Lucas Pinheiro Braathen secured the giant slalom gold medal in a dramatic fashion at the Stelvio Ski Centre. This historic victory marks Braathen as the first Brazilian and South American to achieve a Winter Games medal. His performance, driven by instinct and a desire to ski authentically, secured him a combined time of 2:25.00, ahead of Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt and Loïc Meillard.
A Jan. 6 rioter, Andrew Paul Johnson, who received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump, has been convicted of serious child sex offenses in Florida. Johnson was found guilty by a jury on five charges, including molesting minors and transmitting harmful materials electronically. Prosecutors stated Johnson attempted to use an anticipated financial payout from the Trump administration as a way to silence one of his victims. Johnson faces a potential life sentence when he is sentenced in March.
Fueled by former President Trump’s calls for stricter voting measures and concerns about election integrity, a House-passed bill requiring proof of citizenship and photo ID for voting now heads to the Senate. Despite Trump’s assertion that he will implement national voter ID requirements via executive order if Congress fails to act, the bill faces significant hurdles in the Senate, where Democrats vow to block its passage. Critics argue the legislation, dubbed the SAVE America Act, could disenfranchise voters and serve as a pretext for election interference, while proponents maintain it is essential for securing election outcomes.
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Donald Trump has reportedly expressed anger towards Republican Senators Tim Scott and Katie Britt for their public condemnation of a racist video featuring the Obamas as apes, which was posted to his Truth Social account. Despite public rebukes from across the political spectrum, Trump privately complained about Scott’s public criticism, suggesting the matter could have been handled privately. Trump also reportedly lashed out at Britt, though her office has denied claims of a strained relationship and asserted her continued strong alliance with the former president. Trump himself has refused to apologize, claiming he did not see the entirety of the video and thus made no mistake in posting it.
Long-range strikes by the SSU’s Special Operations Centre Alpha have significantly degraded Russia’s air defense capabilities in 2025. Notably, half of Russia’s modern Pantsir surface-to-air artillery and missile systems, valued between US$15 million and US$20 million each, were destroyed. This strategic action aims to dismantle enemy air defenses, creating corridors for Ukrainian forces to strike targets deep within Russian rear areas, including military bases and airfields. The overall value of Russian air defense systems eliminated by Alpha in 2025 is estimated at approximately US$4 billion.
Newly released documents from the U.S. Department of Justice reveal that Steve Bannon, former White House adviser to President Trump, discussed strategies with Jeffrey Epstein to undermine Pope Francis. Bannon expressed a desire to “take down” the pontiff, whom he viewed as an opponent to his nationalist populist vision. The messages suggest Bannon sought Epstein’s assistance in potentially adapting a book critical of the Vatican into a film, indicating an attempt to use faith for strategic political ends.
Since taking the helm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has aimed to restore public trust by changing federal health policies, including scaling back immunization guidance. However, these actions have drawn criticism from top medical groups who argue the changes are not science-based, leading to increased confusion. Despite Kennedy’s stated goal of promoting transparency to empower individual health choices, surveys indicate a decline in trust towards federal health agencies like the CDC. This erosion of confidence, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and Kennedy’s past promotion of vaccine misinformation, raises concerns among medical professionals about a potential surge in preventable illnesses.
Amazon has canceled its planned partnership with Flock Safety for its Ring doorbell cameras, which would have allowed customers to share video with police through the “Community Requests” program. This decision comes after a controversial Ring advertisement aired during the Super Bowl, which some interpreted as promoting surveillance capabilities that could infringe on privacy. Despite the cancellation, Ring’s “Community Requests” feature remains active through a partnership with another police surveillance company, Axon.
The President’s rally at Fort Bragg adhered to a predictable format, commencing with the iconic entrance to “God Bless the USA.” During his address, he championed Republican candidates, criticized the former president, and urged attendees to support the GOP in the midterm elections. The event concluded with the energetic strains of the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.”
It appears that courts have repeatedly found that ICE has jailed people illegally, with instances numbering in the thousands – specifically, around 4,400 times. This suggests a significant and persistent issue with how Immigration and Customs Enforcement operates.
What’s particularly striking is that despite these numerous court rulings against them, these practices haven’t stopped. It raises a fundamental question about the effectiveness of judicial decisions when they are seemingly disregarded by the executive branch agency tasked with enforcement.
One might wonder about the human cost of these illegal detentions. How long were these individuals held against the law? What kind of suffering or abuse might they have endured during their unlawful imprisonment?… Continue reading
John Q. Hosedrinker 
Matt Underwood