The longest government shutdown in history is now over, but not for long. It’s just another in a long series of band-aid fixes to keep the government going for a few more months without a real budget. Most of the compromises agreed upon will only last through the end of January, and then the failure to enact a budget due to the two-party stalemate will clutter the congressional agenda all over again. The most interesting observation behind the actions and motives of the eight Democrats that finally agreed to this compromise over the objections of the Senate “supreme minority leader” Chuck Schumer was by Utah Representative Blake Moore. You’ll enjoy reading his comments in this week’s brief. To receive a free, one-time sample of the Brief, along with options on how to subscribe, click on Request a sample on the left.
A Pennsylvania school district is using artificial intelligence to keep guns off its campuses. But civil liberties advocates have warned that the technology could lead to mass surveillance and violation of constitutional rights.
Russia overnight carried out its typical aerial and drone strikes on Ukraine, but this time escalated attacks in Ukraine's West, which apparently were close enough to the border to cause alarm in nearby Poland and Romania. The two NATO member countries scrambled jet fighters in response amid the massive Russian and drone and missile strikes which killed at least 25 people, some of which were reported as children.
It looks like for the first time Washington is getting serious about ending the Ukraine war, now apparently offering territorial concessions. And the Trump White House is reportedly leaning on President Zelensky to accept.
per the women who worked at the BBC, the LGBTQ “specialists” would bully wayward journalists, punishing dissent, and creating a “culture of fear” in the office: The women also described a culture of fear at the BBC, where even veteran reporters didn’t dare to stray from the position on trans issues, lest they be branded ‘transphobic,’ the Times reported.
Free speech is under serious attack all across Europe. To criticise the sacred cows of the progressive worldview – from transgenderism to immigration and even Islam – is to invite a knock on the door from the thoughtpolice. The recent, harrowing trial of a Finnish parliamentarian reveals how it is often Christians who find themselves in the firing line. Päivi Räsänen has spent the past six years fighting a ‘hate speech’ prosecution, simply for quoting passages from the Bible and defending traditional marriage.
The state-owned Syrian Petroleum Company has signed a memorandum of understanding with ConocoPhillips and U.S.-based Novaterra to develop existing gas fields and hunt for new ones
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced Tuesday that an investigation at the scene points to two Ukrainian citizens who have "long worked for Russian intelligence" as the prime suspects in the case. A train track linking the Polish cities of Warsaw and Lublin had been destroyed in an "unprecedented act of sabotage". Tusk described the damaged railway is as crucially important for delivering aid to Ukraine.
After the Yinhe incident and later exclusion from Europe’s Galileo programme, Beijing built the BeiDou navigation system, now a 64-satellite network used over a trillion times daily. This move from dependence to autonomy now defines its national strategy. Recent five-year plans highlight deep-sea, polar and aerospace projects as “forward-looking and strategic,” and aim to make China a “major space power,” including an “ice Silk Road” to strengthen its polar role.
Things were a bit rough during a Q&A with the White House press pool as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) was at the White House Tuesday. One ABC reporter asked MbS point blank what he's for many years tried to avoid being asked - about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump was none too happy about the question, and said it sought to 'embarrass' a guest of the White House.
President Trump said Monday that he will approve the sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia, making the kingdom the first country in the Middle East other than Israel to obtain the advanced fighter jets.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows that little has changed. According to the Telegraph, the agency declared that releasing the data would lead to the “distress or anger” of bereaved relatives if a link were to be discovered. It also suggested that the data might stress or undermine the mental health of the families and friends of people who died.
However, Kast is favored in the run-off election given that the vote on the right was divided among several candidates, while Jara was the only one on the far Left. But now the lone contender representing the Right, Kast is expected to sweep up these additional votes in December.
A panel of judges ruled that the maps were substantially ‘racially gerrymandered.’
China and Japan are experiencing their most intense diplomatic tensions in years after Beijing issued economic warnings in response to recent comments by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about a potential Taiwan conflict. As we featured previously, Takaichi had suggested that any Chinese use of force against Taiwan could be considered a "situation threatening Japan’s survival" - which could justify Tokyo supporting allied nations in defense of the self-ruled island.
Gemini was able to tell technology writer Ruben Circelli who his first crush was in elementary school as well as one of his character flaws.
Less than 24 hours Days after President Donald Trump called Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene a traitor and mocked Thomas Massie's dead wife - because they were among four Republicans pushing for a House floor vote to force the DOJ to release the Epstein files, Trump - likely sensing he dun goofed, big time, reversed course Sunday night and now supports their release.
One year ago, Goldman's precious metal analyst Lina Thomas made the case that gold would rise to $3000 by the end of 2025 (it ended up rising more than $1000 higher) as a result of relentless central bank purchases in general, and thanks to China's ravenous appetite for gold in particular. The bank promptly got pushback on this thesis, with skeptics countering that it is unlikely that gold will manage to keep its ascent at the same time as the dollar rises to new record highs, one of the largest consensus Trump trades.
Brooke Rollins described SNAP as one of the ‘most corrupt, dysfunctional programs’ in U.S. history.
Established by a Royal Charter, the BBC is a public service broadcaster principally funded through an annual license fee paid by UK households, according to its website.
For example, Zohran Mamdani's campaign promises are drying up on the vine like grapes in the desert sun. His supporters are now realizing that his 4-year rent freeze policy faces serious obstacles, with the new mayor relying on full support from the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) appointed by Mayor Adams (which he is unlikely to get until a new board is appointed). The reality is, a rent freeze would result in an immediate selloff of rental properties and landlord flight from NYC, meaning, there will be an even worse housing shortage.
The right’s warnings about Obamacare proved prescient, yet Democrats keep doubling down on a failing system they refuse to admit they broke.
The U.S. House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol cost almost twice as much as previously reported, including spending taxpayer funds for TV news producers and documentary filmmakers to create videos dramatizing its case against President Donald Trump, an investigation by The Center Square found.
The software enables officers to use cameras mounted on top of their vans to locate people on their watchlists by filming the surrounding area.
The FBI claimed the man who shot Donald Trump was a lone actor with no online presence and no motive. It was a lie.
After a long period of relative quiet, the Strait of Hormuz is flaring up again as on Friday Iranian forces are reported to have seized a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker. This is a first in a long time, but the Iranians are saying it is a somewhat 'routine' instance of intercepting a ship for "smuggling fuel", according to state IRNA. The Iranians are now claiming to be acting within the laws of the Islamic Republic.
The military branch said that, on Oct. 29, it detected a Russian vessel approximately 15 miles south of Oahu, Hawaii.
A Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, one of the country’s most significant oil export hubs, triggered renewed fears of supply disruptions.
All but two Indian refiners have skipped placing orders for Russian crude for December after the U.S. sanctioned Rosneft and Lukoil, sources with knowledge of the purchases told Bloomberg earlier this week. In China, major state-owned refiners have reportedly suspended purchases of Russian crude oil, but the independent refiners in the Shandong province, the so-called teapots, are unlikely to halt imports of the cheap crude that has become a staple for their refineries.
The Trump administration is dipping its toe—barely—into refilling the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), announcing plans to purchase one million barrels of crude for delivery in December and January. The move, while symbolically significant, amounts to little more than a rounding error in a reserve that once held 700 million barrels.
In June, Syria’s government annulled a 2019 agreement between Bashar al-Assad’s administration and the Russian company Stroytransgaz to manage Tartus. Damascus said the deal was terminated due to the Russian company breaching its contract, including by failing to invest a promised $500m in modernising that port’s infrastructure.