“The Trump administration will begin to garnish the pay of student loan borrowers in January, the Department of Education said, stepping up a repayment enforcement effort that began this year. Beginning the week of Jan. 7, roughly 1,000 borrowers who are in default will receive notices informing them of their status, according to an email from the department. The number of notices will increase on a monthly basis. The collection activities are ‘conducted only after student and parent borrowers have been provided sufficient notice and opportunity to repay their loans,’ according to the email, which was unsigned.” (12/23/25)
“Former GOP Sen. Ben Sasse revealed Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and does not have long to live. In a lengthy statement on X, the 53-year-old said bluntly: ‘Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die.’ ‘Death is a wicked thief, and the bastard pursues us all,’ the former senator from Nebraska added. ‘Still, I’ve got less time than I’d prefer. This is hard for someone wired to work and build, but harder still as a husband and a dad.'” (12/23/25)
“London police arrested Swedish activist Greta Thunberg on Tuesday at a pro-Palestinian protest, UK-based campaign group Defend Our Juries said. Thunberg was arrested under the Terrorism Act for holding a sign that said she supported prisoners linked to Palestine Action, an organisation which the British government has proscribed as a terrorist group, Defend Our Juries said.” (12/23/25)
“Russell Brand has been charged with two further offences including one count of rape, the Metropolitan Police has said. In a new statement, the police force said the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has authorised an additional charge of rape and a charge of sexual assault relating to two further women. The broadcaster, comedian and actor previously pleaded not guilty to five charges including two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault in relation to four women. … A trial is set to start at Southwark Crown Court on 16 June 2026 for the five original charges which allegedly took place on dates spanning between 1999 and 2005 in central London and Bournemouth.” (12/23/25)
“The Kansas City Chiefs are moving to Kansas. The Chiefs, in conjunction with Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, announced in a statement from owner and chairman Clark Hunt on Monday that the team will move to a domed stadium in Kansas City, Kansas. The announcement came after a meeting of the Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council to discuss the Chiefs’ stadium plans. The new stadium is planned to be completed in time for the 2031 NFL season and Kelly said the project would cost $3 billion. … A tug-of-war has unfolded for months between the states of Kansas and Missouri. And the Chiefs are moving because Kansas is willing to foot more of the bill than Missouri.” (12/22/25)
“A potential veto of Chicago’s 2026 budget by Mayor Brandon Johnson could trigger the Windy City’s first-ever municipal shutdown. Johnson reportedly rebuked the budget passed by council over the weekend, which lacks the mayor’s favored per-employee ‘head tax’ on corporations, as ‘morally bankrupt.’ If Johnson were to veto the budget, it would place the onus back on city council to rehash a plan that could get signed before Dec. 30 – or plunge the city into shutdown. … Items in the council’s budget include legalized video-gambling machines at eateries and Chicago-Midway Airport, raising the shopping-bag tax and a nationally unique proposal to tax social media companies – levying $0.50-per active Chicago user beyond 100,000 users that a platform has – with an expected windfall of $31 million, if approved. While a shutdown would be a novel development, late-year budget vetoes in Chicago are not.” (12/23/25)
“Sudan’s prime minister has presented a plan to end the country’s nearly three-year war before the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), calling on members to stand ‘on the right side of history’ by backing the initiative, as fighting continued in Kordofan and North Kordofan states. Addressing the UNSC on Monday, Kamil Idris outlined the proposal that includes a ceasefire monitored by the UN, African Union and Arab League, and the withdrawal of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary from territory it controls. The plan would also see RSF forces, who have been engaged in fierce clashes with the Sudanese army since April 2023, being placed in camps and disarmed – a measure, Idris said, would be necessary for the truce to have any ‘chance for success.'” (12/23/25)
“Patrick Hotze’s three daughters made it home safe from Camp Mystic after July’s catastrophic floods that killed 25 campers and two teenage counselors. He attended some of the funerals and says he understands the outrage over the Texas camp’s plan to partially reopen next year. He also intends to send his girls back. … For the first time since the roaring flood, the 100-year-old all-girls Christian sleepaway retreat plans to sign up campers in January, forging ahead with a reopening that has divided families and stunned some lawmakers. Campers will start arriving in May, bunking on higher ground than the area where fast-rising waters on the Guadalupe River swept away two cabins. Some families say the decision to let their daughters return is a vital step in their own healing from the disaster that is still under scrutiny.” (12/23/25)
“President Donald Trump expressed sympathy Monday for powerful and influential people caught up in convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit, including former President Bill Clinton, telling reporters that he doesn’t ‘like the pictures of other people being shown.’ … Photos included Epstein with well-known figures, including Trump, on his plane or at social events. Clinton has appeared in multiple photos that were released last week as part of the first batch of documents the DOJ made available. There has been ‘tremendous backlash’ to the documents, Trump said, because they’ve ensnared ‘people that innocently met Jeffrey Epstein years ago,’ including successful lawyers and businesspeople. … Trump briefly acknowledged that there were photos of himself included in the recent document dumps, but didn’t provide any details on his relationship with Epstein at the time, except to say that he threw him out of Mar-a-Lago.” (12/22/25)
“Russia hammered Ukraine with missiles and drones in a new air attack on Tuesday, authorities said, killing at least three people including a child and triggering emergency power cuts across the country as Ukrainians gear up to celebrate Christmas. Moscow’s latest combined strike hit energy facilities in western regions the hardest, said Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, and came days after another round of U.S.-led peace talks to end the nearly four-year-old war.” (12/23/25)
