"Worldwide, this year is the first in decades that early childhood deaths will increase, the Gates Foundation recently reported. Researchers said a key factor is the cuts to foreign aid."
After Trump Officials Cut Food Aid to Kenya, Children Starved to Death
“Brutal and traumatizing”: Interviews and a trove of internal documents show government officials and aid workers desperately tried to warn Trump advisers about impending disaster and death.
www.propublica.org
December 17, 2025 at 2:25 PM
"Worldwide, this year is the first in decades that early childhood deaths will increase, the Gates Foundation recently reported. Researchers said a key factor is the cuts to foreign aid."
"By the 2024 elections, that effort appeared complete, with the judicial opposition to [Saied's] rule that remained, in the shape of the administrative court, rendered subservient to his personally appointed electoral authority, and the most serious rivals for the presidency jailed."
False spring: The end of Tunisia’s revolutionary hopes?
Fifteen years after revolution took hold, little remains of the hopes that ignited a region.
www.aljazeera.com
December 17, 2025 at 1:59 PM
"By the 2024 elections, that effort appeared complete, with the judicial opposition to [Saied's] rule that remained, in the shape of the administrative court, rendered subservient to his personally appointed electoral authority, and the most serious rivals for the presidency jailed."
"The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that deputies didn’t witness any attacks on agents or any injured agents. Deputies helped agents leave the scene but did not make any arrests themselves or deploy any chemical munitions, according to the statement."
ICE agents call for backup during Minneapolis traffic stop, bystanders hurl insults and snowballs
Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a call for help from an agent who said 60 to 70 “agitators” were “fighting them.”
www.mprnews.org
December 16, 2025 at 2:20 PM
"The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that deputies didn’t witness any attacks on agents or any injured agents. Deputies helped agents leave the scene but did not make any arrests themselves or deploy any chemical munitions, according to the statement."
"Next year, without the more generous subsidies, those in the lowest income brackets will pay at least 2.1% of their household income toward their premiums, with the highest earners paying nearly 10%."
ACA shoppers face sticker shock as Congress dithers on health care
With subsidies that help consumers pay their health insurance premiums set to expire, health care shoppers face staggering prices. Lawmakers are running out of time to agree on a solution.
www.npr.org
December 16, 2025 at 2:13 PM
"Next year, without the more generous subsidies, those in the lowest income brackets will pay at least 2.1% of their household income toward their premiums, with the highest earners paying nearly 10%."
"“At the front line of all of these things, beauty must still exist,” [Yang] added. “Otherwise, I would die. The beauty must be there. There has to be a place for the calm in all of the stormy skies that we’re under, and that’s what writing allows me.”"
Kao Kalia Yang gives voice to Hmong experience at the Ordway
Things to do in the Twin Cities this weekend: Kao Kalia Yang reads her children’s books at the Ordway; the Guthrie stages a West Side Story-inspired play; and two exhibits put the American dream under...
sahanjournal.com
December 15, 2025 at 2:26 PM
"“At the front line of all of these things, beauty must still exist,” [Yang] added. “Otherwise, I would die. The beauty must be there. There has to be a place for the calm in all of the stormy skies that we’re under, and that’s what writing allows me.”"
""Transgender people are significantly less likely to be the actors of these horrible (shooting) events that we’ve seen … To target transgender people is just an opportunist move to try to come after us and our rights. So I have been really afraid since they have started talking about this.""
Wisconsinite shares why nonbinary 'X' on IDs matters amid Trump rule changes
A trans Middleton person has used the nonbinary X on IDs to better reflect their identity and appearance. The Trump administration is now requiring people to use the gender they were originally assign...
www.wpr.org
December 14, 2025 at 2:35 PM
""Transgender people are significantly less likely to be the actors of these horrible (shooting) events that we’ve seen … To target transgender people is just an opportunist move to try to come after us and our rights. So I have been really afraid since they have started talking about this.""
"Learning from his previous two failed presidential runs, Kast has avoided topics that fire up his critics — such as his German-born father’s Nazi past, nostalgia for Pinochet’s dictatorship and opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion."
Chile holds an election that could deliver its most right-wing president since dictatorship
Chile is voting in a runoff presidential election between communist former labor minister Jeannette Jara and arch-conservative former lawmaker José Antonio Kast.
apnews.com
December 14, 2025 at 2:27 PM
"Learning from his previous two failed presidential runs, Kast has avoided topics that fire up his critics — such as his German-born father’s Nazi past, nostalgia for Pinochet’s dictatorship and opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion."
Reposted by Adam Dierksmeier
In case you have never seen this.
December 13, 2025 at 10:38 PM
In case you have never seen this.
"Teachers unions have been outspoken opponents of Republican policies in Utah and other states where lawmakers have sought to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, expand school choice vouchers and restrict transgender bathroom use and sports participation in schools."
Utah repeals ban on collective bargaining for teachers, firefighters and police unions
Utah has repealed a collective bargaining ban that prevented labor unions serving teachers, firefighters, police and other public employees from negotiating on behalf of their workers.
apnews.com
December 13, 2025 at 12:18 PM
"Teachers unions have been outspoken opponents of Republican policies in Utah and other states where lawmakers have sought to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, expand school choice vouchers and restrict transgender bathroom use and sports participation in schools."
"The left defends the preservation of memorial sites as a kind of “never again” etched in stone, as well as the continued pursuit of justice. Right-wing politicians... believe that what they consider to be old wounds have already healed, or they’ve outright defended the legacy of the dictatorship."
All the horror of Pinochet’s dictatorship fits on a mother-of-pearl button
The memory of state repression has divided Chilean society ahead of the presidential runoff on Sunday, in which the far-right candidate, José Antonio Kast, is the favorite
english.elpais.com
December 13, 2025 at 12:08 PM
"The left defends the preservation of memorial sites as a kind of “never again” etched in stone, as well as the continued pursuit of justice. Right-wing politicians... believe that what they consider to be old wounds have already healed, or they’ve outright defended the legacy of the dictatorship."
"...(E)xperts estimate more than 270,000 Wisconsinites rely on the enhanced premium tax credit to make insurance more affordable. It will expire at the end of the month without intervention."
‘We don’t turn anyone away’: Wisconsin’s free clinics fill gaps as thousands expected to go uninsured
Free and charitable clinics brace for a surge in patients due to spiking Affordable Care Act premiums and the expiration of a crucial tax credit.
wisconsinwatch.org
December 12, 2025 at 12:15 PM
"...(E)xperts estimate more than 270,000 Wisconsinites rely on the enhanced premium tax credit to make insurance more affordable. It will expire at the end of the month without intervention."
""Banning the word 'disability' from Head Start is morally repugnant and a violation of federal law," says Jacqueline Rodriguez of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. "No administration can claim to support children with disabilities while banning the very word that protects them.""
Head Start centers told to avoid 'disability,' 'women' and more in funding requests
New court documents reveal a list of nearly 200 words or phrases the Trump administration told Head Start programs it does not want to see in their funding requests.
www.npr.org
December 12, 2025 at 11:59 AM
""Banning the word 'disability' from Head Start is morally repugnant and a violation of federal law," says Jacqueline Rodriguez of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. "No administration can claim to support children with disabilities while banning the very word that protects them.""
"...(A)t a time when there have even been threats to eliminate birthright citizenship, and when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained naturalized citizens, the only certainty is that no immigrant is safe."
Trump’s new restrictions leave no migrant safe: ‘Being a legal resident in the US is being a second-class citizen’
The administration is cornering migrants with the suspension of applications for citizenship, residency, asylum, duration of work permits, and even threats of frozen bank accounts
english.elpais.com
December 12, 2025 at 11:49 AM
"...(A)t a time when there have even been threats to eliminate birthright citizenship, and when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained naturalized citizens, the only certainty is that no immigrant is safe."
"Wisconsin tribes have also taken steps to recognize the rights of nature. In 2018, the Ho-Chunk Nation became the first tribe in the country to amend its constitution to include the rights of nature."...
GOP bill would ban local 'rights of nature' ordinances
A Wisconsin Senate committee held a public hearing on a Republican bill that would bar local governments from passing ordinances that grant legal rights to natural resources.
www.wpr.org
December 10, 2025 at 3:37 PM
"Wisconsin tribes have also taken steps to recognize the rights of nature. In 2018, the Ho-Chunk Nation became the first tribe in the country to amend its constitution to include the rights of nature."...
"The first Somalis to be directly resettled from refugee camps in Africa to Minnesota were largely people from Mogadishu who began arriving in 1996. The large influx of Southeast Asian refugees in the 1970s and ’80s paved the way for Somali resettlement in Minnesota,..."
How Minnesota became the center of the Somali diaspora
Minnesota is home to more than 80,000 ethnic Somalis, the largest community outside of Africa.
sahanjournal.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
"The first Somalis to be directly resettled from refugee camps in Africa to Minnesota were largely people from Mogadishu who began arriving in 1996. The large influx of Southeast Asian refugees in the 1970s and ’80s paved the way for Somali resettlement in Minnesota,..."
"Looking beyond strict economic inequality, it found that inequality of opportunity fuels inequality of outcomes, with education spending per child in Europe and North America, for example, more than 40 times that in sub-Saharan Africa – a gap roughly three times greater than GDP per capita."
Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds
Data from World Inequality Report also showed top 10% of income-earners earn more than the other 90%
www.theguardian.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:13 PM
"Looking beyond strict economic inequality, it found that inequality of opportunity fuels inequality of outcomes, with education spending per child in Europe and North America, for example, more than 40 times that in sub-Saharan Africa – a gap roughly three times greater than GDP per capita."
"In fact, if every billionaire were left with only a billion dollars to their name, the rest of their seized wealth would be enough to cover the amount UN experts believe is needed to end world extreme poverty for the next 196 years."
What if…. we abolished billionaires?
Experts tell Al Jazeera what would happen if the world decided to downgrade its richest residents.
www.aljazeera.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:01 PM
"In fact, if every billionaire were left with only a billion dollars to their name, the rest of their seized wealth would be enough to cover the amount UN experts believe is needed to end world extreme poverty for the next 196 years."
Reposted by Adam Dierksmeier
Remember when people said that his supporters weren't racist.... or that racism wasn't "salient" to understanding them.
Trump: "Ilhan Omar, whatever the hell her name is. With her little turban. I love her. She comes in, does nothing but bitch ... we ought to get her the hell out ... she's here illegally."
The crowd in Pennsylvania then starts chanting "send her back!"
The crowd in Pennsylvania then starts chanting "send her back!"
December 10, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Remember when people said that his supporters weren't racist.... or that racism wasn't "salient" to understanding them.
"Refugee assistance groups and food banks across Wisconsin have sounded the alarm about the ban. Nearly 8,000 refugees and asylees have settled in the state over the past decade, federal data show, and resettlement organizations note many rely on FoodShare as they find their footing."
Refugee advocates brace for impact from federal limits on food aid
Aid groups wonder how long Wisconsin refugees and asylees will continue receiving FoodShare now that a Trump ban on assistance has taken effect.
wisconsinwatch.org
December 9, 2025 at 3:18 PM
"Refugee assistance groups and food banks across Wisconsin have sounded the alarm about the ban. Nearly 8,000 refugees and asylees have settled in the state over the past decade, federal data show, and resettlement organizations note many rely on FoodShare as they find their footing."
"The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship fund was created in 1989 to fund land conservation in Wisconsin. The program provides grants to local governments and non-profits to cover some of the costs for purchasing and conserving land that can be used for recreation, preserving animal habitats..."
‘Just don’t kill it’: Wisconsin land trusts face 2026 expiration of Knowles-Nelson stewardship fund • Wisconsin Examiner
Wisconsin's Knowles-Nelson stewardship program is set to expire next year, putting conservation projects across the state at risk.
wisconsinexaminer.com
December 9, 2025 at 3:08 PM
"The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship fund was created in 1989 to fund land conservation in Wisconsin. The program provides grants to local governments and non-profits to cover some of the costs for purchasing and conserving land that can be used for recreation, preserving animal habitats..."
"If confirmed, this would mark the first time global average temperatures have exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius for three consecutive years since humans began burning fossil fuels on an industrial scale during the 1850–1900 pre-industrial period, C3S said."
2025 set for second-hottest year on record – DW – 12/09/2025
This year is expected to match 2023 as one of the warmest on record, second only to 2024, EU scientists warn. They cite greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels as the main cause of global warming.
www.dw.com
December 9, 2025 at 2:50 PM
"If confirmed, this would mark the first time global average temperatures have exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius for three consecutive years since humans began burning fossil fuels on an industrial scale during the 1850–1900 pre-industrial period, C3S said."
"It’s not ancient history. Today, sheriffs today routinely—though not uniformly—reinforce social hierarchies in how they enforce the law. They’re overwhelmingly white (91%), male (98%) and significantly more conservative than the populations they serve."
The Myth of the Constitutional Sheriff
How Richard Mack led the rise off the constitutional sheriff movement, one of the most serious threats to American democracy since the Civil War.
barnraisingmedia.com
December 8, 2025 at 3:05 PM
"It’s not ancient history. Today, sheriffs today routinely—though not uniformly—reinforce social hierarchies in how they enforce the law. They’re overwhelmingly white (91%), male (98%) and significantly more conservative than the populations they serve."
"“It confirms what we already knew — this was not about public safety, it’s about stoking chaos and fear and terrorizing communities,” said state Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat who represents New Orleans. “It’s furthering a sick narrative of stereotypes that immigrants are violent.”"
Records reviewed by AP detail online monitoring, arrests in New Orleans immigration crackdown
State and federal authorities are monitoring online criticism and protests against the immigration crackdown in New Orleans.
apnews.com
December 8, 2025 at 2:37 PM
"“It confirms what we already knew — this was not about public safety, it’s about stoking chaos and fear and terrorizing communities,” said state Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat who represents New Orleans. “It’s furthering a sick narrative of stereotypes that immigrants are violent.”"
"[UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher]said 2025 saw hunger surge, with food budgets cut even as “famines hit parts of Sudan and Gaza.” Health systems “broke apart,” disease outbreaks rose, and millions lost access to food, medical care and protection."...
Global humanitarian crisis worsens, UN seeks $23 Billion for 2026 | Africanews
The humanitarian system is overstretched, underfunded and under attack, the United Nations Humanitarian chief warned on Monday, as he launched an appeal for $23 billion for 2026.
www.africanews.com
December 8, 2025 at 2:02 PM
"[UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher]said 2025 saw hunger surge, with food budgets cut even as “famines hit parts of Sudan and Gaza.” Health systems “broke apart,” disease outbreaks rose, and millions lost access to food, medical care and protection."...