Florida voters will have the chance to lower their property taxes with a historic ballot question that has bitterly divided the state.
Amendment 3 would substantially raise Florida’s homestead exemption across its 67 counties, giving those who own and live full-time in their homes a significant break on property taxes, which have climbed in the past decade.
First responders warn that the tax savings from Amendment 3 will result in billions of dollars in lost revenue, forcing counties to cut services and potentially leading to longer wait times for police and firefighters during emergencies.
If the amendment passes, Florida voters will be among the first in the nation to cut their own property taxes. Property tax reductions in some form or fashion are also on the ballot in six other states.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told allies in the Pacific that the war with Iran hasn’t and won’t pull America’s focus away from the region.
Hegseth made the remarks with fellow defense ministers at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in the Philippines. Defense chiefs from Japan, Australia and the Philippines discussed the security of the First Island Chain, a strategically vital area stretching from the Malay Peninsula and the Philippines to Japan.
Officials from South Korea, India, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia also met with Hegseth on the sidelines of the event. Many in the region see a rising threat of “gray zone” tactics by Beijing, including maritime harassment, cyberattacks and damage to undersea infrastructure.
The Washington Times has reviewed more than 200 cases of voter fraud filed over the past decade and spotted clear trends in how noncitizens end up on voter rolls and in their motivations for signing up.
For many, the fact that they registered was a mistake, or close to it. Someone at a government agency or at a registration drive outside a grocery store urged them to register, even when the immigrants themselves were reluctant.
Others were deliberate but mistaken about the rules, saying they figured, as longtime immigrants, even if they had never attained citizenship, they had still earned the right to vote.
Actresses Anne Hathaway and Hilary Swank are preparing to give birth after the age of 40, highlighting a trend of U.S. women bearing children later in life.
Hathaway, 43, and Swank, 52, are joining other celebrities such as singers Gwen Stefani and Mariah Carey and actresses Halle Berry and Eva Mendes, who opted to give birth after 40.
Her sentiments are shared by a growing number of women. The fertility rate for U.S. women 40 and older has increased 24% over the past decade — from 5.8 births per 1,000 women in 2015 to 7.2 in 2024, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
Furthermore, the center’s data found women 40 and older are having more children than teenagers for the first time ever.
And finally … Chinese President Xi Jinping is targeting American youths with an announced plan to bring 100,000 U.S. students to study in China.
The initiative offers paid resident study at universities in China and also calls for hosting short-term visits and cultural exchanges paid for by the government.
Security and academic experts say extreme surveillance and controls on foreigners, threats of intelligence recruitment and poor-quality universities are unlikely to attract the tens of thousands of Americans the Xi seeks.
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