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Will voters in the upcoming Nov. 3 election face a voter intimidation campaign like New Jersey voters faced in 1981?  Backyard Production, iStock/Getty Images Plus

Armed poll watchers: New Jersey’s 1981 racist voter intimidation campaign is a cautionary tale ahead of 2026 midterms

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In the history of voter suppression in the United States, including attempts to stop Black and Latino people from voting, Republican tactics in the 1981 New Jersey gubernatorial race stand out.

That November, voters in several cities saw posters at polling places printed in bright red letters: “WARNING. This area is being patrolled ...Read more

Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Putin is spending a record $200 billion on the war this year

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Russia’s military spending is on track to hit a record this year after Vladimir Putin added almost $60 billion to the outlays set out in the budget.

The Russian president ordered the dramatic shift for the war in Ukraine late last year after concluding that talks with the U.S. in Alaska were not going to lead to an acceptable deal to end the ...Read more

Win McNamee/Getty Images North America/TNS

Red-dyed diesel order unlikely to stem red ink from high prices

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WASHINGTON — A White House bid to address sky high fuel prices by allowing temporary expanded use of untaxed diesel will have a limited impact on businesses and consumers feeling the pain at the pump, experts say.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order while at a Nebraska campaign event on Monday allowing the sale of red-dyed diesel...Read more

Tony Karumba/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Ebola death tests Kenya's border screening and disease defenses

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For weeks, a Kenyan man infected with Ebola kept moving, undetected.

He traveled through several cities in Democratic Republic of Congo, made the roughly nine-hour road journey from Beni to Uganda’s capital of Kampala, spending a night there. On Oct. 3, he boarded Jambojet flight 8523 from nearby Entebbe to Nairobi. By the time he reached a ...Read more

Tropical Storm Isaias forms, forecast to intensify to strong hurricane, threaten Florida

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Tropical Storm Isaias formed Wednesday morning with the National Hurricane Center forecasting it to intensify close to a Category 3 storm before bearing down on the Gulf coast and threatening Florida.

As of the NHC’s 5 a.m. advisory, the center of Isaias was located about 285 miles west of Progreso, Mexico and 580 miles southwest of the mouth...Read more

Tropical Storm Isaias forms, expected to become dangerous Cat 2 hurricane

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Tropical Storm Isaias is forecast to quickly strengthen into a hurricane on Thursday and remain a “dangerous hurricane when it makes landfall,” according to the National Hurricane Center.

“Hurricane watches will likely be required for a portion of the U.S. northern Gulf coast later today,” the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday in...Read more

Amanda Watford/Stateline/TNS

Kratom, 7-OH laws diverge amid the spread of potent synthetic products

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For years, the psychoactive compound kratom has been sold across much of the United States as an herbal supplement, available in powders, capsules and extracts with few of the restrictions applied to controlled substances.

But the market is changing. Products containing a potentially dangerous kratom derivative known as concentrated 7-...Read more

A second wind: new nasal spray flu vaccine to boost immunity of aging lungs

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BALTIMORE — A single dose of a new nasal spray influenza vaccine can breathe new life into older lungs while providing broad protection against multiple influenza strains, researchers reported.

In trials with mice, the spray, which combines a boost of manganese ions and another immune-stimulating molecule, gave older mice a powerful immune ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Federal judge in Miami strikes down congressional ban on noncitizen voting

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A federal judge in Miami has struck down a decades-old federal law barring people who are not U.S. citizens from voting in federal elections, ruling that Congress overstepped its constitutional authority by imposing a voter qualification that belongs to the states.

The decision comes as the Trump administration has made non-citizen voting a ...Read more

Primary voters are much older, somewhat better educated, less racially diverse and wealthier than other eligible voters.    CJ Gunther/Getty Images

This year’s primary elections showcase some of the problems with US electoral system

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The last 2026 primary elections were held on Sept. 15 in Delaware. Although totals are not yet available, there is evidence that turnout was higher than in most prior election years.

This year’s primaries were also the most competitive in recent history; 13 congressional incumbents were defeated, the largest number since the 1950s ...Read more

A growing share of people wear a tracking device to bed, hoping it can tell them something about how they slept. andreswd/E+ Collection via Getty Images

Does your sleep tracker get it right? A Pittsburgh neuroscientist weighs in

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On a typical night, I go to bed wearing a tracking watch on one wrist and another type of tracker on the other wrist. Then I compare their sleep findings while I drink my morning coffee.

I direct the Center for Modern Digital Health at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where my team and I study how to use wearables to improve ...Read more

Some people believe the Durupınar formation is the fossilized remains of Noah's Ark. Mfikretyilmaz via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

Why people keep looking for Noah’s Ark in a natural rock formation in Turkey: A scholar of early Christianity explains

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A team of researchers from Sivas Cumhuriyet University in Turkey is investigating a long-standing claim: that a boat-shaped geological formation in the country’s east contains the remains of Noah’s Ark.

In the biblical Book of Genesis, God decides to destroy the world with a flood. Following God’s instructions, Noah builds an ...Read more

Patient advocacy emerged from a growing focus on individual rights and protections.
              Jacob Wackerhausen/iStock via Getty Images Plus

What is a professional patient advocate, and why might you need one?

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Imagine your mom has just been discharged from the hospital to a rehabilitation center after hip replacement surgery. She has the paperwork, the facility’s address – and a long list of questions. Will her insurance cover her entire rehab stay? Does she have enough pain medication until she gets settled? Will the hospital transfer her ...Read more

A manuscript with the text of the letter Cristopher Columbus wrote in February 1493, giving his account of the first voyage to the Americas. Archivo General de Simancas/Spanish Ministry of Culture via Wikimedia Commons

Columbus’ own writings reveal how tightly religion and conquest were intertwined from the start

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Few historic figures are as divisive as Christopher Columbus. For some, in both Spain and the United States, he remains a great hero, an explorer who found a “new world.” He is reviled by others who see him as an arrogant conqueror: the first European to enslave Indigenous Americans, and the man who launched ecological destruction in the ...Read more

Several flu vaccine options are available, including a new one that's mRNA-based, the first of its kind.  NurPhoto/Getty Images

Flu season is near – here’s a guide to available vaccines

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The number of people sick with flu is starting to increase across the United States, with health authorities warning that in some western regions of the country, the 2026-27 flu season may be off to an early start.

Health authorities often advise people to get their flu vaccine by the end of October – but as an epidemiologist ...Read more

Nancy Lane/Boston Herald/TNS

Lt. Gov. Driscoll defends Gov. Healey's energy executive order, blame of Trump

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Lt. Gov. KIm Driscoll defended the executive order signed by Gov. Maura Healey on Monday aimed a providing emergency energy relief for Massachusetts ratepayers by suspending a charge tied to state climate mandates for three months.

Healey declared a state of emergency as she announced her executive order, which will remove the SMART program ...Read more

Corey Schmidt/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Audit says telework rules need better clarity for California state workers

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Two managers at the California State Controller’s Office were the subject of an audit released this month outlining improper actions after they regularly teleworked from out of state. The finding prompted auditors to recommend the Legislature clarify remote work policies in state law.

The allegations come after the California Department of ...Read more

Win McNamee/Getty Images North America/TNS

Gavin Newsom orders threat monitoring after Trump says 'let them take out Los Angeles'

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Comments by President Donald Trump at a Nebraska political rally interpreted by some as a suggestion Iran could “take out” Los Angeles or San Diego prompted a backlash in California.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday on X that he has directed the State Threat Assessment Center to monitor for any possible threats to California following the ...Read more

Joe Johnston/San Luis Obsipo Tribune/TNS

ICE detains 17 in Central Coast swarm targeting workplaces, college campus

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Federal immigration agents reportedly detained more than a dozen people on Monday, in an operation that targeted a community college campus, workplaces and neighborhoods.

At least 17 people were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Santa Maria and Guadalupe on Monday, according to data collected by 805 UndocuFund, a ...Read more

Joe Johnston/San Luis Obsipo Tribune/TNS

What's the policy when ICE is on campus? Here's what California law mandates

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained the father of a student at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria on campus grounds Monday morning.

In September, ICE agents detained a San Diego City College student only steps away from the building where he takes classes, prompting the college to install signs saying immigration ...Read more