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World & Nation
Democrats in Panic: GOP to Gain 10 House Seats

Democrats have gone into what party insiders openly describe as panic
mode as Republicans suddenly see a clearer path to holding the House in
2026.
A series of court rulings on redistricting and voting rights has given
the GOP a clear path to pick up at least 10 House seats, political
experts say.
What only weeks ago appeared to be a growing Democrat advantage in the
national redistricting battle has now dramatically reversed.
A major ruling this past week by the Virginia Supreme Court
invalidating the state's newly drawn congressional map, combined with a
recent U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting key provisions of the
Voting Rights Act, could ultimately hand Republicans control of the
House in the next Congress.
Democrats in panic: GOP to gain 10 House seats

Democrats have gone into what party insiders openly describe as panic
mode as Republicans suddenly see a clearer path to holding the House in
2026.
A series of court rulings on redistricting and voting rights has given
the GOP a clear path to pick up at least 10 House seats, political
experts say.
What only weeks ago appeared to be a growing Democrat advantage in the
national redistricting battle has now dramatically reversed.
A major ruling this past week by the Virginia Supreme Court
invalidating the state's newly drawn congressional map, combined with a
recent U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting key provisions of the
Voting Rights Act, could ultimately hand
Trump Eyes Gas Tax Holiday for 'Period of Time'

President Donald Trump said Monday he wants to temporarily suspend the
federal gas tax as Americans face surging fuel prices tied to the Iran
war.
In a phone interview with CBS News, Trump said the tax break would remain in place until prices begin falling again.
"And yep, we're going to take off the gas tax for a period of time, and
when gas goes down, we'll let it phase back in," Trump said. "We'll be
doing something on that."
WHCA Dinner shooting suspect Cole Allen pleads not guilty, judge scoffs at defense’s power play
The Torrance, California, man faces four charges including assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon

The man accused of attempting to kill President Donald Trump on April
25 at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner entered a plea
in a Washington, D.C., federal court Monday morning to four charges
related to the alleged crime.
Cole Allen, who was shackled and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit,
pleaded not guilty to attempting to assassinate the president of the
United States, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence,
transporting a firearm across state lines and assaulting a federal
officer with a deadly weapon.
More charges are possible the 31-year-old Torrance, California,
resident, according to U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia
Jeanine Pirro.
But Allen's defense attorneys want Pirro and her office removed from
the case, citing a "conflict of interest" stemming from the fact that
Pirro was a victim of their client's alleged crime, they said in a
court filing on Friday. They also cited Pirro's personal friendship
with Trump.
Tehran executes 29-year-old grad student accused of being CIA and Mossad spy

Iran executed a promising aerospace engineering student Monday,
accusing him of spying for both the CIA and Israel’s Mossad
intelligence service.
Erfan Shakourzadeh, 29, was hanged at dawn after being convicted of
stealing classified satellite information from the scientific
organization where he worked, Iranian state media reported.
The regime had accused Shakourzadeh — a post-grad student at the
University of Science and Technology in Tehran — of funneling details
on satellite activities to the foreign intelligence services.
Shakourzadeh was arrested in February last year and forced into making a confession, according to the Iran Human Rights Society.
Trump criticizes 2 Supreme Court justices by name over tariff ruling
Trump expects 'they will be ruling against us on Birthright Citizenship'

President Donald Trump issued a lengthy lament for two of his Supreme
Court justices' $159 billion ruling against tariffs and likely "ruling
against us on Birthright Citizenship" and showing "so little respect to
our country, and its people."
"I don't want loyalty, but I do want and expect it for our Country,"
Trump's 545-word Truth Social post read Sunday night, showing his
disappointment in Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett. "Yes, I
have another way of doing Tariffs, but it is far slower, and more
laborious than what was just determined, in a close decision, to be
'illegal' or 'unconstitutional,' with three powerful, and highly
accurate, dissents! Well, maybe Neil, and Amy, just had a really bad
day, but our Country can only handle so many decisions of that
magnitude before it breaks down, and cracks!!!"
"Sometimes decisions have to be allowed to use Good, Strong, Common Sense as a guide."
Senators Push Trump on Taiwan Arms Deal

Days before Donald Trump is scheduled to visit mainland China, a group
of mostly Democrat senators reportedly is urging the president to move
ahead with a long-delayed $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan.
The bipartisan group pressed Trump in a Friday letter to formally
notify Congress of the major arms sale ahead of his summit this week
with Chinese President Xi Jinping, warning that U.S. support for Taiwan
"is not up for negotiation," The New York Times reported.
The senators argued Taiwan has already demonstrated its commitment to
self-defense after lawmakers in Taipei approved a massive $25 billion
special defense budget last week aimed at strengthening deterrence
against Communist China.
Former Dem gov in hot seat for ‘complete failure’ in ‘INSANE’ early release of thousands of inmates
About 3,500 inmates were released over 180 days in 2021; Cooper's campaign calls criticisms 'blatant lies'

Democratic Senate candidate and former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper
is being ripped as a "complete failure" after hundreds of inmates
released under his administration as part of a COVID-era agreement were
rearrested on new charges within two years.
This comes as Cooper is locked in a heated Senate race with Republican
Michael Whatley that could help determine which party controls the
chamber. A spokesperson for Cooper’s campaign dismissed the criticisms
as "blatant lies from Republicans," pointing to how the former governor
fought the releases in court. The spokesperson also said thousands of
prisoners were released during the first Trump administration due to
COVID-19.
A Fox News Digital review of data from the North Carolina Sentencing
and Policy Advisory Commission found that more than 560 inmates
released during the Cooper administration went on to be arrested on
charges of new offenses within two years of their release.
Texas Gov. Abbott welcomes NY companies after Mamdani demonizes wealthy Big Apple CEO Ken Griffin

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is welcoming Big Apple companies relocating or
expanding in the Lone Star State after New York City Mayor Zohran
Mamdani demonized billionaire hedge fund honcho Ken Griffin for being
rich.
“Governor Abbott is proud to welcome businesses and job creators from
across the country to Texas, where we have no state income tax,
reasonable regulations, and a pro-growth environment that encourages
free enterprise to flourish,” Abbott spokesman Andrew Mahaleris told
The Post.
“Punitive policies that target successful job-creating entrepreneurs
only accelerate the trend of companies choosing Texas,” Gov. Greg
Abbott’s spokesman said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott fired off a blistering letter threatening to
yank state funding if a city doesn't shut down a "discriminatory"
"Muslim-only" bash hosted by an Islamic group at a taxpayer-funded
water park.
Texas city scraps “
Dems Rip Trump Ballroom While Taking Donor Cash

Some Democrats who have criticized President Donald Trump for building
a new White House ballroom have also accepted money from companies
helping to fund the construction.
Several Senate Democrats and Democrat Senate hopefuls have accepted
tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from corporate
PACs, executives, lobbyists, and employees tied to companies backing
Trump's White House ballroom project even while publicly condemning it,
The Hill reported.
The issue is creating headaches for Democrat candidates already facing
pressure from progressive challengers who accuse establishment
Democrats of hypocrisy and being too cozy with corporate interests.
Among the most prominent examples is Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., who
sharply criticized Trump's ballroom project on social media while also
benefiting from contributions linked to companies funding the project.
Starmer Vows Closer EU Ties as Ouster Pressure Mounts

Prime Minister Keir Starmer will pledge to bring Britain closer to the
European Union as he tries to fight off demands to step down after
devastating local election results for his Labour Party.
Starmer plans to use a speech on Monday to argue that he will “face up to the big challenges” and restore “hope” to the country.
That includes “putting Britain at the heart of Europe,” a decade after the U.K. voted to leave the EU, his office says.
Hormuz blockade offers hard lessons for trade-reliant China

For all its death and destruction, war also imparts instruction for
those willing to learn. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East shows
how easily a regional economy dependent on seaborne shipping can be
taken hostage — a lesson with worldwide applications, but one that is
particularly sobering for China, the world’s biggest exporter.
The war between the U.S. and Iran underscores the massive economic
risks a trade-dependent China faces if Beijing undertakes an invasion
of Taiwan.
In addition to the extreme peril built into any assault across the
100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait, Chinese officers planning that operation
must also confront a double-headed dilemma strikingly apparent in the
Persian Gulf.
Hegseth accuses Sen. Mark Kelly of revealing classified information on 'Face the Nation'
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday accused Sen. Mark Kelly
(D-Ariz.) of divulging classified information during an interview on
CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
“‘Captain’ Mark Kelly strikes again,” Hegseth wrote in response to a
post by “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan on the social platform
X detailing what Kelly told her about U.S. stockpiles, which Kelly said
the U.S. war with Iran has reduced.
“Now he’s blabbing on TV (falsely & dumbly) about a *CLASSIFIED*
Pentagon briefing he received. Did he violate his oath…again?” Hegseth
wrote.
The Defense secretary added that the Pentagon’s legal counsel “will review” the Democratic lawmaker’s remarks.
Iran’s cyberwar targets ordinary Americans. We need to dismantle the hacker network
Digital attacks against America run on stolen passwords and cheap tools
By Omri Raiter
Former Trump State Department official Christian Whiton joins ‘Mornings
with Maria’ to break down Iran tensions, cyber threats targeting U.S.
troops and the impact of collapsing oil exports amid President Donald
Trump’s pressure campaign.
In the first hours after American and Israeli airstrikes hit Iran on
Feb. 28, while most of the world was watching missile tracks across the
Middle East, something quieter was happening on the blockchain. Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) operatives moved tens of millions out
of their crypto wallets in the first hours, scaling to hundreds of
millions in the days that followed.
RAKIA, a cyber intelligence firm that develops data analysis platforms
used by governments and security agencies, had its analysts track the
surge in real time, and Fox News Digital detailed the findings as they
unfolded. The funds eventually landed in wallets used by the Houthis,
Hezbollah and personal safe havens for regime insiders.
It was a tell. The same regime that spent years building a $3 billion
crypto operation to fund its proxies was, in the opening hours of a
war, using that infrastructure to evacuate its war chest. The two
months since have brought the second act: the IRGC turning that
infrastructure outward, against Americans and our allies.
Six different ways that prove the wealthy pay a lot more than their ‘fair share’
Politicians demand more from the wealthy but never define what 'enough' looks like in real dollars or percentages
By Ted Jenkin
If you listen to politicians like Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie
Sanders and New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, there’s a
constant drumbeat. The rich don’t pay their "fair share." and we don’t
need any "oligarchs." These are powerful soundbites. They are also
among the most intellectually lazy phrases in modern economics.
Because here’s the real question no one answers: what exactly is "fair?"
Let’s start with the facts which many people don’t like to discuss and not feelings.
According to data from the Internal Revenue Service and the Tax
Foundation, the top 1% of earners already pay roughly 40% or more of
all federal income taxes. The top 10%? Closer to 70%. Meanwhile, nearly
half of Americans pay little to no federal income tax each year.