STATE DEPARTMENT — The U.S. State Department held a flag-raising ceremony on Thursday for hostages and wrongful detainees, reaffirming the U.S. government’s commitment to securing the return of American citizens and lawful permanent residents detained abroad.

“Our policies are 100% focused on returning people home,” said Adam Boehler, President Donald Trump’s special envoy for hostages. He added, “You’ll see some announcements in the coming days,” without providing further details.

“President Trump is committed to bringing home all Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained overseas.  This includes the Americans and all other hostages that Hamas is still holding hostage in Gaza,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA.

“Efforts to bring them home are ongoing and sensitive – we do not have any meetings to announce or readout at this time,” the spokesperson said.

March 9 marks 18 years since former FBI agent Robert Levinson was abducted in Iran.

In recognition of this, Congress, with bipartisan support, designated the Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Flag in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024.

On Thursday, FBI Director Kash Patel said Washington is determined to “zero out” hostage cases and wrongful detentions, as well as repatriating the remains of those who could not be brought home, through diplomatic and intelligence efforts.

The ceremony came a day after Trump welcomed eight former hostages who had been held by U.S.-designated terror group Hamas to the White House.

On Wednesday, the White House also confirmed that U.S. officials have engaged in ongoing discussions with Hamas. The talks, held in Doha, Qatar, mark the first known direct engagement between the United States and Hamas since the State Department designated the group as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.

Boehler led the direct talks with Hamas, which were reportedly focused on securing the release of U.S. hostages and exploring a potential end of the war without Hamas in power in Gaza.

Among the hostages still held by Hamas, five are U.S. citizens, including 21-year-old Edan Alexander, who is believed to be the last American-Israeli hostage still alive in Gaza.

His mother, Yael Alexander, recently spoke at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. “This is the simple truth: The situation with the hostages becomes more urgent every day,” she said.

“They are working on Phase 2 now. We don’t see it as a phase — we see it as the way to bring our son home. It doesn’t matter what you call it; what matters is that there is an agreement to bring the remaining hostages home as soon as possible,” she said.

This week, Israeli officials said that Israel is ready to move forward with the second phase of a Gaza ceasefire deal, provided Hamas agrees to release more of the 59 hostages it is still holding.

Some information was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
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With tariffs taking center stage in the Trump administration, experts warn that industries dependent on cross-border trade will feel the biggest impact. Stephanie Martinez explains.
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WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning a reorganization that includes cutting over 80,000 jobs from the sprawling agency that provides health care and other services for millions of veterans, according to an internal memo obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.

The VA’s chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, told top-level officials at the agency Tuesday that it had an objective to cut enough employees to return to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000. That would require terminating tens of thousands of employees after the VA expanded during the Biden administration, as well as to cover veterans impacted by burn pits under the 2022 PACT Act.

The memo instructs top-level staff to prepare for an agency-wide reorganization in August to “resize and tailor the workforce to the mission and revised structure.” It also calls for agency officials to work with the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency to “move out aggressively, while taking a pragmatic and disciplined approach” to the Trump administration’s goals. Government Executive first reported on the internal memo.

“Things need to change,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said in a video posted on social media Wednesday afternoon, adding that the layoffs would not mean cuts to veterans’ health care or benefits.

“This administration is finally going to give the veterans what they want,” Collins said. “President Trump has a mandate for generational change in Washington and that’s exactly what we’re going to deliver at the VA.”

Veterans have already been speaking out against the cuts at the VA that so far had included a few thousand employees and hundreds of contracts. More than 25% of the VA’s workforce is comprised of veterans.

The plans underway at the VA showed how the Trump administration’s DOGE initiative, led by billionaire Elon Musk, is not holding back on an all-out effort to slash federal agencies, even for those that have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement that the president “refuses to accept the VA bureaucracy and bloat that has hindered veterans’ ability to receive timely and quality care.” She added that the changes would “ensure greater efficiency and transparency” at the VA.

The VA last year experienced its highest-ever service levels, reaching over 9 million enrollees and delivering more than 127.5 million health care appointments, according to the agency’s figures.

However, Michael Missal, who was the VA’s inspector general for nine years until he was fired last month as part of Trump’s sweeping dismissal of independent oversight officials at government agencies, told the AP that the VA is already suffering from a lack of “expertise” as top-level officials either leave or are shuffled around under the president’s plans.

“What’s going to happen is VA’s not going to perform as well for veterans, and veterans are going to get harmed,” said Missal, who was a guest of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. at Trump’s Tuesday address to Congress.

In Congress, Democrats have decried the cuts at the VA and other agencies, while Republicans have so far watched with caution the Trump administration’s changes.

Rep. Mike Bost, the Republican chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said in a statement that he would “continue to ask questions and keep a close eye on how, or if, this plan evolves.”

“I have questions about the impact these reductions and discussions could have on the delivery of services, especially following the implementation of the PACT Act,” Bost added.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the Republican chair of the Senate Budget Committee, was displeased the VA had not given lawmakers an advance notification of the changes, saying it was “political malpractice not to consult Congress.”

“Maybe you’ve got a good reason to do it,” he said. “But we don’t need to be reading memos in the paper about a 20% cut at the VA.”

The changes underway at the VA are already prompting worry among veterans groups as they face layoffs and confusion about whether their services will be affected.

Brent Reiffer, a Marine veteran who receives medical care through the VA and advocates with the Wounded Warrior Project, said that among his community “confusion that leads to frustration” is setting in.

“If you draw that to a conclusion sometimes, it’s the veteran just throws the hands up and sort of doesn’t go to the VA,” Reiffer said. “What you end up with is a lot of veterans that are not getting the care that they deserve.”

Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees veteran’s affairs, said in a statement that the Trump administration “has launched an all-out assault” against progress the VA has made in expanding its services as the number of covered veterans grows and includes those impacted by toxic burn pits.

“Their plan prioritizes private sector profits over veterans’ care, balancing the budget on the backs of those who served. It’s a shameful betrayal, and veterans will pay the price for their unforgivable corruption, incompetence, and immorality,” Blumenthal said in a statement.

Democratic leaders in the House also spotlighted the impact of Trump’s cuts on veterans Wednesday.

Rep. Katherine Clark, the No. 2 ranked in House Democratic leadership, said at a news conference, “Democrats are here to say in unison we will not allow our veterans to be defined as government waste.”
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The U.S. Justice Department announced indictments Wednesday against 12 Chinese nationals accused in a global hacking campaign targeting U.S.-based dissidents, news organizations, government agencies and a large religious organization. 

According to court documents, China’s Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of State Security used a network of private companies and hackers-for-hire to steal information and help locate dissidents and critics throughout the world.  

“Today’s announcements reveal that the Chinese Ministry of Public Security has been paying hackers-for-hire to inflict digital harm on Americans who criticize the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” said Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI’s Cyber Division in a statement. 

The suspects include two officers in China’s Ministry of Public Security, eight employees of a company known as i-Soon, and two members of a group known as Advanced Persistent Threat 27 (APT27). 

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, told The Associated Press Wednesday that the allegations were a “smear” and said, “We hope that relevant parties will adopt a professional and responsible attitude and base their characterization of cyber incidents on sufficient evidence rather than groundless speculation and accusations.” 

All of those indicted are at large, and the Justice Department is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information about the MPS officers and i-Soon, the Chinese company that employed most of the hackers.  

The company is accused of selling stolen information “to China’s intelligence and security services to suppress free speech and democratic processes worldwide, and target groups deemed a threat to the Chinese government,” according to a news release from the FBI. 

i-Soon also conducted computer intrusions on its own initiative, charging “the MSS and MPS equivalent to between approximately $10,000 and $75,000 for each email inbox it successfully hacked,” the indictment said.  

The company also provided training in hacking skills to the government agencies. 

Among the group’s targets were a large religious organization critical of the Chinese government that previously sent missionaries to China, and a group that promoted human rights and religious freedom in China. 

The New York Assembly and multiple news organizations in the United States were targeted, including those that have opposed the Communist Party of China or delivered uncensored news to China. 

Foreign targets included a religious leader, a Hong Kong newspaper and the foreign ministries of Taiwan, India, South Korea, and Indonesia, according to the Justice Department release. 

Separate indictments were issued against the two men connected to APT27, Zhou Shuai and Yin Kecheng, “for their involvement in the multi-year, for-profit computer intrusion campaigns dating back, in the case of Yin, to 2013,” the Justice Department release stated. 

The State Department announced a reward of up to $2 million for information leading to the arrest of Zhou and Yin. They are accused of hacking numerous “U.S.-based technology companies, think tanks, law firms, defense contractors, local governments, health care systems, and universities, leaving behind them a wake of millions of dollars in damages,” the release stated. 

Yin is accused in a U.S. Treasury Department hack between September and December 2024. 

The two face several charges that include computer network conspiracy, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.  

“As evidenced by today’s and previous announcements, China offers safe harbor for private sector companies that conduct malicious cyber activity against the United States and its partners,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement. 

The indictments were the result of a joint investigation by the Justice Department, FBI, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and Departments of State and the Treasury. 

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. 
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As European Union leaders prepare for emergency talks to ramp up military spending after the Trump administration suspended aid to Ukraine, several Russia experts say Moscow is trying to capitalize on fragmenting Western cohesion.

Following last week’s televised Oval Office clash between U.S. and Ukrainian leaders, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov on Monday accused Europe of seeking to prolong the war, adding that changes in U.S. “foreign policy configurations” largely coincide with Moscow’s vision.

The comments came before an EU financial summit planned for Thursday that aims to grapple with stabilizing continental security and helping Ukraine after decades of dependence on the U.S. defense umbrella.

In a recent interview with the military newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called President Donald Trump a “pragmatist” whose motto is “common sense.” He also said, “All tragedies in the world” over the past 500 years “originated in Europe or occurred owing to European policies,” while “the Americans played no seditious, let alone ‘inflammatory,’ role.”

Calling Europe Enemy No. 1 is “becoming the main trend in the Kremlin’s policy,” said exiled independent Russian political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin. “Therefore, having changed his tune … [Lavrov] explained to the audience that the U.S. is, if not a friend, then a reliable partner, and that means Britain and France are always to blame for everything.”

Oreshkin also said the relatively positive U.S. depiction shows the Kremlin is hoping for an “aggravation of contradictions” between Europe and America.

But Novaya Gazeta columnist Andrei Kolesnikov said it was premature for Russian authorities to assume Trump is taking Russia’s side in the war.

Trump’s “interest, which he equates with the interests of the United States, is to end the conflict,” Kolesnikov told VOA. “But there are two sides to the conflict. And if during future negotiations … [Trump] remains dissatisfied with the intransigence of the Russian side, no one will stand on ceremony. New [U.S.] sanctions and measures to reduce oil prices will follow with the same decisiveness and speed as [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy’s ‘punishment.’”

Kolesnikov was referring to the contentious Feb. 28 Oval Office meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy, in which top U.S. officials accused him of being insufficiently grateful for U.S. military support.

The meeting concluded without the signing of an expected defense deal involving Ukrainian rare-earth minerals.

With long-held certainties about U.S. reliability as a security partner suddenly in doubt, EU and NATO leaders gathered Sunday in London to map out a path forward.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for uniting “around a new plan for a just and enduring peace,” while French President Emmanuel Macron said his country and Britain had agreed on an alternative peace plan envisaging a one-month partial ceasefire to end mutual attacks on energy infrastructure, followed by a second stage involving sending peacekeepers to Ukraine.

The White House on Monday announced temporary suspension of all U.S. military aid to Kyiv, although Trump during an address to Congress on Tuesday said Zelenskyy had signaled renewed interest in inking the U.S.-proposed defense deal.

According to U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, Trump on Wednesday halted intelligence cooperation with Ukraine.

Against this unclear backdrop, Russian officials have refrained from criticizing the U.S. administration and Trump personally while shifting their line of attack from the United States toward Europe.

Thursday’s summit in Brussels comes as the EU is arguably at its weakest point, fragmented by the steady rise of a hard right that is often pro-Russian.

EU leaders are also expected to discuss whether to place more arms contracts with Ukraine’s defense industry, and to help integrate it into the European industrial network.

The Trump administration has demanded that Europeans spend as much as 5% of GDP on defense, well beyond the NATO benchmark of at least 2%. Seven European allies still fall short of even that target. The U.S. spends around 3.4%, according to NATO figures, and a Pentagon audit that could reduce that is pending.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
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Mayors of four of the largest cities in the U.S. appeared before lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday to defend their so-called “sanctuary city” laws, which restrict local officials in helping enforce federal immigration regulations.

The Republicans who lead the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have long criticized such laws, as has U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican who returned to the White House in January promising to deport more unauthorized immigrants, including asylum-seekers, than his predecessors.

In opening remarks, Committee Chairman James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, told the mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City, all Democrats, that Congress should vote against sending even “a single penny” of federal funding to sanctuary cities.

“These reckless sanctuary policies also force federal immigration officers to go into local communities to apprehend criminal illegal aliens,” Comer said. “If sanctuary cities were to simply communicate and work with federal immigration authorities, then federal agents could arrest criminal illegal aliens in a secure environment like a state or local jail.”

The mayors defended the laws as making all their residents safer, even as lawmakers on the committee, which is known for its sometimes combative hearings, interrupted some answers that went beyond a “yes” or “no.” State and municipal officials have said the U.S. Constitution’s Tenth Amendment prevents the U.S. government from commandeering local officials to enforce federal law.

All the mayors said they have always and will always honor criminal arrest warrants issued by courts.

The specifics of sanctuary laws vary from city to city, and some have been on the books for decades, but they are generally intended to afford migrants similar due-process rights as those of citizens.

Ranking Member Gerry Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia, said sanctuary city laws are “in full compliance of federal law.”

“They do not obstruct ICE from carrying out its duties,” Connolly said, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, adding that local police, not federal agents, were in the best position to ensure public safety.

New York Mayor Eric Adams has said he is willing to help with Trump’s deportation efforts as he tries to get Trump to dismiss a federal criminal indictment charging him with corruption. Some Republicans questioned Adams, a Democrat, more gently than they did the other mayors, while at least three Democrats asked Adams if, as some federal prosecutors have alleged, the mayor had struck an improper agreement with the Trump administration to escape prosecution.

“There’s no deal, there’s no quid pro quo, and I did nothing wrong,” Adams replied to Representative Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California, who also called on Adams to resign.

Adams, who is running for reelection, has said he wants the city’s laws weakened to allow cooperation with the federal government’s deportation efforts where a migrant has been only accused, but not convicted, of a serious crime. He also wants to allow federal immigration agents back on Rikers Island, the city’s main jail complex. New York City Council members have said they will not weaken the law.

In his remarks to the House, Adams said New York City always complies with local, state and federal law. He said he had no tolerance for criminals, but also that he “must create an atmosphere that allows every law-abiding resident, documented or not, to access vital services without fear of being turned over to federal authorities.”

“If an undocumented person refuses to seek medical care until they have a medical emergency, our city’s health care system will be strained, and if an undocumented individual witnesses a crime but is afraid to call 911 for fear of being turned over to federal authorities, criminals will roam free,” Adams said.

His fellow mayors relayed similar concerns about migrant children and parents being afraid of going to schools, police stations, churches or clinics, including migrants who had acquired legal permanent residency or U.S. citizenship but feared being profiled because of their accent or skin color.

“A land ruled by fear is not the land of the free,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu told the lawmakers, at times translating her remarks into Spanish and other languages.

In most cases, sanctuary laws forbid local officials from arresting or detaining a person the federal government suspects of violating its immigration laws unless a judge has issued an arrest warrant.

Even in sanctuary cities, ICE officials are free to arrest people they have cause to believe are living in the U.S. without authorization, typically a civil, not criminal, violation.

ICE has a major field office in Manhattan, and its officers arrest hundreds of migrants across New York City each year under both Republican and Democratic presidents.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security can deport non-citizens once an immigration judge issues a final order of removal.

The main point of contention has been over how cities handle what ICE calls detainer requests for the minority of migrants who end up in local custody. ICE officials routinely ask local prison, jail or police officials to continue to detain a migrant who was free to leave custody for up to 48 additional hours: the migrant has posted bail, a judge has ordered their release, or they have completed a prison sentence.

The majority of these requests come without a judge’s warrant, which some federal judges have ruled violates the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures.

In New York City and elsewhere, local officials must ignore the requests unless they come with a judge’s warrant and the migrant has been convicted of a violent felony. ICE officials must instead arrest the migrant independently, typically at their home or place of work, which they say makes their job more difficult and dangerous.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston told the panel his city had honored more than 1,200 criminal arrest warrants from ICE in recent years.
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ISLAMABAD  — The U.S. Justice Department plans Wednesday to present in a federal court in Virginia the alleged mastermind of the August 2021 bombing that killed 13 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The justice department said Islamic State Khorasan operative Mohammad Sharifullah, also known as “Jafar,” was charged on March 2 with “providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death.”

Sharifullah is expected to appear in the justice system’s Eastern District of Virginia, the department said in a statement on its website.

President Donald Trump broke the news of Sharifullah’s capture Tuesday night in a speech to Congress on Capitol Hill.

“Tonight, I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity,” Trump said. “And he is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice.”

The Abbey Gate bombing at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on August 26, 2021 also killed roughly 170 Afghans.

Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K, a U.S. designated foreign terrorist organization linked with the Islamic State terror group, claimed responsibility.

The suicide attack came amid the chaotic troop withdrawal at the end of the 20-year U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.

In this speech, Trump hailed Pakistan for helping with the mission to arrest Sharifullah.

“And I want to thank, especially, the government of Pakistan for helping arrest this monster,” the U.S. president said.

Sharifullah’s capture

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif identified Sharifullah as a “top tier commander” and an Afghan national in a post on X.

“The wanted terrorist was apprehended in a successful operation conducted in Pakistan-Afghan border region,” Sharif said, without sharing details.

The justice department said the mission was a multi-agency effort that also involved the CIA and the FBI.

“Sharifullah admitted to helping prepare for the Abbey Gate attack, including scouting a route near the airport for an attacker,” the department said.

Sharifullah admitted to recognizing Abdul Rahman al-Logari who detonated the suicide bomb and admitted to playing a role in other attacks in Afghanistan and Russia, the statement added.

Islamabad-based security affairs analyst Iftekhar Firdaus told VOA that Sharifullah, a resident of Kabul, joined ISIS-K in 2016.

“He was arrested in 2019 and then released during the jailbreak of the Afghan Taliban during their takeover of August 15, 2021,” said Firdaus, founder of The Khorasan Diary, an online platform that monitors militancy.

If convicted, Sharifullah could get a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, the justice department said.

Cooperation with Pakistan

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for acknowledging his country’s contribution in a post on the X social media platform.

“We thank U.S. President Donald Trump for acknowledging and appreciating Pakistan’s role and support in counter terrorism efforts across the region,” Sharif posted.

“We will continue to partner closely with the United States in securing regional peace and stability,” the prime minister added.

The arrest signals Islamabad and Washington are working closely on some security issues despite relations reaching a low since the end of the U.S. war in Afghanistan and the return of the Taliban to power.

“The arrest shows that counter-terrorism cooperation between Pakistan and the US remains robust even though relations are largely confined to a narrow bandwidth focused on counterterrorism,” former Pakistani ambassador to Washington, Maleeha Lodhi, told VOA.

“This is the first major development between both countries since the Trump administration took office,” Firdaus said. “It also exemplifies the dependence of both countries on each other when it comes to counterterrorism cooperation.”

Thaw in ties?

Still, experts warned the joint effort and the public expression of gratitude from the highest offices should not be seen as a thaw in relations.

“One has to be careful not to over read the significance of a single event for Pakistan-US relations, that have been at a crossroads since the US exit from Afghanistan in 2021 and need high-level engagement for a reset,” Lodhi said.

Most military aid to Pakistan remains blocked since Trump put a freeze on it during his first term in office.

Many in Washington also blame Pakistan for the losses the United States incurred in the Afghan war.

In congressional hearings soon after the troop withdrawal, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said Pakistan’s role in providing sanctuary to the Afghan Taliban needed to be “fully examined.”

Antony Blinken, then-Secretary of State, told Congress in a September 2021 hearing that the Biden administration would look into the role Pakistan played during the war.

Nearly two dozen Republican senators also proposed a bill that called for “an assessment of support by state and non-state actors, including the government of Pakistan, for the Taliban between 2001 and 2020.”

Pakistan, a major non-NATO ally has consistently denied allegations of covertly providing support to Taliban while supporting the U.S. in the Afghan war.

“We remain steadfast in our resolve and unwavering commitment to combating terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations,” Sharif said in his X post Wednesday.

In a post on X, Washington-based South Asia expert Micheal Kugelman said Pakistan is interested in a new security partnership with the U.S.

“Pakistan wants to leverage U.S. concerns about terrorism in Afghanistan and pitch a renewed security partnership with the U.S.,” said Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, adding “it will be a hard sell to the administration.”

The joint counter-terrorism operation comes just days after the Trump administration released $397 million for a program that supports Pakistan’s use of F-16 fighter jets acquired from Washington. Islamabad is stipulated to use the fighter jets for only for counterterrorism purposes, and not against archrival India.
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NEW ORLEANS — Powerful storms killed two people in Mississippi, tore the roofs off an apartment building and a nursing home in a small town in Oklahoma and threatened more communities across the nation Tuesday with wide-ranging weather.

The large storm system also brought blinding dust storms to the Southwest, blizzards with whiteout conditions to the Midwest and fears of wildfires elsewhere.

In Irving, Texas, a tornado with winds up to 177 kph struck, while another touched down in the 16,000-resident city of Ada, Oklahoma, according to preliminary information from the National Weather Service. There were also two tornadoes in Louisiana’s northern Caddo Parish and at least five in eastern Oklahoma.

High winds forced some changes to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, which moved up and shortened the two biggest parades, to wrap them up before the bad weather moved in.

The weather didn’t stop Shalaska Jones and her 2-year-old daughter from waving at passing Mardi Gras floats and hoping to catch one of the coveted coconuts thrown to the crowd.

“We was coming out, rain, sleet or snow,” Jones said.

The alarming weather could be one of the first big tests for the National Weather Service after hundreds of forecasters were fired last week as part of President Donald Trump’s moves to slash the size of the federal government. Former employees said the firing of meteorologists who make crucial local forecasts nationwide could put lives at risk, though it was too soon to know the impact on forecasts and warnings for this storm.

Deaths from storms in Mississippi

Two people died due to the severe weather, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves posted on the social platform X, without going into detail.

WAPT-TV reported that one person died from a falling power line in Madison County, while a driver in the same county was killed by a tree falling on his car.

Hundreds of thousands left without power

Storms that swept through Texas and Oklahoma brought high winds and rain, overturning tractor-trailers and damaging roofs. More than 178,000 customers were without power in Texas, about 23,000 in Louisiana, another 18,000 in Mississippi, about 88,000 in Alabama, more than 16,000 in Oklahoma and more than 23,000 in Tennessee, according to PowerOutage.us.

More outages were expected as a line of storms raced across Mississippi and Louisiana and headed for Alabama, producing gusts of 113 kph, the weather service said.

Central Plains and Midwest brace for blizzard conditions

Blizzard conditions were forecast that could make travel treacherous.

Schools will be closed Wednesday in several southern Minnesota districts with about 13 to 28 centimeters of snow expected. More concerning were winds forecasted to gust over 80 kph and stay high.

The National Weather Service in the Twin Cities said on X Tuesday night that travel was not advised over a large portion of southern Minnesota.

“It’s tough to find a @MnDOT road camera that isn’t covered in ice or blocked completely by blowing snow,” the post said.

South Dakota was expected to receive up to 12.7 centimeters of snow in some areas, and by Tuesday evening, high winds had already deteriorated road conditions.

Jay Jones, who works at Love’s Truck Stop in Sioux Falls, said he saw garbage cans flying around as winds gusted around 80.5 kph. Parts of Interstate 29 heading north to North Dakota were shut down.

“It looks really bad out there,” Jones said, adding that he walked to work and would have to “have to tough it out” on his way home.
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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA — A U.S. judge on Tuesday denied Elon Musk’s request to prevent OpenAI from becoming a for-profit business in a loss for the Tesla tycoon amid his feud with Sam Altman. 

U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Musk and his xAI startup failed to prove an injunction against OpenAI was necessary as the case heads to trial. 

Musk sued in California federal court to stop OpenAI from transitioning from a nonprofit to a for-profit business, arguing the startup violated antitrust law and betrayed his trust in their mission as a co-founder of OpenAI. 

The judge wrote that, while Musk did not prove the need for an injunction, she is prepared to expedite a trial on that claim later this year. 

The ruling leaves OpenAI free to continue its transition from nonprofit to for-profit enterprise. 

Musk’s injunction bid argued that OpenAI’s co-founders, including chief executive Altman, “took advantage of Musk’s altruism in order to lure him into funding the venture,” according to court documents. 

Musk contended in filings that it was clear his backing of OpenAI was contingent on it remaining a nonprofit, offering a few email exchanges to support the claim. 

“Whether Musk’s emails and social media posts constitute a writing sufficient to constitute an actual contract or charitable trust between the parties is debatable,” the judge said in her ruling. 

OpenAI’s board chairman in February rejected a Musk-led offer to buy the valuable artificial intelligence company for $97.4 billion. 

“OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr. Musk’s latest attempt to disrupt his competition,” OpenAI Board Chair Bret Taylor said in a statement posted by the company on Musk-owned X, formerly Twitter. 

OpenAI currently operates in a hybrid structure, as a nonprofit with a money-making subsidiary. 

The change to a for-profit model, one that Altman says is crucial for the company’s development, has exacerbated ongoing tensions with Musk. 

Musk and Altman were among the 11-person team that founded OpenAI in 2015, with the former providing initial funding of $45 million.  

Three years later, Musk left the company, with OpenAI citing “a potential future conflict for Elon … as Tesla continues to become more focused on AI.” 

Musk established his own artificial intelligence company, dubbed xAI, in early 2023 after OpenAI ignited global fervor over the technology. 

The massive cost of designing, training, and deploying AI models has compelled OpenAI to seek a new corporate structure that would give investors equity and provide more stable governance. 
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UNITED NATIONS — The United States made clear Tuesday that it will no longer automatically support core United Nations platforms, including sustainable development and global goals that include eliminating poverty during a vote at the U.N. General Assembly. 

“Therefore, the United States rejects and denounces the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development and the sustainable development goals, and will no longer reaffirm them as a matter of course,” U.S. representative Edward Heartney told the assembly. 

The U.S. voted against a resolution titled “International Day of Peaceful Coexistence” that reaffirmed the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, “acknowledging that this includes a commitment to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.” 

Heartney said Americans voted in November’s election for their government to refocus on U.S. interests. 

“Simply put, the globalist endeavors like Agenda 2030 and the SDGs lost at the ballot box,” he said. 

The measure passed the assembly with 162 countries in favor and three against — the United States, Israel and Argentina. 

The General Assembly creates “International Days” to raise awareness of important global issues and promote peace and tolerance. There are more than 150 of them currently, including International Women’s Day, which is coming up on March 8, World Environment Day, International Mother Language Day and World Diabetes Day. 

On Tuesday, delegates voted to create an “International Day of Hope,” as well as an “International Day for Judicial Well-Being.” Washington stood alone, the sole no vote on both. 

Heartney said Washington “strongly supports efforts to sustain peace and pursue diplomatic solutions to crises around the world and that individual rights are fundamental to U.S. security and the promotion of international peace. 

“This resolution, however, contributes to the unnecessary proliferation of multiple international days, many of which have a similar intent,” he said of the International Day of Hope proposal, noting that there is already an International Day of Peace and another on Happiness. 

“The current draft resolution also contains references to diversity, equity and inclusion that conflict with U.S. policies that seek to eliminate all forms of discrimination and create equal opportunities for all,” Heartney added. 

The Trump administration has made the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI programs, a core pillar, saying it illegally promotes discrimination. 

Washington was also the sole vote against a resolution titled “Education for Democracy,” which reaffirms “the right of everyone to education” and recognizes “the importance of equal opportunities for young people, including women.” 

The text recognizes “that education for democracy nurtures responsible and active learners, capable of contributing effectively to peace and prosperity in their societies and beyond,” and notes the negative impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on global education.  

It calls on governments to invest more in quality education, to bridge the digital divide and “to advance the prospects of future generations and foster the building of peaceful, just, democratic and sustainable societies.” 

On Feb. 24, Washington stunned the international community when it voted against a Ukrainian and European Union-drafted General Assembly resolution supporting a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine and submitted its own text that did not name Russia as the aggressor in the war.   

The assembly voted to amend the U.S. text to include language on Russia’s “full-scale invasion” of Ukraine and supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. 

When the amended American text was put to a vote, Washington abstained. It was adopted with 93 states in favor, eight against and 73 abstentions. 

General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they do carry the moral weight of the international community. 
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NEW YORK — The Pritzker Prize, dubbed the “Nobel” for architecture, was awarded Tuesday to China’s Liu Jiakun, who was recognized for designs that celebrate “everyday lives.”

“In a global context where architecture is struggling to find adequate responses to fast evolving social and environmental challenges, Liu Jiakun has provided convincing answers that also celebrate the everyday lives of people as well as their communal and spiritual identities,” the award’s jury wrote in a statement.

Born in 1956, Liu has worked on more than 30 projects in China ranging from academic and cultural institutions to civic spaces and commercial buildings.

“Architecture should reveal something  it should abstract, distill and make visible the inherent qualities of local people,” Liu said in the statement, evoking his craft’s capacity to create “a sense of shared community.”

Liu lives and works in his birth city of Chengdu, where he prioritizes the use of local materials and traditional building techniques.

His projects include the Museum of Clocks in Chengdu, a large circular structure with a skylight that illuminates an interior strip of photographs.

Alejandro Aravena, who won the award in 2016 and is chair of the jury, said Liu’s works offer “clues on how to confront the challenges of urbanization” especially because they are sometimes “a building, infrastructure, landscape and public space at the same time.”

“Cities tend to segregate functions, but Liu Jiakun takes the opposite approach and sustains a delicate balance to integrate all dimensions of the urban life,” Aravena said.

Liu, who is the 54th recipient of the Pritzker Prize, will be honored at a celebration in Abu Dhabi in spring, award organizers said.

Last year’s prize went to Japan’s Riken Yamamoto, whose projects are credited with promoting human contact and who said at the time his objective was to “design architecture that can bring joy to people around it.”
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NEW ORLEANS — Thousands of revelers adorned in beads and outlandish costumes will fill the streets of New Orleans as the city celebrates Mardi Gras Day despite anticipated severe storms.

The city’s two biggest parades — hosted by social clubs Krewe of Zulu and Krewe of Rex — are set to go on with earlier start times, shorter routes and no marching bands, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told reporters Monday. The parades will be required to wrap up by 11:30 a.m. local time to avoid diminishing weather.

“Bottom line, they gonna still get the Zulu parade and all the excitement, it’s just a little earlier,” said Darren Mire, a Krewe of Zulu spokesperson. “We have to err on the side of caution, we have to protect the citizens of New Orleans and the visitors, and this was the best decision possible to get things done.”

Thunderstorms and winds up to 100 kph are expected throughout Tuesday, the National Weather Service said. In neighboring Jefferson Parish, officials canceled parades.

Kirkpatrick warned parade-goers to not bring umbrellas, tents or “anything that could fly in the wind and cause mayhem.” Worsening weather Tuesday morning could still be a condition for calling off the city’s parades at the last minute, she added.

“I will cancel the parades at that point, no matter what time that is,” Kirkpatrick said. “I hold that trump card in which I will not hesitate to cancel — I won’t do it lightly, but I will do it.”

Two other parades that had been scheduled to roll through the city later on Tuesday with nearly 200 truck floats have been postponed to Sunday, Kirkpatrick said.

Other cities along the Gulf Coast, such as Mobile, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida, hold their own Mardi Gras Day parades.

The culmination of the weekslong carnival season, Fat Tuesday festivities of feasting and drinking precede Ash Wednesday, traditionally the start of Lent, a period of fasting in Christian tradition in preparation for Easter Sunday. As a result, this year’s Mardi Gras Day falls unusually late in the year.

But the outsized culture of street parties, extravagant balls and spirited parades has evolved into a decidedly secular spectacle in the Big Easy.

The day kicks off with the North Side Skull and Bone Gang, a drum-playing group which for more than 200 years has gathered before sunrise to awake neighbors in the city’s historic Treme neighborhood.

Across the city, renowned Black masking Indians, whose spectacular beaded and bejeweled costumes are topped with feathered head dresses, take to the streets to represent a central part of African American culture in the city dating back to the 1800s.

One of the most beloved parades, the Krewe of Zulu, typically features hundreds of marching members tossing trinkets to spectators such as beads and highly coveted decorated coconuts.

And the Krewe of Rex, a social club led by the honorary king of carnival season, bears the traditional colors of purple, green and gold.

The festivities are also marked by enhanced security presence across the city following a devastating Jan. 1 truck attack that killed 14 people. The Department of Homeland Security upgraded Mardi Gras to its highest risk rating, leading to an influx of law enforcement agents. A zigzagging layout of barriers parallels the main parade route to guard against fast-moving vehicles and armored trucks; SWAT teams and helicopters will be present.
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The U.S. skating community came together Sunday for a fundraiser and tribute to the victims of a collision between an American Airlines flight and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Jan. 29 over the Potomac River in Washington.

Sixty-seven people, all the people on both aircraft, died in the crash, including 28 members of the U.S. figure skating community — 11 young figure skaters, four couches and 13 family members — who had been to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.

One of the most emotional performances Sunday night was delivered by Maxim Naumov, who skated to a favorite song of his parents, Evgenia Shishkov and Vadim Naumov, who died in the crash.

The two-hour Legacy on Ice event was hosted by Olympic figure skating champions Brian Boitano and Kristi Yamaguchi. They and other veteran skaters, including Scott Hamilton and Nathan Chen, also performed.

The event began to take shape a week after the crash. Monumental Sports and Entertainment, organizers of the tribute, said they have so far raised $1.2 million for the victims’ families and the first responders.

“We continue to be in awe of and grateful to this community, whose compassion and support was out in full force for the ‘Legacy on Ice’ event,” Monumental chairman Ted Leonsis said in a statement.

He said the money raised is set to be divided among the families impacted by the collision, first responders and U.S. Figure Skating.

The Associated Press reported that almost 500 first responders and approximately 150 family members of the victims were in the audience.

NBC is scheduled to broadcast “Legacy on Ice” on March 30.
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Lighter winds Monday helped crews in South Carolina and North Carolina battle wildfires that caused evacuations and threatened hundreds of homes over the weekend. 

Hundreds of firefighters from across the state managed to keep the massive blaze in Horry County near Myrtle Beach from destroying any homes despite social media videos of orange skies at night and flames engulfing pine trees just yards away. 

The fire burned 6.5 square kilometers (2.5 square miles). It was the biggest fire in the area since a 2009 wildfire nearby did $42 million in damage and burned down about 75 homes.  

The danger wasn’t over Monday. Officials in all of South Carolina banned almost all outdoor fires, including burning yard debris and campfires. They told residents to call 911 if they see a neighbor setting a fire. 

“You can and will go to jail for starting a fire outdoors in South Carolina. Period,” Gov. Henry McMaster wrote on social media. 

Burn bans were also in place in western North Carolina. Some residents in Polk County remained evacuated from their homes as fire crews Monday morning set their own blazes to burn possible wildfire fuel to make it easier to contain a 480-acre (190-hectare) fire that was about 30% contained. 

Polk County is on the fringes of an area badly hit by Hurricane Helene last year. Fallen trees that have not been cleared are increasing the risk of fires across the region. 

In eastern North Carolina, nearly 80 mostly small wildfires were reported in Robeson County. Emergency officials said 15 structures were damaged, but they did not give specifics on the types of buildings. 

The North Carolina Forest Service reported more than 200 wildfires across the state Monday, although almost all of them were small and not threatening any structures. 

Officials across the Carolinas warned of poor air quality because of smoke. 

A drier-than-normal winter across the Carolinas combined over the weekend with high winds as a cold front without the usual rain that accompanies the weather systems in the South moved through the area to increase the fire danger. 

The area near Myrtle Beach is one of the most dangerous for wildfires in South Carolina as hundreds of years of decomposing vegetation creates peat, which when it dries out can burn for a long time. 

Pine trees and other waxy vegetation provide fuel for fires to rapidly spread in dry, windy conditions. 

Horry County’s population has doubled to 400,000 people over the past 25 years. Many of those newcomers have moved into neighborhoods being rapidly built right next to the oval Carolina Bays where the peat and flammable vegetation all grow together. Fires have been part of the natural landscape of the bays for centuries. 

Officials have not said what caused any of the fires. 
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WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS — An Illinois man pleaded guilty Monday to killing seven people and injuring dozens more when he opened fire on a 2022 Independence Day parade in a Chicago suburb, a stunning development moments before opening arguments in his trial on charges of murder and attempted murder. 

Appearing in a Lake County circuit courtroom, Robert E. Crimo III, 23, withdrew his earlier not-guilty plea in the Highland Park shooting. 

Prosecutors initially charged him with 21 counts of first-degree murder — three counts for each person killed — as well as 48 counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors dropped the less serious 48 counts of aggravated battery before the start of the trial with jury selection last week. 

On Monday, Judge Victoria Rossetti read the charges to Crimo and asked questions to be sure he understood before any open plea was read to the court. He was sitting next to his lawyers wearing a dark suit. 

“Is that what you went over with your attorneys?” Rossetti asked. 

“Yes,” Crimo replied to the judge. 

He gave one-word answers, indicating he understood the charges. His mother, Denise Pesina, had a brief outburst at the news and was called up to the judge for a warning. 

“We’re going to move forward. You are not a party to this proceeding. If you would like to stay in the courtroom please have a seat and be quiet,” the judge said to her. 

She was allowed to stay. 

The judge said with the plea change, there would be no trial or further motions on the case. 

“He has knowingly and voluntarily waived those rights and pleaded guilty,” Rossetti said. 

Lake County prosecutors read the names of all those killed in the shooting and of those injured in the shooting, with the judge stopping to ask questions to make sure Crimo understood. 

They went over the substantial evidence, including his prints on the gun used in the crime, and statements to police admitting to the mass shooting. 

Sentencing will come April 23, but Crimo is certain to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Each count of first-degree murder carries a natural life prison sentence. 

Crimo did not further address the court or ask questions before leaving the courtroom. 

His defense attorneys declined comment ahead of the trial. 

Security was very tight for the proceedings at the courthouse in Lake County, with multiple bag checks and observers required to lock up their phones. The crowd at what was supposed to be opening statements included survivors and their family members. 

Jurors, who were chosen last week, had not even been let into the courtroom yet when the plea change happened. 

The trial that began Feb. 24 was expected to last about a month with testimony from survivors and police. Prosecutors had submitted thousands of pages of evidence, as well as hours of a videotaped interrogation during which police say Crimo confessed to the shooting. But the 24-year-old had then pleaded not guilty. 

Dozens of people were wounded in the shooting in the suburb about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Chicago. The wounded ranged in age from their 80s down to an 8-year-old boy who was left partially paralyzed. 

Witnesses described confusion as the shots began, followed by panic as families fled the downtown parade route, leaving behind lawn chairs and strollers to find safety inside nearby businesses or homes. 

Authorities said Crimo perched on a roof and fired into crowds assembled for the annual Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park. 

The criminal case proceeded slowly for months, partly due to Crimo’s unpredictable behavior. In June 2024, when he was expected to accept a plea deal and give victims and relatives a chance to address him publicly, Crimo showed up to court in a wheelchair and rejected the deal, surprising even his lawyers. 

He also fired his public defenders and said he would represent himself. Then he abruptly reversed himself. 

As potential jurors were questioned last week, he sporadically appeared in court, at times refusing to leave his jail cell. 

Father charged, tried earlier

The trial came almost two years after his father’s case focusing on how Crimo obtained a gun license. 

In 2019, at age 19, Crimo was only allowed to apply for a gun license with the sponsorship of a parent or guardian. His father agreed, even though a relative had reported to police that his son had a collection of knives and had threatened to “kill everyone.” 

His father, Robert Crimo Jr., a onetime mayoral candidate, was charged in connection with how his son obtained a gun license. He pleaded guilty in 2023 to seven misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct and served less than two months in jail. 

He has attended his son’s hearings, sometimes making eye contact with him during court. He declined to discuss the case in detail ahead of the trial. 

“As a parent, I love my son very much,” he said. “And Bobby loves this country more than anyone would ever know.” 

Residents in the wealthy Highland Park community of roughly 30,000 set along Lake Michigan have mourned the losses deeply. Some potential jurors were excused because of their connections to the case. 

The victims killed in the shooting included Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; Eduardo Uvaldo, 69; and married couple Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35. 

Survivors and their families have filed multiple lawsuits, including against the maker of the semiautomatic rifle used in the shooting and against authorities they accuse of negligence.
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A French company that makes a key component in night vision systems used by some NATO countries announced Monday it is building a new factory in the United States amid a push for NATO members to increase their defense spending.

Exosens said the new factory in the northeastern state of Massachusetts is expected to begin operations in 2027, and is part of a $21 million overall investment that also includes expanded operations in Europe.

“The return of high-density combat has underscored the critical importance of night operation abilities as a key tactical advantage,” the company said in a statement.

Last week, Exosens announced a contract with a maker of night vision goggles in NATO member Finland.

Some information for this story was provided by Reuters
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Crews battled wildfires in North and South Carolina on Sunday amid dry conditions and gusty winds and evacuations were ordered in some areas.

The National Weather Service warned of increased fire danger in the region due to a combination of critically dry fuels and very low relative humidity.

In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency Sunday to support the wildfire response effort, and a statewide burning ban remained in effect.

Crews worked to contain a fire in the Carolina Forest area west of the coastal resort city of Myrtle Beach, where residents were ordered to evacuate several neighborhoods, according to Horry County Fire Rescue.

The South Carolina Forestry Commission estimated Sunday afternoon that the blaze was burning about 4.9 square kilometers (1.9 square miles) with 0% containment. No structures had succumbed to the blaze and no injuries had been reported as of Sunday morning, officials said.

The 410 personnel involved in the effort were expected to remain until the fire was contained, county fire officials said. Evacuations were expected to remain in place Sunday and officials warned residents in the Carolina Forest area to be prepared with go-bags and emergency plans if more evacuations were called in their neighborhoods.

In North Carolina, the U.S. Forest Service said fire crews were working to contain multiple wildfires burning on more than 161.87 hectares (400 acres) in four forests across the state Sunday. The largest, about 121.41 hectares (300 acres), was at Uwharrie National Forest, about 80.47 kilometers (50 miles) east of Charlotte.

The small southwestern town of Tryon in Polk County, North Carolina, urged some residents to evacuate Saturday as a fire spread rapidly there. On Sunday, officials said those evacuations remained in effect.

That fire was burning about 161.87 hectares (400 acres) Sunday afternoon, with 0% containment, according to the Polk County Emergency Management/Fire Marshal’s office. The North Carolina Forest Service was conducting water drops and back-burning operations on the ground, and area residents should expect a lot of smoke during those operations, officials said.

Officials have not said what caused any of the fires.
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LOS ANGELES — “Captain America: Brave New World” kept falling but still hovered above all others at a weak weekend box office. 

The latest Disney-Marvel offering brought in another $15 million according to studio estimates Sunday, when most of Hollywood’s attention was on the Oscars. 

The Anthony Mackie-led “Captain America: Brave New World” opened strong at about $120 million on a three-day weekend last month, but plunged to $28.2 million last week in one of the most significant second-week drops for a Marvel movie. It’s earned $163.7 since its release. 

It was slammed by many critics and audiences, failing to bring the Marvel reset some had hoped for. That task now falls to May’s “Thunderbolts” and July’s “Fantastic Four: First Steps.” But “Captain America” will face little competition through March and could remain at No. 1 for a while. 

The weekend’s only significant new release, Focus Features’ “Last Breath,” earned just $7.8 million. The based-on-a-true-story adventure starring Woody Harrelson, Simi Liu and Chris Lemons is about a routine deep-sea diving mission that goes terribly wrong when a young diver is stranded some 300 feet below the surface. 

It got strong reviews, with Lindsey Bahr of The Associated Press praising the “white-knuckle experience” and “pure suspense and anxiety” it brings. 

At No. 3 was Oz Perkins’ “The Monkey,” which brought in $6.4 million for a two-week total of $24.6 million. It’s among the strongest openings for indie distributor Neon, whose film “Anora,” and its director Sean Baker could make a major mark at the Oscars later Sunday. 

“The Monkey” marks another successful low-budget collaboration between Perkins and Neon, whose “Longlegs” brought in $126.9 million globally last year. 

“Paddington in Peru” was fourth with $4.5 million in its third weekend for a total of $31.4 million. 

Top 10 movies by domestic box office 

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. 

1. “Captain America: Brave New World,” $15 million. 

2. “Last Breath,” $7.8 million. 

3. “The Monkey,” $6.4 million. 

4. “Paddington in Peru,” $4.5 million. 

5. “Dog Man,” $4.2 million. 

6. “Mufasa: The Lion King,” $1.9 million. 

7. “Ne Zha 2,” $1.8 million. 

8. “Heart Eyes,” $1.3 million. 

9 “The Unbreakable Boy,” $1.2 million. 

1. “One of Them Days,” $925,000. 
   …

The need to end the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. The United States imposing tariffs on other countries, and the downsizing of the U.S. federal government. Those are some of the topics that President Donald Trump is expected to highlight when he delivers the first address of this second term in office to Congress this week. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports.
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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — A U.S. aircraft carrier arrived in South Korea on Sunday in a show of force, days after North Korea test-launched cruise missiles to demonstrate its counterattack capabilities.

The arrival of the USS Carl Vinson and its strike group at the South Korean port of Busan was meant to display a solid U.S-South Korean military alliance in the face of persistent North Korean threats, and boost interoperability of the allies’ combined assets, the South Korean navy said in a statement.

It said it was the first U.S. aircraft carrier to travel to South Korea since June.

The deployment of the carrier is expected to infuriate North Korea, which views temporary deployments of such powerful U.S. military assets as major security threats. North Korea has responded to some of the past deployments of U.S. aircraft carriers, long-range bombers and nuclear-powered submarines with missile tests.

Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, President Donald Trump has said he will reach out to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again to revive diplomacy. North Korea hasn’t directly responded to Trump’s overture but alleged U.S.-led hostilities against North Korea have intensified since Trump’s inauguration.

North Korea said Friday it test-fired strategic cruise missiles earlier last week to inform its adversaries of its military’s counterattack capability and the readiness of its nuclear operations. After watching the launches, the North’s fourth missile testing event this year, Kim ordered his military to be fully ready to use its nuclear weapons.

Experts say Kim won’t likely accept Trump’s overture anytime soon as he is now focusing on his support of Russia’s war against Ukraine with provision of weapons and troops. They say Kim could consider resuming diplomacy with Trump when he thinks he cannot maintain his country’s current booming cooperation with Russia.

Kim and Trump met three times from 2018 to 2019 during Trump’s first term to discuss the future of North Korea’s nuclear program. Their high-stakes diplomacy eventually collapsed due to wrangling over U.S.-led economic sanctions on North Korea. 
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday he had signed a declaration to expedite delivery of about $4 billion in military assistance to Israel.

The Trump administration, which took office on Jan. 20, has approved nearly $12 billion in major foreign military sales to Israel, Rubio said in a statement, adding that it “will continue to use all available tools to fulfill America’s long-standing commitment to Israel’s security, including means to counter security threats.”

Rubio said he had used emergency authority to expedite the delivery of military assistance to Israel, which is now in a fragile ceasefire in its war with Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

Hamas started the war with its terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, an attack which left 1,200 dead in Israel, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages. The Israeli military offensive has, since then, killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, more than half of whom have been women and children.

The Pentagon said on Friday that the State Department had approved the potential sale of nearly $3 billion worth of bombs, demolition kits and other weaponry to Israel.

The administration notified Congress of those prospective weapons sales on an emergency basis, sidestepping a long-standing practice of giving the chairs and ranking members of the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees the opportunity to review the sale and ask for more information before making a formal notification to Congress.

Friday’s announcements marked the second time in recent weeks that President Donald Trump’s administration has declared an emergency to quickly approve weapons sales to Israel. The Biden administration also used emergency authority to approve the sale of arms to Israel without congressional review.

On Monday, the Trump administration rescinded a Biden-era order requiring it to report potential violations of international law involving U.S.-supplied weapons by allies, including Israel. It has also eliminated most U.S. humanitarian foreign aid.

The Jan. 19 Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement halted 15 months of fighting and paved the way for talks on ending the war, while leading to the release of 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza and around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel. 
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NEW YORK — Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday that he is running for mayor of New York City, relaunching his political career following a yearslong exile over sexual harassment accusations. 

In a 17-minute video announcing his campaign, Cuomo pitched himself as an accomplished moderate who could save a city that felt threatening and “out of control,” and who could navigate the delicate balance between working with Republican President Donald Trump and fighting him when necessary. 

“I am not saying this is going to be easy. It won’t be easy, but I know we can turn the city around and I believe I can help and that is why I announce my candidacy today for mayor of New York City today,” he said. 

The Democrat is expected to mount a formidable campaign, despite the scandal that forced his resignation from New York’s governor’s office in 2021. 

He takes on a large field of primary opponents with low name recognition plus an incumbent, Mayor Eric Adams. 

Cuomo enters the race with fundraising prowess, a record of accomplishments over his three terms as governor, and potential support among many of the same moderate voters who helped propel Adams to office. 

Yet it is unclear whether voters are willing to give Cuomo another chance following his remarkable downfall 3½ years ago, when he went from being hailed for his leadership during the onslaught of COVID-19 to being castigated for his behavior with women and questioned about his response to the pandemic. 

Adams, asked for comment by a Politico reporter after Cuomo’s announcement, welcomed the former governor to the race. 

“Come one, come all. Everybody should put their position forward. I have a great record to run on. We look forward to the campaign,” he said. 

Adams is also seeking reelection but is facing a tempest over the criminal case against him, and the U.S. Justice Department’s extraordinary effort to end the case over the objection of the prosecutors who brought the charges. 

An indictment said Adams accepted luxury travel perks and illegal campaign contributions from people who wanted to buy his influence, including a Turkish official and other foreign nationals. After Trump took office, a top Justice Department official ordered prosecutors to dismiss the charges so Adams could focus on assisting the president’s immigration agenda, while leaving open the possibly that the case could reemerge after the mayoral election. 

That dynamic led critics to claim that Adams had struck a deal to help with Trump’s immigration crackdown in exchange for legal salvation. 

Cuomo started in politics working for his father, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, and later rose to become U.S. housing secretary under President Bill Clinton and New York attorney general before being elected governor in 2010. 

His national star power was highest during the coronavirus pandemic, when his televised daily briefings attracted admirers nationwide who saw him as a steady hand of leadership at a chaotic time. 

Women, though, began coming forward in late 2020 and early 2021, accusing Cuomo of misconduct. He faced a potential impeachment before he stepped down. 
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The United States will deploy nearly 3,000 additional troops to its border with Mexico, bringing the total number of active-duty personnel there to around 9,000, U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM, said Saturday.

Border security is a key priority for President Donald Trump, who declared a national emergency at the U.S. frontier with Mexico on his first day in office.

“Approximately 2,400 soldiers from elements of the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT), 4th Infantry Division” will be sent to the border, along with “approximately 500 soldiers from the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade,” NORTHCOM said in a statement.

“Tasks carried out by 2nd SBCT will include detection and monitoring; administrative support; transportation support; warehousing and logistic support; vehicle maintenance; and engineering support. Personnel will not conduct or be involved in interdiction or deportation operations,” it said.

Troops from the aviation unit will “assist in the movement of personnel, equipment, and supplies; and provide aerial medical evacuation capabilities,” NORTHCOM said.

“These deployments will bring additional agility and capability to further efforts to stop the flow of illegal migrancy and drugs at the southern border,” its commander, General Gregory Guillot, said.

The Trump administration has launched what it cast as a major effort to combat illegal migration that has included immigration raids, arrests and deportations, including via the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Trump unveiled a surprise plan last month to hold up to 30,000 migrants at the base — a facility notorious for abuses against terror suspects detained after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — and U.S. forces have detained dozens of people there in recent weeks, many of whom have since been deported.
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In Mexico, authorities reported that the delivery to the United States of 29 people linked to drug trafficking was possible through an unprecedented police operation, in which 20 aircraft and thousands of agents participated.

Click here for the full story in Spanish. 
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