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Category: Politics

Iran consolidates control of Hormuz with island checkpoints, diplomatic deals – and sometimes ‘fees’

Iran consolidates control of Hormuz with island checkpoints, diplomatic deals – and sometimes ‘fees’

Reuters reports: The tanker crew gathered their courage and carefully navigated along a route designated by Iran, hugging the coastline and maneuvering their hulking vessel between island checkpoints through the Strait of Hormuz. The 330-metre-long Agios Fanourios I, laden with Iraqi crude oil and bound for Vietnam, had been bottled up off the coast of Dubai since late April. But on May 10 it set off for the strait after a direct deal with Iran overseen by Iraq’s prime minister….

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Israeli security minister Ben-Gvir stirs diplomatic outrage with flotilla activist abuse video

Israeli security minister Ben-Gvir stirs diplomatic outrage with flotilla activist abuse video

The Guardian reports: Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has sparked a diplomatic crisis by publishing footage of Israeli security forces abusing international activists who were detained as they tried to sail to Gaza with aid. Three activists were taken to hospital as result of Israeli violence, lawyers representing the group said. They were subsequently discharged. Dozens of others have suspected broken ribs, resulting in breathing problems. “The team reports systemic violations of due process, and widespread physical and…

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A ferocious backlash against AI — especially among young people — is everywhere

A ferocious backlash against AI — especially among young people — is everywhere

Michelle Goldberg writes: When Eric Schmidt, the former chief executive of Google, started talking about artificial intelligence during a commencement speech at the University of Arizona on Friday, the graduates erupted in boos. “A.I. is going to touch everything,” said Schmidt, as his stadium-sized audience roared its disapproval. “Whatever path you choose, A.I. will become part of how work is done.” Maybe he meant this as a promise of opportunity, but the students seemed to hear it as a threat…

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Trump’s deportations are costing Americans jobs

Trump’s deportations are costing Americans jobs

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration has long claimed that mass deportations would deliver more jobs and higher wages to American-born workers. But a new study casts doubt on that assertion, undermining a central tenet of the president’s immigration policy. Recent surges in deportations have led to job losses for both immigrant and American-born workers, while wages have stayed flat, according to the study, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonpartisan research organization. Construction, which…

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U.S.-Iran war highlights the underappreciated national security benefits of China’s electrostate strategy

U.S.-Iran war highlights the underappreciated national security benefits of China’s electrostate strategy

Alison Gocke and Ashley Deeks write: News headlines regularly announce that China has made a wise choice in pursuing clean energy technologies and weaning itself off oil and gas—a trend that has only accelerated with the U.S.-Iran war. These headlines, which emphasize China’s limited exposure to the greatly diminished supply of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, are true. But the news analysis has missed two key aspects of China’s “electrostate” victory over the “petrostate” status that the United States…

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Russia’s war is going badly — on the ground and in the air

Russia’s war is going badly — on the ground and in the air

The Wall Street Journal reports: Ukraine’s military has wrestled Russia’s much-larger army almost to a halt in recent months, having gained a tactical and technological edge. This summer will test whether it can turn that slender advantage into a strategic turning point. Fast-improving Ukrainian drone capabilities are hurting the invaders’ logistics behind the battlefield, and pounding oil infrastructure and military targets deeper inside Russia. “We are not only holding the line, but we are also increasing pressure,” Ukrainian Defense Minister…

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State and administrative law — backstops to federal corruption

State and administrative law — backstops to federal corruption

Reed Shaw and Winston Berkman-Breen write: The press, elected officials, and advocacy groups have sounded the alarm about what they describe as rampant corruption in the Trump administration: pardons issued following political contributions or a business deal that benefited the president and his family personally; mergers approved following multimillion dollar payoffs and backroom deals; access provided to government data that could benefit corporate interests aligned with the president; and some secret donations for the president’s gilded ballroom, in return for as-yet-undisclosed benefits. The New Yorker has tabulated “some three and a half billion dollars in Presidential profits” for Trump and his…

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AI industry increasingly viewed by Americans as an existential threat

AI industry increasingly viewed by Americans as an existential threat

The Wall Street Journal reports: The only thing growing faster than the artificial-intelligence industry may be Americans’ negative feelings about it—as former Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt saw on Friday. Delivering a commencement address at the University of Arizona, Schmidt told students the “technological transformation” wrought by artificial intelligence will be “larger, faster and more consequential than what came before.” Like some other graduation speakers mentioning AI, Schmidt was met with a chorus of boos. In one poll after another…

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How Israel-backed Sweida became Syria’s narcotics capital

How Israel-backed Sweida became Syria’s narcotics capital

Charles Lister writes: In the early hours of Sunday, May 3, Jordanian F-16 fighter jets crossed into Syrian airspace and launched strikes on at least six locations in the southern province of Sweida. In a statement issued hours later, Jordan’s military said that “Operation Jordanian Deterrence” had targeted “factories, facilities and warehouses used by trafficking groups as launch points for smuggling operations into Jordan.” This was the fifth time Jordan had launched military strikes in Sweida since the fall of…

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Trump shows his contempt for America and the rule of law by creating a 1776 slush fund

Trump shows his contempt for America and the rule of law by creating a 1776 slush fund

David Gardner writes: It is a sick joke on America’s history that Donald Trump chose the amount of $1.776 billion to bilk from taxpayers to pay his MAGA friends. He has already picked a sport with a fragile hold on the rules—UFC—to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary with a cage fight at the White House on June 14. Now the president is using 1776—the year the thirteen colonies declared independence from Great Britain—to frame an unprecedented challenge to the U.S….

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In closed-door talks, U.S. demands a major role in Greenland

In closed-door talks, U.S. demands a major role in Greenland

The New York Times reports: An investigation by The New York Times, based on interviews with officials in Washington, Copenhagen and Greenland, has discovered: The United States is trying to modify a longstanding military arrangement to ensure American troops can stay in Greenland indefinitely, even if Greenland becomes independent. The notion is basically a forever clause, and Greenlanders do not like it. The United States has pushed the talks beyond military matters and wants effective veto power over any major…

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A utility mega-merger is all about data centers

A utility mega-merger is all about data centers

Inside Climate News reports: A proposed merger of the largest utility in the country by market value, NextEra Energy, with the sixth-largest, Dominion, would create a megacompany at a time when data centers and rapid increases in electricity demand are reshaping the industry. The proposal, announced Monday morning and contingent on state and federal regulatory approval, would result in a company that leads in nearly every aspect of the U.S. power and utility industry, including overall electricity generation, natural gas…

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More than 145,000 U.S. citizen children have had one or both parents detained in immigration sweeps

More than 145,000 U.S. citizen children have had one or both parents detained in immigration sweeps

Brookings reports: The Trump administration has made detention and deportation the centerpieces of its immigration policy. Around 60,000 people are being held in detention currently, and around 400,000 people have been booked into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention from an interior arrest since the administration began. Detention capacity is likely to expand, with $45 billion allocated to expanding detention facilities in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Though it is mostly adults who are detained and deported, many children…

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Is the far right driving a Christian revival in the UK?

Is the far right driving a Christian revival in the UK?

  For decades, Britain seemed to be leaving Christianity behind. Then a controversial report suggested church attendance was on the rise, published just as far-right figures such as Tommy Robinson began seizing on Christianity as a symbol of national identity. So is the UK really experiencing a Christian revival and to what extent is it being driven by Christian nationalism? To find out, the Guardian visited churches across the country and uncovered a growing schism over how Christianity is being…

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As the American epoch of oil is collapsing, fossil fuel fascists are trying to turn back the clock

As the American epoch of oil is collapsing, fossil fuel fascists are trying to turn back the clock

Jonathan Watts writes: “Farewell,” the flag-waving Chinese children chanted to Donald Trump as he strolled along the red carpet back to Air Force One at the end of his summit with Xi Jinping in Beijing. The US leader claimed he was leaving with a cluster of “fantastic” trade deals to sell US oil, jets and soya beans to China. That has not been confirmed by his smiling host, but one thing was crystal clear from the two days of meetings:…

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