When Donald Trump, said he would "rescue" protesters if Iranian authorities started shooting, Siavash Shirzad believed the US president. The 38-year-old father had seen protests rise up before, only to be brutally crushed by authorities. But this was the first time in his life that the president of the United States had promised to help demonstrators. Reassured, Shirzad took to the streets, ignoring his family's warnings and joining the growing crowds. Authorities started shooting, but no help came. On 8 January, the internet was shut off and Iran went dark, Shirzad was shot at a protest in Tehran and died of his wounds hours later, leaving behind a 12-year-old son. "Siavash hoped until the very end that Trump's help would arrive," his cousin said, speaking anonymously for fear of repercussions. "We told him: Don't go, it's dangerous.' But he gave a firm answer: Trump said he supports us, I'm going.'" Read more
Today, it's not just U.S. foes that find themselves scrambling to reinterpret Trump's grandiose ultimatums in the wake of the stunning Venezuela operation. Partners and allies as well are now viewing Trump's open vow to pursue a more assertive policy across the Western Hemisphere in a far more serious light, one bound to have repercussions across the globe. Read more
Nasa's mega rocket has been moved to the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, as the final preparations get underway for the first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years. Over almost 12 hours, the 98m-tall Space Launch System was carried vertically from the Vehicle Assembly Building on the 4-mile (6.5km) journey to the pad. Read more
The post-1945 financial order: Europe buys US debt, America stations troops in Europe. Simple. Elegant. Mutually beneficial for seventy years.
Seventy-five years of transatlantic alliance. The most formidable military bloc in human history.
On Friday, Trump's Department of Justice quietly filed a motion to block Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie's request for an independent monitor to oversee the release of Epstein Files in the closed case against Ghislaine Maxwell. Read more
When (Z) served as a TA for History of Religions (back then, History 4), and for History of Christianity (back then, History 161), the phrase that professor S. Scott Bartchy surely used more than any other was "radical inclusivity." That is the nutshell version of how Jesus' version of Judaism was different from what came before. He largely rejected various forms of ritual purity (particularly keeping kosher) and said, "What goes into someone's mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them." Yehshua ben Yosef did not prefer to figure out who was in the tent, and who was outside, but instead to try to make the tent as big as is possible (and to treat even those who are outside the tent with kindness and decency).
This Week in Schadenfreude: Kennedy Center Performers Keep Opting Out It's been long enough since we wrote a "schadenfreude" (excepting the bonus schadenfreude earlier this week) that we did not realize that the last one was ALSO about the Kennedy Center. We guess that institution has become a vergence in the schadenfreude force.
How a billionaire with interests in Greenland encouraged Trump to acquire the territory
US president's friend Ronald Lauder " who first proposed Arctic expansion " is now making deals in the island Read more
New documents show the crew on board the United States' newest aircraft carrier are growing increasingly frustrated by design flaws that lead to regular failures in the ship's toilet system.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that he would charge a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight European nations because of their opposition to American control of Greenland, setting up a potentially dangerous test of U.S. partnerships in Europe. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland would face the tariff, Trump said in a social media post while at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. The rate would climb to 25% on June 1 if no deal was in place for "the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland" by the United States, he said.
A nearly 100-year-old federal ban on mailing handguns through the US Postal Service is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced, according to an opinion by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Gun Lobby Suing to Mail Concealable Firearms
One Las Vegas strip club is seeing an unexpected boom from the Sin City slowdown: a surge in first-time dancers auditioning. Read more
Venezuelan opposition leader Mara Corina Machado's gifting of her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to US President Donald Trump raised eyebrows around the world Friday"but it wasn't the first time that the winner of the prestigious award gave it away. Trump has ordered the bombing of nine other countries during his two terms, more than any other president in history. US forces acting on his orders have killed thousands of civilians in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. While running for president in 2016, Trump vowed to "bomb the shit out of" Islamic State militants and "take out their families," and then followed through on his promise. Read more
Five people have died in ICE custody in the first 15 days of 2026"putting the agency on track to smash a grim record amid mounting scrutiny of its actions. The agency recorded a total of 30 deaths in its custody last year, but at the current rate it would see that number reached by April"and a grim record of 120 set for the whole of 2026. Advocacy groups say Congress"now debating whether to fund yet more beds"must launch a full investigation into why detainees are dying at such a staggering pace inside a system the Trump administration has supercharged and kept shrouded in secrecy.
The U.S. Department of Justice has formally moved to block the appointment of an independent monitor or special master to oversee the release of Epstein-related records in the long-closed criminal case of Ghislaine Maxwell"arguing that no federal court has the authority to compel such disclosures. In a six-page letter filed tonight, to U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer, prosecutors contend that recent efforts by members of Congress to force production of the so-called "Epstein files" amount to an improper attempt to reopen a concluded criminal case and to create a form of judicial oversight that Congress itself did not authorize. In short, the government's filing makes clear that"absent new legislation explicitly authorizing court enforcement"the DOJ believes no court can force it to produce the Epstein files, regardless of public pressure or congressional intent.
