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Republican Senator Calls BS on Pentagon Pete’s Absurd Response to Devastating Report The defense secretary is facing calls to resign for sharing secret information on a planned airstrike in Yemen via Signal. A senior Republican senator has rejected Pete Hegseth’s claim to have been completely exonerated by a watchdog report into the “Signalgate” scandal. An Inspector General report found that the defense secretary risked endangering the lives of American troops when he used the messaging app Signal to discuss secret plans to launch airstrikes targeting Houthi fighters in Yemen. Hegseth—who is also facing war crime accusations over the killing of two survivors after a strike on a suspected Venezuelan drug boat—quickly dismissed the report’s findings on X. “No classified information. Total exoneration. Case closed. Houthis bombed into submission. Thank you for your attention to this IG report,” he wrote. Speaking to CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said the Pentagon chief is not out of the woods, noting that the report found a foreign adversary could have intercepted the information he shared on Signal. “Anytime you release mission-set information before the strike, you run that risk, and thank goodness that we did not tarnish one of the most extraordinary precision strikes in recent history,” Tillis said. “It’s a mission-critical piece of information that our adversaries could have used to blow those planes out of the sky. You just don’t do that.” “No one can rationalize that as an exoneration. We know that mission information was outside of the classified setting that it was trusted to be in,” the senator added. The Signal chat where Hegseth openly discussed attacking Houthi rebels in Yemen included Trump administration and intelligence officials, such as Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, who was accidentally added to the group chat. According to CNN, the Inspector General’s report notes that Hegseth has the authority to declassify information. However, it is unclear whether he did so before sharing airstrike plans in a chat that Goldberg was able to read. Hegseth also refused to sit for an interview with the Inspector General, instead providing a short written statement. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has called on Hegseth to resign or be fired for putting U.S. service members at “unacceptable risk” by using a personal phone app to discuss the attacks. “It reflects a broader pattern of recklessness and poor judgment from a secretary who has repeatedly shown he is in over his head,” Warner said. In July, Tillis also said Hegseth, a former Fox News host, was “out of his depth” at the Pentagon after taking it upon himself to halt shipments of military aid to Ukraine, and questioned the wisdom of his confirmation as defense secretary. When asked by Collins on Wednesday night if he would vote to confirm Hegseth now, Tillis said he did not want to answer a hypothetical question. “I’ve got a real problem with some of these decisions, not malicious intent, it’s about being tight on execution,” Tillis said. “This president deserves people who are concerned with his legacy. “At the end of the day, people may forget who Pete Hegseth is; people will not forget who Donald Trump is. And when they make decisions that are below the standards that I think President Trump wants, I’m going to hold him accountable because I care about his legacy.” The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/republican-senator-thom-tillis-calls-bs-on-pentagon-pete-hegseths-absurd-response-to-devastating-report/?

ICE Barbie’s Hiring Blitz Descends Into ‘Disaster’ With Shockingly Bad Recruits The desperate rush to boost numbers has led to violent, barely literate, and unfit rookies becoming federal agents. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s race to add 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents has become a “circus” as sloppy vetting and massive bonuses have attracted a raft of bottom-of-the-barrel recruits—and even some suspected of having gang ties. Noem, 54—dubbed “ICE Barbie” for staging glam raid photo-ops—boasted this week that her department will hit 10,000 new recruits within days. But a Daily Mail investigation says the frantic push has produced recruits who have gone on to allegedly attack civilians and sexually assault female trainees, and others who can barely read or write. One case reportedly included a 469-pound man whose own doctor had already declared him unfit for physical activity. “Anything that they think may have a pulse, they’re moving through,” one unnamed DHS official was quoted saying. Vetting has allegedly been so rushed that, the Mail reports, recruits were flown to the training base in Glynco, Georgia, before drug-test results came back—only for some to test positive after they were already in training. One trainee reportedly asked to leave class to attend a court date on a gun charge. Others were found to have tattoos linked to gangs and white supremacist groups when they stripped down for workouts. The DHS official told the Mail that, while there were some “fantastic” recruits, the department had been “bringing people in who shouldn’t be hired at all into any federal government job, definitely not one that has a badge and a gun.” The official added, “We’re now employing people who are not equipped to tie their own shoelaces. This whole thing is a complete disaster from beginning to end.” One young recruit—a college graduate hoping to follow his father, a deportation officer, into the job—told relatives the whole operation felt like a “circus.” The Mail investigation comes after the Daily Beast reported last month that insiders felt the recruitment drive had become a full-blown “s--tshow,” with Noem’s job at risk as a result. The Mail report says the “disaster” has come about because ICE slashed standards to meet President Donald Trump’s 10,000 target, dangling signing and retention bonuses of up to $50,000 that DHS touts on its recruitment site and job postings. Applicants no longer need a college degree and can now be as young as 18, while the Trump administration scrapped the upper age limit entirely in August. According to internal figures cited by the outlet, hundreds of brand-new hires with no law-enforcement background have been rushed into the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Brunswick, Georgia, alongside older rehires pushed into desk jobs. Instructors at the Georgia academy were left “astounded” as some trainees who “can barely read or write English” bombed open-book exams and struggled to complete basic physical training. One incredulous DHS source told the Beast: “A 469-pound recruit? Are they gonna roll him down a hill?” Internal records show 584 recruits have already washed out of the academy since July, according to the report, with fewer than 558 graduating and around 620 still in the pipeline as of Dec. 1. By the Mail’s account, that is despite some courses being shortened to as little as six weeks—down from the 16 weeks that were once standard—while ICE slashed a five-week Spanish module in favor of translation gadgets. Discipline problems have followed. The Mail describes one 29-year-old recruit being arrested off-site after allegedly exploding at a FLETC bus driver and smashing his phone. Another man was accused of barging into a women’s dorm after a night at the bar, while a second allegedly groped a female trainee during defensive-tactics class. The Beast also previously revealed that waves of re-hired agents arrived at ICE offices before badges, guns, or computer access were even ready, with some highly paid veteran returnees doing little more than paperwork in return for more than $250,000-a-year once bonuses and pensions are included. The Mail’s revelations are likely to pile fresh pressure on Noem. CNN reported last month that Noem and her influential adviser and rumored lover, Corey Lewandowski, 52, are seen as “increasingly vulnerable” inside the West Wing—leaving senior DHS officials whispering to the Beast that they may be “not long for this world.” DHS insists it is maintaining rigorous standards while answering Trump’s call for 3,000 deportations a day, pointing to more than 200,000 applications and arguing that technology and field mentoring will plug any training gaps. The department declined to comment on the Mail investigation. The Daily Beast has also attempted to contact DHS for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-barbies-hiring-blitz-descends-into-disaster-with-shockingly-bad-recruits/?

Real Reason for Pentagon Pete Commander’s Shock Retirement Revealed Reports initially stated Hegseth had nothing to do with the officer’s abrupt exit. A top Pentagon officer whose abrupt retirement came as a shock to his colleagues was reportedly forced out after repeated clashes with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Admiral Alvin Holsey, the head of U.S. Southern Command, had been in charge of U.S. forces in Latin America, which included Donald Trump’s crackdown on “narco-terrorists” in the area. Questions were asked after Hegseth announced on social media in October that the four-star officer would be retiring at the end of the year after 37 years in the Navy. Holsey, 60, only started the job, which usually has a three-year term, in November last year—meaning he was leaving two years early.At the time, rumors flew that his departure was due to clashes with Hegseth over the Caribbean mission. The Washington Post reported at the time that Hegseth, 45, had grown “disenchanted” with Holsey and wanted him to step aside—a claim denied by the Defense Department. A new report in The Wall Street Journal confirms that Hegseth actually asked the former helicopter pilot to step down after months of feuding between the pair. Citing two Pentagon officials aware of the discussions, the Journal report says the bad blood began after Trump’s inauguration in January and heated up after Holsey questioned the legality of the fatal strikes on alleged “narco-terrorist” boats in the Caribbean. Holsey was just one of a number of senior military leaders who have left since the former Fox News host got his job at the Pentagon, anointing himself the “Secretary of War.” But demanding that a commander quit during a major military operation is highly unusual, the Journal reports. “Having [Holsey] leave at this particular moment, at the height of what the Pentagon considers to be the central action in our hemisphere, is just shocking,” Todd Robinson, who was assistant secretary for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs until January, told the publication. “Serving as your commander and deputy for the past 34 months has been a tremendous honor,” Holsey wrote on X in October. Holsey has been silent since the announcement of his retirement, declining all interview requests. In October, a Pentagon source told the Daily Beast, “Admiral Holsey didn’t resign in protest and anyone writing that has no clue what they’re talking about.” Hegseth has been mired in controversy after reportedly ordering that everybody should be killed in a strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean in September, prompting follow-up strikes against two survivors that amount to a war crime. One of his former colleagues at Fox News has said it gives him “no pleasure to say” that the defense secretary must be prosecuted for war crimes. “I wish the White House would reveal to us the laws on which the president is relying. He says he has an opinion from the Justice Department, but neither the Justice Department nor the White House will offer it for public scrutiny,” Andrew Napolitano, who now works for the MAGA-friendly Newsmax, said on Tuesday. “And it gives me no pleasure to say what I’m about to say, because I worked with Peter Hegseth for seven or eight years at Fox News, but this is an act of a war crime. Ordering survivors, who the law requires be rescued, instead to be murdered. There’s absolutely no legal basis for it,” Napolitano said. A retired judge, Napolitano, 75, was kicked out of Fox News in 2021 following claims of sexual misconduct. Hegseth has been dealing with the fallout from a report in The Washington Post that he was behind September’s “kill everybody” order. Navy Adm. Frank M. “Mitch” Bradley, said to have issued the actual order to fire again to wipe out the two survivors, but did so only under Hegseth’s authority. On Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Hegseth said he watched the initial strike on the boat but claimed he did not “personally see survivors” clinging to the burning wreckage. He said he did not “stick around” for the second strike and, because he was busy, had already “moved on to my next meeting.” “I did not personally see survivors,” Hegseth said. “That thing was on fire... This is called the fog of war.” Twelve hours after reaching out, a Pentagon official told the Daily Beast, “Admiral Hosley was not fired, he was asked to retire on good terms. Since that time, the team has worked in harmony. We are grateful for his service to our nation, and we wish him well in his future endeavors.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/real-reason-for-pentagon-pete-commander-retirement-revealed/?

Trump Makes Panicked Move as Affordability Crisis Shatters His Polls The president will go on a national tour to insist there is nothing wrong with the economy. Donald Trump is preparing a national public-appearance blitz amid concerns that he is ignoring the financial anxiety of tens of millions of Americans. The president will appear in the key swing state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday to try to convince voters that his economic plans are working, with additional events expected this month and into the new year across the country, Axios reports. The nationwide push comes as Trump faces mounting criticism that he is too focused on foreign policy during his second term and increasingly out of touch with how Americans are struggling in a cost-of-living crisis. On Thursday, a devastating Politico poll found that nearly half (46 percent) of U.S. adults say the cost of living is the “worst they can ever remember it being,” including 37 percent of voters who supported Trump in 2024. The survey also found that 56 percent of Americans said affordability is their top priority, with 46 percent blaming Trump specifically for their financial woes. The backlash against the 79-year-old—who made lowering the cost of food one of his central 2024 campaign pledges—has contributed to record-low approval ratings and fears within the GOP that it could result in an electoral wipeout in next year’s midterms. Trump has also taken the potentially disastrous stance of insisting that polls showing Americans are increasingly worried about the economy and their own finances are “fake” and a “hoax” pushed by Democrats. He repeated this head-in-the-sand approach while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday. “This whole thing is they use the word affordability. It’s a Democrat hoax. They’re the ones that drove the prices up, and all they do is say ‘affordability,’” Trump said during a lengthy tirade. “When they use the word affordability, they never say anything else. ‘This election is about affordability,’ and then they go into the next subject. It’s a con job.” A late November Gallup survey—which shows Trump with a second-term low approval rating of 36 percent—suggests that concerns about affordability have “damaged Trump’s standing” with the American people. Axios reports that he will use a string of national media appearances to “aggressively” push back against criticism over the rising cost of everyday essentials, with the White House believing the president is the best person to highlight the apparent economic progress he has enacted. A White House spokesperson told the Daily Beast that Trump will use the tour to show how he and the administration “continue to focus on delivering on his Day One priority of ending Joe Biden’s inflation crisis.” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is one of the high-profile Republicans who has accused Trump of abandoning his America First agenda and of ignoring issues affecting Americans. Trump’s own aides have also expressed concern that he’s not focused enough on domestic issues, while the president has repeatedly intervened in international matters while demanding that he be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize (even while threatening to attack Venezuela). The national tour to push his economic proposals also arrived after the White House had been rattled by a New York Times report detailing that Trump’s public appearances in his second term have fallen by 39 percent compared to his first, amid concerns about the 79-year-old’s mental and physical health. https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-makes-panicked-move-as-affordability-crisis-shatters-his-polls/?

DeSantis says Florida ‘will be forced’ to redistrict because of pending U.S. Supreme Court decision Update: Florida Senate President Ben Albritton weighed in for the first time on congressional redistricting late Wednesday afternoon. https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/12/03/desantis-says-florida-will-be-forced-to-redistrict-because-of-pending-u-s-supreme-court-decision/? Florida wildlife agency’s leaders claim they don’t have to follow science When I was growing up here in Florida, everyone revered science. We looked to high-IQ scientists to tell us how to fly to the moon, how to transplant a heart, how to fire up a laser, how the universe began with a Big Bang. https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/12/04/florida-wildlife-agencys-leaders-claim-they-dont-have-to-follow-science/? ps:Even though I agree we should follow the Science, but there are times when the science is definitely wrong!! One one of those times is the Big Bang, especially if you are a Christian and follow the Bible!!!

DeSantis administration: We need another $50M to cover SNAP costs Because of the One Big Beautiful Bill and Congress’ decision to cut spending by $156 billion over a decade. https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/12/03/desantis-administration-we-need-another-50m-to-cover-snap-costs/?

December 4, 2025 By Sam Sifton Good morning. Washington is still talking about the follow-up boat strike in the Caribbean. My colleagues have uncovered more details about the plans the military has in place to handle survivors. And the Trump administration has gutted a Biden-era climate policy meant to promote electric cars. He’s pushing the industry back toward gasoline. I’d like to start today, though, in Phoenix, where many Afghans are wondering whether they will face deportation after the shooting of two National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., an attack the authorities say was carried out by a 29-year-old Afghan man. The administration wants more vetting. Now the migrants are anxious and afraid. Mirwais Daudzai Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times Collective blame Mirwais Daudzai, a 31-year-old Afghan refugee, is one example. For the past two years he’s worked at the Phoenix airport, writes Miriam Jordan, an immigration reporter. If you’re a traveler who needs a wheelchair, he’s the guy who helps you at the start or end of your journey, who gets you onto the plane or down to baggage claim. When travelers learn Daudzai fled to the United States from his native Afghanistan, many tell him they are glad he is safe here. Some slide him a tip. That changed after the attack in Washington, during which officials said an Afghan national used a .357 revolver to shoot two members of the West Virginia National Guard, killing one of them. Daudzai experiences hostility now, he told Miriam, the first he’s encountered since coming to the United States. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, one passenger pulled back a $20 bill when she learned Daudzai was from Afghanistan. “Before this problem, I’m so happy and relaxed in this country,” he said. “I have a job, I’m safe, I have no enemies.” Which may well be true. Daudzai and his wife both have green card applications. But President Trump has told his administration to suspend all Afghan immigration cases and has said the administration will “re-examine every single” Afghan who came to the United States during the Biden presidency. He said last week that “many of these people are criminals, many of these people are people that shouldn’t be here.” Now his administration will deport anyone “who does not belong here or add benefit to our country.” “People are looking at all Afghans as terrorists,” Daudzai told Miriam. ‘Fear is following us’ What a thing that must be to experience. You’re a member of a group — a nationality, a race, a political party, a denomination — and another member of that group does a terrible, heinous thing. You’ve been building a life, or living a life, one that is stable and productive. Then suddenly you find yourself painted with the same tar, and wearing the same feathers, as the person who is suspected of doing the appalling thing. As part of her reporting, Miriam joined a group of Afghans at the Arizona Refugee Center, a nonprofit organization in Mesa, outside Phoenix. There she met Obaidullah Durani. He’s a former Afghan fighter pilot trained by the United States. He was with his two young children. During the evacuation of Kabul in 2021, his youngest was one of several infants lifted over a fence by Marines during the desperate rush to board military planes. Durani’s wife was separated from them in the chaos. She remains in Afghanistan, waiting for approval to join her family. In Phoenix, Durani and his children are scheduled for a green card interview this month. Durani had come to the center to ask if that interview was still going to happen. If it did happen, he wanted to know, could the family be detained? Could they be deported? Obaidullah Durani with his children in Arizona. Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times Durani is but one of about 200,000 Afghans who were once considered wartime allies of the United States and admitted to the country after Kabul’s fall. Many underwent extensive vetting before being welcomed here, American officials told The Times. They were resettled in communities across the nation, including Phoenix. There they set out to build new lives. Another man Miriam encountered at the center was Hekmatullah, who asked that he be identified only by his given name to protect relatives back in Afghanistan. He too works at the airport, and he too is scared about the escalated immigration crackdown that has followed last month’s shooting. His children are thriving. They speak perfect English. What will happen to their asylum case? Hekmatullah spoke about Afghanistan, and his family’s uncertain future. “We left because of fear,” he told Miriam. “Now fear is following us.” Read about how the attack is rippling through Afghan communities. Related: The suspect showed signs of erratic behavior for about two years, according to someone who worked with his family. Here’s what we know about his life. THE LATEST NEWS Boat Strikes The military had outlined plans for handling survivors of boat strikes, officials said. It would attempt to rescue survivors who appeared to be helpless. But it would try again to kill them if they took what the U.S. deemed to be “a hostile action,” like contacting cartel members. There were two survivors after the first boat strike on Sept. 2, and one of them radioed for help, officials said. The military admiral who ordered the follow-up strike on Sept. 2 is set to meet with members of Congress today. Are these boat strikes legal at all? Click the video below to see our colleague David Sanger answer that question. More on the Pentagon In a report, a Pentagon investigator concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked endangering U.S. troops when he discussed plans to attack Yemen in a Signal group chat. The Times sued the Pentagon over new guidelines that restrict journalists’ access to military sources. Immigration Federal agents began an immigration enforcement operation in New Orleans, the latest front in the Trump administration’s crackdown. Somalia’s leader said it was “better not to respond” a day after Trump called Somali immigrants “garbage.” Fraud has swamped Minnesota’s social services. Prosecutors say members of the Somali diaspora are largely responsible. Trump has highlighted the case in his recent rants against immigrants. More on Politics Trump pardoned Henry Cuellar, a Democratic lawmaker from Texas who is awaiting trial on bribery charges. The president called the case politically motivated because Cuellar had spoken out against Biden-era border policies. Trump has renamed the U.S. Institute of Peace after himself. He previously fired most of its employees. Israel Israel said it would reopen a Gaza border crossing, but only for Palestinians to leave. At The Times’s DealBook Summit, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would not hesitate to visit New York City, despite a pledge by Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect, to honor an arrest warrant for him. Sign up for the DealBook newsletter. Andrew Ross Sorkin and his Times colleagues help you make sense of business headlines — and the power brokers who shape them. Get it in your inbox More International News Vladimir Putin is expected to arrive in India today for an annual bilateral summit. U.S. demands for India to limit its economic ties with Russia loom over the meetings. Hong Kong residents demanded accountability for last week’s devastating apartment complex fire. Instead, officials are following the Beijing playbook of quashing dissent, Li Yuan writes. Other Big Stories A dental suite in Jeffrey Epstein’s home on his private island. House Oversight Committee Democrats, via Reuters House Democrats released another collection of files from their investigation of Jeffrey Epstein. This time, it’s pictures and videos from his private island. Private employers cut jobs in November, the third decline in four months. It’s the latest sign that the labor market slowdown may be getting more serious. Bitcoin has plunged more than 30 percent in recent months. A doctor who illegally supplied Matthew Perry with ketamine in the weeks leading up to the “Friends” actor’s death was sentenced to 30 months in prison. A.I. COLLEGE DEGREES Rune Fisker Move over, computer science. You can now major in artificial intelligence. At M.I.T., a new program called “artificial intelligence and decision-making” has become the second most popular major. At the University of California, San Diego, 150 first-year students signed up for a new A.I. program. The State University of New York at Buffalo has created a stand-alone “department of A.I. and society.” More than 3,000 students enrolled in a new college of A.I. and cybersecurity at the University of South Florida. As people adopt A.I. — and as companies pour hundreds of billions of dollars into its development — more young people want to understand the tech, score jobs in the industry and even build it themselves. Schools are eager to meet the new demand. OPINIONS The popularity of the “free birth” movement, in which women give birth without medical assistance, threatens public health, Jessica Grose writes. Here is a column by M. Gessen on the importance of community media, and why it deserves support. Gessen specifically recommends donating to Jewish Currents, which “has offered bracing coverage of the war in Gaza and of settler violence in the West Bank.” Morning readers: Save on the complete Times experience. Experience all of The Times, all in one subscription — all with this introductory offer. You’ll gain unlimited access to news and analysis, plus games, recipes, product reviews and more. MORNING READS Coffee shops in San Francisco and Seoul. Sources: SF OpenData; Google Maps; Korea Local Information Research & Development Institute. Pablo Robles/The New York Times Coffee shop problem: There are a lot of coffee shops in South Korea. The number of them has doubled nationwide over the past six years, with 80,000 shops for a population of 51 million. There are more than 10,000 in Seoul alone. They keep opening — and closing. “A cafe is not a place to get rich,” one owner told The Times. “It’s just a place to go and drink coffee.” Spotify Wrapped: Your social feeds are probably inundated with posts about your friends’ listening habits this year. Other companies are following the trend. Closing time: A raccoon walked into a Virginia liquor store, broke bottles and slurped alcohol before passing out drunk on the bathroom floor. See photos. (Don’t worry, the raccoon is OK.) TODAY’S NUMBER 37 million — That is about how many pounds of snails people in France eat every year, a number we learned after 990 pounds of them were stolen from a farm there. SPORTS N.B.A.: Chris Paul wanted to retire after this season, his 21st in the league, but his retirement tour ended abruptly after the Clippers sent him home. M.L.B.: The Dodgers’ manager, Dave Roberts, oversaw a 2025 roster that was the most expensive in baseball history. Now, he’s in favor of a salary cap. RECIPE OF THE DAY Linda Xiao for The New York Times I would not generally be out here recommending a chicken meatball for dinner. Ground chicken dries as quickly as rain-kissed desert sand. But the genius of Ali Slagle’s recipe for chicken-zucchini meatballs with feta is how incredibly moist the vegetable leaves the lean protein. Roast extra zucchini, cut into in coins, alongside the meatballs, and then top everything with a lemony feta sauce, some red pepper flakes and a few handfuls of chopped fresh basil and mint. Would you like that with rice cooked in chicken broth? I would. THE BEST TV SHOWS OF 2025 Clockwise from left: “Severance,” “The Lowdown,” “Asura” and “Dying for Sex.” Apple TV+; FX; Netflix; FX Our television critics James Poniewozik and Mike Hale take stock of the best shows that appeared on our screens this year, including “Severance,” “The Pitt,” “Andor,” “Pluribus,” “The Lowdown” and others. The shows seemed to be in conversation with each other, James writes. “And why not? TV series emerge from the same culture and climate. They breathe in the same air.” Explore the best TV shows of 2025. Related: The Morning’s most read article yesterday was The Times’s ranking of the best movies of 2025. More on culture Michael Ovitz, the former Hollywood power broker, is one of the world’s great collectors of art. Among his holdings: Lichtensteins, a Donald Judd stack, Jasper Johns’s “White Flag,” Rembrandt etchings and a staggering number of Picassos. Our reporter Robin Pogrebin went to Ovitz’s 28,000-square-foot glass and steel home for a guided tour. The visuals are amazing. Stephen Colbert questioned Trump’s strategy in the latest war on drugs. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Stream a new Christmas movie. Stream a whole bunch of them while you’re at it. Read a new biography of the writer Denis Johnson — or at any rate Dwight Garner’s exciting review of it. “By now we know what people mean when they say that something feels or sounds ‘like a Denis Johnson story,’” he writes. “There will be hard times and bad luck and bleak surroundings and beautiful losers, nursing chronic hurts, with a narrow shot at redemption.” Browse the most popular gifts recommended by the wily elves at Wirecutter this year. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was matchup. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Sports Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times and me. See you tomorrow. — Sam Correction: Yesterday’s newsletter misidentified the state where Luigi Mangione was arrested. It was Pennsylvania, not New Jersey. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren

Oklahoma university instructor on leave after failing Bible-based essay on gender An instructor at the University of Oklahoma has been placed on leave after a student complained that she received a failing grade on a paper that cited the Bible to assert that the “belief in multiple genders” was “demonic.” https://apnews.com/article/university-oklahoma-gender-bible-essay-demonic-0fd51985c123737cd372ba609b730541?

A single shot of HPV vaccine may be enough to fight cervical cancer, study finds WASHINGTON (AP) — A single HPV vaccination appears just as effective as two doses at preventing the viral infection that causes cervical cancer, researchers reported Wednesday. https://apnews.com/article/cervical-cancer-hpv-virus-ae8d7f9d6b6a94dd468f4af665fd0600?

How 2 killings exposed the depths of cartels’ grip in Mexico Two recent killings in Mexico's western Michoacan state have sent a clear message that organized crime controls much of the region, something residents have known for years. Now, as President Donald Trump has launched military attacks against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific and has offered to send the U.S. military to Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum faces increased pressure. But years of failed tactics have left residents skeptical that the government will offer a solution. Read more. What to know: Michoacan has stymied presidents before, and has become one of Sheinbaum's biggest challenges. All strategies to pacify the state over the last 20 years have failed, while criminal groups have multiplied and renewed their tactics. The U.S. government is watching because Michoacan is a key importer of chemical precursors for synthetic drugs. In the last two months, 17 drug laboratories were dismantled by Mexican authorities. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ WATCH: Community police in Michoacan defend their land from cartels WATCH: Victims of cartel violence speak out

Last Generation Theology is being advocated by some in Adventism. the following article discusses it. https://spectrummagazine.org/news/mark-finley-nets-last-generation-theology-attention/

ID of Thai hostage’s remains leaves 1 hostage in Gaza Remains that militants in Gaza handed to Israel as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal were those of a Thai agricultural worker, Israeli and Thai officials said Thursday. The return of Sudthisak Rinthalak’s remains leaves just one more hostage to be returned under the agreement. Read more. What to know: Sudthisak was an agricultural worker who had been employed at Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the hardest-hit communities in the attack. Israeli officials said the 42-year-old Thai was killed on Oct. 7, 2023 during the Hamas-led attack in Israel that triggered the Israel-Hamas war. Israeli Ran Gvili is now the last hostage whose remains have yet to be returned. Gvili was an Israeli police officer who helped people escape from the Nova music festival during the Oct. 7 attack and was killed fighting at another location. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Israel launches airstrike in southern Gaza after earlier attack by militants wounded 5 soldiers Lebanon ‘far from’ diplomatic normalization or economic relations with Israel, prime minister says

Pentagon knew boat attack left survivors but still launched a follow-on strike, AP sources say The Pentagon knew there were survivors after a September attack on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea and the U.S. military still carried out a follow-up strike, according to two people familiar with the matter. Read more. What to know: What remains unclear was who ordered the strikes and whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was involved, one of the people said. The details are becoming crucial as lawmakers have launched investigations and are seeking to determine whether the U.S. acted lawfully during its military operations. The Pentagon did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment about the reported new details about the Sept. 2 attack. The rationale for the second strike was that it was needed to sink the vessel, according to the people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss it publicly. Hegseth is under growing scrutiny over the department’s strikes on alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, and in particular the follow-on strike that reportedly killed survivors. Some legal experts and lawmakers say that the strike would have violated peacetime laws and those governing armed conflict. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Pentagon watchdog finds Hegseth’s use of Signal posed risk to US personnel, AP sources say Lawmakers to hear from Navy admiral who ordered attack that killed boat strike survivors A vocal Jeffrey Epstein accuser is urging judges to unseal his court records Affordable Care Act premiums are set to spike. A new poll shows enrollees are already struggling A dozen former FDA leaders lambaste claims by the agency’s current vaccine chief Safety volunteer charged in the fatal shooting of a Utah ‘No Kings’ protester Bessent says Federal Reserve Board could ‘veto’ future regional presidents Longest US government shutdown cost Delta Air Lines $200 million Trump is fighting the Institute of Peace in court. Now, his name is on the building Ex-Honduras president Hernández thanks Trump in first message since release Arkansas attorney general says pardoned nursing home operator should serve state sentence NY attorney general challenges authority of acting US attorney investigating her Trump lawsuits Wisconsin Supreme Court to decide whether local jails can hold immigrants for ICE WATCH: Can tariffs eventually replace federal income taxes, as Trump claims? White House tours resume in time for Christmas, but they’re different than before

THIS DAY IN HISTORY December 04 1991 Hostage Terry Anderson freed in Lebanon On December 4, 1991, Islamic militants in Lebanon release kidnapped American journalist Terry Anderson after 2,454 days in captivity. As chief Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press, Anderson covered the long-running civil war in Lebanon (1975-1990). On March 16, 1985, he was kidnapped... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 19th Century 1867 Oliver Kelley organizes the Grange 1990s 1992 President Bush orders U.S. troops to Somalia American Revolution 1780 George Washington’s cousin tricks Loyalists 1783 George Washington bids farewell to his officers Crime 1928 “Irish Godfather” killed by car bomb in St. Paul, Minnesota 1969 Police kill two members of the Black Panther Party 2009 Amanda Knox convicted of murder in Italy Natural Disasters & Environment 2012 Typhoon “Pablo” kills over 1,000 people in the Philippines Sports 1997 NBA suspends Latrell Sprewell for attacking coach World War I 1917 Psychiatrist reports on the phenomenon of shell shock World War II 1942 Polish Christians come to the aid of Polish Jews

🔎 1 for the road: 2025's top trending searches Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios Google is out this morning with its annual "Year in Search" lists — revealing the top trending news, culture and tech moments that captured our attention in 2025. The top 10 trending U.S. searches: Charlie Kirk KPop Demon Hunters Labubu iPhone 17 One Big Beautiful Bill Act Zohran Mamdani DeepSeek Government shutdown FIFA Club World Cup Tariffs More Google Trends data.

🪖 Big warplane reveal The Project Talon aircraft. Photo: Courtesy of Northrop Grumman MOJAVE, Calif. — Northrop Grumman revealed Project Talon, a robo-wingman expected to fly next year, to a select few reporters gathered in the California desert yesterday, Axios Future of Defense author Colin Demarest writes. Why it matters: Only one of the drones exists today. But it's designed to be manufactured en masse relatively cheaply, which should appeal to the Pentagon. The big picture: Defense departments worldwide are clamoring for drones of all sizes, including ones big enough and smart enough to fly alongside manned aircraft, like the F-22, F-35 and future F-47. Both the U.S. Air Force and Navy have asked the industry for these so-called collaborative combat aircraft, or CCA. Keep reading.

💊 FDA hits "tipping point" Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios Another abrupt departure of a high-ranking FDA official is raising alarm about a brain drain that could mean new drugs take longer to reach the public, Axios Vitals co-author Peter Sullivan writes. Why it matters: Biotech and pharmaceutical companies rely on the FDA for dependable guidance as they spend huge sums developing new treatments. The American public needs the agency to ensure treatments are safe and effective. 🔬 Zoom in: The latest uproar surrounds the unexpected departure of Richard Pazdur, a respected oncologist who just three weeks ago became the fourth person to direct the FDA's drug center this year. Pazdur's appointment had helped calm nerves to some degree within industry. Now, executives are publicly questioning the agency's direction. John Crowley, CEO of the industry group the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, said the FDA is at a "tipping point." "This constant turmoil is undermining America's leadership in biotechnology, creating unprecedented regulatory instability and unpredictability, and risks ceding this critical sector to China."

✡️ Exclusive survey: "Allies" abandon Jews Two stones stamped with the Star of David are seen outside the Capital Jewish Museum in May after two members of the Israeli embassy's staff were killed there. Photo: Annabelle Gordon/Bloomberg via Getty images Antisemitism in the U.S. has hardened into a "durable" new normal as fewer Americans feel any obligation to push back, according to a sweeping new survey shared first with Axios' Russell Contreras. Why it matters: The findings suggest the spike in antisemitism that began in 2023 is not a passing wave but a plateau. 🧮 By the numbers: Around 3 in 5 U.S. adults think antisemitism is a minor problem or not a problem at all, the 2025 Antisemitism Landscape Survey released this morning by the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate found. About 27% of those polled believe Jews "cause problems in the world," up from 19% in 2023. Keep reading.

⚡ New data: Inside ICE arrest surge Data: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via UC Berkeley. (Arrests were counted even if they didn't lead to detainment. Multiple arrests of the same individual were counted separately.) Chart: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals The Trump administration is making headway on the key first step toward mass deportations: ICE arrests have soared since the start of President Trump's second term, Axios' Brittany Gibson writes from data released this week. Why it matters: This year's arrest pace is well short of the administration's goal of 3,000 a day. But President Trump has moved the numbers way up compared to former President Biden. ICE's main unit for removing immigration law violators — Enforcement and Removal Operations — has been arresting roughly 1,100 people per day in recent weeks, according to government data released via a Freedom of Information Act request from the Deportation Data Project. 👓 Between the lines: Fueling the larger arrest numbers is ICE's decision to also target people without criminal convictions or charges. Under President Biden, people who hadn't committed another crime weren't prioritized for arrest and deportation. Agents now have a broader mandate and have been encouraged to make more "collateral arrests."

👀 New poll: Gen Z's dark fears Data: Harvard Youth Poll. Chart: Axios Visuals Young Americans say the country is heading down a dark road and fear their futures are unstable, Axios' Emily Peck writes from a Harvard Youth Poll out this morning. Why it matters: Financial insecurity, intense political polarization and the rise of AI are eroding Gen Z's faith in their economic prospects and public institutions overall. A majority of respondents (57%) say the country is headed in the wrong direction — a six-point rise from last year. Young adults are far more worried about the country's future now than they were during the depths of the Great Recession in 2009, when the economy was truly cooked. At that time, only 37% of respondents said the U.S. was on the wrong track — 20 points less than this year. 🎨 The big picture: Economic insecurity is playing a big role here. Even though the overall economy is holding up, young adults are being hit hard by some of its biggest weaknesses — particularly, a stagnant job market, changes brought by AI and sky-high housing prices. 💥 What to watch: For the first time, the Harvard poll asked young adults whether political violence is ever acceptable. 39% said it is under at least one circumstance.

✈️ Scoop: Trump's comeback travel President Trump, staring down criticism that he's prioritized global issues over pocketbook worries, next week will kick off a year of heavy stateside travel that's focused on selling his economic agenda ahead of the midterms, Axios' Alex Isenstadt reports. Why it matters: Trump's approval rating has sunk as he has pursued peace deals around the globe and "narco-terrorists" in the Caribbean, while Americans have become more pessimistic about affording a better life. With Republicans in danger of losing control of the House next November, Trump needs to be a lift — not a drag — in tough districts if the GOP is to defy powerful historic trends and keep its majority. Trump's new push begins Tuesday in the vital battleground of northeastern Pennsylvania. We're told the president will aggressively push back against criticism over the cost of everyday essentials — an issue that helped propel him to victory over Kamala Harris last year. The president's growing irritation over how voters view his economic agenda has been bubbling over in his public remarks. He has repeatedly insisted prices are coming down, and has called Democrats' focus on affordability a "hoax" and "con job." Trump is expected to use Tuesday's event to highlight what he's done to help the economy during his second term in office. But aides privately acknowledge that there's more to be done to address cost-of-living concerns.

> Waymo begins testing self-driving vehicles in Philadelphia and launches manned drives in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis to collect road data (More) > Chemists synthesize a fungal compound with potential to fight diffuse midline glioma, an aggressive pediatric brain cancer that has few treatment options (More) > NASA scientists find bioessential sugars and a gum-like material rich in oxygen and nitrogen in an asteroid sample, offering clues about how life’s molecular building blocks arrived on Earth (More)

All people who wish to worship peacefully in a SDA Church should be welcomed to do so. Worshiping peacefully does not require membership. Yes, I was once a member of a SDA Church that had a homosexual couple attend every Sabbath. No, they were not members. We welcomed them and they came.

Germany to host 2029 Women's European Championship Germany is set to host the Women's Euros in 2029. In a bid process that saw Italy and then Portugal drop out, Germany on Wednesday was victorious over bids from Poland, aiming to become the first eastern European nation to host a women's tournament, and a joint bid from Denmark and Sweden. https://www.dw.com/en/germany-to-host-2029-womens-european-championship/a-74996608?

MH370 Flight Search Malaysia announced yesterday that a search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 will resume this month, more than a decade after the jet’s disappearance—and months after the effort was postponed due to poor weather. The government has pledged $70M to the US robotics company Ocean Infinity if it can produce wreckage. On March 8, 2014, the Beijing-bound Boeing 777 aircraft stopped transmitting location data, 39 minutes after taking off from Kuala Lumpur. After exiting Malaysian airspace, the plane veered off course (see flight path) with satellite data indicating the aircraft continued flying for hours. Multiple international search efforts failed to reveal the jet’s location; the plane is believed to have crashed somewhere in the Indian Ocean, killing all 239 people on board. Ocean Infinity says its technology has improved since a previous search failed in 2018. Beginning Dec. 30, the company will scour a 5,800-square-mile site in the Indian Ocean for 55 days. See a documentary trailer about the mystery here.