Music: Herbie Tsoaeli — ‘Wozani Nonke Sizothandaza’
Trump picks settlement backer Mike Huckabee as next U.S. ambassador to Israel
The Times of Israel reports: US President-elect Donald Trump announced his decision on Tuesday to nominate former Arkansas governor and longtime backer of the settlement enterprise Mike Huckabee as the next US ambassador to Israel. “He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!” Trump said in a statement. Huckabee, 69, has been one of the evangelical Christian community’s most ardent…
Netanyahu might be disappointed in a Trump White House, says former Israeli official
As Donald Trump’s administration picks are revealed, the Middle East watches closely for the implications of the new White House in the region. This comes at a time when Israel’s Foreign Minister has rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state, while the Saudi Crown Prince has harshly criticized Netanyahu, accusing Israel of ‘genocide’ against Palestinians in Gaza. Trita Parsi, Executive Vice President at The Quincy Institute, and Alon Pinkas, former Israel Consul General in New York, join CNN’s Becky…
The not-so-secret history of Netanyahu’s support for Hamas
Ghousoon Bisharat writes: When Israeli historian and human rights activist Adam Raz set out to write “The Road to October 7: Benjamin Netanyahu, the Production of the Endless Conflict and Israel’s Moral Degradation,” he knew he was tackling a blind spot in Israeli public discourse. The vast majority of Israelis, Raz believes, fail to grasp the full extent of Netanyahu’s involvement in bolstering Hamas before the current war, and in perpetuating an unending state of conflict. Raz’s book, released in…
Trump picks ally Lee Zeldin as environment chief and vows to roll back rules
The Guardian reports: Donald Trump has picked Lee Zeldin, a former New York congressman, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), vowing the appointment will “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions” by the regulator. Trump, who oversaw the rollback of more than 100 environmental rules when he last was US president, said that Zeldin was a “true fighter for America First policies” and that “he will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to…
Helping Ukraine is Europe’s job now
Phillips Payson O’Brien writes: Europeans should pay Donald Trump the compliment of believing what he does and says, not what they desperately want to hear. He has clearly indicated that he wants the United States out of the Ukraine war as soon as possible. Both the president-elect and his most important supporter, Elon Musk, have reportedly been in frequent contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Vice President–elect J. D. Vance has outlined a “peace” deal with Ukraine that would serve…
The U.S. could soon face a threat ‘more powerful’ than nuclear weapons
Ashish K. Jha, Matt Pottinger and Matthew McKnight write: President Richard M. Nixon’s bold 1969 decision to renounce biological weapons and spearhead a treaty to ban them helped contain the threat of a man-made pandemic for half a century. But our inheritance from Nixon is now fading. And in this age of synthetic biology, unless we act quickly to deter our adversaries from making and using bioweapons, we could face disaster in the near future. The nightmare of a biological…
Fallibilism can break America’s political fever
Kwame Anthony Appiah writes: I want to make the case for the power of thinking in the third person. The first person, of course, comes quite naturally to us. We have a vivid sense of our experiences and perspectives: This is who and what I am. People will live their lives with “main character energy.” Yet, with a little more work, we can also view ourselves the way historians and social scientists might: as creatures shaped by larger forces and…
Music: Herbie Tsoaeli — ‘Abadala Baholo’
How Kamala Harris — and Joe Biden — lost to Donald Trump and left Democrats in shambles
The Washington Post reports: Following Harris’s loss Tuesday — in which Trump made gains with nearly every single demographic group, leaving him poised to potentially win all seven battleground states and the popular vote — the Democratic Party now finds itself grappling with how it lost so definitively, and how it so thoroughly misunderstood the American electorate. Democrats expect the party, donors and outside groups will eventually conduct autopsy reports to understand just how the race went awry. Donna Brazile,…
Thomas Homan will deport people for Trump — as he did for Obama
Politico reports: President-elect Donald Trump has picked former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Thomas Homan to serve as a “border czar” for the incoming administration. Trump’s selection of Homan, 62, for the post was widely expected. “I’ve known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders,” Trump wrote as he announced Homan’s new job on the Truth Social platform late Sunday night. Homan’s duties will include overseeing the borders with Mexico…
Democrats’ $1.9 trillion bet that blew up
Axios reports: Nearly four years ago, the Biden administration and Congressional Democrats made a $1.9 trillion bet in the form of the American Rescue Plan. They lost, as it contributed to a surge in inflation that fueled massive voter discontent and Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Why it matters: In the next recession, politicians and policymakers may be more hesitant to unleash the type of programs that drove America’s rapid recovery from the pandemic-induced crisis. Catch up fast: With the ARP, Democrats wagered…
‘Hail Hitler and Hail Trump,’ yell Nazis in Michigan
WLNS reports: A group of people were seen waving Nazi flags in two different Mid-Michigan cities, including outside of a Jewish play. Many people were waving flags with swastikas on them in front of the American Legion Post in Howell. At the same time, the Fowlerville Community Theater performed the “Diary of Anne Frank” on Saturday night. A member of the Howell American Legion Post says the legion heard about the rising antisemitism and thought people could learn from the…
Trump’s victory an opportunity to ‘apply sovereignty’ in the West Bank, says Israeli minister
The Times of Israel reports: Donald Trump’s election as the next president of the United States provides Israel with the opportunity to advance the annexation of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared on Monday. Addressing the press ahead of his Religious Zionism party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Smotrich welcomed Trump’s victory over incumbent Joe Biden, whose administration he complained had “unfortunately chosen to intervene in Israeli democracy and personally not to cooperate with…
Gaza doesn’t care about Trump or Harris — only survival matters
Ahmed Najar writes: I spoke to my family in Gaza a day before the US election. Our conversation followed days of silence, of unbearable waiting, with every hour deepening my dread. When I finally heard my nephew’s voice, I felt relief, but it quickly gave way to heartbreak. At just 21, his voice now carries a sadness and exhaustion far beyond his years. “Does it even matter who wins?” he asked me, his tone hollow and resigned. “[Donald] Trump or…
How solar microgrids are bringing power (and quiet) to North Carolina
Energy News Network reports: Seventeen days after Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, tearing down power lines, destroying water mains, and disabling cell phone towers, the signs of relief were hard to miss. Trucks formed a caravan along Interstate 40, filled with camouflaged soldiers, large square tanks of water, and essentials from pet food to diapers. In towns, roadside signs — official versions emblazoned with nonprofit relief logos and wooden makeshift ones scrawled with paint — advertised free food and…