Inquirer.com – Zurich DR

Category: Nation World News Wires

  • Need for speed? Driving above the speed limit costs you — and doesn’t actually save much time

    Need for speed? Driving above the speed limit costs you — and doesn’t actually save much time

    Speeding in your car to work, to pick up your children from school, or go from one errand to the next not only wastes money in gas and sends harmful emissions into the air, it barely saves you time, new research says.

    It is something to think about as gas prices stay elevated throughout the summer months and add pain to day-to-day driving and seasonal road tripping.

    Instead, abiding by posted speed limits can save U.S. drivers millions of dollars at the gas pump and eliminate millions of gallons of fuel each day, according to a study published Thursday in the Nature journal Communications Sustainability. That is fuel that, when burned, emits planet-warming gases into the atmosphere. To top it all off, changing driving habits wouldn’t even add a full minute to a driver’s commute.

    University of Minnesota researchers analyzed 120 million vehicle trips across the United States from four Wednesdays in 2021 using driving data on national road networks, speed limits and U.S. Geological Survey elevation data. The analysis included roads with speed limits of 45 mph and higher.

    More than 43% of the studied trips included at least one instance of speeding, and drivers spent nearly 12% of their driving time going faster than the speed limit.

    They found that if drivers of light-duty, conventional internal combustion engine vehicles actually drove at posted speed limits, it could save an average of $22 million, based on fuel costs at the time, 6.7 million gallons of fuel, and 57,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide every day. The researchers said that is comparable to taking about 5.5 million passenger vehicles off the road.

    And while drivers say that speeding saves them precious time, researchers found that is not really the case. With an average daily driving distance of 28.6 miles, driving at or below the posted limit corresponds only to about 54 seconds longer per day.

    “If your goal is to shave one minute off your time, then you’ve got to drive fast. If your objective is to get to your destination safely and to save fuel, then you might drive slower than the speed limit,” said William Northrop, mechanical engineering professor at the University of Minnesota and study co-author.

    The research considered battery-electric vehicle efficiency only in California given the level of EV adoption in the U.S. at that time. Based on the California modeling, “We find that driving slower is beneficial for EVs as well,” he said.

    Interestingly, the study found differences among states. Nevada saw elevated speeding prevalence as well as high speed excess. There was high speeding prevalence in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina, though those states did not necessarily exhibit high speed excess. Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and South Dakota showed both low speeding prevalence and speed excess.

    The cost of faster driving today

    Driving faster increases a vehicle’s energy use and the emissions from its engine, as well as reduces efficiency. Vehicle engines have become increasingly more efficient over the past several decades even as vehicles have gotten bigger and more powerful. But speed limits have also climbed since the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act was implemented, which mandated 55 mph national speed limits amid the 1970s energy crisis.

    Accounting for the average cost of gas today and more vehicle miles traveled, that increases to roughly $26 million and 7.2 million gallons of fuel that Americans collectively could save each day this year just by not putting the pedal to the metal.

    One limitation of the research is that slower driving could impact traffic patterns, which could play a role in efficiency.

    However, it is especially timely as U.S. drivers remain price-sensitive to volatile gas prices as the war in Iran has sent the cost for a gallon of fuel above $4 this year. Experts have said there are a number of ways to improve one’s gas mileage, including something as simple as slowing down. Less fuel needing to be purchased because of better efficiency could influence oil market demand, which in turn could impact pricing.

    Rob Middleton, associate research scientist of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan who was not involved in the research, said the study was well-done. But he also noted that the fuel saved from driving more slowly still only represents a fraction of daily gasoline consumption in the U.S., which is about 375 million gallons daily.

    “It’s a big number, but it’s a small fraction,” Middleton said. “This is a ‘freebie’ in that it doesn’t really cost anyone anything to do.”

    “The market penetration of selling EVs is still small, so we still need fuel, we still need ICE [internal combustion engine] vehicles, we’re still going to have them for a very long time,” he added. “Things that we can do to either make the new ones better or to improve our fuel supply, we need to do.”

  • Argentina books trip to second straight World Cup final behind another come-from-behind win

    Argentina books trip to second straight World Cup final behind another come-from-behind win

    ATLANTA — Defending champion Argentina rallied to beat England 2-1 on Wednesday and reach the World Cup final.

    Trailing 1-0 heading into the final five minutes of regulation, Enzo Fernández and substitute Lautaro Martínez scored for Argentina.

    Argentina will play Spain in the World Cup final in East Rutherford, N.J. on Sunday (3 p.m., Fox29), while England will take on France in the consolation game on Saturday (3 p.m., Fox29).

    Anthony Gordon had given England the lead in the first half. Still, Lionel Messi and Co. rallied for the third straight game, winning down the wire now against Cape Verde in the Round of 16, Egypt in the quarterfinals, and now, England, which was just five minutes plus added time of qualifying for their first World Cup final since they won it all in 1966.

    Argentina pushed for an equalizer, and the pressure eventually led to Fernandez scoring in the 85th minute. Martinez headed in the winner two minutes into injury time.

    The game resumed one of the biggest rivalries in international soccer, and there was a raucous atmosphere in the stadium even before kickoff as both sets of fans tried to drown out the other team’s national anthem.

  • Blanche confronts skeptical questioning of fund, tax deal for Trump at Senate confirmation hearing

    Blanche confronts skeptical questioning of fund, tax deal for Trump at Senate confirmation hearing

    WASHINGTON — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche confronted skeptical questioning at a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday about the creation of a fund to compensate President Donald Trump’s allies and a tax immunity deal for the president as he aimed to lock down the Republican support needed to advance his nomination.

    Blanche insisted that the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” which was scrapped after fierce bipartisan backlash, was “not moving forward.” But lawmakers, including Republican Sen. John Cornyn, conveyed concerns that the Trump administration has yet to commit in writing that the fund is dead and could therefore conceivably be resurrected.

    “Just to be clear, the president of the United States, who’s a plaintiff in this lawsuit, has not agreed in writing to delete the ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ and there’s no guarantee that he won’t raise it in the future?” Cornyn asked. Blanche replied that Trump has no power over the fund, which was to have been administered by the Justice Department but never launched.

    Cornyn’s questions were closely watched since Blanche requires the backing of all Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and the Texas senator has not committed his support.

    The hearing arrived at a tumultuous time for the Justice Department, with mass firings and resignations hollowing out the workforce and Democrats and other critics raising alarms that Blanche is still functioning as the president’s personal lawyer. He has led the department on an interim basis since April, functioning as the public face of the maligned and later-withdrawn fund and accelerating investigations into perceived Trump adversaries.

    Even as he said the fund had been shelved, he made clear that immunity from tax audits afforded to Trump this year remained in place.

    Those actions, plus the flawed release of files from the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation, received fresh scrutiny Wednesday.

    “You’re in charge of a Department of Justice I don’t recognize, prosecuting the president’s political enemies, firing rank and file prosecutors and FBI agents,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware told Blanche. “These are some actions that in your previous confirmation hearing before us, you said you would not take.”

    Blanche, for his part, insisted he has presided over a course correction following Justice Department investigations into Trump during the Biden administration.

    “In recent years, we watched the Justice Department turned against many of you and a former president, and it damaged the public’s faith in justice,” Blanche argued. “We are fixing that.”

    Blanche will need the support of each Republican on the panel

    Key to Blanche’s confirmation are Cornyn of Texas, who in May lost his primary, and Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who has opted not to seek reelection. Entering the final stretches of their Senate career, both are seen as more likely than before to split from Trump and both have been outspoken critics of the fund the Trump administration created to compensate people who feel unjustly persecuted by the criminal justice system.

    After questioning Blanche about the fund, Cornyn told CNN he continues “to have some concerns” and is not “going to make any decisions at this point.” Tillis, meanwhile, indicated during questioning that he is likely to support Blanche, even as he said he wanted “to stick a fork in this turkey of a 1776 fund.”

    The death of South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was a member of the committee, level 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats on the panel. A no-vote by even a single Republican on the committee could scuttle his nomination.

    Blanche insists the fund is dead. Lawmakers aren’t so sure

    The fund emerged from a settlement of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax returns. Blanche had initially defended the initiative only to later reveal that it was being scrapped following fierce bipartisan backlash.

    The judge who presided over the case said in a scathing ruling Monday that Trump and his lawyers had manipulated the court system through the lawsuit and subsequent settlement and said she was troubled Blanche had signed the settlement given his prior representation of Trump and was concerned he had given misleading testimony. Blanche said Wednesday that he disagreed “with the judge’s insinuations about me.”

    Blanche also defended a separate element of the settlement that afforded Trump and members of his family protection from tax audits and that, he has said, remains on track despite outrage over it even from Republicans. Blanche said the deal covers any existing audits but does not protect the president from examination of future tax filings.

    “Nobody is above the law,” Blanche said. Such a settlement “doesn’t make any of those individuals above the law.”

    Epstein files are also under scrutiny

    Blanche was also pressed on the department’s staggered release of the Epstein files, a process beset by problems, including redaction errors that left exposed nude photos showing the faces of potential victims.

    During a podcast interview with Joe Rogan released Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance said the administration “absolutely” mishandled the communications surrounding the files, including when then-Attorney General Pam Bondi distributed binders of Epstein documents at the White House to far-right influencers that contained already-public material.

    Blanche acknowledged that “mistakes were made” in the release process but nonetheless defended the work.

    “I want to make sure that the American people know that this administration, when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein, has been more transparent than any administration,” he said. The Justice Department only released additional files after Trump bowed to bipartisan pressure to sign a law forcing the department to do so.

    A former federal prosecutor and key member of Trump’s defense team as the Republican battled four indictments, Blanche arrived at the Justice Department last year as deputy attorney general. At one point, under friendly questioning from Republican Sen. John Kennedy about whether he and Trump are friends, Blanche responded: “I’m his lawyer,” before quickly correcting himself to say he “was his lawyer.”

    He ascended to the top job in April after Trump ousted Bondi, who had frustrated the White House by struggling to bring successful cases against Trump’s political opponents. Blanche has tried to satisfy Trump in that regard, including with an indictment of ex-FBI Director James Comey, another Trump adversary, on charges of threatening the 47th president by posting a social media photograph of seashells in the numerical arrangement of “86 47.”

    Comey has said the numbers were not a call to violence.

    Blanche was also asked about Jan. 6 violence

    Tillis, who has said he would not support for attorney general anyone who equivocates on the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, denounced the Biden administration Justice Department for what he said were excessive prosecutions and punishments.

    Democrats, meanwhile, pressed Blanche on the violence and Trump’s sweeping clemency action benefiting more than 1,500 people, including those convicted of violently attacking police.

    Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse criticized Blanche for comments at a political conference this year where he appeared to characterize the Jan. 6 pardons as an administration accomplishment. Blanche replied that he has “never said that any sort of violence against law enforcement is appropriate.”

    “He has the absolute right to pardon anybody for any reason he sees fit,” Blanche said of the president. “I am not celebrating that. It is a fact.”

  • Hegseth announces policy to test troops for low testosterone

    Hegseth announces policy to test troops for low testosterone

    WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that he is rolling out a new screening program for “testosterone deficiency” among troops, calling it necessary to allow them to operate at their “absolute best.”

    The screenings will be conducted annually as part of service members’ required medical screenings for those 30 and older, he said. Troops under 30 can volunteer to be tested. In a video on social media, Hegseth said receiving testosterone replacement therapy would be voluntary.

    In the video, Hegseth simply refers to troops, though it appears he is talking about only testing men in uniform for hormone irregularities.

    The move comes as other Trump administration officials have begun to advocate for men to have easier access to testosterone replacement therapies, but the messaging from Hegseth and others blends known science on the hormone with broader, and less substantiated, claims.

    When asked about what conditions Hegseth was looking to address with the new policy, the Pentagon referred to Hegseth’s remarks in the video that mentioned keeping troops “strong, resilient, and capable” and that the rigors of the modern battlefield demand “maximum psychological and mental readiness.”

    Over the past several years, special operations troops — and specifically Navy SEALs — have come under scrutiny for their use of testosterone and similar substances to enhance performance.

    The death of a SEAL recruit during training in 2022 led to a discovery of substances in his possession, including testosterone, and revealed far more rampant drug use among the elite program than was previously acknowledged.

    A year after the recruit’s death, the Navy said it would begin a drug-testing program to screen for “any hormonal substance, chemically or pharmacologically related to testosterone, that promotes muscle growth.”

    Hegseth said his new initiative is “not about artificial enhancement.”

    The Pentagon did not respond to questions about what research or academic studies underpinned the move. It also didn’t say if female troops would be able to be evaluated for estrogen-based therapy as they entered perimenopause.

    Testosterone levels in men decline naturally with age and have long been linked to issues like erectile dysfunction, low libido, mood changes, and weight gain. But experts have debated for years how to diagnose those problems and whether they should be treated by replacing the hormone.

    Hegseth’s announcement comes as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other Trump administration officials are moving to make it easier for doctors to prescribe testosterone. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration proposed easing prescribing limits on testosterone gels, pills, patches, and injections.

    The current FDA label specifies that the medications are only for men with hypogonadism, a medical condition that causes drastically low testosterone.

    But many influencers and proponents of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement tout testosterone as a way to look younger, build muscle, and stay mentally sharp — although those uses aren’t accepted by most medical experts.

    Still, recent studies have bolstered the case for testosterone’s benefits, for certain conditions, while allaying worries about its safety — particularly concerns about heart safety.

    Last year, the FDA removed a boxed warning about possible risks of heart attack and stroke from the drugs.

    Separately, a series of studies by the National Institutes of Health in older men found that taking testosterone improved erectile dysfunction, libido, and other sexual measures and had a small effect on mood. But there was little or no improvement in other measures like fatigue, memory or overall well-being.

    Other studies have shown potential improvements in muscle-building, strength and bone density.

    However, current medical guidelines generally recommend against blanket testing of testosterone levels. Typically, doctors are advised to discuss testosterone therapy with men who have troubling symptoms and documented low levels of the hormone on two separate blood tests.

    Testing for testosterone is challenging because levels of the hormone fluctuate throughout the day. Accurate testosterone readings are typically measured in the morning after fasting.

    Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a Pennsylvania Democrat and Air Force veteran, said the “announcement proves that Secretary Hegseth takes direction from the far corners of the manosphere.”

    The congresswoman on the House Armed Services Committee said she hoped testosterone testing “will be available for both men and women and that servicewomen will be afforded access to the same resources to enable them too to be the most elite warriors” on Earth.

    Hegseth has previously said that he does not believe women should hold combat roles and that those positions should be based on the “highest male standard.” He has blocked some military promotions for women or fired female leaders since becoming Pentagon leader.

    He has made other changes related to the medical treatment of troops.

    In April, he announced the repeal of the military’s long-standing flu vaccine mandate, citing “medical autonomy” and religious freedom. In June, a flu outbreak at the U.S. Air Force’s boot camp sickened at least nearly 300 people.

  • ICE should keep making traffic stops despite recent shootings, Trump says

    ICE should keep making traffic stops despite recent shootings, Trump says

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump wants Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to keep pulling over vehicles, signaling his opposition Wednesday to plans announced just a day earlier to suspend most traffic stops following another string of fatal shootings.

    It’s not clear whether ICE will quickly reverse course and resume most stops, which have been a key tool in Trump’s immigration crackdown.

    Ending those stops, Trump wrote, would be “playing right into the criminal’s hands.”

    “We CANNOT give up one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!” Trump wrote Wednesday on his social media site.

    Hours after Trump made his views known, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin issued his own statement saying people illegally in the country would be “arrested and deported wherever they are.” But Mullin didn’t directly say whether ICE officers will be allowed to carry out traffic stops.

    ICE’s enforcement tactics are coming under renewed criticism after three people died during encounters with federal officers within a week. In Florida, a 28-year-old man was killed Tuesday after he was hit by a tractor-trailer while running from immigration and other federal officers, authorities said.

    Before that, two motorists were shot and killed by ICE officers — one in Texas last week and another in Maine on Monday.

    After the Maine killing, Trump administration officials told ICE officers to suspend most vehicle stops, people familiar with the decision said Tuesday.

    Since the immigration crackdown began, federal officers confronting drivers have opened fire several times, saying the drivers’ vehicles had posed a danger. Policing experts have long said that shooting into moving cars presents a danger of its own and should almost always be avoided.

    There have been at least 10 deaths involving encounters with immigration agents since Trump launched his deportation campaign. At least four of them involved people in vehicles, a trend so troubling that Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine urged Department of Homeland Security leaders “to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops.”

    Two shootings in a week, she said Wednesday, “raise very serious questions” and warrant a halt in that approach for the time being.

    ICE has been under pressure to beef up arrest and deportation numbers. It says people being sought are increasingly staying in their homes, and it often blames immigration advocates who advise immigrants to stay in homes unless ICE produces a warrant signed by an independent judge.

    ICE officers say that means they’re forced to find other ways to make arrests.

    DHS says the man killed in Maine came to the U.S. illegally

    More protests are planned after hundreds gathered Tuesday to remember Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, the 25-year-old Colombian national who was shot in his car Monday.

    Karolina Rojas, his partner and the mother of their young daughter, shared a photo on Instagram of the three hugging and smiling.

    “I love you, my darling, my life. I love you. I have no words for this pain. You were my everything. Please watch over me. Help me find the strength to carry on. Stay with me always. Don’t leave me alone. I’m begging you, my love,” she wrote.

    Durán Guerrero illegally entered the U.S. on Sept. 1, 2023, through the southern border, DHS said Wednesday. Advocacy groups said that when he was killed, he was authorized to work in the U.S.

    Sen. Angus King (Ind., Maine) said the Homeland Security secretary told him on Monday that ICE officers were in Biddeford to serve an arrest warrant but that it wasn’t for the person who was shot.

    When ICE tried to stop a vehicle driven by someone who came from a home under surveillance, the “vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon,” the department said.

    It its statement Wednesday, DHS said Guerrero was released into the U.S. after crossing the border.

    The department didn’t answer questions about the agent who shot him.

    Photos showed bullet holes in Durán Guerrero’s car windshield, but the officers involved didn’t have body cameras, leaving many questions.

    Maine shooting puts a spotlight on ICE

    Outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the shooting of Durán Guerrero a targeted killing “at the hands of the U.S. government.”

    In Wednesday’s social media post, Trump told ICE to be “judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job.”

    Border czar Tom Homan told reporters that the investigation needs to play out and that officers will be held accountable if they are found to have acted inappropriately or illegally.

    Maine’s Democratic governor, Janet Mills, said ICE should be scrapped as a federal agency if it can’t be fixed.

    Mills, who has criticized ICE before, said Wednesday that the agency needs changes “before more families are robbed of a loved one.”

  • Biden will publish ‘Promise Me, America’ memoir after the November midterm elections

    NEW YORK — Former President Joe Biden will publish a memoir, Promise Me, America, which he says will touch upon everything from the economy to his decision to drop his bid for reelection.

    The memoir is scheduled to come out Nov. 17, publisher Little, Brown and Company told the Associated Press. The timing of the book — two weeks after midterm elections in which Democrats seek to regain control of Congress — could raise concerns within Biden’s party by putting him back into the spotlight.

    Democrats remain divided on Biden’s legacy, with many blaming his ill-fated determination to seek a second term for Republican President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Leaders hope to keep the fall campaign focused on Trump and his record, and any leaks or promotional efforts before votes are cast could draw frustration.

    “Promise Me, America is about the challenges we faced as a nation. It’s about the decisions I made and why I made them,” Biden said in a video statement accompanying Wednesday’s announcement. “It’s about why I chose to run for reelection and why I chose to step aside.”

    This book cover image released by Little, Brown and Co. shows “Promise Me, America” by Joe Biden.Uncredited

    Reports of Biden’s book have circulated for more than a year, and the former president himself has referred to it during public remarks, appearing to suggest it would be released before November’s election.

    Biden, who will turn 84 three days after the publication of Promise Me, America, has long presented himself as an upholder of standards and traditions; presidential memoirs are one of them. With a handful of exceptions, modern presidents since Harry Truman in the 1950s have published books about their White House years. Like virtually all of his predecessors, Biden did not work on the book alone but was helped by a “small editorial team,” according to the publisher. Little, Brown declined to release financial details for Promise Me, America, although presidents have usually reached deals worth at least seven figures.

    The book’s title echoes a 2017 memoir by Biden, Promise Me, Dad, which centered on the death of his son, Beau Biden.

    Vowing as a candidate to “restore the soul” of his country, Biden was sworn into office in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to stop his certification as president. Biden’s term was defined by a wide range of conflicts and achievements, from his handling of wars in Ukraine and the Middle East to the passage of ambitious infrastructure and economic aid bills. But many readers will likely want to know more about his health while president, including the disastrous debate in June 2024 against Trump that led to his giving up his reelection bid. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who ran instead, lost decisively to Trump.

    Former first lady Jill Biden wrote in her own book that her husband seemed so weak and disoriented during the debate that she feared he was having a stroke. In View from the East Wing, published in June, she noted that the White House had initially said he was suffering from a cold.

    “The biggest lesson for us, I think, was that if you don’t explain something well enough then the question won’t go away,” she wrote. “There was never a satisfying enough explanation offered for Joe’s debate performance, and a lot of people never got over it.”

    Biden was the oldest man to serve as president and his health was a source of speculation for much of his term; Biden and his White House advisers have faced intense criticism from Democrats and Republicans for allegedly concealing the extent of his problems. A notable book release from 2025, Jake Tapper’s and Alex Thompson’s Original Sin, was subtitled “President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.”

    That year, Biden announced he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

    Biden’s previous books also include Promises to Keep, a campaign work published to boost his run for president in 2008, when Barack Obama was the eventual nominee and Biden his running mate. Promise Me, America comes out during a year when nonfiction sales have declined and few political books have caught on, although recent bestsellers have included Vice President JD Vance’s Communion and an inside account of Trump’s second term, by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, Regime Change.

    A Little, Brown spokesperson said that Biden plans to tour on behalf of the book and give interviews. In his video announcement, Biden said that many people had been asking him how he was doing.

    “I’ve been spending a lot of time with my family. I’m dealing with a cancer diagnosis, been getting treatment, and it’s going really well,” he said. “I want to thank all those who have offered their prayers and support and well-wishes. It’s meant the world to me and to Jill.”

  • Senate Democrats block $1 trillion defense bill in protest over Iran war

    Senate Democrats block $1 trillion defense bill in protest over Iran war

    WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats blocked a $1 trillion annual defense bill Tuesday, refusing to advance the bipartisan package that would substantially increase Pentagon spending, including a pay raise for the troops, in protest of President Donald Trump’s war against Iran.

    Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced his opposition and other key Democrats said they could not support the annual bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, as the war drags into a fifth month with no clear endgame in sight. The tally was 50-46, failing largely along party lines to reach the threshold needed.

    “The NDAA cannot become a permission slip for that recklessness that we see occurring in Iran,” Schumer, of New York, said ahead of voting.

    “Donald Trump does not get to drag the American people deeper into a war he cannot explain and does not know how to end — and then demand that Congress look the other way.”

    The Senate vote comes a day after the White House formally notified Congress that it had resumed bombing strikes against Iran, effectively undoing the fragile ceasefire in the U.S.-Israel led conflict that has resulted in economic disruptions, including volatile gas prices, ahead of the midterm elections.

    Congress has tried repeatedly to slap guardrails on the administration, voting more than 10 times on various war powers resolutions that would halt hostilities. But those efforts have not succeeded, and most Republicans in the House and Senate majorities back Trump.

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune called the defense package a good bill and implored his colleagues to provide the resources to ensure the U.S. is kept safe.

    “We have an obligation here in Congress to ensure that they have everything they need for whatever the mission may be,” he said.

    After the bill failed to advance, Thune switched his vote in a procedural move that will allow the leader to bring it back up for consideration again later.

    For decades, Congress had made sure to approve the annual defense bill each year, setting the policy and direction for the department and authorizing the funds that would later be allocated to carry out its investments in systems, supplies, and missions.

    This year, the 66th annual NDAA is running into a double whammy of opposition. Lawmakers are fuming over Trump’s military action against Iran and resisting the White House request to substantially increase Pentagon spending to $1.5 trillion, up from about $900 billion last year.

    The sizable boost of funds aligns with the White House’s 2027 budget request as the Trump administration seeks a generational investment to modernize the Defense Department, which it refers to as the Department of War under Secretary Pete Hegseth.

    Hegseth was scheduled to meet later Tuesday evening with House Republicans as Congress considers providing additional money through a separate budget reconciliation bill the party can pass on its own, overpowering the opposition from Democrats.

    The White House has requested $350 billion from Congress under the budget reconciliation process, but House GOP leaders have indicated it is likely to be a much smaller amount, more in line with $87 billion the White House requested last month as supplemental funding for Iran.

    But Republican deficit hawks are skeptical of the big budget numbers, despite support for the war within their ranks.

    The extra defense funding comes on top of the additional $150 billion Republicans already provided the Pentagon last year under Trump’s big tax breaks bill that some say has not been spent or fully accounted for.

    At the same time, senators want to impose restraints on Hegseth if he fails to comply with their demands for more information about department procedures and accounts.

    The Senate bill would block the secretary’s travel funds unless he provides reports they have requested, including one on a deadly Iran school strike at the start of the war.

    Democrats, however, are pushing for further limits in line with a war powers resolution that would force the cessation of military actions.

    Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D.,Ill.), a veteran who flew helicopter combat missions in Iraq, said she would oppose the bill unless it included her amendment to end the war.

    “Simply throwing more money at an out-of-control military operation is not strategy. It’s a recipe for a forever war.”

  • Supreme Court justices tell Congress their safety is at risk and more must be spent on security

    Supreme Court justices tell Congress their safety is at risk and more must be spent on security

    WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett told lawmakers Tuesday that a sharp increase in threats targeting her and other justices is increasingly encroaching on their personal and family lives.

    During a rare appearance by justices before Congress, Barrett said she had to wear a bulletproof vest home a few years ago, something she struggled to explain to her 12-year-old son.

    “I didn’t expect that performing this service would put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was, why I had to wear one,” she said.

    She and Justice Elena Kagan testified before a House appropriations panel in support of a request to increase security funding for members of the nation’s highest court.

    Judges around the country have seen a rise in threats of violence and intimidation. Barrett’s home was also targeted by a fake swatting call to police in May.

    The hearing comes two weeks after the conservative-majority court finished handing down a series of major opinions, including a decision that increased President Donald Trump’s power over federal regulatory agencies and another that rejected his wide-ranging tariffs, sparking harsh personal criticism.

    It’s the first time justices have testified before Congress since 2019, and the two justices faced wide-ranging questions about the court’s work.

    Security is central to budget request

    The Supreme Court requested a total of $228 million for next fiscal year, a roughly 10% increase over the year before. About $18 million of that is for maintaining the building and grounds.

    Much of the requested increase, $14.6 million, would go to expanding personal protection for justices, with six more agents for each.

    An additional $2 million would fund an off-site residential security post aimed at making emergency responses faster, as well as increasing the number of Supreme Court police officers.

    The U.S. Marshals Service, responsible for protecting judges, reported 564 threats in the government fiscal year that ended in September, an increase from the year before.

    That total includes threats to the hundreds of federal judges around the country, though the nine-member Supreme Court has not been immune.

    In May, Barrett’s security detail worked with police to quickly deal with the call determined to be swatting, or a fake 911 call designed to provoke a police response. Last year, her sister was the victim of a bomb threat in Charleston, S.C., police said. No bomb was found.

    In 2022, shortly after the leak of a draft opinion overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion decision, a would-be assassin was arrested near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh with weapons and zip ties. Threats to the Supreme Court increased after that leak, and have continued to grow, Kagan said.

    Chief Justice John Roberts has condemned the threats to all U.S. judges, saying during a speech in March that criticism of judicial opinions is understandable, but personally directed hostility is “dangerous, and it’s got to stop.”

  • As cyclospora illnesses surge to a record, Michigan officials eye lettuce as a possible link

    As cyclospora illnesses surge to a record, Michigan officials eye lettuce as a possible link

    NEW YORK — Infections from the diarrhea-causing parasite cyclospora are surging, with state-level data suggesting that 2026 is already the nation’s worst year for reported cases.

    More than 30 states have reported infections this year, and current data from them shows the number of infections surpassing the record U.S. mark of about 4,700 set in 2019. The illness is not usually life threatening and is typically treated with antibiotics.

    Health officials have not yet definitively identified what is causing the infections. But in Michigan — where more than 3,300 cases have been reported — officials say early information points to lettuce or salad greens as a possible culprit.

    After conducting more than 1,000 interviews with patients, “early information has shown lettuce as a common product that regularly comes up during the investigation,” said Natasha Bagdasarian, the Michigan health department’s chief medical executive.

    Because of that commonality and because produce has been behind some past cyclospora outbreaks, Michigan officials advised consumers to buy whole heads of lettuce, discard the outer layers and thoroughly wash what’s left. They also suggested people avoid bagged lettuce and pre-mixed salad kits.

    On Tuesday, the Taco Bell restaurant chain issued a statement saying it had “voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and follow the guidance of public health authorities.”

    Cyclospora is a microscopic, spherical parasite that commonly causes watery diarrhea “with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Outbreaks tend to occur most often in the late spring and summer.

    The heat-loving parasite infects the bowels and spreads through feces. In the past, people have been infected by consuming fruits or vegetables that were exposed to feces-contaminated irrigation water.

    The illness, called cyclosporiasis, is less common than foodborne illnesses caused by other germs, including salmonella and E. coli. Many cases are never linked to a specific food or other source and, for years, few U.S. cyclospora outbreaks were reported. But the number started rising about a decade ago, with a particularly notable spike in 2018 and 2019.

    Experts say it’s likely that cyclospora cases historically were underreported, in part because some common tests used to check for food poisoning have not been geared to detect cyclospora. They attribute the increasing trend in cases to climate change and better detection.

    The worst year in the U.S. for infections was 2019, when about 4,700 illnesses were reported, according to federal data on confirmed and suspected cases.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keeps those numbers, but they traditionally lag what’s posted by individual city and state health departments dealing with local outbreaks in real time. On Tuesday, CDC officials issued a health alert that said that since May 1, the agency is aware of 1,645 confirmed domestic cases and more than 5,100 that require further analysis to confirm whether the infections were acquired in the U.S. The reports come from 34 states, the CDC said.

    The federal alert did not detail how many reports came from each state. But Michigan officials have reported more than 3,300 cases, officials in northwest Ohio said they have seen more than 1,100, New York City officials counted more than 400, and Illinois reported more than 200.

    Officials do not think all can be tied to a common source. In Illinois, for example, more than half the people with infections said they had travel outside the United States, and at least some may have been infected elsewhere.

    But Michigan officials believe a large share of their total is likely due to a linked domestic outbreak.

  • E. Jean Carroll is paid $5.6M in Trump sex abuse and defamation case

    NEW YORK — The writer E. Jean Carroll has collected over $5.6 million that a jury awarded in her sexual abuse and defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump, court records and her lawyers said.

    The payment — representing the $5 million jury award, plus interest — was made Monday from an account where it had been held in escrow since the 2023 verdict, according to court records. Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, confirmed the payment Tuesday.

    “We are pleased to report that she has received the damages payment,” Kaplan said in a statement.

    Trump’s lawyers have vowed to continue appealing.

    Trump deposited the money in an escrow account shortly after the jury ruled against him. The U.S. Supreme Court recently let the civil verdict stand, clearing the way for Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to release the money.

    Trump’s lawyers then sought but were denied an emergency order to block the payment. The one-sentence denial set no conditions on how Carroll may use the money. Her lawyers have said in court papers that she plans to put it in a retirement account.

    Trump’s attorneys have since filed another appeal seeking to stop or reverse the payment.

    The jury found Trump attacked Carroll in 1996 in a New York luxury department store dressing room and defamed her after she told the story publicly in a memoir in 2019, during his first term as president.

    Trump insisted nothing sexual happened between him and Carroll, now 82, a former advice columnist. Trump claimed she was “totally lying” and “not my type” in a 2019 interview. He said he didn’t know her, dismissing a 1987 photo of them and their then-spouses at a party as inconsequential, and he accused her of harboring political motives and trying to sell books at his expense.

    Trump didn’t attend the trial, where Carroll testified that their flirtatious and friendly chance encounter at the department store turned violent.

    Carroll sued Trump after New York changed its laws to give sexual abuse survivors a fresh chance to sue over attacks that happened in the distant past.

    Trump is also appealing $83 million in defamation compensation granted to Carroll by a separate Manhattan jury after a 2024 trial where Trump briefly testified.

    The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they have been sexually abused. Carroll has agreed to be named.