The Signal - On Wednesday, the U.S. administration delivered a 28-point peace plan to Ukraine with a message and a deadline. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had until Thanksgiving—six days—to accept terms that would cede Ukrainian territory to Russia, limit the size of Ukraine’s military, and bar the country from NATO membership. If he refused, Ukraine risked losing American support. “You’re going to have to like it,” President Donald Trump told reporters when asked about Zelenskyy’s response.
The plan itself reads like a diplomatic artifact from another era. The United States would recognize Russia’s control of Crimea and the Donbas “de facto.” Ukraine would withdraw from parts of Donetsk it still holds, creating a demilitarized buffer zone. A “Peace Council” chaired by Trump would monitor compliance. The United States drafted the entire framework exclusively with Russian input. No one consulted European allies.
Watch what happened to produce this moment. Trump began his second presidency in January by threatening Russia with “further sanctions and high tariffs” if President Vladimir Putin refused to negotiate. By May, he was publicly accusing Putin of spreading “bullshit.” In July, he announced a major deal to send Patriot air defense batteries to Ukraine and threatened Russia with new sanctions. In August, he hosted Putin in Alaska—without inviting Zelenskyy—and discussed territorial concessions. In October, he declared that Ukraine “can win all of Ukraine back in its original form.” Now, Ukraine gets the ultimatum. Read on
November 23, 2025
Politics
The Hill - Legal experts and White House critics are worried the Justice Department
(DOJ) could become a piggy bank for those with grievances as President
Trump and a number of his allies pursue million-dollar settlement
claims.
While Trump’s push for $230 million in compensation for two probes into his conduct would be the most lucrative of the suits, others in his orbit are also seeking millions from the DOJ.
While Trump’s push for $230 million in compensation for two probes into his conduct would be the most lucrative of the suits, others in his orbit are also seeking millions from the DOJ.
AI's infiltration of the arts
Axios - AI's infiltration of films, music, painting — even sculpture — is inspiring new resistance to tech in art, and putting a premium on work that's purely human.
Art has long been seen as a uniquely human endeavor, making AI's advance into this realm especially unsettling, Axios' Erica Pandey writes.
"There's a feeling of existential dread in the air in Los Angeles," says Charlie Fink, a longtime Hollywood producer and professor at Chapman University in Orange County, California.
"AI is coming, and nobody knows how. It makes you anxious if you're looking at something AI made and thinking: 'Well, that's a movie.'"
Case in point: "The Brutalist" — nominated for 10 Oscars in January and winner of Best Actor for Adrien Brody — used generative AI to make actors' Hungarian accents sound more authentic.
The most-downloaded country song in America is written and sung by AI alone.
AI is being used to generate paintings and sculptures, some of which are selling for thousands of dollars, BBC reports.
AI could even "lead to a new golden age of independent cinema" by giving smaller filmmakers the tech to compete with big production houses, Fink says.
But resistance is building:
"Breaking Bad" creator Vince Gilligan has a note in the credits of his new show, "Pluribus," which debuted this month: "This show was made by humans." Gilligan told Variety recently: "Who wants to live in a world where creativity is given over to machines?"
"Thee Stork Club," a live music venue in Oakland, California, recently banned artists from using AI-generated fliers to promote shows, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
More than 200 musicians — including heavy hitters Billie Eilish, Katy Perry and Smokey Robinson — signed an open letter to AI developers last year to "cease the use of artificial intelligence to infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists," Axios' Sara Fischer reports.
In a recent survey by Ipsos and the French streaming service Deezer, 97% of respondents couldn't distinguish between human-made and AI-generated songs — and 52% said they felt uneasy that they couldn't tell the difference. Share this story.
Car thefts down
Newsweek - Reports of vehicle thefts have fallen in every state but one. Puerto Rico had the biggest drop in thefts, down 43 percent from the first half of 2024, followed by Washington State at 42 percent and North Dakota and Louisiana at 32 percent.
The only state to have a rise in reported vehicle thefts is Alaska, which saw a 26 percent rise compared to the first half of 2024. The NICB states this is largely driven by theft in the Anchorage metropolitan area.
But while the vehicle theft rate is down nationwide, some areas remain hotspots for the criminal activity: here are the 10 worst states for car theft across the US.
District of Columbia: The D.C. area had the highest amount of vehicle thefts in the first half of 2025, at a rate of 373.09 per 100,000 residents.
California: California was second, with vehicle thefts reported at a rate of 178.01 per 100,000 residents.
Nevada: Nevada had the third-highest reported vehicle thefts in the first half of 2025, at a rate of 167.68 per 100,000 residents.
New Mexico: Vehicle thefts in New Mexico were reported at a rate of 167.54 per 100,000 residents.
Colorado: Colorado was fifth-highest in the list, at a rate of 167.54 per 100,000 residents.
Missouri: In sixth place was Missouri, at a rate of 142.17 per 100,000 residents.
Maryland: Maryland had a car theft rate of 136.48 per 100,000 residents.
Texas: Texas had a car theft rate of 123.83 per 100,000 residents in the first half of 2025.
Alaska: Despite being the only state with a rise in car thefts, Alaska was only 9th on the list, with a rate of 117.41 per 100,000 residents.
Washington: Washington state had a vehicle theft rate of 115.20 per 100,000 residents.
Trump’s Team Didn’t Care That Deadly Boat Strikes Could Be Illegal
New Republic - The Trump administration repeatedly overlooked and pushed past lawyers who questioned the legality of its deadly strikes on alleged “drug” boats, according to a new report.
On Saturday, The Washington Post released an investigation that sheds new light on the process behind the controversial attacks that have left more than 80 people dead and angered Americans across the political spectrum, including some of President Donald Trump’s base.
According to government officials who were familiar with the situation, the administration initially planned for the CIA to conduct the strikes—but when CIA lawyers pushed back, they pivoted to using the U.S. military. The Trump administration’s justification for the lethal attacks is that the U.S. is engaged in an armed conflict with “designated terrorist organizations.”
But many national security experts, both inside and outside of the administration, told the Post that this justification “does not stand up to facts.”
What’s more, many of the lawyers who raised concerns or attempted to institute guardrails had either left the government, or had been reassigned or removed from their positions. The National Security Council’s full-time legal staff was completely gutted by this summer, including former Pentagon general counsel Paul Ney, who had raised concerns about the legality of the strikes, according to former officials.
Meanwhile, over at the CIA, some people are worried about blowback from these covert operations, like with the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s.
“The question is, is it legal just to kill the guy if he’s not threatening to kill you and you’re outside an armed conflict? There are people who are simply uncomfortable with the president just declaring we’re at war with drug traffickers,” one former senior official told the Post.
The new report confirms what other top military lawyers have been saying: that Trump’s strikes against alleged drug boats could be considered extrajudicial killings.
On Saturday, The Washington Post released an investigation that sheds new light on the process behind the controversial attacks that have left more than 80 people dead and angered Americans across the political spectrum, including some of President Donald Trump’s base.
According to government officials who were familiar with the situation, the administration initially planned for the CIA to conduct the strikes—but when CIA lawyers pushed back, they pivoted to using the U.S. military. The Trump administration’s justification for the lethal attacks is that the U.S. is engaged in an armed conflict with “designated terrorist organizations.”
But many national security experts, both inside and outside of the administration, told the Post that this justification “does not stand up to facts.”
What’s more, many of the lawyers who raised concerns or attempted to institute guardrails had either left the government, or had been reassigned or removed from their positions. The National Security Council’s full-time legal staff was completely gutted by this summer, including former Pentagon general counsel Paul Ney, who had raised concerns about the legality of the strikes, according to former officials.
Meanwhile, over at the CIA, some people are worried about blowback from these covert operations, like with the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s.
“The question is, is it legal just to kill the guy if he’s not threatening to kill you and you’re outside an armed conflict? There are people who are simply uncomfortable with the president just declaring we’re at war with drug traffickers,” one former senior official told the Post.
The new report confirms what other top military lawyers have been saying: that Trump’s strikes against alleged drug boats could be considered extrajudicial killings.
Dem Lawmakers Get Bomb Threats
New Republic - Five out of the six Democratic lawmakers who urged the military to “refuse illegal orders” from the Trump administration have received bomb threats, as of Saturday. The new threats come after President Donald Trump accused the Dems of “seditious behavior” that was “punishable by death” in a post on Truth Social earlier this week.
Word
Jennifer Welch, MS NOW - JD Vance is married to a woman of Indian descent. He has mixed race children. So to all of the MAGA voters out there, if this man will not defend his wife and will not defend his kids, do you think he gives a crap about you?
November 22, 2025
Your unpredictable editor
Sam Smith - Given a birthday party coming up and a visit by one of my two sons, Undernews service may be less than normal through November 25.
The real rules about the military disobeying false orders
Mark Hertlin, The Bulwark - Here’s the truth, learned on the first day of service by every enlisted soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, guardian, and coast guardsman, and learned but sometimes not recognized by the young officers who first take the oath: There is not one military oath. There are two. And the differences between them explain exactly who is responsible for refusing illegal orders, why the system was designed that way, and what it means for this moment.
One reason the debate keeps going sideways is that the public keeps talking about “the military” as if it were a single, undifferentiated mass of people with identical obligations. It isn’t. The Constitution and Congress deliberately created two different oaths—one for enlisted personnel, and one for officers. That structure is not bureaucratic trivia; it is grounded on the bedrock American civil–military relations. Ignoring it leads to the misleading assumption that everyone in uniform bears equal responsibility when confronted with an unlawful command.
They don’t. And that distinction matters.
Enlisted members swear to support and defend the Constitution, and to “obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.” And the UCMJ makes crystal clear that the service member’s obligation is to obey “lawful” orders, and that no enlisted member is permitted to carry out an unlawful order. But the enlisted oath is also intentionally anchored in obedience of the chain of command. The accountability lies one level up.
Which brings us to the officer oath—shorter in words, heavier in weight. Officers swear to “support and defend” the Constitution; to “bear true faith and allegiance” to it; and to “well and faithfully discharge the duties” of their office. They also affirm that they “take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.” What they do not swear to do is equally important: Officers make no promise to obey the president and the officers above them.
That omission is not an oversight. Officers give orders, evaluate legality, and act as the constitutional circuit breakers the Founders intended. They are expected—by law, by professional ethic, and by centuries of tradition—to exercise independent judgment when presented with a questionable directive. Officers are duty-bound to refuse an unlawful order. It is not optional. It is not situational. It is their job.
One reason the debate keeps going sideways is that the public keeps talking about “the military” as if it were a single, undifferentiated mass of people with identical obligations. It isn’t. The Constitution and Congress deliberately created two different oaths—one for enlisted personnel, and one for officers. That structure is not bureaucratic trivia; it is grounded on the bedrock American civil–military relations. Ignoring it leads to the misleading assumption that everyone in uniform bears equal responsibility when confronted with an unlawful command.
They don’t. And that distinction matters.
Enlisted members swear to support and defend the Constitution, and to “obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.” And the UCMJ makes crystal clear that the service member’s obligation is to obey “lawful” orders, and that no enlisted member is permitted to carry out an unlawful order. But the enlisted oath is also intentionally anchored in obedience of the chain of command. The accountability lies one level up.
Which brings us to the officer oath—shorter in words, heavier in weight. Officers swear to “support and defend” the Constitution; to “bear true faith and allegiance” to it; and to “well and faithfully discharge the duties” of their office. They also affirm that they “take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.” What they do not swear to do is equally important: Officers make no promise to obey the president and the officers above them.
That omission is not an oversight. Officers give orders, evaluate legality, and act as the constitutional circuit breakers the Founders intended. They are expected—by law, by professional ethic, and by centuries of tradition—to exercise independent judgment when presented with a questionable directive. Officers are duty-bound to refuse an unlawful order. It is not optional. It is not situational. It is their job.
Immigrants
Washington Post - A federal judge on Friday blocked the Internal Revenue Service from sharing data with immigration enforcement officials, ruling that the tax agency violated federal law and the rights of tens of thousands of individuals in its attempt to participate in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
NBC News - A federal judge issued an order blocking the IRS from sharing taxpayer information with ICE.
Sharing food while eating out
Nice News - We often hear about how technology is driving us further apart, but according to a recent report, it may actually be bringing us closer together in
one area: eating out. After analyzing responses from 1,000 U.S. diners,
reservation platform Resy found that “dining in 2025 was all about
connection” — partially thanks to restaurants employing technology to enhance customer experience.
How exactly was this sense of connection reflected among patrons? One way was through shared plates, which Resy says are no longer “unique to tapas restaurants.” In fact, over 94% of respondents (and over 97% of Gen Z) said they’re likely to share their meal when eating out.
“Sharing food is one of the best ways to enjoy good company, especially at the kind of thoughtful restaurants this city does so well,” New York City restaurateur Steve Wong said in the Resy report. Ninety percent of Gen Z also enjoyed dining at communal tables, with 63% of those surveyed noting that they’re a great way to meet new people.
And helping restaurants streamline daily operations are innovative tech integrations, which automate manual processes and allow multiple systems to communicate without requiring staff assistance. “The goal is a more connected digital ecosystem that saves time, reduces friction, and creates more space for operators to focus on what hospitality is really about,” said Resy COO Junaid Shams. Learn more about this year’s dining trends, plus predictions for 2026.
How exactly was this sense of connection reflected among patrons? One way was through shared plates, which Resy says are no longer “unique to tapas restaurants.” In fact, over 94% of respondents (and over 97% of Gen Z) said they’re likely to share their meal when eating out.
“Sharing food is one of the best ways to enjoy good company, especially at the kind of thoughtful restaurants this city does so well,” New York City restaurateur Steve Wong said in the Resy report. Ninety percent of Gen Z also enjoyed dining at communal tables, with 63% of those surveyed noting that they’re a great way to meet new people.
And helping restaurants streamline daily operations are innovative tech integrations, which automate manual processes and allow multiple systems to communicate without requiring staff assistance. “The goal is a more connected digital ecosystem that saves time, reduces friction, and creates more space for operators to focus on what hospitality is really about,” said Resy COO Junaid Shams. Learn more about this year’s dining trends, plus predictions for 2026.
Climate change
Inside Climate News - Rachel Morello-Frosch, an environmental-health disparities expert at the University of California, Berkeley, and co-author on the study, has spent the past several years evaluating climate pollution’s likely impacts on low-lying industrial regions and vulnerable populations.
Burning fossil fuels makes flooding not only more destructive, by destabilizing the climate and supercharging waves, storms and high tides, but also more dangerous, by releasing toxic substances like petroleum and untreated sewage in the path of roiling floodwaters.
Morello-Frosch worries that toxic floodwaters are more likely to imperil low-income communities of color like Richmond because decades of discriminatory housing, lending and employment practices have left residents stuck living near polluting industries without the means to mitigate harm when disaster strikes.
To help communities and policymakers prepare for future threats, the research team conducted the first national assessment of unequal risks from flooded hazardous sites related to sea level rise. Of nearly 48,000 U.S. facilities that store, handle, produce or release harmful substances, they identified 5,500 that are likely to experience a 1-in-100-year flood event—that is, an uncommonly large flood that has a 1 percent chance of happening in any year—by 2100. Nearly 3,800 sites are likely to flood by 2050.
Curbing emissions would spare a few hundred sites by 2100, the team found. But past climate pollution has “locked in” projected flood risks over the short term.
“Over 5,000 facilities are projected to be at risk of a 1-in-100-year flooding event in 2100 if we don’t do anything, and we just learned that we’re failing to meet the 1.5 degree Celsius benchmark,” said Morello-Frosch, referring to the Paris Agreement target to avoid potentially irreversible effects of climate change.
About two dozen coastal states plus Puerto Rico are likely to see at least some hazardous facilities flood. But the vast majority of at-risk facilities are concentrated in just seven states. Topping the list is Louisiana, with its dense concentration of oil and gas wells, followed by Florida, New Jersey, Texas, California, New York and Massachusetts.
Inside Climate News reviewed temperature studies of heat conditions at Auburn University,
the University of Alabama and Mississippi State University, and
collected its own temperature measurements during two games in October,
one at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and the other at
University of Alabama at Birmingham.
An Inside Climate News analysis of data
from inside these southern stadiums found that temperatures can spike
for hours, from 10 to 16 degrees Fahrenheit higher than outside heat,
depending on the venue. Concrete surface temperatures in seating areas
of the Tuscaloosa stadium measured over 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
Those high temperatures had consequences. Auburn University averaged
well over 100 emergency calls per game in 2024, with the majority being
heat-related. Halfway through the 2025 season, Alabama was averaging 60
to 65 medical calls per game, with 50 to 75 percent of calls during day
games related to heat, according to interviews with medical personnel,
though university officials provided lower numbers.
NBC News - As representatives from nearly 200 nations wrapped up talks at the United Nations' COP30 climate summit, where the U.S. was not in attendance, the Trump administration introduced a series of proposals to roll back environmental protections and encourage fossil fuel drilling.
The U.N. Climate Change Conference ended yesterday in the Brazilian city of Belém, where delegates gathered to hammer out a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels, boost climate action and limit global warming.
For the first time in the summit's history, the U.S. — one of the top emitters of greenhouse gases — did not send a delegation. Instead, the Trump administration announced a plan to open up new oil drilling off the coasts of California and Florida for the first time in decades and proposed rule changes to weaken the Endangered Species Act and limit the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to protect wetlands and streams.
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THE STORY |
Politics
The Hill - Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the Trump administration will invest more than $2 billion in transportation projects across 45 states and Washington, D.C., that will support more than 2,400 buses nationwide.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., announced that she is resigning from her seat, following weeks of clashing with President Donald Trump, who officially withdrew his support for the House member, once one of his biggest allies in Washington.
Polls
Pew Research - Even as Americans increasingly turn to social media influencers and podcasts as sources of news, there has been little shift in how they prefer to get their information. Today, 44% prefer to watch the news, 37% prefer to read it and 19% prefer to listen to it.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans (63%) are highly confident that childhood vaccines are effective against serious illness. But there’s less certainty over whether these vaccines have been tested enough for safety (53%) and whether the vaccine schedule is safe (51%). The difference is largely driven by Republicans, who are divided between high and low confidence in vaccine safety.
As the holiday gift-giving season kicks off, the vast majority of U.S. adults (85%) say online scams are a problem on shopping sites, including 50% who call them a major problem. About a third of Americans (36%) say they’ve bought an item online that either never arrived or was counterfeit and was not refunded.
Trump and Mamdani find common ground
The Guardian - Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor-elect, walked out of their meeting on Friday afternoon with an unlikely alliance, agreeing to work together on housing, food prices and cost-of-living concerns that have defined both their political appeals to working-class voters.
“We agreed a lot more than I would have thought,” Trump said in the Oval Office, sometimes jumping in to shield Mamdani from aggressive questioning from the press.
The sit-down – which many had anticipated would be contentious, given months of intense rhetoric in which Trump branded Mamdani a “communist lunatic” – instead produced camaraderie, warm words and concrete pledges of cooperation between the Republican president and the self-described democratic socialist who secured a commanding electoral victory earlier at the beginning of November with over 50% of the vote.
“I feel very confident that he can do a very good job,” Trump said after the meeting, offering praise for his ideological opposite. “The better he does, the happier I am. I will say there’s no difference in party. There’s no difference in anything, and we’re going to be helping him to make everybody’s dream come true, having a strong and very safe New York.”
The president congratulated Mamdani on his mayoral victory, describing it as “an incredible race against smart people” – and the two politicians shook hands.
Trump added that he had already seen signs the young politician might surprise both conservative and liberal observers alike.
'You think President Trump is a fascist?': Donald Trump meets Zohran Mamdani – video
For Mamdani, the meeting represented vindication of his strategy to focus the discussion on economic issues rather than ideological divides. He described the meeting as “productive” and “focused on a place of shared admiration and love, which is New York City”.
“We spoke about rent, we spoke about groceries, we spoke about utilities, we spoke about the different ways in which people are being pushed out,” Mamdani told reporters after emerging from the Oval Office.
Trump added: “We had some interesting conversation, and some of his ideas really are the same ideas that I have.” He pointed to their agreement on lowering crime and building housing.
“We agreed a lot more than I would have thought,” Trump said in the Oval Office, sometimes jumping in to shield Mamdani from aggressive questioning from the press.
The sit-down – which many had anticipated would be contentious, given months of intense rhetoric in which Trump branded Mamdani a “communist lunatic” – instead produced camaraderie, warm words and concrete pledges of cooperation between the Republican president and the self-described democratic socialist who secured a commanding electoral victory earlier at the beginning of November with over 50% of the vote.
“I feel very confident that he can do a very good job,” Trump said after the meeting, offering praise for his ideological opposite. “The better he does, the happier I am. I will say there’s no difference in party. There’s no difference in anything, and we’re going to be helping him to make everybody’s dream come true, having a strong and very safe New York.”
The president congratulated Mamdani on his mayoral victory, describing it as “an incredible race against smart people” – and the two politicians shook hands.
Trump added that he had already seen signs the young politician might surprise both conservative and liberal observers alike.
'You think President Trump is a fascist?': Donald Trump meets Zohran Mamdani – video
For Mamdani, the meeting represented vindication of his strategy to focus the discussion on economic issues rather than ideological divides. He described the meeting as “productive” and “focused on a place of shared admiration and love, which is New York City”.
“We spoke about rent, we spoke about groceries, we spoke about utilities, we spoke about the different ways in which people are being pushed out,” Mamdani told reporters after emerging from the Oval Office.
Trump added: “We had some interesting conversation, and some of his ideas really are the same ideas that I have.” He pointed to their agreement on lowering crime and building housing.
Trump’s plan for Ukraine is a win-win for Russia
Nicholas Grossman, MS Now - It’s unclear if Trump administration officials genuinely think they could get Ukraine and Europe to surrender to the Russia-friendly deal they have proposed to end Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression. But after a year of leaning harder on Ukraine than Russia, it was unlikely the Trump administration would conduct a real pressure campaign against Moscow.
Instead, U.S. and Russian officials worked out a 28-point plan that calls on Ukraine to cede large swaths of territory — including some areas that Russia does not currently occupy — and permanently reduces Ukraine’s military capacity. Putin would merely agree to stop attacking and keep Russian troops out of a small demilitarized zone in areas Ukrainian forces withdraw from. Other rewards for Russian aggression include readmittance to the Group of Eight and an economic deal with the U.S.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the proposal as “an extremely difficult choice. Either the loss of dignity” — surrender to Russia — “or the risk of losing a key partner,” the United States. But with support from Europe, Ukraine will presumably reject at least parts of the proposal as nonstarters.
By talking directly to Russia without participation from Ukraine or its European backers, the Trump administration adopted Russia’s distorted frame of statecraft, as if Ukraine’s freedom is America’s to give away. MORE
November 21, 2025
Politics
Republicans against Trump - The House of Representatives voted 285–98 in favor of a resolution condemning socialism. Eighty-six Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the measure, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
NY Times -
President Trump plans to open 1.3 billion acres of U.S. waters to
drilling. It is one of his most significant steps yet to increase the
production of fossil fuels, as dozens of countries have been calling for
a phaseout of oil, gas and coal
The Hill - The Justice
Department reversed course late Thursday, alleging the full grand jury
did review the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey. The
change comes 24 hours after lead prosecutor Lindsey Halligan told a
judge that all jurors were not privy to the final revised document
displaying his charges.
The DNC took out a $15 million loan, an unusually large amount of debt for this point in the political calendar.
Washington Post -
In a stunning and hasty reversal, the U.S. Coast Guard announced late
Thursday that swastikas and nooses are prohibited hate symbols — erasing
an attempt to soften their definition after the plan elicited furious
backlash... In a memo to Coast Guard personnel, the service’s acting
commandant, Adm. Kevin Lunday, said the policy document issued late
Thursday night supersedes all previous guidance on the issue.
New US rules declare decency infringes on human rights
BBC - Countries enforcing race or gender diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies will now be at risk of the Trump administration deeming them as infringing on human rights.
The State Department is issuing the new rules to all US embassies and consulates involved in compiling its annual report on global human rights abuses.
The new instructions also deem countries that subsidise abortion or facilitate mass migration as infringing on human rights.
The changes, which the State Department says are intended to stop "destructive ideologies", have been condemned by rights campaigners who argue the Trump administration is re-defining long-established human rights principles to pursue ideological goals.
The changes reflect a major shift in Washington's established focus on global human rights protection, and signal the expansion into foreign policy of the Trump administration's domestic agenda on issues that have become a lightning rod of division in the US over recent years...
DEI policies were designed with the objective of improving outcomes for specific racial and identity-based groups. Since assuming office, US President Donald Trump has aggressively sought to terminate DEI and restore what he calls merit-based opportunity in the US.
The State Department is issuing the new rules to all US embassies and consulates involved in compiling its annual report on global human rights abuses.
The new instructions also deem countries that subsidise abortion or facilitate mass migration as infringing on human rights.
The changes, which the State Department says are intended to stop "destructive ideologies", have been condemned by rights campaigners who argue the Trump administration is re-defining long-established human rights principles to pursue ideological goals.
The changes reflect a major shift in Washington's established focus on global human rights protection, and signal the expansion into foreign policy of the Trump administration's domestic agenda on issues that have become a lightning rod of division in the US over recent years...
DEI policies were designed with the objective of improving outcomes for specific racial and identity-based groups. Since assuming office, US President Donald Trump has aggressively sought to terminate DEI and restore what he calls merit-based opportunity in the US.
Airports expect bad Thanksgiving weather
Newsweek - Millions of Americans traveling for Thanksgiving could face weather-related travel chaos, with an AccuWeather report warning of stormy weather that could disrupt flights across the country.
Thanksgiving travelers could endure delays as early as Saturday morning, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski told Newsweek, as a storm system begins to impact the central and southeastern part of the U.S., namely Nashville, Charlotte, and Atlanta.
Thanksgiving is historically one of the busiest travel periods in the United States, with the American Automobile Association (AAA) expecting a record of nearly 82 million Americans to travel 50 miles or more in 2025. With so many travelers relying on both airlines and major highways, forecasts of multiple storms threatening key airport hubs across the country raise the prospect of widespread travel disruptions, delays, and cancellations during a holiday period synonymous with reunions and busy airport terminals.
A broad and dynamic storm system originating in the Southwest is forecast to impact the central, southern, and eastern United States through Thanksgiving week, according to AccuWeather meteorologists. Forecasters anticipate heavy rain, severe thunderstorms, and periods of snow that are likely to disrupt both roadways and air traffic in several major regions at the height of holiday travel demand. The busiest travel days, traditionally the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving, fall in the forecast window for significant weather events.
Early in the week, heavy rain and mountain snow are predicted for California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado, with snow likely in higher elevations and possibly affecting the I-70 transportation corridor. As the storm tracks east, major airport cities—including Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, and Little Rock—could experience flight disruptions from gusty thunderstorms as soon as late Sunday and Monday.
Thanksgiving travelers could endure delays as early as Saturday morning, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski told Newsweek, as a storm system begins to impact the central and southeastern part of the U.S., namely Nashville, Charlotte, and Atlanta.
Thanksgiving is historically one of the busiest travel periods in the United States, with the American Automobile Association (AAA) expecting a record of nearly 82 million Americans to travel 50 miles or more in 2025. With so many travelers relying on both airlines and major highways, forecasts of multiple storms threatening key airport hubs across the country raise the prospect of widespread travel disruptions, delays, and cancellations during a holiday period synonymous with reunions and busy airport terminals.
A broad and dynamic storm system originating in the Southwest is forecast to impact the central, southern, and eastern United States through Thanksgiving week, according to AccuWeather meteorologists. Forecasters anticipate heavy rain, severe thunderstorms, and periods of snow that are likely to disrupt both roadways and air traffic in several major regions at the height of holiday travel demand. The busiest travel days, traditionally the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving, fall in the forecast window for significant weather events.
Early in the week, heavy rain and mountain snow are predicted for California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado, with snow likely in higher elevations and possibly affecting the I-70 transportation corridor. As the storm tracks east, major airport cities—including Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, and Little Rock—could experience flight disruptions from gusty thunderstorms as soon as late Sunday and Monday.
Immigration
NPR - A federal judge on Thursday ordered an end to the monthslong National Guard deployment in Washington, D.C. to tackle crime, declaring that the use of troops was "unlawful."
It's the latest legal resistance against President Trump's troop deployments in American cities as a means to suppress protests, combat crime or safeguard federal buildings and personnel, including ICE agents.
It comes just days after a Tennessee state judge issued a temporary block on the mobilization of Guard forces in Memphis, which was activated by the Tennessee governor at Trump's behest. Over the weekend, the Defense Department ordered hundreds of troops to leave Chicago and Portland, Ore. as federal courts kept those deployments at a stalemate.
The Intercept - The Intercept has learned that ICE is now considering hiring private bounty hunters to locate immigrants across the country. Meanwhile, ICE is building a sprawling network of privately operated detention camps and prisons — even as our reporting finds that their existing facilities offer life-threateningly little medical care for detainees.
Occupy Democrats - A Chinese immigrant is found dead in ICE custody with his hands and feet bound in a “hog-tied" position and they’re insisting that it was suicide.
Donald Trump
NBC News - President Donald Trump said that he's "not threatening death" toward a group of Democratic members of Congress whom a day earlier he accused of "seditious behavior," which he said was "punishable by death."
"I’m not threatening death, but I think they’re in serious trouble," he said of the Democrats, who had released a video urging members of the military not to follow illegal orders.
"I’m not threatening death, but I think they’re in serious trouble," he said of the Democrats, who had released a video urging members of the military not to follow illegal orders.
Ukraine
Axios - President Trump's peace plan for Ukraine includes a security guarantee modeled on NATO's Article 5, which would commit the U.S. and European allies to treat an attack on Ukraine as an attack on the entire "transatlantic community," according to a draft obtained by Axios' Barak Ravid....
Between the lines: The plan could open Trump to backlash with his America First allies, as it would effectively commit the U.S. military to defending Ukraine in the event of another war.
The intrigue: The 28-point plan U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll presented to Zelensky yesterday, which was obtained by Axios, says simply that "Ukraine will receive reliable security guarantees." But alongside it, the U.S. presented the Ukrainians with another draft agreement.
It states that any future "significant, deliberate, and sustained armed attack" by Russia on Ukraine "shall be regarded as an attack threatening the peace and security of the transatlantic community," and the U.S. and its allies will respond accordingly, including through military force. Go deeper
Bloomberg - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy agreed to work on a peace plan crafted by Russia and the US that would force Ukraine to cede key territory, abandon its NATO ambitions, and hold elections within 100 days. Greece’s prime minister called it “problematic” and the UK’s Keir Starmer said any proposal must have Kyiv’s consent. European leaders will hold a call with Zelenskiy to discuss the proposal.
Americans like vaccines
Axios - Poll after poll finds that majorities of Americans have a lot of confidence in vaccines. A Pew Research study out this week, for example, found that nearly two-thirds of Americans are extremely or very confident that childhood vaccines are highly effective at preventing serious illness. Just over half (51%) expressed confidence that the childhood vaccination schedule is safe, with another 23% saying they are "somewhat" confident.
Iowa City goes for free buses
| The City of Iowa City Government |
Nice News - From cost savings to environmental concerns, there’s much to be said for taking the bus. So, it’s easy to see why a growing number of cities are offering free public busing. Many of these initiatives are found in international locales like Luxembourg and Montpellier, France, but the concept has also taken root in Iowa City, a college town in America’s heartland.
The city of under 183,000 residents slashed bus fares in August 2023 as part of a two-year pilot program aimed at lowering emissions and encouraging more people to try alternative modes of transportation, per The New York Times. Although some community members were initially skeptical, it has since garnered immense support, prompting the City Council to extend the program for another year.
And the effect on the environment has been notable: The local government estimates annual carbon dioxide emissions in the city have decreased by 24,000 metric tons thanks to the surge in ridership. “The transit system is one of the greatest tools communities have to combat climate change and reduce emissions,” Darian Nagle-Gamm, Iowa City’s transportation director, told The Times. “You can make a pretty immediate impact.” Learn more about the program’s impact.?
How to deal with doubts about your therapist
Alice Rizzi - It’s not unusual to get a few sessions into therapy – or even more – and find that something doesn’t feel quite right. Maybe your therapist says something that doesn’t sit well with you. Maybe they don’t seem to ‘get’ you. You might leave your sessions feeling drained, or unheard. Or perhaps the doubts are quieter, but still you start to wonder: Is this person actually helping me?
Doubting whether your therapist is right for you can be uncomfortable and confusing, especially if you are new to therapy. You might feel guilty or disloyal for doubting them, or uncertain about whether your concerns are valid. But doubts are normal and worth paying attention to. In this Guide, I’ll help you approach them with curiosity and care so you can take the most informed next step.
As a clinical psychologist, I believe therapy should feel safe, supportive and genuinely helpful. If it doesn’t, it’s important to notice and honour your doubts. Sometimes talking about them with your therapist leads to greater clarity and connection; other times, your doubts help you recognise that a different therapist or approach might be a better fit. Either way, listening to these signals can guide you toward the kind of support you need to thrive.
When I speak to a potential therapy client for the first time, I always tell them: fit is paramount. ‘Fit’ refers to how well a therapist and client match in ways that foster trust, progress and wellbeing. It’s not about whether your therapist is perfect (no one is), but whether you feel seen, heard and supported in the ways that matter to you. More
Doubting whether your therapist is right for you can be uncomfortable and confusing, especially if you are new to therapy. You might feel guilty or disloyal for doubting them, or uncertain about whether your concerns are valid. But doubts are normal and worth paying attention to. In this Guide, I’ll help you approach them with curiosity and care so you can take the most informed next step.
As a clinical psychologist, I believe therapy should feel safe, supportive and genuinely helpful. If it doesn’t, it’s important to notice and honour your doubts. Sometimes talking about them with your therapist leads to greater clarity and connection; other times, your doubts help you recognise that a different therapist or approach might be a better fit. Either way, listening to these signals can guide you toward the kind of support you need to thrive.
When I speak to a potential therapy client for the first time, I always tell them: fit is paramount. ‘Fit’ refers to how well a therapist and client match in ways that foster trust, progress and wellbeing. It’s not about whether your therapist is perfect (no one is), but whether you feel seen, heard and supported in the ways that matter to you. More
Trump is taking aim at state AI laws
The Hill - President Trump is taking aim at state AI laws that his administration sees as threats to the growing industry and the U.S’s ability to dominate it.
The clash with state legislatures has long been brewing, as statehouses have forged ahead with efforts to rein in risks from the rapidly developing technology while the Trump White House decries excessive regulation it argues could stifle AI innovation.
However, even as the president largely focuses on laws from liberal states, the move is likely to anger both Democrats and Republicans, who previously found common ground in opposing a preemption push by Congress.
The clash with state legislatures has long been brewing, as statehouses have forged ahead with efforts to rein in risks from the rapidly developing technology while the Trump White House decries excessive regulation it argues could stifle AI innovation.
However, even as the president largely focuses on laws from liberal states, the move is likely to anger both Democrats and Republicans, who previously found common ground in opposing a preemption push by Congress.
Drug boats from Venezuela are mainly moving cocaine to Europe, expert say
NBC News - President Donald Trump and his Pentagon chief say U.S. military strikes on suspected drug boats in waters off Latin America are saving lives by preventing narcotics from reaching America’s shores. But drug cartels operating vessels in the Caribbean, where roughly 50% of the airstrikes have taken place, are mainly moving cocaine from South America to Europe — not to the United States, according to current and former U.S. law enforcement and military officials, as well as narcotics experts. And the deadliest drug of all, fentanyl, is almost exclusively smuggled over land from Mexico, the officials and experts say.
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