Patti Mohr

Five Years After the Withdrawal of U.S. Troops, Taliban Maintain Brutal Control of Afghanistan

6Sep

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Geopolitics, Human rights, Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Types of News: Brief

Five Years After the Withdrawal of U.S. Troops, Taliban Maintain Brutal Control of Afghanistan

Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi invited U.S. officials to make deals on critical minerals. September 6, 2026—Five years after the dramatic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, the repressive Taliban regime remains in control, even as it is still unrecognized by a majority of countries. Nearly half the population is dependent on humanitarian aid. Humanitarian Action calculates that is 21.9 million. Also, more than 5 million Afghans who lived in neighboring countries have been forced to return. What's more, Afghanistan and Pakistan are at war. The Aftermath of the U.S. Withdrawal The United States spent 20 years fighting in Afghanistan, often asserting a strategy of nation-building while the underlying strategic goals went undefined. Scores of civilians were killed...

Class Action Lawsuit Challenges State Department, U.S. Weapons Makers Over ‘Israeli Exceptionalism’

6Sep

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Human rights, International Law, Legal Battles, Middle East, Types of News: Brief

Class Action Lawsuit Challenges State Department, U.S. Weapons Makers Over ‘Israeli Exceptionalism’

Plaintiffs Charge Illegal Support for ‘Gross Violations of Human Rights’ in Lebanon September 6, 2026—Lebanese Americans in Michigan are suing Secretary of State Marco Rubio along with weapons-makers Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Caterpillar, asserting corporate negligence and violations by the government of the U.S. Leahy Laws, which bars military sales to a country committing human rights violations. The lawsuit accuses the State Department of defying U.S. laws by creating “special mechanisms” in its review of the Israeli military, in effect creating “a far more lenient, bureaucratic, and convoluted review process” to avoid enforcing the Leahy Laws. The impact is policies and procedures that provide an “Israeli exceptionalism” for human rights violations. It further charges the comp...

China’s Xi Strengthens Ties With Middle East on Egypt Trip

3Sep

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Diplomacy, Geopolitics, Middle East, Types of News: Brief

China’s Xi Strengthens Ties With Middle East on Egypt Trip

Xi Calls for New Middle East Regional ‘Security Architecture’ Cairo welcomed Xi with streets decorated with Chinese flags, a joint-military training exercise, a red-carpet welcoming ceremony, and a 21-gun salute. September 3, 2026—For the first time in four years, Chinese President Xi Jinping landed in the Middle East, touching down in Cairo, Egypt, for diplomatic talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. Cairo welcomed Xi with streets decorated with Chinese flags, a joint military training exercise, a red-carpet welcoming ceremony, and a 21-gun salute. The two leaders signed several agreements, including five major agreements and 20 strategic cooperation documents. Egyptian Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly hailed the visit as an “historic” event that “coincides wit...

ICE Detentions Hit Record Levels as Deaths and Medical Failures Mount

2Sep

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Domestic Politics: United States, Human rights, Immigration, Migration, Types of News: Analysis

ICE Detentions Hit Record Levels as Deaths and Medical Failures Mount

Private Firms Profit, Prisoners Beg for Medical Help, and DHS Investigates Deaths Aug. 26, 2026 ICE announced its agents detained 1,328 people in Virginia and Maryland over a two-week period. September 2, 2026—As the number of people taken and held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement soared this Summer amid reports of “abysmal” conditions at the detention centers. Since President Donald Trump started his second term in office in January 2025, 57 people have died in ICE custody. Last week, a Chinese national by the name of Lianyong Wei died hours after ICE arrested him in Saipan, a U.S. commonwealth in the Western Pacific. Meanwhile, thousands of others have suffered medical emergencies, such as head injuries, dehydration, strokes, and malnutrition, while in ICE custody, ac...

Where Is The US-Canada Trade Dispute Headed: A Spat or a War?

1Sep

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Global Trade, Types of News: Analysis

Where Is The US-Canada Trade Dispute Headed: A Spat or a War?

A Guide to New Tariffs on Cross-Border Trade Tariffs are escalating, trade talks have collapsed and the rhetoric has become personal. But the bigger question is whether Washington and Ottawa can preserve the North American economic integration built over three decades. Photo of the Detroit River by realafm courtesy Unsplash September 1, 2026—The U.S.-Canada trade dispute is garnering a lot of attention, due in no small measure the highly-charged rhetoric over the breakdown in trade talks. Both sides increased tariffs on segments of each other’s products. But just how significant are the new tariffs in terms of trade and cost? Where does that leave the review of the larger North American trade pact? Trade Talks Break Down The trade talks are taking place at a critical time: T...

Meta Platforms Settle Massive State AGs’ Lawsuit

26Aug

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Big Tech, Digital Economy, Types of News: Brief

Meta Platforms Settle Massive State AGs’ Lawsuit

Consent Agreement (Full-Text PDF) Includes $18 Billion Pay-Out and Policy Changes August 26, 2026—In a groundbreaking consent judgment with 52 attorneys general for U.S. states, territories, and the District of Columbia, Meta Platforms, Inc. has agreed to voluntarily pay states $18 billion over a ten-year period.The agreement effectively brings to a close Meta’s part in an industry-wide lawsuit launched in 2022 over “adolescent addiction/personal injury” in regards to using social media. META Platform State AGs Consent Judgment 8.26.26Download ‘Entice, Engage, and Ensare’ The Plaintiffs alleged that Meta violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Furthermore, they argued that Meta used Facebook and Instagram “to entice, engage, and ultimately ensare youth an...

U.S. Economy: Bessent May Tap U.S. Treasury’s General Account to Buy Bonds

24Aug

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Currency, Debt, National Budgets & Interest Rates, Domestic Politics: United States, Global Economics, Types of News: Brief

U.S. Economy: Bessent May Tap U.S. Treasury’s General Account to Buy Bonds

As U.S. Debt Tops $40 Trillion, Debt-Holders Demand Higher Yields August 24, 2026—One of the most notable effects of soaring U.S. national debt are the rising yields on Treasury’s long-term bond market. Bond investors are simply no longer willing to invest in U.S. long-term debt unless the risk premium on those bonds pay higher yields. Since July, yields on Treasury’s long-term bonds have steadily risen. The 10-year and 20-year bonds rose climbed above 5.2 and 5.25, up from 4.7 and 4.74 earlier this year. Meanwhile, the 30-year bond rose by 11.49 percent in the past six months, up to 5.23 percent today. When it peaked at 5.30 percent earlier in the month, it was a two-decade high. That might not seem significant to everyone, but interest rates on long-term debt impact everything f...

US and Armenia Advance Bilateral Relations and Eurasian Trade Route

26May

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Diplomacy, Geopolitics, Global Trade, Types of News: Brief

US and Armenia Advance Bilateral Relations and Eurasian Trade Route

What Is the TRIPP Corridor? And Why It Matters to Geopolitics File photo. Source: State Dept. January 2026 May 26, 2026—The foreign ministers of the United States and Armenia signed a strategic agreement on Tuesday that advances a Eurasian trade route between Asia and Europe that allows some trade to bypasses Russia and Iran. The “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” is a 27-mile transport corridor running through Armenia and Azerbaijan that links up to the much larger Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also called the “Middle Corridor.” “This agreement marks the biggest step to date on making this historic route a reality, on advancing peace, and on increasing prosperity in Armenia and frankly on the region,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the ...

A Guide to Economic Empowerment: Policy, Anti-Corruption, and Inclusive Capitalism

24Apr

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Finance, Banks, Cryptocurrency, Metals, Global Economics, Human rights, Resources for Research

A Guide to Economic Empowerment: Policy, Anti-Corruption, and Inclusive Capitalism

How Consumers, Savers, and Citizens Have the Power to Transform Society for the Better Economic power of the consumer. Economic empowerment is the idea that individuals are free to make decisions over their own lives and equipped to influence the world around them through everyday decisions. Everyone engages in the economy. Citizens with economic power assert influence through spending, savings, and charitable decisions. Every act itself is a means of asserting individual impact—or at least it has the potential to do so. This recognizes that democracy is not only about elections and governance. It is built on a foundation of empowering society. An empowered citizenry is better able to hold government accountable and serve the interests of the population. Economics factors into...

US Attorney Drops Criminal Probe Against Federal Reserve

24Apr

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Currency, Debt, National Budgets & Interest Rates, Domestic Politics: United States, Types of News: Brief

US Attorney Drops Criminal Probe Against Federal Reserve

Trump and Powell tour Federal Reserve headquarters, where renovations are taking place, in July 2025. April 24, 2026—Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, announced today that she is closing a criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve. Pirro wrote on X that someone has asked the Inspector General of the central bank to “scrutinize the building costs overruns” to settle questions. The criminal probe is part of a larger politicalization of the Justice Department under President Donald Trump. It has also been characterized as a pressure campaign against the central bank to lower interest rates, at the risk of the Fed’s independence. Timeline of Criminal Probe of the Federal Reserve In January, the U.S. Justice Department issued grand jury subpoenas t...