Opinion | How to Break Up Disney

In 1886, railroad and telegraph baron Jay Gould famously boasted, “I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half.” Corporate power, in other words, can keep a nation divided. This fact of politics was true then, and it’s true now. And we can see that with one of the more unusual dynamics in American politics, as both the left, in the form of an actors’ and...

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DeSantis: Being insulted by Trump 'helps me'

RYE, N.H. — Ron DeSantis’ campaign reset doesn’t appear to include more directly taking on Donald Trump. After two days in which Trump roasted DeSantis and his lagging poll numbers from stages in Iowa and Pennsylvania, the Florida governor kicked off his campaign reboot in New Hampshire by trotting out well-worn rebuttals of the former president’s rhetoric. “If you're up...

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Italy intends to leave China's Belt and Road Initiative, defense minister says

Rome seeks to exit the BRI "without doing damage" to its relationship with Beijing, defense chief Guido Crosetto tells Corriere della Sera. from Politics, Policy, Political News Top Stories https://ift.tt/Py3No6l via IFT...

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Texas' legislature isn’t helping with scorching heat, San Antonio's mayor says

Texas is in the midst of a record-breaking heatwave, with temperatures reaching up to 120 degrees in areas. In San Antonio, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said Sunday, the state’s legislature has only made things worse. “We're certainly grateful for a president now that's treating this heatwave with the urgency that I think is necessary. Especially given the fact that one of the challenges...

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30 days over 110 F in Phoenix. But expected monsoon rains could cool historically hot Southwest.

PHOENIX — A historic heat wave that has gripped the U.S. Southwest throughout July, blasting residents and baking surfaces like brick, is beginning to abate with the late arrival of monsoon rains. Forecasters expect that by Monday, people in metro Phoenix will begin to see high temperatures fall under 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) for the first time in a month. But...

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Judge blocks Arkansas law allowing librarians to be criminally charged over ‘harmful’ materials

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas is temporarily blocked from enforcing a law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing “harmful” materials to minors, a federal judge ruled Saturday. U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks issued a preliminary injunction against the law, which also would have created a new process to challenge library...

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Labor battle brews as Trump heads to Biden’s backyard

Donald Trump is headed to hotly contested Erie County Saturday evening, a western Pennsylvania bellwether Joe Biden won by a razor-thin margin almost three years ago. Known for its labor union roots, Eric County is emblematic of the ongoing battle for organized labor ahead of next year’s election, particularly if the country sees another Biden-Trump rematch. Trump, who won...

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Trump hits back at GOP candidate who said he’s running to ‘stay out of jail’

Donald Trump said it's "wrong" to suggest he's running for the presidency to stay out of prison — and the former president signaled Saturday that he's prepared to punch down at any of his rivals who suggest he's doing so. During the Lincoln Dinner on Friday evening — a key Republican event in the lead up to the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses — Will Hurd and Asa Hutchinson...

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DeSantis clarifies comment that he would ‘sic’ RFK Jr. on FDA or CDC

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis clarified his comment that if elected president he would "sic" Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on a medical agency, saying instead he would put the Democrat on a bipartisan task force that would hold medical agencies accountable for supposed government overreach. “It wouldn’t be he would be the head of CDC,” DeSantis told Megyn Kelly in an interview on Friday....

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ER visits spike as extreme heat scorches New York City

NEW YORK — More New Yorkers are heading to the emergency room for heat-related illnesses as the city bakes under a dayslong heat wave. Hospitals across the city reported 25 heat-related emergency room visits Thursday, up from just six visits the day before and the most reported in any one day so far this summer, according to public data. Temperatures Thursday felt hotter...

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Biden's DOT pushes tighter fuel efficiency rules for SUVs

The Transportation Department on Friday floated a fuel economy rule that would require automakers to more aggressively increase the efficiency of SUVs and pickup trucks compared to passenger vehicles through 2032. Sedans have already improved at a rapid clip, but SUVs and pickup trucks — which have become increasingly popular with American drivers — have “more room to improve,”...

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Feds home in on Ticketmaster antitrust case

The Justice Department could file an antitrust lawsuit against concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment and its subsidiary Ticketmaster by the end of the year, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. The DOJ is aiming to file a lawsuit as soon as this fall that claims the entertainment giant is abusing its power over the live music industry, the people said....

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‘We simply are nowhere’: EU slams lack of progress at G20 climate meeting

Countries were unable to agree on clear language on renewables and fossil fuels. from Politics, Policy, Political News Top Stories https://ift.tt/XH3Ih16 via IFT...

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Putin rules out rejoining Black Sea grain deal, despite famine fears

Poorer nations will be dependent on Moscow’s good graces for shipments of food and fertilizer. from Politics, Policy, Political News Top Stories https://ift.tt/HYQcMRS via IFT...

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Powell voices skepticism at Fed's own bank rule proposal

The Federal Reserve's top bank cop, Michael Barr, is facing fierce pushback from big lenders and their GOP allies over a sweeping plan to make the industry raise more funds to guard against potential losses. Now, skepticism is also coming from inside his own agency — including from Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The Fed board, which places a premium on reaching consensus, voted...

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No chance of Biden pardoning his son, White House says

President Joe Biden will not pardon his son Hunter if he is convicted of the charges against him, the White House said on Thursday. Hunter Biden has been charged with two misdemeanor tax offenses and a felony gun charge. When asked during her briefing whether there was any possibility that the president would eventually pardon his son, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday replied, “No,” and declined to comment further. The...

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Biden announces action on heat as nation sizzles

President Joe Biden unveiled a series of measures Thursday designed to aid workers and residents facing severe health threats from soaring temperatures as record heat shows no signs of relenting. Biden ticked off the devastating impacts of the recent heat waves across the country: Death, threats to vulnerable people like the elderly and unhoused, workplace safety concerns,...

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