June 24, 2026

01 Trending

Pentagon details record $1.5 trillion budget request – The Washington Post– news.google.com

pgnewser April 22, 2026 0

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EXCERPT:

  1. Pentagon details record $1.5 trillion budget request  The Washington Post
  2. Trump wants $1.5tn for the Pentagon – and cuts to healthcare and housing | Steven Greenhouse  The Guardian
  3. Honorable Jay Hurst and Lt. Gen. Steven Whitney Hold Press Briefing on the Department’s Fi  U.S. Department of War (.gov)
  4. DOD moves to make its largest-ever investment in drones and anti-drone weapons  DefenseScoop
  5. Pentagon officials broadly detail $55 billion drone plan under DAWG  Breaking Defense

Jury Indicts SPLC For Fraudulent Payments To Racist Groups– thefederalist.com

pgnewser April 22, 2026 0

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A federal grand jury indicted the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on Tuesday for allegedly making fraudulent payments to racist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

“The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement announcing the charges. “Using donor money to allegedly profit off Klansmen cannot go unchecked. This Department of Justice will hold the SPLC and every other fraudulent organization operating with the same deceptive playbook accountable. No entity is above the law.”

According to a Justice Department press release, the SPLC — which has often put targets on the backs of nonviolent conservative organizations by falsely labeling them as “hate groups” — has been charged with 11 counts of “wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.” Per the presser, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama Northern Division “filed two forfeiture actions to recover alleged proceeds of the organization’s fraud scheme.”

Shipping must remain under global rules despite Strait of Hormuz crisis, industry leaders warn– www.channelnewsasia.com

pgnewser April 22, 2026 0

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EXCERPT:

With security uncertain, many vessels have been forced to reroute, often taking longer journeys around the Cape of Good Hope instead of using shorter routes through the Middle East and Suez Canal.

These diversions come at a cost, including high fuel consumption and ultimately higher prices for consumers, Kazakos said.

“Shipping is a resilient industry that has been for centuries and will always be. We’re always going to find ways to improvise, adapt, overcome,” he added.

“However, we will very much like to see the opening of all the waterways … because that is the main preferred route, in order to maximise efficiency for the service we provide, and at the same time to be reliable to the customers we serve.”

Ex-nuclear official warns ‘crazy stuff’ may emerge from mystery probe into 11 space scientists found dead or missing– www.thesun.co.uk

pgnewser April 22, 2026 0

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A NUCLEAR chief has said investigators looking into the disappearances of 11 space scientists will uncover “crazy stuff” about the cases.

Eleven people working close to US space programmes have died or gone missing recently, sparking serious concern.

Ex-nuclear official Frank Rose has warned warns ‘crazy stuff’ may emerge from the probe into the deaths of dead or missing researchers Credit: Department of Energy
Amy Eskridge, 34, allegedly died from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head in Huntsville, Alabama on June 11, 2022 Credit: Facebook

US President Donald Trump called the deaths “pretty serious stuff”, but added that they were “hopefully a coincidence”.

Nearly 500 alleged MS-13 members in El Salvador face a sweeping mass trial– abcnews.com

pgnewser April 22, 2026 0

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SAN SALVADOR — Prosecutors in El Salvador opened a massive consolidated trial against nearly 500 alleged members of the MS-13 gang accused of tens of thousands of crimes including homicide, extortion and arms trafficking.

The joint trial, which opened Monday in San Salvador, is the latest in a practice that has been criticized by human rights groups as an infringement of the rights of the accused to defend themselves. Such trials form part of President Nayib Bukele’s iron fist approach against criminal groups in El Salvador, which has been under a state of emergency for four years to fight organized crime.

The 486 defendants are accused of being members of MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, and accused of ordering more than 47,000 crimes from 2012 to 2022, according to the Salvadoran government. The crimes also include femicide and enforced disappearances.

“Baffling” new snake species in Myanmar looks like multiple species at once– www.sciencedaily.com

pgnewser April 22, 2026 0

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EXCERPT:

Identifying a new species is not always straightforward. Scientists usually rely on physical traits that separate one species from another, but in nature those differences do not always fall into neat categories. Sometimes two different species look almost identical. These are called cryptic species. In other cases, a single species can vary so much in appearance that it seems like several different species instead. The challenge becomes even greater when both patterns show up at the same time.

Herpetologist Dr. Chan Kin Onn (previously at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, Singapore, now with the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum, USA) led research on a pit viper from Myanmar that seemed to be both similar to and distinct from its closest relatives. The work was published in the open access journal ZooKeys, building on an earlier genomic study in Systematic Biology that had already indicated the snakes represented a separate evolutionary lineage.

“Asian pit vipers of the genus Trimeresurus are notoriously difficult to tell apart, because they run the gamut of morphological variation. Some groups contain multiple species that look alike, while others may look very different but are actually the same species,” they say.

Iran’s Doomsday Theology and The Far Deadlier Danger Coming from Sunni Extremists– www.cbn.com

pgnewser April 22, 2026 0

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President Trump says the war with Iran could be over soon. The regime, however, is unlikely to give up its apocalyptic jihad against Israel and the West, and a far greater threat may lie ahead.

One aspect of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran may have backfired in the worst possible way. In taking out the old guard of calculating, pragmatic leaders, they replaced them with a new generation of fiery young Islamic militants.

These are hardcore “Twelver” Shia Muslims, utterly devoted to their radical religion and driven by a singular, apocalyptic belief. They are not interested in negotiation or coexistence.

Instead, they are actively preparing for the ultimate end-times confrontation: a global showdown that would summon the 12th Imam or Mahdi, their long-awaited messianic savior.

“Bottom line is the Mahdi is an eschatological mystical figure who is supposed to be ushered in at the End Times and to bring justice and goodness,” said Middle East historian and author Raymond Ibrahim.

Scientists develop plant-based serum that regrows hair within weeks |– timesofindia.indiatimes.com

pgnewser April 22, 2026 0

Scientists develop plant-based serum that regrows hair within weeks |– timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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EXCERPT:

A new experimental hair-loss treatment has drawn global attention after researchers reported encouraging early results from a plant-based scalp serum. Scientists in Taipei, led by Dr Tsong Min Chang of Schweitzer Biotech Company, found that volunteers using the formula for eight weeks showed measurable improvements in hair density and thickness compared with a placebo group. The serum combines plant-derived compounds from Centella asiatica with ingredients already used in cosmetic and scalp-care products. While the findings are still preliminary and require larger independent trials, the study has raised interest because many current hair-loss treatments can take months to show results and do not work equally well for every user.

Mamdani faces outrage over response to viral police beatdown– nypost.com

pgnewser April 22, 2026 0

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Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing growing criticism from civil rights leaders over his response to a viral video showing NYPD officers beating a man during a mistaken identity arrest.

The backlash intensified this week after the Rev. Kevin McCall, a prominent Brooklyn clergy leader, said Mamdani had not done enough in the days since the April 14 incident.

“All he’s doing is smiling and not getting results,” McCall said after meeting Monday with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Brown told CBS he’s grateful to have survived the violent arrest. Instagram/@sinistratm

McCall said Tisch acknowledged problems with Brooklyn North Narcotics, telling him that “the units have gone rogue,” according to a report by 1010 WINS.

The meeting came after an eight-minute video circulated online showing a pair of plainclothes detectives punching and kicking a man, later identified as Timothy Brown, inside a Brooklyn liquor store last week.

Alex Jones is so mad about InfoWars becoming a satire site he loses his shirt and exclaims ‘they’re bodysnatchers’– www.independent.co.uk

pgnewser April 22, 2026 0

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A furious and shirtless Alex Jones went on an unhinged rant after The Onion gained the rights to lease his site InfoWars, describing the parody news website as a group of “bodysnatchers.”

“Just because you’re wearing my shirt doesn’t mean you’re me, let’s be 100 percent clear about that,” the conspiracy theorist, naked from the waist up, raged Monday.

He continued: “The whole thing’s about defaming me. You can’t take something over and then act like you’re somebody, even if you say it’s a parody. You could do a parody of somebody, but not if you took something from them… So you guys, keep laughing, just like you did a year and a half ago.”

Jones’ outburst came shortly after The Onion revealed its planned relaunch of InfoWars as a satirical site, though the deal still requires court approval. The outlet’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, has so far gained the rights to lease InfoWars for $81,000 on a month-by-month basis for six months, until potential renewal.

Two CIA officers die in Mexico accident after counternarcotics operation – The Washington Post– news.google.com

pgnewser April 22, 2026 0

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EXCERPT:

  1. Two CIA officers die in Mexico accident after counternarcotics operation  The Washington Post
  2. Mexico’s Sheinbaum demands explanation after US officials die after operation in Chihuahua  Politico
  3. Role of US officials killed in crash in Mexico under scrutiny  BBC
  4. US officials killed in Mexico car crash following drug raid worked for the CIA, sources say  CNN
  5. 2 Americans Killed in Mexico Crash Were C.I.A. Members  The New York Times

Can AI Save Luxury Retail?– www.vanityfair.com

pgnewser April 22, 2026 0

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EXCERPT:

Rather than feel discouraged by the tech world’s disinterest in luxury, she decided to seize her company’s opportunity to target a massive, underserved market. The start-up builds custom tools for retailers, like customer-facing shopping assistants and back-end data optimizers, from the grocery store chain Sprouts to the multibrand retailers like Nordstrom. Looking ahead, Mostafazadeh is hoping her company “makes it so that what happened to the neighbor on the north doesn’t happen to the neighbor on the west,” she said, gesturing to Macy’s a few blocks away, lest it suffer the same bankruptcy fate as retailers like Ssense, Matches, and Saks Global.

You can probably think of a couple of pain points that Mostafazadeh’s technology—which she prefers to call “augmented intelligence”—aims to address. Many of these pain points can be found online, where shoppers can waste hours on an endless scroll without making a single purchase. (Natural language searches like “black loafers under $500 with ruching at the toe stitch only” are well within the realm of what’s technologically possible, but far from the reality you’d currently find on most e-commerce sites.)

Meet the Iranian Regime Mouthpiece Pushing Anti-U.S. Memes From His California Home – RedState– redstate.com

pgnewser April 22, 2026 0

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One of the regime’s more influential propagandists has been quietly operating from the safety of suburban Southern California — all while reportedly collecting a fat monthly paycheck from Tehran.

Meysam Zamanabadi, a longtime close advisor to Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has deep ties to the Iranian regime stretching back to his days as Tehran mayor and head of law enforcement, has been living in Glendora, California, for nearly a decade.

Zamanabadi manages Ghalibaf’s English-language X account, churning out slick, meme-heavy anti-American content aimed squarely at impressionable—nay, gullible—U.S. audiences.

Is it any wonder that Democrat politicians are so easily duped by blatant Iranian propaganda on social media, when certain operations are generating from American soil, by operatives who speak English and post using emojis and Gen Z memes?

Hormuz is just a ‘dry run’ if China and U.S. go to war in the Pacific, Singapore foreign minister warns– www.cnbc.com

pgnewser April 22, 2026 0

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Should a war break out between China and the U.S. in the Pacific, “what you are seeing in the Strait of Hormuz will be a dry run,” Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Wednesday.

Balakrishnan made the remarks at CNBC’s CONVERGE LIVE event in Singapore, responding to a question on whether the city-state was facing any pressure from Washington and Beijing to choose between the two.

Singapore has relationships with both the countries, and is uniquely positioned to take advantage of developments in the U.S. and China, Balakrishnan told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick.

The U.S. is Singapore’s largest foreign investor with around 6,000 American companies based in the city-state. Singapore also runs a goods trade deficit with Washington to the tune of about $3.6 billion, according to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

US Iran War Live Iran Tanker ‘Silly City’ Slips Past US Blockade Despite Warning: Report– www.ndtv.com

pgnewser April 21, 2026 0

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An Iranian tanker called “Silly City” successfully reached the country’s waters despite a naval blockade and threats from a US Navy task force. According to reports from local media, the vessel reached a southern Iranian port overnight after passing through the Arabian Sea with full security and operational support from Iran’s navy.

“Despite numerous warnings and threats from the US Navy Fleet Group, the Iranian oil tanker Silly City, with the operational support of the Iranian Navy and in full safety, entered Iran’s territorial waters last night after crossing the Arabian Sea,” the Iranian military said in a statement on Tuesday.

Shipping industry intelligence site Lloyd’s List reported that more than 20 Iranian so-called “shadow vessels” had transited past the US blockade

The Strait of Hormuz in peacetime sees around 120 daily transits, according to the site.

NATO intercepts Russian military aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea– abcnews.com

pgnewser April 21, 2026 0

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ŠIAULIAI AIR BASE, Lithuania — NATO intercepted Russian strategic bombers and fighter jets that flew over the Baltic Sea on Monday, a muscular display of air power on the alliance’s eastern flank away from the spotlight on the Middle East.

French Rafale fighters were deployed from a Lithuanian air base where they are stationed as part of a decades-long NATO air-policing effort. The fighters armed with air-to-air missiles joined jets from Sweden, Finland, Poland, Denmark and Romania. They all took to the skies to inspect and keep watch on the Russian flight, the French detachment said.

The Russian mission included two supersonic Tu-22M3s, as well as about 10 fighters — both SU-30s and SU-35s — that took turns escorting the larger strategic bombers, according to the statement.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the long-range bombers’ flight was scheduled and occurred in airspace over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea. The flight took more than four hours, the ministry said Monday on Telegram.

Gunman at Mexico’s Teotihuacán pyramids kills Canadian tourist, injures at least 13 people– www.cbsnews.com

pgnewser April 21, 2026 0

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A Canadian tourist was shot and killed Monday while visiting the Teotihuacán pyramids in Mexico, according to local authorities.

Mexico’s security officials said a gunman opened fire at the popular tourist spot, killing a Canadian woman and injuring at least 13 people, including six Americans. The shooter later took his own life, the Security Cabinet said.

In a video posted on X, verified by CBS News, a man with a gun is seen pacing near the top of the Pyramid of the Moon. In another video, gunshots can be heard as visitors of the archeological site are seen walking at the bottom of the pyramid.

At least seven people suffered gunshot wounds and at least two people were injured from falls, officials said. Two of the people who were shot, a 29-year-old man and a 61-year-old woman, were Americans. Eight people were still hospitalized as of Monday night, Mexico’s Interior Ministry said.

Iran brutally trolls JD Vance as Vice President dealt yet another humiliation | World | News– www.express.co.uk

pgnewser April 21, 2026 0

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EXCERPT:

Iran has brutally mocked JD Vance ahead of crunch peace talks on Tuesday. Iranian channels have reporrtedly shared images of JD Vance edited using Mr Bean meme showing him waiting for the conversation.

Vice President JD Vance and other top Trump officials are expected to travel to Pakistan today for a second round of intense negotiations. The US President has previously said it is “highly unlikely” he would extend the ceasefire deadline further than tomorrow evening.

However, Iranian state media said: “None of the Iranian delegation has arrived or even flown to Islamabad for negotiations with the US at the moment”

Meanwhile, the US President shared a new update on extending the US ceasefire with Iran past its new deadline of tomorrow evening.

Bellwether Digest – April 20, 2026

pgnewser April 21, 2026 0

 

By STAFF

This digest covers political, world, cultural, market, and sci-tech news from April 18-20, 2026.

This digest contains the Global Outlook, Headlines Missed, and People Advance Digests.

TOP NEWS TAGS

  1. Iran War
  2. 2026 Elections
  3. Trump Deportations
  4. Ukraine War
  5. Trump Pope

GLOBAL OUTLOOK

  1. TRANSGENDER CARE FOR KIDS, SAYS DISTRICT JUDGE – United States District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai has ruled that the HHS’s declaration that gender-affirming care for children is unsafe and ineffective is unconstitutional. The judge sided with the 22 progressive-led states, which argued the federal government did not have the legal authority to make such a determination.
  2. META’S DOWNSIZING CONTINUEs – The parent company of Facebook, Meta, has announced plans to lay off nearly 10% of its total workforce, 8,000 positions, starting in early May 2026. These layoffs may not be the only layoffs, as more might be announced after May of this year.
  3. TRUMP DOWN BIGLY – President Trump’s approval ratings have fallen to 37% according to an NBC News poll. This is the lowest rating the poll has recorded during the President’s second term. His disapproval rating has hit 62%, with 50% now strongly disapproving.

HEADLINES MISSED

  1. FISA COURT QUASHES SPY TOOL, TRUMP DISSENTS – The Trump administration is fighting a FISA court ruling that prevents the government from specifically searching for individuals online who have merely contacted a foreigner. The administration is challenging the FISA court as the court’s existence comes up for renewal this April 30. The GOP-led House extended the program by unanimous consent vote during a late-night session.
  2. AI IS BECOMING A UTILITY – More and more Americans have begun making AI subscription services a part of their essential household budget. Since 2024, paid AI subscriptions have increased by 38%. The paid AI subscription service market is expected to exponentially expand over the next two years.
  3. RIOT BOTS AND THE CCP – China hopes to soon deploy robots to control future rioters. The People’s Armed Police Force (PAP) is already testing the possibility in preparation for a potential mass riot event.

PEOPLE ADVANCE

  1. CHARLIE KIRK HONORED WITH 1A PROTECTING LAWS – Kansas joins a growing list of states which passed laws honoring the late assassinated American activist Charlie Kirk. The laws have one thing in common, they both protect rights enumerated in the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. These rights are the right to religious liberty and the right to freedom of speech.
  2. WOKE HEALTH PANEL NO MORE – RFK Jr. is vowing to replace the “woke” panel currently in charge of choosing what preventative care gets covered by Obamacare. Kennedy plans on replacing the current allegedly “woke” members of the U.S. Preventative Service Task Force, saying “We’re now bringing new members on who have a clear mission.”
  3. DIRT-POWERED BATTERIES – Researchers from Northwestern University have invented a fuel cell that is powered by microbes found in soil. Northwestern alumnus Bill Yen, who led the work, said of their proof-of-concept, “We need to find alternatives that can provide low amounts of energy to power a decentralized network of devices… we looked to soil microbial fuel cells, which use special microbes to break down soil and use that low amount of energy to power sensors. As long as there is organic carbon in the soil for the microbes to break down, the fuel cell can potentially last forever.”

STORIES WE’RE WATCHING

  1. Donald Trump ‘planning shock nuclear retreat’ to end conflict with Iran– www.mirror.co.uk
  2. Republicans stare down a growing, neverending FISA crisis– www.politico.com
  3. Liberal Supreme Court Judges Delayed Dobbs Decision as Conservatives Faced Death Threats– www.lifenews.com
  4. WATCH: Massive Crowd Tries To Storm Wisconsin Research Facility, Police Respond– wltreport.com
  5. Trump’s Christian Advisers Tell Him ‘He Is God’– www.newsbusters.org
  6. Anchor babies account for nearly 10% of US births: report | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com
  7. United States proposes record-high $1.5 trillion defense budget for 2027, marking largest increase since World War II – Defence Industry Europe
  8. Starmer orders inquiry into any security concerns over Mandelson’s tenure in US | Keir Starmer– www.theguardian.com
  9. Vance ‘grateful’ to Pope Leo for downplaying Trump rift, says media ‘gins up conflict’ | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com
  10. 8 children killed in mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, police say – CBS News

 

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