https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgmneem1e89o

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his government will crack down on hate speech following Sunday's deadly shooting at Bondi Beach that targeted a Jewish festival.

Fifteen people were killed when two gunmen opened fire at an event to mark the first day of Hanukkah.

New laws will target "those who spread hate, division and radicalisation", Albanese told reporters in Canberra.

The home affairs minister will also be given new powers to cancel or refuse visas for those who spread hate and a new taskforce will be set up to ensure the education system "prevents, tackles and properly responds to antisemitism".

The new laws will also include penalties for preachers and leaders who promote violence, a new federal offence of "aggravated hate speech", and the introduction of "hate" as an aggravating factor in sentencing crimes for online threats and harassment.

"Every Jewish Australian has the right to feel safe, valued and respected for the contribution that they make to our great nation," Albanese said.

"The terrorists, inspired by ISIS... sought to turn Australians against each other. Australians have responded to that act of hatred with love and sympathy for those in mourning."

Daniel Aghion, the President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the peak body representing Australian Jews, said he would "need to see the details before making an assessment as to whether the measures are likely to live up to their billing."

"We warned of the risk of not dealing with antisemitism in this country promptly and effectively after 7 October. It is an absolute tragedy that it has taken a massacre of Jewish and other Australians for that step to be taken."

https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-12-18-2025

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday unveiled a series of regulatory actions designed to effectively ban gender-affirming care for minors, building on broader Trump administration restrictions on transgender Americans.

The proposals mark the administration’s most significant moves to restrict the use of puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgical interventions for transgender children — running counter to the recommendations of most major U.S. medical organizations.

More than half of U.S. states already ban or restrict gender-affirming care.

The proposed rules also cut off federal Medicaid and Medicare funding from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to children, imperiling access in nearly two dozen states where drug treatments and surgical procedures remain legal and funded by Medicaid.

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his deputies announced the moves, which are not final or legally binding and are likely to face legal challenges.

DOJ won’t meet Friday deadline to release all the Epstein files

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/19/epstein-documents-release-friday-deadline-00699935?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it

The Department of Justice will not be releasing all of its files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by Friday’s deadline, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday morning.

In an interview with Fox News, Blanche said the department would “release several hundred thousand documents today.”

But he acknowledged Friday’s release would not encompass all of the DOJ’s documents for the investigation into the late financier.

“I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks, so today several hundred thousand and then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more,” Blanche said. “There’s a lot of eyes looking at these and we want to make sure that when we do produce the materials we are producing, that we are protecting every single victim.”

The delay means the White House is in apparent conflict with a law President Donald Trump signed in November that mandated the wholesale release of all of its non-exempt Epstein information within a 30-day period.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice declined a request to expand on Blanche’s comments, saying they speak for themselves.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-administration-officials-race-meet-friday-deadline-epstein-files-2025-12-19/
WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department released a new trove of documents from its investigations into the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, bowing to pressure from lawmakers who forced their disclosure with a new law.
The release follows months of political wrangling amid rebellion by some of President Donald Trump's staunchest supporters over his administration's reluctance to make public all records tied to probes into Epstein.
Reuters is in the process of reviewing the latest documents.
The Justice Department added a note to the webpage where it posted links to the documents that said "all reasonable efforts have been made" to redact victims' personal information, but warned that some could be disclosed inadvertently.
The agency's website appeared to be struggling with visitor traffic, telling some that their attempts to view the material had been rejected.

>NOT ALL DOCUMENTS TO BE RELEASED
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News earlier in the day that the department would release hundreds of thousands of documents on Friday but not the entire cache of files relating to Epstein. He said he expected hundreds of thousands more to be released in the coming weeks as the department reviewed them to protect victims' privacy.
Trump had initially urged fellow Republicans in Congress to oppose the new law, warning that releasing potentially sensitive internal investigative records could set a dangerous precedent.
But many Trump voters accused his administration of covering up Epstein’s ties to powerful figures and obscuring details surrounding his 2019 death, which was ruled a suicide, in a Manhattan jail, where he was awaiting trial on charges of trafficking and abusing underage girls.

> Thread theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpLQgT1BfL0

> https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/18/suspect-brown-university-shooting

> Brown University shooting suspect died from self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials say

A man suspected of killing two and wounding several others at Brown University has been found dead in a New Hampshire storage facility where he had rented a unit, officials said.

Claudio Neves Valente, 48, a Portuguese national and a former Brown student, was found dead on Thursday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Oscar Perez, the Providence police chief, said at a news conference. Perez said as far as investigators know, the suspect acted alone.

Valente is also believed to have killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor at his Boston-area home, the AP said, citing a law enforcement official. Authorities have not formally confirmed a connection between the two shootings.

“He took his own life tonight,” Perez said at a press conference, where he identified Valente and described the chain of events that had led law enforcement to the storage facility.

Neronha said Valente was found dead with a bag, and two firearms, as well as evidence in the car “that matches exactly what we see at the scene here in Providence”.

Neronha told reporters that a person with information about the suspected shooter played a key role in finding him. After officials publicized a photo of the suspect about 24 hours ago, an individual “came forward to two Providence police officers over on the east side and said he had information that he was that person and that he had information that could help this case”.

“He blew this case right open,” Neronha said at a press conference. “He blew it open.”

Why come every time there's a terrorism, I assume the LGBT is invloved?

5th person arrested in NYE bombing plot is a ‘trantifa’ Marine vet out to ‘recreate Waco’ on ICE: complaint
https://nypost.com/2025/12/16/us-news/5th-arrest-made-in-turtle-island-liberation-front-nye-bombing-plot-idd-as-transgender-ex-marine/

The fifth person arrested over an alleged New Year’s Eve bombing plot by a far-left terrorist group is a transgender Marine veteran who wanted to “recreate Waco” on ICE agents, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday.

Micah James Legnon, 29, was arrested in Louisiana on Saturday after being tied to chats with suspected members of the far-left terrorist group Turtle Island Liberation Front as they allegedly plotted to plant pipe bombs on businesses and then ICE agents, according to the FBI investigation.

Legnon — who went by “Kateri TheWitch” and “DarkWitch She/Her” in chat groups — appeared to be planning an attack in New Orleans to coincide with others attacking southern California, the complaint alleged.

Legnon shared pictures of assault rifles and body armor — and federal agents “found sniper training manuals, SWAT training manuals, assault rifles, and multiple rounds of ammunition” in a raid on the suspect’s home in New Iberia, the complaint said.

Legnon also posted a story on Facebook on Dec. 4 that called Border Patrol agents “masked f–ks,” the complaint alleged.

“S–t time to recreate Waco tx with these f–kers. F–k ice,” the extremist wrote, which the FBI took as a threat to recreate the 1993 massacre by David Koresh’s Davidians that ended with four agents and more than 70 civilians killed, the complaint noted.

The Timeline of Republicans Fleeing to Save Themselves from Epstein fallout (So Far):

Wednesday- Dan Bongino announces he's stepping down as Deputy FBI Director
Thursday- Mike Johnson abruptly announces he is adjourning the House for the rest of the year
Friday morning- Trump's DOJ releases a redacted, incomplete trove of Epstein files in violation of a law signed by Donald Trump himself last month
NOW- Performative Trumpist Elise Stefanik abruptly announces she is withdrawing from the New York gubernatorial race and will not seek reelection for her House seat next year

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/gop-rep-elise-stefanik-drops-new-york-governors-race-rcna250154

>Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik said Friday that she is ending her campaign for New York governor and will not run for re-election to her House seat next year.

>In a lengthy post to X, Stefanik, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, wrote that she had "not come to this decision lightly for our family."

>"As we have seen in past elections, while we would have overwhelmingly won this primary, it is not an effective use of our time or your generous resources to spend the first half of next year in an unnecessary and protracted Republican primary, especially in a challenging state like New York. And while many know me as Congresswoman, my most important title is Mom," Stefanik said.

>Stefanik's surprise decision comes just days after she drew her first major challenger in the Republican primary in Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County county executive who is also a Trump ally. The party's eventual nominee will face an uphill climb in the solidly blue state, though Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul's approval rating has been under water.

>After Trump pulled Stefanik's nomination to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in March, she had teased a run for governor for months before officially launching her campaign in November.

Cambodia based Chinese scam gangs defraud Americans of billions but US won't sanction Cambodia... because Amerimutt retards think they can lure Cambodia to their side against China.

FYI Cambodia voted for China in every ASEAN resolution on the South China SEA.

American senior citizens had their entire retirement savings wiped out and the US refuses to sanction Cambodia which willingly hosts these gangs.

https://dw.com/en/how-the-battle-against-asian-scam-networks-went-global/a-75181724

>Even with the recent announcements of sanctions and criminal investigations, countries like South Korea and even the US appear reluctant to criticize the governments of China or Cambodia and instead target the criminals and their networks directly.

>According to Sims, as long as Phnom Penh performs just enough cooperation to preserve the illusion that it remains strategically "in play," Western capitals have proven reliably willing to tolerate industrial-scale scams targeting their own citizens.

>"Many governments hesitate to confront Cambodia directly because they still view it as a pivotal chess piece in a China-versus-the-West geopolitical game," he said.

Today’s political consensus crosses all ages, demographics and party lines: 3 out of 4 Americans think the economy is in a slump. It is not just in their heads. Economic growth this year has been practically stagnant, save for one exception, economists say.

Billions of dollars invested by California-based tech giants in artificial intelligence infrastructure accounted for 92% of the nation’s GDP growth this year.

But, so far, little evidence exists that their ventures are expanding opportunities for everyday Americans.

“You have to watch out for AI investments — they may continue to carry the economy or they may slow down or crash, bringing the rest of the economy together with them."

Even in California itself, where 4 of the top 5 AI companies are, the AI boom has yet to translate into tangible pocketbook benefits. Consumer confidence in the state has reached a five-year low. And AI fueled a wave of cuts, cited in 48,000 job losses nationwide this year.

“It is evident that the U.S. economy would have been almost stagnant, absent the capital expenditures by the AI industry,”

The top 10 stocks listed in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index far outperforming the rest of the market. And the few who benefited from dividends fueled much of the rest of this year’s economic growth, with the vast majority of U.S. consumption spending attributed to the richest 10% to 20% of American households.

“There were ripple effects into high-end travel, luxury spending, high-end real estate and other sectors of the economy driven by the financial elite."

“Obviously, that’s not a recipe for sustainable growth,” he said.

https://www.latimes.com/politics/newsletter/2025-12-18/u-s-economy-was-stagnant-in-2025-with-one-exception