The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning Iran's brutal repression of protests that have resulted in thousands of deaths including children and bystanders, along with arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, sexual and gender-based violence, and other human rights violations. India voted against the resolution without providing an explanation, aligning with its policy that country-specific resolutions are unhelpful and could legitimize tools potentially used against itself on internal issues. Iran rejected the UN's findings and denied external interference amid a 16-day near-total internet blackout testing a tiered system that restricts internet access to 16,000 regime elites while confining the majority of 90 million citizens to a national intranet, severely impacting protesters' ability to document events, communicate, organize, and advocate internationally. The behavior of India and China in this regard reveals quite a bit about what they imagine the powers of government ought to be in relation to civil unrest at this scale. It also feels particularly dystopian for this scenario to emerge where communications for ordinary Iranians via the internet are completely closed off but elites maintain access. Welcome to the future.

Xi Jinping has initiated probes into top military generals Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli for suspected serious violations of discipline and law including undermining the authority of the CMC chairman, as part of a decade-long anti-corruption campaign that has targeted over 20 senior officials since 2023 and depleted the seven-member CMC to just one remaining uniformed member. This move underscores Xi's tightening grip on the military amid internal dissent and potential opposition. The moves have raised uncertainties in the chain of command for the world's largest military, and prompted questions about succession plans ahead of the 2027 leadership reshuffle where Xi seeks a fourth term. It is clear that Xi has plans for China that will be controversial and will require a level of precision, coordination, and compliance that might not emerge under an arrangement where he doesn't wield absolute authority and control. The real question seems to be when will China decide it's time to go ahead and announce the return of imperial China.

The ongoing civil war in Sudan, which began in 2013, has killed nearly 400,000 people and displaced over 180,000 in the Greater Upper Nile region. Recent escalations where the Sudan People's Liberation Army-in-Opposition (SPLA-IO) has captured areas in Jonglei state including Waat, Yuai, and Pajut have threatened the security of the capital Juba and prompted the government to deploy reinforcements supported by unconfirmed Ugandan soldiers. These conflicts have spilled over into South Sudan, prompting the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) to issue a second urgent evacuation order for civilians in opposition-held Lou Nuer areas of Jonglei State's Nyirol, Uror, and Akobo counties within 48 hours to avoid collateral damage from an imminent large-scale offensive. They have warned that non-affiliated youths should relocate families and livestock and that non-governmental organizations should leave. Inflammatory rhetoric from commanders like General Johnson Olony ordering "no mercy" has also raised alarms about potential mass atrocities and ethnic violence amid the upcoming 2026 elections. Just as one thinks the situation in South Sudan could not get worse it appears the fighting will intensify and increasingly it appears to us that larger bodies are going to have to tip the scales towards whoever they think ought to be the winner of the conflict because this prolonged and sustained violence is unconscionable and unacceptable.

A deadly shooting in Minneapolis involving Border Patrol agents fatally killing Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen who was licensed to carry a concealed semi-automatic handgun but was not holding it, has sparked outrage over federal immigration enforcement tactics. State officials like Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey have condemned the presence of ICE as an "unconstitutional federal invasion," demanding withdrawal of officers and a full investigation which DHS has blocked despite warrants. The shooting has led to protests spreading to cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco with chants like "ICE out now." This incident has fueled tensions in Congress, leading Senate Democrats to now oppose the $1.2 trillion government funding package which includes DHS appropriations, demanding reforms like warrants for arrests, better training, agent identification, limiting Border Patrol's interior role, and separating DHS funding from the minibus of five other bills for Defense, Labor-HHS-Education, Transportation, etc., while Senate Republicans with a 53-47 majority refuse to remove it. The odds for another shutdown have increased to around 90% and as we argued last week the results of a shutdown could be devastating for the morale of the country. Also and perhaps more importantly, if cooler heads don't prevail in Minneapolis the situation will become more out of control than it already is. It is more critical than ever that leadership figure out a way to facilitate cooperation and orderliness in an effort to ensure no one else is murdered or harmed.

The Department of Energy has canceled $83.6 billion in loans previously allocated for clean energy initiatives under the Biden administration, with $29.9 billion rescinded and the remainder de-obligated. The moves come as part of the Trump administration's reprioritization efforts through the Office of Energy Dominance Financing which will ensure the country focuses on fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, as well as geothermal, nuclear power, critical minerals, and grid infrastructure. This decision impacts numerous solar, wind, and renewable projects, with $9.5 billion in subsidized initiatives eliminated and reinvested in natural gas and nuclear uprates. It increasingly appears that nuclear will need to become dominant alongside other emerging technologies if we want to even come close to meeting the projected energy demands needed to sustain the current technological and manufacturing revolution.

The US Health and Human Services Department temporarily paused, then restored, approximately $5 billion in Public Health Infrastructure Grants awarded to state departments for workforce aid and data modernization, to evaluate their alignment with administration and agency priorities and implement a new review process ensuring funds are used for their intended purposes. Our federal system will completely break down without meaningful trust being established between its various components. Hopefully all of these pauses and reviews lead to the systematic implementation of processes that make the system more trustworthy thereby making it more efficient.

Governor Matt Meyer outlined a "Delaware First" agenda in his State of the State address, promising to cap state budget growth at less than 5% in the next budget to address recent increases like the 2026 budget of about $6.5 billion (a 7.3% rise) and the 2025 budget of $6.1 billion (a 9.3% rise), prioritizing affordability by halting utility rate hikes beyond inflation, rejecting Delmarva Power's 4.13% increase request, boosting in-state energy generation and reforming personal income tax brackets with higher rates for higher incomes. Under his leadership he claims the state will be investing in education with commitments to literacy, equity, modernizing school funding through a hybrid model, creating a single county district in northern New Castle County, and supporting a new medical school, training programs, mobile units, and telehealth with federal funding. He also emphasized addressing a shortage of nearly 20,000 affordable housing units by cutting red tape, streamlining permitting, expanding the HOPE Center model statewide, safeguarding farmland for smart growth balancing family needs and environmental protection, and committing to responsible budgeting, smaller revenue-expenditure gaps, and legislative collaboration. It is quite wise for the governor to commit to slowing down the expansion of the budget in this moment as it is relatively intuitive that there isn't simply always more money available.

A federal audit by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General revealed that Maine made $45.6 million in improper fee-for-service Medicaid payments for rehabilitative and community support services to children with autism between 2019 and 2023. The audit points to failures to properly document services, a lack of required comprehensive assessments for some children, missing signatures from parents or staff on assessments, insufficient session notes lacking full descriptions of care provided, goals addressed, or collected data, and no regular post-payment reviews, violating state and federal requirements. This finding has political implications amid increased scrutiny of social services programs. The shortcomings found in this audit are partly the consequence of trying to operate these programs at such enormous scale. Perhaps the way out of this mess is to ensure authority rests with the lowest level possible making audits more routine and manageable.

The governor of Massachusetts has launched a revived Accelerated Bridge Program, renamed ABC for accelerating bridge construction, as part of an $8 billion, 10-year transportation investment plan to repair 27 bridges in the western region, focusing on opening closed bridges, expediting repairs statewide with emphasis on rural communities, and building on a previous 10-year initiative that ended in 2018 and reduced structurally deficient bridges from 543 to 432 while creating thousands of jobs. This initiative involves local representatives like State Rep. Leigh Davis of Great Barrington, who advocated for the program's revival by filing legislation last year and pitching it directly to the governor in March, highlighting the bridge crisis in her district representing 18 towns, and celebrating the announcement as a signal of serious attention to rural infrastructure for fairness and safety. Government’s first priority has to be ensuring safety through security and infrastructure and this is a positive sign that the state of Massachusetts is open to fulfilling those obligations.