Mom of Karoline Leavitt’s nephew rejects White House narrative of her ICE arrest

In an interview, Bruna Ferreira, who chose the White House press secretary as her son’s godmother, contested the portrayal of her as a criminal, absentee mom.

The Washington Post

Admiral told lawmakers everyone on alleged drug boat was on a list of military targets

Adm. Frank Bradley said U.S. intelligence had identified the 11 people on the boat and determined the military was authorized to kill them as part of Trump’s campaign against alleged drug-smuggling vessels.

NBC News

Blanche warns lawyers who criticize Justice Department

DOJ’s No. 2 official said says prosecutors see “inconsistency” in attorneys’ private pleas and public commentary.

Politico

Federal immigration agents use tear gas on Elgin crowd on day of Kristi Noem’s visit to Chicago

Federal immigration agents deployed tear gas and pepper spray Saturday on a crowd that gathered to protest a prolonged arrest in a northwest Chicago suburb, angering neighbors who said it was “uncalled for” and “tremendously disappointing.”   

The standoff began around 10 a.m. Saturday when about 15 agents showed up to arrest an unidentified man at an apartment building on the 1600 block of Maple Lane in Elgin. Elgin police said there had been a traffic crash that morning involving a federal agent and the man, who then fled to the building. 

Chicago Tribune

I Left the CDC 100 Days Ago. My Worst Fears About the Agency Are Coming True

The CDC website has shifted from a data-dense site to pages with political agendas. The “CDC priorities” page now negatively mentions immigration, abortion, gender ideology, and harm reduction. Data and science should anchor the CDC, not ideology. Mentions of “mpox” have been changed to “monkeypox,” despite WHO’s 2022 recommendation to use the former term to avoid stigmatization. And in November, CDC scientists woke up to a revised page on autism and vaccine safety misrepresenting decades of research. Several health departments have now removed links to CDC on their sites.

Time

Joe Biden slams Republicans for turning transgender rights into ‘political football’

“Folks, Donald Trump and his Republicans are trying to derail and distort our fight for equality,” Biden said, as the Democrat accepted a lifetime achievement award for his contributions to the community. “They’re trying to turn it into something scary, something sinister.

“There is nothing more American than the notion of equality. Nothing, nothing, nothing.”

Guardian

Conservative Commentators Cheer for Bloodshed in the Caribbean

As lawmakers dig for answers about the Pentagon’s strikes, some are celebrating the brutality

Rolling Stone

In Congress, He Said Tariffs Were Bad for Business. As Trump’s Ambassador to Canada, He’s Reversed Course.

Pete Hoekstra once testified that “the market should dictate the price of steel, not the government.” But he now champions the Trump trade policies that are being linked to job losses in his former Michigan district.

ProPublica

HHS changed the name of transgender health leader on her official portrait

Levine’s official portrait was recently altered, a spokesperson for HHS confirmed to NPR. A digital photograph of the portrait in the hallway obtained by NPR shows that Levine’s previous name is now typed below the portrait, under the glass of the frame.

NPR

Utah Judge Rejects GOP Bid to Block Fairer Map for 2026 Elections 

In the ruling, Gibson wrote that “the Legislative Defendants’ assertion that they have ‘had no opportunity to appeal’ in this case” was unsupported and that lawmakers presented “no evidence to show that they were prevented from appealing” any of the court’s major orders — including the rulings issued on Aug. 25, Sept. 6 and Nov. 10.

Democracy Docket

“Real” America Is Turning Against Trump’s Mass Deportation Regime

Everyday Americans in Appalachia and the Southeast show that resisting ICE is becoming the rule, rather than the exception.

The Intercept

With Oregon veteran sidelined by illness, Pearl Harbor marks first remembrance without survivors present

Survivors of the 1941 Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor have long been the center of a remembrance ceremony held each year on the military base’s waterfront.

But today only 12 are still alive — all centenarians — and this year none is able to make the pilgrimage to Hawaii to mark the event, scheduled for Sunday.

OPB

Homeland Security Boss Kristi Noem Met By Protesters While Attending Navy Pier Christmas Charity Event

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined the Coast Guard’s annual Christmas Tree Ship event, which also saw protesters gather to denounce her presence and participation in ongoing immigration enforcement in Chicago.

Block Club Chicago

A fire at a popular nightclub in India’s Goa state kills at least 25, officials say

The fire occurred due to a gas cylinder blast and has been extinguished, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, quoting local police. All the bodies have been recovered. It said at least 100 people were on the club’s dance floor when the fire broke out and several rushed to the kitchen below in the chaos and got trapped along with staff.

NPR

Benin’s president condemns foiled coup bid, says mutineers ‘fleeing’

“I would also like to take this opportunity to express my condolences to the victims of this senseless adventure, as well as to those still being held by the fleeing mutineers,” the president said in a televised address to the nation that ended his silence. “I assure them that we will do everything in our power to find them safe and sound.”

AP News

A UN team in Lebanon examines options for border area with Israel after peacekeepers leave

The comments by the team representing the 15 members of the U.N. Security Council came a day after Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told them that his country will need a follow-up force in southern Lebanon to fill the vacuum once the U.N. peacekeepers’ term expires.

Chicago Tribune

A Journalist Reported From Palestine. YouTube Deleted His Account Claiming He’s an Iranian Agent.

YouTube offered conflicting explanations for deleting the account of Robert Inlakesh, who covered Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

The Intercept

Vatican document on women deacons opens door to more confusion

The opinion by the head of a commission charged with considering the question in effect states that the Catholic Church officially views women as ‘other.’

Religion News Service

EU hits Elon Musk’s X with $140 million fine over business practices

The European Union has announced a fine of $140 million against Elon Musk’s X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, for several failures to comply with rules governing large digital platforms. A European Commission spokesperson said the fine against X’s holding company was due to the platform’s misleading use of a blue check mark to identify verified users, a poorly functioning advertising repository, and a failure to provide effective data access for researchers.

NPR

Karnataka’s 2025 Devadasi Abolition Bill and the struggle for dignity in India

Entrenched in temple culture and artistic tradition of India, the Devadasi system, where young girls are ritually committed to a deity and projected to serve temples forever, once enjoyed a cultural and artistic status of prestige; however, over the centuries, it has deteriorated into a hereditary system of caste domination, gendered exploitation, and inherited marginalisation. Today, Devadasis are women and girls who are not allowed to enjoy social and legal rights and are also forcibly subjected to lives of sexual servitude in the name of religious sanction.

Global Voices

Hope, flags, fireworks as Syria starts to celebrate a year without al-Assad

Syrians gathered to celebrate days before the December 8 anniversary, which will mark the day the capital was liberated.

AlJazeera

‘Yes’ to God, but ‘no’ to church – what religious change looks like for many Latin Americans

In a region known for its tumultuous change, one idea remained remarkably consistent for centuries: Latin America is Catholic.

The region’s 500-year transformation into a Catholic stronghold seemed capped in 2013, when Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected as the first Latin American pope. Once a missionary outpost, Latin America is now the heart of the Catholic Church. It is home to over 575 million adherents – over 40% of all Catholics worldwide. The next-largest regions are Europe and Africa, each home to 20% of the world’s Catholics.

The Conversation

Austria’s rebel nuns refuse to give up Instagram to stay in their convent

The octogenarian nuns made headlines across the world this fall after staging an escape from the care home they say church authorities took them to against their will.

NPR