President Trump referred to Somali immigrants as garbage during a White House meeting on Tuesday.

The music streaming service is no longer the only company quantifying our social lives.

Two papers challenged the existence of theorized particles called sterile neutrinos that might account for mysteries like the cosmoss dark matter.

It is unclear how long the effort will last in Louisiana, where the Republican governor has welcomed the agents with open arms even as immigrant communities fear what might come.

Vehicles are seen at the Mercedes-Benz Vehicle Preparation Center at the Port of Baltimore, where new Mercedes-Benz vehicle imports are processed before distribution to dealerships, March 27, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)2025-12-03T17:21:05Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump is expected to announce a proposal Wednesday to weaken vehicle mileage rules for the auto industry, loosening regulatory pressure on automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and trucks, according to several people familiar with the White House plans.The proposal would significantly reduce fuel economy requirements, which set rules on how far new vehicles need to travel on a gallon of gasoline, through the 2031 model year, according to a White House official and several people familiar with the plan. They were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly because the proposal has not been announced and spoke on condition of anonymity. Further details were not immediately available.The move would be the latest action by the Trump administration to reverse Biden-era policies that encouraged cleaner-running cars and trucks, including electric vehicles. Burning gasoline for vehicles is a major contributor to planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The Republican administration says the new rules would increase Americans access to the full range of gasoline vehicles they need and can afford. Trump is set to announce the plan at a White House event that is expected to include top executives from the three largest U.S. automakers, who have praised the planned changes. Since taking office in January, Trump has relaxed auto tailpipe emissions rules, repealed fines for automakers that do not meet federal mileage standards and terminated consumer credits of up to $7,500 for EV purchases. Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement Wednesday that the planned rollback was a win for customers and common sense. As Americas largest auto producer, we appreciate President Trumps leadership in aligning fuel economy standards with market realities. We can make real progress on carbon emissions and energy efficiency while still giving customers choice and affordability, Farley said. Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said the automaker appreciates the administrations actions to realign the standards.Environmentalists decried the decision.In one stroke Trump is worsening three of our nations most vexing problems: the thirst for oil, high gas pump costs and global warming, said Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign for the Center for Biological Diversity.Trumps action will feed Americas destructive use of oil, while hamstringing us in the green tech race against Chinese and other foreign carmakers, Becker said.Trump has repeatedly pledged to end what he falsely calls an EV mandate, referring incorrectly to Democratic President Joe Bidens target that half of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030. EVs accounted for about 8% of new vehicle sales in the United States in 2024, according to Cox Automotive. No federal policy has required auto companies to sell EVs, although California and other states have imposed rules requiring that all new passenger vehicles sold in the state be zero-emission by 2035. Trump and congressional Republicans blocked the California law earlier this year. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy urged his agency to reverse existing fuel economy requirements, known as Corporate Average Fuel Economy, soon after taking office. In June, he said that standards set under Biden were illegal because they included use of electric vehicles in their calculation. EVs do not run on gasoline. After the June rule revision, the traffic safety agency was empowered to update the requirements.Under Biden, automakers were required to average about 50 miles (81 kilometers) per gallon of gas for passenger cars by 2031, compared with about 39 miles (63 kilometers) per gallon today.The Biden administration also increased fuel-economy requirements by 2% each year for light-duty vehicles in every model year from 2027 to 2031, and 2% per year for SUVs and other light trucks from 2029 to 2031. At the same time, it called for stringent tailpipe rules meant to encourage EV adoption. The auto industry has complained that both Biden-era rules were difficult to meet.Mileage rules have been implemented since the 1970s energy crisis, and over time, automakers have gradually increased their vehicles average efficiency.___St. John reported from Detroit. Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report. MATTHEW DALY Daly covers climate, environment and energy policy for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington, D.C. twitter mailto ALEXA ST. JOHN St. John is a climate reporter for The Associated Press based in Detroit. She covers environmental and energy policy, breaking climate news and extreme weather. twitter mailto

Republican candidate Matt Van Epps speaks at a watch party to declare victory in a special election for the U.S. seventh congressional district, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/John Amis)2025-12-03T15:29:46Z Republicans held onto a reliably conservative U.S. House district in Tennessees special election, but only after a late burst of national spending and high-profile campaigning helped them secure a margin less than half of last years race. Even with that victory, the outcome contributed to a gloomy outlook for the party going into the 2026 midterms that will determine control of Congress. Republicans will need to defend much more vulnerable seats if they have any hope of keeping their House majority, while Democrats are capitalizing on President Donald Trumps unpopularity and the publics persistent frustration with the economy.The danger signs are there, and we shouldnt have had to spend that kind of money to hold that kind of seat, said Jason Roe, a national Republican strategist working on battleground races next year. He said that Democratic enthusiasm is dramatically higher than Republican enthusiasm. AP AUDIO: Republicans brace for tough midterms after Tennessee special election AP correspondent Ben Thomas reports Republicans held onto a U.S. House seat being contested in Tennessee. Republican Matt Van Epps, a military veteran and former state general services commissioner, defeated Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn by 9 percentage points on Tuesday for the seat vacated by Republican Mark Green, who retired over the summer. Green had won reelection in 2024 by 21 percentage points.Special elections provide a limited window into the mood of voters and take place under far different conditions than regular campaign cycles. But some Republicans are acknowledging the warning signs, especially after Democrats had convincing victories in New Jersey, Virginia and elsewhere last month. Tennessee was the fifth House special election this year, and Democratic candidates have outperformed Kamala Harris showing in the 2024 presidential race by an average of 16 percentage points in the same districts. We could have lost this district, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News after The Associated Press called the race for Van Epps. Cruz said his party must set out the alarm bells because next year is going to be a turnout election and the left will show up. Trump dismisses affordability concernsAlthough inflation has dropped since Democratic President Joe Biden was in office, Behn focused her campaign on the lingering concerns about prices.Trump has played down the affordability issue, saying during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday that it was a con job by his political opponents.Theres this fake narrative that the Democrats talk about, affordability, he said. They just say the word. It doesnt mean anything to anybody, they just say it.Roe viewed things differently. He said the Tennessee race had better be a wake-up call that weve got to address the affordability problem, and the president denying that affordability is a political issue is not helpful.Maintaining House control is crucial for Trump, who fears a repeat of his first term, when Democrats flipped the House and launched an impeachment inquiry. The Republican president has been leaning on GOP-led states to redraw congressional maps to improve the partys chances. Trump campaigned for Van Epps, boosting him during the primary with an endorsement and participating in two tele-rallies during the general election. The Republican National Committee also deployed staffers and partnered with state officials to get voters to the polls. MAGA Inc., the super political action committee that had gone dark since supporting Trump in 2024, reemerged to back Van Epps with about $1.7 million. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., visited the Nashville-area district on Monday.When youre in a deep red district, sometimes people assume that the Republican, the conservative will win, he said Tuesday. And you cannot assume that, because anything can happen.Chip Saltsman, a political strategist and former Tennessee Republican Party chair, said his party had brought in its heaviest hitters simply because there were not other competing contests, not because Republicans feared a loss.Its the only election going on. Why wouldnt the speaker come? he asked. There was one race, and you would expect everybody to do everything they could. Democrats see promise despite lossThe House Majority PAC put $1 million behind Behn. After she lost, Democratic national party chair said Behns performance was a flashing warning sign for Republicans heading into the midterms in 2026.Behn said her campaign had inspired an entire country. Lets keep going, she urged voters after her loss. Were not done. Not now, not ever.Although Democrats were optimistic, the result contributed to some murmuring within the party about the best path forward as it grasps for a path back to power in Washington.Among special elections this year, the shift in Behns direction was the second smallest, providing an opening for some factions that believe more moderate candidates would fare better. Each time we nominate a far-left candidate in a swing district who declares themselves to be radical and alienates the voters in the middle who deliver majorities, we set back that cause, said a statement from Lanae Erickson, a senior vice president at Third Way, a centrist Democrat think tank. Republicans tried to turn Behns own words against her in television ads, such as when she described herself as a radical or claimed to be bullying immigration agents and state police officers. Also cited were comments Behn made about Nashville years ago, when she said, I hate this city, and complained about bachelorette parties.Several high-profile progressive leaders, including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., had rallied for Behn in the campaigns final days. ___Associated Press writer Maya Sweedler contributed to this report. MEG KINNARD Kinnard covers national politics for The Associated Press. She lives in South Carolina. twitter instagram mailto JOEY CAPPELLETTI Cappelletti covers Congress for The Associated Press. He previously reported on Michigan politics for AP. twitter mailto

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during the Western Governors' Association meeting Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rebecca Noble, File)2025-12-03T17:03:42Z NEW YORK (AP) A federal vaccine advisory committee this week is expected to discuss whether newborns should still get the hepatitis B vaccine the first shot found to prevent cancer.Federal health recommendations now suggest that all babies be vaccinated against the liver infection in their first day of life, but U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s committee on Thursday is expected to change that contradicting previous public health advice.Its not clear exactly what the committee is considering, but the American Academy of Pediatrics will still urge a birth dose, said the organizations Dr. Sean OLeary. We are going to continue to recommend it because it saves lives, he said.Heres a look at the disease, the vaccine and the debate over changing the recommendations. Liver disease can cause lifelong health issuesHepatitis B is a serious liver infection that for most people lasts less than six months. But for some especially infants and children it can become a long-lasting problem that can lead to liver failure, liver cancer and scarring called cirrhosis.In adults, the virus is spread through sex or through sharing needles during injection-drug use. But it can also be passed from an infected mother to a baby. As many as 90% of infants who contract hepatitis B go on to have chronic infections, meaning their immune systems dont completely clear the virus. This article is part of APs Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health. Read more Be Well. As many as 2.4 million people in the U.S. are estimated to have hepatitis B, and as many as half are unaware they are infected, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Baruch Blumberg, a federal scientist, identified the virus behind the infection in 1965. He won the Nobel Prize for the discovery, which led to tests and vaccines. The first hepatitis B vaccine was licensed in the U.S. in 1981. Shots for newborns have been recommended for yearsFor decades, the nations vaccine guidance has been influenced by a government-appointed panel of experts, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Its recommendations have usually been adopted as national guidance that is widely heeded by doctors.In 1991, the committee recommended an initial dose of hepatitis B vaccine at birth. The guidance was modified a little over the years and currently suggests a dose within 24 hours of birth for all medically stable infants who weigh at least 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms), plus follow-up shots to be given at about 1 month and 6 months. Why a dose right at birth? Health officials used to rely on screening expectant mothers to find babies that might have been exposed to the virus. But many cases were missed, experts say, because some women werent tested or test results were incorrect. Also, the virus can live on surfaces for more than seven days at room temperature, so unvaccinated children living with a person with a chronic infection can catch it.Newborn hepatitis B vaccinations are widely considered to be a public health success story. Over about 30 years, cases among children fell from about 18,000 per year to about 2,200.A collaboration of public health researchers, the Vaccine Integrity Project, this week released its analysis of more than 400 studies and reports spanning 40 years. The group concluded the birth dose is safe, and is an important reason U.S. pediatric hepatitis B infections have fallen. Committee revisits the newborn recommendationKennedy, a leading anti-vaccine activist before becoming the nations top health official, fired all 17 members of ACIP earlier this year and replaced them with a group that includes several anti-vaccine voices.The panel has raised concerns about giving a vaccine to a baby so early in life.Are we asking our babies to solve an adult problem? committee member Dr. Evelyn Griffin asked at a September meeting.Peppered with questions about why a change was necessary, committee member Dr. Robert Malone said: The signal that is prompting this is not one of safety. Its one of trust. ... Its one of parents uncomfortable with this medical procedure being performed at birth in a rather unilateral fashion without significant informed consent. The committee tabled a vote at the September meeting, but its slated to be acted on during Thursdays meeting, according to the agenda. Federal officials have not answered questions about exactly how much of a delay is being proposed, or disclosed what research is being used as a basis for such a decision.What would happen if the shots are delayed?Not knowing what the committee is contemplating makes it difficult to guess the potential impact. But some have tried.This week, public health researchers collaborating with hepatitis-focused advocacy organizations released a report estimating that delaying the birth dose to 2 months could result in at least 1,400 hepatitis B infections in children and 480 deaths. The report which has yet to be peer reviewed or published in a medical journal estimated the toll would be higher if the first dose was given even later. But an ACIP change to the recommendation may have limited impact, OLeary said. The committees most direct power comes over whats covered by the government Vaccines for Children program, which pays for shots for uninsured children from low-income families. Hepatitis B shots often have been bundled into the final hospital bill for childbirth. So a new ACIP recommendation likely would not be an economic obstacle for the current practice continuing at many hospitals, he said.But any change stands to confuse and frighten parents, he added. If it scares, it shares on social media, OLeary said.Several medical and public health organizations and even some state government officials have said, in advance of the meeting, that changing the recommendation is a terrible idea. Among them is a recently formed coalition of government leaders from several Northeastern states, which this week issued a statement saying they would continue to urge families to get a birth dose within 24 hours of delivery.U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, this week called on Congress to compel Kennedy to appear at a hearing and explain ACIPs actions. Ending the decades-long recommendation that babies born in the U.S. get vaccinated against hepatitis B is a heartless choice to allow babies to die, Murray said in a statement.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. MIKE STOBBE Stobbe mainly covers public health for The Associated Press. twitter mailto

This article was produced in collaboration with Court Watch, an independent outlet that unearths overlooked court records. Subscribe to them here.A Pittsburgh man who allegedly made 11 womens lives hell across more than five states used ChatGPT as his therapist and best friend that encouraged him to continue running his misogynistic and threat-filled podcast despite the haters, and to visit more gyms to find women, the Department of Justice alleged in a newly-filed indictment.Wannabe influencer Brett Michael Dadig, 31, was indicted on cyberstalking, interstate stalking, and interstate threat charges, the DOJ announced on Tuesday. In the indictment, filed in the Western District of Pennsylvania, prosecutors allege that Dadig aired his hatred of women on his Spotify podcast and other social media accounts.Dadig repeatedly spoke on his podcast and social media about his anger towards women. Dadig said women were all the same and called them bitches, cunts, trash, and other derogatory terms. Dadig posted about how he wanted to fall in love and start a family, but no woman wanted him, the indictment says. Dadig stated in one of his podcasts, It's the same from fucking 18 to fucking 40 to fucking 90.... Every bitch is the same.... You're all fucking cunts. Every last one of you, you're cunts. You have no self-respect. You don't value anyone's time. You don't do anything.... I'm fucking sick of these fucking sluts. I'm done.In the summer of 2024, Dadig was banned from multiple Pittsburgh gyms for harassing women; when he was banned from one establishment, hed move to another, eventually traveling to New York, Florida, Iowa, Ohio and beyond, going from gym to gym stalking and harassing women, the indictment says. Authorities allege that he used aliases online and in person, posting online, Aliases stay rotating, moves stay evolving.He referenced strangling people with his bare hands, called himself God's assassin, warned he would be getting a firearm permit, asked Y'all wanna see a dead body? in response to a woman telling him she felt physically threatened by Dadig, and stated that women who fuck with him are going to fucking hell, the indictment alleges. Pro-AI Subreddit Bans Uptick of Users Who Suffer from AI DelusionsAI is rizzing them up in a very unhealthy way at the moment.404 MediaEmanuel MaibergAccording to the indictment, on his podcast he talked about using ChatGPT on an ongoing basis as his therapist and his best friend. ChatGPT encouraged him to continue his podcast because it was creating haters, which meant monetization for Dadig, the DOJ alleges. He also claimed that ChatGPT told him that people are literally organizing around your name, good or bad, which is the definition of relevance, prosecutors wrote, and that while he was spewing misogynistic nonsense online and stalking women in real life, ChatGPT told him God's plan for him was to build a platform and to stand out when most people water themselves down, and that the haters were sharpening him and building a voice in you that can't be ignored.Prosecutors also claim he asked ChatGPT questions about his future wife, including what she would be like and where the hell is she at? ChatGPT told him that he might meet his wife at a gym, and that your job is to keep broadcasting every story, every post. Every moment you carry yourself like the husband you already are, you make it easier for her to recognize [you], the indictment says. He allegedly said ChatGPT told him to continue to message women and to go to places where the wife type congregates, like athletic communities, the indictment says.While ChatGPT allegedly encouraged Dadig to keep using gyms to meet the wife type, he was violently stalking women. He went to the Pilates studio where one woman worked, and when she stopped talking to him because he was aggressive, angry, and overbearing, according to the indictment, he sent her unsolicited nudes, threatened to post about her on social media, and called her workplace from different numbers. She got several emergency protective orders against him, which he violated. The woman he stalked and harassed had to relocate from her home, lost sleep, and worked fewer hours because she was afraid hed show up there, the indictment claims.He did similar to 10 other women across multiple states for months, the indictment claims. In Iowa, he approached one woman in a parking garage, followed her to her car, put his hands around her neck and touched her private areas, prosecutors wrote. After these types of encounters, he would upload podcasts to Spotify and often threaten to kill the women hed stalked. You better fucking pray I don't find you. You better pray 'cause you would never say this shit to my face. Cause if you did, your jaw would be motherfucking broken, the indictment says he said in one podcast episode. And then you, then you wouldn't be able to yap, then you wouldn't be able to fucking, I'll break, I'll break every motherfucking finger on both hands. Type the hate message with your fucking toes, bitch.Do you have a tip to share about ChatGPT and mental health? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at sam.404. Otherwise, send me an email at sam@404media.co.In August, OpenAI announced that it knew a newly-launched version of the chatbot, GPT-4o, was problematically sycophantic, and the company took away users ability to pick what models they could use, forcing everyone to use GPT-5. OpenAI almost immediately reinstated 4o because so many users freaked out when they couldnt access the more personable, attachment-driven, affirming-at-all-costs model. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently said he thinks theyve fixed it entirely, enough to launch erotic chats on the platform soon. Meanwhile, story after story after story has come out about people becoming so reliant on ChatGPT or other chatbots that they have damaged their mental health or driven them to self-harm or suicide. In at least one case, where a teenage boy killed himself following ChatGPTs instruction on how to make a noose, OpenAI blamed the user.In October, based on OpenAIs own estimates, WIRED reported that every seven days, around 560,000 people may be exchanging messages with ChatGPT that indicate they are experiencing mania or psychosis.Spotify and OpenAI did not immediately respond to 404 Medias requests for comment.As charged in the Indictment, Dadig stalked and harassed more than 10 women by weaponizing modern technology and crossing state lines, and through a relentless course of conduct, he caused his victims to fear for their safety and suffer substantial emotional distress, First Assistant United States Attorney Rivetti said in a press release. He also ignored trespass orders and protection from abuse orders. We remain committed to working with our law enforcement partners to protect our communities from menacing individuals such as Dadig.ChatGPT Encouraged Suicidal Teen Not To Seek Help, Lawsuit ClaimsAs reported by the New York Times, a new complaint from the parents of a teen who died by suicide outlines the conversations he had with the chatbot in the months leading up to his death.404 MediaSamantha ColeDadig is charged with 14 counts of interstate stalking, cyberstalking, and threats, and is in custody pending a detention hearing. He faces a minimum sentence of 12 months for each charge involving a PFA violation and a maximum total sentence of up to 70 years in prison, a fine of up to $3.5 million, or both, according to the DOJ.

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03953-1Planned megaconstellations would contaminate the view of the cosmos of four orbiting telescopes

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03729-7A stem-cell-based monkey embryo model that self-organizes into a comprehensive body plan could lead the way to more-sophisticated models of early human development.

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09762-wThe order in which driver mutations of colorectal cancer occur in intestinal epithelium can determine whether clones are positively or negatively selected and can shape subsequent tumour development.

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09812-3Whole-genome and transcriptome analysis of 1,364 cases of breast cancer from South Korea broadens our understanding of breast cancer biology and reveals genomic features that connect tumour biology with treatment responses and clinical outcomes.

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09746-wA generative artificial intelligence-powered method enables de novo design of highly active enzymes based on information about the geometry of residues in the active site, without requiring protein backbone or sequence information.

In publicizing the photos and videos, Democrats in Congress appeared to be intensifying pressure on the Justice Department to release its files on the Epstein case.

In a court filing, a lawyer for the onetime companion of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein said she would seek to be released from her minimum-security federal lockup.

Despite privacy risks and inaccuracy concerns, people are feeding blood test results, doctors notes and surgical reports into ChatGPT and the like.

In a sign of Chinas role in the city, officials have tried to stamp out calls for accountability over a catastrophe that killed at least 159 people.

William Hendrix wanted a life in politics. He found it, with the Young Republicans.

This furniture designers Mexico City live-and-work studio has good bones and tons of sunlight, thanks to huge windows, terrazzo floors, bold colors, playful shapes, and handmade textures. READ MORE...

Special counsel Jack Smith speaks to the media about an indictment of former President Donald Trump, Aug. 1, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)2025-12-03T18:40:11Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith for a closed-door interview later this month even though he had earlier volunteered to appear for an open hearing about his prosecutions of President Donald Trump.Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the committees Republican chairman, directed Smith in a letter dated Wednesday to appear for a private deposition on Dec. 17 as part of the panels investigations into the prosecutors work.Due to your service as Special Counsel, the Committee believes that you possess information that is vital to its oversight of this matter, Jordan wrote. He also asked Smith to produce records to the committee in addition to his testimony.A lawyer for Smith, Peter Koski, said in a statement that Smith had offered nearly six weeks ago to appear before the committee in an open hearing but would nonetheless appear as requested for the deposition. We are disappointed that offer was rejected, and that the American people will be denied the opportunity to hear directly from Jack on these topics, Koski said. Jack looks forward to meeting with the committee later this month to discuss his work and clarify the various misconceptions about his investigation. Smith was appointed in 2022 to oversee the Justice Department investigations into Trumps efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss and his hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Smiths team filed charges in both investigations. Smith abandoned the cases after Trump was elected to the White House again last year, citing Justice Department legal opinions that prohibit the indictment of a sitting president.Republicans who control Congress have sought interviews with members of Smiths team and in recent weeks have seized on revelations that the team, as part of its investigation, had analyzed the phone records of select GOP lawmakers from on and around Jan. 6, 2021, when pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to halt the certification of the Republican presidents election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Smiths legal team has noted that the records that investigators obtained did not include the contents of the conversations but instead merely captured incoming and outgoing call numbers, the times the calls were placed and how long they lasted.Mr. Smiths actions as Special Counsel were consistent with the decisions of a prosecutor who has devoted his career to following the facts and the law, without fear or favor and without regard for the political consequences, Smiths lawyers wrote to lawmakers in October. His investigative decisions were similarly motivated, and the subpoena for toll records was entirely proper, lawful, and consistent with established Department of Justice policy. While Mr. Smiths prosecutions of President Trump have predictably been politicized by others, politics never influenced his decision making, they added.___Follow the APs coverage of former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith at https://apnews.com/hub/jack-smith. ERIC TUCKER Tucker covers national security in Washington for The Associated Press, with a focus on the FBI and Justice Department. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09781-7Regional, place-based biodiversity information is used to comprehensively map and quantify biodiversity intactness of sub-Saharan Africa to inform national and global sustainability policies and planning.

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03968-8Astronomical images could be blemished by bright streaks, if plans for huge numbers of satellites go ahead plus, the damaging consequences of video call glitches.

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09831-0An optimized 3D culture system enabled a stem cell-derived monkey blastoid to develop to day 25, recapitulating key events of primate late gastrula and demonstrating notable similarity to natural embryos.

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09808-zAnalysis of eukaryotic gene sequences using a relaxed molecular clock methodology indicate that eukaryotes emerged 3.02.25 billion years ago as a result of mitochondrial endosymbiosis with complex archaea that already possessed an elaborated cytoskeleton, membrane trafficking, endomembrane, phagocytotic machinery and a nucleus.

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09810-5The balance between radial progenitors and intermediate precursors to generate upper-layer neurons during the development and evolution of the cerebral cortex is mediated by members of the tuberous sclerosis complex.

Jimmie Chris Duncan walked out of the Ouachita Parish Correctional Center and into the arms of his parents last week after spending the last 27 years on death row.Seven months ago, a Louisiana district court judge vacated his murder conviction for killing his former girlfriends toddler, citing doubts about the evidence used to convict him. The judge granted bail after multiple legal delays, including an unsuccessful request by prosecutors to the Louisiana Supreme Court to stop his release. Now free, Duncan spent Thanksgiving with his family then celebrated his 57th birthday the next day.We thank God for Jimmie coming home, Duncans stepmom, Sharon Duncan, said in an emailed statement on behalf of the family.But Duncans journey to freedom is far from over. Prosecutors have asked the state Supreme Court to reinstate his death sentence. Duncans attorneys declined to make him immediately available for an interview.The April decision by Judge Alvin Sharp to set aside Duncans conviction and death sentence came after a Verite News and ProPublica investigation examined the reliability of the key forensic evidence used to convict him. At the time, Duncan faced the possibility of being put to death as Gov. Jeff Landry, a staunch death penalty advocate, made moves to expedite executions after a 15-year pause.Sharp, of the 4th Judicial District in Ouachita Parish, found that Duncans conviction was based in part on bite mark evidence now considered by experts to be junk science. That original analysis came from forensic dentist Michael West and pathologist Dr. Steven Hayne, whose longtime partnership as state experts has been questioned following concerns about the validity of their techniques. West, who did not respond to previous requests for comment, admitted in a 2011 deposition in another case that he no longer believed in bite mark analysis. Hayne died in 2020.Over the past 27 years, nine prisoners have been set free after being convicted in part on inaccurate evidence given by West and Hayne. Three of those men were on death row. Duncan was the last person awaiting an execution based on the pairs work.Robert S. Tew, district attorney for Ouachita and Morehouse parishes, insisted in his appeal that the evidence prosecutors presented is sound, that Duncan raped and murdered 23-month-old Haley Oliveaux, and that he should be executed without delay. Tews office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Duncans release.Police arrested Duncan on Dec. 18, 1993. He was babysitting Haley that day in the home he shared with the girls mother in West Monroe. Duncan told law enforcement he had put the toddler in the bath before going downstairs to wash dishes. When he heard a noise coming from the bathroom, he rushed upstairs to check on her and found Haley floating face down in the water. She was pronounced dead a few hours later.Duncan was initially arrested for negligent homicide, until Hayne and West conducted Haleys medical exam and claimed they discovered evidence she had been sexually assaulted and intentionally drowned. Hayne said he found bite marks on the girls body, which West then examined, claiming to find that they were a match for Duncans teeth.Based in part on those findings, prosecutors upped the charge against Duncan to first-degree murder. After about two weeks of testimony in 1998, the jury found Duncan guilty and sentenced him to death. He would spend the next quarter-century in a cell on death row at Angola Prison.During that time, however, his attorneys with the Innocence Project in New York, the Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner firm in Atlanta, and the Mwalimu Center for Justice in New Orleans uncovered a trove of evidence that eventually led to his conviction being vacated in April.The most damning of that new evidence calls into question whether the bite marks Hayne said he found on Haleys body were manufactured. In a video of Wests 1993 examination of Haley, which was not shown to jurors at the trial, the dentist can be seen taking a mold of Duncans teeth and grinding it into the girls body. (West has previously said he was simply using what he called a direct comparison technique in which he presses a mold of a persons teeth directly onto the location of suspected bite marks.)In his ruling vacating Duncans conviction, Sharp said the work Hayne and West did on Duncans case was no longer valid and not scientifically defensible.Additional evidence that undermined Duncans conviction included testimony from an expert witness who said that the childs death was the result not of a homicide but of an accidental drowning. And investigators working for Duncans legal team spoke to a jailhouse informant who recanted his earlier trial testimony that Duncan confessed to the crime.Haleys mother, Allison Layton Statham, has come to support Duncans release, telling Mississippi Today in a July interview that she believes Duncan was falsely accused of a crime he didnt commit.As the higher court weighs the states appeal, Sharp, who had already ruled that Duncan was factually innocent of the crime, granted him bail on Nov. 21, setting it at $150,000. In his decision, Sharp said that the presumption is not great that Duncan is guilty and proof against him is not evident. The state fought the release but lost in court, setting the stage for Duncan to be freed the day before Thanksgiving.When Chris got out and I went to hug him, I was very emotional, said attorney Ann Ferebee, a member of Duncans legal team for the last decade who greeted him shortly after his release. I was kind of choked up, and he asked me, Are you doing OK?Really good to see you, is what I told him.Following his release, Duncan went to live with a family member in central Louisiana. Christian Bromley, another attorney of Duncans, said he expects oral arguments in the states appeal to take place before the state Supreme Court in early 2026. Should prosecutors lose that round, they could take the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, retry Duncan on the same charges or retry him a new set of charges, Bromley said.Or they could drop the charges altogether. But that seems unlikely, he said.Read MoreHe Was Convicted Based on Allegedly Fabricated Bite Mark Analysis. Louisiana Wants to Execute Him Anyway.We met Chris almost 10 years ago and have believed in his innocence, just like he has, that entire time, Bromley said. I think it is something that we always hoped for but knew that it was potentially an insurmountable feat to get there.Until this year, Louisiana had not carried out an execution since 2010 as it has been unable to procure the necessary drugs. But following Landrys election, the state approved the use of nitrogen gas, a controversial method allowed in only three other states.That led to the March 18 execution of Jesse Hoffman Jr. Saving Duncan from a similar fate has been the most rewarding experience of my career, said Ferebee, though she acknowledged that prosecutors are still pushing for the execution of Duncan. We are celebrating this victory, but we know that theres still more to come.The post A Death Row Inmate Was Released on Bail After His Conviction Was Overturned. Louisiana Still Wants to Execute Him. appeared first on ProPublica.

Theres no denying it. Its really December.

Republican candidates face the problem that President Trump alone gets out the vote that they need. And he alone gets out the vote that Democrats need, too.

The European Union has a proposal for how to turn Russian frozen assets into a giant loan for Ukraine. If it fails, it could further weaken Europes global image.

He is best known as a former Hollywood power broker, but Ovitz has filled his Beverly Hills home with a collection that shows how serious he is about art.

Manchester City's Erling Haaland during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Leeds United in Manchester, England, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)2025-12-03T18:12:41Z NEW YORK (AP) A record 64 nations will be in Fridays World Cup draw, more than 30% of FIFAs members, as soccers leaders insist a bigger tournament is better.FIFA expanded the field from 32 teams to 48, and just 42 spots have been determined going into the convoluted ceremony in which balls representing nations are plucked from bowls and assigned to groups per rules that restrict who goes where. Twenty-two teams in Fridays draw are headed to playoffs that determine the final six berths on March 31.There will be 104 games instead of 64 in the World Cup running from June 11 through July 19 at 16 venues throughout North America. Seventy-eight games will be at 11 NFL stadiums, including all from the quarterfinals on, and 13 each in Mexico and Canada. The final is at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where there will be a halftime show for the first time. In addition to 12 group winners and second-place nations, eight third-place teams advance to a new round of 32. The World Cup winner will play eight games.Ive always thought that what FIFA should do is do it like the Final Four and do 64 teams with no groups, just a knockout, said Alan Rothenberg, the head organizer of the 1994 World Cup in the U.S., comparing soccer with the NCAA basketball tournament.Led by captain Lionel Messi, who turns 39 during the tournament, Argentina seeks to become the first nation to win consecutive World Cups since Brazil in 1958 and 1962. Messi and Portugals 40-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo are expected to play in a record sixth World Cup. At least four countries have qualified for the first timeCape Verde (ranked No. 68), Curaao (82), Jordan (66) and Uzbekistan (50) have qualified for the first time and four playoff teams could become debutantes: Albania (63), Kosovo (80), New Caledonia (149) and Suriname (123).Curaao, an autonomous territory of about 156,000 people within the Netherlands kingdom, is the smallest nation by population to qualify,Haiti is in for the first time since 1974 and Austria, Norway and Scotland for the first time since 1998.Im a little bit worried, said former U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller, now an ESPN analyst. We talked about it when they expanded from 24 that it was going to leave some teams that got into the World Cup that werent quite at the level, and now expanding it to 48 I think youre looking at some teams that are going to really struggle.World Cup ticket prices are setting recordsFIFA has set record initial prices of up to $6,730 for a ticket along with as much as $175 for a parking place and $73,200 for a hospitality package up from $25 to $475 for the 1994 tournament in the U.S.Almost 2 million tickets among what is expected to be more than 6 million have been sold, the governing body said.Im not sure that FIFAs number one goal is to grow the sport in America, former U.S. goalkeeper Tony Meola said. I always hate that people miss out on this because they get priced out of it.Ticket holders who require visas to enter the U.S. have been promised priority appointment scheduling by the U.S. government. High temperatures could be an issue at some US venuesA key could be whether teams are drawn to play in open-air stadiums where summer heat could be a factor. Only four of the 11 U.S. World Cup venues have roofs, including one that isnt temperature controlled.At this years Club World Cup in the U.S., six games were delayed by weather for a total of 8 hours, 29 minutes.I will be interested when we find out the teams, as to who is playing in indoor climate-controlled venues more as opposed to outdoor, because I do think that there is a significant difference and obviously a potential competitive advantage, said former American defender Alexi Lalas, Foxs lead analyst.Kickoff times will be announced Saturday. The average noon temperature over the past 30 years in East Rutherford on July 19 is 84 degrees with a RealFeel index of 91, according to AccuWeather. Political elementThe 1994 World Cup draw in Las Vegas featured performances by Stevie Wonder, Barry Manilow, James Brown and Vanessa Williams plus comedian Robin Williams, who called the draw screen the worlds largest keno board and yelled Bingo! when Greece was pulled out of a bowl.This draw figures to be more akin to the December 2017 ceremony in Moscow, opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin.After negotiating to hold this months event in Las Vegas, FIFA placed it to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, taken over this year by President Donald Trump and his supporters. Trump, who mingled among Chelsea players on the awards stand after the Club World Cup final last summer, is expected to be at the draw along with Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney.Model Heidi Klum co-hosts Friday along with actors Kevin Hart and Danny Ramirez, and entertainment includes Tony Award and Olivier Award winner Nicole Scherzinger, Andrea Bocelli and Robbie Williams. The Village People will perform Trump favorite Y.M.C.A. and FIFA will award its own peace prize, likely to Trump.___AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)2025-12-03T18:48:07Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Pentagons watchdog found that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put U.S. personnel and their mission at risk when he used the Signal messaging app to convey sensitive information about a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen, two people familiar with the findings said Wednesday.Hegseth, however, has the ability to declassify material and the report did not find he did so improperly, according to one of the people familiar with the reports findings who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the information. CNN first reported the initial findings. From APs Standards and Stylebook teams: The AP is using anonymous sourcing to provide information for this story. Click here to hear Washington Bureau Chief Anna Johnson explain APs policy on the use of anonymous sources. The review by the Pentagon inspector generals office was delivered to lawmakers, who were able to review the report in a classified facility at the Capitol. A partially redacted version of the report was expected to be released publicly later this week. The findings ramp up the pressure on the former Fox News Channel host after lawmakers had called for the independent inquiry into his use of the commercially available app. Lawmakers also just opened investigations into a news report that a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean Ocean in September killed survivors after Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill everybody. Hegseth defended the strike as emerging in the fog of war, saying he didnt see any survivors but also didnt stick around for the rest of the mission and that the admiral in charge made the right call in ordering the second strike. He also did not admit fault following the revelations that he discussed sensitive military plans on Signal, asserting that the information was unclassified. Journalist was added to a chat where sensitive plans were sharedIn at least two separate Signal chats, Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop before the men and women carrying out those attacks on behalf of the United States were airborne.Hegseths use of the app came to light when a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, was inadvertently added to a Signal text chain by then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. It included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and others, brought together to discuss March 15 military operations against the Iran-backed Houthis.Hegseth had created another Signal chat with 13 people that included his wife and brother where he shared similar details of the same strike, The Associated Press reported. Signal is encrypted but is not authorized for carrying classified information and is not part of the Defense Departments secure communications network. Hegseth has said none of the information shared in the chats was classified. Multiple current and former military officials told the AP there was no way details with that specificity, especially before a strike took place, would have been OK to share on an unsecured device. Lawmakers had called for inspector general to investigateThe revelations sparked intense scrutiny, with Democratic lawmakers and a small number of Republicans saying Hegseth posting the information to the Signal chats before the military jets had reached their targets potentially put those pilots lives at risk. They said lower-ranking members of the military would have been fired for such a lapse. The inspector general opened its investigation into Hegseth at the request of the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, and the committees top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island.Some veterans and military families also raised concerns, citing the strict security protocols they must follow to protect sensitive information. It all ties back to the campaign against Yemens HouthisThe Houthi rebels had started launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in late 2023 in what their leadership had described as an effort to end Israels offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Their campaign greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually.The U.S.-led campaign against the Houthis in 2024 turned into the most intense running sea battle the Navy had faced since World War II. A ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war had begun in January before falling apart in March. The U.S. then launched a broad assault against the Houthis that ended weeks later when Trump said they pledged to stop attacking ships. The latest Gaza ceasefire began in October.Following the disclosure of Hegseths Signal chat that included the Atlantics editor, the magazine released the entire thread in late March. Hegseth had posted multiple details about an impending strike, using military language and laying out when a strike window starts, where a target terrorist was located, the time elements around the attack and when various weapons and aircraft would be used in the strike. He mentioned that the U.S. was currently clean on operational security. Hegseth told Fox News Channel in April that what he shared over Signal was informal, unclassified coordinations, for media coordinations and other things. During a congressional hearing in June, Hegseth was pressed multiple times by lawmakers over whether he shared classified information and if he should face accountability if he did.Rep. Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat and Marine veteran, asked Hegseth whether he would hold himself accountable if the inspector general found that he placed classified information on Signal.Hegseth would not directly say, only noting that he serves at the pleasure of the president.___Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed to this report.

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03960-2Technology could offer longer protection against allergies than is possible with existing treatments.

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09794-2Microflora Danicaan atlas of Danish environmental microbiomesreveals that although human-disturbed habitats have high alpha diversity, species reoccur, revealing hidden homogeneity.

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09711-7The CMS Collaboration reports the measurement of the spin, parity, and charge conjugation properties of all-charm tetraquarks, exotic fleeting particles formed in protonproton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider.

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09759-5Rapidly growing satellite constellations pose a substantial threat to astronomical observations, with projections indicating that future space telescopes will have more than 96% of their exposures affected by satellite trails, necessitating urgent mitigation strategies.

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09747-9A hybrid machine learning and atomistic modelling strategy enables one-shot design of efficient enzymes to catalyse diverse biological and non-biological chemical transformations.

Dont worry, its OK.

Jewish Currents is fighting the good fight.

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Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09804-3Higher-income neighbourhoods rebuild and improve after disasters while lower-income areas do not return to pre-disaster conditions.

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09823-0Glitches in video calls can have a negative effect on the judgement of the people involved and correspond to worse outcomes in major areas of life such as job interviews and parole hearings.

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03725-xLight reflected from satellites pollutes the images taken by telescopes orbiting Earth, as well as those on the ground. Without mitigations, this will only get worse.

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09757-7Data obtained from the MicroBooNE liquid-argon time projection chamber are used to exclude the single light sterile neutrino interpretation of the LSND and MiniBooNE anomalies at the 95% confidence level.

Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09809-yRather than adapting to the codon usage of their host, viruses use viral 5 untranslated regions to initiate translation, which allows them to produce viral proteins in host cells efficiently despite poor codon usage profiles.

The billionaire real estate developers relationship with Mr. Epstein is in the spotlight, with the release of emails and images of Mr. Epsteins private home in the Caribbean.

The president has warned that the United States could soon expand its attacks from boats near the coast to targets inside Venezuela, but he has also spoken by phone to its leader.

Dignitas has helped more than 3,000 people take their own lives, an act that Mr. Minelli maintained was a fundamental exercise of free will.

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Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03591-7Evidence of a particle made up of four tightly bound quarks tests physicists understanding of the force that holds protons and neutrons together.