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.

The Wall Street Journal [1/2/2025 5:31 PM, Sadie Gurman and Nancy A. Youssef, Neutral] reports investigators believe the U.S. Army veteran who drove a pickup truck into a New Orleans crowd acted alone, and they have found no link between that terrorist attack and the deadly explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck in Las Vegas that was driven by another servicemember. “We’re confident, at this point, that there are no accomplices,” Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s counterterrorism division, said at a New Orleans news briefing hours before tens of thousands of people attended the Sugar Bowl at the Superdome. The college football game had been postponed a day while police bolstered security following the rampage that killed at least 14 people. Raia said authorities believed there was no ongoing threat in the area, and local officials on Thursday afternoon reopened the stretch of Bourbon Street where the attack took place early on New Year’s Day. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, “was 100% inspired by ISIS,” Raia said, referring to the Islamic State terrorist group that once controlled a self-proclaimed caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria—and whose black flag was tied to the hitch of the rented pickup. Authorities were still poring over social media and talking to people who knew him to learn more about his path to radicalization. Jabbar, who was born in Texas, filmed and posted several Facebook videos hours before the attack describing his desire to kill. In the first, Jabbar explained that he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned the news headlines wouldn’t focus on what he described as “the war between the believers and the disbelievers,” Raia said. Jabbar said in the videos that he had joined ISIS before last summer. He posted the last video at 3:02 a.m. and mowed down pedestrians on crowded Bourbon Street around 3:15 a.m. local time. While the belief that Jabbar acted alone in the attack brought some margin of relief to the city, developments in Las Vegas raised new questions about the blast there. Law-enforcement officials said 37-year-old Matthew Alan Livelsberger, a U.S. Army servicemember from Colorado, was the driver of the Cybertruck that exploded Wednesday in front of Trump International Hotel. He shot himself in the head before the blast, officials said, and authorities found the handgun he used at his feet. “We’re not aware of any other subject involved in this particular case,” said Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, calling the incident a “suicide and a bombing that occurred immediately thereafter.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link] The AP [1/2/2025 8:16 PM, Eric Tucker, Jim Mustian, Kevin McGill and Jack Brook, 33392K, Neutral] reports that the FBI also revealed that the driver, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an American citizen from Texas, posted five videos on his Facebook account in the hours before the attack in which he proclaimed his support for the militant group and previewed the violence that he would soon unleash in the famed French Quarter district. “This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act,” said Christopher Raia, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, calling Jabbar “100% inspired” by the Islamic State. The attack along Bourbon Street killed 14 revelers, along with Jabbar, 42, who was fatally shot in a firefight with police after steering his speeding truck around a barricade and plowing into the crowd. About 30 people were injured. It was the deadliest IS-inspired assault on U.S. soil in years, laying bare what federal officials have warned is a resurgent international terrorism threat. It also comes as the FBI and other agencies brace for dramatic leadership upheaval — and likely policy changes — after President-elect Donald Trump’s administration takes office. Raia stressed that there was no indication of a connection between the New Orleans attack and the explosion Wednesday of a Tesla Cybertruck filled with explosives outside Trump’s Las Vegas hotel. The person inside that truck, a decorated U.S. Army Green Beret, shot himself in the head just before detonation, authorities said. The FBI continued to hunt for clues about Jabbar but said that a day into its investigation, it was confident he was not aided by anyone else in the attack, which killed an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, a single mother, a father of two and a former Princeton University football star, among others.

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Washington Post [1/2/2025 5:59 PM, Justin Jouvenal, Lauren Weber and Maria Sacchetti, 40736K, Neutral]
Los Angeles Times [1/2/2025 5:18 PM, Hannah Fry, Richard Winton and Summer Lin, 6595K, Negative]
Bloomberg [1/2/2025 2:23 PM, Joe Carroll and Joe Lovinger, 1450K, Negative]
Bloomberg [1/2/2025 12:38 PM, Nacha Cattan, Chris Strohm, and Myles Mille, 1450K, Negative]
The Hill [1/2/2025 3:57 PM, Alex Gangitano, Negative]
AP [1/2/2025 5:58 PM, Staff, 21K, Neutral]
Reuters [1/2/2025 4:24 PM, Rich Mckay and hannah Lang, 48128K, Negative]
NBC News [1/2/2025 1:01 PM, Melissa Chan, 50804K, Neutral]
USA Today [1/2/2025 10:55 AM, Bart Jansen, 89965K, Negative]
Washington Examiner [1/2/2025 4:59 PM, Christian Datoc, 2365K, Neutral]

FOX News [1/2/2025 6:41 PM, Staff, 49889K, Negative] reports Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Thursday the United States won’t allow an "atmosphere of fear" to prevail after a deadly terror attack in New Orleans on Wednesday killed 14 people and injured dozens more. The attack suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was an Army veteran and U.S. citizen from Texas who was killed by police in the early morning hours of the new year after driving a truck into a crowd of holiday revelers. "This does appear to be an individual, a U.S. citizen, radicalized to violence by a foreign terrorist ideology, specifically the ISIS ideology," said Mayorkas on "Your World." "This is a phenomenon, a phenomenon of homegrown violent extremists that we have seen develop and emerge over the past ten years.” Officials said an ISIS flag was recovered from the Ford pickup truck Jabbar used to mow down people in the French Quarter. Christopher Raia, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, said in a press conference Thursday that Jabbar posted videos online as he drove from Houston to New Orleans proclaiming his support for ISIS. "This investigation is only a little more than 24 hours old, and we have no indication at this point that anyone else was involved in this attack other than Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar," said Raia. Mayorkas said ISIS’ goal is to have Americans "live in fear" but American democracy and its way of life "must prevail.” Yahoo! News [1/3/2025 1:47 AM, Staff, 57114K, Negative] reports that Biden said the FBI had told him that the assailant acted alone and that he was the one who placed explosives in coolers at other locations in the French Quarter a few hours before the terrorist act. US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas cautioned against drawing connections between the attack in New Orleans and the explosion of an electric car in Las Vegas due to some similarities. The two men behind the New Orleans and Las Vegas attacks had both been in the military and they had both rented the vehicles used in the attacks from the same platform. The New Orleans attacker served in the US Army and was subsequently retained as a reservist for years, while the Las Vegas suspect, who died in the explosion, was an active soldier. "This does not necessarily establish a connection between the two events," said Mayorkas in an interview with CNN when asked about the parallels. "I think we don’t yet know enough." FBI investigators had previously also stated that the federal police currently see no connection between the New Orleans attack and the explosion of the Tesla Cybertruck. Biden also emphasized this, but said the investigations would continue to determine if there is any connection between the incidents.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [1/2/2025 8:30 PM, Fox News, Neutral]

ABC News [1/3/2025 3:04 AM, Aaron Katersky, Victoria Arancio, Kevin Shalvey, Pierre Thomas, Josh Margolin, Luke Barr, and David Brennan, 33392K, Negative] reports the FBI and Department of Homeland Security on Thursday issued a joint intelligence bulletin warning the nation’s 18,000 law-enforcement agencies about potential copycats seeking to emulate this week’s devastating ramming and shooting attack in New Orleans, ABC News has learned. The bulletin was sent out of an abundance of caution to sensitize law enforcement around the country to be on the lookout for any activity pointing to the use of vehicles as a method to inflict mass casualties, sources told ABC News. The bulletin notes that ISIS -- to which New Orleans suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar pledged allegiance before the New Orleans attack, according to FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia -- has been promoting the use of vehicles as a terrorism weapon since around 2014. Sources told ABC News that ISIS has ramped up calls for its supporters to launch low-tech, mass casualty ramming attacks in recent months, especially since the most recent Israel-Hamas conflict began in October 2023. The bulletin offered law enforcement agencies tips on danger signs of upcoming attacks to look out for, including the use of pre-operational surveillance and fraudulent identity documents or credit to rent vehicles. The bulletin stated that Jabbar was inspired by ISIS but that there remains no evidence of any co-conspirators. A senior law-enforcement official told ABC News that there is so far no sign of ISIS claiming responsibility for the New Orleans attack. The ongoing investigation into the New Year’s Day attack on Bourbon Street saw bomb-making materials recovered by FBI agents and local law enforcement at a residence linked to the suspect in Houston, Texas, on Thursday, sources confirmed to ABC News. The items found were also referred to as "precursor chemicals" by agents in the field, sources said. They were discovered during the execution of a search warrant at Jabbar’s last known residence in the small community of Greenspoint, in north Houston. Authorities no longer believe there are any other suspects involved in the New Year’s truck attack that killed 14 people and injured 35 others, the FBI said Thursday. Sixteen people remain hospitalized at University Medical Center New Orleans, including eight in intensive care. The death toll is not expected to rise beyond 14 people, Dr. Jeffrey Elder of the University Medical Center New Orleans told ABC News Live on Thursday.

Roll Call [1/2/2025 4:12 PM, Chris Johnson, 440K, Negative] reports House Republicans have included five immigration-related measures in an initial package of rules for the 119th Congress, potentially teeing up early floor votes on an issue that the GOP heavily leaned into during the 2024 campaign. Among the targets are sanctuary cities, consistent with President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign promises to bring down the hammer on municipalities that refuse to cooperate with immigration officials in removing undocumented migrants. If approved, the rules package would set up a potential floor vote on legislation that would cut off federal funds for municipalities considered "sanctuary cities" if they intend to use that money for the benefit of undocumented immigrants.

The Washington Post [1/2/2025 12:47 PM, Marianne LeVine and Cat Zakrzewski, 40736K, Negative] reports that President-elect Donald Trump appeared to blame the Biden administration’s border policies for the vehicular attack that killed 14 people in New Orleans on Wednesday morning, even though authorities have identified the assailant as a native-born U.S. citizen. “With the Biden ‘Open Border’s Policy’ I said, many times during Rallies, and elsewhere, that Radical Islamic Terrorism, and other forms of violent crime, will become so bad in America that it will become hard to even imagine or believe,” Trump said in a social media post Thursday. “That time has come, only worse than ever imagined.” The FBI has identified Shamsud-Din Jabbar as the man who drove a truck with an Islamic State flag into a crowd on Bourbon Street early on New Year’s Day. Jabbar, who was killed at the scene, was an Army veteran from Texas and a U.S. citizen. Although Trump didn’t explicitly say he was referring to the New Orleans attack, the timing of his Thursday post and his mention of “Radical Islamic Terrorism” suggest he was making the connection. The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that Jabbar’s attack appeared to have been inspired by ISIS. The Hill [1/2/2025 12:13 PM, Lauren Irwin, 16346K, Negative] reports that President-elect Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said the New Year’s Day attackers in both New Orleans and Las Vegas were on "a suicide mission." "I think both these incidents, Las Vegas and New Orleans … they’re both going to be U.S. citizens, they’re both going to have recent foreign travel, they both were on a suicide mission, neither one of them thought they were going home," Homan said Wednesday on Fox News. While investigations are ongoing, President Biden said Jabbar shared videos where he threatened to kill his family and said he was interested in ISIS. Though not much is known about the Las Vegas suspect, Homan argued he, too, will have ISIS ties. Homan criticized the Biden administration for its southern border and immigration policy, though both men identified so far were known to be U.S. citizens. He argued that attackers have been "emboldened" by the Biden administration. The Washington Examiner [1/2/2025 11:36 AM, Asher Notheis, 2365K, Neutral] reports that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) blamed both the Biden administration and Senate Democrats for failing to secure the nation’s southern border, which he argued has "real consequences," following a terrorist attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day. President-elect Donald Trump issued a statement early Thursday morning, saying the nation’s "OPEN BORDERS" and "nonexistent leadership" are responsible for the New Orleans terrorist attack, which killed at least 15 people and injured at least another 30 during a New Year’s Eve celebration. The House speaker issued a similar comment, saying House Republicans have been "ringing the alarms" for years over concerns regarding a possible terrorist attack due to the nation’s insecure border, but the Biden administration has been "completely derelict" in its duties. "They told us, Lawrence, for four years that the No. 1 threat was so-called ‘racially motivated extremism,’ it was nonsense," Johnson said on Fox News’s Fox & Friends. "This is the thing that we were all concerned about. This is why we raised the alarms. This is why we passed H.R. 2, the strongest border security act ever passed by Congress, and Chuck Schumer and the Democrats in the Senate would not put that through and make it into law. The Biden administration has a lot to account for here, and we see now in glaring view of everybody that this dereliction of duty has real consequences. It’s a concern, and it will be an ongoing concern for some time.” The Washington Examiner [1/2/2025 12:03 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 2365K, Negative] reports House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) sent a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray in October in which he demanded answers about Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, who was arrested in Oklahoma City days earlier after the agency uncovered his alleged plot to carry out a large-scale attack on public crowds on Election Day.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [1/2/2025 11:53 AM, Jenny Leonard, 1450K, Negative]
The Hill [1/2/2025 10:16 AM, Alex Gangitano, 16346K, Negative]
CNN [1/2/2025 11:18 AM, Brian Stelter, 22417K, Negative]
FOX News [1/2/2025 8:29 AM, Staff, 49889K, Negative]
Washington Examiner [1/2/2025 12:37 PM, Emily Hallas, 2365K, Negative]

The Hill [1/2/2025 9:09 PM, Filip Timotija, 57114K, Negative] reports Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) criticized President Biden’s administration’s handling of homeland security following the deadly New Orleans truck attack, arguing they did not prioritize “the right things.” Johnson said he spoke to Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) and the state’s Attorney General Liz Murrill (R) who he said are “doing a great job” on the ground. He noted that local officials are “doing all that they can” but argued that “federal partners to do their job.” “And there is some frustration, as was articulated at the top of the program that I think is very well placed. You know, for four years now, the Biden administration has taken its eye off the ball. I mean, they did not prioritize, in our view, the right things,” Johnson said during his Thursday appearance on FOX News show “Kudlow.” “The FBI was off doing all these various and sundry things, putting their emphasis in their investigations and their eye on, you know, conservative Catholics and concerned parents at school board meetings and all these other things, they tried to convince us that the greatest threat to the homeland was racially motivated extremism,” he added. “When we all looked at the wide open border and thought logically that that might lead to terrorist attacks in the future.” Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, is the suspect behind the New Orleans truck rampage on New Year’s Day that killed at least 14 people and injured dozens more. Jabbar slammed a Ford pickup truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street before he was killed by police. He was a U.S. citizen from Texas who served in the Army from 2007 to 2020. An ISIS flag and post on social media sympathizing with the U.S.-designated terrorist group was discovered in the aftermath, according to police. Johnson made similar remarks on Fox News earlier on Thursday, criticizing the Biden administration for its handling of the U.S.-Mexico border. While on FOX News, Johnson said “dramatic change” is needed. “And this emphasizes, once again, why this election was so important to the country and we cannot get President Trump here soon enough 18 days away from his inauguration, and his cabinet coming in and we need all of these people that he’s chosen, who are ‘Law and Order types’ who will get control of these agencies, including the FBI and the DOJ to get to work immediately,” he told Larry Kudlow.

FOX News [1/2/2025 2:32 PM, Julia Johnson, Aishah Hasnie, and Chad Pergram, 49889K, Neutral] reports that Senate Republicans are urging expedited confirmation of President-elect Donald Trump’s administration appointments, particularly those for crucial national security posts, in the wake of a New Year’s attack in New Orleans where a terrorist suspect drove a car into a large crowd, killing more than a dozen people. "Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the senseless terror attack in New Orleans," said incoming Senate Republican Leader John Thune, R-S.D., on X. "With reports of ISIS inspiration, the American people expect clear answers from the administration," Thune said. "The threat posed by ISIS will outlast this administration, and this is a clear example of why the Senate must get President Trump’s national security team in place as quickly as possible.” The FBI said the holiday attack left at least 14 people dead and dozens of others injured. Israel revealed that two of its citizens were among those injured. Victims’ names are not to be released until autopsies are finished and families are notified, New Orleans Coroner Dr. Dwight McKenna said in a statement.

San Diego Union Tribune [1/2/2025 7:37 AM, John Annese, 2212K, Neutral] reports ten young people were wounded in a mass shooting outside a New York nightclub, police said Thursday. The explosion of violence outside the Amazura nightclub in Jamaica, Queens might involve gangs — but was not terrorism, NYPD Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera said at a press conference. At least three gunmen opened fire about 11:15 p.m. Wednesday as about 15 people were waiting outside the club hoping to get in, cops said. The 10 victims, six females and four males, all in the age range of about 16 to 20, were hospitalized with wounds not considered life-threatening. Four young men, at least three of whom opened fire with a barrage of over 30 shots, ran off west on 91st St. and got into a light-colored sedan with out-of-state plates, Rivera said. They have not been caught. “This is not a terrorist attack,” Rivera said at an overnight press conference at the shooting scene. “There’s zero tolerance for these senseless shootings, these horrible acts of violence on our streets,” he added. “Those responsible for this crime will be apprehended and brought to justice.” It wasn’t immediately clear if the shooters had been inside Amazura earlier or who they were targeting. Cops are trying to determine if the shooting was sparked by tensions between rival gangs. “That’s one of the avenues we’re pursuing but it’s too early to determine right now,” Rivera said. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.

Bloomberg [1/2/2025 9:23 AM, Nacha Cattan, 1450K, Neutral] reports that the New York Police Department is seeking information in relation to a shooting outside the Amazura nightclub in Jamaica, Queens that wounded 10 people on New Year’s day in the evening. About three or four males opened fire more than 30 times on a group standing outside the event space before fleeing on foot and then into a light-colored sedan, Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera said at a press conference on Thursday. The victims — six of them female and four male — will recover, he said. Rivera said authorities are still ascertaining a motive, but made clear it’s not terrorism. He said there were about 90 people inside the event space in the upstairs, which was being used for a private event. CBS New York [1/2/2025 8:07 AM, Christina Fan, 52225K, Neutral] reports that police say that’s when four men walking down 91st Avenue approached the crowd and fired about 30 rounds. They then ran toward 143rd Place, where they got in a light colored sedan with out-of-state plates. "Officers responded to the multiple 911 calls and found a total of 10 victims -- six females, four males -- who were taken to area hospitals. All of the victims are expected to recover with non-life-threatening injuries," NYPD Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera told reporters overnight. The street was crowded with ambulances waiting to rush the victims to local hospitals. They range in age from 16 to 19 years old and are all expected to survive their injuries. Six were taken to the Jamaica Hospital Trauma Center with injuries ranging from gunshot wounds to the leg, foot, arm and buttocks, to graze wounds to the back. The other four are being treated at New York-Presbyterian Queens, Long Island Jewish Medical Center and Cohen Children’s Medical Center. Police say they are also actively canvassing local medical centers for any unaccounted for gunshot victims related to this incident. Investigators say the public has been instrumental in helping them solve high-profile crimes in recent weeks, and they hope the public will once again help them catch the suspects in this case. The Washington Examiner [1/2/2025 10:54 AM, Emily Hallas, 2365K, Negative] reports New York Police Department Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera said the New Year’s Day incident happened at Amazura in Queens, where over a dozen young people waited in line to enter the nightclub. Six females and four males received injuries after three or four men walked toward the group of people aged 16 to 20 and fired roughly 30 times, authorities said. All of the victims are expected to make full recoveries. There is "zero tolerance for these senseless shootings," Rivera said during a Thursday morning press conference. Authorities are looking for a gray Infiniti with New Jersey license plates in connection to the shooting, according to PIX11 News. Rivera said the incident was not an act of terrorism, as the country reels from similar deadly New Year’s terrorist attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas.

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Yahoo! News [1/2/2025 8:06 AM, Staff, 57114K, Negative]

FOX News [1/2/2025 12:33 PM, Christina coulter, 49889K, Neutral] reports that hundreds of demonstrators called for an "intifada revolution" in Times Square on New Year’s Day, hours after a terrorist with an ISIS flag plowed into dozens at a New Year’s parade in New Orleans. Attendees of the New York City protest — organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the People’s Forum, according to the New York Post — chanted "There is only one solution: Intifada revolution.” In New Orleans, a group called New Orleans Musicians for Palestine is planning a "Procession for Palestine" on Jan. 6, according to an Instagram post, to "demonstrate our continued solidarity with the people of Palestine and make visible our vision for a world after war, colonialism, capitalism and white supremacy." The procession is planned outside Louisiana Supreme Court on Royal Street, just a few blocks away from where Shamsud-Din Jabbar attacked people on Bourbon Street on Jan. 1. In New York, hours after the attack, protesters were chanting "Resistance is glorious — we will be victorious;" "We will honor all our martyrs;" and "Gaza, you make us proud.” Protesters carried signs reading "Zionism is a cancer," "No war on Iran" and "End all U.S. aid to Israel," the Times of Israel reported.

Wall Street Journal [1/2/2025 7:59 PM, Jack Gillum, Cameron McWhirter and Scott Calvert, Neutral] reports the alleged terrorist behind the New Year’s killing spree in New Orleans was a born-and-bred Texan, an Army veteran, and father of three who had climbed the corporate ladder. But Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s burnished professional résumé belied a path that had gone off course. In recent years, the Houston-area resident’s life appeared to take a grim turn, with a contentious divorce and his finances in a deep hole, according to a desperate email he sent to his then-wife’s lawyer in 2022. “Time is of the essence. I can not afford the house payment. It is past due in excess of $27,000 and in danger of foreclosure if we delay settling the divorce,” he wrote, worried about the tens of thousands in credit-card and other debt he had racked up as his real-estate business was losing money. Law-enforcement officials have identified Jabbar, 42, as the man who rammed a rented Ford F-150 truck into a partying crowd in the heart of the French Quarter early Wednesday, leaving at least 15 dead, dozens injured and a reawakened national fear of terrorism on American soil. Jabbar died in a shootout with police, according to authorities, who said a black-and-white flag of the radical group Islamic State was found on the pickup. Explosive devices were found in the truck and neighborhood. On his internal profile page at Deloitte, where he worked from 2021 to at least the past fall as a “senior solutions specialist,” Jabbar posted about his interests including hunting and prayer. He quoted an English translation of the Quran, from a section known as Al-Insan, or “The Man,” which discusses how faithful Muslims will be rewarded by God. “Indeed, the righteous will drink from a cup whose mixture is of Kafur, A spring of which the servants of Allah will drink,” according to a copy of his profile viewed by The Wall Street Journal. “They will make it gush forth in force. They fulfill vows and fear a Day whose evil will be widespread.”

Reuters [1/2/2025 8:26 PM, Jonathan Landay and Ted Hesson, 48128K, Negative] reports as investigators learn more about the man who pledged allegiance to Islamic State and killed 14 people with a truck on New Year’s Day in New Orleans, a key question remains: How did a veteran and one-time employee of a major corporation become radicalized? FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said on Thursday that videos made by Shamsud-Din Jabbar just before the attack showed the 42-year-old Texas native supported Islamic State, claimed to have joined the militant group before last summer and believed in a "war between the believers and nonbelievers.” While the FBI was looking into his "path to radicalization," evidence collected since the attack showed that Jabbar was "100 percent inspired by ISIS," said Raia, using an acronym for Islamic State. Jabbar, who authorities said acted alone, was killed in a shootout with police. His half-brother, Abdur Jabbar, said in an interview that Jabbar, who had worked for audit firm Deloitte, abandoned Islam in his 20s or 30s, but had recently renewed his faith. Ali Soufan, a former FBI agent who investigated terrorism cases and is on an advisory council to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, said Jabbar did not fit the typical profile of those radicalized by Islamic State. Jabbar served for 10 years in the U.S. Army and was in his 40s, Soufan noted, explaining that people who fall prey to Islamic State recruitment are typically much younger. Newsweek [1/2/2025 8:32 AM, Martha McHardy, 56005K, Negative] reports that in videos seen by authorities, Jabbar allegedly discussed how he had planned to gather his family for a "celebration" with the intention of killing them after his divorce, before changing his plans to join ISIS, CNN reported, citing two officials who had been briefed on the recordings. Jabbar also referenced several dreams that he had about why he should be joining ISIS, according to CNN. Authorities believe Jabbar made the recordings at night while he was driving from his home in Texas to Louisiana. However, the exact timing is unclear. Jabbar was killed while exchanging fire with police at the scene after the attack. Later, the FBI said an ISIS flag was found in the truck he drove into the crowd, as well as possible improvised explosive devices. Other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter. It is currently unclear if the IEDs were linked to the attack. Court filings, which Newsweek has not reviewed, show Jabbar has divorced from two of his ex-wives. In 2012, his first wife filed a lawsuit against him for child support shortly after he initiated divorce proceedings. The court mandated Jabbar to make payments that increased over time in line with his growing income. The case was ultimately dismissed in 2022. Meanwhile, Jabbar’s second wife took out a restraining order against him in 2020 during divorce proceedings. The order mandated that Jabbar refrain from threats, physical harm or other stipulated behavior against his ex-wife and either of their children, and required her to avoid the same activity. In a court filing, Jabbar’s ex-wife stated the marriage had become "insupportable because of discord or a conflict of personalities.” Jabbar was a U.S. citizen from Texas who served in the Army for more than a decade as a human resource specialist and information technology specialist on active duty between March 2007 and January 2015. CBS Minnesota [1/2/2025 4:15 PM, Kerry Breen, 52225K, Negative] reports that the driver of the truck, who was shot and killed by police moments after he drove into the crowd, was identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen from Texas. He had previously served in the U.S. military, including an 11-month deployment to Afghanistan, according to an Army spokesperson. He was discharged in 2015 and worked in real estate in recent years. His most recent address was in Houston.

Newsweek [1/2/2025 6:13 AM, James Bickerton, 56005K, Negative] reports a mosque near the Houston home of Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who police say carried out the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans, has urged its congregation not to respond to media inquiries and to refer to other Islamic organizations if contacted by the FBI. Newsweek contacted the Houston Masjid Bilal, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Islamic Society of Greater Houston for comment via email on Thursday outside regular office hours. On Wednesday, 15 people were killed and 35 injured after a pickup truck crashed into a crowd on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street. The driver, identified by authorities as U.S. Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was later killed in a shootout with police. The FBI said it had recovered a flag of the Islamic State group from the truck and was investigating the incident as an "act of terrorism." At a press conference, the agency said it believed Jabbar was not "solely responsible" for the attack and that it was also investigating any potential links to a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas hours later, killing one person believed to have been the driver. In an Instagram story posted after the attacker’s identity was announced, the Masjid Bilal condemned what it said were "terrible acts." It added, "If approached by the FBI and a response is necessary, please refer to CAIR and ISGH," referring to the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Islamic Society of Greater Houston. Users on X, formerly Twitter—including Daily Wire reporter Bree A. Dail and the popular @Breaking911 account—shared screenshots of the mosque’s Instagram story on X. In its social media message, which was addressed to "Brothers and Sisters," the mosque noted that the FBI was treating the "tragic events" in New Orleans as an "act of terror" and urged its congregation to "stay very vigilant and aware of your surroundings.” In 2014, the United Arab Emirates listed CAIR as a terrorist group over its alleged affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, a pan-Islamic organization of which Palestinian militant group Hamas is an offshoot. In response, CAIR called the move "shocking and bizarre," saying there was "no factual basis" for the UAE to list it as a terrorist group. "Like the rest of the mainstream institutions representing the American Muslim community, CAIR’s advocacy model is the antithesis of the narrative of violent extremists," it added.

FOX News [1/2/2025 12:00 PM, Breck Dumas, 10861K, Negative] reports that Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the Army veteran who officials say carried out the terrorist attack at a New Year’s celebration in New Orleans early Wednesday, worked with consulting firm Deloitte, earning about $10,000 a month. In a statement, Deloitte said Jabbar had "served in a staff-level role" since being hired in 2021 and that the company was doing all it could to assist authorities. "We are shocked to learn of reports today that the individual identified as a suspect had any association with our firm," Deloitte said in a statement to FOX Business Wednesday evening. "The named individual served in a staff-level role since being hired in 2021." The firm added, "Like everyone, we are outraged by this shameful and senseless act of violence and are doing all we can to assist authorities in their investigation.” Authorities identified Jabbar as the man who drove a truck through a crowd on Bourbon Street in the early hours of the New Year, killing 15 people and injuring dozens of others. Jabbar, who died at the scene of the attack, was a U.S.-born citizen who lived in Texas. Despite Jabbar’s well-paid position at Deloitte, he had financial woes, according to USA Today. The outlet reported that court documents from his second divorce in 2022 show Jabbar’s $120,000 base salary at Deloitte, and the suspect warned his attorney that he was in danger of losing his home.

NBC News [1/2/2025 10:25 PM, Suzanne Gamboa, et al., 50804K, Neutral] reports Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s high school friends knew him as “Sham” — a good student with a quiet disposition and a bright future. He went on to become a model soldier in the Army, where his work ethic and attitude impressed his commander during a tour in Afghanistan. “He was a great soldier, someone who showed discipline and dedication,” the commander, Rich Groen, posted on social media. But over the past few years, as Jabbar worked to climb the corporate ladder, his life began to deteriorate. He faced severe money problems and a third divorce. At some point, he fell under the sway of the Islamic State, the terrorist group known as ISIS. On New Year’s Eve, Jabbar, 42, drove a rented truck from Houston to New Orleans, authorities said, posting videos online along the way in which he professed his support for ISIS. Once he reached Bourbon Street, he planted two improvised explosive devices and then got back into his truck and plowed into revelers, killing 14 before police shot and killed him in a gunbattle. In some ways, Jabbar, with his personal life and finances in shambles, fits the profile of those who experts say are most likely to turn to extremist groups to find meaning and a sense of purpose. The attack has stunned and confused his friends and family members. How could someone so kind and unassuming, some have said in interviews and social media posts, end up carrying out such a heinous act of terrorism? “It’s a complete surprise, a shock, to everyone,” Jabbar’s half-brother, Abdur-Rahim Jabbar IV, 24, said in an interview. “There weren’t any moments leading up to this that were apparent or red flags to show that he’s been radicalized or changed in any way from the loving brother and father and son that we all know,” he said. Investigators are trying to identify Jabbar’s path to radicalization. At a news conference Thursday morning, law enforcement officials conceded that they had little insight into his transformation. “A lot of questions we’re still asking ourselves,” said Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. “What I can tell you right now is that he was 100% inspired by ISIS. We’re digging through more of the social media, more interviews, working with some of our other partners to ascertain a little bit more about that connection.” Newsweek [1/2/2025 6:23 AM, Khaleda Rahman, 56005K, Neutral] reports a former commander of the man who drove a pickup truck through a crowd of pedestrians in New Orleans’s bustling French Quarter, killing 15, said he was a "great soldier.” Shamsud-Din Jabbar "served under my Troop Command during our deployment to Afghanistan," Rich Groen wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday night. "He worked quietly and professionally in the S1 shop and as a mail clerk, ensuring the little things that kept us all connected to home were done with care and precision. He was a great Soldier, someone who showed discipline and dedication.” Groen added that "to think the same individual who once embodied quiet professionalism could harbor so much hate, leading to such unspeakable atrocities, is incomprehensible and heartbreaking. This transformation is a stark reminder of the dangers of unchecked anger, isolation, and hate.”

USA Today [1/2/2025 7:46 PM, Anthony Robledo, 89965K, Neutral] reports a 19-year-old San Diego State University student named Steele Idelson was among dozens of people wounded in the tragic New Orleans truck attack, the California school told USA TODAY on Thursday. As law enforcement officials investigate hundreds of tips in the attack that killed 14 people and injured at least 35 others in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day on Wednesday, the identities of the victims are slowly becoming public. While San Diego State University confirmed that Idelson was among those wounded in the attack, a school spokesperson declined to comment further. Idelson, a native of the Fort Myers area of southern Florida, was critically injured alongside her childhood friend, 19-year-old Elle Eisele, according to reporting by the Fort Myers News-Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. "I ask every Florida family to join Ann and me in praying for the quick recovery of Steele Idelson, Elle Eisele and all injured in the evil attack in New Orleans," Florida Sen. Rick Scott said in a Facebook post.

NBC News [1/2/2025 5:47 PM, Laura Strickler and Daniella Silva, 50804K, Neutral] reports New Orleans had access to effective anti-vehicle barriers ahead of the Bourbon Street attack on New Year’s Eve revelers that killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens more, but the city did not deploy those barriers until a day after the carnage unfolded, and the head of the local police department said she had been unaware of them. New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said Thursday while reopening Bourbon Street that the city had added more protections, including heavy trucks and Archer barriers "that would be preventive if someone had, or if this particular terrorist, went around up on the sidewalk." That’s what authorities say occurred just after 3 a.m. Wednesday, when a Texas man inspired by the Islamic State group drove a pickup truck onto a sidewalk filled with people on Bourbon Street, mowing down pedestrians before opening fire on police, wounding two officers and dying in the shootout. Ahead of Wednesday’s attack, the city had recently removed security barriers known as bollards from Bourbon Street because they were malfunctioning, and the city’s Department of Public Works was in the process of installing new ones. On New Year’s Eve, Bourbon Street was protected by patrol cars, other barriers and a large law-enforcement presence, but they weren’t enough to stop the attacker, Kirkpatrick said at a news conference Wednesday.

Reported similarly:
Newsweek [1/2/2025 6:51 AM, Shannon McDonagh, 56005K, Negative]
CBS 7 [1/2/2025 6:47 PM, Brendan Keefe, Jamie Grey and Emily Featherston, 11K, Negative] Video: HERE

New York Times [1/2/2025 7:29 PM, Adam Nossiter, Mattathias Schwartz, Julie Bosman, Maria Cramer and Jack Healy, 161405K, Neutral] reports five years before a man in a pickup mowed down dozens of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans, a confidential security report warned that the iconic Bourbon Street tourist strip was vulnerable to a “vehicular ramming” attack. The assessment, prepared by a security firm in November 2019 for the group that manages the city’s French Quarter, warned that the bollards designed to block vehicles from entering Bourbon Street did “not appear to work.” The New York security firm recommended fixing the barriers immediately, and said that “the two modes of terror attack likely to be used are vehicular ramming and active shooting.” The attack early Wednesday, which killed 14 people and injured dozens more, has now forced officials in New Orleans to confront whether they did enough to protect one of the country’s most famed tourist spots against an attack foreseen years earlier. Police officials stressed that the city had started work to replace the old barriers in November, ahead of the Super Bowl next month, and that the work was still ongoing on Wednesday when the attack occurred. They also said that they had no way of anticipating that the attacker would jump up onto the Bourbon Street sidewalk, evading the police cruiser that was parked there as a security measure. “It wasn’t something that we expected to account for,” said Capt. LeJon Roberts, commander of the French Quarter police district, at the news conference after the attack. But some security experts said New Orleans had left Bourbon Street dangerously vulnerable. And they pointed to other cities, including New York and Chicago, that had used other strategies to try to ensure safety. “This should be no surprise to anyone who’s ever been tasked with protecting an area dense with pedestrian traffic,” said Don Aviv, chief executive of the security firm Interfor International, which performed the 2019 security assessment. “The French Quarter is the perfect target.”

Newsweek [1/2/2025 1:38 PM, Rachel Dobkin, 56005K, Negative] reports that New Orleans is preparing to reopen Bourbon Street after an assailant plowed through it with a truck early Wednesday morning, killing 15 New Year’s revelers and injuring about 30 more. The city, known for its big festivities, is still reeling from the attack as the investigation into the incident and assailant continues. What was supposed to be a celebration of the year to come turned into a deadly day to mourn. Authorities completed processing the scene early Thursday morning with the last of the bodies removed, an unnamed official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press (AP). Bourbon Street will reopen later Thursday, according to the official. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. Army veteran from Texas, has been named the suspect in the New Year’s attack that is being treated as an act of terrorism. At around 4:15 a.m. local time on Wednesday, Jabbar allegedly rammed a pickup truck into a crowd of revelers in the French Quarter. The truck eventually stopped, and Jabbar allegedly opened fire on responding police officers, injuring two before being killed in a shootout with law enforcement. Four victims have been identified by their families: Reggie Hunter, Nikyra Dedeaux, Tiger Bech and Nicole Perez. An ISIS flag, weapons and multiple IED bombs were found in the suspect’s rented truck. In the wake of the attack, authorities cordoned off Bourbon and Canal Streets and several coroner’s office vehicles were parked on the corner of the two blocks. The AP [1/3/2025 12:03 AM, Eric Tucker, Jim Mustian, Kevin McGill and Jack Brook, 47097K, Neutral] reports that the Sugar Bowl college football game between Notre Dame and Georgia, which was postponed by a day in the interest of national security, was played Thursday evening. The Joan of Arc parade in the French Quarter is still scheduled to take place Monday to kick off carnival season ahead of Mardi Gras, said Antoinette de Alteriis, one of the organizers. She said they expect close to its typical crowd of around 30,000 participants The FBI has continued to hunt for clues about Jabbar but, a day into its investigation, the agency said it was confident he was not aided by anyone else in the attack, which killed an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, a single mother, a father of two and a former Princeton University football star, among others.

Washington Post [1/2/2025 1:30 PM, Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Tim Craig, and Danielle Paquette, 40736K, Neutral] reports that Since a terrorist attack killed at least 14 New Year’s Eve revelers on Bourbon Street and injured dozens more, officials in this city rebuilt on tourism sought to assure the world that it was safe to attend the Sugar Bowl. The annual college football showdown — postponed an overnight because of the tragedy — was expected to draw as many as 74,000 fans to the Caesars Superdome on Thursday afternoon, and indeed, the stadium filled with energy. There was no sign that, 36 hours earlier, leaders had clashed over the right time to resume athletic festivities. “I am confident the city is secure,” said Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who had initially pushed for a lengthier delay. “It does reflect our commitment to not bowing to terrorism.” “It is possible to both mourn and move forward,” noted Juliette Kayyem, a former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security who now chairs the homeland security program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Newsweek [1/2/2025 11:52 AM, Billal Rahman, 56005K, Neutral] reports that a Chicago church has paused its in-person Spanish services over growing fears within the immigrant community of mass deportations under the incoming Trump administration. The church, a vital space for many local immigrant families, made the decision to prioritize the safety of its parishioners, as anxiety builds over potential immigration raids in places of worship. Newsweek has contacted the Trump-Vance transition team for comment via email outside of normal office hours. President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming administration are believed to be prepared to carry out immigration raids, including inside churches, as part of their mass deportation strategy. Church leaders say this threat is already causing significant concern within their communities. The suspension demonstrates a climate of uncertainty and fear affecting communities across the city amid the looming threat of deportations. In response to threats from the incoming Trump administration, which warned that Chicago could become the epicenter of mass deportations, Emma Lozano, an activist and pastor at Lincoln United Methodist Church, moved the church’s Spanish services online, as part of the church’s efforts to protect its undocumented immigrant community. The services in English will remain in-person.

Washington Examiner [1/2/2025 11:02 AM, Staff, 2365K, Neutral] reports that vehicles attached with the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrived at a townhouse complex in northeast Colorado Springs on Thursday morning as the investigation connected to an explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel continued. One person died and seven others were injured on Wednesday when a Tesla Cybertruck that carried fireworks and camp fuel canisters caught fire and exploded in front of the hotel. Sources confirmed to Gazette news partner KOAA Wednesday evening the driver of the Cybertruck in the Las Vegas explosion lived in Colorado Springs. According to senior law enforcement sources, 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger was the driver and had several Colorado Springs addresses associated to him, KOAA reports. At around 7:30 a.m. Thursday, multiple FBI vehicles were seen at the 5400 block of Carvel Grove, near the corner of Stetson Hills Boulevard and Marksheffel Road on the northeast side of Colorado Springs. The FBI was at the townhouse complex Wednesday night, the Colorado Springs Police Department told KOAA. Armored vehicles and agents in tactical gear were observed at the complex.

The New York Times [1/2/2025 2:39 PM, Jacey Fortin, 161405K, Neutral] reports that the man who was driving a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning shot himself in the head immediately before the vehicle was engulfed by fire, the authorities said on Thursday. Earlier on Thursday, military officials identified the driver as an Army master sergeant who had been on leave from active duty. The authorities are still working to determine exactly what happened, and what the motivation was for the incident, which injured seven people. Here is what we know so far. At about 8:40 a.m. local time on Wednesday, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department received a report of an explosion at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, a 64-story tower on Fashion Show Drive, which is just off the Las Vegas Strip. A rented 2024 Tesla Cybertruck had “pulled up to the glass entrance doors of the hotel,” according to Sheriff Kevin McMahill, before it exploded. Witnesses saw the vehicle engulfed in flames as it sat in front of the hotel. After firefighters extinguished the blaze, the authorities said that they found gasoline canisters, camp fuel canisters and large firework mortars in the back of the truck; they said they did not know how the explosion had been ignited. The Miami Herald [1/2/2025 10:11 PM, Ricardo Torres-Cortez and Richard N. Velotta, 6595K, Neutral] reports an increased law enforcement presence continued across Las Vegas Thursday, a day after a Tesla Cybertruck carrying fuel and commercial fireworks exploded outside the Trump International hotel on the Strip. The Tesla vehicle’s lone occupant - identified as an Army military member from Colorado - took his life seconds before Wednesday morning’s blast, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Thursday. The sheriff classified the explosion as a bombing. Seven people suffered minor injuries. While investigators said they hadn’t determined a motive, McMahill said he was confident the community was safeguarded. "We don’t believe that there’s any further threat from this subject or anybody associated with him here in Las Vegas," said McMahill about Matthew Livelsberger, 37. The explosion occurred hours after hundreds of thousands of revelers rang in 2025 on the Strip and downtown Las Vegas. Every New Year’s Eve, a plethora of local, state and federal law enforcement converge on the tourist corridor in efforts to keep attendees safe. McMahill said Tuesday night’s celebrations went off without a hitch. A separate military veteran mowed down scores of pedestrians celebrating the holiday in New Orleans’ French Quarter Wednesday morning. Fourteen victims and the suspect died. McMahill noted "very strange similarities" between both incidents. However, he said no evidence had emerged to link them. Reacting to the explosion, the sheriff extended the Metropolitan Police Department’s New Year’s Eve staffing levels through Friday. McMahill said his officers were stationed across the valley "just to make sure that we have the community feeling that level of safety that they need to feel after an event such as this." City of Las Vegas marshals were on "extra alert with a significant officer presence on the Strip, in downtown and throughout the valley," Mayor Shelley Berkley said in a post on X on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, marked police vehicles with flashing lights were stationed in downtown. Metro has beefed up patrols as a precaution following high-profile attacks around the world, such as the Paris terror attacks in 2015 and a mass shooting in an Orlando night club the following year.

New York Times [1/2/2025 8:05 PM, Dave Philipps, 161405K, Neutral] reports a career Army Special Forces master sergeant with years of experience detonated a homemade bomb packed into a Tesla Cybertruck in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, yet the blast left the glass doors a few feet away and the chandeliers just above the windshield intact. And while seven bystanders suffered injuries, the only person who died was the soldier himself in the truck. The lack of destruction and the low death toll were a cause for relief for the authorities and others reeling from the New Orleans attacks a few hours earlier. But they also prompted a lot of head-scratching, by law enforcement officials and by Special Forces soldiers who served with the man, 37-year-old Matthew Alan Livelsberger. If he had wanted to cause far more harm, his colleagues suggested, he likely had the skill and experience to do it. Sergeant Livelsberger, who was known as Berg to other Green Berets, spent nearly 20 years in Special Forces, first as a communications specialist, then as an intelligence specialist, and finally as the senior enlisted leader in an operational detachment, also known as an A-Team. For many of those years, he was assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group, based in Colorado Springs and Stuttgart, Germany. He deployed at least six times, including three tours in Afghanistan, and was decorated by the Army for valor. While he never held a formal explosives position, all members of A-Teams get explosives training, and many also learn to build improvised explosives, several Green Berets said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. One Green Beret who went on a mission in Afghanistan in 2019 with Sergeant Livelsberger said that he was experienced and capable, and made an impression because the other Green Berets all carried standard assault rifles, while he carried a rapid-fire grenade launcher. Those kinds of Green Berets — senior leaders with extensive combat experience — often have a sophisticated understanding of explosives and how bombs work, the Green Beret said of Sergeant Livelsberger. That has left some of the people who knew him wondering what was behind the explosion. There appeared to be no effort to pack the bomb with shrapnel, or to create homemade explosives that would pack more of a punch. “Everyone I’ve spoken to is wondering whether he even intended to cause damage,” the Green Beret said.

AP [1/2/2025 6:27 PM, Tara Copp, Alanna Durkin Richer, Colleen Long, and Ty Oneil, 63K, Neutral] reports that the highly decorated Army soldier inside a Tesla Cybertruck packed with fireworks that exploded outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas shot himself in the head just before detonation, authorities said Thursday. The explosion caused minor injuries to seven people but virtually no damage to the hotel. Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Green Beret, likely planned a more damaging attack but the steel-sided vehicle absorbed much of the force from the crudely built explosive. Damage from the blast was mostly limited to the interior of the truck because the explosion “vented out and up” and didn’t hit the Trump hotel doors just a few feet away, the sheriff said. “The level of sophistication is not what we would expect from an individual with this type of military experience,” said Kenny Cooper, a special agent in charge for the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Authorities are still working to determine a motive. “It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of the Trump building, that it’s a Tesla vehicle, but we don’t have information at this point that definitively tells us or suggests it was because of this particular ideology,” said Spencer Evans, the Las Vegas FBI’s special agent in charge. Livelsberger had recently returned from an overseas assignment in Germany and was on approved leave when he died, according to a U.S. official.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [1/2/2025 3:19 PM, Alex Horton, Jeremy Roebuck, Jennifer Oldham, and Reis Thebault, 40736K, Negative]
CBS News [1/2/2025 6:30 PM, Emily Mae Czachor, Negative]

Wall Street Journal [1/2/2025 6:00 PM, Victoria Albert, Neutral] reports the man found in the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas sustained what police believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head before the blast, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said. A handgun was found at the man’s feet inside the vehicle, McMahill said at a news conference. McMahill said the gunshot wound complicated efforts to conclusively identify the person inside the vehicle, who was burned beyond recognition in the explosion outside the Trump International Hotel. Several firearms, many of which were severely charred, were also found in the vehicle, McMahill said. The sheriff named Matthew Livelsberger, 37 years old, as a person of interest in the case. While it was likely that Livelsberger was the person in the vehicle when it exploded, McMahill said, it wasn’t yet 100% clear given the condition of the body. A military ID and a passport with Livelsberger’s name were found inside the vehicle, officials said.

Newsweek [1/2/2025 8:42 AM, Khaleda Rahman and Monica Sager, 56005K, Neutral] reports the person driving the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas has been named by news outlets as Matthew Livelsberger. Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Army veteran who lived in Colorado Springs, rented the truck that exploded outside Trump International Hotel, Colorado Springs-based station KOAA and the New York Post reported, citing unnamed law enforcement sources. Livelsberger served at the same Army base as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect in a New Orleans New Year’s Day truck attack that killed at least 15 people, Denver-based station KMGH reports. Newsweek could not immediately verify the information. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the Colorado Springs Police Department have been contacted for comment via phone and email. KMGH added that several properties were associated to Livelsberger and that FBI agents were staking out one at Marksheffel Road late Wednesday. KOAA reports FBI agents were also at a townhouse complex located in the Stetson Hills neighborhood, the location of another of the properties. Authorities said one person died inside the truck and seven more suffered from minor injuries due to the fire that erupted in the hotel’s valet area about 8:40 a.m. local time. Firework mortars and camp fuel canisters were later found stuffed into the back. The truck explosion came hours after a driver rammed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ busy French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 people before being shot dead by police. That crash is being investigated as an act of terrorism and police believe the driver was not acting alone. Police have not, at time of publication, ruled out a link between the two incidents. Investigators continue to assess possible motives, including political, for the Cybertruck blast and whether or not it is linked to the New Orleans attack that same day. "This is a Tesla truck, and we know that Elon Musk is working with President-elect Trump, and it’s the Trump Tower," Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters Wednesday when asked about possible connections. "So there’s obviously things to be concerned about and it’s something we continue to look at.” McMahill said Wednesday that authorities believe the Cybertruck blast to be an "isolated incident," but have not ruled out a link to the New Orleans attack. The Cybertruck, as well as the vehicle used in the New Orleans attack, was rented via the app Turo.

Reported similarly:
Newsweek [1/2/2025 8:17 AM, James Bickerton, 56005K, Negative]
Newsweek [1/2/2025 8:35 AM, Marni Rose McFall, 56005K, Neutral]

CBS News [1/3/2025 12:20 AM, Marissa Wenzke and Matthew Rodriguez, 52225K, Negative] reports two people died and at least 18 people were injured following a small plane crash in Orange County Thursday afternoon. A single-engine Van’s RV-10 crashed around 2:15 p.m. PST, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. It happened in the 2300 block of Raymer Avenue, near the Fullerton Airport. The Fullerton Police Department said the injuries varied, with paramedics hospitalizing 10 people while crews treated and released eight people at the scene, according to a post on X. The FAA said it will investigate along with the National Transportation Safety Board, the nation’s watchdog for transportation agencies. The site where firefighters were responding was a large warehouse. In aerial footage around 2:40 p.m., they were seen hosing down a blackened area of the rooftop where smoke was rising from a gaping hole. Authorities have released no details about how the crash happened. Witnesses recalled hearing a "loud noise" before running out of the building. Witness Javier Ruiz recalled seeing someone with what appeared to be burns cross his body and clothes. "His shirt was burned, his shoes were burned, his face," Ruiz said. "It looked like something from a movie.” Aerial footage showed the small plane resting inside of the building.

Reported similarly:
San Diego Union Tribune [1/2/2025 8:10 PM, Staff, 2212K, Negative]

AP [1/2/2025 2:01 PM, Edgar H. Clemente, 47097K, Negative] reports that a new caravan of migrants began walking from southern Mexico on Thursday toward the U.S. border, starting out from the city of Tapachula near the border with Guatemala. The majority of the migrants are from Venezuela, but they also include people from Guatemala, El Salvador, Peru and Ecuador. They’ve said they are tired of being blocked from crossing Mexico by the government. Though previous caravans have said they intend to reach the border — something that was almost never achieved — the migrants in the new caravan appear to be less clear about where they were headed. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to prevent migrants from entering the United States and stage mass deportations of those already in the country. Many of the migrants said they were simply tired of being bottled up in Tapachula — a city tired of hosting thousands of migrants and one where they cannot find much work. Giscarlis Colmenares, a 29-year-old from Venezuela, has been waiting for almost three months for an asylum appointment through the U.S. CBP One app. Colmenares said her immediate goal was to reach Mexico City to find "work, so that we see whether we can get, ahead, or stay here and earn enough money to return to Venezuela.” An improvised migrant camp in downtown Mexico City was already full to overflowing with migrants.

Dallas Morning News [1/3/2025 3:00 AM, Staff, 3419K, Negative] reports some people who knew Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an Army veteran and father of three from Beaumont, were stunned to learn he was the driver who mowed down New Year’s Day revelers in New Orleans. A former classmate described him to New York Times as a good student, and a neighbor said Jabbar would help her carry her groceries. But the husband of Jabbar’s ex-wife said Jabbar had been behaving erratically in recent months. Shortly before the massacre, Jabbar, 42, posted videos online in which he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. Authorities said Thursday that Jabbar, who was killed by police, acted alone. President-elect Donald Trump reacted to the tragedy on social media by suggesting the attack was the work of a foreign actor: “When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true.” Jabbar, however, was a native-born citizen, one who was honorably discharged from the military in 2020. It should alarm all of us that this man was likely radicalized in the U.S., as were other Americans who have recently made headlines for their crimes. News coverage points to fellow citizens who have become extremists for a diverse spectrum of cause and ideologies. Our nation cannot let our guard down against international terrorism, but the biggest threat we face comes from inside the house. Outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray testified in Congress in 2023 that “the greatest terrorism threat to our homeland” are lone actors or small groups in the U.S. inspired by foreign terrorist organizations, as well as domestic extremists with their own political and social goals disconnected from foreign terrorism. Consider the case of Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December in Manhattan. Mangione, an Ivy League graduate who enjoyed a privileged upbringing in Baltimore, wrote a manifesto decrying the health care industry. He faces state terror and murder charges in New York. Also in December, 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow fatally shot a schoolmate and a teacher at her Christian school in Wisconsin before killing herself. Her internet trail shows an interest in neo-Nazi ideology and veneration of mass shooters, including the Columbine High School killers, according to ABC News. And recall a case closer to home: Corey Cobb-Bey, the 30-year-old killer of Dallas police Officer Darron Burks. He appears to have followed an offshoot of the growing sovereign citizens movement. Subscribers of this extremist ideology refuse to obey U.S. laws because they believe American government institutions — the courts, the police, the regulators — are illegitimate. All of this bloodshed is the product of homegrown hate. The New Orleans killer was inspired by foreign terrorists, and he carried their flag, but he was one of our own. Our intelligence agencies and political leaders must get a better understanding of how so many Americans become radicalized so we can do something about it.

The Hill [1/2/2025 2:00 PM, Lyndon haviland, 16346K, Neutral] reports that important public health measures designed to protect unaccompanied minors held in U.S. custody at the southern border are set to expire nine days after President-elect Trump takes the oath of office. With mass deportations expected on the horizon and the fate of children in limbo, America must show compassion and extend these initiatives to ensure their safety while being detained by U.S. law enforcement. Few can argue that our immigration system is broken. The surge of migrants coming to America in recent years has been the largest in U.S. history. The Congressional Budget Office found that net immigration to America rose from 2.6 million people in 2022 to 3.3 million in 2023. These statistics eclipse the number of crossings from 2010 to 2019, where the net immigration average totaled just 900,000 people annually. Children, of course, are the most vulnerable. Since 2012, over 600,000 unaccompanied minors have come to America. The U.S. government has been challenged to respond and handle this crisis. Earlier this year, the watchdog for the Department of Homeland Security found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was unable to "monitor all unaccompanied migrant children" released from U.S. custody. It also concluded that over the past five years, more than 32,000 children had failed to show up for their court-ordered immigration proceedings and that ICE could not identify their whereabouts.

Newsweek [1/2/2025 10:07 AM, John Mac Ghlionn, 56005K, Neutral] reports that as debates rage over the H-1B visa program—which allows employers to bring in foreign workers with certain skills—the nation finds itself divided on what "America First" truly means. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy champion the expansion of this visa program, claiming it’s essential to filling gaps in tech talent. Critics, however, see this as a betrayal of American workers—a corporate shortcut that prioritizes cheap, imported labor over investing in the country’s own people. The truth lies somewhere in between. America can embrace global talent without undermining its workforce, but this requires bold reforms. The question is, will it rise to the challenge, or will it let ideological rifts and systemic failures undermine its greatness? The reality is painfully clear: America’s education system is failing to produce the workforce it needs. This isn’t a matter of intelligence—Indian and Chinese students aren’t born smarter than Americans. Their edge lies in rigorous preparation, while U.S. schools flounder in ideological battles and declining standards. Tech companies, desperate for skilled labor, have turned to H-1B visas as a crutch.

Newsweek [1/2/2025 10:55 PM, Kevin Lynn, 56005K, Neutral] reports the long-simmering debate over H-1B visas broke out into the mainstream over Christmas in a dispute that erupted over the appointment of Sriram Krishnan as Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence to President-elect Donald Trump. Krishnan was born and raised in India and arrived in the U.S. via the L-1 visa when Microsoft transferred him from their India office, and he is a vocal supporter of expanding immigration, particularly from India. When his position was announced, Trump’s MAGA base erupted in a firestorm of criticism, enraged with what they saw as a betrayal by the tech world’s elite of the base. The criticism quickly expanded from Krishnan to three recent Silicon Valley converts to President Trump: Elon Musk, David Sacks, and Vivek Ramaswamy, who all voiced support for Krishnan, H-1B visas, and hiring foreign workers over American ones. What followed was a ten-day battle of words, as former allies became bitter opponents, and the issue of H-1B visas took center stage in a broader debate about the future of American industry and its relationship with tech giants. Of course, the working-class Americans who voted Trump into office on a promise to reduce immigration, legal and illegal, are right: Whether it’s illegal migrants crossing the border or "high-skilled" tech workers, immigration hurts America’s workers. In short, U.S. companies, ranging from insurance and financial firms to Silicon Valley giants have found guest worker visa programs like the H-1B to be a convenient way to source cheap labor and maintain a compliant workforce. These workers are predominantly sourced from India, where both the workers and the Indian government benefit from the arrangement. Indian visa workers are often promised Green Card sponsorship in exchange for their loyalty to their employers, while the Indian government enjoys substantial remittances sent back by these workers, which constitute a significant portion of the country’s GDP.

AZ Central [1/2/2025 9:29 AM, EJ Montini, 6018K, Negative] reports that the late Russell Pearce, former Arizona Senate president, was so far behind the times that he was ahead of them. Without giving him any credit — or is it blame? — Donald Trump stole Pearce’s deportation idea. Just as Pearce stole the idea from President Dwight Eisenhower. Proof, I guess, that horrible notions rarely die. In the fall of 2006, I sat in then-state Rep. Pearce’s office at the state Capitol to talk about his suggestion that the U.S. government embark on a mass deportation program of undocumented immigrants similar to one called "Operation Wetback" that was undertaken during the 1950s. Still, when I asked Pearce what he thought of those who criticized his proposal and his blunt language, Pearce said, "These are the same sissies that backed away from Proposition 200. People are tired of that. They’re tired of the games. Pearce was the author of Senate Bill 1070, a specious piece of legislation that inspired a series of immigration sweeps in Latino communities by deputies under former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, during which undocumented immigrants were targeted. Operations like this are never clean or tidy or fair, however, and so legal residents and U.S. citizens also were rounded up. This generated lawsuits and an ongoing legal battle that has cost Maricopa County taxpayers $250 million. Not to mention the incalculable price of human misery. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

USA Today [1/2/2025 2:00 PM, Nicole Russell, 89965K, Negative] reports that the horrific attack early Wednesday in New Orleans, which killed at least 14 people and injured more than 30 others, is an agonizing reminder that the Islamic State continues to recruit and inspire enemies, foreign and domestic. This attack should inspire vigilance and unity in America. And we must take the threat of future terrorist attacks seriously in a world increasingly divided by armed violence. The FBI identified the suspect in the New Orleans attack as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Army veteran and Texas native. Police say he drove a 3-ton truck at a high rate of speed into a festive crowd on Bourbon Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day. Jabbar was dressed in military gear and reportedly carried an ISIS flag in the rental truck. Police shot and killed him as he opened fire on officers after the crash. The FBI reportedly found recorded evidence indicating that Jabbar had planned to kill his family but joined ISIS instead. This time, the weapon was a speeding truck. Next time, it could be even worse. On the same day as the New Orleans attack, a Tesla Cybertruck − loaded with gas tanks, camping fuel and fireworks − exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. Police said the driver, who was killed in the blast, used a device to set off the explosion, which injured seven people. Federal authorities are investigating whether the incidents in Las Vegas and New Orleans are related. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Yahoo! News [1/2/2025 7:19 AM, Cynthia Miller-Idriss, 57114K, Neutral] reports that, early on New Year’s Day, police say, a 42-year-old Army veteran drove a rented truck flying a black ISIS flag into a crowd of New Orleans revelers, killing at least 15 people and injuring over 30 more. The attack, which the FBI is investigating as an act of terrorism, comes on the heels of a similar attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, that killed five and injured dozens, and it follows an FBI warning to law enforcement on Dec. 6 to prepare for low-tech vehicle ramming attacks at outdoor crowds during the holiday season. The New Orleans attack seems to have been planned to create as much harm as possible, including the attacker’s use of an electric truck rented on a car-sharing app, which provided low-cost, easy access to a vehicle. And the apparent ease with which the perpetrator planned and executed the attack — despite the FBI warning — suggests our national strategy for preventing mass violence and violent extremism is failing. A main prevention strategy for the U.S. government in this area is called “secondary prevention,” and it is almost entirely focused on stopping an already-radicalized actor from effectively executing an attack. Other countries put more emphasis on both primary prevention (preventing people from becoming radicalized in the first place) and tertiary prevention (deradicalization and disengagement of already-committed extremists). Taken together, these three approaches are intended to reduce extremist groups’ ability to recruit and radicalize followers and mobilize them to violence. Secondary prevention, while important at reducing the risk of imminent violent attacks, is essentially a “see something, say something” approach to prevention. It relies on the timely and effective execution of security strategies like surveillance, monitoring and infiltration of groups alongside a healthy dose of sheer luck, often from good Samaritans who report possible threats or concerning behaviors from individuals. A 2022 white supremacist plot to start a riot at an Idaho Pride parade was thwarted, for example, when a tipster called to say that a “little army was loading up” into a U-Haul in a hotel parking lot.

CBS Austin [1/2/2025 5:03 PM, Ray Lewis, 581K, Negative] reports a Baltimore unit of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested eight noncitizens last month who committed offenses in the U.S., it announced in a release on Thursday. Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Baltimore said it conducted a "targeted operation" throughout Maryland on Dec. 17. Each of the people it arrested were illegally present in the U.S., the agency noted. Among them was Norman Douglas, a Jamaican man who entered the U.S. in 1991 and was convicted in Tennessee in 2007 of first-degree murder, according to ICE. The agency noted he had been arrested twice on drug charges since his release from prison. Between 1996 and 2005, Douglas was charged or convicted of drug and misdemeanor offenses seven times, ERO Baltimore added. ICE said it also arrested Mauricio Quiroz-Rivera, a Salvadoran man who entered the U.S. illegally twice. He was convicted in Maryland in 2006 after being arrested for second-degree rape and in Washington, D.C., in 2008 of first-degree child sex abuse, according to the agency. ERO Baltimore removed Qurioz-Rivera from the U.S. following the end of his prison stay, but he later returned illegally, the unit noted. ICE said it also arrested a Salvadoran woman who unlawfully entered the U.S. in 1998. The Department of Justice allowed her to leave the country voluntarily the following year, but she was convicted of fourth-degree sex offense and second-degree assault in 2022, according to ERO Baltimore. The unit added that it took into custody Glenn Arguedo, a Filipino man who entered the U.S. in 2014 and was convicted of sex abuse of a minor and assault five years later. Other people arrested include Colombian, Salvadoran, Honduran and French citizens who were charged with crimes like third-degree sex offense, attempted first-degree murder, manslaughter and impersonating a police officer, ICE said.

KSL [1/2/2025 2:01 PM, Pat Reavy, Negative] reports the second of two special agents with the Department of Homeland Security in Utah tasked with fighting the war on drugs has been charged in federal court with putting drugs right back on the street by selling drugs to dealers. Felony information was filed Monday against Nicholas Kindle, accusing him of conspiracy to convert property of the U.S. government and conspiracy to distribute drugs. In December, a 27-page criminal complaint was unsealed against David Cole, 50, of South Jordan, for conspiracy to distribute and possess drugs with intent to distribute. The federal complaint also listed an unnamed "person A" as a possible co-defendant. That person was identified this week in court documents as Kindle. The two are accused of using a confidential informant who had worked with Homeland Security agents on legitimate investigations. Kindle and Cole, however, began taking bath salts in 2021 used in investigations, made the informant purchase the drugs for $5,000 and then allowed the informant to resell the drugs and keep the proceeds, charging documents state. The people who were sold the drugs were never investigated. Furthermore, between 2021 and 2024, "on at least three occasions, Cole and Kindle stole evidence that was meant to be seized by Homeland Security as part of legitimate Homeland Security investigations. This theft included thousands of dollars in cash, a diamond ring and a Peruvian antiquity," the new charges state.

Newsweek [1/2/2025 8:23 AM, Billal Rahman, 56005K, Neutral] reports a Democratic congressman is calling for urgent reforms to the H-1B visa program, which allows highly skilled foreign workers to come to the United States. Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents California’s 17th congressional district, expressed concerns that the program has been exploited, potentially undermining wages and job opportunities for American workers. "The H-1B program has been abused," Khanna told Newsweek in a statement. Trump’s billionaire backer Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, appointed by Trump as coleads of the newly established advisory Department of Government Efficiency, have voiced strong support for the H-1B visa program. But they believe it needs reforming into a system that operates purely on merit grounds, rather than according to number limits per country. In contrast, immigration hard-liners like Steve Bannon and far-right activist Laura Loomer have opposed reforms, interpreting them as an expansion of the system. Trump has expressed support for the program to get the smartest people to work in the U.S. The clash between Musk’s vision and public sentiment reflects a broader national debate about immigration and labor policy. Khanna is advocating for reforms to the H-1B visa program, which he believes will help attract highly skilled workers to the U.S. to compete with China while ensuring fair wages for American workers. Khanna pointed to instances where companies have exploited the program, replacing American workers with lower-paid H-1B employees and driving down wages in the tech industry. Such practices, he argued, undermine the program’s original purpose and harm the workforce. Khanna has pushed for reform through legislation he introduced alongside Representatives Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and Lance Gooden (R-TX). The proposed bill aims to address fraud and abuse in visa programs for temporary foreign workers in the United States. According to Khanna, the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act would also prevent corporations from intentionally underpaying visa holders, thereby protecting wages for all workers in comparable roles. Industries such as technology, finance, and academia are some of the top participants in the H-1B visa program. In 2024, leading companies such as Amazon, Google, and Meta secured thousands of these visas. Tesla, the electric car company led by Musk, is said to have brought hundreds of employees to the U.S. through the program. The H-1B program has a federal cap of 65,000 new visas issued each year. However, petitions for 20,000 individuals holding a U.S. master’s degree or higher are exempt from this cap, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [1/2/2025 12:09 PM, Adam Shaw, 49889K, Neutral] reports that President-elect Donald Trump claimed this week that he has not changed his mind about the controversial H-1B visa program and that the U.S. needs "smart people" coming into the country, amid a furious intra-Republican debate on the visa program. "I didn’t change my mind. I’ve always felt we have to have the most competent people in our country, and we need competent people," Trump said at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday evening. "We need smart people coming into our country. We need a lot of people coming in. We’re going to have jobs like we’ve never had before." The H-1B visa program allows U.S. companies to hire foreign workers for specialty occupations and is overwhelmingly used by the tech industry. However, it has long been controversial for some conservatives, who say it is abused by tech companies to bring in cheap, predominantly Indian, labor to replace American workers. The program hit the headlines last week when Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who have been tapped by Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, argued for the importance of foreign workers for tech companies.

Washington Examiner [1/2/2025 12:44 PM, Paul Bedard, 2365K, Neutral] reports that after hitting a low during the first Trump administration, immigration courts are reporting a big jump in illegal migrants skipping their court dates for asylum and deportation hearings. In a new Government Accountability Office report, the rise in no-shows by illegal immigrants has jumped to 34%, up from a low during President-elect Donald Trump’s last year in office. The no-show rate varied widely depending on an immigration court’s rate of granting asylum. For example, the rate of illegal immigrants skipping out was highest in Charlotte, North Carolina, at 68%. However, the court in that area also denies asylum at a higher rate than most courts, at 88%. In an analysis of the new GAO data, former federal immigration judge Andrew R. Arthur said it just makes sense that those facing deportation skip their court date so that they can stay in the United States, though illegally. Arthur, who is now with the Center for Immigration Studies, said in his analysis, "Aliens with no hope of staying legally are less likely to show up for court and will opt instead to skip out and remain illegally. Respectfully, that’s just common sense."

Newsweek [1/2/2025 10:05 AM, Billal Rahman, 56005K, Negative] reports that the U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector has issued a stark warning to migrants planning to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, stressing the life-threatening dangers of attempting illegal border crossings during the perilous winter weather. During the winter months, freezing temperatures create perilous conditions for migrants attempting to cross the border illegally. Extreme cold exposes them to the risk of hypothermia, frostbite, and even death. The border region’s unforgiving terrain—including deserts, mountains, and remote wilderness can be treacherous in the winter, amplifying the danger posed to migrants. Authorities are urging caution, highlighting the risks posed by harsh weather conditions and difficult terrain. "The risks are even greater during the winter months," said El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Anthony Scott Good. Newsweek has contacted U.S. Customs and Border Protection for further comment via email. Increased holiday travel leads to heavy traffic on highways near the southern border, which increases the risk of car accidents involving migrants.

Yahoo! News [1/2/2025 8:16 AM, Rachel Hagan, 57114K, Negative] reports suspected people smugglers will face travel bans, social media blackouts and phone restrictions under new laws aimed at tackling organised immigration crime, the government has announced. Ministers plan to introduce "interim" Serious Crime Prevention Orders (SCPOs) designed to place immediate restrictions on suspects’ activity while a full order is considered by the courts. It comes after figures showed the number of migrants arriving by crossing the English Channel in small boats in 2024 was up by a quarter on the previous year. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said stronger powers were needed to tackle the "vile gang networks" – but shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the measures were "laughable" and would not act as a deterrent. Under the proposals announced by the Home Office, suspects could be banned from using a laptop or mobile phone, accessing social media networks, associating with certain people, or accessing their finances. SCPOs can already be sought to curb the movement of people involved in organised immigration crime. However the government said the measures were not being used to their full effect and it plans to introduce the new "interim" orders. Police, the National Crime Agency and other law enforcement bodies would be able to apply directly to the High Court for these orders without going through the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the Home Office said. Breaching an interim order could lead to up to five years in prison. The changes will be included in the government’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which is expected to be introduced to parliament in the coming weeks. Cooper said: "Dangerous criminal people smugglers are profiting from undermining our border security and putting lives at risk. "They cannot be allowed to get away with it. "We will give law enforcement stronger powers they need to pursue and stop more of these vile gang networks.”

CBS Austin [1/2/2025 1:11 PM, Staff, 581K, Neutral] reports an investigation is underway after a video surface of a U.S. Border Patrol K9 officer allegedly being abused by its handler. The video shows the handler with the K9 at the Falfurrias checkpoint. At some point during the video, it looks like the handler was kneeing the canine several times. According to KRIS TV, the video was taken just before 3 p.m. on Wednesday by Jessica Pena from Corpus Christi. She said she posted the video to social media, which got the attention of U.S. Border Patrol officials. The investigation is ongoing.

Corpus Christi Caller Times [1/2/2025 2:43 PM, Katie Nickas, Neutral] reports a U.S. Border Patrol agent from Corpus Christi died in a motorcycle crash on Wednesday when his vehicle struck a deer on a rural road in Beeville. Cory Whetten, 37, was riding south along County Road 329 on a 2022 Aprilia Tuareg at about 11:50 a.m. when his motorcycle struck a deer, causing him to be thrown from the vehicle, according to a news release from the Texas Department of Public Safety. State highway patrol officers transported Whetten to Christus Spohn Hospital in Beeville, where he died from his injuries, the news release said. Whetten was assigned to Border Patrol at the Kingsville station and was off duty at the time of the crash. Troopers from the Beeville Highway Patrol office are investigating.

AP [1/2/2025 7:16 PM, Hannah Schoenbaum, 14282K, Negative] reports a second Department of Homeland Security agent has been charged in federal court with using a confidential informant to sell illicit drugs that were seized as evidence. Nicholas Kindle, a special agent in Utah tasked with investigating illegal narcotics trafficking, was arrested three weeks after his alleged co-conspirator, special agent David Cole. Both face a felony drug distribution conspiracy charge, and Kindle faces an additional charge of conspiracy to convert property of the U.S. government for profit. On Thursday a magistrate judge set Kindle’s initial court appearance for Jan. 21 in Salt Lake City. If convicted he faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. An attorney has not yet been listed for Kindle in court records. Unlike Cole, who was indicted last month by a grand jury, Kindle was formally charged in an information document from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which does not require grand jury approval to initiate criminal proceedings. Federal prosecutors say Kindle and Cole abused their positions to acquire illegal drugs known as "bath salts" from Homeland Security evidence and from other law enforcement personnel, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, under the false pretense that they would use them for legitimate investigations. Prosecutors say Kindle and Cole began stealing drugs from evidence and lying to fellow agents about their purpose in 2021. They are also alleged to have stolen thousands of dollars in cash, a diamond ring and a Peruvian antiquity from evidence.

Border Report [1/2/2025 3:51 PM, Salvador Rivera, 153K, Negative] reports agents with Mexico’s Institute of Immigration (INM) are reportedly working with taxi drivers in a scheme to get unlawful migrants into the United States, according to Albert Rivera, head of the Agape Shelter in Tijuana. Since last year, INM agents and members of Mexico’s National Guard, have been positioned just south of the border to prevent migrants from approaching the U.S. Rivera says migrants are paying up to $500 per person to cabbies to take them to the border where INM agents are waiting. Rivera says he is asking Mexico’s federal government to investigate "the scheme," since he believes the agents are getting a kickback from the people driving the taxis.

USA Today [1/2/2025 4:42 PM, Nathan Diller, Neutral] reports a woman was arrested for the second time in a week at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, days after allegedly boarding a Delta Air Lines flight without a ticket. The Port of Seattle Police Department (POSPD) was dispatched on Friday to help the Transportation Security Administration with a person "considered not to have official airport business," an airport spokesperson told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. "TSA attempted to make first contact with the individual near Checkpoint 3 and called in POSPD for support," the statement said. Police determined she did not have airport business and arrested her for trespassing. A TSA spokesperson added that the passenger "bypassed the identity verification and boarding status stations" but went through standard screening and had no prohibited items.

New York Times [1/2/2025 7:29 PM, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, 161405K, Neutral] reports the Biden administration, in a final push to shore up the nation’s pandemic preparedness before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office, announced on Thursday that it would nearly double the amount of money it was committing to ward off a potential outbreak of bird flu in humans. Federal health officials have been keeping a close eye on H5N1, a strain of avian influenza that is highly contagious and lethal to chickens, and has spread to cattle. The virus has not yet demonstrated that it can spread efficiently among people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the current risk to humans remains low, and that pasteurized milk products remain safe to consume. But should human-to-human transmission become commonplace, experts fear a pandemic that could be far more deadly than Covid-19. On Thursday, the administration said it was committing $306 million toward improving hospital preparedness, early stage research on therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines. About $103 million of that will help maintain state and local efforts to track and test people exposed to infected animals, and for outreach to livestock workers and others at high risk. The Biden administration has already spent more than $1.8 billion battling bird flu since the spring of last year. Most of that, $1.5 billion, was spent by the federal Agriculture Department on fighting the virus among animals. The remainder, about $360 million, has been spent by the Health and Human Services Department on efforts to protect people, according to federal officials. The additional funds will be distributed in the next two weeks, Dr. Paul Friedrichs, the director of the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, said in an interview Thursday. “While C.D.C. reports that the risk to the general public is low, keeping communities healthy, safe and informed remains a top and urgent priority,” Dr. Friedrichs said.

AP [1/2/2025 5:26 PM, Staff, Positive] reports new North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein took several actions on Thursday to help the short- and long-term recovery from Hurricane Helene, with an immediate focus on more temporary housing and repairs to private bridges and roads. Stein, who took his oath of office on Wednesday to succeed fellow Democrat Roy Cooper, traveled to Asheville and — with legislators and officials from both parties behind him — announced he had signed five executive orders related to the historic flooding in late September in western North Carolina. One executive order allows the state Department of Public Safety to purchase up to 1,000 temporary housing units through the end of next month without going through the usual state procurement and bidding processes. Stein said the Federal Emergency Management Agency is covering the costs of these units. FEMA is already following another regulatory process as it installs similar trailers on its own, he added.

WSAV [1/2/2025 3:23 PM, Natasha Young, Neutral] reports the FEMA mobile disaster recovery center (MDRC) in Jeff Davis County will close on Saturday, FEMA officials said Thursday. The MDRC is located at the Jeff Davis County Recreation Department on 83 Buford Road and business hours are 8 a.m.-6 p.m. The final day to visit the center is Jan. 4. The deadline to apply for FEMA assistance was extended in late December until Feb. 7. If you are in any of the 63 counties who were affected by Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricane Helene, you are encouraged to apply for FEMA disaster assistance.

Yahoo! News [1/2/2025 1:26 PM, Patrick Lohmann, 57114K, Neutral] reports that victims of the Roswell flood that occurred in October have until 11:59 p.m. Thursday to seek disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The floods Oct. 19 and 20 in Roswell and elsewhere in Chaves County caused widespread devastation. Floodwaters stranded hundreds of people, sent cars floating down city streets and caused the deaths of at least two people. President Joe Biden on Nov. 1 issued a presidential disaster declaration, which authorized FEMA to arrive and provide disaster aid. The application period for FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program ends Thursday. So far, the agency has approved more than $16 million in disaster assistance payments to 1,885 households, including about $8.3 million for housing-related assistance. The average payment is about $8,900 per household. The Individual Assistance program is geared primarily to provide needed help to those who don’t have insurance or who are under-insured. The typical maximum allowed is about $40,000. The program helps "with basic, critical needs such as a safe, sanitary, and functional place to live while Chaves’ residents look for a long-term or permanent housing solution," FEMA spokesperson Maria Padron said in a news release about the deadline. "It is not designed to make residents whole and is not a substitute for insurance coverage. FEMA assistance cannot duplicate other sources of assistance."

AZCentral [1/2/2025 6:08 PM, Olivia Rose, Positive] reports the Horton Fire has grown to 1,164 acres in size but remains 17% contained, as of Thursday afternoon. In an update posted to the social media platform X, Tonto National Forest reps said four fire crews with 334 personnel were using water tenders, fire engines, a helicopter and a bulldozer to fight the wildfire. They also said the cause of the Horton Fire, burning along the Mogollon Rim in Payson, is under investigation. Authorities believe it may have been human-caused.

SFGate [1/2/2025 9:36 AM, David Curran, 14282K, Neutral] reports that a magnitude 4.7 earthquake shook the Lake County area on Wednesday night, according to the United States Geological Survey. The tremor struck at 6:34 p.m. and was located 2.3 miles northwest of Cobb, a census designated place 41 miles north of Santa Rosa. Also nearby is the Geysers, an area of frequent seismic activity, which is 4.7 miles north of the quake’s epicenter. The shaker had a recorded depth of .68 miles and was felt by a large number of citizens with 1,531 responses on the USGS Community Intensity Map. These responses were mostly from residents in Lake County and adjacent Sonoma County, but some were from as far away as Fremont, with the vast majority describing the shaking as ‘light.’ The USGS posted on ‘X’ that the New Year’s day shaker was the first time the ShakeAlert system had been activated in 2025.

Government Executive [1/2/2025 5:03 PM, Jennifer Shutt, 342K, Neutral] reports law enforcement agencies in the nation’s capital were closely monitoring security Thursday following a terrorist attack in New Orleans and a vehicle explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. The violent incidents took place just ahead of several high-profile events in Washington, D.C., including the swearing-in of the new Congress on Friday, the certification of the Electoral College vote on Monday, former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral next week and the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20. Matthew Young, assistant special agent in charge at the U.S. Secret Service, said in a statement the agency would “adjust our security plans as needed.” The Secret Service has already designated Congress’ certification of the Electoral College, Carter’s funeral at Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 9 and the inauguration as National Special Security Events, which puts the agency in charge of planning and security logistics.

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [1/2/2025 9:03 AM, Jack Birle, 2365K, Neutral]
FOX WTTG Washington [1/2/2025 4:56 PM, Tom Fitzgerald, 1562K, Neutral]

Wall Street Journal [1/2/2025 6:00 PM, C. Ryan Barber, Neutral] reports that, four years after the chaos of Jan. 6, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation hasn’t been able to identify the masked person who placed pipe bombs near the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican national committees the night before the Capitol attack. Searching for fresh leads, the FBI on Thursday gave the public new details about the suspect in hopes of solving the enduring mystery. The bureau shared previously unreleased camera footage showing the suspect leaving a pipe bomb by a park bench near the Democratic National Committee headquarters shortly before 8 p.m. on Jan. 5, 2021. For the first time, the FBI also specified the suspect’s height as 5 foot 7 inches and, piecing together security footage, charted the circuitous route the person took through Capitol Hill before leaving a second pipe bomb in an alley near the Republican National Committee headquarters. The two pipe bombs were discovered early in the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, at the same time as rioters began to breach police barricades around the outer perimeter of the Capitol. The FBI deemed both pipe bombs viable, with the capacity to kill or severely injure innocent bystanders. Vice President Kamala Harris, then vice president-elect, entered the DNC headquarters that day via a ramp within 20 feet of the pipe bomb and was inside for about an hour and 40 minutes before it was discovered and her security detail removed her from the building, according to a report last year by the Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog. The FBI said it was releasing information about the individual in an effort to jog memories and drive tips from the public that could generate traction in an investigation officials described as a priority. So far, the FBI has assessed more than 600 tips, reviewed more than 39,000 video files, conducted more than 1,000 interviews and visited more than 1,200 residences and businesses as part of the investigation. While the information helped the FBI advance the investigation, “they have not helped us identify the suspect. And we firmly believe there are people out there who do know who this person is and could contribute,” said David Sundberg, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “It’s been almost four years. Allegiances change,” Sundberg said.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [1/2/2025 6:02 PM, Perry Stein, 40736K, Negative]
ABC News [1/2/2025 6:01 PM, Alexander Mallin, Neutral]
CBS News [1/2/2025 6:13 PM, Scott MacFarlane, Andres Triay, Robert Legare, 52225K, Negative]
Washington Examiner [1/2/2025 2:30 PM, Ashley Oliver, 2365K, Negative]

CBS Los Angeles [1/2/2025 4:21 PM, Marissa Wenzke, 52225K, Neutral] reports a man arrested outside a Donald Trump rally in Coachella pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor gun charges Thursday, months after suing the Riverside County Sheriff over alleged violations of his constitutional rights. Vem Miller was not present during his Thursday morning arraignment in Riverside County Superior Court, but his attorney entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf. His next court date is a pre-trial hearing scheduled for March 11. No federal charges have been filed in the case and the U.S. Secret Services assessed Trump was not in any danger at the event, according to a joint statement released by the Secret Service, FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Meanwhile, Sheriff Chad Bianco has said he believes his agency thwarted an assassination attempt at the Oct. 12 rally.

Bloomberg [1/2/2025 4:58 PM, Jake Bleiberg and Jamie Tarabay, Neutral] reports Chinese state-sponsored hackers broke into the computers of senior US Treasury Department leaders as part of a recent breach of the agency, according to a US official and another person familiar with the matter. The hackers were able to access unclassified material stored locally on the senior officials’ computers, which were among the laptops and desktops that were infiltrated, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the investigation is ongoing. They didn’t specify which senior leaders’ computers were breached. Investigators have so far found roughly 100 government computers that were compromised, according to the US official, who added that the hackers accessed drafts and notes for policy decisions, itineraries and travel planning documents for Treasury leaders, as well as some internal communications. The agency is still assessing what was taken, but the hackers didn’t compromise the department’s email system or classified systems, according to both people.

Government Executive [1/2/2025 5:23 PM, David DiMolfetta, 342K, Neutral] reports top lawmakers in the House and Senate sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday asking her to provide key committees with a briefing on a major Chinese cyber intrusion into sensitive systems within the agency. Cloud security service provider BeyondTrust alerted Treasury early last month to a breach in which Beijing-aligned hackers obtained a key used to secure a cloud tool for remotely supporting Treasury Departmental Offices end users. Using the stolen key, the hackers bypassed BeyondTrust’s security, accessed Treasury workstations and retrieved unclassified documents stored by those users. They also accessed Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, a powerful arm of the agency with legal authority to issue economic sanctions against foreign adversaries found to be a threat to U.S. security interests, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. The letter requests a Treasury Department briefing by January 10 on the specifics of the hack, including its timing, method and the Chinese hacking unit responsible. It also asks about Treasury’s prior awareness of cybersecurity vulnerabilities associated with BeyondTrust or other third-party software vendors tethered to the agency’s systems.

Reported similarly:
CBS Austin [1/2/2025 3:53 PM, Jackson Walker, 581K, Negative]

Federal News Network [1/2/2025 5:34 PM, Justin Doubleday, 470K, Neutral] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has seen a steady and marked increase in authorities, funding and personnel over the last four years. But the outlook for CISA in 2025 is murky with a new administration and a potentially less supportive Congress. CISA’s annual budget has increased from just over $2 billion in fiscal 2021 to $2.8 billion in fiscal 2024. Likewise, CISA’s staff has nearly doubled over the last four years. Meanwhile, it has gained new authorities to hunt for threats on federal networks, issue binding cybersecurity directives, and require cyber incident reports from critical infrastructure owners and operators. The agency has also been at the center of the Biden administration’s push to increase the cybersecurity responsibilities for private sector companies. However, the incoming administration has its own ideas about how to approach national cyber issues, including at agencies like the Department of Homeland Security and CISA. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to serve as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. He has yet to announce his pick for CISA director. Trump’s official platform, "Agenda 47," highlights the need to protect critical infrastructure from cyber threats, one of the core missions for CISA. Agenda 47 provides little further detail on Trump’s plans for CISA.

StateScoop [1/2/2025 12:00 PM, Sophia Fox-Sowell, Neutral] reports cybercriminals who launched a cyberattack last month on Rhode Island’s system for health and benefits programs have released files to a site on the dark web, according to a news release from Gov. Dan McKee’s office. The statement indicated that state officials had been expecting the hackers to publish the stolen files from RIBridges to the dark web — a hidden part of the internet that allows users to hide their identity and location — if their ransom demands were not met. In preparation for the release of those files, the Department of Administration launched a statewide outreach campaign in December outlining ways for Rhode Islanders potentially impacted by the Dec. 5 cyberattack to protect their personal information, such as implementing multifactor authentication, credit monitoring, and signing up for fraud alerts. “Deloitte has informed us that the cybercriminal released at least some RIBridges files to a site on the dark web,” the Monday release stated. “This is a complex process and we do not yet know the scope of the data that is included in those files, but as we’ve been saying for several weeks, we should assume that data contained in the RIBridges system has been compromised.” On Dec. 5, the state was informed by Deloitte, its IT vendor, that there was a major security threat to the RIBridges system, which was confirmed as ransomware attack on Dec. 10. The attack may have impacted several state benefits programs, including Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Child Care Assistance Program, health coverage purchased through HealthSource RI, Rhode Island Works, Long-Term Services and Supports, General Public Assistance and Program At HOME Cost Share. The state’s IT teams are currently working to analyze the files released by the hackers as well as generating a list of impacted individuals.

Washington Examiner [1/2/2025 8:11 PM, Ross O’Keefe, 2365K, Negative] reports two men with ties to the U.S. military are accused of perpetrating terrorist attacks on New Year’s Eve, bolstering concerns over the capacity of military members who have been radicalized to use their training and knowledge for domestic harm. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, and Matthew Alan Livelsberger, 37, who police say are behind the New Orleans Bourbon Street attack and a Tesla Cybertruck bombing outside of a Trump hotel, respectively, both served in the Army. Jabbar killed at least 15 people and injured many more while speeding down Bourbon Street in a truck as crowds of people lingered from New Year’s Eve events, while Livelsberger appeared to use an explosive to blow up his Cybertruck, injuring several people nearby while authorities suspect he killed himself with a firearm. An Associated Press investigation found that more than 480 people with a military background have been accused of "ideologically driven extremist crimes" from 2017 to 2023. The advanced tactics employed by military members along with access to weapons and armament contribute to the possibility of lethal terrorist attacks by members of the armed forces who hold radical beliefs. The participation of active military and veterans gave extremist plots more potential for mass injury or death, according to data collected and analyzed by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland. They also found that 80% of extremists with military backgrounds identified with right-wing, anti-government, or white supremacist ideologies, with the rest split between left-wing, jihadist, or other motivations. The investigation also found that military members have been radicalizing at a faster rate than the general population in recent years. A mental health crisis among veterans is ongoing, with service members who have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan facing higher post-traumatic stress disorder rates than those who have not. Both of the New Year’s Eve attackers deployed to Afghanistan during their service careers. Veterans also suffer from higher rates of homelessness than the general population and many deal with service-related health problems, such as negative effects from being exposed to toxic burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [1/2/2025 6:22 PM, Brad Dress, 16346K, Negative]
FOX News [1/2/2025 3:01 PM, Morgan Phillips, 49889K, Negative]

Newsweek [1/2/2025 9:49 AM, Shannon McDonagh, 56005K, Negative] reports that federal authorities in Virginia have uncovered what they describe as the largest stockpile of homemade explosive devices in FBI history. Over 150 pipe bombs have been seized from the property of Brad Spafford, a 36-year-old resident of Isle of Wight County. Spafford was arrested in December on a firearms charge, but the discovery has prompted prosecutors to describe the cache as an unprecedented public safety risk. The case has raised alarms among law enforcement and counterterrorism experts about domestic extremism and the potential dangers posed by such a large stockpile of explosives. In a court filing, prosecutors revealed that Spafford expressed support for political violence and used pictures of President Joe Biden for target practice. This, combined with his creation of explosive devices labeled "lethal," has fueled concerns about Spafford’s intentions. Documents report he had spoken about wanting to "bring back political assassination.” Spafford’s property was searched on Dec. 17 by FBI agents. He shares the home with his wife and two children. Spafford’s attorneys argue there is no evidence of malicious intent, but prosecutors have highlighted troubling statements and behavior as potential indications of extremist views.

Bloomberg [1/2/2025 5:25 PM, Courtney McBride, Neutral] reports US officials say there’s no sign that Islamic State directed a deadly New Year’s attack in New Orleans. But early evidence that the attacker drew inspiration from the group highlights its ability to spur mass violence despite multinational efforts to wipe it out. Authorities say the suspect in that attack, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, posted videos online pledging support for the group before driving a pickup truck into a crowded French Quarter street during New Year’s celebrations, killing 15 people. Officials said he had an Islamic State flag in his rented truck. The presence of the flag and Jabbar’s support help explain why authorities were quick to label the deadly attack an act of terrorism. While officials have said for years that Islamic State has been largely defeated, researchers say it has inspired more attacks in recent years and concerns are growing about its re-emergence in its former stronghold of Syria. Indeed, US authorities haven’t found any evidence so far showing that Islamic State directed the attack, according to an official, who asked not to be identified speaking about details of the investigation.

FOX News [1/2/2025 6:53 PM, Christina Coulter, 49889K, Neutral] reports Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s New Year’s massacre in New Orleans, carried out with a pickup truck flying an ISIS flag, could embolden the terrorist organization to radicalize more Americans, experts told Fox News Digital. Jabbar’s younger brother told The New York Times he and his Army veteran brother were raised Christian in Beaumont, Texas, before the now-deceased attacker converted to Islam as an adult. "What he did does not represent Islam," the younger brother said. "This is more some type of radicalization, not religion.” He added that Jabbar did not know what he wanted to do in life and began his military career "to get some sort of discipline.” While he was traveling from his home in Texas to Louisiana on Tuesday, Jabbar posted videos to his Facebook account pledging his allegiance to ISIS, law enforcement sources said. Retired FBI agents Scott Duffey and Chris Swecker told Fox News Digital Wednesday’s attack could embolden ISIS, other terrorist groups or individuals who have been radicalized. "This is a time where ISIS is under extreme stress, and their existence is being threatened in Syria and elsewhere. It would make sense for them to double down on their message to radicalize Americans to put them into action and activate any cells that they have in place," Swecker said. Before his rampage in New Orleans, Jabbar posted several videos on Facebook declaring his support for ISIS, the FBI said at a news conference Thursday. "In the first video, Jabbar explains he only planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the ‘war between the believers and the disbelievers,’" FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said.

Yahoo! News [1/2/2025 7:52 AM, Staff, 57114K, Negative] reports two men charged in connection to a deadly 2023 shooting have been sentenced after both pleaded guilty to lesser charges. Lawrence Davis, 23, and Riyadh Pate, 21, were each sentenced to eight to 12 years in prison Monday in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, according to court documents. Both pleaded guilty on Dec. 12 to a lesser charge of one count of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of felonious assault. This was after their September trial ended in a hung jury and both men were acquitted of murder charges, according to a previous News Center 7 report. Davis and Pate were acquitted of two murder charges and two felonious assault charges in connection to a burglary and deadly shooting in Dayton. Firearm specifications for these charges were also dismissed. As part of their pleas, two counts of aggravated burglary plus weapons charges were also dismissed against both men, court documents indicate. According to a previous News Center 7 report, Pate and Davis went to an apartment in the 300 block of Superior Avenue with Kevin Jones, 38, and a fourth unidentified male on June 4. The men eventually entered the apartment and a shootout occurred. Jones was shot and killed. He was pronounced dead in the hallway outside the apartment, according to a previous News Center 7 report. Four other people were injured in the shooting.

MeriTalk [1/2/2025 2:42 PM, Grace Dille, 31K, Neutral] reports that the Treasury Department on Tuesday announced new sanctions on entities in Iran and Russia over attempted election interference in the 2024 U.S. election – including by using artificial intelligence tools to create and disseminate disinformation. In a Dec. 31 press release, the Treasury Department said it was imposing sanctions on a subsidiary of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as a Moscow-based affiliate organization of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) and its director. "The Governments of Iran and Russia have targeted our election processes and institutions and sought to divide the American people through targeted disinformation campaigns," said Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith. "The United States will remain vigilant against adversaries who would undermine our democracy." According to the department, "at the direction of, and with financial support from, the GRU," the Moscow-based Center for Geopolitical Expertise (CGE) and its personnel used generative AI tools to create disinformation "that would be distributed across a massive network of websites designed to imitate legitimate news outlets to create false corroboration between the stories, as well as to obfuscate their Russian origin."

Yahoo! News [1/2/2025 7:21 PM, Volodymyr Ivanyshyn, 57114K, Negative] reports the U.S. Commerce Department announced on Jan. 2 that it would explore how to secure the technology and supply chain of drones from foreign adversaries, including China and Russia. The department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) said in a statement that it was seeking public consultation "to inform the potential development of a rule to secure and safeguard the information and communication technology and services (ICTS) supply chain for drones.” The agency added that the involvement of foreign adversaries in "supply chains, including acute threats from China and Russia – may offer our adversaries the ability to remotely access and manipulate these devices, exposing sensitive U.S. data.” The U.S. and China — which produces a majority of the world’s drones — have a frosty relationship, exacerbated by opposing views on foreign policy, including China’s stance on Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and U.S. support for Taiwan. The U.S. blacklisted 37 Chinese companies due to security concerns on May 9. "Securing the unmanned aircraft systems technology supply chain is critical to safeguarding our national security. This (advance notice of proposed rulemaking) is an essential step in protecting the United States from vulnerabilities posed by foreign entities," U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Jan. 2. If implemented, the proposed rule change may restrict or ban drones from countries the U.S. deems as foreign adversaries.

Reuters [1/2/2025 5:59 PM, Staff, 48128K, Negative] reports that the Ukrainian military said it had carried out a high-precision strike on Thursday on a Russian command post in Maryino, in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces hold chunks of territory after a major incursion. The Russian military said air defense units had downed four Ukrainian missiles in the region, and the regional governor said the strikes had damaged a high-rise apartment building and other buildings in an adjacent village. Ukrainian forces remain in Kursk region five months after sending troops across the border, though the Russian military says much of the lost territory has been recaptured. "These strikes disrupt the ability of the Russian Federation to conduct terrorism against innocent Ukrainian civilians," the Ukrainian military said in a statement via the Telegram messaging app. Another post showed a video of what the military said was damage to a Russian base in Ivanivskoye, next to Maryino. Reuters could not independently verify battlefield accounts from either side. Kursk regional governor Alexander Khinshtein said the strike on Ivanovskoye had shattered windows in a multi-storey apartment building and in private homes. Also damaged were a school, a pharmacy and a shop.

Reported similarly:
Newsweek [1/2/2025 8:24 AM, Brendan Cole, 56005K, Neutral]

Newsweek [1/2/2025 6:11 AM, Ellie Cook, 56005K, Neutral] reports Ukraine’s military intelligence has received new stealth drones from a U.S. company as Kyiv braces for the return of military aid-sceptic, President-elect Donald Trump, to office later this month. Ukraine is reliant on Western military aid to fight Russia’s invasion, of which Washington provides more than half committed by governments. Reports have suggested Trump intends to maintain the flow of military aid to Ukraine, but he has also pledged to end Europe’s largest land conflict since World War II in just a day, once he returns to office. Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s transition team via email for comment. Kyiv’s GUR spy agency said on Wednesday it had received "received New Year’s gifts" in the form of a "unique" drone system named Hazard and a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, colloquially known as a Humvee, from U.S.-based charity, Help Heroes of Ukraine. Newsweek has reached out for comment via email to the GUR and Help Heroes of Ukraine. The charity said in a separate statement the donation of the Hazard and the vehicle was the result of a "major fundraiser" for Ukrainian military intelligence. Ukraine’s GUR shared photos on Wednesday, showing members of the military spy agency, including its chief, Kyrylo Budanov, with at least one "Hazard" stealth drone in an unspecified location. The photos show a fixed-wing drone on the launch system. Help Heroes of Ukraine separately shared the same images, geotagged at the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. The GUR called the UAV the "latest high-speed stealth drone," with 10 explosive drones linked to a launch system and a control panel. The agency said the drone was made of "composite materials" which help hide it from electronic warfare equipment. The Pentagon has furnished Ukraine with different types of drones, including Switchblade loitering munitions. However, analysts and fighters on the ground say domestically-made cheap drones fare better on the battlefield—up against intense electronic warfare—than expensive Western uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs). Many drones already in Ukraine, operated by both Moscow and Kyiv, have been adapted throughout the conflict to make it harder for the enemy forces to shoot down. Ukraine has said Russia incorporated radar-absorbent carbon material into its infamous Shahed drones, designed by Iran and used extensively against Ukrainian cities since the early months of the war, to make the UAVs more stealthy. The Hazard drone is "silent" when flying, meaning it is hard to hear its approach, according to the GUR. "Depending on the mission, the drones can be equipped with warheads of varying power to destroy enemy ground targets," the agency said.

Reuters [1/2/2025 9:09 AM, Staff, 57114K, Positive] reports that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday he was preparing to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria, less than a month after the overthrow of the Russia-backed government in Damascus. Zelenskiy spoke after a visit to Syria by his Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, and by Agriculture Minister Vitaliy Koval who said earlier Ukraine had already sent a shipment of food aid. "We are preparing to resume diplomatic relations with Syria and cooperation in international organizations," Zelenskiy said. Trusted news and daily delights, right in your inbox. Ukraine cut diplomatic ties with Syria in June 2022 after the then government in Damascus said it recognised the "independence" of the Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Since rebels overthrew Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad last month, Ukraine has been moving to build ties with the new Islamist rulers there. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, was a staunch ally of Assad and has given him political asylum. Kyiv also planned to increase trade with Lebanon and at least double its agriculture exports from $400 million, Zelenskiy added.

VOA News [1/2/2025 8:29 PM, Staff, 2717K, Neutral] reports Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump could be "decisive" in the outcome of the yearslong war between Ukraine and Russia. "Trump can be decisive. For us, this is the most important thing," Zelenskyy said in an interview with Ukrainian television. Zelenskyy said Trump had told him he would be one of the first to visit Washington after the presidential inauguration later this month. "His qualities are indeed there," Zelenskyy said about Trump. "He can be decisive in this war. He is capable of stopping [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, or, to put it more fairly, help us stop Putin." Trump has previously said he would be able to stop the war in Ukraine in one day, but he has never detailed how he would accomplish that. Zelenskyy’s comments came as the Ukrainian military said it had carried out a high-precision strike Thursday on a Russian command post in Maryino, in Russia’s Kursk region. "These strikes disrupt the ability of the Russian Federation to conduct terrorism against innocent Ukrainian civilians," the Ukrainian military said in a statement on Telegram. Russia’s military said air defense units had downed four Ukrainian missiles in the region. The regional governor said the strikes had damaged a high-rise apartment building and other buildings in a nearby village. Another post from the Ukrainian military showed a video of what the military said was damage to a Russian base in Ivanivskoye, next to Maryino. A school, pharmacy and apartment building were among the structures damaged in the strike, Kursk regional Governor Alexander Khinshtein said. VOA could not immediately verify the reports. Ukraine launched an incursion into Russia five months ago. Ukrainian forces remain in the Kursk region, but the Russian military says much of the lost territory has been regained. Meanwhile, Russia said it had attacked energy facilities in Ukraine that support Kyiv’s military-industrial complex. The Russian Defense Ministry said that over the past 24 hours, it had used its air force, drones, missiles and artillery to target energy facilities, military airfields and Ukrainian military personnel across multiple locations. VOA could not independently verify that report.

Newsweek [1/2/2025 8:18 AM, Amir Daftari, 56005K, Negative] reports the Israeli military claimed an airstrike launched early on Thursday morning killed a senior member of Hamas’ internal security apparatus. Palestinian officials reported that the strike in Gaza killed nine other people, including three children. The attack hit a tent in Muwasi, a designated humanitarian zone where hundreds of thousands of displaced individuals are sheltering amid the cold, rainy winter. This attack is part of Israel’s ongoing military efforts against Hamas, targeting senior officials and infrastructure. While Israel claims to be dismantling Hamas’ military capabilities, the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate. The region is struggling with a breakdown in law and order and delays in essential aid, all while the conflict enters its 15th month. The Israeli military identified the target of the strike as Hossam Shahwan, a senior officer within Hamas’ internal security. Shahwan was reportedly involved in gathering intelligence for Hamas’ armed wing, which has carried out numerous attacks against Israeli forces. Also killed in the strike was Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Salah, another senior official within Hamas’ police force. Muwasi is a zone where displaced Palestinians are living in tents after fleeing violence elsewhere in Gaza. Despite being labeled a humanitarian area by Israel, the zone remains a target of Israeli airstrikes. The humanitarian toll on civilians, already living in dire conditions, has worsened due to the ongoing conflict. Israel has frequently accused Hamas of operating within civilian areas, claiming militants use civilians as shields. The military insists these tactics contribute to the rising death toll among noncombatants. Meanwhile, Palestinian health officials continue to report the growing number of civilian casualties as a result of the conflict. The current conflict erupted after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which killed around 1,200 people and left 250 held hostage, with 100 still missing and many feared dead. Since then over 45,000 Palestinians are reported to have been killed by the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not distinguish between militant and civilian dead. The Hamas-run police force, once numbering in the tens of thousands and responsible for maintaining public order in Gaza, has largely dissolved due to Israeli airstrikes. This collapse of law enforcement has further hindered the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need.

CNN [1/2/2025 4:38 PM, Dana Karni and McCluskey, 987K, Positive] reports that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved sending a delegation to Qatar to continue the Gaza hostage and ceasefire negotiations, his office announced on Thursday. Professional-level representatives from the Israel Security Agency (ISA), the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, known as Mossad, will travel to the Qatari capital of Doha for the talks, the statement said. Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas have carried on even as official negotiations have been deadlocked for months as the administration of US President Joe Biden pushed for a deal to be reached. A diplomatic source familiar with the matter told CNN in December that the deal is broadly the same as the proposal put forth by Biden earlier in 2024. The three-phase Biden proposal in late May paired a release of hostages held in Gaza with a “full and complete ceasefire.” The first phase would last six weeks and include the “withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza” and the “release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, the wounded in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners,” the US president had said. “What has changed is that Israeli forces are likely to stay in Gaza temporarily,” when phase one of a deal starts, the diplomatic source said, namely in the strip of land on the Gaza-Egypt border, called the Philadelphi corridor, and in an area bisecting the strip, known as the Netzarim corridor.

FOX News [1/2/2025 1:44 PM, Hanna Panreck, 49889K, Negative] reports that National security adviser Jake Sullivan reportedly offered to resign from President Biden’s administration after the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, according to the Washington Post’s David Ignatius. Ignatius, a Washington Post columnist, spoke to Sullivan and several of his colleagues as the Biden administration nears its end. Several of Sullivan’s colleagues reportedly told Ignatius that Sullivan offered to resign, and President Biden insisted the national security adviser stay on, according to the report. Ignatius reported that the Afghanistan withdrawal "broke the early comity" of the Biden administration’s national security team, and created a riff between Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The 2021 withdrawal claimed the lives of more than a dozen American service members and led to the Taliban retaking control of the war-torn nation. "You cannot end a war like Afghanistan, where you’ve built up dependencies and pathologies, without the end being complex and challenging," Sullivan told the Washington Post columnist. "The choice was: Leave, and it would not be easy, or stay forever.” Sullivan added, "leaving Kabul freed the [United States] to deal with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in ways that might have been impossible if we had stayed.”

New York Times [1/2/2025 2:44 PM, Ana Swanson, 161405K, Neutral] reports that the Biden administration said on Thursday that it was considering a new rule that could restrict or ban Chinese drones in the United States out of national security concerns. In a notice, the Commerce Department said the involvement of foreign adversaries — notably China and Russia — in the design, development, manufacture and supply of drones could pose “undue or unacceptable risk to U.S. national security.” The notice requested private companies to comment on the scope and implications of the rule by March 4. The decision of what restrictions to impose, if any, on Chinese and Russian drones will fall to the Trump administration. China and Russia have shown a willingness to compromise U.S. infrastructure and security through cyberespionage, the Commerce Department said, adding that the governments could leverage their laws and political situations to “co-opt private entities for national interests.” Beyond the use of drones by hobbyists, the devices are employed in a variety of U.S. industries. They help farmers monitor crops and spray for pests, inspect pipelines for the chemical industry, survey bridges and construction sites, and aid firefighters and other emergency responders.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [1/2/2025 3:41 PM, Eric Martin, Neutral]

Wall Street Journal [1/3/2025 2:19 AM, James T. Areddy, Neutral] reports China started the year with a broadside against U.S. defense contractors, responding to recently ramped-up Taiwan arms sales by the Biden administration and laying down a fresh warning to President-elect Donald Trump of tools Beijing can use to protect national interests. Beijing’s Ministry of Commerce on Thursday blacklisted 10 companies as “unreliable entities” barred from doing business in China and said it would block an additional 28 from buying unspecified components that could have dual civilian and military uses. Most of the defense contractors named have previously been sanctioned by China and have little trade with the country, unlike some of the hundreds of Chinese entities with U.S. operations targeted in punishments by Washington, such as Huawei Technologies. While the immediate impact is likely minimal, the measures are important as symbolic reminders of the kind of measures China could level more broadly against American corporations in any future conflict. The ministry cited safeguarding national security in Thursday’s action and Xinhua News Agency said the targeted companies have engaged in military technology cooperation and arms sales with Taiwan in recent years, despite China’s strong opposition. Beijing’s claim to Taiwan is its pre-eminent source of friction with the U.S., and under leader Xi Jinping, China regularly flexes military muscle with jet fighters and warships that demonstrate how it might conduct an invasion or impose a trade embargo of the island. In a New Year’s address, Xi issued a warning to the U.S. over Taiwan: “No one can ever sever the bond of kinship between us, and no one can ever stop China’s reunification, a trend of the times,” he said.

Reported similarly:
CBS News [1/2/2025 11:04 AM, Kate Gibson, 57114K, Negative]
VOA News [1/2/2025 7:17 PM, Rob Garver, 2717K, Neutral]

Newsweek [1/2/2025 8:22 AM, Ryan Chan, 56005K, Neutral] reports the Chinese navy and Coast Guard were reportedly conducted a maritime blockade drill in a strategic waterway near a Japanese island, where the United States stationed its forces. The Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun said the drill was held in the Miyako Strait. It lies between two of the southwestern islands in Japan—Miyako and Okinawa—while serving as the maritime boundary of the Philippine Sea and the East China Sea. The U.S. military deployed 54,000 personnel in Japan pursuant to the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security of 1960. Okinawa, a Japanese prefecture that covers two-thirds of the Southwest Islands, hosts more than half the U.S. forces in the country. Both the waterway and the Southwest Islands form part of a north-south blockade known as the first island chain, a U.S. defense concept that seeks to leverage the territories of Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines to contain the Chinese military in the Pacific Ocean. On December 22 last year, three frigates and three Coast Guard ships from China transited the Miyako Strait westward from the Philippine Sea to the East China Sea, The Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Wednesday, which cited sources close to the Japanese government. The Japanese military confirmed the movements of the Chinese warships in a bulletin the following day; however, it did not mention the presence of the Chinese Coast Guard in the strait. Newsweek has emailed the Chinese and Japanese defense ministries for comment. The Yomiuri Shimbun said one of the Chinese Coast Guard vessels has a hull number of 2901, which is known as the "monster ship" due to a displacement of 12,000 tons, making it one of the world’s two largest law-enforcement vessels, in addition to its sister ship. This was the first time Japan confirmed that China’s navy and Coast Guard ships carried out an operation in the Miyako Strait that suggested a maritime blockade, the report said. The Chinese navy had a similar move with its Coast Guard counterpart as they held a joint navigation between Taiwan, a self-ruled island that is claimed by China as its territory, and Yonaguni Island, the westernmost island of Japan, in 2023. The two islands are 67 miles apart.

New York Times [1/2/2025 6:42 AM, Alexandra Stevenson, 161405K, Negative] reports China on Thursday singled out dozens of companies from the United States, including Raytheon, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, in a series of punitive trade measures that could ratchet up tensions between the two superpowers. With weeks to go before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes the office with a promise to impose new tariffs and sanctions on China, Beijing is once again showing it is ready to strike back. China’s Ministry of Commerce said it added 28 companies to an export control list to “safeguard national security and interests.” It also banned the export of so-called dual-use items, which have both civilian and military applications, to those companies. And it placed 10 companies on what it calls an “unreliable entities list” related to the sale of arms to Taiwan, preventing them from doing any business in China and prohibiting their executives from entering or living in the country. Chinese authorities have taken similar — albeit narrower — actions in the past on these companies, most of which have a limited presence within China, said Andrew Gilholm, a China expert at the consulting firm Control Risks. “Most of this is probably at the symbolic level because so many of these entities were already subject to sanctions,” he said. But, he added, “what we’re seeing is the widening scope and number of entities being added in a single listing.” Among the companies called out by China were the leading American makers of defense systems, including Raytheon Missile Systems, Boeing Defense, Space and Security and Lockheed Martine Missiles and Fire Control. The companies did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. Michael Hart, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said that Chinese authorities have generally been careful not to take action that directly affected the business of companies on the ground. “Normally the actions China takes do not impact companies who are benefiting China’s economy,” Mr. Hart said. Beijing has adopted an increasingly aggressive stance as it prepares for a second presidential term with Mr. Trump, an outspoken critic of China and its economic might.

CBS News [1/2/2025 7:29 AM, Staff, 52225K, Negative] reports a submarine drone suspected to be from China was recovered in waters off the central Philippines, police said on Thursday, warning of "potential national security implications." Three fishermen found the drone on Monday around six miles off the coast of San Pascual in Masbate province, a police report said. The Philippines and China have for years clashed over maritime rights in the South China Sea as well as possession of reefs and islets. China claims almost the entire sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries and an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. The yellow drone marked "HY-119" was found floating at sea before being turned over to authorities, regional police director Andre Dizon told AFP. It was about six feet long, and torpedo-shaped with fins. "Based on our open-source research in the internet... HY-119 refers to a Chinese underwater navigation and communication system," Dizon said. "It has an antenna and an eye that can be used for viewing. Based on our research, this can be used for monitoring and reconnaissance." Dizon said the drone was not armed, but the police report listed "potential national security implications" as one significance of its recovery. It was turned over by police to the Philippine Navy on Tuesday, Dizon added. The Philippine Navy and the Chinese embassy in Manila have yet to respond to AFP’s request for comment. Tensions and military confrontations have escalated in the South China Sea in recent months. In December, Chinese coast guard vessels backed by navy ships fired powerful water cannons and blocked and sideswiped a Philippine patrol vessel. U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines, MaryKay Carlson, accused Beijing in a social media post of putting "lives at risk" by disrupting a Philippine maritime operation. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [1/3/2025 12:26 AM, Alan Rappeport, 161405K, Neutral] reports President Biden has decided to block the $14 billion takeover of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel of Japan in an announcement expected as soon as Friday based on grounds that the sale poses a threat to national security, according to people familiar with the matter. The decision would be an extraordinary use of executive power, particularly for a president who is just weeks from leaving office. It is also a departure from America’s long-established culture of open investment, one that could have wide-ranging implications for the U.S. economy. Mr. Biden’s move to stop the transaction could cause foreign investors to rethink the wisdom of acquiring American firms in sensitive industries that are based in politically important states. It could also roil relations with Japan, a close ally of the United States and one of America’s largest sources of foreign investment. The president’s decision to block the deal came after a federal committee reviewing the transaction opted to not make a formal recommendation about whether the takeover should be allowed to proceed, according to letters sent to the companies and the White House last month. The Committee of Foreign Investment in the United States, which is made up of agencies including the departments of Treasury and Justice, expressed reservations about the deal to the companies in a letter last month. CFIUS (pronounced SIFF-ee-yuhs) voiced concerns that the transaction could pose a national security threat to the United States by potentially leading to a decline in American steel production. The officials suggested that Nippon’s other global business considerations could in the future outweigh its pledges to invest in U.S. Steel. The lack of a formal recommendation cleared the way for Mr. Biden, barring an unexpected change of heart, to end a transaction that became ensnared in election-year politics. But that decision could face challenges in court. Nippon had indicated that it was prepared to take legal action if the deal was blocked.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [1/2/2025 10:57 PM, Jeff Stein and David J. Lynch, 40736K, Neutral]
Washington Examiner [1/3/2025 4:39 AM, Staff, 2365K, Negative]

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