Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has warned he may abandon a long-awaited trade deal between members of the South American bloc Mercosur and the European Union after key countries sought a delay. The Brazilian leader issued the threat on Wednesday after Italy joined fellow heavyweight France in saying it was not ready to commit to the pact to create the world’s biggest free-trade area. The EU had expected its 27 member states to approve the deal in time for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to fly to Brazil to sign an agreement with the host, along with Mercosur partners Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, on Saturday. ‘I’ve already warned them: If we don’t do it now, Brazil won’t make any more agreements while I’m president,’ Lula told a cabinet meeting.” (12/17/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/17/brazil-threatens-to-walk-away-if-further-delays-to-eu-mercosur-trade-deal
Source: Quillette
“The Genius of Jane Austen.” (12/17/25)
https://quillette.com/2025/12/17/podcast-316-the-genius-of-jane-austen/
Source: The Bulwark
“LIVE REACTION: Trump White House Address (w/ Tim Miller, Andrew Egger & Will Saletan).” (12/17/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h3cDoMp4-M
Source: RealClearPolitics
by Melinda Henneberger
“Remember when MAGA Republicans said that anyone so hateful as to blame Charlie Kirk for his own murder should be out of a job? Firefighters, teachers, and active-duty military personnel were fired as a result. If the principle behind that outrage still holds, does it also apply to Donald Trump, who immediately responded to the news that Rob and Michelle Reiner had been brutally murdered by blaming them? Many on the right did criticize him for posting that the Reiners were dead because of Trump Derangement Syndrome. But this is not a one-time departure from otherwise rational behavior.” (12/17/25)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2025/12/17/trump_supporters_is_he_really_fit_for_office__153641.html
Source: The American Prospect
by Suzanne Gordon & Russell Lemle
“In late November, a mental health leader at a major VA medical center learned about a directive issued to the 18 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) regional offices, known as VISNs (Veterans Integrated Service Networks). Department of Veterans Affairs’ leaders in Washington were imposing lower caps on employee positions nationwide. Directors of local VA medical centers and clinics had a month to decide which vacant positions to eliminate, and which job offers to rescind. None of these identified positions would be filled because they would be swept from organizational charts entirely. At his facility, 60 percent of the unfilled positions would be lost, including 23 in mental health. ‘The past nine months have been very challenging,’ the mental health leader told the Prospect. ‘But this is really going to impact patient care.’ He also worried about the effect of cuts on the VA’s critical teaching mission.” (12/18/25)
https://prospect.org/2025/12/18/another-mass-staffing-purge-at-va/
Source: Fox News
“House Republicans passed a bill they say will lower healthcare costs for a broad swath of Americans by roughly 11%. It’s a victory for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who has been managing deep divisions within the House GOP on the topic of healthcare as insurance premiums are set to spike across the country in a matter of weeks. One glaring issue that remains unresolved is Obamacare subsidies, which were enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic but are set to expire at the end of this year. The legislation passed 216 to 211. Just one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voted against it along with all House Democrats. The bill’s passage comes hours after a group of moderate Republicans joined a Democrat-led discharge petition to force a vote on extending the subsidies for another three years.” (12/17/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/speaker-johnson-ekes-out-healthcare-bill-victory-after-house-gop-obamacare-rebellion
Source: In These Times
by Maximillian Alvarez
“TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Todd Wolfson, President of the American Association of University Professors, Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University, and co-director of the Media, Inequality and Change Center; and Chenjerai Kumanyika, Assistant Professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, AAUP Council Member, and Peabody-award winning host of ‘Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD’.” (12/16/25)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/higher-education-faces-threats-by-trump-administation-aaup
Source: Bluegrass Institute
“Kentucky is in the early stages of a housing affordability crisis—and we can either learn from California’s catastrophic failures or chart a better course.” (12/17/25)
https://www.bluegrassinstitute.org/video-making-room-for-the-next-generation-of-kentuckians/
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Graham Piro
“The months since Charlie Kirk’s murder on Utah Valley University’s campus in September have seen a deluge of firings and suspensions of teachers, faculty, and staff across the country for celebrating the assassination, or just for being insufficiently mournful. As the dust settles and court cases proceed, more details are emerging about the political pressures universities faced to punish protected political expression. In Iowa, lawmakers were so incensed by one Iowa State University staff member’s speech about the shooting that they outright dismissed the possibility of a lawsuit. … Iowa taxpayers: that’s your free speech rights — and your money — they’re putting at risk.” (12/17/25)
https://www.thefire.org/news/let-them-sue-iowa-lawmakers-scoffed-first-amendment-wake-charlie-kirk-shooting-records-show
Source: Deccan Herald [India]
“Ukrainian drones hit a tanker in the southern Russian port of Rostov-on-Don, killing and injuring a number of people and sparking a fire, the city’s mayor was quoted as saying early on Thursday. … Regional governor Yuri Slyusar had initially reported the Ukrainian strike on the vessel in the port and the casualties among the ship’s crew. Slyusar also said parts of a high-rise apartment block under construction were damaged in the city and two private homes burned down in a nearby town.” (12/18/25)
https://www.deccanherald.com/amp/story/world/ukrainian-drones-hit-tanker-in-russias-rostov-port-causing-deaths-mayor-says-3834986
