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Internal revolt as 'nuts' Apple execs appease Trump: 'There is not a soul who is for it'
Apple executives' decision to rename Lake Ontario "Lake America" on its Maps app is setting off a firestorm inside the tech giant, with employees furious that leadership caved to President Donald Trump out of fear of his wrath, according to a new report.Employees are furious that the company is rolling over because of higher-ups' fear of the wrath of President Donald Trump who demanded the name change in an executive order, media watchdog Status reported Wednesday.At the same time the public is rejecting the “deeply stupid” name change, which Google has also agreed to follow, Apple was late to the game and employees are not happy.The controversy intensified after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum appeared on Fox Business on Monday, telling host Maria Bartiromo, "I know that the president reached out to Apple directly, so I'm sure that we may be seeing that change coming up soon to Lake America."According to Oliver Darcy at Status, "While Apple had likely always planned to update its map to reflect the executive order—it had, after all, also swapped Gulf of Mexico for 'Gulf of America'—Status has learned that executives at the company were irked by Burgum’s comments. By disclosing that Trump had personally phoned Cupertino, the White House had framed any decision Apple made as one in which it 'was capitulating to the president’s demands.'"Inside the company, Status reported it would be difficult to find a single employee who genuinely supports the change."There is not a soul who is for it," one person familiar with the matter told Darcy, adding that "everyone considers it f-----g nuts." Still, Apple's leadership and most of its rank-and-file are described as "resigned" to these kinds of concessions under Trump's second term, understanding "that Trump will f--- with the company if the company doesn't do what he wants," the person said. The dispute over Lake Ontario's name has become one of the more visible flashpoints in Trump's escalating trade dispute with Canada, whose officials have mocked the renaming effort as absurd. Like Google's version, Apple's change applies "only to Maps for users located in the United States." Canadian users and much of the rest of the world still see the lake listed under its original name.
Trump's 'deeply stupid' stunt flops with voters — and a smirking Joe Rogan: analysis
President Donald Trump’s decision to sign an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America” has been a spectacular flop with voters — and one very high-profile political podcaster, according to a new analysis.Two “Morning Joe” co-hosts Wednesday morning discussed Joe Rogan's dismissal of the move as a mere 14 percent of Americans voters report support for the decision. The segment begins with a clip of a smirking Rogan. “It’s to distract you from the fact we are in a war we can’t win with Iran — it doesn’t make any sense,” Rogan said. “Who cares if it’s Lake Ontario? It’s a good name. We’ve had that name forever."Co-host Jonathan Lemire and Willie Geist were quick to pile on.Geist reported that a recent Ipsos/Reuters poll found 63 percent of respondents opposed Lake Ontario’s renaming, a mere 14 percent supported the decision and 21 percent said they weren’t sure how they feel about it."Perhaps because it was so, so deeply stupid,” Geist said with a laugh. "Jonathan Lemire, this again, the case of President Trump diving headfirst into an issue that apparently has no audience.”"I don't say this a lot, but Joe Rogan? Exactly right," Lemire said. "It's meant to be a distraction; it's a culture war. And, you know, it's to get us to talk about something else. But there is a serious underbelly here, which is the fact that this trade war with Canada, as we just discussed, is going to have real political implications and not good ones for Republicans. And frankly, Willie, it also shows Trump's just running out of ideas. We already did the Gulf of America. Now it's Lake of America.” - YouTube youtu.be
Ex-Trump insider guts 'shadowy and repellent' partner behind 'unconstitutional' deal
A member of President Donald Trump's first administration delivered Wednesday a stark warning to his former boss over what he describes as the White House's "convoluted" plan to deal with a sinister partner.Elliott Abrams, Trump's former special representative to Venezuela, in a Washington Post editorial shredded the president's deal to claim 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil as an "unconstitutional" gambit — and warned he was relying on a dangerous partner to push it through."Because major U.S. oil companies have been unwilling to pony up large amounts of cash to invest in Venezuela, Trump has allied the government with the most shadowy and repellent Venezuelan businessman he could find," wrote Abrams. "When I served in the first Trump administration as special representative for Venezuela, we knew exactly what [Alejandro] Betancourt stood for and kept him far away from the U.S. government."Before delving into his many problems with Betancourt, Abrams details many problems he has with Trump's oil plan; namely that the agreement is unconstitutional under Venezuelan law that states the deposits belong to the people, who haven't agreed to it, and U.S. law likely doesn't allow the Pentagon to enter into the oil trade. But Betancourt is "worse" than these major legal problems, Abrams writes. Betancourt, who denies wrongdoing, is under a Swiss arrest warrant for alleged money laundering involving Venezuela’s state oil company and made a fortune under the "corrupt" Hugo Chávez, writes Abrams.That reportedly hasn't stopped senior U.S. officials from lobbying to resolve the Switzerland case or inviting Betancourt to Washington for meetings with the administration. The resultant deal, argues Abrams, is one that will do nothing to ease the pain American drivers feel at the gas pump."Hundreds of billions of dollars in investments will be announced — some by grifters looking for special advantages, some by oil companies looking for favor with Trump and some by the president himself," wrote Abrams. "The tragedy is that the United States is now the partner to an unelected despot...this oil deal will prove to be the great sellout — of Venezuela’s natural resources and its people’s right to self-government."
Barclays faces complaint over backing for power plant near world’s largest mangrove forest
Bangladeshi complainants allege Rampal power station’s pollution and climate risks threaten the Sunderbans, a world heritage siteBarclays Bank is facing a formal complaint over its financial links to a coal-fired power station near the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest and home to millions of people in Bangladesh and India.Three complainants from the region have submitted a case to the UK government’s Office for Responsible Business Conduct, alleging that the British bank breached international guidelines by underwriting companies involved in the emission-heavy Maitree super thermal power project, also known as the Rampal power plant. Continue reading...
New constitution in Guinea-Bissau will undermine democracy, opponents say
Referendum result means fewer seats in parliament and new rules on candidates, ahead of December electionsGuinea-Bissau voters have approved a new constitution, which critics say will undermine democracy, that significantly expands presidential powers ahead of elections due in December.According to provisional results, 70% of voters approved sweeping changes in the tiny west African state’s first constitutional amendment since revisions that ended the one-party socialist state more than three decades ago. Continue reading...
Almost half of world’s farmers poisoned by pesticides every year, experts find
Study reveals that pesticide poisoning kills 11,000 people each year, with India accounting for nearly 60% of fatalitiesAlmost half of the world’s farmers are poisoned by pesticides every single year, a study has found.Using publicly available data from 2006-2023, the study, which was commissioned by Pesticide Action Network, found there to be an estimated 402-433m cases of unintentional acute pesticide poisoning of farmers and farm workers every year. Continue reading...
WSJ warns Trump is ignoring the 'early murmurs' of an economic 'crack-up'
The Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board warned that rising bond yields carry a message that President Donald Trump ignores at his peril.In a Tuesday editorial, the paper's editors argued that climbing yields on long-dated government debt are not a catastrophe but a long-overdue return to normal, while cautioning that the picture could darken fast if Washington refuses to change course.The board pointed to a global selloff that pushed the 10-year Treasury note to 4.8 percent on Tuesday and drove the 30-year U.S. bond to 5.28 percent. It also lifted Britain's 30-year government bond to its highest level in nearly three decades. Japan's 10-year yield touched a peak unseen in 30 years, The Journal noted.Rather than sound an alarm, The Journal celebrated the shift as investors waking from almost two decades of what it called "financial repression," an era of central-bank bond buying and rock-bottom rates that let "spendthrift" governments borrow cheaply and pile on debt.But The Journal conceded the transition carries danger as "some market crack-ups are sure to occur, though who knows where and when." The Trump administration could stave off a reckoning with policies that spur growth, "which doesn't include tax increases or tariffs," according to The Journal.The Journal also noted that federal debt held by the public now equals 100 percent of GDP and annual interest payments have topped $1 trillion, which exceeds the entire defense budget. Neither party will touch the spending on programs like Social Security and Medicare, which is driving the climb, according to The Journal. "The bond vigilantes aren't yet in full cry, but their early murmurs are welcome," The Journal wrote. "They are sending a message to Washington and other Western nations to clean up their fiscal acts."However, "the real worry is if the politicians don't listen," The Journal warned.
British aid worker mistakenly identified as a survivor of Nepal-Tibet disaster
More than 1,000 people confirmed dead and more than 4,000, including 36 British nationals, remain missingA British aid worker was mistakenly identified by Nepalese authorities as a rescued survivor after returning to Kathmandu on a humanitarian aid flight.Alastair Chambers, a 45-year-old former Gloucester councillor, said he flew to Nepal last week to distribute sleeping bags, food and essentials to communities cut off by collapsed bridges. Continue reading...
Panic as nukes feared to be ‘on the table now’ after ‘disgusting’ Trump threat
President Donald Trump’s escalating threats to effectively destroy Iran set off alarm Tuesday, with one foreign-policy analyst warning that the president appeared to be signaling that nuclear weapons were “on the table now.”Trump announced on Truth Social that the United States was striking Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for what he called Iran’s failed attempt to add sea mines to the waterway and its launch of eight missiles toward a U.S. military base in Jordan. Trump went even further in a later phone call with Fox News, where he warned that Iran would be hit “much harder” if it retaliated - and even “wiped out as a country” if the conflict continued.The escalated rhetoric sparked swift fury online, with critics accusing Trump of going too far by threatening the destruction of an entire country. “WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!” sanctions expert Brett Erickson wrote Tuesday on X. “Throughout this entire war, I have been incredibly skeptical of any claims that President Trump is so much as DISCUSSING the use of nuclear weapons. “This reads to me clear as day that they are on the table now. “Disgusting,” he added.Liberal political commentator Vince Wilson pointed his blame at Capitol Hill. “These spineless Republicans in Congress are enabling this,” he posted. Economist and policy researcher Sky Marchini saw the message as “Trump’s Final Warning,” while another critic, Geoff Wolf, asked: “So who in Trump’s orbit profited on this one today?” Freelance journalist Manny Otiko had his own take: “Trump threatens to wipe out an entire country, and he calls them crazy?”WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!President Trump just minutes ago posted to Truth Social that the United States is set to respond to any Iranian retaliation (that is already underway). Most concerningly, Trump seems to very clearly imply the potential use of NUCLEAR WEAPONS by… pic.twitter.com/sCAZtrqG28— Brett Erickson (@BrettErickson28) September 1, 2026
Trump threatens ‘biggest attack of them all’ awaits Iran: 'There will be very little left'
President Donald Trump threatened Iran Tuesday with an ominous warning that seemed to allude to the use of nuclear weapons.Trump’s latest threat comes amid a wave of fresh U.S. strikes against Iran near the Strait of Hormuz, strikes that U.S. officials say were designed to “prevent Iran from rebuilding the radar and missile capabilities it needs to attack ships” traveling through the strait, Axios reported. The strikes were also, according to Trump, retaliation for Iranian strikes on the U.S. Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.“The United States is, as we speak, striking Iranian Targets near the Strait of Hormuz. The strikes are large and powerful, and in retaliation for the Iranians’ failed attempt at adding sea mines to the Strait, which currently has no mines (They have been completely removed or detonated!), and the Iranians shooting eight missiles, all successfully knocked down, at our Military Base in Jordan,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.“If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!”Trump’s threat echoed a previous threat he issued to Iran in April when he warned that a “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
Gasps as foreign leader brags on live TV about 'how he manipulated Trump': ‘The gall’
Onlookers were left in shock Tuesday after the leader of a U.S. ally openly boasted on live television about a successful "influence" campaign waged on American leaders to push the U.S. into launching its deeply unpopular war against Iran.Underwater in the polls ahead of the nation's October elections, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to Israel's popular Channel 14 Sunday night with a pitch to voters.“I’ve been against Iran for almost 40 years… it took a long time to bring the United States to its senses,” Netanyahu said in Hebrew, according to Zeteo’s Prem Thakker. “[I’ve had] close to 1,000 hours on American television with the ability to influence the United States — with the intimate knowledge of all its leaders, both those who support us and those who don’t support us — the ability to navigate this field, through it.”A White House insider told Bloomberg in March that President Donald Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran was “partly motivated by pressure from outside allies” — chief among them being Netanyahu. Speculation that Netanyahu had “pulled” Trump into the deeply unpopular conflict was so strong that Trump felt compelled to respond: “Israel never talked me into the war with Iran,” he wrote in a social media post in late April.“The gall. In English, Netanyahu lavishes praise on U.S. leaders. In Hebrew, he boasts of how he manipulated them,” Thakker wrote in a report published in Zeteo Tuesday.“Netanyahu explicitly cites how the U.S. media has served as a compliant springboard, a vessel for his influence operation on, if not the populace, at least the consultants and members of Congress who engage with cable news more than their actual constituents.”Breck Worsham, a prominent right-wing influencer and ex-Trump supporter, expressed shock at how Netanyahu appeared to openly brag “on how he manipulated Trump,” as did journalist Max Blumenthal.“Netanyahu appeals to Israeli voters by boasting that he manipulated Trump,” Blumenthal observed.Netanyahu has pushed for the United States to attack Iran since at least the 1990s, and also confirmed his support last year for “Greater Israel,” the territorial aspirations of some Israelis to significantly expand the nation’s borders.“There comes a point when every dam breaks,” Thakker mused. “It should’ve happened decades ago. Years ago. Months ago. Every single day delivers another reminder of how heartlessly violent the Israeli state is, and how that behavior is carried out on the U.S. dime.”Netanyahu appeals to Israeli voters by boasting that he manipulated Trump: “it took a long time to get the US to come to its senses” but I finally got it to attack Iran due to my “influence” over its leaders through “1000 hours on American television” pic.twitter.com/hwrswfkbv2— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) August 31, 2026
Trump's 'mafia state' move exposed the rotten core of his latest oil deal: expert
President Donald Trump just pulled off what one political expert described as a "mafia state" type of move that revealed the rotten core of a deal he allegedly struck with a foreign country over its oil reserves. Trump recently announced that the U.S. and North American Blue Energy Partners, a private company led by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, entered into a partnership to tap Venezuela's 65 billion barrel oil reserves, a deal that is estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars. Betancourt was previously under investigation on corruption charges until Trump's former attorney, Rudy Giuliani, persuaded the first Trump Department of Justice to drop its probe. David Rothkopf, global affairs columnist at The Daily Beast and a former international trade official in the Clinton administration, argued during a new episode of "The Daily Beast Podcast," that the "deal" Trump announced is not a deal at all. "The United States is getting this all because we attacked Venezuela and at gunpoint are saying, 'Hand over the oil!' That's illegal under international law," Rothkopf said. "It's also ... illegal under Venezuelan law, which has a constitution that says you can't hand over reserves to a foreign government. It's probably illegal under U.S. law because it involves cash flowing into the U.S. government ... which requires congressional approval." Rothkopf drew a comparison between the Trump administration's move to seize Venezuela's oil and the way Russia's government operates, arguing that the Trump administration will break laws and customs without regard. "It's a crime," Rothkopf said. "It's not a deal."
