Madison Keys of the U.S. celebrates after defeating Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus during the women's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)2025-01-25T05:01:06Z MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Madison Keys of the United States upset two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the Australian Open final on Saturday night to collect her first Grand Slam title at age 29.By adding this win over the No. 1-ranked Sabalenka to an elimination of No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals on Thursday saving a match point along the way Keys is the first woman since Serena Williams in 2005 to defeat both of the WTAs top two players at Melbourne Park.Keys, ranked 14th and seeded 19th, was playing in her second major final after being the runner-up at the 2017 U.S. Open.She prevented Sabalenka from earning what would have been her third womens trophy in a row at the Australian Open something last accomplished by Martina Hingis from 1997-99 and her fourth major title overall. When it ended, Keys covered her face with her hands, then raised her arms. Soon, she was hugging her husband, Bjorn Fratangelo who has been her coach since 2023 and other members of her team, before sitting on her sideline bench and laughing.Sabalenka chucked her racket afterward, then covered her head with a white towel. The mens final is Sunday, with defending champion Jannik Sinner against Alexander Zverev. Sinner is seeded No. 1, Zverev No. 2.Sinner eliminated American Ben Shelton in the semifinals, while Zverev advanced when 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic stopped playing because of an injury. Keys is the oldest woman to become a first-time major champion since Flavia Pennetta was 33 at the 2015 U.S. Open. This was the 46th Slam appearance for Keys, which ranks as the third-most major tournaments before winning a trophy in the Open era, behind only Pennettas 49 and Marion Bartolis 47 when she won Wimbledon in 2013.It was the more accomplished Sabalenka who was shakier at the outset. Keys broke three times in the first set, helped in part by Sabalenkas four double-faults and 13 total unforced errors. Dont for a moment think this was merely an instance of Sabalenka being her own undoing. Keys certainly had a lot to do with the way things were going, too. She compiled an 11-4 edge in winners in that first set, managing to out-hit the big-hitting Sabalenka repeatedly from the baseline.For a stretch, it seemed as though every shot off the strings of Keys racket the one she switched to ahead of this season to protect her oft-injured right shoulder and to make it easier to control her considerable power was landing precisely where she wanted.Near a corner. On a line. Out of Sabalenkas reach.Also important was the way Keys, whose left thigh was taped for the match, covered every part of the court, racing to get to balls and send them back over the net with intent. On one terrific defensive sequence, she sprinted for a forehand that drew a forehand into the net from Sabalenka, capping a break for a 4-1 lead.Never one to hide her emotions during a match, Sabalenka frequently displayed frustration while trailing on the scoreboard, kicking a ball after netting a volley, dropping her racket after missing an overhead, slapping her leg after an errant forehand. Sabalenka took a trip to the locker room before the second set, and whether that helped clear her head or slowed Keys momentum or both the finals complexion soon changed. Keys first-serve percentage dipped from 86% in the first set to 59% in the second. Sabalenka raised her winner total to 13 in the second set and began accumulating, and converting, break points.When she sent a backhand down the line to force an error by Keys for a break and a 2-1 lead in the second, Sabalenka shook her left fist and gritted her teeth as she walked to the sideline.When she broke again to go up 4-1, Sabalenka marked the occasion with a long and loud scream while looking in the direction of her team.By the time the last set arrived, the action was tight and tense, without so much as a single break point until its final game, when Keys came through with one last forehand winner.___Howard Fendrich has been the APs tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis HOWARD FENDRICH Fendrich is an Associated Press national writer based in Washington, D.C. He reports on tennis and other sports. twitter mailto

An aerial photograph taken by a drone shows the destruction caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive, in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)2025-01-25T05:04:05Z DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) The corpses keep coming every day, sometimes dozens at a time, brought to morgues in the Gaza Strip after being pried from under 15 months of rubble and pulled from battle zones long too dangerous for search-and-rescue teams to reach.These bodies, dug up as a ceasefire took hold this week, are Gazas missing, the uncounted dead haunting families scattered by the war. For the Gaza Health Ministry, they were reduced to a bullet-point caveat beneath every daily death toll: A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the streets, and cannot be accessed. On Sunday, as a deal between Israel and Hamas paused the deadliest war in a century of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, families across the enclave scrambled to reunite with their loved ones the living, the dead and the missing.Palestinians crowded the ruins that were once their homes, watching anxiously as civil defense teams hacked at the rubble in search of missing bodies. Each day of the ceasefire, the ministry has logged 50 to 120 recovered corpses. From the moment the truce began, we were searching and searching, said Samira Alshaar, 58, who returned Sunday to the house she fled nine months earlier when the southern city of Rafah came under attack. She watched as her son, Ibrahim Qeshta, was killed by an airstrike before he could escape with her. We left our son behind, she said. Ibrahims younger brother, Abdullah Qeshta, clawed Wednesday with his bare hands through blasted concrete and twisted rebar, his face shining with sweat and smeared with the dust of his familys life together. For three days, running on adrenaline, and anguish, he and the civil defense workers said they took breaks only to perform daily prayers and to sleep.Alshaar, looking on, said she felt herself losing hope. But suddenly, the men began to shout. They heaved stones and shards of concrete to the side. In the dirt were ragged pieces of 37-year-old Ibrahims navy blue pajamas, the ones he was wearing on May 6, 2024, when Israeli airstrikes sent everyone running. Ibrahim was running in the opposite direction, shouting to his mother that hed be back in a second and was grabbing blankets inside. Then the house was struck, the walls collapsing onto him.Thats my brothers hair, Im certain, it is him, Abdullah Qeshta said, his voice trembling. Oh God, thank you, God.Ibrahims body was in a state of decay. But in some sense, Alshaar said, she felt content. She could give her son the dignity of a proper burial. She could find a place to mourn him. He can rest now, she said.In an interview, Gaza health official Zaher al-Wahidi put the number of disappeared people and unrecovered bodies at roughly 8,000, based on reports from families about their missing loved ones.Its an estimate thats impossible to verify more than 15 months after Hamas launched its cross-border attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, abducting some 250 people, killing about 1,200, mostly civilians, and triggering the Israeli militarys retaliatory campaign. But rescue teams, experts and rights groups agree the Health Ministrys official death toll 47,283, as of Friday, with no distinction between civilians and combatants is a significant undercount. Israel blames Hamas for the heavy civilian casualties because the group embeds itself in residential areas.Missing could mean bodies like Ibrahims rotting under the ruins or in the blazing sun for months, authorities say. In parts of northern Gaza, where constant Israeli airstrikes and crossfire had blocked ambulances and rescue workers, residents tell of finding bloated corpses strewn in the streets.The missing, al-Wahidi said, also includes Palestinians killed and buried before they could be identified, or those marched into Israeli detention centers. Families who accept that their missing are dead have flocked to Gazas forensics offices since the ceasefire took hold. At the main forensics center in Rafah on Wednesday, workers wrapped bodies and small piles of remains in white plastic body bags and placed them on the pavement. Inside, a man brought in to identify a loved one gasped, blinking at a pile of bones. He recognized the scarf and shoe of a family member that was found with them exactly who was unclear. He was too distraught to talk. He let out a moan as he doubled over. Investigators scrawled names on the bags in green marker. If the identity remained unknown, they labeled the bags with numbers in hopes of the long-blockaded Gaza Strip one day obtaining the DNA testing that would allow authorities to return the unclaimed dead to their families.We leave the numbered bags in a specially designated place where the ministry can identify them in the future, said Dr. Ahmed Zuhair, director of Rafahs Department of Forensic Medicine. All we can do is ask international bodies to please, please help us. On Wednesday, officials said some of the recovered bodies had surfaced when recent rains washed away layers of dirt or had been dug up by wild dogs that ripped and scattered peoples limbs.The rest of the remains were found following hours, sometimes days, of digging and hurling aside mountains of rubble with little more than shovels. Civil defense workers reported that Gaza has no more than three excavators the kind of heavy machinery needed for rescue work.We need help from hundreds of rubble removal specialists and thousands of large machines, said al-Wahidi. Otherwise, he warned, we will not be able to recover the bodies. Each day of the ceasefire so far, Mohammad Deifallah, like dozens of other Palestinians, has come to the forensics center in Rafah filled with despairing hope. On Wednesday, he unzipped body bag after body bag, cupping his hand over his nose because of the smell. His brother who he lost 50 days ago, he said, in the chaotic search for safety as Israels bombardment of Rafah intensified was nowhere to be found.I dont know where to go. I checked all these bodies, Deifallah said, lifting a tarp to find a skeleton. Nothing resembles him. Nothing is even recognizable. ___DeBre reported from Jerusalem. Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report. ISABEL DEBRE DeBre writes about Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay for The Associated Press, based in Buenos Aires. Before moving to South America in 2024, she covered the Middle East reporting from Jerusalem, Cairo and Dubai. twitter mailto

People walk past the Selection La Habana new hotel, managed by Spanish chain Iberostar, in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)2025-01-25T04:59:59Z HAVANA (AP) Its impossible to miss. The huge rectangular mass of concrete and glass the tallest building in Havana dominates the city skyline, towering 150 meters (490 feet) above colonial homes with its 542 luxury rooms and majestic views of the city and the sea.The Selection La Habana hotel, managed by Spanish chain Iberostar, has yet to be inaugurated but it is already the target of criticism and not only for its unusual shape. Cubans are questioning the governments allocation of millions of dollars towards luxury tourism while the island grapples with a severe economic crisis and tourism numbers plummet to historic lows.All that money could have been spent to build hospitals and schools, lamented Susel Borges, a 26-year-old artisan, as she looked up to the towering edifice, known to locals as the K and 23 building because of its location. Located near the legendary Habana Libre hotel and the iconic Coppelia ice cream parlor, the new hotel is part of a government plan to build a dozen luxury establishments mainly in Havana that did not stop even during the COVID-19 pandemic and while existing luxury hotels remained largely unoccupied. For decades, tourism drove the Cuban economy, generating annual revenues of up to $3 billion. But in December, Cuban authorities said only 2.2 million tourists visited the island in 2024, a decrease of roughly 200,000 from 2023 and significantly lower than the 4.2 million tourists who visited in 2019. The government attributes the decline in tourism to a perfect storm of factors including supply shortages, a severe energy crisis causing massive blackouts and a lack of personnel, due to emigration and low wages. Furthermore, the island is grappling with a surge in U.S. sanctions, including restrictions on travel by U.S. citizens, a ban on cruise ships and other measures specifically designed to stifle the growth of Cubas tourism industry. Tourism is gone, said Julio Garca Campos, driver of a shiny red 1951 Pontiac with an original engine. Tourists used to line up to get on one of these! he said, recalling a bygone era when the island was bustling with American and European travelers following a removal of sanctions by then-President Barack Obama.The new Selection La Habana, like all other hotels in Cuba, is state-owned and operates under GAESA, a conglomerate belonging to the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces that has often been criticized because of the opacity of its businesses. As a military-run operation, it is exempt from audits by the Comptroller Generals Office and has not disclosed the amount it invested in the 40-story hotel.Cuban economist Pedro Monreal notes the incongruity of investing capital in the tourism sector when very little is being allocated to strategic areas such as agriculture.With food insecurity a concern, its troubling that agricultural investment lags significantly behind tourism investment, remaining 11 times lower, Monreal noted last year on social media. Architects also expressed little enthusiasm for the new hotel, pointing at its disruptive appearance within the environment, its excessive height violating urban regulations and tall glass windows that are ill-suited for a tropical climate.This building serves as a perfect example in our classes of what should not be done in terms of bioclimatic design, said Abel Tablada, an architect and university professor, adding its unforgivable that the little money available to the Cuban state has been allocated to a building that does not add value to the city.___Follow APs coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

President-elect Donald Trump, from left, takes the oath of office as son Barron Trump and wife Melania Trump watch during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)2025-01-25T13:08:59Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trumps first week in office isnt over yet, but already it offers signals about how his next four years in the White House may unfold.Some takeaways from the earliest days of his second term: Hes emboldened like never beforeWithin hours of being sworn in, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people who were convicted or charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by his supporters. Those pardoned include people who attacked, bloodied and beat police officers that day. The Republican presidents decision was at odds with earlier comments by his incoming vice president, JD Vance, and other senior aides that Trump would only let off those who werent violent. The pardons were the first of many moves he made in his first week to reward allies and punish critics, in both significant and subtle ways. It signaled that without the need to worry about reelection the Constitution bars a third term or legal consequences after the Supreme Court granted presidents expansive immunity, the new president, backed by a Republican Congress, has little to restrain him. Trump ended protective security details for Dr. Anthony Fauci, his former COVID-19 adviser, along with former national security adviser John Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his onetime deputy. The security protections had been regularly extended by the Biden administration over credible threats to the mens lives. Trump also revoked the security clearances of dozens of former government officials who had criticized him, including Bolton, and directed that the portrait of a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, retired Gen. Mark Milley be removed from the Pentagon walls. Hes way more organized this timeIn his first days in office, Trump demonstrated just how much he and his team had learned from four often-chaotic years in the White House and four more in political exile. A presidents most valuable resource is time and Trump set out in his first hours to make his mark on the nation with executive orders, policy memoranda and government staffing shake-ups. It reflected a level of sophistication that eluded him in his first term and surpassed his Democratic predecessors in its scale and scope for their opening days in the Oval Office. Feeling burned by the holdover of Obama administration appointees during his first go-around, Trump swiftly exiled Biden holdovers and moved to test new hires for their fealty to his agenda. In a matter of days he uprooted four years of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the federal government, sent federal troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and erased Bidens guardrails on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency development. In his first term, Trumps early executive orders were more showpieces than substance and frequently were blocked by federal courts. This time, Trump is still confronting the limits of his constitutional authorities, but is also far more adept at controlling what is within them. But Trump is still TrumpAn hour after concluding a relatively sedate inaugural address in the Capitol Rotunda, Trump decided to let loose. Speaking to an overflow crowd of governors, political supports and dignitaries in the Capitol Visitor Centers Emancipation Hall, Trump ripped in to Biden, the Justice Department and other perceived rivals. He followed it up with an even longer speech to supporters at a downtown arena and in more than 50 minutes of remarks and questions and answers with reporters in the Oval Office. For all of Trumps experience and organization, he is still very much the same Donald Trump, and just as intent as before on dominating the center of the national conversation. If not more.Courts may rein Trump in or give him expansive new powers He has acted to try to end civil service protections for many federal workers and overturn more than a century of law on birthright citizenship. Such moves have been a magnet for legal challenges. In the case of the birthright citizenship order, it met swift criticism from U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, who put a temporary stay on Trumps plans.Ive been on the bench for over four decades. I cant remember another case where the question presented was as clear as this one is, Coughenour, who was nominated by Republican President Ronald Reagan, told a Justice Department attorney. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order.How those court cases play out will determine not only the fate of some of Trumps most controversial actions, but just how far any president can go in pushing an agenda. Trump is betting that oil can grease the economys wheels and fix everythingThe president likes to call it liquid gold. His main economic assumption is that more oil production by the United States, the Saudis and the rest of OPEC wpould bring down prices. That would reduce overall inflation and cut down on the oil revenues that Russia is using to fund its war in Ukraine. For Trump, oil is the answer.Hes betting that fossil fuels are the future, despite the climate change risks. The United States has the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and were going to use it, Trump said in a Thursday speech. Not only will this reduce the cost of virtually all goods and services, itll make the United States a manufacturing superpower and the world capital of artificial intelligence and cryptoThe problem with billionaires is theyre rivals, not super friendsTrump had the worlds wealthiest men behind him on the dais when he took the oath of office on Monday.Teslas Elon Musk, Amazons Jeff Bezos, Metas Mark Zuckerberg and LVMHs Bernard Arnault were all there. SoftBank billionaire Masayoshi Son was in the audience. Later in the week, Oracles Larry Ellison and OpenAIs Sam Altman appeared with Son at the White House to announce an artificial intelligence investment of up to $500 billion.Musk, the Trump backer who is leading the presidents Department of Government Efficiency effort, posted on X that SoftBank didnt have the money. Altman, a rival to to Musk on AI, responded over X that the funding was there.By surrounding himself with the wealthiest people in tech, Trump is also stuck in their drama.The people in the deal are very, very smart people, Trump said Thursday. But Elon, one of the people, he happens to hate. But I have certain hatreds of people, too.Trump has a thing for William McKinleyAmericas 25th president has a big fan in Trump. Trump likes the tariffs that were imposed during Republican William McKinleys presidency and helped to fund the government. Trump has claimed the country was its wealthiest in the 1890s when McKinley was in office.But McKinley might not be a great economic role model for the 21st century.For starters, the Tax Foundation found that federal receipts were equal to just 3% of the overall economy in 1900, McKinleys reelection year. Tax revenues are now equal to about 17% of the U.S. economy and thats still not enough to fund the government without running massive deficits. So it would be hard to go full McKinley without some chaos.As Dartmouth College economist Douglas Irwin noted on X, the economic era defined by McKinley was not that great for many people.There was a little something called the Panic of 1893 and the unemployment rate was in double digits from 1894-98!! Irwin wrote. Not a great decade! ZEKE MILLER Zeke is APs chief White House correspondent twitter mailto JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto

Wine Styles owner Arthur Lampros, left, and Valentyna Parsaieva, head of export for Shabo, a Ukrainian winery, right, take part in a wine tasting at Wine Styles, Dec. 20, 2024 in Dumfries, Va. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)2025-01-25T05:06:22Z MONTCLAIR, Va. (AP) In a wine shop an hour outside of Washington, owner Arthur Lampros sampled a wine from a part of the world that was totally new to him, racking his brain to pin down the tastes on his tongue. Was there a body of water near the vineyards, he wondered, that would moderate any storms or heat waves buffeting the grapes?Absolutely, absolutely Ukraines Black Sea coast, near Odesa, said Giorgi Iukuridze, a Ukrainian winery owner introducing Ukraines modernized wines to a broad U.S. audience for the first time. Giorgi Iukuridze, owner and CEO Shabo, a Ukrainian winery, left, and Sam Lerman, CEO of SPYRT Worldwide, introduce Ukrainian wine to the owner of Wine Styles Arthur Lampros, right, at Wine Styles, Dec. 20, 2024 in Dumfries, Va. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) Giorgi Iukuridze, owner and CEO Shabo, a Ukrainian winery, left, and Sam Lerman, CEO of SPYRT Worldwide, introduce Ukrainian wine to the owner of Wine Styles Arthur Lampros, right, at Wine Styles, Dec. 20, 2024 in Dumfries, Va. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Sam Lerman, a U.S. Air Force vet and one of a number of former American military officers and diplomats in Ukraine backing him in the endeavor, nodded, beaming at the words of praise that followed for many of the wines.Ukraine is in the eyes of the world as it battles the Russian invasion with the aid of the United States and dozens of other countries. But Lerman said he and the others who teamed up with Iukuridze for the U.S. launch want Americans to see that Ukraine is more than an ally at war, suffering tremendous tragedy. Giorgi Iukuridze, owner and CEO Shabo, a Ukrainian winery, right, describes his wine during a tasting with Joseph Belli, Sales Manager for SPYRT Worldwide, at Wine Styles, in Dumfries, Va., Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) Giorgi Iukuridze, owner and CEO Shabo, a Ukrainian winery, right, describes his wine during a tasting with Joseph Belli, Sales Manager for SPYRT Worldwide, at Wine Styles, in Dumfries, Va., Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Bringing the wines to the U.S. will help show what Ukraine was really about, and has always been about, he said. For Kurt Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO who served as President Donald Trumps special representative to Ukraine during a stormy time in his first term, what Ukraine is about is determination, dedication and hope. Right now, because of Russias invasion and the military assistance the U.S. has given to Ukraine, when people hear and talk about Ukraine, it is all about the war. And its a little bit groaning ... like, Oh, geez, you know, how much more were going to spend on this?'' Volker told The Associated Press. Sam Lerman, CEO of SPYRT Worldwide, right, tells why he started importing Ukrainian wine to the owner of Wine Styles Arthur Lampros, second from left, during a tasting with Giorgi Iukuridze, owner and CEO of Ukrainian winery Shabo, second from right, Joseph Belli, Sales Manager for SPYRT Worldwide, and Valentyna Parsaieva, head of export for Shabo, center left, at Wine Styles, Dec. 20, 2024 in Dumfries, Va. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) Sam Lerman, CEO of SPYRT Worldwide, right, tells why he started importing Ukrainian wine to the owner of Wine Styles Arthur Lampros, second from left, during a tasting with Giorgi Iukuridze, owner and CEO of Ukrainian winery Shabo, second from right, Joseph Belli, Sales Manager for SPYRT Worldwide, and Valentyna Parsaieva, head of export for Shabo, center left, at Wine Styles, Dec. 20, 2024 in Dumfries, Va. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Russian President Vladimir Putins invasions of neighboring countries have served to introduce a whole community of American military people and diplomats to the burgeoning wine regions of the former Soviet Union. Volker met his winemaker wife, and bought a small winery in Georgia, owing to Russias 2008 invasion. He traveled often to Iukridzes Shabo winery in Ukraine for production tips.It was Russias invasions of Ukraine, especially in February 2022, that made more American military into fans of the wines of Ukraines Black Sea coast, and of the countrys best vodkas.Lerman, a former technical sergeant decorated for valor in combat in Afghanistan, first went to Ukraine in a team of volunteer military advisers in the first weeks after Russias 2022 invasion, and now represents a U.S. defense company there.Militaries have a venerable history of revering alcohol. U.S. sailors treasure rationed beer at rare steel beach picnics on deck. Officers off-duty in Iraq sipped hoarded zero-alcohol beer and pretended it was more. Militias fighting brutal civil wars in West Africa spared the beer factories, if nothing else. Giorgi Iukuridze, owner and CEO Shabo, a Ukrainian winery points to the location of his vineyards in Ukraine during a wine tasting at Wine Styles, Dec. 20, 2024 in Dumfries, Va. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) Giorgi Iukuridze, owner and CEO Shabo, a Ukrainian winery points to the location of his vineyards in Ukraine during a wine tasting at Wine Styles, Dec. 20, 2024 in Dumfries, Va. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Lerman sampled Ukraines alcohol for the first time in a safehouse with other U.S. vet volunteers and Ukrainian allies in the first weeks of the war. Someone had placed a bottle of Ukrainian vodka on the table where they worked, amid the laptops and firearms. I was blown away, Lerman recounted. I thought I didnt even like vodka. Sam Lerman, CEO of SPYRT Worldwide, and Giorgi Iukuridze, owner and CEO Shabo, a Ukrainian winery, right, stands together for a photo following a wine tasting at Wine Styles, Dec. 20, 2024 in Dumfries, Va. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) Sam Lerman, CEO of SPYRT Worldwide, and Giorgi Iukuridze, owner and CEO Shabo, a Ukrainian winery, right, stands together for a photo following a wine tasting at Wine Styles, Dec. 20, 2024 in Dumfries, Va. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Soon, Lerman was toting out bottles of vodka and Shabo wines for his family and friends back home. Searches of U.S. stores for more struck out, since much of what little Ukrainian wine was shipped to the U.S. was of an older, sweeter variety aimed at the Ukrainian diaspora.That led to him teaming up with Iukuridze and partners to set up Spyrt Worldwide, a new U.S. import company to bring in Shabo wines and two Ukrainian vodkas. A share of the profits is designated for Invictus Global Response, a mine-removal nonprofit run by veterans.Ukraines Black Sea coast claims a 2,500-year history of growing wine thanks to settlements founded by ancient Greeks, and some of the vines at Shabo winery date back to the subsequent Ottoman era. Swiss settlers in the 1800s made Shabo and the area around it a proper wine-growing region, prizing its soil and climate. Valentyna Parsaieva, head of export for Shabo, a Ukrainian winery, left, pours a glass of wine for Sam Lerman, CEO of SPYRT Worldwide, right, during a wine tasting with Giorgi Iukuridze, owner and CEO Shabo, second from right, and Joseph Belli, Sales Manager for SPYRT Worldwide at Wine Styles, Dec. 20, 2024 in Dumfries, Va. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) Valentyna Parsaieva, head of export for Shabo, a Ukrainian winery, left, pours a glass of wine for Sam Lerman, CEO of SPYRT Worldwide, right, during a wine tasting with Giorgi Iukuridze, owner and CEO Shabo, second from right, and Joseph Belli, Sales Manager for SPYRT Worldwide at Wine Styles, Dec. 20, 2024 in Dumfries, Va. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Wine under Soviet rule, on the other hand, was barely drinkable muck, said Volker. He sees the regions best wines today as a model for private companies shaking off the Soviet mindset.Soviet state-run wineries wanted cheap wines in big quantities, especially sweeter ones. Shabos vines survived a Soviet crackdown on alcohol under Mikhail Gorbachev in the final years before the Soviet collapse thanks only to a Shabo worker who falsified forms, claiming the vineyards produced only table grapes, Iukirdze said.After the Soviet Union crumbled in 1991, Iukeridze and his father, who have roots in wine production in Georgia, were among the largest producers in an independent Ukraine bringing production up to modern standards. Shabos wines have won international awards and are featured in Michelin-starred restaurants. Giorgi Iukuridze, owner and CEO Shabo, a Ukrainian winery, second from right, show one of his wines to the owner of Wine Styles Arthur Lampros, left, at the start of a wine tasting at Wine Styles, Dec. 20, 2024 in Dumfries, Va. At the tasting table with Iukuridze are Sam Lerman, CEO of SPYRT Worldwide, right, and Joseph Belli, Sales Manager for SPYRT Worldwide. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) Giorgi Iukuridze, owner and CEO Shabo, a Ukrainian winery, second from right, show one of his wines to the owner of Wine Styles Arthur Lampros, left, at the start of a wine tasting at Wine Styles, Dec. 20, 2024 in Dumfries, Va. At the tasting table with Iukuridze are Sam Lerman, CEO of SPYRT Worldwide, right, and Joseph Belli, Sales Manager for SPYRT Worldwide. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Shabo is far from the front lines of the war, but Russian rockets on rare occasions have fallen within sight of workers in the vineyards, and Shabos wine salesmen have faced checkpoints and immediate induction into Ukraines military while traveling their sales routes. The most reliable route for shipping the wines to the United States lies through neighboring Moldova.The grape does not wait for any diplomatic solutions, Iukeridze said. We continue working without stopping any single day.Over the winter holidays, members of Congress, a former defense secretary, defense industry executives and others, including Lerman and Volker, turned out in Washington for the launch of the import company.All were attuned to the joint mission of wine and war. Unspoken was the worry about Russias larger military grinding down Ukraine, and uncertainty over whether Trump would withdraw vital U.S. military support to Ukraine once back in office.But Iukeridze told a story: In 2014, when the Russian military first invaded eastern Ukraine and seized Crimea on the Black Sea, a family that lived nearby drove by Shabos vineyards as they fled toward the border with Moldova.But the family spotted Shabos head winemaker out in the field, planting new vines that would take three years to produce wine. They stopped the car.What is happening? they asked the winemaker.Were planting new wines, for Ukrainian, independent, glorious country, Iukeridze recounted the winemaker answering.Seeing the commitment to the bright future of Ukraine, the family turned around the car and went back, he told those at the Washington launch.He raised a glass of Shabo white in a toast.For the bright future, Iukeridze said. For being an example. ELLEN KNICKMEYER Foreign policy, national security, foreign policy & climate twitter

Welcome back to the Abstract! What a week. It kicked off with Blue Monday, a date considered the most depressing of the year in the Northern Hemisphere for dubious reasons (in short: it was invented, like most of our reality, by an ad campaign).This column will channel the latent crappy vibes with a parade of grotesqueries from the grand world of excrement research. Then, scientists are bringing back the 80s with new bioluminescent hues worthy of a Lite-Brite pegboard. Last, if you actually are feeling blue, I recommend Norwegian wood. Not the song. Not the novel. Im talking about real pine trees in Norway. They see all. They will understand.Monkey See (Pee), Monkey Do (Pee)Onishi, Ena et al. Socially contagious urination in chimpanzees. Current Biology.Its time to put the pee in chimpanzee by watching pee come out of chimpanzees. Thats what researchers in Japan did for more than 600 hours to find out if urination is a form of social contagion in chimps. In other words, they observed 20 adult captive chimpanzees (16 males and 4 females) at the Kumamoto Sanctuary of Kyoto University to assess whether they were more likely to pee if they saw other chimps pee.The decision to urinate involves a complex combination of both physiological and social considerations, said researchers led by Ena Onishi of Kyoto University. However, the social dimensions of urination remain largely unexplored.First of all, lets all congratulate ourselves for performing this complex physiological and social decision multiple times a day. I didnt even realize we were such pros.But back to the study: the team meticulously recorded the number and timing of urination events along with the relative distances between the urinator and potential followers. The results revealed that urination is, in fact, socially contagious for chimps and that low-dominant individuals were especially likely to pee after watching others pee. Call it: pee-r pressure.The study gets extra points for including depictions of contagious urination in art history as part of its supplemental information, like those disconcerting fountain statues that pee out water. But the number one standout is a 1784 sketch by Thomas Rowlandson entitled Sympathy, or A Family On A Journey Laying The Dust.Cups runneth over in this contagious urination event that even encompasses dogs and horses. Im frankly surprised the buggy isnt also engaged in gushing urination.In addition to documenting a unique phenomenon, this artwork is natures call to revive the euphemism laying the dust for (I assume?) urination. Youre no longer going to the restroom; you are laying the dust. It just goes to show you never know what youll learn from a study about contagious chimp urination.San Franciscos Best Eats (for Coyotes)Caspi, Tal et al. Impervious surface cover and number of restaurants shape diet variation in an urban carnivore. Ecosphere.Youve seen the pee study, now heres the number two follow-through. A study out this week reconstructed the diets of coyotes in San Francisco by collecting more than 1,000 scats from 2019 to 2022. Of that initial poopy haul, 707 bonafide coyote dumps were analyzed with metabarcoding and genotyping to reveal what these streetwise canines were eating.We collected scats from urban green spaces, including parks, golf courses, and gardens across San Francisco, said researchers led by Tal Caspi of the University of California, Davis. We only collected scats that we estimated to be less than 1week old given their appearance and time since last visit.By analyzing this dookie-base, the team found that coyotes in densely populated neighborhoods were more reliant on human food scraps than coyotes in greener neighborhoods that had access to prey in parks. That finding seems intuitive, given that coyotes are opportunistic omnivores that will eat whatevers available, but its still fascinating how much coyote diets varied, even with packs living just a few blocks away from each other.Coyote turf. Image: Caspi, Tal et al.The greatest dietary differences were between Presidio and Coit Tower, even though a coyote can easily traverse the 3-km distance between them, the team said. The Presidio is the largest green space in San Francisco (6km2) and has many native plant communities, sprawling grasslands, and a low percent cover of impervious surfaces. Conversely, Coit Tower is a tourist attraction in the densely populated Telegraph Hill neighborhood and, in part as a result of historical redlining, has less plant cover and lower species richness than formerly greenlined neighborhoods such as the Presidio.It's the age-old story of the city coyote and the just-a-bit-less city coyote. But while there were interesting variations in diet, all of these Bay Area coyotes were dining on a daily dim sum of chicken, pork, beef, and fish from human sources. As a cat lover, it pains me to report that domestic cats were commonly detected in the poops, though at low levels. That said, my general feeling is that a predator is skilled enough to catch a catanimals that I have seen, with my own eyes, defy physicsit kind of deserves to eat it.Lite-Brites in a Petri DishHattori, Matsuru et al. Creating coveted bioluminescence colors for simultaneous multi-color bioimaging. Science Advances.Congratulations: Youve waded through some sewage, and its time to wipe those eyeballs out. Fortunately, scientists published a spectacular new rainbow of bioluminescent hues this week. Call it a palette cleanser.Hattori, Matsuru et al.Just look at these laboratory lite-brites! This study has clearly earned its keep based on aesthetic value alone, but the authors helpfully put some science in there too. Bioluminescence is the biological ability to generate light through chemical reactions, which is why some creatures can glow in the dark. This mesmerizing superpower is also a helpful tool in labs, as certain cells or research targets can be labelled with bioluminescent hues to aid observation.Bioluminescence, an optical marker that does not require excitation by light, allows researchers to simultaneously observe multiple targets, each exhibiting a different color, said researchers led by Mitsuru Hattori of Osaka University. Notably, the colors of the bioluminescent proteins must sufficiently vary to enable simultaneous detection.Hattori, Matsuru et al.The teams innovation in this study was to debut a method that expanded the color variation, allowing simple and simultaneous observation of multiple biological targets and phenomena. To prove their point, they made the Tron mouse pictured above.Has science gone too far? Yes. But boy, does it look cool doing it.Cruel Summer (Scots Pine Version)Buchwald, Agata et al. Blue rings in trees and shrubs as indicators of early and late summer cooling events at the northern treeline. Frontiers in Plant Science.Its well-known that trees are natures librarians, meticulously keeping records of climate and environmental changes dating back centuries. But over the past decade, scientists have discovered a special type of blue ring in conifers that specifically memorializes cold summers. Low temperatures prevent lignification of the cell walls in the wood, creating the color pattern.Blue Rings (BRs) are a relatively newly described anatomical feature in conifers, said researchers led by Agata Buchwald of Adam Mickiewicz University. In the current literature, the formation of BRs is associated with cold growing season conditions in various pine species, though the potential of BRs in shrubs for paleoclimate studies still has to be explored.That was the time I was really cold. a Scots pine. Image: Pawel Matulewski and Liliana SiekaczWith that in mind, there was only one thing to do: Hike up Mount Ikoras in Norway and see what the Scots pines and Juniper shrubs had to say. The team took cores from dozens of plants high in the treeline, and discovered blue rings from the year 1902 and, to a lesser degree, in 1877, indicating that summers in those years were colder than average.The testimony of the trees not only lines up with historical temperature records, it also coincides with major volcanic events. In the spring of 1902, for instance, Mount Pele erupted on the Caribbean island of Martinique, killing 30,000 people in one of the worst volcanic disasters on record. The reverberations of this tragedy were etched in blue in the hearts of trees 8,000 miles away on Nordic mountaintops. Reality is so wild and enchanting; its a shame it cant compete with ad campaigns.Regardless of whether you are as blue as a non-lignified tree ring, thanks for reading. See you next week!

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks with reporters outside the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)2025-01-25T14:01:41Z JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) In the early days of President Donald Trumps second term, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has openly challenged or rebuked him at least three times stunning for a congressional Republican who has faced his wrath before and yet remains unbowed by pressure to embrace his agenda.Murkowski is a moderate with a history of bucking her party and Trump when she has felt it was the right thing to do. She was the first GOP senator to publicly break ranks with Trump on his nomination of Pete Hegseth as defense secretary as it advanced this week. Murkowski also said she strongly disagreed with Trumps move to rename North Americas tallest peak, in Alaska, from Denali to Mount McKinley. And she denounced his decision to pardon the violent offenders who assaulted police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Murkowski was one of three Republicans to vote against Hegseths nomination late Friday, along with Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. It took Vice President JD Vances tiebreaking vote to confirm Hegseth.But, so far, nearly every other GOP member of Congress has fallen in line behind Trump. Many of the Republicans who at times challenged Trump during his first term are no longer in the Senate, including the late John McCain of Arizona; Jeff Flake, also from Arizona; Bob Corker of Tennessee; and Mitt Romney of Utah. That has left a diminished group of Republicans seemingly willing to oppose Trump, lessening the chances he will be stymied by members of his own party in Congress. Beth Kerttula, an Alaska Democrat who has known Murkowski for years, said the states senior senator isnt one to fold under pressure.Shes not going to buckle, Kerttula said. Shes going to stand up for Alaska and for the right thing.Murkowski on Thursday announced her opposition to Hegseth, and Collins later joined in expressing misgivings about the former combat veteran and Fox News host. He has faced allegations of heavy drinking and aggressive behavior toward women, which he has denied. In a lengthy statement on social media, Murkowski said character is the defining trait required of the Secretary of Defense, and must be prioritized without compromise.The leader of the Department of Defense must demonstrate and model the standards of behavior and character we expect of all servicemembers, and Mr. Hegseths nomination to the role poses significant concerns that I cannot overlook, she said.The post on X drew thousands of comments. Many were upset with the senator from one of the countrys most remote and least populous states who is known more for giving long, nuanced responses to questions than for any viral social media moments. But the sharp reaction also reflected the influence Murkowski has and is unafraid to wield. Murkowski was abandoned by GOP leaders in 2010 after her primary loss to tea party Republican Joe Miller. She went on to win the general election with a write-in campaign and kept her seat. She handed out bracelets bearing her name so voters knew how to spell it as she built a coalition of statewide support and won the backing of powerful Alaska Native corporations and groups. In more recent years, she has been censured by the state Republican party for a list of grievances, including her support of abortion rights and her vote to convict Trump in his impeachment trial related to the Capitol riot. Trump came to Alaska in 2022 and backed her conservative challenger after vowing revenge against Murkowski and other Republicans who had supported his impeachment. Trump, who during that impeachment trial was acquitted of inciting the riot, has called Murkowskis vote against him almost a badge of honor. He also has said she is worse than a RINO, or Republican in name only. Murkowski, who isnt up for reelection until 2028, has often defended her party credentials, noting shes been a Republican since she was old enough to vote. But in 2021 she emphasized that she is not a Trump Republican. Alaska Republican Party Chair Carmela Warfield, in a statement Friday that did not mention Murkowski, noted the support that Alaskas junior senator, Dan Sullivan, a veteran, had shown for Hegseth. Warfield also noted that Trump carried Alaska in the November election.To all Senators, we say confirm President Trumps cabinet and lets get to work, she said.Murkowski hasnt been a constant thorn in Trumps side. She joined other members of the states congressional delegation and Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy in lauding Trumps expansive executive order Monday aimed at boosting oil and gas drilling, mining and logging in the state. She was a driving influence in the decades-long push to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling, which was achieved as part of a 2017 law signed by Trump. He has often taken credit for that effort and highlighted it when talking about Alaska policy. Kerttula, like Murkowski, grew up in a political family and said there are a number of issues they havent agreed on over the years. But she called Murkowski a real Alaskan Republican, willing to listen to all sides and work where possible to find common ground. I mean, youve got to care about Alaska first. And you try to work with people and you try to get a good result, but you stick by your ideals, she said. And I think real Republicans, OK, theyre fiscally conservative. Theyre trying to build always a better economy maybe, in my opinion, too far on development and oil. But theyre someone you can talk to. And I think thats the kind of Republican Lisa is.Most voters in Alaska arent registered with a party, and there is a long history here of politicians not hewing strictly to party lines. In the Legislature, for example, while over half the seats currently are held by Republicans, both the House and Senate are controlled by bipartisan coalitions.The late Sens. Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican, and Daniel Inouye, a Hawaii Democrat, forged a deep friendship during their long tenures and worked together to ensure their remote states, the last two to join the Union, werent forgotten. Stevens was a mentor to Murkowski.Murkowski critics say she benefits from a voter-backed measure that ditched party primaries in favor of open primaries and instituted ranked choice general elections. The system, which supporters say is meant to encourage consensus-building by candidates and discourage negative campaigning, was used for the first time in 2022. That was when voters reelected Murkowski and Dunleavy and sent Democrat Mary Peltola to Washington, filling the House seat left vacant by the death of longtime Republican Rep. Don Young. Peltola lost last fall to Trump-backed Nick Begich in the same election in which voters narrowly rejected repealing the new election system. Murkowski supported her longtime friend Peltola in the House race and appeared in an ad urging voters to keep the elections system. BECKY BOHRER Bohrer is a statehouse and political reporter based in Juneau, Alaska. twitter

President Donald Trump talks with Nevada Republican Party chairman Michael McDonald, left, and Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo as he arrives on Air Force One at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)2025-01-25T14:21:38Z LAS VEGAS (AP) President Donald Trump is using a stop Saturday in Las Vegas to offer details on how he can begin excluding tips from federal taxes, betting that a city built on gambling and the hospitality industry will relish taking home larger slices of gratuities. Trump is vowing to make good on a campaign promise and will give a speech at the Circa Resort & Casino, according to the Culinary Union, which represents about 60,000 hospitality workers across Nevada. The union supports eliminating taxes on tips, but says Trumps proposals dont go far enough. His appearance is intended to energize supporters and strike a grateful tone. But it comes as part of a trip where Trump has already picked a series of political fights. He spent Friday seeing storm damage firsthand and hearing harrowing stories from survivors of last falls Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. In Los Angeles, he viewed the devastation from wildfires that could be among the costliest natural disasters in the nations history. Trump toured hard-hit areas by helicopter and walked a street where every home was reduced to charred, rubble in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. The president suggested in North Carolina that he would sign an executive order eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency, leaving disaster response and recovery up to the affected states, with the federal government only stepping in later to help with funding. You are not forgotten any longer. You were treated very badly by the previous administration, Trump said of the Biden White House. Later, the Republican president criticized Californias water policies and suggested that funding to rebuild after the fires should depend on the state imposing voter ID requirements and rethinking conservation efforts. Ill be the president whos going to help you fix it because he would not have been able to help you fix it, Trump said of his Democratic predecessor and the Biden teams response to the blazes. In Nevada, by contrast, Trump said he wants to celebrate being the first Republican presidential candidate to carry the state since George W. Bush in 2024: Im going to Nevada to thank them.Its a familiar backdrop to talk tips and taxation. As a candidate, Trump first announced the idea during a rally last June in Las Vegas a proposal later copied by his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Saturdays event will be an economy-focused message, and President Trump will be talking about promises that he intends to keep that he made to the American people on the campaign trail.The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates there are 2.24 million restaurant servers across the country, with tips making up a large percentage of their income. In Las Vegas, the 24-hour economy is fueled by everyone from wait staff and valet parkers to hotel maids and casino dealers, all of whom collect tips. Nevada has the nations highest concentration of tipped workers, with about 25.8 waiters and waitresses alone per 1,000 jobs, followed by Hawaii and Florida. Not paying federal taxes will likely be difficult to put in place in the short term, however, and require an act of Congress.Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer for the Culinary Union, said Trumps plans must not end with scrapping taxation on tips. Eliminating taxes on tips and ending the $2.13 sub-minimum wage, that is the reality in too many states across the country, will uplift millions of hospitality workers, Pappageorge said. He said many employers who know their workers earn tips offer set hourly pay well below the federal minimum wage and expect gratuities to make up the difference. Taking on both issues is critical to ensuring one job is enough for workers to support their families, Papageorge said in a statement. WILL WEISSERT Weissert covers national politics and the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, listens at the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee confirmation hearing for South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Homeland Security, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)2025-01-25T14:58:13Z DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) From activists on the far right to Elon Musk, allies of President Donald Trump have been quick to threaten primary challengers for Republican senators who dont back his Cabinet picks and legislative priorities.In the case of Iowas Joni Ernst, conservatives threatened to run against her if she didnt back Trumps pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth before she announced she would. Louisianas Bill Cassidy, a doctor before entering politics, is being closely watched for how he will question Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trumps nominee for health secretarySouth Carolinas Lindsey Graham, a Trump confidant, has long been targeted by the far right in his state and was booed at a home-state rally during the 2024 presidential campaign. The Associated Press talked to people connected to five senators who have been targeted online or by rivals in their states. Heres a look at each of their potential races and what they face: Joni Ernst, IowaErnst prompted criticism from the right after she initially stopped short of endorsing Hegseth, who was confirmed by the Senate on Friday. Ernst voted yes.A retired Iowa National Guard lieutenant colonel and Iraq War veteran, Ernst is also a sexual assault survivor. After Trump announced Hegseths nomination, she said she hoped to discuss with him comments that he had made opposing women serving in combat roles, and about an allegation, which he denied and was not charged for, that he sexually assaulted a woman he met at a 2017 conference. Hegseth, at Ernsts suggestion, affirmed that that every man and woman has opportunity to serve their country in uniform and to do so at any level as long as they are meeting the standards that are set forward. Hegseth also said that if confirmed, he would appoint a senior-level official dedicated to sexual assault prevention and response. Potential challengers to Ernst: Conservative media figure Steve Deace, who posted on Facebook in December that I dont want to be a Senator, but I am willing to primary her for the good of the cause. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird wrote in a December opinion piece in Breitbart that some unnamed D.C. politicians thought they can ignore the voices of their constituents and entertain smears from news media outlets. That prompted speculation that Bird, who endorsed Trump before the 2024 Iowa caucuses, might challenge Ernst, who stayed neutral beforehand. Charlie Kirk of the conservative group Turning Point also called for Ernst to face a primary. An effort to boost Hegseths nomination led to Ernsts office receiving thousands of calls. Cause for concern: Neither Deace nor Bird has taken any public steps toward running. Some prominent social conservatives are bothered by Ernsts joining with a dozen Republicans and the Senates Democratic majority in 2022 to support repealing the Defense of Marriage Act to recognize the validity of same-sex marriages. But she remains popular with Iowas power players.Anyone who says with a straight face that they are going to beat Joni Ernst in a primary today is kidding themselves, said Luke Martz, an Iowa Republican consultant. It would be a fools errand. Thom Tillis, North CarolinaTillis angered some on the right for not immediately supporting Trumps first pick for attorney general, former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz. Though Gaetz withdrew from consideration, Tillis remains a frustration to some among North Carolinas right wing, in part for voting to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.Potential challengers: Andy Nilsson, a onetime candidate for lieutenant governor, has filed paperwork to challenge Tillis. The retired businessman has called for a return to the Reagan-Bush Republican ethos, hardly an attack from the right. Tillis faced three Republican challengers in 2020, all posing as more conservative than him. Cause for concern: Tillis has reason to expect a right-wing challenge. That faction helped lift former Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson to the 2024 nomination for governor last year. But North Carolina is expected to be among the most competitive states for Senate Republicans to hold in 2026. Roy Cooper, a Democrat who just finished two terms as governor, has not ruled out running for the seat. National Republicans are aware of the risks of nominating someone too far to the right. Coopers Democratic successor, Gov. Josh Stein, beat Robinson by nearly 15 percentage points in a state that Trump won by 3 points. To that end, Trumps team and Tillis have been working together behind the scenes, said former Gov. Pat McCrory, a fellow Republican.I anticipate there will be threats of challenging him from the right. But I also think hell deal with it as he has, with hard work and a record of accomplishment, McCrory said. I think the incoming administration sees that. They also see hes the best chance of keeping North Carolina red, he added. Bill Cassidy, LouisianaCassidy remains vulnerable in large part due to his vote to convict Trump after his second impeachment over the siege of the U.S. Capitol. Our Constitution and our country is more important than any one person. I voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty, Cassidy said in a statement after the February 2021 vote. Cassidy, in his second term, has not yet announced whether he will seek a third. A gastroenterologist before he entered politics, Cassidy will be closely watched for how he votes on Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic who has questioned medical consensus on several issues. Potential challengers: Cassidy has already drawn a Republican challenger, state Treasurer John Fleming. Fleming, a former U.S. House member from northern Louisiana, has said Cassidys impeachment vote failed Louisiana. Former U.S. Rep. Garrett Graves of Baton Rouge is also a potential challenger, as is Blake Miguez, a state senator from New Iberia. Louisiana last year did away with its 50-year tradition of jungle primaries, where candidates from all parties ran in the same contest in November. Cassidy would now run in a closed Republican primary that might be more difficult if he faces one strong Trump-aligned challenger. Cause for concern: Cassidys vote to convict Trump remains a sticking point for Republicans in a state the president won with 60% last year. But Cassidy is viewed as having strong constituent relations and visibility in the state, political observers say.Aside from that vote, I think hes considered a good senator, and good at constituent work, said Ellen Carmichael, a Louisiana Republican consultant and president of Washington-based Lafayette Company. The base is unhappy with the vote he cast. But I wouldnt count him out. John Cornyn, TexasCornyn in the past has been criticized within his own party for being too willing to work with Democrats and has drawn boos at GOP conventions in Texas. Commentator Tucker Carlson and others have urged a primary challenge against him. Last year, Cornyn told the Dallas Morning News that, God willing, he would seek reelection in 2026. According to federal filings, Cornyn had more than $3.5 million on hand in toward the end of 2024.Potential challengers: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is one of the states most powerful Republicans and also suggested Cornyn should be primaried. Paxton was acquitted in a 2023 impeachment effort and fraud charges against him were dropped last year. Cornyn and Paxton have sniped at each other on X, with Paxton calling Cornyn anti-Trump and anti-gun and the senator firing back, Hard to run from prison, Ken.Cause for concern: Brendan Steinhauser, a Republican strategist who has worked on Cornyns previous campaigns, noted that the senator remains undefeated in elections. Hes never taken a race for granted. I would expect him to work extremely hard and crisscross the state of Texas to earn every vote possible in this upcoming election, assuming he has a primary challenger, Steinhauser said. I think its important for him to show the ways that he has worked with President Trump to enact the conservative America First agenda, and I would expect that would be a big part of his campaign message in a potential upcoming primary.Lindsey Graham, South CarolinaSeeking his fifth term, Graham will likely face primary challenges he always has. County-level Republican parties have censured him a number of times for his willingness to work on bipartisan deals. One such measure derided Grahams condescending attitude to the partys grassroots organizers.He has even drawn boos at some events of the party faithful in his home state. That includes a July 2023 Trump rally in Pickens in the county where Graham grew up where objections from the crowd drowned out more than five minutes of his remarks. When he took the stage, Trump also elicited boos when he mentioned Grahams name.Graham has named a campaign leadership team, which says he has more than $15 million on hand, including nearly $1 million raised in the final quarter of 2024.Potential challengers: Rep. Ralph Norman represents South Carolinas 5th Congressional District south of Charlotte, North Carolina, and is a member of the House Freedom Caucus. Another possible opponent could be Adam Morgan, a former South Carolina legislator who lost a primary bid last year against another congressman, Rep. William Timmons.Cause for concern: While he was highly critical of Trump in 2016 when they competed for the Republican nomination, Graham has backed Trump ever since his first administration, frequently serving as his golf partner and Capitol Hill surrogate. Trump has backed him in turn. When the crowd in Pickens booed Grahams name, Trump said he was going to have to work on these people and added that Graham is there when you need him.___Kinnard reported from Washington. THOMAS BEAUMONT Beaumont covers national politics for The Associated Press. He is based in Des Moines, Iowa. twitter mailto MEG KINNARD Kinnard covers national politics for The Associated Press. She lives in South Carolina. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Kelli Ferrone walks her daughter into a temporary school Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Los Angeles, as they wait for Canyon Charter Elementary School to reopen after being impacted by smoke and ash from the Palisades Fire. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson)2025-01-25T14:30:08Z LOS ANGELES (AP) Kelli Ferrone wiped blinds and window sills inside her daughters elementary school, just a half mile from the devastating Palisades Fire that scorched the coastal enclave in Los Angeles. The cotton swabs and wipes came up black. There is scattered ash and soot at her feet. Outside, its on the ground next to a playground.Ferrone, who recorded videos and shared them with The Associated Press, wanted to see for herself this week if Canyon Charter Elementary School had been adequately cleaned before the school reopens. She wasnt impressed.Weeks after the most intense days of fire across the Los Angeles area, parents are grappling with the reality that toxic ash from burned homes and cars could be harmful to their children. Its a risk that is becoming more common as wildfires burn in cities. Kelli Ferrone walks her daughter into a temporary school Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Los Angeles, as they wait for Canyon Charter Elementary School to reopen after being impacted by smoke and ash from the Palisades Fire. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson) Kelli Ferrone walks her daughter into a temporary school Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Los Angeles, as they wait for Canyon Charter Elementary School to reopen after being impacted by smoke and ash from the Palisades Fire. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Canyon Charter Elementary School remains closed Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Santa Monica, Calif., following nearby wildfires. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson) Canyon Charter Elementary School remains closed Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Santa Monica, Calif., following nearby wildfires. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More In the Pacific Palisades, Canyon Charter could reopen as soon as Monday. School officials say staff are working hard to make sure schools are clean and safe and theyre confident in their decision. But some parents feel the school is rushing to open. Theyre urging officials to temporarily relocate, while others try to transfer their students elsewhere. The (Los Angeles Unified School District) has never experienced a disaster like this in their history, said Ferrone, who has two daughters at the school, one with asthma. And I do think people are trying really hard, but our school needs a new temporary home with classrooms and teachers teaching in-person. That is the only thing that is going to make people feel comfortable. In a statement, LAUSD said staff has worked diligently to prepare schools for a return to in-person instruction. That includes inspecting ventilation systems, replacing filters and installing air purifiers in classrooms and offices, and cleaning inside and outdoors. An environmental consultant is inspecting campuses. Staff monitors air quality. The district has an Office of Environmental Health and Safety and is following its protocols. Kelli Ferrone speaks with a group of fellow parents outside a temporary school their kids are attending Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Los Angeles as they wait for Canyon Charter Elementary School to reopen after being impacted by smoke and ash from the Palisades Fire. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson) Kelli Ferrone speaks with a group of fellow parents outside a temporary school their kids are attending Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Los Angeles as they wait for Canyon Charter Elementary School to reopen after being impacted by smoke and ash from the Palisades Fire. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Some schools are within a do not drink water advisory, including Canyon Charter. That means fountains are turned off and bottled water is provided, the district said. Dr. Lisa Patel, a pediatrician and executive director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, said the school is taking all the right steps. Yet, she said, theres no zero risk. The ash is a toxic soup of incinerated cars, electronics, batteries, building materials, paints, furniture and every other kind of personal belonging. It contains pesticides, asbestos, plastics and lead, all of which children are more vulnerable to.Children often have more hand-to-mouth behavior and their bodies are rapidly growing in these first few years, and so they can be more sensitive to this type of pollution, said Patel. There will be a risk for a while to come in terms of exposure. Some materials form reactive chemical compounds when they burn. Plumes of smoke caused by the Hughes Fire rise over Castaic, Calif., Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File) Plumes of smoke caused by the Hughes Fire rise over Castaic, Calif., Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Scientists still dont know the long-term health impacts of exposure to massive urban fire like this years in California or the one in Maui, Hawaii in 2023. Three schools in Lahaina didnt reopen for two months after that. But some chemicals have been linked to heart disease and lung issues, while exposure to minerals like magnetite, which can form when fire burns iron, has been associated with Alzheimers disease. In Pasadena, Emily Stough is trying to minimize the risks for her 11- and 14-year-old who returned to Blair High School, which includes a middle school, this week. She made sure they took masks. In an email to parents last week, the Pasadena Unified School District said some 38 tons of outdoor debris have been hauled away from campuses, and they will only open after rigorous cleaning and sanitizing and environmental tests. Stough said she trusts the district to do its due diligence, but she wants more information. Did they test air quality? Did they test ash samples? Were the ash samples from inside the school, in the hallways, from outside the schools?, she wonders. Air quality both inside and outside the schools? Id like to see that. Id like to know what cleaning was done. A jungle gym melted and destroyed by the Eaton Fire is seen at a school, Jan. 15, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) A jungle gym melted and destroyed by the Eaton Fire is seen at a school, Jan. 15, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Burnt school worksheets are seen on the ground outside of an elementary school destroyed by the Eaton Fire, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) Burnt school worksheets are seen on the ground outside of an elementary school destroyed by the Eaton Fire, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More The PUSD did not respond to questions from the AP. Its hard to know how long these fire toxins will stay in the environment, said Patel, but it could be a few months. Strong winds like the Santa Anas could also blow them distances where they could enter soil and groundwater. Plastics in particular could last a long time, said Dr. Ilan Shapiro, medical affairs officer for AltaMed and a fellow with the American Academy of Pediatrics. And we need to remember that the fires are still going. That we still have burn materials coming out. As communities recover and clean up, that ash will be moved again, he said. Longfellow Elementary School in Pasadena is set to reopen next week, but Tanya Reyes doesnt plan to send her kids back just yet. The school is about two miles from where the Eaton Fire burned down the home they rented. Even with the schools safety measures, my gut is saying no, she said. They shouldnt be around that area. Its too soon. Her family is staying in West Hollywood, and shes looking for schools there, somewhere the kids can attend for a little while. Shes considering home schooling, too, but still figuring it all out. Its hard for parents because they understand all the ways kids need school. Weve been through this in so many different ways, whether its been wildfire smoke or the pandemic, Patel said. When kids miss school, that is also a detriment to their health. It impacts their learning, it impacts their socioemotional development, their sense of connection and community during a time of crisis. AP reporter Melina Walling in Chicago contributed to this report. The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of APs environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment. DORANY PINEDA Pineda writes about water, climate and the environment in Latino communities across the U.S. twitter BRITTANY PETERSON Peterson is an Associated Press video journalist based in Denver. She covers water in the western U.S. for APs global climate team. twitter mailto

Towana Looney, who received a pig kidney transplant in November 2024, goes over notes about her recovery with Dr. Jeffrey Stern at NYU Langone Health in New York, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)2025-01-25T14:32:31Z An Alabama woman passed a major milestone Saturday to become the longest living recipient of a pig organ transplant healthy and full of energy with her new kidney for 61 days and counting.Im superwoman, Towana Looney told The Associated Press, laughing about outpacing family members on long walks around New York City as she continues her recovery. Its a new take on life.Looneys vibrant recovery is a morale boost in the quest to make animal-to-human transplants a reality. Only four other Americans have received hugely experimental transplants of gene-edited pig organs two hearts and two kidneys and none lived more than two months.If you saw her on the street, you would have no idea that shes the only person in the world walking around with a pig organ inside them thats functioning, said Dr. Robert Montgomery of NYU Langone Health, who led Looneys transplant. Montgomery called Looneys kidney function absolutely normal. Doctors hope she can leave New York where shes temporarily living for post-transplant checkups for her Gadsden, Alabama, home in about another month. Were quite optimistic that this is going to continue to work and work well for, you know, a significant period of time, he said.Scientists are genetically altering pigs so their organs are more humanlike to address a severe shortage of transplantable human organs. More than 100,000 people are on the U.S. transplant list, most who need a kidney, and thousands die waiting. Pig organ transplants so far have been compassionate use cases, experiments the Food and Drug Administration allows only in special circumstances for people out of other options.And the handful of hospitals trying them are sharing information of what worked and what didnt, in preparation for the worlds first formal studies of xenotransplantation, expected to begin sometime this year. United Therapeutics, which supplied Looneys kidney, recently asked the Food and Drug Administration for permission to begin a trial. How Looney fares is very precious experience, said Dr. Tatsuo Kawai of Massachusetts General Hospital, who led the worlds first pig kidney transplant last year and works with another pig developer, eGenesis.Looney was far healthier than the prior patients, Kawai noted, so her progress will help inform next attempts. We have to learn from each other, he said.Looney donated a kidney to her mother in 1999. Later pregnancy complications caused high blood pressure that damaged her remaining kidney, which eventually failed, something incredibly rare among living donors. She spent eight years on dialysis before doctors concluded shed likely never get a donated organ shed developed super-high levels of antibodies abnormally primed to attack another human kidney.So Looney, 53, sought out the pig experiment. No one knew how it would work in someone highly sensitized with those overactive antibodies.Discharged just 11 days after the Nov. 25 surgery, Montgomerys team has closely tracked her recovery through blood tests and other measurements. About three weeks after the transplant, they caught subtle signs that rejection was beginning signs theyd learned to look for thanks to a 2023 experiment when a pig kidney worked for 61 days inside a deceased man whose body was donated for research. Montgomery said they successfully treated Looney and theres been no sign of rejection since and a few weeks ago she met the family behind that deceased-body research.It feels really good to know that the decision I made for NYU to use my brother was the right decision and its helping people, said Mary Miller-Duffy, of Newburgh, New York.Looney in turn is trying to help others, serving as what Montgomery calls an ambassador for people whove been reaching out to her through social media, sharing their distress at the long wait for transplants and wondering about pig kidneys.One, she said, was being considered for a xenotransplant at another hospital but was scared, wondering whether to proceed. I didnt want to persuade him whether to do or not to do it, Looney said. Instead she asked if he was religious and urged him to prayer, to go off your faith, what your heart tells you.I love talking to people, I love helping people, she added. I want to be, like, some educational piece for scientists to help others.Theres no way to predict how long Looneys new kidney will work but if it were to fail she could receive dialysis again.The truth is we dont really know what the next hurdles are because this is the first time weve gotten this far, Montgomery said. Well have to continue to really keep a close eye on her.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

TiAnna Yeldell, a 44-year-old single mom of three, works in the kitchen at Pizza Hut, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Missouri City, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)2025-01-25T14:00:09Z FRESNO, Texas (AP) The only moment TiAnna Yeldell has to herself is when shes sleeping, and that doesnt happen much.The 44-year-old single mom of three works 80-hour weeks to provide for her children, ages 8, 14, and 18. During the day, she is a driver for Pizza Hut, where she earns $9.50 an hour before tips. At night, she cleans trains for Houstons Metro system, where she earns about $17 an hour.The times that she pulls both shifts, Yeldell sleeps for just two to three hours before getting her kids up and ready for school. Then she does it all over again.Yeldell is among the millions of fast food workers across the U.S. scraping to get by. About two-thirds of them are women, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and many are supporting their families on minimum wages set at the federal governments floor of $7.25 an hour. Fast food workers are disproportionately Hispanic, making up 24.6% of the industrys workforce compared with 18.8% of the overall workforce. And more than half of all U.S. fast food workers are 20 or older, contrary to the myth of it being a teenage job that they just do for pocket money, said Tsedeye Gebreselassie, an attorney for nonprofit advocacy organization National Employment Law Project. President Donald Trump, who manned the fry station at a McDonalds in Pennsylvania while on the campaign trail last year, has acknowledged that the federal minimum wage is very low and that he would consider raising it, but that doing so would be complicated. Meanwhile, a growing number of states have pushed to increase their minimum wage in the face of record-high inflation in recent years. Voters in Alaska approved a ballot initiative in November that will raise the states minimum wage to $15 an hour from $11.73 an hour by 2027. Missouri voters likewise approved a minimum wage hike to $15 from $12.30 an hour by 2026. And California which has one of the highest costs of living in the country in April raised wages for fast food workers specifically, to $20 an hour from $16 an hour. By the end of this year, 23 states and 65 cities and counties will raise their minimum wage floors, according to a December 2024 National Employment Law Project report that combed through legislation across the country. But not Texas, where Yeldell and her family live. It is one of 20 states at the $7.25 federal minimum wage floor and that rate hasnt budged since 2009. Democratic lawmakers in Texas have repeatedly proposed legislation to raise the minimum wage in the state to no avail. Preemption laws, which exist in Texas and many other states, block cities and counties from adopting their own minimum wage laws, presenting another barrier.Today, a living wage for one adult raising three children in the Houston metro area is $57.65 an hour, according to MITs Living Wage Calculator. For Yeldell, its not possible to get by on her fast food job alone, which is why she must work a second job. Still wearing her visor and gray No One Out Pizzas The Hut shirt, she slumps sideways after a recent work shift, resting an elbow on the folding table surrounded by four folding chairs where the family eats. The living room furniture is sparse but the home is tidy. A yellow mop bucket sits near the entryway, and a small vacuum rests against the closet door. She only takes a moment to rest before changing into Looney Tunes sweatpants and a yellow T-shirt, scooping fajitas onto plates for the kids dinner, and packing up the leftovers. Then the teens disappear into their bedrooms, and her Minecraft pajama-clad youngest curls up next to her on the couch, playing a game on a bright red console. I dont want to work two jobs -- Im really tired. But I have to, because the jobs dont pay enough, Yeldell said. I would not be able to provide a roof over my kids head They come first, I come second.The Associated Press reached out to Pizza Hut, as well as its parent company, Yum Brands, for comment on wages for fast food workers but did not hear back. Wages are just one of many issues fast food workers face. Unpredictable hours, limited access to paid sick leave, and challenging customer interactions all shape their experiences, said Daniel Schneider, co-director and co-founder of the Shift Project, a joint Harvard and University of California, San Francisco project researching the conditions of service sector work.Wage theft and other law violations are also common in the industry, added labor scholar David Madland, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. The fast food industry is notorious for low pay and poor working conditions, Madland said. Its seen as the almost the sort of typical throwaway job that policy has cared very little about.Yeldells Pizza Hut deliveries sometimes go until 11 p.m. She carries a knife in her pocket, as well as a flashlight, to keep her safe. Despite the challenges, Yeldell maintains a positive outlook about her job, which she started about a year and a half ago as a delivery driver and has since learned to do pretty much everything at her Fresno, Texas store, including making pizzas, prepping ingredients, and running the register. Pizza Hut is a really easy job and the job is only hard if you make it hard, she said. And Im a fast learner, so it doesnt bother me. The only time that its worrisome is when were slow and they say, Oh, we got to cut your hours.Contrast Texas to California, which now has the highest fast food minimum wage of any state since lawmakers passed a minimum $20 hourly wage for those workers. Angelica Hernandez, 51, who has worked at various McDonalds restaurants for 20 years and now works for a Monterey Park location in Los Angeles County, said the raise helped her pay rent and bills on time, avoid late fees, and buy a bit more at the grocery store. Its also allowed her family the chance to go out to eat on the weekends, which I was never able to do before, so its a big accomplishment what fast food workers were able to win, she said.But Hernandez says much of the increase was swallowed by a recent $200 rent hike. We need a little more to be able to save money and buy clothes without being tight every two weeks or have to use credit, she said.Now, Hernandez is a member of California Fast Food Workers Union, and councilmember on the states Fast Food Council established by the new California law and aimed at improving working conditions.Critics of the law say continuing to increase minimum wage is not the answer, arguing that it has raised prices and reduced job opportunities for young people, pinching franchisees in an industry with already-slim margins.When you see a spike in operating costs pretty dramatically in a short period of time, it creates challenges, said Jot Condie, president and CEO of the California Restaurant Association, which opposed the law. He added that franchisees, who are essentially small business owners, are most harmed.But a September report from University of California, Berkeleys Institute for Research on Labor and Employment called the effects of the new law benign, and found that the policy did not affect employment adversely and increased prices about 3.7%, or about 15 cents on a $4 hamburger. For Yeldell, increasing the minimum wage in Texas would be more fair. If other states could change, yall can change too, she said.Her exhaustion shines through: her movements are slow, and her eyelids droop. Between her two jobs, she has no days off so her activities with the kids have to happen on the days she works at one job, not both. But she makes it happen. On a chilly Friday morning at 7 a.m., she walks her youngest to the bus stop, then drives her daughter across town to have her senior pictures done before her Pizza Hut shift starts.At the photography studio, Yeldell and her daughter pose for a selfie against a backdrop that reads Class of 25. Yeldell wears a sleek, royal blue dress that reads Faith in white cursive text, her daughter in a black cap and gown. Both womens hair is arranged in long, elegant braids with the ends curled.Being a mother, I do what Im supposed to do for my kids, she said. But for all her hard work, Yeldell says the family has little to no savings. On good months, she says she has about $100 left over. Often, she has nothing, which leaves no room for vacations, or outings with kids. At the end of the day, Ive worked all these hours and I really have nothing to show for it, but just paying some bills, she said.___The Associated Press women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. CLAIRE SAVAGE Savage is a national reporter for the APs Business team. She covers women in the workforce and is based in Chicago. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

The White House is seen, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)2025-01-25T17:43:44Z WASHINGTON (AP) Job-seekers hoping to join the new Trump administration are facing a series of intense loyalty tests, with White House screening teams fanning out to government agencies to check for Make America Great Again bona fides and carefully parsing applicants politics and social media posts.President Donald Trump has long said he believes the biggest mistake he made during his first term was hiring what he considered to be the wrong kinds of people. Now, aides are working aggressively to ensure the government is filled only with loyalists.Negative social media posts have been enough to derail applications. Those seeking jobs have been told they will have to prove their enthusiasm to enact Trumps agenda and have been asked when their moment of MAGA revelation occurred. One federal employee said they briefly considered buying Trumps crypto meme coin in case the presidents team asked about their voting record. The intense screening has led some federal workers to question whether Trumps team cares more about loyalty than competence. There is concern that his team is ousting foreign policy and national security diplomats and others who could offer the administration expertise and institutional knowledge at a time of conflict worldwide. Trump officials have made no secret of their intention to fill the administration with hires sharing the presidents vision. They began checking potential staffers shortly after Trump launched his campaign and have continued since he won. An application form on the Trump transition website, for instance, asks candidates, What part of President Trumps campaign message is most appealing to you and why? according to a link obtained by The Associated Press.It also asks how they had supported Trump in the 2024 election with choices including volunteering, fundraising, door-knocking and making phone calls and to submit a list of their social media handles. We are interviewing every single one of these individuals. If you are working in the federal government in a political appointee position, that comes through the White House now, White House personnel director Sergio Gor said Thursday on Fox News. Trump, he said, has been very clear of who he doesnt want to include in this administration. And so those are clear guidelines that we adhere to. And we bring the best people possible into the White House and into every department across this land.Screening teams deploy across federal agenciesSome officials have referred to the newcomers sent by the White House to federal agencies disparagingly as MAGA commissars, a reference to Communist Party officials from the former Soviet Union. They are generally young and many do not appear to have particular expertise or background in the portfolios of the agencies in which they are working, according to three U.S. officials, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.They said the screeners seem to be looking for even the slightest divergence between candidates and Trumps MAGA movement and America First policies. A negative social media post or a photograph with a Trump opponent has been enough for some applications to be rejected or put on hold for further review. One official said he and several colleagues from various agencies had been told that even if they passed the initial vetting process to be admitted into the applicant pool, they would still need to prove their bona fides and convince interviewers of their enthusiasm to put in place Trumps policies, including by providing references from people whose loyalty had already been established.This official said one colleague who made it to the interview stage was asked when that persons moment of MAGA revelation had occurred.At the State Department, which has been a particular Trump target since his first term, current officials have described the atmosphere as tense and glum, with career civil and foreign service officers leery of voicing opinions on policy or personnel matters, let alone politics, fearing retribution from their new political bosses. Two longtime department officials noted that there is always a period of uncertainty with any change of administration but that the current transition to a group intent on making sweeping changes to the management and work of the department was unlike what they have experienced in the past. Checking for MAGA alignmentTrump administration officials had made clear plans for a robust screening process that would ensure all officials inside the administration and especially those who could help shape policy were aligned with Trumps agenda, according to U.S. government officials and people familiar with their planning.One longtime government employee said he ran into a senior Trump administration official in December who told him that Trumps team would look to be more thoughtful about how they were vetting appointees and even detailees. Those are nonpolitical, career experts on topics that range from counterterrorism to global climate policy who are loaned to the White House from other agencies for extended assignments. All appointees, the person said, would be issued questionnaires to ensure they were fully committed to Trumps agenda.The AP has reported that career civil servants who work on the White House National Security Council have been questioned by senior Trump administration officials about which candidate they voted for in the election, their political contributions and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by Trumps team.On Wednesday, roughly 160 NSC detailees who worked in the Biden administration were told that they were being sent home so Trumps team could conduct a review to ensure its personnel aligned with Trumps agenda.Every president is entitled to have a staff and the advisers that they need to implement the goals that the American people elected him to pursue, Brian McCormack, chief of staff to national security adviser Mike Waltz, said in a two-minute phone call, according to a recording obtained by the AP.One NSC director learned that every detailee would need to be screened and that they would be queried about whom they voted for, political contributions and social media postings, according to a person familiar with the matter. White House officials defend their approachNo one should be surprised that those being hired should align with the mission of the Administration. Nobody in private industry would ever hire someone who isnt mission focused, and the government should be no different, White House spokesperson Steven Cheung said. Over 1,300 individuals have been hired, while maintaining the highest standards of competency, he added.Every new president looks to fill the thousands of government jobs they control with political appointees rewarding campaign aides, allies, supporters and donors with plum positions. The White House presidential personnel office exists to recruit, screen and manage those employees. Asking applicants their political affiliations is common. In some cases it is required, such as when filling jobs on agencies or commissions that require partisan balance. Trumps White House is going deeper into potential appointees political histories in part because he has carved out an ideological space that is often distinct from traditional Republican orthodoxy, making straight partisanship an unreliable indicator of commitment to his agenda.The Trump administrations conduct and imposition of a political litmus or loyalty test, it betrays the oath that the president took on Monday to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, said Donald K. Sherman, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a government watchdog group. What this suggests to me is that demonstrating loyalty is as important or more important than merit.Gor, in his Fox interview, said that in addition to hiring, the White House personnel office is also working to root out workers disloyal to Trump.Were also cleaning house. And so we started the process of terminating a lot of positions, he said. Its time for a fresh start.___Colvin reported from New York. AP White House Correspondent Zeke Miller and Associated Press writer Josh Boak contributed to this report. AAMER MADHANI Aamer Madhani is a White House reporter. twitter mailto JILL COLVIN Colvin is an Associated Press national political reporter covering the 2024 presidential campaign. She is based in New York. mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Vice President JD Vance, from left, swears in Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense as his wife Jennifer Rauchet holds the Bible and Hegseth's son watches in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)2025-01-25T16:21:24Z Pete Hegseth was sworn in Saturday as the nations 29th secretary of defense, quickly joining President Trumps Cabinet after a dramatic late-night vote in the Senate installed him as the Pentagons leader.Hegseth took the oath from Vice President JD Vance in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with Hegseths wife, Jennifer Rauchet, at his side and Republican senators looking on. The ceremony came less than 12 hours after Vance broke a 50-50 tie in the Senate to narrowly seal Hegseths confirmation.In brief remarks, Hegseth outlined what he said were his guiding principles: Restore the warrior ethos in everything that we do, rebuild our military and reestablish deterrence.We dont want to fight wars, he added. We want to deter them and we want to end them responsibly. But if we need to fight them, were going to bring overwhelming and decisive force to close with and destroy the enemy and bring our boys home. He thanked Vance for his tiebreaking vote and joked that his children were happy their father won in overtime. It is the honor of a lifetime, sir, to serve under you, Hegseth said, in thanking Trump, who was in Las Vegas on Saturday. Later, in a emailed message to the American military, he said we will remain the strongest and most lethal force in the world and he singled out the needs to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific by Communist China ... and reorient to key threats. We will stand by our allies and our enemies are on notice. The unusually narrow confirmation for a defense secretary came after questions from members in both parties over Hegseths qualifications to lead the military, especially amid allegations of heavy alcohol use and aggressive behavior toward women. For Hegseth, the challenges ahead are steep, as he takes charge of a sprawling bureaucracy at a time of severe challenges around the globe. He enters office with far less experience than modern defense secretaries before him, acknowledging during his confirmation hearing that hell need to build an experienced team as he settles into the job. I want smarter and more capable people around me than me, and you will get that at the department, he said in his testimony. Vice President JD Vance, from left, swears in Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense as his wife Jennifer Rauchet holds the Bible and Hegseths son watches in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.) Vice President JD Vance, from left, swears in Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense as his wife Jennifer Rauchet holds the Bible and Hegseths son watches in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Hegseth also lacks the broad bipartisan support that most have brought to the role. Every Senate Democrat voted against Hegseths confirmation, as did three Republicans deeply skeptical of his qualifications for the job.Adding to the acrimony, Hegseth refused to meet with any Democrats before confirmation, breaking from tradition. Rarely has a Cabinet nominee faced such wide-ranging concerns about his experience having been a combat veteran, veterans advocate and Fox News host as well as behavior as Hegseth, particularly for such a high-profile role atop the U.S. military. But the Republican-led Senate was determined to confirm Hegseth and round out Trumps top national security team.Democrats, the minority in the Senate, had helped confirm Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe in bipartisan votes. But they fiercely opposed Hegseth, with even the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee refusing to support him. In this image provided by Senate Television, the vote total is shown after Vice President JD Vance casts the tie-breaking vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as President Donald Trumps choice for defense secretary, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, at the Capitol in Washington. (Senate Television via AP) In this image provided by Senate Television, the vote total is shown after Vice President JD Vance casts the tie-breaking vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as President Donald Trumps choice for defense secretary, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, at the Capitol in Washington. (Senate Television via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Reacting to the vote, Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer of New York said Republicans have entrusted the most powerful military in the world to someone with no experience, terrible judgment and serious flaws of character.I hope for the sake of our troops and the good of our country that he can eventually grow into the job, Schumer said on the Senate floor.Three Republicans Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska also voted against Hegseth, questioning his qualifications for the job. Hegseth faced allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman at a Republican conference in California, though he has denied the claims and said the encounter was consensual. He later paid $50,000 to the woman.Hegseth also had promised during his confirmation hearings that he would not drink while on the job, were he to be confirmed. Meanwhile, his opposition to women in combat became an issue after Trump announced his choice in November. But, in the face of questions from Congress, Hegseth appeared to shifted. President-elect Donald Trumps pick for Defense Secretary faced senators for the first time after weeks of questions from Democrats and praise from Republicans about his unconventional resume. Asked about the issue on the Megyn Kelly Show in early December, Hegseth said he cares only that military standards are maintained. Women serve in combat, he said, and, if we have the right standard and women meet that standard, roger. Lets go.Hegseth told senators that he supports women in the military but wants to review standards to make sure they are not lowered to accommodate women.At the swearing-in ceremony, a question directed to Hegseth about why women in the armed services should trust him was answered by Vance.All people in our armed services should trust him because he looks out for them and he is going to fight for them, Vance said.___Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. THOMAS BEAUMONT Beaumont covers national politics for The Associated Press. He is based in Des Moines, Iowa. twitter mailto

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)2025-01-25T16:32:45Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration has fired about 17 independent inspectors general at government agencies, a sweeping action to remove oversight of his new administration that some members of Congress are suggesting violated federal oversight laws. The dismissals began Friday night and were effective immediately, according to two people familiar with the actions. They spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not been made public. Neither confirmed the exact number of firings, but an email sent by one of the fired inspectors general said roughly 17 inspectors general had been removed. Congress was not given 30-day notices about the removals - something that even a top Republican is decrying. There may be good reason the IGs were fired. We need to know that if so, Sen. Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. Id like further explanation from President Trump. Regardless, the 30 day detailed notice of removal that the law demands was not provided to Congress, said Grassley, R-Iowa. The White House did not immediately comment on Saturday. President Donald Trump was in Las Vegas for a speech focused on his campaign promise to end federal taxation on tips. But the moves were consistent with the presidents first week back in the White House, which has featured a series of steps to remake the federal government. Trump has done everything from using executive orders to impose hiring freezes and crack down on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, to suggesting that he wants to shutter the Federal Emergency Management Agency and leave disaster recovery up to individual states affected by major emergencies. The role of the modern-day inspector general dates to post-Watergate Washington, when Congress installed offices inside agencies as an independent check against mismanagement and abuse of power. Though inspectors general are presidential appointees, some serve presidents of both parties. All are expected to be nonpartisan. Yesterday, in the dark of night, President Trump fired at least 12 independent inspector generals at important federal agencies across the administration, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Saturday on the chambers floor. This is a chilling purge and its a preview of the lawless approach Donald Trump and his administration are taking far too often as hes becoming president. Schumer said the dismissals are possibly in violation of federal law and help demonstrate that the move is a glaring sign that its a golden age for abuse in government and even corruption.The Washington Post, which first reported the firings, said that many were appointees from Trumps first term. Among those inspectors general reported removed included those for the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense and Education. Spared in this round of dismissals, however, was Michael Horowitz, the longtime Justice Department inspector general who has issued reports on assorted politically explosive criminal investigations over the past decade. In December 2019, for instance, Horowitz released a report faulting the FBI for surveillance warrant applications in the investigation into ties between Russia and Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. But the report also found that that investigation had been opened for a legitimate purpose and did not find evidence that partisan bias had guided investigative decisions.Democrats were livid about firings.Sen. Amy Klobuchar. D-Minn., noted that inspectors general are critical to rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse throughout the federal government. The mass firings were alarming, she said. Rep. Gerald Connolly of Virginia, a Democrat who is ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, called it a coup to overthrow legally protected independent inspectors general.He also suggested that the move coming on just the fourth full day of Trumps second term could potentially free up a series of positions that can subsequently be filled with loyalists who are strongly sympathetic to the Trump administration. Replacing independent inspectors general with political hacks will harm every American who relies on social security, veterans benefits, and a fair hearing at IRS on refunds and audits, Connolly said.Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called Trumps actions a purge of independent watchdogs in the middle of the night.Inspectors general are charged with rooting out government waste, fraud, abuse, and preventing misconduct, Warren posted on X. President Trump is dismantling checks on his power and paving the way for widespread corruption.Still, Trump has aggressively challenged the authority of independent agency watchdog groups in the past. In 2020, he replaced multiple key inspectors general, including those leading the Defense Department and intelligence community, as well as the inspector general tapped to chair a special oversight board for the $2.2 trillion economic relief package on the coronavirus.-Weissert reported from Las Vegas. Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report. ZEKE MILLER Zeke is APs chief White House correspondent twitter mailto ERIC TUCKER Tucker covers national security in Washington for The Associated Press, with a focus on the FBI and Justice Department and the special counsel cases against former President Donald Trump. twitter mailto WILL WEISSERT Weissert covers national politics and the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

An U.N peacekeeper takes position in Mays al-Jabal, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)2025-01-25T19:50:55Z MAYS AL-JABAL, Lebanon (AP) Israels military Saturday set up roadblocks across border towns and roads in a strategic valley in southern Lebanon, a day before the deadline for it to withdraw from the area under an agreement that halted its war with the Hezbollah militant group.The Israeli military, meanwhile, confirmed that it will not complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon by Sunday as outlined in the ceasefire agreement.The deal that went into effect in late November gave both sides 60 days to remove their forces from southern Lebanon and for the Lebanese army to move in and secure the area, along with U.N. peacekeepers. Israel says Hezbollah and the Lebanese army havent met their obligations, while Lebanon accuses the Israeli army of hindering the Lebanese military from taking over.In a statement Saturday, the Israeli military said the agreement is progressing. But it said in some sectors, it has been delayed and will take slightly longer. The Lebanese military has said that they had deployed in areas following Israeli troops withdrawal, and in a statement Saturday accused the Israeli military of procrastinating in their withdrawal from other areas. Washington appears to support an extension of this withdrawal phase.While Lebanese army soldiers are dispersed across the souths western sector, Israeli troops remained in control of most of the southeastern sector. Members of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said Israeli tanks and bulldozers have unexpectedly moved and set up several roadblocks, apparently in an attempt to prevent displaced Lebanese people trying to return to their villages. In Mays al-Jabal, peacekeepers from a Nepalese battalion watched in their position along the U.N.-mandated Blue Line as an Israeli jet flew overhead following the sound of what they said was an Israeli controlled demolition of a building. There are no residents left in that town and the vast majority of the buildings seen by Associated Press journalists were reduced to rubble or pancaked after intense Israeli shelling and airstrikes, following by clashes during its ground invasion. The few that stood had their walls blown out and are badly damaged. The piles of rubble and debris on the road make it impossible for civilian cars to enter the town that once was home to a few thousand people.The scene is similar in neighboring towns, including Blida and Aitaroun, where almost all the structures have collapsed into mounds of rubble and no residents have returned.The peacekeepers tried to appeal for permission to move across the roadblocks, but were not authorized to do so. An AP crew that had joined UNIFIL on patrol was stranded as a result.There is still a lot of IDF (Israeli army) activity going on in the area, said Maj. Dinesh Bhandari of UNIFILs Nepalese battalion in Mays al-Jabal overlooking the Blue Line. We are waiting for the deconfliction and then we will support to deploy the LAF (Lebanese army) in that position.When asked about weapons belonging to Hezbollah, Bhandari said they had found caches of weapons, munitions and mines in some structures during their patrols. Israel says it has been taking down the remaining infrastructure left by the Hezbollah militant group, which has a strong military and political presence in the south. Israel since its ground incursion into Lebanon said it also targeted a tunnel network, and has conducted large-scale demolition of buildings in a handful of border towns.Lebanese officials have complained that the Israeli military is also destroying civilian homes and infrastructure.In a call with French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun pointed to the destruction of villages adjacent to the southern border and the bulldozing of lands, which will hinder the return of residents to their areas, according to the state-run National News Agency. France, along with the U.S., is a guarantor of the ceasefire deal.Some 112,000 Lebanese remain displaced, out of over 1 million displaced during the war. Large swaths of southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as Beiruts southern suburbs were destroyed in Israeli bombardments. KAREEM CHEHAYEB Chehayeb is an Associated Press reporter in Beirut. twitter instagram mailto

U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Detroit deploys a helicopter crew to conduct overflights of Canadian vessel Manitoulin trapped in a frozen Lake Erie on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025 in Buffalo, N.Y. (U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Detroit via AP)2025-01-25T19:25:22Z BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) The U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards on Saturday continued efforts to break up ice and free a freighter that has been trapped in a frozen Lake Erie for days, officials said.The Manitoulin, a 663-foot (202-meter) Canadian vessel with 17 people on board, got stuck in the ice on Lake Erie on Wednesday after it dropped off a load of wheat in Buffalo, New York, and was heading back to Canada, the U.S. Coast Guard said.The ship wasnt damaged, and its crew is safe, officials said. Freighters in the Great Lakes often encounter surface ice in the winter but sometimes run into ice that is too hard or thick to break through. A U.S. Coast Guard icebreaking ship has been working since Thursday to help the Manitoulin, and on Saturday officials said a second ship arrived to help free the freighter. The Canadian Coast Guard also has a ship assisting with the effort. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter is at the scene conducting flights to monitor the situation. A third U.S. Coast Guard ship is also scheduled to arrive on Monday, in case the Manitoulin remains stuck.

The Tuskegee Airmen Way street sign is briefly displayed in front of a 1943 North American T6 Texan aircraft used to train pilots during WWII, at the Selfridge Air National Guard Base, in Harrison Township, Mich., Feb. 27, 2018. The street-renaming event honored the heritage of the Tuskegee Airmen at Selfridge. (Todd McInturf/Detroit News via AP, File)2025-01-25T19:57:40Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Air Force has removed training courses with videos of its storied Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs the female World War II pilots who were vital in ferrying warplanes for the military to comply with the Trump administrations crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.The videos were shown to Air Force troops as part of DEI courses they took during basic military training.In a statement, the Air Force confirmed the courses with those videos had been removed and said it will fully execute and implement all directives outlined in the Executive Orders issued by the President, ensuring that they are carried out with utmost professionalism, efficiency and in alignment with national security objectives.The problem may not be with the historical videos themselves, but that they were used in Air Force basic military training DEI coursework. However, the lack of clearer guidance has sent the Air Force and other agencies scrambling to take the broadest approach to what content is removed to make sure they are in compliance. The Tuskegee Airmen, known as the Red Tails were the nations first Black military pilots who served in a segregated WWII unit and their all-Black 332nd Fighter Group had one of the lowest loss records of all the bomber escorts in the war. They flew P-47 Thunderbolt, P-51 Mustang and other fighters to escort American bombers on dangerous missions over Germany. Before the fighter escorts began accompanying the slow and heavy U.S. bombers, losses were catastrophic due to getting dive-bombed by German aircraft. President George W. Bush awarded the Tuskegee Airmen the Congressional Gold Medal in a ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda in 2007.In 2020, in his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump announced he had promoted one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, Charles McGee, to brigadier general. McGee died in 2022 at age 102. The WASPs contributed to World War II by learning to fly and ferry new bombers off the assembly lines to airfields where they were needed to ship off to war freeing up male pilots to focus on combat missions overseas. They earned the right to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery just in the last decade. The Air Force, like other branches, has recently tried to broaden the number of people they reach to consider military careers like aviation that historically have had few minority service members in their ranks. ___ TARA COPP Copp covers the Pentagon and national security for the Associated Press. She has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, throughout the Middle East, Europe and Asia. twitter mailto

Fascism, a term loaded with historical and emotional weight, has been a contentious subject in American political discourse. Traditionally associated with far-right authoritarian regimes in Europe, the concept has occasionally surfaced in discussions about American politics, particularly within the Republican Party. This article explores the historical and contextual relationship between...

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, right, inspects testing of sea-to-surface strategic cruise guided weapons at an undisclosed location in North Korea, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)2025-01-26T01:29:20Z SEOUL, South Korea (AP) North Korea said Sunday it tested a cruise missile system, its third known weapons display this year, and vowed the toughest response to what it called the escalation of U.S.-South Korean military drills that target the North.The moves suggested North Korea will likely maintain its run of weapons tests and its confrontational stance against the U.S. for now, even though President Donald Trump said he intends to reach out to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.The official Korean Central News Agency said Kim observed the test of sea-to-surface strategic cruise guided weapons on Saturday.The term strategic implies the missiles are nuclear-capable. KCNA said the missiles hit their targets after traveling 1,500-kilometer (932-mile) -long elliptical and figure-eight-shaped flight patterns, but that couldnt be independently verified. KCNA cited Kim as saying that North Koreas war deterrence capabilities are being perfected more thoroughly and affirming that his country will make strenuous efforts to defend stability on the basis of more powerfully developed military muscle. South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea had launched several cruise missiles toward its western waters from an inland area at around 4 p.m. on Saturday. It said South Korean maintains a readiness to overwhelmingly repel any provocations by North Korea in conjunction with its military alliance with the U.S. In a separate statement carried by KCNA on Sunday, North Koreas Foreign Ministry criticized the U.S. for committing serious military provocations aiming at North Korea with a series of military exercises with South Korea this month. The reality stresses that the DPRK should counter the U.S. with the toughest counteraction from A to Z as long as it refuses the sovereignty and security interests of the DPRK and this is the best option for dealing with the U.S, the Foreign Ministry statement said. DPRK stands for the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, the abbreviation of its formal name. The Foreign Ministry warning was in line with Kims vows to implement the toughest anti-U.S. policy during a year-end political meeting.North Korea views U.S. military training with South Korea as invasion rehearsals though Washington and Seoul have repeatedly said their drills are defensive in nature. In recent years, the U.S. and South Korea have expanded their military exercises in response to North Koreas advancing nuclear program. The start of Trumps second term raises prospects for the revival of diplomacy between the U.S. and North Korea, as Trump met Kim three times during his first term. The Trump-Kim diplomacy in 2018-19 fell apart due to wrangling over U.S.-led economic sanctions on North Korea.During a Fox News interview broadcast Thursday, Trump called Kim a smart guy and not a religious zealot. Asked whether he will reach out to Kim again, Trump replied, I will, yeah.Many experts say Kim likely thinks he has greater bargaining power than in his earlier round of diplomacy with Trump because of his countrys enlarged nuclear arsenal and deepening military ties with Russia. In South Korea, many worry that Trump might scale back military drills with the Asian U.S. ally and abandon the goal of the complete denuclearization of North Korea and focus on eliminating its long-range missile program, which poses a direct threat to the U.S., while leaving its nuclear attack capabilities against South Korea intact.On Monday, Trump called North Korea a nuclear power as he spoke of his personal ties with Kim during a news conference at the Oval Office after his inauguration. Washington, Seoul and their partners have long shunned describing North Korea as a nuclear state because that could be seen as accepting its pursuit of nuclear weapons in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.After his first summit with Kim in 2018, Trump baffled many in South Korea by unilaterally announcing the suspension of major summertime military drills, calling them very provocative and tremendously expensive.North Korea hasnt commented on Trumps latest overture. Sundays cruise missile tests were the Norths first known weapons launches since Trumps inauguration. 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

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One en route to Florida at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)2025-01-26T00:59:48Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump has ended his predecessors hold on sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, lifting a pressure point that had been meant to reduce civilian casualties during the U.S. allys war with Hamas in Gaza that is now halted by a tenuous ceasefire. In a post on his Truth Social network Saturday, Trump said, A lot of things that were ordered and paid for by Israel, but have not been sent by Biden, are now on their way! We released them today, Trump said of the bombs. He told reporters on Air Force One, theyve been waiting for them for a long time. You know, theyve been in storage for a long time and we released them today to Israel.Then-President Joe Biden halted the delivery of the large bombs in May as part of an effort to keep Israel from launching an all-out assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. A month later, Israel did take control of the city, but after the vast majority of the 1 million civilians that had been living or sheltering in Rafah had fled. Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers, Biden told CNN in May when he held up the weapons. I made it clear that if they go into Rafah ... Im not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, that deal with that problem. The Biden pause had also held up 1,700 500-pound bombs that had been packaged in the same shipment to Israel, but weeks later those bombs were delivered. Trumps action, five days into his term, comes as he has celebrated the first phase of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel that has paused the fighting and seen the release of some hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Negotiations have yet to begin in earnest on the more difficult second phase of the deal that would eventually see the release of all hostages held by Hamas and an enduring halt to the fighting. The Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to resume its war against Hamas which launched a massive assault against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 if the remaining hostages are not released. ZEKE MILLER Zeke is APs chief White House correspondent twitter mailto WILL WEISSERT Weissert covers national politics and the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Palestinian children are evacuated from a site hit by an Israeli bombardment on Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)2025-01-25T22:27:00Z UNITED NATIONS (AP) The war in Gaza has been devastating for children: More than 13,000 have been killed, an estimated 25,000 injured, and at least 25,000 hospitalized for malnutrition, according to U.N. agencies.As Britains deputy U.N. ambassador, James Kariuki, recently told the Security Council, Gaza has become the deadliest place in the world to be a child.The children of Gaza did not choose this war, he said, yet they have paid the ultimate price.The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported Thursday that of the 40,717 Palestinian bodies identified so far in Gaza, one-third 13,319 were children. The office said Friday the figures came from Gazas Ministry of Health.The U.N. childrens agency, UNICEF, said the estimate of 25,000 children injured came from its analysis based on information collected together with Gazas Health Ministry. U.N. deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said nearly 19,000 children had been hospitalized for acute malnutrition in the four months before December.That figure also came from UNICEF, which said it was from data collected by U.N. staff in Gaza focusing on nutrition, in coordination with all pertinent U.N. agencies. The U.N. says thousands of children have also been orphaned or separated from their parents during the 15-month war.Yasmine Sherif, executive director of the U.N. global fund Education Cannot Wait, told a press conference that 650,000 school-age children havent been attending classes and the entire education system has to be rebuilt because of the widespread destruction in Gaza. Diplomats from Britain, France and other countries also cited the toll on Israeli children who were killed, injured and abducted during Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 with some still being held hostage.Israels U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon asked the Security Council whether it ever paused to consider the plight of Israeli children mutilated, tortured and murdered on Oct. 7, the 30 who were kidnapped and the tens of thousands who have been displaced, their homes destroyed. The trauma they have endured is beyond imagination, he said.Danon called Thursdays council meeting on children in Gaza an affront to common sense, accusing Hamas of turning Gaza into the worlds largest terror base and using children as human shields.The children of Gaza could have had a future filled with opportunity, he said. Instead, they are trapped in a cycle of violence and despair, all because of Hamas, not because of Israel. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Workers secure a net to prevent mudslides over the burned side of a mansion in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)2025-01-25T21:50:31Z LOS ANGELES (AP) Rain began falling in parched Southern California on Saturday in a boon for firefighters who were mopping up multiple wildfires. But heavy downpours on charred hillsides could bring the threat of new troubles like toxic ash runoff.Los Angeles County crews spent much of the week removing vegetation, shoring up slopes and reinforcing roads in devastated areas of the Palisades and Eaton fires, which reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble and ash after breaking out during powerful winds Jan. 7. Most of the region was expected to get get around an inch (about 2.5 centimeters) of precipitation over several days, but the threat is high enough to prepare for the worst-case scenario of localized cloudbursts causing mud and debris to flow down hills, the National Weather Service said on social media. So the problem would be if one of those showers happens to park itself over a burn area, weather service meteorologist Carol Smith said. That could be enough to create debris flows. The rain started along the Central Coast before moving into Ventura and LA counties in the evening. It was forecast to increase throughout the weekend and possibly last into early Tuesday, Smith said. Flood watches were issued for some burn areas, and snow was likely in the mountains. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order this week to expedite cleanup efforts and mitigate the environmental impacts of fire-related pollutants. LA County supervisors also approved an emergency motion to install flood-control infrastructure and expedite and remove sediment in fire-impacted areas. Fire crews filled sandbags for communities while county workers installed barriers and cleared drainage pipes and basins.Officials cautioned that ash in recent burn zones was a toxic mix of incinerated cars, electronics, batteries, building materials, paints, furniture and other household items. It contains pesticides, asbestos, plastics and lead. Residents were urged to wear protective gear while cleaning up. Concerns about post-fire debris flows have been especially high since 2018, when the town of Montecito up the coast from LA was ravaged by mudslides after a downpour hit mountain slopes burned bare by a huge blaze. Twenty-three people died, and hundreds of homes were damaged. While the impending wet weather ended weeks of dangerous gusts and reduced humidity, several wildfires were still burning across Southern California. Those included the Palisades and Eaton fires, which killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 14,000 structures. Containment of the Palisades Fire reached 81%, and the Eaton Fire was at 95% containment.In northern Los Angeles County, firefighters made significant progress against the Hughes Fire, which prompted evacuations for tens of thousands of people when it erupted Wednesday in mountains near Lake Castaic. And in San Diego County, there was still little containment of the Border 2 Fire churning through a remote area of the Otay Mountain Wilderness near the U.S.-Mexico border. The rain was expected to snap a near-record streak of dry weather for Southern California. Much of the region has received less than 5% of the average rainfall for this point in the water year, which began Oct. 1, the Los Angeles Times reported. Most of Southern California is now either in extreme drought or severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Leslie Voltaire, the president of Haiti's Transition Council, talks during an interview with the Associated Press in Rome, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)2025-01-25T21:34:13Z ROME (AP) The president of Haitis transitional presidential council said the Trump administrations decisions to freeze aid programs, deport migrants and block refugees will be catastrophic for Haiti.Leslie Voltaire made the comment in an interview with The Associated Press in Rome on Saturday following a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican. He visited the pope to ask for help for Haiti.Im knocking on the doors of people who love Haiti. The pope loves Haiti, and he is eager to help, Haitis interim president said. The pontiff and Voltaire discussed the dire situation in Haiti where gangs have killed civilians and operate across the Caribbean nation with impunity. Half of Haitis 11.4 million people are already hungry, according to Voltaire, and losing humanitarian assistance will make the situation dramatically worse. Trump said that Haiti is a shithole, so I dont think he will care about Haiti, Voltaire said, noting that thousands of people are already being repatriated from the Dominican Republic every week and gangs are terrorizing the populace. With the new U.S. policies, the situation will be catastrophic. During his first administration, President Donald Trump used bluntly vulgar language to question why the U.S. would accept immigrants from Haiti and shithole countries in Africa. At the time, the White House did not deny his remark but issued a statement saying Trump supports immigration policies that welcome those who can contribute to our society. Voltaire said there are roughly 1.5 million Haitians in the United States and roughly 150,000 who were accepted under a program called the Temporary Protection System. Trump says that he will expel all of them, Voltaire said, adding that Haiti, which is already struggling with hunger and internally displaced people, cannot handle the influx.In a report released this month, the U.N. migration agency said internal displacement within Haiti has tripled over the last year and n ow surpasses 1 million people. The situation has been largely caused by gang violence in the Caribbean country. The new figure provided by the International Organization for Migration represents a record for Haiti. IOM said that relentless gang violence in Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince has fueled a near-doubling of displacement in the city and a collapse of health care and other services and worsening food insecurity. About 200,000 people have been forcibly returned to Haiti over the last year mostly from Dominican Republic.Voltaire and his transitional government have been tasked with leading the country to general elections, an elusive goal but he is convinced they can make it happen by next November despite powerful gangs that rule 85% of the capital and are gaining ground in surrounding areas. Nevertheless, Voltaire is positive that if Haitis multinational police force is boosted with several thousand additional officers they can go ahead with elections this year.Kenya is leading the multinational police force with a total deployment of more than 600, below the 1,000 officers the countrys president pledged. An additional 150 Guatemalans and an advance team of eight Salvadorean troops have also arrived, but the force remains far below its anticipated strength of 2,500 officers. Voltaire said Benin has pledged an additional 2,000 soldiers. We have to do a referendum on a new constitution and also the election at the end of November. I say that we can do the elections because we have like eight departments, like 80% of the country. We can do the election.The power of gangs in Haiti has grown since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Mose. Some gangs have even indicated they want to be part of the political process. Voltaire excluded that possibility, I dont think they should be around the table. I think they are criminals. More than 5,600 people were reported killed across Haiti last year, according to the United Nations. The number of killings increased by more than 20% compared with all of 2023, according to the U.N. Human Rights Office. Last week U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that gangs could soon could overrun the capital, Port-au-Prince, leading to a complete breakdown of government authority without additional international support for the beleaguered national police.Voltaire said he asked the pontiff to organize an international conference of solidarity for Haiti. The Pope wrote international conference on a sheet of paper, Voltaire said, and later the Vatican Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, told him the Vatican would try to convince Mexico and Canada to participate in funding a conference on Haiti. TRISHA THOMAS Thomas covers events throughout Southern Europe, Italy, and the Vatican for The Associated Press based in Rome. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

UN armoured personnel carriers deploy outside Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)2025-01-25T11:03:52Z GOMA, Congo (AP) Fighting with M23 rebels in eastern Congo has left at least 13 peacekeepers and foreign soldiers dead, United Nations and army officials said Saturday.M23 has made significant territorial gains in recent weeks, encircling the eastern city of Goma, which has around 2 million people and is a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts. The U.N. Security Council moved up an emergency meeting on the escalating violence to Sunday morning (10 am EST). Congo requested the meeting, which had originally been scheduled for Monday. On Saturday, Congos army said it fended off an M23 offensive towards Goma with the help of its allied forces, including U.N. troops and soldiers from the Southern African Development Community Mission, also known as SAMIDRC.The Rwandan-backed M23 is clearly exploiting the presidential transition in the U.S. to advance on Goma putting thousands more civilians at risk, Kate Hixon, advocacy director for Africa at Amnesty International US, told the Associated Press. Congo, the United States and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which is mainly made up of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army more than a decade ago. Rwandas government denies the claim, but last year acknowledged that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a buildup of Congolese forces near the border. U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo. The burning wreckage of a white armored fighting vehicle carrying UN markings could be seen on a road between Goma and Sake on Saturday, where much of the fighting was concentrated in recent days.Two South African peacekeepers were killed Friday, while a Uruguayan Blue Helmet was killed Saturday, a U.N. official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to speak on the matter publicly. Additionally, three Malawian peacekeepers were killed in eastern Congo, the United Nations in Malawi said Saturday.Seven South African soldiers from the SAMIDRC were also killed during clashes with M23 over the last two days, South Africas department of defense said in a statement.Uruguays military in a statement issued Saturday identified its member killed in Congo as Rodolfo lvarez, who was part of the Uruguay IV Battalion. The unit, according to the statement, is working uninterruptedly to comply with the United Nations mandate, as well as to guarantee the evacuation of non-essential civilian and military personnel from the city of Goma.Various measures have been taken to improve the security of our troops, who are operating in adverse conditions, the military said. It added that four Uruguayan peacekeepers were also injured. Three of them remained in Goma while a fourth one was evacuated to Uganda for treatment.Since 2021, Congos government and allied forces, including SAMIDRC and U.N. troops, have been keeping M23 away from Goma.The U.N peacekeeping force, also known as MONUSCO, entered Congo more than two decades ago and has around 14,000 peacekeepers on the ground.South Africas defense minister, Angie Motshekga, was visiting the countrys troops stationed in Congo as part of the U.N. peacekeeping mission the day the soldiers were killed. ___Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa, and Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.

A view of the P4 lab inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology is seen after a visit by the World Health Organization team in Wuhan in China's Hubei province, Feb. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)2025-01-25T20:41:34Z WASHINGTON (AP) The CIA now believes the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic most likely originated from a laboratory, according to an assessment released Saturday that points the finger at China even while acknowledging that the spy agency has low confidence in its own conclusion.The finding is not the result of any new intelligence, and the report was completed at the behest of the Biden administration and former CIA Director William Burns. It was declassified and released Saturday on the orders of President Donald Trumps pick to lead the agency, John Ratcliffe, who was sworn in Thursday as director.The nuanced finding suggests the agency believes the totality of evidence makes a lab origin more likely than a natural origin. But the agencys assessment assigns a low degree of confidence to this conclusion, suggesting the evidence is deficient, inconclusive or contradictory. Earlier reports on the origins of COVID-19 have split over whether the coronavirus emerged from a Chinese lab, potentially by mistake, or whether it arose naturally. The new assessment is not likely to settle the debate. In fact, intelligence officials say it may never be resolved, due to a lack of cooperation from Chinese authorities. The CIA continues to assess that both research-related and natural origin scenarios of the COVID-19 pandemic remain plausible, the agency wrote in a statement about its new assessment. Instead of new evidence, the conclusion was based on fresh analyses of intelligence about the spread of the virus, its scientific properties and the work and conditions of Chinas virology labs.Lawmakers have pressured Americas spy agencies for more information about the origins of the virus, which led to lockdowns, economic upheaval and millions of deaths. Its a question with significant domestic and geopolitical implications as the world continues to grapple with the pandemics legacy. Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Saturday he was pleased the CIA concluded in the final days of the Biden administration that the lab-leak theory is the most plausible explanation and he commended Ratcliffe for declassifying the assessment.Now, the most important thing is to make China pay for unleashing a plague on the world, Cotton said in a statement.Chinese authorities have dismissed speculation about COVIDs origins as unhelpful and motivated by politics. On Saturday, a spokesperson for Chinas U.S. embassy said the CIA report has no credibility.We firmly oppose the politicization and stigmatization of the source of the virus, and once again call on everyone to respect science and stay away from conspiracy theories, embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press.While the origin of the virus remains unknown, scientists think the most likely hypothesis is that it circulated in bats, like many coronaviruses, before infecting another species, probably racoon dogs, civet cats or bamboo rats. In turn, the infection spread to humans handling or butchering those animals at a market in Wuhan, where the first human cases appeared in late November 2019. Some official investigations, however, have raised the the question of whether the virus escaped from a lab in Wuhan. Two years ago a report by the Energy Department concluded a lab leak was the most likely origin, though that report also expressed low confidence in the finding.The same year then-FBI Director Christopher Wray said his agency believed the virus most likely spread after escaping from a lab.Ratcliffe, who served as director of national intelligence during Trumps first term, has said he favors the lab leak scenario, too.The lab leak is the only theory supported by science, intelligence, and common sense, Ratcliffe said in 2023.The CIA said it will continue to evaluate any new information that could change its assessment. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

This is a locator map for Sudan with its capital, Khartoum. (AP Photo)2025-01-26T04:35:11Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Some 70 people were killed in an attack on the only functional hospital in the besieged city of El Fasher in Sudan, the chief of the World Health Organization said Sunday, part of a series of attacks coming as the African nations civil war escalated in recent days.The attack on the Saudi Teaching Maternal Hospital, which local officials blamed on the rebel Rapid Support Forces, came as the group has seen apparent battlefield losses to the Sudanese military and allied forces under the command of army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan. That includes Burhan appearing near a burning oil refinery north of Khartoum on Saturday that his forces said they seized from the RSF.International mediation attempts and pressure tactics, including a U.S. assessment that the RSF and its proxies are committing genocide and sanctions targeting Burhan, have not halted the fighting. Reported attack follows RSF warningIn the Saudi hospital attack in El Fasher, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus offered the death toll in a post on the social platform X. Officials and others in the capital of North Darfur province had cited a similar figure Saturday, but Ghebreyesus is the first international source to provide a casualty number. Reporting on Sudan is incredibly difficult given communication challenges and exaggerations by both the RSF and the Sudanese military. The appalling attack on Saudi Hospital in El Fasher, Sudan, led to 19 injuries and 70 deaths among patients and companions, Ghebreyesus wrote. At the time of the attack, the hospital was packed with patients receiving care. Another health facility in Al Malha also was attacked Saturday, he added. We continue to call for a cessation of all attacks on health care in Sudan, and to allow full access for the swift restoration of the facilities that have been damaged, he wrote. Above all, Sudans people need peace. The best medicine is peace. Ghebreyesus did not identify who launched the attack, though local officials had blamed the RSF for the assault. United Nations official Clementine Nkweta-Salami, who coordinates humanitarian efforts for the world body in Sudan, warned Thursday that the RSF earlier had given a 48-hour ultimatum to forces allied to the Sudanese Armed Forces to vacate the city and indicated a forthcoming offensive.Since May 2024, El Fasher has been under RSF siege, she said. Civilians in El Fasher have already endured months of suffering, violence and gross human rights abuses under the prolonged siege. Their lives now hang in the balance due to an increasingly precarious situation.The RSF did not immediately acknowledge the attack in El Fasher, which is over 800 kilometers (500 miles) southwest of Khartoum. The city is now estimated to be home to over 1 million people, many of whom have been displaced by the war.The RSF siege has seen 782 civilians killed and over 1,140 others wounded, the U.N. said in December, warning the figures likely were higher.The Saudi hospital, just north of El Fashers airport, sits near the frontlines of the war and has been repeatedly hit by shelling. However, its doctors continue surgeries, sometimes by the light of mobile phones while the hospital is hit. However, the RSF appeared in recent days to have lost control of the Khartoum refinery, the biggest in Sudan and crucial to both its economy and that of South Sudan. Burhans forces also say they broke another RSF besiegement of the Signal Corps headquarters in northern Khartoum. The rebels claimed they were tightening the noose around that base.Sudans war sees brutality by fightersSudan has been unstable since a popular uprising forced the removal of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019. A short-lived transition to democracy was derailed when Burhan and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo of the RSF joined forces to lead a military coup in October 2021.Al-Bashir faces charges at the International Criminal Court over carrying out a genocidal campaign in the early 2000s in the western Darfur region with the Janjaweed, the precursor to the RSF. Rights groups and the U.N. say the RSF and allied Arab militias are again attacking ethnic African groups in this war. The RSF and Sudans military began fighting each other in April 2023. Their conflict has killed more than 28,000 people, forced millions to flee their homes and left some families eating grass in a desperate attempt to survive as famine sweeps parts of the country.Other estimates suggest a far higher death toll in the civil war. 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

This is a locator map for Sudan with its capital, Khartoum. (AP Photo)2025-01-26T04:36:45Z ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) President Donald Trump hasnt been shy about sharing his thoughts since taking office, and he added a 20-minute Q&A with reporters aboard Air Force One to the mix Saturday night. He held forth on everything from the color of the presidential plane to the fate of TikTok, Greenland and Canada. Trump popped in to the planes press cabin while flying from Las Vegas to Florida, where he was staying at his Doral golf club through Monday evening, though he insisted hed be too busy to hit the links. The new president scoffed at reporters getting a bit more access than under his predecessor, Joe Biden, and joked it was like 5,000% different meaning he was willing to answer a lot more questions. Trump called Air Force One a special plane but observed that it hasnt changed much from his last term. And, yes, he still wants to change the planes exterior colors. We want power blue, not baby blue, Trump said. Everything has its time and place. Well be changing the colors.Here are some highlights from the conversation: Trump says hes talking with potential investors about the future of TikTokTrump said hes considering several possible investors who are looking to purchase TikTok, which faces the prospect of a U.S. ban if it isnt sold by its Chinese parent company.Numerous people are talking to me, he said. Very substantial people. He said he expects to decide what happens next probably over the next 30 days.The president said hed not been in contact with Oracle about buying TikTok, despite reports that he had, and that hed not spoken to Oracles billionaire co-founder Larry Ellison, whom he called a friend. He noted Ellison lives right down the road from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. But he said there are many other potential buyers. We have a lot of interest in it, and the United States will be a big beneficiary, Trump said of a potential sale. Id only do it if the United States benefits.He added that, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because he felt like it improved his standing with young voters in Novembers presidential election. Trump really wants federal workers back in the officeAsked about the series of executive orders hes signed since taking office that have placed new rules on the federal workforce, Trump said he was opposed to work-from-home concessions that became more common during the coronavirus pandemic.You have to go to your office and you have to work, he said. Otherwise, youre not going to have a job.Trump also said hes not worried about existing federal employees leaving and the talent pool to find replacements being diminished: We have very deep talent. We also have a lot of excess people.This was a gimmick for Democrats, to a certain extent, he said of existing federal worker rolls, which he suggested were too large. Trump says he still wants Greenland, and Canada should be a stateTrump reiterated his desire to somehow purchase Greenland from Denmark, despite that country insisting its not for sale. I do believe Greenland, well get because it really has to do with freedom of the world, he said. It has nothing to do with the United States, other than were the one that can provide the freedom. The president also made some of his most extensive comments about his recent suggestions that Canada could become part of the U.S.I love Canada, he said. I have so many friends up in Canada. And they like us, and they like me. But Canadas been taking advantage of the United States for years, and were not going to let that happen.He suggested that the U.S. is losing hundreds of millions annually to Canada in trade deficits while Canada does almost 90% of their business with the United States.I dont want to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on supporting the country unless that country is a state. And, if its a state, the people of Canada will pay a much lower tax.He said Canadians would also have no military problems, theyd be much more secure in every way, and I think its a great thing for Canada.I view it as, honestly, a country that should be a state, he said. Then, theyll get much better treatment, much better care and much lower taxes and theyll be much more secure. WILL WEISSERT Weissert covers national politics and the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto

A basketball is stuck in the net outside of a residence destroyed by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)2025-01-26T05:17:35Z LOS ANGELES (AP) After weeks of windy and dry weather, rain has fallen in parched Southern California and is expected to aid firefighters who are mopping up multiple wildfires. But potentially heavy downpours on charred hillsides could bring new troubles such as toxic ash runoff.Los Angeles County crews spent much of the past week removing vegetation, shoring up slopes and reinforcing roads in devastated areas of the Palisades and Eaton fires, which reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble and ash after breaking out during powerful winds Jan. 7. Most of the region was forecast to get around an inch (about 2.5 centimeters) of precipitation over several days, but the threat is high enough to prepare for the worst-case scenario of localized cloudbursts causing mud and debris to flow down hills, the National Weather Service said on social media. So the problem would be if one of those showers happens to park itself over a burn area, weather service meteorologist Carol Smith said. That could be enough to create debris flows. Rainfall that began late Saturday was expected to increase Sunday and possibly last into early Tuesday, forecasters said. Flood watches were issued for some burn areas, while snow was likely in the mountains. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order last week to expedite cleanup efforts and mitigate the environmental impacts of fire-related pollutants. LA County supervisors also approved an emergency motion to install flood-control infrastructure and expedite and remove sediment in fire-impacted areas. Fire crews filled sandbags for communities, while county workers installed barriers and cleared drainage pipes and basins.Officials cautioned that ash in recent burn zones was a toxic mix of incinerated cars, electronics, batteries, building materials, paints, furniture and other household items. It contains pesticides, asbestos, plastics and lead. Residents were urged to wear protective gear while cleaning up. Concerns about post-fire debris flows have been especially high since 2018, when the town of Montecito, up the coast from LA, was ravaged by mudslides after a downpour hit mountain slopes burned bare by a huge blaze. Hundreds of homes were damaged and 23 people died. While the impending wet weather ended weeks of dangerous gusts and reduced humidity, several wildfires were still burning Saturday across Southern California. Those included the Palisades and Eaton fires, which killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 14,000 structures. Containment of the Palisades Fire reached 81% on Saturday and the Eaton Fire was 95% contained.In northern Los Angeles County, firefighters made significant progress against the Hughes Fire, which prompted evacuations for tens of thousands of people when it erupted on Wednesday in mountains near Lake Castaic. In San Diego County, there was still little containment of the Border 2 Fire as it burned through a remote area of the Otay Mountain Wilderness near the U.S.-Mexico border. The rain was expected to snap a near-record streak of dry weather for Southern California. Much of the region has received less than 5% of the average rainfall for this point in the water year, which began Oct. 1, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. Most of Southern California is currently in extreme drought or severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Ateasong Belts Tajoah shows a bullet scar on his neck during an interview with The Associated Press in Dschang, Cameroon, Friday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert Bociaga)2025-01-26T05:22:28Z DSCHANG, Cameroon (AP) In a classroom nestled in Cameroons lush highlands, a former rebel fighter teaches logic and philosophy. His students know him as calm and thoughtful, but his past tells a more turbulent story.For a year and a half, Ateasong Belts Tajoah fought with the Red Dragons, a separatist militia in the countrys conflict-ridden southwest. He joined the movement in 2017 at age 23 after local fighters came to his village and offered a chance to turn his frustrations with the government into action.Like many in the English-speaking parts of Cameroon, he felt marginalized by the government dominated by the French-speaking population. Those tensions, beginning with peaceful protests organized by lawyers and teachers, turned deadly almost a decade ago following a government crackdown.The fight for independence for English-speaking areas, which the emerging rebel groups called Ambazonia, has killed over 6,500 people and displaced over 1.1 million. As a rebel, Tajoah lived under plastic sheets in the rain, cooked for leaders and carried out attacks on military and civilian targets. You could never sleep with both eyes closed, he said, pointing to scars on his neck and stomach left by bullets. Drugs and alcohol were rampant in the camps, often used as coping mechanisms for the constant threat of ambushes or betrayal. The psychological toll was immense, Tajoah said, recalling the trauma of carrying the bodies of more than 20 fallen comrades. The rebel group believed that destroying schools would weaken the governments control over the region, a strategy that left a deep scar on the educational landscape.Armed groups enforced boycotts, burned classrooms and killed teachers who defied their orders. Nearly 488,000 children in the affected regions were out of school in 2024, according to UNICEF.Tajoah admitted to playing a role in the destruction, not sharing details but acknowledging the strategys profound harm to countless lives. The breaking point for him came with the loss of his 11-year-old child during an attack by government forces on his camp. Already disillusioned with the separatist leadership and overwhelmed by grief, he surrendered in early 2019.He entered a government-run rehabilitation center for former fighters in Buea, the capital of Cameroons Southwest region, where he spent 18 months reflecting on his past. Like many ex-combatants, Tajoah has faced a long and lonely road, with widespread stigma marking his path to reintegration into society.While the rehabilitation center promised skills training, the countrys demobilization program has faced widespread criticism for its slow implementation and lack of resources.Tajoah witnessed the prevalence of drugs, reportedly brought in by the same officials tasked with guiding ex-combatants. There were concerns that some fighters were allegedly coerced into military operations after surrendering. The government did not respond to a request for comment.Many ex-combatants have returned to armed groups, citing frustration with the rehabilitation program. In 2021, former fighters blocked streets in Buea to protest, accusing the government of not fulfilling its promise of support. Lack of oversight and transparency exacerbates the issues, according to Syndie Rhianne Makeutche, a peace researcher with the United Nations. Without these measures, the program risks losing credibility and pushing more ex-combatants back into violence, she said.Despite the challenges, Tajoah carved out a new path. He earned a masters degree in philosophy in July.Teaching is more than a job, he said. It is a way to confront my past and inspire others to avoid my mistakes.His presence in the classroom initially raised some fears. Many assumed former combatants were uneducated and dangerous, he said.With dedication and openness about his past, Tajoah gradually earned the trust of his students, their parents and the broader community.His decision to teach logic and philosophy stemmed from a long-standing interest in critical thinking and human behavior. I was fond of these subjects before becoming a fighter, he said. Today, he uses them to challenge students to think differently and to guide them toward a more constructive path.Beyond the classroom, Tajoah has become an outspoken advocate for peace. He employs a social media strategy to educate people about the dangers of rebellion, sharing images of fallen fighters to highlight the realities of armed conflict.He also risks his life traveling to villages, urging young people to put down their weapons. Some residents said his outreach has been instrumental in fostering peace, resulting in the surrender of some fighters.While some are skeptical about Tajoahs work, others see him as a beacon of change. More people understand now hes here to bring peace and encourage others to drop their guns, said Ajiawung Columbus Fortulah, a traditional chief of Atulah village, where Tajoah grew up. Some fighters have put down their weapons, and the local primary school has reopened for studies, Fortulah said.Yet Tajoahs activism has come at personal cost. His mother has been kidnapped twice by separatists, and he has received numerous death threats from separatists seeking to silence his efforts.Another ex-combatant, Okha Naseri Clovis, shares Tajoahs determination. Now studying logistics in Cameroons capital, Yaound, Clovis has been outspoken about his experiences, frequently criticizing separatist leaders. He addresses ex-combatants at rehabilitation centers, urging them to embrace reintegration and peace, and travels to remote villages to counter the narrative of separatists.Cameroonian officials have welcomed community efforts that support the rehabilitation program but have been accused by critics of not addressing the root causes of the crisis.The conflict, meanwhile, shows no signs of resolution. Peace talks with international mediators have stalled, with both sides accusing each other of bad faith.Theres a difference between the Anglophone crisis and Ambazonian terrorism, Tajoah said. Anglophones are marginalized, but guns and kidnappings wont solve it. Dialogue and action are the only way forward.He hopes his students will embrace that message.I fought to close schools, but now I teach to open minds, he said. The scars will always be there, but they dont have to define you.___The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Jannik Sinner of Italy plays a backhand return to Ben Shelton of the U.S. during their semifinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)2025-01-26T05:01:06Z MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Defending champion Jannik Sinner will face Alexander Zverev in the first Australian Open mens final between the players ranked No. 1 and No. 2 since Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in 2019.The top-seeded Sinner is a 23-year-old from Italy who can become the youngest man to win two consecutive trophies at Melbourne Park since Jim Courier in 1992 and 1993. Sinner also won the U.S. Open last September, shortly after being exonerated in a doping case that is still not entirely resolved.Sinner will be attempting to become the first man since Nadal at the French Open in 2005 and 2006 to follow up his first Grand Slam title by repeating as the champion at the same tournament a year later.Sinner enters Sunday on a 20-match winning streak that dates to late last season.The second-seeded Zverev is a 27-year-old from Germany who is seeking his first Grand Slam title. He is 0-2 in previous major finals and lost both in five sets. Zverev advanced to the final when Djokovic quit playing after the first set of their semifinal on Friday because of a torn muscle in his left leg. Djokovic, who was booed by some spectators as he left Rod Laver Arena, posted a photo of his hamstrings MRI on social media early Sunday, with the caption: Thought Id leave this here for all the sports injury experts out there.Play is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. local time (3:30 a.m. EST), and Sinner is listed as the favorite, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.___AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

U.N peacekeepers hold their flag in Blida, a Lebanese border village with Israel in south Lebanon, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)2025-01-26T08:26:24Z MAYS AL-JABAL, Lebanon (AP) At least three people were killed and more than 40 others injured in southern Lebanon Sunday when Israeli forces opened fire on protesters who had breached roadblocks the Israeli army set up a day before, Lebanons health ministry reported.Demonstrators, some of them carrying Hezbollah flags, attempted to enter several villages in the border area to protest Israels failure to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon by the 60-day deadline stipulated in a ceasefire agreement that halted the Israel-Hezbollah war in late November.Israel has said that it needs to stay longer because the Lebanese army has not deployed to all areas of southern Lebanon to ensure that Hezbollah does not reestablish a military presence in the area. The Lebanese army has said it cannot deploy until Israeli forces withdraw.Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, said in a statement addressing the people of southern Lebanon on Sunday that Lebanons sovereignty and territorial integrity are non-negotiable, and I am following up on this issue at the highest levels to ensure your rights and dignity. He urged them to exercise self-restraint and trust in the Lebanese Armed Forces. The Lebanese army, in a separate statement, said it was escorting civilians into some towns in the border area and called on residents to follow military instructions to ensure their safety. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, whose Amal Movement party is allied with Hezbollah and who served as an interlocutor between the militant group and the U.S. during ceasefire negotiations, said in a statement that Sundays bloodshed is a clear and urgent call for the international community to act immediately and compel Israel to withdraw from occupied Lebanese territories. Lebanons Health Ministry said in a statement that one protester was killed and 10 others injured in the border village of Houla. Another protester was killed in the village of Aitaroun and 11 injured. A third protester was killed in the village of Blida and one person injured. The health ministry also reported injuries in the areas of Mays al-Jabal, Markaba, Bani Hayyan, Odaisseh, Rab Thalatin and Kfar Kila. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the protests.The Israeli armys Arabic language spokesman called Sunday morning in a post on X for residents of the border area not to attempt to return to their villages.An AP team was stranded overnight at a base of the U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL near Mays al-Jabal after the Israeli army erected roadblocks Saturday while they were joining a patrol by peacekeepers. The journalists reported hearing gunshots and booming sounds Sunday morning from the base, and peacekeepers said that dozens of protesters had gathered nearby.Sewell reported from Beirut. AP writer Sally Abou AlJoud contributed. KAREEM CHEHAYEB Chehayeb is an Associated Press reporter in Beirut. twitter instagram mailto ABBY SEWELL Sewell is the Associated Press news director for Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. She joined the AP in 2022 but has been based in the region since 2016, reporting and guiding coverage on some of its most significant news stories. twitter mailto

A bulldozer works to open the al Rashid main road for Palestinians who are returning from the southern parts of the Gaza Strip to the north, in Gaza City, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo/Abed Hajjar)2025-01-26T08:29:20Z DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) A Palestinian man was killed and seven people were wounded by Israeli fire overnight, local health officials said Sunday, as crowds gathered in hopes of returning to the northern Gaza Strip under a fragile week-old ceasefire aimed at winding down the war.In a separate development, President Donald Trump suggested Saturday that most of Gazas population should be at least temporarily resettled elsewhere, including in Egypt and Jordan, in order to just clean out the war-ravaged enclave. Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians themselves have previously rejected such a scenario.Under the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Israel on Saturday was to begin allowing Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza on foot through the so-called Netzarim corridor bisecting the territory. Israel put the move on hold until Hamas freed a hostage who Israel said was supposed to have been released that day. The man was shot and two others were wounded late Saturday, according to the Awda Hospital, which received the casualties. Another five Palestinians, including a child, were wounded early Sunday in a separate shooting, the hospital said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.Israel has pulled back from several areas of Gaza as part of the ceasefire, which came into force last Sunday, but the military has warned people to stay away from its forces, which are still operating in a buffer zone inside Gaza along the border and in the Netzarim corridor. Hamas freed four young female Israeli soldiers on Saturday, and Israel released some 200 Palestinian prisoners, most of whom were serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks. The release of four Israeli hostages Saturday comes nearly a week into a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and is part of a long and uncertain process aimed at eventually ending the war. The APs Sam Mednick explains. But Israel said another hostage, the female civilian Arbel Yehoud, was supposed to have been released as well, and that it would not open the Netzarim corridor until she was freed. It also accused Hamas of failing to provide details on the conditions of the hostages set to be freed in the coming weeks. The United States, Egypt and Qatar, which mediated the ceasefire, were working to address the dispute.The ceasefire reached earlier this month after more than a year of negotiations is aimed at ending the 15-month war triggered by Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack and freeing scores of hostages still held in Gaza in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.Around 90 hostages are still being held in Gaza, and Israeli authorities believe at least a third, and up to half of them, were killed in the initial attack or died in captivity.The first phase of the ceasefire runs until early March and includes the release of a total of 33 hostages and nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The second and far more difficult phase, has yet to be negotiated. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining hostages without an end to the war, while Israel has threatened to resume its offensive until Hamas is destroyed.Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in the Oct. 7 attack, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 people. More than 100 were freed during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023. Israeli forces have rescued eight living hostages and recovered the remains of dozens more, at least three of whom were mistakenly killed by Israeli forces. Seven have been freed since the latest ceasefire began. Israels military campaign has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gazas Health Ministry. It does not say how many of the dead were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.Israeli bombardment and ground operations have flattened wide swaths of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population of 2.3 million people. Many who have returned to their homes since the ceasefire began have found only mounds of rubble where their neighborhoods once stood.___Magdy reported from Cairo and Krauss from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

FILE- South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attends the fourth hearing of his impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (Jeon Heon Kyun/Pool Photo via AP, File)2025-01-26T10:11:33Z SEOUL, South Korea (AP) South Korean prosecutors on Sunday indicted impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on rebellion in connection with his short-lived imposition of martial law, news reports said, a criminal charges that could put him to death or jail for life if convicted.This is the latest blow to Yoon, who was impeached and arrested over his Dec. 3 martial law decree that plunged the country into huge political turmoil, shaking South Korean politics and financial markets as well as its international image. Separate from criminal judicial proceedings, the Constitutional Court is now deliberating whether to formally dismiss Yoon as president or reinstate him.South Korean media outlets, including Yonhap news agency, reported that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office indicted Yoon over rebellion. Calls to the prosecutors office and Yoons lawyers went unanswered. Yoon, a conservative, has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, calling his martial law a legitimate act of governance meant to raise public awareness of the danger of the liberal-controlled National Assembly which obstructed his agenda and impeached top officials. During his announcement of martial law, Yoon called the assembly a den of criminals and vowed to eliminate shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces. After declaring martial law on Dec. 3, Yoon sent troops and police officers to the assembly, but enough lawmakers still managed to enter an assembly chamber to vote down Yoons decree unanimously, forcing his Cabinet to lift it. The martial law imposition, the first of its kind in South Korea in more than 40 years, lasted only six hours. However, it evoked painful memories of past dictatorial rules in the 1960s-80s when military-backed rulers used martial laws and emergency decrees to suppress opponents.South Koreas constitution gives the president the power to declare martial law to keep order in wartime and other comparable emergency states, but many experts say the country wasnt under such conditions when Yoon declared martial law. Yoon insists he had no intentions of disrupting assembly work i ncluding its floor vote on his decree and that the dispatch of troops and police forces was meant to maintain order. But commanders of military units sent to the assembly have told assembly hearings or investigators that Yoon ordered them to drag out lawmakers.Investigations on Yoon have intensified the countrys already serious internal division, with rival protesters regularly staging rallies in downtown Seoul.After a local court on Jan. 19 approved a formal arrest warrant to extend Yoons detainment, dozens of his supporters stormed the court building, destroying windows, doors and other property. They also attacked police officers with bricks, steel pipes and other objects. The violence left 17 police officers injured, and police said they detained 46 protesters.Yoon earlier resisted efforts by investigative authorities to question or detain him. He then was apprehended on Jan. 15 in a massive law enforcement operation at his presidential compound. Leading Yoons investigation was the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, but since his detainment Yoon has refused to attend CIOs questioning, saying it has no legal authority to investigate rebellion allegations. The CIO has said it can investigate Yoons rebellion allegation as its related to his abuse of power and other allegations.Yoon has presidential immunity from most criminal prosecutions, but the privilege does not extend to allegations of rebellion or treason.The CIO handed over Yoons case to the Seoul prosecutors office Friday and asked it to indict him on rebellion, abuse of power and obstruction of the National Assembly. By law in South Korea, the leader of a rebellion can face life in prison or the death penalty.In a statement Saturday, Yoons defense team urged prosecutors to immediately release Yoon and launch an investigation on the CIO. Yoons defense minister, police chief and several other military commanders have already been arrested over their roles in the martial law decree. 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

CAPTION CORRECTS YEAR A UN armoured personnel carrier burns during clashes with M23 rebels outside Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)2025-01-26T10:26:43Z GOMA, Congo (AP) Congo severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda as fighting between Rwanda-backed rebels and government forces raged around the key eastern city of Goma, leaving at least 13 peacekeepers and foreign soldiers dead and displacing thousands of civilians.The M23 rebel group has made significant territorial gains along the border with Rwanda in recent weeks, closing in on Goma, the provincial capital of around 2 million people and a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts. Congo, the United States and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which is mainly made up of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army more than a decade ago. Its one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in the mineral-rich region, where a long-running conflict has created one of the worlds largest humanitarian crises. Rwandas government denies backing the rebels, but last year acknowledged that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a buildup of Congolese forces near the border. U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo. The Congolese Foreign ministry said late Saturday it was severing diplomatic ties with Rwanda and pulling out all diplomatic staff from the country with immediate effect. Rwanda did not comment immediately. The U.N. Security Council moved up an emergency meeting on the escalating violence in eastern Congo to Sunday. Congo requested the meeting, which had originally been scheduled for Monday. On Sunday morning, heavy gunfire resonated across Goma, just a few kilometers (miles) from the front line, while scores of displaced children and adults fled the camps at the citys outskirts and marched toward the city center.Earlier in the week, the rebels seized Sake, 27 kilometers (16 miles) from Goma, as concerns mounted that the city could soon fall. Congos army said Saturday it fended off an M23 offensive with the help of allied forces, including U.N. troops and soldiers from the Southern African Development Community Mission, also known as SAMIDRC.Two South African peacekeepers were killed Friday, while a Uruguayan soldier was killed Saturday, a U.N. official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to speak on the matter publicly.Additionally, three Malawian peacekeepers were killed in eastern Congo, the United Nations in Malawi said Saturday.Seven South African soldiers from the SAMIDRC were also killed during clashes with M23 over the last two days, South Africas Defense Department said.Since 2021, Congos government and allied forces, including SAMIDRC and U.N. troops, have been keeping M23 away from Goma.The U.N peacekeeping force, also known as MONUSCO, entered Congo more than two decades ago and has around 14,000 peacekeepers on the ground.

Displaced Palestinians return to Rafah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 a day after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)2025-01-26T09:43:56Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) President Donald Trumps suggestion that Egypt and Jordan take in Palestinians from the war-ravaged Gaza Strip is likely to be met with a hard no from the two U.S. allies and the Palestinians themselves who fear Israel would never allow them to return.Trump floated the idea on Saturday, saying he would urge the leaders of the two Arab countries to take in Gazas now largely homeless population, so that we just clean out that whole thing. He added that resettling Gazas population could be temporary or long term.Its literally a demolition site right now, Trump said, referring to the vast destruction caused by Israels 15-month military campaign against Hamas, now paused by a fragile ceasefire. Id rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change, Trump said. There was no immediate comment from Egypt, Jordan, Israel or Palestinian officials.The idea is likely to be welcomed by Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus far-right governing partners have long advocated what they describe as the voluntary migration of large numbers of Palestinians and the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza.Human rights groups have already accused Israel of ethnic cleansing, which United Nations experts have defined as a policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove the civilian population of another group from certain areas by violent and terror-inspiring means. A History of DisplacementBefore and during the 1948 war surrounding Israels creation, some 700,000 Palestinians a majority of the prewar population fled or were driven from their homes in what is now Israel, an event they commemorate as the Nakba Arabic for catastrophe.Israel refused to allow them to return because it would have resulted in a Palestinian majority within its borders. The refugees and their descendants now number around 6 million, with large communities in Gaza, where they make up the majority of the population, as well as the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. In the 1967 Mideast war, when Israel seized the West Bank and Gaza Strip, 300,000 more Palestinians fled, mostly into Jordan.The decades-old refugee crisis has been a major driver of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and was one of the thorniest issues in peace talks that last broke down in 2009. The Palestinians claim a right of return, while Israel says they should be absorbed by surrounding Arab countries.Many Palestinians view the latest war in Gaza, in which entire neighborhoods have been shelled to oblivion and 90% of the population of 2.3 million have been forced from their homes, as a new Nakba. They fear that if large numbers of Palestinians leave Gaza, then they too may never return. A red line for countries that made peace with Israel decades agoEgypt and Jordan fiercely rejected the idea of accepting Gaza refugees early in the war, when it was floated by some Israeli officials.Both countries have made peace with Israel but support the creation of a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. They fear that the permanent displacement of Gazas population could make that impossible.Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has also warned of the security implications of transferring large numbers of Palestinians to Egypts Sinai Peninsula, bordering Gaza.Hamas and other militant groups are deeply rooted in Palestinian society and are likely to move with the refugees, which would mean that future wars would be fought on Egyptian soil, something that could unravel the historic Camp David peace treaty, a cornerstone of regional stability.The peace which we have achieved would vanish from our hands, el-Sissi said in October 2023, after Hamas attack on southern Israel triggered the war. All for the sake of the idea of eliminating the Palestinian cause.Thats what happened in Lebanon in the 1970s, when Yasser Arafats Palestine Liberation Organization, the leading militant group of its time, transformed the countrys south into a launchpad for attacks on Israel. The refugee crisis and the PLOs actions helped push Lebanon into a 15-year civil war in 1975. Israel invaded twice and occupied southern Lebanon from 1982 until 2000. Jordan, which clashed with the PLO and expelled it under similar circumstances in 1970, already hosts more than 2 million Palestinian refugees, the majority of whom have been granted citizenship.Israeli ultranationalists have long suggested that Jordan be considered a Palestinian state so that Israel can keep the West Bank, which they view as the biblical heartland of the Jewish people. Jordans monarchy has vehemently rejected that scenario. Can Trump force Egypt and Jordan to accept refugees?That depends on how serious Trump is about the idea and how far he is prepared to go.U.S. tariffs one of Trumps favorite economic tools or outright sanctions could be devastating for Jordan and Egypt. The two countries receive billions of dollars in American aid each year, and Egypt is already mired in an economic crisis.But allowing an influx of refugees could also be destabilizing. Egypt says it is currently hosting some 9 million migrants, including refugees from Sudans civil war. Jordan, with a population of less than 12 million, is hosting over 700,000 refugees, mainly from Syria.U.S. pressure would also risk alienating key allies in the region with whom Trump has had good relations not only el-Sissi and Jordans King Abdullah II, but the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, all of whom support the Palestinian cause.That would potentially complicate efforts to broker a historic agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel to normalize relations, something Trump tried to do during his previous term and expects to complete in his current one.___Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., responds to questions during his weekly press conference at the Capitol, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)2025-01-26T13:04:59Z WASHINGTON (AP) When Donald Trump took office in 2017 with promises to crack down on immigration, he was met by widespread protests that filled churches, airports and union halls as Democratic lawmaker vowed to fight the new Republican president at every turn. The second time around, Democrats helped send an immigration bill to his desk during his first week in office.Stinging from election losses, the Democratic Party has so far been splintered in responding to Trumps push against illegal immigration. Yet the partys soul searching comes as the stakes could hardly be higher. The new president is acting to seal off the U.S.-Mexico border border to asylum seekers and deport millions of immigrants who do not have permanent legal status.I think Donald Trump has painted the Democratic Party into a corner on immigration, and its going to take us a while to get out of the corner, said Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo. I want us acting out of conviction about what we believe about immigration rather than out of fear. Looking for areas of agreement with TrumpOn Capitol Hill, a crucial faction of Democrats are looking for places of agreement with Trump.Between the House and Senate, 58 Democrats last week voted to pass the Laken Riley Act, which requires federal authorities to detain migrants accused of theft, assaulting a police officer, or other crimes that injure or kill someone.Meanwhile, other congressional Democrats said they spent the last week addressing the fears and developing resources for those who could be deported. Rep. Juan Vargas, D-Calif., joined a priest at Our Lady of Guadalupe church in San Diego last weekend, carrying the Eucharist from home to home because so many in the congregation feared to go outside. What the Democratic votes may meanFor Republicans, the votes on the Laken Riley Act were proof that they had found a winning message amplified and led by Trump on illegal immigration. They are planning to continue pushing immigration legislation, as well as a roughly $100 billion package that would enable Trump to carry out his border and deportation plans.Democratic senators willing to back tougher enforcement could be crucial. It takes support from 60 senators to advance most legislation, meaning that at least a few Democrats will need to be on board. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority.Its a really important moment for the country. And its always good when the right thing is also the popular thing, said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., after the Laken Riley Act passed. It was named after a Georgia nursing student who was killed last year by a Venezuelan man who had entered the United States illegally and was allowed to stay and to pursue his immigration case.When asked about Democratic votes for the legislation, the partys leader in the House, New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, was circumspect.House Democrats are going to continue to make decisions based on whats right for the districts that we represent, and the politics will take care of themselves, he said.Since last year, many Democrats have steadily moved to the right on border security, emphasizing the need for stricter immigration enforcement after historic numbers of migrants arrived at times under Democrat Joe Bidens presidency. What Americans thinkHalf of U.S. adults now think increasing security at the border should be a high priority for the federal government, according to a January poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Another 3 in 10 adults say it should be a moderate priority.While most Democrats oppose deporting all immigrants who are living in the U.S. illegally, about 8 in 10 also favor deporting immigrants in the country illegally who have been convicted of a violent crime. The Biden administration prioritized for deportation those who posed a threat to national security. The Trump administration plans to go further by beginning its deportation operation with immigrants tied to crime.Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat who last year won in Arizona while Trump also carried the state, was outspoken in his support for legislation such as the Laken Riley Act. He said that he was just reflecting the will of his constituents, including many Latino voters.They want sane border security, commonsense solutions, more Border Patrol, more customs officers, Gallego said. They want to see bad people get deported. They want to see an opportunity for good people to find a way for them to stay here. The search for unityImmigration advocates are frustrated by Democrats acquiescing to Trumps tough border. They fear Trump can own the narrative around immigration.Vanessa Crdenas, the executive director of Americas Voice advocacy group, acknowledged that it was a tough moment for Democrats. But, Crdenas added, They need to find their backbone and put up a fight.After the Laken Riley Act passed, leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, a Democratic group that has usually played a key role in immigration policy, met with Jeffries as their party tried to formulate a united message. The group said it would focus on action to keep mixed-status families together, protect farmworkers and advocate for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Still, the group ranges from progressive members to those who voted for the new legislation.We have to show we have the ability to build consensus internally, New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Hispanic caucus, told The Associated Press.At a news conference the next day, Espaillat laid out the practical concerns of mass deportations, from forcing out immigrants who have contributed to the U.S. for decades to rising food prices if agricultural laborers are targeted.The event was intended to present a united front, yet as members of the caucus took turns at the microphone, their promises varied.We are going to be here to fight back, said Rep. Nydia Velzquez, D-N.Y.Then Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., spoke: There are opportunities for us to work with Republicans, such as fighting the cartels and coyotes who traffic women and children, provide an endless supply of drugs and hurt our border communities.__Associated Press writer Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report. STEPHEN GROVES Groves covers Congress for The Associated Press. twitter mailto

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks during the Libertarian National Convention at the Washington Hilton in Washington, Friday, May 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)2025-01-26T14:00:06Z WASHINGTON (AP) When President Donald Trump tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to become the nations top health official, his administration inherited a sprawling list of ideas to Make America Healthy Again, from banning TV drug advertisements to dropping restrictions on raw milk.While those unorthodox proposals and Kennedys discredited views on vaccines have dominated recent headlines, a slate of more familiar ideas have attracted interest on Capitol Hill and across the U.S.: making school lunches healthier, banning certain food additives and cracking down on ultraprocessed foods linked to obesity and diabetes.For decades, public health groups have called for similar steps, lobbying federal leaders and mounting public campaigns about the risks of American diets loaded with salt, sugar and fat.As Kennedy faces Senate confirmation hearings Wednesday and Thursday, health advocates find themselves in an uncomfortable position: voicing cautious support for some of Kennedys ideas while warning of the catastrophic consequences of others. If theres an opportunity to advance the public health, you have to seize it, said Dr. Peter Lurie, a former FDA official who now leads the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest. So you cant ignore the guy on everything because you oppose him on some things. Like many experts, Lurie says Kennedys record on vaccines should disqualify him from becoming health secretary. And hes deeply skeptical Kennedy can deliver on his ideas for food and nutrition. Kennedys confirmation is far from certain in the Senate, where he is expected to face pointed questioning from both Republicans and Democrats on the chambers health and finance committees. Kennedy has been downplaying his long history in the anti-vaccine movement, but experts say thats where lawmakers should focus.The elephant in the room is vaccine policy, said Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under Barack Obama. In medicine we say: Above all, do no harm. Im certainly not convinced that RFK Jr. wouldnt do a lot of harm to our vaccine policy and to our kids. Still, such worries havent stopped some Democrats from finding shared interests.Former Ohio congressman Tim Ryan penned an op-ed last month titled: Hey Democrats: We should work with RFK Jr. on fixing Americas food system.Sen. Cory Booker, a vegan, told reporters that he and Kennedy are talking out of the same playbook when it comes to food reforms.Bookers office did not respond to a request for comment. Trump and Kennedy are an unlikely allianceTrumps unlikely alliance with Kennedy, a lifelong Democrat until 2023, reflects a diverse segment of Americans who increasingly worry about chemicals in their food and water and distrust medical experts, government officials, and big food and drugmakers.Supporters of Kennedys longshot presidential campaign included California parents concerned about food dyes in cereal and Midwestern factory workers resentful of COVID-19 vaccine mandates.But the clash between Trumps antiregulatory approach and Kennedys anticorporate stance has many observers skeptical that much of the so-called MAHA agenda will ever happen.Requiring healthier foods in school lunches, for example, has long been opposed by food and agriculture companies that overwhelmingly backed Trump in the last election, donating to his campaign by a nearly 4-to-1 margin over Kamala Harris, according to records compiled by Opensecrets.org.During Trumps first term, political appointees weakened school nutrition guidelines introduced as part of Michelle Obamas Lets Move campaign. The rules required schools to offer more fruit and vegetable options.Making major changes to the federal program involves coordination between the Agriculture Department, the Department of Health and Human Services and dozens of state educational programs.They dont have the policy coherence to make that happen, said Dr. Georges Benjamin of the American Public Health Association. People have been talking about improving the quality of school lunches for many years, but it takes a lot of money and collaboration to do it at a national level. Even seemingly smaller goals like banning potentially harmful food additives would require new regulations and staffers at FDA which Kennedy has vowed to clear out.U.S. foods contain hundreds of ingredients that arent permitted in Europe because American companies arent required to seek FDA approval before introducing them. Companies can self-certify that new colors or chemicals are generally recognized as safe. Efforts to reform the decades-old system have been rejected in court and defeated in Congress, with backing from industry lobbyists.Seemingly popular ideas like discouraging ultraprocessed foods could also prove untenable.I dont think most Americans know that when you talk about ultraprocessed foods youre talking about ice cream, frozen dinners, fast food, said Benjamin. Are we really talking about changing the entire American food experience? Experts hope for the best, but prepare for the worstIf Kennedy is blocked from overhauling the nations food system he would still have many other ideas to pursue.What we have is a bunch of good things that are very unlikely to happen weighed against a bunch of bad things that are very injurious but are much more feasible, Lurie said.Kennedy has threatened to fire hundreds of employees at the National Institutes of Health and slash FDA regulations on a host of unproven treatments, including stem cells, psychedelics and discredited COVID-era treatments like ivermectin.Even seemingly small changes on vaccines could have damaging consequences, experts say.Kennedy could dissolve current federal vaccine committees and staff them with advisers who are hostile to vaccines. Currently, insurers must pay for children to receive shots recommended by those experts. But the requirement would lapse if Kennedys appointees declined to endorse updated shots and immunization schedules.For now, Georgetown Universitys Larry Gostin says he and other advocates are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.If he comes up with ideas that are good and actionable, I will be the first one to applaud and put my back into helping them succeed, said Gostin, a health attorney. Im just very skeptical that he will do that.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Pete Hegseth speaks after being sworn in as Secretary of Defense by Vice President JD Vance in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)2025-01-26T13:40:32Z WASHINGTON (AP) When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth steps into his office on the Pentagons third floor E Ring on Monday morning, he will have a daunting array of issues to tackle from global conflicts and border security to administrative tasks.At the top of his list is addressing President Donald Trumps priority to strengthen the U.S. military presence along the southern border and reviewing whether active-duty forces should be used for law enforcement something done rarely.Dozens of other issues will compete for his attention, including developing the Pentagons massive budget, decisions about aid to Ukraine, support for the ceasefire in Gaza, troop deployments in the Middle East. Not to mention Trump directives to rid the federal government of diversity programs and personnel as well as moves to cut waste and remove any lingering Biden administration backers. In a message to the force shortly after he was sworn in Saturday, Hegseth cited the challenges he sees ahead. Some are ones his predecessors also faced, such as reorienting the military from decades of a Mideast focus and better deterring China. Continued conflict in the region, including the October 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, has made that shift impossible to execute. Hegseth also told service members about other priorities, including strengthening the defense industrial base and getting the Pentagon to pass an audit, while ensuring that the U.S. remains the strongest and most lethal force in the world. Already, support staff have been meeting with military leaders, including Gen. CQ Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But Hegseth will get to experience what many describe as drinking from a firehose as he works to quickly get up to speed on what his 2.1 million service members and 780,000 civilians in the department are doing. Among them are tens of thousands serving overseas, including in combat zones. Then there are the cultural issues that Hegseth railed on as a media personality that did not make it into Hegseths message to the military. Many expect they will surface in the coming days. Here are some key issues that Hegseth, who was confirmed in a tiebreaking vote Friday by Vice President JD Vance, will face right away:Border deployments In trying to meet Trumps demand of securing the border, Hegseth will face a barrage of information about what troops are available, what assistance the Border Patrol needs and where, as well as how to house, feed and transport the troops and border personnel and how to ensure none of this affects other national security requirements.One of his first big decisions is whether he will recommend that active-duty troops deployed to the border get involved in law enforcement, a move that military leaders in recent years have pushed to avoid. Active-duty forces are prohibited from doing law enforcement duties on U.S. soil under the Posse Comitatus Act. Trump has signed an executive order directing that his defense and homeland security secretaries report back within 90 days on whether they think he should invoke the 1807 law called the Insurrection Act, which allows troops to be used for civilian law enforcement on U.S. soil during emergencies. During previous deployments, troops have been used for transportation, intelligence, logistics, wall-building and other support tasks, freeing up the Border Patrol to interact with migrants and conduct the law enforcement duties. Transgender troops In his first executive order, Trump again stripped protections for transgender troops that Democratic President Joe Biden had restored after Trump banned those members from serving during his first term in office. The ban previously faced legal challenges, and lawyers who represented transgender forces last time are readying to take it up in the courts again. While Trump has not announced a ban, his decision to revoke protections is seen as a first step toward that. It is unclear how many troops would be affected. The Defense Department has no exact figure on the number of transgender troops serving because not every transgender person is in the same state of medical transition and not every transgender person identifies as such in military paperwork. The department has referred queries on how many transgender troops there are to the services; the services have said they have no way to track. The budget and UkraineHegseth will have to become familiar with the complicated construction of the Pentagon budget, which right now is about $850 billion. Trump ran on a vow to make the U.S. military more lethal something Hegseth has echoed. But they also have spoken extensively about cutting waste. So Hegseths imprint on the budget will be studied to determine how thats being done.Woven into those discussions will be security assistance to Ukraine. The State Department has ordered a freeze on new funding for almost all U.S. foreign aid, and there was no indication of a waiver for military assistance for Ukraine like there was for Israel and Egypt. The Biden administration provided Kyiv with more than $66 billion in military aid and weapons during the war with Russia. It had left unspent about $3.85 billion in congressionally authorized funding to send more weapons to Ukraine from existing U.S. stockpiles a sum that is not affected by the foreign aid freeze. But it is now up to Hegseth and Trump to decide whether or not to spend it, and Trump hasnt said what he will do on Ukraine aid. Diversity, equity and inclusion rollbacksHegseth will take over the Pentagons push to implement Trumps executive order to get rid of DEI programs, coming as military officers fret over whether they will be fired for being woke, as Hegseth has pledged to do.During his Senate hearing, Hegseth affirmed his commitment to focus on lethality and to eliminate wokeness, arguing that DEI policies divide troops and do not prioritize meritocracy.Officials said the Defense Department doesnt have any full-time workers assigned to DEI so they dont expect to have to fire people, as other federal agencies have.But senior leaders have been poring over their websites to delete pages that mention diversity. Lacking clear guidance, staffers were pulling websites down in often inconsistent ways. The Army, for example, temporarily removed its sexual assault guidelines before they later came back online.Hegseth also has railed against women in combat in his books and on podcasts and said standards were lowered for them, which is not true. He has since toned down his criticism after substantial pushback from lawmakers.He most recently told senators that hes not aware that Trump wants to roll back the decision to allow women to serve in all combat jobs. Instead, he has talked about doing a review of standards.Reproductive careAfter the Supreme Court in 2022 ended constitutional protections for abortion that were set out in Roe v. Wade, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin came out with a policy that would allow service members to take leave and be reimbursed for travel expenses to obtain reproductive care including abortions and in-vitro fertilization if the military base they were assigned to was in a state that had banned that care. Its not clear whether Hegseth will seek to further revise that policy to remove the reimbursement provisions. It has been only scarcely used, and the department does not break down what the travel was for due to medical privacy laws. LOLITA C. BALDOR Baldor has covered the Pentagon and national security issues for The Associated Press since 2005. She has reported from all over the world including warzones in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. twitter mailto TARA COPP Copp covers the Pentagon and national security for the Associated Press. She has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, throughout the Middle East, Europe and Asia. twitter mailto

President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order aiming to declassify remaining federal records relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)2025-01-26T13:44:45Z WASHINGTON (AP) Two months ago, in his first network television interview after the election, Donald Trump said he owed his victory to Americans anger over immigration and inflation, specifically the rising cost of groceries.When you buy apples, when you buy bacon, when you buy eggs, they would double and triple the price over a short period of time, he told NBCs Meet the Press. And I won an election based on that. Were going to bring those prices way down.But in Trumps first week back in the White House, there was little in his initial blitz of executive orders that directly tackled those prices, besides directing federal agencies to start pursuing appropriate actions. He is taking steps to lower energy costs, something that Trump hopes will have ripple effects throughout the economy. Otherwise, his focus has been clamping down on immigration, which he described as his No. 1 issue shortly after taking the oath of office. They all said inflation was the No. 1 issue. I said, I disagree, Trump said. I talked about inflation too, but how many times can you say that an apple has doubled in cost? Trump is banking on voters giving him a pass and continuing to blame former President Joe Biden for high prices. The Republicans comments reflect the reality that presidents have almost no levers to reduce inflation quickly without causing collateral damage to other parts of the economy. There is more that Trump can do on energy. He is pushing to reduce regulations and increase the amount of land available for drilling. He is trying to persuade domestic and foreign oil producers to potentially sacrifice their own profits by pumping more.During a rally Saturday in Las Vegas, Trump went after his Democratic predecessor for allowing prices to rise under his watch, and promised to take care of the problem quickly. When I think of Biden, I think of incompetence and inflation, Trump said. Inflation peaked at a 9.1% annual rate in June 2022 during worldwide supply chain problems after the economic shock of the coronavirus pandemic. Overall consumer prices have fallen since then, but have ticked up in recent months, from 2.4% in September to 2.9% in December, the latest figures available. Economists have warned that Trumps plans for tariffs and tax cuts could create new inflationary pressures and keep interest rates elevated.Vice President JD Vance, in an interview with CBS Face the Nation airing Sunday, defended the White Houses work so far. Prices are going to come down, but its going to take a little bit of time, right? he said. He added, Rome wasnt built in a day. Trumps relative shift away from addressing costs could create an opening for Democrats to say he is not helping working-class voters, hoping that argument could offer the party a path back to power in Washington. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Trump preferred to distract people from inflation with talk of adding Greenland to the United States or seizing the Panama Canal.Its catnip and it causes everybody to stop paying attention to their actual economic agenda, which has nothing to do with lowering costs and everything to do with rigging the economy to help the Mar-a-Lago crowd, he said. During an interview on Fox News this past week, host Sean Hannity struggled to get Trump to focus on the economy. Let me get to the economy, Hannity said at one point. Im running out of time.The economy is going to do great, Trump insisted.When Trump did talk about inflation in the interview, he noted how low it was during his first term and insisted prices would not have jumped up if he had president after the 2020 election, even though higher inflation was a global trend coming out of the pandemic.It is not clear how Trump would persuade oil companies and foreign countries to quickly increase production, possibly costing them profits. The Energy Information Administration reported that domestic oil production has grown at an annual rate of roughly 8.4% over the past two years to an average of nearly 13.5 million barrels a day in October. Some Trump aides suggest that could increase by an additional 3 million barrels a day. It would be difficult to achieve that much additional production in a single year without serious changes to the global market. The International Energy Agency estimates that the oil supplied to the entire world will increase by 1.8 million barrels per day to 104.7 million barrels a day. He also has expressed opposition to climate-friendlier wind and solar energy, putting more pressure on the U.S. economy to rely on fossil fuels.EJ Antoni, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, said the potential increase in energy production under Trump would ultimately flow through the economy in the form of lower prices. If youre going to bring down the cost of energy, youre going to bring down the cost of all kinds of goods and services, he said.But there is a risk that some of Trumps plans taken as a whole could raise not reduce prices. Deporting migrants who are in the United States illegally could deprive companies of lower wage workers. The cost of tariffs, which are taxes placed on foreign imports, could be passed on to consumers.Trump said that his strategy also might ultimately involve publicly pressuring the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, saying in Davos that he would demand lower rates from central banks. The Fed sees its political independence as key for making tough choices to stabilize prices. Biden saw the independence as worth protecting, whereas Trump sees it as problematic.The Fed raised its benchmark rates starting in 2022 to make it more expensive to borrow and succeeded enough in reducing inflationary pressures that it could trim rates late last year. Trump believes that greater oil production will put him in a position to tell the Fed what to do.Asked in the Oval Office if he expects the Fed to listen to him, Trump simply said, Yeah. CHRIS MEGERIAN Megerian covers the White House for The Associated Press. He previously wrote about the Russia investigation, climate change, law enforcement and politics in California and New Jersey. twitter mailto JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto

A boat is seen on the Susitna River near Talkeetna, Alaska, on Sunday, June 13, 2021, with Denali in the background. Denali, the tallest mountain on the North American continent, is located about 60 miles northwest of Talkeetna. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)2025-01-26T12:58:09Z ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) North Americas tallest peak is a focal point of Jeff Kings life.The four-time winner of the 1,000-mile (1,609-kilometer) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race operates his kennel and mushing tourism business just 8 miles (12.87 kilometers) from Denali National Park and Preserves entrance, and the 20,310-foot (6,190-meter) mountain looms large as he trains his dogs on nearby trails.King and many others who live in the mountains shadow say most Alaskans will never stop calling the peak Denali, its Alaska Native name, despite President Donald Trumps executive order that the name revert to Mount McKinley -- an identifier inspired by President William McKinley, who was from Ohio and never set foot in Alaska.For many who live near Denali, Trumps suggestion was peculiar.I dont know a single person that likes the idea, and were pretty vocal about it, King said. Denali respects the Indigenous people that have been here and around Denali for tens of thousands of years. The mountain was named after McKinley when a prospector walked out of the Alaska wilderness in 1896, and the first news he heard was that the Republican had been nominated for president. The name was quickly challenged, but maps had already been circulated with the mountains name in place.At the time, there was no recognition of the name Denali, or the high one, bestowed on the mountain in interior Alaska by Athabascan tribal members, who have lived in the region for centuries. The McKinley name stuck until 2015, when President Barack Obamas administration changed it to Denali as a symbolic gesture to Alaska Natives on the eve of his Alaska visit to highlight climate change.Trump said he issued the order to restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs. President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent. The area lies solely in the United States, and Trump, as president, has the authority to change federal geographical names within the country.In Ohio, Trumps move drew praise.I was really excited to see President Trump do that executive order, former U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, told The Associated Press by telephone Thursday. McKinley was a great president, Gibbs said. It was the appropriate thing to do.Thats not how Alaskans see it.Trump injected a jarring note into Alaska affairs, Steve Haycox, professor emeritus of history at the University of Alaska Anchorage, wrote in the Anchorage Daily News.Historical analysis confirms that William McKinley is the wrong public figure for Alaskans to commemorate, he said.McKinley served as president from 1897 until he was assassinated in 1901. He was an imperial colonialist who oversaw the expansion of the American empire with the occupation of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines and Hawaii, pushed by business interests and Christian missionaries wanting to convert Indigenous peoples, Haycox said.Trumps push to rescind the name Denali for the colonialist and white elitist McKinley is insulting to all Alaskans, especially to Alaskas Native people, and should be soundly rejected, Haycox said. John Wayne Howe, who unsuccessfully ran for U.S. House last year representing the Alaskan Independence Party, which holds that Alaskans should be allowed to vote on becoming an independent nation, said he is tired of people changing the names of stuff, period.He also is not in favor of naming anything after people because the persons that we consider absolutely perfect change over time, and it just leads to confusion.Howe said he prefers Denali because he knows McKinleys history and its the name most preferred by Alaskans.This past week, two resolutions were introduced in the Alaska Legislature to keep the name Denali.Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Trump ally who praised another order by the president aimed at spurring resource development in the state, said he had not had a chance to speak with Trump about the issue but hoped to have a conversation next month in Washington about what Denali means to Alaskans, Americans and our Native folks. But Sarah Palin, a former Republican governor who is also a Trump supporter, said the McKinley name should never have been removed.Palins Secret Service code name was Denali in 2008 when she was GOP presidential nominee John McCains running mate the year they lost to Obama and Joe Biden.But in an interview with Al Arabiya News this past week, Palin said she didnt see why the mountains name needed to be changed to begin with.Its always been Mount McKinley, said Palin, who didnt respond to a message from The Associated Press. Nobody was begging for a change in name in that peak. Just put it back the way it was, more common sense. Alaskas U.S. senators, Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, have supported the name Denali. U.S. Rep. Nick Begich, a first-term Republican, sidestepped the debate.Im focused on job creation, opportunities in Alaska, Begich told Politico. And what we call a mountain in Alaska is of little concern to me.The Alaska Native Heritage Center, the statewide Indigenous cultural center in Anchorage, supports preserving Indigenous place names.Restoring and honoring them acknowledges the deep, millennia-old connection Indigenous peoples maintain with these lands and is a step toward respect and reconciliation, the centers president, Emily Edenshaw, said in a statement.The quirky Alaska community of Talkeetna, about 140 miles (225.3 kilometers) south of the park and where a cat was once mayor, is the jumping off point for climbers before making the ascent of the peak. The historic community long rumored to be the inspiration for the 1990s television series Northern Exposure is also a popular tourist stop.Joe McAneney of Talkeetna worked as a summer raft-guide for two years before moving to Alaska full time in 2012. Hes now a pilot for an air taxi company, ferrying climbers and tourists to the mountain in a small airplane outfitted with skis to land at base camp, located on Kahiltna Glacier at 7,200 feet (2,194.6 meters) above sea level.He knows once tourist season comes around, he will have to answer their questions of what he thinks about Trump changing the name. He knows what his answer will be.Its always been Denali, and it always will be, he said.The executive order can instigate the name change, but compliance is another issue.The only people that are going to adhere to that are probably the people that would have been still calling it McKinley anyway, McAneney saidThere is a long-standing Alaska trait of ignoring what the rest of the world thinks, and its usually expressed like this: We dont care how they do it Outside. Outside, which is always capitalized, refers to every place that is not Alaska.I think unofficially and officially in Alaska, itll always be Denali, McAneney said. I dont think the president can change that.For King, the decorated Iditarod musher and fan favorite, Trumps decision had a whiff of arrogance.Im surprised he doesnt want to name it Trump Mountain, he said.___Associated Press writer Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, contributed to this report. MARK THIESSEN Thiessen is an Associated Press all-formats reporter based in Anchorage, Alaska. He covers Alaska Native issues and other general assignments. twitter mailto

In an era dominated by social media giants like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, niche social platforms like VibeForge are quietly revolutionizing how people connect, share, and engage. While mainstream platforms have their merits, niche social networks are gaining popularity by addressing gaps and offering features tailored to specific communities. Here’s why platforms like...

An aerial photograph taken by a drone shows displaced Palestinians gathering with their belongings near a roadblock on the al Rashid Street, as they wait to return to their homes in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo/Mohammad Abu Samra)2025-01-26T12:12:42Z Ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon appeared at risk on Sunday as disputes continued over key deadlines, and local health officials said that Israeli forces opened fire on both fronts.In Gaza, Israel accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire there by changing the order of hostages it has released. Citing that, Israel has stopped thousands of Palestinians from returning to the northern part of the Gaza Strip as expected by Sunday. Local health officials said that Israeli forces fired on the crowd, killing two.Israel said civilian hostage Arbel Yehoud should have been released before the four soldiers freed on Saturday. Mediators the United States, Qatar and Egypt were working on the issue.In Lebanon, health officials said that Israeli forces opened fire on protesters in the south who demanded that Israel withdraw in line with the ceasefire agreement, killing at least 22. Separately, officials with Hamas and Jordan rejected U.S. President Donald Trumps suggestion that most of Gazas population should be at least temporarily resettled elsewhere, including in Egypt and Jordan.The war in Gaza broke out after Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel in an attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and abducted around 250. Israels retaliatory military operation has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, more than half of the victims children and women, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which doesnt distinguish between combatants and civilians.Here is the latest: Palestinian president condemns Trumps suggestion to clean out the Gaza StripRAMALLAH, West Bank The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has sharply condemned U.S. President Donald Trumps suggestion to clean out the Gaza Strip and request that Egypt and Jordan take in more Palestinians.In a statement, the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited control over parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, says the prospect of mass displacement from the Gaza Strip constitutes a violation of the red lines that we have repeatedly warned against.Our people will not leave, the statement said. We warn of the repercussions of such a dangerous Israeli policy that contributes to severing the ties of the Gaza Strip, and displacing its people, which will lead to destabilization and security.Trumps remarks suggesting that Palestinians be encouraged to leave Gaza gets at the core of Palestinian fears that they will be driven from their remaining homeland.The Palestinian presidency said it was ready to assume its full duties in the Gaza Strip in hopes of eventually establishing an independent Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank city of Ramallah, briefly controlled Gaza after Israeli troops withdrew in 2005, only to be driven out by its rival Hamas two years later. France will consider allowing Israeli companies to take part in Paris Air Show PARIS France will consider allowing Israeli companies to participate in the Paris Air Show in June, thanks to ceasefire agreements in Gaza and Lebanon, the French presidents office said Sunday.That was among the results of a conversation Sunday between French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Macron said France hopes to help speed up the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza, two of whom are French citizens. Macron also urged Israel to allow for a massive facilitation of aid to Gazas population, and to fulfill its promises to withdraw troops from Lebanon under a truce brokered by the U.S. and France.Netanyahu asked about Israeli participation in the upcoming Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, a major industry event. The French president said Israeli participation could be favorably considered, as a consequence of the cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon, according to Macrons office. Tensions surrounded Israels participation in two arms shows in France last year, Eurosatory and Euronaval. The French government did not want Israel displaying any weapons used in its wars in Gaza and Lebanon. Islamic Jihad group says the dispute over a hostage has been settled RAMALLAH, West Bank A spokesman for the Islamic Jihad, Gazas second-largest militant group, says the dispute over an Israeli hostage that has kept Palestinians from returning home to northern Gaza has been settled.Mohamed al-Hajj Mousa added in a statement that the group told mediators that the hostage, Arbel Yehoud, will be released before Saturday, when the next exchange of hostages from Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody is set to take place.There is no immediate comment from Israel, which has accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire by changing the order of hostages it has released. It expected Yehoud to be freed this weekend, and it has put the movement of Palestinians into northern Gaza on hold. UNRWA warns of far-reaching consequences if Israel goes ahead with its closureRAMALLAH, West Bank The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says that if Israel carries out its threat to close its east Jerusalem headquarters on Thursday, the outsize effects will be felt acutely and immediately by tens of thousands of Palestinians.The agency, known as UNRWA, runs 12 facilities that provide critical public services across east Jerusalem, including schools enrolling at least 1,200 children and free clinics serving over 70,000 people.Thats the thing, it has an impact on peoples lives, Juliette Touma, a spokeswoman for UNRWA, said of the potential closure.In the Shuafat refugee camp, an impoverished neighborhood, people today can walk just a few meters and theyre in an excellent clinic, Touma said. But if its shuttered, she said, tens of thousands of Palestinians would have to cross a difficult checkpoint, pay for transport and, even if theyre eligible for Israeli primary health care, also pay for medicine in order to see a doctor or get a blood test.Were talking about the poorest of the poor, Touma said. Right now, they have no alternative.The closure of UNRWA schools would raise all sorts of problems given that there are already too few classrooms in the overcrowded Palestinian areas of east Jerusalem, she said. Touma said much remains unclear about the Israeli order, including whether the closure would apply to operations in east Jerusalem only or to the entirety of the Palestinian territories.Israel says the agency has allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas, allegations denied by the U.N.Israeli far-right leaders back Trumps suggestion to resettle Palestinians TEL AVIV, Israel Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, both want Israel to establish Jewish settlements in Gaza, supported Trumps remarks, calling it voluntary emigration.Palestinians and many of their supporters view it as code for ethnic cleansing.In a post on X Sunday, Smotrich called the idea of helping (Palestinians) find other places to start new, good lives great and said he would work with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to that end.Ben-Gvir, who quit Netanyahus government over the current ceasefire in Gaza, said Trumps remarks gave Israel the green light to move ahead on voluntary emigration.When the president of the worlds largest superpower brings it up himself, the government of Israel should implement it, he said in a statement.Netanyahu has said building Jewish settlements in Gaza is not realistic. Israel withdrew troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005 but maintains a blockade with Egypt on the territory.UNRWA says Israel ordered it to vacate Jerusalem headquarters JERUSALEM The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees says its staff was directed to vacate the premises by Thursday. Israel passed legislation last year cutting all ties with the agency and barring it from operating in its territory. It says the agency, which is the main provider of aid in the Gaza Strip, has allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas, allegations denied by the U.N. In a statement Sunday, the agency, known as UNRWA, said the order to vacate is in contradiction to international law obligations of U.N. member states, including Israel. United Nations premises are inviolable and enjoy privileges and immunities under the United Nations Charter.UNRWA closed its east Jerusalem headquarters last May after Israeli protesters set fire to its perimeter.Senior Hamas official rejects Trumps proposal to relocate PalestiniansDEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip Bassem Naim said that even if seemingly well-intentioned under the guise of reconstruction, the Palestinian people will never agree to such a proposal. He also said the Palestinians can rebuild Gaza even better than before if Israel lifts its blockade.Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinians in Gaza DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip Israeli forces fired on the crowds on three occasions overnight and into Sunday. Those killed included a child, according to Al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties.There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.Israel has pulled back from several areas of Gaza as part of the ceasefire, which came into force last Sunday, but the military has warned people to stay away from its forces, which are still operating in a buffer zone inside Gaza along the border and in the Netzarim corridor.

In this photo released by Belarus' Presidential Press Service, President Alexander Lukashenko, center, visits the Minsk Automobile Plant in Minsk, Belarus, Jan. 21, 2025. (Belarus' Presidential Press Service via AP, File)2025-01-26T05:01:34Z The smiling face of President Alexander Lukashenko gazed out from campaign posters across Belarus on Sunday as the country held an orchestrated election virtually guaranteed to give the 70-year-old autocrat yet another term on top of his three decades in power.Needed! the posters proclaim beneath a photo of Lukashenko, his hands clasped together. The phrase is what groups of voters responded in campaign videos after supposedly being asked if they wanted him to serve again.But his opponents, many of whom are imprisoned or exiled abroad by his unrelenting crackdown on dissent and free speech, would disagree. They call the election a sham much like the last one in 2020 that triggered months of protests that were unprecedented in the history of the country of 9 million people.The crackdown saw more than 65,000 arrests, with thousands beaten, bringing condemnation and sanctions from the West. His iron-fisted rule since 1994 Lukashenko took office two years after the demise of the Soviet Union earned him the nickname of Europes Last Dictator, relying on subsidies and political support from close ally Russia. He let Moscow use his territory to invade Ukraine in 2022, and even hosts some of Russias tactical nuclear weapons, but he still campaigned with the slogan Peace and security, arguing he has saved Belarus from being drawn into war.Its better to have a dictatorship like in Belarus than a democracy like Ukraine, Lukashenko said in his characteristic bluntness. Fearing a repeat of election unrestHis reliance on support from Russian President Vladimir Putin himself in office for a quarter-century helped him survive the 2020 protests.Observers believe Lukashenko feared a repeat of those mass demonstrations amid economic troubles and the fighting in Ukraine, and so scheduled the vote in January, when few would want to fill the streets again, rather than in August. He faces only token opposition.The trauma of the 2020 protests was so deep that Lukashenko this time decided not to take risks and opted for the most reliable option when balloting looks more like a special operation to retain power than an election, Belarusian political analyst Valery Karbalevich said.Lukashenko repeatedly declared that he wasnt clinging to power and would quietly and calmly hand it over to the new generation.His 20-year-old son, Nikolai, traveled the country, giving interviews, signing autographs and playing piano at campaign events. His father hasnt mentioned his own health, even though he was seen having difficulty walking and occasionally spoke in a hoarse voice.The successor issue only becomes relevant when a leader prepares to step down. But Lukashenko isnt going to leave, Karbalevich said. Top political opponents imprisoned or exiledLeading opponents have fled abroad or were thrown in prison. The country holds nearly 1,300 political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, founder of the Viasna Human Rights Center.Since July, Lukashenko has pardoned more than 250 people. At the same time, authorities have sought to uproot dissent by arresting hundreds more in raids targeting relatives and friends of political prisoners. Authorities detained 188 people last month alone, Viasna said. Activists and those who donated money to opposition groups have been summoned by police and forced to sign papers saying they were warned against participating in unsanctioned demonstrations, rights advocates said.Lukashenkos four challengers on the ballot are all loyal to him.Im entering the race not against, but together with Lukashenko, and Im ready to serve as his vanguard, said Communist Party candidate Sergei Syrankov, who favors criminalizing LGBTQ+ activities and rebuilding monuments to Soviet leader Josef Stalin.Candidate Alexander Khizhnyak, head of the Republican Party of Labor and Justice, led a voting precinct in Minsk in 2020 and vowed to prevent a repeat of disturbances.Oleg Gaidukevich, head of the Liberal Democratic Party, supported Lukashenko in 2020 and urged fellow candidates to make Lukashenkos enemies nauseous.The fourth challenger, Hanna Kanapatskaya, managed 1.7% of the vote in 2020 and says shes the only democratic alternative to Lukashenko, promising to lobby for freeing political prisoners but warning supporters against excessive initiative. Opposition leader calls election a senseless farceOpposition leader-in-exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled Belarus under government pressure after challenging the president in 2020, told The Associated Press that Sundays election was a senseless farce, a Lukashenko ritual.Voters should cross off everyone on the ballot, she said, and world leaders shouldnt recognize the result from a country where all independent media and opposition parties have been destroyed and prisons are filled by political prisoners.The repressions have become even more brutal as this vote without choice has approached, but Lukashenko acts as though hundreds of thousands of people are still standing outside his palace, she said. The European Union rejected the election in Belarus on Sunday as illegitimate and threatened new sanctions.Todays sham election in Belarus has been neither free, nor fair, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos said in a joint statement. Shortly after voting in Minsk on Sunday, accompanied by his white Pomeranian dog, Lukashenko told journalists that he did not seek recognition or approval from the EU. The main thing for me is that Belarusians recognize these elections and that they end peacefully, as they began, he said. Speaking at an hourslong news conference, Lukashenko said that he didnt rule out running for the top job again in 2030. Media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders filed a complaint against Lukashenko with the International Criminal Court over his crackdown on free speech that saw 397 journalists arrested since 2020. It said that 43 are in prison.Fears of vote-riggingAccording to the Central Election Commission, there are 6.8 million eligible voters. However, about 500,000 people have left Belarus and arent able to vote.Two hours before polls closed at 8 p.m. local time (1700 GMT), the commission said that turnout stood at 81.85%, but a dearth of independent monitoring made that figure near-impossible to verify.At home, early voting that began Tuesday has created fertile ground for irregularities with ballot boxes unguarded until election day, the opposition said. A record 41.81% of voters cast ballots in five days of early voting. Meanwhile, Viasna activists reported internet issues across the country, and alleged Lukashenkos government was blocking access to VPN services commonly used to evade censorship. Polling stations have removed the curtains covering ballot boxes, and voters are forbidden from photographing their ballots a response to the oppositions call in 2020 for voters to take pictures to make it more difficult for authorities to rig the vote.Police conducted large-scale drills before the election. An Interior Ministry video showed helmeted riot police beating their shields with truncheons as a way to prepare for protest dispersals. Another featured an officer arresting a man posing as a voter, twisting his arm next to a ballot box. Belarus initially refused to allow observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which monitored previous elections. It changed course this month and invited the OSCE when it was already too late to organize a monitoring mission.Increasing dependence on RussiaLukashenkos support for the war in Ukraine has led to the rupture of Belarus ties with the U.S. and the EU, ending his gamesmanship of using the West to try to win more subsidies from the Kremlin.He spoke of Russian nuclear weapons deployed in Belarus as a guarantee of peace, and said he would pick Moscow as his first official visit if hes reelected. Until 2020, Lukashenko could maneuver and play Russia against the West, but now when Belarus status is close to that of Russias satellite, this North Korea-style election ties the Belarusian leader to the Kremlin even stronger, shortening the leash, said Artyom Shraybman, a Belarus expert with the Carnegie Russia and Eurasia Center.After the election, Lukashenko could try to ease his total dependence on Russia by again seeking to reach out to the West, he predicted.Lukashenkos interim goal is to use the election to confirm his legitimacy and try to overcome his isolation in order to at least start a conversation with the West about easing sanctions, Shraybman said.American woman released from detentionAn early sign of Minsks desire to reengage with the West came on Sunday, as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on X that Belarus had unilaterally released a U.S. citizen, Anastassia Nuhfer. It took the public and even Belarusian rights activists by surprise her name hadnt been publicly released, and hadnt featured on lists of political prisoners. YURAS KARMANAU Karmanau is an Associated Press journalist covering Belarus and the CIS countries. He has worked in Belarus and Ukraine, as well as other countries in the region, for more than 20 years. He is part of the team that covers the Russia-Ukraine war. mailto

Emil Bove, attorney for former US President Donald Trump, sits Manhattan criminal court during Trump's sentencing in the hush money case in New York, Jan. 10, 2025. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP, file)2025-01-26T16:55:11Z CHICAGO (AP) Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove visited Chicago on Sunday to witness the start of ramped-up immigration enforcementin the nations third-largest city promised by the Trump administration, though few details of the operation were made public. Bove said he was in Chicago on Sunday morning and observed Department of Homeland Security agents, along with assisting federal agencies including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. He didnt say where the operations took place in the city or detail any arrests. We will support everyone at the federal, state, and local levels who joins this critical mission to take back our communities, Bove said in a statement. We will use all available tools to address obstruction and other unlawful impediments to our efforts to protect the homeland. Most importantly, we will not rest until the work is done. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Jeff Carter said the agency began conducting enhanced targeted operations Sunday in Chicago but declined other details, citing an ongoing operation. Spokesmen for the FBI, ATF and the Drug Enforcement Administration confirmed their involvement but didnt give other information. Chicago residents, especially in immigrant circles, have already been on edge for months in anticipation of large-scale arrests touted by the Trump administration. The atmosphere has been especially tense the past week as top Trump officials vowed to start immigration enforcement operations in Chicago the day after Trumps inauguration before walking back those statements. Immigrant rights groups have tried to prepare with campaigns for immigrants to know their rights in case of an arrest. City officials have done the same, publishing similar information at public bus and train stations. On Friday, Chicago Public Schools officials mistakenly believed ICE agents had come to a city elementary school and put out statements to that effect before learning the agents were from the Secret Service. Word of immigration agents at a school which have long been off limits to immigration agents until Trump ended the policy last week drew swift criticism from community groups and Gov. JB Pritzker. The Democratic governor, a frequent Trump critic, questioned the aggressive approach of the operations and the chilling effect for others, particularly for law-abiding immigrants who have been in the country for years.We need to get rid of the violent criminals. But we also need to protect people, at least the residents of Illinois and all across the nation, who are just doing what we hope that immigrants will do, Pritzker said Sunday on CNNs State of the Union. Chicago has been one of Trumps favorite targets. The city has some of the strongest sanctuary protections, which bar cooperation between city police and immigration agents. On Saturday, several Chicago-based immigrant rights groups filed a lawsuit against ICE, seeking an injunction prohibiting certain types of immigration raids in Chicago.Immigrant communities who have called Chicago their home for decades are scared, said Antonio Gutierrez from Organized Communities Against Deportation, one of the plaintiffs. We refuse to live in fear and will fight any attempts to roll back the work weve done to keep families together. ___Durkin Richer reported from Washington. ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Richer is an Associated Press reporter covering the Justice Department and legal issues from Washington. twitter mailto

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro arrives at the opening ceremony of COP16, a United Nations' biodiversity conference, in Cali, Colombia, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, file)2025-01-26T17:45:02Z BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that he was ordering tariffs, visa restrictions and other retaliatory measures to be taken against Colombia after its government rejected two U.S. military flights carrying migrants.Trump said the measures were necessary because the decision of Colombian President Gustavo Petro jeopardized national security in the U.S.These measures are just the beginning, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. We will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States.Earlier Sunday, Petro said his government would not accept flights carrying migrants deported from the U.S. until the Trump administration creates a protocol that treats them with dignity. Petro made the announcement in two X posts, one of which included a news video of migrants reportedly deported to Brazil walking on a tarmac with restraints on their hands and feet. A migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that a human being deserves, Petro said. That is why I returned the U.S. military planes that were carrying Colombian migrants... In civilian planes, without being treated like criminals, we will receive our fellow citizens. Colombia accepted 475 deportation flights from the United States from 2020 to 2024, fifth behind Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and El Salvador, according to Witness at the Border, an advocacy group that tracks flight data. It accepted 124 deportation flights in 2024. Last year, Colombia and other countries began accepting U.S.-funded deportation flights from Panama.The U.S. government didnt immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press regarding aircraft and protocols used in deportations to Colombia.U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement said Petro canceled his authorization for the flights when the aircraft were in the air. No official order had been issued as of Sunday afternoon that would allow for the implementation of the measures Trump announced. This is a clear message we are sending that countries have an obligation to accept repatriation flights, a senior administration official told the AP. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss issue publicly.Colombians emerged in recent years as a major presence on the U.S. border with Mexico, aided in part by a visa regime that allows them to easily fly to Mexico and avoid trekking though the treacherous Darien Gap. They ranked fourth with 127,604 arrests for illegal crossings during a 12-month period through September, behind Mexicans, Guatemalans and Venezuelans.Mexico hasnt imposed visa restrictions on Colombians, as they have on Venezuelans, Ecuadoreans and Peruvians.The government of Petro, a former leftist guerrilla, in a statement later announced that the South American countrys presidential aircraft had been made available to facilitate the return of migrants who were to arrive hours earlier on the U.S. military airplanes and guarantee them dignified conditions. As part of a flurry of actions to make good on Trumps campaign promises to crack down on illegal immigration, his government is using active-duty military to help secure the border and carry out deportations. Two U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo planes carrying migrants removed from the U.S. touched down early Friday in Guatemala. That same day, Honduras received two deportation flights carrying a total of 193 people.In announcing what he called urgent and decisive retaliatory measures, Trump explained that he ordered 25% tariffs on all goods coming into the United States, which would be raised to 50% in one week. He said he also ordered A Travel Ban and immediate Visa Revocations on Colombian government officials, allies and supporters.All Party Members, Family Members, and Supporters of the Colombian Government, Trump wrote will be subject to Visa Sanctions. He did not say to which party he was referring to or provide any additional details on the visa and travel restrictions. Trump added that all Colombians will face enhanced customs inspections.Trumps actions would seem to undercut his goal to reduce his countrys trade deficit. Unlike Mexico or China, Colombia is one of the few countries with a trade deficit with the U.S., of around $1.4 billion, according to U.S. trade data.Colombia is the U.S.s fourth-largest overseas supplier of crude oil, shipping about 209,000 barrels of oil per day last year, although booming domestic production has reduced the U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Other imports include coal, coffee and gold. Colombia is also the U.S. largest supplier of fresh cut flowers, and with Valentines Day just weeks away, the price of saying I love you could be impacted.___Regina Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela. Jill Colvin in New York, Joshua Goodman in Miami, and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.