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@ISIDEWITH submitted…4wks4W
Donald Trump has begun assembling his cabinet in preparation for a potential return to the White House, with some of his choices raising eyebrows. Notable picks include Senator Marco Rubio for Secretary of State, Thomas Homan as Border Czar, and Michael Waltz as National Security Advisor. Critics, including…
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Famously progressive Democrat congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez raised eyebrows by removing her pronouns from her X account. The move from Squad lawmaker, 35, seen as one of the most liberal members of Congress, was seen by some as a sign that the cultural tide is turning following Donald Trump's election win. Journalist Benjamin Ryan said records showed AOC removed her 'she/her' pronouns sometime between August 3, 2023, and May 28, 2024. Critics branded her a hypocrite, and noted that just two years ago AOC apologized to followers for not having pronouns in her Instagram bio, claiming they 'fell off' and she didn't realize. Conservatives were quick to mock AOC after it was realized that she had removed the pronouns from her account bio. Some also noted that she changed her moniker from the genderless 'Representative' to 'Congresswoman' as she removed her pronouns. Ocasio-Cortez has long been a supporter of transgender rights, including so-called gender-affirming care for children, and transgender girls competing in female sports.But the Democrats more extreme stances were blamed as a massive vote loser for Kamala Harris in the recent election.An advert showing her supporting taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgeries for illegal migrant prisoners was played on repeat by Team Trump.Many Dems' insistence that opposing hormones for trans children or banning trans girls from joining female sports teams was transphobic further alienated centrists.Immigration and inflation were the issues that ultimately swung the election for Donald Trump, but the Dems' unpopular trans stance has now forced a reckoning within the party.
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…6 days6D
The chief executive of UnitedHealth’s insurance arm was fatally shot outside a hotel in New York City Wednesday morning in a targeted attack, police said.A manhunt is underway for a suspect who was lying in wait for the executive, Brian Thompson, and fled after shooting Thompson in the back and leg.…
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…3wks3W
Donald Trump’s new administration will revive its “maximum pressure” policy to “bankrupt” Iran’s ability to fund regional proxies and develop nuclear weapons, according to people familiar with the transition.Trump’s foreign policy team will seek to ratchet up sanctions on Tehran, including vital oil exports, as soon as the president-elect re-enters the White House in January, people familiar with the transition said.“He’s determined to reinstitute a maximum pressure strategy to bankrupt Iran as soon as possible,” said a national security expert familiar with the Trump transition. The plan will mark a shift in US foreign policy at a time of turmoil in the Middle East after Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack triggered a wave of regional hostilities and thrust Israel’s shadow war with Iran into the open.Trump signalled during his election campaign that he wants a deal with Iran. “We have to make a deal, because the consequences are impossible. We have to make a deal,” he said in September.People familiar with Trump’s thinking said the maximum pressure tactic would be used to try to force Iran into talks with the US — although experts believe this is a long shot. The president-elect mounted a campaign of “maximum pressure” in his first term after abandoning the 2015 nuclear deal Iran signed with world powers, and imposing hundreds of sanctions on the Islamic republic.In response, Tehran ramped up its nuclear activity and it is enriching uranium close to weapons-grade level.The sanctions remained in place during the Biden administration, but analysts say it did not implement them as strictly as it sought to revive the nuclear accord with Iran and ease the crisis.Iran’s crude oil exports have more than trebled in the past four years, from a low of 400,000 barrels a day in 2020 to more than 1.5mn b/d so far in 2024, with nearly all shipments going to China, according to the US Energy Information Agency.
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…21hrs21H
Austria has announced plans to deport Syrian migrants following the fall of the country’s dictator Bashar Assad to rebel forces after 13 years of civil war, while Belgium, France, Greece and Germany are pausing Syrian asylum applications.“I have instructed the ministry to prepare an orderly return and deportation program to Syria,” Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told Austrian media, without clarifying which migration statuses would be targeted. Some 100,000 Syrians live in Austria, according to the country’s statistics agency.One day after Syrian rebel factions, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) — designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the United Kingdom — toppled Damascus, Austria, Belgium, Greece, and Germany are using the success of the rebels to revise their migration policies, with all four closing their doors to asylum seekers. The U.K. has also said it will stop processing asylum applications from Syrians.The decisions to revise asylum policies come as anti-immigrant far-right parties have surged in popularity across the European Union in recent months. Germany, for example, faces snap elections in February, with far-right parties currently performing strongly in the polls.In fewer than 10 days, Syrian rebels forces ended decades of rule by the Assad family, which has run Syria since a coup in 1970. More than 4.5 million Syrians have made their way to Europe since Assad’s crackdown on protests and dissent in 2011 amid the Arab Spring, leading to a long, bloody civil war during which 600,000 people were killed.Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) said it will freeze asylum applications for more than 47,000 Syrian nationals, a spokesperson for BAMF told German media. Syria was the top country of origin for asylum seekers in Germany this year, according to BAMF.On Monday, Greece put a hold on processing 9,000 Syrian asylum applications, a senior government official, who was granted anonymity to speak about the sensitive matter, told POLITICO. The official added the government will decide on Friday whether to stop processing applications from Syria completely.Belgium also announced the applications of more than 3,000 Syrians have been put on hold.“We decided today to stop handling Syrian asylum applications for the time being,” a spokesperson for Belgium’s Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) said.
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A man is being held for questioning in connection with last week’s killing of a health insurance executive in Midtown Manhattan, the police said.The man being questioned was identified as Luigi Mangione, 26, the police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, said at a news briefing. He was identified in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa., after an employee recognized him and called the authorities at about 9:15 a.m. on Monday.Mr. Mangione was carrying identification with his name on it, along with fake I.D., according to law enforcement officials.Mr. Mangione showed the police the same fake New Jersey identification that the man believed to be the gunman presented when he checked into a hostel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan on Nov. 24, a senior law enforcement official saidWhen Mr. Mangione was approached in Altoona, he had a gun, a silencer and other false identification cards similar to those they believe the killer used in New York, according to one of the law enforcement officials and a person briefed on the investigation. The gun was described as possibly being a so-called ghost gun, assembled from parts purchased online.Mr. Mangione was also carrying a handwritten manifesto that criticized health care companies for putting profits above care, according to two law enforcement officials.Mr. Mangione is in custody on local charges, the official said, possibly related to presenting the fake identification to the police. He has not been arrested or charged in connection with the killing.New York police investigators are traveling to Altoona, in western Pennsylvania, about 280 miles from the city, according to one of the law enforcement officials.
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