Afro Fashion Association founder Michelle Ngonmo prepares models in the backstage of the Victor-Hart Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Men's fashion show presented in Milan, Italy, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)2026-01-26T06:47:10Z MILAN (AP) A day before an emerging Ghanaian designer made his Milan runway debut, Michelle Francine Ngonmo was troubleshooting how to squeeze more people into the venue to meet demand. Hours before the show, she was up before dawn with her team setting up backstage and the showroom.Ngonmo, a 38-year-old Cameroonian-Italian, has dedicated her professional life to helping raise the profile of Africans and other people of color in Italian fashion and other creative fields because there was, lets say, a lack of representation of people like me.Ngonmo, who founded the Afrofashion Association a decade ago, produces runway shows, mentors talent and recognizes trailblazing achievements through the Black Carpet Awards, launched in 2023. Ngonmo also teaches fashion students and travels regularly to Africa to work with designers there. In its first decade, the Afrofashion Association has worked with 3,000 people of color, including 92 who are working in creative jobs and on a sustainable professional path, Ngonmo said. Afro Fashion Association founder Michelle Ngonmo prepares models in the backstage of the Victor-Hart Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Mens fashion show presented in Milan, Italy, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) Afro Fashion Association founder Michelle Ngonmo prepares models in the backstage of the Victor-Hart Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Mens fashion show presented in Milan, Italy, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More That number is both a sign of the Afrofashion Associations success, and a measure of how much more work there is to be done.Italy is no longer a white Italy, as imagined, but an Italy where there are many colors, Ngonmo said.The Black Lives Matters movement launched a discussion in Italy about the absence of people of color in Italian fashions influential design studios, and designers Stella Jean and Edward Buchanan teamed up with Ngonmo to demand fashion houses replace expressions of solidarity with action. The fashion industry wont disclose diversity numbers, but the lack seemed evident as several prominent fashion houses were emerging from scandals over racially insensitive designs or campaigns. For several seasons, the trio mentored creatives of color under the catchphrase: We Are Made in Italy (WAMI). But slowly the spotlight faded, as diversity and inclusion money dried up and the fashion industry was plunged into an economic crisis. A model poses in the backstage of the Victor Hart Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Mens fashion show presented in Milan, Italy, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model poses in the backstage of the Victor Hart Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Mens fashion show presented in Milan, Italy, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More At the time there was a reaction, indeed a very strong request to have to deal with creatives, especially Blacks in Italy, Ngonmo said. And then slowly the curtain closed because the attention was no longer on that.Ngonmo said she now focuses her attention on those companies, those institutions that have remained with us during these years, and look at the result we have brought. That includes the Italian National Fashion Chamber, which backed WAMI and is giving platforms to up and coming Black talents on the Milan Fashion Week calendar. One of them is Ghanaian designer Victor Reginald Bob Abbey-Hart, who heads the brand Victor-Hart and debuted his collection of mostly denim looks earlier this month. Ghanaian-born fashion designer Victor Reginald Bob Abbey-Hart prepares models backstage at the Victor-Hart Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Mens fashion show in Milan, Italy, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) Ghanaian-born fashion designer Victor Reginald Bob Abbey-Hart prepares models backstage at the Victor-Hart Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Mens fashion show in Milan, Italy, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Abbey-Hart, who recently designed a denim collection for Max & Co., has worked with Ngonmo to raise his profile. He has graduated from showing his looks at a Black Carpet Awards ceremony to a presentation during fashion week in September before the runway show.The designer said his love affair with fashion started when he saw his first Gucci bag back in Ghana.I realized I want to go where it was made. So that was the dream, he said, despite many naysayers at home who saw only obstacles. Coming to Italy really gave me a big door of opportunity to understand what the world really asks for, as a designer. The Milan fashion chambers president, Carlo Capasa, joined top fashion editors in the front row for the packed Victor-Hart show, wearing one of the designers statuesque denim coats. Models get ready in the backstage of the Victor Hart Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Mens fashion show presented in Milan, Italy, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) Models get ready in the backstage of the Victor Hart Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Mens fashion show presented in Milan, Italy, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Capasa said projects with the Afrofashion Association have given visibility and behind-the-scenes support to more than 30 designers of color during recent fashion weeks. Ngonmo has also received support from Cond Nasts Anna Wintour, who has met with Black Carpet Award nominees on the sidelines of Milan fashion weeks. There is a lot to do in diversity and inclusion everywhere in the world, for sure also in Italy, Capasa said, adding that Ngonmos role has been key in helping institutions understand what were the needs in underrepresented communities, from mentoring to education.Abbey-Hart said that finding opportunities as a Black man in Italy, where he has lived for the past nine years, remains hard.Sometimes, before you even get to the room for the interview, youve been disqualified already. Its really tough, and I want people to understand, he said. Take away the color, take away what I represent, just look at the job. COLLEEN BARRY Barry covers all things Italy for The Associated Press. Her focus includes fashion and design, overtourism and the environment, politics and sometimes the Vatican. twitter instagram mailto

President Donald Trump, left, is greeted by Air Force Col. Christopher M. Robinson, commander of the 89th Airlift Wing, right, after walking down the stairs of Air Force One, upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, after returning from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.(AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)2026-01-25T23:59:54Z WASHINGTON (AP) The fatal shooting of a Minneapolis protester by a federal immigration officer touched off a fierce national debate and prompted some fellow Republicans to question President Donald Trumps hard-line immigration crackdown, but the president on Sunday night continued to blame Democratic officials. After remaining relatively quiet on Sunday, the Republican president in two lengthy social media posts said that Democrats had encouraged people to obstruct law enforcement operations. He also called on officials in Minnesota to work with immigration officers and turn over people who were in the U.S. illegally. Tragically, two American Citizens have lost their lives as a result of this Democrat ensued chaos, Trump wrote on his Truth Social media network.Trumps refusal to back away from his pledge to carry out the largest deportation program in history and the surge of immigration officers to heavily Democratic cities came as more Republicans began calling for a deeper investigation and expressing unease with some of the administrations tactics. Trump also told The Wall Street Journal in an interview Sunday that his administration was reviewing everything, but he refused to say whether the officer who shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti acted appropriately. Were looking, were reviewing everything and will come out with a determination, Trump said. The White House did not answer questions about whether Trump watched the videos of the shooting in Minnesota, which seemed to contradict the account of what happened by members of his administration, or whether he planned to speak to Minnesotas Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who had appealed to the president to help bring calm to the city.Instead, Trump on Sunday night said he would call on Congress to pass legislation banning so-called sanctuary cities. His administration has sought to apply the label to communities based on their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts, among other factors. His push for action by lawmakers comes even as outrage over the shooting has raised the possibility of a partial government shutdown in a week because of a standoff over additional funding for immigration enforcement. Trumps initial reaction to the shooting of Pretti came hours after it took place on Saturday. In a post on his Truth Social network, he questioned why Pretti had a firearm and accused Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey of inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric.But throughout the weekend, Trump, who rarely lets a major moment go without comment, did not make any public appearances or express any dismay over Prettis death. Instead, he posted online complaining about Canada and efforts to stop him from building an expansive ballroom at the White House, calling a lawsuit to block its construction devastating to the White House, our Country, and all concerned.He also posted messages praising U.K. troops after his comments about them earlier in the week were widely interpreted as a grave insult and praising guests appearing on Fox News Channel. When he finally weighed in again Sunday night as criticism grew, Trump was unbowed.He called on Walz and Frey, also a Democrat, to turn over for deportation anyone in the country illegally who was held in state prisons or local jails, along with anyone who has a warrant out for their arrest or a criminal history.In his comments to The Wall Street Journal, Trump criticized Pretti for carrying a gun.I dont like any shooting. I dont like it, Trump said. But I dont like it when somebody goes into a protest and hes got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesnt play good either.He said that immigration enforcement officers will leave Minneapolis at some point but did not offer a time frame.Members of his administration, meanwhile, were quick to say the shooting, the second killing of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis by immigration officers in recent weeks, was a case of an armed man provoking violence. Deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller said in a post on social media, without offering any evidence, that Pretti was an assassin who tried to murder federal agents. Vice President JD Vance shared Millers post. He issued other ones blaming local officials and describing what was happening in Minneapolis as engineered chaos that was the direct consequence of far left agitators, working with local authorities. MICHELLE L. PRICE Price covers the White House. She previously covered the 2024 presidential campaign and politics, government and other news in New York, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. She is based in Washington. twitter mailto

Attorney General Keith Ellison, right, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz give a news conference in Blaine, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)2026-01-26T05:11:53Z MINNEAPOLIS (AP) A federal judge will hear arguments Monday on whether she should at least temporarily halt the immigration crackdown in Minnesota that has led to the fatal shootings of two people by government officers.The state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul sued the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month, five days after Renee Good was shot by an Immigration and Customs officer. Saturdays shooting by a Border Patrol officer of Alex Pretti has only added urgency to the case. Since the original filing, the state and cities have substantially added to their original request. Theyre trying to restore the state of affairs that existed before the Trump administration launched Operation Metro Surge on Dec. 1. The hearing is set for Monday morning in federal court in Minneapolis. Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he plans to personally attend. Theyre asking that U.S. District Judge Kathleen Menendez order federal law enforcement agencies to reduce the numbers of officers and agents in Minnesota to levels before the surge, while allowing them to continue to enforce immigration laws within a long list of proposed limits. Justice Department attorneys have called the lawsuit legally frivolous and said Minnesota wants a veto over federal law enforcement. They asked the judge to reject the request or or at least stay her order pending an anticipated appeal. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Ellison said at a news conference Sunday that he and the cities filed their lawsuit because of the unprecedented nature of this of this surge. It is a novel abuse of the Constitution that were looking at right now. No one can remember a time when weve seen something like this. It wasnt clear ahead of the hearing when the judge might rule.The case also has implications for other states that have been or could be targets of intensive federal immigration enforcement operations. Attorneys general from 19 states plus the District of Columbia, led by California, filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Minnesota. If left unchecked, the federal government will no doubt be emboldened to continue its unlawful conduct in Minnesota and to repeat it elsewhere, the attorneys general wrote.Menendez is the same judge who ruled in a separate case on Jan. 16 that federal officers in Minnesota cant detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who arent obstructing authorities, including people who are following and observing agents. An appeals court temporarily suspended that ruling three days before Saturdays shooting. But the plaintiffs in that case, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, asked the appeals court late Saturday for an emergency order lifting the stay in light of Prettis killing. The Justice Department argued in a reply filed Sunday that the stay should remain in place, calling the injunction unworkable and overly broad.In yet another case, a different federal judge, Eric Tostrud, late Saturday issued an order blocking the Trump administration from destroying or altering evidence related to Saturdays shooting. Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty asked for the order to try to preserve evidence collected by federal officials that state authorities have not yet been able to inspect. A hearing in that case is scheduled for Monday afternoon in federal court in St. Paul.The fact that anyone would ever think that an agent of the federal government might even think about doing such a thing was completely unforeseeable only a few weeks ago, Ellison told reporters. But now, this is what we have to do. STEVE KARNOWSKI Karnowski covers politics and government from Minnesota for The Associated Press. He also covers the ongoing fallout from the murder of George Floyd, courts and the environment, among other topics. twitter mailto

Nature, Published online: 26 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00245-0An exploration of how writing systems, from ancient Chinese characters to modern alphabets, shape language, and whether users of ChatGPT can be said to be authors at all.

The Trump administration is planning to use artificial intelligence to write federal transportation regulations, according to U.S. Department of Transportation records and interviews with six agency staffers.The plan was presented to DOT staff last month at a demonstration of AIs potential to revolutionize the way we draft rulemakings, agency attorney Daniel Cohen wrote to colleagues. The demonstration, Cohen wrote, would showcase exciting new AI tools available to DOT rule writers to help us do our job better and faster.Discussion of the plan continued among agency leadership last week, according to meeting notes reviewed by ProPublica. Gregory Zerzan, the agencys general counsel, said at that meeting that President Donald Trump is very excited about this initiative. Zerzan seemed to suggest that the DOT was at the vanguard of a broader federal effort, calling the department the point of the spear and the first agency that is fully enabled to use AI to draft rules.Zerzan appeared interested mainly in the quantity of regulations that AI could produce, not their quality. We dont need the perfect rule on XYZ. We dont even need a very good rule on XYZ, he said, according to the meeting notes. We want good enough. Zerzan added, Were flooding the zone.These developments have alarmed some at DOT. The agencys rules touch virtually every facet of transportation safety, including regulations that keep airplanes in the sky, prevent gas pipelines from exploding and stop freight trains carrying toxic chemicals from skidding off the rails. Why, some staffers wondered, would the federal government outsource the writing of such critical standards to a nascent technology notorious for making mistakes?The answer from the plans boosters is simple: speed. Writing and revising complex federal regulations can take months, sometimes years. But, with DOTs version of Google Gemini, employees could generate a proposed rule in a matter of minutes or even seconds, two DOT staffers who attended the December demonstration remembered the presenter saying. In any case, most of what goes into the preambles of DOT regulatory documents is just word salad, one staffer recalled the presenter saying. Google Gemini can do word salad.Zerzan reiterated the ambition to accelerate rulemaking with AI at the meeting last week. The goal is to dramatically compress the timeline in which transportation regulations are produced, such that they could go from idea to complete draft ready for review by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in just 30 days, he said. That should be possible, he said, because it shouldnt take you more than 20 minutes to get a draft rule out of Gemini.The DOT plan, which has not previously been reported, represents a new front in the Trump administrations campaign to incorporate artificial intelligence into the work of the federal government. This administration is not the first to use AI; federal agencies have been gradually stitching the technology into their work for years, including to translate documents, analyze data and categorize public comments, among other uses. But the current administration has been particularly enthusiastic about the technology. Trump released multiple executive orders in support of AI last year. In April, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought circulated a memo calling for the acceleration of its use by the federal government. Three months later, the administration released an AI Action Plan that contained a similar directive. None of those documents, however, called explicitly for using AI to write regulations, as DOT is now planning to do.Those plans are already in motion. The department has used AI to draft a still-unpublished Federal Aviation Administration rule, according to a DOT staffer briefed on the matter.Skeptics say that so-called large language models such as Gemini and ChatGPT shouldnt be trusted with the complicated and consequential responsibilities of governance, given that those models are prone to error and incapable of human reasoning. But proponents see AI as a way to automate mindless tasks and wring efficiencies out of a slow-moving federal bureaucracy.Such optimism was on display in a windowless conference room in Northern Virginia earlier this month, where federal technology officials, convened at an AI summit, discussed adopting an AI culture in government and upskilling the federal workforce to use the technology. Those federal representatives included Justin Ubert, division chief for cybersecurity and operations at DOTs Federal Transit Administration, who spoke on a panel about the Transportation Departments plans for fast adoption of artificial intelligence. Many people see humans as a choke point that slows down AI, he noted. But eventually, Ubert predicted, humans will fall back into merely an oversight role, monitoring AI-to-AI interactions. Ubert declined to speak to ProPublica on the record.A similarly sanguine attitude about the potential of AI permeated the presentation at DOT in December, which was attended by more than 100 DOT employees, including division heads, high-ranking attorneys and civil servants from rulemaking offices. Brimming with enthusiasm, the presenter told them that Gemini can handle 80% to 90% of the work of writing regulations, while DOT staffers could do the rest, one attendee recalled the presenter saying.To illustrate this, the presenter asked for a suggestion from the audience of a topic on which DOT may have to write a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, a public filing that lays out an agencys plans to introduce a new regulation or change an existing one. He then plugged the topic keywords into Gemini, which produced a document resembling a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. It appeared, however, to be missing the actual text that goes into the Code of Federal Regulations, one staffer recalled.The presenter expressed little concern that the regulatory documents produced by AI could contain so-called hallucinations erroneous text that is frequently generated by large language models such as Gemini according to three people present. In any case, thats where DOTs staff would come in, he said. It seemed like his vision of the future of rulemaking at DOT is that our jobs would be to proofread this machine product, one employee said. He was very excited. (Attendees could not clearly recall the name of the lead presenter, but three said they believed it was Brian Brotsos, the agencys acting chief AI officer. Brotsos declined to comment, referring questions to the DOT press office.)A spokesperson for the DOT did not respond to a request for comment; Cohen and Zerzan also did not respond to messages seeking comment. A Google spokesperson did not provide a comment.The December presentation left some DOT staffers deeply skeptical. Rulemaking is intricate work, they said, requiring expertise in the subject at hand as well as in existing statutes, regulations and case law. Mistakes or oversights in DOT regulations could lead to lawsuits or even injuries and deaths in the transportation system. Some rule writers have decades of experience. But all that seemed to go ignored by the presenter, attendees said. It seems wildly irresponsible, said one, who, like the others, requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.Mike Horton, DOTs former acting chief artificial intelligence officer, criticized the plan to use Gemini to write regulations, comparing it to having a high school intern thats doing your rulemaking. (He said the plan was not in the works when he left the agency in August.) Noting the life-or-death stakes of transportation safety regulations, Horton said the agencys leaders want to go fast and break things, but going fast and breaking things means people are going to get hurt.Academics and researchers who track the use of AI in government expressed mixed opinions about the DOT plan. If agency rule writers use the technology as a sort of research assistant with plenty of supervision and transparency, it could be useful and save time. But if they cede too much responsibility to AI, that could lead to deficiencies in critical regulations and run afoul of a requirement that federal rules be built on reasoned decision-making.Just because these tools can produce a lot of words doesnt mean that those words add up to a high-quality government decision, said Bridget Dooling, a professor at Ohio State University who studies administrative law. Its so tempting to try to figure out how to use these tools, and I think it would make sense to try. But I think it should be done with a lot of skepticism.Ben Winters, the AI and privacy director at the Consumer Federation of America, said the plan was especially problematic given the exodus of subject-matter experts from government as a result of the administrations cuts to the federal workforce last year. DOT has had a net loss of nearly 4,000 of its 57,000 employees since Trump returned to the White House, including more than 100 attorneys, federal data shows.Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency was a major proponent of AI adoption in government. In July, The Washington Post reported on a leaked DOGE presentation that called for using AI to eliminate half of all federal regulations, and to do so in part by having AI draft regulatory documents. Writing is automated, the presentation read. DOGEs AI program automatically drafts all submission documents for attorneys to edit. DOGE and Musk did not respond to requests for comment.The White House did not answer a question about whether the administration is planning to use AI in rulemaking at other agencies as well. Four top technology officials in the administration said they were not aware of any such plan. As for DOTs point of the spear claim, two of those officials expressed skepticism. Theres a lot of posturing of, We want to seem like a leader in federal AI adoption, one said. I think its very much a marketing thing.The post Government by AI? Trump Administration Plans to Write Regulations Using Artificial Intelligence appeared first on ProPublica.

Current and former officials describe growing frustration and disillusionment with the Trump administrations approach, even as they support the goal of immigration enforcement.

State and local officials say the federal deployment of immigration agents violates the 10th Amendment. The surge, which the Trump administration has defended, has led to three shootings and tense protests.

Ricursive Intelligence, founded by two former Google researchers and valued at $4 billion, is among several efforts to automate the creation of artificial intelligence.

Concerns about the affordability of education, housing, health care, having a family and retirement are driving economic anxieties, a New York Times/Siena poll found.

The actor has spent a decade dismantling his McDreamy persona from Greys Anatomy. He stars as an assassin in a new Fox thriller.

Rescued passengers from M/V Trisha Kerstin, 3 an inter-island cargo and passenger ferry that sank, on a boat around waters of Isabela City, Basilan Province, Philippines on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (Kagawad Gamar "Gams" Alih via AP)2026-01-25T22:49:47Z MANILA, Philippines (AP) A ferry with more than 350 people on board sank early Monday near an island in the southern Philippines. Rescuers have saved at least 316 passengers and retrieved 15 bodies, officials said. The M/V Trisha Kerstin 3, an inter-island cargo and passenger ferry, was sailing from the port city of Zamboanga to southern Jolo island in Sulu province with 332 passengers and 27 crew members when it apparently encountered technical problems and sank after midnight, coast guard officials said.The ferry sank in good weather about a nautical mile (nearly 2 kilometers) from the island village of Baluk-baluk in Basilan province, said coast guard Commander Romel Dua. There was a coast guard safety officer on board and he was the first to call and alert us to deploy rescue vessels, Dua said, adding that the safety officer survived. One of the rescued passengers, Mohamad Khan, said that the ferry abruptly tilted to one side and took on water, hurling people including him and his wife, who was holding their 6-month-old baby, into the sea in the darkness. He and his wife were rescued, but their baby drowned. My wife lost hold of our baby and all of us got separated at sea, a distraught Khan told a volunteer rescuer, Gamar Alih, who posted a video of Khans remarks on Facebook. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on As Khan narrated their ordeal, his wife wept.Alih, a village councilor from Zamboanga city, told The Associated Press that he volunteered to help in the search and rescue because some of his relatives were among the ferry passengers. They all survived. Coast guard and navy ships, along with a surveillance plane, an air force Black Hawk helicopter and fleets of fishing boats were carrying out search and rescue operations off Basilan, Dua said.Basilan Governor Mujiv Hataman said several passengers and two bodies were brought to Isabela, the provincial capital, where he and ambulance vans waited. Im receiving 37 people here in the pier. Unfortunately two are dead, Hataman said, speaking by by cellphone from the Isabela pier.The coast guard said 316 passengers had been rescued and at least 15 bodies found. The cause of the ferry sinking was not immediately clear and there will be an investigation, Dua said, adding that the coast guard cleared the ferry before it left the Zamboanga port and there was no sign of overloading.Sea accidents are common in the Philippine archipelago because of frequent storms, badly maintained vessels, overcrowding and spotty enforcement of safety regulations, especially in remote provinces.In December 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker in the central Philippines, killing more than 4,300 people in the worlds deadliest peacetime maritime disaster.___Associated Press video journalist Joeal Calupitan contributed to this report. JIM GOMEZ Gomez is The AP Chief Correspondent in the Philippines. twitter mailto

This image taken from video provided by WABI television, emergency cervices work on a scene of the Bombardier Challenger 600 crash at the Bangor Airport in Maine, late Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (WABI via AP)2026-01-26T03:02:18Z BANGOR, Maine (AP) A private aircraft carrying eight people crashed on takeoff Sunday night at Maines Bangor International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.The Bombardier Challenger 600 crashed around 7:45 p.m., and there was no immediate word on the conditions of those aboard. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. The crash occurred as New England and much of the country grappled with a massive winter storm. Bangor had undergone steady snowfall Sunday along with many other parts of the country. The airport issued a statement that emergency crews were on the scene at the airport, which was closed after what it described as an incident involving a single aircraft departing the airport. Bangor International Airport offers direct flights to cities like Orlando, Florida, Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, North Carolina, and is located about 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Boston. Throughout the weekend, the vast storm dumped sleet, freezing rain and snow across much of the eastern half of the U.S., halting much air and road traffic and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the Southeast. Commercial air traffic was also heavily disrupted around much of the U.S.Some 12,000 flights were canceled Sunday and nearly 20,000 were delayed, according to the flight tracker flightaware.com. Airports in Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, North Carolina, New York and New Jersey were among those impacted.The Bombardier Challenger 600 is a wide-bodied business jet configured for nine to 11 passengers. It was launched in 1980 as the first private jet with a walk-about cabin and remains a popular charter option, according to aircharterservice.com

Gen. Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission attends the opening session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)2026-01-26T07:58:53Z BEIJING (AP) China made a major announcement over the weekend, saying it was investigating the armys top general for suspected serious violations of discipline and law. Gen. Zhang Youxia was the highest military member just below President Xi Jinping.The Defense Ministry said Saturday that authorities were investigating Zhang, the senior of the two vice chairs of the powerful Central Military Commission, Chinas top military body, and Gen. Liu Zhenli, a lower member of the commission who was in charge of the militarys Joint Staff Department.The move shakes up virtually the entire commission, chaired by Xi, leaving only one of its six members intact.Xi Jinping has completed one of the biggest purges of Chinas military leadership in the history of the Peoples Republic, said Neil Thomas, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institutes Center for China Analysis. For the army and China in general, the full impact of the changes is still unknown. But some experts say the moves also might have repercussions on Beijings next move on Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own territory.Here are some elements to understand why Gen. Zhangs removal is important. What was behind the latest military purgeThe Defense Ministry announced the measures Saturday but provided no details on the alleged wrongdoing. The next day, the Peoples Liberation Army Daily published an editorial that fell short of explaining the specific reasons, saying only that it was for suspected serious violations of discipline and law and showed Chinas commitment to punish corruption. That is something Xi has pursued since the early days of his presidency. Rumors have circulated on social media and there have been some media reports about the changes, but nothing official.I do not believe any evidence publicly released or selectively leaked by Chinese authorities would necessarily reflect the core reason for Zhangs removal, said K. Tristan Tang, nonresident Vasey Fellow at Pacific Forum. The critical point is that Xi Jinping decided to move against Zhang; once an investigation is launched, problems are almost inevitably uncovered. Analysts have said the purges are designed to reform the military and ensure loyalty to Xi. They are part of a broader anti-corruption drive that has resulted in punishment for more than 200,000 officials since the Chinese leader came to power in 2012.Before Zhang and Lius dismissal, the Communist Party expelled the other vice chair of the commission, He Weidong, in October. He was replaced with Zhang Shengmin, who is now the only commission member.Since 2012, at least 17 Generals from the Peoples Liberation Army, or PLA, have been removed from their military positions, among them eight who were former top commission members, according to a review of military statements and state media reports made by The Associated Press. How a top military change can impact moves on TaiwanSome think the removals could have repercussions for Chinas decisions on Taiwan, but it is far from clear.China considers Taiwan its own territory and has threatened to take control of the island by force if necessary. China also has increased military pressure and, last month, launched large-scale military drills around Taiwan for two days after the U.S. government announced a major arms sales to Taiwan. Thomas, from the Asia Society Policy Institute, said the latest purge makes Chinas threat toward Taiwan weaker in the short term but stronger in the long term.It would make a military escalation against the island riskier in the immediate term because of a high command in disarray, but in the long term would mean the army has a more loyal and less corrupt leadership with more military capabilities, he said.Asked if this might reinforce the idea that removing top military brass might show China is not ready for war, Tang from the Pacific Forum said it does not fundamentally change that assessment. That said, he added, I also do not believe the PLAs combat readiness has been severely disrupted. Military commissions future remains unclearWith the recent changes, the military commission will operate with only one of six members active and Xi at the top as the chair. The PLAs Daily editorial said that after the actions against Zhang and Liu, the party is moving to promote the rejuvenation of the Peoples Liberation Army, and inject powerful momentum into building a strong military force.But its not clear if the five vacant positions will be replaced soon or if Xi will wait until 2027, when there will be a selection of a new Communist Party Central Committee, the body in charge of also appointing the new military commission members.Tang, from the Pacific Forum, doesnt see any pressure on Xi to fill the positions in the short term. Unless the objective is to create an internal counterweight to Zhang Shengmin, the only current member in the commission, he said.

This photo provided by the U.S. Navy shows sailors preparing a Boeing EA-18G Growler on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Indian Ocean on Jan. 21, 2026. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Daniel Kimmelman/U.S. Navy via AP)2026-01-26T08:51:23Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Yemens Iranian-backed Houthi rebels threatened new attacks on ships traveling through the Red Sea corridor, likely trying to back Iran as it worried Monday about an approaching U.S. aircraft carrier after President Donald Trump threatened military action over its crackdown on nationwide protests.A short video by the Houthis included previously published images of a ship on fire, with the caption: Soon. The rebels did not elaborate, but their campaign in the Red Sea saw over 100 ships attacked as part of a campaign the Houthis said pressured Israel over its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis halted their fire after a ceasefire in the conflict, though theyve repeatedly warned they could resume fire if needed. The Houthi threat come as the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other guided missile destroyers with it move toward the region. Trump has said the ships are being moved just in case he decides to take action against Iran. Trump already has laid out two red lines for attack the killing of peaceful protesters and Tehran conducting mass executions of those it has arrested in a massive crackdown over the demonstrations. Iran renews threats and limits smaller flightsIranian Defense Ministry spokesperson Gen. Reza Talaei-Nik renewed warnings Monday to both Israel and the U.S. over any possible attack, saying it would be met with a response that is more painful and more decisive than in the past. Iranian state television quoted Talaei-Nik as adding that threats from the two countries required Iran to maintain full and comprehensive preparedness.Iran over the weekend unveiled a new banner in Enghelab Square threatening the Lincoln, showing an aircraft carrier strewn with bodies and streaked with blood with the warning: If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind. However, Iran is still reeling from a 12-day war launched by Israel in June that saw its air defense systems broadly destroyed and top military leaders killed, as well as its nuclear enrichment sites bombed by the U.S. As a sign of concern over its airspace, Iran issued a notice to pilots Sunday that banned small private aircraft from flying in the country, with carveouts for the oil industry and emergency medical flights. Many Western airlines have started to avoid Iranian airspace entirely due to the tensions, though Gulf Arab carriers flying to Moscow still rely on the route. Iranian air defense troops in 2020 shot down a Ukrainian commercial airliner, killing 176 people on board. Death toll rises from protest crackdownThe protests in Iran began on Dec. 28, sparked by the fall of the Iranian currency, the rial, and quickly spread across the country. They were met by a violent crackdown by Irans theocracy, the scale of which is only starting to become clear as the country has faced more than two-week internet blackout the most comprehensive in the nations history.The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Sunday put the death toll at 5,848, with the number expected to increase. It says more than 41,280 people have been arrested.The groups figures have been accurate in previous unrest and rely on a network of activists in Iran to verify deaths. That death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest there in decades, and recalls the chaos surrounding Irans 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Associated Press has not been able to independently verify the toll.Irans government has put the death toll at a far lower 3,117, saying 2,427 were civilians and security forces, and labeled the rest terrorists. In the past, Irans theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest. JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A piece of wreckage is lifted from the water onto a salvage vessel near the site in the Potomac River of a mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Feb. 4, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)2026-01-26T05:04:19Z So many things went wrong last Jan. 29 to contribute to the deadliest plane crash on American soil since 2001 that the National Transportation Safety Board isnt likely to identify a single cause of the collision between an airliner and an Army helicopter near Washington that killed 67 people at its hearing Tuesday. Instead, their investigators will detail what they found that played a role in the crash, and the board will recommend changes to help prevent a similar tragedy. Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration already took the temporary restrictions it imposed after the crash and made them permanent to ensure planes and helicopters wont share the same airspace again around Reagan National Airport. Family members of victims hope those suggestions wont be ignored the same way many past NTSB recommendations have been. Tim Lilley, whose son Sam was the first officer on the American Airlines plane, said he hopes officials in Congress and the administration will make changes now instead of waiting until for another disaster. Instead of writing aviation regulation in blood, lets start writing it in data, said Lilley, who is a pilot himself and earlier in his career flew Black Hawk helicopters in the Washington area. Because all the data was there to show this accident was going to happen. This accident was completely preventable. Over the past year, the NTSB has already highlighted a number of the factors that contributed to the crash including a poorly designed helicopter route past Reagan Airport, the fact that the Black Hawk was flying 78 feet (23.7 meters) higher than it should have been, the warnings that the FAA ignored in the years beforehand and the Armys move to turn off a key system that would have broadcast the helicopters location more clearly. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on The D.C. plane crash was the first in a number of high-profile crashes and close calls throughout 2025 that alarmed the public, but the total number of crashes last year was actually the lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 with 1,405 crashes nationwide. Experts say flying remains the safest way to travel because of all the overlapping layers of precautions built into the system, but too many of those safety measures failed at the same time last Jan. 29. Here is some of what we have learned about the crash: The helicopter route didnt ensure enough separationThe route along the Potomac River the Black Hawk was following that night allowed for helicopters and planes to come within 75 feet (23 meters) of each other when a plane was landing on the airports secondary runway that typically handles less than 5% of the flights landing at Reagan. And that distance was only ensured when the helicopter stuck to flying along the bank of the river, but the official route didnt require that.Normally, air traffic controllers work to keep aircraft at least 500 feet (152 meters) apart to keep them safe, so the scant separation on Route 4 posed what NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy called an intolerable risk to flight safety.The controllers at Reagan also had been in the habit of asking pilots to watch out for other aircraft themselves and maintain visual separation as they tried to squeeze in more planes to land on what the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority has called the busiest runway in the country. The FAA halted that practice after the crash. That night a controller twice asked the helicopter pilots whether they had the jet in sight, and the pilots said they did and asked for visual separation approval so they could use their own eyes to maintain distance. But at the investigative hearings last summer, board members questioned how well the crew could spot the plane while wearing night vision goggles and whether the pilots were even looking in the right spot. The Black Hawk was flying too highThe American Airlines plane flying from Wichita, Kansas, collided with the helicopter 278 feet (85 meters) above the river, but the Black Hawk was never supposed to fly above 200 feet (61 meters) as it passed by the airport, according to the official route.Before investigators revealed how high the helicopter was flying, Tim Lilley was asking tough questions about it at some of the first meetings NTSB officials had with the families. His background as a pilot gave him detailed knowledge of the issues.We had a moral mandate because we had such an in-depth insight into what happened. We didnt want to become advocates, but we could not shirk the responsibility, said Lilley, who started meeting with top lawmakers in Congress, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Army officials not long after the crash to push for changes.The NTSB has said the Black Hawk pilots may not have realized how high the helicopter was because the barometric altimeter they were relying on was reading 80 to 100 feet (24 to 30 meters) lower than the altitude registered by the flight data recorder.Investigators tested out the altimeters of three other Black Hawks of the same model from the same Army unit and found similar discrepancies. Past warnings and alarming data were ignoredFAA controllers were warning about the risks all the helicopter traffic around Reagan airport created at least since 2022. And the NTSB found there had been 85 near misses between planes and helicopters around the airport in the three years before the crash along with more than 15,000 close proximity events. Pilots reported collision alarms going off in their cockpits at least once a month.Officials refused to add a warning to helicopter charts urging pilots to use caution when they used the secondary runway at Reagan the jet was trying to use before the collision.Rachel Feres said it was hard to hear about all the known concerns that were never addressed before the crash that killed her cousin Peter Livingston and his wife Donna and two young daughters, Everly and Alydia, who were both promising figure skaters.It became very quickly clear that this crash should never have happened, Feres said. And as someone who is not particularly familiar with aviation and how our aviation system works, we were just hearing things over and over again that I think really, really shocked people, really surprised people. JOSH FUNK Funk is an Associated Press reporter who covers transportation including aviation safety and airlines along with all the major freight railroads. Funk also covers Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway, the impact of the ongoing bird flu outbreak, agriculture and other news out of the Midwest. twitter mailto

Nature, Published online: 26 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00246-zActionable goals are needed to guide the world towards what needs to happen most quickly: shifting economies to clean energy sources.

Nature, Published online: 23 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00257-wA protein made by cancer cells seems to break down the hallmark plaques of Alzheimers disease. Plus, our breath might reveal whats going on in our gut and the controversy surrounding a US-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau.

Nature, Published online: 22 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00242-3Physicists have shown that a quantum object can be at least as big as a cluster of 7,000 sodium atoms. Plus, the oldest-known cave art in the world and why girls are starting puberty earlier than ever.

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Nature, Published online: 26 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00248-xMohammed Amar manages conservation of imperilled flora in Socotra, a Yemeni island known as the Galpagos of the Indian Ocean.

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The post Squirrel Plays Off Falling Out Of Tree Like He Totally Meant To appeared first on The Onion.

OVERLAND PARK, KSExpressing frustration that his efforts to be accommodating continue to go unappreciated, area man Thomas Kemps confirmed Monday that nothing is ever good enough for the woman hehasbeen holdingcaptivein his basement for the past 39 days. I give and I give, and what do I get in return? Not a single genuine thank-you, said Kemps, explaining that he has provided the bound and gagged woman with a perfectlygoodmattress from the alley and the most expensive rope available at the hardware store, but she still finds things to complain about. I work day and night to put dog food on the floor for her, and she gives menothingbut attitude and entitlement. First, she asks for a special bucket so she wont have to shit in the corner, and then I have to hear her whine on and on about how the bucket is full. Oh, Im sorry, I didnt realize the Uber passenger I drugged and abducted was a princess. Seriously, Im bending over backwards to help this girl out, and yet she still attempts to slash me in the face with a shard of broken glass. Just a totally ungrateful hostage. At press time, Kemps was relieved to report that simply threatening to murder the womans children had really helped reset the tone of their relationship.The post Nothing Ever Good Enough For Captive appeared first on The Onion.

BURBANK, CAEncouraging the child to explore the conglomerates vast catalog of characters and copyrights, Disney executive John Ervin reminded his 2-year-old daughter on Monday that only artwork featuring the companys intellectual property was permitted on the fridge. Thats very creative, Edie, but unfortunately it has no existing fan base, said the 49-year-old Ervin, who handed the toddler back the drawing of a colorful, octopus-like creature she had presented him with and tried to explain the financial reality of the motion picture industry in terms he thought she could understand. I sure hope this blue guy over here is Stitch or a Navi, because Daddy doesnt own the rights to the Smurfs. Come on, dont you want to draw Anna and Elsa? Or what about something from 20th Century Studios? Do you want to draw aFernGullyreboot, pumpkin? Ervin went on to say, No, Mommy isnt IP either.The post Disney Exec Reminds Toddler Only IP Goes On Fridge appeared first on The Onion.

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In this photo provided by Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade press service, servicemen fire a 2S1 Gvozdika self propelled howitzer towards Russian positions near Chasiv Yar town, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Oleg Petrasiuk/Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade via AP)2026-01-26T12:32:11Z Negotiations aimed at ending Russias invasion of Ukraine are yielding apparent signs of progress, but major challenges remain on the path to a final settlement, a senior Kremlin official said Monday.Talks between envoys from Ukraine, Russia and the United States in recent days in Abu Dhabi were constructive and another round is planned for next week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.He reported no major breakthrough so far, however, and added: The very fact that these contacts have begun in a constructive way can be assessed positively, but there is still serious work ahead.Officials revealed few details of the talks held on Friday and Saturday, which were part of a yearlong effort by the Trump administration to steer the sides toward a peace deal and end almost four years of all-out war.While Ukrainian and Russian officials have agreed in principle with Washingtons calls for a compromise, Moscow and Kyiv differ deeply over what an agreement should look like.Meanwhile, the grinding war of attrition along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line snaking through eastern and southern Ukraine has dragged on, and Ukrainian civilians are enduring another winter of hardship after Russian bombardment of cities in the rear. Dispute over land is unresolved, Zelenskyy saysU.S. President Donald Trump has set out deadlines for an agreement and threatened additional sanctions on Moscow, but Russian President Vladimir Putin apparently hasnt budged from his public demands.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also described the Abu Dhabi talks as constructive, although he noted that addressed complex political issues ... remain unresolved. A new round of trilateral meetings is expected later this week, Zelenskyy said, without giving a date.Negotiators will return to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday for more talks, according to a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The weekend talks covered a broad range of military and economic matters and included the possibility of a ceasefire before a comprehensive deal, the official said. Zelenskyy said Sunday that a document setting out U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine in a postwar scenario is 100% ready, although it still needs to be formally signed.Kyiv has insisted on postwar American security commitments as part of any broader peace agreement with Moscow after Russias 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea and support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, followed by its full-scale invasion in February 2022.German diplomat urges Kremlin to be flexible on land issueZelenskyy has acknowledged that there are fundamental differences between Ukrainian and Russian positions, though he said last week that peace proposals are nearly ready.A central issue is whether Russia should keep or withdraw from areas of Ukraine its forces have occupied, especially Ukraines eastern industrial heartland called the Donbas, and whether it should get land there that it hasnt yet captured.German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Monday chided Moscow for its stubborn insistence on the decisive territorial issue. He said during a visit to Latvia that if there is no agility here, I am afraid that the negotiations may take a long time or will not be successful now.Russias Defense Ministry said Monday that air defenses downed 40 Ukrainian drones late Sunday and early Monday, including 34 over the Krasnodar region and four over the Sea of Azov.Krasnodar officials said drone fragments fell on two industrial plants in the city of Slavyansk, sparking fires that were extinguished. One person was injured, they said.Ukraines general staff said an oil refinery in the Krasnodar region was targeted by Ukrainian forces. The facility supplied the Russian military, it added.Russian forces launched 138 drones at Ukraine overnight, 110 of which were shot down or suppressed, Ukraines air force said, and 21 of them hit targets in 11 locations.___Associated Press writers Kamila Hrabchuk and Susie Blann in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site