Former District Attorney Jackie Johnson sits in the courtroom Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Brunswick, Georgia, as jury selection begins in her misconduct trial. Johnson is charged with interfering with police investigating the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery. (Michael Hall/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)2025-01-28T06:01:45Z BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) A jury of 12 plus three alternates were sworn in Tuesday in the criminal misconduct trial of a former Georgia prosecutor charged with interfering in the police investigation of the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery.White men with guns and pickup trucks chased and fatally shot the running Black man on a neighborhood street after they wrongly suspected he was a thief. The man who started the deadly pursuit had worked for the local district attorney.Now former District Attorney Jackie Johnson has returned to court as a criminal defendant, charged with violating her oath of office, a felony, and a misdemeanor count of hindering police as they investigated Arberys killing. Johnson has denied wrongdoing, saying she immediately handed the case to an outside prosecutor.Senior Judge John R. Turner seated the jury at the Glynn County courthouse a week after jury selection began in the in the port city of Brunswick. It was delayed by a rare winter storm that left the coastal community coated in snow and ice. The jury was to hear opening statements from prosecutors and defense attorneys Tuesday afternoon. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carrs office is prosecuting the case. The judge said he expects Johnsons trial to last two weeks or more. Its being held at the same courthouse where Arberys assailants were convicted of murder in 2021. Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael armed themselves and chased the 25-year-old Arbery in a pickup truck after seeing him run past their house on Feb. 23, 2020. A neighbor, William Roddie Bryan, joined the pursuit in his own truck and recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery with a shotgun at point-blank range. Greg McMichael was a retired investigator who had worked for Johnson. He called her roughly an hour after the killing.My son and I have been involved in a shooting, and I need some advice right away, he said in a voicemail left on Johnsons cellphone and later included in court records. More than two months passed with no arrests until Bryans graphic video of the shooting leaked online. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local police and arrested the McMichaels and Bryan on murder charges.Prosecutors say Johnson abused her office by trying to shield the McMichaels. The indictment says Johnson showed favor and affection toward Greg McMichael and interfered with police by directing that Travis McMichael should not be placed under arrest.All three men were sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of murder in 2021. They were also found guilty of federal hate crimes in a separate trial the following year. Johnson was voted out of office in November 2020 after 10 years as district attorney for the five-county Brunswick Judicial Circuit. She largely blamed her defeat on controversy over Arberys killing months earlier.

A Palestinian woman hangs the laundry inside her home, which was destroyed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)2025-01-28T18:12:33Z WADI GAZA, Gaza Strip (AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says President Donald Trump has invited him to visit the White House on Feb. 4, which would make him the first foreign leader to visit Washington in Trumps second term.The visit comes as the United States is pressuring Israel and Hamas to continue a ceasefire that has paused a devastating 15-month war in Gaza.Under the ceasefire, more than 375,000 Palestinians have crossed into northern Gaza since Israel allowed their return on Monday morning, the United Nations said Tuesday. That represents over a third of the million people who fled in the wars opening days.Many of the Palestinians trudging along a seaside road or crossing in vehicles after security inspections were getting the first view of shattered northern Gaza under the fragile ceasefire that is now in its second week. They were determined, if their homes were damaged or destroyed, to pitch makeshift shelters or sleep outdoors amid the vast piles of broken concrete or perilously leaning buildings. After months of crowding in squalid tent camps or former schools in Gazas south, they would finally be home. Its still better for us to be on our land than to live on a land thats not yours, said Fayza al-Nahal as she prepared to leave the southern city of Khan Younis for the north.Hani Al-Shanti, displaced from Gaza City, looked forward to feeling at peace in whatever he found, even if it is a roof and walls without furniture, even if it is without a roof. Under the ceasefire, the next release of hostages held in Gaza, and Palestinian prisoners from Israeli custody, is set to occur on Thursday, followed by another exchange on Saturday.In the ceasefires six-week first phase, a total of 33 hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that ignited the war should be released, along over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel this week said a list provided by Hamas confirmed the fears that eight of the 33 hostages to be freed are dead, bringing fresh grief to Israeli families who have long pressed the government to reach a deal to bring everyone home before time runs out.On Tuesday, one of the first hostages to be released under the current ceasefire just the second in the war shared a glimpse of life in captivity.Naama Levy, 20, wrote on social media that she spent most of the first 50 days alone before being reunited with other soldiers kidnapped from her military base on Oct. 7, well as other civilian captives.They gave me strength and hope, she wrote. We strengthened each other until the day of our release, and also afterwards.A surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza continued under the ceasefire.In this past week alone, approximately 4,200 trucks carrying aid have entered the Gaza Strip following inspections, Israels deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel, said.Under the deal, 600 trucks of aid are meant to enter per day.___Lidman reported from Nahariya, Israel.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war MELANIE LIDMAN Lidman is an Associated Press reporter based in Tel Aviv, Israel.

French President Emmanuel Macron gives a speech to announce a multi-year overhaul, long-term investments to modernize the Louvre museum, next to Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the Mona Lisa, at the Louvre Museum, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025 in Paris. ( Bertrand Guay, Pool via AP)2025-01-28T11:50:42Z PARIS (AP) French President Emmanuel Macron announced Tuesday that the Mona Lisa will get its own dedicated room inside the Louvre museum under a major renovation and expansion of the Paris landmark that will take up to 10 years. The renovation project, branded Louvre New Renaissance, will include a new entrance near the River Seine, to be opened by 2031, and the creation of underground rooms, Macron said in a speech from the Louvre room where Leonardo da Vincis masterpiece is displayed. Macron did not disclose an exact amount budgeted for the project to modernize the most visited museum in the world, plagued with overcrowding and outdated facilities. But it is estimated to reach up to 800 million euros ($834 million).The Louvres latest overhaul dates back to the 1980s, when the iconic glass pyramid was unveiled. Now, the museum is not up to international standards anymore. A look at whats at stake: Mona Lisa to get its own room?Macron said the expansion of the museum will allow the Mona Lisa to be moved to a new, dedicated room accessible to visitors through a special ticket. That will make the visit simpler for those who want to see the painting and ease the life of other visitors in the rest of the museum, he said.The Mona Lisa is now being shown behind protective glass in the museums largest room, overcrowded with long, noisy queues of visitors eager to take a selfie with Leonardo da Vincis masterpiece. That makes some other paintings in the room by the greatest Venetian painters like Titian and Veronese go unnoticed by many. The museums latest big renovation in the 1980s was designed to receive 4 million annual visitors.Last year, the Louvre received 8.7 million visitors, over three-quarters being foreigners mostly from the United States, China and neighboring countries Italy, the UK, Germany and Spain. A costly and complex overhaulMacron said a new entrance for the Louvre will be created near the River Seine by 2031, to be financed by ticket sales, patronage and licensing money from the museums Abu Dhabi branch.A design competition is to be staged in the coming months, he said. In addition, some new underground rooms will be created to expand the museum.A French top official said the cost of the renovation is estimated at 700 to 800 million euros ($730 to 834 million) over the next ten years, including half for the creation of the new entrance. The official could not be named in line with the French presidencys customary practices.Macron said ticket prices will be raised for foreign visitors from outside the European Union, up from 22 euros ($23) now. He promised the museum will be safer and more comfortable for both the public and the staff. Half the Louvres budget is currently being financed by the French state, including the wages of the 2,200 employees. The other half is provided by private funds including ticket sales, earnings from restaurants, shops and bookings for special events, as well as patrons and other partners. Water leaks and other damageThe renovation announcement comes after Louvre Director Laurence des Cars expressed her concerns in a note to Culture Minister Rachida Dati earlier this month saying the museum is threatened by obsolescence.According to the document first released by French newspaper Le Parisien, she warned about the gradual degradation of the building due to water leaks, temperature variations and other issues endangering the preservation of artworks.The pyramid that serves at the museums entrance, unveiled in 1989 as part of late President Franois Mitterrands project, now appears outdated. The place is not properly insulated from the cold and the heat and tends to amplify noise, making the space uncomfortable for both the public and the staff, des Cars stressed.In addition, the museum suffers from a lack of food offerings and restroom facilities, she said. SYLVIE CORBET Corbet is an Associated Press reporter based in Paris. She covers French politics, diplomacy and defense as well as gender issues and breaking news. twitter

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One en route from Miami to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)2025-01-28T16:30:26Z WASHINGTON (AP) Advocacy groups are set to file the first lawsuit Tuesday challenging President Donald Trumps executive order for the Pentagon to revise its policy on transgender troops, likely setting up ban on their service in the armed forces.Its the same legal team that spent years during Trumps first administration fighting the Republicans ban on transgender troops, which the Supreme Court allowed to take effect even as the legal fight against it continued in the courts, before then-President Joe Biden, a Democrat, scrapped it when he took office.Trumps new order, signed Monday, claims the sexual identity of transgender service members conflicts with a soldiers commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle and is harmful to military readiness. It requires Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to issue a revised policy. The law is very clear that the government cant base policies on disapproval of particular groups of people, said Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Thats animus. And animus-based laws are presumed to be invalid and unconstitutional. In response, the NCLR and GLAD Law are filing a challenge to the executive order Tuesday in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, Minter said.The groups also are challenging the executive order on the basis of equal protection. In a statement, the Pentagon said that it does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation but that 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.There is no official data on the number of transgender personnel in the military, but the number is likely in the thousands, Minter said. Unlike Trumps initial ban in 2017, the new executive order not only bans all future transgender personnel from serving but also would target all current transgender troops, Minter said. 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

Residents look out at the Madeira River, a tributary of the Amazon River amid a drought in Humaita, Amazonas state, Brazil, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File)2025-01-28T16:46:31Z BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) Alexis Damancio Silva cant forget the hardship in his town of Puerto Narino in far southern Colombia last year when extreme drought nearly dried up the Amazon River. Pink dolphins and fish died. Crops dried up. The town lost its easy access to markets.Silva is hopeful the U.S. would help fund projects that could make Indigenous communities like his more resilient solar panels for energy to refrigerate fish, for example, or cisterns to catch precious rain water.We ask the government of President Trump ... to send us resources, to help the regions Indigenous people, he said in a Zoom interview with The Associated Press. Little comes from the state, he said.Environmental groups say thats unlikely to happen, and that was even before Trump froze new funding for almost all U.S. foreign assistance.They fear Donald Trumps second administration will bring nothing good for the Amazon rainforest. Besides Trumps Day 1 move to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, they fear hell cut U.S. funding for policing that has targeted illegal logging, mining and other things that have damaged the rainforest. They also worry he will back right-wing politicians who favor aggressive development in the Amazon, which is critical for storing carbon dioxide that would otherwise warm the planet. President Donald Trump speaks at the 2025 House Republican Members Conference Dinner at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla., Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) President Donald Trump speaks at the 2025 House Republican Members Conference Dinner at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla., Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More The implications of the Trump administration for the Amazon rainforest range from very concerning to horrifying, said Andrew Miller, advocacy director of nonprofit Amazon Watch. Trumps first week back in office was loaded with executive orders that prioritized fossil fuels, including declaring an energy emergency in the U.S. and his intent to sweep aside barriers to developing oil and gas. Theyve also been wrapped in an America First message that doesnt fit with expansive foreign aid. On Sunday, he swiftly faced down Colombia President Gustavo Petro on Sunday by threatening steep tariffs after Petro refused to allow military planes carrying deported migrants to land in Colombia. Trumps plans to play hardball in the region were evident weeks ago when he suggested he could use military force to take control of the Panama Canal. Miller said his organization had advised its partners to assume the Trump administration priorities will not include climate, environmental or Indigenous rights programs. People from the Tikuna Indigenous community carry aid from a nonprofit amid a drought on Amazon River in Loma Linda, near Leticia, Colombia, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia, File) People from the Tikuna Indigenous community carry aid from a nonprofit amid a drought on Amazon River in Loma Linda, near Leticia, Colombia, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More In Trumps first term, U.S. Agency for International Developments budget ranged from about $17 billion to $27 billion annually, with significant proposed cuts that were often moderated by Congress. Under President Joe Biden, USAIDs budget rose to $30.5 billion in 2024, with a focus on global health, climate action, humanitarian aid, and promoting democracy. The new administration said the aid freeze would be in place for 90 days as it considers which programs to keep.In Brazil, home to around 60% of the Amazon, organized crime like logging and drug trafficking thrived under the far-right presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, with severe environmental consequences. President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva made the protection of the Amazon a central priority when he took office in 2023. Brazils environment minister, Marina Silva, told the AP that Trumps return poses a significant test for U.S. democracy and international institutions, and that as the worlds second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, it is crucial the U.S. fulfills its responsibilities. Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva holds a pact for ecological transformation alongside Minister of the Environment Marina Silva, second from right, and Minister of Indigenous Peoples Sonia Guajajara, to his left, during the agreements signing at the Planalto presidential palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File) Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva holds a pact for ecological transformation alongside Minister of the Environment Marina Silva, second from right, and Minister of Indigenous Peoples Sonia Guajajara, to his left, during the agreements signing at the Planalto presidential palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More She sees some hope, saying the world has much stronger climate governance nowadays in the face of the climate crisis.This doesnt mean well have an easy time with Trump in office, quite the opposite, Marina Silva said. We just have to acknowledge that were already seeing some companies and leaders ... abandoning or loosening commitments made previously.Since Trumps election, several major U.S. banks have withdrawn from a network aimed at lending practices that square with a global commitment to reduced emissions. Silva said its important for countries to keep reaffirming the size of the climate challenges and showing how to overcome them. Reality needs to take precedence over President Trumps well-known denialist rhetoric, she said. The Trump administration did not respond to messages seeking comment. Support for pro-development politicians? Development in the Amazon is a polarizing issue in Brazil. Lawmakers who support it focus on economic growth, job creation, and infrastructure. More liberal lawmakers, environmentalists and Indigenous rights groups oppose it over damage to the environment and impacts on people who live in the forest. Lula has had some success in clamping down on illegal logging, mining, drug trafficking, and conversion of land for agriculture. That came with support from Biden, who in November became the first U.S. president to visit the Amazon and pledged $50 million to the Amazon Fund, which raises money to protect the Amazon rainforest. Much of that money went toward increased policing in the region. Carlos Nobre, a Brazilian climate scientist and leading researcher studying the Amazon rainforest, said he didnt see Trump continuing that commitment. He also said he is concerned about Trumps past support for Bolsonaro, and expected him to again boost right-wing politicians. Cut logs and wooden boards lie in an area opened by illegal loggers within the Renascer Reserve in the Amazon rainforest in Prainha, Para state, Brazil, on Nov. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File) Cut logs and wooden boards lie in an area opened by illegal loggers within the Renascer Reserve in the Amazon rainforest in Prainha, Para state, Brazil, on Nov. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Though Bolsonaro is prohibited from running for office until 2030, his son Eduardo is a potential presidential candidate next year and Brazils National Congress has plenty of members who favor Amazonian development. Jair Bolsonaro, who has supported Trumps false claims of a stolen 2020 election, tried to attend his inauguration but wasnt allowed to leave Brazil to attend. Eduardo Bolsonaro did attend.Miller expected Trump to tilt toward extreme right-wing candidates who offer him praise, boosting them in elections.Their policies, should they be elected, will spell disaster for the Amazon rainforest in the foreseeable future, Miller said. Trump 2.0 will offer Amazonian governments a permission structure to ignore or walk back climate commitments, precisely at the moment when protection of the rainforest demands greater ambition and regional coordination.Miller is most concerned about U.S. support for multilateral human rights mechanisms like the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.Both are important for the protection of threatened Amazon community leaders and environmental defenders, he said. Boats and houses sit next to the dry Aleixo Lake amid a drought in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File) Boats and houses sit next to the dry Aleixo Lake amid a drought in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Funding cuts and multinational cooperation John Walsh, director for drug policy and the Andes at the Washington Office on Latin America, said funding cuts are his major concern after policy.We can expect steep cuts if not entire elimination of U.S. foreign aid that was directed towards climate mitigation and adaptation globally, Walsh said. Thats matched by the incoming administrations focus on how to cut the federal budget in ways that will fall almost entirely on discretionary programs that dont have solid constituencies domestically. . Trump was generally skeptical of multinational cooperation in his first term, preferring a more unilateral approach to foreign policy with his administration often prioritizing U.S. interests over international agreements or collaborations.For an issue like climate change, that is a collective action problem ... and for the worlds largest economy and historically the largest emitter of carbon dioxide to absent itself from that ... is significant, Walsh said. ___Follow Steven Grattan on X: @sjgrattan___The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. 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. STEVEN GRATTAN Grattan reports on the Amazon rainforest and deforestation around Latin America for The Associated Press. He is based in Bogota, Colombia. twitter instagram mailto

President Donald Trump arrives to speak about the economy during an event at the Circa Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)2025-01-28T22:14:58Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order aimed at curtailing gender transitions for people under age 19.It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called transition of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures, Trump said in a statement.Its the latest push by Trump to reverse policies set by the Biden administration to protect transgender people and their care. On Monday, Trump directed the Pentagon to conduct a review that is likely to lead to them being barred from military service.The order directs that federally-run insurance programs, including TRICARE for military families and Medicaid, exclude coverage for such care, and calls on the Department of Justice to vigorously pursue litigation and legislation to oppose the practice. ZEKE MILLER Zeke is APs chief White House correspondent twitter mailto

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks at the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)2025-01-28T22:15:50Z WASHINGTON (AP) As the White House paused federal grants and loans in a far-reaching executive order, early childhood education centers and states discovered Tuesday they could no longer access money they rely on to provide care for some of the nations neediest families and children. Staff encountered problems with Medicaid and Head Start payment websites around the country. The administration of President Donald Trump said those programs were not affected by the funding freeze and called the Medicaid problem an outage.The freeze was halted by a federal judge but the chaos showed how dependent programs serving low-income kids are on the federal government. But some Head Start providers said they might have difficulty opening as soon as Wednesday if the issue is not resolved. Chanda Hillman, who runs a network of Head Start centers in southwestern Michigan, said she would be unable to make payroll without access to the payment website. Her centers serve 600 kids across three counties and the vast majority of the parents work, relying on Head Start for child care. Payment websites for Medicaid and Head Start displayed error messages when staff attempted to log on to access money already allocated to them. In Mississippi, Early Head Start program director Katina Spaulding sent an emergency text message asking parents to come and pick their children up for the day. Her center had to stop operating because they could not access money to stay open, she said. Our families are being punched in the gut three times from different angles, Spaulding said. This is so heartless.The center later told families it would reopen Wednesday, after receiving confirmation that its funding would not be halted.On X, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the administration is aware of the Medicaid website portal outage.We have confirmed no payments have been affected they are still being processed and sent, Leavitt wrote. We expect the portal will be back online shortly. In Oregon, Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, said the states Medicaid portal was shut down and that the state health agency couldnt log on to seek or receive reimbursements for health services provided to the programs low-income recipients. The problem also affected Head Start providers and the states Department of Early Learning and Care, which provides services for low-income children, Kotek said.I can tell you that when federal funds that are meant to serve the most vulnerable Oregonians are suspended or unavailable, that has an impact on Oregonians, and its a dereliction of the federal governments duty to protect Americans, she saidHead Start, the nations signature early education program, serves some of the neediest kids, including those who are homeless, in foster care and coming from low-income households. The free program is a lifeline for low-income families who need to work but cannot afford private child care.Dozens of Head Start operators had gathered in Washington for a conference when the news of the funding freeze broke, leaving them feeling anxious (and) afraid, said Tommy Sheridan, deputy director of the of the National Head Start Association.We dont have enough information. Is it a short-term thing? Is this a glitch? Is it a long-term thing? All of those things we just really dont know at this point, Sheridan said. Thats really adding to the fear and the concern. ___Associated Press writer Claire Savage in Chicago and Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, contributed to this report.___The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. 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. MORIAH BALINGIT Balingit is an Associated Press national reporter focused on child care, preschool and the early grades. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One en route from Miami to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)2025-01-28T23:10:30Z A White House directive to pause federal grants and loans raised uncertainty and fears among many who depend on federal aid before a judge intervened Tuesday to temporarily block it from taking effect. President Donald Trumps administration said the freeze would not affect federal assistance to individuals, such as Social Security, Medicare, food stamps, student loans and scholarships. But it said a pause is necessary to ensure funding for other programs complies with Trumps executive orders, which aim to reverse progressive policies on transgender rights, environmental justice and diversity, equity and inclusion.A federal judge blocked the directive just minutes before it was to kick in Tuesday. The order placed it on hold until next Monday while legal wrangling continues. States on the edgeStates on average receive about 30% of their revenues from the federal government, according to Federal Funds Information for States, a nonprofit that analyzes the affect of federal actions on states. Although the federal government has rescinded unspent funds in the past, it hasnt normally halted grants on the front-end, said Marcia Howard, executive director of Federal Funds Information for States. The grant pause is perhaps most similar to a federal government shutdown, when a congressional impasse on spending legislation delays federal payments for some state and local services. In most of those circumstances, a couple weeks delay isnt hugely disruptive, Howard said.But some state officials are nonetheless anxious.If the federal government coughs, Maryland catches pneumonia, state Senate President Bill Ferguson said Tuesday, while discussing how the grant freeze could affect the state. Higher education faces uncertaintyUniversities around the country are scrambling to determine how a funding freeze could affect their research programs, students and faculty.University of North Carolina administrators sent a campus email urging patience until decisions can be confirmed directly from federal agencies.The messaging is, Try not to panic, and sit tight, said psychology professor Keely Muscatell. But I also think its a lot easier said than done.A University of Florida memo obtained by the Associated Press indicates that the university is advising faculty to continue grant-related activities unless they have been specially told that the research has been suspended. But at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., researchers said they were told to stop work on grant-funded projects. If the funding freeze goes forward, scientists may miss deadlines to present and share their work, said researcher Lorna Quandt, who has a grant application pending to fund interpreters to accompany deaf students to an upcoming conference.The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities said a freeze would sideline world-leading American scientists who are working toward cures for cancer, developing breakthroughs in AI and quantum computing, driving progress in advanced manufacturing, and supporting American farmers. Road funding may keep rollingFor many highway projects that are partially funded by federal grants, states pay the contractors directly then seek reimbursement from the federal government. There initially was widespread concern among state transportation leaders that states would be left holding the bag, but further clarification from the White House calmed some nerves, said Jim Tymon, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.Although some grants, particularly those awarded at the discretion of the federal government, could still be at risk, Tymon said he is now confident the Trump administration isnt targeting the formula-based grants that states use to set their own transportation priorities and pay for roads.Were not as panicked as maybe we had been, he said.Early childhood providers raise fearsSome operators of federally funded Head Start centers, which work with 800,000 kids and low-income families nationwide, initially were concerned that the freeze could mean closing their doors as soon Wednesday. Operators logged on to a website where they typically draw down their federal grants and discovered they no longer had access to the money, which they need to pay their employees and vendors.Is it a short-term thing? Is this a glitch? Is it a long-term thing? All of those things, we just really dont know at this point, said Tommy Sheridan, deputy director of the National Head Start Association. Thats really adding to the fear and the concern. Nonprofit groups launch a challengeA coalition of nonprofit groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the funding freeze. The nonprofit Democracy Forward, a public interest litigation group, wrote that the White Houses memo fails to explain its legal authority to gut every grant program in the federal government.The National Science Foundation postponed this weeks grant review panels and is pausing the distribution of new or existing awards.The National Crime Victim Law Institute described the Trump administration action as a devastating blow to nonprofits such as the institute.These grants are the backbone of critical programs for those in need across this country, executive director Meg Garvin said. Without this funding, nonprofits face the heartbreaking reality of scaling back services, cutting essential programs, and, in some cases, closing their doors entirely.Tribal groups could be affectedTribal nations, more so than almost any other community, will be negatively impacted by a freeze on federal funding, said John Echohawk, executive director of the Native American Rights Fund. He said tribal nations rely on federal funding for public safety, healthcare, education, infrastructure and the basic needs of our most vulnerable citizens. The United States must fulfill its trust obligation to protect Tribal treaty rights, lands, assets, and resources, he said.Other services could see delaysNorth Carolina Gov. Josh Stein said on X he is concerned that freezing federal funding will hurt North Carolinians, especially those recovering from Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina. Stein, a Democrat, said he is seeking clarity from federal officials and working to ensure people in the storm-affected areas get the support they need.The federal government also supports state programs that fund billions of dollars in drinking water and sewage infrastructure. Money the federal government already sent out could probably be used, but the pause calls into question new spending, said Alan Roberson, executive director of the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators.The Biden administration had stipulated that some of those funds go to disadvantaged communities, a term tied to its environmental justice efforts that the Trump administration has targeted for elimination. The fate of that effort is to be determined, and we recognize that, Roberson said.___Associated Press writers Moriah Balingit in Washington, D.C.; Thalia Beaty in New York; Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska; Fernando Figueroa in Austin, Texas; Stephanie Matat in West Palm Beach, Florida; Jeff McMurray in Chicago; Cheyanne Mumphrey in Phoenix; Michael Phillis in St. Louis; Adithi Ramakrishnan in New York; Gary D. Robertson and Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, North Carolina; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; and Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland.

FILE_ Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is doused after their win against the Philadelphia Eagles at the NFL Super Bowl 57 football game, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)2025-01-28T23:04:59Z Fire Andy chants echoed throughout the stands in Philadelphia during Andy Reids final season coaching the Eagles in 2012.Nick Sirianni heard many of those same fans yelling Fire Nick in Week 6.Now, the two head coaches are facing off in the Super Bowl for the second time in three years.Reid found his greatest success after Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie fired him following a 4-12 season. It was one of the most amicable separations ever seen in professional sports.Reid won more games (140) than any coach in franchise history, and led the Eagles to nine playoff appearances, six division titles and five NFC championship games in 14 seasons. But he couldnt win the big one Philadelphia lost to New England in the teams lone Super Bowl appearance under Reid and fans starving for a championship had run out of patience.Lurie gave Reid a game ball and the coach affectionately known as Big Red received a standing ovation from employees on his way out of the team facility on Dec. 31, 2012. I have a hard time standing before people without a few boos involved. But Im taking it, Im taking it all in, Reid told them. These have been the greatest 14 years of my life. He added: Sometimes change is good. I know the next guy that comes in will be phenomenal. The ultimate goal is a Super Bowl. Everybody in this room, I wish you a big ring on the finger in the near future. Hail to the Eagles, baby.Reid quickly landed in Kansas City after Chiefs owner Clark Hunt and several team executives went to Philadelphia and spoke with him for nine hours at the airport. Reid was supposed to board a plane for Arizona to interview with the Cardinals. That never happened.Instead, he built a dynasty in Kansas City anchored by Patrick Mahomes. Theyre on the verge of history, one win away from becoming the first team to three-peat in the Super Bowl era. Theyve already won three rings together in four Super Bowl appearances over the previous five years. You think back to 2013, when Andy joined the organization, made us an immediate winner and really changed the culture here, and then a few years later, he got the quarterback that he had been waiting his whole career for, Hunt said. I think there was a comment earlier about why its so hard, why nobody has ever gone back to have a chance at a three-peat, I think its because those teams didnt have the combination of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes.The Eagles hired Chip Kelly to replace Reid. He lasted three seasons. Then they turned to Doug Pederson, who brought the city its first Super Bowl title in just his second season. Pederson was gone three years later.Sirianni came in as an unpopular hire just like Reid and Pederson were in Philly.But heres Sirianni again seeking his first championship, just a few months after he was vilified nationally for reacting emotionally and yelling and gesturing at the fans who screamed Fire Nick during a victory against the Cleveland Browns.ESPN analyst Damien Woody, a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Patriots, called Sirianni a clown on national television. Other former players-turned-talking heads ridiculed Sirianni and questioned his ability to lead the team. But all Sirianni does is win.His .706 winning percentage (48-20) is the fifth highest in NFL history. Hes guided to the Eagles to the playoffs in each of his four seasons and nearly beat the Chiefs in the Super Bowl two years ago when Mahomes rallied Kansas City to a 38-35 victory.Players rallied around Sirianni after the fan controversy in October and that win against Cleveland was the first of 10 in a row. The Eagles tied a franchise record with 14 wins and got three more in the playoffs, scoring a record 55 points against Washington in the NFC title game. This game is about overcoming adversity, Sirianni said. There are going to be good plays in the game and there are going to be bad plays in the game. There will be good moments in a season and bad moments in a season.Its about overcoming and embracing the adversity because really what weve talked about as a team is like adversity, weve all had to have adversity to be in this moment where we are right now, so adversity is what makes you who you are. Its been the story of the 2023 to the 2024 Eagles. As bad of a feeling we had about how last year ended, I think it makes you who you are. These guys are hungry, and weve got one more to go.Win or lose, Reids legacy is set. He has a Hall of Fame resume.For Sirianni, a victory could silence critics once and for all.___On Football analyzes the biggest topics in the NFL from week to week. For more On Football analysis, head here. ____AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl ROB MAADDI Maaddi is senior NFL writer for The Associated Press. Hes covered the league for 24 years, including the first two decades as the Eagles beat writer. mailto

Hindu devotees gather for a holy dip by the banks of the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers, on Mauni Amavasya' or new moon day during the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesay, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma)2025-01-29T00:31:56Z NEW DELHI (AP) Tens of thousands of people at a massive religious gathering in India rushed to take a holy bath in the countrys northern Prayagraj city, setting off a stampede early Wednesday that injured dozens, local media reported.It was not immediately clear what triggered the panic at the Maha Kumbh festival where devotees had congregated from across India to bathe at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers. News agency Press Trust of India cited authorities who said injured were sent to a hospital.The Maha Kumbh festival, held every 12 years, started on Jan. 13 and has been touted by Indian authorities as the worlds largest religious gathering. Authorities expect more than 400 million people to throng the pilgrimage site in total over the next six weeks.Stampedes are relatively common around Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with shoddy infrastructure and few safety measures.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks to employees at the Department of Homeland Security, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)2025-01-28T21:39:30Z Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined federal agents in New York City on Tuesday to announce the arrests of immigrants wanted on criminal charges, including a man accused of kidnapping who was seen on a viral video entering a Colorado apartment with reputed gang members.Noem was the latest high-ranking official from President Donald Trumps administration to tout the presidents ramped-up immigration enforcement in a city where arrests were being made. Border czar Tom Homan and acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove were in Chicago on Sunday as federal agents made arrests there.Arresting some criminal aliens this morning in NYC thank you to the brave officers involved, Noem posted on X. Criminal alien with kidnapping, assault & burglary charges is now in custody thanks to @ICE. Dirtbags like this will continue to be removed from our streets. An operation in the Bronx early Tuesday snared Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 26, who authorities said was one of several men, including members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, who entered an apartment in Aurora, Colorado, last summer and were recorded on a widely viewed video. Several of the suspects were previously arrested in Colorado and New York. The incident caught President Donald Trumps attention during the presidential campaign, and he announced a plan called Operation Aurora to target migrant gangs. The video led Trump to claim that the Denver suburb had been taken over by the gang, which city officials denied. In an arrest warrant, Aurora police said Zambrano-Pacheco was also wanted in a kidnapping in which at least 20 armed men abducted and threatened two people in late June. In addition, police said Zambrano-Pacheco was with a group of armed men before a shooting occurred shortly after the apartment incident that was caught on video.Two arrest warrants accused Zambrano-Pacheco of kidnapping, burglary and felony menacing. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer or if he was a member of Tren de Aragua. Local and federal authorities, including Aurora police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, investigated the apartment incident for months beginning when Joe Biden was still president.New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said Tuesdays arrests did not appear to be part of a wholesale raid, but rather an operation targeting specific people accused of crimes.I want to be clear, theres always been ICE raids in the state of New York, even in the past. This is not a new dynamic, she said.Zambrano-Pacheco is the fifth person to be arrested in connection with the Aurora apartment incident. The video shows six armed men, including at least some members of Tren de Aragua, entering the apartment shortly before a fatal shooting outside the complex.In Chicago, city leaders criticized the highly publicized enforcement operations that started over the weekend in the nations third-largest city. That included the surprising decision to allow daytime television psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw to livestream immigrant arrests alongside Homan. This desire to popularize fear is unconscionable and abhorrent, Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday at a City Hall news conference alongside Police Superintendent Larry Snelling, city lawyers and others. Were talking about peoples lives.Were Chicago. Were built different, he said. Were not going to be afraid of anybody that is threatening the livelihood and our economic structure in this city.Johnson defended the citys strong sanctuary protections that bar Chicago police from cooperating with federal immigration agents. Chicago has been a so-called sanctuary city for decades and has strengthened those protections several times, including during Trumps first term.ICE has offered few details about the operation in Chicago, including the number of arrests. The agency did not return a message seeking comment Tuesday.Snelling said Chicago police have communicated with federal agents but did not participate in the operation or cooperate. He estimated roughly 100 people were taken into custody. Back in the Bronx, no one answered the door at apartment 1A by the entrance to the building where Zambrano-Pacheco was detained. But Richard Egu, 50, who lives in a third-floor unit, said he was roused from sleep by the commotion around 5 a.m.Egu, a correctional officer who is originally from Nigeria and has been a naturalized citizen for more than 15 years, said he didnt venture out to investigate and did not know the man who was arrested.He said he understood the need to arrest and deport those in the country illegally who commit crimes, but he also worries about the effect such enforcement will have in the community.You need to give immigrants a chance. These people are already here, he said. Figure out the ones who are committing the crimes. Dont just judge all immigrants as criminals.___Associated Press writers Colleen Slevin in Denver, Sophia Tareen and Melissa Perez Winder in Chicago, and Philip Marcelo and Anthony Izaguirre in New York contributed to this report.

Ne'man Abu Jarad, center, and his wife Majida, center right, walk with their children as thousands of displaced Palestinians return to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip, following Israel's decision to allow them to go back for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)2025-01-28T22:14:44Z BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip (AP) The grove of orange, olive and palm trees that once stood in front of Neman Abu Jarads house was bulldozed away. The roses and jasmine flowers on the roof and in the garden, which he lovingly watered so his family could enjoy their fragrance, were also gone.The house itself was a damaged, hollowed-out shell. But after 15 months of brutal war, it stood.At the sight of it Monday, Neman; his wife, Majida; and three of their six daughters dropped the bags they had been lugging since dawn, fell to their knees and prayed, whispering, Praise be to God, praise be to God. The sunset blazed orange in the sky above.After 477 days of hell fleeing the length of the Gaza Strip, hiding from bombardment, sweltering in tents, scrounging for food and water, losing their possessions they had finally returned home. Our joy is unmatched by any other, not the joy of success, of a marriage or of a birth, Majida said. This is a joy that cant be described in words, in writing or in any expression.In October, at the one-year anniversary of the Gaza war, The Associated Press traced the Abu Jarad familys flight around the territory seeking safety. They were eight of the roughly 1.8 million Palestinians driven from their homes by Israels massive campaign of retaliation against Hamas following the militants Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. Like many families, they were displaced multiple times. Neman, Majida and their daughters the youngest in first grade, the oldest in her early 20s fled their home at the northernmost part of Gaza hours after Israeli bombardment began. They would move seven times in total, fleeing all the way to Gazas southernmost city Rafah. Each time, their conditions worsened. By October 2024, they were languishing in a sprawling tent camp near the southern city of Khan Younis, exhausted and depressed, with little hope of seeing home again. Hope suddenly revived when Israel and Hamas reached a long-awaited ceasefire earlier this month. On Jan. 19, the first day of the truce, Majida began packing up their clothes, food and other belongings. On Sunday, the announcement came: The next day, Israeli troops would pull back from two main roads, allowing Palestinians to return to the north.Since Monday, more than 375,000 Palestinians have made their way back to northern Gaza, many of them on foot.The Abu Jarads set off Monday from their tent at 5 a.m., loading bags stuffed with their belongings into a car. The driver took them to the edge of the Netzarim Corridor, the swath of land across Gaza that Israeli forces had turned into a military zone that until this week had barred any returns north.There, they got out and walked, joining the massive crowds making their way down the coastal road. For around 8 kilometers (5 miles), the 49-year-old Neeman carried one sack on his back, held another in his arms, and two bags dangled from the crooks of his elbows. They stopped frequently, to rest, rearrange bags, and drop items along the way. The road is really hard, Majida told an AP journalist who accompanied them on the journey. But our joy for the return makes us forget were tired. Every meter we walk, our joy gives us strength to continue.Reaching the southern outskirts of Gaza City, they hired a van. But it quickly ran out of fuel, and they waited more than an hour before they found another one. Driving through the city, they got their first look at the wars devastating impact in the north. Over 15 months, Israel launched repeated offensives in Gaza City and surrounding areas, trying to crush Hamas fighters who often operated in densely populated neighborhoods. After each assault, militants would regroup, and a new assault would follow.The van made its way down city streets strewn with rubble, lined with buildings that were damaged husks or had been reduced to piles of concrete.They destroyed even more in this area, Neman said, staring out the window as they left Gaza City and entered the towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun scene of one of Israels most ferocious offensives in the last three months before the ceasefire. As the sun began to set, the van dropped them off at the edge of their neighborhood. Nemans daughters stood in shock. One gaped, her hands on her cheeks. Her sister pointed out at the field of flattened houses. They walked the last few hundred meters, over a landscape of rutted, bulldozed dirt.Trudging as fast as he could under the bags draping from his body, Neman a taxi driver before the war repeated over and over in excitement, God is great, God is great. To God is all thanks.Their home still stood, sort of a hollow shell in a row of damaged buildings. After they prayed in front of it, Neeman leaned on the bare concrete wall of his house and kissed it. To his joy he discovered that one flowering vine in front of the house had miraculously survived. He immediately set about examining and arranging its tendrils. One of the girls dashed in through the now doorless front entrance. Oh Lord, oh Lord, her gasps came from the darkness inside. Then she began to cry, as if all the shock, sorrow, happiness and relief were gushing out of her.Like others streaming back into northern Gaza, the Abu Jarads will face the question of how to survive in the ruins of cities decimated by war. Water and food remain scarce, leaving the population still reliant on humanitarian aid, which is being ramped up under the ceasefire. There is no electricity. Tens of thousands are homeless.Adjoining the Abu Jarads home, Nemans brothers three-story house is now a pile of concrete wreckage after it was destroyed by an airstrike. It damaged Nemans home as it collapsed, but, thank God, there is an undamaged room which we will live in, he said. He vows to repair what is damaged.Grief from the war lays heavily on him, Neman said. His uncle lost his home, and several of his uncles children were killed. Several of his neighbors homes were destroyed. Neman said he will have to walk several kilometers (miles) to find water, just like he did in the displacement camps.Once again, we will live through suffering and fatigue.___Magdy reported from Cairo. AP writer Lee Keath in Cairo contributed to this report. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Fire crews monitor the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon, Jan. 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)2025-01-28T22:01:28Z WASHINGTON (AP) Human-caused climate change increased the likelihood and intensity of the hot, dry and windy conditions that fanned the flames of the recent devastating Southern California wildfires, a scientific study found.But the myriad of causes that go into the still smoldering fires are complex, so the level of global warmings fingerprints on weeks of burning appears relatively small compared to previous studies of killer heat waves, floods and droughts by the international team at World Weather Attribution. Tuesdays report, too rapid for peer-review yet, found global warming boosted the likelihood of high fire weather conditions in this months fires by 35% and its intensity by 6%.Once-in-a-decade super strong Santa Ana winds, a dry autumn that followed two very wet years that caused rapid growth in flammable chapparal and grass, hot weather, dry air and vulnerable houses in fire-prone areas all were factors in the fast-moving fires that destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 29 people, study authors said. But the climate attribution team was only able to quantify issues that dealt with the fire weather index, which are the meteorological conditions that add up to fire danger. Trees sway in high winds as the Eaton Fire burns structures Jan. 8, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File) Trees sway in high winds as the Eaton Fire burns structures Jan. 8, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More The fire weather index which includes measurements of past rainfall, humidity and wind speed is where the team looked and found markers of climate change that they could quantify. The team used observations of past weather and computer simulations that compared what happened this month to a what-if world without the 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Celsius) of human-caused climate change that Earth has had since industrial times. That allowed them to come up with a calculation for warmings contribution to the disaster. Its a method that the National Academy of Sciences says is valid. Even though these rapid studies arent yet peer-reviewed, nearly all of them are published later in peer-reviewed journals without significant changes, said World Weather Attribution co-lead scientist Friederike Otto. The number (35%) doesnt sound like much because unlike dozens of its past studies, the team looked at a small area and a complex meteorological measurement in the fire weather index that would generally mean there would be large uncertainties, said Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London. But in this case the climate change fingerprint is big enough that it stands out, she said. A firefighter monitors flames caused by the Hughes Fire along Castaic Lake in Castaic, Calif., Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) A firefighter monitors flames caused by the Hughes Fire along Castaic Lake in Castaic, Calif., Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Those conditions are part of what makes California attractive to 25 million residents, said study co-author John Abatzoglou, a climate and fire scientist at the University of California Merced.Southern California has some of the best climate, best weather on the planet except when you get a combination of conditions that occurred here, Abatzoglou said. You get the trifecta of dry windy and warm conditions. Those three things, in combination with dry fuels and ignitions, are the perfect recipe for fire disasters.Abatzoglou said its like a bunch of switches dryness, fuels, high temperatures, wind and ignition that all need to be turned on for conditions to really take off. Think of it as switches for a light bulb to illuminate and so you can think about the artificial warming due to human-caused climate change making the light brighter, added co-author Park Williams, a UCLA fire and climate scientist. The study also found Californias dry season has increased by 23 days and the lack of rain in October, November and December was more than twice as likely now than in pre-industrial times, but because of limitations on the data, researchers couldnt statistically pinpoint these to both climate change and the specific fires this month, Otto said. But she said the rains are decreasing that is because of human-induced climate change.Then add in strong winds to whip and spread flames. The Eaton Fire destroys a structure, Jan. 7, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File) The Eaton Fire destroys a structure, Jan. 7, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Mike Flannigan, a Canadian fire scientist who wasnt part of the research, said one key to him is the fire season extending longer and increasing the chance a fire will start during peak Santa Ana winds. The research couldnt specifically quantify how much, if any, climate change affected the Santa Ana winds.Craig Clements, a climate scientist and director of wildfire study at San Jose State University, said the rapid study makes sense and fits with past research about other fires.Its hard to attribute climate change to every fire event as many do, said Clements, who wasnt part of the research. If we can state with confidence that the drought is caused by climate change then that is the fingerprint. Smoke from a wildfire is seen from the Venice Beach section of Los Angeles, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) Smoke from a wildfire is seen from the Venice Beach section of Los Angeles, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More If the world warms another 1.3 degrees Celsius from now, the study said people should expect the type of weather conditions that led to these fires to happen another 35% more often.Otto said this is not an issue of politics, but science.Its not something where you can say that this was because California did something very wrong. They did a lot of things right. They did some things that they could do better, Otto said. But what makes these ever more dangerous, these fires, and what is something that the government of California alone can definitely not do anything about is human-induced climate change. And drill, baby drill will make this much, much worse.___Read more of APs climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment___Follow Seth Borenstein on X at @borenbears SETH BORENSTEIN Borenstein is an Associated Press science writer, covering climate change, disasters, physics and other science topics. He is based in Washington, D.C. twitter mailto

President Donald Trump greets a Marine Corps honor guard as he disembarks Marine One upon arrival on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)2025-01-28T22:59:33Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it is offering buyouts to all federal employees who opt to leave their jobs by next week an unprecedented move to shrink the U.S. government at breakneck speed. A memo from the Office of Personnel Management, the governments human resources agency, also said it would begin subjecting all federal employees to enhanced standards of suitability and conduct and ominously warned of future downsizing. The email sent to millions of employees said those who leave their posts voluntarily will receive about eight months of salary, but they have to choose to do so by Feb. 6. President Donald Trump has built a political career around promising to disrupt Washington, and vowed that his second administration would go far further in shaking up traditional political norms than his first did. Still, the repercussions of so many government workers being invited to leave their jobs were difficult to calculate. Katie Miller, who serves on an advisory board to the Department of Government Efficiency, a special Trump administration department headed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and tasked with shrinking the size of government, posted on X, This email is being sent to more than TWO MILLION federal employees. The federal government employed more than 3 million people as of November last year, which accounted for nearly 1.9% of the nations entire civilian workforce, according to the Pew Research Center. The average tenure for a federal employee is nearly 12 years, according to a Pew analysis of data from OPM. Even a fraction of the workforce accepting buyouts could send shockwaves through the economy and trigger widespread disruptions throughout society as a whole, triggering wide-ranging and as yet unknowable implications for the delivery, timeliness and effectiveness of federal services across the nation. Untold numbers of front-line health workers in the Veterans Affairs Department, officials who process loans for homebuyers or small businesses, and contractors who help procure the next generation of military weaponry could all head for the exits at once. It could also mean losing experienced food inspectors and scientists who test the water supply while disrupting everything from air travel and consumer product protections.In response, American Federation of Government Employees union President Everett Kelley said it should not be viewed as voluntary buyouts, but pressuring workers not considered loyal to the new administration to vacate their jobs.Purging the federal government of dedicated career federal employees will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government, Kelley said in a statement. Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is clear that the Trump administrations goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to.In its emailed memo detailing its plan, OPM lists four directives that it says Trump is mandating for the federal workforce going forward including that most workers return to their offices full-time. The substantial majority of federal employees who have been working remotely since Covid will be required to return to their physical offices five days a week, it reads. That echoes Trump, who said of federal employees over the weekend: You have to go to your office and work. Otherwise youre not going to have a job.The memo also says Trump will insist on excellence at every level, and while some parts of the governments workforce may increase under his administration, The majority of federal agencies are likely to be downsized. Finally, it says, the federal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and who strive for excellence in their daily work. Employees will be subject to enhanced standards of suitability and conduct as we move forward, the memo reads. The emailed message includes a deferred resignation letter for federal employees to begin leaving their posts.If you resign under this program, you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, it says. The email even includes instructions on how to accept, stating: If you wish to resign: Select Reply to this email. You must reply from your government account. It adds: Type the word Resign into the body of this email and hit send.Meanwhile, OPM has released guidance for an executive order Trump signed on the first day of his second term known as Schedule Career/Policy. It replaces Schedule F, an order Trump signed late in his first term that sought to reclassify thousands of federal employees and make them political appointees without the same job security protections. President Joe Biden rescinded Trumps Schedule F order almost immediately upon taking office in 2021, and under his administration, OPM issued a new rule last year designed to make it more difficult to fire many federal employees. That move was seen as a safeguard against using a new Schedule F order to help carry out the key goals of Project 2025, a sweeping plan by a conservative Washington think tank to dismiss large swaths of the federal workforce in favor of more conservative alternatives while also cutting back on the overall size of government.But that hasnt stopped the Trump administration from swiftly moving to gut the federal workforce and leave employees with little recourse to protest firings or reassignments. Trumps OPM on Monday set deadlines for agencies to begin to recommend workers for reclassification. Agency heads are being instructed to establish a contact person no later than Wednesday and begin to submit interim personnel recommendations within 90 days.Agencies are encouraged to submit recommendations on a rolling basis before this date, Charles Ezell, the acting director of OPM, said in a memo.Perhaps more stunning, the Trump personnel office simply did away with the Biden administrations 2024 regulation to better protect federal workers. Mondays memo said Trumps new executive order used the presidents authority to directly nullify these regulations.___Associated Press writers Zeke Miller and Lisa Mascaro in Washington and Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland, contributed to this report. __This story has been corrected to change the buyout proposal to eight months of salary, not seven. WILL WEISSERT Weissert covers national politics and the White House for The Associated Press. 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Caroline Kennedy, daughter of former President John F. Kennedy, before she christened the nuclear aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va., on Dec. 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)2025-01-28T20:00:13Z Follow live updates on President Donald Trumps return to Washington WASHINGTON (AP) Calling Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a predator who is addicted to power, Caroline Kennedy urged the U.S. Senate in a Tuesday letter to reject the nomination of her cousin to be President Donald Trumps health secretary.In a letter to Senators, Ms. Kennedy, who previously served as a U.S. ambassador to Australia and Japan and is the daughter of former President John F. Kennedy, etched a damning sketch of her cousin, the latest condemnation Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has received from members of his own, prominent Democratic family.Several denounced her cousins bid for the presidency last year. The letter, obtained by The Associated Press, was first reported by The Washington Post.Ms. Kennedy said in the letter that her cousins views on vaccines are disqualifying. She offered senators personal details from their lives growing up together that she said pose an even greater concern. She described her cousins basement, garage and dorm as being an epicenter for drug use, where he would also put baby chickens and mice in blenders to feed to his hawks.It was often a perverse scene of despair and violence, she wrote. She also read the letter in a video recording, sharing it on social media. Attempts to reach Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for comment were not immediately successful. He has openly talked about his heroin use and he pleaded guilty for bringing it on an airplane in 1984. Some Senate Republicans who would confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s as the nations top health official are uncomfortable with his views on abortion access and banning corn syrup and pesticides from Americas food supply. (AP Video: Nathan Ellgren) Kennedy now preys on the desperation of parents of sick children, she told senators, noting that he has vaccinated his own children while discouraging others from vaccinating theirs.She also pointed out that Kennedy plans to still profit off a lawsuit against pharmaceutical company Merck over Gardasil, its human papillomavirus vaccine that prevents cervical cancer. Last year, he made over $850,000 from the arrangement.In other words, he is willing to enrich himself by denying access to a vaccine that can prevent almost all forms of cervical cancer and which has been safely administered to millions of boys and girls, she wrote. She had previously not spoken about his candidacy or nomination for health secretary. Her father was assassinated in 1963 when she was a young girl. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s father, Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1968 during his presidential campaign event.Unlike Bobby, I try not to speak for my father but I am certain that he and my uncle Bobby, who gave their lives in public services, and my uncle Teddy, who devoted his Senate career to improving health care, would be disgusted, Ms. Kennedy wrote.Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will appear before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday in his bid to become Trumps health secretary. Another hearing for his nomination will be held on Wednesday in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension committee, the panel his uncle, Ted Kennedy, once chaired. AMANDA SEITZ Seitz is an Associated Press reporter covering federal health care policy. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the Heritage Foundation 50th Anniversary Celebration leadership summit, Friday, April 21, 2023, in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)2025-01-29T03:23:18Z TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Florida lawmakers passed a sweeping immigration bill Tuesday, setting aside half a billion dollars in public funds to help carry out President Donald Trump s crackdown on those in the country illegally.In a state where roughly one in every five residents is an immigrant, the legislation would require every level of government as well as government contractors to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement to the fullest extent possible.Following more than four hours of deliberations on Tuesday, Floridas Republican-dominated Legislature passed the measure largely along party lines. The passage sets up a showdown between Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and state legislative leaders, who have sparred over whose proposals would better carry out Trumps immigration crackdown. DeSantis has called the bill weak. The whole goal of this bill is to help President Trump do his job, said Republican Sen. Gruters, one of the bill sponsors and a Trump ally who said he spoke with the president while shepherding the measure. He wants maximum coordination with local government. Lawmakers pushed the 80-plus page bill titled the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy, or TRUMP Act through in a special session, when its harder for the public to engage in the legislative process. Republican lawmakers filed the bill after rejecting immigration proposals by DeSantis, a rebuke to the lame duck governor who was once floated as Trumps successor. Notably, one Republican in the House and six in the Senate voted against the measure, leaving the bill short of a veto-proof majority.I appreciate the attempt, said Republican Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, an ally of the governor. I cannot vote for this because it is nowhere near strong enough for my taste.Ahead of the floor debate on Tuesday, Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez announced additional provisions, after they requested and received technical assistance from the Trump Administration, the leaders said. The amendments included enhancing penalties for all crimes committed in the state by people in the country illegally, and requires that those convicted of capital offenses receive the death penalty. But the Republican sponsors declined to include some of DeSantis provisions, like restrictions on sending money overseas by people in the country illegally and a measure that would have created a legal presumption that people in the country illegally are a flight risk.Now DeSantis must weigh whether to sign a proposal hes bashed in public as toothless and watered-down or veto it. He could also decline to sign the bill, allowing it to become law.The measure passed by lawmakers Tuesday would create a new state immigration enforcement office with more than 140 employees under the direction of a newly minted chief immigration officer, a post to be taken by the states commissioner of agriculture, and would cede emergency immigration enforcement powers from the governor to the state immigration officer. The bill allocates $100 million for grants to local law enforcement agencies for training, equipment and reimbursement for leasing detention facilities to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It allocates another $375 million to fund the states cooperation with the federal government, including efforts related to a program that deputizes local law enforcement for duties typically performed by ICE agents. It also sets aside $25 million to give $1,000 bonuses to local law enforcement officers who cooperate with the federal government.Democrats repeatedly pressed the bill sponsors on the language requiring government employees to cooperate to the fullest extent possible with federal immigration enforcement.If we really dont want our (school resource officers), our social workers and our teachers defining for themselves what the fullest extent of their cooperation needs to be, then we need to define that, said Democratic Rep. Christine Hunchofsky. Gruters said the bill is aimed at requiring more cooperation from local officials running jails and detention facilities, not street-level enforcement. But he acknowledged that could change with federal priorities.The bill would also repeal a decade-old state law allowing Florida students who are in the country without legal permission to qualify for in-state tuition at public colleges and universities, which as of the 2023-2024 fiscal year benefitted about 6,500 students. In a sign of how much the states immigration politics have changed in recent years, the tuition measure was sponsored in 2014 by the states now-lieutenant governor, a Republican from Miami.I implore you today to remember the haunting yet challenging words of our lieutenant governor when she said, Its the right thing to do, Democratic Sen. Darryl Rouson told his colleagues on the Senate floor. And what has changed since then except an attitude towards immigrants? Democratic Rep. Jose Alvarez, who was born in Cuba and was brought the U.S. by his parents, was more forceful.You all should be ashamed of yourself, he told lawmakers during a hearing on the bill, adding This is not what this country was meant for.The provision empowering the states agriculture commissioner as chief immigration officer has rankled DeSantis, who said its almost like the fox guarding the hen house because the agriculture industry hasnt been known for immigration enforcement. In his closing remarks, Speaker Perez seemed to nod at the pressure Republicans have faced from the governor and his allies.Threatening others to get your way isnt leadership, its immaturity, Perez said. Im going ask you to ignore the melodrama and instead focus on the work that we have to do.Florida is among many states led by both parties responding to Trumps immigration agenda, including Tennessee, which started its own special session Monday in part to deal with the issue.___ Associated Press writer Stephany Matat in West Palm Beach contributed to this report. Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. KATE PAYNE Payne writes about state government and education and is based in Tallahassee, FL. She is a Report for America corps member. twitter mailto

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire on an Air Busan airplane at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (Son Hyung-joo/Yonhap via AP)2025-01-28T15:12:50Z SEOUL, South Korea (AP) A passenger plane caught fire before takeoff at an airport in South Korea late Tuesday, but all 176 people on board were safely evacuated, authorities said.The Airbus plane operated by South Korean airline Air Busan was preparing to leave for Hong Kong when its rear parts caught fire at Gimhae International Airport in the southeast, the Transport Ministry said in a statement. The planes 169 passengers, six crewmembers and one engineer were evacuated using an escape slide, the ministry said. The National Fire Agency said in a release that three people suffered minor injuries during the evacuation. The fire agency said the fire was completely put out at 11:31 p.m., about one hour after it deployed firefighters and fire trucks at the scene. The cause of the fire wasnt immediately known. The Transport Ministry said the plane is an A321 model. Tuesdays incident came a month after a Jeju Air passenger plane crashed at Muan International Airport in southern South Korea, killing all but two of the 181 people on board. It was one of the deadliest disasters in South Koreas aviation history. The Boeing 737-800 skidded off the airports runaway on Dec. 29 after its landing gear failed to deploy, slamming into a concrete structure and bursting into flames. The flight was returning from Bangkok and all of the victims were South Koreans except for two Thai nationals.The first report on the crash released Monday said authorities have confirmed traces of bird strikes in the planes engines, though officials havent determined the cause of the accident. HYUNG-JIN KIM Hyung-jin is an Associated Press reporter in Seoul, South Korea. He reports on security, political and other general news on the Korean Peninsula. twitter mailto

The page for the smartphone app DeepSeek is seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)2025-01-28T23:31:23Z Chinese artificial intelligence startup company DeepSeek stunned markets and AI experts with its claim that it built its immensely popular chatbot at a fraction of the cost of those made by American tech titans. That immediately called into question the billions of dollars U.S. tech companies are spending on a massive expansion of energy-hungry data centers they say are needed to unlock the next wave of artificial intelligence.Could this new AI mean the world needs significantly less electricity for the technology than everyone thinks? The answer has profound implications for the overheating climate . AI uses vast amounts of energy, much of which comes from burning fossil fuels, which causes climate change. Tech companies have said their electricity use is going up, when it was supposed to be ramping down, ruining their carefully-laid plans to address climate change. There has been a very gung ho, go ahead at all costs mentality in this space, pushing toward investment in fossil fuels, said Eric Gimon, senior fellow at Energy Innovation. This is an opportunity to tap the brakes.Making AI more efficient could be less taxing on the environment, experts say, even if its huge electricity needs are not going away. People flock to new DeepSeek assistantDeepSeeks claims of building its impressive chatbot on a budget drew curiosity that helped make its AI assistant the No. 1 downloaded free app on Apples iPhone this week, ahead of U.S.-made chatbots ChatGPT and Googles Gemini.All of a sudden we wake up Monday morning and we see a new player number one on the App Store, and all of a sudden it could be a potential gamechanger overnight, said Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets. It caused a bit of a panic. These were the hottest stocks in the world.DeepSeeks app competes well with other leading AI models. It can compose software code, solve math problems and address other questions that take multiple steps of planning. Its attracted attention for its ability to explain its reasoning in the process of answering questions. Leading analysts have been poring through the startups public research papers about its new model, R1, and its precursors. Among the details that stood out was DeepSeeks assertion that the cost to train the flagship v3 model behind its AI assistant was only $5.6 million, a stunningly low number compared to the multiple billions of dollars spent to build ChatGPT and other well-known systems. DeepSeek hasnt responded to requests for comment.The $5.6 million number only included actually training the chatbot, not the costs of earlier-stage research and experiments, the paper said. DeepSeek was also working under some constraints: U.S. export controls on the most powerful AI chips. It said it relied on a relatively low-performing AI chip from California chipmaker Nvidia that the U.S. hasnt banned for sale in China. A look at how data centers operate, and why they require a lot of electricity and water. (AP animation/Donavon Brutus) The energy use of data centers in the United States is projected to double or triple by 2028Data centers consumed about 4.4% of all U.S. electricity in 2023 and thats expected to increase to 6.7% to 12% of total U.S. electricity by 2028, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.Its been axiomatic that U.S. tech giants must spend much more on building out data centers and other infrastructure to train and run their AI systems. Meta Platforms, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, says it plans to spend up to $65 billion this year, including on a massive data center complex coming to Louisiana.Microsoft said it plans to spend $80 billion this year. And Trump last week joined the CEOs of OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank to announce a joint venture that hopes to invest up to $500 billion on data centers and the electricity generation needed for AI development, starting with a project already under construction in Texas. This photo shows a Meta data center, in Dublin, Ireland, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen, File) This photo shows a Meta data center, in Dublin, Ireland, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Experts think that if AI is more efficient, it will be used more, so energy demand will still grow.When theres an innovative technology thats useful to the general population and its affordable, people will use it, said Vic Shao, founder of DC Grid, which delivers off-grid, direct current power to data centers and electric vehicle charging stations.That means data centers will still be built, though they may be able to operate more efficiently, said Travis Miller, an energy and utilities strategist at Morningstar Securities Research.We think that the growth in electricity demand will end up at the lower end of most of the ranges out there, he said.If DeepSeeks claims hold true, some routine AI queries might not need a data center and could be shifted to phones, said Rahul Sandil, vice president and general manager for global marketing and communications at MediaTek, a semiconductor company. That would ease the computing need and give more time to scale up renewable energy sources for data centers.Bloom Energy is one of the AI-related stocks that took a hit Monday. KR Sridhar, founder and CEO, said its imperative that the U.S. leads in AI because it can power data centers with clean energy, unlike other countries that still primarily rely on coal. We can continue to make it better and we will continue to make it better, he said. Rick Villars, an analyst for market research group IDC, said the DeepSeek news could influence how AI researchers advance their models, but theyll still need plenty of data centers and electricity.We think this actually could boost and accelerate the time frame for when AI becomes much more embedded into our lives, in the work sense, the living sense and in health care, Villars said. So we still think the capacity is required.___The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. 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. JENNIFER McDERMOTT McDermott is a reporter on the Associated Press Climate and Environment team. She focuses on the transition to clean energy. twitter mailto MATT OBRIEN OBrien covers the business of technology and artificial intelligence for The Associated Press. mailto

People displaced by the fighting with M23 rebels make their way to the center of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)2025-01-28T10:24:36Z GOMA, Congo (AP) Rwanda-backed rebels have claimed they captured eastern Congos strategic city of Goma, the hub of a region containing trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that remains largely untapped.Analysts said the M23 fighters aimed to control the city of about 2 million people and perhaps other areas in the region nearly 1,000 miles from the Congolese capital.It marks a sharp escalation in one of Africas longest wars, threatening to dramatically worsen a dire humanitarian crisis. People displaced by the fighting with M23 rebels make their way to the center of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) People displaced by the fighting with M23 rebels make their way to the center of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More The offensive has sent thousands fleeing their homes, in addition to 1 million displaced who are already in Goma, and stretched hospitals to the limit, with hundreds of wounded coming in every day as civilians get caught in the crossfire.This series of photos documents the events as they unfold. Congolese government troops deploy outside Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, as M23 rebels are reported to close in on the town. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Congolese government troops deploy outside Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, as M23 rebels are reported to close in on the town. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Congolese government troops deploy outside Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, as M23 rebels are reported to close in on the town. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Congolese government troops deploy outside Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, as M23 rebels are reported to close in on the town. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More People displaced by the fighting with M23 rebels make their way to the center of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) People displaced by the fighting with M23 rebels make their way to the center of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More People displaced by the fighting with M23 rebels make their way to the center of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) People displaced by the fighting with M23 rebels make their way to the center of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More A UN armored personnel carrier burns during clashes with M23 rebels outside Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) A UN armored personnel carrier burns during clashes with M23 rebels outside Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More People displaced by the fighting with M23 rebels make their way to the center of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) People displaced by the fighting with M23 rebels make their way to the center of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More People displaced by the fighting with M23 rebels make their way to the center of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) People displaced by the fighting with M23 rebels make their way to the center of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Congolese government troops deploy outside Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, as M23 rebels are reported to close in on the town. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Congolese government troops deploy outside Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, as M23 rebels are reported to close in on the town. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More UN troops deploy outside Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, as M23 rebels are reported to close in on the town. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) UN troops deploy outside Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, as M23 rebels are reported to close in on the town. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More A UN armored personnel carrier burns during clashes with M23 rebels outside Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) A UN armored personnel carrier burns during clashes with M23 rebels outside Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Congolese children watch the deployment of government and UN troops outside Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, as M23 rebels are reported to close in on the town. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Congolese children watch the deployment of government and UN troops outside Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, as M23 rebels are reported to close in on the town. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Mariam Nasibu stands by her 10-year-old daughter Deborah, who was wounded in the fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese armed forces, in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Mariam Nasibu stands by her 10-year-old daughter Deborah, who was wounded in the fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese armed forces, in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More A person wounded in the fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese armed forces arrives at the Cbeca Ndosho hospital in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) A person wounded in the fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese armed forces arrives at the Cbeca Ndosho hospital in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More A child wounded in the fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese armed forces lies on a bed at the Cbeca Ndosho hospital in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) A child wounded in the fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese armed forces lies on a bed at the Cbeca Ndosho hospital in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More People wounded in the fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese armed forces arrive at the Cbeca Ndosho hospital in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) People wounded in the fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese armed forces arrive at the Cbeca Ndosho hospital in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More People wounded in the fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese armed forces arrive at the Cbeca Ndosho hospital in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) People wounded in the fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese armed forces arrive at the Cbeca Ndosho hospital in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More People fleeing M-23 rebel advances arrive by boat in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) People fleeing M-23 rebel advances arrive by boat in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More People fleeing M-23 rebel advances arrive by boat in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) People fleeing M-23 rebel advances arrive by boat in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More People fleeing M-23 rebel advances arrive by boat in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) People fleeing M-23 rebel advances arrive by boat in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More People fleeing M-23 rebel advances arrive by boat in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) People fleeing M-23 rebel advances arrive by boat in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More People fleeing M-23 rebel advances arrive by boat in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) People fleeing M-23 rebel advances arrive by boat in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More People fleeing M-23 rebel advances arrive by boat in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) People fleeing M-23 rebel advances arrive by boat in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More

Syrian civil defense workers, known as the White Helmets, collect human remains found in two separate basements in Sbeneh, outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. According to the White Helmets, the charred remains belong to at least 26 victims of the Bashar Assad regime. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)2025-01-28T20:20:17Z DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) The charred remains of at least 26 victims of the Bashar Assad government were located Tuesday by Syrian civil defense workers in two separate basements in rural Damascus.The discovery adds to the growing tally of mass graves unearthed since the fall of the Assad government in December. The remains, which are believed to include men, women and children, showed evidence of gunshot wounds and burning.Members of Syrias White Helmets, a volunteer civil defense group, exhumed the fragmented, weathered skeletal remains from the basement of two properties in the town of Sbeneh, southwest of the capital. Wearing hazmat suits, they carefully logged and coded each set of remains before placing them into body bags, which were then loaded onto trucks for transport.Since Nov. 28, the White Helmets have uncovered more than 780 bodies, most of unknown identity, Abed al-Rahman Mawwas, a member of the rescue service, told The Associated Press. He said many were found in shallow graves uncovered by locals or dug up by animals. The bodies are transferred to forensics doctors to determine their identities, time of death and cause of death, as well as to match them with possible family members. Of course, this takes years of work, he said. Mohammad al-Herafe, a resident of one of the buildings where remains were uncovered, said the stench of decomposing bodies was overwhelming when his family returned to Sbeneh in 2016 after fleeing because of fighting in the area during the countrys uprising-turned-civil war that began in 2011. He said they found the bodies in the basement but chose not to report it out of fear of government reprisals. We could not tell the regime about it because we know that the regime did this.The Assad government, which ruled Syria for over two decades, employed airstrikes on civilian areas, torture, executions and mass imprisonment, to maintain control over Syria and suppress opposition groups during the countrys 13-year civil war. Ammar al-Salmo, another Civil Defense member dispatched to the second basement site, said further investigation is needed to identify the victims. We need testimonies from residents and others who might know who stayed behind when the fighting intensified in 2013, he told the AP.Mohammad Shebat, who lived in the second building where bodies were found, said he left the neighborhood in 2012 and returned in 2020 when he and his neighbors discovered the bodies and demanded their removal. But no one cooperated, he said.Shebat believes the victims were civilians who fled the nearby Al-Assali neighborhood when the fighting escalated and the Assad government imposed a siege in 2013. He said forces of the former government used to trap people in basements, burn them with tires and leave their bodies. There are several basements like this, full of skeletons, he said.In a report released Monday, the United Nations Syria Commission of Inquiry said that mass graves can be used as evidence to uncover the fates of thousands of missing detainees. The report, spanning 14 years of investigations and drawing on over 2,000 witness testimonies, including more than 550 survivors of torture, detailed how detainees in Syrias notorious prisons suffering from torture injuries, malnutrition, disease and illness, were left to die slowly, in agonizing pain, or were taken away to be executed.Assads fall on Dec. 8 drove hundreds of families to scour prisons and morgues in desperate search of loved ones. While many were freed after years of imprisonment, thousands remain missing, their fates still unknown.The U.N. commission has said that forensic exhumations of mass graves, as well as safeguarding evidence, archives and crime sites, may offer grieving families a chance to learn the truth.The commission was established in 2011 by the Human Rights Council to investigate Syrias alleged violations of international human rights law.The U.N. report documented brutal methods of torture by the former government, including severe beatings, electric shocks, burning, pulling out nails, damaging teeth, rape, sexual violence including mutilation, prolonged stress positions, deliberate neglect and denial of medical care, exacerbating wounds and psychological torture.For Syrians who did not find their loved ones among the freed, this evidence, alongside testimonies of freed detainees, may be their best hope to uncover the truth about missing relatives, said Commissioner Lynn Welchman. ___Abou AlJoud reported from Beirut.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaks during a meeting with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)2025-01-29T05:09:25Z WASHINGTON (AP) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s famous name, populist stances and loyal following have earned him President Donald Trumps support, but will that get him the votes he needs from the Republican-controlled Senate to become the nations top health official? If approved, Kennedy will control a $1.7 trillion agency that oversees food and hospital inspections, hundreds of health clinics, vaccine recommendations and health insurance for roughly half the country. His confirmation hearings are set before the Senate finance committee on Wednesday and the Health, Education, Labor and Pension committee on Thursday. Heres what to watch during his confirmation hearings: How will he explain his vaccine views? Over many years, Kennedy has been clear about his beliefs on vaccines in dozens of interviews, podcasts and social media posts. Hes headed up a nonprofit that has sued the government over its authorizations of vaccines. Hes said there is no vaccine that is safe and effective, and repeatedly called for further study of routine childhood vaccinations, despite decades of research and real-world use that proves theyve safely prevented disease. But more recently, Kennedy has tried to downplay his past remarks and work, saying hes not anti-vaccine and promising not to take away the shots. The health committee chairman, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., also has expressed concerns about Kennedys anti-vaccine work. A physician, Cassidy said earlier this month he had a frank conversation and spoke about vaccines at length with Kennedy. On Tuesday, Cassidy told reporters that he is still unsure if he is backing Trumps nominee. Im still working through it, Cassidy said during a press availability with Louisiana reporters on Tuesday. I look forward to the hearings and I will allow that to guide my decision.The intensity of the questioning on vaccines over the next two days could provide clues for how other Republicans like Sen. Mitch McConnell, a polio survivor who represents Kentucky might consider Kennedys nomination. Watch for overtures to the anti-abortion movementSome of the countrys most conservative lawmakers have been worried about how Kennedy will handle abortion as health secretary. Republican Sen. James Lankford, who sits on the finance committee, is expected to grill Kennedy, a longtime Democrat, on the issue during Wednesdays hearing. Lankford is seen as a possible no vote over Kennedys past comments supporting abortion. Last month, the Oklahoma senator said he had a good conversation with Kennedy but stopped short of endorsing. HHS can influence abortion and reproductive health access in a number of ways, including with millions of dollars in grants it sends to Planned Parenthood and regulations around abortion pills. Under the Biden administration, the agency also said hospitals were required to provide emergency abortions for pregnant women in medical distress. On Monday, acting HHS Secretary Dorothy Fink signaled the agency is prepared to adopt a tougher stance on abortion under Kennedy. She ordered the agency to investigate all of its programs to make sure no taxpayer money is going toward elective abortions. There are Democrats hes trying to woo, tooKennedy needs to earn support from nearly all Senate Republicans, but he may also try to pick up a vote or two from the Democratic Party. His closest supporters and advisers have urged followers to call the offices of Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. Another Democratic senator may also be in play: John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who met with Kennedy and has said hes open to supporting Trumps nominees.An area where Kennedy is trying to find common ground with Democratic senators: food regulations and access to healthier foods. Kennedy has said he supports Medicare and Medicaid helping people pay for healthier foods and gym memberships, an idea Democrats have lobbied for as well. Hes also called for a ban on some of the ingredients used in foods, like dyes and additives. Will that letter come up? In a letter sent to U.S. senators on Tuesday, Caroline Kennedy shared shocking personal details about her cousin, saying he is not qualified for the health secretary job. Caroline Kennedy said RFK Jr.'s views on vaccines are a problem, but she also brought up her experiences growing up with him. A copy obtained by The Associated Press notes that while she admired him for overcoming a drug addiction, she said he has gone on to misrepresent, lie, and cheat his way through life. In an extreme anecdote, she accused him of hosting drug-fueled gatherings in his basement, dorm and garage where he enjoyed showing off how he put baby chickens and mice in the blender to feed his hawks. Meanwhile, another cousin, former Rhode Island congressman and Democrat Patrick J. Kennedy, threw his support behind the health secretary nominee in an opinion piece for The Washington Post on Tuesday. RFK Jr. helped pull him out of addiction, Patrick J. Kennedy said. Bobby was the first family member to call and offer his personal and public support, even at a time when some in my family criticized me for breaking the so-called family code of silence, he wrote. ___Associated Press writer Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, contributed to this report. AMANDA SEITZ Seitz is an Associated Press reporter covering federal health care policy. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter mailto

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to be Defense secretary, at the completion of his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)2025-01-29T05:02:16Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump has launched his second bid to oust all transgender troops from the military, and once again it will be headed to the courts to sort it out.Although the new order will affect only a tiny fraction of Americas 2.1 million service members, it has taken on oversized importance to Trump and his administration, who see transgender forces as a sign the military is woke or not focused on training and winning wars. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, before he took the job, wrote in his book War on Warriors that for the recruits, for the military, and primarily for the security of the country, transgender people should never be allowed to serve. Its that simple. Trumps order to push out transgender troops, issued late Monday night, was instantly condemned by an array of activist groups as exceptionally egregious and ultimately harmful to military readiness. They say transgender people have been serving successfully for years, including openly on and off for the past decade.Heres a look at what it all means and the confusing duel over the ban for the past decade. What does the order say?Trumps order essentially says that anyone who is diagnosed with gender dysphoria the unease someone has when their assigned sex and gender identity dont match cannot serve in the military. It gives the defense secretary 60 days to update the medical standards for enlistment and re-enlistment to reflect that change. And it gives Hegseth 30 days to lay out how he plans to implement it all.According to the order, expressing a false gender identity divergent from an individuals sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service. It says the hormonal and surgical needs involved in taking on a different gender identity conflicts with a soldiers commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle. It concludes that, A mans assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.The order also zeroes in on the heady bathroom issue. On his first day in office Trump issued an executive order that he said would restore biological truth to the federal government by eliminating the word gender and replacing it with sex. He said the federal government will only recognize people based on their sex at the time of conception based on their reproductive cell.His latest order expands on that, saying the military will neither allow males to use or share sleeping, changing, or bathing facilities designated for females, nor allow females to use or share sleeping, changing, or bathing facilities designated for males. Now what?The Pentagon has said in recent years that it is impossible to count the total number of transgender troops. The military services say there is no way to track them and that much information is limited due to medical privacy laws.Estimates have hovered between 9,000 and 12,000. But it will be very difficult for officials to identify them, even as service members worry about the hunt to root them out.This casts an enormous shadow on people that are getting ready to go on a deployment for six months overseas or, you know, getting ready to go on a combat mission, said Sasha Buchert, counsel for Lambda Legal. This is going to be extremely disruptive. And theyre going to have to look over their shoulder in fear of when the next shoe will fall.Since transgender troops have been able to serve openly for a number of years, its possible their fellow unit members or commanders know who some of them are. That triggers worries about people identifying them in order to get them pushed out and raises parallels to the Clinton administrations Dont Ask, Dont Tell policy, which allowed gays to serve in the military as long as they didnt tell.In March 2018, then-Defense Secretary James Mattis released a memo with unprecedented details on the number of transgender forces and how many of them had sought mental health help or were planning to seek surgery. It said, at that time, there were 8,980 service members who identified themselves as transgender, and 937 had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The report said data collected by the military health system revealed that 424 of those service members diagnosed had gotten treatment plans approved and for at least 36 of them those plans didnt include cross sex hormone therapy or sex reassignment surgery.This isnt the first timeIn 2015, then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter broached the idea of lifting the ban on transgender troops and allowing them to serve openly, which raised concerns among military leaders. He set up a study, and then about a year later, in June 2016, announced the ban was ended. A year after that, just six months into his first presidential term, Trump suddenly announced via tweet he was not going to allow transgender people to serve in the military in any capacity. The tweets caught the Pentagon by surprise and plunged leaders into what became a roughly two-year struggle to hammer out the complex details of who would be affected by the ban and how it would work, even as legal challenges poured in. By March 2019, as courts ruled against the ban, the Pentagon laid out a policy that allowed those currently serving to continue with plans for hormone treatments and gender transition if they had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. But it barred new enlistments of anyone with gender dysphoria who was taking hormones or had transitioned to another gender. And it said in the future those diagnosed with gender dysphoria must serve in their birth gender and were barred from taking hormones or getting transition surgery.Soon after President Joe Biden took office in 2021, he overturned Trumps ban and the Pentagon also announced it would cover transition medical expenses for troops. How has it worked out?The chiefs of all four military services told members of Congress in 2018 they were seeing few problems as transgender troops began serving openly. The Navy chief at the time, Adm. John Richardson, said the Navy was dealing with the issue the same way it handled the integration of women sailors on submarines.And the Marine commandant then, Gen. Robert Neller, said there were no unit cohesion or discipline problems. His only concern, he told a Senate committee, was that some commanders were saying they had to spend a lot of time with transgender people as they worked through medical requirements involving their transition to their preferred gender.Sarah Klimm, a transgender Marine who served for 23 years, retired just as the end to the ban was announced in 2016, so was never able to serve openly.Trans military members that are out there right now are dropping bombs, pulling triggers, fixing all the weapons systems, she said Tuesday. And now youre looking to keep them away.Klimm, who is now a policy analyst for Minority Veterans of America, said its an especially precarious time to remove thousands of service members as recruiting has been a struggle.Emily Shilling, who has been openly transgender since 2019, is currently serving as a commander in the Navy with more than 19 years of service, including as a combat pilot who flew 60 missions in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.I just want to continue serving my country, using the skills this nation invested in me as a fighter pilot and leader, she said, stressing that she was speaking in her personal capacity. For nearly two decades, Ive upheld the highest standards of excellence, leading teams in combat and peace. All I ask is the opportunity to keep using my training and experience to serve this country with honor, courage and dedication.___ Associated Press writer Tara Copp contributed to this report. 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

Retired Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appears before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 19, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)2025-01-29T09:49:02Z WASHINGTON (AP) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is pulling the security protections and clearance of retired Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Mark Milley, and has ordered the Pentagons inspector general to review Milleys actions while serving as the nations top uniformed officer to determine if a demotion is warranted, two defense officials confirmed late Tuesday. The inspector general review will include an inquiry into the facts and circumstances surrounding Gen Milleys conduct so that the Secretary may determine whether it is appropriate to reopen his military grade review determination, said Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot. The Secretary informed General Milley today that he is revoking the authorization for his security detail and suspending his security clearance as well, he said.Milley served as chairman during President Donald Trumps first term in office. While the relationship initially went well, it soured deeply and fast, as Milley tried to advise and contain the president on a host of issues. He pushed back on the presidents interest in using force domestically to quell protestors after the death of George Floyd, and was at the center of a controversy in 2021 when he made independent calls to his Chinese counterpart. Trump called the calls an act of treason, but at the time Milley said the calls were routine and part of the scope of his job. Milley in his final days as chairman after Trump had left office was equally outspoken about his former boss. He said at his official retirement ceremony we dont take an oath to a king or a queen or to a tyrant or a dictator. And we dont take an oath to a wannabe dictator. We dont take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and were willing to die to protect it, he said at the time.Hegseths chief of staff Joe Kasper said that the decision to strip Milley of his clearance and detail was taken because undermining the chain of command is corrosive to our national security, and restoring accountability is a priority for the Defense Department under President Trumps leadership. The moves, which were first reported by Fox News, may also include taking down Milleys Army chief of staff portrait. Milleys chairman portrait was stripped from the wall just hours after Trump was sworn in. The portraits were both paid for by a donation from the Association of the United States Army, not taxpayer dollars, and were a gift to Milley honoring his service. 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

Eitan Gonen, whose daughter Romi was abducted by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, poses for a portrait in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)2025-01-29T05:26:44Z RAMAT GAN, Israel (AP) For more than 470 days, Eitan Gonen publicly pleaded with his daughter to stay alive while in Hamas captivity. He didnt know if she would hear him, but he ended every interview he gave with the same hopeful message: Romi is coming home alive.When he finally got to speak to his daughter for the first time in 15 months after she and two other women were freed Jan. 19, he got his answer.She said, Dad, I came home alive, Eitan Gonen told The Associated Press on Tuesday in his first interview with an international news outlet since her release. I know that my interview back then gave Romi a lot of strength, a lot of hope, something to cling on, he said. Romi Gonen, 24, was among the first hostages to be freed from Gaza and one of seven women so far released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire, a long and uncertain process aimed at eventually ending the war. Some 250 people were kidnapped during Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. About 90 hostages remain in Gaza, although at least a third of them are believed to be dead. During the ceasefires first phase, Hamas agreed to gradually release 33 hostages in exchange for Israel freeing nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Six more hostages are expected to be released this week in exchange for hundreds of prisoners. Israel has been preparing for the hostages to return, with the expectation that after more than a year in captivity, many would likely be dealing with life-threatening health issues or other physical and psychological problems. This week, Dr. Ami Benov, who is working with the hostages, told reporters that the women were in poor physical condition and would face a lengthy recovery process, as they suffered from mild starvation and vitamin deficiencies. Sitting in a complex in central Israel where his daughter and some of the other freed hostages are staying, Eitan Gonen wouldnt comment on Romis health but said theres a long road ahead. The rehabilitation status just started, he said. Because she spent so long in captivity, the family isnt pressuring her to speak. Instead, they are trying to give her autonomy and control, and to let her take things at her own pace, he said. Like many others, Romi was taken captive at the Nova music festival. That morning, her sister and mother, Merav Leshem Gonen, spent nearly five hours speaking to Romi as militants marauded through the festival grounds. Romi told her family that she would try to hide in the bushes, as the roads being clogged with abandoned cars made escape impossible.For nearly two months, her family had no idea if she was dead. They only learned she was alive from other hostages who were freed during a weeklong ceasefire a month after the attack, Eitan Gonen said.Praising his daughters strength, he said she survived in part by learning Arabic, as it was the only way to communicate with her captors. Human beings will do anything to survive. Anything. And since the terrorists dont speak any other language other than Arabic, she didnt have any chance in order to communicate with them to start learning their language, he said, noting that she has even spoken it at times since being freed, likely out of habit. Something else that helped her stay alive was the support from other hostages, Eitan Gonen said. For a period, Romi was held with Emily Damari, a British-Israeli hostage who was released along with her. I believe God set it up somehow that Emily and Romi ... had each other to survive. ... Its a dynamic duo, he said.Other released hostages expressed similar sentiments about their own time in captivity. Israeli soldier Naama Levy, who was released Saturday, wrote in an Instagram post that after spending 50 days mostly alone, she was given strength when she was reunited with other kidnapped soldiers. Being held hostage with someone can provide strength through a shared fight for survival in the face of unimaginable adversity, said Dr. Einat Yehene, a psychologist who specializes in trauma and loss and who is head of rehabilitation at the Hostages Families Forum. Even though he finally got his daughter back, Eitan Gonen is still urging the Israeli government to keep working to bring home all of the remaining hostages. And he urges the families of hostages to keep giving interviews in all languages and mediums, to maintain the pressure and let their relatives know they havent been forgotten. But hes mostly focusing on spending time with his daughter. I just enjoy being with her even in silence, touching, hugging, watching her, he said. I missed it so much.___Associated Press reporter Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv contributed to this report. SAM MEDNICK Mednick is the West and Central Africa reporter for the Associated Press. She focuses on conflict, humanitarian crises and human rights abuses. twitter

People who crossed from Congo disembark a truck in Gyseny, Rwanda, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, following M23 rebels' advances into eastern Congo's capital Goma. (AP Photo/Yuhi Irakiza)2025-01-29T09:35:44Z GOMA, Congo (AP) Rwanda-backed rebels captured large parts of Goma, the biggest city in eastern Congo, including its airport, the United Nations said, as Rwandas president on Wednesday joined calls for a ceasefire in the decadeslong conflict amid mounting international pressure.Much of Goma was calm after a day during which thousands of fleeing people hunkered down by roadsides as missiles flew overhead, and injured people streamed to overwhelmed hospitals.While government forces still control pockets of Goma, residents who spoke to The Associated Press by phone on Tuesday said that the M23 rebel group was in control of much of the city.The M23 rebels, who said that they captured the city on Monday after a weekslong advance, are one of about 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo. The conflict escalated with the rebels advance into Goma, which left bodies on the streets and drove hundreds of thousands of already displaced people to flee once again. After clashing with government forces, the rebels took control of the airport, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a briefing on Tuesday, warning of risks of a breakdown of law and order in the city given the proliferation of weapons. Rwandan President Paul Kagame said on X that he spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the need to ensure a ceasefire and address the root causes of the conflict once and for all. His government denies supporting M23, despite reports from U.N. experts who estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo. Rwanda has accused Congo of enlisting Hutu rebels and former militiamen whom it blames for the 1994 genocide.The East African Community, whose members include both Rwanda and Congo, are scheduled to discuss the conflict at a meeting on Wednesday. Congolese President Flix Tshisekedi wont be able to participate in the virtual summit, a spokesperson said, without providing further details. Pope Francis called for the cessation of hostilities and the protection of civilians.We hope that all forms of violence against people and their property will cease as soon as possible (and) I invite local authorities and the international community to make every effort to resolve the conflict by peaceful means, Francis said at his weekly general audience.M23, made up primarily of ethnic Tutsis, has told the AP that it plans to set up an administration in the city so people can continue living normal lives and displaced people can return home. Analysts have warned that securing a rebel withdrawal could be more difficult than in 2012, when M23 first captured Goma but withdrew after days. Murithi Mutiga, program director for Africa at the Crisis Group, said that the group has become more emboldened by Rwanda, which feels Congo is ignoring its interests in the region and which has accused Congo of failing to meet demands of previous peace agreements.

Palestinians walk through buildings that were destroyed by the Israeli air and ground offensive are seen at the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood in Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohamamd Abu Samra)2025-01-29T08:58:43Z The Palestinian Health Ministry says two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank overnight and into Wednesday.A 23-year-old man was shot dead in Tulkarem and a 25-year-old man was killed in a strike on Jenin, where Israel launched a large operation earlier this month.The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its reports. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.The West Bank has seen a surge in violence since Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. The ministry says over 800 Palestinians have been killed. Most appear to have been militants killed in battle during Israeli arrest raids, but the dead also include people killed during violent protests, as well as civilian bystanders.There has also been an uptick in settler violence against Palestinians and Palestinian attacks on Israelis since the start of the war.Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for their future state. ___Heres the latest: Kremlin says Russian visit to Syria was important for building dialogueMOSCOW Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that a Russian delegations visit to Damascus the day before, the first since the fall of former President Bashar Assad, an ally of Russia, was an important trip for building dialogue with Syrian authorities.Peskoy refused to comment on reports that the Syrian authorities demanded that Moscow pay some kind of compensation to Syria or on unnamed sources claiming another demand was to extradite Assad, who fled to Russia and was granted asylum there.I am leaving this without any comment. We will continue the dialogue with the Syrian authorities, Peskov said in a response to a reporters question.Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported Wednesday that the discussions had included Russias role in rebuilding trust with the Syrian people through concrete measures such as reparations, reconstruction and recovery. It said the talks were also on transitional justice mechanisms aimed at ensuring accountability and justice for the victims of the brutal war waged by the Assad regime. Israeli authorities say they arrested 12 Palestinians in east JerusalemJERUSALEM Israeli authorities say they have arrested 12 Palestinians in east Jerusalem who celebrated the release of prisoners under the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.Israels internal Shin Bet security service and the police said they arrested the men late Tuesday after videos taken earlier in the week showed the men celebrating the release of the prisoners by waving Hamas flags and firing guns into the air.They say the Palestinians who celebrated the release had violated the ban on expressions of joy and identification with Hamas that Israel has imposed since the ceasefire took hold. They said a search revealed Hamas flags, posters, fireworks, a BB gun and cash.Under the first phase of the deal, Hamas is releasing 33 hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that ignited the war in exchange for the release for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including some serving life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis. Palestinians generally view the prisoners as heroes imprisoned for fighting against Israels decades-long occupation of lands they want for a future state. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson speaks in Sydney, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, about the discovery of explosives stashed on Sydney's outskirts suspected to have been intended to escalate a campaign of antisemitic arson and graffiti crimes. (Steven Saphore/AAP Image via AP)2025-01-29T11:01:00Z MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Australian police suspect explosives stashed on Sydneys outskirts were evidence of a deadly escalation in a campaign of antisemitic arson and graffiti crimes that has been waged in major cities for months, officials said on Wednesday.Police found a list of Jewish targets together with a cache of Powergel, an explosive used in the mining industry, in a trailer in the outer suburb of Dural on Jan. 19, New South Wales state Deputy Police Commissioner David Hudson said.Hudson said there were enough explosives to make a bomb with a blast of 40 meters (130 feet).This is certainly an escalation, Hudson told reporters, referring to a recent series of antisemitic crimes in Sydney, where businesses and cars have been torched and buildings graffitied.The use of explosives ... have the potential to cause a great deal of damage, he added. Hudson declined to identify the potential Jewish targets.I dont think its appropriate to nominate the targets. I can indicate that the Jewish community will be made aware, Hudson said.He said several suspects had been arrested who were not directly related to the explosives. Since the Israel-Hamas war began in 2023, targeted arson and graffiti attacks have soared in Australias largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, which are home to 85% of the countrys Jewish population.A worshipper who suffered burn injuries in a fire that was set at a Melbourne synagogue in December last year is the only human casualty. That arson attack is being investigated by a joint counterterrorism team involving federal and state law enforcment authorities. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said counterterrorism authorities were also investigating the explosives discovery.This is the discovery of a potential mass casualty event. Theres only one way of calling it out and that is terrorism. Thats what were very worried about, Minns said.This would strike terror into the community, particularly the Jewish community, and it must be met with the full resources of the government, he added.

President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the 2025 House Republican Members Conference Dinner at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla., Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)2025-01-29T11:06:49Z Just a little over a week into his second term, President Donald Trump is taking steps to maximize his power, sparking chaos and what critics contend is a constitutional crisis as he challenges the separation of powers that have defined American government for more than 200 years.The new administrations most provocative move came this week, as it announced it would temporarily halt federal payments to ensure they complied with Trumps orders barring diversity programs. The technical-sounding directive had enormous immediate impact before it was blocked by a federal judge, potentially pulling trillions of dollars from police departments, domestic violence shelters, nutrition services and disaster relief programs that rely on federal grants. Though the Republican administration denied Medicaid was affected, it acknowledged the online portal allowing states to file for reimbursement from the program was shut down for part of Tuesday in what it insisted was an error. Legal experts noted the president is explicitly forbidden from cutting off spending for programs that Congress has approved. The U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to appropriate money and requires the executive to pay it out. A 50-year-old law known as the Impoundment Control Act makes that explicit by prohibiting the president from halting payments on grants or other programs approved by Congress. The thing that prevents the president from being an absolute monarch is Congress controls the power of the purse strings, said Josh Chafetz, a law professor at Georgetown University, adding that even a temporary freeze violates the law. Its what guarantees theres a check on the presidency. Democrats and other critics said the move was blatantly unconstitutional.What happened last night is the most direct assault on the authority of Congress, I believe, in the history of the United States, Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, said Tuesday. While some Republicans were critical, most were supportive.I think he is testing the limits of his power, and I dont think any of us are surprised by it, said Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican who is close with Trump.At first blush, the Trump administration appears to be following the correct procedures in identifying potential spending cuts, and the Impoundment Control Act outlines a procedure for how they could become permanent, said Rachel Snyderman, a former official at the Office of Management and Budget who is now at the Bipartisan Policy Center.Congress must eventually sign off on any cuts the administration wants to make, Snyderman said, though she noted that no president since Bill Clinton, a Democrat, has been successful in getting that done. Congress did not act on $14 billion in impoundment cuts Trump proposed during his prior term, she said.We have to see what the next steps are, Snyderman said.The proposed halt on grants comes after Trump, who during the campaign pledged to be a dictator on day one, has taken a number of provocative moves to challenge legal constraints on his power. He fired the inspectors general of his Cabinet agencies without giving Congress the warning required by law, declared that there is an immigrant invasion despite low numbers of border crossings, is requiring loyalty pledges from new hires, challenged the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship and is moving career staff out of key positions at the Department of Justice to ensure his loyalists control investigations and prosecutions. On Tuesday evening, the new administration made its latest move, trying to prune the federal workforce by offering pay until the end of September for those who agree to resign by the end of next week.The Trump actions have all led to a cascade of court challenges contending he has overstepped his constitutional bounds. A federal judge in Seattle has already put on hold Trumps attempt to revoke birthright citizenship, calling it a blatant violation of the nations foundational legal document. On Tuesday, nonprofit groups persuaded a federal judge in Washington to put the administrations spending freeze order on hold until a fuller hearing on Feb. 3. Democratic attorneys general also rushed to court to block the order. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, a Democrat, said the swiftness of the court action against Trumps spending freeze demonstrates the carelessness of the order.My hope is that the president, working with Congress, can identify whatever his priorities are and can work through the normal constitutional order that is well established that limits the power of Democratic and Republican presidents, he said.The grant freeze administration officials described it as a pause fits with a long-sought goal of some Trump allies, including his nominee to run the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, to challenge the constitutionality of the Impoundment Control Act. They contend the president, as the person in charge of distributing funds, should be able to have some control over how the money goes out. Though theres little doubt the new administration wanted a court fight over its power to control spending, experts agree that this was likely not the way they hoped to present it.This is a really sloppy way of doing this, said Bill Galston, of the Brookings Institution, adding that he thought it was an administration error. This is just classic Trump. He believes its better to be fast and sloppy than slow and precise.In her first press conference, Trumps new press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, on Tuesday urged organizations that need the grants to call the administration and show how their operations are in line with the presidents agenda.Its incumbent on this administration to make sure, again, that every penny is accounted for, Leavitt said.Republican lawmakers largely took the freeze in stride.This isnt a huge surprise to me, said Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota during the House Republican retreat at one of the presidents Florida golf resorts. Clearly, Donald Trump campaigned in no small part on the idea that the Biden administration was putting out a lot of money that was not consistent with Donald Trumps values.But Democrats and others were furious at the move, which seemed designed to undercut congressional authority.If President Trump wants to change our nations laws, he has the right to ask Congress to change them, Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, said in a statement. He does not have the right to violate the United States Constitution. He is not a king.Chafetz, of Georgetown University, said the lack of pushback from Republican members of Congress was especially alarming because the legislative branch is the one whose powers are most at risk in the latest power play.Even if Trump loses the legal battle, Chafetz said, he and his followers might feel like theyve won by pushing things to this extreme.Damaging the institutions they dont like, he said, seems to be their whole theory of governance.___Riccardi reported from Denver. Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Lisa Mascaro in Washington and Morgan Lee in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., waves to reporters as he rides the train to go to meet with Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)2025-01-29T12:04:45Z WASHINGTON (AP) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s anti-vaccine advocacy is outside the mainstream. His previous statements on abortion could alienate Republicans. But a new poll finds that not all of his controversial health goals are unpopular in fact, at least one has broad support among Democrats and Republicans.As Kennedys Senate confirmation hearings begin, his bid to become the nations top health official could depend on how staunchly he sticks to these personal beliefs during questioning. He has already softened some of his long-held views. Hes facing some skepticism from the public, according to a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Only about 3 in 10 US adults approve of President Donald Trump nominating him to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. About 4 in 10 disapprove, while about one-quarter are either neutral or dont know enough to say. But he has points of strength, too. Trumps choice of Kennedy is especially popular among Republicans: About 6 in 10 approve, compared to about 1 in 10 Democrats. And while many Americans disagree with some of Kennedys controversial health stances including beliefs around reevaluating childhood vaccine recommendations and changing guidelines around fluoride in drinking water and raw milk consumption some of his other stances, like reformulating processed foods, are broadly popular.Heres what AP-NORC polling shows about which of Kennedys priorities are likely to be popular among U.S. adults and which might be less well-received. More oppose than support reevaluating widely used vaccines Kennedy has long been a vaccine skeptic, and he and Trump have falsely claimed that childhood vaccines are dangerous and tied to rising autism rates. His opposition to vaccines is broad, and he has said that theres no vaccine that is safe and effective.AP-NORC polling suggests that reevaluating vaccine recommendations would be unpopular with many Americans.About 4 in 10 Americans strongly or somewhat oppose reconsidering the governments recommendations around widely used vaccines, like the flu vaccine, and about 3 in 10 are in favor. Another 3 in 10 Americans, roughly, are neutral. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to favor reconsidering government recommendations for widely used vaccines, although their support isnt overwhelming. About 4 in 10 Republicans favor reevaluating vaccine recommendations, compared with about 2 in 10 Democrats.Wide support for restrictions on ingredients in processed foodsOne of Kennedys ideas is popular across the board: getting some chemicals out of processed foods. Kennedy has vowed to ban certain food additives and crack down on ultra-processed foods that are tied to obesity and diabetes rates.About two-thirds of Americans somewhat or strongly favor restricting or reformulating processed foods to remove ingredients like added sugar or dyes. This is an area where Democrats and Republicans agree: About 7 in 10 in each group favor the restrictions. Support is particularly high among U.S. adults with a higher household income, though research from the National Institutes of Health has indicated that ultra-processed foods are consumed at higher rates in low-income groups. Roughly 8 in 10 adults with a household income of $100,000 or more per year support the restrictions, compared with about half of Americans with a household income of $30,000 or less. More oppose than support removing raw milk restrictionsKennedy indicated before the election that he would be keen to end the Food and Drug Administrations aggressive suppression of raw milk. The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called raw milk one of the riskiest foods people can consume because of the possibility for contamination. This is a proposal for which hed have to do some convincing to get the public on board. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults strongly or somewhat oppose removing restrictions on the sale of unpasteurized or raw milk. About 2 in 10 Americans favor this idea, with Republicans being more likely than Democrats to be in support. But even Republicans are split: About 3 in 10 are in favor, and about 3 in 10 are opposed. Americans generally want Medicare and Medicaid to cover weight loss drugsKennedy has criticized prescription weight loss drugs like Ozempic, saying higher-quality food could solve the obesity problem in the U.S., but in December he pivoted, saying the drugs have a place in making sure people are not obese, in addition to lifestyle changes.Americans see weight loss drugs as a good solution for adults who are obese. About half of U.S. adults say its very good or somewhat good for adults to use weight loss drugs if they are struggling with obesity or a weight-related health condition. And about half also favor Medicare and Medicaid covering the cost of these drugs if they are prescribed for weight loss for people with obesity. More oppose than support removing fluoride from drinking waterKennedy has said he wants the federal government to advise local governments against putting fluoride in their drinking water. The CDC has said small amounts of added fluoride in drinking water prevent cavities and tooth decay. More Americans are opposed than in favor of removing fluoride from drinking water, but many dont have an opinion on the issue, leaving room for shifts in either direction. About 4 in 10 Americans oppose removing fluoride from the water supply, and about one-quarter are in favor. An additional one-third are neutral, saying they dont favor or oppose it. About one-third of independents and Republicans favor it, compared with about 2 in 10 Democrats.The idea of removing fluoride from drinking water is particularly unpopular with adults 60 and older, and the data suggests that younger Americans might be more open to it. About half of adults 60 or older oppose removing fluoride from the water, compared with about 4 in 10 adults between the ages of 30 and 59. Only about 2 in 10 adults under 30 are opposed to this. Kennedys views on abortion may be at odds with RepublicansKennedy has previously expressed support for abortion rights, which contradicts the beliefs of many of the Republican lawmakers who will need to confirm him, though he has said that he will follow Trumps directives on the topic.Hes in a bit of a bind on the issue. About 6 in 10 voters in Novembers election said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters. About one-third said it should be illegal in all or most instances. But like the Republican senators who will be questioning him, conservative voters see the issue differently. Among Republican voters, about 6 in 10 said abortion should be illegal in at least most cases, and only about 4 in 10 said it should be mostly legal.___The AP-NORC poll of 1,147 adults was conducted Jan. 9-13, using a sample drawn from NORCs probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. LINLEY SANDERS Sanders is a polls and surveys reporter for The Associated Press. She develops and writes about polls conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, and works on AP VoteCast. twitter

A supporter holds a poster with a photo of Laken Riley before Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally March 9, 2024, in Rome Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)2025-01-29T05:17:27Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump on Wednesday will sign the Laken Riley Act into law as his administrations first piece of legislation. It mandates the detention and potential deportation of people in the U.S. illegally who are accused of theft and violent crimes before theyve actually been convicted.The measure swiftly passed the Republican-controlled Congress with some Democratic support, despite immigrants rights advocates decrying it as extreme enough to possibly trigger mass roundups of people for offenses as minor as shoplifting. Trump has made a promised crackdown on illegal immigration unprecedented in the nations history a centerpiece of his political career, however, and is now suggesting the law might only be the beginning. This shows the potential for additional enforcement bills that will help us crack down on criminal aliens and totally restore the rule of law in our country, the president said at a conference of House Republicans held at his Doral golf club in Florida. The law is named for Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who went out for a run in February 2024 and was killed by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national in the U.S. illegally. Ibarra was found guilty in November and sentenced to life without parole. To have a bill of such importance named after her is a great, a great tribute, Trump said. This new form of crime, criminal, illegal aliens, its its massive, the numbers are massive and you add that to the crime we already had. The speed at which the act cleared Congress and the fact that Trump is preparing to triumphantly sign it at the White House surrounded by lawmakers and other supportive, invited guests just nine days after taking office adds to its potent political symbolism for conservatives. Critics say the measure is using a tragedy to effectively unleash chaos and cruelty while doing little to fight crime or fix an antiquated federal immigration system that hasnt been overhauled in decades. Under the Laken Riley Act, federal officials are required to detain any immigrant arrested or charged with crimes like theft or assaulting a police officer, or offenses that injure or kill someone. It further gives legal standing to state attorneys general to sue the U.S. government for harm caused by federal immigration decisions potentially allowing the leaders of conservative states to help dictate immigration policy set by Washington. Ibarra had been arrested for illegal entry in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, amid an unprecedented surge in migration, and released to pursue his case in immigration court. Federal officials say he was arrested by New York police in August 2023 for child endangerment and released. Police say he was also suspected of theft in Georgia in October 2023 all of which occurred before Rileys killing. This is the right thing to do, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said after the act cleared the House. Its always good when the right thing is also the popular thing. Some Democrats, however, have questioned the acts constitutionality. Immigrant advocates are bracing for mass detentions that they say will trigger subsequent, costly construction of immigration lockup facilities to house the people arrested. They dont just get to celebrate. They get to use this for their mass deportation agenda, Naureen Shah, deputy director of government affairs in the equality division of the American Civil Liberties Union, said of the acts supporters.The ALCU says the act can allow people to be mandatorily locked up potentially for years because at some point in their lives, perhaps decades ago, they were accused of nonviolent offenses.Hannah Flamm, interim senior director of policy at the International Refugee Assistance Project, said the law violates immigrants basic rights by allowing for detaining people who havent been charged with, much less convicted of, wrongdoing. Still, she said, The latent fear from the election cycle of looking soft on crime snowballed into aiding and abetting Trumps total conflation of immigration with crime. Flamm said the act is likely to be challenged in court on its parameters directing mandatory detentions, as well as its granting legal standing to state attorneys general in immigration cases and policy. But she also predicted that a need to pay for more immigration detention centers will give advocates a chance to challenge how federal funds are appropriated to cover those costs. I think it is pivotal to understand: This bill, framed as connected to a tragic death, is pretext to fortify a mass deportation system, Flamm said. The signing of the Laken Riley Act follows a flurry of first-week executive orders by Trump that are designed to better seal off the U.S.-Mexico border and eventually move to deport millions of immigrants without permanent U.S. legal status. The new administration has also canceled refugee resettlement and says it may attempt to prosecute local law enforcement officials who do not enforce his new immigration policies.Were tracking down the illegal alien criminals and were detaining them and were throwing them the hell out of our country, Trump said. We have no apologies, and were moving forward very fast. WILL WEISSERT Weissert covers national politics and the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto

We start this week with Emanuel's rundown on the DeepSeek situation, the Chinese-made AI that has rocked stock markets and the wider AI industry. After the break, Sam explains how metadata in U.S. government memos lists Project 2025 members as the memo authors. In the subscribers-only section, Jason and Sam explain how GitHub is showing the U.S. government's purging of information in real time.Listen to the weekly podcast onApple Podcasts,Spotify, orYouTube. Become a paid subscriber for access to this episode's bonus content and to power our journalism.If you become a paid subscriber, check your inbox for an email from our podcast host Transistor for a link to the subscribers-only version! You can also add that subscribers feed to your podcast app of choice and never miss an episode that way. The email should also contain the subscribers-only unlisted YouTube link for the extended video version too. It will also be in the show notes in your podcast player. DeepSeek Mania Shakes AI Industry to Its CoreMemos to Federal Employees Were Written By People With Ties to Project 2025, Metadata ShowsTrumps Administration Is Taking Down Sites About Gender Identity All Over the InternetGitHub Is Showing the Trump Administration Scrubbing Government Web Pages in Real Time

Chinese artists perform a lion dance at the Dongyue Temple on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)2025-01-29T05:54:53Z BEIJING (AP) Lunar New Year festivals and prayers marked the start of the Year of the Snake around Asia and farther afield on Wednesday including in Moscow.Hundreds of people lined up in the hours before midnight at the Wong Tai Sin Taoist temple in Hong Kong in a bid to be among the first to put incense sticks in the stands in front of the temples main hall.I wish my family will be blessed. I hope my business will run well. I pray for my country and wish people peace. I hope this coming year is a better year, said Ming So, who visits the temple annually on the eve of the Lunar New Year.The holiday known as the Spring Festival in China, Tet in Vietnam and Seollal in Korea is a major festival celebrated by diaspora communities around the world. The snake, one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, follows the just-ended Year of the Dragon. The pop-pop-pop of firecrackers greeted the new year outside Guan Di temple in Malaysias capital, Kuala Lumpur, followed by lion dances to the rhythmic beat of drums and small cymbals. Ethnic Chinese holding incense sticks in front of them bowed several times inside the temple before sticking the incense into elaborate gold-colored pots, the smoke rising from the burning tips. Many Chinese who work in bigger cities return home during the eight-day national holiday in what is described as the worlds biggest annual movement of humanity. Beijing, Chinas capital, has turned into a bit of a ghost town, with many shops closed and normally crowded roads and subways emptied out. Traditionally, Chinese have a family dinner at home on New Years Eve and visit temple fairs on the Lunar New Year to watch performances and buy snacks, toys and other trinkets from booths.Many Chinese take advantage of the extended holiday to travel both in the country and abroad. Ctrip, an online booking agency that operates Trip.com, said the most popular overseas destinations this year are Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, the United States, South Korea, Macao and Vietnam. Russians cheered, waved and took smartphone photos of a colorful procession with drummers, costumed dancers and large dragon and snake figures held aloft that kicked off a 10-day Lunar New Year festival in Moscow on Tuesday night.The Chinese and Russian governments have deepened ties since 2022, in part to push back against what they see as U.S. dominance of the world order.Visitors shouted Happy New Year in Russian and expressed delight at being able to experience Chinese food and culture in Moscow, including folk performances and booths selling snacks and artwork.___Associated Press video journalists Alice Fung in Hong Kong and Syawalludin Zain in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this story. KEN MORITSUGU Moritsugu covers political, economic and social issues from Beijing for The Associated Press. He has also reported from New Delhi, Bangkok and Tokyo and is the APs former news director for Greater China and for Japan and the Koreas. twitter

The Palisades Fire ravages a neighborhood amid high winds in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File)2025-01-29T05:03:44Z LOS ANGELES (AP) When disaster strikes, government emergency alert systems offer a simple promise: Residents will get information about nearby dangers and instructions to help them stay safe.As the deadly LA wildfires and other major emergencies have shown, alerts rely on a complicated chain of communication between first responders, government administrators, third-party companies and the public. Sometimes, the chain breaks.After the wind-driven wildfires broke out in Southern California on Jan. 7, evacuation orders for some neighborhoods including the part of Altadena where the majority of deaths occurred came long after houses were reported on fire. On Tuesday, Los Angeles County officials approved an outside review of how alerts functioned in the Eaton Fire and Palisades Fire in response to residents demands. City officials declined to answer APs questions about a lag in some Palisades Fire alerts, though Fire Capt. Branden Silverman said responding to a fire and determining evacuation needs can take some time. Its an increasingly common issue: After-action reports and investigations revealed issues with alert systems in other California blazes: in the 2017 Tubbs Fire, which killed 22 people in Santa Rosa; the 2018 Camp Fire, which killed 85 people in Paradise; the Woolsey fire, which started the same day and killed three in Malibu; as well as in Colorados 2021 Marshall Fire, which destroyed more than 1,000 homes outside Denver; and in Hawaiis 2023 Lahaina Fire, which decimated that historic town and killed 102. It could take months to know why some evacuation orders lagged in the Los Angeles fires. Several residents who lost homes in the Eaton Fire told The Associated Press they received no notifications about their neighborhoods. For others, the first warning was an urgent text message in the middle of the night. Susan Lee Streets, who signed up for the alert app Nixle, did not get any alerts specific to her west Altadena neighborhood before she and her family left of their own accord around 10 p.m. after losing power and cell reception.If we had even been informed that houses and other structures were burning down, we would have known better what was happening, she said. We almost went to sleep that night with two kids and a dog and two cats in the house.Only after 3 a.m. did an alert hit her phone. Destroyed along with the house are the Christmas ornaments she saved for her children, and countless other family keepsakes. We lost everything, everything, Streets said, breaking into tears. Tricia Wachtendorf, director of the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware, said alerts have to be specific and clear. Research has shown that for them to be effective, people have to hear, understand, believe, personalize and confirm them before they react.Just because you send the message at 3 a.m. doesnt mean someone is hearing it, Wachtendorf said.The hours between midnight and 3:30 a.m. appear to have been particularly challenging for first responders in Los Angeles County, based on an AP review of scanner traffic recordings and data from CalFire, the states chief fire agency; the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA; and the Watch Duty app. Resources were stretched thin, and hurricane-force winds had grounded air support, limiting authorities ability to get a top-down perspective on the flames.Calls reporting burning homes were flooding in as embers blew onto roofs and yards. During one half-hour period, 17 new addresses were relayed to firefighters, even as some crews ran low on fuel. By 12:07 a.m., CalFire records show, dozens of neighborhoods had been ordered to evacuate because of the Eaton Fire, all of them east of Altadenas North Lake Avenue. None of the neighborhoods to the west where all of the 17 confirmed fatalities occurred, as first reported by the Los Angeles Times had received evacuation warnings or orders, despite house fires being reported there more than an hour earlier. Over the next three hours, fire crews would go from begging for resources on the eastern flank of the blaze to radioing the command center to make sure it knew the fire was spreading west along the foothills near Sunset Ridge. Just before 3:30 a.m., evacuation orders expanded significantly, with residents in 12 areas of Altadena and elsewhere told to leave now.Jodi and Jeff Moreno first heard about the fire from a neighborhood app. But the first official warning only came around 2:30 a.m., when authorities yelled through a bullhorn to evacuate. The couple grabbed their three daughters, their dog and some important papers, and fled. There were no text alerts until after they were gone. On the neighborhood apps, some people were going, some people were staying. It was a wide variety of responses. We were navigating it on our own, Jodi Moreno said. Its hard for us to gauge where exactly is that fire, where are the embers blowing. ... Those are things I would rely on people who are monitoring it for information. Desperate for more information, both the Morenos and Streets downloaded the Watch Duty app, which maps evacuation zones and consolidates information from multiple sources into a single stream. Launched in 2021 and today covering 22 states, it became a lifeline for them.The ideal system for warning people is informing them, right? said Nick Russell, vice president for operations at Watch Duty. Theres certainly diligence necessary in the execution of official evacuation warning and orders or shelter in place, whatever the condition might be, he said. But telling people why that discussion is taking place between law enforcement and fire is important. And thats what were doing.The process of issuing evacuation notices starts with firefighters or other personnel on the ground recommending action, Russell said. It then moves up the chain of command to sheriffs, who ultimately put out any order. During major emergencies that communication can be hampered by issues such as limited radio connectivity, wind noise or other technical problems. Incident command stations may have trouble synthesizing the large amounts of information they are getting from different agencies, something that is critical for understanding the scope of an emergency like a fire.In Los Angeles County, residents who sign up for emergency notifications through the AlertLACounty website are then directed to a list of 57 links to other specific neighborhood or city alert system signups, as well as a general one covering 19 other cities. The city of Los Angeles and the Sheriffs Department also have alert systems.It is not clear how the overlapping systems, which use different software programs, work together, or whether officials coordinate. A 2024 Hazard Mitigation plan directed the citys Emergency Management Department to assess gaps in alert and warning systems in areas with poor cellphone connectivity and then implement a solution to ensure alerts reach people. But that goal was given a medium priority level and a long-term timeline, with completion expected sometime in the next 10 years. Meanwhile the countys Hazard Mitigation Plan, last updated in 2020, did not include a focus on emergency alerts or public notifications. Instead its high-priority goals had to do with educating people about winds impact on wildfire risk and with community wildfire protection. Officials at the Countys Coordinated Joint Information Center declined to comment other than to say that an independent review of evacuations and emergency notifications is planned and the Office of Emergency Management, County Fire Department and Sheriffs Department plan to fully engage with it. CHRISTOPHER L. KELLER Keller works with reporters and editors to find stories in data and documents and contributes context to spot and breaking news stories for The Associated Press. mailto REBECCA BOONE Rebecca is a correspondent based in Idaho. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

The narrative that OpenAI, Microsoft, and freshly minted White House AI czar David Sacks are now pushing to explain why DeepSeek was able to create a large language model that outpaces OpenAIs while spending orders of magnitude less money and using older chips is that DeepSeek used OpenAIs data unfairly and without compensation. Sound familiar?Both Bloomberg and the Financial Times are reporting that Microsoft and OpenAI have been probing whether DeepSeek improperly trained the R1 model that is taking the AI world by storm on the outputs of OpenAI models.Here is how the Bloomberg article begins: Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI are investigating whether data output from OpenAIs technology was obtained in an unauthorized manner by a group linked to Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek, according to people familiar with the matter. The story goes on to say that Such activity could violate OpenAIs terms of service or could indicate the group acted to remove OpenAIs restrictions on how much data they could obtain, the people said.The venture capitalist and new Trump administration member David Sacks, meanwhile, said that there is substantial evidence that DeepSeek distilled the knowledge out of OpenAIs models.Theres a technique in AI called distillation, which youre going to hear a lot about, and its when one model learns from another model, effectively what happens is that the student model asks the parent model a lot of questions, just like a human would learn, but AIs can do this asking millions of questions, and they can essentially mimic the reasoning process they learn from the parent model and they can kind of suck the knowledge of the parent model, Sacks told Fox News. Theres substantial evidence that what DeepSeek did here is they distilled the knowledge out of OpenAIs models and I dont think OpenAI is very happy about this.I will explain what this means in a moment, but first: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahhahahahahahahahahahahaha. It is, as many have already pointed out, incredibly ironic that OpenAI, a company that has been obtaining large amounts of data from all of humankind largely in an unauthorized manner, and, in some cases, in violation of the terms of service of those from whom they have been taking from, is now complaining about the very practices by which it has built its company.The argument that OpenAI, and every artificial intelligence company who has been sued for surreptitiously and indiscriminately sucking up whatever data it can find on the internet is not that they are not sucking up all of this data, it is that they are sucking up this data and they are allowed to do so.OpenAI is currently being sued by the New York Times for training on its articles, and its argument is that this is perfectly fine under copyright law fair use protections.Training AI models using publicly available internet materials is fair use, as supported by long-standing and widely accepted precedents. We view this principle as fair to creators, necessary for innovators, and critical for US competitiveness, OpenAI wrote in a blog post. In its motion to dismiss in court, OpenAI wrote it has long been clear that the non-consumptive use of copyrighted material (like large language model training) is protected by fair use.OpenAI and Microsoft are essentially now whining about being beaten at its own game by DeepSeek. But additionally, part of OpenAIs argument in the New York Times case is that the only way to make a generalist large language model that performs well is by sucking up gigantic amounts of data. It tells the court that it needs a huge amount of data to make a generalist language model, meaning any one source of data is not that important. This is funny, because DeepSeek managed to make a large language model that rivals and outpaces OpenAIs own without falling into the more data = better model trap. Instead, DeepSeek used a reinforcement learning strategy that its paper claims is far more efficient than weve seen other AI companies do.OpenAIs motion to dismiss the New York Times lawsuit states as part of its argument that the key to generalist language models is scale, meaning that part of its argument is that any individual piece of stolen content cannot make a large language model, and that what allows OpenAI to make industry-leading large language models is this idea of scale. OpenAIs lawyers quote from a New York Times article about this strategy as part of their argument: The amount of data needed was staggering to create GPT-3, it wrote. It was that unprecedented scale that allowed the model to internalize not only a map of human language, but achieve a level of adaptabilityand emergent intelligencethat no one thought possible.As Sacks mentioned, distillation is an established principle in artificial intelligence research, and its something that is done all the time to refine and improve the accuracy of smaller large language models. This process is so normalized in deep learning that the most often cited paper about it was coauthored by Geoffrey Hinton, part of a body of work that just earned him the Nobel Prize. Hintons paper specifically suggests that distillation is a way to make large language models more efficient, and that distilling works very well for transferring knowledge from an ensemble or from a large highly regularized model into a smaller, distilled model.An IBM article on distillation notes The LLMs with the highest capabilities are, in most cases, too costly and computationally demanding to be accessible to many would-be users like hobbyists, startups or research institutions knowledge distillation has emerged as an important means of transferring the advanced capabilities of large, often proprietary models to smaller, often open-source models. As such, it has become an important tool in the democratization of generative AI.In late December, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took what many people saw as a veiled shot at DeepSeek, immediately after the release of DeepSeek V3, an earlier DeepSeek model. It is (relatively) easy to copy something that you know works, Altman tweeted. It is extremely hard to do something new, risky, and difficult when you dont know if it will work.Its also extremely hard to rally a big talented research team to charge a new hill in the fog together, he added. This is the key to driving progress forward.Even this is ridiculous, though. Besides being trained on huge amounts of other peoples data, OpenAIs work builds on research pioneered by Google, which itself builds on earlier academic research. This is, simply, how artificial intelligence research (and scientific research more broadly) works.This is all to say that, if OpenAI argues that it is legal for the company to train on whatever it wants for whatever reason it wants, then it stands to reason that it doesnt have much of a leg to stand on when competitors use common strategies used in the world of machine learning to make their own models. But of course, it is going with the argument that it must protect [its] IP.We know PRC based companies and others are constantly trying to distill the models of leading US AI companies, an OpenAI spokesperson told Bloomberg. As the leading builder of AI, we engage in countermeasures to protect our IP, including a careful process for which frontier capabilities to include in released models, and believe as we go forward that it is critically important that we are working closely with the US government to best protect the most capable models from efforts by adversaries and competitors to take US technology.

Palestinians who have returned walk among the rubble of buildings largely destroyed by Israeli army bombardments in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, after Israel began allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the heavily damaged area last Monday.(AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)2025-01-29T15:35:30Z JERUSALEM (AP) An Israeli official said Wednesday that Hamas will release three Israelis, including two women and an 80-year-old man, and five Thai nationals in the next hostage release, slated for Thursday.The official named the Israel women as Arbel Yehoud, 29, Agam Berger, 19, and the man as Gadi Mozes, 80. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record, said the hostages families had approved publication of their names.The official did not name the Thai nationals set to be freed.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. APs earlier story follows below.CAIRO (AP) The leader of important U.S. ally Egypt on Wednesday rejected President Donald Trumps suggestion that Egypt take in displaced Palestinians from Gaza, defying a U.S. president who has shown little patience for dissent from international partners. Trump over the weekend told reporters that Egypt and Jordan should take in Palestinians from war-torn Gaza, an idea that has long been rejected by those countries and the Palestinians themselves because they say it would undermine the notion of Palestinian statehood and foment instability in their states. Trump said he would urge the leaders of both countries, which are key allies to the U.S. in the Middle East and major recipients of American aid in the region, to accept the idea, saying the resettlement could be temporary or long term. It is not clear if Trump could force Egypt or Jordan to agree, but he has in his first days in office and on the campaign threatened hefty tariffs against American allies to get his way.In his first public comments since Trump floated the suggestion Saturday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi called the idea an injustice which Egypt would not be party to. In a news conference in Cairo with the visiting Kenyan president, el-Sissi said the transfer of Palestinians cant ever be tolerated or allowed. The solution to this issue is the two-state solution. It is the establishment of a Palestinian state, he said. The solution is not to remove the Palestinian people from their place.He said his government would work with the Trump administration to achieve peace that is based on the two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.Trump on Saturday said he would urge Egypt and Jordan to accept people from Gaza so that we just clean out that whole thing, calling the territory a demolition site. The debate over the fate of displaced Palestinians came as hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza were streaming toward the north of the war-ravaged territory to return to what is left of their homes, after being told to evacuate the area earlier on in Israels war against Hamas.The return was taking place as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas which began earlier this month and has allowed for a pause in the fighting, the scheduled release of dozens of hostages held in Gaza and freedom for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned or detained by Israel. The 15-monthlong war, set off by Hamas Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants in their count. The fighting has obliterated vast areas of Gaza, displacing some 90% of its 2.3 million population, often multiple times.The theme of displacement has been recurrent in Palestinian history and the idea of staying steadfast on ones land is an integral element of the Palestinian identity. Palestinians fear that if they leave their land, they may never be allowed to return.Those fears have been compounded by far-right members of Israels government who support rebuilding Jewish settlements in Gaza, from which Israel withdrew troops and settlers from in 2005. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that idea is unrealistic.Egypt and Jordan have each made peace with Israel but support the creation of a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. They fear that the permanent displacement of Gazas population could make that impossible.Egypt and Jordan receive billions of dollars in American aid each year. Military assistance to Egypt and Israel was exempted from a U.S. funding freeze to global aid programs.

A student raises their hand in a classroom at Tussahaw Elementary school Aug. 4, 2021, in McDonough, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)2025-01-29T05:02:32Z WASHINGTON (AP) Americas children have continued to lose ground on reading skills in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and have made little improvement in math, according to the latest results of an exam known as the nations report card.The findings are yet another setback for U.S. schools and reflect the myriad challenges that have upended education, from pandemic school closures to a youth mental health crisis and high rates of chronic absenteeism. The national exam results also show growing inequality: While the highest-performing students have started to regain lost ground, lower-performing students are falling further behind.Given every two years to a sample of Americas children, the National Assessment of Educational Progress is considered one of the best gauges of the academic progress of the U.S. school system. The most recent exam was administered in early 2024 in every state, testing fourth- and eighth-grade students on math and reading. The news is not good, said Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which oversees the assessment. We are not seeing the progress we need to regain the ground our students lost during the pandemic. Among the few bright spots was an improvement in fourth grade math, where the average score ticked up 2 points on a scale of 500. Its still 3 points lower than the 2019 pre-pandemic average, yet some states and districts made significant strides, including in Washington, D.C., where the average score increased 10 points. For the most part, however, American schools have not yet begun to make progress. Growing numbers of students lack basic reading skillsThe average math score for eighth grade students was unchanged from 2022, while reading scores fell 2 points at both grade levels. One-third of eighth grade students scored below basic in reading, more than ever in the history of the assessment.Students are considered below basic if they are missing fundamental skills. For example, eighth grade students who scored below basic in reading were typically unable to make a simple inference about a characters motivation after reading a short story, and some were unable to identify that the word industrious means to be hard working.Especially alarming to officials was the divide between higher- and lower-performing students, which has grown wider than ever. Students with the highest scores outperformed their peers from two years ago, making up some ground lost during the pandemic. But the lowest performers are scoring even lower, falling further behind.It was most pronounced in eighth grade math: While the top 10% of students saw their scores increased by 3 points, the lowest 10% decreased by 6 points.We are deeply concerned about our low-performing students, said Lesley Muldoon, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policies for the exam. For a decade, these students have been on the decline. They need our urgent attention and our best effort. The drop in scores continues a post-pandemic slideThe latest setbacks follow a historic backslide in 2022. In that years exam, student achievement fell across both subjects and grade levels, in some cases by unprecedented levels.This round of testing again featured students whose lives were disrupted by the pandemic. When COVID hit in 2020, the fourth graders were in kindergarten, and the eighth graders were in fourth grade. But Carr said poor results can no longer be blamed solely on the pandemic, warning that the nations education system faces complex challenges.A survey done alongside the exam found in 2022 that fewer young students were reading for enjoyment, which is linked to lower reading scores. And new survey results found that students who are often absent from class a persistent problem nationwide are struggling the most.The data are clear, Carr said. Students who dont come to school are not improving.The results provide fresh fuel for a national debate over the impact of pandemic school closures, though theyre unlikely to add clarity. Some studies have found that longer closures led to bigger academic setbacks. Those slower to reopen were often in urban and Democratic-led areas, while more rural and Republican-led areas were quicker. The new results dont show a direct link on the topic, Carr said, though she said students clearly do better when theyre in school.Among the states that saw reading scores fall in 2024 are Florida and Arizona, which were among the first to return to the classroom during the pandemic. Meanwhile, some big school systems that had longer closures made strides in fourth grade math, including Los Angeles and New York City.The success of big urban districts 14 of which saw notable improvement in fourth-grade math when the nation as a whole saw only minor gains can be credited to academic recovery efforts funded by federal pandemic relief, said Ray Hart, executive director of the Council of Great City Schools. Investing in efforts like intensive tutoring programs and curriculum updates is really proving to make a difference, he said. Republican lawmakers cast blame on Biden administrationThe U.S. Education Department said the results are heartbreaking and reflect an education system that is failing students despite billions of dollars in annual funding and more than $190 billion in federal pandemic relief.The Trump Administration is committed to reorienting our education system to fully empower states, to prioritize meaningful learning, and provide universal access to high-quality instruction, the department said in a statement. Change must happen, and it must happen now.Republicans in Congress were quick to cast blame on former President Joe Bidens administration.Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said the decline is clearly a reflection of the education bureaucracy continuing to focus on woke policies rather than helping students learn and grow.Im thankful we have an administration that is looking to reverse course, he said in a reference to President Donald Trump.Compared with 2019 results, eighth grade reading scores are now down 8 points. Reading scores are down 5 points in both grades. And in fourth grade math, scores are down 3 points.Yet officials say theres reason to be optimistic. Carr highlighted improvement in Louisiana, where fourth grade reading is now back above pre-pandemic levels, and in Alabama, which accomplished that feat in fourth grade math.Carr was especially laudatory of Louisiana, where a campaign to improve reading proficiency resulted in both higher- and lower-performing students exceeding 2019 scores.She drew attention to the states focus on the science of reading a research-backed approach that focuses on teaching phonics, or the building blocks of words, as children build toward literacy. The concept has been embraced by a growing number of blue and red states and has been credited for gains in some states.I would not say that hope is lost, and I would not say that we cannot turn this around, Carr said. Its been demonstrated that we can.___Annie Ma contributed reporting from Washington, and Sharon Lurye contributed from New Orleans.___The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. 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. COLLIN BINKLEY Binkley covers the U.S. Education Department and federal education policy for The Associated Press, along with a wide range of issues from K-12 through higher education. twitter mailto

This image provided by NASA shows a top-down view of the OSIRIS-REx Touch-and-Go-Sample-Acquisition-Mechanism (TAGSAM) head with the lid removed, revealing the remainder of the asteroid sample inside. (NASA via AP)2025-01-29T16:00:04Z CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) Asteroid samples fetched by NASA hold not only the pristine building blocks for life but also the salty remains of an ancient water world, scientists reported Wednesday.The findings provide the strongest evidence yet that asteroids may have planted the seeds of life on Earth and that these ingredients were mingling with water almost right from the start.Thats the kind of environment that could have been essential to the steps that lead from elements to life, said the Smithsonian Institutions Tim McCoy, one of the lead study authors.NASAs Osiris-Rex spacecraft returned 122 grams (4 ounces) of dust and pebbles from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, delivering the sample canister to the Utah desert in 2023 before swooping off after another space rock. It remains the biggest cosmic haul from beyond the moon. The two previous asteroid sample missions, by Japan, yielded considerably less material. Small amounts of Bennus precious black grains leftovers from the solar systems formation 4.5 billion years ago were doled out to the two separate research teams whose studies appeared in the journals Nature and Nature Astronomy. But it was more than enough to tease out the sodium-rich minerals and confirm the presence of amino acids, nitrogen in the form of ammonia and even parts of the genetic code. Some if not all of the delicate salts found at Bennu similar to whats in the dry lakebeds of Californias Mojave Desert and Africas Sahara would be stripped away if present in falling meteorites. This discovery was only possible by analyzing samples that were collected directly from the asteroid then carefully preserved back on Earth, the Institute of Science Tokyos Yasuhito Sekine, who was not involved in the studies, said in an accompanying editorial.Combining the ingredients of life with an environment of sodium-rich salt water, or brines, thats really the pathway to life, said McCoy, the National Museum of Natural Historys curator of meteorites. These processes probably occurred much earlier and were much more widespread than we had thought before. NASAs Daniel Glavin said one of the biggest surprises was the relatively high abundance of nitrogen, including ammonia. While all of the organic molecules found in the Bennu samples have been identified before in meteorites, Glavin said the ones from Bennu are valid real extraterrestrial organic material formed in space and not a result of contamination from Earth.Bennu a rubble pile just one-third of a mile (one-half of a kilometer) across was originally part of a much larger asteroid that got clobbered by other space rocks. The latest results suggest this parent body had an extensive underground network of lakes or even oceans, and that the water evaporated away, leaving behind the salty clues.Sixty labs around the world are analyzing bits of Bennu as part of initial studies, said the University of Arizonas Dante Lauretta, the missions chief scientist who took part in both studies. Most of the $1 billion missions cache has been set aside for future analysis. Scientists stress more testing is needed to better understand the Bennu samples, as well as more asteroid and comet sample returns. China plans to launch an asteroid sample return mission this year.Many are pushing for a mission to collect rocks and dirt from the potentially waterlogged dwarf planet Ceres in the main asteroid belt. Jupiters moon Europa and Saturns moon Enceladus also beckon as enticing water worlds. Meanwhile, NASA has core samples awaiting pickup at Mars, but their delivery is on hold while the space agency studies the quickest and cheapest way to get them here.Are we alone? McCoy said. Thats one of the questions were trying to answer.___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.

This image provided by Budweiser shows the Budweiser 2025 Super Bowl NFL football spot. (Budweiser via AP)2025-01-29T13:00:06Z NEW YORK (AP) Get ready for an onslaught of ads full of celebrities, cute animals and snack brands during breaks in the action at Super Bowl 59 on Feb. 9, when the Philadelphia Eagles face the Kansas City Chiefs at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. Anheuser-Busch, Meta, PepsiCo, Frito-Lay, Taco Bell, Uber Eats and others will vie to win over the more than 120 million viewers expected to tune in for the broadcast on Fox and via the free livestream on Tubi.Demand for ad space was robust this year, said Mark Evans, executive vice president of ad sales for Fox Sports, with ad space selling out in November and a waitlist for marketers ready to take the space of anyone who pulled out.The high demand seems to have pushed prices to a record, with a few ad spots reportedly selling for a record $8 million and even $8 million-plus for 30 seconds. Fox declined to comment on the specific price tag for 30 seconds, which can vary depending on placement and other factors. But in an earnings call in November, CEO Lachlan Murdoch said ad space had sold out at record pricing. Last year, a 30-second spot went for around a reported $7 million. The Super Bowl is a hot ticket for advertisers because the live viewing audience is so large. Last year, an estimated 123.7 million viewers tuned into the game, according to Nielsen. Evans said the mix of ad categories for the most part includes the usual suspects: beverages, snacks, tech companies and telcos. There will be a focus on AI in more commercials, he said, and slightly more pharmaceutical companies advertising this year. One category thats down is movie promos and streamers. Another traditionally big category for the Super Bowl, automakers, are mainly sitting it out after a tough year in the sector, with only Stellantis Jeep and Ram brands having announced an appearance.The California wildfires in January made the lead up to the game less predictable than usual. State Farm pulled out of its planned advertising to focus on the fires. And some other advertisers faced production delays. But Evans said accommodations were made wherever possible. These are unique circumstances. ... So were being as accommodating as possible to try to make sure that everybody can get done what they need to get done, he said. But more importantly, you know, dont put themselves or anybody else in harms way because of it.Advertisers are expected to begin releasing their ads in the days ahead of the game. One of the first ads to debut was an ad for Budweiser which wont air nationally but will air in some regional markets featuring a Clydesdale foal that helps make a beer delivery.Another Anheuser-Busch brand, Michelob Ultra, also released its ad, which shows Willem Dafoe and Catherine OHara as pickleball hustlers.Hellmanns ad brings Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal back together for a reprise of the Katzs Deli scene in When Harry Met Sally.Teasers have abounded this year, from an Uber Eats teaser starring Charli XCX and Martha Stewart to Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pratt touting Metas Smart Glasses. MAE ANDERSON Anderson reports for The Associated Press on a wide range of issues that small businesses face. She is based in New York. twitter mailto

Solar panels system funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) are seen in the Lebanese-Syrian border town of Majdal Anjar, eastern Bekaa valley, Lebanon, Nov. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)2025-01-29T17:11:13Z NEW YORK (AP) Freezing foreign aid. Withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement. Prohibiting nonprofits that receive U.S. foreign aid from providing abortions.Then Monday, the new Trump administration announced a freeze on all federal loans and grants, though a judge has paused that until next Monday. Nonprofits of all sizes are now grappling with how these changes will impact their missions with some even stepping in to replace a very small part of the funding the U.S. government is withholding. The pause on federal funding is creating a tremendous amount of confusion, and we dont have clarity about what happens from here, said Fatimah Loren Dreier, executive director of the HAVI, a public health organization that specializes in stopping gun violence. And that confusion has ripple effects on communities that are particularly vulnerable to shifts. The U.S. government is the largest single global humanitarian funder, giving $ 13.9 billion in 2024, and largest supporter of U.N. agencies, meaning any changes to foreign assistance have sweeping impacts across geographies and issues. The State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development are the main agencies that oversee foreign assistance, which Trump paused for 90 days to review if every grant and dollar aligns with his foreign policy. Yuriy Boyechko, who founded the New Jersey-based nonprofit, Hope for Ukraine, said he woke up to a barrage of messages on Sunday from the grassroots organizations he works with in Ukraine. They feared what would happen if USAID stops making grants there. He pointed specifically to programs that send trucks of firewood to rural areas that dont have electricity. The people who remain are often elderly and poor, he said, and use the wood both to heat their homes and to cook.I really dont know how theyre going to get through the winter, he said. The organizations that make the deliveries are mostly volunteer run, Boyechko said, and dont have the capacity to buy the wood or fuel needed to transfer it without regular funding from USAIDs office in Kyiv. He suggested that anyone who is concerned about the funding for humanitarian aid in Ukraine call their representatives or the White House.What made America great and what makes America great is generosity. And this is not a good move for America, and this is not a good move for humanity as a whole, he said, noting that Ukraine has really relied on the U.S. for its support.USAID said all programs and grants without a waiver approved by the Secretary of State, are paused, but did not specifically say whether humanitarian aid to Ukraine would be halted.In fiscal year 2023, the most recent data available, $68 billion had been obligated in U.S. foreign aid to programs that range from disaster relief to health and pro-democracy initiatives in 204 countries and regions.It is not the first time billionaire philanthropist Mike Bloomberg has stepped in after Trump announced he was withdrawing from the landmark Paris climate agreement. The former New York City mayor pledged on Jan. 23 to fund the U.S. governments share of the budget for the main offices of U.N. Climate Change. He also covered the cost of the U.S. commitment from 2016 to 2019, in the amount of $10.25 million. Being able to step in to be nimble and quick, not to replace the role of government, but just to show whats possible and to continue to move progress forward when governments are not, is really important to Bloomberg Philanthropies, said Antha Williams, who leads its environment program. The U.N. climate body was established as part of the historic 2015 climate agreement that aims to keep warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. It organizes the annual climate negotiations, where countries set emissions reduction targets and commit to financing climate adaptation and mitigation measures, and tracks progress toward those goals. Williams said Bloomberg Philanthropies wanted to offer certainty to U.N. Climate Change that their budget would be met. In addition to funding the U.N. Climate Change secretariat, Bloomberg Philanthropies will continue to support a coalition now named America is All In. It brings together local governments, companies and universities, who report on progress toward climate goals, which the federal government will stop doing after pulling out of the agreement. Joanna Depledge, a historian of international climate negotiations, called that reporting critical, as it provides a picture of trends in emissions and therefore progress made toward, the Paris agreement targets.Communication from USAID and the State Department with their grantees and contractors has been sparse, according to attorneys and consultants who work with foreign aid recipients. The publication Devex, which reports on international development, convened a webinar of experts on foreign aid on Monday to field questions about how to comply with stop work orders, how to manage cash flows, the likelihood of receiving a waiver. Susan Reichle, a retired senior USAID officer, said organizations need to make the case that their work is important not just to the agency, but to the American people and to Congress. Every day that goes by that the U.S. is not leading and meeting its obligations, whether contractual obligations or cooperative agreements or grants, we are actually hurting our national security, she said. Some organizations are hit by both the pause on foreign aid and the order called the Global Gag Rule that prohibits nonprofits receiving U.S. foreign assistance from providing abortion services or even talking about abortion as a potential option. MSI Reproductive Choices, an international nonprofit that provides reproductive health services, did not sign onto the rule under the last Trump administration, meaning that it hasnt won that much U.S. funding in recent years. Still, a mobile health clinic they run in Zimbabwe is funded through the U.S. embassy there, and Beth Schlachter, senior director of U.S. external relations, said that work would stop unless another funder comes forward. However, she said no amount of philanthropic funding can make up for the loss or pause of U.S. funds, meaning large donors are facing very difficult choices. Given the breadth of whats just happened in the last week, its not as if other donors are only looking at gaps in reproductive health services now. Theyre looking across the range of their development concerns, she said.___Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and non-profits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy. THALIA BEATY Beaty reports on philanthropy for The Associated Press and is based in New York.

The U.S. Department of Education building is seen in Washington, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)2025-01-29T17:00:51Z WASHINGTON (AP) Private school vouchers and other school choice initiatives would expand under an order coming from President Donald Trump telling government agencies to repurpose federal dollars.The Education Department is being told to use discretionary money to prioritize school choice programs and give states new guidance on how they can use federal money to support K-12 voucher programs. The executive order that he plans to sign Wednesday could free up some pockets of federal money to be used on school choice, but it is not clear how far he could move the needle with federal money alone. The vast majority of school funding comes from state and local sources, and school choice policies are generally the purview of state governments.The order says traditional public schools have failed students and that the new administration will reverse course by opening up opportunities for students to attend the school that best fits their needs. Other agencies, including the departments of Defense and Health and Human Services and the Bureau of Indian Education, would be directed to help states and families find ways to use existing federal money for school choice programs. The signing, as conservative groups are celebrating National School Choice, comes the same day that results from a national exam found that Americas students have continued to fall behind in reading and made little improvement in math in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The order cites the National Assessment of Educational Progress finding that 70% of eighth-grade students were not proficient in reading and 72% were not proficient in math. Responding to the results, the Trump administration said it is committed to reorienting our education system to fully empower states, to prioritize meaningful learning and provide universal access to high-quality instruction. Trump campaigned on a promise to expand school choice, long a key part of the Republican education agenda. He promised to create massive funding preferences for states that adopt universal school choice a policy that lets almost all families use taxpayer-funded education money to attend private schools, homeschooling or other options beyond local public schools.Arizona became the first state to adopt universal school choice in 2022 and several Republican-states have followed. Opponents say the policy is designed to gut public education.During his first term, Trump also tried to expand school choice and he made Betsy DeVos, a prominent school choice advocate, as education secretary. DeVos worked with governors to expand state policies but failed to get Congress to pass legislation that would have provided tax breaks for donations made to scholarships for private schools or other education options.Trump has nominated billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to serve as his next education chief. McMahon, whose Senate hearing has not been scheduled yet, has called for an expansion of school choice policies.___The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. 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. COLLIN BINKLEY Binkley covers the U.S. Education Department and federal education policy for The Associated Press, along with a wide range of issues from K-12 through higher education. twitter mailto ZEKE MILLER Zeke is APs chief White House correspondent twitter mailto

This combination of photos provided by the International Transport Workers Federation shows conditions on board the Sister 12, a cargo ship whose workers say they haven't been paid in more than a year. (ITF via AP)2025-01-29T14:00:19Z More ships than ever are being abandoned around the world by their owners, according to the United Nations labor and maritime organizations, leaving thousands of workers stuck on board without pay or the means to travel home to their families.Cases have doubled in the past three years, impacting more than 3,000 seafarers across some 230 ships in 2024, according to an Associated Press analysis of U.N. data. Last years figures could rise even further given the time that can elapse before vulnerable, frustrated workers reach out to report their plight.By international guidelines, workers are considered abandoned if shipowners fail to pay two or more months of wages, provide basic supplies or otherwise stop communicating with the crew.The only leverage seafarers have sometimes is to stay on a vessel until they get paid, said Helen Meldrum, a ship inspector with the International Transport Workers Federation, which advocates for ship workers rights. A sailor gives a tour of the deteriorating conditions on board the Sister 12, the cargo ship where he has worked for more than a year without pay. (ITF) Its a phenomenon rarely visible from shore, and one hitting hardest the smaller shipping companies servicing less profitable trade routes. Many crews reporting a lack of pay are on corroded ships built decades ago. The top countries for cases last year were the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.The worst cases have seen entire crews suffering weeks without adequate food or fresh water, or living on dark ships without electricity. Some workers languish on board for years, such as Abdul Nasser Saleh, whom the Associated Press profiled last year in a story exploring abandonment in U.S. ports and abroad. This image from video provided by Abdul Nasser Saleh shows him in his bedroom aboard the cargo ship Al-Maha at the seaport of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in January 2024. Saleh lived and worked on the ship for nearly a decade without pay. (Courtesy Abdul Nasser Saleh via AP) This image from video provided by Abdul Nasser Saleh shows him in his bedroom aboard the cargo ship Al-Maha at the seaport of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in January 2024. Saleh lived and worked on the ship for nearly a decade without pay. (Courtesy Abdul Nasser Saleh via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More The AP found that shipowners often stopped paying workers when their costs skyrocketed or business dried up. Owners commonly left ships docked in ports where crews lacked immigration paperwork to step foot on land or at anchorages only reachable by boat.The number of abandonment cases in 2024 surpassed the earlier record set in 2023.Governments and organizations like Meldrums can report abandoned ships to the U.N., which verifies the basic facts and petitions the owner and relevant authorities to find a resolution. Meldrum has recently been appealing to authorities for help getting proper food, fuel and back-pay for crews on three cargo ships run by a company called Friends Shipping. Workers on board the Sister 12, now moored off the coast of Yemen, have been confined to the ship for more than a year without receiving a paycheck, according to her review. Theyre essentially imprisoned on these vessels, Meldrum said. It goes way beyond exploitation.Abdul Razzaq Abdul Khaliq, a Syrian sailor on board the Sister 12, wrote to AP over WhatsApp that the ship was full of insects and the crew had to use seawater for bathing. Photos and videos he shared show the faucets spewing cloudy brown water, rust blanketing the deck and only a few rotting pieces of produce in the pantry.(T)here is no food on the ship, there is no water, there is no life, he wrote. Friends Shipping, which has offices in Turkey and Dubai, has a pattern of abandonment linked to its fleet. Nineteen of the 22 ships listed on its website have been named in abandonment cases, according to U.N. data, though some of those ships may have since been sold. The company boasts a slogan of We Make the World Smaller.Meldrum said Friends Shipping hires workers who are unaware of the companys reputation, then leaves them in such dire conditions that many are willing to go home at the first chance even without pay. A new crew will be staffed and the same thing happens, she said. This combination of photos provided by Abdul Nasser Saleh shows the deck of the cargo ship Al-Maha, abandoned by its owners, at the seaport of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in January 2024. (Courtesy Abdul Nasser Saleh via AP, File) This combination of photos provided by Abdul Nasser Saleh shows the deck of the cargo ship Al-Maha, abandoned by its owners, at the seaport of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in January 2024. (Courtesy Abdul Nasser Saleh via AP, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Friends Shipping didnt respond to APs questions about abandonment on their fleet or the welfare of their crews. A person who responded to messages sent to the companys WhatsApp number in Turkey said that provisions were supplied to the crew on the Sister 12 and all workers on the ship would be disembarked, without providing details.Despite global treaties on labor rights, there are few avenues for holding owners accountable in an industry where ships are often registered under nondescript shell companies and fly the flags of countries unrelated to their operations.Flag registries are expected to act as first responders to help repatriate seafarers and ensure they have food and medical care, according to U.N. guidelines. A decade-old amendment to the Maritime Labor Convention signed by more than 90 nations also requires the flag states to vouch for the ships they register by requiring insurance to cover several months of wages if business goes south. APs reporting found many flag states still dont intervene. Panama, Palau and Tanzania each registered dozens of the ships reported as abandoned in 2024.The yearslong rise in abandonment cases could mean more seafarers are becoming willing to report abuse by their employers, but the overall figures likely underestimate the true picture of worker exploitation at sea. Cases first spiked amid the global pandemic and have kept rising as shipowners are pinched by inflation and other rising costs.The ITF, the group that advocates for workers, said it helped workers recover more than $10 million in back-pay last year. Inspectors were still fighting for another $10 million they say is owed.Associated Press reporter Aaron Kessler contributed to this report.This story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.__Contact APs global investigative team at [emailprotected] or https://www.ap.org/tips/ HELEN WIEFFERING Wieffering is a reporter on the Global Investigations team. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter mailto

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., leaves Manhattan federal court, May, 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah, File)2025-01-29T05:05:54Z NEW YORK (AP) Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez faces the likelihood of a long prison term when he is sentenced Wednesday for selling his once-considerable clout in Washington for gold bars, a luxury car and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash bribes.Prosecutors have asked a federal judge to give the Democrat 15 years behind bars for crimes that include acting as an agent of the Egyptian government.Menendezs lawyers say he deserves less than two years in prison, citing his decades of public service and a life largely well-lived after the son of Cuban immigrants rose from poverty to become the epitome of the American Dream.In the morning, Judge Sidney H. Stein signaled that a stiffer penalty was likely on the way when he gave a seven-year prison sentence to Fred Daibes, 67, one of two New Jersey businessmen convicted of paying bribes to the senator. Prosecutors had requested a nine-year prison term while his lawyers had asked for less than two years in prison, similar to the request for leniency by Menendezs attorneys. Stein also fined the real estate developer $1.75 million. Prior to the announcement of his sentence, a tearful Daibes told Stein that the jury verdict had left him borderline suicidal, and requested leniency so that he could care for his 30-year-old autistic son. In the early afternoon, the judge imposed a sentence of eight years on the second businessman, Wael Hana, and fined him $1.25 million and ordered him to forfeit $125,000. That sentence was announced minutes after Hana told the judge: I am an innocent man. First and foremost, I never bribed Senator Menendez or asked his office for influence.The judge, though, said the jurys verdict was very, very substantial.Stein was scheduled to sentence Menendez in the afternoon. A third businessman pleaded guilty and testified against Menendez at a trial last year. Menendez resigned from the Senate after his conviction last year, though he lost much of his power in fall 2023 when the charges against him were revealed and he was forced to surrender his powerful post as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.The trial traced Menendezs dealings with Egyptian officials and his quest to aid three men who showered him with lucrative gifts found during a 2022 raid on the Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, home he shared with his wife, Nadine.FBI agents who searched the house found $480,000 in cash, some of it stuffed inside boots and the pockets of clothing hung in the couples closets. They also seized gold bars worth an estimated $150,000. Prosecutors said Menendez had put his high office up for sale in exchange for this hoard of bribes, including by serving Egypts interests as he worked to protect a meat certification monopoly Hana had established with the Egyptian government.Among other things, Menendez provided Egyptian officials with information about the staff at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and ghostwrote a letter to fellow senators encouraging them to lift a hold on $300 million in military aid to Egypt. Prosecutors said that for other bribes, Menendez attempted to persuade a federal prosecutor in New Jersey to go easy on Daibes, a politically influential real estate developer accused of bank fraud.And at the trial, another businessman, Jose Uribe, testified that he helped Nadine Menendez get a Mercedes-Benz convertible after the senator sought to pressure state prosecutors to drop criminal probes of his associates.Menendez has insisted that he is innocent of any crime, saying repeatedly that his interactions with Egyptian officials were normal for the head of the Foreign Relations Committee, and that he always put American interests first. He denied taking any bribes and said the gold bars belonged to his wife.Nadine Menendez faces trial in March on many of the same charges as her husband after spending the last year battling breast cancer.Prosecutors said in a court filing that long prison terms are a warranted punishment for this extraordinary abuse of power and betrayal of the public trust. The defendants engaged, for years, in a corruption and foreign influence scheme of stunning brazenness, breadth, and duration, resulting in exceptionally grave abuses of power at the highest levels of the Legislative Branch of the United States Government, they wrote.Menendezs lawyers, in a presentence submission, said he had already suffered greatly.Unsurprisingly, Senator Menendezs conviction has rendered him a national punchline and stripped him of every conceivable personal, professional, and financial benefit, his lawyers wrote. Bob is now 71, with his long-built reputation in tatters. He has suffered financial and professional ruin.Menendezs law license has been suspended and will be revoked if his conviction stands. His state pension is in jeopardy. His name has already been stripped from an elementary school in New Jersey. His once broad circle of friends and political allies have largely disappeared, his lawyers said. While all defendants suffer inevitable personal and professional consequences if convicted of serious federal crimes, Senator Menendez in many important respects has already been punished relatively more harshly due to his position.In court papers, the lawyers described how Menendez devoted much of his life to his country and his community after he was scarred by the early loss of his father, who killed himself when Menendez was 23 after he was unable to pay off gambling debts.They described a 50-year history of public service in heroic terms, tracing a career in which Menendez was mayor of Union City, New Jersey, a state lawmaker, a member of the U.S. House and then a senator from 2006 to 2024.Yet he also had the distinction of being the only U.S. senator indicted twice.In 2015, he was charged with selling his influence to a wealthy Florida eye doctor and entrepreneur who prosecutors said lavished him with luxury vacations and campaign contributions. But the jury in that case couldnt reach a unanimous verdict. Federal prosecutors dropped the case rather than put him on trial again. MICHAEL R. SISAK Sisak is an Associated Press reporter covering law enforcement and courts in New York City, including former President Donald Trumps criminal and civil cases and problems plaguing the federal prison system. twitter mailto

Dario Amodei, the CEO of the AI company Anthropic, has responded to the current hysteria in his industry and the financial markets around a new and surprisingly advanced Chinese AI model called DeepSeek by saying it proves the United States needs export controls on chips to China in order to ensure China doesnt take a commanding lead on the global stage, not just for AI but for everything.As I wrote earlier this week, Amodei believes that DeepSeeks current advantages over American AI companies are overstated and temporary. The true cost of the DeepSeek R1 is not entirely clear and almost certainly much higher than DeepSeeks paper claims because it is building on previous research published by American companies and DeepSeeks own previously released V3 model. Additionally, Amodei argues that American companies will be able to recreate the same efficiencies in their model training soon, if they havent already, and then gain the lead again when those efficiencies are paired with American companies much greater access to more and better. The US already has export controls on chips to China, and Amodei argues that DeepSeek shows that they are more existentially important than they were a week ago.At the same time, Amodei believes that making AI that is smarter than almost all humans at almost all things will require millions of chips, tens of billions of dollars (at least), and is most likely to happen in 2026-2027. Multiple American companies, Amodei says, will definitely have the money and chips this requires. The important question, and the reason the US needs export controls on chips, is whether China will be able to get millions of chips in order to do this as well.If they can, we'll live in a bipolar world, where both the US and China have powerful AI models that will cause extremely rapid advances in science and technologywhat I've called countries of geniuses in a datacenter. A bipolar world would not necessarily be balanced indefinitely. Even if the US and China were at parity in AI systems, it seems likely that China could direct more talent, capital, and focus to military applications of the technology. Combined with its large industrial base and military-strategic advantages, this could help China take a commanding lead on the global stage, not just for AI but for everything.In one of his footnotes, Amodei expands on this: To be clear, the goal here is not to deny China or any other authoritarian country the immense benefits in science, medicine, quality of life, etc that come from very powerful AI systems, he said. Everyone should be able to benefit from AI. The goal is to prevent them from gaining military dominance.To state the obvious here, its not just China that can direct talent, capital, and focus to military applications of the technology. OpenAI, arguably the leading AI company in the United States and the world, has already partnered with American military defense technology company Anduril to deploy advanced artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for national security missions. the US Military is already purchasing OpenAI software for war, and companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are always competing for US military contracts. AI could have a lot of uses but the military is definitely one of them for US companies. Thats not something only China is doing.Overall, Amodei piece is pretty diplomatic. It doesnt vilify DeepSeek and Chinese researchers and respects their contributions to computer science. It acknowledges that societies deserve the benefits of technology even if we disagree with their governments. But the ultimatum Amodei says we are facing is: Do we want to live in a world in which an all powerful US owned AI is dominating the world or do we want to live in a world in which an all powerful China-owned AI is dominating the world.If China can't get millions of chips, we'll (at least temporarily) live in a unipolar world, where only the US and its allies have these models. It's unclear whether the unipolar world will last, but there's at least the possibility that, because AI systems can eventually help make even smarter AI systems, a temporary lead could be parlayed into a durable advantage. Thus, in this world, the US and its allies might take a commanding and long-lasting lead on the global stage [...] Well-enforced export controls are the only thing that can prevent China from getting millions of chips, and are therefore the most important determinant of whether we end up in a unipolar or bipolar world.If I had to choose, I guess I would choose the US AI dystopia over the Chinese AI dystopia. But those arent really the only choices available to us. Even if we just accept the assumption that AI will be as powerful as Amodei and other AI company CEOs tell us they are, are we really unable to even imagine a world in which we choose not to weaponize and militarize them in ways that brings humanity to the brink? Would preventing our own homegrown AI companies from doing exactly that not be a good place to start?

Palestinians gather outside of a health clinic run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, in the Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)2025-01-29T18:58:55Z JERUSALEM (AP) In the Shuafat refugee camp, a hardscrabble district in east Jerusalem surrounded by a concrete wall, cars inched their way toward an Israeli checkpoint.Intense security makes venturing out of the camp exasperating. But 42-year-old Areej Taha didnt need to leave for medical treatment Monday. She had her toothache treated and picked up her insulin shots at a U.N.-run neighborhood clinic a block from where her kids were finishing their day at a U.N.-run school. In the absence of municipal services, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, is the main provider of decent free healthcare and education to residents of Shuafat camp. If UNRWA left, Taha said, I dont want to have to think about what we would do.But those services and everything from garbage pickup to water-system maintenance may begin disappearing after a pair of Israeli laws come into effect Thursday banning UNRWA from operating on Israeli territory and prohibiting Israeli officials from any contact with the agency. The most immediate impact will be in east Jerusalem, which Israel seized during the 1967 Mideast war and annexed in a move not recognized by most of the world. UNRWAs headquarters there faces immediate shutdown. The bans passed by the Israeli legislature in October also threaten UNRWAs operations across the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, where it is the lifeline for some 2 million Palestinians, most of whome are homeless from the 15-month Israel-Hamas war. Israel has long criticized UNRWA, contending it perpetuates Palestinians refugee status. The campaign against the agency has intensified from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other right-wing politicians since Hamas Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel. Israeli claims that around a dozen of UNRWAs 13,000 employees in Gaza participated in the attack and that many others support or sympathize with Hamas.The agency denies knowingly aiding armed groups and says it acts quickly to purge any suspected militants among its staff. Palestinian parents are flabbergasted How the legislation will be implemented and whether UNRWA operations will have to halt was unclear Wednesday, hours before the laws go into effect. Even UNRWA officials said they didnt know what will happen.Israeli government spokesman David Mencer flatly said Wednesday that UNRWA will be banned from operating in Israel in 48 hours. Leeron Iflah, deputy director-general of Israels Jerusalem Affairs Office, told The Associated Press that starting next week, all the kids in UNRWA schools will get placed in all kinds of schools in east Jerusalem.But an Israeli government official with knowledge of the laws details said there was no intention to physically shut institutions, only that it will become harder for the agency to operate without coordinating with Israeli authorities. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans.A total shutdown would end primary healthcare for up to 80,000 Palestinians in east Jerusalem through some two dozen medical centers, UNRWA officials say. It would also halt education and vocational training for up to 1,000 kids in the middle of a school year. Now hes supposed to leave school? Go where? How? He just started liking school, said municipal worker Karim Hawash, looking over at his 13-year-old son who was kicking a soccer ball against the wall in Shuafat camp. Already the schools here are so overcrowded.There are no municipal schools inside the camp, meaning kids who leave UNRWA schools would have to make their way in and out daily through the Israeli checkpoints to still-unknown destinations.Beginning of the end? The immediate effect on UNRWAs work in the West Bank or Gaza Strip is unknown but aid workers say the crackdown threatens UNRWAs role as the backbone of humanitarian logistics in the region. Shutting down the headquarters will impact everything that we are able to do, Jonathan Fowler, UNRWAs senior communications manager, said from the east Jerusalem compound. The agency provides a vast sweep of basic services to 1.1 million Palestinians in the West Bank and 2 million in Gaza. During the Israel-Hamas war, it has been the main agency ensuring delivery of food, medical supplies and other aid that Gazas population relies on to survive. UNRWA uses storage facilities in Israel for Gaza-bound aid convoys and needs to communicate with Israeli authorities who control access to Gaza to move material in and out now threatened by the crackdown.Mencer said aid needs to be redirected to other U.N. agencies and other NGOs operating in Gaza.In the West Bank as well, UNRWA employees wont have freedom of movement like they did before, said Arieh King, a deputy mayor of Jerusalem. They cannot get in and out of Israel through the borders, the checkpoints. Controversial agencyBorn from one of the most sensitive issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the fate of Palestinian refugees, UNRWA is no stranger to controversy.When roughly 700,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes during the 1948 war over Israels creation, an event Arabs call the Nakba, or catastrophe, Israel refused to let them return. Arab governments resisted their integration.In 1949, the U.N. General Assembly created UNRWA to help this population sleeping in the open and clutching their house keys. It was meant to be temporary, until a political end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be reached. But the system became permanent.The roughly 1 million Palestinians who landed on UNRWAs rolls after fleeing the wars in 1948 and 1967 have become almost 6 million, in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The dozens of tent camps that UNRWA set up decades ago across the Middle East have been built up into dense neighborhoods of apartment blocks and humming markets.The international community has decided over and over that we should continue doing what we do because there has not been a just and lasting solution, Fowler said. There are not the sort of functioning state structures that can provide these kinds of services. Israel has long argued that the agency perpetuates the conflict by maintaining a steadily growing refugee population. President Donald Trump has also been hostile to the agency, cutting off funding during his first term.UNRWAs defenders believe Israels efforts to eliminate the agency have to do with wanting Palestinian refugees to give up hopes of returning to old homes in what is now Israel. Home to 7 million Jews, Israel says a large-scale return of Palestinian refugees would end its Jewish majority.In Shuafat refugee camp, Palestinians whose families fled there in 1948 have the coveted blue IDs of Jerusalem residents, allowing them to travel anywhere Israeli citizens may go. They pay taxes to the Israeli municipality and are subject to Israeli law. But in 2002, when Israel erected its separation barrier with the stated purpose of keeping out suicide bombers, Shuafat camp was left outside the wall, severed from the rest of the city by checkpoints and stranded in a political and bureaucratic limbo.The camps population exploded as Palestinians from the West Bank, although not allowed to live there, realized that no one was enforcing the rules.Israeli officials insist theyre committed to improving services for Palestinians in east Jerusalem but say its a long road. It cant work in one day, Iflah said when asked how the municipality planned to replace UNRWA in Shuafat camp. In just a few days, though, Taha will need more insulin. With no blue ID meaning she cant enter Jerusalem she doesnt know what shell do. 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

FILE- The seal of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve System is displayed in the ground at the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington, Feb. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)2025-01-29T05:05:06Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged Wednesday after cutting it three times in a row last year, a sign of a more cautious approach as the Fed seeks to gauge where inflation is headed and what policies President Donald Trump may pursue. The Fed reduced its rate last year to 4.3% from 5.3%, in part out of concern that the job market was weakening. Hiring had slowed in the summer and the unemployment rate ticked up, leading Fed officials to approve an outsized half-point cut in September. Yet hiring rebounded last month and the unemployment rate declined slightly, to a low 4.1%. In its statement Wednesday, the Fed upgraded its assessment of the job market, calling it solid, and noting that the unemployment rate has stabilized at a low level in recent months. The Fed also appeared to toughen its assessment of inflation, saying that it remains somewhat elevated. Both a healthier job market and more stubborn inflation typically would imply fewer Fed rate cuts in the coming months. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said it is harder to gauge where inflation is headed, in part because of increased uncertainty around what policies Trump will adopt and how quickly they will affect the economy. Trump has promised widespread tariffs, tax cuts, and mass deportation of immigrants, all of which could push prices higher. The Fed typically keeps interest rates high to slow borrowing and spending and cool inflation. Powell said in December that the central bank has entered a new phase, in which it expects to move more deliberately. In December, Fed officials signaled they may reduce their rate just twice more this year. Goldman Sachs economists believes those cuts wont happen until June and December. In November, inflation was just 2.4%, according to the Feds preferred measure, not far from its 2% target. But excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose a more painful 2.8% from a year earlier. The Fed pays close attention to core prices because they are often a better guide to inflations future path. Its unclear how of if Trump will respond to the Feds decision to stand pat. Last week in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said that he would bring down energy prices, then demand that the Fed lower borrowing costs. Later, when asked by reporters if he expected the Fed to listen to him, he said, yes. Presidents in recent decades have avoided publicly pressuring the Fed out of deference to its political independence. Most other central banks in developed countries are cutting their interest rates. The European Central Bank, for example, is widely expected to reduce borrowing costs at its next meeting on Thursday. The Bank of Canada said Wednesday it has also cut its rate, and the Bank of England is also expected to do so next month.The Bank of Japan, however, is actually raising its rate from a rock-bottom level. Japan has finally experienced some inflation after decades of slower growth and bouts of deflation. A Fed rate cut in March is still possible, though financial markets futures pricing puts the odds of that happening at just one-third. As a result, American households and businesses are unlikely to see much relief from high borrowing costs anytime soon. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage slipped to just below 7% last week after rising for five straight weeks. The costs of borrowing money have remained high economywide even after the Fed reduced its benchmark rate. That is because investors expect healthy economic growth and stubborn inflation will forestall future rate cuts. They recently bid up the 10-year Treasury above 4.80%, its highest level since 2023. Another reason for caution among Fed policymakers this year is that they will want to evaluate any changes in economic policy by the Trump administration. Trump has said he could slap tariffs of 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico as early as Feb. 1. During his presidential campaign he threatened to impose taxes on all imports. The Trump administration has also said it will carry out mass deportations of migrants, which could push up inflation by reducing the economys ability to produce goods and services. At the same time, some economists say Trumps promises to deregulate the economy could lower prices over time. When Trump imposed tariffs on a limited number of imports in 2018 and 2019, Fed economists expected the biggest impact to fall on economic growth, with the inflationary impact being relatively minor. As a result, when growth did slow, the Fed ended up cutting its key rate in 2019, rather than raising it to fight off any inflationary impact. CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Rugaber has covered the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy for the AP for 16 years. He is a two-time finalist for the Gerald Loeb award for business reporting. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Rapper A$AP Rocky arrives at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)2025-01-29T05:00:26Z Rihanna has made her first appearance at the Los Angeles trial of her partner, rapper A$AP Rocky, with whom she has two toddlers. The singer superstar on Wednesday morning sat out of view of the courtrooms cameras, next to Rockys mother and sister in the downtown Los Angeles criminal courthouse. Security brought her into the courtroom surreptitiously to avoid crowds.Rocky has been standing trial on two felony charges that he fired a handgun at a former friend, known by the name A$AP Relli, who testified Wednesday about the moment Rocky allegedly fired a gun at him on a Hollywood street in 2021. I was hit. Or I was grazed. I didnt have a hole or nothing, Relli told jurors.The trials key witness said he grabbed one of their mutual friends who were with Rocky after the first shot was fired and stood behind him for protection. He said he did not see Rocky fire the second shot, and Rocky ran away moments later. Relli then testified he was walking after Rocky and shouting at him when Rocky turned around and fired. Rocky had lifted the gun up and aimed downward, Relli said.When jurors were being selected, prosecutors asked them whether Rihannas connection to the case, especially if she appeared in court, would affect their ability to deliver a guilty verdict. Nearly all those questioned had heard of her far more than had heard of Rocky and some described themselves as fans, but all said they felt it would not affect their decisions. Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Athelston Mayers, could get up to 24 years in prison if hes convicted of two felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm. Earlier in the trial, which began on Jan. 21, Relli, born Terell Ephron, said he and Rocky, members of A$AP, a crew of creators at a New York high school, had been close but their relationship eroded after Rocky became famous.He said their relationship had been strained for years and was getting worse in the previous days, but he was still furious when Rocky pulled a gun on him after a scuffle that began the moment the two met up near the W Hotel. I told him to use it. Because mentally I couldnt believe it, Relli testified, with his old friend staring at him intently from the defense table. I physically could not believe there was a gun in my face. That was the breaking point for me.He said he had expected to argue but also to reconcile with Rocky, and the last thing he wanted to do was to get into a fight that could ruin the modest music management business he had built. His lawyer says the shots he fired were blanks from a starter pistol that he carried as a prop. Hes famous, Relli said. Im nobody.Raised in Harlem, Rockys rap songs became a phenomenon in New York in 2011. He had his mainstream breakthrough when his first studio album went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2013. The second one, in 2015, did the same.Hes set to have his biggest career year as a multimedia star. This Sunday, hes nominated for a Grammy Award for best music video for his song Tailor Swif, at the ceremony at Crypto.com Arena just two miles (3 kilometers) from the Los Angeles courthouse where his trials being held. Hes also set to headline the Rolling Loud Music Festival, to star opposite Denzel Washington in a film directed by Spike Lee, and to co-chair the Met Gala in May. But the prospect of a conviction and the possibility of lengthy prison sentence casts a shadow over all of it. Rocky and Rihanna, both 36, have two sons together: 2-year-old RZA Athelston Mayers and 1-year-old Riot Rose Mayers. She revealed she was pregnant with the younger boy after headlining the Super Bowl halftime show in 2023 with a visible baby bump. The singer and the rapper, who are both fashion moguls, first became close when he provided a verse to her 2012 song Cockiness (Love It) and they performed it at the MTV Video Music Awards. They became a couple in 2020. ANDREW DALTON Dalton covers entertainment for The Associated Press, with an emphasis on crime, courts and obituaries. He has worked for the AP for 20 years and is based in Los Angeles. mailto

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One en route from Miami to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)2025-01-29T18:23:06Z Follow live updates on President Donald Trumps return to Washington WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trumps budget office on Wednesday rescinded a memo freezing spending on federal grants, less than two days after it sparked widespread confusion and legal challenges across the country. The Monday evening memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget sparked uncertainty over a crucial financial lifeline for states, schools and organizations that rely on trillions of dollars from Washington and left the White House scrambling to explain what would and wouldnt be subject to a pause in funding. The White House confirmed that OMB pulled the memo Wednesday in a two sentence notice sent to agencies and departments, but said that Trumps underlying executive orders targeting federal spending in areas like diversity, equity and inclusion and climate change, remained in place.Administration officials said the notice to halt loans and grants was necessary to conduct a review to ensure that spending complies with Trumps recent blitz of executive orders. Agencies had been directed to answer a series of yes or no questions on each federal program by Feb. 7. The questions included does this program promote gender ideology? and does this program promote or support in any way abortion? Still, the vaguely worded memo, combined with incomplete answers from the White House throughout the day, left lawmakers, public officials and average Americans struggling to figure out what programs would be affected by the pause. Even temporary interruptions in funding could cause layoffs or delays in public services. The freeze was scheduled to go into effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday, but was stayed by a federal judge until at least Monday after an emergency hearing requested by nonprofit groups that receive federal grants. An additional lawsuit by Democratic state attorneys general was also pending. The Executive Orders issued by the President on funding reviews remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented by all agencies and departments, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, blaming the confusion on the courts and news outlets, not the administration. This action should effectively end the court case and allow the government to focus on enforcing the Presidents orders on controlling federal spending. Trump administration officials said programs that provide direct assistance to Americans, including Medicare, Social Security, student loans and food stamps, would not be affected. But they sometimes struggled to provide a clear picture.Leavitt initially would not say whether Medicaid was exempted from the freeze, but the administration later clarified that it was.Although Trump had promised to turn Washington upside down if elected to a second term, the effects of his effort to pause funding were being felt far from the nations capital. Organizations like Meals on Wheels, which receives federal money to deliver food to the elderly, and Head Start which provides early childcare in lower income communities, were worried about getting cut off. Democratic critics of the order moved swiftly to celebrate the action.This is an important victory for the American people whose voices were heard after massive pressure from every corner of this countryreal people made a difference by speaking out, said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. Still, the Trump administrationthrough a combination of sheer incompetence, cruel intentions, and a willful disregard of the lawcaused real harm and chaos for millions over the span of the last 48 hours which is still ongoing.Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said that Americans fought back and Donald Trump backed off. 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 ZEKE MILLER Zeke is APs chief White House correspondent twitter mailto

A declassified World War II-era CIA guide to simple sabotage is currently one of the most popular open source books on the internet. The book, called Simple Sabotage Field Manual, was declassified in 2008 by the CIA and describes ways to train normal people to be purposefully annoying telephone operators, dysfunctional train conductors, befuddling middle managers, blundering factory workers, unruly movie theater patrons, and so on. In other words, teaching people to do their jobs badly.Over the last week, the guide has surged to become the 5th-most-accessed book on Project Gutenberg, an open source repository of free and public domain ebooks. It is also the fifth most popular ebook on the site over the last 30 days, having been accessed nearly 60,000 times over the last month (just behind Romeo and Juliet).Sabotage varies from highly technical coup de main acts that require detailed planning and the use of specially-trained operatives, to innumerable simple acts which the ordinary individual citizen-saboteur can perform, the guide begins. Simple sabotage does not require specially prepared tools or equipment; it is executed by an ordinary citizen who may or may not act individually and without the necessity for active connection with an organized group; and it is carried out in such a way as to involve a minimum danger of injury, detection, and reprisal.Do you work for the federal government? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at +1 202 505 1702. Otherwise, send me an email at jason@404media.co.The guides intro was written by William Wild Bill Donovan, who was the head of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, which later became the CIA. The motivating factor for writing the guide, according to a passage within it, is that citizen saboteurs were highly effective at resisting the Nazis during World War II, and the Office of Strategic Services wanted to detail other ways sabotage could be done: Acts of simple sabotage are occurring throughout Europe. An effort should be made to add to their efficiency, lessen their detectability, and increase their number, the guide states. Widespread practice of simple sabotage will harass and demoralize enemy administrators and police, the guide states, adding that citizens often undertake acts of sabotage not for their own immediate personal gain, but to resist particularly obnoxious decrees.Because it was written during active wartime, the book includes various suggestions for causing physical violence and destruction, such as starting fires, flooding warehouses, breaking tools, etc. But it also includes many suggestions for how to just generally be annoying within a bureaucracy or office setting. Simple sabotage ideas include:Insist on doing everything through channels. Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.Make speeches. Talk as frequently as possible and at great length. Illustrate your points by long anecdotes and accounts of personal experiences. Never hesitate to make a few appropriate patriotic comments.Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes, resolutions.Misunderstand orders. Ask endless questions or engage in long correspondence about such orders. Quibble over them when you can.In making work assignments, always sign out the unimportant jobs first. See that the important jobs are assigned to inefficient workers of poor machines.To lower morale and with it, production, be pleasant to inefficient workers; give them undeserved promotions. Discriminate against efficient workers; complain unjustly about their work.Hold conferences when there is more critical work to be done.Multiply paperwork in plausible ways.Make mistakes in quantities of material when you are copying orders. Confuse similar names. Use wrong addresses.Work slowly. Think out ways to increase the number of movements necessary on your jobPretend that instructions are hard to understand, and ask to have them repeated more than once. Or pretend that you are particularly anxious to do your work, and pester the foreman with unnecessary questions.Snarl up administration in every possible way. Fill out forms illegibly so that they will have to be done over; make mistakes or omit requested information in forms.The guide also suggests general devices for lowering morale and creating confusion, which include Report imaginary spies or danger to the Gestapo or police, act stupid, Be as irritable and quarrelsome as possible without getting yourself into trouble, Stop all conversation when axis nationals or quislings enter a cafe, Cry and sob hysterically at every occasion, especially when confronted by government clerks.It is impossible to say why this book is currently going viral at this moment in time and why it may feel particularly relevant to a workforce of millions of people who have suddenly been asked to agree to be loyal and work under the quasi leadership of the worlds richest man, have been asked to take a buyout that may or may not exist, have had their jobs repeatedly denigrated and threatened, have suddenly been required to return to office, have been prevented from spending money, have had to turn off critical functions that help people, and have been asked to destroy years worth of work and to rid their workplaces of DEI programs. Maybe it's worth wondering why the most popular post in a subreddit for federal workers is titled To my fellow Feds, especially veterans: were at war.

A person heads into a Target store Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, in Lakewood, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)2025-01-28T22:40:53Z NEW YORK (AP) Targets rollback on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is raising questions about the retail giants philanthropic commitment to fighting racial disparities and promoting progressive values in liberal Minneapolis, where it is based, and beyond.Target and the Target Foundation have made six-figure donations in recent years to groups working on Black economic empowerment and LGBTQ+ acceptance. Racial equity is still listed as a cornerstone of the foundations local grantmaking. But some fundraisers now wonder whether those types of gifts remain a primary concern for the brand, as Target joins other major American companies in curtailing internal DEI efforts attacked most prominently by President Donald Trumps administration.Billions of dollars are spent annually on DEI, but rather than reducing bias and promoting inclusion, DEI creates and then amplifies prejudicial hostility and exacerbates interpersonal conflict, The White House said in a statement accompanying Trumps executive orders. Corporations including Walmart, Amazon and Meta are retreating from policies intended to counter discrimination, many of which were implemented after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in 2020. Philanthropic advisors say the conservative backlash is also chilling support from some funders who fear that backing race-based nonprofit work could bring legal challenges like the one that successfully shuttered the Fearless Funds grant contest for Black women business owners. Target announced Jan. 24 that it would conclude the DEI goals previously set to increase Black employees representation and advancement, improve Black shoppers experiences and promote Black-owned businesses. The company plans to stop submitting reports to external diversity surveys and named Human Rights Campaigns Corporate Equality Index as an example. It is also further evaluating our corporate partnerships to ensure they are directly connected to our roadmap for growth, according to a memo posted on its website. Target did not share publicly what those changes meant for its philanthropy which totaled $384 million last year in cash and products from the corporation and its foundation, according to the company. In response to an Associated Press inquiry, the company described philanthropy as a key way Target engages with communities, whether in our hometown of Minneapolis-St. Paul, in the communities surrounding our stores, or in the countries where our supply chain exists. A company spokesperson told AP that the recent update does not impact Target Foundation giving but added that, as always, the foundation will continue to evaluate how it best supports organizations, coalitions and networks. Also unchanged is the Target Circle community giving program that allows loyalty members to decide which nonprofits the company supports. Target did not say what impact the internal changes might have on its corporate giving.Whenever you see corporate leadership making shifts in priorities, it worries folks in the foundation space about what impacts that might have on both existing giving and future initiatives, said OutFront Minnesota Executive Director Kat Rohn, who said their LGBTQ+ advocacy group is not a Target partner. The changes have already influenced how one longtime partner sees their relationship. Twin Cities Pride Executive Director Andi Otto said he learned about the changes when he contacted Target about re-upping its sponsorship of his nonprofits programming celebrating the LGBTQ community. Target had consistently contributed around $50,000, Otto said.As he pitched Target on recommitting this year, Otto said he was asked to set up a meeting with company leaders. On the call, according to Otto, executives explained that they still wanted to sponsor Twin Cities Pride but let him know they would be removing internal DEI policies.Otto said he appreciated the heads up but chose to reject Targets sponsorship after his board discussed the impact of the companys moves on the community they serve. Inclusion falls by the wayside when there arent checks to ensure it, he added.It isnt always just about the money that they give to us as a nonprofit, but its about what they are doing for the community in getting small, BIPOC- or LGBTQ-owned businesses into their stores and giving them a platform to do so, Otto said.Twin Cities Pride had seen this coming. Otto recalled that Target didnt carry Pride Month merchandise at its stores last June after the collection received backlash in 2023 and said the nonprofit feared things would just continue down that slope.Progressive activists are now calling for a boycott of Target. Nina Turners working-class advocacy group We Are Somebody is asking customers to instead purchase directly from minority-owned brands. At least one Black-owned brand, Oh Happy Dani, has begun the process of removing our remaining products from Target shelves, according to a LinkedIn update from founder Danielle Coke Balfour. Corporate philanthropy can be a reliable source of significant nonprofit funding. Target has long had a very significant presence in the Twin Cities and is notable for its support of education, arts and other diversity efforts. Target and the Target Foundation together were the fifth-largest corporate giver in the state in 2022, according to the Minnesota Council on Foundations.But Rohn, the LGBTQ advocate and fundraiser, said corporate philanthropy can sometimes put nonprofits in a tough spot by pitting their values against the need to sustain their programs. She expects that more nonprofits will step back from corporate relationships as Twin Cities Pride did when their missions no longer align with their sponsors.To that point, Twin Cities Pride shared Monday that more than $50,000 had been raised since the nonprofit cut Target as a sponsor. Individuals donated more than half the total, according to Otto. The Minneapolis Foundation also contributed.Right now, all of us in the LGBTQ nonprofit sector are afraid because we dont know what companies will choose to do and what the outcome is going to be, Otto said. I think everybody right now agrees that it was the best decision to make, and that (if) we stick together, well see things on the other side.___Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy. JAMES POLLARD Pollard covers philanthropy for The Associated Press with a focus on Gen Zs giving habits and technologys uses in charitable work. He is based in New York. twitter mailto

People follow a virtual speech of President Donald Trump at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)2025-01-29T16:26:43Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administrations push for a sweeping pause on federal grants and loans totaling potentially trillions of dollars is on hold for now, on the order of a federal judge. But the legal battle over the plan that set off panic and confusion across the country is just beginning, and it could become a constitutional clash over control of taxpayer money and expansion of executive power before the Supreme Court.Heres a look at the legal issues at play: The power of the purse The Constitution gives Congress control over federal spending, a setup key to the framers vision of separating major powers between branches of government. Once appropriations are approved, the White House has the job of doling out money to states, agencies and nonprofits through the Office of Management and Budget. Typically, the White House sends out money according to the priorities laid out in Congress, though there have been times when presidents have refused to spend all the cash they get. Thomas Jefferson, for example, declined to use money set aside for gunboats in the early 1800s. When the president wont spend money that Congress has set aside, its called impoundment.Trumps Republican administration has framed the halt to federal grants and loans as a brief pause that would allow for an across-the-board review to align spending with his ideological agenda, rather than an impoundment. What does the law say? A showdown between Congress and President Richard Nixon in the 1970s led to a law laying out specific rules around impoundment. Nixon had tried to halt billions of dollars in federal funding for things ranging from social programs to water treatment. The administration faced a wave of lawsuits that it overwhelmingly lost, said William Ford, a policy analyst at the nonpartisan group Protect Democracy. Congress also passed the Impoundment Control Act in response. The act says that if theres a delay in sending out federal money, the White House is supposed to tell Congress about the pause and how much money is involved. There are some exceptions for logistical issues related to specific programs. The law also says any longer-term freeze has to get congressional approval. While duels over spending have continued since then, the law has rarely been invoked, Ford said. The issue could head to the Supreme Court Trump allies have suggested in the past that the Impoundment Control Act is unconstitutional, arguing the White House should have more control over spending. The clash could end with the administration pursuing specific funding cuts, or it could end up challenging before the conservative-majority Supreme Court, said John Yoo, a Berkeley Law professor who served in the George W. Bush administration. The justices weighed in on the Nixon funding fight in a case known as Train v. New York. The court unanimously found that the president couldnt block sewage treatment funding that had already been approved by Congress. What else might happen next? The White House has said that the funding freeze wouldnt affect programs that send money to individual people, like Social Security, Medicare, food stamps, student loans and scholarships.It could still affect trillions of dollars and cause widespread disruption in a wide range of programs, from the National Science Foundation to Meals on Wheels. Its also set off at least two lawsuits, one helmed by the group Democracy Forward representing nonprofits that get federal funding and another from nearly two dozen Democratic states. They say the pause is clearly unconstitutional and breaks federal contracting law. The nonprofits say ideological bent of the proposed review also violates their freedom of speech. The temporary stay issued by U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan in Washington lasts until Feb. 3, when shell consider whether to extend the block or let the plan go forward. LINDSAY WHITEHURST Whitehurst covers the Supreme Court, legal affairs and criminal justice for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. Past stops include Salt Lake City, New Mexico and Indiana. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site