California Governor Gavin Newsom has dismissed a union-led effort to impose a 2% wealth tax on the state's richest residents, rejecting a compromise that would have lowered the proposed levy from 5% to settle a mounting political and fiscal standoff over the state's healthcare funding.
A fresh wave of Israeli airstrikes across southern Lebanon killed at least 18 people on Friday, forcing US and Iranian delegations to postpone critical peace negotiations in Switzerland. The violence threatens to unravel a fragile memorandum of understanding meant to end hostilities between Washington and Tehran.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and the City Council have announced a temporary moratorium on new data center construction, marking a significant local victory for activists concerned about the massive energy and water demands of AI infrastructure and the potential displacement of working-class neighborhoods.
Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, a legislative push to claim a 50% ownership stake in the nation’s largest artificial intelligence companies. The proposal aims to capture trillions in value for the public, countering the concentration of wealth and power currently dominated by Silicon Valley billionaires.
The Hennepin County medical examiner has officially classified the January 24 death of Alex Pretti as a homicide, citing multiple gunshot wounds. The 37-year-old nurse was killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, an incident that has intensified public scrutiny of the administration's aggressive enforcement tactics in the region.
A new Human Rights Watch report accuses the Trump administration of precipitating a human rights crisis in Minnesota through Operation Metro Surge. The initiative, which deployed thousands of federal agents to the Twin Cities, is linked to at least three deaths and widespread reports of excessive force and unlawful detention.
A coalition of civil rights groups filed a class-action lawsuit Friday against federal agencies, challenging what they describe as a civil rights catastrophe at Camp East Montana. The facility, a 60-acre tent camp on the grounds of Fort Bliss, currently holds approximately 2,500 immigrants in the Chihuahuan Desert.
A 37-year-old Minneapolis resident, Renee Nicole Good, was fatally shot by a federal immigration agent on Wednesday, sparking immediate unrest across the city and beyond. While federal officials have characterized the encounter as an act of domestic terrorism involving a vehicle, eyewitness accounts and viral video evidence have sharply contradicted that narrative.
Three deaths in less than seven weeks at the Camp East Montana detention complex have triggered urgent demands for accountability from officials in Texas and Minnesota. The latest fatality, involving 36-year-old Victor Manuel Diaz, has reignited intense scrutiny over the facility's management and the oversight of its private contractor.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber confirmed Wednesday that proponents of the Billionaire Tax Act secured the 875,000 signatures required to place the measure on the November ballot. The initiative proposes a one-time 5% levy on billionaire wealth, aiming to offset deep federal spending cuts to healthcare and social services.
A new poll from the Citrin Center for Public Opinion Research shows California voters support a proposed one-time 5% tax on billionaire wealth by a 50% to 28% margin, though political analysts warn this early advantage may prove fragile once high-stakes campaign messaging begins to sway public opinion.
Senator Bernie Sanders arrives in Los Angeles this Wednesday to rally for a proposed ballot measure targeting the state's 200 wealthiest residents. The campaign, which seeks a one-time 5% levy on billionaire assets, faces stiff opposition from Governor Gavin Newsom and a new crypto-funded political committee.
The Israeli military struck Beirut’s southern suburbs on Wednesday, marking the first such bombardment since a mid-April ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump. While the administration reportedly coordinated on the operation, the strike has reignited domestic criticism from lawmakers who label the ongoing hostilities a violation of U.S. law.
More than 6 in 10 Americans now categorize the conflict in Iran as a mistake, a threshold of public disapproval that took years to reach during the wars in Iraq and Vietnam. This shift in sentiment arrives barely eight weeks into the campaign, signaling a rapid collapse of domestic support.
The Trump administration has hit two additional International Criminal Court judges with sanctions, bringing the total number of blacklisted jurists to 11. Secretary of State Marco Rubio justified the move as a response to the court’s efforts to investigate Israeli officials for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
The Biden administration has quietly authorized more than 100 individual weapons transfers to Israel over the past five months. By keeping each transaction below the threshold required for congressional notification, the White House has maintained a steady flow of munitions while avoiding the public oversight typically triggered by larger, high-profile military aid packages.
Vice President JD Vance delivered a blistering assessment of Israel’s military conduct on Thursday, characterizing the country’s leadership as being in a state of panicked isolation. The remarks mark a sharp, public pivot for an administration that previously offered near-total deference to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
A high-stakes meeting at the White House collapsed into a public confrontation on Friday as Donald Trump and JD Vance berated Volodymyr Zelenskyy, pressuring the Ukrainian leader to accept an undefined peace deal and demanding he show more gratitude for U.S. military support while cameras rolled.
With the World Meteorological Organization predicting an 80% chance of a moderate-to-strong El Niño this summer, experts warn that the climate pattern will act as a force multiplier for extreme heat and drought, while critics argue that domestic institutional erosion has left the United States dangerously ill-equipped to respond.
The National Science Foundation announced plans to decommission the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $368 million monitoring system providing critical data on ocean temperatures and carbon absorption. Scientists warn the removal of over 900 instruments will blind researchers to essential climate tipping points, including the stability of the Atlantic current.
The Trump administration has abandoned its controversial plan to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a critical network of deep-sea sensors. The reversal follows intense bipartisan outcry in Congress and mounting concerns that removing the equipment would blind scientists to the intensifying impacts of the climate crisis and extreme weather events.
The Trump administration has finalized a federal rule imposing strict work reporting requirements on Medicaid recipients, a move critics argue will create a bureaucratic gauntlet designed to force millions of low-income Americans off their health insurance plans starting in 2027.
Mainers are currently watching a barrage of advertisements praising Senator Susan Collins for securing $190 million in rural healthcare funding. Yet, these spots omit a critical fiscal reality: the same Republican budget legislation Collins helped advance imposes nearly $3 billion in Medicaid cuts on the state over the next decade.
Climate advocates and a coalition of nations expressed fury Friday after host Brazil released a COP30 draft text that completely omits any mention of fossil fuels. The removal of the language marks a stark retreat from previous commitments, fueling accusations that the summit has been captured by industry lobbyists.
More than 50 countries convened in Santa Marta, Colombia, on Friday for the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels. The summit seeks to form a coalition of the willing to accelerate energy shifts, pointedly excluding the major polluters and industry lobbyists who have stalled global climate progress.
With the COP30 summit approaching in Belém, a new UN synthesis report confirms that current global climate pledges will slash fossil fuel emissions by only 10% by 2035. UN Secretary-General António Guterres warns that breaching the 1.5°C threshold is now inevitable, rendering the original temperature goal a target for future recovery.
As UN climate negotiations concluded in Bonn this Thursday, activists and negotiators warned that the current consensus-based model is failing. They argue that until the UNFCCC curtails the influence of fossil fuel lobbyists and reforms its structural rules, global efforts to phase out oil, gas, and coal will remain effectively paralyzed.
Democratic lawmakers are raising alarms over reports that the White House redirected $352 million in Secret Service funding toward a luxury ballroom project. The move, characterized by critics as a deceptive budget maneuver, effectively uses taxpayer money for a construction effort that the president previously claimed would be privately financed.
With nearly 3.2 million people forced from their homes in under two weeks, the war in Iran is triggering a humanitarian catastrophe. According to the UNHCR, relentless airstrikes on Tehran and other urban centers have gutted residential areas, hospitals, and schools, signaling a rapid escalation in civilian suffering.
The Freedom of the Press Foundation filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the U.S. Department of Justice, challenging the agency's refusal to release a memorandum detailing the legality of President Donald Trump accepting a $400 million luxury jet gifted by the Qatari government.
