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Category: Politics

The dismantling of USAID and the firing of its staff was illegal

The dismantling of USAID and the firing of its staff was illegal

J. Brian Atwood and Kevin Byrnes write: When Elon Musk and his youthful Department of Government Efficiency warriors boasted of taking a “chainsaw” to the U.S. Agency for International Development, they did more than destroy a government agency. They violated the law by summarily firing USAID’s public servants while placing millions of people around the world in mortal danger. The thousands of public servants, fired without due process, care deeply about the agency’s mission. They did not deserve to be…

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U.S. civil rights agency moves to end demographic data collection after 60 years

U.S. civil rights agency moves to end demographic data collection after 60 years

The Associated Press reports: How many women hold executive-level positions at top U.S. companies? What is the racial and ethnic breakdown of those roles? What is the gender and racial breakdown of the lowest-paid roles at those companies? The Trump administration is making it harder for the public to know, moving to toss aside a 60-year-old requirement for tens of thousands of private sector employers to submit workforce demographic reports each year to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency…

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Quid pro quo: Murkowski is undecided on Blanche’s confirmation. Her state is getting a windfall from DOJ

Quid pro quo: Murkowski is undecided on Blanche’s confirmation. Her state is getting a windfall from DOJ

Politico reports: The Justice Department has been lavishing nine-figure policy wins on Alaska — and openly touting what a “huge” time it’s been for the state — as attorney general nominee Todd Blanche is scrambling to lock down support for his confirmation from its senior senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski. A July 7 settlement over the federal government’s unfinished work on the port of Alaska resulted in a $180 million payout to Anchorage — an announcement Blanche, who is currently the…

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Dershowitz fails to appear before House Oversight Committee after claiming ‘I want it to be under oath’

Dershowitz fails to appear before House Oversight Committee after claiming ‘I want it to be under oath’

ABC News reports: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., called it “unacceptable” Tuesday that attorney Alan Dershowitz failed to appear Monday for a scheduled transcribed interview as part of the committee’s probe into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “Your counsel failed to provide a reason for your refusal to testify,” Comer wrote In a letter sent Tuesday to Dershowitz. “When Committee staff followed up with your counsel via email on July 15 and 17, 2026, your counsel again failed…

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U.S. planning for wider war but is running short of weapons and cash

U.S. planning for wider war but is running short of weapons and cash

The Washington Post reports: The Pentagon faces an urgent budget shortfall caused largely by the war in Iran, with some critical lines of funding set to run out within weeks even as President Donald Trump escalates the conflict with Tehran, according to lawmakers and current and former U.S. officials. The funding crunch is already leading the Pentagon to limit training and maintenance that help maintain military readiness, according to four current and former officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity…

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Houthis threaten to attack shipping tankers if they use Saudi Arabian ports on Red Sea

Houthis threaten to attack shipping tankers if they use Saudi Arabian ports on Red Sea

The Guardian reports: Yemen’s Iranian-aligned Houthis have warned shipping companies that their tankers risk being attacked if they use Saudi Arabian ports, as the militia moved quickly to enforce a blockade announced the previous day. The Houthi warning for the Red Sea, coming on top of Iran’s threat to shipping on the other side of the Arabian peninsular in the Gulf, could affect the substantial Saudi oil exports that have so far been unscathed by the months-long conflict and deepen…

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Certifiable stupidity: U.S. pulls back on energy efficiency just as prices are rising

Certifiable stupidity: U.S. pulls back on energy efficiency just as prices are rising

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration is dismantling a wide array of federal energy-efficiency programs at the same time that war in Iran is raising oil prices, climate change is fueling record heat that is driving up demand for air conditioning and new data centers are straining America’s electricity supply. “The turn away from efficiency has been oddly timed,” said Christine Egan, chief executive of CLASP, a nonprofit group that works on efficiency policies worldwide. “Energy prices are…

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Taylor Farms spent big on MAGA and anti-regulatory lobbying before diarrhea outbreak

Taylor Farms spent big on MAGA and anti-regulatory lobbying before diarrhea outbreak

Wired reports: The lettuce supplier at the center of the turbo diarrhea outbreak has spent millions of dollars to sway sentiment around food regulation and elect Donald Trump and other MAGA Republicans, according to public filings. Taylor Farms donated more than $2 million to conservative political groups in 2025, according to Federal Election Commission filings. That includes a $1 million donation to MAGA Inc., the Trump-centric super PAC, and $1.1 million to other super PACs dedicated to electing Republicans. From…

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Nicaragua’s president says country will not hold any more elections

Nicaragua’s president says country will not hold any more elections

The Guardian reports: Nicaragua’s long-serving president, Daniel Ortega, has said the country will hold no further elections to prevent the opposition from coming to power. The 80-year-old authoritarian leader, who has been in office since 2007, also said he would work with the congress he controls to pass new laws that would “build a wall” against the opposition. Ortega made the announcement on Sunday during the official ceremony marking the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Sandinista revolution, in which he…

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France becomes first EU country to ban social media access for under-15s

France becomes first EU country to ban social media access for under-15s

The Guardian reports: France’s parliament has approved a bill banning social media access for children under 15, making it the first EU country to bar children from apps such as TikTok. The president, Emmanuel Macron, has championed the ban as a key reform of his final term in office and pledged to enforce it by September. “France is leading the way in Europe when it comes to protecting our children and teenagers,” Macron said in a video posted on social…

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How Joe Biden enabled Israel’s aggression toward Gaza — and Iran

How Joe Biden enabled Israel’s aggression toward Gaza — and Iran

David D. Kirkpatrick writes: On March 5, 2024, five months into the war in Gaza, Mirjana Spoljaric, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, sent a confidential letter to President Joe Biden. Under the Geneva Conventions, the Red Cross holds a unique responsibility to counsel states about avoiding war crimes. In the letter, which I obtained from a former United States official, Spoljaric reminded Biden that the organization had condemned the “horrific” October 7th massacre of Israelis…

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Nearly half of Israel’s government joins march vowing Gaza settlements

Nearly half of Israel’s government joins march vowing Gaza settlements

Oren Ziv reports: The “March of the Thousands” could hardly be called a demonstration or a protest. Those are actions usually taken in opposition to the government, or demanding something from outside of it. But when several thousand right-wing activists marched to the Gaza fence on Sunday, calling for Israel to re-establish settlements in the Strip, they did so with the participation of almost half of the government and under the auspices of the police — even though the army…

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Cover-up: Pentagon has withheld information on dozens of U.S. military injuries in Iran war

Cover-up: Pentagon has withheld information on dozens of U.S. military injuries in Iran war

The New York Times reports: In the week leading up to the Iranian attack on Friday that killed two U.S. soldiers and left one service member missing in Jordan, Iran carried out three other strikes against U.S. forces in the country. Those attacks injured dozens of U.S. service members and damaged several helicopters, according to several U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. But the Pentagon did not disclose the earlier strikes, nor the…

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Trump’s aggressive crackdown on leaks is not unprecedented

Trump’s aggressive crackdown on leaks is not unprecedented

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration sought the phone records of several New York Times journalists and their relatives — including one reporter’s mother — in its effort to unmask the confidential sources who had provided information for articles about the security capabilities of President Trump’s new Air Force One jet. The Justice Department told The Times late last week that it had issued subpoenas to third-party phone service providers seeking several journalists’ phone and text messaging records….

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Wildfires across North America won’t be extinguished with tarrifs

Wildfires across North America won’t be extinguished with tarrifs

The Guardian reports: After days of acrid smoke from northern wildfires choking major US cities and inspiring Donald Trump to threaten Canada with tariffs, officials now say the reverse is also happening as parts of Canada issue air quality warnings caused by American fires to the south. Officials in the Canadian province of British Columbia warned in an alert on Saturday evening that smoke from US fires, spurred on by thousands of lightning strikes in the north-east, was creating smoky…

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How soon will the UK’s newest prime minister, Andy Burnham, seek a mandate?

How soon will the UK’s newest prime minister, Andy Burnham, seek a mandate?

Daniel Boffey writes: Andy Burnham had emerged victorious, but niggling doubts remained about his mandate. It was the summer of 1987 and the 17-year-old had represented Labour in a school hustings as Margaret Thatcher and Neil Kinnock were battling it out in that year’s general election. “Andy was standing against another guy, a really nice guy who was the Conservative candidate,” said Steve Harrington, a former English teacher at St Aelred’s Catholic high school, in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside. “Andy gave a…

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