Putin doesn’t want peace. He wants to subjugate Ukraine

Putin doesn’t want peace. He wants to subjugate Ukraine

Mykola Bielieskov writes: Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered an evasive initial response to US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire proposal, backing the idea in principle while listing a series of additional demands that make any meaningful progress unlikely. Officials in Kyiv will be hoping Putin’s reluctance to embrace the US-led ceasefire initiative will help convince their American colleagues that the Kremlin dictator is not genuinely interested in ending the war. Many in Ukraine have been dismayed by recent US suggestions…

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Trump’s dumb trade war is being met with smart retaliatory tariffs

Trump’s dumb trade war is being met with smart retaliatory tariffs

The New York Times reports: As President Trump imposes tariffs on products from countries around the world, foreign governments are answering back with tariffs of their own. China has targeted corn farmers and carmakers. Canada has put tariffs on poultry plants and air-conditioning manufacturers, while Europe will hit American steel mills and slaughter houses. The retaliatory tariffs are an attempt to put pressure on the president to relent. And they have been carefully designed to hit Mr. Trump where it…

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Trump’s tariffs are inflicting serious economic damage and reigniting inflation, OECD says

Trump’s tariffs are inflicting serious economic damage and reigniting inflation, OECD says

CNN reports: President Donald Trump’s tariff policies are slowing economic growth in the United States and around the world while sending prices higher again, creating a toxic stew for the global economy that could grow even worse if tensions escalate, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said Monday. The quarterly report is the first sweeping attempt by global economists to document and forecast the damage from Trump’s policies to the economies of America and its trading partners. The OECD…

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How a push to amend the Constitution could help Trump expand presidential power

How a push to amend the Constitution could help Trump expand presidential power

By Phoebe Petrovic, Wisconsin Watch This story was originally published by ProPublica A behind-the-scenes legal effort to force Congress to call a convention to amend the Constitution could end up helping President Donald Trump in his push to expand presidential power. While the convention effort is focused on the national debt, legal experts say it could open the door to other changes, such as limiting who can be a U.S. citizen, allowing the president to overrule Congress’ spending decisions or…

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As a professor and climate scientist, I’m suddenly on America’s ‘enemies list’

As a professor and climate scientist, I’m suddenly on America’s ‘enemies list’

Andrew Dessler writes: I recently found myself added to America’s growing list of “enemies.” As a climate scientist at Texas A&M, I’m both a government employee, part of the “Deep State,” as well as someone perpetuating the so-called “hoax of global warming.” In being on this list, I join a diverse group of Americans who have been branded as threats: immigrants, civil servants, transgender Americans, librarians, journalists and many others who serve vital roles in our lives. I can assure…

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Mass protests against pro-Russian leaders sweep Eastern Europe

Mass protests against pro-Russian leaders sweep Eastern Europe

  The Telegraph reports: Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in Budapest, Belgrade and Bucharest on Saturday for separate pro-Europe and anti-Russia protests. At least 50,000 people marched in Hungary to demand an end to Viktor Orban’s 15-year rule, while Serbia saw its largest anti-government rally in recent history and thousands in Romania demonstrated in support of the European Union. In Budapest, Hungarians came out in force against Mr Orban, considered Vladimir Putin’s closest ally among EU leaders, in…

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Mahmoud Khalil’s deportation arrest should scare all Americans

Mahmoud Khalil’s deportation arrest should scare all Americans

Deporting Mahmoud Khalil would be a free speech nightmare. In fact, it already is. @NoahRFeldman breaks down why🎥 pic.twitter.com/jQwd85z3F4 — Bloomberg Opinion (@opinion) March 12, 2025 Noah Feldman writes: The Trump administration came into office claiming to stand for free speech. Yet the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident who led pro-Palestinian student protests at Columbia University, has dealt a serious blow to the First Amendment. Going back to 1941, the Supreme Court has held that…

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White House ignored a judge’s order to turn back deportation flights

White House ignored a judge’s order to turn back deportation flights

Axios reports: The president signed the executive order invoking the Alien Enemies Act on Friday night, but intentionally did not advertise it. On Saturday morning, word of the order leaked, officials said, prompting a mad scramble to get planes in the air. At 2:31 p.m. Saturday, an immigration activist who tracks deportation flights, posted on X that “TWO HIGHLY UNUSUAL ICE flights” were departing from Texas to El Salvador, which had agreed to accept Venezuelan gang members deported from the U.S. Hours later, during…

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Kidney transplant specialist with valid visa deported in defiance of a court order

Kidney transplant specialist with valid visa deported in defiance of a court order

The New York Times reports: A kidney transplant specialist and professor at Brown University’s medical school has been deported from the United States, even though she had a valid visa and a court order temporarily blocking her expulsion, according to her lawyer and court papers. Dr. Rasha Alawieh, 34, a Lebanese citizen who had traveled to Lebanon last month to visit relatives, was detained on Thursday when she returned to the United States, according to a court complaint filed by…

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Trump has made ‘a huge gift to America’s enemies’ by silencing pro-democracy media

Trump has made ‘a huge gift to America’s enemies’ by silencing pro-democracy media

Politico reports: U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to stop financing U.S.-funded media including Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is stirring anger and indignation. On Saturday, journalists from VOA, RFE/RL and other U.S.-funded media outlets were put on leave or otherwise told to stop work after Trump moved to effectively freeze funding to media that have correspondents all over the world and provide coverage of regions including Eastern Europe and Central Asia. “These media outlets have…

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If the marshals go rogue, courts still have other ways to enforce their orders

If the marshals go rogue, courts still have other ways to enforce their orders

David Noll writes: One of the most alarming developments in the second Trump administration is agencies’ apparent defiance of court orders barring them from implementing illegal executive orders. As agencies including the State Department have ignored, evaded or slow-walked judicial decrees, courts have issued increasingly stronger warnings that compliance with their orders is not optional, and litigants have urged them to hold the responsible government officials in contempt of court. Yet the prospect of holding executive branch officials in contempt…

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As Bessent swigs MAGA Kool-Aid, Wall Street sees no guard rails for Trump 2.0

As Bessent swigs MAGA Kool-Aid, Wall Street sees no guard rails for Trump 2.0

Politico reports: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a successful hedge fund manager straight out of central casting, has quickly become one of the administration’s strongest advocates for policies that are upending global trade and roiling financial markets. The deliberate, wonkish Wall Street veteran who once called for the gradual implementation of new trade barriers has transformed into a bullhorn for President Donald Trump’s MAGA 2.0 agenda, making it clear that short-term market reactions are secondary to administration priorities such as sweeping…

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For increasing numbers of international tourists, the U.S. no longer looks like a safe destination

For increasing numbers of international tourists, the U.S. no longer looks like a safe destination

The Washington Post reports: International travelers concerned about President Donald Trump’s trade policies and bellicose rhetoric have been canceling trips to the United States, depriving the U.S. tourism industry of billions of dollars at a time when the economy has started to appear wobbly. Canadians are skipping trips to Disney World and music festivals. Europeans are eschewing U.S. national parks, and Chinese travelers are vacationing in Australia instead. International travel to the United States is expected to slide by 5…

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Starvation is not a negotiating tactic

Starvation is not a negotiating tactic

Megan Stack writes: “You do whatever you want,” President Trump said he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. Mr. Netanyahu, it seems, took Mr. Trump at his word. Israel has clamped Gaza back under near-total siege, barring desperately needed humanitarian aid and other goods from entering the hungry and bomb-decimated enclave. Food, medicine, tents, fuel — for the past week and a half, supplies have not been permitted into Gaza, where some two million Palestinians are trying to survive in the wreckage….

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