Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) called for the “truth” from former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) amid what she said was a “pattern of lies and coverups” following reports the Democrat’s campaign recruited one of her midterm opponents to “ballot-stack.” “While some may try to write this off as just how politics works now, ballot-stacking should have…
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) called for the “truth” from former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) amid what she said was a “pattern of lies and coverups” following reports the Democrat’s campaign recruited one of her midterm opponents to “ballot-stack.” “While some may try to write this off as just how politics works now, ballot-stacking should have…
Nonprofit leaker collective Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets) published data Wednesday on more than 40,000 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees, some of whom are working in the intelligence community. The collective did not identify the source who leaked the personnel information, referring to the unnamed individual instead as the “Department of Peace.” “This dataset…
Nonprofit leaker collective Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets) published data Wednesday on more than 40,000 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees, some of whom are working in the intelligence community. The collective did not identify the source who leaked the personnel information, referring to the unnamed individual instead as the “Department of Peace.” “This dataset…
On Wednesday, the Office of Energy Dominance Financing at the U.S. Department of Energy announced it had closed a $5.1 billion loan package to Alliant Energy—a utility company with over 1.5 million customers across Iowa and Wisconsin—to "lower electricity costs, expand firm power generation, and strengthen grid reliability" in the Midwestern states.
The loan package is part of the Energy Department's response to President Donald Trump's April 2025 executive orderdirecting the agency and its secretary, Chris Wright, to ensure the nation uses "all available power generation resources" to expand and secure America's electric grid amid growing demand.
In a press release, Alliant said the 30-year loan package will finance 1.6 gigawatts of new natural gas generation, 240 megawatts of increased capacity at its existing natural gas facilities, and a gigawatt of energy storage. The loan package will also allow Alliant to add 2 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas storage. All told, these upgrades and additions will generate enough electricity to power 2 million homes annually, according to the Energy Department.
Alliant estimates the deal will result in "up to $1.2 billion in cumulative customer savings," as well as the creation of "more than 1,600 local jobs" through construction projects financed by the loans. Of course, some of the savings likely stem from Alliant receiving more favorable loan terms from the Energy Department than it would from an open-market lender.
A report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission outlining the deal's terms shows that the interest rate to be charged on each loan aligns with the government's borrowing costs. However, the markup on each loan will remain a fixed percentage, regardless of whether lending to Alliant becomes riskier or more expensive. Under the deal's terms, Alliant has until May 15, 2056, to repay the loan, but it is only responsible for paying interest until the first principal payment is due in 2052.
The Energy Department said the deal is the Trump administration's 10th financial close and its "sixth and seventh utility financing completed through the Energy Dominance Financing Program." As of September 30, the department had issued $132 billion in loans and guarantees through the program, including $47.5 billion announced in conditional commitments, and disbursed $53.2 billion.
While the Trump administration is taking credit for the deal, the loan is essentially a repackaging of a $3 billion conditional commitment offered by the Biden administration in 2025 as part of its last-ditch effort to spend as much taxpayer money on green projects as possible before Trump took office. Under the terms of the Joe Biden-era deal, Alliant would have used the loan to "finance multiple clean energy and battery energy storage system projects." Instead, the company will now receive an additional $2.1 billion in funding, without the climate goals the Biden administration stipulated.
Gregory Beard, director of the Office of Energy Dominance Financing, said the agency is "putting capital to work." The deal is perhaps better described as the Energy Department usurping a role that should be reserved for private-sector, institutional lenders. "This type of government involvement is only another example of the current Energy Department distorting the power generation market," says Tom Opdyke, director of energy and environmental policy at the R Street Institute.
The agency's meddling seems even more unnecessary given that Alliant's revenue is expected to grow 6.8 percent annually over the next three years, with its profit margins increasing from 18.4 percent to 22.2 percent, according to the stock research and portfolio-tracking platform Simply Wall St.
The timing of the announcement also raises some red flags. While an Alliant spokesperson tells Reason they spent "months reviewing the details and finalizing contracts" before the loan package "was finalized this week," the money is conveniently being directed to energy projects in two fairly competitive states in this year's midterm elections. The Cook Political Report has the Iowa Senate race as a toss-up and several incumbent House Republican seats in Iowa and Wisconsin leaning Democrat.
The loan package could be a ploy to boost Trump's and Republicans' favorability with the electorate in Iowa and Wisconsin by appearing to address a cost-of-living issue high on voters' list of concerns. "Even if that's the case, those things aren't going to happen by Election Day, and voters' opinions aren't likely to shift on the promise of future jobs and savings," says Opdyke. "So it might be too little, too late."
Trump is scheduled to speak this weekend in an Iowa-Wisconsin border town.
Whatever the reasoning, the loan package is effectively a subsidy for Alliant to expand its operations and grow its customer base at a lower cost. It's cronyism that enriches Alliant and disadvantages its competitors, at American taxpayers' expense.
Just two weeks ago, Hellerstein presided over the arraignment of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, on torture charges that were added to their ongoing narco-terrorism conspiracy case.
This is an adapted excerpt from the Oct. 27 episode of “The Briefing with Jen Psaki.”
How many scandalous activities do you think Donald Trump Jr. can get up to on one hunting trip? Well, new reporting from the Financial Times suggests that his summer trip to Mongolia was about a lot more than hunting.
Let’s start with scandal No. 1: While on that trip, a guide told the Financial Times that the president’s son shot and killed an endangered sheep. As awful as that is, it is unfortunately not that surprising. Donald Trump Jr. has reportedly killed at least two more of that same kind of endangered sheep in the past decade.
Scandal No. 2: While most Americans are struggling to pay for gas at the pump, it appears that this hunting trip may have cost taxpayers nearly $19,000. According to federal records reviewed by the Financial Times, the U.S. embassy in Mongolia’s capital paid $18,715 for hotel rooms tied to an unspecified Secret Service visit at the same time as Donald Trump Jr.’s trip.
As a member of the president’s family, he is entitled to Secret Service protection, but I remember the days when that kind of taxpayer expense tied to a luxury vacation of a member of the first family was a scandal in its own right.
I really don’t think the president of Mongolia wanted to talk to Donald Trump Jr. because of their shared love of hunting. I think it had a heck of a lot more to do with the fact that he is the son of the president of the United States.
Speaking of spending money on the president’s family, that brings me to scandal No. 3: It turns out that attendance on this weeklong hunting trip was the prize given to the highest bidders as part of a series of charity auctions. Records indicate that one bidder paid $140, 000 and another $225,000 for the honor and privilege of joining Donald Trump Jr. on this seven-day hunting trip.
At the auction, Donald Trump Jr. reportedly tried to incentivize bidders by joking that he is “very sexy in camo.” But I doubt the president’s eldest son’s looks or personality are why anyone was willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to go hunting with him.
As the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington put it to the Financial Times: “Buying access to power is an ethics concern, whether it’s through a charity, a wedding, a campaign donation or a lavish gift.”
Speaking of access to power, that brings me to scandal No. 4: After Donald Trump Jr.’s week of hunting, the Financial Times reports that he traded his “sexy” camo for a suit and held a series of meetings. One of those meetings was a dinner with Mongolia’s president.
After the dinner, a spokesperson for the Mongolian government reportedly posted photos on Facebook and wrote that the leader and Donald Trump Jr. discussed U.S.-Mongolia relations and potential business opportunities.
The Facebook post was then quickly taken down. A spokesperson for the Mongolian president told the Financial Times that the two did not discuss politics at the dinner. A spokesperson for Donald Trump Jr. told the paper that it was just an unofficial meeting where they largely discussed the outdoors.
But I really don’t think the president of Mongolia wanted to talk to Donald Trump Jr. because of their shared love of hunting. I think it had a heck of a lot more to do with the fact that he is the son of the president of the United States.
You would think that would be the biggest possible scandal Donald Trump Jr. could get himself into on a hunting trip, right? He is supposed to be firewalled off from his dad. Donald Trump Jr. and his brother run the family businesses while their dad runs the country. Even the implication that Donald Trump Jr. might be using his relationship with his dad to try to set up some sort of political or business deal with the president of another country is a huge deal.
But somehow, that is not the biggest scandal from this one hunting trip — that would be No. 5: According to that report, for two days of this Mongolia trip, Donald Trump Jr. was joined by Umar Kremlev. You may remember him as the Russian oligarch who secretly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars renting a private island for part of Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding weekend in the Bahamas just a few months before this trip.
At the time, Donald Trump Jr. described Kremlev as a personal friend and said they had no business relationship. President Donald Trump and Kremlev have since said the president’s son paid the Russian oligarch back, though we have yet to actually see any proof of repayment.
When asked about Kremlev’s attendance at Donald Trump Jr.’s recent hunting trip in Mongolia, a spokesperson for the president’s son repeated the fact that the two have no business relationship and said their friendship is largely based on their “shared love for hunting, fishing and the outdoors.”
Again, I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I doubt Kremlev’s affinity for Donald Trump Jr. has to do with hunting. He is a Russian oligarch. He is part of Vladimir Putin‘s inner circle.
As the former counterintelligence director of Donald Trump’s own national security council told the Financial Times, “The moment the Russian security and intelligence services figure out someone has a relationship with anyone of high value, they will try to weaponise that.”
Mechanics repair unmanned ground vehicles at the Lava Unmanned Systems Regiment workshop in the Kharkiv region.
Diego Fedele/Getty Images
A Ukrainian unit says its ground robot completed 93% of a 12-mile supply mission autonomously.
The robot used AI navigation, cameras, and 3D mapping to navigate the route.
The unit hopes to expand autonomous missions and reduce reliance on services like Starlink.
A Ukrainian military unit said on Wednesday that it successfully sent a ground robot on a 12-mile supply run, using AI to navigate for nearly the entirety of the mission.
The Lava Unmanned Systems Regiment of the 2nd Corps, or Khartiia Corps, of Ukraine's National Guard announced the completion of the autonomous logistics mission in a statement shared with Business Insider, calling it the "first of its kind under combat conditions."
The unit said that the robot completed 93% of its 20-kilometer trip on its own, delivering cargo and returning to its starting point autonomously, with an operator intervening for only 1.4 kilometers of the journey.
Before departure, a separate ground robot equipped with light detection and ranging technology, or LiDAR, mapped the route and terrain in 3D. Cameras on the supply bot detected obstacles while AI-powered navigation guided the robot.
"This mission has shown that autonomous ground systems are already capable of operating in real combat conditions," said Andrii Kopach, who serves as commander of the Lava Regiment's Unmanned Ground Systems Battalion.
"The biggest change is that the operator is no longer a driver but a dispatcher," he said. "Instead of controlling the vehicle every second, they monitor its movement and step in only when needed."
Kopach said that the unit's next ambitions are to enable a single operator to oversee multiple robots at once and expand autonomous missions to casualty evacuations. He added that more AI-powered ground robots would reduce dependence on "a constant control link," such as Starlink, a satellite internet service which recently saw major speed disruptions in Ukraine, negatively affecting front-line operations.
Ground robots have become an important tool for Ukraine, carrying out resupply, casualty evacuation, and assault missions. The Ukrainian military, and Western military leaders studying lessons from the war, hope that increased reliance on ground robots and aerial drones, as well as the increased integration of AI capabilities into these systems, can help reduce the risks to the troops who would otherwise perform those missions on increasingly dangerous battlefields.
Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot is looking to be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s primary opponent in an election cycle where Israelis are growing displeased with current leadership. Eisenkot worked in the Israeli military for 41 years before eventually serving as the country’s military chief. He has hammered Netanyahu for security failures, calling him an “anti-leader,”…
Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot is looking to be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s primary opponent in an election cycle where Israelis are growing displeased with current leadership. Eisenkot worked in the Israeli military for 41 years before eventually serving as the country’s military chief. He has hammered Netanyahu for security failures, calling him an “anti-leader,”…
Os investidores passaram a apostar majoritariamente que o BC (Banco Central) deve interromper o ciclo de corte da taxa básica de juros, a Selic, em sua próxima reunião. O Copom (Comitê de Política Monetária) se reúne pela penúltima vez no ano entre terça-feira (3) e quarta-feira (4) da semana que vem.
Até sexta-feira (23), os contratos de opção de Copom negociados na B3 apuravam aposta majoritária (76%) em um novo corte de 0,25 ponto percentual pelo colegiado de diretores do BC. Eram 17,5% os que contavam com a possibilidade de manutenção.
As expectativas viraram na segunda-feira (26), após a reeleição do presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) para um quarto mandato. Na segunda, 63,1% das posições montadas acreditavam que os cortes da Selic seriam interrompidos já na reunião de novembro. Na terça-feira (27), as apostas estavam em 60,9%.
A B3 disponibiliza os dados referentes ao fechamento do pregão sempre no dia útil seguinte.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) said Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn was a “clear winner” in a final debate before the midterm election against Democrat Rob Sand. “And unlike @RobSandIA, he was unafraid to take a stand for our most vulnerable citizens. I’m proud to support Zach and Iowa First!” the retiring governor wrote in a…
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) said Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn was a “clear winner” in a final debate before the midterm election against Democrat Rob Sand. “And unlike @RobSandIA, he was unafraid to take a stand for our most vulnerable citizens. I’m proud to support Zach and Iowa First!” the retiring governor wrote in a…
A redução das renúncias fiscais do país é um dos principais caminhos defendidos por Simonte Tebet (PSB), ex-ministra do Planejamento e Orçamento, para ajustar as contas públicas.
“O Brasil lamentavelmente tem muita gordura pra cortar. O Brasil é o país dos desperdícios, é o país da corrupção, é o país de privilégios. Essa é uma frente que temos que enfrentar. Isso é suficiente? Não, mas tem muitas políticas públicas que eram necessárias e não são mais, como as renúncias fiscais”, pontuou em entrevista à CNN Brasil nesta quarta-feira (28).
“Trocar gastos ruins por gastos bons. Tirar políticas públicas que não são mais eficientes para comportar outras políticas públicas que foram prometidas e ninguém vai cometer estelionato eleitoral.”
A ex-ministra do Orçamento avaliou que, fazendo os ajustes necessários, o país pode atingir um superávit fiscal de valor equivalente a 2% do PIB (Produto Interno Bruto) em quatro anos.
Ex-ministra do Planejamento e Orçamento, Simone Tebet (PSB) defendeu uma PEC (Proposta de Emenda à Constituição) para ajustar as contas públicas do país.
“Nós temos um cardápio, nós temos medidas prontas na gaveta de alguns ministérios das equipes econômicas que serão colocadas, acredito eu, na mesa do presidente.
E aí o que eu acho mais importante é que a janela de oportunidade é agora. Agora precisamos da PEC da contenção de gastos, naquilo que precisa ser cortado sem reduzir benefícios sociais”, apontou Tebet em entrevista à CNN Brasil nesta quarta-feira (28).
“O Brasil lamentavelmente tem muita gordura pra cortar. O Brasil é o país dos desperdícios, é o país da corrupção, é o país de privilégios. Essa é uma frente que temos que enfrentar. Isso é suficiente? Não, mas tem muitas políticas públicas que eram necessárias e não são mais, como as renúncias fiscais”, pontuou.
Para dar um sinal positivo e esperado pelo mercado, Tebet avaliou que as medidas devem ser indicadas nos próximos 45 dias e “de forma objetiva”, visando fechar as contas públicas no verde em 2027.
A ex-ministra do Orçamento avaliou que, fazendo os ajustes necessários, o país pode atingir um superávit fiscal de valor equivalente a 2% do PIB (Produto Interno Bruto) em quatro anos.
Ainda assim, reforçou que a revisão de gastos deve ser feita sem penalizar os mais necessitados.
“Importante falar do equilíbrio fiscal. Os problemas do Brasil cabem dentro do orçamento brasileiro, e é possível e necessário fazer um ajuste fiscal, uma revisão de gastos sem tirar um benefício sequer”, inadgou.
“Trocar gastos ruins por gastos bons. Tirar políticas públicas que não são mais eficientes para comportar outras políticas públicas que foram prometidas e ninguém vai cometer estelionato eleitoral.”
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