Sen. Rick Scott: Backing Trump, Even With Conviction
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said he will support Donald Trump as the Republican Party presidential nominee even if the former president is convicted of a crime. “Absolutely,” Scott told reporters Tuesday when asked whether he would support Trump if he’s found guilty. “I think any of our nominees, they’re going to try to go after [them] for something, […]
Sen. Kaine: Biden Defense Claim Against Houthis Laughable
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., called the Biden administration’s justification for attacking Houthi rebels in Yemen “laughable” during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, according to The Hill. Although “Houthi behavior is abhorrent,” Kaine reportedly told defense officials Tuesday, he has “grave skepticism” about the administration’s interpretation of Article 2 of the Constitution. “A narrow mission […]
Michigan’s 100,000 ‘Uncommitted’ Votes Challenge Biden’s Israel Stance
President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign faces an arduous task uniting his party after Michigan Democrats waged a massive protest vote over his support of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. With 95% of the votes counted, Biden won Tuesday’s primary with 81%, but 13%, or more than 100,000 people, cast “uncommitted” ballots in a […]
Trump Loses Bid to Pause $454M Verdict; Some Sanctions Halted
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday lost a bid to pause a $454.2 million judgment against him while he appeals the decision in New York state’s civil fraud case, meaning he must soon post assets with the court to prevent authorities from seizing his property. The decision by Associate Justice Anil Singh of the New […]
US Spacecraft and Russian Satellite to Pass Dangerously near Each Other, NASA Says
The Department of Defense is monitoring a close pass between NASA’s Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics Mission (TIMED) spacecraft and the Russian Cosmos 2221 satellite, NASA said in a blog post early Wednesday. Although the spacecraft are expected to miss each other, a collision could result in significant debris, the U.S. space agency said, […]
San Francisco to Vote on Using AI, Drones, Security Cameras to Fight Crime
San Francisco will vote next week on a divisive ballot measure that would authorize police to use surveillance cameras, drones and AI-powered facial recognition as the city struggles to restore a reputation tarnished by street crime and drugs. The Safer San Francisco initiative, formally called Proposition E, is championed by Mayor London Breed who believes […]
Supreme Court Trains Sights on US ‘Bump Stocks’ Ban
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday is set to consider the legality of a federal ban imposed under former President Donald Trump on “bump stock” devices that enable semiautomatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns in a case targeting another firearms restriction after a major gun rights expansion in 2022. The justices will hear […]
Lawfare Being Deployed Against Populist Leaders Worldwide
The arrest and persecution of political opposition figures are growing more common in ostensibly democratic developed nations, not through the traditionally overt authoritarianism associated with far-flung dictatorships, but through a concept known as lawfare – the weaponization of the legal system. Lawfare manipulates the law and its enforcement against dissidents, often under subjective pretexts such […]
Afghan Opposition Concerned About Taliban Normalization
Afghan opposition leaders expressed alarm after being excluded from the recent United Nations Doha Conference on Afghanistan – which essentially treated the Taliban terror group as the only party that could be engaged with by the U.N. The Taliban declined to participate because the U.N. refused to treat it as the “party that represents the […]
Flu-Hit Pope Francis Briefly Taken to Hospital
Pope Francis, who has been suffering from the flu, was brought to a hospital in central Rome after the papal audience Wednesday for diagnostic testing, the Vatican said, without elaborating. The pope arrived at the Gemelli Hospital on Tiber Island in a small white Fiat 500, leaving again under escort in the same car after […]