Foreign Aid: An Ever-Failing Yet Highly Valuable Quest

Foreign aid remains a lifeline for many countries in the Global South that rely on external help to cover basic human needs such as clean water, food, and healthcare, that are often subject to violent conflict. But despite its imperfections, foreign aid remains one of humanity’s most meaningful collective actions against the ills in the world.

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Access Denied: North Carolina Congressional Bill Bars Medicaid Use at Planned Parenthood Clinics

The N.C. Senate recently passed House Bill 192, which would prevent the DHHS from allowing patients to use Medicaid at Planned Parenthood clinics in North Carolina. This is a highly polarizing issue, with some in favor of the organization’s defunding. Others, such as Planned Parenthood leader Paige Johnson, argue that this could have serious implications for patients in low-income or underserved areas. Medical services impacted, if the bill is enacted, could include cancer screenings, STI tests, and contraceptive access.

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Healthcare Becomes One of the First Major Issues of the NC Senatorial Campaign

On June 29th, North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis decided to step down from the Senate, marking the beginning of a closely contested race. The Democratic candidate is former Governor Roy Cooper, while former NC RNC Chair Mike Whatley represents the Republican Party. During the race, concerned North Carolinians who rely on services like Medicaid and Medicare have also been paying close attention to the recent federal government shutdown. Due to the concern over Medicaid cuts being considered in the shutdown negotiations, healthcare has become a major issue in the North Carolina Senate campaign

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Pomp and Not Much Circumstance: The Bewildering Quantico Military Summit

On September 30th, President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a sudden and politically charged address to hundreds of U.S generals and admirals who were summoned to Virginia at the Marine Corps Base, Quantico. The President and Defense Secretary took the opportunity to press their views upon the military’s finest, calling for the destruction of “woke” ideology within the barracks, ending “decades of decay”, and even eliminating “fat troops” from the forces…. This bombastic address from the Trump Administration certainly has consequences, unintended or not, because President Trump is not following tradition. Such action raises eyebrows regarding the line between military professionalism and civil politics…

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A Win For Mamdani is A Win Against Elitism

On Tuesday night, Zohran Mamdani made history as New York City’s first Muslim Mayor. Over the past year, the 34-year-old self-proclaimed democratic socialist has taken the city’s mayoral race by storm, making it abundantly clear throughout his campaign that he’s planning to fight for the economic prosperity of the working and middle class. Mamdani’s anti-elitist agenda sparked rare bipartisan efforts to contain his rise–showing how powerful this win is. Mamdani’s New York City victory signals what’s ahead for America and the Democratic Party: a future increasingly shaped by socialism.

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The New Australia-Papua New Guinea Defense Pact: Strategic Realism and Power Diplomacy

The treaty highlights Australia’s strategic attempts to maintain its influence in a region where China is increasingly active. As Papua New Guinea continues to balance its strategic interests with both hemispheres of the global order, the question of collective security under counteracting power dynamics remains.

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Us vs Them: American Partisanship is Triggering an Ideological Civil War

With America in its most intense era of partisan opposition, a government shutdown has prevented important government tasks from being completed. Furthermore, the shutdown is being used as a tool for the advancement of political agendas, with debates over the Epstein files and the swearing-in of House Representative Elect Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) continuing to arise, despite the budget being the most dire issue at this time.

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A Misguided War: Trump’s Strikes Miss the Real Source of America’s Fentanyl Crisis

Over the course of the last month, the United States military has launched at least five strikes on drug ships, targeting alleged ‘narco-terrorists” in Venezuela and the Caribbean. By blurring the line between counter-narcotics policy and political theater, Trump risks igniting instability across the Caribbean while leaving the real domestic fentanyl crisis unaddressed.

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Trump’s H-1B Crackdown: How a $100,000 Fee Will Reshape Legal Immigration

On September 19th, President Trump signed a proclamation that fundamentally undermines the structure of the H-1B visa program in the United States. The update that caught the most attention was the additional $100,000 fee for all new H-1B visa petitions, which, along with other changes, sparked rightful outrage about the future of legal immigration to the United States.

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Ongoing Lawsuit Illuminates Internal Divides at UNC

At the end of the month, Chris Clemens was asked to resign, as the BOT (Board of Trustees) claimed that he had unjustly shared information discussed in their closed-session meeting. Clemens’ and the BOT’s priorities clearly juxtapose each other, as the BOT believes that the confidentiality of the content discussed during these closed sessions should be prioritized, while Clemens believes that the legitimacy of the closed-session meetings themselves should be called into question. As tensions escalated between the BOT and the former Provost, something else began to be overlooked: UNC-Chapel Hill’s students and staff.

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New Law Rekindles North Carolina Death Penalty Debate

More than one month after the stabbing death of Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, on a Charlotte commuter train, House Bill 307, also known as "Iryna's law,” was signed into law on Friday. North Carolina Republican lawmakers introduced this wide-ranging bill as a way to tighten bail rules, expand mental health evaluations for violent offenders, and allow for alternative execution methods if lethal injection is unavailable, drawing both support and criticism.

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Tensions Rise After Rubio-Netanyahu Meeting on Qatar Airstrike

Following an Israeli airstrike in Doha, Qatar, on September 9, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to discuss future collaboration. In a press conference, Rubio defended the Israeli airstrike and reaffirmed the U.S.’s interest in reaching a ceasefire and hostage release agreement. While the Trump administration has not condemned Israel for the attack, it does not support or back the decision.

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“Operation Midway Blitz”: ICE’s Latest Raids In Chicago

The operation’s scope is immense, with Customs and Border Protection spokesman David Kim noting that DHS and ICE intend to use all resources at their disposal to investigate and apprehend what they describe as “illegal immigrants”...The Trump administration has also stated that it will be committing National Guard troops to Chicago if necessary. This rhetoric and implementation of resources mark an unprecedented shift in the executive’s approach to immigration enforcement…and has been met with major criticism from advocacy groups, elected officials, and everyday citizens concerned by the increasing militarization of their city’s streets.

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