“The Senate on Thursday rejected legislation to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits, essentially guaranteeing that millions of Americans will see a steep rise in costs at the beginning of the year. Senators rejected a Democratic bill to extend the subsidies for three years and a Republican alternative that would have created new health savings accounts — an unceremonious end to a monthslong effort by Democrats to prevent the COVID-19-era subsidies from expiring on Jan. 1. Ahead of the votes, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York warned Republicans that if they did not vote to extend the tax credits, ‘there won’t be another chance to act’, before premiums rise for many people who buy insurance off the ACA marketplaces. ‘Let’s avert a disaster,’ Schumer said. ‘The American people are watching.’ Republicans have argued that Affordable Care Act plans are too expensive and need to be overhauled.” (12/11/25)
“At least 30 people, including patients, have been killed, and about 70 wounded after an air strike by the country’s military government hit a major hospital in western Myanmar, according to a rebel group, aid workers and a witness. Myanmar has been gripped by attritional fighting in a raging civil war. The hospital in western Rakhine state’s Mrauk U township was struck late on Wednesday by bombs dropped by a military aircraft, said Khine Thu Kha, a spokesman for the Arakan Army, which is battling the ruling government along parts of the coastal state.” (12/11/25)
“The U.S. suicide rate dropped slightly last year from some of the highest levels ever reported, preliminary data suggests. Experts say it’s hard to know exactly why, or whether the decline will continue. A little over 48,800 suicide deaths were reported in 2024, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 500 fewer than the year before. The overall suicide rate fell to 13.7 per 100,000 people. Suicides rose for nearly two decades aside from a two-year drop around the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then they shot up again, to more than 14 per 100,000 from 2021 to 2023.” (12/10/25)
“US [regime pirates] have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said, marking a sharp escalation in Washington’s pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro’s government. … Releasing a video of the [piracy], Attorney General Pam Bondi described the vessel as a ‘crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.’ … Brent crude prices inched higher on Wednesday as news of the [piracy] stoked short-term supply concerns. Analysts warn the move could threaten shippers and further disrupt Venezuela’s oil exports. … Footage shared by Bondi showed a military helicopter hovering over a large ship, and [pirates] descending on to the deck using ropes. Uniformed [pirates] were seen in the clip moving about the ship with guns drawn.” (12/11/25)
“Ukraine attacked Lukoil PJSC’s Filanovsky oil field in the Caspian Sea, according to a person familiar the matter, widening the scope of its strikes on Russian energy infrastructure just as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is under US pressure to agree to a peace deal largely on the Kremlin’s terms. Ukraine’s long-range drones have hit the Filanovsky platform at least four times, halting output from more than 20 production wells at the offshore field, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Bloomberg could not independently verify the information and Lukoil did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kyiv’s forces have been intensifying their strikes on Russia’s energy facilities in the last few months, seeking to reduce the revenue that helps Moscow fund its invasion.” (12/11/10)
“The Federal Reserve cut interest rates today in another divided vote, but signaled it will likely pause further reductions in borrowing costs as officials look for clearer signals about the direction of the job market and inflation that ‘remains somewhat elevated.’ New projections issued after the U.S. central bank’s two-day meeting showed the median policymaker sees just one quarter-percentage-point cut in 2026, the same outlook as in September, with inflation expected to slow to around 2.4% by the end of next year, even as economic growth accelerates to an above-trend 2.3% and the unemployment rate remains at a moderate 4.4%. … The decision to lower the benchmark policy rate by a quarter of a percentage point to the 3.50%-3.75% range drew three dissents, with Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee joining Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid in arguing the policy rate should be left unchanged, and Fed Governor Stephen Miran again advocating a larger half-percentage-point reduction.” (12/10/25)
“Iceland will not take part in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, the country’s public broadcaster has said, joining four other countries boycotting the event over Israel’s inclusion. Broadcaster RUV said on Wednesday that the Nordic nation would not participate in the 2026 competition, after organiser the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) greenlit Israel’s involvement last week, dismissing calls from some countries to hold a vote on whether to exclude the country. … Iceland, along with Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and the Netherlands, had threatened to boycott next year’s edition of the glitzy music contest, due to be held in Vienna in May, if Israel took part, citing its genocidal war on Palestinians in Gaza – as well as allegations that it unfairly intervened in the most recent competition to the benefit of its entrant.” (12/10/25)
“A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Wednesday to immediately end its current deployment of California National Guard troops in Los Angeles, ruling that the federal government had illegally kept them in the city long after intense street protests had ended in the summer. The ruling by Judge Charles R. Breyer of the Federal District Court in San Francisco applies to about 100 National Guard soldiers who remain in Los Angeles six months after protests erupted over immigration raids. Judge Breyer directed the federal government to return control of the troops to Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, but he stayed his order until Monday. The Trump administration is expected to appeal.” (12/10/25)
“Opponents of military rule in Myanmar staged a joint protest on Wednesday calling on people to stay indoors to show they are boycotting elections scheduled for late this month. They defied harsh legal penalties for attempting to disrupt the polls. … Critics say the Dec. 28 polls will be neither free nor fair and are an effort by the military to legitimize its rule after seizing power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. The General Strike Coordination Body, the leading non-violent organization opposing army rule, had urged people to join a ‘silent strike’ on Wednesday. It called on the public to stay inside homes or workplaces from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on International Human Rights Day. The tactic has been used on special occasions since the military takeover. Images on social media showed uncrowded streets in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, and elsewhere.” (12/10/25)
“A field in eastern England has revealed evidence of the earliest known instance of humans creating and controlling fire, a significant find that archaeologists say illuminates a dramatic turning point in the human story. In Barnham, Suffolk, the discovery of baked earth that formed a hearth, heat-shattered flint axes and two fragments of pyrite — a type of stone used to create sparks for lighting tinder — indicates that early humans, most likely Neanderthals, were able to make and maintain fires. ‘This is a 400,000-year-old site where we have the earliest evidence of making fire, not just in Britain or Europe, but in fact, anywhere else in the world,’ said Nick Ashton, curator of Palaeolithic collections at the British Museum in a news briefing. … The artifacts uncovered at the site are 350,000 years older than the previous known evidence of fire-making in the archaeological record, which was from a site in northern France.” (12/10/25)
