Progressive search for action

33+ min ago (987+ words) The fire that destroyed seven high-rise residential buildings in Hong Kong is nearly extinguished, after burning for more than 36 hours. At 9 a.m. Hong Kong time, the Fire Department announced that 94 people had died and 76 were injured. Those numbers will only continue to rise. The number of missing has not been updated by authorities in 24 hours and still stands at 279. It is now the worst fire in Hong Kong's history since a warehouse fire in 1948 killed 176 people. Surviving residents report that fire alarms did not go off. The windows were encased in highly flammable styrofoam. A elderly survivor told the press that his home had been entirely dark, the windows covered from the outside with styrofoam. He had glimpsed the fire through a chink in the styrofoam covering his bathroom window and managed to evacuate. Others would not have seen the fire…...

53+ min ago (335+ words) The ongoing MAGA civil war sparked in the wake of Charlie Kirk's killing reached new heights after a pastor speaking at an official Turning Point USA event labeled right-wing influencer Candace Owens as "demonic" and "evil," Sing of the Cross Media founder John-Henry Westen reported Thursday. Shared on Thursday, the comments were made by John Amanchukwu Sr., a right-wing preacher and activist, while speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Washington State. Amanchukwu was attacking Owen for her reporting on Kirk, reporting that revealed the Turning Point USA founder had grown disillusioned with the state of Israel before his assasination. "Candace Owens [is] spending her time trying to tear down the legacy of Charlie Kirk, fighting against Erika Kirk, his wife! I mean, you have to be cruel and demonic to insinuate the things that she has insinuated over…...

1+ hour, 7+ min ago (228+ words) The fact is, the board wrote, this man checked all the boxes to be granted resettlement in the United States, and everyone involved did their due diligence. "Even careful vetting is imperfect, and Rahmanullah Lakanwal may have become radicalized in the U.S. This has been known to happen even with the children of refugees who grow up in America." Moreover, the board wrote, the calls to shut the door on people who helped the U.S. military and face reprisal in their home country, will cause far more problems than it solves. "The fate of Afghans, men and women, who worked with the U.S. has often been brutal," wrote the board. "You can be sure Americans will fight overseas again, and our troops will need allies on the ground to succeed. How many will assist us if they believe there will be no exit…...

1+ hour, 16+ min ago (294+ words) President Donald Trump lashed out at a reporter, calling her a "stupid person" on Thursday after she asked him a question about the vetting of the suspect in the shooting of two National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C. During a press conference about the shooting of two National Guardsmen by a suspected Afghan national, the reporter noted, "U.S. officials say that the suspect worked very closely with the CIA in Afghanistan for years, that he was vetted and the vetting came up clean." "He went cuckoo. I mean, he went nuts," responded Trump. "It happens too often with these people. You see them. But look, this is how they come in, they're standing on top of each other. That's an airplane. There was no vetting or anything. They came in unvetted and we have a lot of others in this country and we're…...

1+ hour, 21+ min ago (224+ words) A supporter of President Donald Trump at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa on January 30, 2020 (Image: Shutterstock) Thanksgiving dinner is typically known for both succulent dishes and intense political discussions with relatives. Now, one former cult member is revealing their strategy for breaking through to people who have made President Donald Trump's MAGA movement a part of their core identity. Hassan went on to say that the start of repairing and rebuilding connections to estranged MAGA family members will often require initiative from relatives. He noted that those conversations can be sparked by beginning them with an apology if a family member was cut off from communication in the wake of Trump's victories in either 2016 or 2024. "We need to make a massive effort to reach out to these people, say "I miss you, I want you back in my life,…...

1+ hour, 23+ min ago (196+ words) Kalshi, one of the nation's largest "prediction markets," has been hit with a nationwide class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York, alleging that the platform has predominantly become an illegal sports betting site that secretly tricks consumers into rigged bets against the house, when they think they're betting against other users on the platform. The suit, filed this week, was reported on X by sports betting and gaming attorney Daniel Wallach. "Consumers on Kalshi do not only bet against each other " they also bet against the House. Kalshi operates institutional market makers, which also gamble against the consumer," stated the lawsuit. "Kalshi also partners with hedge funds, such as Susquehanna International Group, to provide a sophisticated 'market making' service for Kalshi by being on the other side of consumers" bets." "As a result, individual consumers hardly stand…...

1+ hour, 26+ min ago (882+ words) There is no significant opposition to this incendiary agenda within the ruling class. All are agreed that Canada must be a protagonist, as it was in the two world wars of the last century, in a new imperialist partition of the world, so as to lay claim to markets, resources, production networks and geostrategic influence. The Canadian government is thus moving to place the economy on a war footing. It has created a new "Defence Investment Agency" to accelerate the transfer of wealth socially created by the working class into procuring armaments, "supercharging innovation in aerospace, shipbuilding, and advanced manufacturing," in its own hackneyed parlance. According to Finance Minister Fran'ois-Philippe Champagne, "Every company in the country should basically have a defence strategy." Montreal-based Bombardier is in negotiations with Saab to build its Gripon fighter jet in Canada to fulfill potential…...

1+ hour, 31+ min ago (199+ words) As President Donald Trump fielded questions at a press conference about the deadly Washington, D.C. shooting against two National Guard troops, he went off into a strange non-sequitur attacking Somalians " and had to be reminded by reporters that this was in no way relevant to the discussion. "If you look at Somalia, they are taking over Minnesota," said Trump. "What do the Somalians have to do with this Afghan guy who shot the National Guard members?" a reporter challenged him. "Ah, nothing," Trump admitted. "But Somalians have caused a lot of trouble. They're ripping us off." The Somali community in Minneapolis, which grew in the 1990s from immigrants who fled a civil war in their home country, has been a particular sore point for Trump and the MAGA movement ever since the election in Trump's first term of Somali-American Rep. Ilhan Omar…...

1+ hour, 35+ min ago (656+ words) As a teen girl, I hear things about self-image almost every day. Whether it is a talk about how Instagram can make girls insecure, or my friend complaining about how much she dislikes a freckle on her face that I didn't even notice, the topic always seems to be there." Growing up in the age of technology has completely changed the way girls view themselves. We're constantly bombarded with videos of influencers who use filters when they show their makeup or skincare routine and then preach self-love and confidence. It creates a confusing standard, where we know that confidence is... As a teen girl, I hear things about self-image almost every day. Whether it is a talk about how Instagram can make girls insecure, or my friend complaining about how much she dislikes a freckle on her face that I…...

1+ hour, 41+ min ago (249+ words) After years of working abroad with some of Hollywood's biggest names, homegrown talents Liv Hewson, 30, and Natasha Liu Bordizzo, 31, sit down with WHO to chat about filming their latest feminist-focused, Sydney-based series, He Had It Coming. NATASHA: The tone of the show is so unique and seeing the final product " it really achieved, I think, what I was hoping it would be when I read it. Big picture, that is really important to me. Before this came along, I was really looking for something back [home]. LIV: Really nice. That was a big part of the appeal, too " the notion that this is a specifically Australian show, and a chance to come back and do something that is specific to here. It's really important to me to be able to come back here and be a part of telling Australian stories....