Trump’s attack on a pope he cannot control is really a ‘declaration of impotence’

Trump’s attack on a pope he cannot control is really a ‘declaration of impotence’

The Washington Post reports: After white smoke in the rafters of the Sistine Chapel signaled the rise of a new pope last May, President Donald Trump heralded the first U.S.-born leader of the Catholic Church by declaring the choice “a Great Honor for our Country.” But now the two most influential Americans on the world stage — Trump, the leader of 340 million Americans, and Pope Leo XIV, with a global flock of 1.4 billion Catholics — are locked in…

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Inside Trump’s effort to ‘take over’ the midterm elections

Inside Trump’s effort to ‘take over’ the midterm elections

By Doug Bock Clark and Jen Fifield This story was originally published by ProPublica In mid-December 2020, federal officials responsible for protecting American elections from fraud converged in a windowless, dim, fortified room at the Justice Department’s downtown Washington, D.C., headquarters. They had been summoned by Attorney General William Barr. Over the preceding weeks, Donald Trump’s claims that the presidential election had been stolen from him had reached a crescendo. He’d become obsessed with a conspiracy theory that voting machines…

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How ICE jail echoes life in occupied Palestine

How ICE jail echoes life in occupied Palestine

The Guardian reports: A Palestinian woman who was released last month after spending a year in a Texas immigration detention center told the Guardian in an exclusive interview that she sees “a lot of similarities” between the treatment of people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody and that of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. Leqaa Kordia, who was detained by ICE following her arrest at a protest against Israel’s war in Gaza, says that she will continue to speak…

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U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran show a pattern of ‘double-tap’ strikes

U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran show a pattern of ‘double-tap’ strikes

Chris Osieck and Nilo Tabrizy write: At least 1,700 civilians have been killed since the start of the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activist News Agency. An analysis of a series of strikes by the U.S.-Israeli coalition reveals a pattern of civilian harm — specifically, a number of attacks on infrastructure and facilities in densely populated urban areas, often when bystanders were present. Across multiple verified cases in Karaj and Tehran, New Lines found that…

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Four ways the war against Iran has weakened the United States in the great power game

Four ways the war against Iran has weakened the United States in the great power game

China and Russia view the U.S. grand strategy as increasingly out of focus. AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson Jeffrey Taliaferro, Tufts University “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” Napoleon Bonaparte’s maxim may well have been in the minds of policymakers in Moscow and Beijing these past weeks, as the U.S. war in Iran dragged on. And now that a 14-day ceasefire between Tehran and Washington is in effect – with both sides claiming “victory” – Russian and…

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What once seemed preposterous is now a palpable possibility

What once seemed preposterous is now a palpable possibility

Pervez Hoodbhoy writes: When Trump, echoing Gen. Curtis LeMay’s 1965 threat toward North Vietnam, threatened to “obliterate” Iran and bomb it “back into the Stone Age”—rhetoric repeated by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—he wasn’t just posturing. In fact he was signaling that in an administration which respects no norms, mushroom clouds may be acceptable. The “how” and “when” remain open questions, but if the ceasefire ceases to hold the crosshairs are likely fixed on the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant or, just…

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‘Everything is gone’: Israel destroys entire villages in Lebanon

‘Everything is gone’: Israel destroys entire villages in Lebanon

The Guardian reports: The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery…

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U.S. to blockade ships entering or exiting Iranian ports. Free movement of other ships unlikely

U.S. to blockade ships entering or exiting Iranian ports. Free movement of other ships unlikely

U.S. Central Commanded tweeted on Sunday afternoon: U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces will begin implementing a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on April 13 at 10 a.m. ET, in accordance with the President’s proclamation. The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. CENTCOM forces will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels…

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Trump says gas prices may remain high through November midterm election

Trump says gas prices may remain high through November midterm election

Reuters reports: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the price of oil and gasoline may remain high through November’s midterm elections, ​a rare acknowledgement of the potential political fallout from his decision to attack Iran six weeks ago. “It could be, or the same, or maybe a little ‌bit higher, but it should be around the same,” Trump, who is in Miami for the weekend, told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo” when asked whether the…

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Viktor Orbán’s defeat shows illiberalism is not inevitable

Viktor Orbán’s defeat shows illiberalism is not inevitable

Anne Applebaum writes: In the end, the defeat of Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s autocratic prime minister, required not just an ordinary election campaign or new messaging but rather the construction of a broad, diverse, and patriotic grassroots social movement. And by building exactly that, Hungary’s opposition changed politics around the world. Orbán’s loss brings to an end the assumption of inevitability that has pervaded the MAGA movement, as well as the belief—also present in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric—that illiberal parties…

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Viktor Orbán concedes defeat as opposition wins election in Hungary

Viktor Orbán concedes defeat as opposition wins election in Hungary

The Guardian reports: Hungary’s opposition Tisza party, led by Péter Magyar, has won the general election, ending leader Viktor Orbán’s 16-year grip on power, in a result that is likely to rattle the White House and reshape the country’s relationship with the EU. Less than three hours after polls closed on Sunday, Orbán conceded defeat after what he described as a “painful” election result. “I congratulated the victorious party,” Orbán told supporters in Budapest. “We are going to serve the…

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The United States is destroying itself

The United States is destroying itself

Rebecca Solnit writes: The United States is being murdered, and it’s an inside job. Every department, every branch, every bureau and function of the federal government is being fatally corrupted or altogether dismantled or disabled. All this is common knowledge, but because it dribbles out in news stories about this specific incident or department, the reports never adequately describe an administration sabotaging the functioning of the federal government and also trashing the global economy, international alliances and relationships, and the…

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‘It would be catastrophic’: A Supreme Court decision could upend Alaska’s crucial Senate race

‘It would be catastrophic’: A Supreme Court decision could upend Alaska’s crucial Senate race

Politico reports: In the villages that dot Kodiak Island off the coast of southwest Alaska, the post arrives by plane. Mailing a ballot to the archipelago’s hub takes at least two days — if the region’s frequent storms haven’t grounded air traffic. It’s a common problem across Alaska. And it’s a big reason why the state allows ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted for up to 10 days afterward, a critical reprieve for voters in remote communities that…

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The era of free seas is unraveling — and now with Iran’s ‘toll booth’ everyone’s going to pay

The era of free seas is unraveling — and now with Iran’s ‘toll booth’ everyone’s going to pay

The Wall Street Journal reports: In just six weeks, the Iran War has shattered a system of global trade that has enriched people and nations for more than a century: the freedom to sail the open seas. The Strait of Hormuz long functioned as an artery for the world’s maritime economy. But that 30-mile-wide waterway is now a monument to a new global disorder. As some 20,000 sailors effectively held hostage at sea digested President Trump’s cease-fire announcement this week—contingent…

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