Jan. 16 (UPI) — Attorneys for alleged Charlie Kirk murderer Tyler Robinson on Friday argued that a prosecutor should be removed from the case due to a claimed conflict of interest.

Robinson, 22, and his legal team were in the Fourth Judicial District Court to seek the removal of an unnamed prosecutor because his daughter attended the Sept. 10 Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University in Orem when Kirk was shot and killed.

The daughter also is a potential witness against Robinson and was about 85 feet from Kirk when he was shot, and the Utah County Attorney’s Office sent law enforcement to protect her upon learning of the shooting, Robinson’s attorneys argued during an Oct. 24 hearing.

They moved to remove the prosecutor from the case and at the very least want him off the case until the motion is either approved or denied.

The prosecutor and his daughter are not “immune to [the] trauma” arising from the shooting, which could lead the prosecutor to make personal rather than professional decisions, Robinson said, as reported by KTVX.

The prosecutors dismissed Robinson’s claim, saying the prosecutor’s daughter is an adult and there is no conflict of interest in his remaining on the case.

The young woman reacted to the shooting in a “comparatively minor emotional” manner compared to those who were close to Kirk when the shooting occurred, the prosecutors argued.

She has no personal knowledge of the murder, they argued, and is just one of thousands of witnesses who attended the event and saw the shooting unfold.

They also said Robinson’s attorneys have not provided any evidence to support their claim of a conflict of interest.

Robinson’s defense attorneys moved to have the court send its motion to the Utah Attorney General’s Office instead of continuing with Friday’s motion hearing.

That request caused an about 45-minute delay in the motion hearing, and Judge Tony Graf asked the defense and prosecution if an evidentiary hearing with witnesses should be scheduled to further litigate the motion.

Graf said there is insufficient evidence to refer the case to the Utah attorney general, and Robinson’s attorneys asked that he allow more evidence to be entered until the motion is decided.

The motion hearing ended with no ruling given, but an evidentiary hearing could be scheduled and include witnesses before Graf rules on the motion to remove the prosecutor from the case.

Caracas, January 16, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez expressed her willingness to “continue shaping energy cooperation” with the United States while “respecting international legality.”

Rodríguez delivered the “Memoria y Cuenta” address to the nation before the National Assembly on Thursday, having taken office following the January 3 US military attacks and kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.

In her speech, Rodríguez highlighted some of the country’s recent economic achievements amidst wide-reaching US sanctions, including a reported 19 consecutive quarters of economic growth and an expected 8.5 percent GDP growth in 2025.

The acting president likewise stated that the Caribbean nation had eliminated gasoline imports last year. Rodríguez went on to announce a reform of Venezuela’s Hydrocarbon Law in order to promote foreign investment. The proposal seeks to incorporate mechanisms established under the 2020 Anti-Blockade Law to circumvent unilateral sanctions.

Rodríguez focused her speech on the importance of diplomacy, stressing that Venezuela “has the right” to maintain ties with China, Russia, Cuba, Iran, as well as the US.

With the US government reportedly administering Venezuelan oil sales and the Trump administration vowing to control the industry for an “indefinite” period, Rodríguez reiterated that Caracas remains open to energy relations in which “all parties benefit.” 

She also reaffirmed her willingness to strengthen bilateral relations with Washington without subordination, urging legislators not to “fear” diplomatic initiatives. 

“The acting president is afraid because she is threatened; Venezuela is threatened—Venezuela as a whole,” she said. “That is why I call for national unity, so that with sovereignty as our guiding principle, we can wage the diplomatic battle.”

Rodríguez went on to affirm that if, as acting president, she were to travel to Washington, she would do so “standing upright, walking—never groveling.”

Diplomatic rapprochement

The acting president’s diplomatic focus came days after the Venezuelan government announced the start of an exploratory process with the US aimed at reopening the respective embassies in Caracas and Washington, DC. Venezuelan officials have defended the diplomatic rapprochement with the need to denounce Maduro and Flores’ kidnapping and offer consular support during their upcoming trial.

Caracas also reported the arrival of a US State Department delegation last week to evaluate conditions for the embassy reopening. The Maduro government broke diplomatic ties with the first Trump administration in 2019 after the latter recognized the self-proclaimed “interim government” headed by Juan Guaidó.

Rodríguez further revealed that on January 14 she held a “long and courteous” phone call with Trump, during which they discussed “a working agenda for the benefit of both peoples.” The US president confirmed the exchange, describing the conversation as “great” and calling Rodríguez “a wonderful person” with whom “it is very easy to work.”

On Thursday, the Venezuelan leader reportedly held a meeting with CIA Director John Ratcliffe at Maiquetía airport. According to the New York Times, the two discussed intelligence cooperation, with Ratcliffe emphasizing that Venezuela should cease to be an alleged “safe haven for America’s adversaries, especially narco-traffickers.” The Rodríguez administration has yet to comment on the meeting.

Additionally, the interim president dispatched Félix Plasencia—former foreign minister and ambassador to the UK—to hold meetings with US officials in Washington. 

Plasencia’s visit coincided with a trip by opposition figure María Corina Machado, who held what the BBC described as a “brief and atypical” encounter with Trump at the White House. The far-right leader handed the US president her Nobel Peace Prize medal. 

The gesture drew criticism from Norwegian experts and media outlets, who labeled it “incredibly shameful” and “damaging” to the award. The Nobel Committee’s decision to grant Machado the prize had likewise come under fire due to the far-right leader’s history of involvement in violent coup plots and calls for foreign intervention.

Trump, however, thanked Machado for the “gesture of respect,” though the White House later stated that the visit was just a “courtesy” with no influence on administration policy. Following the January 3 attacks, the US president dismissed Machado’s prospects of leading Venezuela, adding that she “did not have respect within the country.”

Meanwhile, agreements between Caracas and Washington continue to move forward, including the resumption of deportation flights from the US on Friday. The first such flight, operated by Eastern Air Express, departed from Phoenix, Arizona, and landed at Simón Bolívar International Airport with 199 Venezuelan migrants onboard.

The previous deportation flight had taken place on December 10. Two days later, the Venezuelan government announced that the Trump administration had unilaterally suspended the migrant repatriation program.

Edited and with additional reporting by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.

Mickey Rourke is doubling down on his disgust over a fundraiser that quickly raised more than $100,000 on his behalf, calling it an embarrassing “scam” and a “vicious cruel lie” and promising “severe repercussions to [the] individual who did this very bad thing” to him.

At the same time, the fundraiser — aimed at keeping Rourke in his home when he faced eviction because of almost $60,000 in unpaid rent — has been taken down, with the actor’s name being used now by others to boost their more anonymous efforts.

(A Friday morning search for “Mickey Rourke” on GoFundMe yielded more than a dozen campaigns drafting off the search value of the actor’s high-profile situation but the campaign set up for the “9½ Weeks” actor was nowhere to be found.)

The GoFundMe had been placed on pause last week after more than $100,000 was raised in two days, with Rourke’s manager Kimberly Hines writing, “Thank you so much for your generosity and for standing with Mickey during this time. Your support truly means a great deal to us, and we are grateful for every donation. We remain committed to finding a resolution and are working with Mickey to determine the next steps.”

Rejecting the donations, Rourke called the fundraiser “humiliating” and “really f— embarrassing” in a video posted last week, saying he didn’t need the money.

“I wouldn’t know what a GoFund foundation is in a million years,” said the actor, 73, who was a leading man in the 1980s with movies including “Barfly” and “Angel Heart” and was Oscar-nominated for his work in 2008’s “The Wrestler.” “My life is very simple and I don’t go to outside sources like that.”

He said later in the video that he “would never ask strangers or fans for a nickel. That’s not my style.”

Hines might disagree, as she said she’s the one who has been fronting the money to cover Rourke’s move out of the Beverly Grove house and into a hotel and subsequently into a Koreatown apartment.

Hines’ assistant’s name had been listed as the creator of the fundraiser, with Hines named as the beneficiary. The actor’s manager of nine years told the Hollywood Reporter on Jan. 6 that Rourke knew the origins of the effort, despite saying he did not: She and her assistant had run the idea past his assistant before it was launched, she said, and both teams were OK with it.

“Nobody’s trying to grift Mickey. I want him working. I don’t want him doing a GoFundMe,” Hines told THR. “The good thing about this is that he got four movie offers since yesterday. People are emailing him movie offers now, which is great because nobody’s been calling him for a long time.”

But Rourke was still fretting over it Thursday on Instagram, where he said in a couple of posts that there was still more than $90,000 to be returned to his supporters and promised that his attorney was “doing everything in his power” to make sure people got their “hard earned money” back.

He also thanked some “great” friends who he said reached out after seeing the “scam” that he needed money, including UFC boss Dana White and fighter Bill “Superfoot” Wallace.

Rourke said in his Jan. 6 video, shot while he was staying at a hotel, “I’m grateful for what I have. I’ve got a roof over my head, I’ve got food to eat. … Everything’s OK. Just get your money back, please. I don’t need anybody’s money, and I wouldn’t do it this way. I’ve got too much pride. This ain’t my style.”

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday said he would like to keep his top economic advisor, Kevin Hassett, at the White House rather than potentially nominate him to replace Jerome H. Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve.

“I actually want to keep you where you are, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said at a White House event, when he saw Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, in the audience. ”I just want to thank you, you were fantastic on television the other day.”

Trump’s comments, while not clearly definitive, have upended expectations around the extensive search the White House has undergone to find a new Fed chair, one of the most powerful financial positions in the world. The president’s remarks have boosted the prospects for Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor and already a top contender for the position.

Hassett has generally been seen as the front-runner in the race to replace Powell because he has worked for Trump since his first presidential term. Last month, Trump referred to Hassett as a “potential Fed chair.”

Powell’s term as chair will end May 15, though he could take the unusual step of remaining on the board as governor afterward. Trump appointed Powell in 2018 but soon soured on him for raising the Fed’s key interest rate that year.

Warsh’s candidacy probably has also been boosted by the Justice Department’s subpoenas of the Federal Reserve last week, revealed Sunday in an unusually direct video statement by Powell. The Fed chair charged that the subpoenas were essentially punishment for the central bank’s refusal to lower interest rates as sharply as Trump would like.

The criminal investigation — a first for a sitting Fed chair — sparked pushback on Capitol Hill, with many Republican senators dismissing the idea that Powell could have committed a crime. The subpoenas related to testimony Powell gave in June before the Senate Banking Committee that touched on a $2.5-billion building renovation project.

The backlash has intensified concerns in the Senate, analysts say, that the Trump administration is seeking to undermine the Fed’s independence from day-to-day politics. That, in turn, may reduce Hassett’s prospects.

The brouhaha over the subpoenas is “making it harder to confirm Hassett, who is distinctively close to the president,” Krishna Guha, an analyst at investment bank Evercore ISI, wrote in a client note. “Warsh is trusted by Senate Republicans and would be much easier to confirm.”

Yet Warsh, historically, is known as a “hawk,” or someone who traditionally supports higher interest rates to ward off inflation, as opposed to a “dove,” or someone who prefers lower borrowing costs to spur hiring and growth.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose Friday, to just above 4.2%, from about 4.17% Thursday. The increase probably reflected a sense that Warsh’s chances had improved, and as a result the Fed would be less likely over time to cut rates than under a Hassett chairmanship.

Rugaber writes for the Associated Press.

Lakers star Luka Doncic will miss Saturday’s game in Portland because of left groin soreness, the team announced Friday.

Doncic, the NBA’s leading scorer averaging 33.6 points per game, appeared to struggle with a groin injury during a loss against the Sacramento Kings on Monday. But he didn’t miss games on Tuesday and Thursday as the Lakers (24-15) traversed a particularly difficult week of five games in seven days.

Doncic led the Lakers to a win against Atlanta, and he played a team-high 35 minutes and 43 seconds in Thursday’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets. He scored 39 points with four assists in the loss, which was the Lakers’ fourth in the last five games.

The Lakers, who finish a back-to-back set on Sunday at home against the Toronto Raptors, could also be without both centers against Portland. Starter Deandre Ayton (left knee soreness) and backup Jaxson Hayes (left hamstring tendinopathy) are both questionable. Ayton is averaging 13.9 points and 8.7 rebounds. Hayes has missed the last two games because of the injury but coach JJ Redick said Thursday the 7-foot center could be back this weekend.

Forward Adou Thiero remains out with a right medial collateral ligament sprain and guard Austin Reaves is closing in on the final week of the initial four-week timetable provided for his left calf strain. After aggravating the injury on Christmas Day, Reaves was ruled out for at least a month before he would be reevaluated.

Jan. 16 (Asia Today) — A pre-dawn fire tore through Guryong Village in Seoul’s Gangnam district on Friday, forcing residents of what is often called the city’s last shantytown to flee with little more than what they could carry.

The blaze broke out around 5 a.m., leaving residents scrambling down the hillside as flames spread through tightly packed homes, according to residents and reporters at the scene.

Kang, 66, said she escaped after a neighbor banged on her door shouting that there was a fire. She said she left behind a gold ring she had saved to give her son for his wedding.

“I left my son’s wedding ring behind,” she said, breaking down as she described saving for years for the gift. She said the wedding date was set for Dec. 22.

By morning, sections of the settlement showed collapsed roofs, charred walls and shattered windows, with household items scattered along the narrow lanes. Coal briquettes stacked for winter could be seen through broken windows.

As black ash hung in the air, residents were urged to evacuate quickly, witnesses said.

Park Cheon-su, 78, who lives in the village’s District 6, said he turned back during the evacuation to retrieve medication he was taking. Despite warnings from firefighters, he said he went back inside.

“Is dying from not taking my medicine any different than dying in a fire?” he shouted, according to witnesses.

Park later emerged holding his medication packets and wearing no shoes, witnesses said. Looking toward the smoke, he said, “The world is truly cruel.” He said he had lived there for 30 years.

After the fire was brought under control, displaced residents gathered at a nearby community center, where they were given food and water, residents said. Some refused to eat, saying they had no appetite.

Noh Jeong-ae, 80, said she grabbed what she could during the escape but ended up with only two scarves. She repeatedly asked what would happen to her home, residents said. Another longtime resident said he did not know where he could go at his age.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

These are the key developments from day 1,423 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is where things stand on Saturday, January 17 :

Fighting

• Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian city of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region, killing two women and injuring six people, the head of the regional administration, Oleksandr Hanzha, wrote on Facebook.
• Russia’s Ministry of Defence said that Russian forces seized five settlements in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region in the past week, including Zakotnoye and Zhovtnevoye in the past 24 hours, Russia’s TASS state news agency reports.
• Russia’s Defence Ministry acknowledged its forces attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure and military facilities seven times over the past week, including one operation described as a major strike against its neighbour.
• A Ukrainian drone strike killed a man in Russian-occupied Kherson, Moscow’s appointed official in the region, Volodymyr Saldo, said, according to TASS.
• Ukrainian attacks left 68,000 households without electricity in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, TASS also reported, citing local Russian-appointed official, Yevhen Balitsky.
• Russia and Ukraine on Friday agreed to a localised ceasefire to allow repairs on the last remaining backup power line at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.
• Work on the power line, which was damaged and disconnected as a result of military activity on January 2, should start “in the coming days”, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said in a statement.
• ‍Russian Security Council deputy chairman Dmitry Medvedev said that 422,704 people had signed ⁠contracts with the Russian ​Armed Forces last year, state ‍news agencies reported. The number of sign-ups is lower than in 2024, ‍when about 450,000 ⁠people signed contracts to join the Russian army.

Ukraine energy crisis

• Children across Ukraine risk hypothermia in freezing temperatures as emergency stocks of power generators run low following Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, international aid agencies said on Friday.
• Almost the entire Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which is currently occupied by Russian forces, was left without electricity following an explosion, Petro Andriushchenko, head of the Center for the Study of Occupation, said on the Telegram messaging app.
• Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that 67 apartment buildings remain without heat in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, more than a week after a Russian attack left 6,000 apartments without heating, as temperatures continue to fall to -17 degrees Celsius (1.4 Fahrenheit) overnight.
• Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said that “severe weather conditions and frost” are continuing to complicate efforts to restore heat and electricity following Russian attacks, in an update shared on Facebook.
• Svyrydenko said that 17 electrical substations are now being powered by generators, as repair work continues and that 1,300 tents have been deployed in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where many households still remain without heating.
• Curfew restrictions have been relaxed in places where the energy emergency is ongoing, so that people can access shelters with heating where needed, the prime minister said.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, responding to Svyrydenko’s updates, said that tens of thousands of people are working to restore electricity and heat across the country.
• Zelenskyy also said that he spoke with British Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy and thanked him for the United Kingdom’s decision to provide an “energy support package” for Ukraine.
• The UK announced on Friday that it would provide 20 million British pounds ($26.7m) “of new support … for vital energy infrastructure repairs in Ukraine as Russia’s barbaric attacks on innocent civilians intensify”.

Peace talks

• A Ukrainian delegation is en route to the United States for talks with Washington on security guarantees and a post-war recovery package, Zelenskyy said on Friday, expressing hope the documents could be signed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos next week.
• During the talks, ⁠Kyiv’s team also hopes to get clarity from the US on the Russian stance towards US-backed diplomatic efforts to end the nearly ​four-year war, Zelenskyy told a news conference in Kyiv alongside visiting Czech President Petr Pavel.
• The European Commission is considering ways to allow Ukraine’s quick accession to the European Union as part of a peace deal with Russia, but without giving Kyiv full membership rights, which would only be “earned” after transition periods, EU officials told the Reuters news agency.

Military aid

• President Zelenskyy said on Friday that allied supplies of air defence systems and missiles were insufficient and warned Russia was preparing new massive strikes. He said it was crucial that allied countries heed Ukraine’s requests for additional supplies.
• The ‌Czech Republic is set to provide Ukraine with combat ‍planes shortly ‍that can shoot down incoming drones, President Pavel told Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Friday. Pavel did not give specifics, but two years ago ⁠said Czech-made subsonic L-159 fighter jets could be transferred to ​Ukraine.

Regional security

• Five men have been charged in Poland with taking part in a Russian-run sabotage plot to send explosive parcels to the UK, the US, Canada and other destinations, and will face life sentences if convicted, prosecutors said ⁠on Friday.
• The four Ukrainian citizens and one Russian were charged “with acting … on behalf of the intelligence ​services of the Russian Federation”, the Polish National Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
• Lithuanian prosecutors charged six foreign nationals accused of planning an arson attack in 2024 on a company producing military equipment for Ukraine, in a plot believed to have been ordered by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU.
• Those charged include nationals of Spain, Colombia, Cuba, Russia and Belarus, as well as a dual Spanish-Colombian citizen. The company manufactures mobile radio-frequency analysis stations for the Ukrainian armed forces.

Politics and diplomacy

• The Kremlin said Friday it considered calls by some European states to resume dialogue with Russia as “positive”, after French and Italian leaders called for re-engagement with Moscow on Ukraine.
• Dialogue between the EU and Russia has been virtually frozen since Moscow launched its full-scale offensive on Ukraine in 2022, with the bloc imposing huge sanctions and travel restrictions on Russia.
• A court in Kyiv released former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on bail on Friday pending a trial to determine whether she paid members of Ukraine’s parliament to sway their voting. The 65-year-old stalwart of Ukrainian politics, who has denied the charges and said the case is politically motivated, served as prime minister twice after 2005.

DISGRACED actor Noel Clarke has been declared bankrupt after losing a legal battle over sexual misconduct allegations. 

The former Doctor Who star, who also wrote and directed hit films and dramas, was slapped with costs of up to £6million. 

The married dad, 50, sued a newspaper for libel but a High Court judge said abuse claims by 20 women were “substantially true”. 

An initial £3million legal costs payment was due by late last year but he filed for bankruptcy in a bid to avoid paying. 

Official paperwork confirms Clarke, living in London’s upmarket borough of Kensington and Chelsea, was formally declared bankrupt on December 11.

Sources say he always knew he would never be able to meet his costs if he lost the case but “blindly pushed on regardless”. 

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Clarke continues to protest his innocence and said after he lost his case: “For almost five years, I have fought against a powerful media outlet and its extensive legal teams over inaccurate and damaging reporting.

“These stories started via anonymous emails portraying me as a monster to attract attention and outrage.

“The goal was to damage my career, and they succeeded.

“I have never claimed to be perfect. But I am not the person described in these articles.

“Overnight I lost everything, the media outlet didn’t just ruin my life they ripped through my family’s also.”

He shot to fame playing Mickey Smith during the Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant eras of Doctor Who between 2005 and 2010.

Clarke also starred in blockbuster films such as Star Trek Into Darkness and turned to writing and directing, making movies including the ‘hood series – Kidulthood, Adulthood and Brotherhood.

In 2009, Clarke won the Rising Star prize at the Bafta Film Awards, and in 2021 was given Bafta’s Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema honour.

But that award and his Bafta membership were suspended when women came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct.

Billionaire developer Rick Caruso will not run for Los Angeles mayor or California governor, after months of speculation that he would seek one of the two posts.

Caruso, who had been teasing a possible run for months, made his decision Friday, saying it came after “many heartfelt conversations” with his family.

“Though my name will not be on a ballot, my work continues,” Caruso said on X. “Public service does not require a title. It is, and always will be, my calling.”

Caruso’s plans were the talk of political circles for many months. Recently, he seemed to confirm that he would seek one of the two positions.

When asked by a reporter on Jan. 7 if it was possible he would not run for any position, Caruso responded: “That option is pretty much off the table now.”

Caruso said he will focus on his nonprofit, Steadfast LA, which brings industry leaders together to help with the Palisades fire recovery.

The 66-year-old developer behind popular L.A. malls like the Grove and the Americana at Brand spent $100 million of his own fortune against Karen Bass in 2022, outspending her 11 to 1 in his failed bid. But Bass beat him by nearly 10 percentage points.

Caruso served as president of the L.A. Police Commission in the 2000s and helped the city hire William Bratton as police chief. He was appointed to the Department of Water and Power board in 1984, at age 26 — the youngest commissioner in city history at the time.

Caruso has steadily critiqued the mayor online and in public appearances since 2022, seemingly honing and refining his argument for voters to reject the incumbent, whom he has described as incompetent.

“Her record is so bad,” Caruso said at a town hall he hosted at the Americana on Nov. 3.

Caruso’s decision not to run for mayor solidifies the 2026 field against Bass. Former Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner is running a moderate campaign, with arguments about Bass’ response to the Palisades fire and quality of life concerns that are similar to Caruso’s. The developer’s entry could have thrown a wrench into Beutner’s campaign.

Bass also faces a challenge from her left with Rae Huang, a community organizer and reverend, announcing a run for mayor in November.

Most recently, the entry of former reality star and Palisades fire victim Spencer Pratt has added new intrigue to the race.

Bass’ campaign declined to comment on Caruso’s decision.

As for governor, some voters in deep blue pockets of the state may have rejected Caruso, a former Republican who registered as a Democrat in 2022 and has faced questions over his past party registration.

Still, the developer, who has made public safety and quality of life issues his main talking points, might have attracted California voters unhappy with the current crop of gubernatorial candidates.

No single candidate has dominated the field, while some potential contenders, including Sen. Alex Padilla and Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, have announced they’re not running.

As he weighed a bid for governor in the last year, Caruso traveled multiple times to Sacramento and around the state to meet with labor leaders, community groups and politicians.

“My guess is he did polling and he did not see a path forward,” said Sara Sadhwani, a professor of politics at Pomona College.

“Had he jumped into either race and lost, it would have made the prospects of elected office even further away,” she said.

The Tampa Bay Rays sent outfielder Josh Lowe to the Angels on Friday as part of a three-team trade in which left-handed reliever Brock Burke went from the Angels to Cincinnati.

Infielder Gavin Lux moved from the Reds to Tampa Bay and minor league right-hander Chris Clark from the Angels to the Rays.

Lowe, who turns 28 on Feb. 2, batted a career-worst .220 with 11 homers and 40 RBIs last year. He injured his right oblique for the third time in 13 months and didn’t play between the March 28 opener and May 15.

Lowe has a $2.6-million, one-year contract and is on track to be eligible for free agency after the 2028 World Series. He has a .250 average with 43 homers and 170 RBIs in five big league seasons, all with the Rays.

Lux, 28, hit .269 with five homers and 53 RBIs in his only season with the Reds. He agreed last week to a $5,525,000, one-year contract and can become a free agent after this year’s World Series.

He has a .256 average with 33 homers and 208 RBIs in six seasons with the Dodgers (2019-24) and the Reds, who acquired him last January for minor league outfielder Mike Sirota and a draft pick. Lux missed the 2023 season after tearing his right ACL in a spring training game.

Burke, 29, was 7-1 with a 3.36 ERA in 68 relief appearances and one start for the Angels. He has a $2,325,000 salary also also can become a free agent after this year’s World Series.

Clark, 24, was a fifth-round draft pick in 2023 from Harvard and was 4-10 with a 4.73 ERA in 20 starts last year for Class A Inland Empire, High A Tri-City and double-A Rocket City.

The White House has confirmed to United States media that President Donald Trump plans to grant a pardon to a former governor of Puerto Rico, Wanda Vazquez Garced.

On Friday, CBS News broke the story that a pardon was imminent, and Trump administration officials have since tied the pardon to the president’s campaign against what he considers “lawfare”.

“This entire case is an example of political persecution,” a Trump official told the news agency Reuters, on condition of anonymity.

Trump has pardoned a string of right-wing officials and allies since returning to office for a second term, including former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez – who was convicted of federal drug charges – and supporters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, to protest his 2020 election defeat.

With more than 1,700 pardons and acts of clemency granted over the last year alone, Trump is on track to surpass his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, for the most pardons offered. Biden, over his four-year term, announced 4,245 acts of clemency, the most of any president in modern history.

But news of Vazquez’s pardon stirred dissent among Puerto Rico’s political opposition, including Pablo Jose Hernandez Rivera, who represents the island territory in the US House of Representatives.

“Impunity protects and promotes corruption,” Hernandez wrote on social media.

“The pardon granted to former governor Wanda Vazquez weakens public integrity, erodes trust in the justice system, and offends those of us who believe in honest government.”

Puerto Rico, as a territory, only has non-voting representation in the US Congress, and Trump has had a tumultuous relationship with the island.

In August, Trump removed the five Democratic members of Puerto Rico’s federal control board, which governs the island’s finances. And during his 2024 re-election campaign, Trump held a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York that featured a politician who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage”.

But Trump has sought to protect political allies through his use of pardons, often accusing the US justice system of being unfairly biased against conservatives.

He has also denounced what he calls the “weaponisation” of the Justice Department under his Democratic predecessors. Trump himself faced four criminal indictments, two on the federal level, during the four years between his two terms.

Only one state-level indictment, in New York, resulted in a conviction and sentence.

Vazquez identifies as a Republican, and she is a member of the New Progressive Party, which advocates for US statehood for Puerto Rico.

She became governor of Puerto Rico after her predecessor, Ricardo Rosello, stepped down in 2019, and she served until January 2021.

Vazquez was arrested in 2022 after the US Justice Department accused her of participating in an act of corruption while in office, allegedly promising to fire a commissioner in exchange for a campaign contribution.

The bribery case focused on incidents that happened while she was in office between December 2019 and June 2020.

At the time, Puerto Rico’s Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions had been investigating a bank owned by the Venezuelan financier Julio Martin Herrera Velutini for suspicious transactions.

According to prosecutors, Vazquez agreed to call for the commissioner’s resignation in exchange for a promise of financial support in the 2020 gubernatorial election. She ultimately hired an associate of Herrera Velutini to replace the commissioner.

Herrera Velutini and Mark Rossini, a consultant and former agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), allegedly paid $300,000 to political consultants to boost Vazquez’s 2020 campaign. She went on to lose the primary, though.

Vazquez at first denied any wrongdoing, but she agreed to a plea deal in August. She was the first former Puerto Rican governor to face federal charges.

MODEL Apple Martin flipped when asked to be the face of a fashion campaign.

The 21-year-old, who is the daughter of Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow, posed upside down in a pink playsuit.

She also wore a minidress as part of her capsule collection for Self-Portrait.

Speaking about her campaign for the UK brand, she said: “Debuting with self-portrait was a no-brainer.”

“Their British spirit reminds me of growing up in London.

“So it’s felt like home from the start.”

“I’m so excited for this campaign to be out in the world and for us to continue exploring this side of my creativity together.”

It comes after Gwyneth, 53, said she had lost her “purpose” when Apple and son Moses, 19, went to university – inspiring her return to cinema in the film Marty Supreme.

She explained: “My kids went off to college.

“And I had this big vacancy in my purpose and orientation.

“And then this guy, Josh Safdie, called me and I was so embarrassingly out of the [loop].

“I had never even seen Timothée Chalamet in a movie.”

SAN FRANCISCO — With California facing deep budget uncertainty and widening economic divides, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday vowed to protect residents on both ends of the income spectrum — from wealthy business leaders he fears could leave the state to unhoused Californians relying on state-funded services.

That balancing act was on display as Newsom sharpened his criticism of a proposed ballot measure to tax billionaires, a measure opponents say may push tech companies and other businesses out of the state and wound California’s economy.

“It’s already had an outsized impact on the state,” said Newsom, speaking to reporters in San Francisco’s Mission District.

Newsom is trying to head off a union’s plan for a November ballot measure that would put a one-time tax on billionaires. If approved by voters, it would raise $100 billion by imposing a one-time wealth tax of 5% on fortunes.

Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, the union behind the proposal, wants to raise money to help millions of Californians affected by widespread healthcare cuts by the Trump administration.

California political leaders, facing a tough budget year, warn that the state does not have the financial capacity to backfill those cuts.

Newsom, who is working behind the scenes with SEIU-UHW in an effort to stop the ballot measure, on Friday appeared doubtful that a deal could be struck with proponents of the measure.

“I don’t know what there is to compromise,” said Newsom, calling the measure “badly drafted” and arguing the money raised wouldn’t be spread among other groups.

“It does not support our public educators. Does not support our teachers and counselors, our librarians. It doesn’t support our first responders and firefighters. Doesn’t support the general fund and parks.”

Two top Newsom advisors, Dan Newman and Brian Brokaw, are raising money and have formed a committee to oppose the measure.

The billionaire tax measure is dividing political leaders in California and the rest of the country, with both Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) supporting the tax.

“It’s a matter of values,” Khanna said on X. “We believe billionaires can pay a modest wealth tax so working-class Californians have the Medicaid.”

Already, some prominent business leaders are taking steps that appear to be part of a strategy to avoid a potential levy.

On Dec. 31, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel announced that his firm had opened a new office in Miami, the same day venture capitalist David Sacks said he was opening an office in Austin.

Suzanne Jimenez, chief of staff for SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, called it a myth that billionaires are leaving the state and criticized Newsom.

“Right now, his priority seems to be protecting roughly 200 ultra-wealthy individuals,” she said. “Healthcare workers are focused on protecting emergency room access and lifesaving care for all 39 million Californians.”

The proposed tax has reverberated throughout the Silicon Valley and Bay Area, home to some of the world’s most lucrative tech companies and financially successful venture capitalists.

Newsom was in San Francisco on Friday, where he served two terms as mayor, to address a separate, more pressing concern for Californians on the opposite end of the economic spectrum — those living in poverty and on the city streets.

Newsom, who is weighing a 2028 presidential run, spoke at Friendship House, a substance-use treatment provider, where the governor said California is turning around the state’s homelessness crisis.

He pointed to a recent 9% statewide drop in unsheltered homelessness as evidence that years of state investment and policy changes are beginning to show results.

That was the first such drop in more than 15 years on an issue that is a political vulnerability for the two-term governor. California still accounts for roughly a quarter of the nation’s homeless population, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.

Newsom said Friday that the decline reflects years of expanded state investment in shelter, housing and behavioral healthcare, combined with stricter expectations for local governments receiving state funds. He said the state’s efforts contrast with what is happening elsewhere, pointing to homelessness continuing to rise nationally.

The governor’s budget proposal, which was released Jan. 9, includes $500 million for California’s Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention program, which provides grants to cities, counties and local continuums of care to prevent and reduce homelessness.

That money is paired with investments from Proposition 1, a 2024 ballot measure backed by Newsom and approved by voters. The measure authorized billions in state bonds to expand mental health treatment capacity and housing for people with serious behavioral health needs.

Following Newsom’s budget proposal, legislators, housing advocates and local officials said the funding falls short of the scale of the problem.

That concern is unfolding against a constrained budget backdrop, with the governor’s finance director warning that even as AI-related tax revenues climb, rising costs and federal cuts are expected to leave the state with a projected $3 billion deficit next year.

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office said Newsom’s plan leaves California financially exposed, noting that the administration’s higher revenue estimates exclude the risk of a stock market correction that could significantly worsen the state’s budget outlook.

The analyst’s office said those risks are compounded by projected multiyear deficits of $20 billion to $35 billion annually, underscoring what it called a growing structural imbalance.

Newsom on Friday called the LAO’s projections about the budget too pessimistic, but said the office is “absolutely right about structural problems in the state.”

Newsom’s budget does not include significant funding to offset federal cuts to Medicaid and other safety-net programs under President Trump and a Republican-led Congress, reductions that local officials warn could have far-reaching consequences for local governments and low-income residents.

Addressing those broad concerns, the governor defended his budget and suggested the spending plan will change by May, when the state’s financial outlook is more clear.

Times staff writer Seema Mehta and Caroline Petrow-Cohen contributed to this report.

Jan. 16 (UPI) — The U.S. Education Department has delayed plans to seize tax refunds and garnish wages over student loans that are in collection, it announced on Friday.

While the delay is in effect, the department will work to revise student loan repayment regulations in accordance with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

“The Trump Administration is committed to helping student and parent borrowers resume regular, on-time repayment with more clear and affordable options, which will support a stronger financial future for borrowers and enhance the long-term health of the federal student loan portfolio,” said Nicholas Kent, under secretary of education.

“The department determined that involuntary collection efforts, such as administrative wage garnishment and the Treasury offset program, will function more efficiently and fairly after the Trump administration implements significant improvements to our broken student loan system.”

The halt in collections will help former students and their families, while affordability has become an issue for many across the country, the National Consumer Protection Law Center said.

“Today’s announcement throws a lifeline to working and middle-class families who are buckling under the weight of outdated student loan policies that don’t reflect today’s high cost of living and affordability crisis,” said Abby Shafroth, managing director of advocacy at the National Consumer Protection Law Center.

“The administration must now take the next step and reform harsh collection practices before turning them back on,” Shafroth said.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act reduced the number of available repayment plans for student loan borrowers and allows for the waiver of unpaid interest for those who make on-time payments.

Pausing the planned tax refund seizures and wage garnishments also gives student loan borrowers another chance to rehabilitate any defaulted loans and resume their normal payments as needed.

National Unity Platform says opposition presidential candidate seized from his home a day after tense election.

Bobi Wine‘s political party says the Ugandan opposition presidential candidate has been “forcibly” removed from his home and taken to an “unknown destination” in an army helicopter.

The National Unity Platform made the announcement in a social media post on Friday, a day after Ugandans cast their ballots in a tense election that took place amid an internet blackout.

There was no immediate comment from the Ugandan authorities.

Wine, the country’s top opposition figure, had challenged longtime President Yoweri Museveni in an election campaign that the United Nations said was marred by “widespread repression and intimidation”.

Reporting from the Ugandan capital, Kampala, early on Saturday, Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi said the internet shutdown has made getting information about Wine’s whereabouts difficult.

Soi said a National Unity Platform official reached by Al Jazeera could only confirm that “men who appeared to be military and other security agents jumped over the fence” of Wine’s home.

But the official could not say whether Wine was at home or had been taken away.

Soi added that Al Jazeera has been unable to reach the Ugandan military or the police to confirm what happened.

She noted that shortly after Thursday’s vote, Wine had alleged in a social media post that “massive ballot stuffing” was reported across the country.

He had also called on the Ugandan people to “rise to the occasion and reject the criminal regime”.

Wine’s remarks came as Museveni’s government has been accused of leading a years-long crackdown on opposition politicians and their supporters.

The 81-year-old president is seeking to extend his nearly four decades in power, saying ahead of this week’s election that he expected to secure 80 percent support.

Museveni was comfortably leading as votes were counted on Friday, with the Electoral Commission saying he had secured 73.7 percent support to Wine’s 22.7 percent, with close to 81 percent of votes counted.

Final results were due around 4pm local time in Kampala (13:00 GMT) on Saturday.

After a campaign marred by clashes at opposition rallies and the arrests of opposition supporters, voting passed peacefully on Thursday.

But at least seven people were killed when violence broke out overnight in the town of Butambala, about 55km (35 miles) southwest of the capital Kampala.

Local police spokesperson Lydia Tumushabe said machete-wielding opposition “goons” organised by local MP Muwanga Kivumbi attacked a police station and vote-tallying centre.

Kivumbi, a member of Wine’s party, said security forces attacked opposition supporters who had gathered at his home to wait for the election results to come in. The opposition lawmaker said 10 people were killed.

“After killing them, the military continued firing,” Kivumbi told the AFP news agency. “And they ensured that they removed all the evidence of the dead. You only have a pool of blood that is left here.”

The Traitors is nearing its finale and recently murdered Jessie was gobsmacked to find out who was this season’s Traitors

Jessie Stride showed she had no idea of a secret in this year’s series of The Traitors. The popular contestant was savagely murdered as series four nears its end. But she couldn’t hide her shock as she discovered the truth about who were The Traitors. As she found out the game Stephen Libby is playing, Jessie shrieked and fell off her chair.

Speaking on Traitors Uncloaked, Jessie said: “Ellie, oh my God. I’m not just a daft lass who wears yellow and orange! He had the audacity to murder me!” Her reactions reached an all-time high however when she found out that Ellie and Ross are actually dating. “You’re going to have beautiful babies!” she said.

READ MORE: Traitors star Stephen’s ‘genius’ trick to distract the players and it’s working a treatREAD MORE: Traitors stars share their shame and torment as tears flow during dinner

Her stunned reaction came as two players left the show on Thursday. Ellie was banished after Jessie had earlier been murdered.

The latest episode was one of the most emotional to date. As the remaining hopefuls enjoyed a dinner together, they explained their reasons for being on the show and revealed how they would use the winnings if they were victorious.

There were tears as Jade revealed her tragic past. The Faithful wiped away the tears as she told the group that she had lost her mother and her half-sibling in very difficult circumstances eight years ago.

The other seven players gasped and looked horrified for her as Jade explained: “My parents got divorced when I was seven, my Mum moved back to Hong Kong, she had a kid and then in 2018 they were both found dead.”

She added: “I have had to really rebuild myself from that point onwards. So I’m really proud of myself for being here and getting this far.” As the others commended her bravery, Jade said that if she ended up winning the prize money, she’d spend it on getting her own pad. “I think I’d really like to buy a home,” she said. “Somewhere I can call my own.”

And speaking to the camera after the dinner party, Jade said: “In 2018 I lost my Mum. I was always very close with her so it was a shock to the system.

“Our parents form a big core of our own identity so I had to rebuild myself. It’s affected me a lot. It takes me a very long time to let people in just because it does take me a minute to get comfortable and I can come off as a bit standoffish at first.”

Personal trainer Jack Butler, 29, also told the group his plan was to propose to his girlfriend “in the next few months”, saying he’d like to spend any winnings on a deposit for a house.

“I’ve got a secret plan, the ring’s already sorted, it’s a massive surprise,” he said. And that’s exactly what he seems to have done since the show.

Pictures have already shown him proposing to partner Kim during a trip to Santorini in August. The holiday took place two months after filming on the show ended.

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Southern California Edison sued Los Angeles County, water agencies and two companies including SoCalGas Friday, saying their mistakes contributed to the deadly and destructive toll of last year’s Eaton wildfire.

Edison now faces hundreds of lawsuits by victims of the fire, which claim its transmission line started the devastating fire that killed at least 19 people and destroyed thousands of homes in Altadena. The cost of settling those lawsuits could be many billions of dollars.

Doug Dixon, an attorney who represents Edison in the fire litigation, told the Times that Edison filed the lawsuits “to ensure that all those who bear responsibility are at the table in this legal process.”

The utility’s two legal filings in L.A. County Superior Court paint a picture of sweeping mismanagement of the emergency response on the night of the fire.

Edison blames the county fire department, sheriff’s department and office of emergency management for their failure to warn Altadena residents west of Lake Avenue to evacuate.

The Times revealed last January that west Altadena never received evacuation warnings, and orders to evacuate came hours after flames and smoke threatened the community. All but one of the 19 who died in the Eaton fire were found in west Altadena.

Edison also sued L.A. County for failing to send fire trucks to the community. A Times investigation found that during a critical moment in the fire, only one county fire truck was west of Lake Avenue.

The electric company also filed suit against six water agencies, including Pasadena Water & Power, claiming there were insufficient water supplies available for firefighters.

“Compounding the unfolding disaster, the water systems servicing the areas impacted by the Eaton Fire failed as the fire spread, leaving firefighters and residents with no water to fight the fire,” the lawsuit states.

Another lawsuit aims at SoCalGas. Edison says the company failed to turn off gas lines after the fire started, making the disaster worse.

“SoCalGas did not begin widespread shutoffs for four days—until January 11, 2025—in the area affected by the Eaton Fire,” the complaint states. “In the meantime, the Eaton Fire continued to spread fueled by natural gas.”

“ The risks and deficiencies with SoCalGas’s system that led to it spreading the fire were long known to SoCalGas, and yet it nevertheless failed to adequately account for them in designing, building, and maintaining its system,” the complaint said. “The result was catastrophic.”

Edison also sued Genasys, a company that provides the county with emergency alert software.

In addition, the utility sued the county for failing to remove brush, which it claims made the fire hotter and spread faster, causing more damage.

In March, L.A. County filed suit against Edison, claiming that its transmission line sparked the blaze, requiring the county to incur tens of millions of dollars responding to the fire and its aftermath. The county is seeking compensation for destroyed infrastructure and parks, as well as for cleanup and recovery efforts, lost taxes and overtime for county workers.

Edison’s new cross claims will be heard in the consolidated Eaton fire case in Superior Court, which is also handling the lawsuit that the county and other public agencies have filed against the electric utility.

Officials from the county and water agencies, as well as from the two companies, could not be immediately reached.

The water agencies that Edison sued also include the Sierra Madre City Water Dept., Kinneloa Irrigation District, Rubio Canyon Land & Water Association, Las Flores Water Company and Lincoln Avenue Water Company.

The government investigation into the fire, which is being handled jointly by L.A. County Fire and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, has not yet been released.

Edison has said that a leading theory is that its unused, century-old transmission line in Eaton Canyon somehow became re-energized on the night of Jan. 7, 2025 and sparked the blaze.

The fire roared through Altadena, burning 14,021 acres and destroying more than 9,400 homes and other structures.

Bath: De Glanville; Cokanasiga, Ojomoh, Lawrence, Arundell; Russell, Spencer (capt); Obano, Dunn, Du Toit, Roux, Molony, Pepper, Underhill, Barbeary.

Replacements: Frost, Van Wyk, Griffin, Hill, Reid, Carr-Smith, Carreras, Redpath

Edinburgh: Paterson; Graham, O’Conor, Lang, Satala; Thompson, Vellacott (capt); Whitcombe, Ashman, Blyth-Lafferty, Hunter-Hill, Young, Dodd, Douglas, Muncaster.

Replacements: Morris, Jones, Hill, McVie, Boyle, Shiel, Healy, Brown.

Jan. 16 (UPI) — Nobel Peace Prize recipient Maria Corina Machado is the only recognized recipient of the award despite the Venezuelan leader giving her medal to President Donald Trump this week, the Nobel Committee said Friday.

Nobel Prize-winning laureates receive a gold medal and a diploma affirming their status, and nothing changes it, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in a news release on Friday.

“Regardless of what may happen to the medal, the diploma or the prize money, it is and remains the original laureate who is recorded in history as the recipient of the prize,” the committee said.

“Even if the medal or diploma later comes into someone else’s possession, this does not alter who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.”

The White House posted a photo on social media showing the president accepting the medal from Machado, which is framed and contains documentation marking the moment.

The committee said a laureate “cannot share the prize with others nor transfer it once it has been announced.”

The prize is irrevocable, and the “decision is final and applies for all time,” the committee added.

While the prize cannot be transferred, there are no rules on what recipients can do with the prize, certificate or prize money.

They can keep them, give them away, sell them or donate them to others if they wish to do so.

Machado on Friday told an interviewer for Fox and Friends that Trump “deserves it” and said it was a very emotional moment when she gave him the medal, NBC News reported.

“I decided to present the Nobel Peace Prize medal on behalf of the people of Venezuela,” Machado said.

Machado earlier praised Trump for ordering the U.S. military to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and bring them to the United States to face federal charges for alleged drug trafficking and related offenses.