Former Tarrant County GOP chair Bo French is projected to deliver an upset and defeat incumbent Jim Wright in the GOP primary for Texas Railroad Commissioner, according to Decision Desk HQ. French, a rancher and mineral owner, was backed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and GOP donors like Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, according to Houston Public… Source link
President Donald Trump announced the idea of building a triumphal arch, modeled on Paris’s Arc de Triomphe, at a holiday party last December. At the time, he said that planning and construction of the proposed arch should be domestic policy chief Vince Haley’s “primary thing.” The project’s architect, Nicolas Leo Charbonneau, a principal at the firm Harrison Design and leader of its “Sacred Architecture Studio,” told the New York Times that “the intent of the arch is a celebration in America of 250 years of greatness, freedom, and posterity, for which we can only thank the wisdom of our founders and God’s providence.” Related Articles The proposal was met with almost immediate pushback from the general public, as well as by military veterans (the 250-foot-tall arch would be cited on Memorial Circle in Arlington, Va., across the channel from Arlington National Cemetery) and historic preservationists. The deputy general counsel for the National Trust for Historic Preservation testified that the Trust is “extremely concerned about the location, the height, the scale, and the design of the …
One Commission official described the process as part of von der Leyen’s “absolute centralization” drive. However, another official said it was an extension of the Brussels’ plans to change how the long-term budget is distributed, with spending programs merged into two main funds. The officials said they believe the plan is to have a single centralized service manage EU funds. One senior official said the model is the recovery fund that was set up after Covid (handled by the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support): with national governments submitting spending plans, cash disbursed based on hitting milestones, and centralized oversight. “If everything moves to this system, it’s logical to create a service that does exactly that,” the official said of plans for a future DG INVEST. Commission Executive Vice President Raffaele Fitto last week publicly hinted at the restructuring plans, saying: “Inside DG REGIO we are reflecting on the opportunity and possibility of creating a more efficient DG and identifying the right model.” The restructuring process is advancing. On the Commission intranet, seen by Playbook, a dedicated “workstream” has …
The announcement came a day after Pope Leo signed his encyclical, a letter drawn up by the pontiff and sent to bishops to provide instructions or guidance on moral questions. His new encyclical, which should be made public in coming weeks, is expected to consider the question of AI within the church’s social teaching, which also covers issues such as labor, justice and peace. It’s not the first time Pope Leo has waded into questions of AI. Just a few days after he was elected in May 2025, he told cardinals that the Catholic Church owed it to the world to offer the “treasury of its social teaching” to confront the challenges posed by AI on “human dignity, justice and labor.” In June 2025, Pope Leo criticized the potential negative consequences of growing AI use. After noting AI’s potential for good, the pope said there is a possibility for “misuse for selfish gain” and as a way to “foment conflict and aggression.” “All of us, I am sure, are concerned for children and young people, …
(RNS) — Forty days after Easter, Christians observe Ascension Day (May 14), celebrating the bodily ascension of Jesus into heaven. After many post-Easter appearances and conversations with his disciples, this was the last time they would see the earthly Jesus, marking the conclusion of his earthly ministry. Just before his ascension, in what is now often called the Great Commission, Jesus gave his final commandment to his disciples. The Bible says: “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him they worshiped him and some doubted, And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20) Growing up in a conservative evangelical church, I …
The push would also accelerate work on a so-called overcapacity instrument to deal with state-subsidized firms producing vast quantities of goods in strategic sectors, making it virtually impossible for other industries to compete. Such a mechanism has been under discussion for some time, but is perceived as risky as it would likely run afoul of World Trade Organization rules, which generally bar members from discriminating against single countries. According to two EU officials working on the proposals, granted anonymity to speak frankly, the plans will first be discussed and refined by commissioners at an “orientation debate” on May 29. EU leaders are then expected to discuss China’s export curbs on critical raw materials — essential for everything from wind turbines to car batteries — at a G7 summit in France that begins June 15, providing political direction for the EU executive. Following that, the Commission will seek input from EU heads of government at a European Council on June 18 in Brussels. A draft agenda for the summit, obtained by POLITICO, includes the issue as …
A second proposal would significantly strengthen passenger rights for multi-operator rail journeys by introducing a new category of “single ticket,” covering journeys booked in one transaction even when they involve multiple operators and separate transport contracts. Passengers who miss a connection because of delays or cancellations on earlier legs of the trip would have the right to be rerouted, and request reimbursement, assistance and compensation for the entire journey, even if later legs are with other operators. To prevent circumvention of the rules, railway undertakings, ticket vendors and tour operators would be prohibited from artificially splitting journeys into separate bookings when they could technically be sold under a single ticket. The Commission also wants rail tickets to go on sale earlier. Railway operators would be required to make tickets available at least five months before departure. Alongside the rail-specific measures, the package includes a third, broader regulation on so-called multimodal booking, covering digital platforms across rail, air, bus and waterborne transport. That proposal would impose “neutral display” obligations on major booking platforms, requiring them to …
Another calls for court interventions by the Department of Justice on behalf of Amish parents fighting New York vaccine requirements and Catholic nuns challenging that state’s requirement that they accommodate hospice patients’ gender identities. And the chair of the Religious Liberty Commission is calling for a federal hotline with this automated recording: “There is no separation of church and state.” These are just some of the recommendations that members of the advisory panel formed by President Donald Trump last year want to see included in the commission’s final report. That report is still in the works, but commissioners had an opportunity to describe their wish lists during their most recent meeting in April. There was little dissent as the commissioners, most drawn from Trump’s base of conservative Christian supporters, covered the items they want in the report. Their ideas reflect the prevailing perspectives on the definition of religious liberty among many conservative Catholic and evangelical activists: increasing avenues for religious expression in public schools; expanding opportunities for faith-based organizations to receive public money; and allowing …
ABIDJAN, May 6 (Reuters) – Ivory Coast’s government has dissolved the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) following sustained criticism of the body over its handling of elections, government spokesperson Amadou Coulibaly said on Wednesday. • The decision was approved by the government following repeated disputes over the commission’s independence and its handling of elections, Coulibaly told a news conference after a cabinet meeting. • He said the move was intended to pave the way for a new election management system and help restore public confidence in the electoral process, with the aim of ensuring “peaceful polls”. • Coulibaly said that discussions within the government would now decide what structure will replace the CEI. • Ivory Coast last held a presidential election in October 2025, when President Alassane Ouattara won a fourth term with nearly 90% of the vote after several prominent opposition figures were barred from running, prompting criticism from opposition and civil society groups over the inclusiveness of the process. • The CEI, created in October 2001, has overseen all of Ivory Coast’s elections since …
Inverters are a piece of technology that turns solar panels’ electricity into current that flows into the grid. Huawei is a market leader in the technology. The EU has long been concerned about the threat posed by Chinese tech giant Huawei and its smaller rival ZTE in 5G networks, and is seeking to push EU member countries to remove them from their telecom networks — a position it is now trying to make mandatory. Concerns over Huawei’s dominance in the solar technology market have flared more recently. Risks posed by foreign interference in clean energy networks include manipulation of “electricity production parameters,” disruption of electricity generation and unauthorized access to operational data, McGarry said Monday. This could mean a “remote shutdown … leading to countrywide blackouts,” she said. Suppliers from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran are affected by the ban, the unnamed EU official said, though they noted that Chinese suppliers hold 80 percent of the global market share of solar inverters. The revised Cybersecurity Act also seeks to tackle these risks in the …
