Politics

Chicago is grimly famous for gun violence. So why is the city giving up on a high-tech tool in the fight against violent crime? Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office this week announced it would end Chicago’s contract with ShotSpotter, a gunshot …

‘Should conservatives care about CPAC?’ Henry Olsen at National Review The Conservative Political Action Conference has outlived its usefulness, says Henry Olsen. CPAC used to be an important annual event where conservatives of all stripes “gathered to meet, debate, and …

What happened? Special counsel David Weiss late Thursday unsealed charges accusing FBI informant Alexander Smirnov of falsely claiming Hunter Biden and his father, President Joe Biden, were each paid $5 million protection bribes by Ukrainian energy company Burisma in 2015 …

What happened? Ukrainian and U.S. officials said Thursday that after months of brutal fighting, Russia is on the verge of capturing the strategically located, ruined city of Avdiivka. It would be Russia’s most significant military victory since Bakhmut last May. …

What happened? Greece’s parliament late Thursday legalized same-sex marriage in a rare cross-party 176-76 vote, making Greece the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law. Same-sex couples now have full parental and adoption rights but can’t become …

(Image credit: Clay Jones / Copyright 2024 Claytoonz) (Image credit: Steve Kelley / Copyright 2024 Creators Syndicate) (Image credit: Steve Breen / Copyright 2024 Creators Syndicate) (Image credit: Bill Bramhall / Copyright 2024 Tribune Content Agency) (Image credit: R.J. Matson …

Russian politician and activist Alexei Navalny has died in an Arctic Circle jail, the country’s prison service announced today.  The 47-year-old was widely viewed as Vladimir Putin’s “most vociferous critic”, said the BBC, and was serving a 19-year sentence on …

Voters discovered the UK had entered a technical recession just hours before the Conservatives lost two by-elections, in what pundits described as a “perfect storm of shittery” for Rishi Sunak. The Office for National Statistics announced yesterday that the UK’s …

The price of bitcoin this week topped $50,000 for the first since the end of 2021, marking a dramatic return for the world’s most popular cryptocurrency.  The rise was fuelled by “a rush of new-investor enthusiasm” and growing hype about …

Thousands of farmers have taken their tractors to the streets of India as unions demand the government take action over crop prices and regulations.  The “Delhi Chalo”, or “Let’s go to Delhi” march, said Reuters, has “brought back memories of …

A fire breather performs to mark the 669th anniversary of the birth of Hindu guru Bawa Lal Dayal in Amritsar, India  (Image credit: Narinder Nanu / Getty Images) Members of the Porto da Pedra samba school perform during the annual …

While humans are expected to return to the lunar surface on the Artemis III mission as soon as 2026, there is another aspect of moon travel that is generating its fair share of controversy: the commercialization of the lunar body …

Apple recently released its Vision Pro, a virtual reality (VR) headset designed to mix the real world and the virtual world. The gadget has returned VR to the limelight — so much so a few buffoons have used the Vision …

It has the moniker of City of Steel, but there is much more to Pittsburgh than industry. It is also a rousing city of museums, great food and beloved sports teams. Play ball! (Or hockey) The Pittsburgh Pirates call PNC …

The former Dutch prime minister Dries van Agt died by euthanasia last week, hand in hand with his wife Eugenie. They were both 93. Both had been in “fragile health” for some time after Van Agt suffered a brain haemorrhage …

What happened? Korean scientists said Wednesday they’ve invented a new hybrid food, consisting of beef muscle and fat cells grown inside grains of rice. The experimental “meaty” rice was developed to be an affordable and eco-friendly source of protein. Who …

What happened? One woman was killed and at least 21 people injured Wednesday when gunfire broke out near the end of the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade in their Missouri hometown. Police said three suspects are in custody. …

Cooking takes as long as it takes. An obvious concept but one easily forgotten during today’s era of 30-second jump-cut videos on TikTok and Instagram. A long-braised stew can be aped in a quickfire video. Its slow, hours-long descent into …

‘Using the SAT, ACT in college admissions isn’t “racist.” What else has the left got wrong?’ Ingrid Jacques in USA Today Critics have insisted for years that standardized college entrance exams “are racist, inequitable and unfair,” says Ingrid Jacques. But …

Japan has long been one of the dominant economic forces in the world, particularly with its technological advances in the 21st century. So it sent shockwaves through the global market on Thursday when it was revealed that Japan had unexpectedly …

What happened?  House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) on Wednesday publicly urged President Joe Biden to “declassify all information” about a “serious national security threat.” Officials later said Turner’s unusual, cryptic warning referred to Russia’s incomplete development of a space-based nuclear weapon …

In the last few years, billionaires have only been adding to their net worth, and it likely will not be long until someone reaches the status of a trillionaire. When will someone be worth $1 trillion? It is hard to …

When Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022, he justified his war as a means of reunifying historical Kievan Rus’. As the war drags on into its third year, however, a different sort of geopolitical polarization has taken place …

(Image credit: Peter Kuper / Copyright 2024 Cagle Cartoons, Inc.) (Image credit: Chip Bok / Copyright 2024 Creators Syndicate) (Image credit: Joey Weatherford / Copyright 2024 Tribune Content Agency) (Image credit: Pat Byrnes / Copyright 2024 Cagle Cartoons, Inc.) (Image …

A free weekly fun run seems an unlikely battleground for a culture war.  But Parkrun, a community-led non-competitive event that takes place every Saturday morning in more than 20 countries, has removed data such as gender, course and speed records …

A six-way coalition will form the next government in Pakistan, ensuring the party of former prime minister Imran Khan will not take power despite getting the most votes in last week’s election. The announcement followed “days of wrangling and political …

The news that two male bodies were recovered from the River Thames while the search for chemical attack suspect Abdul Ezedi was under way could easily have been overlooked. Neither body was Ezedi’s. He was last seen “leaning over the …

Spring into spring with billions of cicadas! This year, the U.S. will see the emergence of two large broods of cicadas, which have not emerged simultaneously in more than two centuries. The ecological phenomenon could give rise to new species …

Opinions are ubiquitous. Everyone has one. The New York Times opinion columnist Pamela Paul is full of them, as her job demands.  Since joining the Times’ Opinion pages in 2022, Paul has received formidable resistance from the trans community for …