Nature, Published online: 11 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-04036-xA database of 2.75 billion buildings could help scientists to monitor urban planning, climate change, disaster risks and even corruption.

Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov announced he was stepping down, becoming the latest leader to leave in the past four years, amid public anger over corruption and democratic dysfunction.

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Onyeka Chieme, a student of St. Mary's Catholic School, abducted by gunmen and later released, poses for a photograph at his house in Papiri, Nigeria, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Afolabi Sotunde)2025-12-11T14:45:31Z PAPIRI, Nigeria (AP) The children at St. Mary Catholic School in Nigerias Papiri community were jolted from their sleep with a loud crash at the school gate. Half asleep and confused, they dashed out of their dorms, some landing in the hands of gunmen.Onyeka Chieme, an elementary school student, waited with bated breath as the loud thuds got nearer. Upon seeing men armed with guns, he recalled jumping through the window with some friends. The gunmen gave chase on motorbikes, shooting into the air and startling him and the others to a halt.They said if we ran, they would shoot us, Chieme told The Associated Press during a visit to his family in Papiri in the north-central Niger State. They watched in horror as the gunmen set fire to a statue of Mary and a Nigerian flag before carting the children away on motorbikes and in buses. Chieme is one of the 303 schoolchildren many of them between 10 and 17 years old and 12 teachers abducted from the school on Nov. 21 in one of the countrys biggest mass school abductions. The attack came days after 25 students were abducted in similar circumstances in the neighboring Kebbi state. Fifty of the Niger State students escaped in the hours that followed the attack and more than two weeks after, Chieme was freed on Sunday together with 99 others. However, 153 are still held with the teachers, among them Chiemes brother. The Nigerian government did not say how they were released or whether any suspect has been arrested. Arrests are rare and ransom payments common in such cases, and authorities have provided vague information about rescue efforts.On the first night we got there, I thought they were going to kill us, Chieme said from his home as his parents watched. But their leader said we should not fear, it is just money that they wanted. If they paid the money, they would release everyone to go home. Separated and some were blindfoldedChieme described harrowing experiences during the more than two weeks in the bush, where the abducted students and staff were forced to sleep in the open. They were separated, he said, with the older ones blindfolded and their hands tied.Every day, they woke up on the stubby grass with food and water from a nearby river. Those who did not keep quiet were often beaten, and guns were never out of sight, he said.Occasionally, aircraft would fly above them, and the gunmen would instruct them to hide beneath trees to avoid being discovered.They dont want the airplanes to see us, Chieme said, referring to Nigerian military jets that officials said were searching forests for the children. Analysts say the gangs use captives as shields to avoid being bombarded.Nigeria fights multiple armed groups operating across the country. They include deadly religious sects, including Boko Haram and its splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province, as well as amorphous groups popularly called bandits who ride en masse on motorbikes to attack communities and kidnap people for ransom.After attacks, communities and families pay ransoms to the bandits, sometimes millions of naira (thousands of dollars). No group has claimed responsibility for the Papiri abduction. On the day of their release, Chieme said the students were asked to form a queue. Some of them, terrified that it meant a punishment, ran to the back of the line. The gunmen counted the first 100 students, took them out of the bush, before transferring them onto military buses.The other 153 and the teachers were left behind, including his brother, he said. Their fates are not known.AP could not independently verify his account.Families are increasingly worried about their childrens safetySchool abductions have defined the security crises in Nigeria, where armed groups have targeted schools to attract more ransom and attention.Nearly 1,800 schoolchildren have been abducted in almost a dozen school attacks since 2014, when Boko Haram extremists made global headlines after kidnapping 276 girls from their school in the northeastern Chibok village.Analysts say the Nigerian government negotiates with armed groups and pays ransom for the release of the children to temper outrage. Officials have not admitted to ransom payments. When you do that (pay ransoms), it encourages the abductions to continue, Aisha Yesufu, an activist and co-convener of the Bring Back Our Girls movement. The group is still seeking the release of nearly 100 Chibok girls held since the 2014 attack.The abductions have added another layer of worry to Nigerias underfunded education sector. The country has the worlds highest out-of-school children population. One in every five out-of-school children is in Nigeria, according to UNICEF.In Papiri and other parts of Nigeria affected by insecurity, families are becoming reluctant to send their children to school. Mixed feelings of joy and anguishChiemes return has left his family with mixed feelings. The parents are happy he is back, but continue to worry about his brother still in the bush.If he dies, I dont think I can survive it, said Anthony Chieme, his father.It is better my child dies in my room where I see his corpse and his grave than die in the hands of bandits in the bush where you see nothing.Precious Njikonye, another parent, said she often visited the school since last months attack, hoping to see her son one day. This week, her hope materialized when he was among the 100 freed on Sunday and they were reunited.Everyone who has a child ... knows how painful it is to not be able to account for where the child is, she said, overwhelmed with relief. I never thought I would see him again.-Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria. OPE ADETAYO Adetayo is a West Africa reporter for The Associated Press. He covers news and regional development across West and Central Africa. twitter facebook mailto

Dozens of government and university websites belonging to cities, towns, and public agencies across the country are hosting PDFs promoting AI porn apps, porn sites, and cryptocurrency scams; dozens more have been hit with a website redirection attacks which lead to animal vagina sex toy ecommerce pages, penis enlargement treatments, automatically-downloading Windows program files, and porn.Sex xxx video sexy Xvideo bf porn XXX xnxx Sex XXX porn XXX blue film Sex Video xxx sex videos Porn Hub XVideos XXX sexy bf videos blue film Videos Oficial on Instagram New Viral Video The latest original video has taken the internet by storm and left viewers in on various social media platforms ex Videos Hot Sex Video Hot Porn viral video, reads the beginning of a three-page PDF uploaded to the website of the Irvington, New Jersey city governments website. The PDF, called XnXX Video teachers fucking students Video porn Videos free XXX Hamster XnXX com is unlike many of the other PDFs hosted on the citys website, which include things like 2025-10-14 Council Minutes, Proposed Agenda 9-22-25, and Landlord Registration Form (1 & 2 unit dwelling).It is similar, however, to another PDF called 30 Best question heres, which looks like this:Irvington, which is just west of Newark and has a population of 61,000 people, has fallen victim to an SEO spam attack that has afflicted local and state governments and universities around the United States.Researcher Brian Penny has identified dozens of government and university websites that hosted PDF guides for how to make AI porn, PDFs linking to porn videos, bizarre crypto spam, sex toys, and more. Reginfo.gov, a regulatory affairs compliance website under the federal governments General Services Administration, is currently hosting a 12 page PDF called Nudify AI Free, No Sign-Up Needed!, which is an ad and link to an abusive AI app designed to remove a persons clothes. The Kansas Attorney Generals office and the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District Office in California hosted PDFs called DeepNude AI Best Deepnude AI APP 2025. Penny found similar PDFs on the websites for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Washington Fire Commissioners Association, the Florida Department of Agriculture, the cities of Jackson, Mississippi and Massillon, Ohio, various universities throughout the country, and dozens of others. Penny has caught the attention of local news throughout the United States, who have reported on the problem.The issue appears to be stemming from websites that allow people to upload their own PDFs, which then sit on these government websites. Because they are loaded with keywords for widely searched terms and exist on government and university sites with high search authority, Google and other search engines begin to surface them. In the last week or so, many (but not all) of the PDFs Penny has discovered have been deleted by local governments and universities.But cities seem like they are having more trouble cleaning up another attack, which is redirecting traffic from government URLs to porn, e-commerce, and spam sites. In an attack that seems similar to what we reported in June, various government websites are somehow being used to maliciously send traffic elsewhere. For example, the New York State Museums online exhibit for something called The Family Room now has at least 11 links to different types of realistic animal vagina pocket masturbators, which include Zebra Animal Vagina Pussy Male Masturbation Cup Pocket Realistic Silicone Penis Sex Toy ($27.99), and Must-have Horse Pussy Torso Buttocks Male Masturbator Fantasy Realistic Animal Pussie Sex Doll.Links Penny found on Knoxville, Tennessees site for permitting inspections first go to a page that looks like a government site for hosting files then redirects to a page selling penis growth supplements that features erect penises (human penises, mercifully), blowjobs, men masturbating, and Dr. Ozs face.Another Knoxville link I found, which purports to be a pirated version of the 2002 Vin Diesel film XXX simply downloaded a .exe file to my computer.Penny believes that what he has found is basically the tip of the iceberg, because he is largely finding these by typing things like nudify site:.gov xxx site:.gov into Google and clicking around. Sometimes, malicious pages surface only on image searches or video searches: Basically the craziest things you can think of will show up as long as youre on image search, Penny told 404 Media. Ill be doing this all week.The Nevada Department of Transportation told 404 Media that This incident was not related to NDOT infrastructure or information systems, and the material was not hosted on NDOT servers.This unfortunate incident was a result of malicious use of a legitimate form created using the third-party platform on which NDOTs website is hosted. NDOT expeditiously worked with our web hosting vendor to ensure the inappropriate content was removed. It added that the third-party is Granicus, a massive government services company that provides website backend infrastructure for many cities and states around the country, as well as helps them stream and archive city council meetings, among other services. Several of the affected local governments use Granicus, but not all of them do; Granicus did not respond to two requests for comment from 404 Media.The California Secretary of States Office told 404 Media: A bad actor uploaded non-business documents to the bizfile Online system (a portal for business filings and information). The files were then used in external links allowing public access to only those uploaded files. No data was compromised. SOS staff took immediate action to remove the ability to use the system for non-SOS business purposes and are removing the unauthorized files from the system. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said WDFW is aware of this issue and is actively working with our partners at WaTech to address it. The other government agencies mentioned in this article did not respond to our requests for comment.

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia joins supporters in a protest rally outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Baltimore, Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)2025-12-11T15:42:55Z GREENBELT, Md. (AP) A federal judge in Maryland ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia freed from immigration detention on Thursday while his legal challenge against his deportation moves forward. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement must release Abrego Garcia from custody immediately. Since Abrego Garcias return from wrongful detention in El Salvador, he has been re-detained, again without lawful authority, the judge wrote. For this reason, the Court will GRANT Abrego Garcias Petition for immediate release from ICE custody. The Department of Homeland Security was highly critical of the judges order and vowed to oppose it, calling it naked judicial activism by a judge appointed by President Barack Obama, a Democrat. This order lacks any valid legal basis, and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts, said Tricia McLaughlin, the departments assistant secretary. Messages seeking comment were left with Abrego Garcias attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg.Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, has an American wife and child and has lived in Maryland for years, but he originally immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager. An immigration judge in 2019 ruled Abrego Garcia could not be deported to El Salvador because he faced danger from a gang that targeted his family. When Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported there in March, his case became a rallying point for those who oppose President Donald Trumps immigration crackdown. Abrego Garcia was returned to the U.S. under a court order. Since he cannot be deported to El Salvador, ICE has been seeking to deport him to a series of African countries. His lawsuit in federal court claims Trumps Republican administration is illegally using the deportation process to punish Abrego Garcia over the embarrassment of his mistaken deportation to El Salvador. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Meanwhile, in a separate action in immigration court, Abrego Garcia is petitioning to reopen his immigration case to seek asylum in the United States. Additionally, Abrego Garcia is facing criminal charges in federal court in Tennessee, where he has pleaded not guilty to human smuggling. He has filed a motion to dismiss the charges, claiming the prosecution is vindictive. A judge has ordered an evidentiary hearing to be held on the motion after previously finding some evidence that the prosecution against Abrego Garcia may be vindictive. The judge said many statements by Trump administration officials raise cause for concern.The judge specifically cited a statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that seemed to suggest the Justice Department charged Abrego Garcia because he won his wrongful deportation case. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Mike Lindell walks into federal district court for a defamation trial, June 5, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey, File)2025-12-11T16:02:45Z SHAKOPEE, Minn. (AP) Mike Lindell, the fervent supporter of President Donald Trump known to TV viewers as the MyPillow Guy, officially entered the race for Minnesota governor Thursday in hopes of winning the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.Ill leave no town unturned in Minnesota, Lindell told The Associated Press in an interview ahead of a news conference set for Thursday.He said he has a record of solving problems and personal experiences that will help businesses and fight addiction and homelessness as well as fraud in government programs. The fraud issue has particularly dogged Walz, who announced in September that hes seeking a third term in the 2026 election. A TV pitchman and election denierLindell, 64, founded his pillow company in Minnesota in 2009 and became its public face through infomercials that became ubiquitous on late-night television. But he and his company faced a string of legal and financial setbacks after he became a leading amplifier of Trumps false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. He said he has overcome them.Not only have I built businesses, you look at problem solution, Lindell said in his trademark rapid-fire style. I was able to make it through the biggest attack on a company, and a person, probably other than Donald Trump, in the history of our media ... lawfare and everything.While no Republican has won statewide office in Minnesota since 2006, the states voters have a history of making unconventional choices. They shocked the world by electing former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura as governor in 1998. And they picked a veteran TV pitchman in 1978 when they elected home improvement company owner Rudy Boschwitz as a U.S. senator. Lindell has frequently talked about how he overcame a crack cocaine addiction with a religious conversion in 2009 as MyPillow was getting going. His life took another turn in 2016 when he met the future president during Trumps first campaign. He served as a warm-up speaker at dozens of Trump rallies and co-chaired Trumps campaign in Minnesota. Trumps endorsement could be the key to which of several candidates wins the GOP nomination to challenge Walz. But Lindell said he doesnt know what Trump will do, even though theyre friends, and said his campaign isnt contingent on the presidents support.His Lindell TV streaming platform was in the news in November when it became one of several conservative news outlets that became credentialed to cover the Pentagon after agreeing to a restrictive new press policy rejected by virtually all legacy media organizations. Lindell has weathered a series of stormsLindells outspoken support for Trumps false claims that the 2020 election was stolen triggered a backlash as major retailers discontinued MyPillow products. By his own admission, revenue slumped and lines of credit dried up, costing him millions. Several vendors sued MyPillow over billing disputes. Fox News stopped running his commercials. Lawyers quit on him.Lindell has been sued twice for defamation over his claims that voting machines were manipulated to deprive Trump of a victory.A federal judge in Minnesota ruled in September that Lindell defamed Smartmatic with 51 false statements. But the judge deferred the question of whether Lindell acted with the actual malice that Smartmatic must prove to collect. Smartmatic says its seeking nine-figure damages.A Colorado jury in June found that Lindell defamed a former Dominion Voting Systems executive by calling him a traitor, and awarded $2.3 million in damages.But Lindell won a victory in July when a federal appeals court overturned a judges decision that affirmed a $5 million arbitration award to a software engineer who disputed data that Lindell claimed proved Chinese interference in the 2020 election. The engineer had accepted Lindells Prove Mike Wrong Challenge, which he launched as part of his 2021 Cyber Symposium in South Dakota, where he promised to expose election fraud. The campaign aheadLindell said his crusade against electronic voting machines will just be part of his platform. While Minnesota uses paper ballots, it also uses electronic tabulators to count them. Lindell wants them hand-counted, even though many election officials say machine counting is more accurate.Some Republicans in the race include Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, of Cold Spring; Dr. Scott Jensen, a former state senator from Chaska who was the partys 2022 candidate; state Rep. Kristin Robbins, of Maple Grove; defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor Chris Madel; and former executive Kendall Qualls.These guys havent lived what I live, Lindell said.Lindell wouldnt commit to abiding by the Minnesota GOP endorsement and forgoing the primary if he loses it, expressing confidence that hell win. He also said hell rely on his supporters to finance his campaign because his own finances are drained. I dont have the money, he acknowledged. But he added that ever since word got out last week that he had filed the paperwork to run, Ive had thousands upon thousands of people text and call, saying from all around the country ... Hey, Ill donate. STEVE KARNOWSKI Karnowski covers politics and government from Minnesota for The Associated Press. He also covers the ongoing fallout from the murder of George Floyd, courts and the environment, among other topics. twitter mailto

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado speaks during a press conference at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Norway, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (Heiko Junge/NTB Scanpix via AP)2025-12-11T10:40:25Z CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) Venezuelan opposition leader Mara Corina Machado said Thursday that decisive actions by the United States, including the seizure of an oil tanker, have left the repressive government of President Nicols Maduro at its weakest point, and she vowed to return to the country to keep fighting for democracy.Machados statements to reporters came hours after she appeared in public for the first time in 11 months, following her arrival in Norways capital, Oslo, where her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize award on her behalf on Wednesday. The actions of President Donald Trump have been decisive to reach where we are now, where the regime is significantly weaker, she said. Because before, the regime thought it had impunity . Now they start to understand that this is serious, and that the world is watching. Machado sidestepped questions on whether a U.S. military intervention is necessary to remove Maduro from power. She told reporters that she would return to Venezuela when we believe the security conditions are right, and it wont depend on whether or not the regime leaves.Machado arrived in Oslo hours after Wednesdays prize ceremony and made her first public appearance early Thursday, emerging from a hotel balcony and waving to an emotional crowd of supporters. She had been in hiding since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters during a protest in Caracas. Machado left Venezuela at a critical point in the countrys protracted crisis, with the Trump administration carrying out deadly military operations in the Caribbean and threatening repeatedly to strike Venezuelan soil. The White House has said the operations, which have killed 80 people, are meant to stop the flow of drugs into the U.S.But many, including analysts, U.S. members of Congress and Maduro himself, see the operations as an effort to end his hold on power. The opposition led by Machado has only added to this perception by reigniting its promise to soon govern the country. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said the U.S. had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. On Thursday, Machado called on governments to expand their support for Venezuelas opposition beyond words. We, the Venezuelan people that have tried every single, you know, institutional mean, ask support from the democratic nations in the world to cut those resources that come from illegal activities and support repressive approaches, she said. And thats why we are certainly asking the world to act. Its not a matter of statements, as you say, its a matter of action. Machado, 58, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October after mounting the most serious peaceful challenge in years to Maduros authoritarian government. Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, accepted the prize at a ceremony in Oslo. Machado was received Thursday by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre, who said that his country is ready to support a democratic Venezuela in building new and sound institutions. Asked whether the Venezuelan government might have known her whereabouts since January, Machado told reporters: I dont think they have known where I have been, and certainly they would have done everything to stop me from coming here.She declined to give details of her journey from Venezuela to Norway. But she thanked all those men and women that risked their lives so that I could be here today and later acknowledged that the U.S. government helped her.Flight tracking data show that the plane Machado arrived on flew to Oslo from Bangor, Maine.Machado won an opposition primary election and intended to challenge Maduro in last years presidential election, but the government barred her from running for office. Retired diplomat Edmundo Gonzlez took her place.The lead-up to the election on July 28, 2024, saw widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations. That increased after the countrys National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared the incumbent the winner. Gonzlez sought asylum in Spain last year after a Venezuelan court issued a warrant for his arrest.Its unclear when and how Machado and Gonzlez could return to Venezuela. An opposition plan to get Gonzlez back before the Jan. 10 ceremony that gave Maduro another term didnt materialize.Machado, alongside the Norwegian prime minister, said that we decided to fight until the end and Venezuela will be free. If Maduros government is still in place when she returns, she added, I will be with my people and they will not know where I am. We have ways to do that and take care of us.

The first thing I saw this morning when I opened X was an AI-generated trailer for Avengers: Doomsday. Robert Downey Jrs Doctor Doom stood in a shapeless void alongside Captain America and Reed Richards. It was obvious slop but it was also close in tone and feel of the last five years of Disneys Marvel movies. As media empires consolidate, nostalgia intensifies, and AI tools spread, Disneys blockbusters feel more like an excuse to slam recognizable characters together in a contextless morass.So of course Disney has announced it signed a deal with OpenAI today that will soon allow fans to make their own officially licensed Disney slop using Sora 2. The house that mouse built, and which has been notoriously protective of its intellectual property, opened up the video generator, saw the videos featuring Nazi Spongebob and criminal Pikachu, and decided: We want in.According to a press release, the deal is a 3 year licensing agreement that will allow the AI companys short form video platform Sora to generate slop videos using characters like Mickey Mouse and Iron Man. As part of the agreement, Disney is investing $1 billion of equity into OpenAI, said it will become a major customer of the company, and promised that fan and corporate AI-generated content would soon come to Disney+, meaning that Disney will officially begin putting AI slop into its flagship streaming product.The deal extends to ChatGPT as well and, starting in early 2026, users will be able to crank out officially approved Disney slop on multiple platforms. When Sora 2 launched in October, it had little to no content moderation or copyright guidelines and videos of famous franchise characters doing horrible things flooded the platform. Pikachu stole diapers from a CVS, Rick and Morty pushed crypto currencies, and Disney characters shouted slurs in the aisles of Wal-Mart.It is worth mentioning that, although Disney has traditionally been extremely protective of its intellectual property, the companys princesses have become one of the most common fictional subjects of AI porn on the internet; 404 Media has found at least three different large subreddits dedicated to making AI porn of characters like Elsa, Snow White, Rapunzel, and Tinkerbell. In this case, Disney is fundamentally throwing its clout behind a technology that has thus far most commonly been used to make porn of its iconic characters.After the hype of the launch, OpenAI added an opt-in policy to Sora that was meant to prevent users from violating the rights of copyright holders. Its trivial to break this policy however, and circumvent the guardrails preventing a user from making a lewd Mickey Mouse cartoon or episode of The Simpsons. The original sin of Sora and other AI systems is that the training data is full of copyrighted material and the models cannot be retrained without great cost, if at all.If you cant beat the slop, become the slop.The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence marks an important moment for our industry, and through this collaboration with OpenAI we will thoughtfully and responsibly extend the reach of our storytelling through generative AI, while respecting and protecting creators and their works, Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, said in the press release about the agreement.The press release explained that Sora users will soon have official access to 200 characters in the Disney stable, including Loki, Thanos, Darth Vader, and Minnie Mouse. In exchange, Disney will begin to use OpenAIs APIs to build new products and it will deploy ChatGPT for its employees.Im imagining a future where AI-generated fan trailers of famous characters standing next to each other in banal liminal spaces is the norm. People have used Sora 2 to generate some truly horrifying videos, but the guardrails have become more aggressive. As Disney enters the picture, I imagine the platform will become even more anodyne. Persistent people will slip through and generate videos of Goofy and Iron Man sucking and fucking, sure, but the vast majority of whats coming will be safe corporate gruel that resembles a Marvel movie.

A tangle of problems at IndiGo, the dominant carrier, resulted in gridlocked airports across the country. Worse, it was the symptom of an even bigger problem.

Neither Democrats plan to extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies nor Republicans proposal to replace them with direct payments for those who buy basic insurance was expected to advance.

Its hard to make a movie studio tour exciting when movies arent made there anymore. A vibe of tiredness, like the end of something, one guest said.

Desperate to catch up with Chinese automakers, Ford is redesigning its fleet with a Silicon Valley-style team. Is it too late?

Barred from leaving Romania, Andrew Tate courted powerful figures on the American right, from Tucker Carlson to Barron Trump. Then an extraordinary order let him go.

Girl group Katseye is nominated for two awards at the 2026 Grammys, including Best New Artist. The Onion shares everything you need to know about the group.Genre: Popular girls bat mitzvahNumber Of Members: Four full-time and two who dont know theye part-timeBiggest Hit: Shell Be Coming Round The MountainFandom Name: ConsumersReality Series Where They Met: Ice Road TruckersAccolades: Own Wikipedia pageRecord Contract: OnerousWhy Theyre Always Standing Like That: Huddling for warmthHow To Join: Send resume to JoinTheTeam@KatsyeMusic.comFirst Member To Go Solo: Whoever survives the bus crashThe post Artist Profile: Katseye appeared first on The Onion.

NEW HAVEN, CTShedding new light on a previously undocumented effect of loneliness, a team of psychologists at Yale University found that at least 80% of Americans lack the social connections necessary to pull off a heist. When it comes to putting together a crew with the skills needed for a bank job or a jewel heist, a majority of Americans reported knowing just one or two guys, tops, said lead researcher Jane Iannitello, adding that only 20% had any safecrackers in their lives, a mere 16% knew any hacker prodigies with a rebellious streak, and fewer than 5% had access to Taiwanese acrobats doubling as masters of disguise. As they spend more and more time on social media, people just arent going out to underground boxing rings, art auctions, or other settings where they are likely to meet a fast-talking charismatic type who pulls them into a daring heist. They often lose touch with their demolition experts after childhood, and though people may be eager for a big money payday that could mean walking away from the life for good, they are too afraid to put themselves out there for fear of rejection. Even in cases where they have a crew big enough for a heist, lonely Americans are often left feeling stranded due to a lack of getaway drivers, which forces them to brandish firearms at total strangers and demand that they drive, just drive. While researchers cautioned the trend is likely to continue, they went on to state that some of the negative effects could be mitigated by reaching out to therapists with a plan, a keycard, and nothing to lose.The post Study Finds 80% Of Americans Lack Social Connections To Pull Off Heist appeared first on The Onion.

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The degenerate gamblers of Polymarket and Kalshi who bet that AI would win the Time Person of the Year are upset because the magazine has named the Architects of AI the person of the year. The people who make AI tools and AI infrastructure are, notably, not AI themselves, and thus both Kalshi and Polymarket have decided that people who bet AI do not win the bet. On Polymarket alone, people spent more than $6 million betting on AI gracing the cover of Time.As writer Parker Molloy pointed out, people who bet on AI are pissed. ITS THE ARCHITECTS OF AI THISNIS [sic] LITERALLY THE BET FUCK KALSHI, one Kalshi better said.This pretty clearly shouldve resolved to yes. If you bought AI, reach out to Kalshi support because AI is literally on the cover and in the title Architects of AI. Theyre not going to change anything unless they hear from people, said another.ThE aRcHiTeCtS oF AI fuck you pay me, said a third.Another misleading bet by Kalshi, said another gambler. Polymarket had fair rules and Kalshi did not. They need to fix this.But bag holders on Polymarket are also pissed. This is a scam. It should be resolved to a cancellation and a full refund to everyone, said a gambler whod put money down on Jensen Huang and lost. Notably, on Kalshi, anyone who bet on any of the Architects of AI, won the bet (meaning Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Dario Amodei, Mark Zuckerberg, Lisa Su, and Demis Hassabis), while anyone who bet their productsChatGPT and OpenAI did not win. On Polymarket, the rules were even more strict, i.e. people who bet Jensen Huang lost but people who bet Other won.FUCK YOU FUCKING FUCK Shayne Coplan [CEO of Polymarket], said someone who lost about $50 betting on AI to make the cover.Polymarket made its reasoning clear in a note of additional context on the market.This market is about the person/thing named as TIME's Person of the Year for 2025, not what is depicted on the cover. Per the rules, If the Person of the Year is Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, this would qualify to resolve this market to Trump. However if the Person of the Year is The MAGA movement, this would not qualify to resolve this market to Trump regardless of whether Trump is depicted on the cover, it said.Accordingly, a Time cover which lists Architects of AI as the person of the year will not qualify for AI even if the letters AI are depicted on the cover, as AI itself is not specifically named.It should be noted how incredibly stupid all of this is, which is perhaps appropriate for the year 2025, in which most of the economy consists of reckless gambling on AI. People spent more than $55 million betting on the Time Person of the Year on Polymarket, and more than $19 million betting on the Time Person of the Year on Kalshi. It also presents one of the many downsides of spending money to bet on random things that happen in the world. One of the most common and dumbest things that people continue to do to this day despite much urging otherwise is anthropomorphize AI, which is distinctly not a person and is not sentient. Time almost always actually picks a person for its Person of the Year cover, but it does sometimes get conceptual with it, at times selecting groups of people (The Silence Breakers of the #MeToo movement, the Whistleblowers, the Good Samaritans, You, and the Ebola Fighters, for example). In 1982 it selected The Computer as its Machine of the Year, and in 1988 it selected The Endangered Earth as Planet of the Year.Polymarkets users have been upset several times over the resolution of bets in the past few weeks and their concerns highlight how easy it is to manipulate the system. In November, an unauthorized edit of a live map of the Ukraine War allowed gamblers to cash in on a battle that hadnt happened. Earlier this month, a trader made $1 million in 24 hours betting on the results of Googles 2025 Year In Search Rankings and other users accused him of having inside knowledge of the process. Over the summer, Polymarket fought a war over whether or not President Zelenskyy had worn a suit. Surely all of this will continue to go well and be totally normal moving forward, especially as these prediction markets begin to integrate themselves with places such as CNN.

Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, has overseen President Trumps immigration policy, including efforts to detain more immigrants and pause visa applications.

The judge said it was troubling that the Trump administration had kept Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia in custody for nearly four months without following through on its pledge to re-expel him.

The post Rubio Orders State Department Braille Signage Switch To Times New Roman appeared first on The Onion.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during the House Committee on Homeland Security on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)2025-12-11T18:32:19Z Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday linked the seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela to the Trump administrations counterdrug efforts in Latin America as tensions escalate with the government of President Nicols Maduro.Noems assertion, which came during her testimony to the House Homeland Security Committee, provided the Republican administrations most thorough assessment so far of why it took control of the vessel on Wednesday. Incredibly unusual, the use of U.S. forces to seize a merchant ship was the latest step in the administrations pressure campaign on Maduro, who has been charged with narcoterrorism in the United States. Asked to delineate the U.S. Coast Guards role in the effort, Noem called the tanker seizure a successful operation directed by the president to ensure that were pushing back on a regime that is systematically covering and flooding our country with deadly drugs and killing our next generation of Americans. Noem went on lay out the lethal doses of cocaine she said had been kept from entering the U.S. as a result.On Wednesday at the White House, Trump told reporters that the tanker was seized for a very good reason. Asked what would happen to the oil aboard the tanker, Trump said, Well, we keep it, I guess. The U.S. has built up the largest military presence in the region in decades and launched a series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, a campaign that is facing growing scrutiny from Congress. Trump, who has said land attacks are coming soon but has not offered more details, has broadly justified the moves as necessary to stem the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the U.S. Venezuelas government said in a statement that the tanker seizure constitutes a blatant theft and an act of international piracy. Maduro has insisted the real purpose of the U.S. military operations is to force him from office.___Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP. MEG KINNARD Kinnard covers national politics for The Associated Press. She lives in South Carolina. twitter instagram mailto

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass to wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Maryland, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)2025-12-11T18:21:46Z Get the AP Top 25 college football poll delivered straight to your inbox every week with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here. Fernando Mendoza was named Associated Press player of the year on Thursday after leading unbeaten and top-ranked Indiana to its first Big Ten championship since 1967 and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.The redshirt junior quarterback was the overwhelming choice over fellow Heisman Trophy finalists Diego Pavia of Vanderbilt, Jeremiah Love of Notre Dame and Julian Sayin of Ohio State. Mendoza received 32 of 51 first-place votes from a nationwide panel of media members who cover college football. Pavia got nine to lead the rest of the group, which also included Jacob Rodriguez of Texas Tech.Im shining now but only because there are so many stars around me, Mendoza said, describing his rise from lightly recruited high school prospect in 2021 to a candidate for the sports most prestigious awards. Theres an analogy that the only reason were able to see stars in the sky is because the light reflects from all different types of stars. I have so many stars around myself whether its my teammates, my coaches, my family, support staff that Im able to shine now in this light, and Im so happy for everyone to be a part of this. Mendoza, the Hoosiers first-year starter after transferring from California, is the triggerman for an offense that has surpassed program records for touchdowns and points set during last seasons surprise run to the CFP. Mendoza has thrown for a Bowl Subdivision-leading 33 touchdowns and run for six, giving him a school-record 39 TDs accounted for. Think you know who belongs in the Top 25? Now its your turn to vote with the AP Top 25 fan poll. He was the first Big Ten quarterback since 2000 with three straight games with at least four TD passes and no interceptions. His 21-of-23, 267-yard, five-touchdown passing day in a 63-10 win at Illinois in the conference opener established him as a serious contender for national honors. Mendoza is among 10 FBS quarterbacks who have completed better than 70% of their passes. He ranks among the most accurate passers on attempts of at least 20 yards, hitting on 23 of 43 (53.5%), and when under pressure (52.1%), according to Pro Football Focus. Ranked the No. 72 quarterback prospect by ESPN when he was a senior at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, Mendoza was pledged to Yale for almost six months before he decommitted and signed with California.He sat out as a redshirt in 2022 and won the starting job for the final eight games in 2023. He was 10th in the nation in passing in 2024 and ranked among the top transfer prospects after the season. He landed at Indiana, where his brother Alberto Mendoza was the No. 3 quarterback last year. This year Alberto is the top backup to his big brother.___Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football ERIC OLSON Olson is an Associated Press college football writer based in Omaha, Nebraska. He also covers the Big Ten, the NCAA, the College Football Playoff alongside local teams Nebraska and Creighton. twitter mailto

Michael Jordan, left, shakes hands with NASCAR attorney Lawrence Buterman as NASCAR chairman Jim France, center, looks away, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, outside the federal courthouse in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jenna Fryer)2025-12-11T11:00:07Z CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Michael Jordan and NASCAR chairman Jim France stood side-by-side on the steps of a federal courthouse as if they were old friends following a stunning settlement Thursday of a bruising antitrust case in which the Basketball Hall of Famer was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit accusing the top racing series in the United States of being a monopolistic bully. The duo was flanked by three-time Daytona 500 Denny Hamlin and Curtis Polk, who co-own 23XI Racing with Jordan, Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins and over a dozen lawyers as they celebrated the end to an eight-day trial that ultimately led NASCAR to cave and grant all its teams the permanent charters they wanted. Like two competitors, obviously we tried to get as much done in each others favor, Jordan said, towering over the 81-year-old France. Ive said this from Day 1: the only way this sport is going to grow is we have to find some synergy between the two entities. I think weve gotten to that point, unfortunately it took 16 months to get here, but I think level heads have gotten us to this point where we can actually work together and grow this sport. I am very proud about that and I think Jim feels the same. France concurred. I do feel the same and we can get back to focusing on what we really love, and thats racing, and we spent a lot of time not really focused on that so much as we needed to be, France said. I feel like we made a very good decision here together and we have a big opportunity to continue growing the sport. A charter is the equivalent of the franchise model used in other sports and in NASCAR it guarantees 36 teams a spot in every top-level Cup Series race and a fixed portion of the revenue stream. The system was implemented in 2016 and teams have argued for over two years that the charters needed to be made permanent they had been revokable by NASCAR and the revenue sharing had to change. NASCAR, founded and privately owned by the Florida-based France family, never considered making the charters permanent. Instead, after two-plus years of bitter negotiations, NASCAR in September 2024 presented a take-it-or leave-it final offer that gave teams until end of that day to sign the 112-page document. 23XI and Front Row refused and sued, while 13 other organizations signed but testimony in court revealed many did so with a gun to our head because the threat of losing the charters would have put them out of business.Jordan testified early in the trial that as a new team owner to NASCAR 23XI launched in 2021 he felt he had the strength to challenge NASCAR. Eight days of testimony went badly for NASCAR, which when it began to present its case seemed focused more on mitigating damages than it did on proving it did not violate antitrust laws. Although terms of the settlement were not released NASCAR was in the process of scheduling a Thursday afternoon call with all teams to discuss the revenue-sharing model moving forward both Jordan and NASCAR said that charters will now be permanent for all teams. 23XI and Front Row will receive their combined six charters back for 2026. An economist has previously testified that NASCAR owes 23XI and Front Row $364.7 million in damages, and that NASCAR shorted 36 chartered teams $1.06 billion from 2021-24.Todays a good day, Jordan said from the front-row seat hes occupied since the trial began Dec. 1 as he waited for the settlement announcement. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell, who had presided over two days of failed settlement talks before the trial began, echoed the sentiment. Bell told the jury that sometimes parties at trial have to see how the evidence unfolds to come to the wisdom of a settlement.I wish we couldve done this a few months ago, Bell said in court. I believe this is great for NASCAR. Great for the future of NASCAR. Great for the entity of NASCAR. Great for the teams and ultimately great for the fans.The settlement came after two days of France testimony and the Wednesday night public release of a letter from Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris calling for NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps to be removed. The discovery process revealed internal NASCAR communications in which Phelps called Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress a redneck and other derogatory names; Bass Pro sponsors Childress teams, as well as some others, and Morris is an ardent NASCAR supporter.Childress gave fiery testimony earlier this week over his reluctance to sign the charter agreement because it was so unfair to the teams, which have been bleeding money and begged NASCAR for concessions. Letters from Hall of Fame team owners Joe Gibbs, Rick Hendrick, Jack Roush and Roger Penske were introduced in which they pleaded with France for charters to become permanent; France testified he was not moved by the men he considers good friends. The settlement came abruptly on the ninth day of the trial. Bell opened expecting to hear motions but both sides asked for a private conference in chambers. When they emerged, Bell ordered an hour-long break for the two sides to confer. That turned into two hours, all parties returned to the courtroom and Kessler announced an agreement had been reached.What all parties have always agreed on is a deep love for the sport and a desire to see it fulfill its full potential, NASCAR and the plaintiffs said in a joint statement. This is a landmark moment, one that ensures NASCARs foundation is stronger, its future is brighter and its possibilities are greater.___AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing JENNA FRYER Fryer primarily covers motorsports for The AP with an emphasis on NASCAR, F1, IMSA and IndyCar. She is a New Jersey native based in Charlotte, North Carolina. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

The Disney logo is seen on their store along the Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris on Sept. 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)2025-12-11T14:58:52Z Disney is investing $1 billion in OpenAI and will bring characters such as Mickey Mouse, Cinderella and Luke Skywalker to the AI companys Sora video generation tool, in a licensing deal that the two companies announced on Thursday. At the same time, Disney went after Google, demanding the tech company stop exploiting its copyrighted characters to train its AI systems. The OpenAI agreement makes the Walt Disney Co. the first major content licensing partner for Sora, which uses generative artificial intelligence to create short videos. Under the three-year licensing deal, fans will be able to use Sora to generate and share videos based on more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters. AI video generators like Sora have wowed with their ability to quickly create realistic clips based merely on text prompts. But a flood of such videos on social media, including clips depicting celebrities and deceased public figures, has raised worries about AI slop crowding out human-created work alongside concerns about misinformation, deepfakes and copyright. Disney and OpenAI said they are committed to responsible use of AI that protects the safety of users and the rights of creators. This agreement shows how AI companies and creative leaders can work together responsibly to promote innovation that benefits society, respect the importance of creativity, and help works reach vast new audiences, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said. Disney CEO Robert Iger said the deal will extend the reach of our storytelling through generative AI, while respecting and protecting creators and their works. As part of the deal, some user-generated Sora videos will be made available on the Disney+ streaming service.Disney will also become a major customer of OpenAI and use its technology to build new products, tools, and services. It will also roll out ChatGPT for employees. Also Thursday, Disney sent Google a cease and desist letter, demanding that the tech company stop using Disney content without permission to feed and train its AI models, including its Veo video generator and Imagen and Nano Banana image generators.It has previously issued similar cease and desist letters to Meta and Character.AI and has filed litigation with NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery against AI image generator Midjourney and AI company Minimax.Well, we have been aggressive at protecting our IP, and we have gone after other companies that have not honored our IP, not respected our IP, not valued it. And this is another example of us doing just that, Iger said in an interview on CNBCs Squawk on the Street. We have been in conversation with Google, basically expressing our concerns about this. And, ultimately, because we didnt really make any progress, the conversations didnt bear fruit, we felt we had no choice but to send them a cease-and-desist.Disney accused Google of infringing Disneys copyrights on a massive scale, according to a copy of the letter dated Dec. 10 seen by The Associated Press. The letter included examples that it says Googles AI systems easily generated, such as characters from Star Wars, The Simpsons, Deadpool and The Lion King. Google has also been intentionally amplifying the problem by making the infringing content available across its many channels including YouTube, Disney said.Disney said Google hasnt taken any measures to mitigate the problem even though it has been raising the concerns for months. Googles mass infringement of Disneys copyrighted works must stop, the letter said. Google did not respond immediately to a request for comment. KELVIN CHAN Chan covers technology and innovation in Europe and beyond for The Associated Press. twitter mailto

Days of heavy rain pushed waterways to record flood levels in a mountainous region north of Seattle. Do not wait, local officials warned residents as they urged them to seek higher ground.

Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed, an ally of the former prime minister, Imran Khan, once led Pakistans powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency.

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A national flag hangs over the site where conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed, at Utah Valley University, Sept. 17, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (AP Photo/Jesse Bedayn, File)2025-12-11T05:06:11Z PROVO, Utah (AP) The 22-year-old Utah man charged with killing Charlie Kirk made his first in-person court appearance Thursday as his attorneys push to further limit media access in the high-profile criminal case.A Utah judge is weighing the publics right to know details in the prosecution of Tyler Robinson against his attorneys concerns that the swarm of media attention could interfere with his right to a fair trial. Robinsons legal team and the Utah County Sheriffs Office have asked Judge Tony Graf to ban cameras in the courtroom.Prosecutors have charged Robinson with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 shooting of the conservative activist on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, just a few miles north of the Provo courthouse. They plan to seek the death penalty. Robinson arrived in court with restraints on his wrists and ankles and wearing a dress shirt, tie and slacks. He smiled at the people sitting in a row reserved for family, where a woman teared up and wiped her eyes with a tissue. The defendant had previously appeared in court via video or audio feed from jail.A coalition of national and local news organizations, including The Associated Press, is fighting to preserve media access in the case. Graf has already made allowances to protect Robinsons presumption of innocence before a trial, agreeing that the case has drawn extraordinary public attention. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Graf held a closed hearing on Oct. 24 in which attorneys discussed Robinsons courtroom attire and security protocols. Under a subsequent ruling by the judge, Robinson is allowed to wear street clothes in court during his pretrial hearings but must be physically restrained due to security concerns. Graf also prohibited media from filming or photographing Robinsons restraints after his attorneys argued widespread images of him shackled and in jail clothing could prejudice future jurors. Michael Judd, an attorney for the media coalition, has urged Graf to let the news organizations weigh in on any future requests for closed hearings or other limitations. The media presence at Utah hearings is already limited, with judges often designating one photographer and one videographer to document a hearing and share their images with other news organizations. Additional journalists can typically attend to listen and take notes, as can members of the public. Judd wrote in recent filings that an open court safeguards the integrity of the fact-finding process while fostering public confidence in judicial proceedings. Criminal cases in the U.S. have long been open to the public, which he argued is proof that trials can be conducted fairly without restricting reporters as they work to keep the public informed.Kirks widow, Erika Kirk, has called for full transparency, saying, We deserve to have cameras in there. Her husband was an ally of President Donald Trump who worked to steer young voters toward conservatism.Robinsons legal team says his pretrial publicity reaches as far as the White House, with Trump announcing soon after Robinsons arrest, With a high degree of certainty, we have him, and I hope he gets the death penalty. Attorney Kathy Nester has raised concern that digitally altered versions of Robinsons initial court photo have spread widely, creating misinformation about the case. Some altered images show Robinson crying or having an outburst in court, which did not happen. HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Schoenbaum is a government and politics reporter based in Salt Lake City, Utah. She also covers general news in the Rockies and LGBTQ+ rights policies in U.S. statehouses. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

The Treasury Secretary unveiled changes to the Financial Stability Oversight Council to ease overregulation.

A new technology release from OpenAI is supposed to top what Google recently produced. It also shows OpenAI is engaged in a new and more difficult competition.

Some disciplinary measures have been imposed on the lecturer, including being monitored as she teaches a class on diversity and social justice.

The outbreak shows no signs of slowing, likely because of the affected areas lower-than-hoped-for vaccination coverage, a state health official said.

American officials joined Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran in objecting to language on fossils fuels, biodiversity and plastics in a report that was three years in the making.

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New York Attorney General, Letitia James, speaks after pleading not guilty outside the United States District Court Oct. 24, 2025, in Norfolk, Va. (AP Photo/John Clark, File)2025-12-11T20:29:25Z ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) A grand jury declined for a second time to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday, refusing to resurrect a mortgage fraud prosecution encouraged by President Donald Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter.Its another major blow to the Justice Department after the dismissal of earlier charges against James and another longtime Trump foe, former FBI Director James Comey, in a stunning rebuke of the Trump administrations efforts to prosecute the presidents political opponents. From APs Standards and Stylebook teams: The AP is using anonymous sourcing to provide information for this story. Click here to hear Washington Bureau Chief Anna Johnson explain APs policy on the use of anonymous sources. A judge threw out the original indictments against James and Comey in November, ruling that the prosecutor who presented to the grand jury, Lindsey Halligan, was illegally appointed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. The Justice Department asked a grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, to return an indictment Thursday after a different grand jury in Norfolk last week refused to do so. The person who confirmed the failure to secure an indictment was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The allegations related to James purchase of modest house in Norfolk, where she has family. James says the case is politically motivated and has denied any wrongdoing. James, a Democrat who infuriated Trump after his first term with a lawsuit alleging that he built his business empire on lies about his wealth, was initially charged with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution in connection with a home purchase in 2020. During the sale, she signed a standard document called a second home rider in which she agreed to keep the property primarily for her personal use and enjoyment for at least one year, unless the lender agreed otherwise. Rather than using the home as a second residence, prosecutors say James rented it out to a family of three, allowing her to obtain favorable loan terms not available for investment properties. The cases against James and a separate prosecution of Comey have heightened concerns that the Trump administration is using its law enforcement powers to pursue the presidents enemies. Both cases were brought shortly after the administration installed Halligan, a former Trump lawyer with no prior prosecutorial experience, as U.S. attorney amid public calls from the president to take action against his political opponents. But U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie threw out the cases last month over the unconventional mechanism that the Trump administration employed to appoint Halligan. The judge dismissed them without prejudice, allowing the Justice Department to try to file the charges again.Halligan had been named as a replacement for Erik Siebert, a veteran prosecutor in the office and interim U.S. attorney who resigned in September amid Trump administration pressure to file charges against both Comey and James. He stepped aside after Trump told reporters he wanted Siebert out.James lawyers separately argued the case was a vindictive prosecution brought to punish the Trump critic who spent years investigating and suing the Republican president and won a staggering judgment in a lawsuit alleging he defrauded banks by overstating the value of his real estate holdings on financial statements. The fine was later tossed out by a higher court, but both sides are appealing. After the Norfolk grand jury rejected a new indictment last week, James lawyer said, This should be the end of the case. If they continue, undeterred by a court ruling and a grand jurys rejection of the charges, it will be a shocking assault on the rule of law and a devastating blow to the integrity of our justice system, defense attorney Abbe Lowell said at the time. Comey was separately charged with lying to Congress in 2020. Another federal judge has complicated the Justice Departments efforts to seek a new indictment against Comey, temporarily barring prosecutors from accessing computer files belonging to Daniel Richman, a close Comey friend and Columbia University law professor whom prosecutors see as a central player in any potential case against the former FBI director. Prosecutors moved Tuesday to quash that order, calling Richmans request for the return of his files a strategic tool to obstruct the investigation and potential prosecution. They said the judge had overstepped her bounds by ordering Richmans property returned to him and said the ruling had impeded their ability to proceed with a case against Comey._____Richer reported from Washington. ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Richer covers the Justice Department and federal courts. She joined The AP in 2013 and is based in Washington. twitter

The former chief executive, Michael S. Jeffries, was charged with running an international sex-trafficking ring. An earlier ruling found that he could not be tried because he had Alzheimers.

It was a striking rejection of the administrations retribution campaign.

The groups report had been expected to provide a road map for change after months of upheaval at the agency.