# Winter weather batters both US coasts; Sierra snow shuts down I-80; East Coast storm into Monday
By **STEVE LeBLANC** and **SCOTT SONNER**
January 6, 2024. 7:44 PM EST

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**BOSTON (AP)** - Winter weather battered both U.S. coasts Saturday as New Englanders braced for an even more potent mix of snow and freezing rain through the weekend and a Sierra Nevada storm packing heavy snow shut down a stretch of interstate and briefly knocked out power to tens of thousands in Reno, Nevada.

Winter storm warnings and watches were in effect throughout the Northeast, and icy roads made for hazardous travel as far south as North Carolina.

The National Weather Service said it was a "major winter storm" that would continue into Sunday evening, with up to a foot (30 centimeters) of snow in parts of New England and pockets of rain/freezing rain in the central Appalacians.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she expected two-thirds of her state to get 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow or more, "fortunately missing some of our more populated areas downstate, the Long Island and New York City."

"If they get anything beyond rain, it'll be just a wintry mix of 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 centimeters), but really for our Southern Tier ... it's going to be the first major snowstorm of the year and we're ready for it," she told Spectrum News.

In the West, a winter storm warning was in effect through Saturday night in the Sierra Nevada from south of Yosemite National Park to north of Reno, where the weather service said as much as 20 inches (51 centimeters) of snow could fall in the mountains around Lake Tahoe with winds gusting up to 100 mph (160 kph) over ridgetops.

The California Highway Patrol said numerous spinouts and collisions forced the temporary closure of I-80 for several hours from west of Truckee, California, to the state line west of Reno, where more than 27,000 homes briefly lost power in high winds at midday.

Fewer than 1,000 customers were without power by nightfall, and westbound lanes of the interestate had reopened but a steady snow was falling in Reno and CHP warned of potential closures throught the night.

The weather service said that system would continue to bring heavy mountain snow and coastal rain overnight before moving into central and Southern California, then off to the Southwest and the southern Rockies.

The East Coast system was expected to track along the northeastern coastline throughout the weekend, with the heaviest snowfall expected in Pennsylvania, parts of the Hudson Valley and portions of New England.

In Massachusetts and portions of Rhode Island, the National Weather Service declared a winter storm warning from 4 p.m. Saturday through 1 a.m. Monday, with snow accumulations of 6 inches (15.2 centimeters) up to a foot (30.4 centimeters) and winds gusting as high as 35 mph (56 kph).

The weather service predicted similar levels of snow in portions of Maine and New Hampshire, with slightly less - 3 to 6 inches (7.6 to 15.2 centimeters) - in areas of Vermont.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said the city was preparing for the storm but wasn't expecting it to be a major event, and the timing of the snow meant it would likely have less of an impact on city life. Storm surges were also not expected.

Ice arrived early Saturday to some western North Carolina and southern Virginia areas, ranging from a fine coating to around a quarter-inch (6.4 millimeters). Watauga County, North Carolina saw some of the highest amounts, said meteorologist Dennis Sleighter of the National Weather Service's Blacksburg, Virginia, office.

The National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey, said 6 to 12 inches (15.2 to 30.4 centimeters) of snow could fall in the southern Pocono mountains and northern New Jersey, with smaller snow and sleet totals changing to rain in other areas that could cause some flooding. Forecasters also warned of hazardous marine conditions Saturday night with gale-force wind gusts and 6-foot to 10-foot (1.8- to 3-meter) seas.

Forecasters also warned of another storm Tuesday into Wednesday that is expected to bring rain and some flooding as well as high winds and coastal flooding.

Philadelphia has already reached 705 consecutive days with less than an inch (0.64 centimeters) of snow, through Friday - beating the prior record of 661 days that ended on Dec. 15, 1973. New York City went 691 days through Friday, outstripping the prior record of 383 days that ended on March 21, 1998. Baltimore reached 707 days through Friday, beating the prior record of 672 days that ended on Dec. 25, 2012.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont says it's been about two years since a major storm hit the state.

"I think this storm's been a long time coming," Lamont said.


# NRA chief, one of the most powerful figures in US gun policy, says he's resigning days before trial
By **MICHAEL R. SISAK**, **LINDSAY WHITEHURST**, and **JAKE BLEIBERG**
January 5, 2024. 6:47 PM EST

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**NEW YORK (AP)** - The longtime head of the National Rifle Association said Friday he is resigning, just days before the start of a civil trial over allegations he treated himself to millions of dollars in private jet flights, yacht trips, African safaris and other extravagant perks at the powerful gun rights organization's expense.

Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president and chief executive officer, said his departure is effective Jan. 31. The trial is scheduled to start Monday in New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit against him, the NRA and two others who've served as executives. LaPierre was in court this week for jury selection and is expected to testify at the trial. The NRA said it will continue to fight the lawsuit, which could result in a further shakeup of its leadership and the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee its finances.

"With pride in all that we have accomplished, I am announcing my resignation from the NRA," LaPierre said in a statement released by the organization, which said he was exiting for health reasons. "I've been a card-carrying member of this organization for most of my adult life, and I will never stop supporting the NRA and its fight to defend Second Amendment freedom. My passion for our cause burns as deeply as ever."

James, a Democrat, heralded LaPierre's resignation as an "important victory in our case" and confirmed the trial will go on as scheduled. His exit "validates our claims against him, but it will not insulate him or the NRA from accountability," James said in a statement.

Andrew Arulanandam, a top NRA lieutenant who has served as LaPierre's spokesperson, will assume his roles on an interim basis, the organization said.

LaPierre, 74, has led the NRA 's day-to-day operations since 1991, acting as the face and vehement voice of its gun-rights agenda and becoming one of the most influential figures in shaping U.S. gun policy. He once warned of "jack-booted government thugs" seizing guns, brought in movie star Charlton Heston to serve as the organization's president, and condemned gun control advocates as "opportunists" who "exploit tragedy for gain."

In one example of the NRA's evolution under LaPierre, after the Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colorado, in 1998, the NRA signaled support for expanded background checks for gun purchases. But after a gunman killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, LaPierre repudiated background checks and called for armed guards in every school. He blamed video games, lawmakers and the media for the carnage, remarking: "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."

"The post-Sandy Hook apocalyptic speech was kind of the talismanic moment when, for him and the NRA, there was no going back," Robert Spitzer, a political science professor at the State University of New York-Cortland and author of several books on gun politics.

The NRA remains a strong political force, with Republican presidential hopefuls flocking to its annual convention last year. In recent years, though, the organization has been beset by financial troubles, dwindling membership, and infighting among its 76-member board along with lingering questions about LaPierre's leadership and spending.

After reporting a $36 million deficit in 2018, fueled mostly by misspending, the NRA cut back on longstanding programs that had for decades been core to its mission, including training and education, recreational shooting and law enforcement initiatives. In 2021, the organization filed for bankruptcy and sought to incorporate in Texas instead of New York, where it was founded as a nonprofit charity in 1871 - but a judge rejected the move, saying it was a transparent attempt to duck James' lawsuit.

"(LaPierre) is, more that any other single person, responsible for putting the NRA in the dumpster situation it is right now," Spitzer said.

Gun control advocates lauded LaPierre's resignation, mocking his oft-repeated talking point in the wake of myriad mass shootings over the years.

"Thoughts and prayers to Wayne LaPierre," said Kris Brown, president of the gun-control advocacy group Brady: United Against Gun Violence. "He's going to need them to be able to sleep at night. Wayne LaPierre spent three decades peddling the Big Lie that more guns make us safer - all at the expense of countless lives. He has blood on his hands, and I won't miss him."

Another advocacy group, March For Our Lives, said that when it was founded in 2018 after a mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school, the NRA "was an untouchable and seemingly all-powerful political juggernaut." Months later, the group sent a letter to the New York attorney general's office raising questions about alleged financial misdeeds involving NRA executives, including LaPierre. The letter sparked the investigation that led to James' lawsuit.

"All it took was some meddling kids and a whole lot of determination to take down one of the largest and most powerful lobbying machines in American history," March for Our Lives said in a statement.

James sued LaPierre and three co-defendants - NRA general counsel John Frazer, retired finance chief Wilson Phillips and LaPierre's ex-chief of staff Joshua Powell - in 2020, alleging they cost the organization tens of millions of dollars from questionable expenditures including lucrative consulting contracts for ex-employees, and gifts for friends and vendors.

LaPierre is accused of setting himself up with a $17 million contract with the NRA if he were to exit the organization, and spending NRA money on travel consultants, luxury car services, and private flights for himself and his family - including more than $500,000 on eight trips to the Bahamas over a three-year span.

As punishment, James is asking that LaPierre and the other defendants be ordered to pay the NRA back and that they be banned from serving in leadership positions of any charitable organizations conducting business in New York, which would bar them from any NRA involvement.

Powell, who wrote of "staggering" waste and corruption in his 2020 book "Inside the NRA," settled with James' office late Friday. He agreed to testify at the trial, pay the NRA $100,000 and forgo further nonprofit involvement. Frazer and Phillips have denied wrongdoing.

Defending himself in prior testimony, LaPierre said that cruising the Bahamas on a vendor's 108-foot (33-meter) yacht was a "security retreat" because he was facing threats after the Sandy Hook and Parkland shootings. LaPierre also took steps to purchase a $6.5 million "safe house" for him and his wife in Texas through the NRA after the Parkland shooting, but the deal fell through, the lawsuit said.

LaPierre conceded not reporting the yacht trips on conflict-of-interest forms, testifying: "It's one of the mistakes I've made." Some expenses related to the trips were covered by the NRA, the lawsuit said.

Phillip Journey, an ex-NRA board member who clashed with LaPierre and is expected to testify at the New York trial, said LaPierre's resignation doesn't resolve open questions before the court or fix persistent rot within the organization.

"Honestly, the grifters are a snake with many heads and this is just one," said Journey, a Kansas judge who is running to rejoin the NRA board.

Journey also testified at the NRA's bankruptcy trial in Texas and said he anticipates there is enough evidence for the James to prove her case. "It's a tragic end to a career that had many high points," Journey said of LaPierre stepping down. "It's one of his own making."


# New round of Epstein documents offer another look into his cesspool of sexual abuse
January 5, 2024. 10:30 PM EST

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**NEW YORK (AP)** - More than 130 additional court files were unsealed Friday in a lawsuit involving Jeffrey Epstein, providing yet more detail about the late millionaire financier's sexual abuse of underage girls and interactions with celebrities.

The latest round of documents included excerpts of testimony from people who worked for Epstein, copies of phone messages he received - including one from Harvey Weinstein - and lots of legal memos from lawyers discussing who could potentially have been called as a witness if the lawsuit ever went to trial.

No blockbuster revelations were apparent. Lots of the records covered material that has been the subject of many past news stories about Epstein and his victims. But like other documents previously made public in lawsuits related to Epstein, they provide a window into the rarified world he inhabited.

The records are all related to a defamation lawsuit that one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre, filed in 2015 against the millionaire's girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was accused by multiple women of helping Epstein recruit underage victims. The suit was settled in 2017. Maxwell was later prosecuted and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Here are some takeaways from the latest batch of released documents:

## PRINCE ANDREW
The records released Friday include the 2009 deposition of a former housekeeper at Epstein's home in Palm Beach, Florida, who talked about how much time the financier spent with Prince Andrew, the British royal who was a longtime friend of Maxwell's.

Juan Alessi testified that "Prince Andrew spent weeks with us" and when he visited, he would receive daily massages at the mansion.

Alessi said Andrew would stay in the main guest bedroom, which he described as "the blue room." He recalled seeing Andrew's former wife, Sarah Ferguson, on one occasion, but added, "I don't think she slept in there."

Alessi also remembered seeing other celebrities including Donald Trump and "a lot of queens and other famous people that I can't remember."

Trump, whose Mar-a-Lago club is also in Palm Beach, would come over to Epstein's home for dinner, Alessi said, but he "never sat at the table," dining instead with Alessi in the kitchen. Asked whether Trump ever received massages, he said, "No. Because he's got his own spa."

Alessi, who worked at Epstein's sprawling home from 1990 to 2002, previously testified at Maxwell's 2021 trial that he saw "many, many, many" young adult female visitors, often lounging topless by the pool. He also admitted to stealing $6,300 from Epstein's desk.

Prince Andrew was publicly criticized when photos emerged of him visiting Epstein in New York even after the financier was imprisoned in Florida for a sex crime.

Giuffre sued Andrew, accusing him of sexually abusing her when she was 17. Andrew said he didn't remember ever meeting Giuffre. The lawsuit was settled in 2022 without ever going to trial, but the allegations damaged his public standing and led Andrew to withdraw from some royal duties.

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they are the victims of sexual abuse unless they have come forward publicly with their stories, as Giuffre has.

## PHONE RECORDS
One document unsealed Friday contains copies of phone messages Epstein received, handwritten by staffers, in 2004, a year before police in Palm Beach started investigating allegations that he was paying underage girls for sex.

At the time, Epstein was getting attention for hobnobbing with the rich and powerful, offering free rides on his private jet to celebrities including former President Bill Clinton and actor Kevin Spacey.

The phone messages, while mostly mundane, give a small taste of those associations.

"She had on the phone Mr. Harvey Weinstein," reads one message about a missed call.

Weinstein, then a force in Hollywood, was once part of a media investment group that included Epstein.

"At the time, Epstein was seen as a wealthy power broker with access to many people of various industries and for many reasons," said Weinstein's spokesman, Juda Engelmayer. "It wasn't uncommon for people of that caliber to talk, as we see from the lists that have been coming out. There was and remains nothing more to that."

Weinstein would be charged years later with raping and sexually assaulting women in the entertainment business and is serving lengthy prison terms after convictions in New York and Los Angeles.

Epstein also got several messages about missed calls from Jean-Luc Brunel, a French modeling agent who was close to Epstein. Brunel was awaiting trial on charges that he raped underage girls when he killed himself in a Paris jail in 2022.

## RECRUITING YOUNG GIRLS
When Epstein was initially investigated by Palm Beach police in 2005, detectives spoke to a number of girls from an area high school who said they had been paid money to give massages to Epstein.

Tony Figueroa, who worked as a driver for Epstein and once dated Giuffre, talked about the effort to recruit those girls during his 2016 deposition.

"Jeffrey was giving us $200 apiece for every one that we brought over," he said. "I would get friends that I went to school with and I would take them over there and introduce them, and then I would just leave."

He said Maxwell would also call him occasionally, "asking me to get girls."

Figueroa has told the same story in media interviews in the years since that deposition.

## "HAVE MY BABY"
A woman who worked for Epstein, Johanna Sjoberg, testified in her 2016 deposition that Epstein asked her to perform sexualized massages.

He also told her he wanted her to be the mother of his baby, a request she said he made several times.

"I don't believe that I said flat-out no. I didn't agree to it. I would just say, 'Oh, yeah, really? Okay," Sjoberg testified, according to a transcript of her deposition.

Later in her questioning, Sjoberg was asked if Maxwell ever made the same request. Sjoberg said no.

Maxwell was also asked about that in her 2016 deposition, and she called the claim "completely rubbish."

"I can't testify to anything Jeffrey did or didn't do when I am not present, but I have never asked anybody to carry a baby for me," Maxwell said. She added that she didn't remember having any conversations with Epstein about babies.

Sjoberg also testified that Epstein took her on a shopping trip to Victoria's Secret where he "picked out everything and went into the room with me, the fitting room, which was very odd."

Sjoberg said that while in the room, Epstein joked that he'd previously been in there with another girl who called him "Dad."

Sjoberg, like Giuffre, has previously gone public with her story in media interviews.

## PUBLIC RELATIONS DISASTER
The legal storm that Epstein and Maxwell were facing is captured well in a Jan. 11, 2015, email by her attorney Philip Barden, who referred to Maxwell as "G," and to Epstein as "JE."

He urged a strong public response to Giuffre's claims because silence was "reputational suicide."

"Now it is reported that G engaged in direct abuse - as I feared would happen. Next reports to the authorities will be made," Barden wrote in a message to an individual whose name was blacked out, with Maxwell copied on the missive.

"It is necessary from a litigation, investigatory and reputational reason to issue a cogent denial. I can see why JE doesn't want this as it may not suit him but he is already toast," he added.

Four years later Epstein would be dead by suicide, found in a jail cell after he was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges. It would be two more years before a jury in New York agreed that Maxwell helped Epstein recruit and groom teenage girls for sexual abuse and sometimes joined in the abuse.


# A look back at Louisiana Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards' eight years in office
By **SARA CLINE**
January 6, 2024. 6:52 PM EST

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**BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)** - It was 2012 and Louisiana was spiraling toward a historic budget crisis, with public colleges bracing for another round of cuts that campus leaders said were chasing away students and shuttering programs.

John Bel Edwards, then-a rural state representative, had had enough. He turned to a fellow lawmaker and said, "I'm running for governor."

The Democrat went on to shock the country, defying near-universal predictions and winning Louisiana's gubernatorial election in the reliably red state twice.

Edwards, currently the lone Democratic governor in the Deep South, has reached his final two days in office after eight years. His tenure has been marked by successes - expanding Medicaid, joining climate change initiatives, climbing out of a budget deficit and investing in education - while navigating historical crises and facing challenges from a GOP-dominated legislature.

A decade ago, Edwards, a lawyer from a 4,000-person town in eastern Louisiana, had little name recognition as he campaigned for governor with a bare-bones team. Campaign strategists say a number of factors led to the longshot candidate's victories: A scandal-ridden Republican opponent, Edwards' military background and religious conservatism that attracted GOP voters, and a strong Democratic turnout from Black voters.

Edwards' first act as governor - which he has described as the "easiest big decision" he made in office - was to expand Medicaid. More than 440,000 working poor and nonelderly adults enrolled within the first budget year, and Louisiana's uninsured rate dropped from 22.7% to 9.4%.

Edwards entered office in crisis mode, inheriting a financial mess that included more than a $1 billion budget shortfall. The state has vastly improved financially, with an estimated $2.2 billion in extra revenue during last year's legislative session.

Financial woes weren't the only crisis Edwards faced his first year: There were fatal floods, the shooting of Alton Sterling - a Black man killed by police - that triggered unrest and an ambush-style attack that left three officers dead.

During Edwards' time in office there were around 50 state disaster declarations and 21 federal - from hurricanes, wildfires, threats to New Orleans' drinking water supply to COVID-19. The West Point graduate says his Army experience influenced the way he managed crises, utilizing timely and accurate information to formulate a strategy and employ tactics.

During the start of the pandemic, Edwards and Republicans - including Gov.-elect Jeff Landry - came together in a bipartisan plea for people to do their part to avoid spreading the virus. It was a rare truce during a time of deep political divides nationwide.

Although a Democrat, Edwards' stances on abortion and moderate pro-gun views appealed to some Republicans. Edwards said ahead of his reelection in 2019 former President Donald Trump urged the governor to switch parties.

Edwards remained a Democrat, and in return Trump traveled to Louisiana to rally against him. Edwards won reelection.

Working across the aisle with a GOP supermajority also proved challenging and, at times, unsuccessful. Edwards wielded his veto powers - at one point blocking a bill prohibiting transgender athletes from competing on girls' sports teams. In a rarity, lawmakers overrode two of the governor's vetoes - passing into law a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors and overturning Edwards' blockage of a new congressional map that lacked a second majority-Black district.

Lawmakers also halted a slew of Edwards' goals, including increasing the minimum age and eliminating the state's death penalty.

Perhaps one of the biggest moments of scrutiny of Edwards came following the deadly arrest of Black motorist Ronald Greene in 2019. The legislature put together a committee probing the death and to see if the governor was complicit in a cover-up of troopers. However, lawmakers abandoned their work in June without issuing any finding or hearing from the governor, despite Edwards saying he was willing to testify.

Throughout his time in office, Edwards has maintained strong approval ratings among the public, continuously vowing to put people before politics.

In the Deep South state, which has had a front-row seat to the effects of climate change, Edwards put Louisiana on a path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

While Louisiana has tens of thousands of jobs tied to the oil and gas industry, efforts to expand Louisiana's renewable energy industry have come to the forefront during Edwards' administration.

Unable to run for reelection because of consecutive term limits, Edwards leaves office Monday and will join a New Orleans-based law firm where he will focus on bringing renewable energy deals to the state.

Edwards says he has "no intention" to run for political office in the future, but he hasn't outright ruled it out. For now, the governor said he is optimistic about Louisiana's future and ready to go home.


# Nearly 3,000 pages of Jeffrey Epstein documents released, but some questions remain unanswered
January 6, 2024. 3:24 PM EST

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**NEW YORK (AP)** - For nearly two decades, journalists, police detectives, FBI agents, lawyers and amateur sleuths have pried into the depraved world of Jeffrey Epstein.

Yet even after the release of thousands of pages of court records in recent days, some questions about the millionaire pedophile remain unanswered. The documents have gotten a lot of attention, but they shed little new light on the financier's habitual sexual abuse of underage girls.

More than anything, the public is still fascinated with the possibility that some of the rich and powerful men in Epstein's social circle were also involved in the abuse.

Here's a look at what we know - and what we don't - about Epstein and his crimes:

## JETSETTER TO CONVICT
Epstein first began getting media attention in 2002 after news organizations, including The Associated Press, covered a trip to Africa by former President Bill Clinton, actor Kevin Spacey and comedian Chris Tucker. The five-day tour of Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Mozambique and South Africa was intended to draw attention to the fight against AIDS.

After the visit, New York magazine ran a profile of the man who provided the private jet for the trip: Jeffrey Epstein. The story portrayed him as an "international moneyman of mystery," who cultivated relationships with Nobel Prize-winning scientists and diplomats but puzzled Wall Street insiders who couldn't figure out how a college dropout got so rich.

"Terrific guy," Epstein's neighbor in both Florida and New York, Donald Trump, said in the story. "He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."

Those celebrity contacts made it big news when Epstein was arrested in 2006 over allegations that he had hired multiple teenage girls to give him sexualized massages at his home in Palm Beach, Florida.

Two years later, prosecutors allowed Epstein to plead guilty to a charge involving a single victim. He served 13 months in a jail work-release program, then quietly started rebuilding his network of influential friends, with the help of his socialite former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

After a series of Miami Herald stories about the plea bargain that deprived Epstein's victims of justice, federal prosecutors in New York revived the investigation and charged Epstein in 2019 with sex trafficking.

When Epstein killed himself in jail, prosecutors charged Maxwell with facilitating his illicit sexual encounters and participating in some of the abuse. She was convicted and is serving a 20-year prison term.

## WAS ANYONE ELSE INVOLVED?
In 2009, one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre, filed a lawsuit saying he had flown her around the world for sexual encounters with billionaires, politicians, royals and heads of state.

She initially kept the names of those men secret, but in later legal filings started providing names: Britain's Prince Andrew, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, the French modeling scout Jean Luc Brunel, the billionaire Glenn Dubin and the law professor Alan Dershowitz, who had represented Epstein.

Some details of Giuffre's allegations have changed over time. She initially said she was 15 when Epstein began to abuse her, but she later acknowledged that she met him the summer she turned 17.

In 2022, she withdrew her allegations against Dershowitz, saying she "may have made a mistake" in identifying him as one of her abusers. She said she "was very young at the time" and "it was a very stressful and traumatic environment."

In one newspaper interview, for which Giuffre was paid $160,000, she described dancing with Prince Andrew at a club but said there was no sexual contact. Later, she said they had three sexual encounters. She said the newspaper had refused to print those allegations.

In another interview, she described riding in a helicopter with Bill Clinton and flirting with Donald Trump, but she later said in a deposition that those things hadn't happened and were mistakes by the reporter.

Giuffre's allegations have been investigated by the FBI. No charges have been brought based on her claims, but because of the attention generated by them Brunel was investigated in France and charged with raping other underage girls. He killed himself while awaiting trial.

Manhattan's top federal prosecutor in 2020, Geoffrey Berman, sought to speak with Prince Andrew about matters related to Epstein, but the royal declined to be interviewed. Berman blasted Andrew at the time for falsely portraying himself to the public as eager to cooperate when he was actually dodging questions.

Andrew has repeatedly denied having sex with Giuffre and said he couldn't recall ever meeting her, though a photograph appears to show them together, and a member of Epstein's household staff also testified about seeing the two at Epstein's home in New York.

Many of the documents unsealed in recent days involve efforts by Maxwell's lawyers to discredit Giuffre, and Giuffre's lawyers' efforts to gather evidence backing up her accounts.

The records released in the case have contained scant evidence of wrongdoing by famous figures, but testimony from multiple witnesses confirmed Giuffre's accounts of Epstein's sexual misconduct.

## DEATH BEHIND BARS
Any chance that Epstein himself might have been able to answer questions about his famous friends died with him at a federal detention center in Manhattan in August 2019.

The death, a month after he was arrested, has fueled conspiracy theories. But multiple investigations, including an autopsy and FBI probe, have concluded Epstein died by suicide.

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said in a June report that Epstein was able to take his own life because of "negligence, misconduct and outright job performance failures" within the jail.

The Metropolitan Correctional Center was shut down in 2021 amid concerns about squalid conditions, COVID-19, crumbling infrastructure and lingering questions about Epstein's death.

Overworked officers assigned to guard Epstein had failed to recognize he had amassed a surplus of bed linens. After a first suspected suicide attempt, jail officials left him alone and never assigned him a new cellmate.

On the night Epstein died, officers sat at desks just 15 feet (4.6 meters) from his cell, shopping online and snoozing instead of making required rounds every 30 minutes, prosecutors said.

The day before Epstein killed himself, a federal court unsealed about 2,000 pages of records in Giuffre's lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell - the same case involved in the records released in recent days.

That, combined with a lack of significant interpersonal connections and "the idea of potentially spending his life in prison were likely factors contributing to Mr. Epstein's suicide," prison officials wrote in documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Whether Epstein would have ever been keen to answer questions to clear up some of the mysteries surrounding his life is a different story. In a 2016 deposition in Giuffre's lawsuit, he repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.

## WHAT'S NEXT
The document dump isn't over yet. So far, 191 of the approximately 250 files that U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska authorized for release have been made public. Lawyers involved in the case are posting them to the docket on a rolling basis, as per the judge's instructions.

Another batch is expected Monday, though there is little indication they will yield more than what has already been seen in the nearly 3,000 pages of deposition transcripts, legal memos, emails and other records made public since Wednesday.

Versions of many of those records had already been made public in past years, though with some sections blacked out for privacy reasons or to protect the identities of Epstein's victims.


# China sanctions 5 US defense companies in response to US sanctions and arms sales to Taiwan
By **KEN MORITSUGU**
January 7, 2024. 4:14 AM EST

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**BEIJING (AP)** - China announced sanctions Sunday on five American defense-related companies in response to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and U.S sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals.

The sanctions will freeze any property the companies have in China and prohibit organizations and individuals in China from doing business with them, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted online.

It was unclear what impact, if any, the sanctions would have on the companies, BAE Systems Land and Armaments, Alliant Techsystems Operations, AeroVironment, Viasat and Data Link Solutions. Such sanctions are often mostly symbolic as American defense contractors generally don't sell to China.

The Foreign Ministry said the U.S. moves harmed China's sovereignty and security interests, undermined peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and violated the rights and interests of Chinese companies and individuals.

"The Chinese government remains unwavering in our resolve to safeguard national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity and protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies and citizens," the ministry statement said.

The announcement was made less than a week ahead of a presidential election in Taiwan that is being contested in large part over how the government should manage its relationship with China, which claims the self-governing island as its territory and says it must come under its rule.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not specify which arms deal or which U.S. sanctions China was responding to, though spokesperson Wang Wenbin had warned three weeks ago that China would take countermeasures following the U.S. government's approval of a $300 million military package for Taiwan in December.

The deal includes equipment, training and equipment repair to maintain Taiwan's command, control and military communications capabilities.

The U.S. said the sale would support the modernization of Taiwan's armed forces and the maintenance of a credible defense. "The proposed sale will improve the recipient's capability to meet current and future threats by enhancing operational readiness," a news release from the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.

Taiwan is a major flashpoint in U.S.-China relations that analysts worry could explode into military conflict between the two powers. China says that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are interference in its domestic affairs.

The Chinese military regularly sends fighter planes and ships into and over the waters around Taiwan, in part to deter the island's government from declaring formal independence. An invasion doesn't appear imminent, but the constant military activity serves as a reminder that the threat is ever-present.

The U.S. switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, but it is bound by its own laws to ensure that Taiwan has the ability to defend itself. America and its allies sail warships through the Taiwan Strait, a 160-kilometer (100-mile) -wide waterway that separates the island from China.


# Polish farmers suspend their blockade at the Ukrainian border after a deal with the government
January 6, 2024. 2:23 PM EST

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**WARSAW, Poland (AP)** - Polish farmers who had blockaded a border crossing to Ukraine ended their protest after reaching an agreement with the government that met their demands, Poland's state news agency PAP reported Saturday.

The frustration of the farmers was one of the challenges facing the new Polish government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which seeks to support Ukraine while also addressing the demands of Polish farmers and truckers whose livelihoods have been hurt by the war.

Since November, both farmers and truckers have been blockading border crossings, threatening the flow of some aid going into Ukraine.

Polish farmers complain that imports of Ukrainian foods have caused prices to fall, hurting their incomes, while truckers say they are being undercut by their Ukrainian counterparts.

The truckers are continuing their protest, creating queues of many kilometers at serveral border crossings. This week truckers had to wait over two days before they could cross.

Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski signed an agreement Saturday with a farmers group called Deceived Village and Teresa Kubas-Hul, a leader of the Podkarpackie region, which borders Ukraine. Under the deal, the farmers agreed to suspend their protest at the Medyka border crossing.

The deal states that the agriculture minister accepted the demands of the farmers, who sought a corn production subsidy of 1 billion Polish zlotys ($250 million), a lower agricultural tax and preferential liquidity loans, PAP reported.

The demands are to be implemented after the legislative process is completed and the necessary approvals from the European Union are obtained, PAP reported.


# A minibus explodes in Kabul, killing at least 2 civilians and wounding 14 others
January 6, 2024. 12:07 PM EST

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**ISLAMABAD (AP)** - A minibus exploded in a mostly Shiite Muslim neighborhood in Afghanistan's capital of Kabul killing at least two civilians and wounding 14 others, a Taliban official said Saturday. It was the first attack in the country in 2024.

Police spokesman Khalid Zadran said the explosion happened in the western part of the city, in the Dashti Barchi area. Police launched an investigation, he said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State group's affiliate in the region has in the past targeted Shiite schools, hospitals and mosques in the same area.

In November, also in the same area of Kabul, the IS claimed responsibility for a minibus explosion in which seven people were killed and 20 others were wounded.

On Oct. 26, four people were killed and seven were wounded when an explosion hit a sports club in the same neighborhood. IS also claimed responsibility for that attack.

Taliban Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid said last week there was a 90% decrease in attacks by the IS affiliate in the past year.

The IS affiliate has been a major rival of the Taliban since the latter seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021. IS militants have struck in Kabul and in northern provinces, often targeting Shiites, whom IS considers to be apostates.


# Death toll rises to 5 in hospital fire in northern Germany
January 6, 2024. 6:39 AM EST

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**BERLIN (AP)** - The death toll in a fire that broke out in a hospital in Germany this week has risen to five, with all of the victims patients, as investigators sought to understand the cause of the blaze.

The fire broke out late Thursday at the hospital in Uelzen, southeast of Hamburg. Emergency workers arrived to flames and calls for help. They evacuated several people, and were able to stop the fire from spreading any further, according to the dpa news agency, which cited police.

Firefighters and police, some using ladders, rescued several patients from their rooms.

The German news agency dpa reported late Friday that a fifth victim succumbed to injuries, raising the earlier death toll of four to five.

Six people were seriously injured and 16 others had lesser injuries, dpa reported, citing the hospital. The injured suffered smoke inhalation and burns.

The cause of the fire was still unclear on Saturday.


# Bangladesh's main opposition party starts a 48-hour general strike ahead of Sunday's election
By **JULHAS ALAM**
January 6, 2024. 11:53 AM EST

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**DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP)** - Bangladesh's main opposition party on Saturday started a 48-hour general strike on the eve on a general election, calling on people to boycott the vote because it says the government of incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina can't guarantee its fairness.

Hasina is seeking to return to power for a fourth consecutive term. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by former premier Khaleda Zia, has vowed to disrupt the election through the strike and boycott.

Campaigning in the nation of 169 million people has been marred by violence, with at least 15 people killed since October. At least 18 arson attacks were reported across the country between Friday midnight and Saturday night, Talha Bin Jasim, an official with the Media Cell of the Fire Service and Civil Defense in Dhaka, told The Associated Press by phone.

At least 10 of the attacks targeted polling stations, he said, with police calling them acts of sabotage.

Detectives arrested seven men belonging to the BNP and its youth wing for their alleged involvement in an arson attack on a passenger train on Friday night in which four people were killed, according to Harun Or Rashid, the head of the Detective Branch in the capital, Dhaka.

They were detained in separate raids in the city, he said Saturday, adding that the suspects held a meeting online two days ago about committing such attacks on polling stations and trains.

Bangladesh is a parliamentary democracy but has a history of military coups and assassinations.

On Saturday morning, a small group of BNP supporters marched across the Shahbagh neighborhood in the capital, Dhaka, calling on people to join the strike. Another rally by about 200 left-wing protesters took place outside the National Press Club to denounce the election.

The Election Commission said ballot boxes and other election supplies had been distributed in preparation for the vote on Sunday in over 42,000 precincts. There are more than 119 million registered voters.

Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, a BNP senior official, repeated his party's demand for Hasina to resign, calling the election "skewed."

"The government is again playing with fire. The government has resorted to its old tactics of holding a one-sided election," he said.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal told reporters on Saturday that the parliamentary election would be free and fair, adding, "We want our election to be observed not only nationally, but internationally as well."

Responding to questions on the main opposition shunning the vote, Awal said that had the BNP participated, the election would have been "more competitive" and "more festive." He acknowledged that the recent violence may have a negative impact on voters turning up on Sunday.

On Friday, an apparent arson attack on a train in Dhaka killed four people. Mahid Uddin, an additional police commissioner with the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said the fire was "clearly an act of sabotage" aimed at scaring people ahead of the election. He did not name any political party or groups as suspects, but said police would seek those responsible.

Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen said in a statement Saturday that the timing of the attack, just days before the election, was meant to hinder the democratic process. "This reprehensible incident, undoubtedly orchestrated by those with malicious intent, strikes at the very heart of our democratic values," he said.

Police said a murder case was filed by a railway official on Saturday, accusing unidentified people as suspects.

Talha Bin Jasim, an official with the Media Cell of the Fire Service and Civil Defense in Dhaka, told The Associated Press by phone on Saturday night that at least 18 arson attacks had been reported from across the country since Friday midnight.

He said that at least 10 polling stations were among them, with police calling them acts of sabotage.

He said a small fire was reported early Saturday at a Buddhist monastery at Ramu area in southern Cox's Bazar district. Local media, quoting police in the area, said that it was not clear if it was merely a fire incident or an act of sabotage. Local authorities said they would investigate.

The Election Commission has asked authorities to increase security around polling stations.

Faruk Hossain, a spokesman of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told The Associated Press police had reinforced security across Dhaka and that railway transportation was back to normal following Friday's attack.

Bangladesh's increasingly polarized political culture has been dominated by a struggle between two powerful women, Hasina and Zia.

Zia, head of the BNP, is ailing and currently under house arrest. Her party says the charges of corruption are politically motivated, an allegation the government denied.

Tensions have spiked since October when violence broke out at a massive anti-government rally demanding Hasina's resignation and a caretaker government to oversee the election. Hasina's administration said there was no constitutional provision to allow a caretaker government.

Critics have accused Hasina of systemically suffocating the opposition by implementing repressive security measures. Zia's party claimed that more than 20,000 opposition supporters have been arrested, but the government said those figures were inflated and denied arrests were made due to political leanings. The attorney general put the figure between 2,000-3,000 while the law minister said the numbers were about 10,000.


# Myanmar confirms a key northeastern city on border with China has been seized by an ethnic alliance
By **GRANT PECK**
January 6, 2024. 4:05 AM EST

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**BANGKOK (AP)** - Myanmar's military government has acknowledged that it withdrew its forces from a key city on the northeastern border with China after it was taken over by an alliance of ethnic armed groups it has been battling for months.

The fall of Laukkaing late Thursday is the biggest in a series of defeats suffered by Myanmar's military government since the ethnic alliance launched an offensive Oct. 27. It underlines the pressure the government is under as it battles pro-democracy guerrillas in the wake of a 2021 military takeover as well as ethnic minority armed groups across the country.

Ethnic armed organizations have battled for greater autonomy for decades, but Myanmar has been wracked by what amounts to civil war since the army seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking nationwide armed resistance by pro-democracy forces.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance that took Laukkaing is composed of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army. The MNDAA is a military force of the Kokang minority, who are ethnic Chinese.

Photos and videos on social media showed a vast amount of weapons that the alliance claimed to have captured.

Laukkaing is the capital of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, which is geographically part of northern Shan state in Myanmar.

Myanmar government spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun told the Popular News Journal, a pro-army website, on Saturday that the military and its local commanders relinquished control of Laukkaing after considering many aspects, including the safety of the family members of the soldiers stationed there.

He said the military also took into consideration Myanmar's relationship with China, which is just across the border from Laukkaing. China, which has good relations with both the military and the ethnic alliance, has been seeking an end to the fighting.

Beijing protested after artillery shells landed in its territory on Wednesday, wounding five people. Zaw Min Tun said the alliance had fired the shells and that it tried to blame the military in order to damage its relationship with China.

A statement posted by the alliance on social media late Friday declared that the entire Kokang region had become a "Military Council-free area," referring to Myanmar's ruling junta,

It said 2,389 military personnel - including six brigadier generals - and their family members had surrendered by Friday and that all were evacuated to safety.

Video clips circulating on social media purportedly showed the soldiers and their family members being transported in various vehicles. The Shwe Phee Myay News Agency, an online news site reporting from Shan state, reported that many of them were taken to Lashio, the capital of Shan's northern region, under an agreement with the MNDAA for their repatriation.

It's unclear whether the Three Brotherhood Alliance will try to extend its offensive outside of Shan state, but it has vowed to keep fighting against military rule.

The alliance cast its offensive as a struggle against military rule and an effort to rid the region of major organized criminal enterprises. China has publicly sought to eradicate cyberscam operations in Laukkaing that have entrapped tens of thousands of Chinese nationals, who have been repatriated to China in recent weeks.

But the offensive was also widely recognized as an effort by the MNDAA to regain control of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone by ousting a rival Kokang group backed by the military government from its seat of power.

Peng Deren, the MNDAA commander, said in a New Year's speech published by The Kokang, an affiliated online media site, that the alliance had seized over 250 military targets and five border crossings with China. He said more than 300 cyberscam centers were raided and more than 40,000 Chinese involved in the operations were repatriated.


# Turkish justice minister says 15 suspects jailed ahead of trial for spying for Israel
By **ANDREW WILKS**
January 6, 2024. 1:47 AM EST

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**ISTANBUL (AP)** - A court in Istanbul has ordered 15 of 34 people detained on suspicion of spying for Israel be held in prison awaiting trial, Turkey's justice minister said late Friday.

The suspects were arrested Tuesday for allegedly planning to carry out activities that included "reconnaissance" and "pursuing, assaulting and kidnapping" foreign nationals living in Turkey.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said in a social media post that 26 suspects were referred to the court on a charge of committing "political or military espionage" on behalf of Israeli intelligence. Eleven were released under judicial control conditions and eight were awaiting deportation.

Israel's foreign intelligence agency Mossad is said to have recruited Palestinians and Syrian nationals inside Turkey as part of the operation against foreigners living in Turkey, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

The agency cited a prosecution document as saying the operation targeted "Palestinian nationals and their families ... within the scope of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

One suspect allegedly collected information about Palestinian patients recently transferred to Turkey for health care. Turkey has accepted dozens of Palestinian patients from Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The suspects were detained in raids on 57 addresses in Istanbul and seven other provinces. Weeks earlier, the head of Israel's domestic Shin Bet security agency said his organization was prepared to target Hamas anywhere, including in Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Israel of "serious consequences" if it pressed ahead with its threat to attack Hamas officials on Turkish soil.

Turkey and Israel had normalized ties in 2022 by reappointing ambassadors following years of tensions. But those ties quickly deteriorated after the Israel-Hamas war, with Ankara becoming one of the strongest critics of Israel's military actions in Gaza.

Israel initially withdrew its diplomats from Turkey over security concerns and later announced it was recalling its diplomats for political reasons, citing "increasingly harsh statements" from Turkish officials. Turkey also pulled out its ambassador from Israel.

Erdogan's reaction to the Israel-Hamas war was initially fairly muted. But the Turkish leader has since intensified his criticism of Israel, describing its actions in Gaza as verging on "genocide." He has called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be prosecuted for "war crimes" and compared him to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Erdogan, whose government has hosted several Hamas officials in the past, has also said the militant group - considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union - is fighting for the liberation of its lands and people.


# Taiwan says Chinese balloons are harassment and a threat to air safety
January 6, 2024. 12:58 AM EST

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**TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)** - Taiwan's Defense Ministry accused China on Saturday of harassment and trying to affect public morale by repeatedly sending balloons over the self-governing island.

A ministry analysis found that the paths of the balloons posed a serious threat to international passenger flights, according to a report by Taiwan's official Military News Agency. The ministry called for an immediate end to the activity to ensure flight safety,

"The ministry urged the people (of Taiwan) to clearly understand the Chinese Communist Party's cognitive combat methods and face it rationally and calmly so as to avoid being affected by it," the report said.

The purpose of the balloons is unclear, and a Chinese state media outlet has accused Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party and Taiwanese and American media of hyping what it says are harmless weather balloons. The balloon incidents come ahead of a Jan. 13 presidential election in Taiwan in which the island's relations with China are a major issue.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry has reported several instances of Chinese balloons flying near or over the island in the past month. It said Saturday that two balloons had been detected over the Taiwan Strait on Friday, one 33 nautical miles and the other 51 nautical miles off the island's northwest coast.

China views Taiwan, which is about 160 kilometers (100 miles) off China's east coast, as a renegade province that must come under its control. Chinese leader Xi Jinping said in an annual New Year's address this week that Taiwan would "surely be reunified" with China in the future.


# UN agency says it is handling code of conduct violations by staffer for anti-Israel posts internally
By **EDITH M. LEDERER**
January 5, 2024. 10:35 PM EST

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**UNITED NATIONS (AP)** - The U.N. agency promoting equality for women said Friday that violations of the U.N. Code of Conduct requiring impartiality by a mid-level manager, who reportedly supported pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli posts on social media, are being dealt with internally.

Last month, the Geneva-based advocacy group UN Watch, which often criticizes anti-Israel actions at the United Nations, reported that Sarah Douglas, the deputy chief of UN Women's peace and security office, had endorsed 153 posts on social media since Hamas ' Oct. 7 attacks in southern Israel that exposed her partisan views about the war in Gaza.

UN Watch's Executive Director Hillel Neuer posted on X, formerly Twitter, some examples including posts that accused Israel of "genocide" and celebrated shutting down bridges and highways for pro-Palestinian campaigns and rallies.

After UN Watch publicized the posts, Neuer said Douglas deleted her social media accounts, but he said the group has screenshots of her posts.

Last week, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said when asked about Douglas' posts: "I understand there was a violation of the Code of Conduct by this individual."

Douglas has not commented on her social media posts.

UN Watch said a campaign it launched on Instagram and X demanding that Douglas be fired had received nearly 5,000 signatures by Dec. 27. Two U.S. senators, Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, and Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, have also called on UN Women to fire her.

"We are aware of reports relating to a mid-level manager and the incompatibility of her social media activity with the standards of conduct required of U.N. staff members," UN Women said Friday in response to an AP question on what action it is taking on the violations and the calls for her firing.

"UN Women takes these concerns very seriously," it said. "The standards of conduct are clear and breaches are dealt with appropriately and in accordance with UN Women's accountability and legal framework."

UN Women said: "Such processes are internal and not made public."


# A drug cartel has attacked a remote Mexican community with drones and gunmen, rights group says
By **MEGAN JANETSKY**
January 5, 2024. 6:36 PM EST

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**MEXICO CITY (AP)** - A small community in Guerrero, a Mexican state plagued by unrelenting cartel violence, was attacked by drones and armed men, a local human rights group told the Associated Press on Friday.

The religious and human rights organization Minerva Bello Center said Thursday's attack on at least 30 people was carried out by a drug cartel. The center's director, José Filiberto Velázquez, said the victims were likely killed, though authorities still had not been able to enter the remote community or confirm the deaths.

The community of Helidoro Castillo, on the fringes of Tlacotepec, is caught in an escalating war between the La Familia Michoacana and the Jalisco New Generation cartels.

Velázquez said drone attacks by the cartels and violence have been escalating over the past year. He said he heard from the community around midday Thursday that La Familia Michoacana was launching "explosive devices" from drones. But communications from the community soon went dark.

Later in the night, he heard from local police, who said one survivor of the attack escaped and told them that after the drone attack armed men came to the community as residents were slaughtering a pig and that "they were being mowed down."

The human rights leader also spoke to locals in nearby communities that said they heard the attack and were terrified the same could happen to them.

"This is a conflict that has many communities terrified," Velázquez said.

Velázquez said neither human rights groups nor authorities had been able to enter the small town due to its remoteness and the risks. Because of that, little was known about the attack.

Guerrero state prosecutors confirmed there had been a "violent act" in the town and that security forces were investigating the incident. But the office told The Associated Press they couldn't provide any more information.

Mexico is home to at least 200 cartels and criminal organizations, according to conflict-tracking organization Crisis Group. Rival cartels warring for territory have caused violence to surge in recent years.

Guerrero has become one of the hotspots for conflict, and in October a police chief and 13 officers were ambushed and shot dead in the southern Mexican state.

As researchers report that cartels have practically carved out their own "fiefdoms", they've also grown more bold, warring with drones in other parts of Mexico, pushing into legal industries like the avocado trade, and even constructing their own Wi-Fi networks and forcing locals to pay under the threat of death.


# UN humanitarian chief calls Gaza 'uninhabitable' 3 months into Israel-Hamas war
By **EDITH M. LEDERER**
January 5, 2024. 5:10 PM EST

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**UNITED NATIONS (AP)** - The U.N. humanitarian chief described Gaza on Friday as "uninhabitable" three months into Israel's war with Hamas, warning that famine was looming and a public health disaster unfolding.

In a grim assessment of the devastating impact of Israel's military response to the horrific Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, Martin Griffiths said that Gaza's 2.3 million people face "daily threats to their very existence" while the world just watches.

He said tens of thousands of people, mostly women and children, have been killed or injured, families are sleeping in the open as temperatures plummet, and areas where Palestinians were told to relocate have been bombed.

"People are facing the highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded (and) famine is around the corner," Griffiths said. The few partially functioning hospitals are overwhelmed and critically short of supplies, medical facilities are under relentless attack, infectious diseases are spreading, and amidst the chaos some 180 Palestinian women are giving birth every day.

"Gaza has simply become uninhabitable," the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs said.

He said the humanitarian community is facing an "impossible mission" - trying to help more than two million people while U.N. staff and aid workers from partner organizations are killed, communications blackouts continue, roads are damaged, truck convoys are shot at, and vital commercial supplies "are almost non-existent."

Griffiths reiterated U.N. demands for an immediate end to the war and the release of all hostages, declaring that "It is time for the international community to use all its influence to make this happen."

The Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel by Hamas, which controls Gaza, killed around 1,200 people, and its fighters and other militants took some 250 people hostage. More than 120 remain in captivity.

Israel's air, ground and sea assault in Gaza, aimed at obliterating Hamas, has killed more than 22,400 people, 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 three-month conflict has displaced some 85% of Gaza's residents, and the United Nations has identified more than 37,000 structures destroyed or damaged in the war so far.

The U.N. children's agency UNICEF said Friday that most young children and pregnant women aren't getting enough nutrition, with fewer than 200 aid trucks entering Gaza every day - less than half the prewar level - and distribution hampered by the fighting.

A survey by UNICEF found that 90% of children under the age of two are eating two or fewer of the five essential food groups each day, mainly bread or milk. A quarter of pregnant women said they only eat one food group per day.

UNICEF says cases of diarrhea among children under the age of five have risen from 48,000 to 71,000 - an indication of poor nutrition. Normally, only 2,000 cases of diarrhea are reported each month in the Gaza Strip.

Israel cut off food, clean water, medicine, electricity and fuel deliveries to Gaza immediately after the Hamas attack. In response to U.S. pressure it allowed a trickle of aid in through Egypt in late October, and the number of trucks has increased from about 100 to up to 200 every day.

Israeli authorities have repeatedly said there is enough food in the territory, and that they have taken the necessary steps to allow aid in, blaming any shortages on U.N. bodies.

But U.N. associate spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay reiterated Friday that "the current response is only meeting a fraction of people's needs."

She repeated what U.N. Secretary-General said last month: "It's a mistake to quote the effectiveness of the humanitarian operation in Gaza based only on the number of trucks. An effective aid operation in Gaza requires security. It requires staff who can work in safety. It requires good logistical capacity and the resumption of commercial activity."

Tremblay said until those requirements are met, Gazans will not receive enough aid.

Nonetheless, the U.N. World Food Program reported that in December it reached 975,000 vulnerable people with food across Gaza and in the West Bank, she said.

In an indication of difficulties getting aid into Gaza, some international efforts are resorting to dropping supplies from planes. France announced Friday that French and Jordanian C-130 planes dropped a total of seven tons of medical aid to the Jordanian field hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis in a joint operation overnight.

"The humanitarian situation remains critical in Gaza," French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday on X, formerly Twitter. "In a difficult context, France and Jordan delivered aid to the population and to those who are helping them."

The airdrop, a first from a Western country in the Gaza Strip, was agreed during Macron's recent visit to Jordan, where he met with King Abdullah II last month, the French presidency said.


# Top White House budget official warns of 'dire' situation on Ukraine aid
By **SEUNG MIN KIM**
January 5, 2024. 4:47 PM EST

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**WASHINGTON (AP)** - President Joe Biden's top budget official warned in stark terms Friday about the rapidly diminishing time that lawmakers have to replenish U.S. aid for Ukraine, as the fate of that money to Kyiv remains tied up in negotiations over immigration where a deal has so far been out of reach.

Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, stressed that there is no avenue to help Ukraine aside from Congress approving additional funding to help Kyiv as it fends off Russia in a war that is now nearly two years old. While the Pentagon has some limited authority to help Kyiv absent new funding from Capitol Hill, "that is not going to get big tranches of equipment into Ukraine," Young said Friday.

While the administration still has presidential drawdown authority, which allows it to pull weapons from existing U.S. stockpiles and send them quickly to Ukraine, officials have decided to forgo that authority because Congress has not approved additional money to essentially backfill that equipment - a move that Young said was a "very tough decision." The U.S. sent a $250 million weapons package to Ukraine late last month, which officials say was likely the last package because of the lack of funding.

Young also detailed the impact that a lack of additional U.S. aid would have on Ukraine aside from its military capabilities, such as Kyiv being able to pay its civil servants to ensure that its government can continue to function amid Russia's barrage.

"Yes, Kyiv might have a little time from other donors to make sure they can keep their war footing, keep the civil service, but what happens in the (European Union), in other NATO allies, if the U.S. pulls out their support?" Young said during a breakfast with journalists Friday hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. "I'm very concerned that it's not just the United States' resources that are necessary for Kyiv to stop Putin. It is: What message does that send to the rest of the world? And what will their decisions be if they see the United States not step up to the plate?"

Young, a veteran congressional budget staffer, added that the situation was "dire" and "certainly, we've bypassed my comfort level" in the time that has gone by since Congress greenlighted new funding for Ukraine. Biden requested a smaller tranche of new aid to Ukraine in September, but then went to Congress with a sweeping national security spending request in late October that included roughly $60 billion in new funding for Ukraine.

That ask from Biden also included about $14 billion in managing and caring for the high number of migrants who continue to arrive at the southern border, and the president has said he is willing to negotiate with Republicans to accept some policy changes that would tighten asylum and other migration laws - a key demand of GOP lawmakers.

Complicating the dynamics further is that Washington is confronting a pair of deadlines - the first on Jan. 19, the second on Feb. 2 - to fund the federal government or risk a shutdown at the start of a presidential election year. Key lawmakers have yet to reach topline spending figures for each federal agency, a necessary step before the broader bills funding the government can even be written.

Young said she is not yet pessimistic, but that "I'm not optimistic" on the prospects of averting a shutdown in the coming weeks because of sharp new warnings from House Republicans, dozens of whom traveled to the border this week with Speaker Mike Johnson, that they were willing to shutter the government if they didn't extract sufficient concessions on border policy from the White House.

"The rhetoric this week has concerned me that that is the path that House Republicans are headed down, even though I will say I think leadership is working in good faith to prevent a shutdown," Young said.

Asked whether the emergency spending request with Ukraine should pass before legislation to fund the government, Young added: "I'll take it however they can pass it. I mean, beggars shouldn't be choosing. And I'll take it, how they can pass it. It just needs to be passed."


# Belarus' authoritarian leader tightens control over the country's religious groups
By **YURAS KARMANAU**
January 5, 2024. 2:11 PM EST

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**TALLINN, Estonia (AP)** - Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has signed a law into effect that significantly tightens control over various religious denominations and organizations.

The law, published on the presidential website this week, mandates that all denominations and religious groups reapply for state registration, which authorities reserve the right to refuse.

It's the latest step in Lukashenko's a crackdown on dissent, which intensified after a disputed presidential election in 2020 gave the authoritarian leader a sixth term in office. The government arrested more than 35,000 protesters in demonstrations that denounced the vote as rigged, and thousands of them were beaten in custody. Many were forced to leave the country to escape prosecution.

Since 2022, involvement in unregistered organizations became a criminal offense, punishable by up to two years in prison.

According to official data in 2023, a total of 3,417 religious groups were registered in Belarus, a country of 9.5 million. About 80% are Orthodox Christians; nearly 14% are Catholics, residing mostly in western, northern and central parts of the country; and about 2% belong to Protestant churches.

During the 2020 anti-government protests, some Catholic and Protestant churches gave shelter and support to the demonstrators.

The new law gives authorities broad powers to deny registration and to shut down any religious organization. It stipulates that in order to be registered, a religious group or denomination needs to have at least one parish that operated in Belarus for at least 30 years. All denominations and groups must reapply for registration within a year.

It also prohibits those accused of involvement with what authorities deem as extremist or terrorist activities from running a religious organization, and it bans the use of any symbols other than religious ones in church services. It also outlaws any gatherings in churches other than for a service.

The Rev. Zmitser Khvedaruk, a Protestant pastor, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that the law was "repressive."

He expressed concern that "Protestant churches in Belarus will become the main target of the new law" in the predominantly Orthodox country, especially given their popularity among younger people.

"Many Protestant churches in Belarus will face a tough choice - to either cease their activities or return to the dark Soviet times, when Protestant churches effectively worked underground and illegally gathered at people's homes, with (believers) praying under the threat of criminal prosecution," Khvedaruk told AP.

Analysts say Belarusian authorities are seeking to tighten control over the entire public sphere ahead of parliamentary elections set for next month and a presidential vote in 2025.

"The Belarusian authorities view the clergy as leaders of public opinion, who influence large groups of people; therefore, they strive to take all denominations under tight, centralized control," said Natallia Vasilevich, coordinator of the Christian Vision monitoring group. "The new law is repressive and doesn't conform to international standards of freedom of conscience."


# Former energy minister quits Britain's Conservatives over approval of new oil drilling
January 5, 2024. 1:59 PM EST

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**LONDON (AP)** - Britain's former energy minister said Friday he is quitting the Conservative Party and stepping down as a lawmaker over the government's backtracking on its environmental commitments.

Chris Skidmore said he could not support a forthcoming bill that will authorize new North Sea oil and gas drilling and called the U.K.'s retreat from its climate goals "a tragedy."

Skidmore has been a Conservative lawmaker since 2010. He wrote a government-commissioned review published a year ago setting out how Britain could reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 while creating thousands of new green jobs.

He said that "as the former energy minister who signed the U.K.'s net zero commitment by 2050 into law, I cannot vote for a bill that clearly promotes the production of new oil and gas."

"To fail to act, rather than merely speak out, is to tolerate a status quo that cannot be sustained," he added in a statement.

He said he would step down when Parliament returns next week from its Christmas break.

Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has watered down some green goals that he said imposed "unacceptable costs" on ordinary people. He delayed a ban on selling new gas and diesel cars, scrapped a domestic energy-efficiency rule and greenlit hundreds of new North Sea oil and gas licenses.

Skidmore said it was "a tragedy that the U.K. has been allowed to lose its climate leadership, at a time when our businesses, industries, universities and civil society organizations are providing first-class leadership and expertise to so many across the world, inspiring change for the better."

"I cannot vote for the bill next week," he said. "The future will judge harshly those that do."


# UN chief names a new envoy to scope out the chances of reviving Cyprus peace talks
By **MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS**
January 5, 2024. 2:45 PM EST

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**NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP)** - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday named a former Colombian foreign minister as his personal envoy to scope out the chances of reviving talks to resolve Cyprus' ethnic divide, an issue that has defied international diplomacy for nearly five decades.

María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar will work on Guterres' behalf to "search for common ground on the way forward" and to serve as the U.N. chief's advisor on Cyprus, U.N. associate spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay said.

Cuéllar served as Colombia's top diplomat during 2010-2018 and as the country's representative to the U.N. during 2004-2006.

She is expected to travel to Cyprus soon to sound out Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, Ersin Tatar.

Cyprus was divided into ethnic Greek and Turkish sides in 1974, when Turkey invaded just days after a coup mounted by supporters of union with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence and keeps some 40,000 troops in the Mediterranean island nation's breakaway north.

A Cyprus peace deal would reduce a source of potential conflict next door to an unstable Middle East and allow for the easier harnessing of hydrocarbon reserves in the eastern Mediterranean Sea's natural gas-rich waters.

But Guterres' appointment of an envoy to inform him whether it would be worth trying to jumpstart the long-stalled peace talks reflects a more cautious approach as a result of numerous failed attempts to produce an accord. If anything, the two sides have grown further apart since the last major push for progress in the summer of 2017.

Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots say they have ditched an agreed-upon framework that called for reunifying Cyprus as a federated state with Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot zones. Instead, they are advocating fpr what effectively amounts to a two-state deal.

Turkish Cypriots argue that the majority Greek Cypriots want to lord over the entire island by refusing to equally share power. They also support Turkey's insistence on maintaining military intervention rights and a permanent troop presence on the island as part of any deal.

Greek Cypriots strongly oppose a deal that would formalize the island's ethnic cleave and reject a Turkish Cypriot demand for veto powers on all government decisions at a federal level. They also reject Turkey's stipulations, arguing a permanent Turkish troop presence and a right to military intervention would would undercut the country's sovereignty.

Before Cuellar's appointment, the two Cypriot sides appeared to have eased up on antagonistic rhetoric, but tensions between them linger. In recent months, there were Greek Cypriot accusations of stepped up, unauthorized Turkish Cypriot incursions into the U.N.-controlled buffer zone in a suburb of Nicosia, the country's divided capital.

In his New Year's message, Christodoulides called the envoy's appointment a "first important step" to reviving peace talks. He said he was "absolutely ready" to move things forward but acknowledged that the "road will be long and the difficulties a given."

Tatar told a Turkish Cypriot newspaper last week that he had "no expectations" of any peace talks in the new year. He said Cuellar's assignment to identify areas of agreement won't lead anywhere if Turkish Cypriot "sovereignty and equality" are not accepted.


# US biotech company halts sales of DNA kits in Tibet, as lawmakers mull more export controls on China
By **DIDI TANG**
January 5, 2024. 12:46 PM EST

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**WASHINGTON (AP)** - A U.S. biotech company has halted sales of its DNA testing products in the Chinese ethnic region of Tibet, as lawmakers mull export controls to keep Beijing from using American products to conduct massive surveillance of its own citizens.

Thermo Fisher, based in Waltham, Mass., said in a statement that it made the decision in mid-2023 to cease sales of human identification products in Tibet "based on a number of factors." It did not specify the "factors." The news site Axios first revealed Thermo Fisher's decision this week.

The move by the biotech company, which in 2019 took similar measures in the ethnic region of Xinjiang, came at a time of concerns on the Capitol Hill over Beijing's human rights record. About a year ago, a bipartisan group of lawmakers demanded to know if the company was certain its equipment was not used to aid or abet rights abuses in China, following reports that the Chinese government had been collecting DNA data from hundreds of thousands of Tibetans. Beijing faces criticisms for its rule in Tibet, after the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader for most Tibetans, was forced to flee in 1959 when a revolt failed.

China has denied the allegation. "It is groundless accusation saying that the Chinese government is collecting DNA data from ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and Xizang to strengthen surveillance," said Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, referring to Tibet by its Chinese name of Xizang. "China is a country under the rule of law, and the privacy of Chinese citizens is fully protected by law, regardless of their ethnicity."

The company's action reflects the intensifying scrutiny U.S. firms face when doing business with China. The Biden administration says it looks to protect national security and press China on human rights while maintaining cooperation and keeping tensions from spiraling out of control. It says it seeks to "responsibly manage" the U.S.-China economic relationship.

The administration last August restricted U.S. investments in sensitive technologies that could boost China's military powers, following a ban on most advanced computer chips. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the U.S. will use its tools to protect human rights, and the U.S. already bans import of goods made with forced labor in the ethnic region of Xinjiang in China's northwest.

Beijing argues that Washington is using the human rights issue to suppress China's growth.

"China opposes the relevant parties politicizing normal economic cooperation and stopping cooperation with China based on groundless lies," Liu said.

In a January 2023 response to U.S. lawmakers, Thermo Fisher said it was confident that its products were "being used for their intended use in Tibet, namely police casework and forensics." In its statement emailed to the AP on Thursday, Thermo Fisher said the sales of its human identification products in Tibet had been "consistent with routine forensic investigation in an area of this size." It declined further comment.

Lawmakers and rights advocates applauded Thermo Fisher's decision to pull out of Tibet but urged the company to do more.

"I remain concerned that the continued sale of these products throughout the rest of China will continue to enable the CCP's techno totalitarian surveillance state," said Rep. Mike Gallagher, chair of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. "Thermo Fisher needs to immediately stop the sale of all DNA collection kits to all of China."

Rep. Chris Smith, chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, said the decision by Thermo-Fisher was "a long-overdue step to remove the company from further complicity in egregious human rights abuses."

The U.S. Commerce Department should continue to make "more systematic efforts" to prevent American companies from working with China's police and security apparatus in Tibet, Smith said.

"There is much more work to be done to starve the globe's dictators and authoritarians of the PRC's technological tools of repression - particularly when abetted by U.S. corporations," the congressman said, referring to China by its official name, the People's Republic of China, or the PRC.

Maya Wang, interim China director at Human Rights Watch, praised Thermo Fisher for its action but said, "This is not enough," and the company should do more to ensure its products sold elsewhere in China are not contributing to mass surveillance.


# Hezbollah leader says his group must retaliate for suspected Israeli strike in Beirut
By **BASSEM MROUE**, **WAFAA SHURAFA**, and **NAJIB JOBAIN**
January 5, 2024. 7:30 PM EST

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**BEIRUT (AP)** - The leader of the Lebanese militia Hezbollah said Friday that his group must retaliate after a presumed Israeli strike hit a Beirut neighborhood this week, killing a senior Hamas official, or else all of Lebanon would be vulnerable to Israeli attack.

Hassan Nasrallah appeared to be making the case for a response to the Lebanese public, even at the risk of escalating the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel. But he gave no indication of how or when the militants would act.

The strike that killed Hamas' deputy political leader, Saleh Arouri, threatened months of efforts by the United States to prevent the war in Gaza from spiraling into a regional conflict.

Nasrallah said it was the first strike by Israel in the Lebanese capital since 2006.

"We cannot keep silent about a violation of this seriousness," he said, "because this means that all of our people will be exposed (to targeting). All of our cities, villages and public figures will be exposed."

The repercussions of silence are "far greater" than the risks of retaliating, he added.

Tensions are rising on multiple fronts as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in the region. Iraqis are furious after an American airstrike killed a militia leader in Baghdad. At the same time, the U.S. is struggling to deter attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels on commercial Red Sea shipping.

In Gaza, Israel is moving to scale down its military assault in the north of the territory and pressing its heavy offensive in the south, vowing to crush Hamas. In the south, most of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians are being squeezed into smaller areas in a humanitarian disaster, while still being pounded by Israeli airstrikes.

Since the start of the Gaza war, Hezbollah has fired rockets and missiles into northern Israel, bringing a return bombardment from Israel in near daily cross-border exchanges. After the strike Tuesday in Beirut, the Lebanon-Israel front appeared to be at a critical juncture, with the potential to veer into an all-out war.

On Friday, Israeli aircraft, tanks and artillery struck several areas in Lebanon after rockets and missiles were fired toward Israel, the military said.

But Hezbollah has held back from a dramatic escalation, wary of a repeat of the two sides' 2006 war in which Israeli bombardment wreaked extensive destruction in Lebanon.

Nasrallah said Friday that the details of Hezbollah's response "will be decided on the battlefield." He did not elaborate.

The Beirut strike is not the only thing threatening a wider fight between Israel and Lebanon.

Israeli officials have threatened greater military action against Hezbollah unless it withdraws it fighters from Lebanese territory near their shared border.

A pullback - called for under a 2006 U.N. truce but never implemented - is necessary to stop barrages and allow the return of tens of thousands of Israelis to homes they evacuated near the border, Israel says.

Nasrallah boasted about the evacuations, saying that after Israel forced Lebanese to flee in past conflicts, Hezbollah had now done the same to Israelis, putting political pressure on the government.

Hezbollah's cross-border attacks aim to engage Israeli forces away from Gaza, Nasrallah said, and the only way to stop them is "to stop the aggression on Gaza."

Israel says it aims to destroy Hamas' military capabilities and remove it from power in Gaza after the militants' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, in which they killed around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducted around 250 others.

The army's chief spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said Friday the military plans an investigation into failures connected with the Hamas attack, which generated heavy criticism of military, intelligence and political leaders for being caught off guard. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted the government must focus on the war first and answer questions later.

Israel's onslaught in Gaza has killed more than 22,600 people, more than two-thirds of them women and children, according to the territory's Health Ministry. The ministry's count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Much of northern Gaza - the most urbanized part of the tiny territory - has been flattened by bombardment and fighting. Most of its population has fled south, joining its residents who have largely been driven from their homes as well. The risk of famine is increasing daily, according to the U.N. humanitarian office, known by the acronym OCHA.

The ground offensive threatens to bring further destruction in the south, particularly in the main battleground city Khan Younis.

Footage aired on Al Jazeera TV showed devastation in downtown Khan Younis. No building in the city's central Sunneya Square has been left untouched. Some structures have been leveled, while others have been partially destroyed or scorched.

Almost every day this week, strikes have hit in and around Khan Younis' Al Amal Hospital and a hospital run by the Palestinian Red Crescent, killing dozens of people, the OCHA said.

Martin Griffiths, the U.N. humanitarian chief, said in a statement Friday that the humanitarian community is facing an "impossible mission" of supporting more than 2 million people in Gaza while aid workers are killed, communications blackouts continue, roads are damaged and truck convoys carrying vital supplies shot at. Gaza's handful of partially functioning hospitals are overwhelmed and infectious diseases are spreading, he said.

Israeli bombardment continued around the territory. At least 13 people were killed when an apartment building was leveled in Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, hospital officials said.

In Rafah, at Gaza's southernmost end, relatives and friends wept over the bodies of six people killed in a strike on a house overnight, including three children.

Sohad al-Derbashi, whose sister was killed in the strike, said the owner of the house had evacuated, fearing he would be targeted since he works as a civil servant in Gaza's Hamas-led administration, as do thousands of others in the territory. When he came to visit the house last night, the strike hit, she said. Her sister, living on the floor below, was crushed.

"They were civilians, innocent people, with no connection to anything. Even the target who was with Hamas was a civil employee. What did he do wrong?" el-Derbashi said.


# Azerbaijan names a former oil exec to lead climate talks. Activists have concerns
By **SIBI ARASU**
January 5, 2024. 12:31 PM EST

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Azerbaijan's ecology minister has been named to lead the United Nations' annual climate talks later this year, prompting concern from some climate activists over his former ties to the state oil company in a major oil-producing nation.

Mukhtar Babayev's appointment was announced on X by the United Arab Emirates, which hosted the climate talks that just ended in December, and confirmed Friday by the United Nations. Officials in Azerbaijan did not immediately respond to messages seeking to confirm the appointment.

Babayev, 56, has been his country's minister for ecology and natural resources since 2018. Before that, he worked at Azerbaijan's state oil company for more than two decades.

Similar concerns dogged Sultan al-Jaber, the head of the UAE's national oil company, as he presided over the talks in Dubai known as COP28. The COP president is responsible for running talks and getting nearly 200 countries to agree on a deal to help limit global warming, and skeptics questioned whether al-Jaber would be willing to confront the fossil fuels causing climate change.

The conference ultimately resulted in a final agreement that for the first time mentioned fossil fuels as the cause of climate change and acknowledged the need to transition away from them, but it had no concrete requirements to do so.

Oil and natural gas bring in around 90% of Azerbaijan's export revenues and finance around 60% of the government budget, according to the International Energy Agency. Climate activists said the country needs to look past its own fossil fuel interests if it's going to host successful talks.

Mohamad Adow of climate think tank Power Shift Africa said it's "concerning to be once again having the world's climate negotiations coordinated by a petrostate that has a big interest in oil and gas production." But he was hopeful that climate negotiators could be successful in Azerbaijan's capital Baku as "the COP in Dubai resulted in an outcome more positive than many expected."

"He's got a huge job to do," said Adow. "He needs to start working on getting rich countries to deliver serious, long-term finance that will tackle the climate crisis."

Harjeet Singh, global engagement director for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, said that "with another petrostate hosting the climate conference, our concerns multiply."

Babayev "must transcend the vested interests of the powerful fossil fuel industry that is primarily responsible for the climate crisis," Singh said.

Melanie Robinson, global director for the climate program at World Resources Institute, didn't comment directly on Babayev but said "stakes will be high" in Azerbaijan, where nations will tackle issues including how to finance climate change adaptation and mitigation around the world, particularly in poorer countries.

"As with all presidencies, the world will be looking to Azerbaijan to fairly facilitate the most ambitious outcome possible," she said.

The United Nations moves the talks around the world with different regions taking turns. They're typically announced two years in advance, but the decision to hold 2024 talks in Azerbaijan came just 11 months before the negotiations are supposed to start.

That was due to a longtime standoff between Eastern European nations, the region designated to host in 2024. A prisoner swap between Azerbaijan and Armenia in early December led to Armenia supporting Azerbaijan's COP29 bid.


# US fugitive accused of faking his death to avoid rape charges is extradited to Utah from Scotland
By **BRIAN MELLEY** and **HANNAH SCHOENBAUM**
January 5, 2024. 6:06 PM EST

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**SALT LAKE CITY (AP)** - An elusive U.S. fugitive accused of faking his own death and traveling the globe to avoid rape charges has been extradited to Utah from Scotland, the Utah County prosecutor's office said Friday.

The man known in the U.S. as Nicholas Rossi, whose legal name is Nicholas Alahverdian, is charged with sexually assaulting a former girlfriend in Orem, Utah, in 2008, according to local prosecutors. He also faces multiple complaints against him in Rhode Island for alleged domestic violence.

Rossi, 36, was Utah-bound on Friday and will stand trial in Utah County for felony rape charges, county prosecutor David Leavitt said.

"This is a great day," Leavitt said in a statement thanking his staff for working with U.S. and international authorities to identify Rossi and bring him to justice more than a decade after his alleged crimes.

In response to an inquiry from The Associated Press about Rossi's return, Police Scotland would only confirm it assisted other law enforcement agencies to extradite a 36-year-old man.

Rossi's run from the law took a bizarre turn when he was arrested in December 2021 after being recognized by someone at a Glasgow hospital while he was being treated for COVID-19. He insisted he was an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight and had never set foot on American soil.

The man had said he was framed by authorities who took his fingerprints while he was in a coma so they could connect him to Rossi. He repeatedly appeared in court in a wheelchair, using an oxygen mask and speaking in a less-than-convincing British accent.

After a protracted court battle, Judge Norman McFadyen of Edinburgh Sheriff Court ruled in August that the extradition could move forward. The judge called Rossi "as dishonest and deceitful as he is evasive and manipulative."

Prosecutors identified at least 10 aliases Rossi had used to evade capture. They also presented medical reports from doctors involved in his care, some describing how he appeared to have faked seizures and others stating that he did not have any ongoing problems with his lungs.

McFadyen dismissed his claims of mistaken identity as "implausible" and "fanciful." The judge said Rossi presented unreliable evidence and he wasn't "prepared to accept any statement of fact made by him unless it was independently supported."

Rossi lost an appeal in December.

Rossi, who grew up in foster homes in Rhode Island, made a name for himself there as a vocal critic of the state's Department of Children, Youth and Families.

Four years ago, he told media in Rhode Island that he had late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma and had weeks to live. An obituary published online claimed he died Feb. 29, 2020.

About a year later, Rhode Island state police, Alahverdian's former lawyer and his former foster family questioned whether he was actually dead.

Authorities in Rhode Island have said Alahverdian is wanted in the state for failing to register as a sex offender, though his former lawyer there, Jeffrey Pine, told the AP that the charge had been dropped when he left the state. The FBI has said he also faces fraud charges in Ohio, where he was convicted of sex-related charges in 2008.

Police in England said they also were investigating and seeking to interview Rossi in connection with an older rape allegation made in April 2022 in the city of Chelmsford.