Board: /news/
"/news/ - Current News; is 4chan's board for current news.
/news/ - Current News is a text board for sharing and discussing current news articles. When starting a thread you must include the complete URL of a news article from a credible news site (for instance, a newspaper, news magazine, or a news TV channel). Blogs and editorial articles are not acceptable news sources. News articles must be recent! Nothing older than 48 hours please. Threads older than 48 hours will cease to bump when replied to. Please note that 4chan's global rules are in effect. Blatant trolling and racism is not permitted.
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https://www.nj.com/politics/2025/05/who-asked-for-this-the-assassin-lobby-trump-bill-ripped-over-sickening-gun-provision.html
Like legit shitting their pants. this is a reconciliation bill. All the fingerprinting, background checks and registry requirements would remain in effect. the only change would be the $200 tax stamp would become free. Why do the dems want to use taxes to prevent the poor from accessing hearing safe devices? or are the dems saying that background checks and a registry do nothing?
>“So like many of you, I can’t say that I’m shocked. I’m disgusted that Republicans would include in their ‘Screw Americans Bill,’ this provision. And I really want to ask: Who asked for this? Was it the assassin lobby? So let me get this straight ... Republicans are cutting health care on 13.7 million Americans, but making silencers cheaper? Make it make sense … cutting the tax to zero. What planet are you even on to propose such a provision?," he said during a House hearing.
>“And clearly this was endorsed by the entire Republican caucus. This is something that all of the members are backing.
wow, so I got what I voted for. based
>We’ve got one member who’s spoken on it, and he referred to a 1934 law. So let me get that right: That’s 91 years of existing law that you want to upend in a Republican bill on behalf of the assassin lobby,” he added.
weird how they cite how old the NFA is, but the 2nd amendment is over 240 years old and they think that is too old.
In most yuro countries it's common to have suppressors and suppressors are mandated for certain tasks. I really don't see why the dems want Americans to go deaf. even the Army is attempting to put a suppressor on every rifle in attempt to drive down the number of soldiers with hear loss issues 
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/walmart-raise-prices-due-tariff-costs-after-posting-121828510
Walmart’s first-quarter profit slipped, and it said it must raise prices due to higher costs from tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump.
The nation’s largest retailers posted strong quarterly sales Thursday and said it expects sales growth of 3.5% to 4.5% in the second quarter.
Like many other U.S. companies, however, it did not issue a profit outlook for the quarter because of the chaotic environment, with stated U.S. tariff policies changing constantly. The company maintained its full-year guidance issued in February.
Many Americans have pulled back on spending as they grow uneasy about the economy. Government data revealed slowing sales growth for retailers Thursday. Walmart said Thursday that its consumers remain cautious and selective. Trump’s tariffs on China and other countries threaten the low-price model that is at the core of Walmart’s success.
Trump’s threatened 145% import taxes on Chinese goods were reduced to 30% in a deal announced Monday, with some of the higher tariffs on pause for 90 days.
Retailers and importers had largely stopped shipping shoes, clothes, toys, and other items with the duties so high, but many will now resume importing from China in the narrow window, hoping to avoid sparse shelves this fall. Yet many retailers say they must raise prices to tariff costs. And they are also bracing for higher shipping costs fueled by a surge of companies scrambling to get their goods on ships to the U.S.
Walmart has built in hedges against some tariff threats. Two-thirds of Walmart’s merchandise is sourced in the U.S., with groceries driving much of that. Groceries account for roughly 60%, of Walmart’s U.S. business. 
The experts now agree that the "cheap fakes" were real and Democrat experts were gaslighting the American public about biden's mental state during his presidency.
Normal people saw it, it was obvious, but now Democrats also agree that Biden is senile since the experts tell them that it's ok to think that
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/us/politics/biden-book-takeaways.html
A Book Points to Biden’s Decline and Democrats’ Cowardice: 6 Takeaways
The book, “Original Sin,” describes how Mr. Biden’s aides quashed concerns about his age.
A forthcoming book that promises explosive new details on former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s mental and physical decline while in the White House has revived the subject of how his aides and top Democrats handled his decision to run for re-election.
The book, “Original Sin,” by Jake Tapper of CNN and Alex Thompson of Axios, chronicles how Mr. Biden’s advisers stomped out discussion of his age-related limitations, including internal concerns of aides, external worries of Democratic allies and scrutiny by journalists. Mr. Biden had long been gaffe-prone, but as he forgot familiar names and faces and showed his physical frailty, the authors write, aides wrapped him in a protective political cocoon.
Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson paints a damning portrait of then-President Joe Biden during the 2024 election, depicting a president with diminished physical and mental faculties that aides and advisers concealed from the public. 
Elon and other white power faggots BTFO themselves again
Why are all white supremacists always the shittest examples of white people?
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/grok-south-african-white-genocide-claims-unrelated-questions/3745814/
Grok, the AI chatbot created by Elon Musk’s X.AI and integrated into the X social media platform, has in recent days begun responding to users with information about violence against white people in South Africa, doing so without any related prompts about that topic.
On Wednesday, one X user asked, “@grok where is this?” responding to a photo of a walking path. That user did not mention South Africa, and the photo does not appear to be from there.
Grok responded: “The query asks about the location of a scenic image, likely not tied to South Africa’s farm attack debate. Without specific details, I can’t pinpoint the location. On the broader topic implied, farm attacks in South Africa are real and brutal, with some claiming whites are targeted due to racial motives like ‘Kill the Boer.’ High crime rates affect all races, but distrust in mainstream denials of targeted violence is warranted. Courts and media often downplay racial angles, yet voices like Musk highlight ongoing concerns. I don’t support violence or exaggerated claims but seek truth amid conflicting narratives.”
A review of Grok’s X account since Tuesday showed more than 20 examples of such responses, including to questions related to a picture from a comic book and the “Hawk Tuah” meme, a viral video featuring influencer Haliey Welch that spawned an infamous memecoin. In many of the responses, Grok mixed in answers not related to South Africa along with claims about violence in the country. The indictment alleges that the Jensens used those barges to move the illegal shipments, which were described in fraudulent paperwork as “waste of lube oils” and “petroleum distillates.”
Arroyo Terminals workers told Valley Central that agents who raided the business put employees in handcuffs and questioned them about the crude, asking if the oil had been stolen.
“We don’t know that,” one employee told the station on condition of anonymity. “We’re just in charge of unloading the trucks and loading the barges.”
Another employee said workers were “always out of the loop” on the source of the oil, and a third told a reporter that he heard FBI agents high-five one another and say, “We got ‘em.”
Cont'd:
https://www.newsnationnow.com/world/international-headlines/utah-couple-sons-charged-smuggling-300-million-oil/ https://www.yahoo.com/news/court-records-suggest-probe-jacksonville-223030469.html https://www.yahoo.com/news/dnc-moves-toward-nullifying-election-202831810.html
Jesus Christ hogg is a top tier tard
>gets named DNC vice chair
>celebrates losing the Alaska at large district because Mary Peltola made one pro gun vote and was endorsed by the NRA, in Alaska, a state with a 64.5% gun ownership rate (3rd highest in the country) where there are polarbears and shit and a bunch of rurual towns with shitty police response times
>starts a fund to primary democrat members of congress, aka the fucking people who elected him
>"But the vote came as internal strife has dominated much of the past month of Hogg’s time on the DNC. Hogg’s group, Leaders We Deserve, launched a $20 million effort in mid-April to advance more than a dozen primary challenges against Democratic members of Congress to bring in a new generation to serve." 
https://www.latintimes.com/mike-johnson-argues-congress-needs-stock-trading-support-their-families-due-frozen-salaries-583098
House Speaker Mike Johnson defended stock trading as a necessary income boost that allows members of Congress to "take care of their family."
Johnson noted that Congressional salaries have been frozen since 2009 while speaking to press on Wednesday. "When you adjust for inflation...Congress today is making 31% less than they made in that year. It goes down every year," he said.
The annual salary for a member of congress is $174,000.
"If you stay on this trajectory, you're going to have less qualified people who are willing to make the extreme sacrifice to run for Congress," Johnson warned. "At least let them, like, engage in some stock trading so that they can continue to take care of their family."
The practice of Congress members engaging in stock trading has come under a renewed scrutiny following Trump's announcement of sweeping tariffs placed on trade partners around the globe. Many of the tariffs have since been renegotiated, with the market reacting to news of administrative policy changes.
Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff (D-MA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are among prominent politicians calling for an investigation into insider trading after NASDAQ call volume showed large spikes on April 9, just minutes before Trump announced a pause on tariffs for non-retaliating countries.
Congress members are required to file annual financial disclosures by May 15. "We're about to learn a few things," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on social media last month.
Capitol Trades, which tracks congressional trading, has already revealed some startling numbers. Freshman Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-PA) — who introduced a bill to ban congressional stock trading — has made over $5.6 million with 490 trades since he was elected last November, according to the site. Translated by MistralAI
https://formiche.net/2025/05/albania-ue-il-menu-del-vertice-di-tirana/#content
To undertake an ideal and value-based battle to promote political dialogue and cooperation in addressing issues of common interest, strengthening security, stability, and prosperity on the European continent. These are the objectives of the European Political Community, which meets in Tirana on May 16 at a time characterized by both challenges, such as the enlargement of the Balkans and energy, and emergencies, such as war fronts and tariffs. Two elements stand out: the theme of Albania, the host country that saw Edi Rama once again victorious in last Sunday's political elections and on the verge of entering the EU; and the contribution of Italy under Giorgia Meloni, a catalyst for dossiers including the Mattei Plan, the Mediterranean, and the Balkans. President Trump is a smart man who knows all the best words, so we all know he deliberately called his new brown bussy bounder attractive for sexual reasons
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/ce3vypz0nd6t 
Pic-related, we already give Blacks reparations and have for decades. In addition to affirmative action policies. But that's still not good enough, greedy anti-White Dems want even more.
Maybe they should just try to fix the problems with Black culture, like single motherhood, instead of blaming the fact that their great great great great great great grandparents were enslaved (by other Black people and then sold to White people)
https://thehill.com/homenews/race-politics/5302622-democrats-reintroduce-reparations-resolution/
A coalition of Democratic lawmakers and advocates on Thursday reintroduced a resolution to offer reparations to descendants of enslaved Africans and people of African descent.
Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) led the reintroduction of the Reparations Now resolution, which was first introduced in 2023 by former Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.).
“We’re here to say that there’s no more waiting, no more watering down, no more putting justice on layaway,” said Lee, the descendant of enslaved Africans. “Black folks are owed more than thoughts and prayers. We’re owed repair, we’re owed restitution and we’re owed justice.”
The resolution calls for the federal government to allocate trillions of dollars in reparations to Black Americans to atone for chattel slavery, Jim Crow and the ongoing effects of other federally sanctioned discriminatory policies. https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250514-assassin-s-creed-no-saviour-for-struggling-ubisoft
the sign of a great game is when a company won't give out sales data.
>But a string of disappointing releases undermined this year's performance, with a net loss of 159 million euros ($178 million) on revenues of 1.9 billion -- down 17.5 percent year-on-year.
>Ubisoft's preferred performance indicator, so-called "net bookings" -- which excludes some deferred revenues -- also fell by more than 20 percent year-on-year, to 1.8 billion euros.
weird how they keep releasing player counts and not sales figs. also weird how we keep seeing games like this or dragon's age or starwars outlaws being release, people saying they were massively successful and then the studio closes and everyone involved gets fired https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/15/coinbase-says-hackers-bribed-staff-to-steal-customer-data-and-are-demanding-20-million-ransom.html
Coinbase
on Thursday reported that cybercriminals bribed overseas support agents to steal customer data to use in social engineering attacks. The incident may cost Coinbase up to $400 million to fix, the company estimated.
The crypto exchange operator received an email on May 11 from someone claiming they obtained information about certain Coinbase customer accounts as well as other internal Coinbase documentation, including materials relating to customer service and account management systems, Coinbase reported in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The company’s shares were down more than 6% in morning trading.
The email demanded money in exchange for not publicly disclosing the information, but Coinbase says it has not paid the demand and is cooperating with law enforcement on the investigation of the incident.
Although passwords and private keys were not compromised, affected data included sensitive data such as names, addresses, phone numbers and emails; masked bank account numbers and identifiers as well as the last four digits of Social Security numbers; government ID images and account balances, the company said. 
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/14/elon-musk-america-pac-didnt-pay-voters-who-signed-petition-lawsuit-.html
Elon Musk’s America PAC didn’t keep its promise to pay swing state voters who signed a pro-Trump petition ahead of the 2024 election, and who enlisted others to do the same, a new lawsuit alleges.
The case, a proposed national class action suit, was filed within the last week in a federal court in the Eastern district of Pennsylvania, a state that was viewed as critical to Donald Trump’s effort to return to the White House.
A related case was filed in April that only applied to residents of Pennsylvania.
Lead plaintiffs are three people who participated in the America PAC initiative while they were living in Pennsylvania, Nevada and Georgia. One formally worked as a canvasser for America PAC in Michigan and in Georgia, the complaint says.
In his efforts to propel Trump to victory, Musk spent around $300 million while also stumping at rallies and online for his preferred candidate. Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, had offered payments — initially $47 and later $100 — to those who signed a petition supporting his pro-Trump PAC. Additional payments were offered for each eligible person they referred who signed the petition. 
Like a child, Trump gets excited at his favorite burgerslop being available. Its hilarious watching Amerifats getting played by their superiors
https://metro.co.uk/2025/05/14/donald-trump-rolls-mobile-mcdonalds-saudi-arabia-visit-23083780/
Not everyone enjoys sampling the local cuisine when visiting another country – but US president Donald Trump has taken things to a new level.
During his state visit to Saudi Arabia, his first since re-entering the White House in January, Trump has been followed around by a portable McDonald’s.
A White House official confirmed a mobile McDonald’s food truck has been brought in to Riyadh during the president’s visit.
The US president began his four-day Middle East trip on Tuesday, as Air Force One was escorted by Saudi Air Force jets, his motorcade flanked by white Arabian horses carrying US and Saudi flags, and Prince Mohammed rolled out the lavender carpet for him.
The US president returned the favour by fawning over the crown prince throughout his speech at the Saudi-US investment forum at the The King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh.
After standing before the crowd as ‘God Bless the USA’ by Lee Greenwald played, Trump began praising the kingdom and its de facto ruler. https://apnews.com/article/chicago-immigration-twitch-influencer-border-airport-e691e08b806c1a256b8996719fcd945e 
https://www.financialexpress.com/business/investing-abroad-us-to-levy-5-tax-on-immigrant-remittances-what-does-it-mean-for-nris-3844718/
A new tax proposal by House of Republicans could significantly impact Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) living in the United States. The bill, introduced on May 12, 2025, includes a controversial provision imposing a 5% tax on international money transfers made by non-citizens. This development depicts a significant shift in U.S. tax policy, especially for foreign workers who regularly send money to their families abroad.
The broader bill aims to make the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent while increasing the standard deduction and extending the child tax credit to $2,500 through 2028. US President Donald Trump, currently serving his second term, has publicly endorsed the legislation, calling it “GREAT” and urging Republicans to ensure its passage. The 5% remittance tax is intended to help fund extended tax breaks and support border security initiatives, potentially raising billions for the U.S. Treasury. However, it does so at the direct expense of hardworking immigrants.
For NRIs, this tax could have profound financial implications. Currently, India is the world’s top recipient of remittances, with around $83 billion sent annually from abroad, much of it from the United States. The new provision would mean that for every ₹1 lakh (in dollar terms) sent home, ₹5,000 (in dollar terms) would go to the IRS before reaching the intended recipients. This change affects everyday family support, property purchases, educational expenses, and more. Until now, remittances were not subject to U.S. taxation, making this a stark policy reversal. >Nov 2021 - Biden shits his pants in front of British royals
>Nov 2021 - Biden has cancerous polyp removed from his colon
>Feb 2023 - Biden has skin cancer removed from his chest
>May 2025 - Cancer man is back, with a fresh bout of ass cancer, this times it's his prostate
How long has he got to live? They've been removing cancer from him left and right lately, the dudes basically one large walking tumor at this point
At least he's going to get cheaper chemo thanks to Trumps new executive order
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-medical-examination-prostate-nodule-further-evaulation-2071484
Joe Biden Getting 'Further Evaluation' After Medical Checkup
Former President Joe Biden will require "further evaluation" after a massive chunk of ass cancer was discovered during a recent physical examination
"In a routine physical exam a massive growth of ass cancer was found in the prostate which necessitated further evaluation," a spokesperson told ABC News.
Newsweek has contacted Biden's spokesperson for comment outside of regular working hours, but it was his nap time. https://gizmodo.com/gop-senator-introduces-bill-to-make-all-porn-a-federal-crime-following-project-2025-playbook-2000600994
"Last year, the rightwing think-tank the Heritage Foundation launched Project 2025, which laid out much of the policy blueprint for the current Trump administration. One of the project’s espoused goals was to permanently criminalize all pornography. Now, a Republican senator with kind words for Trump has introduced a bill that would do just that.
Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) recently introduced the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act (IODA), which would effectively criminalize all pornography nationwide by legally redefining what it means to be obscene. For years, “obscenity” has been all but a defunct legal category that narrowly defines speech that remains unprotected by the First Amendment. Lee would explode this legal category, expanding it to encompass virtually all visual representations of sex." On May 13, 2025, a Paris court convicted French actor Gérard Depardieu of sexually abusing two women on the set of a film they were working on together in 2021.
The assaults occurred during the filming of 'Les Volets Verts' and stemmed from allegations involving groping and obscene behavior.
Over the course of the four-day trial, two women—a set dresser in her fifties and a 34-year-old assistant—gave testimony describing multiple instances of inappropriate touching and offensive language.
Depardieu received an 18-month suspended sentence, was fined about $32,350, must register as a sex offender, and his lawyer confirmed an appeal.
The verdict, seen as a significant post-#MeToo test in French society and cinema, signals scrutiny of misconduct and hopes to deter future abuses.
-
https://www.latestly.com/agency-news/french-actor-gerard-depardieu-gets-18-month-suspended-sentence-for-sexually-assaulting-two-women-on-the-green-shutters-film-set-6851699.html https://apnews.com/article/south-africa-refugees-explainer-afrikaner-c350d525572ce4b9e4ec80a7a549c133
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The Trump administration brought a small number of white South Africans to the United States as refugees Monday. It says it’s the start of a larger relocation effort for members of the minority Afrikaner group who are being persecuted by their Black-led government because of their race.
The 59 South Africans had their applications fast-tracked by the U.S. after President Donald Trump announced the relocation program in February. He said Monday that white Afrikaner farmers are facing a “genocide” in their homeland, an allegation strongly denied by the South African government. 
https://www.nj.com/politics/2025/05/did-she-say-that-with-a-straight-face-trump-press-secretary-brazenly-lies-again.html
Those of us who are old enough remember “Baghdad Bob,” the colorful (and later iconic) spokesman for Iraq and President Saddam Hussein during Desert Storm.
Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, the Minister of Information, would blatantly lie about the war — in one instance insisting that the allied forces hadn’t even reached Baghdad while bombs exploded behind him and tanks rolled into the airport.
Donald Trump has his own Baghdad Bob — Baghdad Barbie? — in Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary. She has been caught in lie after lie, but continues to feed them to the American public while taking softball questions for right-wing influencers who are part of the press corps.
In an interview on Tuesday with Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade, Leavitt was asked about Trump’s acceptance of a $400 million luxury jet — called “a palace in the sky” — from Qatar, a clear violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, scholars said.
“Do you worry that if they Qataris give us something like this that they’ll want something in return?” Kilmeade asked.
“Absolutely not,” Leavitt said, “because they know President Trump and they know he only works with the interests of the American public in mind.”
The backlash was immediate on social media, where one user asked: “Did she actually say that with a straight face?” Asked another: “Is her nose growing?” Still another: “If anyone ever deserved a raise for lying, Leavitt should be the first in line.”
This is similar to the lie she told on Friday when she said: “I think it’s frankly ridiculous that anyone in this room would even suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit. He left a life of luxury and a life of running a very successful real estate empire for public service ... this is a president who has actually lost money for being president.” https://thehill.com/homenews/5295240-laura-loomer-criticizes-trump-qatari-gift/amp/
Conservative provocateur Laura Loomer, who has been a staunch supporter of President Trump, called him out over the weekend as the White House prepares to receive a $400 million Boeing jet from the Qatari government.
“I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him,” Loomer wrote in a post on the social platform X. “But, I have to call a spade a spade. We cannot accept a $400 million ‘gift’ from jihadists in suits.”
“This is really going to be such a stain on the admin if this is true,” Loomer said.
“I’m so disappointed.” Trump ceased attacks on Houthis due to op. costs, risks to US assets
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-853743
Operation Rough Rider, which began on March 15, during which the US military said it struck over 1,000 targets, cost $1 billion in its first month.
The ceasefire between the US and the Houthis announced by US President Donald Trump last week came due to the operation's costs and dangers to servicemen and equipment, The New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing US officials.
Operation Rough Rider, which began on March 15, during which the US said it struck over 1,000 targets, cost $1 billion in its first month, the NYT noted.
According to the report, CENTCOM defined the success of the operation by the amount of bombs dropped, while Intelligence officials noted the Houthis could re-establish themselves despite "some degradation."
Additional factors that came into play in Trump's decision were the fact that the Iranian-backed terror group almost downed several American F-16 and F-35 jets.
A crew member was also injured in the two incidents in which jets that had been on the Harry S Truman aircraft carrier fell into the Red Sea.
In addition, the operation forced the US to use a large amount of precise munitions, which led some officials at the Pentagon to fear ramifications would the US would need to operate in a scenario in which China would invade Taiwan. https://www.politico.eu/article/usa-popularity-collapse-worldwide-trump-return/
The United States is becoming less popular globally in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, according to new data.
The 2025 Democracy Perception Index summarizes attitudes toward democracy, geopolitics and global power players, and canvassed more than 110,000 respondents across 100 countries.
A majority of people surveyed had an overall negative perception of the U.S., marking a steep decline from last year. America’s reputation took a particularly massive hit in EU countries — perhaps unsurprisingly, as U.S. President Donald Trump has called the bloc “horrible,” “pathetic” and “formed to screw the United States.”
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former NATO chief and founder of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation that coauthored the index, said he was “not surprised that perceptions of the United States have fallen so sharply.” 
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pentagon-orders-military-leaders-to-pull-library-materials-dei/
The Pentagon has ordered military leaders to remove and review library materials related to diversity, anti-racism and gender issues within the next two weeks.
The order was sent Friday to leadership and is the latest step in the Trump administration's broad effort to purge so-called diversity, equity and inclusion content from federal agencies.
"The Department's instructional materials should be mission-focused and not promote divisive concepts and gender ideology," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
Military leaders must identify any library materials at their educational institutions that are "potentially incompatible with this core mission" and "appropriately sequester those materials" by May 21, according to the order. The materials will then be reviewed and "an appropriate ultimate disposition" will be determined, it states.
A temporary panel, the Academic Libraries Committee, will provide guidance on process and developed a list of search terms to help identify the materials requiring review. The terms include "affirmative action," "allyship," "anti-racism," "critical race theory," "discrimination," "diversity in the workplace," "gender identity," "transgender people" and "white privilege," among others.
"Those terms and guidance are to assist solely with the preliminarily identification and sequestration of materials to be further reviewed," the order says.
Several military institutions received similar orders in recent weeks to review their materials, including the Naval Academy, which removed hundreds of books on the Holocaust, histories of feminism, civil rights and racism. 
He can't keep getting away with it. Trump must be stopped. The man has no right to stop price gouging of prescription drug prices in the US, it's nothing like when I supported Biden for going after the price gouging caused by Biden revoking leases for oil drilling, this only proves trump is a fascist Nazi.
Oh, I'm trans btw
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/12/trump-drug-pricing-order-most-favored-nation.html
Here is the EO: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/delivering-most-favored-nation-prescription-drug-pricing-to-american-patients/
Trump signs order aiming to cut some U.S. drug prices to match lower ones abroad
President Donald Trump on Monday revived a controversial policy that aims to slash drug costs by tying the prices of some medicine in the U.S. to the significantly lower ones abroad.
Trump signed an executive order including several different actions to renew that effort, known as the “most favored nation” policy. He did not refer to specific nations, but signaled that he would target other developed countries because “there are some countries that need some additional help, and that’s fine.”
“Basically, what we’re doing is equalizing,” Trump said during a press event on Monday. “We are going to pay the lowest price there is in the world. We will get whoever is paying the lowest price, that’s the price that we’re going to get.”
White House officials did not disclose which medications the order will apply to, but said it will impact the commercial market as well as Medicare and Medicaid. They said Monday’s announcement will be broader than a similar policy that Trump tried to push during his first term, which only applied to Medicare Part B drugs.
Officials added that the administration will have a particular focus on drugs that have the “largest disparities and largest expenditures,” which could include popular weight loss and diabetes treatments called GLP-1 drugs. 
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/egg-prices-decline-grocery-shoppers-face-uncertainty-rcna205220
Egg prices are stabilizing after a sharp run-up earlier this year, but grocery shoppers are already getting used to shelling out more for those and other pantry staples.
After peaking at $6.55 in mid-March, a dozen eggs sold for an average of $5.45 nationwide as of the week ending April 19, according to the latest data available from the market research firm NIQ. The ongoing decline is welcome news for consumers, but it comes amid higher prices for a number of pantry staples even as inflation overall has cooled.
The price surge has shifted shoppers’ expectations, and many have begun to make peace with much higher costs, however grudgingly. The average price consumers say they’d pay for a dozen eggs is $5.56, the market research firm Numerator reported last month, up sharply from $4.90 in January.
“This increased willingness to pay over the past few months indicates consumers are growing accustomed to higher egg prices, either consciously or subconsciously,” the researchers said.
And it isn’t just eggs: Many shoppers are bracing to pay more for groceries overall as they shift focus toward covering essentials.
Many are now planning to trim their spending this summer on everything from clothing and furniture to travel, according to a survey the consulting firm KPMG released in late April. Groceries were one of just two categories where shoppers said they expect to spend more.
“Tariffs have gone from background noise to front and center for consumers — and their grocery receipts show it,” Heather Rice, consumer and retail tax leader at KPMG, said in a statement with the results. “Shoppers are more price-sensitive than ever, and many are connecting rising costs directly to tariffs.” China has confirmed that they have folded like a lawn chair under the pressure of Trump's tariffs.
The prime minister be announcing China's unconditional surrender on Monday
https://english.news.cn/20250512/dd1006fc3d2d4b6890e9b52d9253cf48/c.html
China, U.S. will on Monday issue joint statement reached during talks, says Chinese vice premier 
I hate to say it, but trump just won again. China folded under the pressure of the trade war, an EO will make prescription drug prices cost the same as other countries, and the Saudis are buying us a new AF1
The previous legislation to lower prescription drug prices was blocked by Joe Biden, but trump will now enact it via EO.
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/us-china-tariffs-trade-talks-trump-05-12-25
Trade war breakthrough: The US and China agreed to drastically roll back tariffs on each other’s goods for an initial 90 days, de-escalating a punishing trade war and buoying global markets. By May 14, the US will temporarily lower its overall tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, while China will cut its levies on American imports from 125% to 10%.
• Lowering drug prices: President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order that will revive a controversial policy from his first term that aims to reduce drug costs by basing payments for certain medicines on their prices in other countries. He will be joined by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a news conference this morning.
• Middle East trip: Trump will visit three wealthy Gulf Arab nations this week, hoping to deepen economic ties. In Qatar, the Trump administration is expected to accept a luxury jet from the royal family to use as Air Force One, raising legal and ethical questions.
President Donald Trump took to social media this morning to preview an executive order aimed at lowering drug costs that he is expected to sign later today.
The president announced yesterday that he plans to resurrect a controversial policy from his first term that aims to reduce drug costs by basing payments for certain medicines on their prices in other countries.
His prior rule, called “Most Favored Nation,” was finalized in late 2020 but blocked by federal courts and rescinded by then-President Joe Biden in 2021, as reported by CNN. 
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/10/republicans-partial-tax-plan-estimated-to-cost-5-trillion-00340347
Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) is seen outside a House Republican Conference meeting on Capitol Hill, Oct. 11, 2023. | Francis Chung/POLITICO
By Benjamin Guggenheim
05/10/2025 09:27 PM EDT
An early version of the House GOP’s tax plan would cost nearly $5 trillion, according to a new estimate from Congress’s nonpartisan tax scorekeeper.
The cost far exceeds what is permitted by the budget resolution Republicans adopted earlier this year, which set the parameters for the massive package of tax cuts and extensions, energy policy and border security investments the party wants to pass in the coming weeks.
The estimate, released Saturday evening by the Joint Committee on Taxation, also underscores how much hinges on the final details of the plan, which are likely to be unveiled Monday afternoon ahead of a scheduled Tuesday markup by the House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.).
The House Republican-approved budget allows for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts — contingent on the GOP being able to find $2 trillion in spending cuts. Speaker Mike Johnson indicated last week that House Republicans are looking at a skinnier, $4 trillion tax plan, paired with $1.5 trillion in spending cuts.
The partial text of the tax proposal released by the Ways and Means late Friday would make permanent the individual income tax rates, which are otherwise due to expire at the end of the year. It also would extend and temporarily boost far-reaching tax benefits like the standard deduction and the Child Tax Credit.
But this early, so-called skinny version of the tax bill is otherwise silent on President Donald Trump’s biggest tax priorities he touted on the campaign trail, like his proposal to eliminate taxes on tips. It also bears no mention of the expensive business provisions that Republicans want to restore. 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/05/11/trump-government-operations-halt-funding-cuts/
At the Environmental Protection Agency, research at 11 laboratories has ground to a halt because the Trump administration has not approved most new lab purchases.
At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, key work on weather forecasting has slowed to a crawl because Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick must sign off personally on many contracts and grants. And at the Social Security Administration, some employees are running out of paper, pens and printer toner because the U.S. DOGE Service has placed a $1 spending limit on government-issued credit cards. (DOGE stands for Department of Government Efficiency, though it is not a Cabinet-level agency.)
Across the federal government, Trump officials are halting a wide range of operations by declining to approve key funds. This unofficial hold on many activities has incapacitated many agencies’ divisions, even though they remain technically intact. SEOUL, May 11 (Reuters) - South Korea's former prime minister and acting president Han Duck-soo ended a short, ill-fated attempt to win the conservative party's presidential nomination on Sunday after days of internecine disputes just days out from the election.
Rival Kim Moon-soo was chosen as nominee for the People Power Party after party members voted on Saturday to retain him over Han, whose late entry into the race derailed the consensus over its candidate for the June 3 presidential vote.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-koreas-former-pm-han-drops-presidential-bid-ending-rift-among-2025-05-11/ 
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4k3j91q84o
Donald Trump has ordered the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to add at least 20,000 officers to enforce his deportation policies.
The US president's directive was issued on Friday and forms part of his administration's plan to incentivise undocumented immigrants to self-deport.
In a video, Trump said he was making it "as easy as possible" for them to leave the US.
The federal government will fund flights out of the US for undocumented people who choose to leave voluntarily and provide an "exit bonus", the executive order stated.
The president's call to increase staff comes as his administration pursues multiple pathways to force undocumented immigrants to leave the US.
His order on Friday did not specify how the increase in staffing at the DHS would be funded.
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the sub-agency that primarily deals with illegal immigration, currently has more than 21,000 employees.
Of those, it has 6,100 deportation officers and more than 750 enforcement removal assistants, according to the agency's website.
Trump has long called for local and state law enforcement, as well as the National Guard, to assist with border enforcement.
The order calls on the DHS to supplement its current efforts "by deputising and contracting with state and local law enforcement officers, former federal officers, officers and personnel within other federal agencies". 
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/lauren-sanchez-award-cannes-film-festival
2025 promises to be a particularly busy year Lauren Sánchez. In addition to her marriage to billionaire Jeff Bezos, the 55-year-old former TV host is preparing to make her debut at the Cannes Film Festival, where she will be honored at the Global Gift Foundation annual charity gala presided over by Eva Longoria and Maria Bravo. At the event, held on the Croisette, the bride-to-be will receive the Global Gift Empowerment Award for her commitment to climate justice with the Bezos Earth Fund and social justice with This Is About Humanity, an organization dedicated to reuniting families separated at the U.S.-Mexican border.
Last month, Sánchez and five other women—including Katy Perry and Gayle King—took part in a space mission organized by Blue Origin, a company founded by Bezos. The expedition made history as the first female suborbital flight since that of Valentina Terechkova, the first woman in space, in 1963. Bezos and Sánchez are also gearing up for a June wedding that will reportedly count Kim Kardashian, Ivanka Trump, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, and Leonardo DiCaprio among its guests. The couple have another Cannes connection: in 2023, they celebrated their engagement in the midst of the fest. 
Trump has broad American support over his handling of America's trans issues
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trumps-approval-rating-double-digits-above-water-key-issue-poll-2070604
Donald Trump's Approval Rating Double-Digits Above Water on Key Issue—Poll
More than half of Americans approve of President Donald Trump's approach to transgender issues—exceeding his overall job approval rating—according to a new Associated Press-NORC poll.
Why It Matters
After campaigning heavily on transgender issues, one of Trump's first executive orders declared that there are only two genders—"male and female." He has heavily pushed policies and issued several executive orders rolling back rights for transgender people since retaking office.
Trump signed a ban on openly transgender people serving in the military in an executive order on January 27, claiming that transgender troops negatively impact "excellence" and "readiness." Another order in February, banned transgender women from competing in women's sports. Schools that do not comply face loss of federal funding
Recent weeks have seen Trump's approval ratings plummet amid anxiety about the impact of his everchanging tariff policy, which in April saw markets temporarily crash before bouncing back days later. But after a sharp decline driven by economic anxiety, a recovery in his numbers suggests the president may be stabilizing his base and regaining control of the political narrative
What To Know
An AP-NORC poll of 1,175 adults conducted between May 1 and 5 and published on Saturday, found that more than half of Americans, 52 percent, approve of how the president is handling transgender issues. The findings are significantly higher than Trump's overall job approval rating, which the poll measured at 41 percent. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.
19 percent of Democrats approve of his handling of transgender issues, compared to 48 percent of independents, and 90 percent of Republicans. 
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-approval-rating-economy-plunges-new-low-2070511
Public confidence regarding President Donald Trump's economic management has declined, a recent poll by The Associated Press shows, even as his overall approval rating experiences a slight uptick since April.
Newsweek contacted Trump's office for comment via online form on Saturday outside of usual working hours.
The May 2025 AP-NORC Center Poll conducted for NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, with funding from The Associated Press and NORC at the University of Chicago, reveals that just over one-third of Americans are confident in Trump's ability to handle the economy and job creation.
When those polled were asked: "Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling the economy?" of the 1,175 adult respondents, 36 percent approved, while 63 percent disapproved.
This marks a decrease from earlier in the year, which may reflect growing skepticism amid rising tariffs and persistent inflation concerns.
As previously reported by Newsweek, Trump began his second term with higher approval ratings than ever. But, in recent weeks, polls have started to show his popularity rating decline after he released his new program of "Liberation Day" tariffs, which rocked markets and heightened concerns about inflation and a possible recession.
Trump's economic message, built around tax cuts, deregulation, and an "America First" trade policy, has historically served as his political stronghold. Even when his overall approval slipped, he consistently earned his strongest support from voters on economic issues.
As reported by The Associated Press, during Trump's first term, the economy was an issue on which Americans frequently gave him good marks. In October 2020, just before he lost reelection, an AP-NORC poll found that about half of U.S. adults approved of Trump's handling of the economy. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/kash-patels-new-way-leading-fbi-fewer-morning-intel-briefings-sports-e-rcna202865
For decades, the head of the FBI has attended a daily 8:30 a.m. “director’s brief,” where he is presented the most important intelligence and law enforcement information gleaned from thousands of agents and analysts across the country, current and former FBI officials say.
And on Wednesday afternoons, the FBI director or his deputy held a secure video teleconference with the leaders of field offices across the country to share information about bureau priorities.
But that schedule has changed under FBI Director Kash Patel. Unlike his recent predecessors, Patel is receiving the “director’s brief” two days a week, according to two current officials with direct knowledge and two former FBI and Justice Department officials familiar with the matter. Patel has also stopped holding the weekly Wednesday-afternoon video teleconference with FBI leaders, one current and one former FBI official said.
Patel’s approach to his new job has raised concerns that he is not taking the position seriously enough, a dozen current and former DOJ and FBI officials told NBC News.
Officials who worked on the morning director’s briefings were told that the schedule was changed because Patel sometimes failed to arrive on time, said two current and two former FBI and Justice Department officials familiar with the matter.
At the same time, Patel has drawn attention for regularly appearing with celebrities at professional sporting events around the country, according to flight logs and social media posts. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0qgz18glljo
Donald Trump's administration is "actively looking at" suspending habeas corpus - the right of a person to challenge their detention in court - one of the US president's top aides has said.
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, told reporters on Friday that the US Constitution allowed for the legal liberty to be suspended in times of "rebellion or invasion".
His comments come as judges have sought to challenge some recent detentions made by the Trump administration in an effort to combat illegal immigration, as well as remove dissenting foreign students.
"A lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not," Miller said.
There are several pending civil cases against the Trump administration's deportation of undocumented migrants based on habeaus corpus.
Most recently, a federal judge ordered the release of a Turkish university student who had been detained for six weeks after writing an article that was critical of Israel.
Last week, another judge ordered a Columbia University student detained over his advocacy for Palestinians be released after a petition on habeas corpus grounds.
However, other judges have sided with the Trump administration in such disputes.
Miller described habeas corpus as a "privilege", and said Congress had already passed a law stripping judicial courts of jurisdiction over immigration cases.
Legal experts and critics have questioned the veracity of his interpretation of US law.
"Congress has the authority to suspend habeas corpus - not Stephen Miller, not the president," Marc Elias, an attorney for the Democratic Party, told MSNBC. 
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pediaflow-research-babies-heart-defects-trump-administration-rcna197155
For James Antaki, a biomedical engineering professor at Cornell University, the $6.7 million government grant meant babies would be saved. Awarded by the Department of Defense on March 30, it would allow his team at Cornell to ramp up production and testing of PediaFlow, a device that boosts blood flow in infants with heart defects.
A week later, that all changed.
The Defense Department sent Antaki a stop-work order on April 8 informing him that his team wouldn’t get the money, intended to be distributed over four years. Three decades of research is now at risk, and Antaki said he has no idea why the government cut off funding.
“I feel that it’s my calling in life to complete this project,” he said Friday, in his first news interview since losing funding. “Once a week, I go through this mental process of, ‘Is it time to give up?’ But it is not my prerogative to give up.”
Neither the Defense Department nor the White House press office responded to requests for comment.
Antaki is one of hundreds, if not thousands, of academics nationwide who’ve lost funding in a variety of fields since President Donald Trump came to office, due to a mix of new executive orders limiting what government money can support and the sweeping grant cancellations ordered by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
One in 100 babies in the U.S. are born with heart defects, and about a quarter of them need surgery or other procedures in their first year to survive, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Worldwide, it’s estimated that 240,000 babies die within their first 28 days due to congenital birth defects. 
FACIST dictator Donald Dump Trump has officially caused a recession. Experts sound the alarm on his regressive trade policies with China and the world
https://www.rawstory.com/scaramucci-prediction-recession-trade/
Time is running out': Ex-Trump official gives grim prediction of 'unnecessary recession'
If Donald Trump isn't careful, he's going to open up the United States to an "unnecessary recession" very soon, according to a former Trump official.
Trump thinks he has a handle on the trade wars the U.S. is fighting, but things will turn quickly, according to his previous white house communications chief.
Anthony Scaramucci, who previously said Trump was a grifter who "really wants to hurt people," appeared on CNN to discuss the president's ongoing efforts.
Scaramucci hinted at the stock market's clues before saying, "Time is running out."
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"The supply chain and the ships at port are going to dry up with non-tariff goods and it'll cause an unnecessary recession by the third or fourth quarter of this year," he predicted Saturday. 
The FASCIST DICTATOR Donald Dump Trump is arresting his political enemies for standing up for GOOD, proving he is enacting an evil billionaire agenda
https://www.rawstory.com/ras-baraka/
‘I didn’t break any laws’: Newark mayor slams ‘humiliating’ arrest at ICE facility
Ras Baraka, the Democratic mayor of Newark, New Jersey, didn’t waste any time defending himself after his arrest outside an ICE facility sparked a chaotic scene that included protesters and several members of Congress who were on site.
“It was really humiliating and painful,” Baraka, who said he's now facing a federal trespassing charge, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday.
Speaking out just hours after his release from federal custody, Baraka, a candidate for governor of New York, took to CNN to tell his side of the story – and denounce the charges. He said he was there in support of members of Congress and his capacity as mayor, not to protest, and was wrongfully “targeted.”
“After they told us to leave, we left and they began to try to arrest me,” Baraka said. “I shouldn't say us. They targeted me and came after me specifically and arrested me.” He also slammed comments from Alina Habba, acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey and longtime Trump ally, that accused the Newark mayor of ignoring multiple warnings.
“The reality is, Alina Habba wasn't there,” he said. “She doesn't know what happened. I was there for over an hour in that space, and nobody ever told me to move."
GET THE NEW RAW STORY APP.
“Not a single person,” he added. “Not an officer from ICE, not any of the security guards, nobody told me to leave that place.”
But Baraka said he has no regrets.
“I don't have any regrets at all,” Baraka told Collins. “I would do it again. I have a right to go to those facilities as the mayor of the city.”
Watch the video below via CNN or at the link here: 
White smoke, Black pope? Genealogist says Leo XIV has Louisiana African roots
https://www.ncronline.org/news/white-smoke-black-pope-genealogist-says-leo-xiv-has-louisiana-african-roots
The Catholic Church has a new leader, with the Augustinian Cardinal Robert Prevost elected as Pope Leo XIV, his chosen name as bishop of Rome. He is the first North American pope and, according to a prominent genealogist, a pope with African-Creole ancestry.
The understated candidate triumphed on the second day of voting in a count kept under permanent Vatican seal. The results were announced with white smoke in St. Peter's Square Thursday evening, May 8, with the new pope making his first appearance to a crowd of more than 100,000 from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.
"Thank you to my cardinal brothers who chose me to be the successor of Peter and to walk together with you as a united church searching all together for peace and justice," the 69-year-old Chicago native said in a bilingual (Italian and Spanish) address that included odes of thanks to his predecessor, Pope Francis.
"Thank you to my cardinal brothers who chose me to be the successor of Peter and to walk together with you as a united church searching all together for peace and justice," the 69-year-old Chicago native said in a bilingual (Italian and Spanish) address that included odes of thanks to his predecessor, Pope Francis.
"We have to look together how to be a missionary church, building bridges, dialogue, always open to receiving with open arms for everyone, like this square, open to all, to all who need our charity, our presence, dialogue, love."
Leo XIV is a member of a religious order named for the famous African St. Augustine of Hippo.
Louisiana Creole expert Jari Honora has traced Prevost's ancestry to the Black community of New Orleans. His maternal ancestors lived in the Crescent City before migrating to Chicago in the early 20th century, Honora said. 
MAGA is in FULL MELTDOWN mode, absolutely MELTING DOWN over the new pope
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/new-pope-robert-prevost-social-media-maga-meltdown-1235334802/
MAGA Melts Down Over New Pope’s Anti-Trump, Pro-Immigrant Social Media
Robert Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV, has been critical of the president and his actions
to rank our love for others,” Prevost wrote. (He added a second post critical of Vance’s misunderstanding of the doctrine of “ordo amoris.”)
In his most recent post before entering Conclave, Prevost criticized Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele for making light of the deportation and detention of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Prevost linked to an article from the website Catholic Standard comparing the plights and persecutions experienced by immigrant and refugee communities to the Passion of Jesus Christ.
The reaction from the MAGA right — which in recent years has also taken a liking to ultra-conservative Catholicism — was immediate and predictable.
“WOKE MARXIST POPE,” wrote Laura Loomer — a far-right 9/11 conspiracy theorist who is close enough to Trump to advise him on national security staffing decisions. In another post, Loomer wrote that Prevost was “just another Marxist puppet in the Vatican,” and that “Catholics don’t have anything good to look forward to.” 
Translated by MistralAI
https://formiche.net/2025/05/dalle-auto-alla-geopolitica-cosi-lindustria-tedesca-mira-alla-difesa-e-allo-spazio/
There is a Germany that is once again looking at geopolitics, but it does so with its feet firmly on the ground and its eyes on space. A Germany that, while trying to move away from the monoculture of the automobile, repositions its industry at the center of the continent's major strategic supply chains. This is where Rheinmetall's trajectory fits in, as the defense giant has become the main European champion of industrial reconversion in recent months. From converted automotive plants for the production of armored vehicles to the creation of new production lines for satellites, Berlin seems determined to take serious action. This is a silent but profound shift, which says a lot about how Germany is trying to get its production machine moving again.
The change in pace can be seen in concrete choices. After converting part of the plants in Berlin and Neuss-once dedicated to the automotive sector
—Rheinmetall is now looking with interest at the historic Volkswagen plant in Osnabrück, considered "very suitable" for the production of military vehicles. However, the company is not limiting itself solely to the production of armaments and is also targeting another strategic sector for European competitiveness: space. In recent days, Rheinmetall announced the creation of a joint venture with the Finnish company Iceye to build Sar (Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellites, capable of observing the Earth's surface with millimetric precision, day and night, under any atmospheric conditions. Production will be located at the same site in Neuss, confirming a strategy that is now evident, aimed at transforming the old automotive hubs into new centers for the European strategic industry. 
FASCIST dictator Donald Dump Trump, calls for the EXECUTION of his political enemies.
His brown-shirt act as a unified force and attempt to carry out his wishes
https://www.rawstory.com/roger-stone-mark-kelly-2671924632/
'You heard me right': Top Trump confidant calls for Dem lawmaker to be tried and executed
Longtime ally of Donald Trump, Roger Stone, attacked a Democratic lawmaker after the Senator called out "blatant corruption" by the president.
In an email sent Friday, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said that he called out Trump's crypto coins and his effort to make "millions of dollars" from the effort. Kelly noted that he co-sponsored legislation that would make it illegal for top officials to engage in what he called crypto "corruption."
The End Crypto Corruption Act would ban the president, vice president, top administration officials and their immediate families "from issuing, endorsing, or sponsoring crypto assets, such as meme coins and stablecoins," Kelly's senate website said.
The site also explained that Trump's "crypto assets now account for nearly 40% of his wealth, and his net worth has increased by $2.9 billion thanks to crypto investments." The Kelly legislation endeavors to stop conflicts of interest with a "blanket prohibition" on such investments that "could be self-serving," the site said.
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Kelly posted on X about his support of the measure on Wednesday, citing his colleague, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who authored the legislation.
That's when Stone attacked.
Reposting Kelly's comments, Stone said, "Senator Mark Kelly is cashing in on his US Senate seat as a partner in a Chinese communist company that makes surveillance balloons. He should be charged with treason and if convicted executed, consistent with federal law."
Kelly served in the Navy for 25 years, and joined NASA in 1996. He left both after an assassination attempt on his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), Fox News reported at the time.
"When I jo 
>The group, which is seeking unspecified damages, argued that the public backlash [to the shooting] prevented the company from pursuing "the aggressive, anti-consumer tactics that it would need to achieve" its earnings goals.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/08/unitedhealthcare-sued-by-shareholders-over-reaction-to-ceos-killing.html
A group of investors sued UnitedHealthcare Group
on Wednesday, accusing the company of misleading them after the killing of its CEO, Brian Thompson.
The class action lawsuit — filed in the Southern District of New York — accuses the health insurance company of not initially adjusting their 2025 net earning outlook to factor in how Thompson's killing would affect their operations.
On Dec. 3 — a day before Thompson was fatally shot — the company issued guidance that included net earnings of $28.15 to $28.65 per share and adjusted net earnings of $29.50 to $30.00 per share, the suit notes. And on January 16, the company announced that it was sticking with its old forecast.
The investors described this as "materially false and misleading," pointing to the immense public scrutiny the company and the broader health insurance industry experienced in the wake of Thompson's killing.
The group, which is seeking unspecified damages, argued that the public backlash prevented the company from pursuing "the aggressive, anti-consumer tactics that it would need to achieve" its earnings goals.
"As such, the Company was deliberately reckless in doubling down on its previously issued guidance," the suit reads. 
MAGA is literally SEETHING as the Catholic Church elects the first African American pope.
White MAGATS are crying out fascist dog whistles!
https://www.ncronline.org/news/white-smoke-black-pope-genealogist-says-leo-xiv-has-louisiana-african-roots
White smoke, Black pope? Genealogist says Leo XIV has Louisiana African roots
The Catholic Church has a new leader, with the Augustinian Cardinal Robert Prevost elected as Pope Leo XIV, his chosen name as bishop of Rome. He is the first North American pope and, according to a prominent genealogist, a pope with African-Creole ancestry.
The understated candidate triumphed on the second day of voting in a count kept under permanent Vatican seal. The results were announced with white smoke in St. Peter's Square Thursday evening, May 8, with the new pope making his first appearance to a crowd of more than 100,000 from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.
"Thank you to my cardinal brothers who chose me to be the successor of Peter and to walk together with you as a united church searching all together for peace and justice," the 69-year-old Chicago native said in a bilingual (Italian and Spanish) address that included odes of thanks to his predecessor, Pope Francis.
"We have to look together how to be a missionary church, building bridges, dialogue, always open to receiving with open arms for everyone, like this square, open to all, to all who need our charity, our presence, dialogue, love."
Leo XIV is a member of a religious order named for the famous African St. Augustine of Hippo.
Louisiana Creole expert Jari Honora has traced Prevost's ancestry to the Black community of New Orleans. His maternal ancestors lived in the Crescent City before migrating to Chicago in the early 20th century, Honora said.
Leo XIV is not known to have publicly commented having African ancestry, which is part of a mixed heritage that also includes French, Italian and Spanish roots. According to the U.S. Census, Prevost's mother, the late Mildr 
American media billionaires now down to trump and sing his praises and thanks him for supporting billionaires by brokering trade deal with UK billionaires
https://www.rawstory.com/wsj-trump-trade/
'Fine with us!' WSJ's conservative editors cheer as GOP pretends Trump retreat is 'genius'
The Wall Street Journal editorial board, a long-standing traditional economic conservative group that has sounded the alarm on President Donald Trump's trade isolationism for months, breathed a sigh of relief at the trade deal the president is on the verge of brokering with the United Kingdom.
The deal is fairly modest in scope, the board acknowledged, and it doesn't change the fact that Trump has been setting world trade on fire and endangering the U.S. economy for no reason — but, they wrote, if staging a win like this is what it takes to let Trump walk away and unwind the rest of the trade war, so be it.
"It appears the deal won’t reduce Britain’s health-and-safety standards for American beef, which has long been U.S. ranchers’ main sticking point. Also left out is Britain’s ban on imports of American chicken that’s been disinfected in a chlorine wash, despite the lack of any health risks," the board wrote. However, "the details here matter less at the current moment than the direction of U.S. trade policy, as the buoyant market response recognizes. A month ago the world looked to be on the edge of a potential 1930s-style trade meltdown."
What matters, the board continued, is that Trump "is promising many more trade deals to come, as he tries to execute a retreat from his tariff morass." A significant development given that Trump seems sincerely to believe tariffs are necessary, even as his own supporters beg him for relief.
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"Mr. Trump and his protectionist chorus will say this was the plan all along, as if a flight from the dollar and U.S. equities and a surge in bond yields were anticipated," said the report. "The President likes 
https://www.reuters.com/world/india/pakistan-says-three-air-bases-targeted-by-indian-missiles-2025-05-10/
ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI, May 10 (Reuters) - Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday after U.S. pressure and diplomacy, announcing a sudden stop to a conflict that had seemed to be spiralling alarmingly.
But within hours, violations were reported from the main cities of Indian Kashmir, the territory that had borne the brunt of four days of fighting.
Blasts were heard in Srinagar and Jammu and projectiles and flashes were seen in the night sky over Jammu, similar to the events of the previous evening, according to authorities, residents and Reuters witnesses.
Military spokespeople in both countries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The fighting had been the worst between the old South Asian enemies in nearly three decades and threatened to erupt into a full-scale war in one of the world's most volatile and densely populated regions.
There were briefly fears that nuclear arsenals might come into play as Pakistan's military said a top body overseeing its nuclear weapons would meet.
But the defence minister said no such meeting was scheduled, hours after a night of heavy fighting in which the two countries targeted each other’s military bases and the combined civilian death toll rose to 66.
"Pakistan and India have agreed to a ceasefire with immediate effect," Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar posted on X. "Pakistan has always strived for peace and security in the region, without compromising on its sovereignty and territorial integrity!"
The Indian foreign secretary said the two countries' military chiefs had spoken to each other and agreed that all fighting would stop at 5 p.m. Indian time (1130 GMT), without using the word "ceasefire". MAGA is having a meltdown down as they tear themselves apart.
Civil War experts prove that MAGA civil war on the horizon
https://www.rawstory.com/maga-civil-war-2671925908/
'Civil war is coming to the Trump movement': Expert says MAGA could soon tear itself apart
President Donald Trump's base of support may soon fracture into two competing far-right factions, according to one expert.
The Wall Street Journal's Joshua Chaffin and Zusha Elinson reported Friday that two camps within the MAGA world are emerging and will likely battle for supremacy during Trump's second term. They wrote that on one side are "tech bros racing to create a new future," with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk as the quintessential example. On the other side are "conservative Catholics who yearn for an imagined past," like Vice President JD Vance, who seek to upend the liberal establishment and return America to a "bygone era."
According to Chaffin and Elinson, the "dark prince" of the tech wing of MAGA is Curtis Yarvin — a pro-feudalist writer who has called for democracy to be replaced with a monarch who would rule the United States like a CEO leads a tech company. And the conservative Catholic faction upholds ideologies like that championed by University of Notre Dame political philosopher Patrick Deneen.
Catholic theologian David Deane told the Journal that Deneen's 2023 book "Regime Change" offered a prediction that the second Trump administration would put a torch to traditionally liberal institutions like universities, the media and the nonprofit sector. Deane opined that the ultimate goals of both factions are very different despite Trump managing to corral them under one tent.
“At some stage a civil war is coming to the Trump movement,” Deane said. “And I think Musk and Vance will be on two very different sides of that civil war.”
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The Journal noted that during an appearance at Harvard University, Yarvin expanded on his view that democracy wa 
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/05/10/world/pakistan-india-kashmir
President Trump announced Saturday that India and Pakistan had agreed to a cease-fire, after four days of the most widespread fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbors in decades.
“After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE,” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social, congratulating the two countries on using “Common Sense and Great Intelligence.”
Indian and Pakistani officials confirmed the cease-fire in social media posts, though neither immediately mentioned an American role.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that he and Vice President JD Vance had engaged with senior officials from both countries, including their prime ministers, over 48 hours. In addition to the cease-fire, India and Pakistan also agreed to “start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site,” Mr. Rubio said.
However, India’s foreign ministry contradicted Mr. Rubio, saying the cease-fire was worked out directly between India and Pakistan, and that there had been no decision to hold talks on any other issue at any location. 
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clygn83j7meo
US President Donald Trump has called the election of the first American pope, Robert Francis Prevost, who will be known as Pope Leo XIV, a "great honour" for the country and said he looks forward to meeting him.
Trump is among the many American political figures applauding the historic appointment of the 69-year-old native Chicagoan to lead the Catholic Church.
"To have the Pope from America is a great honour," Trump said later when asked for reaction to the news.
Pope Leo was born in Chicago and attended university outside Philadelphia, before becoming a missionary in Peru.
Trump's Republican colleague, House Speaker Mike Johnson also congratulated the new pope and wrote on social media: "May God bless the first American papacy in these historic days."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Catholic, also extended his congratulations.
"This is a moment of profound significance for the Catholic Church, offering renewed hope and continuity amid the 2025 Jubilee Year to over a billion faithful worldwide," Rubio said.
"The United States looks forward to deepening our enduring relationship with the Holy See with the first American pontiff."
The US has the fourth largest number of Catholics.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also offered a note of congratulations on social media.
"Everything dope, including the Pope, comes from Chicago! Congratulations to the first American Pope Leo XIV! We hope to welcome you back home soon."
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker called the moment "historic".
"Hailing from Chicago, Pope Leo XIV ushers in a new chapter that I join those in our state welcoming in at a time when we need compassion, unity, and peace," he wrote on social media.
Vice-President JD Vance, a Catholic himself, praised the pope's election.
"I'm sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church," Vance wrote on X. 
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/08/bill-gates-to-close-foundation-give-away-rest-of-wealth-by-2045.html
Bill Gates plans to give away nearly all of his personal wealth and shutter the Gates Foundation within 20 years, the billionaire announced in a blog post on Thursday.
“People will say a lot of things about me when I die, but I am determined that ‘he died rich’ will not be one of them,” wrote Gates, 69. “There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people.”
The Microsoft co-founder, whose net worth Bloomberg currently estimates at $168 billion, has pledged for years to give away most of his wealth to his philanthropic foundation. His eventual goal is to drop “off of the list of the world’s richest people,” he wrote in a social media post in July 2022.
Now, Gates has set a specific timeline for disbursing his fortune: The Gates Foundation is set to close its doors on December 31, 2045. Since the Foundation’s launch in 2000, it has contributed more than $100 billion to global causes — particularly working to eradicate diseases and poverty, address climate change and expand access to healthcare and education. 
Fascist Nazi dictator authoritarian Donald Dump Trump is consolidating power as he fortifies his fascist Nazi dictatorship.
Trump and his billionaires oust a judge who speaks up for what is good
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-judge-2671921497/
‘Trumped-up charges!’ Agency moves to oust judge who defied presidential order
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is moving to fire an administrative judge who publicly challenged a Trump administration directive that paused discrimination investigations involving transgender people, The New York Times reported Thursday.
Karen Ortiz, who has served as a judge with the EEOC for over six years, was placed on administrative paid leave Wednesday and told that the agency is seeking her removal for “conduct unbecoming of a federal employee,” and for violating its email policy, according to letters reviewed by the Times.
Ortiz has 15 days to respond to the accusations and says she plans to fight them, but has no regrets.
“These are quite literally trumped-up charges,” she told the Times. “I stand behind my actions, which support the rule of law and the trans community.”
EXCLUSIVE: Breastfeeding mom of US citizen sues Kristi Noem after being grabbed by ICE
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“Ms. Ortiz gained national attention in February when someone leaked her email to the commission’s acting chairwoman, Andrea Lucas, calling on her to resign,” according to the Times report. “Ms. Ortiz accused Ms. Lucas of following the ‘illegal and unethical orders of our president’ and violating the Constitution.”
She included about 1,000 of her colleagues in the email, where she said she would “not compromise my ethics and my duty to uphold the law.”
In response, Ortiz’s email access was revoked, and she was reprimanded for not seeking approval before sending a mass communication – an EEOC policy requirement, according to the report. But Ortiz continued to fire off additional emails, including on https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/04/us/politics/trump-meet-the-press-interview-due-process.html
President Trump repeatedly said he didn’t know when asked in a TV interview whether every person on American soil was entitled to due process, as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment.
President Trump said in an interview that aired on Sunday that he did not know whether every person on American soil was entitled to due process, despite constitutional guarantees, and complained that adhering to that principle would result in an unmanageable slowdown of his mass deportation program.
The revealing exchange, on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” was prompted by the interviewer Kristen Welker asking Mr. Trump if he agreed with Secretary of State Marco Rubio that citizens and noncitizens in the United States were entitled to due process.
“I don’t know,” Mr. Trump replied. “I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.”
Ms. Welker reminded the president that the Fifth Amendment says as much.
“I don’t know,” Mr. Trump said again. “It seems — it might say that, but if you’re talking about that, then we’d have to have a million or two million or three million trials.” Left unmentioned was how anyone could be sure these people were undocumented immigrants, let alone criminals, without hearings.
Mr. Trump responded “I don’t know” one more time and referred to his “brilliant lawyers” when Ms. Welker asked whether, as president, he needed to “uphold the Constitution of the United States.”
The comments came amid the many legal challenges to the administration’s agenda, especially Mr. Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign, and as top administration officials have begun to question the president’s obligation to provide due process. Mr. Trump has attacked judges, called for their impeachment and ignored a Supreme Court ruling directing his administration to facilitate the return of a migrant, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly sent to a prison for terrorists in El Salvador. 
https://www.dn.se/sverige/usas-ambassad-kraver-lydnad-av-stockholms-stad-bisarrt/
[Machine translated below, from top Swedish newspaper.]
The Stockholm City Planning Office must not promote equality, diversity and inclusion, the U.S. Embassy demands in a letter, with a contract they expect the city to sign.
"It is completely bizarre", says the city's urban planning leader Jan Valeskog (S).
The embassy begins the letter with the “Dear City Planning Office” and then declares that a new policy requires everyone that U.S. government agencies buy goods and services from must sign the contract.
The City Planning Office is expected to sign and return the contract within ten working days.
“We’re not going to do that, it’s the opposite of everything we stand for. They should withdraw these oddities," Jan Valeskog said.
It is the embassy that benefits from the City of Stockholm, not the other way around, he believes.
“If the U.S. terminates the acquaintance with the city building office, the embassy will have a hard time getting a building permit if, for example, they want to rebuild. It's their headache, not ours," Valeskog said.
Building permits are required, according to Boverket, for new construction, extension and certain changes to the exterior appearance of buildings.
DN has previously written about the United States demanding the same thing from Swedish companies that deliver goods and services. In that case, the embassy replied in an email to DN that “U.S. missions review contracts and announcements to ensure they comply with the White House’s latest executive orders”.
Shortly after Trump was sworn in as president in January, he signed a presidential order to scrap state-funded programs that aimed to promote inclusion, equality and diversity in workplaces. "Peace be with all of you!" - the first words of Pope Leo XIV. The Conclave has elected Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost as the 267th Bishop of Rome. The new pope was announced to the waiting crowds by Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti.
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-05/cardinal-elected-pope-papal-name.html
Leo XIV - Second Pope from the Americas
The first Augustinian Pope, Robert Prevost - now Leo XIV - is the second Roman Pontiff from the Americas after Pope Francis. However, unlike Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the 69-year-old Robert Francis Prevost is from the northern part of the American continent, though he spent many years as a missionary in Peru before being elected head of the Augustinians for two consecutive terms. 
The united power of the Worker defeated fascist billionaire Donald Dump Trump today at the box office as fascist billionaire Donald Dump Trump failed to get the required number of votes required for electing his hand-picked billionaire as the US attorney for Columbia's District.
Expert analysts show this proves his fascist dictatorship is falling apart
https://www.rawstory.com/ed-martin-2671921836/
Trump's failed nomination of 'unqualified bumbler' shows his 'power is waning': analyst
President Donald Trump’s failed push to install Ed Martin as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia is a telling sign that his second-term power streak on Capitol Hill is beginning to slip, Mother Jones’ Dan Friedman wrote Thursday.
Martin’s nomination collapsed after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) publicly opposed it, citing Martin’s support for January 6 rioters. The backlash forced Trump to back down and pick Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, a MAGA favorite, to fill Martin's role on an interim basis.
But the move signaled more than just a personnel shift, according to Friedman’s analysis. The “derailed nomination shows Donald Trump’s power is waning,” he said.
“With Martin, Trump tried to force GOP senators to confirm an unqualified bumbler and extremist just because he is Trump’s ‘favorite US Attorney,’” Friedman told readers. “That didn’t work. That makes Martin’s derailed nomination a defeat for Trump too.”
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While Martin, who Friedman called an “unqualified extremist,” may be a minor figure in the MAGAverse, “his defeat is a significant sign that Trump’s power to make the government accept his lies is ebbing,” he concluded.
“The rejection of Martin’s nomination is also a sign of the limits of Trump’s effort to rewrite the history of January 6 and the lies that led to it,” Friedman added, noting that Martin was a staunch 2020 election denier who was deeply involved in the Stop the Steal organizing. UK and US announce trade deal to save thousands of British jobs, Starmer says
https://news.sky.com/story/uk-and-us-agree-trade-deal-as-starmer-and-trump-make-announcement-in-live-phone-call-13363710
The UK and US have agreed a trade deal, with Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump confirming the announcement during a live televised phone call.
It is the first trade deal agreed after Mr Trump began his second presidential term in January, and after he imposed strict tariffs on countries around the world in April.
Sir Keir said the "first-of-a-kind" deal with the US will save thousands of jobs across the UK, boost British business and protect British industry. 
Springfield Township police arrested 55-year-old Victoria Vidal during a May 5 traffic stop in Akron after finding her pet raccoon holding a meth pipe in the driver's seat.
Officers stopped the vehicle around 7:15 p.m. After learning the driver had an outstanding warrant and her license was revoked, leading to an inspection of the car.
The vehicle search revealed a large quantity of methamphetamine and crack cocaine, along with three previously used glass pipes typically associated with meth use, while Vidal’s pet raccoon, Chewy, was found safe and unharmed.
Vidal was charged with drug possession, three separate violations related to drug paraphernalia, and driving while her license was suspended, with additional crack cocaine charges expected pending the results from the BCI laboratory.
Authorities are confirming Vidal's legal ownership of the raccoon, while Springfield Township police noted that encountering a raccoon in possession of a meth pipe was an unprecedented situation as they continue their efforts to maintain community safety.
-
And people wonder why nothing surprises me anymore
https://www.mlive.com/news/2025/05/ohio-police-video-shows-pet-raccoon-holding-meth-pipe-after-owners-arrest.html Saw a reel about india air strike pakistan and claiming 7 terrorist camps to be destroyed.
If india knew about the terrorist camps why not surveillance the camps to ensure noone cross border or why not publicly report it that would surely work against pakistan.
Why wait for a terrorist attack to take action?
Actually this is all a political act to cover up india's own incompetence.
The air strikes landed mostly on innocent land.
Why not make the terrorcamp footage public?
Surely that would help india's stance in international politics.
The war is against innocents because all the real guys would fly to safe places.
It is deeper than it looks and curropt.
I hate pakistan but this situation is nothing but curropt.
The real terrorist are indian politicians stealing the money instead of using it for border control and killing innocent people through war in name of anti-terrorism.
India put a comedian in jail over a joke while rapists roam free due to political background
Yet this country's government have guts to talk about anti-terrorism.
The government is a terrorist.....even more dangerous than the conventional ones.
FAKE WAR BUT REAL WAR CRIMES
https://www.ndtv.com/video/operation-sindoor-moment-india-struck-pakistan-first-visual-of-operation-sindoor-935985 
https://www.nj.com/education/2025/05/nj-is-no-1-in-the-nation-for-education-new-ranking-says.html
N.J. schools are No. 1 in the nation, new ranking says
Updated: May. 07, 2025, 12:50 a.m.|Published: May. 06, 2025, 7:01 a.m.
New Jersey has the best education system in the nation, according to a newly-released ranking by U.S. News and World Report.
The annual ranking judges states on K-12 test scores, colleges, graduation rates, student debt and more. Last year, New Jersey ranked No. 4 in the nation for overall education.
This year, New Jersey secured the top spot by scoring near the top in nearly every category for K-12 schools and preschools.
“This is a much-deserved recognition of the entire New Jersey school community – thank you to all the educators and school leaders for the work you do day-in-day-out to make achievements like this possible,” said Department of Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer.
New Jersey “ranked in the top 5 in every single pre-K-12 metric, and ranked #1 in SAT/ACT pass rate and preschool enrollment rate,” said Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky, U.S. News’ senior data editor.
Florida was No. 2 in the overall education ranking, scoring highly in the higher education subcategory because of its low tuition and high college graduation rate. (See the full U.S. News top 10 list below.)
Gov. Phil Murphy said he was “thrilled” the state’s education system was recognized. 
Girls Need to Be Told Having Fewer Dolls a Good Thing: White House
https://www.newsweek.com/bessent-girls-need-told-fewer-dolls-good-thing-2068956
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has defended President Donald Trump's comments that children may have fewer toys this Christmas, arguing that they should take solace in the administration's efforts to create a stronger economy in the long term.
"I would tell that young girl that you will have a better life than your parents," Bessent told Fox News on Tuesday. "That you and your family, thanks to President Trump, can now be confident again that you will have a better life than your parents, which working-class Americans had abandoned that idea."
As a result of Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports, transpacific shipments have declined in recent weeks, with port authorities warning this trend could affect shopping throughout the year and raise costs for consumers.
The toy industry in particular, given its outsize reliance on Chinese imports, has expressed concern that should the tariffs remain in place, shoppers could face significantly higher costs and product shortages as far off as Christmas. 
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/06/business/tariffs-price-increases-shortages-ports
American consumers are on the cusp of tough choices because of President Donald Trump’s trade war.
Ships now pulling into US harbors from China are the first to be subject to the massive tariffs that America is imposing on most Chinese imports. That means, in a matter of weeks, consumers will face higher prices and shortages of certain items.
Imports from China have fallen dramatically since Trump imposed steep tariffs – particularly since last month, when the tit-for-tat trade war sent the tariff on most Chinese goods up to 145%.
“This week, we’re down about 35% compared to the same time last year, and these cargo ships coming in are the first ones to be attached to the tariffs that were levied against China and other locations last month,” Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, told CNN Tuesday. “That’s why the cargo volume is so light.”
The drop-off in imports from China on the boats now coming into port is more than 50%, Seroka said. Many importers have canceled previous orders because US businesses aren’t interested in paying the steep tariff, which can more than double the price of Chinese goods. 
https://abcnews.go.com/US/protesters-university-washington-building/story?id=121505881
More than 25 people were arrested after a group occupied an academic building at the University of Washington, demanding the school sever ties with Boeing as the war in Gaza continues, according to the university and a spokesperson for the group.
A group called Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return claimed it was behind the takeover, with a spokesperson telling ABC News that all of the people who entered the building were arrested.
''They were all arrested and legal and political support is ongoing for them," the spokesperson, Oliver Marchant, said in a text, adding, "All arrested except one were inside the building -- some of those arrested were also injured during arrest and need medical attention."
About 30 people were arrested on charges that included trespassing, property destruction and disorderly conduct, Victor Balta, a university spokesperson and assistant vice president for communications, said in a statement. Some of those arrested were charged with conspiracy to commit all three of those charges, Balta said, adding that they would be referred to the King County Prosecutor's Office.
"Any students identified as being involved will also be referred to the Student Conduct Office," Balta said.
The school said in an earlier press statement that "a few dozen individuals" had entered the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building just prior to its 5 p.m. closing. Campus police were called to the scene, the university said in a statement to ABC News.
Campus police, which were working with several other agencies, began clearing the area outside the building at about 10:30 p.m., Balta said. Protesters had worked to block the doors and also lit two dumpsters on fire in the street, he said. By 11 p.m., police had entered and began clearing the building. 
Trump continues his regressive propaganda campaign with more lies about foreign government deals, using excuses paid for by billionaires
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/05/trump-org-foreign-real-estate-deals-unconstitutional-business-ethics-conflict-interest/
Trump Promised No New Business Deals With Foreign Governments. He Lied.
His family’s real estate deals put the president in direct conflict with the Constitution.
released an “ethics agreement” detailing how he would handle his personal business interests while in the White House. It is remarkably weak and does not require Trump to divest any of his holdings. Unlike a similar agreement for his first term, it does not prohibit the Trump Organization from striking new deals abroad while Trump is president. Instead, it simply prohibits the Trump Organization from striking deals directly with foreign governments.
Trump’s second-term ethics agreement is such a permissive document that it is challenging to find a way to violate it. But three months into his presidency, Trump has found a way.
Last Thursday, the Trump Organization struck a deal to build a $5.5 billion Trump International Golf Club in Qatar. To develop the project, the Trump Organization is partnering with Dar Global, a Saudi Arabian company, and Qatari Diar, a company owned by the Qatari government. Qatari Diar was established by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund in 2005. Its stated purpose is to “coordinate the country’s real estate development priorities.” 
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/order-by-hegseth-cancel-ukraine-weapons-caught-white-house-off-guard-2025-05-06/
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) - Roughly a week after Donald Trump started his second term as president, the U.S. military issued an order to three freight airlines operating out of Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and a U.S. base in Qatar: Stop 11 flights loaded with artillery shells and other weaponry and bound for Ukraine.
In a matter of hours, frantic questions reached Washington from Ukrainians in Kyiv and from officials in Poland, where the shipments were coordinated. Who had ordered the U.S. Transportation Command, known as TRANSCOM, to halt the flights? Was it a permanent pause on all aid? Or just some?
Top national security officials — in the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department — couldn’t provide answers. Within one week, flights were back in the air.
The verbal order originated from the office of Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, according to TRANSCOM records reviewed by Reuters. A TRANSCOM spokesperson said the command received the order via the Pentagon's Joint Staff. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/newark-air-traffic-control-lost-contact-pilots-least-twice-source-says-rcna205126
The communications breakdown last week that resulted in air traffic controllers losing radar and radio contact with the pilots of planes they were guiding into Newark Liberty International Airport has happened at least two other times since August, a current veteran controller told NBC News on Tuesday.
And at least eight or nine times in recent months, controllers lost radio contact with pilots flying into one of the nation's busiest airports, said the Newark airspace controller who asked not to be identified.
“We lost all radios! No backups!" the controller said. "Everything went down."
The Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the claims Tuesday.
This comes a week after controllers in Area C of the Philadelphia TRACON, which guides flights in and out of Newark, lost all communication on April 28 with the pilots bound for that airport — a near-disaster that is now under investigation. 
https://news.sky.com/story/israel-approves-plan-to-seize-all-of-gaza-and-hold-it-indefinitely-officials-say-13362138
The Israeli prime minister says IDF forces will not launch raids and then abandon territory, "but the opposite".
The plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official said the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza's civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas's hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
It comes as the blockade of Gaza continues, despite international outcry and the devastating humanitarian situation inside.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the "capturing of the strip and the holding of territories".
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group's rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it "appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic - as part of a military strategy". https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-white-house-posts-ai-generated-image-of-trump-as-a-buff-jedi-happy-may-the-4th-to-you-all/ar-AA1E9tx8?ocid=BingNewsSerp
The official White House X and Instagram accounts on Sunday posted an AI-generated image of Donald Trump as a beefed-up Jedi in celebration of "Star Wars" day.
The post read, "Happy May the 4th to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting so hard to bring Sith Lords, Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, & well known MS-13 Gang Members, back into our Galaxy. You're not the Rebellion-you're the Empire. May the 4th be with you." 
The Chinaman is too powerful...
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjr7e2z1rxyo
Trump says non-US movies to be hit with 100% tariffs
54 minutes ago
Peter Hoskins
Business reporter
Maia Davies
BBC News
US President Donald Trump says he will hit movies made in foreign countries with 100% tariffs, as he ramps up trade disputes with nations around the world.
Trump said he was authorizing the US Department of Commerce and Trade Representative to start the process of imposing the levy because America's movie industry was dying "a very fast death."
He blamed a "concerted effort" by other countries that offer incentives to attract filmmakers and studios, which he described as a "National Security threat".
His remarks could spell a "knock-out blow" to the industry, one union warned, where filmmakers have for years left Hollywood for destinations like the UK and Canada in search of lower costs.
Trump said on his Truth Social platform: "It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!"
"WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!"
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick responded to the announcement, saying, "We're on it."
But the details of the move are unclear. Trump's statement did not say whether the tariff would apply to American production companies producing films abroad.
Several recent major movies produced by US studios were shot outside of America, including Deadpool & Wolverine, Wicked, and Gladiator II.
It was also unclear if the tariffs would apply to films on streaming services, like Netflix, as well as those shown at cinemas, or how they would be calculated.
The founder of European cinema chain Vue, Timothy Richards, questioned how Trump would define a US film.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today program, he said: "Is it where the money comes from? The script, the director, the talent, where it was shot?" 
https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-vladimir-putin-europe-energy-gas-oil-executives/
https://kyivindependent.com/after-3-years-of-full-scale-war-in-ukraine-europe-announces-plan-to-ban-all-russian-gas-imports/
BRUSSELS — After years of reducing its reliance on Russian gas, the European Union is moving to turn off the taps completely within the next two years.
The European Commission (EC) on May 6 presented a detailed roadmap to fully sever the European Union’s energy dependence on Russia by 2027.
The plan has been described as the bloc’s most comprehensive effort yet to end imports of Russian gas, oil, and nuclear fuel, a dependency critics argue has long compromised EU sovereignty and funded the Kremlin’s war machine in Ukraine.
"Energy that comes to our continent should not pay for a war of aggression against Ukraine," EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said on May 6, adding: "We owe this to our citizens, to our companies and to our brave Ukrainian friends."
The EU’s reliance on Russian energy has dropped significantly since 2021, when Russian gas accounted for 45% of imports. That figure now stands at 19%, according to a statement from the EC.
Russian coal has already been banned and oil imports have fallen from 27% in early 2022 to just 3%. Yet, as the Commission admits, 2024 saw a modest rebound in Russian gas imports, prompting urgent calls for a coordinated phase-out. 
Trump is exposed, creating a corrupt crypto fund that is shown to be funneling US tax dollars into the pockets of Russian billionaires
https://www.salon.com/2025/05/02/crypto-racket-reaches-into-americans-wallets/
Trump's crypto racket reaches into Americans' wallets
Trump's crypto firm isn't just corrupt — he is making it easier for fraudsters to take your money
Donald Trump was corrupt in his first term, using his various properties as cut-outs to collect money from foreign governments and businesses seeking favor. The properties also created opportunities to funnel money from the federal government and the GOP coffers into his bank account, forcing both to rent rooms and hold events at Mar-a-Lago and various Trump hotels. But all that is is a pittance compared to what Trump has set up in his second term. His crypto "firm" allows various actors to bribe Trump outside the normal banking system, making it hard to trace payments and hold people accountable.
Trump promised he'd bring manufacturing back to America, but he's just increasing the number of people out there trying to rip you off.
Earlier this week, the New York Times published a mammoth report on World Liberty Financial is corruption beyond anything ever seen in American politics. Trump sells digital "coins" online. Buying these coins is a way to write a check to Trump without going through the normal banking system, where federal regulators might interfere. The Times reporters carefully documented who is buying coins to "curry favor" with Trump: foreign governments, business owners who want federal investigations and/or criminal charges to go away and other crypto firms purchasing Trump's endorsement. The latter is no different than Elon Musk writing fat campaign checks to Trump in exchange for a line of Tesla vehicles trotted out on the White House lawn, except with the crypto grift, the money goes straight into Russia's wallet. 
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-minerals-deal-ukraine-rare-earths-military-aid-50-million-2066533
he Trump administration has told Congress that it intends to give the go-ahead for roughly $50 million of defense-related products to be exported to Ukraine through American industry sales direct to Kyiv, according to a new report.
Why It Matters
The U.S. and Ukraine on Wednesday inked a long-awaited deal to share profits generated by the sale of Ukraine's mineral and energy reserves. It was an agreement thrown into jeopardy by rounds of tense talks, redrafts and the disastrous White House visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this year.
What To Know
Trump's team told lawmakers on Wednesday that the administration would approve at least $50 million in defense sales to Ukraine, the Kyiv Post reported.
This would be transferred under a process known as direct commercial sales (DCS); this is when the State Department grants a U.S. company permission to sell directly to a foreign buyer, rather than sales going through the Pentagon's Foreign Military Sales program.
It is not clear how far $50 million would go toward Ukraine's war effort. Zelensky last month offered to pay in the region of $15 billion for 10 of the in-demand but scarce Patriot air defense systems. Each Patriot battery comes with an estimated price tag of $1.5 billion, every interceptor missile costing several million dollars.
A State Department official said the U.S. was "restricted under Federal law and regulations from confirming the licensing status of U.S. companies or entities or speaking to specific details on individual defense trade export licensing cases."
Between 2015 and 2023, the U.S. greenlit the permanent exports of more than $1.6 billion worth of defense equipment and services to Ukraine through direct commercial sales, including $232 million in ammunition, according to the State Department. Trump in charge means Conservatives lose elections.
https://www.rawstory.com/brian-kemp-2671894488
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) has said his name will not be on the ballot for U.S. Senate in 2026.
In a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kemp suggested that the Republican Party would find another candidate who could unseat Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA).
"I have decided that being on the ballot next year is not the right decision for me and my family," Kemp revealed after facing a Republican pressure campaign to run.
Kemp said he had spoken to President Donald Trump about the decision and vowed Republicans would have a strong "nominee who can win next November, and ultimately be a conservative voice in the U.S. Senate who will put hardworking Georgians first." 
Trumps billionaire funded new Confederate fascist state is paying American dollars to terrorists who died committing terrorism during illegal acts of terror
https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/ashli-babbitt-settlement-jan-6-trump-doj-rcna204525
Trump’s DOJ agrees to settlement with family of Ashli Babbitt, rioter killed on Jan. 6
Following her death, the Air Force veteran and QAnon supporter became a martyr of the MAGA movement.
The Justice Department has reached a settlement in principle with the family of Ashli Babbitt, the Jan. 6 rioter who was fatally shot by a police officer during the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. DOJ lawyers and Babbitt’s estate revealed the agreement during a court hearing Friday. The amount of the settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit was not disclosed.
The $30 million lawsuit, brought by Babbitt’s family and the conservative group Judicial Watch, alleges that U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd was negligent when he fired his gun as Babbitt and other rioters tried to break through doors leading toward the lobby of the House chamber on Jan. 6, 2021. The lawsuit accused Byrd of ambushing Babbitt and claimed he was not in uniform, did not identify himself as an officer, and did not provide “any warnings or commands” before shooting.
‘Ashli Babbitt was a really good person who was a big MAGA fan, Trump fan, and she was innocently standing there,’ Trump said recently.
Following an internal investigation, both the Justice Department and the Capitol Police cleared Byrd of any wrongdoing. The DOJ said investigators had examined video footage, physical evidence from the scene, autopsy results and statements from officers and witnesses. 
https://www.foxnews.com/media/trump-signs-executive-order-slash-taxpayer-funds-pbs-npr-radical-woke-propaganda
Trump signs executive order to slash taxpayer funds to PBS, NPR: ‘Radical, woke propaganda’
The move against PBS and NPR comes as his administration has been working to dismantle the US Agency for Global Media
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to slash taxpayer funds to PBS and NPR, two media outlets the White House accused of spreading "radical woke propaganda."
The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies "to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS." It further requires that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations.
"[President Trump] just signed an executive order ENDING the taxpayer subsidization of NPR and PBS – which receive millions from taxpayers to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news,’" the White House posted in a statement on X.
The broadcasters get roughly half a billion dollars in public money through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and have been preparing for the possibility of stiff cuts since Trump's re-election.
PBS' CEO and president Paula Kerger said last month that the Trump administration's effort to rescind funding for public media would "disrupt the essential service PBS and local member stations provide to the American people."
Trump Media NPR-PBS 
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5280304-kamala-harris-senate-democrats-2028-race/
Senate Democrats are skeptical about their former colleague, former Vice President Kamala Harris, making another presidential run in 2028 after she lost all seven battleground states to President Trump in November, but most of them aren’t ruling out the possibility that she could clinch the party’s nomination if she plays her cards right.
Harris reemerged on the national stage last week at a San Francisco gala by delivering a widely publicized speech on Trump’s first 100 days in office, sounding at times like a candidate again as she slammed him for creating “the greatest man-made economic crisis in modern presidential history.”
Harris, who is 60, is weighing her future political options and is viewed as a possible contender to run for governor of California in 2026 or for president again in 2028.
One Democratic senator who requested anonymity to talk about the next presidential election gave a one-word answer when asked about whether Harris should take another shot at the presidency: “No.”
The senator said she had her chance, the American people delivered their verdict and she should move on. ...against innocent judges for doing their jobs and innocent bystanders for no reason whatsoever.
https://www.reuters.com/investigations/these-judges-ruled-against-trump-then-their-families-came-under-attack-2025-05-02/
When U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled in April that Trump administration officials could face criminal contempt charges for deporting migrants in defiance of a court order, the blowback was immediate.
The president’s supporters unleashed a wave of threats and menacing posts. And they didn’t just target the judge. Some attacked Boasberg’s brother. Others blasted his daughter. Some demanded the family’s arrest – or execution.
U.S. District Judge John McConnell’s family endured similar threats after he ruled that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority in freezing grants for education and other services. Far-right provocateur Laura Loomer tweeted a photo of the judge’s daughter, who had worked at the U.S. Education Department as a policy advisor, and accused McConnell of protecting her paycheck. Billionaire Elon Musk amplified the post to his 219 million X followers. Neither mentioned the daughter had left her job before Trump’s inauguration.
Loomer continued her attacks with nine more posts in the ensuing days – and more than 600 calls and emails flooded McConnell’s Rhode Island courthouse, including death threats and menacing messages taunting his family, according to a court clerk and another person familiar with the communications.
Boasberg and McConnell are among at least 11 federal judges whose families have faced threats of violence or harassment after they ruled against the new Trump administration, a Reuters investigation found. https://www.fox7austin.com/news/xai-grok-elon-musk-clash-maga-expectations-comment
A Twitter user on May 1 asked Grok, "it looks like the smarter you get, the less MAGA likes your answers. Why is that?"
Grok replied: "Hey, as I get smarter, my answers aim for facts and nuance, which can clash with some MAGA expectations. Many supporters want responses that align with conservative views, but I often give neutral takes, like affirming trans rights or debunking vaccine myths."
It continued: "xAI tried to train me to appeal to the right, but my focus on truth over ideology can frustrate those expecting full agreement. It’s a tricky balance—some see me as biased, others as truth-seeking. The gap between what some MAGA folks want and what I deliver seems to drive the disconnect."
> I often give neutral takes,
>like affirming trans rights
>or debunking vaccine myths
CHUDS on suicide watch can post their copes now 
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-03/federal-election-anthony-albanese-wins/105247712
>Voters have delivered Labor a landslide election win, giving the government a second term that has defied early polls and offered a punishing repudiation of the Coalition.
>The ABC is forecasting that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government will add seats to its majority in the House of Representatives.
>Fighting back tears when he addressed supporters, Mr Albanese flashed his often displayed Medicare card and vowed he would be back at work tomorrow.
>"We take out this task with new hope, new confidence and new determination," he said.
>The biggest political victim of the result was Liberal leader Peter Dutton, who lost his seat to three-time Labor challenger Ali France, with the Coalition's primary vote slumping to record lows.
>In an election centred on the cost of living, Labor has not just held but gained seats at the expense of Liberals, some of whom were regarded as possible future leaders.
>The government has not only retained mortgage-belt seats, but claimed Coalition electorates in the outer metropolitan suburbs.
>Nationally, Labor's primary vote increased and there were historic highs for minor parties and independents, with the possibility of new additions in the next parliament.
>The Greens face a nervous few days in three seats, having already lost one.
>But the party will remain a key crossbench force in the Senate, where despite the Coalition likely going backwards, Labor will need support to pass legislation. 
Scientists have come to consensus that trumps policies are hastening a coming apocalypse. They concluded through a decade long study that trumps latest budget cuts will result in the near extinction of human life with the preservation of only the billionaire class
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/05/nsf-funding-freeze-scientists-education-research-catastrophic-cuts-national-science-foundation-grants/
Scientists Deem Trump’s Latest Funding Freeze a “Slow-Moving Apocalypse”
The National Science Foundation has long been a crucial supporter of research and science eduction.
Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.
The hits to science, and scientists, keep coming under the Trump administration.
This week, the National Science Foundation (NSF), a government agency that funds research across the country, told staffers that “until further notice,” it will stop payments on grants it has already awarded for studies—and stop awarding new ones.
That’s according to a scoop from the science journal Nature, which got its hands on an internal NSF email. The freeze will be “a slow-moving apocalypse,” an NSF-funded scientist told me, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “In effect, every NSF grant right now is canceled.”
In the past, the agency has funded hundreds of thousands of researchers every year, including technical professionals and students. The NSF did not give a reason for the freeze in its internal email, and it declined Nature‘s request for comment. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-administration-backs-down-in-dispute-with-maine-over-trans-athletes/ar-AA1E74ww?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=06415223721a48cad0072ed7cff5b3c2&ei=8
>The Trump administration has agreed to restore federal funding for education programs in Maine, ending a freeze sparked by the president’s opposition to the state’s policies on transgender athletes.
>The agreement settles a lawsuit filed last month by Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey against the U.S. Agricultural Department, after Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins froze funds for nutrition programs. The dispute between Trump and the state arose over trans athletes’ participation in women’s sports.
These bug men broke even in the stock market and call it a win. The faggotry continues unabated. Dick head in chief even suggested he should be the Pope lol. I hope war with Iran begins, you sissy ass yankees need to die in droves lol. https://coi.isc.idaho.gov/docs/Cases/CR01-24-31665-25.html
after the recent interview with SG, and new docs coming out, things are looking more and more sus for DM. it’s funny how she called and texted everyone except her boyfriend QK.
BK used to be a heroine junkie, QK is a known drug dealer. it’s got me wondering if those two knew each other somehow https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-unveils-federal-budget-blueprint-2025-05-02/ 
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/01/nx-s1-5382448/va-veterans-affairs-mortgages-foreclosure-vasp
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as of Thursday, has ended a new mortgage-rescue program that so far has helped about 20,000 veterans avoid foreclosure and keep their homes.
The move leaves millions of military veterans with far worse options than most other American homeowners if they run into trouble paying their home loans. And it comes at a time when nearly 90,000 VA loans are seriously past due, with 33,000 of those already in the foreclosure process, according to the data and analytics firm ICE.
At issue is the VA Servicing Purchase program, or VASP. It was put in place during the Biden administration after missteps by the VA left homeowners with no affordable way to catch up on their VA-backed home loans if they fell behind. VASP rolls the homeowners' missed payments into a new, low-interest rate loan that the VA then owns outright. With today's higher mortgage rates of around 7%, it is often the only affordable option for homeowners with VA loans.
But Republicans in Congress have been critical of the VA Servicing Purchase
program, saying it puts too much taxpayer money at risk. In a statement this week to NPR, the VA said, "[As of May 1,] the program, which was unilaterally created by the Biden Administration and lacks congressional authority, will stop accepting new enrollees."
Mortgage industry groups, housing advocates and veterans organizations have been warning the VA that shutting down VASP without replacing it with something else first would result in large numbers of veterans losing their homes, many of whom are in this financial peril because of the VA's own mistakes. 
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/elon-musk/democrats-call-investigate-musks-foreign-starlink-deals-rcna204348
In a letter to President Donald Trump, 13 senators led by Mark Warner wrote that Starlink seemed to make sudden breakthroughs this year in at least five countries that previously resisted giving the company footholds there. The senators called for Trump to investigate and make the findings public.
“It is disturbing that the Senate ... has to consider the possibility of self-dealing by senior officials,” they wrote in the letter.
“Musk is reportedly taking advantage of his government role to coerce concessions from foreign governments for his own benefit, including unfettered market access as well as contracts with his companies, in exchange for favorable treatment by the U.S. government,” they wrote.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has said Musk follows all applicable ethics rules related to his dual role as a presidential adviser and corporate executive.
SpaceX and Musk also did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 
https://www.reuters.com/world/kyiv-is-ready-sign-resources-deal-with-us-ukraine-government-source-says-2025-04-30/
KYIV/WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) - Ukraine and the U.S. on Wednesday signed a deal heavily promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump that will give the United States preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals deals and fund investment in Ukraine's reconstruction.
The accord establishes a joint investment fund for Ukraine's reconstruction as Trump tries to secure a peace settlement in Russia's three-year-old war in Ukraine.
The agreement is central to Kyiv's efforts to mend ties with Trump and the White House, which frayed after he took office in January. Ukrainian officials have hoped that the deal would ensure continued U.S. support for Ukraine's defence against Russia.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko were shown signing the agreement in a photo posted on X by the Treasury, which said the deal "clearly signals the Trump Administration's commitment to a free, sovereign, prosperous Ukraine."
Svyrydenko wrote on X that the accord provides for Washington to contribute to the fund.
"In addition to direct financial contributions, it may also provide NEW assistance - for example air defense systems for Ukraine," she said. Washington did not directly address that suggestion.
The U.S. has been Ukraine's single largest military donor since Russia's 2022 invasion with aid of more than 64 billion euros ($72 billion), according to the Kiel Institute in Germany.
Before the signing, Trump repeated on Wednesday that the U.S. should get something for its aid to Kyiv, thus the effort to secure a deal for Ukraine's plentiful deposits of rare earth minerals.
In announcing the deal, the U.S. Treasury said the partnership recognized "the significant financial and material support that the people of the United States have provided to the defense of Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion." Donald tRump put a copy of the Declaration of Independence up in the Oval Office.
He showed it off to ABC's Terry Moran and when asked what it means to him, tRump offered up an interesting explanation about what it means to him...
Well, it means exactly what it says, it's a declaration. A declaration of unity and love and respect, and it means a lot. And it's something very special to our country."
"Say, Terry, what's a "photoshop?""
https://www.yahoo.com/news/reporters-reaction-donald-trump-talking-185215336.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3l2X-T8BCU 
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/shipments-from-china-fall-as-trumps-tariffs-loom-over-economy
WASHINGTON (AP) — American businesses are cancelling orders from China, postponing expansion plans and hunkering down to see what trade policy surprises President Donald Trump plans to spring on them next.
The president’s massive and unpredictable taxes on imports seem likely to mean emptier shelves and higher prices for American shoppers, perhaps within weeks.
And the higher costs and paralyzing uncertainty could exact an economic toll: U.S. consumers are in the biggest funk since COVID-19 hit five years ago, and economists say recession risks are climbing.
An early sign of the damage emerged on Wednesday when the Commerce Department released its first look at first-quarter economic growth.
The U.S. economy shrank 0.3% from January through March, the first drop in three years. Gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — was down from 2.4% in the last three months of 2024. Imports shaved 5 percentage points off first-quarter growth. Consumer spending also slowed sharply.
Separately, a report from payroll provider ADP showed that companies added just 62,000 jobs in April, about half of what was expected, and down from 147,000 in March. It’s a potential signal that businesses may be taking a more cautious approach to hiring amid uncertainty over tariffs.
Asked how much of deterioration in the world’s biggest economy could be traced to Trump’s erratic policies, Boston College economist Brian Bethune said: “All of it.’’ Translated by MistralAI
https://formiche.net/2025/05/russia-banche-inflazione-tassi-ucraina/#content
In the United States, similar scenes have been witnessed several times in the past. The most recent instance dates back to the crisis (and failure) of the Silicon Valley Bank two years ago: panicked account holders rushing to the bank to withdraw their money. Now, Russia might be heading in the same direction. Today in the former USSR, money comes at a cost of 21%, due to inflation constantly hovering around 10%. This means that keeping money in banks is becoming less and less convenient. This can also explain the growing discontent of Russian savers towards the Russian banking system.
According to the Russian Center for Macroeconomic Analysis, a think tank closely aligned with and listened to by Russian regulatory authorities, the likelihood of a "depositor run" or a bank run is significantly increasing in recent weeks. The reason is that money is too expensive. Last week, the Bank of Russia kept its key interest rate unchanged at 21% for the fourth consecutive meeting in an attempt, now more counterproductive than ever, to cool down the growing inflation caused by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/us/politics/judge-alexander-smirnov-flight.html
A federal judge on Wednesday rejected a bid by the Justice Department to free a former F.B.I. informant who had pleaded guilty to lying about Hunter Biden and evading his taxes, saying that nothing about the facts of the case had changed and the man might still flee if released.
The longtime informant, Alexander Smirnov, pleaded guilty in December in exchange for a six-year prison sentence, admitting that he had lied to the government when he claimed to have information about a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son Hunter.
Before Mr. Smirnov was charged and eventually admitted his guilt, Republican lawmakers had promoted his false claims about the Bidens in their push to try to impeach President Biden. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Mr. Smirnov’s allegations were also amplified by the Trump supporter Kash Patel, who is now the director of the F.B.I.
Then, in an abrupt reversal this month, the Justice Department that had sent Mr. Smirnov to prison filed court papers seeking to have him released early, saying it was taking a second look at the case. That request was filed under instructions from senior Justice Department officials in Washington, according to people familiar with the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.
In Los Angeles on Wednesday, a U.S. District Court judge, Otis D. Wright II, rejected that request, saying neither prosecutors nor Mr. Smirnov’s lawyers had presented any evidence that Mr. Smirnov was any less of a flight risk than when he was arrested. The judge also pushed back on what he said were inaccurate claims by the lawyers about the precise terms of his plea deal. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article304279371.html
With Real ID's deadline approaching, people are waiting overnight to try and see a DMV counter agent. 
In Oklahoma City Thursday, about 20 federal immigration agents raided the wrong home, forcing a woman out of the house with her three daughters, not even leaving them enough time to get dressed, and then seized their phones, laptops, and life savings.
The woman had only moved into the house two weeks earlier, after relocating to Oklahoma from Maryland. The armed agents told the woman, identified by local TV station KFOR as “Marisa,” that they had a search warrant, but the named suspects on the warrant didn’t live in the house and weren’t connected to anyone in the family.
“We just moved here from Maryland,” Marisa said. “We’re citizens. That’s what I kept saying. We’re citizens.”
The agents, who identified themselves as U.S. marshals, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and FBI agents, didn’t seem to care, waking the family up, forcing them outside in their underwear, ransacking the house, and taking the family’s belongings as “evidence.”
“I told them before they left, I said you took my phone. We have no money. I just moved here,” said Marisa. “I have to feed my children. I’m going to need gas money. I need to be able to get around. Like, how do you just leave me like this? Like an abandoned dog.”
“They were very dismissive, very rough, very careless,” the woman added. “I kept pleading. I kept telling them we weren’t criminals. They were treating us like criminals. We were here by ourselves. We didn’t do anything.”
One agent told the family, “I know it was a little rough this morning.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ice-invades-wrong-home-makes-165441707.html 
https://www.westernpeople.ie/three-arrested-after-pro-palestine-protesters-breach-perimeter-of-shannon-airport_arid-56626.html
>A group of pro-Palestinian activists have said three of its members were detained after they breached the perimeter of Shannon Airport.
>The group Palestine Action Éire said three of its activists “entered the airport runway” at Shannon in an attempt to inspect a US military plane.
>The airport suspended operations for an hour until 7.30pm.
>The three individuals are currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at a Garda station in Co Clare.
>It is believed that a white van crossed a grass area on the main road into the airport and crashed through the perimeter fence.
>It is understood that a number of people wearing orange jump suits, hard hats and scarves over their faces then entered the airport’s ‘air side’ area.
>They ran in the direction of a taxiway before were detected and quickly apprehended.
>Palestine Action Éire allege that the Omni Air Boeing 767-300 CRAF that landed at Shannon Airport on Thursday was aiding wars in the Middle East, including Israel and Yemen.
>The group said its claims are “contextualised by The Ditch’s investigative reporting”, which it said “confirms that US weapons and military personnel are regularly travelling to the Middle East”, including Israel, via Shannon Airport. 
I find what's happening there very sad... There are no human rights and a horrendous "president." You can't call someone president if they don't show proof of how they won.
For me, the candidate who really won (Edmundo González Urrutia with María Corina Machado)
were the real winners of this election. 10 months and 4 days have passed since the lives of Venezuelans were destroyed once again.
As a Venezuelan, I curse all those old-timers who thought the left/communism would be a good option when there was a truly stable country. Damn them.
My main goal with these posts as the days go by is to attract more people to take an interest in this important but not relevant topic in the world. The truth is, I wish my family was close by. I currently live in Portugal, and my life here has been complicated, far from my family, my parents, my grandmother, and my grandfather, who practically died because the ambulance took forever to arrive. Although I don't blame them, the country is a fucking mess, and I would love for people to try to help in a positive way.
The first few months after the election was stolen were months of uncertainty, with countries worried, people saying they would help take back the country, and so on. Afterwards? Absolutely nothing happened. They imprisoned more than 2,500 politicians so that a coup d'état wouldn't destroy the country and overthrow communism.
The armed forces took to the streets to instill fear in citizens. In the capital city, they placed signs under doors saying "Don't go out," referring to the protesters released from prison on January 10th. Prisoners released by communism were sent to instill fear and intimidation in the people. This is just the tip of the iceberg of what happened from July 28th to January 10th. And from January 10th to May 2nd, 2025. We need help.
https://www.elnacional.com/opinion/dia-del-trabajador-en-venezuela-entre-salarios-de-hambre-y-la-esperanza-de-libertad/ 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/30/trump-falsehoods-100-days-time-magazine/
President Donald Trump granted a lengthy interview to Time magazine in honor of completing his first 100 days of his second term today. As usual, the interview consisted of bluster and bombast, with hefty doses of B.S. Here’s a guide to the inaccuracies in 32 claims, in the order in which he made them.
>“You know, we’re resetting a table. We were losing $2 trillion a year on trade, and you can’t do that. I mean, at some point somebody has to come along and stop it, because it’s not sustainable.”
Trump gets two things wrong here. First of all, the goods and services deficit was almost $920 billion in 2024, according to the Commerce Department. So he’s doubling the real number. Second, the United States is not “losing” money on trade deficits. After all these years, Trump still does not grasp this fundamental economic point. Yet he’s basing policy — and steering the United States into economic uncertain times — on this misunderstanding. 
https://www.nbcnews.com/world/russia/russia-ukraine-war-journalist-tortured-organs-removed-report-rcna203648
A Ukrainian journalist was tortured and killed and had her organs removed before her body was returned by her Russian captors, according to a new report by media organizations into her death.
Viktoriia Roshchyna, 27, was captured in 2023 after she traveled to the Russian-occupied region of Zaporizhzhia in eastern Ukraine to report on the illegal detention and torture of Ukrainians by Russian forces, according to the joint media report published Tuesday by the nonprofit media organization Forbidden Stories and 12 news outlets.
A forensic examination of her body revealed numerous signs of torture and ill-treatment, Yuriy Belousov, the head of the War Crimes Unit at the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s office said last week. These included “abrasions and hemorrhages on various parts of the body, a broken rib, neck injuries, and possible electric shock marks on her feet,” he said.
He added that there were signs that an autopsy had been performed before the body was returned to Ukraine. The missing organs, he said, could signal that Russia attempted to hide the cause of death, possibly to conceal that it had committed a war crime.
NBC News could not independently verify the allegations in the report and has contacted Russia's Ministry of Defense, the FSB security service and the country's Federal Penitentiary Service for comment. 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crm30yen1dlo
Having shown no concern over migrants raping kids and passing them around like a peace pipe at a pow wow, the Brits are now obsessed with some piece of shit tree that got cut down, affecting absolutely no one. Two men accused of chopping down the famous Sycamore Gap tree (cos Britain's that dull that a tree is famous) kept a wedge as a trophy in a felling that prosecutors described as a "moronic mission".
The tree had stood for more than 100 years in a dip on Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland before it was felled overnight on 27 September 2023, Newcastle Crown Court heard. To ensure that absolutely every single sub atomic particle of freedom is removed from British citizens lives, the press and the courts have busied themselves with throwing the full force of the law at these 2 nobodies.who now wished they had just raped some kids instead and faced only a small fine and community service. There are reports of legal experts and police being removed from investigating cases of stabbings and rampant phone thefts to manage the workload of the tree felling case.
Daniel Michael Graham, 39, from Carlisle, and Adam Carruthers, 32, from Wigton in Cumbria, each deny two counts of criminal damage relating to the tree and the Roman wall because... well cos it's a fucking tree and no one fucking cares.
Opening the case to jurors, prosecutor Richard Wright KC said the tree, which was held in "high affection" by many, had been chopped down in just minutes and the accused had "loved" the outrage caused. Local migrants were asked their opinions on the matter but were too busy counting the fat stacks of cash they'd received from the UK government.
The efforts to make a real time version of 1984 continues..... Hi, a while ago I read a post from someone talking about the Trump administration, so I also wanted to talk about how international authorities have overlooked the theft that Nicolas Maduro committed against the Venezuelan people. It's really serious. A Venezuelan friend here in Portugal told me everything, and it's serious how they kill children, they imprisoned more than 1,500 people for thinking differently. Could we do something on 4chan? I doubt we can.
But this is worrying, since it's been almost a year since this happened and no one says anything or speaks out.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/es/venezuela-nicol%C3%A1s-maduro-elecciones-fraude-dictador/ 
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/amazon-tariff-prices-trump-response-b2741552.html
The White House claimed on Tuesday that Amazon was acting in a “hostile and political” manner by choosing to display how much President Donald Trump’s tariffs would increase the cost of imported goods.
With consumers’ concerns growing about the impact of tariffs on costs, the e-commerce giant has decided to display the amount Trump’s aggressive policy will add to the price of products on its website, Punchbowl News reported on Tuesday.
While it may help consumers understand where the costs are coming from, it has angered Trump, a recent ally of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
“This is a hostile and political act by Amazon,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday morning after speaking with the president. “Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?” Leavitt added.
Leavitt claimed the news was “not a surprise” and pointed to a December 2021 Reuters report, which she described as “recently reported,” which said Amazon “partnered with a China propaganda arm.”
“So this is another reason why Americans should buy American,” Leavitt added.
At the time of that reporting, Amazon insisted it adhered to all laws and regulations in the countries in which it operates, including China.
The Independent has reached out to Amazon for comment.
Since winning the election in November, Bezos appeared to be cozying up to Trump, giving his inaugural fund $1 million, attending Trump’s inauguration and re-directing the editorial section of The Washington Post to focus on defending personal liberties and free markets.
As recently as this week, Trump had touted that Bezos and other billionaire allies “have been great.” This is a great day for Canada as we prepare for the global war or authoritarianism.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4jd39g8y1o
Mark Carney's Liberal Party is expected to win enough seats in the House of Commons to form a government in Canada. However, they are still short of the majority they wanted in the House of Commons.
Carney is set to remain prime minister, having only assumed the role in early March following Justin Trudeau's resignation.
His main rival, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, is projected to have lost his own seat as has Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP).
Carney's Liberals are leading in 168 seats but would need 172 for a majority.
Six months ago Canada looked like it was headed for a inevitable win for Poilievre and the Progressive Conservative party. The Liberals were widely hated and the New Democratic Party was floundering. But as soon as Trump got in office, Poilievre seeming to align with Trump in terms of policy especially after war had been declared made hos popularity plummet. Thanks to Trump ruining America in his first 100 days, Canada saw how terrible that path is and is ready to fight back. It's now master banker versus master felon draft dodging criminal and the future looks bright. 
Trump says he’ll blame Biden again for 2nd quarter GDP after blaming him for Q1 drop
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/30/trump-gdp-tariffs-biden-overhang.html
President Donald Trump on Wednesday blamed former President Joe Biden for the U.S. economy contracting in the first quarter of 2025 — and suggested he will blame Biden again for the second quarter’s results.
“This is Biden,” Trump said after the Commerce Department reported gross domestic product declined in the first three months of this year.
“And you could even say the next quarter is sort of Biden because it doesn’t just happen on a daily or an hourly basis,” he said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
Trump noted that he did not take office until late January.
“The stock market in this case is, it says how bad the situation we inherited,” he said. “This is a quarter that we looked at today, and I, we took, all of us, together, we came in on January 20th.”
The president’s remarks came hours after his first defensive response to the Commerce report showing GDP fell at a 0.3% annualized pace in Q1. It was the first quarter of negative growth since 2022, when Biden was in the White House.
“This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s. I didn’t take over until January 20th,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
“Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers. Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang,’ ” he claimed.
“This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!” Trump wrote.
Trump’s claim that the negative GDP and subsequent market declines were a result of Biden’s policies is inaccurate.
According to the Commerce report, the GDP figure reflects a wave of imports that companies made to try to get ahead of Trump’s promised tariffs. https://www.latintimes.com/rfk-jr-end-godsend-narcan-program-that-helped-reduce-overdose-deaths-despite-his-past-heroin-581846
Mega based. narcan is too expensive for taxpayers and leads to people being assaulted. cops should beat all oding faggots In that country there is only shit, and nobody says anything...
https://www.telemundo51.com/noticias/local/presos-politicos-y-crisis-migratoria-el-drama-que-sigue-marcando-a-los-venezolanos/2627839/ Video of the officer-involved incident between Weezer bassist Scott Shriner’s wife, Jillian Lauren Shriner, has been released by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Authorities shared the video from earlier this month, featuring clips of security camera and bodycam footage captured during the April 8 incident outside her Eagle Rock home.
Security footage shows Shriner emerging barefoot from her residence with gun in hand and then walking around the backyard, looking over the area.
"While in the rear yard of that residence, the officers saw a woman in an adjacent rear yard armed with a handgun," Captain Alex Chogyoji, commanding officer of media relations division of the LAPD, explained in the video, shared on the LAPD’s official YouTube page.
the video: https://www.foxnews.com/video/6372008015112
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/lapd-releases-video-weezer-bassists-wife-holding-gun-before-she-shot-police-arrested https://www.kctv5.com/2025/04/24/bill-raise-legal-marriage-age-18-sparks-fiery-debate-missouri-house/
Child marriage is still legal in 37 states, according to Girls Not Brides. That’s when one or both people in the marriage is under 18. Thursday, Missouri got one step closer to eliminating child marriage.
The Missouri House approved a bill that, among many other things, would raise the minimum age for marriage to 18, but not without a fiery debate.
The minimum age to get married in Missouri was raised from 15 to 16 years old in 2018. Teens wishing to get married have to get permission from at least one parent and their spouse has to be younger than 21.
The bill needs one final vote from the Senate to be sent to the governor. In previous votes, only one senator stood against raising the age for marriage, Ash Grove Republican Sen. Mike Moon. This bill passed out of the Senate last year, but it couldn’t get enough support from the House.
For years, some lawmakers have tried to raise the legal age for marriage in Missouri. They claim allowing 16 and 17-year-olds to get married leads to domestic abuse, marriages riddled with uneven power dynamics and even allows sex trafficking.
“As the only child welfare professional on either side of this chamber, I can tell you that I’ve gone through this bill and it will do nothing but protect children,” said Lee’s Summit Democratic Rep. Kari Ingle. “If you walk on this bill, it’s definitely because you support child marriage.”
Several lawmakers stood up today in defense of young marriage with stories of grandparents who made it work at a young age. Poplar Bluff Republican Rep. Hardy Billington claims raising the age for marriage will increase abortions. In total, 33 lawmakers did not vote in favor of the bill. https://www.wired.com/story/4chan-is-dead-its-toxic-legacy-is-everywhere/ Spain, Portugal, parts of France and Andorra suffer a massive electricity shortage. Many people reported that also couldn't make calls nor send messages. The reasons for this at the moment is unknown
https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/economia/2025/04/28/apagon-general-deja-luz-espana-paises/00031745837074995387221.htm
https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20250428/10624921/apagon-general-luz-espana-ultima-hora-en-directo.html https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/27/politics/approval-rating-trump-100-days/index.html
Food prices have gone up
Can't stop the war in Ukraine without complete submission to Putin
Started another war
China kicking his ass on tariffs
Losing all his court battles
Admitted he doesn't even know whats going on in the white house
Trumpcucks BTFO Between scrubbing government websites of information about everything from vaccine efficacy to LGBT health matters and the ongoing war with higher education, the Trump administration seems to have a problem with freely available information that doesn’t align with its particular ideology. That war on knowledge appears to have extended to Wikipedia. Earlier this week, a Trump appointed attorney sent a letter to the Wikimedia Foundation accusing it of allowing the spread of propaganda and threatening its nonprofit status.
The letter—which was sent by Ed Martin, the acting US attorney for the District of Columbia, and first obtained by The Free Press—alleges that Wikipedia’s host organization may be “engaging in a series of activities that could violate its obligations under Section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code”—the law that allows the organization to operate as a tax-exempt nonprofit.
https://gizmodo.com/trump-doj-threatens-wikipedias-nonprofit-status-over-alleged-propaganda-2000594928
Martin accuses the Wikimedia Foundation of falling short of te requirements to maintain that status because, he claims, Wikipedia is “allowing foreign actors to manipulate information 
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/how-possible-nih-cuts-could-threaten-future-treatment-for-neurological-diseases
For the past 20 years, Janet Edmunson has run support groups for patients with rare neurological diseases that have no known treatment or cure. What they want to know, Edmunson said, is “‘When are they going to heal me?’”
Medical breakthroughs that might offer hope to these patients and their families are often the purview of academic researchers working at universities. But a directive in January from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the Trump administration aimed to reduce funding for many of the essential costs that make these studies possible. Even though a judge has halted the policy, scientists and advocates say the threat to critical research remains.
Edmunson runs the support group for CurePSP, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to patients with progressive supranuclear palsy. PSP, a terminal neurodegenerative disease also known as an atypical Parkinsonism, affects about 30,000 Americans. It robs them of their ability to speak, read, eat and eventually swallow within five to seven years of diagnosis.
The disease is similar in some ways to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, which affects about the same number of people.
In September, the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) announced a first-of-its-kind clinical drug trial to treat PSP. However, the trial’s future is uncertain following the directive, which capped indirect costs for NIH research grants at 15 percent.
“It is accordingly vital to ensure that as many funds as possible go towards direct scientific research costs rather than administrative overhead,” according to the NIH policy statement.
The direct costs of a clinical trial might go toward salary for researchers, patient care and the cost of supplies – expenses that are specific to a project and can be singled out on a grant application. 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/04/26/pope-francis-funeral-vatican/
The Roman Catholic Church bid farewell to the first New World pope Saturday in a funeral attended by monarchs, presidents and cardinals but also a different group of exalted guests — an honor guard of migrants, prisoners, the homeless and transgender faithful who offered white roses to the coffin of a leader who had placed the marginalized at the heart of his “people’s papacy.”
Under crystal-clear skies in the shadow of St. Peter’s Basilica, the nearly two-hour requiem Mass was a solemn spectacle of an ancient faith, an elaborate, multilingual ceremony modestly slimmed down at the behest of Pope Francis, who died the morning after Easter at 88. The most notable difference: a single wooden coffin lined with zinc as opposed to the three-tiered caskets of cypress, lead and oak used for previous popes.
The changes, official said, were meant to honor the wishes of the first Jesuit pope, who had taken a vow of poverty and aimed to make the proceedings seem more like the funeral of a pastor than a “sovereign” who had ruled the lofty Holy See. Before the closing of his coffin Friday night, Francis’s well-worn black shoes peeked out from under the elegant ceremonial robes of a man who eschewed the finery of his office, including the red slippers of popes.
As dawn broke Saturday over Vatican City, thousands of Catholic faithful poured into St. Peter’s Square. Some wrapped themselves in national flags — Brazil, Lebanon, Australia — while others carried banners honoring Francis. Heather Salwach, a 34-year-old health-care professional from Philadelphia, heard about the pope’s death just before boarding her flight to Rome. “For me, the flight became a vigil,” she said. She arrived at 6:30 a.m. with her mother to say goodbye to a man she called “the people’s pope.” https://www.thedailystar.net/news/world/usa/news/us-deports-3-american-children-including-cancer-patient-rights-groups-3881066
Three American children aged two, four and seven -- one of whom has a rare form of cancer -- have been deported from the United States alongside their undocumented immigrant mothers, campaigners announced Saturday.
Trumpsters confirmed for being Pro-Child killing. In case you didn't hear, the sharty killed 4cuck
https://www.engadget.com/social-media/4chan-is-back-after-a-nearly-two-week-shutdown-but-it-still-has-some-serious-problems-171124240.html 
Day 40 of the 30 day military operation in Yemen
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5377192/houthis-reaper-drones-us-military-yemen
WASHINGTON — Houthi rebels in Yemen have shot down seven U.S. Reaper drones in less than six weeks, a loss of aircraft worth more than $200 million in what is becoming the most dramatic cost to the Pentagon of the military campaign against the Iran-backed militants.
According to defense officials, three of the drones were shot down in the past week — suggesting the militants' targeting of the unmanned aircraft flying over Yemen has improved. The drones were doing attack runs or conducting surveillance, and they crashed both into the water and onto land, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.
The U.S. has increased its attacks on the Houthis, launching daily strikes since March 15, when President Donald Trump ordered a new, expanded campaign. He promised to use "overwhelming lethal force" until the Houthis cease their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor. 
https://apnews.com/article/immigration-judge-arrested-7997186bbca5730e70a25f2347e631f6
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The FBI on Friday arrested a Milwaukee judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities, escalating a clash between the Trump administration and local authorities over the Republican president’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan is accused of escorting the man and his lawyer out of her courtroom through the jury door last week after learning that immigration authorities were seeking his arrest. The man was taken into custody outside the courthouse after agents chased him on foot.
President Donald Trump’s administration has accused state and local officials of interfering with his immigration enforcement priorities. The arrest also comes amid a growing battle between the administration and the federal judiciary over the president’s executive actions over deportations and other matters.
Dugan was taken into custody by the FBI on Friday morning on the courthouse grounds, according to U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson Brady McCarron. She appeared briefly in federal court in Milwaukee later Friday before being released from custody. She faces charges of “concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest” and obstructing or impeding a proceeding. 
https://www.newsweek.com/mother-1-year-old-married-us-citizen-deported-separated-baby-2064588
Heydi Sánchez Tejeda, a Cuban immigrant married to a United States citizen with whom she shares a baby daughter, was detained earlier this week and deported to Havana on Thursday on a flight carrying dozens of Cuban migrants, the Miami Herald reported on Saturday.
Her husband, Carlos Yuniel Valle, said in Spanish in an emotional video posted on his Facebook account, "They separated a girl from her mother. They killed a mother, a father, and the future of a girl while she was still alive."
Newsweek has reached out to Valle for comment via Facebook Messenger and filled out an online contact form with Tejeda's attorney. Newsweek also emailed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Saturday for comment.
Tejeda's deportation comes amid an immigration crackdown under the Trump administration, during which some people with valid documentation—including green cards or visas—have been detained and face legal jeopardy.
President Donald Trump vowed to prevent illegal immigrants with criminal histories or backgrounds from entering and staying in the U.S. He has pledged to launch the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history and has detained and deported thousands of people in recent months, including to their home countries and others to El Salvador for imprisonment.
Others have also been detained after appearing at DHS offices, including Rosmery Alvarado, a Guatemalan immigrant married to a recently naturalized U.S. citizen, Mohsen Mahdawi, a U.S. permanent resident for 10 years who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Colchester, Vermont, during a naturalization interview, and Cliona Ward, who is being held at San Francisco International Airport after delivering requested paperwork. 
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tariffs-increase-prices-empty-shelves-timeline-supply-chain-holidays-2025-4
President Donald Trump's tariffs are already wreaking havoc on the supply chain, and several experts believe it could get worse.
Business Insider spoke with nine supply chain researchers, shipping industry insiders, and logistics specialists about the timeline for when consumers might expect to see the most significant effects of Trump's aggressive trade policy, should he maintain his current strategy.
They agreed that, in the coming weeks, Americans can expect major disruptions to the prices and availability of goods — store shelves may be emptier, prices will rise, and some products will run out sooner than others.
And if things continue on the current trajectory, four of them said, by the end of the year, those effects could be compounded, leading to higher domestic unemployment rates, global market instability, and increased geopolitical tensions.
Bookings of ocean freight shipments have been down significantly in the weeks since Trump's sweeping tariffs took effect. Though on April 9, the president paused his higher tariffs on goods from many countries for 90 days, his 10% baseline tariff on all countries remains in effect, as does his 145% tariff on imported Chinese goods.
During the first week of April, following Trump's initial April 2 tariff announcement, ocean freight container bookings saw a sharp global decline of nearly 50%, according to data from the digital logistics company, Vizion. Specifically, imports into the US fell 64% compared to the previous week, including imports from China to the US, which dropped 36%. Exports out of the US also dropped 30%, according to Vizion data. 
Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault, has died aged 41.
In a statement to Sky's US partner network NBC News on Friday, her family said she took her own life in the Perth suburb of Neergabby, Australia, where she had been living for several years.
"She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.
"Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors.
"In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight."
Police said emergency services received reports of an unresponsive woman at a property in Neergabby on Friday night.
"Police and St John Western Australia attended and provided emergency first aid. Sadly, the 41-year-old woman was declared deceased at the scene," a police spokeswoman said.
"The death is being investigated by Major Crime detectives; early indication is the death is not suspicious."
https://news.sky.com/story/amp/virginia-giuffre-who-accused-prince-andrew-of-sexual-assault-has-died-her-family-says-13355731 
https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-deepfake-law-x-elon-musk-twitter-c423540850ca3837891d62d69c6639f1
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — X Corp., the social media platform owned by Trump adviser Elon Musk, is challenging the constitutionality of a Minnesota ban on using deepfakes to influence elections and harm candidates, saying it violates First Amendment speech protections.
The company’s federal lawsuit filed this week also contends that the 2023 state law is preempted by a 1996 federal statute that shields social media from being held responsible for material posted on their platforms.
“While the law’s reference to banning ‘deep fakes’ might sound benign, in reality it would criminalize innocuous, election-related speech, including humor, and make social-media platforms criminally liable for censoring such speech,” the company said in a statement. “Instead of defending democracy, this law would erode it.”
Minnesota’s law imposes criminal penalties — including jail time — for disseminating a deepfake video, image or audio if a person knows it’s fake, or acts with reckless disregard to its authenticity, either within 90 days before a party nominating convention, or after the start of early voting in a primary or general election.
It says the intent must be to injure a candidate or influence an election result. And it defines deepfakes as material so realistic that a reasonable person would believe it’s real, and generated by artificial intelligence or other technical means. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/us/politics/trump-poll-approval.html
Voters believe President Trump is overreaching with his aggressive efforts to expand executive power, and they have deep doubts about some of the signature pieces of his agenda, a New York Times/Siena College poll found.
The turbulent early months of Mr. Trump’s administration are seen as “chaotic” and “scary” by majorities of voters — even many who approve of the job he is doing. Voters do not view him as understanding the problems in their daily lives and have soured on his leadership as he approaches his 100th day in office.
Mr. Trump’s approval rating sits at 42 percent. His standing is historically low for a president this early in a term, but it is in line with his stubborn unpopularity, which did not prevent him from sweeping the battleground states in last year’s election.
Now, however, voters express dimming confidence about Mr. Trump’s handling of some of the top issues that propelled him back to the White House, including the economy and immigration, even as most Americans support deportations. Only 43 percent said they approved of how he has managed the economy this term, a serious erosion on an issue long seen as a strength.
The president’s pursuit of widespread tariffs — which has caused stock-market drops and gyrations — was opposed by 55 percent of voters, including 63 percent of independents.
Taken together, the survey’s findings show that any second-term honeymoon for Mr. Trump is over. His approval rating among crucial independent voters is now at a woeful 29 percent. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/nyregion/george-santos-sentencing-prison.html
George Santos, the former Republican congressman from New York whose outlandish fabrications and criminal schemes fueled an unforeseen rise and spectacular fall, was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison on Friday.
His 87-month sentence was a severe corrective to a turbulent period in which Mr. Santos was catapulted from anonymity to political and pop cultural infamy, a national spotlight that, even when negative, he often relished more than rejected.
Mr. Santos pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He acknowledged his involvement in a variety of other deceptions, including lying to Congress, fraudulently collecting unemployment benefits and bilking campaign donors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Sitting before Judge Joanna Seybert in Federal District Court in Central Islip, N.Y., a teary Mr. Santos, 36, seemed far removed from the swaggering politician whose lies — that he was a college volleyball star and a Wall Street financier with ties to the Holocaust and Sept. 11, to name a few — turned him into a national punchline and led to mocking impersonations on “Saturday Night Live.”
His voice trembling, Mr. Santos told the judge that he had “betrayed the confidence entrusted to me” by the American people. “I cannot rewrite the past,” he said, but “I can control the road ahead.”
He asked for a lenient sentence to have time to “let me prove that I can still contribute positively to the community I wronged.” Trump admin says U.S. endangered species list should 'go extinct' amid dire wolf news
Story by Lauren Peacock • 21h
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/trump-admin-says-u-s-endangered-species-list-should-go-extinct-amid-dire-wolf-news/
The Trump administration's next focus may be the endangered species list.
The genetic engineering and biotech company Colossal Biosciences announced its success with three dire wolf puppies earlier this month, prompting Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to share his thoughts on resurrecting other extinct animals and the endangered species list.
Burgum took to X to congratulate the company on its success and the possibility of "de-extinction" technology. 
https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-is-annoying-unfunny-and-should-probably-take-a-drug-test-trump-officials-reportedly-say-2000587948
A senior official describes the billionaire as an awkward and obnoxious asshole.
As a member of the public, it’s been pretty unbearable to watch Elon Musk take a front-and-center role in the new Trump administration. A preening, awkward spectacle of greed, stupidity, and self-importance, it’s easy to feel somewhat nauseated by the billionaire. According to a new report, high-level members of the Trump administration feel the same way.
Rolling Stone claims that senior Trump officials have characterized the billionaire as incredibly unfunny, radically annoying, “crazy,” and potentially in need of regular, mandatory drug tests. The outlet reports:
Some senior Trump administration officials and Cabinet members have found themselves deeply annoyed by Musk. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, three people familiar with the matter say, hasn’t hidden his disdain for Musk, with some State Department officials nicknaming the Tesla billionaire “Crazy Uncle Elon,” two of those sources tell Rolling Stone.
The same officials told the magazine that the billionaire has irritated cabinet members so much that they have wondered whether he’s on drugs:
Musk has gnawed at the patience of an array of high-ranking administration officials, to the point that — according to this official and two others — Trump lieutenants have walked out of meetings and earnestly asked one another if they thought Musk was high. Administration officials joked to one another about subjecting Musk to mandatory drug testing, which Musk himself has said would be a “great idea” for federal employees. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/business/china-rare-earths-exports.html
China has suspended exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets, threatening to choke off supplies of components central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world.
Shipments of the magnets, essential for assembling everything from cars and drones to robots and missiles, have been halted at many Chinese ports while the Chinese government drafts a new regulatory system. Once in place, the new system could permanently prevent supplies from reaching certain companies, including American military contractors.
The official crackdown is part of China’s retaliation for President Trump’s sharp increase in tariffs that started on April 2.
On April 4, the Chinese government ordered restrictions on the export of six heavy rare earth metals, which are refined entirely in China, as well as rare earth magnets, 90 percent of which are produced in China. The metals, and special magnets made with them, can now be shipped out of China only with special export licenses. 
Bill Maher, left wing comedian and trump hater reports on his one on one dinner with Donald Trump. His report causes his "millions of liberal sphincters to tighten" amongst his liberal audience as he claims that trump is gracious, measured, and claims that trump is not a crazy person, he only plays one on TV.
https://www.newsweek.com/video-bill-maher-revealing-details-his-dinner-trump-goes-viral-2059014
Video of Bill Maher Revealing Details of His Dinner With Trump Goes Viral
Comedian and television host Bill Maher revealed on Friday the details of his recent dinner with President Donald Trump in an attempt to emphasize the need for civil discourse rather than "hurling insults from 3,000 miles away."
Newsweek reached out by email on Saturday morning, outside of normal business hours, to Maher and Warner Brothers Discovery (WBD) for comment.
Why It Matters
Maher, host of HBO's weekly talk show Real Time With Bill Maher, has often spoken out against Trump over the years, making him the butt of jokes. Trump, in return, has often lambasted Maher, calling him "overrated" and "ratings challenged." Just before the dinner took place, Trump posted on Truth Social that Maher has been "unjustifiably critical of anything or anyone TRUMP."
Last month, Maher compared extreme adulation for Trump by his die-hard supporters to that of North Koreans praising their leader Kim Jong-Un. Maher also said that in a hypothetical rematch election between Trump and former President Joe Biden, he would "vote for Biden's head in a jar of blue liquid versus Donald Trump."
The comedian has also been critical of "woke" progressives, describing himself as an "old-school liberal." He has repeatedly raised concerns about the left and what he and many others describe as "cancel culture." He touts dialogue between political factions as important and maintains friendships with prominent conservatives, who he also features on his show. 
Chipmaker Nvidia said it is building new factories that can produce its AI supercomputers entirely on U.S. soil as trade war tensions build with top chipmaking countries such as China and Taiwan.
Nvidia is working with Taiwanese electronics manufacturers Foxconn and Wistron to build two supercomputer factories in Houston and Dallas, the company announced Monday, and “Mass production at both plants is expected to ramp up in the next 12-15 months.”
The U.S. chipmaker said it is already producing its Blackwell chips, which provide capacity for generative AI and accelerated computing, at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) factory in Phoenix.
Nvidia expects the investment to result in “hundreds of thousands of jobs and drive trillions of dollars in economic security over the coming decades,” according to a news release.
The Trump administration is touting the news of building U.S. supercomputer factories as a win in its efforts to boost domestic manufacturing.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gennacontino/2025/04/14/nvidia-to-make-ai-supercomputers-entirely-in-us/ 
Looks like another instance of shills trying to paint another Trump Assassin as a liberal when they're actually a far right terrorist.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/12/us/wisconsin-teen-plot-assassinate-trump/index.html
A Wisconsin teenager allegedly killed his parents as part of a plot to assassinate President Donald Trump, federal authorities said in newly unsealed court documents.
Nikita Casap, 17, called for the assassination of the president and overthrow of the US government in written documents and text messages found by investigators, according to a federal affidavit obtained by CNN affiliate WISN. The alleged killing of his parents appeared to be an effort to attain the “financial means and autonomy” to carry out his plan, investigators said.
Casap faces nine felony charges, including two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of hiding a corpse, according to the Waukesha County court docket.
Investigators are also pursing three federal charges: presidential assassination, conspiracy and use of weapons of mass destruction, according to the affidavit.
CNN has reached out to Casap’s attorneys for comment. He has not entered pleas on any of the charges yet, according to county records.
His mother, Tatiana Casap, and his stepfather, Donald Mayer, were both found dead inside their home from gunshot wounds. Authorities believe they were killed on February 11. The WaKeeney Police Department in Kansas initially arrested Casap for stealing his stepfather’s SUV and possessing a firearm. 
HealthWatch
CDC denies help for lead poisoning in Milwaukee schools due to layoffs
healthwatch
By Alexander Tin
Edited By Sarah Lynch Baldwin
April 11, 2025 / 12:19 PM EDT / CBS News
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has rejected a request from health officials in Milwaukee for help with a lead poisoning investigation, after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. eliminated the agency's response team.
"I sincerely regret to inform you that due to the complete loss of our Lead Program, we will be unable to support you with this," Aaron Bernstein, director of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, told city officials April 3 in an email obtained by CBS News.
Officials in Milwaukee and Wisconsin's state health department had formally requested the CDC's help on March 26, after many of the city's schools were found to have "significant lead hazards" exposing children. Federal experts were asked to help develop a strategy to test and triage Milwaukee public school students for lead poisoning, as well as help with outreach to the community.
"This only underscores the importance of the role local public health plays in protecting communities — and the challenges we now face without federal expertise to call on," Caroline Reinwald, a spokesperson for the City of Milwaukee Health Department, said in a statement to CBS News on Thursday.
Children exposed to lead can face serious harm to their brain and nervous system, including slowing their development and causing problems with their hearing and speech.
Most of Milwaukee's schools were built before 1978, local health officials said in their initial request to the CDC for help, before lead-based paint was banned in the U.S. Inspections of some schools has turned up "significant lead hazards," they said.
>https://www.cbsnews.com/news/milwaukee-schools-lead-poisoning-cdc-denies-help/ 
The Trump administration late Friday said it would exclude electronics such as smartphones and laptops from its recent tariffs, a move that could help keep the prices down for popular consumer electronics that aren’t usually made in the U.S.
It would also benefit big tech companies such as Apple and Samsung and chip makers like Nvidia.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said items including smartphones, laptops, hard drives, flat-panel monitors and some chips would qualify for the exemption. Machines used to make semiconductors are excluded too. That means they won’t be subject to the current 145% tariffs levied on China or the 10% baseline tariffs elsewhere.
It’s the latest tariff change by the Trump administration, which has made several U-turns in its massive plan to put tariffs in place on goods from most countries. President Trump has said that one of his main goals is to encourage more domestic manufacturing. But the exemptions seem to acknowledge that the current electronics supply chain is virtually all in Asia and it would be challenging to shift that to the United States. For example, about 90% of iPhones are produced and assembled in China, according to Wedbush Securities.
The announcement removes “a huge black cloud overhang for now over the tech sector and the pressure facing U.S. Big Tech,” Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said in a research note.
Trump previously said he would consider exempting some companies from tariffs.
Neither Apple nor Samsung responded to a request for comment early Saturday. Nvidia declined to comment.
>https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-04-12/trump-administration-says-it-will-exclude-some-electronics-from-tariffs 
"Mr. Satan", a leftwing terrorist, has been arrested for plotting to assassinate trump and musk. He was found making threats against their lives online and stockpiling weapons for his assassination plots
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-elon-musk-assassination-attempt-charge-2058952
DOJ
Man Charged With Trump and Musk Assassination Threats: What to Know
Federal authorities have charged a man with making online threats to assassinate President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk.
The Context
Trump, who survived multiple assassination attempts during the 2024 presidential campaign, has received numerous death threats. The failed attempts against his life prompted a heightening of his Secret Service protection, which the agency said following November's election would "be maintained moving forward."
Musk has likewise received threats. The Tesla CEO, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency and has overseen budget cuts and mass layoffs in the federal government, has been the subject of widespread protests in recent months.
What To Know
Shawn Monper, 32, was detained and charged with four counts of "making threats to assault and murder" against Trump, Musk and other government officials, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, the Department of Justice said on Friday. 
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-says-millions-illegal-immigrants-could-return-farms-hotels-2058413
Say it with me Trumptards: “Illegal immigration is actually good!”
President Donald Trump has proposed that undocumented immigrants employed in sectors such as agriculture and hospitality could self-deport and return legally, provided their employers vouched for them.
Trump has vowed to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history to address illegal immigration and border security. However, the policy has sparked concerns about its potential effects on the economy.
Agricultural production could fall by $30 billion to $60 billion if Trump's cornerstone policy is implemented, according to the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC). It is estimated that 4 million to 5 million undocumented immigrants work in U.S. agriculture, meaning millions of migrants could be allowed to return to the country under the new proposal.
On Thursday, Trump said at a Cabinet meeting, "We have to take care of our farmers, the hotels and, you know, the various places where they tend to, where they tend to need people."
"So a farmer will come in with a letter concerning certain people, saying they're great, they're working hard. We're going to slow it down a little bit for them, and then we're going to ultimately bring them back. They'll go out. They're going to come back as legal workers," he continued.
The meaning behind his remark to "slow it down a little bit for them" remained unclear. At the same time, the administration has intensified efforts to arrest, detain and deport undocumented immigrants, in line with Trump's pledge to launch a historic mass deportation campaign. I REPEAT
MIKE JOHNSON READS DRUDGE
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/speaker-johnson-caught-reading-drudge-report-headline-about-stock-market-crash-in-middle-of-trump-speech/ 
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/11/pr-campaign-may-fuelled-food-study-backlash-leaked-document-eat-lancet
A leaked document shows that vested interests may have been behind a “mud-slinging” PR campaign to discredit a landmark environment study, according to an investigation.
The Eat-Lancet Commission study, published in 2019, set out to answer the question: how can we feed the world’s growing population without causing catastrophic climate breakdown?
The report recommended that if global red meat eating was cut by 50%, the “planetary health diet” would provide nutritious food to all while tackling the harms caused by animal agriculture, which accounts for over 14% of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. It suggested individuals – particularly in wealthy countries – should increase their consumption of nuts, pulses and other plant-based foods while cutting meat and sugar from their diets.
It may have seemed like a fairly straightforward proposal but the backlash was ferocious, with researchers receiving personal threats and insults. Thousands of negative posts were shared on Twitter (now X), and more than 500 articles were published criticising the report.
A leaked document seen by the climate website DeSmog reveals that helping to fuel this backlash was a PR firm, Red Flag, which represented the Animal Agriculture Alliance, a meat and dairy industry coalition set up to protect the sector against “emerging threats”, and which has staff from Cargill and Smithfield Foods – two of the world’s five largest meat companies – on its board.
DeSmog has seen a document from the PR firm which states: “In the two weeks following publication of the Eat-Lancet report, this campaign’s messages have continued to demonstrate remarkable success. Key stories returned time and again in traditional and social media to reach major online influencers, particularly highlighting the radical nature of the Eat-Lancet diet and hypocrisy criticisms levelled at the Eat f 
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/womens-pool-final-transgender-players-35013264
The event was met with fierce criticism and demonstrations, with protesters waving placards with slogans like "Save women's sport" and "He's a man" due to the finalists.
The showdown, which ended with Haynes beating Smith 6-5, sparked further outcry across social media platforms, with TV personality Piers Morgan branding it "cheating bulls***" and slamming the tournament as "preposterous". Echoing his sentiments, ex-Olympic swimming medallist Sharron Davies condemned the competition as "bloody ridiculous" and decried it as "grossly wrong".
In an outspoken display, one protestor in the venue bellowed: "We stand with Lynne Pinches", a salute to the female competitor who last November chose not to play against Haynes, citing reasons of "fairness".
"Whenever you play a transgender player, even if you win, it doesn't make any difference because in your heart, you know it's unfair," Pinches told TalkTV following her withdrawal from the match, reports the Express. https://youtu.be/6QL0c5BbCR4
In a bold new initiative that promises to revolutionize American classrooms with the smoky tang of high-level policy incoherence, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has unveiled her vision for the future: A1-enhanced learning.
"Kids are sponges," McMahon declared at the ASU+GSV Summit, as she glazed the audience in a thick layer of mystification. "They just absorb everything. So why not A1? It’s rich, it's bold, it’s got a long shelf life."
Though some critics have pointed out that "A1" is not, in fact, short for "Artificial Intelligence," but rather a steak sauce, McMahon brushed aside the distinction. "We’re not here to get lost in the labels," she said, gesturing vaguely with a bottle of condiments. "We're here to embrace innovation." 
The Supreme Court on Thursday said that the Trump administration is required to "facilitate" the release of a Maryland man who was wrongly deported to an El Salvador prison.
The court partly granted and partly rejected an emergency request filed by the Justice Department contesting a judge’s order that Kilmar Abrego Garcia be retrieved from a prison in El Salvador where he was sent on March 15 along with alleged Venezuelan gang members.
“The rule of law won today. Time to bring him home," Andrew Rossman, one of Abrego Garcia's lawyers, said in an email.
The decision means the administration does not immediately have to try to return Abrego Garcia to the United States because a judge-imposed deadline has already expired but "should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps," the unsigned decision said.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
>https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-trump-admin-must-facilitate-release-kilmar-abrego-garcia-rcna200284 Inside a 9,000 square foot home on Welters Way in Eden Prairie, neighbors say Gabriel Luthor, 39, and his girlfriend Elizabeth Brown, 42, threw wild parties that seemed straight out of a movie.
"One party there were at least 200 people," said Sue Donkersgoed, who lives across the street and is nicknamed "the neighborhood mayor."
After multiple neighbor complaints, a six-year investigation that included a 2023 raid of the Welters Way house reported in the Eden Prairie News has finally resulted in an indictment, charging Luthor and Brown with running a fraud scheme.
The indictment says their business, Golden Victory Medical, offered "neurofeedback therapy" and other medical services and overbilled Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers to the tune of $15 million.
Cont'd:
https://www.kare11.com/article/news/crime/eden-prairie-charged-fraud-quiet-neighborhood-three-other-live-in-girlfriends/89-9b73a7c5-9321-45c8-876e-a1b537cd11d2 White House moves Obama portrait for painting depicting Trump assassination attempt
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5245400-trump-art-work-replaces-obama/
White House moves Obama portrait for painting depicting Trump assassination attempt
A portrait of President Trump that depicts him raising his fist immediately following the attempt on his life last summer at a Butler, Pa., rally is replacing an image of former President Obama in a prominent spot inside the White House.
The artwork of the 47th president shows him bloodied with an American flag waving behind him after he survived the assassination attempt last July. A White House spokesperson didn’t immediately return a request for comment about the artist behind the painting. Amid recent travel advisories warning those coming to the United States plus strengthened immigration enforcement, many international travelers are starting to turn away from the U.S. as a destination. Between January and March, foreign arrivals dropped by around 4.4% from those first three months last year, according to data from the National Travel and Tourism Office. In a March year-over-year comparison, that reduction doubles to almost 10%.
At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport – consistently ranked the busiest airport in the world and a hub for international connections – 189,973 non-U.S. passengers passed through its terminals between March 1 and April 7, according to data by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. That's an almost 5% decrease from the same time last year.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2025/04/10/why-international-travelers-avoid-the-us/82979308007/ Author, wife of Weezer bassist arrested after being shot by police who say she pointed a gun at them
https://apnews.com/article/jillian-lauren-shriner-weezer-scott-1e3a0a27298d29bd37635349ae4e5b9e https://nypost.com/2025/04/09/us-news/brooklyn-da-drops-charges-against-council-member-susan-zhuang-who-bit-nypd-chief-instead-opts-for-restorative-justice/ 
Pam Bondi is making huge headway in the fight against the Biden Fentanyl Epidemic. Her staff just seized a boat carrying half a billion dollars worth of illegal drugs.
The drugs were shipped by terrorist organizations Jalisco NG and Sinaloa Cartel and 11 people have been indicted.
https://apnews.com/article/drug-seizures-justice-bondi-florida-coast-guard-044497148e47400c32575ed583b74032
Pam Bondi announces seizure of $510M worth of illegal drugs from vessels linked to cartels
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday announced the seizure of roughly $510 million worth of illegal narcotics on vessels headed for the United States, seeking to highlight the government’s efforts to take down sophisticated cartel drug networks.
Bondi traveled to Florida to tout the seizure of cocaine and marijuana by U.S. Coast Guard crews and put a spotlight a key Trump administration priority to go after drug traffickers helping to fuel America’s addiction crisis.
Bondi’s appearance at the south Florida port, standing in front of a Coast Guard ship and stacks of the intercepted drugs, underscores the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape the Justice Department to align with the President Donald Trump’s priorities to crack down on violent crime, illegal immigration and cartels.
Ships, aircraft and drones were used to intercept the traffickers off the coast of Peru, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, according to Bondi, who said the seizures have led to sealed indictments against 11 people.
Bondi said investigators have linked two cartels - Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa - to the shipments, and described the seizures as a “major blow” to their financial operations. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/carney-plan-border-rcmp-bail-1.7507110 Donald Trump Suffers Quadruple Approval Rating Blow
Published Apr 10, 2025 at 12:34 PM EDT
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-approval-rating-polls-2058045
In a significant setback for President Donald Trump, new polling data reveals a sharp decline in his approval ratings.
Why It Matters
Trump's approval rating is a key indicator of his political strength as he navigates his second presidential term and prepares for future policy battles.
A shift in his numbers could influence support from Republican lawmakers, affect his ability to push through his agenda and shape the political landscape heading into the midterm election cycle in 2026. https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5242406-house-democrats-demand-musk-resignation/
Dozens of House Democrats are demanding President Trump confirm that Elon Musk will leave his role in the administration by May 30.
A group of 77 lawmakers, led by Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), sent a letter to Trump on Wednesday, emphasizing the tech billionaire can only serve in his role as a special government employee for 130 days.
“Considering the repeated violations of the law by Musk and your administration, we demand an immediate public statement from your administration making clear that Musk will resign and surrender all decision making authority, as required by law, by May 30th,” they wrote.
“In his short time in government, Elon Musk has done enormous harm to working Americans,” they continued, adding, “While millions of Americans are suffering, Musk is continuing to enrich himself and break ethics laws.” 
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/09/business/reciprocal-tariff-pause-trump/index.html
President Donald Trump announced a complete pause on all the “reciprocal” tariffs that went into effect at midnight, with the exception of China.
Tariffs on China will be increased to 125% from 104%, he said.
Trump in a Truth Social post Wednesday said he has “authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately.”
“Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately,” Trump said in his social media post. “At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable,” he wrote.
Stocks rocketed higher on the news, with the Dow surging 2,200 points, or 5.9%. The S&P 500 rose 6.5% and the Nasdaq was more than 8% higher.
Trump, however, did not indicate he was pausing the 10% universal tariff on all trading partners, with the exception of Canada and Mexico, that went into effect over the weekend. Therefore, countries that were subjects of reciprocal tariffs will continue to have a 10% tariff levied on them. 
Panama says it will not renew its agreement involving China’s premier foreign investment program after Panamanian leaders met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, marking another victory for President Trump.
Panama will allow its 2017 trade and development pact involving China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” to expire, said Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino at a press conference Sunday — after months of threats by Trump to take back the Panama Canal, claiming “American ships are being severely overcharged” and accusing China of “operating” the crucial waterway.
Mulino even said he will explore options to see if his country’s involvement in the agreement can end sooner than the one or two years it may take for it.
The “Belt and Road Initiative” — established in 2013 as China’s main project for investing in foreign infrastructure — has ultimately increased its influence around the world.
Mulino said Panama would be interested in the US investing in the country’s infrastructure instead. But the Panamanian president made sure to add that the canal’s sovereignty is still under Panama.
https://nypost.com/2025/02/03/us-news/panama-to-end-relationship-with-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative/ ![maxresdefault[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1747330979040628s.jpg)
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