Commentary

The U.S. government now purchases massive quantities of your information from commercial data brokers. The information is not subject to the same restrictions as information it collects directly. The federal government is also ramping up its abilities to directly collect data through partnerships with private tech companies. These surveillance tech partnerships are becoming entrenched, domestically and abroad, as advances in AI take surveillance to unprecedented levels.

The Trump administration anti-terrorism campaign is targeting a phantom threat. Antifa represents a decentralized ideology rather than a structured organization with central leadership or funding. Executive orders and pressuring foreign allies risks civil liberties, chills lawful speech, and distracts vital intelligence resources from genuinely lethal global terrorist networks possessing documented command structures and destructive intent.

When confronted with the statement, “I believe all children, regardless of immigration status, should have the right to public education,” 75.5% of all Americans agreed with the statement. Among Hispanics and Latinos, nearly 86.9% supported the policy, along with 86.7% of African Americans, 77.7% of Asians Asian Americans and 69.9% of non-Hispanic white people. In each income bracket, there was over 70% of support for free public education for all.

Comparisons between Trump’s and Hitler’s fascist regime are becoming common, but it may be even more fitting to compare the present moment to a less-remembered but longer-lasting fascist regime: that of Francisco Franco, dictator of Spain from 1936 until his death in 1975.

Renewed warfare between the United States and Iran threatens global energy corridors after a fragile ceasefire collapsed over waterway management disputes. Trump proposed shipping levies to counter Tehran’s unilateral transit tolls in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump’s uncertainties and political divisions in both nations prevent diplomatic progress, risking global economic recession and a prolonged war of attrition that neither side can easily win.

France and the United States base their national identities on universal political principles rather than common ancestry. Both countries use their primary national holidays to periodically recreate and reinforce their foundational narratives. But political factions in both nations increasingly contest these celebrations to claim authority over the national identity, a growing conflict that reveals a very profound shift regarding exactly who can legitimately embody the nation today.

Marine Le Pen has confirmed she intends to run in next year’s presidential election in France, despite her appeal against a conviction for embezzlement of EU funds being rejected. This may well prove to be a missed opportunity for RN to fight the election under the leadership of Le Pen’s deputy, the youthful and charismatic Jordan Bardella. Bardella was slated to run if Le Pen had been barred from the election.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is introducing stricter stocking rules for retailers accepting SNAP benefits. Small corner stores and bodegas must significantly expand their offerings of perishable and nutritious foods by November 2026. Experts warn these mandates could prompt small shops to abandon the program entirely. This shift reduces food access for low-income families, compounding recent legislative cuts that reduced overall program enrollment.

Understanding Malthus in a broader context reveals a very different character. As discussed in the 2025 book “Impasse: Climate Change and the Limits of Progress,” Malthus was an innovative and insightful thinker. Not only was he one of the founding figures of environmental economics, but he also turned out to be a prophetic critic of the belief that history tends toward human improvement, which we call progress.

Fifa, international football’s governing body, has not only so far declined to give any detailed reasoning for its decision to suspend what would be a standard one game ban following Balogun red card. The reversal appears to result from direct pressure from the White House. Media reports suggest that Donald Trump made three calls to Fifa, starting from Wednesday, to ensure that the red card was overturned. The White House has said that the call was made to understand why Balogun was sent off and the reason for the suspension.

The Texas State Board of Education recently mandated a public school reading list featuring various biblical passages, violating the establishment clause of the First Amendment by prioritizing Christian teachings. Historical legal precedents over the past century consistently reject non-secular classroom instruction. Texas’s narrow policy fails to reflect religious diversity and faces inevitable litigation before its staggered implementation begins.

More than half a million people rely every year on the ability to apply from within the United States for a green card, the government-issued ID that allows an immigrant to legally live and work in the country long term. The federal government has now issued a draft change to current policy that denies immigrants the ability to apply for a green card while in the U.S. Instead, they would have to return to their home country to do it.

The Supreme Court ruled in Landor v. Louisiana that federal law protecting prisoners’ religious rights does not permit lawsuits for money damages against individual prison officials. The six-to-three decision creates a barrier for inmates seeking accountability when their religious practices are violated. Justice Gorsuch argued the spending clause prevents private suits against officials. Dissenting, Justice Jackson warned this ruling leaves prisoners without necessary legal remedies.

You will lose muscle during periods of immobilization, whether from illness, surgery or injury. The loss is inevitable. What’s not inevitable is whether you can afford that loss. If you’re already low on muscle mass, losing even a small amount can push you over the edge from independence to dependence. The same loss that barely affects someone with a larger amount of muscle can leave someone with less muscle unable to function independently.

President Donald Trump remarked that he forgot to consider congressional input regarding the new Iran deal, rhetoric that mirrors a broad pattern of expanding executive overreach. The U.S. Constitution establishes a system of separated powers where the legislature serves as a coequal branch. Disregarding this framework sidelines elected representatives, isolates the public from self-government and reduces a resilient constitutional republic to a top-down hierarchy.

Democrats and Republicans are far away from each other on policy preferences, issue positions and culture. They are also distant in terms of where they live, whom they support, how they feel and even whom they love. Political science tells us that this polarized distance has increased feelings of personal animus between members of the two parties. Political psychology says the more different Americans are from each other, the easier it is for them to not just disagree with the other side but to dislike the other side to the point of viewing them as a threat.

President Donald Trump is framing the deal as a win for the U.S. and the closing of the latest chapter in Washington’s Middle East entanglement. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country was reportedly shut out of the diplomatic process, may have other plans that would challenge Trump’s authority in the region.

The “Hand of God” downgrades the competency by which players distinguish themselves. Additionally, it is an unambiguous case of cheating. Maradona intentionally and surreptitiously violated a rule of the sport to obtain an advantage that he would not have obtained otherwise – it distorts the sport, spoils the result and disrespects the opposing team.

The leaders of the United States and Iran have signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding to end the war between their countries, as well as Israel’s military assault on Hezbollah in Lebanon. From the US point of view, the deal leaves a lot to be desired. Washington is giving up a lot for very little in return. President Donald Trump’s claims of success make this feel like an “emperor has no clothes” moment.

The Biden administration declared Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021. Today, Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. But the story for formerly enslaved people continued to unfold in complex ways well after Juneteenth, including when it came to their educational journeys. Juneteenth made clear that freedom was not just confined to someone’s physical enslavement, but mental enslavement as well, bound in the laws that barred enslaved people from receiving an education in Southern states.

Ahead of its first match in the 2026 World Cup, the Haitian national soccer team was forced to make a last-minute change. FIFA, the sport’s global governing body, said the jersey design violated its rules, which ban political slogans or imagery. FIFA didn’t elaborate on which components of the jersey were problematic. But the issue almost certainly stemmed from the small image of a group of people holding the Haitian flag that appeared on the right hip of the jersey.

A new financial report projects the Social Security trust fund will face depletion by 2032, when incoming revenue might cover only 78 percent of scheduled retirement benefits. Deeper structural challenges drive the crisis. Declining birth rates, lower net migration, and high national debt complicate potential solutions. Congress must secure a bipartisan compromise soon to protect workers and avoid a severe political emergency.

Global ocean temperatures are already near record highs, so El Niño-induced marine heat waves could push many sensitive fisheries to a breaking point. Warm water might not seem like a big deal, especially to surfers hoping to leave their wetsuits at home. But for many marine organisms that are highly adapted to specific water temperatures, marine heat waves can make living in the ocean feel like running a marathon.

The result of each match in the World Cup can be simulated. We took into account the official tournament draw and all FIFA rules, including the possibility of overtime and penalty shootouts. We ran the simulation 100,000 times to determine the tournament’s most likely course. The results show that Spain is the favorite for the title with a winning probability of 14.5%, closely followed by England and France, each at 12.4%, and Germany at 11.2%.

The 2026 World Cup promises to be the planet’s most-watched sporting event. It’s also poised to generate its fair share of controversy. The Trump administration is historically unpopular, and its critics are already concerned about sportswashing: when governments use the spectacle of athletic competition to burnish their image and distract the public. It’s natural for fans who are critical of their country’s behavior sometimes feel ambivalent about rooting for their national sports teams.

This disparagement of the word “soccer” is not only petty and tiresome – it is also incorrect. It ignores the roots of the sport and the development of the language of the game. Rather than making the word taboo, the football ecosystem should embrace it. “Soccer” was freely and proudly used in the British press and in public for nearly a century, until the 1980s. The British press continues to use “soccer” and “football” interchangeably to avoid repetitive writing.