The replacement crew for the International Space Station was launched late Friday, paving the way for the return home of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, two NASA astronauts stuck on the space station for nine months.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 7:03 p.m. from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying Crew-10 members: NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi and Russia’s Kirill Peskov. The crew is part of a routine six-month rotation.
Crew-10 and the Dragon spacecraft are expected to reach the space station around 11:30 p.m. Saturday.
Returning to Earth alongside Wilmore and Williams will be NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Their return is scheduled for Wednesday, to allow for an overlap of the two crews to brief the new team.
Wilmore and Williams arrived aboard the International Space Station in June 2024 and expected to stay in space for about 10 days. But their return was delayed after mechanical issues with their spacecraft, which, after weeks of troubleshooting was subsequently sent back to Earth without them. Their return was continually pushed back due to other technical delays.
…

A California jury Friday imposed a $50 million fine on Starbucks in the case of a delivery driver burned by a scalding cup of hot tea at a company location in Los Angeles.
Michael Garcia was picking up three drinks in 2020 but one, he claimed, was “negligently” unsecured and spilled in his lap. He claimed that he consequently “suffered severe burns, disfigurement, and debilitating nerve damage to his genitals” and he was taken to an emergency room by paramedics.
“Michael Garcia’s life has been forever changed,” his attorney, Nick Rowley, said.
“No amount of money can undo the permanent catastrophic harm he has suffered, but this jury verdict is a critical step in holding Starbucks accountable for flagrant disregard for customer safety and failure to accept responsibility,” he added.
Starbucks said it planned to appeal the verdict.
“We sympathize with Mr. Garcia, but we disagree with the jury’s decision that we were at fault for this incident and believe the damages awarded to be excessive,” company spokesperson Jaci Anderson said in a statement.
“We have always been committed to the highest safety standards in our stores, including the handling of hot drinks,” she added.
…

POMPTON LAKES, N.J. — A New York parks employee died battling one of a number of wildfires in New Jersey and New York amid dry conditions that have prompted air quality warnings in both states, authorities said Sunday. 

The worker died when a tree fell on him Saturday afternoon as he battled a major brush fire along the New York-New Jersey border, according to reports from the Eastern Dutchess County Fire and Rescue and the New York state forestry services. 

“Rip brother your shift is over job well done,” the New York State forestry services post said. 

New York State Police said they were investigating the death amid the fire in Sterling Forest located in Greenwood Lake and identified the victim as Dariel Vasquez, an 18-year-old state Parks and Recreation aide employed by the New York State Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Department. 

The fires in New York and New Jersey come as firefighters are also battling a wildfire in California. 

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Forest Fire Service reported the sprawling blaze had spread to 10 square kilometers near the border in Passaic County’s West Milford and Orange County, New York. Officials said Sunday the blaze, dubbed the Jennings Creek wildfire, was now threatening 14 Greenwood Lake structures as well as two New Jersey homes and eight buildings in that state’s Long Pond Ironworks Historic District. 

Health advisories were issued for parts of New York, including New York City, and northeastern New Jersey due to unhealthy air quality due to smoke from the fires. People were urged to limit strenuous outdoor physical activity if possible; those especially sensitive included the very young and very old and people with ailments such as asthma and heart disease. 

New Jersey officials, meanwhile, reported 75 percent containment of a 70-hectare fire in the Pompton Lakes area of Passaic County that was threatening 55 homes, although no evacuations had been ordered. 

Progress was also reported on fires in the Bethany Run area on the border of Burlington and Camden counties in Evesham and Voorhees townships; a blaze along the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Englewood Cliffs in Bergen County; and the Pheasant Run wildfire in the Glassboro wildlife protection area of Gloucester County. 

Prosecutors in Ocean County on late Saturday afternoon announced arson and firearms charges in connection with a 142-hectare Jackson Township fire that started Wednesday. They said it was sparked by magnesium shards from a shotgun round on the berm of a shooting range. Officials said firing that kind of “incendiary or tracer ammunition” was barred in the state. The majority of the blaze has been contained, officials reported Friday. 

In Massachusetts, one wildfire among several fueled by powerful wind gusts and dry leaves burned more than 81 hectares in the Lynn Woods Reservation, a municipal park that comprises about 8.8 square kilometers in the city 16 kilometers north of Boston. 

“This is a dry spell we have not seen during this time of year in many years,” the Lynn Fire Department said in a statement on social media as firefighters continued to battle the blaze, blaming its intensely on low humidity as well as winds and dry leaves on the ground. 

It was one of many brush fires that cropped up across the region. In Foxborough, fire crews said that containing a wildfire at the F. Gilbert Hills State Forest would be a “a multi-day event.” 

Wind gusts topped 64 kph on Saturday, and less-powerful gusts continued Sunday. 

Firefighters and forest agencies warned against outdoor burning. 

The drier-than-normal weather is expected to continue, and virtually all of New England is categorized as being in drought or being abnormally dry. Most of the region was expected to see some light rain Sunday night, but there are no large rainfall events in the forecast, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jerry Combs. 

Firefighters in California were also battling a scattering of blazes over the weekend, including one north of Los Angeles that had burned more than 100 structures. 

Evacuation orders were downgraded to warnings for residents in several areas of Ventura County, where the Mountain Fire held at about 83 square kilometers and was 26% contained, authorities said. 
…

Washington — In the end, former U.S. President Donald Trump’s victory in last week’s 2024 national election for a new four-year presidential term in the White House was sweeping.

Ahead of the Nov. 5 election, national polling showed Vice President Kamala Harris with a slight edge over Trump, maybe a percentage point or two, depending on the survey.

Harris, the Democratic candidate, and Trump, a Republican, were virtually deadlocked, the surveys indicated, in seven political battleground states that election analysts viewed as critical to the election outcome.

Trump, however, captured all seven states, leading to his lopsided edge in the state-by-state vote count in the Electoral College, 312 to 226, which determines the outcome of U.S. presidential elections. The number needed to clinch the presidency is 270. He won the seven battleground states by a range of just under 1% in Wisconsin to more than 6% in Arizona.

On January 20, 2025, the 78-year-old Trump will take office as the country’s 47th president and the first president to win two nonconsecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in the 1890s. He is the oldest elected president in U.S. history.

Trump also won the popular vote, the first Republican candidate to do so since former President George W. Bush in 2004.

While the last ballots are still being counted, Trump already is the clear winner, capturing nearly 75 million votes so far to just under 71 million for Harris, a 50.5% to 47.9% edge for Trump.

Trump’s 2024 vote tally was about the same as the 74 million he received in losing the 2020 election to Democratic President Joe Biden, but the vote for Harris was about 10 million fewer than Biden received.

U.S. pollsters often like to say their surveys are just a snapshot in time, and not necessarily predictive.

But over Trump’s three runs for the presidency since 2016, his level of support has consistently been underestimated in polling, no matter how many times pollsters have tried to adjust their published results to account for a hidden Trump vote from people unwilling to tell even anonymous surveyors that, yes, when they went to polling centers or cast mail-in ballots, he was their choice.

Exit polls showed that women voters favored Harris and men Trump. More educated voters went for Harris, while those without college degrees voted for Trump, but nearly two-thirds of Americans do not have a college degree.

In amassing his majority vote, Trump cut into two traditional Democratic constituencies, Black and Latino voters.

According to The Associated Press’ VoteCast survey of voters, 16% of Black voters supported Trump in 2024, double that from his 2020 campaign. In comparison, 83% of Black voters supported Kamala Harris, down from the 91% who supported Biden in 2020.

Democrats also lost ground among Latino voters, with 56% voting for Harris in 2024 compared to 63% for Biden in 2020. Trump’s support grew from 35% four years ago to 42% this year.
…

WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia — A Virginia museum has nearly finished restoring the nation’s oldest surviving schoolhouse for Black children, where hundreds of mostly enslaved students learned to read through a curriculum that justified slavery. 

The museum, Colonial Williamsburg, also has identified more than 80 children who lined its pinewood benches in the 1760s. 

They include Aberdeen, 5, who was enslaved by a saddle and harness maker. Bristol and George, 7 and 8, were owned by a doctor. Phoebe, 3, was the property of local tavern keepers. 

Another student, Isaac Bee, later emancipated himself. In newspaper ads seeking his capture, his enslaver warned that Bee “can read.” 

The museum dedicated the Williamsburg Bray School at a large ceremony on Friday, with plans to open it for public tours this spring. Colonial Williamsburg tells the story of Virginia’s colonial capital through interpreters and hundreds of restored buildings. 

‘An amazing mirror’

Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch told the crowd outside the refurbished school that it was one of the most important historic moments of the last decade. 

“History is an amazing mirror,” Bunch added. “It’s a mirror that challenges us and reminds us that, despite what we’ve achieved, despite all our ideals, America still is a work in progress. But, oh, what an amazing work it is.” 

The Cape Cod-style home was built in 1760 and still contains much of its original wood and brick. It will anchor a complicated story about race and education, but also resistance, before the American Revolution. 

The school rationalized slavery within a religious framework and encouraged children to accept their fates as God’s plan. And yet, becoming literate also gave them more agency. The students went on to share what they learned with family members and others who were enslaved. 

“We don’t shy away from the fact that this was a pro-slavery school,” said Maureen Elgersman Lee, director of William & Mary’s Bray School Lab, a partnership between the university and museum. 

But she said the school takes on a different meaning in the 21st century. 

“It’s a story of resilience and resistance,” Lee said. “And I put the resilience of the Bray School on a continuum that brings us to today.” 

To underscore the point, the lab has been seeking descendants of the students, with some success. 

They include Janice Canaday, 67, who also is the museum’s African American community engagement manager. Her lineage traces back to the students Elisha and Mary Jones. 

“It grounds you,” said Canaday, who grew up feeling little connection to history. “That’s where your power is. And those are the things that give you strength — to know what your family has come through.” 

Franklin’s idea

The Bray School was established in Williamsburg and other colonial cities at the recommendation of founding father Benjamin Franklin. He was a member of a London-based Anglican charity that was named after Thomas Bray, an English clergyman and philanthropist. 

The Bray School was exceptional for its time. White leaders across much of Colonial America forbade educating enslaved people, fearing literacy would encourage them to seek freedom. 

The white teacher at the Williamsburg school, a widow named Ann Wager, taught an estimated 300 to 400 students, whose ages ranged from 3 to 10. The school closed with her death in 1774. 

The schoolhouse became a private home before it was incorporated into William & Mary’s growing campus. The building was moved and expanded for various purposes, including student housing. 

Historians identified the structure in 2020 through a scientific method that examines tree rings in lumber. Last year, it was transported to Colonial Williamsburg, which includes parts of the original city. 

The museum and university have focused on restoring the schoolhouse, researching its curriculum and finding descendants of former students. 

The lab has been able to link some people to the Jones and Ashby families, two free Black households that had students in the school, said Elizabeth Drembus, the lab’s genealogist. 

But the effort has faced steep challenges: Most enslaved people were stripped of their identities and separated from their families, so there are limited records. And only three years of school rosters have survived. 

They ‘weren’t considered people’

Drembus is talking to people in the region about their family histories and working backward. She also is sifting through 18th-century property records, tax documents and enslavers’ diaries. 

“When you’re talking about researching formerly enslaved people, records were kept very differently because they weren’t considered people,” Drembus said. 

Researching the curriculum has been easier. The English charity cataloged the books it sent to the schools, said Katie McKinney, an associate curator of maps and prints at the museum. 

Materials include a small spelling primer, a copy of which was located in Germany, that begins with the alphabet and moves on to syllables, such as “Beg leg meg peg.” 

Students also received a more sophisticated speller, bound in sheepskin, as well as the Book of Common Prayer and other Christian texts. 

Meanwhile, the schoolhouse has been mostly restored. About 75% of the original floor has survived, allowing visitors to walk where the children and teacher placed their feet. 

Canaday, whose familial roots include two Bray School students, wondered on a recent visit if any of the children “felt safe in here, whether they felt loved.” 

Canaday noted that the teacher, Wager, was the mother of at least two kids. 

“Did some of her mothering bleed over into what she showed those children?” Canaday said. “There are moments when we forget to go by the rules and humanity takes over. I wonder how many times that happened in these spaces.”
…

NEW YORK — For some television viewers, size apparently does matter.

Forget the 165-centimeter TVs that were considered bigger than average a decade ago. In time for the holidays, manufacturers and retailers are rolling out more XXL screens measuring more than 2.4 meters diagonally. That’s wider than a standard three-seat sofa or a king-size bed.

Supersize televisions only accounted for 1.7% of revenue from all TV set sales in the U.S. during the first nine months of the year, according to market research firm Circana. But companies preparing for shoppers to go big for Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa have reason to think the growing ultra category will be a bright spot in an otherwise tepid television market, according to analysts.

The 38,100 televisions of at least 246 centimeters sold between January and September represented a tenfold increase from the same period last year, Circana said. Best Buy, the nation’s largest consumer electronics chain, doubled the assortment of hefty TVs — the 19 models range in price from $2,000 to $25,000 — and introduced displays in roughly 70% of its stores.

“It’s really taken off this year,” Blake Hampton, Best Buy’s senior vice president of merchandising, said.

Analysts credit the emerging demand to improved technology and much lower prices. So far this year, the average price for TVs spanning at least 246 centimeters was $3,113 compared to $6,662 last year, according to Circana. South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung introduced its first 249-centimeter TV in 2019 with a hefty price tag of $99,000; it now has four versions starting at $4,000, the company said.

Anthony Ash, a 42-year-old owner of a wood pallet and recycling business, recently bought a 949-centimeter Sony for his 1,300-square-meter house in Bristol, Wisconsin. The device, which cost about $5,000 excluding installation fees, replaced an 216-centimeter TV in the great room off his kitchen. Ash now has 17 televisions at home and uses some to display digital art.

“We just saw that the price was affordable for what we were looking for and thought, ‘Why not?'” he said of deciding to upsize to the Sony. “You get a better TV experience with a bigger TV. You’re sitting watching TV with a person on TV that is the same size as you. You can put yourself in the scene.”

The amount of time that many people spend staring at their cellphones and tablets, including to stream movies and TV shows, is another factor driving the growth of widescreen TV screens. Overall TV sales revenue fell 4%, while the number of units sold rose 1% from the January through September period, Circana said.

Most people only invest in a television every seven years, but when they do, they typically choose bigger ones, according to Rick Kowalski, the senior director of business intelligence at the Consumer Technology Association. In the past 15 years, the size of flat-panel TVs that were shipped to U.S. retailers and dealers grew an average of one inch a year, Kowalski said.

The coronavirus pandemic accelerated the elongation trend as people spent more time at home. In fact, screen sizes increased an average of 5 centimeters in both 2021 and 2022, and 216-centimeter TVs began gaining traction with consumers, Kowalski said. Shipments of 249-centimeter TVs to the U.S. are picking up pace this year, and models as huge as 279-292 centimeters are on the market right now, he said.

“You get better resolution over time,” Kowalski said. “You get better picture quality. And so just over time, it’s easier to produce those sets and improve the technology.”

Best Buy’s Hampton said a benefit of a colossal TV is the viewer can watch multiple shows at once, an experience he described as “incredible.”

“If you’re watching YouTube TV content or ‘ NFL Sunday Ticket,’ you can actually get four screens up, and that’s four 48-inch (122-centimeter) screens on it,” he said.

Manufacturers are also adding new features. Samsung said it designed its 249-centimeter lineup with a component that analyzes what the viewer is watching to increase sharpness and reduce visible noise across every scene.

James Fishler, senior vice president of the home entertainment division of Samsung’s U.S. division, said the way people watch TV and experience content is shifting.

“It’s even more so about watching TV as a shared experience,” Fishler said. “They want to host a watch party and gather around their TV to watch the big game, or set up a cinematic movie experience right at home. ”

Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, its Sam’s Club division, and Chicago retailer Abt Electronics, also say they are expanding their TV ranges to meet customer demand for supersize screens.

TV industry experts say these monster TVs are beginning to encroach on home theater projectors, which create a 254- to 305-centimeter image that is less sharp and require rooms with blackout curtains or without windows.

“A dedicated viewing room for watching movies was exclusively the purview of projectors,” Andrew Sivori, vice president in the entertainment division of LG Electronics, another Korean manufacturer. “But you can get a much better viewing experience with direct TV.”

Retailers and TV makers said the buyers trading up range from millennials and members of Generation X to the tech-native Gen Z crowd. But as Jon Abt, co-president of Abt Electronics said, “It’s still a niche business.”

“A lot of people just don’t have the space to put one of those in,” he added.

Before dreaming big for the holidays, shoppers therefore should make sure a 249-centimeter TV will fit. Best Buy said its Geek Squad team asks if stairwells and entry halls are large enough to accommodate delivery and installation. An augmented reality feature on the Best Buy app that allows customers to see if products are the right size has been especially helpful for XXL TVs, the retailer said.

But for those worried about having the space for viewing, the good news is that the recommended distance for a 249-centimeter TV is actually just 1.8-3.6 meters feet from the seating area. The rule of thumb is to multiple the diagonal length of the TV by 1.2 to determine the ideal viewing distance, Samsung’s Fishler said.

If bigger is better in the TV department, how big can they go?

“I think we’ll have to wait and see,” Fishler said.
…

Washington — Donald Trump won the state of Arizona in this week’s U.S. presidential election, U.S. TV networks projected on Saturday, completing the Republican’s sweep of all seven swing states.

After four days of counting in the southwest state with a large Hispanic population, CNN and NBC projected Trump had obtained its 11 electoral votes as he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris.

Outgoing President Joe Biden scored a narrow but crucial victory in Arizona in 2020 that condemned Trump to defeat after his first term in office.

The scale and strength of Trump’s comeback, which also saw the real estate tycoon win the popular vote by a margin of around 4 million votes, has sent shockwaves through the defeated Democratic Party.

The Republicans have already regained control of the Senate and look well set to retain a majority in the House of Representatives thanks to support from white working-class voters and a large share of Hispanics.

CNN has called Republican victories for 213 seats in the House, with 218 needed for a majority in the lower chamber.

The networks’ figures show Democrats on 205 seats, although senior party figures are still hoping they can pull off a slim victory that would significantly curtail Trump’s powers.

NBC sees the Republicans with 212 seats so far, and 204 for the Democrats.

The other six swing states won by Trump in the presidential race are Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada and Georgia.

The latest good news for Trump came as the White House said Biden would meet with the president-elect at the White House on Wednesday.

Trump — who never conceded his 2020 loss — sealed a remarkable comeback to the presidency in the November 5 vote, cementing what is set to be more than a decade of U.S. politics dominated by his hardline right-wing stance.

This type of meeting between the outgoing and incoming presidents was considered customary, but Trump did not invite Biden for one after making unsubstantiated election fraud claims that culminated in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Trump also broke with precedent by skipping Biden’s inauguration, but the White House has said the Democratic president will attend the upcoming ceremony.

Biden’s meeting with Trump will take place in the Oval Office, the White House said Saturday, with the clock ticking down to the ex-president’s return to power.

Trump, the 78-year-old ex-reality TV star, won wider margins than before, despite a criminal conviction, two impeachments while in office and warnings from his former chief of staff that he is a fascist.

Exit polls showed that voters’ top concerns remained the economy and inflation that spiked under Biden in the wake of the COVID pandemic.

The 81-year-old president, who dropped out of the White House race in July over concerns about his age, health and mental acuity, called Trump on Wednesday to congratulate him on the election win.

Trump 2.0

Democrats have been pointing fingers over who is to blame for Harris’ decisive loss after she replaced Biden at the top of the ticket roughly 100 days before the election.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took aim at Biden, telling The New York Times that “had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race.”

As the Democrats weigh what went wrong, Trump has begun to assemble his second administration by naming campaign manager Susie Wiles to serve as his White House chief of staff.

She is the first woman to be named to the high-profile role and the Republican’s first appointment to his incoming administration.

Jockeying for jobs

Trump on Saturday ruled out re-appointing two senior figures from his first administration, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Former Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell is seen as a front-runner for the secretary of state position, as is Florida Senator Marco Rubio who called Trump a “con artist” and the “most vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency” in 2016.

The other front-runners for a place in the Trump 2.0 administration reflect the significant changes it is likely to implement.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leading figure in the anti-vaccine movement for whom Trump has pledged a “big role” in health care, told NBC News on Wednesday that “I’m not going to take away anybody’s vaccines.”

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, could also be in line for a job auditing government waste after the right-wing SpaceX, Tesla and X boss enthusiastically backed Trump. 
…

Washington — President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that former Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will not be asked to join his administration. 

“I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation,” Trump posted on social media. “I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our country.” 

Trump is meeting with potential candidates to serve in his administration before his January 20 inauguration as president. Reuters reported Friday that Trump met with prominent investor Scott Bessent, who is a potential U.S. Treasury Secretary nominee. 

Haley, a former South Carolina governor who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, endorsed Trump for president despite having criticized him harshly when she ran against him in the party primaries.  

Pompeo, who also served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency under Trump, has been mentioned in some media reports as a possible defense secretary and also had been seen a potential Republican presidential candidate, before he announced in April 2023 he would not run. 

Haley and Pompeo could not immediately be reached for comment on Saturday. 

During his first term as president, Trump made some key personnel announcements via social media posts. 

Separately, Trump said the 2025 presidential inauguration will be co-chaired by real estate investor and campaign donor Steve Witkoff and former Senator Kelly Loeffler. 
…

Firefighters on two U.S. coasts were making progress Saturday on wildfires in California and New Jersey.

Southern California firefighters were gaining ground on a wildfire that destroyed more than 130 structures as gusty winds subsided Saturday with favorable weather conditions expected through the weekend. 

The Mountain Fire in Ventura County was held at about 83 square kilometers and was 17% contained, Fire Operations Section Chief Clint Swensen said. The fire broke out Wednesday and exploded in size thanks in part to the arrival of dry, warm and gusty northeast winds, forcing thousands of residents to flee and threatening 3,500 structures in suburban neighborhoods, ranches and agricultural areas around the community of Camarillo. 

Red flag warnings indicating conditions for high fire danger expired in most of the region Thursday. Smoky air hung over the area Saturday thanks to light winds, the very conditions that were aiding firefighters, said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. 

“It’s very favorable for the weekend,” Kittell said. “Good for firefighting efforts but not great for air quality.” 

Some forecasts showed winds returning to the area Tuesday but not to the extent seen last week, Kittell said. 

The region northwest of Los Angeles, California, has seen some of the state’s most destructive fires over the years.  

Across the country in New Jersey, firefighters were reporting “substantial progress” against a wildfire that was threatening dozens of structures, one of a number of forest fires they are fighting in the state. 

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Forest Fire Service said Saturday afternoon that the fire in the Pompton Lakes area of Passaic County had been 50% contained. 

The blaze is burning more than 65 hectares and is threatening 55 structures, although no evacuations have been ordered. Earlier, the blaze prompted closure of the right lane of northbound Interstate 287, officials said. 

The Forest Fire Service was battling the blaze with fire engines and ground crews and a helicopter capable of dropping 1,325 liters of water, officials said. Structures were being protected by local fire companies, they said. 

Officials also reported fighting a new wildfire that has ignited across more than 728 hectares near the New York-New Jersey border in Passaic County’s West Milford and Orange County, New York. The Jennings Creek wildfire was threatening two homes and eight buildings in the Long Pond Ironworks Historic District. 

An earlier wildfire in the Bethany Run area on the border of Burlington and Camden counties in Evesham and Voorhees townships was reported 90% contained. 

A blaze along the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Englewood Cliffs in Bergen County, across the Hudson River from New York, was reported 40% contained and threatened no structures. 

The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning, saying gusty winds and low humidity could help spread fires quickly. 

New Jersey has not received measurable precipitation in over a month, the weather service said, setting a record. 
…

Most strokes could be prevented, according to new guidelines aimed at helping people and their doctors do just that. 

Stroke was the fourth-leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than half a million Americans have a stroke every year. But up to 80% of strokes may be preventable with better nutrition, exercise and identification of risk factors. 

The first new guidelines on stroke prevention in 10 years from the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, include recommendations for people and doctors that reflect a better understanding of who gets strokes and why, along with new drugs that can help reduce risk. 

The good news is that the best way to reduce your risk for stroke is also the best way to reduce your risk for a whole host of health problems — eat a healthy diet, move your body and don’t smoke. The bad news is that it’s not always so easy to sustain. 

Dr. Sean Duke, a stroke doctor at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, blames the forces in society that keep people sedentary and eating poorly, like cell phones and cheap, unhealthy food. “Our world is stacked against us,” he said. 

Here’s what to know about stroke and the new guidelines: 

What is a stroke? 

A stroke happens when blood flow to part of the brain is blocked or if a blood vessel in the brain bursts. That deprives the brain of oxygen which can cause brain damage that can lead to difficulty thinking, talking and walking, or even death. 

How eating healthy can reduce your risk for stroke 

Eating healthy can help control several factors that increase your risk for stroke, including high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and obesity, according to the heart association. 

The group recommends foods in the so-called Mediterranean diet such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and olive oil, which can help keep cholesterol levels down. It suggests limiting red meat and other sources of saturated fat. Instead, get your protein from beans, nuts, poultry, fish and seafood. 

Limit highly processed foods and foods and drinks with a lot of added sugar. This can also reduce your calorie intake, which helps keep weight in check. 

Moving your body can help prevent strokes 

Getting up and walking around for at least 10 minutes a day can “drastically” reduce your risk, said Dr. Cheryl Bushnell, a neurologist at Wake Forest University School of Medicine who was part of the group that came up with the new guidelines. Among the many benefits: Regular exercise can help reduce blood pressure, a major risk factor for stroke. 

Of course, more is better: The heart association recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic or 75 minutes of vigorous activity — or some combination — per week. How you do it doesn’t matter so much, experts said: Go to the gym, take a walk or run in your neighborhood or use treadmills or stepper machines at home. 

New tools to reduce obesity, a risk factor for stroke 

Diet and exercise can help control weight, another important risk factor for strokes. But a new class of drugs that can drastically reduce weight have been approved by regulators, providing new tools to reduce stroke risk since guidelines were last updated. 

The guidelines now recommend that doctors consider prescribing these drugs, including those sold under the brand names Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound, to people with obesity or diabetes. 

But while those drugs can help, people still need to eat well and get exercise, cautions Dr. Fadi Nahab, a stroke expert at Emory University Hospital. 

Guidelines help identify people who might be at higher risk 

The new guidelines for the first time recommend doctors screen patients for other factors that could increase stroke risk, including sex and gender and non-medical factors such as economic stability, access to health care, discrimination and racism. For example, the risk for having a first stroke is nearly twice as high for Black adults in the U.S. as it is for white adults, according to the CDC. 

“If somebody doesn’t have insurance or they can’t get to a doctor’s office because of transportation issues or they can’t get off work to get health care … these are all things that can impact the ability to prevent stroke,” Bushnell said. 

Doctors may be able to point to resources for low-cost health care or food, and can give ideas about how to be active without breaking the bank for a gym membership. 

The guidelines also now recommend doctors should screen for conditions that could increase a woman’s risk for stroke, such as high blood pressure during pregnancy or early menopause. 

How do I know if I’m having a stroke and what do I do? 

Three of the most common stroke symptoms include face weakness, arm weakness and difficulty speaking. And time is important, because brain damage can happen quickly and damage can be limited if a stroke is treated quickly. Stroke experts have coined an acronym to help you remember: FAST. F for face, A for arm, S for speech, and T for time. If you think you or a loved one could be having a stroke, call 911 right away. 
…

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Defense Department will appeal a military judge’s ruling that plea agreements struck by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks, and two of his co-defendants are valid, a defense official said Saturday.

The ruling this past week voided Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s order to throw out the deals and concluded that the plea agreements were valid. The judge granted the three motions to enter guilty pleas and said he would schedule them for a future date to be determined by the military commission.

The department will also seek a postponement of any hearing on the pleas, according to the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss legal matters and spoke on condition of anonymity. Rear Admiral Aaron Rugh, the chief prosecutor, sent a letter Friday to the families of 9/11 victims informing them of the decision.

The ruling by the judge, Air Force Colonel Matthew McCall, allowed the three 9/11 defendants to enter guilty pleas in the U.S. military courtroom at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and would spare them the risk of the death penalty. The pleas by Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi would be a key step toward closing out the long-running and legally troubled government prosecution in the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Government prosecutors had negotiated the deals with defense lawyers under government auspices, and the top official for the military commission at Guantanamo had approved the agreements. But the deals were immediately slammed by Republican lawmakers and others when they were made public this summer.

Within days, Austin issued an order saying he was nullifying them. He said plea bargains in possible death penalty cases tied to one of the gravest crimes ever carried out on U.S. soil were a momentous step that should only be decided by the defense secretary.

The judge had ruled that Austin lacked the legal authority to toss out the plea deals.

The agreements, and Austin’s attempt to reverse them, have made for one of the most fraught episodes in a U.S. prosecution marked by delays and legal difficulties. That includes years of ongoing pretrial hearings to determine the admissibility of statements by the defendants, given their torture in CIA custody.

While families of some of the victims and others are adamant that the 9/11 prosecutions continue until trial and possible death sentences, legal experts say it is not clear that could ever happen. If the 9/11 cases ever clear the hurdles of trial, verdicts and sentencings, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit would likely hear many of the issues in the course of any death penalty appeals.

The issues include the CIA destruction of videos of interrogations, whether Austin’s plea deal reversal constituted unlawful interference and whether the torture of the men tainted subsequent interrogations by “clean teams” of FBI agents that did not involve violence.
…

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY — A 31-year-old American tourist was killed while on vacation in Hungary’s capital, and the suspect, a 37-year-old Irish man, has been arrested, Hungarian police said Saturday.

The victim, Mackenzie Michalski of Portland, Oregon, was reported missing on November 5 after she was last seen at a nightclub in central Budapest. Police launched a missing person investigation and reviewed security footage from local nightclubs, on which they observed Michalski with a man later identified as the suspect in several of the clubs the night of her disappearance.

Police detained the man, an Irish citizen, on the evening of November 7. Investigators said that Michalski and the suspect met at a nightclub and danced before leaving for the man’s rented apartment. The man killed Michalski while they were engaged in an “intimate encounter,” police said.

The suspect, whom police identified by the initials L.T.M., later confessed to the killing but said it was an accident, police said, adding that he attempted to cover up his crime by cleaning the apartment and hiding Michalski’s body in a wardrobe before purchasing a suitcase and placing her body inside.

He then rented a car and drove to Lake Balaton, around 150 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Budapest, where he disposed of the body in a wooden area outside the town of Szigliget.

Video released by police showed the suspect guiding authorities to the location where he had left the body. Police said the suspect had made internet searches before being apprehended on how to dispose of a body, police procedures in missing person cases, whether pigs really eat dead bodies and the presence of wild boars in the Lake Balaton area.

He also made an internet search inquiring on the competence of Budapest police.

Michalski’s parents are currently in Budapest, police told The Associated Press.

According to a post by an administrator of a Facebook group called “Find Mackenzie Michalski,” which was created on November 7, Michalski, who went by “Kenzie,” was a nurse practitioner who “will forever be remembered as a beautiful and compassionate young woman.”
…

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA — Huldah Momanyi Hiltsley made history November 5 by becoming the first Kenyan-born immigrant elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives. She describes her victory as a testament to resilience, determination and the realization of the American dream.

Standing in the State Capitol for the first time on the morning of her orientation, Hiltsley told VOA she was overwhelmed with emotions and eager to start her journey as an elected official.

“I am super excited,” Hiltsley said. “Today is orientation day for new legislators, and to be standing in this Capitol as an African immigrant woman is a tremendous honor. I’m just overexcited right now.”

She said this milestone did not come easily. Her path to the Minnesota State Capitol was marked by struggles, including a fight against an immigration system that nearly led to her family’s deportation. She credits much of her success to the community support and the intervention of the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone, whose advocacy she said ultimately secured her family’s green cards and, later, citizenship.

“Getting to this moment honestly is just a testament to the struggles that my family has gone through to be in this country,” she said.

There has been a media frenzy surrounding Hiltsley’s victory, and it has captured the attention of Kenyan media, with celebrations taking place in her hometown, Nyamboyo village, which is eight hours from Nairobi, Kenya’s capital. Despite the attention, Hiltsley said she remains humble.

“I’m that little girl from that little village somewhere in the middle of Kenya, and now I’m in the spotlight of this media frenzy. And so, I’m still trying to really appreciate the magnitude of the moment,” she said.

Hiltsley said she has a desire to inspire others, particularly young girls in Kenya and the United States.

“It is still surreal,” she said, adding that “if I can make it to this point, I can be a role model to somebody to remind them that it is possible that our wildest dreams are possible. And that would be something that I would look back and say, wow, I’ve made a difference in somebody’s life.”

Her legislative priorities

Looking ahead, Hiltsley said she is committed to championing issues that matter to her constituents in Minnesota’s Legislative District 38A. Her priorities include community-centered public safety policies, affordable housing options, workers’ rights and support for small businesses — many of which are run by African immigrants.

“The resources are out here,” she said, promising to empower her community.

“It is my job to go back to my community and tell them, hey, there are resources here. This is how this system works. Let’s work together to mobilize and make sure that we are also taking a piece of the pie,” she said.

As the first Kenyan American woman in Minnesota’s Legislature, Hiltsley said she recognizes the weight and responsibility of her position.

She described it as “an honor that I don’t take lightly.”

“I don’t want to be the last,” she, adding that she hopes “this moment right here is a testimony that you can come to this country, work hard, take care of business, know your craft, stick to it, be consistent and get to where you want to.”

Her message to those who have yet to succeed in their political campaigns is clear: Perseverance is key.

“Be consistent. Keep going. There’s enough space in this Legislature for more people of color, especially immigrants, because that’s the voice that is missing,” Hiltsley said.

Changing political scene

Hiltsley shared her thoughts on the changing political landscape in Washington, particularly with the coming administration under President-elect Donald Trump. While acknowledging the challenges, she said she will stay focused on serving her constituents in Minnesota, regardless of politics.

“We are here to serve the people, and it doesn’t matter if you are Democrat or Republican,” she said. “We are here as legislators to serve the people of Minnesota.”

Hiltsley also shared her heartfelt message to fellow Kenyans who have been celebrating her historic achievement.

“This is a historical moment, and I’m honored to be a Kenyan American,” she said. “Let’s continue celebrating this victory, but after that, we have work to do.”

She said her eyes are set on not just her role in Minnesota, but also finding ways to collaborate with Kenya’s leaders to address issues facing the country, including corruption and a lack of strong leadership.

“Kenya has unlimited potential,” she said. “It’s up to our leaders to do right by the people.”

Hiltsley will officially take her seat in the Minnesota State House of Representatives and be sworn in on January 7. Representatives are elected to serve two-year terms.

This story originated in VOA’s Swahili Service. Salem Solomon contributed to the report from Washington.
…

NEW YORK — Beleaguered aviation giant Boeing is set to confront another hurdle next week when it faces a civil trial over the March 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people.

The trial, scheduled for federal court in Chicago, originally included six plaintiffs, but “all but one” have settled, a person close to the litigation told AFP this week.

Barring an accord, the case will be Boeing’s first civil trial over the MAX crashes.

A settlement, which would need court approval, is still possible, even after the proceedings start.

But the source told AFP the case is expected to go to trial, a view held by a second legal source.

Plaintiffs in the case are relatives of Indian-born Manisha Nukavarapu, who was in her second year of medical school, specializing in endocrinology at East Tennessee State University.

Nukavarapu, who was single and without children, boarded a 737 MAX on March 10, 2019, in Addis Ababa in a flight bound for Nairobi to visit her sister, who had just given birth, according to a complaint.

But the jet, which had been delivered in November 2018, crashed just six minutes after taking off, killing everyone on board.

More trials expected

Relatives of 155 victims were deposed by the court between April 2019 and March 2021 in cases of wrongful death due to negligence, according to legal filings.

“As of today, there are 30 cases pending on behalf of 29 decedents,” a third legal source told AFP on October 22.

The cases have been split into groups, with the next trial scheduled for April 2025 unless all the suits are settled.

Boeing has “accepted responsibility for the MAX crashes publicly and in civil litigation because the design of the MCAS … contributed to these events,” an attorney for Boeing said at an October 11 court hearing.

The MCAS was a flight stabilizing system that malfunctioned in the Ethiopian Airlines crash and in the October 2018 Lion Air crash in Indonesia, which killed 189 people.

The MAX entered commercial service in May 2017. The worldwide fleet was grounded for 20 months following the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

According to Boeing, more than 90% of the cases stemming from the crashes have been settled. The company has not disclosed the overall financial hit from these cases.

“Boeing has paid billions of dollars to the crash families and their lawyers in connection with civil litigation,” a Boeing attorney said at the October 11 hearing, which took place in Texas and involves a Department of Justice criminal case over the MAX.

Dozens of plaintiffs have been deposed in civil litigation over the Lion Air crash, with 46 represented by Seattle law firm Herrmann.

The Texas litigation concerns a new deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice after the DOJ concluded Boeing flouted a $2.5 billion January 2021 criminal settlement over fraud charges related to the MAX certification.

In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to fraud as part of the latest DPA, but the accord has yet to be accepted by a federal judge.
…

DALLAS — A pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” is on the auction block nearly two decades after a thief stole the iconic shoes, convinced they were adorned with real jewels.

Online bidding has started and will continue through December 7, Heritage Auctions in Dallas announced in a news release Monday.

The auction company received the sequin-and-bead-bedazzled slippers from Michael Shaw, the memorabilia collector who originally owned the footwear at the heart of the beloved 1939 musical. Shaw had loaned the shoes in 2005 to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

That summer, someone smashed through a display case and stole the slippers. Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018.

Now the museum is among those vying for the slippers, which were one of several pairs Garland wore during the filming. Only four remain.

Grand Rapids raised money for the slippers at its annual Judy Garland festival. The funds will supplement the $100,000 set aside this year by Minnesota lawmakers to purchase the slippers.

The man who stole the slippers, Terry Jon Martin, was 76 when he was sentenced in January to time served because of his poor health. He admitting to using a hammer to smash the glass of the museum’s door and display case in what his attorney said was an attempt to pull off “one last score” after an old associate with connections to the mob told him the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their $1 million insured value.

The auction of movie memorabilia includes other items from “The Wizard of Oz,” such as a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West and the screen door from Dorothy’s Kansas home.
…

The United States will send a small number of contractors to Ukraine to help it maintain and repair the U.S.-provided weapons and air defense systems it is using against Russia’s invasion, a defense official said Friday.

The official said the contractors “will be far from the front lines and they will not be fighting Russian forces.”

Ukraine needs the contractors to repair and maintain equipment, such as F-16s and Patriot air defense systems, that requires “specific technical expertise to maintain,” the official said.

The decision to send the contractors was made “after careful risk assessment,” the official said.

On Wednesday, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to congratulate him on his election victory, Trump had Elon Musk join the call. The billionaire businessman was a contributor to Trump’s presidential campaign.

A Ukrainian official told The Associated Press that Zelenskyy thanked Musk for helping Ukraine gain access to the Starlink satellite internet platform. Other media outlets reported that Trump told Zelenskyy that he would support Ukraine, and that Musk said he would continue to supply Starlink.

Musk was on the phone for only part of the conversation.

Overnight attacks

Ukrainian officials said Friday morning that Russia attacked the regions of Odesa, Kharkiv and Kyiv overnight into Friday with drones, missiles and aerial bombs, damaging residential buildings and infrastructure and killing at least one person and injuring at least 25.

Regional officials in Kharkiv say a Russian guided aerial bomb struck a 12-story residential building in the early hours Friday. They said the bomb struck the first three floors. A search was underway for anyone trapped in the rubble.

In Odesa, police and emergency service officials told the French news agency Agence France-Presse that a Russian drone struck several residential buildings, sparking fires in some. They said a 46-year-old man was killed when his car was struck by shrapnel, and at least nine others were injured.

The Odesa officials reported shrapnel from the attacks also ruptured fuel lines, causing several fires.

On the social media platform X, President Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces shot down four missiles and about 60 drones launched by Russia against Ukraine overnight Thursday.

“Each time Russia attempts to destroy our lives, it is crucial to respond collectively and decisively at the international level to reduce and block the potential for terror,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Ukraine needs strength to achieve this. This is the only way to achieve a just peace and to ending the killing of our people,” he said.

He called for more air defenses, and long-range capabilities, weapons packages, and sanctions against Russia.

Zelenskyy took that message Thursday to the European Political Community Summit in Budapest, where he met with European leaders and reportedly reached new defense agreements to strengthen Ukrainian forces, along with agreements on positive steps toward reinforcing air defenses before winter.

But while most European leaders signaled continued support for Ukraine’s war effort, there were indications that Trump’s victory in the U.S. elections this week could change that picture.

In a radio interview Friday, the host of that summit, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has close ties to both Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, said U.S. support for Ukraine will end with the election of Trump and that Europe needs to re-think its approach to the war.

“The Americans will quit this war,” Orban told Hungarian state radio and indicated he felt Europe must follow suit.

“Europe cannot finance this war alone, there are some who still want it, who still want to continue sending enormous amounts of money into this lost war, but the number of those who remain silent, though they were loud before, and those who cautiously voice that we should adjust to the new situation, is growing,” Orban said.

The Hungarian leader made the comments ahead of the European Union summit Friday in Budapest. Before that meeting, outgoing European Council President Charles Michel told reporters Europe wants to strengthen ties with the United States and continue strengthening Ukraine.

“We have to support Ukraine because if we do not support Ukraine, this is the wrong signal that we send to Putin but also to some other authoritarian regimes across the world,” Michel said.

Trump has criticized the level of U.S. support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, and before the election he promised to end the conflict before even taking office, without explaining how.

Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. 
…

Washington — Indonesia’s newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto set off for China on Friday for his first international trip as president. 

“From Beijing I will fly directly to Washington, D.C., on the invitation of the U.S. president,” said Prabowo upon departing Jakarta. Indonesians often refer to public figures by their first names.

His tour aims to “cultivate good relations with all parties,” Prabowo said. He has stated his ambition to raise Indonesia’s international profile and made early foreign policy moves, including a surprise decision to join Southeast Asia’s largest economy to the BRICS bloc. 

BRICS, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, comprises a growing group of emerging economies and is seen as a counterweight to the West. In October, the group added Indonesia as one of its 13 new “partner countries.” 

The move is a shift away from the position taken by Prabowo’s predecessor, Joko Widodo, who took in massive amounts of infrastructure investments from Beijing but remained mostly nonaligned geopolitically.   

Prabowo’s visit comes during a transitional period at the White House, ahead of the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump in January. The White House has not formally announced the visit; however, Jakarta said Prabowo is scheduled to meet U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House early next week. 

Indonesian diplomatic sources who spoke under condition of anonymity told VOA that Prabowo has requested a meeting with Trump. The Trump team has not responded to VOA’s query on whether it will be granted.   

New period of US-Indonesia ties 

Starting in January, both countries will be under the helm of leaders who were democratically elected but have employed authoritarian rhetoric, at a time when Washington is focused on its rivalry with the authoritarian regime in China under Xi Jinping. 

Like Trump, Prabowo made a historical political comeback under unlikely circumstances. He secured a landslide victory after two failed attempts, 26 years after his father-in-law, President Suharto, was ousted from power. This, despite Prabowo admitting he was ordered by Suharto in 1998 to abduct activists protesting the regime.  

Washington was aware of Prabowo’s involvement, and the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations denied Prabowo entry to the U.S., citing human rights concerns. The Trump administration lifted the visa ban and then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper invited then-Defense Minister Prabowo to Washington in 2020.    

With Trump in the White House, analysts say, Jakarta could see more opportunities to expand ties with Washington if Prabowo makes inroads through the right people for the right incentives, given Trump’s history of relying more on personal connections than institutional relationships.   

Personal connections 

Jakarta’s point person for Washington under the first Trump administration was Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, a businessman and retired four-star army general who then served as coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment.    

Luhut developed close ties with Adam Boehler, head of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and a former college roommate of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. In 2020, Boehler dangled the promise of a $2 billion investment into Indonesia’s planned sovereign wealth fund.

The plan fell through because the price, recognition of Israel under the Trump administration’s Abraham Accords, was too high for Jakarta, according to an interview Boehler gave to Bloomberg at the end of 2020.   

In Prabowo’s administration, Luhut holds the position of head of the National Economic Council and special adviser on investment affairs. But in a Cabinet of more than 100 officials, his influence has diminished. 

“The deck is being shuffled right now, and we don’t know yet where the cards will land,” said Yeremia Lalisang, assistant professor of international relations at the University of Indonesia. What’s clear, Lalisang told VOA, is that the “pragmatic” Prabowo will be delighted to be welcomed by Trump after being treated as a “human rights criminal” by previous U.S. administrations. 

One possibility to bolster ties under Trump would be for Prabowo to capitalize on the connection between billionaires among Trump’s inner circle. This would include Trump’s wealthiest backer, Elon Musk, and Hary Tanoesoedibjo, an Indonesian tycoon who has partnered with the Trump family on several real estate projects in Indonesia. Both were at Trump’s residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Tuesday night, celebrating his election victory. 

Tanoesoedibjo, who commonly goes by his initials H.T., would not confirm whether he is facilitating a Trump-Prabowo meeting next week. However, he said, Trump’s victory would bring “positive hope for Indonesia.” 

“Trump’s favorable understanding of Indonesia should be maximalized for the economic benefit of both countries, especially Indonesia’s economic interests,” H.T. told VOA.  

Investing in nickel 

Under Jokowi’s administration, Jakarta courted Musk, head of SpaceX and Tesla, to invest in two key areas: satellites and electric vehicle batteries. Earlier this year, Musk launched SpaceX’s satellite internet service, Starlink, in Bali and Maluku.   

With the Earth’s largest reserves of nickel, Indonesia is eager to develop its EV battery industry, and Prabowo is expected to continue his predecessor’s yearslong effort to lure Tesla to invest. 

The Biden administration has put aside tens of billions of dollars in tax credits to spur the U.S. EV industry, under the Inflation Reduction Act, its signature climate and energy legislation. To qualify for the credit, 40% of the minerals used for battery production for EVs sold in the U.S. must be extracted or processed domestically or in one of its free-trade partners.   

Jakarta has been pushing for a limited free-trade agreement that will allow it to benefit from IRA tax credits. However, its nickel industry is backed by investment from Chinese companies and besieged by environmental concerns, limiting its access to the U.S. market. 

“You might see some of this calculus change during the course of the Trump administration,” said Andreyka Natalegawa, associate fellow for the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Trump has vowed to loosen environmental restrictions. 

U.S.-Indonesia cooperation on nickel is “out there as an objective,” said Ann Marie Murphy, senior research scholar at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University. “If it fails to come to fruition, I think that could be disappointing to both sides,” she told VOA. 

However, Trump, who has made high tariffs on China a central theme of his campaign, will be looking closely at the tariffs’ impact on the EV industry. He has vowed to roll back tax credits available to EV buyers in the U.S.   

He will also be watching bilateral trade deficits. In 2017, his administration placed Indonesia on a watchlist of countries that have a large trade surplus, threatening Jakarta with unspecified consequences if trade was not brought into balance.    

“There’s lots of question marks here that we still need to wait and see to get answers,” Natalegawa told VOA. 

Yuni Salim contributed to this report.
…

With her appointment as chief of staff to President-elect Donald Trump, Susie Wiles moves from a largely behind-the-scenes role of campaign co-chair to one of the most prominent positions in a new White House administration.

The 67-year-old will become the first woman to serve in the post for any U.S. president when she assumes the role as the president’s closest adviser in January.

In announcing his decision Thursday, Trump said Wiles is “tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected.” It was his first appointment since winning Tuesday’s election against Vice President Kamala Harris.

“It is a well deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female Chief of Staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will make our country proud,” Trump said in his statement.

Wiles largely avoided the spotlight during her time as co-chair of Trump’s successful election campaign and was credited — along with co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita — with bringing some discipline to Trump’s free-wheeling, off-script campaign style.

She didn’t speak during Trump’s victory celebration early Wednesday morning when he called her to the podium, and she refused to take the microphone.

Wiles rarely gives televised interviews and tends to avoid the spotlight, a contrast with LaCivita, who is known for being outspoken.

For someone of her stature, she is not well-known in political circles. During his victory speech, Trump referred to Wiles as the “ice maiden.”

She is one of Trump’s most trusted advisers. During a rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, earlier this month, he said: “She’s incredible. Incredible.”

Top Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio told Politico in April, “There is nobody, I think, that has the wealth of information that she does. Nobody in our orbit. Nobody.”

While Wiles is a somewhat enigmatic figure, she has a long career of working behind the scenes in U.S. politics.

Shortly after she graduated from the University of Maryland in 1979, she went to work for New York Congressman Jack Kemp and joined Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign in 1980.

She eventually moved to Florida where she advised the campaigns of two Florida mayors and helped then-businessman Rick Scott transition to politics in his successful 2010 campaign for governor.

She managed Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr.’s presidential bid in 2012, and managed Florida for Trump’s 2016 campaign. She joined Ron DeSantis’ race for governor in 2018, but she parted ways with him after a falling out in 2019.

Wiles made a rare appearance on social media shortly before DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race in January. “Bye, bye,” she wrote.

She went on to run Trump’s primary campaign against DeSantis, which Trump easily won.

Wiles is the only campaign manager to survive an entire Trump campaign and is known for her ability to tamp down his mercurial, sometimes volatile behavior.

In one anecdote reported by The Associated Press, during a campaign speech in Pennsylvania when Trump strayed off his talking points and quipped about not minding if members of the media were shot, she came out and silently stared at him until he got back on track.

That ability should serve her well in her new role. In his last four years in office, Trump went through four chiefs of staff, a record for modern presidents.

Some information in this report was provided by The Associated Press.
…

Southern California firefighters made progress against a wildfire that has destroyed 132 structures, mostly homes. The fierce wind gusts that fanned the flames began easing Friday, allowing some people to return to sort through the charred remains of their homes. 

Maryanne Belote returned to her hillside neighborhood in Camarillo, a city northwest of Los Angeles, after making a harrowing escape with her cat, dog and horses as the blaze raged in the area. The only thing standing was a rock wall she built. 

“If I hadn’t gotten the horses, I would have been devastated, but I have my family and I have my animals so, I’m OK. I will rebuild,” she said, standing outside the remains of her home of 50 years. 

The Mountain Fire started Wednesday morning in Ventura County and had grown to about 83 square kilometers. It was 7% contained Friday morning. 

About 10,000 people remained under evacuation orders Friday morning as the fire continued to threaten about 3,500 structures in suburban neighborhoods, ranches and agricultural areas around Camarillo in Ventura County. 

At least 88 structures were damaged in addition to the 132 destroyed. Officials did not specify whether they had fire, water or smoke damage. 

The cause of the fire has not been determined.

Ten people suffered smoke inhalation or other non-life-threatening injuries, Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said. 

Crews working in steep terrain with support from water-dropping helicopters were focusing on protecting homes on hillsides along the fire’s northeast edge near the city of Santa Paula, home to more than 30,000 people, county fire officials said. 

Officials in several Southern California counties urged residents to watch for fast-spreading blazes, power outages and downed trees during the latest round of notorious Santa Ana winds. 

Santa Anas are dry, warm and gusty northeast winds that blow from the interior of Southern California toward the coast and offshore, moving in the opposite direction of the normal onshore flow that carries moist air from the Pacific. They typically occur during the fall months and continue through winter and into early spring. 

Red flag warnings, indicating conditions for high fire danger, expired Friday morning when winds began diminishing. 

Governor Gavin Newsom has proclaimed a state of emergency in Ventura County. 

An air quality alert for harmful fine particle pollution was in effect from Friday morning until Saturday afternoon due to smoke from the wildfires. 

Across the country in New Jersey, firefighters were stretched thin Friday with at least four wildfires burning in the state, stretching from the Pinelands in the central and western parts of the state to the New York City suburbs. 

The latest fire broke out along the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Englewood Cliffs in Bergen County, across the Hudson River from New York. 

It was smaller than the three others burning in New Jersey, each of which had burned less than a square mile as of late Thursday. 

Those fires, in Jackson, Glassboro and Evesham, were between 50% and 80% contained Friday. 

New Jersey has not received measurable precipitation in over a month, the weather service said, setting a record.
…

The U.S. military says it is investigating what caused an army drone to crash in southern Somalia this week.

The military’s Africa Command, known as AFRICOM, confirmed the incident in a post Friday on social media platform X.

“A U.S. Army operated MQ-1C crashed in southern Somalia at approximately 12:40 PM local on Nov. 5,” AFRICOM said. “An investigation is ongoing, although the crash does not appear to be the result of any attempt to shoot down the aircraft.” 

AFRICOM said it will release more information as it becomes available.

AFRICOM did not disclose the exact location of the crash, but a Somali official said he was told a drone crashed in an area controlled by the al-Shabab militant group.

Mohamed Ibrahim Barre, the governor of Lower Shabelle, told the VOA Horn of Africa Service that the drone crashed north of Farsoley village, in Lower Shabelle, about 85 kilometers west of Mogadishu. Barre said he did not know who the drone belongs to.

The U.S. military has conducted surveillance and airstrikes against al-Shabab for years in support of successive Somali administrations.

In addition, the U.S. also trains an elite Somali commando unit known as Danab, or lightning. Earlier this year, U.S. and Somalia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the construction of up to five military bases for the Danab Brigade, in a project valued at over $100 million.

This story originated in VOA’s Horn of Africa Service.
…

With former President Donald Trump returning to the White House, Ukrainians are bracing for potential shifts in U.S. policy that could reshape its fight for survival against Russian aggression. Trump’s agenda could take a sharp turn from the Biden administration’s unwavering support, raising fears that vital U.S. aid might be at risk. Myroslava Gongadze reports from Europe. Camera: Vladyslav Smilianets
…

BEIJING/HONG KONG — After Donald Trump first stormed the White House eight years ago, rattled Chinese leaders responded to his tariffs and fiery rhetoric with force, resulting in a trade war that plunged ties between the globe’s largest economies to multiyear lows.

This time around, Beijing has been preparing for Trump’s return by deepening ties with allies, boosting self-reliance in tech, and setting aside money to prop up the economy that is now more vulnerable to fresh tariffs already threatened by Trump.

While some retaliation to those moves might be unavoidable, China will focus on exploiting rifts between the U.S. and its allies, experts say, and aim to lower the temperature to help strike an early deal to cushion the blow from trade friction.

Zhao Minghao, international relations expert at Shanghai’s Fudan University said China probably wouldn’t replay the playbook from the first Trump presidency when Beijing had a very strong reaction to Trump’s moves on tariffs.

He pointed out Chinese President Xi Jinping’s message to Trump from Thursday, in which Xi called for “cooperation” and not “confrontation,” emphasizing “stable, sound and sustainable” relations between the two superpowers.

“Trump is not a stranger to Beijing at this time,” Zhao told Reuters. “Beijing would respond in a measured way and make efforts to communicate with the Trump team.”

While Chinese tech giants are now far less reliant on U.S. imports, the economy — hit by a massive property crisis and saddled with unsustainable debt — is in a weaker position than in 2016, struggling to eke out 5% growth compared to 6.7% then.

To make things worse, Trump has pledged to end China’s most-favored-nation trading status and slap tariffs on Chinese imports in excess of 60% – much higher than those imposed during his first term.

Fudan’s Zhao said Beijing has this scenario gamed out but expects tariffs to come in below the level pledged on the campaign trail because “that would significantly push up the inflation in the U.S.”

Still, that threat alone has unnerved producers in the world’s largest exporter because China sells goods worth more than $400 billion a year to the U.S. and hundreds of billions more in parts for products Americans buy elsewhere.

Li Mingjiang, a scholar at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said that as a result, the Chinese economy might require even more stimulus than the $1.4 trillion expected on Friday.

“It’ll be a very serious blow to China’s international trade that will affect jobs and government revenues,” said Li. “China will probably have to come up with a much bigger stimulus package domestically.”

Charm offensive

To boost global trade, China has been on a diplomatic blitz, shoring up alliances, mending fences with foes, and continuing difficult talks with the European Union, even after the bloc imposed stiff tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

Last month China ended a four-year military stand-off with India on their disputed border; in August, it resolved a two-year spat with Japan over the discharge of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant; and Premier Li Qiang in June visited Australia — the first such trip in seven years.

Also last month, both Xi and Li attended separate summits of BRICS — which now accounts for 35% of the global economy — and the 10-state Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as China deepens ties with the Global South.

“The first Trump administration did not show a lot of interest in robust engagement in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, which provided the Chinese a lot of latitude to operate in these markets largely uncontested,” said Eric Olander, editor-in-chief of the China-Global South Project.

In Europe, trade tensions with China could be counterbalanced by worries over Trump’s potentially reduced role in the Ukraine war and his economic policies, creating an opening for Beijing, say some experts.

“China will carry on reaching out to Europeans, the British, the Australians and even the Japanese, not only to try to drive a wedge between the U.S. and the countries of the north,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, an expert at Hong Kong’s Baptist University.

“But also as part of its mission to rebalance its foreign trade in favor of the Global South,” he said.

Tech punchline

During the first trade war, Trump banned high-tech exports to China and sanctioned companies including China’s largest chipmaker SMIC, prompting its tech sector to become domestic-focused and self-sufficient.

Winston Ma, a former managing director for the China Investment Corporation (CIC), China’s sovereign wealth fund, said a major trigger for this shift was Trump’s ban on the sale of components to Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE in 2018.

That was “really scary from a China perspective, so they began to prepare. It was the start of that sort of defensive thinking,” added Ma.

Soon after, Xi urged the nation to boost self-reliance in science and tech, pushing China to build-up crucial industries including AI and space.

The result: Eight years ago, China had only four government procurement projects worth over $1.4 million, replacing foreign hardware and software with domestic alternatives. That number has exploded to 169 such projects this year, data show.

Despite these strides, chipmakers “definitely feel the tightening — these Chinese companies couldn’t supply to global clients and can’t have access to the latest chips,” said Ma.

Nazak Nikakhtar, a Commerce Department official under Trump who knows his advisers, said she expected Trump to be “much more aggressive about export control policies towards China.”

She anticipated “a significant expansion of the entity list,” that restricts exports to those on it to capture affiliates and business partners of listed companies.

Ma, the ex-CIC executive, said the restrictions will have an impact for some time as the U.S. expands the sanctions regime to overseas suppliers.

“I think the punchline is that the coming years are the most critical for this U.S.-China tech rivalry.”
…

RAMAT TRUMP, Golan Heights — Israeli residents of “Trump Heights” are welcoming the election of their namesake, hoping Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency will breathe new life into this tiny, remote settlement in the central Golan Heights.

During his first term, Trump became the first and only foreign leader to recognize Israel’s control of the Golan, which it seized from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel thanked him by rebranding this outpost after him.

But a large-scale influx of new residents never materialized after that 2019 ceremony, and just a couple dozen families live in Trump Heights, or “Ramat Trump” in Hebrew. Job opportunities are limited, and Israel’s more-than-yearlong war against Hezbollah militants in nearby Lebanon has added to the sense of isolation.

Trump’s election has inspired hope in the community that it will attract more members and also more funding for security improvements.

“Maybe it can raise more awareness and maybe some support to help here and help our kids here,” said Yarden Freimann, Trump Heights’ community manager.

Ori Kallner, head of the Golan’s regional council, showed off dozens of plots of land, replete with new asphalt roads, lampposts and utility lines, that residents have prepared for future housing developments.

“President Trump’s return to the White House definitely puts the town in the headlines,” he said.

Hanging on while war rages nearby

Kallner stood next to a metal statue of an eagle and a menorah, symbolizing the United States and Israel, as Israeli warplanes flew overhead. Two explosions from rockets fired from Lebanon punched the hills nearby, and just across the border in Lebanon, plumes of smoke rose into the air from Israeli airstrikes.

An enormous sign with the settlement’s name in Hebrew and English gleamed in the sun, while two large sunbaked metal flags of Israel and the United States were faded almost beyond recognition.

Surrounded by ashen ruins of villages fled by Syrians in the 1967 war, the town is perched above the Hula Valley, where Israel has amassed tanks, artillery and troops for its fight in Lebanon. Most towns in the valley have been evacuated. Trump Heights sends its kids to a makeshift daycare in a nearby settlement after the government shuttered all schools in the region in the wake of the October 1 invasion of Lebanon.

“We find ourselves hanging by our fingernails to be in our own community, not be evacuated, and on the other hand, we cannot work, we cannot send our kids to any kind of an education system,” said Freimann.

Trump Heights is only about 12 kilometers from Lebanon and Syria. Alerts for incoming fire gives residents about 30 seconds’ head start to get to a bomb shelter.

Trump broke with other leaders on the Golan Heights

Israel annexed the Golan, a strategic plateau overlooking northern Israel, in 1981 in a move that is not internationally recognized.

That changed in March 2019 when Trump, without notice, tweeted that the U.S. would “fully recognize” Israel’s control of the territory. His announcement drew widespread condemnation from the international community, which considers the Golan to be occupied Syrian territory and Israel’s settlements to be illegal. The Biden administration left the decision intact, but the U.S. remains the lone country to recognize the Israeli annexation.

Kallner said he hopes Trump will now persuade European countries to recognize Israeli sovereignty there.

According to Israeli figures, the Golan is home to about 50,000 people — roughly half of them Jewish Israelis and the other half Arab Druze, many of whom still consider themselves Syrians under occupation.

Israel has encouraged and promoted settlements in the Golan, and the Druze residents operate farms and a tourism and restaurant sector popular with Israelis. But the area has struggled to develop because of its remoteness, several hours from Israel’s economic center in Tel Aviv.

That economic hardship has only worsened during the war as the hospitality sector cratered. On July 28, a rocket killed 12 Druze children on a soccer field in the city of Majdal Shams, about 20 kilometers away. Israel invaded Lebanon months later.

In June 2019, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led an inauguration ceremony for Trump Heights. The U.S. ambassador at the time, David Friedman, noted that the ceremony came days after Trump’s birthday and said: “I can’t think of a more appropriate and a more beautiful birthday present.”

As president, Trump was close with Netanyahu

The Golan recognition was among a series of diplomatic gifts that Trump delivered to Israel during his first term. They included recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the American embassy to the contested city, and a series of diplomatic agreements with Arab countries known as the Abraham Accords.

He has vowed to bring peace to the tumultuous region during his second term, but has not said how.

Netanyahu enjoyed a close relationship with Trump during his first term but ran afoul of the former president when he congratulated Joe Biden on his 2020 victory. The Israeli prime minister announced Tuesday that he was one of the first foreign leaders to call the president-elect and congratulate him on his victory. An official in his office, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal communications, said aides were upbeat and giddy.

“Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback!” the Israeli leader said in a statement. “Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America.”

At Trump Heights, Kallner was optimistic too: “The Golan community is strong and resilient, and people that want to come and live here are from the same material. I believe we will overcome these challenging times and won’t stop growing.”
…

WASHINGTON — A U.S. judge in Texas on Thursday ruled against President Joe Biden’s program offering a path to citizenship for certain immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens, a blow that could keep the program blocked through Biden’s final months in office.

U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker found the program exceeded Biden’s executive authority. The program offers a path to citizenship to about 500,000 immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally if they are married to U.S. citizens.

The initiative, known as Keeping Families Together, launched in August but was blocked days later by Barker, who left it frozen while he considered a legal challenge brought by Texas and a coalition of U.S. states with Republican attorneys general.

Biden, a Democrat, announced the program in June before dropping out of the presidential race and paving the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to face Republican Donald Trump, an immigration hard-liner.

Trump defeated Harris in Tuesday’s election and is expected to launch a wide-ranging immigration crackdown that would likely include rolling back Biden’s initiative for immigrant spouses, which the Trump campaign called a “mass amnesty” that would encourage illegal immigration.

Americans see immigration as the most pressing issue for Trump to address when he takes office in January, and a large majority believe he will order mass deportations of people living in the U.S. illegally, a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Thursday found.

The Biden administration could appeal Thursday’s court ruling. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 
…