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Nevertheless, poverty remains high and inflation is expected to remain over 20% through the year. The report comes amid a raft of reforms by President Bola Tinubu’s government. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/H0vNwyd via sinceretalk

Trump bill already on life support in the Republican-controlled Senate

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Even if the slim Republican majority in the House of Representatives manages to pass President Donald Trump's " big, beautiful bill, " it may run into a brick wall in the Senate unless it undergoes a major overhaul. CNN reporter Manu Raju tweeted Monday that the bill already has two Republican opponents in the form of Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who both expressed concerns about the legislation's increasing of the federal deficit and its raising of the debt ceiling, respectively. Raju observed that if two more moderate members of the Senate Republican Conference, like Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) also come out against the bill, that would effectively kill Trump's hopes of passing the legislation in its current form. Typically, no bill can pass the Senate without 60 votes if a member threatens a filibuster. But under the Senate's budget reconciliation rules, legislation that strictly pertains to budgeta...

‘I wanted to throw up’: Small business owners bristle at cost of new Trump policy

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The signs of a contracting economy are hitting small businesses hard, even as President Donald Trump announces, and then delays , another massive 145 percent tariff on a U.S. trading partner. The Wall Street Journal reports the owner of a San Francisco card-game company was recently driven to cash in his money-market funds, while the founder of a Colorado tent-making company is having to seek investors. Another Colorado company that makes watches and jewelry is delaying signing a new office lease, and a New Hampshire company, 5 Star North, had to reduce it’s 12-person staff to five—with three of those already seeking new employment. “Nobody in power seems to care about small business,” said 5 Star North owner Scott Anderson, who assembles various products from Chinese parts importers. “At this point the only option I see is selling out the rest of what we have and shutting our doors.” READ MORE : 'Under cover of night,' Republicans unveil plan to kick over 8 million off h...

'I'd be checking for bugs': Republican questions 'constitutionality' of Trump's new jet

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The senior U.S. senator from one of the reddest states in the U.S. is now questioning whether President Donald Trump's acceptance of a new jet from a foreign government is legal under the Constitution. CNN congressional correspondent Manu Raju tweeted Monday that Trump's new $400 million jet from the Qatari royal family has now provoked concern from Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) — both in terms of his legal authority to accept the gift and how secure the plane really is. She suggested that the administration "need[s] to look at the Constitutionality" of the royal jet before officially using it. "I’d be checking for bugs is what I’d be checking for," she added. READ MORE: It can happen here: How Trump could use the military to stay in office well past his 2nd term Capito Moore's concern is likely a reference to the "Emoluments Clause" found in Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution . That section explicitly prohibits presiden...

Marvel’s Thunderbolts* shines a light on men’s mental illness – but falls down with this outdated plotline

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This piece contains spoilers. Marvel’s men are sad. And that’s a good thing. Thor’s depressed in Avengers: Endgame. Tony Stark has panic attacks in Iron Man 3. Peter grieves in Spider-Man: No Way Home . In Marvel’s latest release Thunderbolts* (or The New Avengers ), we finally see a male superhero seek advice on how to deal with mental illness. The only problem? His impromptu therapist is a woman he’s only just met. A blanket of darkness Bob Reynolds (Lewis Pullman) is a new and damaged superhero experiment. Bob believes the world might be better off without him – foreshadowing that he’s not entirely wrong. Bob turns to Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) for help. Yelena understands, saying “that darkness gets pretty enticing”. As she struggles to describe the feeling, Bob supplies the word: a void. Yelena offers a survival tactic: push the darkness deep down and carry on. It’s terrible advice and they both know it. But in that moment, it’s honest, and it connects them. Thund...

Behind Trump’s Order 14270: A sweeping directive that dismantles a century of protections

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On April 9, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14270, blandly titled “Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting to Unleash American Energy.” Behind that bureaucratic name is a sweeping directive: Dismantle a century of environmental protections. Every regulation related to the environment, natural resources, or energy, whether it safeguards air, water, species, or public lands, must be rewritten to serve polluters or vanish by default. Some will claim this is just about efficiency. But no standard review process sets a mass expiration date for protections, regardless of science, impact, or legal mandate. This is not streamlining. It is a countdown to erasure. While courts deliberate, rules will expire. Enforcement will be suspended. Polluters will act as if the rules are already gone. The deadline is September 30, 2026. Any rule not revised and reauthorized by then will expire automatically. What will remain will not be protection. It will not be science. It will n...

'Spectacularly corrupt': New Trump plan condemned as 'depravity that is breathtaking'

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U.S. President Donald Trump—no stranger to allegations of blatant corruption—faced an onslaught of criticism on Sunday in response to ABC News reporting that his administration is preparing to accept "what may be the most valuable gift ever extended to the United States from a foreign government." Ahead of Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia , Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, sources told ABC that the administration "is preparing to accept a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar—a gift that is to be available for use by... Trump as the new Air Force One until shortly before he leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation." The unnamed sources also explained that "lawyers for the White House counsel's office and the Department of Justice drafted an analysis for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth concluding that is legal for the Department of Defense to ac...