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Affordable Care Act Insurers Want More Premium Increases as Enrollment Sags

(KFF) For the second year in a row, many Affordable Care Act insurers are proposing double-digit premium increases, driven by rising medical costs as well as policy changes by Congress and the Trump administration. In preliminary filings with state regulators, insurers are seeking a median rate increase of 14% for 2027, according to an analysis of filings in 16 states and the District of Columbia by the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker.

lostincalifornia

Trump Says US Ceasefire With Iran Is 'Over' After Strikes

(Bloomberg) US President Donald Trump said his tentative ceasefire with Iran is over. “For me, I think it’s over,” he said on Wednesday in Ankara, sitting next to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the military alliance’s annual summit. “As far as I’m concerned it’s just a waste of time.” Trump’s remarks came shortly after the US launched a new wave of strikes against Iran and revoked a waiver that allowed the sale of Iranian oil.

mahatmakanejeeves

Trump says he doesn't want anything to do with Spain: 'Cut off all trade'

(CNBC) President Donald Trump has slammed Spain for not contributing enough to NATO, as he attended the defense alliance summit in Turkey. “Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don’t participate. They don’t pay. I don’t want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits,” he said at a press conference in Ankara with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. “Don’t even talk to them. They’re hopeless, bad people,” the president said.

Dulcinea

Reflecting Pool being drained - again - as Trump administration tries once more to fix landmark

(CNN) Crews began draining the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Sunday, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months. In an interview released Tuesday with Katie Miller, a conservative podcaster and wife of President Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Burgum said they started draining the pool as planned after the July Fourth fireworks show, noting some of the fireworks debris was still in the water.

KS Toronado

Wednesday's Condensed News Cartoons & Memes

BumRushDaShow

Trump Files Plea To Block $5 Million Payout To E. Jean Carroll

(CNBC) Attorneys for President Donald Trump in a late Tuesday night court filing urged a New York federal judge not to disburse nearly $5.8 million to E. Jean Carroll to satisfy a May 2023 civil verdict holding him liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer. Trump’s lawyers said that money cannot be released to Carroll under an agreement unless and until the Supreme Court rejects the president’s new, long-shot bid for reconsideration of his petition that the high court take his appeal of that verdict.

Dulcinea

DOJ warns state officials of 'potential criminal penalties' over noncitizen voting

(ABC News) As the Trump administration seeks to tighten federal control over elections ahead of the midterms, the head of the Justice Department's civil rights division has sent letters to state election officials warning them of "potential criminal penalties for those who fail to carry out their duties" in relation to federal election laws -- including preventing noncitizens from voting. One election official who received a letter -- which went to at least six states, including Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado -- told ABC News they found it "threatening."

BumRushDaShow

Ken Paxton May Have Broken Same Texas Election Laws He Wants To Tighten, Bombshell Report Finds

(Mediaite) The Texas Tribune reported on Tuesday that Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in the state, may have broken the very voter registration laws he’s seeking to tighten. Zach Despart, who writes for both the Tribune and ProPublica, found that “Paxton appears to have used an address where he did not live while voting in six elections in the past two years, including in May’s runoff that made him the Republican nominee for U.S. senator, according to records.”

BumRushDaShow

Trump DOJ agrees to new Michael Flynn payout as allies make bank without 'slush fund'

(Raw Story) President Donald Trump's administration found a new way to pay off an ally after abandoning plans for an "anti-weaponization" fund — quietly settling a second lawsuit with retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. The Army had withheld about $38,557 from Flynn's retirement pay over a 2015 speaking fee from Russia Today, the Russian state-owned media company now known as RT. The new settlement is below $75,000, Bloomberg reported.

shelshaw

Mitch McConnell's Colleagues Say He's Alive, Talking On The Phone

(Huff Post) In an apparently coordinated effort to show Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is alive and on the mend, a handful of his allies made statements Tuesday saying they have spoken to the senator in the past day and discussed a variety of issues. “I spoke to my old friend Mitch McConnell this morning, the senior Senator from Kentucky,” conservative pundit Scott Jennings said on social media. Aides to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) separately said they’ve spoken to McConnell, too.

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Meta Is Toying With the Idea of Smart Glasses That Record Everything, All the Time

19 min ago - Smart glasses ick people out for various reasons, and many have to do with cameras. In response to that ever-growing aversion, companies that make face computers with cameras on them have extended some small but helpful olive branches to people worri ... (Gizmodo)

Judge orders E. Jean Carroll be paid $5M in damages from Trump verdict

27 min ago - A New York federal judge on Wednesday ordered that E. Jean Carroll be paid $5 million plus interest for damages from a verdict holding President Donald Trump civilly liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer. The order came hours after Trum ... (cnbc)

Former Wisconsin judge spared prison for obstructing ICE arrest of Mexican immigrant

30 min ago - Updated 1:04 PM EDT, July 8, 2026 MILWAUKEE (AP) — Former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan was spared from prison Wednesday for ushering a Mexican defendant out of her courtroom to evade U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. A federal jud ... (AP)

Beshear requests McConnell health update

41 min ago - 07/08/26 10:24 AM ET Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) sent a letter to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)’s office on Wednesday, asking for a health update on the senator after he was admitted to the hospital on June 14. “Over the last several wee ... (The Hill)

Judges reject Kennedy Center effort to reinstate Trump's name

1 hr ago - Story by Ted Johnson • 38m • A federal appeals court has rejected the Kennedy Center board’s latest argument for why Donald Trump’s name needs to be added to the complex. A three-judge panel on Wednesday denied a stay of a lower ... (msn.com)

Trump gives Ukraine OK to produce Patriot missiles as war with Russia drags on

1 hr ago - July 8, 2026, 11:00 AM President Donald Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday the U.S. will give Ukraine a license to produce Patriot air defense systems. "One of the things we're going to be talking about is, you'll -- we'r ... (ABC News)

'Greenland is not for sale' Denmark's Frederiksen reminds Trump

2 hrs ago - Simon Ormiston Wed, July 8, 2026 at 2:35 AM CDT Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Greenland was "not for sale" after renewed comments by Donald Trump suggesting the Arctic territory should be controlled by Washington rather than Copenha ... (yahoo.com)

Platner's campaign working to navigate exit from consequential Maine race, sources say

2 hrs ago - Graham Platner and a small team of strategists behind his candidacy are trying to navigate an exit from the consequential Senate race in Maine without entirely squandering the movement he built, people familiar with the matter said, rather than diggi ... (CNN)

Exclusive: Republicans juice spending to protect Senate red wall

2 hrs ago - 5h Republicans are dramatically boosting campaign spending on Senate races in red states that, until recently, looked safely out of Democrats' reach in the November midterms. Why it matters: The GOP — alarmed by recent polls and voting trends & ... (msn/Axios)

About 4,000 Brigham and Women's Hospital nurses take to picket lines in 1-day strike over wages, benefits

3 hrs ago - Updated: 8:53 AM EDT Jul 8, 2026 Kaitlin Gehlhaus AND Ted Wayman BOSTON -- Around 4,000 nurses at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston went on strike for one day Wednesday, with negotiations over wages, benefits and working conditions still unresol ... (WCVB)

Russia tries to jam Musk's Starlink systems to counter Ukrainian drones

3 hrs ago - July 8, 2026 2:34 AM EDT Updated 3 hours ago ZAPORIZHZHIA REGION, Ukraine, July 8 (Reuters) - Russian forces are trying to counter Ukrainian "mid-strike" drone attacks by camouflaging cargoes and installing powerful jamming systems to disrupt Elon Mu ... (Reuters)

Trump Files Plea To Block $5 Million Payout To E. Jean Carroll

4 hrs ago - Published Wed, Jul 8 2026 6:09 AM EDT Updated 3 Hours Ago Attorneys for President Donald Trump in a late Tuesday night court filing urged a New York federal judge not to disburse nearly $5.8 million to E. Jean Carroll to satisfy a May 2023 civil verd ... (CNBC)

Private prison giant gets $1.5 billion from DHS, keeps running ICE centers

4 hrs ago - Wednesday 08 July 2026 05:13 EDT Private prison operator CoreCivic has completed the $1.5 billion sale of two of California's largest immigration detention centers to the Department of Homeland Security, the company announced Monday. The deal, which ... (The Independent)

ICE officer fatally shoots Mexican man in Houston during traffic stop

5 hrs ago - An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot a Mexican immigrant in Houston on Tuesday during an attempted traffic stop arrest, federal authorities said. ICE identified the man as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and said he was in the United St ... (Washington Post)

Historic DC Fountain Restored by Trump Turns Brown, Video Shows

5 hrs ago - Published Jul 08, 2026 at 05:14 AM EDT updated Jul 08, 2026 at 05:16 AM EDT A historic Washington, D.C., fountain restored at President Donald Trump's direction has turned brown, multiple photos and videos shared to social media show. In May, the U.S ... (Newsweek)

Recording of ex-Osborn staffer puts focus back on ties to Maine's Platner

5 hrs ago - Aaron Sanderford 4 mins ago A recording of a now-former staffer of Dan Osborn's nonpartisan campaign acknowledging that Osborn helped "recruit" Maine Democrat Graham Platner has dragged Nebraska's U.S. Senate race into the morass of Maine's. The ex-s ... (Omaha World Herald)

DOJ threatens criminal charges for state election officials over noncitizen voting

6 hrs ago - July 8, 2026, 12:14 AM EDT The Justice Department sent letters warning election officials in all 50 states and the District of Columbia that they could face criminal prosecution over noncitizen voting, a spokesperson for the Justice Department confir ... (NBC News)

George E. Johnson Sr., founder of a pioneering Black hair care business, dies at 99

6 hrs ago - Updated 10:55 PM EDT, July 7, 2026 CHICAGO (AP) — George E. Johnson Sr., a pioneer in Black hair care whose multimillion-dollar business was the first Black-owned company to be listed on the American Stock Exchange, has died at age 99, according ... (AP)

Affordable Care Act Insurers Want More Premium Increases as Enrollment Sags

6 hrs ago - By Rachel Spears July 8, 2026 For the second year in a row, many Affordable Care Act insurers are proposing double-digit premium increases, driven by rising medical costs as well as policy changes by Congress and the Trump administration. In prelim ... (KFF)

Southern Poverty Law Center pleads not guilty in federal fraud case

6 hrs ago - 07/07/2026 08:18 PM EDT|Updated: 07/07/2026 09:18 PM EDT MONTGOMERY, Alabama — The Southern Poverty Law Center, best known for monitoring hate groups, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal charges that it defrauded donors by not disclosing that ... (Politico)