Baltimore's Zach Eflin, who helped lead the Orioles to a 5-1 win over the Diamondbacks on Monday, left with shoulder fatigue, though he told reporters he believed it was "precautionary," and "we'll evaluate it tomorrow, and see how I feel after sleeping."

Britain's Prince Harry speaks during a high level event sponsored by Lesotho at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, file)2025-04-08T05:10:48Z LONDON (AP) Prince Harry wants his British security detail restored and is taking his case to an appeals court.Harry, whose titles include the Duke of Sussex, lost his government-funded protection in February 2020 after he stepped down from his role as a working member of the royal family and moved to the U.S. His lawyer is scheduled to challenge a lower court ruling Tuesday at the Court of Appeal in London.A High Court judge ruled last year that a government panels decision to provide bespoke security for Harry on an as-needed basis was not unlawful, irrational or unjustified. Harry had claimed he and his family are endangered when visiting his homeland because of hostility aimed at him and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, on social media and through relentless hounding by news media. Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles III, has bucked royal family convention by taking the government and tabloid press to court, where he has a mixed record. He lost a related court case in which he sought permission to privately pay for a police detail when in the U.K. but a judge denied that offer after a government lawyer argued officers shouldnt be used as private bodyguards for the wealthy. He also dropped a libel case against the publisher of the Daily Mail for an article that said he had tried to hide his efforts to continue receiving government-funded security. But he won a significant victory at trial in 2023 against the publisher of the Daily Mirror when a judge found that phone hacking at the tabloid was widespread and habitual. He claimed a monumental victory in January when Rupert Murdochs U.K. tabloids made an unprecedented apology for intruding in his life for years, and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle his privacy invasion lawsuit.He has a similar case pending against the publisher of the Mail.

Los Angeles star Shohei Ohtani, a three-time MVP, fell a double short of hitting for the cycle Monday night, as the Dodgers dropped a 6-4 decision to the Washington Nationals, a nice bounce-back for the DH after he went 1-for-11 over the weekend.

The rapper expressed his support for Belichick's hiring by North Carolina in December.

Palestinians wait to get donated food at a distribution center in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)2025-04-08T06:59:08Z Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight and into Tuesday killed at least 25 people, including eight children and five women, according to Palestinian medics.Meanwhile, Israels Supreme Court is hearing a group of eight cases challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus controversial move to dismiss the head of the countrys internal security agency.Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas in March and has cut off all food, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza a tactic that rights groups say is a war crime while issuing new displacement orders that have forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee Israeli bombardments and ground operations.Israels war in Gaza, now in its 18th month, has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gazas Health Ministry. Israel has vowed to escalate the war until Hamas returns dozens of remaining hostages, disarms and leaves the territory. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, and taking 251 others hostage. The group still holds 59 captives 24 of whom are believed to be alive. Here is the latest: Israels High Court hears cases against domestic security chiefs firingIsraels Supreme Court is hearing a group of eight cases challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus move to dismiss the head of the countrys internal security agency.The hearing sets the stage for what will be the latest showdown between Netanyahu and the judiciary. Any decision it makes is likely to deepen a rift in Israel over the power of the courts over elected lawmakers.Critics say the decision to fire Ronen Bar is tainted by a conflict of interest because the internal security agency is investigating ties between Netanyahus office and the Gulf Arab state of Qatar. Bars supporters say Netanyahu demanded loyalty from the head of an organization that is meant to be apolitical.Netanyahu says his decision came after a crisis of confidence in his domestic security chief surrounding Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and the ensuing war in Gaza. Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 25 Palestinians, medics sayIsraeli strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight and into Tuesday killed at least 25 people, including eight children and five women, according to Palestinian medics.A strike on a home in the central town of Deir al-Balah killed 11 people, including five children as young as two, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.Another four people were killed in a separate strike that hit a house in Deir al-Balah, it said.Another strike in the northern town of Beit Lahiya flattened a home and killed a family of seven, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.A separate strike hit a group of people in an open area northwest of Gaza City, killing four people, including one who was planning to get married next week, the ministry said.Israel says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because it operates in densely populated areas.

This combo of pictures show President Donald Trump, left, addressing a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, March 4, 2025, and a handout of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attending a ceremony in Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis - Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)2025-03-13T10:02:17Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Iran and the United States will hold talks in the sultanate of Oman on Saturday in an attempt to jump-start negotiations over Tehrans rapidly advancing nuclear program.Even before the talks, however, there was a dispute over just how the negotiations would go. President Donald Trump insists theyll be direct negotiations. However, Irans foreign minister said theyll be indirect talks through a mediator. The difference may seem small, but it matters. Indirect talks have made no progress since Trump in his first term unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers in 2018.Trump has imposed new sanctions on Iran as part of his maximum pressure campaign targeting the country. He has again suggested military action against Iran remained a possibility, while emphasizing he still believed a new deal could be reached by writing a letter to Irans 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei has warned Iran would respond to any attack with an attack of its own.Heres what to know about the letter, Irans nuclear program and the tensions that have stalked relations between Tehran and Washington since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Why did Trump write the letter?Trump dispatched the letter to Khamenei on March 5, then gave a television interview the next day in which he acknowledged sending it. He said: Ive written them a letter saying, I hope youre going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, its going to be a terrible thing.Since returning to the White House, the president has been pushing for talks while ratcheting up sanctions and suggesting a military strike by Israel or the U.S. could target Iranian nuclear sites.A previous letter from Trump during his first term drew an angry retort from the supreme leader.But Trumps letters to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his first term led to face-to-face meetings, though no deals to limit Pyongyangs atomic bombs and a missile program capable of reaching the continental U.S. How has Iran reacted?Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian rejected direct negotiations with the United States over Tehrans nuclear program.We dont avoid talks; its the breach of promises that has caused issues for us so far, Pezeshkian said in televised remarks during a Cabinet meeting. They must prove that they can build trust.Khamenei seemingly reacted to comments by Trump renewing his threat of military action.They threaten to commit acts of mischief, but we are not entirely certain that such actions will take place, the supreme leader said. We do not consider it highly likely that trouble will come from the outside. However, if it does, they will undoubtedly face a strong retaliatory strike.Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei went further.An open threat of bombing by a Head of State against Iran is a shocking affront to the very essence of International Peace and Security, he wrote on the social platform X. Violence breeds violence, peace begets peace. The US can choose the course...; and concede to CONSEQUENCES. The state-owned Tehran Times newspaper, without citing a source, claimed that Iran had readied missiles with the capability to strike U.S.-related positions. Thats as the U.S. has stationed stealth B-2 bombers in Diego Garcia within striking distance of both Iran and Yemens Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, which America has been bombing intensely since March 15. Why does Irans nuclear program worry the West?Iran has insisted for decades that its nuclear program is peaceful. However, its officials increasingly threaten to pursue a nuclear weapon. Iran now enriches uranium to near weapons-grade levels of 60%, the only country in the world without a nuclear weapons program to do so.Under the original 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.67% purity and to maintain a uranium stockpile of 300 kilograms (661 pounds). The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Irans program put its stockpile at 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds) as it enriches a fraction of it to 60% purity. U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program, but has undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.Ali Larijani, an adviser to Irans supreme leader, has warned in a televised interview that his country has the capability to build nuclear weapons, but it is not pursuing it and has no problem with the International Atomic Energy Agencys inspections. However, he said if the U.S. or Israel were to attack Iran over the issue, the country would have no choice but to move toward nuclear weapon development.If you make a mistake regarding Irans nuclear issue, you will force Iran to take that path, because it must defend itself, he said. Why are relations so bad between Iran and the U.S.? Iran was once one of the U.S.'s top allies in the Mideast under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who purchased American military weapons and allowed CIA technicians to run secret listening posts monitoring the neighboring Soviet Union. The CIA had fomented a 1953 coup that cemented the shahs rule.But in January 1979, the shah, fatally ill with cancer, fled Iran as mass demonstrations swelled against his rule. The Islamic Revolution followed, led by Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and created Irans theocratic government.Later that year, university students overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, seeking the shahs extradition and sparking the 444-day hostage crisis that saw diplomatic relations between Iran and the U.S. severed. The Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s saw the U.S. back Saddam Hussein. The Tanker War during that conflict saw the U.S. launch a one-day assault that crippled Iran at sea, while the U.S. later shot down an Iranian commercial airliner.Iran and the U.S. have see-sawed between enmity and grudging diplomacy in the years since, with relations peaking when Tehran made the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. But Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord, sparking tensions in the Mideast that persist today.___Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report. JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto

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The rising Ohio River floods along Lower River Road, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Rabbit Hash, Ky. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)2025-04-08T05:42:01Z FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) After days of unrelenting downpours swelled rivers to near record levels across Kentucky, residents closely monitored waterways for signs they had crested, but freezing temperatures forecast for Tuesday could complicate any cleanup efforts.Freeze warnings were in effect until early Tuesday for western Kentucky, along with parts of Illinois, Indiana and Missouri, with temperatures potentially dropping as low as 28 degrees (minus 2.2 Celsius), according to the National Weather Service.This is going to be a dangerous night where temperatures fall, where it gets potentially below freezing, so if youre somewhere thats very wet, if youre trying to ride this out in a home thats had water, tonight could raise concerns of hypothermia, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said during a news conference Monday, urging residents to find a safe place to stay. Inundated rivers are the latest threat from persistent storms that have killed at least 23 people since last week as they doused the region with heavy rain and spawned destructive tornadoes. At least 157 tornadoes struck within seven days beginning March 30, according to a preliminary report from the weather service. Though the storms have finally moved on, the flood danger remains high in several other states, including parts of Tennessee, Arkansas and Indiana.Cities ordered evacuations, and rescue crews in inflatable boats checked on residents in Kentucky and Tennessee, while utilities shut off power and gas in a region stretching from Texas to Ohio. Floodwaters forced the closure of the historic Buffalo Trace Distillery, close to the banks of the swollen Kentucky River near downtown Frankfort. Officials diverted traffic, turned off utilities to businesses and instituted a curfew in Frankfort as the river crested just short of a record Monday. More than 500 state roads across Kentucky were still closed Monday evening, Beshear said. Several miles north of Frankfort, RVs were parked at a makeshift campground Monday after fast-rising floodwaters chased a community of 90 RVs out of a park along the Kentucky River on Saturday. Everyone made it out safe, although a few RVs had to be left behind and were quickly submerged.It was quite an ordeal to just kind of wake up, hit the ground and start running, make sure everybody was off the property, not only people but the equipment and the RVs, said Traci Yoder, manager of the RV park and a resident herself.Storms leaving devastating impact The 23 deaths reported since the storms began Wednesday, include 10 in Tennessee. Among the four confirmed killed in Kentucky, a 9-year-old boy was caught up in floodwaters while walking to catch his school bus. The deaths also included a 5-year-old boy in Arkansas who police said died after a tree fell on his familys home, and a 16-year-old volunteer Missouri firefighter who died in a crash while seeking to rescue people caught in the storm.The Kentucky River crested at Frankfort Lock at 48.27 feet (14.71 meters) Monday, just shy of the record of 48.5 feet (14.8 meters) set there on Dec. 10, 1978, said CJ Padgett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Services Louisville, Kentucky, office. Beshear said more than 1,000 people had no access to water and nearly 3,000 were under boil water advisories. The worst Ive seenRussell Harrod, 78, stood Monday morning looking at the floodwaters surrounding the brick home in Frankfort where hes lived for 40 years. He said the water rose quickly Sunday afternoon.Thats the worst Ive seen, and Ive been around a long time, he said.In northeastern Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the scene absolutely heartbreaking around the town of Hardy, which took damage to its city hall and other buildings. West Memphis, Arkansas, Fire Chief Barry Ealy told WREG-TV that crews in the flood-prone city have rescued more than 100 people.Why so much nasty weather?Though significant rains have ended in the Southern Plains and the Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio valleys, flooding on most rivers will persist this week, with some smaller waterways receding in the next few days, according to the weather service.Forecasters attributed the violent weather to warm temperatures, an unstable atmosphere, strong winds and abundant moisture streaming from the Gulf. ___Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Anthony Izaguirre in New York; Kimberlee Kruesi and Jonathan Mattise, in Nashville, Tennessee; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; Rebecca Reynolds in Louisville, Kentucky; Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Adrian Sainz in Memphis; Tennessee; Obed Lamy in Rives, Tennessee; and Hallie Golden in Seattle. KRISTIN M. HALL Hall is an Associated Press video journalist based in Nashville, Tennessee. She helps lead the video report in the Mid-South region.

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Design by Sam Donndelinger.Subscribe nowWhen was the last time you gave money to charity? In 2023 alone, Americans gave an eye-watering $557 billion to around 2 million nonprofits, with almost a quarter of that figure$134 billiondonated to religious causes.But who are the individuals and foundations behind these religious gifts? Well, if youre using a donor-advised fund (DAF), its pretty much impossible to trace the money back to its donor.What is a DAF?In 2023, there were roughly three million DAF accounts. To open an account, you need a DAF sponsor. Most large investment funds, like Bank of America, Vanguard, and Fidelity, have charitable arms that act as sponsors. Donors give their money to their DAF sponsor and get immediate tax breaks from their investment. From there, the donor tells the sponsor which charities theyd like their money to go toward, and the sponsor advises the donor about whether this is the right move and executes the grant accordingly.For most donors, the biggest perk of giving through a DAF is the various tax breaks they can receive, including immediate deductions. But what allures some wealthy donors is the anonymity DAFs provide, especially if they dont want the public to know theyre giving to nonprofits with unconscionable track records on LGBTQ issues, which happens more often than you might expect.In fact, Uncloseted Media has discovered that DAF sponsorsboth religious and mainstreamare stewarding millions into conservative Christian nonprofits that have been designated as anti-LGBTQ hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and PFLAG.The Surprising Funders of HateOver the past five years, the biggest DAF sponsors include Fidelity Charitable; Vanguard Charitable; and DAFgiving360, formerly Schwab Charitable. They gave at least $37.8 million to anti-LGBTQ nonprofits who advocate in favor of conversion therapy and against gay marriage and are spearheading the rollback of many transgender rights.Fidelity Charitable, the largest of the three sponsors, gave $20 million to these groups between 2019-2023, including over $1 million to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and over $2 million to Focus on the Family in the financial year ending in June 2023. DAFgiving360 gave over $2 million to both ADF and Focus on the Family in the same time period.Total grants made in a five-year period from Fidelity Charitable to anti-LGBTQ hate groups. / Data from 20192023 Fidelity Charitable 990 Schedule I.In an email, DAFgiving360 told Uncloseted Media they are a separate legal entity from Charles Schwab and that grants recommended by donors do not reflect the values or beliefs of DAFgiving360, Charles Schwab & Co., or its management. They encourage anyone with concerns to contact the IRS or state regulators.All three of these DAF sponsors also made grants to Liberty University and Oral Roberts University, two notoriously anti-LGBTQ conservative Christian universities known to practice conversion therapy.If somebody on [these DAF sponsors] staff said the kinds of things that ADF or others say publicly, [they] would not continue to have them on [their] staff or board. How can [they] justify supporting that through a grant? Dan Petegorsky, a consultant at the Institute for Policy Studies, an independent, progressive think tank, told Uncloseted Media.He says its hypocritical that these companies pose as allies in the public square but, behind closed doors, funnel money into nonprofits that are coming after the LGBTQ community. Schwab, for example, has celebrated pride and said, Employees are proud to support each other every day through a culture of inclusion. Meanwhile, Fidelity advises clients on how to give equitably, publicly telling their donors that there remain persistent disparities in support for vulnerable populations, specifically LGBTQ+ people. Still, both charities have greenlit millions of dollars toward undermining queer and trans rights.Subscribe for LGBTQ-focused, accountability journalism. Christian Faith-Based GivingBut its outside of these mainstream DAF sponsors where the money really flows, nowhere more so than through the National Christian Foundation (NCF), the monolith of Christian faith-based giving.The organization was founded in 1982 by Evangelical author Larry Burkett, financial planner Ron Blue and tax lawyer Terry Parker. Through the years, they have received donations from notorious anti-LGBTQ billionaire David Green, the founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby, and have been described by Inside Philanthropy as the single biggest source of money fueling the pro-life and anti-LGBT movements. They also claim the sanctity of life, sexuality, gender, and marriage are all values essential to fulfilling their Christian ministry, according to Accountable for Equality, an organization that researches anti-LGBTQ extremists.NCF also asserts that God created man in His own image; male and female, ignoring the reality of trans and gender non-conforming people. In 2024 alone, NCF made $2.6 billion worth of grants to 36,560 charities. Through the years, they have given at least $173 million to ADF, $126 million to Focus On The Family and $40 million to Family Research Council.Petegorsky says that NCF knows "they are a home for ideologically conservative Christians." And a popular one at that. According to research by the Institute for Policy Studies, NCF is the 13th biggest charity in the country as of 2023, one rank above Habitat for Humanity. Fidelity Charitable and DAFgiving360 were the first and third charities with the largest contributions in America, respectively.Anonymity Motivates Folks to Give Through DAFs[DAFs are] by far the most widespread kind of donation vehicle for wealthy Americans at this point, according to Alex Kotch, an investigative journalist who has extensively covered DAFs that give to anti-LGBTQ, anti-Muslim and other hate groups.[The anonymity] is a big motivation for donors who want to give to the various groups and don't want to actually be publicly known as a sponsor, says Kotch. In other words, if a donor recommends a gift to ADF through their DAF, it is almost impossible to trace that gift back to the individual.This is because, as with any investment fund, DAF sponsors are under no obligation to report who their clients are. On the other end, they mustlike any grantmaking organizationdisclose all nonprofits they give money to.The groups these DAFs are giving to have had significant success in rolling back LGBTQ rights. ADF is known for their legal work stripping LGBTQ and reproductive rights in the courtroom, including writing the legal framework that helped overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. Focus on the Family is a conservative Christian media network that has called gender dysphoria a developmental crisis that is seemingly associated with peer contagions such as social media influencers, a theory that has been consistently debunked. And the Family Research Council believes that homosexual conduct is harmful to the persons who engage in it and to society at large, and can never be affirmed.Other anti-LGBTQ hate groups that receive funding from NCF include the American Family Association, Concerned Women for America and The Heritage Foundationthe group best known for penning Project 2025.Subscribe for investigative journalism.In an email, Jeff Johnston, an issues analyst for Focus on the Family, told Uncloseted Media: Our ministry is not concerned with how PFLAG labels us. We strongly believe what Christianity and Scripture have always taught: God made humans in His image male and female; marriage is the union of a husband and wife; and children do best when raised by their married mother and father. He added that LGBT-identified individuals have the same rights as everyone else in our country, which is false.NCF, ADF and Family Research Council did not respond to Uncloseted Medias request for comment.Total grants made in 2023 from National Christian Foundation to Alliance Defending Freedom. / Screenshot from 2023 National Christian Foundation 990 Schedule I.Total grants made in 2022 from National Christian Foundation to Alliance Defending Freedom. / Screenshot from 2022 National Christian Foundation 990 Schedule I.How Donations to Hate Groups Get GreenlitBut how is this allowed? Kotch says that while DAF sponsors feign a lack of decision-making power about where funds are directed, they have more authority than they let on. I get the same boilerplate responses about how its not up to them, its up to their clients, he told Uncloseted Media. Thats a lie.Heres how it actually works: Once a DAF receives a gift from its donor, they legally own the money. Per its name, the donor must then advise the DAF sponsor on where to donate. But the ultimate decision is up to the DAF sponsor, not the donor.Lets say you had a bunch of money you were giving out and youre saying Well, no, actually I dont really have the power to give it out, its my grandma who gave it to me and shes calling the shots, so I dont have any control,' explains Kotch. But really, you own it. And its the same for DAF sponsors in that they have the final say. While DAF sponsor policies differ slightly, they all carry one key theme: As long as youre donating to a legitimate 501(c)3 nonprofit that is in good standing with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and your suggested donation meets their guidelines, they will approve the grant. But hidden away in a policy document, DAFgiving360 says they may deny grant recommendations that do not meet approved criteria or for any other reason.Fidelity follows a similar set of rules but adds that the grant must be in all other ways consistent with Fidelity Charitable policies. Vanguard Charitable says their team researches, reviews and sends the grant for you, but a request might be denied: Most often it's about the legalities surrounding granting itself, such as impermissible benefits.Todd Sears, founder and CEO of Out Leadership, a consultancy firm that supports LGBTQ business leaders, says its more complex. Of course its terrible that people are funding hate groups, he says. But people in our community need to understand that companies have a [financial] obligation to the donors themselves.They're not going to risk losing that client for the overall business by denying the client a grant they want to make, Petegorsky told Uncloseted Media. Its a huge dilemma for them, and its subject to a lot of political push and pull. Occasionally, there is pressure that forces sponsors to halt certain grants. For example, last year, Fidelity blocked donors from giving money to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, a charity which provide[s] assistance and protection for registered Palestin[ian] refugees.NCF wields this same power in limiting grants to organizations that go against their statement of faith, corroborating the theory that they have at least some level of control. Even though they have no specific guidelines for donating to LGBTQ causes, one grantmaking guide advises clients they can contribute to organizations whose mission is to celebrate the sanctity of marriage by strengthening the bond between husband, wife, and God, and its grantmaking form states that NCF reserves the right, in the exercise of its sole and absolute discretion, to approve or disapprove any recommendations for grants or distributions.Even though mainstream DAF sponsors wont intervene politically in specific grants, They will express their values in a way that they think positions them to best expand their business and hold their clients, says Petegorsky. And those [values] are based on the shifting political climate, not their core values.I think they need to be called out as hypocrites and challenged on it, Petegorsky adds. Its a total contradiction.If mainstream DAF sponsors stop allowing donations to anti-LGBTQ groups, they risk losing a conservative Christian donor base, Petegorsky explains. The ideological donors who want to make those grants will say, Well, fuck it. Why should I be putting my money into Fidelity anymore if they're not going to fund what I want? I'm just going to put my money into NCF because they'll do what I want.When asked how to strike a balance between donor interests and protecting marginalized communities, Sears says, Education, that's how. If you shame somebody, theyll never forget it. People can always change their mind if we tell them the right way.What Can Be Done?While there are plenty of folks who intentionally donate to anti-LGBTQ nonprofits, John Schneider, co-host of the Queer Money Podcast, argues a lot of donors arent aware of the work they are funding. They dont actually go on the websites of these charitable organizations and dig deep into where [their] money is going.So what can be done about DAFs funneling money to hate groups? When it comes to conservative faith-based DAF sponsors like NCF, it is hard to imagine a world in which they would limit giving to anti-LGBTQ hate organizations. Its a sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander here, says Petegorsky. A lot of those organizations that we think of as doing the devils work, others think of doing the Lords work.And for mainstream investment firms? I think they bear responsibility, says Kotch, adding that DAF sponsors could draw on existing SPLC and PFLAG hate group designations to evaluate nonprofit grant recipients. New research by the DAF Research Collaborative found that, out of 128 DAF sponsors, 75% had declined grants to hate groups as defined by a third party or internal list and 41% declined grants that do not align with their values.Subscribe nowBut if [the major DAF sponsors] dont want to just trust one source, theres a lot of willing partners out there who would love to form a coalition and evaluate which groups are considered hate groups, says Kotch. They just dont want the work done. They just dont care. This unwillingness to take a stand means that hundreds of millions of dollars will continue to funnel into anti-LGBTQ efforts in the U.S. and internationally.I think the easiest solution is just to talk about it, says Sears. Say out loud Hey yall, Ive been a Schwab or Vanguard or Fidelity client for 30 years, and I just found this out. Did you know? Even take it to your financial advisor or broker and ask them to look into it. Thats people using their own platform saying, Im a client, because companies ultimately respond to their clients, he says.Another way these donations could be regulated is through Congress and the rules they impose on the IRS, who is responsible for certifying the anti-LGBTQ hate groups as tax-exempt, 501(c)3 nonprofits. In other words, [regulating] which organizations are subsidized by taxpayers, says Kotch.Under the Trump administration, and with people like House Speaker Mike Johnson having written things like homosexual marriage is the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the strongest republic, its unlikely well see anti-LGBTQ groups restricted from tax-exempt status by Congress anytime soon.I dont think its unreasonable to say, Okay, its a thorny issue, but at the same time we need to develop standards, says Kotch. People have a duty to try and reduce the hate in their states, and especially the funding of that.****Liberty University, Oral Roberts University, Fidelity Charitable and Vanguard Charitable did not respond to Uncloseted Medias request for comment.If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media

Nature, Published online: 08 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00994-4Researchers jubilant over swift ministerial response to rule they say would hamper international recruitment.

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Container ship is docked at Kwai Chung Container terminal in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Apr. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)2025-04-08T09:13:19Z BANGKOK (AP) U.S. President Donald Trump and China sparred over tariff hikes and other retaliatory moves on Tuesday, as governments elsewhere were brainstorming strategies to cope with the trade war between the global economic giants. China said it will fight to the end and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports in retaliation for Beijings backlash against the 34% tariffs he ordered on his April 2 Liberation Day. The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the US. China will never accept this, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement read on state-run broadcaster CCTV. When asked about the possibility of talks between Washington and Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said I think what the US has done doesnt reflect a willingness for sincere dialogue. If the US really wants to engage in dialogue, it should adopt an attitude of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit. Meanwhile, Chinese state-run companies were told to help support the countrys financial markets after they were hit by massive saves of selling on Monday. While world markets calmed somewhat after frenzied selling over two trading sessions that wiped out trillions of dollars worth of wealth, leaders in Asia shifted into damage control mode. Help for Japans automakers and steel millsJapanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba spoke with Trump late Monday and then convened a task force Tuesday to mitigate damage from the 24% U.S. tariffs imposed on Washingtons biggest ally in Asia. Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa was appointed lead trade negotiator and senior officials were dispatched to Washington to follow up on the Ishibas talk with Trump. Ishiba told his ministers to do their utmost to get Trump to reconsider and also to mitigate the impact from the U.S. reciprocal tariffs, which he said would be a blow to all industries, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters. India wants a dealIndias Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar spoke with his U.S. counterpart Marco Rubio late Monday, pitching for an early conclusion of negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement. India, which faces a 26% tariff on its exports to the U.S., is hoping for concessions as part of the trade deal. A first tranche of the agreement is expected by this fall. Washington wants India to allow more open market access for U.S. dairy and other farm products, but New Delhi has balked at that since farming employs the bulk of Indias workforce. Indias Trade Minister Piyush Goyal planned to meet with exporters Wednesday to gauge the potential impact and cushion the economy from the tariffs.A State Department statement said Rubio and Jaishankar discussed ways to deepen collaboration, the tariffs and how to make progress toward a fair and balanced trade relationship. Malaysia promises soft diplomacy responseMalaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said his government and other Southeast Asian countries would send officials to Washington to discuss the tariffs and it was working to build a consensus on a unified response among the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as they convened an investment conference in Kuala Lumpur. We do not believe in megaphone diplomacy, Anwar said, As part of our soft diplomacy of quiet engagement, we will be dispatching together with our colleagues in ASEAN our officials in Washington to begin the process of dialogue.Still, he chided the U.S., saying Malaysias trade with the U.S. had long been a model of mutual gain, with its exports supporting Malaysias growth as well as high-quality jobs for Americans. The 24% tariff recently imposed on Malaysian imports was harming all and might have negative impact on both economies, he said.Anwar said Malaysia would stick to a policy of diversifying its trade at a time of uncertainty over globalization and changing supply chains. Hong Kong vows more, not less, open tradeIn Hong Kong, which has a free-trade policy and operates as a free port with few trade barriers, Chief Executive John Lee echoed Beijing in blasting Trumps tariffs as bullying and ruthless behavior he said had damaged trade and raised global uncertainty. Lee said the former British colony, which came under Beijings control in 1997 but has limited autonomy, would draw closer to the Chinese mainland, sign more free trade agreements and strive to attract more foreign investment to help blunt the impact of the higher U.S. duties. ___Niniek Karmini and Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Rajesh Roy in New Delhi, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed. ELAINE KURTENBACH Based in Bangkok, Kurtenbach is the APs business editor for Asia, helping to improve and expand our coverage of regional economies, climate change and the transition toward carbon-free energy. She has been covering economic, social, environmental and political trends in China, Japan and Southeast Asia throughout her career. twitter mailto

This combo of pictures show President Donald Trump, left, addressing a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, March 4, 2025, and a handout of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attending a ceremony in Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis - Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)2025-04-08T10:31:01Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Iran s foreign minister said Tuesday hell meet with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman for the first negotiations under the Trump administration seeking to halt Tehrans rapidly advancing nuclear program as tensions remain high in the Middle East. Speaking to Iranian state television from Algeria, Abbas Araghchi maintained the talks would be indirect, likely with Omani mediators shuttling between the two parties. U.S. President Donald Trump, in announcing the negotiations on Monday, described them as being direct talks. Years of indirect talks under the Biden administration failed to reach any success, as Tehran now enriches uranium up to 60% purity a technical step away from weapons-grade levels. Both the U.S. and Israel have threatened Iran with military attack over the program, while officials in Tehran increasingly warn they could potentially pursue a nuclear bomb. Our main goal in the talks, is naturally restoring rights of people as well as lifting sanctions and if the other side has a real will, this is achievable, and it has no relation to the method, either direct or indirect, Araghchi said. For the time being, indirect is our preference. And we have no plan to alter it to direct. Araghchis comments left space for Iran to potentially hold direct talks eventually with the Americans. Such talks arent known to have been held since the Obama administration. There was no immediate acknowledgement from the U.S. that Witkoff would lead the American delegation. News of talks boosts Irans ailing economyAfter Trumps comments on the talks went public, Irans ailing economy suddenly showed new signs of life. Its rial currency, which hit a record low of over 1 million rials to the dollar, rebounded Tuesday to 990,000 rials. The Tehran Stock Exchange separately rose some 2% on the news. Irans economy has been severely affected by international sanctions, particularly after Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. At the time of the 2015 deal, which saw Iran drastically limit its enrichment and stockpiling of uranium in exchange for lifting of international sanctions, the rial traded at 32,000 to the dollar.Economic upheavals have evaporated the publics savings, pushing average Iranians into holding onto hard currencies, gold, cars and other tangible wealth. Others pursue cryptocurrencies or fall into get-rich-quick schemes. Trump letter sparked talksThe negotiations Saturday come after Trump wrote to Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, trying to jumpstart direct talks between Tehran and Washington. Khamenei came down hard on Trump in February and warned talks are not intelligent, wise or honorable with his administration.Meanwhile, Trump is continuing an intense airstrike campaign targeting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, the last force in Tehrans self-described Axis of Resistance able to attack Israel after other militant groups were mauled by Israel during its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.Asked about Trumps mention of planned direct talks between the U.S. and Iran, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow welcomes them, adding that we support settling the issue of the Iranian nuclear dossier by political and diplomatic means. We are aware that certain contacts, both direct and indirect, are planned in Oman and we can only welcome them as they could lead to the de-escalation of tensions around Iran, Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. His remarks come as Trump is trying to negotiate a separate peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, talks that also have happened in the Middle East, in Saudi Arabia. ___Vahdat reported from Tehran, Iran. JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto

Nature, Published online: 08 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01062-7Lessons from environmental and other social movements can help researchers to protect scientific integrity from attack.

Nature, Published online: 08 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01064-5Researchers are studying why the energy factories are moving between cells and whether the process can be harnessed to treat cancer and other diseases.

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2025-04-08T11:55:36Z SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) At least 13 people died and more than 70 were injured after a roof fell at a discotheque in the capital of the Dominican Republic early Tuesday, authorities said.Crews were searching for potential survivors in the rubble at Jet Set in Santo Domingo, said Juan Manuel Mndez, director of the Center of Emergency Operations.We presume that many of them are still alive, and that is why the authorities here will not give up until not a single person remains under that rubble, he said.Among the injured is merengue singer Rubby Prez, who was performing when the roof collapsed, officials said.President Luis Abinader wrote on X that all rescue agencies are working tirelessly to help those affected.We deeply regret the tragedy that occurred at the Jet Set nightclub. We have been following the incident minute by minute since it occurred, he wrote.At one hospital where the injured were taken, an official stood outside reading aloud the names of survivors as a crowd gathered around her and yelled out the names of their loved ones.It wasnt immediately clear what caused the roof to collapse. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

South Korean army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)2025-04-08T09:29:28Z SEOUL, South Korea (AP) South Koreas military fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers crossed the rivals tense border on Tuesday, South Korean officials said.South Koreas military said in a statement that about 10 North Korean soldiers returned to the North after South Korea made warning broadcasts and fired warning shots. It said the North Korean soldiers violated the military demarcation line at the eastern section of the border at 5 p.m.South Koreas military said it is closely monitoring North Korean activities.Bloodshed and violent confrontations have occasionally occurred at the Koreas heavily fortified border, called the Demilitarized Zone. But when North Korean troops briefly violated the border in June last year and prompted South Korea to fire warning shots, it didnt escalate into a major source of tensions. South Korean officials assessed that the soldiers didnt deliberately commit the border intrusion and the site was a wooded area and military demarcation line signs there werent clearly visible. South Korea said the North Koreans were carrying construction tools. The motive for Tuesdays border crossing by North Korean soldiers wasnt immediately clear. The 248-kilometer (155-mile) -long, 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) -wide DMZ is the worlds most heavily armed border. An estimated 2 million mines are peppered inside and near the border, which is also guarded by barbed wire fences, tank traps and combat troops on both sides. Its a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. Animosities between the Koreas are running high now as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues to flaunt his military nuclear capabilities and align with Russia over President Vladimir Putins war on Ukraine. Kim is also ignoring calls by Seoul and Washington to resume denuclearization negotiations. Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would reach out to Kim again to revive diplomacy. North Korea has not responded to Trumps remarks and says U.S. hostilities against it have deepened since Trumps inauguration.South Korea, meanwhile, is experiencing a leadership vacuum after the ouster of President Yoon Suk Yeol last week over his ill-fated imposition of martial law. __Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report. HYUNG-JIN KIM Hyung-jin is an Associated Press reporter in Seoul, South Korea. He reports on security, political and other general news on the Korean Peninsula. twitter mailto

The shed-sized post office opposite a Baptist Church 40 miles outside of Louisville, Kentucky, was an unlikely starting point for one of the most significant undercover FBI operations in recent years. Inside that post office on September 17, 2021, sat a package that had arrived a few days earlier. On the face of it that package and others like it shipped over the coming months were not suspicious. They often contained childrens books. Nestled in those, though, was an envelope. Then another envelope inside that. And inside that, thousands of dollars of cash.This money came from ElonmuskWHM, one of the biggest online money launderers and who advertised on the dark web site White House Market (WHM). For nearly a year by that point, ElonmuskWHM had been a crucial cog in the underground economy. Criminals came to ElonmuskWHM when they needed to cash out their ill-gotten cryptocurrency, bypassing the legitimate banking system that ordinarily kept tabs on their customers and gave information to law enforcement. So the FBI wanted to shut ElonmuskWHM down.The FBI eventually identified ElonmuskWHM as Anurag Pramod Murarka, a 30 year-old Indian national who authorities arrested after luring him to the country by approving his travel visa application. More extraordinarily, the FBI then took over ElonmuskWHMs money laundering operation and ran it themselves for nearly a year, Gabrielle Dudgeon, public affairs specialist at the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky, which prosecuted the case,told 404 Media. With criminals believing they were interacting with the real ElonmuskWHM, the FBI then investigated the launderers customers, including drug traffickers and hackers.Do you know anything else about this case? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at joseph.404. Otherwise, send me an email at joseph@404media.co.As part of the investigation into ElonmuskWHM, both before and after the account takeover, investigators linked the money launderer to drug traffickers in Miami; a robbery at knife point in San Francisco, and numerous multi-million dollar hacking cases. During this window of time, the FBI investigated an alleged member of the notorious Scattered Spider hacking collective, which was responsible for the MGM Resorts hack and has caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage. In this operation, rather than following the money, the FBI would become the money, potentially giving criminals tens of thousands of dollars in an effort to learn their real identities.A 404 Media review of hundreds of pages of court documents, ElonmuskWHMs online posts, and other research reveals the contours of that FBI operation for the first time. It solidifies the idea that the FBI is willing to provide criminals with the infrastructure needed for their schemes, sometimes for extended periods of time, if it provides an avenue to investigate them. The FBI previously secretly ran an encrypted phone company for drug traffickers and inserted a backdoor into it; started its own cryptocurrency to catch financial scammers; and ran a dark web child abuse site for around two weeks to deliver malware to its visitors. Running one of the largest money launderering services available on the open criminal market was just one of the latest examples.ElonmuskWHMs trail gave investigators a window into a part of the criminal world that is ordinarily completely invisible, with cryptocurrency now married to a centuries old underground banking system, making it easier than ever for criminals to move and access their funds globally. The FBI also went to extreme, and likely unconstitutional, steps to unmask ElonmuskWHM, including demanding Google turn over identifying information about everyone who watched a certain YouTube video over an eight day period.NOOB BITCHElonmuskWHMs business started in around October 2020, according to a 404 Media review of his posts on the dark web forum Dread, where customers of drug marketplaces would gather and coordinate.Cash BY Mail with 100% escrow and anonymity, ElonmuskWHM wrote. The service was simple enough: send your cryptocurrency to ElonmuskWHM via a dark web marketplace (with his fee), and ElonmuskWHM would then send you cash in the mail. For dirty fundscryptocurrency sourced from criminal activityElonmuskWHM charged a 20 percent fee.Initially, Dread users accused him of being a fed or a scammer. He got into constant fights with other members, and called one a noob BITCH.Despite the scepticism, some people clearly needed that service enough to send cryptocurrency to ElonmuskWHM. The following month, they wrote they had $30,000 worth of orders. By January, he was up to 200 sales, then 450, and eventually was calling himself the biggest cash by mail provider on White House Market, one of the sites he advertised on.A photo posted to Instagram and ElonmuskWHM's profile picture on Telegram.This services utility in the criminal underworld cannot be overstated. Companies who allow the trading of cryptocurrency for fiat in the United States have to be registered with the government as a money transmitting business. Those companies, in turn, are legally required to collect identifying information about their users, much in the same way as an ordinary bank. This is an issue for criminals because if they sign up to more legitimate exchanges such as Binance or Coinbase, they will need to provide their ID. And those exchanges will hand over that information to the authorities if presented with a court order.ElonmuskWHM offered an anonymous alternative, no ID needed. Perfect for hackers who have built a stockpile of cryptocurrency but have no way to actually cash it out. Hardly any business accepts Bitcoin or its more anonymous cousin Monero. These people need cash.Soon ElonmuskWHM crossed 500 sales. Later, he said he had moved millions; doing multiple continents. He offered to move cash to any country in Europe, and said he could move $100,000 overnight in the U.S. if needed.One of his messages on Dread said: Fuck LE, fuck the LAW.In April 2021, an FBI employee discovered ElonmuskWHMs adverts on various sites, according to court records. In August, the FBI roped in the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the two agencies met about investigating ElonmuskWHM. Joshua Smith, a U.S. Postal Inspector, then arranged for the P.O. Box in Waddy, Kentucky, to receive cash mailed by ElonmuskWHM. If the authorities ordered cash from ElonmuskWHM, the packages and undercover conversations with the launderer might provide clues on his identity. These purchases were relatively small, $1,800 here, $2,000 there, with the cash sometimes arriving inside the torn pages of a book with those pages then taped together at the edges, and those placed inside multiple sealed envelopes, according to court records.While posing as a drug trafficker, the FBI performed so many undercover buys over so many months that the digital underground started to shift around the agency and money launderer. First White House Market went down in November 2021, after the owners decided to close up shop. Then Dark0de Reborn, a cybercrime forum ElonmuskWHM was on, closed the following February. The FBI moved to communicating with ElonmuskWHM more directly; he had accounts on Telegram and the encrypted messaging app Wickr. On Telegram, the launderers profile picture was of a Batman phone case.One of the undercover buy drop-off locations via Google Street View.In those chats, ElonmuskWHM said drugs were how most of his clients made their money, and let slip that his richest clients are hackers. Some of those hackers, the FBI learned, were involved in cryptocurrency thefts and computer intrusions. By analyzing the blockchain, investigators found that nearly $90 million worth of cryptocurrency moved through ElonmuskWHMs network, according to court records. He eventually boasted he had made approximately $30 million over just a few years, and said he could move up to $1 million a week. He owned a Mercedes.ElonmuskWHM started to let more personal details out too. The undercover FBI employee and ElonmuskWHM started discussing geographic information systems (GIS), basically a wide-ranging discipline of how computers can analyze or visualize geographic data. Think drones, construction, building interiors. The launderer revealed he had a history of working in the field, including with aerial drones, and that he once had been the CEO of a GIS company before selling that business to someone else around three years earlier.ElonmuskWHM sent the undercover FBI employee a YouTube video called Indoor AR navigation for malls, airports and retail stores. Keeping the conversation going, the FBI responded with a couple more videos. Ep. 01: ArcGIS Indoors was a five minute demo of a GIS tool. Drone mapping simplified with Site Scan for ArcGIS, another. Around that time, each video the FBI sent to ElonmuskWHM had been viewed around 2,000 and 1,400 times respectively.Screenshots of the YouTube videos the FBI sent to ElonMuskWHM.Knowing that ElonmuskWHM probably clicked on those links, U.S. authorities secretly made an audacious demand to Google: tell us what IP addresses were used to access these videos over a week-long period. Then if any of those IP addresses were linked to a Google account, in turn hand over that users name, address, payment information, message logs, and information about any other related accounts too. That legal demand was later reported by Forbes, and multiple experts said the order was unconstitutional because it had the potential to turn ordinary YouTube viewers into suspects because they watched a particular video.It is not clear if Google returned the requested data. Google acknowledged a request for comment but then stopped replying to emails asking if the tech giant provided the authorities with the information.THE MULESWith all of the undercover buys the FBI started to get an idea of where this money was coming from, and by extension, who in ElonmuskWHMs organization might be shipping it. One came from Tarrytown, New York. The third was sent from Elmsford, New York, again. Then another from Tarrytown. Others from White Plains and Irvington, also in New York. A pattern emerged. Whoever was shipping this money in some cases used the same locations again and again.They traced the likely shipment to a man in his early-twenties in Westchester County, New York, the county where many of the earlier packages had been shipped from. 404 Media has learned the real name of this person but is not naming them for their safety because they became a confidential human source and cooperated with law enforcement, and will instead refer to them as Eric.The FBI watched as Eric stepped out of his home and then delivered two parcels to a U.S. Post Office. Investigators determined those packages were supposed to ship to the USPIS post box in Kentucky the authorities had been using for the undercover buys. This time, the controlled buy was for $70,000, according to court records.A month later, authorities arrested Eric at his home where he lived with at least one parent. While clearing out the apartment, law enforcement asked the mans father where the suspect was. Once the officials called out his name, Eric emerged from his bedroom. Investigators found around $600,000 inside. While the FBI had been ordering mostly a couple thousand dollars at a time, it was clear that ElonmuskWHMs team was moving much higher amounts.Eric explained he met people around three times a week and received between $100,000 to $300,000 to move each time. Much of the money in New York came from people who owned lawful businesses, like convenience stores, and who wanted to send money back to India.Screenshots of images included in the court records.This underground banking system is known generally by the Arabic name hawala. Its Chinese equivalent is called Fei-Chien. Indian versions are known as Hundi or Angadia. People have moved money like this for hundreds and hundreds of years, before banks existed and still use it today. In the United States if members of such a system dont follow the countrys strict regulations on money transmitting services, they are most likely breaking the law. Many hawala customers are not hackers or drug traffickers. But ElonmuskWHMs business intersected with that system and brought criminals cash in. ElonmuskWHM essentially stuck cryptocurrency onto that existing, centuries old process. Rather than moving cash from one place to another, it became about exchanging cryptocurrency for cash instead.Rather than prosecute Eric immediately, the U.S. authorities decided to use him as a way in. He flipped, hoping for a lower sentence, and agreed to continue engaging in cash pickups and drops so the FBI could get a better understanding of how exactly this launderering worked and identify other people in the ring.Wearing a hidden camera, Eric performed around another 80 cash pickups, moving a total of more than $15 million from February to September, according to court records. Across Queens and the Bronx, convenience stores, bodegas, gas stations, and grocery parking lots, the FBI saw men of Indian descent with shopping bags full of cash moving around the city. Sometimes these men were asked by others if they needed to move money back to India, then fell into moving cash for the network, according to court records. The FBI then used cellphone data to see that some of these men were going out of state to New Jersey, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and South Carolina. ElonmuskWHMs mules were all over the country.The New York money launderering ring court documents do not mention ElonmuskWHM. But it is clear these people are ElonmuskWHMs money mules: the records say the investigation started in April 2021 when the FBI identified a cash-in-the-mail vendor on the dark web (the same time as the FBI found ElonmuskWHM); the records say the vendor told an undercover officer in an online chat that their businesss customers included drug dealers and hackers (as ElonmuskWHM had done); and a partial WhatsApp number in the New York documents is the same as one in documents in ElonmuskWHMs case, 404 Media found. The Southern District of New York declined to comment.That number was one part of the puzzle that pinpointed who ElonmuskWHM really was. Through a flurry of pen traps and court orders; search warrants with Apple, Binance, and Uber; and a review of U.S. visa applications, investigators learned that ElonmuskWHMs real identity was Anurag Pramod Murarka, a man at the time in his late twenties with a one-third ownership stake in a land surveying company in India.Up until then, Murarkas previous visa applications to come to the United States had been denied. Now, the State Department approved it because the agency knew Murarka would be arrested after arriving in the country., court records say. Murarkas lawyer later said his client came to the United States in part to seek medical treatment for a rare medical condition after getting treatment in Egypt and Europe, according to court records.BECOME THE MONEYAfter arresting Murarka on September 30, 2023, the FBI made the decision to run ElonmuskWHMs operation themselves. A post from ElonmuskWHMs account on Dread, written nearly a month after the arrest, defends himself as not being a fed:Day one I start on whm , I hear same shit as todayNow I m infact tired of defending itGo to my first post 3 years back and same shitI m fed blah-blah-blah[]3 years + multiple markets + 1000s of trades + 100% positive feedbackand I m still here working my ass off and still have clients who love me and happy with my serviceDudgeon from the U.S. Attorneys Office told 404 Media that the FBI controlled the ElonmuskWHM persona for approximately eleven months. She said that the FBI investigated any criminal actor that used the criminal money laundering services of the ElonmuskWHM persona, including narcotics traffickers, hackers, and actors engaged in other criminal activity.Court documents say authorities linked ElonmuskWHMs services to drug trafficking prosecutions including one in Miami, Florida, a robbery at knife point investigation in San Francisco, California, and numerous computer hacking investigations, including some that derived multiple millions of dollars in criminal proceeds. Dudgeon told 404 Media that connections to customers were made both prior to and after the account takeover.One case in which a hacker used the services of an online money launderering service secretly run by the FBI was Remington remi Ogletrees. Authorities identified Ogletree after investigating Scattered Spider, a loose-knit collection of hackers notorious for their prolific social engineering skills and aggressive tactics. Scattered Spider emerged from the nebulous online community known as the Com, where around a thousand people coalesce on Telegram and Discord and often engage in physical violence against one another or members of the public. The FBI has designated Scattered Spider as a top three cyber threat, behind only China and Russia. Ogletree allegedly took part in compromises targeting telecom and financial businesses, according to court records.Two days after the FBI searched Ogletrees residence as part of that investigation on February 23, 2024, Ogletree contacted a money launderering service on Telegram, the court records say. At the time, Ogletree was apparently unaware that the Cash Service was part of an undercover FBI operation, the records add. Ogletree first told the launderer he needed $50,000 in cash, then upped the request to $75,000, according to the records. Ogletree sent cryptocurrency to the launderer, along with a physical address to deliver the money to.The Cash Service provided a USPS tracking number and mailed $75,000 (the value of any cryptocurrency Ogletree sent minus a fee) to Ogletrees Fort Worth Residence, the documents read. In other words, this undercover FBI operation provided tens of thousands of dollars to a suspect linked to a known-violent community of hackers, with him only being arrested nearly a year later in November 2024. Later, authorities said in court records that ElonmuskWHM, by providing money laundering services, enhanced the motivation [of criminals] to commit crimes, eased the path to success for these crimes, and facilitated the victimization of more people and businesses. For a year, the FBI arguably did much the same.The FBI also found that Ogletree had previously used the money launderering service multiple times in 2023, with Ogletree allegedly saying he had moved around $80,000 through the service, according to the court records. At one point, Ogletree flashed a large bundle of cash on Snapchat, according to a photo included in the records.Screenshot of a Ogletree court record.Ogletrees court records do not mention ElonmuskWHM specifically. 404 Media obtained screenshots in which people in the Com discussed ElonmuskWHM. Another message said one person used a laundering service and suggested they were caught shortly after.Dudgeon declined to comment on the Ogletree case, saying we cannot comment on an ongoing investigation. She also declined to point to any other prosecutions that have come about from the undercover running of ElonmuskWHM, saying the United States cannot comment on ongoing investigations.Murarka was sentenced in January to 121 months in prison, according to an announcement from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutor Kathryn Dieruf said Murarka was the founder and leader of a vast conspiracy that spanned the United States and emanated from India, which was designed to operate as a bank for the criminal underworld operating on the dark net. In so doing, the Defendant ran one of the largest and most successful darknet crypto-for-cash operations, laundering more than $24 million in cryptocurrency [in] just under two years.The USPIS, FBI, and lawyers representing Murarka and Ogletree did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Ogletree did not respond either.Using the internet, the defendant provided his assistance to countless other criminals as they tried to conceal their stolen money and illegal drug proceeds, Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, said in that announcement. This case highlights the global scope of cybercrime, as well as the demand for diligence and collaboration in fighting money launderinga devastating second layer of criminal conduct. The dedicated work of our law enforcement partners has now held him accountable; and we remain committed in our collaborative efforts to combat this destructive criminal activity.Michael E. Stansbury, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Louisville Field Office, said in the announcement: the FBI will leverage every advantage against criminal networks that cause damage to our communities, to apprehend these malicious actors, seize the proceeds of their crimes, and expose their network of co-conspirators.Even if that means launderering money for hackers.

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The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced Monday that the General Services Administration converted 14,000 magnetic to digital records, and claimed the process saved a million dollars a year.The problem is, magnetic tapes are regarded by storage and archivist professionals as being a stable, reliable, and safe medium for long-term data storage. Just because its a 70 year old medium doesnt mean those records needed a massive overhaul to digital, that it will save any money in the long term, or that the new storage method is better.Casual storage enjoyers might hear tape and think fragile spools of plastic that can rot or wear out. But digital storage is not necessarily a better option if youre trying to keep information for years; digital storage rot, or bit rot, can affect a hard drive over years of storage, making the data corrupt or inaccessible. This happens when the electrical charge inside a solid-state storage devicelike the kind of digital drive we can assume DOGE is talking aboutleaks and causes the drive to lose performance.Magnetic tapes are also a more cost and space efficient option at the scale the government would require to back up data. Tape requires someone who knows how to operate it, and the machines to read it, but as a storage medium its more compact and cheaper than comparably-sized digital drives would be. Modern tape cartridges can hold as much as 15 terabytes of data.But perhaps most importantly, tape is a lot more secure than digital storage. Hackers cant access whats on a magnetic tape unless they have it physically in hand; digital storage, however, can be broken into remotely or accessed if it touches cloud storage at all.Research also shows that tape media generates three percent of the carbon dioxide that hard disks do. Moving from tape to digital isnt just more expensive, less efficient, and less secure, but also bad for the environment. When were talking about long-term storage, ideally youre storing for a future that actually exists.Considering DOGEs track record of insecure and sloppy programming, habit of wasting public servants time with absurd busywork, and almost impressive ability to make most things it touches more expensive and inefficient, its not surprising that the department led by Elon Musk is proud to announce this unnecessary and wasteful flip to digital. But the irony of it making an otherwise perfectly stable archive suddenly unstable, while pulling what seems like a random million-dollar figure out of nowhere for the sake of a tweetall while gutting important archives and forcing volunteers to save what they canis almost too on the nose.GSA did not respond to a request for comment.

Nature, Published online: 08 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01042-xEurope must grasp chance to become a scientific powerhouse