Federal authorities have arrested 4 members of a far-left terror cell who were building explosives to carry out bombings across the country
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-alleged-terror-plot-turtle-island-liberation-front-doj-fbi/
4 members of far-left group charged for alleged terror plot in California, feds say

Washington — Federal law enforcement officials said Monday that four members of a far-left anti-government group have been arrested and face charges for allegedly planning a series of bomb attacks across Southern California on New Year's Eve.

Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X that the Justice Department and FBI "prevented what would have been a massive and horrific terror plot in the Central District of California," which encompasses Los Angeles and Orange County.

FBI Director Kash Patel said that the four people who face charges were members of a group known as the Turtle Island Liberation Front. Bondi described the Turtle Island Liberation Front as a "far-left, pro-Palestine, anti-government, and anti-capitalist group."

Bill Essayli, who leads the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, said at a press conference that the four individuals were arrested Friday in San Bernardino County, where they gathered to construct and detonate test explosive devices in the Mojave Desert. He said the suspects allegedly crafted a "detailed, coordinated plot" to bomb two U.S. companies on New Year's Eve, with the devices simultaneously exploding at midnight. Essayli did not name the companies but said they were "logistics centers."

"This case is another reminder about the dangers that radicalized antifa-like groups pose to people, public safety and the rule of law," he said.

The defendants are identified in court papers as Audrey Carroll, Zachary Page, Dante Gaffield and Tina Lai.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15385535/donald-trump-presidential-library-fake-news-wing.html

President Donald Trump could include a 'fake news wing' as part of his high-rise presidential library that he wants to build in downtown Miami.

The Washington Post reported Sunday on the progress that's been made on the Trump presidential library, with $50 million raised this year by the Donald J. Trump Library Foundation.

Part of that headway was the state of Florida, somewhat controversially, giving Trump a parcel of land appraised at $60 million, but that real estate investors have said could be worth closer to $300 million.

The land, which had been used as a parking lot for Miami Dade College, is located next to the Freedom Tower, a recently restored landmark on Biscayne Boulevard that represents 'freedom of the press,' having formerly housed the Miami News.

It's also called the 'Ellis Island of the South,' as the building was used by the federal government to process Cuban refugees in the 1960s, fleeing Communism.

Building a Trump library next door to the Freedom Tower has been met with opposition by some groups, who point to the president's hardline immigration policies.

Including a 'fake news wing' in a high-rise adjacent to a press freedom monument could also ruffle some feathers.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/15/trump-ai-tech-force-amazon-apple.html

The Trump administration on Monday unveiled a new initiative dubbed the “U.S. Tech Force,” comprising about 1,000 engineers and other specialists who will work on artificial intelligence infrastructure and other technology projects throughout the federal government.

Participants will commit to a two-year employment program working with teams that report directly to agency leaders in “collaboration with leading technology companies,” according to an official government website.

Those “private sector partners” include Amazon Web Services, Apple, Google Public Sector, Dell Technologies, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, Oracle, Palantir, Salesforce, and numerous others, the website says.

The Tech Force shows the Trump administration increasing its focus on developing America’s AI infrastructure as it competes with China for dominance in the rapidly growing industry.

The initiative was announced four days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at establishing a national AI policy framework — a priority for industry leaders who opposed states crafting their own regulations.

Once Tech Force members complete their two terms, they can seek full-time jobs with those companies, who have committed to consider the programs’ alumni for employment. The private partners can also nominate their employees to do stints of government service.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/13/hungary-protesters-demand-pm-viktor-orban-quits-over-child-abuse-cases

Tens of thousands of Hungarians have taken part in a demonstration in Budapest demanding Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s resignation over his inaction towards repeated child-abuse scandals in the country.

Since returning to power in 2010, Orban has promised to prioritise the protection of children in Hungary, but multiple high-profile child abuse scandals have rocked his government in recent years.

Saturday’s protests, led by opposition party TISZA’s leader Peter Magyar, came after new allegations regarding a juvenile detention centre in the country’s capital Budapest surfaced in September. Security camera footage from the centre showed the director of the Szolo Street juvenile detention centre kicking a boy in the head.

Earlier this week, four staff members were taken into custody, and the government announced that it would place all such child facilities under direct police supervision.

On Saturday, thousands of protesters walked through Budapest’s frosty streets behind a banner reading “Protect the children!” and called on the government to take more action against the perpetrators. Some people also carried soft toys and torches in solidarity with victims of physical abuse in a case dating back several years.

On Friday, Magyar also released a previously unpublished official report from 2021, which found that more than a fifth of children in state-run care institutions had been abused.

“We should be outraged at what is being done with the most vulnerable children,” Zsuzsa Szalay, a 73-year-old pensioner who took part in Saturday’s protest, told the AFP news agency.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/world/asia/north-korea-soldiers-russia-ukraine.html

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, welcomed home specialized soldiers this week after a deployment in Russia’s war against Ukraine, honoring nine killed in action with his country’s highest medal, state media reported on Saturday.

The event was North Korea’s first public acknowledgment that it had sent specialized troops, combat engineers tasked with mine-clearing operations, to aid Russia in the war.

The Kremlin said in July that North Korea had agreed to send 1,000 combat engineers and 5,000 military construction workers to help rebuild Russia’s war-torn Kursk region. Earlier, up to 15,000 North Korean troops fought alongside Russian forces there to drive out Ukrainian soldiers.

State media said the combat engineers returned home after a demining operation in Kursk. A large welcoming ceremony was held Friday in a plaza in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, where Mr. Kim thanked the troops for their “sacred mission” and praised their “brilliant military exploits.”

“You could work a miracle of turning a vast area of danger zone into a safe and secure one in a matter of less than three months,” Mr. Kim said in a speech to returning members of North Korea’s 528th Regiment of Engineers. “Except for the heart-rending loss of nine lives, all the officers and soldiers of the regiment have returned to the motherland.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/12/12/black-lives-matter-oklahoma-city-leader-indicted-fraud/87730404007/

Black Lives Matter leader in OK accused of misusing millions

A local Oklahoma Black Lives Matter leader was indicted by a federal grand jury for charges of wire fraud and embezzlement after accusations she used funds meant for social justice causes for her own personal benefit, authorities said.

Tashella Sheri Amore Dickerson, 52, the executive director of Black Lives Matter OKC, was accused of embezzling more than $3 million in funds, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Oklahoma said on Dec. 11. She was indicted on Dec. 3 with 20 counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-10/us-state-department-reverts-times-new-roman-font/106127732
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered diplomats to revert to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor Antony Blinken's decision to adopt Calibri a "wasteful" diversity move, according to a leaked internal cable.

The department switched to Calibri, a modern sans-serif font, in January 2023, saying it was a more accessible font for people with disabilities because it did not have decorative angular features and was at the time the default in Microsoft products.

Some scientific studies have suggested that sans-serif fonts such as Calibri are indeed easier to read for those with certain visual disabilities.

However, a cable dated December 9 that was sent to all US diplomatic posts said that typography shaped the professionalism of an official document and that Calibri was informal compared to serif typefaces.

"To restore decorum and professionalism to the Department's written work products and abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program, the Department is returning to Times New Roman as its standard typeface," the cable said.
"This formatting standard aligns with the President's One Voice for America's Foreign Relations directive, underscoring the Department's responsibility to present a unified, professional voice in all communications."

DEIA, often referred to simply as DEI, stands for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, and refers to a range of initiatives intended to make workplace environments more accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/us/politics/sec-crypto-firms-trump-investigation.html

A cryptocurrency firm run by the billionaire Winklevoss twins was facing a punishing federal lawsuit. After Donald J. Trump returned to the White House, the Securities and Exchange Commission moved to freeze the case.

The S.E.C. had also sued Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, but then dropped the case altogether under the new administration.

And after a yearslong legal fight with Ripple Labs, the new S.E.C. tried to reduce a court-ordered penalty against the crypto firm, seeking to soften the blow of the punishment.

The agency’s pullback from these cases illustrated a wide-ranging transformation in the federal government’s treatment of the crypto industry during President Trump’s second term, a New York Times investigation has found.

It is unheard-of for the agency to retreat from a swath of lawsuits against a single industry. And yet, The Times found that the S.E.C. had eased up on more than 60 percent of the crypto cases that were ongoing when Mr. Trump returned to the White House, moving to pause litigation, lessen penalties or outright dismiss the cases.

The dismissals were particularly unusual, The Times found. Under Mr. Trump, S.E.C. dismissals came at a far higher rate for crypto firms than other cases.

And although the particulars of the crypto lawsuits differed, many of these firms had something in common: financial ties to Mr. Trump, the self-described crypto president.

A Indian Hindu pajeet family from Gujarat, India is kidnapped in Libya for ransom while trying to illegally immigrate to Portugal.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/gujarat-couple-child-trying-to-migrate-to-portugal-kidnapped-in-libya-officials/amp_articleshow/125953355.cms

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/gujarat/gujarat-couple-child-trying-to-immigrate-to-portugal-kidnapped-in-libya-officials/article70393034.ece/amp/

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/libya-eu-migration-torture-detainment-europe-asylum-boats-mediterranean-search-rescue-boats-humanity-1/

https://apnews.com/article/chile-elections-kast-jara-president-boric-trump-e9ef32b53359f3152ee80d62c106c5f6

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile’s ultra-conservative former lawmaker José Antonio Kast secured a stunning victory in the presidential election Sunday, defeating the candidate of the center-left governing coalition and setting the stage for the country’s most right-wing government in 35 years of democracy.

Kast won 58.2% of the votes as Chileans overwhelmingly embraced his pledge to crack down on increased crime, deport hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status and revive the sluggish economy of one of Latin America’s most stable and prosperous nations.

His challenger, communist candidate Jeannette Jara, clinched 41.8% of the vote. She called Kast to concede the election and congratulate him on his successful campaign after his lead became irreversible. Kast’s supporters erupted into cheers in the street, shouting his name and honking horns.

Speaking at a public square in downtown Santiago, Chile’s capital, she encouraged her supporters not to be deterred by the outcome. “It is in defeat that we learn the most,” she said.

Kast was declared the winner less than two hours after polls closed. His campaign spokesman, Arturo Squella, struck a solemn tone, saying that the party feels “very responsible for the tremendous challenge of taking charge of the crises that Chile is going through.”