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https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/15/trump-ai-tech-force-amazon-apple.html

The Trump administration on Monday unveiled a new initiative dubbed the “U.S. Tech Force,” comprising about 1,000 engineers and other specialists who will work on artificial intelligence infrastructure and other technology projects throughout the federal government.

Participants will commit to a two-year employment program working with teams that report directly to agency leaders in “collaboration with leading technology companies,” according to an official government website.

Those “private sector partners” include Amazon Web Services, Apple, Google Public Sector, Dell Technologies, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, Oracle, Palantir, Salesforce, and numerous others, the website says.

The Tech Force shows the Trump administration increasing its focus on developing America’s AI infrastructure as it competes with China for dominance in the rapidly growing industry.

The initiative was announced four days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at establishing a national AI policy framework — a priority for industry leaders who opposed states crafting their own regulations.

Once Tech Force members complete their two terms, they can seek full-time jobs with those companies, who have committed to consider the programs’ alumni for employment. The private partners can also nominate their employees to do stints of government service.

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/13/hungary-protesters-demand-pm-viktor-orban-quits-over-child-abuse-cases

Tens of thousands of Hungarians have taken part in a demonstration in Budapest demanding Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s resignation over his inaction towards repeated child-abuse scandals in the country.

Since returning to power in 2010, Orban has promised to prioritise the protection of children in Hungary, but multiple high-profile child abuse scandals have rocked his government in recent years.

Saturday’s protests, led by opposition party TISZA’s leader Peter Magyar, came after new allegations regarding a juvenile detention centre in the country’s capital Budapest surfaced in September. Security camera footage from the centre showed the director of the Szolo Street juvenile detention centre kicking a boy in the head.

Earlier this week, four staff members were taken into custody, and the government announced that it would place all such child facilities under direct police supervision.

On Saturday, thousands of protesters walked through Budapest’s frosty streets behind a banner reading “Protect the children!” and called on the government to take more action against the perpetrators. Some people also carried soft toys and torches in solidarity with victims of physical abuse in a case dating back several years.

On Friday, Magyar also released a previously unpublished official report from 2021, which found that more than a fifth of children in state-run care institutions had been abused.

“We should be outraged at what is being done with the most vulnerable children,” Zsuzsa Szalay, a 73-year-old pensioner who took part in Saturday’s protest, told the AFP news agency.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/world/asia/north-korea-soldiers-russia-ukraine.html

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, welcomed home specialized soldiers this week after a deployment in Russia’s war against Ukraine, honoring nine killed in action with his country’s highest medal, state media reported on Saturday.

The event was North Korea’s first public acknowledgment that it had sent specialized troops, combat engineers tasked with mine-clearing operations, to aid Russia in the war.

The Kremlin said in July that North Korea had agreed to send 1,000 combat engineers and 5,000 military construction workers to help rebuild Russia’s war-torn Kursk region. Earlier, up to 15,000 North Korean troops fought alongside Russian forces there to drive out Ukrainian soldiers.

State media said the combat engineers returned home after a demining operation in Kursk. A large welcoming ceremony was held Friday in a plaza in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, where Mr. Kim thanked the troops for their “sacred mission” and praised their “brilliant military exploits.”

“You could work a miracle of turning a vast area of danger zone into a safe and secure one in a matter of less than three months,” Mr. Kim said in a speech to returning members of North Korea’s 528th Regiment of Engineers. “Except for the heart-rending loss of nine lives, all the officers and soldiers of the regiment have returned to the motherland.”

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/12/12/black-lives-matter-oklahoma-city-leader-indicted-fraud/87730404007/

Black Lives Matter leader in OK accused of misusing millions

A local Oklahoma Black Lives Matter leader was indicted by a federal grand jury for charges of wire fraud and embezzlement after accusations she used funds meant for social justice causes for her own personal benefit, authorities said.

Tashella Sheri Amore Dickerson, 52, the executive director of Black Lives Matter OKC, was accused of embezzling more than $3 million in funds, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Oklahoma said on Dec. 11. She was indicted on Dec. 3 with 20 counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/us/politics/sec-crypto-firms-trump-investigation.html

A cryptocurrency firm run by the billionaire Winklevoss twins was facing a punishing federal lawsuit. After Donald J. Trump returned to the White House, the Securities and Exchange Commission moved to freeze the case.

The S.E.C. had also sued Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, but then dropped the case altogether under the new administration.

And after a yearslong legal fight with Ripple Labs, the new S.E.C. tried to reduce a court-ordered penalty against the crypto firm, seeking to soften the blow of the punishment.

The agency’s pullback from these cases illustrated a wide-ranging transformation in the federal government’s treatment of the crypto industry during President Trump’s second term, a New York Times investigation has found.

It is unheard-of for the agency to retreat from a swath of lawsuits against a single industry. And yet, The Times found that the S.E.C. had eased up on more than 60 percent of the crypto cases that were ongoing when Mr. Trump returned to the White House, moving to pause litigation, lessen penalties or outright dismiss the cases.

The dismissals were particularly unusual, The Times found. Under Mr. Trump, S.E.C. dismissals came at a far higher rate for crypto firms than other cases.

And although the particulars of the crypto lawsuits differed, many of these firms had something in common: financial ties to Mr. Trump, the self-described crypto president.

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/13/colombias-eln-rebels-prepare-for-battle-amid-trump-intervention-threat

Colombia’s largest remaining rebel force has told civilians living under its authority to stay at home for three days while it stages military drills in response to burgeoning United States threats.

The National Liberation Army (ELN), a left-wing rebel group, ordered the lockdown on Friday, instructing residents to keep off major routes and rivers from Sunday morning as fighters conduct what the group describes as preparations to defend the country against “imperialist intervention”.

The announcement follows warnings from President Donald Trump that nations manufacturing and exporting cocaine to the US could face military strikes or even land attacks.

“It is necessary for civilians not to mix with fighters to avoid accidents,” the ELN said.

Colombia’s Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez rejected the rebel directive as “nothing more than criminal coercion”, pledging that government troops would maintain presence “in every mountain, every jungle, every river”.

The move underscores a deepening confrontation between Washington and Bogota as Trump escalates rhetoric against Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

Earlier this week, Trump told business executives that Petro had “better wise up, or he’ll be next”, citing cocaine production as justification for potential action, and alluding to the US military build-up near Venezuela amid threats to remove its President Nicolas Maduro.

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A Indian Hindu pajeet family from Gujarat, India is kidnapped in Libya for ransom while trying to illegally immigrate to Portugal.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/gujarat-couple-child-trying-to-migrate-to-portugal-kidnapped-in-libya-officials/amp_articleshow/125953355.cms

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/gujarat/gujarat-couple-child-trying-to-immigrate-to-portugal-kidnapped-in-libya-officials/article70393034.ece/amp/

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/libya-eu-migration-torture-detainment-europe-asylum-boats-mediterranean-search-rescue-boats-humanity-1/

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https://www.dw.com/en/will-trump-pull-italy-austria-poland-hungary-from-eu/a-75134777
Trans-Atlantic relations have suffered since Donald Trump took office for a second time in January. The publication of the National Security Strategy on December 4, 2025 was seen by many European politicians as an open affront.

In the document, which each new administration submits to Congress, Europe is described as a continent in decline where there is a risk of "civilizational erasure" because of migration policies. There is mention of "censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition."

However, a longer, unpublished draft of the document was circulated prior to the official, public strategy. It reportedly goes into more detail about the plans the US has in store for Europe. According to the Washington-based digital media platform Defense One, which claims to have seen the draft, it lists Italy, Austria, Poland and Hungary as countries that the US should "work more with … with the goal of pulling them away" from the European Union.The White House has denied the existence of any such draft.

But the question remains: Is the US trying to divide the European Union? And why are these four countries of particular interest?

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https://apnews.com/article/chile-elections-kast-jara-president-boric-trump-e9ef32b53359f3152ee80d62c106c5f6

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile’s ultra-conservative former lawmaker José Antonio Kast secured a stunning victory in the presidential election Sunday, defeating the candidate of the center-left governing coalition and setting the stage for the country’s most right-wing government in 35 years of democracy.

Kast won 58.2% of the votes as Chileans overwhelmingly embraced his pledge to crack down on increased crime, deport hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status and revive the sluggish economy of one of Latin America’s most stable and prosperous nations.

His challenger, communist candidate Jeannette Jara, clinched 41.8% of the vote. She called Kast to concede the election and congratulate him on his successful campaign after his lead became irreversible. Kast’s supporters erupted into cheers in the street, shouting his name and honking horns.

Speaking at a public square in downtown Santiago, Chile’s capital, she encouraged her supporters not to be deterred by the outcome. “It is in defeat that we learn the most,” she said.

Kast was declared the winner less than two hours after polls closed. His campaign spokesman, Arturo Squella, struck a solemn tone, saying that the party feels “very responsible for the tremendous challenge of taking charge of the crises that Chile is going through.”

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https://www.politico.eu/article/volodymyr-zelenskyy-reportedly-says-kyiv-willing-to-drop-nato-membership-accession-demands/

Ukraine is willing to drop demands for NATO accession should the U.S. and Europe offer sufficient security guarantees in ongoing talks on a proposed peace deal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was reported to say on Sunday.

“We are talking about bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the United States — namely, Article 5-like guarantees ... as well as security guarantees for us from our European partners and from other countries such as Canada, Japan and others,” Zelenskyy told journalists in a group chat, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Ukraine and European leaders are working on a U.S.-drafted 20-point peace plan that includes territorial concessions to Russia.

Zelenskyy has said that he hasn't heard back from the White House on his proposed revisions to the plan.

Zelenskyy's comments come while German, British and French officials on Sunday are reportedly discussing the proposals to end the Ukraine war, ahead of a meeting on Monday that’s to include the leaders of those countries.

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to meet with Zelenskyy, who will be received by Merz in Berlin on Monday.

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https://www.axios.com/2025/12/12/maga-civil-war-candace-owens-trump-policies

MAGA's civil war is draining the movement of its political muscle, leaving it defenseless as the Trump administration revisits policies previously opposed by the base.

Why it matters: MAGA's grassroots strength lies in its ability to rally influencers, politicians and activists behind a hard-charging conservative agenda. That superpower is faltering amid a cascade of bitter personal feuds.

"There's no focus on anything philosophical or even ideological right now," The National Pulse's Raheem Kassam told Axios.
"It's all just a cacophony of grifters tussling over audience and ego. So, corporate America gets to wield power with the admin virtually unencumbered by scrutiny from the base," he added.

Driving the news: Washington advanced a series of policies over the past week that would have triggered significant MAGA backlash at earlier points in the administration.

This time, the reaction was mostly crickets — drowned out by online convulsions over Candace Owens, Turning Point USA, a MAGA podcaster's sexuality, and antisemitism.

Artificial intelligence: President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that aims to gut state laws that regulate AI — a major initiative pushed by the GOP's tech allies.


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https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5646722-trump-cnn-sale-pressure/
CNN is finding itself in a familiar place as its parent company prepares to spin the network off as part of a megamerger: President Trump’s crosshairs.

Trump has indicated publicly and privately he wishes to see CNN operate under new ownership, a scenario that could come to fruition if Paramount, a massive media company increasingly friendly with the president, wins a hostile takeover bid for the cable news network and other assets belonging to Warner Bros. Discovery.

“It’s imperative that CNN be sold,” Trump told reporters at the White House this week. “I think CNN should be sold, because I think the people running CNN right now are either corrupt or incompetent.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed this sentiment hours later from the West Wing podium, pointing to a testy exchange she had with CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins on Thursday as “evidence” the outlet is in need of an editorial overhaul.

The latest line of attack underscores the frosty relationship between Trump and the cable news channel going back years.

CNN took heavy criticism from the right for its aggressive coverage of Trump’s first term and has made attempts to balance its coverage more recently, but it remains one of the president’s top mainstream media punching bags a year into his second administration.

His seizing on the Warner Bros. Discovery sale process is signaling the president sees CNN as vulnerable and is eager to make journalists at the outlet squirm, media and political observers say.

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WALTON COUNTY, Fla (WMBB)- The Walton County Sheriffs Office is responding to claims about a shooting that left one man dead.

On Thursday, WCSO deputies responded to a call about a shooting on Pioneer Drive in Defuniak Springs.

Deputies took 44-year-old Michael Rediker into custody and eventually charged with one count of open murder, battery, and three counts of aggravated battery.

Today gun rights activist Kyle Rittenhouse posted a video on social media outside of the Walton County Jail, where Rediker is being held, claiming that Rediker was attacked and acted in self-defense.

Rittenhouse made headlines in 2020 after he was arrested for shooting and killing two people during a protest. He was eventually acquitted.

WCSO sheriff Michael Adkinson responded to his claims in a rare video.

“I don’t normally take the time to speak to public comments on cases, certainly not open cases. But in this particular situation, a murder that occurred yesterday in walton county, I feel compelled to respond to what I can only call wildly irresponsible I would say motivated by many factors,” said Adkinson.

According to Adkinson, Rediker allegedly entered the victim’s property via tractor, had a physical altercation with the victim’s wife, and then shot the victim in the head.

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https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/suspect-charlie-kirk-killing-makes-first-in-court-appearance-2025-12-11/
Dec 11 (Reuters) - Tyler Robinson, the accused killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, made his first in-person court appearance on Thursday as a judge heard arguments on what level of media access should be allowed in the high-profile criminal case.
Robinson, wearing a dress shirt and striped tie, talked with his lawyers, at times smiling, after he was brought into the Provo, Utah, courtroom in handcuffs and shackles. Robinson's parents and brother were present, his lawyer Richard Novak said. His mother wiped away tears as he entered, according to a Salt Lake Tribune reporter present in the courtroom.
Local television stations showed an armored SWAT truck in the convoy of vehicles that brought Robinson, 22, to the courthouse about four miles (6 km) from where Kirk, 31, an ally of President Donald Trump, was shot dead on September 10.
U.S. District Court Judge Tony Graf heard arguments from Robinson's attorneys who want to ban cameras from the courtroom in a case that has drawn extraordinary media attention. David Reymann, an attorney representing media organizations, called on the court to grant his clients access to recordings and transcripts from closed-session court hearings in the case.
"We don't want the chaos that is out in the media in this courtroom," said Robinson's attorney Staci Visser.
Graf scheduled a December 29 video call to give his ruling on media access and set May 18-21 for an in-person preliminary hearing.
At the request of state prosecutors, Graf designated Erika Kirk, Kirk's widow, as the victim representative in the case.
Robinson is accused of firing a single round from a rooftop that killed Kirk during a Turning Point USA event on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, about 40 miles (65 km) south of Salt Lake City, as Kirk debated with students.

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https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/12/ron-johnson-asks-bondi-to-investigate-dane-county-judge-overseeing-fake-elector-case/87733283007/

MADISON - U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson is asking Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate a Wisconsin judge overseeing a case involving felony charges against President Donald Trump's former campaign attorney over his role in the 2020 scheme to overturn the election result.

Jim Troupis, a former Dane County judge and former campaign attorney for Trump, faces felony forgery charges over his role in a plan to get slates of false Trump electors to then-Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to persuade Pence to reject Joe Biden's victory over Trump.

Troupis this week sought to compel all Dane County judges to recuse from his case, citing past grudges, and accused a retired judge of secretly drafting an order issued by Dane County Judge John Hyland, the judge overseeing the case — an allegation the retired judge called "a fantasy."

Johnson's appeal to Bondi to review the allegation comes days before Troupis is scheduled to appear in court over the charges.

"Mr. Troupis represented President Donald Trump in Wisconsin in the 2020 election and, because of his role as the president’s attorney, his life has been upended by unceasing political persecutions currently led by Wisconsin’s attorney general," Johnson wrote in the letter.

"Mr. Troupis fittingly described this anti-Trump lawfare as 'the Jack Smith case being tried in Wisconsin and President Trump is going to be tried in absentia.'"

In his order, Hyland said Troupis claimed without evidence "that every judge in Dane County harbors some personal animus toward him and, as a result, recusal of the entire bench is required."

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