U.S

Oct. 22 (UPI) — Authorities in Washington, D.C., have arrested a driver accused of ramming a barricade protecting the White House.

Little information about the incident has been made public.

The U.S. Secret Service said in a brief statement that incident occurred at 10:37 p.m. EDT.

The suspect is accused of ramming the Secret Service vehicle gate located at 17th St. and E Streets NW.

“The individual was arrested & the vehicle was assessed and deemed safe,” the Secret Service said on X. “Our investigation into the cause of this collision is ongoing.”

This is not the first time a vehicle has been driven into a White House barrier.

On the night of May 4, 2024, a driver died after his vehicle, traveling at a high rate of speed, collided with an outer barricade of the White House complex. The driver was identified as 57-year-old James Chester Lewis Jr.

In May 2023, then 19-year-old Sai Varshith Kandula drove a U-Haul truck into the White House as part of what prosecutors said was an attempt to overthrow the U.S. government and replace it with a Nazi dictatorship.

In January, Kandula was sentenced to eight years in prison.

This is a developing story.

Oct. 21 (UPI) — Tropical Storm Melissa was churning in the Caribbean late Tuesday, according to forecasters warning Hispaniola to expect heavy rains and flooding over the next few days.

Melissa was about 325 miles south-southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the National Hurricane Center said in its 11 p.m. EDT update. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and was moving west at 153 mph.

A hurricane watch was in effect for the southwestern peninsula of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Port-au-Prince. A tropical storm watch was in effect for Jamaica. Those elsewhere in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba should monitor the progress of Melissa, the NHC said.

A decrease in speed and a gradual turn to the northwest and north are expected in the next few days, according to the NHC, which said it expects Melissa to approach Jamaica and the southwestern portion of Haiti later this week.

Haiti and the Dominican Republic can expect 5 to 10 inches of rain through Friday, the NHC said. More heavy rainfall is possible after Friday, but forecasters aren’t confident in predictions because of the uncertainty of Melissa’s speed and direction. Areas of significant flash flooding and mudslides are possible.

Across Aruba, Puerto Rico and Jamaica rainfall of 1 to 3 inches is expected through Friday. Flash and urban flooding will be possible across Puerto Rico through at least Friday.

Melissa is the 13th named storm of the season, and it’s the first in the Caribbean. This season has seen few storms, which has warmed the Caribbean Sea. Now, the warm water is fuel for stronger, more dangerous storms.

Oct. 21 (UPI) — Paul Ingrassia withdrew his nomination on Tuesday to head the Office of Special Counsel after his Republican support in the Senate crumbled following the release of his racist and inflammatory text messages.

Ingrassia announced his decision in a post on X just a day after Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters that the 30-year-old lawyer and political commentator did not have enough support in the chamber and asked the White House to rethink his nomination.

“I appreciate the overwhelming support that I have received throughout this process and will continue to serve President Trump and this administration to Make America Great Again!” he wrote.

The development is a rare instance of Senate Republicans publicly drawing a line with President Donald Trump over his picks for who works in his administration.

Ingrassia has been nominated by Trump to lead the Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency responsible for protecting government whistleblowers and investigates complaints of wrongdoing.

His nomination began unraveling after Politico reported on Monday on a series of his texts where he said he had a “Nazi streak” and that the federal holiday celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs.”

Ingrassia used an Italian slur for Black people, according to Politico. He also wrote “Never trust a chinaman or Indian” in reference to former Indian-American Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

Following the report, Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rick Scott of Florida and James Lankford of Oklahoma all signaled that they would not vote to confirm Ingrassia, Semafor reported. Republicans hold a 53-seat majority in the chamber.

For the most part, Trump’s controversial nominees have cleared the chamber and Republicans even changed the chamber’s rules to overcome Democratic opposition. However, Trump recently withdrew his nomination of E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Ingrassia serves as the Trump administration’s go-between with the Justice Department and previously represented Andrew Tate, who has been accused of human trafficking, money laundering and other charges, which he denies.

Ingrassia performed poorly in a meeting with committee staff ahead of a confirmation hearing, Axios reported.

“There’s just some different statements he’s made in the past that need clarification,” Lankford told the news outlet at the time.

Oct. 21 (UPI) — OpenAI unveiled the early version of its AI-powered ChatGPT Atlas web browser on Tuesday, offering many powerful features that seek to interlace the company’s technology into daily internet use.

The new browser is currently only available on macOS, with future versions coming to Windows and mobile devices, according to a post by OpenAI. While other tech companies, including Microsoft and Google, have incorporated AI into their products, OpenAI called Atlas a step closer “to a true super-assistant” that follows users across the web.

“It’s a new kind of browser for the next era of the web,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a video, where staff demonstrated how Atlas could be used to complete a grocery order, help project management at work and other tasks.

Atlas will draw on user’s previous interactions with the powerful chat bot, meaning it will have a back-and-forth deeper than Google’s box of AI-generated results that accompanies web searches.

If Atlas is popular, it could be “a serious threat to Google’s dominance,” according to TechCrunch. It could also provide valuable information to targeted advertising should OpenAI change its business model. But the tech website concluded that “It’s still early days for Atlas and a lot will depend on the product itself — and whether users really want what OpenAI is offering here.”

Users of the paid version of ChatGPT can use “agent” mode that allows Atlas to perform some tasks independently.

“Despite all of the power and awesome capabilities that you get with sharing your browser with ChatGPT that also poses an entirely new set of risks,” OpenAI’s Pranav Vishnu said during the video announcing Atlas. He said that there are safeguards that keep the agent operating on Atlas tabs and prevents it from accessing users’ computer files.

Marketing experts have warned that AI could soon be used to make purchases for consumers using their data. Users of Atlas can limit what data is saved, according to an OpenAI page explaining user controls.

Oct. 21 (UPI) — President Donald Trump accepted the Architect of Peace Award from the Richard Nixon Foundation during a closed ceremony at the White House on Tuesday morning.

Trump earned the award due to his central role in negotiating the current cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel to end the unchecked war in Gaza that began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, CBS News reported.

Award presenters included former President Richard Nixon’s daughter, Tricia Nixon Cox, former national security adviser Robert O’Brien and acting U.S. archivist Jim Byron, CBS News reported.

Trump had argued he deserved to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for securing a cease-fire in Gaza and ending other wars.

Among wars that Trump has said he ended are those between Cambodia and Thailand, the Congo and Rwanda, Israel and Iran, India and Pakistan, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Serbia and Kosovo, the president told the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 24.

The Nobel Peace Prize went to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who opposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in that nation’s 2024 presidential election, which exit polling suggests Machado won despite Maduro’s victory claim.

The Architect of Peace award is not given annually but instead when foundation representatives decide one has been earned by those who “embody [Nixon’s] lifelong goal of shaping a more peaceful world,” according to the Architect of Peace Award website.

The award last year honored former President George W. Bush, Farah Pahlavi and Reza Pahlavi.

Bush received the award for establishing the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which globally has saved millions of lives.

The Pahlavis received the award for championing a secular Iranian government, religious freedom and human rights, according to the Nixon Foundation.

Farah Pahlavi is Iran’s former queen, while Reza is her son.

Oct. 21 (UPI) — Bolivian President-elect Rodrigo Paz Pereira’s win heralds a time of change in the South American nation that was a leading socialist state, the leaders of nine nations said on Tuesday.

Paz, 58, prevailed over challenger and former President Jorge Quiroga on Sunday in Bolivia’s first runoff election to determine its next president, and the U.S. State Department released the joint statement.

“The undersigned countries congratulate President-electRodrigo Paz Pereira on his election as president of Bolivia,” the joint statement said.

“We also commend the Bolivian people for their unwavering commitment to democracy, as demonstrated through their active participation in this electoral process.”

The statement said the “Bolivian people made their voices heard in a decisive manner.”

The outcome “reflects the will of the Bolivian people to embrace change and chart a new course for their nation and our region, signaling departure from the economic mismanagement of the past two decades.”

Paz is a centrist, while Quiroga is more conservative, and both campaigned on the platform of ending the 20-year reign of socialist presidents and government and returning Bolivia to a market-based capitalist economy.

He secured 54.6% of the 6.5 million votes cast to Quiroga’s 45.4% in the first Bolivian presidential election that did not involve a socialist candidate for the first time in two decades, according to The Guardian.

Paz was the Christian Democratic Party’s candidate, while Quiroga, 67, ran on the Free Alliance ticket. Both ran on a pro-capitalism platform.

The Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement Towards Socialism) Party candidate Eduardo del Castillo obtained 3% of the vote during an initial election and did not qualify for Sunday’s runoff election.

The MAS Party has controlled both houses of the Bolivian Legislature and the presidential office for the past 20 years.

Paz said he intends to end the nation’s gas shortages and wants to encourage international investment to boost growth of the Bolivia’s private sector, the BBC reported.

His win effectively ends the MAS Party’s rule in Bolivia.

“The undersigned countries stand ready to support the incoming administration’s efforts to stabilize Bolivia’s economy and open it to the world, reinforce its democratic institutions, boost international trade and investment, and deepen its engagement with regional and global partners on a wide range of issues,” the nine nations said in the joint statement.

“We are committed to working closely with President-elect Rodrigo Paz Pereira and his government to advance shared goals of regional and global security, economic prosperity and growth that benefit all of our nations,” they added.

“We encourage Bolivia’s renewed proactive participation in addressing regional and global challenges.”

In addition to the United States, the governments undersigning the statement are Argentina, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Paz is a Bolivian senator and the son of former Bolivian President Jaime Pax Zamora, who served in that role from 1989 to 1993.

Oct. 21 (UPI) — Tropical Storm Melissa has begun churning in the Caribbean and is moving toward Haiti, to possibly become a hurricane.

In its 2 p.m. EDT update, the National Hurricane Center said Melissa was about 300 miles south of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and is moving west at 14 mph.

A hurricane watch is in effect for the southern coast of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Port-Au-Prince, and for Jamaica. Those elsewhere in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba should monitor the progress of Melissa, the NHC said.

A decrease in speed and a gradual turn to the northwest and north is expected in the next few days, the NHC said. Melissa is expected to approach southwestern Haiti and Jamaica later this week, bringing heavy rains.

Haiti and the Dominican Republic can expect 5 to 10 inches through Friday, NHC said. More heavy rainfall is possible after Friday, but forecasters aren’t confident of predictions because of the uncertainty of Melissa’s speed and direction. Areas of significant flash flooding and mudslides are possible.

Over Aruba, Puerto Rico and Jamaica rainfall of 1 to 3 inches is expected through Friday. Flash and urban flooding will be possible across Puerto Rico through at least Friday.

Melissa is the 13th named storm of the season, and it’s the first in the Caribbean. This season has seen few storms, which has warmed the Caribbean Sea. Now, the warm water is fuel for stronger, more dangerous storms.

MEXICO CITY — The small Central American nation of Belize has signed a “safe third country” agreement with the United States, the two sides said on Monday, as the Trump administration seeks to ramp up deportations and dissuade migration north.

What the agreement entails wasn’t immediately clear, but it comes as President Trump has increasingly pressured countries in Latin America and Africa to help him carry out his immigration agenda.

The deal appears to be similar to one with Paraguay announced by the U.S. State Department in August that included a “safe third country” agreement in which asylum seekers currently in the U.S. could pursue protections in the South American nation.

In Trump’s first term, the U.S. signed several such agreements that would instead have asylum seekers request protections in other nations, like Guatemala, before proceeding north. The policy was criticized as a roundabout way to make it harder for migrants to seek asylum in the U.S. and was later rolled back by the Biden administration.

Earlier this year, Panama and Costa Rica also accepted U.S. flights of hundreds of deportees from Asian countries – without calling the deals “safe third country” agreements – and thrusting the migrants into a sort of international limbo. The U.S. has also signed agreements, such as deportation agreements, with war-torn South Sudan, Eswatini and Rwanda.

The Belize government said in a statement on Monday that it “retains an absolute veto over transfers, with restrictions on nationalities, a cap on transferees, and comprehensive security screenings.”

The government of the largely rural nation wedged between Mexico and Guatemala reiterated its “commitment to international law and humanitarian principles while ensuring strong national safeguards.” No one deemed to be a public safety threat would be allowed to enter the country, it said.

On Monday, the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs thanked Belize in a post on X, calling the agreement “an important milestone in ending illegal immigration, shutting down abuse of our nation’s asylum system, and reinforcing our shared commitment to tackling challenges in our hemisphere together.”

The decision prompted fierce criticism from politicians in Belize, who railed against the agreement, calling it a “decision of profound national consequence” announced with little government transparency. The agreement must be ratified by Belize’s Senate to take effect.

“This agreement, by its very nature, could reshape Belize’s immigration and asylum systems, impose new financial burdens on taxpayers, and raise serious questions about national sovereignty and security,” Tracy Taegar Panton, an opposition leader in Belize’s parliament, wrote on social media.

She noted fierce criticisms of human rights violations resulting from similar policies carried out by both the U.S. and Europe.

“Belize is a compassionate and law-abiding nation. We believe in humanitarian principles. But compassion must never be confused with compliance at any cost. Belize cannot and must not be used as a dumping ground for individuals other countries refuse to accept,” she wrote.

Janetsky writes for the Associated Press.

WASHINGTON — Plans are on hold for President Trump to sit down with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to talk about resolving the war in Ukraine, according to a U.S. official.

The meeting had been announced last week. It was supposed to take place in Budapest, although a date had not been set.

The decision was made following a call between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The official requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

The back-and-forth over Trump’s plans are the latest bout of whiplash caused by his stutter-step efforts to resolve a conflict that has persisted for nearly four years.

Lee writes for the Associated Press. This is a developing story that will update.

Oct. 21 (UPI) — A Jan. 6 rioter pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump was again arrested following an alleged threat to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Christopher P. Moynihan, 34, was arrested over the weekend by New York State Police after he allegedly sent text messages on Friday to an unidentified associate in which he threatened the life of Jeffries, D-N.Y.

“Hakeem Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in NYC I cannot allow this terrorist to live,” Moynihan was quoted in a legal complaint filed by prosecutors in Duchess County.

Jeffries, 55, gave remarks Monday in Manhattan at the Economic Club of New York.

On Sunday, Moynihan was charged with a class D felony of making a terroristic threat.

“Even if I am hated he must be eliminated. I will kill (Jeffries) for the future,” he wrote.

Moynihan was arraigned in Clinton, a Hudson Valley town some 50 miles east of Syracuse, and remanded to a Duchess County facility “in lieu of $10,000 cash bail, a $30,000 bond, or an $80,000 partially secured bond,” according to state police.

He pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor charges and declared guilty in August 2022 of obstructing an official government proceeding on Jan. 6, 2021 after Trump’s false declaration that he won the 2020 election.

The Jan. 6 insurrection injured more than 140 Capitol police officers and caused damage to the historic complex to the tune of millions of dollars and delayed 2020’s electoral college count in Congress.

Moynihan, said to be among the first to breach Capitol police barricades to enter the building, is one in a string of Trump-pardoned convicted criminals to later be re-arrested on newer charges.

According to court records, Moynihan has a long history of drug use and petty crimes.

In February 2022, Moynihan was sentenced 21 months in jail until pardoned by Trump along with nearly 1,600 Capitol rioters almost immediately after Trump reassumed office.

Moynihan’s investigation was initiated via the FBI part of a growing trend of threats against U.S. lawmakers.

Meanwhile, U.S. Capitol Police said last month the number of threat investigations this year rose past 14,000, which was higher than the total number of cases in 2024.

Oct. 20 (UPI) — The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing a decision in the case Louisiana vs. Callais that may guide how the Voting Rights Act is enforced.

The high court heard rearguments last week in the case over the Louisiana legislature’s redistricted congressional map. A decision may be weeks, if not months, away.

The legislature redrew its congressional map in 2024 to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The new map included two districts where a majority of voters are Black out of six districts total.

Plaintiffs in Louisiana vs. Callais argue that the redrawn map violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution because race was a guiding consideration in redistricting.

The Supreme Court has broadened the scope of this case with reargument under a supplemental question: Is Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act constitutional?

The collision between these two pieces of doctrine, both intended to insure equality in political participation, raises a critical question about how race and representation should be approached, one that the court is now poised to answer.

“The court is signaling that there has to be some reconciliation that happens beyond the status quo,” Atiba Ellis, Laura B. Chisholm Distinguished Research Scholar and professor of law in the Case Western Reserve School of Law, told UPI. “It’s hard to predict exactly how far that will go.”

One goal, different approaches

Section 2 and the Equal Protection Clause may share an underlying purpose but they take different approaches to meeting that goal.

Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits racial discrimination in election practices.

The extremes, according to Ellis, are that the court could determine Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional or it could reinterpret the test that it has long used in addressing concerns about race in redistricting cases.

Somewhere between the extremes is the court striking down the map at question but preserving Section 2.

“On the scale of possible solutions, it demonstrates that the court, informed by its colorblind jurisprudence that we saw in Students for Fair Admissions vs. Harvard College, is wanting to further restrict if not all but abolish the use of race-conscious remedies in the elections context,” Ellis said.

Legal tests, cases

In the 2023 case Students for Fair Admissions vs. Harvard, the Supreme Court ruled that using race as a factor in college admissions violates the Equal Protection Clause.

The test that guides Section 2 enforcement, referred to as the Gingles test, is the criteria required to prove vote dilution under Section 2. It is based on the court’s decision in the case Thornburg vs. Gingles in 1986.

The Gingles test is a “results test,” Ellis said.

“We simply look at a practice like redistricting in its context and the results that it has,” he said. “Thornburg v. Gingles basically created a roadmap for the inquiry. Then a court can make an inquiry within the totality of the circumstances, including the impact, the history, the background and determine whether that practice violates Section 2.”

Equal Protection Clause enforcement is guided in part by a precedent established in the case Shaw vs. Reno. This case in 1993 was over an oddly shaped majority-Black congressional district drawn in North Carolina.

The Supreme Court struck down this map, ruling that it violated the Equal Protection Clause because race was a predominant factor in its creation.

Unlike the Gingles test, the Shaw test is based on intent, according to Ellis.

“From the Shaw line to today, legislatures have had to basically walk this balance between not making race the predominant factor in redistricting — but you also can’t use race divisively by subsuming a minority group’s political power to the majority’s advantage,” Ellis said. “The former is what the Shaw line of precedent is out to do. The latter is what Section 2 does.”

“The problem, at least according to the Callais plaintiffs bringing the suit and other political entities that are supporting their position, is that these two precedents are inherently irreconcilable,” he continued.

John Cusick, assistant counsel at the Legal Defense Fund, serves as a member of the counsel in the Louisiana vs. Callais case arguing in defense of the Louisiana congressional map. He represents the appellants in the case Robinson vs. Landry, which was the impetus for Louisiana to redraw its congressional map.

Cusick told UPI that the case is part of a broader effort to limit race-conscious remedies to Civil Rights violations.

“What’s at stake in this case is that opponents are seeking to roll back progress while there is a simple truth that remains: that Black voters in Louisiana deserve the same fair and effective representation as many other communities throughout the country,” Cusick said. “So Louisianans have organized and legislated and litigated for the promise of a fair legislative map.”

“What’s consistent here is that decades of Supreme Court precedent make clear that districts created to remedy the type of racial discrimination against Black voters that’s at the heart of this case is clear and consistent and well-settled law,” he continued. “That Louisiana creating a first and second majority minority district is constitutional and not, per se, a racial gerrymander.”

Broader issue

Based on the Supreme Court precedents at play, Cusick believes Louisiana’s congressional map will be found to be permissible. However, the supplemental question over whether the constitutionality of Section 2 as a whole could send ripples across Civil Rights law.

“The Voting Rights Act is the crown jewel of Civil Rights legislation,” Cusick said. “It has the greatest effect on this country’s promise of full and equal citizenship for all Americans. We are seeing efforts throughout the country to attack many of the tools that Civil Rights legislatures have relied on, whether they are constitutional protections, whether they are statutory protections, that identify racial discrimination, that root it out and provide fair and effective remedies in doing so.”

Cusick adds that attempts to peel away Section 2 can also have effects beyond Civil Rights protections against racial discrimination. Protections for people based on gender identity and disability are also at risk.

“If the court is adhering to the supplemental question presented, this case shouldn’t have a broader impact on the Voting Rights Act, specifically Section 2, let alone other areas of the law,” Cusick said. “While we’re hopeful of that, we’re not naive.”

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (UPI) — When Kathryn Jones began to visit Washington’s museums in January, she didn’t plan to make it her full-time pursuit. But after 112 exhibits and hundreds of hours spent inside the Smithsonian’s galleries, she discovered the miracle of the exhibits’ free access.

Somewhere between the Smithsonian American History Museum’s “America on the Move” display and the Postal Museum’s overlooked treasures, Jones found herself on a journey to read every sign and description at every museum as she took in the exhibits.

Jones’ quest reshaped her understanding of curiosity and the quiet power of public learning. “I think the more that we know, the more stories we hear, the better we can empathize with other people and problem-solve ourselves,” she said.

Now, as the doors to the Smithsonian museums remain closed amid the government shutdown, Jones and others like her are left waiting outside, reminded of what the city, and the nation, loses when history is temporarily out of reach.

Jones, a 33-year-old marketing and project management professional, started at Washington’s museums in January as a personal challenge during a career break, but that quickly turned into an ambitious exploration of the Smithsonian Institution.

“I had taken the time off just to kind of figure out what brought me joy, and I really need structure to function,” said Jones, who once served in the Peace Corps in Ukraine.

The Smithsonian is the world’s largest museum complex, encompassing 21 museums, galleries, gardens and the National Zoo. With all Smithsonian museums free in the District of Columbia — and clustered within a short walk of each other along or near the National Mall — they offer the public access to an extraordinary range of art, science and history.

“I don’t know of anywhere else in the world that there is that large of a concentration of museums that are free,” Jones said.

Since she began her journey, Jones has explored 112 exhibits — individual displays within museums that organize artifacts, stories and multimedia around a shared theme. The longest for Jones, at nearly three hours, was the “America on the Move” exhibit at the National Museum of American History.

“The more that I visit museums, the more I realize just how everything is connected,” Jones said, noting how a single object might weave through several branches of history.

For example, she told UPI the story of the Hope Diamond. It was donated by Harry Winston, the “King of Diamonds,” in 1958 to display at the Natural History Museum with French Crown Jewels. The diamond’s original mailing package is preserved across town at the Postal Museum, which still serves as a working post office.

She pointed out that the Southern Railway No. 1401 steam locomotive at the American History Museum was built directly into the museum and still rests on its tracks due to its large size. It played a ceremonial role in transporting President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s funeral train in 1945.

At the Postal Museum, she was struck by letters and a mailbox preserved from the 2001 anthrax attacks. The bacterium was sent to media figures in Washington, New York, Florida and elsewhere, and five people died.

In the historic building that houses both the American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, she discovered that the top floor once displayed patent models when the space served as the U.S. Patent Office.

Jones also said she loved the hidden connections within the Smithsonian. For example, the Asian Art and African Art museums are linked by underground tunnels, where a sprawling mural leads visitors through time.

The “very bottom level is a trick of the eye mural that takes visitors from ancient times to the first national museum, which is now the arts and industry building,” Jones explained.

For Jones, these connections reveal how different disciplines and stories echo across time.

To many visitors, the Smithsonian’s free admission policy is central to what makes it extraordinary. Funded largely through federal support and philanthropy, the system embodies a belief that education, history and art should be available to all.

Residents like Jones find this accessibility turned Washington into a living classroom, where anyone can walk from the National Air and Space Museum to the African American History and Culture Museum to encounter entire worlds of knowledge in an afternoon.

Now, with the museums temporarily closed, Jones and other enthusiasts find themselves at a loss. The silence of shuttered halls underscores what the city loses when its cultural core is inaccessible — not just a tourist attraction — but a shared public good.

The closures have prompted Jones to adapt her quest. She’s turned her attention to outdoor installations and plaques, such as outside the Natural History Museum. Even so, she misses the rhythm of discovery that came from stepping into each gallery and losing herself among artifacts and stories.

She said she sees her museum project not just as a pastime, but as a quiet form of public advocacy. She has documented her journey through the exhibits on Instagram and Tik Tok, which can be found @digitaldocent_ and @digitaldocent, respectively.

“I wanted to share the kind of information that would make someone feel more comfortable trying something they might otherwise not know a bunch about,” Jones said.

Her work online, she reported, has inspired others to see museums as approachable spaces rather than academic ones, and that these stories are often hopeful and helped her worldview become even more open-minded.

“For me, they make me feel small, but like, in a good way. They kind of remind me I’m part of something bigger, and it’s going to be fine, even though it is so chaotic right now,” she said.

As she waits for the museums to reopen, Jones’ mantra remains the same: “My goal is to make curiosity my routine.”

Oct. 21 (UPI) — The Trump administration is surging U.S. Coast Guard resources to the Rio Grande River to prevent migrants and drugs from making their way from Mexico across the body of water into Texas.

Since his inauguration in January, President Donald Trump has been seeking to seal off the U.S.-Mexico border as part of his immigration crackdown.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Operation River Wall in a statement Monday, calling it an “unprecedented mobilization” of Coast Guard boats, shallow watercraft, tactical teams and command and control assets to the Rio Grande in eastern Texas.

The exact number of resources deployed was not made public, though DHS said the operation is “beginning” with more than 100 boats and hundreds of personnel.

According to a statement from the Coast Guard, it has been deploying resources to the Rio Grande since Oct. 9 with the mission to “ensure operational control of the border” where Trump declared a national emergency on his first day in office.

That declaration, stating that the United States is “under attack” and experiencing an “invasion” via its southern border, has faced and continues to face legal challenges, particularly over its scope and the powers it affords the president.

“President Trump delivered the most secure southern border in U.S. history in record time, and now, our goal is to make sure it stays that way for the long run,” Noem said.

“Now, Coast Guard Forces Rio Grande and Operation River Wall will be a force multiplier in defending against illegal immigration.”

Oct. 21 (UPI) — A new survey finds the number of U.S. adults with a positive view of religion is on the rise.

A Pew Research Center Poll, conducted earlier this year with results released Monday, showed a jump of 13% for those in the United States who answered “yes” to whether religion was gaining influence in American life.

Last year, Pew recorded its lowest level for religion in more than 20 years, with only 18% of U.S. adults expressing a positive view of religion in the survey, conducted in February 2024. That percentage jumped to 31% in February of 2025, the highest response in 15 years.

“Americans’ views about religion in public life are shifting,” Pew Research wrote Monday in a post on X. “From February 2024 to February 2025, there was a sharp rise in the share of U.S. adults who say religion is gaining influence in American life.”

While still a minority, the rise in positive views on religion is significant, according to Pew, which noted gains of at least 10 points among Democrats and Republicans, as well as adults of every age.

In addition to asking whether religion was gaining influence in American life, the survey combined a number of questions to determine whether U.S. adults have a positive or negative view of religion.

According to Pew, 59% of U.S. adults expressed a positive view, while 20% expressed a negative view of religion’s influence. The other 21% said religion “doesn’t make a difference.”

Of those who said religion is gaining influence, 58% of those surveyed said they feel significant conflict when it comes to their religious beliefs and American culture.

The findings were compiled from a nationally representative Pew Research Center survey of 9,544 U.S. adults.

Oct. 20 (UPI) — Florida’s attorney general announced Monday that criminal subpoenas have been issued to the online children’s gaming site Roblox as he called the platform a “breeding ground for predators.”

Attorney General James Uthmeier accused Roblox of failing to verify users’ ages and failing to moderate sexually explicit content.

“We are issuing criminal subpoenas to Roblox, which has become a breeding ground for predators to gain access to our kids,” Uthmeier announced Monday in a post on X.

“We will stop at nothing in the fight to protect Florida’s children, and companies that expose them to harm will be held accountable,” the state attorney general added.

Uthmeier said recent investigations into Roblox found sexual predators have used the in-game currency on the platform to bribe minors into sending them explicit content of themselves.

Before Monday’s criminal subpoenas, Roblox has faced lawsuits, accusing the platform of failing to implement safety measures, provide proper warnings or report incidents of child victimization.

In August, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill filed a lawsuit, which also accused Roblox of enabling online predators to endanger children after an alleged sexual predator was arrested while using the site.

“Roblox profited off of our kids while exposing them to the most dangerous of harms,” Uthmeier said. “They enable our kids to be abused.”

Uthmeier issued a subpoena against Roblox in April to get more information on how the platform moderates chat rooms and markets its site to kids.

“As a father and attorney general, children’s safety and protection are a top priority,” Uthmeier said. “There are concerning reports that this gaming platform, which is popular among children, is exposing them to harmful content and bad actors.”

Oct. 20 (UPI) — A Georgia man was arrested Monday inside a terminal at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport after allegedly threatening on social media to “shoot it up.”

Atlanta Police arrested Billy Cagle, 49, at the airport and found an AR-15 assault rifle with 27 rounds of ammunition inside his pickup truck, which was parked at the airport, according to police chief Darin Schierbaum. Schierbaum said it was Cagle’s family who alerted officers that he had been making threats on social media and had a gun.

Cartersville Police Capt. Greg Sparacio told reporters the family alerted them Monday morning that the suspect was “en route to somewhere in the Atlanta area,” likely the airport, and he “had the intention to do harm to as many people as he could.”

The family provided information about the vehicle Cagle was traveling in, as well as a photo. Cagle was taken into custody after entering the airport terminal at 9:31 a.m. EDT. He did not have any weapons on him, but police found the rifle in his truck.

“I do believe he was likely to use that weapon inside the crowded terminal,” Schierbaum told reporters. “Because of the community — in this case, the family — as well as the joint collaboration of law enforcement, a tragedy was indeed averted.”

Cagle is facing multiple charges, including terroristic threats, criminal attempt to commit aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a felon. He was convicted of possession of marijuana 20 years ago, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.

Oct. 20 (UPI) — A federal appeals court Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump to federalize and deploy the Oregon National Guard into what he is calling “war-ravaged” Portland.

Monday’s 2-1 ruling by a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit reverses a temporary restraining order that blocked the troops, as the administration challenges a lawsuit filed by Oregon and Portland officials. The case is still scheduled for trial on Oct. 29.

Last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the deployment of 200 Oregon National Guard troops after the president called Portland a “war-ravaged” city and said the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices there were “under siege.”

Last week, U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut extended two temporary restraining orders, saying the president could not federalize Oregon’s National Guard as, “This is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law.” The Trump administration promptly appealed Immergut’s first restraining order to the Ninth Circuit.

“Even if the president may exaggerate the extent of the problem on social media, this does not change that other facts provide a colorable basis to support the statutory requirements,” Monday’s order read.

“Rather than reviewing the president’s determination with great deference, the district court substituted its own determination of the relevant facts and circumstances.”

At a hearing on Oct. 9, the 9th Circuit judges heard 20-minute arguments from Oregon attorneys and from the U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Department attorneys argued that the troops are needed to protect Portland’s ICE facility following protester clashes with federal agents. Oregon officials claimed the administration was exaggerating.

Portland is one of several cities where the Trump administration has deployed the National Guard. The administration has also deployed troops to Memphis, Tenn., and is working to deploy the National Guard to Chicago to curb crime and protect federal buildings, as ICE agents crack down on illegal immigration.

Trump said earlier this month he would be open to invoking the Insurrection Act, “if necessary” to deploy the National Guard.

Oct. 20 (UPI) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday signed a “framework” of an $8.5 billion deal for projects involving critical minerals and rare earth elements during a meeting at the White House.

The two leaders, along with their aides, met for lunch in the Cabinet Room, where they also discussed military and other trade issuses.

Because of restrictions on Chinese exportrs to the United States, this gives an opportunity for Australia, which has the fourth-largest reserves of the minerals and elements. They are found in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia.

Rare earth minerals are a group of 17 elements crucial for electronics, including for the defense industry. Though they are called rare, many aren’t scare, including cerium, used for automotive catalytic converters and petroleum refining, which is more common than copper.

WASHINGTON — President Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed a critical-minerals deal at the White House on Monday as the U.S. eyes the continent’s rich rare-earth resources at a time when China is imposing tougher rules on exporting its own critical minerals.

The two leaders described the agreement as an $8.5 billion deal between the allies. Trump said it had been negotiated over several months.

“Today’s agreement on critical minerals and rare earths is just taking” the U.S. and Australia’s relationship “to the next level,” Albanese added.

This month, Beijing announced that it will require foreign companies to get approval from the Chinese government to export magnets containing even trace amounts of rare-earth materials that originated from China or were produced with Chinese technology. Trump’s Republican administration says this gives China broad power over the global economy by controlling the tech supply chain.

“Australia is really, really going to be helpful in the effort to take the global economy and make it less risky, less exposed to the kind of rare-earth extortion that we’re seeing from the Chinese,” Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House’s National Economic Council, told reporters Monday morning before Trump’s meeting with Albanese.

Hassett noted that Australia has one of the best mining economies in the world, while praising its refiners and its abundance of rare-earth resources. Among the Australian officials accompanying Albanese are ministers overseeing resources and industry and science, and the continent has dozens of critical minerals sought by the U.S.

The prime minister’s visit comes just before Trump is planning to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month.

The prime minister said ahead of his visit that the two leaders will have a chance to deepen their countries’ ties on trade and defense. Another expected topic of discussion is AUKUS, a security pact with Australia, the U.S. and the United Kingdom that was signed during President Biden’s administration.

Trump has not indicated publicly whether he would want to keep AUKUS intact, and the Pentagon is reviewing the agreement.

“Australia and the United States have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in every major conflict for over a century,” Albanese said before the meeting. “I look forward to a positive and constructive meeting with President Trump at the White House.”

The center-left Albanese was reelected in May and suggested shortly after his win that his party increased its majority by not modeling itself on Trumpism.

“Australians have chosen to face global challenges the Australian way, looking after each other while building for the future,” Albanese told supporters during his victory speech.

Kim and Madhani write for the Associated Press.