall Street billionaires are not used to being on the outside looking in. But that is where they find themselves after President Trump ignored their appeals to call off his tariff plans which they fear could endanger the economy. With the backdrop of rapidly mounting stock market losses, corporate titans have worked every angle — phone calls, social media and even a typically staid shareholder letter — to try to change Mr. Trump’s mind. The…

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Is Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, the anti-Trump?

Is Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, the anti-Trump?

Michelle Goldberg writes: Last year was a bad one for incumbent political parties, as voters worldwide rebelled against representatives of the status quo. It was a bad year for the left, with Donald Trump winning in the United States and reactionary nativism advancing across Europe. And it was a bad year for women in politics; as the BBC reported, in 60 percent of the countries that had elections in 2024, the number of women in legislatures fell. One country, however,…

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