Saturday, December 13, 2025

The News Roundup – Domestic and International (The 1A) 2025-12-12

Domestic

Democrats were on the receiving end of some midterm election momentum this week. In Indiana, Republicans lawmakers defied intense pressure from President Donald Trump rejecting his demands for a newly gerrymandered Congressional map.

In Miami, residents elected Eileen Higgins as mayor, the first woman to hold the job in the city’s history. She’s also the first Democrat to hold the office in 28 years. And a Georgia state House seat flipped in a district Trump won by double digits.

And Congress is considering limiting the Pentagon’s travel budget after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth refused to release footage of a “double-tap” strike he ordered on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean.
Interview: 

International

Can the United States legally seize a Venezuelan oil tanker or is it an act of “international piracy.”? What does this latest move by the Trump Administration towards Nicolas Maduro mean for escalating the ongoing pressure campaign? President Donald Trump says the vessel was taken “for a very good reason.”

Under the terms of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, 600 trucks per day carrying aid must be allowed into Gaza. This week, an analysis by the Associated Press showed an average of only 459 are crossing into the territory daily. This comes as torrential rain from Storm Byron swept across the Strip flooding overcrowded tents sheltering tens of thousands of families displaced by the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is sounding the alarm about the role China is playing in helping Russia beef up its military industry.
Interview: 

 

How Trump’s Justice Department Scrapped Due Process to Attack UCLA — ProPublica

Trump's DOJ threatened UCLA with discrimination lawsuits, demanded more than $1 billion in fines and pressed for changes that had nothing to do with antisemitism...

https://www.propublica.org/article/ucla-antisemitism-investigation-trump-doj 


 

Robert Reich Reacts: Banned SNL Sketch About Media Control

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ADy64by4aRY

 

Administration officials ‘conspiring to illegally intimidate’ non-citizens via new VA report, lawmakers say

"It is obvious that the VA and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are conspiring to illegally intimidate, imprison, and deport individuals who perform duties at the VA in service to our nation's veterans," the lawmakers wrote.…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/12/veterans-affairs-homeland-security-data-report


 

Air passengers exposed to extremely high levels of ultrafine particle pollution, study finds

Levels during boarding and taxiing were far above those defined as high by the World Health Organization…

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/dec/12/air-passengers-extremely-high-levels-ultrafine-particle-pollution-study


 

Trump Memo LEAKS Exposing SECRET PLAN Against US ALL

Ken Harbaugh breaks down a newly leaked DOJ memo that dramatically expands the definition of “domestic terrorism,” sweeping up protest groups and potentially even media voices like his own. He speaks with Kris Goldsmith, president of Veterans Fighting Fascism, about what this policy could mean for activists, veterans, and anyone who challenges the Trump administration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HOqCpl10Zo

 

Crypto mogul Do Kwon sentenced to 15 years in prison for fraud

"I don't argue nor will I ever argue that my conduct was industry standard and market practice," Kwon said. "If they were, they were bad industry standards and market practices and I as one of the market leaders should be personally responsible. The blame should be pointed at me for everyone's suffering. 

 "I have spent almost every waking moment of the last few years thinking of what I could have done different and what I can do now to make things right."…

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/dec/12/do-kwon-cryptocurrency-terraform-labs-co-founder-prison-fraud


 

Donald Trump signs executive order aimed at preventing states from regulating AI

"Trump's campaign to threaten, harass and punish states that seek to pass commonsense AI regulations is just another chapter in his playbook to hand over control of one of the most transformative technologies of our time to big tech CEOs," said Teri Olle, the vice-president of Economic Security California Action, which co-sponsored AI safety legislation in California this year. "This is not about allowing for American innovation."…


 

Utah Leaders Hinder Solar Efforts Despite Need for More Energy — ProPublica

Cox signed a pair of bills passed this year that will make it more difficult and expensive to develop and produce solar energy in Utah by ending solar development tax credits and imposing a hefty new tax on solar generation. A third bill aimed at limiting solar development on farmland narrowly missed the deadline for passage but is expected to return next year...

https://www.propublica.org/article/utah-solar-energy-operation-gigawatt-spencer-cox 


 

How Immigration Bans Use “Religious Freedom” to Justify Discrimination

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5xKxcD2QiKA

 

Trump Says It’s a “Dead Issue.” It Really Isn’t.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LLcJss-Lk9c

 

DOJ sues for Atlanta-area voting data from 2020 election - POLITICO

DOJ's Civil Rights Division has sought access to several states' voter rolls under the same logic. On Friday, DOJ sued four states — Nevada, Massachusetts, Colorado and Hawaii — for access to their voter databases, including personal information like driver's licenses numbers or the last four digits of Social Security numbers. In total, DOJ has sued 18 states for their voter data…

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/12/trump-2020-election-georgia-lawsuit-00689593 


 

Meet the neo-Nazi targeting kids online, teaching them to hate and to prepare to kill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU3GJwNadeE

 

‘The holy family is in hiding’: nativity scenes at US churches push back on ICE

Displays include handcuffed baby Jesus and Mary wearing a gas mask in wake of Trump's immigration crackdown…

 

A Catholic priest put up a controversial "ICE Was Here" Nativity scene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8v6OYcxEcY

 

House Republicans unveil new health care plan - The Washington Post

Neither of the bipartisan plans includes broader abortion restrictions, which most Republicans are demanding must be included in any ACA subsidy extension. Democrats have said they cannot accept more restrictions on abortion coverage. 

That's likely to become a dividing line as the GOP plan is considered in the House. If the amendment to extend the ACA subsidies doesn't include additional abortion coverage restrictions, most House Republicans are likely to reject it. It's unclear whether enough Democrats would join the bipartisan group to overcome GOP opposition…

 

20 states lodge lawsuit against Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee - POLITICO

Bonta claimed that the increases for the skilled-worker visa are illegal because they exceed what Congress has authorized and undermine its intent in establishing the program. All of the states joining the lawsuit have Democratic attorneys general...

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/12/trump-visa-fee-lawsuit-00689510 


 

National preservation group sues to halt East Wing ballroom construction - POLITICO

A preservationist group is suing President Donald Trump for his construction of the East Wing ballroom, arguing in a lawsuit filed Friday that the wing's demolition did not undergo appropriate reviews and demanding the rebuilding cease immediately...

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/12/trump-east-wing-ballroom-lawsuit-00689260 


 

Democrats think they’ve found their 2026 message — and Miami just backed it up - POLITICO

"affordability" 

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/12/democrats-2026-message-miami-00687160 



 

Capitol agenda: Johnson stares down another revolt — this time on energy permitting - Live Updates - POLITICO

But some conservatives want to speed up the federal permitting process only for fossil fuels. And they're furious that Westerman's measure, which advanced out of committee with bipartisan support last month, would ease the path for green energy projects, too...

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/12/12/congress/mike-johnson-republicans-energy-permitting-reform-00688529  



 

Friday, December 12, 2025

Top U.S. & World Headlines — December 12, 2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etnIx0dnaos

 

Humans made fire 350,000 years earlier than previously thought, discovery in Suffolk suggests

Pyrite's extreme rarity in the local area – it was not present in a database of 33,000 samples from Barnham – strongly suggested it had been sourced from chalky coastal outcrops tens of kilometres away and brought to the area for use as a fire striker. "It's incredible that some of the oldest groups of Neanderthals had the knowledge of the properties of flint, pyrite and tinder at such an early date," said Ashton. 

Geochemical tests also showed that a patch of reddened clay had been heated to temperatures of over 700C (1,292F) with repeated fire-use in the same location of the site. Together, this strongly suggested that a campfire, or hearth, that had been used by people on several occasions, according to the paper published in Nature...

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/dec/10/man-made-fire-350000-years-earlier-than-previously-known-after-discovery-in-suffolk


 

Venezuela decries ‘act of piracy’ after US forces seize oil tanker off country’s coast

She said the tanker had been sanctioned by the US for "multiple years" due to its "involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations"… 

In an interview last week, Joe Biden's former chief Latin America adviser, Juan González, said that at around the time of last year's election he had pushed for the US to station two navy destroyers off Venezuela's coast "and even impose an oil blockade"…

  

Trump Delivers Crazy Offensive Racist Speech, Calls Jimmy Kimmel a Moron and brags about his health

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D63dmMuN494

 

Trump's Cabinet of Cartoon Villains #Trump #PaulaPoundstone #Political Comedy

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/adzMMsNmrMs

 

Meta shuts down global accounts linked to abortion advice and queer content

More than 50 organisations report sites being restricted or removed, with abortion hotlines blocked and posts showing non-explicit nudity triggering warnings… 

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/dec/11/meta-shuts-down-global-accounts-linked-to-abortion-advice-and-queer-content


 

History Minute (050): Lincoln's "moderate" position on slavery

Quoting Zinn:

Lincoln read the Constitution strictly, to mean that Congress, because of the Tenth Amendment (reserving to the states powers not specifically given to the national government), could not constitutionally bar slavery in the states.

When it was proposed to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, which did not have the rights of a state but was directly under the jurisdiction of Congress, Lincoln said this would be Constitutional, but it should not be done unless the people in the District wanted it. Since most there were white, this killed the idea. As Hofstadter said of Lincoln's statement, it "breathes the fire of an uncompromising insistence on moderation."

Excerpt From
A People's History of the United States
Howard Zinn

 

Jared Kushner is at the heart of the Paramount-WBD bid

Paramount left out a significant fact in the press release announcing its offer: the bid includes funding from the private equity firm owned by Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, as well as three Arab monarchies, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which collectively have billions of dollars in ongoing ventures involving the Trump family business. Those details were buried in required paperwork filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission...

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/11/jared-kushner-paramount-warner-bros-deal


 

Trump enlists 5 allies to counter China on rare earths and tech - POLITICO

A new coalition unites Singapore, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Israel…

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/11/trump-enlists-5-allies-to-counter-china-on-rare-earths-and-tech-00688068 


Kristi Noem WALKS OUT of Hearing during CROSS-EXAM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXl1mlLB3Hk

 

Dems press for changes to crypto bill in counteroffer to GOP - Live Updates - POLITICO

The group of Democrats working on the crypto bill "is concerned that payments of interest or yield on stablecoin balances could pull deposits from the banking system, especially from community banks that play a pivotal role in supporting underserved communities and operate under Community Reinvestment Act obligations," the document said. "Yield also incentivizes risky behavior and could threaten the financial system if a stablecoin were to lose its value."…

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/12/10/congress/dem-crypto-counteroffer-00685364 


 



 

Indiana GOP rejects Trump’s map in major blow to his gerrymandering push - POLITICO

It's a major setback for the president as well and a blow to his party's hopes of gerrymandering their way to a House majority in 2028 — and it set off alarm bells with top MAGA allies. 

"We have a huge problem," said former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who simulcasted The War Room show live from a suburban Indianapolis hotel to boost support for redistricting. "People have to realize that we only have a couple opportunities. We've got a net five to 10 seats. If we don't get a net 10 pickup in the redistricting wars, it's going to be enormously hard, if not impossible, to hold the House."…

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/11/indiana-republicans-redistricting-vote-trump-00687714 


 

Trump Administration Shifts Guidance for Superfund Lead Cleanup — ProPublica

The Biden administration lowered the guidance for so-called removal management levels to 200 parts per million. 

The Trump administration has said its new guidance, which raised them to 600 parts per million, would speed cleanups by providing clearer direction and streamlining investigations of contaminated sites. But environmental advocates said it only accelerates project completion by cleaning up fewer properties…

https://www.propublica.org/article/omaha-nebraska-lead-superfund-epa-trump 


 

DOJ fails — again — to re-indict Letitia James - POLITICO

"This case already has been a stain on this Department's reputation and raises troubling questions about its integrity," James' lawyer Abbe Lowell said in a statement. "Any further attempt to revive these discredited charges would be a mockery of our system of justice."…

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/11/letitia-james-indictment-fails-00687508 


 

Senate pushes forward with boat strike probe as House pulls back - POLITICO

Pentagon officials "have been bragging about and almost marketing the videos showing explosions on the boats, and now they're somehow saying, 'but we can't show you this part of the video with the survivors,'" said Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. "That doesn't pass anybody's smell test."…

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/11/senate-boat-strike-defense-hegseth-00687115 


 

Noem defiant as Democrats decry Trump administration treatment of migrants - POLITICO

Democrats took advantage of the rare appearance by Noem on Capitol Hill to re-up allegations that Noem gave a $220 million contract to a firm tied to the spouse of DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin and argue that immigration enforcement officers have violated the civil rights and due process of unauthorized immigrants and U.S. citizens alike...

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/11/noem-defiant-as-democrats-decry-trump-administration-treatment-of-migrants-00687101 


 

South Park Finale Is Absolutely BRUTAL For Trump, Vance and MAGA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4_Z1N4NuWI

 

House passes defense bill, forcing Pentagon's hand on boat strike videos - POLITICO

The must-pass legislation also restricts the Trump administration from significantly reducing U.S. troop levels in Europe…

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/10/house-passes-ndaa-boat-strike-videos-00685641 


 

Senate rejects dueling health care bills as Obamacare deadline looms - Live Updates - POLITICO

The Senate rejected dueling health care bills Thursday, all but guaranteeing that Obamacare subsidies used by more than 20 million Americans will lapse at the end of the year...
 

 

Texas and Florida sue FDA in latest effort to restrict abortion pill access

"These lawsuits have nothing to do with the safety of this medication and everything to do with making it harder for people to get an abortion," said Julia Kaye, senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project. "Politicians in Texas and Florida are asking for a nationwide ban on a safe and effective medication that millions of Americans have used since the FDA first approved it 25 years ago."… 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/10/texas-florida-sue-fda-abortion-pill-approval


 

Montana youth activists who won climate case petition for enforcement

In a groundbreaking legal decision in August 2023, a Montana judge ruled in favor of 16 youth plaintiffs who had accused state officials of violating their constitutional rights by promoting fossil fuels. The state's supreme court affirmed the judge's findings in late 2024. But state lawmakers have since violated her ruling, enshrining new laws this year that contradict it, argue 13 of the 16 plaintiffs in a petition filed on Wednesday...

Sen. Ron Johnson Endorses Book Touting Chlorine Dioxide's Unproven Health Benefits — ProPublica

It is not medicinal, despite Kory's contention. "It is all lunacy. Absolutely, it's 100% nonsense," said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University's Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the threat of pseudoscience. Schwarcz has written articles about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it "a poison" when it's in high concentrations…

https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement 


 

Millionaire dad: If you teach your kids just 5 things about money, use these 5 phrases

Talking about money is a regular practice in our home. Our kids don't see money as a mystery box, but as a tool that they feel confident about using. 

Simple, memorable phrases grab their attention far better than long, boring lectures. Here are five phrases that genuinely excite them about saving and investing for the future...

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/11/self-made-millionaire-5-phrases-i-say-to-my-kids-to-get-them-excited-about-saving-money-for-the-future.html 


 

Attackers using ChatGPT to trick Mac users into installing MacStealer

Pasting commands into Terminal without understanding them is a dangerous thing to do at the best of times. If you do it at all, you should ensure that you absolutely trust the source. Sponsored results in Google are not at all trustworthy. 

It would be extremely easy for a non-technical user to fall for this, so you might want to alert your family and friends...

https://9to5mac.com/2025/12/11/attackers-using-chatgpt-to-trick-mac-users-into-installing-macstealer/ 


 

‘Human trafficking behind prison walls’: women jailed in Texas allege rampant sexual abuse

The allegations at FMC Carswell, a federal medical women's prison in Fort Worth, Texas, are particularly troubling because the facility has been the focus of sexual abuse investigations for years, with 13 staff members convicted of abuse and misconduct since 1997 and promises of reform at various times. 

Now, 11 women have filed fresh lawsuits alleging they have been sexually assaulted by prison staff in recent years...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/11/texas-prison-fmc-carswell-sexual-abuse-allegations


 

We Investigated the 5 Most Corrupt Presidential Pardons

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bzErxgFFlMI

 

Kilmar Abrego GarcĂ­a released from ICE custody - The Washington Post

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered officials to release the 30-year-old undocumented immigrant and longtime Maryland resident in part to ensure he has a fair immigration process after finding that Justice Department attorneys had "misled" the court at a hearing last month. Government lawyers and an ICE witness alleged officers had to deport him to the African nation of Liberia because Costa Rica had reneged on a deal to offer him refuge. 

But the judge, citing reporting by The Washington Post and other media outlets, noted that Costa Rica had "never wavered" in its commitment to accept Abrego. He was released from a Pennsylvania detention facility shortly before 5 p.m., his lawyers said.

Inside Congress Live

It's a first step to overturning the president's executive orders, but the legislation still needs to clear the Senate...

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/12/11/congress/house-passes-bill-federal-workers-bargaining-rights-00687594 


 

ACA health insurance premiums are about to spike. Blame the GOP. | Vox

As even Republican strategists will acknowledge, GOP senators were only going through the motions of appearing to do something about the expiring subsidies. Their HSA plan was doomed to fail, and the party didn't even unify around it until two days before the planned vote. This was not a serious effort to avert a huge premium increase for millions of their own constituents...

https://www.vox.com/health/471965/health-insurance-marketplace-aca-tax-credits-expire 


 



 

The #Republican party is popping at the seams. Couldn’t happen to better people

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/37f3aIFvDt4

 

Trump FBI HUMILIATED During Live Hearing over 'ANTIFA' Claims

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5abd1c8ZQwo

 

What fraud? State Obamacare officials don’t see the problem GOP subsidy opponents do - POLITICO

State health care exchanges say they have few problems with fraud. Instead of killing the subsidies, policy experts suggest fixing the federal exchanges instead…

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/11/states-argue-enhanced-obamacare-subsidies-not-the-cause-of-fraud-00686216  


Thursday, December 11, 2025

Top U.S. & World Headlines — December 11, 2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS16HVU2738

 

Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds

Data from World Inequality Report also showed top 10% of income-earners earn more than the other 90%


 

Netflix faces consumer class-action lawsuit over $72bn Warner Bros deal

The proposed class action was filed on Monday by a subscriber to Warner Bros-owned HBO Max who said the proposed deal threatened to reduce competition in the US subscription video-on-demand market...

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/09/netflix-consumer-lawsuit-warner-bros-deal


 

Mind blowing facts about Jesus?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqBmKGPC1_A

 

'The calls are coming from deep inside the MAGA house'

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/narvNYwrTqg

 

Consuming lots of energy drinks may raise heart disease and stroke risk, say doctors

Study cites case of otherwise fit and healthy man in his 50s who had a stroke after eight-drink-a-day habit…

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/dec/09/energy-drinks-heart-disease-stroke-risk-doctors


 

5th grade boys Synchronized Air Swimming Talent Show Skit W A Porter Elementary School

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S59NCvIUfng

 

Debunking Trump’s claims on immigration and affordability in Pennsylvania

The US president made baseless claims during remarks on cost of living that meandered into racism and bigotry…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/09/fact-check-trump-speech-pennsylvania 


 

Funny Talent Skit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWrsvth19Nc

 

No Evidence No Problem #PaulaPoundstone #DonaldTrump #comedy #Politics

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zYSahrBAgrU

 

Trump rails on affordability ‘hoax’ and immigrants in rally-style speech

The president has often dismissed concerns about prices as a "hoax" and a "con job" to suggest that he bears no responsibility for inflation. In an interview with the Politico news site released on Tuesday, 

Trump was asked what grade he would give the economy. "A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus," he replied… Trump also launched a racist attack on Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a Muslim born in Somalia. He said: "Ilhan Omar, whatever the hell her name is. With her little turban. I love her. She comes in, does nothing but bitch. She's always complaining." 

Trump went: "We ought to get her the hell out! She married her brother … Therefore she's here illegally." The crowd chanted: "Send her back!"

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/09/trump-pennsylvania-affordability-speech


 

What Explains Trump’s Aggression Toward Venezuela? Who Knows. - The Atlantic

Batya Ungar-Sargon, who has previously complained that Trump was unfairly denied the Nobel Peace Prize, is trying to rerun the Iraq War playbook by labeling narcotics a kind of weapon of mass destruction. "To Democrats and their sympathetic media, you're not allowed to stop chemical weapons from killing your children," she declared recently. "You're supposed to politely ask them not to come. And if they do, you're supposed to politely put them on trial, with a taxpayer-funded lawyer, of course." 

If you remove politely, which anyone who's seen Breaking Bad or Narcos knows is not how the Drug Enforcement Agency operates, Ungar-Sargon's account of America's antidrug policy is accurate. The way it traditionally works is that we tell foreign drug dealers not to come, and, yes, if they do, we try them in court. The practice is less dramatic than using missiles to destroy boats that might have drugs, but it has the advantages of being legal and less likely to incinerate innocent fishermen...

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2025/12/trump-boat-strikes-war-venezuela/685199/ 


 

US judge strikes down Trump order blocking wind energy projects

"From the beginning of its time in office, the Trump administration put a halt to the wind energy projects that are needed to keep utility bills in check and the grid reliable," Kennedy said. 

The wind order "has been a devastating blow to workers, electricity customers, and the reliability of the power grid", she said, adding that the Trump administration "should use this [ruling] as a wake-up call, stop its illegal actions and get out of the way of the expansion of renewable energy"...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/09/judge-blocks-trump-order-wind-energy


 

Frustrated Republicans move to force Obamacare vote as warnings mount about the midterms - POLITICO

The move to sidestep Speaker Mike Johnson came as a growing number of mainstream House Republicans publicly warned that their leaders' apparent plan to allow the tax credits to expire without a replacement in place will cost them their majority in next year's midterm elections...

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/10/frustrated-republicans-move-to-force-obamacare-vote-as-warnings-mount-about-the-midterms-00685423  


A Strategy That Ignores the Real Threats - The Atlantic

In fact, Americans face many new threats from China and Russia. With an operation by a group that the U.S. government labeled Salt Typhoon, China has compromised U.S. telecommunications networks and can now listen to calls or read text messages by any American it chooses. If you feel like your communications might be of interest to the Chinese Communist Party, you should be using only encrypted apps for messaging and calls. In another operation—labeled Volt Typhoon—China has penetrated U.S. infrastructure, including water-supply plans, electricity grids, and transportation, with a view to conducting destructive cyberattacks on the United States in the event of a war between the two countries. Meanwhile, according to the U.S. Intelligence Community's 2025 threat assessment, Russia "is developing a new satellite meant to carry a nuclear weapon as an antisatellite capability," which, if detonated, "could cause devastating consequences for the United States, the global economy, and the world in general." 

None of these direct threats to the American homeland are even mentioned in Trump's NSS. The strategy therefore does not explain what the government, Congress, and the private sector should do to fix these vulnerabilities...

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/2025/12/national-security-strategy-ignores-real-threats-trump/685181/ 


 




 

Synthetic chemicals in food system creating health burden of $2.2tn a year, report finds

Scientists issue urgent warning about chemicals, found to cause cancer and infertility as well as harming environment…


 

Some young adults bucking trends and seeking intense religious experiences - The Washington Post

Talk of surging interest among young people has taken on a political cast in recent months. Earlier this year, the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who spoke often of his Christian faith, led to extensive public celebration of Kirk as a martyr whose death would encourage people to deepen their commitment to their faith. President Donald Trump on Thanksgiving seemed to lend credence to this prediction, saying: "more people are praying, churches are coming back." 

New data from the Pew Research Center does not support this idea of a revival.

 








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