In their own words, new U.S. citizens look to voting in 2024

New Arizona voters like Nilesh Patel are registering in a state that next year has key congressional races and could play a crucial role in the presidential election. And many new voters see their eligibility to participate in elections as an impactful and exciting responsibility.

NPR

Lawmakers condemn vandalism of California Hindu temple thought to be hate crime

Authorities are investigating the vandalizing of the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu Temple with graffiti as a possible hate crime, according to a report from The Mercury News. The defacing of the temple was found Friday morning.

The Hill

Iowa won’t participate in US food assistance program for kids this summer

“Federal COVID-era cash benefit programs are not sustainable and don’t provide long-term solutions for the issues impacting children and families. An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic,” Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said in the news release.

She added, “If the Biden Administration and Congress want to make a real commitment to family well-being, they should invest in already existing programs and infrastructure at the state level and give us the flexibility to tailor them to our state’s needs.”

AP News

Seattle hospital sues Texas AG for demanding children’s gender-affirming care records

A Seattle hospital filed suit against the Texas attorney general’s office in an escalating battle over gender-affirming care for children that now crosses state lines, according to court records.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office is seeking to force Seattle Children’s Hospital to hand over medical records of Texas residents who might have received gender-affirming care at the facility, prompting the action by the hospital this month.

USA Today

America Lost Its One Perfect Tree

Across the Northeast, forests are haunted by the ghosts of American giants. A little more than a century ago, these woods brimmed with American chestnuts—stately Goliaths that could grow as high as 130 feet tall and more than 10 feet wide. Nicknamed “the redwoods of the East,” some 4 billion American chestnuts dotted the United States’ eastern flank, stretching from the misty coasts of Maine down into the thick humidity of Appalachia.

The Atlantic

Union-Friendly Gifts for the Pro-Labor Person In Your Life

That said, here’s a list of gift ideas for your union-curious coworkers to help get you all through the holiday season, and start off the new year with a band—or, even better, a stack of signed union cards!

Teen Vogue

Pentagon, states begin new push to help LGBTQ veterans kicked out of military

More than a decade after Congress ended the military’s ban on gay service members, Reyes and thousands of other LGBTQ veterans like her are still fighting to restore their dignity — and obtain full access to veteran benefits like health care, home loans, and college tuition that were denied after less-than-honorable discharges.

ABC News

Migrants cross U.S. border in record numbers, undeterred by Texas’ razor wire and Biden’s policies

Despite their struggles, the migrants gradually made their way through the concertina wire on that Wednesday morning. The Guardsmen, who are not authorized to enforce federal immigration law, directed them to walk along a dirt road to be processed by Border Patrol agents, who were nowhere to be seen. The migrants lined up and started walking. 

The day before, this reporter witnessed a similar scene. Dozens of migrants, including young children, crawled into the U.S. through a small breach in the concertina wire. While some women cried, a mother helped pull other migrants, including a boy, underneath the wire. At the same spot, a man pushed his young son through the wire before handing his daughter, a toddler, to her brother. As the daughter cried, the boy helped his father get past the wire.

CBS News

‘Did you just hear John Roberts scream?’: US supreme court to have outsized influence in 2024 election

The confluence of two white-knuckle legal tussles, both involving Trump and both having potentially far-reaching implications for the November election, threatens to drag the supreme court to the front and centre of the political fray. It comes at an awkward time for the court, which is already reeling from its own internal ethical scandals and plummeting public approval ratings.

The Guardian

House GOP traps itself in impeachment box

Much of the House GOP has tried to keep the question of a full-scale removal vote at arm’s length, despite the course they’ve charted toward formal articles of impeachment. It’s not hard to see why: They’ll start the election year with only a three-vote majority, which could shrink even further, and 17 incumbents who represent districts Biden won. Plus, Democrats are almost guaranteed to unanimously oppose impeachment.

All that means a vote to recommend booting the president from office would be highly risky.

Politico

Sen. Hagerty: Biden administration sending ‘mixed messages’ to Israel

“From a diplomatic standpoint, we’ve been sending mixed messages to Israel. You know, we talk about cease-fires. We talk about sending humanitarian aid into Gaza,” Hagerty said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

“These mixed messages and the fact that we’ve allowed Iran to enrich itself and repopulate Hamas and Hezbollah and the Houthis with the weapons that they need, have created this situation,” he said, referring to Iran’s increased aggression in the region.

The Hill

US tensions with China are fraying long-cultivated academic ties. Will the chill hurt US interests?

Beginning in 1978, such cooperation expanded for decades, largely insulated from the fluctuations in relations between the two countries. Today, it’s in decline, with Washington viewing Beijing as a strategic rival and there are growing fears about Chinese spying. The number of Chinese students in the United States is down, and U.S.-Chinese research collaboration is shrinking. Academics are shying away from potential China projects over fears that seemingly minor missteps could end their careers.

AP News

What we all forget about the upcoming Trump fraud verdict: It’s the chicanery, stupid

But framing the trial as a mere difference of opinion over price tags —with Mar-a-Lago worth well over $1 billion if you ask Trump, or closer to $28 million if you ask the state — misses the point.

To put a new spin on that slogan from Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential run, when it comes to the Trump fraud trial, it’s the chicanery, stupid.

Business Insider

Americans are lonely and it’s killing them. How the US can combat this new epidemic.

“Most of us probably think of loneliness as just a bad feeling,” he told USA TODAY. “It turns out that loneliness has far greater implications for our health when we struggle with a sense of social disconnection, being lonely or isolated.”

USA Today

Gay man calls out Pope for “deigning” to bless same-sex couples: “Not a blessing, it’s an insult”

“You can stick your blessing, Pope Francis,” Cain declared. “It’s a fig leaf, a PR exercise, a means of laundering your prejudice to make it seem like a step towards acceptance.”

LGBTQ Nation

As a boy, Ruben Gallego slept on the floor of an Evergreen Park apartment. Today, his goal is the floor of the US Senate

Gallego is the only major Democratic candidate in one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate races. He’s looking to replace Democrat-turned-independent U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who has disappointed Democrats with her support of corporate interests.Kari Lake, a former TV news anchor and acolyte of former President Donald Trump, is running in the Republican primary for the seat.

Chicago Tribune

Trump asks appeals court to throw out 2020 election subversion charges

Donald Trump has asked an appeals court in Washington DC to throw out charges that he sought to subvert the 2020 election, in the latest of a series of high-stakes legal maneuvers between the former president’s lawyers and the US department of justice.

In a filing late on Saturday lawyers for Trump argued to the DC circuit court of appeals that he is legally cloaked from liability for actions he took while serving as president.

The Guardian

Biden pardons thousands convicted of marijuana charges

President Joe Biden is making thousands of people who were convicted of use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia eligible for pardons, the White House said today, in his latest round of executive clemencies meant to rectify racial disparities in the justice system.

Honolulu Star Advertiser

Wis. Supreme Court tosses out GOP-drawn district maps as unconstitutional

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court has struck down legislative district maps drawn up the state’s GOP majority, ruling they violate the constitutional requirement for “contiguous territory.”

In a 4-3 ruling along party lines handed down Friday, the high court said the state Legislature will have another chance to draw up new district lines before the 2024 election, but warned that if further attempts are not satisfactory, the court will draw its own districts.

UPI

LGBTQ+ Population in the U.S. Grows by Over 2 Million

13.9 million adults in the U.S. identify as LGBTQ+, accounting for 5.5 percent of the country’s total population, a study from the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, found. That’s up one whole percentage point — and over 2 million people — from their 2020 report, which found the LGBTQ+ population accounted for 4.5 percent of the population at 11.3 million adults.

Advocate

California town proposes ban on Pride, Black and women’s history celebrations

The southern California city of Huntington Beach, a bastion of conservative voters, has made the move to block diverse monthlong celebrations of Black history, women’s history and Pride, in favor of observing the revolutionary and civil wars, California’s history and America’s independence.

An agenda item introduced on 19 December forbids any programming that pertains to previously established honorary celebrations for women, people of color and LGBTQ+ groups from taking place on city-owned property, including libraries, or of being featured in city communications such as social media posts, according to Natalie Moser, a city council member who voted against the action.

The Guardian

Biden presses Netanyahu on protecting civilians in Gaza: W. House

President Joe Biden on Saturday pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to protect civilian lives in Gaza, the White House said, as the country’s forces mounted fresh military strikes in the territory.

The conversation came a day after the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding “safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale,” though it stopped short of calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas militants.

“The President emphasized the critical need to protect the civilian population including those supporting the humanitarian aid operation, and the importance of allowing civilians to move safely away from areas of ongoing fighting,” the White House said in a statement.

Al-Monitor

Egypt proposes 14-day ceasefire in Gaza, Hamas to release 40 hostages – report

Egypt proposed a new outline for a hostage release deal on Sunday that would see Hamas release 40 Israelis taken into the Gaza Strip in exchange for a 14-day truce, Israeli and foreign media reported.

As per Cairo’s proposal, the IDF would halt all military and intelligence operations in the Strip for two weeks in exchange for the release of 40 hostages. 

The Egyptian deal, reported by foreign media citing Palestinian officials to be a “three-stage” plan to end fighting Gaza, also includes the release of 120 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

The Jerusalem Post

Sri Lanka: Thousands arrested in week-long anti-drug operation

Police in Sri Lanka say they have arrested almost 15,000 people during a week-long drive against drug traffickers across the country.

BBC

Ukrainians snub Russia by celebrating Christmas on Dec 25

“We believe that we really should celebrate Christmas with the whole world, far away from Moscow. For me that’s the new message now,” said one smiling parishioner, Olena, whose son is a medic on the front line.

“We really want to celebrate in a new way. This is a holiday with the whole of Ukraine, with our independent Ukraine. This is very important for us,” she told AFP.

The Telegraph

Israel denies reports of atrocities at Gaza hospital

The army rejected the accusations and claimed it was doing everything possible to avoid harming innocent bystanders. The hospital had been used by Hamas for terrorist activities and was located near one of its headquarters, the IDF said.

UPI

Grim Christmas Eve in Bethlehem as war rages in Gaza

Christmas celebrations were effectively cancelled in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, revered as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, where the Latin patriarch offered a message of solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza.

Al-Monitor

Hezbollah withdraws Radwan force from Israeli border in fear of attack – report

The IDF received intelligence suggesting that Hezbollah forces were partially moved due to the high number of casualties suffered by the Lebanese terror organization.

Jerusalem Post

Italians fume at Britons as they order UK to stop ‘abusing’ prosecco in sparking wine naming row

British drinkers have been warned to stop “abusing” the term prosecco when they consume sparkling wine.

A new campaign by a consortium has plastered posters across the London Underground, showcasing a barrel of the sparkling wine with the caption: “This is not prosecco. Do not call it prosecco if it is a common effervescent wine.”

GB News

Nativity-style statuettes found at Pompeii said to suggest pagan ritual

Pompeii archaeologists said in a statement that Christmas mangers were obviously not part of the tradition in the pagan city, which was wiped out by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79, but they believe the relics were used as part of a pagan ritual given the way in which they were arranged.

The Guardian

Britain to send warship to Guyana as tensions rise with Venezuela

The South American neighbours are engaged in a dispute over an oil-rich border region

The Telegraph

‘They can kill us’: Fear and Sikh resilience in Canada city amid India spat

Six months after Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s assassination, his community members face threats but say they’re not defeated.

Al-Jazeera

Russia bans anti-war candidate from challenging Putin

A former TV journalist who announced she would challenge President Putin in Russia’s spring election has been barred from standing.

BBC

Thousands march in Rabat demanding end to Morocco-Israel ties

Protests against the Israel-Hamas War have repeatedly drawn thousands of people in Morocco since the conflict began.

Jerusalem Post