Gregg Phillips, who spread unsubstantiated claims of mass voter fraud in the 2016 election, will join the agency’s leadership, the Trump administration confirmed.

© Bridget Bennett/Reuters

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) filed articles of impeachment against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Wednesday, accusing him of abusing the powers of his office and undermining public health, putting Americans’ lives at risk.

He “has got to go,” Stevens said in a video announcing the impeachment articles. In an accompanying press statement, she said Kennedy, who rose to prominence as an ardent anti-vaccine activist, “has turned his back on science, on public health, and on the American people—spreading conspiracies and lies, driving up costs, and putting lives at risk.”  She called him the “biggest self-created threat to our health and safety.”

It is very unlikely that an impeachment push will gain traction in the Republican-controlled Congress. No other Democratic lawmakers are backing the articles.

Read full article

Comments

© Getty | Andrew Harnik

It’s not just humans who suffer from leading one another astray. So do fish, flies and even bacteria.

© Rob Stewart/Image Bank Film, via Getty Images

The agency claimed that 10 children’s deaths were linked to the shots, although it did not release evidence to support the assertions.

© Charity Rachelle for The New York Times

A measles outbreak that began in South Carolina at the start of October is showing no signs of slowing as officials on Tuesday reported 27 new cases since Friday. Those cases bring the outbreak total to 111.

The southern state’s outbreak now rivals outbreaks ongoing in Utah and Arizona, which have tallied 115 and 176 cases, respectively. The outbreaks are threatening to cost the country its measles elimination status, which was earned in 2000 after vaccination efforts stopped the virus from spreading continuously. If the current transmission of the virus isn’t halted by January, the virus will have circulated for 12 consecutive months, marking it once again as an endemic disease in the US.

In an update on Tuesday, South Carolina’s health department suggested the spread is far from over. Of the state’s 27 new cases, 16 were linked to exposure at a church, the Way of Truth Church in Inman. And amid the new cases, new exposures were identified at Inman Intermediate School. That’s on top of exposures announced Friday at four other schools in the region, which led to well over 100 students being quarantined.

Read full article

Comments

© Getty | Natalya Maisheva

Apps like OpenAI’s Sora are fooling millions of users into thinking A.I. videos are real, even when they include warning labels.

© The New York Times

In 2020, a Chinese virologist fled to the United States, aided by allies of President Trump who sought to promote her unproven theories about the origins of Covid-19. Her husband still can’t find her.

© Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Shifting politics, intensive lobbying and surging disinformation online have undermined international efforts to respond to the threat.

© Andre Penner/Associated Press

The agency’s top vaccine regulator proposed broad changes, claiming that a new review linked 10 children’s deaths to the Covid vaccine. But public health experts questioned the findings, wanting to examine the data.

© Hannah Beier for The New York Times

Before casting a crucial vote for the health secretary, the top Senate Republican laid out several specific commitments he had secured, some of which appear to have been breached.

© Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

In an interview, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited gaps in vaccine safety research. His critics say he is ignoring a larger point: Vaccines save lives.

© Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

A combination of technological developments and market forces is undermining the trust between viewer and filmmaker. What’s at stake is history itself.

Once pitched as dispassionate tools to answer your questions, A.I. chatbots are now programmed to reflect the biases of their creators.

© Andria Lo for The New York Times

Online harassers are generating images and sounds that simulate their victims in violent situations.

© Charlotte Hadden for The New York Times

The billionaire launched his A.I.-powered version, Grokipedia, on Monday.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times