The US has halted the processing of all immigration applications linked to 19 countries already subject to a travel ban, according to an internal official memo seen by BBC partner CBS News. Immigration agents have been told to "stop final adjudication on all cases", and pause naturalisation ceremonies for migrants on the cusp of gaining citizenship. Read more
A fast-moving winter storm dumped several inches of snow across parts of the Midwest where it killed one driver, caused hundreds of crashes and slowed travel to a crawl. It delivered the first widespread snow of the season to the Northeast and New England. Philadelphia, New York and Boston missed out on heavy snow, but much of the Interior Northeast and New England saw between 6 to 12 inches.
Four people have been arrested in South Korea for allegedly hacking more than 120,000 video cameras in homes and businesses and using the footage to make sexually exploitative materials for an overseas website. Police announced the arrests on Sunday, saying the accused exploited the Internet Protocol (IP) cameras' vulnerabilities, such as simple passwords. Read more
The Trump administration is backing Monsanto in its effort to convince the Supreme Court to shield the company from liability over cancer claims related to its Roundup weedkiller, a move that could anger Trump allies in the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. Read more
Dec 2 (Reuters) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's drug evaluation chief, Richard Pazdur, is set to retire just weeks after taking the new role, a spokesperson for the health regulator said on Tuesday. Pazdur, the agency's veteran oncology chief, took over the role on November 11, replacing George Tidmarsh after he resigned amid serious concerns about his personal conduct. "We respect Dr. Pazdur's decision to retire and honor his 26 years of distinguished service at the FDA," the spokesperson said in a statement. Read more
A man has become the seventh person to be left HIV-free after receiving a stem cell transplant to treat blood cancer. Significantly, he is also the second of the seven who received stem cells that were not actually resistant to the virus, strengthening the case that HIV-resistant cells may not be necessary for an HIV cure. "Seeing that a cure is possible without this resistance gives us more options for curing HIV," says Christian Gaebler at the Free University of Berlin. Five people have previously become free of HIV after receiving stem cells from donors who carried a mutation in both copies of a gene encoding a protein called CCR5, which HIV uses to infect immune cells. This led scientists to conclude that having two copies of the mutation, which completely removes CCR5 from immune cells, was crucial for curing HIV. "The belief was that using these HIV-resistant stem cells was essential," says Gaebler. Read more
What Happens Next Will Be Ugly and Dangerous.
Longtime Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) was reportedly considering a run for Congress in Texas if the Supreme Court upholds new district maps in California. The new map approved by California voters would eliminate Issa's San Diego-area seat if the Supreme Court upholds it. On Monday, Punchbowl News reported that Issa was eyeing a seat near Dallas if the ruling does not go his way. In a recent statement, Issa insisted he would run again regardless of what the court decides.
Trump revealed he'd had the MRI scan over two weeks after the exam, while talking to reporters on Air Force One en route to Japan. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One during a Nov. 14 trip, he again did not say what had been scanned, and said the testing was "standard." "I have no idea what they analyze, but whatever they analyze, they analyze it well, and they said that I had as good a result as they've ever seen," he said. Speaking to reporters Sunday, the president again said he had "no idea" what was scanned. "What part of the body? It wasn't the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it," he said, before saying he would release the records. Leavitt read the new memo from the doctor during her daily briefing Monday, and said it shows how transparent the administration is.
We hear a lot about the canaries in the coal mine these days. But we were reminded last week that dead canaries are littered all around us. We never imagined that death could undo so many. 1 Read more
How the Trumps are turning the presidency into riches A crusading prosecutor in the Balkans comes under pressure to drop a big case.
Vietnamese villagers learn they are to be evicted. A convicted crypto kingpin in the Gulf receives a pardon. Read more
After Dummkopf Trumpf provided a $40 billion bailout package of hard-earned American taxpayer funds to rightwing Argentinian President Javier Milei, the failed libertarian formally launched the "Isaac Accords" on 29 Nov. This initiative is supposedly aimed at strengthening political, economic, security, and cultural cooperation between Israel and Latin America.
Corruption, lawlessness, and evil inside Trump's inner circle.
An alliance of active-duty and retired agents FBI agents issued a damning 115-page report branding the FBI a "rudderless ship" that is all f---- up' under the mismanagement of Director Kashyap Pramod Vinod Patel. The dossier, A Pulse Check of the First Six Months of Kashyap Patel's leadership, will be presented to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees this week.
Less than two weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, President Joe Biden traveled to Israel and held Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an embrace. The image captured the solidarity Americans felt with Israelis after they suffered such horrific violence. It also symbolized a political and governing reflex within the Democratic Party. During the Biden presidency, it was shorthanded the "hug Bibi" strategy " the idea that smothering Mr. Netanyahu with unconditional support would give the U.S. leverage to influence his actions. Read more
The Old State Saloon in Eagle, a suburb of Boise, Idaho, is rewarding snitches who collaborate with ICE: "Anyone who helps ICE identify and ultimately deport an illegal from Idaho gets FREE BEER FOR ONE MONTH at Old State Saloon!" The small-town watering hole added that it "may award multiple months to one person if multiple illegals are deported."
