Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions

The federal spending law passed in early July 2025, often called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, significantly reduces federal funding for efforts to create renewable or sustainable types of fuel that can power aircraft over long distances while decreasing the damage aviation does to the global climate.

More than 500,000 Palestinians, one-fourth of Gaza’s population, are experiencing famine, the U.N. stated. And all 320,000 children under age 5 are “at risk of acute malnutrition, with serious lifelong physical and mental health consequences.” U.N. experts have accused Israel of using starvation “as a savage weapon of war and constitutes crime under international law.” Countries – including the United States and Canada – have used starvation to conquer Indigenous peoples and acquire their land.

When most people hear the word uranium, they think of mushroom clouds, Cold War standoffs or the glowing green rods from science fiction. But uranium isn’t just fuel for apocalyptic fears. It’s also a surprisingly common element that plays a crucial role in modern energy, medicine and geopolitics. Many headlines have mentioned Iran’s 60% enrichment of uranium, but what does that really mean?

A lunar nuclear reactor may sound dramatic, but its neither illegal nor unprecedented. If deployed responsibly, it could allow countries to peacefully explore the Moon, fuel their economic growth and test out technologies for deeper space missions. But with China and the United States now racing to build nuclear reactors on the Moon, it also raises critical questions about access and power.

The meaning and application of due process has become a crucial issue in the U.S., most often with respect to the Trump administration’s migrant deportation efforts. Seemingly contradictory rulings on migrant issues recently not only make it unclear when due process applies but probably leave many asking what the term “due process of law” even means and how it works.

President Donald Trump’s firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer on Aug. 1, 2025, after an unfavorable unemployment report has been drawing criticism for its potential to undercut the agency’s credibility. But it’s not the first time that his administration has taken steps that could weaken the integrity of some government data.

When it comes to dealing with two of the biggest current crises in the Muslim world – the devastation of Gaza and the Taliban’s draconian rule in Afghanistan – Arab and Muslim states have been staggeringly ineffective. Their chief body, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in particular, has been strong on rhetoric but very short on serious, tangible action.

The 16-kiloton bomb dropped on Hiroshima at 8.15am by a US B-29 bomber was codenamed “Little Boy” by the Americans. The scars of the bomb remained untreated, for generations. The US occupation – which lasted until the San Francisco treaty was signed on April 28 1952 – established an extensive Civil Censorship Department (the CCD) which monitored not only all newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, books, films and plays but also radio broadcasts, personal mail, as well as telephone and telegraph communications.

More than 70% of small-business owners say constant shifts in trade policy create a “whiplash effect” that makes it difficult to plan, a recent national survey showed. Unlike larger organizations with teams of analysts to inform their decision-making, small-business owners are often on their own. In an all-hands-on-deck operation, every hour spent focusing on trade policy news or filling out additional paperwork means precious time away from day-to-day, core operations. That means rapid trade policy shifts leave small businesses especially at a disadvantage.

In March, it was reported that a fragment of the Bayeux tapestry had been discovered in Germany in the Schleswig-Holstein state archives. It has often been observed that art seems to have been of disproportionate concern to the Nazis. However, their manipulation of visual and material culture should be understood as central to – not separate from – Hitler’s genocidal regime and its efforts towards global domination.

The UK will formally recognize the state of Palestine in September unless Israel acts to end the “appalling situation” in Gaza. The UK’s decision follows a pledge by French president Emmanuel Macron on July 24 to formally recognise Palestinian statehood in September. If this is acted upon, France and the UK would be the first G7 members and the first members of the UN security council to recognize the state of Palestine.

Catholic priests across the U.S. discuss immigration with their congregations more than leaders in many other faith traditions. Catholic priests also said they discussed immigration more than nearly all other political issues, including hunger in their communities, capital punishment, health care and the environment. Abortion was the only one priests discussed slightly more often.

Politics has a much stronger presence in articles about the U.S. Supreme Court today than in years past, with a notable increase beginning in 2016. Across the five major newspapers, reporting about the court has gradually become more political over time. That isn’t surprising: America has been gradually polarizing since the 1980s as well, and the changes in news media coverage reflect that polarization.

The Pacific region is highly prone to powerful earthquakes and resulting tsunamis because it’s located in the so-called Ring of Fire, a region of heightened seismic and volcanic activity. All ten most powerful earthquakes recorded in modern history were located on the Ring of Fire.Here’s why the underlying structure of our planet makes this part of the world so volatile.

A third of Gazans have gone without food for several days and 90,000 women and children now require urgent care for acute malnutrition. Local health authorities have reported 147 deaths from starvation so far, 80% of whom are children. Air-dropping food supplies is considered a last resort due to the undignified and unsafe manner in which the aid is delivered. The UN has already reported civilians being injured when packages have fallen on tents. Air-dropped pallets of food are also inefficient compared with what can be delivered by road.

Already around 60,000 Gazans have been killed and growing numbers are now dying from hunger and malnutrition. More than 90% of the private homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. Israeli officials continue to speak of moving Gazans into what has been termed a “humanitarian city” but what former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert described as a “concentration camp”. In the same interview Olmert called decision to move Gazans into the camp as “ethnic cleansing”. All the while, the world’s leaders look on. Most are apparently content to condemn – but little action has been taken.

As the internet has become more integrated in our daily lives, few would describe it as a place of love, compassion and cooperation. Study after study describe how social media platforms promote alienation and disconnection – in part because many algorithms reward behaviors like trolling, cyberbullying and outrage. Is the internet’s place in human history cemented as a harbinger of despair? Or is there still hope for an internet that supports collective flourishing?