Submitted By Thomas Kolbe

Germany’s public pension system is under mounting pressure. Amid a deepening economic crisis, uncontrolled poverty migration, and a rapidly aging population, a shrinking workforce is being forced to shoulder an ever-growing burden. Meanwhile, the number of pension recipients continues to rise and has now smashed through the 21-million mark.

The widening deficit in the pension fund — and the surging federal subsidies needed to stabilize it — shows the system is slipping out of control. Political pressure for reform is intensifying, yet Berlin offers nothing but costly giveaways, ignoring the structural rot turning the pension system into a fiscal nightmare.

Germany’s statutory pension scheme is revealing its true nature: a Ponzi structure drained by politically motivated “non-insurance” payouts and kept alive by constant cross-subsidies — a political shell game at its finest.

The Economists’ Appeal

Into this crisis step 22 leading economists and pension specialists. In a joint statement, they urge the government to take the pension package “off the table immediately.”
“For stability, reliability, and trust, we need long-term pension policy that is predictable and fiscally sustainable,” the document reads. The experts argue the government’s current proposal fails on every count and should therefore be abandoned.

Released Monday morning and obtained by Handelsblatt, the paper is a long overdue wake-up call in a debate trapped in coalition infighting.

High-Profile Critics

The list of critics — including pension experts like Bert Rürup, ifo chief Clemens Fuest, and Michael Eilfort of the Stiftung Marktwirtschaft — is long. Their main targets include the fiscally reckless “active pension,” which would allow retirees to earn additional tax-free income; a further expansion of the mothers’ pension; and a political fix that would lock in the current pension level at any cost.

According to the economists, these measures would raise the federal subsidy to the pension system by €10–15 billion annually — a burden Germany’s recession-ridden public finances can no longer tolerate.

The economists also condemn the political choice to shift the costs onto the young: higher payroll taxes, higher income taxes, all to sustain benefits for an older generation. In doing so, they side with young CDU/CSU lawmakers who have recently ramped up pressure on Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Short-Term Political Bribery

The experts don’t mince words: The pension package is not a reform but a short-term political bribe. With sinking poll numbers for both CDU/CSU and SPD and the steady rise of the AfD, the strategy is obvious: stabilize the voter base with last-minute giveaways.

What’s missing is a long-term, demographically sound strategy that addresses retirement age, private savings, and company pensions. The economists are particularly blunt about the minimum pension level: preserving a 48% benchmark through 2031 is unrealistic and likely untenable.
They highlight a deeper issue: years of economic decline have eroded Germany’s productive base. As prosperity shrinks, all groups — workers and retirees — will lose purchasing power. Political shell games no longer work in a shrinking economy.

“Non-Insurance” Burdens

The debate exposes another long-ignored truth: Germany’s pension system has been hollowed out for decades by political giveaways and ideological trench warfare. “Non-insurance” payouts — including benefits for illegal immigrants — have drained a fund intended solely to manage contributors’ money.

The pension system posted a €2 billion deficit last year. This year, losses may hit €7 billion. If current trends continue, the Bundesbank expects the deficit to exceed €10 billion by 2030 — assuming the economy doesn’t deteriorate further, which is far from guaranteed.

The contributor-to-retiree ratio is collapsing: from 5-to-1 in 1965 to 2-to-1 in 2022. The imbalance will worsen. The pension system is heading into severe turbulence. A looming loss of purchasing power will hit the working population through skyrocketing contributions while retirees see their real pensions erode.

A Moral and Economic Breaking Point

Germany now faces an ethical and economic impasse: How does a shrinking economy deal with rising old-age poverty? Politics offers no answers — this question has never been seriously

confronted.
That the country has reached this point is the result of decades of politicians living off the postwar system’s accumulated substance — while acting as a global welfare provider absorbing external crises into domestic social systems.

Now that the crisis can no longer be ignored, German society must fundamentally reassess. Without statist ideologues and welfare-state engineers, a new intergenerational contract is needed — one that acknowledges the growth needs of the young, the necessity of market-driven reforms, and the dignity of a minimum living standard for the old.

The 22 economists provide an important first step: Germany faces one of the most complex socio-economic challenges of the coming years — a balancing act between responsibility, realism, and morality. And economically, it means one thing: both young and old will have to make concessions.

* * * 

About the author: Thomas Kolbe, born in 1978 in Neuss/ Germany, is a graduate economist. For over 25 years, he has worked as a journalist and media producer for clients from various industries and business associations. As a publicist, he focuses on economic processes and observes geopolitical events from the perspective of the capital markets. His publications follow a philosophy that focuses on the individual and their right to self-determination.

Via Remix News,

Data from Italy’s Interior Ministry for 2024 shows that foreigners commit nearly half of all rapes, while only representing 9 percent of the country’s resident population.

Specifically, the graph shows they are arrested in 44 percent of cases.

Sexual Violence cases, Italy, 2024

The troubling data, which was cited by Italian journalist Francesca Totolo, also shows that when it comes to gang rapes, “50 percent of perpetrators were foreigners.”

The situation is reportedly “even more of an emergency” when analyzing data concerning minors. In 2023, 56 percent of the arrests and reports for the crime of sexual violence concerned minor foreigners.

A report titled “Young People and Gender-Based Violence” by the Ministry of the Interior’s Department of Public Security analyzed data from 2020 to 2023 for the 14-34 age group. It documented the following:

• 59 percent of known perpetrators of “sexual violence” were “foreigners.” This is highly disproportionate, as foreigners in that age group represented only 12 percent of all residents aged 14 to 34 in Italy.
• In cases of “forced or forced marriage,” which rose from eight cases in 2020 to 28 in 2023, “One hundred percent of the perpetrators of this crime are foreigners.”
• For “abuse against family members and partners” between 2020 and 2023, 36 percent of perpetrators aged 14 to 34 were foreigners.

Totolo then goes into a range of cases, from just the beginning of November to Nov. 19, to illustrate the crisis in the country. For all sources, please consult Totolo’s piece, where she links to the local news stories covering each incident. It is important to remember this is only a selection that Totolo compiled and is likely omitting many incidents.

• In Parma in early November, writing that a girl was followed, harassed, and groped by a group of young foreigners in the city center. She escaped into an apartment building, saying later about the incident: “They told me to stop. And then they made advances, harsh words. They were a group, they smelled of alcohol and smoke. They were touching me. I was just inches away from them, and speeding up was no use. They followed me for meters, I had them glued to my neck. Yes, I was scared.”

• In Borgo Panigale in early November, a 50-year-old woman was threatened, beaten, and choked by a young foreigner who held a knife to her throat while demanding money on a bike path. The victim stated: “I couldn’t breathe. I had to free myself with all my strength.”

• Prato (Nov. 1): A 48-year-old Chinese man attacked his Chinese wife with a cleaver, nearly amputating her hand.

• Bitonto (Nov. 1): A woman was followed and harassed by a foreigner, described as “mulatto, tall and thin,” who exposed himself to her. The victim lamented: “I love my Bitonto and I want to feel safe being able to return home without feeling violated by the sight of a horrid and vulgar spectacle.”

• Padua (Nov. 2): A woman was surrounded by three young North Africans who attempted to steal her dog and spat on her. She said: “I no longer go out alone, and if there’s no one to accompany me, I put absorbent mats on the floor at home.”

• Arcore (Nov. 2): Brazilian model Stephanie Amaral was attacked and beaten on a regional train by Balde Abdulaye, a 26-year-old Gambian illegal immigrant with a deportation order and a criminal record. After seeing his photo, another woman, 25-year-old Ilaria Fancellu, said she was subjected to persecution by the same man, stating: “In a year, I filed four or five complaints, not counting those of my family members, and I always found myself faced with him. I wonder if things can only be resolved when a case becomes media news.”

• Milan (Nov. 2): A young woman was attacked by an African man she had reprimanded for urinating on a church wall.

🇮🇹✝️An Italian woman found a migrant outside her house urinating on a church in Milan.

She told him, “The church is not a bathroom!”

At that point, he pulled down his pants and began chasing her. He told her he also “pisses on the police.”

She stated that he approached her in… pic.twitter.com/7J8K6EaMBu

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) November 4, 2025

• San Fermo della Battaglia (Nov. 4): A 49-year-old Iraqi illegal immigrant groped two nurses’ private parts and harassed them with explicit gestures and words at the hospital. He locked one victim in an office before she escaped.

• Terranuova Bracciolini (Nov. 4): A 42-year-old Tunisian man with a criminal record attacked, beat, and stabbed a female acquaintance in the face after breaking into her home. He then attempted to stab responding Carabinieri officers.

• Cremona (Nov. 5): A foreigner beat and threatened his partner with a knife.

• Lucca (Nov. 5): A female driver was threatened, attacked, and spat on by a gang of North African minors who tried to board her bus with alcohol bottles. One gang member yelled: “Bitch, if you were in Tunisia, I would have already slit your throat.”

• Cremona (Nov. 5): A 28-year-old Salvadoran illegal immigrant was arrested on suspicion of domestic abuse against his partner and children, as well as sexual assault against the woman.

• Perugia (Nov. 6): An African man harassed passengers on a bus with sexually oriented behavior, including touching his genitals and approaching young girls. After being confronted by university students, he displayed a knife and later stalked one of the harassed girls, who was forced to take refuge in the minimetrò as the man could not pass the turnstiles without a ticket.

• Rome (Nov. 7): A 37-year-old woman was groped by a 42-year-old Albanian man while having breakfast at a café.

• Florence (Between Nov. 7 and 8): A 35-year-old Panamanian tourist was raped by a 26-year-old Egyptian man and a 32-year-old Moroccan man, both with criminal records.

• Cantù (Nov. 9): A 23-year-old sales assistant was attacked by a foreigner who attempted to undress and rape her as she arrived to open her store; colleagues intervened and saved her.

• Bressanone (Nov 10): An illegal immigrant previously reported for attempting to solicit 10-year-old children was discovered during a check and ordered to be expelled to a repatriation center.

• Turin (Nov. 12): A 23-year-old student was sexually assaulted and groped by a 30-year-old Bangladeshi man while walking downtown. He attempted to kiss her and pulled her hair.

• On a Bus (Nov. 14): A 22-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker, who landed illegally in Lampedusa in 2024, harassed and groped a minor student.

• Milan (Nov. 16): At the San Siro stadium during the Italy-Norway match, a 24-year-old Norwegian woman was harassed and groped in the restrooms by a 20-year-old Egyptian cleaner.

• Lecce (Nov. 18): A 24-year-old Moroccan man was arrested, accused of stalking, solicitation, and aggravated sexual assault against a 16-year-old girl in Anzio over a month.

• Rieti (Nov. 19): A 34-year-old Nigerian serial molester was arrested after allegedly harassing a woman and then a student.

The piece concludes by stating that Italy “is a country that is sacrificing thousands of women on the altar of open ports and a multicultural society.”

Read more here…

China has activated what the South China Morning Post describes as the world’s first commercial power unit using supercritical carbon dioxide, or sCO₂, marking a notable step forward in clean energy technology.

Developed by the China National Nuclear Corporation, the generator replaces traditional steam with high-pressure CO₂ to turn waste heat from steelmaking into electricity, according to SCMP.

The first installation, located at the Shougang Shuicheng Steel complex in Liupanshui, Guizhou, links two 15-megawatt units to the grid and is expected to deliver roughly 50 per cent higher efficiency than typical steam-based waste-heat systems.

Unlike the Rankine cycle used in steam plants, sCO₂ systems operate on a compact Brayton-cycle loop. CO₂ becomes supercritical at high temperature and pressure, giving it fluid properties that boost energy conversion efficiency beyond 50 per cent while allowing turbines and auxiliary parts to be far smaller.

Because steel sintering can produce temperatures above 700°C, the process is well suited to this technology, and researchers see clear potential for applications in advanced nuclear reactors, mobile nuclear systems, space power units and concentrated solar facilities.

South China Morning Post writes that the project, built jointly with Jigang International Engineering and Technology, follows more than a decade of research. CNNC reached stable full-power laboratory operation in 2019 and began constructing the commercial system in 2023. According to SCMP, the new installation is intended to set a technological foundation for future large-scale deployments.

Similar sCO₂ demonstration efforts are also underway overseas. In Texas, the US Department of Energy–supported Step Demo pilot has already reached full turbine speed at 500°C, producing several megawatts of grid-synchronised power during early testing as it progresses toward its 10-MWe goal.

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

Its continued hegemony over Central & Eastern Europe threatens to further erode Poland’s already limited sovereignty, but this can be shattered with US support, though at the cost of subordinating Poland to Trump 2.0’s envisaged “Pax Americana” that would also impose limits on its sovereignty.

“The AfD’s Co-Leader Declared That Poland Could Become A Threat To Germany” earlier this month, the rationale of which was explained in the preceding analysis, but it’s also true that some in Poland regard Germany as threat to their country as well.

Whereas the perception that some Germans have of Poland as a threat is derived from it trying to shatter Germany’s hegemony over Central & Eastern Europe (CEE), the perception that some Poles have of Germany as a threat is derived from that selfsame hegemony.

The grey cardinal of Poland’s conservative-nationalist opposition (“Law & Justice” or PiS per its Polish acronym), Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has been among the most outspoken voices about this. He’s spoken on this subject for years, even declaring right before the special operation that Germany’s EU federalization plans are an attempt to build a “Fourth Reich”. Kaczynski recently reaffirmed that Germany nowadays leads “a kind of new empire” and, together with France, “want[s] to take Poland’s sovereignty away.”

Prime Minister Donald Tusk is “a German agent” tasked for fulfilling this plot, he claimed in late December 2023 after PiS lost control of the Sejm following its defeat in that fall’s elections, but Trump 2.0’s envisaged “Pax Americana” can possibly save Poland according to his latest assessment.

He said in late September that “Pax Americana would be global but it would allow for the existence of sovereign states, including a sovereign Poland, constrained only by demands of joint defence within NATO.”

This aligns with the insight shared in the earlier cited analysis about the AfD co-leader’s views on Poland, which drew attention to how the US is helping Poland shatter German hegemony in CEE in order to facilitate the creation of a Polish-led wedge (the “Three Seas Initiative”, 3SI) between Germany and Russia. For Poland to achieve its full geostrategic potential in this regard, both in furtherance of its own and the US’ shared interests, PiS must regain control of the Sejm during fall 2027’s next elections.

That would almost certainly necessitate allying with the Confederation party, which leads Poland’s populist-nationalist opposition and whose chief Slawomir Mentzen came in third place during the first presidential round with 14.81% of the vote, but Mentzen conditioned this on PiS’ top leaders resigning. Other than Kaczynski, he demanded the departure of former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, but their egos (especially Kaczynski’s) might prevent that despite it arguably being for the greater good.

In any case, Poland’s sovereignty can only enduringly be defended vis-à-vis Berlin-led Brussels by rallying CEE to collectively oppose the EU’s federalization plans, which can be advanced through transforming the US-backed 3SI into a political platform to this end. Poland must also continue reviving its lost Great Power status in parallel with replacing Hungary’s role as a continental hub for conservative-/populist-nationalist movements, which requires regaining control of the Sejm, all of which with US support.

Polish independence activists fought “for our freedom and yours” during the Partition period as they famously proclaimed, especially when they participated in independence struggles abroad, with their modern struggle against German hegemony over CEE representing the spiritual successor of that cause. Its success is also far from certain, but unlike back then, Poland can count on US support but at the cost of subordinating itself to “Pax Americana” with no chance of achieving full sovereignty under this order.

Authored by Pepe Escobar,

The EU/NATO combo cannot but play the role of pathetic yapping chihuahuas. That’s the price you pay for a matrioshka of supreme stupidity.

No one ever lost money betting on the politically suicidal instincts of post-Orwellian EU – that acronym for a virtual Europe.

Call them juvenile bipolar psychos or a bunch of yapping chihuahuas: no Jupiterian or Mercurial voice of reason has been capable to impart to the “leadership” in Brussels and their vassals in most European capitals – yes, there are healthy exceptions – that losers in wars do not dictate terms.

And still those War Council luminaries – with a special starring role for the toxic Pfizer Medusa and her Estonian sidekick unable to even manage a herring stall in the Baltics – insist that essentially the mega-corrupt gang in Kiev must prevail, to the last Ukrainian dead, and on top of it dictate the final terms of their non-surrender.

Reality begs to differ. Plan A was never to talk, much less negotiate with Russia. And still there’s no Plan B.

So after the 28-pointer Theater of the Absurd – which is not even Trump’s plan, but a mish mash concocted by the Witkoff-Dmitriev duo plus “insights” from neo-con Rubio and toxic Zionist asset Jared Kushner – the cross-yapping went ballistic, leading to an emergency “counter-plan” that is, what else, a Loser’s Manifesto.

Even Rubio allowed himself a shining moment: “What plan?” Might as well call it The Euro-kiss of Death.

Russia, meanwhile, behaves like Lao Tzu surrounded by rabid stray dogs. The conditions for a negotiation have been set in detail by Putin since June 2024. These are non-negotiable, and would allow the negotiation to start: Kiev withdraws from the four regions and formally pledges to never enter NATO.

One of the EU’s “counter-plan” points is a 30-day ceasefire, with all territorial disputes to be debated afterwards. So that means everything frozen on the current front line, and no Ukraine withdrawal from the parts of Donbass they still occupy.

None of that – and much more – is remotely acceptable to the actual winner of the war, Russia. It would not be acceptable even if NATO troops were entering Moscow tomorrow.

So the “counter-plan”, elaborated in conjunction with the unimaginably corrupt Kiev combo, is essentially a sabotage op to buy some extra time and buy some $6 trillion in – American – weapons – for their amply avowed Forever War. Fine with Moscow – as the SMO will keep going on, rolling thunder mode.

Losers bombing a peace plan

The EU’s 24-point counter-plan contains nuggets such as Ukraine receiving legally binding security guarantees from the Empire of Chaos and its vassals: a de facto NATO Article 5 scam with different terminology.

Plus no restrictions on Ukraine’s armed forces and defense industry; control of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (with the Empire of Chaos in the mix) and the Kakhovka Dam; unhindered access to the Dnieper River and control of the Kinburn Spit.

And the killer: Ukraine “financially compensated” – including through the stolen, so far, Russian sovereign assets, which will remain stolen until Moscow pays compensation.

As for sanctions, they “may” – that’s the operative word – be “partially” – another operative word – eased only after a “sustainable peace”, with automatic snap-back if the deal is violated. Translation: the West can sanction Russia again anytime they see fit. No word on provocations by the EU/NATO using Ukraine – the actual set up that led to the SMO.

So what the “counter-plan” proposes – obviously redacted by a bunch of Eurocrats who cannot even fire a pistol properly – is a replica of the exact blueprint that led to the battlefield opened in February 2022.

Russia once again is playing it with boundless patience. The Trump plan which is not really Trump’s is diplomatically regarded as a “good foundation” for further serious negotiations – with the yapping crowd having no access to the table. That’s it – at best.

After all Russia is enjoying a series of overlapping asymmetric advantages in the battlefield: systemic and tactical adaptation; enormous advantage in drone operations (FPV drones with fiber-optics); use of long-range glide bombs.

The chihuahua “counter-plan” essentially calls for a frozen war; a remilitarized Ukraine; a remilitarized NATO; and ultimately a perennial Forever War against Russia. It has already bombed, metaphorically, the original Trump plan that is not exactly Trump’s.

The “counter-plan” should also be seen as a diversionist tactic now that the dark pit of corruption in Kiev starts to be pried upon by the NABU investigation – even as Russian UN representative Nebenzya had been warning the UN Security Council since forever that “you were dealing with a corrupt gang that is profiting from the war”.

Nebenzya also correctly observed that not a single Western country has said a word about the corruption scandal in Kiev. Of course: because a proper investigation will inevitably follow the corruption chain of command all the way to decision making circles in Washington and in Brussels.

The metaphysical void of EU “elites”

Emmanuel Todd, in his ground-breaking The Defeat of the West, published in France early last year (the first review in English is here) was the first European analyst to get deeper into the EU malaise, side by side with his comprehensive analysis of the proxy war in Ukraine.

Recently, in an outstanding lecture in Hiroshima, Todd made a startling correlation between Russophobia and Protestantism. Certain passages are worth quoting at length:

“What we have seen appear recently in Europe is a specifically European Russophobia, a specifically European warmongering, centered on Northern Europe, on Protestant Europe. Protestant Europe is the United Kingdom, it’s the majority of Germany, it’s Scandinavia, it’s two out of three Baltic countries.”

At the same time, Todd has observed that “Spain, Italy, Catholic countries in general, are neither Russophobic nor hawkish.”

Todd’s key argument is that protestantism “is more dangerous in its zero state than Catholicism”: “Protestantism is more capable of leaving behind a nihilistic society. Protestantism, and the same could be said of Judaism, was a very demanding religion. There was God, there was the faithful, and the world was secondary. The beauty of the world in particular was rejected with, among other things, a refusal of images, a refusal of the visual arts. When such religions, obsessed with transcendence, disappear, nothing remains. The world itself is not interesting, empty. This intense void opens up a particular possibility of nihilism. Catholicism is a less demanding, more humane religion that can accept the idea that the world is, in itself, beautiful. The images have not been rejected in the Catholic world, and the Catholic world is filled with artistic wonders. In a Catholic country, if you lose God, you are left with the feeling of this beauty of the world. If you are French, you still have the feeling that you live — an illusion no doubt — in the most beautiful country in the world.”

Well, it’s slightly more nuanced. What about the – vicious – Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition? Germany was in fact forced by a massive P.R. campaign to become Russophobic, unlike the Baltic chihuahuas. Most of Protestant Europe is in fact atheistic – and the next step from atheism is nihilism. Romania is mostly Christian Orthodox – where hatred of Russia is like a national sport. And Protestantism was essentially Christianity turbo-charged to the Age of Capital. So the main conflict is in fact Western turbo-Neoliberalism v. Christian Orthodox Russia.

Back to the basics.

Everyone with an IQ over room temperature knows that the NATO regime in Kiev runs on theft and outright plunder. The lights are now off. Heating is mostly off. The army is steadily collapsing all along the 1,200+ km frontline.

Yet the EU elites – the set up in Brussels just follows their orders – have invested no holds barred in the inevitable (in their dreams) collapse and looting of Russia. That’s why there was never a Plan B.

If the EU folds now, if they admit they are the irretrievable losers in this absurdist adventure, the economic collapse will be epic. The EU/NATO combo cannot but play the role of pathetic yapping chihuahuas. That’s the price you pay for a matryoshka of supreme stupidity: to provoke and threaten a superpower with the most advanced nuclear and hypersonic arsenal on the planet. Their current “victory” is to bomb Trump’s already shaky “peace” plan.

So many horrors, so little time. On a more auspicious note, let’s give Todd the last word:

“If you are Italian, you actually live in the country in the world where there are the most beautiful things, since Italy itself has become an object of art. In such contexts, the fear of the metaphysical void is less intense, and therefore the risk of nihilism less. In my opinion, the country in Europe least threatened by nihilism is Italy, because in Italy everything is beautiful”.

So shed your metaphysical void, dump those chihuahuas of war, and embrace the beauty of Italy as a living work of art. That’s exactly what I’m doing next.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will end all nonhuman-primate research conducted at its own facilities, marking the first time since the National Institutes of Health retired its chimpanzees in 2015 that a major federal health agency has fully shuttered an in-house monkey program, Science reports.

The decision affects roughly 200 macaques currently housed at the CDC’s Atlanta campus. A CDC spokesperson confirmed to Bloomberg that the agency is developing a wind-down plan but declined to provide a specific timeline or details on the fate of the animals.

The move follows years of criticism from animal-welfare groups and some scientists who argue that monkey models have produced limited translational value, particularly in HIV vaccine development, where decades of primate studies have yet to yield a licensed product. The CDC cited both ethical considerations and a strategic pivot to human-relevant alternatives, including organ-on-a-chip platforms, advanced cell cultures, and computational models, as factors in the decision.

Separately, the CDC has grappled with biosecurity incidents involving imported primates. Internal data reviewed by PETA show that between 2021 and 2024, quarantine screening identified 69 cases of tuberculosis in incoming macaques, with an additional 16 cases detected after animals had been released to laboratories.

“PETA has warned the CDC since 2022 that its monkey import pipeline is a ticking TB time bomb,” said Dr. Jones-Engel. “Yet its willful blindness has allowed a known biosecurity threat to pour into the U.S. We urge the CDC to end the importation of monkeys to laboratories—for public safety, scientific integrity, and the primates themselves.”

The phase-out aligns with broader federal efforts to reduce animal testing. Signed in 2022, the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act 2.0 removed the mandate for animal testing before human trials, while the NIH, EPA, and FDA have all expanded funding for non-animal approaches.

“This move is historic. For the first time, a U.S. agency is choosing modern, human-relevant science over a failed system of monkey experiments,” said Janine McCarthy, acting director of research policy for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. “Now, the CDC should use that funding to transition to human-relevant research and to ensure that these monkeys are sent to sanctuaries for the remainder of their lives.”

“The CDC just sent a message to the entire biomedical establishment: The era of monkey experimentation is over,” McCarthy added.

Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, has been ordered by the country’s supreme court to start serving his 27-year sentence, even as what could be a very lengthy further appeals effort carries on.

He was convicted in September for plotting a coup, based on allegations he also cooperated with foreign influence, for not accepting the election results which brough President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to power. 

Bolsonaro, who only somewhat recently was living in Florida after which he returned to his home country to face and attempt to fight the charges, will reportedly begin this jail sentence in a 12 square meter room at a police base in the capital Brasilia.

Supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered him directly to jail after over the weekend police raided his home, where he was on house arrest, when it was learned he attempted to remove his ankle monitor, which showed signs of damage from a soldering iron.

Others among his top officials and supporters are also expected to begin serving out their sentences, reports The Guardian: 

Bolsonaro’s six co-conspirators were also ordered to start their sentences.

The former defense minister Gen Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira, and the former minister for institutional security Gen Augusto Heleno were arrested and imprisoned in the Planalto Military Command in Brasília. They received sentences of 19 and 21 years respectively.

The former navy commander Adm Almir Garnier Santos, who received a 24-year sentence, was reportedly arrested by navy officials and held on a navy base.

Bolsonaro’s former defence minister, Gen Walter Braga Netto, who received a 26-year sentence, was already in custody having been arrested last December.

The former justice minister, Anderson Torres, who received a 24-year sentence, was expected to be sent to a penitentiary for police officers and other “special” prisoners in Brasília called Papudinha.

Still, the start of these jail terms could result in large-scale protests among what is still a significant pro-Bolsonaro base:

“He’s been kidnapped,” complained Ronny de Souza, a 43-year-old Bolsonaro activist, as he stood outside the federal police base where the politician was taken last weekend after being arrested amid suspicions he was about to abscond to a foreign embassy.

We detailed Saturday that federal police rushed to his residence to take him out of house arrest, and initiated what’s being called a ‘preventative arrest’ – and he was whisked away to police headquarters in Brasilia. The arrest order issued from the country’s top court came hours after his ankle monitor was shown to be violated at 12:08am on Saturday. From there, authorities considered Bolsonaro a flight risk, explaining he is in close proximity to foreign embassies where he might try and gain asylum.

Photos released by the court show the ankle monitor’s cap heavily damaged, after he reportedly at one point took a soldering iron to it. According to The New York Times:

At first, Mr. Bolsonaro told the police that he had banged his ankle monitor causing it to malfunction, according to a report from the capital region’s prison authority.

But when an agent on the scene asked about the burn marks on the device, Mr. Bolsonaro admitted using a soldering iron to try to melt it. In a video of the exchange released by the authorities, Mr. Bolsonaro can be heard apparently telling the agent that he had started torching the monitor hours earlier.

His legal team has since claimed that “Bolsonaro would have no way of escaping” as he is “an elderly man who suffers from serious health problems.

Trump reacts, but merely says “that’s too bad”…

Hear me out: TRUMP WAS IN ON BOLSONARO’S ESCAPE PLAN.

Bolsonaro spoke with him before getting arrested for tampering with his ankle monitor. Here is Trump saying he expected to meet him “in the near future” and was stunned he ended up back in jail.#Maddow pic.twitter.com/2xCBcX7ptg

— Canada Hates Trump (@AntiTrumpCanada) November 25, 2025

However, Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has long been a political enemy (the US has even sanctioned him personally) as well as chief overseer of the case, described over the weekend, “He is located about 13 kilometers (8 miles) away from where the United States of America embassy lies, in a distance that can be covered in a 15-minute drive.”

Authored by Victoria Friedman via The Epoch Times,

Japan’s finance minister on Nov. 25 unveiled a plan to cut wasteful government spending, drawing parallels to the United States’ Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama arrives at the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo, on Oct. 21, 2025. Kim Kyung Hoon/Reuters

Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama launched the “Office for Administrative Reform and Promotion of Efficiency,” which she said will work with the finance and internal affairs ministries to review measures such as government subsidies and special tax treatments for companies, according to The Japan Times.

“The public requires the government to show a constant commitment to maintain fiscal sustainability. It is crucial that this commitment is always present in Kasumigaseki and Nagatacho,” Katayama said during a press conference, referring, respectively, to Japan’s government district and where its parliament—the Diet—is located.

Katayama sought to distinguish Japan’s office for reform from the U.S.’s efficiency agency, saying, “Unlike DOGE, we’re not aiming to overhaul government organizations,” but rather on reviewing how taxpayers’ money is spent.

“To maintain trust in the sustainability of Japan’s finances, it’s very important to show the public how we are always looking into how we spend,” she said.

DOGE’s $214 Billion in Savings

U.S. President Donald Trump established DOGE in January as a task force designed to root out fraud, waste, and abuse from the federal government. It is due to expire on July 4, 2026.

In its latest contracts update from Nov. 23, DOGE wrote in a post on X that Federal government agencies terminated and reduced 78 “wasteful” contracts over the previous nine days, with a ceiling value of $1.9 billion, generating $335 million in savings.

Among the terminated contracts was a $4.3 million IT services contract for “Inflation Reduction Act transformation project management support” at the IRS, a $661,000 Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) IT services contract for “social media monitoring platform subscription,” and a $191,000 U.S. Agency for Global Media contract for “broadcast operations and maintenance in Ethiopia, Africa.”

The HHS ranked at the top of agencies with the most savings under DOGE, followed by the General Services Administration, the Social Security Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, and the Small Business Administration, according to DOGE’s Agency Efficiency Leaderboard.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk shakes hands with President Donald Trump as they speak to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on May 30, 2025.  Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

According to the DOGE website, the initiative has generated total savings of $214 billion as of Oct. 4, which amounts to more than $1,329 per taxpayer.

The savings were achieved through measures such as asset sales, interest savings, workforce reductions, regulatory savings, deletion of fraud and improper payments, and cancellation or renegotiation of contracts/leases, according to the website.

Musk’s Departure

DOGE was headed by Elon Musk until he left the department earlier this year when his 130-day tenure as a special government employee expired.

Musk and Trump appeared in the Oval Office on May 30 to answer questions before his departure, during which the president credited the tech entrepreneur with “a colossal change in the old ways of doing business in Washington.”

After accepting a ceremonial key from the president, Musk said: “I think the DOGE team is doing an incredible job. They’re going to continue to be doing an incredible job.”

Trump praised Musk’s work, saying he led the “most sweeping and consequential government reform effort in generations.”

Software engineers have been increasingly relying on AI to help with complex coding tasks, a practice known as “vibe-coding.”

While vibe-coding has been largely limited to helping with portions of a project, Chinese developers have created an AI tool that converts text into a complete app. 

The app, LingGuang, launched last Tuesday and reached over 1 million downloads in four days. By Monday, the app crossed 2 million downloads, according to the developer – Ant Group (an affiliate of the Chinese conglomerate Alibaba Group), while LingGuang ranked #1 on Apple’s mainland China App Store for free utilities apps, and #6 overall for free apps. 

Shortly after going viral, the ‘flash program’ feature temporarily crashed amid a flood of users. 

The flash program allows users to create personalized, interactive apps using natural language prompts in 30 seconds. According to Ant Group, people are creating apps like ‘kid activity generators’ and car cost savings calculators. 

“LingGuang is bringing every user their own personal AI developer: someone who can code, create visuals, build programs, and turn complex ideas into simple solutions — right in your pocket,” according to a Tuesday press release from Ant Group CTO He Zhengyu. 

On Monday, the company said that the explosive popularity makes LingGuang “a key player worth following in the quickly evolving global AI race,” noting that the app hit its first million downloads faster than ChatGPT and Sora. 

Beyond the flash programming feature, LingGuang is being advertised as a multimodal AI tool that can generate 3D models, interactive charts, animations and other illustrations in order to help users understand abstract concepts. The tool also includes an “AGI camera” that can understand inputs in real time and help users analyze or edit pictures or videos on the fly. 

h/t Capital.news

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

Scandinavian countries are moving to suspend the mandated use of Bovaer, a methane-reducing additive designed to reduce bovine flatulence. A contributor to methane pollution, cow farts were supposed to be reduced by the additive to reduce climate-harming pollutant. However, there are widespread reports of collapse, lethargy, reduced feed intake, fever, diarrhea, and significant drops in milk production.

There are also reports of cow miscarriages and deaths, though most involve discomfort and farmers reported that the cows improved after cessation of the supplement. What could follow is a colossal product liability lawsuit.

Various countries, like Denmark, made the additive mandatory for the inclusion in feed only to have widespread reports of serious harm to cows. Norway and other countries have suspended the use of Bovaer. It is also used in the United States, but it is not required.

Most reports involve sickness and reduced production in dairy herds.

The question is whether the manufacturer is liable. Elanco US is still advertising the benefits of the supplement:

“Every dairy could use additional, diversified income. That’s where Bovaer® from Elanco comes in. Bovaer is one of the most scientifically researched and recognized methane-reduction feed ingredients globally. Bovaer provides an access point for dairy producers to be financially rewarded for reducing their dairy’s carbon footprint by decreasing their herd’s enteric methane emissions.”

There is also the question of the liability of countries that forced dairy farmers to use the product.

If these reports are accurate, the manufacturer could be sued for a design defect and, in light of the statements above, possible warning defects.

Given the widespread complaints, there is a legitimate question of whether the drug was adequately tested. Alternatively, the company could argue that these reports are condition-related and reflect other causes, where correlation is not causation. The company could also claim that the problems are due to incorrect use of the supplement, such as incorrect dosage or delivery.

What is interesting about this case is the possible increase in damages in countries where the supplement was mandated. It is not clear if there are added protections or waivers granted to the company in these countries.

This could be a warning, manufacturing, or design defect. We do not have enough facts. A manufacturing defect is the least likely unless it is shown that the company failed to properly monitor the concentration of the active ingredients during production or allowed them to be altered by environmental conditions.

It could prove both a warning and a design defect. The company states that “Bovaer has no negative impact on the quantity or quality of milk produced.” It cites a 2022 study to support that claim: Hristov AN, Melgar A, Wasson D, Arndt C. Symposium review: Effective nutritional strategies to mitigate enteric methane in dairy cattle. J Dairy Sci. 2022:105(10):8543–57. However, that study also adds a caveat about the use of certain ingredients in some of these methane-reducing products. For example:

“The red macroalga Asparagopsis taxiformis has a strong CH4 mitigation effect, but studies are needed to determine its feasibility, long-term efficacy, and effects on animal production and health. We concluded that widespread adoption of mitigation strategies with proven effectiveness by the livestock industries will depend on cost, government policies and incentives, and willingness of consumers to pay a higher price for animal products with decreased carbon footprint.”

Again, we need to know more about the composition of the supplement used in these countries.

Under the Restatement Second of Torts, the consumer expectations test asks whether the product is more dangerous than the expectations of the ordinary consumer. Under the more demanding test of the Restatement Third, the question is whether there is a reasonable alternative design. Both would appear viable for plaintiffs if these accounts are proven correct.

The most obvious approach in the United States would be a class action lawsuit against the manufacturer. Indeed, we could see filings in various states and the need for the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) to intervene and consolidate the cases in a single district.