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A federal judge dismisses the DOJ's effort to get voter data from California

A person enters a polling station to vote on Nov. 4, 2025, at First United Methodist Church in Pasadena, Calif.

The Trump administration has been dealt its first legal setback in its unprecedented effort to consolidate voter data traditionally held by states.

(Image credit: Mario Tama)

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Behind the front lines of the legal battle against Trump's National Guard deployments

California National Guard members stand in formation during the protest in Los Angeles, California on June 14, 2025.

As President Trump began a pattern of deploying the National Guard to democratic-led cities, several Democratic attorneys general and their staffs worked to coordinate their fight against the deployments – and, ultimately, they won.

(Image credit: David Pashaee)

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Trump health care plan doesn't help people facing skyrocketing ACA premiums

President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday. On Thursday, he made a health care announcement via a social media video.

President Trump announced a plan that addresses drug costs and health savings accounts, but not the health insurance premium spikes millions of Americans are facing.

(Image credit: Brendan Smialowski)

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Verizon just had a big outage. Here's what we know

Signs are displayed outside a Verizon retail location on May 14, 2024, in Portland, Ore.

Verizon says a software problem caused the glitch and they are conducting a postmortem, but experts say outages are "a fact of life" these days.

(Image credit: Jenny Kane)

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Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act (again). What is it?

Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a shooting Wednesday in Minneapolis.

As protests grow over violent ICE enforcement actions in Minneapolis, the president said he could invoke a centuries-old law that would give him sweeping powers to deploy the military in U.S. cities.

(Image credit: Adam Gray)

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There's an internet blackout in Iran. How are videos and images getting out?

In this photo illustration, a Starlink dish and router are displayed on February 12, 2024 in San Anselmo, California.

Starlink is illegal in Iran, but people are still using the satellite internet service to get around the government's internet shutdown.

(Image credit: Justin Sullivan)

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Iran's protests appear increasingly smothered after a deadly crackdown

Women cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday.

The nationwide protests challenging Iran's theocracy appear increasingly smothered a week after authorities shut the country off from the world and escalated a bloody crackdown.

(Image credit: Vahid Salemi)

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Julian Barnes says he's enjoying himself, but that 'Departure(s)' is his last book

Booker Prize-winning novelist Julian Barnes turns 80 on Monday and has been very busy. "I can

Part memoir and part fiction, Barnes' hybrid novel publishes the day after his 80th birthday. He's been living with a rare form of blood cancer for six years.

(Image credit: Stuart C. Wilson)

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24 hours of chaos as mental health grants are slashed then restored

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services building is seen on March 27, 2025 in Washington, DC. Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services offered no explanation of its decision to terminate and later restore grant money for mental health and addiction programs.

For 24 hours, it was unclear which mental health and addiction programs would survive and who would still have jobs when the dust settled.

(Image credit: Kayla Bartkowski)

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This country taxes menstrual pads as luxury goods. She's suing to end the tax

Bushra Mahnoor, photographed at home in Attock, Pakistan, advocates for the menstrual health of girls in Pakistan. "It was a big taboo mentioning that you were on your period. But mentioning that you were on your period without access to a pad was just even more humiliating," she says. Her non-profit Mahwari Justice last year filed a lawsuit to reclassify menstrual products as essential goods. Currently, menstrual pads are taxed as luxury products.

Bushra Mahnoor remembers the shame she felt when she had her period as a teen and did not have the supplies she needed. Today she leads a campaign to lower prices for pads in Pakistan.

(Image credit: Ben de la Cruz/NPR)

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FBI searches WaPo reporter's home. And, Trump restores $2B to public health funds

The Washington Post Building at One Franklin Square Building on June 5, 2024 in Washington, D.C.

The FBI searches the home of a Washington Post reporter as part of a leak investigation. And, the Trump administration restores $2B for mental health and addiction programs.

(Image credit: Andrew Harnik)

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European troops arrive in Greenland to boost the Arctic island's security

Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, left, and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, arrive on Capitol Hill to meet with members of the Senate Arctic Caucus, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026.

Troops from several European countries, including France, Germany, Norway and Sweden, are arriving in Greenland after talks between Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. on Wednesday highlighted disagreement.

(Image credit: J. Scott Applewhite)

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More students are going to college. Affordability and workforce training are factors

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Overall enrollment is up slightly at colleges and universities, driven by gains at community colleges and public four-year programs.

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What Teddy Roosevelt has to do with Trump's moves in Venezuela and Greenland

President Theodore Roosevelt

Presidents James Monroe and Theodore Roosevelt helped shape a policy that rationalizes U.S. intervention in Latin America and elsewhere. But Trump has brought that idea to a whole new level.

(Image credit: William Allen Rogers)

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Uganda goes to the polls amid heavy security and internet blackout

An armed Ugandan riot policeman patrols past campaign posters for longtime President Yoweri Museveni.

Ugandans are voting in a tense presidential election as 81-year-old President Yoweri Museveni seeks to extend his four-decade rule amid an internet shutdown and heavy military deployment.

(Image credit: Ben Curtis)

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4 ways to beat the anxiety of insomnia — and get back to sleep

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People struggling with insomnia tend to hyperfocus on the fact that they can't sleep, which can prevent them from getting any shut-eye. Experts share effective practices to overcome sleep stress.

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After a medical evacuation from space, NASA's Crew-11 returns to Earth a month early

This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon capsule departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14.

Four people from NASA's Crew-11 mission splashed down off San Diego successfully completing five months aboard the International Space Station. The trip was cut short due to a medical issue.

(Image credit: AP)

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Julio Iglesias accused of sexual assault as Spanish prosecutors study the allegations

Spanish singer Julio Iglesias smiles during his star unveiling ceremony at the Walk of Fame in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016.

Spanish prosecutors are studying allegations that Grammy-winning singer Julio Iglesias sexually assaulted two former employees at his residences in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.

(Image credit: Carlos Giusti)

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DHS: ICE officers in Minneapolis shoot Venezuelan man in the leg

Demonstrators stand in front of federal immigration agents protecting the scene where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot a Venezuelan immigrant in the leg on January 15, 2026 in Minneapolis.

The Department of Homeland Security says the shooting happened after the agent came under attack. Protestors have taken to the streets in Minneapolis, clashing with federal agents, after Renee Macklin Good's killing last week.

(Image credit: Sergio Martínez-Beltrán)

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FBI searches a Washington Post reporter's home as part of investigation

A person walks into the One Franklin Square Building, home of The Washington Post newspaper, June 21, 2024, in Washington.

Hannah Natanson had a phone, two laptops and a Garmin watch seized. The Justice Department says this is part of an investigation into a Pentagon contractor accused of taking home classified information.

(Image credit: Alex Brandon)

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Trump administration rolls back $2 billion mental health, addiction grant cuts

In this Nov. 30, 2021, photo, syringes and vials of Naloxone are shown during the media tour of the supervised drug injection site OnPoint, in New York.

Sweeping cuts to mental health and addiction programs worth more than $2 billion are being reversed. After a political backlash from Republicans and Democrats, the grant money will be restored.

(Image credit: Yuki Iwamura/AFP)

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Senate Republicans block Venezuela war powers resolution

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.,  talks to reporters as he heads to a vote at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. Hawley reversed his initial support for a Venezuela war powers resolution and voted to block the legislation after receiving assurances from the White House.

The resolution would have forced President Trump to get authorization from Congress before launching military operations in Venezuela. It was blocked after having previously advanced with GOP support.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla)

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U.S. to suspend immigrant visas from 75 countries over public assistance concerns

Cubans line up for appointments at the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba, on Jan. 8.

The State Department says it will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries whose nationals are deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States.

(Image credit: Ramon Espinosa)

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In a win for Democrats, court allows California's redistricting plan to proceed

Attorney Mark Meuser, second from right, speaks to reporters during a press conference announcing a federal lawsuit in November challenging Proposition 50, in Sacramento, Calif.

In November, California voters approved a new congressional map that could help Democrats win five more House seats and counter the Republican redistricting that President Trump has prompted in other states.

(Image credit: Godofredo A. Vásquez)

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Denmark says there's a 'fundamental disagreement' with Trump over Greenland

Denmark

The two sides agreed to create a working group to discuss ways to work through differences as President Trump continues to call for a U.S. takeover of Denmark's Arctic territory of Greenland.

(Image credit: John McDonnell)

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Kitchen countertop workers are dying. Some lawmakers want to ban their lawsuits

A stone countertop fabricator wears a mask to help protect against airborne particles which can contribute to silicosis at a shop in Sun Valley, Calif.

Some safety experts want California to stop the cutting of quartz countertops saying it can't be done safely. Lawmakers, meanwhile, contemplate a ban on workers' lawsuits against quartz manufacturers.

(Image credit: Brian van der Brug)

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Candidates have legal standing to challenge election laws, the Supreme Court rules

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Illinois Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost — seen here with President Trump — has the legal standing to challenge a state law about mail ballots.

In a case related to Illinois state law about the return of mail ballots, the U.S. Supreme Court says political candidates have the legal standing to challenge election policies.

(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker)

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Scientists call another near-record hot year a 'warning shot' from a shifting climate

A man rinses with water in August after playing beach footvolley on the Ramlet al-Baida public beach in Beirut, Lebanon,, on a sweltering hot day.

Scientists calculate that last year was one of the three hottest on record, along with 2024 and 2023. The trend indicates that warming could be speeding up, climate monitoring teams reported.

(Image credit: Bilal Hussein)

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MLK concert held annually at the Kennedy Center for 23 years is relocating

Natalie Cole and music producer Nolan Williams, Jr. with the Let Freedom Ring Celebration Choir at the Kennedy Center in January 2015.

Georgetown is moving Let Freedom Ring, its annual event celebrating the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the historic Howard Theatre in order to save money, the university said.

(Image credit: Lisa Helfert)

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Democrat Elissa Slotkin says she is under investigation for video on illegal orders

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., speaks to a reporter following a vote at the U.S. Capitol on Aug. 1, 2025.

Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin says she is under federal investigation for posting a video urging members of the military not to obey illegal orders.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla)

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