Biden calls Israel and Hezbollah ceasefire ‘good news’ as sides come to terms to pause fighting
JERUSALEM (AP) — President Joe Biden called Israel and Hezbollah’s ceasefire agreement “good news” and expressed hope that the pause in more than 13 months of fighting will be a catalyst to also end the war in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier that his security Cabinet had approved a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah, clearing the way for the truce to take effect. Also on Tuesday, Israeli warplanes struck across Lebanon, killing at least 24 people, and the Israeli military issued a flurry of evacuation warnings — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah down to the final moments before any ceasefire takes hold. For the first time in the conflict, Israeli ground troops reached parts of Lebanon’s Litani River.
AP finds that a Pentagon-funded study on extremism in the military relied on old data
Early this year, Pete Hegseth told a Fox News audience a new, Pentagon-funded study proved that the number of military service members and veterans involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection did not indicate a wider problem in the armed forces. Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Defense, wasn’t alone. The Wall Street Journal’s opinion page highlighted the same report as evidence that extremists in military communities were “phantoms” created by a “false media narrative.” The X account for Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee posted that the study showed the focus on extremism in the military was a “witch hunt.” But The Associated Press has found that the study relied on old data, misleading analyses and ignored evidence that pointed to the opposite conclusion.
Trump’s threat to impose tariffs could raise prices for consumers, colliding with promise for relief
DETROIT (AP) — If Donald Trump makes good on his threat to slap 25% tariffs on everything imported from Mexico and Canada, the price increases that could follow will collide with his campaign promise to give American families a break from inflation. Economists and industry officials say companies would have little choice but to pass along the added costs, dramatically raising prices for food, clothing, automobiles, booze and other goods. The president-elect floated the tariff idea and an additional 10% tax on goods from China, as a way to force the countries to halt the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the U.S. But his posts Monday threatening tariffs on his first day in office could be a negotiating ploy to get the countries to change behavior.
Mexico suggests it would impose its own tariffs to retaliate against any Trump tariffs
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has suggested Mexico could retaliate with tariffs of its own, after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Mexican goods if the country doesn’t stop the flow of drugs and migrants across the border. Sheinbaum says she is willing to engage in talks on the issues, but said drugs were a U.S. problem. She says “one tariff would be followed by another in response, and so on until we put at risk common businesses,” referring to U.S. automakers that have plants on both sides of the border.
After delay, Trump signs agreement with Biden White House to begin formal transition handoff
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a required agreement with President Joe Biden’s White House to allow his transition team to coordinate with the existing federal workforce ahead of taking office on Jan. 20. The overdue agreement was supposed to have been signed by Oct. 1, according to the Presidential Transition Act, and the Biden White House has issued appeals in both public and private for Trump’s team to sign on. The agreement is a critical step in the process meant to ensure an orderly transfer of power at noon on Jan. 20 and limits the risk that the Trump team could find itself taking control of the massive federal government without being aware of ongoing programs and operations.
Brazil’s Bolsonaro participated in a 2022 coup plot, unsealed police report says
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro was fully aware of and actively participated in a coup plot to remain in office after his defeat in the 2022 election, according to a Federal Police report that has been unsealed. Brazil’s Federal Police last Thursday formally accused Bolsonaro and 36 other people of attempting a coup. They sent their nearly 900-page report to the Supreme Court, which lifted the seal. Bolsonaro has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing or awareness of any plot to keep him in power or oust his leftist rival and successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Biden proposes Medicare and Medicaid cover costly weight-loss drugs for millions of obese Americans
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of obese Americans would be eligible to have popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy or Zepbound covered by Medicare or Medicaid under a new rule the Biden administration proposed Tuesday morning. The proposal, which would not be finalized until after President-elect Donald Trump takes office, could cost taxpayers as much as $35 billion over the next decade. It would give millions of people access to weekly injectables that have helped people shed pounds so quickly that some people have labeled them miracle drugs.
New rule allows HIV-positive organ transplants
People with HIV who need a kidney or liver transplant will be able to receive an organ from a donor with HIV. That’s according to a new rule announced Tuesday by U.S. health officials. Previously, such transplants could be done only as part of research studies. The new rule takes effect Wednesday. It’s expected to shorten the wait for organs for all, regardless of HIV status, by increasing the pool of available organs. The practice is supported by a decade of research, during which 500 transplants of kidneys and livers from HIV-positive donors have been done in the U.S.
Surveillance tech advances by Biden could aid in Trump’s promised crackdown on immigration
President-elect Donald Trump will return to power next year with a raft of technological tools at his disposal that would help deliver his campaign promise of cracking down on immigration — among them, surveillance and artificial intelligence technology that the Biden administration already uses to help make crucial decisions in tracking, detaining and ultimately deporting immigrants lacking permanent legal status. One algorithm, for example, ranks immigrants with a “Hurricane Score,” ranging from 1-5, to assess whether someone will “abscond” from the agency’s supervision.
Ukraine says Russian attack sets a new record for the number of drones used
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Ukrainian air force says Russia launched 188 drones against most regions of Ukraine in a nighttime blitz, describing it as a record number of drones deployed in a single attack. It said Tuesday that most of the drones were intercepted, but apartment buildings and critical infrastructure such as the national power grid were damaged. No casualties were immediately reported in the 17 targeted regions. Russia has been hammering civilian areas of Ukraine with increasingly heavy drone, missile and glide bomb attacks since the middle of the year. The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, issued a rare official acknowledgement of its assets being hit on its own soil by U.S.-made longer-range missiles that the U.S. recently authorized Ukraine to use.