Since May 28, dozens of people have been coming to the Fairmount Heights Library in Prince George’s County, Maryland, looking for more than books. Bread, vegetables, fruit, cereal: the facilities built to feed minds will now also feed stomachs thanks to an initiative by the county’s District 5, which has installed a free grocery store inside the local library. The idea was born to help the neediest families, whose finances have suffered in recent months. In addition to inflation — which has driven gasoline prices to new highs because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and raised the cost of basic goods — the loss of SNAP benefits (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), pared back under the Trump administration, has hit low-income households hard.

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© POLLY IRUNGU (Condado de Prince George)

Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court dealt a severe blow to Black and Latino minorities in Louisiana, issuing a ruling that weakens the protections of the Voting Rights Act. The decision also legitimizes an aggressive redistricting effort in favor of the Republican Party that will dilute Black electoral power across the South, and by its broad reach, it strikes Latino voters equally. Days later, in Virginia, the state Supreme Court struck down a redistricting plan approved just weeks earlier by referendum, nullifying an electoral map redesign that would have allowed Democrats to gain seats through multiracial coalitions. Until then, recapturing the House of Representatives in November’s midterms had seemed almost certain. Now, no one is so sure.

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© Tom Williams (CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag)

A $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund,” set up as part of a settlement of Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS, appears to be dead, as lawmakers of both parties criticized the idea and the prospect of payouts to those who participated in the January 6 siege of the Capitol. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers […]

KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — The Pentagon has reportedly raised its counterintelligence threat level for Israel to its highest tier amid concerns over alleged spying on senior US officials.

AFP, citing NBC News, reported that the Pentagon’s Defence Intelligence Agency assessed Israel’s “ability to conduct human espionage and technical collection” as being at a “critical level”.

NBC News, citing US officials, said the move followed concerns that Israel had tried to obtain information on the Trump administration’s internal discussions and decision-making on conflicts in the Middle East.

The New York Times also reported alleged Israeli efforts to eavesdrop on senior officials, including President Donald Trump’s top negotiator Steve Witkoff and the Pentagon’s top policy official Elbridge Colby.

AFP said the reports came after the United States and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on February 28, triggering the war.

The reports also come amid apparent strain between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Reuters reported earlier this week that Trump confirmed he had called Netanyahu “crazy” during a heated phone call over Israel’s military actions in Lebanon, which Trump said had complicated US diplomatic efforts.

According to AFP, Axios and ABC News had earlier reported that Trump unleashed a profanity-laced tirade at Netanyahu over Israel’s threats to bomb Beirut, amid fears such a move would undermine talks with Tehran. — Reuters

 

A tank — which isn’t really a tank — could be the national monument of Somaliland, a country that isn’t really a country. The armored vehicle, which rests beside Highway 1 in the city of Hargeisa, depicts what was once a weapon of war that rolled in from Somalia in 1988, in order to prevent this territory in the Horn of Africa from gaining independence. Today, the tank is part of the scenery in the capital of a land that declared itself a republic 35 years ago.

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President Trump said on Saturday that he plans to tap James McDonald to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, replacing Jay Clayton, who was nominated as director of national intelligence earlier this week. Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social on Saturday, ending speculation about who could...

Rare is the day Washington residents do not wake up to a new jolt courtesy of U.S. President Donald Trump. And it is not only — though it is also — because of the war with Iran, his use of the press to poison public opinion, or his disrespectful posts on Truth Social. It is because of the unilateral renovations that Trump is undertaking in the U.S. capital, like a mayor with unlimited budget and power, like a Roman emperor or a king obsessed with a city.

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On Monday night’s episode of “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart poked fun at President Donald Trump’s Freedom 250 concert series after more than half the acts dropped out. “Man, I need good news. I need some relief. And I’ll tell you why,” Stewart said at the top of his monologue. “Because as many of you […]

First lady Melania Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday announced the launch of Fostering the Future Accounts, a spinoff of the Trump Accounts investment funds meant to give $1,000 to every newborn whose parent opens one.

The Trump administration has “quietly assured allies” they’ll still get paid, The Atlantic reports.

Mark Carney and his government insist their sudden shift today away from a regulatory reach into the pockets of Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and other U.S. streamers operating in Canada has nothing to do with ongoing trade negotiations with the Trump administration, but if you buy that, I have a Great Lake or two […]

I’m getting a “shut up and hand over your wallets” vibe from this one, for a number of reasons.One is that nobody voted for this war, and, in fact, Trump was elected on a pledge to keep us out of foreign wars. Not only did the people not vote for it, but their legislators didn’t, […]