International

International


Trump’s health agency urges therapy for transgender youth, not broader gender-affirming health care

President Donald Trump’s administration released a lengthy review of transgender health care on Thursday that advocates for a greater reliance on behavioral therapy rather than broad gender-affirming medical care for youths with gender dysphoria. The 409-page Health and Human Services report questions standards for the treatment of transgender youth issued by the World Professional Association […]

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Musk defends his work as he prepares to wind down at DOGE but gives hazy answers on future

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk, preparing to step back from his work leading the Department of Government Efficiency, had a request of the reporters gathered at the White House to interview him: Before he would answer any questions, he wanted someone to tell him a joke. The tech billionaire’s request in the Roosevelt Room on […]

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Appellate court won’t lift restrictions on DOGE access to Social Security information

A federal appeals court says it won’t lift restrictions on the access that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has to Social Security systems containing personal data on millions of Americans. The full panel of judges on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 9-6 to keep the ruling from U.S. District Judge Ellen […]

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Investigators don’t know who leaked a Wisconsin Supreme Court draft abortion order

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Investigators concluded in a report released Wednesday that the leak of a Wisconsin Supreme Court abortion order last year was likely deliberate, but they were unable to determine who was responsible. The June leak of a draft order showed the court would take a case brought by Planned Parenthood, which is […]

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Amnesty says Indonesia suppresses free speech with crackdowns on public protests

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Amnesty International criticized Indonesia’s government Tuesday, saying it suppresses free speech with crackdowns on public protests, targets journalists and rights activists and uses spyware against dissidents. The rights group said in its annual report on Indonesia that public protests “were met with excessive and unnecessary force and arbitrary arrests,” including in […]

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Power outages across Spain and Portugal affected millions. How to prepare for a major blackout

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — An unprecedented blackout across Spain and Portugal upended the lives of millions across the Iberian Peninsula, a stark reminder of modern society’s reliance on electricity, and how quickly life can descend into chaos when the grid goes down. Power was nearly completely restored across the region on Tuesday, but the cause […]

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Iowa governor sues the Des Moines Register to stop request of emails she claims are protected

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s governor on Friday sued the Des Moines Register over the newspaper’s open records request, asking the court to validate her office’s withholding of certain emails she claims are protected. A Register reporter submitted a records request in February to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office, according to the complaint. In response, […]

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Slovaks rally to condemn legislation they say would harm nongovernmental groups

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Protesters rallied in Slovakia’s capital and several other cities Thursday to condemn legislation approved by Parliament that they say could curb free expression and hamper the work of nongovernmental organizations. People who gathered at Bratislava’s Freedom Square compared the measure to Russia’s “foreign agent” law, which has been criticized as repressive, […]

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Trump science cuts target bird feeder research, AI literacy work and more

Ashley Dayer’s dream of winning a National Science Foundation grant to pursue discoveries in bird conservation started when she was an early-career professor with an infant in her arms and a shoestring laboratory budget. Competition is intense for NSF grants, a key source of funding for science research at U.S. universities. It took three failed […]

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A 5-year-old was murdered by her father. Her fateful custody hearing will be made public

The public has a right to hear audio recordings from the custody hearing of Harmony Montgomery, a 5-year-old New Hampshire girl who was murdered by her father and vanished in 2019 after being placed in his care, the highest court in Massachusetts ruled Wednesday. The father, Adam Montgomery, was found guilty in her death last […]

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Student loans in default will be sent for collection. Here’s what to know for borrowers

NEW YORK (AP) — Starting next month, the Education Department says student loans that are in default will be referred for collections. Roughly 5.3 million borrowers are in default on their federal student loans and soon could be subject to having their wages garnished. Referrals for collection had been put on hold since March 2020 […]

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Inside the investigation, seizure and death of Peanut the social media star squirrel

New York environmental workers who came with a warrant looking for Peanut the squirrel found the scampering social media star on a bathtub. His housemate, Fred the raccoon, was in a suitcase in a bedroom closet. Soon after the Oct. 30 seizure, both animals were euthanized and Peanut became a martyr – held up as […]

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