Ella Venne, left, searches through the remnants of her family's home destroyed by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)2025-01-16T05:01:47Z KYIV (AP) British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Ukraine Thursday with a pledge to help guarantee the countrys security for a century, days before Donald Trump is sworn in as U.S. president.The British government says Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will sign a 100-Year Partnership treaty in Kyiv, covering areas including defense, science, energy and trade.Starmers unannounced visit is his first trip to Ukraine since he took office in July. He visited the country in 2023 when he was opposition leader, and has twice held talks with Zelenskyy in 10 Downing St. since becoming prime minister.One of Ukraines biggest military backers, the U.K. has pledged 12.8 billion pounds ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid to Ukraine since Russias full-scale invasion three years ago, and has trained more than 50,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil. Starmer is due to announce another 40 million pounds ($49 million) for Ukraines post-war economic recovery. But the U.K.s role is dwarfed by that of the United States, and there is deep uncertainty over the fate of American support for Ukraine once Trump takes office on Jan. 20. The president-elect has balked at the cost of U.S. aid to Kyiv, says he wants to bring the war to a swift end and is planning to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom he has long expressed admiration. Kyivs allies have rushed to flood Ukraine with as much support as possible before Trumps inauguration, with the aim of putting Ukraine in the strongest position possible for any future negotiations to end the war. Zelenskyy has said that in any peace negotiation, Ukraine would need assurances about its future protection from its much bigger neighbor.Britain says its 100-year pledge is part of that assurance, and will help ensure Ukraine is never again vulnerable to the kind of brutality inflicted on it by Russia, which seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and attempted a full-scale invasion in February 2022. The deal commits the two sides to cooperate on defense especially maritime security against Russian activity in the Batlic Sea, Black Sea and Sea of Azov and on technology projects including drones, which have become vital weapons for both sides in the war. The treaty also includes a system to help track stolen Ukrainian grain exported by Russia from occupied parts of the country.Putins ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure. Instead, we are closer than ever, and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level, Starmer said ahead of the visit.This is not just about the here and now, it is also about an investment in our two countries for the next century, bringing together technology development, scientific advances and cultural exchanges, and harnessing the phenomenal innovation shown by Ukraine in recent years for generations to come.Zelenskyy says he and Starmer also will discuss a plan proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron that would see troops from France and other Western countries stationed in Ukraine to oversee a ceasefire agreement. Zelenskyy has said any such proposal should go alongside a timeline for Ukraine to join NATO. The alliances 32 member countries say that Ukraine will join one day, but not until after the war. Trump has appeared to sympathize with Putins position that Ukraine should not be part of NATO.As the grinding war nears the three-year mark, both Russia and Ukraine are pushing for battlefield gains ahead of possible peace talks. Ukraine has started a second offensive in Russias Kursk region, where it is struggling to hang onto a chunk of territory it captured last year, and has stepped up drone and missile attacks on weapons sites and fuel depots inside Russia.Moscow is slowly taking territory at the cost of high casualties, along the 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) front line in eastern Ukraine and launching intense barrages at Ukraines energy system, seeking to deprive Ukrainians of heat and light in the depths of winter. A major Russian ballistic and cruise missile attack on regions across Ukraine on Wednesday, and compelling authorities to shut down the power grid in some areas. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

With Metas recent speech policy changes regarding immigration, in which the company will allow people to call immigrants pieces of trash, Mark Zuckerberg is laying the narrative groundwork for President-elect Trumps planned mass deportations of people from the United States.Multiple speech and content moderation experts 404 Media spoke to drew some parallels between these recent changes and when Facebook contributed to a genocide in Myanmar in 2017, in which Facebook was used to spread anti-Rohingya hate and the countrys military ultimately led a campaign of murder, torture, and rape against the Muslim minority population. Although there are some key differences, Metas changes in the U.S. will also likely lead to the spread of more hate speech across Metas sites, with the real world consequences that can bring.We believe Meta is certainly opening up their platform to accept harmful rhetoric and mold public opinion into accepting the Trump administration's plans to deport and separate families, Citlaly Mora, director of communications at Just Futures Law, a legal and advocacy organization focused on issues around deportation and surveillance.Meta knows well that hate speech can and does incite violence under certain conditions, Danielle Citron, a professor at the University of Virginias School of Law who previously consulted with Facebook on trust and safety issues, said. We saw how hate speech in Myanmar inspired genocide against the Rohingya people. We have seen hateful words inspire doxing, harassment, and violence against Haitian immigrants in Ohio this fall. Meta has spent years building trust and safety teams only to tear them down.Having worked with these companies for 15 years I'm devastated, she added.Do you work at Meta and have documents or other material you think I should know about? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at +44 20 8133 5190. Otherwise, send me an email at joseph@404media.co.Earlier this month, Zuckerberg said in a video that Meta was lifting restrictions on topics like immigration and gender that are out of touch with mainstream discourse. In the video he said that Meta was getting back to its roots, and Joel Kaplan, Metas new chief global affairs officer, published a write-up about the changes.Then, The Intercept obtained a leaked document which provided examples of what sort of material would now be allowed on Meta. Immigrants are grubby, filthy pieces of shit, Mexican immigrants are trash!, and Migrants are no better than vomit, are all examples given in the document of allowed statements on Meta. Comparisons to filth or feces have now been downgraded from hate speech to a less serious form of insult, The Intercept reported.ALL behavioral statements (qualified and non-qualified) are no longer against Metas rules, the report said. One example was These damn immigrants cant be trusted, theyre all criminals.Susan Benesch, faculty associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society and executive director at the Dangerous Speech Project, said Meta is opening up new space for xenophobia. Since Trump's own anti-immigrant rhetoric is full of assertions that foreigners are dangerous and malevolent, and that's why he says he wants to deport so many of them, we can expect plenty of echoes of that online.Trump has pledged to deport between 15 and 20 million people from the U.S. and has refused to rule out separating families, TIME reported, which conducted an interview with Trump on the topic. If carried out, such deportations could also have a massive impact on the U.S. workforce and businesses who use undocumented workers.As for how behavior on Meta platforms might change after the companys policy shift, Benesch said First, some hateful content that would have been taken down will now stay up. Second, some users will post awful content to test the new regimeit's an entertaining game for many people, like kids testing limits. Third, some Trump voters are eager to see deportations begin, and now that he is days from becoming President again, they will be discussing their hopes for what he will do, and posting their reactions to what he says.Rebecca Hamilton, professor law at American University, added The changes to community standards will enable more online content that vilifies immigrants. The move from third-party fact checking to community notes is likely to result in more misinformation about immigration policies and immigrant communities. Both of these developments are the foreseeable consequences of the policy changes. Even though Metas policy on violence and incitement remain unchanged, Hamilton said The trouble is that we know that online and offline environments are co-constitutivethey shape each other. So when hate speech toward a particular group is tolerated online, even though it doesn't rise to the level of direct incitement, it still starts to shift the underlying norms for what behavior is and is not acceptable towards that group in the offline space.And that could lead to consequences away from the screen. When we look at the history of mass atrocities against particular groups, we always see a period where the information landscape is shaped away from recognizing the humanity of the targeted group. By letting hate speech flourish online, you enable the pre-conditions for group violence offline, she added.Meta did not respond to a request for comment.

Mario Mendoza poses for a portrait as he takes a break while working on repairing a mobile home in Belle Chasse, La., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, that was damaged from Hurricane Ida in 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)2025-01-16T14:54:34Z LOS ANGELES (AP) While firefighters battled blazes in the Los Angeles area this week, Alejandro, a 55-year-old from Mexico, was one of several day laborers leading cleanups near scorched neighborhoods in Pasadena and Altadena. Donning a yellow safety vest, a mask and glasses, he helped pick up branches and fallen trees and direct traffic while others worked. The country would fall into crisis without workers like him, said Alejandro, who spoke in Spanish and requested his last name not be used because he is in the country illegally.It wasnt just one (home), added Alejandro. There were thousands. Mario Mendoza works on repairing a mobile home in Belle Chasse, La., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, that was damaged from Hurricane Ida in 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Mario Mendoza works on repairing a mobile home in Belle Chasse, La., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, that was damaged from Hurricane Ida in 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More When President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House next week, his plans to deport millions of immigrants in the country illegally could impact Americas ability to quickly rebuild after major damage from floods, hurricanes, fires and other disasters, immigrant advocates say. As the number of extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change increases, there is a growing workforce of laborers, many of them without legal status. Some crisscross the country following extreme weather events, helping to put back together entire communities. Many are highly skilled electricians, plumbers and masons. Others do manual labor, like cutting up and hauling away fallen trees and branches. The fact is that the people who rebuild those areas from Palisades to Malibu to Altadena its immigrant construction crews, said Pablo Alvarado, co-executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. Theyre the ones who are the second responders. Mario Mendoza works on repairing a mobile home in Belle Chasse, La., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, that was damaged from Hurricane Ida in 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Mario Mendoza works on repairing a mobile home in Belle Chasse, La., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, that was damaged from Hurricane Ida in 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Mario Mendoza works on repairing a mobile home in Belle Chasse, La., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, that was damaged from Hurricane Ida in 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Mario Mendoza works on repairing a mobile home in Belle Chasse, La., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, that was damaged from Hurricane Ida in 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More In 2023, the U.S. was hit with 28 climate disasters that each exceeded $1 billion in damages, the most ever, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. While it is too early to know the toll of L.A.s wildfires, an early estimate by AccuWeather put the damage and economic loss at $250 billion to $275 billion. Trump has called climate change a hoax and during his campaign accused immigrants of taking Black jobs and Hispanic jobs. Data show that immigrant labor contributes to economic growth and provides promotional opportunities for U.S.-born workers. Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trumps transition team, told The Associated Press in a statement that Trump will enlist every federal power and coordinate with state authorities to deport illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers... while simultaneously lowering costs for families and strengthening our workforce.The disaster restoration industry boomed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which transformed the Gulf Coast into one of the largest construction sites in the world. Many mom-and-pop construction businesses got bigger and consolidated. Some were eventually bought by private equity companies that saw a highly profitable industry with money coming in from insurance companies and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Mario Mendoza works on repairing a mobile home in Belle Chasse, La., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, that was damaged from Hurricane Ida in 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Mario Mendoza works on repairing a mobile home in Belle Chasse, La., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, that was damaged from Hurricane Ida in 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Mario Mendoza has worked in disaster restoration since Katrina. Within days after the storm, Mendoza was cleaning up mud-caked homes and businesses, removing debris, demolishing walls and ripping up floors, some with asbestos. Mendoza, a 54-year-old worker from Honduras in the country without legal status, remembered seeing dead bodies in homes he was hired to clean. Some bosses refused to pay him. In the years since Katrina, he has helped Louisiana communities rebuild after tornadoes and hurricanes. Weve been the line of support for cities after disasters, he said, speaking in Spanish. After disasters, workers are hired by residents, contractors or subcontractors to tear down moldy walls damaged by flooding, or tarp and repair roofs and windows blown off by powerful winds. They remove debris and felled trees from peoples homes, clogged streets and roadways. Then they rebuild. Those without legal status are vulnerable to exploitation and wage theft. They sleep in pickup trucks or tents, sometimes on parking lot floors or the destroyed houses theyre reassembling. They are roofers, carpenters, tile installers and laborers. Day laborers hired to clean up homes often dont have protective equipment or safety training, exposing them to severe hazardous materials and dangerous environments, said Jessica Martinez, executive director for the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, a network of labor organizations that has trained workers in post-hurricane recovery. She added that Trumps anti-immigrant rhetoric also discourages workers from asking for basic resources because they fear being targeted and deported. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, some 10.8 million people were working in the construction industry in 2020. The Center for American Progress estimates that nearly 1.6 million immigrants working in 2021 in construction a workforce in which Latinos are overrepresented were in the country illegally. The numbers are higher in states like Texas and California. In addition to workers already in the U.S., every year tens of thousands of people legally acquire H-2B visas, which allow them to temporarily enter the country to do non-agricultural work. Construction is one of the industries with a high prevalence of H-2B workers. Stan Marek, CEO of the construction company Marek Brothers, said mass deportations would significantly hinder efforts to clean up and rebuild after disasters, and contractors would struggle to complete existing and future projects. If you dont have the people, you cant fix it, said Marek, a Republican. We still havent fixed everything from (Hurricane) Harvey, which was years ago. Some peoples ceilings are still sagging, falling in.The U.S. also has a housing shortage, raising questions about how the Trump administration will address that with fewer construction workers. In an interview with the New York Times last year, Vice President-elect JD Vance said construction workers without legal status could be replaced by the millions of prime age men and women who have dropped out of the labor force. He also said they could be convinced to join the trade by paying them higher wages. Mario Mendoza works on repairing a mobile home in Belle Chasse, La., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, that was damaged from Hurricane Ida in 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Mario Mendoza works on repairing a mobile home in Belle Chasse, La., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, that was damaged from Hurricane Ida in 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Florida provides a glimpse of the possible effect of any upcoming large deportations. In the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia that struck the Big Bend region in August 2023, some workers without legal status were too fearful to finish recovery jobs they had started because of a Florida immigration law that had taken effect in July. One of the strictest in the nation, it requires businesses employing 25 or more people to verify their workers legal status, among other things.A lot of the workers that I know didnt want to risk staying there, said Saket Soni, executive director of the nonprofit Resilience Force, which advocates for the growing group of disaster restoration laborers. They wanted to finish the work, but they couldnt risk deportation. So they put their tools down and left.Sergio Chvez, sociology professor at Rice University who is writing a book about the disaster recovery industry, sees a few alternatives for filling a potential construction labor shortage: either Trump will have to expand the H-2B worker program, or hire Americans who will do the job for higher pay. But Marek isnt convinced. Everybody says pay them more. Weve tried paying them more, he said. Our starting wages are higher than theyve ever been. And they would rather go work at Buc-ees, referring to the travel store chain. ___The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of APs environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment DORANY PINEDA Pineda writes about water, climate and the environment in Latino communities across the U.S. twitter

This undated image provided by Dalyce Kelley shows her with her grandmother, Dalyce Curry, left, in Catalina, Calif. (Dalyce Kelley via AP)2025-01-15T20:30:24Z At age 95, there was no other way to describe Dalyce Curry, or Momma Dee to her large extended family, other than fabulous.My grandmother still wore her big hair, glasses, nails, you know, painted makeup, her granddaughter and namesake Dalyce Kelley said, You know, she was just fabulous, period.Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1929, that big personality was destined for one place: Hollywood.She settled in Los Angeles, where she never became a star but did rub shoulders with some of the elites of old Hollywood, including backing up singer Pearl Bailey, being an extra in a scene with Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues and being mentored by the first Black woman to ever sign a movie contract.Curry died last week at her home in Altadena as the Eaton Fire raged through the community. Her granddaughter had dropped her off at her house about 11:30 p.m., after she spent the day in the hospital for tests after she felt dizzy. On the drive, they saw the fire far off in the distance and power was out as they exited the interstate in Altadena. But power was on in her grandmothers neighborhood, and there was no sign of immediate danger, so Kelley told her grandmother shed check in later and left. She asked in a neighborhood text group for someone to call her if there were evacuations. She woke about 5:30 a.m. the next morning to an urgent message in the group text, asking if Curry got out during the overnight evacuations. Kelley rushed to Altadena but wasnt allowed past a police barricade. An officer called her, saying her grandmothers cottage burned to the ground. Then she frantically looked for her grandmother in shelters. Four days later, the family received confirmation from the Los Angeles Coroners office that Curry had died, one of at least 25 victims of the devastating Los Angeles fires.Curry said all the family mementos, including photos going back nine decades, were lost in the fire. The only thing of her grandmothers that escaped unscathed was a 1981 midnight blue Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. It didnt run, but Curry had been hoping to fix it up and rent it out to production companies making movies set in the 1980s.Curry had other ties to the movie industry, starting after she struck up a friendship with Nellie Crawford, who went by the stage name of Madame Sul-Te-Wan, at a Los Angeles beauty salon in the early 1950s, Kelley says, telling her grandmothers stories as best she can. Crawford was the first Black woman to be featured in films after signing her contract with Fine Arts. She appeared in such movies as the 1915 landmark film Birth of a Nation. When Curry told Crawford she was interested in arts and theater, Crawford said: Well, thats it. Im going to take you under my wing. Youre my goddaughter.That led to Curry getting extra work in 1956s The Ten Commandments, in which she danced and bowed before king.It was a small part, but we were big proud, Kelley said. Curry also worked as an extra in Lady Sings the Blues and The Blues Brothers, her granddaughter said, and sang and danced backing up Pearl Bailey in venues across the U.S. In later life Curry became a nurse, working in convalescent homes and in private care. Curry, who used her maiden name, had one son. She also is survived by seven grandchildren and many great-grandchildren.Kelley said she will miss her grandmothers positivity, energy, light, strength, and her signature phrase: Nothing is as bad as it seems, even at its worst.Everyone should just kind of live by that, even the people that have been victims of this fire and lost loved ones and lost everything, lost their homes and have had to see this devastation, Kelley said.___Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska. MARK THIESSEN Thiessen is an Associated Press all-formats reporter based in Anchorage, Alaska. He covers Alaska Native issues and other general assignments. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

One of my first cellphones was a Nokia 3310. I still miss it: Launched in 2000, it was a solid worry-stone of a phone with rubbery keys that I could text my friends on during class from under the desk without breaking eye contact with my math professor. I played Snake when I felt awkward at parties and hearing the kick ringtone in 2025 is like hearing an ancient folk song. Playing Snake, texting, and scrolling through ringtones was pretty much all I could do with that phone, actually. It was plenty.The iPhone was still seven years away, and for that reason, mobile phone aesthetics were still finding themselves. On Wednesday, Aalto University in Finland introduced the Nokia Design Archive, an uncurated repository containing 20,000 items and 959GB of files showing the designing process, imagining and ideating, and often wacky concepts for how we might use communications devices on the move in the then-future. The contentspanning from the mid-90s to 2017 according to a press release from the universitywas licensed from Microsoft Mobile for research and education purposes, but is now open to the public to peruse.Its a Y2K treasure trove of weird ideas. In one presentation deck titled Tomahawk, theres a personal remote camera + keyboard, a wallet with a folding screen, a few different electronic pens, and something called a webpad that seems to be worn both around the wrist and neck. A Cricket Collection series of concept drawings and photos show devices worn behind the ear like a pencil, tied around ankles, or clipped to belt loops or glasses.Its hard to tell from the archive itself how serious many of these concepts were. The archive mostly seems to document Nokia designers noodling around with non-working prototypes and playing with the aesthetics and forms of devices, rather than serious attempts at products people would use in the real world. But they had the freedom to play around with technology, something that feels largely lost in consumer electronics today.Alongside these delightful sketches in the archive are trend forecasting presentations, where Nokia attempted to put into words the changing world it was working in. Women are increasingly embracing technology as part of their social and work lives. However, it rarely succeeds to offer the desired benefits and tonalities, a presentation from 2005 says. A female inspired approach provides a good benchmark for innovative technologies that combine performance and style.There are also a lot of videos and advertising concepts, including a 1998 video called China Dragon where a pair of business people use an electronic pocket planner to source a surprise for a Chinese client. 0:00 /7:44 1 The archival process for this collection happened how many archival projects do: someone had a stockpile of interesting stuff, and it would all go in the trash, unless someone else didnt save it quickly. Nokia sold its mobile phone business to Microsoft Mobile Phones and in 2016, Microsoft announced it was ceasing phone production entirely. Thats when my former colleague called, Anna Valtonen, lead researcher and professor at Aalto University, said in a blog post about the project. He was moving to Seattle the other side of the world the very next day, and offered me the archives provided I could get a van there within 24 hours. If I couldnt, the material collected over years would probably be left outside in the rain, destined for landfill.Valtonen had 24 hours to negotiate an agreement with Microsofts lawyers for ownership of the archive, she said. They secured the full rights and moved the materials to Aalto.Nokia got out of the mobile phone game around 2013, when it sold its mobile and devices division to Microsoft. Most people probably assume its a dead company at this point, since it became most well-known for its bricky little phones that are now long extinct, but the company is actually still working on communicationsjust not on this planet. Its currently developing what could be the first cellular network on the moon. It is also a surveillance company.The archive, and the research going on around its contents, challenges the idea that technologies and their formulations are hidden away in black boxes, only accessible to experts or the powerful, Guy Julier, a professor of design at Aalto University, said in the press release. At the moment, there is not enough creative exploration around our optionslike they were doing at Nokiaor discussion that really considers peoples different needs and concerns, not just the interests of global corporations or governments.

This microscope photo provided by the McLean Hospital's Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center in January 2024 shows cells in the caudate nucleus structure of the brain in a person with Huntington's disease. (McLean Hospital's Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center/NIH NeuroBioBank via AP)2025-01-16T16:00:43Z Scientists are unraveling the mystery of what triggers Huntingtons disease, a devastating and fatal hereditary disorder that strikes in the prime of life, causing nerve cells in parts of the brain to break down and die.The genetic mutation linked to Huntingtons has long been known, but scientists havent understood how people could have the mutation from birth, but not develop any problems until later in life. New research shows that the mutation is, surprisingly, harmless for decades. But it quietly grows into a larger mutation until it eventually crosses a threshold, generates toxic proteins, and kills the cells it has expanded in. The conundrum in our field has been: Why do you have a genetic disorder that manifests later in life if the gene is present at conception? said Dr. Mark Mehler, who directs the Institute for Brain Disorders and Neural Regeneration at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and was not involved in the research. He called the research a landmark study and said it addresses a lot of the issues that have plagued the field for a long time. The brain cell death eventually leads to problems with movement, thinking and behavior. Huntingtons symptoms which include involuntary movement, unsteady gait, personality changes and impaired judgment typically begin between the ages of 30 and 50, gradually worsening over 10 to 25 years.Scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, McLean Hospital in Massachusetts and Harvard Medical School studied brain tissue donated by 53 people with Huntingtons and 50 without it, analyzing half a million cells. They focused on the Huntingtons mutation, which involves a stretch of DNA in a particular gene where a three-letter sequence CAG is repeated at least 40 times. In people without the disease this sequence is repeated just 15 to 35 times. They discovered that DNA tracts with 40 or more such repeats expand over time until they are hundreds of CAGs long. Once CAGs reach a threshold of about 150, certain types of neurons sicken and die. The findings were really surprising, even to us, said Steve McCarroll, a Broad member and co-senior author of the study, which was published Thursday in the journal Cell. The study was partly funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, an organization that also supports The Associated Press Health and Science department. The research team estimated that repeat tracts grow slowly during the first two decades of life, then the rate accelerates dramatically when they reach about 80 CAGs.The longer the repeats, the earlier in life the onset will happen, said neuroscience researcher Sabina Berretta, one of the studys senior authors. Researchers acknowledged that some scientists were initially skeptical when results were shared at conferences, since previous work found that repeat expansions in the range of 30 to 100 CAGs were necessary but not sufficient to cause Huntingtons. McCarroll agreed that 100 or fewer CAGs are not sufficient to trigger the disease, but said his study found that expansions with at least 150 CAGs are. Researchers hope their findings can help scientists come up with ways to delay or prevent the incurable condition, which afflicts about 41,000 Americans and is now treated with medications to manage the symptoms.Recently, experimental drugs designed to lower levels of the protein produced by the mutated Huntingtons gene have struggled in trials. The new findings suggest thats because few cells have the toxic version of the protein at any given time.Slowing or stopping the expansion of DNA repeats may be a better way to target the disease, researchers said.Though there are no guarantees this would stave off Huntingtons, McCarroll said many companies are starting or expanding programs to try to do this.---The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. LAURA UNGAR Ungar covers medicine and science on the APs Global Health and Science team. She has been a health journalist for more than two decades. twitter mailto

Milwaukee Brewers sportscaster Bob Uecker speaks at a news conference Friday, Oct. 12, 2018, in Milwaukee. Uecker describes the most unique season of his half century as a Milwaukee Brewers' broadcaster with the wit that has helped make him one of the games most recognizable voices. All of this stuff for me is totally new, Uecker said Wednesday, July 22, 2020 during a Zoom session with reporters. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)2025-01-16T15:59:50Z MILWAUKEE (AP) Bob Uecker, the voice of his hometown Milwaukee Brewers who after a short playing career earned the moniker Mr. Baseball and honors from the Hall of Fame, has died. He was 90.The team announced Uecker died Thursday morning, calling it one of the most difficult days in Milwaukee Brewers history. In a statement released by the club, Ueckers family said he had battled small cell lung cancer since early 2023.Even in the face of this challenge, his enthusiasm for life was always present, never allowing his spirit to falter, the family said.Uecker was best known as a colorful comedian and broadcaster who earned his nickname during one of his numerous appearances on Johnny Carsons late night show. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Uecker signed his first professional contract with the Milwaukee Braves in 1956 and reached the majors in 1962. Hed last six seasons in the big leagues as a backup catcher, finishing with a .200 average and 14 homers. He won a World Series ring with St. Louis in 1964 and also played for Atlanta and Philadelphia.Career highlights? I had two, he often joked. I got an intentional walk from Sandy Koufax and I got out of a rundown against the Mets. Uecker also befriended former Brewers owner and MLB commissioner Bud Selig, who initially hired him as a scout. Selig liked to joke about how Ueckers initial scouting report was stained with mashed potatoes and gravy. Selig eventually brought Uecker to the broadcast booth. Uecker became the voice of the Brewers in 1971, in the second year after the team moved from Seattle.Uecker remained with the club from that point on and became one of the Brewers most indelible figures. Brewers manager Craig Counsell grew up in the Milwaukee area and remembered spending summer days throwing a baseball against the roof and catching it while listening to Ueckers broadcasts. Theres no single person in this franchises history who has been as iconic and as important as Bob Uecker, said Jeff Levering, a member of the Brewers broadcast team since 2015.Even as his celebrity status grew nationwide, Uecker savored the opportunity to continue calling games to fans in his hometown.To be able to do a game each and every day throughout the summer and talk to people every day at 6:30 for a night game, you become part of peoples families, Uecker once said. I know that because I get mail from people that tell me that. Thats part of the reward for being here, just to be recognized by the way you talk, the way you describe a game, whatever.Uecker was honored by the Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick award in 2003 and spent nearly 20 minutes keeping the Cooperstown, New York, crowd of about 18,000 in stitches.I still and this is not sour grapes by any means still think I should have gone in as a player, he quipped.Ueck got his big break off the field after opening for Don Rickles at Al Hirts nightclub in Atlanta in 1969. That performance caught Hirts attention, and the musician set him up to appear on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He became one of Carsons favorite guests, making more than 100 appearances. Carson was the one who dubbed Uecker Mr. Baseball. And the name stuck.But Ueckers comedy was just a part of his abilities. His warm storytelling and delivery made Uecker a natural to become one of the first color commentators on network TV broadcasts in the 1970s with ABC. In the 90s, he teamed up with Bob Costas and Joe Morgan for the World Series.From there, Uecker reached most households as one of the Miller Lite All-Stars in popular commercials for the beer brand based out of Milwaukee and Uecker later launched his TV acting career in 1985 on the ABC sitcom, Mr. Belvedere.Uecker played George Owens during the successful 122-episode run of the series that lasted six years, as the head of the family and sports writer in a home that brings in a butler who struggles to adapt to an American household.In a bit of casting that kept things pretty close to home, Uecker also played a prominent role in the movies Major League (1989) and Major League II (1994) as crass announcer Harry Doyle for a down-and-out Cleveland Indians franchise that finds a way to become playoff contenders. Im part of American folklore, I guess, Uecker told The Associated Press in 2003. But Im not a Hollywood guy. Baseball and broadcasting are in my blood.His wry description of a badly wayward pitch Juuuust a bit outside! in the movie is still often-repeated by announcers and fans at ballparks all over.Ueckers acting left some to believe he was more about being funny than a serious baseball announcer, but his tenure and observations with the Brewers were spot on, especially when games were tight. Equally enjoyable were games that werent, when Uecker would tell stories about other major leaguers, his own career and his hobbies as an avid fisherman and golfer. I dont think anyone wants to hear somebody screwing around when you got a good game going, Uecker said. I think people see Major League and they think Harry Doyle and figure thats what Bob Uecker does. I do that sometimes, I do. But when weve got a good game going, I dont mess around.In his later years, he took a serious approach to his health, swimming daily leading up to heart surgery in April 2010. Very soon after the procedures, doctors said Uecker returned to walking several miles and was ahead in recovery.Uecker pushed to return to the booth and began calling games again in July, saying he bribed the doctors by allowing them to throw out the first pitch.You talk about all the things Bob has done, he never wanted to leave Milwaukee, Selig said. Above all, he made himself into a great play-by-play announcer. Thats what he did. Hes everything to this franchise and loves every minute of it.Ueckers own career provided him most of his material. His former teammates said Uecker would do impressions of other broadcasters on the bus, but Uecker turned the spotlight on himself after his playing career was over.I signed with the Milwaukee Braves for $3,000. That bothered my dad at the time because he didnt have that kind of dough, he said But he eventually scraped it up.Another classic: When I came up to bat with three men on and two outs in the ninth, I looked in the other teams dugout and they were already in street clothes.Uecker also presided over the stirring ceremony that closed Milwaukee County Stadium in 2000. When the Brewers new stadium opened as Miller Park in 2001, the team began selling Uecker Seats high in the upper deck and obstructed for a $1.The stadium, now known as American Family Field, has two statues in Ueckers honor. Theres a statue outside the stadium and another one in the back of Section 422, a nod to the Miller Lite commercial in which he famously said I must be in the front row! while getting taken to one of the worst seats in the ballpark.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Mark Zuckerberg can see the finish line. He is so close to getting what he has wanted for years. The U.S. government is trying to give him the greatest gift he could possibly imagine: A TikTok ban. This would be U.S. intervention against the most credible competitor Meta has seen in years, and U.S. intervention to kill a superior product to the benefit of an American company.On Joe Rogan last week, Zuckerberg said that the U.S. government should be defending its companies, not be the tip of the spear attacking its companies. And yet, in this case, the U.S. governmentthe Biden administration that he has been railing against as he pivots to MAGAhas squarely aimed its spear at Metas biggest, most credible competitor in a move that would greatly benefit Zuckerberg and his company.Everything that Zuckerberg is doing right nowMetas shift rightward; its dehumanizing of immigrants and LGBTQ+ users and employees; its move away from diversity-focused hiring; his trips to Mar-a-Lago; removing tampons from the mens bathrooms at Meta offices; the inauguration partyshould be seen in the broader context that Meta would benefit enormously from a TikTok ban and that Donald Trump, who will be sworn in as president on Monday, is the one person who, at this point, credibly has the ability to reverse a ban.Zuckerbergs very public pledge of fealty to Trump has multiple purposes, of course. Trump previously threatened to put Zuckerberg in jail, and he is obviously cozying up to an administration that he hopes will not regulate his companies. But a TikTok ban is the biggest potential prize. Trump has Zuckerberg by his apparently very masculine balls, and is positioning himself as being the ultimate decider on what will happen to TikTok.Zuckerbergs political persuasions and positions have always shifted with whatever suits his companies most at that moment in time, which is something that became more clear as I went back through many hours of Congressional testimony and political speeches that Zuckerberg has given over the last few years. One thing that has not changed, however, is Zuckerbergs obsession with using the specter of Chinese internet dominance and competition to both avoid consequences for his own company and to lay the groundwork for government regulation on Chinese platforms like TikTok.Meta has denied directly lobbying on the TikTok ban, but the company spent a record sum lobbying in 2024, including on Homeland Security topics. In March 2022, the Washington Post reported that Meta paid a firm called Targeted Victory to push the narrative that TikTok is dangerous to children. And Zuckerberg himself has spent the last five years painting a picture to Congress that his monopolistic company faces great competition, actually, from Chinese companies and more importantly from China itself. This story has served Meta extraordinarily well, as he has been able to distract from Metas myriad privacy violations and monopolistic actions by saying it would be worse if China wins. Meta is not a monopoly, he says. It is a company fighting on behalf of America against China and Chinese companies for the soul of the internet.Zuckerberg made this argument most clear at a speech at Georgetown University in 2019.The larger question about the future of our global internet. You know China is building its own internet focused on very different values, and its now exporting their vision of the internet to other countries, Zuckerberg said. Until recently, the internet in almost every country outside of China has been defined by American platforms with free expression values. But theres no guarantee that those values will win out. A decade ago almost all of the major internet platforms were American. Today, six of the top 10 are Chinese and were beginning to see this in social media too.While our services like WhatsApp are used by protesters and activists everywhere due to strong encryption and privacy protections, on TikTok, the Chinese app growing quickly around the world, mentions of these same protests are censored even here in the US, he added.A few days after Zuckerbergs Georgetown speech, Zuckerberg had a seven-hour hearing before the House Financial Services Committee in which he stated that an entire cryprocurrency system Facebook was spinning up called Libra was so incredibly important to U.S. financial and cultural dominance that if Congress imposed restrictions on it, Xi Jinping would win. (Libra, later called Diem and then sold to Silvergate Bank in 2022, is now dead.)I think there are completely valid questions about how a project like this would impact Americas financial leadership, our ability to impose sanctions around the world, our oversight of the financial system in a lot of places, Zuckerberg said. And I just think that we need to trade off and think about and weigh any risks of a new system against what I think are surely risks if a Chinese financial system becomes the standard.This general reasoning from Zuckerberg prompted Rep. Anthony Gonzalez to say that youre painting this as if we dont do it, China will do it. I think youll be hard pressed to find somebody who is more of a hawk on China in this committee. So I agree with that. What I dont think is the right frame is If Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook dont do it, then Xi Jinping will. Like, this isnt Mark Zuckerberg versus Xi Jinping Facebook doing this, frankly, I dont trust it and I dont believe the American people trust it.This endeavor of watching Zuckerbergs old testimony made clear that he lied repeatedly on Joe Rogan last week on all sorts of things. For example, he practically begged Congress to regulate Meta in July 2020during the Trump administrationwhile groveling about how seriously the company takes things like COVID misinformation and election integrity. On Rogan, he suggested such concerns were foisted upon him by the media and the Biden administration. Zuckerberg also seemed dumbfounded on Rogan that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Elizabeth Warren were interested in his company, which again, notoriously attempted to launch an entirely new global monetary system with Libra.We had organizations that were looking into us that were, like, not really involved with social media, Zuckerberg told Rogan. Like, I think, like, the CFPB, like, this financial I don't even know what it stands for. It's the, it's the financial organization, that Elizabeth Warren had set up. And it's basically like, we're not a bank.During another Congressional hearing in 2018, Zuckerbergs prepared notes said Break Up FB? U.S. tech companies key asset for America; break up strengthens Chinese companies. And, again, in 2020 he told Congress: If you look at where the top technology companies come from, the vast majority a decade ago were America. Today, almost half are Chinese Facebook stands for a set of basic principles. Giving people voice and economic opportunity. Keeping people safe. Upholding democratic traditions like freedom of expression and voting and enabling an open and competitive marketplace. These are fundamental values for most of us, but not for everyone in the world. Not every company we compete with or the countries they represent. As global competition increases, there is no guarantee that our values will win out.Meta, and, specifically, Instagram Reels, would be the most obvious beneficiary of a TikTok ban. TikTok has now what Facebook once had, and which Instagram has but is losing: Deep cultural relevance and a generation of users who love it. Facebook and Instagram still have billions of users, but AI spam, a terrible algorithm that seemingly universally surfaces cringe, and a huge number of bots and people who post like their brains are made of mashed potatoes have made both Facebook and Instagram feel like platforms that people remain on begrudgingly, not because they actually want to be there.Zuckerbergs general narrative that Meta faces intense competition from China and that Chinese social media companies cannot be trusted persisted across all of his Congressional hearings, and he has repeatedly used the specter of China exporting its cultural values via social media as a shield to deflect from his own companys monopolistic tendencies, its privacy violations, and its harms against children. He has used this not only to avoid regulation of his company and his platforms, but also to seed the ground for what ultimately became the TikTok ban. Zuckerberg can see the prize. The question is whether, by kissing Trumps ass, he will actually finally get it.

This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows Gaza City, Gaza Strip, on Jan. 3, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)2025-01-16T16:57:28Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) The Israel-Hamas war, now nearing a potential ceasefire, has devastated the Gaza Strip. Satellite photos offer some sense of the destruction in the territory, which has been largely sealed off to journalists and others. Some of the images have illustrated a likely buffer zone, wanted by Israel despite international objections, which would take some 60 square kilometers (23 square miles) out of the enclave. In all, the strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea is about 360 square kilometers (139 square miles), and Palestinians hope it will be part of a future state, along with the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Other images tell the story of how Palestinians lives have changed during the war. Gaza City, the dense major city in the strip, has been decimated, with buildings destroyed and roads filled with rubble. Muwasi, Gaza Strip, on May 17, 2023. Satellite image from Planet Labs PBC Muwasi, Gaza Strip, on May 17, 2023. Satellite image from Planet Labs PBC Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Muwasi, Gaza Strip, on Jan. 3, 2025. Satellite image from Planet Labs PBC Muwasi, Gaza Strip, on Jan. 3, 2025. Satellite image from Planet Labs PBC Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More As the war progressed, Israel ordered people to move farther south. Today, the result of that movement can be seen in images of Muwasi, just north of the strips southern border with Egypt. There, the sandy coast and surrounding farmland have been overtaken by thousands of tents, all visible from space. The images have also helped relief agencies and experts make estimates regarding the extent of the damage.Corey Scher of City University of New York and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University have been studying Gaza since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 2023, after Hamas entered Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. Their latest assessment, published Thursday, estimates 59.8% of all buildings in Gaza likely have been damaged in the war. Thats slightly lower than a December analysis from the United Nations Satellite Center. It estimated 69% of all structures in Gaza have been damaged in the fighting, which has killed over 46,000 people, according to local health authorities. They do not distinguish between civilians and militants but say women and children make up more than half of those killed. ___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto

Firefighters work to keep flames from spreading through the Shadowbrook apartment complex as a wildfire burns through Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 9, 2018. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)2025-01-16T16:12:11Z On a recent day fighting the Los Angeles wildfires, a fire crews radios crackled to life, warning of nearby flames as helicopter blades thudded overhead. Juan Tapia an experienced firefighter from Morelia, Mexico tore out scrub brush as tall as himself, just days after arriving in California. And Karley Desrosiers, fresh from British Columbia, scrambled to communicate the latest update on the fire to an anxious public.At the nearby incident command post small cities that are rapidly erected to act as a base of operations workers coordinate aircraft, assess the weather, wash the smoke-soaked clothes of hundreds of firefighters and churn out meals by the tens of thousands everyday.As wildfires burn across the Los Angeles area, the operation to save homes and people from those on the fire line to the logistics of feeding thousands of firefighters is monumental. The Eaton and Palisades fires that sparked last week in the Los Angeles area have killed at least 25 people and destroyed thousands of homes. They could be some of the costliest wildfires in U.S. history, and required the mobilization of immense firefighting power from across the North American continent. From Portland to Houston, hundreds of out-of-state firefighters said goodbye to their families and loaded into engines bound for Los Angeles. Over 1,000 inmates in California filed onto hand crews in prison orange. Water bombers with Quebec stamped across their side swept over the blazes, as a Mexican fire brigade touched down and set to work. Nearly two dozen from the Navajo Scouts, a Bureau of Indian Affairs-managed program, joined the fight. All of them orbit the incident command posts, which are built in parking lots, fairgrounds or stadiums, with the post for the Palisades fire acting as headquarters for some 5,000 people. Those working behind the scenes do everything from quickly negotiating with landowners for spots to land helicopters to producing a new, roughly 50-page action plan everyday sent via QR code to everybody working the fire. Then, the operation adapts as blistering winds make these wildfires fearsome and unpredictable.On sloping hills north of Los Angeles this week, in the burn scar of the Eaton fire, crews were combing the landscape for any remaining flames and digging line when a plume of smoke set voices crackling over the radio.As the winds picked up, a previously unburnt section of dense brush and trees torched, sending flames and embers the potential start of another fire into the sky. Homes sat maybe a mile away. Firefighters scrambled toward the blaze, then two helicopters screamed in overhead, their sirens blaring to warn off crews, before dumping water and retardant.As the helicopters turned away, the crews quickly moved in, tearing at brush and cutting through trees with chainsaws to cut off the fires fuel. One stood with his radio directing the helicopters on the height and location of the drops before they returned, the crews dispersing under the ear-piercing sirens. It repeated until the fire was out, the firefighters huffing, their yellow jackets smattered with gray from ash, dirt and splotches of chainsaw oil.To the west, on the biggest fire in California the Palisades fire Desrosiers from British Columbia was working out of an incident command post, the biggest shes ever seen. The post runs for miles along the coast; it fills the beachside parking lots with fire engines, mobile kitchens, tents, equipment repair shops, gear depots, laundry services, medical staff, storage, and about anything else they would need.The biggest learning curve is seeing how all those people work together to keep those things together seamlessly, said Desrosiers, whose job as public information officer is to provide journalists and the public with updates on the fires.Back in British Columbia, Desrosiers might have worked alongside one other public information officer. At the Palisades fire, its somewhere near 50.In slower moments at the command post, people swap stories. Its a lot of camaraderie and I think in the fire world, especially back home, its like a big family, and thats how you feel in a fire camp, is that youre surrounded by people who really do have your back, Desrosiers said. Rotating through the same incident command post as Desrosiers are firefighters from Oregon, including Sam Scott, who camped out in nearby Santa Monica. They pop in to grab batteries for their radios, eat meals, and pick up what Scott described as an 8-pound lunch bag replete with meals for a 24 hour shift. For those long hours, Scott scours decimated neighborhoods, defending the homes that didnt burn and searching for anything left burning, small fires or smoldering beams. Scott stepped through flattened home after flattened home, where the only things left standing are charred chimneys and car husks. I have a kid and a family, and just thinking about all the memories Ive made with my family in my home, said Scott, clearing his throat. It can very easily make me cry. Its a very heavy feeling. Its someones entire life.By the end of those shifts, Scott and others are exhausted, retiring to clean and fix gear, before crawling into sleeping bags. It was that exhaustion that Tapia, one of the the 30-person fire brigade from Mexicos National Forestry Commission, saw on the faces of U.S. firefighters when he first arrived at camp over the weekend. They brightened at the Mexican brigades arrival, said Tapia. We came with the energy and attitude to help our brothers from the United States. ___Associated Press video journalists and reporters Christopher Sherman in Mexico City, Hallie Golden in Seattle, Ty ONeil in Los Angeles, and Sejal Govindarao in Phoenix contributed to this report.___Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. JESSE BEDAYN Bedayn is a statehouse reporter for The Associated Press based in Denver. He is a Report for America corps member. mailto

President Joe Biden speaks from the Oval Office of the White House as he gives his farewell address Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, in Washington. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)2025-01-16T18:11:13Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Biden in his Wednesday farewell speech to the nation warned that American democracy was sliding into an oligarchy of tech billionaires. But what exactly is an oligarchy? What is an oligarchy?In short, an oligarchy is an elite few who control the governments actions. By using the pointedly negative term oligarchy, Biden equated this moment when the worlds wealthiest men are feting President-elect Donald Trump with some of historys more brutal regimes. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to cohost a Trump inaugural reception with wealthy Republican donors next week. Amazon Prime Video, which was founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, got exclusive licensing rights to stream and theatrically release first lady Melania Trump s new documentary. Meta, Amazon and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last month donated $1 million to Trumps inauguration fund. And billionaire Elon Musks super PAC spent around $200 million to help elect Trump.But Biden made a complicated assertion as both Republicans and Democrats have relied on Silicon Valley fortunes to boost their political ambitions. What are the terms origins?Like many words in politics, oligarchy originates from Ancient Greek and quite literally means that few command. But unlike an aristocracy, an oligarchy is more closely tied to wealth than nobility and family lineage. The philosopher Aristotle wrote in his book Politics that democracy is safer and more free from civil strife than oligarchy; for in oligarchies two kinds of strife spring up, faction between different members of the oligarchy and also faction between the oligarchs and the people. What are some examples of oligarchies?Multiple countries have been labeled oligarchies by academics. After the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, former state assets and other institutions came under the control of increasingly wealthy businessmen who became known as billionaire oligarchs. The mix of profits and politics that began under then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin gave way to crackdowns by President Vladimir Putin, who has his own favored oligarchs and pledged to let them keep their fortunes so long as they are loyal to him.With its legacy of colonialism and powerful families, the Philippines has been accused of being an oligarchy, with its former President Rodrigo Duterte claiming to have dismantled the system. Critics said he simply gave preferences to a different set of oligarchs.Apartheid-era South Africa was also seen by some academics as having a white racial oligarchy. Even before Bidens speech, the rising wealth gap in the United States as well as in China raised concerns about whether the worlds two largest economies were becoming oligarchies.Associated Press writers Lindsey Bahr and Dan Merica contributed reporting. JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto

The federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind., is shown Friday, Aug. 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)2025-01-16T18:17:05Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Justice Department is rescinding its protocol for federal executions that allowed for single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital, after a government review raised concerns about the potential for unnecessary pain and suffering. Attorney General Merrick Garlands order to withdraw the lethal injection policy comes days before President-elect Donald Trump, who is expected to restart federal executions, is set to return to the White House. Trumps Justice Department could reinstate the protocol to use pentobarbital as a single drug to carry out executions. A moratorium on federal executions has been in place since 2021, and only three defendants remain on federal death row after Democratic President Joe Biden converted 37 of their sentences to life in prison.The governments findings about the potential risks of unnecessary pain could have broader implications. Legal challenges have been brought in several states where pentobarbital is the primary method of execution, potentially leading to reviews of execution protocols nationwide. The departments review of scientific and medical research found there remains significant uncertainty about whether the use of pentobarbital as a single drug lethal injection causes unnecessary pain and suffering, according to a report published Wednesday. In the face of such uncertainty, the Department should err on the side of treating individuals humanely and avoiding unnecessary pain and suffering, Garland wrote in his memo ordering the director of the Bureau of Prisons to rescind the protocol. Garland said it should not be reinstated unless and until that uncertainty is resolved. The report from the Justice Departments Office of Legal Policy noted that the Food and Drug Administration has not reviewed or approved of the use of pentobarbital in high doses or for the purpose of causing death. The pentobarbital protocol was adopted by Bill Barr, attorney general during Trumps first term, to replace a three-drug mix used in the 2000s, the last time federal executions were carried out before Trump was in office. The Trump administration carried out 13 federal executions, more than under any president in modern history.Under Trump, the Justice Department also sanitized the accounts of the executions carried out in 2020 and 2021. Government lawyers said the process of dying by lethal injection was like falling asleep and they called gurneys beds and final breaths snores. But accounts by reporters from The Associated Press and other media witnesses described how prisoners stomachs rolled, shook and shuddered as the pentobarbital took effect during executions at the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. The AP witnessed every federal execution.Questions about whether inmates midsections trembled, as media witnesses reported, were a focus of litigation throughout the series of executions. Inmates lawyers argued it proved pentobarbital caused flash pulmonary edema, in which fluid rushes through quickly disintegrating membranes into lungs and airways, causing pain akin to being suffocated or drowned. The Constitution prohibits execution methods that are cruel and unusual. Several states also have policies allowing single-drug executions with pentobarbital. Tennessee announced last month that it would use the single drug to carry out executions that have been halted since 2022. The states previous protocol called for three different drugs to be used in a series. Bidens decision commute the sentences of most death row inmates spared the lives of people convicted in killings, including those of police and military officers, people on federal land and those involved in deadly bank robberies or drug deals, as well as the killings of guards or prisoners in federal facilities.The decision leaves three federal inmates to face execution. They are Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburghs Tree of life Synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history.____Associated Press writer Travis Loller in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report. ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Richer is an Associated Press reporter covering the Justice Department and legal issues from Washington. twitter mailto

Rioters storm the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)2025-01-16T19:21:50Z WASHINGTON (AP) After Donald Trump becomes president again on Monday, he is on the hook for achieving a hefty chunk of his promises even before the day is out. One of those promises is to make you dizzy.Your head will spin when you see whats going to happen, he said of Day 1.Steady yourself. This is some of what the Republican promised voters he would get done on his first day in office: Launch the largest deportation in U.S. history to remove all people in the country illegally. Close the border. End automatic citizenship for everyone born in the U.S., known as birthright citizenship. Sign pardons for some or many of those convicted or charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. Impose a 25% tariff on everything imported from Mexico and Canada and add a 10% tariff to duties already imposed on goods from China. Even before Monday, end the Russia-Ukraine war. End what he calls the electric vehicle mandate. Declare a national energy emergency to spur the approval of more drilling, pipelines, refineries, power plants and reactors. Cut federal money to schools that push critical race theory, transgender insanity and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content onto the shoulders of our children. Also cut money to any schools that have a vaccine or mask mandate. Take steps to uproot the deep state.All of that on Monday? Not likely. Trump simply cant accomplish all he said he will do on Day 1 because there are two more branches of government Congress and the courts. The constitutional right to birthright citizenship, for example, cannot be ended with a stroke of his pen. (Moreover, in 2017 he considered Jan. 21 his first full day on the job after the Jan. 20 inauguration to be his Day 1.)But as other presidents have done and as Trump did aggressively and with decidedly mixed results in his first term he will quickly test the limits of his executive power. The power to pardon is within his grasp, and he can steer border enforcement efforts, tweak tariffs and find ways to spur energy production without Congress necessarily having to pass a law. Yet many of his executive orders will essentially be statements of intent stage setters for struggles to come.Heres a closer look at what he promised to do on Day 1:IMMIGRATIONThe promiseOn Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history. Under this core promise, Trump would unilaterally declare a national emergency to set the stage for tracking down millions of people in the United States illegally and holding them in huge detention centers until they can be removed from the country.What could he do?Domestic police forces and the National Guard in some states could be empowered to help federal agents in an extraordinary effort to track down and deport millions of people. As a disincentive to cross into the U.S. illegally, it is untested. Illegal crossings surged during the Biden administration before dropping recently and hovering near a four-year low.How serious is he?Trump made this central promise in rally after rally and in other public comments. Its unclear whether the declaration of a national emergency would come as part of his Day 1 launch or after. What he said in the campaignThe day I take the oath of office, the migrant invasion ends and the restoration of our country begins. ... On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history. I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered. Kinston, North Carolina, rally, Nov. 3, 2024.Since the election ... Trump said in an interview with Time magazine that the federal prohibition on using military forces for most domestic security enforcement should not apply if its an invasion of our country, and I consider it an invasion of our country. And I think in many cases, the sheriffs and law enforcement is going to need help. Well also get National Guard, he said during the November 2024 interview. In a possible hedge to his vow to deport everyone whos in the U.S. illegally, Trump said, Were starting with the criminals, and weve got to do it. And then were starting with others, and were going to see how it goes. Meet the Press, Dec. 8, 2024. In the pastThe Dwight Eisenhower administration in the 1950s and Franklin Roosevelts in the 1930s carried out mass deportations, specifically of Mexicans. Estimates of the number of people taken out of the U.S. in the 1950s deportation range from several hundred thousand to 1.3 million. Many were U.S. citizens descended from Mexican migrants. An FDR-era deportation ejected an estimated 1 million or more people, most of whom held U.S. citizenship.___The promiseClose the U.S. border.What he said in the campaignAnd on Day 1, I will close the border, and I will stop the invasion of illegal criminals coming into our country. Coachella, California, rally, Oct. 12, 2024.How serious is he?Not serious about closing U.S. land borders, as promised. Instead, he aims to come forward with Day 1 administrative action tightening enforcement against criminal entry. Since the election ...Trump adviser Jason Miller walked it back: Now, when you say close the border, the impression is that nobodys allowed to go back and forth. What the border will be closed to is for people trying to enter the United States illegally. So theres a distinction. I want to make sure people dont think that all of a sudden, like all trade between the countries or traditional commerce or its going to be shut down. Interview with NPR News, Dec. 17, 2024.___The promise On Day 1, end automatic citizenship for everyone born in the U.S., including children of parents who came to the country illegally.What he saidI will sign a Day 1 executive order ending automatic citizenship for the children of illegal aliens. Pickens, South Carolina, rally, July 1, 2023.What it means if he keeps the promiseThis is a broken promise waiting to happen.Trump is extremely unlikely to be able to achieve his promise by mere executive order, because birthright citizenship is enshrined in the Constitution. He could only embark on a daunting quest to build the support that would be needed not just to win congressional approval but to change the 14th Amendment, which states: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. Since the election ...In a remark conceding an executive order may not be enough to end birthright citizenship: Well maybe have to go back to the people. NBCs Meet the Press, Dec. 8, 2024.___TARIFFSThe (post-election) promiseImpose a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico and put an additional 10% tariff on everything from China, as one of his first executive orders upon becoming president.What it means if he keeps the promiseA seismic shock to the highly integrated North American economies, almost certainly resulting in higher prices for consumers and probably retaliation against U.S. exports. It would also strengthen incentives to produce more in the U.S. and step up pressure to restrain migrant flows and drug smuggling.How serious is he?Serious in general terms, maybe not in the specifics here.Trump clearly supports raising tariffs to induce more domestic manufacturing. But his threat could be a bargaining chip in part. The size and scope of the tariffs may change, depending how the three countries respond before he takes office.He has tied this heavy round of tariffs to what he calls the failure of these countries to stem the flow of Chinese-made fentanyl smuggled into the U.S. or to take effective steps from their side against migration surges at the borders. That stance may leave room for negotiation or revision.What he saidOn January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States. In addition, we will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States until China stems the flow of drugs into the U.S. Truth Social posts, Nov. 25, 2024.Post-election hedgeWe adjust it somewhat if tariffs are merely passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices, as is usually the case. Meet the Press, Dec. 8, 2024.He gave Mexican and Canadian leaders an opening to avoid the tariff by saying he will impose it if it doesnt stop, meaning the flow of drugs and illegal crossings.In the pastTrump imposed higher tariffs on $360 billion in Chinese goods in his first term. Democrat Joe Biden not only retained those penalties as president but imposed a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles. Trump also renegotiated parts of the free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico on terms he considered more favorable to the U.S.___TRANSGENDER RIGHTSThe promiseOn Day 1, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school, pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content onto the shoulders of our children. And I will not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate or a mask mandate. Atlanta rally, Aug. 3, 2024.What it means if he keeps his promiseSuch broad cuts are unlikely to be achieved through executive action, absent legislation, which certainly wont be in place on his first day. Still, Trump may be able to use his threat as a cudgel in certain situations.Trump had also promised on Day 1 to roll back Biden administration Title IX protections barring discrimination against students based on gender identity and sexual orientation. But this month a federal judge struck down those regulations, ruling that they overstepped presidential authority.___ELECTRIC VEHICLESThe promise I will end the electric vehicle mandate on Day 1. Republican National Convention speech, July 18, 2024.What it means if he keeps his promiseNot totally clear, because there is no specific federal EV mandate to end. But he is likely to try to loosen Biden-era tailpipe pollution and fuel economy standards that are an incentive for automakers to sell and consumers to buy more EVs. Its also unclear whether Trump intends to revoke a federal tax credit of up to $7,500 for buying a new EV.How serious is he?He made the Day 1 promise in rally after rally, often in identical words. He told podcaster Joe Rogan it might take him two days. What he saidI will cancel Kamalas insane electric vehicle mandate. Grand Rapids, Michigan, Nov. 4, 2024.Since the electionWe want people to buy electric cars but were going to end the electric mandate immediately for the cars. Its ridiculous. Meet the Press, Dec. 8, 2024.In the pastTrump rolled back a variety of Obama-era limits on auto pollution in his first term. Biden acted quickly to reverse that course.___JAN. 6The promisePardon some or many of the people convicted of or charged with crimes from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol: I will sign their pardons on Day 1. What it means if he keeps his promiseFreedom and cleared criminal records for some of those imprisoned for Jan. 6 crimes and impunity for others convicted or awaiting trial. As he has described his promised process, it also means his transition team is reviewing Jan. 6 cases to deem who merits a Jan. 20 pardon, independently of how courts ruled.How serious is he?A key promise, made repeatedly, though the scope of his promised pardons has ranged from covering all rioters who were charged or convicted, to most, to those who are innocent in his estimation, whether convicted or not.What he said in the campaignThe moment we win, we will rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner unjustly victimized by the Harris regime, and I will sign their pardons on Day 1. Mosinee, Wisconsin, rally, Sept. 7, 2024. Oh, absolutely, I would, he said when asked about pardoning Jan. 6 rioters. If theyre innocent -- if theyre innocent, I would pardon them. This could include some who were convicted under a very tough system. National Association of Black Journalists interview, July 31, 2024. Since the election ... Asked if he still intends to pardon Jan. 6 rioters on his first day: Were looking at it right now. Most likely, yeah. ... Most likely, Ill do it very quickly. Meet the Press, Dec. 8, 2024.Were going to look at each individual case, and were going to do it very quickly, and its going to start in the first hour that I get into office. And a vast majority of them should not be in jail. Time magazine, Dec. 12, 2024.In the pastTrumps remarks from the White House on Jan. 13, 2021, before reversing course and characterizing the rioters as patriots who protested mostly peacefully: I would like to begin by addressing the heinous attack on the United States Capitol. Like all Americans, I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem. I immediately deployed the National Guard and federal law enforcement to secure the building and expel the intruders. America is, and must always be, a nation of law and order. The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American democracy.___ENERGYThe promiseDeclare a national energy emergency and approve new energy projects starting on Day 1.What it means if he keeps his promiseA national emergency might give him more authority to act unilaterally. It remains questionable how much can be accomplished on this front without action from Congress. But he can reverse Biden executive orders on renewable energy and environmental protections.How serious is he?Very. Drill, baby, drill was a mantra rivaling Make America great again in his public remarks. What he said in the campaignStarting on Day 1, I will approve new drilling, new pipelines, new refineries, new power plants, new reactors, and we will slash the red tape. Potterville, Michigan rally, Aug. 29, 2024.I will immediately issue a national emergency declaration to achieve a massive increase in domestic energy supply. New York Economic Club speech, Sept. 5, 2024.___RUSSIA-UKRAINE WARThe promiseEnd the war before taking office.What he said in the campaignIll get the war with Ukraine and Russia ended. If Im president-elect, Ill get it done before even becoming president. Fox News Channels Fox & Friends, Sept. 11, 2024.Post-election hedgeHis promise to end the war before taking office or to end it in 24 hours, as he sometimes put it is about to be broken.Hes been bending to that reality: I think that the Middle East is an easier problem to handle than whats happening with Russia and Ukraine. OK, I just want to say that up front. The Middle East is going to get solved. Time magazine, Dec. 13, 2024.Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the day after the election that Trump would bring the Russian and Ukrainian leaders to the negotiating table on Day 1. Thats not ending a war, as promised, before Monday. ___DEEP STATEThe promise Launch an effort to fire or otherwise neutralize the influence of federal workers he considers disloyal and an impediment to his agenda. Also, use legal intimidation or other means to crush those he regards as his political enemies.What he said in the campaignWe will demolish the deep state. We will expel the warmongers from our government. We will drive out the globalists. We will cast out the communist, Marxists and fascists. We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country. We will rout the fake news media. Windham, New Hampshire, rally, Aug. 8, 2023. Were going to find the deep state actors who have buried into government, fire them and escort them from federal buildings, and itll go very quickly. Columbia, South Carolina, rally, Jan. 28, 2023.Youll see that, on the very first day of my presidency, the deep state is destroying our nation. But the tables must turn, and we will quickly destroy the deep state. speech to Alabama GOP dinner in Montgomery, Aug. 4, 2023.What it means if he keeps his promiseA likely first step is an executive order seeking to reclassify tens of thousands of job-protected and apolitical civil servants as political appointees, subject to being fired at will. He would do so by reviving his Schedule F order from 2020, which Biden reversed when he took office.Post-election, ABC News settled a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump, agreeing to contribute $15 million to his presidential foundation, and he sued The Des Moines Register and its pollster for brazen election interference in publishing a flawed survey the weekend before the election that found Democrat Kamala Harris leading Trump in the state.___Follow the APs coverage of President-elect Donald Trump at https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump.

Mel Gibson, right, interacts with crowd members as he leaves a Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony for actor Vince Vaughn, on Aug. 12, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)2025-01-16T19:36:59Z NEW YORK (AP) Donald Trump wants to make Hollywood bigger, better and stronger and has cast Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone as stars of what he is calling his Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California.On Wednesday, the President-elect announced on his social media site that the three actors would be his eyes and ears to the moviemaking town.It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood! he wrote on Truth Social. He also called the trio special envoys. Special ambassadors and envoys are typically chosen to respond to troubled hot spots like the Middle East, not California.U.S. film and television production has been hampered in recent years, with setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hollywood guild strikes of 2023 and, in the past week, the ongoing wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Overall production in the U.S. was down 26% from 2021, according to data from ProdPro. In the greater Los Angeles area, productions were down 5.6% from 2023 according to FilmLA, the lowest since 2020. This past October, Governor Gavin Newsom proposed expanding Californias Film & Television Tax Credit program to $750 million annually (up from $330 million). Other U.S. cities like Atlanta, New York, Chicago and San Francisco have used tax incentives to lure film and TV productions to their cities. Actor Mark Wahlberg is even making plans for a Las Vegas production hub. Its unclear what exactly Gibson, Voight and Stallone will be doing in this effort to bring productions back to the U.S. Their representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trumps decision to select the actors as his chosen ambassadors underscores his preoccupations with the 80s and 90s, when he was a rising tabloid star in New York, and Gibson and Stallone were among the biggest movie stars in the world. Stallone is a frequent guest at Trumps Mar-a-Lago club and introduced him at a gala in November shortly after the election.When George Washington defended his country, he had no idea that he was going to change the world. Because without him, you could imagine what the world would look like, Stallone told the crowd. Guess what? We got the second George Washington. Congratulations!The decision also reflects Trumps willingness to overlook his supporters most controversial statements.Gibsons reputation has been altered in Hollywood since 2006, he went on an antisemitic rant while being arrested for allegedly driving under the influence. But hes also continued to work in mainstream movies and directed the upcoming Wahlberg thriller Flight Risk. Voight is a longtime Trump supporter who has called Trump the greatest president since Lincoln.___ LINDSEY BAHR Bahr has been a film writer and critic for The Associated Press since 2014. twitter instagram mailto JILL COLVIN Colvin is an Associated Press national political reporter covering the 2024 presidential campaign. She is based in New York. mailto

This undated wanted poster, provided by the U.S. Marshals, shows Ian Cleary, of Saratoga, Calif. U.S. (U.S. Marshals via AP)2025-01-16T09:48:20Z PHILADELPHIA (AP) An American accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said So I raped you was extradited Thursday from France to the United States.Ian Cleary, 31, of Saratoga, California, arrived in the U.S. and was being flown to Pennsylvania, a U.S. Marshals Service spokesman said. Cleary had been detained in April in Metz, France, after a three-year search. A French appeals court later said he could be extradited.The Appeal Court prosecutors office in Metz, in northeastern France, said Cleary was handed over to U.S. authorities at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.Former Gettysburg University student Shannon Keeler, who pursued the case for more than a decade, said the news gave her renewed faith in the justice system.This arrest and extradition give me renewed faith that, after many years of waiting, the justice system can work, when survivors persist with the help and support of family, friends, advocates, and attorneys, Keeler said in a press release issued through her attorney. Cleary had been the subject of an international search since authorities in Pennsylvania issued a 2021 felony warrant in the case, weeks after an Associated Press story detailed the reluctance of local prosecutors to pursue campus sex crimes. The arrest warrant accuses Cleary of stalking the 18-year-old Keeler at a campus party in 2013, sneaking into her dorm and sexually assaulting her while she texted friends for help. He was a 20-year-old Gettysburg student at the time, but didnt return to campus. Keeler had a rape exam done the same day. She gathered witnesses and evidence and spent years urging officials to file charges. She went to authorities again in 2021 after discovering the Facebook messages that seemed to come from Clearys account.So I raped you, the sender wrote in a string of messages. Ill never do it to anyone ever again.I need to hear your voice.Ill pray for you.According to the June 2021 warrant, police verified that the Facebook account used to send the messages belonged to Cleary.The AP doesnt typically identify sexual assault victims without their permission, which Keeler has granted.It took an incredible amount of courage and unwavering resolve for Shannon to get this far, lawyer Andrea Levy said in the statement, and she is deeply grateful to law enforcement at every level who worked to locate, capture and extradite Ian Cleary.-Vaux-Montagny and Corbet contributed to this report from Paris. SYLVIE CORBET Corbet is an Associated Press reporter based in Paris. She covers French politics, diplomacy and defense as well as gender issues and breaking news. twitter MARYCLAIRE DALE Dale covers national legal issues for The Associated Press, often focusing on the federal judiciary, gender law, #MeToo and NFL player concussions. Her work unsealing Bill Cosbys testimony in a decade-old deposition led to his arrest and sexual assault trials. twitter mailto

Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to be Secretary of the Treasury, appears before the Senate Finance Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)2025-01-16T04:06:23Z More of Trumps cabinet picks are appearing before the Senate for their confirmation hearings. Follow live updates. WASHINGTON (AP) U.S. Treasury nominee Scott Bessent on Thursday faced sharp questions from both Democrats and Republicans on tax policy, tariffs, China, Russia sanctions and the future of an IRS tax filing system that Republicans have called to be cut.Bessent sat in front of the Senate Finance Committee for his confirmation hearing, where he told lawmakers that the U.S. faces economic calamity if Congress does not renew provisions of President-elect Donald Trump s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He also asserted the Federal Reserve should remain independent from the presidents influence and U.S. sanctions on Russian oil should be more aggressive. He was introduced by a fellow South Carolinian, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who said the U.S. needs a treasury secretary who knows what hes doing, has the trust of the president and loves his country. Graham added: Your ship came in with this guy. But Democrats, including Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Michael Bennet of Colorado, expressed frustration that Trumps promise to extend provisions of his 2017 tax cuts would benefit the wealthiest taxpayers and add to the growing national debt that has surpassed $36 trillion. Bennet assailed Bessent for shedding crocodile tears over the debt and spending, while the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act drove up the debt. Theres so many things I think you owe the American people after we have seen the catastrophe from the tax cuts. Bessent is a billionaire who, before becoming a Trump donor and adviser, donated to various Democratic causes in the early 2000s, notably Al Gores presidential run. He also worked for George Soros, a major supporter of Democrats. Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin also probed Bessent with questions about bringing national spending down to pre-pandemic levels. In his testimony, Bessent committed to maintaining the IRS Direct File program which allows taxpayers to file their returns directly to the IRS for free at least for the 2025 tax season, which begins Jan. 27. Republican lawmakers say the program is a waste of money because free filing programs already exist, although they are not popular. He also called for stronger sanctions on Russia, saying the Biden administrations sanctions regime isnt muscular enough. I believe the previous administration was worried about raising U.S. energy prices during an election season, he said.Bessent was one of several people Trump considered for the position. Trump took his time before settling on Bessent as his nominee. He also mulled over billionaire investor John Paulson and Howard Lutnick, whom Trump tapped as his nominee for commerce secretary.The treasury secretary is responsible for serving as the presidents fiscal policy adviser and managing the public debt. He would also be a member of the presidents National Economic Council.If confirmed, Bessent will oversee massive agencies within the Treasury Department, including the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS received a massive boost in funding from Democrats Inflation Reduction Act, though that money has been in constant threat of being cut. Trump expects him to help reset the global trade order, enable trillions of dollars in tax cuts, ensure inflation stays in check, manage a ballooning national debt and still keep the financial markets confident.Productive investment that grows the economy must be prioritized over wasteful spending that drives inflation, Bessent testified.Senators were expected to question the money manager for hours on his views on cryptocurrency, the Trump-era tax cuts and potential conflicts of interest. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a member of the finance committee, sent Bessent more than 100 written questions in advance, interrogating him on such topics as agency independence, housing, treasury workforce issues and financial stability oversight. In addition, Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee are circulating a document that alleges Bessent has avoided paying roughly $1 million in taxes related to his hedge fund. During the hearing, Bessent said he and his husband are up to date on their taxes and he is in litigation over the portion of his taxes in controversy. He also committed to shuttering his firm if confirmed to be treasury secretary. Bessent has backed extending provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which Trump signed into law in his first year in office. Estimates from various economic analyses of the costs of the various tax cuts range from nearly $6 trillion to $10 trillion over 10 years.He calls for spending cuts and shifts in existing taxes to offset the costs that extending the tax cuts would add to the federal deficit. FATIMA HUSSEIN Hussein reports on the U.S. Treasury Department for The Associated Press. She covers tax policy, sanctions and any issue that relates to money. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

FILE -= Members of the U.S. military on stage during the rehearsal at the U.S. Capitol ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's upcoming inauguration, Jan. 12, 2025, in Washington.(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)2025-01-16T18:39:31Z NEW ORLEANS (AP) The vast majority of Americans are about to get an extended taste of frigid Siberian weather. Another polar vortex disruption will stretch Arctic air across the top of the globe and make Donald Trumps second inauguration the coldest in 40 years, meteorologists said.After starting in the Rockies Thursday night, the cold will blast eastward and as far south as the upper Florida peninsula over several days. Up to 280 million Americans will have a day or two where its colder than Anchorage, Alaska, said private meteorologist Ryan Maue.This would be one of the coldest outbreaks certainly of the past 10 years, 15 years, said winter weather expert Judah Cohen of Atmospheric Environmental Research. Its pulling air out of Siberia. And, you know, thats consistent with these stretches because when the polar vortex stretches, the flow starts in Siberia and ends in the United States. It will arrive in Washington well before Trumps inauguration Monday outside the U.S. Capitol. The National Weather Service is predicting the temperature to be around 22 degrees (minus-6 Celsius) at noon during the swearing-in, the coldest since Ronald Reagans second inauguration saw temperatures plunge to 7 degrees (minus-14 Celsius). Barack Obama 2009 swearing-in was 28 degrees (minus-2 Celsius). But thats not all because the wind is forecast to be 30 to 35 mph (48 to 56 kph). The wind chills would be in the single digits for sure, the NWS Weather Prediction Center meteorologist Zack Taylor said. Thats going to be cold, blustery, basically right up the National Mall. And it can get pretty breezy on the mall there with the west-northwest wind right in the face. Workers install security fencing around the Ellipse near the White House ahead of the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump in Washington, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File) Workers install security fencing around the Ellipse near the White House ahead of the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump in Washington, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Washington could see single digits later and on Wednesday morning might get near zero, Maue said. There could be a record low broken in Baltimore, Taylor said. He said most of the records that will be broken in this cold outbreak are not likely to be overnight lows, but still chilly daytime highs. About 80 million people are likely to have subzero temperatures at some point, Maue said.The coldest will be Tuesday morning for the Lower 48 overall, Maue said. The average low that morning for the entire Lower 48 will be around 7 degrees (minus-14 degrees Celsius), he said.Maue said a stretch from Chicago to Indianapolis to Columbus, Ohio, to Pittsburgh will get the most brutal cold compared to their normal temperatures.Thats like a corridor of extreme cold, calm winds at night over snow cover. Temperatures could really drop like a rock there, Maue said. mWorkers continue construction on bleachers at Freedom Plaza along Pennsylvania Avenue for parade seating ahead of the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump in Washington, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File) mWorkers continue construction on bleachers at Freedom Plaza along Pennsylvania Avenue for parade seating ahead of the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump in Washington, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Freezes could go as far as the Gulf Coast and northern Florida, meteorologists said.Earlier this month, long-range forecasts hinted at worst-in-30-years type of cold for the years first week, but those predictions eased as the cold outbreak got closer. It was cold, but not near record levels. This time, its the opposite. Each days computer models show it colder than the previous one, Maue said.Theres some possibility of snow squalls here and there, but its mostly just going to be cold, Taylor said what Maue called a dry cold. As happened earlier this month, this cold snap comes from a disruption in the polar vortex, the ring of cold air usually trapped about the North Pole. That ring is being stretched south across North America like a rubber band, Cohen said.These stretching events are happening more often in the past decade or so, Cohen said. He and others have linked these polar vortex outbreaks to human-caused climate change and decreasing pressure and temperature differences between the Arctic and the rest of the globe. Those also trigger changes in the jet stream the river of air that usually brings weather from west to east that make cold air and weather systems plunge from north to south like a roller coaster. The sun rises behind the U.S. Capitol as a rehearsal begins on the West Front ahead of President-elect Donald Trumps upcoming inauguration, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File) The sun rises behind the U.S. Capitol as a rehearsal begins on the West Front ahead of President-elect Donald Trumps upcoming inauguration, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More On the east side of that plunge is cold air and potentially record high pressure, Taylor and others said.On the west side, in southern California, is not only warmer air but also the extreme pressure differences that could goose the already high winds that are fanning fires around Los Angeles, meteorologists said. Get used to it. Theres some debate among meteorologists about how long this extreme cold outbreak will last but below normal temperatures may stick around through the end of the month for much of the country, said University of Oklahoma meteorology professor Jason Furtado, who organized winter weather workshops at the American Meteorological Societys annual conference in New Orleans.And Cohen said long-range forecasts suggest the same polar vortex conditions could return in early February. Members of the U.S. military Joint Honor Guard parade as they rehearse ahead of the upcoming presidential inauguration, at the North Lawn in front of the White House in Washington, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) Members of the U.S. military Joint Honor Guard parade as they rehearse ahead of the upcoming presidential inauguration, at the North Lawn in front of the White House in Washington, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More ___Read more of APs climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment___Follow Seth Borenstein on X at @borenbears_____The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. SETH BORENSTEIN Borenstein is an Associated Press science writer, covering climate change, disasters, physics and other science topics. He is based in Washington, D.C. twitter mailto

Palestinians salvage what they can from the destruction left by Israeli troops in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)2025-01-16T18:55:29Z Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are eager to leave miserable tent camps and return to their homes if a long-awaited ceasefire agreement halts the Israel-Hamas war, but many will find there is nothing left and no way to rebuild.Israeli bombardment and ground operations have transformed entire neighborhoods in several cities into rubble-strewn wastelands, with blackened shells of buildings and mounds of debris stretching away in all directions. Major roads have been plowed up. Critical water and electricity infrastructure is in ruins. Most hospitals no longer function.And its unclear when or even if much will be rebuilt.The agreement for a phased ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas-led militants does not say who will govern Gaza after the war, or whether Israel and Egypt will lift a blockade limiting the movement of people and goods that they imposed when Hamas seized power in 2007.The United Nations says that it could take more than 350 years to rebuild if the blockade remains. Two-thirds of all structures destroyedThe full extent of the damage will only be known when the fighting ends and inspectors have full acccess to the territory. The most heavily destroyed part of Gaza, in the north, has been sealed off and largely depopulated by Israeli forces in an operation that began in early October.Using satellite data, the United Nations estimated last month that 69% of the structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, including over 245,000 homes. The World Bank estimated $18.5 billion in damage nearly the combined economic output of the West Bank and Gaza in 2022 from just the first four months of the war. Israel blames the destruction on Hamas, which ignited the war with its Oct. 7 attack into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Israels retaliatory offensive has killed over 46,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were fighters. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The military has released photos and video footage showing that Hamas built tunnels and rocket launchers in residential areas, and often operated in and around homes, schools and mosques. Mountains of rubble to be movedBefore anything can be rebuilt, the rubble must be removed a staggering task in itself.The U.N. estimates that the war has littered Gaza with over 50 million tons of rubble roughly 12 times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. With over 100 trucks working full time, it would take over 15 years to clear the rubble away, and there is little open space in the narrow coastal territory that is home to some 2.3 million Palestinians.Carting the debris away will also be complicated by the fact that it contains huge amounts of unexploded ordnance and other harmful materials, as well as human remains. Gazas Health Ministry says thousands of people killed in airstrikes are still buried under the rubble.No plan for the day after The rubble clearance and eventual rebuilding of homes will require billions of dollars and the ability to bring construction materials and heavy equipment into the territory neither of which are assured.The ceasefire agreement calls for a 3-5 year reconstruction project to begin in its final phase, after all the remaining 100 hostages have been released and Israeli troops have withdrawn from the territory. But getting to that point will require agreement on the second and most difficult phase of the agreement, which still must be negotiated. And even the first phase was in doubt on Thursday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office saying a last-minute dispute with Hamas was holding up Israeli approval.Even then, the ability to rebuild will depend on the blockade, which critics have long decried as a form of collective punishment. Israel says it is needed to prevent Hamas from rebuilding its military capabilities, noting that cement and metal pipes can also be used for tunnels and rockets.Israel might be more inclined to lift the blockade if Hamas were no longer in power, but there are no plans for an alternative government. The United States and much of the international community want a revitalized Palestinian Authority to govern the West Bank and Gaza with the support of Arab countries ahead of eventual statehood. But thats a nonstarter for Israels government, which is opposed to a Palestinian state and has ruled out any role in Gaza for the Western-backed authority.International donors are unlikely to invest in an ungoverned territory that has seen five wars in less than two decades, which means the sprawling tent camps along the coast could become a permanent feature of life in Gaza.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

The residence of Zhi-feng Zhao destroyed by the Eaton Fire is seen Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)2025-01-16T20:30:12Z LOS ANGELES (AP) Shaw Zhao was worried even before he arrived in Los Angeles last week: His fathers neighborhood was in an evacuation zone as deadly wildfires raged in the metropolitan area, and Zhao hadnt heard from the 84-year-old the previous night.As he made his way from the airport to Zhi-feng Zhaos home in the Altadena neighborhood on Jan. 8, he was stopped by police blockades. So he went to a shelter for evacuees, searching every bed for his fathers familiar face to no avail. The next day, he got into the neighborhood on foot, walking for an hour with his Lyft driver and the mans wife two strangers who had agreed to help him. Approaching his fathers home, the houses along the entire block were all but gone. A coyote sniffed around the debris where his fathers home once stood. When he went to inspect, he was horrified to find his fathers remains. It was very difficult, Zhao said, crying.Zhi-feng Zhao, who was among at least 25 people killed in one of the most destructive natural disasters in Southern Californias history, had come to the United States from China in 1989, his son said, speaking partially in Mandarin. His father, who was orphaned as a child and grew up in poverty in China, earned a college degree in math and mechanical engineering. After he immigrated to the U.S., he was unable to continue his academic work in his field because of the language barrier and instead worked in the restaurant business, his son said. Shaw Zhao said he bought the Altadena home for his parents in 2003. His mother, a local Chinese schoolteacher, died from cancer in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic when she was afraid to go to the hospital because she didnt want to be isolated from her family. Both his parents loved the neighborhood near Pasadena. The ranch-style home had a tree in the yard that produced a bounty of avocados for them and their neighbors every year. He just loved the peace, the fresh air above Altadena, Zhao said of his father, noting that he was an avid hiker, active and strong until his wife passed away. Hed since required the help of a caregiver, who was out of town when the fires started. Numerous older photos of his parents, his moms extensive stamp collection and sweaters she knit for him before she was diagnosed with cancer were also lost in the fire.His dad had told him, Shaw, Mom will leave you. But you will always have something to warm your body. Shaw Zhao plans to take both parents ashes to China, where they have side-by-side burial plots in Shanghai. He also plans to rebuild the home, even though he lives in Portland, Oregon.Zhao said he was close to his father, a smart and talented man who often gave him advice on how to speak up for himself and handle challenges when he was growing up.Whenever he visited Los Angeles, his parents would prepare fish and his other favorite dishes. Even when his father couldnt cook anymore, hed instruct his caregiver to make food or order authentic Shanghainese food from Alhambra, an LA area with a large Chinese population.In his last conversation with his dad the day before he flew to Los Angeles his father carried on that form of love: When will you be here at home? What do you want to eat? RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the foreign ministry headquarters in Egypt's New Administrative Capital, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)2025-01-16T21:16:04Z NEW ADMINISTRATIVE CAPITAL, Egypt (AP) Egypts chief diplomat on Thursday called on Israel and Hamas to implement a Gaza ceasefire plan without any delay, raising pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the deal.Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty delivered the message at a sensitive time in efforts to end a devastating 15-month conflict. A day after U.S. President Joe Biden and other international mediators announced the ceasefire agreement, Netanyahu insisted there still was no deal.In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Abdelatty declined to comment on Netanyahus claims that Hamas has reneged on certain pledges in the agreement. But he said a deal had been reached thanks to deep involvement by American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators, including officials from the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. We have a deal. Whats very important is to start implementation, Abdelatty said from the foreign ministrys headquarters in The New Administrative Capital, a newly built sprawling city about 28 miles (45 kilometers) east of Cairo that houses government offices. What we are doing now is to push for final approval and implementation, without any delay.Egypt, which has a peace agreement with Israel and shares a border with Hamas-ruled Gaza, has been a key mediator between the enemies for years and a leading player in ongoing ceasefire negotiations. Cairo is supposed to be the location for continued talks between the U.S., Qatar and Egypt on implementing the deal. Abdelatty said the talks were set to begin soon, and that the mediators would have an operation room overseeing the deal in the Egyptian capital.We are fully committed to fulfill our own commitments and we are expecting that others to fulfill their own commitments, he said.Hamas has suffered heavy losses during the war, but the group appears to remain intact. Its fighters have continued to stage deadly attacks against Israeli troops and its government continues to provide some basic services. Abdelatty declined to discuss Hamas capabilities, but signaled it will not play a role in governing Gaza after the war.He said the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which governs from the occupied West Bank after being ousted by Hamas in 2007, is the proper Palestinian entity to lead postwar Gaza.We have to empower the Palestinian Authority, he said, adding that Egypt is ready to work with the U.S. to empower the Palestinians and the Palestinian police in order to provide security in Gaza. He said the only solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state that includes the West Bank and Gaza. The outgoing Biden administration has called for a revitalized Palestinian Authority to return to post-war Gaza, an idea Netanyahu and his far-right partners reject.Under the emerging deal, hundreds of truckloads of desperately needed humanitarian aid are expected to flow into Gaza through Egypts Rafah border crossing. The crossing, Gazas main gateway to the outside world, has been closed since the Israeli army took over the area last May. Abdelatty said Egypt aims to open the crossing as soon as possible to allow in 600 trucks a day because people are starving on the ground.He said arrangements are still being worked out, but that Egypt would welcome the return of civilian observers from the European Union.An EU operation helped run the crossing, in coordination with Israel and the Palestinian Authority, for two years until Hamas seized control of Gaza.In Brussels, European Commission spokesman Anouar El Anouni confirmed Thursday that the EU is considering a return to the crossing. Egyptian officials said an EU mission is expected in Cairo next week.The EU presence would be of great importance, Abdelatty said.Egypt has also been harmed by the ongoing war, with seaborne attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen halting much of the shipping traffic through the Suez Canal. Abdelatty said Egypt has lost about $600 million in revenue each month as a result of the ongoing tensions. He said the presence of an estimated 10 million refugees and migrants including tens of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza has created an additional burden.We are not a rich country, he said. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

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FILE - A patient prepares to take the first of two combination pills, mifepristone, for a medication abortion during a visit to a clinic in Kansas City, Kan., on, Oct. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)2025-01-16T23:42:43Z A judge in Texas ruled Thursday that three other states can move ahead with their effort to roll back federal rules and make it harder for people across the U.S. to access the abortion drug mifepristone.The states of Idaho, Kansas and Missouri made the request in U.S. District Court in Amarillo, Texas. The only judge based there is Matthew Kacsmaryk, a nominee of former President Donald Trump who previously ruled in favor of a challenge to the pills approval.The states want the federal Food and Drug Administration to prohibit telehealth prescriptions for mifepristone and require that it be used only in the first seven weeks of pregnancy.Mifepristone is usually used in combination with a second drug for medication abortion, which has accounted for more than three-fifths of all abortions in the U.S. since the Supreme Courts 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade ended the national right to abortion. Even in states where nearly all abortions are now illegal, women are having abortions at similar rates, using these pills, according to a recent survey. Abortion opponents have increasingly targeted abortion pills. Previously, Kacsmaryk sided with a group of anti-abortion doctors and organizations that wanted the FDA to be forced to rescind entirely its approval of mifepristone in 2000. The Supreme Court eventually ruled that those groups did not legal standing to sue.The states are pursuing a narrower challenge. Rather than target the approval entirely, they sought to undo a series of FDA updates that have eased access.__AP writer Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington contributed. GEOFF MULVIHILL Covering state government issues nationally twitter mailto

SpaceX's mega rocket Starship launches for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)2025-01-16T22:38:14Z SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on its latest test flight Thursday, catching the booster back at the pad but losing contact with the ascending spacecraft as engines went out.Officials for Elon Musks company said the spacecraft was destroyed. The spacecraft was supposed to soar across the Gulf of Mexico on a near loop around the world similar to previous test flights. SpaceX had packed it with 10 dummy satellites for practice at releasing them. It was the first flight of this new and upgraded spacecraft. Before the loss, SpaceX for the second time used giant mechanical arms to catch the booster back at the pad minutes after liftoff from Texas. The descending booster hovered over the launch pad before being gripped by a pair of mechanical arms dubbed chopsticks.The 400-foot (123-meter) rocket thundered away in late afternoon from Boca Chica near the Mexican border. The late hour ensured a daylight entry halfway around the world. Skimming space, the shiny retro-looking spacecraft intended by Musk as a moon and Mars ships targeted the Indian Ocean for a controlled but destructive end to the hourlong demo. SpaceX beefed up the catch tower after Novembers launch ended up damaging sensors on the robotic arms, forcing the team to forgo a capture attempt. That booster was steered into the gulf instead.The company also upgraded the spacecraft for the latest demo. The test satellites were the same size as SpaceXs Starlink internet satellites and, like the spacecraft, meant to drop into the Indian Ocean to close out the mission. Contact was lost about 8 1/2 minutes into the flight. Musk plans to launch actual Starlinks on Starships before moving on to other satellites and, eventually, crews. It was the seventh test flight for the worlds biggest and most powerful rocket. NASA has reserved a pair of Starships to land astronauts on the moon later this decade. Musks goal is Mars. Every Starship launch is one more step closer towards Mars, Musk said via X ahead of liftoff.Hours hours earlier in Florida, another billionaires rocket company Jeff Bezos Blue Origin launched the newest supersized rocket, New Glenn. The rocket reached orbit on its first flight, successfully placing an experimental satellite thousands of miles above Earth. But the first-stage booster was destroyed, missing its targeted landing on a floating platform in the Atlantic.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Former Gov. Doug Burgum, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the the Interior Department as Secretary of the Interior, testifies before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)2025-01-16T05:07:13Z President-elect Donald Trumps nominee for interior secretary told a Senate panel Thursday that the U.S. can leverage development of fossil fuels and other energy sources to promote world peace and lower costs and voiced concerns about the reliability of renewable power sources promoted under the Biden administration.Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum described Trumps aspiration to achieve U.S. energy dominance as a way to counter demand for fossil fuels from autocratic nations Russia, Iran and Venezuela that have fewer environmental safeguards. Burgum also said the U.S. needs to make more baseload electricity from coal and other sources as it seeks to power data centers for the nations tech industry. If confirmed, Burgum would become the chief steward of federal lands.This is something that is critical to our national security, Burgum said. Without baseload were going to lose the AI arms race to China. The Republicans security claims were challenged by Hawaii Democrat Sen. Mazie Hirono who said that military leaders have described global warming as a threat that could trigger instability and wars. For you to take a position that you are going to engage in actions that result in burning more fossil fuels is troubling, Hirono said.Fossil fuels oil, natural gas and coal cause climate change. When they burn, greenhouse gases are released. When asked if he thinks climate change is a problem, Burgum said he believes its a global phenomenon. The Interior Department oversees a half-billion acres of federal land and vast areas offshore. Combined those areas produce about one-quarter of U.S. oil, or more than 1 billion barrels of crude annually, making them a flashpoint in the debate over how to address climate change.President Joe Bidens administration scaled back new oil and gas sales from public reserves as part of its efforts to curb climate change. Nevertheless, oil production hit record levels under the Democrat as high prices spurred drilling on lands that were previously leased. Trump has vowed to increase drilling for oil and gas and has been hostile to renewable energy including offshore wind. Burgum said Thursday that he wouldnt try to convince his boss about its benefits.Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, had asked Burgum if he would do so and noted that North Dakota gets more than one-third of its electricity from onshore wind turbines.Burgum replied that the electric grid needs more resources that provide power continuously, as opposed to intermittent sources such as solar and wind that fluctuate.Weve got massive tax incentives for people that want to do intermittent power, Burgum said. The balance is out of whack.Trump has vowed to end the offshore wind industry as soon as he returns to the White House. Trump tasked Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who is a vocal critic of offshore wind, with writing an executive order he could issue to halt wind energy projects. The New Jersey Republican told The Associated Press Wednesday that he emailed that draft order to Burgum. King also asked Burgum if he would commit to continuing with offshore wind leases that have been issued. Burgum said projects that make sense and are already in law will continue.Burgum is an ultra-wealthy software industry entrepreneur who grew up on his familys farm in North Dakota. The two-term governor of the oil-rich state endorsed Trump after ending his own 2024 presidential bid.Trump in November tapped him to be interior secretary and to chair a new energy council charged with promoting oil and gas development. The council could play a key role in Trumps effort to sell more oil and other energy sources to allies in Europe and around the globe. Burgum as governor outlined plans to make the state carbon neutral by 2030. And he touted a pipeline that would be used to capture and store greenhouse gases that fuel climate change. Burgum told lawmakers Thursday the U.S. has an opportunity to effectively remove the carbon from burning fossil fuels while promoting new development. If we can decarbonize traditional fuels cheaper than we can subsidize some of the renewables, thats something we should look at, he said.Carbon-capture skeptics say the technology is untested at scale and allows the fossil-fuel industry to continue largely unchanged. The Interior Departments mandate extends beyond fossil fuels to include grazing, mining, fish and wildlife conservation, the National Park system and has oversight responsibilities for more than 500 Native American and Alaska Native tribes.Trumps first term featured bitter fights over actions that rolled back protections for endangered species and accelerated approvals for highways, pipelines and other projects. Those moves were largely blocked by lawsuits or reversed under Biden. JENNIFER McDERMOTT McDermott is a reporter on the Associated Press Climate and Environment team. She focuses on the transition to clean energy. twitter mailto JACK DURA Dura covers the North Dakota state government for The Associated Press. He is based in Bismarck, North Dakota. twitter mailto

Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers remarks at the Atlantic Council, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)2025-01-16T18:12:44Z WASHINGTON (AP) Outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday defended Biden administration policies on Israels war with Hamas after a ceasefire agreement in Gaza was reached, facing protests that interrupted his final news conference at the State Department. He said he expected the deal announced by President Joe Biden and Qatar on Wednesday to be implemented over the weekend. He called it a moment of historic possibility for the region and well beyond even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a last-minute dispute with Hamas was holding up Israeli approval. Its going to take tremendous effort, political courage, compromise to realize that possibility, to try to ensure that the gains that have been achieved over the past 15 months at enormous, excruciating cost are actually enduring, Blinken said.As he touted the deal, two people in the room accused him of complicity in Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians in loud outbursts that forced him to pause. One shouted, Why arent you in the Hague? referring to the International Criminal Court based in the Dutch city. Blinken asked them to respect the process. Both men were physically removed by Diplomatic Security officers. While protests are common in large public gatherings, including just this week when Blinken delivered an address on the Middle East at a Washington-based think tank, they are rare, if not unprecedented, in the State Department briefing room. After recovering from the interruptions, Blinken said in response to other questions that the U.S. has had real differences with Israel in how it has gone about defending its people and has expressed those clearly at various points. But weve mostly done it privately, precisely because we didnt want to feed into Hamas clearly held views that if that pressure was mounting, and if there was daylight, they could do nothing, Blinken said. That they could refuse to engage on the negotiations, hold back on a ceasefire and releasing the hostages, and thus perpetuate the suffering, the loss for the people that they purport to represent. Blinken and other members of the Biden administration have faced severe criticism for not imposing meaningful restrictions on the supply of weapons to Israel or pushing its key ally hard enough to ease a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.Israels military offensive against Hamas militants who triggered the war with their Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attacks that killed some 1,200 people has leveled vast swaths of Gaza and pushed around 90% of the population of 2.3 million from their homes. Hundreds of thousands are struggling with hunger and disease in squalid tent camps on the coast.The campaign has killed over 46,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and militants but say women and children make up more than half of those killed.Blinken traveled to the Mideast 12 times in a bid to halt the fighting. President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump are both claiming credit for the ceasefire deal after the White House brought Trumps Middle East envoy into the stalled negotiations.___AP reporter Ellen Knickmeyer contributed from Washington.

In this July 31, 2019, file photo, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference following a two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)2025-01-16T11:00:38Z NEW YORK (AP) Whats shaking Wall Street seems so backwards. Swings in the bond market recently sent the yield on the 10-year Treasury above 4.80% and its highest level since 2023. Thats injected nervousness into the U.S. stock market and knocked indexes off their records. The bond markets moves might seem strange given that the Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates three times starting in September. But its a reminder that markets care more about the future than the present. And the bond market is worried about potentially higher inflation ahead, along with a U.S. economy that may not need more help from easier interest rates. Thats hurting stock prices. The Fed has cut its main interest rate by a full percentage point since September. The intent is to give the economy breathing room after the Fed earlier hiked the federal funds rate to a two-decade high in hopes of slowing the economy enough to stifle inflation. But the Feds influence is limited when it comes to the interest rates that are currently knocking the stock market around, chiefly the 10-year Treasury yield. The Fed controls the federal funds rate, which is a very short-term interest rate that dictates what banks charge each other for borrowing money overnight. The moves for the 10-year Treasury yield, meanwhile, are set by investors. Those investors do take the Feds moves into account as they decide how much yield theyll need to earn from U.S. Treasurys before theyll lend money to the federal government. But theyre also factoring in where the economy and inflation are heading. And the 10-year Treasury yield ironically began rising in September, up from 3.65%, just about when the federal funds rate began sinking for the first time since 2020. The 10-year yield rose, even as the Fed was cutting overnight interest rates, because expectations for both economic growth and for inflation were rising. Much of that is due to a string of reports showing the U.S. economy remains much more solid than expected. Inflation was also more stubborn to ease, though this past weeks reading offered more optimism and helped Treasury yields give back some of their big gains. In late 2018, something similar happened in the market, but in the opposite direction. The Fed had been increasing the federal funds rate since early 2017, and the 10-year Treasury yield likewise climbed for much of that stretch. But the 10-year yield began turning lower before the end of 2018. It even continued to sink after the Fed hiked the federal funds rate in December 2018, guessing correctly that rate increases would stop before putting too much pressure on the economy.President-elect Donald Trump is also a big factor. His proposals to place tariffs on imported goods could push up inflation, while his preference for lower tax rates could inflate the U.S. governments debt further and scare investors into requiring higher interest rates for the added risk. The Federal Reserve itself warned recently that it may cut interest rates only twice in 2025 after earlier projecting four cuts. Traders on Wall Street are questioning whether the Fed may not cut short-term interest rates at all in 2025. Even Wednesdays better-than-expected reading on an underlying measure of inflation wasnt enough to give the market an all clear. We believe It likely will take several months of slowing inflation to get the Fed and the market thinking about another rate cut, said Gary Schlossberg, market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

People visit a makeshift memorial honoring the victims and survivors of a human smuggling tragedy, where dozens of migrants were found in an airless tractor-trailer rig, in San Antonio, July 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)2025-01-17T00:47:32Z SAN ANTONIO (AP) A Texas truck driver charged in the deaths of 53 migrants who rode in a sweltering tractor-trailer with no air conditioning pleaded guilty Thursday over the 2022 tragedy that became the nations deadliest smuggling attempt across the U.S.-Mexico border. Homero Zamorano Jr., who lived in Texas, pleaded guilty to three charges and could face a maximum sentence of life in prison, the Justice Department announced. Authorities say Zamorano, who drove the truck, and other men charged in the smuggling attempt were aware that the trailers air-conditioning unit was malfunctioning and would not blow cool air to the migrants trapped inside during the sweltering, three-hour ride from the border city of Laredo to San Antonio. Temperatures reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) while migrants screamed and banged the walls of the trailer for help or tried to claw their way out, investigators said.The truck had been packed with 67 people, and the dead included 27 from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador, according to Mexican authorities. Prosecutors have said migrants paid up to $15,000 each to be taken across the U.S. border.

President-elect Donald Trump listens to Elon Musk as he arrives to watch SpaceX's mega rocket Starship lift off for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Nov. 19, 2024. (Brandon Bell/Pool via AP, File)2025-01-16T21:45:51Z President Joe Bidens pointed warning about the U.S. becoming an oligarchy of tech billionaires will be illustrated at Donald Trumps inauguration, when the worlds three richest men will sit on the dais as Trump is sworn in for a second term.Elon Musk, the worlds wealthiest person, took an unprecedented, hands-on role in the final stretch of Trumps campaign, spending some $200 million through a super PAC. Musk has a new role reshaping government in the upcoming administration and will be joined on the dais by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Both mens companies have enormous contracts with the federal government.Rounding out the trio is Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who recently changed his companys priorities to align with Trumps and has cozied up to the president-elect less than six months after Trump threatened to imprison him. The three men are worth nearly $1 trillion combined and will be joined at the inauguration by the chief executive officers of OpenAI and the social media platform TikTok, which is scheduled to be shut down in the U.S. over the weekend under a new law that Trump opposes. Meta, Amazon and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman donated $1 million to Trumps inauguration fund.The mega-rich have long had a prominent role in national politics, and several billionaires helped bankroll the campaign of Trumps Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden recently gave the presidential medal of freedom to George Soros, a billionaire donor to liberal causes. But the inaugural display highlights the unusually direct role billionaires have in the incoming administration. Bidens use of the word oligarchy was no accident its a direct reference to the form of government in Russia, whose leader Trump has long spoken warmly about. Russian President Vladimir Putin preserves the uber-richs wealth and keeps them under control with threats.Heres a look at the dynamics of the incoming administration and the mega-rich: A new level of wealthInequality in the U.S. actually dropped during most of Bidens term and is slightly lower than it was 10 years ago, but remains quite high historically.Consider that the wealthiest 0.1% of Americans about 131,000 households owned nearly 14% of the nations wealth as of last fall, or more than $22 trillion in stocks, bonds, real estate and other assets, according to the most recent data from the Federal Reserve. That is up from up from 10% two decades ago.The bottom half of the U.S. population or about 65 million households collectively own just 2.4% of the nations wealth, or just under $4 trillion, according to Federal Reserve data. A relatively new development, however, is the stratospheric levels of wealth of a handful of the countrys several hundred billionaires.Musk, for example, is worth $450 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Bezos, at $242 billion and Zuckerberg, at $212 billion, have also reached new heights. They are the only people worth more than $200 billion in the world. All but two of the top 10 wealthiest people in the world are technology moguls. The exploding levels of affluence have led Democrats to try to revamp the U.S. tax code to target wealth. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren proposed a wealth tax during her unsuccessful 2020 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Democrats in 10 states last year unsuccessfully tried to create wealth taxes. Several Democratic-leaning states impose higher taxes on those making more than $1 million as a way to address income inequality. An oligarch who argues hell disrupt oligarchyTrump, Vice President-elect JD Vance who worked as a venture capitalist with conservative Silicon Valley billionaire, Peter Thiel and others in their inner circle identify themselves as men of the people, promising to wrest back power from interest groups and elites and restore it to Americans.Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, a prominent conservative influencer, has repeatedly called the U.S. government an oligarchy that rejects the will of the citizens for its own military and financial interests.Trump, of course, is himself a billionaire. And part of his pitch has always been a billionaire-focused form of populism. He and his allies have argued that a vast array of intellectual elites lawyers, executives, journalists and academics have held back the countrys lower and middle class and that rich entrepreneurs can free them.That tension came out Thursday during the confirmation hearing of Trumps nominee to be Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent. Vermonts Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders noted high levels of wealth inequality in the country and the control the mega-rich have over social media.Would you agree with President Biden that an oligarchy is taking shape in America? Sanders asked Bessent.The nominee replied: The billionaires you listed make the money themselves.Bessent, a hedge fund manager, is one of several billionaires Trump has tapped for his Cabinet. Americans skeptical of billionaires influence If the growing involvement of Musk and other uber-wealthy tech executives in the nations politics has caught the attention of the public, its not necessarily in a positive way.An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds that about six out of 10 Americans believe it would be somewhat or very bad for the president to rely on billionaires for advice on government policy.That sentiment was most pronounced among Democrats, according to the survey taken earlier this month. Republicans were less skeptical of billionaires advising presidents, with 44% having no strong opinion and about 2 in 10 saying it would be somewhat or very good.The Russia exampleThe term oligarch has been most associated with Russia in modern times.After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, a group of businessmen took advantage of the privatizing of state industries under then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin to quickly snap up vast holdings.They became known as oligarchs, and by the time Putin came to power in 2000, they had amassed both vast wealth and power while millions of ordinary Russians had struggled through turbulent economic times.After Putin took office, he met with top oligarchs at a closed-door meeting in the Kremlin and reportedly offered a deal: Stay out of politics and your wealth wont be touched. Russian oligarchs who didnt end up imprisoned or dead became uber-wealthy and largely remain under Putins control.The risk in the U.S.The U.S. is a long way from Russian-style oligarchy, with a diverse, strong economy and resilient institutions. The risk is that if wealth is increasingly determined by executives relationships with the government, it can increase inequality and lead to stagnation for most. Thats the cautionary tale of Russia.Some worry thats starting to happen in the U.S. as Trump prepares to take office. Just look at the technology sector, with which Trump spent much of his first term feuding with and vowing to retaliate against if he returned to office.Google and Microsoft both reportedly donated $1 million to the president-elects inauguration fund. Zuckerberg is cohosting a reception with wealthy Republican donors next week for the inauguration, and Microsofts chief executive officer had lunch with Trump and Vance at Trumps Florida headquarters at Mar-A-Lago this week.And Amazon recently bought exclusive rights to a documentary about Trumps wife, incoming first lady Melania Trump.Brooke Harrington, a sociologist at Dartmouth College who studies the worlds wealthiest people, dubbed the new wave of Trump tech supporters broligarchs.Its not going to be good for democracy anywhere in the world, Harrington said of their rise, because they have essentially acquired so much wealth that theyre more powerful than the governments of individual nations.___Associated Press writers Josh Boak, Gary Fields, Fatima Hussein, Zeke Miller, Christopher Rugaber and Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux in Washington, D.C., David Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, Harriet Morris in Tallinn, Estonia, Matt OBrien in Providence, Rhode Island, and Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report.__The Associated Pressreceives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about APs democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. ALI SWENSON Swenson reports on election-related misinformation, disinformation and extremism for The Associated Press. twitter

People walk past a sculpture of the Chinese Communist Party flag at the Museum of the Communist Party of China, in Beijing on Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)2025-01-17T02:41:42Z TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) Chinas population fell last year for the third straight year, its government said Friday, pointing to further demographic challenges for the worlds second most populous nation, which is now facing both an aging population and an emerging shortage of working age people. Chinas population stood at 1.408 billion at the end of 2024, a decline of 1.39 million from the previous year.The figures announced by the government in Beijing follow trends worldwide, but especially in East Asia, where Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and other nations have seen their birth rates plummet. China three years ago joined Japan and most of Eastern Europe among other nations whose population is falling. The reasons are in many cases similar: Rising costs of living are causing young people to put off or rule out marriage and child birth while pursuing higher education and careers. While people are living longer, thats not enough to keep up with rate of new births. Countries such as China that allow very little immigration are especially at risk. China has long been among the worlds most populous nations, enduring invasions, floods and other natural disasters to sustain a population that thrived on rice in the south and wheat in the north. Following the end of World War II and the Communist Partys rise to power in 1949, large families re-emerged and the population doubled in just three decades, even after tens of millions died in the Great Leap Forward that sought to revolutionize agriculture and industry and the Cultural Revolution that followed a few years later. After the end of the Cultural Revolution and leader Mao Zedongs death, Communist bureaucrats began to worry the countrys population was outstripping its ability to feed itself and began implementing a draconian one child policy. Though it was never law, women had to apply for permission to have a child and violators could face forced late-term abortions and birth control procedures, massive fines and the prospect of their child being deprived an identification number, effectively making them non-citizens. Rural China, where the preference for male offspring was especially strong and two children were still ostensibly allowed, became the focus of government efforts, with women forced to present evidence they were menstruating and buildings emblazoned with slogans such as have fewer children, have better children. The government sought to stamp out selective abortion of female children, but with abortions legal and readily available, those operating illicit sonogram machines enjoyed a thriving business. That has been the biggest factor in Chinas lopsided sex ratio, with as many as millions more boys born for every 100 girls, raising the possibility of social instability among Chinas army of bachelors. Fridays report gave the sex imbalance as 104.34 men to every 100 women, though independent groups give the imbalance as considerably higher.More disturbing for the government was the drastically falling birthrate, with Chinas total population dropping for the first time in decades in 2023 and China being narrowly overtaken by India as the worlds most populous nation in the same year. A rapidly aging population, declining workforce, lack of consumer markets and migration abroad are putting the system under severe pressure. While spending on the military and flashy infrastructure projects continues to rise, Chinas already frail social security system is teetering, with increasing numbers of Chinese refusing to pay into the underfunded pension system. Already, more than one-fifth of the population is aged 60 or over, with the official figure given as 310.3 million or 22% of the total population. By 2035, this number is forecast to exceed 30%, sparking discussion of changes to the official retirement age, which one of the lowest in the world. With fewer students, some vacant schools and kindergartens are meanwhile being transformed into care facilities for older people.Such developments are giving some credence to the aphorism that China, now the worlds second largest economy but facing major headwinds, will grow old before it grows rich. Government inducements including cash payouts for having up to three children and financial help with housing costs have had only temporary effects. Meanwhile, China continued its transition to an urban society, with 10 million more people moving to cities for an urbanization rate of 67%, up almost a percentage point from the previous year.

This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows an airstrip on Abd al-Kuri Island in Yemen on Jan. 7, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)2025-01-17T05:33:22Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) A mysterious airstrip being built on a remote island in Yemen is nearing completion, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show, one of several built in a nation mired in a stalemated war threatening to reignite. The airstrip on Abd al-Kuri Island, which rises out of the Indian Ocean near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden, could provide a key landing zone for military operations patrolling that waterway. That could be useful as commercial shipping through the Gulf and Red Sea a key route for cargo and energy shipments heading to Europe has halved under attacks by Yemens Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The area also has seen weapons smuggling from Iran to the rebels. The runway is likely built by the United Arab Emirates, which has long been suspected of expanding its military presence in the region and has backed a Saudi-led war against the Houthis. While the Houthis have linked their campaign to the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, experts worry a ceasefire in that conflict may not be enough to see the rebels halt a campaign thats drawn them global attention. Meanwhile, the Houthis have lobbed repeated attacks at Israel, as well as U.S. warships operating in the Red Sea, raising fears that one may make it through and endanger the lives of American service members. A battlefield miscalculation by Yemens many adversarial parties, new fatal attacks on Israel or a deadly assault on an American warship easily could shatter the countrys relative calm. And it remains unclear just how President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on Monday, will handle the emboldened rebel group. The Houthis feed off war war is good for them, said Wolf-Christian Paes, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies who studies Yemen. Finally they can live up to their slogan, which famously, of course, declares, Death to America, death to the Jews. They see themselves as being in this epic battle against their archenemies and from their view, theyre winning. Satellite images show airstrip nearly completeSatellite photos taken Jan. 7 by Planet Labs PBC for the AP show trucks and other heavy equipment on the north-south runway built into Abd al-Kuri, which is about 35 kilometers (21 miles) in length and about 5 kilometers (3 miles) at its widest point. The runway has been paved, with the designation markings 18 and 36" to the airstrips north and south respectively. As of Jan. 7, there was still a segment missing from the 2.4-kilometer- (1.5-mile-) long runway thats 45-meters (150-feet) wide. Trucks could be seen grading and laying asphalt over the missing 290-meter (950-foot) segment. Once completed, the runways length would allow private jets and other aircraft to land there, though likely not the largest commercial aircraft or heavy bombers given its length. While within Houthi drone and missile range, the distance of Abd al-Kuri from mainland Yemen means theres no threat of the Houthis getting on a pickup truck or a technical and going to seize it, said Yemen expert Mohammed al-Basha of the Basha Report risk advisory firm. The United Nations Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization, which assigns its own set of airport codes for airfields around the world, had no information about the airstrip on Abd al-Kuri, spokesman William Raillant-Clark said. Yemen, as a member state to ICAO, should provide information about the airfield to the organization. Nearby Socotra Island already has an airport declared to the ICAO. Its not the only airfield to see an expansion in recent years. In Mocha on the Red Sea, a project to extend that citys airport now allows it to land far larger aircraft. Local officials attributed that project to the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The airfield also sits on a similar north-south path as the Abd al-Kuri airstrip and is roughly the same length.Other satellite photos from Planet Labs show yet another unclaimed runway currently under construction just south of Mocha near Dhubab, a coastal town in Yemens Taiz governorate. An image taken by Planet for the AP on Thursday showed the runway fully built, though no markings were painted on it. A key location for a country riven by warAbd al-Kuri is part of the Socotra Archipelago, separated from Africa by only 95 kilometers (60 miles) and from Yemen by some 400 kilometers (250 miles). In the last decade of the Cold War, the archipelago occasionally hosted Soviet warships due to its strategic location.In recent years, the island has been overseen by Yemens Southern Transitional Council, which advocates for Yemen to again split into a separate north and south as it was during the Cold War. The UAE has backed and armed the council as part of the Saudi-led war against the Houthis, who seized Yemens capital, Sanaa, in 2014. The UAE, home to the massive Jebel Ali port in Dubai and the logistic firm DP World, previously built a base in Eritrea that was later dismantled and attempted to build an airstrip on Mayun, or Perim, Island, in the center of the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. But unlike those efforts, the Emiratis appear likely to open the Abd al-Kuri airstrip and have even signed their work. Just east of the runway, piles of dirt there have spelled out I LOVE UAE for months. An Emirati-flagged landing craft also was spotted off the coast of Abd al-Kuri in January 2024 and off Socotra multiple other times in the year, according to data analyzed by AP from MarineTraffic.com. That vessel previously has been associated with the UAEs military operations in Yemen.The UAE, which runs a once-a-week flight to Socotra via Abu Dhabi, have long described their efforts as aimed at getting aid to the archipelago. Asked for comment about the Abd al-Kuri airfield, the UAE similarly pointed to its aid operations.Any presence of the UAE ... is based on humanitarian grounds that is carried out in cooperation with the Yemen government and local authorities, the Emirati government said in a statement. The UAE remains steadfast in its commitment to all international endeavors aimed at facilitating the resumption of the Yemeni political process, thereby advancing the security, stability and prosperity sought by the Yemeni populace.The Southern Transitional Council and officials with Yemens exiled government did not respond to repeated requests for comments over the airfield. The UAEs presence on Socotra has sparked tensions in the past, something the Houthis have used to portray the Emiratis as trying to colonize the island. This plan represents a serious violation of Yemeni sovereignty and threatens the sovereignty of several neighboring countries through the espionage and sabotage operations it is expected to carry out, the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency said in November.Smuggling route passes by the islandA new airport on Abd al-Kuri could provide a new, secluded landing zone for surveillance flights around Socotra Island. That could be vital to interdict weapons smuggling from Iran to the Houthis, who remain under a U.N. arms embargo. A report to the U.N. Security Council said a January 2024 weapons seizure by the U.S. military took place off Socotra near Abd al-Kuri. That seizure, which saw two U.S. Navy SEALs lost at sea and presumed killed, involved a traditional dhow vessel that U.S. prosecutors say was involved in multiple smuggling trips on behalf of Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard to the Houthis.Disrupting that weapons route, as well as the ongoing attacks by the U.S., Israel and others on the Houthis, likely have contributed to the slowing pace of the rebels attacks in recent months. The U.S. and its partners alone have struck the Houthis over 260 times, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Next week, Trump will be the one to decide what happens to that campaign. He has experience already with how difficult fighting in Yemen can be his first military action in his first term in 2017 saw a Navy SEAL killed in a raid on a suspected al-Qaida compound. The raid also killed more than a dozen civilians, including an 8-year-old girl. Trump may reapply a foreign terrorist organization designation on the Houthis that Biden revoked, a reimposition that the UAE backs. Marco Rubio, who Trump has nominated to be secretary of state, mentioned the Houthis several times when testifying Wednesday at his Senate confirmation hearing alongside what he described as threats from Iran and its allies.Any U.S. move could escalate the war, even with the Houthis enigmatic supreme leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, pledging Thursday night to halt the rebels attacks if a ceasefire deal is reached in Gaza.I dont see a way in 2025 that we have a de-escalation with the Houthis, said al-Basha, the Yemen expert. The situation in Yemen is very tense. An outbreak in the war could be a reality in the next few months. I dont foresee the status quo continuing. JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto

This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows an airstrip on Abd al-Kuri Island in Yemen on Jan. 7, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)2025-01-17T05:08:36Z As he assumes the presidency for a second time, Donald Trump brings with him a broad expanse of business relationships and financial entanglements and the possibility that those associations could influence his decision-making in the White House. Trumps team dismisses such concerns. President Trump removed himself from his multibillion-dollar real estate empire to run for office and forewent his government salary, becoming the first President to actually lose net worth while serving in the White House, Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. Unlike most politicians, President Trump didnt get into politics for profit hes fighting because he loves the people of this country and wants to make America great again.But questions remain. Heres a look at the various connections and potential conflicts in Trumps second administration. Winning Team PublishingLaunched in 2021, Winning Team Publishing is run by Donald Trump Jr. and Sergio Gor, a Trump adviser selected by the president-elect to run the White House personnel office. Gor also led the pro-Trump super PAC Right for America.Trump has earned at least $11.6 million in royalties over the last two years from two of his books produced by Winning Team, according to financial disclosure statements filed with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.Letters to Trump is an anthology of correspondence from celebrities and politicians written to him over the years. Our Journey Together features hundreds of photos from his first presidential term with captions handpicked by Trump. Another coffee table book, Save America, features reminiscences from Trumps presidential campaigns and term in office, as well as a lengthy reflection about his brush with death during a July assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania. Campaign finance records show Trumps political fundraising committees have paid Winning Team Publishing more than $242,000 for unspecified books and printing services.The company also publishes titles written by Trumps staunchest supporters, including GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Fox News host Jeanine Pirro and conservative provocateur Charlie Kirk. Licensing dealsTrumps name and image are branded on a dizzying array of merchandise that he promotes and profits from through licensing agreements, including Bibles, diamond-encrusted watches, gold-colored sneakers and guitars that cost as much as $10,000.Thousands of copies of the God Bless the USA Bible Trump sells were printed in China, a country he has repeatedly accused of stealing American jobs and engaging in unfair trade practices. As president, Trump would be able to exempt Bibles and other religious texts from hefty tariffs hes threatened to impose on imported Chinese products.Trumps endorsement of a line of guitars led to a cease and desist letter from Nashville-based Gibson Guitars. A company representative said in a brief statement the design of the Trump guitars infringes upon Gibsons exclusive trademarks, particularly the body shape of the companys iconic Les Paul model. Civil judgmentsJudgments of more than half a billion dollars from civil lawsuits hang over Trump and will be more difficult to avoid than the criminal cases brought by the federal government and then abandoned after his election in November.A New York judge ordered Trump and his companies earlier this year to pay more than $450 million after ruling he had manipulated his net worth in financial statements to secure favorable loans. That penalty came shortly after Trump was ordered to pay $83.3 million to the writer E. Jean Carroll for damaging her reputation after she accused him of sexual assault. A separate jury awarded Carroll $5 million from Trump for sexual abuse and defamation.Trump has appealed the rulings in the fraud case and one of the Carroll cases. His latest financial disclosure list more than $101 million in liabilities stemming from the two cases.As president, Trump cant pardon himself for penalties imposed in civil cases unrelated to his official government duties, said Richard Briffault, a professor at Columbia Law School in New York. And because the trials have already occurred, hell have difficulty arguing the cases are an undue burden on his time. Golf coursesThe constellation of high-end golf resorts Trump owns or manages generated hundreds of millions of dollars for him in 2024 and may pull in even greater sums once hes back in the Oval Office.Trumps financial disclosure reported close to $267 million in golf-related income, with another $161 million in combined golf and hotel proceeds from his Doral golf club in Miami.During his first term, Trump frequently promoted his golf courses and routinely played at them with a large, taxpayer-funded entourage in tow, leading to criticism that he was using the power of the presidency to enrich himself. Trump pushed to host the international Group of Seven summit at the Doral property in 2019. But he dropped the plan amid accusations he would violate the emoluments clause of the Constitution that bans presidents from receiving gifts or payments from foreign governments.The golf courses may also attract foreign officials and special interest groups hoping to gain access and curry favor by spending large sums at Trump properties. Mar-a-Lago fees and Secret Service costsSince the start of Trumps first term in office, the cost to join his private Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, has soared to $1 million, allowing wealthy people to mix pleasure with politics and government business during his frequent visits to the club.While Trump collects income from Mar-a-Lago $111 million over the last two years hes been accused of charging the U.S. Secret Service exorbitant room rates of more than $800 per night for agents assigned to protect him when he traveled there and to other Trump family properties.Who Trump meets with while at Mar-a-Lago and what he discusses are largely hidden from public view. The Secret Service has no electronic systems to screen or monitor presidential visitors to the estate, according to a 2020 federal appeals court ruling.Truth SocialTrump launched his social media platform, Truth Social, in early 2022, after he was banned from major sites such as Facebook and the platform formerly known as Twitter following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.While hes since been reinstated to both, Trump has often used Truth Social for more personal commentary, leaving traffic on X and other platforms for more formal statements and pronouncements. The company hasnt disclosed how many users it has, so its hard to know how broad Trumps reach there is.But what is clear is that Trump is the primary player in Trump Media & Technology Group, which started trading on the NASDAQ stock market in March. The incoming president has a majority stake in the company, and said shortly after his general election win that he had NO INTENTION OF SELLING his shares, which have significantly boosted Trumps net worth, and at that time were valued at around $3.5 billion.CryptocurrencyTrump has promised to make America the crypto capital of the planet as he returns to the White House, a promise that would likely pay off for him personally.Amidst the 2024 campaign, Trump launched a new venture to trade cryptocurrencies that he has promoted on the same social media accounts he used for his campaign. His two eldest sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, have also posted about their new platform, called World Liberty Financial, as has his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, who is married to Eric and also serves as co-chair of the Republican National Committee.The new moneymaking venture could explode in value if Trump pushes through legislative and regulatory changes long sought by crypto advocates.During his first term, Trump said he was not a fan of cryptocurrency but he has since taken a more favorable view from announcing in May that the campaign would begin accepting donations in cryptocurrency to attending a Bitcoin conference in Nashville, promising to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the planet and create a Bitcoin strategic reserve using the currency that the government currently holds.Several of Trumps cabinet nominees, including Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick and Trumps pick for the Securities and Exchange Commission, Paul Atkins, have substantial cryptocurrency investments.___ MEG KINNARD Kinnard covers national politics for The Associated Press. She lives in South Carolina. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Vice President Kamala Harris, with second gentleman Doug Emhoff at right, signs the desk drawer in her ceremonial office as part of a long-standing tradition for Vice Presidents, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)2025-01-17T05:44:07Z WASHINGTON (AP) With Donald Trumps return to the White House only days away, Kamala Harris ' staff packed into her ceremonial office to watch her sign the desk, a tradition performed by her predecessors for decades. Her husband, Doug Emhoff, stood behind her to take a photo as she wielded her Sharpie marker. It is not my nature to go quietly into the night, Harris said Thursday. So dont worry about that.But what is next for her? Ill keep you posted, she said.Harris hasnt made any plans for after leaving office Monday, apart from flying home to California. It will be the first time since 2004, when she became San Franciscos district attorney, that she hasnt held elected office.Theres talk that shell write a book and speculation that she could run for governor or maybe president again. At 60 years old, Harris is still young in a political world where the last two presidents have set records as the oldest ever elected. Donna Brazile, a longtime leader in the Democratic Party, recalled telling Harris that she needs to take a break and learn what its like to oversleep for a while. They both laughed, and Brazile said, Yeah, youll never go back to being ordinary. Brazile was campaign manager for Al Gore, the last sitting vice president to run for the top job.Ive had more people call me about whats next for Kamala Harris than called me about whats next for Al Gore, she said. Harris term was both ordinary and extraordinary. Like many of her predecessors, she spent her time tending to a portfolio of issues migration, abortion rights and maternal health among them and representing the country overseas. Sometimes she struggled to distinguish herself, a common challenge in a job that comes with little constitutional responsibility. But Harris also made history as the first woman, Black person or person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president. And last year, Harris was thrust into an unprecedented situation when President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid and endorsed her as his successor. There were only 107 days left in the campaign, leaving Harris in a sprint for the presidency. She instantly reset the terms of the race against Trump, who is nearly two decades older than her, but was unable to defeat him.Many Democrats blamed Biden for running in the first place and putting Harris in an impossible position. Harris faced her own criticism, too. Some said she should have sent a more populist message instead of focusing on Trumps antidemocratic threats by campaigning with Liz Cheney, a former Republican congresswoman. She also failed to separate herself from Biden, who remains deeply unpopular with voters.Minyon Moore, who chaired last years Democratic National Convention, downplayed the criticisms by saying ifa, woulda, coulda, shoulda.With Harris facing such an unusual campaign, Moore said, there was no road map for what she should have done.Harris hasnt answered questions about her loss, nor has she shared her own perspective on the election. Her public remarks have been limited to rallying cries for students and others who are disappointed by Trumps victory, especially after Democrats described him as an existential threat to the country. No one can walk away, Harris said in one speech. We must stay in the fight. Every one of us.Harris hoped to close out her term with an around-the-world trip to Singapore, Bahrain and Germany, a final opportunity to showcase her role on foreign policy. But she decided to stay in Washington as wildfires spread around Los Angeles. Her own house, in the Brentwood neighborhood, has been in an evacuation zone. Harris didnt travel to the area because she was concerned about diverting local resources from responding to the fire, according to an official in her office who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss her planning. Despite canceling her overseas trip, Harris has signaled her interest in remaining involved on the global stage. Shes spent time in her final week in office making calls to foreign leaders including King Abdullah II of Jordan, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Guatemalan President Bernardo Arvalo. On Wednesday, she was in the Oval Office to watch Biden give his farewell address. He described her as a great partner, and they embraced after the speech. Biden chose Harris as his running mate after her first presidential campaign stalled four years ago. After taking office, her schedule was limited by the coronavirus pandemic and her obligations on Capitol Hill. With the U.S. Senate evenly divided, she was often called on to cast tiebreaking votes, eventually setting a record as she helped advance judicial nominees and landmark legislation. She had to find her role, said Joel Goldstein, a historian who has studied the vice presidency. It took some time to figure it out. Moore remembered an Oval Office meeting with Harris and other senior advisers as Biden deliberated whom to nominate for the U.S. Supreme Court. Although it was unlikely that a liberal justice would have many opportunities to write majority opinions on a court dominated by conservatives, Moore said Harris focused on which candidate would harness the platform to issue dissenting opinions.Harris wanted somebody who could think through the nuances of writing those dissensions, Moore said. Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson, fulfilling his promise to put a Black woman on the bench, and shes often drawn attention for her sharp dissenting opinions.One of Harris original tasks, reducing migration from Central America, became a political burden. Republicans described her as the border czar and blamed her for illegal crossings. However, fewer migrants came from the countries where Harris focused her efforts. She met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Munich shortly before the Russian invasion began three years ago, and she spent a week in Africa to lay the groundwork for renewed U.S. engagement. Harris also traveled three times to Southeast Asia as the administration tried to reorient foreign policy to confront Chinas influence.She had the perception that we could use even more of an emphasis on this occasionally overlooked part of the world, said Phil Gordon, Harris national security adviser. Abortion rights became a defining issue for Harris after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Biden was more hesitant on the topic, and Harris started headlining the White Houses efforts. Lorraine Voles, Harris chief of staff, said the court decision was a turning point for the vice president.That opened up a lane for her in a way that maybe wasnt there previously, she said. People were not focused on the issue of maternal health and reproductive health until people began to see it threatened.Nadia Brown, a Georgetown University government professor who focuses on Black women and politics, said Harris will certainly go down in the history books for breaking down racial and gender barriers in politics. She said Harris time as vice president helped expand the views of everyday Americans who might have misconceptions about what a leader could be or should be.The only question left is what Harris decides to do now. Its not over, Brown said. But Im not sure what that next chapter is. CHRIS MEGERIAN Megerian covers the White House for The Associated Press. He previously wrote about the Russia investigation, climate change, law enforcement and politics in California and New Jersey. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho greets students from Palisades Charter Elementary School upon their arrival at the Brentwood Elementary Science Magnet school in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)2025-01-17T05:03:33Z LOS ANGELES (AP) Days after losing her home in the same fire that destroyed her Los Angeles elementary school, third-grader Gabriela Chevez-Muoz resumed classes this week at another campus temporarily hosting children from her school. She arrived wearing a t-shirt that read Pali the nickname for her Pacific Palisades neighborhood as signs and balloons of dolphins, her schools mascot, welcomed hundreds of displaced students.It feels kind of like the first day of school, Gabriela said. She said she had been scared by the fires but that she was excited to reunite with her best friend and give her hamburger-themed friendship bracelets.Gabriela is among thousands of students whose schooling was turned upside down by wildfires that ravaged the city, destroying several schools and leaving many others in off-limits evacuation zones. Educators across the city are scrambling to find new locations for their students, develop ways to keep up learning, and return a sense of normalcy as the city grieves at least 27 deaths and thousands of destroyed homes from blazes that scorched 63 square miles (163 square kilometers) of land. Gabriela and 400 other students from her school, Palisades Charter Elementary School, started classes temporarily Wednesday at Brentwood Science Magnet, about 5 miles (8 kilometers) away. Her school and another decimated Palisades elementary campus may take more than two years to rebuild, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said. Students from seven other LAUSD campuses in evacuation zones are also temporarily relocating to other schools.As Layla Glassman dropped her daughter off at Brentwood, she said her priority after her familys home burned down was making sure her three children feel safe and secure.We have a roof over our heads. We have them back in school. So, you know, I am happy, she said, her voice cracking. But of course, theres a lot of grief. Many schools have held off on resuming instruction, saying their focus for now has been healing, and trying to restore a sense of community. Some are organizing get-togethers and field trips to keep kids engaged in activities and with each other as they look for new space.The Pasadena Unified School District kept all schools closed this week for its 14,000 students. It offered self-directed online activities but said the work was optional. Between 1,200 and 2,000 students in Pasadena Unified School District are known to be displaced but the number could be as high as as 10,000 based on heat maps of where families lived, district Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco said Thursday. The district aims to reopen some schools by the end of next week and have all students back in classrooms by the end of the month.Schools that did not burn down were damaged by falling trees, debris, ash and smoke that requires extensive cleaning and environmental testing, she said. Hundreds of school staff members citywide lost their homes or had to relocate, compounding the challenges. Some schools are passing on online learning altogether.We all did COVID. We did online instruction. We saw the negative impacts, said Bonnie Brimecombe, principal of Odyssey Charter School-South, which burned to the ground. Families have been dropping their children off at the local Boys and Girls Club so students can be with each other, she said.A total of 850 students attend her school and a sister school in Altadena, Odyssey Charter School-North, which emerged undamaged but is still expected to remain closed for months. At least 40% of the students lost their homes in the fire, she said, making it especially urgent for their well-being to find new space and resume school as soon as possible. At this point we are trying to reopen in-person the very first day that we can, she said.Over the long term, disruptions can have profound effects on students learning and emotional stability.Children who experience natural disasters are more prone to acute illness and symptoms of depression and anxiety, research shows. The physical and mental health impacts put them at greater risk of learning loss: Absences can undermine achievement, as can the effects of trauma on brain function. Among the schools seeking space for temporary classrooms is Palisades Charter High School, which has 3,000 students. Nestled between Sunset Boulevard and the Pacific Coast Highway, Pali High is the kind of California school that Hollywood puts on the big screen and has been featured in productions including the 1976 horror movie Carrie and the TV series Teen Wolf.Most of the buildings are still standing, but about 40% of the campus was damaged, officials said. The school is looking into other campuses, nearby universities and commercial real estate spaces that would allow all its students to stay together until its safe to return, said principal and executive director Pamela Magee. The school delayed the start of the second semester until Tuesday and will temporarily revert to online learning. Axel Forrest, 18, a junior on the lacrosse team, is planning to gather with friends for online school. His family home is gone and for now they are at a hotel near the Los Angeles airport.I feel so out of it, every day. Do I cry? Do I mourn the loss of my home and school? I am trying not to think about it, he said. The longer school is out, the more idle time his mind has to wander.As time is passing Im realizing this is going to be my reality for the next year or two. I am not going to have anywhere to live permanently for a while, he said. And what am I going to do for school now? Its going to be online but for how long? Where will the temporary campus be? How far away is it?At Oak Knoll Montessori, educators have been holding meetups for its 150 students at locations including museums, parks, and a library in an effort for students to find some joy. The fire destroyed the school and several dozen students lost their homes.The only thing that survived the fire was the schools chicken coop, and its five chickens.The chickens have been a nice beacon of hope, said Allwyn Fitzpatrick, the head of school. All the buildings blew up. We have nothing. Not one chair.Fitzpatrick has found a potential new location for the school and hopes to reopen before the end of the month.We have been trying to focus all our attention on the children and how we can temporarily help them normalize all this. Which is an insurmountable task, Fitzpatrick said.___Gecker reported from San Francisco and Rush reported from Portland, Oregon.___The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. KRYSTA FAURIA Krysta covers film, TV and music in Los Angeles. twitter mailto JOCELYN GECKER Gecker is an Associated Press reporter covering education with a focus on social media and youth mental health. twitter mailto CLAIRE RUSH Rush is an Associated Press reporter covering Oregon state government and general news in the Pacific Northwest more broadly. twitter mailto

Martha Rosales, right, talks with migrants mainly from Cuba while they wait for an appointment to apply for asylum in the United States through the CBP One app Wednesday, May 22, 2024, in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)2025-01-17T05:08:01Z TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) A nurse who fled Cuba as part of the Caribbean nations largest exodus in more than six decades needed a place to stay in Mexico as she waited to legally enter the U.S. using a government app. A woman who had lived her whole life in the same Tijuana neighborhood was desperate for medical help after a dog attack left her with wounds to her legs.A mutual acquaintance brought the two women together. Nurse Karla Figueredo stayed with Martha Rosales for three days in October 2023, waiting for a border appointment booked through the CBP One app and treating Rosales dog bites. When Figueredo left for the U.S., she got Rosales permission to give her name to other migrants.Word quickly spread and Rosales made her home part of a roster of at least three dozen migrant shelters in her hometown on the U.S.-Mexico border, temporarily housing people who use the CBP One app. I told God that if they didnt amputate my feet, I would help every Cuban, said Rosales, 45, who was using a wheelchair after being attacked by five dogs until Figueredo helped heal her wounds.CBP One has brought nearly 1 million people to the U.S. on two-year permits with eligibility to work but could go away once President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Figueredo, 25, now works as a medical assistant in the Houston area and keeps in touch with Rosales, who quit her job as a bank cleaner to focus on her migrant shelter. The people Rosales houses, mostly Cubans, refer to her as Ta Martha (Aunt Martha) as she cooks pancake breakfasts, throws birthday parties and shuttles them to their CBP One appointments. Supporters say CBP One has helped bring order to the border and reduced illegal crossings. But Trump has said he would end it as part of a broader immigration crackdown. Critics say it prioritizes a lottery system over people who have long lived in the U.S. illegally while paying taxes and people who have waited years for visas. Dayron Garcia, a doctor in Cuba who heard about Rosales from a nephew, applied with his wife and children and plans to settle with a friend in Houston. He said Rosales house feels like family and that CBP One has been a salvation.Its a guarantee, Garcia, 40, said. You enter with papers, with parole.CBP One began under Trump and changed under BidenU.S. Customs and Border Protection debuted CBP One near the end of Trumps first term as a way for customs brokers to schedule inspections and for visitors with short-term visas to extend stays. The Biden administration extended its use to migrants to replace an opaque patchwork of exemptions to a pandemic-related asylum ban that was then in place.CBP One is popular with Cubans, Venezuelans, Haitians and Mexicans, likely because advocates in their communities promote it. Illegal border crossings by Cubans plunged under CBP One from a peak of nearly 35,000 in April 2022 to just 97 in September.Demand for appointments has far outstripped supply, with an average of about 280,000 people competing for 1,450 daily slots toward the end of last year, according to CBP. Winners must report to a border crossing in three weeks. A night owlMigrant shelters along Mexicos border with the U.S. are now occupied primarily by people seeking the online appointments.Rosales house is in a neighborhood with ramshackle homes where old tires are stacked to stop flash floods. Migrants watch television, play billiards, do chores and look after their children at Rosales house or a rental home nearby. Those who dont yet have appointments work their phones for slots made available daily at eight U.S. border crossings with Mexico, a task likened to trying to buy Taylor Swift concert tickets.Rosales works throughout the night. A helper drives to the airport in an SUV Rosales bought with retirement pay from her bank job. Shortly after midnight, she shuttles guests from her house to Tijuanas main border crossing with San Diego for the days first appointments at 5 a.m. She chats with them, smiles for photos and hugs people goodbye. By 3 a.m., she is at a television station for a four-hour shift cleaning the newsroom and fetching coffee for journalists, who give her the latest information on immigration and the city. She checks her phone for migrants needing shelter who heard about her on social media or from friends and family. Her contact list identifies them by size of party and appointment date: 3 on the 16th, 6 on the 17th. Rosales, one of 13 children, dropped out of school in third grade. Reading the Bible taught her enough to barely understand texts, which she generally responds to with voice messages or calls.Enrique Lucero was Tijuanas director of migrant affairs when she came to City Hall for advice. He helped Rosales establish a legal entity to raise money and made himself available for emergencies, such as when a woman missed her CBP One appointment to give birth. Lucero talked to CBP to make sure the woman and her baby got in.She worries about them. She cries for them, Lucero said. The exodus from CubaBorder arrests of Cubans increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and after anti-government protests in 2021. Nicaragua had recently eased rules for Cubans to fly from Havana, allowing them to avoid walking through the Darien Gap, a dangerous jungle in Colombia and Panama. By the spring of 2022, Cubans eclipsed all nationalities but Mexicans in illegal crossings.CBP One came like a gift from God, said Yoandis Delgado, who flew to Nicaragua in 2023, paid a smuggler $1,000 to reach southern Mexico and was repeatedly robbed by Mexican authorities while trying to reach the U.S. border. CBP One gave us a sense of possibility, of hope.Delgado, a cook in Cuba, said Rosales home and neighborhood dont stand out for people seeking to prey on migrants, giving a sense of security he wouldnt get at hotels or other shelters.She lives in the same condition that we do, not any better, Delgado said after a pancake breakfast. She cries for everything that happens to us, for what we have suffered to get here from Cuba.A grim future for CBP OneBiden administration officials portray CBP One as a key success in its strategy to create legal pathways at the border while deterring illegal crossings. They note people in life-threatening circumstances can come to a border crossing without an appointment to plead their case. Anxiety is spreading among migrants in Mexico who fear Trump will end CBP One. Even those in the U.S. are uneasy because parole expires after two years. The Trump transition team didnt respond to a question about CBP Ones future, but his allies say its overly generous and encourages immigration. A bill that stalled in the Senate in 2023 would have prohibited using the app to admit migrants.Figueredo, the nurse who helped Rosales, plans to get a green card under a 1966 law that applies to Cubans. She says she and her partner, a barber, came to continue to grow professionally and support our future children.She writes Rosales often, telling her that her job is crazy busy and asking about her health. I hope youre very happy, she wrote. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

FILE -President Joe Biden attends the Department of Defense Commander in Chief farewell ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Jan. 16, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)2025-01-17T10:00:29Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Biden announced Friday that he was commuting the sentences of almost 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses, using his final days in office on a flurry of clemency actions meant to nullify prison terms he deemed too harsh.The recent round of clemency gives Biden the presidential record for most individual pardons and commutations issued. The Democrat said he is seeking to undo disproportionately long sentences compared to the sentences they would receive today under current law, policy, and practice. Todays clemency action provides relief for individuals who received lengthy sentences based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, as well as outdated sentencing enhancements for drug crimes, Biden said in a statement. This action is an important step toward righting historic wrongs, correcting sentencing disparities, and providing deserving individuals the opportunity to return to their families and communities after spending far too much time behind bars. The White House did not immediately release the names of those receiving commutations. Still, Biden said more could yet be coming, promising to use the time before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated Monday to continue to review additional commutations and pardons.Fridays action follows Bidens commutations last month of the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the pardoning of 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. That was the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. All of this comes as Biden continues to weigh whether to issue sweeping pardons for officials and allies who the White House fears could be unjustly targeted by Trumps administration. Though presidential pardoning powers are absolute, such a preemptive move would be a novel and risky use of the presidents extraordinary constitutional power. Last month, Biden also commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment just weeks before Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office. Trump has vowed to roll back that order after his term begins.Biden also recently pardoned his son Hunter, not just for his convictions on federal gun and tax violations but for any potential federal offense committed over an 11-year period, as the president feared Trump allies would seek to prosecute his son for other offenses.If history is any guide, meanwhile, Biden also is likely to issue more targeted pardons to help allies before leaving the White House, as presidents typically do in some of their final actions. Just before midnight on the final night of his first term, Trump, a Republican, signed a flurry of pardons and commutations for more than 140 people, including his former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black and ex-members of Congress. Trumps final act as president in his first term was to announce a pardon for Al Pirro, ex-husband of Fox News Channel host Jeanine Pirro, one of his staunchest defenders. Al Pirro was convicted of conspiracy and tax evasion charges and sentenced to more than two years in prison in 2000. WILL WEISSERT Weissert covers national politics and the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto

An Israeli soldier sits on a tank at the border with Gaza in southern Israel on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)2025-01-17T09:47:47Z JERUSALEM, Israel (AP) Israels security cabinet convened Friday to decide whether to approve a deal that would release dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza and pause the 15-month-war.If the cabinet approves, the deal will then go to the government for final sign-off before the ceasefire goes into effect.U.S. President Joe Biden and key mediator Qatar announced the deal on Wednesday, which is aimed at releasing scores of hostages held in Gaza and winding down the war that has destabilized the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.Fridays meeting comes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said earlier there were last minute snags in finalizing the agreement. Israel had delayed a security cabinet vote Thursday, blaming the dispute with Hamas for holding up approval. However, a pre-dawn statement appeared to clear the way for the deal to be voted on by the security cabinet. Netanyahu said he had instructed a special task force to prepare to receive the hostages returning from Gaza, and that their families were informed the deal had been reached. The Prime Ministers office said that if a deal is passed, the ceasefire could start Sunday with the first hostages released. Under the deal, 33 of some 100 hostages who remain in Gaza are set to be released over the next six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Israeli forces will pull back from many areas, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians would be able to return to whats left of their homes, and there would be a surge of humanitarian assistance. The remainder of the hostages, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second and much more difficult phase that will be negotiated during the first.Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal, while Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it dismantles the group and to maintain open-ended security control over the territory. Longer-term questions about postwar Gaza remain, including who will rule the territory or oversee the daunting task of reconstruction.An Egyptian official and a Hamas official confirmed that the last-minute issues were over the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli jails during phase one of the deal, but those have now been resolved. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations. The Hamas official said mediators showed the group Israels approval.The Egyptian official added that an Israeli delegation from the military and Israels Shin Bet internal security agency arrived in Cairo Friday morning to discuss the reopening of Rafah crossing, a key link between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. An Israeli official who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations confirmed a delegation was going to Cairo to discuss the crossing. The agreement has drawn fierce resistance from Netanyahus far-right coalition partners, which the Israeli prime minister depends on to remain in power. On Thursday, Israels hard-line national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, threatened to quit the government if Israel approved the ceasefire. On Friday, Ben-Gvir wrote on X if the deal passes, we will leave the government with a heavy heart. Ben-Gvirs resignation would not bring down the government or derail the ceasefire deal, but the move would destabilize the government at a delicate moment and could lead to its collapse if Ben-Gvir were joined by other key Netanyahu allies. Meanwhile, the fighting continues in Gaza, with Israeli strikes killing at least 72 people on Thursday. In previous conflicts, both sides have stepped up military operations in the final hours before ceasefires as a way to project strength.Hamas triggered the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack into Israel that killed some 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Israel responded with a devastating offensive that has killed over 46,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and militants but say women and children make up more than half of those killed.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-warMagdy reported from Cairo, Egypt SAM MEDNICK Mednick is the West and Central Africa reporter for the Associated Press. She focuses on conflict, humanitarian crises and human rights abuses. twitter RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Lawyers Igor Sergunin, from left, Alexei Liptser and Vadim Kobzev, all who once represented late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, stand in a courtroom in Petushki, Vladimir region, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)2025-01-17T07:45:36Z PETUSHKI, Russia (AP) Three lawyers who once represented the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny were convicted by a court Friday as part of the Kremlins crackdown on dissent that has reached levels unseen since Soviet times. Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Liptser were already in custody and were given sentences from 3 1/2 to five years by a court in the town of Petushki, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Moscow. They were arrested in October 2023 on charges of involvement with extremist groups, as Navalnys networks were deemed by authorities. The case was widely seen as a way to increase pressure on the opposition to discourage defense lawyers from taking political cases.At the time, Navalny was serving a 19-year prison term on several criminal convictions, including extremism. He died in a Russian prison camp in February 2023. The independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that Kobzev said in his final statement in court on Jan. 10 that we are being tried for transmitting Navalnys thoughts to other people.The independent Russian news outlet Mediazona reported three journalists attending the sentencing were detained and taken to a police station. Navalnys networks were deemed extremist following a 2021 ruling that outlawed his organizations the Foundation for Fighting Corruption and a network of regional offices as extremist groups. That ruling, which exposed anyone involved with the organizations to prosecution, was condemned by Kremlin critics as politically motivated and designed to stifle Navalnys activities.According to Navalnys allies, authorities accused the lawyers of using their position to pass information from him to his team.Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner and outspoken opponent of President Vladimir Putin, was arrested in 2021 upon his return from Germany, where he was recuperating from a nerve agent poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin. He was ordered to serve 2 1/2 years in prison. After two more trials, his sentence was extended to 19 years. He and his allies said the charges were politically motivated and accused the Kremlin of seeking to jail him for life.In December 2023, Navalny was moved from a penal colony in the Vladimir region east of Moscow to one above the Arctic Circle, where he died in February at the age of 47 under still-unexplained circumstances. His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, and members of his team alleged he was killed on orders from the Kremlin. Officials have rejected the accusation.Two other Navalny lawyers, Olga Mikhailova and Alexander Fedulov, are on a wanted list but no longer live in Russia. Mikhailova, who defended Navalny for a decade, said she was charged in absentia with extremism.Kobzev, Liptser and Sergunin have been deemed to be political prisoners, according to human rights advocates from Memorial, Russias most prominent rights group that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. The group demands their immediate release.Independent Russian media reported Friday that Konstantin Kotov, an activist accused of donating to Navalnys organization, left Russia before he was due to appear in a Moscow court Friday. He told Mediazona he decided to leave after a heart surgeon, Ivan Tishchenko, was jailed for four years for donating around $34 to Navalnys organization.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump dances at a campaign event at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Oct. 15, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, file)2025-01-17T05:04:55Z JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) President-elect Donald Trump has proposed trillions of dollars of tax cuts for individuals and businesses. In some states, governors and lawmakers are seeking to cut millions more.The movement for more tax cuts comes after most states already have slashed income, sales or property taxes in recent years, and its pressing ahead even though state revenue growth has been slowing or stagnating. As Congress considers Trumps tax-cutting agenda, state legislatures that are currently getting underway will be weighing whether or how much they can afford to reduce their own taxes while still funding core government functions such as schools, prisons, roads and social services. Unlike the federal government, which can run a deficit, states generally must adopt balanced budgets. What tax cuts does Trump want? The Republican-led Congress is considering whether to extend and expand various income tax cuts enacted in 2017 during Trumps first term in office. Some are due to expire this year. The Congressional Budget Office estimates keeping the expiring provisions in place would add about $4 trillion to deficits over a decade.Trump also supports some new cuts, including lowering the corporate income tax rate to 15%. The rate already was reduced from 35% to 21% during his first term.While campaigning last year, Trump proposed to exempt overtime pay, workers tips and Social Security benefits from federal income taxes. If adopted, those could trigger additional state tax cuts. In 18 states and the District of Columbia, federal income tax changes automatically carry over to state income taxes, unless states specifically reject them. Other states must adopt federal tax changes for them to apply to state income taxes. Can states afford more tax cuts?As they emerged from the coronavirus pandemic, many states accumulated large surpluses thanks to an economic resurgence and influx of federal aid. That fueled a surge in tax cuts that spread to almost every state over the past few years. State revenues have since flattened out, partly because of those tax cuts. State budgets enacted for the current year assume a collective 1.9% increase in general fund revenues, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers.But from July through November the first five months of the budget year in most states total state tax revenues declined by 0.6%, according to a new report by the nonprofit Urban Institute. In light of weak revenues, states should pause and stop cutting taxes, said Lucy Dadayan, a principal research associate at the Urban Institute.But others view things differently. Though down from their peak, revenues in most states remain strong and well above pre-pandemic levels, even after adjusting for inflation, said Jared Walczak, vice president of state projects at the nonprofit Tax Foundation.As in previous years, more states are again considering tax cuts rather than tax increases in 2025. Overall, states are experiencing tighter budget conditions, said Brian Sigritz, director of state fiscal studies at the National Association of State Budget Officers. But, he added, I think theres still an appetite amongst many legislators and governors that still you ought to provide tax relief. What are states doing on income taxes?Kentucky was quick out of the gate as its 2025 legislative session began. The Republican-led state House passed and sent to the Senate a bill that would lower the individual income tax rate by a half-percentage point to 3.5%, effective in 2026. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has signaled support for it. If enacted, it would be the states third tax rate cut since 2023.Elsewhere, new Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe has talked of phasing out the state income tax. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster all have proposed additional income tax rate cuts. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has proposed ending the states tax on Social Security benefits, while Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has proposed eliminating the state income tax on tips and helping offset a car tax for low- and middle-income earners. All of those governors are Republicans. But Democratic New York Kathy Hochul also has unveiled a sweeping plan that would cut income taxes for most people, expand the states child tax credit and send New Yorkers up to $500 for what she bills as an inflation refund.In Mississippis Republican-led House, legislation would gradually eliminate the income tax, reduce the sales tax on groceries and partially offset that by raising local sales taxes and gas taxes. New income tax cuts recently enacted in Louisiana also are being partially offset by a sales tax hike. What about other taxes?Some states are focusing on property tax relief in response to concerns about rising housing costs.North Dakota voters in November defeated a ballot measure that would have ended local property taxes based on assessed value and forced the state to provide billions of dollars of replacement revenue to local governments. But that wasnt the end of the matter. New Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong has proposed gradually cutting property taxes on peoples homes by tapping into the earnings from the states oil tax savings. The goal is to eventually wipe out the property tax.In Wyoming, conservative Freedom Caucus members who won control of the House want to slash residential property taxes by 25%. Kansas Republicans have a variety of proposals: A House panel is considering a 7.5% cut in the states property tax levy for schools, while top Senate Republicans are backing a constitutional amendment to limit growth in appraised property values. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly said she prefers to wait a year before making more tax cuts but would look at proposals to modify our tax structure that pay for themselves.Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, a Republican, also outlined a plan this week to put more money into property tax relief.___Associated Press writers Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; and Bruce Schreiner in Frankfort, Kentucky, contributed to this report.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., speaks during a campaign event in York, Pa., Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)2025-01-17T05:45:52Z HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) When Democrat John Fetterman got elected to Pennsylvanias U.S. Senate seat, many backers hoped hed challenge convention and the status quo. He did and has just not in the way many had expected.Fetterman has broken with his party on some policy matters and warmed to President-elect Donald Trump, a man he bashed on the 2024 campaign trail as a felon who is obsessed with revenge. Fetterman later became the first Senate Democrat to meet with Trump since the election. In fact, Fetterman has warmed to Trump so much that some in his party are quietly disavowing the man they supported in 2022, when the Pennsylvanian easily won a three-candidate primary and survived a stroke amid a high-pressure campaign to become the only Democrat to flip a Republican Senate seat that year.Christine Jacobs, who founded Represent PA, an organization to help elect Democratic women to Pennsylvanias legislature, said the Democrats shes talking to are both disappointed and concerned by Fettermans dalliance with Trump. Their worry, Jacobs said, is that Trump can say hes talking to Democrats like John Fetterman, but its not going to change what he does and itll end up looking like John Fettermans being used. Fettermans approach is reminding some Democrats of former Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, both of whom clashed with their party during President Joe Bidens term, became political independents and didnt run for reelection. Still, Fetterman who often mocked Manchin during his 2022 Senate run isnt the only one adjusting to the new political reality.Democrats are grappling with election losses across battleground states, including Pennsylvania, that gave Trump and his party control of the White House and Congress. Democrats are weighing how much to challenge Trump and whether to embrace some of his policies as they try to rebuild their coalition. I havent changed my core values throughout out all this, Fetterman told KDKA-AM radio in Pittsburgh on Thursday. But, he said, engaging with Republicans is one of the reasons why they elected me, they wanted me to do these things.Now Pennsylvanias senior senator, Fetterman had a difficult start to his Senate career. He was diagnosed with auditory processing disorder, a complication from the stroke, and checked himself into the hospital for depression just one month after taking office.Six weeks later, Fetterman returned to the Senate seemingly transformed joking with colleagues and shedding his suit-and-tie for the hoodies and shorts that had long been his trademark. He quickly made waves for instance, lambasting then-Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., for remaining in office while facing bribery charges. Menendez was convicted last year.After Hamas attacked Israel, Fetterman became an outspoken supporter of Israel on an issue that had firmly divided Democrats. Now, Fetterman has become the only Senate Democrat to meet with Trump, after flying to Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last weekend. Fetterman said it was only reasonable to meet with the incoming president in what Fetterman has described as a good and honest conversation that lasted for over an hour. And I can only see good things emerging from that, Fetterman told KDKA.For his part, Trump told the Washington Examiner that they had a totally fascinating meeting and that Fetterman is a commonsense person and not liberal or conservative.Some Democrats say Fetterman is a smart politician who is acknowledging political reality.Mustafa Rashed, a Philadelphia-based Democratic strategist, said Pennsylvania should be considered a Republican state after Trumps second victory there in three tries and the GOPs down-ballot trouncing of Democrats in Novembers statewide races.Hes in a red state, Rashed said. Of course hes got to go meet with him. And if you want to continue to represent a red state, of course youve got to meet with the president.Fetterman who is among 10 Senate Democrats representing states won by Trump is distinguishing himself in other ways. Hes met with several of Trumps Cabinet picks unlike his fellow Democrats and pledged to vote for some, even posing for photos with a thumbs-up, which Trump often strikes in photos with well-wishers.Fetterman is also not dismissing Trumps eyebrow-raising idea of acquiring Greenland, the massive and rare earth mineral-rich Danish territory. On Fox News, Fetterman called buying Greenland a responsible conversation and compared it to the Louisiana Purchase.He co-sponsored a GOP bill to detain unauthorized immigrants accused of certain crimes and helped get it past a procedural hurdle in the Senate. Amid brewing Democratic opposition, Fetterman remarked on Fox News that if enough Democrats couldnt join with Republicans to pass the bill then thats a reason why we lost the 2024 election. Democratic strategists note Fetterman forged his political career largely on his own, independently from the party.As a small-town mayor in Braddock, Fetterman became a minor celebrity for his looks hes 6-foot-8 and tattooed with a shaved head and his efforts to put the depressed former steel town back on the map.He endorsed insurgent Democrat Bernie Sanders in 2016s presidential primary and ran from the left against the party-backed Democrat in 2016s Senate primary. When the state Democratic Party looked to endorse a candidate in 2022s three-way primary, Fetterman shrugged it off as an inside game.Jamie Perrapato, executive director of Turn PA Blue, which helps organize and train campaign volunteers, said shes seeing a lot of outrage on the left over Fetterman engaging with Trump. But nobody should be surprised, she said.Fetterman is a wild card, Perrapato said, and if anyone thought hed fall in line with Senate Democratic leadership, they were crazy.Fettermans drift has given rise to whispers that he may change his registration.Last month, appearing on ABCs This Week, Fetterman said that hes not leaving the Democratic Party, but that meeting Trump nominees and aligning with some GOP policy views is part of representing the kind of state that we have in Pennsylvania.Still, Fetterman hasnt backed away from his bedrock issues, such as support for labor unions, abortion rights or LGBT rights. He has had close relationships with some top Pennsylvania Democrats, including former Sen. Bob Casey, and Jim Burn, a former state Democratic Party chairman, said Fetterman campaigned hard for Vice President Kamala Harris before she lost to Trump.Nobody can say John Fetterman was hedging bets for the Republicans, Burn said, because he was working his tail off for Kamala Harris all over the state.___Follow Marc Levy on X at: https://x.com/timelywriter. MARC LEVY Levy covers politics and state government in Pennsylvania for The Associated Press. He is based in Harrisburg. twitter

A miner, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals, shows bruises on his hands that he got while climbing out of the mine, during an interview with The Associated Press, in Stilfontein, South Africa, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)2025-01-17T13:05:57Z STILFONTEIN, South Africa. (AP) Dozens of men sat and lay together in small caves, some so shallow they couldnt stand up. The air was wet and stuffy, and wracking coughs echoed in the confined space.Bodies wrapped in fabric and twine were set aside in rows nearby. Bad odors permeated everything, so it was hard to distinguish what smells were coming from the dead versus the unwashed bodies or the damp rock. The miners were emaciated from lack of food, which was hard to come by since police cracked down on their illegal mining and for a time halted the supply deliveries.Usually the men would eat meat, bread, and porridge cooked over camp stoves run by propane, but all of these had run out. With no mining work to distract them, they smoked cigarettes and marijuana for a while, when they still had it. The description, from a miner and from cellphone videos sent to the surface earlier this month, sheds some light on the horror hundreds of men suffered deep underground in an abandoned mine in South Africa, after a police operation cut off food and supplies to smoke them out because they were digging illegally for gold. The videos were released publicly by a group representing the miners. Police finally launched a rescue effort earlier this week, under court order, and said no one was left underground. Dozens of bodies were pulled out and at least 87 confirmed dead. The miner, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals, said he surfaced on Christmas Day after entering the shaft in July, spending months underground where he experienced extreme hunger and saw many of his fellow diggers dying from starvation and illnesses. He is one of nearly 2,000 illegal miners who have surfaced from the mine near the town of Stilfontein since August last year when police targeted it as part of an operation that aims to tackle the widespread illicit mining trade. The trade bled the South African economy of more than $3 billion last year, according to the mines minister. At the worst of times, said the miner, they ate rough salt, the only thing leftover to stanch the hunger.I felt like I have some bad luck because I had only been underground for two weeks when the operation started. That is when things started going bad, we stopped receiving food and we lost contact with the outside world, that could only mean that the police have arrived and probably arrested or scared off the people lowering the food, he said.The miner said the months that followed were horrendous.By September, things were really bad. People started getting hungry, they started getting sick, some started dying. We started having dead bodies. There is nothing worse than seeing somebody die and there is nothing you can do about it, he said.The miner, a 40-year-old father of six children, exited the mine in December through a separate shaft that had steel stairs. It is extremely difficult to navigate, and he bruised his hands badly on his way out.As we were climbing out, we saw dead bodies of other guys who had attempted to exit the same way. Others had fallen down, others were full corpses but there were also lots of bones, almost like skeletons. Its not easy to exit there, many people died trying to do that, he said. So why do the miners go into this subterranean purgatory in the first place? It mostly comes down to money. Illegal mining is one of the biggest sources of income for poor households in townships located near an estimated 6,100 disused mines around the country where illegal mining is rife.The miner said he was told he could earn about $5,300 for working for a few weeks to a month in one of the countrys deepest gold mines, where there are no longer any official operations. Its a huge sum in South Africa, which has deep inequality and one of the highest unemployment rates in the world.Many other miners come looking for work from neighboring countries like Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi and Congo, and children are sometimes roped in. There were 13 children among those who came out of the Stilfontein mine last year. Mmastona Mbizana, a community member of Khumo township, told The Associated Press that two of her sons were involved in illegal mining because of unemployment and poverty.Her 22-year-old son was arrested after coming out of the mine during the police operation in December and is currently out on bail.I heard from somebody in the neighborhood that he had gone underground. His father died last year and he was not even here for the funeral because he was underground for months. They say they are doing it because of the situation here at home, things are tough, said Mbizana.Mbizanas other son, Lucky, was arrested at the same mine while working as a runner on the surface sending food and other supplies down to the miners. Walking on crutches, he said he had been convicted for involvement in illegal mining. Out of the blue the police came, firing rubber bullets and teargas. The teargas blinded me and I fell, broke my leg and collapsed, he said. Lucky said he used to make $424 a month for lowering food and other parcels into the shaft daily, including tinned vegetables and fish, loaves of brown bread, porridge, meat, cigarettes and liquor.Activists blame the South African government for the loss of lives that occurred at Stilfontein, saying authorities should have acted earlier.However, the government has maintained that while the deaths were a tragedy, illegal mining is a criminal activity that is detrimental to the countrys economy.Illegal mining in South Africa is known to cause far-reaching problems for nearby communities, including violent crime and destruction of community infrastructure.Community members also speak of hearing gun battles between rival mining groups.The people who must take responsibility for the deaths that have happened here are those who are benefitting from illegal mining, Mines Minister Gwede Mantashe said in Stilfontein this week.According to South African Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, authorities are investigating the entire value chain of illegal mining, including who the main beneficiaries are.Where these products go is a subject of our investigation, said Mchunu, adding illegal mining is robbing South Africa of a lot of money.