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White House NEC Director Kevin Hassett gives an update on the current status of trade negotiations around the world. After finishing a CNBC interview (also linked below) Director Hassett noted that Asia was likely to be the next place for an announcement following the completion of the United Kingdom deal. Hassett outlines that approximately “two dozen” bilateral free trade agreements are completed within the reciprocity framework, and the sequencing of announcements is up to President Trump. Japan, South Korea and ASEAN nations would be candidates for the next deal as announced. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and USTR Jamieson Greer are...

By Dr. John BergsmaThis upcoming Lord’s Day is often known as “Good Shepherd Sunday,” since each year the Gospel reading is taken from John 10, the “Good Shepherd Discourse.” It’s also often observed as a day of prayer for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, since priests and religious are visible manifestations to us of Christ in his role as the Good Shepherd. Most of the Readings are tied together by a shepherding theme. 1. The First Reading continues the traditional Christian practice of reading Acts during the season of Easter. We are up to Acts 13, the point...

After Pakistani militants attacked Indian-administered Kashmir in late April, gunning down 26 tourists and escalating a new series of offensives in the ongoing Indo-Pakistani conflict, media has drawn attention to the sectarian perspectives of Pakistani Muslims and Hindu nationalists in India, as well as more ameliorating voices in the region. The perspective of Christians in the region, however, has gone largely ignored. It is worth noting that Christians as well as Hindus were targeted for their ethno-religious status in the Kashmiri attack, and that this was by no means the first time that Christians were caught in the crossfire. Trends...

Nike, the global athletic wear giant, finds itself embroiled in a public relations storm following allegations it funded a study examining the effects of "gender-affirming" medical interventions, including hormone therapy, on transgender youth, particularly athletes. This controversy erupted after a detailed article in The New York Times, which focused on Blaire Fleming, a biological male competing in women's volleyball, mentioned Nike's purported financial support for such research. Critics spanning various fields, from women's sports advocates and medical professionals to conservative lawmakers and media personalities, have voiced profound ethical and health concerns, characterizing any study involving medical transition for minors as...

This was no criminal mastermind. Two cops patrolling a Brooklyn subway platform last week were stunned when a strapped-hanger exited a train and dropped loaded Ruger pistol right at their feet. He scooped it up and ran — and proceeded to fall down a flight of stairs. The male and female partners eventually caught up to Stanley Spencer, 39, after the 3:30 p.m. fumble on May 2 at the Pennsylvania Avenue Station. “I bet he was trying to adjust [the gun in his waistband] so they can’t see it and BOOM he drops it,” said retired NYPD detective and John...

Explanation: This picture from July 1997 shows a ramp from the Pathfinder lander, the Sojourner robot rover, deflated landing airbags, a couch, Barnacle Bill and Yogi Rock appear together in this 3D stereo view of the surface of Mars. Barnacle Bill is the rock just left of the house cat-sized, solar-paneled Sojourner. Yogi is the big friendly-looking boulder at top right. The "couch" is the angular rock shape visible near center on the horizon. Look at the image with red/blue glasses (or just hold a piece of clear red plastic over your left eye and blue or green over your...

President Donald J. Trump is determined to make the American pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries great again — both as a matter of national security and to unleash unprecedented prosperity for American workers.Gilead Sciences became the latest industry leader to announce a massive new investment in its U.S. operations with an $11 billion boost to its planned U.S.-based spending.The company joins a host of others in expanding their domestic footprint to align with President Trump’s vision:New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson announced a $55 billion investment in manufacturing, research and development, and technology.Roche, a Swiss drug and diagnostics company, announced a $50...

Who knew that the world needed a mashup of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy and Radiohead’s angry response to George W Bush’s 2003 election victory? But it turns out we very much do. For this bonkers, extraordinary event, play and album have been smashed into one another by co-creators Christine Jones, Steven Hoggett and the band’s frontman and creative driver Thom Yorke. Los Gatos Water Heater - Up To $6000 In Rebate Savings Ad Los Gatos Water Heater - Up To $6000 In Rebate Savings irbishvac.com Learn more call to action icon The resulting fragments have been brutally sieved, the grist fused...

The United Kingdom does not have a blasphemy law, but that didn’t stop the Criminal Prosecution Service trying their best, leading to something of a volte-face (about-face) after backlash. 50-year-old Hamit Coskun was charged with acting with intent to cause “harassment, alarm or distress” against the “religious institution of Islam” by the UK’s Criminal Prosecution Service (CPS) this week after allegedly burning a copy of the Qur’an outside the Turkish consulate in London. Yet after a short campaign by free speech activists, including the Free Speech Union, which is supporting Coksun, and Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick, the charge has...

VIDEOHe won't get the credit for it in much of the media but President Donald Trump might have prevented South Asia from turning into a radioactive wasteland by brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. Although most folks in the USA have not being paying much attention to this conflict, the fact that both nations have nukes made it essential that their conflict be prevented from devolving into the Apocalypse. However, the animosities between India and Pakistan are long and strong so here is a sneak preview of what their ceasefire talks will probably sound like at least initially. Oh,...

10 May 2025 Saturday of the 3rd week of Eastertide Montilla – Basilica of San Juan de ÁvilaReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: C(I).First readingActs 9:31-42The churches grew and were filled with the consolation of the Holy SpiritThe churches throughout Judaea, Galilee and Samaria were now left in peace, building themselves up, living in the fear of the Lord, and filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit. Peter visited one place after another and eventually came to the saints living down in Lydda. There he found a man called Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight...

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” ABC News Contributor and former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile said that Democrats didn’t hold an open primary to determine their nominee in 2024 after then-President Joe Biden dropped out of the race because there was an assumption that then-candidate Trump’s convictions would tarnish him enough to ensure he lost “And they thought that it was going to be an easier task and that it wouldn’t matter.” While discussing Biden’s recent interviews and the 2024 presidential race, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) stated, “I think, for the Democrats, if they had an open...

A Mag 4.1 earthquake just a few miles south of Knoxville TN at 9:00 EDT 10 May 2025 shook the geological region around between Knoxville and Atlanta GA this morning. No nationally reported reports of damage or injuries, but a low magnitude earthquake less than 5.0 seldom causes much damage. Hillside rock falls and tree falls in the already wet soil after several days of rain are likely the closer to the epicenter one goes. Unlike California's very broken earth and rocks, where small magnitude earthquakes are not felt very distance from the epicenter, the very large, very rigid Eastern...

Multiple explosions have reportedly been heard in Indian-controlled Kashmir just hours after Donald Trump boasted a ceasefire with Pakistan had been reached. Residents said the loud explosions in Srinagar and Jammu were followed by a blackout in the two cities. Cross-border shelling and gunfire was also reported from at least five places along the Line of Control, a de facto frontier that divides disputed Kashmir between two nuclear-armed nations.

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MSNBC’s revamped primetime and weekend programming is already faltering, with dismal ratings, sharp audience drop-offs, and a primetime collapse from one of the network’s most promoted new faces. What was meant to signal a new chapter beyond Rachel Maddow’s dominance has instead exposed serious trouble. In a bid to reshape its identity amid changing leadership and a shifting cable news landscape, MSNBC launched several new shows: The Weekend, The Weekend: Primetime, and The Weeknight. But if the early ratings are any indication, viewers are not impressed. Take The Weekend, for example. Debuting at 7 a.m. on Saturday with hosts Jonathan...

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This week, Newark Mayor and New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Ras Baraka (D) entered the Delaney Hall Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center and asserted "this facility cannot be legally operated in Newark. Newark is a sanctuary city that welcomes immigrants. The planned living conditions at Delaney Hall do not fulfill the standards we require for these new Americans. ICE wants to lock them up in cages. We insist upon hotel accommodations." Acting US Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba pointed out that "so-called 'sanctuary cities' contradict federal law. They may have been tolerated under the lawless...

Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you. New York Attorney General Letitia James ranted to a crowd that she’s being followed on the orders of President Trump – days before reports surfaced that Trump’s Department of Justice had actually launched a criminal probe into mortgage fraud claims against her. “They got individuals coming to my house, standing outside my house. Last Sunday – church Sunday while I was in church – these individuals were in front of my house, taking pictures and then streaming it, putting it on social media,” she said during a May...

AVALLETTE, NJ — Two men have filed a lawsuit against the borough of Lavallette, its mayor and police chief after they were arrested in 2023 for attempting to film a council meeting, according to documents filed in federal court earlier this month. Michael Vintzileos of South Amboy and Steven Wronko of Spotswood filed the lawsuit against the borough, Mayor Walter LaCicero, Police Chief Christian LaCicero, and other police officers and municipal employees, claiming their First Amendment and civil rights were violated when they were arrested during the meeting on July 24, 2023. The lawsuit was filed on April 1 in...