The retirement rumor mill has crashed into reality. Conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is not planning to retire this year.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Friday, Justice Alito put an end to the feverish speculation from the left and even some nervous conservatives: He is not retiring this year.

"Obviously I'm here for another term," the 76-year-old justice told WSJ's James Taranto in his chambers.

Alito, the author of the landmark 2022 Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and returned abortion policy to the states and the people, dismissed the constant calls for him to step aside so President Donald Trump could appoint a younger replacement while Republicans still control the Senate.

"It's not pleasant, in

The U.S. Senate, during a rare overnighter, confirmed Todd Blanche as President Donald Trump’s attorney general, one of a handful of votes taken as the senators prepared to leave for an August recess.

The 50-49 vote mostly was along party lines, with only two Republicans, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, joining the Democrat party, which routinely opposes anything proposed by Trump.

The result came after Blanche negotiated language for senators who demanded confirmation that a proposed “anti-weaponization” fund proposal would not be pursued.

According to a report at the Washington Examiner, that had been expected to provide compensation for those injured by the Joe Biden administration following the Jan. 6, protest-turned-riot at the Capitol.

Some of those individuals, accused of

The far-left Southern Poverty Law Center, which routinely labels American organizations that disagree with its pro-abortion, pro-LGBT ideologies as “hate” groups, has been unable to provide evidence that charges against it were part of a “vindictive prosecution.”

So a federal judge in Alabama has declined to dismiss the charges.

It was Judge Emily Marks who said the SPLC, indicted for allegedly boasting to donors about battling radical elements of the anti-government movement while secretly using those donors’ money to fund them, failed to provide evidence of wrongdoing in an indictment.

She found the SPLC failed to show evidence that there should be further discovery on its claim of vindictiveness by the prosecutor, much less a reason to dismiss the entire case, according to a report from the Hill.

“Federal courts are not the proper forum for airing political grievances. For

A prominent Democratic voice in Democrat-dominated Colorado who once served in the state’s legislature representing Denver, then as Denver city attorney, then chief of staff for Democrat former Gov. John Hickenlooper, has delivered to his own party a warning about the wave of “socialist” primary election winners.

His own city experienced just that recently, with the victory in the party’s primary for Congress by Melat Kiros, a dedicated Democratic socialist whose extremism has pushed the limits of tolerance even for the leftist party.

She booted from office 15-term Democrat Dianna DeGette, who already was on the far left of the party.

“It was one thing watching this happen in New York … But when it happens in a state like Colorado, which is really the gateway to the West, it tells me that this issue is going to spread and may be a cancer to the Democratic Party if they don’t figure out what our values are,” charged veteran political strategist Doug Friednash, in an interview with Fox.

June 23, 2026, became one of the deadliest days in Venezuela's recent history. A pair of powerful earthquakes, measuring magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, struck the capital region of northern Venezuela, devastating the coastal communities near Catia La Mar and Caracas.

The devastation continued long after the initial shaking stopped. More than 1,400 aftershocks rattled the region in the weeks that followed, complicating rescue efforts and forcing thousands from their homes. The earthquakes killed more than 5,500 people, injured tens of thousands more, and overwhelmed Venezuelan emergency response teams across the region.

Beyond the immediate humanitarian response, the disaster demonstrated how artificial intelligence is reshaping disaster relief. As emergency crews raced against time, AI-powered drones provided critical aerial intelligence, helping responders assess damage, locate survivors, and direct rescue operations when every minute was crucial to saving lives.

Topline: Maryland gave at least $319,000 in food stamps and other federally-funded benefits to prisoners, dead people, and a $2 million lottery winner.

A July report from the state's Office of Legislative Audits found Maryland has "no comprehensive process" to ensure only eligible recipients are approved for federal assistance. Even when computers flag questionable payments, the state takes months to investigate them.

Key facts: The audit found a person who won a $2 million lottery prize in July 2023 but was still receiving benefits as recently as this February.

Six others who had either won the lottery or died (the audit lumps them together) were still receiving benefits in February. Another seven people had their benefits cut off, but only three to six months after the state's automated computer system flagged an irregularity.

The state also gave benefits to 1,858

While Congress debates whether to regulate digital assets, the rest of the world has stopped debating and started building. In the last two years, nearly every major financial center has adopted, or is finalizing, a comprehensive framework for digital assets. The United States, which has long set the global standard in finance and innovation, is now the conspicuous holdout. Congress can close that gap by passing the CLARITY Act, and the time to do it is now.

The European Union's comprehensive crypto regime, called Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), is fully in force this summer, and firms must be licensed to serve European customers. The United Kingdom finalized its rules this year, with a mandatory authorization regime taking effect in 2027. Japan just moved to reclassify digital assets as financial instruments, bringing them into a defined regulatory perimeter. Singapore's licensing regime for digital token service providers is already in effect. The United Arab Emirates has established a comprehensive framework, and Hong Kong and Australia have each advanced regimes of their own. Every one of these jurisdictions has