The conventional wisdom is that the Democratic Party has the advantage in the 2026 midterm elections and could become the majority party in one, or both, chambers of Congress. The margin of that anticipated victory is harder to predict.

And the size of a party’s majority makes a difference. To see why, it’s worth looking back to ...Read more

Recently, I moderated a national event that had college students speaking with election officials, something I often find myself doing this time of year. This year, a new question kept coming up: “If I’m voting by mail, can I trust my ballot will actually show up?”

For college students, such considerations have urgency. Many are...Read more

Even if you have never read it, you know the story of Mary Shelley’s second great work of political science fiction after “Frankenstein.” “The Last Man,” published in 1826 but set in the late 21st century, tells the tale of a lethal contagion spread by human conflict and war that sweeps the world and seemingly leaves one sole human ...Read more

Artificial intelligence has revolutionized weather forecasting in just a few years, with global AI weather models now able to produce forecasts that rival some of the world’s best physics-based prediction systems.

This remarkable progress has been driven by three factors: massive amounts of weather data, advances in AI models and ...Read more

Look around you, and you’ll see rare earth elements at work. A phone vibrates because a magnet moves a weight. Its screen was polished with cerium powder. Its connection to the rest of the world crosses oceans on cables amplified with erbium. If you drove today, a rare earth magnet helped you steer, and a cerium compound scrubbed the ...Read more

“Families are messy, aren’t they?” a daughter commented during a series of focus groups I ran with caregivers of older adults with memory issues.

Many people would agree with that sentiment. The complexity can be compounded when caring for someone who has a disease such as Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia that impairs ...Read more

The numbers are clear: Americans aren’t getting enough fiber.

Research has consistently shown that high-fiber diets are linked to significant health benefits, including a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer, as well as improved arthritis symptoms.

Despite these benefits, there remains a significant ...Read more

The Ebola virus is still spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo and threatening neighboring countries, according to the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While there’s been some relief in Congo’s Ituri province where the outbreak began, cases are spreading along the nation’s borders with Uganda, Rwanda,...Read more

Donald Trump welcomes Xi Jinping to Washington for a state visit focused more on pageantry than policy, with low expectations for breakthroughs on long-standing feuds between the world’s biggest economies.

Xi and his wife, former military singer Peng Liyuan, will be greeted by Trump on Wednesday evening, marking the first time in recent ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Mature trees are dying. A bridge is swamped. Historic buildings are at risk.

The source of all the mayhem?

A colony of industrious beavers.

Their persistent dam-building is soaking the small town of Scandia northeast of the Twin Cities, causing floodwater to creep up behind City Hall and encroach on the Swedish immigrant ...Read more

The success of the Trump administration’s blockbuster Venezuela oil deal is riding on fields that are aging, degraded or expensive to access.

The agreement last month with Alejandro Betancourt, an energy mogul with a controversial history, includes 17 fields and gives the US majority control of a huge amount of Venezuela’s oil wealth. ...Read more

On a weekday morning in a quiet Boston neighborhood, a kitchen bustled with activity. Volunteers sliced chicken breasts, stuffed bell peppers, filled trays, and carefully labeled each item. It was part of an experiment to offer nutritious and medically tailored meals to Medicaid patients who are unable to shop for groceries and cook for ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — For Blake Fleischer, an early morning jog in Center City last month began like any other.

But it ended in terror, she said as she recalled running into traffic near City Hall, seeking help as a man wearing a Chucky-style horror mask followed close behind.

“I was extremely terrified,” Fleischer, 40, testified Wednesday in ...Read more

At least a dozen illegal immigrants were reportedly rounded up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in New Bedford this week as Gov. Maura Healey and city officials condemn the operation that’s part of President Trump’s ongoing nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration.

Healey released a statement Tuesday morning slamming...Read more

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado tried three times in the past 24 hours to return home but was unable to complete the journey.

Machado sought to travel from Panama to Venezuela by several routes, according to a person with direct knowledge of her plans. The attempts came as acting President Delcy Rodríguez visited New York ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents detained a California state employee working as a field representative for Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, D-San Francisco, on Thursday as he traveled through Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.

The field representative, Ho Yin Mo, was a young member of Stefani...Read more

European Union officials have told Ukraine they need to see progress on new legislation to curb the shadow economy, bolster tax revenue and move closer to EU law before they’ll dispense more funding.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had a tense meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the United Nations in New York Tuesday...Read more

FRESNO, Calif. — The National Park Service just gave a hint to one possible cause of the Dome Fire, which has been burning near the southern entrance to Yosemite since last week.

Officially, the cause of the fire is under investigation, per daily updates online.

But, the park service on Tuesday, put out a request for information from anyone ...Read more