By SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin resumed scheduling abortions on Monday after a nearly monthlong pause due to federal Medicaid funding cuts in President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill that took effect at the beginning of October.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin said it was able to resume scheduling abortions as of noon on Monday because it no longer fits the definition of a “prohibited entity” under the new federal law that took effect this month and can receive Medicaid funds.

The organization said it dropped its designation as an “essential community provider” as defined under the Affordable Care Act. Dropping the designation will not result in changes to the cost for abortions or other services or affect the organization’s funding, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin president and CEO Tanya Atkinson said.

“At this point, in all of our research and analysis, we really shouldn’t see much of an impact on patient access,” she said. “If relinquishing this does ultimately impact our bottom line, then we will have to understand what that path forward is.”

A national fight over abortion funding

Abortion funding has been under attack across the U.S., particularly for affiliates of Planned Parenthood, the biggest provider. The abortion landscape has shifting frequently since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2022 that allowed states to ban abortion. Currently, 12 states do not allow it at any stage of pregnancy, with limited exceptions, and four more ban it after about six weeks’ gestation.

Planned Parenthood has warned that about half its clinics that provide abortion could be closed nationwide due to the ban in the new federal law on Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood for services other than abortion.

Wisconsin, where abortion is legal but the Republican-controlled Legislature has passed numerous laws limiting access, was the only state where Planned Parenthood paused all abortions because of the new federal law, Atkinson said.

Because of the complexities and varieties of state abortion laws, Planned Parenthood affiliates are responding to the new federal law in a variety of ways, Atkinson said. In Arizona, for example, Planned Parenthood stopped accepting Medicaid but continued to provide abortions.

Impact on Wisconsin abortion clinics

In Wisconsin, pausing abortions for the past 26 days meant that women who would normally go to clinics in the southeastern corner of the state instead had to look for other options, including traveling to Chicago, which is within a three-hour drive of the Planned Parenthood facilities.

Affiliated Medical Services and Care for All also provide abortions at clinics in Milwaukee.

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Atkinson said she did it was “really, really difficult to say” how many women were affected by the pause in services. She did not have numbers on how many women who wanted to have an abortion since the pause went into effect had to seek services elsewhere.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin serves about 50,000 people, and about 60% of them are covered by Medicaid, the organization said.

Given those numbers, the priority was on finding a way to continue receiving Medicaid funding and dropping the “Essential Community Provider” status provided the gateway, Atkinson said.

Wisconsin is part of a multistate federal lawsuit challenging the provision in the law. A federal appeals court in September said the government could halt the payments while a court challenge to the provision moves ahead.

Ramifications for Medicaid

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin cited a Sept. 29 court filing on behalf of U.S. Health and Human Services that said family planning organizations could continue billing Medicaid if they gave up either their tax-exempt status or the “essential community provider” designation.

By giving up that designation, it no longer fits the definition of “prohibited entity” under the federal law and can continue to receive federal Medicaid funds, the organization said. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin is not giving up its tax exempt status.

The “essential community provider” designation was originally given to organizations to help make it easier for them to be considered in-network for billing with private health insurers, Planned Parenthood said.

Atkinson called it a “nuanced provision” of the law and she does not anticipate that giving it up will affect Planned Parenthood’s ability to continue providing abortions and other services.

Planned Parenthood provides a wide range of services including cancer screenings and sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment. Federal Medicaid money was already not paying for abortion, but affiliates relied on Medicaid to stay afloat. Services other than abortion are expected to expand in light of the new law.

Planned Parenthood performed 3,727 abortions in Wisconsin between Oct. 1, 2023, and Sept. 30, 2024, the group said.

Utah prep offensive lineman Mataalii Benjamin de-committed from the Gophers football program on Monday.

Benjamin, who is listed at 6-foot-7 and 315 pounds, pledged to Minnesota on June 1. The three-star prospect from Lehi, Utah, projects to offensive tackle and holds more than 15 scholarship offers.

Benjamin is the third player to exit Minnesota’s class for 2026, following receiver Kai Meza (Draper, Utah) and offensive lineman Daniel McMorris (Norman, Okla.). The previous two left in September.

The Gophers have 24 total commits for next year, including three O-linemen Andrew Trout (Cold Spring, Minn.), Gavin Meier (Janesville, Wis.) and Lucas Tielsch (Akron, Ohio).

Minnesota is excepted to have a few more openings for high school players in this recruiting cycle and offensive line slots have vacancies. The NCAA’s early singing period is Dec. 3-5.

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BY NICOLAS VAUX-MONTAGNY and SAM METZ, Associated Press

PARIS — More than 100 investigators are racing to piece together how thieves pulled off the brazen heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris, working to recover the stolen gems and bring those responsible to justice.

The daytime theft of centuries-old jewels from the world’s most-visited museum thought to be of significant cultural and monetary value has captured the world’s attention for its audacity and movie plot-like details.

But thus far little has been revealed about how the investigation is unfolding, a source of frustration for those accustomed to the 24-hour flow of information in American true crime or British tabloids.

Suspects, like the jewels themselves, have remained out of sight, the case file cloaked in mystery and French authorities characteristically discreet.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said on Sunday that more details would come once the suspects’ custody period ends, likely around midweek, depending on the charges. But here’s what we know so far about the case:

What investigators want to know

Authorities said it took mere minutes for thieves to ride a lift up the side of the museum, smash display cases and steal eight objects worth an estimated 88 million euros ($102 million) on Oct. 19. The haul included a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a set linked to 19th-century queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense.

Beccuau has not publicly announced what charges the suspects could face, though French media have reported that the charges include criminal conspiracy and organized theft, which can carry hefty fines and yearslong prison sentences.

How France handles arrests

Beccuau said investigators made several arrests Saturday evening but didn’t name them or say how many. One suspect, she added, was stopped at a Paris airport while trying to leave the country.

In France, where privacy laws are strict, images of criminal suspects are not made public as they often are elsewhere. Suspects aren’t paraded before cameras upon arrest or shown in mugshots.

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The presumption of innocence is inscribed in France’s constitution and deeply valued throughout society. The French often express shock at the spectacle of criminal trials in the United States, including in 2011 when media outlets photographed Dominique Strauss-Kahn, then a candidate in France’s presidential election, on a “perp walk” to a New York prison after he was indicted on charges he sexually assaulted a hotel maid. The charges were eventually dismissed.

Information about investigations is meant to be secret under French law, a policy known as ″secret d’instruction” and only the prosecutor can speak publicly about developments.

Police and investigators are not supposed to divulge information about arrests or suspects without the prosecutor’s approval, though in previous high-profile cases, police union officials have leaked partial details. Beccuau on Saturday rued the leak of information about the ongoing investigation.

A police official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing case, told The Associated Press that two men in their 30s, both known to police, were taken into custody. He said one suspect was arrested as he attempted to board a plane bound for Algeria.

Additional arrests may follow as the investigation continues.

Inside the investigation

The more than 100 investigators that Beccuau said are assigned to the case are combing through 150 DNA samples, surveillance footage and evidence left behind in the thieves’ wake.

Those assigned include the Brigade for the Repression of Banditry, the special police unit in charge of armed robberies, serious burglaries and art thefts.

Recovering the jewels could be among the most difficult parts of investigators’ work. French authorities have added the jewels to Interpol’s Stolen Works of Art Database, a global repository of about 57,000 missing cultural items.

Interpol, the world’s largest international police network, does not issue arrest warrants. But if authorities worry a suspect may flee, Interpol can circulate the information using a color-coded notice system.

The French investigators can also work with European authorities if required. They can turn to the European Union’s judicial cooperation agency, Eurojust, or its law enforcement agency, Europol. Eurojust works through judicial cooperation between prosecutors and magistrates, while Europol works with police agencies.

Both can help facilitate investigations and arrests throughout the 27-member bloc. Requests for help must come from the national authorities, and neither organization can initiate an investigation.

What happens next?

Beccuau said more details would be released once the suspects’ time in custody expires. How long that lasts depends on what they’re accused of. If, as French media have reported, they’re being investigated for criminal conspiracy, they can be held for up to 96 hours before charges are filed.

But don’t expect a flood of updates. Indictments and verdicts are not routinely made public in France. French trials are not televised, and journalists are not allowed to film or photograph anything inside the courtroom during a trial.

Metz reported from Rabat, Morocco. Molly Quell contributed reporting from The Hague.

Earth is full of natural beauty, from towering waterfalls to wind-sculpted mountains to atolls wrapped in rainbows of coral.

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Then there’s Death Valley, a desert that claims the world-record high of 134 degrees and bears geographic names like Hells Gate and Amargosa Chaos. Nevertheless, Conde Nast Traveler considered Death Valley worthy of inclusion in its October story, “The 71 most beautiful places in the world.”

“One of the most popular locations is the multihued Artists Palette, a series of eroded hills whose coloring is due to the oxidation of natural metal deposits in the mountains,” the magazine raved. “‘Star Wars’ fans will be keen to see the site that inspired the planet Tatooine.”

Many wonders made the list, including royal burial grounds in Egypt, an Indonesian archipelago of 1,500 islands and Turkish cliffs formerly inhabited by Bronze Age troglodytes (cave dwellers). Here are the first 10 destinations on CN Traveler’s accounting; check out the story for all 71 sites, which also throws a bone to Redwood National and State Parks in Northern California.

Conde Nast Traveller’s most beautiful places on earth for 2025

1 Pink Sands Beach, Harbour Island, Bahamas

2 Raja Ampat Islands, Indonesia

3 Zhangye National Geopark, China

4 Cappadocia, Turkey

5 Victoria Falls, Zambia and Zimbabwe

Paths lined by clover and ferns lead through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, which is part of the Redwood National and State Parks cluster in Northern California. (Getty Images)

6 Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

7 San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

8 Valley of the Kings, Egypt

9 Amalfi Coast, Italy

10 Avenue of the Baobabs, Madagascar

Source: https://www.cntraveller.com/gallery/most-beautiful-places-in-the-world