“Nigerian President Bola Tinubu replaced his finance minister, the architect of a radical economic policy overhaul, less than a year before elections in a surprise reshuffle. Wale Edun, a former World Bank official and investment banker, was replaced by Taiwo Oyedele, a junior finance minister who oversaw a revamp of the country’s tax system, in Tinubu’s most high-profile cabinet reshuffle since taking office three years ago. It was not immediately clear, however, if the move marked a change of direction at the finance ministry. Edun’s tenure has been marked by an aggressive push to overhaul sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest economy after two recessions within a decade, leading to an uptick in foreign direct investment inflows. However, Nigeria’s debt burden has shot up thanks to increased government spending.” (04/22/26)
Source: Liberal Currents
by Holly Berkley Fletcher
“Around the country, Mainline Protestant churches are stepping up to help organizing the resistance to ICE’s incursions into their communities.” (04/22/26)
“Palantir CEO Alex Karp’s book, The Technological Republic, is a clarion call for Silicon Valley to abandon its consumer trinkets and rush headlong into the arms of the military-industrial complex. According to Karp, America’s future depends on wielding hard power through technology — arming soldiers, AI-weaponry, and mass surveillance systems — rather than on the ‘soft’ influence demonstrated by free markets and liberty-first principles. The book claims that ‘the survival of the American experiment depends on the technological revitalization of the military-industrial complex’ and urges the country’s engineering talent to focus on national defense. … This techno-militarism dressed up as patriotic duty presumes that concentration of power in the state and its corporate allies (isn’t there a word for this?) is not only desirable, but morally required.” (04/22/26)
Source: The American Conservative
by Harrison Berger
“When the NSA responded to [Tucker] Carlson’s 2021 allegation that the agency had been monitoring his communications, it said only that he had never been an intelligence ‘target,’ a carefully lawyered denial that conspicuously avoided saying his communications had never been queried under programs like FISA Section 702. The NSA’s response was also unusual since three-letter agencies typically neither confirm nor deny whether any specific individual’s communications have been collected. On how Trump, another documented victim of FISA abuse, and Johnson, who built his political identity around opposition to FBI overreach, both ended up as the leading advocates for a clean renewal of those spying powers, Carlson pointed to institutional capture and coercion.” (04/22/26)
“Record growth in solar, especially in China and India, was a driving factor for clean energy sources surpassing the world’s strong demand for electricity in 2025, according to a new global power analysis. Clean power generation grew 887 terawatt hours last year, exceeding overall global electricity demand growth of 849 terawatt hours, according to a report by energy think tank Ember, released after midnight Tuesday London time. Ember analyzes electricity data from 215 countries, and studied 2025 data for 91 countries, which the firm says represents 93% of global demand. Overall, the share of renewables — including solar, wind, hydropower and other clean energies — hit more than one-third of the world’s electricity mix for the first time in modern history last year, growing 33.8% to 10,730 terawatt hours.” (04/21/26)
“Sarah Longwell, Tim Miller and JVL celebrate JVL’s Webby win (sort of), and cover Tucker Carlson’s sudden ‘regret’ turn and what it means about MAGA, Donald Trump Jr. as a 2028 front-runner, and the continued disaster in Iran. Plus: the ongoing dysfunction inside the administration, including the latest turmoil surrounding Kash Patel.” (04/21/26)
