LIVE COVERAGE
Whoosh And They're Gone
Well that was fun. In last week's welcome bit of comic relief, we got the vapid rise and rapid fall - despite requisite blonde hair, faux smile and passing resemblance to Ivanka - of "manifestly unqualified" Barbie News Reader and fake Chinese lawyer Katie Zacharia after a brutal debut. So much for MAGA meritocracy. SAD! Zacharia set a new speed record - half a Mooch - in a job akin to Spinal Tap drummer. But the question remains: When will the incompetent male dolts get fired?
While by far not the most substantive Trump blunder, it was one of the most cringeworthy, exposing (again) the profound ineptitude of his shambolic rule just before voters go to the polls to render judgment on it. In less than a week, Zacharia managed to get plucked from right-wing obscurity, be "shoehorned" into a job far beyond her skillset, humiliate herself before millions, go on Fox and stammeringly fail to redeem herself, and get fired by a capricious, perennial loser who got famous fake-firing people on TV and now daily exposes his own clownish unfitness for his job. One astute observer: "I'm starting to think this Donald guy might not have any idea what he's doing."
Born Kate Sharon Black in 1984, Zacharia grew up in California in the "liberal cesspool” of Cambria; she was the conservative “black sheep” of her family "thanks to the great, late Rush Limbaugh, who raised me as a kid on the radio." Describing a clash with woke patrons of her "cardio kickboxing gym," she said the owner once asked her not to wear her "Trump 2024" hat but "I would never take my Trump hat off to appease the left." A Pizzagate, Qanon and Stop the Steal buff, she was a "huge fan of ICE and Border Patrol" who briefly worked for Kristi Noem and a commentator for right-wing TV before being spotted by Trump, maybe because she scheduled her gigs when she thought he'd be watching. Totally normal.
Officials looking to replace Karoline Leavitt had reportedly narrowed down the list of candidates "only to find that (they'd) said something negative about (Trump)," which of course wouldn't do for the fragile toddler. Thus did uber-obsequious, ringlet-bottle-blonde "lizard person" Zacharia take to the podium, blare "Good morning!!" in a sing-songy screech, and stumble through a smiley, halting, inflection-challenged briefing about Trump's "historic one-day war," "attendance at record highs as enthusiastic hardworking Americans are lining up and packing arenas," a "booming economy....and a, um, he, great relationship...with Venezuela...um, and...my president, excuse me, my husband, that's a good one..." Not.
After the one question on Ukraine, and the famous, “I’ll have to get back to you on that,” it was over. 14 minutes, or forever in bimbo time. It got worse. The oft-repeated claims of being a lawyer when she’d failed the bar - weirdly, thanks Hannity - and of working in China on “international transaction law” when she was basically a paid intern. The verdict: "A train wreck," "a joke hire," "talk about a public execution," "between the 3rd-grade level reading and the fake attorney in China thing, brutal." Anti-DEI,.scandal-plagued Rick Santorum's glowing review: She was "not even close to the worst." Trump's lazy excuse: "I told her, 'If I were you, I'd reconsider.'" Fox: She's "transitioning" out of the job she held for 14 minutes.
It was a made-for-the-Internet spectacle. The White House declared, "She’ll be remembered as one of the all-time greats." America proclaimed, "She's gonna be a punchline for a very long time." Democratic strategist Mike Nellis clarified, "She wasn't fired because she lied,” a Trump requisite, but because "she was a bad liar." Another requisite: Michael Steele mused no more "blonde white female pronouncing his noise in a way that makes him feel good.” Some selfishly mourned the loss: "Please let her last long enough to hold a second briefing - I need the joy." Some empathized with SNL writers stuck with Friday night rewrites. Some were shocked: "I can't believe her husband, I mean president, fired her."
Though no press secretary really matters because Trump daily lies, veers, makes things up, some speculated on the next one: Scott Jennings, Katie Miller, Melissa McCarthy doing Sean Spicer. The Borowitz Report announced it's George Santos, who was "thrilled...I will bring to this job my experience not only as a lawyer but as a doctor and astronaut.” Also, he was cutting short his reunion tour "with his fellow Beatles." Some noted Zacharia "was press secretary longer than she was a lawyer." Others asserted they'd had blueberries, bananas, takeout and lettuce in their fridge longer than she had her job. Also that the U.K's Liz Truss lasted longer, as did the head of lettuce that often competed with her.
Some mulled Zacharia's future: "Next: memoir and book tour," "Now she can go back to studying for the bar, or at least its cocktail menu," "She is leaving 'to spend more time with my children, who will teach me how to read.'" A guy met her years ago on a cruise ship: She was telling a friend she'd partied the night before and slept in. They told her she'd missed them crossing the equator that morning. She said, "Oh, what did it look like?" Some waxed lyrical: "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the Days of Our Lives." Some lamented inflation: "I remember when you could get a few months of work out of a press secretary. Now they're like those new batteries - they look like they'll last but whoosh and they're gone."
In honor of her historic reign, Wikipedia’s “List Of Humorous Units Of Measurement” was updated to include the “Zacharia,” a “fractional unit of a Scaramucci,” the previous record for Anthony Scaramucci's 11 days as press secretary in Trump's first term. The change prompted heated debate, pained mathematical equations, admiration: "Nobody thought anything could go faster than the speed of Mooch, but here we are." There were questions - Are Mooches a metric system? Would that be 45 centi-Mooches? - and answers: "They convert at a 5/11 ratio." Talk turned existential: "A Scaramucci was a measure of time. A Zacharia is more ethereal, a measure of being, a disconnect between one’s story and one's purpose...Beautiful really."
And there was anger Zacharia got fired but Trump's still here, that the media and GOP have let him "get away with LYING ABOUT EVERY GODDAMNED THING...from 2015 SPOUTING THAT OBAMA BIRTH CERTIFICATE SHIT AND EVERY OTHER FUCKING LIE HE’S TOLD SINCE." And, in the last few months, that half of eight female officials have resigned or been fired, all replaced by men. That consistently inept, unhinged, corrupt, sick idiots like Hegseth, Patel, Lutnick, Goebbels, Vance etc lie, cheat, rave, royally screw up yet keep their jobs. What the fuck. Meanwhile Zacharia, still sketchy, posts altered photos from the Oval Office and declares the guy who threw her under the bus "kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic and hard-working...No one will ever make America great the way he has and continues to." Damn, we hope not.
Helpful Press Secretary conversion table.Image from Bluesky
As Biodiversity Summit Begins, 'Systems That Sustain Life on Earth Are Under Threat'
Four years after world leaders agreed to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, representatives from nearly 200 nations gathered in the Armenian capital on Monday for a summit to review progress on the agreement and discuss future actions to protect nature.
In the lead-up to the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) in Yerevan, the United Nations Environment Program released a "State of Biodiversity Action" report. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that the framework "has inspired action across the globe," with nearly 90% of parties establishing national targets, but "progress is uneven, and far too slow."
The framework—sometimes called the "Paris Agreement for Nature"—features 23 targets for 2030 and four for 2050. The world isn't on track to meet any of them, including its key goal to protect 30% of all land and water by the end of this decade. Guterres noted that "even if current national commitments are met, only 26% of terrestrial and 12% of marine ecosystems would be protected" on that timeline.
The Guardian pointed out that "the last biodiversity summit, COP16 in Cali, Colombia, ended in disarray with no clear agreement on key topics after negotiations ran out of time. Another round of talks were needed in Rome to finish the meeting."
Agence France-Presse reported Monday that "only a handful of world leaders, including UN chief Antonio Guterres but mostly heads of state from nearby Central Asian nations, turned up for a high-level session on Friday ahead of the formal negotiations."
Armenian Environment Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan, who is presiding over the summit, told AFP that success "will not be measured simply by the number of participants, high-level statements, or decisions adopted," but whether nations actually take action. He added at the opening session that "over the next two weeks, our task will be to bridge the differences, build consensus, and ensure that COP17... deliver[s] results commensurate with the urgency of the challenges before us."
Those who are participating in the summit and parties to the convention face pressure from conservation leaders, including Jeffrey Parrish, the Nature Conservancy's global managing director for nature protection, who declared that "our planet is in peril. The biodiversity that sustains us is being lost faster than ever, and ecosystems that fuel our health and economies are fraying."
Parrish called on those in Yerevan to turn the review process "into an acceleration agenda" to boost progress on the 2030 goals, "transform our financial systems" to mobilize investment at the necessary scale, "integrate biodiversity into infrastructure and development decision-making," and "strengthen policy frameworks to deliver durable, area-based conservation outcomes."
Nature COP17 starts today, with governments gathering to assess progress towards restoring nature The target to protect 30% of land for nature by 2030 seems within reach, but ‘paper parks’ won’t cut it - eg just 7% of England is *properly* protected for naturewww.theguardian.com/environment/...
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— Guy Shrubsole (@guyshrubsole.bsky.social) October 19, 2026 at 3:34 AM
An Lambrechts, head of advocacy group Greenpeace's delegation to the summit, said in a statement that "we're halfway to 2030 and the evidence is clear: We are far off track to reach the 30×30 targets. The systems that sustain life on Earth are under threat, and decisions made at COP17 must deliver a clear course correction to protect our planet's ecosystems."
"This COP can't become a mere entry in a vast log of destruction," she argued. "Governments need to agree on concrete actions that tackle the drivers of biodiversity loss, increase finance, and redirect money flows to where they are needed. But decisions in Yerevan will only matter if governments follow through at home. They cannot continue promising to protect nature while supporting its destruction through harmful subsidies and incoherent policies. Any more delay is a threat to our survival on the planet."
Nichanan Tanthanawit, global project lead for Greenpeace's Ocean Justice Campaign, stressed that "protecting 30% of the planet by 2030 is not just a numerical target. Our ambition must be centered around justice, equity, and those who protect nature. Indigenous Peoples and local communities have cared for these lands and waters for generations, yet their knowledge, rights, and leadership are still too often overlooked."
Camila Jardim, an international political expert at Greenpeace Brazil, highlighted how biodiversity concerns connect to the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis—which world leaders have also failed to adequately address, despite scientists' warnings.
"The world is moving towards a looming 1.5ºC overshoot and the sixth mass extinction, with the human-caused climate and biodiversity crises already severely impacting people all over the world," Jardim said, referring to the Paris Agreement's temperature rise target for this century. "Those are not separate issues, but pieces of the same puzzle, and action is more urgent than ever."
"Governments can make the most impact with aligned policies to address both crises... together, with clear actions for the short, medium and long term," she continued. "This is especially critical for primary forests, which are essential for both climate stability and biodiversity protection, and the Brazil-led roadmap to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation by 2030 offers a real opportunity for strengthening synergies between conventions. Protection means tackling not only deforestation but also degradation, and ensuring that climate and biodiversity commitments reinforce each other rather than pull in different directions."
Europe can’t lead on nature at COP17 while cutting biodiversity cash at home
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— euobserver — EU news that matters (@euobserver.com) October 18, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Also attentive to the talks in Armenia on Monday, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released recommendations and guidance on how to incorporate ecological integrity—or "how closely an ecosystem’s species, structure, functions, and ecological processes remain within their natural range of variation"—into relevant policies and practices.
"The world has made ambitious commitments to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, but success cannot be measured by simply counting the number of conservation areas established, the species protected, or the amount of land and water conserved," said John G. Robinson, a Wildlife Conservation Society scientist who co-chairs the IUCN Task Force on Ecological Integrity.
"The real test is whether natural ecosystems—forests, grasslands, freshwater systems, and oceans—are maintaining or recovering the ecological integrity needed to sustain life," Robinson explained. "Do these places continue to support healthy wildlife populations, functioning ecosystems, and the natural processes that make life possible? By focusing on ecological integrity, we can make conservation more effective, and governments can be more accountable for results."
GOP Operatives 'Taken Aback' as Rural Voters Blame Billionaires for Economic Woes: Report
Rural voters who have long been the Republican Party's core base are expressing major discontent with the current state of the US economy, which has been hurt by President Donald Trump's tariffs and his illegal war with Iran.
While it's not clear that rural voters are ready to abandon the GOP to support Democrats, a recent focus group showed they appear receptive to populist economic appeals.
According to a Sunday CNN report, Republican operatives were recently "taken aback" when they spoke with rural voters who blamed "billionaires" and "corrupt politicians" for the country's economic woes.
These operatives were surprised, CNN wrote, because they had "never seen government corruption emerge as a top issue for so many Republican voters in congressional races."
This comes as Republicans across the country have increasingly come to rely on contributions from billionaires, and in particular SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has funneled at least $276 million to GOP groups and his own super political action committee (PAC) since July alone.
Democrat Sam Forstag, who is making a populist economic pitch in his campaign in Montana's 1st Congressional District, told CNN that voters' concerns about corruption are now "all out in the open," and he said many of Trump's current political troubles stem from his broken promises to fix a rigged system.
"Trump told everybody one singular truth," said Forstag. "He said the system is broken... and unfortunately, it turned out that he was lying about all the ways they were going to fix these things."
Forstag's comments were echoed by Arthur Ray Lambert, a Colorado horse trainer who explained his disappointment with Trump in an interview published by The New York Times on Sunday.
"We thought that the president was going to come in with his team and fix stuff," Lambert said. "And at first, he sounded good. But now, I hate to say it, but I think it’s time for him and his team to get out of there and somebody else come in."
Joseph Kennedy, a Colorado cattle and sheep farmer, told the Times he felt "bamboozled" after voting for Trump, and would instead sit out the upcoming election.
"I’m over politics," Kennedy explained. "I’ve dropped out."
Journalist Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, in a story published by The Atlantic last week, wrote that residents she spoke with recently in rural Arizona are both disappointed with Trump's economy and disgusted by political corruption.
"Almost all told me they are angry about Trump’s decisions to start a war and spend hundreds of millions of dollars ornamenting a capital city they will never see," Sanchez wrote. "They lamented the corruption they see as endemic in the government and in large corporations, and denounced billionaires, whom they view as capitalizing on their pain."
A Fox News poll released last week found that 60% of voters say they are “extremely concerned” about government corruption, which is higher than the 58% who are extremely concerned about inflation and the 50% who are extremely concerned about gas prices.
Judge Blocks Error-Riddled Effort by Trump DHS to Crack Down on Vanishingly Rare Voting by Noncitizens
A federal judge in California ruled late Wednesday that the US Department of Homeland Security has violated the Voting Rights Act by sending agents door-to-door and demanding information from people about their immigration status and whether they've voted in recent elections—part of President Donald Trump's perennial effort to prove the baseless claim that noncitizens are committing mass voter fraud to secure Democratic victories.
In the US District Court of the Northern District of California, District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin ordered federal agents to end their "elections-related field operations and field interviews" in nine states, including California, New York, Missouri, Connecticut, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.
DHS can no longer carry out the operations if they are likely to involve interrogations of people whom agency officials "know, suspect, or should reasonably know or suspect are US citizens," said the judge.
Because the Trump administration has been turned away by state and local agencies when officials have demanded access to voter data, DHS has been forced to compile its lists of targets using commercially available information and comparing it with federal records.
That method has resulted in target lists that are "voluminous and unreliable," wrote Martinez-Olguin.
In Nevada last month, for example, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin asserted that his agency had determined there were close to 16,000 noncitizens on the state voter rolls. DHS sent the state a list of 185 people from that list, whom it claimed had been improperly permitted to register to vote.
But a deputy attorney general for the state tersely informed Mullin that records indicated all 185 people DHS was targeting were citizens.
“You have provided nothing of substance to suggest otherwise," he wrote.
Martinez-Olguin suggested she would not tolerate more large-scale errors that threaten the voting rights of thousands of Americans, and said the Trump administration's so-called "Unlawful Voter Initiative" violates a section of the Voting Rights Act that makes it illegal to "intimidate, threaten, or coerce" people and groups that contribute to voter mobilization efforts or assist with voting.
"Plaintiffs do not claim, nor does the court find, that it is unlawful for federal officials to undertake investigations into unlawful voting in federal elections," the judge said in her ruling. "Rather, plaintiffs seek to stop DHS from continuing to investigate US citizens, who have a legal right to vote, in a way that intimidates and threatens the participation" of National Nurses United and California Nurses Association, which have been involved in voter mobilization and sued DHS over its policy.
Martinez-Olguin added that "the public’s interest in safe elections, free from interference or intimidation... far exceed defendants’ purported interest in combating unlawful voting by non-US citizens.”
The Department of Justice has indicated that a tiny fraction of registered voters in the US—156 people—have been charged with offenses related to "voter fraud," despite Trump's claims that voting by noncitizens, which is illegal, is rampant in the US.
In California, federal authorities this week said they had identified 28 immigrants who were suspected of voting before they became naturalized citizens. They all denied knowingly registering to vote or voting, and the group represented about 0.0001% of registered voters in California.
"It was clear from the start that DHS built its lists on bad data, never checked how often it was wrong, and recklessly sent agents to people's homes weeks before an election," Beau Tremitiere, counsel at Protect Democracy, which also sued over the policy, told CBS News. "Today's ruling should remind us that American citizens hold the ultimate power in our democracy, not the government—no matter what the administration says otherwise."
'Historic Day': New Mexico Judge Orders Meta to Pay $25 Billion in Data Privacy Case
A New Mexico judge on Wednesday ordered Meta to pay $25 billion for misleading users about data privacy—and while state Attorney General Raúl Torrez's office touted it as "one of the largest financial penalties against a corporation in US history," it's also just a fraction of the $219.5 billion warranted under the law.
The case stems from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, over which New Mexico sued in 2021. The New York Times reported that the order from Judge Francis J. Mathew of the State District Court in Santa Fe "is the biggest blow yet to Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, as it has racked up court losses over the harms that its social media platforms have caused users."
Reuters noted that "in 2019, the company was hit with a $5 billion penalty by the US Federal Trade Commission stemming from the same scandal. Six other states settled their lawsuits related to Cambridge Analytica for $459.2 million as part of a $17.1 billion multistate settlement Meta reached in August to resolve states' claims that the company's platforms had harmed teen mental health."
However, Torrez's state wasn't part of that settlement—and last month, a jury found that Meta had committed over 43 million violations of the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act.
That led to the order in which Mathew wrote that "the extraordinary number of willful violations found by the jury, the duration and repetition of the conduct, the breadth of subjects on which violations occurred, the involvement of senior Facebook leadership, the size of New Mexico audiences reached, and the clear intentional and systematic nature of Facebook's repeated misstatements established in the trial record support the highest level of penalty allowed by the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act—$5,000 per violation found by the jury."
Although the judge ultimately reduced the penalty to just over 11% of what Meta could have faced, the tech giant is still trying to dodge it. Chief legal officer CJ Mahoney said in a statement that the company is "confident" that it will "prevail on appeal."
"This ruling, and the attorney general’s approach to this enforcement, makes it all but impossible to do business in the state of New Mexico," Mahoney said. "At its core, this lawsuit seeks to impose a tax on speech to enforce new rules for what people can say online."
Meanwhile, Torrez celebrated "a historic day for New Mexico and for consumers across the country."
"For too long, powerful technology companies have operated as though their size and influence put them beyond the reach of the law," the attorney general said. "A New Mexico jury found nearly 44 million violations of our consumer protection statute, and this penalty order demonstrates that those violations carry real consequences. We took on one of the largest companies in the world because New Mexicans deserve honesty, accountability, and the protection of their personal information. Today’s result makes clear that no corporation is too powerful to be held accountable."
"This case has always been about more than one company or one scandal,” Torrez stressed. "It is about whether corporations can mislead consumers about what happens to their personal information without facing meaningful consequences. New Mexico stood its ground, took this case to trial, and secured a verdict establishing millions of violations of our law. This outcome reinforces a fundamental principle, companies that do business in our state must follow our laws and respect the rights of our people."
It isn't Torrez's first victory against Meta. In August, Judge Bryan Biedscheid of the State District Court in Santa Fe tacked on $567 million in damages for a state case in which the company already faced $375 million in civil penalties for enabling harm to youth.
'Monstrous': Netanyahu Casts Doubt on Filmed Israeli Settler Attack of American Journalist
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced blistering criticism Friday after his office published a statement casting doubt on the circumstances surrounding a brutal attack earlier in the day by settlers in the illegally occupied West Bank that left an American journalist hospitalized.
"The facts surrounding the confrontation near Abu Falah, during which Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was allegedly assaulted, remain unclear and are under investigation," Netanyahu's office said on social media.
As Common Dreams reported, Levine—a 63-year-old Jewish American by birth who has reported from war zones including Afghanistan, Kosovo, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, and Syria—was covering Palestinian farmers desperately trying to harvest their olives when around 80 masked settler colonists descended upon them.
Armed with rocks, clubs, sticks, assault rifles, and the self-assured belief that their deity figure promised them all the land that was once ruled by Jewish kings millennia ago, the settlers set fire to the olive trees that are the backbone of Palestine's rural economy and a literal symbol of Palestinians' rootedness in their homeland.
The assailants fired guns and threw rocks at the olive harvesters, reportedly wounding at least two Palestinians. While documenting the attack, Levine—who, like other journalists killed or wounded by Israel, was clad in a helmet and a blue vest clearly marked "PRESS"—was set upon by settlers, knocked to the ground, and kicked dozens of times while her equipment was stolen.
"Israel unequivocally condemns violence against anyone—Jews, Arabs, Christians, or journalists," Netanyahu's office claimed. "Those responsible will be held accountable."
"But serious questions remain," the statement continued. "Reports indicate some 200 Arabs and far-left activists confronted approximately 40 Israeli youths. Footage shows masked individuals on both sides hurling objects, amid reports of fireworks fired at Jewish youths. Other footage appears to show Levine knocked down and immediately helped to her feet by the same unidentified individual."
"The investigation must establish the facts, including who initiated the violence," the office added. "We will not allow disputed incidents to be exploited to demonize the hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Jewish residents."
The colonization of the occupied Palestinian territories by Jewish settlers—many of them non-Israelis who are availing themselves of the ethnosupremacist and apartheid policy of allowing any Jew to live in a land whose Palestinian inhabitants have been ethnically cleansed from it for nearly 80 years—is inherently illegal under international law.
Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray pushed back on Netanyahu's statement on social media, saying: "To be clear: Some facts are neither in dispute nor unclear. Our photographer was clearly marked as press. She was clearly beaten. These are not partisan or risible statements, but indisputable. We urge a thorough investigation and accountability."
International observers also criticized Netanyahu's statement.
"They are actually trying to justify an American WaPo journalist being severely beaten by a mob of settler terrorists," US commentator Krystal Ball said on social media, using the syllabic abbreviation for the Post.
Irish journalist Barry Malone responded to Netanyahu's post on X, saying: "Hi. There's video. It's clear."
US physician Amira Dalton said, "Israel lies and then calls you an antisemite for calling out their lies."
The X account Israel Exposed, which has more than 400,000 followers, sardonically asked, "You mean the footage of the Israeli terrorists beating her up isn't clear enough?"
The Israeli veterans' group Breaking the Silence said that "you can see the settlers who attacked Heidi Levine, a journalist for The Washington Post. But what you can’t see is the state behind them: a state that funds them, arms them, and, above all, grants them near-total impunity for their actions. This violence does not happen in a vacuum. Israel enables it."
While Lt. Col. Ariella Mazor, chief international spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, claimed the military had sent battalions to the West Bank to contain the outbreak of violence, eyewitnesses said the IDF was involved in the attack on Abu Falah.
“The army did nothing to stop the settlers," Israeli journalist Oren Ziv, who was present during the attack, told The Washington Post.
That's because Israel's far-right government is unapologetically seeking to "finish the job of 1948," as Netanyahu once put it—a reference to the ethnic cleansing of more than 750,000 Palestinians during the creation of the modern Israeli state—and take all of Palestine.
"The entire land is ours," Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said earlier this month, in the lead-up to Israel's October 27 elections."This is our country."
Last month, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich vowed to do in the West Bank "what we did in Gaza," where three years of genocidal annihilation have left more than 250,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, nearly 2 million people forcibly displaced, and an estimated 70% of the territory under Israeli control.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 1,138 Palestinians—at least 250 of them children—have been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank since October 2023.
At least nine Americans have been killed by Israeli settlers and security forces in the West Bank since January 2022, including journalists, human rights activists, and Palestinian Americans visiting relatives.
Despite claims by Israel that perpetrators of such attacks will be held accountable, impunity is the general rule.
“Sadly, none of them will be prosecuted,” Levine said of her attackers. “I am sure of it.”
Multiple US senators demanded that Israel bring Levin's assailants to justice.
"The continued lack of accountability for settler violence in the West Bank has allowed attacks on innocent people, including multiple Americans, to go unanswered, and it is eroding what should be a strong alliance between the US and Israel," Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) said on social media. "Prime Minister Netanyahu isn't doing nearly enough to stop the violence."
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) also took to social media after Friday's attack, writing, "Today, another American citizen and journalist was brutalized by Israeli settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank."
"This repeated violence and brazen impunity for attacks against Americans and Palestinians alike are unacceptable," he added. "When will [President Donald] Trump and [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio DO SOMETHING?"
Largest US Corporations Paid Lowest-Ever Tax Rate in 2025 Thanks to Trump and GOP: Study
"At a time when lawmakers claim the country cannot afford investments in families and communities, some of the most profitable corporations in American history are paying little or nothing in federal income taxes."
Some of the biggest US corporations paid an effective federal income tax rate of just 10.4% last year as Republican legislation passed by President Donald Trump disproportionately benefited businesses and the superrich while eviscerating key social programs, a study published Thursday revealed.
The 706 corporations examined by the Washington, DC-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) reported a combined $1.88 trillion in US profits in 2025, yet paid less than half the statutory federal corporate income tax rate of 21%. Of those companies, the study found that 114 paid no federal income taxes at all.
Those 706 companies collectively paid current federal corporate income taxes equal to just 10.4% of that $1.88 trillion, "the lowest effective rate that ITEP has uncovered in over 40 years of analyzing corporate income taxes," according to the analysis.
The study attributes this to two major tax laws enacted under Trump: The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—derided at the time as the "GOP Tax Scam"—slashed the statutory corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, while the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by the Republican-controlled Congress and signed by the president last year expanded and made permanent the 2017 cuts.
NEW: U.S. corporations are paying the lowest tax rate seen in decades.706 major corporations collectively paid a federal income tax rate of just 10.4%, less than half the statutory rate.114 corporations paid zero.itep.org/corporate-ta...
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— ITEP (@itep.org) October 22, 2026 at 8:30 AM
"These findings show just how dramatically the corporate tax system has been tilted in favor of the nation’s wealthiest and most powerful companies,” ITEP senior fellow Matt Gardner, who co-authored the report, said in a statement.
“At a time when lawmakers claim the country cannot afford investments in families and communities, some of the most profitable corporations in American history are paying little or nothing in federal income taxes," he added. "This is not an accident. It is the predictable outcome of deliberate policy choices that have steadily eroded the corporate tax base."
Among the report's key findings:
- The 114 companies that paid no current federal income tax last year include Tesla, Walt Disney, CVS, Citigroup, United Airlines, and DoorDash;
- 258 corporations paid effective tax rates below 7%, or less than one-third of the statutory rate;
- Those 258 companies reported $683 billion in US profits but paid an effective federal income tax rate of just 1.7%;
- The 706 corporations studied received $198 billion in federal tax subsidies by paying less than the statutory 21% rate;
- They also benefited from an additional $263 billion in tax savings attributable to the 2017 reduction of the statutory rate from 35% to 21%; and
- Just 25 corporations accounted for more than half of the 2025 tax subsidies, with Alphabet ($18.9 billion), Microsoft ($18.7 billion), Amazon ($17.4 billion), and Meta ($13.9 billion) among the largest beneficiaries.
“Congress has repeatedly chosen to expand tax breaks for corporations that are already extraordinarily profitable,” said Steve Wamhoff, ITEP's federal policy director and co-author of the report. “Rather than continuing to subsidize corporate investments and reward aggressive tax avoidance, lawmakers should close these loopholes and ensure that large corporations pay a meaningful share of their profits in taxes.”
Meet the Corporations Funding Ramaswamy's Vicious Attack Ad on Acton
Corporate PACs for Bank of America, Deloitte, Kroger, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and others have donated to the campaign fund running the ad, which has been criticized for exploiting Acton's history of sexual abuse.
Republican Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign is spending millions in the final weeks of his bid for Ohio governor to run an attack ad that has been criticized for exploiting his opponent Amy Acton's history of sexual abuse. The campaign is being funded by some of Ohio's and the nation's most powerful corporations and executives.
The ad, which emerged earlier this week, features Acton's estranged mother, Donna Arthur, accusing her daughter of lying about her experiences of homelessness as a child, including living in a tent. Acton, now 60, said she hasn't spoken to Arthur since 1978, when she was removed from the household after accusing her stepfather of sexually abusing her from ages 10 to 12.
Acton's brother has backed up her account, noting that their mother skipped town with Acton's stepfather after he was arrested and charged, and stayed with him until the day he died.
Acton, the former head of the Ohio Department of Health, had described her history of abuse and poverty for years before running for governor. Court records from the time have corroborated many aspects of the siblings' account, showing that she lived in a tent with her family near Youngstown. Her stepfather was also charged with incest in 1974 for allegedly raping his eldest daughter.
Observers have panned the ad as "disgusting." On Thursday, Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called the ad "just wrong" and said it should be taken down. With support from President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, however, Ramaswamy's campaign is doubling down on the message and is spending $4 million to blast the ad across the airwaves in the Buckeye State.
The ad is being funded by Vivek for Ohio, a campaign fund backed in part by dozens of major corporate political action committees (PACs) and executives, according to a review of campaign finance documents published Thursday by Popular Information.
Vivek for Ohio is funded by corporate PACs for Bank of America, Deloitte, Kroger, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Duke Energy, Charter Communications, Centene, Giant Eagle, PNC, US Bank, and BakerHostetler.
The corporate PACs for Huntington Bank, Nationwide, and NetJets also contributed to the campaign, along with their CEOs, Steve Steinour, Kirt Walker, and Adam Johnson, respectively.
Several individual executives and sports owners also contributed to Ramaswamy's campaign: DraftKings CEO Jason Robins; Rocket Companies founder Dan Gilbert; Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown; Cincinnati Reds owner Bob Castellini; Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam; and Haslam Sports Group president Dave Jenkins.
Popular Information said it contacted the companies to ask whether they believed the ad was acceptable. DraftKings declined to comment, and the others did not respond.
Big Tech Has Become the 'Ubiquitous Villain' of the 2026 Midterms
"Trump and his anti-AI regulation posture is dragging the party to a politically suicidal place," said one Democratic strategist.
American voters' antipathy toward Big Tech companies has become a central theme of campaigns in the 2026 midterm elections, according to an analysis published by The Guardian on Thursday.
The Guardian noted that hundreds of midterm campaign ads attacking data centers have aired over the past two months, with both Republicans and Democrats accusing one another of being pawns of the artificial intelligence industry.
"And it’s not only data centers," The Guardian added. "The public anxiety over AI and distaste for the billionaires developing it, as well as backlash over encroaching tech like surveillance cameras, has turned the tech industry into a ubiquitous villain this election cycle."
Silicon Valley has become a punching bag for politicians even as Big Tech moguls have been throwing record sums of money to elect politicians sympathetic to their needs.
Super political action committees (PACs) "funded by tech billionaires are among the top spenders in this election cycle," The Guardian explained. "Leading the Future, formed by OpenAI president Greg Brockman and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, has raised more than $75 million to back tech-friendly candidates. [SpaceX CEO] Elon Musk has sunk $366 million into Republican causes, more than he spent on the 2024 presidential election."
Much of the Big Tech money has been going toward Republican candidates this cycle, even though the industry has traditionally had close ties with elected Democrats.
Texas Democratic US Senate candidate James Talarico in recent days has been trying to turn Big Tech money being spent against him into an advantage, highlighting in particular the outsize role that Musk is playing funding the campaign of his Republican rival, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
After Musk on Wednesday used his platform X to declare that "there is something deeply wrong with Talarico," the Texas Democrat quickly returned fire.
"There is something deeply wrong with a political system," Talarico wrote, "that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal US senator."
A report published by The Atlantic on Monday examined how the tech industry's embrace of President Donald Trump during his second term has given Democrats an incentive to pummel the industry, particularly when polls show a bipartisan hostility to AI data centers.
In fact, Democratic strategists told The Atlantic that data centers have proven to be a top wedge issue capable of getting normally loyal GOP voters to think twice before voting for a Republican candidate.
"Trump and his anti-AI regulation posture is dragging the party to a politically suicidal place,” Democratic strategist Rob Flaherty told The Atlantic. "They are grabbing the wrong side of an 80–20 issue at exactly the wrong time."
Democratic strategists started pushing the party to take a more populist approach toward the tech industry when polling data "showed surprising concern about AI" even in traditionally conservative rural districts, The Atlantic reported.
Rishi Bharwani, US director of tech regulation advocacy group Reset Tech, said much has changed since Democrats under former President Barack Obama embraced the industry as a positive force for society.
“What we all experienced was a ton of growth in the tech sector, the creation of numerous new billionaires, and even the world’s first trillionaire," said Bharwani, "and a bunch of working families basically recognizing that they’re not sharing. These tech companies are actually undermining their economic security and their safety."
From Bad to Catastrophic: Report Details How Trump's GOP 'Taking This Country Backward' on Healthcare
A new report warns that President Donald Trump and the GOP's assault on key healthcare programs is set to push up the number of uninsured people to 37 million—a level not seen in more than a decade.
A comprehensive report on the state of the for-profit US healthcare system published Thursday shows that President Donald Trump and the Republican Party's assault on Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act is on track to reverse more than a decade of progress on expanding insurance coverage, fueling a worsening medical debt crisis and forcing millions to delay or forgo treatment.
The Commonwealth Fund's annual status report on the American health insurance system notes that the uninsured rate for working-age US adults rose from 8.9% in 2024 to 11.2% this year, as the Trump-GOP cuts to Medicaid and their refusal to extend enhanced ACA subsidies pushed millions off their coverage. The report emphasizes that the worst is yet to come, given that many of the Medicaid cuts included in the 2025 Trump-GOP budget law—including punitive new work reporting requirements—have not taken effect nationwide.
"The combined effects of these changes are expected to drive the number of uninsured people to 37 million by 2036—about the same as in 2014, when most of the ACA’s changes took effect," the report observes. "At the same time, rapid growth in health costs is making both insurance and care even less affordable—and contributing to medical debt—for Americans across the country."
Looking beyond just the uninsured rate, the Commonwealth Fund report shows that nearly half of working-age adults were "inadequately insured" this year due to a coverage gap or unaffordable plans. Around 30% of US adults reported having medical debt, according to the new report.
"Unlike peer countries, the US does not guarantee adequate health insurance for all its residents," the report states. "Our survey findings show just how detrimental a lack of continuous coverage and high out-of-pocket costs are to people’s ability to afford care and maintain their health—without going into debt."
The report comes as Americans casting their ballots in the November 3 midterm elections identify healthcare as a key issue amid a broader affordability crisis that Trump has repeatedly dismissed as a "hoax" perpetrated by his political opponents.
According to the Commonwealth Fund's survey, 73% of US adults "believe the federal government has a responsibility to ensure all Americans have coverage, including 45% of Republicans, 93% of Democrats, and 76% of independents." That finding is consistent with an earlier poll from the health policy group KFF showing that two-thirds of the American public has a favorable view of Medicare for All.
Trump has publicly and misleadingly attacked Medicare for All while insisting—without providing any specifics—that he intends to pass "a truly great healthcare plan" if the GOP retains control of Congress next month.
Trump has also touted small, one-time healthcare rebate checks that his administration has sent out to some Americans ahead of the midterms. The checks pale in comparison to the healthcare cost increases facing tens of millions of Americans.
Leslie Dach, chair of the advocacy group Protect Our Care, said in response to the Commonwealth Fund report that "Trump and Republicans are taking this country backward."
"Families are facing skyrocketing premiums, mounting medical bills, and going without coverage altogether," said Dach. "They’re being forced to put off seeing a doctor, skip prescriptions, or gamble with their health because they can’t afford care. And it’s only going to get worse as millions more Americans are expected to lose their health insurance as the full force of Republican cuts takes hold."
"This is a damning report on Donald Trump and Republicans’ healthcare agenda, which is making it harder to afford and access care for working families across the country," Dach added. "The only way to fix this is through the choices that Americans make in November.”
The Commonwealth Fund report came as KFF found that American workers now pay around $7,470 per year on average for employer-sponsored family health coverage—an increase of 9% compared to 2025.
“We have been hearing a lot about Affordable Care Act and Medicaid cuts," said KFF president and CEO Drew Altman. "Now add a 9% increase in what workers with employer coverage paid toward family premiums in 2026 to the reasons voters are so concerned about their healthcare costs."
‘This Is Assault’: Utah Woman Speaks Out After Cop Body Slammed Her at Data Center Protest
“I have a habit of talking at data center meetings. But never have I been met with such excessive force."
A Utah woman is speaking out after video showed a police officer slamming to the ground as she was protesting against the approval of an artificial intelligence data center.
In a Thursday interview with Fox 13 Salt Lake City, 27-year-old Aspen Azalea demanded the firing of Utah County Sheriff's Deputy Phillip Crawford after he was caught on video throwing her to the ground during a Wednesday night meeting of the Utah County Planning Commission in the city of Provo.
"Bare minimum, Phil Crawford needs to be fired, bare minimum,” Azalea said. “This is assault. He did throw me to the ground."
Video of the incident shows Crawford pulling Azalea out of her seat at the meeting and escorting her out of the main chamber. Shortly after bringing her into the lobby area, he slams her face-first onto the floor.
Utah county residents are demanding accountability after police forcibly removed a woman from a council meeting where officials unanimously approved a controversial data centre rule without public comment. The woman reportedly suffered a concussion and facial injuries. https://t.co/gq0zeLECZU
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 22, 2026
The Utah County Sheriff's Office claimed that Azalea kicked Crawford in the groin just before he slammed her to the ground, which Azalea denied.
“No, I never kicked him,” she told Fox 13 Salt Lake City. “I absolutely didn’t kick him."
The woman also noted that, had the deputy thrown her to the ground just a few feet further, she could have hit her head on a nearby bench.
“What really scares me about that situation is that he could have killed me because there was a bench,” she said. “If he threw me into that bench, I don't think I'd be here today."
In a separate interview published Thursday by The Salt Lake Tribune, Azalea said that she suffered a concussion, as well as bruises on her jaw, knee, and shoulder.
Azalea acknowledged to The Salt Lake Tribune that she shouted during the Wednesday meeting, as she has shouted at other meetings to protest the development of data centers.
“I have a habit of talking at data center meetings,” she told the newspaper. “But never have I been met with such excessive force.”
Azalea faces misdemeanor charges of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, and disrupting a meeting.
'Where Is Our Humanity?': Anger After ICE Tried to Arrest Father Who Held Crying Toddlers
"Trump and ICE are traumatizing our children, ripping apart families, and terrorizing our communities," said Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. "The cruelty is the point."
Anger mounted Thursday following the publication of video footage showing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents attempting to arrest a father carrying his two distraught toddlers while on his way to work in Providence, Rhode Island.
The man, whose middle name is Sebastian—he did not want to disclose his full name—is originally from Guatemala. He told The Boston Globe that he was taking his children to their babysitter before heading off to work in construction.
The video, recorded by a bystander, shows three ICE agents, two of them masked, on a residential street, trying to arrest Sebastian as he holds a crying child in each arm.
The ICE agents repeatedly ordered the woman recording the interaction to stand back, eventually threatening to pepper spray her if she didn't stay at least 25 feet away from them.
The agents were apparently uncertain how to proceed.
“This gentleman has two kids,” one of them said into a handheld radio while holding on to Sebastian's arm. “You wanna keep him or let him go?”
They decided to let him go, but told him to report to ICE on Wednesday or risk the arrest of his whole family.
According to the Globe, Sebastian has no criminal record in Rhode Island.
US Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) was among the Democratic officials who condemned the arrest attempt and President Donald Trump's wider deadly immigration crackdown.
"No Rhode Islander can watch this video of a man trying to keep his children safe and think the actions of these federal agents are acceptable," he said on social media. "Surely we can acknowledge that traumatizing toddlers on the streets of Providence is a betrayal of our values as Americans."
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) asked: "Where is our humanity? How is this keeping anyone safe?"
"Trump and ICE are traumatizing our children, ripping apart families, and terrorizing our communities," she added. "The cruelty is the point."
The encounter left Sebastian's family fearing for their future. His wife, Petronila, told the Globe that she's afraid that if they leave home, they may never return.
“Are they going to detain us, take us away?” she asked. “What is going to happen, what are we going to do?”
Finnish Petition Demands Data Center Regulation After Google Felled 250,000 Trees to Make Way for AI Project
“It has been done in the wrong way," said one resident of the Finnish town of Muhos. "American style. No sense. No sense at all."
A petition calling for more regulation of data centers in Finland has gathered more than 96,400 signatures—nearly twice the amount needed to force the Finnish Parliament to formally take up the petition for a debate—after Google infuriated residents and officials of two towns where the tech giant illegally chopped down an estimated 250,000 trees across 815 acres of forest after purchasing the land area.
The company felled the trees and stripped the entire area of its top soil without conducting a legally required environmental impact assessment, prompting the Finnish Licensing and Supervision Authority (LVV) to order Google to suspend all "measures that significantly change the environment."
The company was given a deadline of October 23 to halt the work in the rural towns of Muhos and Otanmäki, and LVV said it would consider enforcement proceedings and fines if Google does not comply.
Google's Finland country manager, Antti Järvinen, said last week that the company had acted “on the best understanding we had of the legislation at the time" as it cleared the land for its €13 billion ($14.5 billion) artificial intelligence infrastructure projects.
With 145 new data centers planned in Finland, where vast swaths of uninhabited land and the cool climate have attracted AI companies looking to rapidly build out the massive facilities, the petition proposed by citizens calls on Parliament to draft legislation that would ensure data centers are subject to "conditions and restrictions [in] connection to the electricity network."
The legislation must take "into account the capacity of the electricity network, mandatory reserve power, and the utilization of waste heat," reads the petition. "The aim of the legislative drafting is to ensure the adequacy and affordability of electricity for households and other industries."
Citizens are also calling for a "data center fee" to be imposed, "the basis for which must correspond to the environmental damage caused by the operation and the resources used (e.g. electricity, water, land use) to act as a system that compensates for these disadvantages."
Across the US and in other countries, the rapid AI data center build-out pushed by President Donald Trump, tech CEOs, and other leaders has prompted outcry in numerous communities, where residents have led grassroots efforts to block the construction of the centers.
Public approval for data centers has plummeted as residents have raised concerns about the facilities hiking household energy bills, guzzling water supplies, and providing few, if any, long-term jobs.
But Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo of the conservative National Coalition Party has called attracting investment from AI firms a "top priority" for the Nordic country and has promised that Google's development will “deliver lasting benefits for both parties."
Speaking to The Guardian Thursday, Jussi Kangasharju, a computer science expert at the University of Helsinki, was skeptical of those claims.
“Really, for Finland, there are no benefits,” he told the outlet. “They are international companies serving international customers. Very little corporate taxes go to Finland. Data centers ultimately have very little benefit for others except the data center operator.”
Hanna Halmeenpää, chair of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation (SLL), expressed disbelief over Google's destruction of the country's prized forests.
“I have never heard that any company has done anything like this in Finland," Halmeenpää told The Guardian Thursday. “They bought the vast land area, and they just started to cut it, just like that... It’s pure arrogance."
Another SLL official, Vesa Hyyryläinen, told the newspaper that wildlife in the forest that used to surround Otanmäki, including nesting woodpeckers, had been pushed out, while a resident whose family has lived in the town for generations explained how Google may have endangered locals by cutting down the biodiverse forest.
“We had wolves coming into the village because all the wild animals moved out of the forest,” Anni Ranta told The Guardian.
Conservationists were unimpressed Thursday with Google's pledge to plant trees across 130 hectares in the Muhos area and to work to protect water quality in the town following the destruction of the forest.
“It has been done in the wrong way," Muhos resident Aantti Jakonen told The Guardian. "American style. No sense. No sense at all."
Under Assault From Trump, Embattled ICC Wins Top Human Rights Prize in Europe
Yannis Maniatis, whose bloc nominated the court to receive the award, said it was meant to demonstrate "that no one is above the law."
The European Union on Thursday awarded its most prestigious human rights prize to the International Criminal Court and its officials in a rebuke to President Donald Trump’s efforts to destroy the institution.
The EU’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought—previously awarded to figures such as Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai—follows another international honor this month for a former ICC judge. Earlier in October, Navi Pillay, a former judge for the war crimes court, received the Nobel Peace Prize.
“The European Union is built on respect for multilateralism and international institutions," said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola as she announced the award on Thursday. “With the award of the Sakharov Prize to the International Criminal Court and its officials, the European Parliament recognizes the court’s important work in upholding international law and justice.”
Welcoming the award, which will be presented in December, ICC president Tomoko Akane noted that it “comes at a time when the court and its officials face unprecedented challenges.” She added, “There is no peace without justice and no security without law.”
In retaliation for the ICC’s 2024 arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Trump administration has declared war on the court, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the goal was to “dismantle” it.
The US and Israel have not ratified the Rome Statute that created the ICC in 2002, and they claim that the court therefore has no power to hold their citizens accountable for war crimes. Supporters of the body argue that it has jurisdiction over crimes committed by Americans or Israelis in member states, such as Afghanistan and Palestine.
At last month's United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, Trump raged against the court as an "evil group of people" and declared that he would "never allow US service members or anyone else to be investigated or given show trials by an anti-American tribunal with no jurisdiction over us." During the same speech, he threatened to "annihilate" Iran and bragged about seizing Venezuela's oil as "spoils" of war.
After sanctioning individual judges, UN experts, and human rights organizations that provided evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza, the Trump administration earlier this month sanctioned the court as a whole—threatening to cut it off from financial services and technology it needs to function. Human rights organizations have decried the sanctions as a fundamental assault on international law itself and a declaration of impunity by the United States.
Yannis Maniatis, a Greek lawmaker and vice president for foreign affairs of the European Parliament’s Socialists and Democrats bloc, which nominated the ICC for the prize, said the honor was meant to reinforce the idea “that no one is above the law.”
“We stand by the ICC and its officials, and we are committed to safeguarding its work," he said Monday. "We must guarantee that the ICC is able to operate independently, free from pressure or external interference."
"The court ensures that victims around the world have access to justice," he added. "It is a people-based organization, not a political one. If the aggressors become the victims, and if we stand by helplessly as international justice erodes, we risk allowing those who believe themselves above the law to prevail."
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, likewise welcomed the award.
"For victims of the world's gravest crimes, justice means a voice," she said. “The [ICC] must be free to pursue its mission independently and without pressure or intimidation.”
Some European lawmakers have warned that expressions of solidarity with the ICC will mean little unless the EU takes decisive action to shield the court from US sanctions.
Earlier this month, the chairs of five European Parliament bodies said that "targeting the court as an institution crosses a fundamental red line, one that threatens the independence and integrity of a tribunal established to uphold accountability for the gravest crimes of concern to the international community."
"The European Union must now demonstrate unwavering solidarity with the ICC and its personnel—not only with words but also with concrete acts," they said. "The European Commission must immediately trigger the EU Blocking Statute, shielding the court and European actors from the extraterritorial reach of these sanctions. Europe must stand firm in defense of international law and the rule of law.”
On Monday, European Commission spokesperson Siobhan McGarry confirmed that the measure remained under consideration but announced no decision or timeline for activating it.
The Left, a coalition of socialist and other left-wing parties in the European Parliament, said awarding the Sakharov Prize to the ICC sent a “strong signal to the European Commission to immediately invoke the Blocking Statute and protect international justice from US sanctions and intimidation.”
'A Perfect Metaphor': Hegseth Staffers Broke Historic Globe After Pentagon Chief Demanded It for His Office
"I cannot think of a more apt metaphor for Pete Hegseth’s DoD," said one critic.
Staffers for US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth broke a globe used by Gen. Dwight Eisenhower during World War II after the Trump Cabinet official demanded that it be moved to his office in the Pentagon.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Hegseth wanted the historic 30-inch globe delivered to his office because he found its historical significance "attractive."
The Post noted that while moving historical items such as the globe is normally "a deliberate process overseen by trained curators," Hegseth's staff dispensed with such formalities and attempted to move it by themselves.
The staffers subsequently dropped the globe, cracking its shell and creating a gash several inches wide.
While the US Department of Defense denied requests from Post reporters to inspect the globe in person, the newspaper nonetheless obtained photos of the artifact, which revealed a large hole at its base.
After the globe was damaged, the staffers abandoned plans to bring it to Hegseth's office.
Ty Seidule, a retired brigadier general who taught history at the US Military Academy at West Point, told the Post that it appears Hegseth "wants an Eisenhower totem to be like Ike, brilliant in war and peace."
"Hegseth is no Ike," Seidule continued. "The globe won’t give him Ike’s attributes of humility, intellect, and judgment."
Other critics of Hegseth drew attention to the symbolism of the defense secretary breaking a historic artifact while eschewing expert assistance.
"They broke Eisenhower’s globe because they didn’t want to wait for a team of specialist historians to move it," wrote weapons systems expert John Ridge in a social media post. "I cannot think of a more apt metaphor for Pete Hegseth’s DoD."
Drop Site reporter Ryan Grim remarked that "Hegseth’s frat brothers breaking Eisenhower’s globe is a bit too on the nose."
Pod Save America co-host Tommy Vietor argued that the globe incident was "a perfect metaphor" for Hegseth's reign at the Pentagon, as it was "stupid, impulsive, driven by vanity, and the result is destruction."
Yale historian Joanne Freeman wrote that the symbolism of Hegseth's team breaking the globe "is too much to bear."
"And of course, they ignored the TRAINED EXPERTS WHO HANDLE HISTORICAL ITEMS," Freeman added. "Because EDUCATION? EXPERTISE? WHO NEEDS IT?"
Writer David Simon, creator of hit TV series The Wire, said the symbolism of the globe debacle was too heavy-handed even for a Hollywood drama.
"This metaphor is ridiculously obvious and unsubtle," Simon wrote. "Fire the writers. They're hacks."
'This Is Huge,' Economist Says as Filing Shows Zuckerberg Getting Ready to Pay CA Billionaire Tax
"This SEC filing is proof that the campaign for Proposition 40 is working," said Gabriel Zucman. "We are at a turning point."
Federal filings released Wednesday reveal how Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, one of the richest men in the world, is getting ready to potentially pay a billionaire wealth tax that is on California's November midterm ballot—an indication of the grassroots campaign's impact.
"This is huge," economist Gabriel Zucman, an outspoken supporter of the proposed tax, wrote on social media in response to Meta's new filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. "We are witnessing a global turning point unfold before our eyes."
The New York Times reported Wednesday that the filing discloses the outcome of tense, months-long negotiations between Zuckerberg and Meta's board. Meta is headquartered in California, and Zuckerberg lives in a sprawling compound in Palo Alto.
According to the Times, Zuckerberg threatened to sell his home and leave California if board members didn't agree to a deal that would allow him to sell shares to cover his possible tax bill without relinquishing any control of Meta.
"On Wednesday, the company unveiled the result: In January, it will issue a new class of stock to shareholders, which Mr. Zuckerberg can sell to pay the potential wealth tax without cutting into his 60.6% voting power at the Silicon Valley firm," the Times reported. "Mr. Zuckerberg’s decision to preemptively restructure his stock holdings shows how fearful Silicon Valley is that the tax measure, Proposition 40, might pass in the midterm election on November 3."
WOW. New SEC filing: Zuckerberg is preparing to pay California’s billionaire tax, AND has signed an agreement to stay in the state for 8 years.Two myths down: no, billionaires won’t all flee, and yes, they can pay their fair share without losing their companies.Just 12 days left to win this! Holy shit this could be historic.
— Rutger Bregman (@rutgerbregman) October 22, 2026
If California voters approve Proposition 40 and defeat competing initiatives that would cancel it out, billionaires living in California as of January 1, 2026 would face 5% tax on their wealth, which they could pay all at once or over a five-year period.
The tax would raise an estimated $100 billion in revenue, funds that would help offset federal Medicaid cuts and fund California's education system. Prominent billionaires, led by Google cofounder Sergey Brin, have spent aggressively against the proposed tax, but Zuckerberg is not known to have donated to the opposition efforts.
Zucman, a world-renowned expert on inequality, noted that Meta's CEO would face a roughly $10 billion tax bill under Proposition 40. Zucman has argued the tax could serve as a model for broader efforts to rein in wealth inequality.
"Until now, Mark Zuckerberg has paid very little in taxes relative to the staggering growth of his fortune," the economist wrote on Wednesday. "Proposition 40—the California billionaire tax—would change that."
"This SEC filing is proof that the campaign for Proposition 40 is working," Zucman added. "Mark Zuckerberg is preparing to pay the wealth tax if California voters decide to approve Prop 40. Voting is already underway, and it ends in just 12 days. We are at a turning point. California is closer than ever to enacting the first billionaire wealth tax in history. This is a historic moment."