United States | News & Politics

https://archive.ph/9QbGK

Records from the United States Air Force Academy’s oversight board show leaders dismantling diversity programs and reviewing curriculum as the board embraces what critics call a concerning ideological turn toward Christian nationalism and prepares to seat conservative activist Erika Kirk.

The communications, revealed in December 2025 meeting minutes reviewed by The Intercept, come as the administration has employed religious rhetoric in its military policies. Amid the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran, some service members and political supporters have framed the war in religious terms, including describing it as part of “God’s divine plan.” Other federal agencies have also openly embraced white nationalist rhetoric and imagery, including a Department of Homeland Security recruitment post that used a neo-Nazi-associated anthem days after the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis.

The closure of the strait of Hormuz is causing a “paralyzing, real-time problem” for any prospective manufacturing surge in the US defense industrial base, and even for the repair of defense equipment damaged by Iranian attacks, according to analysis published by West Point’s Modern War Institute.

In particular sulphur, a vital upstream input in the extraction of critical minerals including copper and cobalt, has seen a “near total” disruption of seaborne trade in the straits, which makes up half the world’s total shipments, and prices have spiked nearly 25% since the war began, and seen a 165% rise year on year, the report said.

According to the analysis, these minerals – used in everything from microprocessors to jet engines to drone batteries – “dictate how fast things can be built and scaled under the pressure of an ongoing war”, and the effects of a sudden supply shock on US defense readiness have never been modeled.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44674073

Story Summary by Ground News AI:

• On Monday, AccuWeather calculated more than 200 million people were threatened by chaotic weather across the United States, with over half the population in the path and more than 3,000 flight cancellations.
• A strengthening heat dome over the Southwest traps hot air, arriving as blizzards continue in the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes, according to the NWS.
• Regional measurements indicate L.A. and Ventura counties broke 13 daily temperature records on Tuesday, Anaheim hit 100 degrees, Palm Springs reached 103, and there is about a 50% chance Palm Springs could reach 110 degrees on Thursday or Friday, Paul Steward said.
• Emergency officials said over half a million customers lost power, schools closed in Wisconsin and Minnesota, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz authorised National Guard support, and at least one fire-related fatality was reported.
• Despite some moderation, forecasters warn temperatures will remain five to 15 degrees above normal into next week, risking earlier Sierra Nevada snowmelt and fire season, with some relief later this week.