Morning Headlines - Thursday, June 12, 2025

Start your day informed with today’s must-read headlines from around Wisconsin and the world. And don’t forget to check out our Meme of the Day at the end for a little humor to go with your news!

U.S. and World Headlines

Air India Plane Carrying 242 Crashes In India En Route To United Kingdom

An Air India airliner carrying 242 passengers and crew en route to the United Kingdom from India crashed shortly after takeoff in an area near the Ahmedabad airport, in India's Gujarat state, local officials and the airline said.

"The flight, which departed from Ahmedabad at 13:38 hrs, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft, the airline said in a statement posted on social media. "Of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals."

US To Partially Evacuate Embassy In Iraq As Iran Tensions Rise

Non-essential US embassy staff and their dependants in Baghdad are to be evacuated from Iraq due to heightened security risks, US government sources have said.

Officials did not say exactly what prompted the removal, but have been told Israel was ready to launch an operation into Iran, the BBC's US partner CBS reported.

This was part of the reason some Americans were advised to leave the region, officials said, adding that they anticipated Iran could retaliate on certain US sites in Iraq. US officials have also restricted the movements of staff within Israel itself.

It comes as US talks over Iran's nuclear programme appear to have stalled in recent days.

What To Know About The New ‘Nimbus’ COVID Variant

The World Health Organization (WHO) is keeping an eye on a new COVID-19 variant called NB.1.8.1, or “Nimbus,” that has spread across Europe, the Americas and the Western Pacific.

Nimbus is a descendant of the Omicron variant of the virus and was first identified in late January.

Its spike mutations appear to make it more transmissible than other COVID-19 variants, according to the WHO. Spike mutations refer to changes in spike proteins, which sit on the surface of the virus and help it enter healthy cells.

House To Vote On White House Rescission Package To Claw Back $9.4 Billion In Funding For Foreign Aid, NPR, PBS

The House is expected to vote Thursday on the White House's rescission package — its formal request to claw back funding for NPR, PBS and international aid that lawmakers had previously approved.

The package would cancel $9.4 billion appropriated by Congress, looking to make permanent some of the Department of Government Efficiency's spending cuts. Its primary focus is slashing foreign aid — from peacekeeping efforts to refugee assistance and climate projects — but it would also essentially cut off federal funding for NPR and PBS.

Meta Files Lawsuit Against Developer Of CrushAI ‘Nudify’ App

Meta is suing a company that ran ads on its services to promote an app that lets people create non-consensual, sexualized images of others using AI technology, the social media company said Thursday.

The lawsuit is against Joy Timeline HK Limited, which used Meta ads to promote CrushAI, an app that uses AI to take a photo of someone and create nude imagery of them.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., sent a letter in February to Mark Zuckerberg urging the CEO to address his company’s role in letting Joy Timeline run ads that violate Meta’s standards.

Wisconsin Headlines

Public Education Makes Its Case Thursday Before Wisconsin’s Joint Finance Committee

Wisconsin’s budget writing committee will turn its attention to public school funding Thursday.

On the line is everything from increasing the special education reimbursement rate to supporting youth mental health to providing meals to children.

Gov. Tony Evers’ budget includes more than $3.15 billion for K-12 public schools, including the largest direct investment in state general school aid in 30 years.

JFCs Born: Budget Will Include “Way More” Than $60 Million For Special Ed

Wisconsin public schools can expect a multi-million dollar bump for special education in the next state budget.

Joint Committee on Finance co-chair Mark Born on Tuesday brushed-off criticism from Gov. Evers that Republicans were only willing to offer a $30 million increase for special education across the state.

“The only conversations I've been involved in caucus, or with the Senate, or with the governor, with anyone involved percentages,” Born said. “[Those] percentage increases in special education, which are way more expensive than $60 [million] or $30 million.”

Trump Administration Analysis Finds Reconciliation Bill Would Boost Wisconsinites’ Wages

The Trump administration is touting new findings from the White House Council of Economic Advisers, saying Republicans’ reconciliation bill would put more money in Wisconsinites’ pockets.

The council is run by appointees of President Donald Trump, including former UW-Madison Prof. Kim Ruhl. The reconciliation bill would raise wages for Wisconsinites in the long run, adjusted for inflation, by about $5,500-$10,400 per worker, according to the findings. The council also found a typical Wisconsin family with two children would see higher take-home pay of about $7,200-$12,000 if the bill is signed into law.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, knocked the bill in a statement to WisPolitics, arguing it would benefit the ultrawealthy.

Republican Lawmakers Push To Limit Wisconsin Governor’s Partial Veto Power

Republican state lawmakers are proposing a change to the state constitution to limit the governor's ability to veto parts of appropriation bills.

Governors of both parties have had expansive partial veto powers for nearly a century. Right now, the governor is able to veto numbers, words and punctuation in spending bills to alter the meaning or amounts. Gov. Tony Evers used this power in 2023 to secure a 400-year education funding increase. That action faced legal challenges, but the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld Evers' partial veto earlier this year.

To curtail that power, several Republican lawmakers are sponsoring a resolution. that would change the state constitution to only allow the governor to veto full sections of an appropriations bill or reduce spending.

Wisconsin Lawsuit Seeks To Ban Musk From Offering Cash Payments To Voters

A government watchdog group in Wisconsin filed a lawsuit on June 11 seeking to prohibit billionaire Elon Musk from ever again offering cash payments to voters in the battleground state like he did in the hotly contested spring 2025 state Supreme Court race.

Musk handed out $1 million checks to three Wisconsin voters, including two in person just days before the state’s April 1 Supreme Court election, in an effort to help elect conservative candidate Brad Schimel. Two weeks before the election, Musk’s political action committee, America PAC, offered $100 to voters who signed a petition in opposition to “activist judges,” or referred someone to sign it.