News from Multiple Perspectives

Lebanon's official news agency NNA says 'Israeli drone' targeted the Hittin neighbourhood of the Ein el-Hilweh camp.

Can wildlife tourism balance conservation, land rights and profit?

President Donald Trump suggested he doesn’t plan to refund tariff fees already collected by the US government.

Freight trucks travel northbound on Interstate 5 Highway, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, in Tracy, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez, File) 2026-02-20T19:23:45Z All truckers and pass drivers will have to take their commercial driver’s license tests in English as the Trump administration expands its aggressive campaign to improve safety in the industry and get unqualified drivers off the road. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the latest effort Friday to ensure that drivers understand English well enough to read road signs and communicate with law enforcement officers. Florida already started administering its tests in English. Currently, many states allow drivers to take their license tests in other languages even though they are required to demonstrate English proficiency. California offered tests in 20 other languages. And Duffy said that a number of states have hired other companies to administer commercial driver’s licenses tests, and those companies aren’t enforcing the standards that drivers are supposed to meet. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “And the third party tester is participating in the scam because they are not adequately testing the people who went through a sham school,” Duffy said. He said every American wants drivers who get behind the wheel of a big rig to be well-qualified to handle those vehicles. The campaign will also now expand to go prevent fraudulent trucking companies from getting into the business while continuing to go after questionable schools and ensure states are complying with all the regulations for handing out commercial licenses. Earlier this week, the Transportation Department said 557 driving schools should close because they failed to meet basic safety standards. And the department has been aggressively going after states that handed out commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants who shouldn’t have qualified for them ever since a fatal crash in August. A truck driver who Duffy says wasn’t authorized to be in the U.S. made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash in Florida that killed three people . Other fatal crashes since then, including one in Indiana that killed four earlier this month, have only heightened concerns. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Duffy said that the registration system and requirements for trucking companies will be strengthened while Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration inspectors conduct more spot checks of trucks and commercial driver’s license schools. Currently, companies only have to pay a few hundred dollars and show proof of insurance to get registered to operate, and then they might not be audited until a year or more later. That has made it easy for fraudulent companies that are known in the industry as chameleon carriers to register multiple times under different names and then simply switch names and registration numbers to avoid any consequences after crashes or other violations. Officials are also trying to make sure that the electronic logging devices drivers use are accurate, and that states are following all the regulations to ensure drivers are qualified to get commercial licenses. After that Indiana crash, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration knocked the company that employed the driver out of service and pulled the DOT numbers assigned to two other companies that were linked to AJ Partners. Tutash Express and Sam Express in the Chicago area were also disqualified, and the Aydana driving school that the trucker involved in the crash attended lost its certification. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Immigration authorities arrested that driver, Bekzhan Beishekeev from Kyrgystan because the 30-year old entered the country illegally. Authorities say he pulled out and tried to go around a truck that had slowed in front of him and his truck slammed into an oncoming van. In December, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration took action to decertify up to 7,500 of the 16,000 schools nationwide but that included many defunct operations . Duffy said the companies involved in that Indiana crash were all registered at the same apartment. In other cases there might be hundreds of companies registered at a single address. JOSH FUNK Funk is an Associated Press reporter who covers transportation including aviation safety and airlines along with all the major freight railroads. Funk also covers Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, the impact of the ongoing bird flu outbreak, agriculture and other news out of the Midwest. twitter mailto

Canada's Sam Reinhart (13) celebrates with Nathan MacKinnon (29) and Macklin Celebrini (17) after Reinhart scored a goal against Finland during the second period of a men's ice hockey semifinal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) 2026-02-20T14:32:50Z MILAN (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon scored the go-ahead goal with 35.2 seconds left after Shea Theodore tied it midway through the third period and Canada survived another scare at the Olympics , rallying to beat Finland 3-2 in the semifinals on Friday night and advance to the men’s gold-medal game. Theodore’s shot through traffic beating Juuse Saros with 9:26 left in regulation brought the bench and a crowd full of red and white back to life after going quiet when Mikko Rantanen scored first for Finland, which then went up by two on Erik Haula’s shorthanded goal. MacKinnon’s power play goal set off a celebration as the team from the birthplace of the sport will look to win its third consecutive title at the Games when NHL players participate. The Canadians had tilted the ice toward Saros since Haula scored. They outshot Finland 14-3 in the second period when Sam Reinhart got them on the board with a tip of Cale Makar’s shot, and Theodore scored on their ninth shot of the third, seconds after Brad Marchand was on top of Saros following a shove from Haula. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Connor McDavid, wearing the “C” in the absence of injured captain Sidney Crosby, made a perfect saucer pass over Finland penalty killer Roope Hintz’s stick to MacKinnon for another memorable goal for Canada in Milan. It held up on video review after Finland challenged that the play was offside. Moments before MacKinnon scored, Saros made a nifty blocker save to deny the Colorado Avalanche star, who was high-sticked by Niko Mikkola to put Canada on the power play. Saros also made several more big stops before MacKinnon tucked the puck in short side with Macklin Celebrini setting a screen by jumping. Canada’s stacked lineup, even missing Crosby, eventually broke through the Finnish trap that slows players down and intercepts the puck before an opponent can go deep into the offensive zone. Instead of getting frustrated, some of the best players on the roster led the way, with Celebrini shooting just about every chance he had. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The comeback kept alive the possibility of an all-North America gold-medal game a year after Canada and the U.S. met in the final of the 4 Nations Face-Off following their epic matchup earlier in that NHL and NHLPA-run tournament. The U.S. still has to hold up its end of the bargain to make that happen. The unbeaten Americans face Slovakia in the second semifinal on Friday night. ___ AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics STEPHEN WHYNO Whyno has covered the NHL, international hockey, NFL and horse racing for The Associated Press since 2016. twitter facebook

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaks during a bilateral meeting between Switzerland and Iran, in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP) 2026-02-20T17:31:09Z WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump warned on Friday that limited strikes against Iran are possible even as the country’s top diplomat said Tehran expects to have a proposed deal ready in the next few days following nuclear talks with the United States . In response to a reporter’s question on whether the U.S. could take limited military action as the countries negotiate , Trump said, “I guess I can say I am considering that.” Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a TV interview that his country was planning to finalize a draft deal in “the next two to three days” to then send to Washington. “I don’t think it takes long, perhaps, in a matter of a week or so, we can start real, serious negotiations on the text and come to a conclusion,” Araghchi said on MSNOW’s “Morning Joe” show. The tensions between the longtime adversaries have ramped up as the Trump administration pushes for concessions from Iran and has built up the largest U.S. military presence in the Middle East in decades, with more warships and aircraft on the way. Both countries have signaled that they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran’s nuclear program fizzle out. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “We are prepared for war, and we are prepared for peace,” Araghchi said Friday. Trump said a day earlier that he believes 10 to 15 days is “enough time” for Iran to reach a deal following recent rounds of indirect negotiations , including this week in Geneva, that made little visible progress. But the talks have been deadlocked for years, and Iran has refused to discuss wider U.S. and Israeli demands that it scale back its missile program and sever ties to armed groups. Araghchi also said Friday that his American counterparts have not asked for zero enrichment of uranium as part of the latest round of talks, which is in contradiction to what U.S. officials have said. “What we are now talking about is how to make sure that Iran’s nuclear program, including enrichment, is peaceful and will remain peaceful forever,” he said. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); He added that in return Iran will implement some confidence-building measures in exchange for relief on economic sanctions . In response to Araghchi’s claim, a White House official said Trump has been clear that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons or the capacity to build them and that it cannot enrich uranium. The official wasn’t authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Tehran has long insisted that any negotiations should only focus on its nuclear program and that it hasn’t been enriching uranium since U.S. and Israeli strikes last June on Iranian nuclear sites . Trump said at the time that the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites, but the exact damage is unknown as Tehran has barred international inspectors . Iran has also insisted that its nuclear program is peaceful. The U.S. and others suspect it is aimed at eventually developing weapons. ___ Amiri reported from New York. Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price in Washington and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report. FARNOUSH AMIRI Amiri covers foreign policy and the United Nations as a correspondent for The Associated Press, based in New York. twitter mailto SEUNG MIN KIM Kim covers the White House for The Associated Press. She joined the AP in 2022 and is based in Washington. Kim is also a political analyst for CNN. twitter mailto

Nasa sets the launch date following a successful "wet dress rehearsal" of the Artemis II mission.

The Supreme Court has weakened Trump's hand in dealing with other nations, writes Anthony Zurcher.

If you think the Supreme Court ruling heralds a return to pre-Trump business as usual - think again.

The frightening moment an avalanche thundered down a mountainside and slammed into a train traveling through the Swiss Alps was captured by a tourist. The dramatic incident unfolded on Feb. 17 near the popular ski resort town of Zermatt in southern Switzerland’s Valais canton. Kirsten Osborne, an Australian woman living in the U.K., was on the train with other passengers when the avalanche suddenly struck, according to Storyful. She filmed the shocking moment a massive wall of snow barreled down the mountain toward the train. 9 CALIFORNIA SKIERS STILL MISSING AFTER AVALANCHE; 6 RESCUED In the video, a child can be heard saying "uh-oh!" several times as the growing wave of powdery snow rapidly approaches. Within seconds, the train is engulfed in a thick white cloud as the avalanche crashes into it and covers the window in snow, causing the train to shake. Osborne described how passengers were left stranded for around two hours following the impact. "We were stuck for two hours before the rescue and provided bus transport to safety," she said. UELI KESTENHOLZ, WHO WON SNOWBOARDING'S FIRST OLYMPIC MEDAL IN 1998, DIES IN SWISS AVALANCHE Despite the terrifying scenes, no injuries were reported. Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, the rail company that operates the route, has since confirmed that all passengers were safely evacuated in coordination with emergency services. "At around 11 a.m. on Tuesday morning, another avalanche occurred between Täsch and Randa," the company said in a statement . "A regional MGBahn train was struck by a resulting powder-snow avalanche. No one was injured. Passengers were evacuated in cooperation with the emergency services. "As a precaution, and in consultation with external local natural hazard specialists, MGBahn has decided to suspend operations on the St. Niklaus–Täsch route until further notice," the company said. CALIFORNIA AVALANCHE THAT KILLED 8 IS DEADLIEST IN STATE HISTORY MGBahn also confirmed it was in "close contact with specialists and experts to assess the situation along the entire route network between Disentis (GR) and Zermatt (VS)." The incident happened amid dangerous winter conditions in the Swiss Alps, where heavy snowfall has impacted the tourist season. The avalanche strike on the train came just a day after another rail incident near the town of Goppenstein, where a train derailed, injuring five people. Local reports indicated that an avalanche may have been a possible cause of that derailment, although investigations are ongoing. Large areas of the western Alps have been affected this season by avalanche risks, according to The Times.

As the war in Ukraine enters its fifth year, the central challenge facing both Moscow and Kyiv is no longer territory alone. It is manpower. Both Russia and Ukraine face a growing manpower crisis . Western estimates put Ukrainian military casualties at roughly 500,000 to 600,000 since 2022, including more than 100,000 killed, while Russia is believed to have suffered about 1.2 million casualties. Combined battlefield casualties on both sides may now be approaching two million, according to recent analyses. Now, in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital, the Ukrainian human rights organization Truth Hounds said Russia is increasingly turning to vulnerable foreign nationals, including recruits from Africa and Asia , through coercive and deceptive recruitment practices that in some cases may amount to human trafficking. PUTIN VOWS VICTORY IN UKRAINE IN NEW YEAR’S ADDRESS AMID TRUMP-BACKED PEACE TALKS "The patterns of recruitment in different countries and regions are quite similar," Truth Hounds said. "Two main categories for foreign fighters could be defined. First, persons who were already in Russia, such as students and migrant workers. Second, those who were recruited in their countries of origin." According to the organization, many recruits were promised civilian jobs with substantially higher salaries than in their home countries but were later compelled to sign military contracts written in Russian without translation. "In many of these cases — both when recruitment happens outside and inside Russia — there are plenty of facts indicating potential human trafficking," the group said. Truth Hounds said it documented cases in which individuals detained inside Russia were beaten, tortured or otherwise coerced into signing military contracts. UKRAINE, US NEAR 20-POINT PEACE DEAL AS PUTIN SPURNS ZELENSKYY CHRISTMAS CEASEFIRE OFFER "Under such circumstances, it is difficult to characterize their enlistment in the Russian army as voluntary. Rather, these cases involve coercion into military service and exploitation — patterns that are consistent across documented cases globally, when it comes to Russian recruitment practices," the organization said. The group cited figures from Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War indicating that more than 18,000 foreigners had joined the Russian army as of late last year, with the number continuing to grow. Truth Hounds said its interviews with foreign prisoners of war, including several from African states, revealed similar recruitment patterns. According to a report published by INPACT in February 2026, nearly 1,500 Africans were enlisted between 2023 and mid-2025, 316 of whom died because of a few kilometers of snow in Ukraine, a loss rate of 22%. Many others are missing or cannot be reached by their families. At the same time, the organization cautioned that not all foreign recruits were forced to serve, noting that some joined with a full understanding of the purpose of their travel to Russia and the terms of the contract, though the proportion remains unclear. UKRAINE–RUSSIA AT A CROSSROADS: HOW THE WAR EVOLVED IN 2025 AND WHAT COMES NEXT The allegations come as African leaders have begun publicly raising the issue. Kenya’s foreign minister said Nairobi would confront Russian authorities over the recruitment of Kenyan nationals, while South African President Cyril Ramaphosa raised concerns with Russian President Vladimir Putin following distress calls from South African citizens believed to be caught in the conflict, according to Reuters. Truth Hounds said the legal status of foreign fighters presents a complex overlap between international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Individuals who sign contracts with Russia’s Ministry of Defense are treated as members of the armed forces and are entitled to prisoner-of-war protections, though some cases may also meet the criteria for human trafficking, creating additional legal questions. "The main question remains how to effectively stop Russia from recruiting such individuals and hold it accountable for the ruined lives of those who have already ended up there," the organization said. Moscow has previously said foreign nationals may voluntarily enlist in its armed forces. It has not publicly acknowledged coercive recruitment practices. As the war grinds on, the battle for manpower is stretching beyond Europe’s borders, pulling in vulnerable populations from Africa and Asia and raising new diplomatic and legal challenges for governments far from the front lines.

Iran is rebuilding nuclear sites damaged in previous U.S. strikes and "preparing for war," despite engaging in talks with the Trump administration, according to a prominent Iranian opposition figure. Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the Washington office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said newly released satellite images also prove the regime has accelerated its efforts to restore its "$2 trillion" uranium enrichment capabilities. "The regime has clearly stepped up efforts to rebuild its uranium enrichment capabilities," Jafarzadeh told Fox News Digital. "It is preparing itself for a possible war by trying to preserve its nuclear weapons program and ensure its protection." IRAN SAYS US MUST 'PROVE THEY WANT TO DO A DEAL' ON NUCLEAR TALKS IN GENEVA "That said, the ongoing rebuilding of Iran’s uranium enrichment capabilities is particularly alarming as the regime is now engaged in nuclear talks with the United States," he added. New satellite images released by Earth intelligence monitor, Planet Labs , show reconstruction activity appears to be underway at the Isfahan complex. Isfahan is one of three Iranian uranium enrichment plants targeted in the U.S. military operation known as "Midnight Hammer." The June 22 operation involved coordinated Air Force and Navy strikes on the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan facilities. US POSITIONS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS, STRIKE PLATFORMS ACROSS MIDDLE EAST AS IRAN TALKS SHIFT TO OMAN Despite the damage, the satellite images show Iran has buried entrances to a tunnel complex at the site, according to Reuters. Similar steps were reportedly taken at the Natanz facility, which houses two additional enrichment plants. "These efforts in Isfahan involve rebuilding its centrifuge program and other activities related to uranium enrichment," Jafarzadeh said. The renewed movements come as Iran participated in talks with the U.S. in Geneva. On Thursday, President Donald Trump warned that "bad things" would happen if Iran did not make a deal. While the talks were aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, Jafarzadeh argues that for the regime, talks would be nothing more than a tactical delay. TRUMP SAYS IRAN ALREADY HAS US TERMS AS MILITARY STRIKE CLOCK TICKS "Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei agreed to the nuclear talks as it would give the regime crucial time to avoid or limit the consequences of confrontation with the West," he said. Jafarzadeh also described the regime spending at least "$2 trillion" on nuclear capabilities, which he said "is higher than the entire oil revenue generated since the regime came to power in Iran in 1979." "Tehran is trying to salvage whatever has remained of its nuclear weapons program and quickly rebuild it," he said. "It has heavily invested in the nuclear weapons program as a key tool for the survival of the regime." IRANIAN OFFICIAL SAYS NUCLEAR TALKS WILL CONTINUE AFTER US, TEHRAN NEGOTIATIONS HAD 'A GOOD START' IN OMAN Jafarzadeh is best known for publicly revealing the existence of Iran’s Natanz nuclear site in 2002, which led to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency and intensified global scrutiny of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. "The insistence of the Iranian regime during the nuclear talks on maintaining its uranium enrichment capabilities, while rebuilding its damaged sites, is a clear indication that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has no plans to abandon its nuclear weapons program," he said. The National Council of Resistance of Iran, led by Maryam Rajavi, exposed for the first time the nuclear sites in Natanz, Arak, Fordow and more than 100 other sites and projects, Jafarzadeh said, "despite a massive crackdown by the regime on this movement."

The images of political prisoners, taken just before they were killed by Nazis in 1944, were put up for auction on eBay. The sale was pulled shortly thereafter.

Nasrallah Abu Siyam, 19, was shot dead by an Israeli settler, according to a witness and Palestinian health officials, amid rising violent settler attacks in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Muslims make up a majority in Sambhal, but after deadly clashes over a mosque, they say they the arms of the state are now stifling them.

For years, Wisconsin’s powerful Assembly speaker refused to allow a bipartisan bill to come to a vote that extends postpartum Medicaid coverage for new moms. Finally, this week, he relented. “Go out and take your victory lap,” Republican Robin Vos told caucus members late Wednesday, according to one lawmaker.  “You won,” Vos added.  On Thursday, the Assembly agreed 95-1 to opt in to a federal program that provides free health insurance to low-income mothers for a year after giving birth, up from 60 days. Vos was among those voting yes.  The legislation, which had already been adopted by the Senate, now goes to Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat. He has openly supported such legislation for years and is expected to sign it. Every other state in the nation, except Arkansas, has already taken the step.  The vote represented a rare capitulation for Wisconsin’s longest-serving Assembly speaker — a man who controls the legislative agenda, provides campaign cash to those he favors and punishes those who antagonize him. ProPublica wrote about Vos’ opposition to the bill last fall. The turnaround came on a day of surprises involving Vos. Earlier, at the start of the session, he announced that he would retire at year’s end, revealing that he’d had a slight heart attack in the fall and needed to reduce his stress. “To my leadership team and my caucus colleagues, thank you for your trust, thank you for your candor and your willingness to carry responsibility when it is heavy,” he said.  Rep. Patrick Snyder, a Republican and the lead sponsor on the postpartum bill, threatened to not pursue reelection if he did not succeed in getting the measure passed — a legislative goal he had promised constituents he would deliver. That would have left an open GOP seat in a swing district. Typically, incumbents have an advantage in elections.  “I just said if we can’t get this thing passed, I just don’t feel I can come back,” Snyder said he told the speaker. “It was that important of a bill.” Vos has long opposed extending Medicaid coverage for new moms, explaining that he opposes spending more money on welfare in Wisconsin. The state’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimated that, once fully phased in, the 12-month policy would cost the state about $9.4 million, with the federal government paying an additional $14.1 million.  All sides have felt a sense of urgency as the Legislature, controlled by Republicans, intends to wrap up the session soon to hit the campaign trail for the remainder of the year. On Wednesday, Democrats moved aggressively on the postpartum extension issue, proposing amendments that attached the Medicaid change to bill after bill, creating a bit of legislative havoc as Republicans repeatedly ruled the matter not germane to the legislation under consideration. (Democrats did the same for another stalled bipartisan bill on insurance coverage for breast cancer screenings, a measure that also passed Thursday.)  Snyder said the Democrats’ tactic nearly derailed GOP efforts to convince Vos to let both bills advance. In a press conference, a dismayed Snyder likened it to someone tripping him as he made a dash for the finish line. “I guess maybe they just didn’t think I could get it done,” he later told ProPublica. “And now we did.” In recent weeks, seven other GOP members joined Snyder to push Vos to reconsider his stance. In a letter to Vos dated Feb. 3, the group told the speaker the legislation aligns with core Republican priorities, including safeguarding infants by ensuring they have healthy mothers. The eight lawmakers are all in competitive districts. This week, despite whatever conflict they had with Vos, they still were careful to pay him homage, with one calling the speaker “a tough negotiator” and another publicly thanking Vos for “his understanding.” Read More He Vowed to “Protect the Unborn.” Now He’s Blocking a Bill to Expand Medicaid for Wisconsin’s New Moms. The legislation was backed by hospitals and medical groups as well as anti-abortion advocates, who favor robust support for pregnant women and new moms. Research has shown that the year after birth can be a dangerous time for women, who can face postpartum depression, blood clots, hypertension, cardiovascular ailments and other long-term health issues. Kate Duffy, a Wisconsin mom who amplifies political issues on social media under the moniker Motherhood for Good, has fought for the extended postpartum coverage and challenged Vos on the topic for about a year. She’s grown a sizable audience, especially among Wisconsin women, many of whom responded to the call to urge lawmakers to act. She credited the bill’s passage to “good old-fashioned organizing and relentless persistence.”  Said Duffy: “We just would not shut up about this.” The post New Moms in Wisconsin to Get Extension of Vital Benefits After GOP Powerbroker Ends Holdout appeared first on ProPublica .

One of New York’s largest health insurers is set to pay a multimillion-dollar fine for failing to fix a series of errors that made it harder for its customers to get mental health care. EmblemHealth this week agreed to a $2.5 million settlement with the New York attorney general’s office because of the large number of inaccuracies in its listings of in-network mental health providers, a problem that has persisted for years. The fine is the biggest secured by the state attorney general’s office in its yearslong quest to clamp down on the chronic problem of provider directory errors, also known as ghost networks. It’s an issue that has led customers to postpone treatment, forgo care and pay for more expensive out-of-network providers.  The office found that EmblemHealth overstated the availability of in-network mental health providers and failed to comply with state and federal laws requiring that insurers make mental health care as available as other kinds of medical care. “Health insurers cannot mislead consumers with inaccurate provider directories while families are left without care,” Letitia James, the state’s attorney general, said in a statement. EmblemHealth did not answer ProPublica’s questions. In a statement, a spokesperson said the insurer does “not admit” to the state attorney general’s findings but agreed to the settlement “to avoid time-consuming litigation.” The spokesperson added that the insurer has “focused on taking immediate steps to further support our members’ access to care.” ProPublica’s 2024 series “ America’s Mental Barrier ” examined the ways that ghost networks can limit patients’ access to mental health care. Our reporting showed that the investigation by the state attorney general’s office into the ghost networks was one of the rare instances nationwide where health insurers faced consequences from elected officials .  Between 2018 and 2024, more than 360 EmblemHealth customers complained to either the insurer, a subcontractor that administered mental health benefits for the insurer or the attorney general’s office about such errors, the settlement said. But EmblemHealth failed to address the issue, the settlement said, even though the insurer had promised to do so as part of a settlement agreement reached in 2011. A report from the office published in 2023 found that EmblemHealth and another dozen insurers had failed to keep their listings of mental health providers free of extensive errors. The office had contacted a sample of providers — nearly 400 listed in the 13 insurers’ directories — and most of them were “unreachable, not in-network, or not accepting new patients,” according to the report. The report found that 82% of the providers in EmblemHealth’s directory that were called were not available for an appointment.  This week’s settlement noted that EmblemHealth’s own investigations into the accuracy of its directory listings “have produced results similar to” those found by James’ office. Read More They Couldn’t Access Mental Health Care When They Needed It. Now They’re Suing Their Insurer. The insurer, which covers more than 3 million people in New York and in surrounding states, has now agreed to compensate customers who paid out of pocket for mental health care because they couldn’t secure an appointment with a provider listed as being in-network. EmblemHealth also has pledged as part of the settlement to take additional steps to fix the errors in its listings. The insurer promised to correct inaccurate listings within two business days of being made aware of an error and to check every 90 days that each listing is accurate.  The settlement further calls for an independent monitor to oversee EmblemHealth’s progress to ensure that it complies with the settlement’s terms. EmblemHealth is also the subject of a lawsuit filed in December by employees of the city of New York , who alleged that the errors in the insurer’s directory left them with a “deceptive” and “misleading” impression about the size of the company’s provider network. A spokesperson for EmblemHealth recently told ProPublica that the insurer does not comment on pending litigation. The post Insurer Agrees to Pay Millions for Failing to Fix Errors That Made It Harder for Customers to Get Mental Health Care appeared first on ProPublica .

For months, President Donald Trump has railed against Latin American narcoterrorists flooding the United States with “lethal poison.” He has used the scourge of drug trafficking as a rationale for dozens of military strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, which have left more than 140 people dead . Last month, Trump cheered a military assault by U.S. forces that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and brought them to the U.S. to face charges related to cocaine trafficking. Maduro, Trump said , led a “vicious cartel” that “flooded our nation with lethal poison responsible for the deaths of countless Americans.” But when it comes to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was tried and convicted in the U.S. in 2024 and sentenced to 45 years in prison for taking bribes and allowing traffickers to export more than 400 tons of cocaine to the U.S., Trump has taken a decidedly softer tone. Hernández, he said, has been “treated very harshly and unfairly” — so unfairly that on Dec. 1, Trump pardoned the former president after he served less than four of those 45 years. But the federal government’s magnanimity did not end there. On the day he was to be released, records show, Hernández had an immigration detainer — a request for law enforcement agencies to hold noncitizens for pickup by Immigration and Customs Enforcement — in place.   Here, too, the Trump’s administration’s treatment of Hernández differed from its public objectives. Other noncitizens caught up in recent immigration sweeps — the vast majority of whom do not have criminal records — have faced swift efforts to deport them, even to countries where they may face threats. But in Hernández’s case, the Federal Bureau of Prisons scrambled to get his detainer removed so he could walk free. And Hernández did not just walk out of the prison. Despite persistent budget and staffing shortages , prison officials paid a specialized tactical team overtime to drive Hernández from a high-security facility in West Virginia to the famed five-star Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City, according to records and three people familiar with the situation. Before he left, Hernández was allowed to use the captain’s government phone to talk to the federal prison system’s deputy director, Joshua Smith, who was convicted in a drug trafficking conspiracy before Trump pardoned him in 2021.  “The [prisons bureau] administration rolled out the red carpet for him,” said Joe Rojas, a retired prison worker and former union leader who has been speaking to the media on behalf of staff who fear reprisals for doing so since bureau leaders stopped recognizing the union last year. “The staff are disgusted.”  Renato Stabile, the court-appointed lawyer representing Hernández — who has long maintained his innocence — said his client’s treatment was appropriate.  “It would be particularly cruel to grant somebody a pardon and have them released from prison — only to have them immediately shipped back to a place like Honduras where they would’ve immediately arrested him or he would’ve been killed on site by criminal elements that wanted to do him harm,” Stabile told ProPublica. Through his attorney, Hernández declined to comment. ICE referred all questions to the White House, which responded with a link to a November social media post announcing the President’s intent to pardon Hernández. Smith didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment. A BOP spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the bureau does not discuss conditions of confinement or security procedures and that employee standards of conduct prohibit staff from giving any prisoners preferential treatment. “Violators may be subject to disciplinary actions, including removal from federal service and criminal prosecution,” the statement said. The investigation that ultimately ensnared Hernández stretched across several U.S. presidencies. Despite looming legal trouble stateside and widespread allegations of corruption in his country, Hernández — often known by his initials, JOH — was seen as a key U.S. ally under the Obama and first Trump administrations, ostensibly because of his apparent willingness to help tackle drug trafficking and migration issues.  In 2012, as president of Honduras’ National Congress, he famously pushed through a legal change allowing for the extradition of accused criminals to the U.S. — a reform that his attorney pointed out was ironically later used to extradite him.  But in 2018, less than halfway through Hernández’s second term as president, the Drug Enforcement Administration arrested his younger brother , former Honduran congressman Tony Hernández, in Miami for a series of weapons and drug trafficking charges. A jury found him guilty the following year at a Manhattan federal trial in which Emil Bove — the federal prosecutor who would later become Trump’s personal defense lawyer — gave a closing argument replete with allegations implicating the Honduran president in criminal schemes. (Bove could not be reached for comment.) Although the sprawling criminal case focused on narcotrafficking concerns, Juan Orlando Hernández’s political career was fraught in other ways. Dana Frank, a University of California, Santa Cruz history professor who studies Honduras , described him as a “repressive criminal on multiple fronts.” While in congress in 2012, he led a “technical coup” in overthrowing the supreme court , she said. Then, he ran for reelection to the presidency in 2017 “in complete violation of the constitution ,” she said. Amid the resulting protests, security forces shot and killed at least 16 people, including two children, among other human rights abuses, a United Nations report found . Hernández has said little publicly, but his government told the U.N. it would look into those cases. His party has tweeted that it has an “unwavering commitment to democracy and freedom.” Weeks after Hernández left office in 2022, he was arrested at his home in Honduras and extradited to the U.S. to face drug trafficking and weapons charges. Prosecutors said he funded his political career with millions of dollars he received from “violent drug-trafficking organizations” in exchange for allowing them to “move mountains of cocaine” out of the country.   Stabile told ProPublica the case against his client was always a weak one, relying heavily on the word of unreliable drug traffickers with outlandish stories and little in the way of hard evidence. Still, the government’s case was enough to convince a jury to convict Hernández after just over eight hours of deliberations , and in June 2024 he was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison. Afterward, Stabile and his client began working on an appeal , which at that point appeared to be Hernández’s only shot at freedom. Early last year, prison officials transferred Hernández out of the federal detention center in Brooklyn, which largely holds pretrial detainees , and sent him to the high-security Hazelton penitentiary in West Virginia. Dubbed “Misery Mountain,” the notoriously violent prison is the same facility where mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger was beaten to death in his cell hours after his arrival in 2018. Yet prison sources said Hernández seemed to do his time quietly, eventually landing in the coveted housing unit set aside for a therapeutic program used to treat drug addiction, mental illness and “criminal thinking errors.”  But after Trump returned to office last year, a much quicker route to freedom suddenly seemed possible: a pardon. Like Trump, Hernández was a member of his country’s right-wing party. And, like Trump, he believed he’d been targeted by leftist forces. He also had other reasons to be hopeful.  During his time in office, Hernández had championed the creation of special economic zones that could set their own taxes and regulations, a move that benefitted the Trump-aligned Silicon Valley titans who invested in them, including Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen . But the law was repealed by his successor, center-left party Libre member Xiomara Castro, putting plans for the zones in jeopardy. (Andreessen responded to a request for comment with a link to a social media post disavowing any involvement in the pardon. Thiel could not be reached for comment, though he has previously said he was not involved either .) Longtime political operative Roger Stone also suggested in a blog post co-authored with conservative activist Shane Trejo in January 2025 that pardoning Hernández could have political benefits for Trump. In the post, Trejo and Stone — who was pardoned by Trump five years ago after he was convicted of obstructing a congressional investigation into Russian election interference — urged the president to “crush socialism and save a freedom city in Honduras” with a “well-timed pardon” that “could be the final death blow to [Xiomara] Castro” in the 2025 elections. Eventually, Stone took on a more direct role in advocating for clemency when he gave Trump a four-page letter Hernández had written to the U.S. president, asking for a pardon and making the case that his conviction was a “political persecution” by the Biden administration. In a text message with ProPublica, Stone said he had received the letter from a journalist who’d gotten it from the family. He emphasized repeatedly that he was not compensated for his involvement. “I read the letter and then did my own research and elected to send the letter to President Trump,” Stone wrote. “I actually had no contact with JOH or anyone in his family until after the pardon.” On Nov. 28, two days before the Honduran presidential election, Trump announced his intent to pardon Hernández. Stabile said he didn’t learn the news until Ana García Carías, the former president’s wife, called him in tears: “He’s letting him out! Trump’s pardoning Juan Orlando!”  She sent Stabile a screenshot from Truth Social , where Trump had written that he would grant him a “Full and Complete Pardon.”  The decision met with bipartisan backlash from lawmakers. Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, called the unexpected reprieve “disgusting and incomprehensible,” while Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, described it as “horrible optics.” In his post, Trump also urged Hondurans to vote for the National Party candidate, Nasry “Tito” Asfura, who was trailing in multiple polls , adding what to observers of Latin American politics was a thinly veiled threat: If Asfura did not win, Trump said, the U.S. would “not be throwing good money after bad” in support of Honduras. The message was obvious, experts said. “That pardon was a clear green light for the National Party to manipulate the vote,” one former high-ranking U.S. diplomat told ProPublica.  In the end, Asfura narrowly edged out center-right candidate Salvador Nasralla and handily defeated the incumbent Libre party. But the count was plagued by delays, reports of voter intimidation and allegations of fraud , and Nasralla later formally challenged the outcome .  On Dec. 1 — while the votes were still being counted in Honduras — Trump posted again on Truth Social in support of Asfura. “Looks like Honduras is trying to change the results of their Presidential Election. If they do, there will be hell to pay!” The former president’s pardon officially went through that same day.  That evening at Hazelton, after the prisoners had already been fed dinner, corrections officers showed up at the housing unit to get Hernández. Smith, the bureau’s deputy director, wanted to speak with him. The newly pardoned inmate was escorted to the captain’s office, where he used the captain’s phone to talk to Smith, his fellow pardon recipient, according to a source familiar with the situation. The move shocked current and former prison staff.  Hernández was also allowed to talk with his family, who then phoned Stabile and told him the good news. Within the hour, Stabile said, he got a call from Smith, inquiring about a release plan.  “I’m in Manhattan and he’s in West Virginia,” Stabile told Smith. “It would take me six hours to come pick him up. Can you transport him?” Because most inmate releases are done during the daytime, prison staff had to be called back in to handle the paperwork and logistics of freeing an inmate. But there was a problem: Hernández had an immigration hold.  When noncitizens are convicted of crimes in the U.S., immigration officials routinely sign detainers asking prisons and jails to turn them over to ICE for possible deportation proceedings  following their release date. In Hernández’s case, records show immigration agents sent the prison notice of a detainer in February 2025, two months after he was sentenced in court. For several hours on the night of his release, prison officials scrambled to get the detainer removed so he could walk free, according to several sources familiar with the situation.       “It’s definitely special treatment. That’s not normally the way it goes,” said Lena Graber, a senior staff attorney at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. “Most people with drug convictions would never get their ICE detainer removed just because the conviction was pardoned.” Records show immigration officials lifted the detainer on Hernández just after 11 p.m.  Typically, according to a source familiar with the situation, prisoners who are released from Hazelton when there’s inclement weather or when it’s too late in the day to catch a plane or bus home are put up at the Microtel Inn and Suites at the bottom of the hill. It’s a two-star hotel where a room costs $69 per night. In the morning, they’re given a ticket and sent on their way.  But for Hernández, prison officials activated a four-man tactical team, paying at least three of them overtime to drive him to the luxury hotel in Manhattan, according to government records and law enforcement sources. A standard room there costs more than $1,000 per night. Stabile declined to comment on where Hernández stayed but said the government did not pay for it. It was another move that stunned prisons bureau staff. One official called it “absolutely fucking nuts,” adding, “I don’t even think that’s ever been done, not just for a pardoned inmate but for anyone who’s been released.” Another agreed that it was unprecedented: “Usually, they get a shitty bus ride or a cheap plane ticket. They don’t get the carpet rolled out for them.” As of now, the former president’s whereabouts are unknown. A few days after his release, Hernández said in Spanish in a social media post that he had “no intention of returning to Honduras” immediately because he and his family would be in “grave danger given the evident persecution and the weaponization of justice against me.”  If Hernández is in the U.S., it’s unclear what his immigration status is. Meanwhile, Honduran officials have issued a warrant for Hernández’s arrest over years-old fraud allegations and, in a social media post, asked Interpol and other international allies to honor it. But a law enforcement official familiar with the situation told ProPublica there is currently no pending Interpol red notice asking for law enforcement to detain him. The only request the network received to issue such a notice, the official said, was declined while Hernández was still in prison. The post Amid Mass ICE Arrests, Trump Pardon Recipient Juan Orlando Hernández Given Special Treatment appeared first on ProPublica .

Britain’s government will consider new legislation to remove the former prince Andrew from the line of royal succession once the police investigation into his ties with Epstein is over, a UK official said on Friday. Any changes to the line of succession – Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is eighth in line to the throne – would require consultation and agreement with other countries where King Charles ‌is head of state, said the official, who asked not to be identified. The former prince was arrested...

Nasa aims to send astronauts to the moon in March after acing the latest rocket fuelling test. Administrator Jared Isaacman said on Friday that launch teams made “major progress” between the first countdown rehearsal, which was disrupted by hydrogen leaks earlier this month, and the second test, which was completed without significant seepage on Thursday night. The test was “a big step toward America’s return to the lunar environment”, Isaacman said on social media. Nasa could launch four...

US President Donald Trump said he was considering a limited strike on Iran after ordering a major naval build-up in the Middle East aimed at heaping pressure on Tehran to cut a deal to curb its nuclear programme. The latest threat came after Iran’s foreign minister said a draft proposal for an agreement with Washington would be ready in a matter of days following negotiations between the two sides in Geneva earlier this week. Trump had suggested on Thursday that “bad things” would happen if...

Authorities suspect renowned astronomer Carl Grillmair was shot by 29-year-old man arrested for nearby carjacking A renowned California Institute of Technology (Caltech) scientist who studied distant planets and other areas of astronomy for decades was recently shot to death at his home in a rural community outside Los Angeles , authorities said. Carl Grillmair, 67, died from a bullet wound to the torso on Monday in Llano, an unincorporated community in the Antelope Valley, according to information from the LA county medical examiner’s office. The county sheriff’s department said it had arrested a suspect in Grillmair’s slaying, identifying him as 29-year-old Freddy Snyder. Continue reading...

President called justices who blocked his tariffs a ‘disgrace to the nation’ while praising three justices who dissented US politics live – latest updates Donald Trump on Friday railed against the supreme court justices who blocked his use of tariffs, calling the decision a “disgrace to the nation” and claiming he planned to impose even more tariffs under other statutory authorities. “It’s my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests and a political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think,” the president said during remarks from the White House. He cast that influence as social and cultural. “I’m ashamed of certain members of the court. Absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country.” Continue reading...

First lady is first in more than 100 years to have two inaugural gowns in museum’s popular collection Her husband has described it as “OUT OF CONTROL”, a place where “everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been”. But Melania Trump , the wife of US president Donald Trump , declared a temporary ceasefire in hostilities with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington on Friday – with the help of a silk gown, diamond brooch and headless mannequin. Continue reading...