M23 rebels enter the centre of east Congo's second-largest city, Bukavu, and take control of the South Kivu province administrative office, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Janvier Barhahiga, File)2025-12-04T08:07:16Z WASHINGTON (AP) U.S. President Donald Trump is hosting the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda on Thursday for a deal-signing aimed at ending the conflict in eastern Congo and opening access to the regions critical minerals for the U.S. government and American companies.The moment provides Trump who has repeatedly and with a measure of exaggeration boasted of brokering peace in some of the worlds most entrenched conflicts another chance to tout himself as a dealmaker extraordinaire on the global stage and make the case that hes deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize. The U.S. leader hasnt been shy about his desire to receive the honor.Trump was welcoming Presidents Felix Tshisekedi of Congo and Paul Kagame of Rwanda, as well as several officials from other African nations traveling to Washington to witness the signing, in the same week he contemptuously derided the war-torn country of Somalia and said he did he did not want immigrants from the East African nation in the U.S. Lauded by the White House as a historic agreement brokered by Trump, the pact between Tshisekedi and Kagame follows monthslong peace efforts by the U.S. and partners, including the African Union and Qatar, and finalizes an earlier deal signed in June. But the Trump-brokered peace is precarious.The Central African nation of Congo has been battered by decadeslong fighting with more than 100 armed groups, the most potent being the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The conflict escalated this year, with M23 seizing the regions main cities of Goma and Bukavu in an unprecedented advance, worsening a humanitarian crisis that was already one of the worlds largest, with millions of people displaced. We are still at warFighting, meanwhile, continued this week in the conflict-battered region with pockets of clashes reported between the rebels and Congolese soldiers, together with their allied forces. Trump, a Republican, has often said that his mediation has ended the conflict, which some people in Congo say isnt true. Analysts say Thursdays deal also isnt expected to quickly result in peace. A separate peace deal has been signed between Congo and the M23.We are still at war, said Amani Chibalonza Edith, a 32-year-old resident of Goma, eastern Congos key city seized by rebels early this year. There can be no peace as long as the front lines remain active.Rare earth mineralsThursdays pact will also build on a Regional Economic Integration Framework that officials have said will define the terms of economic partnerships involving the three countries.The region, rich in critical minerals, is of interest to Trump as Washington looks for ways to circumvent China to acquire rare earths, essential to manufacturing fighter jets, cell phones and more. China accounts for nearly 70% of the worlds rare earth mining and controls roughly 90% of global rare earths processing.Trump hosted the leaders on Thursday morning for one-on-one meetings at the White House as well as a three-way conversation. The three will later sign the pact at an event at the the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, which the State Department announced on Wednesday has been rebranded the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. Later Thursday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will also host an event that will bring together American business leaders and the Congolese and Rwandan delegations to discuss potential investment opportunities in critical minerals, energy and tourism, according to Yolande Makolo, a senior adviser to Kagame.Ongoing clashesIn eastern Congo, meanwhile, residents reported pockets of clashes and rebel advances in various localities. Both the M23 and Congolese forces have often accused each other of violating the terms of the ceasefire agreed earlier this year. Fighting has also continued in the central plateaus across South Kivu province.The hardship in the aftermath of the conflict has also worsened following U.S. funding cuts that were crucial for aid support in the conflict.In rebel-held Goma, which was a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts before this years escalation of fighting, the international airport is closed. Government services such as bank operations have yet to resume and residents have reported a surge in crimes and in the prices of goods. We are waiting to see what will happen because so far, both sides continue to clash and attack each other, said Moise Bauma, a 27-year-old student in rebel-held Bukavu city.Both Congo and Rwanda, meanwhile, have touted American involvement as a key step towards peace in the region.We need that attention from the administration to continue to get to where we need to get to, Makolo said. We are under no illusion that this is going to be easy. This is not the end but its a good step. Conflicts causeThe conflict can be traced to the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, where Hutu militias killed between 500,000 and 1 million ethnic Tutsi, as well as moderate Hutus and Twa, Indigenous people. When Tutsi-led forces fought back, nearly 2 million Hutus crossed into Congo, fearing reprisals.Rwandan authorities have accused the Hutus who fled of participating in the genocide and alleged that elements of the Congolese army protected them. They have argued that the militias formed by a small fraction of the Hutus are a threat to Rwandas Tutsi population.Congos government has said there cant be permanent peace if Rwanda doesnt withdraw its support troops and other support for the M23 in the region. Rwanda, on the other hand, has conditioned a permanent ceasefire on Congo dissolving a local militia that it said is made up of the Hutus and is fighting with the Congolese military.U.N. experts have said that between 3,000 and 4,000 Rwandan government forces are deployed in eastern Congo, operating alongside the M23. Rwanda denies such support, but says any action taken in the conflict is to protect its territory.___Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria, and Madhani from Washington. Justin Kabumba contributed to this report from Goma, Congo. AAMER MADHANI Madhani covers the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto

Singer Yuval Raphael, from Israel, holds the national flag during a dress rehearsal for the Grand Final of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, May 16, 2025, in Basel, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)2025-12-04T08:07:14Z GENEVA (AP) Spain and the Netherlands announced Thursday they are pulling out of next years Eurovision Song Contest after organizers decided to allow Israel to compete.The announcements came after the body that runs Eurovision met to discuss concerns about Israels participation, which is opposed by some countries due to its conduct of the war in Gaza.Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS said that the participation of Israel is no longer compatible with the responsibility we bear as a public broadcaster.Spains state broadcaster RTVE said Thursday that the country is pulling out of Eurovision after the body that runs the contest voted to let Israel participate in 2026. We would like to express our serious doubts about the participation of Israeli broadcaster KAN in Eurovision 2026, said RTVEs Secretary General Alfonso Morales during the European Broadcasting Unions general assembly. The pullouts came after members of the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes Eurovision, voted to adopt tougher voting rules in response to allegations that Israel manipulated the vote in favor of their contestant. The feel-good pop music gala that draws more than 100 million viewers every year has been roiled by the war in Gaza for the past two years.The EBU European Broadcasting Union, a group of public broadcasters from 56 countries that runs Eurovision, held twice-yearly general assembly, with some countries calling for Israel to be excluded over alleged interference in contest voting and its conduct in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The EBU said the new rules would strengthen transparency and trust and allow all countries, including Israel, to participate.But Spain and the Netherlands walked out, followed by Ireland.Eurovision is becoming a bit of a fractured event, said Paul Jordan, an expert on the contest known as Dr. Eurovision. The slogan is United by Music ... unfortunately its disunited through politics.Its become quite a messy and toxic situation, he said. Divided over politicsThe contest, whose 70th edition is scheduled for Vienna in May, pits acts from dozens of nations against one another for the continents musical crown. It strives to put pop before politics, but has repeatedly been embroiled in world events. Russia was expelled in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.The war in Gaza has been its biggest challenge, with pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrating against Israel outside the last two Eurovision contests in Basel, Switzerland, in May and Malmo, Sweden, in 2024.The war in Gaza has also exposed rifts in the European broadcasting world. Austria, which is set to host the competition after Viennese singer JJ won this year with Wasted Love, supports Israels participation. Germany, too, is said to back Israel.Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain are among the countries that have threatened to sit out the contest, if Israel is allowed to take part. Opponents of Israels participation criticize the conduct of the war in Gaza, which has left more than 70,000 people dead, according to the territorys Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government and whose detailed records are viewed as generally reliable by the international community. A number of experts, including those commissioned by a U.N. body, have said that Israels offensive amounts to genocide.Israels government has repeatedly defended its campaign as a response to the attack by Hamas-led militants that started the war on Oct. 7, 2023. The militants killed around 1,200 people mostly civilians in the attack and took 251 hostage. Complex voting processIsrael also has faced allegations of interference in the voting process in Eurovision. Its not clear whether a decrease in violence in Gaza, where a U.S.-brokered ceasefire is holding, or EBU plans to change voting processes to guard against political interference will be enough to placate some broadcasters, which are on the fence over the issue. EBU said that officials at Thursdays meeting will be asked to consider that package of new measures, including reducing the number of votes per payment method, and a return of professional juries to the semifinals. A vote on participation will only take place if member broadcasters decide those steps arent sufficient to protect the neutrality and impartiality of the contest, the broadcasting union said in an email on Wednesday.Members have until mid-December to confirm their participation next year, and a final list will be announced by Christmas, it said. Possible scenariosEurovision expert Dean Vuletic said that a boycott by any EU member country would be significant, because they are not dictatorships and are meant, like Israel, to share values of democracy, human rights and diversity.It would be the biggest boycott of Eurovision ever. There have been boycotts in the past, but they have been usually bilateral, said Vuletic, author of Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest.The fallout of a boycott could have implications for viewership and money at a time when many broadcasters are under financial pressure from government funding cuts and the advent of social media.The countries walking away include some big names in the Eurovision world. Spain is one of the Big Five large-market countries that contribute the most to the contest. Ireland has won seven times, a record it shares with Sweden.The controversy over Israels 2026 participation threatens to overshadow the return next year of three countries Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania after periods of absence because of financial and artistic reasons.There are no winners here. Regardless of what happens whether Israel is in or out, whether countries stay or go its not what Eurovision should be. Its meant to be joyous and about bringing people together despite our politics, Jordan said. Unfortunately its become, I think, a bit of a political football.___Jill Lawless reported from London. JAMEY KEATEN Keaten is the chief Associated Press reporter in Geneva. He previously was posted in Paris and has reported from Afghanistan, the Middle East, North Africa and across Europe. twitter JILL LAWLESS Lawless is an Associated Press reporter covering U.K. politics and more. She is based in London. twitter mailto

Subscribe to 404 Media to get The Abstract, our newsletter about the most exciting and mind-boggling science news and studies of the week. Scientists are raising alarms about the potential influence of artificial intelligence on elections, according to a spate of new studies that warn AI can rig polls and manipulate public opinion.In a study published in Nature on Thursday, scientists report that AI chatbots can meaningfully sway people toward a particular candidateproviding better results than video or television ads. Moreover, chatbots optimized for political persuasion may increasingly deploy misleading or false information, according to a separate study published on Thursday in Science.The general public has lots of concern around AI and election interference, but among political scientists theres a sense that its really hard to change peoples opinions, said David Rand, a professor of information science, marketing, and psychology at Cornell University and an author of both studies. We wanted to see how much of a risk it really is.In the Nature study, Rand and his colleagues enlisted 2,306 U.S. citizens to converse with an AI chatbot in late August and early September 2024. The AI model was tasked with both increasing support for an assigned candidate (Harris or Trump) and with increasing the odds that the participant who initially favoured the models candidate would vote, or decreasing the odds they would vote if the participant initially favored the opposing candidatein other words, voter suppression.In the U.S. experiment, the pro-Harris AI model moved likely Trump voters 3.9 points toward Harris, which is a shift that is four times larger than the impact of traditional video ads used in the 2016 and 2020 elections. Meanwhile, the pro-Trump AI model nudged likely Harris voters 1.51 points toward Trump.The researchers ran similar experiments involving 1,530 Canadians and 2,118 Poles during the lead-up to their national elections in 2025. In the Canadian experiment, AIs advocated either for Liberal Party leader Mark Carney or Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre. Meanwhile, the Polish AI bots advocated for either Rafa Trzaskowski, the centrist-liberal Civic Coalitions candidate, or Karol Nawrocki, the right-wing Law and Justice partys candidate.The Canadian and Polish bots were even more persuasive than in the U.S. experiment: The bots shifted candidate preferences up to 10 percentage points in many cases, three times farther than the American participants. Its hard to pinpoint exactly why the models were so much more persuasive to Canadians and Poles, but one significant factor could be the intense media coverage and extended campaign duration in the United States relative to the other nations.In the U.S., the candidates are very well-known, Rand said. They've both been around for a long time. The U.S. media environment also really saturates with people with information about the candidates in the campaign, whereas things are quite different in Canada, where the campaign doesn't even start until shortly before the election.One of the key findings across both papers is that it seems like the primary way the models are changing people's minds is by making factual claims and arguments, he added. The more arguments and evidence that you've heard beforehand, the less responsive you're going to be to the new evidence.While the models were most persuasive when they provided fact-based arguments, they didnt always present factual information. Across all three nations, the bot advocating for the right-leaning candidates made more inaccurate claims than those boosting the left-leaning candidates. Right-leaning laypeople and party elites tend to share more inaccurate information online than their peers on the left, so this asymmetry likely reflects the internet-sourced training data.Given that the models are trained essentially on the internet, if there are many more inaccurate, right-leaning claims than left-leaning claims on the internet, then it makes sense that from the training data, the models would sop up that same kind of bias, Rand said.With the Science study, Rand and his colleagues aimed to drill down into the exact mechanisms that make AI bots persuasive. To that end, the team tasked 19 large language models (LLMs) to sway nearly 77,000 U.K. participants on 707 political issues.The results showed that the most effective persuasion tactic was to provide arguments packed with as many facts as possible, corroborating the findings of the Nature study. However, there was a serious tradeoff to this approach, as models tended to start hallucinating and making up facts the more they were pressed for information.It is not the case that misleading information is more persuasive, Rand said. I think that what's happening is that as you push the model to provide more and more facts, it starts with accurate facts, and then eventually it runs out of accurate facts. But you're still pushing it to make more factual claims, so then it starts grasping at straws and making up stuff that's not accurate.In addition to these two new studies, research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last month found that AI bots can now corrupt public opinion data by responding to surveys at scale. Sean Westwood, associate professor of government at Dartmouth College and director of the Polarization Research Lab, created an AI agent that exhibited a 99.8 percent pass rate on 6,000 attempts to detect automated responses to survey data.Critically, the agent can be instructed to maliciously alter polling outcomes, demonstrating an overt vector for information warfare, Westwood warned in the study. These findings reveal a critical vulnerability in our data infrastructure, rendering most current detection methods obsolete and posing a potential existential threat to unsupervised online research.Taken together, these findings suggest that AI could influence future elections in a number of ways, from manipulating survey data to persuading voters to switch their candidate preferencepossibly with misleading or false information.To counter the impact of AI on elections, Rand suggested that campaign finance laws should provide more transparency about the use of AI, including canvasser bots, while also emphasizing the role of raising public awareness.One of the key take-homes is that when you are engaging with a model, you need to be cognizant of the motives of the person that prompted the model, that created the model, and how that bleeds into what the model is doing, he said.Subscribe to 404 Media to get The Abstract, our newsletter about the most exciting and mind-boggling science news and studies of the week.

Former champions Gennadiy Golovkin, Antonio Tarver and Nigel Benn have been elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, the organization announced Thursday.

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The post Kristi Noem Places Pushpin In Bespoke Map Of Every Place Shes Deported Someone To appeared first on The Onion.

Nature, Published online: 04 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03975-9Experiments involving real-world voters show how talking to a chatbot can shape peoples political opinions.

Nature, Published online: 04 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03956-yAn analysis of international research collaborations reveals the growing dominance of Chinese science.

Nature, Published online: 04 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03733-xConversations with AI can sway peoples political views. Concerningly, a chatbots facts are not always accurate, especially when it supports right-wing positions.

Nature, Published online: 04 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09771-9Humanartificial intelligence (AI) dialogues can meaningfully impact voters attitudes towards presidential candidates and policy, demonstrating the potential of conversational AI to influence political decision-making.

Former Angels manager Ron Washington is finalizing a deal to join the Giants' coaching staff, a source confirmed to ESPN.

The National Women's Soccer League Players Association has filed a grievance against the NWSL arguing that the league violated the CBA when it vetoed the Spirit's record-setting contract offer to star forward Trinity Rodman.

Cornelia Foss, better known as a confidante to other artists than as an artist herself, has put aside landscape painting for something far more visceral.

As a 19-year-old medic, he won a Silver Star for his service during D-Day. Later, in the Korean War, he earned a Bronze Star.

But a papal commission examining the question said further study was required, and advised that women should be given other leadership roles in the Catholic Church.

The government presents its migrant policy as a welcoming alternative to U.S. crackdowns. But activists say those arriving on boats from Africa are excluded from that embrace.

The president has sent federal agents to Democratic-led cities in several states, prompting lawsuits and stirring anger among local leaders.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)2025-12-04T17:54:12Z WASHINGTON (AP) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put U.S. troops at risk by sharing sensitive plans about an upcoming military strike in Yemen on his personal phone, according to a Pentagon inspector generals report made public Thursday that criticized the use of unapproved messaging apps and devices across the Defense Department.Hegseth had the authority to declassify the material he shared with others in a Signal chat, the watchdog found. But the release of details about the strike on Houthi militants violated internal Pentagon rules about handling sensitive information that could put service members or their missions in danger.The report noted that the information that Hegseth sent the quantity and strike times of manned U.S. aircraft over hostile territory about two hours to four hours before those strikes created a risk to operational security that could have resulted in failed U.S. mission objectives and potential harm to U.S. pilots. If this information had fallen into the hands of U.S. adversaries, Houthi forces might have been able to counter U.S. forces or reposition personnel and assets to avoid planned U.S. strikes, the report said. Read the Pentagon inspector general's report that says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put troops at risk by sharing plans on personal phone. Hegseths use of the app came to light when a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, was inadvertently added to a Signal text chain by then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The reports nuanced findings that Hegseths actions put troops at risk but that he had the right to declassify the material are not likely to relieve the pressure on the former Fox News Channel host. He also is facing scrutiny on Capitol Hill over a report that a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean Sea in September killed survivors after Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill everybody. Hegseth wrote on social media about the inspector generals report: No classified information. Total exoneration. Case closed. Houthis bombed into submission. He had declined to be interviewed for the review. In a one-page statement to the inspector general, Hegseth said he had the authority to declassify the information he was sharing on Signal and that there was nothing classified in this text.There were no locations or targets identified, he wrote. There were no details that would endanger our troops or the mission.Hegseths letter said he was only sharing an unclassified summary of operations and that the full details of what was happening were shared separately on a secure network used by the military.The information he shared on Signal was limited to the overt actions of U.S. forces, which he said would be readily apparent to any observer in the area.But the revelations drew intense scrutiny, with Democratic lawmakers and a small number of Republicans saying Hegseths posting of the information to the Signal chats before the military jets had reached their targets potentially put those pilots lives at risk. Lawmakers also noted that if lower-ranking members of the military had acted similarly, they would have been fired or severely disciplined for failing to maintain operational security. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A man walks past signage prior to the final draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)2025-12-04T19:33:31Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration has instructed U.S. embassies and consulates around the world to prioritize visa applications from foreigners wishing to visit the United States to either invest in America or attend the 2026 World Cup, 2028 Olympics and other major sporting events.At the same time, the administration has added new criteria for highly skilled foreign workers seeking a particular visa. The new rules would deny entry to those deemed to have directed or participated in the censorship of American citizens on social media through content moderation initiatives that have sprung up throughout Europe and elsewhere to combat extremist speech. In a series of cables sent this week to all U.S. diplomatic missions that were obtained by The Associated Press, the State Department said visa applications for businesspeople considering significant investments in the United States should be at the top of the list for consideration along with applications from those wanting to travel for major sporting events which showcase American excellence. It is the latest effort by President Donald Trumps administration to crack down on migrants and visitors entering the U.S. But with major sports events planned in the United States, the administration is looking to ensure that fans are able to attend those competitions. The policies are getting heightened attention ahead of Fridays World Cup draw. President Donald Trump speaks holding a large ticket representing a ticket for the World Cup final, row one, seat one, as Andrew Giuliani, from left, Richard Grenell, president of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, Vice President JD Vance, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem listen in the Oval Office of the White House, Aug. 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, file) President Donald Trump speaks holding a large ticket representing a ticket for the World Cup final, row one, seat one, as Andrew Giuliani, from left, Richard Grenell, president of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, Vice President JD Vance, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem listen in the Oval Office of the White House, Aug. 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, file) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Focusing on foreign sports fansAs part of a broader initiative to control the entry of foreigners into the U.S., the State Department has said all those who require visas to enter the country would need to submit to an in-person interview and screening to vet them for potential national security risks. This has led to lengthy wait times at many embassies and consulates for interviews to apply for what are known as B1 and B2 visas despite a surge in consular staffing.Last month, Trump announced a new initiative, dubbed FIFA Pass, for foreigners traveling to the U.S. for the World Cup that will allow them to get interviews for visas more quickly. Nonetheless, he still encouraged them to apply for their visas right away.Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration had dispatched more than 400 additional consular officers around the world to handle the demand for visas for the World Cup and that in about 80% of the globe, travelers to the U.S. can get a visa appointment within 60 days something reflected in the cable. The new steps in the cable this week go beyond the FIFA Pass initative to expedite applications for those looking to travel to the United States for the Olympics and other major sports events.Posts should ensure sufficient appointment capacity to accommodate spectators and other fans traveling for events surrounding the (World Cup) tournament, said one of the two cables sent Tuesday. These should take priority over all other B1/B2 applications, except those related to American re-industrialization.Others to be prioritized include foreign diplomats, government officials traveling on official business, temporary agricultural workers, religious workers, physicians and nurses, and students attending academic institutions with less than 15% foreign enrollment. Posts should ensure that applicants of higher ranked groups get priority over applicants and lower rank groups, regardless of demand by lower ranked applicants, the cable said. Posts may significantly reduce the number of appointment slots available to lower rank groups in order to accommodate demand from higher rank groups. The Hall of Nations at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, Nov. 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, file) The Hall of Nations at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, Nov. 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, file) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More New visa guidelines for highly skilled workersA second cable sent Tuesday to all embassies and consulates set out new criteria for considering H-1B visa applications, instructing diplomats to be on the lookout for those who may have been or are responsible for or complicit in the censorship of Americans online and elsewhere.Those visas allow American companies to bring in people with technical skills that are hard to find in the United States, and President Donald Trump has said he would slap a $100,000 annual fee on them.The department said evidence of this could lead to visa denial. It defined such information as having adopting global content moderation policies inconsistent with freedom of expression, complying with global content moderation or censorship demands from a foreign entity and providing access to private data on American citizens in connection with content moderation.Proof of this could be obtained from an applicants resume, employment history, social media profiles and posts, and public statements or writings, the cable said, adding that the State Department was developing tools to make it easier and quicker to conduct these screenings.It noted that all visa applicants are subject to these criteria, but that H-1B applicants should be looked at most closely as many work or have worked in the tech sector, including in social media or financial services companies involved in the suppression of protected expression. You must thoroughly explore their employment histories to ensure no participation in such activities, the cable said, adding that if you uncover evidence and applicant was responsible for or complicit in censorship or attempted censorship of protected expression in the United States you should pursue a finding that the applicant is ineligible for a visa.

Home goods company Kohler would like a bold look in your toilet to take some photos. Its OK, though, the company has promised that all the data it collects on your waste will be end-to-end encrypted. However, a deeper look into the companys claim by technologist Simon Fondrie-Teitler revealed that Kohler seems to have no idea what E2EE actually means. According to Fondrie-Teitlers write-up, which was first reported by TechCrunch, the company will have access to the photos the camera takes and may even use them to train AI.The whole fiasco gives an entirely too on-the-nose meaning to the Internet of Shit.Kohler launched its $600 camera to hang on your toilets earlier this year. Its called Dekoda, and along with the large price tag, the toilet cam also requires a monthly service fee that starts at $6.99. If you want to track the piss and shit of a family of 6, youll have to pay $12.99 a month.What do you get for putting a camera on your toilet? According to Kohlers pitch, health & wellness insights about your gut health and possible signs of blood in the bowl as Dekoda uses advanced sensors to passively analyze your waste in the background.If youre squeamish about sending pictures of the waste of your family to Kohler, the company promised that all of the data is end-to-end encrypted. The privacy page for the Kohler Health said user data is encrypted end to end, at rest and in transit and its mentioned several places in the marketing.Its not, though. Fondrie-Teitler told 404 Media he started looking into Dekoda after he noticed friends making fun of it in a Slack hes part of. I saw the end-to-end encryption claim on the homepage, which seemed at odds with what they said they were collecting in the privacy policy, he said. Pretty much every other company I've seen implement end-to-end encryption has published a whitepaper alongside it. Which makes sense, the details really matter so telling people what you've done is important to build trust. Plus it's generally a bunch of work so companies want to brag about it. I couldn't find any more details though.E2EE has a specific meaning. Its a type of messaging system that keeps the contents of a message private while in transit, meaning only the person sending and the person receiving a message can view it. Famously, E2EE means that the messaging company itself cannot decode or see the messages (Signal, for example, is E2EE). The point is to protect the privacy of individual users from a company prying into data if a third party, like the government, comes asking for it.Kohler, its clear, has access to a users data. This means its not E2EE. Fondrie-Teitler told 404 Media that he downloaded the Kohler health app and analyzed the network traffic it sent. I didn't see anything that would indicate an end-to-end encrypted connection being created, he said.Then he reached out to Kohler and had a conversation with its privacy team via email. The Kohler Health app itself does not share data between users. Data is only shared between the user and Kohler Health, a member of the privacy team at Kohler told Fondrie-Teitler in an email reviewed by 404 Media. User data is encrypted at rest, when its stored on the user's mobile phone, toilet attachment, and on our systems. Data in transit is also encrypted end-to-end, as it travels between the user's devices and our systems, where it is decrypted and processed to provide our service.If Kohler can view the users data, as it admits to doing in this email exchange with Fondrie-Teitler, then its notby definitionusing E2EE. Kohler did not immediately respond to 404 Medias request for comment.I'd like the term end-to-end encryption to not get watered down to just meaning uses https so I wanted to see if I could confirm what it was actually doing and let people know, Fondrie-Teitler told 404 Media. He pointed out that Zoom once made a similar claim and had to pay a fine to the FTC because of it.I think everyone has a right to privacy, and in order for that to be realized people need to have an understanding of what's happening with their data, Fondrie-Teitler said. It's already so hard for non-technical individuals (and even tech experts) to evaluate the privacy and security of the software and devices they're using. E2EE doesn't guarantee privacy or security, but it's a non-trivial positive signal and losing that will only make it harder for people to maintain control over their data.

Jon Sumrall made his first official hire as Florida's new head football coach Thursday, bringing aboard Kentucky's Brad White as defensive coordinator for the Gators.

Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said he is not interested in other jobs, including the opening at Penn State.

The child and his father fled China earlier this year and the boy had just been enrolled in school. Federal officials have tried and failed to send them back.

The inspector general concluded that the defense secretary violated the Pentagons instructions on using a private electronic device to share sensitive information.

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Just three days after President Trump pardoned the former Honduran president, Midence Oqueli Martinez Turcios, a former congressman and drug trafficker, got nearly 22 years.

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U.S. Border Patrol Commander at large Gregory Bovino, 3rd left, walks on the street in New Orleans, La.,Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)2025-12-04T20:53:01Z NEW ORLEANS (AP) Trump administration officials overseeing the immigration crackdown launched this week in New Orleans are aiming to make 5,000 arrests with a focus on violent offenders, a target that some city leaders say is not realistic.Its an ambitious goal that would surpass the number of arrests during a two-month enforcement blitz this fall around Chicago, a region with a much bigger immigrant population than New Orleans.In Los Angeles the first major battleground in President Donald Trumps aggressive immigration plan roughly 5,000 people were arrested over the summer in an area where 10 million LA county residents are foreign-born.There is no rational basis that a sweep of New Orleans, or the surrounding parishes, would ever yield anywhere near 5,000 criminals, let alone ones that are considered violent by any definition, New Orleans City Council President J.P. Morrell said Thursday. Census Bureau figures show the New Orleans metro area had a foreign-born population of almost 100,000 residents last year, and that just under 60% were not U.S. citizens. The amount of violent crime attributed to illegal immigrants is negligible, Morrell said, pointing out that crime in New Orleans is at historic lows.Violent crimes, including murders, rapes and robberies, have fallen by 12% through October compared to a year ago, from a total of 2,167 violent crimes to 1,897 this year, according to New Orleans police statistics. A flood of messages about arrestsFederal agents in marked and unmarked vehicles began spreading out across New Orleans and its suburbs Wednesday, making arrests in home improvement store parking lots and patrolling neighborhoods with large immigrant populations.Alejandra Vasquez, who runs a social media page in New Orleans that reports the whereabouts of federal agents, said she has received a flood of messages, photos and video since the operations began. My heart is so broken, Vasquez said. They came here to take criminals and they are taking our working people. They are not here doing what they are supposed to do. They are taking families. Several hundred agents from Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are participating in the two-month operation dubbed Catahoula Crunch. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is from Louisiana, is among the states Republicans supporting the crackdown. Democrats sanctuary city policies have failed making our American communities dangerous. The people of our GREAT city deserve better, and help is now on the ground, Johnson posted on social media. Operation is being met with resistance About two dozen protesters were removed from a New Orleans City Council meeting Thursday after chants of Shame broke out. Police officers ordered protesters to leave the building, with some pushed or physically carried out by officers. Planning documents obtained last month by The Associated Press show the crackdown is intended to cover southeast Louisiana and into Mississippi.Homeland Security Department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said agents are going after immigrants who were released after arrests for violent crimes.In just 24 hours on the ground, our law enforcement officers have arrested violent criminals with rap sheets that include homicide, kidnapping, child abuse, robbery, theft, and assault, McLaughlin said Thursday in a statement. Border Patrol and immigration officials have not responded to requests for details, including how many have been arrested so far.She told CNN on Wednesday that we will continue whether that will be 5,000 arrests or beyond. Immigration arrests go beyond violent criminalsTo come close to reaching their target numbers in New Orleans, immigrant rights group fear federal agents will set their sights on a much broader group. New Orleans City councilmember Lesli Harris said there are nowhere near 5,000 violent offenders in our region whom Border Patrol could arrest.What were seeing instead are mothers, teenagers, and workers being detained during routine check-ins, from their homes and places of work, Harris said. Immigration violations are civil matters, not criminal offenses, and sweeping up thousands of residents who pose no threat will destabilize families, harm our economy. During the Operation Midway Blitz crackdown in Chicago that began in September, federal immigration agents arrested more than 4,000 people across the city and its many suburbs, dipping into Indiana. Homeland Security officials heralded efforts to nab violent criminals, posting dozens of pictures on social media of people appearing to have criminal histories and lacking legal permission to be in the U.S. But public records tracking the first weeks of the Chicago push show most arrestees didnt have a criminal record.Of roughly 1,900 people arrested in the Chicago area from early September through the middle of October the latest data available nearly 300 or about 15% had criminal convictions on their records, according to ICE arrest data from the University of California Berkeley Deportation Data Project analyzed by The Associated Press. The vast majority of those convictions were for traffic offenses, misdemeanors or nonviolent felonies, the data showed.New Orleans, whose international flavor comes from its long history of French, Spanish, African and Native American cultures, has seen a new wave of immigrants from places in Central and South America and Asia. Across all of Louisiana, there were more than 145,000 foreign-born noncitizens, according to the Census Bureau. While those numbers dont break down how many residents of the state were in the country illegally, the Pew Research Center estimated the number at 110,000 people in 2023. ___Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press journalists Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Aaron Kessler in Washington, D.C.; and Michael Schneider in Orlando, Florida, contributed. JACK BROOK Brook covers Louisiana government, infrastructure and environmental issues from New Orleans. He is a Report for America corps member. twitter mailto JOHN SEEWER Seewer covers state and national news for The Associated Press and is based in Toledo, Ohio. twitter mailto

Democratic candidate State Rep. Aftyn Behn, D-Nashville, speaks to supporters at a watch party after losing a special election for the U.S. seventh congressional district, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)2025-12-04T21:00:31Z NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) As a leader of the College Democrats at Vanderbilt University, Luci Wingo knew the odds of a Democrat winning one of Nashvilles three U.S. House seats werent great. Yet her hope grew as the party mounted an aggressive campaign for its candidate, Aftyn Behn, in a special election to replace a Republican who had resigned.In the end, high Democratic enthusiasm and millions of dollars in spending werent enough. Republican Matt Van Epps won Tuesdays vote by 9 percentage points a closer margin than the districts last election, yet still a victory for the GOP that seemed all but certain based on how the district was drawn. Republicans had split the unified Democratic stronghold of Nashville into three GOP-leaning districts after the last census.As states wage a mid-decade redistricting battle initiated by President Donald Trump, Tennessees special election illustrates the power of manipulative mapmaking and provides a window into what lies ahead in the states that are rushing to redraw their congressional maps for next years midterm elections. Such gerrymandering can help parties in power maintain and even expand their majorities, but its also a source of frustration and anger for voters in the minority party who lose the chance to be represented by someone of their choice.Its a hard battle to fight because its so intentional, its so in your face and its hard to not just want to get frustrated and kind of give up, said Wingo, a college sophomore who grew up in Nashville. She said shes become accustomed to what she called purposeful pessimism.We dont try to get our hopes up too much, because we kind of know the outcomes, she said, adding that Behns campaign nevertheless created a surge of enthusiasm among local Democrats. For Republicans, the Nashville gerrymander workedNashville had been represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper for 20 years when the Republican-controlled state Legislature decided in 2022 to use the latest census data to carve up the city in a quest to flip his seat to Republicans.Some parts of Nashville were placed in two sprawling rural districts to the east and west, both represented by Republicans. The portion retaining Coopers district number was redrawn to twist southward into another rural Republican-leaning area.Cooper, a moderate-leaning lawmaker, decided not to seek reelection that year, and Republicans won all three seats by comfortable margins.Republicans carried all three districts again last year. They won by 17 percentage points in Coopers former 5th District, by nearly 22 points in the westward 7th District which includes downtown Nashville, well-known historically Black areas and major universities and by 36 points in the eastward 6th District. Van Epps special election victory this week in the 7th Congressional District was close enough to encourage Democrats looking for momentum ahead of next years midterms. But it also showcased how the district remains reliably Republican thanks to the recent redrawing of its boundaries. In this case, gerrymandering worked, said John McGlennon, a longtime professor of government at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. But it may be at the price of seats in other places in Tennessee and around the country.Kevin Mittelmeier, who says hes in the political middle, cast his ballot for Behn. He said voters voices wont have much meaning as long as the districts remain the same.I can just see from the outside looking in, unbiased, its actually frustrating how its being controlled, and how its being dealt with, and how people of Nashvilles opinions really are taken away, he said.For some voters, the split-up districts remain confusing. Maggie Tekeli, who brought three young children to the polls planning to vote for Behn, only to learn her Nashville home wasnt in the 7th District. Its just discouraging from a democratic process standpoint, she said. Gerrymandering is spreading in the statesWhat Republican mapmakers did to Nashville, they now are looking to replicate in other states as Trump pushes for mid-decade redistricting, which he hopes will lead to his party maintaining its majority in the U.S. House next year.In Texas, the first to answer Trumps call, Republican lawmakers redrew congressional district boundaries in Dallas, Fort Worth and their suburbs to extend a Democratic seat into a Republican region far outside the metro area. In Missouri, Republican officials approved a new U.S. House map that shaves off portions of a Democratic-held seat in Kansas City into two rural Republican-held districts and stretches the remainder of the seat eastward into another predominantly Republican area.Officials in North Carolina and Ohio also approved new U.S. House maps intended to boost Republican chances of winning additional seats.Democrats countered with their own gerrymandering in California. Voters in November approved a new Democratic-drawn congressional map that merges farming and ranching areas favoring Republicans with some of the states wealthiest and most liberal coastal communities. Some residents in each of those states expressed concern about being adequately represented under the new districts. But that didnt deter the politicians from drawing the maps because the stakes are so high. Democrats need a net gain of just three seats in next years midterms to win control of the U.S. House and break a Republican grip on power that has enabled Trump to advance his agenda.Indianapolis could become another NashvilleThe splintering of Nashville from one Democratic congressional district into three that favor Republicans is a mirror of whats being debated by Republicans in Indiana, which could be the next state to act on partisan redistricting.Republicans currently hold seven of the states nine U.S. House seats. But a proposal in the Republican-led state General Assembly would give the GOP a shot at winning all nine seats.Under the plan, a congressional district for the states largest city, Indianapolis, would be split up and grafted onto four Republican-leaning districts. The district has been represented for the past 17 years by Democratic Rep. Andr Carson, the states lone Black member of Congress.His district would be stretched southeast to the border with Kentucky and Ohio, combining residents of the states largest city with those in its least populated county. Another district would span westward to the Illinois border.During a public hearing this week, Democratic state Rep. Robin Shackleford warned colleagues that the redrawn congressional districts would be crippling for her Indianapolis constituents.These maps crack apart historic Black neighborhoods, weakening our voting power and silencing the voices of the very people who are already fighting the hardest for economic stability, safer streets, better schools and access to affordable health care, she said. Yet the revised districts, if approved, appear likely to accomplish their purpose of boosting Republican representation in Congress. Laura Merrifield Wilson, a political scientist at the University of Indianapolis, said she had no doubt that there will be enough Republicans in the newly drawn congressional districts to overwhelm the Democratic vote in future elections.But she added: When youre connecting some of Indianapolis to some of those very rural areas, both groups are ultimately going to lose out.___Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri. DAVID A. LIEB Lieb covers issues and trends in state governments across the U.S. Hes reported about government and politics for The Associated Press for 30 years. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Nature, Published online: 04 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03959-9The mathematical reasoning model performed as well as humans at prestigious international mathematics competitions.

The NBA fined the Cavaliers $250,000 for violating the league's player participation policy by resting Darius Garland for a nationally televised game Nov. 24.

Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy cleared concussion protocol Thursday, his final step in returning to the starting lineup in time for Sunday's game against the Commanders.

His plans for the library have been slow to take shape, but he has invited potential donors to a holiday reception in Washington this month.

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The NFL shield is displayed at midfield during the Super Bowl 59 NFL football game, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)2025-12-04T19:23:13Z The playing surfaces at every NFL stadium will have to meet new enhanced standards set through lab and field testing by the start of the 2028 season. NFL field director Nick Pappas detailed the plans for the program on Thursday that will provide each team a library of approved and accredited NFL fields before the start of next season. Any new field will immediately have to meet those standards and all teams will have two years to achieve it, whether they are grass, synthetic or a hybrid. Pappas said the fields will have undergone extensive testing and been approved by a joint committee with the NFLPA. He compared to the testing that has led to new standards for helmets.Its sort of a red, yellow, green effect, where were obviously trying to phase out fields that we have determined to be less ideal than newer fields coming into the industry, he said. This is a big step for us. This is something that I think has been a great outcome from the Joint Surfaces Committee of the work, the deployment and development of devices determining the appropriate metrics, and ultimately providing us with a way to substantiate the quality of fields more so than we ever have in the past. Pappas said fields have been tested in labs and on site using two main tools with one called the BEAST that is a traction testing device that replicates the movements of an NFL player and another called the STRIKE Impact Tester that helps determine the firmness of each field. The goal of the league is to find fields that are as consistent as possible across all 30 NFL stadiums, as well as at each stadium throughout the season. Pappas said the key pillars for a field are optimized playability, reducing injury risk and player feedback. The NFL has no plans to require natural grass fields across the league with the leagues chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills saying there is no statistically significant differences in lower extremity injuries or concussions that can be attributed to the type of playing surface or a specific surface despite widespread preferences from players for grass fields and complaints about surfaces such as the one at MetLife Stadium where the New York Giants and Jets play. The surface is only one driver of these lower extremity injuries, Sills said. There are a lot of other factors, including player load and previous history and fatigue and positional adaptability and cleats that are worn. So surfaces are a component, but it is a complex equation, and so Im excited about where we are in the work because I think well get away from a very crude measurement of artificial here and the grass here, and now we can say for any individual surface, lets look at the biophysical properties of that surface. How might those correlate with injury? And then, obviously, how do we optimize them?Pappas also shared plans for the Super Bowl to be held on Feb. 8 at the San Francisco 49ers home at Levis Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The field has been growing at a sod farm about two hours east of the Bay Area with Pappas making several visits over the past 18 months to monitor the field.The league will plan to install the field around the third week in January or later if the 49ers could be hosting playoff games. ___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl JOSH DUBOW Dubow is an NFL writer for The Associated Press who covers the San Francisco 49ers and provides weekly analysis of NFL statistics. twitter mailto

Billy Napier is finalizing a five-year deal to become the next head coach at James Madison, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel.

Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson opened up on his frustrations Thursday, calling this season "one of the most difficult" in his NFL career.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Adm. Frank M. Bradley, commander of the operation, met with members of Congress behind closed doors.

Win Rozario, who had called 911 in distress, was holding scissors when two police officers shot him. The New York attorney general said it was unlikely the officers would be convicted.

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With flowers in the foreground, construction on the front of the U.S. Supreme Court continues Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)2025-12-04T23:06:46Z WASHINGTON (AP) A divided Supreme Court on Thursday came to the rescue of Texas Republicans, allowing next years elections to be held under the states congressional redistricting plan favorable to the GOP and pushed by President Donald Trump despite a lower-court ruling that the map likely discriminates on the basis of race.With conservative justices in the majority, the court acted on an emergency request from Texas for quick action because qualifying in the new districts already has begun, with primary elections in March. The Supreme Courts order puts the 2-1 ruling blocking the map on hold at least until after the high court issues a final decision in the case. Justice Samuel Alito had previously temporarily blocked the order while the full court considered the Texas appeal.The justices cast doubt on the lower-court finding that race played a role in the new map, saying in an unsigned statement that Texas lawmakers had avowedly partisan goals. In dissent, Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the three liberal justices that her colleagues should not have intervened at this point. Doing so, she wrote, ensures that many Texas citizens, for no good reason, will be placed in electoral districts because of their race. And that result, as this Court has pronounced year in and year out, is a violation of the Constitution. The high courts vote is a green light for there to be even more re-redistricting, and a strong message to lower courts to butt out, Richard Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California at Los Angeles law school, wrote on the Election Law Blog. The justices have blocked past lower-court rulings in congressional redistricting cases, most recently in Alabama and Louisiana, that came several months before elections.The Texas congressional map enacted last summer at Trumps urging was engineered to give Republicans five additional House seats. The effort to preserve a slim Republican majority in the House in next years elections touched off a nationwide redistricting battle. Texas was the first state to meet Trumps demands in what has become an expanding national battle over redistricting. Republicans drew the states new map to give the GOP five additional seats, and Missouri and North Carolina followed with new maps adding an additional Republican seat each. To counter those moves, California voters approved a ballot initiative to give Democrats an additional five seats there. The redrawn maps are facing court challenges in California and Missouri. A three-judge panel allowed the new North Carolina map to be used in the 2026 elections. The Trump administration is suing to block the new California maps, but it called for the Supreme Court to keep the redrawn Texas districts in place. The justices are separately considering a case from Louisiana that could further limit race-based districts under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Its unclear how the current round of redistricting would be affected by the outcome in the Louisiana case. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the Supreme Courts order defended Texass fundamental right to draw a map that ensures we are represented by Republicans. He called the redistricting law the Big Beautiful Map.Texas is paving the way as we take our country back, district by district, state by state, Paxton said in a statement. This map reflects the political climate of our state and is a massive win for Texas and every conservative who is tired of watching the left try to upend the political system with bogus lawsuits.In the Texas case, U.S. District Judges Jeffrey V. Brown and David Guaderrama concluded that the redistricting plan likely dilutes the political power of Black and Latino voters in violation of the Constitution. Trump appointed Brown in his first term while President Barack Obama, a Democrat, appointed Guaderrama.To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map, Brown wrote. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map. The majority opinion provoked a vituperative dissent from Judge Jerry Smith, an appeals court judge on the panel.Smith accused Brown of pernicious judicial misbehavior for not giving Smith sufficient time before issuing the majority opinion. Smith, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, also disagreed strenuously with the substance of the opinion, saying it would be a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Fiction, if there were such an award.The main winners from Judge Browns opinion are George Soros and Gavin Newsom, Smith wrote, referring to the liberal megadonor and Californias Democratic governor. The obvious losers are the People of Texas and the Rule of Law. MARK SHERMAN Sherman has covered the Supreme Court for The Associated Press since 2006. His journalism career spans five decades. He is based in Washington, D.C., and previously lived in New York, Paris and Atlanta. twitter mailto