9 December 2025

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-americas-trash-fuels-toxic-tofu-in-indonesia-2025-9

Indonesia and Philippines are dumping plastic waste garbage into the ocean or using it as fuel for making tofu.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV9v0RIE-iI

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8Fhzz4c-a4I

https://www.face.book.com/businessinsider/videos/1381615343712530/


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/14/world/asia/indonesia-tofu-dioxin-plastic.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50392807

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/may/10/tofu-plastic-indonesia

https://www.greengrants.org/2019/12/20/burningplastics/

https://www.ehn.org/western-plastic-waste-fuels-tofu-production-in-indonesia-raising-pollution-and-health-fears

https://theworld.org/segments/2025/08/18/to-deal-with-the-inundation-of-plastic-waste-some-countries-burn-it-in-indonesia-the-end-product-is-tofu

https://www.fairplanet.org/story/not-our-trash-indonesias-struggle-with-the-worlds-plastic-waste/

https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/stories/cardiovascular-impact-plastic-pollution-indonesia/

https://ipen.org/sites/default/files/documents/indonesia-egg-report-v1_9-web.pdf

https://thehill.com/homenews/5640090-donald-trump-economy-inflation/
President Trump gave the economy under his second administration an “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus” ahead of his trip to Pennsylvania to sell his efforts to bring down inflation on Tuesday.

The president made the comments during an interview with Politico that was conducted on Monday. During the interview, Trump was asked about one of his of his supporters who gave him an “A-plus-plus” grade overall but said not enough is being done to address the high costs of goods.

“I inherited a total mess. Prices were at an all-time high when I came in. Prices are coming down substantially,” Trump said, referring to what he said were decreasing energy costs.

“Prices are all coming down. It’s been 10 months. It’s amazing what we’ve done. If you think of gasoline a gallon, they had it at $4.50, almost $5.00. You go to some of the states, you had it at $6.00. We hit, uh, three states two days ago, $1.99 a gallon. When that happens, everything comes down,” he said.

Trump’s remarks come as he prepares to travel to Scranton, Pa. on Tuesday to tout his efforts to bring down costs. The president, who campaigned successfully on affordability in 2024, has since been plagued by frustration among Americans over prices remaining high.

Republicans saw their biggest warning sign yet on the issue in last month’s off-year elections when Democrats won elections in key races across the country.

Trump has laid blame on the Biden administration for high costs and has referred to Democratic messaging on affordability as “a hoax” and “a con job.”

The administration has also sought to address the affordability issue through removing tariffs on various products in recent months.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9d9vpxjp2go
Two US soldiers and a US civilian interpreter have been killed in Syria in an ambush by a lone Islamic State gunman, the US military has said.
Three other service members were injured in the attack, during which the gunman was "engaged and killed".
The identities of those killed are being withheld for 24 hours until their next of kin have been informed.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, said: "Let it be known, if you target Americans - anywhere in the world you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you."
The ambush occurred in Palmyra, located in the centre of the country, according to Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.

>European leaders are considering dumping $2.34 trillion in US debt if Trump abandons Ukraine, potentially triggering an economic crisis worse than 2008

https://www.the-express.com/news/world-news/192200/europe-s-nuclear-option-threatens-trump-midterm-elections-approach

European nations are reportedly weighing the "nuclear option" of destabilizing the American economy should Donald Trump abandon Ukraine and compromise continental security. Discussions between American and Ukrainian representatives resumed Sunday in Miami, with both parties working to hammer out a peace agreement.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump's Russia envoy Steve Witkoff participated in the session, alongside the President's son-in-law Jared Kushner. After the "fragile" negotiations, the President informed journalists aboard Air Force One that there was "a good chance we can make a deal".

Yet European leadership remains wary that Trump is hastening toward a geopolitical arrangement with Vladimir Putin while disregarding NATO allies' security interests.

The Wall Street Journal reveals a European intelligence agency has distributed internal evaluations regarding "commercial and economic plans" the Trump administration has been pursuing with Russia in private discussions.

This has allegedly intensified concerns among European officials that the White House is poised to compromise the continent's safety for American economic advantage.

Insiders informed the WSJ that European leaders are weighing severe countermeasures in response, calculated to trigger economic turmoil across the United States. The proposed strategy includes liquidating trillions in American government bonds held by European governments.

A swift sell-off could potentially trigger a crash in the value of the US dollar, instigate a liquidity crisis across the banking system, and cause a significant surge in borrowing costs.

President Donald Trump’s approval on the economy and immigration have fallen substantially since March, according to a new AP-NORC poll, the latest indication that two signature issues that got him elected barely a year ago could be turning into liabilities as his party begins to gear up for the 2026 midterms.

Only 31% of U.S. adults now approve of how Trump is handling the economy, the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds. That is down from 40% in March and marks the lowest economic approval he’s registered in an AP-NORC poll in his first or second term.

Republicans are more unhappy with Trump’s performance on the economy than they were in the first few months of his term. About 7 in 10 Republicans, 69%, approve of how Trump is handling the economy in the December poll, a decline from 78% in March.

Larry Reynolds, a 74-year-old retiree and Republican voter from Wadsworth, Ohio, said he believes in Trump’s plan to impose import duties on U.S. trading partners but thinks rates have spiraled too high, creating a “vicious circle now where they aren’t really justifying the tariffs.”

Perhaps most worryingly for Trump, who’s become increasingly synonymous with his party, he’s slipped on issues that were major strengths. Just a few months ago, 53% of Americans approved of Trump’s handling of crime, but that’s fallen to 43% in the new poll. There’s been a similar decline on immigration, from 49% approval in March to 38% now.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-poll-approval-economy-immigration-inflation-crime-9e5bd096964990e040bc4bacd9fcac21

https://apnorc.org/projects/trumps-approval-rating-slips-on-the-economy-and-immigration/

Federal officials failed to secure the new indictment against James, whom Trump has targeted, after a judge said the previous one was secured by an unlawfully appointed prosecutor.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/grand-jury-declines-indict-ny-attorney-general-letitia-james-less-two-rcna247310

The Justice Department on Thursday failed to secure an indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News.

The presentation to the grand jury came less than two weeks after the original criminal case against her was dismissed.

James, a frequent political target of President Donald Trump’s who had successfully brought a fraud lawsuit against him, had previously been indicted by a grand jury on one charge of bank fraud and another of making false statements to a financial institution.

James has denied any wrongdoing. In a statement Thursday in response to reports that a grand jury did not re-indict her she said, "As I have said from the start, the charges against me are baseless. It is time for this unchecked weaponization of our justice system to stop."

"I am grateful to the members of the grand jury and humbled by the support I have received from across the country. Now, I will continue to do my job standing up for the rule of law and the people of New York," James said.

Lindsey Halligan, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and a former personal attorney to Trump with no prior prosecutorial experience, presented the case to a grand jury on her own in the first go-round — and that case was declared void on Nov. 24 when a judge found Halligan’s appointment was unlawful.

The Justice Department initially vowed to appeal the ruling by U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie, but ultimately decided to seek a new, untainted indictment against James, a source familiar with the deliberations told NBC News earlier this week.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5644455-democratic-bill-health-insurance-subsidies/


Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a motion to advance a Democrat-drafted bill to extend enhanced health insurance premium subsidies that are due to expire at the end of 2025, tax credits that Democrats say are needed to keep premiums from rising by double digits next year.

The legislation, which needed 60 votes to advance, failed by a vote of 51 to 48.

Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) voted for the Democratic plan to extend the enhanced health insurance tax credits, even though both lawmakers have called for reforms to the program. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), who is up for reelection next year, and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) also voted for the Democratic proposal.

The unusual vote on a Democratic-crafted health care plan while Republicans control the Senate was set up by a deal Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) struck with centrist Democrats to end the recent 43-day government shutdown.

The proposal, unveiled by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), would have extended the enhanced subsidies, which were first enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, another three years.

“Our bill is the last train to leave the station. After this, we will not have time to try again before premiums shoot through the roof next year,” Schumer said on the Senate floor before the vote.

Schumer touted the Democratic plan as a “simple extension of these health care tax credits.”

“It’s time for Republicans to join us,” he urged his colleagues.

Earlier in the day, they voted on a Republican plan to convert funding for enhanced insurance premium subsidies into contributions to health savings accounts to pay for out-of-pocket costs. That proposal failed to advance on a mostly party-line vote.

The recruitment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas has added a crucial bit of insight and one big number: 1.1 million. That’s how many layoffs have been announced year to date, only the sixth time since 1993 that threshold has been breached. You have to go back to 2009 to find a year with greater layoffs, and that was in the very depths of the Great Recession.

Technology remains the hardest-hit private sector industry, with more than 150,000 job cuts announced so far this year as firms continue to reset headcount after the boom years while they increasingly lean into automation.

Specifically, U.S.-based employers announced 1,170,821 job cuts in the first 11 months of 2025, up 54% from the same period in 2024. That makes 2025 one of only six years since 1993 in which announced layoffs through November have topped 1.1 million.

Hiring plans are not offsetting the damage. Through November, per the Challenger report, employers have announced 497,151 planned hires, down 35% from the same point last year and the lowest year-to-date total since 2010.

Earnings reports increasingly reveal, as many executives call it, a “bifurcated” or “K-shaped” economy, used to describe the different trajectories of rich and poor. The wealthier cohort is spending freely, with the upper 10% accounting for nearly 50% of consumer spending (and absorbing elevated costs passed through from tariffs), while the lower-income consumer shows increasing signs of strain.

Analysts at both Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Research have noted that this recovery is a financial one, reflected in stock prices and soaring profits—and increasingly in fewer workers required in white-collar positions. The era of “jobless growth” and process over people is emerging into view, thanks to the forever layoff.

https://fortune.com/2025/12/09/forever-layoffs-job-security-k-shaped-economy-white-collar-recession-challenger-glassdoor/

> Kids Online Safety Act

> This bill requires covered online platforms, including social media platforms, to implement tools and safeguards to protect users and visitors under the age of 17. Covered platforms are online platforms, video games, messaging applications, or video streaming services used or likely to be used by individuals under the age of 17, with specified exceptions.

> The bill generally requires covered platforms to exercise reasonable care in the design and use of features that increase minors’ online activity in order to prevent and mitigate harm to minors (e.g., mental health disorders and severe harassment).

> Covered platforms are also required to provide certain safeguards to minors, such as protections for minors’ data; tools for parents of minors, such as access to minors’ privacy settings; and a mechanism for account holders and visitors to report harm to minors on the platform.

> Covered platforms are prohibited from conducting market or product research on children under the age of 13, and may only conduct such research on those under the age of 17 with parental consent.

> The bill provides for enforcement through the Federal Trade Commission and states.

> The bill also requires online platforms to meet certain requirements before using algorithms that select, order, or prioritize information presented to users based on user-specific data not provided for that purpose. Specifically, such platforms must (1) provide users with notice of the use of such algorithms, and (2) permit users to switch to an algorithm that does not rely on such user-specific data.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1748