Sunday, May 3, 2026

Mark Carney’s 26+ trips abroad: A breakdown of the prime minister’s trade deals and travel after 1 year in office


Analysis
11 March 2026

Prime Minister Mark Carney is living up to his self-avowed globalist status. Since taking office exactly one year ago, the globetrotting former central banker has been outside of Canada 68 days, or 20 percent of his first year in office.

All Life on Earth Comes From One Single Ancestor. And It's So Much Older Than We Thought


Darren Orf
Sun, May 3, 2026
Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:
  • All life on Earth can be traced back to a Last Universal Common Ancestor, or LUCA.
  • A study suggests that this organism likely lived on Earth only 400 million years after its formation.
  • Further analysis also shows that this life form likely sported an early immune system, which means it was probably fighting off viruses.

Iran reviewing latest US reply to peace proposal, according to Foreign Ministry


Meanwhile, the average price of gas in the US is at $4.45 per gallon as the war continues to disrupt global oil supplies
Sun May 3, 2026

Here's the latest

• Peace negotiations: The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the US has responded to Iran’s newest proposal and that Tehran is reviewing Washington’s reply. The plan does not include any nuclear issues, the ministry said.

Trump viewed negatively on every issue measured in latest poll

Newsweek
Story by Jasmine Laws • 1h • 

President Donald Trump’s approval rating has hit the lowest point of his second presidential term, a new poll by ABC News, The Washington Post, and Ipsos shows. The poll, released on April 30, showed Trump’s approval rating at 37 percent, with a disapproval rating of 62 percent, which is a record high across both of his presidential terms.

The Whistleblower Who Uncovered the NSA’s ‘Big Brother Machine’

An unexpected visitor gave my team the evidence we needed to prove that the government was secretly wiretapping Americans.
By: Cindy Cohn

Trump says US to withdraw significantly more than 5,000 troops from Germany

The Times of Israel

Republican lawmakers: 'Sending the wrong signal to Putin.'
‘We’re going to cut way down,’ US president says, amid rift with NATO over Iran war; troop pullout plan faces bipartisan resistance
By Kirsten Grieshaber, Emma Burrows and AAMER MADHANI
Today, 9:22 am

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) — US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States will significantly reduce its troop presence in Germany, escalating a dispute with Chancellor Friedrich Merz as he seeks to scale back America’s commitment to European security.

Saturday, May 2, 2026

Middle East war live: Trump says he 'can't imagine' Iran's latest peace plan is acceptable


MIDDLE EAST
Issued on: 03/05/2026 - 07:06
By:FRANCE 24/Paul MILLAR


US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was going to review a new Iranian peace proposal but said he doubted it would be acceptable, saying that Tehran had "not yet paid a big enough price". Trump’s comments came after Iran's Tasnim and Fars news agencies said Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan. 

Imprisoned Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner in critical condition




Anastasia Tsioulcas

May 02, 2026

The Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who is currently serving an 18-year prison sentence in Iran, has been hospitalized in critical condition after collapsing and losing consciousness in jail. 

What Democrats Can Do to Restore Voting Rights Post-Callais

The Intelligencer
By Ed Kilgore 
political columnist for Intelligencer since 2015

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Louisiana v. Callais, much attention has been paid to its impact on the midterms and the partisan gerrymandering surge we can expect in the last two years of the Trump administration. The decision clearly green-lights map-rigging by demolishing the legal obstacles posed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Thus it’s a huge gift to the Republicans who control the former Confederate states, where the VRA previously protected minority (and thus Democratic) voting interests to a considerable degree. The decision probably won’t be enough to let the GOP hang on to control of the U.S. House in November, but it could make the post-election landscape in Congress a lot friendlier to Republicans.

Trump jokes that the US Navy will takeover Cuba 'almost immediately' on the way back from Iran

News World Cuba
By Malek Fouda
Published on 02/05/2026

Trump appeared to hint at a potential military operation in Cuba after US forces “finish the job” in Iran. The comments come as Washington announced a set of new sanctions targeting the island nation on Friday, which Havana slammed as a form of collective punishment.

Opinion: Trump’s time-bending claim about the Iran war is truly absurd


There’s no “pause” button on the War Powers Resolution, and 60 days is not the same as 40 years.
May 2, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT
By Hayes Brown

The Trump administration told Congress Thursday that the legislative branch doesn’t need to worry about authorizing the war with Iran that President Donald Trump launched two months ago. The War Powers Resolution says that a president only has 60 days after deploying U.S. military forces to either fully withdraw those forces or get formal approval from legislators for the campaign to continue. Despite hitting that deadline Friday, the White House is now saying that as far as it’s concerned, the hostilities that began two months ago are “terminated,” leaving no reason for Congress to act.

NATO assessing details of US troop withdrawal from Germany

The US says it plans to pull about 5,000 troops out of Germany over the next six to 12 months as the feud with European allies over the Iran war escalates.
By Al Jazeera Staff
Published On 2 May 2026

NATO says it is assessing the details of the United States’s decision to withdraw about 5,000 troops from Germany, a key partner in the Western security alliance, amid tensions over the war on Iran.

Friday, May 1, 2026

Top U.S. & World Headlines — May 1, 2026


Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.

Hegseth says clock paused on deadline to seek approval for Iran war

33 minutes ago
James FitzGerald and Brandon Drenon
The defence secretary was responding to senators' questions on Thursday

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has argued that the clock has paused on a deadline for the Trump administration to seek approval from Congress for the US-Israeli war with Iran.

Another Disgrace: Investment group comes forward to buy the Vancouver Whitecaps and move team to Las Vegas



The Greek Courier
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — An investment group has emerged with plans to purchase the Vancouver Whitecaps and relocate our Major League Soccer team to Las Vegas. For countless fans who have poured their hearts and souls into supporting the team, this news feels like a gut punch. The thought of losing our Caps, which has been a part of our community and our identity, is heartbreaking. We must rally to protect our team, as we know we’re fighting for more than just soccer; we’re fighting for our community and the spirit that unites us all.

‘Public health time bomb’: How France allowed cadmium to poison its crops and soil

Analysis France
Issued on: 01/05/2026 - 07:18
By: Benjamin DODMAN

French residents are three to four times more likely to register unsafe levels of cadmium in their bodies than their European counterparts, ingesting dangerous amounts of the carcinogenic metal through the food they eat. Experts blame government inaction, farming practices and a historic reliance on North African phosphate-based fertilisers that is rooted in the colonial era.

Nationwide May Day protests expected to pick up mantle of 'No Kings'

National 
May 1, 2026
By Scott Neuman

May Day demonstrations are expected to draw crowds across the country on Friday, with organizers calling for a boycott of work, school and shopping to protest the Trump administration's policies — and what activists describe as a billionaire takeover of government.

Thursday, April 30, 2026

‘When did it come out?’ Trump remains disengaged as events unfold around him



Too often, the president sounds like someone who just wandered into the Oval Office, blissfully unaware of current events

Apr. 30, 2026, 1:04 PM EDT
By Steve Benen

For proponents of voting rights and racially diverse democracy, the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais was a brutal gut punch. University of California at Los Angeles law professor Richard Hasen wrote in a Slate analysis that the decision, written by Republican-appointed justices, “will go down in history as one of the most pernicious and damaging Supreme Court decisions of the last century.”