Author: Rana McCallister

Rescue teams worked around the clock in a prolonged effort to find a miner after a sudden inundation left him isolated underground, prompting an ongoing multi-day response and careful planning to manage extreme flooding and safety risks. Crews desperately continued removing massive amounts of water in an effort to locate a trapped worker inside a flooded coal mine in West Virginia as the work entered a fifth day Wednesday. Teams rotated shifts to keep pumps running and to monitor changing conditions inside and around the mine. Local and regional responders focused on stabilizing the site before any direct recovery attempt…

House Democrats released a cache of old emails this Wednesday that show Jeffrey Epstein attempting to connect President Trump to his sex trafficking network, a move that immediately raised political eyebrows and questions about motive and credibility. On Wednesday, House Democrats published a batch of emails that they say contain efforts by Jeffrey Epstein to implicate President Trump in his trafficking activities. The material is being circulated as evidence that Epstein sought to link powerful figures to his crimes, and Democrats are framing the release as a revelation. The timing and selection of documents have already prompted pushback from Republicans…

The shutdown fight exposed how federal subsidies flow through the Obamacare system, enriching insurance companies and feeding political donations, leaving taxpayers and patients with little benefit. The latest shutdown saga pulled back the curtain on how Obamacare’s money moves, and the picture is ugly from a Republican perspective. Rather than primarily helping patients, the subsidy structure now looks like a pipeline to big insurers and their donors. That dynamic has been hiding for years until budget brinkmanship forced attention on the mechanics and the money. Taxpayer-funded subsidies expanded during the COVID era have become permanent political leverage that benefits insurance…

Speaker Mike Johnson has called the House back into session after declining to convene during the recent shutdown, and now faces a flood of overdue legislative priorities and political pressure from all sides. Mike Johnson’s decision to recall lawmakers ends a brief but consequential pause in House activity and puts him squarely in charge of the next moves. Conservatives expect him to use that leverage to push priorities like spending restraint and border security. Moderates and vulnerable members will press for measures that avoid chaos for constituents. The recall is both a tactical reset and a test of Johnson’s command…

The BBC is reeling from an editing scandal that could cost the British broadcaster $1 billion and has already claimed two top executives. The story has triggered urgent reviews, public anger, and questions about who knew what and when. The revelations began with routine editorial checks that quickly snowballed into a corporate crisis. Investigations showed that altered footage and misleading edits were used in high-profile reporting, prompting immediate internal probes. Viewers and regulators alike demanded answers when the scope of manipulation became clear. Senior leaders moved to contain the damage, but two executives lost their jobs as pressure mounted. Those…

An account circulated that Barron Trump had a private date at Trump Tower which sparked a strange online rumor about the identity of his companion, and later fact-checks and statements from those involved pushed back hard on the claim. The story began when a report said an entire floor of Trump Tower was cleared to accommodate Barron and a guest, a detail that caught attention and set off a chain of speculation. That original note about a closed floor became the seed for a much more sensational claim that quickly spread on social platforms. Social media amplified the idea, and…

The administration instructed states to halt full food assistance payouts after Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson temporarily stayed a lower court ruling, triggering a legal and policy scramble over how benefits are delivered. The Trump administration told states to stop distributing full food assistance benefits after a Supreme Court action temporarily halted a lower court decision tied to those payments. The move immediately put state agencies in a difficult position, forced quick guidance from federal officials, and left families wondering what to expect. The dispute has become a test of legal authority and administrative control. The lower court had issued a…

Tuesday is Veterans Day. It also marks the anniversary of the end of fighting in World War I, once called the “war to end war.” This piece looks at what that day means today, how it grew from an armistice into a national observance, and why remembering veterans matters beyond parades and ceremonies. Tuesday is Veterans Day. The date traces back to Nov. 11, 1918, when the armistice halted the fighting that had ravaged Europe and much of the world. That moment carried a hopeful name for many, captured by the phrase “war to end war.” Over time, a quiet…

Sen. James Lankford is splitting from President Trump on the filibuster, and this piece examines that break, the stakes for Senate Republicans, the political logic behind defending the filibuster, and what the split means for party unity and strategy going forward. Sen. James Lankford is splitting from President Trump on the filibuster. That single line captures a moment that matters much more than a policy disagreement: it reveals growing fractures in Senate Republican ranks at a time when unity matters most. This article looks at the immediate fallout, the strategic choices on the table, and why conservatives should care about…

This piece covers the standoff over SNAP payments during a government shutdown, a federal judge’s order to fully fund benefits using Section 32 child nutrition money, the administration’s immediate response, and the legal arguments on both sides. This week the Trump administration said it would tap emergency resources to partially cover Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits while the federal government stayed closed. That pledge was intended as a stopgap to protect families during a funding lapse, but it ran into a court order from a Democrat-appointed judge demanding full payments. The clash set up an immediate legal and political fight…