This post was originally published on Democracy Now!.

This post was originally published on Democracy Now!.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, backed by the United Arab Emirates, is accused of attempting to cover up its mass killings of civilians by burning and burying bodies, according to a new report by Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab. This comes as drone strikes have plunged several cities into darkness, including Khartoum and the coastal city of Port Sudan. “We have the expansion of the war through Darfur, El Fasher, now Western Kordofan, which is an extremely important region economically. … And now we have this potential of the expansion of this war to South Sudan,” says Sudanese scholar Khalid Mustafa Medani. “We have a humanitarian crisis that has expanded, but we also have a military stalemate.”

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Former immigration judge Tania Nemer, who was fired in February, is now suing the Trump administration, alleging that she was discriminated against despite strong performance reviews. Nemer is one of about 100 immigration judges who have been fired or reassigned since Trump took office. The system is notoriously backlogged, with more than 3 million cases pending. “I was pulled away in the middle of the hearing,” she says.

Nemer filed a discrimination complaint with the Department of Justice, which officials dismissed, citing Article II of the Constitution on presidential powers. “I’ve been practicing employment law and representing federal employees for almost 30 years, and I have never seen a federal agency dismiss a complaint for this reason,” says Nemer’s attorney, James Eisenmann.

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President Trump praised the state of the U.S. economy in a primetime address Wednesday evening, even though new government statistics show the nation’s unemployment rate is at a new four-year high of 4.6%. Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, says Trump’s aides should be “wondering about the man’s sanity” after Wednesday’s speech. “This is utterly divorced from reality.” Though Trump blames former President Biden for the poor economy, Baker notes that Trump had inherited an “incredibly strong economy by almost every measure imaginable.”

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Democracy Now! Thursday, December 18, 2025

This post was originally published on Democracy Now! Video.

Democracy Now! Thursday, December 18, 2025

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• House Rejects Resolutions Seeking Congressional Approval for Boat Strikes or Attack on Venezuela
• Senate Overwhelmingly Approves Record $901 Billion Military Spending Bill
• Israeli Army Shells Gaza Residential Area in Latest Violation of U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire
• House Passes Healthcare Bill That Does Not Address Skyrocketing Insurance Premiums
• House Advances Bill That Would Criminalize Gender-Affirming Care for Minors
• Trump Touts Economic Record in Primetime Address as U.S. Unemployment Ticks Higher
• Dan Bongino Announces Resignation as FBI's Second-in-Command
• Pentagon Opens Formal Inquiry into Sen. Mark Kelly, Who Told Service Members to Defy Illegal Orders
• Jack Smith Had "Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" Trump Conspired to Overturn 2020 Election
• Trump Attempts to Pardon Colorado Clerk Who Tampered with Voting Machines After 2020 Election
• White House Says It's Breaking Up National Center for Atmospheric Research
• Senate Confirms Billionaire Private Astronaut Jared Isaacman as NASA Chief
• NYT: Trump Admin Ramping Up Efforts to Denaturalize Immigrants
• Minneapolis Police Chief Criticizes Federal Immigration Agents for Dragging Woman Down Street
• Federal Judge Rules Trump Admin Broke Law by Limiting Congressmembers from Visiting ICE Jails
• Federal Judge Rules in Favor of Human Rights Activist Jeanette Vizguerra
• FCC Chair Brendan Carr Says Agency Is Not Independent

This post was originally published on Democracy Now!.

This post was originally published on Democracy Now!.

This post was originally published on Democracy Now!.

This post was originally published on Democracy Now!.

This post was originally published on Democracy Now!.

This post was originally published on Democracy Now!.

This post was originally published on Democracy Now!.

This post was originally published on Democracy Now!.