China's military announced Monday it was mobilizing army, navy, air and rocket units around Taiwan in major military drills to test what it said was combat readiness and to send a "serious warning" against any push for Taiwanese independence.
Taiwan's government condemned the drills, accusing China of "military intimidation."
By speaking with Trump in advance, Putin positions Russia's interests as the backdrop against which Ukraine's requests will be evaluated. Zelenskyy is then forced to argue uphill. The Ukrainian president must wage through pre-loaded nonsense (to use a family-friendly term) like Trump's repeated insistence that "Russia wants peace" while Moscow continues its terror bombing of Ukrainian civilians. Just this week, Russia lobbed more missiles at Kyiv, killing innocent people and destroying civilian infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Russian tyrant can frame Ukrainian demands as excessive before they are even presented. Providing Ukraine the aid it needs to repulse the Russian invaders becomes "escalatory."
Donald Trump has said a deal to end the war in Ukraine is "closer than ever" but has admitted that "thorny" questions over the future of the eastern Donbas region have yet to be resolved, after a two-hour meeting on Sunday with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida. Trump said a draft agreement to end the war was nearly "95% done." "I really think we are closer than ever with both sides," he said, adding that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, also wants to "see it happen." The US president acknowledged there were "one or two tough" outstanding issues, over territory and how the war might end and expressed sympathy with Russia not wanting a ceasefire. "You have to understand the other side," he said. Read more
Two helicopters crashed midair in southern New Jersey on Sunday, leaving one person dead and injuring another, officials said. The aircraft, an Enstrom F-28A and an Enstrom 280C helicopter, "collided in mid-air" at about 11:25 a.m. near Hammonton Municipal Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Only the pilots were on board the helicopters when they collided, according to the statement. Read more
They voted for this.
USSECSTATE Marco Rubio said that Washington's conflict with Iran's ruling system remains "deep and systemic," citing Tehran's legitimate nuclear program, its backing of resistance groups in the Middle East, and what he called Tehran's repression of its own people, all while ICE is deporting hundreds of vulnerable Iranian refugees there.
what the hell do they imagine they're doing?
Many consumers feel pride in avoiding the glazed pastries in the supermarket and instead opting for "all natural" granola that comes packed with extra protein. Same goes for low-fat yogurts "made with real fruit," "organic" plant-based milks and bottled "superfood" smoothies. Buyer beware: Healthy grocery buzzwords like those often cover up an unhealthy amount of sugar. Added sugars are difficult to quickly spot because many companies use clever marketing to distract consumers, said Nicole Avena, a professor of neuroscience and psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical School and Princeton University who has studied added sugars. Avena said while some health-forward brands know people are starting to become aware of the hazards of added sugars, "a lot of the bigger brands don't worry so much about people's health." Here's how to spot hidden sugars and what to do about it. Read more
Minnesota's great welfare heist is the grift that keeps on giving for prosecutors, with the Justice Department last week filing more charges. But on a positive note, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun's administration has announced hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid savings from common-sense reforms. The Justice Department charged six new defendants in schemes to defraud Minnesota's Medicaid program. "What we see in Minnesota is not a handful of bad actors committing crimes. It's a staggering industrial-scale fraud," Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said. "When I look at the claims data and the providers, I see more red flags than I see legitimate providers." Mr. Thompson estimates fraud losses since 2018 could top $9 billion. Gov. Tim Walz says the fraud isn't large or pervasive, but the latest evidence suggests it is and goes well beyond the state's Somali community.
The compromised robot used short-range wireless signals to infect another robot that was offline and not connected to any network.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently published Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices. Given current widespread distrust of HHS, especially regarding vaccines, we knew this review, which we co-authored, would be met with skepticism. So, it is worth noting that we, along with most of the other authors, are liberals. While everyone should be concerned when vulnerable populations do not receive appropriate medical care, those of us on the left side of the political spectrum need to pay special attention. This is because many of the organizations and individuals we trust have gotten this issue wrong.
If followers of Jesus are to give their total allegiance to God's Kingdom, how should they relate to the governments and power structures of their own day?
In this video, we'll see how the experience of Daniel and his friends in Babylonian exile offers wisdom for navigating this tension.
Following Jesus in the 21st century means learning the way of the exile.
Trump says he had 'very productive' call with Putin ahead of Zelensky talks. Trump has taken to Truth Social to say he's spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of his meeting with Zelensky later today. "I just had a good and very productive telephone call with President Putin of Russia," Trump says on the platform. He adds that the meeting with Zelensky will take place in the main dining room of Mar-a-Lago and that journalists are invited to attend. Read more
Maybe It Was a Mistake to Tinker around with the Kennedy Center Honors
An Afrikaner who came to the U.S. after President Donald Trump claimed the country would be a safe haven for people like him has been held in federal detention for months since his arrival. Benjamin Schoonwinkel came to the U.S. in September, believing he would be protected after Trump's many statements to that effect. But on arriving at an Atlanta airport, he was detained and handcuffed by the U.S. border agents whom Schoonwinkel told he was seeking asylum. The South African man was transferred to a federal detention facility within two days and has remained there ever since. After leaving behind a life of relative comfort on the word of Trump, he now sleeps on a metal bunk bed. "I never expected this to happen," Schoonwinkel said in a video interview with The New York Times this month. "I expected a little bit of red tape."
Bovino would renew the sense of alarm in a metropolitan area that has been demonstrably changed by the 64-day federal incursion and evoke memories of the most surreal autumn in recent local history. The tear-gassing of Chicago neighborhoods. The rousing of suburban mothers in bathrobes, drawn into streets to yell at agents and shame them. The attempted deployment of the Texas National Guard, on Trump's command, only for a federal judge to order the troops to stand down almost immediately upon their arrival in Illinois. The agents who pointed guns and other weapons at bystanders. The arrests of more than 4,500 people in a mission, the Department of Homeland Security said targeted "the worst of the worst." The reality is that most of them were people with brown skin who were at the right place " their landscaping jobs, the hardware store, a Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru " at the wrong time.
