Forget ‘Project 2025.’ Trump’s executive power blueprint came out in 1988.

Trump’s presidential blitz is realizing the dreams of conservative intellectuals in the Reagan-Bush era.

The Washington Post (Gift)

DOGE Is Bringing Back a Deadly Disease

Cuts to agencies that protect workers’ lungs are going to result in the resurgence of a preventable illness.

The Atlantic

Trump Fired Librarian of Congress Over D.E.I.

Dr. Hayden is the latest high-ranking Black government official to be axed in the Trump administration’s crusade against D.E.I.

The New York Times (Archive.ph)

Why Do Americans Pay More for Prescription Drugs?

Drug companies in the U.S. face few restraints on what to charge for their products. A bipartisan bill would penalize those companies that sell their drugs at higher prices than the average of the prices in other wealthy nations.

ProPublica

US Military Spends Eight Times More on Viagra Than Gender-Affirming Care

The judge overseeing the case against the Defense Department’s firing of transgender service members revealed that the military spends eight times more on erectile dysfunction medication than on gender affirming care.

While discussing military spending with the Defense Department (DoD) attorney for the ongoing Talbott v Trump case, Judge Ana Reyes said the DoD spends approximately $5.2 million annually on medical care for service members with gender dysphoria.

Comparatively, the DoD spends $42 million a year on medication for service members with erectile dysfunction.

Newsweek

Trump administration poised to accept ‘palace in the sky’ as a gift for Trump from Qatar: Sources

In what may be the most valuable gift ever extended to the United States from a foreign government, the Trump administration is preparing to accept a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar — a gift that is to be available for use by President Donald Trump as the new Air Force One until shortly before he leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation, sources familiar with the proposed arrangement told ABC News.

ABC News

The hidden ways Trump, DOGE are shutting down parts of the U.S. government

Limits on spending have incapacitated parts of agencies as varied as the National Park Service and the Pentagon.

The Washington Post (Gift)

Republicans are attempting to boot three Democratic justices from the Pa. Supreme Court — and for the first time, Dems are worried

The biggest fear among Democrats is how much Musk, the world’s richest man, and other outside influences will affect the retention election, as judicial races become more politicized for a branch of the government that is supposed to remain impartial. Musk and GOP groups most recently spent more than $20 million in trying to elect a Republican justice to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, an ultimately unsuccessful effort. It is unclear whether Musk will invest in Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court election, but that has not stopped rumors that he will get involved.

The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Great Salt Lake Is Drying. Can Utah Save It?

The loss of the Great Salt Lake would be an environmental disaster with health and economic effects far beyond Utah’s borders. The state is taking action, but critics say it’s not doing enough.

The New York Times (Gift)

The Coming Jewish Civil War Over Donald Trump

Trump is offering American Jews a kind of devil’s bargain: throw in with us against the antisemitic universities and campus rabble-rousers, but pay no attention as we dismantle the traditions and institutions that Jews value.

The New Republic

A business owner tested if customers would pay more for American-made. The results were ‘sobering.’

After several days and more than 25,000 visitors, he said he sold 584 of the lower-priced shower heads and not one single purchase of a US-made version.

Business Insider

NOAA Will Stop Tracking Weather Disasters Because Trump Doesn’t Believe in Climate Change

But on Thursday, NOAA announced that it would stop updating the database beyond 2024, “in alignment with evolving priorities, statutory mandates, and staffing changes. All of its existing data is set to be archived.

To scientists, it’s a gut punch.

“The NOAA database is the gold standard we use to evaluate the costs of extreme weather,” Jeff Masters, a meteorologist for Yale Climate Connections, told The Guardian. “And it’s a major loss, since it comes at a time when we need to better understand how much climate change is increasing disaster losses.”

Futurism

Zero ships from China are bound for California’s top ports. Officials haven’t seen that since the pandemic

The busiest ports in the country are experiencing steep declines in cargo. The Port of Long Beach is seeing a 35-40% drop compared to normal cargo volume. The Port of Los Angeles had a 31% drop in volume this week, and the Port of New York and Jersey says it’s also bracing for a slowdown. On Wednesday, the Port of Seattle said it had zero container ships in the port, another anomaly that hasn’t happened since the pandemic.

CNN

Let’s face it: Trump 2.0 is a painfully realistic self-portrait of America today

It has shown us that at our worst, we are a study in contradictions.

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Pope Leo XIV Calls for End to War in First Sunday Blessing as Pontiff

The new pope, speaking to thousands in St. Peter’s Square, echoed themes that Francis, his predecessor, regularly addressed.

The New York Times (Gift)

Trump fires director of U.S. Copyright Office, sources say

The firing of Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter came after Perlmutter and her office earlier this week issued part three of a lengthy report about artificial intelligence and expressed some concerns and questions about the usage of copyrighted materials by AI technology.

“It is an open question, however, how much data an AI developer needs, and the marginal effect of more data on a model’s capabilities,” the report read. “Not everyone agrees that further increases in data and test performance will necessarily lead to continued real world improvements in utility.”

CBS News

Federal employee unions fight for survival as Trump tries to eviscerate them

President Trump’s antipathy toward federal sector unions is well known. Still, Lee says Trump’s attacks on unions now are “exponentially worse” than in the president’s first term.

“Even our ability to exist in the federal workplace — to be able to represent employees — is threatened by this administration,” he says.

NPR

‘I’m Being Kicked Out’: A Trans Military Commander Confronts Trump’s Ban

A Supreme Court ruling allows the military to ban transgender people from serving. Now, those service members are living with uncertainty.

Politico

Another Navy jet falls into sea, marking fourth major mishap in months

The latest loss of an F/A-18 Super Hornet comes after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth twice extended the deployment of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman.

The Washington Post (Gift)

How Tariffs Are Crushing Small Businesses: ‘Nobody in Power Seems to Care’

Owners are laying off staff and tapping personal savings, hoping to hold out until a trade deal with China; an $8,752 fee on a $5,649 order

Wall Street Journal

‘Beacon of freedom’ dims as US initiatives that promote democracy abroad wither under Trump

The first months of the second Trump administration have delivered blow after blow to American efforts to promote democracy abroad and pierce the information wall of authoritarian governments through programs that had been sustained over decades by presidents of both political parties.

AP News

The papacy of Leo XIV begins

At Mass on Sunday, the 267th pope called for peace in ongoing conflicts, and wished Happy Mother’s Day. It represents both continuity and change for this two-thousand-year-old church, now – for the first time – led by an American pope.

Dressed in those storied papal vestments is a tennis-loving, Wordle-playing, White Sox fan from Chicago, a former math major at Villanova University who’s now pontiff – Pope Leo XIV.

CBS News

Trump complains the US media aren’t bending to his will. Aren’t they?

Since the president’s election, a number of US news organizations have appeared to bend to his will, with a growing number of examples of billionaire owners seemingly setting aside journalistic independence in favor of staying in Trump’s good grace.

Despite that acquiescence, Trump has continued to threaten journalists, branding pollsters “negative criminals” who “should be investigated for election fraud”. In April, he attacked “radical lunatic Democrats and their comrades in the fake news media”, adding: “Those lying to the American People on behalf of violent criminals have to be held responsible by the Agencies and the Courts.”

The Guardian

Texas House votes to strictly define man and woman, excluding trans people from state records

If it becomes law, the bill would define sex based on reproductive organs and require state documents and policies to comply with that framework.

The Texas Tribune

Mexico Sued Google Over Gulf of Mexico Name Change, President Says

The unilateral attempt to rename the gulf has provoked ridicule and anger in Mexico.

The New York Times (Gift)

Poland accuses Russia of arson over 2024 shopping centre fire

Poland has accused Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a massive fire that nearly completely destroyed a shopping centre in the capital Warsaw last year.

In a post on X, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland knows “for sure” that the blaze at the Marywilska shopping centre was caused by arson ordered by the Russian special services.

BBC

Why Don’t Gazans Rise Up and Oust Hamas? Dismantling a Deeply Dishonest Claim

The idea that Gazans could have ousted Hamas over the years is one of the most fraudulent themes in a war flooded with lies, and one that must be laid to waste.

Haaretz (Archive.ph)

EU leaders demand Putin end hostilities or face crushing sanctions

The chances of Russia complying with the demand to implement a pause look poor as the EU leaders are unwilling to compromise. “We have no illusions that the ceasefire will be breached,” Zelenskiy said at the weekend.

bne Intellinews

Beijing’s point man on Macau affairs calls on city to ‘stand firm’ amid trade war

Xia Baolong also stresses need to explore new markets in meeting with city’s chief executive and local members of national governing bodies

SCMP

Diplomatic Brinkmanship as Zelensky and Putin Spar Over Direct Talks on Ukraine

The Ukrainian president claimed he was ready to travel to Turkey to meet with Russia’s leader, but he also insisted on an immediate truce before negotiations can begin.

The New York Times (Gift)

Migrants will have to spend decade in UK before applying to stay

Government to also end visas for care workers as part of immigration clampdown

Financial Times (Archive.ph)

Hamas to release US-Israeli captive Edan Alexander as part of direct Gaza truce talks with US

Hamas say that US-Israeli captive Edan Alexander may be released in the coming days, as the group says ‘progress’ has been made in truce talks with US.

The New Arab

Why Burkina Faso’s junta leader has captured hearts and minds around the world

A charismatic 37-year-old, Burkina Faso’s military ruler Capt Ibrahim Traoré has skilfully built the persona of a pan-Africanist leader determined to free his nation from what he regards as the clutches of Western imperialism and neo-colonialism.

His message has resonated across Africa and beyond, with his admirers seeing him as following in the footsteps of African heroes like Burkina Faso’s very own Thomas Sankara – a Marxist revolutionary who is sometimes referred to as “Africa’s Che Guevara”.

“Traoré’s impact is huge. I have even heard politicians and authors in countries like Kenya [in East Africa] say: ‘This is it. He is the man’,” Beverly Ochieng, a senior researcher at global consultancy firm Control Risks, told the BBC.

BBC

First white South Africans board plane for US under Trump refugee plan

Trump’s offer of asylum to white South Africans, especially Afrikaners – the group with the longest history among white settlers in South Africa and who make up the bulk of whites – has been divisive in both countries. In the United States, it comes as the Trump administration has blocked mostly non-white refugee admissions from the rest of the world. In South Africa, it coincides with heightened racial tensions over land and jobs that have dogged domestic politics since the end of white minority rule.

Reuters

The Danger for India and Pakistan Has Not Gone Away

New developments in the nuclear powers’ harrowing four-day conflict, along with entrenched religious nationalism on each side, could signal more frequent battles ahead.

The New York Times (Gift)

India and Pakistan both claim victory after ceasefire declared

Within hours of the truce announcement, there were fears it had fallen apart after firing restarted along the disputed border in Kashmir and missiles and drones were once again launched into Indian-administered Kashmir.

However, by Sunday morning things were quiet on both sides of the frontier, leading many to hope the fragile peace would hold. Each side accused the other of triggering the violations and Pakistan said it remained “committed to faithful implementation of ceasefire”.

The Guardian

Children evacuated during Vietnam War’s Operation Babylift are on a quest to find their families

It is a complex job that requires sensitivity and care, but there is a feeling among the adoptees of racing against the clock.

ABC

Sudan says may halt South Sudan oil exports after RSF attacks

Sudan’s army-aligned government has told energy firms to prepare to stop handling crude oil from South Sudan after days of attacks on key facilities

The New Arab

Protesters in cities across Germany demand ban on far-right AfD

In Berlin, protesters gathered at the Brandenburg Gate, with police estimating the crowd at around 4,000 by late afternoon, while organizers claimed approximately 7,500 participants. Around 2,500 demonstrators also took to the streets in Munich, with rallies announced in more than 60 cities nationwide.

dpa International

Solemn ceremony marks 80 years of Mauthausen concentration camp liberation

The Mauthausen concentration camp commemoration has been held since 1946 by the survivors of the camp and their associations.

euronews

Soviet Spacecraft Crash Lands on Earth After a Journey of Half a Century

Kosmos-482, a spacecraft bound for Venus in 1972, was a time capsule from the Cold War when superpowers had broad ambitions for exploring the solar system.

The New York Times (Gift)