The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) captured several districts and military bases in Hadramawt governorate from forces loyal to the internationally recognized government. Heavy fighting has renewed fears of a full collapse of the 2018 Riyadh Agreement and a return to open north-south conflict. The seized areas include strategic oil fields, the vital Riyan Airport near Mukalla, and the provincial capital’s outskirts, marking the largest territorial gain by southern forces since 2019. Clashes have killed at least 47 fighters in the past 72 hours and displaced thousands of civilians. It’s important that we not become desensitized to the horrors of war, especially when it stems from civil strife; the consequences of this conflict will ripple through the Yemeni people for generations.

Germany’s parliament passed a new law introducing a voluntary service scheme that includes selective conscription elements for men aged 18, with the option to extend to women if recruitment targets are not met. The reform aims to bolster troop numbers to 203,000 by 2031 while stopping short of full mandatory conscription. All 18-year-old men will receive a mandatory questionnaire about willingness to serve, and up to 40,000 may be conscripted annually if voluntary enlistment falls short. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called the model a “paradigm shift,” while critics from the Left Party and Greens labeled it a stealth return to conscription. All the signs are there that major warfare is on the horizon, so it makes sense that many European nations are rushing to fill their military ranks after decades of neglect have left huge shortfalls in needed capacity.

Andrej Babiš, whose Agrofert conglomerate empire spans agriculture, chemicals, food processing, and media, returned to power after his ANO party won the largest vote share in October elections. His new government has promised lower taxes, tighter migration rules, and skepticism toward deeper EU integration. Babiš formed a coalition with the Social Democrats and the far-right SPD, giving him a comfortable majority of 118 seats in the 200-member lower house. He was sworn in by President Petr Pavel despite ongoing EU fraud investigations involving his business subsidies. We should all remain skeptical of concentrated capital, but populist politics appear to be the only realistic counterweight to the damage caused by globalism and neoliberalism. For better or worse, someone has to take the reins and reshape the world.

In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court declined to block Texas’s newly drawn congressional districts, which had been challenged as racially gerrymandered. The map is expected to favor Republican candidates in several competitive districts. The decision overturns lower-court rulings that had found the map diluted Black and Latino voting power in Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and San Antonio metro areas, potentially adding two to three net GOP seats and protecting vulnerable Republican incumbents in suburban districts that trended Democratic in recent cycles. We are not surprised by the Court’s decision; we have long argued that most political gerrymandering must be permitted because it is an inherent procedural power of state governments.

Starting early 2026, automatic work permit extensions will be capped at 18 months for asylum seekers, refugees, TPS holders, certain parolees, and other categories, down from the current five-year maximum. The change will require hundreds of thousands of immigrants to renew permits more frequently. The policy reverses Biden-era extensions designed to reduce processing backlogs and is projected to increase annual renewal applications by more than 600,000, creating new revenue for the cash-strapped agency while adding uncertainty for employers and immigrant workers. America has long served as the imperial hub of Western dominance; as that empire crumbles, the republic must revisit how to protect its own laborers from being thrown into worldwide wage competition.

The Department of Transportation awarded Peraton the prime contract to modernize the nation’s aging air traffic control infrastructure under the Brand New Air Traffic Control System (BNATCS) initiative. The decade-long project aims to replace decades-old radar technology with satellite-based systems. Valued at up to $12.7 billion, the contract beat out Raytheon and Leidos and will transition the FAA from ground-based radar to GPS-enabled NextGen standards by 2035, reducing delays, cutting fuel burn by an estimated 10 percent, and improving safety during severe weather events. Infrastructure improvements are a critical element of good governance, so we hope Peraton has the capacity to deliver on its promises.

Governor Jared Polis confirmed Colorado will implement a new federal program allowing taxpayers to receive dollar-for-dollar credits for donations to scholarship funds that cover private and religious school tuition. The move marks a major expansion of school-choice options using public funds. The program caps individual credits at $2,500 and is projected to redirect up to $150 million annually from state coffers starting in the 2026-27 school year, with scholarships averaging $8,000 per student and priority given to low-income families. The public school system is clearly failing at scale, so this looks like one possible roadmap for transitioning from a monopoly system to a quasi-competitive marketplace. Either way, the critical aim must remain ensuring every American child has access to a quality education.

The state claims TikTok deliberately uses algorithms that keep minors scrolling for hours and fails to include adequate warnings or parental controls, leading to mental health issues. Hawaii is seeking financial penalties and major changes to the app’s design for users under 18. The 140-page complaint cites internal company documents showing executives knew the “For You” feed was addictive yet prioritized engagement over safety, and accuses the platform of contributing to rising rates of anxiety, depression, and sleep deprivation among Hawaiian youth. We already have a tense relationship with easily accessible addictive products, but social media companies are particularly insidious because they target children whose brains are not yet fully developed and who have little chance of resisting the temptation.

Alphabet’s Waymo will begin driverless ride-hailing operations across Denver and several suburbs starting in the first quarter of 2026 after receiving final regulatory approval. The rollout will make Denver one of the largest U.S. cities with fully autonomous commercial taxi service. Initial operations will cover 285 square miles including downtown Denver, Aurora, Centennial, and parts of Arvada and Westminster, with a fleet of several hundred all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles equipped with Waymo’s sixth-generation Driver system that has logged over 25 million autonomous miles. We highlight these stories regularly to help readers stay abreast of the rapid changes coming. The back-end of scientific advancement isn’t covered often, but it’s worth noting how these breakthroughs will soon reshape the day-to-day lives of ordinary Americans.

Mayor Keith Wilson announced the city has opened or funded 1,500 new low-barrier shelter beds ahead of his end-of-2025 deadline. The expansion includes new village-style sites and converted buildings aimed at moving people out of downtown encampments. The new capacity brings Portland’s total shelter beds to roughly 3,800 and has already reduced visible encampments in the Old Town, Laurelhurst, and Lents neighborhoods by more than 60 percent since January, with 68 percent of new beds accepting pets, couples, and people with possessions. So is the solution to homelessness possibly just more shelters? In some ways it feels like we’re headed right back to where we started in addressing the homelessness crisis.