‘Complete fabrication’: Zelenskyy denies attack on Putin residence, Kremlin threatens to escalate “This alleged ‘residence strike’ story is a complete fabrication intended to justify additional attacks against Ukraine,” Ukraine President Zelenskyy.

New: ‘Complete fabrication’: Zelenskyy denies attack on Putin residence, Kremlin threatens to escalate

open.substack.com/pub/diplomat...

Randa Slim on X: "I was recently in a 2 day meeting discussing #Syria. I left the meeting less optimistic than be4. The challenges are huge. Hope #Syrian interim authorities are up 2the task. They need upskilling, learn to trust people outside their in-group & expand decision making circles" / X I was recently in a 2 day meeting discussing #Syria. I left the meeting less optimistic than be4. The challenges are huge. Hope #Syrian interim authorities are up 2the task. They need upskilling, learn to trust people outside their in-group & expand decision making circles

x.com/rmslim/statu...

Randa Slim on X: "Really good analysis by @NeilMacFarquhar : Are We Seeing the Outlines of a New Middle East? https://t.co/RqoL251nZg via @NYTimes" / X Really good analysis by @NeilMacFarquhar : Are We Seeing the Outlines of a New Middle East? https://t.co/RqoL251nZg via @NYTimes

x.com/rmslim/statu...

Randa Slim on X: "Exclusive: #Iran-#Iraq-#Israel prisoner swap ‘set’ for implementation https://t.co/RPjZ1GqXRt" / X Exclusive: #Iran-#Iraq-#Israel prisoner swap ‘set’ for implementation https://t.co/RPjZ1GqXRt

x.com/rmslim/statu...

Appeal from colleagues at Harvard:

"...we also call upon our fellow institutions of higher education in the United States to declare their willingness to facilitate the immediate co-enrollment of Harvard’s international students., including formal acceptance of transfer for immigration purposes."

x.com/rmslim/statu...

Live updates: Pakistan and India agree to ceasefire after weeks of tensions | CNN India and Pakistan have agreed to a ceasefire after back-and-forth strikes heightened fears of a wider conflict. US President Donald Trump made the surprise announcement on social media, though an Ind...

“on Friday morning, the US received alarming intelligence…
While they declined to describe the nature of the info… it was critical in persuading the three officials that the US should escalate its involvement” edition.cnn.com/world/live-n... My guess: Pakistani nuclear signals

The Three States That Are Especially Stuck if Congress Cuts Medicaid (Gift Article) States that were once reluctant to expand Medicaid now have their state budgets tied to the fate of the program by constitutional amendments.

In Missouri, Medicaid funding makes up about 35 percent of the state’s entire budget. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/u...

The image is a screenshot of a tweet from Brandon Bradford (@BrandonLBradfor ). The tweet reads: "Deporting Americans without due process then saying they no longer get due process because they aren’t in America means no one has rights, FYI. Nightmare scenario."

If you think this can’t happen, remember that of the 125,000 Japanese Americans who were interned during WWII for years without charge or trial, two-thirds were U.S. citizens. Including me.

Hezbollah at crossroads after blows from war weaken group The BBC's Hugo Bachega explores the future for Hezbollah in the wake of Israel's devastating attacks.

Good read: www.bbc.com/news/article...

Workers at Wilson Center Put on Leave as Trump Seeks Shutdown (Gift Article) About 130 employees of the Wilson Center were told they were being put on leave, just four days after workers for Elon Musk’s team entered the center.

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/03/u...

x.com/rmslim/statu...

Blog: The USAID Shutdown: Where Next?

Before discussion of a new aid architecture Congress should demand the foundations of that architecture are secured: a staffed operational delivery system that can meet legal commitments on the responsible expenditure of appropriated funds.

There are scores of anti Trump/DOGE/Musk protests planned for April 5 handsoff2025.com

For folks who don’t know, ethnic studies programs like African American/Africana Studies, Asian American Studies, Chicano Studies and the like come directly from civil right era campus activism. Attempts to disempower such programs should be framed as attacks on civil rights same as much else rn.

Opinion | What Autocrats Want From Academics: Servility In 1931, Italian scholars were made to take loyalty oaths. Will that happen to us?

"On October 8, 1931, a law went into effect requiring every Italian university professor to sign an oath pledging their loyalty to the government of Benito Mussolini. Out of over 1,200 professors in the country, only 12 refused. All of them were immediately fired." www.chronicle.com/article/what...

U.S. Denied Entry to French Scientist Over Views on Trump Policies, France Says The French authorities said the academic had been traveling to a conference near Houston when border officials blocked his entry because of conversations found on his phone.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/w...

Designation of Ansarallah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization - United States Department of State Today, the State Department is fulfilling one of President Trump’s first promises upon taking office, and I’m pleased to announce the Department’s designation of Ansarallah, commonly referred to as the Houthis, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.  As President Trump laid out in Executive Order 14175, “the Houthis’ activities threaten the security of American civilians and personnel […]

US officially designates the Houthis as an FTO. Absolutely no info about humanitarian carveouts

This is gonna hit humanitarian aid hard, will likely paralyze Yemen's economy in a big way, and may restart the ground war

#Yemen #MiddleEast

🚨 Saudi Aramco profits down 12% in 2024. Company to pay total dividend of just over $85 billion, compared with $124 billion in the previous year.

Wilson Center Announces Middle East Track II Dialogues Initiative

www.wilsoncenter.org/article/wils...

21 Civil Servants Resign From DOGE, Refusing to Implement Elon Musk’s Changes The employees had worked for the U.S. Digital Service, a technology-focused unit rebranded by Mr. Musk and empowered by President Trump.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/u...

Well well I cannot wait for what these MAGA supporters will do

Trump’s Commerce Secretary Confirms Plan to Gut Medicare—and More Howard Lutnick has revealed Donald Trump’s true plans.

Howard Lutnick, Trump’s billionaire buddy turned commerce secretary, has confirmed that the administration was simply lying to MAGA supporters about not touching Social Security and Medicare.

Now you know why Trump & Musk are cutting these jobs down

If you feel this way, you're not along. And together, we're going to keep the Republic. Pass it on.

As tens of thousands of people gathered for the funeral of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, its current chief vowed to continue fighting Israel

It is time I guess to think hard if a plane trip is necessary.

Our only hope now rests with a select group of attorney generals & judges