DAILY NEWS Stream – December 20, 2025

The United Nations urges Ethiopia and Eritrea to honor the Algiers Agreement, a peace accord, as military activity raises border tensions (The Voice of Africa)

Belarus extends visa‑free travel through 2026 for citizens of 38 European countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, and Lithuania (Travel and Tour World)

The FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] thwarts a New Year’s Eve bombing plot by the extremist group Turtle Island Liberation Front in California [US] (Daily Caller)

The United States Government launches the Tech Force program to recruit 1,000 early‑career technologists for federal agency modernization (Fox News)

US President Trump says a Ukraine (Ureign) peace deal is “closer than ever” after Berlin [Germany] talks with European leaders and Ukrainian (Ureignian) President Zelenskyy (Al Jazeera)

A new scam in Malaysia targets people already financially defrauded, luring them with fake “anti‑fraud law firms,” promising 90% recovery but exploit trust to steal more (Tuổi Trẻ)

Myanmar has urged countries to repatriate over 1,650 foreign nationals detained in a crackdown on online scam centers in Kayin state. Since January, authorities have arrested 13,272 people from 47 nations, most already deported (VN Express)

A Chinese cohort study finds higher maternal vitamin D during pregnancy, especially in later trimesters, links to lower early childhood tooth decay, suggesting supplementation may reduce caries risk (Medical Xpress)

A global study reveals childhood hypertension rates have doubled since 2000. Experts link the surge to obesity and sedentary lifestyles, urging routine screenings to prevent future heart and kidney failure (Tuổi Trẻ Online)

New research finds hazardous chemicals known as brominated flame retardants in tested sets of firefighter gear sold in the US, even PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances)-free versions. Scientists warn these chemicals cause cancer and thyroid issues, demanding manufacturer transparency to protect first responders (SciTechDaily)

Iraq’s Tigris River rapidly dries as pollution, upstream dams and climate-driven drought reduce flows, concentrating contaminants and threatening millions’ water supplies, livelihoods and the survival of ancient communities without urgent regional action (The Guardian)

Indonesia issues a national manual standardizing seagrass blue carbon measurement, strengthening conservation and carbon market readiness as government regulations position seagrass ecosystems as key climate assets amid degradation risks (Antara)

Âu Lạc (Vietnam) faced its most extreme weather in 2025, recording 21 tropical systems, historic floods on 20 rivers, and unprecedented rainfall, including 1,740 millimeters in a single day at Bach Ma (VietnamNet)

A new study shows South Africa’s microbialites— ancient “living rocks”— rapidly absorb carbon and grow in harsh coastal conditions. Researchers find they precipitate nearly two inches [5 centimeters] of calcium carbonate yearly, sequestering nine to sixteen kilograms of CO2 per square meter annually (Phys.org)

The UK Home Office’s Animals in Science Regulation Unit annual report documents 22,204 animal-people subjected to legal violations in British laboratories during 2024. Findings reveal systemic neglect and painful experiments, with 69% of breaches self‑reported, underscoring widespread non‑compliance and weak accountability across the sector (PETA UK)

Chippewa Falls [US] police rescue 14 dog-people from neglect. Officers found the animal-individuals in cramped, filthy kennels without food or water (WQOW)

Two research teams in the UK and USA independently discover a hot exoplanet six times the mass of Jupiter around a binary star by reanalyzing Gemini Planet Imager data, challenging planet-formation models and highlighting untapped discoveries in archival observations (Universe Today)

Researchers report microplastics release sunlight-driven chemical plumes into water bodies, producing distinct dissolved organic matter that may alter microbial activity, nutrient cycles and carbon cycling as plastic pollution increases (SciTech Daily)

The solar manufacturer LONGi of China sets a world record for flexible perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells by achieving 33.35% efficiency, as certified by the US Department of Energy’s NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) (VietnamNet)

Taiwan (Formosa) opens its first public hydrogen station in Kaohsiung, built by CPC Corp. and Linde LienHwa. The facility fuels hydrogen-powered buses and cars (Taiwan News)

Estonian food tech firm Mati Foods launches vegan fungi-based Fishless Fillets nationwide, offering whole-cut mycoprotein alternatives, citing authentic taste and texture, and plans expansion into Finland (Vegconomist)

Italy promotes 3D-printed plant-based foods made from lab-grown plant cells and fruit residues, as ENEA (National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) researchers develop sustainable snacks, like bars and glossy “honey pearls,” and animal-people meat alternatives, with strong public interest and potential uses from tailored nutrition to space missions (The Business Standard)

IMARC Group projects strong growth in China’s vegan cosmetics market from 2025 to 2033, driven by clean beauty demand, sustainability trends, and consumer preference for cruelty‑free products (openPR)

To warn drivers of wildlife-people entering the road, India installs a 5-millimeter-thick “table-top red marking” on a 2-kilometer stretch of the Bhopal–Jabalpur Highway, with underpasses and fencing and other measures to be implemented and plans to expand the idea nationwide if successful. The move comes after a cheetah cub’s death on the highway (TimesBull)

Forbes magazine’s 2025 Power List names six African women leaders shaping global politics, finance, and media, highlighting Africa’s rising influence. The leaders include South African Mary Vilakazi, CEO of FirstRand, a financial services company, Democratic Republic of the Congo Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka, Namibia President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, South African CEO Mpumi Madisa of the conglomerate Bidvest Group, World Trade Organization chief Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria, and Nigerian media executive Mo Abudu (The Voice of Africa)

Boom, I was popped out of my body. I found myself in this absolute darkness. But I had just died this violent death from a raging sea. Suddenly, I’m in a peaceful place. It’s absolutely dark, but it’s quiet, it’s peaceful, I’m comfortable. I saw a little light, and I started moving toward it, and as I got closer that light appeared to be millions upon millions, an infinite amount of fragments of light. I started feeling these waves of love. It felt like I was being held in this warm embrace of love. American engineer David Bennett shares how he drowned at sea, experienced profound unconditional love, relived his entire life from others’ perspectives, and discovered his true purpose.

In 1983, David was chief engineer of a research vessel and, by his own admission, a brash, ego-driven young man. One stormy night off the California coast, his ship couldn’t enter harbor due to 7.5-9-meter waves breaking at the seawall. Several crew members needed to reach the airport, so David and a mate took a rubber Zodiac inflatable boat to transport them through the violent seas. Navigating by harbor buoy at night, they lost their bearings and headed for shore. They drove off a cresting wave, and when David yelled to turn around, the next wave came down on top of them, folding the Zodiac in half and catapulting David deep into the freezing ocean.

I was being tumbled and tossed like a rag doll, and I’d lost total orientation as to where the surface was. I had the presence of mind not to try to swim but to let the life vest carry me up to the surface. Eventually, you can only hold your breath so long. When I started feeling those initial symptoms of euphoria, light-headedness, and things like that, I started thinking about, boy, my life insurance is paid, the wife should be taken care of. Eventually, the euphoria just kind of takes over and you just breathe. There was a split second of a little bit of burning, but then boom, I was popped out of my body.

I found myself in this absolute darkness, this blackness, absolute, it felt like nothingness but yet included everything. I had just died this violent death from a raging sea. Suddenly, I’m in a peaceful place. It’s absolutely dark, but it’s quiet, it’s peaceful, I’m comfortable. The ocean at that time was very cold and so I’m no longer cold, and it’s absolutely quiet. I saw a little light and I started moving toward it, and as I got closer that light appeared to be millions upon millions, an infinite amount of fragments of light, and they were all moving kind of in unison, like you would see a flock of migrating birds. These fragments of light were like dancing like that. They were multi-colored. I started feeling these waves of love. It felt like I was being held in this warm embrace of love, and I was just in awe. I tried to look at myself and I realized I didn’t have a head, I didn’t have eyes, but I had vision. I could see that I was transitioning into a fragment of light, into one of these lights.

Three fragments broke away and they started coming toward me, and they were welcoming me home. I can’t express how in awe and how humbled I was to be welcomed home by these three beings, because I came from a very dysfunctional family. I was thrown from one family to the next to the next. I had a very dysfunctional relationship as far as family, so to suddenly feel like this is my family, I call them my “soul family.” Eventually a dozen of these light beings started greeting me and welcoming me home, and it was very emotional for me.

David and his soul family then moved deeper into the light to review his entire life. Inside this giant bubble, we started to relive my life. Not just from my perspective but from everyone who I’ve ever interacted with, through their perspective. It was like my consciousness fragmented into these multiple streams of consciousness. I noticed that some of the things that my ego took a lot of pride in, like becoming the chief engineer of a research vessel in my mid-20s, in the life review it didn’t hold that much significance. But any time that I did something with a heartfelt connection or with loving intention, that would create some of the biggest ripples. I was kind of a brash young man in this life, so to suddenly see your life in this fashion, I was a little, I guess I could say ashamed that they had to see some of the more unsavory parts of my life where I was just cruel. But they didn’t judge me, they just were excited to be there, to love me, to support me.

After the life review, David crossed a threshold and saw his future unfolding like a corridor— clear in the center but unfocused at the edges, representing free will. The light itself spoke to me. This infinite amount of fragments of light in unison spoke and they said, “This is not your time, you must return.” And I said, “No way, no way. I know that that body is broken. I have no desire to go back to it. I’ve got a family that I never knew I had, I feel love like I’ve never felt before, and that body—I just don’t desire to go back to that broken body.” The light spoke one more time with this loving parental voice: “You must return, you have a purpose.” When I heard that word “purpose” from the light, it just really resonated with my being, with my essence, and I came to accept it.

David then found himself outside his body, watching as wreckage wrapped around his arm, dislocating his shoulder and pulling him to the surface. His soul family gave him a gentle push, and he buzzed back into his body. He ditched his waterlogged life vest, swam the last mile to shore with his crewmates, and survived—hypothermic and in shock but aware.

In that life review, I got to see how much people cross our paths all the time and we interact with so many people in our lives. They make choices that we may not agree with, but that’s their life and that’s their choices, and that’s okay. I could be tolerant of other people and their life choices, and I could also be tolerant of where I find myself in life. I recognized that there’s truth that is factual truth, but there’s also a truth that’s a personal truth that resides within our heart. Whenever we come across a personal truth, our heart resonates with it; it expands with it.

Thoughtful quote of the day: “Why are you so busy with this or that or good or bad? Pay attention to how things blend.” - The Venerated Enlightened Master Rumi (vegetarian)