Atomic scientists set their "Doomsday Clock" on Tuesday closer than ever to midnight, citing aggressive behavior by nuclear powers Russia, China and the United States, fraying nuclear arms control, conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and AI worries among factors driving risks for global disaster. The Bulletin of the...
US Judge Threatens ICE Chief With Contempt, Orders Court Appearance
The chief judge of Minnesota's federal court ordered the acting chief of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to appear in court on Friday to personally explain why that agency has not complied with dozens of court orders in recent weeks. In a filing late Monday, Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz said...
US ICE Agents to Support Security at Winter Olympics in Italy, Source Confirms
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel will help protect U.S. delegations at the Winter Olympics in Italy, a U.S. embassy source said on Tuesday, confirming local media reports and prompting anger among some Italian politicians. ICE and Border Patrol agents have come under heavy criticism in the United States...
UPS to Slash 30,000 More Jobs as Amazon Volume Cuts Deepen
United Parcel Service will cut up to 30,000 operational roles and shut another 24 facilities in 2026, the world's largest package delivery company said on Tuesday, as part of a planned shift toward higher-margin shipments. Last year, the company eliminated 48,000 jobs, launched driver buyouts and closed operations at 93...
Why Did California Homicide Rates Drop to Historic Lows in 2025?
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. For the second year in a row, Gov. Gavin Newsom is celebrating California’s declining homicide rate while using it as a cudgel against his political foes. “Your state's homicide rate is 117% higher than California's,” he told a...
Sick of Fighting Insurers, Hospitals Offer Their Own Medicare Advantage Plans
Ever since Larry Wilkewitz retired more than 20 years ago from a wood products company, he’s had a commercial Medicare Advantage plan from the insurer Humana. But two years ago, he heard about Peak Health, a new Advantage plan started by the West Virginia University Health System, where his doctors...
Oil Climbs 1% on US Storm Disruption, Kazakh Oilfield’s Slow Restart
Oil prices rose by around 1% on Tuesday as producers reeled from a winter storm that hobbled crude production and affected refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast over the weekend, with the slow restart of output from the Tengiz oilfield in Kazakhstan further boosting prices. Brent crude futures were up...
Quincy Institute Webinar Examines Iran Protests and Risks of US Military Escalation
The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft hosted a webinar on Jan. 12 examining Iran’s escalating unrest and the risk of U.S. military involvement. Titled "Iran at a Crossroads: Protests, Repression, and the Risk of U.S. Military Escalation," the event addressed the largest wave of protests in Iran since 2009, sparking...
Shutdown Looms as ICE Shootings Spawn Partisan Fight Over DHS Funding in US Congress
The federal government appeared headed for a partial government shutdown this week, with Republicans and Democrats at odds over funding for President Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security after the fatal shooting of a second U.S. citizen by federal immigration officers in Minnesota. Senate Democrats said they would not provide...
AT&T Down for Thousands of Users, Downdetector Reports
AT&T experienced a possible outage Monday, with thousands of users reporting issues, according to Downdetector.com. More than 2,000 users had reported problems with the platform as of 4:45 p.m. PST, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages by collecting status reports from multiple sources. Most users reporting issues say they’re experiencing...