When President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, ProPublicas reporters set out to cover how his second administration would reshape the government and the country.Our reporters detailed what happened when the Department of Government Efficiency, initially led by Elon Musk, slashed federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Social Security Administration. We wrote about the people caught up in the administrations immigration crackdown, including the more than 170 U.S. citizens who had been detained by immigration agents. We profiled key figures in the administration, including the 22-year-old picked to lead terrorism prevention and the man who has been described as Trumps shadow president.Our newsroom also focused beyond the White House. Ginger Thompson wrote a five-part series, with research by Doris Burke, that told the story of American health care through the only hospital in Albany, Georgia. Ellis Simani and Lexi Churchill uncovered a Texas charter school superintendent who makes $870,000. And David Armstrong sought to understand why a single pill of his cancer drug cost the same as a new iPhone.Those were all among the investigations that readers spent the most time with this year. In the new year, ProPublica will keep reporting on these storylines and new ones.In the meantime, revisit our most-read stories of 2025, as measured by the total amount of time spent reading them across several of our publishing platforms.1. The Militia and the MoleBy Joshua KaplanOutraged by the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a wilderness survival trainer spent years undercover climbing the ranks of right-wing militias. He didnt tell police or the FBI. He didnt tell family or friends. The one person he told was a ProPublica reporter.2. Sick in a Hospital TownBy Ginger Thompson, with research by Doris BurkeWhy were the people in Albany, Georgia, so sick, when the towns most powerful institution was a hospital?3. Inside ICE Air: Flight Attendants on Deportation Planes Say Disaster Is Only a Matter of TimeBy McKenzie FunkCurrent and former flight attendants for GlobalX, the private charter airline at the center of Trumps immigration crackdown, expressed concern about their inability to treat passengers humanely and to keep them safe.4. The Untold Saga of What Happened When DOGE Stormed Social SecurityBy Eli HagerDOGE has ignored urgently needed reforms and upgrades at the Social Security Administration, according to dozens of insiders and 15 hours of candid interviews with the former acting chief of the agency, who admits he sometimes made things worse.5. Trumps Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records RevealBy Justin Elliott, Robert Faturechi and Alex MierjeskiThe Trump administration has argued that Fed board member Lisa Cook may have committed mortgage fraud by declaring more than one primary residence on her loans. We found Trump once did the very thing he called deceitful and potentially criminal.6. Getting DOGED: DOGE Targeted Him on Social Media. Then the Taliban Took His Family.By Avi Asher-Schapiro and Christopher BingAfghan scholar Mohammad Halimi, who fled the Taliban in 2021, had worked to help U.S. diplomats understand his homeland. Then DOGE put his familys lives at risk by exposing his sensitive work for a U.S.-funded nonprofit.7. The Intern in Charge: Meet the 22-Year-Old Trumps Team Picked to Lead Terrorism PreventionBy Hannah AllamOne year out of college and with no apparent national security expertise, Thomas Fugate is the Department of Homeland Security official tasked with overseeing the governments main hub for combating violent extremism.8. The Price of RemissionBy David ArmstrongWhen Armstrong was diagnosed with cancer, he set out to understand why a single pill of Revlimid cost the same as a new iPhone. He has covered high drug prices as a reporter for years. What he discovered shocked him.9. Incalculable Damage: How a We Buy Ugly Houses Franchise Left a Trail of Financial Wreckage Across TexasBy Anjeanette Damon and Mollie SimonCharles Carrier is accused of orchestrating a yearslong Ponzi scheme, bilking tens of millions of dollars from both wealthy investors and older people with modest incomes. Despite signs of trouble, the houseflipping chain HomeVestors of America didnt step in.10. The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal InvestigationBy Robert Faturechi and Avi Asher-SchapiroFederal authorities were chided for seizing electronic devices from Tate and his brother, and told to return them, records and interviews show. Experts said the intervention was highly inappropriate.11. This County Was the Model for Local Police Carrying Out Immigration Raids. It Ended in Civil Rights Violations.By Rafael Carranza, Arizona Luminaria. Co-published with Arizona Luminaria.Under Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County was one of the first testing grounds for ICEs 287(g) program, which lets local police enforce immigration laws. Many Arizonans say those abuses parallel whats playing out now under Trump.12. The H-2A Visa TrapBy Max Blau, ProPublica, and Zaydee Sanchez, for ProPublica, with illustrations by Dadu Shin for ProPublicaSofi left behind her child in Mexico for the promise of providing him a better life. She ended up a victim of an operation that is alleged to have exploited the H-2A visa program and the workers it brought to America.13. Ticking Time Bomb: A Pregnant Mother Kept Getting Sicker. She Died After She Couldnt Get an Abortion in Texas.By Kavitha Surana and Lizzie Presser, photography by Lexi Parra for ProPublicaProPublica has found multiple cases of women with underlying health conditions who died when they couldnt access abortions. Tierra Walker, a 37-year-old mother, was told by doctors there was no emergency before preeclampsia killed her.14. To Pay for Trump Tax Cuts, House GOP Floats Plan to Slash Benefits for the Poor and Working ClassBy Robert Faturechi and Justin ElliottA menu of options being circulated by congressional Republicans also includes new tax cuts for corporations and the ultrawealthy.15. Kristi Noem Secretly Took a Cut of Political DonationsBy Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan and Alex MierjeskiA dark money group paid $80,000 to Noems personal company when she was governor of South Dakota. She did not include this income on her federal disclosure forms, a likely violation of ethics requirements, experts say.16. We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. Theyve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.By Nicole Foy, photography by Sarahbeth ManeyThe government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally almost certainly incomplete includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And nearly 20 children, two of whom have cancer.17. Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.By Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Brett Murphy, photography by Peter DiCampoBehind closed doors in Washington, top advisers made a series of decisions that had devastating repercussions for the poorest country on earth. We went to South Sudan and found people who died as a result.18. The President Wanted It and I Did It: Recording Reveals Head of Social Securitys Thoughts on DOGE and TrumpBy Eli HagerIn a recording obtained by ProPublica, acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek portrayed his agency as facing peril, while also encouraging patience with the DOGE kids.19. This Charter School Superintendent Makes $870,000. He Leads a District With 1,000 Students.By Ellis Simani, ProPublica, and Lexi Churchill, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune. Co-published with The Texas Tribune.On paper, Salvador Cavazos earns less than $300,000 to run Valere Public Schools, a small Texas charter network. But taxpayers likely arent aware that in reality, his total pay makes him one of the countrys highest-earning superintendents.20. What You Should Know About Russ Vought, Trumps Shadow PresidentBy Andy KrollVought is the architect of Trumps broader plan to fire civil servants, freeze government programs and dismantle entire agencies. Here are some key things to know about the D.C. insider who wants to take a hatchet to the federal government.21. Slow Pay, Low Pay or No PayBy T. Christian MillerBlue Cross authorized mastectomies and breast reconstructions for women with cancer but refused to pay the full doctors bills. A jury called it fraud and awarded the practice $421 million.22. Were Broken: As Federal Prisons Run Low on Food and Toilet Paper, Corrections Officers Are Leaving in Droves for ICEBy Keri BlakingerMany of the problems the agency is facing now are not new, but staff and prisoners fear an exodus of officers could make life behind bars even worse.23. He Spent Funds Meant for Native Hawaiians on Polo and Porsches. The Federal Government Failed to Stop Him.By Nick Grube, Honolulu Civil Beat. Co-published with Honolulu Civil Beat.A small business program allowed Christopher Dawson to win big contracts if he promised to uplift Native Hawaiians. Instead, federal prosecutors allege, he used the money to line his own pockets.24. Young Girls Were Sexually Abused by a Church Member. They Were Told to Forgive and Forget.By Jessica Lussenhop, ProPublica, and Andy Mannix, Minnesota Star Tribune, photography by Leila Navidi, Minnesota Star Tribune. Co-published with Minnesota Star Tribune.In Minnesota, leaders of an Old Apostolic Lutheran Church community enabled a child abuser by telling his victims that once the sins were washed away in the blood of reconciliation, they could never speak of them again.25. Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared.By Lizzie Presser, Andrea Suozzo, Sophie Chou and Kavitha SuranaProPublicas first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas abortion ban.The post The Most-Read ProPublica Stories of 2025 appeared first on ProPublica.

Its Swedens longest criminal trial. I was there because of a different historic distinction.

This is a locator map for Yemen with its capital, Sanaa. (AP Photo)2025-12-10T10:18:46Z DOHA, Qatar (AP) Saudi Arabia bombed Yemens port city of Mukalla on Tuesday, targeting a shipment of weapons from the United Arab Emirates for separatist forces a significant move in a country located along a key international trade route that threatens to bring new risks to the Persian Gulf region.The secessionist Southern Transitional Council, STC, a group backed by the United Arab Emirates, this month seized most of the the provinces of Hadramout and Mahra, including oil facilities.Yemen has been mired for more than a decade in a civil war that involves a complex interplay of sectarian grievances and the involvement of regional powers. The Iran-aligned Houthis control the most populous regions of the country, including the capital Sanaa. Meanwhile, a loose regional coalition of powers including Saudi Arabia and the UAE has backed the internationally recognized government in the south. The war has created a humanitarian crisis and shattered the economy. Still, since 2022, violence had gradually declined as the sides reached something of a stalemate in the war.The move by the UAE-backed separatists upends the political arrangement among the anti-Houthi partners. The origins of the crisisThe war in Yemen began in 2014, when the Houthis marched from their northern stronghold of Saada. They took the capital, Sanaa, and forced the internationally recognized government into exile. Saudi Arabia and the UAE entered the war the following year in an attempt to restore the government. The new fighting pits the STC against the forces of the internationally recognized government and its allied tribes, even as they are both members of the camp fighting against the Houthi rebels in the countrys broader civil war.The STC is the most powerful group in southern Yemen, with crucial financial and military support from the UAE. It was established in April 2017 as an umbrella organization for groups that seek to restore South Yemen as an independent state, as it was between 1967 and 1990. The latest moves reinforced the STC positions across southern Yemen, which could give them leverage in any future talks to settle the Yemen conflict. The STC has long demanded that any settlement should give southern Yemen the right of self-determination.The STC enjoys loyalty through much of southern Yemen. It is chaired by Aidarous al-Zubaidi, who is also vice president of the countrys Presidential Leadership Council, the ruling organ of the internationally recognized government. The STC and other UAE-supported groups now control most of the southern half of Yemen, including crucial port cities and islands.The other party in the latest fighting includes the Yemeni military, which reports to the internationally recognized government. They are allied with the Hadramout Tribal Alliance, a local tribal coalition supported by Saudi Arabia.These forces are centered in Yemens largest province of Hadramout, which stretches from the Gulf of Aden in the south to the border with Saudi Arabia in the north. The oil-rich province is a major source of fuel for the southern areas of Yemen. Secessionists advance this monthEarlier this month, STC forces marched to Hadramout and took control of the provinces major facilities, including PetroMasila, Yemens largest oil company, after brief clashes with government forces and their tribal allies.This took place after the Saudi-backed Hadramout Tribal Alliance seized the PetroMasila oil facility in late November to pressure the government to agree to its demands for a bigger share of oil revenues and the improvement of services for Hadramouts residents.The STC apparently seized on this move as a pretext for wrestling control of Hadramout and its oil facilities for itself and expanding areas under its control in Yemen.STC forces then marched to the province of Mahra on the borders with Oman and took control of a border crossing between the two countries. In Aden, the UAE-backed force also seized the presidential palace, which serves as the seat of the ruling Presidential Council.Saudi troops also withdrew earlier this month from bases in Aden, a Yemeni government official said. The withdrawal was part of a Saudi repositioning strategy, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.On Friday, Saudi Arabia targeted the Hadramout region in airstrikes that analysts described as a warning for the separatists to halt their advance and leave the governorates of Hadramout and Mahra. A fragile situation has been shatteredThe escalation shattered the relative quiet in Yemens war, which has been stalemated in recent years after the Houthis reached a deal with Saudi Arabia that stopped their attacks on the kingdom in return for ceasing the Saudi-led strikes on their territories.The escalation highlights strained ties between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, which had been backing competing sides in Yemens decade long war against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels amid a moment of unease across the wider Red Sea region. The two nations, while closely aligned on many issues in the wider Mideast, increasingly have competed with each other over economic issues and the regions politics.The United Arab Emirates said earlier this month that Yemens governance and territorial integrity is an issue that must be determined by the Yemeni parties themselves. SAMY MAGDY Magdy is a Middle East reporter for The Associated Press, based in Cairo. He focuses on conflict, migration and human rights abuses. twitter facebook mailto

France's Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, left, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shake hands before their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Pedro Pardo/Pool Photo via AP)2025-12-30T06:25:48Z BEIJING (AP) Chinas foreign minister on Tuesday slammed a record U.S. arms sale to Taiwan as Beijing conducted the second day of military drills around the island it has long claimed as its own.Wang Yi, the most senior Chinese official to comment on the sales so far, also blasted the pro-independence forces in Taiwan and Japans leaders during an end-of-the-year diplomatic event in Beijing.In response to the continuous provocations by pro-independence forces in Taiwan and the large-scale U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, we must resolutely oppose and strongly counter them, Wang said while reviewing a year of diplomacy by Asias largest and most influential nation.He reiterated Chinas aim for a complete reunification with Taiwan, a self-ruled island that split from China during a civil war in 1949 and evolved into a multiparty democracy. Taiwans government argues the island was never part of China in its current form under the Communist Party and Beijings sovereignty claims are illegitimate. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Military package rankles ChinaThe package valued at more than $11 billion that was announced earlier this month by the U.S. State Department amounts to the largest U.S. arms sale to Taiwan. It includes missiles, drones, artillery systems and military software.The U.S. is obligated by its own laws to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. President Donald Trump has ramped up pressure on the self-ruled island to buy more U.S. military equipment, even suggesting Taiwan should spend up to 10% of its GDP on defense.China responded to the sale by launching two days of military drills around Taiwan on Monday. The exercises also are largely seen as a rebuke to Sanae Takaichi, the new Japanese prime minister, who inflamed Beijing last month by implying Japan could militarily intervene over Taiwan. Japan, which launched the war of aggression against China, not only fails to deeply reflect on the numerous crimes it committed, but its current leaders also openly challenge Chinas territorial sovereignty, the historical conclusions of World War II and the postwar international order, Wang said, adding that China must be highly vigilant against the resurgence of Japanese militarism. Other diplomatic initiatives reviewedIn his speech reviewing Chinas diplomatic highlights for the year, Wang also mentioned Israels war in Gaza, welcoming international efforts to facilitate a ceasefire but insisting that more needs to be done.The world still owes Palestine justice, Wang said. The Palestinian question cannot be marginalized again, and the Palestinian peoples cause for democratic and legitimate rights cannot end in vain.China maintains strong relations with Israel and the Palestinian Authority and backs the two-state solution, under which Israel and Palestine would exist as independent states.Wang also emphasized Chinas aim to facilitate a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. Beijing says it is impartial in the war but in practice signals support for Moscow through frequent state visits and joint military drills.Wang mediated talks between top diplomats from Thailand and Cambodia earlier this week, which the leaders said helped consolidate a ceasefire between the two neighbors after months of fighting. The meetings represented Chinas latest efforts to strengthen its role as an international mediator and particularly its influence in Asian regional crises. As China grows into an economic and political force globally, Beijing has spent the past decade and more working in various ways to increase its voice as a third party in diplomatic matters. SIMINA MISTREANU Mistreanu is a Greater China reporter for The Associated Press, based in Taipei, Taiwan. She has reported on China since 2015. twitter mailto

In this photo provided by the Federal Road Safety Corps, people gather at the accident scene of British boxer Anthony Joshua in Lagos, Nigeria, on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (Federal Road Safety Corps via AP)2025-12-29T14:19:48Z LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) Anthony Joshua, the two-time former world heavyweight champion from Britain, was in a stable condition in the hospital Monday after being involved in a car crash in Nigeria that killed two people who were close friends and team members, his promoter said.Eddie Hearns Matchroom Boxing said on X that Joshua sustained injuries in the accident and was taken to hospital for checks and treatment and he will remain there for observation. It named Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele as the two passengers who had tragically passed away.Photos on social media showed Joshua being extricated from a wrecked vehicle while he was wincing in pain.Following thorough clinical evaluations, medical professionals have confirmed that both patients (hospitalized after the accident) are stable and do not require any emergency medical intervention at this time, a joint statement by Lagos and Ogun state governments said. The Lagos state commissioner for information, Gbenga Omotoso, confirmed the accident in a post on X, adding that the government had sent ambulances to the crash site. The crash occurred on a major thoroughfare the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway which links Ogun state to Lagos, the countrys economic capital at about 11 a.m. local time. Nigeria is the homeland of Joshuas parents. Ogun State Police earlier said in a statement: The vehicle conveying Mr. Joshua, a Lexus SUV, was involved in the accident under circumstances that are currently being investigated. Joshua, seated in the rear of the vehicle, sustained minor injuries and is receiving medical attention with another injured person. According to Olusegun Ogungbemide, spokesperson for the Federal Road Safety Corps, preliminary investigations indicated the vehicle was traveling beyond the legally prescribed speed limit on the corridor, lost control during an overtaking maneuver and crashed into a stationary truck, which was by the side of the road.The Ogun state government said that preliminary reports indicate that two male foreign nationals died on the spot. Life is much more important than boxingJoshua beat YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul on Dec. 19 in a bout in Miami, which he was using to regain sharpness in the ring. He lost the world heavyweight title in 2021 to Oleksandr Usyk.Life is much more important than boxing. I am praying for the lost lives, AJ and anyone impacted by todays unfortunate accident, Paul said Monday.Nigerias president calls JoshuaNigerias president, Bola Tinubu, called Joshua in hospital.I spoke with AJ on the phone to personally convey my condolences over the death of his two associates, the president said on X. I wished him a full and speedy recovery, and prayed with him. AJ assured me he is receiving the best possible care. I also spoke with his mother and prayed for her. She was deeply appreciative of the call.No further details on Joshuas condition were given.Anthony Joshua is in an undisclosed hospital being treated for his injuries, Lanre Ogunlowo, the commissioner of police for Ogun state, told the AP. He said he has no further information on the injuries. Hearn had earlier told Daily Mail Sport that he was away on a family holiday and awoke to the news of this incident.We are trying to contact Anthony and in the meantime we dont want to speculate on how he is but thankfully he appears OK from what I have seen in the images.Joshua briefly went to boarding school in Nigeria at the age of 11. He returned there for the first time in 17 years in 2019, ahead of a fight against Andy Ruiz Jr.Joshua has been in talks to fight fellow Briton Tyson Fury in 2026.___AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing___AP Sports Writer Steve Douglas in Sundsvall, Sweden, contributed to this report. 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 RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Tiger Woods reacts as he wins the Masters golf tournament, Sunday, April 14, 2019, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)2025-12-29T11:00:08Z Talk to any golfer who played against Tiger Woods and there is sure to be at least one story about one shot so sublime they were certain it could not be hit by them or anyone else.He was just different. Better.The 2-iron Woods hit into the par-5 10th hole at the TPC Sugarloaf led Stewart Cink to say, This is a skill set I dont have. Padraig Harrington once saw Woods hit an 8-iron so majestic at Firestone that it got in his head and led to the Irishman making triple bogey.Nick Price played the opening two rounds with Woods at St. Andrews in the 2000 British Open and felt the tournament already was over. Mark OMeara played a practice round with him at Pebble Beach before the 2000 U.S. Open and told his wife before the championship started, Tiger is going to win. And not only is he going to win, hes going to blow away the field. Woods won by 15. For all those years, so many greats in the game could never relate to Woods. And now, finally, they can.Not even Woods can beat time. He turns 50 on Tuesday.Its a milestone for anyone, but its different in golf because the sport can be played well after the age when athletes have long retired in other sports. Phil Mickelson won a major at 50. Jack Nicklaus made an early Sunday charge at the Masters when he was 58. With Woods, its complicated.He now is eligible for the 50-and-older PGA Tour Champions. He also has had more surgeries than the 15 majors he won. This is the first year he didnt play a single tournament, the result of a ruptured Achilles tendon in March and a seventh back surgery in September. Im probably going to play 25 events on both tours and I think that should cover most of the year, right? Woods quipped in the Bahamas when asked about turning 50.He won the U.S. Open just eight days before reconstructive surgery on his left knee. He won the Masters two years after surgery to fuse his lower back. But he hasnt been the same since that 2021 car crash in Los Angeles. Woods has played 11 times the last five seasons, finished only four of those tournaments and hasnt been closer than 16 shots to the winner. Come back to what point? Woods said. Id like to come back to just playing golf again.And so this celebration is more about looking back than forward. Ernie Els was most prescient in 2000 at Kapalua when he was on the losing end again no one finished second to Woods more than the Big Easy. They matched eagles on the 18th in regulation, birdies on the 18th in a playoff and Woods got him with a 40-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole. Vintage Tiger.I think hes a legend in the making, Els said that day. Hes 24. Hes probably going to be bigger than Elvis when he gets into his 40s.Thats up for debate, of course. Undeniable is the impact Woods has left on golf. Popularity soared and prize money skyrocketed. Woods made golf look different and he made it cool. And perhaps his greatest legacy is he unwittingly trained a generation of players who wanted to be like him. Scottie Scheffler said nothing inspired him more than watching the intensity of Woods when he was out of contention at the 2020 Masters. Woods made a 10 on the 12th hole and followed with five birdies over his last six holes. He tied for 38th. Tiger was just different in the way he approached each shot. It was like the last shot he was ever going to hit, Scheffler said. It was the only time they played together. Scheffler now is coming up on three years at No. 1 in the world, the longest stretch since Woods.But it started with that skill set unlike any other.Hes the only guy Ive ever known who continually exceeded expectations, Tom Lehman said. No matter how much you heaped on him, he found a way to exceed them.Lehman recalls one moment at the Memorial on the 17th hole, a green so rock-hard it felt impossible to get it close. Lehman hit 5-iron as high and far as he could and was pleased to see it roll out 25 feet from the cup.He hits this shot way up in the air and it was coming down like a parachute, Lehman said. Lands by the cup and bounces 2 feet and stops. I figure he must have hit a 7-iron. I said, Tiger, what club was that? He said, That was a little, three-finger 5-iron. He just filleted it in there. When I think of him, thats what I think of. Only one guy could hit that shot. And he did it often. Woods had the career Grand Slam at age 24, the youngest of anyone. He had 50 wins worldwide and 10 majors before he turned 30.It wasnt as easy as he could make it look. The late Dan Jenkins once said when Woods was in peak form, Only two things can stop Tiger injury or a bad marriage. Turns out it was both. His path was derailed at the end of 2009 by revelations of multiple extramarital affairs, and the injuries kept piling up. He still made it back to No. 1 in the world in 2013 and he ran his PGA Tour victory count to 82, tied with Sam Snead. If he never got injured, hed have 25 majors and 125 wins, Fred Couples said.Matt Kuchar saw it differently. He felt the injuries contributed to the legend of Woods, particularly that 2008 U.S. Open win at Torrey Pines.Woods was playing that week on shredded ligaments in his left knee and two stress fractures in his left leg. Often overlooked is that Woods had not walked 18 holes since the Masters until the opening round at Torrey Pines.The legacy is bigger because of the injuries, Kuchar said. What he did at Torrey Pines, what he did at the (2019) Masters is sort of Hoganesque. At some point I, like most everybody, counted him out. And then he wins again.Woods is keeping plenty busy outside the ropes. He was appointed to the PGA Tour policy board without a term limit in 2023 as the tour was in the midst of its battle with Saudi-funded LIV Golf. He now heads up the Future Competition Committee charged with reshaping the tour model. The next question is when and where he plays. Woods is the only player to have won the U.S. Junior Amateur, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open. The U.S. Senior Open is at Scioto, the Ohio course where Jack Nicklaus learned to play.April at Augusta isnt the same without Woods. He set the Masters record in 2024 by making the cut for the 24th consecutive time. How much more? How much longer?People want to see him, Kuchar said. And if he shoots 76, people still want to see him. Hes unique in our sport.___AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf DOUG FERGUSON Ferguson has been The APs golf writer since 1998. He is a recipient of the PGA Lifetime Achievement in Journalism award. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, A Russia's Oreshnik missile system is seen during a training in an undisclosed location in Belarus. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)2025-12-30T08:53:55Z Russias nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system has entered active service, Russias Ministry of Defense said Tuesday, as negotiators continue to search for a breakthrough in peace talks to end Moscows war in Ukraine.Troops held a brief ceremony to mark the occasion in neighboring Belarus where the missiles have been deployed, the ministry said. It did not say how many missiles had been deployed or give any other details.Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier in December that the Oreshnik would enter combat duty this month. He made the statement at a meeting with top Russian military officers, where he warned that Moscow will seek to extend its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its Western allies reject the Kremlins demands in peace talks.The announcement comes at a critical time for Russia-Ukraine peace talks. U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Zelenskyy at his Florida resort Sunday and insisted that Kyiv and Moscow were closer than ever before to a peace settlement. However, negotiators are still searching for a breakthrough on key issues, including whose forces withdraw from where in Ukraine and the fate of Ukraines Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, one of the 10 biggest in the world. Trump noted that the monthslong U.S.-led negotiations could still collapse. Putin has sought to portray himself as negotiating from a position of strength as Ukrainian forces strain to keep back the bigger Russian army. At a meeting with senior military officers Monday, Putin emphasized the need to create military buffer zones along the Russian border. He also claimed that Russian troops were advancing in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine and pressing their offensive in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.Moscow first used the Oreshnik, which is Russian for hazelnut tree, against Ukraine in November 2024, when it fired the experimental weapon at a factory in Dnipro that built missiles when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. Putin has praised the Oreshniks capabilities, saying that its multiple warheads, which plunge toward a target at speeds up to Mach 10, are immune to being intercepted.He warned the West that Moscow could use it against Ukraines NATO allies whove allowed Kyiv to use their longer-range missiles to strike inside Russia.Russias missile forces chief has also declared that the Oreshnik, which can carry conventional or nuclear warheads, has a range allowing it to reach all of Europe.Intermediate-range missiles can fly between 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,400 miles). Such weapons were banned under a Soviet-era treaty that Washington and Moscow abandoned in 2019.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Nature, Published online: 30 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-04103-3A challenging exhibition asks why we are so fascinated with the preserved bodies of our ancestors, and how we should treat them.

Nature, Published online: 30 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-04100-6Nuclear fusion. People on Mars. Artificial general intelligence. These are just some of the advances that could come by the mid-century mark.

A few months ago, Oregons green energy outlook was bleak.The state Legislature and Gov. Tina Kotek had repeatedly failed to address a huge obstacle that has held back wind and solar projects in the Northwest for years: aging electrical lines too jammed up to handle more renewable power.A series of articles by Oregon Public Broadcasting and ProPublica identified barriers in the federal and state bureaucracies that delayed improvements to the beef up the grid. The failure to complete upgrades is the main reason Oregon, like its fellow progressive state and neighbor Washington, has lagged most of the nation in the growth of clean energy despite an internal mandate to go green.Bills to tackle the transmission problem continued to languish and die in the Oregon Legislature as recently as this spring.But there has been a groundswell of urgency since the stories were published.Kotek, a Democrat, has now issued two executive orders mandating that state agencies speed up renewable energy development by any available means, including fast-tracking permits and directly paying for new transmission lines.Those efforts could eventually be backed up by money. The states energy department, in a first, recommended lawmakers consider creating a state entity to finance, plan and build transmission lines. A lawmaker whose bill to create such an authority failed this year suddenly has hope for getting it done, and he said the governors office is working with him to make it happen.What was essentially an unacknowledged problem among many Oregon policymakers now has the full attention of the governor and the key agencies that report to her. There has been new attention on electrical transmission in Washington state, as well.The shift comes as President Donald Trump has created new obstacles to ramping up renewable energy. This year, he removed tax credits that made wind and solar cheaper to build, blocked new wind permits and fired employees of the federal agency that reviews them.This was the year where youve seen all these factors coming together we know that our outdated grid is choking our ability to grow across the state, and were already paying more for electricity, Kotek said in an interview last week.Kotek acknowledged the role of OPB and ProPublicas reporting when asked what prompted the changes.Youve been doing some great stories, she said.In May, OPB and ProPublica showed that the state ranked 47th in renewable energy growth over the past decade. Washington is 50th.An analysis by the news organizations found that Northwest wind and solar farms face the longest odds in the country for successfully connecting to the power grid, under a process heavily controlled by the Bonneville Power Administration. The federal agencys transmission lines and substations constitute 75% of the regions electrical network.Out of 469 large renewables projects that have sought access to Bonnevilles system since 2015, only one was successful. Backers of the other projects either abandoned their requests or were still waiting on studies and necessary upgrades to power lines and substations.Northwest utilities fear rolling blackouts within the decade unless transmission capacity is expanded to meet surging energy demand, particularly from data centers that support artificial intelligence.Kotek said she hadnt seen the numbers on Oregons stagnant renewable energy growth before OPB and ProPublica reported them.I hope and we will be planning to make our numbers look better and better in the coming years, she said.In 2021, when lawmakers enacted Oregons plan to eliminate the use of fossil fuels in electrical generation by 2040, they failed to account for transmission and the glacial pace set by Bonneville for improvements. (The agency has said previously its project approval decisions are guided by financial prudence.)Oregon leaders also did not address the states slow process for evaluating energy projects, with appeals that can prolong permit decisions on new power lines or wind and solar farms for years. The rules originated with the 1970s antinuclear movement. Foes say rural transmission and wind projects blight the landscape, and they have used the permitting system as a means of delay.Bills to smooth out the state permitting process, even those supported by rural interests, went nowhere. Efforts to bypass Bonneville also withered. Advocates proposed a state financing authority for new transmission lines and substations as recently as this year. The legislation, which lacked the endorsement of either Kotek or the Oregon Department of Energy, died.Emily Moore, director of climate and energy for the Seattle-based think tank Sightline Institute, called OPB and ProPublicas reporting invaluable in prompting change.It has motivated policymakers and advocates alike to try to find solutions to get Oregon and Washington unstuck and is recruiting new people to the effort, Moore said.Koteks latest executive order calls for a wide array of state agencies to recommend ways to overcome obstacles to clean energy development. This followed her October order for state agencies to take any and all steps necessary to fast-track solar and wind permits.Separately, the energy department recommended lawmakers look into creating a new entity like state authorities in Colorado and New Mexico, which plan transmission routes, partner with transmission developers and issue bonds to finance construction. The agencys strategic plan, finalized in November, said the state must streamline clean energy development and take a more active role in getting regional transmission lines built.Similar findings emerged in a Dec. 1 report by a state working group created by Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, which called for a dedicated state entity focused on increasing transmission capacity. The authors cited OPB and ProPublicas 2025 coverage in stating that Washington is falling behind on infrastructure needed to hit its green energy goals. (Ferguson requested the report following reporting by The Seattle Times and ProPublica last year on the energy consumed by data centers, which receive generous state tax breaks.)This would be something that could potentially really help move the needle, said Joni Sliger, a senior policy analyst with the Oregon energy department.The governor has also ordered the department and Oregon utilities regulators to designate physical paths through the state in which permitting for transmission lines can be streamlined and to gather financial support for projects that serve the public interest.A proposed Eastern Oregon transmission line was stuck in the permitting process for nearly two decades. The line is expected to run through this stretch of La Grande, Oregon. Steve Lenz for ProPublicaKotek cited the Boardman to Hemingway transmission line in Eastern Oregon that got caught in permitting limbo for nearly 20 years, an episode highlighted in OPB and ProPublicas reporting. The governor called the states handling of the project a red flag.We have to get out of our own way, she said.Koteks executive orders drew praise from a range of organizations who appeared with the governor when she announced her most recent moves in November.It makes our energy system stronger and more reliable, enhancing grid resilience, expanding storage and bolstering transmission to keep electricity affordable and dependable for every Oregonian, Nora Apter, Oregon director for the clean energy advocacy group Climate Solutions, said at the time.The head of Oregon Business for Climate, which represents interests including real estate developers, wineries and coffee roasters, also spoke at the event.Tim Miller, the groups director, said that although Oregon has put in place an energy permitting system to ensure siting is done right, Koteks order reminds the state that we also have to get things done.Lawmakers now are working on a plan to enact a state transmission financing authority during the next full legislative session, in early 2027.Rep. Mark Gamba, the Portland-area Democrat whose effort to create such an agency last year failed, said the governors office is in discussions with him about the new legislation and that he expects it to pass thanks to her involvement.Her leaning in the way she has is what we needed, he said.Gamba said hes seeing newfound support for expanding transmission from across the political spectrum.Ive gotten calls from interests that typically Im on the other side of the fight with, Gamba said, because they recognize that this is an economic development issue as well.The post Oregon Faced a Huge Obstacle in Adding Green Energy. Heres What Changed This Year. appeared first on ProPublica.

Over the past year, ProPublica has published hundreds of investigations.In January, Kyle Hopkins of the Anchorage Daily News examined why a sexual assault case took seven years to go to trial in Alaska. In March, our video journalists told the stories of three mothers fighting to address Americas stillbirth crisis. In August, a team across the newsroom calculated how deeply President Donald Trumps administration cut federal health agencies. And in December, Megan Rose and Debbie Cenziper reported how the Food and Drug Administrations lax generic drug rules put a lung transplant patients life at risk.Here are 25 long-reads to add to your end-of-year reading list. You can also explore our most-read stories of the year.1. Anchorage Police Say They Witnessed a Sexual Assault in Public. It Took Seven Years for the Case to Go to Trial.By Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News. Co-published with Anchorage Daily News.Published Jan. 7.In Alaska, where the time to resolve most serious felony cases has nearly tripled over the past decade, one case was delayed so long that both victims died. A former prosecutor called it a travesty of justice.2. Dozens of People Died in Arizona Sober Living Homes as State Officials Fumbled Medicaid Fraud ResponseBy Mary Hudetz, ProPublica, and Hannah Bassett, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. Co-published with Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.Published Jan. 27.Arizona officials acknowledged that a fraud scheme targeting Indigenous people with addictions cost taxpayers $2.5 billion. But they havent accounted publicly for the number of deaths tied to the scheme.3. What a $2 Million Per Dose Gene Therapy Reveals About Drug PricingBy Robin FieldsPublished Feb. 12.Video by Jose Sepulveda/ProPublicaTaxpayers and charities helped develop Zolgensma. Then it debuted at a record price, ushering in a new class of wildly expensive drugs. Its story upends the widely held conception that high prices reflect huge industry investments in innovation.4. How a Global Online Network of White Supremacists Groomed a Teen to KillBy A.C. Thompson and James Bandler, ProPublica, and Luk Diko, Investigative Center of Jan Kuciak. Co-published with FRONTLINE.Published March 8.The murders of two people outside an LGBTQ+ bar at first looked like the act of a lone shooter. A ProPublica and FRONTLINE investigation shows they were, in fact, the culmination of a coordinated, international recruiting effort by online extremists.5. Before a Breath: Americas Stillbirth CrisisBy Nadia Sussman, Liz Moughon, Margaret Cheatham Williams and Lisa Riordan SevillePublished March 20.Video by ProPublicaMore than 20,000 stillbirths occur in the U.S. each year, but 1 in 4 may be preventable. Before a Breath sheds light on three mothers fighting to change those statistics.6. A Wholly Inaccurate Picture: Reality Cop Show The First 48 and the Wrongly Convicted Manby Jessica Lussenhop, photography by Sarahbeth ManeyPublished March 29.Video by Jose Sepulveda/ProPublicaEdgar Barrientos-Quintana spent 16 years behind bars wrongly convicted for a shooting featured on The First 48. The Minnesota attorney generals office effectively alleged that the show shaped the case instead of the case shaping the show.7. An Algorithm Deemed This Nearly Blind 70-Year-Old Prisoner a Moderate Risk. Now Hes No Longer Eligible for Parole.By Richard A. Webster, Verite News. Co-published with Verite News.Published April 10.A Louisiana law cedes much of the power of the parole board to an algorithm that bars thousands of prisoners from a shot at early release. Civil rights attorneys say it could disproportionately harm Black people and may even be unconstitutional.8. How a Chinese Prison Helped Fuel a Deadly Drug Crisis in the United StatesBy Sebastian RotellaPublished April 23.While China enforces strict laws against domestic drug trafficking, state-supported companies have openly shipped fentanyl to the U.S., investigators say. One prison-owned chemical company boasted online: 100% of our shipments will clear customs.9. Nike Says Its Factory Workers Earn Nearly Double the Minimum Wage. At This Cambodian Factory, 1% Made That Much.By Rob Davis, photography by Sarahbeth Maney. Co-published with The Oregonian/OregonLive.Published April 25.Nike has made an expansive effort to convince consumers, investors and others that it is improving the lives of factory workers who make its products, not exploiting them. A rare view of wages at one Cambodian factory tests this claim.10. Threat in Your Medicine Cabinet: The FDAs Gamble on Americas DrugsBy Debbie Cenziper, Megan Rose, Brandon Roberts and Irena HwangPublished June 17.A ProPublica investigation found that for more than a decade, the FDA gave substandard factories banned from the United States a special pass to keep sending drugs to an unsuspecting public.11. He Was Accused of Killing His Wife. Idahos Coroner System Let Clues Vanish After a Previous Wifes Death.By Audrey DuttonPublished July 16.Video by Jose Sepulveda/ProPublicaClayton Strong had a history of domestic unrest in two marriages. The womens families say a more thorough investigation of Betty Strongs death in Idaho might have saved the life of his next wife, Shirley Weatherley, in Texas.12. He Came to the U.S. to Support His Sick Child. He Was Detained. Then He Disappeared.By Melissa Sanchez, ProPublica; Perla Trevizo, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune; Mica Rosenberg and Jeff Ernsthausen, ProPublica; Ronna Rsquez, Alianza Rebelde Investiga; and Adrin Gonzlez, Cazadores de Fake News. Co-published with Alianza Rebelde Investiga, Cazadores de Fake News and The Texas Tribune.Published July 18.Like most of the more than 230 Venezuelan men deported to a Salvadoran prison, Jos Manuel Ramos Bastidas had followed U.S. immigration rules. Then Trump rewrote them.13. The Drying PlanetBy Abrahm Lustgarten, graphics by Lucas Waldron, illustrations by Olivier Kugler for ProPublicaPublished July 25.A new study finds that freshwater resources are rapidly disappearing, creating arid mega regions and causing sea levels to rise.14. Middle School Cheerleaders Made a TikTok Video Portraying a School Shooting. They Were Charged With a Crime.By Aliyya Swaby. Co-published with WPLN.Published July 28.Social videos, memes and retweets are becoming fodder for criminal charges in an era of heightened responses to student threats. Authorities say harsh punishment is necessary, but experts say the crackdown has unintended consequences.15. Well Smash the Fucking Window Out and Drag Him OutBy Nicole Foy and McKenzie FunkPublished July 31.Weve documented nearly 50 incidents of immigration officers shattering car windows to make arrests a tactic experts say was rarely used before Trump took office. ICE claims its officers use a minimum amount of force. You can judge for yourself.16. Gutted: How Deeply Trump Has Cut Federal Health AgenciesBy Brandon Roberts, Annie Waldman and Pratheek Rebala, illustrations by Sam Green for ProPublicaPublished Aug. 21.More than 20,500 workers have left or been pushed out of federal health agencies, a ProPublica analysis found. Staffers say the cuts will leave their agencies less equipped to conduct studies, perform inspections and combat deadly outbreaks.17. Material Support and an Ohio Chaplain: How 9/11-Era Terror Rules Could Empower Trumps Immigration CrackdownBy Hannah AllamPublished Sept. 9.The U.S. government was trying to deport Ohio childrens hospital chaplain Ayman Soliman, alleging tenuous connections to terrorism. If DHS had succeeded, experts say it could have handed the Trump administration a sledgehammer to use on mass deportations. A few weeks after this investigation was published, Soliman was freed.18. Just Let Me DieBy Duaa Eldeib, photography by Sarah Blesener for ProPublicaPublished Sept. 10.After insurance repeatedly denied a couples claims, one psychiatrist was their last hope.19. These Activists Want to Dismantle Public Schools. Now They Run the Education Department.By Megan OMatz and Jennifer Smith RichardsPublished Oct. 8.Under Trump, the Department of Education has been bringing in activists hostile to public schools. It could mean a new era of private and religious schools boosted by tax dollars and the end of public schools as we know them.20. How Paul Newby Made North Carolina a Blueprint for Conservative CourtsBy Doug Bock ClarkPublished Oct. 30.Paul Newby, a born-again Christian, has turned his perch atop North Carolinas Supreme Court into an instrument of political power. Over two decades, hes driven changes that have reverberated well beyond the borders of his state.21. She Begged for Help. This States Probation Gap May Have Put Her in Danger.By Paige Pfleger, WPLN, and Mariam Elba, ProPublica. Co-published with MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, Tennessee Lookout and WPLN.Published Nov. 11.Tennessee probation officers pause in-person visits and home searches for offenders facing an arrest warrant. That reduced supervision can last for months. Temptress Peebles was one of six mothers who died during this gap.22. What the U.S. Government Is Dismissing That Could Seed a Bird Flu PandemicBy Nat Lash, graphics by Chris AlcantaraPublished Nov. 18.Egg producers suspect bird flu is traveling through the air. After a disastrous Midwestern outbreak early this year, we tested that theory and found that where the wind blew, the virus followed. Vaccines could help, but the USDA hasnt approved them.Read MoreThe Most-Read ProPublica Stories of 202523. Under Trump, More Than 1,000 Nonprofits Strip DEI Language From Tax FormsBy Ellis Simani, design by Zisiga MukuluPublished Dec. 17.As the Trump administration ordered agencies to eradicate illegal diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, we identified more than 1,000 nonprofits that removed such language from the mission statements in their tax filings.24. Inside the Trump Administrations Man-Made Hunger CrisisBy Brett Murphy and Anna Maria Barry-Jester, photography by Brian Otieno for ProPublicaPublished Dec. 17.Brutal and traumatizing: Interviews and a trove of internal documents show government officials and aid workers desperately tried to warn Trump advisers about impending disaster and death.25. Fighting for BreathBy Megan Rose and Debbie Cenziper, photography by Hannah Yoon for ProPublicaPublished Dec. 19.Lung transplant patient Hannah Goetzs life depended on the generic version of a critical drug. It was supposed to be equivalent to the brand-name medication but the FDA doesnt always ensure thats the case.The post 25 Investigations You May Have Missed This Year appeared first on ProPublica.

Mr. Clooney, who owns a farmhouse in France, has said that living there enabled him and his wife, a human rights lawyer, to pursue a quieter existence with their children.

Thousands of documents and interviews with Assad-era officials reveal how the regime worked to conceal evidence of its atrocities during the Syrian civil war.

We documented how the dictator Bashar al-Assad and his henchmen conspired to hide evidence of torture and deaths of detainees during Syrias long civil war.

Plus, the mountain climbing brothers trying to rewrite the worlds maps.

The bands label said it had dropped one of the girl groups five members. NewJeanss legal battle has drawn public scrutiny of the K-pop industry.

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi poses before ringing the bell during a ceremony to mark the last trading day of the year on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)2025-12-30T05:19:07Z BANGKOK (AP) Shares opened mixed in Europe on Tuesday after slipping in Asia as some regional markets wrapped up trading for the year. Crude oil prices edged higher and gold and silver resumed their ascent. U.S. futures were flat.In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi rang out the final session for 2025 in a traditional year-end ceremony. By realizing a Japanese economy that earns the trust of investors around the world, we will create a virtuous cycle in which global capital flows into Japan, Takaichi said. The benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 0.4% to 50,339.48, its first year-end close above 50,000. It ended 2025 up nearly 25%. With just two trading days left before the year ends, most big investors have closed out their positions and volume has been thin. Most global markets will be closed Thursday, New Years day, and some will also be closed Wednesday and Friday. In early European trading, Germanys DAX was nearly unchanged at 24,348.38. Britains FTSE 100 edged up 0.1% to 9.876.73, while the CAC 40 in Paris had barely budged at 8,112.37. Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kongs Hang Seng index climbed 0.9% to 25,854.60, while the Shanghai Composite index was virtually unchanged at 3,965.51. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% lower to 8,717.10.South Koreas Kospi fell 0.2% to 4,214.17, while Taiwans Taiex lost 0.4%. Indias Sensex was down less than 0.1%. On Monday, stocks slipped in quiet trading on Wall Street. The S&P 500 fell 0.3%. Its still up more than 17% for the year and it remains on track for its eighth monthly gain in a row.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.5%.Big technology stocks with outsized valuations were among the heaviest weights on the market. Nvidia and several other companies focusing on AI or benefiting heavily from the developing technology have become some of the most valuable in the world. Nvidia fell 1.2% and Broadcom fell 0.8%. Tech shares have wobbled recently as investors have grown skeptical over the whether the eventual payoff will justify hefty investments in artificial intelligence. The price of gold gained 0.7% early Tuesday after falling 4.6% the day before. Its up about 64% for the year.Silver prices gained 4.4% after slumping 8.7% on Monday. They have more than doubled in 2025.The precious metals fell back on Monday when the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, one of the largest trading floors for commodities, asked traders to put up more cash to make bets on precious metals.Treasury yields fell in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.11% from 4.13% late Friday. Treasury yields have fallen significantly from the start of the year, after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark rate to help counter a slowing jobs market. That risks heating up inflation that is already stubbornly above the central banks target rate of 2%. Interest rate cuts could boost the economy by making loans less expensive, but that benefit could be nullified by rising inflation stunting economic growth. In other dealings early Tuesday, U.S. crude oil gained 14 cents to $58.22 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 12 cents to $61.61 per barrel. The U.S. dollar slipped to 156.00 Japanese yen from 156.05 yen. The euro fell to $1.1769 from $1.1774.___AP video journalist Mayuko Ono in Tokyo contributed to this report. ELAINE KURTENBACH Based in Bangkok, Kurtenbach is the APs business editor for Asia, helping to improve and expand our coverage of regional economies, climate change and the transition toward carbon-free energy. She has been covering economic, social, environmental and political trends in China, Japan and Southeast Asia throughout her career. twitter mailto

We look at some of our best stories from 2025 that Times editors thought deserved more attention.

A.I. has made it easy to put words in peoples mouths, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain has become a favorite target. The motive, experts say, is not political but financial.

Katherine Maher has taken an unyielding approach to NPRs biggest battles which has sometimes put her at odds with her colleagues in public media.

Here is what to expect if youre expecting relief from the soaring cost of day care in New York City.

Marquee names all, they found international fame in the arts, politics, the sciences and beyond.

Nature, Published online: 30 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-04099-wJournals that work hard to meet the needs of both authors and readers should be acknowledged publicly encouraging others to follow suit.

A power failure in the Channel Tunnel has paralyzed the Eurostar service, causing delays for thousands of holiday travelers between London, Paris and Brussels.

Off the battlefield, each side is trying to influence the American leaders perception as they look to negotiate a peace settlement in their favor.

Heres a cheat sheet for decoding this years A.I.-driven tech lingo, from RAG to superintelligence.

This post originally ran on Tedium, our zine designer Ernie Smith's wonderful website and newsletter about the Dull Side of the Internet. Check it out here.I write a lot these days, but my path into journalism, going way back to J-School, was through layout.For years, I was a graphic designer at a number of newspaperssome fairly small, some quite large. I was a card-carrying member of the Society for News Design. It was one of my biggest passions, and I fully expected to have a long career in newspaper design. But newspapers as a medium havent really panned out, so I eventually fell into writing.But I still adore laying out a big project, conceptualizing it, and trying to use it to visually add to the story that the words are trying to convey. Its not quite a lost art, but I do think that print layout is something that has been a bit back-burnered by society at large.So when 404 Media co-founder Jason Koebler, who spent years editing my writing for Motherboard, reached out about doing a zine, I was absolutely in. The goal of the zineto shine a spotlight on the intersection of ICE and surveillance techwas important. Plus, I like working with Jason, and it was an opportunity to get into print design again after quite a few years away.I just had two problems: One, I have decided that I no longer want to give Adobe money because of cost and ethical concerns about its business model. And two, I now use Linux pretty much exclusively (Bazzite DX, in case youre wondering).But the good news is that the open-source community has done a lot of work, and despite my own tech shifts, professional-grade print design on Linux is now a viable option.Why page layout on Linux is fairly uncommonThe meme in the Linux community writes itself: I would move over to Linux, but I need Photoshop and InDesign and [insert app here] too much. In the past, this has been a real barrier for designers, especially those who rely on print layout, where open-source alternatives are very limited. (Theyve also been traditionally at the mercy of print shops that have no time for your weird non-standard app.)Admittedly, the native tools have been getting better. Im not really a fan myself, but I know GIMP is getting closer in parity to Photoshop. Inkscape is a totally viable vector drawing app. Video is very doable on Linux thanks to the FOSS Kendenlive and the commercial DaVinci Resolve. Blender is basically a de facto standard for 3D at this point. The web-based Penpot is a capable Figma alternative. And Krita, while promoted as a digital painting app, has become my tool of choice for making frame-based animated GIFs, which I do a lot for Tedium.But for ink-stained print layout nerds, it has been tougher to make the shift (our apologies to Scribus). And Adobe locks down Creative Cloud pretty hard.However, the recent Affinity release, while drawing some skepticism from the open-source community as a potential enshittification issue, is starting to open up a fresh lane. For those not aware, the new version of Affinity essentially combines the three traditional design appsvector editor, raster editor, and page layoutinto a single tool. Its pretty good at all three. (Plus, for business reasons related to its owner Canva, its currently free to use.)While it doesnt have a dedicated Linux version, it more or less runs very well using WINE, the technology that has enabled a Linux renaissance via the Steam Deck. (Some passionate community members, like the WINE hacker ElementalWarrior, have worked hard to make this a fully-fleshed out experience that can even be installed more or less painlessly.)The desire for a native Linux version of a pro-level design app is such that the Canva subsidiary is thinking about doing it themselves.But Im not the kind of person who likes to wait, so I decided to try to build as much of the zine as I could with Affinity for page layout. For the few things I couldnt do, I would remote into a Mac.The RISO factorAnother consideration here is the fact that this zine is being built with Risograph printing, a multicolor printing approach distinct from the more traditional CMYK. The inky printing process, similar to screen printing, has a distinct, vibrant look, even if it avoids the traditional four-color approach (in our case, using layers of pink, black, and lime green).Throughout the process, I spent a lot of time setting layers to multiply to ensure the results looked good, and adding effects like halftone and erase to help balance out the color effects. This mostly worked OK, though I did have some glitches.At one point, a lime-green frog lost much of its detail when I tried to RISO-fy it, requiring me to double-check my color settings and ensure I was getting the right tone. And sometimes, PDF exports from Affinity added unsightly lines, which I had to go out of my way to remove. If I was designing for newspapers, I might have been forced to come up with a quick plan B for that layout. But fortunately, I had the luxury of not working on a daily deadline like I might have back in the day.I think that this layout approach is genuinely fascinatingand I know Jason in particular is a huge fan of it. Could I see other publications in the 404 mold taking notes from this and doing the same thing? Heck yes.A sneak peek at the inside layout of the 404 Media zine.The ups and downs of print layout on LinuxSo, the headline you can take away from this is pretty simple: Laying stuff out in Affinity over Linux is extremely doable, and if youre doing it occasionally, you will find a quite capable tool.Admittedly, if this was, like, my main gig, I might still feel the urge to go back to MacOSespecially near the end of the process. Heres what I learned:The good: Workflow-wise, it was pretty smooth. Image cutoutsa tightly honed skill of mine that AI has been trying to obsolete for yearswere very doable. Affinity also has some great effects tools that in many ways beat equivalents in other apps, such as its glitch tool and its live filter layers. It didnt feel like I was getting a second-class experience when all was said and done.The bad: My muscle memory for InDesign shortcuts was completely ineffective for this, and there were occasional features of InDesign and Photoshop that I did not find direct equivalents for in Affinity. WINEs file menus tend to look like old Windows, which might be a turn-off for UX purists, and required a bit of extra navigation to dig through folders. Also, one downside of WINE that I could not work past was that I couldnt use my laptops Intel-based GPU for machine learning tasks, a known bug that I imagine slowed some things down on graphically intensive pages.I checked, by the way; this was not a WINE thing, it did this in MacOS too. (Ernie Smith)The ugly: I think one area Affinity will need to work on as it attempts to sell the idea that you can design in one interface are better strategies to help mash down content for export. At one point while I was trying to make a PDF, Affinity promised me that the file I would be exporting was going to be 17 exabytes in size, which my SSD was definitely not large enough for. That wasnt true, but it does emphasize that the dream of doing everything in one interface gets complicated when you want to send things to the printer. Much of the work I did near the end of the process was rasterizing layers to ensure everything looked as intended.When I did have to use a Mac app for something (mainly accessing Spectrolite, a prepress app for RISO designs), I accessed an old Hackintosh using NoMachine, a tool for connecting to computers remotely. So even for the stuff I actually needed MacOS for, I didnt need to leave the comforts of my janky laptop.Looking for a Big Tech escape hatchWas it 100% perfect? No. Affinity crashed every once in a while, but InDesign did that all the time back in the day. And admittedly, an office full of people using Affinity on Linux isnt going to work as well as one guy in a coffee shop working with a team of editors over chat and email.But its my hope that experiences like mine convince other people to try it, and for companies to embrace it. Affinity isnt open-source, and Canva is a giant company with plenty of critics, just like Adobe. But there are emerging projects like PixiEditor and Graphite that could eventually make print layout an extremely viable and even modern open-source endeavor.But we have to take victories where we can find them, and the one I see is that Affinity is a lot less locked down than Creative Cloud, which is why its viable on Linux. And in general, this feels like an opportunity to get away from the DRM-driven past of creative software. (Hey Canva, its never too late to make Affinity open-source.)Difficult reporting shouldnt have to be tethered to the whims of Big Tech to exist. Especially when that techon Amazons cloud, using Adobes PDFs, through Googles search, over Metas social network, with Apples phones, and on Microsofts operating systemtoo often causes uncomfortable tensions with the reporting. This is one step towards a better escape hatch.

Nature, Published online: 30 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-04026-zConstructive feedback.

The high-speed train service connecting Britain and continental Europe was paralyzed on Tuesday during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.

PostNord, the countrys longtime service, is delivering its last letters. Few Danes send snail mail anymore, but some are mourning the end of an era.

Chinese panels are now so affordable that businesses and families are snapping them up, slashing their bills and challenging utilities.

Detty December means a month of back to back to back partying in Nigerias megacity, both for locals and visiting members of the diaspora. Bring your stamina, dancing shoes and wads of cash.

You cant beat that price.READ MORE...

Voters fill out their ballots Nov. 4, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)2025-12-30T13:22:26Z If history is a guide, Republicans stand a good chance of losing control of the House of Representatives in 2026. They have just a slim majority in the chamber, and the incumbent party usually gives up seats in midterm elections.President Donald Trump, whose loss of the House halfway through his first term led to two impeachments, is trying to keep history from repeating and doing so in ways his opponents say are intended to manipulate next years election landscape.He has rallied his party to remake congressional maps across the country to create more conservative-leaning House seats, an effort that could end up backfiring on him. Hes directed his administration to target Democratic politicians, activists and donors. And, Democrats worry, hes flexing his muscles to intervene in the midterms like no administration ever has.Democrats and other critics point to how Trump has sent the military into Democratic cities over the objections of Democratic mayors and governors. They note that hes pushed the Department of Homeland Security to be so aggressive that at one point its agents handcuffed a Democratic U.S. senator. And some warn that a Republican-controlled Congress could fail to seat winning candidates if Democrats reclaim the House majority, recalling Trumps efforts to stay in power even after voters rejected him in 2020, leading to the violent attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol. Regarding potential military deployments, Ken Martin, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, told The Associated Press: What he is going to do is send those troops there, and keep them there all the way through the next election, because guess what? If people are afraid of leaving their house, theyre probably not going to leave their house to go vote on Election Day. Thats how he stays in power. Military to the polls, or fearmongering?Democrats sounded similar alarms just before Novembers elections, and yet there were no significant incidents. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a frequent Trump antagonist who also warns about a federal crackdown on voting in 2026, predicted that masked immigration agents would show up at the polls in his state, where voters were considering a ballot measure to counter Trumps redistricting push.There were no such incidents in November, and the measure to redraw Californias congressional lines in response to Trumps efforts elsewhere won in a landslide.White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the concerns about the midterms come from Democratic politicians who are fearmongering to score political points with the radical left flank of the Democrat party that they are courting ahead of their doomed-to-fail presidential campaigns.She described their concerns as baseless conspiracy theories.Susie Wiles, Trumps chief of staff, denied that Trump was planning to use the military to try to suppress votes.I say it is categorically false, will not happen. Its just wrongheaded, she told Vanity Fair for an interview that was published earlier in December. DNC litigation director Dan Freeman said he hasnt seen an indication that Trump will send immigration enforcement agents to polling places during the midterms, but is wary.He said the DNC filed public records requests in an attempt to learn more about any such plans and is drafting legal pleadings it could file if Trump sends armed federal agents to the polls or otherwise intervenes in the elections.Were not taking their word for it, Freeman said in an interview. States, not presidents, run electionsNovembers off-year elections may not be the best indicator of what could lie ahead. They were scattered in a handful of states, and Trump showed only modest interest until late in the fall when his Department of Justice announced it was sending federal monitors to California and New Jersey to observe voting in a handful of counties. It was a bureaucratic step that had no impact on voting, even as it triggered alarm from Democrats.Alexandra Chandler, the legal director of Defend Democracy, a group that has clashed with Trump over his role in elections, said she was heartened by the lack of drama during the 2025 voting.We have so many positive signs we can look to, Chandler said, citing not only a quiet election but GOP senators resistance to Trumps demands to eliminate the filibuster and the widespread resistance to Trumps demand that television host Jimmy Kimmel lose his job because of his criticism of the president. There are limits on Trumps power, she noted.We will have elections in 2026, Chandler said. People dont have to worry about that.Under the Constitution, a president has limited tools to intervene in elections, which are run by the states. Congress can help set rules for federal elections, but states administer their own election operations and oversee the counting of ballots.When Trump tried to singlehandedly revise election rules with a sweeping executive order shortly after returning to office, the courts stepped in and stopped him, citing the lack of a constitutional role for the president. Trump later promised another order, possibly targeting mail ballots and voting machines, but it has yet to materialize. DOJ voter data request should frighten everybodyStill, theres plenty of ways a president can cause problems, said Rick Hasen, a UCLA law professor.Trump unsuccessfully pushed Georgias top election official to find him enough votes to be declared the winner there in 2020 and could try similar tactics in Republican-dominated states in November. Likewise, Hasen said, Trump could spread misinformation to undermine confidence in vote tallies, as he has done routinely ahead of elections.Its harder to do that in more lopsided contests, as many in 2025 turned into, Hasen noted.Concerns about Trump interfering in 2026 are real; theyre not frivolous, Hasen said. Theyre also not likely, but these are things people need to be on guard for.One administration move that has alarmed election officials is a federal demand from his Department of Justice for detailed voter data from the states. The administration has sued the District of Columbia and at least 21 states, most of them controlled by Democrats, after they refused to turn over all the information the DOJ sought.What the DOJ is trying to do is something that should frighten everybody across the political spectrum, said David Becker, a former Justice Department voting rights attorney and executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research. Theyre trying to use the power of the executive to bully states into turning over highly sensitive data date of birth, Social Security numbers, drivers license, the Holy Trinity of identity theft hand it over to the DOJ for who knows what use.Voter protection vs election integrityVoting rights lawyers and election officials have been preparing for months for the midterms, trying to ensure there are ways to counter misinformation and ensure state election systems are easy to explain. Both major parties are expected to stand up significant campaigns around the mechanics of voting: Democrats mounting what they call a voter protection effort to monitor for problems while Republicans focus on what they call election integrity.Freeman, the DNC litigation director who previously worked in the DOJs voting section, said his hiring this year was part of a larger effort by the DNC to beef up its in-house legal efforts ahead of the midterms. He said the committee has been filling gaps in voting rights law enforcement that the DOJ has typically covered, including informing states that they cant illegally purge citizens from their voter rolls.Tina Barton, co-chair of the Committee on Safe and Secure Elections, a coalition of law enforcement and election officials who advise jurisdictions on de-escalation and how to respond to emergencies at polling places, says interest in the groups trainings has exploded in recent weeks.Theres a lot at stake, and thats going to cause a lot of emotions, Barton said.___Associated Press writers Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, and Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.

Palestinians pass along a street surrounded by buildings destroyed during Israeli air and ground operations in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, in Gaza City, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)2025-12-30T13:36:58Z JERUSALEM (AP) Israel on Tuesday said it will suspend over two dozen humanitarian organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, for failing to meet its new rules to vet international organizations working in Gaza.The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs said the organizations that will be banned on Jan. 1 did not meet new requirements for sharing staff, funding and operations information. It accused Doctors Without Borders, one of the largest health organizations operating in Gaza, of failing to clarify the roles of some staff that Israel accused of cooperation with Hamas and other militant groups.International organizations have said Israels rules are arbitrary and could endanger staff. The ministry said around 25 organizations, or 15%, of the NGOs working in Gaza did not have their permits renewed.Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym MSF, didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel previously accused its staff of involvement in military activities in Gaza in 2024. At the time, the group said it was deeply concerned by these allegations and is taking them very seriously. The group said it would never knowingly employ people engaged in military activity. Israel and international organizations have been at odds over the amount of aid going into Gaza. Israel claims it is upholding the aid commitments laid out in the latest ceasefire in the two-year war that took effect Oct. 10, but humanitarian organizations dispute Israels numbers and say more aid is desperately needed in the devastated Palestinian territory of over 2 million people.___Find more of APs Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war. MELANIE LIDMAN Lidman is an Associated Press reporter based in Tel Aviv, Israel. SAM MEDNICK Mednick is an AP correspondent for Israel and the Palestinian Territories. She focuses on conflict, humanitarian crises and human rights abuses. Mednick formerly covered West & Central Africa and South Sudan. twitter

Snow is cleared from a parking lot in Grandville, Mich. on Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (Joel Bissell /MLive.com via AP)2025-12-30T06:02:57Z A wild winter storm was expected to bring strong winds, heavy snow and frigid temperatures to the Great Lakes and Northeast on Tuesday, a day after a bomb cyclone barreled across the northern U.S. and left tens of thousands of customers without power.The storm that hit parts of the Plains and Great Lakes on Monday brought sharply colder air, strong winds and a mix of snow, ice and rain, leading to treacherous travel. Forecasters said it intensified quickly enough to meet the criteria of a bomb cyclone, a system that strengthens rapidly as pressure drops. Nationwide, more than 127,000 customers were without power Tuesday morning, more than a third of them in Michigan, according to Poweroutage.us. As the storm moved into Canada, the National Weather Service predicted more inclement weather conditions for the Eastern U.S, including quick bursts of heavy snow and gusty winds known as snow squalls. Blustery winds were expected to add to the arctic chill, with low temperatures dipping below freezing as far south as the Florida panhandle, the agency said. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul warned that whiteout conditions were expected Tuesday in parts of the state, including the Syracuse metro area. If youre in an impacted area, please avoid all unnecessary travel, she said in a post on the social platform X. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Snow piled up quickly in Michigans Upper Peninsula on Monday, where as much as 2 feet (60 centimeters) fell in some areas, according to the National Weather Service. Meteorologist Ryan Metzger said additional snow was expected in the coming days, although totals would be far lighter. Waves on Lake Superior that were expected to reach 20 feet (6 meters) on Monday sent all but one cargo ship into harbors for shelter, according to MarineTraffic.com.The fierce winds on Lake Erie sent water surging toward the basins eastern end near Buffalo, New York, while lowering water on the western side in Michigan to expose normally submerged lakebed even the wreck of a car and a snowmobile. Kevin Aldrich, 33, a maintenance worker from Monroe, Michigan, said he has never seen the lake recede so much and was surprised on Monday to spot remnants of piers dating back to the 1830s. He posted photos on social media of wooden pilings sticking up several feet from the muck.Where those are at would typically be probably 12 feet deep, he said. We can usually drive our boat over them.Dangerous wind chills plunged as low as minus 30 F (minus 34 C) across parts of North Dakota and Minnesota on Monday. And in northeast West Virginia, rare, nearly hurricane-force winds were recorded on a mountain near Dolly Sods, according to the National Weather Service.In Iowa, after blizzard conditions eased by Monday morning, high winds continued blowing snow across roadways, keeping more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) of Interstate 35 closed. State troopers reported dozens of crashes during the storm, including one that killed a person.On the West Coast, the National Weather Service warned that moderate to strong Santa Ana winds were expected in parts of Southern California through Tuesday, raising concerns about downed trees in areas where recent storms had saturated the soil. Two more storms were forecast later this week, with rain on New Years Day potentially soaking the Rose Parade in Pasadena for the first time in about two decades.___Associated Press writers Julie Walker in New York; Corey Williams in Detroit; Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; Susan Haigh in Norwich, Connecticut; and Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, contributed. JEFF MARTIN Martin covers a variety of topics including crime, hurricanes, and civil rights across the southeastern U.S. He was a member of the AP team named a finalist for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting for the Lethal Restraint project. mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Passengers queue to enter the Eurotunnel site in Folkestone in Kent, England, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)2025-12-30T12:15:03Z PARIS (AP) Power problems and a stuck train interrupted rail traffic that flows through the undersea tunnel connecting the U.K. to continental Europe on Tuesday, with passenger train operator Eurostar indefinitely suspending its services to and from London during the busy end-of-year holiday period.Eurostar blamed overhead power supply issues in the Channel Tunnel and what it said was a failed train operated by LeShuttle, which transports vehicle traffic by rail through the tunnel, to and from the French port of Calais and the U.K. port of Folkestone. Eurostar said in a statement that its services to and from London are suspended until further notice and advised its passengers to rebook their journeys for other days. The Channel Tunnels operator, Eurotunnel, said in a separate statement that the power supply problem started overnight Monday in part of the tunnel, impacting both passenger and vehicle travel by rail in both directions through the tunnel.It said traffic is expected to resume gradually on Tuesday afternoon. A technical intervention is required, which is currently underway, it said. Our teams are working to restore the situation as quickly as possible.

In this photo provided by the Federal Road Safety Corps, people gather at the accident scene of British boxer Anthony Joshua in Lagos, Nigeria, on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (Federal Road Safety Corps via AP)2025-12-30T12:02:21Z LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) Tributes have been paid after the crash that injured British former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and killed two close associates on Monday, amid growing concern over Nigerias roads following the deadly incident near Lagos.Joshua, a two-time heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist, was under observation while recovering from minor injuries, his promoter said Monday.Nigerias Federal Road Safety Corps said the accident along a major highway connecting Lagos, the countrys economic hub, and Ogun state was a result of excessive speed and wrongful overtaking, which had caused the car to collide with a stationary truck by the roadside. Eyewitnesses say the vehicles tire had burst at high speed.Joshua had recently won a bout against Youtuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul on Dec. 19, a fight he used to improve fitness in a bid to contest future top-flight boxing titles. The former world heavyweight champion, who also holds Nigerian nationality, is in stable condition and would remain in hospital for further observation according to his promoter, Matchroom Boxing. Joshuas long-term friends and team members, Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, were killed in the crash, the promoter said in a statement posted on X. Ghami was Joshuas strength and conditioning coach while Ayodele was a trainer. Just hours before the crash, Joshua and Ayodele posted clips on social media playing table tennis together. Mustafa Briggs, a friend of Ayodele, described him as pure-hearted and sincere. He had not a bad intention or a bad bone in his body, Briggs told U.K. broadcaster Sky News. He loved life, he enjoyed life, he said.Outside a gym owned by Ghami in London, bouquets of flowers have been left at the entrance. Evolve Gyms was temporarily closed on Tuesday to mourn the loss of its beloved owner, according to a statement posted on the building. Concerns over frequent road crashes in NigeriaThe high-profile accident has prompted serious concerns about road safety on Nigerian highways, where accidents are common.The West African nation recorded 5,421 deaths in 9,570 road accidents in 2024, according to data by the countrys Federal Road Safety Corps. Its data showed 340 more people were killed in road accidents last year compared to 2023.Experts say a combination of factors including a network of dilapidated roads, lax enforcement of traffic laws, and indiscipline by drivers, produces the grim statistics.The stationary truck that Joshuas vehicle hit is a fixture of Nigerias thoroughfares, often causing massive gridlocks. Goods and food are transported across Nigerias vast geographical reach via these trucks, which experts say tend to be in poor condition and are responsible for many accidents. The prevalence of accidents in Nigeria is a serious issue, Ache Ogu, the CEO of the Road Accident Prevention Network Centre, an Abuja-based nongovernmental organization, told The Associated Press. Most of the trucks are not in order, and the law enforcement agency needs to step up its efforts. Monisola Abosede, a 27-year-old marketer who lives in Lagos and commutes several kilometers every weekday for work, has been involved in two accidents in December alone. In Lagos, everyone is in a rush to get somewhere; people are always on the move, she told The AP, blaming crashes on the citys heavy traffic combined with the bad state of its road network.The boxing world reactsBritish heavyweight star Tyson Fury has led the tributes from the boxing community in the aftermath of the crash. This is so sad. May god give them a good bed in heaven, he posted on Instagram.Boxer Chris Eubank Jr, who last month fought a high-profile middleweight bout, expressed his support and condolences. Thank god our heavyweight champ survived that horrible car crash. And pray for the two fallen soldiers Latz & Sina & their families, Eubank Jr posted on X. I knew both they were genuinely good men. Rest in Peace boys. British boxer Shannon Courtenay, a womens bantamweight fighter who fought earlier this month in the build-up to the Joshua-Paul fight in Miami, Florida, posted a photo of her with Joshua on Instagram. As well as Sina and Latz please keep the big man (Joshua) in your prayers, she wrote, adding. No man should have to go through and witness what he went through today losing his two best friends. Former world champion Wladimir Klitschko, who was stopped in the 11th round by Joshua at Wembley Stadium in 2017, wrote on X: Im deeply saddened to hear about AJ and his close-knit group of friends.Having had the pleasure of engaging in an unforgettable battle with AJ, Ive always regarded him as a true class act who commands my utmost respect.My heart goes out to him, and I wish him and his loved ones all the best during this difficult time. 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 RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Nature, Published online: 30 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03989-3Privacy in the age of computers and a Nature reader questions eyewitness accounts of boomerangs in our weekly dip into the archive.

An inmate says that no one wanted to listen when he tried repeatedly to confess to a crime at a facility known for violence.

These were fun to play around with and functional. READ MORE...

Everything's brilliant!READ MORE...

Gary Seputis, top, and Clint Hornsby, employees of Entertainment Design Group, work on attaching two leaves to the fiberglass and foam Peach in preparation for the 2012 Peach Drop at Underground Atlanta, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, in Atlanta. ( Jason Getz/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)2025-12-30T05:03:16Z Why let New York City have all the fun with its Times Square ball drop on New Years Eve?Dozens of places across the U.S. will ring in 2026 by dropping a quirky assortment of fruits, vegetables, sea creatures and balls of all shapes and sizes.Many have a hometown flair.Theres the giant cheese wedge in Plymouth, Wisconsin, a chile pepper in Las Cruces, New Mexico, a pinecone in Flagstaff, Arizona, and a conch shell in Key West, Florida.Pennsylvania is home to a bonanza of bizarre New Years Eve events the bologna drop in Lebanon, the pickle drop in Dillsburg and the potato chip drop in Lewistown.Its a New Years tradition that goes back to 1907 when a 700-pound (318-kilogram) ball measuring five feet (1.5 meters) in diameter debuted in Times Square. Copycat celebrations have surged coast to coast over the past few decades and around the beginning of the new millennium.Heres a look at some of those events around the nation: Fruity traditions on New Years EveIts said in some cultures that eating fruit on New Years Eve brings luck and wealth. Perhaps thats why many cities mix fruit into their celebrations. Miami has its Big Orange drop, while Sarasota, Florida, features a pineapple. There are cherry drops in Milwaukie, Oregon, and Traverse City, Michigan. Brightly lit grapes plunge from above in Temecula, California. Atlanta this year is replacing its peach drop with a digital drone peach in the sky. Beach balls and flip-flopsIts tough to beat ringing in the year while watching a pair of sparkly flip-flops diving into Folly Beach, South Carolina. In Panama City Beach, Florida, theres an evening-long bash where 15,000 beach balls are dropped above revelers just hours before a giant beach ball descends a tower at midnight. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on MoonPies and a giant PeepWhat could be better than seeing a 600-pound (272 kilograms) MoonPie make a 60-second descent in Mobile, Alabama? How about getting a slice of MoonPie cake at the citys biggest event of the year? Not sweet enough? Check out the 400-pound (181 kilograms) yellow Peep chick that drops into Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Seafood smorgasbordWaterfront cities celebrate the sea on New Years Eve. Brunswick, Georgia, has the shrimp drop, while Easton, Maryland, serves up its annual crab drop. The oyster drop is the main event in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The biggest catch might be in Port Clinton, Ohio, along Lake Erie, home to a 600-pound (272-kilogram) walleye named Wylie. The original papier-mache version debuted 30 years ago and has given way to a menacing fiberglass fish. Potatoes and pierogiesTheres definitely a food theme to these New Years drops. Just outside Chicago, watch out for a 10-foot (3 meters) pierogi in Whiting, Indiana. The Idaho Potato Drop in Boise has been going for more than a decade, and Mt. Olive, North Carolina, celebrates its hometown pickle brand by dropping a glittery green pickle thats close to 6 feet (1.8 meters) long.Possum drop lives onAll of these events are meant to be fun, boost civic pride and attract tourists. But one created such a stir that it ended up in court. Residents in western North Carolina no longer lower a live possum inside a glass box at midnight, calling off the event in 2019 after years of protests and legal challenges. There is still a possum drop in Tallapoosa, Georgia, which was long ago known as Possum Snout. That one, though, stars a stuffed possum named Spencer. JOHN SEEWER Seewer covers state and national news for The Associated Press and is based in Toledo, Ohio. twitter mailto

A Basset Fauve De Bretagne stands for photographs during a Meet the Breeds event February 22, 2022 in San Diego. (David Woo/American Kennel Club via AP)2025-12-30T14:02:34Z NEW YORK (AP) Theyre ready to embark on 2026.Three more dog breeds joined the American Kennel Clubs roster of recognized breeds on Tuesday, making them eligible for many U.S. dog shows and likely increasing their visibility to the pet-loving public.One of the newcomers is a terrier named for a U.S. president. Another is a toy dog from Cold War-era Russia. The third is a centuries-old French hunting hound. Heres a closer look:The basset fauve de BretagneThe stats: 12.5 to 15.5 inches (32 to 40 centimeters) at the base of the neck; 23 to 39 pounds (10.5 to 17.5 kilograms)The topline: A hardy, sociable, compact hound that can hunt all day and needs mental and physical activity. The pronunciation: bah-SAY fove deh breh-TAHN-yehThe translation: Fawn-colored, low-set dog from BrittanyThe history: Versions of these coarse-coated, tan-hued hounds go back at least as far as 16th-century French aristocratic circles. The breed has been championed in the U.S. in recent years by Cindy Hartman, a South Carolina service dog trainer who brought a pair of fauve puppies back from France in 2001. She has since trained and placed about 20 fauves as medical alert dogs for people with diabetes, she said. The quote: Theyre wicked smart, and so if youre wanting a dog thats just going to lay around all day long, a fauve is not for you, Hartman said. But yet, when challenged mentally and physically, theyre happy to come in with you and curl up on the sofa for the evening. The Teddy Roosevelt terrierThe stats: 8 to 14 inches (20 to 36 centimeters) at the base of the neck; 8 to 25 pounds (3.5 to 11 kilograms)The topline: A solid, energetic small canine that will rid your barn of rodents, alert you to strangers, do dog sports or just entertain you with its antics. The history: Originally seen as a short-legged variant of the rat terrier, these dogs were deemed a breed of their own in 1999. The breed was named for President Theodore Roosevelt because of his fondness for dogs, including terriers. The quote: They know how to get you to laugh, says Cindy Rickey of Waynesville, North Carolina, the secretary of the American Teddy Roosevelt Terrier Club. While many terrier breeds are known for being independent-minded, her Teddy competes in obedience. Theyre terriers, no doubt about it, but they also have this tremendous desire to please, she explains.The Russian tsvetnaya bolonkaThe stats: Up to 10 inches (26 centimeters) at the base of the neck; 7 to 9 pounds (3 to 4 kilograms)The topline: A sweet but clever little companion that wants playful interaction, not just snuggling (though it likes that, too). The pronunciation: zvit-NEYE'-ah boh-LON'-kahThe translation: Russian colored lapdog The history: The breed was developed in Soviet-era Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) after World War II as a pet for apartment dwellers. American fans have been working to establish bolonki (the proper plural) in the U.S. since the early 2000s. The quote: Having a bolonka is like having a 3-year-old kid running around your house. They can enjoy their time lying on the couch with you, but youve got to be prepared to play with them and keep them entertained, says Denise Dang of Oklahoma City, the secretary of the Russian Tsvetnaya Bolonka Club of America. Owners also need to care for a thick, wavy coat thats low-shedding but can get matted. Even if its cut fairly short, a bath every couple of weeks is wise, Dang says. The big picture The AKC recognizes 205 breeds, including these three newcomers. Fanciers of many others though, as yet, no doodles or other popular poodle hybrids have voluntarily entered a pipeline that takes years of breeding, documentation and consensus-building. The club doesnt limit the number of breeds it might eventually recognize. Spokesperson Brandi Hunter Munden says its not adding dogs indiscriminately, but rather providing an established framework for growth, breed standards, competition and education in the U.S. The controversyAnimal-rights activists have long deplored dog breeding and the AKC for supporting it, and the criticism hardened this year into a lawsuit over the health of French bulldogs, pugs, dachshunds and Chinese shar-peis. The group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is seeking a court order to stop the AKC from continuing to promulgate the current standards, or ideal characteristics, for those breeds.PETA accused the kennel club of providing blueprints for the breeding of deformed, unhealthy dogs.The AKC denies the allegations and has asked a court to dismiss the case, calling the suit frivolous. The club said it has been and remains firmly committed to the health, well-being and proper treatment of all dogs.

After Christmas-week storms, two rounds of rainfall starting on New Years Eve could cause more flooding and mudslides.

America could all but lose vaccine access. Heres how.

WASHINGTONWondering aloud about whose idea it was to make so much gebakje in the first place, bloated Americans across the nation confirmed Tuesday that they were still struggling to work their way through all of the leftover rijstevlaai from the holidays. Dont get me wrong, I usually cant get enough rijstevlaai in December, but we may have overdone it with the nagerecht this time, said Itasca, IL, resident Morris Hayworth, who echoed the sentiment of over 340 million Americans as they moaned and clutched their stomachs, glancing over at tinfoil-wrapped plates still laden with banketstaaf and beschuit met muisjes from the seasons festive gatherings. Ugh, take these away from meI cant even look at another pepernoot. This happens every year. At first, I dont think well have enough stoofpeertjes for everyone. Then we find ourselves eating stoofpeertjes well into January. Maybe if everybody hadnt filled up on stokbrood met kruidenboter at Christmas dinner, our freezer wouldnt be packed to the gills with konijn op grootmoeders wijze. Hayworth went on to add that he and the rest of the U.S. populace were toying with the idea of just doing a simple gourmetten next year to cut down on leftovers.The post Bloated Nation Struggling To Work Way Through Leftover Rijstevlaai appeared first on The Onion.

The post To Cirrhosis With Love appeared first on The Onion.

Your home MVPs.READ MORE...

Its the ultimate stylish storage solution.READ MORE...