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  • North Carolina’s 5 open congressional seats drawing candidates in droves

    North Carolina’s 5 open congressional seats drawing candidates in droves

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    RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — With five members of North Carolina’s U.S. House delegation declining to run this year, next week’s primaries have attracted dozens of Republican candidates seeking what could become extended time on Capitol Hill.

     

    What You Need To Know

    Dozens of Republicans are competing for five of North Carolina’s 14 congressional seats on Super Tuesday

    Democrats Jeff Jackson, Kathy Manning and Wiley Nickel decided against reelection, as did Republican Reps. Patrick McHenry and Dan Bishop

    Four of the Republican primaries for these seats have at least five candidates; a Raleigh-area district has 14, which also raises the possibility of multiple runoffs in May

     

    Some of the turnover can be attributed to redistricting — the Republican-controlled General Assembly last fall approved districts skewing rightward, prompting Democratic Reps. Jeff Jackson, Kathy Manning and Wiley Nickel to forgo reelection bids.

    Compared to a map drawn by state judges for 2022 elections that resulted in Democrats and Republicans winning seven congressional seats each, the latest map makes it likely the GOP will win at least 10 of the 14 seats, according to election data. These seat flips could benefit national Republicans trying to retain what is now a fragile House majority in 2025.

    Republican Reps. Patrick McHenry and Dan Bishop also declined to seek reelection, opening up vacancies in heavily GOP areas.

    With courts rejecting legal arguments that redistricting maps can be struck down for favoring a party’s candidates disproportionately, chances are improved that North Carolina’s current congressional lines will stay in place through the 2030 elections, one redistricting expert says.

    Given voting behavior and the shape of the districts, whoever wins can conceivably hold a seat “as long as they want,” said Michael Bitzer, a Catawba College political science professor. “This could be a very long career for whoever gets elected in this primary.”

    Four of the Republican primaries for seats where no incumbent is running have at least five candidates. That raises the possibility of May 14 runoffs between a race’s two top vote-getters should a leading candidate fail to receive more than 30% of the vote.

     

    2024 North Carolina Primary Elections

     

    The open seats have attracted candidates including current North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore, former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker and the Rev. Mark Harris. Harris appeared to receive the most votes for a 2018 congressional election but never took office as a new election was ordered over an absentee ballot fraud probe.

    Fourteen Republicans are competing for Nickel’s seat in the 13th District, now shaped like a horseshoe arcing around most of Raleigh and stretching from Lee County — then east and north — to the Virginia border.

    Candidates include Kelly Daughtry, a Smithfield attorney, and Johnston County businessman DeVan Barbour, both of whom ran in the 2022 primary. Television ads have helped raise the profiles of Wake Forest businessman Fred Von Canon and former federal prosecutor Brad Knott of Raleigh. And Dr. Josh McConkey of Apex gained attention after winning a state lottery jackpot. The nominee will take on Democrat Frank Pierce in November.

    Republican former President Donald Trump so far has endorsed candidates for two of the five open seats, including Addison McDowell in the 6th District and Moore in the 14th District.

    McDowell, most recently a lobbyist for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, received Trump’s backing and those of legislative leaders in his first bid for public office. The reconfigured 6th District, whose seat is currently held by Manning, stretches from Greensboro and Winston-Salem south and west to Concord.

    McDowell’s rivals include Bo Hines, who received Trump’s endorsement when he won the 13th District GOP nomination in 2022, and Walker, who served in Congress in the Greensboro area for six years through 2020. Hines, who narrowly lost to Nickel in the 2022 general election, this time around again received the endorsement of the Club for Growth PAC. Christian Castelli is a retired Army officer and Green Beret who lost to Manning in the 2022 general election. He is also in the six-person field to become the GOP 6th District nominee, who will face no Democratic opposition in the fall.

    Moore is seeking the nomination for the 14th District, which includes portions of Charlotte and points west to the foothills. The Kings Mountain lawyer has served in the General Assembly since 2003 and was first elected speaker in 2015. With Jackson deciding against reelection and running for attorney general instead, Pam Genant and Brendan Maginnis are running for the Democratic nomination.

    In the south-central 8th District, with Bishop also deciding instead to run for attorney general, the six-candidate GOP field includes Harris and state Rep. John Bradford of Charlotte.

    Harris, a Baptist minister, finished first in the 2018 general election in a similarly situated congressional district. But the State Board of Elections ordered a new election after receiving allegations and evidence that a political operative who worked for Harris had run an illegal “ballot harvesting” operation. Several people ultimately entered plea convictions. Harris wasn’t charged. He called publicly for a new election in which he declined to run. Now, Harris says he was the victim of a “manufactured scandal.”

    The five-member GOP field seeking to succeed McHenry in the 10th District — anchored by Iredell County while stretching to Winston-Salem and Lincolnton — includes 2022 congressional candidate Pat Harrigan and state Rep. Grey Mills. The winner will take on Democrat Ralph Scott Jr. and a Libertarian Party candidate in the fall.

    Voting patterns and past election results show the reconfigured 1st District — covering all or parts of 22 eastern counties — as the likely lone toss-up race in November. The district is currently represented by first-term Democratic Rep. Don Davis, who beat Republican Sandy Smith in 2022 and is seeking reelection. Smith is competing with ex-Army colonel Laurie Buckhout for the GOP nomination. Smith received Trump’s endorsement in 2022.

    Other incumbents competing in the March 5 primaries are first-term Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards in the far-western 11th District; GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx in the northwestern 5th District; Richard Hudson in the Piedmont and Sandhills-area 9th District; and Democratic Rep. Deborah Ross in the Raleigh-dominated 2nd District.

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    Associated Press

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  • Richard Lewis, who recently starred on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ dies at 76

    Richard Lewis, who recently starred on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ dies at 76

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    NEW YORK — Richard Lewis, an acclaimed comedian known for exploring his neuroses in frantic, stream-of-consciousness diatribes while dressed in all-black, leading to his nickname “The Prince of Pain,” has died. He was 76.

    Lewis, who revealed he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2023, died at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday night after suffering a heart attack, according to his publicist Jeff Abraham.

    What You Need To Know

    • Comedy Central named Lewis one of the top 50 stand-up comedians of all time and he earned a berth in GQ magazine’s list of the “20th Century’s Most Influential Humorists”

    • He lent his humor for charity causes, including Comic Relief and Comedy Gives Back

    • “He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that I’ll never forgive him,” said Larry David

    • Lewis’ recurring role on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” can be credited directly to his friendship with fellow comedian, producer and series star Larry David

    A regular performer in clubs and on late-night TV for decades, Lewis also played Marty Gold, the romantic co-lead opposite Jamie Lee Curtis, in the ABC series “Anything But Love” and the reliably neurotic Prince John in “Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men In Tights.” He re-introduced himself to a new generation opposite Larry David in HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” kvetching regularly.

    “Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life he’s been like a brother to me,” David said in a statement. “He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that I’ll never forgive him.”

    Comedy Central named Lewis one of the top 50 stand-up comedians of all time and he earned a berth in GQ magazine’s list of the “20th Century’s Most Influential Humorists.” He lent his humor for charity causes, including Comic Relief and Comedy Gives Back.

    “Watching his stand-up is like sitting in on a very funny and often dark therapy session,” the Los Angeles Times said in 2014. The Philadelphia’s City Paper called him “the Jimi Hendrix of monologists.” Mel Brooks once said he “may just be the Franz Kafka of modern-day comedy.”

    Comedians took to social media Wednesday to share their thoughts, including Albert Books who called Lewis “a brilliantly funny man who will missed by all. The world needed him now more than ever” on X, formerly Twitter. Other tributes came from Bette Midler, Michael McKean and Paul Feig, who called Lewis “one of the funniest people on the planet.”

    Following his graduation from The Ohio State University in 1969, the New York-born Lewis began a stand-up career, honing his craft on the circuit with other contemporaries also just starting out like Jay Leno, Freddie Prinze and Billy Crystal.

    He recalled Rodney Dangerfield hiring him for $75 to fill in at his New York club, Dangerfield’s. “I had a lot of great friends early on who believed in me, and I met pretty iconic people who really helped me, told me to keep working on my material. And I never looked back,” he told The Gazette of Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2010.

    “I’m paranoid about everything in my life. Even at home. On my stationary bike, I have a rear-view mirror, which I’m not thrilled about,” he once joked onstage. To Jimmy Kimmel he said: “This morning, I tried to go to bed. I couldn’t sleep. I counted sheep but I only had six of them and they all had hip replacements.”

    Unlike contemporary Robin Williams, Lewis allowed audiences into his world and melancholy, pouring his torment and pain onto the stage. Fans favorably compared him to the ground-breaking comedian Lenny Bruce.

    “I take great pains not to be mean-spirited,” Lewis told The Palm Beach Post in 2007. “I don’t like to take real handicaps that people have to overcome with no hope in sight. I steer clear of that. That’s not funny to me. Tragedy is funny to other humorists, but it’s not to me, unless you can make a point that’s helpful.”

    Singer Billy Joel has said he was referring to Lewis when he sang in “My Life” of an old friend who “bought a ticket to the West Coast/Now he gives them a stand-up routine in L.A.”

    In 1989 at Carnegie Hall, he appeared with six feet of yellow legal sheets filled with material and taped together for a 2½-hour set that led to two standing ovations. The night was “the highlight of my career,” he told The Washington Post in 2020.

    Lewis told GQ his signature look came incidentally, saying his obsession with dressing in black came from watching the television Western “Have Gun – Will Travel,” with a cowboy in all-black, when he was a kid. He also popularized the term “from hell” — as in “the date from hell” or “the job from hell.”

    “That just came out of my brain one day and I kept repeating it a lot for some reason. Same thing with the black clothes. I just felt really comfortable from the early ’80s on and I never wore anything else. I never looked back.”

    After getting sober from drugs and alcohol in 1994, Lewis put out his 2008 memoir, “The Other Great Depression” — a collection of fearless, essay style riffs on his life — and “Reflections from Hell.”

    Lewis was the youngest of three siblings — his brother was older than him by six years, and his sister by nine. His father died young and his mother had emotional problems. “She didn’t get me at all. I owe my career to my mother. I should have given her my agent’s commission,” he told The Washington Post in 2020.

    “Looking back on it now, as a full-blown, middle-aged, functioning anxiety collector, I can admit without cringing that my parents had their fair share of tremendous qualities, yet, being human much of the day, had more than just a handful of flaws as well,” he wrote in his memoir.

    Lewis quickly found a new family performing at New York’s Improv. “I was 23, and all sorts of people were coming in and out and watching me, like Steve Allen and Bette Midler. David Brenner certainly took me under his wing. To drive home to my little dump in New Jersey often knowing that Steve Allen said, ‘You got it,’ that validation kept me going in a big, big way.”

    He had a cameo in “Leaving Las Vegas,” which led to his first major dramatic role as Jimmy Epstein, an addict fighting for his life in the indie film, “Drunks.” He played Don Rickles’ son on one season of “Daddy Dearest” and a rabbi on “7th Heaven.”

    Lewis’ recurring role on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” can be credited directly to his friendship with fellow comedian, producer and series star Larry David. Both native Brooklynites — born in the same Brooklyn hospital — they first met and became friends as rivals while attending the same summer camp at age 13. He was cast from the beginning, bickering with David on unpaid bills and common courtesies.

    He is survived by his wife, Joyce Lapinsky.

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    Associated Press

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  • Hunter Biden tells lawmakers his father was ‘never’ involved in his business

    Hunter Biden tells lawmakers his father was ‘never’ involved in his business

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    Speaking to House lawmakers on Wednesday, Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, said that his father was “never” involved in his business dealings, according to a transcript of his prepared opening statement obtained by Spectrum News.

    The closed-door deposition comes at critical moment for Republicans as their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and his family’s business affairs teeters on the brink of collapse.

    What You Need To Know

    • Hunter Biden appeared on Capitol Hill for a closed-door deposition with lawmakers on Wednesday, a critical moment for Republicans as their impeachment inquiry into his father and their family’s business affairs teeters on the brink of collapse

    • The 14-month Republican investigation into the Biden family has centered on Hunter Biden and his overseas work for clients in Ukraine, China, Romania and other countries

    • Republicans have long questioned whether those business dealings involved corruption and influence peddling by President Joe Biden, particularly when he was vice president; but despite interviews and more than 100,000 pages of documents, Republicans have yet to produce direct evidence of misconduct by the president
    • Hunter Biden said that his father was “never” involved in his business dealings, according to a transcript of his prepared opening statement obtained by Spectrum News
    • Democrats on the panel called the hearing a “deep-sea fishing expedition” and a “tremendous waste of our legislative time”

    “I am here today to provide the Committees with the one uncontestable fact that should end the false premise of this inquiry: I did not involve my father in my business,” the younger Biden’s opening statement reads. “Not while I was a practicing lawyer, not in my investments or transactions domestic or international, not as a board member, and not as an artist. Never.”

    “You read this fact in the many letters that have been sent to you over the last year as part of your so-called impeachment investigation,” Hunter Biden continued. “You heard this fact when I said it weeks ago, standing outside of this building. You heard this fact from a parade of other witnesses – former colleagues and business partners of mine, including my uncle – who have testified before you in similar proceedings. And now, today, you hear this fact directly from me.”

    Hunter Biden went on to say that his testimony “should put an end to this baseless and destructive political charade,” accusing House Republicans of wasting “valuable time and resources attacking me and my family for your own political gain” when they could be “fixing the real problems in this country that desperately need your attention.”

    “For more than a year, your Committees have hunted me in your partisan political pursuit of my dad,” Hunter Biden said, per his prepared testimony. “You have trafficked in innuendo, distortion, and sensationalism — all the while ignoring the clear and convincing evidence staring you in the face. You do not have evidence to support the baseless and MAGA-motivated conspiracies about my father because there isn’t any.”

    During a break in the hearing, Democrats on the panel weren’t shy about their thoughts on the status of their Republican colleagues’ investigation.

    “What we saw, I think, was a rather embarrassing spectacle where the Republicans continued to belabor completely trivial points,” Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the Oversight panel said, later adding: “I believe, based on this first hour, that this whole thing really has been a tremendous waste of our legislative time and the people’s resources.”

    “They’ve got nothing,” said California Rep. Eric Swalwell. “That’s what we just witnessed for the last hour. One of their witnesses has been indicted for working with Russian intelligence, another witnesses has been indicted for working with Chinese intelligence, another witness is serving a 14-year felony sentence. 

    “This is fourth and 20 on their own 10 and they don’t have Patrick Mahomes,” Swalwell added, making a reference to football. “You’re going to see the greatest sack ever when you get the transcript from this.”

    New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described the hearing as a “deep-sea fishing expedition.”

    “The Republican case has completely fallen apart over the last several weeks weeks after it’s been exposed that … one of their most key pieces of information was based on a source that was in communication with Russian intelligence, they are now trying to scramble to find anything to substantiate their fairy tale,” she continued. “But I think more disturbingly what we are seeing is just a complete and inappropriate expedition into the president’s son … for matters and subjects that are completely unrelated to an impeachment investigation, and I think it is extremely disturbing to see the lack of professionalism, the lack of grounding and the abuse of public resources and abuse of public power in order to pursue something that truly whose point at this juncture is just very unclear.”

    Hunter Biden arrived at the Capitol earlier Wednesday morning, entering the building without saying a word to reporters.

    The deposition will mark a decisive point for the 14-month Republican investigation into the Biden family, which has centered on Hunter Biden and his overseas work for clients in Ukraine, China, Romania and other countries. Republicans have long questioned whether those business dealings involved corruption and influence peddling by President Joe Biden, particularly when he was vice president.

    Kentucky Rep. James Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee and one of the leaders of the impeachment inquiry, told reporters on Wednesday before Hunter Biden’s testimony that the panels have evidence that “Joe Biden was ‘the brand’ his family sold to enrich the Bidens.”

    President Biden, Comer charged “knew of, participated in, and benefited from these schemes,” without providing evidence to back up his claims.

    He also hinted that the probe was coming to an end soon, but implied that the impeachment inquiry could continue: “As long as we keep getting new information in, we’re going to continue to pursue. I’m ready to try to begin to close this investigation.”

    Ahead of the hearing, Raskin told reporters that Republicans should “fold up the circus tent” and move on.

    “I think that our colleagues would do best at this point to fold up the circus tent and allow us to focus on something that would actually be of benefit to the American people,” Raskin said, later adding: “The Constitutional standard for impeachment is treason, bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors. We’re still waiting for our Republican friends to articulate what they think the high crime and misdemeanor is in this case.”

    Yet after conducting dozens of interviews and obtaining more than 100,000 pages of documents, Republicans have yet to produce direct evidence of misconduct by the president. Meanwhile, an FBI informant who alleged a bribery scheme involving the Bidens — a claim Republicans had cited repeatedly to justify their probe — is facing charges from federal prosecutors who accuse him of fabricating the story.

    Despite the stakes of their investigation, it’s unclear how much useful information Republicans will be able to extract from Hunter Biden during the deposition. He is under federal investigation and has been indicted on nine federal tax charges and a firearm charge in Delaware, which means he could refuse to answer some questions by asserting his Fifth Amendment rights.

    The task of interviewing Hunter falls primarily to Reps. Comer and Jim Jordan, the GOP chairmen leading the impeachment investigation. They first subpoenaed Hunter Biden in November, demanding that he appear before lawmakers in a private setting. Biden and his attorneys refused, warning that his testimony could be selectively leaked and manipulated. They insisted that Hunter Biden would only testify in public.

    On the day of the subpoena, Hunter Biden not only snubbed lawmakers waiting for him in a hearing room — he did also while appearing right outside the Capitol, holding a press conference where he denounced the investigation into his family.

    Both sides ultimately agreed in January to a private deposition with a set of conditions. The interview with Hunter Biden will not be filmed and Republicans have agreed to quickly release the transcript.

    “Our committees have the opportunity to depose Hunter Biden, a key witness in our impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden, about this record of evidence,” Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement to The Associated Press. “This deposition is not the conclusion of the impeachment inquiry. There are more subpoenas and witness interviews to come.”

    Hunter will be the second member of the Biden family questioned by Republicans in recent days. They conducted a more than eight-hour interview last week with James Biden, the president’s brother. He insisted to lawmakers that Joe Biden has “never had any involvement,” financially or otherwise, in his business ventures.

    Looming large over the interview are developments on the other side of the country in Nevada, where federal prosecutors this month indicted an FBI informant, Alexander Smirnov, who claimed there was a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving the president, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company. Prosecutors in court documents assert that Smirnov has had “extensive and extremely recent” contact with people who are aligned with Russian intelligence.

    Smirnov’s attorneys have said he is presumed innocent.

    Republicans pressed the FBI last summer over the informant’s claims, demanding to see the underlying documents and ultimately releasing the unverified information to the public. The claim was cited repeatedly in letters that House Republicans sent to impeachment witnesses.

    Many GOP lawmakers say they have yet to see evidence of the “high crimes and misdemeanors” required for impeachment, despite alleged efforts by members of the Biden family to leverage the last name into corporate paydays domestically and abroad.

    But the Republican chairmen leading the impeachment effort remain undeterred by the series of setbacks to their marquee investigation. Jordan, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said last week that the informant’s indictment “does not change the fundamental facts” that the Biden family tried to benefit off the family name in several overseas businesses.

    And Comer told Fox News on Tuesday that Smirnov was never “a key part of this investigation.”

    Both Comer and Jordan have insisted for the past year that their investigation and inquiry is focused solely on Joe Biden and what actions, if any, he took while as vice president or president to benefit his family. But at nearly every turn, their probe has had a consistent and heavy focus on Hunter Biden. Several lines of inquiry have been opened into Hunter’s international business affairs, his artwork sales and even his personal life and on-and-off battle with addiction.

    Meanwhile, Hunter Biden has no shortage of legal headaches off Capitol Hill as he faces criminal charges in two states from a special counsel investigation. He’s charged with firearm counts in Delaware, alleging he broke laws against drug users having guns in 2018, a period when he has acknowledged struggling with addiction. Special counsel David Weiss filed additional charges late last year, alleging he failed to pay about $1.4 million in taxes over three years.

    He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.

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    Associated Press

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  • Toppled moon lander sends back more images, with only hours left until it dies

    Toppled moon lander sends back more images, with only hours left until it dies

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    CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — A moon lander that ended up on its side managed to beam back more pictures, with only hours remaining before it dies.


    Intuitive Machines posted new photos of the moon’s unexplored south polar region Tuesday.

    The company’s lander, Odysseus, captured the shots last Thursday shortly before making the first U.S. touchdown on the moon in more than 50 years. Odysseus landed on its side, hampering communication and power generation.

    Once sunlight can no longer reach the lander’s solar panels, operations will end. Intuitive Machines expects that to happen sometime between Tuesday afternoon and early Wednesday.

    The mission, part of NASA’s effort to boost the lunar economy, was supposed to last until at least Thursday, when lunar nighttime sets in. NASA has six experiments on board.

    Intuitive Machines is the first private business to land a spacecraft on the moon without crashing. Another U.S. company launched its own lunar lander last month, but a fuel leak doomed the mission and the craft came crashing back to Earth.

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    Associated Press

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  • Ex-FBI informant charged with lying about Bidens to appear in court

    Ex-FBI informant charged with lying about Bidens to appear in court

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    Alexander Smirnov, a former FBI informant charged with fabricating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden’s family, will appear in a California federal court on Monday as a judge considers whether he must remain behind bars while he awaits trial.

    What You Need To Know

    • Alexander Smirnov, a former FBI informant charged with fabricating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden’s family, will appear in a California federal court on Monday

    • A judge is set to consider whether Smirnov must remain behind bars while awaiting trial

    • Special counsel David Weiss’ office is pressing the judge to keep Smirnov in jail, arguing he is likely to flee the country

    • Smirnov is charged with falsely telling his FBI handler that executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had paid President Biden and Hunter Biden $5 million each around 2015; the claim became central to the Republican impeachment inquiry of President Biden in Congress
    • Prosecutors wrote in court filings last week that Smirnov told investigators after his first arrest that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story to him about Hunter Biden


    Special counsel David Weiss’ office is pressing U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II to keep Smirnov in jail, arguing the man who claims to have ties to Russian intelligence is likely to flee the country.

    A different judge last week released Smirnov from jail on electronic GPS monitoring, but Wright ordered the man to be re-arrested after prosecutors asked to reconsider Smirnov’s detention. Wright said in a written order that Smirnov’s lawyers’ efforts to free him was “likely to facilitate his absconding from the United States.”

    In an emergency petition with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Smirnov’s lawyers said Wright did not have the authority to order Smirnov to be re-arrested. The defense also criticized what it described as “biased and prejudicial statements” from Wright insinuating that Smirnov’s lawyers were acting improperly by advocating for his release.

    The appeals court on Sunday evening denied Smirnov’s emergency petition, refusing to block Monday’s hearing or assign the case to a different judge.

    Smirnov is charged with falsely telling his FBI handler that executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had paid President Biden and Hunter Biden $5 million each around 2015. The claim became central to the Republican impeachment inquiry of President Biden in Congress.

    In urging the judge to keep Smirnov locked up, prosecutors said the man has reported to the FBI having contact with Russian intelligence-affiliated officials. Prosecutors wrote in court filings last week that Smirnov told investigators after his first arrest that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story to him about Hunter Biden.

    Smirnov, who holds dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship, is charged by the same Justice Department special counsel who has separately filed gun and tax charges against Hunter Biden.

    Smirnov has not entered a plea to the charges, but his lawyers have said they look forward to defending him at trial. Defense attorneys have said in pushing for his release that he has no criminal history and has strong ties to the United States, including a longtime significant other who lives in Las Vegas.

    In his ruling last week releasing Smirnov on GPS monitoring, U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregts in Las Vegas said he was concerned about his access to what prosecutors estimate is $6 million in funds, but noted that federal guidelines required him to fashion “the least restrictive conditions” ahead of his trial.

    Smirnov had been an informant for more than a decade when he made the explosive allegations about the Bidens in June 2020, after “expressing bias” about Joe Biden as a presidential candidate, prosecutors said. Smirnov had only routine business dealings with Burisma starting in 2017, according to court documents. No evidence has emerged that Joe Biden acted corruptly or accepted bribes in his current role or previous office as vice president.

    While his identity wasn’t publicly known before the indictment, Smirnov’s claims have played a major part in the Republican effort in Congress to investigate the president and his family, and helped spark what is now a House impeachment inquiry into Biden. Republicans pursuing investigations of the Bidens demanded the FBI release the unredacted form documenting the unverified allegations, though they acknowledged they couldn’t confirm if they were true.

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  • Hungary ratifies Sweden’s NATO bid, clearing final obstacle to membership

    Hungary ratifies Sweden’s NATO bid, clearing final obstacle to membership

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    Hungary’s parliament voted Monday to ratify Sweden’s bid to join NATO, bringing an end to more than 18 months of delays that have frustrated the alliance as it seeks to expand in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

    What You Need To Know

    • Hungary’s parliament has ratified Sweden’s bid to join NATO, bringing an end to more than 18 months of delays
    • Those delays have frustrated the alliance as it seeks to expand in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine
    • Unanimous support among all NATO members is required to admit new countries, and Hungary is the last of its 31 members to give its backing
    • But the Monday vote cleared Sweden’s final hurdle after it first applied to join the alliance in May 2022.

    The vote, which passed with 188 votes for and six against, came as a culmination of months of wrangling by Hungary’s allies to convince its nationalist government to lift its block on Sweden’s membership. The government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán submitted the protocols for approving Sweden’s entry into NATO in July 2022, but the matter had stalled in parliament over opposition by governing party lawmakers.

    Unanimous support among all NATO members is required to admit new countries, and Hungary is the last of the alliance’s 31 members to give its backing since Turkey ratified the request last month.

    Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called it “a historic day.”

    “We stand ready to shoulder our share of the responsibility for NATO’s security,” Kristersson wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

    Orbán, a right-wing populist who has forged close ties with Russia, has said that criticism of Hungary’s democracy by Swedish politicians had soured relations between the two countries and led to reluctance among lawmakers in his Fidesz party.

    But the vote on Monday removed the final membership hurdle for Sweden which, along with neighboring Finland, first applied to join the alliance in May 2022, just a few months after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

    Addressing lawmakers before the vote, Orbán said: “Sweden and Hungary’s military cooperation and Sweden’s NATO accession strengthen Hungary’s security.”

    Orbán criticized Hungary’s European Union and NATO allies for placing increased pressure on his government in recent months to move forward on bringing Sweden into the alliance.

    “Several people tried to intervene from the outside in the settling of our disputes (with Sweden), but this did not help but rather hampered the issue,” Orbán said. “Hungary is a sovereign country, it does not tolerate being dictated by others, whether it be the content of its decisions or their timing.”

    Last weekend, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators visited Hungary and announced it would submit a joint resolution to Congress condemning Hungary’s alleged democratic backsliding and urging Orbán’s government to immediately lift its block on Sweden’s trans-Atlantic integration.

    But on Friday, Ulf Kristersson, Sweden’s prime minister, met with Orbán in Hungary’s capital where they appeared to reach a decisive reconciliation after months of diplomatic tensions.

    Following their meeting, the leaders announced the conclusion of a defense industry agreement that will include Hungary’s purchase of four Swedish-made JAS 39 Gripen jets and the extension of a service contract for its existing Gripen fleet.

    Orbán said the additional fighter jets “will significantly increase our military capabilities and further strengthen our role abroad” and will improve Hungary’s ability to participate in joint NATO operations.

    “To be a member of NATO together with another country means we are ready to die for each other,” Orbán said. “A deal on defense and military capacities helps to reconstruct the trust between the two countries.”

    Monday’s vote on Sweden’s NATO accession was just one matter on a busy agenda for lawmakers in the Hungarian parliament. A vote was also held on accepting the resignation of President Katalin Novák, who stepped down earlier this month in a scandal over her decision to pardon to a man convicted of covering up a string of child sexual abuses.

    After accepting Novák’s resignation, lawmakers are expected to confirm Tamás Sulyok, the president of Hungary’s Constitutional Court, as the country’s new president. He is set to formally take office on March 5.

    Some opposition parties have said they will not participate in a vote to confirm a new president and have called for direct presidential elections. But Sulyok was nominated by Orbán’s Fidesz party, which has a two-thirds majority in parliament and is expected to easily approve his presidency.

    A presidential signature is needed to formally endorse the approval of Sweden’s NATO bid, which is expected within the next few days.

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    Associated Press

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  • USF sets program record with 13th straight win

    USF sets program record with 13th straight win

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    TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Kasean Pryor scored 19 points off the bench and South Florida increased its win streak to 13 with a 79-68 victory over SMU on Sunday.

    Pryor also contributed nine rebounds for the Bulls (21-5, 14-1 American Athletic Conference). Selton Miguel made three 3-pointers and scored 18. Chris Youngblood added 12 points.

    The Mustangs (19-9, 10-5) were led by Ricardo Wright with 16 points. Samuell Williamson pitched in with 12 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Zhuric Phelps totaled 11 points and nine rebounds.

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  • Tired of diesel fumes, these moms are pushing for electric school buses

    Tired of diesel fumes, these moms are pushing for electric school buses

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    Areli Sanchez’s daughter, Aida, used to be one of 20 million American kids who ride a diesel bus to school each day.

    Aida has asthma. When she was little, she complained about the smell and cloud of fumes on her twice-daily trip.

    “When she would come home from school or be on the bus, she got headaches and sick to her stomach. She said, ‘Mami, I don’t feel well, I feel dizzy,’” Sanchez said in Spanish from Las Vegas. Aida missed classes a lot when her asthma was bad. Research shows diesel exhaust exposure can cause students to miss school and affect learning.

    She was admitted to the hospital for an asthma attack in second grade, and after that Sanchez began driving Aida to school.

    What You Need To Know

    • Each day, around 20 million students in the United States ride to school in diesel-fueled school buses, exposed to clouds of exhaust linked to asthma and lung cancer
    • The buses also contribute to climate change
    • Parents have been key advocates in the push for cleaner buses, and are finally seeing progress, especially in some communities disproportionately harmed by this exhaust


    Diesel exhaust from school buses potentially affects one-third of U.S. students, their parents and educators each day, according to federal data. It’s a known carcinogen plus it contains harmful nitrogen oxides, volatile gases and particles that exacerbate lung issues. It also contributes to global warming.

    Most affected by these environmental and health issues are Black, Latino, Indigenous and lower-income communities, who often rely on buses to get to school and are also more likely to suffer from asthma than other students. Some of the biggest drivers for change are parents worried about their children.

    For Areli Sanchez’ family in Las Vegas, things continued to deteriorate.

    She felt like she had to stop working. “I didn’t know when we were going to get another call from school about another asthma attack,” she said.

    A few years after her daughter started having problems, Sanchez saw the opportunity to get involved in the nascent movement for electric buses. They don’t smell. They aren’t noisy. They cost more up front, but cost less to run and can meaningfully reduce emissions, making them a climate change solution.

    Now Sanchez has been making this case locally and beyond for four years, even taking a long diesel bus ride to the state capital, Carson City, to plead for funding from the legislature.

    Recently she started to get some traction when the Clark County School District, her district, began to swap some of its buses for electric. These still make up only a fraction of the nearly 2,000 in the fleet, but she’s optimistic.

    Some similar progress is taking place throughout the nation as a sense of urgency builds around worsening air quality and environmental injustice related to the warming climate.

    Children are generally more harmed by air pollution than adults because their bodies are still developing, and because they breathe in more air per body size than adults do, said University of Michigan epidemiology and public health researcher Sara Adar, who studies the link between health and school buses.

    “As they’re burning their fuel and as the engine is spinning, they often are releasing very, very small particles that can get deep into our lungs and cause havoc throughout the body,” Adar said.

    Kids also can spend considerable time around idling buses, she noted, lengthening their exposure to something that can permanently damage their health. Research has highlighted poor air quality inside older diesel school buses, too.

    “It’s this perpetual cycle of bad air quality,” said Lonnie Portis, a policy and advocacy manager for the activist group We Act for Environmental Justice in New York City. In hard-hit, or environmental justice neighborhoods, he said, “you’re removing at least some of that by putting electric school buses in the rotation.”

    Some school districts have switched to newer versions of diesel buses, which are more efficient and produce less pollution, as one way to reduce students’ exposure. Others, especially in underfunded districts, keep their older, more polluting vehicles.

    Much like Sanchez, Liz Hurtado, the mother of four children who ride the bus in Virginia Beach, Virginia, has spent years advocating for electric buses.

    Her oldest daughter also got headaches riding a diesel bus, and she’d drive her to school when she could, she said.

    Now a national field manager for the grassroots group Moms Clean Air Force and active in a program dedicated to protecting Latino children’s health, Hurtado appeals to school districts to buy electric buses. She schedules events for community members to see and drive electric vehicles, hosts webinars and meetings and teaches others how to reach out to legislators.

    “Knowing all of the stressors and anxiety from climate change, and the fact that this is a huge burden for our children,” Hurtado said. “That places a burden on us, right?”

    While an electric bus isn’t yet available to her, she still feels “really excited about the momentum.”

    Federal money is now the leading source of funding for electric school buses, and prioritizes low-income, rural or Tribal communities, which advocates see as a huge win. Most electric school buses on the road today have landed in those areas, according to WRI.

    “It means that we are putting the solution closest to the problem,” said Carolina Chacon, coalition manager for the Alliance for Electric School Buses, a group of nonprofit organizations that has been expanding.

    Sanchez said Aida might not get to take advantage of the electric buses, since she is now 16.

    “But other moms won’t have to worry like I did because of the fumes,” she said.

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  • Off to Michigan, Haley stays in the race after Trump’s easy South Carolina win

    Off to Michigan, Haley stays in the race after Trump’s easy South Carolina win

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    Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley says it’s not “the end of our story” despite Donald Trump’s easy primary victory in South Carolina, her home state where the onetime governor had long suggested her competitiveness with the former president would show.

    Defying calls from South Carolina Republicans to exit the race, Haley planned to travel Sunday to Michigan, which holds its primary on Tuesday.

    What You Need To Know

    • Donald Trump’s easily beat Nikki Haley in the Saturday primary in South Carolina, her home state where the onetime governor had long suggested her competitiveness with the former president would show
    • Haley has scheduled a rally Sunday evening in Michigan, which holds its primary on Tuesday
    • With his win Saturday in the first-in-the South election, Trump has now swept every contest on the GOP’s early-season calendar that awards delegates
    • His performances have left little maneuvering room for Haley, his former U.N. ambassador

    With his win Saturday in the first-in-the South contest, Trump has now swept every primary or caucus on the GOP early-season calendar that awards delegates. His performances have left little maneuvering room for Haley, his former U.N. ambassador.

    “I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now,” Trump said in a victory night celebration in Columbia.

    Haley insists she is sticking around even with the growing pressure to abandon her candidacy and let Trump focus entirely on Democratic President Joe Biden, in a 2020 rematch.

    In addition to the rally in vote-rich Oakland County, Michigan, northwest of Detroit on Sunday evening, she scheduled a Monday event in Grand Rapids, a western Michigan Republican hub.

    “I’m grateful that today is not the end of our story,” Haley told supporters Saturday. “We’ll keep fighting for America and we won’t rest until America wins.”

    South Carolina’s most prominent Republicans stood with Trump, including U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who endorsed him this past week.

    To U.S. Rep. Russell Fry, “this has always been a primary in name only” and that Trump was never in jeopardy of losing to Haley. Fry said Trump would be the GOP nominee and the latest election results were “just further validation of that.”

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Trump ally, said Trump was on “a pathway” to being able to clinch the nomination by mid-March. “I would say the wind is strongly” at his back, Abbott told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

    Not all voters in South Carolina want Haley to end her campaign.

    Irene Sulkowski of Daniel Island said she hoped Haley would soldier on, suggesting the former governor would be a more appealing general election candidate than Trump despite his popularity among the GOP base that powers the primary season.

    “They’re not thinking, ‘Who do you want to represent us in the general election?’” said Sulkowski, an accountant. “And they need to have a longer-term view.”

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  • Off to Michigan, Haley stays in the race after Trump’s easy South Carolina win

    Off to Michigan, Haley stays in the race after Trump’s easy South Carolina win

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    Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley says it’s not “the end of our story” despite Donald Trump’s easy primary victory in South Carolina, her home state where the onetime governor had long suggested her competitiveness with the former president would show.

    Defying calls from South Carolina Republicans to exit the race, Haley planned to travel Sunday to Michigan, which holds its primary on Tuesday.

    What You Need To Know

    • Donald Trump’s easily beat Nikki Haley in the Saturday primary in South Carolina, her home state where the onetime governor had long suggested her competitiveness with the former president would show
    • Haley has scheduled a rally Sunday evening in Michigan, which holds its primary on Tuesday
    • With his win Saturday in the first-in-the South election, Trump has now swept every contest on the GOP’s early-season calendar that awards delegates
    • His performances have left little maneuvering room for Haley, his former U.N. ambassador

    With his win Saturday in the first-in-the South contest, Trump has now swept every primary or caucus on the GOP early-season calendar that awards delegates. His performances have left little maneuvering room for Haley, his former U.N. ambassador.

    “I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now,” Trump said in a victory night celebration in Columbia.

    Haley insists she is sticking around even with the growing pressure to abandon her candidacy and let Trump focus entirely on Democratic President Joe Biden, in a 2020 rematch.

    In addition to the rally in vote-rich Oakland County, Michigan, northwest of Detroit on Sunday evening, she scheduled a Monday event in Grand Rapids, a western Michigan Republican hub.

    “I’m grateful that today is not the end of our story,” Haley told supporters Saturday. “We’ll keep fighting for America and we won’t rest until America wins.”

    South Carolina’s most prominent Republicans stood with Trump, including U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who endorsed him this past week.

    To U.S. Rep. Russell Fry, “this has always been a primary in name only” and that Trump was never in jeopardy of losing to Haley. Fry said Trump would be the GOP nominee and the latest election results were “just further validation of that.”

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Trump ally, said Trump was on “a pathway” to being able to clinch the nomination by mid-March. “I would say the wind is strongly” at his back, Abbott told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

    Not all voters in South Carolina want Haley to end her campaign.

    Irene Sulkowski of Daniel Island said she hoped Haley would soldier on, suggesting the former governor would be a more appealing general election candidate than Trump despite his popularity among the GOP base that powers the primary season.

    “They’re not thinking, ‘Who do you want to represent us in the general election?’” said Sulkowski, an accountant. “And they need to have a longer-term view.”

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  • Off to Michigan, Haley stays in the race after Trump’s easy South Carolina win

    Off to Michigan, Haley stays in the race after Trump’s easy South Carolina win

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    Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley says it’s not “the end of our story” despite Donald Trump’s easy primary victory in South Carolina, her home state where the onetime governor had long suggested her competitiveness with the former president would show.

    Defying calls from South Carolina Republicans to exit the race, Haley planned to travel Sunday to Michigan, which holds its primary on Tuesday.

    What You Need To Know

    • Donald Trump’s easily beat Nikki Haley in the Saturday primary in South Carolina, her home state where the onetime governor had long suggested her competitiveness with the former president would show
    • Haley has scheduled a rally Sunday evening in Michigan, which holds its primary on Tuesday
    • With his win Saturday in the first-in-the South election, Trump has now swept every contest on the GOP’s early-season calendar that awards delegates
    • His performances have left little maneuvering room for Haley, his former U.N. ambassador

    With his win Saturday in the first-in-the South contest, Trump has now swept every primary or caucus on the GOP early-season calendar that awards delegates. His performances have left little maneuvering room for Haley, his former U.N. ambassador.

    “I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now,” Trump said in a victory night celebration in Columbia.

    Haley insists she is sticking around even with the growing pressure to abandon her candidacy and let Trump focus entirely on Democratic President Joe Biden, in a 2020 rematch.

    In addition to the rally in vote-rich Oakland County, Michigan, northwest of Detroit on Sunday evening, she scheduled a Monday event in Grand Rapids, a western Michigan Republican hub.

    “I’m grateful that today is not the end of our story,” Haley told supporters Saturday. “We’ll keep fighting for America and we won’t rest until America wins.”

    South Carolina’s most prominent Republicans stood with Trump, including U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who endorsed him this past week.

    To U.S. Rep. Russell Fry, “this has always been a primary in name only” and that Trump was never in jeopardy of losing to Haley. Fry said Trump would be the GOP nominee and the latest election results were “just further validation of that.”

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Trump ally, said Trump was on “a pathway” to being able to clinch the nomination by mid-March. “I would say the wind is strongly” at his back, Abbott told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

    Not all voters in South Carolina want Haley to end her campaign.

    Irene Sulkowski of Daniel Island said she hoped Haley would soldier on, suggesting the former governor would be a more appealing general election candidate than Trump despite his popularity among the GOP base that powers the primary season.

    “They’re not thinking, ‘Who do you want to represent us in the general election?’” said Sulkowski, an accountant. “And they need to have a longer-term view.”

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  • Netanyahu: Cease-fire deal would only ‘somewhat’ delay offensive in Rafah

    Netanyahu: Cease-fire deal would only ‘somewhat’ delay offensive in Rafah

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    Mediators are making progress on an agreement for a weekslong cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and the release of dozens of hostages held in Gaza as well as Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, Israeli media reported Sunday.

    What You Need To Know

    • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says an Israeli military offensive in the southernmost city of Rafah could be “delayed somewhat” if a deal for a weekslong cease-fire between Israel and Hamas is reached
    • He claims that total victory in Gaza is “weeks away” once the offensive begins. Netanyahu confirms to CBS that a deal is in the works
    • Talks have resumed at the specialist level in Qatar which is one of the mediators
    • The United States is again warning its ally Israel that a military offensive on Rafah shouldn’t go forward without a plan to protect the more than 1 million civilians now sheltering there

    An Israeli military offensive in the southernmost city of Rafah could be “delayed somewhat” if a deal for a weekslong cease-fire between Israel and Hamas is reached, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, but claimed that total victory in Gaza is “weeks away” once the offensive begins.

    Netanyahu confirmed to CBS that a deal is in the works, with no details. Israeli media reported that mediators were making progress on an agreement for a cease-fire and release of dozens of hostages held in Gaza as well as Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Several Israeli media outlets, citing unnamed officials, said the War Cabinet tacitly approved it.

    Talks resumed on Sunday in Qatar at the specialist level, Egypt’s state-run Al Qahera TV reported, citing an Egyptian official as saying further discussions would follow in Cairo with the aim of achieving the cease-fire and release.

    Meanwhile, Israel is developing plans for expanding its offensive against the Hamas militant group to Rafah on the Gaza-Egypt border, where more than half the besieged territory’s population of 2.3 million have sought refuge. Humanitarian groups warn of a catastrophe, with Rafah the main entry point for aid, and the U.S. and other allies have said Israel must avoid harming civilians.

    Netanyahu has said he’ll convene the Cabinet this week to approve operational plans for action in Rafah, including the evacuation of civilians.

    “Once we begin the Rafah operation, the intense phase of the fighting is weeks away from completion. Not months,” Netanyahu told CBS. ““If we don’t have a deal, we’ll do it anyway. It has to be done because total victory is our goal and total victory is within reach.”

    He said that four of the six remaining Hamas battalions are concentrated in Rafah.

    U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told NBC that President Joe Biden hadn’t been briefed on the Rafah plan and said, “We believe that this operation should not go forward until or unless we see (a plan to protect civilians).”

    Heavy fighting continued in parts of northern Gaza, the first target of the offensive, where the destruction is staggering. Residents have reported days of heavy fighting in the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City.

    “We’re trapped, unable to move because of the heavy bombardment,” resident Ayman Abu Awad said.

    He said starving residents have been forced to eat animal fodder and search for food in demolished buildings. Northern Gaza has been largely cut off from aid, and the U.N.’s World Food Program suspended deliveries last week.

    A senior official from Egypt, which along with Qatar is a mediator between Israel and Hamas, has said the draft cease-fire deal includes the release of up to 40 women and older hostages in return for up to 300 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women, minors and older people.

    The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations, said the proposed six-week pause in fighting would include allowing hundreds of trucks to bring desperately needed aid into Gaza every day, including the north. He said both sides agreed to continue negotiations during the pause for further releases and a permanent cease-fire.

    Negotiators face an unofficial deadline of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan around March 10, a period that often sees heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions.

    Hamas says it has not been involved in the latest proposal developed by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, but the reported outline largely matches its earlier proposal for the first phase of a truce.

    Hamas has said it won’t release all of the remaining hostages until Israel ends its offensive and withdraws its forces from the territory, and is demanding the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including senior militants — conditions Netanyahu has rejected.

    An anguished wait for the families of hostages

    Israel declared war after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 hostages. More than 100 hostages were released in a cease-fire and exchange deal in November. Around 130 remain in captivity, a fourth of whom are believed to be dead.

    Families of the hostages have followed the fits and starts of the negotiations with hope and anguish.

    “It feels like Schindler’s list. Will he be on the list or not?” Shelly Shem Tov, the mother of Omer, 21, who is held captive, told Israeli Army Radio of her son’s chances of being freed in an emerging deal.

    Israel responded to the Oct. 7 attack with a massive air and ground offensive that has driven around 80% of Gaza’s population from their homes, putting hundreds of thousands at risk of starvation and the spread of infectious disease. The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza says 29,692 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, two-thirds of them women and children.

    The ministry’s death toll doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says its troops have killed more than 10,000 militants, without providing evidence.

    Doctors in Rafah struggle to treat newborns

    The war has devastated the territory’s health sector, with less than half of hospitals even partially functioning as scores are killed each day in Israeli bombardment.

    At the Emirates Hospital in Rafah, three to four newborns are placed in each of its 20 incubators, which are designed for just one. Dr. Amal Ismail said two to three newborns die in a single shift, in part because many of their families live in tents in rainy, cold weather.

    “No matter how much we work with them, it is all wasted,” she said. “There is no health improvement because of the conditions of living in a tent.”

    Netanyahu has vowed to fight until “total victory,” but is under intense pressure at home to reach a deal with Hamas to free the hostages. Police used a water cannon to disperse anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv late Saturday, and 18 people were arrested. Others protested in Jerusalem.

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  • Hundreds attend funeral for woman killed during Super Bowl celebration

    Hundreds attend funeral for woman killed during Super Bowl celebration

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    KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Hundreds of mourners attended a funeral mass Saturday for a Kansas City-area DJ who was killed when she was shot during a celebration of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory.

    What You Need To Know

    • Hundreds of mourners attended a funeral mass Saturday for Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a Kansas City-area DJ who was killed during a Super Bowl celebration

    • She was remembered during the 90-minute service as a loving wife and mother whose smile could light up a room and who saw each day as a chance for excitement and laughter

    • Some mourners worse Chiefs jerseys and they also heard a mariachi band play and sing

    • Two men are charged in her death and two juveniles face gun charges

    Lisa Lopez-Galvan was one of about two dozen people who were shot when gunfire erupted Feb. 14 outside the city’s Union Station. She was remembered during the 90-minute service as a loving wife and mother whose smile could light up a room and who saw each day as a chance for excitement and laughter.

    With her casket near the front of the Redemptorist Catholic Church in Kansas City, Missouri. mourners — some wearing Chiefs jerseys — also heard a mariachi band play and sing.

    Along with her husband and young adult son, the 43-year-old had joined an estimated crowd of 1 million people for the parade and rally. As the festivities ended, a dispute over what authorities described as the belief that people in one group were staring at people in another group led to gunfire.

    Lopez-Galvan, a music lover who played at weddings, quinceañeras and an American Legion bar and grill, was caught in the middle of it. Everyone else survived.

    Two men are charged in her death, and two juveniles face gun charges. Her family responded to the charges this week with a statement expressing thanks to police and prosecutors.

    “Though it does not bring back our beloved Lisa, it is comforting,” the statement began.

    Players and celebrities alike have reached out to her family. Pop superstar Taylor Swift, who is frequently in the stands during Chiefs games because she is dating tight end Travis Kelce, donated $100,000 to Lopez-Galvan’s family.

    And because she was wearing a Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker jersey at the celebration, he responded to requests on social media seeking help in obtaining a similar jersey — possibly so the mother of two could be laid to rest in it.

    “While the family is mourning their loss and grappling with their numerous injuries, I will continue to pray for their healing and the repose of Lisa’s soul,” Butker said in a statement.

    Rosa Izurieta and Martha Ramirez worked with Lopez-Galvan for about a year at a local staffing firm but had known her since childhood. They remembered her as an extrovert and a staunch Catholic who was devoted to her family, passionate about connecting job seekers with employment and ready to help anyone.

    And, they said, working part time playing music allowed her to share her passion as one of the area’s few Latina DJs.

    “This senseless act has taken a beautiful person from her family and this KC Community,” the radio station KKFI-FM, where she was the co-host of a program called “Taste of Tejano,” said in a statement.

    Izurieta and Ramirez said Lopez-Galvan’s Kansas City roots run deep. Her father founded the city’s first mariachi group, Mariachi Mexico, in the 1980s, they said, and the family is well known and active in the Latino community. Her brother, Beto Lopez, is CEO of the Guadalupe Centers, which provides community services and runs charter schools for the Latino community.

    Lopez-Galvan and her two children went to Bishop Miege, a Catholic high school in a suburb on the Kansas side, and she worked for years as a clerk in a police department there.

    “This is another example of a real loving, real human whose life was taken tragically with a senseless act,” Beto Lopez said in an interview last week on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

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  • Consumers are increasingly pushing back against price increases — and winning

    Consumers are increasingly pushing back against price increases — and winning

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    Inflation has changed the way many Americans shop. Now, those changes in consumer habits are helping bring down inflation.

    What You Need To Know

    • Fed up with prices that remain about 19%, on average, above where they were before the pandemic, consumers are fighting back
    • In grocery stores, they’re shifting away from name brands to store-brand items, switching to discount stores or simply buying fewer items like snacks or gourmet foods
    • More Americans are buying used cars, too, rather than new, forcing some dealers to provide discounts on new cars again
    • But the growing consumer pushback to what critics condemn as price-gouging has been most pronounced with food as well as with consumer goods like paper towels and napkins

    Fed up with prices that remain about 19%, on average, above where they were before the pandemic, consumers are fighting back. In grocery stores, they’re shifting away from name brands to store-brand items, switching to discount stores or simply buying fewer items like snacks or gourmet foods.

    More Americans are buying used cars, too, rather than new, forcing some dealers to provide discounts on new cars again. But the growing consumer pushback to what critics condemn as price-gouging has been most evident with food as well as with consumer goods like paper towels and napkins.

    In recent months, consumer resistance has led large food companies to respond by sharply slowing their price increases from the peaks of the past three years. This doesn’t mean grocery prices will fall back to their levels of a few years ago, though with some items, including eggs, apples and milk, prices are below their peaks. But the milder increases in food prices should help further cool overall inflation, which is down sharply from a peak of 9.1% in 2022 to 3.1%.

    Public frustration with prices has become a central issue in President Joe Biden’s bid for re-election. Polls show that despite the dramatic decline in inflation, many consumers are unhappy that prices remain so much higher than they were before inflation began accelerating in 2021.

    Biden has echoed the criticism of many left-leaning economists that corporations jacked up their prices more than was needed to cover their own higher costs, allowing themselves to boost their profits. The White House has also attacked “shrinkflation,” whereby a company, rather than raising the price of a product, instead shrinks the amount inside the package. In a video released on Super Bowl Sunday, Biden denounced shrinkflation as a “rip-off.”

    Consumer pushback against high prices suggests to many economists that inflation should further ease. That would make this bout of inflation markedly different from the debilitating price spikes of the 1970s and early 1980s, which took longer to defeat. When high inflation persists, consumers often develop an inflationary psychology: Ever-rising prices lead them to accelerate their purchases before costs rise further, a trend that can itself perpetuate inflation.

    “That was the fear — that everybody would tolerate higher prices,” said Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY, a consulting firm, who notes that it hasn’t happened. “I don’t think we’ve moved into a high inflation regime.”

    Instead, this time many consumers have reacted like Stuart Dryden, a commercial underwriter at a bank who lives in Arlington, Virginia. On a recent trip to his regular grocery store, Dryden, 37, pointed out big price disparities between Kraft Heinz-branded products and their store-label competitors, which he now favors.

    Dryden, for example, loves cream cheese and bagels. A 12-ounce tub of Kraft’s Philadelphia cream cheese costs $6.69. The store brand, he noted, is just $3.19.

    A 24-pack of Kraft single cheese slices is $7.69; the store label, $2.99. And a 32-ounce Heinz ketchup bottle is $6.29, while the alternative is just $1.69. Similar gaps existed with mac-and-cheese and shredded cheese products.

    “Just those five products together already cost nearly $30,” Dryden said. The alternatives were less than half that, he calculated, at about $13.

    “I’ve been trying private-label options, and the quality is the same and it’s almost a no-brainer to switch from the products I used to buy a ton of to just the private label,” Dryden said.

    Alex Abraham, a spokesman for Kraft Heinz, said that its costs rose 3% in the final three months of last year but that the company raised its own prices only 1%.

    “We are doing everything possible to find efficiencies in our factories and other parts of our business to offset and mitigate further price increases,” Abraham said.

    Last week, Kraft Heinz said sales fell in the final three months of last year as more consumers traded down to cheaper brands.

    Dryden has taken other steps to save money: A year ago, he moved into a new apartment after his previous landlord jacked up his rent by about 50%. His former apartment had been next to a relatively pricey grocery store, Whole Foods. Now, he shops at a nearby Amazon Fresh and has started visiting the discount grocer Aldi every couple of weeks.

    Samuel Rines, an investment strategist at Corbu, says that PepsiCo, Kimberly-Clark, Procter & Gamble and many other consumer food and packaged goods companies exploited the rise in input costs stemming from supply-chain disruptions and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to dramatically raise their prices — and increase their profits — in 2021 and 2022.

    A contributing factor was that millions of Americans enjoyed solid wage gains and received stimulus checks and other government aid, making it easier for them to pay the higher prices.

    Still, some decried the phenomenon as “greedflation.” And in a March 2023 research paper, the economist Isabella Weber at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, referred to it as “seller’s inflation.”

    Yet beginning late last year, many of the same companies discovered that the strategy was no longer working. Most consumers have now long since spent the savings they built up during the pandemic.

    Lower-income consumers, in particular, are running up credit card debt and falling behind on their payments. Americans overall are spending more cautiously. Daco notes that overall sales during the holiday shopping season were up just 4% — and most of it reflected higher prices rather than consumers actually buying more things.

    As an example, Rines points to Unilever, which makes, among other items, Hellman’s mayonnaise, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Dove soaps. Unilever jacked up its prices 13.3% on average across its brands in 2022. Its sales volume fell 3.6% that year. In response, it raised prices just 2.8% last year; sales rose 1.8%.

    “We’re beginning to see the consumer no longer willing to take the higher pricing,” Rines said. “So companies were beginning to get a little bit more skeptical of their ability to just have price be the driver of their revenues. They had to have those volumes come back, and the consumer wasn’t reacting in a way that they were pleased with.”

    Unilever itself recently attributed poor sales performance in Europe to “share losses to private labels.”

    Other businesses have noticed, too. After their sales fell in the final three months of last year, PepsiCo executives signaled that this year they would rein in price increases and focus more on boosting sales.

    “In 2024, we see … normalization of the cost, normalization of inflation,” CEO Ramon Laguarta said. “So we see everything trending back to our long-term” pricing trends.

    Jeffrey Harmening, CEO of General Mills, which makes Cheerios, Chex Cereal, Progresso soups and dozens of other brands, has acknowledged that his customers are increasingly seeking bargains.

    And McDonald’s executives have said that consumers with incomes below $45,000 are visiting less and spending less when they do visit and say the company plans to highlight its lower-priced items.

    “Consumers are more wary — and weary — of pricing, and we’re going to continue to be consumer-led in our pricing decisions,” Ian Borden, the company’s chief financial officer, told investors.

    Officials at the Federal Reserve, the nation’s primary inflation-fighting institution, have cited consumers’ growing reluctance to pay high prices as a key reason why they expect inflation to fall steadily back to their 2% annual target.

    “Firms are telling us that price sensitivity is very much higher now,” Mary Daly, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and a member of the Fed’s interest-rate setting committee, said last week. “Consumers don’t want to purchase unless they’re seeing a 10% discount. … This is a serious improvement in the role that consumers play in bridling inflation.”

    Surveys by the Fed’s regional banks have found that companies across all industries expect to impose smaller price increases this year. The New York Fed says companies in its region plan to raise prices an average of about 3% this year, down from about 5% in 2023 and as much as 7% to 9% in 2022.

    Such trends suggest that companies were well on their way to slowing their price hikes before Biden’s most recent attacks on price gouging.

    Claudia Sahm, founder of SAHM Consulting and a former Fed economist, said, “consumers are more powerful than President Biden.”

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    Associated Press

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  • How Donald Trump Became Unbeatable

    How Donald Trump Became Unbeatable

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    Not too long ago, Donald Trump looked finished. After the January 6 attack on the Capitol, the repeal of Roe v. Wade, and a poor Republican showing in the 2022 midterms, the GOP seemed eager to move on from the former president. The post–Trump era had supposedly begun.

    Just one week after the midterms, he entered the 2024 race, announcing his candidacy to a room of bored-looking hangers-on. Even his children weren’t there. Security had to pen people in to keep them from leaving during his meandering speech.

    Today, thanks to Trump’s dominant performance in South Carolina, the Republican primary is all but over. Trump’s margin was so comfortable that the Associated Press called the race as soon as polls closed. How did we get here? How did Trump go from historically weak to unassailable?

    I talk with Republican-primary voters in focus groups every week, and through these conversations, I’ve learned that the answer has as much to do with Trump’s party and his would-be competitors as it does with Trump himself. Most Republican leaders have profoundly misread their base in this moment.

    The other candidates hoped to be able to defeat Trump even as they accommodated his behavior and made excuses for his criminality. They even said they would support his reelection. By doing so, they established a permission structure for Republican voters to return to Trump, all but ensuring his rise.

    My focus groups over the past few years can be seen as a travelogue through the GOP’s journey back to Trump. Three key themes emerged that help explain why Trump’s opponents failed to gain traction.

    First, you can’t beat something with nothing. The Republican field didn’t offer voters anything new.

    Nikki Haley and Mike Pence cast themselves as avatars of the pre-Trump GOP. Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy did their best to imitate Trump, presenting themselves as younger and more competent stewards of the same MAGA agenda. None of them offered a viable alternative to Trump; instead, they spent their resources trying not to anger his supporters.

    But Republican voters don’t want Reagan Republicanism. Old-school conservatives may pine for a return to balanced budgets, personal responsibility, and American leadership in the world (guilty). But a greater share of Republican voters prefer an isolationist foreign policy and candidates who promise to punish their domestic enemies.

    Read: Nikki Haley’s endgame

    “The feds, both parties, the elites … want everything to go back to the way it was before Trump got elected,” said Bret, a two-time Trump voter from Georgia. “And that would be the wrong direction, in my opinion.”

    And voters aren’t interested in Trump-lite when they can have the real thing. Trump’s supporters see in him a leader who’s willing to fight for them. No other candidate proved they could do that better than Trump.

    “We need a man that is strong as hell, a brick house,” said Fred, a two-time Trump voter from South Carolina, in May 2023. “He is that man.”

    Larry, an Iowa Republican, called Trump “a disruptor. In the business world, you bring in a disruptor when everybody’s stuck in groupthink. That’s what I hired him to do: blow stuff up.”

    Contrast that with how Republican voters saw his opponents. “If you want to be president, you’ve got to be hated by half the country,” said Dakota, a two-time Trump voter from Iowa, adding, about Nikki Haley: “I don’t think she can do it.”

    “Does it kind of feel in a sense that he just kind of gave up?” Ashley, another Iowa Republican, asked about DeSantis before he dropped out of the race.

    Pence, Chris Christie, and the other also-rans came in for much worse criticism. “I don’t know if anyone would vote for him, just his family at this point,” Justin, a two-time Trump voter from Texas, said of Pence. “I think he’s alienated everyone.”

    The second theme: Trump’s competitors declined to hit him on his 91 felony counts, despite the fact that voters say they have serious concerns about them. Instead, most of them (with the honorable exception of Christie and Asa Hutchinson) actively defended Trump.

    DeSantis called the charges the “criminalization of politics.” Haley said the charges were “more about revenge than … about justice.” And Ramaswamy promised to pardon Trump “on day one.”

    By the time Haley started attacking Trump in recent weeks, it was already too late. She can call him “diminished,” “unhinged,” “weak in the knees,” and “incredibly reckless,” but voters saw her raise her hand six months ago when asked whether she would support him if he became the nominee.

    If Trump’s primary opponents weren’t going to hold his indictments against him, why should GOP voters? “It’s all a witch hunt,” Dennis, a two-time Trump voter from Michigan, said of the charges. The Department of Justice and state prosecutors bringing the cases “are terrified of Trump for whatever reason … because they’re afraid he will run and they’re afraid he will win.”

    Read: Republicans are no longer a political party

    Lastly, Trump started to be seen as electable. This represented a big shift from a year ago, when voters had concerns about Trump’s ability to beat President Joe Biden in a rematch.

    In February 2023, Isaac, a Pennsylvania Republican, said of Trump: “I just feel he is unelectable. I think you could put him up there against fricking Donald Duck and Donald Duck will end up coming out ahead. He just ticks too many people off.”

    But as they got a better look at the alternatives—and as they came to believe that Biden was too frail, weak, and senile to be competitive in the general election—GOP voters came around.

    “I’m convinced that he is in the final stages of dementia,” Clifton, an Iowa Republican, said of Biden. “I mean, yeah, Trump’s an asshole and he doesn’t have a filter and he says stupid things, but it doesn’t matter.”

    These voters have come to believe that the election is a choice between senility and recklessness. And they’ve decided they prefer the latter.

    DeSantis’s rise and fall is the clearest demonstration of how we got here. For a time, he looked like the greatest threat to Trump, leveraging culture-war issues to gin up the base while projecting an image of being, as one voter put it to me, “Trump not on steroids.”

    He sent refugees to Martha’s Vineyard, went after Disney, banned books—and the base loved him for it. “For the most part, from what I hear, he’s doing a good job in Florida,” said Chris, a Republican voter from Illinois, in March 2023. “He stands for a lot of the same values that I think I do.”

    But over time, DeSantis’s star began to fade. The more retail campaigning he did, and the more voters were exposed to him, the less they liked what they saw.

    “I think he was a strong candidate before he was actually a candidate,” said Fred, a two-time Trump voter from New Hampshire in December 2023. He cited “things he’s done in Florida and how big he won his last governor’s election.” But now, he said, “I think he got a little too into the social issues.”

    By the time DeSantis dropped out, skepticism had turned to contempt among the Republican voters I spoke with. Sean, a two-time Trump voter from New Hampshire, put it succinctly last month: “He has a punchable face, and I just don’t like him.”

    This time last year, DeSantis had a real shot at consolidating the move-on-from-Trump faction of the GOP while making inroads with the maybe-Trumpers—each of which constitutes about a third of the party. Instead, he tried to wrestle the former president for his always-Trump base, a doomed effort. He couldn’t get traction with the always-Trumpers and he alienated the move-on-from-Trumpers. It was a hopeless strategy for a flawed candidate.

    Haley may hold out for a few more weeks, even though she has virtually no chance of beating Trump outright. Her only real incentive for remaining in the race is to be the last person standing in the event that he is imprisoned or suffers a major health event. Barring either of these scenarios, Trump’s path to the nomination is clear.

    This outcome wasn’t inevitable; Trump was beatable. His opponents had real opportunities to cleave off his support, but they squandered them.

    The reason is simple: Republican elites don’t understand their voters. They spent eight years making excuses for Trump and supporting him at every turn, sending the clear signal that this is his party. They spent nearly a decade saying that he was a persecuted martyr—and the greatest president in history. It’s frightening, but not surprising, that their voters think he’s the only man for the job.

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    Sarah Longwell

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  • ‘Oppenheimer,’ Lily Gladstone win at 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards

    ‘Oppenheimer,’ Lily Gladstone win at 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards

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    “Oppenheimer” continued to steamroll through Hollywood’s awards season on Saturday, winning the top prize, for outstanding cast, along with awards for Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr., at the 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards.

    What You Need To Know

    • “Oppenheimer” won the top prize, for outstanding cast, along with awards for Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr., at the 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards

    • Lily Gladstone won for her leading performance in “Killers of the Flower Moon”

    • Cillian Murphy won outstanding male actor in a leading role for his performance as J. Robert Oppenheimer, landing him his first SAG Award

    • Robert Downey Jr. and Da’Vine Joy Randolph each won for their supporting performances, solidifying their status as Oscar favorites

    As the Academy Awards draw closer, Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic — already a winner at the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs — has increasingly looked like the run-away favorite. The SAG Awards, streamed live on Netflix for the first time, will only add to the momentum for “Oppenheimer,” the lead Academy Awards nominee with 13 nods.

    The night’s most thrilling moment, though was Lily Gladstone winning female actor in a leading role in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.” No category has been more hotly contested, with analysts evenly split between Gladstone and Emma Stone for “Poor Things.”

    But Gladstone won Saturday and the crowd erupted. Stone, too, vigorously applauded. More is riding on Gladstone than perhaps any other Oscar contender this year. Her win would be a first for Native Americans.

    “We bring empathy into a world that so much needs it,” said Gladstone. “It’s so easy to distance ourselves. It’s so easy to close off, to stop feeling. And we all bravely keep feeling. And that humanizes people. That brings people out of the shadows. It brings visibility.”

    The SAG Awards don’t always signify Oscar success. Two of the last five winners from the guild (“The Trial of the Chicago 7” and “Black Panther”) lost at the Academy Awards. But in the past two years, all five of the top SAG prizes — best ensemble and the four acting winners — have corresponded with the eventual Oscar winners, including the ensembles for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “CODA.”

    Saturday’s SAG Awards on Netflix was the first major Hollywood award show to be exclusively streamed. That made for some significant tweaks to the age-old traditions of such ceremonies. There were no ads. Profanity was permitted. (“Don’t say anything you wouldn’t say in front of Oprah,” said Idris Elba.) And winners were occasionally interviewed backstage by red-carpet co-host Tan France — sometimes awkwardly, sometimes charmingly.

    The SAG Awards, held at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles, might have also previewed another potential nail-biter.

    Murphy and Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”) have also been seen as neck-and-neck. But Murphy, who won his first SAG Award, has now triumphed at the SAGs, the BAFTAs and Globes, suggesting he has the clear edge heading into the Academy Awards.

    Downey Jr. and Da’Vine Joy Randolph each won for their supporting performances, likewise solidifying their status as Oscar favorites.

    “Why me? Why now? Why do things seem to be going my way?” said Downey Jr., accepting his first SAG Award for a film performance. “Unlike my fellow nominees, I will never grow tired from the sound of my own voice.”

    Randolph’s performance in Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” has been a breakthrough role for the 37-year-old actor. Now, she appears poised to win the Academy Award.

    “To every actor out there still waiting in the wings for their chance, let me tell you: Your life can change in a day,” Randolph said. “It’s not a question of if but when. Keep going.”

    After more than two decades airing on TNT and TBS to dwindling viewership, Netflix acquired telecast rights to the SAG Awards in early 2023. Netflix, a dominant force for years in awards season, turned host, too.

    “Personally, I can’t wait to get home and have Netflix recommend this show to me based on all the other stuff that I watch myself in,” joked Elba, the night’s de facto emcee.

    The TV awards went largely to the same shows that have cleaned up at the Emmys and Golden Globes: “The Bear” (best comedy series ensemble, Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri ); “Beef” (Ali Wong, Steven Yeun); and the cast of “Succession.”

    One exception was Pedro Pascal, who won best male actor in a drama series for “The Last of Us” over a trio of “Succession” stars.

    “This is wrong for a number of reasons,” said a visibly stunned Pascal. “I’m a little bit drunk. I thought I could get drunk.”

    This year’s SAG Awards follows a grueling months-long strike in which the SAG-AFTRA union fought a bitter battle over a number of issues. Much of the work stoppage was prompted over changes in the film and TV industry brought on by streaming and a sea change led by Netflix.

    “Your solidarity ignited workers around the world, triggering what forever will be remember as ‘the hot labor summer,’” said Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA. “This was a seminal moment in our union’s history.”

    The new streaming platform was sure to put even more of a spotlight on one of the most closely-watched predictors of the Academy Awards. Oscar voting wraps Tuesday.

    Barbra Streisand held the audience in rapt attention while accepting a lifetime achievement award, presented by Jennifer Aniston and Bradley Cooper.

    “I remember dreaming of being an actress as a teenager sitting in my bed in Brooklyn with a pint of coffee ice cream and a movie magazine,” said Streisand, who recalled being transfixed by “my first crush,” Marlon Brando.

    Streisand also took a moment to celebrate the Jewish pioneers of Hollywood.

    “Now I dream of a world where such prejudice is a thing of the past,” she said.

    Saturday’s show was one of Netflix’s most significant forays yet into live streaming events. Netflix has previously hosted a live Chris Rock comedy special, a celebrity golf tournament and a live reunion “Love Is Blind” episode that was marred by technical difficulties. But Netflix is gearing up for more, including an upcoming live tennis event.

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    Associated Press

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  • Bdy of Russian opposition leader Navalny has been handed over to his mother

    Bdy of Russian opposition leader Navalny has been handed over to his mother

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    The body of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been handed over to his mother, a top aide to Navalny said Saturday on his social media account.

    Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, made the announcement on his Telegram account and thanked “everyone” who had called on Russian authorities to return Navalny’s body to his mother.

    What You Need To Know

    • An aide to Alexei Navalny says the body of the Russian opposition leader has been handed over to his mother
    • The director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation made the announcement on his Telegram account and thanked “everyone” who had called on Russian authorities to return Navalny’s body to his mother
    • Navalny’s widow accused President Vladimir Putin earlier Saturday of mocking Christianity by trying to force his mother to agree to a secret funeral after his death in an Arctic penal colony
    • Navalny’s mother has been demanding that Russian authorities return the body of her son to her for more than a week. It’s not yet clear when or how the funeral will be held.

    Earlier Saturday, Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s widow, accused President Vladimir Putin of mocking Christianity by trying to force his mother to agree to a secret funeral after his death in an Arctic penal colony.

    “Thank you very much. Thanks to everyone who wrote and recorded video messages. You all did what you needed to do. Thank you. Alexei Navalny’s body has been given to his mother,” Zhdanov wrote.

    Navalny, 47, Russia’s most well-known opposition politician, unexpectedly died on Feb. 16 in an Arctic penal colony and his family have been fighting for more than a week to have his body returned to them. Prominent Russians released videos calling on authorities to release the body and Western nations have hit Russia with more sanctions as punishment for Navalny’s death as well as for the second anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine.

    Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, is still in Salekhard, Navalny’s press secretary Kira Yarmysh said on X, formerly Twitter. Lyudmila Navalnaya has been in the Arctic region for more than a week, demanding that Russian authorities return the body of her son to her.

    “The funeral is still pending,” Yarmysh tweeted, questioning whether authorities will allow it to go ahead “as the family wants and as Alexei deserves.”

    Earlier Saturday, Navalny’s widow said in a video that Navalny’s mother was being “literally tortured” by authorities who had threatened to bury Navalny in the Arctic prison. They, she said, suggested to his mother that she did not have much time to make a decision because the body is decomposing, Navalnaya said.

    “Give us the body of my husband,” Navalnaya said earlier Saturday. “You tortured him alive, and now you keep torturing him dead. You mock the remains of the dead.”

    Navalny, 47, Russia’s most well-known opposition politician, unexpectedly died on Feb. 16 in the penal colony, prompting hundreds of Russians across the country to stream to impromptu memorials with flowers and candles.

    Authorities have detained scores of people as they seek to suppress any major outpouring of sympathy for Putin’s fiercest foe before the presidential election he is almost certain to win. Russians on social media say officials don’t want to return Navalny’s body to his family, because they fear a public show of support for him.

    Navalnaya accused Putin, an Orthodox Christian, of killing Navalny.

    “No true Christian could ever do what Putin is now doing with the body of Alexei,” she said, asking, “What will you do with his corpse? How low will you sink to mock the man you murdered?”

    Saturday marked nine days since the opposition leader’s death, a day when Orthodox Christians hold a memorial service.

    People across Russia came out to mark the occasion and honor Navalny’s memory by gathering at Orthodox churches, leaving flowers at public monuments or holding one-person protests.

    Muscovites lined up outside the city’s Christ the Savior Cathedral to pay their respects, according to photos and videos published by independent Russian news outlet SOTAvision. The video also shows Russian police stationed nearby and officers stopping several people for an ID check.

    As of early Saturday afternoon, at least 27 people had been detained in nine Russian cities for showing support for Navalny, according to the OVD-Info rights group that tracks political arrests.

    They included Sergei Karabatov, 64, who laid flowers at a Moscow monument to victims of political repression, along with a handwritten note saying “Don’t think this is the end.” Also arrested was Aida Nuriyeva, from the city of Ufa near the Ural Mountains, who stood in a street with a sign saying “Putin is Navalny’s murderer! I demand that the body be returned!”

    Putin is often pictured at church, dunking himself in ice water to celebrate the Epiphany and visiting holy sites in Russia. He has promoted what he has called “traditional values” without which, he once said, “society degrades.”

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected allegations that Putin was involved in Navalny’s death, calling them “absolutely unfounded, insolent accusations about the head of the Russian state.”

    Musician Nadya Tolokonnikova, who became widely known after spending nearly two years in prison for taking part in a 2012 protest with her band Pussy Riot inside Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral, was one of many prominent Russians who released a video in which she accused Putin of hypocrisy and asked him to release Navalny’s body.

    “We were imprisoned for allegedly trampling on traditional values. But no one tramples on traditional Russian values more than you, Putin, your officials and your priests who pray for all the murder that you do, year after year, day after day,” said Tolokonnikova, who lives abroad. “Putin, have a conscience, give his mother the body of her son.”

    Lyudmila Navalnaya said Thursday that investigators allowed her to see her son’s body in the morgue in the Arctic city of Salekhard. She had filed a lawsuit at a court in Salekhard contesting officials’ refusal to release the body. A closed-door hearing had been scheduled for March 4.

    Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokesman, said that Lyudmila Navalnaya was shown a medical certificate stating that her son died of “natural causes.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Bdy of Russian opposition leader Navalny has been handed over to his mother

    Bdy of Russian opposition leader Navalny has been handed over to his mother

    [ad_1]

    The body of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been handed over to his mother, a top aide to Navalny said Saturday on his social media account.

    Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, made the announcement on his Telegram account and thanked “everyone” who had called on Russian authorities to return Navalny’s body to his mother.

    What You Need To Know

    • An aide to Alexei Navalny says the body of the Russian opposition leader has been handed over to his mother
    • The director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation made the announcement on his Telegram account and thanked “everyone” who had called on Russian authorities to return Navalny’s body to his mother
    • Navalny’s widow accused President Vladimir Putin earlier Saturday of mocking Christianity by trying to force his mother to agree to a secret funeral after his death in an Arctic penal colony
    • Navalny’s mother has been demanding that Russian authorities return the body of her son to her for more than a week. It’s not yet clear when or how the funeral will be held.

    Earlier Saturday, Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s widow, accused President Vladimir Putin of mocking Christianity by trying to force his mother to agree to a secret funeral after his death in an Arctic penal colony.

    “Thank you very much. Thanks to everyone who wrote and recorded video messages. You all did what you needed to do. Thank you. Alexei Navalny’s body has been given to his mother,” Zhdanov wrote.

    Navalny, 47, Russia’s most well-known opposition politician, unexpectedly died on Feb. 16 in an Arctic penal colony and his family have been fighting for more than a week to have his body returned to them. Prominent Russians released videos calling on authorities to release the body and Western nations have hit Russia with more sanctions as punishment for Navalny’s death as well as for the second anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine.

    Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, is still in Salekhard, Navalny’s press secretary Kira Yarmysh said on X, formerly Twitter. Lyudmila Navalnaya has been in the Arctic region for more than a week, demanding that Russian authorities return the body of her son to her.

    “The funeral is still pending,” Yarmysh tweeted, questioning whether authorities will allow it to go ahead “as the family wants and as Alexei deserves.”

    Earlier Saturday, Navalny’s widow said in a video that Navalny’s mother was being “literally tortured” by authorities who had threatened to bury Navalny in the Arctic prison. They, she said, suggested to his mother that she did not have much time to make a decision because the body is decomposing, Navalnaya said.

    “Give us the body of my husband,” Navalnaya said earlier Saturday. “You tortured him alive, and now you keep torturing him dead. You mock the remains of the dead.”

    Navalny, 47, Russia’s most well-known opposition politician, unexpectedly died on Feb. 16 in the penal colony, prompting hundreds of Russians across the country to stream to impromptu memorials with flowers and candles.

    Authorities have detained scores of people as they seek to suppress any major outpouring of sympathy for Putin’s fiercest foe before the presidential election he is almost certain to win. Russians on social media say officials don’t want to return Navalny’s body to his family, because they fear a public show of support for him.

    Navalnaya accused Putin, an Orthodox Christian, of killing Navalny.

    “No true Christian could ever do what Putin is now doing with the body of Alexei,” she said, asking, “What will you do with his corpse? How low will you sink to mock the man you murdered?”

    Saturday marked nine days since the opposition leader’s death, a day when Orthodox Christians hold a memorial service.

    People across Russia came out to mark the occasion and honor Navalny’s memory by gathering at Orthodox churches, leaving flowers at public monuments or holding one-person protests.

    Muscovites lined up outside the city’s Christ the Savior Cathedral to pay their respects, according to photos and videos published by independent Russian news outlet SOTAvision. The video also shows Russian police stationed nearby and officers stopping several people for an ID check.

    As of early Saturday afternoon, at least 27 people had been detained in nine Russian cities for showing support for Navalny, according to the OVD-Info rights group that tracks political arrests.

    They included Sergei Karabatov, 64, who laid flowers at a Moscow monument to victims of political repression, along with a handwritten note saying “Don’t think this is the end.” Also arrested was Aida Nuriyeva, from the city of Ufa near the Ural Mountains, who stood in a street with a sign saying “Putin is Navalny’s murderer! I demand that the body be returned!”

    Putin is often pictured at church, dunking himself in ice water to celebrate the Epiphany and visiting holy sites in Russia. He has promoted what he has called “traditional values” without which, he once said, “society degrades.”

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected allegations that Putin was involved in Navalny’s death, calling them “absolutely unfounded, insolent accusations about the head of the Russian state.”

    Musician Nadya Tolokonnikova, who became widely known after spending nearly two years in prison for taking part in a 2012 protest with her band Pussy Riot inside Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral, was one of many prominent Russians who released a video in which she accused Putin of hypocrisy and asked him to release Navalny’s body.

    “We were imprisoned for allegedly trampling on traditional values. But no one tramples on traditional Russian values more than you, Putin, your officials and your priests who pray for all the murder that you do, year after year, day after day,” said Tolokonnikova, who lives abroad. “Putin, have a conscience, give his mother the body of her son.”

    Lyudmila Navalnaya said Thursday that investigators allowed her to see her son’s body in the morgue in the Arctic city of Salekhard. She had filed a lawsuit at a court in Salekhard contesting officials’ refusal to release the body. A closed-door hearing had been scheduled for March 4.

    Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokesman, said that Lyudmila Navalnaya was shown a medical certificate stating that her son died of “natural causes.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Bdy of Russian opposition leader Navalny has been handed over to his mother

    Bdy of Russian opposition leader Navalny has been handed over to his mother

    [ad_1]

    The body of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been handed over to his mother, a top aide to Navalny said Saturday on his social media account.

    Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, made the announcement on his Telegram account and thanked “everyone” who had called on Russian authorities to return Navalny’s body to his mother.

    What You Need To Know

    • An aide to Alexei Navalny says the body of the Russian opposition leader has been handed over to his mother
    • The director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation made the announcement on his Telegram account and thanked “everyone” who had called on Russian authorities to return Navalny’s body to his mother
    • Navalny’s widow accused President Vladimir Putin earlier Saturday of mocking Christianity by trying to force his mother to agree to a secret funeral after his death in an Arctic penal colony
    • Navalny’s mother has been demanding that Russian authorities return the body of her son to her for more than a week. It’s not yet clear when or how the funeral will be held.

    Earlier Saturday, Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s widow, accused President Vladimir Putin of mocking Christianity by trying to force his mother to agree to a secret funeral after his death in an Arctic penal colony.

    “Thank you very much. Thanks to everyone who wrote and recorded video messages. You all did what you needed to do. Thank you. Alexei Navalny’s body has been given to his mother,” Zhdanov wrote.

    Navalny, 47, Russia’s most well-known opposition politician, unexpectedly died on Feb. 16 in an Arctic penal colony and his family have been fighting for more than a week to have his body returned to them. Prominent Russians released videos calling on authorities to release the body and Western nations have hit Russia with more sanctions as punishment for Navalny’s death as well as for the second anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine.

    Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, is still in Salekhard, Navalny’s press secretary Kira Yarmysh said on X, formerly Twitter. Lyudmila Navalnaya has been in the Arctic region for more than a week, demanding that Russian authorities return the body of her son to her.

    “The funeral is still pending,” Yarmysh tweeted, questioning whether authorities will allow it to go ahead “as the family wants and as Alexei deserves.”

    Earlier Saturday, Navalny’s widow said in a video that Navalny’s mother was being “literally tortured” by authorities who had threatened to bury Navalny in the Arctic prison. They, she said, suggested to his mother that she did not have much time to make a decision because the body is decomposing, Navalnaya said.

    “Give us the body of my husband,” Navalnaya said earlier Saturday. “You tortured him alive, and now you keep torturing him dead. You mock the remains of the dead.”

    Navalny, 47, Russia’s most well-known opposition politician, unexpectedly died on Feb. 16 in the penal colony, prompting hundreds of Russians across the country to stream to impromptu memorials with flowers and candles.

    Authorities have detained scores of people as they seek to suppress any major outpouring of sympathy for Putin’s fiercest foe before the presidential election he is almost certain to win. Russians on social media say officials don’t want to return Navalny’s body to his family, because they fear a public show of support for him.

    Navalnaya accused Putin, an Orthodox Christian, of killing Navalny.

    “No true Christian could ever do what Putin is now doing with the body of Alexei,” she said, asking, “What will you do with his corpse? How low will you sink to mock the man you murdered?”

    Saturday marked nine days since the opposition leader’s death, a day when Orthodox Christians hold a memorial service.

    People across Russia came out to mark the occasion and honor Navalny’s memory by gathering at Orthodox churches, leaving flowers at public monuments or holding one-person protests.

    Muscovites lined up outside the city’s Christ the Savior Cathedral to pay their respects, according to photos and videos published by independent Russian news outlet SOTAvision. The video also shows Russian police stationed nearby and officers stopping several people for an ID check.

    As of early Saturday afternoon, at least 27 people had been detained in nine Russian cities for showing support for Navalny, according to the OVD-Info rights group that tracks political arrests.

    They included Sergei Karabatov, 64, who laid flowers at a Moscow monument to victims of political repression, along with a handwritten note saying “Don’t think this is the end.” Also arrested was Aida Nuriyeva, from the city of Ufa near the Ural Mountains, who stood in a street with a sign saying “Putin is Navalny’s murderer! I demand that the body be returned!”

    Putin is often pictured at church, dunking himself in ice water to celebrate the Epiphany and visiting holy sites in Russia. He has promoted what he has called “traditional values” without which, he once said, “society degrades.”

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected allegations that Putin was involved in Navalny’s death, calling them “absolutely unfounded, insolent accusations about the head of the Russian state.”

    Musician Nadya Tolokonnikova, who became widely known after spending nearly two years in prison for taking part in a 2012 protest with her band Pussy Riot inside Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral, was one of many prominent Russians who released a video in which she accused Putin of hypocrisy and asked him to release Navalny’s body.

    “We were imprisoned for allegedly trampling on traditional values. But no one tramples on traditional Russian values more than you, Putin, your officials and your priests who pray for all the murder that you do, year after year, day after day,” said Tolokonnikova, who lives abroad. “Putin, have a conscience, give his mother the body of her son.”

    Lyudmila Navalnaya said Thursday that investigators allowed her to see her son’s body in the morgue in the Arctic city of Salekhard. She had filed a lawsuit at a court in Salekhard contesting officials’ refusal to release the body. A closed-door hearing had been scheduled for March 4.

    Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokesman, said that Lyudmila Navalnaya was shown a medical certificate stating that her son died of “natural causes.”

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    Associated Press

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  • AT&T says the outage to its US cellphone network not a cyberattack

    AT&T says the outage to its US cellphone network not a cyberattack

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    AT&T said the hourslong outage to its U.S. cellphone network Thursday appeared to be the result of a technical error, not a malicious attack.

    The outage knocked out cellphone service for thousands of its users across the U.S. starting early Thursday before it was restored.

    What You Need To Know

    • AT&T said the hourslong outage to its U.S. cellphone network Thursday appeared to be the result of a technical error, not a malicious attack

    • The outage knocked out cellphone service for thousands of its users across the U.S. starting early Thursday before it was restored

    • AT&T blamed the incident on an error in coding, without elaborating

    • Cricket Wireless, which is owned by AT&T, had more than 9,000 outages at one point

    AT&T blamed the incident on an error in coding, without elaborating.

    “Based on our initial review, we believe that today’s outage was caused by the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network, not a cyber attack,” the Dallas-based company said.

    Outage tracker Downdetector noted that outages, which began at about 3:30 a.m. ET, peaked at around 73,000 reported incidents. AT&T had more than 58,000 outages around noon ET, in locations including Houston, Atlanta and Chicago. The carrier is the country’s largest, with more than 240 million subscribers.

    By 9 p.m. ET, the reports on AT&T’s network were fewer than 1,000.

    Cricket Wireless, which is owned by AT&T, had more than 9,000 outages at one point but the reports had also tailed off later in the afternoon. Users of other carriers, including Verizon and T-Mobile, also reported issues but those companies said their networks were operating normally and the problems were likely stemming from customers trying to connect to AT&T users.

    During the outage, some iPhone users saw SOS messages displayed in the status bar on their cellphones. The message indicates that the device is having trouble connecting to their cellular provider’s network, but it can make emergency calls through other carrier networks, according to Apple Support.

    The Federal Communications Commission contacted AT&T about the outage and the Department of Homeland Security and FBI were also looking into it, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

    The FBI acknowledged it had been in touch with AT&T. “Should we learn of any malicious activity we will respond accordingly,” the agency said.

    The outage also raised concerns on Capitol Hill.

    “We are working to assess today’s disruption in order to gain a complete understanding of what went wrong and what can be done to prevent future incidents like this from occurring,” said a statement issued by Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Washington Republican who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Ohio Republican Bob Latta, chair of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee.

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    Associated Press

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