Death Toll From Southeast Asia Extreme Weather Surpasses 1,140
The death toll from extreme weather conditions in southern and southeastern Asia — affecting Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka — rose to over 1,140 on Monday, with militaries being deployed for disaster relief.
At least 390 people died in Cyclone Ditwah, which made landfall in Sri Lanka on Friday, with many more still missing. Indonesia confirmed at least 604 deaths following severe rains; 176 died in Thailand's worst floods in a decade.
The flooding in Thailand has affected over four million people, especially in the southern parts of the country. The Bank of Thailand has called upon financial institutions to accelerate help to those affected by the deluge.
Climate-concerned narrative
Climate change and environmental destruction, not corruption, drive Southeast Asia's deadly flooding crisis that has killed hundreds across Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Tropical Cyclone Senyar's unprecedented formation over the Malacca Strait demonstrates how warming oceans intensify monsoons and concentrate rainfall into catastrophic events. Unchecked deforestation, wetland destruction and sand mining have destabilized landscapes, turning natural weather patterns into compound disasters that overwhelm even well-prepared nations.
Climate-skeptic narrative
These floods, while tragic, reflect natural weather variability, not anthropogenic climate change. Historical records show comparable deluges in the region, with rainfall patterns driven by monsoon cycles and low-pressure systems — events that predate modern emissions. Blaming CO2 diverts from real issues inadequate drainage systems, unchecked urbanization on floodplains, and corrupt allocation of disaster funds that prioritize elite contracts over resilient infrastructure. Addressing these would save lives without futile global restrictions.
Establishment-critical narrative
Systemic corruption in flood control projects has stolen billions from the public, enriching politicians and contractors while leaving communities defenseless against disasters. The unholy alliance of lawmakers, bureaucrats, auditors and construction firms operates with brazen impunity, manipulating budgets and delivering ghost projects instead of protection. This criminal enterprise has drained billions over the years, with investigations revealing identical costs for different locations while thousands of projects remain substandard or non-existent.
Nerd narrative
There is a 50% chance that at least 3,566 people (per 100,000) will be affected by natural disasters in 2032, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
FDA Links 10 Child Deaths to COVID Vaccines
In an internal memo to agency staff on Friday, U.S. FDA official Vinay Prasad stated a review of 96 death reports submitted between 2021 and 2024 concluded that at least 10 child deaths were related to COVID-19 vaccines.
The memo did not provide details such as the children's ages, whether they had underlying health conditions or how the FDA determined the vaccine-death link. The findings have not been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
Prasad outlined proposed changes to vaccine approval processes, including stricter requirements for authorizing vaccines for pregnant women and requiring pneumonia vaccine makers to show their products reduce disease.
Republican narrative
The FDA finally admitted COVID vaccines killed at least 10 children after career scientists reviewed death reports and found causal links to vaccination. Healthy kids facing minimal COVID risk were coerced into taking shots that proved deadly, while the agency failed to require proof that the vaccines reduced hospitalizations or deaths in children.
Democratic narrative
The FDA memo claiming vaccines killed 10 children provided zero supporting data — no ages, health conditions or evidence of causation — and wasn't peer-reviewed. COVID infection causes far more myocarditis cases than vaccination, with worse outcomes, while vaccine-related myocarditis remains rare at just eight cases per million doses.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that COVID-19 booster coverage for the 26 season among children aged 6 months to 17 years in the U.S. will be 11.4%, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
White House Launches Media Bias Tracker, Names Offenders
The White House launched a media bias tracker on Friday that features a list of articles from various outlets, each with links to stories the administration claims omit context, contain lies, mischaracterize, exhibit bias, or commit malpractice.
The webpage includes an offender hall of shame and a leaderboard ranking publications. The Washington Post is listed first, followed by MSNBC, CBS News, CNN, The New York Times, Politico and the Wall Street Journal, among other outlets cited by the administration.
CBS News, The Independent, and The Boston Globe were named the inaugural media offenders of the week for coverage of a viral video in which six Democratic lawmakers urged U.S. service members to refuse illegal orders, as well as covering the administration's response.
Left narrative
Trump's formalization of his war on the press through a government website is an authoritarian attack on press freedom that escalates beyond rhetoric into official intimidation. The tracker arrives alongside Trump's degrading treatment of female reporters and his dangerous posts calling seditious behavior punishable by death, revealing a coordinated effort to silence accountability journalism. Major outlets across the political spectrum land on the list while Fox News remains conspicuously absent, exposing this as partisan retaliation.
Pro-Trump narrative
The Media Bias Tracker finally holds dishonest outlets accountable for years of false reporting and attacks on Trump and his agenda. Major publications deliberately misrepresented Trump's call for accountability against Democrats who dangerously urged military insubordination, falsely claiming he called for executions when he simply demanded consequences for seditious behavior. This transparency tool exposes the race to the bottom among legacy media outlets that have abandoned journalistic standards to push partisan narratives.
Narrative C
The Trump administration's "media bias" microsite creates a mutually beneficial dynamic. By spotlighting press missteps, the White House targets a familiar adversary, while journalists use the criticism as a badge of honor. After years of some outlets easing their scrutiny of power, they now reclaim an adversarial stance. Meanwhile, the administration maintains generous press access, using it to highlight what it portrays as increasingly visible bias while reinforcing its own narrative of media hostility.
Nerd narrative
There's a 61% chance the U.S. will remain a liberal democracy through 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Report: Global Arms Sales Hit Record $679B
According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute released Monday, sales by the world's top 100 arms makers reached a record $679 billion in 2024 — a 5.9% increase from the previous year.
The U.S. is home to 39 of the world's top 100 arms manufacturers, including Lockheed Martin, RTX and Northrop Grumman. Their combined revenues increased from 3.8% to $334 billion in 2024, nearly half of the global total.
The aggregate revenues of European arms companies grew by 13% to $151 billion. Czech company Czechoslovak Group recorded the sharpest increase, up 193% to $3.6 billion, benefiting from the Czech Ammunition Initiative for Ukraine.
Establishment-critical narrative
Weapons manufacturers are profiteering from human suffering, raking in billions while conflicts rage around the world. This blood money economy thrives on war and misery, proving that the global military-industrial complex prioritizes profits over peace. When war drives revenue increases for the world's top arms dealers, it's natural that profiting from death will become the favorite business the world over.
Pro-establishment narrative
Record arms sales reflect necessary responses to genuine security threats from aggressive powers and regional instability. Countries are rightfully investing in defense capabilities to protect their sovereignty against real threats such as Russian expansion and Chinese military buildup. The growth in military technology spending ensures democracies maintain deterrence and defensive superiority.
Nerd narrative
There's a 10% chance that the Trump administration will attempt to withdraw from key international arms control agreements in 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Trump Confirms Call with Venezuela's Maduro
U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday that he had a phone call with Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro, though offered no details on what they had discussed or whether the talks went well.
This comes as The New York Times reported on Friday the two had had a direct conversation late in the previous week, including a discussion about a possible meeting in the U.S. just days after Trump said he was open to talking with Maduro.
According to The Miami Herald and The Wall Street Journal, Trump proposed safe passage out of Venezuela to Maduro, his wife and his son if he were to step down immediately. Talks stalled after the U.S. rejected a global amnesty for Cártel de los Soles, a Nicaraguan-style transition, and a delayed resignation.
Anti-Maduro narrative
It's clear that Trump does hope that direct communication with and pressure on Maduro will eventually force Venezuela's dictator out of power without the need for an attack, but Maduro is only using negotiations to buy time as Trump cannot offer him guarantees he will remain safe and out of jail. This is a game at which Maduro excels — and the only way to defeat him is not to play it.
Pro-Maduro narrative
Little is known about the Trump-Maduro phone call, a development that indicates that the U.S. wants a detente with Venezuela. It's unacceptable, though, that the U.S. insists on demanding Maduro to eventually step down, especially as its pressure campaign against a sovereign country lacks evidence supporting narcoterrorism claims.
Nerd narrative
There's a 40% chance that the U.S. will invade Venezuela before Jan. 20, 2029, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
UK Investigates SAS Over Afghan War Deaths
A senior officer identified as N1466, who served as Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations in U.K. Special Forces Headquarters, has testified at an inquiry that he suspected the Special Air Service (SAS) had suppressed evidence concerning alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defense ordered a public inquiry after a BBC documentary reported that soldiers from the Special Air Service had killed 54 people during the war in Afghanistan in suspicious circumstances during nighttime raids from mid-2010 to mid-2013.
The officer told the inquiry that he raised concerns about potential war crimes with the director of special forces in February 2011, stating that reports of detainees repeatedly attempting to pick up weapons or use grenades after capture did not appear credible.
Pro-establishment narrative
The inquiry's selective release of second-hand testimony from rival units reveals an agenda against the SAS rather than truth-seeking. These unsubstantiated claims come from inexperienced staff officers thousands of miles from combat who never witnessed events firsthand, while testimony defending the regiment's actions remains unpublished.
Establishment-critical narrative
British special forces allegedly committed systematic war crimes in Afghanistan, including executing detainees and shooting children in their beds. Senior commanders deliberately suppressed evidence and obstructed investigations into these actions. Those who were aware of these activities but chose to do nothing must finally face the full strength of the law.
Singapore Executes 3 People Within a Week
Singapore executed three men in two days last week, raising the total number executed by the city-state to 17 this year so far, which is the highest figure since 2003, when Singapore put 19 people to death.
On Friday, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) announced that Singapore had executed an unnamed 53-year-old Singaporean man for trafficking unspecified controlled substances after his appeals for clemency were unsuccessful.
The following day, the CNB announced the executions of Mohammad Rizwan bin Akbar Husain, aged 44, and Saminathan Selvaraju, aged 42, for allegedly participating in a conspiracy to traffic 301.6 grams of diamorphine, commonly known as heroin.
Government-critical narrative
Singapore's execution of 17 people in 2025 marks a cruel escalation of state-sanctioned murder. The death penalty for drug offenses violates international law since these crimes do not meet the required threshold and make rehabilitation impossible. As a practice, capital punishment is both incompatible with the right to life and the standards expected of a modern country.
Pro-government narrative
Removing the death penalty would save drug traffickers but condemn countless others. Easing pressure on drug trafficking by lifting the death penalty would lead to increased drug supply, crime, violence and drug-related deaths among innocent people — including children. Capital punishment, therefore, is an essential tool to protect Singaporean society.
Bangladesh: Sheikh Hasina, UK Labour MP Sentenced to Jail for Corruption
A court in Dhaka on Monday sentenced former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to five years in prison, her sister, Sheikh Rehana, to seven years, and U.K. Labour MP Tulip Siddiq to two years for corruption involving a government land project in the Purbachal New Town development.
The Anti-Corruption Commission alleged that Hasina, working with senior Rajuk officials, unlawfully secured six plots of land, each measuring 10 kathas (approximately 7,200 square feet), in the diplomatic zone of Sector 27 for family members despite their ineligibility.
Prosecutors said Siddiq was tried as a Bangladeshi citizen after authorities obtained a passport, national identity card and tax number. However, Siddiq disputed the claim, stating she is a British citizen who has not held a Bangladeshi passport since childhood.
Left narrative
The corruption trial against Siddiq is a politically motivated kangaroo court designed to smear opponents of the current regime. The trial was contrived and unfair, as she was denied basic due process, never formally informed of the charges, and unable to secure proper legal representation. This farcical verdict deserves nothing but contempt.
Right narrative
A sitting Labour MP convicted of corruption in Bangladesh has no business serving in Britain's Parliament. Siddiq was sentenced to two years in prison for using her influence to secure land for her family, proving that foreign politicians corrupt British institutions. She must resign immediately and face justice in Bangladesh.
Nerd narrative
There's a 2% chance that Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will return from exile before 2028, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Panel Rules Alina Habba's Appointment as New Jersey U.S. Attorney Unlawful
A three-judge panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that Alina Habba is disqualified from serving as U.S. attorney for New Jersey, upholding a lower court decision from August that found that the Trump administration violated federal law in its efforts to keep her in the position.
The appeals panel, composed of two judges appointed by former President George W. Bush and one appointed by former President Barack Obama, concluded that the administration's actions to designate Habba bypassed constitutional appointment and Senate confirmation processes according to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.
Trump appointed Habba as interim U.S. attorney in March, but her 120-day term expired in July and New Jersey's two Democratic senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, declined to support her nomination — making confirmation unlikely under the unofficial "blue slip" tradition that lets home-state senators approve or block nominees.
Anti-Trump narrative
Trump's New Jersey gambit shows an administration openly defying constitutional limits on appointments. By reinstalling the unqualified Habba after her term lapsed and attacking judges who exercised their statutory authority to name a replacement, Trump also sought to bypass the Senate's blue-slip tradition, which safeguards advice and consent by giving home-state senators a check on partisan picks. Undermining these checks fits his broader push to erode oversight and weaponize federal power.
Pro-Trump narrative
Democrats are weaponizing the outdated blue-slip tradition to block Trump’s top U.S. attorney picks, like Habba, from Senate confirmation. In blue states, this makes it nearly impossible for true conservative Republicans to serve, ignoring the will of the Americans who elected President Trump. They are forcing talented prosecutors into temporary roles and letting partisan judges overturn appointments, obstructing his law-and-order agenda nationwide. Grassley should ignore this obsolete custom, as Democrats do, and confirm these qualified nominees.
UK Unveils £170M Plan to End HIV Transmission by 2030
The U.K. government unveiled its HIV Action Plan 2025 to 2030 on World AIDS Day Monday, backed by 170 million pounds in funding, with the goal of ending new HIV transmissions in England by 2030 through improved prevention, testing and treatment services.
The plan includes continued funding for opt-out HIV testing in emergency departments during routine blood tests in areas with the highest rates, including London and Manchester — a program that has identified 102 people with HIV across Midlands hospitals since launch.
A £5 million ($6.6 million) trial will allow people to order home HIV testing kits through the NHS app, providing a discreet route to get tested without visiting a clinic and receive results securely on their phone.
Left narrative
This bold plan, powered by its innovative opt-out testing, home testing and outreach programs, puts England on track to become the first country to end new HIV transmissions in just a few years. Medical advances mean people with HIV now live full, healthy lives without fear of transmitting it to others, making elimination achievable through smart investment in prevention and treatment rather than stigma and fear.
Right narrative
HIV diagnoses have surged to a year high, driven overwhelmingly by migrants arriving from abroad — particularly from Africa — with over half of all new cases now originating outside England for the first time ever. Record migration levels are directly fueling this spike, directly threatening the 2030 goal to end transmissions. The solution is proper border health screening and resource allocation.
Nerd narrative
There's a 35% chance that more people will have HIV/AIDS in 2037 than in 2017, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
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