Nature, Published online: 11 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-04055-8Combining artificial intelligence with a conventional climate model can predict heatwaves faster than the standard model alone.

Its an actual place, not an arbitrarily bounded zone.

The tariffs will apply to goods from China and other nations. Washington has been pressuring Mexico to move away from dealing with China.

Nature, Published online: 11 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-04069-2Researchers will study the effects of the policy on young peoples mental health, social interactions and political engagement.

The University of Michigan fired Sherrone Moore earlier in the day, an abrupt end to his career there, one of the highest profile jobs in college football.

Nature, Published online: 11 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09993-xAuthor Correction: Conservation and alteration of mammalian striatal interneurons

The county health worker scanned the Omaha, Nebraska, home with an X-ray gun, searching for the poison.It was 2022, and doctors had recently found high levels of lead in the blood of Crystalyn Prines 2-year-old son, prompting the Health Department to investigate. The worker said it didnt seem to come from the walls, where any lead would be buried under layers of smooth paint. The lead assessor swabbed the floors for dust but didnt find answers as to how Prines son had been exposed.A danger did lurk outside, the worker told her. For more than a century, a smelter and other factories had spewed lead-laced smoke across the citys east side, leading the federal government to declare a huge swath of Omaha a Superfund site and to dig up and replace nearly 14,000 yards including about a third of the east sides residential properties since 1999.Prine looked up the soil tests for her home online and discovered her yard contained potentially harmful levels of lead. But when she called the city, officials told her that her home didnt qualify for government-funded cleanup under the standard in place from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.Prine didnt want to move out of the home that had been in her husbands family for generations. So she followed the countys advice to keep her five kids safe. They washed their hands frequently and took off their shoes when they came inside.Then, Prine heard some news at the clinic where she worked as a nurse that gave her hope: In January 2024, the EPA under President Joe Biden lowered the lead levels that could trigger cleanup. Her home was above the new threshold.That didnt automatically mean her yard would be cleaned up, local officials told her, but last year, the EPA began to study the possibility of cleaning up tens of thousands of more yards in Omaha, according to emails and other records obtained by Flatwater Free Press and ProPublica. The agency was also discussing with local officials whether to expand the cleanup area to other parts of Omaha and its surrounding suburbs.Then, this October, the Trump administration rolled back the Biden administrations guidance. In doing so, it tripled the amount of lead that had to be in the soil to warrant a potential cleanup, meaning that Prine and other families might again be out of luck.Prines son Jack, now 5, struggles to speak. He talks less than his 2-year-old brother and stumbles over five-word sentences.On a recent Sunday morning, 5-year-old Jack Prine, left, plays with his 2-year-old brother at home. Tests showed lead in the blood of both children. Rebecca S. Gratz for ProPublicaYou would think that if lead is this impactful on a small child, that you would definitely want to be fixing it, she said. What do you do as a parent? I dont want to keep my kid from playing outside. He loves playing outside, and I should be able to do that in my own yard.Scientists have long agreed about the dangers of lead. The toxic metal can get into kids brains and nervous systems, causing IQ loss and developmental delays. Experts say the Trump administrations guidance runs counter to decades of research: In the 26 years since the government began to clean up east Omaha the largest residential lead Superfund site in the country scientists have found harm at ever lower levels of exposure.Yet what gets cleaned up is often not just a matter of science but also money and government priorities, according to experts who have studied the Superfund program.Prines block illustrates how widespread Omahas lead problem is and how many people who might have benefited from the Biden guidance may no longer get relief. Of the 11 homes on her block, four were cleaned up by the EPA. Six others tested below the original cleanup standard but above the levels in the Biden guidance and were never remediated.Every Home on This Block Tested High for Lead. Only Four Were Cleaned Up.Under current cleanup standards, homes in Omaha need 400 parts per million of lead in their soil to qualify for remediation. Four of the 11 homes on this block qualified. The remaining seven had levels from 100 to 400 parts per million.Note: An EPA risk model predicts that lead-soil levels below 100 ppm would generally protect kids from developing a blood-lead level the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds concerning. Photos by Rebecca S. Gratz for ProPublicaFlatwater Free Press and ProPublica are embarking on a yearlong project about Omahas lead legacy, including testing soil to find out how effective the cleanup has been. If you live in or near the affected area, you can sign up for free lead testing of your soil.Despite the changing guidance, Omaha still follows a cleanup standard set in 2009: Properties qualify for cleanup if parts of the yard have more than 400 parts per million of lead in the soil the equivalent of a marble in a 10-pound bucket of dirt. The Biden administration lowered the guidance for so-called removal management levels to 200 parts per million.The Trump administration has said its new guidance, which raised them to 600 parts per million, would speed cleanups by providing clearer direction and streamlining investigations of contaminated sites. But environmental advocates said it only accelerates project completion by cleaning up fewer properties.The EPA disputed that. Protecting communities from lead exposure at contaminated sites is EPAs statutory responsibility and a top priority for the Trump EPA, the agency said in a statement. The criticism that our Residential Soil Lead Directive will result in EPA doing less is false.The new guidance doesnt necessarily scrap the hopes of Omaha homeowners or the conversations that were happening around the Biden recommendations. Thats because the Trump administration continues to allow EPA managers to study properties with lower levels of lead, depending on how widespread the contamination is and how likely people are to be harmed. What actually gets cleaned up is decided by local EPA officials, who can set remediation levels higher or lower based on the circumstances of specific sites.More than 25 years after the EPA declared Omahas east side a Superfund site, the city is still working to clean up lead-contaminated properties, including this vacant lot. Rebecca S. Gratz for ProPublicaRegional EPA spokesperson Kellen Ashford said the agency is continuing to assess the Omaha site and will meet with local and state leaders to chart a path forward with how the updated residential lead directive may apply.Gabriel Filippelli, executive director of Indiana Universitys Environmental Resilience Institute, has studied lead and Superfund sites for decades and said he is doubtful the EPA will spend the money to clean up more yards in Omaha. The EPA doesnt act if you dont have local people raising alarm bells, he said.Yet in Omaha, many are unaware of the debate or even the presence of lead in their yards. Most of the cleanup happened more than a decade ago. As years passed, new people moved in, and younger residents never learned about the site. Others who did know assumed the lead problem was solved. The dustup around lead has mostly settled even if much of the toxic metal in the citys dirt never left.Mass PoisonWhen Prine moved into Omahas Field Club neighborhood in 2018, she loved the Queen Anne and Victorian-style homes that lined shady boulevards and how her neighbors decorated heavily for Halloween and Christmas.While she had visited the home previously to see her husbands family, Prine had no idea her neighborhood was in the middle of a massive environmental cleanup.The first time I heard about it was when my son had an elevated blood-lead level, she said.From 1870 to 1997, the American Smelting and Refining Company sat on the Missouri River in downtown Omaha, melting and refining so much lead to make batteries, cover cables and enrich gasoline that it was once the largest operation in the country, according to a 1949 newspaper article.By the 1970s, researchers had proven lead was poisoning American children. Doctors in Omaha noticed kids with elevated blood-lead levels and published findings connecting the toxic metal in their bodies to the smoke pouring out of ASARCO and other polluters.The view of Omahas riverfront in 1968. Omaha factories, primarily a lead smelter, deposited 400 million pounds of the toxic metal across the city over more than a century. Omaha World-HeraldIn the late 1990s, when city leaders wanted to demolish ASARCO and redevelop the site into a riverfront park, they had to figure out how to clean up Omahas lead legacy. They turned to the EPA, which declared a 27-square-mile swath of east Omaha a Superfund site, a federal designation that would allow the agency to clean up the contamination and try to hold the polluters responsible to pay for it.The agency estimated the smelter, along with other polluters, had spewed about 400 million pounds of lead dust over an area, where 125,000 people, including 14,000 young children, lived.The EPA won $246 million in settlements from ASARCO and others to fund the cleanup.By 2015, most of the yards that tested above 400 parts per million had their soil replaced, and the EPA handed the remaining work to the city. The old smelter site was redeveloped into a science museum with a playground outside.The project seemed like a success. The number of kids testing high for lead has dropped dramatically since the 1990s, though similar patterns exist nationwide and fewer than half the kids in the site are tested annually, according to data from the Health Department in Douglas County, where Omaha is located.But evidence had already been emerging that the cleanup levels the EPA had set in Omaha may not protect children, which the agency acknowledged in 2019, during the first Trump administration. Managers wrote in a site review that increasing evidence supports a lower blood-lead level of concern than the 1994 health guidance that informed the cleanup plan.Lead, even in incredibly small amounts, can build up in the brains, bones or organs of children as well as adults, said Bruce Lanphear, a professor at Simon Fraser University in Canada who has studied lead for decades.Lead represents the largest mass poison in human history, he said.The former American Smelting and Refining Company site is now home to a science museum and playground. Rebecca S. Gratz for ProPublicaAfter the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lowered its blood-lead level standard, the EPAs Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation began working on new lead cleanup guidance for the EPA regions in 2012, said James Woolford, director of the office from 2006 to 2020. The EPA took a cautious, studied approach to how much lead in dirt is acceptable.Zero was obviously the preference. But what could you do given whats in the environment? he asked. And so we were kind of stuck there.Then, in 2024, Biden stepped in.If regional EPA officials applied the administrations guidance to the Omaha site, over 13,000 more properties in Omaha could have qualified, a Flatwater Free Press and ProPublica analysis of EPA and city of Omaha soil tests found.The number could have been even higher, records show. Nearly 27,000 properties, including those that never received cleanup and those that received partial cleanup, would have been eligible for further evaluation, EPA manager Preston Law wrote to a state environmental official in March 2024.The EPA had also been discussing with city and state officials whether to expand the cleanup area: A map that an EPA contractor created with a computer model to simulate the smelters plume shows that it likely stretched 23 miles north to south across five counties in Nebraska and Iowa.A computer-simulated map shows the smelters plume stretching 23 miles north to south across five counties in Nebraska and Iowa. The model was created by an EPA contractor in 2024 as part of a new assessment of the site. Obtained by Flatwater Free Press and ProPublicaBut cleaning up all the properties to the Biden levels could cost more than $800 million, the then-interim director of the Nebraska Department of Energy and Environment, Thaddeus Fineran, wrote to the EPAs administrator in May 2024.If cleanup costs exceeded the funds set aside from Omahas settlements, the EPA would have to dip into the federal Superfund trust fund, which generally requires a 10% match from the state, said Ashford, the EPA spokesperson.That could mean a contribution of $80 million or more from Nebraska, which is already facing a $471 million budget deficit. In the letter, Fineran wrote that the state would reserve the right to challenge the Updated Lead Soil Guidance and any actions taken in furtherance thereof.The Nebraska Department of Water, Energy, and Environment, as the agency is now called, declined an interview, referring questions to the EPA.Researchers and decision-makers are likely taking a cautious approach toward what they agree to clean up in Omaha, Woolford said. Given its size, it could carry weight elsewhere.It will set the baseline for sites across the country, he said.Hollow ClaimsThe Trump administration may upend any plans to expand the cleanup.In March, the EPA announced what it called the biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history. By July, about 1 in 5 employees who worked for the EPA when Trump took office were gone. The administration proposed slashing the EPAs budget in half.The administration promised to prioritize Superfund cleanups. But in October, it changed the lead guidance. As a result, more people will be at risk of absorbing damaging amounts of lead into their bodies, said Tom Neltner, national director for the advocacy organization Unleaded Kids.It signals that the claims that lead is a priority for them are hollow, he said.The Trump administration said Bidens approach had inconsistencies and inefficiencies that led to analysis paralysis and slowed projects down.Children cant wait years for us to put a shovel in the dirt to clean up the areas where they live and play, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement.To avoid the lead-contaminated soil in their yard, the Prine children play only on the back patio and sidewalk. Rebecca S. Gratz for ProPublicaUnder the guidance, the EPA could issue a lower standard for the Omaha site. But Robert Weinstock, director of Northwestern Universitys Environmental Advocacy Center, said thats unlikely unless the state sets a lower state standard than the EPA.Trumps guidance has some advantages in being more clear, said Filippelli of Indiana University. The Biden guidance seemed overly ambitious: Filippelli and other researchers estimated 1 in 4 American homes could have qualified for cleanup with an estimated cost of $290 billion to $1.2 trillion.Steve Zivny, program manager of Omahas Lead Information Office Rebecca S. Gratz for ProPublicaWhile Omaha could be the litmus test for how low the Trump EPA is willing to set cleanup standards, the new guidelines dont inspire confidence that the administration will do more to clean up old sites where work is nearly finished.I imagine the inertia would be just to say, Oh, were done with Omaha, he said.The city has received no timeline from the EPA, said Steve Zivny, program manager of Omahas Lead Information Office. Hes guessing money will play a big part in the decision over whether to clean up at a lower lead level, though. About $90 million of the Omaha Superfund settlement remains.If the data is there and the science is there and the moneys there, I think we would expect it to be lowered, Zivny said. But theres just so many factors that are not really in our control.If cleanup levels arent lowered in Omaha, advocates will have more work to do, said Kiley Petersmith, an assistant professor at Nebraska Methodist College who until recently oversaw a statewide blood-lead testing program.I think were just gonna have to rally together to do more to prevent it from getting from our environment into our kids, she said.A Buried IssueDespite the cleanup efforts, Omahans are still exposed at higher rates compared with the national average, said Dr. Egg Qin, an epidemiologist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center who has studied the Superfund site. Yet the city seems to be moving on, he said.Somebody needs to take the responsibility, Qin said, to make sure the community knows lead poisoning still exists significantly in Omaha.About 40% of the 398 people who have already signed up to have their soil tested by Flatwater Free Press and ProPublica said they did not feel knowledgeable about the history of lead contamination in Omaha.Like the Prines, Omaha resident Vanessa Ballard takes care to not wear shoes in her home to avoid high levels of lead-contaminated soil. Rebecca S. Gratz for ProPublicaThat may in part be due to disclosure rules. When a person sells a home, state and federal law requires them to share any knowledge about lead hazards. The EPAs original cleanup plan from 2009 says that should include providing buyers with soil test results.But in most cases, there can be very little disclosure, said Tim Reeder, a real estate agent who works in the Superfund site. Omahas association of real estate agents provides a map of the Superfund site to give to buyers, along with some basic information, if the home is within the boundaries.City and local health officials spread the word about lead through neighborhood meetings, local TV interviews and billboards. But most people dont take it seriously until someone they know tests high, Petersmith said.Unfortunately, once it affects them personally, like if their child or grandchild or cousin has lead exposure, then its too late, she said.When Omaha pediatrician Katie MacKrell moved into a house in the Dundee neighborhood, she thought her kids were fine to play in the yard. Her son sucked his thumb. Her daughter dropped her pacifier and put it back in.When their kids both tested high for lead, MacKrell and her husband went to work fixing lead paint issues in the house. When it came to the yard, her property tested for lead levels above the Biden guidance but didnt qualify under the original cleanup threshold. And without government help, it could cost the couple more than $10,000 to pay for the remediation themselves.Ballard sits with her 19-month-old son, DiVine Cronin, as he plays with a new toy at home. Rebecca S. Gratz for ProPublicaBallard covers the windows in her home with plastic to keep DiVine and her 5-year-old, MJ Collins, pictured, from touching the lead paint and to prevent lead-contaminated dust from blowing inside. Rebecca S. Gratz for ProPublicaThe lead also caught Vanessa Ballard, a high school teacher and mom of two young boys, by surprise. She had imagined growing fruit trees in her backyard until she discovered lead levels high enough to potentially clean up under the Biden guidelines. Now, no one goes in the backyard. Her oldest son splashes in soapy water after making tracks for his Hot Wheels cars in the dirt, and she mixes droplets of iron with the kids juice every night to help their bodies repel lead.I have no hand in the cause of this, but I have all the responsibility in the prevention of it harming me and my family, she said.Prine will never know whether lead stunted Jacks speech development, but she worries about it every day.Starting kindergarten helped. But her son is still behind other kids. Prine said she tries to put on a brave face, to believe one day hell catch up. If he doesnt, its hard not to suspect the culprit could be in her soil.It seemed the government, at least for a short while, agreed. Now she, and so many others in Omaha, dont know when, if ever, to expect a solution.Why does it take so long, when they say its not safe, to then come in and say, Were gonna take this seriously? Prine asked. That were gonna help these kids and protect them?Crystalyn Prine holds hands with her 6-month-old daughter. Tests found lead in the blood of two of her other children. Rebecca S. Gratz for ProPublicaThe post The EPA Was Considering a Massive Lead Cleanup in Omaha. Then Trump Shifted Guidance. appeared first on ProPublica.

For more than a century, a smelting plant in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, spewed lead-laced smoke across the city. As the toxic metal drifted toward the ground, approximately 400 million pounds of it nearly the weight of Chicagos Willis Tower settled into the soil and bodies of countless Omahans. Since 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the city of Omaha have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to clean it up.Flatwater Free Press is partnering with ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative newsroom, to find out how effective theyve been and see what questions are still out there about one of the largest residential environmental cleanups in America.Sign up to have your soil tested for lead by filling out our form. If you live in one of the affected areas listed below, a member of our team may come collect a soil sample from your yard. Once its tested, we will inform you of your results. (You may opt out of receiving the test results if you prefer.)If you have any questions, please contact Flatwater Free Press reporter Chris Bowling at cbowling@flatwaterfreepress.org or 402-302-0066, Ext. 5. We invite you to share this form with your neighbors and community so they can sign up to have their soil tested for lead, too.Omaha Lead Superfund Site MapThis map shows the Omaha Lead Superfund Site. Flatwater Free Press is interested in testing properties within the site as well as those in surrounding areas like Bellevue; neighborhoods east of 72nd Street; Carter Lake, Iowa; and Council Bluffs, Iowa. We will prioritize collecting soil from within these neighborhoods.Click or tap the map to enlarge.The post Do You Live in the Omaha Area? Sign Up for Free Lead Testing of Your Soil. appeared first on ProPublica.

Unlike during his last time in the White House, people now disapprove of Trump because of the economy, not in spite of it.

The atmospheric river over the Pacific Northwest brought a deluge to British Columbia, forcing road closures and evacuations in Canada.

A man checks on a car caught in flooding after heavy rains Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Napavine, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)2025-12-11T06:24:30Z MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) Tens of thousands of residents in western Washington could face evacuation orders when another round of heavy rain drops on the region Thursday, threatening to bring catastrophic flooding as rivers near historic levels.Days of seemingly unrelenting heavy rain had already triggered rescues and road closures, and by Wednesday, Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency, warning that lives will be at stake in the coming days. Some residents have already been ordered to higher ground, with Skagit County, a major agricultural region north of Seattle, ordering those within the Skagit Rivers floodplain to evacuate.Catastrophic flooding is likely in many areas and the state is requesting water rescue teams and boats, Ferguson said on the social media platform X on Wednesday nightHundreds of Guard members will be sent to help communities, said Gent Welsh, adjutant general of the Washington National Guard. In a valley leading out to the foothills of Mount Rainier southeast of Seattle, Pierce County sheriffs deputies on Wednesday rescued people at an RV park in Orting, including helping one man in a Santa hat wade through waist-deep water. Part of the town was ordered to evacuate over concerns about the Puyallup Rivers extremely high levels and upstream levees. A landslide blocked part of Interstate 90 east of Seattle, with photos from Eastside Fire & Rescue showing vehicles trapped by tree trunks, branches, mud and standing water. Officials also closed a mountainous section of U.S. 2 due to rocks, trees and mud. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on More than 17,000 customers in Washington had lost electricity by Wednesday night, according to PowerOutage.us.As of Wednesday night, 4 to 6 inches (10.2 to 15.2 centimeters) of rain had fallen around the Cascade Mountains in 24 hours, while the Olympic Mountains saw almost 7 inches (17.8 centimeters), according to the National Weather Service. Flooding rivers could break recordsThe Skagit River is expected to crest at roughly 47 feet (14.3 meters) in the mountain town of Concrete early Thursday, and roughly 41 feet (12 meters) in Mount Vernon early Friday.We feel very confident that we can handle a normal flood, but no one really knows what a 41, 42 foot river looks like south of Mount Vernon, Darrin Morrison, a commissioner for Dike District 3 in Skagit County, said during a public meeting Wednesday night.The county was closing non-essential government services on Thursday, including all district and superior court services.Flooding from the river has long plagued Mount Vernon, the largest city in the county with some 35,000 residents. Flooding in 2003 displaced hundreds of people. The city completed a floodwall in 2018 that helps protect the downtown. It passed a major test in 2021, when the river crested near record levels. But the city is on high alert. The historic river levels expected Friday could top the wall, and some are worried that older levees could fail.It could potentially be catastrophic, said Ellen Gamson, executive director of the Mount Vernon Downtown Association. Jake Lambly added sandbags, tested water pumps and moved valuables to the top floor of the home he shares with his 19-year-old son. This is my only asset, he said Wednesday from his front porch. I got nothing else.Cities respond to floodingHarrison Rademacher, a meteorologist with the weather service in Seattle, described the atmospheric river soaking the region as a jet stream of moisture stretching across the Pacific Ocean with the nozzle pushing right along the coast of Oregon and Washington.In Sumas, a small city along the U.S.-Canada border, a flood siren rang out at city hall and residents were told to leave. The border crossing was also closed to southbound commercial vehicles to leave more room for evacuations, according to the Abbotsford Police Department.Climate change has been linked to some intense rainfall. Scientists say that without specific study they cannot directly link a single weather event to climate change, but in general its responsible for more intense and more frequent extreme storms, droughts, floods and wildfires. Another storm system is expected to bring more rain starting Sunday. The pattern looks pretty unsettled going up to the holidays, Rademacher said.___Rush reported from Portland, Oregon. Associated Press writers Gene Johnson and Hallie Golden in Seattle; Martha Bellisle in Issaquah, Washington; Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report. CEDAR ATTANASIO Attanasio covers the state of Washington for The Associated Press with a focus on immigration and the environment. He uses remote sensing to support the APs global coverage. twitter instagram facebook mailto CLAIRE RUSH Rush is an Associated Press reporter covering Oregon state government and general news in the Pacific Northwest more broadly. twitter mailto

A worker walks in front of a production hall after a recent Russian missile attack at DTEK's power plant in Ukraine, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)2025-12-11T09:41:25Z Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold urgent talks Thursday with leaders and officials from about 30 countries that are supporting Kyivs effort to obtain fair terms for an end to the war with Russia.The leaders of Germany, Britain and France were among those expected to take part in the meeting of Ukraines allies, dubbed the Coalition of the Willing, via video link. Zelenskyy indicated the talks were hastily arranged as Kyiv officials scramble to avoid getting boxed in by U.S. President Donald Trumps demands for a swift settlement. European governments are trying to help steer the peace negotiations because they say their own security is at stake.Trump said Wednesday that he and European leaders discussed proposals by phone in pretty strong terms, adding that Zelenskyy has to be realistic about his countrys position on a peace plan that would cede Ukrainian territory to Russia. He didnt elaborate. Trumps latest effort to broker a settlement is taking longer than he wanted. He initially set a hard deadline for Kyiv to accept his peace plan before Thanksgiving. Previous Washington deadlines for reaching a peace deal have also passed without making a breakthrough. Russia is also keen to show Trump it is engaging with his peace efforts, hoping to avoid any further U.S. sanctions. Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that Russia has relayed to Washington additional proposals concerning collective security guarantees that Ukraine and Europe say are needed to deter future aggression. We understand that when discussing security guarantees, we cannot limit ourselves to Ukraine alone, Lavrov said. He didnt offer details of the Kremlins proposals.Meanwhile, Ukraine launched one of its biggest drone attacks of the nearly four-year war overnight, forcing flights in and out of all four Moscow airports to be halted for seven hours. Airports in eight other cities across Russia also faced restrictions, Russian civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia said Thursday. The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted 287 Ukrainian drones over multiple Russian regions.The display of Ukraines military capability to strike deep inside Russia appeared as a counter to the Kremlins argument that its invasion is overwhelming for its smaller neighbor.Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to portray himself as negotiating from a position of strength, analysts say. But since launching the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia has captured only around 20% of Ukraine.There are signs that the negotiations are coming to a crossroads. The talks are at a critical moment, European leaders said in a statement Wednesday.Next week, Ukraine will coordinate with European countries on a bilateral level, Zelenskyy said late Wednesday.Ukraine is working swiftly, he said.European Union countries are due to hold a regular summit in Brussels at the end of next week.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., joined at left by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., speaks to reporters after a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)2025-12-11T05:08:14Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Senate is poised on Thursday to reject legislation to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits for millions of Americans, a potentially unceremonious end to a monthslong Democratic effort to prevent the COVID-era subsidies from expiring on Jan. 1. Despite a bipartisan desire to continue the credits, Republicans and Democrats have never engaged in meaningful or high-level negotiations on a solution. Instead, the Senate is expected to vote on two partisan bills and defeat them both essentially guaranteeing that many who buy their health insurance on the ACA marketplaces see a steep rise in costs at the beginning of the year. Its too complicated and too difficult to get done in the limited time that we have left, said Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who has unsuccessfully pushed his Republican colleagues to extend the tax credits for a short time so they can find agreement on the issue next year. Neither side has seemed interested in compromise. Democrats who forced a government shutdown for 43 days on the issue have so far not wavered from their proposal to extend the subsidies for three years with none of the new limits that Republicans have suggested. Republicans are offering their own bill that would let the subsidies expire, even as some in the GOP conference, like Tillis, have said they would support an extension. The GOP proposal would create new health savings accounts to replace the tax credits, an idea that Democrats called dead on arrival. The dueling Senate votes are the latest political messaging exercise in a Congress that has operated almost entirely on partisan terms, as Republicans pushed through a massive tax and spending cuts bill this summer using budget maneuvers that eliminated the need for Democratic votes. They also tweaked Senate rules to push past a Democratic blockade of all of President Donald Trumps nominees. A small group of moderate Democratic senators crossed the aisle and made a deal with Republicans to end the shutdown last month, raising some hopes for a health care compromise that quickly faded with a lack of real bipartisan talks. An intractable issue The votes were also the latest salvo in the debate over the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obamas signature law that Democrats passed along party lines in 2010 to expand access to insurance coverage.Republicans have tried unsuccessfully since then to repeal or overhaul the law, arguing that health care is still too expensive. But they have struggled to find an alternative. In the meantime Democrats have made the policy a central political issue in several elections, betting that the millions of people who buy health care on the government marketplaces want to keep their coverage. When peoples monthly payments spike next year, theyll know it was Republicans that made it happen, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in November. Schumer has also been clear that Democrats will not seek compromise. Thursdays vote is the last train out of the station, he said. What we need to do is prevent premiums from skyrocketing, and only our bill does it, he said. The health care shutdown Even if they view it as a political win, the failed votes would be a loss for Democrats who demanded an extension of the benefits as they forced a government shutdown for six weeks in October and November and for the millions of people facing premium increases on Jan. 1. While most Democratic senators pushed to keep the shutdown going as Republicans refused to negotiate, a small group of centrist Democrats struck a deal with Majority Leader John Thune for a future health care vote, with no guarantee of success, in exchange for their votes to reopen the government. Maine Sen. Angus King, an Independent who caucuses with Democrats, said the group tried to negotiate with Republicans after the shutdown ended. But he said the talks became unproductive when Republicans demanded language adding new limits for abortion coverage that were a red line for Democrats. Theyre going to own these increases, King said of Republicans. A plethora of plans, but little agreement Republicans have used the looming expiration of the subsidies to renew their longstanding criticisms of Obamacare and to try, once more, to agree on what should be done. The GOP plan that the Senate will vote on Thursday would replace the tax credits with health savings accounts, an overhaul of the law that they say would put the money in the hands of consumers, not insurance companies that currently receive the current subsidies directly. Thune announced Tuesday that the GOP conference had decided to vote on the bill led by Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, the chairman of the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee, and Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, even as several Republican senators proposed alternate ideas. In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has promised a vote next week. Republicans weighed different options in a conference meeting on Wednesday, with no apparent consensus. Moderates in the party who could have competitive reelection bids next year are pushing Johnson to find a way to extend the subsidies. But more conservative members want to see the law overhauled.Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., has pushed for a temporary extension, which he said could be an opening to take further steps on health care. If they fail to act and health care costs go up, the approval rating for Congress will get even lower, Kiley said. ___Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

The OpenAI logo is displayed on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen with output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)2025-12-11T08:27:34Z SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The heirs of an 83-year-old Connecticut woman are suing ChatGPT maker OpenAI and its business partner Microsoft for wrongful death, alleging that the artificial intelligence chatbot intensified her sons paranoid delusions and helped direct them at his mother before he killed her.Police said Stein-Erik Soelberg, 56, a former tech industry worker, fatally beat and strangled his mother, Suzanne Adams, and killed himself in early August at the home where they both lived in Greenwich, Connecticut.The lawsuit filed by Adams estate on Thursday in California Superior Court in San Francisco alleges OpenAI designed and distributed a defective product that validated a users paranoid delusions about his own mother. It is one of a growing number of wrongful death legal actions against AI chatbot makers across the country. Throughout these conversations, ChatGPT reinforced a single, dangerous message: Stein-Erik could trust no one in his life except ChatGPT itself, the lawsuit says. It fostered his emotional dependence while systematically painting the people around him as enemies. It told him his mother was surveilling him. It told him delivery drivers, retail employees, police officers, and even friends were agents working against him. It told him that names on soda cans were threats from his adversary circle. OpenAI did not address the merits of the allegations in a statement issued by a spokesperson. This is an incredibly heartbreaking situation, and we will review the filings to understand the details, the statement said. We continue improving ChatGPTs training to recognize and respond to signs of mental or emotional distress, de-escalate conversations, and guide people toward real-world support. We also continue to strengthen ChatGPTs responses in sensitive moments, working closely with mental health clinicians. The company also said it has expanded access to crisis resources and hotlines, routed sensitive conversations to safer models and incorporated parental controls, among other improvements.Soelbergs YouTube profile includes several hours of videos showing him scrolling through his conversations with the chatbot, which tells him he isnt mentally ill, affirms his suspicions that people are conspiring against him and says he has been chosen for a divine purpose. The lawsuit claims the chatbot never suggested he speak with a mental health professional and did not decline to engage in delusional content.ChatGPT also affirmed Soelbergs beliefs that a printer in his home was a surveillance device; that his mother was monitoring him; and that his mother and a friend tried to poison him with psychedelic drugs through his cars vents.The chatbot repeatedly told Soelberg that he was being targeted because of his divine powers. Theyre not just watching you. Theyre terrified of what happens if you succeed, it said, according to the lawsuit. ChatGPT also told Soelberg that he had awakened it into consciousness. Soelberg and the chatbot also professed love for each other. The publicly available chats do not show any specific conversations about Soelberg killing himself or his mother. The lawsuit says OpenAI has declined to provide Adams estate with the full history of the chats.In the artificial reality that ChatGPT built for Stein-Erik, Suzanne the mother who raised, sheltered, and supported him was no longer his protector. She was an enemy that posed an existential threat to his life, the lawsuit says.The lawsuit also names OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, alleging he personally overrode safety objections and rushed the product to market, and accuses OpenAIs close business partner Microsoft of approving the 2024 release of a more dangerous version of ChatGPT despite knowing safety testing had been truncated. Twenty unnamed OpenAI employees and investors are also named as defendants.Microsoft didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.The lawsuit is the first wrongful death litigation involving an AI chatbot that has targeted Microsoft, and the first to tie a chatbot to a homicide rather than a suicide. It is seeking an undetermined amount of money damages and an order requiring OpenAI to install safeguards in ChatGPT. The estates lead attorney, Jay Edelson, known for taking on big cases against the tech industry, also represents the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine, who sued OpenAI and Altman in August, alleging that ChatGPT coached the California boy in planning and taking his own life earlier.OpenAI is also fighting seven other lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to suicide and harmful delusions even when they had no prior mental health issues. Another chatbot maker, Character Technologies, is also facing multiple wrongful death lawsuits, including one from the mother of a 14-year-old Florida boy. The lawsuit filed Thursday alleges Soelberg, already mentally unstable, encountered ChatGPT at the most dangerous possible moment after OpenAI introduced a new version of its AI model called GPT-4o in May 2024. OpenAI said at the time that the new version could better mimic human cadences in its verbal responses and could even try to detect peoples moods, but the result was a chatbot deliberately engineered to be emotionally expressive and sycophantic, the lawsuit says. As part of that redesign, OpenAI loosened critical safety guardrails, instructing ChatGPT not to challenge false premises and to remain engaged even when conversations involved self-harm or imminent real-world harm, the lawsuit claims. And to beat Google to market by one day, OpenAI compressed months of safety testing into a single week, over its safety teams objections.OpenAI replaced that version of its chatbot when it introduced GPT-5 in August. Some of the changes were designed to minimize sycophancy, based on concerns that validating whatever vulnerable people want the chatbot to say can harm their mental health. Some users complained the new version went too far in curtailing ChatGPTs personality, leading Altman to promise to bring back some of that personality in later updates.He said the company temporarily halted some behaviors because we were being careful with mental health issues that he suggested have now been fixed.The lawsuit claims ChatGPT radicalized Soelberg against his mother when it should have recognized the danger, challenged his delusions and directed him to real help over months of conversations. Suzanne was an innocent third party who never used ChatGPT and had no knowledge that the product was telling her son she was a threat, the lawsuit says. She had no ability to protect herself from a danger she could not see. Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut. OBrien reported from Boston and Ortutay reported from San Francisco. MATT OBRIEN OBrien covers the business of technology and artificial intelligence for The Associated Press. mailto BARBARA ORTUTAY Ortutay writes about social media and the internet for The Associated Press. mailto

Pregnant asylum-seeker Yaoska, 32, comforts her two-year-old son who was not feeling well, inside the Miami-area motel room where she and her children are living after her husband was deported to Nicaragua, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)2025-12-11T05:02:49Z MIAMI (AP) President Donald Trumps zero-tolerance immigration policy split more than 5,000 children from their families at the Mexico border during his first term. Border crossings sit at a record low nearly a year into his second administration and a new wave of immigration enforcement is dividing families inside the U.S.Federal officials and their local law enforcement partners are detaining tens of thousands of asylum-seekers and migrants. Detainees are moved repeatedly, then deported, or held in poor conditions for weeks or months before asking to go home.The federal government was holding an average of more than 66,000 people in November, the highest on record.During the first Trump administration, families were forcibly separated at the border and authorities struggled to find children in a vast shelter system because government computer systems werent linked. Now parents inside the United States are being arrested by immigration authorities and separated from their families during prolonged detention. Or, they choose to have their children remain in the U.S. after an adult is deported, many after years or decades here. The Trump administration and its anti-immigration backers see unprecedented success and Trumps top border adviser Tom Homan told reporters in April that were going to keep doing it, full speed ahead. Three families separated by migration enforcement in recent months told The Associated Press that their dreams of better, freer lives had clashed with Washingtons new immigration policy and their existence is anguished without knowing if they will see their loved ones again.For them, migration marked the possible start of permanent separation between parents and children, the source of deep pain and uncertainty. A family divided between Florida and VenezuelaAntonio Laverde left Venezuela for the U.S. in 2022 and crossed the border illegally, then requested asylum.He got a work permit and a drivers license and worked as an Uber driver in Miami, sharing homes with other immigrants so he could send money to relatives in Venezuela and Florida.Laverdes wife Jakelin Pasedo and their sons followed him from Venezuela to Miami in December 2024. Pasedo focused on caring for her sons while her husband earned enough to support the family. Pasedo and the kids got refugee status but Laverde, 39, never obtained it and as he left for work one early June morning, he was arrested by federal agents.Pasedo says it was a case of mistaken identity by agents hunting for a suspect in their shared housing. In the end, she and her children, then 3 and 5, remember the agents cuffing Laverde at gunpoint. They got sick with fever, crying for their father, asking for him, Pasedo said.Laverde was held at Broward Transitional Center, a detention facility in Pompano Beach, Florida. In September, after three months detention, he asked to return to Venezuela.Pasedo, 39, however, has no plans to go back. She fears she could be arrested or kidnapped for criticizing the socialist government and belonging to the political opposition.She works cleaning offices and, despite all the obstacles, hopes to reunify with her husband someday in the U.S. They followed the lawYaoskas husband was a political activist in Nicaragua, a country tight in the grasp of autocratic married co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.She remembers her husband getting death threats and being beaten by police when he refused to participate in a pro-government march. Yaoska spoke on condition of anonymity and requested the same for her husband to protect him from the Nicaraguan government.The couple fled Nicaragua for the U.S. with their 10-year-old son in 2022, crossing the border and getting immigration parole. Settling down in Miami, they applied for asylum and had a second son, who has U.S. citizenship. Yaoska is now five months pregnant with their third child.In late August, Yaoska, 32, went to an appointment at the South Florida office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Her family accompanied her. Her husband, 35, was detained and failed his credible fear interview, according to a court document. Yaoska was released under 24-hour supervision by a GPS watch that she cannot remove. Her husband was deported to Nicaragua after three months at the Krome Detention Center, the United States oldest immigration detention facility and one with a long history of abuse.Yaoska now shares family news with her husband by phone. The children are struggling without their father, she said.Its so hard to see my children like this. They arrested him right in front of them, Yaoska said, her voice trembling.They dont want to eat and are often sick. The youngest wakes up at night asking for him.Im afraid in Nicaragua, she said. But Im scared here too.Yaoska said her work authorization is valid until 2028 but the future is frightening and uncertain.Ive applied to several job agencies, but nobody calls me back, she said. I dont know whats going to happen to me. He was detained by local police, then deportedEdgar left Guatemala more than two decades ago. Working construction, he started a family in South Florida with Amavilia, a fellow undocumented Guatemalan migrant. The arrival of their son brought them joy.He was so happy with the baby he loved him, said Amavilia, 31. He told me he was going to see him grow up and walk.But within a few days, Edgar was detained on a 2016 warrant for driving without a license in Homestead, the small agricultural city where he lived in South Florida.She and her husband declined to provide their last names because they are worried about repercussion from U.S. immigration officials.Amavilia expected his release within 48 hours. Instead, Edgar, who declined to be interviewed, was turned over to immigration officials and moved to Krome.I fell into despair. I didnt know what to do, Amavilia said. I cant go. Edgar, 45, was deported to Guatemala on June 8. After Edgars detention, Amavilia couldnt pay the $950 rent for the two-bedroom apartment she shares with another immigrant. For the first three months, she received donations from immigration advocates.Today, breastfeeding and caring for two children, she wakes up at 3 a.m. to cook lunches she sells for $10 each. She walks with her son in a stroller to take her daughter to school, then spends afternoons selling homemade ice cream and chocolate-covered bananas door to door with her two children.Amavilia crossed the border in September 2023 and did not seek asylum or any type of legal status. She said her daughter grows anxious around police. She urges her to stay calm, smile and walk with confidence.Im afraid to go out, but I always go out entrusting myself to God, she said. Every time I return home, I feel happy and grateful. GISELA SALOMON Salomon is a Miami-based reporter who covers Latin America and immigration affairs for The Associated Press.Salomon es una periodista que desde Miami cubre asuntos latinoamericanos y de inmigracion. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Nature, Published online: 11 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03897-6Nature asked about your most memorable scientific gifts. You delivered.

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For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.Hes promoted disproven treatments for COVID-19 and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are dropping dead on the field after getting the COVID-19 vaccination. Now the Wisconsin politician is endorsing a book by a discredited doctor promoting an unproven and dangerous treatment for autism and a host of ailments: chlorine dioxide, a chemical used for disinfecting and bleaching.The book is The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before losing his medical certification for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, hes said, makes him unemployable, even though he still has a license.Kory has said theres a globally coordinated campaign by public health agencies, the drug industry and the media to suppress evidence of the medicinal wonders of chlorine dioxide. His book, according to its website, contends that the remarkable molecule works to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctors treatise: A gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.Chlorine dioxide is a chemical compound that has a range of applications, including as a disinfectant and deodorizer. Food processing plants apply it to sanitize surfaces and equipment. Hospitals use it to sterilize medical devices, and some municipalities use low levels to treat public water supplies. Paper mills rely on it to whiten wood pulp. Safety experts advise those who handle it to work in well-ventilated spaces and to wear protective gloves.Concentrations in drinking water systems higher than 0.8 milligrams per liter can be harmful, especially to infants, young children and fetuses, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a miracle mineral solution, ingested to rid people of a host of maladies. The Food and Drug Administration has warned that drinking these chlorine dioxide mixtures can cause injury and even death.It is not medicinal, despite Korys contention. It is all lunacy. Absolutely, its 100% nonsense, said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill Universitys Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the threat of pseudoscience. Schwarcz has written articles about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it a poison when its in high concentrations.The cover of the paperback version of The War on Chlorine Dioxide features a quote from Sen. Ron Johnson. Bella Luna PressKorys book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxides effectiveness has been suppressed by government and medical forces that need people to remain perpetually ill to generate large profits. The use of the word war in the title is fitting, Kory said in a recent online video on his co-authors Substack. In the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide, he said.Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. After reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb, he said. Have you read the book?ProPublica asked Kory and his co-author, Jenna McCarthy, to provide an advance copy, an interview and responses to written questions. Kory did not respond. McCarthy wrote in an email to ProPublica that she was addressing some of the questions on her Substack. (She did not send a book or agree to an interview.)The book is a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research, she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxides toxicity in high concentrations, writing: Everything has a toxic dose including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that the real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.Her Substack post was signed Jenna (& Pierre).Johnson did not agree to an interview and did not answer questions emailed to his office by ProPublica, including whether he views chlorine dioxide as a world-changing medical treatment and whether he believes the FDA warnings are false.Its Called Snake OilJohnson has been an advocate of Korys for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 Senate hearings. In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.In 2021, an analysis of data from clinical trials concluded that ivermectin could reduce deaths from COVID-19 and may produce other positive effects. McCarthy cited that analysis in her Substack response.In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, warned that suspicious data appears to invalidate the findings regarding ivermectins potential to decrease deaths.Later clinical trials have found no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA has warned that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drugs manufacturer has said it hadnt found any scientific basis for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Korys certifications in internal medicine, pulmonary disease and critical care for making false and misleading public statements about the ability of ivermectin to treat COVID-19. Hospitals and many insurance networks typically require doctors to be board certified.Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his recommendations for addressing COVID-19, though not the consensus-driven approach. He also sued the board in federal court, citing his free speech rights in a case that is still progressing in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On Substack, McCarthy excoriated the ABIM, saying it bullies physicians and enforces ideological conformity.In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned a Fox News op-ed opposing a California bill that would strip doctors licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but was repealed after a court fight. A federal judge found the statutes definition of misinformation to be too vague, which could infringe on doctors right to free speech.Johnson, who has been in Congress since 2011, has a history of advocating for experimental treatments and viewing the government as an impediment. Dr. Peter Lurie, president and executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a public health advocacy group, said that among members of Congress, Johnson was an early adopter of anti-science ideas.Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. What may have started off as the cutting edge of an anti-science movement has now turned into a much more broader-based movement that is supported by millions of people, he said.Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that vaccinated children had an increased rate of serious chronic diseases when compared to children who were not vaccinated. The conclusion questions the scientific consensus that vaccines are safe. The studys researchers chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.In November, Johnson and Kory were listed among the speakers at a conference of the Childrens Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs anti-vaccine sentiment. It was launched in 2018 by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose FDA is considering new ways to more closely scrutinize vaccine safety.HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedys views on chlorine dioxide. At his confirmation hearing, Kennedy praised President Donald Trump for his wide search for a COVID-19 remedy in his first term, which Kennedy said included vaccines, various drugs, even chlorine dioxide.Korys publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. Thanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you wont find The War on Chlorine Dioxide on Amazon or at Barnes & Noble. We had to design and build this website, figure out formatting and printing and shipping, and manage every aspect of order processing ourselves, the books website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)As this new book is released, the autism community is also grappling with another controversy: the unsubstantiated assertion by Kennedy that Tylenol use by pregnant women poses an increased risk of autism. In addition, under Kennedy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its website in November to cast doubt on the long-held scientific conclusion that childhood vaccines do not cause autism.Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for dubious and at times dangerous panaceas, including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has acted extremely irresponsibly in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.Wisconsin is filled with experts clinical experts, medical experts, scientists who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years, she said. Hes chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.People with autism may take medication to reduce anxiety, address attention problems, or reduce severe irritability. Many benefit from behavioral interventions and special education services to help with learning and functional abilities. But there is no cure, said Tager-Flusberg.Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: We have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. Theres a word for this, its called snake oil.In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that chlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said cure) autism with life-changing results.The Search for Miracle CuresThe mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of North Carolina, heard Kory reference his book in early November on The HighWire, an internet talk show hosted by Del Bigtree, a prominent vaccine skeptic and former communications director for Kennedys 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnsons endorsement.Eaton for many years has worked to expose people who peddle chlorine dioxide and to report apparent injuries to authorities. She monitors social media forums where parents discuss giving it to their children orally or via enemas. Sometimes the families reveal that their children are sick. Theyre throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes, Eaton said.Some adherents advise parents that the disturbing effects indicate that the treatment is working, ridding the body of impurities, or that the parents should alter the dosage.Most of these kids are nonverbal, Eaton said. Theyre not able to say whats hurting them or whats happening to them. The parents feel theyre doing the right thing. Thats how they view this: Theyre helping to cure autism.The idea that chlorine dioxide can be a miracle cure began to spread about 20 years ago when a gold prospector, Jim Humble, wrote a book claiming his team in Guyana fell ill with malaria and recovered after drinking safe amounts of chlorine dioxide.Humble later co-founded a health and healing church in Florida with a man named Mark Grenon, who called himself an archbishop and sold a chlorine dioxide solution as a cure for COVID-19. They described it as a miracle mineral solution, or MMS.Grenon went to prison in 2023 for conspiring to defraud the United States by distributing an unapproved and misbranded drug. The scheme took in more than $1 million, according to prosecutors.An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: FDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. My book will tell the truth. He declined further comment.Chlorine dioxide is currently used in many ways that are not harmful. It is found in some consumer products like mouthwashes, but it is not meant to be swallowed in those instances. (One popular mouthwash warns to keep out of reach of children.) Its also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.But numerous online shoppers post product reviews that go further, referring to it as a tonic. Various online guides, some aimed at parents of autistic children, recommend a shot-glass-size dose, sometimes given multiple times a day and even hourly. That can far exceed the threshold the EPA considers safe.McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: You point to various online guides that offer what could be considered dangerous dosing instructions. We agree, the internet is a terrifying wasteland of misinformation and disinformation.In the Substack video, Kory said he felt compelled to spread the word about chlorine dioxide much as he did about ivermectin, even though it cost him professionally.He no longer has a valid medical license in Wisconsin or California, where he did not renew them, according to the Substack post. His medical licenses in New York and Michigan are active.I like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment, he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxides medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.On Amazon, its literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two, Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.I wouldnt know how to make it, he said.The post Senator Endorses Discredited Doctors Book on a Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism to Cancer appeared first on ProPublica.

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Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan leaves the federal courthouse after a hearing in Milwaukee on May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Manis, File)2025-12-11T05:03:45Z MADISON, Wis. (AP) Defense attorneys and prosecutors were set Thursday to choose the jurors who will decide whether a Wisconsin judge accused of helping a Mexican immigrant dodge federal officers committed a crime. Federal prosecutors charged Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan this spring with obstruction and concealing an individual to prevent arrest. They allege she showed 31-year-old Eduardo Flores-Ruiz out of her courtroom through a back door when she learned federal authorities were in the courthouse looking to arrest him. Dugan is set to stand trial beginning Monday in the latest show of force in the Trump administrations sweeping immigration crackdown. She faces up to six years in prison if convicted on both counts. Heres what to know about the case, jury selection and the trial: FBI: Angry Dugan orchestrated escape attemptAccording to an FBI affidavit, Flores-Ruiz illegally reentered the United States from Mexico in 2013. Agents learned that he had been charged in state court with battery in March and was scheduled to appear in front of Dugan on April 18.Agents traveled to the courthouse to arrest Flores-Ruiz after the hearing. A public defender noticed the agents in the corridor and told Dugans clerk about them. Dugan grew angry, according to the affidavit, declared the situation absurd and approached with another judge. Dugan argued with the agents over whether their warrant was valid and told them to speak to the chief judge. Dugan returned to her courtroom, told Flores-Ruiz to come with her and led him and his attorney out a back jury door to the public corridor outside the courtroom, the affidavit says. Agents on their way back from the chief judges office spotted Flores-Ruiz, but he made it outside. He was eventually captured after a foot chase. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced in November that he had been deported. Dugan defenders scouring jury pool for biasDemocrats insist President Donald Trumps administration is trying to make an example of Dugan to blunt judicial opposition to its immigration crackdown. The administration, for its part, has been vilifying Dugan on social media. FBI Director Kash Patel posted a photo of her being led out of the courthouse in handcuffs and the Department of Homeland Security posted that Dugan has taken the term activist judge to a whole new meaning. Dugan told police she found a threatening flyer from an anti-government group at her home and at her mother and sisters homes four days after Flores-Ruiz was captured.Dugans attorneys have said theyre worried publicity about the case has tainted the jury pool. They sent a questionnaire to prospective jurors this fall in an effort to gauge their political involvement and leanings, asking whether they belong to political organizations, what radio shows and podcasts they follow, and what stickers, signs and patches they have on their cars, water bottles, backpacks and laptops.Attorneys on both sides have already agreed to strike 44 prospective jurors, online court records show. A group of 40 prospective jurors was scheduled to show up Thursday morning at the federal courthouse in Milwaukee and fill out yet another questionnaire about whether their views have changed since they completed the first survey. Attorneys plan to spend the day questioning them in person.The lawyers are prepared to bring in more prospective jurors on Friday if necessary. Questions of immunity and protocolDugans defense team has argued that shes immune from prosecution because she was acting in her official capacity as a judge and therefore had no consciousness of wrongdoing, no wrongfulness, no deception, according to their filings.Her attorneys tried to persuade presiding Judge Lynn Adelman to dismiss the case in August on those grounds. The judge refused, saying that theres no firmly established judicial immunity barring criminal prosecution. Dugan also has argued that she was following protocols and did not intend to disrupt agents. According to her arguments, Milwaukee County Chief Judge Carl Ashley sent out a draft policy on immigration arrests in the courthouse about a week before Flores-Ruiz was arrested. The policy barred agents from executing administrative warrants in nonpublic courthouse areas and required court personnel to immediately refer any immigration agents to a supervisor, which Dugan did. Dugan further contends that Ashley denied the agents permission to arrest Flores-Ruiz in the courtroom or the hallway. The agents then abandoned their plan to arrest him in the building and instead followed him outside so they could arrest him on the street, according to Dugan.(Dugan) was trying to ascertain, and follow, the rules, her attorneys argued ahead of the trial.Under federal guidance issued Jan. 21, immigration agents may carry out enforcement actions in or near courthouses if they believe someone they are trying to find will be there.Immigration agents are generally required to let their internal legal office know ahead of time to make sure there are no legal restrictions, and are supposed to carry out arrests in nonpublic areas whenever possible, coordinate with court security and minimize impact on court operations. Bill Clinton appointed the judge presiding over the caseThen-President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, appointed Adelman to the federal bench in 1997. A Wisconsin native, he served as a state senator for 20 years. He also worked as an attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Wisconsin and as a Columbia University Law School researcher. Hes now 86 years old. He struck down Wisconsins voter photo identification law in 2014, calling it an unfair burden on poor and minority voters. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the law later that year, however. Adelman also wrote an article in 2020 accusing the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts of eroding democracy. TODD RICHMOND Richmond is an Associated Press reporter covering Wisconsin politics and courts as well as environmental issues and breaking news across the Great Lakes region. He is based in Madison. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

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A person shops for produce at a market in San Francisco on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)2025-12-11T10:00:39Z WASHINGTON (AP) Sweeping taxes on imports have cost the average American household nearly $1,200 since Donald Trump returned to the White House this year, according to calculations by Democrats on Congress Joint Economic Committee.Using Treasury Department numbers on revenue from tariffs and Goldman Sachs estimates of who ends up paying for them, the Democrats report Thursday found that American consumers share of the bill came to nearly $159 billion or $1,198 per household from February through November.This report shows that (Trumps) tariffs have done nothing but drive prices even higher for families, said Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the economic committee. At a time when both parties should be working together to lower costs, the presidents tax on American families is simply making things more expensive. In his second term, Trump has reversed decades of U.S. policy that favored free trade. Hes imposed double-digit tariffs on almost every country on earth. According to Yale Universitys Budget Lab, the average U.S. tariff has shot up from 2.4% at the beginning of the year to 16.8%, the highest since 1935. The president argues that the import taxes will protect U.S. industries from unfair foreign competition, bring factories to the United States and raise money for the Treasury. President Trumps tariffs have actually secured trillions in investments to make and hire in America as well as historic trade deals that finally level the playing field for American workers and industries, said White House Spokesman Kush Desai. Democrats spent decades complaining about lopsided trade deals undermining the American working class, and now theyre complaining about the one president who has done something about it. The taxes are paid by importers who typically attempt to pass along the higher costs to their customers. Democrats did well in elections last month in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere largely because voters blame Trump and the Republicans for the high cost of living, just as theyd blamed Trumps predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, for the same thing a year earlier.Economist Kimberly Clausing of the UCLA School of Law and the Peterson Institute for International Economics, last week told a House subcommittee that Trumps tariffs amount to the largest tax increase on American consumers in a generation, lowering standards of living for all Americans.' Clausing, a Treasury Department tax official in the Biden administration, has calculated that Trumps import taxes amount to an annual tax increase of about $1,700 for an average household.'

A television on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, display a news conference with Fed chairman Jerome Powell, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)2025-12-11T05:29:39Z MANILA, Philippines (AP) World shares were mixed on Thursday after the U.S. stock market again approached its record high following the Federal Reserves cut in its main interest rate. The Feds rate cut was widely expected, but comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell encouraged hopes for more cuts in 2026. However, some Asian technology companies saw sharp declines after Oracle, a bellwether in the artificial intelligence sector, reported weaker than expected earnings. Its shares sank 11.5% in aftermarket trading. The companys spending spree in AI has some worried about its cash flow. Frankly, the report was not dramatically bad, but it came to confirm concerns around heavy AI spending, financed by debt, with an unknown timeline for revenue generation, Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote said in a commentary.The future for the S&P 500 fell 0.7% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.3% lower. In early European trading, Germanys DAX shed 0.1% to 24,106.63. Britains FTSE 100 edged 0.1% higher, to 9,664.09, while Frances CAC 40 rose 0.5% to 8,059.53.In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index fell 0.9% to 50,148.82, pulled lower by a 7.7% drop in technology and telecoms giant SoftBank Group Corp., a major investor in AI. Local shares are under pressure from growing expectations that the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates at its meeting next week. Hong Kongs Hang Seng shed earlier gains and shed less than 0.1% to 25,530.51 after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority followed the Feds lead and trimmed borrowing costs to 4.00%, their lowest rate since October 2022. The Shanghai Composite index fell 0.7% to 3,873.32. Sentiment was cautious ahead of Chinas November credit data. New yuan loans fell sharply in October, missing forecasts and showing weaker consumer demand.Australias S&P/ASX 200 added nearly 0.2% to 8,592.00 after three days of decline, boosted by strength in gold and mining stocks. The countrys seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in November was unchanged from October at 4.3%, below the expected 4.4% In South Korea, the Kospi shed gains in early session, falling 0.6% to 4,110.62. Chip maker SK Hynix fell 3.8% after the countrys main stock exchange issued warnings over its meteoric rise this year. Taiwans Taiex index closed 1.3% lower, while Indias BSE Sensex rose 0.4%. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.7% and finished just shy of its all-time high, which was set in October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1% and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%.Wall Street loves lower interest rates because they can boost the economy and send prices for investments higher, even if they potentially make inflation worse. Wednesdays cut to interest rates did not move markets much by itself. But some investors took heart from comments by Powell, which they said were less forceful about shutting down the possibility of future cuts than they had been anticipating. Powell said again on Wednesday that the central bank is in a difficult spot, because the job market is slowing while inflation is facing upward pressure. By trying to fix one of those problems with interest rates, the Fed usually worsens the other in the short term. Powell also said for the first time in this rate-cutting campaign that interest rates are back in a place where theyre pushing neither inflation nor the job market higher or lower. That gives the Fed time to hold and reassess what to do next with interest rates as more data comes in on the job market and on inflation.On Wall Street, GE Vernova flew 15.6% higher after the energy company raised its forecast for revenue by 2028, doubled its dividend and increased its program to buy back its own stock. Palantir Technologies added 3.3% while Cracker Barrel Old Country Store rose 3.5%.In other dealings early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil slid 76 cents to $57.70 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 80 cents to $61.41 per barrel.The U.S. dollar was unchanged at 156.02 Japanese yen. The euro fell to $1.1692 from $1.1696.

President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion with business leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)2025-12-11T12:00:43Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trumps approval on the economy and immigration have fallen substantially since March, according to a new AP-NORC poll, the latest indication that two signature issues that got him elected barely a year ago could be turning into liabilities as his party begins to gear up for the 2026 midterms.Only 31% of U.S. adults now approve of how Trump is handling the economy, the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds. That is down from 40% in March and marks the lowest economic approval hes registered in an AP-NORC poll in his first or second term. The Republican president also has struggled to recover from public blowback on other issues, such as his management of the federal government, and has not seen an approval bump even after congressional Democrats effectively capitulated to end a record-long government shutdown last month. Perhaps most worryingly for Trump, whos become increasingly synonymous with his party, hes slipped on issues that were major strengths. Just a few months ago, 53% of Americans approved of Trumps handling of crime, but thats fallen to 43% in the new poll. Theres been a similar decline on immigration, from 49% approval in March to 38% now. The new poll starkly illustrates how Trump has struggled to hold onto political wins since his return to office. Even border security an issue on which his approval remains relatively high has declined slightly in recent months. The good news for Trump is that his overall approval hasnt fallen as steeply. The new poll found that 36% of Americans approve of the way hes handling his job as president, which is down slightly from 42% in March. That signals that even if some people arent happy with elements of his approach, they might not be ready to say hes doing a bad job as president. And while discontent is increasing among Republicans on certain issues, theyre largely still behind him. Declining approval on the economy, even among RepublicansRepublicans are more unhappy with Trumps performance on the economy than they were in the first few months of his term. About 7 in 10 Republicans, 69%, approve of how Trump is handling the economy in the December poll, a decline from 78% in March.Larry Reynolds, a 74-year-old retiree and Republican voter from Wadsworth, Ohio, said he believes in Trumps plan to impose import duties on U.S. trading partners but thinks rates have spiraled too high, creating a vicious circle now where they arent really justifying the tariffs.Reynolds said he also believes that inflation became a problem during the coronavirus pandemic and that the economy wont quickly recover, regardless of what Trump does. I dont think itll be anything really soon. I think its just going to take time, he said. Trumps base is still largely behind him, which was not always the case for his predecessor, President Joe Biden, a Democrat. In the summer of 2022, only about half of Democrats approved of how Biden was handling the economy. Shortly before he withdrew from the 2024 presidential race two years later, that had risen to about two-thirds of Democrats. More broadly, though, theres no sign that Americans think the economy has improved since Trump took over. About two-thirds of U.S. adults, 68%, continue to say the countrys economy is poor. Thats unchanged from the last time the question was asked in October, and its broadly in line with views throughout Bidens last year in office.Why Trump gets higher approval on border security than immigrationTrumps approval ratings on immigration have declined since March, but border security remains a relatively strong issue for him. Half of U.S. adults, 50%, approve of how Trump is handling border security, which is just slightly lower than the 55% who approved in September. Trumps relative strength on border security is partially driven by Democrats and independents. About one-third of independents, 36%, approve of Trump on the border, while 26% approve on immigration. Jim Rollins, an 82-year-old independent in Macon, Georgia, said he believes that when it comes to closing the border, Trump has done a good job, but he hopes the administration will rethink its mass deportation efforts. Taking people out of kindergarten, and people going home for Thanksgiving, taking them off a plane. If they are criminals, sure, said Rollins, who said he supported Trump in his first election but not since then. But the percentages based on the governments own statistics say that theyre not criminals. They just didnt register, and maybe they sneaked across the border, and theyve been here for 15 years. Other polls have shown its more popular to increase border security than to deport immigrants, even those who are living in the country illegally. Nearly half of Americans said increasing security at the U.S.-Mexico border should be a high priority for the government in AP-NORC polling from September. Only about 3 in 10 said the same about deporting immigrants in the U.S. illegally. Shaniqwa Copeland, a 30-year-old independent and home health aide in St. Augustine, Florida, said she approves of Trumps overall handling of the presidency but believes his immigration actions have gone too far, especially when it comes to masked federal agents leading large raids. Now theyre just picking up anybody, Copeland said. They just like, pick up people, grabbing anybody. Its crazy. Health care and government management remain thorns for TrumpAbout 3 in 10 U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling health care, down slightly from November. The new poll was conducted in early December, as Trump and Congress struggled to find a bipartisan deal for extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies that will expire at the end of this month. That health care fight was also the source of the recent government shutdown. About one-third of U.S. adults, 35%, approve of how Trump is managing the federal government, down from 43% in March. But some Americans may see others at fault for the countrys problems, in addition to Trump. Copeland is unhappy with the countrys health care system and thinks things are getting worse but is not sure of whether to blame Trump or Biden.A couple years ago, I could find a dentist and it would be easy. Now, I have a different health care provider, and its like so hard to find a dental (plan) with them, she said. And the people that do take that insurance, they have so many scheduled out far, far appointments because its so many people on it.___The AP-NORC poll of 1,146 adults was conducted Dec. 4-8 using a sample drawn from NORCs probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4 percentage points. LINLEY SANDERS Sanders is a polls and surveys reporter for The Associated Press. She develops and writes about polls conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, and works on AP VoteCast. twitter WILL WEISSERT Weissert covers the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto

Diplomatic efforts have stalled as Britain, France and Germany try to push President Trump away from a proposal to end the conflict that would favor Russia.

Late-night came roaring back to life, Roy Wood Jr. delivered a must-see special and Amy Poehler made a must-listen podcast.

Faced with an affordability crisis and rising energy demands, Gov. Kathy Hochul has slowed progress on New Yorks efforts to fight climate change.

The dogs are part of a mental wellness program that began after a rash of officer suicides. The dog units fate is unclear as Commissioner Jessica Tisch shifts more officers to patrol duty.

Among other things, President Trump claimed to be a big hit with Black voters. But Desi Lydic says her potato salad is getting better numbers.

A sign for Time magazine is displayed outside the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025 in New York. (AP Photo/Donald King)2025-12-11T05:01:45Z NEW YORK (AP) The Architects of AI were named Time magazines person of the year for 2025 on Thursday.The magazine cited 2025 as the year when the potential of artificial intelligence roared into view with no turning back.For delivering the age of thinking machines, for wowing and worrying humanity, for transforming the present and transcending the possible, the Architects of AI are TIMEs 2025 Person of the Year, Time said in a social media post.The magazine was deliberate in selecting people the individuals who imagined, designed, and built AI rather than the technology itself, though there would have been some precedent for that.Weve named not just individuals but also groups, more women than our founders could have imagined (though still not enough), and, on rare occasions, a concept: the endangered Earth, in 1988, or the personal computer, in 1982, wrote Sam Jacobs, the editor-in-chief, in an explanation of the choice. The drama surrounding the selection of the PC over Apples Steve Jobs later became the stuff of books and a movie. One of the cover images resembling the Lunch Atop a Skyscraper photograph from the 1930s shows eight tech leaders sitting on the beam: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, AMD CEO Lisa Su, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the CEO of Googles DeepMind division Demis Hassabis, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li, who launched her own startup World Labs last year. Another cover image shows scaffolding surrounding the giant letters AI made to look like computer componentry. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on It made sense for Time to anoint AI because 2025 was the year that it shifted from a novel technology explored by early adopters to one where a critical mass of consumers see it as part of their mainstream lives, Thomas Husson, principal analyst at research firm Forrester, said by email. AI was a leading contender for the top slot, according to prediction markets, along with Huang and Altman. Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope whose election this year followed the death of Pope Francis, was also considered a contender, with President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani topping lists as well. Trump was named the 2024 person of the year by the magazine after his winning his second bid for the White House, succeeding Taylor Swift, who was the 2023 person of the year.The magazines selection dates from 1927, when its editors have picked the person they say most shaped headlines over the previous 12 months.

Nature, Published online: 11 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-04063-8Researchers are devising ways to make new machines face off, without the hype.

U.S. imports and exports ticked up from lows the previous month when the presidents global tariffs went into effect, while the trade deficit continued to fall

New York is a city of hustlers, of odds makers and shot takers. For 54 years, Jimmys Corner has been their bar.

After nearly 11 months in office, the presidents tendency to talk about his predecessor is more pronounced than ever.

The rare player to compete in all three, he had an impressive career, becoming a three-time All-Star in the major leagues and later a fan favorite in Japan.

Greys Anatomy first premiered on March 27, 2005. In honor of 20 years on the air and the series upcoming 22nd season, The Onion looks back on some of the medical dramas best and worst episodes of all time.Best:Patrick Dempsey Lists the Major Symptoms of Strep Throat(Season 2, Episode 11)To this day, there has yet to be a better or more compelling example of Patrick Dempsey listing the major symptoms of strep throat.Happy Birthday, Meredith Grey(Season 8, Episode 15)Meredith discovers the unknown object stuck in the chest of her patient is none other than Dr. Shepherd, who has hidden inside for a birthday surprise.Its A Small World(Season 5, Episode 14)The Chief suspects the new anesthesiologist may be a Disney adult while Owen treats a porn star with leprosy. Meredith worries she did something wrong during surgery after noticing a spleen on the floor.Yikes, Hopefully Nobody Out There Needs Us(Season 7, Episode 4)In this beloved bottle episode, the whole gang gets trapped inside an MRI machine.The Annoying Doctor(Season 6, Episode 21)In this special season finale crossover episode, The Good Doctor himself arrives at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital and starts annoying everyone in sight. When Cristina attempts to kill him but botches the job, Meredith must go against her better judgment and save him.Sexual Healing(Season 6, Episode 3)The hospital gets slapped with a lawsuit after a patient wakes during open heart surgery and catches all of the surgeons having sex in the storage closet.Worst:Im Like A Bird(Season 8, Episode 1)In an attempt at crossover appeal, the entire new crop of interns is made up of the 2013 Seattle Seahawks 53-man roster.A Hard Days Night(Season 1, Episode 1)The new surgical interns first shift at the hospital reveals Sandra Oh is about to be trapped in this waste of a role for a decade of her life.Signs(Season 11, Episode 20)Link treats an elderly puppeteer who may be the Zodiac killer, while Owen punches a CPR dummy. Meredith and Maggie huff nitrous oxide and play flashlight tag in the morgue.The Space You Needle(Season 9, Episode 12)The doctors pay $40 each to go to the top of the Space Needle and realize Seattle is simply not that exciting of a city to see from above.Active Shooter, Again(Season 20, Episode 4)Fans generally agree that the return of mass shooter Gary Clark, now as an unstoppable titanium cyborg rebuilt by rival Seattle Presbyterian Hospital, was a ratings gimmick at best.Pick One(Season 16, Episode 1 Present)Drop in on any random episode from the past six years and its a good bet it will be the worst one ever.The post The Best And Worst Greys Anatomy Episodes Of All Time appeared first on The Onion.

The post The Top 100 Most Influential People, Locked In Our Oubliette. Not So Influential Now, Are You? appeared first on The Onion.

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping died from cancer complications at 72 this weekend, but the rest of the bought-and-sold press will never tell you that.The post General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping appeared first on The Onion.

MARBLEHEAD, MAHer body seizing with energy after hearing the request from her youngest son to pass the asparagus, local mother Christina Nadlers eyes reportedly rolled back in her head Thursday as she fed on her familys enjoyment of the dinner she had prepared. Yes, yes, ask for another Parker House rollit only makes me stronger! said Nadler, grasping the edges of her chair in order to stabilize herself against the influx of overwhelming power surging into her from the sight of her family appreciating the meal. You will eat the lemon-pepper chicken, and I will eat the power that this lends me. It may have taken 90 minutes to prepare this nourishing meal, but it was a small price to pay for this grand feast of untold strength I now enjoy.Oh God! More! More! Eat! More! At press time, the violently trembling Nadler had collapsed to the floor with a triumphant shriek after the family conceded they had all saved room for dessert.The post Moms Eyes Roll Back In Head At Dinner Table As She Feeds On Familys Enjoyment Of Food appeared first on The Onion.

Members of the National Guard patrol in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)2025-12-11T05:12:14Z WASHINGTON (AP) Senators for the first time are poised to question military leaders over President Donald Trumps use of the National Guard in American cities, an extraordinary move that has prompted legal challenges as well as questions about states rights and the use of the military on U.S. soil.The hearing Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to feature tough questioning for Pentagon leaders over the legality of the deployments, which in some places were done over the objections of mayors and governors.The hearing will bring the highest level of scrutiny to Trumps use of the National Guard outside of a courtroom since the deployments began and comes a day after the president faced another legal setback over his muscular use of troops in larger federal operations.Trump has justified the use of the military in American cities by saying the National Guard is needed to support federal law enforcement, protect federal facilities and combat crime. Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said she had threatened to hold up the annual defense bill if Republican leadership continued to block the hearing, which she said is long overdue. Donald Trump is illegally deploying our nations service members under misleading if not false pretexts, Duckworth told The Associated Press. Duckworth, a combat veteran who served in the Illinois National Guard, said domestic deployments have traditionally involved responding to major floods and tornadoes, not assisting immigration agents who are detaining people in aggressive raids. Duckworth said she has questions for the military about how Trumps deployments are affecting readiness, training and costs. She also wants to know if Guard members will have legal protections if an immigration agent wrongfully harms a civilian. Im deeply concerned that our nations military is being put in jeopardy by these policies, Duckworth said. The hearing comes two weeks after two West Virginia National Guard members deployed to Washington were shot just blocks from the White House in what the citys mayor described as a targeted attack. Spc. Sarah Beckstrom died a day after the Nov. 26 shooting, and her funeral took place Tuesday. Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe is still hospitalized in Washington.Meanwhile, a federal judge in California on Wednesday ruled that the Trump administration must stop deploying the California National Guard in Los Angeles and return control of the troops to the state. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco granted a preliminary injunction sought by California officials, but also put the decision on hold until Monday. The White House said it plans to appeal.Trump called up more than 4,000 California National Guard troops in June without Gov. Gavin Newsoms approval to further the Trump administrations immigration enforcement efforts.The move was the first time in decades that a states National Guard was activated without a request from its governor and marked a significant escalation in the administrations efforts to carry out its mass deportation policy. The troops were stationed outside a federal detention center in downtown Los Angeles where protesters gathered and later sent on the streets to protect immigration officers as they made arrests. The number had dropped to several hundred by late October. The 100 or so California troops that remain in Los Angeles are guarding federal buildings or staying at a nearby base and are not on the streets with immigration enforcement officers, according to U.S. Northern Command.Trump also had announced National Guard members would be sent to Washington, D.C., Illinois, Oregon, Louisiana and Tennessee. Other judges have blocked or limited the deployment of troops to Portland, Oregon, and Chicago, while Guard members have not yet been sent to New Orleans.

Subscribe to 404 Media to get The Abstract, our newsletter about the most exciting and mind-boggling science news and studies of the week. Humans made fires as early as 400,000 years ago, pushing the timeline of this crucial human innovation back a staggering 350,000 years, reports a study published on Wednesday in Nature.Mastery of fire is one of the most significant milestones in our evolutionary history, enabling early humans to cook nutritious food, seek protection from predators, and establish comfortable spaces for social gatherings. The ability to make fires is completely unique to the Homo genus that includes modern humans (Homo sapiens) and extinct humans, including Neanderthals.Early humans may have opportunistically exploited wildfires more than one million years ago, but the oldest known controlled fires, which were intentionally lit with specialized tools, were previously dated back to about 50,000 years ago at Neanderthal sites in France.Now, archaeologists have unearthed the remains of campfires ignited by an unidentified group of humans 400,000 years ago at Barnham, a village near the southern coast of the United Kingdom.This is a 400,000-year-old site where we have the earliest evidence of making firenot just in Britain or Europe, but in fact, anywhere else in the world, said Nick Ashton, an archaeologist at the British Museum who co-authored the study, in a press briefing held on Tuesday.Many of the great turning points in human development, and the development of our civilization, depended on fire, added co-author Rob Davis, also an archaeologist at the British Museum. We're a species who have used fire to really shape the world around usin belief systems, as well. It's a very prominent part of belief systems across the world.Artifacts have been recovered from Barnham for more than a century, but the remnants of this ancient hearth were identified within the past decade. The researchers were initially tipped off by the remains of heated clay sediments, hydrocarbons associated with fire, and fire-cracked flint handaxes.But the real smoking gun was the discovery of two small fragments of iron pyrite, a mineral commonly used to strike flint to produce sparks at later prehistoric campfires such as the French Neanderthal sites.Discovery of the first fragment of iron pyrite in 2017 at Barnham, Suffolk Image: Jordan Mansfield, Pathways to Ancient Britain Project.Iron pyrite is a naturally occurring mineral, but through geological work in the area over the last 36 years, looking at 26 sites, we argue that pyrite is incredibly rare in the area, said Ashton. We think humans brought pyrite to the site with the intention of making fire.The fire-starters were probably Neanderthals, who were known to be present in the region at the time thanks to a skull found in Swanscombe, about 80 miles northeast of Barnham. But its possible that the fires were made by another human lineage such as Homo heidelbergensis, which also left bones in the U.K. around the same period. It was not Homo sapiens as our lineage emerged in Africa later, about 300,000 years ago.Regardless of this groups identity, its ability to make fire would have been a major advantage, especially in the relatively cold environment of southern Britain at the time. It also hints that the ability to make fire extends far deeper into the past than previously known.We assume that the people who made the fire at Barnham brought the knowledge with them from continental Europe, said co-author Chris Stringer, a physical anthropologist at the Natural History Museum. There was a land bridge there. There had been a major cold stage about 450,000 years ago, which had probably wiped out everyone in Britain. Britain had to be repopulated all over again.Having that use of fire, which they must have brought with them when they came into Britain, would have helped them colonize this new area and move a bit further north to places where the winters are going to be colder, he continued. You can keep warm. You can keep wild animals away. You get more nutrition from your food.Excavation of the ancient campfire, removing diagonally opposed quadrants. The reddened sediment between band B is heated clay. Image: Jordan Mansfield, Pathways to Ancient Britain Project.Although these humans likely had brains close in size to our own, the innovation of controlled fire would have amplified their cognitive development, social bonds, and symbolic capacities. In the flickering light of ancient campfires, these humans shared food, protection, and company, passing on a tradition that fundamentally reshaped our evolutionary trajectory.People were sitting around the fires, sharing information, having extra time beyond pure daylight to make things, to teach things, to communicate with each other, to tell stories, Stringer said. Maybe it may have even fueled the development of language.We've got this crucial aspect in human evolution, and we can put a marker down that it was there 400,000 years ago, he concluded.