Month: April 2026

What Is the Trump Administration Really Trying To Do With The Latest Comey Indictment?

What Is the Trump Administration Really Trying To Do With The Latest Comey Indictment?

Published by Jenni Sidey

On Tuesday, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina handed down a two-count indictment against the former FBI director James Comey, charging him with threatening the life of President Donald Trump and transmitting that threat across state lines. The basis for the charges: an Instagram post from May 2025 in which Comey shared a photo captioned “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.” The shells on the sand spelled out “86 47.” Each count carries a maximum of ten years in federal prison. Comey deleted the post the same day it went up and issued an immediate clarification on social media. “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” he wrote. “It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind, so I took the post down.” He later told interviewers that he and his wife had simply spotted the formation during a stroll along a North Carolina beach and read it as a quirky, possibly restaurant-themed joke. Despite the dubious explanation, from the moment the post …

Apple’s Q2 2026 Earnings Call: 11 Key Takeaways

Apple’s Q2 2026 Earnings Call: 11 Key Takeaways

Published by skeptic

Apple held its earnings call for the second fiscal quarter (first calendar quarter) of 2026 today after announcing its best March quarter ever. Apple saw revenue of $111.2 billion with double-digit growth across every geographic segment and across every product category. Apple CEO Tim Cook and Apple CFO Kevan Parekh provided insight into iPhone sales, Mac sales, RAM supply issues, and more. We’ve rounded up the most interesting takeaways from the call. iPhone 17 Sales Apple attributed its success to the new iPhone models. Cook said “demand was off the charts,” but Apple was facing supply constraints that impacted revenue. Had there not been supply issues, Apple would have seen higher revenue. The A19 and A19 Pro chips from TSMC proved to be a bottleneck because TSMC uses the same 3nm process for AI chips that are in high demand. Cook said iPhone constraints were “primarily driven” by the availability of the advanced nodes Apple’s SoCs are produced on. According to Parekh, the iPhone 17 family is Apple’s best-selling iPhone lineup to date. “The ‌iPhone …

A Brief History of Royals Trying to Look Like Regular Americans

A Brief History of Royals Trying to Look Like Regular Americans

Published by Sam Flores

On Thursday, King Charles and Queen Camilla finished their four-day state visit to the US with a few classic American activities. First, they traveled to Shenandoah National Park, where they met with the park’s employees and a group of teenagers who serve as junior rangers. Charles also got some face time with Doug Burgum, the secretary of the interior and former North Dakota governor who looks like he walked right off the set of a Taylor Sheridan show. Finally, they met up with Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger during a block party in Front Royal, Virginia. Though it’s not entirely clear why this town of 15,000 was throwing a parade on a random Thursday, its citizens clearly wanted to make sure the king and queen had an authentic experience inside their picturesque white gazebo. There were clog dancers and baby animals wandering around. The king and queen shook hands with every member of a Little League team. They encountered a spread of picnic food. According to reporters on the scene, Charles was shocked to hear that …

Muslim women are suing jails and police over hijab removal at booking. And winning.

Muslim women are suing jails and police over hijab removal at booking. And winning.

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — More Muslim women across the United States are turning to the courts to challenge prison and police policies that force them to remove their hijabs for booking photos, arguing the practice violates their religious freedom and leaves them exposed to lasting harm. In the last two months, at least five such cases have been filed or settled. Attorneys say the lawsuits do not reflect a new problem so much as a new willingness to fight. A growing track record of successful cases from Minnesota to New York City has emboldened Muslim women to come forward about their experiences.  “A lot of Muslim women realized, ‘Oh, this is something I can complain about. I felt like it violated my rights. I knew it felt wrong, but I didn’t know that I could actually try to get these pictures destroyed,’” said Aya Beydoun, a staff attorney with the Council on American-Islamic Relations who has litigated several of these cases in recent years. And arrests at pro-Palestine protests have also brought more visibly Muslim women into …

Iran is accelerating efforts to dig out missiles and munitions

Iran is accelerating efforts to dig out missiles and munitions

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON — Iran is taking advantage of the ceasefire with the U.S. to dig out its weapons, according to a U.S. official and two other people familiar with the matter. The regime has stepped up its efforts to excavate missiles and other munitions it hid underground or that were buried beneath rubble from U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, they said. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. The U.S. believes the regime wants to quickly reconstitute its drone and missile capabilities so it could launch attacks across the Middle East if President Donald Trump decides to resume military operations, the sources said. Trump was set to meet with his national security team Thursday to review options — including new military action — for opening the Strait of Hormuz and stripping Iran of any nuclear material, according to another U.S. official. The commander of U.S. Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, was scheduled to brief Trump and members of his national security team about the options, as well as the …

Apple was surprised by AI-driven demand for Macs

Apple was surprised by AI-driven demand for Macs

Published by skeptic

Apple’s iPhone sales and Services revenue were the stars of the show in the tech giant’s most recent quarter, but the Mac quietly outperformed — helped by growing demand for AI workloads. Wall Street investors had expected to see Mac revenue in the low $8 billion range, but Apple reported $8.4 billion in the second quarter ended March 28 — a notable beat for a non-core segment of the tech giant’s business. In addition, investors ahead of earnings believed that Mac sales would be essentially flat year-over-year. Instead, Mac sales were up 6% on an annual basis, the company told investors. The company’s total revenue was $111.2 billion, a 17% increase from the same period last year. Apple chalked up some of the Mac growth to recent product launches, including the well-received MacBook Neo. However, those fun, colorful computers were only on sale for a few weeks after the March 4 preorders began. Realistically, most units shipped mid- to late March, and some demand may have been pushed into April as certain models sold out. …

The secret tactic Beyoncé uses to protect her children’s privacy is surprisingly simple

The secret tactic Beyoncé uses to protect her children’s privacy is surprisingly simple

Published by Daniella Wilson

Beyoncé has managed to maintain a lot of her anonymity over the years while making it seem effortless.  Despite being one of the most famous singers in the world, not a lot is known about the Texas Hold ‘Em singer’s life behind closed doors, especially as she rarely gives interviews.  The singer has protected her three children—Blue Ivy, 14, and twins Rumi and Sir, eight—by only sharing snippets of their lives. Beyoncé’s mom, Tina Knowles, was recently asked in an interview on Sherri Shepherd’s talk show, Sherri.  © Gilbert FloresBeyoncé is very protective over her family’s privacy “They [Beyoncé and Solange] just know what to hold and when to fold. They want to have a life and to achieve that, they can’t share every detail of their life.”  Tina is known for being more open about her family life, and often shares her pride over her daughters and grandchildren on social media. Sherri asked Tina how her daughters react when she says something she shouldn’t.  © FilmMagicTina Knowles opened up about how her famous daughters …

Trump says bulletproof vest may make him look fat – ‘Don’t know if I can handle’ | UK | News

Trump says bulletproof vest may make him look fat – ‘Don’t know if I can handle’ | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

Donald Trump has revealed the reason he doesn’t wear bulletproof vests after more than one attempt on his life – jokingly revealing that he is worried it might affect his figure. Speaking from the Oval Office, he told reporters that he was aware that a vest would be something to consider – and is something he has been asked about – but as it stands he will not be wearing one while doing public appearances. It comes after a man allegedly attempted to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with guns and knives and attempting to kill President Donald Trump agreed on Thursday He said: “I don’t know if I can handle looking 20 pounds (9kg) heavier. “I’ve been asked about that. I guess it’s something you consider. In one way, you don’t like to do it because you’re giving in to a bad element. And so, I don’t know. But I have been asked about it.” A man accused of trying to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with guns and knives …

With ‘Mad Bills to Pay,’ Joel Alfonso Vargas aims to rep the real Dominican Bronx

With ‘Mad Bills to Pay,’ Joel Alfonso Vargas aims to rep the real Dominican Bronx

Published by Sam Flores

A summer staple in the Bronx, nutcrackers are colorful home-brewed cocktails sold informally. They’re also, according to Dominican American filmmaker Joel Alfonso Vargas, an underground cultural touchstone, one he became familiar with as a teenager. “The guy who sold weed also sold nutcrackers,” he says via Zoom. “You hit someone up and they’ll come with a backpack.” One of these neighborhood entrepreneurs is the protagonist of Vargas’ debut feature, “Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo),” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025 and is now finally playing in theaters. Rico (Juan Collado), 19, earns cash by dragging a cooler around the beach offering nutcrackers. But when his pregnant 16-year-old girlfriend Destiny (Destiny Checo) moves into the apartment he shares with his mother and sister, Rico’s looming responsibility as a soon-to-be-father forces him to seek more formal employment. His personal struggles growing up with an absent dad and being a young man of color who comes from a low-income family soon take a toll on him. Though Vargas, 34, …

Artists Are Being Replaced by AI

Artists Are Being Replaced by AI

Published by Daniella Wilson

Ant-Man star Evangeline Lilly is voicing her frustrations for the recent Disney layoffs that hit a number of Marvel Studios staffers. CEO Josh D’Amaro informed staff about cuts in a memo on April 14, with a source familiar with the matter telling The Hollywood Reporter that around 1,000 jobs were eliminated. Marvel Studios included in the cuts, and laid off members of its visual development team, notably 16-year veteran Andy Park, who was well known by fans. In an Wednesday Instagram video, Lilly explained that upon hearing the news of layoffs, she reached out to Park, who confirmed that he had been let go. “I reached out to my good friend Andy Park, who was the genius behind creating the original Wasp super-suit and the original Wasp concept drawings for the film Ant-Man and the Wasp, and just said, ‘Is this true? Is this really what’s happening?’” she said. “And he said, ‘Yeah, it’s true. I have been let go.’ And I can’t quite believe that, that Disney has let go of the artists who …