A Thai resident who fled clashes between Thai and Cambodian soldiers, uses mobile phone while taking shelter in Buriram province, Thailand, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)2025-12-09T05:26:07Z SURIN, Thailand (AP) Cambodias powerful Senate President Hun Sen on Tuesday vowed that his country would carry out a fierce fight against Thailand as a second day of widespread renewed combat between the Southeast Asian neighbors drove tens of thousands of people to flee border areas.Fighting broke out following a skirmish in which one Thai soldier was killed Sunday night, despite a ceasefire that ended five days of fighting in July over competing territorial claims along their border, which resulted in dozens of civilian and military dead on both sides, and the evacuation of over 100,000 civilians. Both sides vow to keep fightingIn a statement posted to Facebook and Telegram, Hun Sen claimed that his country had refrained from firing back on Monday, but overnight began to shoot back at Thai forces. He wrote that a strategy of concentrating on where Thailand was advancing would allow Cambodia to to weaken and destroy enemy forces through counterattacks.Thailands army said Cambodian forces had fired artillery at a village in Sa Kaeo province early Tuesday morning, though the strike caused no casualties. Thailand says that Cambodian forces also fired at its troops Sunday and Monday, as each side blames the other for firing the first shots.Cambodia wants peace, but Cambodia is forced to fight back to defend its territory, Hun Sen said. Hun Sen was Cambodias long-serving prime minister until 2023, when he was succeeded by his son Hun Manet, but is still widely seen as the countrys de facto leader. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Cambodias military announced Tuesday that the new fighting had killed seven civilians and wounded 20. A spokesperson for the Thai military announced Tuesday that one solder had been killed and 29 wounded in the new fighting. Speaking at a news conference, Thai Rear Adm. Surasant Kongsiri said the navy was strengthening its position in eastern Thailand near the border with Cambodia.Thailand on Monday carried out airstrikes along the frontier, which it said were a defensive action targeting military installations. Surasant said such operation would continue until attacks stop. Villagers on both sides flee to safetyA separate statement from Thailands 2nd Army Region, situated along the border, said almost 500 temporary shelters have been set up in four border provinces, accommodating 125,838 people. Additional refugees from the fighting are expected to stay with relatives in safe areas.It said Cambodia attacked Thai positions with rocket and drone attacks. Cambodia said people fled villages near the border.Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Monday in a televised speech that military operations would be carried out as necessary to defend the country and protect public safety.Thailand has never wished for violence. Id like to reiterate that Thailand has never initiated a fight or an invasion, but will never tolerate a violation of its sovereignty, he said. The two nations have a history of ill willThailand and Cambodia have a history of enmity over centuries and experience periodic tensions along their land border of more than 800 kilometers (500 miles).The ceasefire that was agreed to end Julys fighting was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges from the two nations unless they agreed to it.A more detailed agreement signed in October called for removing heavy weapons and equipment from the border; desisting from disseminating false information, accusations, and harmful rhetoric; implementing measures to restore mutual trust and full diplomatic relations; and coordinating operations to remove land mines.None of these actions appear to have been implemented in full or in good faith by either side. After the ceasefire, both nations continued to fight a bitter propaganda war using disinformation, alongside minor outbreaks of cross-border violence. Prisoners and land mines have been sticky issues A major Cambodian complaint has been that Thailand continues to hold 18 prisoners taken prisoner when the ceasefire became active. Thailand accuses Cambodia of laying new land mines in the areas under dispute, in several cases maiming Thai soldiers. Cambodia says the mines are left over from decades of civil war that ended in 1999.The mines issue caused Thailand to declare earlier this month that it was indefinitely pausing implementation of the details of the ceasefire until Cambodia apologized for the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern over the new fighting, especially the use of air strikes and heavy weapons, and called on the warring parties to recommit to the ceasefire.___Sopheng Cheang reported from Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Rohullah R., who did not want his face to be shown or to disclose his last name out of fear of ICE, is photographed at his home in North Highlands, Calif., Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vsquez)2025-12-09T05:03:33Z SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) On a recent afternoon, Giselle Garcia, a volunteer who has been helping an Afghan family resettle, drove the father to a check-in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She warned him and his family to prepare for the worst.The moment the father stepped into the ICE office in Californias capital city, he was arrested.Coming just days after the shooting of two National Guard troops by an Afghan national suspect, federal authorities have carried out increased arrests of Afghans in the U.S., immigration lawyers say as Afghans both in and outside the country have come under intense scrutiny by immigration officials.Garcia said the family she helped had reported to all their appointments and were following all legal requirements. He was trying to be strong for his wife and kids in the car, but the anxiety and fear were palpable, she said. His wife was trying to hold back tears, but I could see her in the rearview mirror silently crying.They had fled Afghanistan under threat by the Taliban because the wifes father had assisted the U.S. military, and they had asked for asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, Garcia said. She is not identifying him or his family for fear other members could be arrested. Afghan men arrested in wake of shootingSince the Nov. 26 Guard shooting, The Associated Press has tracked roughly two dozen arrests of Afghan immigrants, most of which happened in Northern California. In Sacramento, home to one of the nations largest Afghan communities, volunteers monitoring ICE activities say they witnessed at least nine arrests at the federal building last week after Afghan men received calls to check in there.Many of those detained had requested asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border in the last two years. Others were among the 76,000 Afghans brought to the U.S. under Operation Allies Welcome, created by former President Joe Bidens administration after the chaotic withdrawal of the U.S. from their country.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Dec. 1 that the Trump administration is actively reexamining all the Afghan nationals who entered the U.S. during Bidens administration. The AP couldnt independently determine each of the Afghans immigration statuses or the reasons put forward by authorities for their arrests. In one case, the man had been arrested twice on suspicion of domestic violence, according to the government. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland, said in an email that the agency has been going full throttle on identifying and arresting known or suspected terrorists and criminal illegal aliens that came in through Bidens fraudulent parole programs and working to get the criminals and public safety threats OUT of our country. Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the 29-year-old Afghan suspect in the shooting, was granted asylum earlier this year, according to advocate group #AfghanEvac. Critics say Afghans paying price for one bad actorSince the shooting, the U.S. government introduced sweeping immigration changes, including pausing asylum applications and requiring increased vetting for immigrants from certain countries. The administration also took steps specifically targeted at Afghans, including pausing all their immigration-related applications and visas for Afghans who closely helped the war effort.Those who work with Afghans say the stepped-up enforcement amounts to the collective punishment of a population, many of whom risked their lives to protect U.S. troops.Not to discount the horrific killing that happened, but that was one bad actor who should be prosecuted by the full extent of the law, Democratic Rep. Ami Bera, whose California district includes Sacramento, said of Lakanwal. A lot of these people kept our troops safe and served side by side with our soldiers for two decades in Afghanistan. Cuffed after reporting to ICE In Sacramento, Afghan men arrived one by one to the ICE office Dec. 1 after being asked to immediately report there, drawing the attention of volunteers who have been at the federal building for more than six months to monitor ICE activities and alert immigrants.As each man entered the office, agents handcuffed them, said Garcia, a volunteer with NorCal Resist.What we saw on Monday was an influx of Afghan immigrants called randomly starting at 6 a.m. and asked to do a check-in and report immediately, Garcia said. Most of these Afghan men already had ankle monitors on them.Her organizations volunteers witnessed ICE arrest six Afghans that day.Arrests and cancellations cause fear In Des Moines, Iowa, Ann Naffier, with the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice, said her Afghan client was detained Dec. 2 on the way to work by agents who called him a terrorist. He was held for two hours before he was released with an apology.Wahida Noorzad is an immigration attorney in Northern California who has two Afghan clients who were arrested last week by ICE. Both entered the U.S. in recent years through the southern border. One used the app set up by the Biden administration to make an appointment to request asylum at the border. Noorzad felt both had strong cases to eventually be granted asylum in the U.S. She also said she found no criminal records for them.Spojmie Nasiri, another immigration attorney in Northern California, said shes received numerous calls from worried Afghans, including a man who called her terrified as agents stood outside his home. He put her on speaker phone so she could tell them that her client was a U.S. citizen.Iqbal Wafa, an Afghan immigration consultant in Sacramento, said officials told his client when he went to his appointment last week that that interviews for Afghans are canceled, and he observed interviews for other Afghan immigrants were canceled as well inside a federal building in Sacramento.A family left cryingGarcia said she listened through the wall of the waiting room at the ICE office and heard agents handcuff the father of the family she was helping.Im screaming his rights through the wall so he could hear me. Remain silent! Please dont sign anything! she said. She left after security approached.When she walked out of the building without him, she said his wife broke down sobbing.Their daughter tried to console her, telling her, Mommy, dont cry. Everything will be OK when daddy comes.__Bellisle reported from Seattle, Watson reported from San Diego and Santana reported from Washington. MARTHA BELLISLE Bellisle is an investigative reporter based in Washington state. She covers a variety of topics, including police accountability, immigration, and federal workers. twitter mailto REBECCA SANTANA Santana covers the Department of Homeland Security for The Associated Press. She has extensive experience reporting in such places as Russia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. twitter mailto JULIE WATSON Watson covers immigration, US-Mexico border issues and the environment, and helps direct coverage of California and Nevada for The Associated Press. Shes reported from Mexico, Central and South America, and was a 2019 Pulitzer Prize finalist. twitter

Hundreds of thousands of people fled a deadly border conflict, the authorities said, some sheltering at a racetrack in Thailand and some near temples in Cambodia.

This fall, Americans got to see what its like to go without a safety net for the hungry. With the U.S. government shut down for multiple weeks and President Donald Trump refusing to fund SNAP, the federal food stamp program, a panic set in among the more than 40 million people who rely on it. Families skipped meals, and babies went unfed. Food banks ran out of food, and some people turned to dumpster diving.It was just a glimpse of whats to come. Starting next October, Trumps so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act will shift billions in SNAP costs from the federal government onto states. Some states wont be able to afford this, and they could be forced to deeply cut or even shutter their SNAP programs altogether, according to the Congressional Budget Office.To be crystal clear, what this bill did was create the potential for SNAP programs to no longer exist in states that cannot afford to? Rep. Shomari Figures, an Alabama Democrat, asked a panel of state and county social services officials during a congressional hearing in September. Is it correct that under the new cost-sharing arrangement, Figures continued, these states might not have it in their budgets to feed anyone at all, including children and homeless veterans?Yes, officials from Ohio to Wyoming answered, one by one by one.Most vulnerable to this outcome are 26 states that have enacted sweeping corporate and personal income tax cuts over the past five years, depriving them of billions of dollars in revenue that they could have used at just this sort of moment. These state-level tax cuts, disproportionately benefiting the rich, have moved through legislatures with backing from powerful conservative organizations including the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, and the Koch brothers-founded Americans for Prosperity, as well as the Tax Foundation, a think tank. These groups seized on an opportunity created by the pandemic states were flush with cash from 2021 to 2023 largely because federal stimulus funding was flooding in to make significant progress toward the long-term goal of eliminating state income taxes entirely.States that slashed their own taxes have only made themselves more reliant on federal funding, and thus stand to be disproportionately harmed by the cuts to SNAP and also to Medicaid contained in the Trump legislation, budget experts and state legislators said.Its clear to policymakers across the country that there will be added costs coming down to states due to the Republican megabill, said Wesley Tharpe, senior adviser for state tax policy at the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. But whats less well understood by the public is that state and local budgets were already facing extreme strain due to the scope and scale of the tax cut wave that has been sweeping the nation.There have been prior waves, Tharpe added, but the number of states that have cut taxes in the last five years, and the sheer size of the cuts, is nearly unprecedentedly large.Indeed, according to Pew, the scale of the recent downturn in states tax revenue resembles what is usually seen during a recession even though the U.S. is not in a recession.Dave Rader, a state senator in Oklahoma who chairs that chambers Republican caucus as well as its revenue and taxation committee, told ProPublica that as the costs of SNAP and Medicaid are shifted onto states by the new federal law, those programs could have to be eliminated if he and his fellow lawmakers cant find a way to pay for them. And his colleagues recent decision to set Oklahoma on what has been called a path to zero income taxes will put us in an even less fortunate situation because of the decline in revenue, Rader said, adding that he still hopes the tax cuts work out.According to a ProPublica analysis of state tax trends since 2021, 26 states have lowered their income taxes, with 23 of them cutting their top marginal rate, which most benefits their wealthiest residents. Eight of these states did so while adopting a flat income tax meaning that a billionaire and his janitor will pay the same rate. Many states, meanwhile, have slashed other kinds of taxes, including property taxes. North Carolina is eliminating its corporate income tax. Missouri is even exempting passive income (money made on stocks, real estate, cryptocurrency and the like) from taxation, which will give millionaires there a $43,000 tax break on average compared with just $80 for everybody else.These deep cuts to states main revenue streams didnt hurt too much when stimulus dollars were still flowing in from the first Trump and Biden administrations which, along with high inflation and the temporary spike in sales tax revenue it created, juiced state budgets and budget forecasts. But state lawmakers might have easily foreseen that federal funding pegged to the pandemic would eventually dry up.Still, they kept cutting taxes, sometimes repeatedly, and now, several states are already facing severe shortfalls. Arizona, which in 2021 enacted an extremely low flat tax against the will of its voters even as it launched the nations most expensive private school voucher program, has since had to cut funding for community colleges, road repairs, water projects and services for disabled children. In West Virginia, where former Gov. Jim Justice (now a U.S. senator) signed the latest of multiple income tax cuts into law in 2024, deficits of $400 million and growing are expected in the coming years. Funding for education, child care and health care in the state has been decimated.And thats all before the One Big Beautiful Bill Act fully goes into effect, which will force states to come up with hundreds of millions to billions of dollars to cover new SNAP and Medicaid costs. The magnitude of the fiscal hit that theyre going to take is still coming into focus, with the cuts to the two safety net programs delayed by congressional Republicans so that most of the changes will be phased in from 2027 to 2029, after next years midterm elections.On the SNAP side of the equation, all states will see the amount that they already pay for the administration of the program increased by 25%. Separately, for the first time ever, each state will soon have to pay for a percentage of the actual SNAP benefits that go to recipients. Exactly how much that is will depend on how much theyre penalized for their SNAP error rate, a measurement of how often they accidentally make incorrect eligibility decisions or overpayments or underpayments to beneficiaries.By way of example, North Carolina will likely have to start paying out an estimated $420 million annually in SNAP benefits that the federal government used to cover, based on the states relatively high current error rate. Thats on top of the fact that it is presently the only state in the nation heading into the new year without a full budget, in part because lawmakers are gridlocked over whether to spend money on Hurricane Helene recovery efforts, teacher pay raises, Medicaid or a new childrens hospital ($535 million for that project has been a major sticking point), among many other priorities.Recent cuts to income taxes will cost the state $1 billion this coming year alone in revenue that could have been used toward any of these ends.When it comes to Medicaid, states will among several other things be required to implement new work requirements and to check many recipients eligibility for the program twice a year, which will mean new expenditures on additional staff, retraining of existing staff and technology to process all that paperwork. (When Georgia implemented such work requirements recently, it spent twice as much on administrative costs as it did on providing actual health care, the Government Accountability Office found.)What states like ours have been doing is more radical than anything thats ever been done in terms of tax cutting at the state level, concluded Jason Bailey, founder and executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy. Tell me how that works if youre trying to maintain a Medicaid program.Part of why this post-pandemic state tax-cutting spree has gone relatively unnoticed is that tax cut proponents are conscious of what happened not so long ago in Kansas. There, Gov. Sam Brownback in 2012 signed a set of enormous income tax cuts into law to much fanfare, only for them later to be repealed by a bipartisan supermajority after they caused severe economic and political pain. Brownback, with support from ALEC, the Koch brothers and the anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist, had said that the Kansas experiment would show how tax cuts spur economic growth and create jobs. Instead, state revenues fell by hundreds of millions of dollars and funding for education and infrastructure had to be slashed.This time around, most of the 26 states that have cut their income taxes are doing so over a period of years, thus delaying some of the fiscal fallout and diffusing media attention. But what that approach didnt anticipate is how quickly the hurt would be felt if massive funding cuts were to simultaneously come from the federal level.To be sure, absorbing the costs of the Trump law will be difficult for states no matter their tax structure. Several blue states that have enacted no income tax cuts or more minor ones in recent years, including Connecticut, New Mexico and Oregon, have nonetheless had to call special legislative sessions over the past several months because they too are worried about the federal budget picture.Advocates and experts at conservative organizations, in interviews and emails, defended states recent tax cuts even in the context of the budget pinch to come.Jared Walczak is vice president of state projects at the Tax Foundation, a think tank that has provided testimony on several of the recent state tax cut bills. He acknowledged that there was a sugar high of extreme state revenue growth just after the height of the pandemic and through 2023, which wasnt sustainable. Still, Walczak said, revenue remains higher in most states than it was in the 2010s. And cutting taxes from that place of growth was a wise move for the states that did so especially because the modern economy is so fluid and competitive, with both businesses and individuals moving across state lines to where taxes are lower. New York and California, with their higher tax rates, have seen out migration in some recent years, he pointed out.Walczak said it would be difficult, though, to tell how this calculus might change in the face of the upcoming cuts to SNAP and Medicaid. He said the situation would indeed force some hard choices on states, such as whether to reduce their Medicaid rolls in response to the federal law or to consider returning some tax rates to previous levels.But whether youve raised [taxes], lowered them or kept them the same, you will still face similar choices, he contended. Everyones in the same boat that whatever your budget is now, your budget just got a little tighter. Everyone is going to experience more stress against their baseline.A spokesperson for Americans for Prosperity, meanwhile, noted that the group hasnt just advocated state income tax rate cuts, it has also emphasized the need for tax reforms that broaden the base of taxable economic activity, as well as spending restraint.Liberal state budget experts and advocates countered that a more cautious fiscal approach over the past five years, including saving more surpluses in rainy-day funds rather than jumping at the opportunity to cut taxes, would have better protected essential services and vulnerable populations from future federal funding reductions. Instead, to help pay for their tax cuts, many states have already raided their various cash funds. Weve sort of maxed out on gimmicks, said Geraldine Miranda, assistant director of fiscal policy at the Arizona Center for Economic Progress. Theres nothing left in the couch cushions.And raising income taxes, especially after theyve just been cut, is easier said than done, politically speaking. We always try to get the Legislature to open up to the idea of raising revenue, said Craig Beck, research director at the OpenSky Policy Institute, a Nebraska think tank. But were met with just complete disregard.As a result, cutting programs and services will be the most likely route for states as the Trump law takes effect, experts said. Even though the proximate cause will have been the loss of funding for SNAP and Medicaid for lower-income people, those in the middle class will feel the consequences too. States, unlike the federal government, have to balance their budgets. So, everything from raising tuition at state universities to canceling unfinished state road projects to freezing state workers salaries is now on the table, as states try to find the money to address the budget dilemma that they themselves are partly to blame for creating.In an article published in October, Joshua Meyer, director of the tax and fiscal policy task force at ALEC, wrote that the generational effort to eliminate states personal income taxes is now finally coming to fruition from Oklahoma to Kentucky to Mississippi.West Virginia might be next. With the backing of many of the same organizations that once supported the Kansas experiment, multiple rounds of income tax cuts have been enacted in the Mountain State in recent years. This has led, among other things, to worsening understaffing at the very state agencies that will have to carry out the Trump administrations orders with regard to SNAP and Medicaid, like implementing work requirements and trying to reduce instances of fraud, waste and abuse. Due to vacancies, [economic service workers] are carrying an average caseload of 947 cases. This makes this job nearly impossible, reads a recent West Virginia budget report.Matt Rohrbach, the Republican deputy speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates, still supports those tax cuts, which he said have produced economic growth. But if we suddenly have to take over all the costs for SNAP and for Medicaid or even a significant part of it, he told ProPublica, thats really going to put a hurt on a state like ours.The post Wave of Tax Cuts Has Left Many States Vulnerable to Trump SNAP and Medicaid Crisis appeared first on ProPublica.

One Rulebook is not the kind of A.I. regulation this country needs.

Nature, Published online: 09 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03970-0A global drop in public and private investment in agricultural science in the past four decades is partly to blame for high food prices, an analysis reveals.

Nature, Published online: 09 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03997-3Argentina must finish building the CART radio telescope

Nature, Published online: 09 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03999-1Drug woes wont be tamed by US price regulations

Nature, Published online: 09 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-04000-9Better models are needed to gauge the ecological impacts of reservoirs

Nature, Published online: 09 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03998-2Dont overlook the value of co-supervision in PhD training

This past June, Ashley Voss-Barnes received a court summons in the mail.PrairieStar Health Center, a nonprofit community health center in south-central Kansas, was suing her for $675 and her wife for $732 in unpaid medical bills. Voss-Barnes knew the clinic received federal funding to make preventive health care accessible in a region where many families, including her own, needed financial help.She didnt understand what led to the lawsuit. She and her wife had a blended family of five kids that cost a lot to keep healthy. As a result, years ago, the couple had asked PrairieStar if they could set up an ongoing payment plan to automatically take money from their checking accounts multiple times a month. Voss-Barnes would later state in a court filing that PrairieStar never informed her those payments were not enough to cover her bills and keep her out of collections.If I have something due, then I will try to pay it, she said to ProPublica. It came out of nowhere.Voss-Barnes, a nurse who feels confident navigating the health care system, wanted to push back. She reached out to a local lawyer to see if he could represent them, but he said the debt was too small to be worth it. So she represented herself, filing a letter in court objecting to the lawsuit and asking to continue the existing payment plan.Eventually, Voss-Barnes and her wife agreed to set up new payment plans with the collections agency for the debt, to avoid having the money taken directly from their paychecks through wage garnishment. To their dismay, they owed hundreds more in interest, court costs and lawyer fees as a result of PrairieStars decision to sue.They worry about PrairieStar suing them again. I know were not the only ones this has happened to, Voss-Barnes said.The lawsuits against the two women are among at least 1,000 that PrairieStar has filed against patients since 2020 for unpaid medical bills, according to a ProPublica analysis of state court records over that period. Many patients PrairieStar sued were uninsured and made so little money they qualified for discounted care, a former patient accounts employee told ProPublica.Community health centers like PrairieStar Health, also known as federally qualified health centers, were created to serve as medical safety nets for people who struggle to afford primary care. They were established during the Civil Rights Movement-era War on Poverty, when federal officials realized that low-income Americans, overwhelmed by long drives and crowded hospitals, were forgoing medical attention. The health centers receive federal grants in exchange for serving patients regardless of their ability to pay, increasing access across large swaths of the country.But ProPublica found that several of these health centers are suing patients and garnishing their paychecks which experts say contradicts their mission. We identified two other centers in Kansas, plus one in rural Virginia and one in Kalamazoo, Michigan, that consistently filed lawsuits against patients since at least 2020. Our search, which was not exhaustive, focused on states and counties where court records are publicly accessible online. We also reviewed documents from a municipality in Alaska and a county in California that run community health centers, which showed they use outside debt collectors to pursue what patients owe.Leaders of five community health centers, including PrairieStar, told ProPublica they send patients to collections or file lawsuits against them as a last resort, after sending statements and offering payment plans. Three pointed to the financial instability that community health centers face as a reason to pursue patient debt. All five stressed that they did not turn away patients who could not afford medical care, citing a goal to make health care accessible.In response to questions from ProPublica, PrairieStar CEO Bryant Anderson said that the health center faces a perfect storm caring for patients while also dealing with higher costs and unstable funding. With all the challenges PrairieStar faces to maintain access to care for the uninsured and the underinsured, having someone imply that we dont fulfill our mission is certainly rubbing salt in the wounds, he wrote in an email.Anderson said PrairieStar generally tries six times to communicate with patients before sending them to collections. He also said every patient is given the option to apply for sliding-scale discounts based on income and about a third choose not to provide that information.Other health center leaders also explained their decision to pursue patient debt through lawsuits, in response to questions from ProPublica. We understand that sending accounts to collections can seem at odds with that mission, and its not a decision we take lightly, said Renee Hively, the CEO of CareArc, a community health center in Kansas. CareArc has appeared in local news for pursuing one patients medical bill through a lawsuit and wage garnishments for more than 12 years, contributing to her being unable to afford basic utilities. (CareArc did not respond to a request for comment about that particular case.)A spokesperson for the department that oversees community health centers in Monterey County, California, told ProPublica that most unpaid bills it sends to collections involve small amounts that do not justify the cost of initiating legal proceedings. As a result, none of its patients have been sued since 2019. If the health centers ever stopped sending patients to collections, the spokesperson said, the financial effect would be minimal.Most of the public attention on medical debt and related lawsuits has been focused on hospitals, especially nonprofit hospitals that receive tax breaks in order to make care more affordable. Hospitals must provide emergency care regardless of whether the patient can afford it but are not required to provide primary care like checkups or routine screenings. Nonprofit hospitals are required by federal law to check whether patients qualify for financial help before suing them or garnishing their wages.Community health centers, on the other hand, must make every reasonable effort to collect money from patients before writing it off, according to federal law.Though experts and leaders of other health centers say the centers have ample freedom to decide what reasonable means and whether to pursue debt through collections agencies and the courts Anderson said the manner in which PrairieStar collects debts is mandated by the law.He also said that ProPublica may be trying to induce other health centers to violate federal law by reporting and writing this story. Your messaging would therefore be dangerous and intimate that such health centers were not required to make every reasonable effort to secure payments for their services, he wrote.But experts on community health center finances said that federal law does not require the centers to send patients to collections. Theres no law that says you have to garnish wages or that you have to go after someone through collections, said Ray Jorgensen, a health care billing consultant who said he has worked with hundreds of community health centers over about 30 years. I would say thats an anomaly. Thats not the norm.Anderson did not answer specific questions about PrairieStars lawsuits or wage garnishments. He repeatedly said that ProPublica did not have all the facts and that the story would be potentially defamatory, but he did not clarify what he felt was missing or inaccurate. Nor did he respond directly to questions about Voss-Barnes experience, even though she and her wife signed privacy waivers allowing him to do so. Voss-Barnes said that he reached out to her directly, telling her that everyone in their Kansas city would know that she had failed to pay her medical bills if she moved forward with the article. (He did not respond when asked about that outreach.) He did tell ProPublica that he personally contacted both a former employee and another patient who ProPublica had asked him about. The patient stopped responding to ProPublica.Medical debt experts said they were surprised and horrified to hear that community health centers were using lawsuits and third-party debt collectors to recover money from patients, given their intended purpose of providing care to people who have no other options. Under federal law, community health centers must provide discounted care on a sliding scale for patients who make at or below 200% of the federal poverty guideline, an amount that varies based on family size and household income. A family of four must make under $64,300 to receive a discount. Medical debt disproportionately burdens Black, Hispanic, low-income and uninsured patients groups more likely to use community health centers for affordable care.Patients who have been sued because of medical debt are likely to avoid care in the future, said Miriam Straus, policy adviser for Community Catalyst, a health advocacy group. These collection activities seem to violate at least the spirit of the requirement to provide health services available to all.On Virginias Eastern Shore, a narrow peninsula bordered by the Atlantic and the Chesapeake Bay, getting sued by the community health care center is a regular occurrence. Over the last decade, Eastern Shore Rural Health filed more than 7,000 lawsuits for unpaid medical bills in two counties where 45,000 people live.It sued one couple for $59 in January 2024, an amount that ballooned by more than 600% within months due to interest, court costs and lawyer fees. Court records show money regularly garnished from people working in the low-wage industries that abound on the Eastern Shore, including poultry processing and retail.On an August morning in Accomack Countys civil court, Eastern Shore Rural Health accounted for most of the cases on the judges docket. One man who showed up to court told ProPublica that the visit potentially cost him hundreds of dollars because he missed out on lucrative hours harvesting oysters and clams. He only spoke Spanish and the court did not make a translator available; the judge told him to return for another hearing in the fall. Most people didnt show up to court at all, meaning the health center won by default.ProPublica did not find any other community health centers in Virginia consistently suing patients for unpaid bills in the court records.Eastern Shore Rural Health began using lawsuits to collect medical debt about 20 years ago after conversations about maximizing our revenue, according to Kandy Bruno, the organizations chief financial officer. A local company called Bay Area Receivables handles its collections and takes 30% to 40% of what it recovers from patients through the court. The minimum amount that Eastern Shore sends to collections is $25, Bruno said.Bruno said Eastern Shore sends patients to collections when it has exhausted other options, including sending out letters, offering interest-fee payment plans and helping fill out Medicaid applications. We should never have to send anyone to collections, she said. It should be 100% avoidable. She also said the number of lawsuits the company had filed in a decade was not very high compared to the 32,400 patients seen there last year.Patients are never refused health care, no matter how much they owe, she said.Virginia recently passed a law that experts say would stop at least some of Eastern Shore Rural Healths debt collection practices starting next summer. The law prohibits large medical providers from garnishing wages of patients who qualify for financial assistance.Bruno said she hasnt yet looked into how the Virginia law would affect the health center or its patients on the sliding scale. We will absolutely comply with and make adjustments to comply with the letter of the new law, she said.The health center is the main option for preventive care on the peninsula; otherwise, people have to make the long drive up to Maryland or pay tolls, often totaling more than $20, to cross the bridge over the Chesapeake Bay. More than 70% of people who live on the Eastern Shore see doctors at the health center, including higher-income people with private insurance through their jobs, Bruno said.That means some of the patients, she said, make enough to take responsibility for their care. But the health center does not track what percentage of patients sent to collections receive financial assistance or make so little that their checks legally cannot be garnished.Brittney Shea, a single mom with two teenagers, has been sued three times by Eastern Shore Rural Health since 2021. She and both of her children have chronic health conditions that require them to see doctors and specialists frequently, and the $25 co-payments add up quickly, she said.Most recently, the health center sued her last October for about $2,000 in medical bills and an additional $760 in lawyer fees and court costs, records show. The money was garnished from multiple paychecks from her Walmart job.Shea is aware that she ends up paying more through garnishments than she would if she paid her medical bills on time. But she said the money just isnt there on the front end, especially when she has been out of work due to health emergencies. Sometimes she avoids seeing doctors when she is feeling sick to avoid owing more money.The cycle of lawsuits and garnishments has made it harder to provide for her children, she said. You expect this money, but then theyre garnishing you, she said. Now you got to figure out how youre going to feed them, how youre going to put gas in your car to go back and forth to work, how youre going to pay your rent.Many regions served by community health centers lack primary care options and havea real need for them. That was the case in Hutchinson, Kansas, a historic salt mining town northwest of Wichita, in the 1990s when the local hospital came up with the idea to start PrairieStar Health.When Aimee Jones started working at PrairieStar in 2015, she had only ever been on the patient side of debt collection. After a difficult divorce decades earlier, shed had trouble paying outstanding medical bills and filed for bankruptcy to avoid having her wages garnished.As a patient accounts representative, Jones was responsible for handing patients debt over to an outside collection agency once she had exhausted efforts to get them to pay. PrairieStar would send out three statements and two collections notices and often make an additional phone call reminding patients of their unpaid balances and encouraging them to set up a payment plan. The last notice told them that their bill would be sent to collections. (Anderson, the PrairieStar CEO, told ProPublica the collections agency also sent patients multiple notices before escalating to lawsuits.)Jones said she convinced her bosses to change some policies in favor of patients. The company was initially sending bills as low as $30 to collections, which Jones felt was pointless because the outside agency took a third of the money. She pushed PrairieStar to raise the threshold to $200 in outstanding debt. In more recent years, that amount increased to $500, she said.In Kansas, unlike Virginia, lawmakers have not significantly limited how health care providers can recover medical debt. Kansas is also one of 10 states that has chosen not to expand Medicaid, leaving thousands of people unable to get health insurance and potentially more reliant on community health centers.Many of the patients who qualified for discounted care based on their income had no insurance, Jones said. And even with lower fees, some struggled to afford medical care at PrairieStar. You dont stay on top of it or you come in a lot, its going to accumulate quite fast, Jones said. According to the health centers financial assistance policy, not all services qualify for discounts.Jones tried hard to convince patients to pay even a few dollars each month so they could stay out of collections. Often, it worked. She was aware that some people, especially those on fixed incomes, had almost nothing to spare. If they didnt pay their bills or sign up for a payment plan within about six months, she handed their names over to the collection agency.Jones could request permission to write off some bills for people who had endured extreme hardship, like a woman whose baby died in a house fire or another whose boyfriend and son died in a car accident. But she couldnt help everyone.Once the collection agency referred a case for a lawsuit, it was largely out of Jones hands, she said. PrairieStar hired a company that handles collections for hospitals in many Kansas counties Account Recovery Specialists Inc., which has a documented history of requesting arrest warrants for patients who dont show up to court. (The collections agency told ProPublica that the warrants were ordered by a judge and that it could not discuss its contract with PrairieStar. It has previously denied using the threat of jail to get people to pay.) Each summer, the agency would send PrairieStar a long list of patient accounts deemed uncollectible because they had no income or assets, Jones said.Jones, who retired last year, looks back on nearly a decade of work with a mixture of pride and sadness. She wonders if PrairieStar could have convinced more people to agree to payment plans if it hadnt contracted with an outside agency. The health centers patients would have benefited from a law like Virginias, she said, which prevents providers from garnishing wages of patients receiving financial assistance.We serve the poorest of the poor. These people dont have any money, Jones said.Pursuing debt in court is a choice, and some community health center leaders have opted out.Several years before Krista Postai founded the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas in the states poorest region, she worked at a hospital that took extreme measures to collect medical debt. As part of her job, she fielded calls from patients unhappy with the billing process. At times, she said, patients reported receiving warnings that they would be sent to collections, even though they hadnt received a bill.When she began applying for grants to start her own clinic in 2002, she knew there had to be another way. If your goal is really keeping people healthier, it makes more sense to deliver care at the lowest cost possible and not drive them into ERs and hospitals, she said.Hospitals do not make much from suing their patients, according to research in several states. (Experts did not know of similar studies on community health centers.) One study of Virginia hospitals found that wage garnishment brought in just a fraction of a percent of their total revenue, on average. But patients can see their finances devastated by these lawsuits, especially with the added interest charges, lawyer fees and court costs.The National Consumer Law Center, a nonprofit that focuses on consumer protection, urges states to set limits on health care providers collecting medical debt. Their recommendations include capping interest rates for debt at 2% a year much lower than Kansass 10% maximum and prohibiting lawsuits for patients who qualify for financial help. It recommends banning wage garnishment for all patients.Community health centers should be held to the same requirements when possible, said Berneta Haynes, policy adviser for the center. The idea here is that certain types of egregious and aggressive debt collections really should just be banned, she said.Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, based in a county with a poverty rate almost twice that of the state as a whole, provides care to many people who cant afford to immediately pay their bills. Postai said the health center makes every reasonable effort to collect money from patients, as required by federal law. But she is determined to never outsource that work to a collections agency, despite the weekly calls she gets from companies hoping to purchase the health centers debt.The centers internal policy says it will not send patients to collections to ensure that patient dignity is maintained. Its peers, she said, should do the same.Most people try to pay, she said. It makes no sense to take an already stressed population and stress them further.Instead, the health center finds creative ways to pull in more patients using federal grants to open discount pharmacies, serving patients at jails and prisons, partnering with other local nonprofits. It has branched out to neighboring counties with no other sources of affordable medical care. Last year, it wrote off about $5.3 million of bad debt from patients who didnt pay their bills, about 5% of its total revenue, federal reports show.Postai said the clinic is willing and able to sustain the loss, and she cringes thinking about patients at PrairieStar and similar health centers who may avoid returning there for medical help.Thats a big hole in the safety net, she said.The post These Health Centers Are Supposed to Make Care Affordable. One Has Sued Patients for as Little as $59 in Unpaid Bills. appeared first on ProPublica.

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Nature, Published online: 09 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03977-7An ambitious book challenges long-held assumptions on diet and nutrition and exposes gaps in public-health guidance.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Pope Leo XIV wave to journalists during their meeting in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)2025-12-09T09:14:12Z ROME (AP) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reaffimed his firm refusal to cede any territory, resisting U.S. pressure for a painful compromise with Russia as he continued to rally European support for Ukraine.Undoubtedly, Russia insists for us to give up territories. We, clearly, dont want to give up anything. Thats what we are fighting for, Zelenskyy said in a WhatsApp chat late Monday in which he answered reporters questions.Do we consider ceding any territories? According to the law we dont have such right. According to Ukraines law, our constitution, international law, and to be frank, we dont have a moral right either.In an interview with Politico released Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump again pressed Zelenskyy to accept the U.S. proposal that Ukraine cede territory to Putin, arguing that Russia retains the upper hand and that Zelenskyys government must play ball. Zelenskyy met Tuesday with Pope Leo XIV at Castel Gandolfo, a papal residence outside Rome, and is to have talks with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni later in the day. The Vatican said the pope reiterated the need for the continuation of dialogue and expressed his urgent desire that the current diplomatic initiatives bring about a just and lasting peace. The Holy See has tried to remain neutral in the war while offering solidarity and assistance to what it calls the martyred people of Ukraine. Leo, who has met three times with Zelenskyy and has spoken by telephone at least once with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has called for a ceasefire and urged Moscow in particular to make gestures to promote peace.On Monday, Zelenskyy held talks in London with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to strengthen Ukraines hand amid mounting impatience from Trump. Facing pressure from TrumpU.S. and Ukrainian negotiators completed three days of talks on Saturday aimed at trying to narrow differences on the U.S. administrations peace proposal.A major sticking point in the plan is the suggestion that Kyiv must cede control of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine to Russia, which illegally occupies most but not all of the territory. Ukraine and its European allies have firmly resisted the idea of handing over land.You know, a lot of people are dying, Trump told Politico, claiming that other unnamed Ukrainian officials agree with the U.S. administration. His people loved the proposal. They really liked it. His lieutenants, his top people, they liked it, but they said he hasnt read it yet.Russia, Trump reasoned, remains too powerful for Ukraine to continue fighting.I give the people of Ukraine and the military of Ukraine tremendous credit for the, you know, bravery and for the fighting and all of that, he said. But you know, at some point, size will win, generally.Trump also amplified his calls for Ukraine to hold national elections even though the martial law doesnt allow it. and Zelenskyy, elected in 2019, had his five-year term extended because of the war. Theyre using war not to hold an election, but, uh, I would think the Ukrainian people would ... should have that choice, Trump said. And maybe Zelenskyy would win. I dont know who would win. But they havent had an election in a long time. You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where its not a democracy anymore.Trump has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Zelenskyy since winning a second term, insisting the war was a waste of U.S. taxpayers money. Trump has also repeatedly urged the Ukrainians to cede land to Russia to end the nearly four-year conflict.Zelenskyy said Monday that Trump certainly wants to end the war. ... Surely, he has his own vision. We live here, from within we see details and nuances, we perceive everything much deeper, because this is our motherland.He said the current U.S. peace plan differs from earlier versions in that it now has 20 points, down from 28, after he said some obvious anti-Ukrainian points were removed. Europeans back UkraineStarmer, Macron and Merz strongly backed Kyiv, with the U.K. leader saying Monday that the push for peace was at a critical stage, and stressed the need for a just and lasting ceasefire.Merz, meanwhile, said he was skeptical about some details in documents released by the U.S. We have to talk about it. Thats why we are here, he said. The coming days could be a decisive time for all of us.European leaders are working to ensure that any ceasefire is backed by solid security guarantees both from Europe and the U.S. to deter Russia from attacking again. Trump has not given explicit guarantees in public.Zelenskyy and his European allies have repeatedly accused Putin of slow-walking the talks to press ahead with the invasion as his forces are making slow buy steady gains while waves of missiles and drones are pummeling Ukrainian infrastructure. Both sides exchange aerial strikesUkraines Air Force said Russia fired 110 drones of various types across the country last night. They said air defenses neutralized 84 drones, 24 more have struck their targets.Several regions of Ukraine faced emergency blackouts Tuesday due to Russias prior attacks on energy infrastructure, according to Ukraines national energy operator, Ukrenergo.Ukraine, in its turn, continued its drone attacks on Russia.Russian air defenses destroyed 121 Ukrainian drones overnight above various Russian regions and occupied Crimea, Russias Ministry of Defense said Tuesday. In Chuvashia, a region about 900 kilometers (about 560 miles) northeast of the border with Ukraine, the attack damaged residential buildings and injured nine people, local governor Oleg Nikolayev said.Ukraines Security Service carried out a drone attack on an LPG terminal at the port of Temryuk in Russias Krasnodar region on Dec. 5, according to an official with knowledge of the operation who spoke to The Associated Press.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said the strike sparked a large fire at the facility. More than 20 LPG storage tanks were set ablaze and burned for more than three days, he said. The attack also damaged railway tank cars, an intermediate refueling tank, and a loading and unloading rack.___Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report. PAOLO SANTALUCIA Santalucia covers events throughout Southern Europe, Italy, the Mediterranean sea and the Vatican for The Associated Press based in Rome. instagram mailto ILLIA NOVIKOV Novikov is an Associated Press reporter covering news in Ukraine since 2022. He is based in Kyiv. instagram mailto

The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)2025-12-09T05:07:57Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court is considering a Republican-led drive, backed by President Donald Trumps administration, to overturn a quarter-century-old decision and erase limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates for Congress and president.A day after the justices indicated they would overturn a 90-year-old decision limiting the presidents power to fire independent agency heads, the court is revisiting a 2001 decision that upheld a provision of federal election law that is more than 50 years old.Democrats are calling on the court to uphold the law.The limits stem from a desire to prevent large donors from skirting caps on individual contributions to a candidate by directing unlimited sums to the party, with the understanding that the money will be spent on behalf of the candidate.The Federal Election Commission and the GOP argue that the court should cast a skeptical eye on the limits, in line with recent high court decisions. Led by Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative majority has upended a variety of congressionally enacted limits on raising and spending money to influence elections. The courts 2010 Citizens United decision opened the door to unlimited independent spending in federal elections. After the Trump administration joined with Republicans to ask the court to strike down the campaign finance law, the justices appointed a lawyer to defend it. Roman Martinez, an experienced Supreme Court advocate, is offering the justices a way out of the case without deciding anything. Instead, they should hold the case is moot now that the FEC agrees with Republicans that the law is unconstitutional and there is no credible risk the agency will try to enforce it, Martinez wrote. The Republican committees for House and Senate candidates filed the lawsuit in Ohio in 2022, joined by two Ohio Republicans in Congress, then-Sen. JD Vance, now vice president, and then-Rep. Steve Chabot.In 2025, the coordinated party spending for Senate races ranges from $127,200 in several states with small populations to nearly $4 million in California. For House races, the limits are $127,200 in states with only one representative and $63,600 everywhere else. MARK SHERMAN Sherman has covered the Supreme Court for The Associated Press since 2006. His journalism career spans five decades. He is based in Washington, D.C., and previously lived in New York, Paris and Atlanta. twitter mailto

Senators meet in the senate chamber at the Statehouse, Feb. 1, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, file)2025-12-08T05:01:06Z State senators in Indiana advanced a proposal to redraw the states congressional boundaries Monday, although it is not clear if it has the support to become law in a final vote expected later this week even after months of pressure from President Donald Trump. The legislation was designed to favor GOP candidates in the next years midterms. Republicans control the state Senate, but many have been hesitant or openly opposed to the idea of mid-decade redistricting. About a dozen have been threatened over their stance or refusal to immediately declare support over the past several weeks. Still, the Senates elections committee voted 6-3 to advance the measure, with one Republican and two Democrats lawmakers opposing it. The final vote of the whole chamber is expected Thursday and could test Trumps typically iron grip on the Republican Party. During committee debate Monday night, state Sen. Greg Walker, an Indiana Republican who is against redistricting and voted against it in committee, spoke about threats made against him in recent weeks. I refuse to be intimidated, Walker proclaimed in an impassioned speech during the committee meeting. I fear for all states if we allow intimidation and threats to become the norm. The map, introduced just last Monday and passed by the Republican supermajority in the state House on Friday, would split the city of Indianapolis into four districts distributed across other Republican-leaning areas. It also groups the cities of East Chicago and Gary with a broad rural region. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on The contours would eliminate the districts of Indianas two Democratic congressional representatives: longtime Rep. Andr Carson of Indianapolis, the states only Black member of Congress, and Rep. Frank Mrvan, who represents northwest Indiana near Chicago.Republicans currently hold seven of the states nine districts. Why redistricting? Democrats are hoping to flip control of the U.S. House in the 2026 elections and they like their odds, since midterms tend to favor the party out of power.Redistricting usually happens once a decade after the census, but Trump has pushed Republican-led states to create more GOP-leaning districts. Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina have followed suit, while Democrats in California and Virginia have moved to draw their own favorable maps.Not many states, outside of those with smaller or single-member congressional delegations, are represented solely by one party. Republicans in favor of making it easier for Republicans to capture all nine of Indianas seats through gerrymandering often point to Massachusetts, where Democrats hold all nine seats, or Connecticut, where they hold all five. Republicans hold all five Oklahoma seats and eight of Tennessees nine seats, while Democrats hold seven of Marylands eight seats.But the idea of redrawing a congressional map last approved just four years ago has made many Republicans in Indiana uneasy. The Senates leader, a Republican, previously said there were not enough votes to support redistricting. A few of the Republican senators who voted to move the legislation forward Monday said it deserved to be debated by the full Senate, but indicated they may vote against its final passage. I reserve my right to change my vote on the floor, said state Sen. Linda Rogers, a Republican on the committee.The Senate elections committee heard testimony on the legislation from about 100 people Monday for more than four hours, the vast majority who spoke against the bill. Kandy Baker told lawmakers she worries about her 5-year-old granddaughters future since the new map, she fears, would dilute the political power of nonwhite voters. I am afraid she will not have representation, Baker said during her testimony against the bill, emotion choking her voice. I dont think whats happening is a short-term thing.Before he voted in favor of moving the legislation forward, GOP State Sen. Mike Gaskill, chair of the elections committee, called political gerrymandering an uncomfortable practice. But he said the Republican Party has act to stop Democratic policy in Congress and act against gerrymandering in Democratic states. This is a very small part that we can play and rebalance the scales on a national basis, he said. After Senate leader Rodric Bray said the chamber would reject the governors call for a special session on redistricting last month, Trump attacked Bray and other senators on social media and vowed to endorse primary challengers against any lawmaker who opposes redrawing the map.In the following weeks, about a dozen state lawmakers were targeted by threats and swatting incidents, in which a hoax call attempts to prompt a police response to a private home.Redistricting proponents need at least 25 votes in the Senate, where Democrats are vastly outnumbered and hold just 10 seats, to give final passage to the map. That would trigger a tiebreaking vote from Republican Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, who supports redistricting.If the Senate rejects the new districts, it would be extremely difficult for proponents to revive the issue. Indianas filing deadline for congressional candidates is in early February, and primary elections are held in early May. National redistricting battle A federal judge in Missouri on Monday dismissed a lawsuit backed by Republican state officials seeking to block a referendum on a new congressional map. The decision clears the way for opponents to submit petition signatures Tuesday that could put the map on hold until a statewide vote can be held next year. In Utah, lawmakers on Tuesday will try to reassert authority over congressional redistricting by convening a special legislative session.A judge ruled in November that a map advanced by state lawmakers earlier this year unduly favors Republicans and disfavors Democrats. The judge imposed an alternative map that would keep Democratic-leaning Salt Lake County almost entirely within one district rather than split between the four Republican-leaning districts.The legislative sessions agenda includes pushing back next years filing deadlines from January to March, buying time until after a potential ruling on redistricting by the state Supreme Court.I support the states appeal and have confidence the Utah Supreme Court will consider it in a timely way, Republican Gov. Spencer Cox said Sunday, so we have clarity for the 2026 election. ___Volmert reported from Lansing, Michigan. Mead Gruver in Fort Collins, Colorado, and David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed to this report. ISABELLA VOLMERT Volmert covers Michigan government and politics for The Associated Press, with a focus on women in state government. She is based in Lansing. twitter mailto

President Donald Trump arrives for the lighting of the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)2025-12-09T05:01:36Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump will road-test his claims that hes tackling Americans affordability woes at a Tuesday rally in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania shifting an argument made in Oval Office appearances and social media posts to a campaign-style event.The trip comes as polling consistently shows that public trust in Trumps economic leadership has faltered. Following dismal results for Republicans in last months off-cycle elections, the White House has sought to convince voters that the economy will emerge stronger next year and that any anxieties over inflation have nothing to do with Trump.The president has consistently blamed his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, for inflation even as his own aggressive implementation of policies has pushed up prices that had been settling down after spiking in 2022 to a four-decade high. Inflation began to accelerate after Trump announced his sweeping Liberation Day tariffs in April. Companies warned that the import taxes could be passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices and reduced hiring, yet Trump continues to insist that inflation has faded. Were bringing prices way down, Trump said at the White House on Monday. You can call it affordability or anything you want but the Democrats caused the affordability problem and were the ones that are fixing it. The presidents reception in the county hosting his Tuesday rally could give a signal of just how much voters trust his claims. Monroe County flipped to Trump in the 2024 election after having backed Biden in 2020, helping the Republican to win the swing state of Pennsylvania and return to the White House after a four-year hiatus. As home to the Pocono Mountains, the county has largely relied on tourism for skiing, hiking, hunting and other activities as a source of jobs. Its proximity to New York City under two hours by car has also attracted people seeking more affordable housing. Its also an area that could help decide control of the House in next years midterm elections.Trump is holding his rally in a congressional district held by freshman Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, who is a top target of Democrats and won his 2024 race by about 1.5 percentage points, among the nations closest. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Democrat, is running for the nomination to challenge him.White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said on the online conservative talk show The Mom View that Trump would be on the campaign trail next year to engage supporters who otherwise might sit out a congressional race.Wiles, who helped manage Trumps 2024 campaign, said most administrations try to localize midterm elections and keep the president out of the race, but she intends to do the opposite of that.Were actually going to turn that on its head, Wiles said, and put him on the ballot because so many of those low-propensity voters are Trump voters. Wiles added, So I havent quite broken it to him yet, but hes going to campaign like its 2024 again. Trump has said hes giving consumers relief by relaxing fuel efficiency standards for autos and signing agreements to reduce list prices on prescription drugs.Trump has also advocated for cuts to the Federal Reserves benchmark interest rate which influences the supply of money in the U.S. economy. He argues that would reduce the cost of mortgages and auto loans, although critics warn that cuts of the scale sought by Trump could instead worsen inflation.The U.S. economy has shown signs of resilience with the stock market up this year and overall growth looking solid for the third quarter. But many Americans see the prices of housing, groceries, education, electricity and other basic needs as swallowing up their incomes, a dynamic that the Trump administration has said it expects to fade next year with more investments in artificial intelligence and manufacturing.Since the November elections where Democrats won key races with a focus on kitchen-table issues, Trump has often dismissed the concerns about prices as a hoax and con job to suggest that he bears no responsibility for inflation, even though he campaigned on his ability to quickly bring down prices. Just 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trumps handling of the economy, according to a November survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.___Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto MARC LEVY Levy covers politics and state government in Pennsylvania for The Associated Press. He is based in Harrisburg. twitter

A man cries at the site of a fire in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)2025-12-09T09:07:09Z JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) A fire ripped through an office building in Indonesias capital, Jakarta, on Tuesday, killing at least 22 people, including a pregnant woman, police said.Flames engulfed the seven-story building, sending thick black smoke billowing into the sky and causing panic among nearby residents and workers in a neighborhood in Central Jakarta.The fire, which broke out around midday, is believed to have started on the first floor of the building in the Kemayoran neighborhood before spreading to other floors, Central Jakarta police chief Susatyo Purnomo Condro said.Hundreds of personnel and 29 fire trucks were deployed to try to contain the blaze. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.Many workers in the building, which was used as a sales and storage office for a drone company, were out for lunch when a battery started sparking in a storage and testing area, said Condro, citing several witnesses. The fire was extinguished after three hours of intense effort. At least 22 bodies seven men and 15 women, including a pregnant woman were recovered from the building and taken to the police hospital in East Jakarta for identification. It is suspected that a short circuit or thermal failure in the drone battery triggered an explosion and fire, a survivor named Dimitri, who like many Indonesians uses a single name, told local television. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Some colleagues on the upper floors tried to escape by moving to the rooftop while calling for help, he added. Television reports showed the tense evacuation of more than a dozen trapped workers, including many women, from the sixth floor using an emergency ladder extended by firefighters. Each person had to be lowered one-by-one from the building, and several struggled to breathe because of the thick smoke while waiting for their turn.Authorities said most of the victims died from smoke inhalation. Firefighters managed to rescue at least 19 trapped workers, some of whom suffered minor injuries, but were in a weak and traumatized condition. A police officer and a firefighter also experienced breathing difficulties. We will comb through the entire building again, Condro said when asked about the possible rise in the death toll. Firefighters are cooling down the scene because the smoke is still thick and it is not yet possible for us to enter the structure.Families anxiously awaited news at hospitals or near the building rented by PT Terra Drone Indonesia, a company that provides unmanned aerial vehicle technology for various industrial sectors such as construction, mining, oil and gas, energy, plantations and urban planning.

Nature, Published online: 09 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03965-xJust a year after the first AI-designed protein was made, scientists are preparing for clinical trials testing AI-designed antibodies.

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After decades of growth driven by diamond mining, Canadas Northwest Territories are facing the closure of three major mines and wondering: Whats next?

The president seemed poised for a big Supreme Court win letting him remove officials without cause. But the justices appeared to struggle with how to insulate the Federal Reserve from politics.

The case centers on efforts by Republican officials to lift limits on how much money political parties can spend in coordination with candidates.

She was seen for two decades as a future face of the Democratic Party. Is she now suddenly a figure of its past?

The CNN logo is displayed at the entrance to the CNN Center in Atlanta on Feb. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Ron Harris, File)2025-12-09T05:01:06Z Paramount Skydances hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery, announced Monday, places CNN and its sister cable networks squarely back into what is likely to be an extended period of management limbo.There was some relief at CNN with last Fridays announcement that Netflix was buying Warners studio and streaming businesses, since the cable network would not be a part of that deal. Paramounts bid, if successful, opens the possibility of a combined CNN and CBS News.The management uncertainty adds to what is already a challenging time at CNN, where there was no doubt who was in charge before swashbuckling founder Ted Turner sold his company in 1996. That era might as well be the roaring 20s for how long ago it feels, said Ross Benes, senior analyst at emarketer.com.Paramounts bid, which must be approved by shareholders and regulators, could be seen favorably by President Donald Trump, who is closely allied with Paramount Skydance chairman and CEO David Ellison as well as his father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison. But Trump has already expressed anger at the company on social media for Sundays 60 Minutes report on former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Prior to Fridays announcement, Warner Bros. Discovery had said it planned to spin off its cable television networks including CNN, Discovery, HGTV, the Food Network and TLC, into a separate company. The growth of streaming has made cable networks an unattractive business. CNNs television ratings have tumbled to the extent that it is firmly the third-rated cable news network behind Fox News Channel and MS NOW, formerly MSNBC. Its CEO, Mark Thompson, has aggressively moved into digital with a new subscription service and said that management of Discovery Global, the spinoff company, has already approved a 2026 budget investing in the plan. I know this strategic review has been a period of inevitable uncertainty across CNN and indeed the whole of WBD, Thompson told staff in a memo Friday. Of course, I cant promise you that the media attention and noise around the sale of our parent will die down overnight. But I do think the path to the successful transformation of this great news enterprise remains open. Thompson had no additional comment on Monday, a spokeswoman said.Since Paramounts takeover of CBS News this past summer, the network has taken steps to appeal to more conservative viewers with the installation of Free Press founder Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief. Weiss is moderating a prime-time discussion this weekend with Erika Kirk, widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.During an appearance on CNBC Monday, Ellison answered, yeah, when asked if he would combine CNNs newsgathering operation with CBS News. What exactly that means is unclear.We want to build a scaled news service that is basically, fundamentally, in the trust business, that is in the truth business, and that speaks to the 70% of Americans that are in the middle, Ellison said.Trump has spoken highly of both Ellison and his billionaire father. But he was clearly angry about Lesley Stahls 60 Minutes interview with former MAGA supporter Greene, who broke with him and recently resigned from Congress. Trump said on Truth Social that his real problem with the show is that the new corporate ownership allowed it to air. THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP, Trump said, adding he believed that 60 Minutes had gotten worse from his perspective since the changeover.CNN is not likely to find out soon who its new owners would be. Even before the Paramount bid, experts had predicted the Netflix deal would face more than a year of regulatory hurdles. And if Netflix eventually wins, emarketer.coms Benes predicted it would be likely that the spinoff company, Discovery Global, would be shopped around to other buyers.CNN will be in limbo for a while no matter which bidder purchases CNN, he said.___David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social. DAVID BAUDER Bauder is the APs national media writer, covering the intersection of news, politics and entertainment. He is based in New York. twitter mailto

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani shares a laugh with his translator during an interview with The Associated Press in Pasadena, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)2025-12-09T12:01:29Z PASADENA, Calif. (AP) Shohei Ohtani is catching up with more legends.The baseball superstar ends 2025 by winning The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the fourth time, tying him with Lance Armstrong, LeBron James and Tiger Woods for most among male honorees.Receiving this award multiple times is something truly special, Ohtani said in Japanese in an exclusive interview with the AP.Ohtani received 29 of 47 votes in balloting among sports journalists from the AP and its members after his two-way dominance culminated in a repeat World Series title for his Los Angeles Dodgers delivering perhaps the greatest single-game individual performance in sports history along the way. He previously won the award in 2024, his first season with the Dodgers, and in 2023 and 2021, when he was with the Los Angeles Angels.The AP honor has been given out since 1931. Multisport standout Babe Didrikson Zaharias won six times over the 1930s, 40s and 50s, the most by a man or woman. The ultra-competitive Ohtanis latest win broke a tie with Michael Jordan, who along with Woods, he followed while growing up in Japan. Last year, I said I wanted to win this award again, and I will work hard so that I can win it again next year as well, he said.Swedish-American pole vaulter Armand Duplantis, who won his third consecutive world title and has set the world record 14 times, including four times in 2025, was second with five votes in balloting announced Tuesday. Carlos Alcaraz, the worlds top-ranked tennis player who won titles at the French and U.S. Opens, was third with four.The AP Female Athlete of the Year will be announced Wednesday. Ohtani returns to two-way supremacyOhtani has shown remarkable consistency since joining the Los Angeles Dodgers on a then-record $700 million, 10-year contract in December 2023.He won his fourth career Most Valuable Player award (second with the Dodgers) by unanimous vote, the first player in major league history to do so.This year, he posted a 1.014 OPS and hit 55 home runs. Returning to the mound for the first time since 2023, he had a 2.87 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 47 innings over 14 starts.Ohtani saved his best for the postseason.In Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, he pitched six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and hit three home runs to earn MVP honors. He said it was his greatest game in a career full of incredible feats.If you think about it in terms of a single game, Id say thats probably true, he said. It was a crucial game in the postseason, and I personally feel I played quite well in that game.Does he surprise himself?Well, yes, there are times when I feel that way about myself, and of course there are times when I think Im not good enough, he said, so I suppose athletes experience both kinds of feelings. Another year, another championship for Ohtani and the DodgersOhtani showed hes human in Game 7 of the World Series. He singled in the first inning and then took the mound on short rest, but he struggled with his command. He gave up a three-run homer to Torontos Bo Bichette along with five hits in 2 1/3 innings.But he and the Dodgers raised a second straight World Series trophy after outlasting the Blue Jays in the most scintillating Series in recent memory.Shohei obviously has the weight of the world on his shoulders as far as expectations, being probably the face of baseball, certainly when youre talking about the world, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after Game 7. Its just really special what hes done. Just a great person and a great competitor.Ohtanis presence has been transformative for MLBs global reach. Game 7 of this World Series averaged 13.1 million viewers in Japan, the most-watched World Series game on a single network there ever, and 51 million watched worldwide to make it the most-viewed since Game 7 of the 1991 World Series. How does Ohtani keep topping himself?I think the higher your goals are, the more you have to do, and the more you want to do, he said. If youre satisfied with where you are now, I dont think its possible to achieve your goals without putting in the effort. So, setting goals high is what I believe is most important.The Dodgers carefully managed Ohtanis return to pitching this year by gradually increasing his workload after rehabbing from elbow surgery in September 2023. His innings were initially capped before he was allowed to make longer starts as he felt better.When it comes to feeling nervous, being on the mound definitely makes me more tense, he said. Its a position where you can single-handedly ruin a game, and at the same time, its also a position where you can contribute to a win. So, in my mind, I feel that being a pitcher is truly a special role.At 31, Ohtani has undergone three major surgeries: two on his right elbow and another on his left shoulder. Regardless of the physical and mental wear and tear, he plans on remaining a two-way player his entire career. I think its best to keep doing it right up until the moment I retire, he said.Ohtani plans to play for Japan in the World Baseball Classic in March.Im still not sure whether Ill be pitching, he said. Ive been given permission to play in the tournament, but as for how much and in what way, including on the batting side, thats something well be discussing.Winning a third consecutive World Series championship is among Ohtanis biggest goals in 2026.Staying healthy and appearing in every game without injury, thats the smallest goal I have, he said.An exciting year off the field, tooOhtani became a father for the first time when his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, gave birth to their daughter in April. He carefully guards against revealing her name and any details about his home life. No word on how his beloved dog Decoy reacted to having a new sibling, either.Ohtanis American fans enjoy hearing him speak English on the rare occasions hes done so publicly, including at both World Series celebrations. He understands most of the language, although he uses an interpreter in interviews.I think it would be best if I could speak in English, so even if its just small steps, I want to keep working at it, he said. Whether its with fans or in different situations, being able to speak directly in English might help bridge the gap between us.In the meantime, hell keep letting his bat and arm speak volumes.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

On a recent immigration raid, a Border Patrol agent wore a pair of Metas Ray-Ban smart glasses, with the privacy light clearly on signaling he was recording the encounter, which agents are not permitted to do, according to photos and videos of the incident shared with 404 Media.Previously when 404 Media covered Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officials use of Metas Ray-Bans, it wasnt clear if the officials were using them to record raids because the recording lights were not on in any of the photos seen by 404 Media. In the new material from Charlotte, North Carolina, during the recent wave of immigration enforcement, the recording light is visibly illuminated.That is significant because CBP says it does not allow employees to use personal recording devices. CBP told 404 Media it does not have an arrangement with Meta, indicating this official was wearing personally-sourced glasses.An activist in Charlotte provided the photos and videos to 404 Media. 404 Media granted them anonymity to protect them from retaliation.They said the encounter happened at a busy intersection surrounded by a forest where a flower seller usually sets up shop. By the time we showed up, the flower vendor had apparently seen Border Patrol agents approaching, and he ran into the woods, the activist said. They then deployed agents that were wearing these bucket hats into the woods.Image: 404 Media.One of those agents was wearing the Meta Ray-Ban glasses, the material shows.When we initially wrote about CBP agents wearing Meta Ray-Bans in Los Angeles, privacy experts told 404 Media that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policies ban agents from wearing personal recording devices and also explicitly ban agents from taking their own recordings.CBPs policy on recording devices states that no personally owned devices may be used in lieu of IDVRS [Incident Driven Video Recording Systems] to record law enforcement encounters. It adds that recorded data shall not be downloaded or recorded for personal use or posted onto a personally owned device. The broader DHS policy says that the use of personally owned [Body Worn Cameras] or other video, audio, or digital recording devices to record official law enforcement activities is prohibited.In a statement to 404 Media, a CBP spokesperson reaffirmed that the agency does not have any contract with Meta, and said that agents cannot use personal recording devices, but can bring personally purchased sunglasses. The statement did not say anything about what happens if the sunglasses happen to have a camera and microphone inside of them.CBP does not have an arrangement with Meta. The use of personal recording devices is not authorized; however, Border Patrol agents may wear personally purchased sunglasses, the CBP spokesperson told 404 Media. CBP utilize Go Pros mounted to helmets or body armor at times, as well as traditional DSLR handheld cameras.Meta did not respond to a request for comment.In November, DHS launched an operation it called Charlottes Web, focused on the North Carolina city. In its announcement, DHS pointed to several criminals it said it detained. Data recently obtained by the CATO Institute showed that 73 percent of people detained by ICE since October had no criminal convictions, and five percent had a violent criminal conviction.

Autobiographical stories and mystery games resonated in a chaotic year.

As Gen Alphas attention drifts from TV and movies, video creators like Alan Chikin Chow are eager to fill the void.

A judge blamed deliberate indifference for the illness of a man held by immigration officials. Across the country, several courts have blasted conditions in U.S. facilities.

Call me a boomer, but these participation trophies have gone too far, Stephen Colbert said before presenting himself with the First Annual Stephen Colbert Joke Prize.

The post Unfairport appeared first on The Onion.

HIRAIZUMI-CH, NISHIIWAI,IWATE, JAPANStruggling to decidewhether one on fall or springwould rock their shit more,Zen monk Ken Itostrained for a haiku to knockthem on their asses.I could mess them upwith that Bash one aboutthe full moons splendor,the Buddhist monk saidWednesday, seeing a tour groupon the temple grounds,trawling through his mindfor the best contemplationson lifes fleetingnessin syllabic setsof five-seven-five that couldblow their fucking minds.Then again maybeI hit them with Rykanon the transientdew on lotus leavesin the darkened mountainside.Bet that fucks them up.At press time, afterthe monk had found the perfecthaiku, he remarked,Ah, summer grasses!All that is still remaining Of warriors dreams,only to see thatthe group had gone, leaving himfeeling like an ass.The post Japanese Monk Racks
Brain For Haiku That Will Knock
Them On Their Asses appeared first on The Onion.

PHILADELPHIAIn an effort to earn extra income after Congress rescinded $1.1 billion in funds from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Fresh Air host Terry Gross reportedly conducted an interview Thursday via Bluetooth during an Uber shift.And what can you tell us about how bull riding has changed sinceoh shit, that was my exit. Yep, that was my exit, said Gross, who used an iPhone perched on the dashboard of her 2013 Honda Civic hatchback to speak with a guest on her radio program while chauffeuring Uber riders through the streets of downtown Philadelphia.Are you Allison? Did you call for an Uber? continued the two-time Peabody Awardwinning interviewer. And Curtis, a question for you. What was it like the first time you stepped into a rodeo arena, knowing you were the only person of color competing that day? If its too hot back there, theres a control knob in the middle. I can get you close to the stadium, but honestly, youre better off having me drop you a few blocks away and then walking. Well be right back after a short break.According to listeners, Gross was later forced to cut short a segment on Dutch elm disease after accidentally rear-ending a police car.The post Terry Gross Conducts Fresh Air Interview On Bluetooth During Uber Shift appeared first on The Onion.

BOERNE, TXProviding an underwhelming new dining option for those returning to visit family in the area, people who grew up in a small Texas suburb were informed this week that their hometown had unveiled a disappointing local microbrewery.You like those IPAs, right? They supposedly got lots of those, said one family member, revealing that the Tree Ring Brewing Company had a large but disappointing selection of craft beers along with outdoor seating amidst the scenic backdrop of Interstate 10. And if youre hungry, theyve got a full menu of [cooked-from-frozen food with zero vegetarian options]. Youll love their cute metal holders for tacos. So neat. Plus, this guy you went to high school with plays live music on Thursdays. He mostly does covers [something youll be grateful for when you hear his originals]. We can dine a little later because they stay open until 8 p.m.!At press time, family sources confirmed they would suggest going to the underwhelming microbrewery every single time you were in town.The post Hometown Unveils Disappointing Microbrewery appeared first on The Onion.

Smoke rises as Israeli military demolish a house east of Gaza City, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)2025-12-09T12:59:16Z JERUSALEM (AP) A Hamas leader on Tuesday threatened to not move into the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement until more pressure is put on Israel to open a key border crossing, cease deadly strikes and allow more aid into the Palestinian territory.The accusation came as Israels government says it is ready to move into the next and more complicated phase of the ceasefire deal, while calling on the militant group to return the remains of the last Israeli hostage held in Gaza.Husam Badran, a member of Hamas political wing, called for the full implementation of all the terms of the first phase before moving forward, including an end to what he called the continuing demolition of Palestinian homes in the majority of the territory still controlled by Israel.Israels military operations in Gaza have resulted in the deaths of at least 376 Palestinians since the ceasefire took hold on Oct. 10, according to Palestinian health officials. Hamas has little leverage in ceasefire negotiations and could come under heavy pressure from regional powers like Qatar and Turkey to not hit the brakes on the fragile truce. Israel has also accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire. It has defended its strikes as a response to attacks against its soldiers or people getting too close to the area it controls, though a number of people killed have been women and children and some strikes have occurred in the safe zone, according to Palestinian health officials. As a humanitarian crisis continues in Gaza, the United Nations and other aid organizations said that not nearly enough aid is entering the territory.Israel said on Wednesday it would begin to allow aid into Gaza through a crossing on the Jordan-Israel border.The U.S.-led plan outlining the future for the devastated territory has gained momentum in recent weeks.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel and Hamas are very shortly expected to move into the second phase of the ceasefire, after Hamas returns the remains of the last hostage. Hamas has said the destruction by Israeli strikes in Gaza has been an obstacle in their search for remains. Meanwhile, officials have said that an international body tasked with governing Gaza in the ceasefires next phase is expected to be announced by the end of the year.The Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel killed around 1,200 people while 251 were taken hostage. Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.Gazas Health Ministry says the Palestinian toll has topped 70,365. Its count does not distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says roughly half of those killed have been women and children. The ministry operates under the Hamas-run government. It is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.___Find more of APs Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war MEGAN JANETSKY Megan Janetsky covers migration, conflict, human rights and politics in Mexico and Central America for The AP based in Mexico City. Previously, she covered Cuba and the Caribbean for The AP and worked as freelance journalist in Colombia, reporting across South America. twitter instagram facebook mailto JULIA FRANKEL Frankel, based in Jerusalem, has reported from across Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Her reporting focuses on war, human rights, displacement and criminal justice. twitter mailto

FILE Audrey Strauss, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks during a news conference to announce charges against Ghislaine Maxwell for her alleged role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of multiple minor girls by Jeffrey Epstein, July 2, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)2025-12-09T14:26:37Z NEW YORK (AP) A federal judge said Tuesday the Justice Department can publicly release investigative materials from a sex trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime confidant of Jeffrey Epstein.Judge Paul A. Engelmayer ruled after the Justice Department in November asked two judges in New York to unseal grand jury transcripts and exhibits from Maxwell and Epsteins cases, along with investigative materials that could amount to hundreds or thousands of previously unreleased documents.The ruling, in the wake of the passage last month of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, means the records could be made public within 10 days. The law requires the Justice Department provide Epstein-related records to the public in a searchable format by Dec. 19.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, at podium, speaks during a news conference in Mineola, N.Y., March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Philip Marcelo, File)2025-12-09T13:49:58Z Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a firebrand Long Island Republican, announced a run for governor of New York on Tuesday, setting up a primary clash with fellow Trump ally U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik.Blakeman, labeled 100% MAGA by President Donald Trump, criticized Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochu said in a social media post and said New Yorkers deserve leadership that works.In an appearance Tuesday on the Fox News Fox and Friends show, Blakeman said Hochul is a failure who needs to be replaced. Im running for office to make people more prosperous, to make them safer and to make New Yorkers happy again.Blakemans candidacy kicks off what is expected to be a heated Republican contest against Stefanik, a conservative from northern New York who Trump nominated for U.N. ambassador, only to withdraw it over concerns that the slim GOP majority couldnt afford to lose any more House seats. Trump has so far avoided taking sides, telling reporters this week Hes great, and shes great. Theyre both great people. Democrats enjoy a strong voter registration advantage in New York, but next years race for governor is expected to be one of the nations most watched contests. Hochul, a moderate Democrat, is facing a primary challenge from her own lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado. Blakeman, from his post as the leader of a suburban county just east of New York City, has cast himself as a bulwark against liberal, urban leadership in a part of Long Island that leans conservative and embraced Trump in recent elections. He has pushed through a policy that bans transgender athletes from using county sports facilities, created a volunteer law enforcement unit that his critics have labeled as a militia and directed county detectives to work alongside federal authorities in Trumps immigration crackdown. Nassaus first Jewish county executive, he also signed a local ban on wearing face masks in public except for health or religious reasons, a measure that critics complain is aimed at cracking down on pro-Palestine demonstrations. Blakeman cruised to victory in his election to a second term in November. And previously, he served in the Hempstead Town Council and held an appointed post as the commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. But bigger elective offices have eluded him. Hochuls campaign issued a statement saying Blakeman has lost just about every race hes touched county legislator, comptroller, Congress, even U.S. Senate. Theres a reason: just like Donald Trump, he takes money out of New Yorkers pockets and squeezes working families at every turn. Both Blakeman and Stefanik now frame themselves as candidates who could appeal to moderate Democrats as well as Republicans, even though both have adopted the brash political rhetoric of Trump, who remains unpopular in New York.Former Gov. George Pataki was the states last Republican governor, leaving office about two decades ago. PHILIP MARCELO Marcelo is a general assignment reporter in the NYC bureau. He previously wrote for AP Fact Check and before that was based in Boston, where he focused on race and immigration. twitter mailto

Nancy Shine at her home in Los Altos, Calif., on Nov. 21, 2025. Shine is a scientist who donated blood plasma that is used to create the treatment for infant botulism. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)2025-12-09T14:03:45Z When Alessandro Barbera was rushed to a California hospital with infant botulism in October, his father had barely heard of the disease, never mind the rare and costly treatment that likely saved the newborns life.Now, however, Tony Barbera is deeply grateful for BabyBIG, the sole antidote to the paralyzing and potentially deadly illnesses linked to contaminated ByHeart infant formula.It is hugely remarkable, said Barbera, 35, whose son is slowly recovering. The botulism outbreak tied to ByHeart formula has sickened at least 39 babies across in 18 states since August and showed the value of the treatment made from blood plasma donated by a small group of scientists and other volunteers.This is almost like a miracle, said Dr. Vijay Viswanath, a pediatric neurologist at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, who has treated several children with botulism during his career including one in the current outbreak. Prior to the discovery of BabyBIG, some of these hospitalizations would take two or three months, Viswanath said, if infected children recovered at all.Licensed in 2003, BabyBIG is the brand name for human botulism immune globulin, an IV medication that uses antibodies from volunteers vaccinated against botulism to help babies too young to fight the disease on their own. Treatment relies on donorsThe treatment was the brainchild of the late Dr. Stephen Arnon, who was a scientist with the California Department of Public Health. In 1976, Arnon and colleagues identified the rare form of botulism that affects infants younger than 1 and then spent his 45-year career figuring out how to treat it. The disease occurs when babies ingest botulism spores that germinate in the intestine and produce a dangerous toxin that attacks the nervous system.More than 3,700 children worldwide have been treated with BabyBIG since Arnon and his team conducted a pivotal clinical trial in California in 1997 that showed the medication could shorten hospital stays and reduce the need for breathing machines.Produced in small batches every five years, BabyBIG costs nearly $70,000 per treatment, according to the California Infant Botulism Treatment and Prevention Program, which Arnon founded. Under state law, fees from the sale of the drug are used only to fund the botulism program.The medication relies on donors like Nancy Shine, a 76-year-old retired biochemist in California who was vaccinated against botulism because she worked with the lethal germ in a lab. Arnon first recruited Shine and other scientists for the BabyBIG project two decades ago because their blood produced high levels of antibodies, the blood proteins that neutralize the botulism toxin.The early protocol required the volunteers to receive boosters doses of an investigational botulism vaccine also used by the U.S. military and then undergo a procedure that harvests the blood plasma that contains antibodies against botulism types A and B. It was not very pleasant to be vaccinated with, Shine recalled. There were a lot of side effects, like big welts where you got vaccinated and a little bit of pain. Still, Shine contributed to three batches of the antitoxin produced between 2008 and 2019. Its probably the highlight of my career that I actually was able to participate in this project and donate plasma, Shine said. We made a product that could save infants lives.Development faced hurdlesBecause infant botulism is rare, with fewer than 200 cases reported in the U.S. each year, finding funding and other resources to develop the BabyBIG treatment took nearly 15 years and $10.6 million and faced substantial hurdles, Arnon noted in a 2007 article.Today, about 30 people on average provide plasma for each batch of BabyBIG, California health officials said. Batch 8, the latest edition, is being manufactured now at a Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. plant near Los Angeles, according to Giles Platford, president of the companys plasma-derived therapies unit. The company contracts with California officials to produce BabyBIG on a not-for-profit basis, Platford said. Some of the earliest donors, like Shine, have aged out of the BabyBIG program, which collects blood from adult volunteers up to age 70. New donors are accepted, but they must enroll in a clinical study directed by the California health department and agree to receive a booster dose of a different investigational botulism vaccine.California officials estimate they have enough BabyBIG in reserve to last until next summer, based on current projections. The ByHeart outbreak is part of a worrisome rise of at least 107 infant botulism cases treated in the U.S. since August, said Dr. Jessica Khouri, senior medical officer for the state program. Shine recently received a booklet filled with photos and letters from families whose children have recovered from botulism after receiving BabyBIG. Its really wonderful. I read a couple each day, she said. Every single one of them makes you want to cry. ___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. JONEL ALECCIA Aleccia covers food and nutrition at The Associated Press. She is based in Southern California. twitter mailto

A man in Atlanta has been arrested and charged for allegedly deleting data from a Google Pixel phone before a member of a secretive Customs and Border Protection (CBP) unit was able to search it, according to court records and social media posts reviewed by 404 Media. The man, Samuel Tunick, is described as a local Atlanta activist in Instagram and other posts discussing the case.The exact circumstances around the searchsuch as why CBP wanted to search the phone in the first placeare not known. But it is uncommon to see someone charged specifically for wiping a phone, a feature that is easily accessible in some privacy and security-focused devices.Do you know anything else about this case? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at joseph.404 or send me an email at joseph@404media.co.The indictment says on January 24, Tunick did knowingly destroy, damage, waste, dispose of, and otherwise take any action to delete the digital contents of a Google Pixel cellular phone, for the purpose of preventing and impairing the Governments lawful authority to take said property into its custody and control. The indictment itself was filed in mid-November.Tunick was arrested earlier this month, according to a post on a crowd-funding site and court records. Samuel Tunick, an Atlanta-based activist, Oberlin graduate, and beloved musician, was arrested by the DHS and FBI yesterday around 6pm EST. Tunick's friends describe him as an approachable, empathetic person who is always finding ways to improve the lives of the people around him, the site says. Various activists have since shared news of Tunicks arrest on social media.The indictment says the phone search was supposed to be performed by a supervisory officer from a CBP Tactical Terrorism Response Team. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote in 2023 these are highly secretive units deployed at U.S. ports of entry, which target, detain, search, and interrogate innocent travelers.These units, which may target travelers on the basis of officer instincts. raise the risk that CBP is engaging in unlawful profiling or interfering with the First Amendment-protected activity of travelers, the ACLU added. The Intercept previously covered the case of a sculptor and installation artist who was detained at San Francisco International Airport and had his phone searched. The report said Gach did not know why, even years later.Court records show authorities have since released Tunick, and that he is restricted from leaving the Northern District of Georgia as the case continues.The prosecutor listed on the docket did not respond to a request for comment. The docket did not list a lawyer representing Tunick.

Nature, Published online: 09 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03739-5The question of where eddies come from is immortalized in verse, and an earwig emerges remarkably unscathed from inside a vacuum tube, in this weeks peek at Natures archive.

President Trump said Nvidia can export some chips. But years of U.S. restrictions have propelled China to make everything it needs for advanced A.I.

The ruling cited a law signed last month by President Trump requiring the Justice Department to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein and his longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Born into a British aristocratic family, he turned his empathy and understanding of the worlds largest land mammals to the cause of saving them from poachers.

President Trumps move fulfills a major goal of the chipmaker. But the move faces opposition in Washington and uncertainty in Beijing.

Growing up, I thought my grandma's sewing room was a one-of-a-kind space. Now, it is.READ MORE...