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As Trump Champions Fossil Fuels, the World Is Betting on Renewable Energy
If you live in the U.S., seeing how the Trump administration is hobbling the development of renewable energy, you could be forgiven for thinking that renewable energy is on the outs. But the US is n outlier: Despite a U.S. retreat, solar and wind are overtaking fossil fuels globally, according to two new reports.
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Armed Conflict? Trump’s Venezuela Boat Strikes Test U.S. Law
President Trump has declared that the United States is now engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and has suggested further escalation. He has since signaled that his administration is preparing military options to target drug traffickers inside Venezuelan territory. These moves could mark a major shift in U.S. counternarcotics policy and raise legal and diplomatic questions by blurring the lines between law enforcement, interdiction, and war.
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Federal Shutdown Deals Blow to Already Hobbled Cybersecurity Agency
Unfortunately, adversaries do not reduce their attacks against the U.S. based on available federal cyber defense funding or the status of cybersecurity laws. In fact, malicious hackers often strike when their target’s guard is down.
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ADL Split Marks FBI Shift Away from Targeting Right-Wing Violence, Scholars Say
FBI director Kash Patel last week announced that the FBI would end its working relationship with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Scholars told Axios that the FBI’s split with the ADL is but the latest piece of evidence that under Trump administration the FBI is less interested or invested in investigating hate groups and right-wing domestic terrorism, focusing instead on investigating what it deems left-wing violence.
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Trump’s Deployment of the National Guard to Fight Crime Blurs the Legal Distinction Between the Police and the Military
The deployment of National Guard troops for routine crime fighting in cities such as Los Angeles and Washington, and Chicago, and the proposed deployment of those troops to Baltimore, highlights the erosion of both practical and philosophical constraints on the president and the vast federal power the president wields.
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Trading on Tom Homan: Inside the Push to Cash in on the Trump Administration’s Deportation Campaign
A Pennsylvania businessman who had Tom Homan on his payroll led companies to believe his connections to the future border czar could help advance their bids for government work, industry executives said.
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Funding Cuts, Policy Shifts, and the Erosion of U.S. Scientific and Public Health Capacity
The U.S. continues to face mounting threats to its health, scientific enterprise, and national security. A recent report warns that proposed FY 2026 budget cuts to the National Science Foundation (NSF) could reduce its funding by more than half – from $9 billion in FY 2025 to under $4 billion. If passed by Congress, these cuts would result in an estimated ~$11 billion in economic losses.
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Manchester Synagogue Attack: Why So Many People in Britain’s Jewish Community Felt a Sense of Inevitability That This Day Would Come
Research findings show that while strong antisemitism remains relatively uncommon in the UK, the odds of Jewish people encountering neighbors with at least one antisemitic idea remains worryingly high. Small wonder then that so many felt this attack was just a matter of time.
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Confronting Cartels: Military Considerations South of the Border
Possible U.S. military action against Mexico’s drug cartels poses unique challenges. The situation is complicated, and the United States must be prepared for possible counteractions. Past government campaigns against the cartels led to soaring rates of criminal violence. Chaos in Mexico could have serious implications for U.S. homeland security. The United States needs a ‘Red Team’ to examine a range of scenarios.
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History is repeating itself at the FBI as Agents Resist a Director’s Political Agenda
President Trump has installed loyalists to head the DOJ and FBI – loyalists who are determined to use the organizations they lead to advance the president’s political interests. In the past 50 years, the FBI has had only one other director as overtly – if not as unabashedly — political as Kash Patel: L. Patrick Gray, who served for a year under President Richard Nixon. Gray was held accountable after he tried to help Nixon end the FBI’s Watergate investigation. Whether Kash Patel has more staying power is unclear.
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Violent Acts in Houses of Worship Are Rare but Deadly – Here’s What the Data Shows
Houses of worship are meant to be open spaces of peace and refuge. The challenge is balancing this higher purpose with practical security. By studying past tragedies, Americans may better prepare for the future –and prevent more families from enduring the heartbreak of recent weeks.
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The American TikTok Deal Doesn’t Address the Platform’s Potential for Manipulation, Only Who Profits
If we want to protect democratic information systems, we need to focus on reducing the vulnerabilities in our relationship with media platforms – platforms with surveillance power to know what we will like, the algorithmic power to curate our information diet and control of platform incentives, and rules and features that affect who gains influence. The biggest challenge is to make platforms less riggable, and thus less weaponizable, if only for the reason that motivated the TikTok ban: we don’t want our adversaries, foreign or domestic, to have power over us.
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Elon Musk’s SpaceX Took Money Directly from Chinese Investors, Company Insider Testifies
The newly unsealed testimony marks the first time direct Chinese investment in the company has been disclosed, raising new questions about foreign ownership interests in one of America’s most important military contractors.
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Speakers Use ArabCon Platform to Promote Antisemitic and Pro-Terror Views
At the 45th annual ArabCon in Dearborn, Michigan, several speakers engaged in the promotion of antisemitism and the defense of terrorism, including the Hamas-led terror attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.
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“See You in Valhalla”: How the FBI Director Waded into the Far-Right’s Obsession with the Vikings
At a press conference after Charlie Kirk had been killed, FBI director Kash Patel ended his speech, saying: “We have the watch, and I’ll see you in Valhalla.” References to Valhalla were an integral part of the Norse people’s mythology of Viking heroism and sacrifice — and were adopted by the Nazis, especially by Himmler’s SS, as an example of the Aryan white race supremacy. It is used today by the white supremacist elements of the far right. The majority of far-right memes on social media highlighted the apparent absurdity of someone of Patel’s ethnicity cosplaying as a Viking, but there were those who reveled in the fact that a stock phrase of violent white supremacy had found its way into the mouth of the director of the FBI.
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The long view
Violent Acts in Houses of Worship Are Rare but Deadly – Here’s What the Data Shows
Houses of worship are meant to be open spaces of peace and refuge. The challenge is balancing this higher purpose with practical security. By studying past tragedies, Americans may better prepare for the future –and prevent more families from enduring the heartbreak of recent weeks.
U.S.-China Tech Rivalry: The Geopolitics of Semiconductors
The United States and China are locked in a high‑stakes contest for dominance in computing power. In response to US sanctions and export controls, China has ramped domestic chip design and manufacturing, aiming to create an all‑Chinese semiconductor supply chain that reduces dependence on foreign technologies.
The American TikTok Deal Doesn’t Address the Platform’s Potential for Manipulation, Only Who Profits
If we want to protect democratic information systems, we need to focus on reducing the vulnerabilities in our relationship with media platforms – platforms with surveillance power to know what we will like, the algorithmic power to curate our information diet and control of platform incentives, and rules and features that affect who gains influence. The biggest challenge is to make platforms less riggable, and thus less weaponizable, if only for the reason that motivated the TikTok ban: we don’t want our adversaries, foreign or domestic, to have power over us.
Hashtags and Humor Are Used to Spread Extreme Content on Social Media
Conspiracy theories and incitement to harassment and violence abound on mainstream social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. But the extreme content is often mixed with ironic play, memes and hashtags, which makes it difficult for authorities and media to know how to respond.
Funding Cuts, Policy Shifts, and the Erosion of U.S. Scientific and Public Health Capacity
The U.S. continues to face mounting threats to its health, scientific enterprise, and national security. A recent report warns that proposed FY 2026 budget cuts to the National Science Foundation (NSF) could reduce its funding by more than half – from $9 billion in FY 2025 to under $4 billion. If passed by Congress, these cuts would result in an estimated ~$11 billion in economic losses.
History is repeating itself at the FBI as Agents Resist a Director’s Political Agenda
President Trump has installed loyalists to head the DOJ and FBI – loyalists who are determined to use the organizations they lead to advance the president’s political interests. In the past 50 years, the FBI has had only one other director as overtly – if not as unabashedly — political as Kash Patel: L. Patrick Gray, who served for a year under President Richard Nixon. Gray was held accountable after he tried to help Nixon end the FBI’s Watergate investigation. Whether Kash Patel has more staying power is unclear.