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Cardinals Robert McElroy, Joseph Tobin and Blase Cupich issued a statement on U.S. foreign policy on Jan. 19, 2026. Gregorio Borgia/Gregory Bull/AP Photo

What is and isn’t new about US bishops’ criticism of Trump’s foreign policy

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In recent weeks, Catholic leaders have been increasingly outspoken in their criticism of the Trump administration’s foreign policy, especially its military intervention in Venezuela and saber-rattling over Greenland.

On Jan. 19, 2026, the three cardinals heading U.S. archdioceses – Blase Cupich of Chicago, Robert McElroy of ...Read more

Two-thirds of Americans are very worried about being able to pay for their health care.  Morsa Images/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Why is US health care still the most expensive in the world after decades of cost-cutting initiatives?

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In announcing its “Great Healthcare Plan” in January 2026, the Trump administration became the latest in a long history of efforts by the U.S. government to rein in the soaring cost of health care.

As a physician and professor studying the intersection of business and health, I know that the challenges in reforming the sprawling U...Read more

There is growing support for electoral reform in the U.S. PeterSnow/Getty Images

‘Proportional representation’ could reduce polarization in Congress and help more people feel like their voices are being heard

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In the face of widespread pessimism about the political fate of the United States and growing political polarization, scholars and citizens across the country are reimagining how American democracy could better serve the needs of the whole population.

In an October 2025 poll, a slight majority said that radical change is needed to ...Read more

Leaders of Native nations and representatives of the United States have signed many treaties over the centuries, including the 1851 Treaty of Traverse des Sioux. ullstein bild via Getty Images

Green or not, US energy future depends on Native nations

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The Trump administration’s drive to increase domestic production of fossil fuels and mining of key minerals likely cannot be accomplished without a key constituency: Native nations.

The U.S. has 374 treaties with 574 governments of sovereign nations inside the United States’ borders, governing 2.5% of the country’s territory, ...Read more

Sean Gallup/Getty Images Europe/TNS

Project Iceworm: A Cold War plan to hide nukes under ice explains Greenland's distrust of Trump

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As the threat of nuclear war loomed during the Cold War, the U.S. Army hatched a top secret plan to conceal hundreds of missile launchers on rail lines hidden beneath the thick ice sheets of Greenland.

In case of a Soviet attack, nukes dispersed in thousands of miles of cut-and-cover tunnels could be launched within 20 minutes. The name for the...Read more

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/TNS

US Cancer Institute studying ivermectin's 'ability to kill cancer cells'

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The National Cancer Institute, the federal research agency charged with leading the war against the nation’s second-largest killer, is studying ivermectin as a potential cancer treatment, according to its top official.

“There are enough reports of it, enough interest in it, that we actually did — ivermectin, in particular — did engage ...Read more

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California wanted to buy e-bikes for residents. Glitches, funding short-circuited the effort

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LOS ANGELES — Amid a statewide push to take cars off the road and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, California embraced a novel alternative: electric bicycles.

The thinking went that the devices, which have grown increasingly popular in recent years, would give residents a feasible alternative to driving to work, the grocery store, or to visit...Read more

K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Navy interested in expanding shipyard capacity in San Diego to remain battle ready

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SAN DIEGO — Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said this week he wants to explore whether San Diego shipyards can expand their ability to repair and maintain warships to help the fleet remain battle-ready in the sometimes volatile Indo-Pacific and Middle East.

Caudle also said he’s trying to figure out ways to reduce the need to ...Read more

Anthony Soufflé/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

As Minnesota cracks down on fraud, some lawful social service providers struggle to survive

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MINNEAPOLIS — The call Kathy Messerli received from a home care agency last week was wrenching: a woman with dementia sat alone at home without the supervision of aides, garbage and unpaid bills piling up.

The vulnerable Minnesotan is one of dozens languishing as their Medicaid-funded services succumb to financial pressures — a product, ...Read more

FBI/TNS

Person detained south of Tucson for questioning in Nancy Guthrie investigation

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A person was detained for questioning in the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping case Tuesday during a traffic stop south of Tucson, Arizona, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. The detention came hours after FBI officials released surveillance footage showing a masked individual approaching the 84-year-old’s front door the morning she ...Read more

Heather Diehl/Getty Images North America/TNS

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna names 6 men in Epstein files, calls for tech elite who visited island to be investigated

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Congressman Ro Khanna stood on the House floor Tuesday and revealed the names of six powerful men — most of them not widely known — he implied were implicated but improperly blacked out from newly released case files on late financier and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Khanna, a Silicon Valley Democrat, and Republican Rep. Thomas ...Read more

Tom Gralish/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Local leaders and activists demand the return of slavery exhibits to the President's House Site in Philadelphia

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PHILADELPHIA — The Black activists and community members who brought the President’s House Site into being are not letting its history be removed quietly.

A couple hundred supporters and local leaders organized by the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition rallied at the President’s House Site on Tuesday afternoon to demand the restoration of ...Read more

Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Silicon Valley mayor gets Sergey Brin, Caruso backing in governor run

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A group of billionaires, including Sergey Brin, is backing San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s campaign for California governor, as Silicon Valley flocks to support the former tech entrepreneur and his centrist platform countering the state’s liberal establishment.

Besides the Google co-founder, Mahan’s campaign received donations from David ...Read more

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump bridge threat came after Lutnick met rival crossing owner

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President Donald Trump’s threat to block a new bridge from Detroit to Canada followed a meeting between his Commerce Secretary and a billionaire who owns an existing border-crossing bridge just miles from the new span, according to two people familiar with the matter.

On Monday evening the president said on Truth Social he’d prevent the ...Read more

Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Federal judge keeps in place key parts of Illinois' landmark law banning some credit card swipe fees

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In a decision that banks and credit unions have already said they will appeal, a federal judge on Tuesday ruled key provisions of Illinois’ first-in-the-nation law banning certain credit card fees can go into effect.

Passed in 2024 and set to take effect this July, the law bans certain so-called swipe fees on the tax and tip portions of ...Read more

Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Newsom's budget shrinks climate and natural resources funding

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Overall funding for key climate and resource programs would drop sharply under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed 2026‑27 budget, the Legislative Analyst’s Office’s new analysis found.

The LAO’s analysis shows that total proposed spending for California Natural Resources Agency, California Environmental Protection Agency and California ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

LA County officials push new sales tax to offset Trump administration health care cuts

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LOS ANGELES — L.A. County voters will be asked this June to hike the sales tax rate by a half-cent to soften the blow of federal funding cuts on the region's public health system.

The county Board of Supervisors voted 4 to 1 Tuesday to put the sales tax on the ballot. County officials estimate it would generate $1 billion per year to ...Read more

California Department of Fish and Wildlife/California Department of Fish and Wildlife/TNS

Sleek, lithe and extremely rare: This elusive California fox has finally been GPS-collared

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The stunning Sierra Nevada red fox is one of the nation's rarest and most critically threatened mammals with fewer than 50 believed to remain in the Sierra. And now, for the first time, a specimen has been successfully GPS-collared and released back into the region — marking a major victory for conservation efforts to protect the elusive ...Read more

Jenny Berg/Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Charges filed in stabbing death of Minnesota gubernatorial candidate's daughter

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ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The husband of 22-year-old Hallie Tobler was charged Tuesday with stabbing her to death in their St. Cloud residence.

Tobler is the daughter of Republican gubernatorial candidate Jeff Johnson, who suspended his campaign Monday in the wake of Tobler’s death.

Dylan M. Tobler, 23, was charged with one felony count of second...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker urges Democratic governors to confront Trump, seek accountability for immigration actions

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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Tuesday he is asking fellow Democratic governors to convene and discuss ways to hold President Donald Trump and his administration accountable in the courts for their aggressive immigration enforcement actions — even if that accountability comes after the president is scheduled to leave office in 2029.

While ...Read more