U.S

PHILADELPHIA — President Trump’s legal team suffered yet another defeat in court Friday as a federal appeals court in Philadelphia roundly rejected its latest effort to challenge the state’s election results.

Trump’s lawyers vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court despite the judges’ assessment that the “campaign’s claims have no merit.”

“Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here,” Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote for the three-judge panel.

The case had been argued last week in a lower court by Trump lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, who insisted during five hours of oral arguments that the 2020 presidential election had been marred by widespread fraud in Pennsylvania. However, Giuliani failed to offer any tangible proof of that in court.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann had said that the campaign’s error-filled complaint, “like Frankenstein’s Monster, has been haphazardly stitched together,” and he denied Giuliani the right to amend it for a second time.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals called that decision justified. The three judges on the panel were all appointed by Republican presidents, including Bibas, a former University of Pennsylvania law professor appointed by Trump. Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, Trump’s sister, sat on the court for 20 years, retiring in 2019.

Friday’s ruling comes four days after Pennsylvania officials certified their vote count for President-elect Joe Biden, who defeated Trump by more than 80,000 votes in the state. Nationally, Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris garnered nearly 80 million votes, a record in U.S. presidential elections.

Trump has said he hopes the Supreme Court will intervene in the race as it did in 2000, when its decision to stop the recount in Florida gave the election to Republican George W. Bush. On Nov. 5, as the vote count continued, Trump posted a tweet saying the “U.S. Supreme Court should decide!”

Ever since, Trump and his surrogates have attacked the election as flawed and filed a flurry of lawsuits to try to block the results in six battleground states. But they’ve found little sympathy from judges, nearly all of whom dismissed their complaints about the security of mail-in ballots, which millions of people used to vote from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump perhaps hopes a Supreme Court he helped steer toward a conservative 6-3 majority would be more open to his pleas, especially since the high court upheld Pennsylvania’s decision to accept mail-in ballots through Nov. 6 by only a 4-4 vote last month. Since then, Trump nominee Amy Coney Barrett has joined the court.

“The activist judicial machinery in Pennsylvania continues to cover up the allegations of massive fraud,” Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis tweeted after Friday’s ruling. “On to SCOTUS!”

In the case before Brann, the Trump campaign asked to disenfranchise the state’s 6.8 million voters, or at least the 700,000 who voted by mail in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and other Democratic-leaning areas.

“One might expect that when seeking such a startling outcome, a plaintiff would come formidably armed with compelling legal arguments and factual proof of rampant corruption,” Brann wrote in his Nov. 21 ruling. “That has not happened.”

A separate Republican challenge that reached the Pennsylvania Supreme Court this week seeks to stop the state from further certifying any races on the ballot. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration is fighting that effort, saying it would prevent the state’s Legislature and congressional delegation from being seated in the coming weeks.

On Thursday, Trump said the Nov. 3 election was still far from over. Yet he offered the clearest signal to date that he would leave the White House peaceably on Jan. 20 if the electoral college formalizes Biden’s win, which appears certain.

“Certainly I will. But you know that,” Trump said at the White House, taking questions from reporters for the first time since election day.

Yet on Friday, he continued his baseless attacks on Detroit, Atlanta and other Democratic cities with large Black populations, calling them sources of “massive voter fraud.” And he claimed, without evidence, that a Pennsylvania poll watcher had uncovered computer memory drives that “gave Biden 50,000 votes” apiece.

All 50 states must certify their results before the electoral college meets Dec. 14, and any challenge to the results must be resolved by Dec. 8. Biden won both the electoral college and popular vote by wide margins.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina’s libertarian leader is lavishing praise on President Trump ahead of his first White House visit on Tuesday. It’s a tactic that has helped transform President Javier Milei ’s cash-strapped country into one of the Trump administration’s closest allies.

The effusive declarations are nothing new for Milei — whose dramatic cuts to state spending and attacks on “woke leftists” have won him a following among U.S. conservatives.

“Your commitment to life, freedom and peace has restored hope to the world,” Milei wrote on social media Monday, congratulating the U.S. president on securing a ceasefire deal in Gaza, where a truce is holding after a devastating, two-year Israel-Hamas war.

“It is an honor to consider you not only an ally in the defense of those values, but also a dear friend and an example of leadership that inspires all those who believe in freedom,” he said.

The Trump-Milei bromance has already paid off for Argentina — most recently, to the tune of a $20 billion bailout.

Experts say Milei comes to the White House with two clear objectives. One is to negotiate U.S. tariff exemptions or reductions for Argentine products.

The other is to see how the United States will implement a $20 billion currency swap line to prop up Argentina’s peso and replenish its depleted foreign currency reserves ahead of crucial midterm elections later this month.

In a crisis, turning to Trump

The Trump administration made a highly unusual decision to intervene in Argentina’s currency market after Milei’s party suffered a landslide loss in a local election last month.

Along with setbacks in the opposition-dominated Congress, the party’s crushing defeat created a crisis of confidence as voters in Buenos Aires Province registered their frustration with rising unemployment, contracting economic activity and brewing corruption scandals.

Alarmed that this could herald the end of popular support for Milei’s free-market program, investors dumped Argentine bonds and sold off the peso.

Argentina’s Treasury began hemorrhaging precious dollar reserves at a feverish pace, trying shore up the currency and keep its exchange rate within the trading band set as part of the country’s recent $20 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund.

But as the peso continued to slide, Milei grew desperate.

He met with Trump on Sept. 23 while in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly. A flurry of back-slapping, hand-shaking and mutual flattery between the two quickly gave way to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly promising Argentina a lifeline of $20 billion.

Markets cheered, and investors breathed a sigh of relief.

Timing is everything

In the days that followed, Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo spent hours in meetings in Washington trying to seal the deal.

Reassurance came last Thursday, when Bessent announced that the U.S. would allow Argentina to exchange up to $20 billion worth of pesos for an equal sum in dollars. Saying that the success of Milei’s program was “of systemic importance,” Bessent added that the U.S. Treasury directly purchased an unspecified amount of pesos.

For the Trump administration, the timing was awkward as it struggles to manage the optics of bailing out a nine-time serial defaulter in the middle of a U.S. government shutdown that has led to mass layoffs.

But for Argentina, it came in the nick of time.

Aware of how a weak currency could threaten his flagship achievement of taming inflation and hurt his popularity, Milei hopes to stave off what many economists see as an inescapable currency devaluation until after the the Oct. 26 midterm elections.

A devaluation of the peso would likely fuel a resurgence in inflation.

“Milei is going to the U.S. in a moment of desperation now,” said Marcelo J. García, political analyst and Director for the Americas at the Horizon Engage political risk consultancy firm.

“He needs to recreate market expectations and show that his program can be sustainable,” García added. “The government is trying to win some time to make it to the midterms without major course corrections, like devaluing or floating the peso.”

No strings attached

Milei was vague when pressed for details on his talks with Trump, expected later on Tuesday. Officials say he would have a two-hour meeting with the U.S. president, followed by a working lunch with other top officials.

He was also expected to participate in a ceremony at the White House honoring Charlie Kirk, the prominent right-wing political activist who was fatally shot last month. Milei often crossed paths with Kirk on the speaking circuit of the ascendant global right.

“We don’t have a single-issue agenda, but rather a multi-issue agenda,” Milei told El Observador radio in Buenos Aires Monday. “Things that are already finalized will be announced, and things that still need to be finalized will remain pending.”

It’s not clear what strings, if any, the Trump administration has attached to the currency swap deal, which Democratic lawmakers and other critics have slammed as an example of Trump rewarding loyalists at the expense of American taxpayers.

There has been no word on how Argentina, the IMF’s largest debtor, will end up paying the U.S. back for this $20 billion, which comes on top of IMF’s own loan for the same amount in April. And that one came on top of an earlier IMF loan for $40 billion.

Despite all the help, Milei’s government already missed the IMF’s early targets for rebuilding currency reserves.

“The U.S. should be concerned that Argentina has had to return for $20 billion so quickly after getting $14 billion upfront from the IMF,” said Brad Setser, a former Treasury official now at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“I worry that this may prove to just be a short-term bridge and won’t leave Argentina better equipped” to tackle its problems, he added.

But in the radio interview before his flight, Milei was upbeat. He gushed about U.S. support saving Argentina from “the local franchise of 21st-century socialism” and waxed poetic about Argentina’s economic potential.

“There will be an avalanche of dollars,” Milei said. “We’ll have dollars pouring out of our ears.”

Debre writes for the Associated Press.

Oct. 14 (UPI) — General Motors will take a nearly $2 billion financial loss in its third quarter over its electric vehicle program after a shift in U.S. policy.

On Tuesday, the Detroit-based carmaker revealed a $1.6 billion dent in a public filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and added its “ongoing” in GM’s EV capacity reassessment.

It comes amid a turnaround in U.S. regulations on EV’s and the end to $7,500 federal tax credits under the Trump administration set in place by then-U.S. President Joe Biden.

“Following recent U.S. government policy changes, including the termination of certain consumer tax incentives for EV purchases and the reduction in the stringency of emissions regulations, we expect the adoption rate of EVs to slow,” the company stated in its filing.

GM’s more than $1 billion loss will include $1.2 billion in non-cash and other special charges. The other $400 million will result from contract cancellation fees and other commercial settlements related to GM’s EV investments over the last few years.

But it warned it was “reasonably possible” General Motors could face future similar charges.

The company is set to officially report the results next Tuesday. But GM’s finance shakeup will not impact its adjusted earnings so far as its relation to the New York Stock Exchange.

GM is a U.S.-based global company with 50 facilities in 19 states, including 11 vehicle assembly plants.

Its new energy arm was initially expected to double GM’s revenue over the next few years as the Michigan-based vehicle conglomerate rolled-out its EV program five years ago.

Over the summer GM announced a $4 billion U.S. investment to build manufacturing plants for both gas and electric cars in Kansas and Tennessee over the next two years.

It’s not my habit to preface my columns with “trigger alerts,” so this is a first:

If talking about circumcision makes you cringe, feel free to move along.

If, on the other hand, you wish to understand what Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was talking about during a White House meeting Oct. 9 when he tried to connect circumcision with autism, follow along with me.

The offhand reference to circumcision’s possible role in autism by Kennedy, Trump’s secretary of Health and Human Services, is part and parcel of Kennedy’s documented assault on science-based medicine.

His campaign encompasses attacks on COVID-19 vaccines, which have been shown over the years to have saved millions of people from death, hospitalization or long-term disability; his firing members of professional advisory boards at his agency and replacing them with anti-vaccine activists; his promotion of unproven “cures” for vaccine-preventable diseases; and his inaction in the face of a nationwide surge in cases of measles, a disease that was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000.

Let’s pause for a few words about the broader consequences of the erosion of our public health infrastructure. It not only exposes Americans to more disease and more serious disease, but has profound economic effects.

That’s true worldwide, but especially in the U.S., which spends much more per capita on healthcare than other developed countries, for lower results. Undermining the existing system for partisan ends won’t make the picture look any lovelier.

“The U.S. health disadvantage threatens the country’s global competitiveness and national security, as well as the hopes and prospects of future generations,” according to a 2021 paper from the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency that Kennedy now leads.

“U.S. employers depend on a healthy workforce to maximize productivity and minimize healthcare costs,” the paper stated. “Population health also affects the consumer market, whereby the demand for nonessential products and services suffers when families are struggling with illnesses and much of their disposable income is required for medical expenses.”

The chaos imposed on our public health system under the Trump administration only intensifies the damage.

On Friday, hundreds of employees at Kennedy’s agency, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, abruptly received layoff notices. Some were hastily informed that their firings were erroneous, but the experience rattled the CDC, an agency tasked with overseeing the national response to seasonal respiratory illnesses at a time when those illnesses typically spike.

“The damage is beyond repair,” Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned as director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, a unit of the National Institutes of Health, over conflicts with Kennedy, told CNN. “Crippling CDC, even as a ploy to create political pressure to end the government shutdown, means America is even less prepared for outbreaks and infectious disease security threats.”

That brings us back to Kennedy’s preoccupation with autism. He has claimed that the autism rate is on the rise due to “environmental toxins” such as childhood vaccinations and the use of Tylenol — or acetaminophen, its generic name — by mothers during pregnancy.

As I’ve reported, however, the roots of the increase in reported autism rates in recent decades are well understood: They have much to do with a broader definition of autism, which is widely described today as “autism spectrum disorder,” and with improved access to screening and diagnostic services by formerly overlooked groups such as Blacks, Hispanics and other nonwhite cohorts.

Kennedy’s comment about circumcision came during a White House Cabinet meeting. At first, he and Trump traded misconceptions they had previously aired about Tylenol use by pregnant women — Trump asserting that “obviously,” the rise in autism rates is “artificially induced” and adding, “I would say don’t take Tylenol if you’re pregnant, and … when the baby is born don’t give it Tylenol.”

That advice dismayed physicians, who say that fevers during pregnancy are a greater risk for the unborn and that acetaminophen is safer than alternative fever-reducing medicines.

Kennedy then injected circumcision into the discussion. “There’s two studies that show children who were circumcised early have double the rate of autism,” he said. “It’s highly likely because they were given Tylenol.”

Unsurprisingly, Kennedy’s remark got extensive play in the news media, prompting him to try walking it back via a tweet on X. Rather than accept responsibility for his confusing words, he responded with Bondi-esque truculence, writing: “As usual, the mainstream media attacks me for something I didn’t say in order to distract from the truth of what I did say.”

He even took arms against the Murdoch-owned New York Post, which posted its story with the headline, “RFK Jr. says Tylenol after circumcisions linked to autism,” and proceeded to debunk the claim.

In trying to clarify his point, however, Kennedy dug himself a deeper hole. According to his tweet, the two studies he was referring to at the cabinet meeting were a Danish study from 2015 and a non-peer-reviewed preprint posted online in August, which refers to the Danish paper. Kennedy mischaracterizes both.

Contrary to Kennedy’s implication, the Danish study did not address the use of acetaminophen (called “paracetamol” in the paper) in connection with circumcision. The reason, its authors wrote, was that “we had no data available on analgesics or possible local anesthetics used during ritual circumcisions in our cohort, so we were unable to address the paracetamol hypothesis directly.”

They did note, however, that the acetaminophen theory had only “limited empirical support.” In other words, evidence was lacking. Anyway, the Danish study was criticized — in the same journal that had published it — for its reliance on a very small sample of children.

As for the preprint, contrary to Kennedy’s description, it did not identify the Danish paper as offering “the most compelling ‘standalone’ evidence” for an autism-acetaminophen link. That language referred to three studies, one of which was the Danish paper. Of the other papers, one was based on later interviews with parents. The other was a study of the effects of acetaminophen on 10-day-old mice, not human children.

I asked Kennedy’s agency to clarify his claim and to explain the discrepancies between his words and the papers themselves, but received no reply.

To summarize, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s top federal healthcare official, conjured up a connection between circumcision and autism via a relationship between circumcision and Tylenol that is unsupported by the research he cited. Indeed, the Danish paper describes the idea that boys undergoing circumcision invariably are given acetaminophen for pain as “a questionable assumption.”

In searching for empirical support for the acetaminophen theory, moreover, the Danish paper cited a 2010 paper funded by NIH that cautioned: “No evidence is presented here that acetaminophen in any way causes autism. … This hypothesis is largely based on multiple lines of often weak evidence.” Anyway, the paper was focused on a possible link between acetaminophen use and asthma, not autism.

Sadly, this sort of mischaracterization of research described as “a rigorous scientific framework” (RFK Jr.’s words) isn’t surprising coming from today’s Department of Health and Human Services. This is the agency, it may be recalled, that in May issued an “assessment” of the health of America’s children that cited at least seven sources that did not exist.

Nothing can stop unwary parents from relying on the judgment of Donald Trump or Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to make healthcare decisions for their infants and children. But they should be warned: They do so at their own and their offsprings’ risk.

Oct. 14 (UPI) — China on Tuesday blacklisted five U.S. subsidiaries of South Korean shipmaker Hanwha Ocean, escalating the trade row between Beijing and Washington.

The countermeasures prohibit Chinese entities and individuals from engaging in business with Hanwha Ocean America in Houston, Texas; Hanwha Ocean USA in San Diego, Calif.; Hanwha Ocean Defense Systems in Norfolk, Va.; Hanwha Ocean Marine Engineering in New York City, N.Y.; and Hanwha Ocean Procurement Services in Bridgeport, Conn.

Beijing’s Commerce Ministry said the companies were blacklisted to counter actions the United States has taken against China targeting its maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors.

“These subsidiaries have assisted and supported relevant U.S. government investigations and actions, thereby endangering China’s sovereignty, security and development interests,” the ministry said in a statement.

China’s Ministry of Transport is also charging U.S.-linked vessels special port fees.

The countermeasures were announced as the first phase of fees the United States is leveling against China’s ship industry is to go into effect following findings of an April 2024 investigation launched by the U.S. Trade Representative under the previous Biden administration into China’s alleged unfair practices in the maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors.

The investigation was launched at the behest of five national labor unions accusing China of employing non-market policies far more aggressive and interventionist than employed by any other country in an effort to dominate the global shipbuilding, maritime and logistics sectors.

As remedy, the U.S. Trade Representative in March proposed services fees and port-entry fees against Chinese-origin ships, effective Tuesday.

A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce alleged to reporters Tuesday that the United States’ action “severely violates” World Trade Organization rules and “breaches the principle of equality and mutual benefit” of a 1980 agreement between Beijing and Washington concerning maritime transport cooperation.

“China has repeatedly express its strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition,” the spokesperson said, while accusing the United States of being unwilling to cooperate with Beijing on the matter.

“China’s countermeasures are necessary acts of passive defense and are aimed at maintaining the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese industries and enterprises, as well as the level playing-field of the international shipping and shipbuilding markets,” the spokesperson said.

“It is hoped the U.S. will face up to its mistake, move with China in the same direction and return to the right track of dialogue and consultation.”

U.S.-China trade relations, which deteriorated sharply during Trump’s first term, have further strained under his current administration, which has repeatedly imposed tariffs on Chinese goods that are being challenged in U.S. courts and at the World Trade Organization.

The two countries have been in a trade squabble since last week when Beijing’s Commerce Ministry announced tightened export restrictions on rare earth items and materials. In response, Trump announced a 100% tariff threat on his Truth Social media platform. China, whose imports are currently subject to a 30% tariff, responded by threatening to retaliate.

The back and forth comes after representatives from Washington and Beijing held trade talks in Beijing last month with prospects of further negotiations continuing this month in South Korea.

However, whether those discussions will take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Gyeongju remains unclear.

Oct. 13 (UPI) — Members of the U.S. Coast Guard will continue to get paid despite the government shutdown, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who said they had found “an innovative solution” to ensure no paychecks are owed to those protecting America’s seas.

Noem did not explain the solution to pay the Coast Guard amid the political stalemate that has seen hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed.

“The brave men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard will not miss a paycheck this week as they continue to carry out their critical homeland security and military missions,” Noem said in a Monday statement.

The federal government shut down on Oct. 1 as Congress failed to pass an appropriations bill to keep it funded into the new year.

Democrats said they will only support a bill that extends and restores Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, arguing that failing to do so would raise healthcare costs for some 20 million Americans.

Republicans, who control the House, Senate and the presidency, are seeking a so-called clean funding bill that includes no changes. They argue that the Democrats are fighting to provide undocumented migrants with taxpayer-funded healthcare, even though federal law does not permit them from receiving Medicaid or ACA premium tax credits.

Coast Guard paychecks are paid by the Department of Homeland Security, while military troops are paid by the Department of Defense.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump said he was directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “use all available funds to get our Troops PAID” on time.

“We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS,” he said in a statement on his Truth Social platform, while blaming the Democrats for the government shutdown.

“The Radical Left Democrats should OPEN THE GOVERNMENT, and then we can work together to address Healthcare, and many other things that they want to destroy,” he said.

The Department of Defense will reportedly use about $8 billion of research and development funding from last year to pay service members on Wednesday if the government does not reopen by then.

The legality of shifting the Congress-approved funds was unclear.

Asked about the appropriation of the funds on Sunday during CBS News’ Face the Nation, Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., replied, “probably not.”

“I think to pay the military during a shutdown would require legislation,” he said.

Oct. 13 (UPI) — Four people were arrested Monday in connection to a mass shooting over the weekend in Mississippi that killed six people and left 10 others wounded.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the arrests following Friday night’s deadly gunfire at a football homecoming celebration in the downtown area of Leland, a small town about 200 miles from the Arkansas-Mississippi border.

According to the FBI, Morgan Lattimore, 25, Teviyon Powell, 29, and William Bryant, 29, were charged with capital murder. A fourth suspect, Latoya Powell, 44, has been charged with attempted murder.

The FBI in Jackson said the investigation will continue with other arrests pending. A motive was not revealed.

“The FBI currently has brought agents in to assist in the canvassing, the interviewing, the evidence review, both video and physical evidence review,” Special Agent in Charge Robert Eikhoff told reporters over the weekend. “We’ve had resources available, so as we identify video evidence that we will bring to bear the resources to evaluate that video evidence.”

On Sunday, the FBI established a digital media tips website to gather information, cellphone video or photos from the public to help them investigate Friday’s shooting. That website will remain active, despite the arrests, as agents continue to request more tips.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is using DNA analysis to run shell casings through national databases. FBI Jackson is also requesting witnesses submit tips at tips.fbi.gov.

The Washington County Coroner’s Office has identified the victims as Kaslyn Johnson, 18, Calvin Plant, 19, Oreshama Johnson, 41, Shelbyona Powell, 25, Amos Brantley Jr, 18, and JaMichael Jones, 34.

“We also have victim specialists that are available and they’re working with those from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation to ensure that the victims and their families are cared for and understand what resources are available to them,” Eikhoff added, “and help them in their pursuit and their journey as they try to recover from this horrific incident.”

Oct. 13 (UPI) — SpaceX is planning the 11th flight test on Monday of its Starship, its two-stage, heavy-lift launch vehicle designed to one day take humans back to the moon and eventually to Mars.

The launch window will open at 6:15 p.m. CT at the company’s Starbase compound in Texas near the Gulf of Mexico and about 20 miles from Brownsville.

A live-streamed broadcast of the test flight will begin about 30 minutes prior to liftoff.

In August, the Elon Musk-owned SpaceX succeeded in its third attempt to launch the 10th Starship test mission after SpaceX officials scrubbed two prior launches.

Monday’s flight is expected to build on the “successful demonstrations” from its 10th test in August, according to officials, but with flight experiments “gathering data for the next generation Super Heavy booster, stress-testing Starship’s heatshield, and demonstrating maneuvers that will mimic the upper stage’s final approach for a future return to launch site.”

But on Monday, the company reiterated that the flight schedule was a “dynamic” process and “likely to change” as is the case with all other developmental testing.

Oct. 13 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said Monday that he may supply Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine for its fight against Russia.

Trump, on Air Force One, told reporters that he might issue an ultimatum to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I might say ‘Look: if this war is not going to get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks.’ The Tomahawk is an incredible weapon, very offensive weapon. And honestly, Russia does not need that,” NBC reported he said.

Trump was flying to the Middle East Monday, to Israel and Egypt for talks on the Gaza peace deal.

Supplying Ukraine with Tomahawks would allow the country to hit targets more than 1,000 miles away, striking deeper into Russian territory.

A Russian lawmaker last week said if Ukraine fires Tomahawks, Russia will shoot them down, bomb their sites and retaliate against the United States, The Hill reported.

Ukraine President Volodymir Zelensky said on X that Russia “continues its aerial terror against our cities and communities, intensifying strikes on our energy infrastructure. The immorality of these crimes is such that every day Russians kill our people. Yesterday in Kostiantynivka, a child was killed in a church by an aerial bomb. In total, just this week alone, more than 3,100 drones, 92 missiles, and around 1,360 glide bombs have been used against Ukraine.”

Zelensky and Trump spoke on Sunday for 40 minutes, discussing Ukraine’s weapons, supply status and the energy sector ahead of Ukraine’s harsh winter, Axios reported. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top officials were on the call.

“We agreed on a set of topics to discuss today, and we covered all the aspects of the situation: defense of life in our country, strengthening our capabilities — in air defense, resilience, and long-range capabilities. We also discussed many details related to the energy sector. President Trump is well informed about everything that is happening,” Zelensky wrote on X.

Trump said he had “sort of made a decision” to sell Tomahawks to NATO countries, which would then be sent to Ukraine, Axios reported.

Putin said on Sunday that sending Tomahawks to Ukraine would be a “completely new, qualitatively new stage of escalation,” Axios reported.

Tomahawk missiles are subsonic cruise missiles that can precisely hit targets 1,000 miles away, even in heavily defended airspace, according to manufacturer Raytheon. They can be fired from land or ships and can have conventional or nuclear warheads. They cost an average of $1.3 million each.

The latest version, called the Block IV Tactical Tomahawk or TACTOM, has a data link that allows it to switch targets while in flight. It can loiter for hours and change course instantly on command, Raytheon said.

Oct. 12 (UPI) — Search-and-rescue operations were underway Sunday night in Alaska as several people remain unaccounted for while typhoon remnants continue to batter the Last Frontier state.

Alaska State Troopers said in a statement that at least three people were unaccounted for in Kwigillingok, along the west coast of the state. There were also reports of people unaccounted for in nearby Kipnuk, where homes were pushed from their foundations by heaving winds and flooding.

The operation rescued 18 people in Kwigillingok and at least 16 from Kipnuk, the state police force said, adding that both communities were hit with strong winds and heavy flooding Saturday night.

“This is an active and ongoing search-and-rescue mission,” it said adding that the Alaska Air National Guard, Alaska Army National Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard were aiding in the effort.

Western Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and Nunivak Island were hit hard by remnants of Typhoon Halong over the weekend, with the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management stating they experienced hurricane-force winds, some areas in gusts in excess of 100 mph. “Significant” storm surges leading to widespread flooding were also recorded, it said.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued a disaster declaration on Thursday as the state was already being negatively impacted by the storm. On Sunday, he expanded that order, making available state public and other assistance programs to those affected in the named in the region.

He said Kipnuk and Kwigillingok had been “hard hit” and that rescue aircraft were on their way.

“Every effort will be made to help those hit by this storm,” he said in a Sunday evening release.

In Kipnuk, where water levels reached 6.6 feet above high tide overnight, 172 people had sought shelter, according to the state.

In Kwigillingok, water levels reached a height of 6.3 feet above high tide and more than 100 people required shelter. At least four homes were “inundated,” it said.

The National Weather Service said Sunday afternoon that the storm was continuing to move across Alaska’s west coast, with high wind warnings to remain in effect through Monday Morning for Norton Sound and Kotzebue Sound and through Tuesday morning for the northwest Alaska coast.

For some areas, coastal flooding warnings will remain in effect through Tuesday morning.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) — The Smithsonian museums and research centers, along with the National Zoo, closed to the public Sunday for the first time during the federal government shutdown and are likely to remain closed until Congress reaches an agreement over national funding.

Though the shutdown officially began Oct. 1, outside funds from donations and endowments allowed a brief extension. Now, its administrators said, the Smithsonian complex must cease public operations until a budget deal.

The closures affect what had been one of the most accessible forms of public education and sightseeing in the United States With 21 museums, 14 research centers and the National Zoo, the Smithsonian is the largest museum and research network in the world.

The absence of open museums cast a palpable gloom over the capital. Though the weekend brought rainy weather that may have suppressed tourism anyway, the lack of activity around the National Mall left the area unusually quiet.

Washington’s reputation as a destination for cultural visitors has long been tied to its museums, and their closure underscores how dependent the city is on federal operations and how vulnerable that model becomes in shutdowns.

Moreover, many district residents work at various Smithsonian complexes, and the shutdown means a majority of Smithsonian staff members have been furloughed. Some essential operations, like at the National Zoo, must continue for animal care, using existing reserves.

The 163-acre public zoo is home to more than 2,200 animals. The private Conservation Biology Institute is in Front Royal Va., 73 miles away. The two employ in total more than 300 staff members and scientists.

For residents and tourists, the museums and zoo had been a “free of cost” option for learning and cultural engagement.

Most of its museums cluster along or near the National Mall, with several other in the D.C. metro area and two facilities in New York City — also closed because of the shutdown.

The portfolio includes institutions devoted to natural history, air and space, African American history and culture, American art and many specialized fields.

In addition to public galleries and exhibitions, the Smithsonian operates research and education centers. These focus on areas like the cnservation Institute, tropical research Institute and conservation biology.

Oct. 12 (UPI) — Gunfire erupted close to 1 a.m. at Willie’s Bar and Grill in St. Helena Island, S.C., the sheriff’s office said. Four people were pronounced dead at the scene about an hour north of Savannah.

“It was learned that hundreds of people were in the location when the shooting occurred,” a statement from the sheriff’s office said. “Multiple victims and witnesses ran to the nearby businesses and properties seeking shelter from the gunshots.”

When officers arrived on scene, police confirmed that there were multiple gunshot victims.

Of the 20 victims transported to a local hospital, officials confirmed that four were in critical condition. Some of the victims were transported to Beaufort County EMS, and others arrived separately seeking medical help.

A private security guard hired to police an event at the bar was among the deceased victims, police said.

“This is a tragic and difficult incident for everyone,” the sheriff’s office statement said. “We ask for your patience as we continue to investigate this incident.”

Police have not made any arrests but confirmed they are pursuing a “person of interest.”

Oct. 12 (UPI) — Former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez was booked into the Marion County, Ind., jail Sunday after being released from the hospital following treatment for stab wounds he received during an altercation with a truck driver.

Sanchez, 38, is facing multiple charges, including felony battery, for his altercation with 69-year-old Perry Tole, in which Sanchez was stabbed multiple times. Tole claimed he was defending himself from the former NFL star. Sanchez was released from jail following his booking Sunday.

Trump told Indianapolis media that he was “focused on his recovery,” and thanked medical professionals for saving his life.

“Right now, I’m just focused on recovery,” Sanchez said. “And I just wanted to thank the first responders, Eskenazi hospital … I just want to thank Dr. [Lindsey] Morrisey, the surgeon. I’m grateful for that. Sorry I can’t answer all your questions.”

Sanchez told reporters that he is recovering slowly and that “it is a long process.”

Tole has sued Sanchez and Fox Sports for his injuries that he said he received in the Oct. 4 incident in Indianapolis.

Local police said they would typically wait until Monday to handle cases that happen on the weekend, but “a high level of public interest” in Sanchez prompted them to take action on Sunday.

Oct. 12 (UPI) — Longtime Washington insider and political aide Dan Scavino has been selected to head the presidential personnel office.

Scavino will replace Sergio Gor, whom President Donald Trump nominated in August to serve as U.S. ambassador to India.

Scavino, a former deputy chief of staff, has been among Trump’s most trusted advisers.

“I am pleased to announce that the great Dan Scavino, in addition to remaining Deputy Chief of Staff to the Trump Administration, will head to the White House Presidential Personnel Office, replacing Sergio Gor, who did a wonderful job in that position, and will now become Ambassador to India,” Trump said in a social media post.

The personnel office has largely overseen administrative duties, but also has had significant influence, especially during the Trump administration, which has selected several candidates based on their loyalty to the president. The office is responsible for hiring and firing thousands of employees.

Scavino’s appointment comes amid a government shutdown, which led to the layoffs of more than 4,000 employees Friday. Trump has not been clear as to whether they will receive back pay, or whether they will have jobs when the government reopens.

Oct. 12 (UPI) — Thousands of people in New Jersey are without power Sunday as a strong nor’easter sweeps across the region with heavy, flood-producing rains that are forecast to last into Monday morning.

Along with major coastal flooding in the region, forecasters are warning residents of the potential for wind gusts of up to 60 mph.

The state’s Jersey Shore area is a particular concern and could experience major flooding, forecasters say.

The storm system’s damaging winds will strengthen as it approaches New York, and a “High Wind Warning” has been issued for eastern Long Island and the Jersey Shore from today into Monday.

In New Jersey, forecasters say rising water could bring heavy flooding in areas along the Delaware River waterfront, Camden and Gloucester County lowlands, the Atlantic City area and in communities along Delaware Bay.

Weather forecasters warn that residents in the region could see more downed trees and wind gusts that could lead to more power outages. New York City could see wind gusts of up to 50 mph later Sunday, as well.

Philadelphia could experience moderate to major flooding in tidal zones, especially during high tides Sunday night, forecasters said.

Meanwhile, Atlantic marine conditions are forecast to be severe, with gale to storm-force winds, rough seas, and dangerous surf and rip currents along beaches.

A storm called a nor’easter is a weather system that churns along the East Coast of the United States with winds that typically come from the northeast. These storms may occur at any time of year but are most frequent and most destructive between September and April.

Oct. 10 (UPI) — The Bureau of Labor Statistics has called back employees to prepare the Consumer Price Index report.

The news of the callback was reported by the New York Times, CNBC and Axios. The CPI report is how the government and economists measure inflation.

The price data has already been collected, but it must be processed and analyzed. Employees called back are economists and IT specialists, an administration source familiar with the plan told the Times. Data collection will still be suspended, meaning next month’s report may be delayed if the government shutdown continues.

The report will be released at 8:30 a.m. EDT on Oct. 24, CNBC reported. It was originally scheduled for Oct. 15.

The reason for the release of the new report is that federal law requires the Social Security Administration to adjust Social Security benefits annually based on inflation from the third quarter, and the adjustment must be published by Nov. 1.

But the delay could make it impossible for the administration to meet the deadline.

Other BLS reports, such as the nonfarm payrolls report, have not been released since the shutdown. That report was scheduled for Oct. 3.

Oct. 12 (UPI) — On this date in history:

In 1492, Christopher Columbus reached America, making his first landing in the New World on one of the Bahamas Islands. Columbus thought he had reached India.

In 1810, the citizens of Munich were invited to join in celebrating the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen in what would become the first Oktoberfest.

In 1915, British nurse Edith Cavell, 49, was executed by a German firing squad in Brussels for helping Allied soldiers escape from Belgium in World War I.

In 1933, the United States Army Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz Island, otherwise known as The Rock, was acquired by the United States Department of Justice. Less than a year later, the prison would become home to some of the country’s most notorious criminals.

Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI

In 1945, President Harry Truman awarded the Medal of Honor to Desmond T. Doss, the first conscientious objector to receive the honor. Doss was the subject of Hacksaw Ridge, a 2016 movie starring Andrew Garfield.

In 1960, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev removed one of his shoes and pounded it on his desk during a speech before the United Nations.

In 1964, the Soviet Union launched Voskhod 1 into orbit around Earth, with three cosmonauts aboard. It was the first spacecraft to carry a multi-person crew and the two-day mission was also the first orbital flight performed without spacesuits.

In 1973, U.S. President Richard Nixon nominated House Minority Leader Gerald Ford of Michigan for the vice presidency to replace Spiro Agnew, who had resigned two days earlier.

In 1984, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher escaped injury in the bombing of a hotel in Brighton, England. Four people were killed in the attack, blamed on the Irish Republican Army.

In 1992, an earthquake near Cairo killed more than 500 people and injured thousands.

In 1998, University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay man, died six days after he was beaten, robbed and left tied to a fence. The U.S. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is often called the “Matthew Shepard Act.”

In 2000, 17 sailors were killed and 39 injured in an explosion on the USS Cole as it refueled in Yemen. U.S. President Bill Clinton blamed the attack on al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

UPI File Photo

In 2001, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to bring peace to the world and his work against AIDS and poverty.

In 2002, terrorist bombings near two crowded nightclubs on the Indonesian island of Bali killed more than 200 people.

In 2010, the U.S. government lifted a ban on deep-water oil and natural gas drilling for companies that obey stricter rules aimed at avoiding a repeat of the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

In 2016, CoverGirl announces its first male model, James Charles. The 17-year-old high school senior caught the attention of the makeup brand through his popular Instagram account.

In 2019, California became the first state in the United States to ban the sale of new fur products.

In 2022, a Connecticut jury ordered Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay nearly $1 billion to the families of eight Sandy Hook shooting victims and an FBI agent who responded to the 2012 massacre for spreading lies and calling the attack a hoax.

File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

Oct. 11 (UPI) — Former National Security adviser John Bolton might be charged with federal crimes next week for allegedly mishandling classified documents.

Federal prosecutors met on Saturday to weigh potential charges that would be filed in the U.S. District Court for Maryland, which is Bolton’s state of residence, according to CNN.

Bolton served as President Donald Trump‘s National Security adviser from April 9, 2018, to Sept. 10, 2019.

He has been under investigation for several years due to how he handled classified information, and Saturday’s meeting of federal prosecutors is to determine potential charges.

Bolton’s attorney Abbe Lowell dismissed claims that Bolton inappropriately handled classified documents, NBC News reported.

“An objective and thorough review will show nothing inappropriate was stored or kept by Amb. Bolton,” Lowell said in a prepared statement and referring to Bolton’s former position as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

She said the files in Bolton’s possession had been reviewed and closed, and he intended to use them while writing a book.

“These are the kinds of ordinary records, many of which are 20 years old or more, that would be kept by a longtime career official who served at the State Department, as an assistant attorney general, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and the National Security adviser,” Lowell said.

FBI agents in August searched Bolton’s home and his office in Washington as part of a national security investigation regarding classified documents.

Federal prosecutors are determining how they might pursue a federal grand jury indictment against him.

A grand jury indictment against Bolton would be the third secured by interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, whom Trump recently appointed after firing her predecessor for not pursuing such indictments.

Halligan recently obtained federal grand jury indictments against former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly lying to Congress in 2020.

Earlier this week, she also obtained a grand jury indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James for alleged bank fraud related to the purchase of a home in Alexandria, Va.

Oct. 11 (UPI) — The Trump administration on Friday announced it had begun laying off more than 4,000 federal workers but will pay troops as the government shutdown continues at least until Tuesday.

President Donald Trump on Saturday announced his administration has located funds to pay the military on Wednesday.

“We have identified funds,” and the president will order Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth to “use all available funds to get our troops paid,” Trump said, as reported by CNN.

The president did not say what funds would be used to pay the troops, and his announcement came as thousands of federal workers have received lay-off notices, with thousands more expected.

Administration officials are planning to lay off a total of 4,100 federal employees until the current budget impasse ends, Axios reported.

Layoff notices have been sent to between 1,100 and 1,200 Health and Human Services workers, 1,446 in the Treasury Department and another 466 in the Department of Education, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

“The situation involving the lapse in appropriations is fluid and rapidly evolving,” OMB adviser Stephen Billy said in a response to a federal union workers’ court challenge to the layoffs.

“These numbers reflect the most current information made available to me at this time and are subject to change,” Billy added.

Additional layoff notices are planned for 442 workers in the Housing and Urban Development agency, 315 in the Commerce Department, 187 in the Department of Energy, 176 in Homeland Security and up to 30 in the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also has had an unknown number of workers laid off

The American Federation of Government Employees and the AFL-CIO have filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration to end the layoffs and have all workers returned to their jobs despite the lack of funding to pay them, the BBC reported.

OMB Director Russell Vought on Friday announced the Trump administration was beginning a reduction in force of the federal government amid the shutdown.

Senate Republicans are trying to get enough support from Senate Democrats to pass a House-approved continuing resolution that would fund the federal government for seven weeks while continuing to negotiate a bipartisan budget bill for the 2026 fiscal year.

Senate Democrats have proposed an alternative funding resolution that would fund the federal government through Oct. 31 but would add $1.5 trillion in spending over the next 10 years.

That measure would require passage in the House of Representatives, which is on recess until Oct 20.

Oct. 11 (UPI) — Former President Joe Biden has begun radiation therapy, in addition to hormone therapy, to treat aggressive prostate cancer, a spokesperson has confirmed.

The radiation treatments will continue over five weeks to treat the cancer that Biden, 82, first announced in May.

“As part of a treatment plan for prostate cancer, President Biden is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment,” a Biden spokesperson told NBC News.

When Biden announced his cancer diagnosis, it already had spread to his bones, which his doctors had been treating with hormone medication.

“The expectation is we’re going to be able to beat this,” Biden told CNN in May.

“It’s not in any organ,” Biden said, adding that the cancer hadn’t penetrated any of his bones.

Doctors diagnosed Biden’s prostate cancer after he reported having issues with his urinary system, which led to the discovery of a small nodule on the former president’s prostate, according to the BBC.

Doctors determined it was an aggressive form of cancer that is vulnerable to hormone treatment.

The cancer’s spread to Biden’s bones makes it incurable, but recent developments in chemotherapy and hormone therapies can greatly extend the life expectancy of those who are similarly afflicted, Dr. Benjamin Davies, a urologic oncology professor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told CNN.

Biden last month also underwent Mohs surgery to remove skin cancer lesions.

While president, Biden launched a “cancer moonshot” program to advance the ways in which cancers are diagnosed and treated.