Goodbye 2024, Hello 2025, Brace For Pandemonium
A detailed recount mixed with meme comedy to mark our times at Week 52 of 2024 and Week 1 of 2025 featuring source material from Jentry Chau Vs The Underworld, Lower Decks, and Hailey’s On It!
The Worst Political Case Study On Earth - Mike Johnson Clings On
There was bipartisan mourning after the passing of Jimmy Carter last week, as the date for Carter’s lying in state was set at January 9, with Joe Biden delivering the former president’s eulogy per the ex-president’s request. Outside of the reflections by the end of 2024, an appeals court upheld the $5 million verdict finding Trump liable for sexual abuse against E. Jean Carroll, and Trump endorsed Mike Johnson for speaker in a potential relief for the man in political jeopardy.
2025 began with tragedy in New Orleans, as a man rammed his pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street, killing 15 people in a New Year’s Eve celebration. The FBI began its investigation into the incident as an act of terrorism, while the suspect died after a shootout with the police. Later, the suspect in the attack was identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texan who served in the US Army. Officials told the public they don’t believe he is “solely responsible” for Wednesday’s attack, as police found an Islamic State flag in the truck and improvised explosive devices that were prepared to be dispersed among the crowd. That was followed by one of the worst post-attack news conferences in recent memory, as Senator Ted Kennedy used the opportunity to attack the media, including NBC News. In the meantime, a Tesla Cybertruck Exploded outside Trump’s International Hotel in Las Vegas, killing one person and injuring more. Law enforcement says the Cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas was rented on the same app used to rent the truck in New Orleans, and fireworks, gas tanks, and camping fuel were used to blow up the vehicle. Hours later, Biden told reporters the attacker posted videos indicating ISIS inspired him, and investors are looking at potential connections between the two incidents. Overnight, a mass shooting happened outside a night bar in Queens, New York, injuring 11 people.
On Thursday morning, Joe Biden awarded Bennie Johnson and Liz Cheney, the two chairs of the House January 6 Committee, with the Presidential Citizens Medal. As the Democrats tried to find a new leader for their party, Chuck Schumer became the most high-profile figure in his party to endorse a candidate, which in the senate minority leader’s case is Wisconsin DNC chairman Ben Wikler. Donald Trump was planning a “victory rally” in DC before his inauguration, it will be held on the day before he is sworn in. After two decades of legal fighting, broadband providers won the battle over regulations that treat such services as utilities, with net neutrality rules being struck down by an appeals court in a blow to Democrats. Concerning the recent attacks, in a complete reversal from previous statements, the FBI says there is no definitive connection between the New Orleans attack case and the CyberTruck explosion in Las Vegas. Authorities added that they believe the New Orleans attacker who was inspired by ISIS acted alone. Meanwhile, according to his family, the Cybertruck bomber is a huge Trump fan, hours after we learned the identity of the victim/bomber as an active Army soldier who committed suicide through the explosion.
Friday is a big day for House Speaker Mike Johnson, as the new Congress gets sworn in and the new House members select the new leader. There were last-minute reassurances and negotiators with rebel Republican lawmakers who are considering not voting for Johnson, and with a razor-thin majority, losing the first round would also be a significant setback for Donald Trump, who endorsed Johnson days before the vote. It seemed like Johnson was almost not going to become Speaker after several far-right party members voted for more ideologically extreme members than Johnson. Fortunately for both men, the speaker was reelected after the first round of voting after some last-minute vote changes. Immediately after Johnson retook the Speaker’s chair, the House passed new rules requiring nine ruling party members to call for a motion to vacate, essentially protecting Johnson from being easily fired. Inside the Biden White House, Joe Biden fulfilled his campaign promise by blocking the sale of US Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel, while the US Surgeon General called for cancer warnings on alcohol. Trump’s legal trials suddenly came back to haunt him, as a judge upheld his New York hush money case conviction, and sentencing is set on January 10. However, anyone who wants to see Trump in jail is in for a disappointment, as the judge hinted at no jail time.
Over the weekend, as Joe Biden awarded the presidential Medal of Freedom to figures like Hillary Clinton and George Soros, the president prepares to block all future oil and gas drilling across more than 625 million acres of federal waters in a blow to Trump’s “drill baby drill” campaign. In Mar-A-Lago, as Donald Trump met with Italian PM and “fantastic woman” Giorgia Meloni, he appointed the Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce as the spokesperson for the State Department. On social media, the president-elect whined that US flags would still be lowered to half-staff in honor of the late President Jimmy Carter during his inauguration day. In good news for Pete Hegseth, CBS News reported that there is enough senate votes to confirm the SecDef nominee.
War Watch - New Year’s Fights
As Biden rushed to send nearly $$5.9 billion in military and budget aid to Ukraine before the end of his presidency, Russia and Ukraine have freed 150 POWs in a major prisoner exchange in a swap partly brokered by the United Arab Emirates. In an embarrassing note for Donald Trump, who vowed to end the Ruso-Ukranian war in under a week, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters that Russia had not received any “official signals regarding a settlement” from the Trump camp, but had immediately ridiculed and criticized the president-elect’s proposals. On Tuesday, the Financial Times reported leaked secret files from 2013-2014 Russia, featuring target lists for 160 sites in a potential war against Japan or South Korea. There is some bad news for Europe as Russian natural gas flowing to the continent through Ukraine was halted, following the expiry of a 5-year transit deal, potentially threatening energy security in the region. On Putin’s New Year’s Eve address, the 25-year ruling dictator declared “Everything will be fine” in an upbeat yet vague message, interestingly not discussing casualties in Ukraine and rising inflation at home. Inside Ukraine, Russian bombardments have continued during New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, while Zelensky reported there were “significant” Russian and North Korean troop losses in Kursk on Saturday. Gaming on Russia’s losing ground, Russian bloggers have reported Ukraine launched a new offensive in the Kursk region, claiming Russian forces have pushed them back.
Qatari negotiators have ramped up efforts to continue ceasefire talks with the US and Israel over the last weekend, feeling pressure from Donald Trump who threatened the Middle East will have “all hell to pay” if the hostages weren’t returned before his inauguration. On the battlefield, both Israel and Hamas claimed victories in northern Gaza, as the fighting intensified over the past three months. By New Year’s Eve, the US struck Houthi targets as the campaign escalated in Yemen. In the New Year, Yoav Gallant resigned from the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, just months after he resigned as defense minister and received an ICC warrant over war crimes. In the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority temporarily banned Al Jazeera’s operations in the region, accusing the network of broadcasting “inciting material” and “stirring strife” in the country. On Friday, the New York Times reported it is unlikely a ceasefire-style truce will happen before Trump’s inauguration, despite recent progress towards a deal. However, there is bad news from pro-Palestine advocates, as reports hint at the United Nations shutting down UNRWA operations at the West Bank and Gaza. At the same time, Israeli lawmakers are calling for its military to destroy food, water, and power sources in Gaza. Over the weekend, Hamas released a video it says is of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza since the 2023 attack, while Israel ramped up attacks in Gaza that killed more than 200 people in three days. UNRWA’s senior emergency officer Louise Wateridge warned the social order in Gaza will collapse if Israel ends cooperation with the UN aid agency, as Israel’s government seeks to end the organization through legislative disruptions.
Political K-Drama - Try And Arrest Me
As South Korea deals with the worst air disaster in its history, the country’s political turmoil has not stopped. On Monday morning, investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials applied for an arrest warrant against disgraced President Yoon Suk Yeol after he repeatedly ignored their requests for questioning. The next day, a South Korean court approved the arrest warrant against Yoon. It marked the first time an arrest warrant was issued against a ruling president. On Wednesday, it was reported that the current Acting President Choi Sang-mok rejected an attempt by his advisers, including the chief secretary, the director of national policy, and the national security adviser, to resign en masse. In a letter to supporters that was obtained on Thursday, Yoon vowed to “fight until the end.” On Friday, investigators executed the arrest warrant and attempted to apprehend the disgraced president, which would have been a surprise if local media had not leaked the story the night before. Unfortunately, the president's armed Secret Service bodyguards helped Yoon fend off an imminent arrest. On the same day, dueling protests played out in the country with pro and anti-Yoon supporters. By the weekend, another dramatic twist for President Yoon as he tried to object to the arrest warrant, which was denied by the courts. Following that, Yoon’s chief of security Park Chong-jun said he could not cooperate with efforts to arrest the impeached leader, citing legal debates as justification. The clock is ticking, because the arrest warrant expires on Monday (January 6) at 8 p.m. Seoul time.
Because I’m Too Busy For Memeing: A Global Wrap-Up
Dateline Kabul, Afghanistan:
The Taliban’s restriction of women's rights went even further on Monday, declaring they would revoke the licenses of all domestic and international NGOs if they continued employing Afghan women. In case that’s not crazy enough, the Taliban has also imposed restrictions on buildings, banning windows that can overlook areas “used by women,” such as courtyards and kitchens.
Dateline Vienna, Austria:
In 2025’s first high-profile resignation, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced his resignation as the country and the People Party’s leader on Saturday. It follows failed talks on forming a coalition government for the second time, the People’s Party and the Social Democrats tried to continue coalition talks a day after the liberal Neos party withdrew from discussions.
Dateline London, UK:
Billionaire Elon Musk (Aka Kekius Maximus and Adrian Dittmann to absolutely nobody) decided to get more involved in UK politics on New Year’s Day. Under 24 hours, Musk criticized UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s past as Britain’s Director of Public Prosecutions before entering politics, called for the release of far-right agitator Tommy Robinson and said the documentary he made (Which Robinson went to jail for because he admitted to a contempt of court for showcasing the film, which included libelous claims about a Syrian refugee schoolboy) was “worth watching,” claimed “only” Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party can “save” Britain, and tweeted Labour’s safeguarding minister Jess Phillips “deserves to be in prison” after insisting only “Oldham council alone” should decide whether to launch an investigation into sexual abuse by grooming gangs in the region. A day later, Musk continued criticizing Starmer, while Nigel Farage seemed to distance himself from Musk’s Tommy Robinson comments.
On the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Health Secretary Wes Streeting called Elon Musk’s comments a "disgraceful smear," while former Labour Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Alan Johnson attacked the American billionaire by saying "Elon Musk wants to release Tommy Robinson & lock up Jess Phillips.... that's too bizarre even to respond to.." When asked about Musk’s comments on the same show, Nigel Farage said that despite his support from the billionaire, they "don't have to agree on everything." Recent disagreements with Tommy Robinson sparked some conflict between Farage and Musk, evident in a single tweet: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”
Dateline The World:
During his New Year address, UN Secretary-General António Guterres confirmed that 2024 is the hottest year on record, saying, “Today I can officially report that we have just endured a decade of deadly heat. The top ten hottest years on record have happened in the last ten years, including 2024.” Officials at the WMO will publish the consolidated global temperature figure for 2024 in January and its full State of the Global Climate 2024 report in March 2025.
In 2024, the world’s 500 richest people surpassed $10 trillion in wealth, while stock indexes in the US closed mostly lower in a record-breaking year for Wall Street. In economy-related news, China’s President Xi Jinping says the country’s 2024 GDP growth is set to hit its target of around 5%, and pledged to focus on economic growth as a priority in his New Year’s Eve address.
All The News That’s Unfit To Meme: Other Headlines You Might Want To Check Out
New Year: New Year’s Eve 2025: Photos of Celebrations Around the World - The New York Times
Hong Kong: Doomed to fail? Hong Kong’s attempt to tackle ‘shoebox housing’ runs into trouble
Hong Kong: Hong Kong’s Cabbies, Long Scorned and Frustrated, Face the End of an Era - The New York Times
China: ‘All frequencies’: China releases sixth-generation stealth fighter standard
China: Su Min: The year China's famous road-tripping 'auntie' found freedom
China: China's young workers - overqualified and in low-paying jobs
China: China’s box office takings drop by a quarter as viewers turn to streaming
China-US Relations: US Treasury says Chinese hackers stole documents in 'major incident' | Reuters
Syria: Syria appoints Maysaa Sabrine as first woman to lead central bank, official says | Reuters
Puerto Rico: Puerto Rico Power Outages Plunge Many Into Darkness on New Year’s Eve
Trinidad and Tobago: Trinidad and Tobago declares state of emergency after weekend of violence | Global development | The Guardian
Kenya: A Half-Ton Piece of Space Junk Falls Onto a Village in Kenya
Germany: In Jab at Musk, Scholz Condemns Foreign Interference in German Election
Gaming: ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’ set to break records despite gaming slowdown
Space: All the Space News We're Excited About in 2025: Launches, First Lights, Flybys, and More
Space: China’s Tiangong space station research aims to ‘break technology choke points’
Your Weekly Dose of Outstanding Journalism
NYT: Opinion | The Best, Worst and Weirdest Political Stories of 2024 - The New York Times
Economist: RFK junior is half right about American health care
WaPo: The List: What's out and what's in for 2025
FT: What the ‘year of democracy’ taught us, in 6 charts
Semafor: How Russia, China, and other world countries viewed 2024’s standout moments | Semafor
New Scientist: Five years on, have we learned the lessons of covid-19?
Guardian: ‘We can be weirdos too’: the Black mermaids creating their own fantasy worlds
Vox: Elon Musk is on a collision course with Stephen Miller
Politico: 2024 by the numbers: From victims of war to a warming planet
FP: New Geopolitical Words We Learned in 2024
BBC: The endgame in Ukraine: How the war could come to a close in 2025
New Yorker: History’s Lessons on Anti-Immigrant Extremism | The New Yorker
Guardian: ‘Now all the rules are different’: Ukraine braces for dealmaker Trump to enter negotiations
Economist: Tech is coming to Washington. Prepare for a clash of cultures
Vox: Trump and Musk actually made a good point on immigration
FT: Antony Blinken: ‘China has been trying to have it both ways’
NYT: ‘The Interview’: Antony Blinken Insists He and Biden Made the Right Calls - The New York Times
SCMP: The sky as a canvas: a visual guide to the artistry and science of drone shows
Reuters: Amid ceasefire push, Palestinians bear the scars of Israeli detention
Semafor: The things we got wrong in 2024 | Semafor
WSJ: The Misunderstood Consequences of Jimmy Carter’s Presidency - WSJ
NYT: How TSMC’s Arizona Chip Plant Seeded a Tiny Taipei in the Desert - The New York Times
Economist: Xi Jinping has much to worry about in 2025
FT: Forecasting the world in 2025
Bulwark: Why Don’t the Tech Bros Just Hire from MAGA?
Vox: The 14 predictions that came true in 2024 — and the 10 that didn’t
New Yorker: How Widening Israel’s War Saved Benjamin Netanyahu | The New Yorker
FP: Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Palestinian Who Holds Many Truths
Video Highlights From All Sides
Journalism Monitor: The Profession’s Progress This Week
World: What We’re Watching in 2025 - Columbia Journalism Review
World: 2024's chaotic news cycles in one chart
USA: Washington Post Cartoonist Quits After Jeff Bezos Cartoon Is Killed - The New York Times
USA: The Atlantic Beefs Up Politics Coverage Under Trump - The New York Times
Palestine: Palestinian Authority suspends Al Jazeera TV channel in West Bank
Iran: Italy presses Iran for immediate release of journalist held in Tehran
Germany: Newspaper Editor Quits Over Elon Musk Op-Ed
India: Mukesh Chandrakar: Body of missing Indian journalist found in septic tank
Satire: Ten years after the Charlie Hebdo massacre, satire is under siege
Social Media: How influencers are impacting journalism : NPR
Sport: After Trump vs. Harris, He Turns to the Washington Commanders - The New York Times
Obituary: Aaron Brown, veteran ABC News anchor, dies at 76
Obituary: Former CNN anchor Aaron Brown, who helped viewers through the Sept. 11 attacks, has died