📌 Deportations, Nigeria’s Kidnappings, More

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported over 270,000 people in a year, the highest annual tally in a decade.

ICE, the main government agency responsible for removing people in the country illegally, had 271,484 deportations in its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, nearly twice that of 142,580 the previous year.

It was ICE’s highest deportation count since 2014 when it removed 315,943 people. The highest it reached during Trump’s first term in the White House was 267,258 in 2019.

Increased deportation flights, including on weekends, and streamlined travel procedures for people sent to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador fueled the increase, ICE said. The agency’s enforcement and removals unit has remained steady at around 6,000 officers over the last decade, while its caseload has roughly quadrupled to 7.6 million, up from 6.1 million in the last year alone. Customs and Border Protection said authorities made 46,612 arrests for crossing the border illegally from Mexico in November, down 18% from 56,526 a month earlier and more than 80% from an all-time high of 250,000 in December 2023.

Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics reports over 2 million kidnappings and over 600,000 murders in one year to April 2024.

The report notes that 7 of 10 households in Nigeria reported murders to law enforcement, and kidnapping victims paid out more than $1.4 billion in ransoms over the same period.

The killings and kidnappings are mostly from armed gangs in the northwest and north-central parts of the country, while terrorism occurs largely in the northeast of the West African nation.

The news comes as security concerns continue to rise, and security forces are stretched thin as they try to rein in gang violence and terrorism. Security analyst Saheed Shehu says the latest number should be a wake-up call for the Nigerian government to take action.

Quelling gang and terrorist activity has been a major challenge for Nigeria’s government. The country invested 12% of this year’s budget, or around $4 billion, in defense, the largest allocation to any department of government.

North Korea-linked hackers stole more from cryptocurrency platforms in 2024 than ever, according to Chainalysis.

Digital thieves linked to North Korea utilize advanced methods such as manipulating remote work opportunities and are responsible for more than half of the $2.2 billion stolen from platforms in 2024, the blockchain analytics company said.

North Korean-affiliated groups stole $1.34 billion in 47 incidents in 2024, up from $660.5 million across 20 incidents in 2023, said Chainalysis.

The US Department of Justice said it indicted 14 North Korean nationals who allegedly committed fraud and money laundering while working as remotely employed IT staff at US companies. They made more than $88 million through stealing proprietary information and extortion, the DOJ said.

After stealing virtual currency, hackers often launder the illicit funds by channeling them through decentralized financial exchanges, mining services, or other crypto-mixing services to obscure their provenance, according to Chainalysis.

US officials for years have warned that Pyongyang-affiliated hacking groups have focused on cryptocurrency hacks as a means of raising money in the face of international sanctions.

Seed oils are making headlines, prompting fears about whether they can negatively affect your health.

A study published in the journal Gut led to headlines likening seed oils to colon cancer fuel — but already, some experts have said the headlines are misleading.

Unlike other vegetable oils, which are derived from the fruit of a plant, seed oils are derived from the seed. Sunflower oil is made from sunflower seeds, making it a seed oil; olive oil is made from whole olives, the fruit of the plant.

Kristina Petersen, associate professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State University, said, “When you look at the evidence, it shows that intake of seed oils, instead of fats like butter and other animal fats, actually improves blood cholesterol and lowers the risk of diseases like heart disease (and) Type 2 diabetes.”

Seed oils are rich in unsaturated fats, which can include both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Research suggests these fats may decrease "bad" and raise "good" cholesterol.

Dr. Christopher Gardner, a nutrition scientist at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, said instead of demonizing seed oils in processed foods, more attention needs to be given to not overeating ultra-processed foods, which can have negative health impacts due to high-fructose corn syrup, sugar, and sodium.

Amazon drivers went on strike in four states across the country with less than a week to go before Christmas.

Members of the Teamsters union are striking at seven facilities across four states, and even though the Teamsters claim to represent 7,000 Amazon workers nationwide, that accounts for less than 1% of the company’s US workforce.

By striking the week before Christmas and Hanukkah, the Teamsters hope to apply maximum pressure on Amazon and perhaps persuade some of its customers to shop elsewhere for last-minute gifts.

“We are struggling and fighting for basic benefits and needs that are otherwise an industry standard,” said driver Luke Cianciotto, speaking to reporters outside the Skokie facility just before the start of the strike there.

“There are a lot of nuances here, but I want to be clear: the Teamsters don’t represent any Amazon employees despite their claims to the contrary,” said Kelly Nantel, a spokesperson for Amazon. “This entire narrative is a PR play, and the Teamsters’ conduct this past year and this week is illegal.”

The strike will have only a minor impact on Amazon shipments, given how many facilities it has and how few are being struck, said Satish Jindel, president of ShipMatrix, a software provider that tracks on-time delivery data for package shippers.

The House on Thursday torpedoed Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) plan B to avert a government shutdown.

Johnson proposed suspending the debt limit but failed to clear the chamber in a 174–235-1 vote, falling short of the two-thirds threshold needed for passage under the fast-track suspension of the rules process.

The bill met its demise after Democrats — led by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY), who called the legislation “laughable” — and a handful of conservative Republicans came out against the legislation, largely over a two-year suspension of the debt limit, a demand from President-elect Trump.

“More debt. More government. Increasing the Credit Card $4 trillion with ZERO spending restraint and cuts. HARD NO,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, wrote on the social platform X.

The clock is ticking: If Congress does not approve any legislation by 11:59 pm on Friday, the government will shut down.

Scholars are hailing the discovery of a fossilized mastodon jaw discovered by a man gardening at his upstate New York home.

“The individual spotted what he first thought were baseballs,” said Robert Feranec, a director of the New York State Museum.“He picked them up and realized they were teeth.”

Excavation by staff from the museum and the State University of New York’s Orange County campus yielded a full, well-preserved jaw of an adult mastodon as well as a piece of a toe bone and a rib fragment.

“While the jaw is the star of the show, the additional toe and rib fragments offer valuable context and the potential for additional research,” said Cory Harris of SUNY Orange. “We are also hoping to further explore the immediate area to see if there are any additional bones that were preserved.”

The fossils will be carbon-dated and analyzed to determine the mastodon’s age, diet, and habitat during its lifetime and will be put on public display sometime in 2025, museum officials said.