World, US, Culture, Market, and Sci-Tech News Aggregation from MSM and Independent News
U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein has been assigned to preside over the federal criminal case against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in the Southern District of New York.
The toppled socialist dictator faces sweeping narco-terrorism and weapons charges in the U.S. after being captured by American forces in Venezuela on Saturday.
Hellerstein, 92, was nominated to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton in 1998 and confirmed by the Senate that same year.
The Cuban Communist Party is reporting that 32 Cubans were killed during the strikes on Caracas, during which the U.S. apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Democrat U.S. Senate candidates in Minnesota are facing severe blowback as the state reels from a jaw-dropping $9 billion money laundering scandal that is shaking up the political landscape as the saga continues to unfold.
This staggering Somali-led fraud scheme, uncovered by prosecutors, has siphoned off billions in public funds.
The scandal is now casting a dark shadow over the state’s Democrat leadership as the 2026 U.S. Senate race heats up.
Antifa first rose to mainstream prominence during the summer riots of 2020. While how the group managed to recruit so many young people has remained a mystery to most Americans, domestic security expert Kyle Shideler knows its methods well.
“So as to the psychological perspective, you know, you talk about those mug shots. There’s almost, like, if you look at, over the course of 2020, there’s almost like a ‘faces of meth’ campaign,” domestic security expert Kyle Shideler tells BlazeTV hosts Christopher Rufo and Jonathan “Lomez” Keeperman on “Rufo & Lomez.”
At least one House Democrat broke ranks to praise President Donald Trump after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro in a surprise overnight operation.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., hailed Maduro’s removal as overdue justice for Venezuelans who fled his regime, while warning that the mission must lead to lasting change.
“The capture of the brutal, illegitimate ruler of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, who oppressed Venezuela’s people is welcome news for my friends and neighbors who fled his violent, lawless, and disastrous rule. However, cutting off the head of a snake is fruitless if it just regrows,” Wasserman Schultz wrote on X.
A couple of centrist House Democrats are reportedly upset with their more leftist peers for publicly complaining about the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
One swing-district House Democrat anonymously told Axios that this idea that “everything Trump touches must be bad” held by the Democratic base is not wise.
“Maduro is bad, glad he is gone,” the Democrat said, adding that his left-wing peers “can’t have it both ways.”
The new policy follows the inauguration of Socialist Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, who previously advocated to abolish the Seattle Police Department.
Following the inauguration of Socialist Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, it was revealed that the Seattle Police Department issued an internal email announcing officers “are not going to enforce drug use,” instead, they will refer all open consumption cases to failed diversion programs.
There’s nothing like a dramatic military action by President Trump to underline how much National “Public” Radio sounds like DNC Radio. On Weekend Edition Saturday, within hours of Maduro being seized, guest host Daniel Estrin interviewed Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and energetically pushed that Trump’s actions were illegal:
ESTRIN: You were among the lawmakers who said the Trump administration’s strikes on boats in the Caribbean were illegal. You were even discussing the possibility of those strikes constituting a war crime. So how do you see last night’s operations?
As regularly as Obama appointee Judge Indira Talwani finds some creative new way to temporary scuttle a provision of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that bars organizations that provide elective abortion from federal Medicaid funding for one year if they received more than $800,000 in federal funding in 2023, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit says no siree Bob.
Yesterday, in a brief opinion vacating Judge Talwani’s injunction, the appeals court panel, composed of judges appointed by President Biden, concluded that HHS and other federal officials have “made a strong showing at this preliminary stage that they are likely to prevail on the merits.”
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued a letter of censure and moved to demote retired captain and sitting Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) over a video he and other lawmakers made warning service members not to carry out illegal orders.
Hegseth announced the decision on Monday, saying that the department “has initiated retirement grade determination proceedings under 10 U.S.C. § 1370(f), with reduction in his retired grade resulting in a corresponding reduction in retired pay.” He also issued a letter of censure, which he said will be in Kelly’s permanent military personnel file.
The Rumford Fire Department is preparing to open Maine’s first Safe Haven Baby Box in February to prevent incidents of deadly infant abandonment.
“I hope we never use it,” Rumford Fire Chief Chris Reed said, according to News Center Maine. “But at least it’s an option.”
Safe Haven Baby Boxes were created to deter parents from abandoning their newborns in unsafe conditions, potentially leaving them to die. Baby boxes are temperature-controlled incubators often built into exterior walls of fire stations, police stations, and hospitals, and can be accessed from outdoors. At-risk mothers can safely and legally place their newborns inside. Once the baby is inside the baby box, the outside door locks, and the mother has time to leave before an alarm goes off to alert first responders or hospital staff to the child’s presence.
The baby is then quickly removed and sent to a hospital for a wellness check. From there, the baby is usually placed into state custody and is often quickly adopted.
“You want something to investigate as a legislature, investigate how many times they’ve called me the N-word.”
During a Georgia Senate Special Committee on Investigations hearing on Wednesday, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was triggered when investigators showed invoices from her former boyfriend Nathan Wade to the Fulton County DA’s office. Instead of responding to questions about them, she called for investigators to look into “how many times they’ve called me the N-word.” She had been called into the legislature to answer for alleged misconduct in her since-dropped 2020 RICO election case against Trump.
“I don’t review those documents,” Willis told lawmakers, “so you’re asking me to look at documents that I haven’t for the first time. What I can tell you is that I allowed Mr. Wade to bill 160 hours a week, and then Mr. Wade would be the first one in the office, making sure that my staff arrived. He corrected their behavior. They thought that 8:30 meant 8:30. He taught them that 8:30 means 7:45. He got there before them, he left after them.” The response came during questioning on how much special prosecutor Nathan Wade was paid. Willis said that she had never seen the invoices displayed during the hearing.
One of the lawmakers behind a new law mandating the release of the government’s Jeffrey Epstein files said he is giving the Justice Department until Friday to comply, while warning there will be consequences if it does not.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law last month by President Donald Trump, “calls for the release, publicly, of these files,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., told NBC News.
Khanna said the Justice Department has not responded to inquiries about when or how the records will be released but pointed to DOJ’s recent move to unseal grand jury materials as a sign officials may be trying to comply.
The law requires the department to make the files public by Dec. 19.
Khanna said the material could expose how Epstein wielded influence and intimidation.
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith defended his conduct before House lawmakers on Wednesday, insisting behind closed doors that politics had “no role” in the “investigations” and criminal charges he brought against President Donald Trump.
Smith appeared for a deposition with the House Judiciary Committee.
During the hearing, Republicans pressed Smith over his handling of the two federal cases targeting Trump.
One of the cases related to the 2020 election, and another was concerning the alleged retention of classified documents.
Portions of Smith’s opening remarks show the Biden administration prosecutor attempting to portray the cases as strictly legal decisions.
In response to GOP Reps. Fitzpatrick, Lawler, Bresnahan and Mackenzie partnering with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ push to force a vote on extending Obamacare subsidies without Hyde protections, SBA Pro-Life America issued the following statement:
“The GOP cannot afford to take its pro-life base for granted heading into 2026,” said SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Base turnout determines midterm elections. Without it – especially without President Trump on the ballot – Republicans cannot win.
“The House vote on the Jeffries plan to extend COVID-era Obamacare subsidies without Hyde protections will be a decisive factor in SBA Pro-Life America’s political engagement in both primaries and the general election in 2026.
“SBA Pro-Life America thanks Speaker Mike Johnson, Leader Scalise, and the entire House GOP leadership team for their unwavering leadership in advancing a GOP health care package led by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks that includes vital Hyde protections to prevent taxpayer funding of abortion. Speaker Johnson’s resolve stands in stark contrast to the flip-flopping of Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, who has voted previously to apply the Hyde Amendment to Obamacare and urged President Trump to veto any bill that weakens Hyde.
Poor Scott Jennings must struggle to refrain from pulling his hair out nightly on CNN.
On Tuesday, for instance, the network’s resident conservative had to deal with a communications “expert” who apparently cannot communicate.
In a clip posted to the social media platform X, Jennings used a single question to expose the silliness of leftist podcaster Tezlyn Figaro, founder of the Tezlyn Figaro Communications Group, who offered an outlandish explanation for why White House chief of staff Susie Wiles gave an ill-advised interview to Vanity Fair, which the outlet published on Tuesday morning.
“Somebody asked her to take the fall,” Figaro speculated during a panel discussion on “CNN NewsNight.” “I mean, just being honest, somebody needed to come at — I know I’m being a conspiracy theorist.”
Jennings, with a furrowed brow, posed the obvious question.
“Take the fall for what?” he asked.
Pope Leo XIV has appointed a San Diego auxiliary bishop who celebrated an “All are Welcome” LGBT “Pride” Mass – during which a drag queen activist was permitted to speak – as the new bishop of Monterey, California.
Bishop Ramón Bejarano was the celebrant of the July 13 Sunday Mass, which was organized by St. John’s “LGBTQ Ministry” and had the full backing of the Diocese of San Diego under Bishop Michael Pham, one of Pope Leo XIV’s first episcopal appointments.
“I apologize for the pain and distress that I and the Church have caused to many of you,” Bishop Bejarano reportedly said in a 2024 “All are Welcome Mass” sermon at the same parish. “I apologize for the stigmatization and trauma we have caused to others because we have told them that they are not valued and that they are not worthy of the love of God. There are many others out there who feel rejected and unvalued.”
Bejarano was also among the 68 American bishops who in 2021 signed a letter asking the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to end discussions on prohibiting then-President Joe Biden and other pro-abortion Catholic politicians from receiving Holy Communion.
As the search for the Brown University shooter who killed two students and injured multiple others drags on, police are now searching for a second suspect in connection with the shooting.
Fox News reported Wednesday that the “mystery deepens” as police continue to insist they have no identity for a potential suspect. Now, Providence Police are asking for help with an individual “in proximity of the person of interest,” as seen below.
Investigators are asking for the public’s help in identifying and speaking to the individual shown in these photos who was in proximity of the person of interest.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the tip line at 401-272-3121. pic.twitter.com/DJ26rruuc9
— Providence Police (@ProvidenceRIPD) December 17, 2025
The police also shared “enhanced video” online of the Brown University “person of interest.” Those with any information can contact the tip line and use the official FBI reporting platform. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is involved in the local investigation, too.
A reclusive Chinese billionaire has allegedly spent years using American surrogacy agencies to mass-produce children, more than 100 so far, in a bizarre quest to build a global dynasty.
Xu Bo, 48, reportedly aims to ultimately intermarry his heirs with those of Elon Musk.
The wealthy founder of the online gaming company Duoyi reportedly calls himself “China’s first father.”
He has openly stated he intends to produce at least “50 high-quality sons,” according to social-media posts verified by the Wall Street Journal.
“Investigators are asking for the public’s help in identifying and speaking to the individual shown in these photos who was in proximity of the person of interest.”
Providence Police on Wednesday released images of a person of interest they are seeking in connection with the Brown University shooting that took place on Saturday. The suspect is still on the loose.
Police said that the person had been seen “in proximity of” the suspected gunman. In a Tuesday press conference, Providence Police Chief said that the “person of interest” that they have released numerous photos and videos of since the Saturday shooting is strongly believed to be the suspect in the case.
It looks like the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on whether or not to extend the expiring Obamacare subsidies, after all. On Wednesday, four Republicans – Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07), Rob Bresnahan, (PA-08), and Mike Lawler (NY-17) – signed on to a discharge petition backed by House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) to force a floor vote on the extension.
A discharge petition is the mechanism lawmakers use to override House leaders in order to get legislation in front of the entire chamber for a vote, but it needs the approval of a majority of House members. By backing the Democrat plan, the four GOPers thumbed their noses at Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (LA-04) and gave Jeffries the 218 votes needed to force the vote.
There’s long been a stalemate between Republicans and Democrats over whether or not to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that were given new life during the COVID era. Back in 2021, Democrats increased the size of the tax credits, expanded eligibility, and capped premiums as part of a COVID relief package; those modifications were meant to be temporary and were set to expire at the end of 2025.
Canada’s government-run euthanasia program increased its death toll again last year, taking more than 16,000 lives, and placing medically assisted suicide as the fourth leading cause of death in the country.
According to an annual report published by the Canadian government, 16,499 people were killed through the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program in 2024, increasing 6.9 percent from the previous year. Close to 75 percent of the 22,535 people who applied for the program were approved.
The report authors stated that the number of deaths is possibly stabilizing, while admitting that “long-term trends” have not yet been identified. Based on 2023 numbers, an estimated 1 in 20 deaths are government-directed.
Most observers of the abortion debate would likely agree that it is primarily a matter of ethics, a contest between the Hippocratic standard of respect for human life and various forms of humanistic pragmatism that allow abortion as a way to address personal and social problems. Resolving that debate has engaged philosophers of medicine, religious leaders, and the few political figures who seriously address it, for decades, with shifts in public policy and law back and forth. The debate also necessarily involves the matter of real-world consequences, making data collection and analysis a crucial part of the discussion, even if they are not ultimately the primary drivers of convictions on so profound a set of questions.
This fact has led to a range of skirmishes and debates all their own. One example is the decision of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) during the Obama administration to drop the requirement that abortion pill (mifepristone) manufacturers report non-fatal events to the FDA involving the drug. Only deaths were, and still are under the Trump administration, subject to mandatory reporting.
As fresh controversy swirls around the FDA’s promise to review the safety of mifepristone, the status of future injury reporting remains in doubt, although it would be a welcome restoration of a policy with virtually no downside, especially as other FDA policy changes have increased risks to women who are taking the abortion drug regimen later in pregnancy, without a doctor’s visit, and no tests to rule out ectopic pregnancy and other serious health concerns.
Pennsylvania’s mail scandal — that mail vendor Capitol Presort Services reportedly failed to deliver the state’s mail for a month — is another reason we should not trust the mail with our elections.
Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Gillian McGoldrick reported Saturday that 3.4 million official letters from Pennsylvania state agencies were stuck in limbo from Nov. 3 through Dec. 3. The communications did not get sent until last week, after the state fired the mail vendor and hired another one to send the letters.
It is not clear why state workers can’t handle mailing letters without the complication of a contracted vendor.
Some of the delayed letters contained time-sensitive communications about services with important deadlines, including notices for recipients to interact with agencies or lose benefits, according to McGoldrick’s report. Health coverage, SNAP food benefits, child abuse clearances, decisions about elder abuse and foster homes for kids, along with timely notices of hearings — all from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services — reportedly piled up at the vendor instead of being given to the U.S. Postal Service for delivery.
Important communications from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation were also delayed. Halted mail included driver’s license and vehicle registration renewal reminders, vehicle registration cards, driver’s license camera cards, and address card updates.
A new report from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform accuses the outgoing Washington D.C. police chief of falsifying crime statistics to make the city seem safer than it was.
Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Pamela A. Smith, according to the Republican-led committee, “pressured and at times directed commanders to manipulate crime data in order to maintain the appearance of low crime in the nation’s capital.”
The Oversight Committee explained on X that DC Chief Smith “pressured staff to manipulate crime data by miscategorizing publicly reportable crimes into lower categories.”
The Committee added that these falsified crime stats put “Americans at risk by creating an illusion of a safe city.”
Smith was sworn in as MPD police chief—the first black female to serve in that role—by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) on July 17, 2023. She was previously the Chief Equity Officer, leading the department’s efforts on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
While Europe refuses to fortify its borders against mass migration, European cities are now forced to put up security barriers, concrete blocks, and even tank traps to prevent Islamic terrorists from driving vehicles into Christmas markets.
Writing for The Spectator magazine (UK), Druin Burch noted recently how the Islamic “terror triumphed at the Christmas market” this festive season. A visitor to “Christmas markets in Berlin, London or Strasbourg” would see them “surrounded by steel posts, truck-proof planters, and one-way systems designed to stop SUVs achieving murderous velocities before hitting crash barriers,” he adds.
Christmas markets in Berlin. Danke Merkel. pic.twitter.com/XEIeCp19tH
— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) November 27, 2025
According to Rep. Ilhan Omar, ICE pulled over her son. But if this were true, why is it not true? Because ICE has the receipts, and there are, in fact, none. They have zero record of this incident occurring. So, it’s unclear if she’s delusional or lying, but yes, both can be true.
According to Omar, her son was pulled over by ICE officers at Target and asked to prove he was a citizen of this great nation. She claims that he was released once he showed them his passport.
However, Acting Director Todd Lyons said there is “absolutely zero record of its officers or agents pulling over Congresswoman Omar’s son” and claimed she is “unfairly demonizing our law enforcement officers.”
And while only one of these people can logically be telling the truth, my money is on the latter explanation. What do you think?
According to CBS:
“Yesterday, after he made a stop at Target, he did get pulled over by [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents, and once he was able to produce his passport ID, they did let him go,” Omar said in an interview with Esme Murphy on WCCO Sunday Morning.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday that she will sign dangerous legislation legalizing assisted suicide.
That’s a move pro-life and disability rights advocates warn endangers the state’s most vulnerable citizens, discriminates against the disabled and opens the door to future expansions of state-sanctioned death.
Hochul, a Catholic, said she has reached an agreement with legislative leaders to add supposed “guardrails” to the Medical Aid in Dying Act before signing it into law next year. However pro-life groups warn that such limits have eventually been abused or removed in other states and countries, leading to euthanasia and pressure to die.
Democrats in the United States repeatedly praise Australia’s 1996 gun confiscation law as a successful model to emulate, while many Australians — especially after the Bondi Beach terror attack earlier this week — argue that the confiscation helped but failed to go far enough. Yet the supposed benefits of this policy rest on deeply flawed statistical analysis.
After the Minneapolis school shooting in September, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz claimed, “When they had a school shooting in Scotland or they had an incident in Australia, they simply made changes. … And since they did those things, they don’t have them. We’re an outlier amongst nations in terms of what happens to our children.” Prominent Democrats, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden, have echoed this praise for Australia’s 1996 gun confiscation law.
The Senate passed a huge, $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Wednesday on a 77-20 vote, sending the measure to President Trump’s desk. The bipartisan package comes in at more than 3,000 pages and checks off several boxes on the president’s to-do list, including a pay raise of nearly four percent for military service members, improved military housing, a codification of Trump’s order to end DEI efforts at the Pentagon, and a restriction on U.S. investment in China.
Two Republicans, Sens. Mike Lee (UT) and Rand Paul (KY), voted no, while 18 Democrats also opposed it.
Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee were stoked:
Passed & Headed to the President’s Desk: The FY26 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
This bill will:
✔️modernize our defense capabilities,
✔️reform the Pentagon acquisition process,
✔️improve quality of life initiatives for our troops,
✔️ensure @POTUS has sufficient… pic.twitter.com/2prDvsOTI3— SASC Republicans (@SASCGOP) December 17, 2025
✔️ensure @POTUS has sufficient military options.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said on the Senate floor Tuesday that it would make America stronger:
This NDAA will make the most significant reforms to the way the Pentagon does business in a generation. These reforms will make our military stronger, more agile and more ready for whatever the mission may be, and that needs to be our mission here — to do whatever it takes to support American soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and guardians.
Armed Service Committee Chair Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) echoed President Trump’s (and Ronald Reagan’s) mantra, “peace through strength”:
This year’s NDAA ushers in the most significant acquisition reform in decades and helps the U.S. deter increasingly hostile nations. This legislation also recognizes Mississippi’s outstanding contributions to national defense. The American people voted for peace through… pic.twitter.com/Jgih7gkBHy
— Senator Roger Wicker (@SenatorWicker) December 17, 2025