Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Thursday.
Trump said broadcasters risk losing licenses for criticizing himOn President Trump’s flight home this afternoon from a visit to Britain, he celebrated ABC’s decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show from the air and encouraged federal regulators to go further. Trump told reporters that the F.C.C. should consider revoking the broadcast licenses of companies that air overly negative comments about him. Trump’s allies have cheered the move as the proper response to Kimmel’s comments suggesting a link between the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk and the “MAGA gang.” Critics of the president expressed anger and disappointment, arguing that the decision amounted to an attack on free speech. “We all see where this is going,” David Letterman said. “It’s managed media.” ABC announced the decision last night to pull Kimmel’s show from the air “indefinitely” after Trump’s F.C.C. head said his agency would consider punishing local stations that carried the show. Bob Iger, Disney’s C.E.O., and Dana Walden, its television chief, made the call, and Disney’s relations with important affiliate owners were reportedly a factor. The move highlighted the success that Trump has had in bringing the news media to heel. “He is now conducting the most punishing government crackdown against major American media institutions in modern times,” my colleague Jim Rutenberg, who has covered media and politics for many years, explained. In related news, Democrats in Congress said they planned to introduce long-shot legislation to bolster legal protections for people targeted by the president for speaking freely.
Kennedy appears poised to revise vaccine guidelinesHealth Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has ousted veteran scientists from the nation’s health agencies and installed his allies. Now, at a meeting today of federal vaccine advisers, his appointees appeared ready to vote against recommending the combined vaccine that protects against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox for children under 4. The decision is unlikely to have widespread consequences. The four shots are often given separately, as the C.D.C. has long recommended. But it offered the clearest signal yet that Kennedy intends to reshape the country’s childhood vaccination schedule. Many public health experts expressed alarm. The advisory panel was also expected to vote today to limit the use of a vaccine for hepatitis B. Here’s who is on the panel, and what they have said about vaccines. In related news, Texas parents who oppose vaccinating their children say their movement is winning.
NATO is looking for an answer to Russian dronesUkraine’s skies have been increasingly swarmed with Russian drones. Then, last week, more than a dozen crossed the border into Poland, causing NATO to scramble fighter jets to shoot them down. Many got through, including some that were made of plywood and foam. The fact that such inexpensive weapons evaded multimillion-dollar air defenses has NATO rushing to rethink its air defenses. Soon, as our weapons reporter Lara Jakes explained, NATO may have a new solution: lasers.
Tiffany Trump cruised on an oil broker’s yacht as U.S. eyed dealsThis summer, Massad Boulos traveled to Libya as the State Department’s senior Africa adviser and announced deals to ramp up Libyan oil production. At the same time, Boulos’s son and his son’s wife, Tiffany Trump, the president’s daughter, were cruising the French Riviera aboard one of the world’s largest superyachts — owned by a major broker of Libyan oil. Their presence on the yacht was a measure of how hard it is to tell where the interests of government end and the Trump family begins. Here’s how Instagram posts led us to the story. More top news
Apple’s earbuds show how A.I. can make life a bit easierWhen our consumer technology writer, Brian Chen, was testing Apple’s new AirPods, he had a conversation with an old friend. They talked about family and work, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But Brian came away thoroughly impressed. His friend had been speaking in Spanish, which Brian could understand with the help of AirPods’ new real-time translation feature. Using A.I., it accurately converted nearly every word to English inside Brian’s ears. The experience showed how artificial intelligence could improve people’s lives — and that Apple is still in the A.I. race.
Build your own HIIT workoutHigh-intensity interval training is one of the best ways to pack a lot of exercise into a short period of time. So, we consulted with fitness experts and trainers to build a tool for creating your own custom workout. By combining a few common exercises — like squats, push-ups and jumping jacks — you can make thousands of different routines. Follow our guide to get started.
Dinner table topics
Cook: This miso eggplant salad is a great option for a quick weeknight meal. Watch: In “Speak,” high schoolers learn how to debate like a pro. Read: Check out the books that our critics and editors loved this summer. Save: Grab your home energy tax credits while you still can. Walk: Experts offer blister-free tips for breaking in shoes. Hunt: Which New England house would you buy with a budget of $700,000? Play: Here are today’s Spelling Bee, |
