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Late last year, Americans hit another milestone: total credit card debt reached a record $1.23 trillion, with the average household in hock for $9,326.Increasingly Americans facing an affordability crisis are using their plastic to pay for basics like food and housing.And the cost of such credit is skyrocketing — only making the affordability problem worse.As of August 2025, the Federal Reserve reported the average interest rate on credit card accounts was 22.83%. Some consumers with low credit scores pay nearly 30%.During his 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump announced he would cap credit card rates at 10%.

Financed by JPMorgan, Jointly Owned by US DoD Under the plan, the U.S. Department of Defense will hold a 40% stake in the JPM Financed smelter joint-venture. GFN – WASHINGTON: Korea Zinc plans a $7.4 billion investment to construct a large-scale non-ferrous metals smelter in Clarksville, Tennessee, a project U.S. officials say will materially expand domestic critical minerals processing capacity and strengthen supply chain security.1 The project, known as the “U.S. Smelter,” is expected to require approximately $6.6 billion in capital expenditures, with total investment reaching $7.4 billion including financing costs. It is being developed in coordination with the U.S....

Object lesson: When a corrupt government falls, every remaining aspect of that government has to be pulled out, root and branch, and every member of that illegitimate government, at the minimum, removed from any government role. And there just aren't many governments more illegitimate than the rule of Venezuela by the thug-dictator Nicolás Maduro. Now the top man and his wife are facing federal charges in the United States, but his illegal junta is still in charge of the South American nation, and already, they are seeking reprisals against anyone in Venezuela who may have supported the American raid. Venezuelan...

Given all that’s at stake, how would Japan respond in a scenario that could lead to the world’s first great power war since 1945?Imagine this scenario: it’s finally happening. China is moving to take Taiwan by force. Chinese warships are blockading the island of Taiwan and the surrounding area, while missiles and UAVs rain down destruction on the Taiwanese people from above. In this hypothetical scenario, what is Japan doing? This is a question of some urgency for Tokyo these days. For one thing, Japan’s westernmost island is only about 110 kilometers away from Taiwan – much closer than...

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"Trump’s Attack on Venezuela Could Change the World. Here’s How." It's still an open question as to how Trump plucking Nicholas Maduro out of Venezuela on Saturday to face criminal charges will change the world but has Politico already been changed by President Donald Trump since most of the thirteen experts, regional analysts to national security veterans, it sought input from the next day were surprisingly upbeat about what could happen next?The first expert cited was Ryan Berg, director of the Americas Program and head of the Future of Venezuela Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who...

“Freedom-loving people everywhere can celebrate the downfall of dictator Nicolás Maduro and the possibility of Venezuela’s return to democracy, even if there are serious concerns about the constitutionality or legality of President Trump’s unilateral use of military force and its broader foreign policy implications.” “Trump stated that Machado does not have the support or respect of the Venezuelan people, so it would be difficult for her to govern. Nothing could be further from the truth. She is like the Lech Walesa of Venezuela. The United States would be wise to work with Machado and her team on a swift transition...

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has reminded her US counterpart Marco Rubio of his obligations under international law, she told MPs, following US military action in Venezuela. US President Donald Trump's launched an operation resulting in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro this weekend, leading to accusations the US had flouted international law. Cooper's statement to the House of Commons went further than Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who has so far avoided condemning Trump's decision and focused instead on the brutality of Maduro's dictatorship.

Top leaders in the space, from Microsoft to OpenAI, are pouring millions of dollars into schools, colleges, and universities, often providing students with access to their AI products. The justification, touted in a fresh New York Times piece by both by tech companies and the educators receiving the funding, is that the tools will accelerate learning and prepare students for a world driven by AI. But...Some research suggests that AI actually inhibits learning, with one notable study conducted by researchers from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon finding that it atrophies critical thinking skills.Even more urgently, the safety of AI chatbots is...

In July, researchers using the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System survey telescope in Chile made an exceedingly rare discovery: a mysterious object passing through the solar system at far too high a speed to be bound by the Sun’s gravity. As the visitor made its closest approach to Earth, coming within just 167 million miles on December 19, an international team of researchers from the alien-hunting astronomy project Breakthrough Listen pointed the Green Bank Telescope — the largest single-dish radio telescope in the world — at 3I/ATLAS. In a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper, they revealed sobering — albeit probably expected —...

Disturbing viral video shows the moment a transgender gymgoer appears to be (doing something he shouldn't have) in a stall inside the women’s bathroom at a Planet Fitness in California. Planet Fitness patron Grace Hutson claims she encountered the ordeal while she was using the female restroom at the gym’s Concord location, just outside San Francisco, last May — but the footage only exploded online over the weekend. The clip, which she originally posted on TikTok, showed the shadow of an unidentified person appearing to perform the sex act on themselves.

Trump's explicit messages against Tehran coincide with the fall of Maduro in Venezuela and military operations in Nigeria, raising questions about US military resurgence and influence in the global world order. As the world transitioned from welcoming the new year to the first weekend of 2026, some social media users noted a sudden spike in pizza sales around the Pentagon in the early hours of Saturday morning, which was interpreted in informal online circles as a sign of imminent US action somewhere in the world. Then came the strikes on Venezuela overnight into Saturday, surprising most, who did not expect...

Pittsburgh is looking for some extra luck in a key matchup.The Pittsburgh Steelers are calling on some extra help. Before their game Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, a priest was seen blessing the field with holy water. The video was captured by Jenna Harner of WPXI, NBC's Pittsburgh affiliate. Pittsburgh, 9-7, is hosting the Baltimore Ravens on NBC's Sunday Night Football for the last postseason spot left from either conference. The winner will claim the No. 4 seed and host at least one playoff game, with the Houston Texans entering as the No. 5 seed. If Pittsburgh and Aaron Rodgers gets...

How it started: Zohran: "A key reason we have to make the bus free is it reduces assauIts" pic.twitter.com/Wmmuv8TOWs— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) October 16, 2025How it's going: So if free bus rides reduce assaults then what does raising the fare to $3 do? I don't believe the nonsense talking point, but it's a question that needs to be asked. The fares are up from $2.90, so they only went up by a dime. Still, New Yorkers are not happy about it -- and if you're a commie, I thought you executive-order that free ride right away, not let the price...

She is a star of American science. A Stanford chair. A NASA collaborator. A role model for a generation of young researchers. But a chilling congressional investigation has found that celebrated geologist Wendy Mao quietly helped advance China's nuclear and hypersonic weapons programs – while working inside the heart of America's taxpayer funded research system. Mao, 49, is one of the most influential figures in materials science. She serves as Chair of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Stanford University, one of the most prestigious science posts in the country. Her pioneering work on how diamonds behave under...

A nasty new influenza variant — dubbed the “super flu” — is sweeping across the US, fueling a sharp rise in illnesses. So far this season, the CDC has logged 4.6 million flu cases, 49,000 hospitalizations and 1,900 deaths. SNIP In mainstream medicine, NAC’s uses are already well established. The FDA has approved it as the antidote for acetaminophen poisoning, helping prevent or reduce liver damage when given after an overdose. SNIP In an Italian study, researchers gave participants either a placebo or 600 milligrams of NAC twice daily for six months. By the end of the trial, 79% of...

New details have emerged about an Olympic hopeful from Colorado who allegedly stabbed an Uber driver to death inside his car, including how she claims he attempted to reach back and assault her despite being partially paralyzed — which prompted her to plunge a kitchen knife into him 60 times, prosecutors say. Khayla Dawson, 27, of Colorado Springs, claims she was going for a "joy ride" when she scheduled an Uber pickup with 38-year-old victim Jeremy Campbell on Oct. 26, according to an arrest affidavit filed by the El Paso County Sheriff's Office and obtained by Law&Crime. Dawson — who...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio applauded mainstream media outlets that had learned of, but held off reporting on, the U.S. operation that apprehended Venezuela leader Nicolas Maduro. Rubio's comments, delivered Sunday on ABC's "This Week," marked a rare moment of public praise from a senior Trump administration official toward major legacy outlets that President Donald Trump has frequently criticized as biased and hostile. Rubio said the decision by newsrooms to delay publication likely saved American lives, as U.S. forces carried out a high-risk late-night raid. According to Semafor, both The New York Times and The Washington Post learned of the...

You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. That’s the message the Department of Homeland Security is receiving from Hilton Hotels as the agency claims its officers’ room reservations are being abruptly canceled after using their government email addresses to book. In a statement to its official X account on Monday, DHS accused the hotel chain of a “coordinated campaign” in Minneapolis, Minnesota, enclosing emails from Hilton reps, including one telling an officer, “We are not allowing any ICE or immigration agents to stay at our property.” “NO ROOM AT THE INN!” the DHS post began. “@HiltonHotels...

Explanation: How was the unusual Red Rectangle nebula created? At the nebula's center is an aging binary star system that surely powers the nebula but does not, as yet, explain its colors. The unusual shape of the Red Rectangle is likely due to a thick dust torus which pinches the otherwise spherical outflow into tip-touching cone shapes. Because we view the torus edge-on, the boundary edges of the cone shapes seem to form an X. The distinct rungs suggest the outflow occurs in fits and starts. The unusual colors of the nebula are less well understood, however, and speculation holds...