| Current options: Compromise, change rules, move to Canada |
| Republicans and Democrats had little more than a day to feel good about compromising on a spending deal that would avoid a government shutdown on Friday. (High five!) But who wants to compromise? Not President Trump. The bill doesn't include at least eight things, like money for Trump's border wall. (He says he'll fix the wall anyway .) Maybe what this "country needs is a good shutdown," he tweeted Tuesday. The deal had to be negotiated because Republicans can't push a bill through the Senate without bipartisan support. Trump suggested changing Senate rules to scrap the minority party's ability to block legislation, saying a government shutdown would help "to fix mess!" If you don't like it, move to Canada. But you probably won't. |
| Moms' brains shrink to zoom in on just one tiny person |
| Having a newborn makes your world both shrink and expand beyond measure — and it turns out that's what's happening in mothers' brains, too . A study in the journal "Nature Neuroscience" shows that pregnant women lose gray matter in parts of the brain that deal with people's feelings and non-verbal signals. Well, all people but one. The loss actually appears to make the brain more efficient, which lets moms interpret their babies' needs and emotions better and increase their maternal attachment. Think of it as a spring cleaning for your brain. |
| Bullets, beatings and explosions: Mysterious deaths abound under Putin |
| Twelve died from bullets, stabbings or beatings. Six were blown up. One supposedly slipped and hit his head in a public bath, while another died after drinking coffee. They're among the 38 prominent Russians who have died in unsolved murders or suspicious circumstances since the beginning of 2014, according to a new USA TODAY report compiled with British journalist Sarah Hurst. Victims include 10 high-profile critics of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president with a long history of dealing harshly with his opponents. The fatalities suggest Putin's alleged attacks on critics and whistle-blowers are deadlier than previously known. Speaking of Putin, he had a call with President Trump Tuesday for the first time since Trump ordered airstrikes on a Syrian air base last month. The White House said the two leaders "agreed that the suffering in Syria has gone on for far too long and that all parties must do all they can to end the violence." |
| Even if he's not 146, he's probably really, really old |
| A chain-smoking Indonesian man who says he was born in 1870 has finally reached the goal he announced to reporters last summer. He died. Sodimejo had an ID card that claimed his date of birth was Dec. 31, 1870. (The same year construction of the Brooklyn Bridge began.) Though Indonesia didn't record such things back then, authorities assured the BBC that Sodimejo's papers were valid. Experts aren't so sure. The current, verifiable world's oldest human is Violet Mosses Brown, comparably a baby at 117. Sodimejo was hospitalized in April for deteriorating health and wasn't eating much. We think it's fair to say he died of old age. |
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| The Antarctic's version of Rhode Island is floating away, but the penguins are safe |
| Twelve miles of ice is all that's keeping a nearly 2,000-square-mile piece of ice from floating away. That's bigger than the state of Rhode Island. Scientists said Tuesday that one of the world's biggest icebergs ever recorded is closer to shearing off from Antarctica, as a 110-mile crack in the Larsen C ice shelf now has a second branch. Here's a cheat sheet to the questions we know you have. (Hint: It will happen in a few months. You can't watch it live. The sea level should stay the same.) What about the penguins? Last week we learned 12 million of the flightless birds waddling around down there. Relax, they're OK. There are no penguins on that part of the ice sheet. |
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| This is a compilation of stories from across USA TODAY. |
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