TVG Daily Brief 2 JAN 2025

2 JAN 2025

Stay informed and ahead of the curve with today’s top headlines, breaking stories, and the latest updates shaping our world. Get the BLUF (bottom line up front!) on defense, national security, economy, business development, technology, American manufacturing, school safety, 2A issues - and more. Prep for the whiplash and stay engaged. Know better - do better. Be the somebody!

DEFENSE

-Suspect in deadly New Orleans truck attack served in US Army: Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the 42-year-old Texas man accused of crashing a truck into New Year's Day revelers in New Orleans, killing 15 and injuring dozens of people, served in the U.S. Army for 13 years including a deployment to Afghanistan, the Army said. U.S. President Joe Biden said that the FBI reported to him that Jabbar had posted videos on social media indicating that he was inspired by Islamic State. (CNN, NYT, Reuters)

· Jabbar served in the Army as a human resource specialist and information technology specialist from 2007 until 2015. He then joined the Army Reserve as an IT specialist until 2020, holding the rank of staff sergeant at the end of service, according to an Army official. Jabbar deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010, the official said. Before serving in the Army, Jabbar enlisted in the Navy in August 2004 under a delayed entry program but was discharged a month later, a Navy official told Reuters.

· Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar appeared to be living a quiet but dutiful life of work and faith amid Houston's sprawling diversity: a veteran of the U.S. Army who studied information technology, converted to Islam and recently held a six-figure job. Little in his outward persona suggested someone who could be responsible for what the authorities described as a brutal terrorist attack along one of the most famous streets in the United States on New Year's Day.

· The violence appeared to explode out of nowhere to those who had known Mr. Jabbar as a smart, caring brother and a quiet, helpful neighbor. But there were also signs of growing instability in his life. Mr. Jabbar divorced his first wife, Nakedra Charrlle Marsh in 2012, then struggled with adjusting to civilian life after leaving active-duty military service about a decade ago. He separated from his second wife.

· He does not appear to have a violent criminal record prior to the attack. According to Texas records, Jabbar was charged with a misdemeanor in 2002 for a property theft and arrested in 2005 for driving with an invalid license… According to the documents, he had his driver's license suspended, placed on probation for 12 months, fined $200 and complied with 24 hours of community service. Jabbar was also ordered to have a substance abuse assessment and treatment, and pay for it, in addition to participate in any other alcohol/drug rehabilitation program directed by the US Probation Office.

· On a now-deleted Twitter account, Mr. Jabbar wrote in 2021 about his work in real estate and his interest in cryptocurrency. He also expressed an interest in firearms, once writing: ''It's a shoot-the-guns type of Saturday morning.'' He later posted a photo of two people standing while a third person fired a gun. An account with an identical username on a classifieds site dedicated to firearms shows that user trying to sell a pistol, ammunition and a shotgun. The posts on that website were made in November and December.

· Federal officials and local law enforcement in New Orleans said that Jabbar did not act alone and that they are looking for accomplices. The FBI said Jabbar had an Islamic State flag on his truck and view the attack as a potential act of terrorism. The Islamic State, or ISIS, is a Sunni Muslim militant group which has carried out attacks throughout the world. While the investigation is ongoing, so far no information has surfaced to explain why Jabbar, a U.S. citizen raised in Texas, would carry out the New Orleans attack. Jabbar died at the scene in a shootout with police, officials said.

-The attacker’s military record includes a deployment to Afghanistan: Mr. Jabbar, who the police said drove a pickup in a deadly attack in New Orleans early Wednesday, served in the Army from March 2007 until January 2015 and deployed once to Afghanistan, before serving in the Army Reserve until July 2020, according to a U.S. Army release. He left with the rank of staff sergeant. (NYT)

· According to the Army’s statement, Mr. Jabbar was a human resource specialist and information technology specialist. He told a reporter in 2015 that he spent most of his military career as an information technology specialist, running a help desk. The Army awarded him several medals for good conduct and achievement, as well as for completing parachute jump school. In 2012, he listed his employer’s address on a court document as the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Liberty — then known as Fort Bragg — in North Carolina.

· In recent years, extremism in the military has been a growing concern of some lawmakers and members of the public. A 2023 report commissioned by the Defense Department found no elevated presence of violent extremism among active duty troops, but noted that extremism did seem to be elevated among veterans. “For the veterans’ community in particular, loss of military identity appears to have a strong association with difficult adjustments to civilian life that can in turn contribute to negative behaviors,” the report said.

· Texas, where Mr. Jabbar lived, has a particularly fraught history with veterans and violence. In 2009, an Army major and psychiatrist killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others at a readiness processing center at Fort Hood, now called Fort Cavazos. In 2016, an Army Reserve veteran ambushed police officers in Dallas, killing five of them. And in what is perhaps the most notorious mass shooting in the state, the 1966 shooting at the University of Texas at Austin, a former Marine sniper killed 15 people, shooting many of them from a clock tower on the university’s campus.

-The attacker told his college paper that he struggled to adjust to life after the military: The man identified by authorities as the attacker who drove a truck through New Year’s revelers in New Orleans had struggled to acclimate to civilian life after leaving the military, he told me in a 2015 interview with Georgia State University’s student paper. The man, Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, attended Georgia State from 2015 until 2017, when he received a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems, according to university officials. I interviewed him for an article about the challenges of college life as a veteran in 2015. (NYT)

· Mr. Jabbar complained that the complexity of the Department of Veterans Affairs bureaucracy sometimes made it difficult for veterans to get their tuition and other educational benefits paid through the G.I. Bill, and that even a single missing signature or sheet of paper could affect an applicant’s benefits. “It’s such a large agency,” he said, adding, “you have to do your due diligence, make sure you have your paperwork together.”

· He also said that he found it challenging to communicate without defaulting to the military jargon he had adopted during his years in the service — and that doing so can make it difficult for veterans when applying for civilian jobs. “There’s so many different acronyms you’ve learned,” Mr. Jabbar said, adding, “You don’t know how to speak without using these terms, and you’re not sure what terms are used outside the military.”

· Mr. Jabbar told me that he had spent four years as an information technology specialist in the reserves, running a help desk for 250 people at Fort Bragg (renamed in 2021 as Fort Liberty). He had been a human resources specialist during a deployment to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, he said.

-Driver flying ISIS flag rams into New Orleans crowd, killing 15; he may have had help: A U.S. Army veteran flying an ISIS flag from his truck swerved around makeshift barriers and plowed into New Orleans' crowded French Quarter on New Year's Day, killing 15 people in an attack officials said may have been carried out with the help of others. "We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible. We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates," FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan told reporters, adding that investigators were looking into a "range of suspects." (AFP, Reuters)

· U.S. President Joe Biden condemned what he called a “despicable” act and said investigators were looking into whether there might be a link to a Tesla truck fire outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas. So far, there was no evidence linking the two events, Biden said. “The FBI also reported to me that mere hours before the attack, he posted videos on social media indicating that he’s inspired by ISIS, expressing the desire to kill,” Biden said of the New Orleans suspect.

· Biden also said that law enforcement agencies were probing any possible links between the attack and the explosion later on Wednesday of a Tesla Cybertruck outside a hotel owned by US President-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas that killed one person, though he cautioned that none had been found so far.

· Officials said a manhunt was underway, with FBI agent Alethea Duncan warning that authorities "do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible." Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said: "We're hunting some bad people down." The FBI said it was conducting search warrants in New Orleans "and other states." Earlier, the bureau's field office in Houston said it was conducting activity "related" to the New Orleans attack.

-Officials Trying to Determine if New Orleans Suspect Had Ties to Terrorist Groups: U.S. officials have warned that the conflict in Gaza and Lebanon could spill into the United States, most likely in the form of small radicalized groups acting on their own initiative or lone-wolf terrorists. An Islamic State flag, weapons and a “potential” improvised explosive found in the truck that plowed through crowds in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 people, have raised the specter that the international terrorist group played a role in the attack. (CNN, NYT)

· In a series of videos, the suspect in the deadly New Year's attack in New Orleans discussed planning to kill his family and having dreams that helped inspire him to join ISIS, according to multiple officials briefed on the investigation. Jabbar, a Texas-born US citizen and Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, made reference in the videos to his divorce and how he had at first planned to gather his family for a "celebration" with the intention of killing them, two officials who had been briefed on the recordings said. But Jabbar said in the videos that he changed his plans and joined ISIS and referenced several dreams that he had about why he should be joining the terrorist group, according to the officials.

· Law enforcement officials said on Wednesday that they were trying to determine the suspect’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations, including the Islamic State. Counterterrorism specialists pointed to several telltale signs.

· “By carrying an ISIS flag with him during the attack, the suspect wanted to show that he was a true believer, aligned with the ISIS cause, and perhaps hoping to trigger others into following suit,” said Colin P. Clarke, a counterterrorism analyst at the Soufan Group, a security consulting firm based in New York. Mr. Clarke said the attack was a fairly sophisticated assault, given the multiple layers involved: truck ramming, firearms and improvised explosive devices. “This horrific attack is a painful reminder of how effective ISIS propaganda is at inspiring violent extremists, including many living in the West,” he said.

· U.S. officials have been warning for months that the conflict in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as unrest in Central Asia, could spill into the United States, most likely in the form of small radicalized groups acting on their own initiative or lone-wolf terrorists inspired by ISIS. Authorities have voiced particular concern about the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan called Islamic State Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K. The group carried out deadly bombings in Iran and Russia last year, and eight Tajik men were detained last year after crossing the southwestern U.S. border when authorities learned they might have ties to the Islamic State.

· “At a time when the terrorism threat was already elevated, the ongoing war in the Middle East has raised the threat of an attack against Americans inside the United States to a whole ’nother level,” Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, said in a speech in April. “We continue to be concerned about individuals or small groups drawing twisted inspiration from the events in the Middle East to carry out attacks here at home,” Mr. Wray said.

· If counterterrorism officials conclude that ISIS inspired or directed the attack in New Orleans, it would be the deadliest ISIS-related assault in the United States since a 2016 shooting at a nightclub in Orlando, Fla., killed 49 people and injured 53 others.

-New Orleans truck attack adds to growing list of similar incidents: A new chapter in mass attacks began in Nice, France, in 2016, when a man drove a heavy truck into crowds of Bastille Day celebrants. Since then vehicle attacks have become increasingly common, though only some have been declared acts of terrorism. The New Year's Day attack in New Orleans, as revelers ushered in 2025, was the latest attack. Vehicle attacks have become increasingly common around the world. The U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency calls vehicle attacks "a significant threat in the United States" and provides a "Vehicle Incident Prevention and Mitigation Security Guide." (NYT, Reuters)

· Bollards that normally protect pedestrians from vehicles were to be replaced as part of the city’s preparations for the Super Bowl next month. The attacker drove his pickup around a police vehicle parked to block traffic from the street he struck. The Texas man who rammed into crowds in New Orleans in the early hours of New Year’s Day drove onto a sidewalk and around a patrol car that had been parked to block road access to Bourbon Street.

· Officials confirmed during a news conference on Wednesday afternoon that security bollards designed to prevent vehicles from hitting pedestrians were not in place at the site because they were being replaced as part of the city’s preparations to host the Super Bowl next month. Until new bollards could be installed, parked police cars and other barriers, as well as patrolling officers, were being used as safeguards.

-Tesla Cybertruck explodes outside Trump Las Vegas hotel, killing one: A Tesla Cybertruck exploded in flames outside the Trump Hotel Las Vegas on Wednesday, killing one person and injuring at least seven others, officials said, and the FBI said it was joining the investigation. Videos taken by witnesses inside and outside the hotel showed the vehicle exploding and flames pouring out of it, as it sat just outside the hotel. (NYT, Reuters)

· Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said during a news conference that the authorities “believe this to be an isolated incident,” but have not yet ruled out a connection to the Wednesday morning attack in New Orleans that killed at least 15 people. “There is no further threat to the community,” Sheriff McMahill said. As of Wednesday afternoon, there was no indication that the explosion was connected to ISIS, which President Biden said had inspired the New Orleans attack, but the investigation remains ongoing, he said.

· At a news conference on Wednesday, Jeremy Schwartz, the acting F.B.I. special agent in charge in Las Vegas, said the agency is investigating whether the explosion “was an act of terrorism or not.” “I know everybody’s interested in that word and trying to see if we can say, ‘Hey this is a terrorist attack,’ ” Mr. Schwartz said. “That is our goal, and that’s what we’re trying to do”

-Driver of Tesla Cybertruck killed in explosion outside Trump Las Vegas hotel ID’d as Army vet Matthew Livelsberger: The driver of the Tesla Cybertruck who was killed when the vehicle blew up outside of Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas has been identified as a Colorado resident and Army veteran. Law enforcement sources confirmed to The Post that Matthew Livelsberger, 37, rented the electric pickup truck that went up in flames New Year’s Day in the valet area of the hotel. (The Independent, KMGH, Newsweek, NYP)

· The person suspected of blowing themselves up inside a Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year's Day has been named by local networks as 37-year-old Army Special Forces veteran Matthew Livelsberger, though this has not been officially confirmed.

· One person, believed to be the driver, died and another seven sustained light injuries when the explosion rocked the Cybertruck in the hotel's valet area at around 8:40 a.m. local time. Police said they recovered gasoline tanks, camping fuel and fireworks mortars from the vehicle.

· KOAA News reported that a property linked to Livelsberger on the east side of Colorado Springs was being searched by FBI agents. According to the Daily Mail, Livelsberger previously served at the same military base as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the New Orleans attacker.

· The 37-year-old is a U.S. Army veteran who had multiple addresses in Colorado Springs, according to local station KOAA. According to a LinkedIn profile attributed to Livelsberger, he had spent 19 years in the Army working as a communications specialist, including 18 years with the Army Special Forces. His current role is listed as "Remote and Autonomous Systems Manager," a job he began in November 2024.

· Between 2016 and 2019, Livelsberger's LinkedIn profile says he studied for a bachelor of science degree at Norwich University, a private military college in Vermont. Newsweek has not independently verified the profile's authenticity.

· He also claimed to have received the Department of State Meritorious Honor Award in December 2016 for his work "serving as the Operations Sergeant at Special Operations Command Forward- Central Asian States within U.S. Embassy Dushanbe [Tajikistan]."

· According to an old newspaper clipping shared on social media from the Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum, Livelsberger, then aged 21, was serving as a Special Forces soldier in Afghanistan. Speaking to the publication, he said: "Soldiers like myself want to do everything we can to affect our sphere of influence, and this definitely is one of them."

-Trucks in New Orleans Attack and Las Vegas Explosion Were Rented Using the Same App: The trucks used in the deadly attack in New Orleans and the explosion at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday were rented through the same peer-to-peer rental app, Turo, according to the company. The owner of the Ford pickup truck used in New Orleans recognized his vehicle when he saw footage showing the truck and license plate on the news. He had rented the truck to a 42-year-old Army veteran who then used it to ram into crowds on Bourbon Street, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more. (NYT)

· In Las Vegas, the police said during a news conference that the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump Hotel’s lobby entrance, killing one and injuring at least seven others, was also rented from Turo. Officials called it a “coincidence” and said they were continuing to investigate any possible connections.

· The company said in a statement that it was “actively partnering with law enforcement authorities as they investigate both incidents.” “We do not believe that either renter involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat,” the statement said. “We remain committed to maintaining the highest standards in risk management.”

· The app, which began as a venture capital-backed startup in 2009, connects car owners with people looking to rent a car as an alternative to using a traditional rental company. The concept is similar to Airbnb, in that customers can rent a specific car make and model and coordinate pickup and drop-off with the car owner.

· About 3.5 million people have booked a vehicle through Turo in the past year, according to a company filing. The filing from November said that about 150,000 people have rented out their cars during that period and that there were about 350,000 active vehicle listings in more than 16,000 cities as of September. Some car owners used the service to offset their car payments and costs while others rented out numerous cars as their primary income source. The company had widely been expected to go public this year, and first filed paperwork for an initial public offering in 2022.

-U.S. amplifies strikes on Yemen's Houthis as tensions with Israel flare: The Biden administration directed new airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on Tuesday, as the United States and its ally Israel struggle to halt a campaign of regional assaults by the Iranian-backed militant group. (NYT, WP)

· U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said the attacks struck targets in coastal Yemen and the capital, Sanaa, including a command node and facilities used for manufacturing and storing weapons. The operations, which also included strikes on Monday, destroyed radar positions and one-way aerial drones, Centcom said in a statement.

· A video posted by the command, which directs U.S. military combat forces in the Middle East, showed F/A-18 Hornets and a F-35 Joint Strike Fighter carrying bombs under their wings, launching at night from an aircraft carrier. It also showed the daytime launch of two missiles from an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, which typically carries Tomahawk cruise missiles for strikes on targets ashore.

· The strikes mark the latest salvo in a year-long U.S.-led campaign aimed at halting ongoing attacks by the Houthis, a militant group that functions as the de facto government in much of Yemen, on commercial ships and military vessels in nearby waters. The Houthis’ campaign has impaired global shipping and taken a major toll on U.S. allies reliant on related revenue.

· The American strikes come amid an intensifying, parallel drive by U.S. ally Israel, which has launched its own series of airstrikes on Houthi targets in response to recent missile and drone attacks on Israel that, while mostly intercepted, have struck some civilian sites and have sent millions seeking regular refuge in bomb shelters.

-America, Afghanistan and the Price of Self-Delusion: The collapse of the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan on Aug. 15, 2021, revealed what little American lives and money had purchased over 20 years there. It also laid bare a gaping disconnect between reality and what senior U.S. officials had been telling Americans for decades: that success was just around the corner. (NYT op-ed by John F. Sopko, who has served as the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction since 2012)

· As the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction since 2012, my staff and I have audited and investigated U.S. programs and spending to rebuild Afghanistan — a mission that, it was hoped, would turn the theocratic, tribal-based “Graveyard of Empires” into a modern liberal democracy. In hundreds of reports over the last 12 years, we have detailed a long list of systemic problems: The U.S. government struggled to carry out a coherent strategy, fostered overly ambitious expectations, started unsustainable projects and did not understand the country or its people. American agencies measured success not by what they accomplished, but by dollars spent or checklists of completed tasks.

· As our own agency winds down and we prepare to release our final report this year, we raise a fundamental and too rarely asked question: Why did so many senior officials tell Congress and the public, year after year, that success was on the horizon when they knew otherwise? For two decades, officials publicly asserted that continuing the mission in Afghanistan was essential to national interests, until, eventually, two presidents — Donald Trump and Joe Biden — concluded it was not. The incoming Trump administration, Congress and the long-suffering American taxpayer must ask how this happened so that the United States can avoid similar results in Ukraine, Gaza, Syria and other war zones.

· We should start with what “success” in Afghanistan was ever supposed to mean. I believe many Americans who worked there over the years wanted to not only achieve important U.S. strategic interests — such as eliminating a haven for terrorists — but also secure a better future for the Afghan people. But a perverse incentive drove our system. To win promotions and bigger salaries, military and civilian leaders felt they had to sell their tours of duty, deployments, programs and projects as successes — even when they were not. Leaders tended to report and highlight favorable information while obscuring that which pointed to failure. After all, failures do not lead to an ambassadorship or an elevation to general.

-Here's Where Trump's Pentagon and National Security Nominees Stand Ahead of New Year: President-elect Donald Trump's nominees to lead the Pentagon and other key national security and veterans agencies face a pivotal month in January as the Senate gets to work in earnest on confirming Trump's Cabinet. Perhaps in the most precarious position, Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for defense secretary, is scheduled to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Jan. 14 for his confirmation hearing. It could be a make-or-break moment for the nominee, who has been dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct, alcohol abuse and mismanagement at previous jobs. (Military.com)

· At least one other national security nominee is also facing an uphill climb to confirmation: Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's choice to be director of national intelligence. Meanwhile, the nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, former GOP Rep. Doug Collins, appears to be on a glidepath to confirmation, while Trump's choices for military service secretaries have been quietly toiling away on the confirmation process while the spotlight is on Cabinet-level appointments.

· In Hegseth's case, he spent much of December barnstorming the Capitol seeking to shore up support among senators. The efforts may have borne some fruit, as some Republicans seen as potential "no" votes have shifted their rhetoric after closed-door meetings with him. Still, with the thin margins in the Senate, how Hegseth answers publicly at his confirmation hearing could prove decisive.

· Trump has not yet nominated an Air Force secretary, but has chosen his Navy and Army secretaries. John Phelan, a financier and GOP donor, was nominated to lead the Navy and Marine Corps, and Dan Driscoll, a businessman, Iraq War veteran and adviser to Vice President-elect JD Vance, was picked to lead the Army.

· While Phelan lacks any military policy experience and Driscoll has never led a large organization, no vocal opposition has emerged yet to either nominee. They have not attracted the entourage of cameras and reporters Hegseth’s visits have, but the two have also been visiting senators to lock up support prior to their confirmation hearings in the coming weeks.

· Trump has also nominated a smattering of Pentagon deputies, including businessman Stephen Feinberg as deputy secretary of defense; conservative national security hand Elbridge Colby for undersecretary for policy; first Trump administration alum Michael Duffey for acquisition chief; former Uber executive Emil Michael for undersecretary for research and engineering; and VA medical center director Keith Bass for assistant secretary for health.

· Potentially also facing a rocky path to confirmation is Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman who reregistered as a Republican earlier this year, who would oversee the intelligence community and produce the president’s daily brief if confirmed as director of national intelligence.

· One nominee that so far appears to be breezing toward confirmation is Collins to be VA secretary. Despite some initial surprise around the pick since Collins did not focus on veterans issues during his time in Congress, lawmakers and veterans groups alike have given the Air Force Reserve chaplain positive reviews as he makes his own rounds in Washington.

-What Happens to Military Families After a Loved One's Suicide: When a member of the military community dies by suicide, their neighbors, friends, brothers in arms, and families gather. Those in the community express their grief, offer support, try their best to be a salve, even if they don't know what to say. "That night we were notified, I had two conversations that I remember," Kristen Christy, Air Force spouse and master resilience trainer for the Air Force and the Army, recalled of the days following one of the worst days of her life. "One was a friend from church, and she came and said, 'Kristen, he's in the better place.' And in the rawness of the moment, I said, 'Why isn't the better place at home or at the dining room table?'" Christy's husband had killed himself three days before he was set to accept the rank of colonel. (Military.com)

· The military community has expended substantial effort to eliminate suicide. It employs robust, evidence-based suicide prevention strategies, including an emphasis on lethal means safety, promoting mental health care and leveraging civilian partnerships. But are we so focused on suicide prevention that the larger community has neglected the families of the suicides we couldn’t prevent? Do we move on too quickly after a death, quietly diminishing support for families to avoid the difficult conversations that are part of grief?

· While all loss is devastating, suicide carries additional stigmas. Survivors often ask themselves, “What could I have done?” These internal struggles, coupled with an unpredictable community response, can be devastating. When we respond with platitudes and phrases that make us feel comfortable, we may overlook the needs of the person we are trying to comfort. While there are military programs and resources available to survivors, they may not feel accessible to those who are actively grieving.

-New special trial counsels take over prosecution of major sexual harassment cases from commanding officers: Military commanders will lose their authority to overturn court-martial findings in the most serious sexual harassment cases as of Jan. 1, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Under a plan approved by Congress, certain sexual harassment cases under the Uniform Code of Military Justice — the military’s set of laws — will be investigated and prosecuted by the new Offices of Special Trial Counsel in each service branch. The Defense Department issued a statement Tuesday confirming the special trial counsels of the Army, Air Force, Navy and the Marine Corps will take over Article 134 sexual harassment cases. (Stars and Stripes)

· Article 134 is the military’s “general article” covering “all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, and crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons subject to this chapter may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of by a general, special, or summary court-martial,” according to the U.S. Manual of Courts-Martial. Article 134 has several subsections dealing with specific violations, including disloyal statements, fraternization, underage drinking, abusing animals, adultery and gambling with subordinates.

-New Trump term brings renewed concerns in Bavaria about US Army regiment’s future: President-elect Donald Trump’s imminent return to the Oval Office is reviving concerns about a Vilseck-based Army brigade’s future in Germany. The 2nd Cavalry Regiment was among the 12,000 troops designated for withdrawal under an eleventh-hour plan from Trump’s first administration that President Joe Biden scrapped before it could be enacted. Army leaders have called the regiment the “go-to brigade for quick response” within U.S. European Command, and its role on the Continent has been magnified by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The regiment also leads NATO’s multinational battle group in Poland. (Stars and Stripes)

· Trump hasn’t said anything publicly about moving troops out of Germany since winning the November election. However, he has called on allies to spend a lot more on defense. In a Dec. 8 interview with NBC News, Trump said the U.S. would “absolutely” remain in NATO if its members “pay their bills.” During his first term, Trump hounded allies that fell well short of a defense spending benchmark of 2% of gross domestic product, which was to be reached by 2024.

· Twenty-three of the alliance’s 32 members now meet that goal, including Germany. But recently appointed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has acknowledged that the 2% level is no longer enough. And Vice President-elect JD Vance in November singled out Germany for needing to contribute more to military matters.

· The question with no immediate answer is whether Trump would revive his first-term plan to move U.S. troops if Germany, which is constitutionally prevented from most deficit spending, doesn’t pay more for defense. The uncertainty has been a source of anxiety for residents who live around the U.S. Army’s sprawling training ranges in northern Bavaria, said Nils Gruender, a federal lawmaker representing Amberg and a member of the pro-business Free Democratic Party.

-Trio charged in Germany for pro-Russia plot targeting US bases in Bavaria: Three men have been charged with spying on U.S. military bases for Russia and plotting attacks on American personnel in retaliation for Western support of Ukraine, German prosecutors said. The men, identified only as dual German-Russian nationals Dieter S., Alexander J. and Alex D., were charged Dec. 9 in the Munich Higher Regional Court with suspicion of working for a foreign intelligence agency, according to a statement Monday from the German federal prosecutor’s office. Dieter S., who prosecutors say was the plot’s ringleader, was also charged with acting as a sabotage agent, conspiracy to cause an explosion and arson, declaring his willingness to interfere with rail traffic and endangering security by taking pictures of military installations. (Stars and Stripes)

-The Army's Fitness Standards May Shift in 2025. But How Much Tougher Will They Be: The Army is poised to recalibrate its fitness standards, redefining the physical expectations for combat-arms roles in 2025. Yet, where those minimum requirements will ultimately land remains an open question -- one that could present an early test for President-elect Donald Trump's incoming Army leadership. (Military.com)

· The proposed changes stem from a congressionally mandated study conducted by Rand Corp., which examined the performance of 44,000 conventional ground combat soldiers, including infantry and cavalry scouts. The study, released in December, explored the feasibility of raising the minimum passing score for the Army Combat Fitness Test, or ACFT, to 450 points, a substantial increase from the current threshold of 360. The maximum possible score is 600.

· However, preliminary results suggest that a 450-point standard, which service officials directed Rand to examine, may be overly ambitious. According to separate internal data obtained by Military.com, the current minimum allows 98% of active-duty male soldiers and 95% of their female counterparts to pass the test. Raising the bar to 450 would cut those rates -- dropping the pass rate to 94% for active-duty men and 90% for women, and below 75% for National Guard soldiers on average, Rand found.

-US soldier charged with selling stolen confidential phone records: Federal authorities unsealed an indictment accusing a U.S. Army soldier of selling and attempting to sell stolen confidential phone records. Cameron John Wagenius was arrested Dec. 20 and charged in the courthouse for the Western District of Texas in Waco with two counts of unlawful transfer of confidential phone records information, according to court records made public on Monday, which did not specify his rank or where he was stationed. (Reuters)

· “We are aware of the arrest of a Fort Cavazos soldier,” Colonel Kamil Sztalkoper, spokesperson for the III Armored Corps, told Reuters in an email. “III Armored Corps will continue to cooperate with all law enforcement agencies as appropriate.” Fort Cavazos, formerly Fort Hood, is in Texas. Sztalkoper referred further questions to the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division, which told Reuters it was working with federal law enforcement partners and would not be sharing additional information.

· The court records did not give specifics about the allegations, but cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs said on his website that Wagenius went by the name “Kiberphant0m” online and shared claims of multiple hacks, including call records allegedly related to Vice President Kamala Harris and President-elect Donald Trump. Krebs said Wagenius was 20 years old, but court records or the Army did not confirm this.

-Marine Corps to unify senior NCO leadership training courses: Marine Corps staff sergeants and gunnery sergeants will begin attending the same leadership school for promotion to the next rank under a pilot program that will merge their respective schools. The creation of a single program to teach leadership skills, tactics classes and other aspects of their roles is intended to lessen the time those Marines spend away from their units. The program consolidating the Career and Advanced schools will begin in the spring, a Marine Corps administrative message said. (Stars and Stripes)

-'The MARSOC 3 Are Free': Drinking Convictions Dismissed Against Marine Raiders, Ending 6-Year Legal Saga: A military court of appeals on Friday dismissed the final convictions against two Marine Raiders embroiled in a yearslong legal saga stemming from the 2019 death of a Green Beret veteran working as a contractor in Iraq, ending a winding chronicle that rattled the military justice system. (Military.com)

· The Marines, along with Navy Chief Petty Officer Eric Gilmet, were accused of causing the death of retired Army Master Sgt. Rick Rodriguez, who died days after one of the Raiders punched him outside of a bar in Irbil, Iraq, in what defense attorneys argued was an act of protection.

· Gilmet's case was dismissed in 2023. And last year, a military jury found the two Marine Raiders -- Gunnery Sgts. Daniel Draher and Joshua Negron -- not guilty of their most severe charges: involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide and dereliction of duty.

· But the jury did find Draher and Negron guilty of violating a lawful order: drinking in theater. The jury did not recommend any punishment with the decision, but an attorney for the Marines told Military.com on Monday that the conviction carried the weight of a felony, meaning that it would follow them into their civilian lives, prohibiting them from owning firearms and restricting their right to vote in some states, for example.

-Air Force aligns cyber center to CIO: The Air Force is realigning its Headquarters Cyberspace Capabilities Center to the Office of the Chief Information Officer in an attempt to streamline information technology functions. The center, headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, was stood up in 2019 and was responsible for delivering cyber capabilities. The recently announced change making it a field operating agency that is secretariat aligned will require no movement of people, and it’s expected to reach full operational capability by October 2025. (DefenseScoop)

· “This is a significant step toward streamlining and consolidating Information Technology functions and ensuring unity of effort in IT service delivery across the Air Force and Space Force,” Frank Kendall, secretary of the Air Force, said in a statement. “By combining and aligning these functions to their authoritative owner, the IT enterprise will be able to produce capabilities in shorter, more rapid development cycles — ensuring requirements are expediently actioned and delivered to the Airmen and Guardians who need them.”

-Space Force marks Florida’s record-breaking launch year: Florida’s Space Coast capped off a record-breaking year with 93 launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, up from 74 launches in 2023. Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, commander of the Eastern Range and Space Delta 45, credited the accelerated pace to innovations by both Space Launch Delta 45 and the private sector. “We’ve been able to reach these crazy numbers by leveraging automation, modernizing infrastructure, and streamlining processes,” Panzenhagen told SpaceNews. (SpaceNews)

VETERANS

-Psychedelic therapy begins in Colorado, causing tension between conservatives and veterans: As Colorado becomes the second state to legalize psychedelic therapy this week, a clash is playing out in Colorado Springs, where conservative leaders are restricting the treatment over objections from some of the city's 90,000 veterans, who've become flagbearers for psychedelic therapy to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. (AP)

· Colorado residents voted to legalize the therapeutic use of psilocybin, the chemical compound found in psychedelic mushrooms, in a 2022 ballot measure, launching two years of rulemaking before it could be used to treat conditions such as depression and PTSD. This week, companies and people will be able to apply for licenses to administer the mind-altering drug, though treatment will likely not be available for some months as applications are processed.

· Colorado joined Oregon in legalizing psilocybin therapy, though the drug remains illegal in most other states and federally. Over the last year, a growing number of Oregon cities have voted to ban psilocybin. While Colorado metros cannot ban the treatment under state law, several conservative cities have worked to preemptively restrict what are known as “healing centers.”

· At a City Council meeting in Colorado Springs this month, members were set to vote on extending the state prohibition on healing centers from 1,000 feet (305 meters) to 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from certain locations, such as schools. From the lectern, veterans implored them not to. “We have an opportunity to support veterans, and it’s a really easy one to say ‘Yes’ to,” said Lane Belone, a special forces veteran who said he’s benefited from his own psychedelic experiences. Belone argued that the restrictions effectively limit the number of centers and would mean longer waiting lists for the treatment.

· Veterans have pulled in some conservative support for psychedelic therapy — managing to set it apart from other politically charged drug policies such as legalizing marijuana. That distinction was made clear by Councilmember David Leinweber, who said at the council meeting both that marijuana is “literally killing our kids” and that he supported greater access to psilocybin therapy.

-Veterans get new leash on life with service dogs: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reports there were 6,400 veterans who died by suicide in 2022. That’s lower than in 12 of 14 previous years, but it’s three more than in 2021. To help deal with the issue of suicide, the nonprofit Leashes of Valor provides highly-trained service dogs at no cost to wounded and disabled post-9/11 veterans. Its founder said one leash can save two lives. “Our motto is one leash saves two lives,” said Leashes of Valor founder Jason Haag. “We are rescuing the dog, and the dog is rescuing us, and it only takes one leash.” (WAVY)

· Haag rescued Maverick from a hording situation two years ago. When he founded Leashes of Valor, his service dog was Axel, a German shepherd. “Our mission is to provide service dogs to wounded and disabled veterans free of charge following 9/11,” Haag said. “I wish we could do it for everybody.” Haag’s organization focuses efforts on a specific group of brave Americans who have served their country, and sometimes have the emotional and physical scars to prove it.

-Women like me struggle to see ourselves as veterans: It took me 10 years after leaving the military to call myself a veteran. It was an act of reclamation. My enlistment was defined by sexual harassment. More than a decade later, the thinking that caged me then still circulates: Women service members are worth less. (LAT op-ed by Bailey Williams, the author of "Hollow: A Memoir of My Body in the Marines")

· As a Marine, I hemorrhaged my own power. I stayed silent at rape jokes and language that made my skin burn. I worked out until I was a sliver of myself. I ate dinners of three multivitamin gummies and a lemon popped into my water bottle. To be more like the guys, I policed other girls, doubting and distrusting them.

· Donald Trump's choice for Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, seems to be riding out the waves of criticism generated in November when he said that women should not serve in combat roles because they are not as "capable" as men. He pivoted. He recently informed Fox News viewers of his newfound revelation that women in the military are "some of our greatest warriors."

· His initial statements, and his refusal to take responsibility for them, brought back what I heard every day as a Marine: The puerile sexualized teasing, the hard edge behind it and the language that normalized a culture that denigrated and distrusted women. Also familiar: the quick disavowment -- "I didn't mean it" -- when called out on it.

· When I first saw that the cover of my memoir incorporated red poppies, a flower traditionally associated with sacrifice and death on the battlefield, my blood flooded hot. I felt the ghost of an old shame, the feeling that my experience did not deserve the association. I did what I normally do when I get these flashes of shame. I closed my computer, called my dog and ran into the snowy mountains above my cabin in Alaska until my head cleared. I remembered the incredible women with whom I served. Mighty, determined, doing the exact same work as men under the constant stress of quotidian sexism. They deserve recognition as veterans, and I was among them.

-‘That day turned me into a man’: Navy corpsman who treated victims of Pearl Harbor attack dies at age 103: Harry Chandler, a Navy corpsman who witnessed the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941 from a hillside hospital before rushing to take part in a watery rescue mission, died Monday in Palm Beach County, Fla. He was 103. Chandler’s death leaves only 14 veterans of the attack known to be alive, according to a tally maintained by Kathleen Farley, president of the California chapter of Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors. His death comes less than a week after that of Warren “Red” Upton, who died on Christmas in California at age 105. (Stars and Stripes)

· “It is with profound sadness that we announce Harry Chandler, after a swift downturn over the past several days, passed peacefully at 5:08 pm ET,” Chandler’s family said in a statement published Monday by WPTV-5 in West Palm Beach. “We are gutted by this loss of our Pappy but comforted by the fact few have lived on Earth as fully and long as he did and now he is with many who passed before him.”

GLOBAL

-Israel threatens to step up Gaza strikes: Israel warned Wednesday that it will intensify its strikes in Gaza if Hamas keeps up its rocket fire, as Palestinian rescuers reported dozens of deaths from Israeli strikes on the first day of the New Year. Over the past week, Palestinian militants have repeatedly fired rockets at Israel, particularly from northern Gaza, where the Israeli military is conducting a major offensive. The rockets have caused little damage and have been fired in far smaller numbers than in the early stages of the war, but they have been a political blow for the Israeli government after nearly 15 months of fighting. (AFP)

· "I want to send a clear message from here to the heads of the terrorists in Gaza: If Hamas does not soon allow the release of the Israeli hostages from Gaza... and continues firing at Israeli communities, it will face blows of an intensity not seen in Gaza for a long time," Defence Minister Israel Katz said. His warning came after a visit to the Israeli town of Netivot, which was recently targeted by rocket fire from nearby Gaza.

-Israeli airstrike kills at least 10 in southern Gaza, medics say: An Israeli airstrike killed at least 10 Palestinians in a tent encampment sheltering displaced families in the southern Gaza strip early on Thursday, medics said. The 10 people, including women and children, were killed in a tent in Al-Mawasi, designated as a humanitarian area in western Khan Younis, according to the medics. Fifteen people were also wounded, the medics added. The Israeli military has not immediately commented. (Reuters, AFP)

· Among those killed were the police chief Mahmud Salah and his deputy Hussam Shahwan, agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said. In a separate statement, the Hamas-run interior ministry condemned the killing of the two police officers, saying "they were performing their humanitarian and national duty in serving our people".

-Israeli Threat to Banish Aid Agency Looms Over Gaza: To Palestinians, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, is a critical lifeline, providing food, water and medicine to hundreds of thousands of Gazans who have endured more than a year of war. To the Israeli government, it is a dangerous cover for Hamas, the armed Palestinian group that led the 2023 surprise attack on Israel. Now, Israeli legislators have laid the groundwork to ban the agency with the passage of two bills set to take effect this month. (NYT)

· If Israeli authorities enforce the new laws, U.N. officials are warning that no other group will be able to replace UNRWA and that its crucial humanitarian operations in Gaza will grind to a halt at a moment when experts say famine is threatening parts of the territory. U.N. officials say they are preparing to shutter UNRWA operations in both Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

· “It would be a massive impact on an already catastrophic situation,” said Jamie McGoldrick, who oversaw the U.N. humanitarian operation across Gaza and the West Bank until April. “If that is what the Israeli intention is — to remove any ability for us to save lives — you have to question what is the thinking and what is the end goal?”

-Israel's former defence chief Gallant quits parliament: Former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who had often taken an independent line against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right government allies, said on Wednesday he was resigning from parliament. Gallant was fired from the government in November by Netanyahu, after months of disagreements over the conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza, but kept his seat as an elected member of the Knesset. (Reuters)

-Gaza's Islamic Jihad says Israeli hostage tried to take own life: An Israeli hostage held by Gaza's Islamic Jihad militant group has tried to take his own life, the spokesperson for the movement's armed wing said in a video posted on Telegram on Thursday. One of the group's medical teams intervened and prevented him from dying, the Al Quds Brigades spokesperson added, without going into any more detail on the hostage's identity or current condition. (Reuters)

· Islamic Jihad spokesman Abu Hamza said the hostage had tried to take his own life three days ago due to his psychological state, without going into more details. Abu Hamza accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of setting new conditions that had led to “the failure and delay” of negotiations for the hostage’s release.

· The man had been scheduled to be released with other hostages under the conditions of the first stage of an exchange deal with Israel, Abu Hamza said. He did not specify when the man had been scheduled to be released or under which deal.

-Palestinian Authority suspends broadcast of Qatar's Al Jazeera TV temporarily: The Palestinian Authority temporarily halted operations of Qatar's Al Jazeera television in the territory including its broadcasts, citing the network's dissemination of "inciting material," the Palestinian news agency WAFA said on Wednesday. The culture, interior and communications ministers made the decision jointly because the channel broadcast material that was "deceiving and stirring strife," WAFA said without providing details on the subject matter. (Reuters)

-The Palestinian Authority Takes on Hamas Militants in West Bank Power Struggle: Palestinian Authority security forces are battling militants from Hamas and its allies in the occupied West Bank, in a fight that has the potential to shape the long-running struggle for the leadership of the Palestinian cause. The struggle between Palestinian factions gained new urgency as the Israeli military battered Hamas in Gaza over the past 15 months, leaving a leadership vacuum in the territory. The PA has support in the West, while the militant groups are backed by Iran and deeply rooted in Palestinian society. (WSJ)

· The Biden administration and others see the PA as the best alternative for running Gaza after the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted the idea, saying the PA is anti-Israel at its core. The PA has governed major Palestinian population centers in the West Bank since the 1990s under agreements with Israel. Showing it can take on militants there could bolster its case to run Gaza.

· The clashes pit PA security forces against militants from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an allied group. The fighting, which erupted in December, is the most fierce since Fatah, the Palestinian faction that largely controls the PA, engaged in a 2007 battle with Hamas in Gaza, analysts said. Fatah ultimately lost that fight, leading to Hamas’s control of the enclave.

· The current fighting has taken place in the Jenin Refugee Camp, which has long been seen by Palestinians as a center of resistance against Israel and by Israel as a stronghold for militants conducting terrorist attacks. The fighting has led to at least 11 deaths and dozens of arrests, according to Palestinian and Israeli officials.

-Anticipating Trump, Palestinian Authority eager to crush militants: analysts: The Palestinian Authority is determined to score a win against militants in the Israeli-occupied West Bank ahead of Donald Trump's presidency, aiming to demonstrate its ability to control post-war Gaza, analysts told AFP. The security forces of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited control over the West Bank, have been engaged in deadly clashes with gunmen since early December, triggered by the arrests of several militants. They are fighting members of the Jenin Battalion group, most of whom are affiliated with either Islamic Jihad or Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered war in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)

· Analysts say that in Jenin, the PA is trying to prove it can control the violence and demonstrate that it could bring stability to Gaza once the war is over. "What is happening in Jenin is a crucial test for the Palestinian Authority, which is trying to assert its control and impose security in the region," said political analyst Khalil Shahin. Shahin said the PA was trying to "weather the storm" of the Gaza war, Israeli offensives and regional upheavals ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump taking office in January. "The PA hopes that, after Trump sees its ability to control Jenin, he will support it in governing Gaza after the war, unlike President Joe Biden," he said.

-Syria forces launch security sweep in Homs city: state media: Syrian security forces are conducting a security sweep in the city of Homs, state media reported on Thursday, with a monitor saying targets include protest organisers from the Alawite minority of the former president. "The Ministry of Interior, in cooperation with the Military Operations Department, begins a wide-scale combing operation in the neighbourhoods of Homs city," state news agency SANA said quoting a security official. The statement said the targets were "war criminals and those involved in crimes who refused to hand over their weapons and go to the settlement centres" but also "fugitives from justice, in addition to hidden ammunition and weapons". (AFP)

-The Easily Toppled Syrian Army May Be Hard to Rebuild: More than 50 tanks and military vehicles lay scattered and abandoned across the parade and training grounds of an army base in northern Syria, captured by rebels in their lightning-fast offensive that toppled President Bashar al-Assad. The main garrison building bore the marks of two large explosions, but little sign of close-contact fighting. The assault was over in a day when the Syrian soldiers retreated, said Abu Muhammad, a rebel fighter guarding the base. The government soldiers left behind a filthy jumble of army life: clothes, blankets, gas masks and helmets, and empty tin cans. Living conditions were primitive, with no windows or doors -- instead, sacks or sheets of tin roofing were fixed over openings. (NYT)

· The base reflected the opportunity for a new government borne out of a well-prepared military campaign, bringing together different rebel groups, whose success surprised even its own fighters. But it also was a measure of the challenges ahead as they look to rebuild a country broken by more than a decade of civil war, depriving and depleting its military. The country's new leadership recently announced a plan to unite the various rebel factions under one government and for their armed fighters to serve together in one army.

· But bitterness and divisions are likely to continue with forces that remain in opposition, including the Kurdish militia that controls much of northeastern Syria; the Islamic State extremist group, which operates in parts of central Syria; and remnants of Mr. al-Assad's security forces who have shown signs of resistance. While the rebels are taking over security of the country and its borders, they are inheriting a devastated military infrastructure that will be hard to capitalize on or rebuild.

-Protesters in Syria demand justice for disappeared activists and accountability from all factions: Protesters in Syria held a sit-in Wednesday demanding justice for four activists who were forcibly disappeared in 2013 and whose fate remains one of the most haunting mysteries of the country's 13-year civil war. On Dec. 9, 2013, gunmen stormed the Violation Documentation Center in Douma, northeast of Damascus, and took Razan Zaitouneh, her husband Wael Hamadeh, Samira Khalil and Nazem Hammadi. (AP)

· Outspoken and defiantly secular, Zaitouneh was one of Syria’s most well-known human rights activists. Perhaps most dangerously, she was impartial. She chanted in protests against then-President Bashar Assad but was also unflinching in documenting abuses by rebels fighting to oust him. There has been no sign of life nor proof of death since she and her colleagues were abducted.

· Since the ouster of Assad on Dec. 8, protests have erupted across Syria demanding information about thousands of people who were forcibly disappeared under his rule. The new leadership under the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which orchestrated the offensive to oust Assad, has maintained a neutral stance regarding accusations against various armed groups for forcibly disappearing activists. At the same time, HTS has aligned with activists in their efforts to uncover the truth and seek justice.

· Strong clues had pointed to the Army of Islam, the most powerful rebel faction in Douma at the time, as the perpetrators. The group, made up of religious hard-liners who were pushing out other rebels and imposing strict Shariah rules, long denied involvement. An Army of Islam official, Hamza Bayraqdar, told The Associated Press in 2018 they brought Zaitouneh to Douma to protect her from the Assad government.

-Syrian foreign minister arrives in Saudi Arabia with delegation: A Syrian delegation led by newly appointed Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday in its first official visit abroad, Syrian state news agency SANA reported, citing a foreign ministry source. The delegation includes Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra. The visit came less than a month since Bashar al-Assad was ousted by rebels on Dec. 8. (Reuters)

-Pakistan, Angry at Its Taliban, Sends Warplanes Into Afghanistan, Raising Tensions: Airstrikes by Pakistani warplanes inside Afghanistan have intensified tensions in recent days in an already volatile region. Once-close ties between Pakistan's leaders and the Afghan Taliban have frayed, and violent cross-border exchanges have become alarmingly frequent. (NYT)

· Officially, the Pakistani government has been tight-lipped about the strikes in Afghanistan on Dec. 24. But security officials privately said that the Pakistani military had targeted hide-outs of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, a militant group also known as the T.T.P. or the Pakistani Taliban that has carried out a series of terrorist attacks inside Pakistan. The security officials said that several top militants from the Pakistani Taliban had died in the airstrikes, which came days after 16 Pakistani military personnel were ambushed and killed in a border district.

· The Taliban regime in Afghanistan said that dozens of civilians had died in the strikes, including Pakistani refugee families. The group condemned the strikes as a blatant violation of Afghan sovereignty, and said it had retaliated by conducting attacks on “several points” inside Pakistan. Officials in Pakistan have not officially commented on those attacks. But they reported that they had thwarted a cross-border incursion by militants they said had been facilitated by the Taliban authorities.

· The airstrikes were the Pakistani military’s third major operation on Afghan soil since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, and the second in the past year alone.

-Ukraine's Leader Strikes Hopeful Tone for 2025 Even as Russia Presses Its Gains: Hoping to bolster the resolve of a nation whose heart ''is covered in scars'' after more than 1,000 days of unrelenting Russian assaults, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in his New Year's address on Wednesday that he believed the United States would continue to stand with Kyiv in ''compelling Russia into a just peace.'' He also reiterated his vow that his country would never give up on the goal of making Ukraine whole again. ''One day, Ukraine will return to be together,'' Mr. Zelensky said, addressing Ukrainians living under Russian occupation in Crimea, the eastern Donbas region and the southern cities of Melitopol and Mariupol. (NYT)

· Despite his expression of confidence, Mr. Zelensky faces an uphill fight, not just on the battlefield, but also diplomatically. Even Mr. Zelensky has acknowledged that it might not be possible to oust Russia solely by military means from all of the roughly 20 percent of Ukraine that it currently occupies. But he reiterated that diplomatic pressure from the West could ultimately help repel the Russian offensive led by President Vladimir V. Putin.

· President-elect Donald J. Trump’s intentions for Ukraine are unclear. He has said that bringing the war to a quick end will be a priority of his administration but has not offered details on how that can be achieved. He has long made his admiration for Mr. Putin known, and has previously expressed disdain for Ukraine. Still, Mr. Zelensky said he had “no doubt that the new American president is willing and capable of achieving peace and ending Putin’s aggression.”

· Mr. Zelensky said in his address that peace could come only when Ukraine was militarily strong enough to force Mr. Putin into negotiations. Currently, Russia maintains the initiative across the front, grinding out costly but consistent gains as Ukraine struggles to stabilize its defenses.

-Russian gas era in Europe ends as Ukraine stops transit: Russian gas exports via Soviet-era pipelines running through Ukraine came to a halt on New Year's Day, marking the end of decades of Moscow's dominance over Europe's energy markets. The gas had kept flowing despite nearly three years of war, but Russia's gas firm Gazprom said it had stopped at 0500 GMT after Ukraine refused to renew a transit agreement. (AFP, Reuters)

· Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday hailed the end of Russian gas transit across his country as a significant “defeat” for Moscow amid its near three-year invasion. Zelensky pointed the finger directly at Russian President Vladimir Putin for the breakdown in gas ties. “When Putin was given power in Russia more than 25 years ago, the annual gas pumping through Ukraine to Europe was 130+ billion cubic metres. Today, the transit of Russian gas is 0,” he said on social media. “This is one of Moscow’s biggest defeats,” he added. “As a result of Russia weaponising energy and resorting to cynical blackmail of partners, Moscow lost one of the most profitable and geographically accessible markets.”

· Without specifying who he was referring to, Zelensky called on others to “withstand the hysteria of some European politicians who prefer mafia schemes with Moscow to a transparent energy policy”. He urged the United States to increase its energy supplies to Europe, saying increased imports from allies would mean “the sooner the last negative effects of Europe’s energy dependence on Russia will be overcome”.

· The move was welcomed by Ukraine’s close ally Poland, who called it a “new victory” for the West, following Sweden and Finland joining the NATO military alliance. But Slovakia, reliant on Russian gas, has slammed the move. “Halting gas transit via Ukraine will have a drastic impact on us all in the EU but not on the Russian Federation,” said Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has pushed Bratislava closer to Moscow since returning to power in 2023.

-Ukraine Advances Killer Robot Drones With More Automation, Efficiency: It was the year of the explosive drone: speedy, agile craft the size of dinner plates that in 2024 became Ukraine's main defensive weapon against massive Russian ground assaults. The new year will see the rise of killer robots, as computers take over more functions from human pilots, including flying to the battlefield and striking selected targets. (WSJ)

· Automation could help the Ukrainians hold off a giant foe determined to take control of their country no matter the cost in men and machines, even if the new Trump administration slows or halts arms deliveries to Kyiv. But humans will remain in control. Next-generation drones won't be swarms of fully automated, computer-controlled slaughterbots that color the dreams of military geeks and the nightmares of moralists. Instead, Ukrainian companies are seeking incremental advances that boost a strike drone's chances of reaching and hitting its target.

-Two killed in Russian drone strike on Kyiv, Ukraine says: Russia launched a New Year's Day drone strike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Wednesday, killing two people, wounding at least six others and damaging buildings in two districts, authorities said. Explosions boomed across the morning sky as Ukraine's air force warned of incoming drones and Mayor Vitali Klitschko said air defences were repelling an enemy attack. Two floors of a residential building in central Kyiv were partially destroyed in the strike, according to the State Emergency Service. Two people were killed, it said. (Reuters)

· Russia said on Thursday it had attacked energy facilities in Ukraine that support Kyiv's military-industrial complex. The Russian Defence Ministry said that over the last 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.

-Ukraine's air force says it shot down 47 Russian drones launched overnight: The Ukrainian air force said on Thursday that it shot down 47 Russian drones overnight. Of 72 drones launched, 24 "imitator drones" had not reached their targets, the air force added. One drone remained in Ukrainian airspace on Thursday morning. (Reuters)

· The Ukrainian military shot down 63 out of 111 attack drones launched by Russia during an overnight air strike, Kyiv's air force said on Wednesday. It added that another 46 drones were "locationally lost" without any negative consequences, likely a result of electronic jamming. The drones were shot down over parts of northern, central, western and southern Ukraine, the military said.

-Are Russian Sanctions Working? Debate Takes New Urgency With Trump: Thousands of far-reaching sanctions have been imposed by dozens of countries on Russian banks, businesses and people since Moscow ordered tanks to roll across the border into Ukraine in the winter of 2022. Now, more than 1,000 days later, as President-elect Donald J. Trump prepares to take office, questions about the sanctions’ effectiveness — and future — are expected to come under renewed scrutiny. Mr. Trump has stated, “I want to use sanctions as little as possible.” And he has made clear that there will be a shift in American policy toward Ukraine, having promised to end the war in a single day. (NYT)

· Experts believe that sanctions and continued military aid are almost certain to be bargaining chips in any negotiations. So how valuable are the sanction chips that Mr. Trump will hold? The answer is hotly debated. Predictions in the early months of the war that economic restrictions would soon undermine President Vladimir V. Putin’s regime or reduce the ruble to “rubble” did not pan out. Mr. Putin remains entrenched in the Kremlin, and his forces are inflicting punishing damage on Ukraine and gaining on the battlefield.

· Yet the idea that economic sanctions could bring a quick end to the war was always more a product of hope than a realistic assessment, said Sergei Guriev, a Russian economist who fled the country in 2013 and is now the dean of the London Business School. A better measure of success, Mr. Guriev said, is to ask whether sanctions hampered Moscow’s ability to wage war effectively. And the answer to that, he and several other analysts argue, is yes.

-Putin, in Vague New Year's Eve Address, Says: 'Everything Will Be Fine': A quarter century after assuming power, President Vladimir V. Putin told Russians in his New Year's Eve address on Tuesday that their country was overcoming every challenge and moving forward. But he did not say where Russia was going, even as it takes huge casualties in its war in Ukraine, struggles with rising inflation and absorbs diplomatic blows abroad. (NYT)

· Much of his short speech was characterized by omissions. While Mr. Putin on Tuesday honored the country’s “fighters and commanders,” he invoked Russians’ pride in defeating Nazism and declared 2025 “the year of the Defender of the Motherland,” he did not say who the country was fighting or why.

· It was a conspicuous omission nearly three years after he decided to invade neighboring Ukraine. The war has claimed the lives of an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 Russian soldiers, reshaped Russia’s economy and upended its place in the world.

· Nor did Mr. Putin address inflation, the main concern of most ordinary Russians, or a host of other economic challenges. And while the speech was notable for marking 25 years since he took power in 1999 -- an era in which he cemented his rule over Russia—it contained no hint of Mr. Putin’s vision for the country beyond the broadest platitudes. “We are certain that everything will be fine,” he said.

· Mr. Putin’s vague address on the eve of Russia’s main public holiday underlined the biggest contradiction of his wartime leadership: a drive to mobilize society and steel it for a prolonged conflict, while maintaining a sense of normalcy in everyday life.

-Romania and Bulgaria become full members of EU's Schengen zone: Romania and Bulgaria scrapped land border controls to become full members of the European Union's Schengen free-travel area on Wednesday, joining an expanded bloc of countries whose residents can travel without passport checks. Fireworks lit the sky at a crossing close to the Bulgarian border town of Ruse just after the stroke of midnight as the Bulgarian and Romanian interior ministers symbolically raised a barrier on the Friendship Bridge straddling the Danube River. The crossing is a major transit point for international trade, and bottlenecks are common. (Reuters)

-At least 10 dead in Montenegro after gunman goes on rampage: A gunman killed at least 10 people in a rampage on a small town in Montenegro on Wednesday, police said, one of the tiny Balkan nation's worst mass killings. A 45-year-old man, identified by police as Aleksandar Martinovic, was on the run after opening fire at a restaurant in the town of Cetinje where he killed four people. (Reuters)

-Taiwan reports first Chinese 'combat patrol' of the New Year: Taiwan's defence ministry said on Thursday that Chinese warplanes and warships had carried out the first "combat patrol" around the island of the New Year, after Taiwan President Lai Ching-te again expressed willingness to talk to Beijing. Taiwan's defence ministry said it had detected 22 Chinese military aircraft, including J-16 fighter jets, carrying out a "joint combat readiness patrol" around Taiwan in conjunction with Chinese warships starting on Thursday morning. It said the Chinese aircraft flew in airspace to the north, west, southwest and east of Taiwan, and that Taiwanese forces were dispatched to keep watch. (Reuters)

· Lai, in his New Year's Day news conference, reiterated his desire for exchanges with China. He has repeatedly called for talks but has been rebuffed. Beijing, which held two rounds of war games around Taiwan last year, calls him a "separatist".

· On Wednesday, China's Eastern Theatre Command, whose area of responsibility includes Taiwan, released a New Year's video on social media of warships and warplanes, and what appeared to be a Chinese fighter jet flying near a P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft that the U.S. sometimes sends through the Taiwan Strait.

-Taiwan president vows to boost the island's defense budget as China threats rise: Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te pledged to strengthen the island's defenses in the face of escalating Chinese threats, saying in a New Year’s address on Wednesday that Taiwan was a crucial part of the “line of defense of democracy” globally. “Authoritarian countries such as China, Russia, North Korea and Iran are still collaborating to threaten the international order that is based on rules. This has severely influenced the Indo-Pacific region and the world’s peace and stability,” Lai said in his address. (AP)

· In response, Taiwan has been reforming its military and buying weapons from the United States, its biggest unofficial ally. “Taiwan must be prepared for danger in times of peace. It must keep increasing the national defense budget to strengthen its defense capabilities in order to show the determination to defend the country. Every single person has the duty to protect Taiwan’s democracy and security," Lai said.

-China’s Xi Jinping Nods to ‘External Uncertainties’ in New Year’s Speech: Chinese leader Xi Jinping in an annual New Year’s address on Tuesday sought to shore up confidence that Beijing can make an economic transition and resist foreign pressure weeks before Donald Trump is due to return to the White House. Xi said that the nation’s economy is on “an upward trajectory” and that the government has extensive international ties to offset challenges, messages that contrast with skepticism in the international investment community that Beijing is addressing its debt overhang and sagging consumption ahead of what could be a new trade war with the U.S. (WP, WSJ)

· “The Chinese economy faces some new conditions, including challenges of uncertainties in the external environment and pressure of transformation from old growth drivers into new ones,” Xi said, in apparent nods to both U.S.-led efforts to cut Beijing from technology supply chains and signs that China can no longer rely on heavy investment to underpin its economy. “But we can prevail with our hard work. As always, we grow in the wind and rain, and we get stronger through hard times. We must be confident,” Xi said. The address, while devoid of detail, marks one of Xi’s highest-profile messaging opportunities ahead of Trump’s inauguration.

· China's leader also sought to underscore the importance of economic equality in another speech released Wednesday in Qiushi, a Communist Party magazine. Xi drew a sharp contrast between Chinese modernization and Western economic development, which he said was "capital-centric, rather than people-centric."

· Xi's speech highlighted China's progress in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, as well as quantum and space technology - all of which have become flash points in a broader U.S.-China tech race as the United States has attempted to limit China's access to certain high-tech products.

· His warning comes after the United States has increased arms sales to Taiwan and following China's large-scale military drills in October and May around the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own. On the last day of 2024, China sent four coast guard vessels into the restricted waters of the Kinmen Islands, which Taiwan controls, just a few miles off the Chinese shore.

-Chinese Warships, Aircraft Deploy in Strength to Scarborough Shoal: Chinese air and naval forces staged “combat readiness patrols” around Scarborough Shoal last Sunday, marking Beijing’s final major show of strength against Manila over the disputed South China Sea maritime feature in 2024. (USNI News)

· According to the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, the snap People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater Command drills were conducted to “resolutely safeguard China’s national sovereignty and security, and maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea.” Media released by the Chinese military show various patrol aircraft, fighter jets and H-6 bombers flying over Scarborough. They were also joined by a naval task force consisting of a replenishment vessel, a 052D-class destroyer and a 055-class destroyer.

· “Since December, 2024, the PLA Southern Theater Command has organized its naval and air force troops to continuously strengthen maritime and airspace patrols around China’s territorial waters of Huangyan Dao, and further strengthen the control over relevant waters and airspace,” stated a Ministry of Defense release.

-South Korea's Yoon, facing unprecedented arrest over martial law, vows to 'fight until end': South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has sent a letter rallying his supporters saying he would "fight until the end" as he faces an attempt by authorities to arrest him over his short-lived Dec. 3 martial law, a lawyer said on Thursday. “I am watching on YouTube live all the hard work you are doing,” Yoon wrote in the letter late on Wednesday to the estimated hundreds of supporters who have gathered near his official residence protesting his investigation. “I will fight until the end to protect this country together with you,” he said in the letter, a photo capture of which was sent to Reuters by Seok Dong-hyeon, a lawyer advising Yoon. (Reuters)

· The opposition Democratic Party, which has majority control of parliament and led the impeachment of Yoon on Dec. 14, said the letter proved Yoon was delusional and remains committed to complete his “insurrection” “As if trying to stage insurrection wasn’t enough, he is now inciting his supporters to an extreme clash,” party spokesman Jo Seoung-lae said in a statement.

· A court on Tuesday approved a warrant for Yoon’s arrest, which potentially would make him the first sitting president to be detained as part of investigations over allegations he masterminded insurrection by trying to impose martial law. Insurrection is one of the few criminal charges from which a South Korean president does not have immunity.

-Philippines recovers suspected Chinese submarine drone: 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 nine kilometres (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. (AFP)

-Myanmar says 2024 census shows population of 51.3 mln: Myanmar said its 2024 census found a population of 51.3 million, slightly smaller than 10 years ago, as the junta prepares for promised elections amid ongoing conflict and unrest across the country, state media reported on Wednesday. The census, which was held in October, will be used to compile voter lists for the elections planned for this year that opposition groups have widely condemned as a sham. "I am striving to successfully organise a free and fair election, which is the ultimate goal of the State Administration Council," junta chief Min Aung Hlaing said in his New Year speech that was published in state media. (Reuters)

-Australia, wary of China, prepares workforce to build nuclear subs: Ollie is one of the early beneficiaries of AUKUS, the trilateral security pact in which the United States and the United Kingdom are helping Australia build nuclear-propelled submarines to counter China's growing military assertiveness in the region. Australia has committed to spend as much as $250 billion over three decades, first to acquire used submarines, then to build its own. (WP)

· Although submarine construction won't start for at least five years, Australia has already begun assembling an AUKUS workforce. It is concentrated here in South Australia, where a new submarine shipyard is underway. To build these advanced vessels, this state of fewer than 2 million people will need thousands of shipbuilders and hundreds of engineers, according to federal and state officials and representatives of the defense industry.

· The reelection of Donald Trump has injected some uncertainty into the future of AUKUS, however. While Canberra doesn’t expect Trump to scrap the plan, some analysts think Trump could seek to amend or renegotiate it. Australian opponents of AUKUS are meanwhile seeking to capitalize on the uncertainty and upend the deal. But what that debate often overlooks — partly because the first subs won’t be completed until about 2040 — is that AUKUS is already very much underway in Australia.

· “This is the biggest industrial endeavor that’s happened in Australian history,” Defense Minister Richard Marles said in an interview. “You can look at these time frames and say, ‘That’s a long way in the future.’ But, in fact, it’s not. Every day matters.”

· About 60 members of the Royal Australian Navy are training to work on nuclear-powered submarines in the United States or the United Kingdom, according to Australian defense officials, and nearly a dozen are already serving on U.S. or U.K. subs. One even piloted the USS Hawaii into Perth in 2024 for the first maintenance of its kind outside the United States or a U.S. base.

· Scores of Australian shipbuilders are in Pearl Harbor training on American subs ahead of rotations of U.S. and U.K. boats to Western Australia starting in 2027. Australia is spending $5 billion on upgrading a naval base in Perth ahead of the visits.

· Both efforts are to prepare Australia for when it buys the first of at least three U.S. Virginia-class submarines around 2032. That’s also around the time Australia will begin building the first of five nuclear-propelled submarines here in Adelaide.

-Ecuador orders detention of 16 air force members over disappearance of 4 children: A judge in Ecuador has ordered the detention of 16 air force members accused of involvement in the disappearance of four children, whose charred remains were discovered weeks after they were seen being forced into a military patrol car against their will. The case has shocked the nation and sparked protests against the military, which has been spearheading President Daniel Noboa's crackdown on violent criminal groups. On Tuesday, moments after a judge in Guayaquil ordered the detentions, prosecutors announced that forensic tests showed four charred corpses found last week belonged to the children. The bodies were found near to where the children were last seen. (CNN)

-Charred bodies in Ecuador are missing adolescents, say officials: Genetic tests on charred bodies found near an Ecuador military base confirm they are those of four boys taken by soldiers three weeks ago, officials said Tuesday. The disappearance of the boys, aged between 11 and 15, sparked protests in the South American nation, which is in the throes of an armed struggle between narco gangs and security forces. Saul Arboleda, Steven Medina, and brothers Josue and Ismael Arroyo were playing football in the western city of Guayaquil on December 8 when they went missing. (AFP)

· An unverified video released by Ecuador's Congress appears to show a group of soldiers putting one of the minors in a vehicle and beating him, while another was seen face down. Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo said that the soldiers, who had been on patrol, were responding to a request for help due to a robbery. The incident led to widespread indignation in Ecuador, where kidnapping, extortion and murders are now commonplace.

-Chagos deal talks not only over finances: Mauritius: Resumed negotiations over a proposed deal to return the strategic Chagos Islands to Mauritius from Britain are not solely over financial compensation, the premier and a government official have said. After decades of negotiations, Britain agreed in October to hand back the Indian Ocean islands to Mauritius, a former colony, on the condition that a UK-US military base can remain on the largest, Diego Garcia. But a new government took power in Mauritius last month and has reopened the talks, reportedly seeking greater financial compensation. (AFP)

· But Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam said in a statement on Tuesday the talks were not only concerned with that aspect of the deal. "It is also about sovereignty and the duration of the lease. The tenant must not become the owner of Diego Garcia either," he said. His office firmly denied figures reported in the British press, but did not give any further details.

-Islamic State claims responsibility for attack on Somalia's Puntland military base: The Islamic State group on Wednesday claimed responsibility for an attack on a military base in Somalia's northeastern region of Puntland a day earlier, the group posted on its Telegram channel. In its statement, Islamic State said the attack was conducted by 12 militants and two booby-trapped vehicles, adding that it killed around 22 military personnel from the Puntland forces and injured dozens of others. Captain Yusuf Mohamed, an officer in Puntland's counter-terrorism forces, told Reuters on Tuesday that nine suicide bombers had been killed and several soldiers had been injured, near the town of Dharjaale in the Bari region. (Reuters)

· The group was officially recognised as the Somali province of Islamic State in 2017 and has been based in the mountainous areas of Puntland. For many years, it was considered a minor security threat in the Horn of Africa country compared with al Shabaab, which controls swathes of southern Somalia. In recent years, however, the Somali franchise has refashioned itself as an important part of the jihadist group's worldwide network, with its head, Abdulqadir Mumin, being named its global leader by some media outlets.

· Security analysts say Islamic State in Somalia has grown in strength because of an influx of foreign fighters and improved revenue through the extortion of local businesses, becoming the group's "nerve centre" in Africa.

-Ivory Coast president says French forces to withdraw in January: Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said in an end-of-year speech that French forces will withdraw from the West African nation in January, making it the latest country to weaken military ties with the former colonial power. Ouattara said late on Tuesday that Ivory Coast could be proud of its army "whose modernisation is now effective. "It is in this context that we have decided on the concerted and organised withdrawal of French forces" from the country, he announced. (AFP)

· France has been preparing for years what it calls a "reorganisation" of military relations after the forced departure of its troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, where military-led governments hostile to the ex-colonial ruler have seized power in recent years. In November, within hours of each other, Senegal and Chad also announced the departure of French soldiers from their soil.

-The Heroic Race to Rescue 370 Orphans from a War Zone—Twice: The war in Sudan has created the world's biggest humanitarian crisis. By some estimates, as many as 150,000 people have been killed amid the fighting between Sudan's military and the paramilitary-turned-rebel Rapid Support Forces, and the collapse of healthcare and agriculture. More than half of Sudan's population of 48 million is suffering crisis levels of hunger and parts of the country are officially in the grip of famine. One quarter of Sudanese have been displaced from their homes. (WSJ)

· The doctors, aid workers and volunteers who coordinated the Mygoma rescue worked at great personal risk, just as their own lives and families were being torn apart by the war—and much of the world was looking elsewhere. Their efforts to keep the children safe continue to this day. This account is based on interviews with Abdullah, other Mygoma staff, volunteers and aid organizations involved in the rescue, as well as a review of documents and images from the orphanage.

-Congo sentences 13 soldiers to death in bid to boost discipline: A Congolese military tribunal has sentenced 13 soldiers to death on charges including murder, looting, and cowardice in what military authorities said was a drive to improve army discipline after territorial losses due to soldiers fleeing. The soldiers were sentenced on Tuesday in the town of Lubero in Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern North Kivu province, where Congolese forces have been fighting the Rwanda-backed M23 insurgency for nearly three years, as well as facing other militia violence. Fighting has flared in Lubero territory and cases of soldiers abandoning their positions have helped the enemy advance, said local army spokesperson Mak Hazukay. (Reuters)

-ADF rebels kill at least 12 in DRCongo: local sources: Fresh raids by fighters with the Islamic State group-linked ADF rebels killed at least 12 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local sources told AFP on Wednesday. These latest attacks come after a series of ADF raids over the Christmas period that killed 21 people in North Kivu province. The new attacks overnight Tuesday to Wednesday targeted two places in the same province, said local officials. (AFP)

-27 migrants die off Tunisia, 83 rescued, in shipwrecks: civil defence: Twenty-seven migrants, including women and children, died after two boats capsized off central Tunisia, with 83 people rescued, a civil defence official told AFP on Thursday. The rescued and dead passengers, who were found off the Kerkennah Islands off central Tunisia, were aiming to reach Europe and were all from sub-Saharan African countries, said Zied Sdiri, head of civil defence in the city of Sfax. Searches were still underway for other possible missing passengers, according to the Tunisian National Guard, which oversees the coastguard. (Reuters)

BORDER

-The Five Biggest Roadblocks to Trump’s Immigration Agenda: President-elect Donald Trump has promised a crackdown on illegal immigration and significant changes to immigration laws. Now his advisers will contend with long-existing headwinds to turn Trump’s campaign rhetoric into policy. Here are five major roadblocks the incoming administration will face: (WSJ)

· Immigration-court backlog: Most immigrants in the U.S. illegally can’t be deported without a hearing in immigration court, where they have a chance to ask for asylum or another avenue to stay in the country. But immigration courts are so backlogged that hearings are being scheduled as far into the future as 2029.

· Lack of ICE agents: The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is responsible for arresting immigrants in the country illegally, detaining them and deporting them. It has roughly 6,000 agents on staff and funding to jail about 40,000 immigrants at any given time. It doesn’t have nearly the fleet of planes needed to deport millions of migrants back to their home countries.

· Blue-state resistance: Immigrants living in the country illegally are often concentrated in big, Democratic-led cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Denver.

· Lack of cooperation from foreign countries: Among the reasons President Dwight Eisenhower was able to pull off a broad deportation program in the 1950s, which Trump cites as a model, was that everyone he sought to send out of the country was from Mexico. But over the past few years, immigrants crossing into the U.S. illegally have come from record numbers of countries, such as China, India, Mauritania and Uzbekistan. The U.S. today can’t simply push migrants back across the border or even load them all onto a flight heading to the same place. It must now orchestrate a complex dance of flights, choosing where to send its limited number of planes and fighting with other governments about when—and whether at all—they are willing to receive the flights.

· Legal challenges: Many of the changes proposed by Trump and Stephen Miller, his incoming deputy chief of staff and longtime immigration adviser, can only be done through Congress—or perhaps even through a constitutional amendment. A core issue they have attempted to surmount is that under existing law, migrants can legally ask for asylum even if they have entered the country unlawfully.

-Trump uses New Orleans attack to slam migrants without offering proof one was involved: President-elect Donald Trump used the mass-killing event in New Orleans, where a driver slammed a truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street and left 15 people dead, to talk about immigration despite police later confirming the dead suspect was a U.S citizen. The president-elect posted on Truth Social Wednesday saying that immigrants were more likely to commit worse crimes than U.S. citizens. (The Independent)

· “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. The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department. The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!”

-Democratic-led states still grapple with housing migrants: The migrant crisis in major Democratic-led cities has eased in the year since it was a full-blown emergency. But the problem hasn’t gone away. More than a year ago, a surge of border crossings — coupled with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott busing people to blue cities — led to a massive influx of asylum seekers into Chicago, New York, Boston and elsewhere. They slept in police stations and hospitals. New York’s mayor proposed housing migrants on a barge. Democratic leaders even publicly blamed President Joe Biden for not doing enough. (Politico)

· As the incoming Trump administration vows to deport immigrants who are in the country illegally — and even those with temporary protected status — Democratic-led cities are still grappling with how to house asylum seekers but are also asking what to do if Donald Trump chooses to deport them.

GUN

-Federal Gun Ban in Domestic Abuse Cases Upheld by Appeals Court: A federal law barring alleged domestic abusers from having a gun doesn’t violate the Second Amendment, the Fifth Circuit said Tuesday, reversing itself after the US Supreme Court upheld a related provision of the same statute. Because alleged domestic abusers pose a clear threat of violence, the measure is constitutional under the high court’s United States v. Rahimi ruling, Judge Jerry E. Smith said for the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. (Bloomberg)

· The appeals court left the door open for the law to be held unconstitutional in some instances. While nixing Litsson Antonio Perez-Gallan’s facial challenge to the law, the court remanded the case back to the district court to assess Perez-Gallan’s challenge to the law as applied to him.

· The federal provision at issue in Perez-Gallan’s Second Amendment challenge bans a person from possessing a gun if a restraining order against that person “prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force” against an intimate partner. The provision at issue in Rahimi bans people subject to court orders that have found them to pose a “credible threat” to intimate partners from having a gun. The “physical force” provision is facially constitutional because it’s compatible with the nation’s history of firearm regulation, Smith said.

· Founding-era “going armed” measures allowed jailing people who menaced others with firearms, the judge said. If the government at that time was allowed to imprison people who improperly used guns, then the lesser restriction of temporary disarmament challenged by Perez-Gallan is also permissible, Smith wrote, citing the high court’s Rahimi decision. Historical “surety” laws requiring people accused of misusing weapons to post bond are also sufficiently similar to the challenged measure, Smith said, saying the justices in Rahimi also took surety measures into account.

-U.S. Mass Shootings And Gun Deaths Fell To Lowest Level In Five Years In 2024: This year is on track to see the fewest mass shootings and gun deaths in the U.S. since 2019, according to data from Gun Violence Archive—a feat that comes as violent crime broadly continues to fall after the COVID-19 pandemic. (Forbes)

· The U.S. recorded 491 mass shootings as of Dec. 18—the lowest number since 2019, which saw 414—marking a 25% decline in mass shootings from last year and a nearly 30% decline from 2021, which saw the most mass shootings in the last decade.

· The decrease follows a near-high number in 2023, which saw the second-highest number of mass shootings (656) since Gun Violence Archive began tracking mass shootings—defined as a shooting in which at least four people, not including the shooter, are injured or killed—in 2014.

· Some 500 people have been killed in mass shootings this year as of Dec. 18, and another 2,134 people were injured in mass shootings this year, according to a Forbes analysis of Gun Violence Archive’s data.

· Those figures also show a decline from recent years: 2023, 2022 and 2021 saw 722 people, 642 people and 668 people die from mass shootings, respectively.

· Mark Bryant, executive director of Gun Violence Archive, told Forbes he thinks the decline is, at least in part, because of more and better policing and an influx of money being poured into communities to address gun violence through the 2022 bipartisan gun safety bill, which gave states $750 million to help implement and run crisis intervention programs.

-Queens mass shooting leaves 10 hurt outside NYC event space, police say: A mass shooting in Jamaica, Queens left 10 teenagers hurt when police say several suspects opened fire outside a venue. It happened just after 11:15 p.m. on New Year's Day outside the Amazura Concert Hall on 144th Place. Police are now searching for four male suspects who fired into a crowd of about 15 people standing in front of the event space. (CBS New York)

-Years of inaction on ‘crisis’ at Secret Service set stage for Trump shooting in Butler: In the days before Donald Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the Secret Service needed a member of his protective detail to develop a security plan to keep the former president safe as he addressed a crowd of thousands at an open-air fairground. With agents stretched thin by the presidential campaign, the agency turned to a “junior” member of the detail, according to an independent review panel commissioned by the Department of Homeland Security. (WP)

· In the past, the Secret Service would have trained new agents in a field office for a minimum of five years and had them work at least two more in a protective detail before assigning them to oversee such a large public event, multiple former agents told The Washington Post. The agent put in charge of security at Butler had joined the Secret Service four years earlier and only started in the protective detail in 2023, the panel found.

· “If an agent with this little experience was responsible for planning Butler, that means there was nobody else,” said Jonathan Wackrow, a security executive and former supervisor on then-President Barack Obama’s Secret Service detail. “Now we are introducing hope as a strategy. And that is just plain dangerous.”

· The July 13 shooting, in which the agency’s failure to block sight lines from a nearby rooftop allowed a gunman with limited firearms training to come close to killing Trump, stunned many Americans and prompted lawmakers to ask what had happened to an agency long charged with keeping sitting and former presidents safe. Besides a bullet that grazed Trump’s ear, the shooting left one spectator dead and two injured.

· Spurred by a string of humiliating security lapses during the Obama administration, the White House and Congress launched separate investigations in 2014 that diagnosed the Secret Service as being in crisis and stretched beyond its abilities. The investigative panels recommended sharp increases in agent training and the hiring of fresh leadership to disrupt an insular culture that the probes said tended to cover up problems rather than own and fix them.

· But three presidents and Congress have failed to fix the major vulnerabilities in the Secret Service that were identified a decade ago, the Post review has found. Instead, some problems have grown worse and left the agency weaker on key measures. For instance, the agency was never able to hire enough staff to spare agents for routine training; instead its mission expanded and was shouldered by an overworked workforce, leading to burnout and low morale.

-FBI found 150 homemade bombs at Virginia home during search in December, prosecutors say: Federal agents found one of the largest stockpiles of homemade explosives they have ever seized when they arrested a Virginia man on a firearms charge last month, according to a court filing by federal prosecutors. Investigators seized more than 150 pipe bombs and other homemade devices when they searched the home of Brad Spafford northwest of Norfolk in December, the prosecutors said in a motion filed Monday. The prosecutors wrote that this is believed to be “the largest seizure by number of finished explosive devices in FBI history.” (AP)

· Most of the bombs were found in a detached garage at the home in Isle of Wight County, along with tools and bomb-making materials including fuses and pieces of plastic pipe, according to court documents. The prosecutors also wrote: “Several additional apparent pipe bombs were found in a backpack in the home’s bedroom, completely unsecured,” in the home he shares with his wife and two young children.

· Spafford, 36, was charged with possession of a firearm in violation of the National Firearms Act. Law enforcement officers allege he owned an unregistered short barrel rifle. Prosecutors said that he faces “numerous additional potential charges” related to the explosives.

· Defense attorneys argued in a motion Tuesday that authorities haven’t produced evidence that he was planning violence, also noting that he has no criminal record. Further, they question whether the explosive devices were usable because “professionally trained explosive technicians had to rig the devices to explode them.” “There is not a shred of evidence in the record that Mr. Spafford ever threatened anyone and the contention that someone might be in danger because of their political views and comments is nonsensical,” the defense lawyers wrote.

AMERICAN MANUFACTURING

-For Uncle Sam, Buy American mandate comes with a cost — $130,000 per job: Among the few things Democrats and Republicans in Washington agree on is the need to buy American with taxpayers’ dollars. But that consensus does not extend among economists, who say there are real costs to the idea. Researchers say in a new paper that carrying out the new, stringent buy-American rules that former President Donald Trump and President Biden have pursued will cost the government up to $237,800 per job. (Washington Times)

· “When the federal government is forced by law to purchase relatively more expensive supplies from producers in the U.S., taxpayers end up paying more for the goods that the government buys,” said the researchers, led by economist Matilde Bombardini at the University of California, Berkeley.

· They looked at current versions of buy-American policies and figured that they sustain about 100,000 extra jobs, at a cost of $132,300 per job. Extrapolating forward to the new changes, the researchers figure the policies will create 41,300 more jobs in the economy — but at a cost of between $154,000 and $237,800 per slot. Under current law, “buy American” means that manufactured goods purchased by the government are supposed to be fabricated in the U.S. and at least half the components were also produced here. That will rise to 75% in 2029 and will expand the universe of sectors that must comply, thanks to changes Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden championed.

· “The higher cost arises from two main factors: first, the newly protected sectors that compete with foreign intermediate inputs tend to have a lower labor share relative to sectors protected by final goods restrictions. Second, the regions most affected by the rise in input costs are those with a high concentration of government procurement, leading to increased public goods procurement costs,” the researchers said in a working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

-Trump needs to make friends in Asia or his China tariffs will hurt Americans: Imports from China to the U.S. have cost Americans millions of manufacturing jobs. But building a trade wall around America — as President-elect Donald Trump proposes — will hurt American consumers and U.S. national security unless the Trump administration builds bridges with America's Southeast Asian allies. (MarketWatch)

· China’s mercantilism erodes the foundations of Western prosperity by threatening core manufacturing and technology-intensive activities. China has seized leadership in electric vehicles and green-energy equipment. But the U.S. didn’t fire the first shot in this trade war. Ninety percent of publicly traded companies in China report benefiting from subsidies — a system that is inconsistent with free trade.

· China’s combination of tariffs, regulatory barriers and various subsidies so frustrated the World Trade Organization’s(WTO) Dispute Settlement processes that then-President Barack Obama blocked appointments to the Appellate Body. Both Trump in his first term and President Joe Biden continued this policy — wounding the WTO's mechanism for resolving disputes among member governments and its fundamental relevance.

-Green Energy Faces New Political Reality: Green-energy companies are freaking out, trying to figure out how to navigate the Republican sweep of the White House and Congress. After being a favorite punching bag of President-elect Donald Trump's campaign, they are contacting incoming cabinet appointees, hunting for friendly members of the transition team and calling on Republican members of Congress, according to executives. Some say they raced to order equipment or move dirt on projects before the new year to grandfather-in lucrative tax credits. (WSJ)

· Stakes are high. Significant reductions to tax credits, and Trump’s promised tariffs on imports, could reduce investment in new renewables plants by $350 billion during the next decade, said Chris Seiple, vice chairman of power and renewables at Wood Mackenzie. In Washington, D.C., the industry has gone into defense mode. Executives traveled to the capital to meet with Republican members of Congress in December, say people familiar with the matter. Advisers have suggested the industry tweak its talking points. Instead of touting projects as "clean and affordable," renewables firms are highlighting their projects' ability to "meet energy needs."

· One helpful trend for the industry is that after roughly two decades of little to no growth in power demand because of efficiency gains, electricity-usage forecasts have skyrocketed in many states because of the spread of AI, EVs, manufacturing and broader electrification efforts. Utilities compare it with the introduction of air conditioning. That trend has allowed companies to take a page out of the playbook of the oil-and-gas industry, which spent the past four years under the Biden administration using terms such as "addition, not subtraction" to talk about energy sources.

-US Steel Jumps Most in a Year on Nippon Steel Offer to Biden: Nippon Steel Corp. offered to give the US government a veto over any reduction in US Steel Corp.’s production capacity in a proposal that marks a last-ditch effort to win President Joe Biden’s approval for its takeover of the iconic American company, according to a person familiar with the matter. Shares of US Steel surged by the most in a year. (Bloomberg)

· The proposal is aimed at addressing concerns raised by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, or Cfius, which said last week that the Japanese company’s takeover of US Steel would lead to a decline in American steel output, said the person who asked not to be named because the information is private. The Washington Post reported on the proposal earlier.

ECONOMY

-Dollar Hits 2-Year High on Prospect of Cautious Fed: The dollar rises to a two-year high against the euro and a basket of currencies as the Federal Reserve is expected to adopt a more cautious approach to cutting interest rates in 2025. Markets bet that President-elect Donald Trump's policies, including proposed trade tariffs and tax cuts, will stoke inflation and limit rate cuts. "With a resilient U.S. economy, markets are now pricing in less than two 25 basis points cuts for the full year, keeping the dollar underpinned," Danske Bank's Mohamad Al-Saraf says in a note. The Fed in December signalled it will slow the pace of rate cuts. The DXY dollar index rises to a high of 108.835. The euro falls as low as $1.0315, according to FactSet. (WSJ)

· The dollar should strengthen in the first half of 2025, buoyed by the likelihood of tariffs being implemented quickly by U.S. President-elect Trump and by limited prospects of interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, MUFG says in a note. "More front-loaded tariff hikes support our forecast for the U.S. dollar to strengthen further during the first half of this year," MUFG currency analyst Lee Hardman says. Additionally, the Fed in December "sent a clear signal that they will be a lot more cautious over delivering further rate cuts this year." By contrast, other major central banks are expected to keep cutting rates. This divergence could encourage an even stronger dollar in the near term, he says.

-US Stocks Set for Bounce After Four-Day Losing Run: US equity futures powered higher on the back of optimism over tech stocks, signaling that Wall Street is set to rebound from the four-day slump that marked the end of 2024. (Bloomberg)

· Contracts for the S&P 500 climbed 0.8%, while those for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rallied 1%. European energy shares outperformed after a sharp increase in natural gas prices. The euro fell to the weakest against the dollar in over two years. Treasuries and European government bonds gained. Bitcoin extended its rally to a third day.

· US stocks are poised to snap a losing streak that took some shine off the S&P 500’s best two-year run dating back to the late 1990s. The index has surged more than 50% since the start of 2023, driven by the so-called Magnificent Seven tech megacaps amid enthusiasm about the boost to profits from artificial intelligence.

· “At the beginning of the year, analysts tend to be pretty optimistic — you have pretty robust year-on-year earnings forecasts,” Daniel Morris, chief market strategist at BNP Paribas Asset Management, said on Bloomberg TV. “Even if we don’t quite get say 20% earnings growth for Nasdaq, the way analysts might suggest, if it’s only 15, likely markets will do well.”

-Stock Markets Face a Bright 2025. Why Trump Isn’t the Only Catalyst and 3 Other Things to Know Today: After the doom and gloom of 2024’s final trading days, the new year can bring some fresh optimism for investors. The S&P 500 fell 1.6% in the previous five sessions, the index’s worst end to a year since 2005. There’s better news, though. January is typically a good month for the stock market—and particularly for the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, which averages a 2.5% jump in the first month of the year. The Dow and S&P 500 average around a 1% gain, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Investors would welcome those gains given the recent market mood and the uncertainty on the horizon. (Barron’s)

· The events of the coming weeks are likely to set the tone for the year. President-elect Donald Trump will return to the White House in less than three weeks. His early policy moves, especially around inflation-fueling tariffs, will be key.

· The Federal Reserve will meet just eight days after the inauguration. While that’s not much time for the central bank to take a view on how Trump’s agenda will affect interest rates, he has flagged some economic policies—including threatening to impose levies on Mexico and Canada on his first day in office.

· But there are reasons to be more cheerful this new year. Tariffs could prove to be a negotiating tactic, and the Fed still stands ready to cut interest rates if the data suggest doing so. The U.S. economy remains strong, with the latest GDPNow projection from the Atlanta Fed estimating 3.1% growth in the fourth quarter, and with corporate margins also looking healthy.

· After two years of more than 20% gains for the S&P 500, a third may be unlikely and is certainly rare—only happening once before during a four-year streak between 1995 and 1998. But investors would be happy with more modest gains in 2025—and that’s more than a possibility.

-Inflation Is Worse for the Young, and Black Families: Inflation has fallen sharply enough for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates three times in 2024. But Americans are still deeply concerned about higher prices, which have hit some groups more acutely than others. (Barron’s)

· The Federal Reserve has projected two more interest rate cuts for 2025 as inflation has fallen from 7.9% in February 2022 to 2.7% in November. That compares with 2.6 % in October and leaves the annual rate of price increases well above the central bank’s 2% target.

· It is still fueling economic angst among Americans. A December blog post from the Richmond Fed looking at recent research into gains in the cost of goods and services, and their effects, offers some explanation of why. Among the findings is that young adults, parents with children at home, and Black families are feeling more inflationary pressure than other groups.

· The youngest adults have been hit the hardest by the rise in prices since 2021, the biggest inflationary surge the U.S. has seen in 40 years. The annual inflation rate for older adults ran more than 2.5 percentage points lower than for younger adults, according to the New York Fed’s Equitable Growth Indicators.

-Businesses Preparing for Another Year of Geopolitical Tumult: Businesses are bracing for another year of geopolitical uncertainty, with large question marks looming over President-elect Donald Trump’s foreign policy strategy and broader global tumult, despite some executives’ optimism about the year ahead. Geopolitical concerns remain top of mind amid general global uncertainty and, in particular, a continued reordering of the U.S.-China relationship. (WSJ)

· Multiple governments around the world saw turmoil in a single week, Goldman Sachs Chief Financial Officer Denis Coleman told attendees at a conference last month, citing France, Syria and South Korea. “To say that there is geopolitical instability in the world would be a gross understatement,” he said.

· The costs of doing business globally have come to a 10-year peak as deglobalization and so-called friend-shoring gain momentum, according to an analysis released in November by Verisk Maplecroft, a consulting firm. “In recent years, businesses have been blindsided by a cascade of disruptions—the pandemic, renewed conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, surging populism, intense competition for green minerals and escalating protectionism—which have forced a fundamental reset of longstanding strategies,” said Reema Bhattacharya, Verisk Maplecroft’s head of Asia research.

-Regulation, Deals and Crypto: Fintech Themes to Watch in 2025: The clouds that hung over the financial-technology industry in 2024 appear to be clearing as interest-rate cuts, recoveries in fintech stocks and promises of a looser regulatory environment in the second Trump administration paint a more promising outlook for startups. (Bloomberg)

· After capturing a windfall of investment during the period that followed the Covid-19 pandemic, the fintech industry’s vast crop of startups across payments, lending, consumer banking and other categories faced a challenging adjustment period. As venture-capital funding dried up, some fintechs cut their spending through layoffs and more-focused product strategies. Others with significant war chests held onto valuations that now appear to have been inflated during the frenzied funding period.

· These factors all combined to stall deal activity, slow growth and inspire laments of a “fintech winter.” For 2025, however, industry insiders are optimistic that the tide will turn and momentum will build around new technologies like stablecoins and that capital raising, acquisitions and public listings will begin to pick up.

-US Dockworkers, Port Employers Set to Restart Talks Next Week: Leaders from a US dockworkers’ union and the group that represents their employers are set to resume contract talks on Jan. 7 as the threat of a strike looms, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. Facing a mid-January deadline to reach a deal, Tuesday’s planned talks are a welcome sign for importers and exporters bracing for a labor disruption that would shut every major port on the US East and Gulf coasts. Those gateways account for roughly half of all the country’s container volumes, according to data compiled by the American Association of Port Authorities. (Bloomberg)

-How Health Insurers Racked Up Billions in Extra Payments From Medicare Advantage: Throughout the past year, The Wall Street Journal investigated how UnitedHealth Group and other giant insurers extracted billions in extra payments from the $450-billion-a-year Medicare Advantage system, the federal government program that outsources health benefits to private companies. (WSJ)

· The investigation, which was under way before the killing of a UnitedHealth executive in December sparked an outpouring of public rage against the industry, relied on exclusive access to billions of records of Medicare services obtained through a data-use agreement with the federal government. The Journal's analysis of those records showed how private insurers took extra payments after diagnosing patients with conditions that no doctor ever treated, recruited patients who use few services and, at times, obstructed access to care for the sickest patients.

-Big Retail Gets Bigger as Smaller Players Struggle: Big retailers already dominate Americans' lives. Their grasp on consumers is only getting stronger. The three biggest retailers by revenue in the U.S. -- Costco, Walmart and Amazon -- accounted for about 11% of total retail sales back in 2014, based on their reported figures measured against national retail sales data from the Commerce Department. Their share of the market has been growing since then. In their last three reported quarters, the behemoths selling everything from groceries to appliances made up about 17% of retail sales and roughly 57% of retail sales growth over that period. (WSJ)

· Supermarkets have been a chronic casualty of the big retailers' rise. Grocery stores accounted for about two-thirds of food-at-home spending in the U.S. in 2000, but their share shrank to 54% in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Over the same period, warehouse clubs and supercenters such as Costco and Walmart nearly doubled their market share to 23%. Amazon hasn't grown its share of the grocery market much, but it captures a sizable share of everything else: About three-fourths of U.S. households have Amazon Prime, its paid membership program, according to a 2024 survey from Evercore.

-NetChoice Can’t Block Core of California Addictive Feeds Law: Tech industry trade group NetChoice on Tuesday was unable to block the California attorney general from enforcing the core component of a law regulating how minors access “addictive algorithms” on social media platforms. (Bloomberg)

· NetChoice failed to show at this early stage of the litigation that a provision of SB 976, known as the Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act, that prohibits minors from accessing social media with “personalized feeds” would likely violate the First Amendment, Judge Edward J. Davila of the US District Court for the Northern District of California said.

· But the judge did block other elements of the law, which is set to take effect Wednesday, including limits on when notifications can be sent to minors and a requirement that companies disclose the number of minors on their platform.

-Kids, Consumers Headline State Privacy Protection Trends in 2025: State-level privacy requirements are likely to expand in 2025 with lawmakers already preparing legislation that would affect a wide swath of industries, with a particular focus on health and children’s data. (Bloomberg)

· Companies can expect states to consider broad consumer privacy measures, potentially adding to the 20 states that have already enacted such laws, privacy attorneys said. The focus on states comes as congressional efforts for a federal privacy standard stalled in 2024 and the incoming Trump administration is likely to take a lighter regulatory approach toward businesses.

· “The basic premise that we’re looking at is that, generally, there’s going to be less regulation and more push for innovation on the federal side, and so children, health care— all the sectoral privacy rights—are going to be picked up by the states,” Sharon R. Klein, partner at Blank Rome LLP, said.

· Additional states will try to pass broad consumer privacy laws that give residents more control over the personal data that companies collect and use. The specifics of state approaches have varied, such as how extensive the rights granted to consumers will be.

· States will take up proposals that boost privacy requirements for a minor’s data as well as restrict the activity of youth on social media. The specifics of the debate could depend on the fate of stalled federal legislation to address online harms. The updated text of the federal Kids Online Safety Act would preempt conflicting state laws but allow states to enact more protective measures.

· States are likely to consider regulating health data that’s not protected by the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the 1996 law that requires health-care providers and plans to keep patient health information private. States such as Washington previously enacted laws to boost privacy protections for consumer data collected by period tracking apps, fitness monitors, and other products and services that aren’t covered by HIPAA.

-‘Lawless’: Trump’s TikTok brief asks Supreme Court to overreach, legal experts say: President-elect Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to exceed its authority with his unprecedented request in the case over the federal TikTok ban, legal experts say. Trump filed a brief Friday asking the high court to suspend the law’s critical Jan. 19 deadline until after he takes office. The law — if the justices allow it to take effect — will effectively ban TikTok in the United States if the social media platform fails to cut ties with its Beijing-based owner by that date. (Politico)

· Experts said Trump had no grounds to ask to pause the TikTok law before he takes office as president, and they faulted him for requesting a “stay” of the law without taking a stance on whether the law is unconstitutional. “The fact that the law goes into effect the day before Trump is inaugurated is just too bad for Trump, but a future president cannot ask a court to delay a law,” said Alan Rozenshtein, a former official at the Department of Justice who now teaches at the University of Minnesota Law School. He said the Supreme Court “does not have the authority to pause a law that was written by Congress and enacted” without considering its constitutionality.

· The high court, of course, is weighing a constitutional challenge from TikTok, which says the law violates the First Amendment. But legal experts criticized Trump’s unconventional attempt to intervene in the dispute before taking office.

-A TikTok Ban Looms. Creators Say They’ll Believe It When They See It: Sarah Perl is adamant that TikTok isn’t getting banned—so much so that the full-time content creator isn’t making any backup plans. “It’s nothing other than business as usual for me,” said the 23-year-old from Los Angeles, who has spent four years making lifestyle content for her followers on the platform, which now number 2.5 million. Perl, who sells two products directly on TikTok and uses it to promote her coaching services, said she credits the app with enabling her to become a millionaire shortly after college. She and other creators, brands and advertisers are blazing ahead with their businesses on TikTok even as the Chinese-owned app faces a congressionally mandated ban in the U.S. within weeks, barring a last-minute intervention. (WSJ)

· Lawyers for TikTok and its parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, want the federal law overturned, and they have asked the Supreme Court to suspend the ban while they appeal a lower-court ruling upholding it. President-elect Donald Trump fueled hopes for an intervention just after Christmas when he asked the high court to stop the law from taking effect Jan. 19 as scheduled so he can pursue a solution to prevent a shutdown. Meanwhile, users are taking an I’ll-believe-it-when-I-see-it approach as they continue posting dance videos, promoting products from TikTok Shop and telling personal stories while getting ready to go out for the evening.

-China Hits Dozens of U.S. Companies With Trade Controls: 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. (WP)

· 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.

GOVERNMENT NEWS OF NOTE

-Rep. Obernolte to Steer AI Policy in Incoming Congress: The House Republican tapped by Speaker Mike Johnson to play a crucial role in Congress’ response to artificial intelligence is described as a policy wonk and good faith negotiator by Washington’s tech sphere. Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) helped craft a comprehensive roadmap to the tech that’s triggered fear and excitement globally, and says Congress has to ensure there’s a framework “that simultaneously provides the protections that Americans need, while also enabling AI innovation to thrive. (Bloomberg)

· Obernolte catapulted into the spotlight last year as the head of a bipartisan House AI task force, where he earned praise from both sides of the aisle. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), for example, said Obernolte created “a pretty collaborative environment where folks are able to really express and share thoughtful perspectives,”

· Obernolte says he wants to keep both parties talking even as Republicans take over control of both chambers and the White House this year. Americans need concrete rules of the road to navigate the fast-moving tech landscape, which shouldn’t change based on the direction the political pendulum swings, he said.

-Shifting Tax Law, IRS Priorities Bode Chaos Heading Into 2025: Tax practitioners are anticipating big changes in IRS enforcement priorities when the new administration takes over in January but also foresee an extension of most of the provisions in the 2017 GOP tax law. (Bloomberg)

· Congress and industry groups are gearing up for negotiations around which expiring provisions to keep in the 2017 law that cut taxes for corporations, partnerships, estates, and individuals. And Republicans have signaled they plan to repeal or roll back some of the energy tax credits in the Democrats’ 2022 tax-and-climate law, setting the stage for a massive tax policy debate deep into 2025.

· President-elect Donald Trump’s intent to nominate former Missouri Republican Rep. Billy Long to lead the IRS is sending signals for an agency shakeup. The decision has drawn heavy criticism from Democrats because of Long’s lack of tax and management experience. Trump also has tapped financier Scott Bessent to lead the Treasury Department, but that pick has been less contentious among lawmakers. The political unpredictability, the race to finalize some IRS rules, and the leadup to talks over a tax package are keeping tax professionals on their toes.

· “We’re going into uncharted territory,” said Steve Rosenthal, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. “Change is afoot, and we don’t know what the institutions have in mind for us. In each of the institutions, there’s an overthrowing of norms.”

-Trump Says He’ll Lobby Republicans to Back Johnson: President-elect Donald Trump said he would lobby House Republicans to help elect Mike Johnson as speaker if needed, acknowledging that some lawmakers in the party had reservations about allowing him to retain the gavel. (Bloomberg)

· The House is scheduled to vote to pick a speaker on Friday. While no declared challenger to Johnson has emerged, some Republicans worry that a clash over the position could hamper efforts to enact Trump’s agenda and even the certification of his election victory.

· The party will hold a narrow majority in the incoming House and Johnson faces criticism from some ultraconservative lawmakers after backing a temporary spending deal that failed to include the president-elect’s demands for lifting the debt ceiling. Read More

· More From Trump: Trump on Tuesday also defended his stance on H-1B visas, rejecting a suggestion that he had changed his position on an immigration program for highly skilled workers. In a recent interview with the New York Post, he said he had “always been in favor of the visas” and was a “believer in H1-B.”

· Rules Package Released: Meanwhile, House Republican leaders released a proposed rules package that would make it harder to oust a speaker. Nine members of the majority would have to back a motion to vacate the office under the plan released Wednesday. The package would also set up debate on a dozen bills at the beginning of the year.

-NC elected these 5 men as its newest members of Congress. Who are they: North Carolina voters will soon have five new men representing them in Congress. On Friday, the 119th session of Congress opens at noon, and new members will be sworn into office. But first they will have to choose a House speaker. And choosing whether to select House Speaker Mike Johnson to serve a second term has proven to be contentious, despite President-elect Donald Trump's endorsement Monday. Some Republicans are waffling on whether Johnson should lead the chamber again, and with a slim majority, he can only lose one or two Republicans in the vote. That means North Carolina Republicans will be watching closely what newly elected Reps. Addison McDowell, Mark Harris, Pat Harrigan, Brad Knott and Tim Moore do and where their loyalties within the party lie. (News & Observer)

-Biden is giving the second highest civilian award to the leaders of the Jan. 6 congressional panel: President Joe Biden is bestowing the second highest civilian medal on Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson — the lawmakers who led the congressional investigation into the violent Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot by Donald Trump's supporters, and who Trump has said should be jailed. Biden will award the Presidential Citizens Medal to 20 people in a ceremony Thursday at the White House, including Americans who fought for marriage equality, a pioneer in treating wounded soldiers, and two of the president's longtime friends, former Sens. Ted Kaufman, D-Del., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn. (AP)

· Biden is also giving the award to attorney Mary Bonauto, who fought to legalize same-sex marriage, and Evan Wolfson, a leader of the marriage equality movement. Other honorees include Frank Butler, who set new standards for using tourniquets on war injuries; Diane Carlson Evans, an Army nurse during the Vietnam War who founded the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation; and Eleanor Smeal, an activist who led women’s rights protests in the 1970s and fought for equal pay. He’s also giving the award to photographer Bobby Sager, academics Thomas Vallely and Paula Wallace, and Frances Visco, the president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition.

· Other former lawmakers being honored include former Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J.; former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, the first woman to represent Kansas; and former Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., who championed gun safety measures after her son and husband were shot to death.

· Biden will honor four people posthumously: Joseph Galloway, a former war correspondent who wrote about the first major battle in Vietnam in the book “We Were Soldiers Once … and Young”; civil rights advocate and attorney Louis Lorenzo Redding; former Delaware state judge Collins Seitz; and Mitsuye Endo Tsutsumi, who was held with other Japanese Americans during World War II and challenged the detention.

-US imposes sanctions on entities in Iran, Russia over election interference: The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on entities in Iran and Russia, accusing them of attempting to interfere in the 2024 U.S. election. The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement the entities - a subsidiary of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and an organization affiliated with Russia's military intelligence agency (GRU) - aimed to "stoke socio-political tensions and influence the U.S. electorate during the 2024 U.S. election". (Reuters)

-How an FBI Sting Stopped a Russian Smuggler but Not His Hong Kong Supply Route: It took the promise of access to contraband, an FBI front company and help from Fiji, but they got their man: U.S. investigators, in a tricky sting operation, picked off a supplier of parts Moscow needs for its war in Ukraine. The smuggler, Maxim Marchenko, was sentenced in July by a New York court to three years in prison for his role in procuring military-grade electronics for Russia. (WSJ)

· The Americans missed their ultimate goal, however: More than seven months after Marchenko’s arrest, his network was still in business, continuing to feed Russian companies with ties to its military, according to research and a review of trade and procurement data by C4ADS, a Washington-based global security nonprofit.

· The prosecution of Marchenko cast light on the extent of U.S. efforts to enforce sanctions that were imposed after Russia invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago. It also showed how difficult it is to stanch the flow of equipment to Russia through China, which the U.S. accuses of helping Moscow sustain the military production it needs to continue the war.

· The Biden administration has imposed Russia-related sanctions on more than 300 people and entities in China, including at least 75 in Hong Kong, freezing assets and restricting their ability to do business. But the trade continues to flow, aided by entities such as Marchenko’s companies in Hong Kong, a shipping hub where the leadership readily denounces Western sanctions.

-US considers potential rules to restrict or bar Chinese drones: The U.S. Commerce Department said on Thursday it is considering new rules that would impose restrictions on Chinese drones that would restrict or ban them in the United States citing national security concerns. The department said it was seeking public comments by March 4 on potential rules to safeguard the supply chain for drones, saying threats from China and Russia "may offer our adversaries the ability to remotely access and manipulate these devices, exposing sensitive U.S. data." China accounts for the vast majority of U.S. commercial drone sales. (Reuters)

-Chief Justice John Roberts defends judicial independence, says it is under threat in several ways: Chief Justice John Roberts issued a defense Tuesday of judicial independence, which he said is under threat from intimidation, disinformation and the prospect of public officials defying court orders. Roberts decried officials across the political spectrum who have raised the possibility of defying court orders and said other branches of government must be willing to enforce court orders even if they are unpopular or mark a defeat for a presidential administration. He laid out his concerns in an annual report released as Donald Trump prepares to start another term as president with an ambitions agenda that could end up before the Supreme Court. (AP)

OTHER DOMESTIC NEWS OF NOTE

-Trump says he is planning to attend Jimmy Carter's funeral: President-elect Donald Trump says he’s planning to attend the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter. Asked about it as he walked into a New Year’s Eve party at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, Trump responded, “I’ll be there.” Trump said he’d rather not say if he'd spoken to members of Carter's family. Funeral services honoring Carter, who died Sunday at age 100, will be held in Georgia and Washington, beginning Jan. 4 and concluding Jan. 9. Wearing a tuxedo as he entered the festivities Tuesday night, Trump took a few minutes of questions from reporters on various topics and said he thought 2025 would be a “great year.” (AP)

-Trump to hold DC rally day before inauguration: President-elect Trump will hold a rally in Washington the day before he is set to be inaugurated for a second term. The president-elect will hold what is being dubbed a “victory rally” at Capital One Arena on Jan. 19, according to an announcement from his inauguration committee sent out Wednesday. Trump is expected to speak, as are others, though a list of additional speakers was not immediately available. (The Hill)

-Bird Flu Outbreak Sounding Public Health Alarm for Trump’s HHS: The rise in human cases of bird flu is sparking concerns that the incoming Trump administration won’t be ready to respond to a potential public health emergency. Over 60 human cases of H5N1 bird flu have been detected in the US since April and California recently declared a state of emergency around the outbreak among dairy cows. Public health experts warn of a potentially catastrophic impact should the virus evolve to spread from human to human. (Bloomberg)

· The Biden administration’s response has drawn warnings from health experts worried the Department of Health and Human Services is moving too slowly to adequately prepare for a public health emergency. Surveillance should be farther along, said Robert Kadlec, an assistant HHS secretary during the first Trump administration. The agency ranks the public health risk as low, though it is monitoring the situation and ready with personal protective equipment, antiviral drugs, and millions of vaccine doses.

· Agency Priorities: President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the HHS, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has said he wants to emphasize attacking chronic, rather than infectious, diseases. That has raised concerns that a change in focus could come at the cost of preparing for human-to-human transmission of H5N1 bird flu.

-Rescuers find gruesome scene at a Honolulu home after a fireworks blast kills 3, injures over 20: Emergency crews arrived to a chaotic and gruesome scene in a Honolulu neighborhood after a large New Year's firework tipped over after being lit and ignited a fiery, shrapnel-studded blast that killed three people and injured more than 20 others, several of them critically. Two women died at the scene and a third woman died at a hospital, authorities said Wednesday as they implored people to abandon their New Year's tradition of setting off fireworks across the city. Officials promised tougher penalties for illegal fireworks. (AP)

-Hundreds apply for restitution for abuse suffered at Florida reform schools: Hundreds of people who say they suffered physical or sexual abuse at two state-run reform schools in Florida are in line to receive tens of thousands of dollars in restitution from the state, after Florida lawmakers formally apologized for the horrors they endured as children more than 50 years ago. At its peak in the Jim Crow 1960s, 500 boys were housed at what is now known as the Dozier School for Boys, most of them for minor offenses such as petty theft, truancy or running away from home. Orphaned and abandoned children were also sent to the school, which was open for more than a century. (AP)

· In recent years, hundreds of men have come forward to recount brutal beatings, sexual assaults, deaths and disappearances at the notorious school in the panhandle town of Marianna. Nearly 100 boys died between 1900 and 1973 at Dozier, some of them from gunshot wounds or blunt force trauma. Some of the boys’ bodies were shipped back home. Others were buried in unmarked graves that researchers only recently uncovered.

· Ahead of a Dec. 31 deadline, the state of Florida received more than 800 applications for restitution from people held at the Dozier school and its sister school in Okeechobee, Fla., attesting to the mental, physical and sexual abuse they endured at the hands of school personnel. Last year, state lawmakers allocated $20 million to be equally divided among the schools’ surviving victims.

-Nearly all of Puerto Rico is without power on New Year's Eve: A blackout has hit nearly all of Puerto Rico as the U.S. territory prepares to celebrate New Year’s. More than 1.3 million clients were without electricity early on Tuesday and officials say it could take up to two days to restore power. The private company that oversees electricity transmission and distribution says it appears the outage was caused by a failure in an underground power line. Puerto Rico continues to struggle with chronic power outages blamed on a crumbling power grid that was razed by Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm in September 2017. (AP)

-How to Detect Stoned Driving? Scientists Are Trying to Find Out: In Colorado, where America's experiment with legal recreational marijuana began a little more than a decade ago, a team of federal scientists has been paying regular cannabis users to get stoned. This unconventional line of research -- which includes vans outfitted with hippie tapestries and a sleek car simulator -- seeks to tackle what road safety experts regard as a serious blind spot as marijuana use grows nationally. (NYT)

· Law enforcement officials lack tools to detect cannabis-impaired driving as reliably as they can identify people who get behind the wheel drunk. Only a few states routinely test the blood of drivers involved in serious accidents for marijuana, and as a result, little is known about how cannabis use is affecting road safety. Police officers generally need a warrant to compel a driver suspected of being impaired to provide a blood sample.

· Even when blood samples are analyzed, tests cannot reliably establish whether a person last used marijuana hours before the accident or several days prior, making the tests an imprecise gauge of impairment. Complicating matters, state laws on cannabis-impaired driving are inconsistent and confusing, which has made them difficult for the police to enforce and for motorists to understand.

-Western North Carolina nonprofits, business owners eager for latest relief funds: On Wednesday, Senate Bill 382 officially became law in North Carolina, providing hundreds of millions in new Hurricane relief funding for western North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene. The controversial bill carves out $227 million in new aid but ties it to changes in the political landscape -- including reforms that strip certain powers away from the incoming governor and attorney general. (WTVD)

· As that money comes online, western North Carolina nonprofits and business owners say the new funds can't come soon enough. "Having any additional money is going to be phenomenal, and it's needed really bad," said Bradley Honeycutt, founder of Appalachian Disaster Coalition. Honeycutt started the no-profit after Helene tore its path through the mountains, including his hometown of Burnsville. The coalition collects aid and supplies from across the country and gets it to the mountains, and also fundraises for efforts such as heating and homebuilding.