Medicaid may face big cuts and work requirements
WASHINGTON — With Republicans set to control Washington, conservative lawmakers and policy experts who could advise the next Trump administration are discussing long-sought cuts to Medicaid, the government health program that covers roughly a fifth of all Americans and makes up about 10% of the federal budget.
Hacker is said to have gained access to file with damaging testimony about Gaetz
WASHINGTON — An unidentified hacker has gained access to a computer file shared in a secure link among lawyers whose clients have given damaging testimony related to Matt Gaetz, the former Florida member of Congress who is President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to be attorney general, a person with knowledge of the activity said.
Asheville gets drinkable tap water back after Hurricane Helene
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Jeff Watts, 57, barely followed the incremental updates on his city’s water distribution system after Hurricane Helene knocked it offline in September. All he knew was that life in Asheville, North Carolina, had become more difficult and dirty.
Ukraine fired US-made missiles into Russia for first time, officials say
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s military used American-made ballistic missiles Tuesday to strike into Russia for the first time, according to senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials, just days after President Joe Biden gave permission to do so in a major shift of U.S. policy.
A nostalgic Biden fades out of the picture in talks with world leaders
RIO DE JANEIRO — World leaders at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro were discussing plans to confront poverty and war when President Joe Biden acknowledged the obvious — this was most likely his last time attending such an elite meeting.
House Republicans target McBride with Capitol bathroom bill
WASHINGTON — When Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., won her race for the House this month, becoming the first openly transgender person elected to Congress, she knew she would face attacks from hard-right Republicans over her identity.
For minority working-class voters, dismay in Democrats led to distrust
The working-class voters Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign needed were not moved by talk of joy. They were too angry about feeling broke.
SpaceX Starship launch ends with a dramatic water landing
SpaceX’s latest test flight of its Starship vehicle Tuesday got off to a sobering start, as the company was unable to recover the enormous booster stage of the rocket, the most powerful ever built. But about an hour later, the vehicle’s upper stage was more successful with the completion of a daring maneuver to splash down in the Indian Ocean.
Trump plans to nominate Dr. Mehmet Oz to oversee Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would nominate Dr. Mehmet Oz, the author and former television host, to serve as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a powerful agency that oversees health insurance programs covering more than 150 million Americans.
Manhattan DA suggests freezing Trump’s case while he is president
NEW YORK — Manhattan prosecutors on Tuesday rebuffed President-elect Donald Trump’s request to dismiss his criminal conviction in the wake of his electoral victory, signaling instead their willingness to freeze the case while he holds office.
Barnard’s Star finally has a planet, and possibly more
Barnard’s Star is a dim, reddish ball of gas just six light-years away from Earth in the constellation Ophiuchus. It is the nearest stand-alone star to our sun, but with only one-fifth the mass, it is so dim that no one knew it was there until 1916, when astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard recorded its image on a photographic plate.
Biden asks Congress for nearly $100 billion in disaster aid
President Joe Biden urged Congress on Monday to provide nearly $100 billion in “urgently needed” aid for communities ravaged by hurricanes and other disasters in recent months, saying funding for some critical programs has either run out or is nearly exhausted.
Three-quarters of US adults are now overweight or obese
Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, according to a sweeping new study. The findings have wide-reaching implications for the nation’s health and medical costs as it faces a growing burden of weight-related diseases.
Freed from restraints, Ukraine is poised to strike into Russia
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine signaled a new sense of urgency Monday following a decision by the Biden administration to allow long-range strikes inside Russia using U.S.-provided missiles, with Ukrainian politicians suggesting that the first launches would come soon and without warning.
SpaceX Starship’s Sonic Boom Creates Risk of Structural Damage, Test Finds
WASHINGTON — SpaceX’s new Starship rocket far exceeds the projected maximum noise levels, generating a sonic boom so powerful it risks property damage in the densely populated residential community near its South Texas launch site, new data suggests.
How Tulsi Gabbard became a favorite of Russia’s state media
In 2017, when she was still a Democratic member of Congress, Tulsi Gabbard traveled to Syria and met the country’s authoritarian president, Bashar Assad. She also accused the United States of supporting terrorists there.
Trump confirms plans to use the military to assist in mass deportations
President-elect Donald Trump confirmed Monday that he intended to declare a national emergency and use the U.S. military in some form to assist in his plans for mass deportations of immigrants who do not have legal residency status.
Trump’s signature dance move finds its way to the sports world
The first thing to know about the Donald Trump dance craze is that it’s not really a craze. (Not yet, at least.) Nor, to be honest, is it a dance.
The quest to build a star on Earth
The quest for fusion energy — the clean, potentially limitless source that could end mankind’s power woes — began as an answer to an old question, one we’ve been asking since we first raised our heads toward the sky.
New wave of offensive texts targets Hispanic and LGBTQ+ people
A wave of offensive text messages and emails has gone out to Hispanic and LGBTQ+ people in recent days, according to the FBI, coming on the heels of a barrage of racist texts that were sent to Black people in the wake of the election.
