Did gerrymandering keep Republicans from a bigger majority? Absolutely not

Mike Johnson doesn’t want to admit it, but Republican gerrymanders are the only reason he will wield the gavel for another term.

The Guardian

This drug is the ‘breakthrough of the year’ — and it could mean the end of the HIV epidemic

The emerging data surrounding lenacapavir is so astonishing that the drug’s development has been heralded as the 2024 Breakthrough of the Year by the journal Science, which described it as representing “a pivotal step toward diminishing HIV/AIDS as a global health crisis.”

NPR

How Biden Should Spend His Final Weeks in Office

There is still much the president can do before he repairs to Delaware. He can spare federal death row prisoners from the fate some almost certainly will face when Mr. Trump returns. He can make the Equal Rights Amendment a reality after decades of efforts to enshrine it in the Constitution. He can safeguard magnificent landscapes that might otherwise be desecrated. He can protect undocumented immigrants facing deportation, alleviate crushing student debt facing millions of Americans and protect the reproductive rights of women. And more.

The New York Times (Gift)

The Health-Care System Isn’t Hopeless

What to do? While condemning the murder, the progressive stalwarts Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren acknowledged the pain insurers cause. Both have suggested the country make a radical policy shift to a single-payer system. Medicare for All and similar proposals would do away with private insurance, instead enrolling Americans in the popular, efficient program covering seniors today.

The Atlantic

Trump’s CDC pick wouldn’t let go of false theory vaccines cause autism

Dave Weldon’s long record of promoting the disproven link between vaccines and autism raises concerns among some public health experts about his ability to run the CDC.

The Washington Post (Gift)

My church kept ICE from deporting our neighbor Jose. The Bible told us so.

“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not oppress them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.”  (Leviticus 19:33-34)

MSNBC

Oldest firearms ever found in US were abandoned by Spanish in 16th-century battle against Native Americans

Two cannons found at a site dating to 1541 in Arizona may be the oldest surviving firearms in the U.S. They were abandoned by the Spanish after they were defeated in battle.

Livescience

Anxious scientists brace for Trump’s climate denialism: ‘We have a target on our backs’

Experts express fear – and resilience – as they prepare for president-elect’s potential attacks on climate research

The Guardian

Black Activists Say Daniel Penny’s Acquittal Pinpointed As ‘Painful’ Reminder Of ‘Inequities In Our Justice System’

Outrage poured in from civil rights groups like the NAACP and lawmakers, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Tx.), after Penny was acquitted on manslaughter charges regarding the death of Jordan Neely. Neely was killed in May 2023 after Penny placed him in a chokehold on a New York City subway train. Some say the 30-year-old mentally ill homeless man was allegedly shouting death threats, prompting Neely to restrain him with the assistance of two other passengers.

Black Enterprise

Sen. Tammy Baldwin & 44 others fight GOP’s anti-LGBTQ+ provisions in “must pass” funding bills

The provisions “undermine people’s ability to make decisions about their bodies, lives, and futures,” the senators wrote.

LGBTQ Nation

These convicted felons say if Trump can be elected president they shouldn’t face a stigma when applying for jobs

CNN spoke to six convicted felons and asked them about their struggles, their hopes and how they feel about President-elect Donald Trump. Some expressed frustration at a perceived double standard that led many voters to apparently overlook Trump’s criminal behavior, while others are hopeful that Trump’s political resurrection may ease the stigma that they and other felons face.

CNN

A partisan split on possible Jan. 6 pardons

Eric Schmitt and Adam Schiff had different takes on the subject.

Politico

The GOP stoked fears of noncitizens voting. Cases in Ohio show how rhetoric and reality diverge

The outcome and the stories of some of those now facing charges illustrate the gap — both in Ohio and across the United States — between the rhetoric about noncitizen voting and the reality: It’s rare, is caught and prosecuted when it does happen and does not occur as part of a coordinated scheme to throw elections.

AP News

“It’s about the cruelty”: Experts worry SCOTUS trans rights case could “creep into other areas”

U.S. v. Skrmetti could have “enormous impact” for the “whole field of sex discrimination,” law professor warns

Salon

TikTok Ban Signed Into Law: What It Means For America’s $15 Billion Small Business Economy

TikTok will be banned in the United States on Jan. 19, 2025, after a federal appeals court rejected its bid to overturn the ban that President Biden signed in April. The law states that if TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, doesn’t divest its ownership to non-Chinese companies, the app will be banned in the U.S. 

Benzinga

Israel plans to expand Golan settlements after fall of Assad

Israel’s government has approved a plan to encourage the expansion of settlements in the occupied Golan Heights.

BBC

Back in Damascus, rebel leader confident of post-Assad unity

Syrian rebel leader Riad al-Asaad told AFP on Sunday he was confident that the myriad of factions which helped topple Bashar al-Assad after years of war will now unite as one force.

Al-Monitor

Israel to close embassy in Ireland over ‘extreme anti-Israel policies’

Many Irish figures have been vocal about the need for a ceasefire in Gaza. Earlier this year, Ireland officially recognized Palestine as a state

Irish Star

The War Crimes Debate Over Israel’s Attack on Gaza Is Missing Something

In the debate over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, two questions about the laws of war have driven the discussion. First, is Israel intentionally targeting civilians, as Hamas did in its attack on Oct. 7? Second, assuming Israel is not intentionally targeting them, is its “incidental” killing of civilians “disproportionate” relative to the military gains it seeks to obtain? But there is a third question to ask about Israel’s actions in Gaza, one largely absent so far from the conversation: Is Israel using inherently indiscriminate means and methods of warfare? If so, even if any resulting deaths might be arguably “proportionate” and “incidental,” they could still be considered war crimes.

World Politics Review

Syria Shudders as Assad’s Prison Atrocities Come Into the Light

At the country’s most notorious prison, Syrians confront their worst fears: that they will never know what happened to the loved ones who disappeared.

The New York Times (Gift)

‘Bigger than Nuremberg’: the secret files that could jail Assad

Thousands of pages of evidence reveal in detail the barbarity of the deposed dictator’s regime. The hunt for the perpetrators has begun

The Times

South Korean leaders seek calm after President Yoon’s impeachment

Main opposition party says it will not seek to impeach the acting president after martial law attempt.

AlJazeera

Brazil’s Lula says he’s well after brain bleed surgery

Lula was taken to hospital on Monday after he had complained of a severe headache.

Doctors performed a craniotomy on the president, a procedure in which part of the bone is surgically removed from the skull to treat the bleed and relieve the pressure. The bone is then replaced.

BBC

Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 40 Palestinians

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes across the Palestinian territory on Sunday killed at least 40 people, including several children, an Al Jazeera TV cameraman and three rescuers.

Al-Monitor