Dr. Dubin was included in a 2025 New York Times investigation into skin substitutes, bandages manufactured out of dehydrated placentas that cost thousands of dollars per square inch but have not been found to help most wounds heal any better than regular bandages.

Medicare paid nearly $15 billion for skin substitutes in 2025, a spike that analysts have called one of the largest examples of waste in the federal health program’s history.

After the Times investigation, the Trump administration sharply cut reimbursement rates for skin substitutes. Spending on the products has since plummeted to $100 million so far this year.

Dr. Dubin described his business in an interview with The Times in 2025. He said that he purchased bandages from Legacy Medical Consultants, a large skin substitute manufacturer, at a steep discount. He was able to keep that discount after receiving payment from Medicare.

“They float out a percentage, it’s usually 60/40 — they’re getting 60, you’re getting 40,” he said then, referring to the portion of the Medicare reimbursement.

According to the new charges against Dr. Dubin, he submitted “sham invoices” to Medicare that “did not reflect the 40 percent kickback.”

Dr. Dubin did not immediately respond to a phone call requesting comment.

A Legacy Medical Consultants executive was charged in June with “offering illegal kickbacks, bribes and rebates” to health care providers that used the company’s skin substitutes. The Justice Department estimates that the Legacy executive earned $24 million from the scheme.

Dr. Dubin is also charged with applying skin substitutes unnecessarily to patients who were not good candidates for the coverings, including those who had infected wounds and those who were not helped by prior treatments.

The Justice Department said Dr. Dubin used his Medicare earnings to finance a lavish lifestyle that included the commissioning of multiple multimillion-dollar yachts.

Dr. Dubin said in 2025 that he used skin substitutes only when they were necessary. But he also described facing increasing competition for patients as strong financial incentives to use the bandages drew in more providers. He retired in 2024, in part because the wound care market in Las Vegas became too crowded.

“It’s lucrative, and it’s low risk,” he told The Times last year. “You’re not going to get sued for putting a membrane on somebody.”

The post Justice Dept. Charges Doctor in $95 Million Skin Substitute Fraud Scheme appeared first on New York Times.

But Mr. Trump stopped short of asking Mr. Miller to step aside, and the congressman made it clear he had no intention of doing so, according to two people familiar with the call who spoke about the confidential conversation on the condition of anonymity.

The president, who endorsed Mr. Miller in May, has yet to publicly withdraw his support, leaving other Republicans reluctant to do so themselves.

The exchange, which was reported earlier by Axios, has left the G.O.P. in a bind as officials scramble to figure out how to protect a House seat that the party cannot afford to lose in the midterm elections, with a headstrong candidate and a fast-approaching deadline to get him out of the race.

If Mr. Miller were to drop out by the end of the day on Tuesday, there would be a special primary election to replace him on the ballot. Otherwise, Ohio law suggests he would need to resign by Friday to trigger a meeting of state party chairs, who would have to choose a new candidate by Monday.

The tight time frame has transformed what up until recently had been a family feud between two of the state’s most powerful families into a political crisis that has forced Republican officials to consider picking sides.

The drama, which has played out for months in court and in dueling media appearances and leaks, has pitted Mr. Miller, 37, against his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, 32, who has accused him of abusing her and their toddler daughter. Mr. Miller has denied the claims and said that Ms. Moreno, the daughter of Senator Bernie Moreno, also an Ohio Republican, is mentally unstable, accusing her of stalking and lying about him and endangering their daughter.

The concern from the highest levels of the Republican Party is not personal but political. The approaching ballot deadline has focused fresh attention on Mr. Miller’s case, including court filings that detail Ms. Moreno’s charges that he held a gun to her head, scalded her with water and fractured their daughter’s collarbone.

Mr. Moreno, who had initially made little in the way of public statements about the matter, issued a blistering one on Sunday calling his former son-in-law unfit for public office. But few other Republican leaders have openly criticized the congressman over the accusations, even as they privately worry that the scandal could put Ohio’s Seventh Congressional District at risk.

The district, which stretches from the Cleveland suburbs to Amish country, is solidly Republican. But with anti-Trump sentiment sweeping the country, it is not a lock, especially given that Mr. Miller’s Democratic challenger, Brian Poindexter, is a union ironworker who could appeal to working-class voters.

White House officials have been strategizing on how to most effectively prod Mr. Miller to withdraw. They have also explored possible replacements should Mr. Miller exit the race, according to a person familiar with the conversations.

Jane Timken, a state senator and former state party chair who unsuccessfully sought the G.O.P. nomination for Senate in 2022, has been floated as a possible alternate — though she has made clear that she does not want the job.

Mr. Miller, though, has insisted in private and public that he can still win a third term, and angrily rejected any suggestion that he step aside. He broadcast a lengthy livestream over the weekend in which he appeared agitated as he denied the allegations against him. On Tuesday, after having spoken with Mr. Trump, he announced that he would open an ethics investigation into himself “to clear my name from these horrific attacks on myself and family.”

Not long afterward, the House Ethics Committee said in a statement that it was “reviewing allegations that Representative Max Miller may have engaged in domestic violence and abuse or illegal drug use.”

A long paper trail of court filings, including for dueling restraining orders, as well as a file that Mr. Miller released on Sunday in an apparent effort to clear his name, paint the picture of an increasingly ugly family dispute in which each side has gone to great lengths to make the other look as violent, unstable and dishonest as possible.

The back-and-forth is full of tragic details, including a story that Mr. Moreno told on Tuesday at the Capitol, in which he said he had once picked up his granddaughter at a police station and that Mr. Miller had refused to hand over her favorite stuffed blue bunny.

Also on Tuesday, Ms. Moreno’s lawyers pointed to a picture of the couple’s toddler that had been included in the file Mr. Miller posted on Sunday and accused him of publishing an image that could be considered child sexual abuse material, noting that it had been viewed at least 204,000 times before it was removed.

A lawyer for Mr. Miller said the inclusion of the photograph was a mistake and that he had taken it down, according to Punchbowl News.

On the ground in Mr. Miller’s district this week, there was little sign of the chaos sweeping the race and alarming Republicans at the highest levels. Mr. Miller showed up on Monday at a county fair, where he campaigned before a hog show and among constituents who mostly said they had not heard about the week’s developments.

Local officials also stayed mostly silent about the race. Three of the four Republican county chairs in Mr. Miller’s district did not respond to questions on Monday about whether they supported his candidacy. Matt Miller, the chairman of Ashland County and the mayor of Ashland, said he “did not have a final opinion on the matter.”

Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio, a Republican, told a reporter for Signal Ohio on Tuesday: “I’m not going to weigh in on it. These are very serious allegations that he vehemently denies.”

Vivek Ramaswamy, another Republican who is in a competitive race for governor, did not respond to inquiries about Max Miller’s situation. And Senator Jon Husted, who is facing his own tough race to keep his seat, told Newsmax on Tuesday only that he hoped “the president’s intervention can help move things along.”

Behind closed doors, however, some local officials were working to figure out how to compel Mr. Miller to step aside, according to two people briefed on the conversations, and what would happen if he did. They had come to the conclusion that only Mr. Trump himself had a chance of changing Mr. Miller’s mind.

Former Representative Jim Renacci, a Republican and former small-town mayor who represented a House district that covered much of the same area from 2011 to 2019, said he had been fielding calls about stepping in to seek the seat.

“I am convinced of this: The only person that would have a chance, and might not even have a chance, is me,” he said from a bench in downtown Wadsworth on Monday night, citing his name recognition in the district and the difficulties of running a potentially short race. “And even when I think of it, it would be a daunting challenge.”

Mr. Renacci also stopped short of saying that Mr. Miller should withdraw.

At the Medina County Fair, where Mr. Miller appeared on Monday, the Republican Party booth was advertising his picture next to a sign that said “RE-ELECT.”

Volunteers declined to discuss his campaign, saying only that they were praying for him.

Across the aisle, at the Democratic Party booth, volunteers were registering voters.

Tyler Pager contributed reporting from Washington.

The post Dismissing Trump’s Warning, Max Miller Won’t Step Aside Amid Abuse Claims appeared first on New York Times.

On his “Legal AF” podcast, Popok highlighted President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump’s apparent silence on the matter.

Popok referenced former White House communications director Stephanie Grisham’s book, which contained an unnamed chapter about a boyfriend who physically abused her; Miller later self-identified as the subject.

“She didn’t name him by name, but it was obvious who she was talking about,” Popok said.

Grisham described “terrible physically abusive things” as she was leaving the relationship. Miller allegedly admitted to the abuse, according to a 2023-2024 Washington Post op-ed.

Popok also believed Melania allegedly advised Grisham to report Miller to police, yet remains notably silent despite calling for action on other scandals.

The legal expert criticized the apparent inaction, noting Grisham cited political concerns as her reason for not reporting Miller, fearing an abuse scandal would damage the Trump administration’s election campaign.

The silence contrasts sharply with Melania’s previous public positions on other controversies.

“If Grisham is telling the truth, and who are you going to believe, Melania Trump or Grisham at this point? And Melania encouraged her to go to the police, then where is she now? It’s a deafening silence. It’s a roar.”

Watch the video below.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

The post Legal expert questions White House’s silence on GOP senator’s abuse allegations appeared first on Raw Story.

Crimson Moon Launches September 1, 2026

A new post on the PlayStation Blog has confirmed that Crimson Moon will be joining the very crowded September release calendar. The upcoming action-RPG will feature brutal melee combat, replayable hunts and challenging boss encounters at launch.

As part of the launch reveal, the team confirmed that Crimson Moon is launching on September 1. The announcement went on to also share some new details about the two-player online co-op.

While Crimson Moon is fully playable solo, every hunt can also be tackled in two-player online co-op.

“Co-op isn’t simply about having another player dealing damage. Every hunt dynamically scales between solo play and two-player co-op, ensuring encounters remain challenging however you choose to play. Whether you’re coordinating Weapon Arts, experimenting with different builds, or standing shoulder-to-shoulder against towering bosses, co-op adds a whole new layer of teamwork to every hunt.”

In addition to the co-op details, the Blog post also focused on making the pitch that PlayStation is the best place to play Crimson Moon. Players on PlayStation 5 Pro can take advantage of native support for upgraded PSSR, helping deliver a sharper image as you explore the blood-soaked streets of Gildenarch and battle the horrors lurking within.

Crimson Moon launches for $19.99, while Crimson Moon: Deluxe Edition will be available for $29.99. Every PlayStation player – whether they choose the Standard or Deluxe Edition – will receive the exclusive Sonai Magistrate Armor Set at launch.

Although the PlayStation Blog post was obviously focused on the PS5 and PS5 Pro pitch, the game will also be available on PC and Xbox Series consoles at launch.

For those who aren’t familiar with Crimson Moon yet, the plot is described as:

“You are Nephilim: a human-angel hybrid forged to defend humanity with supernatural powers. Fight solo or with a friend to annihilate demons and challenge brutal bosses in relentless melée combat. Rise, violent one. The prophecy is yours to fulfill.”

The $19.99 entry point could help make this title stand out in the late summer and early fall, if it has some strong reviews and positive word of mouth buzz to go along with it.

Be sure to check back soon for lots more news and updates as the Crimson Moon release date approaches.

Crimson Moon arrives on September 1, 2026 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles.

The post Crimson Moon Release Date and PS5 Exclusive Content Revealed appeared first on VICE.

Luckily, the festival organizers issued refunds before news broke that the event was canceled. The refunds arrived through email in late July, but there was no further explanation attached other than “unforeseen circumstances.” And it doesn’t look like fans are going to get more information any time soon, since the festival’s social media pages and website were quickly deactivated.

Fans took to Reddit to discuss the bizarre events unfolding. Many expressed their relief that at least they got a refund for the tickets. One fan noted that a support email they sent to the festival organizers came back as “invalid.”

Fans Are Starting to Think Yours Always was a Sham, Express Relief That Refunds Came Through

A few fans in the subreddit for rising alt-pop darling Sombr noted that the whole situation seems “way shady.” There’s the consolation that they got refunds, and Yours Always wasn’t totally a scam. But it’s still a disappointment when an exciting event gets canceled, especially a brand new music festival that never had a chance to get its feet under it.

“I’m just glad I got my money back and hadn’t surprised my kids. They don’t know we had tickets,” one fan noted. Another shared that they bought their girlfriend a ticket to Yours Always, seeing it as an opportunity to catch more artists they both liked. After selling their ticket for Benson Boone’s tour stop in Wyoming, the music festival was canceled.

“Feel like this was a giant grift or something, like it was never going to actually happen,” the user wrote. Another person claimed that there were billboards advertising the festival around Salt Lake City, which made it seem legitimate. After this experience, a lot of people feel otherwise.

Some of the promotional material for the festival is still floating around, however. A June 2026 report from Melodic Magazine includes the lineup poster. In addition to Benson Boone and Sombr, there was Stephen Sanchez, Joshua Bassett, Isabel Dumaa, Labrinth, Børns, The Hellp, and more.

Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

The post Fans Convinced This Canceled Utah Music Festival With Benson Boone, Sombr Headlining Was Actually a Sham appeared first on VICE.

• Paramount Skydance’s financial backers may soon owe billions to WBD shareholders.
• The trial for Paramount’s proposed merger with WBD will start on March 2, a federal judge ruled.
• Paramount agreed to pay WBD investors about $7 million per day that its deal isn’t closed, starting September 30.

David Ellison and his billionaire father may need to get their checkbooks ready.

Paramount Skydance is expected to need to pay Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders more than $1 billion in so-called ticking fees after a federal judge set the date for the trial about its merger: It’s March 2.

The Ellisons’ and Paramount’s other financial backers agreed to pay WBD investors $650 million per quarter, which is about $7 million per day, that its merger isn’t finalized, starting after September 30.

There are 169 days between October 1 and March 19, which is when Paramount’s trial is scheduled to end.

That implies Paramount would owe WBD shareholders about $1.18 billion, unless the company reaches a settlement with the 12 states suing to block its deal.

If Paramount doesn’t complete its merger with WBD, it would owe WBD a $7 billion termination fee under the agreement.

Read the original article on Business Insider

The post David Ellison’s Paramount would owe more than $1 billion to WBD shareholders based on the March trial date a judge set appeared first on Business Insider.

connect your family calendars and explain your kids’ interests.

every morning for the drive to school, have it make a podcast that talks about one kid’s soccer game that afternoon, one kid’s upcoming birthday, some news, etc.”

— Sam Altman

Parents! Are you getting fed up? Throwing away your life interacting with your children when you could be profitmaxxing? When you could be proteinmaxxing? When you could be doing whatever it is that billionaire guy with the repeated infusions of fresh young blood is doing?

Consider: What do children bring to the table, besides sticky fingers? Forget networking! They don’t know anyone. Bluey? That is a cartoon dog. Paw Patrol? Still a cartoon dog, but now it possesses law-enforcement powers.

Besides, kids are fonts of misinformation. Anyone can see that the floor is not lava. That is plainly not a fort. Those are cushions. If you wanted erroneous information presented to you in a confident way, you would be asking ChatGPT. At least it has the decency to grovel. And what can children offer you in return? Magnatiles? A picture of an ape? Wait, that could be something! Oh, never mind. It’s hand-drawn on construction paper.

What a relief that AI can handle all these pointless interactions. It can make a podcast. This offers two advantages: You can avoid talking with your children (this makes it less embarrassing that you do not remember your second child’s name; maybe … Tid?), and it may endear your children to AI, which will come in handy in case it ever does gain sentience.

You’re missing nothing. Kids have no information of value to impart. On the contrary, all they ever do is ask embarrassingly basic, rudimentary questions about the world. “What is gravity?” “Why is the microwave spinning?” “Why do you keep putting on that weird podcast every time we’re in the car?” ENOUGH WITH THE QUESTIONS, TID!

If you make the mistake of listening to your children now, you might be stuck with them in your life forever. Maybe they’ll fall in love and want to tell you about it! Maybe they’ll need a ride home from a party! Maybe they’ll make something they’re proud of and want to show you! And you will have to spend the rest of your life listening to them. Ugh. You might even get invited to their wedding, or be asked to spend time with your grandchildren.

The inefficiency is chilling. It’s so much work for so little reward. All these people, wasting their life going to their children’s soccer games and piano recitals and listening to them tell their interminable stories. What does it all amount to, anyway? Best-case scenario, they will stand up at your funeral and deliver a eulogy saying that you were a “loving, present parent who shaped me into the person I am today”—and you won’t even be around to hear it! Not worth it.

The post Now, Thanks to AI, You Never Have to Speak to Your Kids Again appeared first on The Atlantic.

The movie is the second-fastest film ever to reach the 10-figure milestone, bested only by Walt Disney Co. and Marvel Studios’ 2019 hit “Avengers: Endgame.”

“Brand New Day” has now earned $407 million in the U.S. and Canada, with an additional $645.8 million in international box office receipts for a global total of $1.05 billion, according to studio estimates. Its $360 million domestic opening last weekend now ranks as the highest ever.

The movie was produced by Sony-owned Columbia Pictures, as well as Marvel Studios and Pascal Pictures. The film’s production budget was about $225 million.

The filmmakers, as well as box office analysts, have credited the movie’s emotional storyline and focus on the web slinger’s internal conflict for connecting with audiences and giving a fresh take on a familiar franchise and genre. It also doesn’t hurt that its stars, Tom Holland and Zendaya, are two of the most popular actors in the business, both of whom are also fresh off appearances in Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey.”

Together, “Brand New Day” and Universal Pictures’ “The Odyssey” powered last weekend’s three-day domestic box office total to a new best with $436.5 million, according to data from Rentrak. The summer so far stands at $3.6 billion, up 16.7% compared to last year’s middling season and running just 0.7% behind the pre-pandemic summer of 2019, according to Rentrak.

The so far has given analysts hope that the domestic box office could finally reach $10 billion by the end of the year for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The post ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ crosses $1 billion at the global box office in just six days appeared first on Los Angeles Times.

The movie is the second-fastest film ever to reach the 10-figure milestone, bested only by Walt Disney Co. and Marvel Studios’ 2019 hit “Avengers: Endgame.”

“Brand New Day” has now earned $407 million in the U.S. and Canada, with an additional $645.8 million in international box office receipts for a global total of $1.05 billion, according to studio estimates. Its $360 million domestic opening last weekend now ranks as the highest ever.

The movie was produced by Sony-owned Columbia Pictures, as well as Marvel Studios and Pascal Pictures. The film’s production budget was about $225 million.

The filmmakers, as well as box office analysts, have credited the movie’s emotional storyline and focus on the web slinger’s internal conflict for connecting with audiences and giving a fresh take on a familiar franchise and genre. It also doesn’t hurt that its stars, Tom Holland and Zendaya, are two of the most popular actors in the business, both of whom are also fresh off appearances in Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey.”

Together, “Brand New Day” and Universal Pictures’ “The Odyssey” powered last weekend’s three-day domestic box office total to a new best with $436.5 million, according to data from Rentrak. The summer so far stands at $3.6 billion, up 16.7% compared to last year’s middling season and running just 0.7% behind the pre-pandemic summer of 2019, according to Rentrak.

The so far has given analysts hope that the domestic box office could finally reach $10 billion by the end of the year for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The post ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ crosses $1 billion at the global box office in just six days appeared first on Los Angeles Times.

Despite the heady moment in Philadelphia with the Declaration of Independence’s approval in early July, 1776, that summer was a tough one for the nation’s founders, George Washington in particular. The rest of that year — until Washington crossed the Delaware River and won the Battle of Trenton on Dec. 26 — would go down as the worst period of the Revolutionary War.

Throughout those unhappy months, the outcome of the war was very much in doubt. Trouble was brewing even before the founders adopted the Declaration in Philadelphia. On July 2, British forces under Gen. William Howe occupied Staten Island and sought to establish control of New York Harbor. Over the ensuing weeks, they relocated to Long Island and prepared a major assault on Washington’s forces.

Washington and his army had established elements of a defensive position on the island. But they were unprepared for the attack that came. Outnumbered, outmaneuvered and outthought, Washington’s forces were defeated at the Battle of Long Island on Aug. 27 and had to escape across the East River to Manhattan.

This evacuation provided only a temporary reprieve. British forces pursued Washington and his beleaguered army northward, forcing a battle at Harlem Heights near the current location of Columbia University on Sept. 16. There, led by “Knowlton’s Rangers,” the Continentals held their own at first — but soon had to flee north once more. The British again caught up to the Continental Army and achieved another decisive victory at the Battle of White Plains on Oct. 28.

Washington then directed the Continental Army to return to Manhattan and defend Fort Washington. But on Nov. 16, the army suffered another major defeat as thousands of troops were captured. What was left of Washington’s ragtag army fled through New Jersey to Pennsylvania, hoping to outrun the British and perhaps pick up reinforcements from patriotic colonists along the way.

Though reinforcements were generally not forthcoming, rebel and Colonial forces managed to stay one step ahead of the pursuing redcoats. As the belligerents moved closer, the Continental Congress took precautions and evacuated indefensible Philadelphia. Fortunately, Washington’s troops arrived at the Delaware River as winter set in — allowing them to commandeer local shipping and cross the river themselves, creating a defensive barrier against the British that promised to hold at least until the river froze.

That crossing of the Delaware westward bought the Continental Army time to rest and recover — and for Washington to regain his footing. As John Adams wryly put it, reflecting on the events of the previous months, “in general, our Generals were out generalled.” But on Christmas night, Washington would cross back over the Delaware to strike unsuspecting and dispersed Hessian and British forces at the Battle of Trenton. He would surprise the British again a week later at the Battle of Princeton.

Thus began a counterpunch strategy that Washington would employ in one form or another throughout the war. He generally eschewed open-field battles except when conditions were favorable — as happened at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781 — and instead relied on surprise and deception.

Washington was arguably the only American military commander in history to fix his own flawed strategy during a major war. In other conflicts where the U.S. struggled initially but later turned things around, a new military leader was needed to develop and implement a new strategy, as happened when Gen. Ulysses S. Grant turned the tide of the Civil War and when Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway replaced Gen. Douglas MacArthur in the Korean War.

Before turning things around, Washington needed to ride out some tough experiences — and get a few lucky breaks along the way. The Fourth of July in 1776 was a short-lived party. Celebrations over the signing of the Declaration looked like a premature taunt of King George III until the Continental Army’s fortunes improved. Washington’s perseverance might be the most important lesson from 1776 — and one Americans can still absorb today.

The post After July 1776, the party ended quickly for George Washington appeared first on Washington Post.

The Cultural Landscape Foundation asked a federal judge on Tuesday for emergency permission to inspect and document the pool’s current condition before Interior crews perform more repair work that could wipe out physical evidence.

A National Park Service official previously swore under oath that the pool’s damaged lining showed signs of deliberate sabotage, including caulk allegedly cut with a sharp blade.

But a separate Justice Department filing in a related criminal case tells a very different story. Prosecutors there dropped charges against David Hearn, an Olympic canoeist accused of vandalizing the pool, after reviewing evidence showing the real culprit was shoddy construction work tied to President Trump’s $14 million renovation of the site.

“Damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented,” the DOJ filing said.

The foundation’s lawyers argue that inconsistency alone justifies letting them document the pool’s condition immediately, noting Interior has already signaled plans for further work that could erase the discrepancy for good. They also flagged internal agency records showing the project was rushed through a “streamlined review” process atypical for the site, allegedly at the direction of “White House leadership.”

Attorneys for the plaintiffs say Interior can’t credibly claim it would be harmed by a brief site inspection, especially given how heavily the agency has already leaned on claims about the pool’s condition in its own court filings.

A judge has yet to rule on the request.

The post Red flags fly as Trump admin accused of racing to destroy evidence from vandalism case appeared first on Raw Story.

• The US task force for countering drones has unveiled a new marketplace for defensive technologies.
• The shop built by Kaizen Laboratories lets users compare systems, performance data, and prices.
• Ukraine operates a more established combat-technology marketplace called Brave1 Market.

The Pentagon’s counter-drone task force and software company Kaizen Laboratories have developed a new online marketplace built to help users find and acquire systems for defending against uncrewed aerial systems.

The “Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Marketplace” is a catalog that military, federal government, and law enforcement personnel can use to assess validated systems, from kinetic weapons to jammers, and submit requests to buy them.

It’s an example of the Pentagon’s push to make it faster and easier for troops and other government users to acquire commercially developed technology and get it into the field.

Kaizen was awarded a $15 million contract by the Joint Interagency Task Force-401 in May to build and operate the marketplace. The newly unveiled enhanced platform allows users to search systems by requirements, review performance data, compare capabilities and features, and purchase equipment.

Defense officials have said that online shops like the C-UAS Marketplace help bypass traditional weapons acquisition processes that can be slow, fragmented, and difficult for users to navigate. Companies have said the same.

“These are broken, disconnected application layer systems that are preventing real capability from being deployed at the edge as fast as possible, and as we all know, it’s presenting a critical readiness problem for the armed forces,” said Kaizen CEO Nikhil Reddy.

Reddy told reporters last week that “threats are changing so quickly, but the systems that we actually have, the software layer, the application layer used to discover, evaluate, acquire, procure these systems, is so far behind what it needs to be. And operators are losing time, and in some cases, there’s a loss of life if we can’t move fast enough.”

The US war with Iran has demonstrated the need for cheaper and more prolific counter-UAS weapons and equipment. Both American and allied forces have expended large numbers of expensive munitions shooting down Iranian Shahed drones.

Iran’s one-way attack drones, along with waves of missiles, have struck US and partner forces, resulting in both infrastructure damage and casualties. During the opening days of the war, six US soldiers were killed by a drone attack in Kuwait.

These attacks, along with the prevalence of drones in Russia’s war against Ukraine, have underscored the need for layered defenses that can defeat these kinds of inexpensive threats without relying primarily on costly missiles.

“Drones are a defining threat of our time,” Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, director of JIATF-401, said in a press statement. “The proliferation of small systems and small drones and the threat that they pose both to critical infrastructure and to defense critical assets requires us to move faster in this space.”

“In order to address this threat, we are expanding the counter-UAS marketplace to allow us to share best practices and equipment globally,” he said.

The new enhanced C-UAS Marketplace features a library of forms and permits, and a planning tool through which users can describe a threat, identify systems that meet their needs and budget, and receive AI-generated recommendations “across all aspects of the kill chain,” Reddy said.

The current platform went live two weeks ago and was built from a blank slate in less than nine weeks, he added.

He said that some vendors with approved counter-UAS systems, such as Anduril and AeroVironment, have already put their products on the marketplace. Future vendors can send in product information for the task force’s approval. US partners and allies will also be able to use the platform.

“JIATF-401 remains focused on delivering the right counter-UAS capabilities to the right users at the right time,” US Army Maj. Mike Hapner, JIATF-401’s C-UAS marketplace lead, said in a press statement.

“Our revolutionary marketplace, powered through our partnership with industry, creates a streamlined, trusted pathway for the Joint Force, domestic law enforcement, and our international partners to rapidly discover and acquire validated technologies,” he said.

The counter-UAS shop bears some resemblance to Ukraine’s combat technology marketplace, the Brave1 Market, an Amazon-style platform for drones and counter-drone capabilities. Local manufacturers post their products on the site, and Ukrainian military units buy them and leave reviews and ratings.

The Ukrainian defense ministry has said the average delivery time for in-stock products has fallen from 10 to 14 days to eight days for front-line troops.

Read the original article on Business Insider

The post The Pentagon’s counter-drone force has rolled out a new online marketplace for buying defensive tech appeared first on Business Insider.

A Texas immigration judge ordered Kaitlyn Tracey to be deported back to her home country Tuesday – before the teen slapper entered a guilty plea on assault charges stemming from the ugly, Fourth of July weekend brawl at the Point Pleasant boardwalk.

Tracey, 33 – who attended a criminal court hearing in Toms River over the phone from a Texas ICE lockup – only copped to one count of simple assault, a misdemeanor, as part of a cushy plea deal.

Besides exile to Canada, she was sentenced to one day behind bars – though she was granted time served since she spent one night in jail in Ocean County last month.

Tracey was nabbed after allegedly confronting a group of four teenagers — including a girl wearing a USA 250 tank top – before launching the twisted attack on July 3.

While arguing with the teen, she allegedly slapped the girl across her face, according to police, who said the assault was caught on camera.

Tracey overstayed her visa and was in the US illegally at the time of her arrest, the Department of Homeland Security said at the time.

On Tuesday, however, her defense lawyer tried to paint Tracey as a Good Samaritan.

“She arrived here on a passport some years ago. She met her husband and didn’t leave, but while she was, she maintained equal employment and was a productive member of society,” attorney Francis Hodgson told Judge Guy P. Ryan – and called the situation “unfortunate.”

“[Tracey has] taken responsibility for her role in it, and this is a reasonable judgment, Judge, that is consistent with other similar-type matters that happen every day during the summer on this boardwalk,” Hodgson said of the sentence.

The prosecution said that the victim’s family was on board with the plea.

The post Canadian who battered patriotic teen on NJ boardwalk ordered deported — as she downplays caught-on-camera attack appeared first on New York Post.

We pretend that Blanche’s approval was ever really in doubt. It wasn’t. Sufficient smoke and mirrors were always going to be employed to satisfy the senators.

They initially said they wouldn’t vote to confirm unless Donald Trump’s former (current?) personal lawyer met with several Epstein survivors. So, he did. He went into a room with them, let them know he had no use for them, cared not at all about them, wouldn’t so much as look at them. He told them to “hurry up” and “get to the point” and to take their complaints to the FBI.

This is what passes for a productive meeting in the Republican Party circa 2026.

That requirement apparently satisfied, the senators stipulated that, after long refusing to do so, Blanche must put in writing the fact that the nearly $1.8 billion slush fund – you know, the one designed to financially reward felons for destroying the Capitol and subverting democracy – was officially dead.

Blanche did that too, though the one-page document he wrote up stipulating to drop the fund was signed only by Blanche. In other words, literally every other person in the country could potentially resurrect it in some form, in particular the man who calls himself president. It wouldn’t stand up in court. It’s the equivalent of swearing something with your fingers crossed behind your back.

Yet that was good enough for Cornyn and Tillis, since Blanche also wrote up something about Trump’s immunity from the IRS for himself and his family and all of their businesses was now merely retroactive rather than in perpetuity. So, it’ll only save Trump $100 million or so for his and his family’s sins of the past.

And the Republican Senate was once again one big happy family. The end.

Not to harsh on anyone’s mellow here, but this is all just more of the same rubber-stamping of transparent corruption. Not only does it further dismiss and diminish the Epstein victims; it drives home the point that the Department of Justice is essentially Trump’s personal law firm operating entirely in his interests.

I’ll also be counting the minutes after Blanche’s ultimate confirmation until his sole client is helped to successfully resurrect the slush fund. We’re now down under three months until those midterms, so there isn’t a moment to lose to get those payoffs out to the pardoned January 6 felons.

Yes, these would be the same cop-beating, window-smashing, feces-smearing hoods who did their damnedest to overturn the 2020 election by force when the judicial system failed Trump. Blanche’s job is to sufficiently assist Trump in distributing the payoffs before November and motivate the troops to do their dirty work of intimidation in tandem with ICE.

The hope is, of course, that the vote will be such a blue tidal wave at least in the House, if not the Senate, that no amount of voter suppression or rigging will overturn the will of the voters. But that naturally remains to be seen.

Having Blanche in place as his guard dog in the AG seat is designed to be a fallback, along with the hopelessly crooked Supreme Court, in case direct violence and bullying aren’t quite enough. I’m convinced that the courts aren’t the front-burner strategy anymore, but instead a just-in-case. That, and whatever Elon Musk might be planning to do with his satellites and potential electronic chicanery.

The one strategy Trump isn’t seriously considering is winning the midterms outright. He’s acting less like a man who’s desperate than one who doesn’t care, who thinks it’s already in the bag one way or another. How else to explain the administration doing away with a Medicare prescription drug coverage subsidy program so close to the election, as they did last week.

Between that and the ongoing Iran War and runaway gas and grocery prices and bringing back tariffs at full throttle, Trump seems to be doing everything in his power to assist the Democratic cause.

The reality of the moment is that an entire political party is play-acting that Blanche isn’t shady to his core and that this “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is really dead.

I can just hear Blanche now at the coming hearings.

“Oh, you thought I meant it was dead dead?” he would reason with faux sincerity. “No, it was always only sorta-dead, like a patient in a coma waiting to be revived.”

“Do you mean like Mitch McConnell, Mr. Blanche?”

“Oh no, never quite that dead.”

To this Republican Party, the immoral ends justify the unethical means. And when it comes to Blanche, though he’s skilled at flashing a hangdog poker face that makes him look innocuous, he carries not a shred of remorse in doing all of Trump’s bidding. He sold his soul for a title, and I’m not talking about something so lofty as AG. He peddled it for the handle of “Mr. Trump’s Errand Boy.”

How else to explain his providing for the deplorable Ghislaine Maxwell a transfer to a country club lockup despite her being one of the most monstrous convicted enablers of sex trafficking in world history.

Make no mistake, Todd Blanche is a master of deception and manipulation without an ounce of integrity. That naturally makes him both a perfect fit for Trump and poisonous for the United States. He is, remarkably, the worst imaginable person to be put in charge as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, like assigning a fox to preside over an egg farm.

The sad part is that he imagines loyalty from a man who knows none. That, sooner or later, will prove to be his punishment.

(Ray Richmond is a longtime journalist/author and an adjunct professor at Chapman University in Orange, CA.)

The post Todd Blanche made a fatal error — and it will punish him appeared first on Raw Story.

Chris Caldwell, the chief information officer at Chili’s owner Brinker International, emphasized in recent interviews how the company wasn’t “all in” on AI, and is instead focused on overhauling its tech in more practical ways.

“I’m not chasing AI to go, ‘Guys, Anthropic just released a new LLM, and we need to use it because it’s cool,’” he told Business Insider.

The ethos: any tech being deployed should be improving food service and atmosphere. Sound like a dig at AI, anyone?

Caldwell’s overhauls have been pretty mundane compared to the almost sci-fi sounding rhetoric coming out of the tech industry, which promises businesses that embracing its AI tools will magically optimize operations, supercharge productivity, and woo customers. He did stuff like buying thousands of new iPads to replace locations’ aging tablets, overhauled the chain’s WiFi network, bought a new laptop for every location’s manager, and implemented a new payment system.

He also ditched the company’s impractical experiments with using robot servers that began before he joined in 2024.

“If a robot’s getting in the way and not helping us deliver a great guest experience, we’re going to get rid of them,” Caldwell told the Wall Street Journal (did we mention that he’s clearly on a media blitz?)

Sara Senatore, senior restaurants analyst with Bank of America, sounded stunned at just how well Chili’s AI-agnostic tech overhaul has worked.

“The Chili’s turnaround has been nothing short of remarkable,” Senatore told the WSJ.

Needless to say, it’s bizarre that this is seen as newsworthy. Did anyone expect Chili’s to be on the cutting-edge of deploying AI in a business setting?

Then again, plenty of restaurants have been swept up in the AI hype. Taco Bell was on the receiving end of loads of backlash for deploying a shoddy AI-powered drive-thru system. Starbucks scrapped an AI inventory management tool after it kept miscounting and mislabeling items. And one disgruntled Pizza Hut franchisee has sued the chain because the AI-powered kitchen management system that the chain mandated locations use allegedly caused it to lose over $100 million.

Forrester retail analyst Sucharita Kodali, calling for sanity in this age of AI boosterism, said she hasn’t seen any game-changing uses of generative AI in restaurants yet. Eateries instead “need to focus on the things that actually drive their business, like making sure they have good operations,” she told the WSJ.

More on AI: Sam Altman Says Even the Power of AI Will Never Lead to a Shorter Work Week

The post Business World Stunned That a Restaurant Chain Is Doing Well Without Mindlessly Embracing AI appeared first on Futurism.

Page Six is rounding up the celebs who have given birth or adopted babies this year.

Keep scrolling to meet Tinseltown’s 2026 arrivals.

Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank

Princess Eugenie announced the arrival of her and Jack Brooksbank’s third child, a baby girl, via Instagram on August 4.

“Jack and I are so excited to announce Baby Girl Brooksbank!!” she gushed to her followers. “We are beyond in love with our girlie. ”

The little one joins big brothers August and Ernest.

 Bliss Poureetezadi-Goytowski and Zack Goytowski 

“Love is Blind” personalities Bliss Poureetezadi-Goytowski and Zack Goytowski have welcomed their second child, People reported on July 30.

According to the outlet, on June 29, the reality-famous couple welcomed their second child, son Polaris J ³ ohn Pax Goytowski.

“We are overjoyed to share that our sweet baby boy has arrived,” they told the outlet in a statement. “Our world has yet again, shifted, changed, expanded and become even more magical. Our hearts have doubled in size!”

They previously welcomed daughter Galileo in April 2024.

“Galileo is the best big sister and loves him so much,” the proud parents told People. “Seeing them together is the sweetest thing.”

Elsa Hosk and Tom Daly

Elsa Hosk and Tom Daly announced the birth of their second child together, a daughter named Flora Blue, on July 22.

“Our flower fairy girl, Flora Blue. She’s finally here, born in the garden, under the moon, the stars and our magical flowering tree,” the Swedish model wrote alongside a collection of Instagram photos showing off their baby girl.

The couple are also parents to 5-year-old daughter Tuulikki.

Marc Anthony and Nadia Ferreira

Marc Anthony announced on July 21 that his eighth child, his second with wife Nadia Ferreira, arrived.

“What a huge blessing to share with you … our precious MYLA,” the couple gushed via Instagram at the time. “You can’t imagine the happiness we feel at home, we are over the moon.”

The couple, who wed in January 2023, also share son Marco.

JD and Usha Vance

Vice President JD Vance’s brood just got bigger.

The politician’s wife, Usha Vance, has given birth to the couple’s fourth child, a boy named Alec Neel Vance.

“We are excited to announce that our baby boy, Alec Neel Vance, was born this morning. Usha and the baby are happy and healthy, and our kids are overjoyed to meet their little brother,” the couple said in a statement on Instagram July 19.

“The incredible military doctors and staff members of Walter Reed Medical Center and the White House Medical Unit have been a blessing,” Usha and JD added.

“We are deeply thankful for all they have done for our family.”

Nick Viall and Natalie Joy

Nick Viall and Natalie Joy’s rainbow babies have arrived.

The “Bachelor” alum’s wife gave birth to their twin daughters, Iris Parker and Dove Tomlin, after three previous miscarriages.

The twins were born on June 30, the couple told People.

The couple told the outlet their eldest child, River, who was born in February 2024, is “excited” about becoming a big sister.

“She shockingly seems to understand what’s going on,” they said of River after the birth of her siblings. As for how the parents feel, they said it “definitely hasn’t sunk in yet,” but that they are “incredibly blessed.”

Jennifer Meyer and Geoffrey Ogunlesi 

Jennifer Meyer is a three-time mom!

On June 21, the jewelry designer and Tobey Maguire’s ex-wife confirmed she gave birth to her third child — her first with fiancé Geoffrey Ogunlesi — with a sweet Father’s Day tribute.

Sharing an Instagram photo of Ogunlesi holding their newborn daughter, she wrote, “A perfect month with our perfect baby girl. We love you the most @geoffo212  Happy Father’s Day.”

However, it’s unclear when she actually gave birth.

Danielle Olivera and Eoin Heavey

Danielle Olivera announced that she gave birth to her baby boy, Aidan, 10 weeks early.

On Father’s Day June 21, the “Summer House” alum took to Instagram to share that she and her boyfriend, Eoin Heavey, had become parents — but had a long road ahead with their son in the NICU.

“Aidan Santos Heavey born June 21, 2026 – 10 weeks early – longest day of the year both solstice wise and for mum and dad,” they wrote in a statement.

“He’s heading to summer camp at NICU for his first 2/3 months in this world but mum and dad can’t wait to bring him home hopefully soon,” the new parents added.

The “In the City” stars praised the medical professionals at Stony Brook Medicine in New York City, saying they were “mesmerized by the miracles they perform on a daily basis.”

Lindsay Arnold and Sam Cusick

“Dancing with the Stars” alum Lindsay Arnold and husband Sam Cusick welcomed their third child on June 11.

“Baby boy is here and we are so grateful and so in love ,” Arnold wrote in the Instagram announcement, sharing that their son’s arrival came via a cesarean section, or C-section.

The couple, who have been married since 2015, previously welcomed daughters Sage, 5, and June, 3, in November 2020 and May 2023, respectively.

Rory Culkin and Kate Arizmendi

Rory Culkin and his girlfriend, cinematographer Kate Arizmendi, welcomed their first child together — daughter Havoc Moon — on May 23.

Arizmendi shared the exciting news in an Instagram Story, posting an adorable photo of their newborn sleeping.

“Havoc Moon born 5/23 at 9:51 we’re so in love with you,” she wrote.

Culkin and Arizmendi have been dating since 2023.

Aurora Culpo and Zac

Aurora Culpo told her Instagram followers on May 22 that she gave birth to her third child, a baby girl named Selene, one week prior.

“We are so in love,” the “Culpo Sisters” alum gushed.

While the little one is her first baby with fiancé Zac, whom she got engaged to in October 2025, Culpo shares son Remi and daughter Solei with ex-husband Michael “Mikey” Bortone.

Latto and 21 Savage

Latto — born Alyssa Michelle Stephens — revealed she has given birth, welcoming her first baby with 21 Savage. 

On May 18, the “Big Mama” rapper took to Instagram, sharing a video of her pregnancy journey, including intimate clips of her with her and the “Rich Flex” emcee, whose real name is Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph.

Latto ended the video with audio of herself giving birth, with audio of spectators telling her to push.

Stephen Colletti and Alex Weaver

“Laguna Beach” alum Stephen Colletti and his wife, Alex Weaver, announced the birth of their first child on May 14 via Instagram.

The couple posted an adorable black and white photo of their baby holding their hands and revealed the sweet name: Rhodes August Colletti.

Colletti and Weaver got engaged in November 2023 after one year of dating.

They tied the knotin October 2025 and three months later, revealed they were expecting via Instagram.

Rebel Wilson and Ramona Agruma

Rebel Wilson and Ramona Agruma welcomed their second daughter on May 4.

The “Pitch Perfect” star took to Instagram to share a photo of the new arrival and reveal her name the same day.

“Proud to announce the birth of our 2nd daughter Rose Estelle! What a gorgeous blessing to have another little girl!” she captioned a pic of the infant.

“Now on May 4th it’s now 4 of us! Ramona and I are feeling so incredibly grateful and blessed to grow our family, thank you everyone for all the well wishes ”

The couple revealed in an interview with People that the infant arrived after a “long” journey with IVF.

They previously welcomed daughter Royce via surrogate in November 2022.

Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden

Benji Madden wrote via Instagram on May 4 that he and Cameron Diaz were “happy, excited and blessed” to welcome their third child, a baby boy named Nautus.

The Good Charlotte member gushed, “Welcome to the world Son!! We love life with our family — our kids are healthy & happy.”

Madden’s upload included a Nautus playing card, explaining that the moniker means “sailor, navigator, voyager, one who embarks on a journey and fears not the unknown.”

The couple, who tied the knot in 2015, are also the parents of daughter Raddix and son Cardinal, born in 2020 and 2024, respectively.

Chris Brown and Jada Wallace

Chris Brown welcomed his first child with Jada Wallace.

Wallace took to Instagram on April 26 to share a photo of her newborn, captioning it, “Purest love.”

The “Kiss Kiss” crooner and the influencer have been romantically linked since 2024.

Brown is already the father to Royalty, Aeko and Lovely from separate partners.

Eric Murphy and Jasmine Lawrence

Eddie Murphy’s eldest son, Eric Murphy, and Martin Lawrence’s eldest daughter, Jasmine Lawrence, have welcomed their first baby together, a girl named Ari Skye, according to the “Beverly Hills Cop” actor. “They just had a baby girl,” Eddie exclusively told E! Newsat the American Film Institute achievement award ceremony April 18. “They just had her two weeks ago, or a week ago.”

In December 2024, Eric, 35, and Jasmin, 29, announced that they were engaged after three years of dating, and they tied the knot in May 2025.

Justin Theroux and Nicole Brydon Bloom

Justin Theroux is a dad!

The “Leftovers” alum’s wife, Nicole Brydon Bloom, has given birth to the couple’s first child. “He’s here we are so in love,” the new parents said in a joint Instagram post on April 18.

James Lafferty and Alexandra Park

“One Tree Hill” alum James Lafferty and Alexandra Park announced the birth of their baby, River Jay Lafferty, on April 17 via Instagram.

“Love has new meaning,” they captioned their joint post, noting their baby’s official birthday as Dec. 4, 2025.

In their touching announcement, they shared a black-and-white photo showing the proud parents holding their newborn’s hands.

Alaina Scott and Matt Moeller

Eminem’s daughter Alaina Scott debuted her and husband Matt Moeller’s first child, a baby girl named Scottie, on April 14.

“My heart outside my body. She’s everything and more,” the new mom wrote via Instagram two days later. “Scottie, in honor of my ‘Scott sisters.’ The women who have given the name and my life so much meaning. May she now give it a meaning of her own and always know how loved she is.

“To my husband, I can’t believe she’s ours,” the esthetician continued. “Thank you for giving me the greatest gift of my life. I love you endlessly.”

Scott and Moeller wed in June 2023, announcing in October 2025 that they were starting a family.

Joey Lawrence and Samantha Cope

90s heartthrob Joey Lawrence welcomed his second child with his third wife, Samantha Cope, on April 6.

The “Blossom” star revealed the news with an Instagram post as he shared his baby son’s sweet name — Ford Joseph Lawrence.

“Our newest member has arrived. What an absolute blessing you are baby boy! It will be an Easter Weekend to remember forever. 4.6.26,” the couple wrote in a joint post. “God is so good!”

The couple, who already share daughter Dylan, also posted photos and videos of the newborn.

Ford is Joey’s fourth child, as he has two other kids from a previous marriage.

Becca Kufrin and Thomas Jacobs

“Bachelor in Paradise” Season 7 stars Becca Kufrin and Thomas Jacobs welcomed their second son, Steven Jon, on Easter 2026.

“Our little honey baked ham arrived on Easter Sunday,” the happy couple wrote on Instagram along with pics of the newborn. “He’s made our family whole and we love you more than you will ever know.”

Kufrin and Jacobs tied the knot in Oct. 2023 shortly after giving birth to their first son, Benny.

Jonah Hill and Olivia Millar

Jonah Hill revealed in April 2026 that he and Olivia Millar had welcomed their second child together.

During an interview, the actor also referred to the clothing brand owner as his “wife.”

Hill and Millar were first linked in 2022 before welcoming their first baby in 2023. At the time, the fashionista was also spotted rocking a ring on that finger.

The couple has kept mum on details surrounding their children.

Hailee Steinfeld and Josh Allen

On April 2, Hailee Steinfeld announced her and husband Josh Allen’s “special delivery” in a Substack essay.

“Our baby girl has arrived!!” the actress gushed. “We’re feeling incredibly grateful and blessed and savoring these early moments. Thank you so much for the love and well wishes.”

She did not provide further details.

The couple tied the knot in May 2025, announcing seven months later that they were starting a family.

Sofia Richie and Elliot Grainge

Sofia Richie debuted her and husband Elliot Grainge’s second child, a baby boy, via Instagram on March 25.

“Henry Cecil Grainge 03/18/26. Loves of my life,” the model wrote, referencing both the infant and his big sister, Eloise.

She announced her pregnancy in October 2025, revealing the sex at her baby shower brunch two months later.

Richie and Grainge have been married since April 2023 and started growing their family the following year.

Charlie Puth and Brooke Sansone

Charlie Puth debuted his and wife Brooke Sansone’s first child, a baby boy named Jude, via Instagram on March 23.

The little one was born 10 days prior.

The singer wed Sansone in September 2024, with the couple announcing their pregnancy news in October of the following year.

Peter Kraus and Hana Ostapchuk

“Bachelorette” alum Peter Kraus and his wife, Hana Ostapchuk, debuted their daughter, Andie, via Instagram on March 17.

The infant was born three days prior “just hours before the biggest blizzard of the season — just as it was almost 40 years ago on Peter’s birthday.”

In a joint social media upload, the couple gushed, “We each prayed for this baby girl long before we ever met. We talked about the idea of her since our first date. To now have her here — healthy, happy, and bundled — is the greatest gift.”

The former reality star started dating Ostapchuk in 2024, popping the question the following summer and walking down the aisle in December 2025.

Carly Rae Jepsen and Cole M.G.N.

Carly Rae Jepsen welcomed her first child with her husband Cole M.G.N. in March.

The singer shared the exciting news via Instagram Stories on March 17 with a mirror selfie showing herself holding her newborn, who wore a striped green and white onesie.

“Last 2 weeks have been the best of my life,” she wrote. “Welcome to the world little one.”

The couple tied the knot in October 2025. The following month, the “Call Me Maybe” hitmaker shared that she was expecting.

Jack Osbourne and Aree Gearhart

Jack Osbourne welcomed baby No. 5, his second with wife Aree Gearhart, on March 5, sharing the news via Instagram nearly one week later.

The couple named their infant daughter after Jack’s late father, Ozzy Osbourne, who died in July 2025.

Gearhart previously gave birth to daughter Maple in July 2022, while Jack also shares daughters Pearl, Andy and Minnie with ex-wife Lisa Stelly.

Ellie Goulding and Beau Minniear

On March 10, Ellie Goulding gushed to her Instagram followers about welcoming her and boyfriend Beau Minniear‘s baby girl four days prior.

“We are totally obsessed with her,” the singer wrote on her Story. “It was fitting that I spent International Women’s Day with her and the incredible team at St. Mary’s, who provided me and my baby with extraordinary care and kindness. I will always be in awe of midwives.

“This addition to my family fills me with so much joy, especially as [my son], Arthur, is so happy to become a big brother to this little angel,” the Grammy nominee concluded, tagging Minniear.

Goulding, who shares Arthur with ex-husband Caspar Jopling, debuted her bump in December 2025.

Charles Melton and Camille Summers-Valli

Charles Melton debuted his and partner Camille Summers-Valli’s first baby via Instagram on March 9.

“Our family,” the “Riverdale” alum captioned sweet social media snaps with the infant.

Summers-Valli shared her pregnancy news — and confirmed her romance with the actor — two months prior, telling her followers in January she was “making a lil family.”

Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins

Country singer Thomas Rhett and wife Lauren Akins welcomed their fifth baby together, a baby boy.

They shared the news via Instagram on Feb. 27, posting a series of photos from their time in the hospital.

“Welcome to the world Brave,” they captioned the carousel. “Oh. my. goodness. Our hearts are just in a big ole puddle with this precious baby BOY.”

“Brave Elijah Akins was born last week at almost 10 pounds and almost 2 weeks early-thank you Jesus this big boy didn’t wait another 2 weeks to be born . Thomas Rhett was my biggest champion in labor & delivery He helped deliver him (), was the first one to see and tearfully, mixed with a bit of shock announce to us all in the room “It’s a BOY”.”

“We are so grateful God chose us to have YOU cutie pie Your four sisters are smitten and we are completely over the moon in love with you big Brave boy.”

The couple is already parents to daughters Lillie Carolina, 4, Lennon Love, 6, Ada James, 8, and Willa Gray, 10.

David Guetta and Jessica Ledon

David Guetta announced he welcomed his second child with his longtime girlfriend Jessica Ledon on Feb. 26.

“Welcome to the world Skyler,” the DJ captioned the joint Instagram post. “The most beautiful secret we’ve ever kept.”

The couple’s 1-year-old son Cyan was also featured among the collection of photos revealing the new bundle of joy.

Guetta is also dad to daughter Angie and son Tim — both of whom, he shares with ex-wife Cathy Lobé.

Paul Anthony Kelly and Syd Widziszewski-Kelly

“Love Story” star Paul Anthony Kelly welcomed his first child with wife Syd Widziszewski-Kelly in January.

The actor revealed his baby’s sweet connection to Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy — who is his love interest and played by Sarah Pidgeon in the hit FX show.

“The baby comes in January. Originally the baby was estimated to come January 7, which was Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s birthday,” he told Interview in November 2025.

During his Feb. 23 appearance on the “Kelly Clarkson Show,” the Canadian model revealed that he and his wife — whom he wed in May 2023 — are both very tired and getting used to being parents for the first time.

Paul and Syd have yet to reveal the sex and name of their youngling.

Nicole Franzel and Victor Arroyo

“Big Brother” alums Nicole Franzel and Victor Arroyo welcomed twins.

“ Goldie Jen & River David,” Franzel wrote via Instagram Feb. 19. “We’ve been soaking in every second with these two love bugs for the last few days .”

“ We are BEYOND blessed and grateful for God trusting us with these healthy incredible babies. .”

The couple, who tied the knot in March 2021, are also the parents of a son named Arrow, born in July 2021.

Michelle Dockery and Jasper Waller-Bridge

Michelle Dockery was photographed on a walk in London with her and Jasper Waller-Bridge’s first child on Feb. 17.

The “Downton Abbey” alum has yet to provide details on her little one’s arrival.

The actress revealed her pregnancy news in a September 2025 red carpet appearance, two years after marrying her husband.

Jerry Ferrara and Breanna Racano

Jerry Ferrara’s wife, Breanne Racano, welcomed their third son, a baby boy named Jesse, on Jan. 31.

The couple, who have been married since June 2017, waited until Feb. 17 to share the news.

“On 1/31 I became the luckiest guy in the world again,” the “Entourage” alum wrote via Instagram. “Somehow I’m blessed with another SON. My wife @breanneracanoferrara once again showed me just how amazing life can be. And she also again blew my mind with her power and spirit.

“It was a beautiful birth and everyone is doing great,” the actor continued. “I fully accept the opportunity to raise 3 strong, caring, good hearted men who hopefully help people. I will die trying to accomplish this mission. But will also make sure I take the time to enjoy every single moment of the journey.”

Alyssa Farrah Griffin and Justin Griffin

Alyssa Farrah Griffin was absent from “The View” on Feb. 10 after going into labor — and Whoopi Goldberg confirmed the following day that the infant had arrived.

“he first thing we want to do is start by congratulating Alyssa and her husband Justin on the birth of their baby boy,” she said during the Feb. 11 show.

Alyssa and her husband, Justin Griffin, announced in October 2025 that they were starting a family.

Ansel Elgort

Ansel Elgort was photographed carrying a baby in New York City with his partner, who has not been identified, on Jan. 13 — and he confirmed nearly one month later that he is a dad.

“Fatherhood is exhilarating, exhausting, it’s everything and more,” the “Fault in Our Stars” actor wrote via Instagram on Feb. 10. “The present feels more present and the future brighter. He wakes us up all night and yet I’ve never felt stronger during the day.

“He goes from crying to laughing, expressing everything he feels and it’s freed me to do the same,” he captioned a sweet snap. “I wanted to keep it sacred, just for us, but now I want to share this story with you as it’s the brightest happiest thing I’ve ever experienced. I hope it brings you happiness too.”

Josh Radnor and Jordana Jacobs

Josh Radnor and his wife, Jordana Jacobs, have welcomed their first child together.

The “How I Met Your Mother” alum announced the big news on Instagram on Feb. 4, sharing adorable pics of their son.

“So my wife and I had a baby a few months ago (!!),” he wrote. “Here’s what we know so far: His smile lights up the room. He’s super observant and thoughtful. He gets hypnotized when I play him songs on the guitar.”

“He thinks the word ‘baba ghanoush’ is hysterical,” he continued. “He’s a total delight and Jordana and I are thrilled he’s here.”

Radnor sent love to fellow parents of newborns.

“What a wild, beautiful, exhausting, heart-opening initiation,” he shared. “So grateful.”

Radnor and Jacobs tied the knot in January 2024.

The actor met Jacobs, a clinical psychologist, at a meditation retreat in upstate New York in February 2022, per the Times.

Troian Bellisario and Patrick J. Adams

“Pretty Little Liars” alum Troian Bellisario and husband Patrick J. Adams have welcomed their third child together.

Adams posted a black-and-white Instagram photo Jan. 27 displaying their baby’s hand on top of his. 

“Tag. You’re it,” he captioned the post.

The couple tied the knot in December 2016 and welcomed daughters Aurora and Elliot in October 2018 and in May 2021, respectively.

Mario and Esmeralda Rios

R&B singer Mario and his girlfriend, Esmeralda Rios, are parents.

The singer announced the news via Instagram on Jan. 26, alongside a photo of himself geared up in a disposable gown and hair net.

“Women are God’s greatest creation cuz what I witness today was ONLY GOD’S work,” he wrote. “Healthy baby boy.”

Mario announced he and Rios were expecting their first child together last August.

Meghan Trainor and Daryl Sabara

Singer Meghan Trainor and her husband, Daryl Sabara, secretly welcomed their third child together via surrogate.

Trainor announced the big news on Instagram on Jan. 20, sharing pictures of their newborn.

“Our baby girl Mikey Moon Trainor has finally made it to the world thanks to our incredible, superwoman surrogate,” Trainor wrote, sharing that Mikey was born on Jan. 18.

“We are forever grateful to all the doctors, nurses, teams who made this dream possible,” she continued. “We had endless conversations with our doctors in this journey, and this was the safest way for us to be able to continue growing our family.”

“We are over the moon in love with this precious girl,” the pop star continued, sharing that their young sons, Riley and Barry, are also “so excited.”

Perrie Edwards and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Little Mix member Perrie Edwards and her professional soccer player fiancé Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain revealed the birth of their second child together on Jan. 17.

They shared a photograph of the newborn, as well as her name, to mark the occasion.

“Alanis Valentine,” Edwards captioned the black-and-white snap of her and her older son, Axel, holding the newborn.

The couple first announced her pregnancy in September 2025, by sharing a video of Axel kissing Edwards’ baby bump to social media.

Meghan McCain and Ben Domenech

Meghan McCain and Ben Domenech’s daughters, Clover and Liberty, became big sisters “at the crack of dawn” on Jan. 2 when Ransom arrived.

“Everyone is happy, healthy and exhausted,” the former “View” co-host captioned a hospital photo via Instagram the following day. “Our family is officially a party of 5.”

The political commentator revealed her pregnancy news in a June 2025 episode of her “Citizen McCain” podcast.

Amber “AD” Smith and Ollie Sutherland

Amber “AD” Smith teased the arrival of her and Ollie Sutherland’s first child in a Jan. 11 Instagram roundup of “bump pics from one month pregnant to four days postpartum.”

The “Love Is Blind” alum confirmed her infant was “happy and healthy” without providing further details.

The reality star, who wed her fellow “Perfect Match” cast member in October 2025, clarified, “I’ll be creeping back onto social media bit by bit.”

The post Celebrity babies born in 2026: All the stars who welcomed kids this year appeared first on Page Six.

• I made Ina Garten’s Greek orzo salad for my Greek parents.
• The salad features feta, orzo, chickpeas, kalamata olives, and red bell pepper.
• My parents loved the light and delicious dish, especially for the summer.

When I saw that Ina Garten had a Greek orzo salad, I knew my Greek parents had to try it.

My parents immigrated to the US from Greece in the 1980s, and they made sure to teach me about Greek culture through food. My dad made his delicious pastitsio (like lasagna, but better) every week, and whipped up avgolemono soup whenever one of us was sick. Every Christmas was celebrated with a big pan of baklava, and youvetsi was a dinner staple.

But my parents are always willing to try something new — they tested 15 different “Greek” products from Trader Joe’s to see which tasted authentic! So, when I told them Garten had a Greek orzo salad, they were super excited.

Ina Garten’s Greek orzo salad is packed with fresh ingredients.

To make Garten’s Greek orzo salad, which serves six, you’ll need:

• 1 cup of orzo (about 8 ounces)
• 1 cup of canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups of baby arugula
• 4 ounces of Greek feta, ½-inch diced (not crumbled)
• ½ cup of good olive oil
• ½ cup of diced red bell pepper (¼-inch)
• ½ cup of diced red onion (¼-inch)
• ½ cup of kalamata olives, pitted and halved lengthwise
• ¼ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus extra for serving
• 3 tablespoons of capers in brine, drained
• 3 tablespoons of minced fresh dill

Garten’s Greek orzo salad, which appears in her cookbook “Go-To Dinners,” was inspired by Round Swamp Farm, a third-generation family farm in East Hampton.

“Their prepared food and baked goods are simply outstanding,” she writes. “This recipe was inspired by one of their salads; it has all the Greek ingredients that I love — orzo, olives, feta, lemon, and dill.”

The first step to making Garten’s salad is prepping the orzo.

I brought six cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan.

I added the orzo and one tablespoon of salt to my saucepan.

Once you’ve added the orzo, Garten says you should return the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for eight to 10 minutes.

You’ll know it’s ready when the orzo is al dente.

While my orzo cooked, I began cutting my veggies.

I diced the red onion and red bell pepper.

I prepped my chickpeas and capers.

I rinsed and drained the chickpeas and made sure to drain my capers.

I also halved my kalamata olives, minced the dill, and diced my feta cheese.

Garten’s Greek orzo salad comes together quickly — the only real work is cutting the herbs and veggies!

It didn’t take long to make the dressing.

I just whisked together the lemon juice and olive oil with two teaspoons of salt and one teaspoon of black pepper, and voilà! It was ready.

Once the orzo was ready, I drained and transferred it to a large bowl.

Now I could build the salad.

First, I poured the vinaigrette over the warm pasta.

I made sure to stir it well so the orzo would absorb all that delicious flavor.

Then I added the onion, bell pepper, and chickpeas.

Everything was already looking so colorful.

I topped it off with the dill, olives, capers, and feta, and mixed everything together.

I used two spoons to carefully combine all the ingredients.

I stirred in the arugula just before serving.

Garten says you can enjoy her salad either warm or at room temperature, but hold off on adding the arugula if you’re making it the day before — no one likes soggy leaves in their salad!

Once you’re ready to serve, add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and taste for seasoning.

I should also note that Garten recommends serving this with sliced lemon. My parents didn’t love the idea of whole lemon pieces in the salad, so we decided to nix them.

Garten’s Greek orzo salad looked fresh and vibrant.

I always love serving a salad full of color, and Garten’s Greek orzo salad has plenty.

The pop of red from the bell pepper, the fresh green from the arugula, and the bright purple from the onion all worked together to make a beautiful plate.

My parents looked impressed as I brought the salad to the dinner table. But would it taste as good as it looked?

Garten’s Greek orzo salad was super delicious — and now my parents can’t stop making it.

The orzo soaks up Mediterranean flavors familiar to any Greek — salty chunks of feta intertwining with the rich kalamata olives, the texture of crisp bell pepper and crunchy red onion dancing together, that pop of fresh lemon brightening every bite. There were so many different components to the salad, but everything was perfectly balanced.

My parents now love whipping up Garten’s Greek orzo salad, and I’m not surprised. The dish tastes like something we would’ve eaten while watching the turquoise waves of the Aegean Sea during our summer trips to Greece.

“Ina must have been Greek in one of her previous lives,” my mom declared.

Read the original article on Business Insider

The post My Greek parents tried Ina Garten’s Greek orzo salad. Now they can’t stop making it. appeared first on Business Insider.

Newly obtained court records have recently revealed a series of troubling allegations leveled against Miller, including that he beat his ex-wife, threw boiling water on her and broke his 2-year-old daughter’s collarbone, accusations he’s vehemently denied.

In a video broadcast Sunday, a defiant Miller vowed to continue his re-election campaign, and on Tuesday, revealed that he plans to initiate a congressional ethics investigation – on himself.

“In light of all the renewed interest in my family affairs I am going to file my own paperwork for an ethics investigation into myself to clear my name from these horrific attacks on myself and family. I have absolutely nothing to hide,” Miller said in a statement shared on social media.

“We will be providing the committee all necessary documents needed for a detail examination. The accusations continue to change, but my facts stay the same. I am looking forward to my colleagues reading everything for themselves.”

Miller’s lengthy video rebuttal to the allegations leveled against him faced fierce scrutiny, perhaps most notably an argument the Ohio Republican made to dismiss an accusation that he had “thrown” his ex-wife “against the wall.”

“If I had assaulted her, would she have offered to cook me dinner six days later?” Miller rhetorically asked in his video rebuttal.

Miller’s re-election prospects had taken a nosedive following the release of his video denial. According to Axios, President Donald Trump called the Ohio lawmaker privately Monday night to express his doubts that Miller could win in November.

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), the father of Miller’s ex-wife, explicitly called for Miller to resign on Sunday, a call that was supported by other Republican senators.

In light of all the renewed interest in my family affairs I am going to file my own paperwork for an ethics investigation into myself to clear my name from these horrific attacks on myself and family. I have absolutely nothing to hide. We will be providing the committee all… — Max Miller (@MaxMillerOH) August 4, 2026

The post Cornered MAGA lawmaker makes extraordinary demand to prove innocence — investigate himself appeared first on Raw Story.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) told reporters Tuesday that courts have blocked Trump officials’ actions — at least temporarily — in 83 percent of his office’s cases against the administration (excluding cases in which judges have yet to act).

Many cases are still working their way through the courts, making the final outcomes uncertain.

Bonta called the administration “historic in its unlawfulness, in its willingness to trample over our Constitution.” He said he has sued the second Trump administration 82 times, averaging more than once a week.

Bonta pointed to the Supreme Court’s rebukes of Trump policies such as tariffs — though the majority-conservative high court has also handed President Donald Trump major victories, expanding his power over the federal bureaucracy and upholding key elements of his immigration agenda, for instance.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson called California’s lawsuits “frivolous” in a statement and said the attorney general “should focus on addressing problems in his own state.”

Catch up quickly every weekday morning with a rundown of the 7 most important and interesting stories. Sign up for The 7 newsletter.

The post Who’s winning in California v. Trump lawsuits so far? appeared first on Washington Post.

Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, 41, was taken from the Delaney Hall detention center to University Hospital in Newark, where he was pronounced dead on Saturday. His family members appeared before news cameras on Tuesday to demand that state officials investigate Mr. Lopez-Cornejo’s death. They also called for the closure of Delaney Hall and for the release of detainees held there.

Mr. Lopez-Cornejo’s mother, Maria Cornejo, said in a phone interview on Tuesday morning that she did not understand why he had died and said that federal immigration officials had refused to provide his medical records to the family. Mr. Lopez-Cornejo is survived by a 12-year-old daughter, his mother said.

“The pain that I feel is irreparable,” Ms. Cornejo said. “His daughter is devastated.”

Family members, who stood on the steps of the church, held Ms. Cornejo by the arms as she approached the news cameras and placed their hands on her shoulder while she spoke to reporters and cried. When she was finished, she hugged her granddaughter.

Ms. Cornejo said that her son had been diagnosed with diabetes and epilepsy but that the conditions were managed for years with medication. She said she did not know if detention officials had been giving him his medication since he was arrested while walking to work on June 18 near his home in Plainfield, N.J., where he had a job in construction.

Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which oversee Delaney Hall, responded immediately to the family’s demands. Geo Group, the private contractor that operates Delaney Hall, did not reply to inquiries about Mr. Lopez-Cornejo’s death.

ICE officials had said on Monday that Mr. Lopez-Cornejo experienced a medical emergency at Delaney Hall and that employees “responded immediately and called 911 for emergency medical services.” The cause of his death was not known; Ms. Cornejo said that she was told autopsy results would take months.

While in custody, Mr. Lopez-Cornejo “received proper medical care and was seen by medical professionals,” ICE said on Monday in a statement.

“ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments,” the agency statement said. “At no time during detention is a detained noncitizen denied emergency care.”

Mr. Lopez-Cornejo is the second Delaney Hall detainee to have died in the past eight months. His death renewed criticism of the federal detention center, where protesters have gathered for months to denounce what detainees have described as inhumane living conditions.

At least 53 people have died in immigration detention facilities since President Trump took office last year, according to a New York Times analysis of news releases from the federal government.

“His death was preventable, and his family deserves answers, accountability and justice,” Jorge Torres, the organizing director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said in a statement. “Edwin is one of too many people whose lives have been cut short while in ICE custody or during immigration enforcement operations.”

Protesters gathered at the Delaney Hall gates on Monday evening to denounce Mr. Lopez-Cornejo’s death while lawmakers from Washington to New Jersey criticized federal immigration officials for restricting their ability to inspect the detention center, which members of Congress have the authority to inspect.

New Jersey’s attorney general, Jennifer Davenport, had sued the federal government in June to gain full access to Delaney Hall after immigration officials repeatedly blocked state inspectors from housing and medical units.

“You have all these stories that run counter to what the administration has been telling and selling and spinning to the American people,” Representative Rob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, said during a phone call with reporters Monday evening. “There is an erosion of support for this administration with respect to their immigration enforcement.”

In December, Jean Wilson Brutus, 41, died after a medical emergency after Delaney Hall, federal officials said at the time. The detention center had been reopened last year to accommodate President Trump’s expanding immigration crackdown.

Border Patrol officials said that Mr. Lopez-Cornejo had entered the United States illegally in 2006. An immigration judge had ordered him removed at that time, and he was deported to El Salvador two months later, according to federal officials. He entered the country illegally again later. He was detained at Delaney Hall pending removal from the United States.

Allison McCann contributed reporting.

The post Family Demands Answers About Death of Immigrant Held at Detention Center appeared first on New York Times.

Keilar opened by noting that Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged there was “no finality” on a deal to free passage in the Strait of Hormuz, where blockades are wreaking havoc with the world’s energy markets.

Trump and Bessent, said Holmes, teased “that there would likely be a deal as early as today,” but whether that materializes is unclear. “As you noted, we have Iran on the other side of this, threatening that U.S. naval blockade, saying they’re going to attack the U.S. Navy.”

That matters, she continued, because “within these conversations with U.S. officials that I’m having, and that are happening privately, they do believe that the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz is one of their most powerful assets. So they’re going to be not inclined to remove the blockade until they have a full commitment from Iran in order to reopen the Strait and actually have this free passageway through here.”

The problem, Holmes added, is that “what they’re talking about is a very short stopgap. They’re looking for something that is just over a short amount of time to get these partners or parties back to the negotiating table. Right now, there are no direct talks between the United States and Iran, and mediators behind the scenes are working to try to get those talks started again.”

“It really does feel, from talking to U.S. officials, that we are back at square one in terms of talking about … the memorandum of understanding and its core tenets, even if they aren’t actually talking about the piece of paper they signed,” she said.

– YouTube www.youtube.com

The post Insiders fear Trump war ‘back at square one’ amid renewed threats: analyst appeared first on Raw Story.

Documents undercut Trump’s claims about Utah national monument: When he announced that he was shrinking the protected Bears Ears National Moment in Utah last month, President Trump claimed that recreation was virtually impossible there. “You can’t go hunting, you can’t go fishing, you can’t do anything, you can virtually not even walk on it,” he said. But recreation has been allowed in Bears Ears since 2016. And government documents reviewed by The Times show that Trump administration officials were briefed on recreational opportunities inside the monument.

Oceans

Mexico’s war on stinky seaweed

Mexico’s beaches are contending with a record-breaking influx of noxious seaweed as up to 9,000 tons per day wash onto their pristine shores along its Caribbean coast, home to tourist destinations like Cancún.

Sargassum, a type of floating macroalgae that emits a rotten-egg smell as it decomposes, can threaten the health of cleanup workers and send tourists back indoors.

President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico last week announced a $115 million plan to clean up the coastline, David Shortell reported. Mexico will deploy two large ships to capture the seaweed before it reaches the beach and the country’s navy will install 30 miles of containment barriers to trap the sargassum at sea. Hundreds of workers will wait on the sand to shovel up the rest.

“The effort so far has been titanic, but we have to do more to prevent sargassum from reaching the beaches,” Sheinbaum said.

Sargassum has threatened tourism in Mexico, Florida and the Caribbean in recent years. The heaps of it that wash up on beaches come from a larger, thousands-miles-wide mass in the Atlantic Ocean that weighs some 30 million tons and that has been expanding seasonally for more than a decade.

At sea, sargassum patches are important habitats for turtles, crabs and fish. But when the seaweed washes ashore, it quickly begins decomposing, releasing unpleasant odors and a harmful gas, hydrogen sulfide.

Though sargassum volumes fluctuate, the overall trend line is clear: Warming oceans, along with nutrient runoff from farming, are making the stinky seaweed more prevalent and extending its growth season.

A very big blob

Twenty years ago, scientists had never detected sargassum blobs in the Caribbean Sea.

“Starting in 2011, everything changed,” said Chuanmin Hu, a professor of physical oceanography at the University of South Florida, who has monitored sargassum by satellite for two decades.

A shifting climate, nutrient pollution and other factors pushed the seaweed into tropical Caribbean waters, where it thrived. Tropical temperatures, abundant sunshine and plentiful nutrients were “like heaven to this plant,” Dr. Hu said.

In 2023, sargassum landings struck Florida, blanketing the coast for months on end. Two years later, the patch was even larger, surpassing its previous record by 40 percent.

This year, March and April broke monthly records for the amount of sargassum in the tropical Atlantic, Dr. Hu said.

Health issues for frontline workers

It’s not easy to get rid of washed-up sargassum, which can coat miles of shoreline and replenishes itself with every return of the tide.

In the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, home to Cancún and Tulum, beachfront businesses have hired workers to rake sargassum by hand each morning during the peak season.

It’s a dangerous job. A recent study that enlisted sargassum cleanup workers to wear hydrogen sulfide sensors found that nearly half the measurements exceeded Mexico’s legal exposure limit over the course of an eight-hour workday. Almost half the workers reported skin irritation and headaches, and a quarter of them reported nausea and dizziness. Some who stood in the water for hours reported losing hair and nails.

“These people earn very little money, sometimes only 500 pesos a day,” roughly equivalent to $29, said Rosa Rodríguez-Martínez, a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico who worked on the study. “They don’t have any medical support because it’s a temporary job,” she added.

“It’s very unequal. It’s violating their human rights, basically.”

Health problems are not confined to Mexican beaches. In 2018, doctors in Guadeloupe and Martinique recorded 11,000 cases of acute sargassum exposure.

Cleanup efforts scale up

In Miami-Dade County, Florida, 19 specialized tractors comb the beaches twice a day during the peak sargassum landing season, mixing most of it into the sand and sending some to a landfill at a combined cost of $9 million a year, according to CBS News Miami.

In Mexico, the special-purpose sargassum ships are expected to remove up to three tons per minute from the ocean. The 30 miles of barriers are also expected to prevent some from reaching the store.

Shortell reports that at Oasis Hotels & Resorts, a collection of all-inclusive properties in Cancún’s popular hotel zone, it takes nearly 200 people working round-the-clock shifts to remove the sargassum from the beaches.

Conservation

100 animals and plants just got some much-needed help

A new fund called the Phoenix Species Project said Tuesday that it would pump $200 million into efforts to pull imperiled animals and plants back from the brink of extinction and even restore them in the wild.

It’s among the largest philanthropic funds focused entirely on species recovery, and it stands out for both the scope and specificity of the wildlife included. The project is a collaboration between Re:wild, a nonprofit group co-founded by the actor Leonardo DiCaprio, and the Bezos Earth Fund, a private foundation created by Jeff Bezos, the billionaire behind Amazon.

The move comes amid alarming declines in global biodiversity. The hundred species were chosen because they were near extinction, had local organizations already working to save them and represent a diversity of habitats, countries and types of species. They include:

• The Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander in North Carolina, whose already dwindling habitat was largely leveled by mudslides from the remnants of Hurricane Helene in 2024.

• The fuzzy belly button, a South African plant, whose sudden popularity as houseplants, particularly in East Asia, has driven it to near-extinction in the wild.

• The bowmouth guitarfish in the Indo-Pacific, which looks like a cross between a ray and a shark and is killed for its prized fins. — Catrin Einhorn

Read more.

Number of the day

A 33 percent increase in profit

Lisa Friedman reports that Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, on Tuesday reported a 33 percent increase in profit despite severe disruptions to its supply routes caused by the war in the Middle East.

Oil companies have reported multibillion-dollar windfalls for the second quarter of 2026 because the war has driven energy prices higher, Friedman writes.

After the United States and Israel launched military strikes against Iran in February, Saudi Arabia shifted much of its oil out of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for oil and gas that has been paralyzed during the conflict.

Related: Insiders at leading oil and gas companies have made millions from stocks since the Iran war began.

In case you missed it

A federal plan would impose drastic water cuts on Arizona, California and Nevada: Communities and farms across three states face potentially serious cuts in the water they can use from the Colorado River over the next decade under a plan the Trump administration published on Friday.

The Trump Administration is undoing plans to increase workplace heat protections: The administration is moving to rewrite Biden-era proposals that would mandate breaks and access to water and shade for workers, in a step businesses lauded but that labor groups said could weaken already-limited federal protections. Congress is considering legislation that would go a step further.

More climate news from around the web:

• A record drought has forced Romania and Hungary to shut down nuclear plants, The Guardian reports. Both countries rely on the Danube River for cooling water. “Romanian naval forces carried out a controlled explosion to help redirect vital cooling water from the drought-hit Danube to the country’s last working nuclear ⁠reactor,” it writes, while Hungary “said it may be able to eke out two more days of power from its only atomic plant.”

• Solar power will soon surpass coal as China’s biggest source of energy capacity, Bloomberg writes.

• According to Reuters, Colombia recorded its lowest deforestation levels in two decades between 2022 and 2025.

Read past editions of the newsletter here.

If you’re enjoying what you’re reading, please consider recommending it to others. They can sign up here.

Follow The New York Times on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and TikTok at @nytimes.

Reach us at climateforward@nytimes.com. We read every message, and reply to many!

The post Mexico Declares War on Stinky Seaweed appeared first on New York Times.

But Wyoming, like other red and rural states, has a problem. Its suicide rate is about double the national figure. It usually ranks in the top three states for suicide, along with Montana and Alaska. The two biggest factors, experts say, are the isolation of living in a sparsely populated state and easy access to guns. Suicide attempts are typically more impulsive than the common understanding suggests, and those made with guns are far more likely to be lethal than attempts with other methods.

Denial also plays a role. As I traveled across the state this year, I was surprised by how many people contested the value of mental health care or even the concept of mental illness. In the deeply red state, some people dismiss a focus on mental health as a liberal cause. When Wyoming considered additional state-level funding for the national 988 crisis lifeline, one lawmaker, whose son died by suicide, argued that suicide was a problem more for churches, not government, to deal with. In blue enclaves, I’m often annoyed by the prominence of therapy-speak; in Wyoming, I almost missed it.

Some experts I spoke with attributed the distrust around mental health care to Wyoming’s culture. Much of the state’s image — and much of what makes the state unique and great — is tied to a rugged individualism that many Americans associate with the once-unexplored frontier.

That perspective pushes people to try to tough out their problems, not seek help, said Bill Hawley, a suicide prevention expert in the state. “It’s that old ‘cowboy up’ mentality,” he told me. “Just pull yourself up by your bootstraps.”

In a state that glorifies “tough guy” personas, admitting to a problem can feel dangerous, said Bruce Brown, a businessman in Gillette who has struggled with suicidal thoughts. He feared that his friends and colleagues would think less of him if they found out about his depression. “In that culture, you don’t show any weakness or you’re pretty much shunned,” he said.

Wyomingites who have struggled with suicidal thoughts told me they had to confront their own mental health stigma before they could get better. Mr. Brown said he had to hear from three different people that he had a serious problem before he agreed to temporarily give up his guns to friends.

Will Wagner, an electrician in Laramie, said he didn’t truly believe in the concept of mental health until he woke up in a hospital after he shot himself. “I was taught that you didn’t cry, you didn’t talk about your feelings,” Mr. Wagner explained. “If you had a problem, you just got over it.”

This attitude is especially problematic in such an isolated state. When the nearest therapist or hospital could be hours away, someone has to truly want help to get it. Many simply don’t seek it out.

Gov. Mark Gordon has prioritized suicide prevention since his second term began in 2023. He has focused on combating stigma around mental illness and raising awareness about suicide. So far, the results are disappointing. Suicides actually increased — again — in 2024, the most recent year for which there’s data. Changing culture is hard. Yet it is a necessary first step.

What about the role of guns? When I raised the issue across two dozen interviews in the state, people visibly cringed. They spoke about their fear of the government taking away their firearms. They pointed out that Wyoming’s strong gun culture is not driven just by hobbyists; ranchers need firearms to protect cattle from predators, and people want some means for self-protection in a state where a police officer may not be anywhere nearby.

Still, the facts are clear: Places with more firearms have more suicides.

Ideally, the state would pass a red flag law. Such a policy would let the vast majority of gun owners keep their weapons but allow law enforcement and family members to petition a court to temporarily take away someone’s firearms during a crisis. States have typically passed these laws in response to mass shootings, but the best evidence suggests they’re most effective for reducing suicides. That largely reflects the fact that America’s biggest gun problem is a suicide problem: About 60 percent of all gun deaths are suicides.

Wyoming, however, has banned the enforcement of red flag laws. This year, it toughened its ban. Those opposing red flag laws claim the policies would let the government freely seize people’s firearms, even though these measures require court oversight. The concern is typical of the gun control debate, in which even moderate measures tend to inspire hyperbolic backlash.

Some state groups are instead focused on safe storage, encouraging people to lock up their guns and, preferably, separate their ammunition from their firearms. If someone who’s suicidal has a few extra minutes to think about what he’s doing, he might change his mind.

Doctors and therapists said they also try to persuade people to give up their firearms to friends, family members or trusted businesses in times of crisis, much like Mr. Brown did. Legal changes could make this easier. For example, some businesses worry about their own liability if they hold someone’s guns and return them, and the gun owner then shoots himself or others. The law should shield businesses from liability in those instances.

In Wyoming, these voluntary measures are more politically realistic than something like a red flag law. But they are also less effective. And the voluntary approaches still require acknowledging that mental illness is real and suicides are preventable. Much of Wyoming is not there yet.

When meeting with miners, Mrs. McRae, the counselor, still hears people tell one another to “cowboy up.” That advice fails too many Wyomingites. If the state wants to lose its status as one of the worst for suicides, something has to change.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, WhatsApp and Threads.

The post Why Wyoming Has More Suicides appeared first on New York Times.

But their entire blockade may prove to be for nothing, legal expert Liz Oyer told MS NOW’s Alicia Menendez on Tuesday, because it actually put Blanche in a stronger political position.

Menendez opened the segment by noting for Oyer that Blanche, as the acting attorney general, “already has his fingerprints all over DOJ,” and wanted to know “what changes” now if he gets confirmed in the role.

“What changes is he’s basically now got a mandate,” replied Oyer. “His leadership has a mandate.”

Furthermore, she said, “these senators who got involved in trying to pretend they were going to block him actually made matters worse, because they have now endorsed the corrupt deal, the settlement fund he signed with Donald Trump. They’ve endorsed the immunity agreement. They’ve said they’re satisfied with where things landed. They got no meaningful concessions. The documents that Blanche came forward with to save his confirmation were really just a sham. They did not change anything as a matter of law.”

Despite that fact, she said, Blanche has now obtained “their blessing to go forth and govern in the manner in which he has, which is totally corrupt and serves only the interests of Donald Trump.”

The upshot, Oyer concluded, is that “this opposition by these two senators has really backfired and empowered Blanche in a way that he was not before. He is going to be incredibly dangerous once he is fully unleashed, with Senate confirmation behind him.”

– YouTubewww.youtube.com

The post ‘Backfired’: Expert warns GOP mutiny against Todd Blanche just ‘made matters worse’ appeared first on Raw Story.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed optimism on Tuesday in negotiations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial passageway through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil is normally shipped. There had been “progress in talks,” he said, “but not finality yet.”

The foreign ministry spokesman for Qatar, which has mediated discussions between Iran and the United States in the past, said the talks were in “very progressive stages.”

The comments buoyed Wall Street sentiment, which was bolstered further by strong earnings from large tech companies with a heavy involvement in artificial intelligence, including Amazon, Microsoft and Palantir.

Oil prices fall.

• The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, fell more than 5 percent to around $79 a barrel, the lowest price in three weeks.

• West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, fell to around $76 a barrel.

• Investors and analysts are focused on the continued disruption to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that is a vital trading route for oil and natural gas that normally carries as much as one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.

• The market is also closely watching efforts by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen to restrict traffic in the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea, which Saudi Arabia has used as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.

Global stocks mostly gain.

• The S&P 500 climbed nearly 2 percent by midday on Tuesday, surpassing the record high it set in early June.

• The Dow Jones industrial average, which tracks the most well-known public companies, also had a banner day, topping a high set in July.

• In Europe, the Stoxx 600, a broad index that tracks the region’s largest companies, rose 0.7 percent.

• Stocks in Asia were mostly higher, with the Nikkei 225 in Japan adding 0.3 percent and KOSPI in South Korea jumping 1.6 percent. Indexes in Hong Kong and Taiwan closed lower.

Gasoline prices tick lower.

• Gas prices fell 1 cent on Tuesday to a national average of $4.09 a gallon, according to the AAA motor club. The cost for drivers has gone up about 37 percent since the war began.

• Gas prices don’t move in lock step with crude, usually trailing increases or drops by a few days.

• The national average price of diesel rose 1 cent to $5.37 a gallon on Tuesday, up 43 percent since the start of the war.

What they are saying: ‘Still considerable uncertainty.’

• The oil market has welcomed signals that a potential agreement to revive talks between the United States and Iran is near, but traders may be getting ahead of themselves, analysts at ING wrote in a research note.

• “The scale of the sell-off seems fairly overdone, given that there’s still considerable uncertainty,” they wrote, adding that the market has been optimistic before, “only to see things unravel.”

The post Oil Prices Tumble as Investors Grow Hopeful About a Hormuz Deal appeared first on New York Times.