Biden adviser meets with Qatari leaders to discuss Israel-Hamas negotiations
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s top Middle East adviser on Tuesday held talks in Doha with senior Qatari leaders on the efforts to complete a cease-fire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, as well as on the Qatari prime minister's meeting this week with Iran’s president, according to a U.S. official.
White House senior adviser Brett McGurk’s talks with Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani came after the prime minister’s Monday visit to Tehran to meet with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The talks also come as cease-fire talks aimed at winning at least a pause in the war between Israel and Hamas are shifting to Doha this week after several days of intense negotiations in Cairo. A round of high-level talks ended Sunday without a final agreement. But talks continued at lower levels Monday in an effort to bridge remaining gaps.
Those working-group level talks are now expected to resume Wednesday in Doha. It was not clear why the location of the talks shifted from Cairo or whether this will have an impact on negotiations.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were discussing sensitive cease-fire talks, confirmed an Israeli delegation will head to Doha on Wednesday.
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Biden pushed Gaza pier over warnings it would undercut other aid routes, watchdog says
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden ordered the construction of a temporary pier to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza earlier this year even as some staffers for the U.S. Agency for International Development expressed concerns that the effort would be difficult to pull off and undercut the effort to persuade Israel to open “more efficient” land crossings to get food into the territory, according to a USAID inspector general report published Tuesday.
Biden announced plans to use the temporary pier in his State of the Union address in March to hasten the delivery of aid to the Palestinian territory besieged by war between Israel and Hamas.
But the $230 million military-run project known as the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore system, or JLOTS, would only operate for about 20 days. Aid groups pulled out of the project by July, ending a mission plagued by repeated weather and security problems that limited how much food and other emergency supplies could get to starving Palestinians.
“Multiple USAID staff expressed concerns that the focus on using JLOTS would detract from the Agency’s advocacy for opening land crossings, which were seen as more efficient and proven methods of transporting aid into Gaza,” according to the inspector general report. “However, once the President issued the directive, the Agency’s focus was to use JLOTS as effectively as possible.”
At the time Biden announced plans for the floating pier, the United Nations was reporting virtually all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people were struggling to find food and more than a half-million were facing starvation.
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A hostage in Gaza is rescued by Israel after 326 days of captivity
BEERSHEBA, Israel (AP) — Qaid Farhan Alkadi was alone underground Tuesday after 326 days of captivity in Gaza when Israeli forces scouring Hamas’ vast tunnel network found and freed him.
“Suddenly, I heard someone speaking Hebrew outside the door, I couldn’t believe it, I couldn’t believe it,” Alkadi, 52, recounted from an Israeli hospital during a phone call with Israel’s president as his large Bedouin Arab family gathered around his bedside in a joyful reunion.
He was the eighth hostage to be rescued by Israeli forces since about 250 were kidnapped during the Oct. 7 attack that ignited the war, and the first to be found alive underground. The rescue brought a rare moment of relief to Israelis after 10 months of war but also served as a painful reminder that dozens of hostages are still in captivity as international mediators try to broker a cease-fire in which they would be released.
Alkadi expressed gratitude during the call with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and urged his country's leaders to do everything possible to free the dozens still in captivity. "Work 24 hours, don’t sleep until they return. People are really suffering, you can’t imagine,” he said, according to a transcript of the call provided by Herzog’s office.
Alkadi was found in a southern Gaza tunnel where hostages were suspected to be alongside militants and explosives, according to the military. He was held in a number of locations during his captivity, according to Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.
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A 10-month-old Palestinian baby suddenly stopped crawling. Polio had struck Gaza
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Born into the devastating Israel-Hamas war, 10-month-old Abdel-Rahman Abu El-Jedian started crawling early. Then one day, he froze — his left leg appeared to be paralyzed.
The baby boy is the first confirmed case of polio inside Gaza in 25 years, according to the World Health Organization.
Abdel-Rahman was an energetic baby, said the child's mother, Nevine Abu El-Jedian, fighting back tears. “Suddenly, that was reversed. Suddenly, he stopped crawling, stopped moving, stopped standing up, and stopped sitting.”
Health care workers in Gaza have been warning of the potential for a polio outbreak for months, as the humanitarian crisis unleashed by Israel’s offensive on the strip only grows. Abdel-Rahman's diagnosis confirms health workers’ worst fears.
Before the war, Gaza’s children were largely vaccinated against polio, the WHO says.
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Feds file new indictment in Trump Jan. 6 case, keeping charges intact but narrowing allegations
WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith filed a new indictment Tuesday against Donald Trump over his efforts to undo the 2020 presidential election that keeps the same criminal charges but narrows the allegations against him following a Supreme Court opinion that conferred broad immunity on former presidents.
The new indictment removes a section of the indictment that had accused Trump of trying to use the law enforcement powers of the Justice Department to overturn his election loss, an area of conduct for which the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 opinion last month, said that Trump was absolutely immune from prosecution.
The stripped-down criminal case represents a first effort by prosecutors to comply with a Supreme Court opinion that made all but certain the Republican presidential nominee won't face trial before the November election in the case alleging he tried to thwart the peaceful transfer of power.
It comes days before prosecutors and defense lawyers are expected to tell the judge overseeing the case how they want to proceed in light of the Supreme Court's ruling, which said presidents are presumptively immune from prosecution for official White House acts. The high court sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who now must analyze which allegations in the indictment were unofficial actions — or those taken in Trump's private capacity — that can proceed to trial.
Prosecutors and Trump's legal team will be back in court next week for the first hearing in front of Chutkan in months, given that the case had been effectively frozen since last December as Trump's immunity appeal worked its way through the justice system.
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From cold towels to early dismissal, people are finding ways to cope with a 2nd day of heat wave
CHICAGO (AP) — As a second straight day of hot soupy temperatures approaching triple digits hung over much of the Midwest on Tuesday, residents looked for ways to stay cool and indoors.
Darrell Taylor, 61, has no air-conditioning in his apartment in Chicago, where it reached a record-breaking 98 degrees Fahrenheit. He described it as feeling like an oven. Running two fans did not improve things.
“I put a cold towel on my face. It’s only working a little bit,” he said before retreating to the home of a relative who has air conditioning.
The National Weather Service issued excessive heat warnings and advisories Tuesday in large swaths of Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and into Mid-Atlantic states including Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The weather service warned of “dangerously hot conditions” and predicted heat index values — which take into account the temperature and relative humidity and indicate how hot it feels outdoors — of up to 110 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit in some locations, including Chicago. The city's high broke the record of 97 degrees set for this day in 1973, according to the weather service.
But relief was expected soon, with cooler temperatures expected starting Wednesday.
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Presidential transition planning has begun in earnest, but Trump and Harris are already behind
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration offered federal resources to Donald Trump and Kamala Harris for presidential transition planning for the first time Tuesday, with experts suggesting both are behind in preparing for their potential administrations.
While transitions kick into high gear after Election Day, when a president-elect must begin selecting and vetting about 4,000 federal political appointees, success depends on the infrastructure built during the pre-election period, including identifying agency review teams and beginning the background check process for national security staff.
Both Vice President Harris and former President Trump started the process this month, months later than prior transitions. Harris was elevated to the top of the Democratic ticket just five weeks ago after President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid, and she had to first redirect his political operation before laying the groundwork for the transition. It is not clear why Trump, who sewed up the nomination months ago, did not start sooner.
Max Stier, the president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, said planning to take office in the modern era has tended to begin in the late spring.
“It is possible to try and catch up, but the reality is that both candidates have a lot to do,” he said.
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Mexico puts relations with US and Canadian embassies 'on pause' for slamming judicial overhaul plan
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president told reporters Tuesday he has put relations with the United States and Canadian embassies “on pause” after the two countries voiced concerns over a proposed judicial overhaul that critics say could undermine the independence of the judiciary.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador didn’t elaborate on what a pause would mean. It’s not a term used in formal diplomatic codes, and Mexico’s foreign ministry did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment about what it would entail.
The judicial overhaul proposal, suggested by the Mexican president during his final weeks in office, includes having judges elected to office, something analysts, judges and international observers fear would stack courts with politically biased judges with little experience. It has spurred major protests and strikes and wide criticism from investors and financial institutions.
Last week, American ambassador Ken Salazar called the proposal a “risk” to democracy that would endanger Mexico’s commercial relationship with the United States. López Obrador lambasted the ambassador, saying he violated Mexican sovereignty. Salazar has since dialed back his tone, writing on X that he was open to a dialogue.
López Obrador said during his morning press briefing Tuesday he believed the sharp comments were not from Salazar, but rather from the U.S. State Department.
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Lowe's changes some DEI policies amid legal attacks on diversity programs and activist pressure
NEW YORK (AP) — Home improvement chain Lowe’s is scaling back its diversity, equity and inclusion policies, joining the ranks of several other companies that altered their programs since the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed affirmative action in college admissions or after facing a conservative backlash online.
In an internal memo shared by Lowe's with The Associated Press, its executive leadership said the retailer began “reviewing” its programs following the court's July 2023 ruling and the company recently decided to combine its resource groups, which were for "individual groups representing diverse sections of our associate population," into one umbrella organization.
The retailer also will no longer participate in an annual survey by the Human Rights Campaign that measures workplace inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees, and will also stop sponsoring and participating in events, such as festivals and parades, that are outside of its business areas.
The changes were made to ensure Lowe’s policies are “lawful” and aligned with its commitment to “include everyone,” the memo states.
“We may make additional changes over time,” the company’s leadership team said in the memo. “What will not change, though, is our commitment to our people.”
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Salmon will soon swim freely in the Klamath River for first time in a century once dams are removed
For the first time in more than a century, salmon will soon have free passage along the Klamath River and its tributaries — a major watershed near the California-Oregon border — as the largest dam removal project in U.S. history nears completion.
Crews will use excavators this week to breach rock dams that have been diverting water upstream of two dams that were already almost completely removed, Iron Gate and Copco No. 1. The work will allow the river to flow freely in its historic channel, giving salmon a passageway to key swaths of habitat just in time for the fall Chinook, or king salmon, spawning season.
“Seeing the river being restored to its original channel and that dam gone, it’s a good omen for our future,” said Leaf Hillman, ceremonial leader of the Karuk Tribe, which has spent at least 25 years fighting for the removal of the Klamath dams. Salmon are culturally and spiritually significant to the tribe, along with others in the region.
The demolition comes about a month before removal of four towering dams on the Klamath was set to be completed as part of a national movement to let rivers return to their natural flow and to restore ecosystems for fish and other wildlife.
As of February, more than 2,000 dams had been removed in the U.S., the majority in the last 25 years, according to the advocacy group American Rivers. Among them were dams on Washington state’s Elwha River, which flows out of Olympic National Park into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and Condit Dam on the White Salmon River, a tributary of the Columbia.
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