The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that consumer prices increased 2.3% over the prior year in April, a slowdown from March's 2.4% and below economists' forecast for 2.4%. This marked the lowest annual increase since February 2021, before a large increase in inflation sparked a Federal Reserve interest rate hiking cycle. Read more
A White House executive order Monday slashed the "de minimis" tariff on China shipments to 54% from 120%, with a $100 flat fee starting May 14. Read more
The discussions reflected the extent of the president's declining health " particularly the significant degeneration of his spine " and his aides' alarm over it as Biden sought a second term at age 81.
The new German government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz banned the largest "Reich citizen" group in the country. This is an extremist far-right organization that calls itself the "Kingdom of Germany" and seeks to undermine the country's democratic order. Hundreds of security forces in several states searched the association's properties and the homes of leading members, arresting four of them. "The members of this association have created a "counter-state" in our country and built up economic criminal structures," said the Interior Minister, adding that the group propagated antisemitic conspiracy narratives. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is the German analog to the US FBI: www.verfassungsschutz.de Read more
Freestyle wrestler Kyle Snyder (29) was one of 16 people arrested following an undercover police operation in Columbus, OH, targeting "Johns" seeking prostitutes. Undercover police posted escort ads online. Snyder responded to the ad and met the 'escort' at a hotel nearby who he then paid cash in exchange for oral sex. The Olympian was released at the scene and is due in court on 19 May. In Ohio, solicitation is a third-degree misdemeanor and Kyle Snyder faces a driver's license suspension and/or community service (as well as a lifetime of embarrassment). An indictment or arrest is just an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Read more
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr posted photographs of his grandchildren swimming and wading with him in sewage-tainted Rock Creek, Wash DC this past weekend. The creek is known for having a sewage overflow problem and posing a health hazard to any who enter it. The National Park Service, which manages the Rock Creek Park, strictly bars all use of the water there and the park's other waterways due to the "high levels of fecal bacteria" and infectious pathogens.' Rock Creek Environmental Reports: Link One Link Two Read more
A woman is set to take charge of MI6 for the first time in the Secret Intelligence Service's history. After all of the interviews were completed, the final three candidates are all women. RUMINT suggests that Dame Barbara Woodward (63), the UK Ambassador to the UN and the Foreign Office's most senior woman, is the likely choice. Her critics dubbed her "Beijing Barbara" because she was reluctant to speak out about the Chinese regime while she was ambassador there between 2015 and 2020. Gina Haspel, an experienced clandestine services officer, became the first woman to head CIA in 2018. Tulsi Gabbard is a trainwreck with zero experience in intelligence work or foreign diplomacy. The well-seasoned Dame Woodward will run rings around rank amateurs D/DNI Tulsi Gabbard, D/CIA John Ratcliffe, and D/FBI Kashyap Pramod Patel, should she be anointed D/MI6. Read more
Since U.S. President Donald Trump imposed steep tariffs on China last month, Beijing has responded in kind. On state and social media, it posted images of Mao Zedong, lambasted "imperialists," and sent a message: capitulation to bullies is dangerous, and it wouldn't back down.
The UN aviation agency ICAO ruled that Russia was responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17 over eastern Ukraine in July 2014. All 298 passengers were killed when it was shot down by a Russian-made missile. The Kremlin has always denied any responsibility for the air disaster. 196 Dutch, 38 Australians, as well as Belgian, Malaysian, and British nationals on board. This represents the first time in ICAO's history that its Council has made a determination on the merits of a dispute between Member States under the Organization's dispute settlement mechanism.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over the Donbas region of Ukraine, during a conflict between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces. An international arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin issued by the ICC for war crimes remains active.Read more
Tariff rates on small packages from China will be cut in half, though a flat-fee option will not change, the White House said Monday. Why it matters: Trump previously ended a loophole that allowed low-value goods into the country tariff-free -- the rate reversal will ease price pressures on customers of Chinese retailers like Shein and Temu.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said she is suspending imports of livestock through the Mexican border on a "month-by-month basis" to protect U.S. cattle from the threat of a dangerous, flesh-eating parasite infestation. The parasite is the New World Screwworm, or NWS, which is actually a fly and was eradicated in the United States almost 60 years ago.
For many experts, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s promise for "pulling back the curtain" to find autism's causes in a few months is jarring -- and unrealistic. That's because it appears to ignore decades of science linking about 200 genes that play a role -- and the quest to understand differences inside the brain that can be present at birth.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday urged California's local governments to clear homeless encampments, escalating the state's efforts to ban the growing number of makeshift camps on sidewalks and in parks that are the most visible signs of the crisis of people living on the streets. The announcement of a new model ordinance for counties, cities and towns is coupled with the release of $3.3 billion in voter-approved funds the state will make available to communities to expand housing and treatment options for homeless residents, the governor's office said in a news release. The goal is to help municipalities set "rules around encampments and establish effective enforcement procedures" prioritizing shelter and services.
Hasan Piker, the biggest progressive political streamer in America, was detained by Customs and Border Protection for hours of questioning upon returning to the U.S. from a trip to France this weekend.
It's not just legal experts who have concerns about the money flowing to Don Jr. One veteran Wall Street investor, who has personally reviewed 1789's deals, says they enable the president's son to profit from the administration's actions, even if no contractors are given preferential treatment. "It's a way for Mar-A-Lago to get paid," says the investor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from the Trump administration.
House Republicans unveiled the cost-saving centerpiece of President Donald Trump's " big, beautiful bill " late Sunday, at least $880 billion in cuts largely to Medicaid to help cover the cost of $4.5 trillion in tax breaks. Tallying hundreds of pages, the legislation is touching off the biggest political fight over health care since Republicans tried to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, during Trump's first term in 2017 " which ended in failure. While Republicans insist they are simply rooting out "waste, fraud and abuse" to generate savings with new work and eligibility requirements, Democrats warn that millions of Americans will lose coverage.
