‘Freaked out’ about the bond market: White House reels from Powell probe

‘Freaked out’ about the bond market: White House reels from Powell probe

Politico reports: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spent months laying the groundwork for a smooth transition at the Federal Reserve that wouldn’t rattle markets. That plan is now in disarray. The Justice Department’s criminal investigation into whether Fed Chair Jerome Powell misled Congress about renovations at the Fed headquarters — and allegations over who leaked the news — has the White House in damage-control mode. Officials are scrambling to reassure markets and create distance from an episode that aides say was…

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The AI debt surge: How tech’s borrowing binge may drive up interest rates

The AI debt surge: How tech’s borrowing binge may drive up interest rates

WebProNews reports: The artificial intelligence boom is fueling an unprecedented wave of capital spending, but it’s not just innovation that’s accelerating—it’s debt. Major technology companies, often dubbed hyperscalers, are issuing bonds at a record pace to finance the massive data centers required for AI advancements. This borrowing frenzy, while enabling rapid expansion, is raising alarms among economists and investors about potential upward pressure on interest rates. As these firms tap debt markets to fund their ambitions, the sheer volume of…

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Cells use ‘bioelectricity’ to coordinate and make group decisions

Cells use ‘bioelectricity’ to coordinate and make group decisions

Elise Cutts writes: We’re used to thinking of the brain as an electric organ. The rest of the body? Not so much. But it would be a mistake to dismiss your other tissues as dumb hunks of electrically inert flesh. Even the protective layers of cells that compose your skin and line your organs use electrical signals to make decisions, according to recent research. Results published in Nature show that cells use bioelectricity to coordinate a complex collective behavior called…

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As Trump says he’s ‘Acting President of Venezuela,’ the U.S. urges its own citizens to flee

As Trump says he’s ‘Acting President of Venezuela,’ the U.S. urges its own citizens to flee

Trump posts that he’s “Acting President of Venezuela” [image or embed] — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) Jan 11, 2026 at 7:25 PM The Guardian reports: The United States has urged its citizens to leave Venezuela immediately amid reports that armed paramilitaries are trying to track down US citizens, one week after the capture of the South American country’s president, Nicolás Maduro. In a security alert sent out on Saturday, the state department said there were reports of armed members of pro-regime…

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UK could send troops to Greenland to ease Trump’s security fears

UK could send troops to Greenland to ease Trump’s security fears

The Telegraph reports: Downing Street is in talks with European allies about deploying a military force to Greenland that would guard the Arctic for Donald Trump. Military chiefs are drawing up plans for a possible Nato mission on the island, which the US president has threatened to seize for security reasons. British officials have met with counterparts from countries including Germany and France in recent days to start the preparations. The plans, still at an early stage, could involve British…

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J.D. Vance’s Catholicism seems to be little more than a political prop

J.D. Vance’s Catholicism seems to be little more than a political prop

At National Catholic Reporter, John Grosso writes: As a Catholic, Vance knows better than to peddle this brand of gaslighting and agitation [following the murder of Renee Good]. Vance knows that, by virtue of her humanity, Good was endowed with inherent dignity, made in the image and likeness of God. Vance knows that only God can take life. Vance knows that protesting, fleeing or even interfering in an ICE investigation (which there is no evidence that Good did) does not…

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The U.S.-born unemployment rate actually rose after Trump reduced immigration

The U.S.-born unemployment rate actually rose after Trump reduced immigration

Stuart Anderson writes: Government data show the Trump administration’s immigration policies reducing the number of foreign-born workers did not help U.S.-born workers in 2025. The latest data indicate a substantial drop in foreign-born workers did not translate into better labor market outcomes for U.S.-born workers or encourage more workers to enter the labor force. The U.S.-born unemployment rate increased over the past 12 months. Trump officials, including White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, predicted fewer immigrant workers would…

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The government workers Trump disgarded

The government workers Trump disgarded

Franklin Foer writes: The purge began late Friday night, four days after Donald Trump returned to the White House. Seventeen inspectors general—internal watchdogs embedded throughout the federal government—received emails notifying them of their termination. Three weeks later came the Valentine’s Day Massacre: the ousting of tens of thousands of federal employees with little discernible pattern, across agencies and across the country. By April, entire departments—the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—had been gutted. Workers the administration…

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How volatile is the situation in Iran?

How volatile is the situation in Iran?

  Widespread unrest, killings and arrests in Iran, during protests sparked by a collapse in the local currency. The leadership says it will listen to demonstrators — but rioters face the death penalty. As the US warns against a crackdown, how volatile is the situation? Mehran Kamrava — Head of Iranian Studies at the Arab Center for Policy Studies and Research Roxane Farmanfarmaian — Professor of Modern Middle East Politics at the University of Cambridge Trita Parsi — Executive Vice…

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An academic researcher kidnapped by idiots

An academic researcher kidnapped by idiots

Elizabeth Tsurkov writes: Four men searched my mouth for implanted tracking devices. I had told them I didn’t have any—that, as far as I knew, such things existed only in movies. They asked if I had fillings, and I confessed that I did. They looked again. “No, you don’t,” one of them corrected me, having failed to find any glint of silver. My fillings are white. The men, wearing dark civilian clothes and balaclavas, seemed convinced that these unfamiliar fillings…

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Big Oil knows that Trump’s Venezuela plans are delusional

Big Oil knows that Trump’s Venezuela plans are delusional

Rogé Karma writes: So, about all that Venezuelan oil. Although President Trump has declared that America’s oil companies will soon “go in” to Venezuela and “spend billions of dollars” to rebuild that country’s petroleum industry, the administration is making two huge assumptions. First, that unleashing Venezuelan oil would yield lower energy prices for American consumers and giant profits for American companies. Second, that unlike previous administrations, which got bogged down for decades in failed nation building in Iraq and Afghanistan,…

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From ‘America First’ to ‘Manifest Destiny’: MAGA pivots toward foreign expansion

From ‘America First’ to ‘Manifest Destiny’: MAGA pivots toward foreign expansion

Axios reports: MAGA is pressing the Trump administration to write a new chapter in America’s expansionist history — one that adds territory and influence as part of a new Western empire. Why it matters: On its face, MAGA’s imperial turn is a head-spinning reversal for a movement built around hostility to “endless wars” in the Middle East. But reframed as hemispheric dominance, the right’s expansionist impulse fits a civilizational worldview: America as the enforcer of the West, bending weaker nations to its will. What they’re saying: In…

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Steve Bannon quietly making moves toward 2028 run

Steve Bannon quietly making moves toward 2028 run

Axios reports: Former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon is laying the groundwork for a 2028 run for president, two people familiar with his thinking tell Axios. Why it matters: The MAGA godfather isn’t serious about becoming president — that’s not the point. Instead, he’s told allies he wants to shape the debate and pressure Republican candidates to embrace an “America First” agenda — including a non-interventionist foreign policy, economic populism and opposition to Big Tech. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who has appeared…

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