https://www.voanews.com/z/599 The latest news and analysis about United States culture, education, entertainment, race, immigration, politics, and religion. https://www.voanews.com/Content/responsive/VOA/en-US/img/logo.png https://www.voanews.com/z/599 en 2024 - VOA 60 Sun, 15 Dec 2024 21:49:59 -0500 Pangea CMS – VOA Omaha, Nebraska — A tornado near a mall in central California swept up cars, uprooted trees and sent several people to the hospital. In San Francisco, authorities issued the first-ever tornado warning. Elsewhere, inclement weather plagued areas of the U.S., with dangerous conditions including heavy snow in upstate New York, a major ice storm in Midwest states and severe weather warnings around Lake Tahoe.  The ice storm beginning Friday evening created treacherous driving conditions across Iowa and eastern Nebraska Friday and into Saturday and prompted temporary closures of Interstate 80 after numerous cars and trucks slid off the road. In upstate New York, more than 33 inches (84 centimeters) was reported near Orchard Park, which is often a landing point for lake-effect snow. On Saturday, a tornado touched down near a shopping mall in Scotts Valley, California, about 110 kilometers south of San Francisco, around 1:40 p.m. The tornado overturned cars and toppled trees and utility poles, the National Weather Service said. The Scotts Valley Police Department said several people were injured and taken to hospitals. In San Francisco, some trees toppled onto cars and streets and damaged roofs. The   damage was due to 129-kph straight-line winds, not a tornado, weather   service meteorologist Dalton Behringer said Sunday. Roger Gass, a meteorologist in the weather service’s office in Monterey, California, said the warning of a possible tornado in San Francisco was a first for the city, noting an advanced alert did not go out before the last tornado struck nearly 20 years ago. “I would guess there wasn’t a clear signature on radar for a warning in 2005,” said Gass, who was not there at the time. The fast-moving storm prompted warnings for residents to take shelter, but few people have basements in the area. More than 30 centimeters of snow fell at some Lake Tahoe ski resorts, and 181-kph gust of wind was recorded at the Mammoth Mountain resort south of Yosemite National Park, according to the weather service’s office in Reno, Nevada. Up to 90 centimeters of snow was forecast for the Sierra Nevada mountaintops. The weekend Tahoe Live music festival at Palisades Tahoe ski resort in California went ahead as planned in spite of a snowstorm Saturday. Lil Wayne and Diplo were scheduled to perform Sunday, the festival’s website said. An avalanche warning was in effect at least until Monday morning in the area. Interstate 80 was closed along a 130-kilometer stretch from Applegate, California, to the Nevada line just west of Reno on Saturday. The California Highway Patrol reopened the road in the afternoon for passenger vehicles with chains or four-wheel drive and snow tires. The severe weather in the Midwest resulted in at least one death. The Washington County Sheriff’s office in Nebraska said a 57-year-old woman died after she lost control of her pickup on Highway 30 near Arlington and hit an oncoming truck. The other driver sustained minor injuries. Businesses announced plans to open late Saturday as temperatures rose high enough in the afternoon to melt the ice in most places. “Luckily some warmer air is moving in behind this to make it temporary,” said Dave Cousins, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Davenport, Iowa. Tens of thousands of people in western Washington state lost electricity Saturday as the system delivered rain and gusty winds, local news outlets reported. https://www.voanews.com/a/storms-across-us-bring-heavy-snow-dangerous-ice-tornado-in-california/7902218.html https://www.voanews.com/a/storms-across-us-bring-heavy-snow-dangerous-ice-tornado-in-california/7902218.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 17:19:43 -0500 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) Denver, Colorado — Dozens of kids cheered on a festively decked-out plane in Denver on Saturday when the pilot announced their destination for the day: the North Pole. More than 100 children, some of whom have serious health issues, were then taken on a roughly 45-minute flight near the city before landing back at Denver International Airport and being towed to a hangar transformed by United Airlines employees and volunteers into the North Pole. Streamers, paper snowflakes and tufts of cotton resembling feathery snow dotted the plane and seats. Flight personnel paraded a bubble machine up and down the aisle to shouts of "bubbles, bubbles, bubbles" from the excited children. Holiday songs played in the background and there were apple snacks and juice for all. Before landing, the children were asked to close their window shades. When they opened, the kids were met by the sight of a waiting Santa and Mrs. Claus and a host of elves. An ice cream truck was on hand and the children received gifts. Bryce Bosley, 6, was tickled to see Santa and all the North Pole had to offer. "The North Pole is fun because there's games, food, and all the activities are really fun," he said. United Capt. Bob Zimmermann, the holiday flight's pilot, was struck by the joy and wonder of the youngsters. "Throughout the year I'll think of the fantasy flight," he said. "When life seems to get tough or I want to complain about something, I remember these kids and the joy and the love and what this feels like, and it just keeps my life in perspective." United partnered with Make-A-Wish Colorado, Girls Inc., Children's Hospital Colorado and Rocky Mountain Down Syndrome Association to invite Denver-area kids ages 3 to 10 years on the flight. For more than 30 years, United has staged its annual "fantasy flights" to fictional North Poles at airports around the world to bring holiday cheer to children and their families. This year they took place in 13 cities, starting Dec. 5 in Honolulu and then in Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, London, Chicago, San Francisco, Tokyo, Cleveland and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and on the island of Guam. Newark, New Jersey, also had a flight Saturday. Jonna McGrath, United's vice president for operations at its Denver hub, has participated in 29 flights and said it is one of her favorite days of the year. "It gives them a day where they are away from some of the challenges they face in their day-to-day life," said McGrath, who was dressed as an elf. "Bringing a little magic and some gifts to their holiday season is something they'll never forget." https://www.voanews.com/a/north-pole-flight-takes-kids-to-santa-in-transformed-denver-airport-hangar/7902213.html https://www.voanews.com/a/north-pole-flight-takes-kids-to-santa-in-transformed-denver-airport-hangar/7902213.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 17:05:06 -0500 USAArts & Culturewebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) It's been a very long time since vendors sold the American chestnut on city sidewalks. It's no longer the variety whose smell some people associate with Christmastime as it wafts from street carts. Because it's virtually extinct.  But memories of the American chestnut's legacy keep resurfacing for the researchers who want to bring it back. They describe its wood that paneled the homes and schoolrooms of their grandparents, or the photographs of men on the street corners of old Baltimore, with hot bags of nuts cooked on charcoal.  "You can feel that connection to a place, and that connection to utility, and the connection to the importance that this tree played in virtually every aspect of the lives of people," said Sara Fern Fitzsimmons, chief conservation officer with The American Chestnut Foundation, which is working to restore the tree to flourish as it once did.  Fitzsimmons said that will likely take a lot longer than many chestnut enthusiasts had hoped. Researchers have hit roadblocks with attempts to breed or genetically modify a version that can withstand the invasive blight that has hammered the species since the early 1900s. If and when they do find the right variety, they'll need to figure out how to plant it and help it thrive in forests that are under pressure from climate change, globalization and development.  Once a hallmark of forests from Georgia to New England, American chestnuts now exist mostly as a vast network of root systems underground, sending up shoots. They grow for a time, but the fungal blight takes hold when the trees start maturing. East Asian varieties, like those that introduced the blight in the first place, are immune to the blight, and produce most of the edible chestnuts for fall and winter snacking.  Still, American chestnut trees are better-suited for timber, they're culturally loved by people all over North America and they used to be an important species for the ecological health of forests, providing a reliable source of nutritious food and shelter for wildlife and humans alike. "It was really a pretty significant species to lose," said Amy Brunner, an associate professor at Virginia Tech who works on the tree's genetics. "The more diversity you lose, the less resilient that forest ecosystem is."  The American Chestnut Foundation, among others, has been trying for decades to breed a hybrid that is mostly American in genetics but with the fungus-fighting traits of the Chinese type. Fitzsimmons said breeders have learned just how difficult that is — blight resistance involves several different genes, and it has proven hard to separate them from the traits that distinguish Chinese chestnuts.  To speed the process, some scientists have been working on genetically modifying American chestnuts to see if they can boost their immunity that way instead. But progress was delayed by a recent mix-up involving two versions of a genetically modified American chestnut that scientists at State University of New York had hoped could get through the regulatory process as soon as this year.  "It kind of stinks that it happened because now it's taking a little bit longer than we had hoped," said Linda McGuigan, a research support specialist at the university. But scientists there and elsewhere are continuing to pursue many avenues.  "I don't think you will get there, to all you desire, without both," Brunner said, referring to the two main methods of breeding and genetic modification. Breeding is vital for achieving enough genetic diversity for trees to adapt to a changing world, she said, but added that she thinks some genetic manipulation will be needed to get to enough blight resistance for American chestnuts to stand a chance.  Meanwhile, other scientists are working on projects to tackle another big challenge ahead for chestnuts: where to plant them. If a successful tree is cobbled together with genes taken from trees from Tennessee to New York, where would it have the best chance at surviving, given how a warming planet is changing habitat around the world?  A team at Virginia Tech published a paper this summer to try to answer that question. They looked at 32 climate variables and compared them to projected future climates, then calculated the shortest distance that regionally specific American chestnuts would have to move to offset warming. The idea was to one day help them survive a new climate while keeping them as close as possible to where they once thrived.  "I don't think it's hyperbolic to say it's revolutionary" for teams at The American Chestnut Foundation, said Fitzsimmons, who contributed data to the project. She said the project will help them better figure out where to collect genes from the immature trees that remain across the country.  Tom Kimmerer, a forest scientist who taught at the University of Kentucky, is working on a book about trees including the American chestnut. Kimmerer, who was not involved in the research, called it "robust and well supported" and "critically important to the success of the chestnut."  Stacy Clark, a research forester at the U.S. Forest Service, said the findings are useful, but added that they need to be backed up with real-world experiments. "I think with advancements in genetics, they can probably get pretty fast data off of those field trials. But still, all of that takes time and effort, right?"  For now, forest scientists know their work might not pay off in their lifetimes. It's a lesson that became clear for the community when pioneering chestnut restoration experts Bill Powell and Chuck Maynard both died in the past 13 months. McGuigan supported both of their research for years as lab manager at SUNY's college of environmental science and forestry.  "The project moves on, lives on. And we honor their memory," McGuigan said. "I want to do something good for the future, for my children." https://www.voanews.com/a/tis-the-season-for-roasting-chestnuts-but-in-us-native-ones-are-almost-gone/7902197.html https://www.voanews.com/a/tis-the-season-for-roasting-chestnuts-but-in-us-native-ones-are-almost-gone/7902197.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 15:52:12 -0500 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) The Spider-Man spinoff "Kraven the Hunter" got off to a disastrous start in North American theaters this weekend.  The movie starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson earned only $11 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, making it one of the worst openings for a Marvel-adjacent property. Its box office take was even less than the film "Madame Web."  The weekend's other major studio release was Warner Bros.' animated "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim," which made $4.6 million. Made for about $30 million, the movie is set 183 years before the events of "The Lord of the Rings" films and was fast-tracked to ensure New Line did not lose the rights to Tolkien's novels. Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens have been working on future live-action films for the franchise.  Meanwhile, the top of the charts again belonged to "Moana 2" and "Wicked."  "Moana" added $26.6 million to its domestic total in its third weekend and $57.2 million internationally, bringing its global tally to $717 million. It's now the fourth highest grossing film of the year, surpassing "Dune: Part Two."  "Wicked," which is in its fourth weekend, brought in another $22.5 million to take second place. The Universal musical has made over $359 million domestically and over $500 million worldwide.  "Gladiator II" also made $7.8 million, bringing its domestic total to $145.9 million in four weeks.  "Kraven the Hunter" is the latest misfire from Sony in its attempt to mine the Spider-Man universe for spin-off franchises without the lucrative web slinger himself. "Kraven" joins "Madame Web" and "Morbius" in franchise additions that fell flat with both audiences and critics. The one exception on this rollercoaster journey has been the "Venom" trilogy, which has made over $1.8 billion worldwide.  The R-rated "Kraven the Hunter" was directed by J.C. Chandor and faced a number of delays, partly due to the Hollywood strikes. It was shot nearly three years ago and originally slated to hit theaters in January 2023. The film cost a reported $110 million to produce and was co-financed by TSG. Internationally, it made $15 million, but its potential for longevity appears limited: It currently carries a 15% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes and got a C grade on CinemaScore from opening weekend audiences.  "It's not always a guarantee that you'll be able to connect with audiences when you have a spinoff character," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. "General audiences seem to want to know exactly what they're getting."  Several awards contenders opened in limited release over the weekend, including Paramount's "September 5" about ABC's coverage of the Munich Olympics hostage crisis. Amazon MGM and Orion's "Nickel Boys," based on Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer-winner about an abusive reform school in Florida, opened in two theaters in New York. It averaged $30,422 per screen and will be expanding to Los Angeles before going nationwide in the coming weeks.  Some big hitters are on the way in the home stretch of the 2024 box office. "Mufasa" and "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" will hit in the coming weeks along with a bevy of arthouse and adult releases like "Babygirl," "Nosferatu" and "A Complete Unknown."  The box office has seen a dramatic recovery since June, when it was down nearly 28% from the previous year. The deficit now stands at 4.8%.  Final domestic figures will be released Monday. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:  1. "Moana 2," $26.6 million.  2. "Wicked," $22.5 million.  3. "Kraven the Hunter," $11 million.  4. "Gladiator II," $7.8 million.  5. "Red One," $4.6 million.  6. "Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim," $4.5 million.  7. "Interstellar" (rerelease), $3.3 million.  8. "Pushpa: The Rule — Part 2," $1.6 million.  9. "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," $1.4 million.  10. "Queer," $790,954.  https://www.voanews.com/a/kraven-the-hunter-flops-while-moana-2-tops-the-box-office-again/7902189.html https://www.voanews.com/a/kraven-the-hunter-flops-while-moana-2-tops-the-box-office-again/7902189.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 15:37:10 -0500 USAArts & Culturewebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming national security adviser says it’s time to figure out where dozens of unexplained drones flying over eastern U.S. states are coming from and whether any ill intent is involved. Republican Representative Michael Waltz, from Florida and set to join Trump’s White House team when the president-elect takes office January 20, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, “We need to get to the bottom of it.” For weeks now, residents in the state of New Jersey, which borders New York City, and other states to the north and south along the Atlantic Ocean coastline have reported seeing more than 5,000 supposed drones, a figure U.S. officials have concluded is wildly inflated. All manner of conspiracy theories has been offered for the unexplained sightings, including U.S. government spying and the deployment of Iran-launched drones from a mothership off U.S. eastern coastal waters. Waltz called them “long-loitering, could-be dangerous” drones. He credited the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden for trying to allay fears and resolve any mystery about the drones but offered no explanation himself. “We need more transparency,” Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, told the CBS show. “This can’t be the future.” On Saturday, officials from the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation stressed that most of the recent purported drone sightings in New Jersey — the state with the most reports — and elsewhere have been manned aircraft and posed no national security threat. An FBI official told reporters that the agency was working with 50 local, state and federal partners and had determined that fewer than 100 of the more than 5,000 reported sightings had turned out to merit further investigation. "The combination of efforts so far ... to include technical equipment, tip line information and noted consults has ... not found any evidence to support large-scale [unmanned aerial system] activities," the official said, adding that many of the sightings occurred along regular flight paths. The official said more investigations are under way to look at the remaining cases, including analysis of radar and intelligence. "We can't ignore the sightings that have been there," the official said. "We're doing our best to find the origin of those drone activities, but I think there has been a slight over-reaction" in the number of claimed drone sightings. U.S. officials say they have confirmed drone sightings over military bases in New Jersey, including Picatinny Arsenal, but found no evidence that a foreign government had launched the drones. National security officials, however, have not been able to figure out who has been operating the unexplained drones. State and local officials in eastern seaboard states have expressed concern. Larry Hogan, a former Maryland governor, posted on social media Friday that he had seen “what appeared to be dozens of large drones in the sky” above his residence in the state. “The public is growing increasingly concerned and frustrated with the complete lack of transparency and the dismissive attitude of the federal government.” President-elect Trump suggested Saturday that the Biden administration was withholding information about the drone sightings and that the devices should be shot down. Republican Representative Christopher Smith of New Jersey said Friday in a statement that the White House’s attitude toward the sightings had been “dismissive.” U.S. officials said Saturday the administration had sent New Jersey officials radar technology with an “electro-optical infrared camera system” to track the devices. Last week, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said an investigation of the drone sightings had not turned up any illegal activity. “To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully,” Kirby said. https://www.voanews.com/a/incoming-national-security-adviser-calls-for-explanation-of-us-drone-sightings/7902167.html https://www.voanews.com/a/incoming-national-security-adviser-calls-for-explanation-of-us-drone-sightings/7902167.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 14:54:55 -0500 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Ken Bredemeier) President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Brendan Carr to lead the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates communications in the United States. Carr, an FCC commissioner since 2017, has taken aim at big tech and China’s influence on U.S. communications. VOA’s Dora Mekouar reports. https://www.voanews.com/a/incoming-fcc-chair-is-big-tech-critic-who-worries-about-china/7902069.html https://www.voanews.com/a/incoming-fcc-chair-is-big-tech-critic-who-worries-about-china/7902069.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 11:43:28 -0500 USATechnologywebdesk@voanews.com (Dora Mekouar) A large number of mysterious drones have been reported flying over parts of New Jersey and the East Coast in recent weeks, sparking speculation and concern over who sent them and why. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy wrote to President Joe Biden asking for answers. New Jersey’s new senator, Andy Kim, spent Thursday night on a drone hunt in rural northern New Jersey, and posted about it on X. Murphy and law enforcement officials have stressed that the drones don’t appear to be a threat to public safety, but many state and municipal lawmakers have nonetheless called for stricter rules about who can fly the unmanned aircraft. The FBI is among several agencies investigating and has asked residents to share videos, photos and other information they may have about the drones. What's the deal with the drones in New Jersey? Dozens of witnesses have reported seeing them in the state starting in November. At first they were spotted flying along the scenic Raritan River, which feeds the Round Valley Reservoir, the state's largest aquifer, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of New York City. But soon sightings were reported statewide, including near the Picatinny Arsenal, a military research and manufacturing facility, and over President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster. The aircraft have also recently been spotted in coastal areas. Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Smith said a Coast Guard commanding officer told him a dozen drones closely followed a Guard lifeboat near Barnegat Light and Island Beach State Park in Ocean County over the weekend. Federal officials offer assurances that drones don't pose a threat The growing anxiety among some residents is not lost on the Biden administration, which has faced criticism from Trump for not dealing with the matter more aggressively. In a call with reporters Saturday that was organized by the White House, senior officials from the FBI, Pentagon, FAA and other agencies sought to assure people that the drones are not a national security or public safety threat or the handywork of a malicious foreign actor. An FBI official, who spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said the public concern is understandable but added, “I think there has been a slight overreaction.” Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Thursday that the military’s initial assessment after consulting with the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Council — that the drones are not of foreign origin — remained unchanged. New Jersey congressman wants the military to take action A New Jersey congressman has urged the Pentagon to authorize the use of force to bring down one or more drones to try to figure out who deployed them. The objects could be downed over the ocean or in an unpopulated area on land, Smith said Saturday at a news conference. “Why can't we bag at least one of these drones and get to the bottom of it?” Smith said. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, another Republican Jersey Shore-area congressman, has also called for the military to shoot down the drones. Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden said people should not take it into their own hands to shoot down drones, which would break state and federal laws. Drones have been spotted over New York City Drone sightings have now been reported in New York, where a permit is required, and Mayor Eric Adams said the city was investigating and collaborating with New Jersey and federal officials. The runways at Stewart International Airport — about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of the city — were shut down for about one hour Friday night because of drone activity in the airspace, Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “This has gone too far,” she said in a statement. The governor called on Congress to strengthen the FAA’s oversight of drones and give more investigative authority to state and local law enforcement. “Extending these powers to New York State and our peers is essential,” she said. “Until those powers are granted to state and local officials, the Biden administration must step in by directing additional federal law enforcement to New York and the surrounding region to ensure the safety of our critical infrastructure and our people.” Are these drones dangerous? The White House has said that a review of the reported sightings shows that many of them are actually manned aircraft being flown lawfully, echoing the opinion of officials and drone experts. The federal Homeland Security Department and FBI also said in a joint statement they have no evidence that the sightings pose “a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus.” Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, who was briefed by the Department of Homeland Security, said the reported drones have been up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) in diameter and sometimes travel with their lights switched off. This is much larger than those typically flown by drone hobbyists, and she said they appear to avoid detection by traditional methods such as helicopter and radio. Who sent the drones? Authorities say they do not know. The FBI, Homeland Security and state police are investigating the sightings. Authorities say they don’t know if it is one drone that has been spotted many times or if there are multiple aircraft being flown in a coordinated effort. Speculation has raged online, with some expressing concerns that the drone or drones could be part of a nefarious plot by foreign agents. Officials stress that ongoing state and federal investigations have found no evidence to support those concerns, but Rep. Smith on Saturday echoed such speculation. “The elusive maneuvering of these drones suggests a major military power sophistication that begs the question whether they have been deployed to test our defense capabilities — or worse — by violent dictatorships, perhaps maybe Russia, or China, or Iran, or North Korea,” he said. Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Wednesday that the aircraft are not U.S. military drones. What have officials said about the sightings? Trump has said he believes the government knows more than it’s saying. “Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!” he posted on his social media site. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said Thursday that the drones should be “shot down, if necessary.” “We should be doing some very urgent intelligence analysis and take them out of the skies, especially if they’re flying over airports or military bases,” Blumenthal said. Experts, however, warn not to shoot at anything in the sky. Trisha Bushey, 48, of Lebanon Township, New Jersey, lives near Round Valley Reservoir where there have been numerous sightings and said she doesn't believe the assertion that the drones aren’t a risk to public safety. “How can you say it’s not posing a threat if you don’t know what it is?” she said. “I think that’s why so many people are uneasy.” Are drones allowed in New Jersey? The flying of drones for recreational and commercial use is legal in the state, but it is subject to local and Federal Aviation Administration regulations and flight restrictions. In New York City, a permit is required to take off or land an unmanned aircraft. Operators must be FAA-certified. Have drones been spotted anywhere else? Sightings also have been reported in Virginia and elsewhere. Two people said they spotted an aircraft Thursday night near Virginia Beach that was unlike any other they’ve seen. The object was over the ocean, and they watched as it slowly moved over an Army National Guard facility, John Knight told The Virginian-Pilot. “It was definitely different,” said Knight, who took videos of what he thinks was a drone the size of a small truck. “It flew like a helicopter but made no noise,” he added. The Virginia National Guard did not have any aircraft operating in the area Thursday night, according to spokesperson A.A. “Cotton” Puryear. Its leadership is aware of the incident and it’s under investigation. Another military installation in the area is Naval Air Station Oceana Dam Neck Annex. NAS Oceana, the East Coast master jet base in Virginia Beach, is aware of recent reports of sightings in the area and is coordinating with federal and state agencies to ensure the safety of its personnel and operations, Katie Hewett, public affairs officer, said Friday by email. Knight submitted the videos Thursday night to the FBI tip line. In Massachusetts, 10 to 15 drones were reported hovering over a home Thursday night in Harwich on Cape Cod. A resident told police they were bright and she observed them for more than an hour. Earlier that evening, an off-duty police officer in the same town noticed similar activity near a public safety complex, police said. The information was forwarded to the FBI and Massachusetts State Police. Drones were also spotted last month in the U.K. The U.S. Air Force said several small unmanned aircraft were detected near four military bases in England that are used by American forces. https://www.voanews.com/a/mystery-drone-sightings-keep-happening-in-new-jersey---what-we-know-and-don-t-know/7902064.html https://www.voanews.com/a/mystery-drone-sightings-keep-happening-in-new-jersey---what-we-know-and-don-t-know/7902064.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 11:37:38 -0500 USAScience & Healthwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) Hundreds of thousands of Rhode Island residents' personal and bank information, including Social Security numbers, were likely hacked by an international cybercriminal group asking for a ransom, state officials said on Saturday.  In what Rhode Island officials described as extortion, the hackers threatened to release the stolen information unless they were paid an undisclosed amount of money.  The breached data affects people who use the state's government assistance programs and includes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and healthcare purchased through the state's HealthSource RI, Governor Dan McKee announced on Friday.  Hackers gained access to RIBridges, the state's online portal for obtaining social services earlier this month, the governor's office said in a statement, but the breach was not confirmed by its vendor, Deloitte, until Friday.  "Deloitte confirmed that there is a high probability that a cybercriminal has obtained files with personally identifiable information from RIBridges," the governor's office said in a statement on Saturday.  A representative from McKee's office was not immediately available to Reuters for comment.  Anyone who has applied for or received benefits through those programs since 2016 could be affected.  The state directed Deloitte to shut down RIBridges to remediate the threat, and for the time being, anyone applying for new benefits will have to do so on paper applications until the system is back up.  Households believed to have been affected will receive a letter from the state notifying them of the problem and explaining steps to be taken to help protect their data and bank accounts.  https://www.voanews.com/a/hackers-demand-ransom-from-rhode-islanders-after-data-breach/7901811.html https://www.voanews.com/a/hackers-demand-ransom-from-rhode-islanders-after-data-breach/7901811.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 21:18:07 -0500 TechnologyUSAwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) OMAHA, NEBRASKA — A major ice storm created treacherous driving conditions across Iowa and eastern Nebraska this weekend and prompted temporary closures of Interstate 80 after numerous cars and trucks slid off the road.  Many events were canceled across the region when the storm hit Friday evening, and businesses announced plans to open late Saturday as officials urged people to stay home if possible. Temperatures rose high enough in the afternoon to melt the ice in most places, however.  "Luckily some warmer air is moving in behind this to make it temporary," said Dave Cousins, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's office in Davenport, Iowa.  At least one person died in a crash caused by the icy roads in eastern Nebraska. The Washington County Sheriff's office said a 57-year-old woman died after she lost control of her pickup on Highway 30 near Arlington and hit an oncoming truck. The other driver sustained minor injuries.  Trees topple Elsewhere a storm and wind gusts of up to 96 kilometers per hour prompted the first tornado warning in San Francisco, California, and caused some damage. Parts of neighboring San Mateo County were also included in the warning, which went out at 5:51 a.m. to about 1 million people in the area. It was lifted by 6:15 a.m.  The storm toppled trees onto cars and streets and damaged some roofs in San Francisco, which has not seen a tornado since 2005, according to the Weather Service. The damage was being assessed to determine if there was indeed a tornado.  "This was the first-ever warning for a possible tornado in San Francisco. I would guess there wasn't a clear signature on radar for a warning in 2005," said Roger Gass, a meteorologist in the Weather Service's Monterey, California. He said he was not there in 2005.  The fast-moving storm prompted warnings for residents to take shelter, but few people have basements in the area.  "The biggest thing that we tell people in the city is to put as many walls between you and the outside as possible," meteorologist Dalton Behringer said.  Snow falls at ski resorts In upstate New York, people were digging out after heavy snow fell. More than 84 centimeters was reported near Orchard Park, where residents are used to dealing with lake-effect snow this time of year.  And in Nevada, up to 91 centimeters of snow was forecast for Sierra Nevada mountaintops, with a winter storm warning in effect through 10 p.m. More than one-third of a meter fell at some Lake Tahoe ski resorts, according to the National Weather Service's Reno office.  Interstate 80 was closed for about an 130-kilometer stretch from Applegate, California, to the Nevada state line just west of Reno, where rain was falling and a winter weather advisory remained in effect through the afternoon.  In western Washington, tens of thousands of people lost electricity Saturday, local news outlets reported, amid a system that brought rain and gusty winds.  https://www.voanews.com/a/storms-encase-iowa-eastern-nebraska-in-ice-trigger-tornado-warning-in-california/7901793.html https://www.voanews.com/a/storms-encase-iowa-eastern-nebraska-in-ice-trigger-tornado-warning-in-california/7901793.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 19:36:46 -0500 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) ABC News has agreed to give $15 million to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's presidential library to settle a lawsuit over comments that anchor George Stephanopoulos made on air involving the civil case brought against Trump by writer E. Jean Carroll, a court document filed on Saturday showed.  The lawsuit, filed on March 19 in U.S. District Court in Southern Florida, accused Stephanopoulos of making the statements with malice and a disregard for the truth. It said the statements were distributed widely to third parties and repeated.  "We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing," an ABC News spokesperson said in a statement.    The lawsuit cites a March 10 interview with U.S. Representative Nancy Mace, a Republican who has spoken publicly about being raped as a teenager. During the interview, Stephanopoulos said Trump was found liable for rape and asked her how she could endorse the candidate.  According to the settlement, ABC News must publish by Sunday a statement at the bottom of a March 10 online article that accompanied the interview.  "ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements regarding President Donald J. Trump made during an interview by George Stephanopoulos with Representative Nancy Mace on ABC's "This Week on March 10, 2024," the statement must say, according to the court document.  https://www.voanews.com/a/abc-to-pay-15m-to-trump-library-to-settle-lawsuit-court-documents-show-/7901619.html https://www.voanews.com/a/abc-to-pay-15m-to-trump-library-to-settle-lawsuit-court-documents-show-/7901619.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 18:13:14 -0500 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) New York — Officials from the White House, FBI and DHS on Saturday stressed that most of the recently reported drone sightings in New Jersey and nearby states involved manned aircraft, and there was no evidence of any national security threat. An FBI official told reporters during an impromptu briefing that the agency was working with 50 local, state and federal partners to look into increased reports. The official said less than 100 of the over 5,000 reported sightings had turned out to merit further investigation, and all of the large fixed-wing reported sightings so far involved manned aircraft. "The combination of efforts so far ... to include technical equipment, tip line information and noted consults has ... not found any evidence to support large-scale [unmanned aerial systems] activities," the official said, adding that many of the sightings occurred along regular flight paths. Extensive efforts were underway to investigate the remaining cases, using interviews and analysis of radar and intelligence, the official added. "We can't ignore the sightings that have been there," the official said. "We're doing our best to find the origin of those drone activities, but I think there has been a slight over-reaction." A spate of reported drone sightings that began in New Jersey in mid-November spread in recent days to include Maryland, Massachusetts and other states. The sightings have garnered media attention and prompted creation of a Facebook page called "New Jersey Mystery Drones — let's solve it" with 56,000 online members. U.S. President Joe Biden is receiving regular updates on the issue, a White House official said. On Cape Cod in Massachusetts, residents and a police officer in Harwich reported seeing 10-15 drones flying in the Friday night sky, the Boston Herald reported. Police relayed the information to the Boston FBI and Massachusetts State Police. Governor Maura Healey said on Facebook that she is also “aware of a growing number of drone sightings across Massachusetts and we’re monitoring the situation closely.” New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Saturday called for a boost in federal law enforcement efforts after the runways at a local airport in the Hudson Valley were shut down for one hour due to drone activity on Friday. "This has gone too far," Hochul said in a statement on the social media network X, urging the Biden administration to boost law enforcement in New York and other areas, and calling on Congress to pass drone reform legislation. An official with the Federal Aviation Administration said a temporary ban on drone activity had been put in place over Picatinny Arsenal, a military base in Wharton, New Jersey, that was due to expire on December 26 and could be made permanent. There had been drone sightings over Picatinny and another naval weapons station in December, a military official told reporters, but there was no intelligence or observation that they were linked to a foreign actor or had malicious intent. Drone operations over military installations are generally banned, but occur from time to time, the official added. A second ban was put in place over Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, that was due to expire on December 20, but could be extended, the FAA official said. https://www.voanews.com/a/mystery-drones-still-causing-concern-over-us-northeast-/7901613.html https://www.voanews.com/a/mystery-drones-still-causing-concern-over-us-northeast-/7901613.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 17:48:47 -0500 USAAmericaswebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) WASHINGTON — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday named his social media platform CEO Devin Nunes to lead an intelligence advisory panel and said his former intelligence chief Richard Grenell would run "special missions" in places such as U.S. adversaries Venezuela and North Korea. "Ric will work in some of the hottest spots around the World, including Venezuela and North Korea," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "Ric will continue to fight for Peace through Strength, and always put AMERICA FIRST." Trump did not name any other specific countries such as Iran in his post naming Grenell as the "Presidential Envoy for Special Missions." Grenell previously served as acting director of national intelligence during Trump's 2017-21 term and was Trump's ambassador to Germany and a special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations. Nunes, a former U.S. lawmaker who runs Trump's Truth Social platform, will serve as chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, which offers independent assessments of intelligence agencies' effectiveness and planning. A longtime Trump defender who led the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee during part of Trump's first White House term, Nunes will remain CEO while also serving on the White House panel, Trump said in a separate post on Truth Social, which is part of Trump Media & Technology Group. As committee chair, Nunes alleged that the FBI had conspired against Trump during its investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections in which Trump defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. "Devin will draw on his experience as former Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and his key role in exposing the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, to provide me with independent assessments of the effectiveness and propriety of the U.S. Intelligence Community’s activities," Trump wrote. Trump's nominee to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, served as an aide to Nunes in the U.S. House of Representatives. A 2017 U.S. intelligence report said Russian President Vladimir Putin had directed a sophisticated influence campaign to denigrate Clinton and support Trump in the 2016 election campaign. The Kremlin denied meddling and Trump denied any collusion with Russia. Trump has vowed to pursue political adversaries and officials who investigated him when he begins his second term on January 20. Trump on Saturday also named IBM executive and former U.S. Department of Homeland Security official Troy Edgar to serve as the department's deputy secretary. He also said he would nominate businessmen Bill White and Edward Walsh to serve as U.S. ambassadors to Belgium and Ireland, respectively.  https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-taps-truth-social-ceo-nunes-to-lead-intelligence-board-/7901587.html https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-taps-truth-social-ceo-nunes-to-lead-intelligence-board-/7901587.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 16:37:40 -0500 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) WASHINGTON — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had hip replacement surgery Saturday at a U.S. military hospital in Germany after falling while at an event in Luxembourg with other members of Congress.  Pelosi, 84, “is well on the mend,” said Ian Krager, a Pelosi spokesperson. Krager, said in a statement that she is “currently receiving excellent treatment from doctors and medical professionals” and is unable to attend the remainder of events on her trip.  He did not describe the nature of her injury or give any additional details, but a person familiar with the incident said Pelosi tripped and fell while at an event with the other members of Congress. Another person familiar with the situation said she injured her hip. The people requested anonymity to discuss the fall because they were not authorized to speak about it publicly.  Pelosi thanked the staff at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center and the hospital in Luxembourg, where she was also treated, for “their excellent care and kindness.”  She was in Europe with a bipartisan congressional delegation to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.  Among those on the trip was Representative Michael McCaul, who posted on social media Friday that he was “praying for a speedy recovery” for Pelosi. The two lawmakers were captured holding hands in a group photo that day at the U.S. Embassy in Luxembourg.  Pelosi was first elected in 1987 and served as speaker twice. She stepped down from her leadership post two years ago but remained in Congress and was reelected to represent her San Francisco district in November.  https://www.voanews.com/a/pelosi-gets-hip-replaced-at-us-military-hospital-in-germany-/7901563.html https://www.voanews.com/a/pelosi-gets-hip-replaced-at-us-military-hospital-in-germany-/7901563.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 15:39:55 -0500 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) AQABA, JORDAN — American officials have been in direct contact with the terrorist-designated rebel group that led the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday.  Blinken, speaking at a news conference in Jordan, was the first U.S. official to publicly confirm contacts between the Biden administration and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which led a coalition of armed opposition groups that drove Assad from power and into asylum in Russia last weekend.  Along with counterparts from eight Arab nations and Turkey and senior officials from the European Union and United Nations, Blinken signed off on a set of principles meant to guide Syria's transition to a peaceful, nonsectarian and inclusive country.  Blinken would not discuss details of the contacts but said it was important for the U.S. to convey messages to the group about its conduct and how it intends to govern in a transition period.  "Yes, we have been in contact with HTS and with other parties," Blinken said in the port city of Aqaba. He added that "our message to the Syrian people is this: We want them to succeed and we're prepared to help them do so."  Blinken also stressed that "the success that we've had in ending the territorial caliphate" of the Islamic State group remains "a critical mission." And citing the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish fighters who in recent years drove IS out of large areas of Syria, he said it was "very important at this moment that they continue that role because this is a moment of instability" in which IS "will seek to regroup and take advantage of."  HTS, which was once an affiliate of al-Qaida, has been designed as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department since 2018. That designation carries with it severe sanctions, including a ban on the provision of any "material support" to the group or its members. The sanctions do not, however, legally bar U.S. officials from communicating with designated groups.    In an interview Saturday on Syrian television, the group's leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, did not address any direct contact with the United States, but said the new authorities in Damascus are in touch with Western embassies.  He also said that "we don't intend to enter any conflict because there is general exhaustion in Syria."  HTS has worked to establish security and start a political transition after seizing Damascus and has tried to reassure a public both stunned by Assad's fall and concerned about extremist jihadis among the rebels. Insurgent leaders say the group has broken with its extremist past.  A joint statement after the meeting of foreign ministers urged all parties to cease hostilities in Syria and expressed support for a locally led transitional political process. It called for preventing the reemergence of extremist groups and ensuring the security and safe destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles.  "We don't want Syria to fall into chaos," Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, told journalists.  A separate statement by Arab foreign ministers called for U.N.-supervised elections based on a new constitution approved by Syrians. Their statement condemned Israel's incursion into the buffer zone with Syria and adjacent sites over the past week as a "heinous occupation" and demanded the withdrawal of Israeli forces.  U.S. officials say al-Sharaa has been making welcomed comments about protecting minority and women's rights but they remain skeptical that he will follow through on them in the long run.  On Friday, the rebels and Syria's unarmed opposition worked to safely turn over to U.S. officials an American man who had been imprisoned by Assad.  U.S. officials are continuing their search for Austin Tice, an American journalist who disappeared 12 years ago near Damascus. "We have impressed upon everyone we've been in contact with the importance of helping find Austin Tice and bringing him home," Blinken said.  In other developments:  —Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus, becoming the first country to do so since the end of Assad's rule. The embassy suspended operations 12 years ago due to insecurity during Syria's civil war.  —Al-Sharaa said in the TV interview that "the pretexts that Israel uses have ended" for its airstrikes that have destroyed much of the Syrian army's assets in recent days. He said "the Israelis have crossed the rules of engagement" but that the insurgent group is not about to enter a conflict with Israel.  —The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militants said the group has lost its military supply line through Syria but that the new authority there might reinstate the route.  —A Syrian war monitor and a citizen journalist said gunmen attacked members of a Syrian insurgent group, Failaq al-Sham, in the country's coastal region, killing or wounding 15 of them on Saturday. That region is home to many members of Assad's minority Alawite sect.  https://www.voanews.com/a/blinken-us-in-direct-contact-with-syrian-rebels-that-ousted-assad/7901462.html https://www.voanews.com/a/blinken-us-in-direct-contact-with-syrian-rebels-that-ousted-assad/7901462.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 12:21:25 -0500 Middle EastUSAwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) BELGRADE, SERBIA — The United States plans to introduce sanctions against Serbia’s main gas supplier, which is controlled by Russia, Serbia’s president said Saturday. President Aleksandar Vucic told state RTS broadcaster that Serbia has been officially informed that the decision on sanctions will come into force on January 1 but that he has so far not received any related documents from the U.S. There has been no comment from U.S. officials. Serbia almost entirely depends on Russian gas, which it receives through pipelines in neighboring states. The gas is then distributed by Petroleum Industry of Serbia, which is majority-owned by Russia’s state oil monopoly Gazprom Neft. Vucic said that after receiving the official documents, “we will talk to the Americans first, then we go talk to the Russians” to try to reverse the decision. “At the same time, we will try to preserve our friendly relations with the Russians and not to spoil relations with those who impose sanctions.” Although formally seeking European Union membership, Serbia has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over its invasion in Ukraine, in part because of the crucial Russian gas deliveries. Vucic said that despite the embargo threat, “I’m not ready at this moment to discuss potential sanctions against Moscow.” Asked if the threat of U.S. sanctions against Serbia could change with the arrival of Donald Trump’s administration in January, Vucic said, “We must first get the [official] documents, and then talk to the current administration, because we are in a hurry.” The Serbian president is facing one of the biggest threats to more than a decade of his increasingly autocratic rule. Protests have been spreading by university students and others following the collapse last month of a concrete canopy at a railway station in the country’s north that killed 15 people on November 1. Many in Serbia believe rampant corruption and nepotism among state officials led to sloppy work on the building reconstruction, which was part of a wider railroad project with Chinese state companies. https://www.voanews.com/a/serbia-s-main-gas-supplier-controlled-by-russia-faces-us-sanctions/7901425.html https://www.voanews.com/a/serbia-s-main-gas-supplier-controlled-by-russia-faces-us-sanctions/7901425.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 11:32:14 -0500 EuropeUSAwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) The economy was one of the biggest issues for voters in this year’s U.S. presidential election. As they await Donald Trump’s return to power, many Americans say they expect improving the economy will be one of his first priorities. VOA Correspondent Scott Stearns has our story. https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-promises-lower-prices-more-oil-for-us-economy/7901393.html https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-promises-lower-prices-more-oil-for-us-economy/7901393.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 11:10:02 -0500 USAEconomywebdesk@voanews.com (Scott Stearns) TOKYO — The partial transfer of U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam began on Saturday, 12 years after Japan and the United States agreed on their realignment to reduce the heavy burden of American troop presence on the southern Japanese island, officials said. The relocation started with 100 members of III Marine Expeditionary Force stationed on Okinawa moving to the Pacific island for the initial logistical work, the U.S. Marine Corps and Japan's Defense Ministry said in a joint statement. Under the plan agreed between Tokyo and Washington in April 2012, about 9,000 of the 19,000 Marines currently stationed on Okinawa are to be moved out of Okinawa, including about 4,000 of them to be moved to the U.S. territory Guam in phases. Details, including the size and timing of the next transfer, were not immediately released. The Marine Corps is committed to the defense of Japan and meeting operational requirements to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific, and it will maintain presence in the region "through a combination of stationing and rotating Marines in Japan, Guam and Hawaii," the joint statement said. Japan has paid up to $2.8 billion for the building of infrastructure at the U.S. bases on Guam, and the United States will fund the remaining costs. The two governments will continue to cooperate on the development of Camp Blaz, which will serve as the main installation for Marines stationed in Guam. The Marines and Japan Self Defense Forces will conduct joint training in Guam, the statement said. Okinawa, which was under U.S. postwar occupation until 1972, is still home to a majority of the more than 50,000 American troops based in Japan under a bilateral security pact, while 70% of U.S. military facilities are on Okinawa, which accounts for only 0.6% of Japanese land. Many Okinawans have long complained about the heavy U.S. military presence on the island and say Okinawa faces noise, pollution, aircraft accidents and crime related to American troops. The relocation is likely to be welcomed by residents, but how much improvement they will feel is uncertain because of the rapid Japanese military buildup on Okinawan islands as a deterrence to threats from China. The start of the Marines relocation comes at a time of growing anti-U.S. military sentiment following a series of sexual assault cases involving American servicemembers. On Thursday, a senior Air Force servicemember belonging to the Kadena Air Base was convicted of the kidnapping and sexual assault of a teenage girl last year, a case that triggered outrage on the island. The Naha District Court sentenced him to five years in prison. https://www.voanews.com/a/us-marines-start-partial-transfer-from-japan-s-okinawa-to-guam/7901262.html https://www.voanews.com/a/us-marines-start-partial-transfer-from-japan-s-okinawa-to-guam/7901262.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 07:19:15 -0500 USAEast Asiawebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) Americans should eat more beans, peas and lentils and cut back on red and processed meats and starchy vegetables, all while continuing to limit added sugars, sodium and saturated fat. That's the advice released Tuesday by a panel of nutrition experts charged with counseling the U.S. government about the 2025 edition of the dietary guidelines that will form the cornerstone of federal food programs and policy. But the 20-member panel didn't weigh in on the growing role of ultraprocessed foods that have been linked to health problems, saying there's not enough evidence to tell people to avoid them. And the group steered clear of updating controversial guidance on alcohol consumption, leaving that analysis to two outside reports expected to be released soon. Overall, the recommendations for the 2025-30 Dietary Guidelines for Americans sound familiar, said Marion Nestle, a food policy expert. "This looks like every other set of dietary guidelines since 1980: eat your veggies and reduce consumption of foods high in salt, sugar and saturated fat," Nestle said in an email. "This particular statement says nothing about balancing calories, when overconsumption of calories, especially from ultra-processed foods, is the biggest challenge to the health of Americans." What the scientific panel said about healthy diets The nutrition panel concluded that a healthy diet for people aged 2 years and older is higher in vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, whole grains, fish and vegetable oils that are higher in unsaturated fat. It is lower in red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened foods and beverages, refined grains and saturated fat. It may also include fat-free or low-fat dairy and foods lower in sodium and may include plant-based foods. The panel, which met for nearly two years, was the first to focus on the dietary needs of Americans through what they called a "health equity lens," said Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, a Massachusetts General Hospital obesity expert who was part of the group. That meant considering factors such as household income, race, ethnicity and culture when recommending healthy diets. It will help ensure that the guidance "reflects and includes various population groups," she said in an email. The panel didn't come to conclusions on ultraprocessed foods or alcohol Ultraprocessed foods include the snacks, sugary cereals and frozen meals that make up about 60% of the American diet. The panel considered more than 40 studies, including several that showed links between ultraprocessed foods and becoming overweight or developing obesity. But the nutrition experts had concerns with the quality of the research, leaving them to conclude that the evidence was too limited to make recommendations. That decision is likely to bump up against the views of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nominee to lead the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, who has questioned potential conflicts of interest among members of the dietary guidelines panel and vowed to crack down on ultraprocessed foods that contribute to chronic disease. The panel also didn't revise recommendations that suggest limiting alcohol intake to two drinks or less a day for men and one drink or less a day for women. In 2020, the last time the guidance was updated, the government rejected the advice of scientific advisers to recommend less alcohol consumption. Two groups — the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and a committee of the government agency that oversees substance abuse — are expected to release reports in the coming months on the effects of moderate alcohol use to inform the guidelines. Do Americans follow dietary guidelines? The advisory panel acknowledged that the diets of most Americans don't meet the current guidelines. More than half of all U.S. adults have one or more diet-related chronic health conditions and 18 million U.S. households have insecure sources of food, according to the report. "Nutrition-related chronic health conditions and their precursors continue to threaten health through the lifespan," the report concludes. "Which does not bode well for the future of health in the United States." What happens next? The scientific report informs the dietary guidelines, which are updated every five years. Tuesday's recommendations now go to HHS and the Agriculture Department, where officials will draft the final guidance set for release next year. Starting Wednesday, the public will have 60 days to comment on the guidance. HHS and USDA officials will hold a public meeting January 16 to discuss the recommendations. The new guidance, which will be finalized by the incoming Trump administration, is consistent with decades of federal efforts to reduce diet-related disease in the U.S., said Dr. Peter Lurie, president of the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest. "Broadly, I think these are well-formulated recommendations that the incoming administration would do well to adopt," Lurie said.  https://www.voanews.com/a/nutrition-experts-weigh-in-on-us-dietary-guidelines/7898473.html https://www.voanews.com/a/nutrition-experts-weigh-in-on-us-dietary-guidelines/7898473.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 02:43:19 -0500 USAScience & Healthwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) WASHINGTON — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been hospitalized after she “sustained an injury” during an official engagement in Luxembourg, according to a spokesperson. Pelosi, 84, was in Europe with a bipartisan congressional delegation to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. Her spokesperson, Ian Krager, said in a statement that she is "currently receiving excellent treatment from doctors and medical professionals" and is unable to attend the remainder of events on her trip. He did not describe the nature of her injury or give any additional details, but a person familiar with the incident said that Pelosi tripped and fell while at an event with the other members of Congress. Another person familiar with the situation said she injured her hip. The people requested anonymity to discuss the fall because they were not authorized to speak about it publicly. Krager said that Pelosi "looks forward to returning home to the U.S. soon." Among the members on the trip was Representative Michael McCaul, a Republican from Texas, who posted on social media that he was "praying for a speedy recovery" for Pelosi. The two lawmakers were captured holding hands in a group photo Friday at the U.S. Embassy in Luxembourg. "I’m disappointed Speaker Emerita Pelosi won’t be able to join the rest of our delegation’s events this weekend as I know how much she looked forward to honoring our veterans," McCaul wrote on X. "But she is strong, and I am confident she will be back on her feet in no time." The former leader's fall comes two years after her husband, Paul, was attacked by a man with a hammer at their San Francisco home. The man, who was sentenced in October to 30 years in federal prison, broke into their home looking for Pelosi. Pelosi, who was first elected in 1987 and served as speaker twice, stepped down from her leadership post two years ago but remained in Congress and was re-elected to represent her San Francisco district in November. She has remained active in the two years since she left the top job, working with Democrats in private and in public and attending official events. Last summer, she was instrumental in her party's behind the scenes push to urge President Joe Biden to leave the presidential ticket. She attended the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington last weekend and was on the Senate floor Monday to attend the swearing in of her former Democratic House colleagues, Adam Schiff of California and Andy Kim of New Jersey. Earlier this week, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, 82, tripped and fell in the Senate, spraining his wrist and cutting his face. McConnell, who is stepping down from his leadership post at the end of the year, missed Senate votes on Thursday after experiencing some stiffness in his leg from the fall, his office said.  https://www.voanews.com/a/nancy-pelosi-hospitalized-after-fall-on-official-trip-to-luxembourg/7901153.html https://www.voanews.com/a/nancy-pelosi-hospitalized-after-fall-on-official-trip-to-luxembourg/7901153.html Fri, 13 Dec 2024 22:14:42 -0500 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday sued a New York doctor for allegedly providing a Texas woman with abortion pills by telemedicine. The lawsuit by the Republican attorney general, which appeared to be the first of its kind, could offer a test of conservative states' power to stop abortion pills from reaching their residents. New York is among the Democratic-led states that have passed so-called shield laws aiming to protect doctors who provide abortion pills to patients in other states. The law says New York will not cooperate with another state's effort to prosecute, sue or otherwise penalize a doctor for providing the pills, as long as the doctor complies with New York law. "As other states move to attack those who provide or obtain abortion care, New York is proud to be a safe haven for abortion access," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. "We will always protect our providers from unjust attempts to punish them for doing their job and we will never cower in the face of intimidation or threats." In the lawsuit, filed in the District Court of Collin County, Paxton said that New Paltz, New York, Dr. Margaret Carpenter prescribed and provided mifepristone and misoprostol, the two drugs used in medication abortion, to a Texas woman via telemedicine. Medication abortion accounts for more than half of U.S. abortions. It has drawn increasing attention since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision allowing states to ban abortion, which more than 20 have done. The woman went to the hospital after experiencing bleeding as a complication of taking the drugs, which were subsequently discovered by her partner, according to the lawsuit. Paxton claimed that Carpenter violated Texas's abortion law and its occupational licensing law by practicing medicine in the state despite not being licensed there. He is seeking an injunction barring her from further violations of Texas's abortion ban and at least $100,000 in civil penalties for each past violation. Carpenter is a member of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, which supports nationwide access to abortion through telemedicine, and helped start Hey Jane, an online telehealth clinic offering abortion pills, according to the coalition's website. She could not immediately be reached for comment.  https://www.voanews.com/a/texas-attorney-general-sues-ny-doctor-over-abortion-pill-prescription/7901138.html https://www.voanews.com/a/texas-attorney-general-sues-ny-doctor-over-abortion-pill-prescription/7901138.html Fri, 13 Dec 2024 21:17:12 -0500 Science & HealthUSAwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)