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 | Israel’s strikes on Lebanon are threatening the U.S.-Iran ceasefire. | | |
 | Melania Trump made a rare public statement about Jeffrey Epstein. | | |
 | Democratic leaders are worried about the Senate race in Maine. | - Why? Their favored choice to try to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins, Gov. Janet Mills, is lagging far behind her upstart liberal rival, Graham Platner. The primary is in June.
- More trouble for Democrats: Party officials expected a fundraising boost after Democratic wins in November. But a lack of big donations is causing money woes.
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 | Emperor penguins and Antarctic fur seals were declared endangered species. | | | There are less than 600,000 adult emperor penguins left in the wild. (Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket/Getty Images) | - What’s happening? Global warming is causing dramatic changes to the habitats of the two iconic South Pole species. The loss of coastal sea ice is a threat to penguin chicks.
- Another environmental threat: The global wildlife trade, encompassing exotic pets, trophy hunting, fashion materials and more, is fueling disease outbreaks in humans, a study found.
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 | AI is being used to streamline policing, but skeptics urge caution. | - Meet AI tool Longeye: It has been used to translate, monitor jail calls and identify patterns in financial documents in the Oklahoma City Police Department. A detective there is impressed.
- Across the U.S.: Thirty-five law enforcement agencies are in the early stages of adopting the system. But after issues with other AI tools in the criminal justice system, critics are concerned.
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 | The U.S. fertility rate hit a historic low. | - According to the CDC: Fewer teenagers and young women had babies in 2025, driving the decrease. Studies show economic pressures are also leading to delayed parenthood.
- It’s a political flashpoint: Some conservatives worry that lower fertility rates will lead to population decline. But others think the trend is a sign that women have more reproductive choice.
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 | NASA’s Artemis II crew is expected to splash down tonight. | | | Reentry will be a test of the spacecraft’s protective heat shield, which suffered damage during the uncrewed Artemis I voyage in 2022. (Nasa) | |
Hannah Jewell and 
