LOADING ERROR LOADINGCreepy, zany and demonstrably fake content is often called “slop.”The word’s proliferation online, in part thanks to the widespread availability of generative artificial intelligence, landed it Merriam-Webster’s 2025 word of the year. “It’s such an illustrative word,” said Greg Barlow, Merriam-Webster’s president, in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press ahead of Monday’s announcement. The word's proliferation online, in part thanks to the widespread availability of generative artificial intelligence, landed it Merriam-Webster's 2025 word of the year. AdvertisementThe word “slop” evokes unpleasant images of mud-caked pigs crowding around a dirty trough, or perhaps a bucket of steaming, fetid stew. Rounding out Merriam-Webster’s top words of 2025:6-7The viral term exploded in popularity over the summer.

NBC News’ chief data analyst Steve Kornacki pointed to a polling detail that he believes could show a growing fracture within President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. On Sunday’s broadcast of “Meet The Press,” Kornacki noted how it’s been “politically a tough ending of the year for Republicans” and Trump, whose approval rating is down to 42% now, compared with 45% in April. But “maybe more worryingly for Trump,” he suggested, is a fall in how many people within the GOP and particularly the MAGA faction of the party currently “strongly approve” of his presidency, which Kornacki said has dropped from 78% to 70%. Previously, Kornacki noted, some 57% had identified as being part of the president’s base. Watch the analysis here:Related...Read the original on HuffPost

Anthony Albanese, Australia's prime minister, during a news conference in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 15, 2025. Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesSYDNEY (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday proposed tougher national gun laws after a mass shooting targeted a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, leaving at least 15 people dead. Included in that is the need for tougher gun laws,” Albanese told reporters. Minns said his state’s gun laws would change, but he could not yet detail how. AdvertisementAustralia’s gun laws were revised after a 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people.

Supplied Blue Cross foster carer, Wendy Penfold. Not all superheroes wear capes, some – like cat foster carer, Wendy Penfold – wear fleece gilets covered in cat fur. I wanted a different, calmer life.”“I love animals so my friend who’s a vet nurse suggested fostering for Blue Cross. As a Blue Cross fosterer, Wendy cares for her chalets’ occupants while they wait to be adopted. AdvertisementOther times, Wendy fosters cats who are finding life in a Blue Cross centre a little stressful.

LOADING ERROR LOADING“Saturday Night Live” kicked off this weekend’s episode with a sketch showing a pill-addled President Donald Trump holding an anything-goes press conference on Air Force One. Oh, she’s got a beautiful face and those lips that don’t quit,” Johnson fawned as the camera panned in to Padilla’s face. “It’s pretty amazing that I can just openly simp over my young blonde subordinate.”Advertisement"Saturday Night Live" depicted President Donald Trump in a prescription pill daze during this week's cold open. “They go ‘bop, bop, bop’ like a machine gun. AdvertisementIn the sketch, James Austin Johnson's Trump bragged about being very "nice to women" before calling CNN's Kaitlan Collins a "nasty, horrible witch."

But then, at 60, my husband announced he wanted to have a child with a younger woman. When I was younger, I’d agonized about how I’d age. Who knew which way I’d go or what I’d discover? AdvertisementDespite the visible reminders of old age, strangers say hi and smile at me. I could choose to believe I control the world ― or should ― and always be upset when things don’t go the way I’d planned.

(He’s actually a big musical theater fan. But to dig a little deeper, we decided to ask some therapists who love musical theatre what it might say about someone if they hate the sound of music(als). TORSTEN BLACKWOOD via Getty Images “The dynamics onstage in musical theater can sometimes be overstimulating for people,” said Alaina O’Neill , a therapist and self-professed theater kid. “I think that is ultimately what can turn people off to musical theater. Either way, Esther said it’s worth continuing to try them out when one does pique your interest.

Gavin Newsom (D) is calling out President Donald Trump again for spreading misinformation. On Sunday, Trump doubled back on his repeated, false claims about rigged elections, claiming this time that he would’ve won California in the 2024 presidential election if he hadn’t been cheated by the Democratic party. The right-wing leader continued, “It’s a rigged election in California because we would win California by a lot. Gavin Newsom (D) has regularly blasted President Donald Trump and his administration. But then we won again in 2024 with an election we call ‘too big to rig,’” he said.

LOADING ERROR LOADINGA Brown University student said surviving Saturday’s mass shooting at the college made her feel like she was 12 years old again in Parkland, Florida, surviving that mass shooting in 2018. “Mentally, I feel like I’m 12 again,” Zoe Weissman, a sophomore at Brown University, told MS NOW. Weissman told MS NOW she was in her dorm about to study for finals when her friend called to tell her about the mass shooting. Mia Tretta, another student at Brown University, told NBC News that she was shot during the 2019 mass shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California. “I am 21 years old, and this is the second mass shooting that I have now lived through,” Matthews said in a 2023 TikTok video.

LOADING ERROR LOADINGPresident Donald Trump addressed Saturday’s mass shooting at Brown University in a manner that was very Trump-like. “Brown University, great school, really one of the greatest schools anywhere in the world,” Trump said Sunday from the White House. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were at the White House on Sunday for the White House Christmas reception. On Saturday night, Trump told reporters the shooting at Brown was a “terrible thing.”“All we can do right now is pray for the victims and for those who were very badly hurt it looks like,” he said. Just pray.”Vice President JD Vance offered a similar sentiment, writing on social media that he is “thinking of and praying for the victims tonight.”

“I love the Lumbee tribe,” Trump said as he signed his proclamation in January. Lumbee Tribe.”The Lumbee tribe, a massive group with about 55,000 members, was all in for Trump in the 2024 election. Their support for Trump paid off this week, as lawmakers tucked language into a fast-moving defense bill to grant full federal recognition to the Lumbee tribe. AdvertisementNorth Carolina lawmakers have played hardball for years to try to get the Lumbee tribe federal recognition, and they’ve angered colleagues in the process. But some senators have taken offense to the idea that the Lumbee tribe is getting off easy by going the legislative route.

Police said one of the gunmen was known to the security services, but that there had been no specific threat. AdvertisementANKARA, TURKIYE - DECEMBER 14: An infographic titled "Mass shooting at Sydney's Bondi Beach" created in Ankara, Turkiye on December 14, 2025. He said it was declared a terrorist attack due to the event targeted and weapons used. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X that “the United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Jewish celebration. Throughout last summer, the country was rocked by a spate of antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.

“To many people, ghosting — which is a passive way to leave a relationship — feels like a gentle breakup,” Koch continued. We Can Blame The Tech (At Least A Little Bit)I’ll be the first to admit that social media has made me far more comfortable ghosting friends than it should. To be clear — and this is in no way an excuse — the people I’ve ghosted were mainly social media and/or online friends. Ending A Friendship RespectfullyAlthough ghosting isn’t a kind way to end a friendship, it’s OK to walk away from certain friends if you feel the relationship isn’t working anymore. But when we need to, we can end relationships and friendships in a way that prioritizes everyone’s dignity and well-being.”

Courtesy of the legal team that represented Julius Jones and Tremane WoodYou kind of alluded to this, but many of your clients, including Julius and Tremane, had negative experiences with their trial attorneys. The community that developed around Julius’ case was really the result of “The Last Defense,” which was produced in 2018 by Viola Davis and her husband Julius Tennon’s company at ABC, that really spotlighted for folks the injustice in Julius’ case. AdvertisementLamont Williams and Rebecca Postyeni with Julius Jones' mother, Madeline Davis-Jones (center), at the 2024 Peace Needs Conference in Oklahoma City. Courtesy of the legal team that represented Julius Jones and Tremane WoodAhead of Julius’ case, there was this tremendous public, national pressure in support of clemency. LW: With Julius’ case, it was maybe an easier thing for people to get on board with questions of innocence.

via Associated PressPHOENIX, Ariz. – Democratic governors are in the club everyone wants to join. As many as eight of the Democratic governors in attendance are seen as potential candidates for the presidency in 2028. Similarly, Democratic governors were largely irrelevant in the 2020 nominating contests but will be central in 2028. Republicans are slightly favored to win in Kansas, where Democratic Gov. (Staffers for the potential candidates were often very interested in discussing the way other governors were positioning themselves, with less interest in talking about their own potential candidate’s plans.)