Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema Flipped a GOP Seat. But Don’t Expect a Cookie-Cutter Democrat
The Senate race in Arizona was a battle of who could buck party the most and who could hold out hope the longest. The open seat, vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, went into overtime for almost a week until Monday evening when the Associated Press called the race and Republican Rep. Martha McSally conceded to her rival. Democratic lawmaker Kyrsten Sinema is expected to move her of...
3m Nov 13, 2018
3m
Wisconsin School Investigating Photo of Boys Making Apparent Nazi Salute
(BARABOO, Wis.) — A Wisconsin school district is investigating a photo of a group of high school boys giving what appears to be a Nazi salute, drawing a strong rebuke on social media. Baraboo Superintendent Lori Mueller said she became aware of the photo Monday after it was posted on social media. The photo of more than 60 male students dressed in suits, some wearing boutonnieres, shows many w...
3m Nov 13, 2018
3m
The Militarization of the U.S.-Mexico Border Is Not a New Idea
This post is in partnership with the History News Network, the website that puts the news into historical perspective. A version of the article below was originally published at HNN. President Trump has said that as many as 15,000 U.S. troops could be deployed to the border with Mexico as approximately 3,500 migrants from mainly Honduras make their way north. His critics were incensed, saying ...
7m Nov 13, 2018
7m
Matthew Whitaker’s Appointment Is the First Big Test for House Democrats
Democratic lawmakers won't be sworn in until Jan. 3, but they're already facing the first test of their new House majority: the future of oversight of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe. After President Donald Trump announced he was appointing Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general, key Democratic lawmakers swung into action, sending letters to Administration officials demanding answe...
5m Nov 13, 2018
5m
House Republicans Are Facing a Brain Drain of Legislative Leaders
For all of the firsts coming to Washington when the Democratic House members-elect arrive here this week for orientation, there may be an equally significant seismic shift among Republicans’ lasts. Fifty Republican House members decided to call it quits this year, opting to pursue other political gigs or just retire rather than face a potentially bruising re-election. On top of that, at least ...
5m Nov 13, 2018
5m
This Secret Smartphone Feature Can Help You Write Text Messages Much More Quickly
Sorry to tell you this, but you repeat yourself quite a bit. You may not be telling the same Christmas party story on repeat, but you are probably writing the same text message to your friends or family over and over, caught in a loop forever giving the same answer to questions like “Have you left the office yet?" It’s worse when the messages you’re endlessly duplicating are part of your job, a...
5m Nov 13, 2018
5m
An Armistice Ended Fighting in World War I a Century Ago. Real Peace Took Longer
The following is adapted from the LIFE special edition World War I: The Great War and the American Century From where he stood at the moment the Armistice began, Harry Truman could see a German machine gunner. At 11 a.m., the man took off his helmet, bowed, and walked away. Truman wrote that “a great cheer arose all along the line.” When he tried to go to bed that night, “members of the French...
6m Nov 12, 2018
6m
Is It Right to Blame World War I’s Treaty of Versailles for the Rise of Hitler?
Just over a week after the beginning of World War II in September 1939, a letter appeared in the Richmond Herald — a locally produced newspaper in Surrey in England’s Home Counties — whose author posed the thorny question: “Who was responsible for the 1914 war?” As far as the letter writer was concerned, time had “proved” that no single nation was responsible for the 1914-18 war.
6m Nov 12, 2018
6m
Everything’s a Secret When You’re on the Set of Fantastic Beasts
Swearing the entire cast and crew of a film to secrecy is hard. But when it's a massive movie like Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, with some 700 people and 1,000 costumes--including 400 coats alone--it's next to impossible. All precautions are taken: characters are given code names, minute details are protected by nondisclosure agreements, and digital scripts are encrypted and disa...
5m Nov 12, 2018
5m
John Oliver Says Trump’s E.P.A. ‘May as Well Be Run by a Sentient Piece of Coal’
For the penultimate episode of this Last Week Tonight season, John Oliver returned to a favorite topic: Donald Trump, "a man whose presidential library could conceivably exhibit a Razzie Award" thanks to his appearance in the film Ghosts Can’t Do It. In the film, Trump plays a businessman who made a "kissy face" at Bo Derek that Oliver insists is the "single most disgusting thing that has ever ...
3m Nov 12, 2018
3m
Most Teachers Lost the 2018 Midterm Elections. They're Celebrating Anyway
The teachers who launched historic walkouts in red states last spring failed to transform their state legislatures on Tuesday, and most of the teachers who ran for office, fed up with education cuts, lost at the polls. But educators are still celebrating some major gubernatorial victories and bipartisan signs that the pro-public education movement created by teachers has staying power.
9m Nov 12, 2018
9m
Meet the Chinese MMA Fighter Taking on the Grandmasters of Kung Fu
Fighters aren't usually the blushing type. But Xu Xiaodong can't hide his embarrassment when asked about his latest battle scar, a three-inch crimson railroad track that snakes over his right eyebrow. It was caused, he says, by an overzealous opponent's knee at a recent training session, during which Xu grappled with four younger mixed-martial-arts (MMA) fighters in quick succession. "I was tir...
14m Nov 12, 2018
14m
Diego Luna on Narcos, Mexican Cinema and the Conflict at the Border
The actor and humanitarian takes on a violent chapter of his home country's history as a notorious drug lord in Narcos: Mexico Why is now the right time to tell the story of how Mexico's drug war started? There's an urgency to stop this violence in my country. It's impossible to understand how things got this bad if we don't look back. This particular time [in the mid-1980s] defines a lot of ...
4m Nov 12, 2018
4m
Here’s When Your Body Burns the Most Calories, According to a New Study
Everything from your workouts to your sleep schedule can influence how many calories you burn throughout the day. And according to a small new study, there may be a time of day during which your body naturally burns the most calories. That's likely thanks to circadian rhythms, which control the body's internal clock and sleep and wake cycles. These rhythms can also influence calorie burning, a...
5m Nov 12, 2018
5m
She Took on Silicon Valley Giants. Now Margrethe Vestager Is Preparing for Her Final Act
As I arrive to meet Margrethe Vestager, she is bounding down the long corridor outside her Brussels office toward a group of German teenagers just leaving her office. "I forgot to offer you these!" Europe's Competition Commissioner says, handing them a box of chocolate-covered licorice from her hometown of Copenhagen. "You have to try this." As she races back to her office, one student gazes af...
9m Nov 12, 2018
9m
Prescription Doses of Fish Oil May Lower Heart Attack and Stroke Risk
Omega-3 fatty acids, abundant in fish oil, are known to be good for the heart. Studies have shown that people who eat more fish rich in these fats have lower rates of heart problems and less risk of dying from heart disease compared to those who eat less. Those data have fueled a booming business in over-the-counter fish oil supplements.
6m Nov 12, 2018
6m
An Australian Woman Was Charged With Hiding Sewing Needles in Strawberries
A 50-year-old woman was handed seven charges Monday for lacing strawberries with needles in a food scare that has panicked Australia since September, Reuters reports. Across all six Australian states, nearly 200 complaints were made of sewing needles found in strawberries and other fruits, rocking the $116 million strawberry industry after consumers avoided the fruits at supermarkets. Some gro...
2m Nov 12, 2018
2m
This CEO Is Pushing a Pill For Female Sex Drive. But Does the Science Hold Up?
There are two schools of thought about pink. One is that it is the color of bubble gum and Barbie. Cindy Eckert's view is that it is the color of business. It is a dominant presence at the offices of her Raleigh, N.C., venture-capital firm, the Pink Ceiling, a fund that advertises its main goal as "to make women really f-cking rich." It's an even more dominant presence on Eckert, who defies peo...
12m Nov 11, 2018
12m
President Trump Faces Backlash After Cancelling World War I Ceremony Appearance Due to Rain
President Trump is facing backlash after calling off a visit to a World War I memorial cemetery on Saturday because of the rain. Trump is currently in France, commemorating 100 years since the end of World War I. He and the First Lady were scheduled to visit the Aisne-Marne American cemetery in Belleau and participate in a wreath-laying ceremony.
2m Nov 11, 2018
2m
Fish Oil and Vitamin D Supplements May Not Help Prevent Heart Attacks and Cancer, Study Says
There’s good evidence that fish oil supplements may lower the risk of second heart events — like a heart attack or stroke — in people with heart disease, but few rigorous studies have investigated whether the supplement can help people to lower their risk of having a heart event in the first place. And while some data suggests that people with lower levels of vitamin D tend to have higher rates...
5m Nov 11, 2018
5m
How a Divided Congress Can Actually Get Along
With Democrats winning control of the House of Representatives, the question now is whether the next Congress will prove more or less productive for those of us who want to forge commonsense solutions to America’s big problems. Despite what has swiftly become conventional wisdom that the two parties are destined to be at loggerheads for the next two years, the new arrangement could actually be ...
5m Nov 11, 2018
5m
At Eternity’s Gate Shows Us the Vincent van Gogh We Never Knew
There are things we know for sure about Vincent van Gogh: that he suffered from mental-health issues, that he cut off his left ear in 1888, that in some form or another his paintings--reproduced on coffee mugs, museum-shop scarves and laptop sleeves--bring many people at least moderate joy every day. At Eternity's Gate, Julian Schnabel's delightful, mournful film about van Gogh's last years, s...
2m Nov 11, 2018
2m
The Trans-Pacific Trade Deal Survives, But the U.S. and China Matter More
After months of delays--and one very public withdrawal--the trans-Pacific trade deal officially has a start date. The rechristened Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership will come into force on Dec. 30, thanks to a herculean effort by Japan and its Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. On Oct.
4m Nov 11, 2018
4m
The Mysterious Story of the Last American Soldier to Die in World War I
The last American to die in World War I didn't really want to fight in the first place — which makes his decision to run ahead toward enemy lines all the more confusing. Henry Gunther died at 10:59 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918, less than one minute before the end of the Great War. But it was only one year earlier that Gunther had been demoted after military censors intercepted a letter he sent home t...
5m Nov 11, 2018
5m
Florida’s Vote Counting Controversy Spells Trouble for 2020
The midterm elections are not yet over, and neither is the acrimony. With extremely close statewide races for governor and senator in Florida, frustration has grown over the fact that two of its largest urban counties have lagged behind the rest of the state in counting votes has boiled over, with implications for the 2020 presidential election. The trouble started when the Florida Senate rac...
12m Nov 10, 2018
12m
Democrats Had a Better Election Night Than It First Appeared
The "blue wave" took a little longer to crest than usual, but after several days of vote counting it looks like Democrats beat the historical average for the midterm elections. With more races called since Election Night, Democrats have netted 30 seats in the House and are leading in five others. The midterms mean the White House, on average in all 25 non-presidential cycles in the last centu...
4m Nov 10, 2018
4m
A Century After Armistice, the American Popular Memory of World War I Is Still Shaped by Snoopy
This post is in partnership with History Today. The article below was originally published at History Today. The millions of readers of the Peanuts comic strip first encountered Snoopy as the First World War Flying Ace in 1965, when Charles Schulz drew the lovable beagle pretending his doghouse was a Sopwith Camel biplane. Dressed in scarf and goggles, Snoopy imagined that he flew in hot pursu...
7m Nov 10, 2018
7m
He Almost Died Doing One of the Riskiest Jobs in Firefighting. Inside the Lives of California’s Wildfire Bulldozer Operators
Andrew Carter’s bulldozer wasn’t supposed to move. Perched on a ridge in the Angeles National Forest in Southern California just hours after the Creek fire sparked on Dec. 5, 2017, the veteran firefighter parked the bulldozer he was operating to build a strong containment line to stop the fire’s path. Gusts of wind brought in smoke and haze from the fresh inferno, and, within seconds, he could...
8m Nov 10, 2018
8m
The Quick Read on Jeff Sessions’ Resignation as Attorney General
What Happened This Week: Less than 24 hours after U.S. midterm elections wrapped up, Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned at the request of President Donald Trump. Sessions’ chief of staff Matthew Whitaker was asked to take the helm of the Justice Department until a new Attorney General is confirmed by the Senate. Cue the political firestorm.
3m Nov 10, 2018
3m
Macron Seizes Historical Moment to Redefine His Presidency in Opposition to Trump
The French, who pioneered classical ballet, are familiar with the pas de deux, the intricate dance where two people circle and entwine each other center stage. This weekend it will be President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron lacing up their slippers, as the U.S. President returns to France for global celebrations marking the centenary of the end of the First World War. For th...
6m Nov 10, 2018
6m
The True Story Behind Outlaw King: What to Know About Scottish Independence Hero Robert the Bruce
Warning: Contains spoilers for the movie Outlaw King Increasing anxiety about the U.K.'s preparations for leaving the European Union has some Scots talking about how, in a world of Brexit, they might be able to actually pull off independence.
19s Nov 10, 2018
19s
Some Democrats Don't Want Nancy Pelosi to Be Speaker. But They Don't Have an Alternative
The same day that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sent personalized letters to every member of her caucus, both current and incoming, “respectfully requesting” their support for her bid for speaker, a small group of Democratic lawmakers were on a conference call working to ensure that candidacy didn’t become a reality. But while the math arguably could work at the moment in favor of Pelosi'...
6m Nov 10, 2018
6m
Redder. Bluer. Trumpier. America Is About to Be Even More Divided
By the time Nancy Pelosi took the stage at the Hyatt Regency in Washington on Election Day, it was nearly midnight and the panic had passed. After an evening of equivocal results and occasional heartbreak, the House Democratic leader was there to assure the cheering crowd that their party had won, and she was the proof: Democrats, she said, "have taken back the House for the American people!" ...
23m Nov 09, 2018
23m
This Kid From Brooklyn Could Return America to Chess Dominance for the First Time Since Bobby Fischer
Fabiano Caruana did not start playing chess in Brooklyn, New York when he was five years old because his mom thought he'd be a future grandmaster, or that he'd one day play for the World Chess Championship, just like fellow Brooklynite Bobby Fischer did back in the early 1970s. No, Caruana's mom thought chess would calm him down and keep him focused in school. "I was having trouble with concen...
7m Nov 09, 2018
7m
These Are the Victims of the Borderline Bar Shooting in California
At least 12 people were killed when a Marine combat veteran opened fire in a busy Southern California bar late Wednesday night, making Thousand Oaks, Calif. the latest city left grieving in the aftermath of a mass shooting. The victims include a sheriff’s deputy who charged onto the scene, as well as a Navy veteran who survived last year's massacre at a Las Vegas country music festival. At lea...
8m Nov 09, 2018
8m
Why the Midterm Results Should Concern You Regardless of Which Party You Support
As the partisans clear through the rubble, the results of the 2018 midterm elections should deeply disturb all Americans who care about representative democracy no matter their politics. That’s because despite the Democrats’ approximately seven-point win of the percentage of votes cast, Democrats look likely to win only 37 seats.
6m Nov 09, 2018
6m
How That Viral Video of a White House Reporter Messes With Your Mind
A terrible thing did not happen in the White House press room on Wednesday. In a sudden non-attack in front of a roomful of non-horrified witnesses, CNN reporter Jim Acosta did not lunge at, strike or place his hands "on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern." It would be a very bad thing if that had happened. But it didn't. So that's good.
7m Nov 09, 2018
7m
How the End of World War I Brought the Beginning of Drone Warfare
While their counterparts in France were locked in stalemate during World War I, British troops protecting oil resources in the Persian Gulf were anything but. They pushed north against the Ottoman Empire, taking Baghdad in 1917. They routed the Ottomans at Mosul in October 1918. The news of their adventures boosted British morale. And they built an occupation administration as they went, even ...
8m Nov 09, 2018
8m
One Person Was Killed in a Stabbing Attack in Melbourne, Police Say
One person was killed and two others injured following a stabbing spree in Melbourne, Australia on Friday that police say they are treating as a terrorism incident. Law enforcement officers responding to a car fire in the city's central business district were "confronted by a male brandishing a knife and threatening them," Victoria police superintendent David Clayton told reporters Friday. "Th...
2m Nov 09, 2018
2m
White House Moves to Bar Some Migrants From Obtaining Asylum in the U.S.
The Trump administration announced a new immigration rule Thursday that will block migrants from seeking asylum if they fail to cross the U.S. border at an official port of entry. The sweeping move is part of the administration's ongoing effort to restrict migration. Drawing on national security powers, the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice issued a fast-track rule barring immigrant...
3m Nov 09, 2018
3m
Fewer American Adults Are Smoking Than Ever Before
Smoking rates among U.S. adults have hit an all-time low, according to new federal data. Approximately 14% of American adults said they were smokers last year, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While that's still a significant number, encompassing about 34 million Americans, it's the lowest rate recorded since the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) beg...
3m Nov 09, 2018
3m
‘There Has Been a Change in the Mood.’ Britain’s Vince Cable Leads the Charge to Reverse Brexit
London has a reputation for bad weather, but on Oct. 20 at about midday, the sky was a perfect blue. That was good news for Vince Cable, the leader of the U.K.’s centrist Liberal Democrats party. Buoyed by the lack of rain, he and roughly 700,000 others marched on the Houses of Parliament to call for a “People’s Vote,” or second referendum, on Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union.
7m Nov 08, 2018
7m
Jeff Sessions Just Resigned as Attorney General. Here’s a Timeline of His Rocky Relationship With President Trump
President Donald Trump forced Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign Wednesday, a long-anticipated development in a relationship that has grown increasingly rocky during the past two years. While Sessions was an early supporter of Trump's candidacy, their relationship suffered early in Trump's presidency when Sessions recused himself from investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 pres...
12m Nov 08, 2018
12m
Why a Sunny Pacific Island Is Banning Sunscreen
The Pacific archipelago of Palau is regarded as one of the best diving locations in the world, with hundreds of varieties of fish and coral found within its reefs. In an effort to protect those natural treasures from harmful chemicals, Palau recently became the first country to ban many types of sunscreen.
3m Nov 08, 2018
3m
Many High-Stakes Midterm Elections Are Still Too Close to Call. Here’s What You Need to Know
Anticipation over several high-stakes midterm elections across America will carry into the next following days—and perhaps weeks—in a handful of states where tight races have gone into overtime. Some of the most closely watched midterm elections races in Georgia, Florida, Mississippi and Arizona were too close to call as of Wednesday afternoon. Those races could head to a recount or runoff, in...
7m Nov 08, 2018
7m
Trump Is Not Getting Away With Saying 'I Don't Know Who Lil Jon Is'
President Donald Trump is catching flak for saying that he doesn't know who Lil Jon is despite the fact that the rapper appeared on two seasons of his reality TV show Celebrity Apprentice. After a reporter questioned Trump on Wednesday about a number of instances in which he was accused of using racist rhetoric, including a Celebrity Apprentice incident involving Lil Jon, the president denied ...
2m Nov 08, 2018
2m
FBI Offers Reward for North Carolina Girl, 13, Abducted Before School
An Amber Alert has been issued for a 13-year-old North Carolina girl who was spotted being forced into a relative's car in front of her home as she was waiting to be picked up for school. The FBI's field office in Charlotte reports that Hania Noleia Aguilar went missing just before 7 a.m. on Nov. 5 in Lumberton, North Carolina.
2m Nov 08, 2018
2m
White House Revokes Press Credentials for CNN’s Jim Acosta After a Heated News Conference
(NEW YORK) — The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after he and President Donald Trump had a heated confrontation during a news conference. They began sparring after Acosta asked Trump about the caravan of migrants heading from Latin America to the southern U.S. border. When Acosta tried to follow up with another question, Trump said, "That's eno...
6m Nov 08, 2018
6m
12 Dead in Mass Shooting at Crowded Bar in Thousand Oaks, California
At least 12 victims were killed and 10 to 12 wounded when a gunman opened fire at a crowded bar during college night in Thousand Oaks, California late Wednesday. The gunman is also dead. Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean said a gunman entered Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks about 11:20 p.m. and opened fire. Ventura County sheriff's patrol Sgt. Ron Helus, was fatally wounded after he...
2m Nov 08, 2018
2m
How Late Night Beat TV News at Its Own Game After the Election
TV news is a circus on Election Night. In one ring, you’ve got every channel’s designated wonk poking at a map; in another, a parade of victory and concession speeches streams in from around the country. And at center stage, there’s the obligatory panel of bellowing pundits, with some hapless anchor as ringmaster.
6m Nov 08, 2018
6m