Category: News
Photos: Chicago Bulls 134, New Orleans Pelicans 118
The Chicago Bulls beat the New Orleans Pelicans 134-118 at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025.
Bulls forward/guard Isaac Okoro (35) lofts a shot as Pelicans guard Jordan Poole (3) defends in the second half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. The Bulls won 134 – 118. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls forward Patrick Williams (44) attempts a dunk against the Pelicans in the second half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. The Bulls won 134 – 118. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls forward/guard Isaac Okoro (35) blocks a shot by Pelicans guard/forward Saddiq Bey (41) in the second half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. The Bulls won 134 – 118. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls center Nikola Vučević (9) tosses the ball above the reach of Pelicans center Yves Missi (21) in the second half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. The Bulls won 134 – 118. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls center Nikola Vučević (9) can’t believe a foul call in the second half of a game against the Pelicans at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. The Bulls won 134 – 118. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls forward/guard Isaac Okoro (35) can’t believe a call in the second half of a game against the Pelicans at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. The Bulls won 134 – 118. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (14) pokes the ball away from Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) puts up a shot as Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (14) defends in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Pelicans center Derik Queen (22) battles Bulls forward Patrick Williams (44) in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Tre Jones (30) goes up for a reverse layup in the first half against the Pelicans at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Tre Jones (30) goes up for a reverse layup in the first half against the Pelicans at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Pelicans center Yves Missi (21) defends against Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (14) in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Pelicans center Yves Missi (21) defends against Bulls guard/forward Kevin Huerter (13) in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls forward Patrick Williams (44) goes to the rim against Pelicans center Derik Queen (22) in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls forward/guard Isaac Okoro (35) brings the ball up court against the Pelicans in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Pelicans guard/forward Saddiq Bey (41) drives on Bulls guard/forward Kevin Huerter (13) in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Tre Jones (30) and forward/guard Isaac Okoro (35) defend against Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears (0) in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu (11) puts up a shot as Pelicans center Yves Missi (21) and forward Trey Murphy III (25) defend in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls forward/guard Isaac Okoro (35) brings the ball up court against the Pelicans in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) walks the court during a pause in a game against the Bulls in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Pelicans center Yves Missi (21) puts up a shot as Bulls forward/center Jalen Smith (25) defends in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Tre Jones (30) and forward/guard Isaac Okoro (35) defend against Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears (0) in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard/forward Kevin Huerter (13) puts up a shot as Pelicans center Yves Missi (21) defends in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/31/photos-chicago-bulls-134-new-orleans-pelicans-118/
Photos: Chicago Bulls 134, New Orleans Pelicans 118
The Chicago Bulls beat the New Orleans Pelicans 134-118 at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025.
Bulls forward/guard Isaac Okoro (35) lofts a shot as Pelicans guard Jordan Poole (3) defends in the second half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. The Bulls won 134 – 118. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls forward Patrick Williams (44) attempts a dunk against the Pelicans in the second half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. The Bulls won 134 – 118. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls forward/guard Isaac Okoro (35) blocks a shot by Pelicans guard/forward Saddiq Bey (41) in the second half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. The Bulls won 134 – 118. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls center Nikola Vučević (9) tosses the ball above the reach of Pelicans center Yves Missi (21) in the second half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. The Bulls won 134 – 118. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls center Nikola Vučević (9) can’t believe a foul call in the second half of a game against the Pelicans at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. The Bulls won 134 – 118. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls forward/guard Isaac Okoro (35) can’t believe a call in the second half of a game against the Pelicans at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. The Bulls won 134 – 118. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (14) pokes the ball away from Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) puts up a shot as Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (14) defends in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Pelicans center Derik Queen (22) battles Bulls forward Patrick Williams (44) in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Tre Jones (30) goes up for a reverse layup in the first half against the Pelicans at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Tre Jones (30) goes up for a reverse layup in the first half against the Pelicans at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Pelicans center Yves Missi (21) defends against Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (14) in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Pelicans center Yves Missi (21) defends against Bulls guard/forward Kevin Huerter (13) in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls forward Patrick Williams (44) goes to the rim against Pelicans center Derik Queen (22) in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls forward/guard Isaac Okoro (35) brings the ball up court against the Pelicans in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Pelicans guard/forward Saddiq Bey (41) drives on Bulls guard/forward Kevin Huerter (13) in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Tre Jones (30) and forward/guard Isaac Okoro (35) defend against Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears (0) in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu (11) puts up a shot as Pelicans center Yves Missi (21) and forward Trey Murphy III (25) defend in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls forward/guard Isaac Okoro (35) brings the ball up court against the Pelicans in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) walks the court during a pause in a game against the Bulls in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Pelicans center Yves Missi (21) puts up a shot as Bulls forward/center Jalen Smith (25) defends in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Tre Jones (30) and forward/guard Isaac Okoro (35) defend against Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears (0) in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard/forward Kevin Huerter (13) puts up a shot as Pelicans center Yves Missi (21) defends in the first half at the United Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/31/photos-chicago-bulls-134-new-orleans-pelicans-118/
Isaac Okoro’s season-high 24 points leads the short-handed Chicago Bulls past the New Orleans Pelicans 134-118
Isaac Okoro scored a season-high 24 points, Tre Jones added 20 points and 12 assists, and the depleted Chicago Bulls topped the New Orleans Pelicans 134-118 at the United Center on Wednesday.
Matas Buzelis had 19 points, Jalen Smith had 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Nikola Vučević had 17 points for a Chicago team playing without its top two scorers in Josh Giddey and Coby White, who were injured in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday and are expected to miss several games.
All five Bulls starters reached double figures, as did three bench players — Ayo Dosunmu, Kevin Huerter and Patrick Williams.
Zion Williamson led the Pelicans with 31 points and Jordan Poole added 26 off the bench in the team’s fifth-straight loss.
The Bulls asserted their up-tempo style, scoring 25 points on the fast breaks, while holding their own with the Pelicans in the paint (60 points to 56).
Chicago leveraged New Orleans fouls in a game that often turned physical. The Bulls connected on 25 of 34 free throws for the game after struggling from the stripe in the first half.
Photos: Chicago Bulls 134, New Orleans Pelicans 118
The Bulls led 97-90 entering the fourth quarter, then opened the lead to 17 points.
Giddey (left hamstring strain) will be reevaluated in two weeks and White (right calf tightness) in one week, the team said. The Bulls also said center Zach Collins (sprained right toe) will be reevaluated in 10 days. He missed Monday’s game.
Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado served the second of a two-game suspension stemming from his fight on Saturday night with the Phoenix Suns’ Mark Williams.
The Bulls led 67-62 at the half.
Okoro scored 16 points in the opening 24 minutes. Williamson consistently plowed into the paint to score 20 of his, including nine in a row late in the second quarter.
Up next
Pelicans: Host Portland on Friday night.
Bulls: Host Orlando on Friday night.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/31/chicago-bulls-new-orleans-pelicans-isaac-okoro/
Isaac Okoro’s season-high 24 points leads the short-handed Chicago Bulls past the New Orleans Pelicans 134-118
Isaac Okoro scored a season-high 24 points, Tre Jones added 20 points and 12 assists, and the depleted Chicago Bulls topped the New Orleans Pelicans 134-118 at the United Center on Wednesday.
Matas Buzelis had 19 points, Jalen Smith had 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Nikola Vučević had 17 points for a Chicago team playing without its top two scorers in Josh Giddey and Coby White, who were injured in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday and are expected to miss several games.
All five Bulls starters reached double figures, as did three bench players — Ayo Dosunmu, Kevin Huerter and Patrick Williams.
Zion Williamson led the Pelicans with 31 points and Jordan Poole added 26 off the bench in the team’s fifth-straight loss.
The Bulls asserted their up-tempo style, scoring 25 points on the fast breaks, while holding their own with the Pelicans in the paint (60 points to 56).
Chicago leveraged New Orleans fouls in a game that often turned physical. The Bulls connected on 25 of 34 free throws for the game after struggling from the stripe in the first half.
Photos: Chicago Bulls 134, New Orleans Pelicans 118
The Bulls led 97-90 entering the fourth quarter, then opened the lead to 17 points.
Giddey (left hamstring strain) will be reevaluated in two weeks and White (right calf tightness) in one week, the team said. The Bulls also said center Zach Collins (sprained right toe) will be reevaluated in 10 days. He missed Monday’s game.
Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado served the second of a two-game suspension stemming from his fight on Saturday night with the Phoenix Suns’ Mark Williams.
The Bulls led 67-62 at the half.
Okoro scored 16 points in the opening 24 minutes. Williamson consistently plowed into the paint to score 20 of his, including nine in a row late in the second quarter.
Up next
Pelicans: Host Portland on Friday night.
Bulls: Host Orlando on Friday night.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/31/chicago-bulls-new-orleans-pelicans-isaac-okoro/
Isaac Okoro’s season-high 24 points leads the short-handed Chicago Bulls past the New Orleans Pelicans 134-118
Isaac Okoro scored a season-high 24 points, Tre Jones added 20 points and 12 assists, and the depleted Chicago Bulls topped the New Orleans Pelicans 134-118 at the United Center on Wednesday.
Matas Buzelis had 19 points, Jalen Smith had 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Nikola Vučević had 17 points for a Chicago team playing without its top two scorers in Josh Giddey and Coby White, who were injured in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday and are expected to miss several games.
All five Bulls starters reached double figures, as did three bench players — Ayo Dosunmu, Kevin Huerter and Patrick Williams.
Zion Williamson led the Pelicans with 31 points and Jordan Poole added 26 off the bench in the team’s fifth-straight loss.
The Bulls asserted their up-tempo style, scoring 25 points on the fast breaks, while holding their own with the Pelicans in the paint (60 points to 56).
Chicago leveraged New Orleans fouls in a game that often turned physical. The Bulls connected on 25 of 34 free throws for the game after struggling from the stripe in the first half.
Photos: Chicago Bulls 134, New Orleans Pelicans 118
The Bulls led 97-90 entering the fourth quarter, then opened the lead to 17 points.
Giddey (left hamstring strain) will be reevaluated in two weeks and White (right calf tightness) in one week, the team said. The Bulls also said center Zach Collins (sprained right toe) will be reevaluated in 10 days. He missed Monday’s game.
Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado served the second of a two-game suspension stemming from his fight on Saturday night with the Phoenix Suns’ Mark Williams.
The Bulls led 67-62 at the half.
Okoro scored 16 points in the opening 24 minutes. Williamson consistently plowed into the paint to score 20 of his, including nine in a row late in the second quarter.
Up next
Pelicans: Host Portland on Friday night.
Bulls: Host Orlando on Friday night.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/31/chicago-bulls-new-orleans-pelicans-isaac-okoro/
Obama’s Trojan Horse: How His Refugee Machine Engineered The Billion-Dollar Looting Of US Treasury
Obama’s Trojan Horse: How His Refugee Machine Engineered The Billion-Dollar Looting Of US Treasury
Authored by X user Saggezza Etern,
Obama’s Billion-Dollar Minnesota Fraud Empire
The Heist You Paid For
Imagine waking up tomorrow to find your bank account empty. Every dollar you saved for your children’s tuition, your retirement, your security—gone. Now imagine looking out the window and seeing the thief driving a Porsche bought with your money, laughing as he waves a government-issued thank you note. This is not a hypothetical scenario. It is the reality of the American taxpayer in the wake of the single largest COVID-era fraud scheme in the nation’s history. While you were locked down, masked up, and worrying about the price of eggs, a sophisticated network of fraudsters in Minnesota was siphoning off a quarter of a billion dollars—likely far more—from programs meant to feed hungry children.
The “Feeding Our Future” scandal is not just a story about greed. It is the smoking gun of a much darker political operation. Federal prosecutors have charged 70 people in a $250 million conspiracy, and the FBI is reportedly eyeing fraud that could total over $2 billion across multiple sectors including autism therapy, housing, and daycare. The vast majority of these defendants come from the Somali community in Minnesota. But do not be distracted by the foot soldiers. To understand how a fraud of this magnitude happens, you have to look past the people cashing the checks and look at the architect who built the bank. This industrial-scale theft traces directly back to Barack Obama. It was his administration that deliberately flooded Minnesota with tens of thousands of refugees, creating a dependent, insular enclave primed for exploitation. It was his policy of “equity” that paralyzed oversight. And it is his political heirs who are now frantically trying to bury the evidence.
The Architect of the Enclave
You might be wondering how Minnesota, a state once known for Scandinavian stoicism and lakes, became the global epicenter for Somali diasporic fraud. It was not an accident. It was a federal mandate. Between 2008 and 2016, the Obama administration oversaw the admission of over 54,000 Somali refugees into the United States. But they didn’t just scatter them across the 50 states. They targeted specific swing states and counties, with Minnesota being the primary dumping ground.
By the time Obama left office, Minnesota was home to the largest Somali population in the country, now estimated at over 80,000 people. This concentration was strategic. By clustering refugees in Minneapolis, the Democratic machine created a voting bloc that could be harvested for elections and a demographic that demanded massive government outlays. They called it “diversity.” In reality, it was demographic engineering. The Obama administration poured federal grants into “refugee services,” creating a lucrative industry of nonprofits and community organizers whose entire existence depended on keeping the flow of refugees—and federal dollars—moving. This established the infrastructure for the fraud we see today. When you import a population from a failed state with no tradition of Western civic duty, and you teach them that the government is a bottomless trough of free money, you don’t get assimilation. You get predation.
The “Equity” Shield: How They Paralyzed the Police
The genius of the Obama-era strategy was not just in the importation of people, but in the weaponization of race to silence dissent. Under the guise of “equity,” the Obama administration pushed for relaxed standards in federal contracting, specifically favoring “minority-owned” nonprofits. This created a regulatory environment where asking questions became a career-ending risk.
Consider the mechanics of the “Feeding Our Future” fraud. The fraudsters claimed to be serving thousands of meals a day to children who did not exist. At one site, they claimed to be feeding 2,000 children daily in a second-story apartment. Anyone with eyes could see this was impossible. So why didn’t the Minnesota Department of Education stop it? Because when they tried, they were called racists. The fraudsters, emboldened by the racial grievance culture Obama cultivated, sued the state for discrimination. Terrified of the “racism” label, the state resumed payments. This is the direct result of a decade of Obama-era policy that equated oversight with oppression. The bureaucrats were more afraid of a lawsuit from the ACLU than they were of letting billions of dollars in taxpayer money walk out the back door.
The Protege: Ilhan Omar and the MEALS Act
If Barack Obama built the machine, Ilhan Omar is the operator. Omar is the ultimate product of the Minnesota Somali enclave. She rose to power not despite her radicalism, but because of the demographic reality Obama created. And her legislative fingerprints are all over this scandal.
In 2020, as the pandemic began, Omar sponsored the MEALS Act. This legislation fundamentally altered the rules for federal nutrition programs, allowing parents to pick up meals without children present and removing the requirement for congregate dining. While pitched as a compassionate measure, it effectively removed the only verification mechanism the government had. It was a blank check. It is no coincidence that the fraud exploded immediately after these rules were relaxed. Omar’s campaign has accepted thousands of dollars from individuals later indicted in the scheme, money she quietly returned only after the media glare became too bright. She defends the lax rules as necessary to “feed kids,” twisting the narrative to make you feel guilty for questioning the theft. But the money didn’t go to kids. It went to luxury condos in Nairobi, beachfront property in Turkey, and Porsches in Minneapolis.
The Deep State Money Laundry
The rabbit hole goes deeper than just meal tickets. The connections between the Somali fraud network and the highest levels of the Democratic establishment are becoming impossible to ignore. Take a look at Rose Lake Capital, a venture capital firm founded by Tim Mynett, Ilhan Omar’s husband. As the fraud investigations heated up, astute observers noticed that the firm’s website was scrubbed of some very interesting names.
Prior to the scrub, the firm listed advisors including a former Obama ambassador to Bahrain, a former Obama ambassador to China, and a former DNC treasurer. Why are top-tier Obama officials swimming in the same financial waters as the family of a Congresswoman whose district is ground zero for the largest fraud in history? These networks provide the cover. They provide the legitimacy. And they potentially provide the mechanism to wash the proceeds of the grift. This is not just local corruption. It is a federally integrated operation where the political elite protect the foot soldiers who deliver the votes and the cash.
The Cost of Submission
You are paying for this. Every time you look at your pay stub and see the massive chunk taken out for federal taxes, remember that money is not building roads. It is not securing the border. It is funding the lifestyle of people who hate you. The $250 million stolen in the Feeding Our Future scam is just the tip of the iceberg. Investigators believe the total theft across childcare, autism, and housing programs could reach billions.
But the financial cost pales in comparison to the security threat. Much of this stolen money was remitted overseas. We know it bought real estate in Kenya and Turkey. What we don’t know is how much of it ended up in the hands of Al-Shabaab or other extremist groups in the Horn of Africa. By turning a blind eye to this fraud to preserve “community relations,” the Democrats have effectively turned the US Treasury into a piggy bank for foreign interests. And politically, they have succeeded. The Somali bloc in Minnesota votes over 80% Democrat. They have sent Ilhan Omar to Congress three times. They are a captured constituency, bought and paid for with your tax dollars.
Dismantling the Legacy
The Minnesota fraud scandal is the inevitable result of the Obama doctrine: Import a dependent class, dismantle the safeguards against corruption under the banner of “equity,” and brand anyone who notices as a bigot. They counted on your silence. They counted on your fear of being called a name.
But the receipts are in. We know who did this. We know how they did it. And we know who let it happen. The solution is not “reform.” It is a complete dismantling of the refugee resettlement pipeline that Obama built. We need a forensic audit of every federal dollar sent to “community non-profits” in the last ten years. We need to seize the assets—the cars, the houses, the overseas accounts—of everyone involved. And most importantly, we need to stop being afraid. The cry of “racism” is the thief’s final defense. Ignore it. Keep your eyes on the money. Keep your eyes on the truth. They stole your country and sold it back to you as “diversity.” Demand a refund.
What You Can Do Right Now:
Share this article: The mainstream media is trying to bury the Obama connection. Force the conversation.
Demand Audits: Contact your state representatives and demand a specialized audit of all Department of Education and DHS grant recipients in your state.
Reject the Guilt: When they try to shame you for asking where the money went, laugh in their faces. You are the creditor. They are the debtors. And collection day is coming.
. . .
Tyler Durden
Wed, 12/31/2025 – 22:00
China’s EV Makers Are Powering Southeast Asia’s Bus Revolution
China’s EV Makers Are Powering Southeast Asia’s Bus Revolution
Chinese-made electric buses are rapidly gaining ground across Southeast Asia as governments push to decarbonize public transport and Chinese manufacturers seek growth beyond a slowing home market, according to Nikkei Asia.
In Jakarta, that shift is already visible. Transjakarta, the capital’s main bus operator, introduced electric buses from China’s BYD in 2022. It now runs 420 electric buses — nearly 10% of its fleet — including models from Skywell and Zhongtong, and plans to fully electrify its 10,000-bus fleet by 2030.
For veteran driver Muhammad Iqbal, the change has been dramatic. A decade ago, Chinese buses in Indonesia were known for breakdowns and even fires, forcing operators to rely on Japanese and European brands. Now, Iqbal says the new electric models are easier and more comfortable to drive. “It’s more comfortable to drive this electric bus,” he said. “It uses an automatic transmission, and drivers don’t have to queue at the gas station each [night] before returning [the buses].”
Nikkei writes that Chinese firms dominate the global electric bus export market, led by Yutong and King Long. In the first half of 2025 alone, China exported about 9,000 electric buses worldwide — a 124% increase from a year earlier. Southeast Asia still represents a small share of that total, but demand is accelerating.
In Indonesia, BYD has partnered with local manufacturer VKTR Teknologi Mobilitas, which opened an assembly plant in Central Java in May. The facility, capable of producing 3,000 vehicles a year, currently builds about 200 and aims to deliver 80 buses to Transjakarta by early 2026. Forty percent of the buses’ components are locally sourced, qualifying the company for government incentives.
Growth is also spreading regionally. Malaysia operates more than 140 electric buses and plans to deploy thousands over the next five years. Singapore has already ordered hundreds of electric buses from Chinese suppliers and aims to electrify half its fleet by 2030. The Philippines and Indonesia have set similar targets, driven by national EV policies.
Vietnam and Thailand are exceptions. Vietnam’s local manufacturer VinFast dominates its electric bus market, while Thailand is prioritizing rail investment over bus electrification.
The rapid expansion has also raised cybersecurity concerns. In November, Norway’s public transport operator warned that Chinese-made buses could be vulnerable to remote manipulation, prompting investigations in Europe. Chinese manufacturer Yutong rejected the claim. Indonesian cybersecurity expert Pratama Persadha cautioned that vehicle data could be exploited and urged governments to require cyberaudits for imported EV systems. As analyst Mark Manantan put it, “Whoever the company is, there will always be a cybersecurity risk.”
Tyler Durden
Wed, 12/31/2025 – 21:15
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/chinas-ev-makers-are-powering-southeast-asias-bus-revolution
They said she didn’t belong, but Maria Curtis built a full life in Naperville
When Maria Curtis was born on Jan. 29, 1963, at Naperville’s Edward Hospital, there were two reactions to her birth.
There was the reaction from her mother, Gertrude Curtis, who saw a little girl and the newest member of her family. And there was the one from her doctors, who saw a person they thought did not belong in society.
Doctors believed her baby had Down syndrome, a condition with which her family had no personal experience. They did not want to let Maria go home; they thought she should be institutionalized. But Maria’s mother refused. She took her baby home to meet her brother David and three sisters, Mary Ann, Melissa and Mitzi.
At the time of her birth, it was common for people with Down syndrome to be placed in a facility and isolated from society, often at the advice of medical experts.
“I remember it was like, ‘She will never know her mother’s name,’ and they had the attitude that she would be disruptive to the family and this huge burden,” Mary Ann Curtis said, recalling the words of one doctor.
Mitzi Curtis, left, and Mary Ann Curtis hold a photo of their sister Maria Curtis taken in the 1970s. Maria, who was born with Down syndrome, is putting tent stakes into the ground in her back yard. (Carolyn Stein/Naperville Sun)
But Maria would never be institutionalized. She would go on to live a long life filled with activities she enjoyed, like bowling with friends and family and singing along to Elvis Presley. She also would become the first person with Down syndrome to graduate from a Naperville public high school — Naperville North — with an Individualized Education Plan.
Journalists would document her life, from her 1983 graduation to the many jobs she held over the years. Little Friends, an organization that provided support to Maria throughout her life, gave her an award in 2000 for her accomplishments.
On Dec. 13, Maria quietly died at the Park Ridge Healthcare Center in Park Ridge. She was 62 years old.
“What we all grew to learn was what is valuable in a person,” Maria’s sister Melissa Curtis said. “And what Maria did was she bolstered up other people and made them feel good. And that was her calling and her art … she gave people a sense of value in themselves.”
From the beginning, raising Maria involved the whole family, with her siblings taking turns feeding her with a bottle to help teach her how to suck. Those early years with Maria were filled with ups and downs. Her sisters loved to play with her. Her mother wrote in a diary entry on March 23, 1964, that happiness is a baby girl called Maria.
Mitzi Curtis, left, and Mary Ann Curtis say their mother would not abide experts’ opinions that their sister, Maria Curtis, born in 1963 with Down syndrome, should be institutionalized rather than living at home with her family. (Carolyn Stein/Naperville Sun)
But societal pressure to treat Maria a certain way was hard for the family to ignore. She was put on a waiting list for Dixon State School, an institution in Illinois that took people with disabilities who were deemed unable to care for themselves.
Four months after visiting the institution, her family took Maria to see a specialist in Chicago. The doctor officially confirmed Maria had Down syndrome and declared that if she wasn’t put in an institution, she would ruin her family’s life. But when Maria eventually received a place at Dixon, the family decided she was not going.
“It was ridiculous,” Melissa said, reflecting on the pressure to institutionalize Maria. “We just dug our heels in. It just made us more determined.”
In 1965, Maria attended a preschool for children with mild cognitive disabilities run by Little Friends. She learned to identify colors and how to copy and trace. She participated in school plays and could be with children her age.
It was such a transformative experience that in 1968, Maria was able to test into the Naperville public school system’s “Trainable Mentally Handicapped” (TMH) program through which students were taught daily living skills, like how to make a bed and how to eat, as well as basic math and writing. Such students were believed to be incapable of being educated, only trainable.
An undated photo of Maria Curtis wearing headphones when she was a child. (Carolyn Stein/Naperville Sun)
She was on the TMH path until about 1975. Students in special education were tested on their cognitive abilities every three years and Maria showed significant academic gains. Her mother also believed Maria was capable of more, pushing hard for her daughter to be on the “Educable Mentally Handicapped” (EMH) path.
Those efforts paid off. In October 1975, she was transferred to Mill Street School and later moved on to Jefferson Junior High School and eventually Naperville North High School.
While Maria attended a special education program at Naperville North, her life was just like that of any other high school student, filled with football games, school dances and boyfriends. She also attended vocational job training her last year of school through Little Friends to help prepare her for life after high school.
“I know she just loved school because of the social part of it,” Mitzi said.
On June 5, 1983, Maria received her high school degree from Naperville North, graduating at age 20 alongside 474 other seniors.
Teachers who had taught Maria since she was 2½ years old came to her graduation party. Naperville Sun reporter Genevieve Towsley wrote a story with a headline that read, “Maria wins her battle with Down syndrome.”
Her family never doubted her ability.
“Maria has this inner intelligence about her that is on a level that you wouldn’t necessarily perceive right away, and she would always surprise us with the way she would all of a sudden get something,” Melissa said.
All she needed was a little bit more time than others, she said.
Maria also grew more into herself as a person. She had a level of confidence in herself and always spoke truthfully. Her sisters remembered once, when she was small, she told her dad’s tennis partner that he had a big nose.
“Well, he did, but Maria was just out there with her honesty and saw things as they were,” Melissa said. “You had to laugh at yourself, you just don’t take yourself so seriously. Here’s this little person that’s got the nerve to call things as they are.”
She also had a level of “unconditional love” that was unmatched, she said.
“She would always tell people, ‘You’re the best, you’re the best. You’re my best sister,’” Melissa said.
Thanks to help from Little Friends, Maria held many different jobs after graduation, doing everything from washing dishes at a now-gone cafe called Continental Cupboard to bagging groceries at a Jewel-Osco in Lisle.
She worked in positions that most would consider mundane, but they were everything to her, her sisters said.
“The other morning Maria Curtis, 23, walked about five blocks to a restaurant in downtown Naperville, where she spent six hours scrubbing pots and pans and dishes,” a 1986 article published in the Chicago Tribune read.
“Not a notable achievement by most standards. But for Maria, it was a momentous step in her life, one made possible by something going on in the heart of Naperville, something which has been going on for nearly two dozen years,” the article said, referring to Little Friends.
Little Friends would provide her with various forms of support throughout that time, from housing arrangements to staff to help her with things like budgeting and groceries.
“Every time I would come to see her at her condo, I’d open the door and because she was very much into routine, every visit, she would hand me a picture that she colored because she loved the color and she would say, ‘I missed you,’ and that’s how I started every visit with her,” said Lisa Palermo, who worked with Maria at Little Friends beginning in 2009.
She would always be ready with her budget sheet and grocery list when Palermo arrived. Little Debbie snack cakes were always on the list, and anytime she could budget a meal out or a chance to go bowling, she would, Palermo said.
“She just had these quirky things about her, like phrases that she used all the time. If you said something that she didn’t agree with, she would say, ‘Oh brother,’” Palermo said, using an exaggerated voice. “If I had to tell her something she didn’t like, a change in plans or something that maybe she didn’t want to have to do, she would say, ‘Give me a break.’”
One of Palermo’s joys in her work with Maria was watching her relationship flourish with her partner Erik Barney, who was also served by Little Friends. They’d frequently use nicknames for each other — Maria liked to call Erik “handsome groom” and Erik would call Maria “cutie.”
While the couple never got legally married, they did have a commitment ceremony in 2015, officiated by a priest. The pair exchanged rings engraved with their nicknames, and they would live together until 2019, when Maria moved to a Little Friends group home for full-time supportive care. In 2023, she moved into the Park Ridge Healthcare Center.
Her last few years at Park Ridge were difficult as she struggled with her memory due to dementia, her sisters said. But even in her final years, they still saw her spirit, they said.
“(There) was a visit where I said to her as I’m leaving … ‘Maria, I love you.’ And she looked at me and said in plain words, ‘I know,’” Melissa said. “That just blew me and Mitzi away. We were just brought to tears. She said that. She just did that. I mean, that is what she did and she was in there the whole time.”
cstein@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/31/maria-curtis-naperville-down-syndrome/
US Instructs Its Western-Nation Embassies To Report On Abuses Due To Mass Immigration
US Instructs Its Western-Nation Embassies To Report On Abuses Due To Mass Immigration
Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,
The Department of State has instructed U.S. embassies located in Western nations to report human rights abuses occurring there due to mass immigration, according to a Dec. 30 thread on X.
The embassies will “analyze government policies that facilitate mass migration or privilege migrants over citizens,” the department said.
“The United States urges governments to protect their borders and defend their citizens against the human rights abuses caused by mass migration. The United States stands ready to work alongside nations across the Western Hemisphere to end the global crisis of mass migration.”
According to the United Nations’ International Migrant Stock report published in January 2025, the total number of international migrants worldwide in 2024 was 304 million.
Europe hosted 94 million of these individuals, which is “more international migrants than any other region” in the world, the report said.
In second place was North America, which hosted 61 million migrants, followed by Northern Africa and Western Asia with 54 million people.
Between 1990 and 2024, Europe saw the largest increase in international migrants, with 43 million foreigners flowing into the region. North America added 34 million people during this period.
In its X post, the State Department said the United States has seen millions of migrants and massive amounts of deadly drugs flowing into the country on transnational routes operated by terror groups.
“Mass migration has endangered American citizens, threatened the economic security of American workers, and strained America’s asylum system,” it said, adding that the “narco-terror organizations that facilitate mass migration routinely engage in child trafficking, forced labor, sexual assault, and other heinous human rights abuses that threaten the citizens of nations throughout the Western Hemisphere and undermine the rule of law.”
On Nov. 21, the State Department said in a thread on X that it had directed embassies to report on any human rights implications and public safety impacts of mass migration, calling it an “existential threat to Western civilization” that also undermines the stability of key American allies.
“In the United Kingdom, thousands of girls have been victimized in Rotherham, Oxford, and Newcastle by grooming gangs involving migrant men,” the department said. “Many girls were left to suffer unspeakable abuse for years before authorities stepped in.”
The department also noted rapes of teen girls in Sweden and Germany by migrants.
In the United States, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has arrested and deported “hundreds of thousands of criminal illegal aliens” under the Trump administration, including drug traffickers, rapists, gang members, and kidnappers, the department said in a Dec. 19 statement.
“Seventy percent of those arrested by ICE are criminal illegal aliens who have been charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S.,” DHS said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has seized 39,984 pounds of drugs under President Donald Trump, a 10 percent jump from the same time in 2024, the department said, adding that Coast Guard seizures of illegal narcotics have surged 200 percent since January 2025.
Living on Benefits
As part of strengthening immigration practices, DHS issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on Nov. 19 to amend the Public Charge provision regarding the admission of immigrants into the country, triggering opposition from lawmakers.
Under the provision, authorities can deny the application of an immigrant applying for a visa, admission, or adjustment of legal status in the United States who is likely to primarily become dependent on government benefits.
On Dec. 19, more than 100 lawmakers sent a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph B. Edlow, urging them to withdraw updates to Public Charge rules, saying it would harm immigrant communities, according to a Dec. 23 statement from the office of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).
“The Trump Administration’s proposal would rescind the clear 2022 public charge regulations and replace them with vague, undefined standards, leading to arbitrary decision-making, fear, and widespread confusion,” they said.
“Past public charge expansions have driven families, including those with U.S. citizen children, away from lawful access to health care, nutrition, and early childhood programs.”
In its proposed rulemaking notice, DHS said that the regulations must be updated.
The existing rules are “inconsistent with congressional intent, unduly restrictive, and hamper DHS’s ability to make accurate, precise, and reliable determinations of whether certain aliens are likely at any time to become a public charge,” it said.
DHS wrote that rescinding these rules would restore “broader discretion to evaluate all pertinent facts and align with long-standing policy that aliens in the United States should be self-reliant and government benefits should not incentivize immigration.”
Tyler Durden
Wed, 12/31/2025 – 20:30
Chief Justice says Constitution remains ‘firm and unshaken’ with major Supreme Court rulings ahead
WASHINGTON — Chief Justice John Roberts said Wednesday that the Constitution remains a sturdy pillar for the country, a message that comes after a tumultuous year in the nation’s judicial system with pivotal Supreme Court decisions on the horizon.
Roberts said the nation’s founding documents remain “firm and unshaken,” a reference to a century-old quote from President Calvin Coolidge. “True then; true now,” Roberts wrote in his annual letter to the judiciary.
The letter comes after a year in which legal scholars and Democrats raised fears of a possible constitutional crisis as Republican President Donald Trump’s supporters pushed back against rulings that slowed his far-reaching conservative agenda.
Roberts weighed in at one point in March, issuing a rare rebuke after Trump called for the impeachment of a judge who had ruled against him in a case over the deportation of Venezuelan migrants accused of being gang members.
The chief justice’s Wednesday letter was largely focused on the nation’s history, including an early 19th-century case establishing the principle that Congress shouldn’t remove judges over contentious rulings.
He also called on judges to “continue to decide the cases before us according to our oath, doing equal right to the poor and to the rich, and performing all of our duties faithfully and impartially under the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
While the Trump administration faced pushback in the lower courts, it has scored a series of some two dozen wins on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket. The court’s conservative majority has allowed Trump to move ahead for now with banning transgender people from the military, clawing back billions of dollars of congressionally approved federal spending, moving aggressively on immigration and firing the Senate-confirmed leaders of independent federal agencies.
The court also handed Trump a few defeats over the last year, including in his push to deploy the National Guard to U.S. cities.
Other pivotal issues are ahead for the high court in 2026, including arguments over Trump’s push to end birthright citizenship and a ruling on whether he can unilaterally impose tariffs on hundreds of countries.
Roberts’ letter contained few references to those issues. It opened with a history of the seminal 1776 pamphlet “Common Sense,” written by Thomas Paine, a “recent immigrant to Britain’s North American colonies,” and closed with Coolidge’s encouragement to “turn for solace” to the Constitution and Declaration of Independence “amid all the welter of partisan politics.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/31/constitution-upcoming-supreme-court-rulings/
