A woman is suing former Lakers player and coach Byron Scott, accusing him of sexually assaulting her in 1987, when he was 26 and she was 15.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has hit back at Arsene Wenger's suggestion that the winner of the Europa League should not automatically qualify for the Champions League.

Steph Curry's hamstring strain is a big blow, but the Warriors' addition of Butler gives them a fighting chance.

Mrs. Trump has spent fewer than 14 days at the White House since her husband was inaugurated 108 days ago.

As 133 cardinals were sequestered in the Sistine Chapel where they would vote for a new leader of the Catholic Church, the faithful and the curious gathered in St. Peters Square.

The former Memphis officers were acquitted of all charges, including second-degree murder, in the beating death of Mr. Nichols.

A new study did not prove that the foods caused the disease, but experts said it was a step toward understanding how food choices affect brain health.

Indias actions came in response to a deadly terror attack two weeks ago in Kashmir, a territory that it has long fought over with Pakistan.

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Nature, Published online: 07 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01374-8A 20-year field study of the African superb starling (Lamprotornis superbus) found striking evidence that birds often switch breeding roles from year to year by taking turns as breeders or each others helpers. This reciprocal assistance was not explained by genetic relatedness (kinship) and required decades of observation to be detected.

Nature, Published online: 07 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08900-8Model simulations show that the observed trends in the seasonal amplitude of methane can be attributed to changes in emissions and the atmospheric sink from reaction with the hydroxyl radical.

Nature, Published online: 07 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08971-7A technique called condense-seq has been developed to measure nucleosome condensability and used to show that mononucleosomes contain sufficient information to condense into large-scale compartments without requiring any external factors.

Nature, Published online: 07 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01408-13D structure of the tongues sweet-sensing protein could guide future food designs.

Nature, Published online: 07 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08863-wIntroducing spinorbit coupling by substrate proximity effect leads to an enhancement of superconducting phases in rhombohedral trilayer graphene.

Former Utah quarterback Cameron Rising announced Wednesday on social media that he's retiring from football because of an injury to his throwing hand.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said his team submitted clips to the league office that showed what he believes was egregious contact made against center Rudy Gobert in Minnesota's 99-88 Game 1 loss.

Paris Saint-Germain weathered an early Arsenal storm before goals by Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi sealed a 2-1 victory to send them into the Champions League final on Wednesday.

by Annie Waldman ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. For more than two months, the Trump administration has been subject to a federal court order stopping it from cutting funding related to gender identity and the provision of gender-affirming care in response to President Donald Trumps executive orders. Lawyers for the federal government have repeatedly claimed in court filings that the administration has been complying with the order.But new whistleblower records submitted in a lawsuit led by the Washington state attorney general appear to contradict the claim.Nearly two weeks after the courts preliminary injunction was issued, the National Institutes of Healths then-acting head, Dr. Matthew J. Memoli, drafted a memo that details how the agency, in response to Trumps executive orders, cut funding for research grants that promote or inculcate gender ideology. An internal spreadsheet of terminated NIH grants also references gender ideology and lists the number associated with Trumps executive order as the reason for the termination of more than a half dozen research grants.The Washington attorney generals allegation that the Trump administration violated a court order comes as the country lurches toward a constitutional crisis amid accusations that the executive branch has defied or ignored court orders in several other cases. In the most high-profile case so far, the administration has yet to comply with a federal judges order, upheld unanimously by the Supreme Court, requiring it to facilitate the return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March.The records filed in the NIH-related lawsuit last week also reveal for the first time the enormous scope of the administrations changes to the agency, which has been subject to massive layoffs and research cuts to align it with the presidents political priorities. Other documents filed in the case raise questions concerning a key claim the administration has made about how it is restructuring federal agencies that the Department of Government Efficiency has limited authority, acting mostly as an advisory body that consults on what to cut. However, in depositions filed in the case last week, two NIH officials testified that DOGE itself gave directions in hundreds of grant terminations.The lawsuit offers an unprecedented view into the termination of more than 600 grants at the NIH over the past two months. Many of the canceled grants appear to have focused on subjects that the administration claims are unscientific or that the agency should no longer focus on under new priorities, such as gender identity, vaccine hesitancy and diversity, equity and inclusion. Grants related to research in China have also been cut, and climate change projects are under scrutiny.Andrew G. Nixon, the director of communications for the Department of Health and Human Services, the NIHs parent agency, told ProPublica in an email that the grant terminations directly followed the presidents executive orders and that the NIHs actions were based on policy and scientific priorities, not political interference. The cuts are essential to refocus NIH on key public health priorities, like the chronic disease epidemic, he said. Nixon also told ProPublica that its questions related to the lawsuit solely fit a partisan narrative; he did not respond to specific questions about the preliminary injunction, the administrations compliance with the order or the involvement of DOGE in the grant termination process. The White House did not respond to ProPublicas questions.Mike Faulk, the deputy communications director for the Washington state attorney generals office, told ProPublica in an email that the administration appears to have used DOGE in this instance to keep career NIH officials in the dark about what was happening and why. While claiming to be transparent, DOGE has actively hidden its activities and its true motivations, he said. Our office will use every tool we have to uncover the truth about why these grants were terminated.Since Trump took office in January, the administration has provided limited insight into why it chose to terminate scientific and medical grants. That decision-making process has been largely opaque, until now. Washington Fights to Overturn Grant TerminationIn February, Washington state joined by Minnesota, Oregon, Colorado and three physicians sued the administration after it threatened to enforce its executive orders by withholding federal research grants from institutions that provided gender-affirming services or promoted gender ideology. Within weeks, a federal judge issued an injunction limiting the administration from fully enforcing the orders in the four states that are party to the suit.The same day as the injunction, however, the NIH terminated a research grant to Seattle Childrens Hospital to develop and study an online education tool designed to reduce the risk of violence, mental health disorders and sexually transmitted infections among transgender youth, according to records filed in the court case. The NIH stated that it was the agencys policy not to prioritize such studies on gender identity.Research programs based on gender identity are often unscientific, have little identifiable return on investment, and do nothing to enhance the health of many Americans, the notice stated, without citing any scientific evidence for its claims. The NIH sent another notice reiterating the termination four days later.The Washington attorney generals office requested the termination be withdrawn, citing the injunction. But the administration refused, claiming that it was in compliance as the termination was based on NIHs own authority and grant policy and was not enforcing any executive order. The Washington attorney general asked the judge to hold the administration in contempt for violating the injunction. While the request was denied, the court granted an expedited discovery process to better assess whether the administration had breached the injunction. That process would have required the administration to quickly turn over internal documents relating to the termination. In response, the administration reinstated the grant for Seattle Childrens Hospital and declared the discovery process moot, or no longer relevant. However, U.S. District Judge Lauren J. King, who was appointed by former President Joseph Biden, permitted it to continue.Whistleblower Documents Reveal Sweeping Changes at NIHIn recent months, whistleblowers have made the plaintiffs in the lawsuit aware of internal records that more closely connect the grant terminations to the administrations executive orders. In an internal spreadsheet of dozens of grants marked for cancellation at an NIH institute, the stated reason for termination for several was gender ideology (EA 14168), including the grant to Seattle Childrens Hospital. The rationale appears to reference Executive Order 14168, which banned using federal funds to promote gender ideology, again seeming to conflict with the administrations stance that the termination was not based on the executive orders. The termination dates of the grants, according to the spreadsheet, were after the injunction went into effect.Another internal document, which provides extraordinary insight into the administrations efforts to reshape the NIH, also states the executive order was the impetus for grant terminations. In the March 11 memo from Memoli, the NIH cataloged all actions that the agency had taken thus far to align with the presidents executive orders. In a section detailing the steps taken to implement the gender ideology executive order, one of the 44 actions listed was the termination of active grants.NIH is currently reviewing all active grants and supplements to determine if they promote gender ideology and will take action as appropriate, the memo stated, noting that the process was in progress.While the administration has said in court filings that it is following the judges injunction order, the Washington state attorney generals office told ProPublica that it disagreed.Their claim to have complied with the preliminary injunction is almost laughable, said Faulk, the offices deputy communications director. The Trump administration is playing games with no apparent respect for the rule of law.Depositions Reveal DOGE LinksIn depositions conducted last month as part of the lawsuit, the testimony of two NIH officials also raised questions about why the research grants were terminated and how DOGE was involved. Liza Bundesen, who was the deputy director of the agencys extramural research office, testified that she first learned of the grant terminations on Feb. 28 from a DOGE team member, Rachel Riley. Bundesen said she was invited into a Microsoft Teams video call, where Riley introduced herself as being part of DOGE and working with the Department of Health and Human Services.Riley, a former consultant for McKinsey & Co., joined HHS on Jan. 27, according to court filings in a separate lawsuit, and has reportedly served as the DOGE point person at the NIH. The executive order detailing DOGEs responsibilities describes the cost-cutting team as advisers that consult agency heads on the termination of contracts and grants. No language in the orders gives the DOGE team members the authority to direct the cancellation of grants or contracts. However, the depositions portray Riley as giving directions on how to conduct the terminations.She informed me that a number of grants will need to be terminated, Bundesen testified, adding that she was told that they needed to be terminated by the end of the day. I did not ask what, you know, what grants because I just literally was a little bit confused and caught off guard.Bundesen said she then received an email from Memoli, the NIH acting director, with a spreadsheet listing the grants that needed to be canceled and a template letter for notifying researchers of the terminations. The template had boilerplate language that could then be modified for the different circumstances, the different buckets of grants that were to be terminated, she said. The categories were DEI, research in China and transgender or gender ideology.Bundesen forwarded the email with the spreadsheet to Michelle Bulls, who directs the agencys Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration. Bundesen resigned from the NIH a week later, on March 7, citing untenable working conditions.I was given directives to implement with very short turnaround times, often close of business or maybe within the next hour, she testified. I was not offered the opportunity to provide feedback or really ask for clarification.Bulls confirmed in her own deposition that the termination list and letter template originally came from Riley. When Bulls started receiving the lists, she said she did what she was told. I just followed the directive, she said. The language in the letters were provided so I didnt question.Bulls said she didnt write any of the letters herself and just signed her name to them. She also said she was not aware whether anyone had assessed the grants scientific merit or whether they met agency criteria. The grant terminations related to gender identity did not stem from an independent agency policy, she testified, appearing to contradict the administrations assertion that they were based on the agencys own authority and grant policy. As of April 3, Bulls said she had received more than five lists of grants that needed to be terminated, amounting to somewhere between five hundred and a thousand grants. Most grant recipients endure a rigorous vetting process, which can involve multiple stages of peer review before approval, and before this year, Bulls testified that grant terminations at the NIH have historically been rare. There are generally two main types of terminations, she said, for noncompliance or based on mutual agreement. Bulls said that she has been generally involved in noncompliance discussions and since she became the director of the office in 2012, there had been fewer than five such terminations.In addition to the termination letters, Bulls said she relied on the template language provided by Riley to draft guidance to inform the 27 centers and institutes at the NIH what the agencys new priorities were to help them scrutinize their own research portfolios. Following the depositions, the Washington state attorney generals office said that the federal government has refused to respond to its discovery requests. It has filed a motion to compel the government to respond, which is pending.Riley, Bundesen, Bulls and Memoli did not reply to ProPublicas requests for comment.While the administration did not answer ProPublicas questions about DOGE and its involvement in the grant terminations, last week in its budget blueprint, it generally justified its proposed cuts at the NIH with claims that the agency had wasteful spending, conducted risky research and promoted dangerous ideologies that undermine public health.NIH has grown too big and unfocused, the White House claimed in its fiscal plan, adding that the agencys research should align with the Presidents priorities to address chronic disease and other epidemics, implementing all executive orders and eliminating research on climate change, radical gender ideology, and divisive racialism.Jeremy Berg, who led the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the NIH from 2003 to 2011, told ProPublica that the administrations assessment of the institution was not fair and not based on any substantial analysis or evidence, and the proposed cuts would be absolutely devastating to NIH and to biomedical research in the United States.It is profoundly distressing to see this great institution being reduced to a lawless, politicized organization without much focus on its actual mission, he said.

by Kavitha Surana, Lizzie Presser and Andrea Suozzo ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. Nearly four years ago in Texas, the states new abortion law started getting in the way of basic miscarriage care: As women waited in hospitals cramping, fluid running down their legs, doctors told them they couldnt empty their uterus to guard against deadly complications. The state banned most abortions, even in pregnancies that were no longer viable; then, it added criminal penalties, threatening to imprison doctors for life and punish hospitals. The law had one exception, for a life-threatening emergency. Heeding the advice of hospital lawyers, many doctors withheld treatment until they could document patients were in peril. They sent tests to labs, praying for signs of infection, and watched as women lost so much blood that they needed transfusions.You would see the pain in peoples eyes, one doctor said of her patients.Not every hospital tolerated this new normal, ProPublica found. A seismic split emerged in how medical institutions in the states two largest metro areas treated miscarrying patients and in how these women fared. Leaders of influential hospitals in Dallas empowered doctors to intervene before patients conditions worsened, allowing them to induce deliveries or perform procedures to empty the uterus.In Houston, most did not. The result, according to a first-of-its-kind ProPublica analysis of state hospital discharge data, is that while the rates of dangerous infections spiked across Texas after it banned abortion in 2021, women in Houston were far more likely to get gravely ill than those in Dallas.As ProPublica reported earlier this year, the statewide rate of sepsis a life-threatening reaction to infection shot up more than 50% for women hospitalized when they lost a second-trimester pregnancy. A new analysis zooms in: In the region surrounding Dallas-Fort Worth, it rose 29%. In the Houston area, it surged 63%. After Texas Banned Abortion, the Sepsis Rate Spiked in Houston, but not Dallas Note: For hospitalizations at facilities in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth perinatal care regions involving a pregnancy loss between 13 weeks gestation and the end of the 21st week. Rates are annual. (Lucas Waldron/ProPublica) ProPublica has documented widespread differences in how hospitals across the country have translated abortion bans into policy. Some have supported doctors in treating active miscarriages and high-risk cases with procedures technically considered abortions; others have forbidden physicians from doing so, or left them on their own to decide, with no legal backing in case of arrest.This marks the first analysis in the wake of abortion bans that connects disparities in hospital policies to patient outcomes. It shows that when a state law is unclear and punitive, how an institution interprets it can make all the difference for patients. Yet the public has no way to know which hospitals or doctors will offer options during miscarriages. Hospitals in states where abortion is banned have been largely unwilling to disclose their protocols for handling common complications. When ProPublica asked, most in Texas declined to say.ProPublicas Texas reporting is based on interviews with 22 doctors in both the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth metro areas who had insight into policies at 10 institutions covering more than 75% of the births and pregnancy-loss hospitalizations in those areas.The findings come as evidence of the fatal consequences of abortion bans continue to mount, with a new report just last month showing that the risk of maternal mortality is nearly twice as high for women living in states that ban abortion. Last year, ProPublica documented five preventable maternal deaths, including three in Texas. One second-trimester pregnancy complication that threatens patients lives is previable premature rupture of membranes, called PPROM, when a womans water breaks before the fetus can live on its own. Without amniotic fluid, the likelihood of the fetus surviving is low. But with every passing hour that a patient waits for treatment or for labor to start, the risk of sepsis increases. The Texas Supreme Court has said that doctors can legally provide abortions in PPROM cases, even when an emergency is not imminent. Yet legal departments at many major Houston hospitals still advise physicians not to perform abortions in these cases, doctors there told ProPublica, until they can document serious infection.Dr. John Thoppil, the immediate past president of the Texas Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said he was blown away by this finding. He said its time for hospitals to stop worrying about hypothetical legal consequences of the ban and start worrying more about the real threats to patients lives.I think youre risking legal harm the opposite way for not intervening, he said, and putting somebody at risk. We Have Your BackIn the summer of 2021, Dr. Robyn Horsager-Boehrer, a Dallas specialist in high-risk pregnancy, listened as hospital lawyers explained to a group of UT Southwestern Medical Center doctors that they would no longer be able to act on their clinical judgment. Dr. Robyn Horsager-Boehrer, a retired maternal-fetal medicine specialist in Dallas (Lexi Parra for ProPublica) For decades, these UT Southwestern physicians had followed the guidance of major medical organizations: They offered patients with PPROM the option to end the pregnancy to protect against serious infection. But under the states new abortion ban, they would no longer be allowed to do so while practicing at the countys safety net hospital, Parkland Memorial, which delivers more babies than almost any other in the country. Nor would they be permitted at UT Southwesterns William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital.Lawyers from the two hospitals explained in a meeting that the laws only exception was for a medical emergency but it wasnt clear how the courts would define that. With no precedent or guidance from the state, they advised the doctors that they should offer to intervene only if they could document severe infection or bleeding signs of a life-threatening condition, Horsager-Boehrer recalled. They would need to notify the state every time they terminated a pregnancy. ProPublica also spoke with six of Horsager-Boehrers colleagues who described similar meetings. As the new policy kicked in, the doctors worried the lawyers didnt understand how fast sepsis could develop and how difficult it could be to control. Many patients with PPROM can appear stable even while an infection is taking hold. During excruciating waits, Dr. Austin Dennard said she would tell patients at Clements, We need something to be abnormal so that we can offer you all of the options that someone in New York would have. Then she would return to the physicians lounge, lay down her head and cry. Dr. Austin Dennard, an OB-GYN in Dallas (Lexi Parra for ProPublica) Their only hope, the doctors felt, was to collect data and build a case that the hospitals policy needed to change. Within eight months, 28 women with severe pregnancy complications before fetal viability had come through the doors of Parkland and Clements. Twenty-six of them were cases in which the patients water broke early. Analyzing the medical charts, a group of researchers led by Dr. Anjali Nambiar, a UT Southwestern OB-GYN, found that a dozen women experienced complications including hemorrhage and infection. Only one baby survived. The research team compared the results with another study in which patients were offered pregnancy terminations. They found that of patients who followed the watch and wait protocol, more than half experienced serious complications, compared with 33% who immediately terminated their pregnancies. Armed with the research, the doctors, including Horsager-Boehrer, returned to the lawyers for the two hospitals. Everyone agreed the data demanded action. Alongside physicians, the lawyers helped develop language that doctors could include in medical charts to explain why they terminated a pregnancy due to a PPROM diagnosis, Dennard said. At Parkland, the new protocol required doctors to get signoff from one additional physician, attach the study as proof of the risk of serious bodily harm part of the medical emergency definition in the law and notify hospital leaders. At Clements, doctors also needed to get CEO approval to end a pregnancy, which could create delays if patients came in on a weekend, doctors said. But it was vastly better than the alternative, Dennard said. The message from the lawyers, she said, was: We have your back. We are going to take care of you. A spokesperson for UT Southwestern said no internal protocols delay care or otherwise compromise patient safety. A spokesperson for Parkland said that physicians are empowered to document care as they deem appropriate and that hospital attorneys had helped review and translate the doctors proposed language to make sure it followed the law. Parkland and UT Southwestern are not the only ones providing this care in Dallas. ProPublica spoke with doctors who have privileges at hospitals that oversee 60% of births and pregnancy loss hospitalizations in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, including Baylor Scott & White and Texas Health Resources. They said that their institutions support offering terminations to patients with high-risk second-trimester pregnancy complications like PPROM. At Baylor Scott & White, doctors said, the leadership always stood by this interpretation of the law. (When asked, a spokesperson said miscarrying patients are counseled on surgical options, and that its hospitals follow state and federal laws. Our policies are developed to comply with those laws, and we educate our teams on those policies.) Texas Health and other hospitals in the region did not respond to requests for comment. While efforts to be proactive have meant more patients are able to receive the standard of care in Dallas, that is still not the case at every medical campus in the region. Doctors at Parkland said they have seen patients come to them after they were turned away from hospitals nearby. In other parts of the state, however, its been impossible to know where to turn.No Interventions Can Be PerformedIn Houston, one of Americas most prestigious medical hubs, Dr. Judy Levison mounted her own campaign. The veteran OB-GYN at Baylor College of Medicine wanted hospital leaders to support intervening in high-risk complications in line with widely accepted medical standards. In 2022, she emailed her department chair, Dr. Michael Belfort, who is also the OB-GYN-in-chief at Texas Childrens. She told him colleagues had shared feelings of helplessness, moral distress and increasing concerns about the safety of our patients. Dr. Judy Levison, a retired OB-GYN, at her home in Denver (Rachel Woolf for ProPublica) They needed training on how to protect patients within the bounds of the law, she said, and language they could include in charts to justify medically necessary abortions. But in a meeting, Belfort told her he couldnt make these changes, Levison recalled. He said that if he supported abortions in medically complicated cases like PPROM, the hospital could lose tens of millions of dollars from the state, she told ProPublica. I came to realize that he was in a really difficult place because he risked losing funding for our residency program if Baylor and Texas Childrens didn't interpret the law the way they thought the governor did. She wondered if he was deferring to hospital lawyers.Belfort did not respond to requests for comment about his stance. Nor did Baylor or Texas Childrens. Although Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has threatened hospitals with civil action if they allow a doctor to perform what he views as an unlawful abortion, he hasnt filed any such actions. And in the years since the ban, there have been no reports of the state pulling funding from a hospital on account of its abortion policy.A spokesperson at only one major Houston hospital chain, Houston Methodist, said that it considered PPROM a medical emergency and supported terminations for the health and safety of the patient. Five other major hospital groups that, together, provide the vast majority of maternal care in the Houston region either continue to advise doctors not to offer pregnancy terminations for PPROM cases or leave it up to the physicians to decide, with no promise of legal support if theyre charged with a crime. This is according to interviews with a dozen doctors about the policies at HCA, Texas Childrens, Memorial Hermann, Harris Health and The University of Texas Medical Branch. Together, they account for about 8 in 10 hospitalizations in the region for births or pregnancy loss. Most of the doctors spoke with ProPublica on the condition of anonymity, as they feared retaliation for violating what some described as a hospital gag order against discussing abortion. In a sign of how secretive this decision-making has become, most said their hospitals had not written down these new policies, only communicated them orally. Several doctors told ProPublica that Dr. Sean Blackwell, chair of the obstetrics and gynecology department at Houstons University of Texas Health Science Center, which staffs Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital and Memorial Hermann hospitals, had conveyed a message similar to Belforts: He wasnt sure he would be able to defend providers if they intervened in these cases. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment, and his institution, UTHealth Houston, declined to comment. ProPublica reached out to officials at all five hospital groups, asking if they offer terminations at the point of a PPROM diagnosis. Only one responded. Bryan McLeod at Harris Health pointed to the hospital systems written policy, which ProPublica reviewed, stating that an emergency doesnt need to be imminent for a doctor to intervene. But McLeod did not respond to follow-up questions asking if patients with PPROM are offered pregnancy terminations if they show no signs of infection and several doctors familiar with the chains practices said they are not. The state Senate unanimously passed a bill last week to clarify that doctors can terminate pregnancies if a woman faces a risk of death that is not imminent. ProPublica asked the hospitals if they would change their policies on PPROM if this is signed into law. They did not respond. Last fall, ProPublica reported that Josseli Barnica died in Houston after her doctors did not evacuate her uterus for 40 hours during an inevitable miscarriage, waiting until the fetal heartbeat stopped. Two days later, sepsis killed her. Barnica was treated at HCA, the nations largest for-profit hospital chain, which did not respond to a detailed list of questions about her care. With 70% of its campuses in states where abortion is restricted, the company leaves the decision of whether to take the legal risk up to the physicians, without the explicit legal support provided in Dallas, according to a written policy viewed by ProPublica and interviews with doctors. A spokesperson for the chain said doctors with privileges at its hospitals are expected to exercise their independent medical judgment within applicable laws and regulations. As a result, patients with potentially life-threatening conditions have no way of knowing which HCA doctors will treat them and which wont. Brooklyn Leonard, a 29-year-old esthetician eager for her first child, learned this in February. She was 14 weeks pregnant when her water broke. At HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood, her doctor Arielle Lofton wrote in her chart, No interventions can be performed at this time legally because her fetus has a heartbeat. The doctor added that she could only intervene when there was concern for maternal mortality. Leonard and her husband had trouble getting answers about whether she was miscarrying, she said. I could feel that they were not going to do anything for me there. Lofton and HCA did not respond to a request for comment. Brooklyn Leonard was diagnosed with PPROM when she was 14 weeks pregnant in Houston. It took her five days to get care. (Lexi Parra for ProPublica) It was only after visits to three Houston hospitals over five days that Leonard was able to get a dilation and evacuation to empty her uterus. A doctor at Texas Childrens referred her to Dr. Damla Karsan, who works in private practice and is known for her part in an unsuccessful lawsuit against the state seeking permission to allow an abortion for a woman whose fetus was diagnosed with a fatal anomaly. Karsan felt there was no question PPROM cases fell under the laws exception. She performed the procedure at The Womans Hospital of Texas, another HCA hospital. Shes lucky she didnt get sick, Karsan said of Leonard. Dr. Damla Karsan, an OB-GYN in Houston (Lexi Parra for ProPublica) Many Houston doctors said they have continued to call on their leadership to change their stance to proactively support patients with PPROM, pointing to data analyses from Dallas hospitals and ProPublica and referring to the Texas Supreme Court ruling. It hasnt worked. Houston hospitals havent taken action even in light of alarming research in their own city. Earlier this year, UTHealth Houston medical staff, including department chair Blackwell, revealed early findings from a study very similar to the one out of Dallas. It showed what happened after patients at three partner hospitals stopped being offered terminations for PPROM under the ban: The rate of sepsis tripled. Still, nothing changed. How We Measured Sepsis RatesTo examine second-trimester pregnancy loss outcomes in Houston and Dallas, we used a methodology we developed to determine sepsis rates in inpatient hospitalizations where a pregnancy ended between 13 weeks gestation and the end of the 21st week. To assess regional differences, we grouped hospitals by perinatal care region and focused on the two regions with the highest population: Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth.We grouped hospitalizations in the nine quarters after the implementation of the states six-week abortion ban (October 2021 through December 2023) and compared them with hospitalizations in the nine quarters immediately before. Each region had about 2,700 second-trimester pregnancy loss hospitalizations over the course of the time span we examined. Sophie Chou contributed data reporting, and Mariam Elba contributed research.

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The comments from Khawaja Muhammad Asif came after India said its forces had struck nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir in response to a terrorist attack last month.

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President Donald Trumps administration said that it is going to pay immigrants who are in the United States illegally and return to their home country voluntarily $1,000 as it pushes forward with its mass deportation agenda. What do you think?Id rather get that in a more stable currency, if possible.Calvin Sutton, Boat NamerWhen Donald Trump promises to pay you, you know hes telling the truth.Tyler Tsang, Lid TwisterAh, the ol Reverse Melania.Agnes Pierson, Kerchief KnotterThe post Trump Offers Undocumented Immigrants $1,000 To Leave Country appeared first on The Onion.

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Janette Nesheiwat arrives at the Fox Nation's Patriot Awards, Nov. 16, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)2025-05-07T20:32:00Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump is tapping Casey Means, a wellness influencer with close ties to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., as his nominee for surgeon general after withdrawing his initial pick for the influential health post.Trump said in a social media post Thursday that Means has impeccable MAHA credentials referring to the Make America Healthy Again slogan and that she will work to eradicate chronic disease and improve the health and well-being of Americans.Her academic achievements, together with her lifes work, are absolutely outstanding, Trump said. Dr. Casey Means has the potential to be one of the finest Surgeon Generals in United States History.In doing so, Trump withdrew former Fox News medical contributor Janette Nesheiwat for U.S. surgeon general, marking at least the second health-related pick from Trump to be pulled from Senate consideration. The withdrawal was confirmed by two people familiar with the matter. Nesheiwat had been scheduled to appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Thursday for her confirmation hearing. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm a decision not yet made public. Nesheiwat is a medical director for an urgent care company in New York and has appeared regularly on Fox News to offer medical expertise and insights. She is a vocal supporter of Trump and shares photos of them together on social media. Nesheiwat is also the sister-in-law of former national security adviser Mike Waltz, who has been nominated to be Trumps ambassador to the United Nations. But she has recently come under criticism from Laura Loomer, a far-right ally of Trump who was instrumental in ousting several members of the presidents National Security Council. Loomer posted on X earlier this week that we cant have a pro-COVID vaccine nepo appointee who is currently embroiled in a medical malpractice case and who didnt go to medical school in the US as the surgeon general. CBS News reported last week that Nesheiwat earned her medical degree from the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in St. Maarten, despite saying that she has a degree from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine.The surgeon general, considered the nations doctor, oversees 6,000 U.S. Public Health Service Corps members and can issue advisories that warn of public health threats.In March, the White House pulled from consideration the nomination of former Florida GOP Rep. Dave Weldon to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His skepticism on vaccines had raised concerns from key Republican senators, and he withdrew after being told by the White House that he did not have enough support to be confirmed.The withdrawal was first reported by Bloomberg News. SEUNG MIN KIM Kim covers the White House for The Associated Press. She joined the AP in 2022 and is based in Washington. twitter mailto

Janette Nesheiwat arrives at the Fox Nation's Patriot Awards, Nov. 16, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)2025-05-07T21:02:30Z WASHINGTON (AP) A federal judge on Wednesday found the Trump administration cant deport migrants to Libya unless they have a meaningful chance to challenge their removal in court.The order from U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts comes after attorneys said immigration authorities informed migrants of plans to deport them to Libya, a country with a history of human rights violations.Murphy previously found that any migrants deported to countries other than their homelands must first be allowed to argue that it would jeopardize their safety.He said that any allegedly imminent removals would clearly violate this Courts Order.

Nature, Published online: 07 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09082-zAuthor Correction: Matrix-producing neutrophils populate and shield the skin

Nature, Published online: 07 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08955-7Ancestral reconstruction together with molecular dating of the last Asgard archaea and eukaryote common ancestor suggest that eukaryotes arose from the fusion of a H2-consuming archaeal host and a H2-producing protomitochondrion.

Nature, Published online: 07 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08974-4Some cancer cells exhibit high loads of reactive iron in lysosomes, and this feature is exploited by using fentomycin-1, a newly developed small molecule, to induce ferroptosis.

Nature, Published online: 07 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08910-6This Review provides an overview of progress and future directions in the development of nasally administered vaccines for respiratory infections.

Nature, Published online: 07 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01380-wA report detailing how climate inaction will consign people born today to a lifetime of weather extremes must awaken a sense of responsibility.

The charitable tax deduction is distorting American philanthropy.

The president said on social media that he would nominate Dr. Casey Means, confirming that he had withdrawn the nomination of Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, his first pick, a former Fox News contributor.

As president, he helped persuade companies like Este Lauder and Ford to advertise in the pages of the first mass-circulation magazine directed at Black women.

A man was swept away by the flooding rains, the police said.

Trader Edward McCarthy, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)2025-05-08T03:24:16Z NEW YORK (AP) U.S. stocks are rising after President Donald Trump said he was set to announce an agreement on trade with the United Kingdom. Wall Street hopes more deals will follow and that theyll be enough to keep a recession at bay. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% in early trading Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 212 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.9% higher. Stocks have been swinging for weeks with hopes that Trump could reach deals with other countries that would lower his tariffs. A day earlier, the Federal Reserve chair warned that sustained tariffs could hurt the economy. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. APs earlier story follows below.Wall Street was on track to open with strong gains Thursday due to optimism over a pending U.S. trade deal with Great Britain.Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that a deal due to be announced at 10 a.m. eastern will be a full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come. Futures for the S&P 500 jumped 1.1%, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%. Big Tech and chip stocks pushed Nasdaq futures 1.5% higher. Shares in Europe were also markedly higher. Frances CAC 40 and Germanys DAX each jumped 1.1% by midday. Britains FTSE 100 added 0.3%. There is also hope that the United States and China may be making the first moves toward a trade deal. The announcement for high-level talks between U.S. and Chinese officials this weekend in Switzerland helped raise optimism. That was dimmed somewhat after Trump said that he wouldnt reduce his 145% tariffs on Chinese goods as a condition for negotiations. On Wednesday, as expected, the Federal Reserve left its main interest unchanged, saying that the risks of both higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen, an unusual combination that puts the central bank in a difficult spot. Chair Jerome Powell said that tariffs have dampened consumer and business sentiment but that data has not yet shown significant harm to the economy. The Fed kept its rate at 4.3% for the third straight meeting, after cutting it three times in a row at the end of last year. Trump has been lobbying for quicker cuts to juice the economy, but Powell underscored the uncertainty about Trumps tariffs and how and when they could impact the economy.Theres so much that we dont know, Powell said. For now, trade optimism is outweighing yesterdays Fed hawkishness and may help set the tone for the rest of the weekespecially with the U.S. and China preparing to meet in Geneva to discuss their unsustainable tariff situation, said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank. In Asian trading, Japans benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.4% to finish at 36,928.63. Australias S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2% to 8,191.70. South Koreas Kospi rose 0.2% to 2,579.48. Hong Kongs Hang Seng surged 0.4% to 22,775.92, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.3% to 3,352.00. In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude gained $1.01 to $59.08 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 93 cents to $62.05 a barrel.In currencies, the U.S. dollar rose to 144.75 Japanese yen from 143.76 yen. The euro cost $1.1294, down from $1.1317. YURI KAGEYAMA Kageyama covers Japan news for The Associated Press. Her topics include social issues, the environment, businesses, entertainment and technology. twitter instagram facebook mailto

Bill Gates speaks during the Global Fund's Seventh Replenishment Conference, Sept. 21, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)2025-05-08T12:03:43Z SEATTLE (AP) Bill Gates says he will donate 99% of his remaining tech fortune to the Gates Foundation, which will now close in 2045, earlier than previously planned. Today, that would be worth an estimated $107 billion. The pledge is among the largest philanthropic gifts ever outpacing the historic contributions of industrialists like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie when adjusted for inflation. Only Berkshire Hathaway investor Warren Buffetts pledge to donate his fortune currently estimated by Forbes at $160 billion may be larger depending on stock market fluctuations.Gates donation will be delivered over time and allow the foundation to spend an additional $200 billion over the next 20 years. Its kind of thrilling to have that much to be able to put into these causes, Gates said in an interview with The Associated Press. His announcement Thursday signals both a promise of sustained support to those causes, particularly global health and education in the U.S., and an eventual end to the foundations immense worldwide influence. Gates says spending down his fortune will help save and improve many lives now, which will have positive ripple effects well beyond the foundations closure. It also makes it more likely that his intentions are honored. I think 20 years is the right balance between giving as much as we can to make progress on these things and giving people a lot of notice that now this money will be gone, Gates said. Bill Gates speaks during the Global Funds Seventh Replenishment Conference, Sept. 21, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) Bill Gates speaks during the Global Funds Seventh Replenishment Conference, Sept. 21, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More In a league of its ownThe Gates Foundation has long been peerless among foundations attracting supporters and detractors but also numerous unfounded conspiracy theories. In addition to the $100 billion it has spent since its founding 25 years ago, it has directed scientific research, helped develop new technologies, and nurtured long-term partnerships with countries and companies.About 41% of the foundations money so far has come from Warren Buffett and the rest from the fortune Gates made at Microsoft. Started by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates in 2000, the foundation plays a significant role in shaping global health policy and has carved out a special niche by partnering with companies to drive down the cost of medical treatments so low- and middle-income countries could afford them. The foundation work has been way more impactful than I expected, Gates said, calling it his second and final career.The foundations influence on global health from the World Health Organization to research agendas is both a measure of its success and a magnet for criticism. For years, researchers have asked why a wealthy family should have so much sway over how the world improves peoples health and responds to crises.Gates said, like any private citizen, he can choose how to spend the money he earns and has decided to do everything he can to reduce childhood deaths. Is that a bad thing? Its not an important cause? People can criticize it, he said, but the foundation will stick to its global health work.The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce and statehouses from Melinda French Gates organization, Pivotal Ventures. Major ambitions for the remaining 20 yearsThe foundations most prized metric is the drop in childhood deaths from preventable causes by almost half between 2000 and 2020, according to United Nations figures. The foundations CEO Mark Suzman is careful to say they do not take credit for this accomplishment. But he believes they had a catalytic role for example, in helping deliver vaccines to children through Gavi, the vaccine alliance they helped create.The foundation still has numerous goals eradicating polio, controlling other deadly diseases, like malaria, and reducing malnutrition, which makes children more vulnerable to other illnesses.Gates hopes that by spending to address these issues now, wealthy donors will be free to tackle other problems later. The Gates Foundation had planned to wind down two decades after Gates death, meaning todays announcement significantly moves up that timetable. Gates plans to stay engaged, though at 69, he acknowledged he may not have a say. In its remaining two decades, the foundation will maintain a budget of around $9 billion a year, which represents a leveling off from its almost annual growth since 2006, when Buffett first started donating. Suzman expects the foundation will narrow its focus to top priorities. Having that time horizon and the resources just puts an even greater burden on us to say, Are you actually putting your resources, your thumb down, on what are going to be the biggest, most successful bets rather than scattering it too thinly? Suzman said, which he acknowledged was creating uncertainty even within the foundation about what programs would continue. Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Melinda French Gates smiles as she leaves June 23, 2023 the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, file) Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Melinda French Gates smiles as she leaves June 23, 2023 the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, file) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Gates is the only remaining founderMajor changes preceded the foundations 25th year. In 2021, Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates divorced, and Buffett resigned as the foundations trustee. They recruited a new board of trustees to help govern the foundation, and in 2024, French Gates left to continue work at her own organization. French Gates said she decided to step down partly to focus on countering the rollback of womens rights in the U.S. At the ELLE Women of Impact event in New York in April, she said she wanted to leave the foundation at a high point.I so trusted Mark Suzman, the current CEO, she said. We had a board in place that I helped put in place, and I knew their values. Even as the foundations governance stabilizes, the road ahead looks difficult. Enduring conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, global economic turmoil and cuts to foreign aid forecast fewer resources coming to global health and development.The greatest uncertainty for us is the generosity that will go into global health, Gates said. Will it continue to go down like it has the last few years or can we get it back to where it should be? Even facing these obstacles, Gates and the foundation speak, as they often do, with optimism, pointing to innovations theyve funded or ways theyve helped reduce the cost of care. Its incredible to come up with these low-cost things and tragic if we cant get them out to everyone who needs them, Gates said. So its going to require renewing that commitment of those who are well off to help those who are in the greatest need. More on the Gates Foundation announcementHow the Gates Foundation changed global health and philanthropy in its first 25 years.Bill Gates in his own words: Id love to be beat in all of this work. Somebody should try and pay more taxes than I did, and save more lives than I did, and give more money than I did, and be smarter than Ive been.Melinda French Gates in her own words: I like to think that right now, the foundations work is contributing to a child getting a vaccine or a woman opening her first bank account and that decades from now, their families and communities are going to continue to look different. ___Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy. THALIA BEATY Beaty reports on philanthropy for The Associated Press and is based in New York.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping arrive for their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May 8, 2025, ahead of celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Alexei Danichev/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP)2025-05-08T08:03:51Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Russia and Ukraine both reported attacks on their forces on the first day of a 72-hour ceasefire called by Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Ukraines parliament unanimously approved a landmark minerals deal with the U.S..The ratification is a key step in setting the deal in motion. It would allow Washington access to Ukraines largely untapped minerals, deepen strategic ties and create a joint investment fund with the U.S. for the reconstruction of Ukraine. Parliament approved the agreement with 338 members voting in favor out of the required 226 votes, Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak wrote on his Telegram account. No lawmaker voted against it or abstained.This document is not merely a legal construct, it is the foundation of a new model of interaction with a key strategic partner, Ukrainian Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko wrote on X. Russian bombs meanwhile struck northeast Ukraine in the opening hours of Moscows unilateral ceasefire, killing at least one civilian, Ukrainian officials said. Artillery assaults took place across the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, although with less intensity than in the previous 24 hours, officials said. The ceasefire coincides with Russias biggest secular holiday, the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. Kyiv has pressed for a longer-term ceasefire.Putin on Thursday welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Kremlin. Xi, who Putin earlier described as our main guest at Fridays Victory Day festivities, arrived in Russia on Wednesday for a four-day visit. Both sides list attacks since the Moscow-declared truceUkrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of violating its own ceasefire 734 times between midnight and midday Thursday. He called the ceasefire a farce on the social media platform X. He said Russia carried out 63 assault operations along the front line, 23 of which were still ongoing as of midday. Ukraine responds appropriately and is actively sharing information about the attacks with the U.S, the European Union and others. We will not let Putin fool anyone when he does not even keep his own word, Sybiha said. Russian attacks also took place near Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region on Thursday morning, a press officer of Ukraines 24th Mechanised Brigade, Oleh Petrasiuk, told The Associated Press via phone. One person died and two were wounded when Russian forces dropped guided air bombs on residential areas near the border in the northeast Sumy region, the regional prosecutors office said. Large-scale missile and drone attacks, which have been a near-daily occurrence in Ukraine in recent weeks, were not recorded since 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Ukraines air force said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously cast doubt on the ceasefire, calling it manipulation as U.S.-led peace efforts stalled. For some reason, everyone is supposed to wait until May 8 before ceasing fire just to provide Putin with silence for his parade, Zelenskyy said. In March, the United States proposed a 30-day truce in the war, which Ukraine accepted, but the Kremlin has held out for ceasefire terms more to its liking. Russias Defense Ministry meanwhile accused Ukrainian forces of attacking its positions and said its forces would continue to mirror Ukraines actions during the Kremlins ceasefire.The regions of Belgorod, Lipetsk, Orenburg, Ryazan and Tambov came under a drone threat alert overnight, but there were no reports of any drones being shot down or intercepted. Russias civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia also briefly imposed restrictions on flights to and from the airport in Nizhny Novgorod.Putin praises relations with Xi In welcoming Xi, Putin said that the brotherhood of arms between our peoples, which developed during the harsh war years, is one of the fundamental foundations of modern Russian-Chinese relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation. He added that Moscow and Beijing were developing ties for the benefit of the peoples of both countries and not against anyone.Xi, in turn, said that history and reality have fully proved that the continuous development and deepening of China-Russia relations is a necessity for the friendship between the two peoples from generation to generation. He also called for safeguarding international fairness and justice. Putin and Xi have met over 40 times and developed strong personal ties that bolstered the countries strategic partnership as both face tensions with the West.China has offered robust diplomatic support to Moscow after its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has emerged as a top market for Russian oil and gas, helping fill the Kremlins war coffers. Russia has relied on China as the main source of machinery and electronics to keep its military machine running after Western sanctions curtailed high-tech supplies.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., left, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., make statements to reporters ahead of vote in the House to pass a bill on President Donald Trump's top domestic priorities of spending reductions and tax breaks, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)2025-05-08T11:30:38Z WASHINGTON (AP) When it comes to Medicaid, Rep. Juan Ciscomani is telling fellow Republicans he wont support steep cuts that could hit thousands of residents in his Arizona district my neighbors, people my kids go to school with who depend on it.Republican Rep. Don Bacon, who represents the liberal-leaning blue dot of Omaha, Nebraska, is trying to protect several Biden-era green energy tax breaks. Hes warning colleagues that you cant pull the rug out from under businesses that have already sunk millions of dollars into renewable developments in Nebraska and beyond.And for Republican Rep. Nick LaLota of New York, its simple: No Salt. No Deal. For Real. He wants to revive and bump up whats known as the SALT deduction, which allows taxpayers to write off a portion of their state and local taxes. Capping the deduction at $10,000 hurt many of his Long Island constituents. Governing is a negotiation, right? said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York, another Republican who is also involved in the talks. I think everybody is going to have to give a little.As GOP leaders draft President Donald Trumps big, beautiful bill of some $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $1.5 trillion in spending cuts by Memorial Day, dozens of Republicans from contested congressional districts have positioned themselves at the center of the negotiating table. While its often the most conservative members of the House Freedom Caucus driving the legislative agenda and they are demanding as much as $2 trillion in cuts its the more centrist-leaning conservatives who could sink the bill. They have been hauled into meetings with Trump at the White House, some have journeyed to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, and many are huddling almost daily with House Speaker Mike Johnson. And they are not satisfied, yet.To get everybody politically and policy-wise on the same page is going to require more conversations, said LaLota, who is among five Republicans pledging to withhold their support unless changes to the SALT deduction are included. Republicans wrestle with what to put in and what to leave outDiving into the gritty details of the massive package, the GOP leaders are running into the stubborn reality that not all the ideas from their menu of potential tax breaks and spending cuts are popular with voters back home.Moreover, their work of compiling the big package is not happening in a vacuum. It comes amid growing economic unease rippling across the country as Trump has fired thousands of federal workers, including some of their own constituents, and as his trade war sparks concerns of empty store shelves and higher prices.Brendan Buck, a former adviser to an earlier House speaker, Paul Ryan, warned in an op-ed Wednesday that all the partys energy is being poured into one bill, with questionable returns. Many Republicans are hoping that the tax bill can blunt the economic damage caused by the Trump tariffs, Buck wrote in The New York Times, but that is highly unlikely.Democrats are ready for the fight, warning that Trump and his fellow Republicans are ripping away health care and driving the economy into the ditch all to retain tax breaks approved during Trumps first term that are expiring at years end. What we see from Donald Trump and the Republicans is they are actually crashing the economy in real time, said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.Why, the Democratic leader asked, are Republicans jumping through hoops to try to reduce Medicaid and food stamps used by millions of Americans? Its all in service of enacting massive tax breaks for their millionaire donors like Elon Musk, he said.GOP leaders search for consensus Johnson has projected a calm confidence, insisting that House Republicans are on track to deliver on Trumps agenda.The speakers office has become a waystation with a revolving door of Republicans privately laboring to piece together the massive package.So far, GOP leaders have signaled they are walking away from some, but not all, of the steep Medicaid cuts. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said the proposals could result in millions of people losing their coverage. Instead, what appears to still be on the table are tougher work requirements for those receiving Medicaid and food stamp assistance and more frequent eligibility tests for beneficiaries. Thats not enough for the conservatives, who also number in the dozens and are insisting on deeper reductions.Centrists drawing red linesCiscomani, in his second term, signed onto a letter with Bacon and others warning House Republican leadership he cannot support a bill that includes any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations.Our point is that we understand the need for reform, Ciscomani said. But anything that goes beyond that and starts jeopardizing rural hospitals in my district and their existence overall, then were running into an area where it will be very difficult to move forward. I think its very important they know that. Bacon, Ciscomani and others joined on a separate letter raising concerns about eliminating clean-energy tax credits, including those passed under President Joe Biden, a Democrat. Go with a scalpel. Go pick out some things, Bacon told The Associated Press. He and the others warned that companies are already investing millions of dollars from the Inflation Reduction Acts incentives to green energy.You just cant do a wholesale throw it out, Bacon said.Democrats track the vote with an eye on next years midtermsDemocrats are also applying political pressure in Ciscomanis district and beyond. As Republicans decline to hold town halls on the advice of their leaders, Democrats are stepping in to warn constituents about what could happen to programs they rely on for health coverage and to put food on the table.Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Cory Booker of New Jersey visited Ciscomanis Tucson-based district last month to offer harsh condemnations.Kelly asked how many in the room were represented by Ciscomani, and then he warned about how scores of residents in the district could lose their health care coverage.And for what? It is so Donald Trump could give a big, giant tax cut to the wealthiest Americans. It is not fair, Kelly said.Booker, fresh off his 25-hour speech on the Senate floor, was even more pointed, saying just three House Republicans have to change their mind to upend the GOPs effort in the House, with its narrow majority.I believe one of them has to be in this district right here, Booker said. Either he changes his mind or this district changes congresspeople. Its as simple as that.___Associated Press writer Leah Askarinam contributed to this report.

The U.S. Social Security Administration office is seen in Mount Prospect, Ill., Oct. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)2025-05-08T11:03:32Z WASHINGTON (AP) As the Social Security Administration undergoes massive changes and staffing cuts ushered in by the Trump administration, an increasing share of older Americans particularly Democrats arent confident the benefit will be available to them, a poll shows.The share of older Americans who are not very or not at all confident has risen somewhat since 2023, according to the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted in April. In the poll, about 3 in 10 U.S. adults age 60 or older are not very or not at all confident that Social Security benefits will be there for them when they need it, up from about 2 in 10 in an AP-NORC poll conducted in 2023. That shift looks very different depending on older Americans political party, though. There has been a substantial decrease in confidence among older Democrats. About half of Democrats age 60 or older are not very or not at all confident that Social Security will be there for them when they need it, a sizable swing from 2023, when only about 1 in 10 said they were not very or not at all confident. Older Republicans, on the other hand, have become more confident that Social Security will be there for them. In contrast with older Democrats, about 6 in 10 Republicans age 60 or older are extremely or very confident that Social Security will be there when they need it, up from only about one-quarter who thought this in 2023. Theres a partisan divide over Social SecurityThe findings point to a partisan divide in the ongoing debate over the benefits program, which serves millions of people. When the 2023 poll was conducted, a Democratic president, Joe Biden, was in the White House, which may have contributed to older Democrats confidence in the program. Now, large changes including mass federal worker layoffs, cuts to programs and office closures are being ushered in by Republican President Donald Trumps Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire adviser Elon Musk. A planned cut to nationwide Social Security phone services was eventually walked back. Musk, who recently said he is preparing to wind down his role with the Trump administration, garnered widespread condemnation when, in March, he said on a podcast interview with Joe Rogan that the Social Security program is a Ponzi scheme.Those comments have caused some voters to feel less confident in the future of the program. Dennis Riera, a 65-year-old Republican in Huntington Beach, California, says Musks comments have made him feel very worried.Its really a shame that something that so many people have relied on for so many generations is being looked at as a Ponzi scheme, Riera said. He has not yet retired from his job as a security official in the entertainment sector and doesnt know when he will be able to.What is their purpose in trying to undermine this institution? he said.But Linda Seck, a 78-year-old Republican and retired nurse from Saline Township in Michigan, says shes very confident about the future of Social Security.When I was in college, financial planners were telling us not to depend on Social Security, but here we are more than 50 years later and its still going, she said. A focus of Democrats as midterms approachVoters in recent weeks have flooded town halls to express their displeasure with the cuts, and both political parties expect Social Security to emerge as a key issue in next years midterm elections. The upheaval has made Social Security a major focus of Democrats, including Biden, who said Trump has taken a hatchet to the program. Timothy Black, a 52-year-old Democrat who lives in San Diego, receives Social Security Disability Insurance payments to manage his chronic illness. He said his concern is not only for the retirement portion of Social Security but also for the agencys disability benefits arm.If anything happens to Social Security it would really impact me, he said, listing the bills and expenses he has to pay to survive. If SSDI doesnt keep up with the cost of living, my medical expenses are only going to grow and I could end up homeless. Worries that Social Security could go brokeThe Social Security Administration has for decades moved closer toward its go-broke date, when it will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035, according to the 2024 Social Security and Medicare trustees report. Social Security would then only be able to pay 83% of benefits. A common misconception is that Social Security would be completely unable to pay benefits once it reaches its go-broke date. Roughly 72.5 million people, including retirees and children, receive Social Security benefits.Older Americans are generally more confident that Social Security will be available to them than younger adults are, according to the poll. About half of U.S. adults under age 30 are not very or not at all confident that Social Security will be there for them, which is unchanged from 2023. That skepticism transcends party loyalty. Younger Republicans arent sure, on the whole, whether Social Security will be around to benefit them. Only about 2 in 10 Republicans under age 60 are extremely or very confident that Social Security will be available to them when they need it.But younger peoples confidence in Social Security was low when Biden was president, too. Steven Peters, a 42-year-old independent from White House, Tennessee, says for years hes heard warnings about the programs precarious finances. Im not confident at all that its going to be available, he said. I cant say its related to the current administration, though.The Senate confirmed a new SSA leader, Wall Street veteran Frank Bisignano, on Tuesday on a 53 to 47 vote. Bisignano was sworn in on Wednesday. ___The AP-NORC poll of 1,260 adults was conducted April 17-21, using a sample drawn from NORCs probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. FATIMA HUSSEIN Hussein reports on the U.S. Treasury Department for The Associated Press. She covers tax policy, sanctions and any issue that relates to money. twitter mailto AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX Thomson-DeVeaux is the APs editor for polling and surveys.

Nature, Published online: 08 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01246-1Some data practices can lead to statistically dubious findings. Heres how to avoid them.

Nature, Published online: 08 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01434-zRecruiters want to see evidence of your potential to grow and develop, learn from mistakes, and how well you will fit into the team, says entrepreneur Ilana Wisby.

Nature, Published online: 08 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01412-5The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces an enzyme that breaks down biodegradable plastics.

Nature, Published online: 07 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01441-0A nineteen-year-old has become the first person to undergo a third nostril surgery to remove a spinal tumour. Plus, generations of cold-water diving has influenced the genetics of an entire island and the UK geoengineering projects awarded 57 million of funding.

To get past the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Warriors will need their veteran star.

The Hurricanes and Oilers won the first game of their respective series. Here's what to watch on Thursday.