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Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump received a Bachelor of Science in economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, and his father named him president of his real estate business in 1971. Trump renamed it the Trump Organization and reoriented the company toward building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. After a series of business failures in the late twentieth century, he successfully launched side ventures that required little capital, mostly by licensing the Trump name. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice. He and his businesses have been plaintiff or defendant in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six business bankruptcies. Trump won the 2016 presidential election as the Republican Party nominee against Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote.[a] During the campaign, his political positions were described as populist, protectionist, isolationist, and nationalist. His election and policies sparked numerous protests. He was the first U.S. president with no prior military or government experience. The 2017–2019 special counsel investigation established that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to favor Trump's campaign. Trump promoted conspiracy theories and made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged or racist and many as misogynistic. As president, Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted military funding toward building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, and implemented a policy of family separations for migrants detained at the U.S. border. He weakened environmental protections, rolling back more than 100 environmental policies and regulations. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses and rescinded the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act. He appointed Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. He reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials, used political pressure to interfere with testing efforts, and spread misinformation about unproven treatments. Trump initiated a trade war with China and withdrew the U.S. from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times but made no progress on denuclearization. Trump refused to concede after losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, falsely claiming widespread electoral fraud, and attempted to overturn the results by pressuring government officials, mounting scores of unsuccessful legal challenges, and obstructing the presidential transition. On January 6, 2021, he urged his supporters to march to the U.S. Capitol, which many of them then attacked, resulting in multiple deaths and interrupting the electoral vote count. Trump is the only American president to have been impeached twice. After he tried to pressure Ukraine in 2019 to investigate Biden, he was impeached by the House of Representatives for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress; he was acquitted by the Senate in February 2020. The House impeached him again in January 2021, for incitement of insurrection, and the Senate acquitted him in February. Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.[1][2] Since leaving office, Trump has remained the de facto leader of the Republican Party and is a candidate in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries. In 2023, a civil trial jury found that Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll. He was also indicted in New York on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, in Florida on 40 felony counts related to his mishandling of classified documents, in Washington, D.C., on four felony counts of conspiracy and obstruction for efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and in Georgia on 13 charges of racketeering and other alleged felonies committed in an effort to overturn the state's 2020 election results. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. Personal life Early life A black-and-white photograph of Donald Trump as a teenager, smiling, wearing a dark pseudo-military uniform with various badges and a light-colored stripe crossing his right shoulder Trump at the New York Military Academy in 1964 Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, New York City,[3] the fourth child of Fred Trump, a Bronx-born real estate developer whose parents were German immigrants, and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, an immigrant from Scotland. Trump grew up with older siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth and younger brother Robert in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens, and attended the private Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade.[4][5][6] At age 13, he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school,[7] and, in 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a Bachelor of Science in economics.[8][9] In 2015, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened Trump's colleges, high school, and the College Board with legal action if they released Trump's academic records.[10] While in college, Trump obtained four student draft deferments during the Vietnam War era.[11] In 1966, he was deemed fit for military service based upon a medical examination, and in July 1968, a local draft board classified him as eligible to serve.[12] In October 1968, he was classified 1-Y, a conditional medical deferment,[13] and in 1972, he was reclassified 4-F due to bone spurs, permanently disqualifying him from service.[14] Family Main article: Family of Donald Trump In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková.[15] They had three children: Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988.[16] The couple divorced in 1990, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples.[17] Trump and Maples married in 1993 and divorced in 1999. They have one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993), who was raised by Marla in California.[18] In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss.[19] They have one son, Barron (born 2006).[20] Melania gained U.S. citizenship in 2006.[21] Religion Trump went to Sunday school and was confirmed in 1959 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens.[22][23] In the 1970s, his parents joined the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, which belongs to the Reformed Church in America.[22][24] The pastor at Marble, Norman Vincent Peale,[22] ministered to the family until his death in 1993.[24] Trump has described him as a mentor.[25] In 2015, the church stated that Trump was not an active member.[23] In 2019, he appointed his personal pastor, televangelist Paula White, to the White House Office of Public Liaison.[26] In 2020, he said he identified as a non-denominational Christian.[27] Health habits Trump has called golfing his "primary form of exercise" but usually does not walk the course.[28] He considers exercise a waste of energy because he believes exercise depletes the body's energy "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy".[29] In 2015, Trump's campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein, stating that Trump would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency".[30] In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter and that three Trump agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on the doctor's office.[30][31] Wealth Main article: Wealth of Donald Trump Ivana Trump and King Fahd shake hands, with Ronald Reagan standing next to them smiling. All are in black formal attire. Trump (far right) and wife Ivana in the receiving line of a state dinner for King Fahd of Saudi Arabia in 1985, with U.S. president Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan In 1982, Trump made the initial Forbes list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200 million net worth (equivalent to $606 million in 2022).[32] His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995.[33] After filing the mandatory financial disclosure report with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4 billion in assets and $265 million in liabilities.[34] Forbes estimated his net worth dropped by $1.4 billion between 2015 and 2018.[35] In their 2021 billionaires ranking, Trump's net worth was estimated to be $2.4 billion (1,299th in the world).[36] Journalist Jonathan Greenberg reported that Trump called him in 1984, pretending to be a fictional Trump Organization official named "John Barron". Greenberg said that Trump, speaking as "Barron", falsely asserted that he owned more than 90 percent of his father's business to get a higher ranking for himself on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Greenberg also wrote that Forbes had vastly overestimated Trump's wealth and wrongly included him on the Forbes 400 rankings of 1982, 1983, and 1984.[37] Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father and that he had to pay it back with interest.[38] He was a millionaire by age eight, borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely failed to repay those loans, and received another $413 million (2018 dollars adjusted for inflation) from his father's company.[39][40] In 2018, he and his family were reported to have committed tax fraud, and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance started an investigation.[40] His investments underperformed the stock and New York property markets.[41][42] Forbes estimated in October 2018 that his net worth declined from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion in 2017 and his product-licensing income from $23 million to $3 million.[43] Contrary to his claims of financial health and business acumen, Trump's tax returns from 1985 to 1994 show net losses totaling $1.17 billion. The losses were higher than those of almost every other American taxpayer. The losses in 1990 and 1991, more than $250 million each year, were more than double those of the nearest taxpayers. In 1995, his reported losses were $915.7 million (equivalent to $1.76 billion in 2022).[44][45][32] In 2020, the New York Times obtained Trump's tax information extending over two decades. Its reporters found that Trump reported losses of hundreds of millions of dollars and had, since 2010, deferred declaring $287 million in forgiven debt as taxable income. His income mainly came from his share in The Apprentice and businesses in which he was a minority partner, and his losses mainly from majority-owned businesses. Much income was in tax credits for his losses, which let him avoid annual income tax payments or lower them to $750. During the 2010s, Trump balanced his businesses' losses by selling and borrowing against assets, including a $100 million mortgage on Trump Tower (due in 2022) and the liquidation of over $200 million in stocks and bonds. He personally guaranteed $421 million in debt, most of which is due by 2024.[46] As of October 2021, Trump had over $1.3 billion in total debts, much of which is secured by his assets.[47] In 2020, he owed $640 million to banks and trust organizations, including Bank of China, Deutsche Bank, and UBS, and approximately $450 million to unknown creditors. The value of his assets exceeds his debt.[48] Business career Main article: Business career of Donald Trump Further information: Business projects of Donald Trump in Russia Real estate Exterior ground view of Trump tower, a contemporary skyscraper with a glass curtain and stepped façade Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father's real estate company, Trump Management, which owned racially segregated middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs.[49][50] In 1971, he became president of the company and began using the Trump Organization as an umbrella brand.[51] Between 1991 and 2009, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for six of his businesses, the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, the casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts company.[52] Manhattan developments Trump attracted public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first Manhattan venture, the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal.[53] The financing was facilitated by a $400 million city property tax abatement arranged for Trump by his father who also, jointly with Hyatt, guaranteed a $70 million bank construction loan.[50][54] The hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel,[55] and that same year, Trump obtained rights to develop Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan.[56] The building houses the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was Trump's primary residence until 2019.[57][58] In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel with a loan from a consortium of sixteen banks.[59] The hotel filed for bankruptcy protection in 1992, and a reorganization plan was approved a month later, with the banks taking control of the property.[60] In 1995, Trump defaulted on over $3 billion of bank loans, and the lenders seized the Plaza Hotel along with most of his other properties in a humiliating restructuring that allowed Trump to avoid personal bankruptcy.[61][62] The lead bank's attorney said of the banks' decision that they "all agreed that he'd be better alive than dead."[62] In 1996, Trump acquired the mostly vacant 71-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street, later rebranded as the Trump Building, and renovated it.[63] In the early 1990s, Trump won the right to develop a 70-acre (28 ha) tract in the Lincoln Square neighborhood near the Hudson River. Struggling with debt from other ventures in 1994, Trump sold most of his interest in the project to Asian investors, who were able to finance the project's completion, Riverside South.[64] Atlantic City casinos The entrance of the Trump Taj Mahal, a casino in Atlantic City. It has motifs evocative of the Taj Mahal in India. Entrance of the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino, with financing and management help from the Holiday Corporation.[65] It was unprofitable, and Trump paid Holiday $70 million in May 1986 to take sole control.[66] In 1985, Trump bought the unopened Atlantic City Hilton Hotel and renamed it Trump Castle.[67] His wife Ivana managed it until 1988.[68] Both casinos filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1992.[69] Trump bought a third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal. It was financed with $675 million in junk bonds and completed for $1.1 billion, opening in April 1990.[70][71] Trump filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1991. Under the provisions of the restructuring agreement, Trump gave up half his initial stake and personally guaranteed future performance.[72] To reduce his $900 million of personal debt, he sold the Trump Shuttle airline; his megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been leased to his casinos and kept docked; and other businesses.[73] In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of the Trump Plaza.[74] THCR purchased the Taj Mahal and the Trump Castle in 1996 and went bankrupt in 2004 and 2009, leaving Trump with 10 percent ownership.[65] He remained chairman until 2009.[75] Mar-a-Lago Main article: Mar-a-Lago In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.[76] In 1995, he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues. He continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence.[77] In 2019, Trump declared Mar-a-Lago his primary residence.[58] Golf courses Main article: Donald Trump and golf The Trump Organization began building and buying golf courses in 1999.[78] It owns fourteen and manages another three Trump-branded courses worldwide.[78][79] Trump visited a Trump Organization property on 428 (nearly one in three) of the 1,461 days of his presidency and is estimated to have played 261 rounds of golf, one every 5.6 days.[80] Licensing of the Trump brand See also: List of things named after Donald Trump The Trump name has been licensed for various consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, adult learning courses, and home furnishings.[81][82] According to an analysis by The Washington Post, there are more than 50 licensing or management deals involving Trump's name, and they have generated at least $59 million in revenue for his companies.[83] By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license his name.[81] Side ventures Trump, Doug Flutie, and an unnamed official standing behind a lectern with big, round New Jersey Generals sign, with members of the press seated in the background Trump and New Jersey Generals quarterback Doug Flutie at a 1985 press conference in the lobby of Trump Tower In September 1983, Trump purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the United States Football League. After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely due to Trump's strategy of moving games to a fall schedule (when they competed with the NFL for audience) and trying to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust suit against the organization.[84][85] Trump's businesses have hosted several boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall, adjacent to and promoted as taking place at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City.[86][87] In 1989 and 1990, Trump lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, which was an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia.[88] From 1986 to 1988, Trump purchased significant blocks of shares in various public companies while suggesting that he intended to take over the company and then sold his shares for a profit,[44] leading some observers to think he was engaged in greenmail.[89] The New York Times found that Trump initially made millions of dollars in such stock transactions, but later "lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously".[44] In 1988, Trump purchased the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle, financing the purchase with $380 million (equivalent to $940 million in 2022)[32] in loans from a syndicate of 22 banks. He renamed the airline Trump Shuttle and operated it until 1992.[90] Trump defaulted on his loans in 1991, and ownership passed to the banks.[91] The airline was eventually sold to US Airways.[90] A red star with a bronze outline and "Donald Trump" and a TV icon written on it in bronze, embedded in a black terrazzo sidewalk Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne, Elizabeth, and Robert, and his cousin John W. Walter, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units, then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20–50 percent and more. The owners shared the proceeds generated by the markups.[40][92] The increased costs were used as justification to get state approval for increasing the rents of Trump's rent-stabilized units.[40] From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned all or part of the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA.[93][94] Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002.[95][96] In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe.[97] NBC and Univision dropped the pageants from their broadcasting lineups in June 2015.[98] Trump University Main article: Trump University In 2004, Trump co-founded Trump University, a company that sold real estate training courses priced from $1,500 to $35,000.[99] After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of the word "university" violated state law (as it was not an academic institution), its name was changed to the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.[100] In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers.[101] In addition, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal documents revealed that employees were instructed to use a hard-sell approach, and former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students.[102][103][104] Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, Trump agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the three cases.[105] Foundation Main article: Donald J. Trump Foundation The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988.[106][107] In the foundation's final years, its funds mostly came from donors other than Trump, who did not donate any personal funds to the charity from 2009 until 2014.[108] The foundation gave to health-care- and sports-related charities, as well as conservative groups.[109] In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion.[110] Also in 2016, the New York Attorney General determined the foundation to be in violation of state law for soliciting donations and ordered it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York.[111] Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.[112] In June 2018, the New York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties.[113][114] In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed its assets to other charities.[115] In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign.[116][117] Legal affairs and bankruptcies Main article: Legal affairs of Donald Trump Roy Cohn was Trump's fixer, lawyer, and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s.[118] According to Trump, Cohn sometimes waived fees due to their friendship.[118] In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the United States government for $100 million (equivalent to $659 million in 2022)[32] over its charges that Trump's properties had racial discriminatory practices. Trump's counterclaims were dismissed, and the government's case went forward, ultimately resulting in a settlement.[119] In 1975, an agreement was struck requiring Trump's properties to furnish the New York Urban League with a list of all apartment vacancies, every week for two years, among other things.[120] Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government.[121] According to a review of state and federal court files conducted by USA Today in 2018, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions.[122] While Trump has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009.[123] They continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced Trump's shares in the properties.[123] During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion.[124] After his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks, with the exception of Deutsche Bank, declined to lend to him.[125] After the January 6 United States Capitol attack, the bank decided not to do business with Trump or his company in the future.[126] Media career Main article: Media career of Donald Trump Books Main article: Bibliography of Donald Trump Using ghostwriters, Trump has produced up to 19 books on business, financial, or political topics under his name.[127] His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller. While Trump was credited as co-author, the entire book was written by Tony Schwartz.[128] According to The New Yorker, "The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon."[128] Trump has called the volume his second favorite book, after the Bible.[129] Film and television Main article: Media career of Donald Trump Trump made cameo appearances in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001.[130] Trump had a sporadic relationship with the professional wrestling promotion WWE since the late 1980s.[131] He appeared at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.[132] Trump, in a suit, sits in a crowded baseball stadium Trump at a New York Mets baseball game in 2009 Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show.[133] He also had his own short form talk radio program called Trumped! (one to two minutes on weekdays) from 2004 to 2008.[134][135] From 2011 until 2015, he was a weekly unpaid guest commentator on Fox & Friends.[136][137] From 2004 to 2015, Trump was co-producer and host of reality shows The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice. Trump played a flattering, highly fictionalized version of himself as a superrich and successful chief executive who eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "You're fired". The shows remade his image for millions of viewers nationwide.[138][139] With the related licensing agreements, they earned him more than $400 million which he invested in largely unprofitable businesses.[140] In February 2021, Trump resigned from the Screen Actors Guild he had been a member of since 1989 rather than face a disciplinary committee hearing for inciting the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and for his "reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists".[141] Two days later, the union permanently barred him from readmission.[142] Political career Further information: Political career of Donald Trump Donald Trump shakes hands with Bill Clinton in a lobby; Trump is speaking and Clinton is smiling, and both are wearing suits. Trump and President Bill Clinton in June 2000 Trump's political party affiliation has changed numerous times. He registered as a Republican in 1987;[143] a member of the Independence Party, the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999;[144] a Democrat in 2001; a Republican in 2009; unaffiliated in 2011; and a Republican in 2012.[143] In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers,[145] expressing his views on foreign policy and on how to eliminate the federal budget deficit.[146] He ruled out running for local office but not for the presidency.[145] In 1988, he approached Lee Atwater, asking to be put into consideration to be Republican nominee George H. W. Bush's running mate. Bush found the request "strange and unbelievable".[147] Presidential campaigns (2000–2016) In 2000, Trump ran in the California and Michigan primaries for nomination as the Reform Party candidate for the 2000 United States presidential election but withdrew from the race in February 2000.[148][149][150] A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.[151] Trump, leaning heavily onto a lectern, with his mouth open mid-speech and a woman clapping politely next to him Trump speaking at CPAC 2011 In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2011 and giving speeches in early primary states.[152][153] In May 2011, he announced he would not run,[152] and he endorsed Mitt Romney in February 2012.[154] Trump's presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.[155] 2016 presidential campaign Main article: Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign Further information: 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries and 2016 United States presidential election § General election campaign Trump's fame and provocative statements earned him an unprecedented amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries.[156] He adopted the phrase "truthful hyperbole", coined by his ghostwriter Tony Schwartz, to describe his public speaking style.[128][157] His campaign statements were often opaque and suggestive,[158] and a record number of them were false.[159][160][161] The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has."[162][163] Trump said he disdained political correctness and frequently made claims of media bias.[164][165] Trump speaking in front of an American flag behind a lectern, wearing a black suit and red hat. The lectern sports a blue "TRUMP" sign. Trump campaigning in Arizona, March 2016 Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015.[166][167] His campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls.[168] He became the front-runner in March 2016[169] and was declared the presumptive Republican nominee in May.[170] Hillary Clinton led Trump in national polling averages throughout the campaign, but, in early July, her lead narrowed.[171][172] In mid-July Trump selected Indiana governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate,[173] and the two were officially nominated at the 2016 Republican National Convention.[174] Trump and Clinton faced off in three presidential debates in September and October 2016. Trump twice refused to say whether he would accept the result of the election.[175] Campaign rhetoric and political positions Main article: Political positions of Donald Trump Trump's political positions and his rhetoric were right-wing populist.[176][177][178] Politico described them as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory", quoting a health-care policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute as saying that his political positions were "a total random assortment of whatever plays publicly".[179] NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign.[180] Trump questioned the need for NATO and espoused views that were described as isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist.[181] His campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building a new wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. Other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement, modernizing and expediting services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes for all economic classes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated a largely non-interventionist approach to foreign policy while increasing military spending, extreme vetting or banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries[182] to pre-empt domestic Islamic terrorism, and aggressive military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He described NATO as "obsolete".[183][184] Trump helped bring far-right fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream.[185] Trump was slow to disavow an endorsement from David Duke after he was questioned about it during a CNN interview on February 28, 2016.[186] Duke enthusiastically supported Trump and said he and like-minded people voted for Trump because of his promises to "take our country back".[187][188] In August 2016, Trump hired Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News—described by Bannon as "the platform for the alt-right"—as his campaign CEO.[189] The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported Trump's candidacy, due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration.[190][191][192] Financial disclosures Further information: Tax returns of Donald Trump Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $315 million.[34][193] Trump did not release his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015 to do so if he ran for office.[194][195] He said his tax returns were being audited, and that his lawyers had advised him against releasing them.[196] After a lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the Manhattan district attorney for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by Trump to the United States Supreme Court, in February 2021 the high court allowed the records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury.[197][198] In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that Trump had declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years.[199] Election to the presidency Main article: 2016 United States presidential election Electoral college map, depicting Trump winning many states in the South and Midwest and Biden winning many states in the Northeast and Pacific West 2016 electoral vote results. Trump won 304–227 On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Clinton, though, after elector defections on both sides, the official count was ultimately 304 to 227.[200] Trump, the fifth person to be elected president while losing the popular vote, received nearly 2.9 million fewer votes than Clinton.[201] He also was the only president who neither served in the military nor held any government office prior to becoming president.[202] Trump's victory was a political upset.[203] Polls had consistently shown Clinton with a nationwide—though diminishing—lead, as well as an advantage in most of the competitive states. Trump's support had been modestly underestimated, while Clinton's had been overestimated.[204] Trump won 30 states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, states which had been considered a blue wall of Democratic strongholds since the 1990s. Clinton won 20 states and the District of Columbia. Trump's victory marked the return of an undivided Republican government—a Republican White House combined with Republican control of both chambers of Congress.[205] Pennsylvania Ave., completely packed with protesters, mostly women, many wearing pink and holding signs with progressive feminist slogans Women's March in Washington on January 21, 2017 Trump's election victory sparked protests in major U.S. cities in the days following the election.[206][207] On the day after Trump's inauguration, an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including an estimated half million in Washington, D.C., protested against Trump in the Women's Marches.[208] Presidency (2017–2021) Main article: Presidency of Donald Trump For a chronological guide, see Timeline of the Donald Trump presidency. Early actions See also: Presidential transition of Donald Trump and First 100 days of Donald Trump's presidency Trump, with his family watching, raises his right hand and places his left hand on the Bible as he takes the oath of office. Roberts stands opposite him administering the oath. Trump is sworn in as president by Chief Justice John Roberts. Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2017. During his first week in office, he signed six executive orders, which authorized: interim procedures in anticipation of repealing the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, advancement of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline construction projects, reinforcement of border security, and a planning and design process to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.[209] Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner became his assistant and senior advisor, respectively.[210][211] Conflicts of interest Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust run by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr., and a business associate.[212][213] Though he said he would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued expansions of its operations in Dubai, Scotland, and the Dominican Republic. Trump continued to profit from his businesses and to know how his administration's policies affected his businesses.[213][214] He was sued for violating the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, marking the first time that the clauses had been substantively litigated.[215] One case was dismissed in lower court.[216] Two were dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court as moot after the end of Trump's term.[217] Domestic policy Economy Main article: Economic policy of the Donald Trump administration Trump speaks at a lectern, with a crowd in front of and behind him. A banner behind him reads "Buy American – Hire American" Trump speaks to automobile workers in Michigan, March 2017. Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American history,[218] which began in June 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the COVID-19 recession began.[219] In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The bill had been passed by both Republican-controlled chambers of Congress without any Democratic votes. It reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals, with business tax cuts to be permanent and individual tax cuts set to expire after 2025, and eliminated the penalty associated with Affordable Care Act's individual mandate.[220][221] The Trump administration claimed that the act would either increase tax revenues or pay for itself by prompting economic growth. Instead, revenues in 2018 were 7.6 percent lower than projected.[222] Despite a campaign promise to eliminate the national debt in eight years, Trump approved large increases in government spending and the 2017 tax cut. As a result, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1 trillion in 2019.[223] Under Trump, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75 trillion by the end of his term, and the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio hit a post-World War II high.[224] Trump also failed to deliver the $1 trillion infrastructure spending plan on which he had campaigned.[225] Trump is the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce than when he took office, by 3 million people.[218] Climate change, environment, and energy Main article: Environmental policy of the Donald Trump administration Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change.[226][227] He reduced the budget for renewable energy research by 40 percent and reversed Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change.[228] In June 2017, Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation in the world to not ratify the agreement.[229] Trump aimed to boost the production and exports of fossil fuels.[230][231] Natural gas expanded under Trump, but coal continued to decline.[232][233] Trump rolled back more than 100 federal environmental regulations, including those that curbed greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Trump's actions while president have been called "a very aggressive attempt to rewrite our laws and reinterpret the meaning of environmental protections".[234] Deregulation In January 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13771, which directed that, for every new regulation, federal agencies "identify" two existing regulations for elimination, though it did not require elimination.[235] He dismantled many federal regulations on health,[236][237] labor,[238][237] and the environment,[239][237] among other topics. Trump signed 14 Congressional Review Act resolutions repealing federal regulations, including a bill that made it easier for severely mentally ill persons to buy guns.[240] During his first six weeks in office, he delayed, suspended, or reversed ninety federal regulations,[241] often "after requests by the regulated industries".[242] The Institute for Policy Integrity found that 78 percent of Trump's proposals were blocked by courts or did not prevail over litigation.[243] Health care During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).[244] In office, he scaled back the Act's implementation through executive orders 13765[245] and 13813.[246] Trump expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment.[247][248] Trump falsely claimed he saved the coverage of pre-existing conditions provided by the ACA.[249] In June 2018, the Trump administration joined 18 Republican-led states in arguing before the Supreme Court that the elimination of the financial penalties associated with the individual mandate had rendered the ACA unconstitutional.[250][251] If they had succeeded, it would have eliminated health insurance coverage for up to 23 million Americans.[250] During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for Medicare and other social safety-net programs, but in January 2020, he suggested he was willing to consider cuts to such programs.[252] In response to the opioid epidemic, Trump signed legislation in 2018 to increase funding for drug treatments but was widely criticized for failing to make a concrete strategy. U.S. opioid overdose deaths declined slightly in 2018 but surged to a record 50,052 deaths in 2019.[253] Social issues Main article: Social policy of Donald Trump Trump barred organizations that provide abortions or abortion referrals from receiving federal funds.[254] He said he supported "traditional marriage" but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue.[255] In March 2017, his administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBT people.[256] Trump's attempted rollback of anti-discrimination protections for transgender patients in August 2020 was halted by a federal judge after the Supreme Court's ruling in July had extended employees' civil rights protections to gender identity and sexual orientation.[257] Trump has said he is opposed to gun control in general, although his views have shifted over time.[258] After several mass shootings during his term, he said he would propose legislation related to guns, but he abandoned that effort in November 2019.[259] His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.[260] Trump is a long-time advocate of capital punishment.[261][262] Under his administration, the federal government executed 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined and after a 17-year moratorium.[263] In 2016, Trump said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding[264][265] but later appeared to recant this due to the opposition of Defense Secretary James Mattis.[266] Pardons and commutations Further information: List of people granted executive clemency by Donald Trump Trump granted 237 requests for clemency, fewer than all presidents since 1900 with the exception of George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.[267] Only 25 of them had been vetted by the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney; the others were granted to people with personal or political connections to him, his family, and his allies, or recommended by celebrities.[268][269] From 2017 to 2019, he pardoned, amongst others, former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine;[270] and right-wing commentator Dinesh D'Souza.[271] Following a request by celebrity Kim Kardashian, Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted of drug trafficking.[272] Trump also pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American servicemen convicted or accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.[273] In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre;[274] white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik;[275] daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner;[269] and five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections. Among them were Michael Flynn; Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July; and Paul Manafort.[276] In his last full day in office, Trump granted 73 pardons, including to Steve Bannon and Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy, and commuted 70 sentences.[277] Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op Main article: Donald Trump photo op at St. John's Church Trump and group of officials and advisors on the way from White House complex to St. John's Church On June 1, 2020, federal law-enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House.[278][279] Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos.[278][280] Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".[281] Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself.[282] Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police-brutality protesters.[283] Immigration Main article: Immigration policy of Donald Trump Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter and contentious debate during the campaign. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–United States border to restrict illegal movement and vowed Mexico would pay for it.[284] He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States,[285] and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies".[286] As president, he frequently described illegal immigration as an "invasion" and conflated immigrants with the criminal gang MS-13,[287] though available research shows undocumented immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans.[288][289] Trump attempted to drastically escalate immigration enforcement, including implementing harsher immigration enforcement policies against asylum seekers from Central America than any modern U.S. president.[290][291] From 2018 onward, Trump deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border[292] to stop most Central American migrants from seeking U.S. asylum. In 2020, his administration widened the public charge rule to further restrict immigrants who might use government benefits from getting permanent residency via green cards.[293] Trump reduced the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. to record lows. When Trump took office, the annual limit was 110,000; Trump set a limit of 18,000 in the 2020 fiscal year and 15,000 in the 2021 fiscal year.[294][295] Additional restrictions implemented by the Trump administration caused significant bottlenecks in processing refugee applications, resulting in fewer refugees accepted compared to the allowed limits.[296] Travel ban Main article: Trump travel ban Further information: Executive Order 13769 and Executive Order 13780 Following the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Trump proposed to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented.[297] He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".[298] On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order took effect immediately and without warning, causing confusion and chaos at airports.[299][300] Protests against the ban began at airports the next day.[299][300] Legal challenges to the order resulted in nationwide preliminary injunctions.[301] A March 6 revised order, which excluded Iraq and gave other exemptions, again was blocked by federal judges in three states.[302][303] In a decision in June 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States".[304] The temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24, 2017, which restricted travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further banned travelers from North Korea and Chad, along with certain Venezuelan officials.[305] After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December 4, 2017,[306] and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a June 2019 ruling.[307] Family separation at border Main article: Trump administration family separation policy Children sitting within a wire mesh compartment Children and juveniles in a wire mesh compartment, showing sleeping mats and thermal blankets on floor Children sitting within a wire mesh compartment in the Ursula detention facility in McAllen, Texas, June 2018 The Trump administration separated more than 5,400 children of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border, a sharp increase in the number of family separations at the border starting from the summer of 2017.[308][309] In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a "zero tolerance" policy whereby every adult suspected of illegal entry would be criminally prosecuted.[310] This resulted in family separations, as the migrant adults were put in criminal detention for prosecution, while their children were separated as unaccompanied alien minors.[311] Administration officials described the policy as a way to deter illegal immigration.[312] The policy of family separations was unprecedented in previous administrations and sparked public outrage.[312][313] Trump falsely asserted that his administration was merely following the law, blaming Democrats, despite the separations being his administration's policy.[314][315][316] Although Trump originally argued that the separations could not be stopped by an executive order, he acceded to intense public objection and signed an executive order on June 20, 2018, mandating that migrant families be detained together unless "there is a concern" doing so would pose a risk to the child.[317][318] On June 26, 2018, Judge Dana Sabraw concluded that the Trump administration had "no system in place to keep track of" the separated children, nor any effective measures for family communication and reunification;[319] Sabraw ordered for the families to be reunited and family separations stopped except in limited circumstances.[320] After the federal-court order, the Trump administration separated more than a thousand migrant children from their families; the ACLU contended that the Trump administration had abused its discretion and asked Sabraw to more narrowly define the circumstances warranting separation.[309] Trump wall and government shutdown Main articles: Trump wall and 2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown Trump speaks with U.S. Border Patrol agents. Behind him are black SUVs, four short border wall prototype designs, and the current border wall in the background Trump examines border wall prototypes in Otay Mesa, California. One of Trump's central campaign promises was to build a 1,000-mile (1,600 km) border wall to Mexico and have Mexico pay for it.[321] By the end of his term, the U.S. had built "40 miles [64 km] of new primary wall and 33 miles [53 km] of secondary wall" in locations where there had been no barriers and 365 miles (587 km) of primary or secondary border fencing replacing dilapidated or outdated barriers.[322] In 2018, Trump refused to sign any appropriations bill from Congress unless it allocated $5.6 billion in funds for the border wall,[323] resulting in the federal government partially shutting down for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history.[324][325] Around 800,000 government employees were furloughed or worked without pay.[326] Trump and Congress ended the shutdown by approving temporary funding that provided delayed payments to government workers but no funds for the wall.[324] The shutdown resulted in an estimated permanent loss of $3 billion to the economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office.[327] About half of those polled blamed Trump for the shutdown, and Trump's approval ratings dropped.[328] To prevent another imminent shutdown in February 2019, Congress passed and Trump signed a funding bill that included $1.375 billion for 55 miles (89 km) of bollard border fencing.[329] Trump also declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, intending to divert $6.1 billion of funds Congress had allocated to other purposes.[329] Trump vetoed a joint resolution to overturn the declaration, and the Senate voted against a veto override.[330] Legal challenges to the diversion of $2.5 billion originally meant for the Department of Defense's drug interdiction efforts[331][332] and $3.6 billion originally meant for military construction[333][334] were unsuccessful. Foreign policy Main article: Foreign policy of the Donald Trump administration See also: List of international presidential trips made by Donald Trump Trump and other G7 leaders sit at a conference table Trump with the other G7 leaders at the 45th summit in France, 2019 Trump described himself as a "nationalist"[335] and his foreign policy as "America First".[336] His foreign policy was marked by praise and support of populist, neo-nationalist, and authoritarian governments.[337] Hallmarks of foreign relations during Trump's tenure included unpredictability and uncertainty,[336] a lack of a consistent foreign policy,[338] and strained and sometimes antagonistic relationships with the U.S.'s European allies.[339] He criticized NATO allies and privately suggested on multiple occasions that the United States should withdraw from the alliance.[340][341] Trade See also: Trump tariffs Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations,[342] imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports,[343] and launched a trade war with China by sharply increasing tariffs on 818 categories (worth $50 billion) of Chinese goods imported into the U.S.[344] While Trump said that import tariffs are paid by China into the U.S. Treasury, they are paid by American companies that import goods from China.[345] Although he pledged during the campaign to significantly reduce the U.S.'s large trade deficits, the trade deficit in July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, "was the largest monthly deficit since July 2008".[346] Following a 2017–2018 renegotiation, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) became effective in July 2020 as the successor to NAFTA.[347] Russia Trump and Putin, both seated, lean over and shake hands Putin and Trump shaking hands at the G20 Osaka summit, June 2019 The Trump administration, according to Reuters, "water[ed] down the toughest penalties the U.S. had imposed on Russian entities" after its 2014 annexation of Crimea.[348][349] Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian non-compliance,[350] and supported a potential return of Russia to the G7.[351] Trump repeatedly praised and rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin[352][353] but opposed some actions of the Russian government.[354][355] After he met Putin at the Helsinki Summit in July 2018, Trump drew bipartisan criticism for accepting Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.[356][357][358] Trump did not discuss alleged Russian bounties offered to Taliban fighters for attacking American soldiers in Afghanistan with Putin, saying both that he doubted the intelligence and that he was not briefed on it.[359] China Before and during his presidency, Trump repeatedly accused China of taking unfair advantage of the U.S.[360] As president, Trump launched a trade war against China that was widely characterized as a failure,[361][362][363] sanctioned Huawei for its alleged ties to Iran,[364] significantly increased visa restrictions on Chinese students and scholars,[365] and classified China as a currency manipulator.[366] Trump also juxtaposed verbal attacks on China with praise of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping,[367] which was attributed to trade war negotiations with the leader.[368] After initially praising China for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic,[369] he began a campaign of criticism over its response starting in March 2020.[370] Trump said he resisted punishing China for its human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region for fear of jeopardizing trade negotiations.[371] In July 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against senior Chinese officials, in response to expanded mass detention camps holding more than a million of the country's Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority.[372] North Korea See also: 2018–19 Korean peace process Trump and Kim shake hands on a stage with U.S. and North Korean flags in the background Trump meets Kim Jong Un at the Singapore summit, June 2018. In 2017, when North Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat,[373] Trump escalated his rhetoric, warning that North Korean aggression would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen".[374][375] In 2017, Trump declared that he wanted North Korea's "complete denuclearization", and engaged in name-calling with leader Kim Jong Un.[374][376] After this period of tension, Trump and Kim exchanged at least 27 letters in which the two men described a warm personal friendship.[377][378] Trump met Kim three times: in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019, and in the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2019.[379] Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader or to set foot on North Korean soil.[379] Trump also lifted some U.S. sanctions against North Korea.[380] However, no denuclearization agreement was reached,[381] and talks in October 2019 broke down after one day.[382] While conducting no nuclear tests since 2017, North Korea continued to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.[383][384] Afghanistan U.S. and Taliban officials stand spaced apart in a formal room U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meeting with Taliban delegation in Qatar in September 2020 U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan increased from 8,500 in January 2017 to 14,000 a year later,[385] reversing Trump's pre-election position critical of further involvement in Afghanistan.[386] In February 2020, the Trump administration signed a conditional peace agreement with the Taliban, which called for the withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months "contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies" and for the U.S. to seek the release of 5,000 Taliban imprisoned by the Afghan government.[387][388][389] By the end of Trump's term, 5,000 Taliban had been released, and, despite the Taliban continuing attacks on Afghan forces and integrating Al-Qaeda members into its leadership, U.S. troops had been reduced to 2,500.[389] Israel Trump supported many of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[390] Under Trump, the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel[391] and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights,[392] leading to international condemnation including from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union, and the Arab League.[393][394] Saudi Arabia Trump, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi place their hands on a glowing white orb light at waist level Trump, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the 2017 Riyadh summit in Saudi Arabia Trump actively supported the Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis and in 2017 signed a $110 billion agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia,[395] In 2018, the U.S. provided limited intelligence and logistical support for the intervention.[396][397] Following the 2019 attack on Saudi oil facilities, which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed on Iran, Trump approved the deployment of 3,000 additional U.S. troops, including fighter squadrons, two Patriot batteries, and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.[398] Syria Trump ordered missile strikes in April 2017 and in April 2018 against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun and Douma chemical attacks, respectively.[399][400] In December 2018, Trump declared "we have won against ISIS", contradicting Department of Defense assessments, and ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria.[401][402] The next day, Mattis resigned in protest, calling his decision an abandonment of the U.S.'s Kurdish allies who played a key role in fighting ISIS.[403] One week after his announcement, Trump said he would not approve any extension of the American deployment in Syria.[404] Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the White House in May 2017 In October 2019, after Trump spoke to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the area and Turkey invaded northern Syria, attacking and displacing American-allied Kurds in the area.[405] Later that month, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a rare bipartisan vote of 354 to 60, condemned Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, for "abandoning U.S. allies, undermining the struggle against ISIS, and spurring a humanitarian catastrophe".[406][407] Iran In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive

Chicago weather: Winter storm moving through area with foot of snow forecast in spots| Radar Hundreds of flight cancellations reported at O'Hare, Midway airports ByChristian Piekos and Jessica D'Onofrio WLS logo Friday, January 12, 2024 11:59AM LIVE radar as winter storm moves through Chicago area LIVE radar as winter storm moves through Chicago area WLS CHICAGO (WLS) -- A winter storm moving into the Chicago area Friday could dump as much as a foot of snow in some areas. A Winter Storm Warning is in effect until noon Saturday for Grundy, Kendall, LaSalle, eastern Will, northern Will, southern Cook, southern Will, central Cook, Lake, northern Cook, DuPage, Kane, McHenry, Boone, DeKalb, Lee, Ogle and Winnebago counties in Illinois. ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch A Winter Storm Watch is in effect from 6 a.m. Friday until noon Saturday for Kankakee County in Illinois and Lake and Porter counties in Indiana. A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect until noon Saturday for Kankakee County in Illinois and Lake and Porter counties in Indiana. The advisory starts at 6 p.m. Friday for Benton, Jasper and Newton counties in Indiana. SCHOOL CLOSINGS: See full list of Chicago area school closures. The snow will start at light and becoming heavier in the afternoon and evening, with as much as an inch of snow per-hour at times . The falling snow will start to east Saturday morning, but windy conditions could still lead to poor travel conditions. For the morning commute, the storm will bring periods of heavy snow, reduced visibility, strong wind. Areas south of the city may experience a mix of rain and sleet with isolated thunder at times. A winter snow storm will create slick conditions across the Chicago area Friday. The worst conditions are expected for the afternoon commute, with accumulating and blowing snow leading to poor visibility and snow-covered roads creating rough travel conditions. Snow totals along the lakefront are expected around three to six inches of snow. Most areas away from the lakefront are expected to get between six to eight inches of snow with northwestern suburbs expected to get as much as eight to twelve inches of snow. Area well to the south of the city are expected to get between three to six inches of snow. The storm has created slick conditions on Chicago area roads, especially expressway ramps. A car carrying three people rolled over on a ramp on the Edens Expressway at Dempster Avenue. All three inside the car refused medical transport. The storm has led to hundreds of flight cancellations at Chicago's airports. As of 4:29 a.m., 452 flights have been cancelled at O'Hare Airport, with average delays of less than 15 minutes. At Midway, 115 flights have been cancelled, with average delays of less than 15 minutes.

Céline Dept Height, Weight, Age, Boyfriend, Family FacebookTwitterPinterestWhatsAppReddItMix Céline Dept Quick Info Height 5 ft 11½ in Weight 64 kg Date of Birth December 8, 1999 Zodiac Sign Sagittarius Boyfriend Michiel Callebaut Céline Dept is a Belgian YouTuber and TikTok star known for her pranks, popular trendy dances, and soccer-related content that she posts to her TikTok account titled celinedept which has more than 14.5 million followers. Born Name Céline Dept Nick Name Céline Céline Dept as seen in a picture that was taken in February 2023 Céline Dept as seen in a picture that was taken in February 2023 (Céline Dept / Instagram) Age Céline Dept is currently 24 according to her birthdate December 08, 1999 Sun Sign Sagittarius Born Place Ostend, Belgium Residence Bredene, Belgium Nationality Belgian Occupation YouTuber, TikTok Star Build Athletic Height 5 ft 11½ in or 182 cm Weight 64 kg or 141 lbs Boyfriend / Spouse Céline Dept has dated – Michiel Callebaut (2018-Present) – Céline started dating fellow YouTube star Michiel Callebaut in 2018. Together, they run the YouTube channel Celine and Michiel. Céline Dept as seen in a picture with her beau Michiel Callebaut that was taken in July 2022 Céline Dept as seen in a picture with her beau Michiel Callebaut that was taken in July 2022 (Céline Dept / Instagram) Race / Ethnicity White Hair Color Dark Brown Eye Color Dark Brown Sexual Orientation Straight Distinctive Features Raised eyebrows Tall height She has a heart-shaped face. Brand Endorsements Using her strong social media presence, Dept has promoted several brands and services including Adidas Football, PlayStation, VTM GO (Dance Academy), etc. Céline Dept as seen in a picture that was taken in September 2023 Céline Dept as seen in a picture that was taken in September 2023 (Céline Dept / Instagram) Céline Dept Facts She was born and raised in Belgium. Céline started her TikTok account titled celinedept in April 2019. She was chosen to be an ambassador for Mercedes-Benz Rogiers in the past. In January 2019, Dept traveled to Madrid, Spain. Aside from being a social media star, Céline is a soccer player who plays professionally. The earliest post that Céline uploaded to her Instagram account was on July 20, 2018. Celine and Michiel started their YouTube channel on June 30, 2019, with the first video being WIJ GAAN HARD IN ONZE ALLEREERSTE VLOG! #1 uploaded to their channel on July 1. She started her personal YouTube channel on May 4, 2023. Some of their most-watched vlog videos on the channel as of December 2023, were OVERNACHTEN IN EEN SPOOKHOTEL.. *Challenge* #82, HARDE VAL TIJDENS VOETBALWEDSTRIJD! *CREATORS FC VLOG* #523, 8 JARIGE VS 18 JARIGE – GEKKE DANCE BATTLE MET TOPTALENT #64, and GEKKE FIFA 23 VOETBAL CHALLENGE!! *ULTIMATE TEAM* #482. Céline Dept, Belgian, YouTuber, rumble, TikTok, star, pranks, dance, soccer, content, 2024, usa, us.

Isabella Strahan, Michael Strahan's 19-year-old daughter, reveals she's battling brain cancer. January 12, 2024 Isabella Strahan, the 19-year-old daughter of NFL legend and "Good Morning America" host Michael Strahan, shared she's battling brain cancer on Thursday. Isabella Strahan appeared alongside her father for an interview with Michael Strahan's "Good Morning America" co-host Robin Roberts, during which the pair spoke about Isabella's bout with medulloblastoma, a cancerous brain tumor. She said she started experiencing headaches soon after starting her freshman year of college last fall, but she initially believed it was a case of vertigo. In late October 2023, her symptoms took a more serious turn. 38th Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner To Benefit The Buoniconti Fund To Cure Paralysis - Dinner Michael Strahan speaks onstage during The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis' 38th Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner on October 16, 2023, in New York City. ROY ROCHLIN/GETTY IMAGES FOR THE BUONICONTI FUND TO CURE PARALYSIS "I woke up probably at like 1 p.m.," she said. "I dreaded waking up. But I was throwing up blood. And my sister – I was like, 'This probably isn't good.' So I texted her, who then notified the whole family." Her family sought medical attention, and doctors found she had developed a golf ball-size tumor that was growing rapidly in the back of her brain. She received emergency surgery on Oct. 27, the day before her 19th birthday. Following the procedure, she went through a month of rehabilitation, followed by rounds of radiation. "So I just finished radiation therapy ... I got to ring the bell yesterday," she said. "It was great. It was very exciting because it's been a long 30 sessions. Six weeks." She will undergo chemotherapy at Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center in Durham, North Carolina, next month. This time, she will document her experience in a new YouTube series, with proceeds going to the hospital. "That's my next step," she said. "I'm ready for it to start and be one day closer to being over." Vlog #1: How it started by Isabella Strahan on YouTube Michael Strahan, who played 15 seasons with the New York Giants, said he considers himself the "luckiest man in the world" because he has an "amazing" daughter. "I know she's going through it, but I know that we're never given more than we can handle and that she is going to crush this." What is medulloblastoma? Medulloblastoma is a brain tumor that starts in the lower back part of the brain, according to the Mayo Clinic. Although it is rare, the Mayo Clinic says it's the most common cancerous brain tumor in children. Treatment for medulloblastoma usually includes surgery, followed by radiation, chemotherapy or both.

Gang boss Mr Flashy arrested over seizure of ‘heavy duty’ firearms in Finglas Gardaí arrested the two men in relation to the seizure of two “heavy duty” firearms The notorious gangster nicknamed ‘Mr Flashy’ is in garda custody tonight where he and a close associate are being questioned about serious firearms offences. We cannot name the gangsters for legal reasons but they are allegedly heavily involved in gangland feuding in north Dublin. Both men are facing serious charges before the courts related to organised criminal activity. “Gardaí investigating the seizure of two suspected firearms and ammunition seized during a number of searches conducted by Gardaí in the Finglas area on Thursday, 10th February, 2022 have today, Thursday, 11th January 2024, arrested two men,” a garda spokesman said. “The two men (age 30 years and 22 years) were arrested in the Finglas area and are detained under section 30 Offences Against the State Act 1939, as amended at a Garda Station in West Dublin,” he added. Gardaí arrested the two men in relation to the seizure of two “heavy duty” firearms and ammunition which they seized during raids in north Dublin two years ago. ADVERTISEMENT The search operations, which targeted nine addresses in the Finglas area that were suspected of being used by organised crime groups, took place on February 10, 2022. The firearms and money seized Officers recovered two suspected firearms, more than €47,000 in cash and 300 rounds of ammunition during the operation, where local gardaí were backed up by members of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU), the Garda Dog Unit, the Blanchardstown District Detective Unit, and the Task Force and Divisional Scenes of Crime Unit. Gardaí launched investigations into these seized items and the criminal activities of this west Dublin based crime group shortly afterwards. Following the searches in 2022, a number of the addresses targeted were boarded up by Dublin City Council, including one property used as a headquarters for the 'Mr Flashy' drugs mob for years. Once described as a "gangland fortress" it had been the subject of numerous raids by armed gardaí since 2017 and was known as the notorious safe house which had been used to plan drug deals and mob hits for at least five years. READ MORE Convicted murderer tried to smuggle drugs into prison while on temporary release Duo arrested two years after firearms seized in raids during which Mr Flashy HQ was searched It had bullet-proof windows and doors and an elaborate CCTV system, and over the years it had been shot at and attacked numerous times. But on every occasion that it was damaged, junior gang members would quickly clean up the mess and new windows and other fittings would be installed as "business" continued as normal in the property. It is understood to have been bought by the local authority from a person who has no involvement in crime shortly before the raids in February 2022. Mr Flashy has survived a number of assassination attempts as part of the bitter feud including in December, 2022, when he was present when one of his closest associates was shot in the buttocks and hand on Cardiffsbridge Road, Finglas. This man is also in custody tonight being questioned about firearms offences. After multiple shots were fired at but failed to kill the drugs boss and his close associate, the gunmen sped from the scene and crashed their car in the Berryfield area of Finglas before setting the vehicle alight to destroy forensic evidence.

Bill Belichick leaving Patriots after 24 seasons, six titles. Bill Belichick will no longer serve as New England Patriots coach after a remarkable 24 seasons, saying Thursday that "we're going to move on" while also looking back fondly at his unmatched run in NFL history that included six Super Bowl titles. Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft spent a good part of this week periodically meeting and discussing how each side wanted to proceed. From sources familiar with those conversations, there was said to be no conflict, no disagreement, and in the end, productive talks resulted in a mutual decision that left both sides comfortable and at ease. Belichick Leaves Pats • Belichick leaving Pats after 24 seasons, six titles • Belichick's legacy: The NFL's greatest dynasty • What's Belichick's market? We asked NFL execs • Pats timeline: From six titles to Belichick's exit • Where it went wrong: Inside Kraft-Belichick breakup • Social media reaction: LeBron, ex-Pats, more • NFL coaching changes: Latest news, hires During a news conference Thursday, Kraft called Belichick the greatest coach of all time who deserved to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. "This is a move that we mutually agreed that is needed at this time," Kraft said. "What Bill accomplished, in my opinion, will never be duplicated." Belichick, who said he will "always be a Patriot," thanked Kraft and his family for the opportunity and support, saying: "We had a vision of building a championship football team that has exceeded my wildest dreams and expectations. I'm very proud of that. I'll always have those great memories, will carry those with me the rest of my life." Belichick, who had one year remaining on his contract, will be allowed to leave the team without the Patriots seeking compensation. He wants to continue coaching and is expected to draw interest from at least some of the other seven NFL teams that have head-coaching vacancies, including quite possibly the Atlanta Falcons, league sources said. ADVERTISEMENT "It'll be difficult to see him in a cutoff hoodie on the sideline, but I'll always wish him continued success, except when it's against the beloved Patriots," Kraft said. Most Wins with One Team Only George Halas had more wins with a single franchise (including playoffs) than Bill Belichick's 296 with the Patriots. COACH TEAM WINS* George Halas Bears 324 Bill Belichick Patriots 296 Don Shula Dolphins 274 Tom Landry Cowboys 270 * Including playoffs -- ESPN Stats & Information The Patriots now will embark on their first head-coaching search in a quarter century. Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo, whom the team signed to a contract extension in the offseason and Kraft has identified as a rising head-coaching candidate, projects to be a, if not the, leading candidate for the job, sources said. Mayo played for the Patriots from 2008 to 2015 and has been an assistant under Belichick since 2019. If Mayo is ultimately the choice, and the Patriots established a succession plan in the contract he signed last offseason, the organization could hire him at any point without going through the standard NFL hiring process. Kraft said in a second news conference Thursday that he chose not to try to trade Belichick, saying he "didn't think it was right" to turn the coach's departure into a transaction and comparing the circumstances to Tom Brady leaving for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "We're looking for someone who can help us get back to the playoffs and win," Kraft said. Brady posted about Belichick's departure on Instagram, calling him "the best coach in the history of the NFL." "We accomplished some amazing things over a long period of time, many of which will be hard to replicate," Brady wrote. "He worked every day to help us achieve the ultimate goal, in the ultimate team sport. ... I could never have been the player I was without you Coach Belichick. I am forever grateful. And I wish you the best of luck in whatever you choose next." Belichick's exit from New England occurred less than 24 hours after his close friend Nick Saban retired from Alabama. There is a symmetry and a similarity in the departures of two football legends -- men who are widely considered the greatest coach in professional history and the greatest coach in college football history. Belichick helped lead the Patriots to nine Super Bowl appearances and six Super Bowl titles; Saban led Alabama to nine SEC titles and six national championships. Additionally, Saban succeeded Pete Carroll as the Ohio State secondary coach in 1980; when Belichick was head coach in Cleveland, he worked with Saban from 1991 to 1994; and Belichick replaced Carroll as the Patriots' head coach in 2000, decades before all three vacated their long-standing jobs this week in a 24-hour period. Bill Belichick has 333 wins all time (regular season and playoffs), 14 behind Hall of Famer Don Shula. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images The fact that Belichick and Kraft are going their own ways carries an element of sadness, but not surprise. Kraft had pointed out how important it was for the Patriots to make the playoffs this season. Instead, they were one of the first teams eliminated, on Dec. 10. Speculation about Belichick's future swirled during the 2023 season, with one of the lowest points for the team coming Nov. 12 in a 10-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Frankfurt, Germany. Playoff Power No NFL coach has posted more playoff victories than Bill Belichick, whose 31 postseason victories are nine more than Andy Reid in second place. Most Playoff Wins by Head Coach - NFL History COACH WINS Bill Belichick 31* Andy Reid 22 Tom Landry 20 Don Shula 19 * 30 with Patriots -- ESPN Stats & Information Before that game, addressing this past season, the 82-year-old Kraft told NFL Network: "It's really been disappointing. I had hoped things would be a lot better, as I know our fan base did. ... This isn't what we were expecting to happen this year." Another key factor for Kraft was the franchise's trajectory since Brady's departure as a free agent after the 2019 season. Since losing Brady, which pained Kraft, the Patriots have posted losing records in three of their four seasons, and their last playoff win was a 13-3 triumph over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII on Feb. 3, 2019 -- when Brady was on the team. Belichick, 71, leaves New England with 333 career victories (including playoffs), ranking second all time behind Don Shula and his 347. Belichick, George Halas and Curly Lambeau are the only NFL coaches with six championships since the league began postseason play in 1933. EDITOR'S PICKS Tracking NFL coach openings: Latest intel on Patriots, Seahawks, Titans, Commanders 12hESPN staff Offseason guide for every eliminated NFL team: Key free agents, draft outlook, priorities and predictions 16hESPN staff Belichick's 24-year tenure was the fifth-longest of any head coach with one team. He had completed his 49th consecutive NFL season in 2023, the most consecutive coaching seasons in league history. He is now looking to spend season No. 50 with another NFL franchise. Kraft called it an "emotional day" for the organization while explaining why he believed it was the right decision. "Our family is the custodian of this asset, the New England Patriots, and we know how important it is to the psyche of the community," Kraft said. "What's gone on here the last three to four years isn't what we want, so we have a responsibility to do what we can to fix it to the best of our ability." As he departs New England, Belichick's résumé includes these marks that are expected to stand for the foreseeable future: • 17 division titles, the most by a head coach in NFL history, with Shula, Andy Reid and Tom Landry tied for second with 13. • Nine conference championships, the most by a head coach in the Super Bowl era. • 12 Super Bowl appearances (including his time as an assistant). • 21 winning seasons as a head coach, which trails only Halas (40), Shula (33), Lambeau (33) and Landry (29). • One of four undefeated and untied regular seasons in NFL history (2007). It was the only one under the 16-game schedule played from 1978 to 2020. "Players win games in the NFL," Belichick said. "I've been very, very fortunate to coach some of the greatest players to ever play the game." NFL American football Rumble Latest news Updates Hottest games Player performances League happenings Touchdowns Turnarounds Dedicated fan Sports trends Channel Comprehensive coverage Insights Exclusive coverage Analyses Memorable moments Watch Enjoy Stay in the know Action

US bitcoin ETFs see $4.6B in volume in first day of trading Spot Bitcoin ETFs top $4.5B total volume on the first day of trading Spot Bitcoin ETFs topped $4.5 billion in trading volume on the first day of trading, but one of the issuers has clarified it hasn’t yet made the cut. Spot Bitcoin ETFs top $4.5B total volume on the first day of tradingNEWS Collect article Own this piece of history as an NFT Join us on social networks The first day of trading for a suite of new Bitcoin BTC tickers down $45,936 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has gone off with a bang, with BlackRock, Grayscale, and Fidelity’s ETFs coming out on top in total volumes. One issuer, however, didn't get to start as expected. Aggregated data from Yahoo Finance, compiled by Cointelegraph, shows that the total volume across ten of the spot Bitcoin ETFs reached more than $4.5 billion in total volume for day one trading. BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), was the top performer of the newly-listed funds, handling just over $1 billion in volume — 22% of the group's total volume — per Yahoo Finance data. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) closed down 4.69% on the day. Source: Yahoo Finance Following close behind was Fidelity’s spot Bitcoin ETF — FBTC — which witnessed some $685 million in day one trading volume. Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF, which trades under the ticker GBTC, notched $2.2 billion in total volume. The investment vehicle is a conversion of its pre-existing Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. Advertisement Trade smart with instant Markets Pro alerts. Claim your New Years offer up to 70%! Ad Hashdex missed the opportunity to be counted among spot Bitcoin ETFs for the day. While the SEC approved Hashdex's 19b-4 filing — which would allow its spot ETF product to be listed on U.S. stock exchanges — the SEC did not make its S-1 form effective, meaning that Hashdex's "DEFI" fund is still only trading as a futures-based ETF. The company also issued a corrected statement noting the fund did not yet hold any spot Bitcoin in its portfolio. It’s important to note that trading volume includes inflows and outflows and doesn’t paint a full picture of how much of the day’s trading activity was buying versus selling. Senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas theorized that the vast majority of trading activity for GBTC was selling, as investors rotated out of the fund into newer, lower-fee products such as BlackRock’s and Fidelity’s respective ETFs. His colleague James Seyffart shared the same view. Meanwhile, the ProShares Futures Bitcoin ETF (BITO) experienced record-breaking trading activity of its own, with more than $2 billion in total volume on the day. This is also theorized to be comprised largely of selling, as investors move out from futures-based Bitcoin exposure, to cheaper, less volatile spot-based exposure. Related: Bitcoin spot ETF trading volume surpasses $1.6B within minutes of launch Timothy Peterson, an investment manager at Cane Macro, estimated that the buying activity across the ETFs means that approximately 47,000 Bitcoin — worth $2.1 billion at current prices — will need to be purchased on the spot market. Balchunas said that investors looking to understand the impact of the ETFs on underlying Bitcoin purchases will most likely have to wait until later the morning of Jan. 13 to get a better idea of spot inflows. U.S.-listed bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw $4.6 billion worth of shares trade hands as of Thursday afternoon, according to LSEG data, as investors jumped into the landmark products approved by the U.S. securities regulator on Wednesday. Erfarna advokater - Advokater som du kan lita på Erfarna advokater - Advokater som du kan lita på Ad Zeijersborger The products mark a watershed moment for the cryptocurrency industry that will test whether digital assets - still viewed by many professionals as risky - can gain broader acceptance as an investment. Eleven spot bitcoin ETFs - including BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, and ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, among others - began trading Thursday morning, kicking off a fierce competition for market share. Grayscale, BlackRock and Fidelity dominated trading volumes, the LSEG data showed. "Trading volumes have been relatively strong for new ETF products," said Todd Rosenbluth, strategist at VettaFi. "But this is a longer race than just a single day's trading. The green light from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the products finally came late on Wednesday, following a decade-long tussle with the crypto industry. Related video: SEC Approval of Bitcoin ETFs Could Revitalize the Crypto Market (Money Talks News) Money Talks News SEC Approval of Bitcoin ETFs Could Revitalize the Crypto Market Some executives called out bitcoin as a high-risk investment, and Vanguard - the largest provider of mutual funds - said it had no plans to make the new batch of spot bitcoin ETFs available on its platform to its brokerage clients. The SEC had earlier rejected all spot bitcoin ETFs on investor protection concerns. SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement on Wednesday that the approvals were not an endorsement of bitcoin, calling it a "speculative, volatile asset." The ETF launches lifted the price of bitcoin up to its highest level since December 2021. It was last up 0.77% at $46,303, while the price of ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, was up 2.79% at $2597.95. RACE FOR MARKET SHARE The regulatory nod sparked intense competition for market share among the issuers, some of whom slashed the fees for their products well below the U.S. ETF industry's standard even before Thursday's launch. Meet Cisco's Finest Engineers - Join Us in Amsterdam Meet Cisco's Finest Engineers - Join Us in Amsterdam Ad www.ciscolive.com/Amsterdam/Feb-2024 Fees on the new bitcoin ETFs range from 0.2% to 1.5%, with many firms also offering to waive fees entirely for a certain period or for a certain dollar volume of assets. After its ETF started trading, Valkyrie cut its fees a second time to 0.25% and waived them for the first three months. Grayscale was approved to convert its existing bitcoin trust into an ETF on Thursday, overnight creating the world's largest bitcoin ETF with more than $28 billion in assets under management. Estimates for how much spot bitcoin ETFs could reel in vary widely. Analysts at Bernstein estimated that flows will build up gradually to cross $10 billion in 2024, while Standard Chartered analysts this week said the ETFs could draw $50 billion to $100 billion this year alone. Other analysts have said inflows could be $55 billion over five years. As the ETFs began trading on Thursday, market participants were closely watching bid-ask spreads: the difference between the price for a trader to buy into an ETF and the price it can be sold. ETFs with narrower spreads are typically viewed as more desirable. Trading volume, internal plumbing and the number of participants involved "are critically important to driving the spreads to a good spot," said Jason Stoneberg, director of product strategy at Invesco, whose ETF with Galaxy Digital debuted on Thursday. Some analysts cautioned that the euphoria around the approval might be premature. The broader investment community still views cryptocurrencies as risky, with scandals such as the implosion of crypto exchange FTX in 2022 adding to investors’ wariness. A Vanguard spokeswoman said the firm had no plans to launch its own crypto investment products, and that its focus remains on core asset classes such as stocks, bonds and cash, which it views "as the blocks of a well-balanced, long-term investment portfolio." Speaking at a webinar on Thursday, Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, head of the Investment Strategy Group and chief investment officer of Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs, said cryptocurrencies had no place in an investment portfolio. "When you think about it, where is there any value to something like bitcoin?," she said. "We don’t think it is an asset class to invest in." CRYPTO STOCKS GAIN Still, some expect the products to pave the way for even more innovative crypto ETFs, including spot ether products. Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said in an interview Thursday that the firm plans to file for a covered call ETF in an effort to allow investors to generate income from options on its spot bitcoin product. Cryptocurrency-related stocks initially climbed higher on Thursday, but ended the day lower, with bitcoin miners Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital dropping 15.8% and 12.6% respectively. Bitcoin investor Microstrategy fell 5.2% and crypto exchange Coinbase 6.7%. The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which tracks bitcoin futures, gained 0.44%. Also on Thursday, Circle Internet Financial, the company behind stablecoin USDC, said it had confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering. Circle controls the issuance and governance of USDC, a cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar. (Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru, Hannah Lang in Washington and Suzanne McGee; Additional reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru, Medha Singh, Davide Barbuscia and Noel Randewich; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Nick Zieminski)

US, British militaries launch massive retaliatory strike against Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen LOLITA C. BALDOR and TARA COPP Updated Fri, January 12, 2024 at 4:36 AM GMT+1·7 min read 8.5k In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, the amphibious dock landing ship USS Carter Hall and amphibious assault ship USS Bataan transit the Bab al-Mandeb strait on Aug. 9, 2023. The top commander of U.S. naval forces in the Middle East says Yemen’s Houthi rebels are showing no signs of ending their “reckless” attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea. But Vice Adm. Brad Cooper said in an Associated Press interview on Saturday that more nations are joining the international maritime mission to protect vessels in the vital waterway and trade traffic is beginning to pick up. (Mass Communications Spc. 2nd Class Moises Sandoval/U.S. Navy via AP) FILE - Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, left, and U.S. President Joe Biden speak at the start of the meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) during the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, July 11, 2023. U.S. and British militaries are bombing more than a dozen sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, in a massive retaliatory strike using warship-launched Tomahawk missiles. (Paul Ellis/Pool Photo via AP, File) In this photo provided by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, taken from the bridge of HMS Diamond, Sea Viper missiles are fired in the Red Sea. U.S. and British militaries are bombing more than a dozen sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, in a massive retaliatory strike using warship-launched Tomahawk missiles.(UK Ministry of Defence via AP) 1 / 3 United States Red Sea Attacks In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, the amphibious dock landing ship USS Carter Hall and amphibious assault ship USS Bataan transit the Bab al-Mandeb strait on Aug. 9, 2023. The top commander of U.S. naval forces in the Middle East says Yemen’s Houthi rebels are showing no signs of ending their “reckless” attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea. But Vice Adm. Brad Cooper said in an Associated Press interview on Saturday that more nations are joining the international maritime mission to protect vessels in the vital waterway and trade traffic is beginning to pick up. (Mass Communications Spc. 2nd Class Moises Sandoval/U.S. Navy via AP)ASSOCIATED PRESSMore WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and British militaries bombed more than a dozen sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen on Thursday, in a massive retaliatory strike using warship- and submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets, U.S. officials said. The military targets included air defense and coastal radar sites, drone and missile storage and launching locations, they said. President Joe Biden said the strikes were meant to demonstrate that the U.S. and its allies “will not tolerate” the militant group’s ceaseless attacks on the Red Sea. And he said they only made the move after attempts at diplomatic negotiations and careful deliberation. “These strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea — including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history,” Biden said in a statement. He noted the attacks endangered U.S. personnel and civilian mariners and jeopardized trade, and he added, “I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.” Associated Press journalists in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, heard four explosions early Friday local time. Two residents of Hodieda, Amin Ali Saleh and Hani Ahmed, said they heard five strong explosions hitting the western port area of the city, which lies on the Red Sea and is the largest port city controlled by the Houthis. Eyewitnesses who spoke with the AP also said they saw strikes in Taiz and Dhamar, cities south of Sanaa. The strikes marked the first U.S. military response to what has been a persistent campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. And the coordinated military assault comes just a week after the White House and a host of partner nations issued a final warning to the Houthis to cease the attacks or face potential military action. The officials described the strikes on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations. Members of Congress were briefed earlier Thursday on the strike plans. The warning appeared to have had at least some short-lived impact, as attacks stopped for several days. On Tuesday, however, the Houthi rebels fired their largest-ever barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea, with U.S. and British ships and American fighter jets responding by shooting down 18 drones, two cruise missiles and an anti-ship missile. And on Thursday, the Houthis fired an anti-ship ballistic missile into the Gulf of Aden, which was seen by a commercial ship but did not hit the ship. FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2024 In a call with reporters, senior administration and military officials said that after the Tuesday attacks, Biden convened his national security team and was presented with military options for a response. He then directed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who remains hospitalized with complications from prostate cancer surgery, to carry out the retaliatory strikes. In a separate statement, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the Royal Air Force carried out targeted strikes against military facilities used by the Houthis. The Defense Ministry said four fighter jets based in Cyprus took part in the strikes. Noting the militants have carried out a series of dangerous attacks on shipping, he added, “This cannot stand." He said the U.K. took “limited, necessary and proportionate action in self-defense, alongside the United States with non-operational support from the Netherlands, Canada and Bahrain against targets tied to these attacks, to degrade Houthi military capabilities and protect global shipping.” The governments of Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and South Korea joined the U.S. and U.K. in issuing a statement saying that while the aim is to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea, the allies won't hesitate to defend lives and protect commerce in the critical waterway. The rebels, who have carried out 27 attacks involving dozens of drones and missiles just since Nov. 19, had warned that any attack by American forces on its sites in Yemen will spark a fierce military response. A high-ranking Houthi official, Ali al-Qahoum, vowed there would be retaliation. “The battle will be bigger ... and beyond the imagination and expectation of the Americans and the British," he said in a post on X. Al-Masirah, a Houthi-run satellite news channel, described strikes hitting the Al-Dailami Air Base north of Sanaa, the airport in the port city of the Hodeida, a camp east of Saada, the airport in the city of Taiz and an airport near Hajjah. The Houthis did not immediately offer any damage or casualty information. A senior administration official said that while the U.S. expects the strikes will degrade the Houthis' capabilities, “we would not be surprised to see some sort of response,” although they haven't seen anything yet. Officials said the U.S. used warplanes based on the Navy aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and Air Force fighter jets, while the Tomahawk missiles were fired from Navy destroyers and a submarine. The Houthis say their assaults are aimed at stopping Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But their targets increasingly have little or no connection to Israel and imperil a crucial trade route linking Asia and the Middle East with Europe. Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution Wednesday that demanded the Houthis immediately cease the attacks and implicitly condemned their weapons supplier, Iran. It was approved by a vote of 11-0 with four abstentions — by Russia, China, Algeria and Mozambique. Britain’s participation in the strikes underscored the Biden administration’s effort to use a broad international coalition to battle the Houthis, rather than appear to be going it alone. More than 20 nations are already participating in a U.S.-led maritime mission to increase ship protection in the Red Sea. U.S. officials for weeks had declined to signal when international patience would run out and they would strike back at the Houthis, even as multiple commercial vessels were struck by missiles and drones, prompting companies to look at rerouting their ships. On Wednesday, however, U.S. officials again warned of consequences. “I’m not going to telegraph or preview anything that might happen,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters during a stop in Bahrain. He said the U.S. had made clear “that if this continues as it did yesterday, there will be consequences. And I’m going to leave it at that.” The Biden administration’s reluctance over the past several months to retaliate reflected political sensitivities and stemmed largely from broader worries about upending the shaky truce in Yemen and triggering a wider conflict in the region. The White House wants to preserve the truce and has been wary of taking action in Yemen that could open up another war front. The impact on international shipping and the escalating attacks, however, triggered the coalition warning, which was signed by the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom. Transit through the Red Sea, from the Suez Canal to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, is a crucial shipping lane for global commerce. About 12% of the world’s trade typically passes through the waterway that separates Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, including oil, natural gas, grain and everything from toys to electronics. In response to the attacks, the U.S. created a new maritime security mission, dubbed Operation Prosperity Guardian, to increase security in the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden, with about 22 countries participating. U.S. warships, and those from other nations, have been routinely sailing back and forth through the narrow strait to provide protection for ships and to deter attacks. The coalition has also ramped up airborne surveillance. The decision to set up the expanded patrol operation came after three commercial vessels were struck by missiles fired by Houthis in Yemen on Dec. 3. The Pentagon increased its military presence in the region after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel to deter Iran from widening the war into a regional conflict, including by the Houthis and Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria. ____ Associated Press writers Ahmed al-Haj in Sanaa, Yemen; Jack Jeffery in London; Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Zeke Miller, Aamer Madhani and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report. View comments (8.5k) Terms/Privacy PolicyPrivacy & Cookie SettingsAbout Our Ads Up next Deseret News Report: U.S., U.K. ‘poised’ to attack Yemen’s Houthis Payton Davis Fri, January 12, 2024 at 12:41 AM GMT+1·1 min read 92 Sea Viper missiles are fired into the Red Sea, as seen from the bridge of the HMS Diamond on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have fired their largest-ever barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea, forcing the United States and British navies to shoot down the projectiles in a major naval engagement. Sea Viper missiles are fired into the Red Sea, as seen from the bridge of the HMS Diamond on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have fired their largest-ever barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea, forcing the United States and British navies to shoot down the projectiles in a major naval engagement. | UK Ministry of Defence via Associated PressMore The United States and the United Kingdom were “poised” to launch strikes against the Houthis in Yemen on Thursday, The Guardian reported. Driving the news: The attack would be in response to Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea. Houthis aimed missiles and drones at U.S. and U.K. warships Tuesday night, and The Guardian reported that preparations were “intensifying” in response. President Joe Biden is expected to make a statement on the situation soon. Preparations for an attack on Houthis follow a UN Security Council resolution on Wednesday for an “immediate” end to Houthis attacks, per BBC. The context: Houthis have been attacking Red Sea vessels in response to the Hamas-Israel war since October. The attacks have affected major shipping routes and freight rates. The U.S. announced in December that a new “operation” was underway to quell the Houthi strikes. Democrats slam Biden for bypassing Congress to strike Yemen 'Squad' members Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush tweeted their displeasure at the the president's actions By Elizabeth Elkind Fox News Published January 11, 2024 8:25pm EST Facebook Twitter Flipboard Comments Print Email Joint US-UK air strikes against Houthi targets in YemenVideo Joint US-UK air strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen Fox News senior national correspondent Rich Edson has the latest on the attacks on 'Special Report.' Some House Democrats are frustrated with the Biden administration for striking Houthi positions in Yemen without Congressional approval on Thursday night. "The President needs to come to Congress before launching a strike against the Houthis in Yemen and involving us in another middle east conflict," Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., wrote on X. "That is Article I of the Constitution. "I will stand up for that regardless of whether a Democrat or Republican is in the White House," he added. TOP BIDEN ADVISER VISITS BEIRUT AS ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH NEAR ALL-OUT WAR Ro Khanna at House hearing Rep. Ro Khanna slammed the Biden administration for not seeking Congressional authorization before striking targets in Yemen (Office of Rep. Ro Khanna) President Biden announced in a statement that the U.S. led a coordinated airstrike in Yemen with the U.K. and support from Canada, Australia and Bahrain. He said the targets were "used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways." ‘Squad’ members Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich, and Missouri Democrat Cori Bush joined the chorus of criticism aimed at Biden for not seeking Congressional approval. Other Democrats also tweeted their displeasure, "These airstrikes have NOT been authorized by Congress. The Constitution is clear: Congress has the sole authority to authorize military involvement in overseas conflicts. Every president must first come to Congress and ask for military authorization, regardless of party," Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Ore., wrote on X. FETTERMAN BLASTS SOUTH AFRICA ‘GENOCIDE’ CASE AGAINST ISRAEL AMID SLAYINGS OF WHITE FARMERS Biden in Pennsylvania President Biden announced the strikes on Thursday evening (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., warned that bypassing Congress could risk getting the U.S. into more foreign conflicts. "The United States cannot risk getting entangled into another decades-long conflict without Congressional authorization. The White House must work with Congress before continuing these airstrikes in Yemen," Pocan wrote on X. Senior Republican lawmakers, however, have shown rare praise for Biden over the move. "I welcome the U.S. and coalition operations against the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists responsible for violently disrupting international commerce in the Red Sea and attacking American vessels. President Biden’s decision to use military force against these Iranian proxies is overdue," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement. US INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS WARN HEZBOLLAH MAY TARGET MAINLAND US DURING WAR IN ISRAEL: REPORT Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib demand cease-fire in Israel-Hamas war WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES - NOVEMBER 8: United States Representatives Rashida Tlaib (2nd L), Cori Bush (L) hold a banner demanding a ceasefire and condemning the Israeli attacks on Gaza, in front of U.S. Capitol in United States on November 8, 2023. (Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images) (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images) Biden said of the strikes, "These strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea—including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history." Yemeni Coast Guard boats Members of the Yemeni Coast Guard affiliated with the Houthi group patrol the sea as demonstrators march through the Red Sea port city of Hodeida in solidarity with the people of Gaza on January 4, 2024, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the militant Hamas group in Gaza. (AFP via Getty Images) "These attacks have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized trade, and threatened freedom of navigation. More than 50 nations have been affected in 27 attacks on international commercial shipping," he said in a statement. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been launching attacks against southern Israel and ships in the Red Sea since soon after Israel’s war with Hamas began in October. Since then the topic of Israel has driven a wedge in the Democratic Party, with hardliners and progressives more critical of U.S.-Israel relations and its military response in Gaza, while mainstream Democrats remain committed to the Middle Eastern ally.

Judge in Trump’s Civil Fraud Trial Faces Bomb Threat at His Home Authorities came to the home of Justice Arthur F. Engoron on the day he was set to hear closing arguments in New York’s suit against Donald Trump. The former president had attacked him on social media. Share full article - Jan. 11, 2024 Arthur Engoron, in a blue shirt under a black judicial robe, looks directly at the camera over a computer monitor on his bench in the New York State Supreme Court. Justice Arthur Engoron at the New York State Supreme Court last year.Credit...Pool photo by Erin Schaff Jonah E. Bromwich By Jonah E. Bromwich Jan. 11, 2024 Updated 10:01 a.m. ET Sign up for the Trump on Trial newsletter. The latest news and analysis on the trials of Donald Trump in New York, Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C. Get it sent to your inbox. Nassau County authorities on Thursday responded to a bomb threat at the house of the judge presiding over the civil fraud trial of Donald J. Trump. A spokesman for the Nassau County Police Department confirmed that there was an investigation at the house of the judge, Arthur F. Engoron, who in several hours is expected to hear closing arguments in Mr. Trump’s case. Two people with knowledge of the matter said that the threat involved a bomb and that the bomb squad came to the house. It was not clear whether the threat would delay the proceedings. The threat came the morning after Mr. Trump again attacked Justice Engoron on Truth Social, his social media site, saying that the judge and the New York attorney general, who brought the fraud case, were trying to “screw me.” And it came just days after the police in Washington were called to the home of the federal judge overseeing Mr. Trump’s election interference case. Mr. Trump originally planned to speak in his own defense at closing arguments Thursday. But Justice Engoron said he would have to abide by rules that apply to lawyers giving closing arguments and refrain from delivering a “campaign speech.” A lawyer for Mr. Trump, Christopher M. Kise, said that the conditions were untenable, and, after unsuccessfully requesting a delay because of his mother-in-law’s death, Mr. Trump appeared to back down from speaking.

Published January 10, 2024 At least four people have died and over half a million homes are without power after a series of powerful winter storms swept through parts of the eastern US and Canada. weather Strong winds flipped cars and knocked over homes in Florida, where several tornadoes were reported. More than 1,300 flights in or out of the US were cancelled on Tuesday, according to data from FlightAware. Vice-President Kamala Harris' plane had to be diverted due to weather. A spokesperson for Mrs Harris said that "inclement weather" required her plane from Atlanta to land in Virginia rather than neighbouring Maryland on her way back to Washington DC. As of Tuesday evening, more than 630,000 households in the eastern US, from Florida to New York State were without electricity. Gov Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 49 Florida counties, where storms have blown roofs off homes and knocked down power lines. Twelve tornadoes were reported across Florida, Alabama and Georgia by early Tuesday, causing significant damage and, in some areas, prompting search and rescue operations. More than 22 million people were under tornado watches. In Houston County, Alabama, an 81-year-old woman was reportedly killed after a tornado ripped through the area, destroying mobile homes and RVs. One person was killed and two others were critically injured in Claremont, North Carolina, officials said, after a powerful storm moved through a mobile home park. A motorist died in Clayton County, Georgia, officials said, after a tree fell across a highway and crushed the driver's car. And one man was also crushed to death by a toppled tree in Birmingham, Alabama, on Tuesday morning, the local station WVTM reported, citing local officials. Toppled houses after tornadoes pummel through the US state of Florida IMAGE SOURCE,CBS A resident of Panama City, Florida, who lives across from a home that was toppled by the wind said it sounded like a "freight train hitting a brick wall". "That's how loud it was," he told CBS News, the BBC's US partner. The storms also left roadways impassable in Panama City, ripped roofs off of buildings and brought hail the size of baseballs. A curfew has been declared for the city's downtown area until 06:00EST (11:00GMT) on Wednesday morning. "No one should be moving around in this area after dark," the Bay County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook. The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that more powerful storms are in store for the region and elsewhere in the eastern US. Parts of Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina may see further strong tornadoes, bringing damaging wind gusts and hail Along with winds of up to 50 mph (80 kph), heavy rain across other parts of the eastern US could bring flooding from the Florida Panhandle all the way north to southern Maine. In South Carolina, four to five inches of rain had already fallen before sunset on Tuesday, causing several areas to flood. More than 1ft of snow fell in the US interior, stranding motorists and interrupting presidential campaigning in Iowa In Canada, a winter storm warning has stretched from southern Ontario, near Windsor, up to central Quebec, where more than 1ft of snow is also forecast A powerful rare blizzard in the Pacific Northwest region toppled trees and knocked out electricity for over 25,000 customers in Washington state, according to Poweroutages.us, as well as for thousands more people further north in Canada's British Columbia province. Snow and high winds closed mountain passages, shut down ferries and triggered avalanche warnings In New Jersey, a coastal flood advisory is in effect until Wednesday. The state's governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency and warned residents not to "underestimate" the storm. In New York State, Governor Kathy Hochul warned the storm could be "life threatening", especially as the expected rainfall would combine with the snow already blanketing the ground, bringing about potential flash-flooding. Rain pours down as pedestrians walk on a street in the Queens district of New York City, January 9, 2024. IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has warned that the storms could be "life threatening" Around 2,000 migrants living in a city tent shelter on an airfield in Brooklyn were evacuated by authorities to high school gymnasiums until the storms pass. A ground stop was briefly issued at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport - one of the country's busiest - due to excessive snow and ice, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said. A stop was also issued for Florida's Tampa International Airport due to a tornado warning. Severe weather has also disrupted road travel in states like Nebraska and Kansas, where state patrol has responded to hundreds of weather-related incidents. "Please stay home," a Kansas state trooper wrote on social media. "It's getting to the point where we will not be able to rescue you if you get stuck because we are having trouble getting around." The NWS said it expects the extreme weather to slightly ease going into Wednesday, though snow showers are still possible in some of the already affected areas in the central US and the northeast. Flood warnings issued by the NWS remained in effect on Wednesday morning from Louisiana to Maine, encompassing at least 15 states along the US Atlantic coast.

Judge says Donald Trump won’t give own closing argument at civil fraud trial after disputing rules BY JENNIFER PELTZ AND JAKE OFFENHARTZ Updated 3:12 AM CET, January 11, 2024 Share NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump won’t make his own closing argument after all in his New York civil business fraud trial after his lawyers objected to the judge’s insistence that the former president stick to “relevant” matters and “not deliver a campaign speech.” Judge Arthur Engoron nixed Trump’s unusual plan on Wednesday, a day ahead of closing arguments. The judge had initially indicated he was open to the idea, saying he’d let Trump speak if he agreed to abide by rules that apply to attorneys’ closing arguments. Among other things, Engoron wanted the former president and current Republican front-runner to promise he wouldn’t assail his adversaries in the case, the judge or others in the court system. Trump’s legal team said those limitations unfairly muzzled him. When Engoron didn’t hear from them by a Wednesday deadline, the judge told them he assumed Trump was not agreeing to the restrictions and therefore would not be speaking. “MEAN & NASTY,” Trump wrote of the judge’s decision on his Truth Social platform. Trump indicated he will still attend Thursday’s court proceeding and reiterated his desire to “personally do the closing argument.” The trial could cost Trump hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties and strip him of his ability to do business in New York. He’s fighting allegations that his net worth was inflated by billions of dollars on financial statements that helped him secure business loans and insurance. The former president denies any wrongdoing, and he has lambasted the case as a “hoax” and a political attack on him. The judge is a Democrat, as is New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the lawsuit. The trial came after Engoron decided, in a pretrial ruling, that Trump had engaged in fraud for years. The judge ordered at that point that a receiver take control of some of the ex-president’s properties, but an appeals court has put that order on hold. The trial concerns remaining claims of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records. Engoron will decide the verdict. It’s extremely uncommon for people who have lawyers to give their own closing arguments. But Trump’s lawyers had signaled privately to the judge last week that the ex-president planned to deliver a summation personally, in addition to arguments from his legal team. James’ office objected, saying that the proposal would effectively amount to testimony without cross-examination. In an email exchange filed in court Wednesday, Engoron initially approved the request, saying he was “inclined to let everyone have his or her say.” But he said Trump’s remarks would have to stay within the bounds of “commentary on the relevant, material facts that are in evidence, and application of the relevant law to those facts.” Trump would not be allowed to introduce new evidence, “comment on irrelevant matters” or “deliver a campaign speech” — or impugn the judge, his staff, the attorney general, her lawyers or the court system, the judge wrote. Trump attorney Christopher Kise responded that those limitations were “fraught with ambiguities, creating the substantial likelihood for misinterpretation or unintended violation.” Engoron said that they were ”reasonable, normal limits” and would allow for comments on the attorney general’s arguments but not personal attacks. Kise termed the restrictions “very unfair.” “You are not allowing President Trump, who has been wrongfully demeaned and belittled by an out of control, politically motivated attorney general, to speak about the things that must be spoken about,” the attorney wrote. “I won’t debate this yet again. Take it or leave it,” the judge shot back, with an all-caps addition saying he wouldn’t push back an already extended and imminent deadline to resolve the matter. The deadline passed without a response from Trump’s lawyers. Earlier in the exchange, the judge also denied Kise’s request to postpone closing arguments until Jan. 29 because of the death Tuesday of Trump’s mother-in-law, Amalija Knavs. The judge expressed condolences but said he was sticking to the scheduled date, citing the security and logistics required for Trump’s planned visit to court. Taking on a role usually performed by an attorney is dicey for any defendant, and summations are a last chance to try to show how the evidence from the trial has or hasn’t met legal requirements for proving the case. A closing argument isn’t constrained to the question-and-answer format of testimony. But “it’s absolutely not a free-for-all,” said Christine Bartholomew, a University at Buffalo School of Law professor who specializes in civil procedure. “Unless you’re legally trained … the chance of a misstep is really, really high,” she said, adding that it’s “extra-risky” when a judge has already taken issue with a defendant’s conduct during the case. Trump ran afoul of Engoron after making a disparaging social media post about the judge’s law clerk on the trial’s second day. The post included a false insinuation about the clerk’s personal life. Engoron then imposed a limited gag order, barring all participants in the trial from commenting publicly about court staffers. The judge later fined Trump a total of $15,000, saying he’d repeatedly violated the order. Trump’s defense team is appealing it. During the recent email exchange about Trump’s potential summation, Engoron warned Trump’s lawyers that if the former president violated the gag order, he’d be removed from the courtroom and fined at least $50,000. Trump testified in November, sparring verbally with the judge and state lawyers as he defended himself and his real estate empire. He later considered but ultimately decided against a second round of testimony, explaining that he had “nothing more to say.

Republican debate: Five takeaways as Haley and DeSantis face off Published Jan 09, 2024 Share Related Topics US election 2024 DeSantis and Haley IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES By Bernd Debusmann Jr BBC News, Des Moines, Iowa Republican presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley squared off in a tense debate on Wednesday, trading barbs just days before the Iowa caucuses. Donald Trump, the frontrunner in the race for the party's 2024 nomination, once again chose not to attend and held a Fox News town hall event at the same time. Iowa is the first in the state-by-state contest to decide who in the Republican party will contest the general election, probably against Democratic President Joe Biden, in November. Mr DeSantis and Ms Haley, a long way behind Mr Trump in the Iowa polls, are hoping a strong second place finish in the state on Monday will breathe new life into their campaigns. A very quick guide to US Republican primaries Here's what we learned when they went head to head on the stage in Des Moines. 1) Neither candidate held back Things got off to a heated start when the pair traded insults in their very first answers. Mr DeSantis, 45, began proceedings by calling his opponent "another mealy-mouthed politician that tells you what she thinks you want to hear". Ms Haley then shot back and took aim at what she called Mr DeSantis's repeated "lies". "You're going to find out about a lot of Ron's lies," she said. There have been four Republican debates before this, but the one-on-one nature of this one, which was hosted by CNN at Drake University, resulted in far more direct attacks and testy exchanges. It seemed as though both were hoping to land a knockout blow before Republicans in Iowa kickstart the next phase of this race and pick their preferred presidential candidate on Monday. The theme of the night? Attack, attack attack. 2) They went after Trump's record As the two candidates battled on stage, the former president was three miles (5km) away holding an event with his supporters. The question of his absence, and his lead in the polls, unsurprisingly came soon in the debate. Mr DeSantis accused the former president of "running to pursue his issues" and ignoring the needs of American families. He said Mr Trump spewed "word vomit" on social media and cast doubt on his ability to get through the legal battles he is facing. Why Trump’s rivals in Iowa still think they can win Christie exits 2024 race with parting shot at Trump Ms Haley, for her part, once again said that she did not believe Mr Trump was "the right president to go forward". Both were more vocal in their criticism of him than in previous debates, taking aim at his handling of issues ranging from the pandemic to border security and relations with China. At his own event in Des Moines, Mr Trump also took aim at both candidates and touted the "tremendous" levels of support he has in Iowa. Additionally, his campaign sent out several emails during the rival debate, criticising Ms Haley and Mr DeSantis on a range of issues including Ms Haley's "childish" foreign policy positions and China and Mr DeSantis' "lying record on Covid." 3) They clashed on immigration Border security and immigration came up repeatedly, a reflection of the polls that show it is a primary concern for Republican voters in Iowa and around the US. Mr DeSantis urged the crowd to "not trust" Ms Haley with immigration. "That's like having the fox guard the henhouse," he said, pointing to earlier comments in which she referred to the term "illegal aliens" as "disrespectful". Ms Haley mostly struck a more nuanced tone on the subject, referring to the root causes of migration in Central and South America and touting her credentials as a former ambassador to the United Nations. She did, however, say undocumented migrants should be deported for "cutting the line". 4) Ukraine was a flashpoint The war in Ukraine proved to be one of the most contentious issues of the night, and both candidates sparred with one another over their positions on the conflict. Ms Haley hit out at Mr DeSantis for initially backing US funds for Ukraine, and then later changing his position. "Nobody knows what he believes," she said. "Let me tell you why Ukraine should matter. This is a freedom loving country," she said, adding that it was a "friend" of America and that US support was about "preventing war". Mr DeSantis responded by saying the war needed to end, and "people like Nikki Haley care more about Ukraine's border than our southern border". The clashes over Ukraine mirror a wider rift in the Republican Party, which has been split over US foreign policy and continued assistance to Ukraine. 5) DeSantis got more cheers, but Haley claimed victory The audience of 200 or so at the venue in Des Moines was also far from raucous, but Mr DeSantis seemed to get the larger share of the applause. Some of his comments, including one moment where he described Ms Haley as having a problem with "ballistic podiatry" (in other words, shooting herself in the foot) prompted a good response in the room. That is perhaps unsurprising, as Iowa is widely seen as more favourable to him than other states such as New Hampshire, where the second Republican contest will take place and Nikki Haley is expected to perform better. Ms Haley did have some memorable moments herself, and received a loud cheer when she described the Capitol riot on 6 January 2021 as a "terrible day". Afterwards her campaign staff and supporters said they saw the event as a victory that will propel her going into the New Hampshire primary. "Tonight was a success," Texas congressman Will Hurd told the BBC. "More people were Googling Nikki Haley than Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump combined. Her momentum is continuing." But in a room not far from the venue, at his separate town hall in front of a favourable crowd, Mr Trump experienced a stronger reaction. His supporters shouted "we love you" throughout the event and he shook hands for more than 10 minutes after it finished. If Mr DeSantis and Ms Haley are to seriously challenge the former president, they will need to tempt some of these Iowan voters away from him before Monday's critical caucuses.

2023 PFF Awards: Lamar Jackson wins MVP, Myles Garrett claims three honors Jan 10, 2024 2TCJGJM Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) in action during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass) By Sam Monson Jan 10, 2024 • QB Lamar Jackson wins his second MVP award: Jackson put together two of his best performances of the season against the best opponents on his schedule, helping him lock up the award before sitting in Week 18. • EDGE Myles Garrett claims multiple honors: PFF's Dwight Stephenson Award, Defensive Player of the Year and Best Pass Rusher all belong to the elite Browns edge defender in 2023. • QB C.J. Stroud, CB Devon Witherspoon earn the top rookie awards: Stroud led the Texans into the postseason with a rookie head coach alongside him, and Witherspoon stuffed the stat sheet for the Seahawks amid lockdown coverage. Estimated Reading Time: 10 mins The 2023 NFL regular season is over, which means it’s Award Season! The NFL playoff bracket is set, and while the rest of the NFL is already looking ahead to free agency and the 2024 NFL Draft, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on the season that was and recognize the best performances of the year. PFF’s awards are based on the regular season only — just like the Associated Press awards. Playoff performances can affect a player’s standing in the PFF 101 rankings after the postseason, but the following honors are awarded based on the 2023 regular season. In addition, while PFF’s play-by-play grading forms an excellent foundation, it isn't the entire basis of the awards. The level of competition, a player’s role, scheme and several other factors factor in to determine the final winners. MVP: QB LAMAR JACKSON, BALTIMORE RAVENS Honorable mention: QB Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys; QB Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills; QB Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers; WR Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins There has seldom been an MVP race as wide-open as this season. The only thing separating Jackson at the top has been a lack of letdown performances. Every time another player had the chance to seal his MVP candidacy, they had a disqualifying performance or got injured. When Jackson became the front-runner, he put together two of his best games against the best opponents on his schedule, solidifying his status. DWIGHT STEPHENSON AWARD: EDGE MYLES GARRETT, CLEVELAND BROWNS Honorable mention: WR Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins; EDGE Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys PFF’s Dwight Stephenson Award is given to the best player in the NFL, regardless of position. In truth, Myles Garrett has been at this kind of level for several years now, but the improvement of the Browns' supporting cast made it so much more obvious this season. Garrett, as the best player on the NFL's best defense, was an unmatched force off the edge. His 27.5% pass-rush win rate wasn’t just the best in the league this year by 3.4 percentage points; it was the best PFF has ever measured over a single season. He was a true game-changer this season. OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: WR TYREEK HILL, MIAMI DOLPHINS Honorable mention: RB Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers; WR CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys Tyreek Hill was threatening to not just eclipse the single-season receiving record, but also become the first receiver to break 2,000 yards over a season, before getting hurt late in the year. He still broke the record for yards per route run, ending the season with 3.83, significantly ahead of the previous best mark set by Steve Smith in 2008. Hill is the most dangerous receiver in the league, and Miami’s innovation of quick-motion pre-snap only added to the threat. DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: EDGE MYLES GARRETT, CLEVELAND BROWNS Honorable mention: EDGE Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys; DI Dexter Lawrence, New York Giants This was an incredible year for defensive players. Micah Parsons and Aidan Hutchinson became just the fourth and fifth players in PFF’s history to record 100-plus pressures over a season. DaRon Bland set an NFL record with five pick-sixes. But the top defensive player was Myles Garrett, who had the best season of his incredible career with a little bit more help around him. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: QB C.J. STROUD, HOUSTON TEXANS Honorable mention: WR Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams; CB Devon Witherspoon, Seattle Seahawks; DI Jalen Carter, Philadelphia Eagles Stroud became the first rookie quarterback to make the playoffs with a rookie head coach since Andrew Luck and Chuck Pagano combined to achieve that feat in 2012. Stroud hit the ground running immediately and looked like a star with a supporting cast that didn't seem like anything special on paper before the season. Stroud finished the regular season ranked 14th in overall PFF grade and will now look to make some noise in the postseason. OFFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: QB C.J. STROUD, HOUSTON TEXANS Honorable mention: WR Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams; RB De'Von Achane, Miami Dolphins It was a great year for rookies on offense. De'Von Achane looks like he’s planning on averaging eight yards every time he carries the football. Puka Nacua broke rookie receiving records that have stood since 1960. But C.J. Stroud, who looked like a top-tier quarterback without a top-tier situation right from the get-go, gets the nod here. DEFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: CB DEVON WITHERSPOON, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS Honorable mention: DI Jalen Carter, Philadelphia Eagles; EDGE Will Anderson Jr., Houston Texans Jalen Carter seemed like he had this award locked up halfway through the season, but his production cooled off as the Eagles' defense collapsed. Devon Witherspoon became the second straight standout rookie cornerback after Sauce Gardner‘s standout 2022 campaign. Witherspoon was a force in all areas of the game for the Seahawks, notching three sacks as part of his 10 pressures on the blitz to pair with 10 pass breakups in coverage. COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR: S DAMAR HAMLIN, BUFFALO BILLS Honorable mention: QB Joe Flacco, Cleveland Browns; QB Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Comeback Player of the Year is a very indistinct concept that tends to anger people because of its lack of clarity. Baker Mayfield came back from poor play last season to lead the Buccaneers to postseason play. Joe Flacco has improbably led the Browns back to the playoffs as their fourth quarterback of the year, fresh off the couch at 38 years old. Also very impressive. Damar Hamlin made it back to an NFL roster and then back onto an NFL field after suffering cardiac arrest on one a year ago. Comebacks don’t get much bigger than that, even if his playing time was minimal. BEST RECEIVER: WR TYREEK HILL, MIAMI DOLPHINS Honorable mention: WR CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys; WR Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers When you break the record for yards per route run and threaten 2,000 yards over the season until the last couple of games, you were probably the best receiver in football that year. Justin Jefferson being injured for much of the year certainly helped Hill’s case, but CeeDee Lamb ran him close. BEST OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: T PENEI SEWELL, DETROIT LIONS Honorable mention: T Trent Williams, San Francisco 49ers; C Frank Ragnow, Detroit Lions Sewell’s 93.1 PFF run-blocking grade is one of the best single-season grades ever earned by an offensive lineman, trailing the likes of Trent Williams at his very peak. Sewell was a monster for the Lions in the run game all year long and was no slouch in pass protection, either. He allowed 20 pressures across 17 games. BEST PASS RUSHER: EDGE MYLES GARRETT, CLEVELAND BROWNS Honorable mention: EDGE Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys; DI Dexter Lawrence, New York Giants Garrett recorded the best pass-rush win rate of any edge rusher over the past 17 seasons of grading. He finished the year with 14 sacks to his name and made at least one game-changing play on a two-point conversion that slipped through the cracks of the official counting stats. Garrett was the best pass rusher in the league this season, even if other players exceeded his numbers in some areas. BEST RUN DEFENDER: EDGE MAXX CROSBY, LAS VEGAS RAIDERS Honorable mention: DI Dexter Lawrence, New York Giants; DI Derrick Brown, Carolina Panthers Crosby has forced his way into the conversation as one of the best edge defenders in the league, even at a time when the league is full of all-time talents. Crosby was an excellent pass rusher once again this year, but his run defense was on a whole other level. His 92.7 PFF grade in that area was the top mark in the league, and he finished the season with an absurd 58 defensive stops, six more than any other edge rusher. BEST COVERAGE DEFENDER: CB JAYLON JOHNSON, CHICAGO BEARS Honorable mention: CB Sauce Gardner, New York Jets; CB DaRon Bland, Dallas Cowboys; S Jessie Bates III, Atlanta Falcons One cornerback finished the season allowing a lower passer rating into their coverage than the passer rating of simply taking an incomplete pass instead: Chicago’s Jaylon Johnson. He allowed just a 33.3 passer rating compared to the 39.6 mark that’s recorded on an incompletion, thanks to his four interceptions. Johnson allowed 195 yards all season long, and even those yards came at a miserly 7.8 yards per reception. BREAKOUT PLAYER OF THE YEAR: QB JORDAN LOVE, GREEN BAY PACKERS Honorable mention: LB Blake Cashman, Houston Texans; EDGE Andrew Van Ginkel, Miami Dolphins; G Tyler Smith, Dallas Cowboys; CB DaRon Bland, Dallas Cowboys Love had an inconsistent first half of the season before consistently improving over the second half and finishing the year playing as well as any quarterback in the game. His overall PFF grade ranked 12th for the season, and the only passer with a better grade from Week 9 onward was Brock Purdy. Love repeated the trick we saw from Aaron Rodgers of biding his time for years on the bench before seizing his opportunity when given the chance to start. BEST PASS BLOCKER: T LAREMY TUNSIL, HOUSTON TEXANS Honorable mention: T Tyron Smith, Dallas Cowboys; T Rashawn Slater, Los Angeles Chargers Tunsil was once again peerless as a pass protector and got the benefit of playing in a lineman-friendly scheme brought over by offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik from San Francisco. Tunsil allowed just 20 pressures over 14 games, earning the second-best PFF pass-blocking grade of any tackle, narrowly trailing Dallas' Tyron Smith, who missed more time. BEST RUN BLOCKER: T PENEI SEWELL, DETROIT LIONS Honorable mention: C Frank Ragnow, Detroit Lions; T Trent Williams, San Francisco 49ers Sewell’s run-blocking performance this season was not just excellent but historically excellent. He was one of the best run blockers in the game and one of the best PFF has seen in more than 15 years of grading. He was a big reason the Detroit run game was so successful and both David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs were able to have such good seasons. BEST OFFENSIVE LINE: PHILADELPHIA EAGLES Honorable mention: Detroit Lions, Baltimore Ravens Detroit took the Philadelphia Eagles down to the wire, but for the second consecutive season, the Eagles fielded the league’s best offensive line. This season, Philadelphia had to navigate a new starter at right guard, with Isaac Seumalo departing in the offseason. Cam Jurgens and Sua Opeta — who have each played at that spot this season — were both notable downgrades over Seumalo, but the overall unit was still the best in football, given the standard of the other four starters. BEST PASSER: QB TUA TAGOVAILOA, MIAMI DOLPHINS Honorable mention: QB Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys; QB Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills The league already has too many awards skewed toward quarterbacks, but this one focuses on the best pure passer rather than overall play. Think of it as the Dan Marino award, and so it’s fitting that Tua Tagovailoa wins it this season. Tagovailoa had the league’s fastest average time to throw, and to achieve that with an average depth of target 8.2 yards downfield and an 8.3 yards per attempt figure is remarkable. His timing and accuracy are a huge part of the Dolphins' offensive success. BEST SPECIAL TEAMER: LB MATTHEW ADAMS, CLEVELAND BROWNS Honorable mention: K Chase McLaughlin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers; P Bradley Pinion, Atlanta Falcons Other special teamers have better PFF grades than Adams, but none can match his combination of performance with playing time. We think of special teams as bit-part players who barely feature, but Adams played 433 special teams snaps — 30 more snaps of game time than Joe Burrow had this year. He ended the year with nine special teams tackles and an 86.0 PFF grade for his work.

Zelensky Makes Unannounced Visit to Lithuania. | January 10, 2024 During his visit, Zelensky is scheduled to hold discussions with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, the Prime Minister, and the Speaker of the Seimas. by Kyiv Post | January 10, 2024, 11:03 am Zelensky Makes Unannounced Visit to Lithuania Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivers an end-of-year press conference in Kyiv on December 19, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Zelensky embarked on a tour of Western countries to make the case for more military and political support for Ukraine as Russia's invasion grinds closer to its two-year-anniversary in February 2024. (Photo by Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP) RELATED TOPICS 2022 In Review Servant of the People party Klitschko NATO Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the Lithuanian capital on Wednesday morning, Jan. 10. Zelensky landed at Vilnius airport for an unexpected visit to the Baltic state, a key donor to the war-torn country, as other Kyiv allies waver on fresh aid. During his visit, the Ukrainian leader is scheduled to hold discussions with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Seimas. He will also meet with representatives from political factions and the Ukrainian community. "Security, EU and NATO integration, cooperation on electronic warfare and drones, and further coordination of European support are all on the agenda," Zelensky mentioned on Twitter. Our YouTube 00:00 Play 00:00 / 04:04 Mute Settings Fullscreen Copy video url Play / Pause Mute / Unmute Report a problem Language Share Vidverto Player The Baltic tour marks Zelensky's first official trip abroad this year, AFP reports. The visit comes as other Kyiv allies waver on fresh aid, nearly two years into Russia's invasion. Ukraine has come under intense Russian shelling in recent weeks, retaliating with strikes on Russia's border city of Belgorod. Zelensky has urged allies to keep military support flowing and held in-person talks with officials from the United States, Germany and Norway last month. But an EU aid package worth 50 billion euros ($55 billion) has been stuck in Brussels following a veto by Hungary, while the US Congress remains divided on sending additional aid to Ukraine. "But first and foremost, our gratitude. For the uncompromising support for Ukraine since 2014 and especially now, during Russia’s full-scale aggression," he added.

Ecuador president declares war with criminal gangs amid soaring violence City streets deserted after gangs take prison staff hostage, set off explosions and briefly seize a TV station live on air. Soldiers and police officers stand guard in Ecuador Soldiers and police officers stand guard in Quito after a wave of violence around Ecuador [Karen Toro/Reuters] Published On 10 Jan 2024 10 Jan 2024 Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa says his country is “at war” after drug gangs took more than 130 prison guards and other staff hostage and briefly captured a TV station during a live broadcast. “We are at war, and we cannot cede in the face of these terrorist groups,” Noboa told radio station Canela Radio on Wednesday. KEEP READING list of 3 items list 1 of 3 Armed gang storms Ecuador TV studio after state of emergency declared list 2 of 3 Ten killed, gangs unleash terror as Ecuador declares state of emergency list 3 of 3 Ecuador’s narco gang violence: A timeline of the recent crisis end of list The increase in violence began after Noboa announced a state of emergency following the prison escape of Ecuador’s most powerful narco boss, the Los Choneros gang leader Adolfo Macias, over the weekend. On Tuesday, Noboa gave orders to “neutralise” criminal gangs after gunmen stormed and opened fire on a TV studio and threatened executions of civilians and security forces. Noboa on Tuesday named 22 gangs as “terrorist” organisations, making them official military targets. Soldiers patrol the perimeter of Inca prison during a state of emergency in Quito, Ecuador Soldiers patrol the perimeter of Inca Prison in Quito, Ecuador, during a state of emergency [Dolores Ochoa/AP Photo] The government said the violence is a reaction to Noboa’s plan to build new high-security prisons for gang leaders. Noboa said the design for two new facilities would be made public on Thursday. “We are making every effort to recover all the hostages,” Noboa said, adding that the armed forces have taken over the rescue efforts. “We are doing everything possible and the impossible to get them back safe and sound.” Riots have erupted in several prisons where 125 guards and 14 administrative staff have been taken hostage, the SNAI prisons agency said. Eleven people were released on Tuesday, it said. Advertisement Sign up for Al Jazeera Americas Coverage Newsletter US politics, Canada’s multiculturalism, South America’s geopolitical rise—we bring you the stories that matter. E-mail address Sign up By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy protected by reCAPTCHA TV station takeover In the port city of Guayaquil, attackers wearing balaclavas stormed a state-owned TV station on Tuesday, briefly taking several journalists and staff members hostage on live TV. The attackers also kidnapped several police officers, one of whom was forced to read a statement to Noboa at gunpoint. “You declared a state of emergency. We declare police, civilians and soldiers to be the spoils of war,” a terrified officer read. Play Video Video Duration 02 minutes 44 seconds 02:44 The statement added that anyone found on the streets after 11pm would be “executed”. Ecuadorian police said on Wednesday that there have been 70 arrests made since Monday in response to the violence, including the TV station takeover. Advertisement World leaders and international bodies have condemned the unrest in the South American country. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described the increase of gang activity as a “direct attack on democracy and the rule of law”. Brian Nichols, the top United States diplomat for Latin America, said Washington was “extremely concerned” by the events and was in “close contact” with Noboa. France and Russia advised their citizens against travel to Ecuador.

Ecuador president declares ‘war’ with criminal gangs amid soaring violence City streets deserted after gangs take prison staff hostage, set off explosions and briefly seize a TV station live on air. Soldiers and police officers stand guard in Ecuador Soldiers and police officers stand guard in Quito after a wave of violence around Ecuador [Karen Toro/Reuters] Published On 10 Jan 2024 10 Jan 2024 Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa says his country is “at war” after drug gangs took more than 130 prison guards and other staff hostage and briefly captured a TV station during a live broadcast. “We are at war, and we cannot cede in the face of these terrorist groups,” Noboa told radio station Canela Radio on Wednesday. KEEP READING list of 3 items list 1 of 3 Armed gang storms Ecuador TV studio after state of emergency declared list 2 of 3 Ten killed, gangs unleash terror as Ecuador declares state of emergency list 3 of 3 Ecuador’s narco gang violence: A timeline of the recent crisis end of list The increase in violence began after Noboa announced a state of emergency following the prison escape of Ecuador’s most powerful narco boss, the Los Choneros gang leader Adolfo Macias, over the weekend. On Tuesday, Noboa gave orders to “neutralise” criminal gangs after gunmen stormed and opened fire on a TV studio and threatened executions of civilians and security forces. Noboa on Tuesday named 22 gangs as “terrorist” organisations, making them official military targets. Soldiers patrol the perimeter of Inca prison during a state of emergency in Quito, Ecuador Soldiers patrol the perimeter of Inca Prison in Quito, Ecuador, during a state of emergency [Dolores Ochoa/AP Photo] The government said the violence is a reaction to Noboa’s plan to build new high-security prisons for gang leaders. Noboa said the design for two new facilities would be made public on Thursday. “We are making every effort to recover all the hostages,” Noboa said, adding that the armed forces have taken over the rescue efforts. “We are doing everything possible and the impossible to get them back safe and sound.” Riots have erupted in several prisons where 125 guards and 14 administrative staff have been taken hostage, the SNAI prisons agency said. Eleven people were released on Tuesday, it said. Advertisement Sign up for Al Jazeera Americas Coverage Newsletter US politics, Canada’s multiculturalism, South America’s geopolitical rise—we bring you the stories that matter. E-mail address Sign up By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy protected by reCAPTCHA TV station takeover In the port city of Guayaquil, attackers wearing balaclavas stormed a state-owned TV station on Tuesday, briefly taking several journalists and staff members hostage on live TV. The attackers also kidnapped several police officers, one of whom was forced to read a statement to Noboa at gunpoint. “You declared a state of emergency. We declare police, civilians and soldiers to be the spoils of war,” a terrified officer read. Play Mute Current Time 0:16 / Duration 2:44 Quality Levels Fullscreen The statement added that anyone found on the streets after 11pm would be “executed”. Ecuadorian police said on Wednesday that there have been 70 arrests made since Monday in response to the violence, including the TV station takeover. Advertisement World leaders and international bodies have condemned the unrest in the South American country. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described the increase of gang activity as a “direct attack on democracy and the rule of law”. Brian Nichols, the top United States diplomat for Latin America, said Washington was “extremely concerned” by the events and was in “close contact” with Noboa. France and Russia advised their citizens against travel to Ecuador.

US and UK navies repel largest Houthi attack on Red Sea shipping Published January 10, 2024 Share Related Topics Israel-Gaza war Two figures stand in a room of the HMS Diamond, looking out at a fiery scene IMAGE SOURCE,UK MINISTRY OF DEFENCE Image caption, The UK's Ministry of Defence shared images of the HMS Diamond deploying Sea Viper missiles and guns By David Gritten BBC News UK and US naval forces have repelled the largest attack yet by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Red Sea shipping, UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps says. Carrier-based jets and warships shot down 21 drones and missiles launched by the Iran-backed group overnight. The Houthis said they targeted a US ship in retaliation for the killing of rebels who tried to attack a container ship by using speed boats last month. Mr Shapps said he had "no doubt" that Iran was heavily behind such attacks. Asked about possible Western strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in response, he said: "Watch this space." The Houthis have carried out 26 attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea since 19 November, according to the US military. The group has claimed - often falsely - that it is targeting ships linked to Tel Aviv in protest at Israeli actions during the war in the Gaza Strip. Houthis defiant after warning over Red Sea attacks What do Red Sea assaults mean for global trade? The US military said Iranian-designed one-way attack drones, anti-ship cruise missiles and anti-ship ballistic missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen towards international shipping lanes in the southern Red Sea at around 21:15 local time (18:15 GMT) on Tuesday. Eighteen drones, two cruise missiles and one ballistic missile were shot down by F/A-18 warplanes from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D Eisenhower, which is deployed in the Red Sea, and by four destroyers, the USS Gravely, USS Laboon, USS Mason and HMS Diamond. HMS Diamond shot down seven Houthi drones using its Sea Viper missiles and guns, a defence source told the BBC. Each of the missiles costs more than £1m ($1.3m). Later, Houthi military spokesman Yahya al-Sarea confirmed that its forces had carried out an operation involving "a large number of ballistic and naval missiles and drones". "It targeted a US ship that was providing support for the Zionist entity [Israel]," he said. "The operation came as an initial response to the treacherous assault on our naval forces by the US enemy forces." He added that the rebels would "not hesitate to adequately deal with all hostile threats as part of the legitimate right to defend our country, people and nation". Mr Sarea also reiterated that the Houthis would continue to "prevent Israeli ships or ships heading towards occupied Palestine from navigating in both the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea until the [Israeli] aggression [on Gaza] has come to an end and the blockade has been lifted". Mr Shapps warned in a statement on Wednesday morning that the UK and its allies had "previously made clear that these illegal attacks are completely unacceptable and if continued the Houthis will bear the consequences". "We will take the action needed to protect innocent lives and the global economy," he added. Later, the defence secretary said in a TV interview that Iran was "behind so much of the bad things happening in the region" and warned the Islamic Republic and the Houthis that there would be "consequences" if the attacks on shipping did not stop. Asked if there could be Western military action against Houthi targets in Yemen, or even targets inside Iran, he replied: "I can't go into details but can say the joint statement we issued set out a very clear path that if this doesn't stop then action will be taken. So, I'm afraid the simplest thing to say [is] 'watch this space'." He was referring to a statement put out a week ago by the UK, US, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea and Singapore, who launched "Operation Prosperity Guardian" last month to protect Red Sea shipping. They said the attacks posed "a direct threat to the freedom of navigation that serves as the bedrock of global trade in one of the world's most critical waterways". A map showing the Bab al-Mandab strait, which sits between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea on the African coast Almost 15% of global seaborne trade passes through the Red Sea, which is linked to the Mediterranean by the Suez canal and is the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia. The fear is that fuel prices will rise and supply chains will be damaged. The International Chamber of Shipping says 20% of the world's container ships are now avoiding the Red Sea and using the much longer route around the southern tip of Africa instead. The Houthis say they have been targeting Israeli-owned or Israel-bound vessels to show their support for the Iran-backed Palestinian group Hamas since the start of the war in Gaza in October. Formally known as the Ansar Allah (Partisans of God), the Houthis began as a movement that championed Yemen's Zaidi Shia Muslim minority. In 2014, they took control of the capital, Sanaa, and seized large parts of western Yemen the following year, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in support of the international-recognised Yemeni government. The ensuing war has reportedly killed more than 150,000 people and left 21 million others in need of humanitarian assistance. Saudi Arabia and the US have accused Iran of smuggling weapons, including drones and cruise and ballistic missiles, to the Houthis, in violation of a UN arms embargo. Iran has denied the allegation.

10 januari 2024 We should be worried’: Israel faces peril at The Hague in Gaza ‘genocide’ case The bar for ‘plausibility’ in the initial proceedings is quite low, experts warn, while ministers’ inflammatory statements enabled South Africa to allege Israel has genocidal intent Today, 10:57 am 107 A general view of a session of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, on October 1, 2018. (Bas ZERWINSKI/ANP/AFP) A general view of a session of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, on October 1, 2018. (Bas ZERWINSKI/ANP/AFP) Israel, on Thursday, will for the first time in its history find itself in the dock in the International Court of Justice in The Hague — charged with genocide. Although the idea that Israel is committing genocide in the war in Gaza, meaning intentionally murdering Palestinian civilians, might seem outlandish to some, the allegations are extremely serious and even an interim ruling against Israel could have a severe impact on its international status and global reputation, with potentially dire diplomatic and political consequences. A ruling against Israel could even affect the ongoing conduct of the war against the Hamas terror group’s regime in Gaza. The application to the ICJ against Israel by South Africa alleges that Israel has violated the Genocide Convention, to which it is a signatory. It cites the large number of Palestinian civilians killed during the war, and the severely reduced access to food, water, and medical care of the Gazan population, which South Africa alleges are the result of a planned Israeli effort to commit genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. Critically, the numerous inflammatory statements made by Israel government ministers about Palestinians in Gaza have given South Africa a platform to allege that the State of Israel has the intent to commit genocide, a crucial aspect of any genocide charges. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Newsletter email address Your email GET IT By signing up, you agree to the terms Although a final ruling will likely take years, South Africa has requested the court issue provisional orders against Israel that could range from demanding a total and immediate ceasefire — which Israel and the US firmly oppose because Hamas has yet to dismantled — to more moderate orders such as insisting that more humanitarian aid be allowed in. A fireball erupts during Israeli bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip on October 14, 2023. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP) But it would be the interim ruling itself, that there is even plausibility to South Africa’s allegations, that would be the most damaging to Israel’s standing. Critically for Israel, the bar to establish plausibility of genocidal actions is much lower than a final definitive determination, and this puts the Jewish state in significant potential peril. For a start, it would certainly be more challenging for the US, or any other country inclined to stand with Israel, to do so if the ICJ determines the country might be committing genocide. ADVERTISEMENT The case before the court What has led to this unprecedented and worrying moment in Israel’s history? On October 7, thousand of Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel from Gaza and killed some 1,200 people, the large majority of whom were civilians, while also committing severe atrocities including mass rape, torture, and other crimes. Israeli soldiers walk near the bodies of Israeli civilians killed by terrorists from Gaza in the southern city of Sderot on October 7, 2023. (Oren ZIV / AFP) They took hostage some 240 people, of whom 132 remain in captivity, although not all of them alive. Israel subsequently declared war on Gaza with the goal of eliminating Hamas and its capability to threaten Israel’s security, and releasing the hostages. In this campaign, the Israel Defense Forces faces a situation in which Hamas has placed its fighters and constructed its military installations throughout Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, mosques and homes. Composite of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas after the invasion of 3,000 terrorists into Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were slaughtered and some 240 taken captive. (Courtesy the Kidnapped From Israel campaign website/ Dede Bandaid, Nitzan Mintz & Tal Huber. Designed by Shira Gershoni & Yotam Kellner) The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says over 23,000 people have been killed in the fighting, though these figures cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and combatants, some as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires. The IDF says it has killed over 8,500 Hamas fighters in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. South Africa’s application to the ICJ alleges that Israel has violated several articles of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide — to which Israel is signatory — during the war, including committing genocide, incitement to genocide, attempted genocide and failure to punish incitement to genocide. ADVERTISEMENT It alleges that 70 percent of Gazan casualties are women and children, and details the heavy aerial bombardment of Gaza conducted by the Israeli Air Force and its use of large and sometimes unguided bombs. A woman mourns over the bodies of family members killed during Israeli strikes, at al-Najjar hospital in Rafah on the southern Gaza Strip on December 7, 2023 (SAID KHATIB / AFP) It also points to “reports of unarmed people… being shot dead on sight,” noting the incident in December in which three Israeli hostages who managed to escape their captors were mistakenly shot dead by IDF forces even though they were waving white flags. The document also details Gazans’ reduced access to food, water, and medical treatment as a result of the war and Israeli policies regarding the entry of such items, and fuel, into the Gaza Strip. And it lays out what it sees as highly problematic comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, all of whom are members of the critical security cabinet which makes policy decisions on the prosecution of the war. The application alleges that these comments either dehumanized Palestinians, threatened indiscriminate attacks on Gaza or could be understood as threatening Gazan civilians. “The acts and omissions by Israel complained of by South Africa are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group,” the application charges. In the entirety of its 84 pages, South Africa’s application makes no mention of Hamas’s documented practice of embedding its military installations and combatants in all aspects of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, mosques, schools, homes, UN facilities and other similar sites, even when mentioning Israeli attacks on such infrastructure. IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari stands next to what he says are weapons left behind by Hamas inside Al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza City, on November 22, 2023. (Photo by Ahikam SERI / AFP) Hamas’s massive network of tunnels, much of which is located under civilian locations and which is used exclusively for military purposes, is mentioned once — and then only to raise concerns over the ecological impact of flooding such tunnels, which Israel has carried out. The legal team representing Israel is not speaking to the press, and the Justice Ministry and other relevant Israeli agencies have remained tight-lipped about what line the defense will take. ADVERTISEMENT But it seems likely that the principal legal representative for Israel in the ICJ courtroom in The Hague, British attorney Malcom Shaw, will argue that the civilian casualties are the unintentional result of Israel’s war aim of destroying Hamas and of the fact that the terror group has so deeply entrenched its military facilities and fighters among the civilian population and infrastructure of Gaza. Weapons found inside a mosque in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood by IDF troops, in a handout image published November 20, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces) The defense will also probably point to the millions of leaflets the IDF dropped on the areas of Gaza it targeted, and the tens of thousands of phone calls and text messages it has made, telling civilians to evacuate. These measures were taken in order to comply with the requirement under the Laws of Armed Conflict to adequately warn civilians in a combat zone of the impending danger to their lives. And it will likely be argued that the comments made by Israeli security cabinet ministers were either taken out of context, not directed not at the Palestinian civilian population but at Hamas leaders and fighters, or not reflected in the IDF’s conduct. National legal peril So what is the likelihood the ICJ will rule against Israel? Crucially, the initial proceedings that will take place on Thursday and Friday will deal with South Africa’s request for the court to order provisional measures against Israel on the basis of its genocide charges. Making a determination of this kind requires not a decisive ruling that Israel is guilty of genocide but rather that the claims be considered “plausible,” said Prof. Eliav Lieblich of the Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University. ADVERTISEMENT “It’s a low evidentiary threshold; you just have to show prima facie that what you’re saying is plausible,” explained Lieblich. The South African request for provisional measures therefore revolves to a large extent around the comments of politicians, as well as various videos filmed by IDF soldiers in Gaza in which they make inflammatory comments about Palestinians, said Lieblich. People search for survivors and for bodies of victims through the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israeli airstrikes, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 26, 2023, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian terror group Hamas. (Mahmud Hams/AFP) Among some of the most incendiary comments made by senior Israeli politicians are remarks by Netanyahu on October 28 in which he referenced the biblical enemy of the ancient Israelites, saying, “You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible. And we do remember.” The South African application cited this comment, as well as the biblical verse in Samuel I commanding the Israelites to kill all men, women and children of Amalek. In the same speech, however, Netanyahu insisted that “the IDF does everything to avoid harming noncombatants” and said he was “calling on the civilian population to evacuate” to safe areas in Gaza. The South Africa application also noted Netanyahu’s description of the war in another speech as one between “the children of light and the children of darkness,” which it described as “dehumanizing.” The application also referenced Gallant’s comment that Israel is “fighting human animals” and would “act accordingly,” as well as a remark by Smotrich when he said “we need to deal a blow that hasn’t been seen in 50 years and take down Gaza.” It further referenced a statement by Ben Gvir: “When we say that Hamas should be destroyed, it also means those who celebrate, those who support, and those who hand out candy — they’re all terrorists, and they should also be destroyed.” And it cited an infamous suggestion by Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu that Israel was considering using a nuclear bomb in Gaza, and his comment that “there is no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza.” Lieblich describes these various comments as “reckless” and “irresponsible” remarks that should never have been made and that have now landed Israel in a great deal of trouble because of the requirement to prove intent in the genocide charges. “If these comments wouldn’t have been said, then there would have been no intent basis for the case,” he said. Head of the Otzma Yehudit party, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on January 1, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) The professor said that Israel’s legal defense would be engaged in “an uphill struggle” in which it would have to convince the court that the prime minister and other cabinet ministers did not mean what they said and that their words do not reflect what has actually happened on the ground in Gaza. In the case of ministers like Eliyahu, as well as some members of the army and Knesset members who have also made inflammatory comments, the defense team will likely point to the fact that they are not members of the security cabinet and therefore have no control over Israel’s war policies, and that their comments are therefore immaterial to the genocide charges. The steps taken by the IDF to avoid civilian casualties, including training by experts in international law and oversight of IDF operations by legal officials in the IDF, as well as the warnings to evacuate, will also likely be cited in the defense. A fair trial? A crucial component of the ICJ proceedings is whether Israel can receive a fair hearing. The 15 permanent judges who serve on the court are appointed by the United Nations General Assembly, and come from countries with greatly differing levels of judicial independence. The president of the court is Judge Joan Donoghue from the United States, and other judges come from democratic countries such as France, Germany, Australia, India, Slovakia, Jamaica, Japan and Brazil. Both South Africa and Israel are sending judges they have nominated as ad hoc members of the panel hearing the case. Israel’s judge will be former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak. But other judges come from Russia, China, Morocco, Somalia, Lebanon and Uganda, which are all either autocracies or very flawed democracies where judicial independence from those countries’ political leadership is dubious, to say the least, said Prof. Robbie Sabel of the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University. Presiding judge Joan Donoghue, center, and other judges enter the World Court in The Hague, Netherlands, June 6, 2023, as four days of hearings open in a case brought by Ukraine against Russia at the UN’s top court alleging that Russia breached treaties on terrorist financing and racial discrimination in eastern Ukraine and Crimea. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong) “If it [the ICJ proceedings] was strictly legal, then it wouldn’t be possible to say this is genocide,” said Sabel. “But since there is a bloc of anti-Israel judges, we should be worried,” he continued, arguing that the selection of judges in the UN General Assembly is political and pointing out that no Israeli judge has ever been elected to the court. Sabel contended that if Israel wanted to commit genocide against Gazans it could have caused far greater civilian casualties given the power of the army, and that combined with the IDF’s efforts to avoid such casualties and the humanitarian aid Israel has allowed into the territory, “an impartial court” could not determine that it was plausible that Israel was committing genocide. Prof. Amichai Cohen, an expert in the international law of armed conflict at the Israel Democracy Institute, agreed that it was troublesome that some of the judges come from countries with a subpar level of judicial independence. But he noted that China and Russia, despite not being well disposed to Israel diplomatically, are likely to be cautious about genocide proceedings in the ICJ given that they have themselves been accused of genocidal acts in recent years. There is currently a pending case against Russia in the ICJ on genocide charges for its actions during its invasion and occupation of parts of Ukraine, while China has faced allegations, albeit not in the ICJ yet, that it has committed acts of genocide against its Uighur Muslim minority. “The majority of justices do not necessarily represent the interests of their states, but rather international law… and this is why Israel is cooperating with the court,” said Cohen. In terms of the charges themselves, Cohen said that because Israel’s actions, and their consequences, in Gaza can be explained in a way other than intending to commit genocide — that is, attempting to neutralize Hamas’s military threat — it may be possible to convince the court that the allegations are wrong. A convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid enters the Gaza Strip from Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on October 21, 2023. (Eyad Baba/AFP) “The claim does not have a lot of substance; Israel is not anywhere near committing genocide,” Cohen said. He concurred with Lieblich, however, in that the comments by senior Israeli cabinet ministers had made it much easier for South Africa to bring its case to the ICJ, and likewise described those who made such remarks as “completely irresponsible” and said they had caused Israel significant harm. The professor also noted that even if the court does not find that there is plausibility to South Africa’s charge of committing genocide, it could find Israel guilty of incitement to genocide and failing to punish such incitement, both of which are violations of the Genocide Convention. Cohen said that he thought it “improbable” that the court would order Israel to halt its combat operations and said the issue of incitement might be the focus of any provisional measures the court might order. The potential legal, diplomatic and political fallout Should the ICJ find that there is plausibility to South Africa’s allegations of genocide, it could theoretically order a series of measures against Israel, including a halt to combat operations, an increase of humanitarian aid and the supply of fuel into Gaza, and action against those deemed to be inciting genocide. There are no enforcement measures at the court’s disposal, but should Israel refuse to comply with court orders, the case could be referred to the UN Security Council, which is empowered to impose sanctions of various kinds. These could include trade sanctions, an arms embargo, or other punitive actions. Hebrew University’s Sabel contended that the US, a permanent member of the Security Council, would be highly likely to veto such sanctions. Visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Tel Aviv on Tuesday that the charge of genocide brought by South Africa in the ICJ is “meritless,” and called it “particularly galling” because “Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and their supporter Iran continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews.” The UN Security Council meets about the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, at UN headquarters in New York on December 22, 2023. (Charly Ttriballeau/AFP) He pointed out that there are no criminal implications of an ICJ ruling since the ICJ is not a criminal court. The primary impact of a decision against Israel, he said, would be to its international standing. “It would be a stain on our reputation; it won’t add to our diplomatic health,” he said wryly. Lieblich made similar comments, saying that a ruling that Israel was “plausibly” committing genocide would be “a very grave result” with serious political implications. And the professor was less sanguine about the reaction of the US to such a ruling, noting that US President Joe Biden would be put in a difficult spot because of the progressive wing of his Democratic party. Severe objections could be made within his party to ongoing US arms sales to Israel and the diplomatic support the Biden administration has given to Israel, as well as the political cover it has provided in the Security Council. “This is a big story,” said Lieblich. “People should have to answer why no one anticipated this [case], and how come [some in] government acted in such an irresponsible and reckless way.”

Ecuador deems drug gangs 'terrorist groups' after live TV attack This screen grab of live video from the TC Television network shows a masked, armed person standing over journalists during a live broadcast, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, 9/1/24. By Euronews with agencies Published on 10/01/2024 - 10:28•Updated 13:00 Share this article Comments The country has been plunged into chaos after its most notorious gang leader and drug lord, Adolfo Macías, escaped from prison on Sunday. Facing a surge in violence, Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa on Tuesday issued a revised decree designating 20 drug gangs as terrorist groups. It also authorised the military to “neutralise” them “within the bounds of international humanitarian law”. The country has been plunged into chaos after its most notorious gang leader and drug lord, Adolfo Macías, escaped from prison on Sunday. He was due to be transferred to a maximum security facility that day. Macias’ whereabouts remain unknown. On Monday, Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency in response to a wave of attacks inside and outside prisons that have seen police and prison guards murdered. Men lie face down on the ground, detained by police outside TC Television, after a producer told police that they were part of a group who broke onto their set on live TV. Men lie face down on the ground, detained by police outside TC Television, after a producer told police that they were part of a group who broke onto their set on live TV.Cesar Munoz/Copyright 2024. The AP. All rights reserved Then on Tuesday, there was a string of violent incidents, including one in which masked men broke onto the set of a public television channel waving guns and explosives during a live broadcast. This prompted the president to revise his initial decree recognising an “internal armed conflict” and identifying the gangs as terrorist groups. ADVERTISING The takeover of the TV studio was broadcast live for more than 15 minutes. The national police chief later announced that authorities had arrested all 13 of the masked intruders. They will be charged with terrorism, a crime that could see them face up to 13 years in prison. Ecuador has been seen as a relatively peaceful country in the past. But in recent years it has seen an explosion of violence. Noboa, who took office in November, has promised to stem drug trade-related violence. In a message on Instagram, he said he would not stop until he “brings back peace to all Ecuadorians”.

Washington Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is being treated for prostate cancer and suffered complications that led to him being taken to hospital on New Year’s Day where he is still being treated, according to a statement Tuesday from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. January 9, 2024. CNN. The statement revealed that the cancer was discovered in early December. He underwent a “minimally invasive surgical procedure” on December 22 called a prostatectomy to treat the cancer. “He was under general anesthesia during this procedure. Secretary Austin recovered uneventfully from his surgery and returned home the next morning. His prostate cancer was detected early, and his prognosis is excellent,” the statement read. On January 1, Austin was readmitted to the hospital due to complications “including nausea with severe abdominal, hip and leg pain.” He was found to have a urinary tract infection, the statement said. The Pentagon had been facing intense questions after it was revealed on Friday that he had been admitted to Walter Reed on January 1 and had been hospitalized for days without notifying the public. It was subsequently reported that President Joe Biden, senior national security officials and even Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks – who had assumed Austin’s duties – were not aware of the defense secretary’s hospitalization until three days after he was admitted. Biden learned Tuesday morning – hours before it was disclosed publicly – that Austin had prostate cancer, according to a National Security Council spokesman. “Nobody in the White House knew that Secretary Austin had prostate cancer until this morning, and the President was informed immediately after,” John Kirby told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday afternoon. Biden was informed by chief of staff Jeff Zients about Austin’s condition Tuesday morning, Kirby said. Asked why Austin did not disclose that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer — Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the situation was “deeply personal.” “[I]t’s prostate cancer and the associated procedures are obviously deeply personal,” Ryder said Tuesday during a news briefing at the Pentagon. “And so, again, you know, we’ll continue to work hard to make sure that we’re being as transparent as possible moving forward, and again, wish the secretary speedy recovery.” For the last eight days of Austin’s time at Walter Reed in treating the infection, he “never lost consciousness and never underwent general anesthesia.” Ryder did not answer a question about who decided to not inform Biden that Austin had prostate cancer. “When this happened in December, whose decision was it not to alert the President that the defense secretary had prostate cancer?” a reporter asked during the briefing. “You know, as far as the situation in terms of what the elective surgery was, and the Secretary’s condition, we’re providing that information to you as we’ve received it. We received that this afternoon and we’re providing it to you now,” Ryder said, appearing to say he did not know about the diagnosis until the statement from Walter Reed was released on Tuesday. “So I’ll just leave it there.” Ryder also declined to say if Austin’s chief of staff — who is being identified as the person who failed to notify officials of Austin’s hospitalization last week because she had the flu — knew about Austin’s condition. Ryder did not say if the secretary’s travel would be affected by his procedure or complications, but said Austin is “actively engaged in his duties” and in regular communication with his staff. Whether the procedure was considered elective or more urgent is a matter of how soon it needed to take place, Dr. Benjamin Davies, urologic oncologist and professor of urology at University of Pittsburgh, told CNN. He said it’s also possible there were other options for treatment, such as radiation. It may have been characterized as “essential,” meaning the procedure should take place within three months, he said — but it wasn’t an emergency situation. The complications the secretary experienced, Davies said, are very rare, with a “less than 1% chance this can happen.” According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind lung cancer. While it can be serious, most men diagnosed with prostate cancer do not die from it, and the death rate has declined sharply over the last few decades.

Violence rocks Ecuador after drug lord’s disappearance from jail Wave of kidnappings and bombings follow new president’s declaration of state of emergency Soldiers deployed in Ecuador’s capital Quito on Tuesday after the 60-day state of emergency was declared in response to the gang violence © Rodrigo Buendia/AFP/Getty Images Violence rocks Ecuador after drug lord’s disappearance from jail on x (opens in a new window) Violence rocks Ecuador after drug lord’s disappearance from jail on facebook (opens in a new window) Violence rocks Ecuador after drug lord’s disappearance from jail on linkedin (opens in a new window) Save current progress 98% Joe Daniels in Bogotá AN HOUR AGO 12 Print this page Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. A wave of gang violence has rocked Ecuador after the disappearance of a powerful drug gang boss from jail, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency as it struggles to tackle a crime wave in the Andean nation. Adolfo Macías, leader of the feared Los Choneros gang who is better known by his alias Fito, was first reported missing from his cell in the Regional prison complex in the violent port city of Guayaquil on Sunday. Authorities said two prison officials had been charged for alleged involvement in a probable escape, while 3,000 police officers and soldiers have been dispatched for the manhunt, which continued on Tuesday. President Daniel Noboa declared a 60-day nationwide state of emergency, which includes a nightly curfew and the authorisation of soldiers to assist in quelling prison violence after riots broke out in six jails and an unknown number of guards were taken hostage following Fito’s disappearance. “We are not going to negotiate with terrorists,” Noboa, a 36-year-old business heir who took office in November promising to halt the country’s spiralling security crisis, said late on Monday. “These narcoterrorist groups intend to intimidate us and believe that we will give in to their demands.” On Tuesday afternoon, in an updated decree that recognised the Choneros and other gangs as terrorist groups, Noboa said that Ecuador was living through an “internal armed conflict”. Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa, who took office in November, plans to build a large maximum-security jail in the Amazon jungle © Presidencia Ecuador/AFP/Getty Images Once a relatively peaceful country surrounded by more violent neighbours, Ecuador has struggled to contain a surge in crimes driven by drug gangs competing to secure profitable trafficking routes and build links with cartels from Mexico, Albania and other countries. The country’s per capita murder rate in 2023 — 46.5 per 100,000 people — has increased eightfold since 2018 and is among the highest in the region. Despite the state of emergency, the country was rocked by several violent incidents, the police said on Tuesday. A television station in Guayaquil was stormed by masked gunmen live on-air. The broadcast showed staffers sitting and lying prone as their assailants stalked the set, brandishing firearms and grenades. Yells of “no police” could be heard before the signal eventually cut out. The police later said that all the intruders had been arrested after a task force was dispatched to the scene. In the 24-hours before the raid, at least seven Ecuadorean police officers were kidnapped by criminals around the country, including in Machala, a south-western city, and the capital Quito, where a vehicle carrying liquefied petroleum gas was set ablaze at a petrol station. In Cuenca, a hilltop city popular with tourists, unknown assailants launched an explosive at a military truck, according to authorities. In Esmeraldas, a coastal province that has suffered some of the worst of the violence, three attacks with explosives were reported by police. Another jailbreak took place in Riobamba, in the central Andes, with 32 inmates escaping, including Fabricio Colón, one of the leaders of the Los Lobos gang, the town’s mayor told local website Primicias. Twenty escapees were recaptured, though Colón is among those still at large. The nation was traumatised in August when centre-right presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated by gunmen ahead of November’s snap election. Before his assassination at a rally in Quito, Villavicencio said the Choneros had threatened him, though authorities have not connected the group with his murder. Amid the violence, prisons have fallen under the control of the gangs, who often use them as bases for their operations and staging grounds for street battles. More than 400 inmates have died in the past four years, with many massacres taking place within the Regional complex where Macías was being held. Roberto Izurieta, a government spokesperson, said in a television interview on Monday that the country’s penitentiary system had “completely failed”, and that Macías was expected to be transferred to a maximum-security facility just hours before his disappearance. Adolfo Macías, aka Fito, leader of the Los Choneros gang, under police escort at the prison complex in Guayaquil in August © Ecuadorean Armed Forces/AFP/Getty Images On the campaign trail, Noboa pledged to house criminals on a prison ship, and since taking office his administration has said it would seek to build a large maximum-security jail in the Amazon jungle. Criminal activity began to flourish in Ecuador in the past decade during the leftwing government of Rafael Correa, who took a lax approach to drug trafficking so long as violent crime was kept low. Lenin Moreno and Guillermo Lasso, his more moderate successors, failed to stop violence in jails from spreading to the streets, with their faltering security policies partly responsible for their low popularity rates when they left office. The Choneros gang, one of Ecuador’s largest, is heavily involved in drug trafficking and extortion and, according to authorities, has links with Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa cartel as well as several Colombian trafficking groups. An alleged leader of the powerful Los Lobos drug gang, a splinter group of Choneros, was arrested in November. Macías, who was serving a 34-year sentence, was convicted of drug trafficking, organised crime and murder in 2011. In February 2013, he escaped from prison but was recaptured weeks later. Noboa’s government aims to hold a referendum that would allow for the extradition of citizens accused of crimes abroad and the seizure of suspects’ assets. The vote still requires approval from the country’s constitutional court before it can go ahead. January 9, 2024 Ecuador (/ˈɛkwədɔːr/ ⓘ EK-wə-dor; Spanish pronunciation: [ekwaˈðoɾ] ⓘ; Quechua: Ikwayur; Shuar: Ecuador or Ekuatur),[16][17] officially the Republic of Ecuador (Spanish: República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: Ikwayur Ripuwlika; Shuar: Ekuatur Nunka),[18][19] is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Ecuador also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometers (621 mi) west of the mainland. The country's capital is Quito and its largest city is Guayaquil. The territories of modern-day Ecuador were once home to a variety of Indigenous groups that were gradually incorporated into the Inca Empire during the 15th century. The territory was colonized by Spain during the 16th century, achieving independence in 1820 as part of Gran Colombia, from which it emerged as its own sovereign state in 1830. The legacy of both empires is reflected in Ecuador's ethnically diverse population, with most of its 17.8 million people being mestizos, followed by large minorities of Europeans, Native American, African, and Asian descendants. Spanish is the official language and is spoken by a majority of the population, though 13 Native languages are also recognized, including Quechua and Shuar. The sovereign state of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic and a developing country[20] whose economy is highly dependent on exports of commodities, namely petroleum and agricultural products. It is governed as a democratic presidential republic. The country is a founding member of the United Nations, Organization of American States, Mercosur, PROSUR, and the Non-Aligned Movement. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, between 2006 and 2016, poverty decreased from 36.7% to 22.5% and annual per capita GDP growth was 1.5 percent (as compared to 0.6 percent over the prior two decades). At the same time, the country's Gini index of economic inequality decreased from 0.55 to 0.47.[21] One of 17 megadiverse countries in the world,[22][23] Ecuador hosts many endemic plants and animals, such as those of the Galápagos Islands. In recognition of its unique ecological heritage, the new constitution of 2008 is the first in the world to recognize legally enforceable Rights of Nature, or ecosystem rights.[24] Etymology The country's name means "Equator" in Spanish, truncated from the Spanish official name, República del Ecuador (lit. "Republic of the Equator"), derived from the former Ecuador Department of Gran Colombia established in 1824 as a division of the former territory of the Royal Audience of Quito. Quito, which remained the capital of the department and republic, is located only about 40 kilometers (25 mi), 1⁄4 of a degree, south of the equator. History Main articles: History of Ecuador and Indigenous peoples in Ecuador This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Ecuador" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This section may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. Please consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding subheadings. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page. (June 2023) Pre-Inca era A Venus (2,300-2,000 BCE) of the Valdivia culture (from Santa Elena Province) displayed in the National Archaeological Museum of Florence. Figure of the Jama Coaque culture (300 BCE-800 CE) (from Manabí Province). Walters Art Museum.[25] Ruins of Ingapirca, was an outpost and supplier for the Incan troops, and also was a coricancha, a place of worship to the Sun (Inti), the main god Various peoples had settled in the area of future Ecuador before the arrival of the Incas. The archeological evidence suggests that the Paleo-Indians' first dispersal into the Americas occurred near the end of the last glacial period, around 16,500–13,000 years ago. The first people who reached Ecuador may have journeyed by land from North and Central America or by boat down the Pacific Ocean coastline. Even though their languages were unrelated, these groups developed similar groups of cultures, each based in different environments. The people of the coast combined agriculture with fishing, hunting, and gathering; the people of the highland Andes developed a sedentary agricultural way of life; and peoples of the Amazon basin relied on hunting and gathering, in some cases combined with agriculture and arboriculture. Many civilizations[26] arose in Ecuador, such as the Valdivia Culture and Machalilla Culture on the coast,[27][28] the Quitus (near present-day Quito),[29] and the Cañari (near present-day Cuenca).[30] Each civilization developed its own distinctive architecture, pottery, and religious interests.[citation needed] In the highland Andes mountains, where life was more sedentary, groups of tribes cooperated and formed villages; thus the first nations based on agricultural resources and the domestication of animals formed. Eventually, through wars and marriage alliances of their leaders, groups of nations formed confederations. When the Incas arrived, they found that these confederations were so developed that it took the Incas two generations of rulers—Topa Inca Yupanqui and Huayna Capac—to absorb them into the Inca Empire. People belonging to the confederations that gave them the most problems were deported to distant areas of Peru, Bolivia, and north Argentina. Similarly, a number of loyal Inca subjects from Peru and Bolivia were brought to Ecuador to prevent rebellion. Thus, the region of highland Ecuador became part of the Inca Empire in 1463 sharing the same language.[31] In contrast, when the Incas made incursions into coastal Ecuador and the eastern Amazon jungles of Ecuador, they found both the environment and indigenous people more hostile. Moreover, when the Incas tried to subdue them, these indigenous people withdrew to the interior and resorted to guerrilla tactics. As a result, Inca expansion into the Amazon Basin and the Pacific coast of Ecuador was hampered. The indigenous people of the Amazon jungle and coastal Ecuador remained relatively autonomous until the Spanish soldiers and missionaries arrived in force. The Amazonian people and the Cayapas of Coastal Ecuador were the only groups to resist both Inca and Spanish domination, maintaining their languages and cultures well into the 21st century.[32] Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the Inca Empire was involved in a civil war. The untimely death of both the heir Ninan Cuyochi and the Emperor Huayna Capac, from a European disease that spread into Ecuador, created a power vacuum between two factions and led to a civil war.[33] The army stationed north[34][35] headed by Atahualpa marched south to Cuzco and massacred the royal family associated with his brother. In 1532, a small band of Spaniards headed by Francisco Pizarro reached Cajamarca and lured Atahualpa into a trap (battle of Cajamarca). Pizarro promised to release Atahualpa if he made good his promise of filling a room full of gold. But, after a mock trial, the Spaniards executed Atahualpa by strangulation.[36] Spanish colonization The colonial Quito, capital of the Real Audiencia of Quito, today a UNESCO World Heritage Site. New infectious diseases such as smallpox, endemic to the Europeans, caused high fatalities among the Amerindian population during the first decades of Spanish rule, as they had no immunity. At the same time, the natives were forced into the encomienda labor system for the Spanish. In 1563, Quito became the seat of a real audiencia (administrative district) of Spain and part of the Viceroyalty of Peru and later the Viceroyalty of New Granada. The 1797 Riobamba earthquake, which caused up to 40,000 casualties, was studied by Alexander von Humboldt, when he visited the area in 1801–1802.[37] After nearly 300 years of Spanish rule, Quito still remained small with a population of 10,000 people. On 10 August 1809, the city's criollos called for independence from Spain (first among the peoples of Latin America). They were led by Juan Pío Montúfar, Quiroga, Salinas, and Bishop Cuero y Caicedo. Quito's nickname, "Luz de América" ("Light of America"), is based on its leading role in trying to secure an independent, local government. Although the new government lasted no more than two months, it had important repercussions and was an inspiration for the independence movement of the rest of Spanish America. Today, 10 August is celebrated as Independence Day, a national holiday.[38] Independence Main article: Ecuadorian War of Independence Venezuelan independence hero Antonio José de Sucre The Guayaquil Conference between the two main Hispanic South American independence heroes, in which they debated, San Martín wanted a monarchical unified South America, while Bolívar wanted a republican unified South America. On 9 October 1820, the Department of Guayaquil became the first territory in Ecuador to gain its independence from Spain, and it spawned most of the Ecuadorian coastal provinces, establishing itself as an independent state. Its inhabitants celebrated what is now Ecuador's official Independence Day on 24 May 1822. The rest of Ecuador gained its independence after Antonio José de Sucre defeated the Spanish Royalist forces at the Battle of Pichincha, near Quito. Following the battle, Ecuador joined Simón Bolívar's Republic of Gran Colombia, also including modern-day Colombia, Venezuela, and Panama. In 1830, Ecuador separated from Gran Colombia and became an independent republic. Two years later, it annexed the Galapagos Islands.[39] The 19th century was marked by instability for Ecuador with a rapid succession of rulers. The first president of Ecuador was the Venezuelan-born Juan José Flores, who was ultimately deposed. Leaders who followed him included Vicente Rocafuerte; José Joaquín de Olmedo; José María Urbina; Diego Noboa; Pedro José de Arteta; Manuel de Ascásubi; and Flores's own son, Antonio Flores Jijón, among others. The conservative Gabriel García Moreno unified the country in the 1860s with the support of the Roman Catholic Church. In the late 19th century, world demand for cocoa tied the economy to commodity exports and led to migrations from the highlands to the agricultural frontier on the coast. Ecuador abolished slavery in 1851.[40] The descendants of enslaved Ecuadorians are among today's Afro-Ecuadorian population. Liberal Revolution Main article: Liberal Revolution of 1895 The Liberal Revolution of 1895 under Eloy Alfaro reduced the power of the clergy and the conservative land owners. This liberal wing retained power until the military "Julian Revolution" of 1925. The 1930s and 1940s were marked by instability and emergence of populist politicians, such as five-time President José María Velasco Ibarra. Loss of claimed territories since 1830 Main article: History of the Ecuadorian–Peruvian territorial dispute vte Ecuadorian–Peruvian territorial dispute After Ecuador's separation from Colombia on 13 May 1830, its first President, General Juan José Flores, laid claim to the territory that had belonged to the Real Audiencia of Quito, also referred to as the Presidencia of Quito. He supported his claims with Spanish Royal decrees, or real cedulas, that delineated the borders of Spain's former overseas colonies. In the case of Ecuador, Flores based Ecuador's de jure claims on the Real Cedulas of 1563, 1739, and 1740; with modifications in the Amazon Basin and Andes Mountains that were introduced through the Treaty of Guayaquil (1829) which Peru reluctantly signed, after the overwhelmingly outnumbered Gran Colombian force led by Antonio José de Sucre defeated President and General La Mar's Peruvian invasion force in the Battle of Tarqui. In addition, Ecuador's eastern border with the Portuguese colony of Brazil in the Amazon Basin was modified before the Wars of Independence by the First Treaty of San Ildefonso (1777) between the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire. Moreover, to add legitimacy to his claims, on 16 February 1840, Flores signed a treaty with Spain, whereby Flores convinced Spain to officially recognize Ecuadorian independence and its sole rights to colonial titles over Spain's former colonial territory known anciently to Spain as the Kingdom and Presidency of Quito. Ecuador during its long and turbulent history has lost most of its contested territories to each of its more powerful neighbors, such as Colombia in 1832 and 1916, Brazil in 1904 through a series of peaceful treaties, and Peru after a short war in which the Protocol of Rio de Janeiro was signed in 1942. Struggle for independence During the struggle for independence, before Peru or Ecuador became independent nations, a few areas of the former Vice Royalty of New Granada – Guayaquil, Tumbez, and Jaén – declared themselves independent from Spain. A few months later, a part of the Peruvian liberation army of San Martín decided to occupy the independent cities of Tumbez and Jaén with the intention of using these towns as springboards to occupy the independent city of Guayaquil and then to liberate the rest of the Audiencia de Quito (Ecuador). It was common knowledge among the top officers of the liberation army from the south that their leader San Martín wished to liberate present-day Ecuador and add it to the future republic of Peru, since it had been part of the Inca Empire before the Spaniards conquered it. However, Bolívar's intention was to form a new republic known as the Gran Colombia, out of the liberated Spanish territory of New Granada which consisted of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. San Martín's plans were thwarted when Bolívar, with the help of Marshal Antonio José de Sucre and the Gran Colombian liberation force, descended from the Andes mountains and occupied Guayaquil; they also annexed the newly liberated Audiencia de Quito to the Republic of Gran Colombia. In the south, Ecuador had de jure claims to a small piece of land beside the Pacific Ocean known as Tumbes which lay between the Zarumilla and Tumbes rivers. In Ecuador's southern Andes Mountain region where the Marañon cuts across, Ecuador had de jure claims to an area it called Jaén de Bracamoros. These areas were included as part of the territory of Gran Colombia by Bolivar on 17 December 1819, during the Congress of Angostura when the Republic of Gran Colombia was created. Tumbes declared itself independent from Spain on 17 January 1821, and Jaén de Bracamoros on 17 June 1821, without any outside help from revolutionary armies. However, that same year, 1821, Peruvian forces participating in the Trujillo revolution occupied both Jaén and Tumbes. Some Peruvian generals, without any legal titles backing them up and with Ecuador still federated with the Gran Colombia, had the desire to annex Ecuador to the Republic of Peru at the expense of the Gran Colombia, feeling that Ecuador was once part of the Inca Empire. On 28 July 1821, Peruvian independence was proclaimed in Lima by San Martín, and Tumbes and Jaén, which were included as part of the revolution of Trujillo by the Peruvian occupying force, had the whole region swear allegiance to the new Peruvian flag and incorporated itself into Peru. Gran Colombia had always protested Peru for the return of Jaén and Tumbes for almost a decade, then finally Bolivar after long and futile discussion over the return of Jaén, Tumbes, and part of Mainas, declared war. President and General José de La Mar, who was born in Ecuador, believing his opportunity had come to annex the District of Ecuador to Peru, personally, with a Peruvian force, invaded and occupied Guayaquil and a few cities in the Loja region of southern Ecuador on 28 November 1828. The war ended when a triumphant heavily outnumbered southern Gran Colombian army at Battle of Tarqui dated 27 February 1829, led by Antonio José de Sucre, defeated the Peruvian invasion force led by President La Mar. This defeat led to the signing of the Treaty of Guayaquil dated 22 September 1829, whereby Peru and its Congress recognized Gran Colombian rights over Tumbes, Jaén, and Maynas. Through protocolized meetings between representatives of Peru and Gran Colombia, the border was set as Tumbes river in the west and in the east the Maranon and Amazon rivers were to be followed toward Brazil as the most natural borders between them. However, what was pending was whether the new border around the Jaén region should follow the Chinchipe River or the Huancabamba River. According to the peace negotiations Peru agreed to return Guayaquil, Tumbez, and Jaén; despite this, Peru returned Guayaquil, but failed to return Tumbes and Jaén, alleging that it was not obligated to follow the agreements, since the Gran Colombia ceased to exist when it divided itself into three different nations – Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela. Map of the former Gran Colombia in 1824 (named in its time as Colombia), the Gran Colombia covered all the colored region. The Central District of the Gran Colombia, known as Cundinamarca or New Granada (modern Colombia) with its capital in Bogota, did not recognize the separation of the Southern District of the Gran Colombia, with its capital in Quito, from the Gran Colombian federation on 13 May 1830. After Ecuador's separation, the Department of Cauca voluntarily decided to unite itself with Ecuador due to instability in the central government of Bogota. The Venezuelan born President of Ecuador, the general Juan José Flores, with the approval of the Ecuadorian congress annexed the Department of Cauca on 20 December 1830, since the government of Cauca had called for union with the District of the South as far back as April 1830. Moreover, the Cauca region, throughout its long history, had very strong economic and cultural ties with the people of Ecuador. Also, the Cauca region, which included such cities as Pasto, Popayán, and Buenaventura, had always been dependent on the Presidencia or Audiencia of Quito. Fruitless negotiations continued between the governments of Bogotá and Quito, where the government of Bogotá did not recognize the separation of Ecuador or that of Cauca from the Gran Colombia until war broke out in May 1832. In five months, New Granada defeated Ecuador due to the fact that the majority of the Ecuadorian Armed Forces were composed of rebellious angry unpaid veterans from Venezuela and Colombia that did not want to fight against their fellow countrymen. Seeing that his officers were rebelling, mutinying, and changing sides, President Flores had no option but to reluctantly make peace with New Granada. The Treaty of Pasto of 1832 was signed by which the Department of Cauca was turned over to New Granada (modern Colombia), the government of Bogotá recognized Ecuador as an independent country and the border was to follow the Ley de División Territorial de la República de Colombia (Law of the Division of Territory of the Gran Colombia) passed on 25 June 1824. This law set the border at the river Carchi and the eastern border that stretched to Brazil at the Caquetá river. Later, Ecuador contended that the Republic of Colombia, while reorganizing its government, unlawfully made its eastern border provisional and that Colombia extended its claims south to the Napo River because it said that the Government of Popayán extended its control all the way to the Napo River. Struggle for possession of the Amazon Basin South America (1879): All land claims by Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia in 1879 When Ecuador seceded from the Gran Colombia, Peru contested Ecuador's claims with the newly discovered Real Cedula of 1802, by which Peru claims the King of Spain had transferred these lands from the Viceroyalty of New Granada to the Viceroyalty of Peru. During colonial times this was to halt the ever-expanding Portuguese settlements into Spanish domains, which were left vacant and in disorder after the expulsion of Jesuit missionaries from their bases along the Amazon Basin. Ecuador countered by labeling the Cedula of 1802 an ecclesiastical instrument, which had nothing to do with political borders. Peru began its de facto occupation of disputed Amazonian territories, after it signed a secret 1851 peace treaty in favor of Brazil. This treaty disregarded Spanish rights that were confirmed during colonial times by a Spanish-Portuguese treaty over the Amazon regarding territories held by illegal Portuguese settlers. Peru began occupying the missionary villages in the Mainas or Maynas region, which it began calling Loreto, with its capital in Iquitos. During its negotiations with Brazil, Peru claimed Amazonian Basin territories up to Caqueta River in the north and toward the Andes Mountain range. Colombia protested stating that its claims extended south toward the Napo and Amazon Rivers. Ecuador protested that it claimed the Amazon Basin between the Caqueta river and the Marañon-Amazon river. Peru ignored these protests and created the Department of Loreto in 1853 with its capital in Iquitos. Peru briefly occupied Guayaquil again in 1860, since Peru thought that Ecuador was selling some of the disputed land for development to British bond holders, but returned Guayaquil after a few months. The border dispute was then submitted to Spain for arbitration from 1880 to 1910, but to no avail.[41] In the early part of the 20th century, Ecuador made an effort to peacefully define its eastern Amazonian borders with its neighbours through negotiation. On 6 May 1904, Ecuador signed the Tobar-Rio Branco Treaty recognizing Brazil's claims to the Amazon in recognition of Ecuador's claim to be an Amazonian country to counter Peru's earlier Treaty with Brazil back on 23 October 1851. Then after a few meetings with the Colombian government's representatives an agreement was reached and the Muñoz Vernaza-Suarez Treaty was signed 15 July 1916, in which Colombian rights to the Putumayo river were recognized as well as Ecuador's rights to the Napo river and the new border was a line that ran midpoint between those two rivers. In this way, Ecuador gave up the claims it had to the Amazonian territories between the Caquetá River and Napo River to Colombia, thus cutting itself off from Brazil. Later, a brief war erupted between Colombia and Peru, over Peru's claims to the Caquetá region, which ended with Peru reluctantly signing the Salomon-Lozano Treaty on 24 March 1922. Ecuador protested this secret treaty, since Colombia gave away Ecuadorian claimed land to Peru that Ecuador had given to Colombia in 1916. On 21 July 1924, the Ponce-Castro Oyanguren Protocol was signed between Ecuador and Peru where both agreed to hold direct negotiations and to resolve the dispute in an equitable manner and to submit the differing points of the dispute to the United States for arbitration. Negotiations between the Ecuadorian and Peruvian representatives began in Washington on 30 September 1935. The negotiations turned into intense arguments during the next 7 months and finally on 29 September 1937, the Peruvian representatives decided to break off the negotiations.[citation needed] Four years later in 1941, amid fast-growing tensions within disputed territories around the Zarumilla River, war broke out with Peru. Peru claimed that Ecuador's military presence in Peruvian-claimed territory was an invasion; Ecuador, for its part, claimed that Peru had recently invaded Ecuador around the Zarumilla River and that Peru since Ecuador's independence from Spain has systematically occupied Tumbez, Jaén, and most of the disputed territories in the Amazonian Basin between the Putomayo and Marañon Rivers. In July 1941, troops were mobilized in both countries. Peru had an army of 11,681 troops who faced a poorly supplied and inadequately armed Ecuadorian force of 2,300, of which only 1,300 were deployed in the southern provinces. Hostilities erupted on 5 July 1941, when Peruvian forces crossed the Zarumilla river at several locations, testing the strength and resolve of the Ecuadorian border troops. Finally, on 23 July 1941, the Peruvians launched a major invasion, crossing the Zarumilla river in force and advancing into the Ecuadorian province of El Oro. Map of Ecuadorian land claims after 1916 During the course of the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War, Peru gained control over part of the disputed territory and some parts of the province of El Oro, and some parts of the province of Loja, demanding that the Ecuadorian government give up its territorial claims. The Peruvian Navy blocked the port of Guayaquil, almost cutting all supplies to the Ecuadorian troops. After a few weeks of war and under pressure by the United States and several Latin American nations, all fighting came to a stop. Ecuador and Peru came to an accord formalized in the Rio Protocol, signed on 29 January 1942, in favor of hemispheric unity against the Axis Powers in World War II favoring Peru with the territory they occupied at the time the war came to an end. The 1944 Glorious May Revolution followed a military-civilian rebellion and a subsequent civic strike which successfully removed Carlos Arroyo del Río as a dictator from Ecuador's government. However, a post-Second World War recession and popular unrest led to a return to populist politics and domestic military interventions in the 1960s, while foreign companies developed oil resources in the Ecuadorian Amazon. In 1972, construction of the Andean pipeline was completed. The pipeline brought oil from the east side of the Andes to the coast, making Ecuador South America's second largest oil exporter. In 1978, the city of Quito and the Galápagos Islands were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, making the first two properties in the world to become listed sites. Ecuadorian troops during the Cenepa War The Mirage F.1JA (FAE-806) was one aircraft involved in the claimed shooting down of two Peruvian Sukhoi Su-22 on 10 February 1995. The Rio Protocol failed to precisely resolve the border along a little river in the remote Cordillera del Cóndor region in southern Ecuador. This caused a long-simmering dispute between Ecuador and Peru, which ultimately led to fighting between the two countries; first a border skirmish in January–February 1981 known as the Paquisha Incident, and ultimately full-scale warfare in January 1995 where the Ecuadorian military shot down Peruvian aircraft and helicopters and Peruvian infantry marched into southern Ecuador. Each country blamed the other for the onset of hostilities, known as the Cenepa War. Sixto Durán Ballén, the Ecuadorian president, famously declared that he would not give up a single centimeter of Ecuador. Popular sentiment in Ecuador became strongly nationalistic against Peru: graffiti could be seen on the walls of Quito referring to Peru as the "Cain de Latinoamérica", a reference to the murder of Abel by his brother Cain in the Book of Genesis.[42] Ecuador and Peru signed the Brasilia Presidential Act peace agreement on 26 October 1998, which ended hostilities, and effectively put an end to the Western Hemisphere's longest running territorial dispute.[43] The Guarantors of the Rio Protocol (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and the United States of America) ruled that the border of the undelineated zone was to be set at the line of the Cordillera del Cóndor. While Ecuador had to give up its decades-old territorial claims to the eastern slopes of the Cordillera, as well as to the entire western area of Cenepa headwaters, Peru was compelled to give to Ecuador, in perpetual lease but without sovereignty, 1 km2 (0.39 sq mi) of its territory, in the area where the Ecuadorian base of Tiwinza – focal point of the war – had been located within Peruvian soil and which the Ecuadorian Army held during the conflict. The final border demarcation came into effect on 13 May 1999, and the multi-national MOMEP (Military Observer Mission for Ecuador and Peru) troop deployment withdrew on 17 June 1999.[43] Military governments (1972–79) In 1972, a "revolutionary and nationalist" military junta overthrew the government of Velasco Ibarra. The coup d'état was led by General Guillermo Rodríguez and executed by navy commander Jorge Queirolo G. The new president exiled José María Velasco to Argentina. He remained in power until 1976, when he was removed by another military government. That military junta was led by Admiral Alfredo Poveda, who was declared chairman of the Supreme Council. The Supreme Council included two other members: General Guillermo Durán Arcentales and General Luis Pintado. The civil society more and more insistently called for democratic elections. Colonel Richelieu Levoyer, Government Minister, proposed and implemented a Plan to return to the constitutional system through universal elections. This plan enabled the new democratically elected president to assume the duties of the executive office. Return to democracy See also: History of Ecuador (1990–present) Elections were held on 29 April 1979, under a new constitution. Jaime Roldós Aguilera was elected president, garnering over one million votes, the most in Ecuadorian history. He took office on 10 August, as the first constitutionally elected president after nearly a decade of civilian and military dictatorships. In 1980, he founded the Partido Pueblo, Cambio y Democracia (People, Change, and Democracy Party) after withdrawing from the Concentración de Fuerzas Populares (Popular Forces Concentration) and governed until 24 May 1981, when he died along with his wife and the minister of defense, Marco Subia Martinez, when his Air Force plane crashed in heavy rain near the Peruvian border. Many people believe that he was assassinated by the CIA,[44] given the multiple death threats leveled against him because of his reformist agenda, deaths in automobile crashes of two key witnesses before they could testify during the investigation, and the sometimes contradictory accounts of the incident. Roldos was immediately succeeded by Vice President Osvaldo Hurtado, who was followed in 1984 by León Febres Cordero from the Social Christian Party. Rodrigo Borja Cevallos of the Democratic Left (Izquierda Democrática, or ID) party won the presidency in 1988, running in the runoff election against Abdalá Bucaram (brother in law of Jaime Roldos and founder of the Ecuadorian Roldosist Party). His government was committed to improving human rights protection and carried out some reforms, notably an opening of Ecuador to foreign trade. The Borja government concluded an accord leading to the disbanding of the small terrorist group, "¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo!" ("Alfaro Lives, Dammit!"), named after Eloy Alfaro. However, continuing economic problems undermined the popularity of the ID, and opposition parties gained control of Congress in 1999. President Lenín Moreno, first lady Rocío González Navas and his predecessor Rafael Correa, 3 April 2017 A notable event was the Cenepa War fought between Ecuador and Peru in 1995. Ecuador adopted the United States dollar on 13 April 2000 as its national currency and on 11 September, the country eliminated the Ecuadorian sucre, in order to stabilize the country's economy.[45] The US Dollar has been the only official currency of Ecuador since the year 2000.[46] The emergence of the Amerindian population as an active constituency has added to the democratic volatility of the country in recent years. The population has been motivated by government failures to deliver on promises of land reform, lower unemployment and provision of social services, and historical exploitation by the land-holding elite. Their movement, along with the continuing destabilizing efforts by both the elite and leftist movements, has led to a deterioration of the executive office. The populace and the other branches of government give the president very little political capital, as illustrated by the most recent removal of President Lucio Gutiérrez from office by Congress in April 2005.[47] Vice President Alfredo Palacio took his place[48] and remained in office until the presidential election of 2006, in which Rafael Correa gained the presidency.[49] On 15 January 2007, Rafael Correa was sworn in as the President of Ecuador. Several left-wing political leaders of Latin America, his future allies, attended the ceremony.[50] The new socialist constitution, endorsed in 2008 referendum (2008 Constitution of Ecuador), implemented leftist reforms.[51] In December 2008, president Correa declared Ecuador's national debt illegitimate, based on the argument that it was odious debt contracted by corrupt and despotic prior regimes. He announced that the country would default on over $3 billion worth of bonds; he then pledged to fight creditors in international courts and succeeded in reducing the price of outstanding bonds by more than 60%.[52] He brought Ecuador into the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas in June 2009. Correa's administration succeeded in reducing the high levels of poverty and unemployment in Ecuador.[53][54][55][56][57] Rafael Correa's three consecutive terms (from 2007 to 2017) were followed by his former Vice President Lenín Moreno's four years as president (2017–21). After being elected in 2017, President Lenin Moreno's government adopted economically liberal policies: reduction of public spending, trade liberalization, flexibility of the labour code, etc. Ecuador also left the left-wing Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (Alba) in August 2018.[58] The Productive Development Act enshrines an austerity policy, and reduces the development and redistribution policies of the previous mandate. In the area of taxes, the authorities aim to "encourage the return of investors" by granting amnesty to fraudsters and proposing measures to reduce tax rates for large companies. In addition, the government waives the right to tax increases in raw material prices and foreign exchange repatriations.[59] In October 2018, the government of President Lenin Moreno cut diplomatic relations with the Maduro administration of Venezuela, a close ally of Rafael Correa.[60] The relations with the United States improved significantly during the presidency of Lenin Moreno. In February 2020, his visit to Washington was the first meeting between an Ecuadorian and U.S. president in 17 years.[61] In June 2019, Ecuador had agreed to allow US military planes to operate from an airport on the Galapagos Islands.[62] A series of protests began on 3 October 2019 against the end of fuel subsidies and austerity measures adopted by President of Ecuador Lenín Moreno and his administration. On 10 October, protesters overran the capital Quito causing the Government of Ecuador to relocate to Guayaquil,[63] but the government had plans to return to Quito.[64] On 14 October 2019, the government restored fuel subsidies and withdrew an austerity package, meaning the end of nearly two weeks of protests.[65] Outgoing President Guillermo Lasso (center) with President-elect Daniel Noboa (right) at the ladder's inauguration in November 2023. The 11 April 2021 election run-off vote ended in a win for conservative former banker, Guillermo Lasso, taking 52.4% of the vote compared to 47.6% of left-wing economist Andrés Arauz, supported by exiled former president, Rafael Correa. Previously, President-elect Lasso finished second in the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections.[66] On 24 May 2021, Guillermo Lasso was sworn in as the new President of Ecuador, becoming the country's first right-wing leader in 14 years.[67] However, President Lasso's party CREO Movement, and its ally the Social Christian Party (PSC) secured only 31 parliamentary seats out of 137, while the Union for Hope (UNES) of Andrés Arauz was the strongest parliamentary group with 49 seats, meaning the new president needs support from Izquierda Democrática and the indigenist Pachakutik to push through his legislative agenda.[68] In October 2021, President Lasso declared a 60-day state of emergency with the intention to combat crime and drug-related violence.[69] In Ecuador's state prisons there have been numerous bloody clashes between rival groups of prisoners.[70] Lasso proposed a series of constitutional changes to enhance his government's ability to respond to rising, largely drug-related crime. In a referendum in February 2023, voters overwhelmingly rejected his proposed changes. This result weakened Lasso's political standing.[71] On 15 October 2023, centrist candidate Daniel Noboa won the run-off of the premature presidential election with 52.3% of the vote against leftist candidate Luisa González.[72] On 23 November 2023, Daniel Noboa was sworn in as Ecuador's new president.[73] Government and politics Main article: Politics of Ecuador The Ecuadorian State consists of five branches of government: the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, the Judicial Branch, the Electoral Branch, and Transparency and Social Control. Ecuador is governed by a democratically elected president for a four-year term. The president of Ecuador exercises his power from the presidential Palacio de Carondelet in Quito. The current constitution was written by the Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly elected in 2007, and was approved by referendum in 2008. Since 1936, voting is compulsory for all literate persons aged 18–65, optional for all other citizens.[74] The executive branch includes 23 ministries. Provincial governors and councilors (mayors, aldermen, and parish boards) are directly elected. The National Assembly of Ecuador meets throughout the year except for recesses in July and December. There are thirteen permanent committees. Members of the National Court of Justice are appointed by the National Judicial Council for nine-year terms. Executive branch Main article: List of heads of state of Ecuador Palacio de Carondelet, seat of the President of Ecuador The executive branch is led by the president. The president is accompanied by the vice-president, elected for four years (with the ability to be re-elected only once). As head of state and chief government official, he is responsible for public administration including the appointing of national coordinators, ministers, ministers of State and public servants. The executive branch defines foreign policy, appoints the Chancellor of the Republic, as well as ambassadors and consuls, being the ultimate authority over the Armed Forces of Ecuador, National Police of Ecuador, and appointing authorities. The acting president's wife receives the title of First Lady of Ecuador. Legislative branch Main article: National Assembly (Ecuador) The legislative branch is embodied by the National Assembly, which is headquartered in the city of Quito in the Legislative Palace, and consists of 137 assemblymen, divided into ten committees and elected for a four-year term. Fifteen national constituency elected assembly, two Assembly members elected from each province and one for every 100,000 inhabitants or fraction exceeding 150,000, according to the latest national population census. In addition, statute determines the election of assembly of regions and metropolitan districts. Judicial branch Ecuador's judiciary has as its main body the Judicial Council, and also includes the National Court of Justice, provincial courts, and lower courts. Legal representation is made by the Judicial Council. The National Court of Justice is composed of 21 judges elected for a term of nine years. Judges are renewed by thirds every three years pursuant to the Judicial Code. These are elected by the Judicial Council on the basis of opposition proceedings and merits. The justice system is buttressed by the independent offices of public prosecutor and the public defender. Auxiliary organs are as follows: notaries, court auctioneers, and court receivers. Also there is a special legal regime for Amerindians. Electoral branch The electoral system functions by authorities which enter only every four years or when elections or referendums occur. Its main functions are to organize, control elections, and punish the infringement of electoral rules. Its main body is the National Electoral Council, which is based in the city of Quito, and consists of seven members of the political parties most voted, enjoying complete financial and administrative autonomy. This body, along with the electoral court, forms the Electoral Branch which is one of Ecuador's five branches of government. Transparency and social control branch The Transparency and Social Control consists of the Council of Citizen Participation and Social Control, an ombudsman, the Comptroller General of the State, and the superintendents. Branch members hold office for five years. This branch is responsible for promoting transparency and control plans publicly, as well as plans to design mechanisms to combat corruption, as also designate certain authorities, and be the regulatory mechanism of accountability in the country. Foreign affairs Main article: Foreign relations of Ecuador Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, 20 July 2019 Ecuador joined the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1973 and suspended its membership in 1992. Under President Rafael Correa, the country returned to OPEC before leaving again in 2020 under the instruction of President Moreno, citing its desire to increase crude oil importation to gain more revenue.[75][76] Ecuador has maintained a research station in Antarctica for peaceful scientific study as a member nation of the Antarctica Treaty. Ecuador has often placed great emphasis on multilateral approaches to international issues. Ecuador is a member of the United Nations (and most of its specialized agencies) and a member of many regional groups, including the Rio Group, the Latin American Economic System, the Latin American Energy Organization, the Latin American Integration Association, the Andean Community of Nations, and the Bank of the South (Spanish: Banco del Sur or BancoSur). In 2017, the Ecuadorian parliament adopted a law on human mobility.[77] The International Organization for Migration lauded Ecuador as the first state to have established the promotion of the concept of universal citizenship in its constitution, aiming to promote the universal recognition and protection of the human rights of migrants.[78] In March 2019, Ecuador withdrew from the Union of South American Nations.[79] Human rights See also: LGBT rights in Ecuador Poor class neighborhoods in Guayaquil A 2003 Amnesty International report was critical that there were scarce few prosecutions for human rights violations committed by security forces, and those only in police courts, which are not considered impartial or independent. There are allegations that the security forces routinely torture prisoners. There are reports of prisoners having died while in police custody. Sometimes the legal process can be delayed until the suspect can be released after the time limit for detention without trial is exceeded. Prisons are overcrowded and conditions in detention centers are "abominable".[80] UN's Human Rights Council's (HRC) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) has treated the restrictions on freedom of expression and efforts to control NGOs and recommended that Ecuador should stop the criminal sanctions for the expression of opinions, and delay in implementing judicial reforms. Ecuador rejected the recommendation on decriminalization of libel.[81] According to Human Rights Watch (HRW) former president Correa intimidated journalists and subjected them to "public denunciation and retaliatory litigation". The sentences to journalists were years of imprisonment and millions of dollars of compensation, even though defendants had been pardoned.[81] Correa stated he was only seeking a retraction for slanderous statements.[82] According to HRW, Correa's government weakened the freedom of press and independence of the judicial system. In Ecuador's current judicial system, judges are selected in a contest of merits, rather than government appointments. However, the process of selection has been criticized as biased and subjective. In particular, the final interview is said to be given "excessive weighing". Judges and prosecutors that made decisions in favor of Correa in his lawsuits had received permanent posts, while others with better assessment grades had been rejected.[81][83] The laws also forbid articles and media messages that could favor or disfavor some political message or candidate. In the first half of 2012, twenty private TV or radio stations were closed down.[81] People engaging in public protests against environmental and other issues are prosecuted for "terrorism and sabotage", which may lead to an eight-year prison sentence.[81] According to Freedom House, restrictions on the media and civil society have decreased since 2017.[84] In October 2022, the United Nations expressed concerns about the dire situation in various detention centers and prisons, and the human rights of those deprived of liberty in Ecuador.[85] Administrative divisions Main articles: Provinces of Ecuador and Cantons of Ecuador Ecuador is divided into 24 provinces (Spanish: provincias), each with its own administrative capital: Provinces of Ecuador Regions and planning areas Cabellera de la Virgen waterfall in Baños de Agua Santa, Tungurahua Province Regionalization, or zoning, is the union of two or more adjoining provinces in order to decentralize the administrative functions of the capital, Quito. In Ecuador, there are seven regions, or zones, each shaped by the following provinces: Region 1 (42,126 km2, or 16,265 mi2): Esmeraldas, Carchi, Imbabura, and Sucumbios. Administrative city: Ibarra Region 2 (43,498 km2, or 16,795 mi2): Pichincha, Napo, and Orellana. Administrative city: Tena Region 3 (44,710 km2, or 17,263 mi2): Chimborazo, Tungurahua, Pastaza, and Cotopaxi. Administrative city: Riobamba Region 4 (22,257 km2, or 8,594 mi2): Manabí and Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas. Administrative city: Ciudad Alfaro Region 5 (38,420 km2, or 14,834 mi2): Santa Elena, Guayas, Los Ríos, Galápagos, and Bolívar. Administrative city: Milagro Region 6 (38,237 km2, or 14,763 mi2): Cañar, Azuay, and Morona Santiago. Administrative city: Cuenca Region 7 (27,571 km2, or 10,645 mi2): El Oro, Loja, and Zamora Chinchipe. Administrative city: Loja Quito and Guayaquil are Metropolitan Districts. Galápagos, despite being included within Region 5,[86] is also under a special unit.[87] Military Main article: Military of Ecuador Ecuadorian Air Force (FAE) The Ecuadorian Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas de la Republica de Ecuador), consists of the Army, Air Force, and Navy and have the stated responsibility for the preservation of the integrity and national sovereignty of the national territory. Due to the continuous border disputes with Peru, finally settled in the early 2000s, and due to the ongoing problem with the Colombian guerrilla insurgency infiltrating Amazonian provinces, the Ecuadorian Armed Forces has gone through a series of changes. In 2009, the new administration at the Defense Ministry launched a deep restructuring within the forces, increasing spending budget to $1,691,776,803, an increase of 25%.[88] The Military Academy General Eloy Alfaro (c. 1838) located in Quito is in charge of graduating army officers.[89] The Ecuadorian Navy Academy (c. 1837), located in Salinas graduates navy officers.[90] The Air Academy "Cosme Rennella (c. 1920), also located in Salinas, graduates air force officers.[91] Geography Main article: Geography of Ecuador See also: Rivers of Ecuador Ecuadorian topography Historically famous Cotopaxi Volcano Napo Wildlife Center in the Yasuní National Park According to the CIA,Ecuador has a total area of 283,571 km2 (109,487 sq mi), including the Galápagos Islands. Of this, 276,841 km2 (106,889 sq mi) is land and 6,720 km2 (2,595 sq mi) water.[2] The total area, according to the Ecuadorian government's foreign ministry, is 256,370 km2 (98,985 sq mi).[92] The Galápagos Islands are sometimes considered part of Oceania,[93][94][95][96][97][98][99] which would thus make Ecuador a transcontinental country under certain definitions. Ecuador is bigger than Uruguay, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana in South America. Ecuador lies between latitudes 2°N and 5°S, bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, and has 2,337 km (1,452 mi) of coastline. It has 2,010 km (1,250 mi) of land boundaries, with Colombia in the north (with a 590 km (367 mi) border) and Peru in the east and south (with a 1,420 km (882 mi) border). It is the westernmost country that lies on the equator.[100] The country has four main geographic regions: La Costa, or "the coast": The coastal region consists of the provinces to the west of the Andean range – Esmeraldas, Guayas, Los Ríos, Manabí, El Oro, Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas and Santa Elena. It is the country's most fertile and productive land, and is the seat of the large banana exportation plantations of the companies Dole and Chiquita. This region is also where most of Ecuador's rice crop is grown. The truly coastal provinces have active fisheries. The largest coastal city is Guayaquil. La Sierra, or "the highlands": The sierra consists of the Andean and Interandean highland provinces – Azuay, Cañar, Carchi, Chimborazo, Imbabura, Loja, Pichincha, Bolívar, Cotopaxi and Tungurahua. This land contains most of Ecuador's volcanoes and all of its snow-capped peaks. Agriculture is focused on the traditional crops of potato, maize, and quinua and the population is predominantly Amerindian Kichua. The largest Sierran city is Quito. La Amazonía, also known as El Oriente, or "the east": The oriente consists of the Amazon jungle provinces – Morona Santiago, Napo, Orellana, Pastaza, Sucumbíos, and Zamora-Chinchipe. This region is primarily made up of the huge Amazon national parks and Amerindian untouchable zones, which are vast stretches of land set aside for the Amazon Amerindian tribes to continue living traditionally. It is also the area with the largest reserves of petroleum in Ecuador, and parts of the upper Amazon here have been extensively exploited by petroleum companies. The population is primarily mixed Amerindian Shuar, Huaorani and Kichua, although there are numerous tribes in the deep jungle which are little-contacted. The largest city in the Oriente Lago Agrio in Sucumbíos. La Región Insular is the region comprising the Galápagos Islands, some 1,000 kilometers (620 mi) west of the mainland in the Pacific Ocean. Ecuador's capital and second largest city is Quito,[101] which is in the province of Pichincha in the Sierra region. It is the second-highest capital city with an elevation of 2,850 meters. Ecuador's largest city is Guayaquil,[102] in the Guayas Province. Cotopaxi, just south of Quito, is one of the world's highest active volcanoes. The top of Mount Chimborazo (6,268 m, or 20,560 ft, above sea level), Ecuador's tallest mountain, is the most distant point from the center of the Earth on the Earth's surface because of the ellipsoid shape of the planet.[2] The Andes is the watershed divisor between the Amazon watershed, which runs to the east, and the Pacific, including the north–south rivers Mataje, Santiago, Esmeraldas, Chone, Guayas, Jubones, and Puyango-Tumbes. Climate Main article: Climate of Ecuador There is great variety in the climate, largely determined by altitude. It is mild year-round in the mountain valleys, with a humid subtropical climate in coastal areas and rainforest in lowlands. The Pacific coastal area has a tropical climate with a severe rainy season. The climate in the Andean highlands is temperate and relatively dry, and the Amazon basin on the eastern side of the mountains shares the climate of other rainforest zones. Because of its location at the equator, Ecuador experiences little variation in daylight hours during the course of a year. Both sunrise and sunset occur each day at the two six o'clock hours.[2] The country has seen its seven glaciers lose 54.4% of their surface in forty years. Research predicts their disappearance by 2100. The cause is climate change, which threatens both the fauna and flora and the population.[103] Biodiversity Ecuador is one of the most megadiverse countries in the world, it also has the most biodiversity per square kilometer of any nation, and is one of the highest endemism worldwide. In the image, a pale-mandibled aracari in the Mindo-Nambillo Ecological Reserve. Ecuador is one of seventeen megadiverse countries in the world according to Conservation International,[22] and it has the most biodiversity per square kilometer of any nation.[104][105] Ecuador has 1,600 bird species (15% of the world's known bird species) in the continental area and 38 more endemic in the Galápagos. In addition to more than 16,000 species of plants, the country has 106 endemic reptiles, 138 endemic amphibians, and 6,000 species of butterfly. The Galápagos Islands are well known as a region of distinct fauna, as the famous place of birth to Darwin's Theory of Evolution, and as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[106] Ecuador has the first constitution to recognize the rights of nature.[107] The protection of the nation's biodiversity is an explicit national priority as stated in the National Plan of "Buen Vivir", or good living, Objective 4, "Guarantee the rights of nature", Policy 1: "Sustainably conserve and manage the natural heritage, including its land and marine biodiversity, which is considered a strategic sector".[104] Western Santa Cruz tortoise in the Galápagos Islands As of the writing of the plan in 2008, 19% of Ecuador's land area was in a protected area; however, the plan also states that 32% of the land must be protected in order to truly preserve the nation's biodiversity.[104] Current protected areas include 11 national parks, 10 wildlife refuges, 9 ecological reserves, and other areas.[108] A program begun in 2008, Sociobosque, is preserving another 2.3% of total land area (6,295 km2, or 629,500 ha) by paying private landowners or community landowners (such as Amerindian tribes) incentives to maintain their land as native ecosystems such as native forests or grasslands. Eligibility and subsidy rates for this program are determined based on the poverty in the region, the number of hectares that will be protected, and the type of ecosystem of the land to be protected, among other factors.[109] Ecuador had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 7.66/10, ranking it 35th globally out of 172 countries.[110] Despite being on the UNESCO list, the Galápagos are endangered by a range of negative environmental effects, threatening the existence of this exotic ecosystem.[111] Additionally, oil exploitation of the Amazon rainforest has led to the release of billions of gallons of untreated wastes, gas, and crude oil into the environment,[112] contaminating ecosystems and causing detrimental health effects to Amerindian peoples.[113][114] One of the best known examples is the Texaco-Chevron case.[115] This American oil company operated in the Ecuadorian Amazon region between 1964 and 1992. During this period, Texaco drilled 339 wells in 15 petroleum fields and abandoned 627 toxic wastewater pits. It is now known that these highly polluting and now obsolete technologies were used as a way to reduce expenses.[116] In 2022 the supreme court of Ecuador decided that "under no circumstances can a project be carried out that generates excessive sacrifices to the collective rights of communities and nature." It also required the government to respect the opinion of Indigenous peoples about different industrial projects on their land.[117] Economy Main article: Economy of Ecuador GDP per capita development of Ecuador Ecuador has a developing economy that is highly dependent on commodities, namely petroleum and agricultural products. The country is classified as an upper-middle-income country. Ecuador's economy is the eighth largest in Latin America and experienced an average growth of 4.6% between 2000 and 2006.[118][failed verification] From 2007 to 2012, Ecuador's GDP grew at an annual average of 4.3 percent, above the average for Latin America and the Caribbean, which was 3.5%, according to the United Nations' Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC).[119] Ecuador was able to maintain relatively superior growth during the crisis. In January 2009, the Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE) put the 2010 growth forecast at 6.88%.[120] In 2011, its GDP grew at 8% and ranked third highest in Latin America, behind Argentina (2nd) and Panama (1st).[121] Between 1999 and 2007, GDP doubled, reaching $65,490 million according to BCE.[122] The inflation rate until January 2008, was about 1.14%, the highest in the past year, according to the government.[123][124] The monthly unemployment rate remained at about 6 and 8 percent from December 2007 until September 2008; however, it went up to about 9 percent in October and dropped again in November 2008 to 8 percent.[125] Unemployment mean annual rate for 2009 in Ecuador was 8.5% because the global economic crisis continued to

Katt Williams’ Viral Shannon Sharpe Interview Has Essential Lessons For Brands FULL VIDEO HERE -- > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oRRZiRQxTs Jan 9, 2024,04:07pm EST HBO's 13th Annual U.S. Comedy Arts Festival - Katt Williams Katt Williams during HBO's 13th Annual U.S. Comedy Arts Festival - Katt Williams at Wheeler Opera ... [+]FILMMAGIC, INC FOR HBO In less than a week, comedian Katt Williams’ interview on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast has racked up more than 37 million views on YouTube. In it, Katt Williams called out various other popular comedians for not being truthful about comments made on their previous appearances on Sharpe’s show, and for not being transparent about how they achieved their success. A lot was said during the nearly 3-hour long interview that has dominated internet headlines since the show dropped. While most of the conversation online surrounds the controversial things Williams had to say about his fellow comedians, there were lots of other gems from the discussion that are worth highlighting, particularly for marketers. Here are a few. Respect And Study The Craft One of the major beefs Williams had with the comedians he called out during the interview stemmed from the fact that he didn’t feel they invested a sufficient amount of time studying the craft. He didn’t feel like they were doing the hard work of developing jokes that would accomplish the primary goal of making the audience laugh. Williams lamented that his colleagues took a lot of shortcuts. He contrasted the shortcuts other comedians took, to the more detailed and diligent approach he takes. He spent years studying the structure and strategy behind jokes of popular comedians of all backgrounds, styles, and eras. Williams also said that he writes new material for every tour he goes on, rather than reusing material from previous years. He even claimed that he spent a significant amount of time studying his competition for movie roles and developed an analytical way to showcase that he was funnier than them. MORE FOR YOU How Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra Will Change Smartphones Forever SEC Issues Sudden Warning As Bitcoin ETF Race Primes Crypto For A 17 Trillion Earthquake Boosting The Price Of Ethereum XRP And Solana Appeals Court Skeptical Of Trump s Immunity Claims In Jan 6 Criminal Case The lesson for marketers is not to take shortcuts. Don’t settle for superficiality when it comes to engaging the communities you want to serve — especially those from underrepresented and underserved communities. CEO: C-suite news, analysis, and advice for top decision makers right to your inbox. Email address Sign Up By signing up, you accept and agree to our Terms of Service (including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and you acknowledge our Privacy Statement. Not only will shortcuts and superficiality not yield you the results you desire, but it greatly diminishes the likelihood of you developing a lasting relationship with consumers from those communities. Instead, invest in developing a deep degree of intimacy with the customers you want to serve. The better you know them, the better you’ll be able to integrate that knowledge into your craft, so you can better serve them. It Takes Effort To Diversify Your Audience Katt Williams talked about the early days of his career when it seemed like he fared better with White audiences than Black audiences. Instead of just sticking with the audiences that immediately “got him” he took the time to study and get to know the audiences he wanted to reach at a deeper level. He created material for them, tested it with them, honed it, tested it some more, and kept going until he had a winning formula. Williams talked about a moment when he realized he was getting the same amount of laughs while in front of Black audiences that he was getting with White ones. Eventually, through his work and learning of his customer, he developed material that worked not only with segregated audiences, but with blended ones. That ability to make an audience that included people who were different from each other laugh came only as a result of learning how to talk to each of them effectively individually. Katt Williams revealed his secret to winning the hearts of any audience no matter where he was performing, was devoting part of his act to be local to the community he was in. If he was in Atlanta, he infused jokes and observations about Atlanta into the first part of his show. If he was in San Francisco, or Brussels, he took the same approach. If he talked to church folks, he didn’t curse and incorporated jokes related to church culture. The people you serve are different. Those differences come as a result of race, gender, age, body size and type, sexual orientation, geography, language spoken, marital status, parenting status and so much more. And those elements of difference form the basis of a manner in which you can connect at a deeper level with the people you serve. When you acknowledge those differences while also demonstrating to people that even though you may be different, you still belong together, you set the foundation to develop loyal raving fans. Transparency Rules The Day A major reason why the content of the Katt Williams interview was so riveting, was because of the transparency he offered. It was a rare look behind the curtain of the inner workings (and infighting) that happens within an industry. The advice for marketers and brands isn’t to be scandalous and to start collecting and producing receipts on your competitors. The lesson learned is that audiences crave transparency. They crave truth. They don’t want to just see the finished product from you. They want to know your process for getting there. They want to understand your methodology, your work ethic, and the obstacles you had to climb to deliver products and experiences that not only solve a problem for them, but transform them. They want and need to understand the story behind what makes you uniquely you. Transparency helps you unlock a deeper, more emotional connection with the people you want to reach, in a way that the purely polished presentation of you struggles to achieve. Servings Underrepresented Communities Is Good Business The Club Shay Shay podcast has a predominantly Black audience. The interview was between two Black men, talking about mostly Black comedians. And yet, the impact the interview has had has been massive. The high number of views, the conversations all over social media channels, the articles on mainstream news sites, the response videos and commentaries, and even private discussion showcase that the audience and the featured talent are present and profitable. For comparison, the most popular podcast in the world is the Joe Rogan Experience. The most popular episode he has in terms of YouTube is one he did with Elon Musk more than five years ago. To date, it has more than 68 million views. The way the Williams and Sharpe interview is trending in it’s first week, it will eclipse the views on that video. It’s long been said that content with Black leads or leads from underrepresented and underserved communities do not have the same reach, mass market appeal, or revenue potential as more “mainstream” leads. But that objection has been disproven time and time again. This viral show is just the latest example of that. Content by Black artists and for the Black community are relevant, mainstream, and profitable. The same can be said for other underrepresented and underserved communities. Just look at the impact of the Barbie movie, and Taylor Swift and Beyonce’s tours world tours had in terms of revenue and attention garnered in 2023 alone. The lesson here is to stop focusing all your energy on what seems to be gen pop and mainstream audiences. Instead, start leaning hard into content by and for underrepresented, underserved, and underestimated communities.

Dog meat production and sales will soon become illegal in South Korea BY HYUNG-JIN KIM Updated January 9, 2024 SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s parliament on Tuesday passed a landmark ban on production and sales of dog meat, as public calls for a prohibition have grown sharply over concerns about animal rights and the country’s international image. Some angry dog farmers said they plan to challenge the bill’s constitutionality and hold protest rallies, a sign of continued heated debate over the ban. After a three-year grace period, the bill would make slaughtering, breeding and sales of dog meat for human consumption illegal from 2027 and punishable by 2-3 years in prison. It doesn’t provide any penalties for eating dog meat. ADVERTISEMENT EARLIER COVERAGE David Rasavong stands by a mural depicting his family's journey from Laos to San Francisco and then to Fresno, in his restaurant "Love & Thai" in Fresno, Calif. on Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. Rasavong's body still tenses up when recounting how a so-called animal welfare crusader in May implied on social media that his 7-month-old restaurant, Tasty Thai, owned a pitbull tied up at a home next door. What's more, the dog would eventually be meal fodder. By the next day, vitriolic comments, voicemails and calls rained down. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) California restaurant’s comeback shows how outdated and false Asian stereotype of dog-eating persists Dog farmers struggle with police officers during a rally against the government-led dog meat banning bill in front of the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) South Korean farmers rally near presidential office to protest proposed anti-dog meat legislation Dogs are seen in a cage at a dog farm in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Dog meat consumption, a centuries-old practice on the Korean Peninsula, isn't explicitly prohibited or legalized in South Korea. But more and more people want it banned, and there's increasing public awareness of animal rights and worries about South Korea’s international image. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) South Korean dog meat farmers push back against growing moves to outlaw their industry Dog meat consumption, a centuries-old practice on the Korean Peninsula, is neither explicitly banned nor legalized in South Korea. It has long been viewed as a source of stamina on hot summer days. Recent surveys show more than half of South Koreans want dog meat banned and a majority no longer eat it. But one in every three South Koreans still opposes a ban even though they don’t consume it. The National Assembly passed the bill by a 208-0 vote. It will become law after being endorsed by the Cabinet Council and signed by President Yoon Suk Yeol, considered formalities since his government supports the ban. “This law is aimed at contributing to realizing the values of animal rights, which pursue respect for life and a harmonious co-existence between humans and animals,” the legislation says. The bill offers assistance to dog farmers and others in the industry in shutting down their businesses and shifting to alternatives. Details are to be worked out among government officials, farmers, experts and animal rights activists. ADVERTISEMENT Dozens of animal rights activists gathered at the National Assembly to celebrate the bill’s passage. They carried large photos of dogs, chanted slogans and held placards reading “Dog meat-free Korea is coming.” January 9, 2024 Humane Society International called the legislation’s passage “history in the making.” “I never thought I would see in my lifetime a ban on the cruel dog meat industry in South Korea, but this historic win for animals is testament to the passion and determination of our animal protection movement,” said JungAh Chae, executive director of HSI’s Korea office. Dogs are also eaten in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, North Korea and in some African countries. But South Korea’s dog meat industry has drawn more attention because of the country’s reputation as a cultural and economic powerhouse. It’s also the only nation with industrial-scale dog farms. Most farms in South Korea raise about 500 dogs, but one visited by The Associated Press in July had about 7,000. Farmers were extremely upset by the bill’s passage. ADVERTISEMENT “This is a clear case of state violence as they are infringing on our freedom to choose our occupation. We can’t just sit by idly,” said Son Won Hak, a farmer and former leader of a farmers’ association. Son said dog farmers will file a petition with the Constitutional Court of Korea and hold demonstrations. He said farmers will meet on Wednesday to discuss other steps. There is no reliable official data on the exact size of South Korea’s dog meat industry. Activists and farmers say hundreds of thousands of dogs are slaughtered for meat each year. The anti-dog meat campaign received a huge boost from the country’s first lady, Kim Keon Hee, who has repeatedly expressed her support for a prohibition. She has become the subject of withering criticism and crude insults during demonstrations by farmers. The legislation doesn’t clearly specify how dog farmers and others in the industry will be supported. Agriculture Minister Song Mi-ryung said Tuesday the government will try to formulate reasonable assistance programs for them. Ju Yeongbong, an official of the farmers’ association, said most farmers are in their 60-80s and hope to continue their businesses until older people, their main customers, die. But Ju said the legislation would “strip them of their right to live” because it would likely end up only offering assistance for dismantling their facilities and for transitions, without compensation for giving up their dogs. Son said many elderly dog farmers are willing to close their farms if proper financial compensation is provided because of the extremely negative public view of their jobs. Cheon JinKyung, head of Korea Animal Rights Advocates in Seoul, accused farmers of demanding unrealistically high compensation. She said compensation based on the number of dogs owned by farmers won’t be accepted, but acknowledged that payments would likely be a major issue. Ordinary citizens were split over the ban. “Dogs are different from cows, chickens and pigs,” said Kim Myung-ae, a 58-year-old Seoul resident. “Why would you still eat dogs when they are now seen more as family-like pets than food?” Another Seoul resident, Jeong Yoon Hee, disagreed, saying whether to eat dog meat is a matter of a personal choice and dietary culture. “Dogs are dogs, not humans,” she said.

US top diplomat urges Israel to avoid harming civilians in Gaza By Arafat Barbakh, Simon Lewis and Nidal Al-Mughrabi January 9. Summary LATEST DEVELOPMENTS Blinken says the daily toll of the war on civilians in Gaza is far too high but that charges that Israel is committing genocide are "meritless". Hamas says: "There are no differences between Israel and the Americans". GAZA/TEL AVIV/CAIRO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israeli leaders on Tuesday to avoid harming civilians as it presses its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, saying the daily toll was far too high. Blinken, making his fourth visit to the Middle East since the war erupted in October, also told them that the creation of a Palestinian state was key to a long-term solution. But it was also vital that Israel achieved its objective of eradicating the threat from Hamas, he said at the end of a day of talks in Tel Aviv. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Even as he spoke, intense fighting gripped south and central parts of Gaza. Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants also exchanged fire on the Lebanon-Israel border. International concern has mounted over the huge Palestinian death toll from the Israeli assault on the densely populated enclave, as well as a humanitarian crisis afflicting hundreds of thousands of people. The Israeli air and ground assault, prompted by a cross-border Hamas rampage into southern Israel on Oct. 7, has now killed 23,210 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, and obliterated large areas from north to south. Advertisement · Scroll to continue The U.S. and other countries are also anxious to prevent the war from spreading through the Middle East. Meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a military base in Tel Aviv, Blinken stressed "the importance of avoiding further civilian harm and protecting civilian infrastructure in Gaza", a State Department spokesperson said. Blinken repeated the Biden administration's support for Israel's right to defend itself and to prevent a repeat of the lightning Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, which killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that rules Gaza and is sworn to Israel's destruction. Addressing a press conference after his meetings, Blinken said the daily toll of the war on civilians in Gaza was far too high though added that charges that Israel was committing genocide were "meritless". He also said Palestinians displaced by the war must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow. The United States rejected any proposals for resettlement of Palestinians outside Gaza, as some far-right Israeli ministers have called for. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told Blinken that Israel's offensive in Gaza's southern Khan Younis area will "intensify and continue until Hamas leadership is detected and Israeli hostages return home safely", the defence ministry said. Blinken has also been discussing plans for future governance of Gaza when the war eventually ends. In his session with Netanyahu, Blinken "reiterated the need to ensure lasting, sustainable peace for Israel and the region, including by the realization of a Palestinian state," the State Department spokesman said. [1/11]U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Israel's President Isaac Herzog, during his week-long trip aimed at calming tensions across the Middle East, at David Kempinski Hotel, in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 9, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Acquire Licensing Rights In the days prior to his Israel visit, Blinken held talks in Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, focused on seeking a longer-term approach to the decades-long Israel-Palestinian conflict. He said Washington's Arab allies wanted closer relations with Israel but only if that included a "practical pathway" to a Palestinian state. Many countries in the region are ready to invest in Gaza's future in that case, he said. U.S.-brokered talks on a Palestinian state in territory now occupied by Israel collapsed almost a decade ago. Right-wing leaders in Israel's current ruling coalition oppose Palestinian statehood. At his press conference, Blinken declined to characterize how Netanyahu and his cabinet responded to his appeal on a Palestinian state. "These goals are attainable, but only if they are pursued together," he said. "To make this possible, Israel must be a partner to Palestinian leaders who are willing to lead their people living side by side in peace with Israel and as neighbours." The Palestinian leadership must reform itself and improve its governance, he said, but Israel must stop taking steps that undercut it. "Extremist settler violence carried out with impunity, settlement expansion, demolitions, evictions, all make it harder, not easier for Israel to achieve lasting peace and security," he said, alluding to conflict in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, part of the territory Palestinians want for a state. Reacting to Blinken's words, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the visit showed there was no fundamental change in the U.S. position. "The aim of the visit was to support the security of the occupation," he told Reuters. "There are no differences between Israel and the Americans." HEAVY FIGHTING IN SOUTH GAZA Israel says it is shifting from a full-blown military assault to more targeted warfare in northern Gaza while maintaining intensive combat in southern areas. It said that since Monday, its troops had killed around 40 Palestinian fighters and raided a militant compound and tunnels in Khan Younis, the main city in the south. It said nine Israeli soldiers had been killed, mostly in engineering units tackling tunnels, one of their deadliest days of the ground assault. The health ministry in Gaza said 126 Palestinians had been killed and 241 wounded in the previous 24 hours. Sean Casey, the World Health Organization Emergency Medical Teams coordinator in Gaza, said the health system in the enclave was collapsing fast. He accused Israel of denying access to more of Gaza for relief trucks. "Every day we line up our convoys, we wait for clearance, and we don't get it - and then we come back and we do it again the next day." Medical staff and patients were fleeing, including an estimated 600 patients from one facility, and 66 health workers were in detention. Only about a third of Gaza's hospitals, all in southern and central Gaza, are even partially functional, he said. Casey added that many staff at the main Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis had fled to shelters in the strip's southernmost tip, leaving just one doctor for more than 100 burn victims. Reporting by Arafat Barbakh and Fadi Shana in Gaza, Simon Lewis in Tel Aviv, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; writing by Kevin Liffey and Angus MacSwan; editing by Peter Graff and Mark Heinrich

Japan earthquake: death toll rises to 62 amid warnings of landslides and aftershocks. Japan earthquake: death toll rises to 62 amid warnings of landslides and aftershocks Ishikawa and its Noto peninsula, one of the worst affected areas, has been hit by more than 100 aftershocks Guardian staff and agencies Wed 3 Jan 2024 03.55 CET Japanese rescuers were scrambling to search for survivors as authorities warned of landslides and heavy rain after a powerful earthquake that killed at least 62 people. The 7.5-magnitude quake on Monday that rattled Ishikawa prefecture on the main island of Honshu triggered tsunami waves more than a metre high, sparked a major fire and tore apart roads.