News from Multiple Perspectives

Footage shows people climbing out of windows to escape from a burning university building in Dakar as protests erupt ove

Trump administration vows to cut off Lebanese group 'from the global financial system' amid daily Israeli violations.

Tom Malinowski faced onslaught of AIPAC attack ads, paving the way for a candidate more critical of US-Israel policy.

Coffee is for sale at a grocery store Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley) 2026-02-10T13:45:27Z NEW YORK (AP) — Shoppers unexpectedly paused their spending in December from November, closing out the holiday shopping season and the year on a lackluster tone. The report, issued by the Commerce Department on Tuesday, surprised economists who were looking for growth despite mounting concerns about slowing job growth, uncertainty about President Donald Trump’s tariffs and other economic headwinds. And it raised questions about shoppers’ ability to spend after they have remained resilient for months despite souring consumer confidence, economists said. Retail sales were flat in December from November, when business was up 0.6%, according to the Commerce Department. Economists were expecting a 0.4% increase for December. The report was delayed because of the 43-day government shutdown. Sales in October fell 0.1%, rose 0.1% in September, but jumped 0.6% in July and August and 1% in June, according to the Commerce Department. 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 retail sales figures, which are not adjusted for inflation, showed that many types of businesses posted declines including furniture and home furnishings stores and electronics and appliance retailers. Among the few bright spots: building materials and garden stores, which posted a solid sales increase. Gas stations and food and beverage stores saw small sales gains. The snapshot offers only a partial look at consumer spending and doesn’t include many services, including travel and hotel lodges. But the lone services category – restaurants – registered a dip of 0.1%. The data comes as U.S. consumer confidence has been souring for months. In fact, confidence declined sharply in January , hitting the lowest level since 2014 as Americans grow increasingly concerned about their financial prospects. “Consumer spending has finally caught up with consumer sentiment, and not in a good way,” Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Northlight Asset Management in Charlotte, North Carolina, wrote in a report published Tuesday. 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 noted that consumer confidence numbers have been disappointing for months, and shoppers have been complaining about the cost of everything – and yet they kept spending. But he added, “This month’s data show that consumers are no longer relentlessly increasing their level of spending.” Thomas Ryan, North America economist at Capital Economics, also noted the report was worrisome, but given expected stimulus from the bigger tax refund checks, he thinks that consumption at the end of the first quarter of this year “may turn out to be a lot stronger than it currently looks at the start.” Economists will be closely monitoring a slew of economic reports on jobs and prices due out later this week. But the economy is in a confusing place. Growth is robust: Gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — advanced from July through September at the fastest pace in two years. But the job market is lackluster: Employers have added just 28,000 jobs a month since December. In the 2021-2023 hiring boom that followed COVID-19 lockdowns, by contrast, they were creating 400,000 jobs a month. 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); }); When the agency releases hiring and unemployment numbers for January on Wednesday, they are expected to show that businesses, government agencies and nonprofits added about 80,000 jobs last month — modest but up from 50,000 in December. Analysts will also be studying consumer price report, to be released Friday. In December, consumer prices matched the 0.3% increase in November. If inflation cools in the coming months, it could increase the likelihood the Federal Reserve will reduce its key interest rate later this year, economists say. Against this backdrop, some chains like Walmart, whose everyday low prices have pulled in shoppers from rivals, are thriving but others struggle. A growing number of retailers are closing stores as companies reorganize under bankruptcy protection or pare down their operations to focus on profitable operations. On Monday, the operator of roughly 180 Eddie Bauer stores across the U.S. and Canada filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, blaming declining sales and a litany of other industry headwinds. 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); }); Last month, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue said it was seeking bankruptcy protection, buffeted by rising competition and the massive debt it took on to buy its rival in the luxury sector , Neiman Marcus, just over a year ago. A few days later, the parent company said it was closing most of its Saks Off 5th stores. Amazon said earlier this month that it was closing almost all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations within days as it narrows its focus on food delivery and its grocery chain, Whole Foods Market. ANNE D’INNOCENZIO D’Innocenzio writes about retail, trends, the consumer economy and hourly workers for The Associated Press. twitter mailto

President Donald Trump steps off Air Force One, early Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., after returning from a trip to Florida. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) 2026-02-10T16:37:37Z WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Governors Association will no longer hold a formal meeting with President Donald Trump when the group of state leaders meet in Washington later this month after the White House planned to invite only Republicans. “NGA staff was informed that the White House intends to limit invitations to the annual business meeting, scheduled for February 20, to Republican governors only,” Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt , a Republican who is the chairman of the NGA, said in a Monday letter to fellow governors obtained by The Associated Press. “Because NGA’s mission is to represent all 55 governors, the Association is no longer serving as the facilitator for that event, and it is no longer included in our official program.” The NGA is scheduled to meet in Washington from Feb. 19-21. Representatives for Stitt, the White House and the NGA didn’t immediately comment on the letter. 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); }); Brandon Tatum, the NGA’s CEO, said in a statement last week that the White House meeting is an “important tradition” and said the organization was “disappointed in the administration’s decision to make it a partisan occasion this year.” The governors group is one of the few remaining venues where political leaders from both major parties gather to discuss the top issues facing their communities. In his letter, Stitt encouraged governors to unite around common goals. “We cannot allow one divisive action to achieve its goal of dividing us,” he wrote. “The solution is not to respond in kind, but to rise above and to remain focused on our shared duty to the people we serve. America’s governors have always been models of pragmatic leadership, and that example is most important when Washington grows distracted by politics.” Signs of partisan tensions emerged at the White House meeting last year , when Trump and Maine’s then-Gov. Janet Mills traded barbs. 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); }); Trump singled out the Democratic governor over his push to bar transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports, threatening to withhold federal funding from the state if she did not comply. Mills responded, “We’ll see you in court.” Trump then predicted that Mills’ political career would be over for opposing the order. She is now running for U.S. Senate. The back and forth had a lasting impact on last year’s conference and some Democratic governors did not renew their dues last year to the bipartisan group. ___ Peoples reported from New York. JOEY CAPPELLETTI Cappelletti covers Congress for The Associated Press. He previously reported on Michigan politics for AP. twitter mailto

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick listens during an event with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) 2026-02-10T16:38:17Z WASHINGTON (AP) — Under questioning from Democrats Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick acknowledged that he had met with Jeffrey Epstein twice after his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a child, reversing Lutnick’s previous claim that he had cut ties with the late financier after 2005. Lutnick once again downplayed his relationship with the disgraced financier who was once his neighbor in New York City as he was questioned by Democrats during a subcommittee hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He described their contact as a handful of emails and a pair of meetings that were years apart. “I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with him,” Lutnick told lawmakers. But Lutnick is facing calls from several lawmakers for his resignation after the release of case files on Epstein contradicted Lutnick’s claims on a podcast last year that he had decided to “never be in the room” with Epstein again after a 2005 tour of Epstein’s home that disturbed Lutnick and his wife. 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 commerce secretary said Tuesday that he and his family actually had lunch with Epstein on his private island in 2012 and he had another hour-long engagement at Epstein’s home in 2011. Lutnick, a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, is the highest-profile U.S. official to face bipartisan calls for his resignation amid revelations of his ties to Epstein. His acknowledgement comes as lawmakers are grasping for what accountability looks like amid the revelations contained in what’s known as the Epstein files. In countries like the United Kingdom, the Epstein files have triggered resignations and the stripping of royal privileges, but so far, U.S. officials have not met the same level of retribution. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, the Democrat who questioned Lutnick, told him, “There’s not an indication that you yourself engaged in any wrongdoing with Jeffrey Epstein. It’s the fact that you believe that you misled the country and the Congress based on your earlier statements.” 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); }); Meanwhile, House members who initiated the legislative effort to force the release of the files are calling for Lutnick to resign. Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky called for that over the weekend after emails were released that alluded to the meetings between Lutnick and Epstein. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, joined Massie in pressuring Lutnick out of office on Monday. “Based on the evidence, he should be out of the Cabinet,” Khanna said. He added, “It’s not about any particular person. In this country, we have to make a decision. Are we going to allow the rich and powerful people who are friends and (had) no problem doing business and showing up with a pedophile who is raping underage girls, are we just going to allow them to skate?” STEPHEN GROVES Groves covers Congress for The Associated Press. twitter mailto

The mother of the news anchor Savannah disappeared in the middle of night from her Tucson, Arizona, home and was last seen on 31 January.

Juan Pablo Guanipa was recaptured by Venezuela's security forces on Sunday, hours after he and other political prisoners were freed.

Winter Olympics bronze medallist Sturla Holm Laegreid says on live TV that he made the "biggest mistake" by cheating on his girlfriend.

A government-run health trust in the United Kingdom recently advertised a nursing role focused on supporting families involved in "close-relative marriage," a practice that often involves first cousins and is linked to higher genetic risks for children due to shared inherited genes, according to health officials. The full-time position, titled "Neonatal Nurse – Close Relative Marriage," aims to support families through " informed reproductive decision-making ," according to a job posting from Britain’s public health system, the National Health Service (NHS). The role has since closed. "Newborn Services is pleased to announce an exciting brand-new job opportunity for an experienced Neonatal Nurse," according to the official job description . UK PRIME MINISTER SUGGESTS FORMER PRINCE ANDREW SHOULD TESTIFY IN EPSTEIN INVESTIGATION Under the role, the nurse would "proactively work with at risk families practising close relative marriage to encourage a greater level of genetic testing and/or genetic awareness/literacy among families where consanguineous related disorders are present," the description states. Consanguinity refers to relationships in which parents are biologically related, most commonly first cousins. The posting also states the nurse would support the implementation of a national strategy at the local hospital level, help families make "informed choices in a culturally sensitive empowering way," initiate "sensitive, appropriate conversations" about recessive genetic disorders, and "contribute to the reduction of health inequalities in infant and child mortality and morbidity." SPERM DONOR WITH HIDDEN CANCER GENE FATHERS NEARLY 200 KIDS, FAMILIES BLINDSIDED While close-relative marriage is rare in most Western countries, it remains more common in parts of the Middle East and South Asia and within some immigrant communities in Britain , where the NHS has increasingly emphasized outreach, genetic counseling and risk awareness rather than discouraging the practice outright. Cousin marriage is more prevalent among some communities in Britain, including those of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage, according to GB News . The job posting also listed fluency in Urdu as a desirable skill, a language widely spoken among Pakistani communities in the U.K. Medical researchers have long documented elevated genetic risks associated with close-relative relationships. A peer-reviewed study published in BMC Medical Genetics found that children born to consanguineous couples face a higher risk of congenital and genetic disorders, particularly autosomal recessive diseases, with the increased risk for children of first cousins estimated at 2% to 4% above the general population. The researchers stressed that the vast majority of children born to related parents are healthy, but noted that genetic risk can vary widely between families and may be significantly higher in a minority of cases, depending on shared inherited DNA. The study also found it is not currently possible to predict which couples face the highest risk. Emma Schubart, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, warned that specialized NHS outreach risks normalizing close-relative relationships. "The NHS's creation of specialized nursing roles risks normalizing a practice that significantly elevates genetic risks, including a doubled likelihood of serious birth defects and heightened susceptibility to common diseases like type 2 diabetes," Schubart told Fox News Digital in a statement. "For example, among British Pakistanis, a community where consanguinity rates remain high, individuals face 3–6 times the average UK risk of type 2 diabetes, with 5–18% of cases directly attributable to inbreeding. This translates to thousands of additional diabetes cases nationwide, placing undue strain on an already overburdened NHS." According to GB News, recent NHS guidance has described concerns about genetic risks from cousin marriage as exaggerated, a characterization that has drawn criticism from campaigners who argue the approach risks normalizing a practice that places avoidable burdens on children and public health systems. The role was advertised by Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, one of the United Kingdom’s largest NHS trusts, which operates 10 hospitals across Greater Manchester and Trafford in northwest England, according to the trust’s website. The job posting also sought candidates who " value diversity and difference ," according to the advert. Fox News Digital reached out to Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust for comment.

A top Iranian security official was spotted in Oman just days after Tehran and the U.S. held indirect nuclear talks in the Mideast sultanate. Ali Larijani, a former Iranian parliament speaker who now serves as the secretary to the country’s Supreme National Security Council, was likely in the country to discuss what comes next after the initial round of talks, The Associated Press reported. The outlet noted that Larijani's team shared photos of him with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, the chief intermediary in the U.S.-Iran talks. Iranian media reportedly said Larijani would deliver an important message, but later state television said al-Busaidi "handed over a letter" to the Iranian official without elaborating on the letter's origins, according to the AP. IRAN VOWS TO 'TARGET US BASES' IF AMERICAN FORCES LAUNCH AN ATTACK: REPORT While in Oman, Larijani also met with Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tariq for nearly three hours, according to the AP, which cited the Iranian state-run IRNA news agency. Additionally, the outlet said that Larijani was set to travel to Qatar, which houses the U.S. military installation that bombed Iran's nuclear sites in 2025. Larijani accused Israel of playing a "destructive role" in the talks just before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's expected visit to Washington, D.C. "Netanyahu is now on his way to the United States. Americans must think wisely and not allow him, through posturing, to imply before his flight that 'I want to go and teach Americans the framework of the nuclear negotiations.' They must remain alert to the destructive role of the Zionists," Larijani wrote on X . Israel and Iran engaged in a 12-day war in the summer of 2025 which culminated in the U.S. bombing Tehran's nuclear facilities. Iran, which has been grappling with mass anti-government protests, has blamed Israel and the U.S. for various grievances. IRAN RAMPS UP REGIONAL THREATS AS TRUMP CONSIDERS TALKS, EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS OF REGIME VIOLENCE EMERGE Officials from both the U.S. and Iran have said that the first round of talks went well and suggested that they would continue. "The Muscat meeting, which was not a long one, it was a half-day meeting. For us, it was a way to measure the seriousness of the other side, and to find out how we could continue the process. Therefore, we mostly addressed the generalities," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said at a news conference Tuesday in Tehran, according to the AP. "Our principles are clear. Our demand is to secure the interests of the Iranian nation based on international norms and the Non-Proliferation Treaty and peaceful use of nuclear energy," Baghaei said, according to the AP. "So as for the details, we should wait for the next steps and see how this diplomatic process will continue." SATELLITE IMAGES REVEAL ACTIVITY AT IRAN NUCLEAR SITES BOMBED BY US, ISRAEL Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said that indirect nuclear talks with the U.S. in Oman were "a good start" and that there was a "consensus" that the negotiations would continue . "After a long period without dialogue, our viewpoints were conveyed, and our concerns were expressed. Our interests, the rights of the Iranian people, and all matters that needed to be stated were presented in a very positive atmosphere, and the other side’s views were also heard," Araghchi said . "It was a good start, but its continuation depends on consultations in our respective capitals and deciding on how to proceed," he added. President Donald Trump also expressed optimism about the indirect talks, telling reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday that "Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly. We'll have to see what that deal is." When he was pressed on how long the U.S. would be willing to wait to make a deal with Iran, the president indicated some flexibility, saying he believes the two nations can reach an agreement. "It can be reached. Well, we have to get in position. We have plenty of time. If you remember Venezuela, we waited around for a while, and we're in no rush. We have very good [talks] with Iran," Trump said. "They know the consequences if they don't make a deal. The consequences are very steep. So, we'll see what happens. But they had a very good meeting with a very high representative of Iran," the president added. American and Iranian representatives held separate meetings with Omani officials on Friday amid flaring tensions between Washington and Tehran. Oman's Foreign Ministry said the meetings were "focused on preparing the appropriate conditions for resuming diplomatic and technical negotiations." The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Kenya will press Russia for answers after reports emerged that its citizens are being recruited to fight in Ukraine , the country’s foreign minister said. Musalia Mudavadi told the BBC in an interview on Tuesday that the recruitment was "unacceptable and clandestine." He said the government has shut down illegal recruiters and would urge Moscow to sign an agreement barring the conscription of Kenyan citizens. Nairobi estimates that about 200 nationals have been recruited to fight for Russia, and Mudavadi explained that families have struggled to recover the bodies of loved ones killed in the conflict. NEW FOOTAGE SHOWS NORTH KOREAN TROOPS CLEARING DANGEROUS MINES FOR RUSSIA IN WAR ZONE "It is difficult because, remember, it depends on where the body has been found," the foreign minister told the BBC. "There some have been found in Ukraine - we are also working with the government of Ukraine to try and get the remains of those people repatriated." In a November post on X, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv estimates that at least 1,436 foreign nationals from 36 African countries have been recruited to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine, warning the true number may be higher. Sybiha said Russia uses a range of tactics to recruit foreigners, including financial incentives, deception and coercion. US ACCUSES RUSSIA OF 'DANGEROUS AND INEXPLICABLE ESCALATION' IN UKRAINE WAR DURING PEACE NEGOTIATIONS "Signing a contract is equivalent to signing a death sentence," he wrote. " Foreign citizens in the Russian army have a sad fate. Most of them are immediately sent to the so-called ‘meat assaults,’ where they are quickly killed." Mudavadi said in December that the government had received multiple emails and urgent communications from Kenyans in distress at military camps in Russia. AS UKRAINE WAR DRAGS ON, TRUMP HITS PUTIN BY SQUEEZING RUSSIA'S PROXIES "Several of them have reported injuries among our nationals and others stranded, following attempted recruitment into the violent conflicts ," he told the Kenya News Agency, the country’s state-run news service. Mudavadi said the government has since tightened recruitment regulations, deregistering more than 600 non-compliant agencies and strengthening job verification through the Diaspora Placement Agency to curb exploitation.

President Trump’s threat to block the opening of the new crossing is the latest in a long string of challenges for the project.

Sweden’s sibling team took advantage of the hammer to edge the Americans in the final end.

Israel is unlikely to withdraw its troops from the enclave before Hamas and other militant groups lay down their arms.

Officials at the U.S. Forest Service knew gear worn by wildland firefighters contained potentially dangerous “forever chemicals” years before the agency publicly acknowledged the issue, according to internal correspondence obtained by ProPublica. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, have been linked to negative health impacts, including certain cancers and delayed development in children. For years, PFAS chemicals were commonly used to treat the heavy gear worn by municipal firefighters to help it repel water and oil. Federal agencies have said little about whether the compounds were also found in the lighter heat-resistant clothing worn by wildland firefighters. In February 2024, when ProPublica was reporting on the dangers of wildland firefighting — including the risk of cancer — the news organization asked both the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior if federal wildland firefighting gear contained PFAS. Both agencies gave nearly identical answers, writing that they did not have “specific measured concentration data showing that PFAS is contained in protective clothing and gear.” But email correspondence obtained by ProPublica shows that government officials were alerted to the presence of PFAS in pants used by wildland firefighters as early as 2021. In April 2022, a senior Forest Service official asked colleagues if they had an obligation to tell firefighters that PFAS had been found in their gear. According to the emails, the agency decided not to immediately share the information, instead waiting for the results of a study into whether PFAS can be absorbed through the skin. The emails were released last week in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed in 2022 by George Broyles, a former Forest Service employee who for years studied smoke exposure among firefighters, and who has repeatedly raised concerns about the agency’s reluctance to acknowledge cancer among its workforce. “They just obfuscate,” said Broyles. “It’s just a continuation of the same thing: ‘We’re going to stick our heads in the sand and hope that nobody notices.’” The Forest Service declined to answer questions about the records, PFAS chemicals in its gear, and firefighter health. In 2024, the agency said in a statement to ProPublica, “The Forest Service is deeply committed to not only understanding occupational risks to employees but mitigating these risks.”  The Department of the Interior did not answer questions about PFAS. By 2021, public awareness of the ubiquity and risks of PFAS was rising. At the beginning of that year, Congress ordered the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a subagency of the Department of Commerce, to find out if firefighting gear contained PFAS. Researchers from the agency began collecting hoods and gloves worn by municipal firefighters — who tackle building fires — as well as various samples of wildland firefighting gear. In April, according to the documents, a Forest Service equipment specialist emailed one of its suppliers, TenCate, which produces fabric used in wildland firefighting gear. At the time, the company’s “Advance” fabric, a Kevlar blend used in some pants, was treated with a finishing product called Shelltite. “Question,” asked the Forest Service specialist. “Does the Shelltite finish on the Advance fabric have any PFAS presence?” A TenCate manager quickly responded by attaching a document confirming that one of its finishes contained a form of PFAS that had been applied to repel hydrocarbons and gasoline. The manager also said that TenCate was “in the final stages of developing” a finish without the compound. TenCate did not respond to repeated requests for comment from ProPublica. PFAS is a broad class of chemicals. According to emails sent from TenCate to the Forest Service, the company’s finish used a form of PFAS with six or fewer fluorinated carbon atoms. According to experts, these “short-chain” PFAS chemicals are less harmful than other ones, but some can linger in the environment for years and in the human body for months. Their full impact on human health is not known. All firefighters have significantly higher cancer risks than the general population, but less is understood about the health of wildland firefighters than of their counterparts who battle blazes in buildings and other structures. This is largely the fault of the government: As ProPublica has reported , the Forest Service has known of carcinogenic elements in wildfire smoke for decades but the government dragged its heels in studying the impacts on wildland firefighters. Researchers have found elevated levels of some PFAS in the blood of structural firefighters, but less is known about these chemicals in their wildland peers. While structural firefighting departments often require garments that repel oil and water, experts say it is not always necessary for wildland firefighters, who often wear the same gear for weeks in remote locations. “From the wildland firefighting perspective, I don’t see any reason to have the PFAS treatments in their gear. They don’t really need the oil repellency,” said Bryan Ormond, an associate professor of textile engineering, chemistry and science at North Carolina State University, in an email. “It would be a safer option to not have the PFAS treatment.” According to a former fire service official with direct knowledge of the dynamic, the presence of PFAS in pants was a topic of discussion around 2021 by a risk management committee made up of senior officials from multiple agencies, including the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior. The official said that committee members wanted to know: “Is it a big deal, little deal, or no deal?” In April 2022, a full year after TenCate told the Forest Service about the PFAS treatment used on its fabric, a senior agency official named David Haston raised the issue again. An assistant director of operations at the Forest Service at the time, Haston emailed colleagues asking whether TenCate’s fabric was “still coming with PFAS in the finish? Can Tencate tell us whether or not this is hazardous to people that wear these garments? Do we have a duty to notify employees?” The email was forwarded to a Forest Service equipment specialist named David Maclay-Schulte who said he’d asked the company if its PFAS-free fabric was ready. “They said they will look into it and get back to me,” wrote the specialist. “I am hopeful it’s sooner rather than later.” Five months later, in September, Maclay-Schulte wrote to Forest Service officials that he still hadn’t heard back from TenCate. In the email, Maclay-Schulte said he would contact the company again, but added that the Forest Service had decided to wait until the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health had completed studies, including one about whether PFAS can be absorbed through skin, “before any decisions would be made.” In the same email, he asked colleagues whether he should respond to questions about PFAS that Broyles had asked on behalf of a labor advocacy group called Grassroots Wildland Firefighters. The other officials all agreed that they would not immediately tell Grassroots about the PFAS. “They need to send the FS an official request asking for this information,” wrote a physiologist for the agency. According to multiple wildland firefighters and government officials familiar with contracting and purchasing, the Forest Service never told rank-and-file wildland firefighters that their pants might contain PFAS. “To me it demonstrates that managers high up in the agency over several years have never really prioritized the health and well-being of the actual firefighters,” said Riva Duncan, the president of Grassroots and a former Forest Service fire chief. Duncan noted that many wildland firefighters wear their pants even in the offseason. “They’ve known about this. They’ve known about other threats to health and well-being yet they have chosen to not be proactive and share the information with employees. It seems it’s only when they’re forced to provide information that we find out about it.” In the past few years, under pressure from labor groups and lawmakers, the federal government has begun to acknowledge cancer in the workforce, and the Forest Service last year made masks available to wildland firefighters in response to reporting from The New York Times . But a full accounting of the risks is still not available; the government’s preparedness guide for incoming wildland firefighters, produced in 2022, makes no mention of cancer . When ProPublica asked the Department of the Interior if it planned to update the guide, a spokesperson directed the news organization to a blog post about research into workplace hazards that does not mention cancer. In January 2023, almost two years after the Forest Service learned of the PFAS treatments, TenCate finally responded to Maclay-Schulte. “To the best of our knowledge wearing ADVANCE with Shelltite or Supershelltite has not caused deleterious health impacts,” wrote a senior director at the company. But the company also informed the agency that it was now producing its PFAS-free finish for the pant fabric. It is unclear if the government began purchasing pants with the new finish or if it continued to purchase the pants with PFAS. In 2024, NIST released the study of PFAS in firefighting gear that Congress had mandated in 2021. The study found that some wildland firefighting gear contained PFAS. Most of it had modest amounts of the chemicals. But, NIST wrote, in a summary of the study, “there were some cases that had notably high levels.” According to Heather Stapleton, an exposure scientist and professor at Duke University, the study showed levels in certain samples “similar to what has been reported in structural firefighting gear.” The study did not specify the companies it had sourced its gear from, and NIST did not respond to questions from ProPublica. The NIOSH study that the Forest Service officials had been waiting on when deciding how to act, however, is still ongoing. The post Firefighters Wore Gear Containing “Forever Chemicals.” The Forest Service Knew and Stayed Silent for Years. appeared first on ProPublica .

As federal immigration agents surge into communities and detain people, the number of cases filed by those claiming their detention is illegal has risen to historic highs. ProPublica is tracking the volume of these cases, known as habeas petitions, as they overwhelm legal advocates and government attorneys. Immigrants filed more habeas cases in the first 13 months of the second Trump administration than in the past three administrations combined, including his first. View the tracker on our site. The post Tracking Habeas Cases appeared first on ProPublica .

The Trump administration’s push for mass deportations has resulted in more than 18,000 challenges in federal court from immigrants claiming their detention is illegal, more than were filed under the last three administrations combined — including President Donald Trump’s first term. So far this year, immigrants are filing on average more than 200 of these cases, known as habeas petitions, daily across the country, with California and Texas accounting for about 40% of new cases, a ProPublica analysis of federal court filings found. To keep tabs on this historic rise, ProPublica is publishing a habeas case tracker . “I don’t recall a time that anything like this has ever happened,” said Daniel Caudillo, director of the Immigration Law Clinic at Texas Tech University School of Law and a recently departed immigration judge. More Immigrants Than Ever Are Challenging Detention An analysis of habeas cases since 2009 shows that immigrants have filed more challenges to their detention in the first 13 months of Trump’s second term than in the last three administrations combined — and the number keeps rising. Immigration-related habeas cases filed by month. Source: ProPublica analysis of Public Access to Court Electronic Records and Free Law Project. Ruth Talbot and Pratheek Rebala/ProPublica The wave of habeas petitions comes in response to new administration policies aimed at ramping up the number of deportations. Among those are policies that require the majority of immigrants who entered the country illegally to remain in detention while their immigration cases are proceeding. Lawyers say these policies upend decades of legal precedent that previously allowed immigrants who had been in the country for years and posed no security or flight risk a chance to remain in their communities until an immigration judge could determine whether they could stay in the country legally. Read More Tracking Habeas Cases On Friday night, a divided three-judge panel in the conservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit sided with the administration in limiting bond hearings to immigrants who entered the country lawfully. Caudillo called the decision “devastating,” adding that as a result, most immigrants held in states that fall under the circuit, which includes Texas, will now be subject to mandatory detention. Appeals of judges’ rulings in habeas cases challenging immigrants’ detention have been filed in nine of the 12 regional appeals courts, meaning the question could ultimately find its way to the Supreme Court. A large majority of federal judges who’ve ruled on the habeas petitions so far are siding with immigrants. A recent analysis by Politico found that over 300 judges have ruled against the administration’s new detention policies, while only 14 have upheld them. The result is that federal judges frequently are ordering the government to either release immigrants from detention or offer them a bond hearing before an immigration judge to determine whether they are eligible for release while their immigration case proceeds. Officials from the White House and Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a list of questions, but in statements, spokespeople insisted that the Trump administration is fully enforcing federal immigration law and placed the blame on the federal judges. Do you work or have you worked at an immigration detention facility? Get in touch with ProPublica reporters on Signal at 917-512-0201 to share your experience. If you or someone you know is or was in an immigration detention facility , you can also reach us over email at immigration@propublica.org . We take your privacy seriously. “President Trump and Secretary Noem are now enforcing the law and arresting illegal aliens who have no right to be in our country, and reversed Biden’s catch and release policy. We are applying the law as written,” wrote Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokesperson. The caseload has overwhelmed legal advocates and government attorneys. In court filings, U.S. attorneys are telling judges the sheer volume of petitions is burdening their offices, pushing them to shift resources away from other priorities. In a case originating from Minnesota, where the administration has been waging a monthslong immigration crackdown, U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen wrote in a declaration that his attorneys and paralegals were “continuously working over time” while the office’s civil division was at 50% capacity. The number of habeas filings in that state jumped from a dozen in 2024 to over 700 in the past two months alone, placing Minnesota third behind Texas and California, ProPublica found. The load has been such that, in a rare moment of candor, a government attorney detailed to the office complained to a federal judge that “the system sucks, this job sucks.” The lawyer, Julie Le, reportedly was let go from the U.S. attorney’s office after the public rant. (ProPublica was not able to reach Le for comment. The Department of Justice confirmed her detail with the office was over.) “If rogue judges followed the law in adjudicating cases and respected the Government’s obligation to properly prepare cases, there wouldn’t be an ‘overwhelming’ habeas caseload or concern over DHS following orders,” a DOJ spokesperson wrote in response to questions from ProPublica. “Then there are a lot of rogue judges,” said David Briones, a senior judge in the Western District of Texas, in response to the Justice Department’s statement. “Obviously we feel that we’re correct, that’s all I can say.” The Western District of Texas leads the country in habeas cases, with over 1,300 filed in the last three months, and Briones has generally ruled against the government in these cases, according to El Paso Matters . The Texas Tribune has also reported on the rise of habeas cases in Texas. Judges are growing increasingly frustrated, publicly rebuking the administration for missing deadlines and failing to comply with court orders. Recently, a Texas federal judge ordered the release of the 5-year-old Minnesota boy who made headlines after he was pictured wearing a blue bunny hat and a Spider-Man backpack as immigration agents escorted him and his father to their vehicle. In a fiery ruling , judge Fred Biery of the Western District of Texas chastised the administration for Liam Conejo Ramos’ detention. “The case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children,” he wrote. The number of immigrants held in detention has increased from around 40,000 when Trump took office to more than 70,000 this year. While the number of recent border crossers in detention has fallen, the number of detained immigrants arrested by federal immigration agents elsewhere in the country tripled during the first nine months of the Trump administration, a recent analysis by the Deportation Data Project found. “It’s just been a very, very chaotic landscape,” said Sirine Shebaya, executive director of the National Immigration Project, a national advocacy organization that, among other things, represents detained immigrants and provides assistance to attorneys and community-based groups. “And I think that chaos is bleeding into communities everywhere, both because of the extremely traumatizing ways that people are being arrested and detained,” she said, and because of the amount of money and resources being spent on detaining people who in the past would have gotten out on bond or not been detained in the first place as their cases made their way through the process. Denise Gilman, co-director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, who has argued habeas cases on behalf of immigrants over the years, sees a positive side to the sudden rise in cases, she told ProPublica. “People are starting to pay attention to how massive and arbitrary and illogical the immigration detention system is.” For this story, ProPublica analyzed federal habeas petitions filed by immigrant detainees in district courts across the country using records from Public Access to Court Electronic Records and the Free Law Project. The data includes some cases that were refiled for a variety of reasons, such as filing errors or deficiencies. ProPublica plans to continue reporting on conditions inside immigration detention facilities. Please get in touch with our reporters through Signal at 917-512-0201 if you or someone you know: Has worked at a detention facility housing immigrants. Has been detained at such a facility. Knows information about companies that have been contracted to build and provide services at such facilities. Can share other insight or information about immigration detention facilities. We are also interested in any letters, images, videos or other documentation that you can share. Check out these tips for contacting us securely. We take your privacy seriously. The post Immigrants Who Say Their Detention Is Illegal Have Filed More Than 18,000 Cases. It’s a Historic High. appeared first on ProPublica .

A California man has been sentenced to four years in prison for acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government while working as a campaign adviser for a local politician. Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 65, was sentenced on Monday in federal court in Los Angeles after pleading guilty last year in a deal with prosecutors. Under the agreement, Sun acknowledged acting as a foreign agent on behalf of the People’s Republic of China from 2022 to 2024 without notifying the US attorney general as required by...

Authorities investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie released the first surveillance images on Tuesday showing a masked person on her porch the night she went missing, as law enforcement and her family intensified calls for public help more than a week into the search. Law enforcement searching for the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie has not identified any suspects or persons of interest, and it is unclear if she is still alive. FBI Director Kash Patel posted the images on...

Senior diplomats from China and India met in New Delhi on Tuesday for what Beijing described as a new round of strategic dialogue, emphasising the need to view each other as partners rather than competitors amid shifting global dynamics. India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri hosted China’s Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, who was in the country for the Brics Sherpa Meeting from February 8 to 10. The two sides’ readouts of the meeting, however, revealed a persistent gap in how the...

Former Doctor Who star is also facing allegations of exposure and sexual assault by touching The actor Noel Clarke has been arrested over an attempted rape, which allegedly took place in 2007. The former Doctor Who star is also facing allegations of exposure and sexual assault by touching. Continue reading...

Cabinet Office, PM and Met urge caution amid police investigation linked to release of Epstein documents Ministers have been warned not to publish their messages with Peter Mandelson after Wes Streeting released his private WhatsApp exchanges with the disgraced former ambassador. In a message to officials, the Cabinet Office is understood to have said members of government should not share material that could be covered by a Commons motion forcing the release of documents relating to Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador. Continue reading...

Tehran’s intervention comes as the Israeli prime minister heads to a hastily arranged White House encounter Tehran has told the US not to allow Israel to destroy the chance of reaching an agreement over Iran’s nuclear programme amid speculation that Benjamin Netanyahu intends to use a hastily arranged White House meeting with Donald Trump on Wednesday to divert negotiations. Iran’s intervention came as the Israeli prime minister flew to Washington to plead with Trump not to negotiate a deal with Tehran if it excludes limiting the country’s ballistic missile programme, dropping its support for proxy forces in the region and curtailing human rights abuses at home. Continue reading...