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Her journey as Robin in "How I Met Your Mother" had lots of ups and downs, but that's nothing compared to what Cobie Smulders has been through in real life.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs has a strict set of rules that he lives by in "NCIS." The prequel series "NCIS: Origins" just revealed the tragic tale behind rule #11.

It’s up to the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress to decide when full payments will resume under the SNAP food aid program that helps 1 in 8 Americans buy groceries, as some wonder how they will feed their families without government assistance. The Supreme Court is expected to rule Tuesday on a request from President Donald Trump’s administration to keep blocking states from providing full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, arguing the money might be needed elsewhere. The seesawing rulings mean that beneficiaries in some states, including Hawaii and New Jersey, have received their full monthly allocations while in others, such as Nebraska and West Virginia, they have received nothing. The legal wrangling could be moot if the U.S. House adopts and Trump signs legislation to quickly end the federal government shutdown. An urgent need for beneficiaries The cascading legal rulings — plus the varying responses of each state to the shutoff — means people who rely on SNAP are in vastly different situations. Some have all their benefits, some have none. In states including North Carolina and Texas, beneficiaries have received partial amounts. In Pennsylvania, full November benefits went out to some people on Friday. But Jim Malliard, 41, of Franklin, said he had not received anything by Monday. Malliard is a full-time caretaker for his wife, who is blind and has had several strokes this year, and his teenage daughter, who suffered severe medical complications from surgery last year. That stress has only been compounded by the pause in the $350 monthly SNAP payment he previously received for himself, his wife and daughter. He said he is down to $10 in his account and is relying on what’s left in the pantry — mostly rice and ramen. “It’s kind of been a lot of late nights, making sure I had everything down to the penny to make sure I was right,” Malliard said. “To say anxiety has been my issue for the past two weeks is putting it mildly.” The political wrangling in Washington has shocked many Americans, and some have been moved to help. “I figure that I’ve spent money on dumber stuff than trying to feed other people during a manufactured famine,” said Ashley Oxenford, a teacher who set out a “little food pantry” in her front yard this week for vulnerable neighbors in Carthage, New York. SNAP has been the center of an intense fight in court The Trump administration chose to cut off SNAP funding after October due to the shutdown. That decision sparked lawsuits and a string of swift and contradictory judicial rulings that deal with government power — and impact food access for some 42 million Americans. The administration went along with two rulings on Oct. 31 by judges who said the government must provide at least partial funding for SNAP. It eventually said recipients would get up to 65% of their regular benefits. But it balked last week when one of the judges said it must fund the program fully for November, even if that means digging into funds the government said need to be maintained in case of emergencies elsewhere. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to pause that order. An appeals court said Monday that full funding should resume, and that requirement is set to kick in Tuesday night unless the top court takes action again. Congressional talks about reopening government The U.S. Senate on Monday passed legislation to reopen the federal government with a plan that would include replenishing SNAP funds. Speaker Mike Johnson told members of the House to return to Washington to consider the deal a small group of Senate Democrats made with Republicans. Trump has not said whether he would sign it if it reaches his desk, but told reporters at the White House on Sunday that it “looks like we’re getting close to the shutdown ending.” If the deal is finalized, it’s not clear how quickly SNAP benefits might start flowing. Still, the Trump administration said in a Supreme Court filing Monday that it shouldn’t be up to the courts. “The…

Air travelers could face more frustration as busy U.S. airports need to meet a higher Federal Aviation Administration target for reducing flights Tuesday after already canceling thousands to scale back demands on the nation’s aviation system during the government shutdown. Absences and signs of stress among traffic controllers, who haven’t been paid in over a month, made it imperative to cut flights in the name of public safety, the FAA said, ordering domestic airlines last week to drop 4% of their flights at 40 major U.S. airports. After already canceling more than 7,900 since Friday, the goal for cutting flights rose to 6% on Tuesday and again to 10% on Friday. Nearly 1,200 flights were canceled Tuesday, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks air travel disruptions. It was unclear exactly how many additional flights would need to be canceled for the day, but there are fewer flights scheduled on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Severe weather is adding to the cancellations at some airports. The average cancellation rate over the last few days already exceeded the FAA’s requirement, according to aviation analytics company Cirium. The FAA also expanded its flight restrictions Monday, barring business jets and many private flights from using a dozen airports already under commercial flight limits. However, controller shortages continued to lead to flight delays, including one of about five hours for arriving flights Monday evening at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, where wintry weather added to staffing-related disruptions earlier in the day. The FAA warned that staffing at over a dozen towers and control centers could delay planes departing for Phoenix, San Diego, the New York area and Houston, among other cities. Freezing weather in parts of the country on Tuesday could cause further delays and cancellations. The Senate passed legislation Monday to reopen the government, but the bill still needs to clear the House and final passage could be days away. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy made clear last week that flight cuts will remain until the FAA sees safety metrics improve after staffing levels stabilize at its air traffic control facilities. Many planes also aren’t where they’re supposed to be, which could slow the airlines’ return to normal operations even after the FAA lifts the order, said Mike Taylor, who leads research on airports and airlines at J.D. Power. Todd Walker said he missed his mom’s 80th birthday when his flight was canceled over the weekend. “All of this has real negative consequences for millions of Americans, and it’s 100% unnecessary and avoidable,” he said. The FAA had come under criticism after its original order only applied to a very small subsection of private planes. But some want to see even more done. Patriotic Millionaires, a group of wealthy Americans pushing for more progressive taxes, is calling for all private jets to be grounded during the shutdown. “Rich people are taking their joyrides while average Americans don’t make it to grandma’s bedside in time,” said Erica Payne, its founder and president. She added that none of its members that still fly private have reported cancellations or delays since the FAA’s order took effect. Tuesday marks the second missed payday for controllers. Some have started calling out of work, citing stress and the need to take on second jobs. It’s unclear how quickly controllers might be paid once the shutdown ends — it took more than two months to receive full back pay after the 35-day shutdown that ended in 2019, said Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. President Donald Trump took to social media on Monday to pressure controllers to “get back to work, NOW!!!” He called for a $10,000 bonus for those who’ve stayed on the job and suggested docking pay for those who haven’t. Daniels said the shutdown has made controllers’ demanding jobs even more stressful, leading to fatigue and increased risks. He said the…

Pakistani investigators examine a damage car at the site of a suicide bombing outside the gates of a district court, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahsan Shahzad)Pakistan’s police officers and lawyers gather at the site following a suicide bombing outside the gates of a district court, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/W.K. Yousufzai)Security officials examine a damaged vehicle at the site following a suicide bombing outside the gates of a district court, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammad Yousuf)Security officials and rescue workers gather at the site following a suicide bombing outside the gates of a district court, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammad Yousuf) ISLAMABAD | A suicide bomber struck outside the gates of a district court in Islamabad on Tuesday, detonating his explosives next to a police car and killing 12 people, Pakistan’s interior minister said, the latest in an uptick in violence across the country. Witnesses described scenes of mayhem in the immediate aftermath of the explosion, which also wounded 27 people. The blast was heard for miles away and came at a busy time of day when the area outside the court is typically crowded with hundreds of visitors attending court hearings. A breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar group, claimed responsibility for the attack. But shortly after, Sarbakaf Mohmand, a commander from the group, sent WhatsApp messages insisting they had not made any such claim. His group quit the Pakistani Taliban, or PTT, after the head of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar was killed in a blast in Afghanistan in 2022. Though some members recently rejoined TTP, others keep their distance, indicating continuing differences among the insurgents. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has staged smaller attacks in the past but its ability to hit the Pakistani capital is likely to further compound the struggles of the Pakistani government as it faces a resurgent Pakistani Taliban, border tensions and a fragile ceasefire with neighboring Afghanistan. The attacker tried to “enter the court premises but, failing to do so, targeted a police vehicle,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told journalists. Earlier reports by Pakistani state-run media and two security officials said a car bomb caused the explosion. Without giving evidence, Naqvi alleged that the attack was “carried out by Indian-backed elements and Afghan Taliban proxies” linked to the Pakistani Taliban. Still, he said authorities are “looking into all aspects” of the explosion. Outside the court Police quickly cordoned off the area around the court as a cloud of smoke rose into the sky following the blast. The casualties were mostly passersby or those who had arrived for court appointments, according to Islamabad police. More than a dozen badly wounded screamed for help as ambulances rushed to the scene. “People started running in all directions,” Mohammad Afzal, who was at the court at the time, told The Associated Press. Naqvi said the discovery nearby of a severed head, which the police said belonged to the attacker, confirmed the blast was a suicide attack. The attacker was also later spotted in CCTV footage from the site, he said. Overnight attack at an army-run college Meanwhile, Pakistani security forces said they foiled an attempt by militants to take cadets hostage at an army-run college overnight, when a suicide car bomber and five other attackers targeted the facility in a northwestern province. The authorities blamed TTP — a separate militant group but allied with the Afghan Taliban. The TTP denied involvement in Monday’s attack and on Tuesday, its spokesman Mohammad Khurasani also denied involvement in Tuesday’s attack. The attack on Monday evening started when a bomber tried to storm the school in Wana, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border. The area had until recent years served as a base for the Pakistani…