In a sworn affidavit, Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law said Hegseth’s ex-wife told her she at one point “feared for her personal safety” during her marriage to him.
Author: MAK Gojar
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Tuesday with his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan as the Trump administration kicked off its formal foreign policy engagements in discussions with the Indo- Pacific “Quad.” The ministers reaffirmed their countries’ commitment to the format and its goals and indicated their leaders would meet in the coming months. The grouping of the four countries has been seen by many as an initiative to counter or at least slow China’s increasing assertiveness and aggressiveness in the region, something over which President Donald Trump and his predecessors, including former President Joe Biden, have all expressed…
The South Korean government will reduce subsidies for biomass energy after rising domestic and international criticism of its link to deforestation. Environmental activists generally applauded the reforms but criticized loopholes and slow timelines for phasing out the subsidies. “While not without caveats, (the) decision by the South Korean government demonstrates that large-scale biomass power has no place in a renewable energy future,” Hansae Song, program lead at South Korea-based nongovernmental organization Solutions for Our Climate, said in an email to The Associated Press. Biomass power, predominantly generated by burning wood, is growing globally as countries accelerate their transition to use…
South Korea’s impeached president denied Tuesday that he ordered the military to drag lawmakers out of the National Assembly to prevent them from voting to reject his martial law decree last month, as he appeared for the first time before the Constitutional Court that will determine his fate. Yoon Suk Yeol’s presence at the court was his first public appearance since becoming South Korea’s first sitting president to be detained over his short-lived declaration of martial law, which plunged the country into political turmoil. After abruptly imposing martial law on Dec. 3, Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle…
A fire raged through a 12-story hotel at a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkey early Tuesday during a school holiday, killing at least 76 people — at least two of them when they jumped from the building to escape the flames, officials said. At least 51 people also were injured in the fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, in Bolu province’s Koroglu mountains, some 300 kilometers (185 miles) east of Istanbul, said Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. The fire occurred near the start of a two-week winter break for schools, when hotels in the region are packed. “Our…
The ACLU announced the settlement of a case alleging agents sent by President Donald Trump to protect a federal courthouse used excessive force on protesters. The ACLU announced the settlement of a case alleging agents sent by President Donald Trump to protect a federal courthouse used excessive force on protesters. A lawsuit alleging that law enforcement agents sent by President Donald Trump to protect a federal courthouse in 2020 used excessive force against racial justice protesters has been settled, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon said Tuesday. The settlement requires the federal government to compensate the plaintiffs for the…
Also: Financial chaos | Critical electrification | Jan. 6 evidence | Cashing in | Gaza truce. Mercury News reader letters to the editor for Jan. 22, 2025. Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor. Khanna’s embrace of conspiracy troubling Re: “Death spurs theory of foul play” (Page A1, Jan. 19). As a strong supporter of my congressman, Rep. Ro Khanna, I was taken aback by his promotion of a conspiracy theory regarding the unfortunate death of a whistleblower here in Silicon Valley. To me, Khanna appears to be peddling a conspiracy theory…
He allegedly murdered his wife and mother-in-law because his wife became inconvenient for him and he wished to pursue new romances. MARTINEZ — It has all the makings of the Laci Peterson murder case, minus the accompanying media frenzy. A San Pablo father of two stands accused of murdering his wife and her mother simply because they became a nuisance for him. Prosecutors say that after dumping their bodies in the Oakland estuary, he simply reported them voluntarily missing, dropped his children off to live at his parent’s house, and began a search for a new romantic interest with a…
Also: Automate BART | Miserable workers | Army of thugs | Relentless protest | Nation in peril. East Bay Times reader letters to the editor for Jan. 22, 2025. Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor. Lee isn’t the change that Oakland needs Re: “Lee jumps into mayoral race” (Page A1, Jan. 9). I see that Barbara Lee has decided to run for mayor of Oakland. Do the people in Oakland so love the way the city has been run for the past 20 years that they want more of the same?…
Right-wing extremists are celebrating Elon Musk’s straight-arm gesture during a speech Monday, although his intention wasn’t totally clear and some hate watchdogs are saying not to read too much into it. “I just want to say thank you for making it happen,” Musk said during a speech at Capital One Arena, referring to Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election. Then he slapped his hand on his chest, extended his arm straight out and up with his palm facing down. “My heart goes out to you,” said Musk, after turning around to make a similar gesture facing the other way.…
A woman accused with her husband of forcing their adopted children to perform hard farm labor denied confining two of the children to a shed despite police finding them in the structure behind a locked door, news outlets reported. Jeanne Kay Whitefeather took the stand Tuesday as the second week began in the trial of her and her husband, Donald Ray Lantz. They are accused of mistreating four of the five children, all of whom are Black. Whitefeather and Lantz, who are white, each face more than a dozen felony counts that include forced labor, civil rights violations, human trafficking…
Officers enforcing immigration laws will now be able to arrest migrants at sensitive locations like schools and churches after the Trump administration threw out policies limiting where those arrests could happen as the new president seeks to make good on campaign promises to carry out mass deportations. The move announced Tuesday reverses guidance that for over a decade has restricted two key federal immigration agencies — Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — from carrying out immigration enforcement in sensitive locations. “This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration…
An estimated 24.6 million television viewers watched President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, the smallest audience for the quadrennial ceremony since Barack Obama’s second inauguration in 2013. The Nielsen Company said Tuesday that viewership was down from Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration, which reached 33.8 million, and Trump’s first move into the White House, seen by 30.6 million in 2017. Inauguration viewership has varied widely over the past half-century, from a high of 41.8 million when Ronald Reagan came into office in 1981 to a low of 15.5 million for the start of George W. Bush’s second term in 2004. The length…
A specialized camera was lowered late last year into an almost 2.6-kilometer- (1.6-mile-) deep mineshaft in South Africa where hundreds of miners were reported to be trapped, starving, dehydrated and desperate to get out. With no architectural plans of the actual mineshaft and its levels and tunnels, the camera reached 1,280 meters (4,200 feet) underground and gave rescuers their first visuals: A large group of miners was seen standing around on a level, clearly waiting for help to arrive. Rescuers brought the camera to the surface and then sent it back down, this time with a notepad, pen and a…
Rioters locked up for their roles in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack were released while judges began dismissing dozens of pending cases Tuesday after President Donald Trump’s sweeping grant of clemency to all 1,500-plus people charged in the insurrection that shook the foundation of American democracy. With the stroke of a pen on his first day back in the White House, Trump’s order upended the largest prosecution in Justice Department history, freeing from prison people caught on camera viciously attacking police as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of orchestrating violent plots to stop the peaceful transfer of…
President Donald Trump has directed his Justice Department to pause enforcement of the TikTok ban until early April, but a host of questions remain – including whether Trump has the authority to issue such an order and if TikTok’s China-based parent would be amenable to selling the popular social media platform. In an executive order signed on Monday, Trump instructed the U.S. attorney general to not enforce the ban for 75 days while his administration determines “the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown” of TikTok. Under a federal law that…
Authorities on Tuesday were investigating a fatal shooting of a U.S. Border Patrol agent that also left a suspect dead and another injured on a Vermont highway near Canada, authorities said. Agent David Maland was killed Monday afternoon following a traffic stop, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said in a statement. A German national in the country on what the FBI called a current visa was killed and an injured suspect was taken into custody and is being treated at a local hospital. The violence temporarily closed part of Interstate 91 about 20 miles (32 km) from Canada…
Birthright citizenship — the idea that every person born in the U.S. is an American citizen — is spelled out in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Birthright citizenship — the idea that every person born in the U.S. is an American citizen — is spelled out in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Washington, led by new Attorney General Nick Brown, has sued President Donald Trump and his administration over their order to end birthright citizenship. Trump, on his first day in office, issued an executive order to overturn birthright citizenship, a right recognized as enshrined in the Constitution…
The collision occurred at Broad Street and Alaskan Way near the waterfront, the Seattle Fire Department posted on X at 10:05 a.m. The collision occurred at Broad Street and Alaskan Way near the waterfront, the Seattle Fire Department posted on X at 10:05 a.m. A freight train hit and killed a man walking near Seattle’s downtown waterfront Tuesday morning. The collision occurred at Broad Street and Alaskan Way, Seattle Fire Department posted on X at 10:05 a.m. The department shortly after said the pedestrian was dead. Seattle Police determined that the man was walking westbound on Broad Street toward the…
Trump and Vance brainstormed with top congressional Republicans on a path to execute the president’s ambitious agenda amid narrow majorities in both chambers of Congress.