Explosion in billionaires’ riches over the past ten years

New York Times, 3/2– …analysis shows the stunning velocity at which the fortunes of the 1 percent have increased across the country since President [Donald] Trump first took office in 2017. The richest Americans saw their net worth soar 120 percent between 2017 and 2025, a colossal leap from the 45 percent growth they had seen over the previous nine years. The number of U.S. billionaires jumped…to more than 900 people…The legislation, which slashed personal income taxes and doubled the estate tax exemption…Overall, the top 1 percent now control $55.8 trillion in assets — more than the G.D.P. of the United States and China combined.

China spends for war as destruction spreads across the world

Reuters, 3/5– China will boost defence spending by 7% in 2026, it said on Thursday, the lowest rate in five years but still outpacing wider economic growth targets and the rest of Asia at a time of growing regional tension, including over Taiwan…China’s ⁠share of Asia’s total military expenditure grew to almost 44% in 2025, up from an average of 37% between 2010 and 2020, it added…China gives no breakdown of defence spending, though its budget of 1.91 trillion yuan ($277 billion) is just about a quarter of a $1-trillion defence bill U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law in December.

Israel and U.S. bosses fight for regional control

Al Jazeera, 3/9–...the February 2026 assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei…are increasingly viewed by military analysts not as the long arm of the Mossad, but as the result of a massive and pervasive United States technological umbrella as well as profound internal decay within Tehran’s security apparatus…The strike that killed Khamenei and Iran’s top military brass was essentially a joint US-Israeli mission. Experts from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) note the mission relied heavily on a target bank and real-time electronic surveillance provided by the CIA. The technical footprint is undeniably from the confines of Langley, the Virginia, US home of the CIA, and its global web. 

As usual, police in U.K. protect, defend, and fight for racists on march through Bristol

BristolLive, 3/7–At one point police officers managed to create a 50-yard buffer zone as around 40 of the ‘Bristol Patriots’ as they continued their slow march around to Cabot Circus…As Bristol Patriots headed back towards the Cenotaph, counter-protesters can be heard shouting “Bristol is anti-fascists”...Scenes of violence erupted in the city as the police battled to hold back hundreds of counter protesters and allow the march to pass into Haymarket. There were chaotic scenes near Primark as police are pushing and shoving counter protesters out of the way.

Are tired U.S. sailors sabotaging toilets?

MarineInsight, 2/25–The US Navy’s largest and most expensive aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, is facing persistent sewage system failures…the carrier recorded 205 toilet breakdowns in just four days…The clogs are mainly caused by calcium build-up in the pipes and by improper items like t-shirts and mop heads being flushed… sailors have reportedly described unsanitary conditions and growing fatigue as the extended deployment continues…The prolonged deployment has meant missing major life events…In April–May 2025, the USS Harry S. Truman lost several fighter jets during operations against Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. Subsequent investigations linked the losses to operational strain and crew fatigue.

Mine collapse kills hundreds in D.R. Congo as U.S. bosses negotiate control of minerals

BBC, 3/3– More than 200 people, including 70 children, have been killed after a landslide caused a collapse in a mining area in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the government says.The landslide struck Rubaya, the country’s biggest source of coltan - an ore vital in the electronics industry - in the rebel-controlled east on Tuesday following heavy rains…The Rubaya mining site was recently added to a shortlist of assets that is being offered to the US by the Congolese government under a minerals cooperation framework…A similar collapse at the site in late January following heavy rainfall killed more than 200 people.