Trump faces a ticking clock on health care costs

WASHINGTON — Republicans won a significant political victory this month when moderate Senate Democrats joined them to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, relenting from a showdown over the rising costs of health care.

But the fight is already back on, with mere weeks to spare before the Trump administration faces a potential uproar from the public over the expiration of Affordable Care Act tax credits on New Year’s Day, when premium costs will skyrocket.

The fast-approaching deadline, coupled with stinging defeats in elections earlier this month driven by voter concerns over affordability, has prompted a series of crisis meetings in the West Wing over a path forward on Capitol Hill.

The White House response that emerged this week is a political Hail Mary for an increasingly divided party entering an election year: a second megabill, deploying the parliamentary tool of reconciliation, addressing not just health care costs but Donald Trump’s tariff policies under intense scrutiny at the Supreme Court.

—Los Angeles Times

Wing parts of UPS plane that crashed in Kentucky had cracks, signs of overstress, report says

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Parts of the left wing on the UPS airplane that crashed in Louisville Nov. 4, killing 14 people, had fatigue cracks and signs of overstress, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

The NTSB’s report was released Thursday, a little more than two weeks after the plane crashed near Muhammad Ali International Airport during takeoff. Among the 14 dead are the plane’s three crew members; another 23 were injured.

Todd Inman, an NTSB member, previously said the left engine and pylon of the plane detached during takeoff, causing the plane to plummet and crash into multiple businesses near the airport. A “repeating bell” was heard on the plane’s cockpit recording only seconds before the crash.

The NTSB’s report elaborated on the mechanical failure and laid out a maintenance timeline of when the parts were most recently inspected. The report is preliminary, and the investigation remains ongoing.

—Lexington Herald-Leader

Zelenskyy says he agreed to work on US draft plan to end war

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he’s agreed to work on a peace plan drafted by the U.S. and Russia and expects to talk with U.S. President Donald Trump in the coming days about the proposals.

Ukraine has officially received a draft plan from Washington which the U.S. side believes could help reinvigorate diplomacy, Zelenskyy’s office said in a statement Thursday following his meeting with top U.S. generals visiting Kyiv.

Zelenskyy “outlined the fundamental principles that matter to our people, and following today’s meeting, the parties agreed to work on the plan’s provisions in a way that would bring about a just end to the war,” it said. The Ukrainian leader expects to discuss with Trump “the existing diplomatic opportunities and the key points required to achieve peace,” according to the statement.

The latest attempt by the U.S. administration to revive negotiations involves a 28-point plan that’s modeled on the Gaza ceasefire in an effort to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine that’s deep in its fourth year.

—Bloomberg News

Over 400 million children worldwide affected by poverty, UNICEF says

GENEVA — A total of 417 million children in low- and middle-income countries are severely deprived in areas including education, health and nutrition, according to a report by the U.N. children's agency released on Thursday.

Children in sub-Saharan Africa are most affected, according to UNICEF, noting that South and East Asia as well as the Pacific also show high rates of deprivation.

"Significant progress" seen this century so far in fighting child poverty is at risk after governments around the world have cut important funding for development cooperation and humanitarian aid, the organization said.

"Climate change and conflict threaten to drive ever more families into poverty," the report noted. According to UNICEF, 412 million children worldwide are affected by monetary poverty, meaning they are surviving on $3 a day, but this "tells only part of the story," the organization noted.

—dpa