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It gets very confusing with all the different religions and claims that this or that belief or ideas from various movements that they have the path that leads to God, so is it. But when you hear a Christian religious leader or teacher claim that all religions lead on a path to God, that raises questions. Scripture is clear that is not the case. We find it in John 14... John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Jesus declares that the only way to God is through Him. https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=5fd0...cmVsaWdpb25zX2xlYWRfdG9fb25lX2dvZC5odG0&ntb=1

President Trump has issued a new deadline for President Zelensky to sign the U.S.-backed peace deal with Russia, giving him days, some say until Christmas Day to sign the agreement. "US President Donald Trump's envoys have given Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a fresh deadline to respond to Washington's proposed peace plan, unnamed officials told the Financial Times. The officials said Zelenskyy has only "days" to reply, even as the Ukrainian leader insists he will not accept any deal that redraws Ukraine's borders." MSN Trump also criticized the European Union's efforts in influencing what was a US plan in which they seem to be urging Zelensky to take a hard stand against giving up any territorial concessions to secure a peace agreement. It seems that the EU wants to 'trump' the Presidents peace negotiations and impose a more comprehensive security protection for Ukraine and piece-meal annexation such as the Sudetenland by Germany which was a cause of WWII. But much as they dont want such a capitulation on Ukraine, it seems that is the only path to peace, at least in Trumps view.. "US President Donald Trump has criticized European leaders as "weak" and suggested the US could scale back support for Ukraine. In a wide-ranging interview with Politico, he said "decaying" European countries had failed to control migration or take decisive action to end Ukraine's war with Russia, accusing them of letting Kyiv fight "until they drop". He argued that Russia held the "upper hand" and urged Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky to "play ball" by ceding territory to Moscow. In the UK, Downing Street rejected Trump's claim that Europe had failed to act, citing the UK's leadership on sanctions and reiterating support for the US-led peace process."... MSN But Zelensky seems to be digging in against any concessions on Ukrainian land.. "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared that Ukraine will not give up any territory to Russia and said components of a plan to end the war between the countries are ready to be presented to the U.S. "Russia is insisting that we give up territories, but we don't want to cede anything," Zelenskyy said in an online press conference Monday, the AFP news agency reported. "We have no legal right to do so, under Ukrainian law, our constitution and international law. And we don't have any moral right either," Zelenskyy said after leaving London, where he met with the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany. Zelenskyy's remarks suggest he will not bend to pressure from Russian President Vladimir Putin or President Trump, whose negotiators had proposed Ukraine give up its eastern region of the Donbas – about 20% of the country's territory – as part of a plan to end Russia's war on Ukraine, according to a draft shared publicly by a Ukrainian opposition politician and confirmed by a White House official.... MSN And even the Pope has weighed in on the situation... "Pope Leo has hit out at President Donald Trump’s Russia-Ukraine peace proposal and has warned that the administration risks destroying the longstanding alliance between Europe and the United States. As Ukraine faces growing pressure from the U.S. to accept major territorial losses and other concessions as a trade-off for Russia to end its years-long incursion, the pope has weighed in with a stinging rebuke to America’s approach."... Pope Leo Takes Shocking Swipe at Trump Over Old Friends Something has to give, and it looks like the EU allies and their backing of Ukraine's hardening stance..

December 10, 2025 By Sam Sifton Good morning. President Trump had a rally last night to discuss the cost of living. He kept going off script. And in Australia, a social media ban for children under 16 has taken effect. Some teens aren’t happy. I’d like to start, though, with two very different pieces of business. One’s about the drama surrounding the purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, by Netflix or Paramount. The other’s about climate fixes that are actually working. FIGHT FOR THE STREAMING FUTURE Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, Calif. Aleksey Kondratyev for The New York Times Paramount and Netflix are in a corporate knife fight, competing for the chance to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, including its TV and film studios, its HBO Max streaming service and (maybe, depending on how everything shakes out) its cable channels, including CNN. It could be the biggest media deal in a decade — shaping the news, shows and movies consumed by hundreds of millions of people around the world. What is happening? Last week, Netflix unveiled an $83 billion deal to take control of Warner Bros. On Monday, Paramount tried to snatch the deal away, going straight to Warner Bros. shareholders with what it called a superior offer, one that valued the company at approximately $108 billion. Aggressive! How is Trump responding? Either deal would need the government’s blessing. And President Trump has broken precedent by placing himself at the center of the regulatory process, our media reporter Michael Grynbaum explained. “I’ll be involved in that decision,” Trump vowed. Paramount and Netflix have both made nice with Trump. Ted Sarandos, a chief executive of Netflix, visited the Oval Office in November, while David Ellison, the Paramount chairman, was spotted with Trump on Sunday, just hours before his company made its offer. What could happen next? It’s possible a Paramount victory could bring the future company more in line with Trump’s views. Ellison and Trump are close, and a private equity firm founded by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, is part of the Paramount deal. The president says a Netflix win “could be a problem,” giving it too much market power. That’s Paramount’s argument, too. Still, Trump has praised Sarandos. And while Paramount, which owns CBS, paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit that Trump brought against “60 Minutes,” Trump has continued to criticize the show. He wrote that since CBS came under Ellison’s leadership, “60 Minutes has actually gotten WORSE!” Warner Bros. Discovery said it would have more to say next week. Stay tuned. 50 states, 50 fixes The New York Times Solutions to big, seemingly intractable environmental problems are hard to come by. But people all over the country are coming up with local answers. The Times set out this year to document one of those solutions in every state. Let us take you to a few of them. South Dakota During a class at South Dakota State University. Joe Dickie Photography For decades, Eastern red cedar trees have crept across South Dakota and the Plains States, earning them a regional nickname: the “green glacier.” The spread has overtaken native grasslands, which are one of the most endangered kinds of habitats in the world. They’ve also drastically reduced the amount of land available for grazing. Ranchers in the state have embraced an old method for getting that land back: They carefully burn specific parcels. As Native tribes in the region did for generations before settlers began suppressing fire in the late 19th century, they burn the land in order to preserve it. See what’s happening in South Dakota. Texas It’s not just oil under the ground in the Lone Star State. There’s also geothermal energy. It has made the state a hub of innovation in geothermal power. One of the new systems works by using electricity to pump water deep into underground cracks — similar to gas fracking. Once it’s there, the “well” holds the water under pressure. When electricity is needed on the grid, technicians release a valve, sending the water through a turbine, turning the water pressure back into electricity. Just don’t call it renewable energy. “We describe it as inexhaustible rather than renewable,” one leader in the field told The Times. Read more about Texas. Utah In Millville, Utah. (And yes, it’s normal for beavers to have orange teeth.) Kim Raff for The New York Times Beavers are top-notch engineers, driven to slow flowing water and create ponds. They’re a nuisance for ranchers across the West, some of whom loathe the animals for their ability to wreak havoc on pastures, leaving them muddy and unpassable. But they can also be a force for good. Their dams reduce runoff, recharge groundwater, build habitat for fish and other wildlife, help streams recover sediment and create watering holes. In Utah, that led to an idea: Why not relocate the nuisance beavers to places where their dams would be helpful — improving the environment, rather than destroying it? Check out these beavers in Utah. Wyoming More than 620,000 miles of barbed-wire fences divide the American West. They keep cattle contained. They’re expensive to build and expensive to maintain. A single mile of new fence line can cost a rancher $25,000. And margins in that business are thin. Enter virtual fences and GPS collars, which some livestock managers are using on their cattle in Wyoming to manage their herds from afar, with much less need for fencing. The tech is reminiscent of the invisible fencing used by some suburban dog owners. As a cow approaches a boundary, the collar beeps. If she crosses, it delivers a mild electric shock. Ranchers use GPS coordinates to set precise boundaries on pastures to keep cows away from streams or sagebrush. They can move cows around to prevent overgrazing. They can also monitor cows’ exact locations, and, if they see the herd bunched up, they can ride out to see if the animals are under threat from a wolf or a grizzly bear. Another benefit: With fewer fences, elk, pronghorn and mule deer can migrate more easily. Read about the other 46 states and fixes here. They include the Library of Things in Maine and, in Florida, the rise of the “mangrove mamas.” THE LATEST NEWS Politics President Trump Doug Mills/The New York Times President Trump gave the first of a series of speeches intended to alleviate Americans’ concerns about the cost of living, but instead he mocked the term “affordability.” Miami voters elected a Democratic mayor, Eileen Higgins, for the first time in almost 30 years. Marco Rubio ordered the State Department to return its default font to Times New Roman. It rejected the Biden administration’s switch to Calibri, done for accessibility reasons, as a D.E.I play. Supreme Court The Supreme Court heard arguments about whether to lift campaign finance limits. That case, brought by Republican groups, could undercut one of Democrats’ financial advantages in the midterm elections. Today, the justices will revisit how states assess intellectual disabilities to decide who should be spared the death penalty. More on the Courts A federal judge granted the government’s motion to unseal records from the grand jury investigation into Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime companion. For the third time, a judge suggested that Lindsey Halligan, the Trump-appointed prosecutor who pursued criminal charges against Letitia James and James Comey, should resign. Latin America The Times uncovered more details about how the Pentagon has scrambled to deal with survivors of Caribbean boat strikes. The goal has been to keep the survivors out of the U.S. justice system, where courts could demand justification for the military’s campaign. Legal groups sued for the release of a secret memo justifying the attacks. And Democrats said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wouldn’t commit to showing Congress the full video of a contentious strike from Sept. 2. María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader who won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, has embraced Trump’s military buildup. Here is a look at the long history of U.S. military intervention in Latin America. War in Ukraine Source: The Institute for the Study of War with American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project (as of Dec. 8, 2025) Josh Holder After weeks of peace talks and high-level meetings, Russia and Ukraine remain far apart on a central issue: who gets to keep a chunk of land about the size of Delaware. Trump called Europe “decaying” and criticized leaders there for their handling of migration and the war in Ukraine. Lithuania’s government declared a nationwide emergency over suspicious balloons that have floated in from Belarus, Russia’s main European ally. More International News An executive left the Taiwanese company TSMC, the world’s leading computer chip maker, to work for Intel. The Taiwanese government says the move could threaten its national security. Israel continues to bar journalists from freely entering Gaza despite a cease-fire. The Foreign Press Association in Israel called the ban “beyond absurd.” OPINIONS Congress pours billions of dollars into the Pentagon, but much of it goes to waste. The safety of the country depends on getting serious about the military’s finances, the editorial board writes. Early-decision college applications are a racket. They should be shut down, Daniel Currell writes. Morning readers: Save on the complete Times experience. Experience all of The Times, all in one subscription — all with this introductory offer. You’ll gain unlimited access to news and analysis, plus games, recipes, product reviews and more. MORNING READS Japanese toilets: In public restrooms in Tokyo, you may hear birdsong, ocean waves or a babbling river. It’s courtesy audio meant to mask bathroom noises — “an auditory simulacrum of nature, perfect for responding to its call,” as Tim Hornyak writes. Now, the sound machines are becoming more popular. A formative read: There’s an enduring appeal to James Marshall’s “George and Martha” series about hippos who are best friends, Hannah Kingsley-Ma writes. She grew up reading the children’s books “the same way an athlete runs drills — in an exhaustive repetitive cycle, as if they were preparing me for something.” Your pick: The most-clicked story in The Morning yesterday was about how to fall asleep with cognitive shuffling. TODAY’S NUMBER 187,460 — That is the estimated number of miles in the Roman Empire’s road system, according to a new study. One of the longest tracks stretched from Bordeaux, France, to Jerusalem. SPORTS N.F.L.: The Indianapolis Colts are poised to bring Philip Rivers, 44, out of retirement after losing almost every quarterback on their roster to injuries. Rivers hasn’t thrown an N.F.L. pass in five years. College football: In college sports’ biggest step yet into private equity, the University of Utah is forming a partnership with a private investment firm. RECIPE OF THE DAY Beef biryani with cumin raita. Linda Xiao for The New York Times When you can make something delicious and complicated quickly, you generally have to rely on what we call in the cooking game a cheat. (A cheat is a good thing!) For this weeknight beef biryani, you get the rice going in a Dutch oven, then brown up a mixture of ground meat, spices and aromatics in a skillet. Get the meat on top of the still-cooking rice, cover and allow it all to come together while you whisk together a musky, tangy cumin raita to drizzle over the top. Thirty minutes. Five stars! YOU LOOK SPECTACULAR John Taggart for The New York Times In the social media demimonde of downtown Manhattan, Judi Jupiter has become one of the city’s most improbable chroniclers of street style. In the 1970s, she was a house photographer at Studio 54, capturing images of Debbie Harry, Andy Warhol and many others. Now, at 76, she films and interviews beautiful young people with her phone, breaking through the algorithm with a combination of affable kindness and what our reporter Alex Vadukul calls a “borderline invasive curiosity.” She asks a lot of questions. “I love the Gen Z’s,” she told Alex. “I love their attitude. They think the world is in a bad place and that we’ve got to make it better. That’s their thing.” Spend some time with her. More on culture More than 125 years after British forces looted the Benin Bronzes from a royal palace, they have returned to Nigeria, where about 100 of them are on view at the Benin City National Museum. The bronzes are beautiful, but their new home is a far cry from the state-of-the-art museum that many had hoped would house them. There are no high-tech climate or security systems protect them, Alex Marshall reports from Benin City. A Nigerian cultural official said no one had any right to tell Nigerians what to do with their heritage. Gwyneth Paltrow and Jacob Elordi interviewed each other on Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series. See it here. Nnena Kalu, an artist known for making huge cocoonlike sculptures out of found fabric and videotape, won the Turner Prize yesterday. It is one of the art world’s most prestigious awards. Kalu, 59, has autism and a learning disability, with limited verbal communication. The chair of this year’s jury said she received the award for the “sheer quality and verve and beauty” of her abstract art. Late night hosts joked about the Trump administration’s push to build fitness stations at airports. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS Play Skate Story, a video game about a skateboarding demon in the underworld who is made of glass. Don’t fall! Read romantasy to reinvigorate your sex life. Seriously. We spoke with women who said the genre had helped them reach a new level of intimacy. Evaporate at will with the best humidifier, approved by the water lovers at Wirecutter. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was cornball. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Sports Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times and me. See you tomorrow. — Sam Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren

THIS DAY IN HISTORY December 10 1901 First Nobel Prizes awarded The first Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace on December 10, 1901. The ceremony came on the fifth anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite and other high explosives. In his will, Nobel... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT American Revolution 1778 John Jay is elected president of the Continental Congress Arts & Entertainment 1830 Emily Dickinson is born 1905 O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” is published 1967 Soul legend Otis Redding dies in a plane crash near Madison, Wisconsin 2009 “Avatar” makes its world premiere in London Black History 1950 American diplomat Ralph Bunche receives Nobel Peace Prize Cold War 1977 Soviets arrest dissidents on United Nations Human Rights Day Colonial America 1690 First paper currency is authorized in the Colonies European History 1898 Treaty of Paris ends Spanish-American War Inventions & Science 1903 Marie and Pierre Curie are awarded Nobel Prize for their work with radium Sports 1922 Canton Bulldogs claim NFL’s first title U.S. Government and Politics 1974 Sex scandal leads to political fallout for Arkansas congressman U.S. Presidents 1920 Woodrow Wilson awarded Nobel Peace Prize Women’s History 1869 Wyoming grants women the right to vote World War I 1917 Red Cross is awarded Nobel Peace Prize

📖 Workplace word of the year Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios "Fatigue" is online career platform Glassdoor's word of the year, Axios' Emily Peck writes. Why it matters: Anxious about keeping jobs, people are burning out. Mentions of "fatigue" were up 41% this year in posts, comments and reviews on the jobs site.

🛰️ SpaceX pursues biggest IPO of all time Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios Elon Musk is planning the biggest IPO in history for SpaceX, one that would value his rockets-and-satellites company at $1.5 trillion, Bloomberg reports. Stunning stat: At those sums, Musk's reported 42% stake in SpaceX would be worth more than $600 billion, bringing the world's richest man closer to becoming history's first trillionaire. 💸 By the numbers: A $1.5 trillion valuation would make SpaceX worth more than Tesla — and one of the world's 10 most valuable companies, Axios' Ben Berkowitz writes. Bloomberg notes the IPO would raise more than $30 billion, topping Saudi Aramco, the previous record holder. The IPO could take place as soon as mid-to-late next year. The timeline could slip into 2027. Keep reading (gift link), Katie Miller interviews Elon Musk in Austin. Photo: "The Katie Miller Podcast" 🎙️ In an interview on "The Katie Miller Podcast," Musk said DOGE was "somewhat successful" but he wouldn't do it again, Axios' Rebecca Falconer writes. "Instead of doing DOGE, I would have worked at my companies, essentially, and they wouldn't have been burning the cars," he added. Miller worked with Musk on DOGE. Video: Musk on DOGE ... Musk on God ... Full interview.

🎤 Trump's rally return President Trump arrives at Mount Airy Casino Resort last night in Mount Pocono, Pa. Photo: Alex Brandon/AP In Pennsylvania last night at the first stop of a planned economic tour, President Trump repeatedly called the term "affordability" a "hoax" and blamed Democrats for high prices. "I have no higher priority than making America affordable again. They caused the high prices and we're bringing them down," Trump told a crowd at a casino resort in the Poconos. 🗳️ Trump said White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles told him he needs to hit the campaign trail again to engage MAGA voters for next year's midterms. "I haven't made a speech in a little while. You know, when you win, you say, 'I can now rest.' ... The chief of staff — and she is fantastic — said: 'We have to start campaigning, sir.'" Go deeper.

📉 Small biz loses confidence Data: The MetLife and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index. Chart: Axios Visuals Small-business owners were excited for Trump 2.0. Now, tariffs and inflation are causing headaches and eroding optimism, Axios' Emily Peck writes from new MetLife and the Chamber of Commerce data out this morning. Why it matters: Main Street's pain drags down the entire economy. 🧮 By the numbers: 45% of small-business owners cited inflation as their biggest challenge in the Chamber's survey, conducted in October during the government shutdown. They're raising prices just to keep up: 58% said they expect to raise prices this holiday season, but 52% also expect lower revenue. The other side: That's better than in 2022, when inflation peaked. 69% expected to raise prices, and 61% expected less revenue.

⚡ Trump brings legal immigration to a halt Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios In just the last few weeks, the Trump administration has threatened to expand the travel ban list, paused all asylum decisions and signaled it will reopen Biden-era immigration cases. Why it matters: Any of these changes would strain the system. Doing them all at once could overwhelm it, Axios' Brittany Gibson writes. Policy changes announced after the National Guard shooting near the White House last month are expected to grow the backlog at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the office that handles legal migration. Green cards and asylum claims will be re-reviewed, slowing processing for everyone, not just the targeted nationalities. Overall, USCIS faces 11 million pending cases across all forms of immigration status, from asylum and green cards to work visas and family-based applications. 🔭 Zoom in: The impact has been immediate for people from the 19 countries on the travel ban list, including Afghanistan, Somalia, Venezuela and Iran. The travel ban, when unveiled this summer, shut down travel for those passport holders to the U.S. But now that list is being used against immigrants already here applying for visas, work authorization or permanent legal status. Some saw interviews with USCIS officers canceled. Others have been pulled out of citizenship ceremonies. Keep reading.

Trump's new cold war with Europe Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios; Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images The Trump administration is engaged in open hostilities with the European Union, turning long-simmering feuds over free speech, Ukraine and mass migration into official U.S. policy, Axios' Zachary Basu writes. Why it matters: The EU's $140 million fine against Elon Musk's X platform lit the fuse on a conflict the Trump administration was already primed for — and which it formalized in a new National Security Strategy that casts Europe as a geopolitical villain. "They're destroying their countries," Trump told Politico, slamming European nations as "decaying" and "weak." The newest flashpoint comes as the U.S. and its European allies are also sharply divided over Ukraine and the future of European security. 🔎 Zoom in: The EU penalized X on Friday after regulators found the platform misled users, obscured key advertising information and blocked researchers from accessing public data. A furious Musk accused the EU of stifling free speech through "bureaucratic tyranny" — rallying far-right leaders and millions of followers behind the hashtag #AbolishTheEU. Senior U.S. officials piled on, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling the fine "an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people." Vice President Vance, the administration's most outspoken euroskeptic, called the fine "garbage" and the product of X's refusal to accept EU "censorship." Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) urged Trump to impose sanctions on the EU "until this travesty is reversed" — an extraordinary escalation typically reserved for U.S. adversaries. 🖼️ The big picture: The fight over X stems from the worldview formalized in Trump's National Security Strategy, which accuses the EU of "regulatory suffocation" and "subversion of democratic processes." At the heart of the allegations is mass migration: The White House argues that European elites have unleashed demographic change through open borders. Musk and Vance — who previewed many of these arguments in a blistering speech at the Munich Security Conference — have championed far-right parties in Europe, including Germany's AfD. Such interference in domestic politics is now codified in Trump's National Security Strategy, which calls for "cultivating resistance" within EU member states as a remedy to Europe's "civilizational erasure." "It is a declaration of political war on the EU. [Trump] wants a white Europe divided into nations, subordinate to his demands and voting preferences," said former EU top diplomat Josep Borrell. 👀 Between the lines: Trump's strategy also calls into question whether some EU allies can remain reliable NATO members due to demographic change — and declares an end to "the perception" of NATO as a "perpetually expanding alliance." Russia has welcomed the transatlantic rift. Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters Sunday that "the adjustments we are seeing ... are largely consistent with our vision."

Being sarcastic on a regular basis can add up to 3 yrs to your life. Sarcasm is extremely healthy for the mind. James

🏖️ Parting shot! Photo: Erez Ofer A brilliant orange and blue sunset at Bang Bao Beach on the island of Koh Kood in Thailand — snapped by reader Erez Ofer of Ra'anana, Israel.

4 turning points for our brains Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios If you're close to your 9th, 32nd, 66th or 83rd birthday, you're approaching one of four pivotal shifts in brain development. That's according to a new study in Nature Communications, distilled by The Washington Post's Maggie Penman (gift link). Why it matters: The way our brains change throughout our lives isn't linear. Instead, these four turning points divide life into five distinct phases. 🔬 Zoom in: During Phase 1 — ages 0–9 — brains are powerful but inefficient because we're learning so much, from language to motor skills. Phase 2, from 9 to 32, is adolescence. Our brains become more efficient, but they're still developing — and we're extra vulnerable to developing mental health disorders. "While in our society we may think of 18- or 21-year-olds as adults, this research adds to a growing body of work suggesting that the brain isn't fully developed or stable until our late 20s or even early 30s," Penman writes. Phase 3, from 32 to 66, is adulthood — a period marked by stability in intelligence, behavior and personality. Phase 4 — early aging — happens from 66 to 83. Brains start to deal with some of the consequences of getting older, like memory loss, but also benefit from some of the perks, like better emotional regulation. Phase 5 — late aging — comes after 83. Brains start prioritizing the most critical information and connections and letting other stuff fall away. 🖼️ Zoom out: We can't control many aspects of how our brains age, but there's a great deal we can control. For kids and teens especially, sleep is key to managing stress, anxiety and depression, the National Sleep Foundation notes. For older adults, social connection is one of the strongest predictors of brain health, with evidence it lowers dementia risk and slows cognitive decline, AARP says. 💰 Money quote: "There are pros and cons to every developmental stage," Katie Insel, a psychologist at Northwestern, told the Post. "[W]ith every phase of life, there are trade-offs where some types of cognition and behavior are privileged because of how the brain is responding to the environment."

📲 GOP vs. K Street "rumor mills" Rep. Tom Emmer during a news conference at the Capitol on Nov. 3. Photo: Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images House Majority Whip Tom Emmer's office is turning a shutdown-era experiment into a standard practice of how they engage with K Street: During the shutdown, Emmer's (R-Minn.) staffers started holding in-person briefings at K Street offices for lobbyists and clients instead of on Capitol Hill. Why it matters: Emmer's office needed a way to keep information flowing downtown. The briefings offered firms an opportunity to get candid answers from House leadership and for leadership to get constructive feedback from businesses. Emmer's chief of staff Robert Boland and coalitions director Annie Brody held 22 meetings with 14 firms, both Democratic and Republican. Three more are scheduled for January. "We want them to feel comfortable. We want them to know that it is a total open-door policy in our office, and that we are a conduit and a liaison for them to the Hill," Brody told us. "It's a different feel," she added, speaking of going directly to the firms. Driving the news: The sessions helped untangle downtown's "echo chamber," where misinformation can spread quickly, Boland told us. "The more uncertainty there is, the more the rumor mills start expanding and you start losing control of messaging." Between the lines: Emmer's team said the operation wasn't coordinated with Johnson's office, but Boland said they were "always very deferential" to the House speaker and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.). — Kate Santaliz

⚡️ Health care D-Day Senators have lined up dueling show votes for Thursday, just three weeks before millions of Americans face major increases on health insurance premiums. Both bills are expected to fail, largely along party lines. Why it matters: Lawmakers have plenty of political mud to sling. But they're on track to depart for the holidays at the end of next week without passing anything on the expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act premiums. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the GOP proposal "junk insurance" in the Capitol today, arguing Republicans are trying to "cover up" for not being willing to extend the ACA credits. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) slammed the Democratic plan as sending billions of dollars "to the bank accounts of insurance companies" and allowing health care costs to continue to rise. "I could vote yes on both. I could vote no on both. And you know what? At the end of the day what do we got for anybody? That's the problem," Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters today. Between the lines: Democrats are proposing a three-year extension of the ACA credits. An expiration would expose millions of Americans to sharp increases in out-of-pocket premium costs that could lead some to go without insurance. The Republican plan — led by key Senate panel chairs Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) — does not extend the expiring credits and instead puts the money into health savings accounts. The dollar amount enrollees receive in their HSAs would depend on their age and income. Until this afternoon, it was unclear if the GOP would be able to unite around a clear alternative plan, with numerous senators offering their own versions of ACA fixes this week. Zoom out: Republican leaders this week are vowing to continue to work on health care fixes into the new year. Speaker Johnson told Punchbowl News there would be a health care vote before the end of the year, and then "we're going to continue to do improvements along the way in the first quarter, second quarter." Democrats will be happy to keep the debate over health care front and center as the 2026 midterm campaigns kick off in earnest. Schumer told his Democratic caucus last week that its 2026 messaging will be a referendum on the affordability crisis — including a sharp focus on looming increases in health insurance premiums. — Stef Kight and Stephen Neukam

👎 Johnson's broken vow House Speaker Mike Johnson is once again facing blowback from his own members, this time over the must-pass national defense authorization bill. Why it matters: Johnson made a promise to conservatives this summer to end a revolt that had paralyzed the House floor. Now, conservatives are frustrated that he's not following through. It's become nearly impossible for Johnson to keep everyone happy while navigating this tiny House majority. What happened: In July, Johnson promised a group of conservatives, who were holding the floor hostage during crypto week, that the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act would be attached to the NDAA. Johnson, at the time, said he spoke with Senate Majority Leader John Thune about adding the provision to the must-pass bill, and told reporters he was "hopeful" the Senate would hold the line. The Anti-CBDC bill was in the House-passed NDAA, but it's not in the bill that will come to the House floor tomorrow and likely be signed into law. What they're saying: Conservatives are fuming about the measure's exclusion. "Leadership needs to fix this bill IMMEDIATELY." Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) posted on X. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told us he will give "some amount of grace" on tomorrow's rule vote but plans to vote against final passage. "t is frustrating, you know, but that does not all fully fall on the speaker. There are a lot of parties involved with that," Roy said. Three other House Republicans, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Michael Cloud (Texas) and Greg Steube (Fla.) have already said they plan to vote against the bill for various reasons. Behind the scenes: House GOP leadership is worried about having enough support for tomorrow's rule vote. House Republicans have increasingly tanked rule votes to register opposition to leadership. If it's clear the rule won't have enough support to pass, leadership will have to consider bringing up the bill under suspension, which would require two-thirds support. Dozens of House Democrats are expected to support the legislation. — Kate Santaliz

A Lack of Energy View in browser The president of the United States can expect to face tough questions, but one that ABC’s Rachel Scott asked Monday wasn’t among them. In fact, it was nothing more than a recitation of his own words. “You said you would have no problem with releasing the full video of that strike on September 2 off the coast of Venezuela,” Scott began. President Donald Trump immediately snapped at Scott: “I didn’t say that. You said that. I didn’t say that. This is ABC fake news.” In fact, as Scott reminded him, that’s exactly what he said. “I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have, we’d certainly release. No problem,” he said on December 3 in the Oval Office. After Scott pointed that out, Trump shrugged it off, as though he’d simply forgotten. Perhaps this was willful obfuscation. But moments of apparent forgetfulness—whether one calls them senior moments, wandering attention, or spacing out—have been happening a lot recently. In late October, Trump said he received an MRI. For valid reasons, this has raised questions: MRIs aren’t a routine part of annual physicals, and the president’s most recent physical was way back in April; his doctors’ public disclosures about his medical exams have often been vague but full of puffery; he’s been seen with bruises, makeup, and bandages on his hands, which the White House has attributed to frequent hand shaking and his use of aspirin. Voter concerns about the health and vigor of his predecessor, Joe Biden, were one reason that Biden was forced into a late withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race. Rather than quiet these concerns with transparency, however, the Trump administration played coy for weeks. When Trump was asked about the MRI on November 14, he insisted both that he didn’t know what it was about and that it had a great result: “I have no idea what they analyzed,” he told reporters. “But whatever they analyzed, they analyzed it well, and they said that I had as good a result as they’ve ever seen.” When pressed more recently, he continued to brag that he had “aced” a test designed to assess baseline cognitive function, as though it was an IQ test—a boast that raises more questions than it answers. When the president’s physician eventually released a letter about the procedure, which referred to his October scan only as “advanced imaging,” it was similarly heavy on superlatives and light on detail. (That’s a contrast with the practice prior to Trump’s first term, when administrations publicly shared more medical information. When George W. Bush went through MRI machines during his presidency, for instance, the White House explained that they were intended to understand the reasons for a sore shoulder in one case and assess possible damage to his knees in another.) Trump has always seemed more interested in the pomp of his office than in doing the actual work, but he’s begun expressing lack of interest more physically in this term. Last week, Trump appeared to doze off repeatedly during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. To be fair, these are boring events: I am also not interested in sitting through several hours’ worth of secretaries and aides delivering obsequious praise, but they’re doing it for his benefit. If he wants more efficient meetings, he has the power to make it so. During one moment, Secretary of State Marco Rubio prattled on about how only Trump could achieve a cease-fire in Gaza. Trump himself slumped slowly forward with his eyes closed, then sat up before his eyelids fluttered again. The president did rouse himself at the end of the meeting, finding the energy for a racist rant about Somalis. This is not the first instance of Trump appearing to nap during public meetings, as The Washington Post reported last month. When he repeatedly snoozed during his Manhattan trial, last spring, it was a curiosity—especially for someone who had previously seemed so high-energy. But as I wrote at the time, it was also a warning: Was a man who couldn’t stay awake for his own felony trial, during the middle of the day, prepared for the rigors of the presidency? We now have some sense of the answer (and we might also wonder whether he’s even worse at staying awake during meetings that aren’t public). As my colleague Jonathan Lemire reported recently, Trump has also pulled back on his once-impressive schedule of campaign-style rallies. His daily schedule of events has become narrower. He’s becoming isolated and cloistered; his late-night social-media sprees are not new, but they’ve become a larger part of his public communication. As with Biden, this withdrawal has led Trump to make political arguments that, as David Axelrod writes, are disconnected from reality. The stranglehold that the elderly have on American politics makes assessing Trump’s struggles without referring to his age impossible. That’s especially true after the Biden debacle. Trump invited the comparison by referring to Biden as “Sleepy Joe,” an epithet he might regret if he continues to drift off in Oval Office meetings. Trump is 79, making him the oldest American president at the time of inauguration. Although polling in 2024 showed that large majorities of Americans believed that Biden was too old to be president, significant numbers believed that Trump was too. In February of last year, for example, an ABC News / Ipsos poll found that six in 10 Americans felt that both men were too superannuated to serve. What was most troubling about Biden, however, was not his age per se, but its symptoms: the stiffness, the apparent fatigue, and especially the meandering answers he delivered during his debate with Trump in June 2024. The same is true of Trump now. If another president were in his 50s or 60s and seemed unable to remember the details of such an important story as the boat strikes, didn’t know why he’d had a lengthy medical examination, and appeared to routinely doze off during high-profile meetings, the public would have understandable questions about his capacity to do the job. Trump has never displayed the temperament to serve as president, and now he is showing signs that he’s lost the physical stamina too. Related: The bubble-wrapped president The Democrats must confront their gerontocracy.

Parkinson’s disease The progressive movement disorder that affects your muscles and balance is on the rise. An estimated 25 million people worldwide will be living with it by 2050. Experts offer advice on how to reduce your risk.

Winter weather woes The National Weather Service is trying to hire back hundreds of people laid off or otherwise cut by the Trump administration. Offices are coping with vacancies that could affect forecasts and public safety as a cold and snowy winter looms. ps:Ain't that just amazing? Screw up so many peoples lives!! What a waste of tax payer money and than claim that you're doing a good job, no a great job!!!!!

🚕 Waymos gone wild Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios Waymo's self-driving taxis are suddenly behaving like they took driving lessons from New York City cabbies, The Wall Street Journal reports. 🖕"They're bending traffic laws, getting impatient with pedestrians and embracing the idea that when it comes to city driving, politeness doesn't pay: It's every car for itself," per the paper. Chris Ludwick, a Waymo senior director of product management, told the Journal that the cars are getting more "confidently assertive" to better mesh with us wild human drivers. 💃 Ask anybody who's ever driven in big cities: You either embrace the chaotic dance of it all, or get left in the dust. Gift link.

Trump's self-grade? "A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus" Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Getty Images President Trump's self-assessment on the economy: "A-plus ... A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus." 🎤 That's what he told Politico's Dasha Burns in a wide-ranging interview that also covered U.S. strikes in the Caribbean, Russia's war with Ukraine and more. "The word 'affordability' — I inherited a mess," Trump said. 📉 "Prices were at an all-time high when I came in. Prices are coming down substantially," he said. 📈 The Consumer Price Index, and a core measure that strips out food and energy costs, both rose 3% for the year ending in September — the latest data available, due to a reporting lapse during the government shutdown. 🛞 During remarks at a campaign-style event in Pennsylvania this evening, Trump will road-test his claims that he's tackling affordability woes. 🚤 When asked about the "double-tap" strike by U.S. forces on alleged drug smugglers aboard a boat in the Caribbean, Trump said: "Well, it looked like they were trying to turn back over the boat, but I don't get involved in that." "The admiral that did that was — is a highly respected — as you know, a highly respected man." Watch the interview ... Read the transcript.

Britain’s MI5 suppressed truth about spy within the IRA accused of killings, report finds LONDON (AP) — The U.K.'s security services protected a top spy planted within the Irish Republican Army when they knew he was wanted by police for murder, and continued to suppress the truth about the agent decades after Northern Ireland ‘s bloody conflict, a report said Tuesday. https://apnews.com/article/britain-ira-spy-stakeknife-report-9cd58b80f34088e9ada7a27cb863a01f?

Affordable Care Act enrollment is slightly ahead of last year so far, despite expiring subsidies NEW YORK (AP) — The number of Americans signing up for Affordable Care Act health insurance for 2026 is moderately higher than it was at a similar time last year, initial new federal data shows, even as subsidies set to expire at the end of 2025 will make the coverage more expensive for many. https://apnews.com/article/affordable-care-act-enrollment-subsidies-health-90ad8b27a6693c5aa03a9ca841048479?

Israeli army takes journalists into a tunnel in a Gaza city it seized and largely flattened On Monday, Israel’s military took journalists into Rafah — the city at Gaza’s southernmost point that troops seized last year and largely flattened — as the 2-month-old Israel-Hamas ceasefire reaches a critical point. Israel has banned international journalists from entering Gaza since the war began more than two years ago, except for rare, brief visits supervised by the military, such as this one. Read more. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ WATCH: AP journalist reports during Israel military tour of Rafah Hamas calls for more international pressure on Israel before ceasefire’s next phase

Democrat wins Miami mayor’s race for the first time in nearly 30 years MIAMI (AP) — Democrat Eileen Higgins won the Miami mayor’s race on Tuesday, defeating a Republican endorsed by President Donald Trump to end her party’s nearly three-decade losing streak and give Democrats a boost in one of the last electoral battles ahead of the 2026 midterms. https://apnews.com/article/miami-mayor-trump-higgins-gonzalez-f0d8c55a4b97962ac1348c5a93295465?