This Holiday Tells A StoryThis year, the holidays don’t feel celebratory for many Americans who’ve been negatively affected by the Trump administration’s decisions. We’re here to make sure those people do not go unheard. Help us hold the administration accountable. Already a member? Log in to hide these messages.

’Tis the season to spread kindness – and, though that can include your friends, family, and neighbours, according to The Wildlife Trusts, “winter is a great chance to make a difference to the creatures on your doorstep,” too. There are “many simple ways we can show [nature] kindness over these chilly months”, he added. Dead wood and log piles are havens for life,” the WWF’s Dr Dempsey stated. After all, Dr Dempsey explained, small birds like tits and wrens can lose 5% or more of their body weight on a single cold night. Additionally, Dr Dempsey said: “[Indoor] container gardening can make a big difference for nature.

LOADING ERROR LOADING“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” alum BD Wong has apologized for using a “despicable, racist trope” in a since-deleted Instagram comment this week. BD Wong, here on the "Today" show in April 2023, apologized for making a "very bad joke" that invoked racist tropes in a pair of Threads posts on Monday. NBC via Getty ImagesWong admitted that deleting the comment only served to help him avoid accountability as he called his remark “super wrong” in a lengthy pair of Threads posts hours later. This succeeded only in that it was Super Wrong,” he went on. & thanks if you advocate for an internet that’s safe for everybody.”AdvertisementHe continued the apology in a second post, adding, “I want to elaborate on a racist comment I posted, to clarify that I recognize & accept the responsibility for how terrible it is.

LOADING ERROR LOADINGWASHINGTON ― Democratic states that don’t hand over personal data on food aid recipients will lose administrative funding, the Trump administration said Tuesday. AdvertisementA federal court granted Democratic states’ request for an injunction blocking the demand in October, but USDA head Brooke Rollins said Tuesday noncompliant states would face consequences anyway. A spokesperson for the USDA said Rollins meant the USDA would withhold administrative funds, not money for food benefits themselves. Advertisement“USDA established a SNAP integrity team to analyze not only data provided by states, but to scrub all available information to end indiscriminate welfare fraud,” the spokesperson said, adding that 19 blue states are protecting “illegals” and “criminals” instead of providing the data. AdvertisementThe federal government covers the full cost of SNAP benefits but only half of the administrative cost of running the program, which it splits with states.

The second strike killed two survivors clinging to the burning wreckage of the boat, which Democrats and military experts have called a possible war crime. Hegseth said on Tuesday that he watched the boat strike on a live video feed but didn’t stay for the entire event. Hegseth and the White House have offered shifting answers about the details involving the strikes. The White House also confirmed the second military strike on the vessel on Monday. and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) – is leading a probe into the boat strikes.

Advertisement“I hate it,” Tillis told reporters on Tuesday about the Hernandez pardon. Following Trump’s pardon, he walked out of prison on Monday. Over the weekend, he commuted the seven-year sentence of David Gentile, a private equity leader who helped defraud thousands of people out of $1.6 billion, almost as soon as his prison sentence began. He commuted the prison sentence of former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), releasing him from federal prison. And he granted a pardon to a Chinese crypto billionaire felon after his company enriched a Trump family business.

To get a better read on how this exchange played out, HuffPost spoke with experts in body language, verbal and nonverbal communication about what really stood out to them. Trump appears to have some “playfulness” but also clear “irritation.”“I see moments of playfulness, but it’s a playfulness rooted in mockery,” Beth Dawson, a communication, body language and behavior analyst, told HuffPost. And, as body language expert and behavior analyst Traci Brown noted, Trump’s choice of words would naturally invite more questions. “These tiny slips are important: they show that, despite the joking tone, Trump finds the underlying suggestion — that there might be something to worry about — irritating.”AdvertisementAnother tell appears when he mentions that he’d been impeached. Rather than treat the MRI question as serious or legitimate, he frames it as something slightly ridiculous, something he can play with,” Dawson said.

LOADING ERROR LOADINGA Republican senator proposed a bill Monday that would require Americans who hold dual citizenship to renounce their foreign citizenship, legislation that could affect first lady Melania Trump and her son, Barron. “One of the greatest honors of my life was when I became an American citizen at 18, the first opportunity I could do so,” Colombian-born Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) said in a press release. “It was an honor to pledge an Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America and ONLY to the United States of America! Being an American citizen is an honor and a privilege—and if you want to be an American, it’s all or nothing. It’s time to end dual citizenship for good.”AdvertisementSen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) is calling for an end to dual citizenship.

“Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.”Advertisementthis video is evil and disgusting. — Sabrina Carpenter (@SabrinaAnnLynn) December 2, 2025On Monday, the White House published a video to X that shows clips of ICE agents arresting people. Sabrina Carpenter and President Donald Trump. Emily Elconin via Getty Images“Have you ever tried this one?” the White House wrote in the caption of the video. The Trump administration has a long history of using artists’ music without permission, prompting many to speak out.

LOADING ERROR LOADINGNew York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani joined Starbucks baristas on a picket line Monday to celebrate a $38.9 million settlement the city reached with the coffee chain following a yearslong labor investigation. Sanders said it was “an honor” for them “to stand with striking Starbucks workers.”New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders join striking Starbucks workers in New York on Dec. 1. ANGELA WEISS via Getty ImagesAdvertisementThe settlement with Starbucks was announced by the administration of outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, who withdrew from the race in September. The union Workers United says it now represents around 11,000 Starbucks workers who are pushing for higher pay and better benefits. “Instead, they are focused on staging and promoting a protest in New York City, where they represent only 200 of the 4,500 partners in NYC,” Anderson said.

This Holiday Tells A StoryThis year, the holidays don’t feel celebratory for many Americans who’ve been negatively affected by the Trump administration’s decisions. We’re here to make sure those people do not go unheard. Help us hold the administration accountable. Already a member? Log in to hide these messages.

Wrap Up The Year With PurposeThis newsroom tells stories that reflect real lives and real stakes. Your support ensures that work continues. Join as a member today and close the year by strengthening independent reporting for all. Already a member? Log in to hide these messages.

LOADING ERROR LOADINGTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández, sentenced last year to 45 years in prison for his role in helping drug traffickers move hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States, was released from prison following a pardon from President Donald Trump, his wife announced Tuesday. AdvertisementHis wife Ana García thanked Trump for pardoning Hernández via the social platform X early Tuesday. “After almost four years of pain, of waiting and difficult challenges, my husband Juan Orlando Hernández RETURNED to being a free man, thanks to the presidential pardon granted by President Donald Trump,” García’s post said. Then-Honduras' President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks during the opening ceremony of the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 1, 2021. Advertisement“I was asked by Honduras, many of the people of Honduras,” Trump said.

Stranger Things featured this missing poster early on in its fifth season NetflixThe award-winning Netflix series recently returned for its fifth and final season, the first four episodes of which are currently available to watch. AdvertisementEarly on in episode one, viewers are presented with a missing poster for Millie Bobby Brown’s character Eleven – aka. Jane Hopper – at Hawkins High School, with students also being given a phone number to dial if they have any information. Advertisement“We urge you, as a responsible citizen of Hawkins, to assist us in our search to locate her.”In case you need to know, this Easter egg - phone number in Stranger Things Ep. AdvertisementMeanwhile, Stranger Things fans don’t have too long a wait on their hands until the final instalments of the series arrive on Netflix – following the three-year delay between seasons four and five.

“The Washington Post report was about the first such attack on September 2nd,” O’Donnell said. “The special operations commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions. “There is no war in Venezuela,” said O’Donnell. He always says that.”Trump indeed claimed ignorance Sunday when asked about the incident, telling reporters he “wouldn’t have wanted” a second strike. Moulton said, according to The Washington Post, “Mark my words: It may take some time, but Americans will be prosecuted for this, either as a war crime or outright murder.”