Cooperation among law enforcement agencies is critical to many investigations, experts say. After a series of shootings by immigration agents, the relationship is showing cracks.

After the White House called for billions of dollars in funding reductions, senators and representatives are rescinding the proposed cuts and even boosting funds for basic research.

A tough issue for stabilization in our politics and public institutions.

It started in a laboratory. No one could have predicted where it would end.

The dream of cohabitating with a group of friends is an attractive fantasy, but we can benefit from its lessons, regardless of our living situation.

European officials were stunned that President Trump restated his desire for Greenland after a yearlong effort to dissuade him, according to diplomats and others.

She was the familys first baby in 16 years. And she came into their world as the Altadena fire changed everything. They struggled for months to find housing, stability and peace.

A residential building is damaged after a Russian air strike during a heavy snow storm in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)2026-01-10T12:10:55Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) A Ukrainian drone strike sparked a fire at an oil depot in Russias southern Volgograd region, regional authorities said on Saturday.There were no immediate reports of casualties, regional Gov. Andrei Bocharov was quoted as saying in a Telegram post published on the channel of the local administration. The post did not specify the damage, but said that people living near the depot may have to be evacuated.Ukraines long-range drone strikes on Russian energy sites aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple the Ukrainian power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Kyiv officials say is an attempt to weaponize winter.Saturdays attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, according to Ukrainian officials, killing at least four people in the capital. For only the second time in the nearly 4-year-old war, it used a powerful, new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine on Friday in a clear warning to Kyivs NATO allies. The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further Moscow aggression if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck. Russias Defense Ministry said Saturday that its forces used aviation, drones, missiles and artillery to strike Ukrainian energy facilities and fuel-storage depots on Friday and overnight. It did not immediately specify the targets or damage.Overnight into Saturday, Russia struck Ukraine with 121 drones and one Iskander-M ballistic missile, according to the Ukrainian air force. It said 94 drones were shot down.___Follow the APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)2026-01-10T05:25:35Z HAVANA (AP) As U.S. seizures of Venezuela-linked oil tankers surge, concerns grow in Cuba about whether the islands government and economy will survive.Experts warn that a sudden halt in Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba could lead to widespread social unrest and mass migration following the stunning U.S. military raid that resulted in the capture of former President Nicols Maduro.Id be lying if I told you that I dont want to leave the country, said 16-year-old Cuban student Amanda Gmez. Were all thinking about leaving, from the youngest to the oldest.Long before the Jan. 3 attack, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the islands worst economic crisis in decades.The lack of Venezuelan oil could push Cuba over the brink, experts say.This will take an already dire situation to new extremes, said Michael Galant, senior research and outreach associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. This is what a collapsing economy looks like. Galant said he believes thats the goal of the Trump administration: to cause such an indiscriminate suffering in the civilian population as to instigate some sort of uprising, regime change. This sort of besiegement of Cuba is very intentional. Will it work from their perspective? I think that the Cuban people have experienced suffering for a very long time, and the Cuban government is very well versed in how to handle these situations, Galant said. I think its very difficult to predict what will and will not spark actual regime instability. From the perspective of (U.S. Secretary of State Marco ) Rubio, its a sort of wait them out. Theres always a breaking point. Someone is going to have to take the big pillFrom 2020 to 2024, Cuba saw its population drop by 1.4 million, which experts largely attribute to migration spurred by the worsening crisis.Juan Carlos Albizu-Campos, a Cuban economist and demographics expert, noted that while Cubans with means have already left, migration will continue.Fuel is a factor that affects everything, he said. People are going to feel that they are in worse conditions, and people who hadnt considered leaving will feel the need to do so.At the Spanish embassy in Havana on Friday, Ernesto Macas, a 53-year-old doctor, stood in line behind dozens of people to request a family member visa for his daughter, having already obtained his Spanish citizenship.I wouldnt want Cuba to be invaded or anything like that. I hope it doesnt happen, but Im sure people will continue to emigrate because there is no other way, he said.Cubas gross domestic product has fallen 15% in the last six years, and President Miguel Daz-Canel noted in December that there was a 4% decrease in 2025 alone.Although the Cuban economy never fully recovered after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, it experienced relative prosperity between 2000 and 2019, fueled by a boom in tourism and exports of services, nickel, rum and tobacco. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and coupled with a radical increase in U.S. sanctions under Trumps second administration to pressure for political change stifling every imaginable sector Cubas crisis erupted with force.Through it all, Cuba remained dependent on Venezuela for oil, receiving an estimated 35,000 barrels a day from the South American country before the U.S. attacked, along with some 5,500 barrels daily from Mexico and roughly 7,500 from Russia, according to Jorge Pin, of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, who tracks shipments using oil tracking services and satellite technology.Even with all those shipments, blackouts persisted, experts noted.An indefinite shutdown of the electrical system, which is no longer so impossible to imagine, can be envisioned under a total suspension of oil shipments from Venezuela, which seems to be the current strategy of the American government, said Jorge Duany, with the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University. It would lead us to imagine the possibility of mass protests, he said.Andy S. Gmez, retired dean of the School of International Studies and senior fellow in Cuban Studies at University of Miami, said that even if protests do occur, he doesnt envision the downfall of Cuba while Ral Castro is still alive and running the military.Are they concerned? You bet, Gmez said. Theyre not well armed; their equipment is outdated.But Gmez noted that civilians arent armed, and that its unlikely one of the three factions of Cubas army would break with the ruling elite.At the end of the day, someone is going to have to take the big pill, and its either going to be Daz-Canel or (Prime Minister) Manuel Marrero Cruz for not being able to solve the problems, Gmez said. Food, electricity and a homeOn Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker as part of a wider push by Trumps administration to control the distribution of Venezuelas oil products globally.Its not clear if any of the seized tankers were bound for Cuba, but experts believe any obstruction in the supply line would be a shock given the fragility of the islands economy.As the uncertainty continues, Gmez said Cuba only has one card to play with the U.S.: mass migration.I dont think that Cubans are going to provoke the United States at this time, he said, adding that Cuban authorities can absolutely control that.Cuban military forces are on high alert, he said.Gmez added that even if the worsening crisis does lead to unrest and the ouster of a top government official, that person would likely be replaced by a well-known figure.It would just be a continuation of the government, he said, adding that he doesnt believe it would bother a majority on the island. The Cuban people only care about one thing right now, unfortunately.they want to put food on the table, have electricity, have a place to live, have a job and then what do we do about the government.___Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Associated Press reporter Milexsy Durn in Havana contributed to this report.___Follow APs coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Incarcerated men use virtual reality headsets inside Valley State Prison in Chowchilla, Calif., Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)2026-01-10T08:05:03Z CHOWCHILLA, Calif. (AP) Jacob Smith has been in prison for two decades but he and other inmates are still taking regular trips to far-flung, exotic locales. No passport required, just a virtual reality headset. I went to Thailand, man! Smith recalled with a grin, describing the first time he strapped on a VR device and was transported to the lush landscapes and bustling markets of Southeast Asia. A Los Angeles-based nonprofit is bringing the technology to California prisons with the goal of providing inmates a brief escape and, more importantly, exposure to real world scenarios that will prepare them to reenter society. During a weeklong program last month, incarcerated men at Valley State Prison near Fresno sat on metal folding chairs in a common area. They shuffled in their seats as they were outfitted with the headsets that resemble opaque goggles. Their necks contorted slightly and smiles spread across their faces as the high-definition videos started and their journeys commenced. Some saw the sights on the other side of the globe, including Bangkok, while others experienced more practical scenes, such as job interviews. The men sit across virtual desks from virtual interviewers who are both easygoing and hard-nosed to give them the tools for finding employment once theyre released. For a lot of us, the workforce has changed and things are different with the application process, said Smith, who is eligible for parole in 2031 and now volunteers helping his fellow inmates navigate the VR experience. Its a nerve wracking experience going to sit in front of somebody and telling them why Im good for the job. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Afterward, volunteers help the inmates process the emotions or traumas that bubbled up during their experiences. Sabra Williams, founder of the nonprofit Creative Acts, calls the VR devices a hope machine. The program stems from a prison arts project that Williams ran that incorporated theater, music, poetry, dance and painting. Watching incarcerated people become engaged in artistic pursuits made her wonder about other ways to bring the outside world inside. She heard from people who had left prison lamenting that technology had passed them by. They felt confounded by simple things like pumping gas, checking out at a supermarket, or going to the ATM.And what I hear from them is that it made them feel like they didnt belong, and that they only belong in prison, she said.First Williams group dug for footage on YouTube to recreate everyday activities. Soon they were creating their own videos focusing on travel, constructive scenarios, civic engagement, conflict resolution, art, and even meditation to blow their minds and also educate their minds.Such technology could have an important role to play in rehabilitation and, especially, reintegration into society, said Nancy La Vigne, the dean of Rutgers-Newark School of Criminal Justice in New Jersey. She envisions people who havent been in the real world for a long time using VR to act out navigating the DMV or figuring out how to take a city bus. Another benefit could be a calming effect on stressed out inmates. La Vigne points to research published by the American Psychological Association that found that incarcerated people who viewed short nature videos showed reduced levels of aggression and were subject to fewer discipline reports.But with a hefty price tag and limited access, La Vigne worries about the practical realities, such as unintended consequences that stem from those who might be left out of the VR experience.You cant just hand them out or sell them at commissary, La Vigne said.A former inmate, Richard Richard, first used a VR headset about six years ago when the program was launched and since his release has become a volunteer for Creative Acts. He said hes impressed by how far the technology has advanced. He loves watching his fellow inmates use the devices for the first time and then progress as they deal with trauma and emotional issues.You may physically be here, but mentally, spiritually you can actually transcend this environment, he said. The group conducts the program, using 100 Oculus headsets donated by Meta, both in general population and in solitary confinement. Youth offenders are also eligible. It currently runs three times a year at four California prisons, and Williams hopes to expand it throughout the state and across the country.The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation didnt immediately respond this week to inquiries about plans to expand the program. But in announcing the introduction of VR at the California Mens Colony prison in San Luis Obispo County last August, the department said the usage has the potential to heal trauma, regulate emotional response, and prepare for a safe, successful reentry into society. The introductory two-minute trip to Thailand is often emotional for many inmates, some of whom had never been off their block, let alone out the country, Williams said.And so many times people would take off the headsets and theyd be crying, she said. Because theyd be like, I never knew the world was so beautiful.___ Weber reported from Los Angeles. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Lindsey Vonn won her second World Cup downhill in four races this season, raising expectations in this remarkable comeback at age 41 ahead of the Milan Cortina Olympics.

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President Trump met with oil and gas executives on Friday in an effort to push them to invest money in Venezuela, a plan many of them are reluctant to embrace.

FILE -Olive, 4, deposits an election ballot into a drop box in Seattle, Wash. under the supervision of her mother, on Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio, File)2026-01-10T01:40:57Z SEATTLE (AP) A federal judge on Friday blocked President Donald Trumps administration from enforcing most of his executive order on elections against the vote-by-mail states Washington and Oregon, in the latest blow to Trumps efforts to require documentary proof of citizenship to vote and to require that all ballots be received by Election Day.U.S. District Judge John H. Chun in Seattle found that those requirements exceeded the presidents authority, following similar rulings in a Massachusetts case brought by 19 states and in a Washington, D.C., case by Democratic and civil rights groups.Todays ruling is a huge victory for voters in Washington and Oregon, and for the rule of law, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said. The court enforced the long-standing constitutional rule that only States and Congress can regulate elections, not the Election Denier-in-Chief. The executive order, issued in March, included new requirements that people provide documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote and a demand that all mail ballots be received by Election Day. It also put states federal funding at risk if election officials didnt comply. Officials in Oregon and Washington, which accept ballots as long as they are postmarked by Election Day, said that could disenfranchise thousands of voters. During the 2024 general election, officials in Washington counted nearly 120,000 ballots that were received after election day but postmarked by it. Oregon officials received nearly 14,000 such ballots. The judge found that Trumps efforts violated the separation of powers. The Constitution grants Congress and the states the authority to regulate federal elections, he noted.Oregon and Washington said they sued separately from other states because, as exclusively vote-by-mail states, they faced particular harms from the executive order. Trump and other Republicans have promoted the idea that large numbers of people who were not U.S. citizens might be voting. However, voting by noncitizens is rare and, when they are caught, they can face felony charges and deportation.

This image provided by the National Gallery of Art shows a painted portrait of American founding-father Thomas Paine by John Wesley Jarvis. (National Gallery of Art via AP)(National Gallery of Art via AP)2026-01-10T13:02:42Z NEW YORK (AP) Some 250 years after Common Sense helped inspire the 13 colonies to declare independence, Thomas Paine might receive a long-anticipated tribute from his adopted country.A Paine memorial in Washington, D.C., authorized by a 2022 law, awaits approval from the U.S. Department of Interior. It would be the first landmark in the nations capital to be dedicated to one of the American Revolutions most stirring, popular and quotable advocates who also was one of the most intensely debated men of his time.He was a critical and singular voice, said U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a sponsor of the bill that backed the memorial. He said Paine has long been underrecognized and overlooked.Saturday marks the 250th anniversary of the publication of Paines Common Sense, among the first major milestones of a yearlong commemoration of the countrys founding and the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Paine supporters have waited decades for a memorial in the District of Columbia, and success is still not ensured: Federal memorials are initiated by Congress but usually built through private donations. In 1992, President George H.W. Bush signed bipartisan legislation for such a memorial, but the project was delayed, failed to attract adequate funding and was essentially forgotten by the mid-2000s. The fate of the current legislation depends not just on financial support, but on President Donald Trumps interior secretary, Doug Burgum. In September 2024, the memorial was recommended by the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission for placement on the National Mall. Burgum needs to endorse the plan, which would be sent back to Congress for final enactment. If approved, the memorial would have a 2030 deadline for completion.A spokesperson for the department declined comment when asked about the timing for a decision. We are staying optimistic because we feel that Thomas Paine is such an important figure in the founding of the United States of America, said Margaret Downey, president of the Thomas Paine Memorial Association, which has a mission to establish a memorial in Washington. A contentious legacyScholars note that well into the 20th century, federal honors for Paine would have been nearly impossible. While Paine first made his name through Common Sense, the latter part of his life was defined by another pamphlet, The Age of Reason.Published in installments starting in 1794, it was a fierce attack against organized religion. Paine believed in God and a divinely created universe but accepted no single faith. He scorned what he described as the Bibles paltry stories and said Christianity was too absurd for belief, too impossible to convince, and too inconsistent for practice.By the time of his death, in New York in 1809, he was estranged from friends and many of the surviving founders; only a handful of mourners attended his funeral. He has since been championed by everyone from labor leaders and communists to Thomas Edison, but presidents before Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s rarely quoted him. Theodore Roosevelt referred to him as a filthy little atheist. There are Paine landmarks around the country, including a monument and museum in New Rochelle, New York, and statue in Morristown, New Jersey. But other communities have resisted. In 1955, Mayor Walter H. Reynolds of Providence, Rhode Island, rejected a proposed Paine statue, saying he was and remains so controversial a character. Harvey J. Kaye, author of Thomas Paine and the Promise of America, cites the election of Ronald Reagan as president in 1980 as a surprising turning point. Reagans victory was widely seen as a triumph for the modern conservative movement, but Reagan alarmed some Republicans and pleased Paine admirers during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention when he quoted Paines famous call to action: We have it in our power to begin the world over again.Reagan helped make Paine palatable to both parties, Kaye said. When Congress approved a memorial in 1992, supporters ranged from a liberal giant, Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, to a right-wing hero, Republican Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina.Reagan opened the door, Kaye said. An immigrant who stoked the fire of revolution Paines story is very much American. He was a self-educated immigrant from Britain who departed for the colonies with little money but with hopes for a better life.He was born Thomas Pain in Thetford in 1737, some 90 miles outside of London (he added the e to his last name after arriving in America). Paine was on the move for much of his early life. He spent just a few years in school before leaving at age 13 to work as an apprentice for his father, a corset maker. He would change jobs often, from teaching at a private academy to working as a government excise officer to running a tobacco shop. By the time he sailed to the New World in 1774, he was struggling with debt, had been married twice and had failed or made himself unwelcome in virtually every profession he entered. But Paine also had absorbed enough of Londons intellectual life to form radical ideas about government and religion and to meet Benjamin Franklin, who provided him a letter of introduction that helped him find work in Philadelphia as a contributor to The Pennsylvania Magazine.The Revolutionary War began in April 1775 and pamphlets helped frame the arguments, much as social media posts do today. The Philadelphia-based statesman and physician Benjamin Rush was impressed enough with Paine to suggest that he put forth his own thoughts. Paine had wanted to call his pamphlet Plain Truth, but agreed to Rushs idea: Common Sense.Paines brief tract was credited to an Englishman and released on Jan. 10, 1776. Later expanded to 47 pages, it was a popular sensation. Historians differ over how many copies were sold, but Common Sense was widely shared, talked about and read aloud.Paines urgent, accessible prose was credited for helping to shift public opinion from simply opposing British aggression to calling for a full break. His vision was radical, even compared to some of his fellow revolutionaries. In taking on the British and King George III, he did not just attack the actions of an individual king, but the very idea of hereditary rule and monarchy. He denounced both as evil and exceedingly ridiculous.Of more worth is one honest man to society and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived, he stated.A message that continues to resonateHistorian Eric Foner would write that Paines appeal lasted through his impatience with the past, his critical stance toward existing institutions, his belief that men can shape their own destiny. But Common Sense was despised by British loyalists and challenged by some American leaders. John Adams would refer to Paine as a star of disaster, while Franklin worried about his rude way of writing. Meanwhile, George Washington valued Common Sense for its sound doctrine and unanswerable reasoning, and Thomas Jefferson, soon to be the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, befriended Paine and later invited him to the White House when he was president.Paines message continues to be invoked by those on both sides of the political divide. In his 2025 year-end report on the federal judiciary, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts began by citing the anniversary of Common Sense and praising Paine for shunning legalese as he articulated that governments purpose is to serve the people. Last year, passages from Common Sense appeared often during the nationwide No Kings rallies against Trumps policies.One demonstrators sign in Boston said, No King! No Tyranny! Its Common Sense. HILLEL ITALIE Italie has covered the publishing industry since 1998. He writes about notable books, industry trends and ongoing issues such as book bans, AI, consolidation and copyright. twitter instagram mailto

Vaccines are prepared for students during a pop-up immunization clinic at a school in Louisville, Ky., on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mary Conlon, File)2026-01-10T13:17:07Z Dr. Molly OShea has noticed growing skepticism about vaccines at both of her Michigan pediatric offices and says this weeks unprecedented and confusing changes to federal vaccine guidance will only make things worse.One of her offices is in a Democratic area, where more of the parents she sees are opting for alternative schedules that spread out shots. The other is in a Republican area, where some parents have stopped immunizing their children altogether.She and other doctors fear the new recommendations and the terminology around them will stoke vaccine hesitancy even more, pose challenges for pediatricians and parents that make it harder for kids to get shots, and ultimately lead to more illness and death.The biggest change was to stop blanket recommendations for protection against six diseases and recommend those vaccines only for at-risk children or through something called shared clinical decision-making with a health care provider. The phrase, experts say, is confusing and dangerous: It sends a message to a parent that actually theres only a rarefied group of people who really need the vaccine, OShea said. Its creating an environment that puts a sense of uncertainty about the value and necessity or importance of the vaccines in that category. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who helped lead the anti-vaccine movement for years, said in announcing the changes that they better align the U.S. with peer nations while strengthening transparency and informed consent. But doctors say they are sowing doubt the vaccines have been extensively studied and proven to be safe and effective at shielding kids from nasty diseases at a time when childhood vaccination rates are already falling and some of those infectious diseases are spreading.On Friday, the American Academy of Pediatrics and more than 200 medical, public health and patient advocacy groups sent a letter to Congress about the new childhood immunization schedule.We urge you to investigate why the schedule was changed, why credible scientific evidence was ignored, and why the committee charged with advising the HHS Secretary on immunizations did not discuss the schedule changes as a part of their public meeting process, they wrote. Many dont know what shared decision-making meansOShea said she and other pediatricians discuss vaccines with parents at every visit where they are given. But thats not necessarily shared clinical decision-making, which has a particular definition.On its website, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices says: Unlike routine, catch-up, and risk-based recommendations, shared clinical decision-making vaccinations are not recommended for everyone in a particular age group or everyone in an identifiable risk group. Rather, shared clinical decision-making recommendations are individually based and informed by a decision process between the health care provider and the patient or parent/guardian.In this context, health care providers include primary care physicians, specialists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and pharmacists. A pair of surveys conducted last year by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania suggested that many people dont fully understand the concept, which came up last year when the federal government changed recommendations around COVID-19 vaccinations.Only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults knew that one meaning behind shared decision-making is that taking the vaccine may not be a good idea for everyone but would benefit some. And only about one-third realized pharmacists count as health care providers to talk with during the process, even though they frequently administer vaccines.As of this week, vaccines that protect against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, RSV, flu and meningococcal disease are no longer universally recommended for kids. RSV, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningococcal vaccines are recommended for certain high-risk populations; flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningococcal vaccines are recommended through shared decision-making as is the COVID-19 vaccine, although that change was made last year. Shortly after the federal announcement Monday, Dr. Steven Abelowitz heard from half a dozen parents. Its causing concern for us, but more importantly, concern for parents with kids, especially young kids, and confusion, said Abelowitz, founder of Ocean Pediatrics in Orange County, California.Though federal recommendations are not mandates states have the authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren they can affect how easy it is for kids to get shots if doctors choose to follow them.Under the new guidelines, OShea said, parents seeking shots in the shared decision-making category might no longer bring their kids in for a quick, vaccine-only appointment with staff. Theyd sit down with a health care provider and discuss the vaccine. And it could be tougher to have a flu clinic, where parents drive up and kids get shots without seeing a doctor. Staying the course as challenges mountStill, doctors say they wont let the changes stop them from helping children get the vaccines they need. Leading medical groups are sticking with prior vaccine recommendations. Many parents are, too.Megan Landry, whose 4-year-old son Zackary is one of OSheas patients, is among them.Its my responsibility as a parent to protect my childs health and well-being, she said. Vaccines are a really effective and well-studied way to do that.She plans to keep having the same conversations shes always had with OShea before getting vaccines for Zackary.Relying on evidence and trusted medical guidance really helps me to make those decisions, she said. And for me, its not just a personal choice for my own son but a way to contribute to the health of everybody.But for other families, confidence about vaccines is waning as trust in science erodes. OShea lamented that parents are getting the message that they cant trust medical experts.If I take my car to the mechanic, I dont go do my own research ahead of time, she said. I go to a person I trust and I trust them to tell me whats going on.Abelowitz, the California doctor, likened the latest federal move to pouring gasoline on a fire of mistrust that was already burning.Were worried the fires out of control, he said. Already weve seen that with measles and pertussis, there are increased hospitalizations and even increasing deaths. So the way that I look at it and my colleagues look at it were basically regressing decades.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. LAURA UNGAR Ungar covers medicine and science on the APs Global Health and Science team. She has been a health journalist for more than two decades. twitter mailto

Welcome back to the Abstract! Here are the studies this week that lurked in the dark, pulsated with light, wagged a tail, and called it a night.First, scientists have yet again spotted a bizarre object in space that has never been seen beforethe universe just keeps serving them up. Then: news from the biggest star in the sky, a tale of eavesdropping dogs, and a jellyfish sleepover.As always, for more of my work, check out my book First Contact: The Story of Our Obsession with Aliens or subscribe to my personal newsletter the BeX Files.You dont want to be on this Cloud-9Anand, Gagandeep S. et al. The First RELHIC? Cloud-9 is a Starless Gas Cloud. The Astrophysical Journal Letters.Astronomers have glimpsed a new type of cosmic objecta starless clump of dark matter that never quite worked up the oomph to become a galaxy. Known as Cloud-9, the entity is located about 14 million light years away and likely provides the first look at an ancient dark matter halo.Dark matter, as you may have heard, is weird stuff that has never been directly detected or identified, but nonetheless accounts for almost all matter in the universe. In the early universe, clumps of dark matter formed halos that attracted gas, sparked star formation, and evolved into the first galaxies. But while all galaxies appear to have dark matter halos, not all dark matter halos turned into galaxies.Scientists have long speculated that some halos may have never accumulated the right amount of mass to make a star-studded galaxy. For years, astronomers have searched for the gravitational signatures of these dark starless failed galaxies, which are known as Reionization-Limited H I Clouds (RELHICs).Now, a team reports that the first clear RELHIC candidate ever discovered, providing support for the standard model of cosmology, also known as the Lambda cold dark matter (CDM) model, which is the current working framework of the universe.Digitized Sky Survey image covering a 10 10 region around Cloud-9. Image: Anand, Gagandeep S. et al.The abundance of halos far exceeds that of known galaxies, implying that not all halos are able to host luminous galaxies, said researchers led by Gagandeep S. Anand of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. This has been interpreted to mean that galaxies only form in halos that exceed a critical mass.Our results make Cloud-9 the leading RELHIC candidate, the team continued. This provides strong support for a cornerstone prediction of the Lambda cold dark matter model, namely the existence of gas-filled starless dark matter halos on subgalactic mass scales, and constrains the present-day threshold halo mass for galaxy formation.Cloud-9 might one day accumulate enough mass to pass the threshold for star formation, allowing it to eventually graduate into a galaxy. But for now, it is a galaxy school flunkie.In other newsBig star go boom soonTh van Loon, Jacco et al. A phoenix rises from the ashes: WOH G64 is still a red supergiant, for now. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.WOH G64, one of the largest stars in the sky, is nearing its death. At about 2,000 times the size of the Sun, this supergiant would extend beyond Saturn if it were placed in our solar system.Scientists have speculated that the recent dimming of the senescent star might signal a transition from a red supergiant to a yellow hypergiant, making it one step closer to supernova. But a new study reveals evidence that WOH G64 is currently a red supergiant and its changing light may be influenced by a companion star in orbit around it, making this a binary system.Concept art of WOH G64. image: ESO/L. CaladaFor a long time, WOH G64 was known as the most extreme red supergiant outside our Galaxy, said researchers led by Jacco Th. van Loon of Keele University. However, in a matter of years it has faded and its pulsations have become suppressed.We have presented evidence that the remarkable changes witnessed in the 21st-century in the optical brightness and spectrum of the most extreme known extragalactic red supergiant, WOH G64 may be due to binary interaction, the team continued, noting that we may be witnessing the birth of asupernova progenitor.Fortunately, this time bomb is located 160,000 light years away, so we are well beyond the blast radius. Whenever WOH G64 does explode, the supernova could be bright enough to see with the naked eye from Earth, despite its location far outside the Milky Way.Learn with doggo-lingoDror, Shany et al. Dogs with a large vocabulary of object labels learn new labels by overhearing like 1.5-year-old infants. Science.Its not your imagination: Your dog might actually be a really good listener. While its well-known that dogs respond to a variety of commands, researchers have now demonstrated that some pooches, known as Gifted Word Learners, can pick up new words just by passively overhearing their owners conversations.Over a series of experiments, researchers gave dogs fun toys to play with, which their owners then named in conversations that were not directed at the dogs. The pets were then able to identify the toys by the labels at a rate significantly above what would be expected by chance, even though they had never been directly taught the words.A dog that participated in the study, enjoying the toys. Image: Don HarveyThe findings suggest that some dogs may have sociocognitive skills parallel to young toddlers, and further confirms that a variety of animals can demonstrate various degrees of language comprehension. But the best part is the following detail about how the effervescent joy of dogs was accounted for in the experimental design.Because dogs are neophilic and often get excited by new toys, we gave them ample opportunities to interact with the toys without hearing their labels, said researchers led by Shany Dror of University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna.Science completed? Check. Dogs got loads of playtime? Check. Win-win.Jellyfish naps > cat napsAguillon, Raphal et al. DNA damage modulates sleep drive in basal cnidarians with divergent chronotypes. Nature Communications.Well close by yawning and going back to beda waterbed in this case, because this is a story about the sleep cycles of marine animals. To probe the broader evolutionary purpose of sleep, scientists monitored periods of slumber and wakefulness in the upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea andromeda and the anemone Nematostella vectensis.The results revealed that these animals had remarkably similar sleeping habits to people. Like humans, both species require a total of approximately 8hours of sleep per day, said researchers led by Raphal Aguillon, who conducted the work at Bar-Ilan University, and is now at IBPC Paris-Sorbonne University.Notably, similar to findings in primates and flies, a midday nap was also observed in C. andromeda, the team added.Talk about sleeping with the fishes! The upshot of the study is that sleep has evolved across all animals with a nervous system to help repair damaged DNA, a benefit that is apparently worth the vulnerability of a resting state. But for our weekend purposes, my takeaway is that even jellyfish enjoy a midday nap, so go ahead and take that siesta.Thanks for reading! See you next week.

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2026-01-10T12:42:15Z WEST POINT, Miss. (AP) Authorities say a person was in custody Saturday after six people were killed in a series of related shootings in eastern Mississippi.Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott said in a Facebook post that multiple innocent lives were lost due to violence in the town of West Point, near the Alabama border. The sheriff told WTVA that six people were killed in three locations.A suspect was in custody and there was no threat to the community, the sheriff wrote on Facebook. I ask that you lift our victims and their families in your prayers Law Enforcement is busy investigating and will release an update as soon as possible, he wrote.The sheriffs office did not provide further details early Saturday, but planned a morning news conference.

The U.S. Capitol is photographed, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)2026-01-10T14:05:40Z WASHINGTON (AP) The killing of a Minnesota woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer is reverberating across Capitol Hill where Democrats, and certain Republicans, are vowing an assertive response as President Donald Trumps aggressive deportation operations spark protests nationwide.Lawmakers are demanding a range of actions, from a full investigation into Renee Goods shooting death and policy changes over law enforcement raids to the defunding of ICE operations and the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in what is fast becoming an inflection point.The situation that took place in Minnesota is a complete and total disgrace, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said as details emerged. And in the next few days, we will be having conversations about a strong and forceful and appropriate response by House Democrats. Yet there is almost no consensus among the political parties in the aftermath of the death of Good, who was behind the wheel of an SUV after dropping off her 6-year-old at school when she was shot and killed by an ICE officer. The killing immediately drew dueling narratives. Trump and Noem said the ICE officer acted in self-defense, while Democratic officials said the Trump administration was lying and they urged the public to see the viral videos of the shooting for themselves. Vice President JD Vance blamed Good, calling it a tragedy of her own making, and said the ICE officer may have been sensitive from having been injured during an unrelated altercation last year. But Goods killing, at least the fifth known death since the administration launched its mass deportation campaign, could change the political dynamic.The videos Ive seen from Minneapolis yesterday are deeply disturbing, said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, in a statement.As we mourn this loss of life, we need a thorough and objective investigation into how and why this happened, she said. As part of the investigation, she said she is calling for policy changes, saying the situation was devastating, and cannot happen again. Homeland Security funding is up for debateThe push in Congress for more oversight and accountability of the administrations immigration operations comes as lawmakers are in the midst of the annual appropriations process to fund agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, to prevent another federal government shutdown when money expires at the end of January.As anti-ICE demonstrations erupt in cities in the aftermath of Goods death, Democrats have pledged to use any available legislative lever to apply pressure on the administration to change the conduct of ICE officers.Weve been warning about this for an entire year, said Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla.The ICE officer needs to be held accountable, Frost said, but not just them, but ICE as a whole, the president and this entire administration.Congressional Democrats saw Goods killing as a sign of the need for aggressive action to restrain the administrations tactics. Several Democrats joined calls to impeach Noem, who has been under fire from both parties for her lack of transparency at the department, though that step is highly unlikely with Republicans in control of Congress.Other Democrats want to restrict the funding for her department, whose budget was vastly increased as part of Republicans sweeping tax and spending bill passed last summer.Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, the top Democrat on the subcommittee that handles Homeland Security funding, plans to introduce legislation to rein in the agency with constraints on federal agents authority, including a requirement that the Border Patrol stick to the border and that DHS enforcement officers be unmasked.More Democrats are saying today the thing that a number of us have been saying since April and May: Kristi Noem is dangerous. She should not be in office, and she should be impeached, said Democratic Rep. Delia Ramirez, who represents parts of Chicago where ICE launched an enhanced immigration enforcement action last year that resulted in two deaths. Immigration debates have long divided Congress and the parties. Democrats splinter between more liberal and stricter attitudes toward newcomers to the United States. Republicans have embraced Trumps hard-line approach to portray Democrats as radicals.The Republican administration had launched the enforcement operation in Minnesota in response to an investigation of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future. Prosecutors said the organization was at the center of the countrys largest COVID-19-related fraud scams, when defendants exploited a state-run, federally funded program intended to provide food for children.Heading into the November midterm election, which Democrats believe will hinge on issues such as affordability and health care, national outcry over ICEs conduct has pressured lawmakers to speak out. Im not completely against deportations, but the way theyre handling it is a real disgrace, said Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, who represents a district along the U.S.-Mexico borderRight now, youre seeing humans treated like animals, he said.Other ICE shootings have rattled lawmakersIn September, a federal immigration enforcement agent in Chicago fatally shot Silverio Villegas Gonzalez during a brief altercation after Gonzalez had dropped off his children at school.In October, a Customs and Border Protection agent also in Chicago shot Marimar Martinez, a teacher and U.S. citizen, five times during a dispute with officers. The charges against Martinez brought by the administration were dismissed by a federal judge.To Rep. Chuy Garcia, D-Ill., Goods death brought back heart-wrenching memories of those two shootings in my district. It looks like the fact that a US citizen, who is a white woman, may be opening the eyes of the American public, certainly of members of Congress, that whats going on is out of control, he said, that this isnt about apprehending or pursuing the most dangerous immigrants.Republicans expressed some concern at the shooting but stood by the administrations policy, defended the officers actions and largely blamed Good for the standoff.Nobody wants to see people get shot, said Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga.Lets do the right thing and just be reasonable. And the reasonable thing is not to obstruct ICE officers and then accelerate while theyre standing in front of your car, he said. She made a mistake. Im sure she didnt mean for that to happen, nor did he mean for that to happen. MATT BROWN Brown covers national politics, federal policy and democracy issues for The Associated Press. twitter instagram mailto

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) walks off the field after an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)2026-01-10T14:01:15Z Matthew Stafford beat out Drake Maye, while Myles Garrett, Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba were unanimous choices for the 2025 Associated Press NFL All-Pro Team.Bijan Robinson is the running back while Christian McCaffrey earned the All-Purpose spot. JaMarr Chase is the third wide receiver and tight end Trey McBride got 49 of 50 first-place votes.Will Anderson Jr. and Micah Parsons joined Garrett at edge rusher. Jeffery Simmons and Zach Allen were selected as interior defensive linemen.Thats great. Needed that for real, said Parsons, who had surgery to repair a torn ACL and wont be playing in the playoffs for the Packers. Look forward to trying to get back to that same status this offseason.The 37-year-old Stafford received 31 first-place votes to Mayes 18 to earn All-Pro honors for the first time in his 17-year career. Josh Allen got the other vote. Stafford was first in the NFL with 4,707 yards and 46 touchdowns. His passer rating of 109.2 was second only to Maye, who finished at 113.5. Maye had 4,394 yards passing and 31 TDs. Last year, Lamar Jackson was the first-team All-Pro quarterback and Allen was the AP NFL MVP. Thats amazing, Stafford said when he heard the news. I did not see that coming. Played a lot of years. A lot of respect for this game. A lot of respect for the other guys who do what I do. Its not an easy thing to do. It means a lot. Stafford is the second player ever to be named a first-team All-Pro for the first time in his 17th season or later, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Kicker Gary Anderson also made it for the first time in his 17th season, in 1998. Before Stafford, the longest wait for a quarterback was Fran Tarkenton, who was an All-Pro for the first time in his 15th season, in 1975.The Denver Broncos, the AFCs No. 1 seed, had four first-team players and two second. Allen, left tackle Garrett Boles, left guard Quinn Meinerz and special teamer Devon Key made the first team. Cornerback Patrick Surtain II, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and safety Talanoa Hufanga made the second team. Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell and slot cornerback Cooper DeJean made the roster in their second seasons. Houstons Derek Stingley Jr. got 41 first-place votes to lead the voting at cornerback.Chiefs center Creed Humphrey, Bears left guard Joe Thuney and Lions right tackle Penei Sewell along with Meinerz are repeat selections.Garrett, who broke the NFLs single-season sack record with 23, is a five-time All-Pro. Parsons is a three-time first-teamer and once made the second team.Thats crazy, Anderson said about joining Garrett and Parsons. It means a lot. Its such a blessing. I have to give credit to my guys. I wouldnt be here without them.Baltimores Kyle Hamilton and Chicagos Kevin Byard are the safeties. Detroits Jack Campbell and Miamis Jordyn Brooks are the linebackers.San Francisco fullback Kyle Juszczyk rounds out the offense.Eighteen players are first-timers, including five on special teams. Key, Vikings kicker Will Reichard, Ravens punter Jordan Stout, Bills kick returner Ray Davis and Titans rookie punt returner Chimera Dike are the first-timers. Jaguars long snapper Ross Matiscik made it for the second time.Dike is the fourth rookie since 2020 to make the team.Thats awesome, Dike said. Everyone wants to be All-Pro one day and thats one of the goals I set at the beginning of the season for my career and to be able to do that in my first year, Im just thankful (special teams) coach (John Fassel) and my teammates had belief in me.This was the fourth year for the APs new voting system. Voters chose a first team and a second team. First-team votes are worth 3 points, second-team votes are worth 1.Votes were tabulated by the accounting firm of Lutz and Carr.___AP Pro Football Writer Josh Dubow contributed to this report.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL ROB MAADDI Maaddi is senior NFL writer for The Associated Press. Hes covered the league for 24 years, including the first two decades as the Eagles beat writer. mailto

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Visa and Mastercard credit cards are shown in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)2026-01-10T16:30:42Z NEW YORK (AP) Reviving a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump wants a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could save Americans tens of billions of dollars but drew immediate opposition from an industry that has been in his corner.Trump was not clear in his social media post Friday night whether a cap might take effect through executive action or legislation, though one Republican senator said he had spoken with the president and would work on a bill with his full support. Trump said he hoped it would be in place Jan. 20, one year after he took office.Strong opposition is certain from Wall Street and the credit card companies, which donated heavily to his 2024 campaign and to support his second-term agenda.We will no longer let the American Public be ripped off by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Researchers who studied Trumps campaign pledge after it was first announced found that Americans would save roughly $100 billion in interest a year if credit card rates were capped at 10%. The same researchers found that while the credit card industry would take a major hit, it would still be profitable, although credit card rewards and other perks might be scaled back. Americans are paying, on average, between 19.65% and 21.5% in interest on credit cards according to the Federal Reserve and other industry tracking sources. That has come down in the past year as the central bank lowered benchmark rates, but is near the highs since federal regulators started tracking credit card rates in the mid-1990s. The Republican administration has proved particularly friendly until now to the credit card industry. Capital One got little resistance from the White House when it finalized its purchase and merger with Discover Financial in early 2025, a deal that created the nations largest credit card company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is largely tasked with going after credit card companies for alleged wrongdoing, has been largely nonfunctional since Trump took office. In a joint statement, the banking industry was opposed to Trumps proposal. If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives, the American Bankers Association and allied groups said.The White House did not respond to questions about how the president seeks to cap the rate or whether he has spoken with credit card companies about the idea. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who said he talked with Trump on Friday night, said the effort is meant to lower costs for American families and to reign in greedy credit card companies who have been ripping off hardworking Americans for too long.Legislation in both the House and the Senate would do what Trump is seeking. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., released a plan in February that would immediately cap interest rates at 10% for five years, hoping to use Trumps campaign promise to build momentum for their measure. Hours before Trumps post, Sanders said that the president, rather than working to cap interest rates, had taken steps to deregulate big banks that allowed them to charge much higher credit card fees.Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have proposed similar legislation. Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent political target of Trump, while Luna is a close ally of the president.___Seung Min Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Fla. KEN SWEET Ken is a national writer on banking and consumer issues. twitter mailto SEUNG MIN KIM Kim covers the White House for The Associated Press. She joined the AP in 2022 and is based in Washington. Kim is also a political analyst for CNN. twitter mailto

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