Inflation hits 3.8%, outpacing wage growth for the first time since 2023  —  Increased energy costs are “accounting for over forty percent of the monthly all items increase,” said the Bureau of Labor Statistics. … Inflation surged to 3.8% in April, its highest level in nearly three years …

Trump's uphill climb on gas taxes  —  President Trump's endorsement of suspending federal gas taxes pushes the idea higher on the political radar, but it still faces long odds. … - The federal tax is 18.3 cents for gasoline and 24.3 cents for diesel (with another .1 cent fee for addressing leaking underground tanks).

Supreme Court greenlights 11th-hour Alabama redistricting plan for 2026 election  —  The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has allowed Alabama to select a different map for this year's congressional elections in a stunning, last-minute move to interfere with another state primary election that has already begun.

The Art of the Ceasefire  —  How President Trump's approach to the war in Iran is turning endless conflict, interrupted by fleeting pauses, into the status quo.  —  The obstacles to a lasting political deal between the U.S. and Iran were apparent from the very start of the ceasefire that was announced in early April.

Arcadia mayor resigns, to plead guilty to working as an agent for China  —  The mayor of Arcadia, California, Eileen Wang, abruptly resigned Monday as federal prosecutors announced she had been charged with acting as a covert foreign agent for China.  —  Wang has agreed to plead guilty …

The Major Trouble at ‘60’ … On Sunday evening, “60 Minutes” aired an interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  During the wide-ranging sit-down, Netanyahu's first with a broadcast television outlet since the Iran War began, the prime minister discussed the prospects for peace …

One in Five HealthCare.gov Enrollees Dropped Insurance Coverage This Year  —  More Americans are dropping out of health care marketplaces than usual, after Congress let pandemic-era Affordable Care Act subsidies lapse.  — Copy  —  The numbers are bearing out what many lawmakers feared …

China Increasingly Views Trump's America as an Empire in Decline  —  For decades, many Chinese viewed the United States with a mix of admiration, envy and resentment.  President Trump's volatile second term shattered that image.  —  When President Trump visited China in late 2017 …

Rod Stewart praises King Charles for putting ‘little ratbag in his place’ on US trip  —  Do Ya Think I'm Being Mean About Donald Trump?  Yes.  —  Legendary singer Rod Stewart appeared to diss Donald Trump during a meeting with King Charles.  —  During an event in London to mark …

The VRA Ruling Might Have Handed Republicans a Weapon to Attempt a Jan. 6-style Midterm Coup  —  An outlandish scenario to refuse to seat newly elected blue state representatives just became more plausible  —  Republicans have been throwing everything they can at the 2026 midterms …

Key Republican faces Democratic calls to resign over radio interview  —  Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) is facing calls to resign from Democratic colleagues who say she expressed agreement with a radio host's remark that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) should get his “cotton-picking hands off of Virginia.”

Trump Says the White House ‘Was a Sh*t House’ With Columns ‘Falling Down’ When He Moved Back In  —  President Donald Trump complained that the White House was a “sh*t house” when he moved back in for his second term, claiming that the columns were “falling down” and plaster “falling off.”

Behind the Curtain: Scaling sin  —  Las Vegas has long been known as Sin City for its 24/7 access to all kinds of indecencies.  — America is quickly becoming Sin Nation. … - Governments didn't turn a blind eye to most of this behavior. … This shift in American governance …

Respecting Reform Voters Means Telling Them They're Wrong and Immoral  —  Understand politics with this one weird trick: just tell the truth about the far right.  —  We are living through a global reassurance of fascism.  This is shocking.  And, when shocked, there is a tendency for people to revert to their basest impulses.

ICE Agents Have List of 20 Million People on Their iPhones Thanks to Palantir  —  The comments made by a senior ICE official at a trade show highlight how Palantir is increasing the speed at which ICE operates.  Most people detained by ICE have no criminal conviction.

DHS's Misleading Press Release Smears a U.S. Judge in Rhode Island  —  The judge has referred an assistant U.S. attorney for an ethics inquiry, but she has said that DHS was the truly bad actor.  —  rparloff.bsky.social  —  Meet The Authors  —  On April 30, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security …

This moderate Republican senator is already eyeing the exits 16 months into his term … Curtis, who replaced former Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) last year, has a reputation as a pragmatic dealmaker and moderate voice from his three terms in the U.S. House.  But after seeing Washington grow …

Abigail Spanberger's Faceplant  —  Has there ever been a more overhyped politician than Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger?  —  Flash back a few months, when the “moderate” pol, boosted by endless media profiles describing her competence and pragmatic leadership, swept into office vowing she would …

Exclusive: FBI questions CIA officers over Russia assessment in Brennan probe, sources say  —  The FBI has begun interviewing current and former CIA employees as part of the Department of Justice's investigation into ex-CIA director John Brennan over his role in an intelligence finding …

Farmers are rightfully pissed at Trump  —  PN is supported by paid subscribers.  Become one ⬇️  —  🚜🌽 Subscribe to PN 🚜🌽  —  A couple weeks ago, Adam Hamilton, pastor of the largest United Methodist church in the country …

US war in Iran has cost $29 billion, Pentagon says  —  The United States' war in Iran has cost $29 billion so far, a senior Pentagon official said on Tuesday, an increase of $4 billion from an estimate provided late last month.  —  Jules Hurst, who is performing the duties of the comptroller …

How Keir Starmer could be replaced as UK prime minister after discontent rises in his own party  —  U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a battle for his job after dozens of lawmakers from his own party called on him to step down in the wake of a resounding defeat for his center-left Labour Party in local elections last week.

The economic chilling effect of Trump's immigration crackdown  —  Shortly after Inauguration Day in 2025, Planet Money visited Little Village, a predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood in Chicago.  It felt oddly quiet for what was usually a bustling part of the city, almost like a ghost town.