All posts tagged: politically

U.S. Gasoline Prices Hit Politically Sensitive Level As Trump Eyes Iran War Off-Ramp

U.S. Gasoline Prices Hit Politically Sensitive $4 Level As Trump Eyes Iran War Off-Ramp

Published by Jenni Sidey

The overnight Wall Street Journal report that President Trump told aides he is willing to wind down the U.S. military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted (and appeared to confirm this narrative in a social media post this morning) comes just as the national average gasoline price hit the politically sensitive $4-a-gallon threshold, underscoring the delicate balancing act the administration is facing in managing battlefield objectives and domestic fuel costs. The latest AAA data shows gasoline prices nationwide topped $4 a gallon on Monday, a 35% increase for Regular 87 at the pump and the largest price shock on record dating back to 2004. Regular 87 gasoline prices at the pump nationwide have returned to the price shock levels seen during the 2022 Russia-Ukraine crisis. Largest monthly price shock on record. Early last week, Bonnie Herzog, managing director and senior consumer analyst at Goldman Sachs, wrote in a note that when fuel prices spike to these “psychological threshold” levels, above $3 and approaching $4 a gallon, consumers tend to drive …

Muslim leaders argue Al-Aqsa Mosque closure during Ramadan may be politically motivated

Muslim leaders argue Al-Aqsa Mosque closure during Ramadan may be politically motivated

Published by Sam Flores

JERUSALEM (RNS) — Living in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, Mohammed Mahmoud enjoys a privilege other Muslims around the world can only dream about: the ability to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque every day. For the first two weeks of Ramadan, Mahmoud, who works in a bakery across the street from the Muslim Quarter, did just that. But worshippers’ access to Israel’s holy sites came to a sudden halt last week after the U.S. and Israel coordinated a joint attack against Iran, and Iran retaliated by launching ballistic missiles at Israel, U.S. military assets and almost a dozen other countries.    While Home Front Command, the Israel Defense Forces’ civil protection arm, has now deemed it safe to permit workplaces, stores, restaurants and virtually all of the country’s mosques, churches and synagogues to reopen — provided that no more than 50 people congregate and there is a nearby bomb shelter — the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Sharif, the Western Wall and its plaza and the Church of the …

‘SNL’ Satirizes a Politically Divided Family Trying to Talk

‘SNL’ Satirizes a Politically Divided Family Trying to Talk

Published by Daniella Wilson

Ashley Padilla’s gradual star turn on Saturday Night Live has been thrilling to watch. Since she joined the show as a featured player in 2024, on the cusp of its big 50th anniversary season, Padilla has reliably transformed innocuous-seeming characters—notably, moms—into character studies that pluck at eccentricities lurking just below the surface. In last night’s episode, Padilla’s performance as a mother admitting a change of heart in her political views marked one of her strongest roles to date. In a sketch entitled “Mom Confession,” Padilla and her husband (played by this week’s delightfully zany host, Alexander Skarsgård) were about to head to dinner with their four children, who were visiting from afar. As they all got up to leave, Padilla told her children that she first needed to share a “shocking” development with them—but wouldn’t reveal what it was unless they promised not to react. She anxiously did a couple of practice rounds to ensure they wouldn’t, announcing that she ate bugs and that her butt had fallen off: “Can’t find it,” she said sternly. …

Labour MPs anticipate ‘politically inept’ U-turn on social media ban | Politics News

Labour MPs anticipate ‘politically inept’ U-turn on social media ban | Politics News

Published by skeptic

Labour MPs expect a “politically inept” U-turn from the government on banning social media for under-16s to prevent a potential Commons showdown. Dozens of Labour MPs are pushing ministers to adopt an Australia-style ban, Sky News has been told. Politics Live: Sacked Tory defector Robert Jenrick speaks at Reform event Many expect the government will move on the issue, following pressure from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) and the Opposition. Peers have tabled an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which would regulate social media platforms “to use highly-effective age assurance measures to prevent children under 16 from accessing services”. This is expected to be voted on in the House of Lords on Wednesday when the bill begins its report stage in the upper chamber. It has cross-party support, including the backing of former Labour MP turned peer Luciana Berger and former Conservative education minister Lord John Nash. If passed, that provides a way for it to be debated in the Commons. One Labour MP told Sky News there was “no way” the …

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles review – remastered 1997 classic is even more politically resonant now | Games

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles review – remastered 1997 classic is even more politically resonant now | Games

Published by Sam Flores

At first glance, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, first released in 1997 and now available in newly remastered guise, does little to separate itself from other boilerplate fantasy fiction. There is a hero, Ramza – an idealistic nobleman with luscious blond hair who cavorts about the medieval-inspired realm of Ivalice in search of high adventure. But quickly, and with narrative elegance, the picture complicates: peasant revolutionaries duke it out with gilded monarchists; machiavellian plots plunge the kingdom into chaos. Ramza must navigate this knotty political matrix, all while experiencing his own ideological awakening. There is a strong case to be made that Final Fantasy Tactics tells a better story than the landmark Final Fantasy VII (which saw Cloud Strife and a ragtag bunch of eco-terrorist pals taking on the shady megacorporation Shinra). And with our real-world political focus shifting from the looming threat of the climate crisis to the more pressing rise of fascism (though the two are inextricably linked), one can make the argument that Tactics is now also the more timely game. …

Migrant crossing figures for 2025 ‘politically toxic’ for PM | Politics News

Migrant crossing figures for 2025 ‘politically toxic’ for PM | Politics News

Published by Sam Flores

The government’s woken up to quite the new year hangover with the publication of 2025’s small boat data – which reveals the number of migrants crossing the Channel increased by more than 4,500 people compared to 2024. For a prime minister who made “smashing the gangs” such a central pledge during the general election campaign, the numbers are politically toxic. Although, frankly, given the trajectory of the statistics in the first part of the year, the situation could have been even worse – with the figures tracking largely above the record number of migrant arrivals in 2022 until bad weather hit in the late autumn. But after 18 months in power, Sir Keir Starmer’s entering another year without making any real progress on an issue which is hugely important to many voters. This seeming impotence – from successive governments – to stop the small boats and close asylum hotels has certainly fuelled the rapid rise in support for Reform UK. Not surprisingly, Nigel Farage has leapt on today’s data to claim “smash the gangs is …

Housing asylum seekers in military barracks will be hugely expensive – and politically costly

Housing asylum seekers in military barracks will be hugely expensive – and politically costly

Published by skeptic

In an effort to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, the UK government has announced that 900 people will be moved to military sites. Though this is a small fraction of the 32,000 currently housed in hotels, the Home Office hopes that up to 10,000 people might soon be accommodated in ex-military sites. The first two sites are Crowborough army training camp in East Sussex, and Cameron Barracks in Inverness, where MPs and local councillors have already raised concerns about community safety and cohesion. It wasn’t long ago that the previous Conservative government moved hundreds of asylum seekers to “large sites”, including ex-military facilities and the Bibby Stockholm barge. Back then, Labour was in opposition and highly critical of the scheme. Now in power, Labour is not only adopting the policy but planning a significant expansion. But they are likely to face the same issues as previous efforts to move asylum seekers to large sites: dangerous conditions, community unrest and ballooning costs. Before it closed in 2024, the Bibby Stockholm was plagued …