Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sent messages to all members of Congress terminating their positions, stating “Your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment.” All Democratic and independent members of Congress, as well as two Republicans, found themselves locked out of their offices after everything inside had been confiscated.   read more

Microsoft scientists have demonstrated that by analyzing large samples of search engine queries they may in some cases be able to identify internet users who are suffering from pancreatic cancer, even before they have received a diagnosis of the disease. The study suggests that early screening can increase the five-year survival rate of pancreatic patients to 5% to 7% from just 3%.   read more

A Texan who paid $350,000 to kill an endangered black rhino in Africa cannot sue Delta Airlines for refusing to ship his trophy home because it can ship whatever it chooses, a federal judge ruled. Corey Knowlton made headlines in January 2014 when the Dallas Safari Club accepted his bid for a hunt. Despite criticism from animal rights groups and several death threats, Knowlton killed the rhino four months later.   read more

The timing of the donation by Trump is notable because the now presumptive Republican presidential nominee has said he expects and receives favors from politicians to whom he gives money. "When I want something I get it," Trump said. "When I call, they kiss my ass. It's true." AP has reported that then-Texas Attorney Greg Abbott received $35,000 from Trump, three years after his office in 2010 dropped a proposed lawsuit over Trump U. Both Bondi and Abbott have now endorsed Trump for president.   read more

The increase in these secret operations, which put operatives in the middle of purported plots, has little public or congressional scrutiny. Agents have helped people suspected of being extremists acquire weapons, scope out bombing targets and find the best routes to Syria to join ISIS. Defense lawyers, Muslim leaders and civil liberties advocates say the FBI coaxes suspects into doing things they might not otherwise do. “They’re manufacturing terrorism cases,” said former FBI agent German.   read more

The primary ingredient is intended to control diarrhea. But abusers sometimes try to achieve heroin-like highs by taking massive doses, up to 300 milligrams at once. Recommended doses range between 8 mg and 16 mg per day. The FDA warned doctors and patients Tuesday that the drugs can cause potentially deadly heart problems when taken at higher-than-recommended levels. The agency has received 31 reports of people hospitalized, including 10 deaths over the last 39 years.   read more

The wide-ranging bill was more than three years in the making and had support from a broad coalition. It would set new safety standards for asbestos and other dangerous chemicals that have gone unregulated for decades. The rules will impact an $800-billion-a-year industry. Some environmental groups opposed the bill, saying it did too little to protect consumers from dangerous chemicals that have been linked to serious illnesses, including cancer, infertility, diabetes and Parkinson's disease.   read more

"Defendants used explosives, chemical agents (tear gas), flash-bang grenades, and other devices on and around the Lech home in an attempt to flush out Seacat. Sixty-eight cold chemical munitions and four hot gas munitions were launched. ... The interior of the Lech home was a mass of debris and destroyed belongings from the projectiles launched into the home... Chemical munitions or other projectiles were stuck in the walls." The house appeared to have suffered artillery bombardment.   read more

Many more babies die in the United States than you might think. In 2014, more than 23,000 infants died in their first year of life, or about six for every 1,000 born. According to the CDC, 25 other industrialized nations do better than the U.S. at keeping babies alive. Most assume that high infant mortality is because of poor prenatal care. But new evidence is coming to light that contradicts that conclusion. This could change our thinking about the problem.   read more

If you’ve come to rely on opioids for chronic pain, as a growing proportion of older adults has, you may have noticed that the drugs are becoming more difficult to get. How do you balance the need to relieve pain against the possibility that potent, habituating drugs can also sabotage people’s health, particularly when older people are more vulnerable than the young to opioids’ side effects? “It’s this enormous conundrum,” said Dr. McPherson. "We do need to rein this in."   read more

Lawmakers hope to extend a ban on moving detainees to U.S. soil. That would leave the president with no way to make the January deadline. The White House may try to persuade lawmakers that the prison is too costly to sustain. Law professor Kassem said the renewed administration interest in closing the prison is hard to take seriously now: "Those efforts and that kind of resolve should have been shown over the course of the eight years of the Obama administration and not in its final moments."   read more

The Education Dept report found 6.5 million students nationwide were chronically absent in the 2013-14 school year. That's more than one out of every ten students missing at least three full weeks of school. It's the first time the department has collected student absenteeism data. On a positive note, the survey found a significant drop in school suspensions for K-12 students, down nearly 20%. But, the report also suggests sharp disparities between how black and white students are disciplined.   read more

The U.S. Navy imposed a drinking ban on its 19,000 personnel in Japan on Monday, ordering them confined to their bases after a sailor who was thought to have been drinking was arrested on the island of Okinawa in connection with a car accident that left two Japanese civilians injured. The accident occurred at a tense time for the U.S. military in Japan. U.S. forces on Okinawa were already under curfew after a Marine veteran was arrested last month in connection with the killing of a local woman.   read more

Trump was slow to denounce the white supremacist David Duke and talked approvingly of beating up protesters. He has praised Putin and promised to be friends. He would not condemn supporters who launched anti-Semitic blasts at journalists. “This could be one of those moments that’s quite dangerous, and we’ll look back and wonder why we treated it as ho-hum at a time when we could have stopped it,” said Robert Kagan, a scholar at the Brookings Institution.   read more

Some agencies said they thought they were reporting, even though they were not, and some thought they didn't have to file reports because they hadn't investigated any hate crimes. Others that oversee jails might have assumed they were exempt. "If these crimes are never really counted, it's a way of saying they are not important," said Mark Potok with the Southern Poverty Law Center. "For many black people, it's another form of being victimized. It's a way of saying your life doesn't matter."   read more

It's the first time the government has recommended such limits. The guidelines are voluntary, so food companies won't be required to comply, and it could be a year or more before they are final. "It's disappointing that the FDA is only proposing targets and not formal limits, but in this political climate with a Republican Congress and such massive industry opposition, we're gratified that the administration is at least coming out with voluntary targets," Jacobson said.   read more

Few of those interviewed were concerned that video coverage would affect participants' behavior, privacy or security. Instead, the majority of judges and attorneys who spoke to the GAO feared video coverage would result in the media distorting portions of the arguments, especially if a judge's statement is taken out of context. Video-editing distortions of Supreme Court cases could be especially severe, due to the hotly disputed issues the high court handles.   read more