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The United States is finally approaching a long-forecast "demographic cliff" with a sharp drop in the number of 18-year-olds — and some of the first institutions to feel it will be colleges and universities, according to the nonprofit Hechinger Report.

"This so-called demographic cliff has been predicted ever since Americans started having fewer babies at the advent of the Great Recession around the end of 2007 — a falling birth rate that has not recovered since, except for a slight blip after the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control," reported Jon Marcus. "Demographers say it will finally arrive in the fall of this year. That’s when recruiting offices will begin to confront the long-anticipated drop-off in the number of applicants from among the next class of high school seniors."

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) jumped to the defense of President-elect Donald Trump and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, arguing that the rare phone conversation between the two was not only wholly appropriate – but a positive development.

“I do think it's appropriate,” Gonzales told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer during an interview on CNN’s “The Situation Room.” He made the remarks Wednesday shortly after reports emerged that Alito spoke to Trump by phone a day earlier to recommend a former law clerk for a government position, and nothing more.

A former FBI informant has been sentenced to six years in prison for fabricating a bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, according to a report.

Alexander Smirnov was sentenced to federal prison on Wednesday, CNN reported. He has also promised to repay about $675,000 in restitution to the IRS for tax evasion.

US President-elect Donald Trump paid tribute to the late Jimmy Carter as he lay in state in Washington on Wednesday.

Stony-faced and silent, Trump stood with his wife Melania for several minutes before former president Carter's flag-draped coffin in the soaring Rotunda inside the US Capitol, then took a deep breath and Melania's hand as they turned and left.

A member of the Japanese yakuza criminal underworld pleaded guilty to handling nuclear material sourced from Myanmar and seeking to sell it to fund an illicit arms deal, US authorities said Wednesday.

Yakuza leader Takeshi Ebisawa and co-defendant Somphop Singhasiri had previously been charged in April 2022 with drug trafficking and firearms offenses, and both were remanded.

President Joe Biden said his son's California home is in danger of burning down amid surging wildfires around Los Angeles.

Biden on Wednesday said Hunter Biden's Los Angeles home was thought to have been destroyed — but its fate wasn't immediately known, according to USA Today.

President-elect Donald Trump has now threatened to “tariff Denmark at a very high level” as retaliation for the country not surrendering the autonomous territory of Greenland to become part of the United States — a measure that could have profound consequences on a surprising range of goods Americans buy, reported The New York Times on Wednesday.

"Denmark, which has a smaller population than New York City, is not a huge trading partner for the United States," reported Ana Swanson and Jenny Gross. "The country — a U.S. ally and a NATO member — sent the United States more than $11 billion worth of goods in 2023, just a tiny slice of more than $3 trillion of imports" — as opposed to the U.S. sending $5 billion in goods that include industrial and scientific equipment, aircraft, and computers.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said a phone conversation he had with Donald Trump on Tuesday was nothing more than an innocent job referral for a former law clerk – but the rare call between a sitting justice and an incoming president with legal stakes before the court is still raising eyebrows with court watchers.

"William Levi, one of my former law clerks, asked me to take a call from President-elect Trump regarding his qualifications to serve in a government position," Alito confirmed to ABC News. "I agreed to discuss this matter with President-elect Trump, and he called me yesterday afternoon."

A prolonged dry spell combined with strong winds has created the "perfect conditions" for Los Angeles wildfires to rage out of control, even though experts say it's too soon to pinpoint exactly how much climate change contributed.

At the same time, perennial debates over suburban sprawl and forest management are intensifying, spurred by political mudslinging from incoming President Donald Trump and his close ally Elon Musk.

Two US astronauts who have been stuck for months on the International Space Station (ISS) said Wednesday they have plenty of food, are not facing a laundry crisis, and don't yet feel like castaways.

Veteran astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at the ISS in June aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, and were due to spend only eight days on the orbiting laboratory.

A Democratic senator who met with embattled Cabinet nominee Pete Hegseth said the meeting didn't assuage any concerns — and may have done the opposite.

President-elect Donald Trump tapped the Fox News weekend co-host to head the Pentagon, leading to an outcry from critics who questioned Hegseth's qualifications. Shortly thereafter, a 2017 sexual assault allegation against Hegseth came to light.

A legal analyst said the judge presiding over Rudy Giuliani's defamation case just called the Trump ally's bluff.

Lisa Rubin noticed an update from Judge Beryl Howell, who is presiding over Giuliani's case in Washington D.C.

Mississippi women died of pregnancy complications at nearly twice the national rate during the COVID-19 pandemic, new data shows. The vast majority of those deaths were preventable, according to the latest Mississippi Maternal Mortality Report.

Between 2017 and 2021, 202 women who were either pregnant or up to one-year postpartum died. Seventy-seven of those deaths were directly related to pregnancy.