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Nature, Published online: 03 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03591-7Evidence of a particle made up of four tightly bound quarks tests physicists understanding of the force that holds protons and neutrons together.

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The president used the latest pardon announcement to attack his predecessor, Joseph R. Biden Jr.

The post Trump Appears To Doze During Stroke appeared first on The Onion.

Guitarist, songwriter and record producer Steve Cropper poses Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey,File)2025-12-03T21:54:38Z MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) Steve Cropper, the lean, soulful guitarist and songwriter who helped anchor the celebrated Memphis backing band Booker T. and the M.G.s at Stax Records and co-wrote the classics Green Onions, "(Sittin on) the Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, has died. He was 84.Pat Mitchell Worley, president and CEO of the Soulsville Foundation, said Croppers family told her that Cropper died on Wednesday in Nashville. The foundation operates the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, located at the site of the former Stax Records, where Cropper worked for years. A cause of death was not immediately known. Longtime associate Eddie Gore said he was with Cropper on Tuesday at a rehabilitation facility in Nashville, where Cropper had been after a recent fall. Cropper had been working on new music when Gore visited, he said. Hes such a good human, Gore said. We were blessed to have him, for sure.The guitarist, songwriter and record producer was not known for flashy playing, but his spare, catchy licks and solid rhythm chops helped define Memphis soul music. At a time when it was common for white musicians to co-opt the work of Black artists and make more money from their songs, Cropper was that rare white artist willing to keep a lower profile and collaborate. Play it, Steve!Croppers very name was immortalized in the 1967 smash Soul Man, recorded by Sam & Dave. Midway, singer Sam Moore calls out Play it, Steve! as Cropper pulls off a tight, ringing riff, a slide sound that Cropper used a Zippo lighter to create. The exchange was reenacted in the late 1970s when Cropper joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.In a 2020 interview with The Associated Press, Cropper discussed his career and how he mastered the art of filling gaps with an essential lick or two.I listen to the other musicians and the singer, Cropper said. Im not listening to just me. I make sure Im sounding OK before we start the session. Once weve presented the song, then I listen to the song and the way they interpret it. And I play around all that stuff. Thats what I do. Thats my style.Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, asked once about Cropper, said simply, Perfect, man. On a YouTube instructional video, guitar virtuoso Joe Bonamassa says Croppers moves are often copied.If you havent heard the name Steve Cropper, youve heard him in song, Bonamassa said.He got his first guitar at 14 Cropper was born near Dora, Missouri, but moved with his family to Memphis when he was 9 and got his first mail-order guitar at age 14, according to his website, playitsteve.com. Chuck Berry, Jimmy Reed and Chet Atkins were among his early influences. Cropper was a Stax artist before the label was even called Stax, which Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton had founded as Satellite Records in 1957. In the early 1960s, Satellite signed up Cropper and his instrumental band the Royals Spades. The band soon changed its name to the Mar-Keys and had a hit with Last Night. Satellite soon was later renamed Stax, where some of the Mar-Keys became the labels horn section while Cropper and other Mar-Keys formed Booker T. and the M.G.s. Featuring Cropper, keyboard player Booker T. Jones, bassist Donald Duck Dunn and drummer Al Jackson, they were known for their hit instrumentals Green Onions, Hang Em High and Time Is Tight, and backed Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and others. The racially integrated band, a rarity in its day, was so admired that even non-Stax artists recorded with them, notably Wilson Pickett. Jones, who is the only surviving member of the band, and Jackson are Black. Dunn and Cropper are white.When you walked in the door at Stax, there was absolutely no color, Cropper said in the AP interview. We were all there for the same reason to get a hit record. Inspired by gospel songIn the mid-1960s, Atlantic Records executive Jerry Wexler brought Pickett to work with the Stax musicians. During a 2015 gathering with the National Music Publishers Association, Cropper acknowledged he had never heard of Pickett before working with him. He found some gospel recordings by Pickett, was taken by the line Ill see my Jesus in the midnight hour and with a slight change helped write a secular standard.The man up there has been forgiving me for this ever since! he said.Cropper was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 as a member of Booker T. and the M.G.'s. That year, Cropper, Dunn and Jones played in an all-star tribute at Madison Square Garden to Bob Dylan. Al Jackson died in 1975, Dunn in 2012.Rolling Stone magazine ranked Cropper 39th on its 100 Greatest Guitarists list, calling him the secret ingredient in some of the greatest rock and soul songs.Cropper was especially close to Redding. In an interview on his website, Cropper recalled collaborating on (Sittin on) the Dock of the Bay, completed shortly before Reddings death in a December 1967 plane crash and a No. 1 hit in 1968. The brooding, folkish ballad was a bittersweet reflection on his triumphant appearance a few months earlier at the Monterey Pop Festival. Cropper would remember adding the final touches on the recording while still grieving for Redding.We had been looking for the crossover song, he said. This song, we knew we had it.Cropper was in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers and its follow-up, Blues Brothers 2000, portraying The Colonel in the Blues Brothers band. In real life, he toured with them.He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005, and two years later received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement. Cropper continued recording into his later years, including 2024s Friendlytown, which was nominated for a Grammy. Earlier this year, Cropper received the Tennessee Governors Arts Award, the states highest honor in the arts. ___Associated Press National Writer Hillel Italie contributed reporting from New York.___Online: http://playitsteve.com RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

New LSU football coach Lane Kiffin pumps his fist to the crowd while leaving the MMR hanger on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025 in Baton Rouge, La. (Michael Johnson/The Advocate via AP)2025-12-03T22:02:17Z Get the AP Top 25 college football poll delivered straight to your inbox every week with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here. Lane Kiffins awkward and angst-filled departure from Ole Miss will happen again.Its inevitable unless college administrators and football coaches agree to reimagine an imperfect calendar that has been a mess for decades.Under the current format, national signing day happens during conference championship week, the transfer portal opens during the College Football Playoff and some coaches are secretly interviewing for other jobs before Halloween.Clunky and clumsy at best. Chaotic and conflicted might be more accurate.No one has an ideal solution. Even the thought of adopting an NFL-like format seems flawed.You want the best idea? Blow it up and start from scratch, UNLV coach Dan Mullen said. Its a shame youre going to lose a lot of things that are great in college football, but you already have.Three Southeastern Conference programs Florida, LSU and Ole Miss courted Kiffin for weeks before he finally picked the Tigers and left the other two fanbases in emotional shambles. The Gators pivoted to Tulane coach Jon Sumrall; the Rebels stayed in-house and promoted defensive coordinator Pete Golding. Florida and Ole Miss were left trying to convince themselves theyre better off without Kiffin. Anyone who has witnessed his messy exits from basically every job hes held might not have needed much convincing. But the real villain is a college football calendar that essentially forces teams to scramble to get coaches in place before signing day for high school recruits, which was moved last year from the third to the first Wednesday in December. Think you know who belongs in the Top 25? Now its your turn to vote with the AP Top 25 fan poll. Even in an era of the quick fix through the transfer portal, football teams need high school athletes to build out rosters. What happens when things go bad? Take a look at Penn State, which fired its coach in October but has yet to hire a replacement. The Nittany Lions have lost dozens of commitments in recent days, have locked down just a handful of signees, all of which has prominent boosters demanding answers. While Kiffin left right away, some others finish out the season at their old jobs A handful of Power Four schools hired Group of Five head coaches and allowed them to remain in place even though it made for a trickier signing day. Kiffin, meanwhile, wanted to coach the Rebels through the CFP but was told no thanks; Ole Miss officials surely didnt want him having daily contact with players who could follow him to Baton Rouge.Somebodys got to get all this stuff under control, said new Oklahoma State coach Eric Morris, who is remaining with North Texas through the season. Just makes no sense at any level that were sitting here talking about people that are going to be in the College Football Playoff, a team and their coach isnt going to be there to help them get through the whole entire season.Its not sustainable. There are so many things that are not sustainable right now in what were doing. Signing day a moving target for decadesSince the early 1980s, the much-anticipated often overhyped signing day had been in early February. It seemed perfectly placed, set weeks after the last bowl games had been played and a national champion had been crowned.But coaches grew tired of having to continuously court high school kids during the football season and wanted a chance to lock them up long before February. In response, the NCAA delivered an early signing period in 2017.That worked well for a while. But with the CFP expanding the postseason and stretching games well into January, the early signing period started to muddy the calendar.It prompts ADs to fire struggling coaches in the middle of the season to get a jump on their search for a replacement, and the transfer portal made roster management even messier.Its a game of musical chairs, and we all know what happens to the guy who doesnt get a seat, Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said.Stricklin has a solution, or at least a working theory of something that might work. His idea includes eliminating spring practice, moving signing day back to February, opening the transfer portal between March and April, and mandating that only players who were with a team last season can take part in offseason conditioning programs. And then newcomers would be allowed to join for summer workouts that would include the 15 practices normally held in the spring. Coaches dont want to hear that because they think, Oh my gosh, Ive got to have eight months before I kick the ball off with these kids, Stricklin said. The football schedules combined with the semester structure, and the idea that everybody wants their teams put together in January, unless we fix that, its never going to work.Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire had a different suggestion. He wants to start the season a week earlier than usual, play conference title games over Thanksgiving weekend and play postseason games every seven days.You could play the national championship on January 1st and then the portal would open on January 2nd, so the season would actually be over, he said. Until you do that, were still going to have this. Would an NFL-style calendar be the best solution?There has been rampant talk about college football adopting an NFL-style calendar, which would mean coaching movement after the season in January and February, player movement in March and then team workouts after. And there are penalties for tampering with coaches and players under contract.McGuire said colleges should consider something similar. He offered that teams who hire coaches who leave other teams in the middle of a playoff run much like Kiffin did at Ole Miss would be ineligible for the CFP the following year. He added that those coaches making a jump would not be allowed to bring players with them.They can get in the transfer portal, but theyve got to go somewhere else; they cant follow you, he said. Until theres some penalties in that, were going to get the same thing over and over.And it will lead to more Kiffin-like exits and fanbase excitability.Does anybody have a perfect solution? No, Mullen said. Heres why: There are 136 Division I teams. Theres a lot of different conferences. Every one of those 136 teams operates on a different schedule. I know its like, Hey, lets look at a pro model.Maybe the biggest problem with the pro model is that, even though college sports look more like the pros every day, there is still school and a school calendar involved.Then lets go to every president and every chancellor and say, If youre a Division I school, classes start on this day and end on that day. Thats a way to fix it because then you can really set the calendar. But its hard when some people are on quarters, some people are on trimester, some are on semester. When everybodys working on a different calendar, its hard to come up with the exact thing.___AP Sports Writers Mark Anderson in Las Vegas, Cliff Brunt in Oklahoma City, Stephen Hawkins in Dallas, Charles Odum in Atlanta and Teresa Walker in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed.___Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

FILE -Sarah Nor, the mother of Norliakmar Hamid, a passenger on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, cries after she attended a briefing on the final investigation report on missing flight MH370 in Putrajaya, July 30, 2018.(AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)2025-12-03T08:18:08Z KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) More than a decade ago, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 vanished without a trace, sparking one of aviations most baffling mysteries.Despite years of multinational searches, investigators still do not know exactly what happened to the plane or its 239 passengers and crew. On Wednesday, Malaysias government said American marine robotics company Ocean Infinity would resume a seabed hunt for the missing plane on Dec. 30, reigniting hopes that the plane might finally be found.A massive search in the southern Indian Ocean, where the jet is believed to have gone down, turned up almost nothing. Apart from a few small fragments that washed ashore, no bodies or large wreckage have ever been recovered.Heres what we know about the deadly aviation tragedy. Good night, Malaysian Three Seven ZeroThe Boeing 777 disappeared from air-traffic radar 39 minutes after departing Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on March 8, 2014.The pilots last radio call to Kuala Lumpur Good night, Malaysian Three Seven Zero was the final communication before the plane crossed into Vietnamese airspace and failed to check in with controllers there.Minutes later, the planes transponder, which broadcasts its location, shut down. Military radar showed the jet turn back over the Andaman Sea, and satellite data suggested it continued flying for hours, possibly until fuel exhaustion, before crashing into a remote section of the southern Indian Ocean. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Theories about what happened range from hijacking to cabin depressurization or power failure. There was no distress call, ransom demand, evidence of technical failure or severe weather. Malaysian investigators in 2018 cleared the passengers and crew but did not rule out unlawful interference. Authorities have said someone deliberately severed communications and diverted the plane. Passengers came from many countriesMH370 carried 227 passengers, including five young children, and 12 crew members. Most passengers were Chinese, but there were also citizens from the United States, Indonesia, France, Russia and elsewhere.Among those aboard were two young Iranians traveling on stolen passports, a group of Chinese calligraphy artists, 20 employees of U.S. tech firm Freescale Semiconductor, a stunt double for actor Jet Li and several families with young children. Many families lost multiple members. Largest underwater search in historySearch operations began in the South China Sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, then expanded to the Andaman Sea and the southern Indian Ocean. Australia, Malaysia and China coordinated the largest underwater search in history, covering roughly 120,000 square kilometers (46,000 square miles) of seabed off western Australia. Aircraft, vessels equipped with sonar and robotic submarines scoured the ocean for signs of the plane.Signals thought to be from the planes black box turned out to be from other sources, and no wreckage was found. The first confirmed debris was a flaperon discovered on Runion Island in July 2015, with additional fragments later found along the east coast of Africa. The search was suspended in January 2017.In 2018, U.S. marine robotics company Ocean Infinity resumed the hunt under a no find, no fee agreement, focusing on areas identified through debris drift studies, but it ended without success. The challenge of locating remainsOne reason why such an extensive search failed to turn up clues is that no one knows exactly where to look. The Indian Ocean is the worlds third largest, and the search was conducted in a difficult area, where searchers encountered bad weather and average depths of around 4 kilometers (2.5 miles).Its not common for planes to disappear in the deep sea, but when they do remains can be very hard to locate. Over the past 50 years, dozens of planes have vanished, according to the Aviation Safety Network. U.S. company resumes searchMalaysias government gave the green light in March for another no-find, no-fee contract with Ocean Infinity to resume the seabed search operation at a new 15,000-square-kilometer (5,800-square-mile) site in the ocean. Ocean Infinity will be paid $70 million only if wreckage is discovered. However, the search was suspended in April due to bad weather. The government said Wednesday that Ocean Infinity will resume search intermittently from Dec. 30 for a total of 55 days, in targeted areas believed to have the highest likelihood of finding the missing aircraft.It is unclear if the company has new evidence of the planes location. It has said it would utilize new technology and has worked with many experts to analyze data and narrow the search area to the most likely site.

The Ravens rewarded Mark Andrews with a three-year, $39.3 million extension, locking in the franchise leader in receptions, receiving yards and TD catches.

The details could raise questions about who was responsible for a follow-up strike on Sept. 2 the commander who ordered it or the defense secretary.

The separatists were battling to secure the regions oil fields, residents and the groups officials said. Their swift advance could be a turning point in Yemens decade-long civil war.

A small group of G.O.P. women have been among the most vocal in raising what their colleagues say is a broader frustration with the speaker.

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The post WHO: Nothing Tastes As Good As Skinny Feels appeared first on The Onion.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)2025-12-03T22:31:11Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Pentagon knew there were survivors after a September attack on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea and the U.S. military still carried out a follow-up strike, according to two people familiar with the matter.The rationale for the second strike was that it was needed to sink the vessel, according to the people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to discuss it publicly. The Trump administration says all 11 people aboard were killed.What remains unclear was who ordered the strikes and whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was involved, one of the people said. The details are becoming crucial as lawmakers in Congress have launched investigations and are seeking to determine whether the U.S. acted lawfully during its military operations. From APs Standards and Stylebook teams: The AP is using anonymous sourcing to provide information for this story. Click here to hear Washington Bureau Chief Anna Johnson explain APs policy on the use of anonymous sources. The questions are expected to emerge Thursday during a classified congressional briefing with the commander that the Trump administration says ordered the second strike, Adm. Frank Mitch Bradley. The additional information comes as Hegseth is under growing scrutiny over the departments strikes on alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Pacific, and in particular the early September follow-on strike that reportedly killed survivors. Some legal experts and lawmakers say that strike would have violated peacetime laws and those governing armed conflict. Hegseth has defended the second strike as emerging in the fog of war, saying during a Cabinet meeting this week at the White House that he didnt see any survivors but also didnt stick around for the rest of the mission. The defense secretary has also said that Bradley, as the admiral in charge, made the right call in ordering the second hit, which he had complete authority to do.The Trump administration has said the U.S. is in armed conflict with drug cartels, even though Congress has not approved any authorization for the use of military force in the region. The information about the follow-on strike was not presented to lawmakers during a classified briefing in September, in the days after the incident. It was disclosed later, one of the people said, and the explanation provided by the department has been broadly unsatisfactory to various members of the national security committees in Congress.In a rare flex of bipartisan oversight, the Armed Services committees in both the House and Senate swiftly announced investigations into the strikes as lawmakers of both parties raise questions.Bradley is scheduled to appear Thursday in a classified briefing with the panels two Republican chairmen and two ranking Democratic members.

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The flights with Venezuelans who had been living in the United States arrived at a time of airspace safety concerns as the U.S. military pressures Venezuelas leader.

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Siena men's lacrosse coach Liam Gleason has died, the school announced Wednesday, three days after he suffered a traumatic brain injury in a fall at his home. He was 41.

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Protesters gather at a rally for immigrant and worker outside Signature Aviation near the MinneapolisSaint Paul International Airport, Wednesday, Dec 3, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)2025-12-03T23:20:36Z MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Even for a president who has long made clear hes no fan of Somalia, the latest round of White House contempt was a shock Wednesday in the countrys largest Somali community.They contribute nothing. I dont want them in our country, President Donald Trump told reporters during a Tuesday Cabinet meeting. We can go one way or the other, and were going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country.Trump doubled down Wednesday: Somalians should be out of here. Theyve destroyed our country.Hamse Warfa, a Somali-born U.S. citizen from the Minneapolis area who has started series of successful businesses, sees things differently.I am not garbage, said Warfa, who now runs a nationwide education nonprofit, World Savvy.Words matter a lot especially when its the president of the United States who is talking, he said, choosing his own words carefully. The Minneapolis-St. Paul area is home to about 84,000 people of Somali descent, who make up nearly one-third of the Somalis living in the U.S.Refugees from the East African nation have been coming to the frigid plains of Minnesota since the 1990s, drawn by the states generous social services and an ever-growing diaspora community. They have become increasingly prominent in the state, serving on the Minneapolis and St. Paul city councils and in the state legislature. Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar a regular target of Trump, who on Tuesday singled her out specifically as garbage represents part of the state in the U.S. House. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Trumps comments came days after his administration announced it was halting all asylum decisions following the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington. The suspect is originally from Afghanistan but Trump has used the moment to raise questions about immigrants from other nations, including Somalia. Trump spoke soon after reports that federal authorities are preparing a targeted immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota that would primarily focus on Somali immigrants living unlawfully in the U.S., according to a person familiar with the planning. Most of the states Somalis are U.S. citizens, many of them born in this country. Trump vowed last week in a social media post to send Somalis back to where they came from, and alleged Minnesota is a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.Later Tuesday, the administration said it was pausing all immigration applications such as requests for green cards for people from 19 countries, including Somalia, banned from travel to the U.S. as part of sweeping immigration changes after the National Guard shooting.Local Somali community leaders, as well as allies like Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, have also pushed back against those who might blame the broader Somali community for recent cases of massive fraud in public programs.They vowed to protect the citys Somali community.Minneapolis is and will remain a city that stands up for our residents, Frey said in a statement Wednesday.___AP writer Steve Karnowski contributed to this story.

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo fell to the floor with a non-contact injury early in the first quarter and was ruled out for the rest of Wednesday's game against the Pistons due to a right calf strain.

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Brad Parscale advised the campaign of Nasry Asfura, a right-wing candidate who was endorsed by the U.S. president.

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President Trumps economic policies and artificial intelligence were among the central topics at the gathering of business and political leaders.

Twelve former commissioners, in a New England Journal of Medicine article, said they were deeply concerned by a leaked memo from the agencys vaccine regulator.

The Trump administration, which crippled Russias oil sales to India with sanctions, will be watching Mr. Putins talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Jamal Murray scored a season-high 52 points, going 19 of 25 from the field and even better from 3-point range (I10 of 11) as Denver toppled Indiana, 135-120.

An inspector general report to be released on Thursday examined the defense secretarys use of a private messaging app to discuss airstrikes in Yemen.

She says Taiwan must embrace its Chinese heritage to avoid war. Her critics say she wants to steer the island into Beijings orbit.

Workers installed the presidents name on the Washington institute, thrusting it back into the spotlight as it is set to host the signing of a peace deal between Rwanda and Congo.

Clippers stars Kawhi Leonard and James Harden said Wednesday night they were both "shocked" when they learned earlier that morning Chris Paul would no longer be their teammate.

Admiral Frank M. Bradley testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to examine his nomination to be admiral and Commander, United States Special Operation Command, July 22, 2025, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, file)2025-12-04T05:01:45Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Navy admiral who reportedly issued orders for the U.S. military to fire upon survivors of an attack on an alleged drug boat is expected Thursday on Capitol Hill to provide a classified briefing to top congressional lawmakers overseeing national security.The information from Adm. Frank Mitch Bradley, who is now the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, comes at a potentially crucial moment in the unfolding congressional investigation into how Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth handled the military operation in international waters near Venezuela. There are mounting questions over whether the strike may have violated the law.Lawmakers are seeking a full accounting of the strikes after The Washington Post reported that Bradley on Sept. 2 ordered an attack on two survivors to comply with Hegseths directive to kill everybody. Legal experts say the incident amounts to a crime if the survivors were targeted, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are demanding accountability. Bradley will speak to a handful of top congressional leaders, including the Republican chairs and ranking Democrats of the House and Senate committees on Armed Services, and separately to the GOP chairman and Democratic vice chairman on the Senate Intelligence Committee. This is an incredibly serious matter. This is about the safety of our troops. This is an incident that could expose members of our armed services to legal consequences, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech Wednesday. And yet the American public and the Congress are still not hearing basic facts. As Bradley appears for questions in the classified setting, lawmakers will be seeking answers to key questions: What orders did Hegseth give regarding the operations? And what was the reasoning for the second strike?Democratic lawmakers are also demanding that the Trump administration release the full video of the Sept. 2 attack, as well as written records of the orders and any directives from Hegseth. While Republicans, who control the national security committees, have not publicly called for those documents, they have pledged a thorough review.The investigation is going to be done by the numbers, said Sen. Roger Wicker, the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Well find out the ground truth. Pressure builds on HegsethPresident Donald Trump has stood behind Hegseth as he defends his handling of the attack, but pressure is mounting on the defense secretary. Hegseth has said the aftermath of an initial strike on the boat was clouded in the fog of war. He has also said he didnt stick around for the second strike, but said Bradley made the right call and had complete authority to do it.Also on Thursday, the Defense Department inspector general was expected to release a partially redacted report into Hegseths use of the Signal messaging app in March to share information about a military strike against Yemens Houthi militants.The report found that Hegseth put U.S. personnel and their mission at risk by using Signal, according to two people familiar with the findings. The Pentagon, however, has cast the report as an exoneration of Hegseth. Who is Adm. Bradley?At the time of the attack, Bradley was the commander of Joint Special Operations Command, overseeing coordinated operations between the militarys elite special operations units out of Fort Bragg in North Carolina. About a month after the strike, he was promoted to commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.His military career, spanning over three decades, was mostly spent serving in the elite Navy SEALs and commanding joint operations. He was among the first special forces officers to deploy to Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks. His latest promotion to admiral was approved by unanimous voice vote in the Senate earlier this year, and Democratic and Republican senators praised his record.Im expecting Bradley to tell the truth and shed some light on what actually happened, said Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, adding that he had great respect for his record. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, described Bradley as among those who are rock solid and the most extraordinary people that have ever served in the military.But lawmakers like Tillis have also made it clear they expect a reckoning if it is found that survivors were targeted. Anybody in the chain of command that was responsible for it, that had vision of it, needs to be held accountable, he said. What else are lawmakers seeking?The scope of the investigation is not yet clear, but there is other documentation of the strike that could fill in what happened. But obtaining that information will largely depend on action from Republican lawmakers a potentially painful prospect for them if it puts them at odds with the president.Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services committee, said he and Wicker have formally requested the executive orders authorizing the operations and the complete videos from the strikes. They are also seeking the intelligence that identified the vessels as legitimate targets, the rules of engagement for the attacks and any criteria used to determine who was a combatant and who was a civilian.Military officials were aware that there were survivors in the water after the initial strike but carried out the follow-on strike under the rationale that it needed to sink the vessel, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity. What remains unclear and what lawmakers hope to clarify in their briefing with Bradley was who ordered the strikes and whether Hegseth was involved, one of the people said.Republican lawmakers who are close to Trump have sought to defend Hegseth this week, standing behind the military campaign against drug cartels that the president deems narco-terrorists.I see nothing wrong with what took place, said Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, as he argued that the Trump administration was justified in using war powers against drug cartels.More than 80 people have been killed in the series of strikes that started in September. And for critics of the campaign like Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., the pressing questions about the legality of killing survivors are a natural outgrowth of military action that was always on shaky legal ground. He said it was clear that Hegseth is responsible, even if he didnt explicitly order a second attack.He may not have been in the room, but he was in the loop, Blumenthal said. And it was his order that was instrumental and foreseeably resulted in the deaths of these survivors. STEPHEN GROVES Groves covers Congress for The Associated Press. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site