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Vance on Jeffries sombrero meme: 'I think it's funny'

admin - Latest News - October 1, 2025
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In a response to questions about President Trump posting AI-generated memes of Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Vice President JD Vance said, “I think it’s funny.”



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Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleOct. 1, 2025, 11:00 AM EDTBy Liz SzaboPeople who learn they have autism after age 6 — the current median age at diagnosis — are often described as having a “milder” form of autism than people diagnosed as toddlers.A new study challenges that assumption.A genetic analysis finds that people with autism spectrum disorder diagnosed in late childhood or adolescence actually have “a different form of autism,” not a less severe one, said Varun Warrier, senior author of a study published Wednesday in Nature.The “genetic profile” of people with late-diagnosis autism actually looks more like depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder than early childhood autism, said Warrier, an autism researcher at the University of Cambridge. The study illustrates that autism is not a single condition with one root cause, but rather an umbrella term for a cluster of conditions with similar — although not identical — features, said Geraldine Dawson, founding director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, who wasn’t involved in the new report. Alycia Halladay, chief science officer at the Autism Science Foundation, who wasn’t involved in the study, said: “This paper reinforces yet again how complex autism is and how much genetics plays a role not just in a diagnosis but in the features of that diagnosis. There is no one cause of autism, despite claims against Tylenol.”Authors of the new study analyzed long-term social, emotional and behavioral information about children in the United Kingdom and Australia, as well as genetic data about more than 45,000 autistic people in Europe and the United States.Different genetic profilesResearchers didn’t focus on a single gene or even a few genes. Instead, they looked at sets of thousands of genetic variants that together influence particular traits. While one genetic profile may lead to difficulties with social interactions during the toddler or preschool years, another set of genes may cause an increase in such problems during late childhood and beyond, Warrier said.The new study suggests that some autistic children “develop differently and may not receive a diagnosis earlier on because their features may not yet have clearly emerged,” Warrier said. “It is important to understand what these features are and ensure that we are assessing autistic people across the lifespan.”Most autism diagnoses are made before age 18, with 22% of diagnoses occurring by age 4, 20% from 5 to 8, 15% from 9 to 12 and 16% from 13 to 17.Adult diagnoses are more common in women. Twenty-five percent of women with autism were diagnosed at age 19 or older last year, compared with 12% of men, according to Epic Research.In the study, adolescents diagnosed with autism had more difficulties managing emotional issues and relationships with peers than other kids. That was the struggle for Adeline Lacroix of Toronto. Lacroix, now 42, who was raised in France, had trouble making friends as a child. She “wondered why in school we learned things that were to me quite easy, such as mathematics, but we didn’t learn how to make friends, which for me was much more difficult,” she said.Lacroix often didn’t understand when other people were being ironic or making a joke. Although she got good grades, “I felt I was very dumb because I didn’t understand a lot of things.”Adeline Lacroix’s life changed when she was diagnosed with autism at age 30.Courtesy Adeline LacroixHer frustration led to depression and thoughts of death. “I didn’t really want to die, but at the same time I was so tired,” she said.Her life changed when she was diagnosed with autism at age 30. Suddenly, she realized why understanding conversations was so hard. She changed careers, abandoning her old job as a schoolteacher to pursue a doctorate in psychology and neuroscience. Lacroix now has a supportive partner and a job she loves at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, where she researches women and girls with autism. “I’m very happy with my life,” she said.Although many young people with autism are still diagnosed relatively late in childhood because of a lack of screening and resources in their communities, increased awareness and wider access to testing have helped lower the age at which children are diagnosed with autism, allowing them to get critical early support. Increased acceptance of neurodiversity is also motivating a growing number of teens and adults to seek out testing for autism, which can involve difficulties in communication and social interactions, as well as restricted or repetitive behaviors or interests. From 2011 to 2022, autism diagnoses among adults 26 to 34 grew by 450%, the largest relative increase among any age group.In the Nature study, the first to link a genetic profile to the timing of autism diagnosis, newly diagnosed adolescents had an increased risk of depression.The increase in depression could stem from both a genetic predisposition and a lack of support faced by young people whose unique learning needs and social challenges go unaddressed for years, Warrier said.“Children who have undiagnosed autism may not receive the support they need,” he said. “They may be bullied, excluded and may be vulnerable socially. It is only when they are struggling that caregivers seek out professional help and they receive an autism diagnosis.”In future research, he said, Warrier hopes to study how a person’s social environment — whether supportive or hostile — affects the risk of depression in later-diagnosed people. Although school and community services often focus on youngsters, Warrier said it’s important to support people with autism of all ages.The emotional toll of trying to blend inSam Brandsen, who grew up in a small town in Iowa where few people were familiar with autism, didn’t get that critical support. In the sixth grade, he was bullied for being different. Kids made fun of him for rocking back and forth, a behavior that he found soothing. Boys shoved him into lockers and tied his shoelaces to his desk to make him fall.By force of will, he managed to sit still at his desk. But the mental and emotional effort he expended took a heavy toll, Brandsen said, causing him to suffer panic attacks between classes.“You know that you’re different, but you don’t really have a framework for understanding what that difference is,” said Sam Brandsen who was diagnosed with autism at 27.Sam BrandsonBrandsen, now 31, said he wasn’t diagnosed with autism until four years ago, after his 18-month-old son was diagnosed with it. Like Lacroix, Brandsen said he felt relieved to better understand himself. Instead of wasting energy to act like everyone else, he said, “I’d rather use that energy to just be a kinder person.”Brandsen said he can understand why people with autism who are diagnosed later in life may have a greater risk of mental distress.“You know that you’re different, but you don’t really have a framework for understanding what that difference is,” said Brandsen, a part-time postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alberta in Canada and a member of the Autism Society’s Council of Autistic Advisors. “You’re trying to make sense of rules that seem to make sense to everyone else, and you don’t know why it’s not clicking for you.”Although Brandsen said he understands why scientists want to study the causes of autism, he said he hopes they will spend more time researching ways to help people with autism lead full, independent lives. His son has a number of disabilities, Brandsen said, but the boy also experiences tremendous joy.“There’s so many ways that he’s changed my life profoundly for the better, even if it’s been kind of a harder path at times,” Brandsen said. “But then he can also take so much joy from just watching a train.”If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988, or go to 988lifeline.org, to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.Liz SzaboLiz Szabo is an independent health and science journalist. Her work has won multiple national awards. One of her investigations led to a new state law in Virginia.
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Nov. 27, 2025, 10:09 AM ESTBy Harriet BaskasA record number of Americans will travel this weekend, packing up their bags and hitting the road to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with family, friends and maybe some football.But travel this year will look different than it did 12 months ago, according to a bevy of early data, surveys and industry experts.The chief culprits behind the shifts? More travelers; deepening economic anxiety; tensions around geopolitics; and a six-week government shutdown that only ended a few weeks ago.Record travelers, but tighter beltsAAA projects that 81.8 million people will travel at least 50 miles over the long holiday weekend — 1.6 million more people than last Thanksgiving and a record level.Six million of those travelers are expected to take domestic flights, another increase over last year. But AAA warns that some air travelers might decide to switch to a train, bus, car or RV due to a bevy of recent flight cancellations.More than a third of Americans who have travel plans during the next six months said those plans had been affected by the six-week government shutdown, according to survey data from Longwoods International, a travel and tourism research firm.Meanwhile, some holiday travel has simply “evaporated,” said Amir Eylon, president and CEO of Longwoods. He pointed to data from the survey that showed nearly 1 in 3 people whose holiday travel plans were affected by the shutdown had canceled them altogether.Scott Keyes, founder of the Going.com travel app, isn’t surprised by the losses.“Considering that over a million people went without paychecks during the shutdown, and the fact that many people wait to make plans in the final weeks before travel, it’s safe to assume that a significant chunk of travelers are skipping out on trips they otherwise might have taken,” he said in an email.It’s too early to predict how many people will opt to take commercial buses this weekend, said Kai Boysan, CEO of Flix North America, the parent company of FlixBus and the Greyhound bus service.“Most bus bookings happen within 24 to 72 hours of departure,” he said via email. “But searches are trending up year over year, especially around peak days: Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving and Sunday return.”Melissa Ulrich, owner of the Austin, Texas-based travel company You Pack, We Plan, said the shutdown had merely compounded the impact of existing economic pressures on some of her clients.“We had clients choose a different level of trip,” she said. Some luxury travelers were scaling back from five-star to four-star lodgings, said Ulrich, and other clients were downgrading from four-star to 3.5-star accommodations.“It started this summer and continued with the shutdown,” she said.As the U.S. job market has slowed down, unemployment has crept up this year and inflation remains stubbornly elevated.Consulting giant Deloitte’s holiday travel survey found the same factors at work: more travelers overall, but significantly fewer dollars expected to be spent per person.Even before the government closed for six weeks, the Deloitte survey found that holiday travelers planned to spend around 18% less on average this year than they did in 2024.“Financial concerns could be casting a shadow over the season, as many travelers are expected to scale back on the number of trips, trip duration and their overall travel budgets,” said Eileen Crowley, who leads Deloitte’s U.S. transportation, hospitality and services practice.Still, the percentage of Americans who said they plan to travel between Thanksgiving and mid-January, 54%, was 5 points higher than in the same survey a year ago.But there’s a big catch: This overall growth in travelers is being driven chiefly by people who say they are going to be staying with friends and family — and who do not plan to pay for hotels, cruises and bed-and-breakfasts, Deloitte’s research found.That means more friends and relatives expected to crash on sofas and in spare bedrooms, and potentially less money going toward tip jars, restaurant bills and theater tickets.The Canadian questionFor the more than 8 million Americans who make their living directly from travel and tourism, there could be a double whammy coming: less money coming in from domestic travelers and a significant drop in the number of visitors from abroad.Data consistently shows that international travelers are opting out of visiting the U.S., and a range of factors is affecting their decisions.Among them: heightened fears of detention by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, longer visa wait times and higher fees and concerns about political rhetoric and reports of violence.Overall international travel to the United States this year is projected to be just 85% of its 2019 level, according to the U.S. Travel Association, a top industry group.The main reason for the big decline? A massive drop in tourism from Canada.In previous years, Canadian visitors accounted for slightly more than a quarter of all the foreign travelers to the United States, according to international travel data.But in October there were 30% fewer Canadian residents returning from the U.S. over the border by car than there were during the same month last year, according to newly released Canadian statistics.Likewise, by air, there were nearly a quarter fewer travelers returning to Canada from the U.S. in the same period.Setting aside the missing Canadian visitors, the volume of international travelers to the U.S. this year is expected to be flat or down slightly.But for many people who rely on travel for their livelihoods, it’s next year that could be make-or-break.The United States will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, an event that traditionally brings millions of spectators from around the world to the host country for games.In an apparent effort to encourage visitors, the Trump administration announced a new fast-track visa system for World Cup ticket holders, allowing them access to priority scheduling for visa interviews. But potential tournament attendees could still face a patchwork of travel bans applied to various countries.Harriet BaskasHarriet Baskas is an NBC News contributor who writes about travel and the arts.
November 13, 2025
Nov. 13, 2025, 7:56 AM ESTBy Richard Engel, Marc Smith, Erika Angulo and Babak DehghanpishehBOGOTA, Colombia — Intelligence “is not for killing,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro told NBC News in a wide-ranging interview Wednesday, explaining his decision to stop sharing information with the United States in opposition to lethal strikes on boats allegedly carrying illegal drugs.Describing President Donald Trump as a “barbarian” who “wants to frighten us,” Petro, a former Marxist revolutionary and one of the few international leaders willing to openly criticize his American counterpart, called the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean “undoubtedly an aggression against Latin America.” Colombia would not “pass on the information because we would be collaborating with a crime against humanity,” he told NBC News at the presidential palace in Bogota, reiterating a decision announced earlier this week.Acknowledging “the most key thing is intelligence” in combating the drug trade, he added, “The more we coordinate intelligence, the better. That is what I have been doing. But intelligence is not for killing.”Colombian President Gustavo PetroTODAYTensions have risen dramatically between Trump and Petro in recent weeks over the issue of American military attacks against boats allegedly carrying illegal narcotics in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, which have killed dozens. At least 19 strikes have been carried out so far, according to Reuters. Trump has justified them by saying the United States is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and claiming the boats are operated by foreign terror organizations that are flooding America’s cities with drugs.But his administration has provided no evidence for these assertions and lawmakers, including Republicans, have pressed for more information on who is being targeted and the legal justification for the strikes.A White House official said in an email Thursday that it was “hardly surprising” that Petro was opposed to Trump’s “successful operations to halt the flow of drugs to our country.” They added that Trump had directed the actions “consistent with his responsibility to protect Americans and United States interests abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests.” “Despite billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars invested in Colombia’s counterdrug efforts, cartels are thriving under Petro’s failed policies,” they said. Trump called Petro an “illegal drug leader” on Truth Social last month, accusing him of being directly involved in the drug trade and working with traffickers. After Petro called a U.S. strike “murder” in a post on X, Trump said he would cut aid and raise tariffs on Colombia. The Treasury Department subsequently hit his Colombian counterpart and members of his family with sanctions.Petro then announced this week that he was suspending intelligence sharing with Washington. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted images on X of a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in the Caribbean on Nov. 6.Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s X Account / AFP via Getty ImagesThe United Kingdom has also stopped sharing intelligence because of concerns about the legality of U.S. strikes, two sources with knowledge of the matter told NBC News. And French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also said at the start of a a Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting in Canada on Tuesday that the strikes “violate international law” and were concerning for France’s territories in the region.Petro did not say definitively that the boats that have been recently attacked were not carrying drugs. “Maybe or maybe not. We do not know,” he said. “According to due process, the civilized treatment of people, they ​should be seized and detained.”“They are poor boatmen, they know how to drive a boat, they are hired in their poverty by the gangsters. But gangsters don’t sit on the boats,” he said. “Then when one of those missiles arrives [it] kills that boatman. It doesn’t kill the drug trafficker.”His government, he said, “has seized more cocaine than any other government in world history. Trump’s insult is at odds reality, how can he call the largest destroyer of cocaine a chief trafficker?” Petro strongly denied Trump’s personal accusations, calling the president “lost” and suggesting that he was being misled by other U.S. officials on the issue. “He is lost on the issue of the real analysis of what is going on with cocaine in Colombia.”Petro, who considers himself a left-wing revolutionary, added, “He is a barbarian, but anyone can change.”The Colombian president is not the only leader in the region feeling pressure. Trump has also singled out the president of neighboring Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, as a target for his ire and leveled accusations of complicity in the drug trade against him, too. Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, left, observes soldiers training in Caracas on Tuesday.Bolivarian National Armed Forces of Venezuela / AFP via Getty ImagesThe tense standoff between the U.S. and Venezuela escalated after Trump sent an aircraft carrier strike group to the Caribbean and confirmed he had approved covert CIA operations inside the country, a move that critics say could be a prelude to an attempt to push Maduro from office.Trump has not confirmed any covert actions against Colombia yet and Petro struck a defiant tone about Trump’s recent regional moves and the potential for war. “He wants to frighten us. Fear is not the same as the facts,” Petro said, though he did not throw his support behind Maduro, either. Asked whether Maduro was a legitimate leader, Petro said, “No, I believe that there has been no legitimate leadership for some time.”Richard Engel, Marc Smith and Erika Angulo reported from Bogota. Babak Dehghanpisheh reported from New York. Richard EngelNBC News Chief Foreign CorrespondentMarc SmithMarc Smith is a foreign producer for NBC News, based in London.Erika AnguloErika Angulo is a senior coordinating producer for NBC News.Babak DehghanpishehBabak Dehghanpisheh is an NBC News Digital international editor based in New York.Abigail Brubaker and Alexander Smith contributed.
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