© 2025 Improve the News Foundation.
All rights reserved.
Version 6.18.1
US Halts Immigration Applications from 19 Countries
In a memo issued on Tuesday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) directed personnel to halt final adjudication of all immigration applications from 19 countries already subject to a travel ban, including halting naturalisation ceremonies for migrants.
The 19 countries affected include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
The policy memo also places a hold on all pending asylum applications, regardless of the applicant's country of nationality, and mandates a comprehensive review of all relevant policies and procedures.
Republican narrative
Mass migration from countries unable to provide reliable security data poses an existential threat to American communities through terror attacks, crime waves and networks controlled by cartels and foreign adversaries. The D.C. terrorist attack proves vetting systems failed catastrophically when Afghanistan collapsed, making a nationwide halt on asylum decisions and immigration from high-risk nations the minimum threshold of national security.
Democratic narrative
Halting immigration applications from 19 of the world's poorest and most unstable nations punishes millions waiting years for green cards and citizenship based on one individual's actions. Canceling naturalization ceremonies for vetted physicians and long-term residents creates massive backlogs while offering no clear process forward. This crackdown chokes off remaining legal pathways and treats citizenship as something to withhold rather than a system to improve.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that the U.S. will establish a government program rewarding information leading to deportations before Jan. 3, 2027, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
EU Agrees to Phase Out Russian Gas Imports By 2027
The European Council and European Parliament reached a provisional agreement early Wednesday to phase out Russian gas imports by 2027, introducing a legally binding stepwise prohibition on liquefied natural gas and pipeline gas from Russia.
Under the deal, LNG cargoes of Russian origin will be banned from Jan. 1, 2027, with pipeline imports following on Sept. 30 the same year, while spot purchases will disappear earlier, with LNG banned from April 26, 2026 and pipeline gas from June 17, 2026.
In October, 12% of EU gas imports came from Russia, compared with 45% before Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Hungary, France, and Belgium, among others, still receive Russian gas. The new deal will require member states to present diversification plans.
Pro-Russia narrative
Cutting off Russian energy would be an economic disaster for Europe. Companies already pay 3 times more for electricity than U.S. rivals and 4.5 times more for gas, forcing widespread factory closures and job losses. The EU paid an extra $204 billion for natural gas over 20 months while household power bills hit record highs, proving this self-inflicted crisis will devastate European industry.
Anti-Russia narrative
Europe's dependence on Russian gas was the greatest geopolitical blunder of the 21st century. Moscow weaponized energy exports for decades, cutting off supplies to Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine to exert political control while Europe ignored the warnings. Ending this dangerous relationship is essential for security and independence, even if transition costs are high in the short term.
Nerd narrative
There is a 2.2% chance that the EU will import at least 19 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia in the second half of 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
OpenAI Declares 'Code Red,' Delays Projects Amid Google AI Rivalry
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sent an internal memo on Monday declaring a "code red" situation to prioritize improvements to ChatGPT, which will delay work on initiatives such as autonomous AI agents, advertising, AI shopping assistants, and Pulse personal assistant.
Google released its Gemini 3 AI model last month, which surpassed OpenAI's models on industry benchmark tests, gaining widespread praise for its capacity to reason and code, as well as its performance on niche tasks that have previously challenged AI chatbots.
ChatGPT has more than 800 million weekly users, while Google reported that its Gemini app has 650 million monthly active users. The latter's user base grew from 450 million in July to 650 million in October following the release of an image generator called Nano Banana.
Pro-establishment narrative
OpenAI is demonstrating smart crisis management when core business metrics deteriorate. Pausing experimental revenue streams like advertising and shopping agents to focus resources on ChatGPT's speed, reliability, and model superiority shows disciplined prioritization.
Establishment-critical narrative
OpenAI's panic over Google's Gemini 3 exposes the company's fragility and reveals how AI hype masks fundamental problems. The code red amounts to admitting ChatGPT is losing ground while the company burns billions, and this desperation play won't fix the deeper crisis.
Nerd narrative
There is a 50% chance Sam Altman's net worth will be at least $36.9 billion in January 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Iran Hosts Regional Counter-Terrorism Drill
Iranian Brigadier General Vali Madani on Tuesday officially opened the "Sahand-2025" military drills in Shabestar County, East Azerbaijan Province, hosted by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and attended by members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
The five-day drills are being held at the Imam Zaman Mechanized Brigade base in Shabestar County and were designed by the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff in coordination with the Foreign Ministry and the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure Executive Committee.
All ten SCO members — Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Russia, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Kazakhstan, Iran, India and Belarus — are sending military delegations to the drills, with Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Oman and Iraq attending as observers.
Pro-Iran narrative
The IRGC has proven itself as the architect of regional counter-terrorism security, and hosting the Sahand 2025 exercise demonstrates Iran's leadership in uniting nations against the global terrorist threat. This landmark drill brings together SCO members to share critical operational experience and build the kind of coordinated response that terrorism's borderless nature demands. Regional cooperation through the SCO framework represents a vital step toward collective security that protects all member states from extremist violence.
Anti-Iran narrative
Iran's first SCO counter-terrorism drill is pure theater designed to mask isolation rather than demonstrate real military capability. The exercise remains small-scale with minimal foreign participation, serving primarily as a message to Kurdish separatists and Azerbaijan rather than any serious deterrent. Tehran desperately wants the world to see strategic relevance through SCO membership, but the organization itself suffers an identity crisis with members pursuing contradictory goals and no coherent mission beyond anti-Western posturing.
Nerd narrative
There is a 25% chance that the United States and Iran will sign a new agreement restricting Iran's nuclear program before 2029, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
103 Prisoners Mistakenly Released in England and Wales
Justice Secretary David Lammy confirmed on Wednesday that 12 more prisoners were mistakenly released in England and Wales during the three weeks following his Nov. 12 statement to Parliament, bringing the total accidental releases to 103 since April 1.
Two of the 12 prisoners released in error since mid-November remain at large. Lammy told ITV he had been reassured that neither of the two still missing was a violent or sexual offender, though he declined to provide further details about their cases.
The Ministry of Justice data showed 262 prisoners were freed in error in the year ending March 2025, representing a 128% increase from 115 in the previous 12-month period, with officials citing a paper-based system as a contributing factor.
Pro-government narrative
The government is taking decisive action to fix a broken prison system through a £10 million investment in AI technology, new oversight boards, and streamlined processes to fix a release error crisis inherited from the previous government. Expanding community sentences and earned progression will cut reoffending more effectively than short prison terms and free up prison space to improve the current system.
Government-critical narrative
The British prison system stands close to breaking point, with mistaken releases skyrocketing from 50 annually to 262 last year due to overcrowding and overstretched staff. An overcomplicated sentencing framework forces inexperienced officers to manually calculate release dates while managing facilities at 157% capacity. This crisis has exposed how dangerous offenders slip through the system.
Nerd narrative
There is a 50% chance that the U.S. police-to-prison spending ratio will be at least 1.8 in 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Malaysia to Resume MH370 Search in Indian Ocean
The Malaysian Ministry of Transport announced on Wednesday that the government has agreed to resume the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 later this month, over a decade since the aircraft vanished.
MH370, a Boeing 777 aircraft, disappeared on March 8, 2014, after leaving Malaysian airspace while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, along with its complement of 227 passengers and 12 crew.
In a press release, the transport ministry stated that the search for the missing aircraft would resume on Dec. 30, 2025, and target an area with the "highest probability of locating the aircraft" for a period of 55 days.
Narrative A
Resuming the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 a decade after the aircraft went missing is a wasteful expense, which offers only diminishing returns following previous searches. It would be better if the government reallocated the resources invested in this endeavor toward enhancing safety features to prevent such a tragedy from ever occurring again.
Narrative B
The Malaysian government's resumption of the search for MH370 is by no means frivolous, but rather in keeping with its commitment to provide closure for those families affected by the aircraft's disappearance. For this reason, the government has once again partnered with Ocean Infinity to ascertain the truth of what happened that fateful day.
Delhi Air Pollution: Hospitals Report 200K Respiratory Cases
Six state-run hospitals in India's capital, New Delhi, recorded more than 200,000 cases of acute respiratory illnesses between 2022 and 2024, including over 30,000 patients who required hospitalization, according to data presented by India's Health Ministry to Parliament on Tuesday.
Delhi's six major hospitals reported 67,054 acute respiratory illness cases in 2022, 69,293 in 2023 and 68,411 in 2024. Hospitalizations increased from 9,878 to 10,819 over the same period, according to government figures provided to the Rajya Sabha.
Junior Health Minister Prataprao Jadhav stated in a written reply that analysis suggests an increase in pollution levels was associated with an increase in the number of patients attending emergency rooms. However, the study suggests that there are numerous variables, including medical history and socio-economic factors.
Government-critical narrative
Delhi's air pollution crisis has spiraled into a public health catastrophe, with PM2.5 levels reaching 10 times the WHO safe limits and resulting in over 2 million deaths across India in 2023. The toxic air acts as a potent carcinogen, increasing cancer risk even among non-smokers while weakening immunity and worsening chronic diseases. Symbolic measures have failed; only sustained enforcement of emission norms and investment in clean transport can end this annual disaster.
Pro-government narrative
The Prime Minister's Office has directed pollution agencies to expedite new emissions data and source-apportionment studies to finally create evidence-based solutions for Delhi's air quality. Dust from thousands of kilometers of broken roads and 8,000 tonnes of daily construction waste, combined with 37% of Delhi's vehicles still running on outdated emission standards, reveals the real infrastructure failures behind the crisis. Time-bound road redevelopment plans and stricter industrial norms are now underway, with ample funding allocated.
Cynical narrative
Residents choke on Delhi's smog, dying silently while politicians trade blame and pollute the air for votes. Despite 1.5 million Indians dying every year from air pollution and millions more suffering, the corridors of power shrug — even rejecting debate demands while urging journalists to "enjoy the air." What's called governance becomes mere optics — sprinklers watered near monitors, distractions like stink-fires and weekend noise raised instead. And each winter, Delhi still struggles to breathe.
Nerd narrative
There's a 33% chance that non-compliance with environmental and climate change policies will be cited as a cause of a war before 2073, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
DHS Launches Immigration Operation in New Orleans
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Wednesday that it's launching Operation Catahoula Crunch in New Orleans to target individuals in the country illegally who were released from local jails after arrests for crimes, including "home invasion, armed robbery, grand theft auto, and rape."
The Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office operates under a policy adopted more than a decade ago in response to a federal civil rights lawsuit that prevents jail staff from holding inmates past their release dates based solely on federal immigration detainers.
Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, in a social media post, thanked President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary for putting "AMERICANS first." Meanwhile, Mayor-elect Helena Moreno, a Democrat, previously expressed concern about members of the community not being aware of "protections available under law."
Republican narrative
Enforcing immigration law protects Americans from criminals; it doesn't oppress them. Operation Catahoula Crunch is targeting the worst criminals after Democratic sanctuary politicians ignored the rule of law. If illegal immigrants are scared, that's what these types of operations are meant for. Law and order will prevail in New Orleans.
Democratic narrative
The Operation Catahoula Crunch deployment is nothing but a political stunt, not a way to bring about better public safety. Militarized forces with no local training or coordination are creating fear and chaos in New Orleans communities. Dropping armed federal agents into the city without transparency terrorizes families and undermines trust.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that the United States will establish a government program rewarding information leading to deportations before Jan. 3, 2027, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
DOJ Sues 6 More States Over Voter Registration Lists
The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) filed lawsuits Tuesday against Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, accusing them of failing to produce statewide voter registration lists upon request. That brings the total number of states the DOJ has sued to at least 14.
The complaints argue that the states failed to meet legal obligations under the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1960, which require states to maintain accurate voter rolls and make those records available for inspection.
In a statement announcing the lawsuits, Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that accurate voter rolls are the "cornerstone of fair and free elections" and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said that states that continue to defy federal voting laws interfere with the mission "of ensuring that Americans have accurate voter lists as they go to the polls."
Republican narrative
The DOJ is taking decisive action to root out voter fraud by demanding access to state voter rolls that Democrats have corruptly maintained. States refusing transparency about their voter lists clearly have something to hide. This necessary push for election integrity will restore confidence in American elections.
Democratic narrative
The Trump administration is weaponizing the DOJ to build an unconstitutional national voter database under the guise of election integrity. This unprecedented federal power grab is targeting Democrat-run states while fueling false fraud claims. Elections belong to states, not to Trump and Bondi's authoritarian playbook.
Nerd narrative
There's a 21% chance that a U.S. federal or state court will prevent certification of any statewide election result over the course of 2027 and 2028 because of fraud, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
NATO Chief: Only Trump Can Break Ukraine War Deadlock
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Wednesday, during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, that U.S. President Donald Trump was the "only person" who could break the deadlock in efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
Following five hours of Moscow talks between Putin and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov characterized the discussions as useful and constructive, but said no compromise was reached on territorial issues Russia deems essential to resolving the conflict.
This comes after Putin stated on Tuesday that Russia did not want a war with European powers but was ready to fight if Europe wanted a direct conflict, accusing European powers of hindering Trump's peace efforts by putting forward proposals they knew Russia wouldn't accept.
Pro-establishment narrative
While Europe and NATO have stood up for Ukraine from the beginning and will continue for as long as it takes, the U.S. is very much needed to put Moscow in its place. Only American leverage and resources can pressure Russia meaningfully, anchor long-term peace negotiations, and ensure Ukraine — and by extension Europe — doesn't have to fight this war alone.
Pro-Russia narrative
While Europe and NATO fire off statements, the West keeps ignoring Russia's core security concerns — pushing expansion, encircling Moscow, and using Ukraine as a proxy battlefield. Only direct U.S.–Russia diplomacy can restore balance. Europe just fuels conflict.
Cynical narrative
While Europe keeps warning of phantom threats and blocking any deal that reflects battlefield reality, its actions suggest it doesn't actually want the war to end — and Trump may not either. By undermining negotiations, floating unrealistic demands, and clinging to failed strategies, Western actors seem more invested in prolonging the conflict than in securing peace.