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Category: Politics

Israel unprepared for full-blown war with Hezbollah — senior electricity official

Israel unprepared for full-blown war with Hezbollah — senior electricity official

The Times of Israel reports: Israel is not prepared for the damage its electricity infrastructure would sustain if a full-scale war were to break out with Hezbollah, the head of the company responsible for planning the country’s electrical systems warned on Thursday, though he later cast that remark as “irresponsible.” “We are not in a good situation, and we are not prepared for a real war. We are living in a fantasy,” said Shaul Goldstein, who leads Israel’s Independent System…

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The Supreme Court walks back Clarence Thomas’ guns extremism

The Supreme Court walks back Clarence Thomas’ guns extremism

Mark Joseph Stern writes: The Supreme Court upheld a federal law disarming domestic abusers on Friday, significantly narrowing a radical 2022 precedent in the process. Its 8–1 ruling in U.S. v. Rahimi is a major victory for gun safety laws, a much-needed reprieve after two years of unceasing hostility from the federal judiciary. Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion walked back maximalist rhetoric—recklessly injected into the law by Justice Clarence Thomas—that had imperiled virtually every modern regulation limiting access to firearms. Thomas…

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Why Democrats think Biden’s problem is Biden

Why Democrats think Biden’s problem is Biden

Politico reports: Democrats keep doing surprisingly well in special elections. The party’s most vulnerable Senate incumbents are running ahead of their rivals in key battleground states. One of Democrats’ signature issues — reproductive rights — has repeatedly proved a winning message. And yet Joe Biden is struggling to pull even with Donald Trump. It’s another ominous sign for the president: Even as other Democrats are running strong, the party’s down-ballot successes aren’t translating into momentum at the top of the…

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Open the door wider for refugees

Open the door wider for refugees

Ilhan Omar writes: Of the many titles I hold—congresswoman, mother, sister, organizer—one represents a part of my identity that I hold particularly close to my heart: refugee. People frequently come up to me and share their own refugee stories. We immediately ask each other how long it has been since arriving in the United States. In my case, it’s been 29 years since my family and I were given a golden ticket to start a new life in America as…

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How a network of nonprofits enriches fundraisers while spending almost nothing on its stated causes

How a network of nonprofits enriches fundraisers while spending almost nothing on its stated causes

By Ellis Simani This story was originally published by ProPublica. In September 2020, the Federal Trade Commission joined regulators in four states to sue four men behind a notorious telemarketing company called Outreach Calling. The FTC alleged that the company, which it described as a “sprawling fundraising operation,” had raised millions on the promise of helping the needy — cancer patients, veterans, firefighters — but instead used the money to line its pockets. The case was meant to put fundraisers…

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Israel’s arms suppliers risk responsibility for human rights and war crimes violations, say UN experts

Israel’s arms suppliers risk responsibility for human rights and war crimes violations, say UN experts

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: The transfer of weapons and ammunition to Israel may constitute serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian laws and risk State complicity in international crimes, possibly including genocide, UN experts said today, reiterating their demand to stop transfers immediately. In line with recent calls from the Human Rights Council and the independent UN experts to States to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military…

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Israeli military official says Hamas cannot be destroyed, as rift with Netanyahu widens

Israeli military official says Hamas cannot be destroyed, as rift with Netanyahu widens

CNN reports: Israel’s top military spokesman has said Hamas cannot be made to “disappear,” casting doubt about whether the government’s war aim of defeating the militant group can be achieved and drawing a sharp rebuke from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “The idea that it is possible to destroy Hamas, to make Hamas vanish — that is throwing sand in the eyes of the public,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Read Adm. Daniel Hagari said Wednesday in an interview with Israel’s…

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Risk of nuclear war at its greatest since the Cuban Missile Crisis

Risk of nuclear war at its greatest since the Cuban Missile Crisis

Matthew Bunn writes: Dark clouds loom on the nuclear horizon, with threats from all directions: Russia’s nuclear bombast in its war on Ukraine, China’s construction of hundreds of nuclear missile silos, North Korea’s missile testing, India and Pakistan’s ongoing nuclear competition, and Iran’s push toward nuclear weapons capability. In response, US policy-makers are discussing whether a further American nuclear arms buildup is needed. At the same time, evolving technologies, from hypersonic missiles to artificial intelligence, are straining military balances and…

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Judge Aileen Cannon rejected entreaties from two other federal judges to step aside in Trump docs case

Judge Aileen Cannon rejected entreaties from two other federal judges to step aside in Trump docs case

The New York Times reports: Shortly after Judge Aileen M. Cannon drew the assignment in June 2023 to oversee former President Donald J. Trump’s classified documents case, two more experienced colleagues on the federal bench in Florida urged her to pass it up and hand it off to another jurist, according to two people briefed on the conversations. The judges who approached Judge Cannon — including the chief judge in the Southern District of Florida, Cecilia M. Altonaga — each…

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Norman Finkelstein: Through genocide, the whole legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state has been called into question

Norman Finkelstein: Through genocide, the whole legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state has been called into question

  We are living through a moment of social and political upheaval – one that has somehow aligned the Houthi rebels in Yemen, South Africa’s greatest legal minds and students across the wealthiest campuses in the world. They’re all fighting for Gaza, and against an increasingly isolated Israeli government and its Western backers. So are we witnessing a historic tipping point? Norman Finkelstein has documented the Israel-Palestine conflict for over 4 decades, with a particular focus on Israel’s actions in…

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White House cancels meeting, scolds Netanyahu in protest over video

White House cancels meeting, scolds Netanyahu in protest over video

  Axios reports: The White House canceled a high-level U.S.-Israel meeting on Iran that was scheduled for Thursday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video on Tuesday claiming the U.S. was withholding military aid, two U.S. officials tell Axios. Why it matters: President Biden’s top advisers were enraged by the video — a message U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein delivered personally to Netanyahu in a meeting hours after it was published, two U.S. and Israeli sources say. Then the White House decided to go a…

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Iran signals a major boost in nuclear enrichment at key site

Iran signals a major boost in nuclear enrichment at key site

The Washington Post reports: A major expansion underway inside Iran’s most heavily protected nuclear facility could soon triple the site’s production of enriched uranium and give Tehran new options for quickly assembling a nuclear arsenal if it chooses to, according to confidential documents and analysis by weapons experts. Inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed new construction activity inside the Fordow enrichment plant, just days after Tehran formally notified the nuclear watchdog of plans for a substantial upgrade at…

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More immigrants boost economy, reduce budget deficit, Congress’ nonpartisan scorekeeper says

More immigrants boost economy, reduce budget deficit, Congress’ nonpartisan scorekeeper says

HuffPost reports: A “surge” of immigrants has boosted the U.S. economy recently and is projected to add almost $9 trillion to it through 2034, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a new report Tuesday. The CBO, in an update to budget and economic forecasts made in February, said the current level of immigration of “other foreign nationals” was well above historical patterns and would continue to add to the overall size of the U.S. population, providing more workers for…

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Something’s rotten about the justices taking so long on Trump’s immunity case

Something’s rotten about the justices taking so long on Trump’s immunity case

Leah Litman writes: For those looking for the hidden hand of politics in what the Supreme Court does, there’s plenty of reason for suspicion on Donald Trump’s as-yet-decided immunity case given its urgency. There are, of course, explanations that have nothing to do with politics for why a ruling still hasn’t been issued. But the reasons to think something is rotten at the court are impossible to ignore. On Feb. 28, the justices agreed to hear Mr. Trump’s claim that…

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Amy Coney Barrett may be poised to split conservatives on the Supreme Court

Amy Coney Barrett may be poised to split conservatives on the Supreme Court

Politico reports: A rift is emerging among the Supreme Court’s conservatives — and it could thwart the court’s recent march to expand gun rights. On one side is the court’s oldest and most conservative justice, Clarence Thomas. On the other is its youngest member, Amy Coney Barrett. The question at the center of the spat may seem abstract: How should the court use “history and tradition” to decide modern-day legal issues? But the answer may determine how the court resolves…

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As Israeli generals approve Lebanon offensive battle plans, Hezbollah provides glimpse of surveillance intel

As Israeli generals approve Lebanon offensive battle plans, Hezbollah provides glimpse of surveillance intel

The Times of Israel reports: The head of the IDF’s Northern Command Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin and head of the Operations Directorate Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk approved Lebanon battle plans on Tuesday, the military said, following a recent intensification of cross-border fighting with Hezbollah. In a statement, the IDF said the generals held an assessment, during which “operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon were approved.” The top commanders also made decisions regarding “accelerating the readiness of the forces on…

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