Prepared for the Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Editorial Note: The DHS Daily Briefing is a collection of news articles related to Department’s mission. The inclusion of particular stories is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse the political viewpoints or affiliations included in news coverage.

FOX News [1/15/2025 1:41 PM, Julia Johnson, Kelly Phares, and Aishah Hasnie, 49889K, Neutral] reports that a number of President-elect Trump’s choices for his second-term Cabinet have seen their scheduled confirmation hearings postponed, with Senate committees citing outstanding documents. Hearings for Doug Collins, tapped to serve as secretary of Veterans Affairs, and former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who was chosen for secretary of the Interior, were set for Tuesday as part of the Trump transition team and Senate Republicans’ ambitious effort to confirm Trump’s Cabinet. However, they were delayed at the last minute. This meant two of the three slated Tuesday hearings were pushed, leaving only one hearing for secretary of Defense pick Pete Hegseth that day. While more confirmation hearings took shape on Wednesday — including those for secretary of Energy pick Chris Wright, Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi, CIA director selection John Ratcliffe, Transportation Secretary nominee Sean Duffy and Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio — another key hearing for Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security nominee Gov. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., was postponed. According to a source familiar, Noem had completed all necessary paperwork in a timely manner, but the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is still waiting for the FBI’s portion. Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 8:26 AM, Dominik Dausch, 57114K, Neutral] reports that a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing for South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has been rescheduled. Noem was initially slated to appear 9 a.m. Wednesday before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs in Washington. That appearance is now scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday, according to the committee’s website. The Homeland Security committee did not list a reason for the delay; however, POLITICO cited a "person familiar with the [confirmation] process," who said the FBI had not yet completed the necessary paperwork in time for the hearing. The FBI is required to conduct background checks for presidential cabinet nominees. The South Dakota governor was picked by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Homeland Security in November. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s choice to lead the Interior Department, also had his confirmation hearing postponed to Thursday. He was initially scheduled to meet the Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday. FOX News [1/15/2025 6:05 AM, Adam Shaw, et al., 49889K, Neutral] reports that Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi, fielded questions for more than six hours on Wednesday, and some moments got heated when Democratic senators challenged whether her loyalty to Trump would cloud her judgment if she were to be confirmed. Trump CIA pick John Ratcliffe, Transportation Secretary nominee Sean Duffy, Energy Secretary nominee Chris Wright and OMB Director nominee Russell Vought also testified before the Senate on Wednesday. A number of protesters were thrown out of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s Senate hearing, including some who shouted at him in Spanish. Rubio is Trump’s pick for Secretary of State.

Reported similarly:
Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 8:17 AM, Joe Sommerlad, 57114K, Neutral]

The Hill [1/15/2025 6:53 PM, Al Weaver, 16346K, Neutral] reports the Senate on Wednesday adopted the first amendment to the Laken Riley Act, as Republicans push for a legislative win to open the new Congress. The legislation in its current form would mandate federal detention of immigrants without legal status accused of theft, burglary and other related crimes. Senators on Wednesday voted 70-25 for an amendment proposed by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) that would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain any migrant lacking permanent legal status accused of assault on a law enforcement officer. Twenty Democrats voted with every Republican who was present. Riley, the Georgia college student for whom the legislation is named, was killed in February by a Venezuelan migrant who had been arrested for shoplifting prior to the attack and, subsequently, released on parole. Sens. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) did not vote. It needed 50 votes to pass instead of the usual 51 due to the recent vacancy of Vice President-elect JD Vance’s seat. Senators also voted down a second amendment offered by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), 46-49, along party lines. The proposal would have nixed part of the bill that hands state attorneys general authority to sue federal immigration officials over alleged detentions — a provision that has upset a number of Democratic members. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) earlier in the day previewed that an amendment process would take place in short order as Democrats try to fix what they believe is a flawed piece of legislation. The bill has already overcome two procedural hurdles in the upper chamber by overwhelming margins. While a number of Democrats have pledged to support the bill on a final vote, others said they voted to open debate on the measure so they could attempt to amend it. "We’re going to have an amendment process here on the floor – the type of amendment process that’s been lacking in recent years. We will push for votes on amendments that make this bill even stronger," Thune said.

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [1/15/2025 8:38 PM, Ramsey Touchberry, 2365K, Negative]

FOX News [1/15/2025 4:08 PM, Elizabeth Elkind, 49889K, Neutral] reports President-elect Trump’s top aide on immigration and the border spoke with House Republicans during a roughly hour-long meeting Wednesday. Two sources present for the discussions told Fox News Digital Miller talked about the need to scale up the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) workforce, which is noteworthy given Trump’s promise to execute mass deportations when he returns to office. Miller also discussed ways to cut federal funds going toward sanctuary cities and states, a cash flow that Republicans had previously promised to target if they were to control the levers of power in Washington. The sources told Fox News Digital Miller’s portion of the meeting partly focused on what border and immigration policies could go into a reconciliation package and what kind of funding Congress would need to appropriate.

Reported similarly:
Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 7:52 PM, Juliegrace Brufke, 57114K, Neutral]

Federal News Network [1/15/2025 12:57 PM, Tom Temin, 470K, Neutral] reports that the U.S. border chaos is mirrored to some extent in the court system that deals with immigration. A congressional audit has found that the Justice Department, which operates immigration courts, lacks data on whether noncitizens have shown up for their mandatory hearings. The case management system of the Executive Office for Immigration Review doesn’t track it. Rebecca Gambler, director of Homeland Security and Justice Issues at the Government Accountability Office, joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss. Interview transcript: Tom Temin: And this seems like a super important report because whatever we decide is immigration policy. One thing in statute now is that noncitizens have to appear for immigration court hearings. And it would seem basic that they do so. What did you find here? Rebecca Gambler: Yes. Thank you, Tom. So respondents are expected to appear for their immigration court hearings. And when I say respondents, I mean noncitizens who are charged as being removable from the country for violating immigration law. If respondents don’t appear for their immigration court hearings, they could be subject to legal consequences. For example, they may be subject to what’s known as an in absentia removal order. In that case, a judge could order an individual respondent removed from the country in their absence. [Editorial note: consult video for source link]

AP [1/16/2025 1:03 AM, Christopher Sherman and Olga R. Rodriguez, 33392K, Neutral] reports Michel Bérrios left the United States a few days before the new year, giving President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign for mass deportations a small victory before they even started. A former leader of a Nicaraguan student uprising, Bérrios had been in the U.S. legally, with nearly a year remaining under President Joe Biden’s unprecedented use of humanitarian parole authority for citizens of certain vulnerable countries. But harsh talk during the U.S. election campaign filled her with anxious memories of hiding from authorities back home. Advocates and immigration experts who have noticed such departures say Bérrios’ decision to leave the U.S., despite her legal status, shows how uncertainty and threats have led a growing number of people to leave the U.S. before Trump takes office on Monday. There isn’t data on these departures, but history has seen other eras of public backlash that drove migrants — with or without legal status — out. Trump and his allies are counting on this “self-deportation,” the idea that life can be made unbearable enough to make people leave. “Because (the U.S.) is not a third world country like the ones many of us come from, I thought there would be a different culture here, and it was a rude awakening to realize that you and your family are not welcome,” Bérrios, 31, said days before her departure. Self-deportation helps Trump to achieve his goals without the government having to spend or do anything in such cases. Trump has long said he wanted to deport millions of migrants but never deported more than 350,000 a year in his first term. Only 41,500 detention beds are funded this year, so carrying out massive deportations has significant logistical hurdles. “If you wanna self-deport, you should self-deport because, again, we know who you are, and we’re gonna come and find you,” Trump’s incoming border czar Tom Homan has said.

USA Today [1/15/2025 5:58 PM, Stephen Borelli, 89965K, Neutral] reports we live in an age where our kids have instant access to communication with others, to gaming with their friends and to promoting their sports progress through social media. It’s those moments when children and teens can quickly fall prey to online exploitation, a message the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is sending through a public service announcement in partnership with the NFL and NASCAR. The PSA titled "It Only Takes 19 Seconds" has aired on the NFL Network and played at NASCAR Cup Series races aiming to educate parents and kids about the dangers of online child predators and steps they can take toward prevention. "Online child exploitation and abuse is one of the most heinous and urgent threats to our children," Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement obtained by USA TODAY Sports. A formal announcement about the PSA is expected later Wednesday. "The best way to protect kids and families is to reach them where they are, and our partners play a critical role in sharing the campaign’s educational resources with their audiences."

AP [1/15/2025 11:58 AM, Jennifer Peltz, 33392K, Negative] reports that U.S. prosecutors said Wednesday that they’re discussing a potential plea deal with Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the long-elusive Mexican drug lord who was arrested last summer and whose son could testify against him if he goes to trial. Assistant U.S. attorney Francisco Navarro said the plea discussions with Zambada, a leader of Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa cartel, haven’t borne fruit so far, but prosecutors want to keep trying. A judge scheduled an April 22 hearing for an update. Zambada’s lead attorney, Frank Perez, declined to comment on the discussions. It’s common for prosecutors and defense lawyers to explore whether they can reach a deal, and the talks don’t necessarily go anywhere. Zambada was an attentive and active participant during Wednesday’s hearing, which focused on whether he wanted Perez to continue representing him even while also representing a potential government witness in the case — Zambada’s son Vicente Zambada. The younger Zambada was charged himself and made a plea deal in the long-running and sprawling U.S. prosecutions of Sinaloa cartel figures. He testified for the government at the trial of the cartel’s infamous and now imprisoned co-founder, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. The outgoing U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, responded that it was "incomprehensible" to suggest the cartel wars were Washington’s fault. He subsequently asserted that the Mexican government had stopped cooperating with Washington on fighting cartels and was sticking its head in the sand about violence and police corruption. Mexico’s foreign ministry reacted by expressing "surprise" in a formal note to the U.S. embassy about the envoy’s statement.

Reported similarly:
ABC News [1/15/2025 1:43 PM, Aaron Katersky and Meredith Deliso, 33392K, Negative]

AP [1/15/2025 5:54 PM, Philip Marcelo, Neutral] reports New York City has shuttered a sprawling tent complex that housed hundreds of migrant families on a remote former airport in Brooklyn, as it shrinks the emergency shelter system built up in response to a surge from the southern border that has been steadily receding in recent months. The last of the roughly 2,000 people living on a windswept tarmac at Floyd Bennett Field, once the city’s first airport, departed the gated encampment over the weekend, and crews were seen this week dismantling the hulking structure. Advocates had warned that the facility, which is built on leased federal land, could be vulnerable to immigration raids as President-elect Donald Trump takes office Monday. New York City has seen more than 250,000 migrants arrive since the spring of 2022, but the numbers of new arrivals have declined for 27 straight weeks and is now at its lowest point in more than a year, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration said. Roughly 50,000 migrants are currently being housed across roughly 200 temporary sites, down from nearly 70,000 migrants last January.

FOX News [1/15/2025 4:08 PM, Peter Pinedo, 49889K, Neutral] reports after New York Mayor Eric Adams announced the planned opening of a massive, 2,000-bed migrant shelter in the South Bronx, Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres slammed the decision, accusing Adams of treating the borough as an immigrant "dumping ground." The mayor’s office announced the new shelter last week while simultaneously claiming that the ongoing migrant crisis in New York City is waning. This comes as New York is set to close its sprawling tent shelter on Randalls Island and dozens of other shelters in the next few months. New York is a migrant sanctuary city and has a "right to shelter" law that requires the city to accommodate anyone seeking shelter who has no other option.

Newsweek [1/15/2025 11:43 AM, Billal Rahman, 56005K, Neutral] reports that a Republican sheriff in Maryland has issued a warning to Democrats opposed to mass deportations, saying that the country needs bipartisan cooperation for it to be carried out. Chuck Jenkins, a Republican sheriff of Maryland’s Frederick County, told Newsweek that "resistance and pushback from local and state authorities will only make the effort more difficult and detrimental to American citizens and immigrant communities." President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to marshal federal and state authorities to conduct large-scale mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. Democrats and Republicans are at odds over Trump’s immigration policies, including those in Maryland. The state’s Democratic Governor Wes Moore told Newsweek that he has an "obligation" to protect the state’s immigrant communities amid Trump’s looming threat of mass deportations. Mass deportations were a core component of the Republican policy agenda during the 2024 elections and the GOP has said it is set to crack down on illegal immigration under the incoming administration. Trump has said that the focus of deportation will be on individuals who have committed additional crimes, though he has also mentioned figures as high as 11 million people. There is an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants who reside in the United States, per the Pew Research Center.

CBS Miami [1/15/2025 5:39 PM, Hunter Geisel, 52225K, Neutral] reports that
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other local officials are advocating for increased state and local law enforcement participation in federal immigration enforcement by working in tandem with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration. During a Wednesday morning press conference with county and state law enforcement in Winter Haven, a city about 45 miles south of Orlando, DeSantis called again for a special session of the Florida Legislature to enact new policies addressing illegal immigration. "I think this is very straightforward," he said. "There’s been no issue higher on the radar consistently so over these last four years than the immigration issue.” Joined by local and state law enforcement, DeSantis said he’ll require city, county and state law enforcement to have "maximum participation" in any programs to assist the federal government with enforcing federal immigration laws. DeSantis also laid out many immigration policies he plans to enforce, including making undocumented entry into the U.S. a state-level crime. The Florida Legislature is expected to meet on Jan. 27 for the special session. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Examiner [1/15/2025 3:49 PM, Jenny Goldsberry, 2365K, Neutral] reports with President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration less than a week away, DeSantis requested the Florida legislature to meet on Jan. 27 to begin supporting the president’s immigration policies. Trump has teased a plan to pursue mass deportations, which is supported by his incoming border czar, Tom Homan. Republican state House Speaker Daniel Perez and Republican Senate President Ben Albritton wrote a memo following the announcement from the governor’s office. Both suggested a special session is too early because "it is completely irresponsible to get out ahead of any announcements President Trump will make." DeSantis issued an outline of possible legislation, which included issuing criminal penalties for illegal entry, the establishment of an immigration enforcement officer, and mandating compliance with deportations from law enforcement under threat of suspension.

The Hill [1/15/2025 12:22 PM, Julia Manchester, 16346K, Neutral] reports that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) called for a state-level liaison to work with the federal government to implement President-elect Trump’s immigration agenda. "We are going to be appointing a state immigration officer that will be dedicated to overseeing the coordination with federal authorities and Florida’s existing program," DeSantis told reporters at a press conference in Winter Haven, Fla., referring to the state’s past efforts to fly migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in 2022. Additionally, the governor called for local and state law officers to have "maximum participation" in enforcing federal laws and said he believed the federal government would "bless" state and local officials being empowered to detain and deport individuals in the state illegally. DeSantis also called for better gang enforcement, reforms to education and voting, and requiring voter registration affirmation of U.S. citizenship and Florida residency. The governor said he has been in contact with Trump and his transition team over his plans for the special session. DeSantis also expressed his desire for Florida to become an example for other states in enforcing Trump’s immigration agenda. "We have a new sheriff coming in town, nationally," DeSantis told reporters. "As Florida leads working with the feds, other states will follow suit, and we will create a healthy competition to get things done."

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [1/15/2025 9:00 AM, Mabinty Quarshie, 2365K, Neutral]

Chicago Tribune [1/15/2025 3:46 PM, Alice Yin and Jake Sheridan, 4917K, Negative] reports that an effort by opponents of Mayor Brandon Johnson to water down Chicago’s sanctuary city ordinance faltered in the City Council Wednesday, a victory for the mayor as his administration prepares for the looming threat of deportations under incoming President Donald Trump. Aldermen voted 39-11 to table the vote on an amendment from Southwest Side Alds. Raymond Lopez, 15th, and Silvana Tabares, 23rd, to allow Chicago police to work with federal agencies on cases with individuals accused or convicted of gang activity, drug-related crimes, sex trafficking or sex crimes with minors. The two used a parliamentary move to attempt to force a full vote in the council, but the Johnson administration’s campaign with progressive allies and immigration advocates succeeded at beating back the legislation. The council’s failure to amend the ordinance was no surprise; even if Lopez’s proposal had passed, there would have been a 34-vote hurdle to clear a potential mayoral veto. But the council contingent of conservative and moderate aldermen are expected to continue resisting the freshman mayor’s agenda, including on immigration, a subject at the forefront of Chicago leaders’ minds ahead of the federal government switching to a Republican-led trifecta after next Monday’s inauguration. After the meeting adjourned, Tabares had sharp words for opponents of her sanctuary city measure but did not say what her next steps would be.

CBS Minnesota [1/15/2025 9:35 PM, Riley Moser, 52225K, Negative] Video: HERE reports a search warrant reveals new details about a domestic violence call that turned into a hazmat response in Brooklyn Park last week. Officers were first called to a home on the 6400 block of Zealand Avenue North on the night of Dec. 30, 2024, on a report of a verbal domestic dispute between a husband and wife. The woman who called the police told them her husband was upset with her because she had taken his "medication" from him. She believed he had been putting it in her food and drinks to poison her, according to court documents. She gave officers a drink she believed he had put the substance in for testing. Officers learned the "medication" was ground-up castor beans. The warrant says the man denied putting any of the powder in his wife’s food or drinks. Officers report he did not know what the "medication" was but used it because of his diabetes and high cholesterol. Tests of the woman’s drink showed a presumptive positive result for ricin, which is considered an agent of terrorism and a biological weapon, and the FBI was contacted. That’s when officers learned grinding down castor beans is a step in processing ricin. Because ricin is so toxic, the Department of Homeland Security Chemical Assessment Team was called in to collect the substance and process the rest of the home for toxins.

FOX News [1/15/2025 8:12 PM, Emma Colton, 49889K, Neutral] reports a Native American tribe in South Dakota lifted its banishment on Republican Gov. Kristi Noem in a letter Wednesday, offering its endorsement of her nomination to serve as secretary of Homeland Security, Fox News Digital has learned. Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe President Tony Reider wrote a letter to Noem Wednesday informing her the tribe’s executive committee voted to "remove the banishment" it placed on Noem in May and congratulated her for her nomination to serve in President-elect Trump’s cabinet. The letter comes just days before Noem is scheduled to appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for her confirmation hearing. "I commend you on your nomination by President Elect Donald Trump to the position of Secretary of U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and hereby support your nomination. I wish you the best of luck during the Senate confirmation hearing on January 17, 2025, and believe that your dedication to the safety and security of the United States will benefit us all," Reider’s letter states, according to a copy obtained by Fox News Digital. All nine native tribes in South Dakota banned Noem from their reservations last year after outrage over her suggestion that tribal leaders benefit from cartels and the immigration crisis and comments regarding native children’s futures. The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe was the last tribe to ban her. "Their kids don’t have any hope. They don’t have parents who show up and help them. They have a tribal council or a president who focuses on a political agenda more than they care about actually helping somebody’s life look better," Noem said last year in a comment that drew criticism from tribes.

Reported similarly:
Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 8:58 PM, Dominik Dausch, 57114K, Neutral]

Washington Post [1/15/2025 7:26 PM, Hannah Knowles, 40736K, Negative] reports President-elect Donald Trump’s long-standing threats to place conditions on California wildfire aid are gaining traction with Republicans, looming over the government’s response to the devastation in Los Angeles and infuriating Democratic leaders who said such actions would be unprecedented. Some Republicans have suggested tying the aid to government funding or an increase in the debt ceiling, which Trump tried to pressure lawmakers to do last month but struggled to sell to House Republicans. Others have suggested forcing California to change its water policies. Linking disaster funding to other priorities could increase the GOP’s leverage — but it could also backfire, with some Republicans already joining Democrats in condemning the threat. Withholding natural disaster aid to force policy changes would mark a major escalation in the feud between national Republicans and leaders of Democratic-run cities and states. Recent hurricane funding for mostly GOP-led states passed Congress without any strings attached. Republican senators from two storm-ravaged states have pushed back on the idea of conditions for fire aid in Los Angeles. But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and other congressional Republicans said this week that federal help should have strings attached, while criticizing California’s liberal policies and management of natural resources. Trump has spent the past week complaining about — and misconstruing — California’s water policies, and he has repeatedly threatened to withhold disaster aid on the campaign trail. We’re tracking the Palisades Fire and other wildfires around Los Angeles. See maps of where the fires have spread and follow live updates. "We’re going to take care of your water situation, and we’ll force it down his throat," Trump said of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) last fall during a rally in Coachella, California. "And we’ll say: Gavin, if you don’t do it, we’re not giving you any of that fire money that we send you all the time for all the fire, forest fires that you have."

New York Times [1/15/2025 8:30 PM, Steven Lee Myers, 161405K, Negative] reports social media accounts linked to the governments of Russia and Iran and terrorist organizations like the Islamic State are contributing to the surge of false and exaggerated claims about the wildfires afflicting Los Angeles, according to researchers who monitor disinformation. The accounts, along with reports in Russian state media, have echoed and amplified narratives that spread online almost from the moment the fires began. The accounts have also added themes specific to the countries’ geopolitical interests, particularly, in Russia’s case, the war in Ukraine. Foreign disinformation campaigns have become commonplace in times of natural disasters, including the flooding after Hurricane Helene last year and the wildfires that swept Hawaii in 2023. The intent is to stoke domestic political divisions or to portray the U.S. government as incompetent or corrupt and life in the country as dangerous. Much of the content is indistinguishable from misinformation that has spread from sources at home, including politically charged statements by President-elect Donald J. Trump and Elon Musk. Recorded Future, a threat intelligence company, found narratives linked to a Russian influence campaign called Doppelgänger in fabricated online news articles in French and German, suggesting the effort is trying to discredit the United States globally. Similar views have been aired on Russian television networks aimed at African and Arab-speaking audiences, the company said.

Washington Examiner [1/15/2025 10:51 AM, Kenneth Schrupp, 2365K, Negative] reports that California Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing a $2.5 billion wildfire response and recovery package in the ongoing special session of the Legislature dedicated to "Trump-proofing" California. Newsom and state legislative leaders have agreed to set aside $50 million to defend California from the incoming Donald Trump administration, with $25 million to fund lawsuits against the incoming Trump administration, and the other $25 million largely for deportation defense of illegal immigrants. "California is organizing a Marshall Plan to help Los Angeles rebuild faster and stronger – including billions in new and accelerated state funding so we can move faster to deliver for the thousands who’ve lost their homes and livelihoods in these firestorms," Newsome said in a statement on his proposal. The $2.5 billion would include $1 billion for emergency response funding "which should be eligible for reimbursement by FEMA for emergency response, cleanup and recovery," and $1.5 billion for "greater preparedness against the threats of firestorms, windstorms, and other natural disasters."

Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 6:01 PM, Jasmin Malik Chua, 57114K, Neutral] reports the U.S. Department of Homeland Security revealed Tuesday that it would be blacklisting one of China’s largest textile manufacturers and two dozen of its subsidiaries for their alleged ties with the persecution of Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Together with companies in solar, real estate and mining, the additions count toward the largest single expansion of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, or UFLPA, Entity List to date. Huafu Fashion Co., according to the inter-agency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, which the Department of Homeland Security helms, maintains a vast vertically integrated supply chain from cotton planting in Xinjiang through textiles manufacturing. It said it has "reasonable cause" to believe, based on "specific and articulable" information, that the entities source cotton or cotton-based products from Xinjiang. The conglomerate, whose controlling shareholder is Huafu Holdings, did not respond to a request for comment. "In adding 37 companies to the UFLPA Entities List and bringing the total to nearly 150, we again demonstrate our relentless fight against the cruelty of forced labor, our unwavering commitment to basic human rights, and our tireless defense of a free, fair, and competitive market," Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas said in a statement.

Wall Street Journal [1/16/2025 5:31 PM, Summer Said and Carrie Keller-Lynn, Neutral] reports President Biden in his final days seems intent on reminding Americans why they rejected his policies and designated successor. This week the lame duck notified Congress that he will lift the U.S. designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism before he leaves office on Monday. The Cuban regime thanks you, sir. In exchange Cuba’s foreign ministry says it will release 553 prisoners from its jails. The U.S. Administration also is suspending for six months the right to bring a legal action under the Helms-Burton Act against parties trafficking in property stolen in Cuba. Title III of Helms-Burton requires that suspension must be deemed “necessary to National Interests of the United States and will expedite a transition to democracy in Cuba.” But you have to be as naive as Barack Obama’s former Cuban apologist Ben Rhodes to believe that this U.S. concession will do anything more than help the regime stay in power. As for sponsoring terrorism, the State Department put it this way in January 2021: “For decades, the Cuban government has fed, housed, and provided medical care for murderers, bombmakers, and hijackers, while many Cubans go hungry, homeless, and without basic medicine.” Cuba is a main backer of the Maduro dictatorship in Venezuela and the Ortega gang in Nicaragua, and State said Cuba has made Venezuela “a permissive environment for international terrorists to live and thrive within.” Cuba is in the worst economic crisis in decades and it is running out of other people’s money. There are recurring island-wide blackouts and shortages of food and medicine. Millions of Cubans, without any hope for a better life, keep fleeing. This suffering is a tragedy, but there is no evidence that easing U.S. sanctions will lead to less. Mr. Obama tried this approach with great fanfare, including a cringe-worthy trip to Cuba and photo-ops with Raúl Castro. The regime took no steps toward democracy, and it continues to confiscate the hard dollars sent to Cuban families from abroad while the families get nearly worthless pesos in exchange. The Castro family inner circle is hoarding billions in the bank accounts of its businesses, as the Miami Herald recently reported based on leaked documents. But Cuban dictator Miguel Díaz-Canel doesn’t want to touch that money to help his people. He wants new sources of financing. The terror designation and Helms-Burton stand in the way.

Wall Street Journal [1/16/2025 5:34 PM, Summer Said and Carrie Keller-Lynn, Neutral] reports that, when a President elects to use it, American power is something to behold. That’s one lesson from the Israel-Hamas hostage deal reached Wednesday, with only days to spare before Donald Trump’s inauguration. It’s an echo of the U.S. hostages freed from Iran in the Reagan Presidency’s first minutes. Naturally, President Biden took credit. “I laid out the precise contours of this plan on May 31, 2024,” he said in a statement. So why is it happening now instead of then, when Hamas rejected it? For a year his Administration pushed this rock up the hill, only to see it roll back down each time. Then the U.S. election changed the regional calculus. Threatening “all hell to pay” if hostages weren’t freed by Jan. 20, Mr. Trump—and American power—changed the incentives for the parties. Israel’s cabinet will meet Thursday to approve the deal, which is expected to begin Sunday and free 33 of the 94 remaining hostages held by Hamas, dead or alive. This will be in the deal’s first six-week phase. We hope the seven Americans are among them. The abuse hostages have suffered is heartbreaking, and their emancipation from their tormentors will be cause for celebration. To an Israeli society holding its breath since Oct. 7, 2023, this comes as a relief. But the next breath must take in the deal’s steep cost: First, the release of about a thousand Palestinian terrorists, including more than a hundred serving life sentences. Some of the murderers are sure to return to the fight and cost innocent lives in the future, Palestinian and Israeli. This makes the deal a hard choice, but one that is for Israelis to make. Second, Israel will withdraw from most of Gaza, including the Netzarim corridor that bisects the strip, and retreat to the buffer zones it created. Such strategic, territorial concessions go far beyond the usual prisoner releases common to most hostage deals. Israeli withdrawal has been part of Mr. Biden’s plan all along, pressed as well by Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. No surprise, then, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under heavy fire from the Israeli right for accepting the deal, including many in his own party. They accuse him of surrendering the military gains in Gaza, for which 400 soldiers have given their lives, and abandoning the Strip to Hamas.

San Diego Union Tribune [1/15/2025 12:45 PM, Staff, 2212K, Negative] reports that an estimated one-fifth of U.S. construction workers are undocumented immigrants. This shows a project in Claremont, east of Los Angeles, earlier this month. (SCNG). Rebuilding Los Angeles will require at least 50,000 new construction workers. Meanwhile, at least half of workers in the building trades are Hispanic, many with questionable immigration status. President-elect Trump wants to start a massive deportation effort, which will vastly reduce the number of our workforce who actually build things. Instead of deporting people, we should be importing people to rebuild the fire-damaged areas in the West and flooded areas in the South and East. Our country needs a federal amnesty and visa program leading to citizenship for the workers we need to rebuild the tremendous damage recently caused across our country by fires and floods. Hopefully, some politicians will realize this vital need and work together to help.

The Hill [1/15/2025 12:30 PM, Brian O’Neill, 16346K, Neutral] reports that Tulsi Gabbard’s designation as director of national intelligence continues to invite skepticism. Critics question her qualifications and whether she has the experience needed to manage one of the nation’s most complex bureaucracies. Her foreign policy positions and combative political style add to concerns about her ability to build trust within the intelligence community and foster cohesion among its 18 components. The director’s responsibilities extend far beyond management. The role requires delivering insights that are accurate, timely and actionable — no matter how unwelcome they may be — while contending with the inherent challenges of intelligence work and the growing pressures of a polarized political climate. Whether Gabbard is confirmed or the role falls to another nominee, the next director of national intelligence will have to confront both unavoidable realities and essential principles that define the job. Navigating these will be critical to safeguarding the intelligence community’s integrity and the nation’s security. The director must manage expectations, ensuring intelligence is seen as a tool for managing uncertainty rather than a scapegoat when ambiguity persists. This challenge will be particularly acute for a president-elect who has shown little patience for nuance. The next director of national security must resist demands to align intelligence with political narratives, knowing that the intelligence community’s credibility is paramount to its mission.

Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 1:32 PM, Ryan Teague Beckwith, 57114K, Negative] reports that after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, then-President Donald Trump made clear that he did not think the island should receive much disaster relief. He lobbied Republicans against an aid bill, arguing Puerto Rico was getting too much money compared to Texas and Florida. He claimed without evidence that its government was trying to misuse the recovery money to pay down debt. When funding was approved, White House officials stalled sending it, imposed new restrictions and then obstructed an investigation into the delay. Now, with parts of Los Angeles County still in flames, Trump and his allies are indicating that they would like to run the same playbook. The problems began even before the fires, as Trump threatened to add conditions to future aid during a rally last fall in Coachella, Calif., saying, "We’re not giving you any of that fire money that we send you all the time" unless the state agreed to changes in water policy. It resurfaced last week as Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson blamed California’s forest management practices for the wildfires, telling Fox Business that Congress should withhold disaster relief until the state changes its policies. "If they want the money, then there should be consequences," he said.

The Hill [1/15/2025 11:30 AM, Carl Meacham, 16346K, Neutral] reports that the brief detention of María Corina Machado on Jan. 9, 2025, could have easily ended in tragedy. Often called the "Iron Lady" of Venezuela’s opposition, Machado was seized by security forces while leading protests against Nicolás Maduro. Her swift release was a small victory, but her abduction underscored the dangers for Venezuela’s democratic leaders. It also marked a pivotal moment for U.S. policy toward Venezuela, showing how far the Biden administration has come in the past eight months — from naive diplomacy to a pragmatic, strategic and muscular approach. In his final days in office, Biden has a rare opportunity to leave a lasting legacy in Latin America. His administration’s early approach to Venezuela was rooted in wishful thinking. The White House believed partial sanctions relief and dialogue with Maduro could lead to democratic reforms. This approach assumed Maduro could be coaxed into holding free and fair elections. Predictably, Maduro responded by ramping up repression, attacking opposition figures like Machado, and either ignoring or only partially fulfilling agreements such as the Barbados Accord. The administration also prioritized humanitarian relief. The Department of Homeland Security extended Temporary Protected Status for 600,000 Venezuelans through Oct. 2, 2026, allowing eligible nationals to live and work in the U.S.

Axios [1/15/2025 3:53 PM, Russell Contreras, 16349K, Negative] reports documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) show that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is considering proposals to expand its immigration detention capacity in at least eight states. The proposals going back to September show that the Biden administration was preparing for its own expanded detention of immigrants while Democrats attacked President-elect Trump for his mass deportation plan. The plans could give Trump a head start to launch the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history once he takes office since detention is the most costly and labor-intensive piece of deportation. The ACLU said Wednesday that documents obtained through an open records request show proposals sought expansion of detention capacity in Michigan, California, Kansas, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington state.

Univision [1/15/2025 6:37 PM, Patricia Clarembaux, 7281K, Neutral] reports the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) is evaluating proposals from private companies to expand their immigration detention capacity in centers and temporary facilities in at least eight states, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reported after a request for public information from the federal agency. Among the private corporations that introduced their proposals are GEO Group Inc., Core Civic and Management and Training Corporation (MTC), three of which operate the largest number of detention centers in the country. There is also Target Hospitality, which has in the past installed temporary tents used by ICE for the detention of minors. These companies submitted proposals to expand detention capacity in some of the centers operating in states such as Michigan, California, Kansas, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Texas and Washington, the ACLU says. Some of those in the process and operated by GEO Group are the North Lake Correctional Facility in Michigan, which was previously used as a federal prison; and the Rio Grande Processing Center in Laredo, Texas. Also mentioned is a tent in Carrizo Springs, Texas, operated by Target Hospitality. The ACLU has received this data as part of a public information request made to the agency in September 2024, months before the presidential election in which Donald Trump was elected. Univision News consulted ICE on its bed expansion plans to house migrants, but it did not get an immediate response.

Washington Post [1/16/2025 5:00 AM, Nick Miroff, Álvaro Valiño, Adrián Blanco Ramos and Steven Rich, 40736K, Neutral] reports president-elect Donald Trump intends to launch a “light speed” mass deportation campaign as soon as he “puts his hand on that Bible and takes the oath of office,” top aide Stephen Miller has boasted. While U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has long prioritized immigrants with criminal records, there are other subgroups that could be at a higher risk of deportation. They include millions of newcomers who arrived during the record border influx under President Joe Biden, as well as those who have exhausted their legal appeals but haven’t left the United States. Others, including “dreamers” allowed to stay under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, are likely to remain a lower priority. Trump will face considerable logistical and financial hurdles if he attempts to sharply increase the number of people arrested, jailed and removed from the country by ICE. So, what would a mass deportation campaign really look like? Does Trump have the means and the personnel to pull it off? Trump set ambitious deportation goals as he prepared to take office in 2017, pledging to quickly remove 2 million to 3 million people. He ended up deporting about 1.5 million people over four years. In recent interviews, Trump has said he would like to deport everyone living illegally in the United States, though he did not set a numerical target. His threats have set immigrant communities on edge and raised worries among businesses about the potential impact to the U.S. labor force and wider economy. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported a the highest number of people in a decade during fiscal 2024, the last full fiscal year of Biden’s term. The majority were recent border crossers rather than immigrants taken into custody by ICE in U.S. communities. The agency’s busiest year was 2012, during the Obama administration, when ICE deported 409,000 people. Immigrants with criminal records will be Trump’s first priority, his top aides say. ICE told Congress that as of July 21 there were more than 650,000 noncitizens with criminal histories on the agency’s caseload. Those in federal or state prison will face deportation once their criminal sentences are complete. The total includes 435,719 convicted criminals. Of that total, there are also 226,847 noncitizens with pending charges. Traffic offenses (including drunken driving), drug crimes and immigration violations are the leading categories, court data shows.

FOX News [1/15/2025 8:35 AM, Michael Dorgan, 49889K, Negative] reports a 69-year-old homeless man who was asleep on a New York City subway train when a suspects in a group of homeless illegal migrants tried to rob him will not face charges after he fatally stabbed one of them in a caught-on-camera bloody brawl trying to retrieve his belongings. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed to Fox News Digital that at least three of the would-be robbers are illegal migrants — including the migrant who was killed in the skirmish — with two having racked up long Big Apple rap sheets since arriving in the U.S. The deceased migrant, Stalin Moya of Ecuador, 37, had been arrested several times between July 2023 and November 2024 for a slew of crimes including felony assault, felony robbery and criminal possession of a weapon. The deadly incident took place on Dec. 22, just hours before police say a Guatemalan illegal migrant set fire to and burned a homeless woman to death on a subway in Brooklyn — as migrant crime and subway crime continues to wreak havoc on the city. Prosecutors say that the unidentified homeless man was asleep on a Number 7 subway train in Queens when he was "accosted" by the men at around 12:20 a.m. During a protracted battle to retrieve his belongings, the homeless man was punched and kicked by the group only for him to then stab two of the suspects – fatally killing one of them. Four suspects, however, are facing charges for attacking the homeless man. The decision not to prosecute the homeless man comes just weeks after former Marine Daniel Penny was acquitted of the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway. Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with schizophrenia, barged onto a train in May 2023 shouting death threats while high on a type of synthetic marijuana known as K2. Penny, 26, put Neely in a chokehold, and he later died.

Chicago Tribune [1/15/2025 6:00 AM, Alice Yin, 4917K, Neutral] reports President-elect Donald Trump’s vow to enact mass deportations - and his famous antipathy toward Chicago - have girded local immigration activists for the immediate aftermath of his inauguration. But how would such an effort, which has not happened before in modern U.S. history, actually unfold? And how real are Trump’s threats to try to go after asylum-seekers, naturalized citizens and other groups on top of immigrants in the U.S. without legal permission? Trump border czar Tom Homan has designated the nation’s third-largest city as ground zero for his plans to round up immigrants in the country illegally and other groups at an unprecedented scale, saber-rattling that could set up a high-profile showdown between progressive Mayor Brandon Johnson and the incoming Republican administration. Chicago officials are mobilizing a legal and resource playbook to stop federal immigration agents from carrying out raids at businesses, shelters, police lock-ups and beyond. It’s unclear what exactly the president-elect will do after his Jan. 20 inauguration, as he promised mass deportations before his first term, too, and they largely did not materialize. Still, local leaders told the Tribune the danger is even more real this time around, citing the rightward shift of the courts and his four years of previous White House experience to embolden him.

Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 5:01 PM, Staff, 57114K, Negative] reports after filing a lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security leaders for $474 million, State Superintendent Ryan Walters is facing backlash. "It is just another attention grabbing political theater stunt that we see too often from him that wastes our time," said Erica Watkins, the state director of Defense of Democracy Oklahoma. Superintendent Walters is suing Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Deputy Director Peter Flores. According to a news release, Walters is seeking "compensation for the severe financial and operational strain that their failed border policies have placed on Oklahoma’s public schools.” "We’re 49th in education and something like this isn’t going to make our school systems better," said Oklahoma House Representative Arturo Alonso-Sandoval, D-Oklahoma City. In the suit, Walters says Oklahoma spends over $13,736 per student enrolled in local school districts based on a report from the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs. He goes on to say the approximate 3,000 undocumented unaccompanied minors residing in Oklahoma have cost taxpayers roughly $41.2 million since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration.

BorderReport [1/16/2025 1:13 PM, Salvador Rivera, 153K, Negative] reports the city of El Cajon has a little more than 100,000 residents and is considered one of the most diverse in San Diego County. Soon, it could be among of handful of California municipalities to support mass deportations. On Tuesday night, the El Cajon City Council considered a motion to back mass deportations promised by the incoming Trump administration. The state of California as well as many of its local governments, such as the city of Los Angeles and San Diego County, have passed resolutions denying any help and support for federal agencies involved in deportations. When speakers opposed the proposed the idea out of concerns it would make migrants "pariahs and targets of hate," the El Cajon City Council temporarily withdrew support of the resolution as it was written. "The way the language was presented in the resolution, it suggests that people should be scared of immigrants because they are criminals," Rios said. "It would target them by other members of the community who believe immigrants are causing harm and need to be sanctioned by the city of El Cajon.” The resolution, which declares the City of El Cajon’s "intent to assist federal immigration authorities," says it will ensure residents are protected from "individuals engaged in serious criminal activities, including gang involvement, human trafficking, and drug distribution.” It also cites a report from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, that said the agency has release into the U.S. thousands of undocumented individuals who have been "convicted of or charged with violent crimes, including assault, sexual assault, homicide, and human trafficking.”

AP [1/15/2025 2:17 PM, Geoff Mulvihill, 14282K, Negative] reports that a group of Democratic attorneys general asked a court on Wednesday to let them defend a federal policy that opened subsidized health coverage to "Dreamers," young adults who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. They want to take up the mantle since they anticipate President-elect Donald Trump’s administration will not do so after he takes office on Monday. The request in U.S. District Court in Bismarck, North Dakota, is among the first of what are expected to be many legal skirmishes over policy as the presidency changes hands. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin is leading 14 Democratic prosecutors in the health care effort. "Undermining Dreamers’ access to healthcare not only hurts them and their American children, but it harms states like New Jersey too," Platkin said in a statement. "We will never back down from fighting for our Dreamers, no matter who is in charge in Washington." For decades, states have often sued the the federal government — particularly when it’s under control of the opposing party — over policy. Democratic attorneys general are also preparing to do just that. There could also be more requests like Wednesday’s to let states defend actions taken by the Biden administration. If a judge allows the Democratic attorneys general to intervene in this case, it would set up a legal battle between red and blue states.

AP [1/15/2025 10:39 AM, Mike Schneider, 30936K, Neutral] reports that the Congressional Budget Office has shrunk its projections for the U.S. population in 30 years to 372 million residents, a 2.8% drop from last year, citing declining birth rates and less expected immigration. The budget office last year projected 383 million people living in the United States in 30 years but reduced that figure by 11 million residents in projections released this week. The U.S. had an estimated 341 million residents on New Years’ Day and is expected to grow to 350 million people by year’s end. Population growth will slow over the next three decades. In the next 10 years, the yearly growth rate in the United States will be on average, 0.4% but then it slows down on average to 0.1% between 2036 and 2055, the budget office said. The overall yearly growth rate over the next three decades, 0.2%, is projected to be less than a quarter of what it was from 1975 to 2024. Without immigration, the U.S. population will shrink starting in 2033 in part "because fertility rates are projected to remain too low for a generation to replace itself," the Congressional Budget Office said.

Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 7:30 AM, Olivia Sanchez, 57114K, Neutral] reports Jenni Hernandez attends Sacramento State, located in a sanctuary city in a sanctuary state and a campus that welcomes immigrants. Yet because she lives in the country without authorization, the amplified fear she now feels yanks her back to when she was a 7-year-old and first learned her parents could be deported at any time. "Where a lot of my peers would have nightmares about monsters under their beds or things like that, I had a genuine fear that one day my parents were just gonna be gone and I would never know what happened,” Hernandez said. Now, she said, with President-elect Donald Trump’s vow to launch mass deportations, “I’m back to that fear.” Hernandez, 23, was brought to California by her parents when she was 1 and grew up in California’s Bay Area. After high school she found state resources to help her pay college tuition. She isn’t legally allowed to work but participates in a program where she earns experience through volunteering and is given a stipend. As a graduate student assistant at California State University, Sacramento, she is pursuing a master’s degree in higher education leadership. But, she said, “I don’t feel safe anywhere right now.” Hernandez is one of an estimated 100,000 undocumented college students in California — the most of any state in the country — who are confronting an especially uncertain future as they pursue higher education and aspire to work. College leaders and advocates for undocumented students are assessing what protections institutions can offer. Some students, advocates said, are grappling with an even more existential question: Should they stay in college? “I think it does put into question the idea of pursuing higher education, putting yourself out there post-election, if it’s going to put yourself or your family members in danger,” said Madeleine Villanueva, director of higher education at the California-based nonprofit Immigrants Rising.

Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 6:20 AM, Emma McCorkindale, 57114K, Negative] reports a Jamaican national who was living in Hartford, Connecticut was arrested by ICE after being released from a Connecticut prison. Sanjay Sivan Walsh, 28, was convicted in 2023 of sexually assaulting two children and tampering with evidence. Walsh served a 21-month sentenced at the prison in Enfield and was released on December 17th. He then was arrested again by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston. He remains in custody awaiting immigration proceedings. The court also required Walsh to register as a sex offender for 10 years following his release. “Mr. Walsh was convicted of committing unspeakable crimes against two children, and he was sentenced to prison for it,” said ERO Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde. “ERO Boston lodged an immigration detainer against him so our officers could safely arrest him upon his release, but the Connecticut Department of Corrections officials refused to honor the detainer. Our officers had to arrest Mr. Walsh in the community after his release from prison, even though he was convicted of terrible crimes against children and is removable from the U.S. based on his convictions.”

The New Jersey Monitor [1/15/2025 3:01 PM, Sophie Nieto-Munoz, Neutral] reports New Jersey is among 14 states seeking to defend immigrants who entered the United States illegally as children in a federal case that aims to stop these immigrants from enrolling in health care plans on Affordable Care Act exchanges. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin on Wednesday filed a motion to intervene in the case, which challenges a Biden administration rule that allows Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients to purchase plans on the exchanges. A group of states led by Kansas are challenging the rule in a federal court in North Dakota. Platkin argues that because the incoming Trump administration will likely not defend the case, it is up to him and 13 other Democratic-led states to do so. Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 7:47 PM, Josh Marcus, 57114K, Neutral] reports that in a brief filed in a North Dakota federal court on Wednesday, New Jersey argued on behalf of a group of 14 Democratic states that the incoming Trump administration can’t be "counted on" to defend a Biden-era rule that opened Obamacare exchanges to members of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. "Undermining Dreamers’ access to healthcare not only hurts them and their American children, but it harms states like New Jersey too," New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement. "We will never back down from fighting for our Dreamers, no matter who is in charge in Washington.” In May of last year, the Biden administration announced the new ACA rule, which held that DACA recipients, known as Dreamers, were "lawfully present" in the U.S. and thus able to get Obamacare benefits. "I’m proud of the contributions of Dreamers to our country and committed to providing Dreamers the support they need to succeed," Biden said in a statement at the time.

Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 5:19 PM, Greg Haas, 57114K, Neutral] reports Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford is intervening to protect access to health care insurance for Dreamers — the recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy. The move comes on the last day of open enrollment in 2025 and could motivate DACA recipients to sign up for health care insurance. In Nevada, government-subsidized policies are available at Nevada Health Link. Ford’s office announced on Wednesday that he has joined 13 other states in filing a motion that will protect DACA recipients’ access to insurance plans under Obamacare — the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Biden administration expanded access to health care for Dreamers in 2024, making them eligible to purchase health insurance through ACA exchanges. And while that access remains in place in Nevada, Dreamers have been watching legal challenges in other states. Ford’s move is an attempt to head off changes under the incoming Trump administration, which is expected to eliminate Dreamers’ eligibility. It’s a complicated fight, explained in detail here: "Health insurance access is important for individual quality of life and for the wellbeing of Nevada as a whole," Ford said. "Stripping this access from Dreamers, who, in most cases, know no other home than our great country, is dangerous, un-American and cruel. We must do right by the members of our community, and that Is why I am seeking to intervene in this action.”

CBS Miami [1/15/2025 5:58 PM, Tania Francois, 52225K, Negative] reports Haitian leaders are urging President Joe Biden to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians through 2028. The program is currently set to expire in February 2026 and immigrant communities are concerned that, starting next week, families could face forced separation and deportation. Community leaders are also opposing efforts to involve local law enforcement in federal deportation efforts. "To deputize sheriffs and police officers against immigrants would be wrong," they said. "That will destabilize our communities." Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has joined the push for a TPS extension, writing an open letter to President Biden signed by 40 other members of Congress. However, the administration has not yet responded. Community leaders warn that even if Biden extends TPS, President-elect Donald Trump could still revoke it after taking office. Should that happen, they vow to fight the decision in court.

Newsweek [1/15/2025 12:46 PM, Dan Gooding, 56005K, Negative] reports that President Joe Biden will leave office with far lower crossing numbers at the United States’ border with Mexico than expected, with no pre-inauguration surge of immigrants reported. In its December update released Tuesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said crossings were down 81 percent compared to December 2023’s height. "In the last six months of 2024, Border Patrol apprehensions along the southwest border have decreased more than 70% from the same period in 2023," Pete Flores, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner, said in a statement. Biden’s term in the White House was plagued by a huge surge in illegal crossings at the southwest border, leading to accusations from Republicans that his border policies had failed. President-elect Donald Trump focused on immigration during his election campaign, promising a return to tougher controls once he retook the White House. The CBP monthly update came just a day after President Biden claimed that crossings fell once he took office in January 2021. While numbers were low at the time, this was due to COVID-19 pandemic-era policies introduced by Trump, and the numbers soon rose as the health emergency eased.

CBS Austin [1/15/2025 4:43 PM, Jackson Walker, 581K, Neutral] reports Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday fiercely defended President Joe Biden’s record on immigration, saying the president "quickly" took action to resolve the nation’s southern border crisis. Mayorkas bore the brunt of the blame for the Biden administration’s border policies, leading to an unsuccessful impeachment attempt against him last year by House Republicans. Ahead of an expected mass deportation push by President-elect Donald Trump, Mayorkas told PBS News Hour his department is giving Trump the safest southern border yet. When host Amna Nawaz pushed back, saying Biden could have acted sooner with his executive order, Mayorkas said the president’s timing was perfect. In reflecting on his time with DHS, Mayorkas noted the department is "stronger, more efficient, more effective, more cohesive" than ever before.

Univision [1/15/2025 8:07 AM, Staff, 7281K, Negative] reports arrests of immigrants crossing the border from Mexico irregularly continued in December near the lowest since July 2020: Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported 47,300 arrests for the month, up slightly from 46,612 in November. The data suggests that President Joe Biden’s administration is close to giving way to Donald Trump’s without the expected spike in illegal border crossings. And that’s because the first two weeks of January also indicate that activity remains relatively low, with approximately 45% fewer crossings than in December, according to senior CBP officials who spoke to reporters during a virtual press conference on Tuesday. Border crossing activity peaked in South Texas, doubling from approximately 5,000 in November to just over 10,000 arrests in December throughout the Rio Grande Valley region, despite Republican-led efforts to increase border security through Operation Lonestar. The number of border arrests in December surpassed the number of people processed for asylum at ports of entry through the CBP One app, which allows migrants to request an appointment from the 1,450 daily slots available at designated ports of entry. Nearly 936,500 people have used the CBP One app to schedule appointments since its introduction in January 2023. President-elect Donald Trump said in September that he planned to end CBP One appointments, but a senior CBP official confirmed to reporters that they are still being scheduled. Overall, the number of illegal border crossings remains on a downward trend since the Biden administration’s record high in December 2023, when arrests reached nearly 250,000. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas credited the Biden administration’s June 2024 ruling that temporarily suspends asylum processing at the border when U.S. officials believe they are under excessive pressure.

Washington Examiner [1/16/2025 1:02 AM, Staff, 2365K, Neutral] reports president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, received a significant endorsement this morning before her confirmation hearing. The Border Patrol union announced it was supporting Bondi in her confirmation hearing to become the next attorney general of the U.S. The group made the endorsement in a post on X. "The National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) is happy to fully support President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee, former Attorney General of Florida Pamela Bondi, to be the next Attorney General for the United States," read the post. "We have no doubt that Ms. Bondi is the right person to lead the Justice Department, and we fully support President-elect Trump’s efforts to get the right people confirmed and in place to begin his Administration’s immediate efforts to secure our country.” The organization lauded Bondi’s background, experience, and other credentials, specifically recognizing her previous work in cases involving the opioid crisis and drug trafficking. "Ms. Bondi is a proven leader and dedicated public servant who has shown that she has the experience, integrity, and fortitude to lead the Department of Justice," the NBPC said. "She never backed down from a challenge and worked diligently to mitigate the opioid crisis, combat drug trafficking, and lower crime in Florida," the union touted. "Ms. Bondi’s work exemplifies the rule of law, and she has been endorsed for U.S. Attorney General by state Attorneys General on both sides of the aisle.”

BorderReport [1/15/2025 7:37 PM, Sandra Sanchez, 153K, Neutral] reports the well-worn white van owned by West Side Baptist Church has made dozens of trips to South Texas and across the border to Mexico over the past few years. On Wednesday, it was filled with red upholstered chairs, donated clothes and toys to be given to migrant shelters and for a children’s ministry that missionaries from that church are starting in the Mexican border town of Reynosa. Pastor Jim Howard, who has been coming to the border for 35 years, brought three parishioners on the 12-hour drive from his church in Atlanta, Texas, to do missionary work south of the border this week. For years he has brushed off criticisms about why he helps the asylum-seekers, but admits that lately the outcries are getting louder and louder. "Some of them think they’re taking their jobs up here," Howard said as he stopped at the McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge to talk with Border Report before crossing into Reynosa. "They just can’t understand anyone who would want to come from up there down here to help people down here, especially if they’re migrants and from other countries. So I do get pushback. And of course, you know, I tell them this, I’m am a man of the Lord, and I’m going to do what He tells me to," he said. "And I’m going to keep coming.” He says he is worried for the asylum-seekers as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office on Jan. 20 with a promise of mass deportations from the United States. He says those waiting south of the border are uncertain whether they’ll get an opportunity to claim asylum in the U.S., and whether the CBP One app, which allows them to make asylum appointments, will even be operational.

Bloomberg [1/15/2025 10:21 AM, Judy Trinh, 1450K, Negative] reports that the Canadian government has laid out a suite of new measures it says will reduce the flow of illegal migrants and illicit drugs over the border, with just days to go before U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. The announcement came amid Trump’s looming threat of imposing blanket 25 per cent tariffs on all imports from Canada, and just ahead of the first in-person meeting between Canada’s premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in nearly two years. At a news conference in Ottawa on the sidelines of that highly anticipated premiers meeting, federal officials announced increased monitoring of the border — including new helicopters and drones — that will be in the air this week, in the hopes of allaying Trump’s concerns and staving off his tariff threats. Public Safety Minister David McGuinty said starting Jan. 17, two new Blackhawk helicopters will patrol the border, along with 60 new drones. New aerial surveillance towers are also being erected. Canada will also soon get its first-ever pre-border clearance operation, to be established in Cannon Corners, New York. The station will be staffed with both Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) and U.S. border employees. The AP [1/15/2025 12:48 PM, Staff, 47097K, Neutral] reports that today, the Honorable David J. McGuinty, Minister of Public Safety, and the Honorable Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, provided key updates on the impacts of recent measures to reinforce the integrity of our shared border with the United-States (U.S.) and our immigration system. These ongoing efforts include Canada’s Border Plan, released in December 2024. Together, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Public Safety, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), have taken concrete steps to minimize unnecessary border volumes, increase info-sharing, and reduce non-genuine visitors and illegal crossings at the border. These measures are already delivering results. The accompanying backgrounder outlines IRCC’s measures and key results, and provides an overview of actions taken to protect the border and prevent fraud. Public Safety is coordinating the $1.3-billion effort to further strengthen the border, and disrupt illegal cross-border activity. In the coming weeks, the Government of Canada will further enhance real-time surveillance of Canada’s border and increase presence to support communities. We have already deployed 60 new drones along our border with the U.S., and will be deploying additional surveillance towers and purchasing new technology, such as x-rays, mobile x-rays and hand-held chemical analyzers.

Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 11:10 AM, Eric Kulisch, 57114K, Neutral] reports that a third of e-commerce imports could be impacted if the Biden administration, as expected, this week further moves to plug a vulnerability in the nation’s trade system by excluding merchandise covered by tariffs on China from a program that offers duty-free access for low-value shipments. U.S. border authorities on Monday said they will require certain shippers to electronically submit additional data on low-value consignments prior to arrival so they can more effectively target high-risk shipments for inspection, including those that contain synthetic opioids like fentanyl. The requirement applies to goods subject to the regulatory jurisdiction of other agencies, like the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Otherwise, it is optional for shippers who want to receive faster clearance. The proposed rulemaking is part of a broader crackdown on business-to-consumer e-commerce shipments, primarily from China, valued below $800 that are exempt from duty and tax payment. Parcels shipped under the de minimis rule have much less rigorous information requirements than goods declared on formal customs entries. Customs officials say criminal elements take advantage of the system to smuggle dangerous and counterfeit goods into the United States. The draft regulation formalizes an existing test program that gives importers expedited clearance in exchange for voluntarily submitting more data about individual parcels. Most e-commerce shippers already use the so-called Type 86 filing process, so the proposal is likely to have limited impact, according to an initial analysis of the notice from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

AP [1/15/2025 11:22 AM, Staff, 47097K, Neutral] reports that during 2024, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) intercepted a total of 6,678 firearms at airport security checkpoints, preventing them from getting into the secure areas of the airport and onboard aircraft. Approximately 94% of these firearms were loaded. This total is a minor decrease from the 6,737 firearms stopped in 2023. Throughout 2024, TSA managed its "Prepare, Pack, Declare" public awareness campaign to explain the steps for safely traveling with a firearm. "One firearm at a checkpoint is too many," said TSA Administrator David Pekoske. "Firearms present a safety risk for our employees and everyone else at the checkpoint. It’s also costly and slows down operations. If individuals who carry a firearm intend to travel, we remind them that the firearm must be unloaded, locked in a hard-sided case, declared to the airline at the check-in counter and transported in checked baggage." In 2024, TSA screened more than 904 million people, meaning the agency intercepted 7.4 firearms per million people, a decrease from 7.8 firearms per million people in 2023. When a firearm is detected at a security checkpoint, a TSO immediately contacts local law enforcement, who will remove the individual and the firearm from the checkpoint area. Depending on local laws, the law enforcement officer may arrest or cite the individual. TSA does not confiscate firearms.

Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 11:48 AM, Stella Shon, 57114K, Positive] reports that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has confirmed an official deadline for the Real ID requirement, which will soon be mandatory for travelers to navigate airport security within the U.S. Effective May 7, 2025, travelers will need to present a state-issued driver’s license or identification card with Real ID accreditation to pass through airport security within the U.S. Those without a Real ID or an approved alternative will be denied entry through TSA checkpoints. Real ID-compliant identification is being issued by all 50 U.S. states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Although Real ID cards may vary slightly in appearance from state to state, they generally feature a star or a star cutout in the upper left or right corner. IDs labeled with phrases such as "federal limits apply" or "not for federal identification" are not Real ID-compliant. The Real ID Act, passed by Congress nearly two decades ago, faced a prolonged implementation timeline at the state level due to differing regulations. As such, the requirement for Real ID-compliant identification at domestic airport security checkpoints has been delayed multiple times since 2020, initially because of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently for other reasons. Although the deadline will take effect in a few months, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has implemented a phased transition, with full enforcement scheduled to start on May 5, 2027.

Reported similarly:
CBS News [1/15/2025 9:31 AM, Staff, 52225K, Neutral]

Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 6:51 PM, Paul Feely, 57114K, Neutral] reports the Transportation Security Administration detected 48 firearms at eight New England airports in 2024, including three at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT), down from the region’s record number of 52 in 2023. The number of firearm detections reported at MHT has been on the rise in recent years — three in 2024, two in 2023 and a single incident reported in 2022. The most recent incident at MHT occurred Oct. 16 at the main security checkpoint, when TSA agents detected a firearm in a man’s carry-on bag, officials said. TSA notified Londonderry police, who responded and located a loaded 9mm firearm. Police secured the gun. The 53-year-old New Hampshire resident "ended up missing his flight," TSA officials said in a news release. Earlier his year, TSA officers stopped a woman from carrying a firearm onto an airplane at MHT. TSA again notified Londonderry police, who responded and discovered an unloaded .380 caliber firearm. Police took possession of the firearm, and the New Hampshire woman, 32, was allowed to continue on her trip, according to Daniel Velez, a regional TSA spokesman.

Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 11:13 AM, Brady Doran, 57114K, Neutral] reports that nearly 100 handguns were intercepted at Pennsylvania Airport Security checkpoints in 2024, a slight decrease from the previous year. According to the Transportation Security Administration, 97 handguns were intercepted at security checkpoints across Pennsylvania last year, which was six less than the 103 intercepted in 2023. Pittsburgh International Airport stopped the most firearms from going through security checkpoints in 2024, with 42, two more than Philadelphia International Airport, which had 40 stops. Both airports saw a slight decrease from 2023, per the TSA. TSA agents intercepted far fewer local firearms. Harrisburg International Airport intercepted four firearms in 2024, which was two more than the previous year, and Lancaster Airport intercepted one. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport Intercepted four firearms in 2024, Lehigh Valley International Airport intercepted three, University Park Airport intercepted two, and Erie International Airport intercepted one, according to TSA. "Our officers across the state are to be commended for their continued vigilance in ensuring that no prohibited or illegal items are carried onto a flight," said Gerardo Spero, the TSA’s Federal Security Director for Pennsylvania. "It was good to see fewer people bringing their guns to our checkpoints in 2024, however, it continued to be disappointing to see individuals who were still bringing their firearms to our security checkpoints."

Reported similarly:
Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 9:20 PM, Bill OBoyle, 57114K, Negative]

Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 12:03 PM, Erin Arthur, 57114K, Neutral] reports that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers intercepted 145 guns in 2024 making it the most detected in a single year. Officers detected all the firearms during the routine screening process of carry-on property at airport checkpoints. Four Virginia airports set records of gun detection at their checkpoints. The number of guns detected at the following airports included: Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport (5 guns), Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (41 guns), Richmond International Airport (32 guns), Norfolk International Airport (34 guns), Washington Dulles International Airport (29 guns). As a nation, TSA officers detected a total of 6,678 firearms at checkpoints in 2024, however, this is a decrease from 2023 with 6,737 firearms detected. This marks the first annual decrease in firearms detected other than 202 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 94% of the guns detected in 2024 were loaded. “It was disappointing to continue to see so many travelers continue to bring their firearms to our security checkpoints,” said John Busch, TSA Federal Security Director for Reagan National Airport. “If someone wants to transport their firearm to their destination, all that we ask is that they pack it properly so that nobody has access to it during a flight.”

NBC News [1/15/2025 7:51 PM, Jay Blackman and Antonio Planas, 50804K, Negative] reports a Southwest Airlines pilot was arrested at a Georgia airport and accused of DUI on Wednesday. A Transportation Security Administration officer smelled alcohol on the pilot and informed law enforcement officials, who arrested him at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, a source familiar with the situation told NBC News. "We’re aware of a situation involving an employee on Flight 3772 this morning from Savannah. The Employee has been removed from duty," the airline said in a statement. "There’s nothing more important to Southwest than the safety of our employees and customers.” The flight, which was headed to Chicago, was delayed by five hours, according to flight records. The airline apologized for the disruption and said customers were accommodated on other flights. Federal Aviation Administration regulations "prohibit pilots from using alcohol while on duty or from flying, or attempting to fly, an aircraft within eight hours of consuming alcohol or if they have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.04% or greater," the agency said in a statement.

WFRV [1/15/2025 6:09 PM, Indiana Schilz, Neutral] reports Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers stopped 29 firearms at Wisconsin airports in 2024, a decrease compared to 2023. According to a release, Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE) detected 16 firearms, Dane County Regional Airport (MSN) detected six, Appleton International Airport (ATW) and Central Wisconsin Airport (CWA) each detected three, and Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport (GRB) detected one. La Crosse Regional Airport (LSE) reported zero firearm detections. Nationwide, TSA officers stopped 6,678 firearms at checkpoints in 2024, averaging 18 firearms per day. Approximately 94% of these firearms were loaded. This marked a slight decline from the agency’s record of 6,737 firearms intercepted in 2023. Throughout 2024, TSA promoted its "Prepare, Pack, Declare" campaign to raise awareness about traveling safely with firearms.

NBC News [1/15/2025 4:10 AM, Staff, 50804K, Neutral] reports that over 53,000 people have registered for FEMA’s individual assistance program and almost $12 million has been provided to wildfire-affected individuals, FEMA Region 9 Administrator Robert Fenton Jr. said at today’s briefing. FEMA’s transitional shelter and assistance program was activated last night for displaced survivors. "The transitional shelter assistance (TSA) allows for fire survivors to stay at participating hotels to help fill the housing gap until they can identify a short or longer term housing solution. TSA may also be available for those that have insurance," he said. "FEMA is reaching out to fire survivors that have registered with us that would be eligible for this program." Under the program, FEMA pays for the cost of the room, taxes and nonrefundable pet fees directly to participating hotels. The Environmental Protection Agency has been directed to remove all household hazardous waste from properties affected by the fires, removing products like paints, cleaners, solvents, pesticides, larger asbestos debris and batteries. "EPA will stand up 40 teams over the next couple days, which equates to approximately 500 personnel," Fenton said, which he described as a first step in getting survivors back to their homes.

CNN US [1/15/2025 12:38 PM, Chris Isidore, 987K, Neutral] reports that more than $100 million has been raised for California wildfire victims on GoFundMe so far. But some of those fundraising efforts could actually end up limiting the money that would be available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA can provide financial assistance for those who lost homes, vehicles or possessions in a natural disaster. But it only can make funds available to cover costs not covered by other sources, such as insurance or donations like those that come through GoFundMe. "We understand that recovering from a disaster is incredibly challenging, and many people turn to resources like GoFundMe," said a FEMA official in a posting on social media platform X Tuesday afternoon. "GoFundMe can be a great way to cover immediate expenses, but it’s important to know that using it for certain purposes might affect your eligibility for FEMA assistance." "For example, FEMA might be able to help you to replace a vehicle that was damaged during the disaster," the FEMA official continued. "However, if your GoFundMe page clearly states that the funds you’re raising will be used to replace your car, FEMA won’t be able to provide assistance for that specific need…We know this can be frustrating, especially when you’re trying to manage so much, all at once. That’s why we encourage you to carefully consider how you describe your needs when creating a GoFundMe page."

The Hill [1/15/2025 9:11 AM, Filip Timotija, 57114K, Negative] reports that North Carolina Rep. Chuck Edwards (R) hammered the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during an interview, saying the agency needs to be overhauled and have a new director at its helm. "Well, we continue to be frustrated with FEMA, their communication, their sensitivity, quite frankly, to those folks who have lost their homes, who are displaced because of the storm," Edwards, whose district suffered devastating damage and flooding from Hurricane Helene four months ago, said during his Tuesday appearance on NewsNation’s show "The Hill." "That is an organization that clearly needs to be overhauled, and I’m anxious to be a part of that after January 20," he told host Blake Burman. Burman then asked the GOP lawmaker how he would modernize the government agency. "First of all, we need we need a new director, a new administrator, and we’ve got to change the culture of FEMA," Edwards said Tuesday. "There’s too much government bureaucracy and not nearly enough caring about the folks that they should be tasked to help." The scrutiny intensified after one of its workers was fired for allegedly advising an assistance team in Florida to not visit homes that displayed signs favorable to President-elect Trump. FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell was called to Capitol Hill to testify. The incident also led to an internal audit from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General Joseph Cuffari which kicked off on Dec. 17.

Reported similarly:
Yahoo! News [1/14/2025 10:27 PM, Staff, 57114K, Negative]

Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 6:34 AM, Keagan Hughes, 57114K, Neutral] reports that the Newmarket area in both Hampton and Newport News has faced severe flooding. Now, the two cities are looking to collaborate on the study and share the costs. On Jan. 14, Newport News City Council unanimously approved the request, 7-0. The study aims to address severe flooding that impacts both cities. The Newport News City Council agenda states the issue is concerning for low-income communities that are impacted by tidal flooding and heavy rainfall. The cities are hoping the study will create a solution for the flooding. Hampton has received a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Mitigation Assistance, FEMA, for this study. Newport News will pay the other half of the required local match under the grant. The required match is $190,000, making Newport News’ total $95,000. In the Newport News agenda, it states the total cost of the study will be $760,000. This will be funded by the city’s capital improvement plan under the stormwater utility category. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 8:44 PM, Staff, 57114K, Positive] reports the Horton Fire, which has been burning along the Mogollon Rim northeast of Payson for more than a month, is now 89% contained. Eight crews have made significant progress recently. On Jan. 6, the fire was only 19% contained. The job has taken 32 engines, three helicopters, a bulldozer and four water tenders. According to a post by the Tonto National Forest on X, containment increased as crews completed containment lines along the majority of the SR-260 corridor. The fire spanned 8,346 acres as of Wednesday evening, according to InciWeb. It was being fueled by ponderosa pines, mixed conifers and chaparrals. A team has arrived to assess burn severity of the soil, Tonto National Forest reps said. InciWeb said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, though initially, officials believed it was human-caused. It is unusual to have wildfires during December, but weather conditions have fueled flames. The Arizona High Country has seen little precipitation over the past few months and warmer-than-average temperatures, according to Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management spokesperson Tiffany Davila.

Newsweek [1/15/2025 12:14 PM, Sean O’Driscoll, 56005K, Neutral] reports that three law firms are suing the Edison electrical company, claiming its equipment ignited one of the four California wildfires. Newsweek sought email comment on Wednesday from Southern California Edison (SCE) and California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Office of Emergency Services. At least 24 people have died in four massive wildlfires that have consumed whole neighborhoods in Southern California. The Eaton fire, which has affected the towns of Pasadena and Altadena, was one of the most damaging fires and the strong Santa Ana winds that added to the crisis were expected to return on Wednesday. Trial law firms McNicholas & McNicholas, Becker Law Group and Singleton Schreiber have filed a lawsuit against SCE on behalf of victims affected by the Eaton fire. The blaze, which ignited on January 7, 2025, has left a trail of destruction across the region—claiming at least 11 lives, destroying 1,422 structures and leaving an additional 39,000 properties under threat. A doorstep video released by The Associated Press and others shows a fire at the base of a hilltop electrical pylon in Altadena, California—what residents say was the origin of the Eaton fire. The lawsuit, lodged in a California court on Monday, alleges that Edison failed to comply with essential electrical and fire safety standards, including failing to maintain power lines properly and failing to cut back overgrown vegetation. The three law firms said in a statement that they have met with over 500 victims of the Eaton fire in three days, 95% of whom have lost their homes.

Miami Herald [1/15/2025 11:36 AM, David Garrick, 6595K, Neutral] reports that San Diego has been slow to revamp how it monitors and removes flammable brush on city-owned land, despite a 2023 audit saying the city’s efforts are poorly coordinated and not comprehensive enough. Brush management is considered a crucial strategy to help prevent the kind of large wildfires that have devastated the Los Angeles area in the last week and that destroyed thousands of San Diego County homes in 2003 and 2007. The city’s slow progress comes just as the city auditor is planning to broaden his focus from brush management on city-owned land to brush management on private land, where property owners must follow city rules or face fines. In the nearly 18 months since the critical audit, San Diego city officials have made only two of the seven policy and procedure changes it recommended - and neither of those was completed until last fall. A plan to consolidate brush management efforts within the Parks and Recreation Department - instead of allowing 10 different city departments to handle those efforts individually - has run into budget and bureaucratic roadblocks. City officials have struggled to identify exactly which areas would be handled by Parks and Rec and how other departments would compensate that agency for its efforts. They said Tuesday that part of the problem is that they believe the audit overestimated how many acres with flammable brush they need to monitor.

Newsweek [1/15/2025 8:11 PM, Matthew Impelli, 56005K, Negative] reports California is set to get a "much-needed" break from dangerous fire conditions that have helped to fan the flames of multiple wildfires across the state. The news comes as a red flag warning for Southern California is finally set to expire at 6 p.m. PST. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Los Angeles confirmed today that the powerful winds and extremely low humidity were expected to ease off by the weekend, although it warned residents to brace for the return of dangerous fire weather conditions next week. Since last week, wildfires across Southern California have killed at least 25 people and expanded to over 37,000 acres, fanned by Santa Ana winds. An easing of the dangerous fire conditions may allow firefighters to finally contain the infernos, including the two largest fires; the Palisades fire, which is only 19 percent contained, and the Eaton fire, which is 45 percent contained at time of publication. The majority of red flag warnings for Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties are on track to expire at 6 p.m. this evening as Santa Ana winds diminished throughout the day. Forecasters said that the powerful winds from the weekend and earlier this week have "peaked" and will continue to drop through this evening. Only a few mountainous areas will retain the warning until Thursday morning, NWS said.

Washington Post [1/15/2025 7:32 PM, Scott Dance, 40736K, Negative] reports "Overall, it’s a moment to take a deep breath," said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California at Los Angeles. Yet the fires are far from extinguished. And how long the reprieve will last is unclear: More episodes of flame-fanning Santa Ana winds are in the forecast as early as next week, and there is no expectation of any significant precipitation on the horizon. In the interim, firefighters will take advantage of the conditions to lower threats that the largest blazes reignite. But in an era of such extreme conflagrations, any notion that they strike only during a defined "wildfire season" has been destroyed — leaving fire officials especially reluctant to declare that danger has faded. It used to be that firefighters could walk away from fire once extinguished and leave it behind, said Scott McLean, a Cal Fire public information officer. "I don’t feel comfortable in saying that anymore this year," he said. Because of the potential fuel remaining in the drought-stricken region, the firefight "will be an ongoing thing for quite some time.” As of Wednesday afternoon, active flames had largely subsided and the risks of flying embers had diminished around the largest fires. The Palisades Fire was still considered only 19 percent contained, while the Eaton Fire was at 45 percent containment. The Hurst fire, a third significant blaze, at 799 acres, was 97 percent contained. Fully extinguishing them will probably take weeks, said Scott Stephens, a professor of fire science at UC-Berkeley. Firefighters work by hand, with hoses and shovels, or even with bulldozers and helicopters, to extinguish or bury hot spots that could otherwise spread embers. "It’s going to be an immense amount of handwork," he said. "The perimeters are so large.”

AP [1/16/2025 3:15 AM, Michael R. Blood and Jaimie Ding, 33392K, Negative] reports that, staggered after one of the most destructive natural disasters in Southern California history, thousands of heartbroken families, burned-out business owners and beleaguered leaders across Los Angeles County are beginning to ponder another monumental task: rebuilding what was lost and charting a path forward. Alex Rosewood and nearly her entire family in Altadena, northeast of Los Angeles, lost their homes — her father, whom she and her husband were living with, and her aunt, uncle and cousin next door. Lost were the keepsakes of a lifetime of family relationships: Rosewood’s grandmother’s playing cards and unfinished quilt. Her wedding photos. Heirlooms from her grandfather, who served in the Navy. All things she wished she could have saved in their frantic flight as smoke turned the sky gray and her cousin’s house began to catch fire. But Altadena remains home. “We all plan to rebuild, for sure,” she said. The traumatized region made it through Wednesday without another major fire breaking out, after forecasters had warned of another round of particularly dangerous winds. Yet even with flames still leaping in two of the largest fires, which have killed 25 and destroyed more than 12,000 structures, government officials talked Wednesday of the epic job that will unspool over years: clearing Altadena, Pacific Palisades and other ravaged communities of toxic ash and debris, then rebuilding homes, restaurants, schools, boutiques, banks and houses of worship — all while finding financing for it all. Because of the ongoing firefighting battle and the likelihood of dangerous refuse in burned areas, many anxious residents have yet to return to see what, if anything, is left of their homes. The losses range from multimillion-dollar ocean-view mansions to modest homes that once welcomed returning World War II GIs. While talking of rebuilding can be a comfort for those eager for a return to normalcy, much remains unknown.

ABC News [1/15/2025 6:00 PM, Meredith Deliso, 33392K, Negative] reports Los Angeles County has been devastated by two deadly wildfires that have become some of the most destructive in California history. The Palisades and Eaton fires both erupted on Jan. 7, fueled by severe drought conditions and strong Santa Ana winds. Dozens of people are believed to have died in the fires, which have burned down whole swaths of communities, including in the Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Altadena and Pasadena. More than 12,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed in the two fires, with the Eaton Fire the most destructive in Los Angeles history. With the fires continuing to rage, the full scope of the lives lost and destruction remains to be seen. While working to contain the Palisades and Eaton fires, firefighters also have had to contend with several smaller fires that have ignited amid the hazardous fire conditions.

ABC News [1/15/2025 10:50 AM, Nathaneil Rakich, 33392K, Negative] reports that devastating wildfires have now been burning in greater Los Angeles for over a week, and the scale of the disaster is hard to overstate. Whether measured by number of deaths, number of structures destroyed or the total cost of the damages, the Los Angeles fires already look like they are among the worst on record — and, unfortunately, those numbers are likely to keep rising as the fires continue to burn. Of the various fires that have ignited around Los Angeles since last Tuesday, the two biggest have been the Palisades Fire, centered on the Pacific Palisades neighborhood on the west side of the city, and the Eaton Fire, centered on the northeastern suburb of Altadena. Together, they have so far killed 25 people and destroyed more than 12,000 structures. That already places these two fires alone among the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in California history. Only the 2018 Camp Fire was more catastrophic than the current rash of fires. That fire in Northern California’s Butte County killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 19,000 structures. However, it’s likely that the Los Angeles fires are already the costliest wildfires in history — not only in California, but in all of the U.S. These fires are unique in that they are tearing through one of the most densely populated cities in the country with some of the highest home values. Moody’s and insurance broker Aon PLC have already said that they believe the fires will wind up being the most expensive in U.S. history.

FOX News [1/15/2025 6:45 AM, Chris Pandolfo, Elizabeth Pritchett, Greg Wehner, and Louis Casiano, 49889K, Neutral] reports that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was taking photos at a cocktail party in Ghana when the Palisades Fire engulfed Los Angeles on Jan. 7, according to a report. Pictures posted on social media show Bass enjoying herself in the West African nation as part of a Biden administration delegation to the inauguration of Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, the Los Angeles Times reported. A spokesperson for the mayor told the paper the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana hosted the event before the group departed for the U.S. on a military plane after word reached the mayor of the growing crisis in her city. Bass spent most of the party in a separate room making calls, the spokesperson told the LA Times. Bass has been heavily criticized for leaving Los Angeles on an overseas trip while weather forecasts had warned of fire danger. She left the country on Jan. 4 as the National Weather Service intensified warnings about a coming windstorm and she returned to Los Angeles at around 11 a.m. on Jan. 8, more than 24 hours after the fires ignited, the LA Times reported.

New York Times [1/15/2025 10:54 AM, Victor Mather, 161405K, Neutral] reports that Gov. Gavin Newsom responded on Tuesday to Republicans who said federal aid provided to California for the wildfire response should be conditional and require policy changes. In an interview on MSNBC that he posted to social media, Mr. Newsom said: “If that’s leadership, I have a different definition.” “I’m not meeting Democrats, I’m not meeting Republicans. I’m not meeting Californians,” the governor said. “I’m meeting American citizens desperate in need. And what they need is empathy, care, compassion, understanding. They need support. Not rhetoric, not strings attached.” Mr. Newsom went on to criticize some Republicans for “politicizing this tragic moment.” Several Republican leaders have said that aid to California for the wildfires that have killed at least 25 people so far should be conditional. House Speaker Mike Johnson said that “state and local leaders were derelict in their duty in many respects,” citing what he called mistakes in “water resources management” and “forest management.” He added that he expected aid would come with conditions. He did not say in detail what those conditions would be. Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, said he would not vote for aid “unless we see a dramatic change in how they’re going to be handling these things in the future.”

Newsweek [1/15/2025 7:02 AM, Alia Shoaib, 56005K, Neutral] reports that, as wildfires continue to burn in Los Angeles, state and local officials have come under scrutiny over the city’s handling of the disaster. Critics have raised concerns about inadequate preparedness, water shortages and budget cuts as factors hindering the response, with California Democrats facing significant backlash. Newsweek reached out to the offices of Governor Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) via email on Wednesday outside of regular working hours. The wildfires that tore through Southern California last week were the deadliest in the state’s history, claiming at least 24 lives and reducing entire neighborhoods to ashes. While local officials have defended the response to the unprecedented disaster, the ongoing criticism is fueling political tensions and intensifying calls for accountability. The California governor has come under intense scrutiny, with prominent Republicans such as President-elect Donald Trump calling him "incompetent" and blaming him for the crisis. Newsom has faced criticism for cutting the state’s funding for wildfire and forest resilience by $101 million last year, while overall increasing the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s wildfire protection budget. He has also been accused of failing to effectively utilize available water resources for firefighting efforts, with many fire hydrants in the city running dry during the crisis. Newsom said he has called for an independent investigation into why some fire hydrants lost water pressure and why water supplies were reportedly unavailable from the Santa Ynez Reservoir. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Newsweek [1/15/2025 3:19 PM, Jesus Mesa, 56005K, Negative] reports that as Los Angeles County continues to endure one of the most destructive wildfire seasons in California’s history, Cal Fire Battalion Chief David Acuña warned that it could take weeks to fully extinguish the fires. During a Wednesday appearance on CNN News Central, Acuña acknowledged recent progress in combating the emergency but highlighted the challenges ahead. Southern California is experiencing its most devastating winter fires in over four decades. Fires don’t usually blaze at this time of year, but specific ingredients have come together to defy the calendar quickly and violently. As of Wednesday, California is making progress in containing the wildfires in Los Angeles County. The Eaton fire has burned 14,117 acres and is 45 percent contained. The Palisades fire, spanning 23,713 acres, is 19 percent contained. The smaller Hurst fire, which burned just over 1 square mile, is 97 percent contained. The newest blaze, the Auto fire, is 47 percent contained. However, challenging terrain, suburban hazards, the threat of new winds, and the scale of destruction have led authorities to estimate that the emergency could last for several more weeks.

Newsweek [1/15/2025 1:16 PM, Andrew Stanton, 56005K, Negative] reports that the Eaton fire, one of the largest to burn in Los Angeles County over the past week, is now 45 percent contained after burning more than 14,000 acres. Los Angeles County has been devastated by a series of fires that began burning last Tuesday. At least 25 people have been killed in the fires and at least 12,000 structures have been destroyed, causing an estimated billions of dollars in damage. The Eaton fire and the Palisades fire are the two most destructive in Southern Californian history. The Eaton Fire was nearly halfway contained Wednesday morning, according to California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). The progress comes after firefighters spent days struggling to control the wildfires due to the powerful Santa Ana winds hindering containment efforts. Dry conditions have also contributed to the spread of the fires. The Eaton fire has burned areas north of Pasadena. Meanwhile, the Palisades fire, located further south near Malibu, was only 19 percent contained after burning nearly 24,000 acres, according to Cal Fire. The Hurst Fire, near San Fernando, was 97 percent contained. It has burned 799 acres. The causes of the fires remain under investigation. The National Weather Service warned Tuesday evening that Los Angeles is "not out of the woods yet." CBS Los Angeles [1/15/2025 3:48 PM, Chelsea Hylton, 52225K, Neutral] reports Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony Marrone said the fire has damaged or destroyed more than 7,000 structures. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office has reported 16 deaths in connection to the Eaton Fire. It remains unclear if all the individuals died because of the fire. There have been 25 deaths from the Eaton and Palisades fires. The LAFD has completed 45% of damage inspections, Marron said Wednesday. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced they approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant after Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for the wildfires. President Joe Biden also approved a Major Disaster Declaration.

CBS Los Angeles [1/15/2025 3:51 PM, Marissa Wenzke, 52225K, Negative] reports firefighters are still working to contain the Palisades Fire, facing challenging weather conditions with another rare red flag warning in effect Wednesday, as search efforts continue in the wildfire which has killed at least eight people and burned 23,000 acres. It sparked Jan. 7 amid a powerful windstorm forecasters warned would be the worst the Southern California region has faced in more than a decades. With winds reaching up to 40 mph in the coastal Los Angeles County community, the blaze started near the 1100 block of North Piedra Morada Drive around 10:30 a.m. before quickly spreading as strong gusts carried the flames forward. The wildfire exploded to 200 acres within an hour, triggering mandatory evacuations as people fled the area. On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed eight deaths in connection with the Palisades Fire, a number that has grown in the last week as deputies continue searching with K-9 units. During a Wednesday morning news conference, authorities said a grid search over the area had just started the day before. On Wednesday morning, the Palisades Fire was estimated to be 23,713 acres and 19% contained, according to an update around 8:30 a.m. from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. Its acreage remained the same, not growing any further, since the day before. Meanwhile, its containment had inched up from 18% the night before. According to Cal Fire, aerial footage shows that roughly 5,000 structures — including homes and entire buildings as well as small structures like garages and sheds — has been damaged or destroyed. So far, as of Wednesday morning, the state fire agency has reported a total of 2,191 structures completely destroyed and another 397 damaged.

CBS Los Angeles [1/15/2025 1:00 PM, Chelsea Hylton, 52225K, Neutral] reports that the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and South Coast Air Quality Management District’s windblown dust and ash advisory remains as strong Santa Ana winds are expected in the region. A week after several wildfires erupted across Southern California, the ash left behind is a top concern for officials. The National Weather Service has issued a "Particularly Dangerous Situation" red flag warning for much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties as wind gusts are expected to be between 55 and 70 mph. The dust and ash advisory will be in effect until 7 p.m. Wednesday. "It is important to remain vigilant about air quality. Fire and wind conditions can increase the amount of particulate matter, dust and ash," said Dr. Nicole Quick, the chief medical advisor for the LA County Dept. of Public Health. At a news conference on Wednesday, Quick said it is important to look for ash in the air, equipment and other surfaces. "Windblown dust and ash contain small particles that may cause irritation or exacerbate pre-existing health conditions, particularly for children, older adults, pregnant individuals, and those with heart or lung conditions," the Dept. of Public Health said. The South Coast AQMD issued a smoke advisory on Jan. 7 after the Palisades Fire sparked and quickly spread. Many smoke and windblown dust advisories have been extended and reissued since then.

Newsweek [1/15/2025 2:20 PM, Natalie Venegas, 56005K, Negative] reports that Los Angeles continues to remain under an Air Quality Alert, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), amid dust and ash from the recent wildfires. The current Air Quality Alert comes amid the ongoing environmental challenges posed by the recent wildfires in Los Angeles. According to the NWS, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) has since reported elevated pollution levels that can deeply affect public health, particularly among sensitive groups such as those with pre-existing heart and lung conditions, children, and older adults. The health risks associated with this type of particle pollution are severe. According to the NWS, exposure can lead to asthma attacks, respiratory infections, and even cardiovascular complications. Cleaning up ash can also pose risks, requiring special precautions to minimize exposure to hazardous particles​. The air quality alert, issued for the South Coast Air Basin and Coachella Valley, warns that the air quality impacts could persist until this evening. Meanwhile, tackling California’s wildfires continues as four fires are currently active as of Wednesday, according to California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 11:32 PM, Chad Mira, 57114K, Negative] reports fire tornadoes are a rare and frightening phenomenon that can be produced by wildfires. These fiery whirlwinds of flames form when gusty winds interact with intense heat columns rising from the fire, creating a vacuum that sucks in cooler air from the sides. This leads to the formation of a rotating column of fire, which can spread flames quickly and create powerful wind currents. While most fire tornadoes are small and short-lived, they can still intensify the fire’s destruction.In rare cases, fire tornadoes can become extremely powerful. One of the most intense examples occurred during the 2018 Carr Fire in California, where a massive fire tornado was observed with winds reaching 143 mph, equivalent to an EF-3 tornado. This fire tornado was tracked on Doppler radar, uprooted trees, and remained on the ground for about 30 minutes, causing significant damage over a mile-long path.

Newsweek [1/15/2025 12:58 PM, Rachel Dobkin, 56005K, Negative] reports that a map by the National Weather Service (NWS) shows California under both freeze and red flag fire danger warnings. Southern California has been ravaged by wildfires for over a week. At least 25 people have been killed and thousands of homes destroyed in the Palisades and Eaton fires. The fires are spreading in the middle of winter thanks to California’s dry climate. The NWS map created on Wednesday shows central California under freeze warnings and frost advisories while Southern California is under a red flag warning. The areas shaded in dark purple are under a freeze warning, the areas shaded in blue are under a frost advisory and the areas shaded in hot pink are under a red flag warning. Today in Los Angeles, it is sunny with a high of about 72 degrees and a low of about 43 degrees. Tomorrow will be sunny again with a high of about 68 degrees and a low of about 41 degrees. Friday will also be sunny with a high of about 60 degrees, but there will be patchy fog at night. A freeze warning is issued by the NWS when temperatures are expected to go under 32 degrees for a long time. Commercial crops and residential plants can be killed during this warning. The service’s slogan for this warning is, "Take Action!" California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement on Monday, "We aren’t out of the woods yet. As we anticipate severe fire weather in the coming days, we are surging thousands of personnel and equipment to ensure the safety of our communities. Our response efforts continue on the ground during this ever-evolving situation—Southern Californians must stay vigilant and heed orders from local authorities."

The Hill [1/15/2025 1:20 PM, Cheyanne M. Daniels, 16346K, Negative] reports that Vice President Harris on Wednesday condemned insurance companies and misinformation in the aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfires. Speaking at the National Action Network’s (NAN) annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast, Harris, who was born in Oakland and has a home in Brentwood, said she saw a pattern from insurance companies from both the wildfires and last year’s hurricane season. "There are a couple things going on that I see as patterns. One is about what the insurance companies are not doing to extend coverage," said Harris. "They are canceling coverage, making it more difficult for young homeowners who are just buying their home. Not even insuring them." Last March, companies including State Farm General, the largest home insurance company in California, announced they would not be renewing thousands of home insurance policies in Pacific Palisades, Altadena and other high-risk areas. Insurance companies have argued it is too costly to provide coverage in natural disaster-prone areas. Harris on Wednesday also said that many of the devastating events are predictable, emphasizing that "climate change is real" and disproportionately devastating Black communities and other communities of color. "You’re talking about generations of families that have lived there," said Harris. "Some of the first hard working Black families who are able to buy property in California and then pass down those homes through generations, many of those families who live in those homes and live intergenerationally within a block of each other who have lost everything."

FOX News [1/15/2025 4:12 PM, Stepheny Price, 49889K, Neutral] reports a California lawmaker is calling for serious changes to happen in wildfire combat and prevention. Gallagher said he feels that state and local leadership have been "very deficient" in how they responded to the wildfires. The governor’s office shared a letter addressing water hydrants running out of water, stating that "while overall water supply in Southern California is not an issue, water mobility in the initial response was an issue."

Washington Examiner [1/15/2025 10:52 AM, Derek Draplin, 2365K, Neutral] reports that Colorado has sent nine "strike teams" made up of local firefighters to aid in fighting the fires in Southern California. The Palisades Fire, which began one week ago following intense winds, currently covers 23,713 acres and is 17% contained. As of Monday, at least 24 people have died in the Los Angeles area fires. The strike teams from Colorado are made up of over 60 local fire departments, fire districts and sheriff’s offices from around the state and include almost 50 fire engines. The Colorado Division of Fire Prevention & Control also sent a Multi-Mission Aircraft to aid CAL FIRE. "DFPC and the Colorado Fire Service remain committed to supporting our partners and neighbors in times of need, exemplifying the spirit of collaboration and mutual aid that is fundamental to wildfire response across the West," DFPC Director Mike Morgan said in a statement. Gov. Jared Polis offered the state’s support on Monday. "We are heartbroken by the lives lost and touched by these fires, which remind us that fire can strike anytime and anywhere," Polis said in a news release. "Colorado is sadly no stranger to the destruction that fires can cause in our communities. We are proud to step up and help the southern California communities that are being impacted, and I am deeply appreciative of the women and men from state government and from local governments across Colorado who are lending a hand in California’s time of need."

New York Times [1/16/2025 12:27 AM, Orlando Mayorquín and Emily Baumgaertner, 161405K, Neutral] reports the comfort and gleam of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles depended on the people who waded through rush-hour traffic on the 405 Freeway or the Pacific Coast Highway every morning to do the service work there. That’s why Elvis Sandoval and other workers, largely Latino immigrants, considered themselves part of the community. They trimmed the lawns, cleaned the living rooms, folded the laundry, watched the children or did any number of other jobs that made idyllic life by the ocean possible. Now, though, thousands of homes and many businesses in the neighborhood are gone, and so too is “all of our work,” said Mr. Sandoval, 43, a landscaping-business owner who immigrated from Mexico and for more than 20 years has maintained lawns and gardens and built the ambitious landscaping projects of Pacific Palisades residents. The victims of the fires still ravaging Greater Los Angeles include not just the people who lost their lives or their homes, schools and communities to the infernos. Service workers, many of them already clinging tenuously to their rung on California’s steep economic ladder, have lost their livelihoods to the fires. “There’s no safety net for these workers,” said Maegan Ortiz, the executive director of the nonprofit group Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur de California, known as IDEPSCA. The group supports day laborers, who often count on work in upscale neighborhoods like the Palisades. “This is going to be a dire, dire situation for quite a number of years,” Ms. Ortiz said.

Newsweek [1/15/2025 3:21 PM, James Bickerton, 56005K, Neutral] reports that video and images have been posted on social media showing the construction of climb-proof fencing and concrete blocks to prevent traffic ahead of Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration at the U.S. Capitol Building on Monday. According to Reuters, around 30 miles of seven-foot-tall black fencing is being put in place to help secure the perimeter, while 25,000 law enforcement personnel will provide security on the day. Trump’s second inauguration takes place in a febrile political atmosphere, the President-elect having survived two assassination bids during his victorious election campaign. On July 13 Trump was lightly wounded in the ear after a gunman opened at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Then, on September 15, a second potential shooter got within 500 yards of Trump at his golf course in West Palm Beach, before being arrested without firing a shot. Security fears are also heightened because of two apparently unrelated attacks that took place on January 1. In New Orleans a man with an Islamic State flag drove a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street, killing 14 people before being shot dead.

FOX News [1/15/2025 1:43 PM, Diana Stancy, 49889K, Negative] reports that Government agencies are cautioning that President-elect Trump’s inauguration may attract violent extremists – especially those harboring "election-related grievances," according to a new report. While no specific credible threats have been identified, agencies like the FBI, Secret Service and Capitol Police authored a threat assessment asserting that extremists may view the inauguration as "their last opportunity to influence the election results through violence," Politico reports. The threat assessment identified foreign terrorists, domestic extremists or lone wolves who could pull off violent acts, including vehicle-ramming attacks, bomb hoaxes or swatting calls. Likewise, law enforcement cited concerns about protests breaking into chaos, especially since certain groups who’ve faced arrests in previous protests have applied for demonstration permits. "Past protests by some of these individuals have involved traffic blockades, trespassing, property destruction, and resisting arrest," the threat assessment said. Meanwhile, U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger cautioned Monday that "lone actors" are the most serious threat to inauguration festivities, during a press conference with federal and local law enforcement officials about the inauguration.

Newsweek [1/16/2025 4:55 AM, Flynn Nicholls, 56005K, Negative] reports a man involved in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol is facing additional prison time after fleeing to Canada to avoid a nine-month sentence, federal prosecutors confirmed on Wednesday. Newsweek has contacted the FBI via email and Antony Vo’s attorney via phone for comment. More than 1,500 individuals have faced charges connected with the Capitol riot. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to pardon those involved once he reenters the White House. However, he has not clarified whether the pardons would include rioters convicted of violence or property destruction. Vo, 32, of Indiana, was arrested on January 6, 2025, the fourth anniversary of the riot, by Canadian border agents in Whistler, British Columbia, after allegedly entering the country illegally while applying for asylum. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Attorney’s Office announced charges for "failure to surrender for sentence," which could add another year to Vo’s sentence. Vo, who attended the Capitol riot with his mother, was convicted of multiple offenses, including entering and remaining in a restricted building and parading in a Capitol. Prosecutors said Vo was supposed to self-surrender to a federal facility in Kentucky in June 2024 but fled to Canada instead. The Toronto Star, which spoke with Vo while he was snowboarding in Whistler the day before his arrest, reported that he crossed the border illegally via North Dakota or Montana. He told the outlet that he funded his escape through personal savings and had sold a car before leaving the U.S. Once in Canada, he applied for asylum, saying in his application that he feared political persecution at the hands of his judge and President Joe Biden’s administration. Vo told the Star he was "pretty much 99 percent sure" Trump would pardon him once in office. Trump has publicly suggested he may pardon some rioters but has not committed to blanket amnesty. Rebecca Purdy, a spokesperson for the ,Canada Border Services Agency told Law & Crime: "The CBSA has a legal obligation to remove all foreign nationals who are inadmissible to Canada under the IRPA and who have a removal order in force.” Sharry Aiken, a law professor at Queen’s University, told the Toronto Star: "He is fleeing the implementation of a criminal conviction that he received in a process meted out by an independent judiciary that respects the rule of law.” Vo’s asylum claim and removal proceedings remain under review in Canada. Meanwhile, U.S. prosecutors are pursuing charges for his failure to surrender, which could extend his prison time if convicted. Trump is set to take office on Monday.

Yahoo! News [1/16/2025 2:45 AM, Staff, 57114K, Negative] reports Beavercreek Police are asking for help to find three people accused of using fake money, according to a social media post. The department says the suspects allegedly passed $1,100 worth of counterfeit money at Walmart. They posted photos of each suspect on its Facebook page. Anyone with information can contact Officer Worley at (937) 426-1225, extension 154, or reach out by email. The department adds you can remain anonymous.

FOX 2 [1/15/2025 3:57 PM, Kamy Smelser, Neutral] reports a St. Louis County man admitted in court on Tuesday to using movie prop money to scam online sellers of vehicles and other valuables, costing them over $229,000. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Missouri, Aaron Montgomery, 41, from Bellefontaine Neighbors, admitted to targeting online sellers in the beginning of August 2022. Montgomery would take their property before the sellers would realize they were handed fake money. The stolen property and valuables consisted of cars, SUVs, trucks, five pairs of Air Jordans, and audio equipment. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Montgomery drove at least five of the stolen vehicles to Missouri from out of state, where the online sellers lived in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee. Montgomery pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and four counts of interstate transportation of stolen vehicles. He is scheduled for sentencing on May 22. It was agreed in court to recommend 51 months in prison and full restoration of lost property to victims.

New York Times [1/15/2025 2:19 PM, Jacob Bernstein, 161405K, Neutral] reports that although the wildfires ripping through Los Angeles have not hit Brentwood — a wealthy enclave a few miles east of the Palisades that is home to A-list celebrities such as Tom Brady, Travis Scott and LeBron James — the security checkpoint at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Kenter Avenue, on the eastern edge of the evacuation zone, was especially tight Tuesday afternoon. Journalists who ordinarily have access to pass through were told by National Guard officers they would have to head to the next checkpoint. Members of the Los Angeles Police Department, who often allow residents to return home and retrieve clothing and food, were telling people they would have to come back another day. The reason for this was not officially stated, but that didn’t stop people from speculating, because a few blocks north of the checkpoint, just inside the evacuation zone, stood a four-bedroom house owned by Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff. Among a dozen people interviewed for this article on Tuesday, none have come face to face with Ms. Harris, despite her having taken numerous trips to Los Angeles during her time as Vice President. But thanks to her Secret Service detail, they do usually know she is in town.

CBS Detroit [1/15/2025 10:25 AM, Paula Wethington, 52225K, Positive] reports that the Coast Guard’s ice breakers have started working in the waters of the Great Lakes, in an effort to keep commercial shipping channels open. The Coast Guard’s Operation Taconite, which started last week, is the agency’s largest domestic ice breaking operation. The currently assigned areas for the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw and U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mobile Bay are Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, St. Mary’s River, the Straits of Mackinac and Georgian Bay. Operation Coal Shovel started Tuesday, and involves U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bristol Bay along with U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Morro Bay working in the upper Lake St. Clair and St. Clair River areas. While ice breaking is intended to support commercial traffic, tankers and vessels that are traveling during ice season must follow stipulations that include reducing speed in certain locations and sending in additional voice and position reports. The Coast Guard also can close commercial waterways on a case-by-case basis to protect the marine environment or to allow island residents to use seasonal ice bridges for their transportation to and from the mainland.

Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 11:54 AM, Helena Wegner, 57114K, Neutral] reports that a 19-year-old on a boogie board vanished off a coastline in Oregon in the dark until rescuers heard a cry for help, fire officials said. His family reported him missing after 5:30 p.m. Jan. 13 near Haystack Rock, the Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protection District said in a news release. As a helicopter was called from the U.S. Coast Guard, two firefighters paddled into the waves on a surfboard to find the missing man, officials said. The waves were eight to 12 feet tall at the time, and it was "pitch black," rescuers said. Rescuers then heard a cry for help shortly after 6 p.m. and found the boogie boarder a few minutes later in the water, about 75 yards from the shoreline. Paramedics checked him for hypothermia, and he refused being taken to a hospital, officials said. "I cannot express how lucky this guy was to be found; with the large surf and king tides it was a miracle!" Cannon Beach Fire Ocean Safety Division Head, Koa Lyu, said in the release. "The water was really cold, he wouldn’t have lasted much longer before hypothermia would have set in," Lyu said. Cannon Beach is a popular small coastal city in northern Oregon. Haystack Rock is an iconic rock formation off the coastline.

Politico [1/15/2025 7:39 PM, Jasper Goodman, Neutral] reports Treasury and other law enforcement officials told lawmakers Wednesday that Chinese hackers gained access to more than 3,000 unclassified agency files as part of a cybersecurity breach last year, according to a person in the room for a classified briefing the agency gave House members on Capitol Hill. Officials told lawmakers that the hackers accessed a small number of unclassified files belonging to top officials including Secretary Janet Yellen, Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo, and Acting Under Secretary Brad Smith, said the person, who was granted anonymity to discuss unclassified portions of a closed-door meeting. Other targets of the hack included the Committee of Foreign Investment in the United States and the Office of Foreign Assets Control. The briefing, which was held in a secure room in the Capitol for members of the House Financial Services Committee, featured officials from Treasury, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI. Officials are set to brief the Senate Banking Committee on the matter on Thursday. A Chinese state-sponsored hacker gained access to the information between Sept. 30 and Nov. 18 via a third-party vendor the department uses, BeyondTrust. The firm informed Treasury on Dec. 8 that hackers gained access to its data via a vulnerability in a third-party product that it uses. The hackers accessed 419 Treasury computers and at least 3,029 files, officials told lawmakers. An analysis of Treasury’s logs has found that only unclassified information was compromised, officials told lawmakers.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [1/15/2025 10:34PM, Staff, 1450K, Neutral]

AP [1/15/2025 9:07 AM, Staff, 47097K, Neutral] reports that BlackBerry Limited (NYSE:BB)(TSX:BB) today released its latest Global Threat Intelligence Report, highlighting the threats stopped by BlackBerry® cybersecurity solutions and new trends in the cybersecurity threat landscape. Between July and September 2024, BlackBerry detected 600,000 attacks against critical infrastructure, 45 percent of which targeted the financial sector. They also detected 430,000 attacks against commercial enterprise industries. The report does a deep dive into the behaviors of dangerous, but little known, threat actor groups and trends in their methodologies and motivations. New to this quarter, the report also addresses threats in telecommunications infrastructure, highlighting strategies to better protect personal devices and secure communication best practices. "Our attack surface has never been wider, with threat actors and nation states broadening their horizons into cyber espionage attacks, while ransomware groups are becoming more sophisticated in their campaigns," said Ismael Valenzuela, Vice President of Threat Research & Intelligence at BlackBerry. "However, we’ve also never been better prepared. We have the tools, technology, and protocols to protect ourselves and mitigate the impact of attacks, and our industry is equipped to keep up with changes in threat actor methodology."

AP [1/15/2025 3:16 PM, Ali Swenson, Neutral] reports Jen Easterly, the outgoing head of the U.S. government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said Wednesday she hopes her agency is allowed to continue its election-related work under new leadership despite “contentiousness” around that part of its mission. CISA is responsible for protecting critical infrastructure, including the nation’s dams, banks and nuclear power plants. Voting systems were added after the 2016 election and Russia’s multipronged election-meddling effort. With the transition to a new administration under President-elect Donald Trump, several Republican lawmakers and right-wing advocacy groups have advocated to have CISA shuttered, gutted or have its election responsibilities significantly reduced. Trump has not yet nominated a replacement for Easterly. While Trump’s campaign platform highlighted the importance of protecting critical infrastructure from cyber threats, he hasn’t provided details of his vision for CISA’s election work. Easterly on Wednesday also spoke about the growing threat China poses to the nation’s critical infrastructure, among them water, transportation and telecommunications systems. She repeated past warnings that China is infiltrating civilian infrastructure and said the nation needs to be prepared for future disruptions.

Axios [1/15/2025 5:11 PM, Sam Sabin, 16349K, Neutral] reports two former Trump cyber officials are the likely choices to take the top roles at the lead U.S. cyber agency, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Trump transition team is zeroing in on Sean Plankey to run the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Nicholas Andersen to be No. 2 as deputy director, according to the people familiar with ongoing discussions. Plankey’s role would need Senate confirmation.

MeriTalk [1/15/2025 3:21 PM, Weslan Hansen, 31K, Neutral] reports increasing numbers of spyware firms are popping up around the globe and more nations are turning to their cyber tools, warned National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) Director Michael Casey. Before he leaves his position at the NCSC, Casey said that government and industry alike must take action to protect the "lower hanging fruit" of their cyber vulnerabilities as threats from Russia and China ramp up – which loom larger than threats posed by current cyber groups. Threats to communications over mobile devices such as smartphones are increasing, Casey warned. The exact number of countries using spyware is currently classified, Casey said, but noted that it’s not just state actors using spyware, but also criminal and ransomware groups that use it to infiltrate mobile devices. While terrorist organizations and ransomware and criminal groups are a threat, the largest threat looms from nation-states, explained Casey, who said that the NCSC is viewing Russia and China as a significant threat of "harming civilian life in the United States." To protect against threats, he said government and industry alike should build security into their entities and companies by using MFA, regularly installing updates, integrating cybersecurity experts into leadership positions, and using increased caution when vetting investors in private companies.

CyberScoop [1/16/2025 12:00 PM, Tim Starks, Neutral] reports CIA director nominee John Ratcliffe said during testimony on Capitol Hill that if confirmed, he hopes to develop offensive cyber tools and supports the creation of a cyber-specific deterrence strategy. Ratcliffe, who served as director of national intelligence and in the House of Representatives for Texas, drew a comparison to the concerns over physical, territorial borders. “It’s invasion through our digital borders from half a world away in a few seconds and a few keystrokes that can cause so much damage,” Ratcliffe told Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, during an Intelligence Committee hearing Wednesday on his nomination. “The deterrent effect has to be that there are consequences to our adversaries when they do that.” Ratcliffe added his voice to those in President-elect Donald Trump’s orbit and elsewhere to ratchet up U.S. cyber offense in response to high-profile breaches like those by Chinese hackers of telecommunications companies, an idea that some experts have greeted with skepticism. He said that as CIA director, he would seek to steer the agency to work on cyber tools that will allow the United States to retaliate against attackers. “The deployment of those capabilities would of course be a policy decision for others to make,” he said. “But I would like to make sure we have all the tools necessary to go on offense against our adversaries in the cyber means.” Much of what the CIA does in cyberspace is classified, but some details have emerged publicly at times. During his first term, Trump gave the CIA more freedom to conduct cyberspace operations, leading to cyberattacks on Iranian infrastructure and more, Yahoo News reported in 2020. The Vault 7 leaks of 2017 also shed light on the CIA’s cyber tools.

Newsweek [1/15/2025 10:44 PM, Suzanne Blake, 56005K, Neutral] reports the school districts that had their data stolen in the recent cyberattack on PowerSchool say hackers now have access to their previous student and teacher data. The edtech giant provides services impacting more than 50 million students, and now all their data is in jeopardy, according to the latest report from TechCrunch. The data hack occurred in December when the PowerSchool customer support portal suffered a breach. No specific hacker has come forward, but it’s estimated that millions of K-12 students and teachers’ personal data is now at risk. A spokesperson told Newsweek that PowerSchool is working "with urgency" to complete its investigation and identify those whose data may have been involved. "While our data review remains ongoing, we expect the majority of involved customers did not have sensitive information, including social security numbers or medical information, involved," a spokesperson told Newsweek.

CBS News [1/15/2025 11:25 PM, Erin Jones, 52225K, Neutral] reports a technology company used by many school districts, including some here in North Texas, has been impacted by a data breach. PowerSchool stores sensitive student information. On its website, PowerSchool states that it serves more than 90 of the top 100 U.S. districts by student enrollment. This includes Dallas ISD. Now, the district has notified parents about a potential data breach in the student tracking software. "It’s an incredibly big deal," cyber security expert and Vistrada Director of Cyber Security Matt Malone said. "There are 50 million records that were taken and these are of children’s data, including social security numbers, as well as educators, so this could lead to a lot of damage." PowerSchool said it became aware of a potential cybersecurity incident in late December and that some personally identifiable information like social security numbers and medical information was involved. It’s now investigating and coordinating with districts and schools to provide more information as it becomes available and resources like credit monitoring or identity protection services if needed. Malone said it appears PowerSchool didn’t have enough security protocols in place. "The problem with this is there were social security numbers involved of children and those children may not notice their credit for years," he said. Malone said it is important to monitor your child’s credit. Especially, since more of these types of attacks are expected in the future. "The AI is getting better on building out attack vectors," he said. "You’re getting AI to do social engineering techniques better. It’s definitely worsening in escalation and in the cyber security industry, it is rapidly taking off."

AP [1/15/2025 8:14 AM, Eric Tucker, 57114K, Negative] reports Brett Holmgren got woken up early on New Year’s Day by alerts that a driver had plowed into a crowd of revelers in New Orleans. The rampage, which killed 14 people, was the deadliest attack on U.S. soil in years and was inspired by the Islamic State group. The National Counterterrorism Center, which Holmgren leads, sprang into action to help the FBI run down information on the culprit from Texas and his plot. It was a rare recent example of a mass attack motivated by religious extremism to hit the U.S. homeland. But it didn’t occur in a vacuum, coming at a time when a terror threat that has waxed and waned in the two decades since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks is decidedly on the rise around the world. “We are in a period where we are facing an elevated threat environment,” Holmgren said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We faced that last year. We’re going to face it again in 2025.” The NCTC emerged in the aftermath of 9/11 as a centralized U.S. government hub to collect and analyze data and intelligence on the international terrorism threat, providing information to the White House and other agencies to shape policy decisions and protect against attacks. A former counterterrorism analyst and assistant secretary of state, Holmgren was named its acting director last July and intends to step aside at the conclusion of the Biden administration. At that point, new leadership under President-elect Donald Trump will grapple with managing some of the global hot spots like Syria that have vexed officials in recent months and that the NCTC has been tracking. Holmgren cites multiple factors for why the threat is higher than before, including passions arising from the Israel-Hamas war — a conflict that he says has been a driving factor in some 45 attacks worldwide since October 2023. He also points to mass migration from the Russia-Ukraine war that has sent central Asians, some with ties to the Islamic State group, to countries including Turkey, Syria, Iraq and even the U.S.

Yahoo! News [1/15/2025 7:23 AM, Emma McCorkindale, 57114K, Negative] reports a former Northeastern University employee has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for staging a hoax explosion. The incident took place in September of 2022 where 47-year-old Jason Duhaime set off a massive law enforcement response after he called the Northeastern Police Department and reported that he had been injured when a package he was opening exploded, according to the Department of Justice. Duhaime also reported the case contained a note that threatened to destroy the lab where he worked. Duhaime’s report and his concern about a second, unopened package triggered a large law enforcement response that included the assistance of the Boston Police Department’s bomb squad, multiple federal and state law enforcement agencies and the evacuation of a portion of the Northeastern campus. Investigators later determined it was all a hoax. He was arrested without incident on October 2nd near his home in San Antonio. "Bomb hoaxes are not a harmless act, they inflict fear, divert resources and put both first responders and the public at real risk as they race to the scene." said United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. "This sentence should send a clear message to everyone who engages in bomb threats and swatting incidents that you will be held accountable and that one phone call may land you in jail.” "Jason Duhaime apparently thought he could get away with staging a hoax explosion and lying to us about it, but this sentencing proves how wrong he was," said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. "Hoax explosive devices and fictious letters threatening violence cause real-world damage. It drains law enforcement resources, diverts us from responding to an actual crisis, puts innocent people at risk, and instills unnecessary fear in the community. FBI Boston’s Joint Terrorism Task Force takes all threats to life seriously and so should anyone thinking about making one. We will investigate, identify you, and ensure you’re held accountable for your actions.”

CBS News [1/15/2025 10:41 AM, Kierra Frazier, 52225K, Negative] reports that the FBI provided an update Tuesday on the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans, revealing new information about the attacker’s online search history as well as releasing a photo showing him walking in the city just weeks before the rampage that killed 14 people. The suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, used the internet to search how to access a balcony on Bourbon Street as well as information about Mardi Gras and several shootings in New Orleans prior to the attack, the FBI said. Hours before the plowing a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street, Jabbar searched for information about the vehicle that intentionally rammed into a crowded Christmas market in Germany 10 days before the New Orleans attack, according to the FBI. Fourteen people died in the attack plus Jabbar, who was killed in a shootout with New Orleans police. The FBI said Tuesday that at least 57 people were physically injured in the attack. The FBI on Tuesday also released more details on Jabbar’s visits to New Orleans before the attack. On Nov. 10 Jabbar took a train from Houston to New Orleans and returned to Texas that evening on a bus. The FBI released an image showing Jabbar walking with a backpack in New Orleans on that date. Jabbar looked at an apartment for rent on Orleans Street and applied to rent the apartment days later but later told the landlord he changed his mind.

Reported similarly:
USA Today [1/15/2025 10:38 PM, Thao Nguyen and Presley Bo Tyler, 89965K, Negative]

AP [1/15/2025 9:28 PM, Andrea Rodríguez, 47097K, Neutral] reports Cuba started releasing some prisoners Wednesday as part of talks with the Vatican, a day after President Joe Biden’s administration announced his intent to lift the U.S. designation of the island nation as a state sponsor of terrorism. More than a dozen people who were convicted of different crimes — and some of them were arrested after taking part in the historic 2021 protests — were released during the day, according to Cuban civil groups following the cases of detainees on the island. Among those freed was tattooist Reyna Yacnara Barreto Batista, 24, who was detained in the 2021 protests and convicted to four years in prison for attacks and public disorder. She was released from a prison in the province of Camagüey, and told The Associated Press that eight men were also freed along with her. On Tuesday, the U.S. government said it notified Congress about the intent to lift the designation of Cuba as part of a deal facilitated by the Vatican. Cuban authorities would release some of them before Biden’s administration ends on Jan. 20, officials said. Hours later, the Cuban foreign ministry said the government informed Pope Francis it would gradually release 553 convicts as authorities explore legal and humanitarian ways to make it happen. Havana did not link the prisoners’ release to the U.S. decision on lifting the designation but said it was "in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of the year 2025 declared by His Holiness," referring to the Vatican’s once-every-25-year tradition of a Jubilee, in which the Catholic faithful make pilgrimages to Rome.

Reported similarly:
CBS News [1/15/2025 10:17 PM, Staff, 52225K, Negative]

Washington Examiner [1/15/2025 9:25 AM, Jack Birle, 2365K, Negative] reports that Florida Democrats quickly distanced themselves from President Joe Biden’s decision to lift sanctions and Cuba’s status as a state sponsor of terrorism on Tuesday. The announcement by the Biden administration was in partnership with the Catholic Church, with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying the church had claimed the Cuban government would "soon begin releasing a substantial number of political prisoners." Democrats in the Sunshine State have lost several key elections and have bled registered voters, culminating in back-to-back landslide losses in the statewide races in 2022 and 2024. In Florida, Hispanics, and more specifically Cuban-Americans, are a key demographic, and Biden’s decision Tuesday is seen as worsening political conditions for Democrats in the state. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) told Axios the decision would sink Florida Democrats. "This is Joe Biden literally sinking the Democratic Party in the state of Florida. Big time," Moskowitz said. "Just as we try to patch the hole in the boat, Biden punches another hole in it. … Florida is a red state, and Biden just waved the white flag of surrender.” Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried also expressed her disappointment in the decision and called on Biden to reverse his decision "immediately."

Bloomberg [1/15/2025 4:06 PM, Eric Martin, 21617K, Negative] reports Donald Trump’s nominee to be the top US diplomat signaled that the president-elect is likely to reverse President Joe Biden’s decision Tuesday to remove Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism after he takes office next week. Cuba is “without a question” a sponsor of terrorism, Senator Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, said in response to questions at his confirmation hearing in Washington on Wednesday. Trump had given Cuba the designation before the end of his first term in 2021, but Biden reversed it on Tuesday.

The Hill [1/15/2025 12:25 PM, Brad Dress, 16346K, Neutral] reports that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization scandal last year increased national security risks and should have been handled better, according to a new report from the Pentagon’s watchdog. The Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Defense (OIG), in its 188-page report, criticized Austin’s team for failing to properly notify key officials and transfer the authorities of his job. The OIG also knocked Austin and his staff for how they handled the hospitalization for surgeries or complications related to prostate cancer in December 2023 and early 2024. Last January, Austin’s hospitalization and failure to properly notify the White House and Congress of the treatment sparked controversy and led to a congressional hearing and a Biden administration review of Cabinet secretary notifications to the president. Inspector General Robert Storch said the "ability for the DoD and the government to operate seamlessly and the continuity of leadership under any and all circumstances are fundamental to our national security." "Although we found no adverse consequences to DoD operations arising from how the hospitalizations we reviewed were handled, the risks to our national defense, including the command and control of the DoD’s critical national security operations, were increased unnecessarily," Storch said in a statement. "While the DoD has taken some important steps to address these concerns, additional improvements are required to ensure the DoD’s readiness, transparency, and the fulfillment of its mission," he continued. "These improvements are not just an administrative necessity; they are an operational and national security imperative."

Wall Street Journal [1/16/2025 8:53 PM, Olivia Beavers and Dustin Volz, Neutral] reports House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) abruptly removed the chairman of the committee responsible for overseeing the nation’s intelligence agencies, making the move with the backing of President-elect Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. In ousting Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican, Johnson is sidelining a lawmaker who had been one of the most vocal and consistent advocates within his party for a range of conventional national-security views, including support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Trump has been critical of further aid for Kyiv while saying he wants to bring an end to the fighting. The shake-up on the Intelligence committee underscores the sway Trump carries among congressional leaders. He directly weighed in on the decision, according to a person close to the matter. Turner separately told The Wall Street Journal that he was informed that the decision derived from “concerns from Mar-a-Lago,” a reference to Trump. People close to Trump said Turner often expressed traditional foreign policy views that didn’t always mesh with the incoming president’s “America First” instincts. The Trump transition team didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Johnson notified Turner of his decision Wednesday evening. He said the call was his own and that he would provide details on a successor Thursday. “This is not a President Trump decision,” Johnson told reporters. “This is a House decision, and this is no slight whatsoever to our outgoing chairman. He did a great job.” He said with the new Congress the panel “needs a fresh start and that’s what this is about.”

USA Today [1/15/2025 2:17 PM, Josh Meyer, 89965K, Neutral] reports that John Ratcliffe, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the CIA, said he plans widespread reforms at the nation’s premiere spy agency at his nomination hearing Wednesday, but promised he would not hire or fire employees based on their political views. Ratcliffe’s pledge, made repeatedly in response to questions from Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, may put him at odds with Trump and some of the president-elect’s other national security picks who have vowed to test intelligence officials based on their support of Trump. But Ratcliffe, citing his time as Director of National Intelligence in Trump’s first administration, said he will not waver. "If you look at my record as DNI, that never took place. That is never something anyone has alleged, and it is something that I would never do," Ratcliffe told the committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia. Ratcliffe’s hearing lacked the fireworks that marked the hearing this week for former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, Trump’s choice for Secretary of Defense. Republicans and Democrats alike praised Ratcliffe, calling him well-qualified, having also served on the House intelligence committee and as a top federal prosecutor in Texas. Ratcliffe pledged repeatedly to focus more on the rising threat posed by China, to upgrade the agency’s technological capabilities and to hire and promote spies and analysts based on merit alone, in a reference to Trump’s vow to weed out diversity programs from the national security realm. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Post [1/15/2025 2:37 PM, Cristiano Lima-Strong, 40736K, Neutral] reports that TikTok inched closer to a nationwide shutdown after the Supreme Court did not rule on the ban-or-sale law targeting the app early Wednesday, leaving the platform in limbo, with President-elect Donald Trump’s vague pledge to “save” it the last likely refuge. After oral arguments last week, most of the justices appeared inclined to uphold the law banning the social media platform if its Chinese parent company does not sell it, but with the divestiture deadline of Sunday rapidly approaching, the app’s prospects for an immediate lifeline are dwindling. While the court is still expected to issue a ruling or order on the case this week, its continued silence has amped up the tension in years-long drama over the fate of TikTok, a platform that has captivated millions of users with its buzzy, short-form videos but triggered intense scrutiny in Washington over fears it could serve as a tool for Chinese spying or propaganda. Further confounding the saga are the unknowns surrounding Trump, who during his first White House stint pushed for the app to be sold or banned in the United States but whose stance has softened after the app played a prominent role in his campaign to retake the White House. Trump will be sworn in Monday, a day after the ban may take hold, but his plans to aid TikTok remain hazy.

Newsweek [1/15/2025 9:09 AM, Shannon McDonagh, 56005K, Positive] reports that Japan and the Philippines are urging President-elect Donald Trump to sustain U.S. engagement in Asia amid rising tensions with China. Newsweek has contacted the Japanese and Philippine presidential offices for comment via email. As Trump prepares to return to office, his "America First" policy proposals have raised concerns about the U.S.’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific region. Leaders in Japan and the Philippines—both bound by defense treaties with the U.S.—have repeatedly highlighted the strategic importance of maintaining alliances in the face of threats via the South China Sea and East China Sea. There has been a spike in interactions between Chinese and Philippine coast guards and other forces in the busy sea passage, which facilitates one-third of global trade. On Wednesday, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo held a joint news conference in the Philippines in which they discussed security concerns in the region. Iwaya said Japan and the Philippines would approach the Trump administration to "convey that constructive commitment of the United States in this region is important also for the United States itself."

AP [1/15/2025 7:23 PM, Zeke Miller, 14282K, Negative] reports Senior officials from President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, including the majority of his designated Cabinet nominees, were at the White House on Wednesday to participate in a transition exercise hosted by President Joe Biden’s team. The transition tabletop exercise was chaired by Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall in the White House Situation Room, the White House said, and included a substantial share of Biden’s outgoing Cabinet for the two-hour session. The exercise has been a key part of presidential transitions since the September 11, 2001, attacks and give the outgoing and incoming teams a chance to rehearse how to respond to and manage a range of national security crises. Wednesday’s simulation touched on the management of potential terror attacks and avian flu, among other challenges. The exercises can sometimes become an eerie preview of reality. During the 2016-17 transition from then-President Barack Obama to Trump, one such exercise included a discussion of the U.S. response to a global public health event. Three years later, Trump’s administration was confronted with the COVID-19 pandemic. It comes two weeks after an Islamic State-inspired attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day killed 14 people and injured more than two dozen. The country is currently managing an avian flu outbreak that has killed one person and affected the nation’s food supply. Attendees included Sen. Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for secretary of state; former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence; his defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth; and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, his nominee for homeland security secretary, among others. Rep. Mike Waltz, the incoming national security adviser, and other senior White House staffers also represented the Trump team.

FOX News [1/15/2025 10:37 AM, Danielle Wallace, 49889K, Neutral] reports that the governor of Puerto Rico pleaded for President-elect Trump to intervene after Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro threatened to invade the U.S. island territory. In a letter addressed to Trump, Gov. Jenniffer González-Colón said, "[J]ust a few days after holding an illegitimate swearing-in ceremony in a desperate attempt to cling to power in Venezuela," Maduro "publicly proposed an invasion of Puerto Rico." Maduro, who was sworn in for a third six-year presidential term despite international condemnation of his recent reelection as illegitimate, made the threat Saturday at the end of the "International Anti-Fascist Festival" hosted in Caracas. The socialist dictator made an apparent reference to Trump’s remarks eyeing U.S. control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, stating: "Just as the North has an agenda of colonization, we have an agenda of liberation." Maduro vowed that the "freedom of Puerto Rico is pending, and we will achieve it with Brazilian troops," according to Latin America Reports. "This is an open threat to the United States, our national security, and stability in the region," González-Colón told Trump. "I trust your incoming administration will swiftly respond and make clear to the Maduro regime that, under your leadership, the United States, will protect American lives and sovereignty and will not bow down to the threats of petty, murderous dictators."

APNews.com [1/15/2025 6:29 PM, Sonia Pérez D., 47097K, Neutral] reports Guatemala’s President Bernardo Arévalo said Wednesday he anticipates issues like immigration will generate tension with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, but the former peacebuilder also sees shared interests. At the start of the second year of his presidency, Arévalo said in an interview with The Associated Press that Guatemala is "one of the United States’ few trusted partners" in the region. For example, Arévalo pointed out that in the first year of his presidency, Guatemala seized more than double the amount of drugs compared to the previous year. "We mustn’t assume that it will be a relationship that turns dramatic," he said. "I believe the conditions exist to be optimistic about what we can become." It’s indeed optimistic considering Trump has already threatened the United States’ largest trading partners with tariffs and promised mass deportations that could hit Guatemala particularly hard. But Central America has been a challenge for the United States in recent years. U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration saw Guatemala’s deep-rooted corruption as a major driver of emigration under Arévalo’s predecessor. Honduras President Xiomara Castro recently suggested there’s no longer justification for a significant U.S. military presence in her country. And Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega expresses his disgust with all things Yankee at every opportunity. But during Trump’s first term, immigration dominated his administration’s relationships in the region. Human rights and corruption received little attention if countries were perceived to be working to decrease migrant flows to the U.S. border.

Reuters [1/15/2025 8:40 AM, Staff, 30936K, Negative] reports Russia planned ‘acts of terrorism’ in the air against Poland and other countries, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Warsaw. Security officials have said that parcels that exploded at logistics depots in Europe were part of a test run for a Russian plot to trigger explosions on cargo flights to the United States. The explosions occurred in depots in Britain, Germany and Poland in July. Russia has denied involvement in the incidents and Tusk did not mention them specifically. "The latest information can confirm the validity of fears that Russia was planning acts of terrorism in the air not only against Poland," Tusk told a news conference. He did not say what acts he was referring to or elaborate on the contents of the information. Moscow has regularly denied any involvement in the courier depot explosions, as well as break-ins, arson and attacks on individuals which Western officials say were carried out by operatives paid by Russia. The Russian embassy in Warsaw has not immediately replied to an emailed request for comment on Tusk’s statement.

New York Times [1/16/2025 3:42 AM, Michael Crowley, Karoun Demirjian and Edward Wong, 740K, Neutral] reports Senator Marco Rubio of Florida called for an end to the war in Ukraine, said Europe must decrease its reliance on Washington and declared America’s competition with China the defining question of the century during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday to be secretary of state. The friendly, five-hour hearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, which also touched on how Mr. Rubio would approach conflicts in the Middle East, was less than halfway over when the panel’s chairman made a major announcement: Israel and Hamas had sealed an agreement to begin a temporary cease-fire and partial hostage release in Gaza. Mr. Rubio had no specific comment on the agreement. Mr. Rubio had earlier defended Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza, blaming Hamas for using civilians as human shields and calling the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza “one of the terrible things about war.” He later added of Israel, “You cannot coexist with armed elements at your border who seek your destruction and evisceration, as a state. You just can’t.” But Mr. Rubio was perhaps most fluent and animated during his discussion of China, which, he warned, aimed to overtake the United States as the world’s pre-eminent power. “The Chinese believe we are a great power in inevitable decline and they are on an inevitable rise,” he said. Mr. Rubio acknowledged that China’s government saw him as a prime adversary. Beijing has “said mean things about me” — and it has even imposed sanctions on him — but Mr. Rubio added that his role at America’s top diplomat would require “involve engaging them in a mature and prudent conversation.” In contrast to Mr. Trump’s more gleefully disruptive nominees, Mr. Rubio struck a decidedly moderate and mainstream tone unlikely to alarm the foreign policy establishment. There was no talk of picking fights with allies, reclaiming the Panama Canal or conquering Greenland. Mr. Rubio even called the State Department a valuable source of expertise and said its influence should be enhanced.

Reuters [1/16/2025 1:46 AM, Michele Kambas, 30936K, Neutral] reports Cyprus on Thursday hailed a U.S. memorandum allowing military sales, including arms, to the island as a milestone affirming recognition of the island as a pillar of stability in the east Mediterranean region which has been fraught with conflict. U.S. President Joe Biden boosted security ties with Cyprus on Wednesday by issuing a memorandum, that makes the island eligible to receive American defense articles, military sales and training. Cyprus has over the years played a key role in evacuating people out of conflict zones and established a maritime corridor for aid to war-ravaged Gaza last year. "This (memorandum) is a clear recognition of the Republic of Cyprus as a pillar of stability and security in the Eastern Mediterranean, with the potential to further contribute to peace and the management of humanitarian challenges," the Cypriot presidency said in a statement. Cyprus was close to Russia for decades, but there has been a marked shift in allegiances in recent years. For many in Cyprus, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has drawn parallels to Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus in 1974, and Cyprus, an EU member state, has followed its peers in adopting sanctions on Moscow. It is now getting FBI expertise in countering illicit finance. Access to the U.S. programmes would enable greater interoperability to respond to regional humanitarian crises, counter malign influence, and combat terrorism and transnational organised crime, the U.S. embassy in Nicosia said. Deepening U.S-Cyprus relations are closely followed by Turkey, which in September criticised the signing of a roadmap to boost defence co-operation between the United States and Cyprus. Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion following a brief Greek-inspired coup in 1974, following years of sporadic violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots which triggered the collapse of a power-sharing administration in 1963.

Wall Street Journal [1/16/2025 6:40 PM, Summer Said and Carrie Keller-Lynn, Neutral] reports negotiators for Israel and Hamas agreed to a deal to pause their fighting in the Gaza Strip, Arab mediators and the U.S. said Wednesday, opening a pathway to end a 15-month war that laid waste to the enclave, sparked a wider regional war and roiled politics in the West. The cease-fire agreement will come into effect on Sunday, said Qatar’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. He said Qatar, alongside Egypt and the U.S.—all of whom helped mediate the agreement—will work to ensure its implementation. Israeli President Isaac Herzog welcomed the cease-fire deal, calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to approve it. Netanyahu’s office said a number of details were pending completion but they were expected to be resolved soon, and said that a statement would follow. A main pending issue is the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in exchange for the hostages in Gaza, an Israeli official said. The accord needs approval by Israel’s security cabinet and government. The cabinet is expected to vote on it Thursday. Shortly after the cease-fire agreement was announced, Hamas’s acting Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya confirmed in a televised address that the group had reached a deal with Israel. Negotiators were still nailing down the mechanism to implement the deal late Wednesday. The deal will be implemented in phases, beginning with the exchange of some of the hostages for Palestinian prisoners and moving on to talks over a broader end to the fighting. Those latter talks will likely be contentious, as Israel and Hamas remain at odds over whether there should be a permanent end to the fighting. But the two sides have agreed to look past those differences to close a deal now. President Biden said that he had spoken with his counterparts in Qatar and Egypt about reaching Phase 2, a permanent end to the war, adding they all “pledged to make sure the negotiations will keep moving forward for as long as it takes.”

Reported similarly:
New York Times [1/16/2025 12:02 AM, Peter Baker, 161405K, Neutral]
FOX News [1/15/2025 12:16 PM, Efrat Lachter, Danielle Wallace, and Trey Yingst, 49889K, Neutral]
Miami Herald [1/15/2025 7:16 PM, Tom O’Connor, 6595K, Neutral]

The Washington Post [1/15/2025 7:42 PM, Claire Parker, 40736K, Neutral] reports Israel’s government still needs to formally approve the deal, in a vote officials say will take place Thursday morning. But the agreement could mark a first step toward ending a 15-month war that has destroyed Gaza and divided Israelis. The truce, mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, would begin on Sunday and cover an initial period of 42 days. "This is one of the toughest negotiations I’ve ever experienced," President Joe Biden said Wednesday in remarks from the White House. "And I’m deeply satisfied this day has come … for the sake of the people of Israel and the families waiting in agony, and for the sake of the innocent people in Gaza who suffered unimaginable devastation because of the war.” Under the first six-week phase of what mediators hope will evolve into a three-stage process for peace, 33 of the 98 remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza — mainly women, children, the elderly and wounded — will be released from Hamas captivity in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli detention, in a carefully choreographed sequence that will involve humanitarian groups and coordination between Hamas, Egypt and Israel. Among the 33 captives slated for release are Americans Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen, said a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the White House. Dekel-Chen was wounded in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and Siegel, 64, will be freed because of his age. A third U.S. citizen, Edan Alexander, was abducted near Gaza while serving in the Israeli military and won’t be released until the second phase of the ceasefire. Hamas agreed to release five female Israeli soldiers in the first phase. The remains of at least four more Americans are also still in Gaza. "We are committed to getting the remains out," the official said. During the first phase, the volume of aid entering Gaza is supposed to reach more than 500 trucks per day, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Wednesday — a more than sixfold increase over the average number in December. VOA News [1/16/2025 3:03 AM, Staff, 2717K, Neutral] reports Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet was expected to vote Thursday on a ceasefire deal with Hamas, while Palestinian medics said Israeli forces carried out multiple deadly airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. If the multiphase ceasefire gets final approval, it is set to go into effect Sunday, halting more than 15 months of war. U.N. agencies said they were ready to surge humanitarian aid into Gaza, where the United Nations says at least 1.9 million of the 2.3 million population have been displaced and 92% of housing units have been destroyed. Israeli President Isaac Herzog offered his strong support for the ceasefire after the deal was announced Wednesday. But one of the main opponents of the deal in the government, minister of finance Bezalel Smotrich, called it “a bad and dangerous deal for the national security of the State of Israel.” The first phase of the agreement includes a 42-day ceasefire, the release of 33 hostages from Gaza, the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israel, a phased Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza and an increased flow of aid for Palestinian civilians. During the first phase, there will be negotiations on the details of a second phase focused on bringing a permanent end to the conflict with the release of the remaining hostages and a full Israeli withdrawal. A final phase concerns rebuilding Gaza, with a new governing and security structure.

Wall Street Journal [1/16/2025 12:10 AM, Anat Peled, Neutral] reports that, when Hamas last released hostages from Gaza—more than a year ago—Israelis watched on live TV as masked militants handed over women and children to Red Cross officials before they were whisked back to Israel. Some of those freed looked weak and frail, but most were able to walk away from captivity unaided after 50 days as hostages. This time, following a cease-fire deal announced Wednesday, Israeli hospitals and medical teams are bracing for released hostages to be in much worse condition after months longer in captivity. Israeli teams have conducted simulations, recruited actors from the military’s theater group and pored over medical records and Hamas hostage videos to be ready to receive the released hostages—whatever their condition. In November 2023, doctors treated freed captives suffering from malnutrition and weight loss, lice and skin diseases as well as mental-health issues such as extreme mood swings and depression, among other conditions. Some experienced what is known as refeeding syndrome, which endangers malnourished people who take on food too fast. “After 15 months we are in a different situation,” said Hagai Levine, the head of the health team for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an advocacy group that represents hostages’ families. Levine said that he expected to see more medical complications and deficiencies and more severe weight loss as well as more severe mental health conditions. Six hostages found dead in a Rafah tunnel in September 2024 showed evidence of suffering from severe malnourishment: Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American-Israeli killed while a hostage in Gaza, weighed 116 pounds when he was found, according to his parents. Israeli hostage Eden Yerushalmi, found dead next to him, weighed just 79 pounds.

The Hill [1/15/2025 2:30 PM, Brett Samuels, 16346K, Neutral] reports that President Biden hailed a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel on Wednesday that would include the release of American hostages, marking a major diplomatic win in a foreign conflict that had come to define his final year in office. Biden delivered remarks from the White House hours after the first reports emerged that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a deal that included a ceasefire in Gaza and an agreement to release Israeli and American hostages, as well as Palestinian prisoners in Israel. “At long last, I can announce a ceasefire and a hostage deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas,” Biden said, with Vice President Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken standing behind him. “The road to this deal has not been easy,” Biden said. “I’ve worked on foreign policy for decades. This was one of the toughest negotiations I’ve ever experienced. We reached this point because to the pressure Israel built on Hamas, backed by the United States.” As part of the deal, Biden announced the deal includes the release of American hostages in the deal’s initial six-week phase that features a pause in fighting. “I’m proud to say Americans will be part of that hostage release in Phase 1 as well, and the vice president and I cannot wait to welcome them home,” Biden said.

FOX News [1/15/2025 7:36 PM, Joshua Comins, 49889K, Neutral] reports IDF Reserve Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi says "two things" changed regarding the Israel-Hamas cease-fire agreement after fifteen months of conflict in the Middle East. "This deal has been on the table since May last year and Hamas opposed it completely. Why? There was no real pressure on Hamas," Avivi told "Your World" on Wednesday. "Israel wanted to stop some of the humanitarian aid, especially some of the gasoline, but the administration wouldn’t let us do that. So Israel has no major leverage on them.” "What’s changed is two things," Avivi told Fox News. "One, Israel defeated Hezbollah and Hezbollah cannot support Hamas anymore. Also, Syria fell. Iran is weaker. But the big change is President Trump’s threat.” "Once President Trump threatened them, that if they don’t release hostages, there will be hell… I think they understand that if they don’t get a deal now, the chances of getting a good deal for them will be very, very low, if at all. And therefore, they made their own assessment, and they are inclined to do the deal, thinking that they’ll maximize what they can get now and not wait to see what ‘hell’ means," Avivi stated. On Wednesday, President Biden’s White House National Security communications adviser John Kirby recognized President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff as a key figure in brokering the deal.

Newsweek [1/16/2025 3:34 AM, Ryan Chan, 56005K, Negative] reports the Chinese government has claimed that it has been "forced" to develop nuclear weapons as a United States official issued a warning about China’s weapons of mass destruction program. Newsweek has emailed the Pentagon out of hours and the defense ministry in Beijing for comment. In its latest report on Chinese military power, the Pentagon estimated China has over 600 operational nuclear warheads, about 100 more than the previous estimate, enabling it to target more of America’s cities, military facilities and leadership sites than ever before. The Chinese Defense Ministry hit back at the report, claiming the country adheres to "the nuclear strategy of self-defense and the nuclear policy of not using nuclear weapons first," while maintaining its nuclear forces at the minimum level required for national security. "China’s development of nuclear weapons is a historic choice forced to be made," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun at a press conference on Wednesday. It was made during "extraordinary times" in response to nuclear threat, as well as to end nuclear monopoly and to prevent a nuclear war, the spokesperson added. China, which is one of the nine nuclear-armed nations, detonated its first atomic bomb in 1964. While the spokesperson asserted that China "never engages in arms race[s] with anyone," the Pentagon assessed that as a part of a strategic competition with the U.S., China continues its rapid nuclear expansion that it has neither publicly or formally acknowledged or explained. The Chinese government’s comment on its nuclear weapons development came after U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said on Monday that China, as well as Russia and the U.S., all possessed "a thousand-plus nuclear weapons" in the field. Kendall’s remarks were made during an appearance at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., where he also warned that more adversaries are fielding nuclear weapons, making the world a more dangerous place.

Miami Herald [1/15/2025 6:21 PM, Micah McCartney, 6595K, Neutral] reports that a Newsweek map shows the path followed by Chinese Coast Guard’s "Monster" ship as it patrolled within the Philippines’ maritime zone in recent weeks, despite the U.S. ally’s continued protests. Newsweek reached out to the Philippine Coast Guard and Chinese Foreign Ministry with written requests for comment. Beijing claims most of the South China Sea as its territory, within its dashed line, a unilaterally imposed demarcation that stretches into the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of several neighbors. An international arbitral court’s 2016 decision rejected these sweeping claims, but China maintains the ruling is invalid, citing historical rights. Under the United NationsConvention on the Law of the Sea, a coastal state is accorded sole access to natural resources within its EEZ, which extends 200 nautical miles (230 miles) from the coast. The Philippines has mounted the strongest challenge to Chinese activities in the zone, prompting the Chinese Coast Guard to respond with ramming, blockades, and water cannons, injuring Philippine servicemen on multiple occasions. The 12,000-ton CCG-5901, along with its sister ship CCG-2901 is the world’s largest Coast Guard vessel and three times heavier than the U.S. Coast Guard’s Legend-class cutters, earning it the nickname the Monster.

Newsweek [1/15/2025 8:34 AM, Micah McCartney, 56005K, Neutral] reports China’s construction of barges that appear tailor made for amphibious landings has raised concerns over the prospect of an invasion of Taiwan, with a former U.S. admiral likening the situation to preparations made before the "D-Day" landings in June 1944. Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, U.S. Department of Defense, and Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington, D.C., with emailed requests for comment. China has in recent years stepped up pressure on Taiwan, including near-daily incursions into its air defense identification zone and joint military exercises simulating a blockade. China claims the island democracy as its territory and has vowed to bring it into the fold, through force if necessary, though the Chinese Communist Party government in Beijing has never ruled there. CIA director Billl Burns and other officials have said they believe Chinese President Xi Jinping directed his military to be capable of moving against Taiwan by 2027, acknowledging, however, this does not mean an invasion will take place that or any other year. At least three of the barges have been spotted at southeast China’s Guangzhou Shipyard, Naval News revealed last week, citing multiple sources speaking on condition of anonymity. The vessels could function as mobile piers, with each featuring a 400-foot road span extending from its bow that enables the swift deployment of tanks and trucks directly to coastal roads on the other side of a beach. China has already accelerated production of so-called roll-on/roll-off ships, or commercial vessels with built-in ramps that can be requisitioned by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to transport and unload military vehicles in a wartime scenario. According to Ian Easton, a security analyst and associate professor at the U.S. Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute, Taiwan’s rugged terrain offers only a handful of beaches suitable for a Chinese invasion force, with just two months of favorable conditions to mount such an operation across the narrow but often treacherous Taiwan Strait. Adm. James Stavridis, former supreme allied commander Europe, wrote on X (formerly Twitter): "Unfortunate. Reminds me of D-Day preparations by allies in WWII to land at Normandy. This is a key intelligence indicator and worth watching closely.”

Reuters [1/15/2025 8:55 PM, Staff, 30936K, Negative] reports Taiwan will dispatch its navy if needed to help the coast guard respond to any suspicious activity near undersea communication cables, Defence Minister Wellington Koo said on Thursday, after a Chinese-linked ship was suspected of damaging one. Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, said a ship owned by a Hong Kong company but registered both in Cameroon and Tanzania damaged a cable to the north of the island earlier this month, although it says it has not been able to verify the ship’s intentions and was unable to board it due to bad weather. The ship’s owner has denied involvement, and China’s government has said Taiwan was making up accusations before the facts were clear. The incident has particularly alarmed Taiwan given it has repeatedly complained about "grey zone" Chinese activities around the island, designed to pressure it without direct confrontation, such as balloon overflights and sand dredging. Speaking to reporters at parliament, Koo said the armed forces would closely coordinate with the coast guard and help monitor areas where sea cable are located. "Once something happens, the coast guard will go out first, and if needed the navy will immediately cooperate if a response is required," he added. Also speaking to the media at parliament, Taiwan National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen said the government has already activated a mechanism with "international friends" to exchange information about Chinese "grey zone" maritime activities, though did not give details.

Newsweek [1/15/2025 10:59 AM, Ryan Chan, 56005K, Neutral] reports that the United States and its Northeast Asian allies on Wednesday conducted an aerial drill involving two American bombers after North Korea fired a hypersonic missile last week. Newsweek has contacted North Korea’s embassy in Beijing, China, for comment via email. North Korea, one of the nine nations in the world armed with nuclear weapons, claimed that it successfully launched a new hypersonic missile meant to bolster its nuclear war deterrent on January 6, which was the first test of Pyongyang’s weapons in the new year. The North Korean test and the U.S. military-led exercise came as Donald Trump will be sworn into office as U.S. president next week, as well as the ongoing political uncertainty in South Korea, where the nation’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has been arrested. Two Japanese F-2 and two South Korean F-15K fighter jets conducted a trilateral escort flight of two U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers in airspace between Japan and South Korea, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said. The U.S. also deployed one F-16 fighter aircraft. "This increasingly steady and sophisticated trilateral interoperability of our aerial and maritime forces strengthens our collective deterrence and defense posture," it added.

Washington Examiner [1/15/2025 12:04 PM, Brady Knox, 2365K, Neutral] reports that a Nippon Steel executive condemned President Joe Biden for blocking the company’s purchase of U.S. Steel. After Biden blocked the purchase on Jan. 3, the company sued the U.S. government. In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Takahiro Mori, Nippon Steel’s vice chairman and representative director, argued that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’s review "failed to meet the most basic requirements of due process and fairness" and that Biden’s decision was a purely political one. "During Mr. Biden’s re-election campaign, the leadership of the United Steelworkers union announced in February that the president had personally assured them that he had their backs as they opposed our deal," Mori wrote. "He publicly announced his opposition to our partnership in March—before Cfius began its formal review—and received the USW’s endorsement days later.” Biden said a White House committee of national security and trade experts determined that Nippon Steel’s purchase of U.S. Steel would create risks for both the supply chain and national security. Mori dismissed the national security concerns, complaining that the CFIUS "barely engaged with us." "We don’t believe there was any national security concern to begin with; Japan is one of America’s staunchest allies," Mori wrote. "Cfius didn’t send us a single written comment on or serious question about our proposals before referring the transaction to the president."

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