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Arielle Zionts/KFF Health News/TNS

While scientists race to study spread of measles in US, Kennedy unravels hard-won gains

Current News / News & Features /

The United States is poised to lose its measles-free status next year. If that happens, the country will enter an era in which outbreaks are common again.

More children would be hospitalized because of this preventable disease. Some would lose their hearing. Some would die. Measles is also expensive. A new study— not yet published in a ...Read more

John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Georgia must eliminate QR codes from ballots by July. Is the state ready?

Current News / News & Features /

ATLANTA — QR codes must be eliminated from Georgia’s ballots by July 2026, but less than a year away from midterms, the state hasn’t figured out how to comply.

State lawmakers passed the bill in 2024 to eliminate the codes, but they didn’t allocate any money to do so this year. And election officials warn it’s too late to make ...Read more

Blake Fagan/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

More industries want Trump's help hiring immigrant labor after farms get a break

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As food prices remain high, the Trump administration has made it easier for farmers to hire foreign guest workers and to pay them less. Now, other industries with large immigrant workforces also are asking for relief as they combat labor shortages and raids.

Visas for temporary foreign workers are a quick fix with bipartisan support in Congress...Read more

Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Illinois researchers say versatile grass could be used for sustainable fuel, building materials and more

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CHICAGO — When you look across a field of miscanthus, it’s “hypnotically beautiful,” says Emily Heaton, whose family farm has for two decades grown the first commercial field of this grass in Illinois. Dense, sun-loving and often called “giant,” it blooms in late summer to fall with a showy silver flower.

Just like cornstalks across...Read more

Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

In its time left, this prison is experimenting with a new housing model

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BAYPORT, Minn. — The B-East cell hall at Stillwater prison was once a place of echoing lockdowns and razor-edged tension.

“Some things that’ll never leave,” said Lt. Sam Marks, recalling the stabbings, self-harm and overdoses that reverberated through the four tiers of steel and concrete.

But since the Department of Corrections began ...Read more

Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/TNS

DOJ investigating whether Colorado prisons and youth detention centers violate inmates' rights

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The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether Colorado prisons are violating the constitutional rights of the state’s adult inmates and youth detainees through excessive force, inadequate medical care and nutrition, and policies surrounding the housing of transgender offenders, the federal agency announced Monday.

The Trump ...Read more

PEDRO PORTAL/Miami Herald/TNS

Haiti's anti-corruption agency accuses former president Martelly of lying about assets

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Haiti’s corruption investigators are calling for criminal charges against former President Michel Martelly, accusing him of filing false statements about his wealth.

A review of Martelly’s asset disclosures covering the period from his election in 2011 to his financial declaration two years after leaving office in 2016 found major ...Read more

Alie Skowronski/Miami Herald/TNS

Gov. DeSantis designates two Muslim groups as terrorist organizations

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Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order Monday evening designating two Muslim groups as “foreign terrorist organizations.”

The executive order, which was posted on DeSantis’ social media accounts, states that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Society of Muslim Brothers (Muslim Brotherhood) would be classified ...Read more

Chris Leach/Lexington Herald-Leader/TNS

Ex-Kentucky sheriff admits to shooting judge in new filing, leans on insanity claim

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The former Eastern Kentucky sheriff caught on camera gunning down a district court judge in his office last year has admitted to the slaying but claims his actions were unintentional.

Attorneys for former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines say he “lacked the capacity to intend” to shoot and kill District Court Judge Kevin ...Read more

Mandel Ngan/Pool/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump threatens new 5% tariff on Mexican goods in water fight

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President Donald Trump threatened to impose an additional 5% tariff on imports from Mexico if the country did not release water that his administration says must be allowed to flow under a treaty, escalating a fight with a major trading partner.

“I have authorized documentation to impose a 5% Tariff on Mexico if this water isn’t released, ...Read more

Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

'It was a matter of time': Diseased bats may have arrived in Las Vegas

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After avoiding it for nearly two decades, wildlife officials say that the illness wiping out millions of bats may have reached Nevada.

The fungal disease is known as white-nose syndrome, and it’s considered to be the single most deadly wildlife disease outbreak in North American history. Scientists first documented the disease in New York in ...Read more

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America/TNS

Nvidia wins Trump's approval to sell H200 AI chips in China

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President Donald Trump granted Nvidia Corp. permission to ship its H200 artificial intelligence chip to China in exchange for a 25% surcharge, a move that lets the world’s most valuable company potentially regain billions of dollars in lost business from a key global market.

The decision was announced by Trump in a post on his Truth Social ...Read more

Matt Stone/Boston Herald/TNS

Massachusetts priest says 'ICE was here' nativity scene will stay up pending conversation with Archbishop

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BOSTON — A nativity scene in Dedham with the message “ICE was here” in front of the missing Holy Family will remain up pending a conversation with Archbishop Richard Henning, a local priest said Monday, despite the Archdiocese of Boston’s statement against the display over the weekend.

“That some do not agree with our message does not...Read more

Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group/TNS

UC Berkeley professor installed secret camera, allegedly catching Ph.D. candidate sabotaging fellow student's work

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BERKELEY, Calif. — A UC Berkeley professor smelled a rat — over the years there had been $46,855 in damage from computers that failed, and nearly all of it seemed to affect one particular Ph.D. candidate at the college’s Electronic Engineer and Computer Sciences department.

The professor wondered if the student’s luck was really that ...Read more

Liudmila Lozovaia/Dreamstime/TNS

US will proceed with Aukus security partnership, Rubio says

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration has endorsed the Aukus security agreement with Australia and the UK following a lengthy review of the Biden-era pact that would sell nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.

“At the direction of the president, Aukus is full-steam ahead,” Rubio said at a meeting with Defense ...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Federal judge strikes down Trump's order blocking development of wind energy

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A federal judge on Monday struck down the Trump administration’s ban on federal permits for wind energy projects in what supporters said was an important victory for the embattled industry.

President Trump issued the ban on his first day in office through an executive order that called for the temporary withdrawal of nearly all federal land ...Read more

Indiana redistricting hearing attracts dozens of witnesses

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The Indiana Senate Elections Committee heard Monday from more than 100 people, most of whom spoke in opposition to mid-census redistricting, as the Senate begins its review of the House-passed Congressional map.

House Bill 1032, which addresses mid-census redistricting and gives Republicans an advantage in all nine congressional districts, was ...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Trump ban on wind energy projects ruled illegal by US judge

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WASHINGTON — Less than a year after President Donald Trump banned new wind projects, a federal judge ruled the president’s executive order was illegal.

U.S. District Judge Patti Saris said Monday the order is “arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law,” siding with more than a dozen U.S. states and a clean energy group that had ...Read more

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/TNS

FBI agents who kneeled at Floyd protest sue for wrongful firing

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WASHINGTON — A dozen FBI agents sued the Trump administration over their firing in September for having taken a knee during a 2020 demonstration in Washington following the police killing of George Floyd.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation had investigated the incident and concluded there was no wrongdoing by the agents, who explained that ...Read more

Adrian Dennis/Getty Images North America/TNS

Europe nears deal on Russian assets after talks in London

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European leaders are increasingly confident they will reach a deal to use frozen Russian assets before the end of the year following talks in London, even as a gulf remains between Europe and the U.S. on providing security guarantees for Kyiv.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his allies made “positive progress” to use immobilized Russian sovereign ...Read more