Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sent messages to all members of Congress terminating their positions, stating “Your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment.” All Democratic and independent members of Congress, as well as two Republicans, found themselves locked out of their offices after everything inside had been confiscated.   read more

The court revived efforts by conservative groups to force intervention by the U.S. attorney general in the effort to recover emails sent by Hillary Clinton on personal accounts while serving as secretary of state. When a judge dismissed the lawsuits as moot, the court noted that Attorney General Lynch’s help was unnecessary since Clinton had voluntarily turned over 55,000 pages of emails to the State Department. A three-judge panel reversed Tuesday.   read more

The U.S. again ranked first in global weapons sales last year, signing deals for about $40 billion, or half of all agreements in the worldwide arms bazaar and far ahead of France, the No. 2 weapons dealer with $15 billion in sales. Developing nations continued to be the largest buyers of arms, with Qatar signing deals for more than $17 billion in weapons last year, followed by Egypt, which agreed to buy almost $12 billion in arms, and Saudi Arabia, with over $8 billion in weapons purchases.   read more

The paperless digital voting machines, used by 1 in 5 U.S. voters last month, present one of the most glaring dangers to the security of the rickety, underfunded U.S. election system. Most machines are near the end of their lifespans and run on vintage operating systems. Old, stockpiled machines get cannibalized; when they can't supply parts, officials scrounge on eBay. But while many experts agree the U.S. voting system needs an upgrade, no one wants to pay to fix it.   read more

Most of his career has been spent advocating for Brazilian business. While stationed in Washington in 1984, Amaral was questioned by the Associated Press about Amazon deforestation. “Damage to the environment? This is something that can’t be taken too seriously,” he said, claiming that Brazil's forests are so vast that a small amount of damage would have little long-term effect. He later fought U.S. steel tariffs and promoted alcohol-fueled cars, ethanol being a huge industry in Brazil.   read more

From flag-burning to libel, from conflicts of interest to torture, Donald Trump has made comments that have suggested he was either unaware of the applicable laws or didn't care about them. "Nearly every president has probably done something that a court has later held unconstitutional or contrary to law,'' said prof. Karlan. ``But I can't think of one who had such an across-the-board combination of ignorance, indifference and defiance.'' Added prof. Rakove: “He's consistently uninformed."   read more

The Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the Justice Dept in 2015 after it refused to release files on the Hemisphere Project. The secret program involved placing AT&T employees in police agencies to track records on trillions of phone calls. “It’s very clear AT&T is not only a willing participant but at the center of this mass surveillance program,” Mackey said. “We think it’s necessary not only the public knows but customers of these companies know...”   read more

In the mid-1990s, while working on his master’s in public policy at the National University of Singapore, Aung Lynn led the ministry’s Dept of Political Affairs. From 2004 to 2007, he was a minister/counselor in Burma’s permanent mission to the U.N.. By 2011, he was Director General for Association of the Southeast Asian Nations affairs department. In the months before he was given the Washington assignment, Aung Lynn was Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.   read more

The American chemical industry extols self-policing, raises terrorism fears to block the public's right to know and pours about $200 million into lobbying every year. The prevention of chemical disasters remains governed by a tattered patchwork of regulations administered by agencies that have neither the staff nor political support to enforce or improve upon them. And the public has been left largely in the dark about what goes on at facilities that might endanger their lives.   read more

There were 2,054 transportation-related episodes that resulted in fatalities, accounting for about 42 percent of all workplace deaths. As a result, 745 drivers of heavy and tractor-trailer trucks died because of injuries at work last year, more than any other major civilian occupation. Falls, slips and trips made up the next most common major cause of workplace fatalities, resulting in 800 deaths last year. Men accounted for all but 7 percent of the total workplace deaths in 2015.   read more

Critics say the article is the latest in a series of efforts by the food industry to shape global nutrition advice by supporting academics to question the role of junk food in causing health problems. Some experts said it was an industry attempt to undermine healthy eating guidelines from the World Health Organization and reminiscent of tactics once used by the tobacco industry, which for decades enlisted scientists to become “merchants of doubt” about the health hazards of smoking.   read more

The pollsters offered up five options for most annoying word or phrase: "Whatever," ''No offense, but," ''Ya know, right," ''I can't even" and "huge." "No offense, but" is second with 20 percent. In third place is, "You know, right," which is irksome to 14 percent of people, tied with "I can't even." ''Huge" grates on the nerves of 8 percent. "Whatever" is losing some steam, though. Last year it topped the list at 43 percent.   read more

Wouters came to the United States in 1995 as a deputy permanent representative to the United Nations. There, he worked on political, military, economic and development issues as well as participating in the creation of the International Criminal Court. Wouters returned to Belgium in 2001 as coordinator of the Belgian presidency and led the Department of European Coordination and Integration. In 2003, he was made permanent representative to the Political and Security Committee of the EU.   read more

Defenders say the arrangement may bring patients a lifesaving treatment. Critics say taxpayers will end up paying twice for the same drug — once to support its development and again to buy it — while the company reaps the financial benefit. “If this was not a government-funded cancer treatment — if it was for a new solar technology, for example — it would be scandalous to think that some private investors are reaping massive profits off a taxpayer-funded invention,” said KEI's James Love.   read more

AFA-CWA's Sara Nelson said that “doors of these restrooms open into each other, creating safety issues. There are a lot of injuries, with smashed fingers, doors hitting people, bumps and bruises.” She said the rear cabin restroom doors also create a barricade, limiting the ability of crew to help a passenger in trouble. Some parents with small kids say they can't help their kids in the toilet unless the door stays open. Large-size passengers are at a loss.   read more

"Already, tens of thousands of people are going without birth control, cancer screenings, HIV tests, and other care. The maternal mortality rate continues to rise. Yet Greg Abbott is hell-bent on chasing this ideological agenda, regardless of how many women it hurts," said Yvonne Gutierrez. Planned Parenthood officials say they serve nearly 11,000 patients through Medicaid and will continue serving them as they fight the state's decision in federal court.   read more

Guiding Santa’s sleigh isn’t the only thing Rudolph and his reindeer friends are responsible for: they also play an important role in slowing down climate change. A team of researchers discovered that grazing reindeer reduce the abundance of tundra shrubs, which increases the level of surface albedo – solar energy reflected by Earth back into space. “The effect reindeer grazing can have on albedo and energy balances is potentially large enough to be regionally important,” said Mariska te Beest.   read more