# Marsha Warfield, bailiff Roz Russell on 'Night Court,' returns to the show that has a 'big heart'
By **MARK KENNEDY**
January 1, 2024. 11:20 AM EST

---

**NEW YORK (AP)** - Fans of the rebooted hit NBC sitcom "Night Court" might have been forgiven for tuning in all season long and asking "Where's Roz?"

Roz Russell - played by comedian Marsha Warfield - was the salty, no-nonsense bailiff alongside Bull Shannon who had a world-weary view of the shenanigans in the courtroom during the show's original run from 1984 to 1992.

But Roz wasn't in the reboot that aired at the top of 2023. John Larroquette as prosecutor Dan Fielding was the only full-time cast member to return.

So fans were excited when Roz popped up in the season one finale, surprising Fielding as a defendant. "Roz?!" he exclaimed in disbelief. Seconds later, the screen went dark.

The reboot has been spearheaded by Melissa Rauch, a former star of "The Big Bang Theory" who is the new night court judge and the sunshine to Larroquette's gloom.

The revival earned the highest ratings for a comedy series on the network since 2017. Season two begins Tuesday with Warfield's Roz with a lot of explaining to do.

She talked to The Associated Press about the show, why it became so popular and what it felt like to be back on the set.

## Interview
AP: Was it hard to keep your appearance a surprise?

WARFIELD: Yes and no, but not really. I'm pretty good at keeping secrets, and especially when your job depends on it. I can pretty much handle that.

AP: Were you OK not being a full-time part of the reboot?

WARFIELD: I knew when they were talking about a reboot, in the way they were talking about it, being involved was not necessarily going to happen. That was OK. I wished them all the best from day one. You know, if they asked, I'd be happy to do it. But if they don't ask, I understand. So it was a pleasant surprise to get the call.

AP: Did you expect to be on the original show so long?

WARFIELD: I was only signed for one show and they were saying they didn't know what they were going to do with the role since the last two bailiffs had passed on. They didn't know if they were going to have revolving bailiffs or no bailiff or would just leave it to Bull or what. And so when I got the gig, it was just the one and I had no expectations.

AP: A steady gig must have been sweet.

WARFIELD: An ensemble part on a Top 10 show? It was wonderful for me.

AP: Why do you think the original struck such a nerve?

WARFIELD: "Night Court" had a big heart. It was wacky. It was zany. It was misogynist. It was awkward. It was all of that. It was burlesque. But underneath it all was the heart of a puppy.

AP: Does that apply to the reboot, too?

WARFIELD: Yes, Melissa brings that same kind of heart to this project. This is a love thing. This is not just, "Oh, we can make money doing this." She loves this show. The people involved love the show and they love doing it. We did, too.

AP: What was it like stepping back on the set?

WARFIELD: It was like it was like going back to your prom when you're in your 70s.

AP: Is Roz the role you're most associated with?

WARFIELD: Pretty much, yeah, sure. I've done other things that have fortunately had positive responses and all that, but I did "Night Court" for six seasons and so a lot more people saw that and a lot of them now have fond memories. They also have memories not so much for themselves, but they have memories of being with their family. They're like, 'I used to sneak and watch with my brother" or "My dad used to let me stay up and watch it." So it's the memories that they have of their families and the times they spent with people they cared about.

AP: Might you come back again?

WARFIELD: If it's up to me, yeah, I'm back next week. But it ain't up to me. So if they call me, I'd be more than happy to. If they don't, again, I wish them all the best. I have no expectations, but I have tremendous affection for the show and I would be honored.


# Trial of man charged with stabbing Salman Rushdie may be delayed until author's memoir is published
By **CAROLYN THOMPSON**
January 2, 2024. 5:52 PM EST

---

MAYVILLE, N.Y. (AP) - Salman Rushdie's plans to publish a book about a 2022 attempt on his life may delay the trial of his alleged attacker, which is scheduled to begin next week, attorneys said Tuesday.

Hadi Matar, the man charged with repeatedly stabbing Rushdie as the author was being introduced for a lecture, is entitled to the manuscript and related material as part of his trial preparation, Chautauqua County Judge David Foley said during a pretrial conference.

Foley gave Matar and his attorney until Wednesday to decide if they want to delay the trial until they have the book in hand, either in advance from the publisher or once it has been released in April. Defense attorney Nathaniel Barone said after court that he favored a delay but would consult with Matar.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Jan. 8.

"It's not just the book," Barone said. "Every little note Rushdie wrote down, I get, I'm entitled to. Every discussion, every recording, anything he did in regard to this book."

Rushdie, who was left blinded in his right eye and with a damaged left hand in the August 2022 attack, announced in October that he had written about the attack in a memoir: "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder," which is available for pre-order. Trial preparation was already well under way when the attorneys involved in the case learned about the book.

District Attorney Jason Schmidt said Rushdie's representatives had declined the prosecutor's request for a copy of the manuscript, citing intellectual property rights. Schmidt downplayed the relevance of the book at the upcoming trial, given that the attack was witnessed by a large, live audience and Rushdie himself could testify.

"There were recordings of it," Schmidt said of the assault.

Matar, 26, of New Jersey has been held without bail since his arrest immediately after Rushdie was stabbed in front of a stunned audience at the Chautauqua Institution, a summer arts and education retreat in western New York.

Schmidt has said Matar was on a "mission to kill Mr. Rushdie" when he rushed from the audience to the stage and stabbed him more than a dozen times until being subdued by onlookers.

A motive for the attack was not disclosed. Matar, in a jailhouse interview with The New York Post after his arrest, praised late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and said Rushdie "attacked Islam."

Rushdie, 75, spent years in hiding after Khomeini issued a 1989 edict, a fatwa, calling for his death after publication of his novel "The Satanic Verses," which some Muslims consider blasphemous. Over the past two decades, Rushdie has traveled freely.

Matar was born in the U.S. but holds dual citizenship in Lebanon, where his parents were born. His mother has said that her son changed, becoming withdrawn and moody, after visiting his father in Lebanon in 2018.


# Suburbs put the brakes on migrant bus arrivals after crackdowns in Chicago and New York
By **MIKE CATALINI** and **CLAIRE SAVAGE**
January 2, 2024. 5:54 PM EST

---

**TRENTON, N.J. (AP)** - In Edison, New Jersey, the mayor warned he would send people back to the border if they came to his city in buses. In Rockford, Illinois, authorities said 355 migrants who landed on a charter flight wouldn't be staying.

"NO MIGRANT BUSES THIS EXIT," signs along Interstate 55 in Grundy County, Illinois, southwest of Chicago said ahead of Christmas weekend.

Nervous officials in suburbs and outlying cities near Chicago and New York are giving migrants arriving from the southern border a cold shoulder amid attempts to circumvent restrictions on buses in those two cities, opening a new front in response to efforts led by Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to pay for migrants to leave his state.

The suburban backlash comes amid what the acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection calls "unprecedented" arrivals, with illegal entries topping 10,000 several days last month. For months, big-city Democratic mayors including Eric Adams of New York and Brandon Johnson of Chicago have pleaded with the Biden administration for help addressing the influx.

Abbott has bused more than 80,000 migrants from Texas to Democratic-led cities since 2022, though some buses have also arrived from other states. Abbott's administration also recently began chartering planes as Chicago and New York started cracking down on buses making unscheduled drop-offs, with fines and tickets.

A plane carrying 355 migrants from San Antonio landed at Chicago Rockford International Airport at 1 a.m. on New Year's Eve, with local officials saying none left the airport that's about 85 miles (137 kilometers) from downtown Chicago before boarding buses. The city of Chicago said migrants on the Boeing 777 boarded eight buses chartered by Abbott to be dropped off in "various suburbs." A flight earlier in December brought 120 migrants to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

Some Chicago suburbs also have adopted or are considering regulations on buses. Tinley Park's ordinance vows to "cite, impound or take other appropriate measures" against buses that make unannounced stops in the town of about 60,000 people. The village of Broadview, a suburb of 8,000 residents west of Chicago, said last week that it had to take action "because the unloading of passengers in inclement or severe weather without a coordinated plan poses a significant threat to the health, safety and welfare" of the people aboard the buses.

In New Jersey, migrants are being dropped off at train stations in Jersey City, Secaucus and Trenton, according to state officials. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy's office has said the state is primarily being used as a transit point and that "nearly all of them" are headed to New York. Murphy's office said the state is working with federal and local authorities, but didn't provide further details.

Murphy said last summer that New Jersey couldn't support the arrivals amid discussion that the Biden administration was considering using the Atlantic City airport as a possible destination. It was a change of tune for Murphy, a self-styled progressive who first ran for governor in 2017 and suggested he would declare New Jersey a "sanctuary state," a loose term for a place with immigrant-friendly policies.

Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora said most migrants who arrived in his city have moved on to New York, but 10 people have stayed with family in the area.

"We empathize when someone is trying to seek asylum or when someone is trying to take them in. But we don't have the capacity to take them in," he said.

Edison Mayor Sam Joshi said in a Facebook post that he has "instructed our law enforcement and emergency management departments to charter a bus to transport the illegal migrants right back to the southern Texas/Mexican border."

The mayors of New York and Chicago have blamed Abbott.

"This is a diabolical plan by this governor and we're going to have to respond based on what he is doing," Adams said Tuesday.

Hours after the flight landed in Rockford, Johnson told CBS' "Face the Nation" that "Abbott is determined to continue to sow seeds of chaos" by having people arrive in the middle of the night with no notice.

Abbott has defended his tactics by saying President Joe Biden needs to do more to secure the border. His spokesperson Renae Eze on Tuesday also renewed attacks on Democratic mayors, saying their hypocrisy "knows no bounds."

Grundy County Sheriff Ken Briley said the highway signs south of Chicago were part of an emergency effort to avoid people being dropped off outside in the cold with no money, food or winter clothes during the holiday weekend. No buses have stopped in the county, and the signs have since been removed, Briley said.

About 30 migrants from Venezuela were recently dropped off at 4:30 a.m. at a gas station in Kankakee County, according to Sheriff Mike Downey. The people "were left without money, food, adequate clothing, and were under the impression that they had reached their destination."

"I don't think this problem is going to stop," said Briley. "We're a rural community. We just don't have the same kind of tax base that the city of Chicago does to be able to provide those resources."


# Witness threat claim delays bail hearing for ex-gang leader held in Tupac Shakur killing
By **KEN RITTER**
January 2, 2024. 4:04 PM EST

---

**LAS VEGAS (AP)** - A bail hearing was postponed Tuesday in Las Vegas for a former Los Angeles-area gang leader charged with orchestrating the killing of hip-hop music legend Tupac Shakur in 1996, giving defense attorneys time to respond to prosecutors' allegations that witnesses in the case may be at risk.

Duane "Keffe D" Davis' court-appointed attorneys sought the delay to respond to prosecutors' allegations, filed last week, that jail telephone recordings and a list of names provided to Davis' family members show that Davis poses a threat to the public if he is released.

No court hearing was held Tuesday. One of Davis' attorneys, Robert Arroyo, told The Associated Press later that the defense wanted to respond in court in writing. He declined to provide details. Arroyo said last week he did not see evidence that any witness had been named or threatened.

Davis is the only person ever charged with a crime in the drive-by shooting that also wounded rap music mogul Marion "Suge" Knight, who is now serving 28 years in a California prison for an unrelated fatal shooting in the Los Angeles area in 2015.

Davis has pleaded not guilty and is due for trial in June on a murder charge. He has remained jailed without bail since his arrest Sept. 29 outside his Henderson home. Las Vegas police had served a search warrant there in mid-July.

Davis, originally from Compton, California, is now housed at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas, where detainees' phone calls are routinely recorded. If convicted at trial, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

In a recording of an October jail call, prosecutors say Davis' son told the defendant about a "green light" authorization. Their court filing made no reference to Davis instructing anyone to harm someone, or to anyone associated with the case being physically harmed.

"In (Davis') world, a 'green light' is an authorization to kill," prosecutors Marc DiGiacomo and Binu Palal told Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny in the court document, adding that at least one witness was provided assistance from federal authorities "so he could change his residence."

Prosecutors also point to Davis' own words since 2008 - in police interviews, in his 2019 tell-all memoir and in the media - that they say provides strong evidence that he orchestrated the September 1996 shooting.

Davis' attorneys argue that his descriptions of Shakur's killing were "done for entertainment purposes and to make money."

Arroyo and co-counsel Charles Cano have argued their 60-year-old client is in poor health after a battle with cancer that is in remission, poses no danger to the community, and won't flee to avoid trial. They want Kierny to set bail at not more than $100,000.

Davis maintains that he was given immunity from prosecution in 2008 by FBI agents and Los Angeles police who were investigating the killings of Shakur in Las Vegas and rival rapper Christopher Wallace, known as The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, six months later in Los Angeles.

Davis' bail hearing is now scheduled for Jan. 9.


# Gunman breaks into Colorado Supreme Court building; intrusion unrelated to Trump case, police say
By **NICHOLAS RICCARDI** and **COLLEEN SLEVIN**
January 2, 2024. 5:36 PM EST

---

**DENVER (AP)** - A man leaving the scene of a car wreck Tuesday shot his way into the Colorado Supreme Court building and inflicted "extensive damage" to the building before being arrested by police, authorities said, adding the incident seems unrelated to the court's recent ruling banning former President Donald Trump from the ballot.

Colorado's justices have received threats ever since they ruled 4-3 last month that a rarely used constitutional provision barring from office those who "engaged in insurrection" applies to Trump. Authorities, however, said Tuesday's incident appears unrelated to that case. Trump is expected to appeal that ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court later Tuesday.

"The CSP and DPD are treating this incident seriously, but at this time, it is believed that this is not associated with previous threats to the Colorado Supreme Court Justices," the Colorado State Patrol said in a statement said, using the acronyms for the state patrol and Denver Police Department.

The car wreck occurred just by the building in downtown Denver at 1:15 a.m., after which a man identified by police as Brandon Olsen, 44, pointed a handgun at the driver of the other car, police records show. Olsen then shot his way through a window at the Ralph Carr Colorado Justice Center, which houses the state's Supreme Court and several other courtrooms and administrative offices, shortly thereafter and entered, authorities said.

Olsen, who is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, had no attorney listed in court documents yet.

Police said Olsen held up an unarmed security guard and got a key that let him into the rest of the building. He made his way to the seventh floor, where he fired further shots and apparently set a fire, triggering the fire extinguishers, according to the Denver Police affidavit signed in support of his arrest.

At 3 a.m., Olsen called 911 and voluntarily surrendered to police, the document says. Authorities say no one in the building was injured.

Several hours after the crash, a large shattered window could be seen on the ground floor of the building, with glass spilled out on the sidewalk along a busy street downtown. A state patrol trooper guarded it.

The state patrol is responsible for security at the building and other neighboring state buildings like the Capitol. The patrol has said it has increased security for the Supreme Court justices since their ruling but declined to detail how. It said its security officers are unarmed but can call armed state patrol officers stationed nearby for help.

"They work in tandem," state patrol spokesperson Trooper Gabriel Moltrer said.


# US women are stocking up on abortion pills, especially when there is news about restrictions
By **LAURA UNGAR**
January 2, 2024. 11:01 AM EST

---

Thousands of women stocked up on abortion pills just in case they needed them, new research shows, with demand peaking in the past couple years at times when it looked like the medications might become harder to get.

Medication abortion accounts for more than half of all abortions in the U.S., and typically involves two drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol. A research letter published Tuesday in JAMA Internal Medicine looked at requests for these pills from people who weren't pregnant and sought them through Aid Access, a European online telemedicine service that prescribes them for future and immediate use.

Aid Access received about 48,400 requests from across the U.S. for so-called "advance provision" from September 2021 through April 2023. Requests were highest right after news leaked in May 2022 that the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade - but before the formal announcement that June, researchers found.

Nationally, the average number of daily requests shot up nearly tenfold, from about 25 in the eight months before the leak to 247 after the leak. In states where an abortion ban was inevitable, the average weekly request rate rose nearly ninefold.

"People are looking at looming threats to reproductive health access, looming threats to their reproductive rights, and potentially thinking to themselves: How can I prepare for this? Or how can I get around this or get out ahead of this?" said Dr. Abigail Aiken, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin and one of the letter's authors.

Daily requests dropped to 89 nationally after the Supreme Court decision, the research shows, then rose to 172 in April 2023 when there were conflicting legal rulings about the federal approval of mifepristone. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on limits on the drug this year.

Co-author Dr. Rebecca Gomperts of Amsterdam, director of Aid Access, attributed this spike to greater public awareness during times of uncertainty.

Researchers found inequities in who is getting pills in advance. Compared with people requesting pills to manage current abortions, a greater proportion were at least 30 years old, white, had no children and lived in urban areas and regions with less poverty.

Advance provision isn't yet reaching people who face the greatest barriers to abortion care, said Dr. Daniel Grossman, an OB-GYN at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the research.

"It's not surprising that some people would want to have these pills on hand in case they need them, instead of having to travel to another state or try to obtain them through telehealth once pregnant," he added in an email, also saying more research is needed into the inequities.

Recently, Aiken said, some other organizations have started offering pills in advance.

"It's a very new idea for a lot of folks because it's not standard practice within the U.S. health care setting," she said. "It will actually be news to a lot of people that it's even something that is offered."


# Apparent Israeli strike kills senior Hamas figure in Beirut and raises fears conflict could expand
By **WAFAA SHURAFA**, **BASSEM MROUE**, and **TIA GOLDENBERG**
January 2, 2024. 5:30 PM EST

---

**BEIRUT (AP)** - An apparent Israeli strike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut killed Hamas' No. 2 political leader Tuesday, marking a potentially significant escalation of Israel's war against the militant group and heightening the risk of a wider Middle East conflict.

Saleh Arouri, who was the most senior Hamas figure killed since the war with Israel began, was also a founder of the group's military wing. His death could provoke major retaliation by Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah militia.

The strike hit an apartment in a building in a Shiite district of Beirut that is a Hezbollah stronghold, and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to strike back against any Israeli targeting of Palestinian officials in Lebanon.

Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been exchanging fire almost daily over the Israeli-Lebanese border since Israel's military campaign in Gaza began nearly three months ago. But so far the Lebanese group has appeared reluctant to dramatically escalate the fighting. A significant response now could send the conflict spiraling into all-out war on Israel's northern border.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the strike was carried out by an Israeli drone, and Israeli officials declined to comment. Speaking to reporters, Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari did not directly mention Arouri's death but said, "We are focused and remain focused on fighting against Hamas."

"We are on high readiness for any scenario," he added.

The killing comes ahead of a visit to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, even as the United States has tried to prevent a spread of the conflict, repeatedly warning Hezbollah - and its regional supporter, Iran - not to escalate the violence.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with the assault in Gaza until Hamas is crushed and the more than 100 hostages still held by the militant group in Gaza are freed, which he has said could take several more months. At the same time, Israeli officials have increasingly warned in recent days of stepped-up action against Hezbollah unless its cross-border fire stops.

## BEIRUT STRIKE
Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to kill Hamas leaders wherever they are. The group's Oct. 7 attack from Gaza into southern Israel killed around 1,200 people, and some 240 others were taken hostage.

Israel claims to have killed a number of mid-level Hamas leaders in Gaza, but this would be the first time it has reached into another country to target the group's top leaders, many of whom live in exile around the region.

Arouri was the deputy of Hamas' supreme political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, and headed the group's presence in the West Bank. He was also a key liaison with Hezbollah.

Tuesday's blast shook a residential building in the Beirut suburb of Musharafieh, killing four people, according to the Lebanese news agency. Hamas confirmed that Arouri was killed along with six other members of the group, including two military commanders.

Hamas' leader, Haniyeh Ismail, said the movement was "more powerful and determined" following the attack. "They left behind them strong men who will carry the banner after them," he said of those killed.

Hezbollah called the strike "a serious attack on Lebanon, its people, its security, sovereignty and resistance."

"We affirm that this crime will never pass without response and punishment," it said.

Since the Gaza conflict began, Lebanese have feared their country could be pulled into a full-fledged war. Hezbollah and Israel fought a monthlong war in 2006, when Israeli bombardment wreaked heavy destruction in southern Lebanon.

## GAZA COMBAT CONTINUES
Israel's air, ground and sea assault in Gaza has killed more than 21,900 people in Gaza, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. The count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

The campaign has driven some 85% of Gaza's population from their homes, forcing hundreds of thousands of people into overcrowded shelters or teeming tent camps in Israeli-designated safe areas that the military has nevertheless bombed. Israel's siege of the territory has left a quarter of Gaza residents facing starvation, according to the United Nations.

Israel announced Monday that it would withdraw five brigades, or several thousand troops, from Gaza in the coming weeks. Still, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said it would be a mistake to think that Israel is planning on halting the war.

"The feeling that we will stop soon is incorrect," he said Tuesday. "Without a clear victory, we will not be able to live in the Middle East."

Israel has said it's close to achieving operational control over most of northern Gaza, where ground troops have been battling militants for over two months. But Gallant said several thousand Hamas fighters are believed still to be in the north, and residents reported clashes in several parts of Gaza City, as well as in the nearby urban Jabaliya refugee camp.

Fierce fighting has continued in other parts of the Palestinian territory, especially the south, where many of Hamas' forces remain intact and where most of Gaza's population has fled.

Palestinians reported heavy airstrikes and artillery shelling in the southern city of Khan Younis and farming areas to the east. The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israel bombed its headquarters in the city, killing five people. At least 14,000 displaced people are sheltering in the building, it said.

Fighting was also underway in and around the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. The army issued evacuation orders to people living in parts of nearby Nuseirat camp. A strike Tuesday leveled a building in Nuseirat, killing at least eight people, according to officials at the nearby hospital. Associated Press footage showed people pulling several children out of the wreckage.

## GENOCIDE CASE
In other developments, officials said Israel will defend itself before the United Nation's top court against charges that it has engaged in genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The announcement set the stage for what is likely to be a landmark case in international law.

South Africa launched the case Friday at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, Netherlands, saying the Israeli military campaign targeting Hamas has resulted in enough death, destruction and humanitarian crisis in Gaza to meet the threshold of genocide under international law. South Africa asked the court to order Israel to halt its attacks in Gaza.

Israel rarely cooperates in international court cases against it, dismissing the United Nations and international tribunals as unfair and biased. Its decision to respond to the charge signals that the government is concerned about potential damage to its reputation.

The genocide charge strikes at the heart of Israel's national identity. The country sees itself as a bulwark of security for Jews after the Holocaust killed 6 million Jews, and world support for Israel's creation in Palestine in 1948 was deeply rooted in outrage over Nazi atrocities.

The convention against genocide was drawn up by world powers the same year in hopes of preventing similar atrocities.

Eylon Levy, an official in the Israeli prime minister's office, accused South Africa of "giving political and legal cover" to Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack triggered Israel's campaign.

"The state of Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice at the Hague to dispel South Africa's absurd blood libel," he said.

Many South Africans, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, have compared Israel's policies regarding Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank with South Africa's past apartheid regime of racial segregation. Israel rejects such comparisons.


# South Africa's genocide case against Israel sets up a high-stakes legal battle at the UN's top court
By **MIKE CORDER**
January 2, 2024. 3:34 PM EST

---

**THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)** - South Africa has launched a case at the United Nations' top court alleging that Israel's military campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide.

The filing and Israel's decision to defend itself at the International Court of Justice set up a high-stakes showdown before a panel of judges in the Great Hall of Justice.

The case will likely drag on for years. At its heart is the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, drawn up in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust.

The convention defines genocide as acts such as killings "committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group."

Here are some further details on the case and its ramifications.

## WHAT IS SOUTH AFRICA'S ARGUMENT?
South Africa's 84-page filing says Israel's actions "are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part" of the Palestinians in Gaza.

It asks the ICJ, also known as the world court, for a series of legally binding rulings. It wants the court to declare that Israel "has breached and continues to breach its obligations under the Genocide Convention," and to order Israel to cease hostilities in Gaza that could amount to breaches of the convention, to offer reparations, and to provide for reconstruction of what it's destroyed in Gaza.

The filing argues that genocidal acts include killing Palestinians, causing serious mental and bodily harm, and deliberately inflicting conditions meant to "bring about their physical destruction as a group." And it says statements by Israeli officials express genocidal intent.

South Africa argues that the court has jurisdiction because both countries are signatories of the genocide convention. The convention's ninth article says disputes between nations over the convention can be submitted to the International Court of Justice.

Many South Africans, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, have compared Israel's policies regarding Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank with South Africa's past apartheid regime of racial segregation. Israel rejects such allegations.

## WHAT WAS ISRAEL'S RESPONSE?
Israel's government swiftly rejected the genocide claim. A Foreign Ministry statement said South Africa's case lacks a legal foundation and constitutes a "despicable and contemptuous exploitation" of the court.

Eylon Levy, an official in the Israeli prime minister's office, on Tuesday accused South Africa of "giving political and legal cover" to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that triggered Israel's campaign. But he confirmed that Israel would send a legal team to the Hague "to dispel South Africa's absurd blood libel," he said.

An Israeli official said the country, which has a history of ignoring international tribunals, decided to defend itself for several reasons. Among them are Israel's role in promoting the original genocide convention after the Holocaust and its belief that "we have a strong case." He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing behind-the-scenes deliberations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with the war until Hamas is crushed and the more than 100 hostages still held by the militant group in Gaza are freed. He's said that could take several more months.

## WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
South Africa's filing includes a request for the court to urgently issue legally binding interim orders for Israel to "immediately suspend its military operations in and against Gaza."

Such orders, known as provisional measures, would remain while the case progresses. They're legally binding but not always followed. In 2022, in a genocide case filed by Ukraine against Russia, the court ordered Moscow to immediately suspend its invasion. The order was ignored, and deadly strikes continue.

The court will soon schedule public hearings. Lawyers for South Africa and Israel can make arguments. Judges drawn from around the world will likely take days or weeks to issue a decision on preliminary measures.

The court will then enter a lengthy process of considering the full case.

Israel could challenge the jurisdiction and seek to have the case thrown out before lawyers start arguing. Other countries that have signed the genocide convention could also apply to make submissions.

## IS THE COURT HEARING SIMILAR CASES?
Two other genocide cases are on the busy court's docket. The case filed by Ukraine shortly after Russia's invasion accuses Moscow of launching the military operation based on trumped-up claims of genocide and accuses Russia of planning acts of genocide in Ukraine.

Another ongoing case involves Gambia - acting on behalf of Muslim nations - accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

In a past case brought by Bosnia, the court in 2007 ruled that Serbia "violated the obligation to prevent genocide ... in respect of the genocide that occurred in Srebrenica in July 1995." The court declined to order Serbia to pay compensation. Croatia also sued Serbia in 2015, but the world court ruled that Serbia didn't breach the convention in that case.

## ICJ OR ICC?
The Hague calls itself the international city of peace and justice. It is home not only to the ICJ, but to the International Criminal Court, based just a few miles (kilometers) away, near the North Sea coastline.

The two courts have different mandates.

The ICJ, which held its first sitting in 1946 as the world emerged from the carnage of WWII, adjudicates cases between nations. They're often land and maritime border disputes, as well as disagreements over interpretation of international treaties.

The ICC is much younger. It started work in 2002 with the lofty goal of ending global impunity for atrocities. Unlike the ICJ, it seeks to hold individuals criminally responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The ICC has an ongoing investigation into the Israel-Palestinian conflict, dating back to the last war in Gaza. So far, it has not issued any arrest warrants.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said last month that an investigation into possible crimes by Hamas militants and Israeli forces "is a priority for my office."

## WHAT ABOUT PAST U.N. CASES?
Two now-defunct U.N. tribunals also held landmark genocide trials.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia convicted a series of high-ranking Bosnian Serbs, including former President Radovan Karadzic and his military chief Gen. Ratko Mladic, for their roles in the July 1995 massacre of more than 8,000 men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica.

Both Karadzic and Mladic were given life sentences.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda convicted a string of leaders involved in the African nation's 1994 genocide when some 800,000 people, mainly ethnic Tutsis, were slaughtered.


# The Empire State rings in the new year with a pay bump for minimum-wage workers
By **Associated Press**
January 1, 2024. 12:27 PM EST

---

**ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)** - New York's minimum-wage workers had more than just the new year to celebrate Monday, with a pay bump kicking in as the clock ticked over to 2024.

In the first of a series of annual increases slated for the Empire State, the minimum wage increased to $16 in New York City and some of its suburbs, up from $15. In the rest of the state, the new minimum wage is $15, up from $14.20.

The state's minimum wage is expected to increase every year until it reaches $17 in New York City and its suburbs, and $16 in the rest of the state by 2026. Future hikes will be tied to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, a measurement of inflation.

New York is one of 22 states getting minimum wage rises in the new year, according to a recent report by the Economic Policy Institute.

In California, the minimum wage increased to $16, up from $15.50, while in Connecticut it increased to $15.69 from the previous rate of $15.

This most recent pay bump in New York is part of an agreement made last year between Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature. The deal came over the objections of some employers, as well as some liberal Democrats who said it didn't go high enough.

The federal minimum wage in the United States has stayed at $7.25 per hour since 2009, but states and some localities are free to set higher amounts. Thirty states, including New Mexico and Washington, have done so.


# Brazil's economy improves during President Lula's first year back, but a political divide remains
By **MAURICIO SAVARESE**
January 2, 2024. 12:28 AM EST

---

**RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)** - Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva likes to boast he had a good first year after returning to the job. The economy is improving, Congress passed a long-overdue tax reform bill, rioters who wanted to oust him are now in jail, and his predecessor and foe Jair Bolsonaro is barred from running for office until 2030.

Still, the 78-year-old leader has struggled to boost his support among citizens and lawmakers. Some major setbacks, including a series of votes by Congress to override his vetoes, signaled that Lula's future could be less productive in a Brazil almost evenly split between his supporters and Bolsonaro's.

"Brazil's political polarization is such that it crystallized the opinions of Lula and Bolsonaro voters beyond the economy," said political consultant Thomas Traumann, the author of a recent best-selling book on Brazil's political divisions. "These groups are separated by very different world views, the values that form the identity of each group are more important than food prices or interest rates."

Lula took office on Jan. 1, 2023, after a narrow victory over Bolsonaro in October 2022. At the beginning of his four-year term, only one fourth of Brazil's Congress sided with him. Business and opposition leaders feared Lula had gone too far to the left.

A riot led by Bolsonaro supporters destroyed government buildings in the capital of Brasilia on Jan. 8 and more turmoil looked certain. Former Finance Minister Paulo Guedes, among other conservatives, forecast Lula's policies would make Brazil's economy soon turn as sour as those in crisis-ridden Argentina and Venezuela.

"Six months to become Argentina. One year and a half to become Venezuela," Guedes said in an interview.

Fast forward to December.

Brazil's economy is set to grow 3% this year instead of the 0.6% expected by market economists. Inflation looks controlled at about 4.7% on a yearly basis, slightly above projections but far from the double digits of recent years. The unemployment rate fell to 7.5% in November, one percentage point below the day Bolsonaro left office.

The Sao Paulo stock exchange hit record levels in December, rising above 134,000 points for the first time in its history. Brazil's real currency is also rising against the U.S. dollar. All that brought back the optimistic, keen-to-travel-abroad Lula who had been missing during almost a decade of personal gloom.

"We needed to get our house fixed (in 2023), put things into place," Lula said in a meeting at the presidential palace on Dec. 12. "And now I say get ready. Next year, the Brazilian economy will not let anyone down."

Yet some polls have shown unchanged support for the president, at between 38% and 40% since January 2023. The numbers didn't pick up even after the announcement of a higher minimum wage in 2024, the buildup of Bolsonaro's legal woes or Brazil's return as a player in foreign affairs under Lula.

About a third of Brazilians consider Lula's presidency about average and another third deeply dislike the way he governs Latin America's powerhouse economy, which rose once again to the top 10 biggest in the world after years of sinking.

Lula's supporters are at home, but Bolsonaro's are still taking to the streets.

Though not as numerous as in the recent past, the few thousand protesters asking Congress to impeach Lula on corruption allegations have shown the resilience of the far-right leader's political base.

Bolsonaro was barred in June 2023 from running for office again until 2030 after Brazil's electoral court ruled that he abused his power and cast unfounded doubts on the country's electronic voting system.

Engineer Eduardo Carlos Santos, 73, believes Brazil's economy recovered due to the work of Bolsonaro. A devout evangelical, as with many in the former president's base, he says there is a cultural war against conservatives and that leftists should have no place in government.

"Like it or not, Bolsonaro left a better economy and Lula is just reaping the fruits of that," said Santos, who blames the economic difficulties during the previous presidency on the COVID-19 pandemic and health restrictions. "Lula is a former inmate, sentenced for corruption. He had his time in office, we needed to move the country to another direction. I don't see a bright year coming ahead."

Lula was imprisoned for alleged corruption in 2018, when he led polls to return to the presidency. He was released after the country's Supreme Court ruled the following year that prison sentences could only take place after every appeal has been exhausted - which was not the case with Lula. Later, the same court ruled that the judge in Lula's case, now a pro-Bolsonaro senator, was biased against him.

Lula's difficulties on the streets also appeared in Congress, which voted several times to override his vetoes, especially on environmental legislation. The most recent was in December, when lawmakers reinstated legislation to undo protections of Indigenous peoples' land rights. The decision set up a new battle between lawmakers and the country's top court on the matter.

Brazil's Congress also decided to override Lula's veto of a multibillion-dollar bill that exempts multiple sectors of the economy from paying some taxes. The bill was introduced in 2011 and would lose validity at the end of 2023. It will remain in place until 2027, one year after the president's term ends.

Other measures depleted the federal treasury of budget money by enabling lawmakers to approve earmarked resources for themselves, without interference from the executive branch.

Lula's allies have blamed some defeats on Speaker Arthur Lira, once a staunch Bolsonaro supporter who has operated more quietly. Lira, who will remain in his position for another year, can't run for reelection under current congressional rules.

Supporters of the president are also upset with his decision not to appoint another woman to replace Chief Justice Rosa Maria Weber on the Supreme Court. They also complain about the leftist leader's slow approach in providing more resources for welfare programs and inclusion.

That's the case of Daniela Fernandes, 34, who works in a government agency in Sao Paulo.

"I believe we can improve our economy, but I am also hoping that the revenue gets spent with the poor, not in making the rich richer with high interest rates and construction work that only suits some lawmakers," he said. "I am here because I want our president to tame the military that sided with Bolsonaro all these years, to challenge the far-right on the streets too."

Traumann, the political consultant, said Lula's future will depend on how he moves between antagonistic groups within Brazilian society.

"Dealing with this divided country is surely the biggest challenge for the Lula administration next year," he said.


# Price cuts boost Tesla's 4Q sales, beating estimates as electric vehicle growth rate slows
By **TOM KRISHER**
January 2, 2024. 4:43 PM EST

---

**DETROIT (AP)** - Steep price cuts helped electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc. increase its fourth-quarter vehicle sales by almost 20% as EV sales growth slowed across the industry.

The Austin, Texas, company said Tuesday that it sold 484,507 vehicles worldwide from October through December. That handily beat Wall Street estimates of 473,000 for the quarter, according to data provider FactSet.

For the full year, Tesla said it sold just over 1.8 million vehicles, up 37.7% from 2022 numbers.

Full-year sales numbers fell far short of CEO Elon Musk's prediction of 50% sales growth in most years. But the company did exceed an internal target for the year of 1.8 million vehicle sales.

Tesla chopped prices in the U.S. multiple times during the year, at times by $20,000 on some of its higher-priced models. Even its lowest-price model, the rear-wheel-drive 3, saw a cut of at least $6,600. Industry analysts expect the price cuts to trim Tesla's profit margins when it reports earnings on Jan. 24 after the markets close.

The increase helped Tesla hold off Chinese powerhouse BYD to keep the title of the world's top seller of electric vehicles. Fast-growing BYD reported a 73% EV sales increase for last year to 1.57 million.

As usual, the bulk of Tesla's sales were its lower-priced Models 3 and Y, with deliveries of 461,538 globally in the fourth quarter. That was up 19% from a year ago. Sales of its other models, mainly the S and X with some new Cybertrucks, grew 34% to 22,969. The company didn't break out sales for individual models.

The company produced nearly 495,000 vehicles for the quarter, about 10,000 more than it delivered.

Tesla shares slipped 6 cents to end Tuesday at $248.42.


# Warren Buffett, James Simons and Phil Knight are among the top charity donors of 2023
By **MARIA DI MENTO of The Chronicle of Philanthropy**
January 2, 2024. 6:37 PM EST

---

The Chronicle of Philanthropy's annual list of the biggest charitable donations from individuals or their foundations totaled more than $3.5 billion in 2023. Four universities received big gifts in 2023, along with four scientific research institutes and a health-care system. The other gifts went to a family foundation and a racial-justice group.

The list has 11 gifts because of ties. Eight of the donors are multibillionaires, and their combined net worth is $305.1 billion.

Topping the list is a gift from the investment guru Warren Buffett, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at roughly $119 billion. He gave 1.5 million shares of Berkshire Hathaway Class "B" stock valued at $541.5 million to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for his first wife, who died in 2004.

Buffett created the grantmaker in 1964 to manage the family's charitable giving, and it remains a family affair. Two of his three children serve on its board, and it is led by his former son-in-law. The foundation primarily backs women's reproductive health. It also provides college scholarships for students in Nebraska, where the family is from.

The donation is a special contribution that Buffett announced in November rather than one of the annual contributions he makes to the foundation and several other grant makers, which are payments toward multibillion-dollar pledges he announced in 2006.

Buffett's gift is followed on the list by a donation from the mathematician and hedge-fund founder James Simons and his wife, Marilyn. The couple gave $500 million through their Simons Foundation to the State University of New York at Stony Brook to support the university's endowment and to boost scholarships, professorships, research, and clinical care.

The Simons, who have an estimated net worth of $30.7 billion, have deep ties to the university. James Simons was chairman of its mathematics department from 1968 to 1978, and Marilyn Simons earned two degrees there: a bachelor's degree in 1974 and a Ph.D. in economics in 1984. They have given the institution nearly $600 million through their foundation over the last 10 years.

Tying for third on the list is a contribution from Ross Brown, the founder of Cryogenic Industries, an industrial equipment manufacturer. In November, Brown gave the biggest gift to science in 2023 when he pledged $400 million to the California Institute of Technology. The gift will be fulfilled through his family foundation and a donor-advised fund; the money will be used to launch the Brown Institute for Basic Sciences.

The center will support scientific research at other universities and will house the Ross Brown Investigators Award Program, a fellowship program Brown started in 2020 that until this year was operated out of his foundation. The program provides five-year, $2 million awards to midcareer, tenured faculty working on chemistry and physics research.

Brown told the Chronicle in November that he no longer wanted to house the program at his foundation because he was worried about mission drift and controlling the costs of the program. A Caltech alumnus, he said the university seemed like the best fit for the fellowships.

Now that Brown has moved the program over to Caltech, university officials are in charge of awarding the $2 million grants to at least eight researchers each year. To avoid conflicts of interest, only researchers at other universities will be considered for the awards. However, Brown is directing some of this donation - about $1 million a year - toward other fundamental physical science research efforts at Caltech. There are three other donations on the list that support scientific research.

Nike cofounder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, made a $400 million pledge to the 1803 Fund. The commitment from the Knights, whose net worth is pegged at $43 billion, will establish Rebuild Albina, an effort to revive the economic and cultural prosperity of Albina, a historic area of Portland, Oregon, that was once a thriving Black neighborhood but fell into neglect in the 1970s.

Black families in Albina were displaced by a ruinous mix of predatory lending, discriminatory government practices, and huge, long-term construction projects that shuttered businesses and destroyed the neighborhood. It was a pattern that played out in many U.S. cities during that era. Rebuild Albina officials plan to renovate the area, pay for education programs and education-related services for children and their families, and support a range of projects meant to deepen the area's cultural roots. The Knights are giving the money both personally and through their Knight Foundation.

Daniel and Jennifer Gilbert gave $375 million through their Gilbert Family Foundation to Henry Ford Health to build two medical centers to take the fourth spot on the list. Dan Gilbert founded Rocket Mortgage and is chairman of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The couple's net worth is estimated at nearly $29 billion.

One of the medical centers will be a rehabilitation center at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. The center will serve patients recovering from spinal-cord injuries, stroke, traumatic brain injuries, and other conditions. The Gilberts directed $10 million of the total to create a special fund to pay for rehabilitation care for low-income Detroit residents who have little or no health insurance coverage.

The other medical center, the Nick Gilbert Neurofibromatosis Research Institute, will bring medical professionals and researchers from Henry Ford Health and Michigan State University Health Sciences together to seek a cure for neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on nerve pathways throughout the body. Nick Gilbert, the donors' oldest son, was diagnosed with the disease as a child and devoted much of his life to raising awareness about it. He died in May at age 26.

Coming in at No. 5 is a gift from financier Kenneth Griffin, who gave $300 million through his Kenneth C. Griffin Charitable Fund to back financial aid and a range of other programs within Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Griffin, whose net worth is estimated at roughly $38 billion, has given extensively to his alma mater over the years, including tens of millions of dollars for financial aid for undergraduates.

Griffin made another gift that was among the biggest of 2023. He partnered with the entertainment executive David Geffen to provide $400 million to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Neither philanthropist would disclose the precise amount he gave through his grantmaker so the Chronicle didn't count those contributions in its rankings.

The Chronicle's annual rankings are based on the 10 biggest publicly announced gifts. The tally does not include contributions of artwork or gifts from anonymous donors. In March, the Chronicle will unveil its annual ranking of the 50 biggest donors, a list based on philanthropists' total contributions in 2023 rather than individual gifts.


# Planes collide and catch fire at Japan's busy Haneda airport, killing 5. Hundreds evacuated safely
By **MARI YAMAGUCHI** and **FOSTER KLUG**
January 2, 2024. 12:29 PM EST

---

**TOKYO (AP)** - A large passenger plane and a Japanese coast guard aircraft collided on the runway at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Tuesday and burst into flames, killing five people aboard the coast guard plane, officials said.

All 379 people on Japan Airlines flight JAL-516 got out safely before the Airbus A350 was fully engulfed in flames, Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito confirmed.

The pilot of the coast guard's Bombardier Dash-8 plane escaped but the five crew members died, Saito said. The aircraft was preparing to take off to deliver aid to an area affected by a major earthquake on Monday, officials said.

Television footage showed an orange fireball erupting from the Japan Airlines plane as it collided with the coast guard aircraft while landing, and the airliner then spewed smoke from its side as it continued down the runway. Within 20 minutes, all passengers and crew members slid down emergency chutes to get away.

As firefighters tried to put out the blaze with streams of water, the area around the plane's wing caught fire. The flames spread throughout the plane, which eventually collapsed. The fire was put out about six hours later.

Tuesday's accident was the first time that an Airbus A350, among the industry's newest large passenger planes, was severely damaged. It entered commercial service in 2015. Airbus in a statement said it was sending specialists to help Japanese and French authorities and that the plane was delivered to Japan Airlines in late 2021.

The A350 had flown from Shin Chitose airport near the city of Sapporo, the transport minister said.

JAL Managing Executive Officer Tadayuki Tsutsumi told a news conference late Tuesday that the A350 was making a "normal entry and landing" on the runway, without specifying how it collided with the coast guard plane. Noriyuki Aoki, also a managing executive officer at JAL, said that the airline's understanding is that the JAL flight had received permission to land from aviation control officials.

Police are expected to investigate the accident on suspicion of professional negligence, NHK television reported.

Coast guard spokesperson Yoshinori Yanagishima said its Bombardier Dash-8 plane, which is based at Haneda, had been due to head to Niigata to deliver relief goods to residents affected by a deadly earthquake in the region on Monday. The turboprop Dash-8 is widely used on short-haul and commuter flights.

The coast guard pilot reported to his base that his aircraft exploded after colliding with the commercial plane, Vice Commander Yoshio Seguchi told reporters.

Shigenori Hiraoka, head of the Transport Ministry Civil Aviation Bureau, said the collision occurred when the JAL plane landed on one of Haneda's four runways where the coast guard aircraft was preparing to take off. Transport safety officials were analyzing communication between aviation control officials and the two aircraft and planned to interview JAL officials to determine what led to the collision.

Hiraoka praised JAL for "taking appropriate procedures" to safely evacuate all passengers and crew members.

Swede Anton Deibe, 17, a passenger on the Japan Airlines plane, told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that "the entire cabin was filled with smoke within a few minutes. We threw ourselves down on the floor. Then the emergency doors were opened and we threw ourselves at them.

"The smoke in the cabin stung like hell. It was a hell. We have no idea where we are going so we just run out into the field. It was chaos," Deibe added.

Another passenger told NHK television that cabin attendants were calm and told everyone to leave their baggage behind, then all lights went off and the temperature inside the cabin started rising. The passenger said she was afraid she might not get off the plane alive.

All passengers and crew members slid down the escape chutes within 20 minutes from the landing and survived. Some passengers told media interviews that they felt relieved only after reaching a grassy area beyond the tarmac.

JAL said four passengers were taken to a medical facility, and that the airline is checking for injuries. NHK said 14 other people were injured.

The transport minister said officials were doing their utmost to prevent any delays in the delivery of relief goods and other operations for the disaster-hit region. Transport officials said the airport's three other runways had reopened.

Haneda is the busier of two major airports serving the Japanese capital, with many international and transcontinental flights. It is particularly favored by business travelers due to its proximity to central parts of the city.

The twin-engine, twin-aisle A350 is used by a number of long-haul international carriers. More than 570 of the aircraft are in operation, according to Airbus.

JAL operates 16 of the A350-900 version aircraft, according to its website. It recently announced details of 13 of the newer A350-1000 variant it plans to bring into service, saying it will become "the airline's new flagship for international service after nearly 20 years." The first of those planes arrived a few weeks ago, slated for the Haneda-New York JFK route.

The International Air Transport Association trade group said on the X social media platform that its thoughts were with those aboard the two aircraft, saying that "the last two days have been difficult for Japan."


# South Korean opposition leader is stabbed in the neck. Police say attacker approached for autograph
By **HYUNG-JIN KIM** and **JIWON SONG**
January 2, 2024. 12:38 PM EST

---

**SEOUL, South Korea (AP)** - South Korea's tough-speaking liberal opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, was stabbed in the neck Tuesday by an unidentified knife-wielding man who attempted to kill the politician during his visit to the southeastern city of Busan, police said.

Lee, 59, the head of the main opposition Democratic Party, was airlifted to a Seoul hospital after receiving emergency treatment in Busan. Lee's party later said he was recovering at an intensive care unit at the Seoul National University Hospital following a two-hour operation.

The attack happened as Lee walked through a crowd of journalists and others after a tour of the proposed site of a new airport in Busan. The attacker approached Lee, saying he wanted his autograph, then stabbed him in the left side of his neck, senior Busan police officer Sohn Jae-han said in a briefing.

Sohn said Democratic Party officials quickly subdued the attacker before police officers detained him. He said 41 police officers had been deployed to the area for crowd control and traffic management.

TV footage showed Lee, his eyes closed, lying on the ground as a person pressed a handkerchief to his neck. A witness, Jin Jeong-hwa, told YTN television that Lee had bled a lot.

Videos circulated on social media showed the suspect, wearing a paper crown reading "I'm Lee Jae-myung," in a possible attempt to pose as a supporter.

Sohn said the suspect, aged about 67, told investigators that he bought the 18-centimeter (7-inch) knife online. He said police are investigating the motive for the attack.

Other officers confirmed to The Associated Press that police are expected to request that the suspect be formally arrested for alleged attempted murder because he told investigators he intended to kill Lee.

Lee's Democratic Party called the incident "a terrorist attack on Lee and a serious threat to democracy." It called on police to make a thorough, swift investigation.

At the Seoul National University Hospital, party spokesperson Kwon Chil-seung told reporters that Lee's jugular vein was damaged and that he had a medical procedure called revascularization. Kwon cited the hospital, whose public affairs office refused to disclose Lee's status, citing privacy rules.

Police and emergency officials earlier said Lee was conscious after the attack and wasn't in critical condition.

President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed deep concern about Lee's health and ordered authorities to investigate the attack, saying such violence would not be tolerated, according to Yoon's office.

Lee lost the 2022 presidential election to Yoon by 0.7 percentage points, the narrowest margin recorded in a South Korean presidential election.

Recent public surveys indicated Lee and his main conservative rival Han Dong-hoon, a former justice minister, are the two early favorites to succeed Yoon as president when his single five-year term ends in 2027.

Since his defeat, Lee has been a harsh critic of Yoon's major policies. Last year, Lee held a 24-day hunger strike to protest what he called Yoon's failure to oppose Japan's release of treated radioactive wastewater from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power, his handling of the country's post-pandemic economy and his hard-line policies on North Korea.

Lee faces an array of corruption allegations, including that he provided unlawful favors to a private investor who reaped huge profits from a dubious housing project in the city of Seongnam, where Lee was mayor for a decade until 2018. Lee has denied legal wrongdoing and accused Yoon's government of pursuing a political vendetta.

Last September, a South Korean court denied an arrest warrant for Lee over the allegations, but Lee faces a continuing investigation by prosecutors. The court hearing was arranged after the opposition-controlled parliament voted to lift Lee's immunity to arrest, a move that reflected growing divisions within his Democratic Party over his legal troubles.

Lee, who also served as governor of Gyeonggi province, which surrounds Seoul, is known for his outspoken style. His supporters see him as an anti-elitist hero who could reform establishment politics, eradicate corruption and solve growing economic inequality. Critics view him as a populist who relies on stoking divisions and demonizing his conservative opponents.

Other violence against high-profile figures has occurred in South Korea in recent years.

In March 2022, Song Young-gil, then the leader of the Democratic Party, was assaulted by a man wielding a hammer during a rally for Lee ahead of the presidential vote. Song was treated for stitches but avoided serious injury.

In 2015, then-U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert was slashed in the face and arm by an anti-American activist. The assault required 80 stitches to close the cut on Lippert's face.

In 2006, Park Geun-hye, then a conservative opposition leader, was knifed by a man with a box cutter during an election rally. She was given 60 stitches to close an 11-centimeter (4-inch) gash on her face. Park was elected president in 2012.


# Police are seeking a motive in a fiery fatal crash in New York. No link to terrorism has been found
January 2, 2024. 12:32 PM EST

---

**ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP)** - A man who died after crashing an SUV loaded with gas cans outside an upstate New York concert venue appeared to have been aiming at a pedestrian crossing, but investigators have found no evidence that the crash that killed two ride-hail passengers early on New Year's Day was terror-related, police said Tuesday.

Rochester police Chief David Smith told a news conference that the suspect in the crash, tentatively identified as Michael Avery of the Syracuse area, may have suffered from undiagnosed mental health problems. Avery had spent days in the Rochester area and made at least a half-dozen purchases of gasoline and gas containers before the crash. But officials say the motive remains unknown.

"I have been getting inundated with questions as to why this individual would choose ... Rochester, New York, why he would choose to do this on New Year's Day, and why he would appear to target concert goers trying to have a great time to bring in the new year," Mayor Malik Evans said. "Those are all questions that have been raised, and things that we just don't have answers to yet."

The crash happened shortly before 1 a.m. Monday as officers were directing traffic after a concert by the jam band let out at the Kodak Center theater complex.

The driver sped up, crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic and appeared to have intentionally been driving toward a pedestrian crossing, according to police.

A Ford Expedition struck a Mitsubishi Outlander, sending both vehicles through a group of pedestrians that were in the crosswalk.

Two rear-seat passengers in the Outlander were killed. Avery died last night, according to Smith. At least nine pedestrians were injured, one with "life-altering" injuries. The rest were expected to make full recoveries, officials said.

The collision caused a blaze that took the fire department more than an hour to extinguish.

Police searched Avery's hotel room after the crash and did not find a suicide note.

Police say Avery drove to the Rochester area on Wednesday and checked into a hotel, renting the Expedition two days later at the local airport. He went on a buying spree of gasoline and gasoline containers around the area on Saturday.

Officials said the FBI's joint terrorism task force was involved in the investigation, which is usual in cases like this.

"We've uncovered no evidence of an ideology and no nexus to terrorism, either international or domestic so far in the investigation," said Jeremy Bell, assistant special agent in charge of the Rochester office.


# Donald Trump is expected to appeal the Colorado and Maine rulings banning him from primary ballots
By **NICHOLAS RICCARDI**
January 2, 2024. 11:15 AM EST

---

**DENVER (AP)** - Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday is expected to appeal rulings from Colorado and Maine that ban him from the states' ballots, setting up a high-stakes showdown over a 155-year-old addition to the Constitution that bars from office those who "engaged in insurrection."

Trump would appeal the Colorado Supreme Court ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court and the decision by Maine's Democratic secretary of state to that state's Superior Court.

It would mark the first time the nation's highest court could rule on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, two sentences added to the Constitution after the Civil War to prevent Confederates from returning to their former government offices. The clause says that anyone who swore an oath to support the Constitution and then "engaged in insurrection" against it is no longer eligible.

The appeals come as tensions mount over rulings that could keep the 2024 Republican presidential front-runner off ballots, though both the Maine and Colorado rulings are on hold until the appeals end, and Trump technically remains on the primary ballots in both states.

On Tuesday morning, Denver police arrested a man who fled a car crash and ran into the Colorado Supreme Court building. Police said he pointed a gun at an unarmed security officer, getting the guard's keys and access to the whole building, and fired his gun several times. No one was injured.

A motive wasn't immediately clear, but the Colorado State Patrol said the shooting didn't appear to be related to previous threats to the justices, all of whom were appointed by Democratic governors.

Dozens of lawsuits citing the constitutional provision were filed against Trump last year in a bid to end his presidential campaign, contending he disqualified himself by inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to stop Democrat Joe Biden from replacing him as president.

None of the lawsuits succeeded until the Colorado court's ruling last month. Activists similarly asked dozens of top election officials to not place Trump on the ballot due to his alleged violation of Section 3. None acted until Maine's Shenna Bellows barred him a week after the Colorado ruling.

If the Supreme Court does not rule on the merits of the cases, legal experts say, states could face the legal chaos that the high court is supposed to dispel.

Advocates of disqualifying Trump argue the matter is simple - Section 3 makes him no longer eligible for the presidency, just as if he somehow didn't meet other constitutional requirements, such as being a natural-born citizen at least 35 years old.

Trump's attorneys contend that's a wild misreading of a vague clause that was rarely used after the 1870s. They contend that Jan. 6 was not legally an insurrection, that the provision doesn't apply to the president and that whether Trump qualifies for the ballot is not a decision for unelected state judges to make.


# ESPN apologizes for showing video of woman flashing breast during Sugar Bowl broadcast
January 2, 2024. 5:12 AM EST

---

**NEW ORLEANS (AP)** - ESPN apologized Monday night for a video clip of a woman baring her breast that was shown during the broadcast of the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

It was aired coming out of a commercial during the second half of Washington's 37-31 victory over Texas in a semifinal game of the College Football Playoff. A clip of people wandering on Bourbon Street in New Orleans showed a woman pulling down her top to expose her breast.

"We regret that this happened and apologize that the video aired in the telecast," ESPN's Bill Hofheimer said in a statement to The Associated Press.


# What does a total abortion ban look like in Dominican Republic?
By **MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ**
January 2, 2024. 8:02 AM EST

---

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) - The Dominican Republic is one of four Latin American nations that criminalizes abortion without exceptions. Women face up to 2 years in prison for having an abortion, while the penalties for doctors or midwives range from 5 to 20 years. Abortion rights activists argue that the country's total abortion ban not only restricts women's reproductive choices but also puts their lives in danger.

Here's a look at the country's ban.

## What role does religion play?
No other nation bears a Bible on its flag.

The country's motto is "God, Country, Freedom," and the government holds a concordat, or agreement, with the Vatican, which implies that the official religion is Catholicism, although the constitution allows freedom of worship.

The Catholic Church influences sex education. The "Learning to Love" program, recently implemented by the Ministry of Education, aims to reinforce Catholic values for students.

Catholics and evangelicals are united against decriminalizing abortion and hold sway among legislators. "We have gained a pro-life majority in Congress," said anti-abortion activist Martharís Rivas. "We have always contributed to the debates, and bishops approach congressmen to talk."

## Is abortion impossible?
No. In the countryside, ancestral knowledge is used to terminate pregnancies with concoctions. Some medical personnel in urban areas facilitate abortions with medications such as misoprostol.

"It's not legal, but if someone calls, I know how to handle it," said a health worker who asked for anonymity to avoid prosecution. "We use prescriptions. It (misoprostol) is used to treat ulcers, so you can prescribe a B complex, an antacid and there won't be trouble."

In addition, there are "acompañantes" networks like in Mexico, said activist Sergia Galván.

"In 1995, we had three clandestine abortion centers, but there came a time when the risks were too high," Galván said. "Historically we have had mechanisms, but they are insufficient in the midst of restrictions."

## What about spontaneous abortions?
The situation in public hospitals is extremely delicate, said nurse Francisca Peguero. "We have seen teenagers dying in emergency rooms because doctors face a dilemma: If they treat them, they might be criminalized."

According to Peguero, clinics are monitored by police officers who, upon seeing a woman bleeding, can report her.

## What do abortion rights activists want?
As a first step, abortion rights activists would like legal abortion access when the woman's life is at risk, when the pregnancy is the product of rape or incest and when fetal malformations are incompatible with life.


# $842 million Powerball ticket sold in Michigan, first time the game has been won on New Year's Day
January 2, 2024. 6:38 AM EST

---

**JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP)** - Someone in Michigan has won an $842.4 million Powerball jackpot on the first day of 2024, the first time it has been won on New Year's Day since the game's start in 1992.

The winning numbers drawn were: 12, 21, 42, 44, 49 and red Powerball: 1.

Final ticket sales pushed the jackpot beyond its earlier estimate of $810 million to $842.4 million at the time of the drawing, making it the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot and 10th-largest U.S. lottery jackpot ever won.

Before the big win on New Year's, the jackpot had been growing since mid-October.

The chance of winning the Powerball jackpot is 1 in 292.2 million.

The lucky ticket holder will have the choice between an annuitized prize of $842.4 million, payable over 30 years, or a lump sum payment of $425.2 million. Both prize options are before taxes.

Other top-winning tickets include four sold in California, Connecticut, Florida and Maryland, that matched all five white balls to win $1 million prizes. Two tickets, from Florida and Texas, matched all five white balls and won $2 million prizes by including the Power Play option for an additional $1 per play.

Powerball is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.


# How to spend the winter planning and preparing for your spring garden
By **JESSICA DAMIANO**
January 2, 2024. 9:04 AM EST

---

Gardening isn't usually the first thing that springs to mind when the calendar page turns to January. But with the holidays behind us, there's no better time to start planning and preparing our 2024 gardens.

Of course, that will mean different things in different places. It's impossible to account for every microclimate in every region, but frost - or lack thereof - is the defining characteristic that should guide gardeners over winter.

## WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW
In regions where frosts and freezes are common, gardeners should monitor for heaving, the lifting of plant roots and bulbs out of the soil resulting from the season's freeze-thaw cycles. Pushed up out of the ground, even ever so slightly, they become vulnerable to exposure and could die.

Take periodic walks around beds and borders and push heaved roots back into the ground with your foot, then apply a few inches of protective mulch over them.

Keep off the grass. Walking on frozen or muddy lawns can injure grass and damage soil structure, which is difficult to repair.

Protect young trees from rodent nibbling by wrapping their bottom halves with plastic collars or mesh hardware cloth.

Gently remove snow from evergreen branches to avoid buckling and breaking. A long-handled broom is the best tool for the job.

Pile shoveled snow over perennial beds and borders (as long as you haven't applied ice-melt chemicals). Roots will benefit from the added insulation.

Heating systems are as drying to houseplants as they are to humans. Keep plants away from radiators and heating vents, and mist them every other day or place a humidifier nearby.

In the Northeast and Upper Midwest, go on a search-and-destroy mission through the garden, inspecting tree branches, patio furniture and other surfaces for the egg cases of spongy moths. They look like gray or beige wads of used chewing gum. Each mass contains up to 1,000 eggs, so scraping them off now and dropping them into a bucket of hot, soapy water will reduce the next generation of the hardwood-tree-decimating insects. Wear gloves - it's icky work.

In warmer regions, January is a great time to test your soil's pH. A reading of 7 indicates a neutral pH. Higher than 7 is alkaline; lower is acidic. Learn what levels your specific plants require and, if necessary, amend the soil with dolomitic lime to raise its pH or elemental sulfur to lower it. Follow package directions.

It's generally safe to transplant or prune established trees in the South now. And, as long as the soil is dry and workable, you can plant bare-root roses, bulbs, fruit trees, herbs and cooler-season vegetables like beets, broccoli, cabbage and lettuces.

Get a head start by sowing flower seeds in containers or flats. Wait until the end of the month to start warm-season vegetables like tomatoes and peppers.

## GENERAL TIPS
This is a good time to take inventory of supplies and leftover seeds, noting what needs to be replenished. Take advantage of off-season sales and clearances.

Place plant and seed orders as gardening catalogs begin to arrive. The most popular selections will likely sell out quickly, and most retailers will ship at the correct planting time for your region.

If spotted lanternflies are present in your region, inspect tree trunks and branches, patio furniture, cars and other structures for their egg masses. The wax-coated blobs, which appear to be covered in mud, contain up to 50 eggs apiece. Scrape them off into a zipper-top plastic bag filled with hand sanitizer, then seal the bag and place it in the trash. Your contribution to this effort is vital to slowing the spread of this destructive insect.


# Chinese factory activity slows in December in a third straight month of contraction
By **ELAINE KURTENBACH**
January 1, 2024. 4:38 AM EST

---

**BANGKOK (AP)** - A survey of factory managers in China shows manufacturing contracted in December in the latest sign the world's second-largest economy remains sluggish.

The official purchasing managers index, or PMI, fell to 49 last month in what officials said was evidence of weak demand, the National Bureau of Statistics reported on Sunday. It was the third straight month of contraction. The PMI is on a scale up to 100 where 50 marks the cutoff between expansion and contraction.

The index has fallen in eight of the past nine months, with an increase only in September. In November, the index was at 49.4, down from 49.5 the month before.

Despite unexpectedly prolonged weakness after the pandemic, China's economy grew at a 5.2% pace in the first three quarters of the year and showed signs of improvement in November, with factory output and retail sales rising.

In recent months, the government has raised spending on construction of ports and other infrastructure, cut interest rates and eased curbs on home-buying to try to stimulate the domestic demand that economists say is needed to sustain growth.

In his New Year speech, leader Xi Jinping said China had achieved a "smooth transition" from the country's response to the pandemic, which at times involved the shut downs of factories and parts of or entire cities.

China's economy has become "more resilient and dynamic than before," Xi said in remarks carried by the official Xinhua News Agency.

Global demand for manufactured goods has suffered as central banks around the world have raised interest rates to battle decades-high rates of inflation. Price pressures have eased in recent months, but demand has yet to rebound to prepandemic levels. That has ramifications across the region since supply chains linked to China are scattered across many Asian countries.

Reliance on exports to fuel growth in China means more competition as the government invests in still more industrial construction, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary. He noted that "the biggest constraint on the manufacturing sector hasn't been access to capital but rather weak demand, so expanding manufacturing investment mostly means expanding excess capacity."

China's non-manufacturing PMI rose in December to 50.4, the statistics bureau reported. The service sector PMI sub-index was 49.3, however, unchanged from November's reading.

Despite a slump in the housing market brought about by a crackdown on excess borrowing by property developers, the construction industry is thriving: the sub-index for that sector climbed to 56.9 in December, well into expansionary territory, from 55 in November, the report said.


# Prosecutors say there's no need for a second trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried
By **LARRY NEUMEISTER**
December 29, 2023. 9:08 PM EST

---

**NEW YORK (AP)** - A second trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried on charges not in the cryptocurrency fraud case presented to a jury that convicted him in November is not necessary, prosecutors told a judge Friday.

Prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in a letter that evidence at a second trial would duplicate evidence already shown to a jury. They also said it would ignore the "strong public interest in a prompt resolution" of the case, particularly because victims would not benefit from forfeiture or restitution orders if sentencing is delayed.

They said the judge can consider the evidence that would be used at a second trial when he sentences Bankman-Fried on March 28 for defrauding customers and investors of at least $10 billion.

Bankman-Fried, 31, who has been incarcerated since several weeks before his trial, was convicted in early November of seven counts, including wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and three conspiracy charges. He could face decades in prison.

Last spring, prosecutors withdrew some charges they had brought against Bankman-Fried because the charges had not been approved as part of his extradition from the Bahamas in December 2022. They said the charges could be brought at a second trial to occur sometime in 2024.

However, prosecutors at the time said that they would still present evidence to the jury at the 2023 trial about the substance of the charges.

The charges that were temporarily dropped included conspiracy to make unlawful campaign contributions, conspiracy to bribe foreign officials and two other conspiracy counts. He also was charged with securities fraud and commodities fraud.

In their letter to Kaplan, prosecutors noted that they introduced evidence about all of the dropped charges during Bankman-Fried's monthlong trial.

They said authorities in the Bahamas still have not responded to their request to bring the additional charges at a second trial.

A lawyer for Bankman-Fried declined comment.

A conviction on the additional charges would not result in a potential for a longer prison sentence for Bankman-Fried, prosecutors said.

"Proceeding with sentencing in March 2024 without the delay that would be caused by a second trial would advance the public's interest in a timely and just resolution of the case," prosecutors wrote. "The interest in avoiding delay weighs particularly heavily here, where the judgment will likely include orders of forfeiture and restitution for the victims of the defendant's crimes."


# Boeing asks airlines to inspect 737 Max jets for potential loose bolt
By **WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS**
December 29, 2023. 12:00 PM EST

---

Boeing is asking airlines to inspect its 737 Max jets for a potential loose bolt in the rudder control system, the airplane maker and Federal Aviation Administration confirmed this week.

The FAA said it would be "closely monitoring" the targeted inspections. The agency said Thursday that Boeing issued its inspection guidance to airlines after an international operator found a bolt with a missing nut during routine maintenance. In a separate case, Boeing also discovered an undelivered aircraft that had a nut that was not properly tightened.

"The issue identified on the particular airplane has been remedied," the Arlington, Virginia, company told The Associated Press on Friday. "Out of an abundance of caution, we are recommending operators inspect their 737 MAX airplanes and inform us of any findings."

Boeing added that it will continue to update both customers and federal regulators on the progress.

The FAA said it will remain in contact with Boeing and impacted airlines as the inspections are performed, and potentially "consider additional action based on any further discovery of loose or missing hardware."

According to Boeing, there have been no in-flight incidents caused by this condition to date - noting that crews' routine checks would signal if the rudder was not working properly before an aircraft pushes back from the gate.

The company added that all airplanes Boeing is set to deliver onward will have the inspection (which is estimated to take about two hours per plane) prior to delivery.

U.S. carriers with 737 Max jets in their fleet include United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. All four of these carriers told The Associated Press Friday that they don't expect operational impacts. Southwest, for example, said it was currently performing all of these inspections during routine overnight maintenance.

A firm timeline for the inspections wasn't provided for each airline, but Alaska said it expected to complete the process by the first half of January.

Boeing's 737 Max jets were grounded worldwide for 20 months after two crashes in 2018 and 2019 killed a total of 346 people. Investigations focused on an automated flight-control system that pushed the nose of the plane down based on faulty sensor readings. Boeing did not tell pilots and airlines about the system until after the first crash.

The FAA, which also faced criticism for the way it approved the Max jets prior to these deadly crashes, has since moved to provide a more-detailed certification process for large planes and required safety disclosures.


# More Americans think foreign policy should be a top US priority for 2024, an AP-NORC poll finds
By **WILL WEISSERT** and **LINLEY SANDERS**
January 1, 2024. 1:27 PM EST

---

**WASHINGTON (AP)** - In this time of war overseas, more Americans think foreign policy should be a top focus for the U.S. government in 2024, with a new poll showing international concerns and immigration rising in importance with the public.

About 4 in 10 U.S. adults named foreign policy topics in an open-ended question that asked people to share up to five issues for the government to work on in the next year, according to a December poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

That's about twice as many who mentioned the topic in the AP-NORC poll conducted last year.

Long-standing economic worries still overshadow other issues. But the new poll's findings point to increased concern about U.S. involvement overseas - 20% voiced that sentiment in the poll, versus 5% a year ago.

It also shows that the Israeli-Hamas war is feeding public anxiety. The conflict was mentioned by 5%, while almost no one cited it a year ago. The issue has dominated geopolitics since Israel declared war on Hamas in Gaza after that group's Oct. 7 attack on Israeli soil.

Four percent of U.S. adults mentioned the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as something for their government to focus on this year. That's similar to the 6% who mentioned it at the end of 2022.

Foreign policy has gained importance among respondents from both parties. Some 46% of Republicans named it, up from 23% last year. And 34% of Democrats list foreign policy as a focal point, compared with 16% a year ago.

Warren E. Capito, a Republican from Gordonsville, Virginia, worries China could soon invade Taiwan, creating a third major potential source of global conflict for the U.S. "They would love to have us split three ways," he said of China, and "we're already spread so thin."

Immigration is also a rising bipartisan concern.

Overall, the poll found that concerns about immigration climbed to 35% from 27% last year. Most Republicans, 55%, say the government needs to focus on immigration in 2024, while 22% of Democrats listed immigration as a priority. That's up from 45% and 14%, respectively, compared with December 2022.

Janet Brewer has lived all her life in San Diego, across from Tijuana, Mexico, and said the situation on the border has deteriorated in recent years.

"It's a disaster," said Brewer, 69, who works part time after running a secretarial and legal and medical transcription small business. "It's crazy."

The politics of foreign military aid and immigration policy are entangled, with President Joe Biden 's administration promoting a $110 billion package that includes aid for Ukraine and Israel that remains stalled in Congress while Republicans push for a deal allowing major changes in immigration policy and stricter enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Brewer said she wouldn't vote for Biden or a Republican for president in 2024, and may opt for independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. But she also questions whether a change in the White House would necessarily improve immigration policy.

As for foreign aid, she said: "I know that we need to help. But come on. We've done enough."

Even as immigration and foreign policy rose as concerns, those issues were no match for worries about the economy. Inflation has fallen, unemployment is low and the U.S. has repeatedly defied predictions of a recession - yet this poll adds to a string of them showing a gloomy outlook on the economy.

Some 76% of U.S. adults said this time that they want the government to work on issues related to the economy in 2024, nearly the same as the 75% who said so at this point in 2022.

About 85% of Republicans and 65% of Democrats name the economy as a top issue. But Republicans are more likely than Democrats to want the government to address some specific economic issues: on inflation 41% vs. 22% and on government spending or debt, 22% vs. 7%.

Meanwhile, 3 in 10 U.S. adults listed inflation as an issue that the government should focus on, unchanged from 2022.

The economy is a top issue mentioned by 18- to 29-year-olds (84%), followed by inflation specifically (39%), personal finances issues (38%) and foreign policy (34%). In the same age bracket, 32% mentioned education or school loans as something for the government to address in 2024. That's despite the Biden administration trying new, more modest efforts to cancel debts after the Supreme Court struck down its larger original push.

Among those 30 and older, only 19% mention student loans. But Travis Brown, a 32-year-old forklift operator in Las Vegas, noted that he's back to getting calls seeking payment of his student loans.

"Right now, with the economy, wages are not matching," Brown said. "Blue collar's going away and I don't see how that's going to boost an economy. An economy thrives off the working class. Not off the rich."

Brown also suggested that the U.S. is too focused on shipping aid to its overseas allies.

"I care about others, I do," he said. "But when you sit here and say, 'I just sent $50 million over to Israel' and then I go outside and I see half a neighborhood rundown ... you've got to take care of home."

One possible sign that larger sentiments on the economy could be improving slightly is that overall mentions of personal financial issues declined some, with 30% mentioning them now compared with 37% last year. Drops occurred for Democrats, 27% vs. 33%, and among Republicans, falling to 30% compared with 37% in 2022.

One-quarter of U.S. adults say 2024 will be a better year than 2023 for them personally, and 24% expect it will be a worse year. Some 37% of Republicans expect it'll be a worse year for them, compared with 20% of independents and 13% of Democrats.

Just 5% of U.S. adults are "extremely" or "very" confident that the federal government can make progress on the important problems and issues facing the country in 2024, with 7% of Democrats and 11% of independents being optimistic, compared with 1% of Republicans.

Brown is a Democrat but said he was disillusioned enough to perhaps sit out the presidential election - especially if it proves to be a 2020 rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump, who has built a commanding early lead in the 2024 Republican primary.

"I don't think I will participate and maybe that's bad," Brown said. "But, it's like, you're losing faith."

The poll of 1,074 adults was conducted Nov. 30-Dec. 4, 2023, using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, designed to represent the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.


# Sen. Fetterman says he thought news about his depression treatment would end his political career
December 31, 2023. 3:57 PM EST

---

**WASHINGTON (AP)** - Sen. John Fetterman acknowledges having "dark conversations" about harming himself before he hit "the emergency brake" and sought treatment for depression.

He remembers thinking about his three school-age kids. "I can't be a blueprint for my children. I can't let them be left alone or not to understand why he would have done that," the first-term Pennsylvania Democrat told NBC's "Meet the Press" in a deeply personal and introspective interview taped before the broadcast that aired Sunday.

So he checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, last Feb. 15. "There was nowhere else to go," he said, describing how he often felt during his stay that "there wasn't any hope sometimes and like, 'What do I have left?'"

He also wondered whether he would survive politically.

"When it got released where I was and where it was going, it was a big story. And so, I had assumed that that would be the end of my career," he said

When he sought treatment for clinical depression, Fetterman was still coping with the effects of the stroke he had in May 2022, during his campaign for one of the Senate's most contested seats. "My heart technically stopped, and it was a very touch-and-go situation," said Fetterman, 54. A pacemaker was implanted with a defibrillator to manage two heart conditions, atrial fibrillation and cardiomyopathy.

His victory over Republican Mehmet Oz had helped Democrats keep control of the Senate and made him a national figure. It was the height of his political career. But he couldn't make it out of bed at his home in Braddock, in western Pennsylvania.

"I really scared my kids, and they thought, 'You won, Dad. Why aren't we enough? Why are you still so sad? Why are you even more sad?' And it was hard for - to explain why I was. And, of course, a 9-year-old child wouldn't understand that. And it was awful," Fetterman said.

So much so that he said he "pleaded not to go down to D.C." later that November for orientation sessions in Washington for newly elected lawmakers.

His favorite holiday was nearing, yet he was unable to think about getting Christmas presents for his children and "dreading" his swearing in on Capitol Hill early in the new year.

Within two months, he was at Walter Reed. Aides had described the new senator as being withdrawn and uninterested in eating, discussing work or the usual banter with staff.

"This is a conversation that I've had with myself and anybody that knows they're unable to address their depression, is they start to have dark conversations with themself about self-harm," Fetterman said. "And things continued to kind of tick off the list. And then I kind of hit the emergency brake."

He added, "I knew I needed help."

Before checking into Walter Reed, Fetterman had never publicly discussed his battle with depression. He has since said that he has experienced it on and off throughout his life.

He left Walter Reed at the end of March after six weeks of inpatient treatment with his depression "in remission," according to a statement from his office.

Doctors describe "remission" as when a patient responds to treatment so that they have returned to normal social function and they are indistinguishable from someone who has never had depression.

Fetterman has since become a visible presence in the Capitol, bantering with reporters, joking with Senate colleagues and speaking up at Senate hearings.

To others who are now "facing a really dark holiday time," Fetterman offered this guidance: "I know that last year's was desolate. And this year's might be desolate. Next year's can be the best ever. And that's what happened for me."