“Italian pasta is set to be spared from high-level US tariffs that the Trump administration had threatened against 13 producers. The move could have resulted in American importers being taxed at a rate greater than the value of the actual pasta itself, and prices rising sharply for US consumers. But on Thursday, the Italian foreign ministry said the proposed rate had now been drastically cut back. In a statement of its own, the US said the 13 firms had addressed many of its concerns. It previously accused the companies of selling their products at unfairly low prices and threatened tariffs of almost 92%. Tariffs are a type of tax paid by a consumer who imports a product.” (01/03/26)
“A 20-year-old was killed in a shootout with a homeowner during an apparent burglary in Clovis just after midnight Thursday.Clovis police were dispatched to a house in the 2500 block of East 7th Street, near Hillcrest Park, around 12:30 a.m. Friday after a 911 caller said he had been shot by a burglar, according to a news release shared on the department’s Facebook page later in the day. The man told police he had shot back at the intruder — identified as Keilyn Parker– and that he and a woman were hiding inside a closet in the home, the release states. Officers arrived and transported the man and Parker to Plains Regional Medical Center. Parker did not survive his injuries, according to the release.” (01/02/26)
“Public prosecutors in Switzerland have opened a criminal investigation into the managers of the bar in Switzerland’s Crans Montana, where at least 40 people died in a fire. Two days after the fire, in which 119 people suffered injuries, including severe burns, officials were still trying to identify many of those killed. Attention has also turned to how one of Switzerland’s worst tragedies could have occurred. The bar’s two managers are suspected of offences including homicide by negligence, causing bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence, prosecutors in Valais, the canton that is home to the bar in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana, said in a statement on Saturday. They did not name the pair.” (01/03/26)
“In the face of an effort to impeach her and remove her from the bench, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan announced she is resigning. The announcement came on Jan. 3, weeks after a federal jury found Dugan guilty of obstructing federal immigration agents seeking to [abduct an immigrant] outside her courtroom. Dugan was found not guilty of concealing a wanted person, which is a misdemeanor.” (01/03/26)
“A Kenyan elephant believed to have been one of Africa’s largest male tuskers has died of old age. The pachyderm, fondly known as Craig, died of natural causes on Saturday morning at Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya, conservationists confirmed. ‘Craig had just turned 54 years old. He led a long life and no doubt fathered many calves,’ said the Amboseli Trust for Elephants in its farewell message. Famed for his long tusks, Craig the elephant was a major attraction at the park near the Tanzanian border. In 2021, he was named an ambassador for the popular Kenyan lager brand Tusker – a name also used for adult male elephants with tusks. The Kenya Wildlife Service described Craig as an ‘icon’ of successful conservation.” (01/03/25)
“Saudi-backed troops on Saturday made advances in Yemen’s resource-rich Hadramawt province, military officials said, as confrontations between forces backed by Riyadh and Abu Dhabi deepened a rift between the two Gulf allies. The Saudis and Emiratis have for years supported rival factions in Yemen’s fractious government. But a recent offensive by the UAE-backed secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) to capture Hadramawt angered Riyadh and left the oil-rich regional powers on a collision course. In a statement, the military of the Saudi-aligned government announced that ‘all military and civilian facilities’ in Mukalla, the capital of Hadramawt province, had ‘been secured’ by Riyadh-backed forces.” (01/03/26)
“The Trump administration and California appear to have officially severed ties as the state moves forward with the long-delayed high-speed rail without the help of federal funds. On Dec. 23, the California High-Speed Rail Authority pulled the lawsuit it filed after the Trump administration scrapped $4 billion in funding this summer for the bullet train that would stretch from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The rail authority has now decided to seek funding from a private investor as early as summer 2026. ‘Moving forward without the Trump administration’s involvement allows the Authority to pursue proven global best practices used successfully by modern high-speed rail systems around the world,’ a spokesperson for the rail authority said in a statement.” (01/02/25)
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has named spy chief Kyrylo Budanov as his new chief of staff, just over a month after his previous top aide resigned in a corruption row. ‘At this time, Ukraine needs greater focus on security issues,’ Zelensky said in a social media post, alongside a photo of his meeting with Gen Budanov in Kyiv. The 39-year-old has until now led the Hur military intelligence, which has claimed a number of highly effective strikes against Russia. Zelensky also said he intended to replace his defence minister Denys Shmyhal, appointing his current minister of digital transformation Mykhaylo Fedorov to take up the post.” (01/03/25)
“A U.S. appeals court on Friday ruled that California’s ban on openly carrying firearms in most parts of the state was unconstitutional. A panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided 2-1 with a gun owner in ruling that the state’s prohibition against open carry in counties with more than 200,000 people violated U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. About 95% of the population in California, which has had some of the nation’s strictest gun-control laws, live in counties of that size. U.S. Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke, who was appointed by Republican President Donald Trump, said the Democratic-led state’s law could not stand under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 landmark gun rights ruling.” (01/02/26)
“Saikat Chakrabarti, a candidate who’s hoping to replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi, is pitching a four-day workweek, citing Mark Zuckerberg’s new AI push as a warning sign. ‘We should be talking about four-day workweeks as a result of AI,’ Chakrabarti said in a video posted on New Year’s Eve on X. ‘But instead what we’re seeing is companies squeezing more and more work out of their workers with no extra benefits.’ Chakrabarti, a former tech engineer and now a bastion of progressive politics, is running for the coveted San Francisco House seat, which is open after Pelosi announced her retirement in 2025. Chakrabarti, who has a list of progressive policy reforms reminiscent of his former bosses, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is putting Meta in the hot seat after it was leaked that the company is implementing intense productivity standards for its employees.” (01/03/25)
