Human Smuggler Extradited From Brazil To US: DOJ Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A Bangladeshi national, alleged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to be a “prolific” alien smuggler, made his first appearance Monday in a Laredo, Texas, federal courtroom following his extradition from Brazil, according to a DOJ statement. Illegal immigrants who are believed to have crossed the border from Mexico into […]

Bessent Keeps Running Tally Of China As “Unreliable Global Partner” – Count Now Stands At Three Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters Tuesday that Beijing’s panic hoarding of crude and refined products, while refusing to join the rest of the world in releasing supplies to offset the Gulf energy shock, has now demonstrated for the third time in five years that China is an “unreliable global partner.” “China has been an […]

Business Financial Distress Nears COVID Levels As Sole Trader Numbers Rise Authored by Rex Widerstrom via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The volume of businesses struggling to pay their debts in Australia is on track to exceed the heights set during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to two reports on the nation’s economic health. Australian dollar coins and banknotes in Melbourne, Australia on April 4, 2024. AAP Image/Joel […]

Major Israeli PAC Flips: Tel Aviv Should Pay Out-Of-Pocket If It Wants US Weapons via Middle East Eye The pro-Israel advocacy group J Street is now calling for an end to “direct” US military support to Israel, per a new policy document published this week. The group had previously backed Washington’s continued provision of defensive weapons systems, such as the replenishment of Israel’s Iron Dome, at no cost to Israelis.  […]

China’s Unitree Unveils Robot With “Human-Like Physique” That Can Outrun Most People The race for bipedal humanoid robot intelligence has certainly been in the news, with robots receiving “AI brains” that have already brought them onto factory floors and will likely become more visible in the public world in the coming years (see UBS).  But there is another race that Chinese robot maker Unitree is simultaneously part of, and that […]

Waymo Partners With Waze To Use Self-Driving Cars To Track Potholes Authored by Dylan Morgan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Two Alphabet-owned companies, Waymo and Waze, announced on April 9 that they will team up to detect potholes and share that information with local government agencies to help get them filled more efficiently. A self-driving Waymo vehicle awaits passengers in Los Angeles on July 1, 2025. John […]

Build It, And They Will Come? Not The Case At Baltimore’s Harbor East Luxury Tower The Four Seasons Private Residences in Harbor East, situated in crime-ridden Baltimore City and serving as a flagship luxury development project tied to the Inner Harbor’s waterfront revitalization, was originally envisioned as an ultra-luxury tower designed to attract the rich and powerful. The premise for building the tower, which opened in 2017, […]

Pentagon Accused Of Cover-Up After Missing Deadline On 46 Military UAP Videos Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, The Pentagon has come under fire for failing to meet a congressional deadline to release dozens of military videos showing unidentified aerial phenomena, sparking fresh claims of a bureaucratic stall on one of the most sensitive national security issues in decades. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., had pressed […]

Do White People Even Play Golf? Nike has long been one of the most recognizable athletic brands in the world, but the sneaker and apparel company has suffered rapid brand deterioration amid its move to fully embrace woke corporate politics, with its stock collapsing roughly 75% from its peak during the Covid era, when the Marxist NGO Black Lives Matter gained traction across corporate America. Nike’s stock has been a disaster […]

Former Brazilian Intelligence Chief Detained By ICE In Florida Authored by Charis Summers via The Epoch Times, Alexandre Ramagem, a former chief of the Brazilian intelligence agency and a close ally of former President Jair Bolsonaro, has been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Orlando, Florida. Ramagem was chief of the ABIN intelligence agency from 2019 until 2022, when he was elected to the […]

IMF Warns US Treasury Market Prone To “Sudden Repricing” Due To Soaring Debt, Overreliance On Bills The International Monetary Fund warned Wednesday that the relentless US debt issuance is undermining the premium Treasuries have commanded from investors, with implications for government securities across the globe. “The increase in the US Treasury security supply is compressing the safety premium that US Treasuries have […]

Treasury Secretary Says Order On Citizenship Proof For Banking Is ‘In Process’ Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday confirmed that an executive order mandating banks to collect citizenship information on customers is underway. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent addresses journalists in Paris on March 16, 2026. Ludovic Marin / AFP via Getty Images “It’s in […]

Mullin Blasts Biden Admin After DHS Employee Killed By Naturalized Felon On Monday, Lauren Bullis, a 40-year-old Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employee, was “brutally shot and stabbed to death” while walking her dog, and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin is blaming the Biden administration for her murder. Olaolukitan Adon Abel (left) and Lauren Bullis (Photos: DHS) Bullis, an auditor with the DHS Office of Inspector General, […]

White House: ‘Era Of Amnesty Is Over’ Authored by Catherine Salgado via PJ Media, “No more activist judges shielding criminal illegals. No more endless delays. Only results.” The Trump White House is celebrating multiple massive immigration enforcement wins that signal the era of mass migration and mass amnesty is over. AP Photo/Gerald Herbert Since Donald Trump came back into office, federal authorities have removed three […]

Beige Book Confirms Uncertainty, Fuel Costs Surged On Iran War As Economy Grew At “Slight To Modest” Pace US economic activity continued to increase at a “slight-to-modest” pace across most regions as the war with Iran generated a new wave of uncertainty and higher energy costs, the Federal Reserve said. The just released Beige Book – which featured information compiled by the New York Fed and collected through April 6, capturing […]

Russia Vows To ‘Fill China’s Energy Resource Gap’ Amid Hormuz Crisis In Lavrov-Xi Meeting At a moment it remains a serious open question over just how vulnerable China is to the Hormuz Strait crisis, and now with the US-imposed US naval blockade of the vital oil transit waterway, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is in Beijing pledging energy support to China.  Lavrov met with President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, during which […]

Tax Freedom Day Underestimates How Long You Work For The Government Authored by Jonathan Newman via The Mises Institute, Tax Freedom Day, calculated by the Tax Foundation, “represents how long Americans as a whole have to work in order to pay the nation’s tax burden.” It appears that they stopped publishing this in 2019, but others have picked up where they left off. The idea is that the income earned by taxpayers over […]

Iran Halts All Petrochem Exports While Official Signals Compromise Strait Passage Opening, As Negotiators Cite ‘Progress’ Summary The Iran war is “very close to over” with authorities in Tehran eager to agree a peace deal, Trump says, adding: “We’ve beaten them militarily.” Axios cites ‘progress’ toward framework to end war. Iran state media says halt to all petrochemical exports, RTRS cites possible compromise on strait […]

Iran War Leads To Fluoride Shortages For Some US Water Utilities Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times, Multiple water providers have lowered the amount of fluoride they add to water for millions of Americans, amid shortages stemming from the U.S.–Iran war. The Baltimore City Department of Public Works said on April 13 that it is reducing the level of fluoride from 0.7 milligrams per liter (mg/L) to 0.4 mg/L. The […]

Iran Used Chinese Spy Satellite To Target US Bases During War, Outraged Beijing Denies Iran quietly secured a Chinese spy satellite in late 2024 and used it to track US military bases across the Middle East during the current war, the Financial Times has newly – an allegation Beijing has flatly and angrily denied. The TEE-01B satellite, built and launched by Chinese firm Earth Eye Co, was allegedly taken over by the Islamic […]

Watch: Vance Pledges Probe Into Epstein ‘Pizza’ And ‘Grape Soda’ References Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Vice President JD Vance has publicly committed to investigating references in the Jeffrey Epstein files that he says evoked the Pizzagate conspiracy theory, citing emails mentioning “pizzas or grape sodas” in odd contexts. His remarks come as Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche doubled down on the […]

Foggy, Foggy War By Michael Every of Rabobank With US stocks up, the Nasdaq with its longest winning streak since 2021, and screen oil down for a second day in a row, markets continue to price the starkly binary physical outcomes smack in front of us on the side that’s full of stardust. The IMF just warned of a potential world recession ahead if Hormuz stays shut. Its latest three global growth scenarios are ‘weaker’, […]

Eos Energy Soars As Investors Focus On Zinc Batteries And AI-Driven Demand Eos Energy Enterprises’ stock jumped over 60% in the last few days as investor enthusiasm grew around its scaling production and role in powering AI-driven infrastructure demand, according to the International Business Times. The company designs, develops, manufactures, and markets energy storage solutions for utility-scale, microgrid, and commercial and […]

BofA Sees Customer Gas Spending Jump 16%, But Discretionary Spending Holds Up The national average for 87-octane gasoline has remained above the politically sensitive $4-a-gallon level for two straight weeks after the largest monthly jump in AAA data going back two decades. The fuel shock has Wall Street analysts focused on whether surging pump prices will begin crowding out discretionary spending. Bank of America CFO Alastair […]

OpenAI’s Stratospheric Valuation Draws Investor Scrutiny As It Scrambles To Capture Enterprise Market OpenAI, fresh off the largest private fundraising round in history, is facing mounting questions from some of its own backers over its $852 billion valuation and a whiplash-inducing pivot in strategy that prioritizes the higher-margin enterprise market at the expense of its consumer crown jewel – all because Anthropic is starting […]