Author: Reporter

Wherever House Speaker Mike Johnson goes, Donald Trump, seemingly, is not far away. At a campaign stop for a House Republican candidate outside of Toledo, Johnson held up his cell phone as he has a dozen times before, and started filming — “Hey, Mr. President!” The crowd at the county GOP headquarters a couple hundred people deep knew what to do next. “Is President Trump going to win Ohio?” They roared. As Johnson travels the country trying to save his House Republican majority, and his own job as speaker, he has linked ever more tightly to Trump, a once...

Groups in Russia created and helped spread viral disinformation targeting Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, a senior U.S. intelligence official said in October. The content, which includes baseless accusations about the Minnesota governor’s time as a teacher, contains several indications that it was manipulated, said the official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Analysts identified clues that linked the content to Russian disinformation operations, said the official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the office of the director. Digital researchers had already linked the video to Russia, but the...

When he first emerged on social media, the user known as Harlan claimed to be a New Yorker and an Army veteran who supported Donald Trump for president. Harlan said he was 29, and his profile picture showed a smiling, handsome young man. A few months later, Harlan underwent a transformation. Now, he claimed to be 31 and from Florida. New research into Chinese disinformation networks targeting American voters shows Harlan’s claims were as fictitious as his profile picture, which analysts think was created using artificial intelligence. As voters prepare to cast their ballots this fall, China has been...

Ylenia Aguilar raised her two sons in Arizona, first in Tucson and later Phoenix, so they are no strangers to scorching heat. In September, Phoenix hit its 100th straight day at or above 100° F, shattering the record set in 1993. She remembers scary moments “seeing soccer kids and my own children pass out and faint from, you know, heat-related illnesses,” she said. “It was seeing my sons dehydrated.” Scores of U.S. schoolyards like hers are carpeted in heat-absorbing asphalt, with no shade even for play areas. The buildings were often made with wall and roofing materials that radiated...