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US   POLITICS  
US authorities arrest suspect in 2021 Washington, DC, pipe bomb case
- Authorities in the United States have arrested a suspect believed to be involved in leaving pipe bombs near two major political headquarters in Washington, DC, during the night before the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. On Thursday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice identified the suspect as Brian Cole Jr in a joint news conference. " I know some people have given up on ...

Source: aljazeera.com
US  
CDC advisers delay vote on restricting infant hepatitis B vaccinations in tense meeting
- From 1990 to 2019, reported cases of acute hepatitis B among kids declined by 99% due to infant immunization After a contentious meeting, vaccine advisers for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) voted on Thursday to delay a vote on restricting hepatitis B vaccination for infants until Friday. The meeting of the advisory committee on immunization practices (ACIP) turned confrontational at times ...

Source: theguardian.com
US   POLITICS  
Supreme Court lets Texas use gerrymandered map that could give GOP 5 more House seats
- The Supreme Court has cleared the way for Texas to use a new congressional map that could help Republicans win five more U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterm election. The decision released Thursday boosts the GOP's chances of preserving its slim majority in the House of Representatives amid an unprecedented gerrymandering fight launched by President Trump, who has been pushing Texas and other GOP-led states to ...

Source: npr.org
US  
Ford CEO hails Trump fuel standards reset as a 'victory' for affordability and common sense
- Jim Farley says customers will get to choose what they want instead of being 'forced' into EVs The CEO of Ford Motor Co. is revved up for the Trump administration's plan to make automobiles affordable, as he expressed his praise for helping to bring car prices back down. "What you should know is that this is a victory for affordability and common sense. As the president said, we will be able to offer more ...

Source: foxbusiness.com
US   POLITICS  
Has the Pentagon really exonerated Pete Hegseth over Signal leaks?
- United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put defence personnel and their missions at risk when he used the messaging app Signal to discuss sensitive information about military strikes on Yemen's Houthis, a classified Pentagon watchdog report has found. In a report provided to Congress on Tuesday, the Pentagon inspector general said its investigation concluded that Hegseth violated protocol when he used his ...

Source: aljazeera.com
BUSINESS  
SandboxAQ launches AI-SPM platform to expose shadow AI risks
- SandboxAQ announced an AI-SPM offering that provides visibility into where AI is being used in organizations' tech stacks and evaluates AI assets for exploitable weaknesses, insecure dependencies, and exposure risks such as prompt injection, data leakage, and unauthorized access. The offering is purpose-built to help organizations address the growing threat of " shadow AI " before it leads to material breaches. ...

Source: helpnetsecurity.com
US   POLITICS  
New Epstein island images give 'harrowing look behind closed doors'
- Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Swipe for next article New footage and images released by Democrats as lawmakers ask for update on Epstein files from the Justice Department Leer en Español Never-before-seen photos and videos, released Wednesday by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee , reveal details of late sex offender ...

Source: independent.co.uk
WORLD  
Israel confirms Thai hostage's remains returned, leaving just 1 deceased hostage still in Gaza
- Israeli and Thai officials said Thursday that remains handed over to Israel by militants in Gaza had been identified as the last Thai hostage taken during the Hamas-led, Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack that sparked the war. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was notified by Israeli authorities that the remains of a hostage returned on Wednesday were identified as Sudhisak Rinthalak, a Thai national who was ...

Source: cbsnews.com
US   SCIENCE  
December's full 'cold moon' will be a supermoon: Here's how to see it
- CLEVELAND, Ohio — Skywatchers in Northeast Ohio and beyond will get a bright send-off to 2025's lunar calendar this week when December's "cold moon" rises as the last supermoon of the year. The cold moon officially peaks at 6:14 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, but it will appear full for several nights. The cold moon is December's traditional name for the 12th and final full moon of the year. This time, it doubles as ...

Source: cleveland.com
US   POLITICS  
Unions urge US judge to block 1,300 State Department layoffs
- Dec 4 (Reuters) - Unions representing U.S. State Department employees have asked a federal judge to block the agency from laying off more than 1,300 workers ​on Friday, the latest legal battle over mass job cuts by President Donald Trump's ‌administration. The unions in a filing in San Francisco federal court late Wednesday said the looming cuts, which include 1,100 ‌civil service jobs and nearly ...

Source: news.yahoo.com
Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and the Netherlands to boycott Eurovision over Israel's participation
- Usually known more for pop anthems and extravagant costumes than for political disagreements, the Eurovision Song Contest is facing a major boycott after a push to eject Israel from the contest was rejected. National broadcasters from Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and the Netherlands all said they would not take part in the 2026 contest, citing Israel's continued participation in the contest amid the war in Gaza. In ...

Source: nbcnews.com
US  
More Than 1 Million Bags of Shredded Cheese Is Being Recalled
- The recall includes multiple brands of cheese sold across more than two dozen states. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has shared a recall , and this time it involves shredded cheese. More than a million bags of the dairy essential are being recalled due to concerns that the cheese had become contaminated with non-food items. The recall includes several different brands of cheese that had been ...

Source: greenmatters.com
US   POLITICS  
New York Times sues Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth over restrictive Pentagon media rules
- The New York Times Co. sued the Defense Department and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the Pentagon's new press policy. The policy, which requires reporters to seek approval before publishing information, violates free press protections enshrined by the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the suit alleges. A number of media outlets sympathetic to the Trump administration have agreed to the rules, and ...

Source: cnbc.com
WhatsApp faces European antitrust investigation over artificial intelligence
- Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... LONDON (AP) — WhatsApp faces an antitrust investigation in the European Union, where regulators said Thursday that they're looking into the messaging service's artificial intelligence policy. The European Commission said it opened the formal investigation because of concerns about WhatsApp's move to limit access for third-party AI providers. WhatsApp, owned by ...

Source: orlandosentinel.com
US  
Researchers find what makes AI chatbots politically persuasive
- A massive study of political persuasion shows AIs have, at best, a weak effect. Roughly two years ago, Sam Altman tweeted that AI systems would be capable of superhuman persuasion well before achieving general intelligence—a prediction that raised concerns about the influence AI could have over democratic elections. To see if conversational large language models can really sway political views of the public, ...

Source: arstechnica.com
US   POLITICS  
Lawyers for New York attorney general's office expected in court to seek disqualification of another US attorney
- Lawyers for the New York attorney general's office are expected to appear in federal court in Albany on Thursday to try to disqualify a US attorney from investigating the state's civil case against President Donald Trump. New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, is challenging the appointment of John Sarcone, the Trump administration's pick as acting US attorney for the Northern District of New York. ...

Source: aol.com
US   POLITICS  
Immigration crackdown in New Orleans has a target of 5,000 arrests. Is that possible?
- NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Trump administration officials overseeing the immigration crackdown launched this week in New Orleans are aiming to make 5,000 arrests, a target that some city leaders who oppose the operation say is unrealistic and would require detainining more than just violent offenders. It's an ambitious goal that would surpass the number of arrests during a two-month enforcement blitz this fall around ...

Source: aol.com
US   HEALTH  
Ritz Crackers Recalled Over Potentially Life-Threatening Ingredient Omission
- A popular snack cracker is being pulled from shelves after it was discovered to contain a potentially deadly allergen. The Ritz Cracker recall was first shared on Nov. 28, 2025 in a statement from the parent company. In the days that followed the recall notice was shared far and wide in an effort to make sure that customers who purchased these crackers were aware of issue with the label that could cause those who ...

Source: greenmatters.com
US   POLITICS  
Federal grand jury declines to reindict Trump target Letitia James
- A federal grand jury on Dec. 4 rejected an attempt to indict , a key target of President Donald Trump 's ire, less than two weeks after a judge   against her. The grand jury's rejection of charges marks the Justice Department's second attempt at indicting the New York attorney general whom the president has railed against in recent weeks. James brought a lawsuit against Trump in 2022. In a statement, ...

Source: aol.com
US   POLITICS  
Democrats will force a Senate vote on a 3-year extension of Affordable Care Act funds
- WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday that Democrats will force a vote next week on a bill to extend expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits and prevent health insurance premiums from skyrocketing for millions of Americans. Schumer said it will be a "clean" three-year extension of the enhanced ACA funds that first passed in 2021, designed to cap premiums for an average ...

Source: nbcnews.com
US   POLITICS  
Trump FIRES White House ballroom architect after arguing about size
- has replaced the chief architect in charge of designing his grandiose $300 million ballroom. The president replaced James McCrery II and his architecture firm back in late October, according to the Washington Post. Behind the scenes, Trump and McCrery battled over the commander-in-chief's desire to keep increasing the size of the new building. One source said Trump decided to replace the esteemed designer after ...

Source: dailymail.co.uk
POLITICS  
U.S. Institute of Peace renamed for Trump after his administration dismantled the agency
- WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's name has been added to the sign on the United States Institute of Peace headquarters in downtown D.C., above the existing building name. The State Department's X account shared a photo of the new facade on Wednesday in a post that called Trump "the greatest dealmaker in our nation's history," an apparent reference to his work to end multiple conflicts around the world. ...

Source: nbcnews.com
WORLD   POLITICS  
Leader of anti-Hamas militia armed by Israel killed in Gaza
- The leader of an anti-Hamas group that was armed and backed by Israel has been killed in Gaza, the group confirmed Thursday, in a potential blow to Israel's post-war plans in the shattered territory. Yasser Abu Shabab, who led a militia controlling a patch of territory in Rafah in southern Gaza, was killed while trying to "de-escalate a conflict" between members of a family in a public square, the organization ...

Source: aol.com
Steve Cropper, guitarist and member of Stax Records' Booker T and the M.G.'s, dies at 84
- MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Steve Cropper, the lean, soulful guitarist and songwriter who helped anchor the celebrated Memphis backing band Booker T. and the M.G.'s at Stax Records and co-wrote the classics "Green Onions," "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" and "In the Midnight Hour," has died. He was 84. Pat Mitchell Worley, president and CEO of the Soulsville Foundation, said Cropper's family told her that Cropper ...

Source: nbcnews.com
WORLD   POLITICS  
Putin maintains hard line in talks as Trump says Moscow is open to a deal
- Russian President Vladimir Putin said parts of the US peace plan were unacceptable and Russia would take Ukrainian land through military force or other means in an interview aired Thursday, as Moscow sticks to its demand that Kyiv surrender territory it still holds after nearly four years of fighting. Excerpts from the interview with India Today, which coincided with Putin's arrival in India on Thursday night, ...

Source: bostonglobe.com
US   POLITICS  
US federal judge blocks warrantless immigration arrests
- News By No machine-readable author provided. assumed (based on copyright claims). - No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims)., US federal judge blocks warrantless immigration arrests A US federal judge on Tuesday granted a preliminary injunction blocking the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from enforcing its policy of warrantless civil immigration arrests without ...

Source: jurist.org
US   POLITICS  
Contractors with hacking records accused of wiping 96 govt databases
- U.S. prosecutors have charged two Virginia brothers arrested on Wednesday with allegedly conspiring to steal sensitive information and destroy government databases after being fired from their jobs as federal contractors. Twin brothers Muneeb and Sohaib Akhter, both 34, were also sentenced to several years in prison  in June 2015, after pleading guilty to accessing U.S. State Department systems without ...

Source: bleepingcomputer.com
WORLD   POLITICS  
Why is Belgium opposed to using Russian assets to support Ukraine?
- The European Union has unveiled plans to use billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to help cover Ukraine's war needs over the next two years. But Belgium is pushing back following the announcement on Wednesday, arguing that the plan carries legal and financial risks that it fears it could end up shouldering alone. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Brussels would supply 90 billion ...

Source: aljazeera.com
US   POLITICS  
DeSantis Signals Florida Will Gerrymander Its Maps in the Spring
- In an interview on Monday, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis indicated that he will likely call a special session of the state legislature in the near future to redraw congressional boundaries, as many GOP-led states across the country have already done in order to benefit the Republican Party. In his comments to The Floridian , DeSantis was unforthcoming about the partisan nature of his plan, framing the move ...

Source: truthout.org
US   MARKETS  
Average US long-term mortgage rate falls to 6.19%, near its low for the year
- Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage fell again this week, slipping close to its low point so far this year. The decline brings the average long-term mortgage rate to 6.19% from 6.23% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.69%. This is the second straight weekly drop in the average rate ...

Source: orlandosentinel.com
TECHNOLOGY  
India rolls back order to preinstall cybersecurity app on smartphones
- NEW DELHI — India 's telecoms ministry on Wednesday rolled back its order for smartphone manufacturers to preinstall a government-run cybersecurity app on new devices. The Ministry of Communications on Monday asked smartphone makers to install the government's "Sanchar Saathi" app within 90 days and to prevent users from disabling it. It also required manufacturers to push the app onto older models through a ...

Source: nbcnews.com
From Soaring Energy Prices to Climate Threat to AI Bubble, Experts Warn Against Data Center Buildout
- As the construction of artificial intelligence data centers expands across the nation largely unregulated, experts warn that the unrestrained buildup of these facilities is causing electricity costs to skyrocket, accelerating the climate crisis , and putting the economy at risk. A new report out Thursday from the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen highlights the "unchecked expansion" of these data centers, ...

Source: commondreams.org
World Cup Draw is Friday. Here is how it works, where to watch, key story lines
- By At long last, the 2026 World Cup Draw is Friday at noon and soccer fans all over the world will have their TV sets tuned to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., where the 42 qualified teams will find out their fate. For fans of college basketball, think Selection Sunday on steroids. Of the 42 qualified teams, 39 are split into four pots based on November FIFA world rankings . The three co-hosts -- U.S., ...

Source: miamiherald.com
Your favorite AI tool barely scraped by this safety review - why that's a problem
- The Future of Life Institute assigned letter grades to eight leading AI labs to score their safety efforts. The results look like the report card of a child who's barely making an effort. Follow ZDNET:  Add us as a preferred source  on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways The world's top AI labs aren't exactly scoring top marks in their efforts to prevent the worst possible outcomes of the technology, a new ...

Source: zdnet.com
US  
'Trump accounts' for kids are coming soon: 3 things to know
- (NEXSTAR) — Starting next year, qualifying children and newborns will gain access to so-called "Trump accounts." Earlier this week, the program received a multi-billion-dollar donation to bolster efforts to provide seed money for those just starting on their savings accounts. The funds are meant to give those who otherwise would not receive an automatic contribution when their accounts open. Here's what to ...

Source: wfla.com
New mayoral elections to be delayed in four areas of England
- Elections for newly-created mayors will be delayed in four more areas of England, the BBC has confirmed, pushing back regional devolution plans. New mayors were expected to be elected in Greater Essex, Norfolk & Suffolk, Hampshire & the Solent, and Sussex & Brighton in May next year, but will now have to wait until May 2028. The government is arguing that more time is needed to reorganise local government in these ...

Source: bbc.com
US  
President Trump thinks tariff revenue could replace individual income taxes. Experts weigh in.
- President Trump is floating an idea that could appeal to millions of budget-strained households: using tariff revenue to reduce, or even eliminate, the federal individual income tax. But tax experts are skeptical that import taxes could completely replace income tax, and they say a reduction in income taxes would largely benefit the nation's top earners. "I believe that at some point in the not-too-distant future, ...

Source: cbsnews.com
US   MEDICINE  
Growing Up With a Dog Might Literally Change Your Microbiome and Boost Your Mental Health
- Dogs may boost mental health by subtly reshaping the microbes in our bodies. "Adolescent children who keep dogs exhibit higher mental well-being, and we also found that dog ownership alters the gut microbiota," Takefumi Kikusui, one of the study authors and a professor at Azabu University in Japan, said . If this is the case, then it could change how we think about the benefits of pet ownership — not just as ...

Source: zmescience.com
US   POLITICS  
Global health backslide: Gates Foundation report links funding cuts to rising child deaths
- Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation are raising the alarm over the deadly impacts of international funding cuts in global health. Slashed budgets are projected to reverse decades of progress, causing the number of children dying before their fifth birthday to rise for the first time this century. An estimated 4.8 million children are expected to die this year, an increase of 200,000 deaths compared to last year. ...

Source: geekwire.com
WORLD  
Search resumes for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370
- Efforts to solve one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries will resume later this month when the search continues for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 , the country's Ministry of Transport said. The aircraft, a Boeing 777, was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew when it vanished from radars shortly after takeoff on March 8, 2014 from Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing, China. "The search ...

Source: aljazeera.com
Doctor who supplied ketamine to late Friends star Matthew Perry jailed | Ents & Arts News
- Salvador Plasencia is the first of five people to be sentenced in connection with the death of the Friends star, who was found drowned in the hot tub at his home in Los Angeles after taking ketamine in October 2023. A doctor who pleaded guilty to illegally supplying ketamine to Matthew Perry in the weeks before the star's death has been jailed for two-and-a-half years. Salvador Plasencia, who operated an ...

Source: news.sky.com
US   POLITICS  
On Trump's insults, Somalia's prime minister says. 'It's better not to respond'
- MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia's leader said Wednesday that it was "better not to respond" a day after President Trump called Somali immigrants "garbage" during a xenophobic tirade. "We are not the only country that Trump insults," Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre told an audience at an innovation summit in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, in response to a question about Trump's comments, according to video ...

Source: bostonglobe.com
US   POLITICS  
Jack Smith is expected to privately testify before House Judiciary Committee in mid-December
- 2 min read Jim Jordan, the Republican Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he has issued a subpoena to former Special Counsel Jack Smith to privately testify before the committee in mid-December. The subpoena follows Smith's continued calls to allow him to testify publicly about his investigations and cases against President Donald Trump. In the letter to Smith, which Jordan shared on X on Wednesday , ...

Source: edition.cnn.com
US   POLITICS  
President Trump's contempt shocks the country's largest Somali community
- MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Even for a president who has long made clear he's no fan of Somalia, the latest round of White House contempt was a shock Wednesday in the country's largest Somali community . "They contribute nothing. I don't want them in our country," President Donald Trump told reporters during a Tuesday Cabinet meeting. "We can go one way or the other, and we're going to go the wrong way if we keep ...

Source: apnews.com
SCIENCE  
Is life out there? NASA finds essential sugars on ancient asteroid
- Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Swipe for next article 'We're looking at events near the beginning of the beginning' NASA has found sugars essential for life on Earth in samples of the 4.6 billion-year-old Bennu asteroid . Scientists discovered glucose, the human body's main source of energy, as well as the critical RNA ingredient ...

Source: independent.co.uk
SCIENCE  
Satellite Megaconstellations Are Now Threatening Telescopes in Space
- Today the globe is circled by thousands of active satellites—each prone to photobombing astronomers' telescopes as an artificial star zipping across the night sky. Scientists working with ground-based observatories such as the cutting-edge Vera C. Rubin Observatory have long worried about this visual interference—but as satellites continue to proliferate , space-based telescopes, including the beloved ...

Source: scientificamerican.com
US  
Man killed inside MGM National Harbor casino food court: police
- A man was shot and killed in what police called a targeted shooting on Wednesday, Dec. 3, inside the MGM National Harbor casino's food court. The shooting happened at the MGM National Harbor casino in Prince George's County, Maryland. Police said officers were called around noon to reports of a shooting. In a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Prince George's County Police Chief George Nader said the shooting ...

Source: aol.com
Meta Hires Apple Design Executive Alan Dye to Lead New Creative Studio | PYMNTS.com
- Meta is establishing a new creative studio in its Reality Labs division and has hired longtime Apple design executive Alan Dye to lead it. Mark Zuckerberg , CEO at Meta, announced these moves in a Wednesday (Dec. 3) post on Threads. The new studio will "define the next generation of our products and services" and will include designers with "deep experience building iconic products that bridge hardware and ...

Source: pymnts.com