Russia is expected to lay off at least 40,000 government officials next year, according to a report by the Russian Kommersant newspaper. Russian President Vladimir Putin last month ordered regional branches of federal government agencies to cut staff by 10% by July, per the publication. The layoffs were believed to be planned for much earlier but were put on hold for several years due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Biden administration said on Tuesday that Israel made good but limited progress in increasing the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and that it therefore would not limit arms transfers to Israel as it threatened to do a month ago.  However, relief groups say conditions are worse than at any point in the 13-month-old war.  State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on Tuesday the progress to date must be supplemented and sustained but that “we at this time have not made an...

After several cycles of remarkable electoral luck and timing, three-term Pennsylvania Democratic senator Bob Casey Jr. finally met his match and was defeated by Republican businessman Dave McCormick. Only Casey refuses to admit it, claiming that uncounted provisional ballots could erase what currently stands as a 0.5 percentage-point lead of 33,000 votes for McCormick. This is beyond mere statistical improbability to the point of impossibility, given where the outstanding...

Republican senators will gather behind closed doors Wednesday to decide who will replace longtime Senate leader Mitch McConnell and lead their new majority next year — a decision that could shape the future of the Senate, and the party, as Donald Trump reclaims the presidency. South Dakota Sen. John Thune, Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Florida Sen. Rick Scott have been scrambling to win the most votes in the secret ballot election, promising a new direction in the ...

Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman said he would vote to confirm his colleague Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as secretary of State if selected by President-elect Trump.  “Unsurprisingly, the other team’s pick will have political differences than my own. That being said, my colleague @SenMarcoRubio is a strong choice and I look forward to voting for his confirmation,” Fetterman wrote in a Tuesday morning post on the social platform X.  The news of Trump’s expected...

Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election has raised concern among supporters of the country’s current foreign policy direction under the Biden administration, and brought hope to those interested in its transformation. The pressing question, resonating not only within American political circles, but also among Washington’s allies and adversaries worldwide, is how much change in US foreign policy can be expected from a new Republican administration. Many experts, drawing on...

Former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci received $15 million in taxpayer-funded security after his retirement in December 2022, documents obtained by Open the Books reveal. The protective detail, provided by the U.S. Marshals Service through an agreement with Health and Human Services, covered security services for Fauci from January 2023 through September 2024. The security arrangement, unprecedented for a former federal...

She had no time for her. The post Amy Winehouse, Dido, and the background music “to death” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

Why won’t anyone listen to my warning about the so-called miracle weight loss drugs? How many people will die? By Dr. Vernon Coleman A few weeks ago I published an article entitled […]