North America
North America
Joe Biden diagnosed with aggressive form of prostate cancer which has spread to his bones, the cancer is characterized by a Gleason score of 9 and appears to be hormone-sensitive, Biden and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians
Verizon ends DEI programs after FCC said they could factor into the review of its planned acquisition of Frontier Communications for USD 20 billion, the company's Chief Legal Officer Vandana Venkatesh comments that they recognize that some DEI policies and practices could be associated with discrimination
The Episcopal Church ends a nearly four-decades-old relationship with the federal government by refusing to resettle white Afrikaners from South Africa who have been classified as refugees by the Trump administration, presiding bishop Sean W Rowe comments that the church's steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and its historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa makes them unable to take this step and adds that they will wind down all federally funded services by the end of September but that they will continue to support immigrants and refugees in other ways
Several killed and multiple injured after car is driven into the Filipino Lapu Lapu street festival in Vancouver during Saturday evening after a set by rapper Apl.de.ap, witness describes the scene as a war zone, 30-year-old man arrested
Virginia Giuffre dead at 41 in suicide, accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault and was high-profile in the accusations against Jeffrey Epstein, was in a car crash in March where she went into renal failure and posted on social media that she had four days to live but was discharged from the hospital eight days later
US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr tasks HHS to launch a massive testing and research effort regarding why autism diagnoses have increased from 1 in 150 children in 2000 to 1 in 36 children in 2020, promises results by September
DOGE updates its taxpayer savings to USD 150 billion representing about USD 1,000 per taxpayer, has uploaded receipts for 30% of total savings on the website and is working to upload all of them, most savings generated by the Department of Health and Human Services
Growing number of illegal immigrants being smuggled out ot US by coyotes, legal deportation entails detention and a 10 year entry ban as well as lost possessions which the migrants hope to avoid
Utah becomes the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water with similar measures being considered in Florida, Ohio and South Carolina, the move follows water fluoridation skeptic Robert F Kennedy Jr being sworn in as health secretary and debate regarding possible risk to the intellectual development of children, the American Dental Association criticizes the law as being based on distorted pseudoscience and says the policy of adding fluoride is a proven public health policy which exists for the greater good of an entire community’s oral health
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that some 5,200 of USAID's 6,200 programs have been eliminated and that the review officially ends, says that tens of billions of dollars were spent in ways that did not serve and in some cases harmed the US core national interests, adds that the State Department will administer the remaining programs
Washington DC renames Black Lives Matter Plaza and paints over the yellow text covering the street, the decision follows a bill from Republican Andrew Clyde that would force a renaming and the text to be covered, Mayor Muriel Bowser says the mural inspired millions of people and helped the city through a very painful period but that focus must now be on economic growth and public safety
Donald Trump signs executive order designating English as the official language of the US, the order rescinds a Bill Clinton policy requiring agencies to provide assistance programs for people with limited English proficiency, comments that a nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society
The Trump administration orders Pentagon to identify and fire transgender members of military within 60 days, comments that individuals with gender dysphoria suffer from medical, surgical and mental health constraints and thus can't live up to the government's high standards for service member readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity
Elon Musk writes on X that all federal government employees will be receiving an email shortly where they will need to reply stating what they have been working on in the last week, adds that failure to respond will be taken as a resignation
Pentagon cuts 5,400 jobs as the first round in what will ultimately be a 5–8% reduction of the civilian workforce meaning more than 61,000 people out of the total 764,000 can lose their jobs, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth comments that only underperformers will be hit by the initial firings and that a hiring freeze will be instituted along with a top-to-bottom review of the civilian personnel needs
Pat King who was a key organizer of the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest against Covid-19 vaccine mandates in Ottawa sentenced to a 12-month sentence with nine months credit for time served in jail, is convicted for five of nine charges including mischief and counselling to commit mischief, Crown Prosecutor Moiz Karimjee asked for a 10-year sentence
The Trump administration gives America's schools and universities two weeks to eliminate diversity initiatives or risk losing federal money, comments that the aim is to correct rampant discrimination in education against predominantly white and Asian students
Two armed men shot by child during a home invasion in Kentucky, one man dead at the scene and the other died at the area hospital, the juvenile, who was a resident of the home, saw the men breaking into the house carrying firearms, retrieved a handgun and shot both men before escaping through a bedroom window, police investigate the action as self-defense, exact age of the child not given by the police
US Army bans people with gender dysphoria from enlisting and ends supporting gender-switching procedures effective immediately, between 9,000 and 12,000 troops suffering from gender dysphoria are estimated to be in the army
12% of Liberal women between ages of 18-40 reported being completely satisfied while 37% of conservative women said the same according to the 2024 American Family Survey, liberal women also nearly three times more likely than conservative women to say they experienced loneliness, sociology professor Brad Wilcox says conservative women tend to be more likely to embrace a sense of agency rather than act as a victim of larger structural forces and that they embrace gender differences and prioritze family which also contributes to happiness
All 67 involved presumed dead after an American Airlines passenger jet from Wichita and a military Black Hawk helicopter collided upon landing Wednesday night in Washington DC
4,577 migrants apprehended by Border Patrol agents during the previous seven days down from 10,281 one week earlier, US Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks says the enhanced border security measures are to credit for the decrease
Donald Trump ends the federal security detail for Anthony Fauci and John Bolton among others, says he feels no responsibility regarding potential harm towards them, adds that they made a lot of money and can hire their own security
Donald Trump pardons Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and calls his mother to let her know he signed the full and unconditional pardon in honor of her and the libertarian movement, calls the double life imprisonment plus 40 years sentence ridiculous
Donald Trump pardons approximately 1,500 defendants who were charged after the riot at the US Capitol, refers to them as J6 hostages, Nancy Pelosi calls it shameful and writes that we must always remember the hero police officers that ensured that democracy survived
Starbucks reverses open-door policy that was introduced in 2018 after two black men were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks with a policy where non-paying customers were asked to leave, company spokesperson Jaci Anderson says the new rules help prioritizing paying customers and that they can create a better environment for everyone by setting clear expectations for behavior, in 2022 Starbucks closed 16 stores around the country of which six in Los Angeles due to repeated safety issues
Amazon cuts DEI and LGBTQ program as Trump nears his return to the White House, follows similar recent adjustments by for instance McDonald's and Meta, mentions regarding the company's work at the federal and state level on legislation on protections for transgender people as well as its stand in solidarity with black employees and customers removed from its webpage
Justin Trudeau announces he will resign as Canada's prime minister and as leader of the Liberal Party as soon as his party selects a new leader, has been criticized both externally and within his party with declining popularity culminating in the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland in December, has governed the country since 2015
Joe Biden bans new offshore oil and gas drilling in most US coastal waters, uses the authority of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act which requires an act of Congress to repeal, Donald Trump's spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt calls it a disgraceful decision that shows that Biden clearly wants high gas prices to be his legacy and adds that the Trump administration will "drill, baby, drill"
Joe Biden honors George Soros and Hillary Clinton with the Nation's highest civilian honor the Presidential Medal of Freedom, notes that he belives great leaders put decency above all else and made America and the world a better place, Robert F. Kennedy and Argentinian soccer player Lionel Messi also among the 19 recipients
One dead and seven injured after explosion in a Tesla Cybertruck outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Elon Musk comments on X that they have confirmed that the explosion was caused by something carried in the bed of the car and is unrelated to the vehicle itself, the event is being investigated as a potential terror attack
At least 10 dead and dozens killed in New Orleans after 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar drove a pickup through a New Years Eve crowd while firing a gun, police shot and killed the man as he exited his vehicle brandishing a gun, motive and possible ISIS connections under investigation
US Treasury workstations breached by hackers using third-party software BeyondTrust, US attributes the incident to a Chinese state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat actor while China comments that such accusations are groundless and that the country has always opposed all forms of cyberattacks
Jimmy Carter dead at 100, was the 39th US president 1977–1981 and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, died in his home in Georgia surrounded by his family – is survived by 4 children, 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, his wife for 77 years Rosalynn died in November 2023
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signs the Climate Change Superfund Act bill where the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases between 2000 and 2018 will be fined to contribute to the cost of repairs due to climate change, the state now needs to formulate rules regarding how to identify and notify responsible parties as well as create a system to determine which infrastructure projects will be paid for by the fund
11 Chicago area minor teenagers hit with felony charges after allegedly using dating apps to lure and then beat two men in two separate acts inspired by a social media trend, charges include hate crimes as racial and other derogatory terms were used during the attack, the police asks parents to talk to their children about the seriousness of participating in social media trends
Florida man shoots and kills a masked illegal Mexican migrant who broke into his house and scares away his illegal Chilean accomplice, Sheriff Rick Wells says you should expect to be shot if you break into someone's home in Florida, the Chilean man has been caught and could be charged with felony murder since his cohort died
Married gay couple William and Zachary Zulock in Georgia sentenced to 100 years in prison without the possibility of parole for sodomizing their young adoptive sons and providing videos of the abuse to other pedophiles, the couple who adopted the children from Christian agency All God's Children also tried to adopt a two-year-old girl in 2021
Guatemalan illegal migrant accused of burning a woman to death on the New York subway, first entered the US illegally at the Arizona border in 2018 but was deported back home within days before entering again, lived in a tax-funded hotel converted into a migrant shelter since April 2023
Ontario town Emo seeks judicial review after being ordered to pay USD 15,000 to Borderland Pride for not observing Pride Month, Mayor Harold McQuaker who was ordered to take sensitivity training comments that they don't fly flags for straight people either, Borderland Pride says they unequivocally condemn this mayor and council and that they will vigorously defend the rights of all 2SLGBTQIA+ people
FAA extends New Jersey's drone ban to parts of New York, New York governor, Kathy Hochul says the overflight ban includes critical infrastructure sites and that the action is purely precautionary as there are no threats to the sites, US Department of Homeland Security spokesperson says there is no public safety threat relating to the reported drone sightings and the government has said most sightings appear to be of either airplanes or helicopters
Joe Biden forgives USD 4.28 billion in student debt for 54,900 borrowers who work in public service, has forgiven record amounts of student debt with nearly USD 180 billion for 4.9 million people
The White House hid Joe Biden's mental decline from Day 1 of his presidency, shielded him from the public and rearranged his schedule after scatterbrained performances, removed reports about the public's opinion of his job performance and hired a voice coach to try to improve his faint tone, according to a Wall Street Journal report
US eradicates the invasive Asian giant hornet five years after it was found in the country, the 5-cm-long hornet can kill an entire hive of honeybees in 90 minutes, the Entomological Society of America started calling the species Northern giant hornet in 2022 to avoid evoking fear or discrimination
US Bureau of Prisons pays USD 115 million to 103 women who were sexually abused by staff at Federal Correctional Institution Dublin in California, the assault at the women's institution, which was known internally as the rape club, was pervasive and widely documented, seven former Dublin employees including the warden and the chaplain have been criminally convicted of sexual crimes and more than 20 other employees are under investigation, the prison was permanently closed earlier in December
Belleville, New Jersey, Mayor Michael Melham says unidentified drones could be searching for radioactive material that went missing in a Port Newark shipment on December 2nd, comments that they have gotten very little information from the White House and that depending on point of view it could be either concerning or comforting with such assets over critical infrastructure
Judge orders attorney to refer to convicted male rapist Tremaine Carroll as a woman, 51-year-old Carroll who was formerly incarcerated in a women's prison is charged with two felony counts of forcible rape and one count of dissuading a witness in January 2024, District Attorney Eric DuTemple initially objected to Carroll's wishes but after the rapist filed a brief the judge ruled DuTemple must use she/her pronouns
Widespread reporting about unidentified large drones over New Jersey and New York last few weeks, the White House has ruled out foreign adversaries and hobbyists as the cause, the drones that gather in clusters at night and fly with their lights off have been spotted over military research facility Picatinny Arsenal and Donald Trump's golf course in Bedminster as well as around around critical infrastructure including water reservoirs and electrical transmission lines
Black former stripper Crystal Mangum who ignited a firestorm in 2006 by accusing three white lacrosse players from Duke University of rape says she made the whole story up in hope of getting validation, comments that it was wrong of her to testify falsely and that she hopes that the men forgive her, the interview took place at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women where Mangum serves time for a 2013 second-degree murder conviction for stabbing her boyfriend
Joe Biden pardons 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes and commutes the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the Covid-19 pandemic, says more steps in the weeks ahead and that America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances, largest single-day act of clemency in modern history before Barack Obama's 330 shortly before leaving office in 2017
Quebec Premier François Legault says he's looking at banning prayer in schools and other public places, comments that he wants to send a very clear message to Islamists that the province will fight against any disrespect of its fundamental values and that he definitely will not tolerate teachers bringing Islamist religious concepts into schools
26-year-old Luigi Mangione arrested suspected of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel last week, is referred to as an anti-capitalist Ivy League grad who liked online quotes from Ted Kaczynski, was caught with a gun and a manifesto railing against US healthcare industry
Daniel Penny acquitted of criminally negligent homicide for subduing and holding down the mentally ill drug addict Jordan Neely on a New York City subway train in May 2023, dividing case as the 26-year-old former marine Penny is white and the former Michael Jackson impersonator Neely was black – forensic pathologist hired by the defense testified that Neely died from a combination of his schizophrenia, synthetic marijuana, sickle cell trait and the struggle from being restrained
Manslaughter charge against Daniel Penny dismissed, Penny restrained the mentally ill drug addict Jordan Neely who made threats on the New York subway in May 2023 and held him in a chokehold until police arrived, polarized debate regarding the case where Black Lives Matter protesters has taken Neely's side while others have praised Penny's efforts to protect others, charge of criminally negligent homicide remains where the maximum penalty is four years in prison
American right-wing pundit Nick Fuentes facing battery charge after allegedly pepper spraying and pushing a 57-year-old woman who confronted him at his home in Illinois regarding an abortion-related X post stating "Your body, my choice. Forever.", the woman had no visible physical injuries but watery eyes according to the police report, Fuentes personal information and pictures of his house began circulating on social media after the post went viral gaining 100 million views
Dinesh D'Souza: My film 2000 Mules falsely identified people as ballot harvesters based on video footage provided by the organization True the Vote on false premises, I apologize for this but still stand by the film's basic message that there was systematic election fraud in the 2020 presidential election
Justin Trudeau promises Donald Trump to increase border surveillance, the promise follows Trump's threat to slap tariffs on Canadian imports unless the country prevents illegal immigrants and drugs from crossing the border, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says they will redeploy personnel as well as adding additional drones and police helicopters
Joe Biden pardons his son Hunter Biden who was convicted of gun crimes and pleaded guilty to tax crimes, the president has previously consistently said he will not pardon the son, now says he hopes Americans will understand why a father comes to such a decision
Trump appoints Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy as leaders of DOGE, the project to dismantle red tape, reduce regulations and restructure agencies, will work until July 4, 2026 and Musk hopes to reduce government spending by at least 2 trillion dollars, which is 30% of the current federal budget
Elon Musk is working closely with Donald Trump since the election, attending numerous meetings, including with international leaders, anonymous longtime Trump associates concerned about Musk's dominant role in the transition team and his constant presence at Mar-a-Lago