The men were among a group of four skiing in the backcountry near Longs Pass, east of Seattle in the Cascade Mountains. The area received heavy snowfall last week.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, have begun moving their belongings from their Queens apartment to the official mayors residence in Manhattan.

The announcement by the homeland security secretary came days after an immigration officer shot and killed a woman, Renee Good, in the city.

Our photographer is capturing behind-the-scenes moments with stars at Sunday nights awards show.

Turning Latin America into a theater of war will not weaken transnational crime; it will entrench it.

Americas days of unipolar supremacy are past.

People celebrate outside Versailles Cuban Cuisine after President Donald Trump announced Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country, in Miami, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)2026-01-12T05:26:17Z NEW YORK (AP) In the days since the Trump administration ousted Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro in a late-night military raid, Alejandra Salima has spoken to fellow Venezuelan migrants in her role as an advocate. Like her, most voice feelings that seesaw between joy and trepidation, she said.The removal of Maduro is a first step, but were nervous, said Salima, who fled to the U.S. three years ago with her 7-year-old son and assists other Venezuelans at the Miami office of the National TPS Alliance. With the regime that Maduro led still in place, at this moment, returning would put me and my son at risk, she said.For more than 770,000 Venezuelans living in the U.S., reactions to Trumps forceful moves in the country they left behind and the one that has taken them in are as intense as they are complicated.Many are thrilled by the removal of Maduro, who harassed and jailed political opponents while presiding over an economic collapse, driving millions of Venezuelans from the country. But as they try to figure out whats next for them and for families and friends still in Venezuela, many share Salimas conflicted feelings. The Trump administrations move to deport Venezuelans without permanent residency has increased worry. Many were allowed to stay in the U.S. after they were granted Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, a designation Trump revoked after taking office. At the same time, the fear instilled by the government Maduro left behind makes many wary of returning. First, they grabbed Maduro, and I feel happy, happy, happy, grateful to the Trump administration, said Manuel Coronel, a lawyer who left Venezuela in 2017 and now lives just north of Salt Lake City. But he worries the change will be too limited.They got him, but the criminals are still there, said Coronel, who is 54 and works at an immigration law practice. Theres no new government. Everythings exactly the same. No rush to returnThe tensions belie assurances by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who asserted that overwhelmingly the Venezuelans that Ive heard from or talked to are excited about the changes. They have more opportunities to go back to their country and have it be more successful and provide for their families today than they did a week ago when Maduro was still in charge, Noem said last week.But in interviews with Venezuelans who live in communities around the U.S. there was little indication of a rush to return.Thank God were here, said Jos Luis Rojas, who ended up in New York City after fleeing the Venezuela capital of Caracas in 2018.Rojas, 31, recounted how Venezuelas hyperinflation, which topped 1 million percent the year he fled, made it impossible to buy essentials like diapers after his partner became pregnant. They went first to Ecuador then Peru, but left to escape crime, joining thousands of Venezuelans who migrated on foot through the jungle of Panamas Darin Gap.Since the couple and their son arrived in the U.S., Rojas has obtained political asylum, a work permit and a drivers license. In an interview this week at a Venezuelan restaurant on a New York City street lined with immigrant-run businesses, Rojas welcomed the toppling of Maduro so there can be change in Venezuela, because many people are struggling.But he expressed doubt about the Trump administrations tightened policies on Venezuelans in the U.S. that have already pushed a number of his friends to leave for countries in South America and elsewhere.For Venezuelans in the U.S., Trump has done good things and hes done bad things, said Rojas as he and his wife tucked into the restaurants $30 special: a heaping platter of fried potatoes, cassava, corn cakes, sausages, beef, chicken, plantains, fried pork rinds and cheese. It all depends on your point of view. New lives in the USAbout 8 million Venezuelans have fled the country over the past decade, with the great majority landing elsewhere in Latin America. Hundreds of thousands have made their way to the U.S., with large numbers settling in suburban communities like Kissimmee, Florida, outside Orlando, and Herriman, Utah, outside Salt Lake City.Venezuelans quickly became among the largest nationalities to immigrate to the U.S. after COVID-19, lured in part by job prospects. The Biden administration offered new or expanded temporary legal protections, largely ended by Trump after he took office. Hundreds of thousands more were released in the United States after entering illegally from Mexico to pursue asylum or other forms of relief in immigration court.For people like Jesus Martinez, who fled to the U.S. in 2021 after facing physical threats and persecution, life in Venezuela is behind us.Martinez, who now lives with his wife and children in Orem, Utah, and has applied for political asylum, recalled how life in Venezuela had become intolerable. While it is a relief that Maduro has been removed, he said, the Trump administrations push to send Venezuelans back to a country whose government they still deeply distrust presents a paradox.Its obviously a contradictory situation, said Martinez, 50. He noted that it will take considerable time before loyalists to Maduro are rooted out and Venezuela can make a transition to a stable democracy. Reservations about going backSalima, 48, who works in the Miami advocacy office, was active in opposition politics in Venezuela, where she trained as a lawyer and marched in peaceful protests. She came to the U.S. legally with her son, who is now 10 years old, on a temporary permit for humanitarian reasons, which Trump has revoked. She is elated by Maduros ouster.But those feelings are tempered by her unease over Venezuelas future while his allies are still in power. Her mother remains in Venezuela and, even with Maduro gone, she refuses to discuss politics during chats on an encrypted app, fearful that government authorities who remain in power will find out, Salima said.With that reality still in place, the pending end of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans makes her feel very unstable, Salima said.Asking for a choiceRallying with other Venezuelans this week in Doral, Florida, to celebrate Maduros ouster, Jorge Galicia recounted fleeing in 2018 after a fellow student activist was arrested during a wave of demonstrations against the regime.After settling in the Miami area, Galicia said he joined Charlie Kirks conservative Turning Point USA movement, whose politics closely align with Trumps. But Galicia, 30, said his support for the Trump administration began to waver as the White Houses crackdown on immigrants intensified, breaking up families.Now, with Maduro gone, he expects many of the Venezuelans who fled to neighboring countries and the U.S. to start returning home. But he hopes Trump will reconsider his decision to deport Venezuelans like himself who have built new lives in the U.S. but still lack permanent status.The reason were here is because there was a horrible regime that forced millions of us to leave, said Galicia, wrapped in a Venezuelan flag. But, he said, everyone deserves to have the choice of returning home.- Associated Press writers Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas; Josh Goodman in Doral, Florida; Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed to this report. MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN Weissenstein edits stories for The Associated Press Top Stories Hub and has reported and edited from the United States, Europe and Latin America, with short stints in the Middle East. mailto ADAM GELLER Geller is an Associated Press national writer based in New York. He is part of a team focused on in-depth enterprise reporting. mailto

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)2026-01-12T06:38:37Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to foreign diplomats in Tehran, insisted the situation has come under total control in fiery remarks that blamed Israel and the U.S. for the violence, without offering evidence. Thats why the demonstrations turned violent and bloody to give an excuse to the American president to intervene, Araghchi said, in comments carried by the Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network. Al Jazeera has been allowed to report from inside the country live despite the internet being shut off. Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted Death to America! and Death to Israel! Trump acknowledges proposal for talksTrump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.The military is looking at it, and were looking at some very strong options, Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Irans threats of retaliation, he said: If they do that, we will hit them at levels that theyve never been hit before.Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.I think theyre tired of being beat up by the United States, Trump said. Iran wants to negotiate.He added: The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of whats happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.Iran through countrys parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be legitimate targets if America uses force to protect demonstrators. More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces. With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Irans government has not offered overall casualty figures.Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Irans security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the countrys capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.Fear pervades Irans capitalIn Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted. Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers. Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations. Dear parents, in view of the enemys plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country, the text warned. The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the countrys economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Irans theocracy.___Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One. JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto

Bystanders film a federal immigration officer in their car Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)2026-01-12T05:02:20Z Five years ago, video images from a Minneapolis street showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd as his life slipped away ignited a social movement.Now, videos from another Minneapolis street showing the last moments of Renee Goods life are central to another debate about law enforcement in America. Theyve slipped out day by day since ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot Good last Wednesday in her maroon SUV. Yet compared to 2020, the story these pictures tell is murkier, subject to manipulation both within the image itself and the way it is interpreted.This time, too, the Trump administration and its supporters went to work establishing their own public view of the event before the inevitable imagery appeared. But half a decade later, so many things are not the same from cultural attitudes to rapidly evolving technology around all kinds of imagery. We are in a different time, said Francesca Dillman Carpentier, a University of North Carolina journalism professor and expert on the medias impact on audiences. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Imagery can change attitudesNo one who saw the searing video of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin with his knee on Floyds neck for more than nine minutes on May 25, 2020, is likely to forget it and Chauvins impassive face Floyd insisted he couldnt breathe. United in revulsion, demonstrators began one of the nations largest-ever social movements. Chauvin was convicted of murder.The footage caused many individuals to experience an epiphany about racism, specifically cultural racism, in the United States, legal scholar Angela Onwuachi-Willig wrote in a Houston Law Review study that examined whether white Americans experienced a collective cultural trauma.She eventually concluded that didnt happen and that the impact diminished with time. The rollback of diversity programs with the second Trump administration offers evidence for her argument. The people who are writing the cultural narrative of the Good shooting took notes from the Floyd killing and are managing this narrative differently, said Kelly McBride, an expert on media ethics for the Poynter Institute. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem labeled Good, who was demonstrating in opposition to ICE enforcement of immigration laws, a domestic terrorist an interpretation that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey dismissed with an expletive. Both President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance suggested the shooting was justified because Good was trying to run Ross down with her vehicle.On the night of the killing, White House border czar Tom Homan was cautious in an interview with the CBS Evening News when anchor Tony Dokoupil showed him the most widely distributed video of the incident, taken by a bystander and posted by a reporter for the Minnesota Reformer. The veteran law enforcement official said it would be unprofessional for him to prejudge before an investigation.Later that evening, Homan issued a statement calling the shooting another example of the results of the hateful rhetoric and violent attacks against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol officers. Video allows both sides to interpretVideo of the incident has been generally inconclusive about whether Goods vehicle actually hit Ross before he opened fire. Even if she did, many experts question whether that represented grounds for firing his weapon. Clearly, however, that would bolster public sympathy for the officer.These ICE videos do present irrefutable facts a woman drove her car and then she was shot dead by an ICE agent, said Duy Linh Tu, a documentarian and professor at the Columbia University journalism school. What the videos cant show is the intent of the woman or the officer. And thats the tricky part.Good, obviously, cant speak to what motivated her to put her SUV in drive and move on Portland Avenue South.Several news organizations have carefully examined the forensic evidence that has emerged. The Associated Press wrote that it was unclear if Goods car made contact with Ross. The Washington Post wrote that videos examined by The Post, including one shared on Truth Social by Trump, do not clearly show whether the agent is struck or how close the front of the vehicle comes to striking him. The New York Times said that in one video, it looks like the agent is being struck by the SUV. But when we synchronize it with the first clip, we can see the agent is not being run over.Video that emerged Friday from the Minnesota site Alpha News showed the incident from Ross perspective. It, too, left many questions and no shortage of people willing to answer them.Vance linked to the video online and wrote: Many of you have been told this law enforcement officer wasnt hit by a car, wasnt being harassed and murdered an innocent woman. The reality is that his life was endangered and he fired in self-defense.Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer wrote online that how could anyone on the planet watch this video and conclude what JD Vance says? Schumer said the administration is lying to you. Do more angles provide more clarity?When one online commentator wrote that Good did not deserve to be shot in the face, conservative media figure Megyn Kelly responded, Yes, she did. She hit and almost ran over a cop.Poynters McBride said the media has generally done a good and careful job outlining the evidence that is circulating around in the public. But the administration has also been effective in spreading its interpretation, she said.There are more camera angles available now than there was with Floyd, but I dont know if that adds clarity or more fog to this case, Tu said. I think that people will see what they want to see. Or, rather, theyll pick the angle that aligns with what they already believe.That nagging sense of uncertainty left by the videos leaves experts like Tu and Carpentier to conclude they will pale in impact compared to the Floyd case. With each passing year, the public is becoming more desensitized to images of violence as the online spread of footage showing Republican activist Charlie Kirk illustrated, she said.The spread of AI-enhanced fake images is also teaching the public to question what it sees, she said. Before Ross was identified, BBC Verify said false images were being spread online speculating about what the masked agent looked like, and fake video of a Minneapolis demonstration spread.Now you cant believe what youre seeing, Carpentier said. You dont know if what youre seeing is the real video or if it has been doctored. I dont think AI is being a friend in this case at all.___David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social. DAVID BAUDER Bauder is the APs national media writer, covering the intersection of news, politics and entertainment. He is based in New York. twitter mailto

Workers install lighting on an "X" sign atop the company headquarters, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco, July 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)2026-01-12T05:22:34Z KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musks xAI, after authorities said it was being misused to generate sexually explicit and non-consensual images.The moves reflect growing global concern over generative AI tools that can produce realistic images, sound and text, while existing safeguards fail to prevent their abuse. The Grok chatbot, which is accessed through Musks social media platform X, has been criticized for generating manipulated images, including depictions of women in bikinis or sexually explicit poses, as well as images involving children.Regulators in the two Southeast Asian nations said existing controls were not preventing the creation and spread of fake pornographic content, particularly involving women and minors. Indonesias government temporarily blocked access to Grok on Saturday, followed by Malaysia on Sunday. The government sees non-consensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity and the safety of citizens in the digital space, Indonesias Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said in a statement Saturday. The ministry said the measure was intended to protect women, children and the broader community from fake pornographic content generated using AI. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Initial findings showed that Grok lacks effective safeguards to stop users from creating and distributing pornographic content based on real photos of Indonesian residents, Alexander Sabar, director general of digital space supervision, said in a separate statement. He said such practices risk violating privacy and image rights when photos are manipulated or shared without consent, causing psychological, social and reputational harm. In Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission ordered a temporary restriction on Grok on Sunday after what it said was repeated misuse of the tool to generate obscene, sexually explicit and non-consensual manipulated images, including content involving women and minors. The regulator said notices issued this month to X Corp. and xAI demanding stronger safeguards drew responses that relied mainly on user reporting mechanisms. The restriction is imposed as a preventive and proportionate measure while legal and regulatory processes are ongoing, it said, adding that access will remain blocked until effective safeguards are put in place.Launched in 2023, Grok is free to use on X. Users can ask it questions on the social media platform and tag posts theyve directly created or replies to posts from other users. Last summer the company added an image generator feature, Grok Imagine, that included a so-called spicy mode that can generate adult content. The Southeast Asian restrictions come amid mounting scrutiny of Grok elsewhere, including in the European Union, Britain, India and France. Grok last week limited image generation and editing to paying users following a global backlash over sexualized deepfakes of people, but critics say it did not fully address the problem.

The federal government allows livestock grazing across an area of publicly owned land more than twice the size of California, making ranching the largest land use in the West. Billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies support the system, which often harms the environment.As President Donald Trumps administration pushes a pro-ranching agenda, ProPublica and High Country News investigated how public lands ranching has evolved. We filed more than 100 public record requests and sued the Bureau of Land Management to pry free documents and data; we interviewed everyone from ranchers to conservationists; and we toured ranching operations in Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Nevada.The resulting three-part investigation digs into the subsidies baked into ranching, the environmental impacts from livestock and the political clout that protects this status quo. Here are the takeaways from that work.The system has evolved into a subsidy program for ranchers.The public lands grazing system was modernized in the 1930s in response to the rampant use of natural resources that led to the Dust Bowl the massive dust storms triggered by poor agricultural practices, including overgrazing. Today, the system focuses on subsidizing the continued grazing of these lands.The BLM and Forest Service, the two largest federal land management agencies, oversee most of the system. Combined, the agencies charged ranchers $21 million in grazing fees in 2024. Our analysis found that to be about a 93% discount, on average, compared with the market rate for forage on private land. We also found that, in 2024 alone, the federal government poured at least $2.5 billion into subsidy programs that public lands ranchers can access. Such subsidies include disaster assistance after droughts and floods as well as compensation for livestock lost to predators.Ranching is consolidated in the hands of some of the wealthiest Americans.A small number of wealthy individuals and corporations manage most livestock on public lands. Roughly two-thirds of the grazing on BLM acreage is controlled by just 10% of ranchers, our analysis found. And on Forest Service land, the top 10% of permittees control more than 50% of grazing. Among the largest ranchers are billionaires like Stan Kroenke and Rupert Murdoch, as well as mining companies and public utilities. The financial benefits of holding permits to graze herds on public lands extend beyond cattle sales. Even hobby ranches can qualify for property tax breaks in many areas; ranching business expenses can be deducted from federal taxes; and private property associated with grazing permits is a stable long-term investment. (Representatives of Kroenke did not respond to requests for comment, and Murdochs representative declined to comment.)The Trump administration is supercharging the system, including by further increasing subsidies.The administration released a plan to fortify the American Beef Industry in October that instructed the BLM and Forest Service to amend grazing regulations for the first time since the 1990s. The plan suggested that taxpayers further support ranching by increasing subsidies for drought and wildfire relief, livestock killed by predators and government-backed insurance. The White House referred questions to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which said in a statement, Livestock grazing is not only a federally and statutorily recognized appropriate land use, but a proven land management tool, one that reduces invasive species and wildfire risk, enhances ecosystem health, and supports rural stewardship. Roughly 18,000 permittees graze livestock on BLM or Forest Service land, most of them small operations. These ranchers say they need government support and cheaper grazing fees to avoid insolvency.The administration is loosening already lax oversight.Ranchers must renew their permits to use public lands every 10 years, including undergoing an environmental review. But Congress passed a law in 2014 that allows permits to be automatically renewed if federal agencies are unable to complete such reviews. In 2013, the BLM approved grazing on 47% of its land open to livestock without an environmental review, our analysis of agency data showed. (The status of about an additional 10% of BLM land was unclear that year.) A decade later, the BLM authorized grazing on roughly 75% of its acreage without review.This is in large part because the BLMs rangeland management staff is shrinking. The number of these employees dropped 39% between 2020 and 2024, according to Office of Personnel Management data, and roughly 1 in 10 rangeland staff left the agency between Trumps election win and last June, according to BLM records.The system allows widespread environmental harm in the West.The BLM oversees 155 million acres of public lands open to grazing, and assessments it conducts on the health of the environment found that grazing had degraded at least 38 million acres, an area about half the size of New Mexico. The agency has no record of land health assessments for an additional 35 million acres. ProPublica and High Country News observed overgrazing in multiple states, including streambeds trampled by cattle, grasslands denuded by grazing and creeks fouled by cow corpses.Ranchers contend that public lands grazing has ecological benefits, such as preventing nearby private lands from being sold off and paved over. Bill Fales and his family, for example, run cattle in western Colorado and have done so for more than a century. The wildlife here is dependent on these ranches staying as open ranch land, he said. While development destroyed habitat nearby, Fales said, the areas his cattle graze are increasingly shared by animals such as elk, bears and mountain lions.Regulators say that its difficult to significantly change the system because of the industrys political influence.We interviewed 10 current and former BLM employees, from upper management to rank-and-file rangeland managers, and they all spoke of political pressure to go easy on ranchers. If we do anything anti-grazing, theres at least a decent chance of politicians being involved, one BLM employee told us. We want to avoid that, so we dont do anything that would bring that about. A BLM spokesperson said in a statement that any policy decisions are made in accordance with federal law and are designed to balance economic opportunity with conservation responsibilities across the nations public lands.The industry has friends in high places. The Trump administration appointed to a high-level post at the U.S. Department of the Interior a lawyer who has represented ranchers in cases against the government and owns a stake in a Wyoming cattle operation. The administration also named a tech entrepreneur who owns a ranch in Idaho to a post overseeing the Forest Service.Moreover, politicians from both parties are quick to act if they believe ranchers face onerous oversight. Since 2020, members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have written to the BLM and Forest Service about grazing issues more than 20 times, according to logs of agency communications we obtained via public records requests.Read our full investigation of the federal public lands grazing system.The post The Biggest Takeaways From Our Investigation Into Grazing on Public Lands appeared first on ProPublica.

Thomas Massie says his primary against a Trump-supported challenger will be a referendum on whether you can have a thought that diverges from the presidents.

Marie Gluesenkamp Perez thinks too many members of her party miss whats really driving the alienation and anger in our society.

Nature, Published online: 12 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00085-yDo your New Year resolutions include a plan to leave higher education? These researchers explain how to reinvent your career.

Nature, Published online: 12 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-04081-6Ocean temperatures well below freezing in Earths deep-past glacial phases imply some very salty waters.

The comments came after President Trump said he was looking at some very strong options to curb Irans harsh repression of antigovernment protests.

Plus, Russias push to indoctrinate Ukrainian kids.

Nikki Glaser returned as host and killed, while Teyana Taylor delivered the speech of the night. Then there were those awful production choices.

The Venezuelan regime had high-powered air defense systems from its allies in the Kremlin, but failed to set much of it up.

The presidents embrace of fossil fuels and withdrawal from the global fight against climate change will make it hard to keep warming at safe levels, scientists said.

Nature, Published online: 12 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00084-zUniversities, governments, academics, health-care providers and students must work together to ensure timely access to suitable mental-health support.

Nature, Published online: 12 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-04041-0Benchmarks reveal how artificial-intelligence systems reinforce discriminatory social hierarchies.

Nature, Published online: 09 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00115-9A Chinese reactor has jumped a hurdle thats held nuclear fusion back for decades. Plus, astronauts are being evacuated from the International Space Station and AI chatbots in therapy make claims of abuse.

Workers are demanding more robust staffing levels and higher pay. The strike comes three years after a smaller job action won significant gains.

Amid an ICE crackdown in her area, an Oregon National Guard recruiter offers U.S. citizens a way to save their immigrant parents.

As the race to gerrymander House districts narrows to a few states, Democrats are trying to go on offense. But a Supreme Court ruling could give Republicans a major edge.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear a case that could affect laws in 27 states that bar transgender athletes from joining girls and womens sports teams.

Under Trump, the F.C.C. has used obscure regulatory powers to crack down on network TV. Some conservatives are pushing back.

Nature, Published online: 12 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00083-0Twenty-five years after its launch, the online encyclopedia now competes with chatbots but its creator still has faith in humans when it comes to sourcing facts.

Since an interim government began the releases last week, at least 41 people have been let go, according to Foro Penal.

The former congresswoman is the latest top-tier recruit for Democrats, who face a difficult Senate map this year as they try to retake control of the chamber.

In the second part of a monthlong series, Pete Wells and experts say the easiest way to a better diet is to surround yourself with the right foods.

An effort by New Jersey Democrats is seen as a provocative statement of principle in a state with the countrys second largest percentage of immigrants, after California.

In his first week on the job, Kamar H. Samuels started to sketch out his priorities for leading Americas largest school system.

Nature, Published online: 12 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00087-wMexican food scientist Raquel Gmez-Pliego works to improve the nutritional value of foods through microbial fermentation.

A British regulator said it had started a formal investigation into Mr. Musks chatbot over the spread of illegal images.

The European Commission allowed carmakers to volunteer limits on their imports from China instead of paying tariffs, an arrangement that could help Volkswagen.

Sheer gowns, slouchy tuxedos, chunky-soled boots and more.

Since 2013, Mississippi has skyrocketed on national tests, while blue states lag. What is it doing right?

The post In Tents Situation appeared first on The Onion.

This charming property offers the perfect blend of comfort and convenience, which is exactly why its going to be purchased by the worlds largest asset manager. Good luck! Maybe theyll rent it to you.Reference #68370The post Youre Bidding Against BlackRock appeared first on The Onion.

MILL VALLEY, CAHaving proudly removed the piece of shriveled penile flesh from its bag and laid it next to her large selection of craft supplies, local mother Emily Taylor spent the afternoon scrapbooking her sons foreskin, wincing sources reported Tuesday.According to witnesses, the foreskin, which had belonged to her 6-day-old infant son before being snipped off the tip of his penis with surgical scissors, was saved, preserved, and then attached by Taylor to an ornately decorated page titled Special Memories. Despite multiple sources confirming that Taylors baby in no way enjoyed the procedure, and in fact sobbed and cried through the entire circumcision, his mother was reportedly undeterred and proceeded to cover the memento in heart stickers, glitter, and smiley faces before excitedly telling her husband that their son would love this one day.At press time, Taylor was said to be celebrating the foreskins placement in her babys scrapbook with a large bite of raw placenta she had been saving in the fridge.The post Foreskin Scrapbooked appeared first on The Onion.

WASHINGTONCalling the discovery the clearest proof yet of how the U.S. government was originally designed to function, archaeologists published new evidence Thursday that suggests the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., may have once been used for legislating.In their academic paper, the researchers wrote that the sprawling, 540-room marble complex contained conclusive proof that a distinct political entity known as the legislative branch once existed specifically to serve the American people. The site, located on Capitol Hill, was reportedly used for centuries as a place to pass laws, uphold the U.S. Constitution, and represent the interests of voters.Thanks to our latest findings, we now know that early citizens of the United States had a more nuanced system of government than previously thought, said Professor Lee Somers, director of the site excavation, who added that the 1.5-million-square-foot building was used for over 200 years as a hub of American democracy until the experiment was ultimately abandoned. While we previously believed the legislative branch was largely a symbolic office, artifacts within the rotunda, basement, and chambers show that it was at one point a legitimate part of the government that decided how federal money was spent, when tariffs should be imposed, how toregulate commerce, and when to declare war.Walking through the empty halls, you can almost feel the spirits of elected officials who were willing to fight for millions of everyday Americans, Somers added. But that was many years ago.Using a combination of lidar, traditional excavation techniques, and ancient maps of Washington, D.C., as a guide, the archaeologists confirmed they were able to enter the Statuary Hall, pass through several empty offices, and explore the House and Senate floors where men and women once enacted meaningful legislation to defend constitutional rights such as the freedoms of speech, religion, and assembly.Once inside, the researchers said, they were able to identify dozens of historically significant artifacts, including bills, lecterns, and gavels dating back to the first-ever Congress.The team described a moment of elation when they found a perfectly preserved shred of paper that read all legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which they said was a critical piece of evidence linking the legislative branch to the U.S. Constitution.For so long, we thought this kind of government structure only existed abroad, said Somers, adding that archaeologists were stunned to find that the legislative branch was once part of a sophisticated system of check and balances. Wed expect to find something like it in Athens or Rome. But we were shocked to learn that elected officials once stood within these halls to champion the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, as well as the Thirteenth Amendment, and it all happened right in our backyard.Yes, it was primitive, but it was still a democracy, Somers continued. Until, of course, it wasnt.The archaeologists confirmed plans to work with an architectural firm and local residents to preserve the excavation site and convert it into an exhibition about the last vestiges of democracy in the United States. Ive lived here my whole life, and I had no idea what this building was, D.C. resident Tonya Schmidt said. I always thought it was a bank or something. I cant wait to go inside and see what an effective form of representation actually looked like.Im so excited archaeologists came here, she added. Who knows what lost branches of government well discover next.The post Archaeologists: D.C. Capitol May Have Once Been Used For Legislating appeared first on The Onion.

ITHACA, NYRevealing the bird species has the capacity to detect botox, fillers, and even laser hair removal, a study published Thursday in the Journal Of Avian Biology found that crows are able to recognize faces that have had work done.Its clear from observational data that crows have a keen ability to not only detect, but remember faces that have gone under the knife, said study co-author Susannah Yarkin of the Cornell Ornithology Lab, explaining that even the most minute differences in the fullness of lips or prominence of wrinkles are perceptible to a crow because the region of its brain associated with cattiness is so highly developed. These birds are far more social than you might expect and appear to inform other crows which humans have gotten a chin augmentation or a brow lift so members of their flock will know who didnt feel comfortable with their natural features. It doesnt matter how good a new nose is, the exceptional visual range of crows allows them to spot a rhinoplasty from 500 meters overhead.Yarkin added that there are documented instances of crows bonding with cosmetic surgery recipients by gifting them syringes full of Juvderm.The post Study Finds Crows Able To Recognize Faces Had Work Done appeared first on The Onion.

Now, every time I open the cabinet doors, I feel genuine relief. READ MORE...

The changes are immediate and impactful.READ MORE...

Todays incognito window, a pseudo friend to perverts and ad-evaders alike, is nearly useless. It doesnt protect against malware and your data is still tracked. Its main purpose is, ostensibly, to prevent browsing history from being saved locally on your computer.But the concept of privatizing your browsing history feels old-fashioned, vestigial from a time when computers were such a production that they had their own room in the house. Back then, the wholesome desktop computer was shared between every person of clicking-age in a household. It had to be navigated with some amount of hygiene, lest the other members learn about your affinity for Jerk Off Instruction.Even before desktop computers, pornography was unavoidably communal whether or not you were into that kind of thing. Part of the difficulty in getting ahold of porn was the embarrassment of having to interact with others along the way; whether it was the movie store clerk showing you the back of the store or the gas station cashier reaching for a dirty magazine, it was nearly impossible to access explicit material without interacting with someone else, somewhere along the line. Porn theaters were hotbeds for queer cruising, with (usually men) gathering to watch porn, jerk off and engage in mostly-anonymous sexual encounters. Even a lack of interaction was communal, like the old tradition of leaving Playboys or Hustlers in the woods for other curious porn aficionados to find.With the internet came access, yes, but also privacy. Suddenly, credit card processing put beaded curtain security guards out of business, and forums had more centrefolds than every issue of Playboy combined. Porn theaters shut downpartially due to stricter zoning ordinances and 80s sex-panic pressure from their neighbors, but also because the rise of streaming pay-per-view and the internet meant people had more options to stay in the comfort of their homes with access to virtually whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted it.Today, with computers in our pockets and slung against our shoulders, even browsing history has become private by circumstance. Computers are now personal devices, rather than communal machineswhat we do with them is our business. We have no corporate privacy, of course; our data is being harvested at record volumes. Instead, in exchange for shipping off all our most sensitive information, we have tremendous, historically unheard-of interpersonal privacy. At least, Gen Z are likely the last generation to have embarrassing my parents looked at my browsing history anecdotes. Weve left that information to be seen and sorted by Palantir interns.Most recently in technologys ongoing love-hate affair with porn, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced he was going to allow ChatGPT to generate erotica, joining hundreds of AI-powered porn platforms offering highly tailored generated content at the push of a button.Now, from the users perspective, there are no humans at any point in this interaction. The consumer is in their room, requesting a machine, and the machine spits out a product. You are entirely alone at every step of this process.As a porn historian, I think alarm bells should be going off here. Sexual dysfunction thrives in shame, and shame thrives in seclusion. Often, people who talk to me about their issues with sex and pornography worry that what they want isnt normal. One thing that pornography teaches is that there is no normalchances are, if you like something, someone else does, too. Finding pornography of something youre into is proof that you are not alone in your desires, that someone else liked it enough to make it, and others liked it enough to buy it. You arent a freakor maybe you are, but at least youre in good company.Groks AI Sexual Abuse Didnt Come Out of NowhereWith xAIs Grok generating endless semi-nude images of women and girls without their consent, it follows a years-long legacy of rampant abuse on the platform.404 MediaSamantha ColeOther people can also provide a useful temperature check- Im all for nonnormative sexuality and fantasy, but its good to get a tone read every once in a while on where the hungry animal has taken you. Strange things happen in isolation, and the dehumanization of sexual imagery by literally removing the human allows people to disconnect personhood from desire, a practice it serves us well to avoid. Compartmentalization of inner sexuality so far as to have it be completely disconnected from what another person can offer you (or what you can offer another person) can lead to sexual frustration at best and genuine harm at worst. This isnt hypothetical; We know that chatbots have the power to lure vulnerable people, especially the elderly and young, away from reality and into situations where theyre hurt or taken advantage of in real life. And while real, human sex workers endure decades of censorship and marginalization online from industry giants that make it harder and harder to earn a living online, the AI chatbot platforms of the world push ahead, even exposing minors to explicit content or creating child sexual abuse imagery with seemingly zero consequence.I dont think anyone needs to project their porn use on the side of their house. Sexual boundaries exist for a reason, and everyone is entitled to their own internal world. But I do think in a period of increasing sexual shame, open communication is a valuable tool. Sex is human, sex is animal, sex is social. Even in periods of celibacy or self-pleasure, sexual desire connects us, person-to-personeven if in practice you happen to be connecting with your right hand.Noelle is a writer, producer, and Internet porn historian whose works has been published in Wired, The Washington Post, Slate, and more. You can find her on Substack here.

Nature, Published online: 12 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00068-zAn open letter organized by US-based researchers working in Greenland opposes any takeover of the territory.

The presidents embrace of fossil fuels and withdrawal from the global fight against climate change will make it hard to keep warming at safe levels, scientists said.

Its so cute, and so effective.READ MORE...