Author: Karen Givens

Last night’s Super Bowl didn’t go the way many viewers in Puerto Rico expected, and a brief outage turned the big game into a local interruption that left fans scrambling for answers. The Super Bowl lasted all of 13 minutes for many Puerto Ricans in San Juan and beyond. What started as a routine evening of football viewing quickly became a string of dropped feeds, frozen screens, and shouted expletives in living rooms and bars. Social media filled up fast as people tried to make sense of the silence where the game should have been. Reports came in from neighborhoods…

February 13 marks the extended deadline for Congress to fund the Department of Homeland Security as Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer delivered a list of demands to Speaker Mike Johnson. The clock is ticking toward a February 13 deadline for DHS funding, and the latest move from Democratic leadership has sharpened the debate. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a list of demands to Speaker Mike Johnson, setting the stage for a high-stakes negotiation. This confrontation highlights painful choices about border security, taxpayer priorities, and the scope of federal authority. From a…

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, a royalist who favors Thailand’s politically powerful army, won the most seats in Sunday’s general elections and outmaneuvered his progressive rival. The election outcome handed Anutin Charnvirakul a clear advantage at the center of Thailand’s shifting political map. Voters in many parts of the country showed a preference for order and continuity over rapid upheaval, giving the royalist camp the leverage it needed to assemble partners. That dynamic will shape coalition talks and policy priorities in the months ahead. Observers from many perspectives are watching how balance will be struck between reformers and establishment forces. Anutin’s…

Families of jailed Venezuelan opposition figures gathered at a notorious Caracas prison to demand justice, while the situation highlights broader concerns about political repression and the rule of law under the current government. Dozens of relatives and friends of Venezuelan opposition leaders, human rights defenders and others detained for their political activities protested Saturday outside a notorious prison in the capital. The scene on the prison grounds was tense but orderly, with family members calling attention to legal irregularities and the lack of basic due process. Their presence put a spotlight on the men and women held for political reasons,…

Reporters say Representative Ilhan Omar’s husband, Timothy Mynett, saw his businesses jump from $51,000 to $30 million in a single year, and House Oversight Chair James Comer is demanding answers about where that money came from and what it paid for. The eye-popping rise in reported value has drawn scrutiny because the speed and scale of the increase are unusual for small professional ventures. When a spouse of a sitting member of Congress shows a multi-million-dollar leap in private holdings, it raises clear questions about influence, disclosure, and potential conflicts. For Republican overseers, this is about accountability and ensuring the…

The Olympic Winter Games are officially here, and Milano Cortina’s opening weekend delivers instant drama: spectacular ceremony, early mountain medals, and marquee names hitting the ice and snow The opening ceremony set a high bar with a mix of pageantry and precise timing that grabbed attention from the first beat. Spectators felt the energy shift from festival mode to full competition almost instantly. That momentum carried into the mountain events, where medals were decided in tight, tense runs. Alpine courses tested racers with variable snow and tricky gates, producing both predictable podiums and surprising upsets. Veterans found their rhythm while…

Allegations say Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass pushed edits to the official Palisades Fire after-action report, and the disputed changes have deepened questions about leadership, accountability, and public trust after a blaze that devastated thousands of homes and killed a dozen people. A new set of claims says Mayor Karen Bass secretly pressed for changes to the city’s after-action analysis of the Palisades Fire to soften criticism of the city and the Los Angeles Fire Department. The blaze leveled over 16,000 homes and structures, caused $150 billion in damages, and killed 12 people, and the official report was released in…

Democrats are withholding a Department of Homeland Security spending bill unless the Trump administration changes its immigration enforcement policies, and they want to carve out other funding from the package. House Republicans are facing a familiar standoff that could leave critical homeland programs unfunded. Democrats are insisting on policy changes to immigration enforcement as the price for approving the DHS funding bill, and they want the measure split so unrelated items can move separately. That approach risks gridlock and leaves border security caught in the middle of a political negotiation. On the ground at the border, federal personnel need predictable…

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman has donated more than $1.8 million to the Welcome PAC, funding Dem campaigns in competitive House races. Big-dollar political spending from Silicon Valley is not new, but this level of contribution deserves attention. When an individual with significant tech clout injects more than $1.8 million into a PAC aimed at House battlegrounds, it shifts the balance of attention and resources. Voters in those districts see more ads, more mail, and more narrative shaping from interests outside their communities. Welcome PAC functions as a vehicle to concentrate donations into competitive races where margins are tight. That makes…

The fight over federal spending and the cost of care is real, and getting practical fixes on the table means balancing fiscal discipline with market-based health reforms that help patients now. The current major problems of federal budget pressures and health care affordability for all consumers require action. Those twin challenges squeeze families, shrink opportunity, and put pressure on essential programs that millions depend on. Tackling both at once means making difficult choices and insisting on smarter policy, not just louder arguments. First, federal finances need a clear plan that reins in steady growth in entitlement spending while protecting core…