Browsed by
Category: Politics

The hidden messages in King Charles’ speech to Congress

The hidden messages in King Charles’ speech to Congress

Politico reports: King Charles III deployed the first royal address to the U.S. Congress in 35 years today — and he had plenty to say to Washington’s gathered political leadership. His speech to a bipartisan crowd of elected officials, Supreme Court justices and U.S. military officials was delivered with trademark British understatement but was strong on subtext. POLITICO decodes some of the key passages of the biggest public speech of the British monarch’s four-day U.S. state visit. What he said: “In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, when NATO invoked Article 5 for the first…

Read More Read More

Appeals court rules against ICE’s mandatory detention policy

Appeals court rules against ICE’s mandatory detention policy

Politico reports: A federal appeals court has rejected the Trump administration’s bid to lock up the majority of people it is seeking to deport without an opportunity for release on bond — even if they have no criminal records and have resided in the country for decades. In a 3-0 ruling, a panel of the New York-based 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals found that ICE’s policy was based on a flawed, implausible and unprecedented interpretation of decades-old laws. But more…

Read More Read More

Vance doubts Pentagon’s depiction of war in Iran. Germany’s chancellor says U.S. is being ‘humiliated’

Vance doubts Pentagon’s depiction of war in Iran. Germany’s chancellor says U.S. is being ‘humiliated’

The Atlantic reports: In closed-door meetings, J. D. Vance has repeatedly questioned the Defense Department’s depiction of the war in Iran and whether the Pentagon has understated what appears to be the drastic depletion of U.S. missile stockpiles. Two senior administration officials told us that the vice president has queried the accuracy of the information the Pentagon has provided about the war. He has also expressed his concerns about the availability of certain missile systems in discussions with President Trump,…

Read More Read More

So you want to negotiate with Iran …

So you want to negotiate with Iran …

Nahal Toosi writes: President Donald Trump recently dismissed claims he’s anxious to end the Iran war, insisting on Truth Social that he’s “possibly the least pressured person ever to be in this position” and has “all the time in the World.” If only. Trump and his aides could use some more time to think through what they want to accomplish in discussions with Tehran’s Islamist regime. The administration’s preparations for launching the war were … not great, and its negotiating…

Read More Read More

The U.S. started the war against Iran. The rest of the world is suffering the consequences

The U.S. started the war against Iran. The rest of the world is suffering the consequences

The New York Times reports: The fallout from two months of war in Iran is shuttering textile mills in India and Bangladesh, grounding airplanes in Ireland, Poland and Germany, and prompting energy rationing in Vietnam, South Korea and Thailand. The only country, it seems, that has been relatively spared from the economic chaos is the one that started the war: the United States. While warning signs of a recession are flashing across countries in Asia and Europe, the United States…

Read More Read More

How Trump is moving to control U.S. elections, one state at a time

How Trump is moving to control U.S. elections, one state at a time

Reuters reports: In January, the Franklin County Board of Elections in Ohio received a surprising call. The man on the line said he was an agent at the Department of Homeland Security – and he needed immediate access to voter records. Franklin County has a large population of Democrats and has long been a focal point of Republican skepticism about urban voting centers in Ohio. In the weeks that followed, the requests multiplied. According to emails reviewed by Reuters, the…

Read More Read More

U.S. government ramps up mass surveillance with help of AI tech, data brokers – and your apps and devices

U.S. government ramps up mass surveillance with help of AI tech, data brokers – and your apps and devices

The U.S. government is using AI to speed analysis of government and commercial data about you. Anton Petrus/Moment via Getty Images By Anne Toomey McKenna, Penn State On a Saturday morning, you head to the hardware store. Your neighbors’ Ring cameras film your walk to the car. Your car’s sensors, cameras and microphones record your speed, how you drive, where you’re going, who’s with you, what you say, and biological metrics such as facial expression, weight and heart rate. Your…

Read More Read More

Corruption: How Trump’s family is cashing in on his presidency

Corruption: How Trump’s family is cashing in on his presidency

Rolling Stone reports: “FOUNDATION FUTURE INDUSTRIES LANDS $24 MILLION PENTAGON CONTRACT” screamed the Fox Business Network chyron Thursday morning. Host Maria Bartiromo teed up her segment, explaining that the defense tech startup was developing “autonomous humanoid robots” to help troops “breach enemy sites more safely.” Bartiromo’s guest? Eric Trump, Foundation Future Industries’ chief strategy adviser who also happens to be the son of the man in charge of the government that doled out the eight-figure contract. The host congratulated Trump…

Read More Read More

We will all be paying for the Iran war for a very long time

We will all be paying for the Iran war for a very long time

Haider Ali Hussein Mullick writes: America’s spending on the war in Iran will far outlast active combat. The U.S. government has already made contracts and other commitments to repair damaged bases, field counter-drone platforms, feed and shelter thousands of troops and replenish munitions. Even if President Trump signs a deal ending the war tomorrow, we will harden bases in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, by reinforcing aircraft shelters, building blast walls around fuel and…

Read More Read More

Mood in Russia turns bleak as war in Ukraine drags on and economy suffers

Mood in Russia turns bleak as war in Ukraine drags on and economy suffers

The Washington Post reports: President Vladimir Putin is facing rising discontent across Russian society as the war against Ukraine drags on, the economy flounders and public dissatisfaction mounts over government restrictions on internet access. Russia’s biggest state-owned pollster, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, on Friday recorded that Putin’s approval rating fell to 65.6 percent, its lowest level since before the beginning of the war and a drop of 12.2 percentage points since the start of the year. Gauging genuine…

Read More Read More

Ukraine has picked up the torch that America dropped

Ukraine has picked up the torch that America dropped

David French writes: A remarkable thing has happened on the world’s battlefields. Ukraine — a nation that was supposed to dissolve within days of a Russian invasion — has fought Russia to a stalemate, revolutionizing land warfare in the process. It has become an indispensable security partner in the western alliance, including in the war against Iran. Now, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, is taking the next step, one that would have been unthinkable even as recently as 2024. By word…

Read More Read More

Orbán associates rush to move wealth out of Hungary after election defeat

Orbán associates rush to move wealth out of Hungary after election defeat

The Guardian reports: Along the banks of the Danube, news that the Viktor Orbán era had come to an end set off an hours-long party. The joy echoed across Hungary as people traded hugs and high-fives. For some, however, the landslide loss set off a frantic scramble. Private jets allegedly laden with the spoils of those whose wealth swelled during Orbán’s 16 years in power have steadily been taking off from Vienna, while other individuals are racing to invest their…

Read More Read More

California’s billionaire tax has the signatures to make the ballot, backers say

California’s billionaire tax has the signatures to make the ballot, backers say

The Wall Street Journal reports: Backers of the proposed California billionaire tax believe they have gathered enough signatures to get the initiative on the November ballot, according to people familiar with the campaign, likely kicking off a bruising battle over the initiative. More than 1.5 million people have signed a petition to get the one-time, 5% wealth tax on statewide ballots in November, the people said. County election officials must tally the signatures, verify them, and send them to California’s…

Read More Read More

Trump fired the entire National Science Board. Here’s why that matters

Trump fired the entire National Science Board. Here’s why that matters

John Drake writes: On Friday, April 24, 2026, the White House fired all 24 members of the National Science Board. According to the National Science Foundation website, the board’s next scheduled meeting is May 5. Most people outside the research enterprise have never heard of the NSB, so it’s worth saying what it is. The National Science Foundation Act of 1950 created NSF with two heads: a director and a board. Jointly they set the strategic direction of an agency…

Read More Read More

The billion-barrel Hormuz oil shock is about to crash demand

The billion-barrel Hormuz oil shock is about to crash demand

Bloomberg reports: The Strait of Hormuz oil shock has yet to crash demand as the rich world borrows from its stocks and pays up to secure supply. Traders are now sounding the alarm that a harsh adjustment is coming. The longer the vital oil channel doesn’t reopen, traders say, the more consumption is going to have to recalibrate lower to align with supply that’s dropped at least 10%. And for that to happen, people will have buy less, either through…

Read More Read More

Iran caused significantly more damage to U.S. military bases than publicly acknowledged

Iran caused significantly more damage to U.S. military bases than publicly acknowledged

Defence Security Asia reports: The emerging picture of Iranian retaliation against American military bases across the Gulf suggests that the real military cost of Operation Epic Fury may be significantly higher than Washington has publicly acknowledged, with infrastructure damage, aircraft losses, and operational disruption now measured in billions of dollars. Multiple U.S. officials, congressional aides, and individuals familiar with classified damage assessments indicate that Iranian strikes hit dozens of targets across at least seven countries in the Middle East, challenging…

Read More Read More