Israel's Powerful Finance Minister and the Future of the Gaza Strip

Israeli Minister of finance and leader of National Zionism, Bezalel Smotrich, speaks to the press during a party meeting on February 5, 2024 in Jerusalem. Amir Levy/Getty Images

World Water Day

World Water Day is 22 March 2025. This annual observance was organized by the United Nations in 1993 to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and to promote sustainable freshwater management. Each year a different theme is chosen,

The Mad Scramble for Power: Global Superpowers’ Strategies for Energy, Economics, and War

Show Summary The rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape of recent years can be hard to follow. With economic conflicts between global superpowers and violent clashes across multiple continents, today’s events can seem starkly different fro

The Fix Our Forests Act and the Politics of Wildfire

Logging interests and the U.S. Forest Service have a history of using the wildfire threat to create “emergency” authority to bypass environmental reviews and curtail judicial oversight. When on January 23 of this year, California Senator Ja

The U.S. and Russia are holding talks in Saudi Arabia on a Black Sea ceasefire

A resident watches as his neighbor cleans up a damaged apartment after a Russian drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 23. Efrem Lukatsky/AP hide

India is hoping its manufacturing industry will profit from Trump's tariffs on China

A woman sits on a bus in Sriperumbudur district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where many women are employed in manufacturing. India hopes to attract more business as the Trump administration imposes tariffs on China.

Carney will impose the Globalists’ climate change scam on Canadians

Dan Fournier has written an essay giving an overview of Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney’s rise to power. Carney has a background as a rich “elite” banker and globalist, with a history of questionable deeds and allegiances. And he ha

Israel's classified military plans for Gaza. And, defining "buy-now, pay-later" loans

Good morning. You're reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day. Today's top stories Israel is weighing plans for a full-

Tesla, Big Oil have a weakness in common

It must have seemed like a huge week for the fossil fuel industry: as the Wall Street Journal put it yesterday (and you could sense the headline writer’s glee), “The fossil fuel industry gets its revenge on green activists.” The oil-and-gas

Data vs. Dance: Approaches to complex systems

As much as any of us might like to tell ourselves that age is just a number, some of those numbers tend to stick out and feel more significant than others. They have a way of making us pause and reflect. As I write this I am approaching a d

Israel's latest war plans: To occupy Gaza and rule Palestinians

Displaced Palestinians, who flee from Rafah amid ongoing Israeli military operations following Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, arrive in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Sunday. A

Germany: Social Security Failing to Protect Rights

(Berlin, March 24, 2025) – Social security failures coupled with structural gender inequality leave many people in Germany mired in poverty in ways that violate their human rights, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Tacklin

Global Cooperation Needed to Tackle Air Pollution

Government officials, local authorities, health professionals, and civil society are gathering today at the second global conference on air pollution and health in Cartagena, Colombia. As multilateralism is under threat, this convening is a

Weekly Health Quiz: Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Alzheimer's Support and Benzodiazepines

1 How do specific bacterial strains, such as Streptococcus bovis, in the gut microbiome increase the risk of early-onset colorectal cancer? By weakening the gut lining, allowing harmful toxins into your system By producing mutagenic chemic

How Sleeping Pills Harm Your Brain and Raise Dementia Risk

An estimated 50 million to 70 million Americans struggle with sleep disorders, and one in three adults fails to get the uninterrupted sleep needed for optimal health. For many, sleeping pills seem like the easiest solution. In the United St