December 17, 2025
SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being SDG 4: Quality Education

Powerball Jackpot Nears $1.25 Billion — What Winning Really Means (and What You Should Know Before Claiming It)

The Powerball jackpot is on track to climb to an estimated $1.25 billion if no ticket matches all six numbers, making it one of the largest jackpots in American history. The annuity value — the official advertised total based on scheduled annual payments — could reach that level, while the one-time cash value is expected […]

Read More
GLOBAL SPEAK

Targeted Antisemitic Mass Shooting Kills Dozens in Sydney

A horrific mass shooting and terrorist attack took place on 14 December 2025 at Archer Park next to Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, during a Hanukkah festival, resulting in one of the deadliest acts of violence in the nation’s modern history. The assault occurred as thousands of people were gathered for a “Chanukah by the […]

Read More
GLOBAL SPEAK

Charlie Kirk Assassination Case Tests Media Access, Fair Trial Rights, and a Fractured Political Climate

The man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk has made his first in-person court appearance, marking a new phase in one of the most politically charged criminal cases in recent U.S. history. The hearing in Provo, Utah, was less about the underlying facts of the killing and more about a fundamental tension: how to […]

Read More
GLOBAL SPEAK

Arkansas Cuts Ties With PBS, Becoming the First U.S. State to Withdraw From the Network

Arkansas is poised to become the first state in the nation to sever its long-standing relationship with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), effective July 1. The move follows a decision by the state’s public broadcaster, Arkansas PBS, to formally withdraw from the national system after months of political tension, funding disputes, and disagreements over editorial […]

Read More
POLITICS, TECHNOLOGY & THE HUMANITIES SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

ICE, Profit, and Impunity: What Growing Abuses Mean for Public Safety and Accountability

In the last year, a series of stories about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have gone viral: a pregnant woman forced to labor under a non-removable tracking watch; a U.S. citizen of Somali origin tackled and choked on a Minneapolis sidewalk; an ICE supervisor jailed for alleged domestic violence; and a massive new deportation […]

Read More
GLOBAL SPEAK

South Carolina Measles Outbreak Accelerates, Driving Hundreds Into Quarantine

Key Points Background & Context Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 due to high vaccination coverage, but recent years have seen a resurgence of the virus, particularly in communities with low immunization rates. Declining vaccination coverage—reported around 90–90.5% in parts of Upstate South Carolina—has made local populations vulnerable to outbreaks. Across […]

Read More
POLITICS, TECHNOLOGY & THE HUMANITIES SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

DOT Waives Final Portion of Southwest Airlines Fine After 2022 Holiday Meltdown

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has waived the final $11 million portion of a civil penalty previously levied against Southwest Airlines for its massive operational breakdown during a severe winter storm in December 2022. The waiver affects part of a $35 million payment the airline owed to the U.S. Treasury under a 2023 settlement […]

Read More
GLOBAL SPEAK

Waymo Faces Federal Scrutiny After Reports of AVs Passing Stopped School Buses

Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous ride-hailing subsidiary, is preparing to file a voluntary software recall after a series of incidents in which its driverless taxis reportedly illegally passed stopped school buses. The move follows a growing federal investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which opened an inquiry in October after a media report showed […]

Read More
GLOBAL SPEAK

Supreme Court Allows Texas to Use Redrawn Congressional Map

Overview of the Ruling The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6–3 decision along ideological lines, granted Texas permission to use a newly redrawn congressional map that could add up to five Republican-leaning districts for the 2026 midterms. The unsigned order lifts a lower court ruling that had blocked the map due to concerns that the […]

Read More
GLOBAL SPEAK

Venezuela and Why Trump Targeting

1. What’s actually happening right now From today’s reporting: So, officially: it’s a counter-drug / counter-terror operation. But the scale (carrier group, thousands of troops, airspace rhetoric) looks, to many analysts, more like coercive pressure on a government than a typical drug-interdiction campaign. 2. Official justification: Drugs, terrorism, and “protecting Americans” The Trump administration’s stated […]

Read More