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 @ISIDEWITHNewsDaily DiscussionWashingtonDonald TrumpNew YorkPresidentRepublicanBiden AdministrationAmericanUnited States•••2 days ago

Trump Unleashes Zeldin to Axe Climate Rules at EPA

President-elect Donald J. Trump announced on Monday that he would nominate former Representative Lee Zeldin, Republican of New York, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, a position that is expected to be central to Mr. Trump’s plans to dismantle landmark climate regulations.

Mr. Trump campaigned on pledges to “kill” and “cancel” E.P.A. rules and regulations to combat global warming by restricting fossil fuel pollution from vehicle tailpipes, power plant smokestacks and oil and gas wells.

In particular, Mr. Trump wants to erase the Biden administration’s most significant climate rule, which is designed to speed a transition away from gasoline-powered cars and toward electric vehicles.

In a statement, Mr. Trump said Mr. Zeldin would “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.”

Mr. Trump added that Mr. Zeldin would “set new standards on environmental review and maintenance that will allow the United States to grow in a healthy and well-structured way.”

Perhaps more than many other federal agencies, the E.P.A. has been a particular target for Mr. Trump, who blames environmental regulations for hampering a variety of industries, including construction and oil and gas drilling. During his first term, Mr. Trump rolled back more than 100 environmental policies and regulations. Presiden…  

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2 days2D

No One’s Safe: Trump’s ‘Border Czar’ Homan Promises Sweeping Deportation Operation

TOM COTTON is slated to be the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, putting “I think mass deportation is just talk, but the era of open borders will be over,” Scott McConnell, a co-founder of The American Conservative, wrote on X. In July a Mexican-born Trump backer told The Times, “Last time, he didn’t even finish the wall. What’s he going to do this time?”Now the answer is taking shape: He’s going to oversee a militarized mass roundup of the undocumented. On Sunday, Trump named Tom Homan, his former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as “border czar.”In a speech to this year’s National Conservatism Conference, Homan, who oversaw Trump’s family separation policy, promised a “historic deportation operation” from which no undocumented immigrant would be safe. “No one’s off the table in the next administration,” he said. “If you’re here illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder.”Then, on Monday, Trump named the obsessively anti-immigrant Stephen Miller as his deputy chief of staff. Miller’s portfolio, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan reported in The Times, “is expected to be vast and to far exceed what the eventual title will convey.” Miller has been forthright about his desire to purge immigrants here illegally, as well as many here legally, from the United States.Among other things, Miller has said that Trump would cancel the temporary protected status of thousands of Afghans who fled here after the Taliban’s takeover and take another stab at ending DACA, the program that protects from deportation some immigrants brought to the United States as children.Most significantly, he’s laid out plans to use National Guard troops to help arrest migrants en masse, warehousing them in military camps while they await deportation. No one should be shocked when this happens. I suspect some will be anyway.

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…18hrs18H

China’s Rising Threat: Beijing’s New War Machines Aim at U.S. Power in Asia

China’s air force showcased a suite of new armaments this week, including a new stealth fighter and an attack drone, demonstrating its advancing ability to challenge the U.S. military presence in the Asia Pacific.The public debut of the J-35A stealth fighter and other weapons systems at China’s premier airshow, which started Tuesday, represents the centerpiece in the Chinese air force’s celebrations of its 75th anniversary—a milestone in Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s sweeping campaign to modernize the People’s Liberation Army.A single J-35A soared over crowds of spectators in a brief flypast on the opening day of Airshow China in the southern city of Zhuhai, making a steep climb with afterburners before rolling away and streaking out of view, state television footage showed.Other new weapons—including the “Jiu Tian” reconnaissance and attack drone and the HQ-19 anti-ballistic-missile system—were also prominent in ground displays at the biennial airshow, as examples of the PLA’s growing prowess in aerial warfare and air defense.Much remains unclear about these systems and their capabilities. Even so, Chinese officials and state media say the new armaments reflect the significant advances that Beijing has made in developing its air power and enhancing its ability to defend China’s strategic interests.Xi has directed an ambitious modernization program for the PLA, aimed at transforming the Soviet-style military into a 21st-century fighting force. Beijing has demonstrated progress through increasingly complex combat drills—such as combined aerial and naval maneuvers—as well as more frequent deployments that reach beyond China’s periphery.U.S. officials have increasingly raised concerns about how Beijing’s burgeoning military strength could affect Washington’s ability to maintain an effective security presence in the Asia Pacific.“China is not a future threat. China is a threat today,” U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said in September. “The Chinese Communist Party continues to invest heavily in capabilities, organizations and operational concepts designed specifically to defeat the ability of the United States and its allies to project power in the Western Pacific.”

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…13hrs13H

Britain's Blade Ban: Tech Moguls Now in the Crosshairs for Online Weapon Sales

Technology company executives could be held personally liable for allowing illegal knives to be advertised on their platforms, under new British government plans to combat a recent rise in crime with weapons, some of which are readily available online.Under the proposals, the police could gain the power to issue notices to bosses of digital firms ordering them to remove content, possibly within just two days. Those who fail to comply could face significant fines.Holding social media executives personally liable for content from an advertiser or seller would represent a shift in regulation of the internet. Company leaders have largely been shielded from responsibility for the words, picture, videos and other content hosted on their platforms.While the plans are still some way from becoming law, the initiative is part of a government commitment to fight growing cases of knife crime.Although such crimes are below prepandemic levels, they increased 4 percent in the 12 months before March 2024 in England and Wales, with a much larger rise of 13 percent in robberies involving knives. There were 225 homicides in England and Wales in the 12 months to June 2024, according to one charity.Britain’s proposal is part of a wider global trend of governments ramping up pressure on social media companies. In France, Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested in August on charges including complicity in criminal activity that occurred on his platform.In Brazil, X was blocked for over a month, starting in late August, when the company refused to remove certain content. In Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week proposed a ban on social media for people under 16 years old.The proposal comes at a time of intense global debate about regulation of the internet and free expression. Many policymakers, particularly those in Europe, want companies like X, Meta, Google and TikTok to police their platforms more aggressively.But in the United States, President-elect Donald J. Trump and his supporters like Elon Musk, the owner of X, have said such rules often target conservative voices and undercut free speech.

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…3hrs3H

Netanyahu's Pre-Inauguration Gift to Trump: A Lebanon Cease-Fire Deal"

A close aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Donald Trump and Jared Kushner this week that Israel is rushing to advance a cease-fire deal in Lebanon, according to three current and former Israeli officials briefed on the meeting, with the aim of delivering an early foreign policy win to the president-elect.Ron Dermer, Netanyahu’s minister of strategic affairs, made Mar-a-Lago the first stop on his U.S. tour Sunday before traveling to the White House to update Biden administration officials on the state of Lebanon talks, a sign of how swiftly America’s political center of gravity has shifted after Trump’s electoral victory.“There is an understanding that Israel would gift something to Trump … that in January there will be an understanding about Lebanon,” an Israeli official said. Like others in this article, the official spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations.Trump has said he wants to bring an end to the wars in the Middle East, but he also told Netanyahu in a call last month to “do what you have to do” against Hezbollah and Hamas. It is unclear what impact, if any, the Lebanon proposal discussed at Mar-a-Lago would have on stalled cease-fire and hostage-release talks in Gaza.“Netanyahu has no loyalty to Biden and will be focused entirely on currying favor with Trump,” said Frank Lowenstein, a former special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations under President Barack Obama who served during the transition to the first Trump administration. If 2016 is any indication, he added, “Trump won’t hesitate to act like he’s already president when he sees an opportunity.”

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