Today's Liberal News

Biden in Angola: U.S. Competes with China for Influence in Africa Amid Fight for Key Resources

President Biden is in Angola today in his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa as president and as the first U.S. president to visit the former Portuguese colony. The U.S. is attempting to transform its relationship with Angola, still marked by the legacy of the Cold War, in order to compete with China’s growing influence, particularly over access to African resources. Biden is expected to promote a U.S.-funded multibillion-dollar railway project connecting Angola to Central Africa.

The Hunter Biden Pardon Is a Strategic Mistake

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President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter is a done deal. The president has not only obviated the existing cases against Hunter; the sweep of the pardon effectively immunizes his son against prosecution for all federal crimes he may have committed over the course of more than a decade.

Day 2 of the 2024 Space Telescope Advent Calendar

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, K. Pontoppidan, J. Green
Day 2 of the 2024 Space Telescope Advent Calendar: This image shows the center of the Serpens Nebula, as captured by the James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-InfraRed Camera. The Serpens Nebula, located 1,300 light-years from Earth, is home to a particularly dense cluster of newly forming stars, some of which will eventually grow to the mass of our sun.

The Fall of Aleppo Was Oddly Familiar

The fall of Aleppo this weekend surprised even the residents of Aleppo, so you can imagine how flabbergasted foreign analysts were, from thousands of miles away. As recently as a week ago, the Syrian civil war seemed to have reached a dismal equilibrium: The Syrian government controlled most major cities, including Aleppo, and had ceased progress in retaking insurgent enclaves in Syria’s north and east.

America Stopped Cooking With Tallow for a Reason

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s latest spin on MAGA, “Make frying oil tallow again,” is surprisingly straightforward for a man who has spent decades downplaying his most controversial opinions. Last month, Kennedy argued in an Instagram post that Americans were healthier when restaurants such as McDonald’s cooked fries in beef tallow—that is, cow fat—instead of seed oils, a catchall term for common vegetable-derived oils including corn, canola, and sunflower.

How to End the War In Gaza

The cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah brokered by President Joe Biden’s envoy Amos Hochstein is an important achievement. It reflects the lessons that the two of us have learned in a lifetime of diplomacy and statecraft—and those lessons can be applied to Gaza and the broader Middle East by the Biden administration in its remaining days and by the incoming Trump administration.

A New Front in Syria’s Civil War? Rebels Led by Former al-Qaeda Affiliate Take Over Aleppo

Syrian opposition forces have seized most of Aleppo after launching a surprise offensive in recent days that ousted government forces from the country’s second-largest city. The offensive is being led by an armed group called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al-Qaeda affiliate that cut ties with them in 2017. Syrian and Russian forces have retaliated with airstrikes on rebel-held areas, with the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reporting 446 deaths in Syria since Wednesday.

“Instrument of Vengeance”: Mehdi Hasan on How Trump & Kash Patel Could Weaponize FBI Against Critics

We speak with journalist Mehdi Hasan, founder and editor-in-chief of Zeteo, about the incoming U.S. administration and President-elect Donald Trump’s picks for key roles, including lawyer Kash Patel to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Trump reportedly considered Patel for FBI deputy director during his first term but dropped the idea after pushback from within his own administration.