Premium content: This is from our subscriber-exclusive Health(y) Discourse newsletter, where our health scientist provides the antidote to wellness hype. Welcome to Health(y) Discourse. In this new weekly column, I’ll sift through the week’s health headlines, scientific studies and policy announcements to separate meaningful developments from noise. As a health reporter and a former epidemiologist, […]

In an Independence Day editorial, the newspaper in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania — yes, that Gettysburg — referred to undocumented immigrants as “parasites” and called for a return to “the American spirit.”  Now, the publisher of the Gettysburg Times, located in a city with deep ties to the Union’s Civil War victory, is feuding with a priest. Not […]

When Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents killed American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last January, local authorities repeatedly asked federal agencies for evidence. Repeatedly, they were told no.  On Monday, after ICE officers killed two more people — in Texas, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national who lived in the U.S. […]

Mahmoud Khalil, the man detained for more than 100 days by the Trump administration after protesting to end the war in Gaza, is suing the administration, among several other groups, citing a law created to target the Ku Klux Klan.  On Tuesday, Khalil filed a federal lawsuit alleging a coordinated campaign by senior Trump administration […]

President Donald Trump’s nominee to permanently lead the Justice Department begins a two-day confirmation hearing Wednesday with key Republican votes still unsettled. It has forced the president into a public push for support less than 24 hours before Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Blanche has served as acting attorney general since Trump […]

A powerful, longtime Republican senator was declared dead, and, frankly, people weren’t that shocked. At least not at first glance.  After all, online conspiracy theories had been swirling around for weeks about 84-year-old Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. He was hospitalized more than a month ago, and his lack of public appearances had led to questions […]

Congress has taken another step toward making daylight saving time permanent, potentially eliminating the need for Americans to adjust their clocks twice a year. On Tuesday, the House passed the Sunshine Protection Act with a bipartisan vote of 308 to 117. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., who presided over the vote, played “Here Comes the Sun” by […]

U.S. strikes on Iran enter a fourth straight night, and President Donald Trump warns things could get “really bad.” He also issues one of his biggest economic threats as the conflict escalates. Plus, after two deadly Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) incidents in a week, the agency abruptly changes how it makes arrests. And a […]

One person has died, and three others remain missing after a boat carrying about 20 adults capsized and sank near Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. San Francisco fire officials said the emergency call came in just after 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, when the boat was about 600 yards from Alcatraz. Crews found the 50-foot vessel […]

A fourth consecutive night of U.S. strikes in Iran has killed at least seven military members and left more than 250 people injured, according to Iranian officials. It comes as the U.S. has stepped up its campaign against Iran, and President Donald Trump said the worst may be yet to come. U.S. Central Command said it hit dozens of targets Wednesday night, including […]