Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Thousands of people have marched in South Africa’s main cities to demand that all undocumented migrants leave the country. Police officers – backed by private security guards – have been deployed because of fears that protests could turn violent. Anti-migrant groups had set Tuesday as the deadline for undocumented migrants to leave. Many foreigners have already fled to escape violence and intimidation. South African police say 25,000 have been repatriated so far. Most are from other African countries. One undocumented Malawian told the BBC he was ‘happy to be going back’ but ‘heartbroken’ to be leaving behind four young children. The Ministry of Police said the protests have largely been peaceful across the country, with isolated incidents of looting and attempted looting. In Johannesburg, the financial capital, shops in the city centre were closed, while police visibility is high on major streets.” (06/30/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4eq1l184po
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“Supreme Court gives Trump broad power to fire agency heads.” (06/29/26)
https://www.npr.org/2026/06/29/nx-s1-5874686/supreme-court-gives-trump-broad-power-to-fire-agency-heads
Source: The Bulwark
by Nicole Penn
“When the revolutionaries enshrined ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ as unalienable rights, they created the conditions for a remarkable array of political and civic institutions to emerge that gave specific meaning and shape to these freedoms. But freedom is always wont to seep out of its various containers. The world the Revolution created was certainly one of state and federal constitutions, organized religion, voluntary associations, and material progress, but it was also one of miracles, syncretic beliefs, conspiratorial thinking, and the magic of crowds. The Revolution was, in a word, weird.” (06/30/26)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-american-revolution-was-so-much-weirder-than-you-think-250
Source: The UnPopulist
by Alexander Kaffka
“In fact, voters handed a mandate to the man who lost territory.” (06/29/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/armenia-rejects-populism-and-chooses
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“French senators on Monday passed a revised anti-fast-fashion bill targeting e-commerce platforms including Shein, Temu and AliExpress, after years of debate over how to bring the measure in line with EU regulations. Easy to order and replace, fast fashion items contribute to pollution from the textile industry, which accounts for nearly 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The Senate passed the bill Monday after the lower house National Assembly did last week. It imposes a per-item fee for producing textile en masse that will increase over time, and a ban on advertising for ultra-fast fashion brands, including by social media influencers.” (06/29/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/france/20260629-french-parliament-passes-fast-fashion-bill-targeting-shein-and-temu
Source: Show-Me Institute
“The Social Security Crisis Is Worse Than You Think with Andrew G. Biggs.” (06/29/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/article/economy/the-social-security-crisis-is-worse-than-you-think-with-andrew-g-biggs/
Source: The Daily Economy
by Alexander W Salter
“The Roberts Court restored presidential authority over executive agencies while shielding the Federal Reserve from the same rule.” (06/29/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/trump-v-cook-carve-out-leaves-the-fed-above-the-law/
Source: SFGate
“A roof collapse at a tutoring center under construction in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore on Tuesday killed at least 14 schoolchildren, police and rescue officials said. Eight other children were also injured and were being treated at a hospital, senior police official Faisal Kamran said, adding that the owner of the tutoring center and another person have been arrested. Kamran said rescuers were continuing to search through the rubble after receiving reports that more children could be trapped beneath the debris. He said the tutoring center was housed in an aging building and that the roof of an unfinished second floor apparently collapsed because of poor-quality construction. Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari expressed grief over the collapse of the roof of an evening school building in Lahore.” (06/30/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/roof-of-tutoring-center-collapses-in-eastern-22326847.php
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
“As our nations (the Fifty States) approach the 250th birthday of the Union, the mood is surprisingly gloomy across much of our land. A recent survey from Pew Research, for instance, found that just 17% of Americans believe the federal government can be trusted to do the right thing … most of the time. (We note that some of us might be surprised to see how high this is: almost 1 in 5?) Only about one-quarter say they feel optimistic about the country’s future, and many Americans believe the United States is more divided than united.” (06/29/26)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/06/29/are-you-a-gloomy-gus-about-the-states/
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
“On Saturday, The Guardian published a leaked draft memo that would give Trump’s so-called ‘Board of Peace’ and its contractors in Gaza blanket legal immunity from any charges of wrongdoing. The draft language would also let the organization obtain public property in Gaza ‘free of charge’. This is only the latest example of the crass power grab in Trump’s Gaza peace plan, which U.S. representatives strong-armed the U.N. Security Council into endorsing back in November 2025. Meanwhile, on June 18, Hillary Rodham Clinton published an absolutely bizarre op-ed piece in the Financial Times endorsing Trump’s Board of Peace and its grand plans for Gaza. The op-ed was titled ‘The World May Not Like Trump’s Gaza Plan, but There Is No Alternative’. Neither article has gotten much attention in U.S. media.” (06/30/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/06/30/hillary-clinton-trump-board-of-peace-gaza/
