Does destroying democracy also entail weaponizing federal bureaucracies, turning them into rogue partisan arms of a president?
Day: August 17, 2025
Rescuers recovered dozens more bodies from the rubble of collapsed homes in a northwestern district of Pakistan, bringing the death toll to at least 274, as authorities defended their response to the flooding and said they did not need any foreign help at this point.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek that Martinez was arrested because of a prior DUI conviction in Los Angeles.
“They saw me, first and foremost, as an Israeli, not as an actress. That’s the perspective I spoke from when I answered the question,” she wrote.
Masked or not, imposters can still pose as ICE or any other law-enforcement officers.
“We stand ready to support our partners in the National Capital Region and contribute to the collective effort of making our nation’s capital a clean and safe environment,” the National Guard in West Virginia said.
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said staffers will continue to strike until fair negotiations take place.
Belgium Concludes World Games with Sixteen Medals
The Belgian athletes returned from the World Games in Chengdu, China, with a total of sixteen medals in non-Olympic sports, marking a slight decline from the twenty medals achieved in Birmingham, USA, during the last edition. Despite this, delegation leader Gert Van Looy expressed satisfaction with the overall performance, reports 24brussels.
On the final day of the Games, Belgium secured two bronze medals. Duathletes Jeanne Dupont and Arnaud Dely finished third in the mixed relay, followed by the beach korfball team, known as the Belgian Scorpions, achieving the same result. This brought the nation’s medal tally to five gold, five silver, and six bronze medals.
Though Belgium’s performance in Chengdu was slightly less impressive than in 2022, Van Looy remained upbeat. “Sixteen medals is a very good result; we are very happy with that,” he remarked. “We saw that our athletes gave their all.”
This year’s World Games showcased the versatility of Belgian athletes. “We are traditionally strong in some sports, such as korfball, acrobatic gymnastics, duathlon, and jiu-jitsu. But there is also Belgian talent in other disciplines,” Van Looy noted, highlighting areas for potential growth.
A standout performer was speed skater Fran Vanhoutte, who brought home four medals, continuing the legacy of notable athletes like Bart Swings and Sandrine Tas. “We have built up a tradition in skating, that is clear,” said Van Looy. “The competition is fierce, especially from South America, but we are showing good continuity. The upcoming Winter Olympics will further enhance the sport’s appeal.”
The Belgian beach korfball team, the Belgian Scorpions, celebrated their bronze medal victory, solidifying the country’s reputation in various non-Olympic sports. As Belgium looks ahead, the focus will remain on nurturing talent across different disciplines while retaining their competitive edge in traditional sports.
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- Elon Musk urged businesses to leave Delaware after a 2024 clash with its Court of Chancery.
- Other states, like Nevada, are eager to attract those corporations.
- Clark County, home to Las Vegas, is building an innovation district focused on tech.
Elon Musk has made his feelings about the state of Delaware clear.
“Companies should get the hell out of Delaware,” Musk wrote last August on X.
Although Delaware’s Secretary of State told Business Insider its role as the “corporate capital of the world” is not under threat, states like Wyoming, Texas, and Florida — and especially Nevada — have emerged as popular alternatives.
Musk’s unhappiness with Delaware began in 2024 after a judge for the state’s Court of Chancery denied his multi-billion-dollar pay package. In response, Musk attacked the court on X and advised others to avoid incorporating in Delaware. The billionaire has since moved Tesla and SpaceX to Texas.
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Musk wasn’t the only business leader ready to ditch Delaware, as it turns out. VC firm Andreessen Horowitz announced its departure from the state in July, saying recent rulings in the Court of Chancery undermined its “reputation for unbiased expertise.”
Roblox, Dropbox, and Trump Media have also left Delaware.
Delaware is considered a premier state for businesses to incorporate, in part, because of the Delaware General Corporation Law. The business-friendly statute is the foundation of its corporate law.
While there are various reasons a business might incorporate outside Delaware, Musk and companies like Andreessen Horowitz said they are seeking a more favorable legal landscape.
Nevada sees an opening
Some of the companies that have left Delaware have chosen Nevada as their new corporate home.
Andreessen Horowitz is one. The company said in its blog post that Nevada law provided less “legal uncertainty” than Delaware. Bill Ackman, the billionaire CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, said in February that his firm would also move from Delaware to Nevada.
“Top law firms are recommending Nevada and Texas over Delaware,” Ackman posted to X at the time.
Nevada isn’t just seeking companies to incorporate there, however, it also wants to attract their offices and workers.
“What it’s about is making sure that we’re not just getting those businesses to incorporate on paper, but we also want their physical assets here,” Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft told Business Insider. Clark County is home to Las Vegas.
Len Jessup, a general partner with Desert Forge Ventures, which is based in Las Vegas and invests in early-stage companies, told Business Insider that he’s seen more corporations choose Nevada as a home.
“We’ve seen founders moving here — a lot of them from California because it’s adjacent — but they’re coming from all over,” Jessup said.
They’re being drawn to Nevada for a variety of reasons, including no state income tax on individuals, no capital gains tax, and what Jessup described as lighter regulations. While Nevada doesn’t have an individual income tax, it does enforce a commerce tax on businesses earning more than $4 million in gross revenue.
Lindsey Mignano, a founding partner of SSM Law PC who represents emerging tech companies, said the different tax structures “may make less of a difference” in the early stage because “revenue is not yet high, but at the later stages of a company’s lifecycle, this can absolutely add up.”
DeFodi Images/DeFodi Images via Getty Images
Clark County is hoping to draw more companies to the region by developing what it’s calling an “innovation district.”
“It has been something that we’ve been really methodical about. We’ve gotten stakeholders together, but at the end of the day, Clark County’s innovation district is really about lifting up what’s happening here organically and using those assets to attract more like-minded businesses and individuals to be part of that space,” Naft said.
Liv Paggiarino/Las Vegas Review-Journal
For Jessup, getting companies to incorporate in Nevada is a way to expand the state’s economy, which mostly relies on its hospitality and tourism industries.
“My goal is, 10 years down the road, I want to have helped to create companies in tech and biotech — so, outside of gaming, hospitality, sports, and entertainment — that add to the ecosystem and help to diversify the economy,” Jessup said.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported that the number of visitors declined 11.3% this June compared to the same time last year.
“The state still does these cycles of boom and bust. I’d like to see us add more companies locally, like Switch’s data center company, that are a little bit more recession-resistant,” Jessup said, referring to the AI, cloud, and data center company.
Naft said officials are still determining details about the Clark County innovation district, but are hopeful it could help solidify it’s foothold as a business capital.
“We want to make sure that people understand that we are open to new ideas,” he said.
Read the original article on Business Insider