Author: Darnell Thompkins

Obama-appointed Judges Salas and Bloom appeared on an anti-Trump podcast to attack the admin for noticing their colleagues’ activism on the bench. Hearing federal judges defend or attack political figures in public forums is troubling from a separation of powers perspective. When two Obama-appointed judges took to an anti-Trump podcast to criticize the administration for pointing out activism by other judges, it raised real questions about where impartiality ends and partisanship begins. The optics matter because public trust in the judiciary depends on a belief that judges decide cases based on law rather than politics. For many conservatives, this episode…

A widespread blackout in Havana forced residents into the open, exposing fragile infrastructure and sparking fresh scrutiny of the island’s leadership and daily hardships. Alexey Rios Garcia awoke not to his bed in Cuba’s capital on Monday, but to an ocean breeze and the concrete of Havana’s famous seaside boulevard. The scene on the Malecón became a makeshift refuge for people cut off from power, water and the routines that rely on them. The image of citizens sleeping on the seawall is stark, but it also fits into a larger pattern of outages and shortages that have burdened the island…

Organized youth sports remain a massive part of American childhood, but rising costs, time demands, and burnout are reshaping participation and access. Organized sports still touch tens of millions of American kids, yet the scene has shifted from pickup games and seasonal leagues to a full-blown industry. In 2023, roughly 27 million youths aged 6-17 “participated on a sports team” or “took sports lessons afterschool or on weekends,” and research shows that nearly 70% of children leave their favorite sport before they hit their teenage years. That drop-off has coaches, parents, and health experts asking whether the current system is…

Boris Nadezhdin, an opposition figure who publicly criticized Russia’s war in Ukraine and sought to challenge President Vladimir Putin in the 2024 election, announced Monday that he has left Russia. Boris Nadezhdin’s departure closes another chapter in a pattern of shrinking space for dissent inside Russia. He had been a vocal critic of the Kremlin’s military policy and tried to build a platform to contest the 2024 vote. His move out of the country came amid growing pressure on opposition figures and independent voices. Nadezhdin’s profile combined long-term political engagement with a more recent, outspoken stance against the war in…

Iran denies talks with the U.S. about control of the Strait of Hormuz while President Trump says negotiations could begin imminently, raising questions about credibility, deterrence, and how Washington plans to protect global shipping and American interests. “Iran said Monday it is not in talks with the U.S. over control of the Strait of Hormuz, even as President Trump insists that final negotiations could begin as soon as this afternoon.” That simple line captures a sharp gap between Tehran’s public position and the White House message, and the contradiction matters because the Strait is one of the planet’s most critical…

The State Department has finalized a visa-bond program making travelers from 50 countries post bonds up to $20,000 before applying for B1/B2 visas, a policy the administration credits with cutting overstays by more than 99 percent. The Biden administration has made permanent a pilot program that began under the prior administration, requiring some foreign visitors to post bonds as a condition of applying for U.S. tourist or business visas. The program targets nationals from 50 countries, most in Africa, and raised the maximum bond from $15,000 to $20,000 while removing the $5,000 low-tier option. The data driving this move are…

A sudden, deadly shooting at an In-N-Out Burger in southern Idaho left multiple people killed and several others hurt and sent emergency crews into a fast, chaotic response as investigators moved in to secure the scene and begin piecing together what happened. “A shooting at an In-N-Out Burger restaurant in southern Idaho on Saturday afternoon left multiple people dead and others injured, police said.” Officers, detectives and emergency medical teams remained on site into the evening as family members and neighbors gathered nearby, looking for answers. Eyewitnesses described a scene of confusion and fear when first responders arrived, with bystanders…

Scientists are probing whether the trillions of microbes in our guts help steer cravings by talking to the brain, while reward circuitry, learned habits, hunger hormones, and highly processed foods all play roles in why salty, sweet, or fatty items pull us in. Cravings hit everyone, sometimes as a fleeting urge and sometimes as a stubborn demand. They feel personal, but the forces behind them are a mix of biology, environment, and behavior. Researchers now suspect the gut and its microbial residents are another player in that mix, sending signals that may nudge what we reach for at the snack…

Maine’s Democratic Senate nominee, Troy Jackson, faces a widening set of questions about family ties, financial transparency, residency and conduct as he steps onto the ballot. Troy Jackson, 58, won the Maine Democratic nomination after securing 566 delegates at the party convention in Bangor. He was tapped to replace Graham Platner, who exited the race this month after a former girlfriend accused him of sexual assault, an allegation Platner denied. Jackson is now the party’s nominee to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Genealogical records cited by reporter Steve Robinson say Jackson and his longtime partner, Lana Pelletier, share a set…

The Migration Policy Institute’s recent analysis finds the unauthorized population climbed to 15.8 million by mid‑2024, driven by record border crossings and expanded humanitarian parole programs, shifting the demographic mix away from a long-standing Mexican majority toward more Central and South American arrivals. The Migration Policy Institute released a report titled “Following Years of High Border Arrivals, the U.S. Unauthorized Immigrant Population Hits New Peak,” estimating undocumented populations “reached a new peak of 15.8 million as of mid-2024, after holding steady at around 11 million throughout the 2010s.” “This increase was driven largely by record border arrivals and expanded Biden-era…