US personnel in China banned from romantic, sexual relations with Chinese citizens.

The policy was put into effect by departing U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns in January shortly before he left China .

It's not uncommon for American diplomats in other countries to date locals and even marry them.

A blanket ban on such relations has been unheard of publicly since the Cold War .

“The MSS is willing to leverage any human connection that a target has to collect intelligence,” Mattis says.

China also has been tightening already strict controls on its personnel overseas.

Beijing began strictly enforcing regulations that bar promotions for Chinese civil servants with spouses who acquired foreign citizenship.

Mike Pence will receive the 2025 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.

The award is presented to those who have made courageous decisions of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences.

Pence publicly split with President Donald Trump after Trump pressured Pence to reject electoral votes won by Joe Biden .

59% of voters think the taxes they pay are too high, down from a record 64% last year .

Some 38% think what they pay is about right and just a smidge say too low ( 2% ) The drop in those thinking they pay too much comes mostly from Republicans (down 11 points since March 2024 ) and Independents (-11) Meanwhile, an increasing number of voters feel the rich aren’t paying enough taxes.

Mayor Tom Ross says he takes full responsibility and holds Stalheim "in the utmost regard and respect" An investigation finds Ross sent a video of himself masturbating to the city attorney.

He sent the video minutes after the two had a telephone call discussing a police officer's suicide.

Ross told an interviewer he had recorded the video at home during a lunch break and meant to send it to his romantic partner.

Catron County commissioners in rural New Mexico are meeting Thursday to consider a state of emergency.

Ranchers have been at odds with efforts to reintroduce Mexican gray wolves since the late 1990s .

Officials in parts of Oregon and Northern California say the wolves seem brazen and more livestock is turning up dead.

Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will launch on the Artemis 2 mission in April 2026.

The emblem includes design elements that symbolize the past, present and future of human space exploration.

The Artemis 2 crew will not enter lunar orbit like the Apollo 8 crew, the first humans to fly to the moon in 1968.

All foreign countries will face a baseline 10 percent tariff, but several nations are being hit with steeper tariffs on imports.

Canada and Mexico are still subject to a 25 percent tariff.

The tariffs are set to go into place at midnight .

Trump held up a poster board laying out the tariff percentage each of those countries would face.

Lesotho : 50 percent Saint Pierre and Miquelon , 50 percent Cambodia : 49 percent Laos: 48 percent Madagascar: 47 percent Vietnam : 46 percent tariff Myanmar : 44 percent Sri Lanka ; 44 percent Syria : 41 percent Mauritius: 40 percent Iraq : 39 percent Guyana : 38 percent Botswana ; 37 percent Bangladesh: 37 percent Réunion.

Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare ( THL ) examined impact of social security cuts on income of recipients of basic security in 2024-25 .

Dispospositon income of unemployed households has fallen by approximately 20 percent compared to five years ago .

The main culprits are cuts in housing allowances and the elimination of child allowances for unemployment benefits.

Affirm, which offers buy now, pay later purchasing options, plunged 19%.

Robinhood, PayPal, American Express, Discover and American Express each tumbled.

Analysts expressed concern about consumer spending and credit.

Fintech companies that rely on transaction volume or installment-based lending could see revenue and credit performance deteriorate.

FDA lost around 3,500 full-time employees due to the layoffs, including staff supporting the agency's bird flu response.

Officials had planned the exercise for 40 laboratories across the FDA -backed Veterinary Laboratory Investigation and Response Network , as well as additional government-backed and private labs, which are using different methods to test for virus.