By Tami Luhby, CNN

(CNN) — When patients come to Eric Frankenfeld’s chiropractic practice with insurance woes, his wife, Lisa, the office manager, tells them not to worry because she’ll work with them to keep care affordable.

But starting in January, the Frankenfelds might need to ask for the same treatment from their own doctors, since they will become uninsured. The Point Pleasant, New Jersey, couple will no longer be able to afford their Obamacare plan after the enhanced premiums subsidies lapse at year’s end. They decided to forgo coverage after learning that their plan’s premium will skyrocket to $1,928 a month, up from $340 this year.

Though they are both healthy, the idea of losing coverage keeps Lisa Frankenfeld, 62, up at night — worrying one of them might be diagnosed with cancer, suffer a stroke or heart attack or get into a serious accident.

“We are health care providers who cannot afford benefits. Oh, the irony,” she told CNN. “Purchasing a plan doesn’t make financial sense. We’re just going to cross our fingers and hope for the best.”

The Frankenfelds are among the millions of Affordable Care Act enrollees who are facing tough decisions this open enrollment season, which ends January 15 in most states. More than 90% of ACA policyholders — or about 22 million people — receive the enhanced subsidies, which spurred record sign-ups for Obamacare coverage this year.

A sizeable share of those enrollees are self-employed or own or work at small businesses. Nearly half of adults in the individual health insurance market — the vast majority of which is purchased through Obamacare exchanges — are affiliated with a small business, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group.

Employer policies are often too pricey for small businesses and for those who work for themselves, leading many to turn to the Affordable Care Act exchanges. And even though several told CNN their Obamacare coverage requires they spend a lot out of pocket for care, they say it’s still better than being uninsured.

However, without the enhanced subsidies, which were enacted by the Biden administration as part of a 2021 Covid-19 relief package, enrollees’ premium payments are expected to jump 114%, on average, next year. The provision’s lapse also means that consumers who make more than 400% of the federal poverty level — about $62,600 for an individual and $84,600 for a couple — will no longer qualify for any federal aid.

The House is set to vote in January on extending the beefed-up assistance for three years after Read more

By Hanna Park, CNN

(CNN) — An Oklahoma man who was doing target practice with a recently purchased handgun in his backyard on Christmas Day is accused of shooting and killing a woman seated on a front porch blocks away as she held a child in her arms, authorities said.

Cody Wayne Adams, 33, was arrested Thursday evening on suspicion of first‑degree manslaughter in connection with the shooting, according to court records. He was later released on a $100,000 bond, records show.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for February 25. CNN has reached out to Adams’ lawyer for comment.

The woman, identified as Sandra Phelps, was sitting with family members under a covered front porch at a home in Comanche, about 90 miles southwest of Oklahoma City, on Thursday afternoon when she was struck in her right arm by what appeared to be a single bullet, an affidavit said. Phelps was holding a child in her left arm while seated on a love seat.

The family members told investigators they heard five to seven shots “over several minutes” coming from somewhere north of the home, the affidavit said. Phelps remarked that someone nearby must have gotten “a new gun for Christmas,” according to the filing. Shortly after, she said “‘ouch’ and collapsed.” No additional gunshots were heard.

First responders were dispatched to the home around 3:15 p.m., the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office said. Phelps was pronounced dead at the scene soon after, according to the affidavit. Investigators said the bullet, after striking Phelps’ arm, travelled into her chest cavity. No bullet strikes were found on the house, the filing shows.

Law enforcement officers canvassed the surrounding neighborhood and found one home less than a mile away – where Adams lived – that lacked a suitable backstop for shooting, according to the affidavit. Investigators learned neighbors “had heard Adams shooting during the afternoon about 20 rounds,” the document said.

When deputies went to the home, Adams told them he had been firing a Glock .45‑caliber handgun he “bought for himself for Christmas,” shooting at a “Red Bull can laying on the ground” in his backyard, the affidavit said.

Investigators found “several spent bullet casings on the ground and on the deck” in Adams’ backyard, along with a Red Bull can south of the house. From the point where Adams said he was shooting toward the can, red and blue lights of emergency vehicles at the home where Phelps was shot “were visibly in line with the shooting angle,” the affidavit said.

When told that his shooting might have caused the woman’s death, Adams became “became visibly upset and began to cry,” according to the affidavit. A deputy told him that “there was nothing behind his property to stop any bullets from traveling beyond his property and hurting someone.”

After being advised of his rights during a later interview at the sheriff’s office, Adams allegedly acknowledged firing multiple rounds southward from his residence, the filing said, using two loaded magazines containing roughly eight and then 10 rounds of Winchester .45 caliber ammunition.

The charging document alleges that Adams caused the woman’s death by using a firearm in a way that “that created a situation of unreasonable risk and probability of death, or great bodily harm, to another person and demonstrated a conscious disregard for the safety of others.”

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The post Oklahoma woman shot and killed on Christmas Day by a man doing target practice in his backyard blocks

By CNN’s Barbie Latza Nadeau

Rome (CNN) — Vivid scenes of battlefield decapitations and female prisoners dragged off by their hair, carved into the 1,840-year-old marble Column of Marcus Aurelius towering over central Rome, are being brought back into focus through a $2.3 million laser restoration.

A team of 18 specialist restorers has been working since the spring of 2025, using handheld short-pulse lasers and chemical wraps to remove centuries of grime from the 100-foot-tall monument. The column was built between 180 CE, the year the Roman philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius died, and 193 CE.

The project marks the most extensive use of laser technology ever undertaken on an ancient monument, according to the chief restorer, Marta Baumgartner, who said the decision came despite the cost.

“The laser is a tool that is producing excellent results in restoration work, and the choice we made was to use it on the entire external frieze, the decorative band, of the column,” Baumgartner told reporters granted rare access to the 16-levels of scaffolding surrounding the monument.

“It costs more than traditional methods.” But it is “a method that delivers better restoration results, including in terms of timing.”

She also said the technology helps preserve the monument’s integrity. “But above all, it ensures respect for the material, the marble itself. It has fully guaranteed respect for the material and for the patinas, which are evidence of the stone’s natural aging.”

Scenes of divine intervention

Restorers are removing extensive black and gray deposits, filling cracks, repairing breaks and addressing marble erosion caused by decades of exposure to smog, rain and wind. They have also found that unsuitable materials used in 19th-century restorations compromised the fragile Carrara marble. Those materials are now being removed.

The column is one of the few Roman-era war monuments still standing in its original location. It’s located in front of the Palazzo Chigi, the official residence of Italy’s prime minister, build in 1562, linking ancient Rome with the modern state.

Spiral friezes depicting the Roman Empire’s wars under Aurelius wrap 23 times around the monument, forming a continuous narrative from base to summit. Plaster casts made in 1955 are displayed in the Museum of Roman Civilization in the Italian capital and remain an important resource for scholars.

The tower is made up of 18 marble drums carved with more than 2,000 figures, including soldiers, prisoners, gods and animals. There’s even a scene of divine intervention in the form of a deluge of rainfall. Marcus Aurelius appears repeatedly. While the scenes are difficult to discern from the ground, they are striking at close range.

In 1589, the original statue of Marcus Aurelius on top of the column was replaced with a bronze statue of St. Paul. A later restoration in the 1980s, used unsuitable materials, now removed. The square around the column was closed after a 2013 assassination attempt targeting guards at Palazzo Chigi and only reopened in 2023.

The laser restoration is scheduled for completion in early 2026.

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The post Ancient Roman column gets high-tech laser facelift appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

CNN

By CNN’s Barbie Latza Nadeau

Rome (CNN) — Vivid scenes of battlefield decapitations and female prisoners dragged off by their hair, carved into the 1,840-year-old marble Column of Marcus Aurelius towering over central Rome, are being brought back into focus through a $2.3 million laser restoration.

A team of 18 specialist restorers has been working since the spring of 2025, using handheld short-pulse lasers and chemical wraps to remove centuries of grime from the 100-foot-tall monument. The column was built between 180 CE, the year the Roman philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius died, and 193 CE.

The project marks the most extensive use of laser technology ever undertaken on an ancient monument, according to the chief restorer, Marta Baumgartner, who said the decision came despite the cost.

“The laser is a tool that is producing excellent results in restoration work, and the choice we made was to use it on the entire external frieze, the decorative band, of the column,” Baumgartner told reporters granted rare access to the 16-levels of scaffolding surrounding the monument.

“It costs more than traditional methods.” But it is “a method that delivers better restoration results, including in terms of timing.”

She also said the technology helps preserve the monument’s integrity. “But above all, it ensures respect for the material, the marble itself. It has fully guaranteed respect for the material and for the patinas, which are evidence of the stone’s natural aging.”

Scenes of divine intervention

Restorers are removing extensive black and gray deposits, filling cracks, repairing breaks and addressing marble erosion caused by decades of exposure to smog, rain and wind. They have also found that unsuitable materials used in 19th-century restorations compromised the fragile Carrara marble. Those materials are now being removed.

The column is one of the few Roman-era war monuments still standing in its original location. It’s located in front of the Palazzo Chigi, the official residence of Italy’s prime minister, build in 1562, linking ancient Rome with the modern state.

Spiral friezes depicting the Roman Empire’s wars under Aurelius wrap 23 times around the monument, forming a continuous narrative from base to summit. Plaster casts made in 1955 are displayed in the Museum of Roman Civilization in the Italian capital and remain an important resource for scholars.

The tower is made up of 18 marble drums carved with more than 2,000 figures, including soldiers, prisoners, gods and animals. There’s even a scene of divine intervention in the form of a deluge of rainfall. Marcus Aurelius appears repeatedly. While the scenes are difficult to discern from the ground, they are striking at close range.

In 1589, the original statue of Marcus Aurelius on top of the column was replaced with a bronze statue of St. Paul. A later restoration in the 1980s, used unsuitable materials, now removed. The square around the column was closed after a 2013 assassination attempt targeting guards at Palazzo Chigi and only reopened in 2023.

Análisis por Daniel Dale, CNN

Fue difícil elegir solo 25. Pero resultó más fácil de lo que solía ser.

Al igual que su primer mandato, el primer año del presidente Donald Trump en su regreso a la Casa Blanca fue un desfile incesante de mentiras. Sin embargo, la cantidad de afirmaciones falsas de Trump en 2025 se redujo, a pesar de que mantuvo su característica frecuencia asombrosa.

Las falsedades de Trump siempre se han caracterizado por su tenaz repetición. Se volvieron especialmente repetitivas en 2025.

Si bien continuó añadiendo nuevas mentiras con regularidad, se basó en un conjunto básico de invenciones que usaba prácticamente sin importar el contexto ni las veces que han sido desmentidas.

¿Has oído la ficción sobre cómo Trump consiguió US$ 17 o US$ 18 billones en inversiones? Probablemente sí, si has visto algunos discursos o entrevistas del mandatario.

Lo mismo ocurre con aquella falsedad sobre la caída de los precios al consumidor este año, o cómo puso fin a siete u ocho guerras, y lo mismo sobre cómo líderes extranjeros de todo el mundo vaciaron sus cárceles e instituciones psiquiátricas para enviar a ciudadanos no deseados a través de la frontera estadounidense como migrantes.

Aquí está nuestra lista altamente subjetiva de las 25 principales mentiras de Trump de 2025.

Elegimos unas que el presidente las repitió con especial frecuencia, otras que se referían a temas notablemente importantes y algunas porque eran especialmente atroces en su distancia con la realidad.

Mentira: Trump aseguró US$ 17 o US$ 18 billones en inversiones en 2025

El presidente, amante de las grandes cifras, incluso si son falsas, citó una cifra ficticia en todos sus discursos: la afirmación de haber conseguido “US$ 17 billones” en inversiones en Estados Unidos en menos de un año, cuando estaba en la Casa Blanca.

No ayudó a Trump que el propio sitio web de la Casa Blanca indicara en aquel momento que en realidad eran US$ 8,8 billones —e incluso esa cifra estaba exageradamente inflada— , pero procedió a aumentar su afirmación a “US$ 18 billones”, aunque el sitio web aún la situaba por debajo de los US$ 10 billones.

Mentira: “Todos los precios están bajos”

Trump mintió incluso sobre temas que la gente común podía ver. En otoño, afirmó que “no había inflación”, aunque sí la había. Read more