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On Saturday's episode of MS NOW's The Weekend, co-host Eugene Daniels offered a revealing defense of the Cuban regime: "It's their country, so them deciding what kind of government and political system they want to have, the leaders and the folks in that country, is their business, I think a lot of people would say." This is the standard sovereignty shield used to protect dictatorships. Daniels ignored that Cuba has been ruled by communist tyrants since 1959, with no free elections and a long record of suppressing "the folks." If those "folks" had a chance to express themselves in a...

Key PointsState lawmakers passed a tax on nonprimary residences in New York City in order to help close the city's budget gap.The so-called pied-a-terre tax will be imposed on second homes valued at $1 million or more and will take effect in two different phases. Billionaire and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin became the face of the tax after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted a video in front of Griffin's penthouse apartment announcing the tax.New York City's new tax on second homes will more than double property taxes owed by many wealthy luxury apartment owners, according to tax experts.State...

If you have not read, watched or listened to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s recent commencement address at West Point, you really should make the time to do so. It’s about protecting the lives of you and your family. During his desperately needed remarks, the secretary of war reminded the cadets before him, "The battlefield does not grade on a curve, and you can’t throw your pronouns at the enemy. Combat is the ultimate test, and our best Americans must ace it." Hegseth then rightfully singled out the United States Military Academy by calling out the "woke and weak leaders"...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called out “incompetent communists” who are in charge of the Cuban government, as the United States is eyeing possible intervention regarding the island nation just off the coast of Florida. The country is facing nearly all-day electricity blackouts, as CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Cuba earlier this month to meet with officials. There are also concerns about Cuba possibly wanting to act against the U.S. with military drones, according to Axios. “Cuba’s in a lot of trouble because, unfortunately for them, it’s run by a bunch of incompetent communists,” Rubio said. “Being a communist...

Federal officials have served subpoenas to Marxist political influencer Hasan Piker and CodePink cofounder Susan Medea Benjamin as part of a wider investigation into whether U.S. organizations and leaders violated U.S. laws and sanctions in supporting Cuba’s communist regime, Fox News Digital has learned. Piker and Benjamin are among those caught in a federal inquiry into whether activists who traveled to Cuba in March violated U.S. sanctions laws through the financing, coordination or delivery of goods to Cuba, including potential contacts with Cuban government personnel or entities on the island. The administrative subpoenas were sent to the pair by the...

Trump understands finance and economics. Trump knows that China is doubling down on their path to economic doom. I’ve come to believe that he is humoring the Chinese to get good trade deals for America, knowing that China is struggling to stave off their coming financial crash. We have read about China building, and sustaining, its rapidly growing economy with huge spending on government financed projects. These projects are often large infrastructure and urban housing projects. All governments do this. China’s mistake is doing it on a gigantic scale by continuing to print money it doesn’t have. This creates a...

Peace through strength deters war, appeasement invites war, and letting an enemy build up unmolested makes wars longer, costs higher, and risks greater. Xi Jinping holds the titles of General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Chairman of the Central Military Commission, President of China, and Core Leader of the CCP. President Donald Trump used the title "President" when meeting with Xi last week, but in reality, his CCP tittles are what matter. Xi’s title as Core Leader elevates him to dictatorial power on a scale held previously only by Mao Zedong. The pomp and circumstance shown to President...

INTRODUCTION On April 29, 2026, Sen. Bernie Sanders convened a 75-minute panel in the US Capitol on “the existential threat of AI.” Two of the four panelists were Chinese government affiliates: Zeng Yi, Dean of the Beijing Institute of AI Safety and Governance, and Xue Lan, a Tsinghua University professor who chairs China’s national AI governance expert committee and serves as a Counsellor of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. From a US Senate platform, Xue called the US-China AI race “an inaccurate narrative” and argued for “safe zones” of cooperation on AI safety. The event was...

On a scorching hot afternoon in Havana, the line outside the state bakery stretches down the block. Inside, the shelves are almost bare. A man in a faded baseball cap tells me he’s been waiting for two hours for bread that might not arrive. Across the street, a gleaming black SUV with tinted windows idles outside a hotel mostly reserved for foreigners. Its lobby is stocked with imported whiskey; the air-conditioning is turned up to Arctic levels. This is not an unusual juxtaposition in today’s Cuba. I walk through Central Havana with Antonio Rodríguez, a 60-year-old university history teacher who...

In Latin America, in China, in the Middle East, the outline of Donald Trump's plan of action is becoming clear. It is of a scale to take the breath away. It’s obvious to me that during the four-year hiatus from the White House occasioned by a stolen election, President Trump gave thoughtful consideration to what had to be cleaned up domestically and internationally. It’s equally clear that he mapped out how he planned to do that, and despite media, congressional, and judicial intransigence, he plowed ahead. We are at a point now where the blueprint is obvious. It’s a continuing,...

History shows totalitarian regimes fall when brave people rise up. As the future of Hong Kong, time is on the side of Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, and Ivan Lam.Three prominent leaders of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement were sentenced to prison this week for leading a protest last year. Joshua Wong received 13 and a half months; Agnes Chow, 10 months; and Ivan Lam, seven months. Wong has already been in prison a few times as the result of his activism.They are young. Lam is 26. Wong is 24. Chow turned 24 this past Dec. 3, the day after she received...

The death of Apple Daily marks the end of Hong Kong's free press, and the west must ask: is it wise to continue empowering the CCP's destruction of values we cherish?The Chinese Communist Party and pro-Beijing Hong Kong authorities forced Apple Daily, the last pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong, to cease operation this week. The death of Apple Daily marks the end of a free press in Hong Kong, once one of the freest places on the planet.Founded By a Refugee of CommunismThe newspaper was founded 26 years ago by outspoken Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai. Born in mainland China,...

New York City and Chicago voters made the most injudicious decisions possible electing Zohran Mamdani and Brandon Johnson to be their mayors. Both democratic socialists are inept yet destructive, unserious yet dangerous, demagogues who spew venom and traffic in incendiary divisive rhetoric. Their deranged policies will bankrupt their cities, financially, morally and culturally. Will Los Angeles voters do the same? Actually, they already have. The question is, will they repeat their mistake and reelect Karen Bass? The current mayor is a Fidelista and a member of the Venceremos Brigade, a Cuban “enterprise that had a goal of encouraging the health...

How could the country that is now the foremost persecutor of Christians in the world have emerged from the work of a dedicated Christian missionary? Jonathan Cheng’s history of North Korea, "Korean Messiah," sets out to explain... Samuel Moffett, a Presbyterian missionary who arrived in ‘the Hermit Kingdom’ of Korea in 1890, built a vast mission compound in Pyongyang. His ministry helped spark the great Christian revival of 1907, which led to Pyongyang being called the ‘Jerusalem of the East’ with great churches and crowded Wednesday prayer meetings. Moffett ran a world-class seminary, and his theology carried a message of...

It was a classic Morning Joe setup on Thursday: tee up far-left Democrat Ro Khanna to blast China’s unfair trade practices--then watch him pivot straight into a sweeping central-planning agenda for America. His plan: • Create an “industrial investment bank” to fund government-selected factories in “the industries of the future” — batteries, new steel, new cars, new ships — specifically targeted at “places that were deindustrialized,” paired with investment and production tax credits. • Open a thousand new trade schools. • Open new tech institutes to prepare workers for AI and future technology jobs — again directing investment to “places...

The full nationalisation of British Steel is expected to be announced in the king’s speech this week, a year after the government took over the daily running of the loss-making business from its Chinese owner. The steelmaker, which employs 3,500 people at its plant in Scunthorpe, came under government control last April amid fears that its owner, Jingye, was planning to shut down the site. British Steel operates the last two remaining blast furnaces in the UK, but its economic control remains with the Chinese company, which bought it out of insolvency in early 2020. An announcement confirming the plans...

Hao Fengjun Reveals Facts of the ‘610 Office’Hao Fengjun, from Model Police Officer to 610 Office DefectorBy Li HuaThe Epoch Times Jun 19, 2005 Hao Fengjun being interviewed (The Epoch Times) MELBOURNE - Hao Fengjun never thought his visit to Melbourne’s Epoch Times office on June 4, 2005 would send shock waves throughout Western society. Hao chose to step forward to tell people why he defected from his post as a police officer in China’s notorious 610 Office. He risked his own and his family’s lives to help people understand the situation in China. A Model Police Officer at the...

Days before Donald Trump is scheduled to visit mainland China, a group of mostly Democrat senators reportedly is urging the president to move ahead with a long-delayed $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan.The bipartisan group pressed Trump in a Friday letter to formally notify Congress of the major arms sale ahead of his summit this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, warning that U.S. support for Taiwan "is not up for negotiation," The New York Times reported. The senators argued Taiwan has already demonstrated its commitment to self-defense after lawmakers in Taipei approved a massive $25 billion special defense budget...

It’s hard for Americans to fathom the horror of what goes on every day in North Korea. President Trump has repeatedly referred to Kim Jong-un as his “friend.” I recognize that this is a bargaining technique and that it is necessary to employ deception when dealing with the likes of Kim, but I wish Trump would not do it. Kim Jong-un is not Trump’s friend; he is not anybody’s friend. He oversees the operation of brutal concentration camps, and he has reportedly carried out hundreds of executions, most of them public and involving firing squads but some private and involving...

Former President Barack Obama and outgoing "Late Show" host Stephen Colbert took turns singing the praises of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during their interview Tuesday night. During a prerecorded interview that aired Tuesday from the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Colbert spoke with Obama about the direction of the Democratic Party, specifically regarding the ongoing rift between the liberal and the progressive wings of the party. "So you have great leaders. You have people like (Virginia Governor) Abigail Spanberger and (New Jersey Governor) Mikie Sherrill, very centrist. But then you have further left, like AOC and Zohran Mamdani,"...