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Except for Medicare, Medicaid, and interest on the national debt, defense contractors are getting the biggest share of Ohioans’ federal tax dollars, according to a new analysis.
Medicare and Medicaid provide health care to more than 144 million Americans, and paying interest on the $39 trillion national debt isn’t really optional. However, policymakers choose to spend nearly $900 billion a year on defense, and allow the Pentagon to ship 54% of that off to wealthy defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin — sometimes for weapons systems of questionable military value.
If you look at the federal tax bill of the average American, that person is giving those contractors more than he or she is paying for food and agriculture, school lunches, housing and urban development, disaster relief and national parks and the environment combined, according to the Institute for Policy Studies’ 2026 Tax Day report.
Iran war threatens to push 2.5 mn people in India into poverty: UNDP report | Economy & Policy News– www.business-standard.com
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The conflict and military escalation in West Asia threatens to push 2.5 million people in India into poverty and the country is projected to experience some loss in its human development progress, according to estimates and projections by the United Nations.
The United Nations Development Programme, in a report titled ‘Military Escalation In The Middle East: Human Development Impacts Across Asia And The Pacific’ noted that the conflict is “widening human development pressures across Asia and the Pacific through higher fuel, freight, and input costs, the shock is diminishing household purchasing power, raising food insecurity, straining public budgets, and weakening livelihoods.”
The preliminary assessment, issued Tuesday, estimates that globally 8.8 million people are at risk of falling into poverty and the West Asia military escalation could cost Asia-Pacific up to $299 billion.
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FRANKFURT, Germany – One of the major reasons for the creation of the European Union was to make Europeans wealthier. Along the way, however, something went seriously wrong.
Europeans are becoming poorer compared to Americans, who are becoming richer.
One in five Germans now faces the risk of imminent poverty in what has long been one of the world’s wealthiest nations.
In France, the poverty rate has hit a 30-year high.
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The United States military issued a warning Monday that it will be enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports on the Gulf of Oman — east of the Strait of Hormuz — as ceasefire negotiations with Iran broke down over the weekend, U.S. Central Command said in a notice to seafarers.
The notice said the blockade would begin at 10 a.m. eastern, following a proclamation from U.S. President Donald Trump. The Gulf of Oman is a strategic body of water in the Arabian Sea, which lies just east of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has been blocking to most international shipping traffic for weeks.
“The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,” the U.S. military notice said.
Agentic coding at enterprise scale demands spec-driven development– venturebeat.com
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Autonomous agents are compressing software delivery timelines from weeks to days. The enterprises that scale agents safely will be the ones that build using spec-driven development.
There’s a moment in every technology shift where the early adopters stop being outliers and start being the baseline. We’re at that moment in software development, and most teams don’t realize it yet.
A year ago, vibe coding went viral. Non-developers and junior developers discovered they could build beyond their abilities with AI. It lowered the floor. It made prototyping much quicker, but it also introduced a surplus of slop. What the industry then needed was something that raised the ceiling — something that improved code quality and worked the way the most expert developers work. Spec-driven development did that. It laid the foundation for trustworthy autonomous coding agents.
A Deep Neural Network Approach for Random Networks with Sparse Nodal Attributes and Complex Nodal Heterogeneity– arxiv.org
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arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.
Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.
Weapons of Mass Automation: AI can make war more lethal than nuclear weapons. How US, Russia, China, India and others are preparing – WION– news.google.com
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Weapons of Mass Automation: AI can make war more lethal than nuclear weapons. How US, Russia, China, India and others are preparing WION
Oil Tankers Rush to The US For American Oil As Negotiations Fail to Open the Strait of Hormuz– townhall.com
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As the remnants of the Iranian regime continue to block the Strait of Hormuz, countries around the world are reportedly turning to the United States for oil, as tankers flood the Gulf of America to purchase American oil.
This is the Gulf of America, packed with supertankers racing to load up on US oil.
Record exports.
Global energy demand is shifting directly to 🇺🇸
Economic boom incoming.
Paying attention… pic.twitter.com/yjCwoJI8Wd
— Dan Gambardello (@dangambardello) April 12, 2026
🚨 DONALD TRUMP JUST STUNNED THE WORLD
Suddenly, oil and gas tankers want to RUSH to the US to fill up on energy. Look at the Gulf of America!
It’s almost like 47 had a plan this entire time 🔥
“Boats are sailing up, heading to OUR country, big, beautiful tankers — we’re… pic.twitter.com/xRFt22LuOi
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 12, 2026
🚨 HOLY CRAP! President Trump just stunned everybody, saying the world is USING AMERICA to fill up on oil because of what Iran did to the Strait
“At 10 o’clock tomorrow we have a blockade going into effect…other nations are working so that Iran will not be able to sell oil and… pic.twitter.com/O7DEvBqPSt
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 13, 2026
Judge Dismisses Trump’s Lawsuit Against the Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch Over Epstein Reporting – TheWrap
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The U.K. is “not supporting” the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday, insisting that the country would not get “dragged in” to the Iran war.
It came as President Emmanuel Macron confirmed France and the U.K. would, in the coming days, co-host a conference aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
Vessels avoiding damage from the Iran war are turning to a small island nation in Africa Business Insider Africa
from news.google.com
Scientists recover 90% of lithium from old batteries — here’s why it matters Yahoo Tech
from news.google.com
Oil prices may soon be coming down after this move by U.S. Forces.
U.S. CENTCOM on Saturday announced the USS Frank E. Peterson and USS Michael Murphy will patrol the Strait of Hormuz to clear it from mines that were placed by the Iranian regime.
The move by U.S. CENTCOM come as JD Vance and top Iranian officials are in Pakistan discussing a peace agreement that would bring an end to U.S. military operations in Iran.
If you’re following AI news, you’re probably getting whiplash. AI is a gold rush. AI is a bubble. AI is taking your job. AI can’t even read a clock. The 2026 AI Index from Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, AI’s annual report card, comes out today and cuts through some of that noise.
Despite predictions that AI development may hit a wall, the report says that the top models just keep getting better. People are adopting AI faster than they picked up the personal computer or the internet. AI companies are generating revenue faster than companies in any previous technology boom, but they’re also spending hundreds of billions of dollars on data centers and chips. The benchmarks designed to measure AI, the policies meant to govern it, and the job market are struggling to keep up. AI is sprinting, and the rest of us are trying to find our shoes.
All that speed comes at a cost. AI data centers around the world can now draw 29.6 gigawatts of power, enough to run the entire state of New York at peak demand. Annual water use from running OpenAI’s GPT-4o alone may exceed the drinking water needs of 12 million people. At the same time, the supply chain for chips is alarmingly fragile. The US hosts most of the world’s AI data centers, and one company in Taiwan, TSMC, fabricates almost every leading AI chip.
The AI build-out is powering global goods trade Financial Times
from news.google.com
HONG KONG — China is poised to benefit from the Iran war as global energy disruptions accelerate a shift away from fossil fuels and toward clean technologies and renewable power, industries that China dominates.
Most of the oil and gas from the now mostly shut Strait of Hormuz was Asia-bound. Asian nations are scrambling to conserve energy and bolster dwindling reserves. As a temporary ceasefire teeters, gasoline prices in the U.S. and Europe are spiking.
While most of Asia is hit hard, China will likely benefit from the fossil fuel disruptions despite being the biggest purchaser of Iranian oil. China leads the world in battery, solar and electric vehicle exports, and its industries are forecast to face a rise in demand for renewable products.
Before the start of the Iran war in late February, China’s lead in clean technologies was lengthening. The U.S. under President Donald Trump scaled back on renewable energy and leaned on its vast oil and gas resources, promoting energy exports to achieve what Trump described as “energy dominance.”
Donald Trump has said he doesn’t care if Iran comes back to negotiations with the US after the weekend talks in Pakistan ended without a deal. “I don’t care if they come back or not,” Trump told reporters in Maryland on Sunday. “If they don’t come back, I’m fine.”
Trump said earlier that the US Navy would start blockading the Hormuz strait and also prohibit every vessel in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran. US Central Command said later it would begin a blockade of all Iranian Gulf ports and coastal areas on Monday at 10am ET (5.30pm in Iran and 1400 GMT), effectively seizing control of maritime traffic in the strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned that “approaching military vessels to the strait of Hormuz is considered a violation of the ceasefire”.
Oil prices rose in early market trading after Trump’s blockade announcement. The price of US crude oil rose 8% to $104.24 a barrel and Brent crude oil – the international standard – rose 7% to $102.29. Australia’s share market dropped sharply on Monday morning.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf taunted Trump on X, saying in a post: “Enjoy the current pump figures. With the so-called ‘blockade’, Soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas.” Earlier he said Trump’s new threats would have no effect on the Iranian nation: “If you fight, we will fight … We will not bow to any threats.”
Trump and his advisers are looking at resuming limited military strikes in Iran in addition to the US blockade of the Hormuz strait, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials and people familiar with the situation.
Oil prices have rocketed in early market trading after the US announced it would blockade Iranian ports.
The US military has confirmed it will halt all maritime traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports, with the measure taking effect at 10am ET (2pm GMT) today.
US crude oil prices surged eight per cent to $104.24 a barrel in early trading, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed seven per cent to $102.29.
China’s energy strategy pays off as Mideast war cramps supplies, analysts say The Japan Times
from news.google.com
“If the Taiwan Strait or the surrounding area of Taiwan will be blockaded, it is almost a 100% of the blockade of the regional energy supply,” Sawyer Mars, Taiwan’s deputy interior minister, said in an interview with Bloomberg News earlier this month. “It’s not only Taiwan’s problem, it’s the whole area’s problem.”
from financialpost.com
Apple is finally stepping into the smart glasses space. For this, the company is asking an important question: Would you actually wear these outside? This is the most important thing, because this is where most smart glasses have historically fallen apart. Rather than locking itself into a single, safe design, Apple is reportedly exploring multiple frame styles for its first pair of AI glasses. And not minor tweaks either — we’re talking distinctly different silhouettes.
There’s a bold, chunky rectangular option that leans into classic sunglasses territory. Then a slimmer, more understated rectangular design that feels a bit more executive-core. On the other end, Apple is also experimenting with rounded frames, both oversized and more refined — clearly trying to cover as many style preferences as possible. In short, Apple is designing a small collection, and that’s a smart move. Because what works for one face can look wildly off on another.
Disney To Axe Nearly 1,000 Jobs Under New CEO Josh D’Amaro: Report Yahoo Finance
from news.google.com
Donald Trump hasn’t done interviews with neutral journalists who could challenge him in years. Trump’s venues of choice are either cell phone interviews that last a minute or two or conservative media like Fox News and Newsmax.
The Fox News interviews are heavily manufactured, usually pretaped, and edited before they air.
It takes a special level of incompetence to go on a network that is propagandistic and supportive and botch a softball question in such a friendly and managed environment.
The issue that is driving the special election results that Democrats have been dominating, and the Democratic Party’s midterm generic ballot lead that has been growing, is the economy. Inflation and rising prices are driving voter outrage directed at this president and his administration.
Elon Musk’s xAI faces lawsuit over Mississippi power plant tied to AI data centers The Times of India
from news.google.com
