ANCHORAGE, ALASKA — On a desolate slab of island tundra in western Alaska, a resident of Adak will again become the last American to cast an in-person ballot for president, continuing a 12-year tradition for the nation’s westernmost community.

The honor of having the last voter in the nation fell to Adak when they did away with absentee-only voting for the 2012 election and added in-person voting.

“People have a little bit of fun on that day because, I mean, realistically everybody knows the election’s decided way before we’re closed,” said city manager Layton Lockett. “But, you know, it’s still fun.”

When polls close in Adak, it will be 1 a.m. on the East Coast.

Adak Island, midway in the Aleutian Island chain and bordered by the Bering Sea to the north and the North Pacific Ocean to the south, is closer to Russia than mainland Alaska. The island best known as a former World War II military base and later naval station is 1,931 kilometers (1,200 miles) southwest of Anchorage and farther west than Hawaii, where polls close an hour earlier.

Mary Nelson said Republican Mitt Romney was likely conceding the 2012 race to President Barack Obama on election night when she became Adak’s first last voter in a presidential election, although she didn’t know Obama had been reelected until the next morning when she turned on her computer to read election results.

Nelson, who now lives in Washington state, recalled to The Associated Press by telephone that she was a poll worker in Adak at the time and had forgotten to vote until just before the 8 p.m. poll closing time.

“When I opened the [voting booth’s] curtain to come back out, the city manager took my picture and announced that I was the last person in Adak to vote,” she said.

That was also the end of the celebration since they still had work to do.

“We had votes to count, and they were waiting for us in Nome to call with our vote count,” she said.

There are U.S. territories farther west than Alaska, but there’s no process in the Electoral College to allow residents in Guam, the northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa and the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands to vote for president, according to the National Archives.

“I’ve been tickled pink and told people about it,” said Nelson, now 73. “I have the story I printed out about it and show some people who I think would think it’s a big deal, like my family,” she said.

Adak Island has historical significance for its role in World War II. The U.S. built facilities on the island after Japanese forces took islands farther west in the Aleutian chain.

Troops landed in August 1942, to begin building an Army base, and enemy planes dropped nine bombs on the island two months later, but in undeveloped areas, and riddled the landscape with machine gun fire. The Navy began building facilities in January 1943.

In May 1943, about 27,000 combat troops gathered on Adak as a staging point to retake nearby Attu Island from the Japanese.

Among famous Americans stationed at Adak were writers Dashiell Hammett and Gore Vidal. The island also played host to President Franklin Roosevelt, boxing champion Joe Lewis and several Hollywood stars, according to the Adak Historical Society.

In a lighter note, the Army attempted to start a forest on Adak Island between 1943 and 1945. A sign placed by residents in the 1960s outside the area of 33 trees noted: “You are now Entering and Leaving the Adak National Forest.”

After the war, the island was transferred to the Air Force and then the Navy in 1950. Nearly 32,000 hectares (80,000 acres) of the 73,000-hectare (180,000-acre) island were set aside for Navy use, and the rest of the island remained part of what eventually became the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.

The base closed in 1997. The Navy retains about 2,300 hectares (5,600 acres) with the remainder either owned by the Aleut Corporation, the Alaska Native regional corporation for the area; the city of Adak; or the refuge.

Lockett said the city is facing tough times with a dwindling population and lack of an economic driver. The town’s fish processing plant has closed numerous times over the years.

When the base was active, there were about 6,000 residents on Adak Island. The 2020 Census counted 171 residents. Lockett says that’s probably now down to below 50 full-time residents.

In Alaska, a school must have 10 students to remain open. Mike Hanley, the Aleutian Region School District superintendent, said in an email that the school closed in 2023 after it started the year with six students. That shrank to one by November, and then that student left.

Hanley said by the time he notified the state education department, “there were literally no children on the island, not even younger pre-K students.”

When it comes to politics, Lockett said it’s pretty easy in a small town to know where your neighbors fall politically, but there seems to be one goal that unites everyone.

Whoever is in office, are they going to try to “encourage the military to come back to Adak in some way, shape or form?” he said.

“We’re kind of in that great midst of, what’s next for Adak, because we’re struggling,” he said.

For now, with the presidential election coming up, the city can focus on its unique place in America.

“I’m not sure who the last voter will be this year,” said Adak City Clerk Jana Lekanoff. “Maybe it’ll be a bit of a competition?”
…

WASHINGTON — Over the past four years, judges at Washington’s federal courthouse have punished hundreds of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in an unprecedented assault on the nation’s democracy. On the cusp of the next presidential election, some of those judges fear another burst of political violence could be coming.

Before recently sentencing a rioter to prison, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he prays Americans accept the outcome of next month’s election. But the veteran judge expressed concern that Donald Trump and his allies are spreading the same sort of conspiracy theories that fueled the mob’s January 6, 2021, riot.

“That sore loser is saying the same things he said before,” Walton said earlier this month without mentioning the Republican presidential nominee by name. “He’s riling up the troops again, so if he doesn’t get what he wants, it’s not inconceivable that we will experience that same situation again. And who knows? It could be worse.”

‘It scares me’

Walton, a nominee of President George W. Bush, is not alone. Other judges have said the political climate is ripe for another attack like the one that injured more than 100 police officers at the Capitol. As Election Day nears, judges are frequently stressing the need to send a message beyond their courtrooms that political violence can’t be tolerated.

“It scares me to think about what will happen if anyone on either side is not happy with the results of the election,” Judge Jia Cobb, a nominee of President Joe Biden, said during a sentencing hearing last month for four Capitol rioters.

Judge Rudolph Contreras lamented the potential for more politically motivated violence as he sentenced a Colorado man, Jeffrey Sabol, who helped other rioters drag a police officer into the mob. Sabol later told FBI agents that a “call to battle was announced” and that he had “answered the call because he was a patriot warrior.”

“It doesn’t take much imagination to imagine a similar call coming out in the coming months, and the court would be concerned that Mr. Sabol would answer that call in the same way,” Contreras, a President Barack Obama nominee, said in March before sentencing Sabol to more than five years in prison.

Trump’s distortion of the January 6 attack has been a cornerstone of his bid to reclaim the White House. The former president has denied any responsibility for the crimes of supporters who smashed windows, assaulted police officers and sent lawmakers running into hiding as they met to certify Biden’s 2020 victory.

‘Patriots’ and ‘hostages’

Trump has vowed to pardon rioters, whom he calls “patriots” and “hostages,” if he wins in November. And he said he would accept the results of the upcoming election only if it’s “free and fair,” casting doubts reminiscent of his baseless claims in 2020.

Judges have repeatedly used their platform on the bench to denounce those efforts to downplay the violence on January 6 and cast the rioters as political prisoners. And some have raised concerns about what such rhetoric means for the future of the country and its democracy.

“We’re in a real difficult time in our country, and I hope we can survive it,” Walton said this month while sentencing a Tennessee nurse who used a pair of medical scissors to smash a glass door at the Capitol.

“I’ve got a young daughter, I’ve got a young grandson, and I would like for America to be available to them and be as good to them as it has been to me,” he said. “But I don’t know if we survive with the mentality that took place that day.”

More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the January 6 siege, which disrupted the peaceful transfer of presidential power for the first time in the nation’s history. Over 1,000 rioters have been convicted and sentenced. Roughly 650 of them received prison time ranging from a few days to 22 years.

Justice Department prosecutors have argued in many cases that a prison sentence is necessary to deter convicted Capitol rioters from engaging in more politically motivated violence.

“With the 2024 presidential election approaching and many loud voices in the media and online continuing to sow discord and distrust, the potential for a repeat of January 6 looms ominously,” prosecutors have repeatedly warned in court filings.

‘I’d do it all over again’

Prosecutors argue that defendants who have shown little or no remorse for their actions on January 6 could break the law again. Some rioters even seem to be proud of their crimes.

The first rioter to enter the Capitol texted his mother, “I’ll go again given the opportunity.”

A man from Washington state who stormed the Capitol with fellow Proud Boys extremist group members told a judge, “You can give me 100 years, and I’d do it all over again.” A Kentucky nurse who joined the riot told a television interviewer that she would “do it again tomorrow.”

A Colorado woman known to her social media followers as the “J6 praying grandma” avoided a prison sentence in August when a magistrate judge sentenced her for disorderly conduct and trespassing on Capitol grounds. Rebecca Lavrenz told the judge that God, not Trump, led her to Washington on January 6.

“And she has all but promised to do it all over again,” said prosecutor Terence Parker.

Prosecutors had sought 10 months behind bars. After her April trial conviction, Lavrenz went on a “media blitz” to defend the mob, spread misinformation, undermine confidence in the courts and boost her celebrity in a community that believes January 6 “was a good day for this country,” Parker said.

Magistrate Zia Faruqui sentenced Lavrenz to six months of home confinement and fined her $103,000, stressing the need to “lower the volume” before the next election.

“These outside influences, the people that are tearing our country apart, they’re not going to help you,” Faruqui told her.
…

BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping said a successful partnership between China and the United States is an opportunity for the two countries to be enablers for each other’s development rather than an obstacle, according to state media on Wednesday.

“China is willing to be a partner and friend with the United States. This will benefit not only the two countries, but the world,” Xi said in remarks from a letter to the 2024 annual awards dinner of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, according to a CCTV news report.

Xi pointed out that China-U.S. relations are among the most important bilateral relations in the world, which have a bearing on the future and destiny of mankind, according to the letter.

The two countries have been at odds over national security concerns, ongoing trade spats as well as China’s actions in the South China Sea and intensified military drills around Taiwan.

Trade relations soured over the past year and have centered around issues including restrictions on electric vehicles and advanced semiconductors.

“China has always handled China-U.S. relations in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, and has always believed that the success of China and the United States is an opportunity for each other,” Xi said.
…

ATLANTA — A judge has blocked a new rule that requires Georgia Election Day ballots to be counted by hand after the close of voting. The ruling came a day after the same judge ruled that county election officials must certify election results by the deadline set in law.

The State Election Board last month passed the rule requiring that three poll workers each count the paper ballots — not votes — by hand after the polls close.

The county election board in Cobb County, in Atlanta’s suburbs, had filed a lawsuit seeking to have a judge declare that rule and five others recently passed by the state board invalid, saying they exceed the state board’s authority, weren’t adopted in compliance with the law and are unreasonable.

In a ruling late Tuesday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote, that the so-called hand count rule “is too much, too late” and blocked its enforcement while he considers the merits of the case.

McBurney on Monday had ruled in a separate case that “no election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance.” While they are entitled to inspect the conduct of an election and to review related documents, he wrote, “any delay in receiving such information is not a basis for refusing to certify the election results or abstaining from doing so.”

Georgia law says county election superintendents — generally multimember boards — “shall” certify election results by 5 p.m. on the Monday after an election, or the Tuesday if Monday is a holiday as it is this year.

The two rulings came as early in-person voting began Tuesday in Georgia.

They are victories for Democrats, liberal voting rights groups and some legal experts who have raised concerns that Donald Trump’s allies could refuse to certify the results if the former president loses to Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in next month’s presidential election. They have also argued that new rules enacted by the Trump-endorsed majority on the State Election Board could be used to stop or delay certification and to undermine public confidence in the results.

In blocking the hand count rule, McBurney noted that there are no guidelines or training tools for its implementation and that the secretary of state had said the rule was passed too late for his office to provide meaningful training or support. The judge also wrote that no allowances have been made in county election budgets to provide for additional personnel or expenses associated with the rule.

“The administrative chaos that will — not may — ensue is entirely inconsistent with the obligations of our boards of elections (and the SEB) to ensure that our elections are fair legal, and orderly,” he wrote.

The state board may be right that the rule is smart policy, McBurney wrote, but the timing of its passage makes implementing it now “quite wrong.” He invoked the memory of the riot at the U.S. Capitol by people seeking to stop the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential victory on Jan. 6, 2021, writing, “Anything that adds uncertainty and disorder to the electoral process disserves the public.”

During a hearing earlier Tuesday, Robert Thomas, a lawyer for the State Election Board, argued that the process isn’t complicated and that estimates show that it would take extra minutes, not hours, to complete. He also said memory cards from the scanners, which are used to tally the votes, could be sent to the tabulation center while the hand count is happening so reporting of results wouldn’t be delayed.

State and national Democratic groups that had joined the suit on the side of the Cobb election board, along with the Harris campaign, celebrated McBurney’s ruling in a joint statement: “From the beginning, this rule was an effort to delay election results to sow doubt in the outcome, and our democracy is stronger thanks to this decision to block it.”

The certification ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Julie Adams, a Republican member of the election board in Fulton County, which includes most of the city of Atlanta and is a Democratic stronghold. Adams sought a declaration that her duties as an election board member were discretionary and that she is entitled to “full access” to “election materials.”

Long an administrative task that attracted little attention, certification of election results has become politicized since Trump tried to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 general election. Republicans in several swing states, including Adams, refused to certify results earlier this year and some have sued to keep from being forced to sign off on election results.

Adams’ suit, backed by the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute, argued county election board members have the discretion to reject certification. In court earlier this month, her lawyers also argued county election officials could certify results without including certain ballots if they suspect problems.

Judge McBurney wrote that nothing in Georgia law gives county election officials the authority to determine that fraud has occurred or what should be done about it. Instead, he wrote, state law says a county election official’s “concerns about fraud or systemic error are to be noted and shared with the appropriate authorities but they are not a basis for a superintendent to decline to certify.”

The Democratic National Committee and Democratic Party of Georgia had joined the lawsuit as defendants with the support of Harris’ campaign. The campaign called the ruling a “major legal win.”

Adams said in a statement that McBurney’s ruling has made it clear that she and other county election officials “cannot be barred from access to elections in their counties.”

A flurry of election rules passed by the State Election Board since August has generated a crush of lawsuits. McBurney earlier this month heard a challenge to two rules having to do with certification brought by the state and national Democratic parties. Another Fulton County judge is set to hear arguments in two challenges to rules tomorrow — one brought by the Democratic groups and another filed by a group headed by a former Republican lawmaker. And separate challenges are also pending in at least two other counties.

 
…

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon announced Tuesday that more than 800 military personnel have seen their service records upgraded to honorable discharges after previously being kicked out of the military under its former “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

It is the latest development over the decades to undo past discrimination against LGBTQ service members.

The 1951 Uniform Code of Military Justice’s Article 125 had criminalized consensual gay sex. In 1993, former President Bill Clinton modified the military’s policy to “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which allowed LGBTQ troops to serve in the armed forces if they did not disclose their sexual orientation.

That policy was repealed in 2011, when Congress allowed for their open service in the military. The 1951 UCMJ code was modified in 2013 to be limited to nonconsensual gay sex.

President Joe Biden in June announced he was issuing pardons to service members convicted under repealed military policies.

Under “don’t ask, don’t tell,” thousands of service members still saw their military service ended without an honorable discharge, meaning they did not receive the military benefits they would have otherwise, such as education benefits, and it also could have affected their ability to apply for jobs or loans.

Last year, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a review of cases of former service members who might have been affected by the policy.

The Pentagon estimates about 13,500 service members were released from military service under “don’t ask, don’t tell.” With the review and upgrades of the more than 800 troops announced Tuesday, the Pentagon said that about 96% of the 13,500 personnel affected by the policy had received an honorable discharge.

Not every case of the 13,500 needed review. Some of those personnel did not serve long enough to qualify for benefits, were released with an honorable discharge at the time, already had their discharges upgraded through other means, or did not qualify for an upgrade due to other violations.

“We will continue to honor the service and the sacrifice of all our troops — including the brave Americans who raised their hands to serve but were turned away because of whom they love. We will continue to strive to do right by every American patriot who has honorably served their country,” Austin said in a statement.
…

madison, wisconsin — Voting rights advocates on Tuesday asked state and federal authorities to investigate anonymous text messages apparently targeting young Wisconsin voters, warning them not to vote in a state where they are ineligible.

Free Speech for People, on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, made the request to the U.S. Department of Justice as well as the Wisconsin Department of Justice. The letter says that “thousands of young voters across Wisconsin” received the text message last week, including staff members at the League of Women Voters and students at the University of Wisconsin.

The text in question cites Wisconsin state law prohibiting voting in more than one place and says that violating the law can result in fines of up to $10,000 and 3.5 years in prison.

“Don’t vote in a state where you’re not eligible,” the text said.

Wisconsin is known for having razor-thin presidential elections. Four of the last six were decided by less than a percentage point. President Joe Biden won in 2020 by less than 21,000 votes.

At least one person who received the text posted it on the social media platform X.

The League of Women Voters, in its request for investigation, said that without prompt action “the sender may continue its efforts to frighten eligible young voters into not voting.”

Students attending college in Wisconsin can register to vote either at their home address or their one at school.

“But now, many students and other young voters are fearful that they will face criminal prosecution if they register and exercise their right to vote — because of a malicious, inaccurate text sent by an anonymous party,” the letter said.

The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment.

Wisconsin Department of Justice spokesperson Gillian Drummond said the department takes allegations of potential violations of election law seriously. She said the agency was reviewing the information in the request for an investigation and would assess “what, if any, follow-up is appropriate based on the facts and the law.”

University of Wisconsin System spokesperson Mark Pitsch said in an email that system officials were unaware of any security breach that may have resulted in leaked student contact information. He added that nothing has been reported to system officials about the text, and there was no indication how many students may have received it.

Riley Vetterkind, a spokesperson for the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said in an email to The Associated Press that the commission can’t determine whether the text message violates state law because the commission hasn’t received a formal complaint about it.

However, he called the message “concerning” and said it certainly could leave recipients feeling intimidated. He urged recipients to contact law enforcement directly if they are worried about the message.

“We understand that these third-party text messages can be very frustrating for voters,” Vetterkind said. “We recommend voters rely upon official sources of election information, such as from state or local election officials. Voters are free to ignore these text messages since they are not sent or associated with an official source.”

The text message was sent as thousands of voters in Wisconsin are casting absentee ballots. As of Monday, nearly 240,000 absentee ballots had already been returned statewide.

Starting October 22, voters can start casting absentee ballots in person.

Wisconsin is one of the “blue wall” states along with Michigan and Pennsylvania that is key to winning for either Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
…

Federal disaster personnel have resumed door-to-door visits as part of their hurricane-recovery work in North Carolina, an effort temporarily suspended amid threats that prompted officials to condemn the spread of disinformation. 

Over the weekend, reports emerged that workers with the Federal Emergency Management Agency could be targeted by militia as the government responds to Hurricane Helene. A sheriff’s office said Monday that one man was arrested during an investigation, but that the suspect acted alone. 

FEMA made operational changes to keep personnel safe “out of an abundance of caution,” agency Administrator Deanne Criswell said at a briefing Tuesday. FEMA workers were back in the field Monday, accompanied by Criswell, and she said disaster-assistance teams helping survivors apply for FEMA aid as well as state and local assistance will continue to go door-to-door. She emphasized that the agency isn’t going anywhere. 

“The federal family has been here working side by side with the state since Day One. These are people who put their lives on hold to help those who have lost everything,” Criswell said. “So let me be clear: I take these threats seriously.” 

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said he directed the state’s Department of Public Safety to coordinate law enforcement assistance for FEMA and other responders. He stressed the damage that internet rumors and falsehoods were causing and said officials may never know how many people won’t apply for assistance because of bad information. 

“There’s still a persistent and dangerous flow of misinformation about recovery efforts in western North Carolina that can lead to threats and intimidation, breeds confusion and demoralizes storm survivors and response workers alike,” Cooper said at the briefing. “If you’re participating in spreading this stuff, stop it. Whatever your aim is, the people you are really hurting are those in western North Carolina who need help.” 

The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said it received a call Saturday about a man with an assault rifle who made a comment “about possibly harming” FEMA employees working in the hard-hit areas of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock in the North Carolina mountains. A man was charged with “going armed to the terror of the public,” a misdemeanor, and was released after posting bond. 

The sheriff’s office said it received initial reports that a “truckload of militia” was involved in the threat, but further investigation determined the man acted alone. 

FEMA has faced rampant disinformation about its response to Helene, which hit Florida on September 26 before heading north and leaving a trail of destruction across six states. 

Asked what might be fueling disinformation, Cooper said social media has become more extreme, but he also pointed to politics. 

“This is happening in the middle of an election where candidates are using people’s misery to sow chaos for their own political objectives — and it’s wrong,” he said. 

Former President Donald Trump and his allies have seized on the storm’s aftermath to spread false information about the Biden administration’s response in the final weeks before the election. Their debunked claims include false statements that victims can only receive $750 in aid, that emergency response funds were diverted to immigrants, that people accepting federal relief money could see their land seized and that FEMA is halting trucks full of supplies. 

Helene decimated remote towns throughout Appalachia, left millions without power, knocked out cellular service and killed at least 246 people. It was the deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since Katrina in 2005. 

Terrie Daughtry, a volunteer handling therapy dogs Tuesday at a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center in Asheville, said threats and misinformation — including the militia rumors — made her feel unsafe for the first time in several trips to volunteer at disaster sites. 

“I’m not coming to risk my life with it all, to be shot or hurt or trampled because of lunacy,” said Daughtry, who volunteers with Therapy Dogs International. She said she previously traveled to help in the aftermath of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, floods in Virginia and tornadoes in Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama. 

She and another volunteer have been using their therapy dogs to calm people waiting in line to make FEMA claims. They hand out candy, let people pet the dogs and talk to people about their experiences. 

Despite the extra stress from the “absolutely ridiculous” threats and misinformation, Daughtry said she’s seen some amazing moments of human spirit. At one point on Monday, someone in line started playing a guitar and singing about having no water, she said. Eventually, the whole line sang along. 

“These are special people. They’re singing in horrible adversity,” she said. “It made me tear up being there, and it’s making me tear up now.” 
…

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — While there’s still more work to do, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday praised Hurricane Milton recovery efforts, saying power has never been restored to so many so quickly after a major storm. 

“President (Ronald) Reagan used to say the most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’ There’s a lot of wisdom in that, but I don’t think The Gipper ever saw Florida respond to a natural disaster, because we get after it and we do make a difference,” DeSantis said at a news conference in front of a flooded road in Zephyrhills. 

There were still about 170,000 customers without electricity, rivers continued to rise in some flooded areas and the state was still providing free gas to residents struggling to top of their tanks. But DeSantis pointed out that more than 4 million customers had power restored less than a week after the Category 3 storm. 

At least 11 people died less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene inflicted major damage in Florida and other Southeastern states. The death toll from Helene is more than 240. While most gas stations were back up and running, the state still has 10 active fuel distribution centers providing free gas to residents. DeSantis said more than 2 million gallons had been distributed so far. 

As happened two years ago during Hurricane Ian, parts of central Florida on Tuesday were flooding almost a week after Milton made landfall due to the rising St. Johns River. 

In Seminole County, north of Orlando, crews closed roads along the shores of Lake Harney and Lake Jesup after several homes were flooded by the river. Since last Thursday, at least 15 people have been evacuated from homes in nearby Geneva and a neighborhood in Altamonte Springs located in a crook of the Little Wekiva River. 

Water levels along the St. Johns River were expected to crest later in the week. 

In Sumter County, home to the sprawling retirement community, The Villages, residents along the Little Withlacoochee River were being encouraged to evacuate as river levels rose. Residents who decided to evacuate were offered shelter at the Sumter County Fairgrounds.
…

WASHINGTON — The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on what it said was a key international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which Washington has designated a terrorist organization.

The U.S. Treasury Department, in action taken with Canada, said in a statement it imposed sanctions on the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, accusing it of being “a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser” for the PFLP. 

The PFLP, which has also taken part in the fight against Israel in Gaza, was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S. in October 1997 and October 2001, respectively. 

The Treasury said PFLP uses Samidoun to fundraise in Europe and North America. The group’s activities were banned by Germany last year. 

“Organizations like Samidoun masquerade as charitable actors that claim to provide humanitarian support to those in need, yet in reality divert funds for much-needed assistance to support terrorist groups,” Treasury’s acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Bradley Smith, said in the statement. 

The Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network did not respond immediately to a Reuters request for comment. 

A member of the PFLP’s leadership abroad was also targeted with sanctions on Tuesday. 

Canada announced the listing of Samidoun as a terrorist entity on Tuesday. “Violent extremism, acts of terrorism or terrorist financing have no place in Canadian society or abroad,” Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in a statement announcing the listing. 

The Treasury said the PFLP remained active in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, including participating in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage to Gaza, by Israeli tallies. 

More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive so far, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
…

Washington — The National Zoo’s long dark panda drought is coming to an end.

Eleven months after the zoo sent its three wildly popular pandas — Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji — back to China, a new pair of bears arrived in the United States on Tuesday. They will be transported from Dulles International Airport in suburban Virginia to the zoo.

A pair of three-year old giant pandas, named Bao Li and Qing Bao, have left a research facility in the southwestern Chinese city of Dujiangyan before being flown to Washington, according to a statement by the China Wildlife Conservation Association.

“Food prepared for the trip includes corn bread, bamboo and carrots, as well as water and medicine,” the statement said, adding that the partnership will “make new contributions in protecting global biodiversity and enhance the friendship of the people from the two countries.”

It’s unclear exactly when the bears will arrive in Washington, but there will likely be an extended quarantine and acclimation period before they are introduced to the public. On Monday evening, the zoo’s website posted an alert that the entire facility would be closed Tuesday, without giving a reason. The lead article on the site still said the pandas would be coming sometime before the end of the year.

Bao Li (precious vigor) and Qing Bao (green treasure) arrive in Washington as part of a new 10-year agreement with Chinese authorities. The previous deal expired last year, leading to some concern among American panda-lovers that Beijing was gradually pulling its furry friendship ambassadors from American zoos amid rising diplomatic tensions.

Breeding pairs in zoos in Memphis and San Diego had already returned to China earlier and the four pandas in the Atlanta zoo left for China last week.

That anxiety turned to optimism last November when Chinese President Xi Jinping publicly stated a desire to continue the panda exchange programs. This year, a new pair of bears has been delivered to the San Diego Zoo, while another pair has been promised to San Francisco.

In Washington, National Zoo officials remained conspicuously silent about negotiations for a new panda agreement, but they expressed optimism about striking a new deal and launched a multimillion-dollar renovation of its panda enclosure in anticipation. Then in late May, zoo director Brandie Smith teamed up with first lady Jill Biden to announce that Bao Li and Qing Bao would be arriving by the end of this year.

The Chinese announcement said the National Zoo had sent “three experienced keepers and veterinary experts” to China to assist the transport and accompany the bears.

Zoo officials on Monday declined to confirm the Chinese announcement. Zoo spokesperson Jennifer Zoon said in an email, “For the safety of animals and staff, we are not able to confirm any details at this time.” But signs at the zoo and on its social media site have heralded the planned return of the pandas and panda-themed merchandise still dominates the gift shops.

“The giant pandas are an iconic part of the Washington, D.C., story, both for locals and incoming travelers alike,” said Elliott L. Ferguson, II, president and CEO of Destination DC. “The interest and excitement associated with their return directly benefits the entire city, bringing further interest and visitors to our hotels, restaurants and other attractions.”

The exact terms of the deal are still unclear; under previous 10-year agreements the Chinese government receives $1 million per year, per bear. Any cubs born in overseas zoos are typically returned to China before they reach age four.

Pandas have become one of the unofficial symbols of the nation’s capital, dating back to 1972 when the first pair — Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing — were sent as a gift from Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai following President Richard Nixon’s historic diplomatic visit to China. Later, a rolling series of 10-year cooperation agreements was struck.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, credited the decades of cooperation with advancing research into panda preservation and breeding. During the lifespan of these agreements, giant pandas have been reclassified from an endangered species to merely vulnerable.

“The current round of cooperation will focus on prevention and treatment of major diseases, and protection of habitats and wild giant panda populations,” Liu said in an email. “We hope the arrival of the pandas will inject fresh impetus into exchanges between China and the U.S., and help to stabilize the broader bilateral relationship as well.”
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American couple Tyler and Nikki Chay are trying to keep the world’s focus on the war in Ukraine in their own unique way … by running … over 1,200 kilometers across Ukraine. From the Central Ukraine town of Khmelnytskyi, Tetiana Kukurika has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. (Camera: Sergiy Rybchynski ; Produced by: Vitaliy Hrychanyuk, Anna Rice)    
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MEREDITH, N.H. — New England leaf-watching season is in full swing, as people from as far as Florida and Berlin flock to the region for scenic drives, train rides and bus tours to soak in the splendid hues of red, orange and bronze. With quaint towns and covered bridges scattered through swaths of changing forest, the rural Northeast provides an ideal setting to view nature’s annual show.

“Leaf-peeping is one of the most accessible tourism things that you can do,” said Teddy Willey, the general manager of the Frog Rock Tavern in Meredith, New Hampshire. “You don’t have to have the athleticism to be a hiker, you don’t have to have the money to own a boat.”

You just need to be able to jump in a car and head north, he said.

“Once you’re there, you just take it in,” Willey said.

He spoke just after his tavern was flooded with tourists from Indiana who had stepped off a sightseeing bus.

Among them was Vicky Boesch, of Fort Wayne, who had made the trip with her sisters.

“We came out to the Northeast to see the beautiful foliage and the colorful leaves,” she said, adding the she was impressed with Vermont.

“The leaves were very pretty on the mountains because the sun was out yesterday, and so that makes them pop more,” she said.

It wasn’t only the fall colors that provided a contrast with Indiana, she said, but also the region’s distinctive architecture, lakes and towns.

Gordon Cochran, of Lake View, Iowa, said he was in New Hampshire to visit his daughter and had a “beautiful ride” on the slow-moving Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad.

Weather conditions associated with climate change have disrupted some recent leaf-peeping seasons. One problem is that global warming has brought drought that causes leaves to turn brown and wither before they can reach their colorful peak.

Willey acknowledges that he’s not a leaf guy.

“Personally, no. I grew up here, so I think it loses its luster a little bit,” he said with a chuckle, adding that the season still has its moments.

“I’ll be driving somewhere around the Lakes Region, and all of a sudden, you’re like, ‘You know what, there’s a reason why people come here and there’s a reason I live here. It really is quite beautiful,’” he said, referring to a scenic part of eastern New Hampshire.
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There are 50 U.S. states, but voters from seven so-called battleground states are expected to determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. The Southwestern state of Arizona used to reliably lean toward Republican candidates. But President Joe Biden, a Democrat, won the state in 2020. And this year, Arizona’s electoral votes are up for grabs again.
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NEW YORK — About 200 demonstrators protesting Israel’s war in Gaza were arrested in a sit-in outside the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, police said. 

The protesters chanted “Let Gaza live!” And “Up up with liberation, down down with occupation!” in front of the stock exchange’s landmark building in lower Manhattan. 

“The reason we’re here is to demand that the U.S. government stop sending bombs to Israel and stop profiting off of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,” said Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace, the group that organized the demonstration. “Because what’s been happening for the last year is that Israel is using U.S. bombs to massacre communities in Gaza while simultaneously weapons manufacturers on Wall Street are seeing their stock prices skyrocket.” 

A handful of counter protesters waved Israeli flags and tried to shout down the pro-Palestinian chants. 

None of the pro-Palestinian protesters got inside the exchange, but at least 200 made it inside a security fence on Broad Street, where they sat down and waited to be taken into custody. 

A spokesperson for the exchange declined to comment on the protest. 

Police arrested the protesters one by one, cuffing their hands behind their backs with plastic ties and leading them to vans. Some demonstrators went limp and were carried by three or four officers. 

A police spokesperson said there were about 200 arrests. She did not have details on the charges they faced. 

The protest happened a week after the world marked the anniversary of Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the start of Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza, which has since spread to Lebanon and beyond. 

The Lebanese Red Cross said an Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building in northern Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 21 people. 

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, and it was not clear what the target was.
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In this last month of U.S. presidential campaigning, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris both are trying to reach the relatively small number of voters who say they still have not decided who to support. VOA correspondent Scott Stearns looks at the election’s “undecided.” Vero Balderas contributed.
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Harrisburg, Pennsylvania — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will take their fight for Pennsylvania to opposite ends of the state on Monday, with Harris speaking in the northwest corner in Erie and Trump in the southeastern suburbs of Philadelphia.

Democrat Harris and Republican Trump have been making regular appearances in what is the country’s largest battleground state — it will be Harris’ 10th visit to Pennsylvania this campaign season, and just last week Trump made stops in both Scranton and Reading.

Pennsylvania’s energy industry and natural gas fracking are likely topics as they compete for the fraction of the state’s voters who have not made up their minds. Mail-in voting is well underway in the state where some 7 million people are likely to cast votes in the presidential race.

Trump beat Hillary Clinton by more than 40,000 votes in Pennsylvania on his way to winning the presidency in 2016, but native Scrantonian Joe Biden beat Trump by about 80,000 votes in the state four years ago.

Harris will be holding a rally in Erie, a Democratic majority city of about 94,000 people bordered by suburbs and rural areas with significant numbers of Republicans. Erie County is often cited as one of the state’s reliable bellwether regions, where the electorate has a decidedly moderate voting record. Trump visited Erie on Sept. 29.

Harris plans to talk up early voting during her rally. And she’ll stop by a Black-owned small business in Erie in advance of the rally to promote her proposals to give Black men more economic opportunities and other chances to thrive as Democrats try to energize the voting bloc.

Trump plans a town hall Monday at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center and Fairgrounds in suburban Oaks, hoping to drive up turnout among his supporters.

Pennsylvania and its 19 electoral votes, the most of any swing state, have generated the most attention by far from the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns. Including Monday’s scheduled events, they will have made 46 stops in the state, according to Associated Press tracking of the campaigns’ public events.

Michigan, with 33 visits, and Wisconsin, with 29, are the next most-visited states, illustrating how both campaigns are focusing on winning states that had been part of the Democrats’ so-called “blue wall” until Trump emerged as the Republican standard-bearer.

Democrats have won three straight elections for governor, and both current U.S. senators are Democrats, but the state’s legislature is closely divided.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — A NASA spacecraft rocketed away Monday on a quest to explore Jupiter’s tantalizing moon Europa and reveal whether its vast hidden ocean might hold the keys to life.

It will take Europa Clipper 5 1/2 years to reach Jupiter, where it will slip into orbit around the giant gas planet and sneak close to Europa during dozens of radiation-drenched flybys.

Scientists are almost certain a deep, global ocean exists beneath Europa’s icy crust. And where there is water, there could be life, making the moon one of the most promising places out there to hunt for it.

Europa Clipper won’t look for life; it has no life detectors. Instead, the spacecraft will zero in on the ingredients necessary to sustain life, searching for organic compounds and other clues as it peers beneath the ice for suitable conditions.

SpaceX started Clipper on its 3 billion-kilometer (1.8 million-mile) journey, launching the spacecraft on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. An hour later, the spacecraft separated from the upper stage, floated off and called home.

“Please say goodbye to Clipper on its way to Europa,” NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s flight director Pranay Mishra announced from Southern California.

“The science on this is really captivating,” NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free told The Associated Press back at the launch site. Scientists are still learning about the depths of our own ocean, “and here we are looking that far out.”

The $5.2 billion mission almost got derailed by transistors.

NASA didn’t learn until spring that Clipper’s transistors might be more vulnerable to Jupiter’s intense radiation field than anticipated. Clipper will endure the equivalent of several million chest X-rays during each of the 49 Europa flybys. The space agency spent months reviewing everything before concluding in September that the mission could proceed as planned.

Hurricane Milton added to the anxiety, delaying the launch by several days.

“What a great day. We’re so excited,” JPL Director Laurie Leshin said after liftoff.

About the size of a basketball court with its solar wings unfurled, Clipper will swing past Mars and then Earth on its way to Jupiter for gravity assists. The nearly 5,700-kilogram (13,000-pound) probe should reach the solar system’s biggest planet in 2030.

Clipper will circle Jupiter every 21 days. One of those days will bring it close to Europa, among 95 known moons at Jupiter and close to our own moon in size.

The spacecraft will skim as low as 25 kilometers (16 miles) above Europa — much closer than the few previous visitors. Onboard radar will attempt to penetrate the moon’s ice sheet, believed to be 15 kilometers to 24 kilometers (10 miles to 15 miles or more) thick. The ocean below could be 120 kilometers (80 miles) or more deep.

The spacecraft holds nine instruments, with its sensitive electronics stored in a vault with dense zinc and aluminum walls for protection against radiation. Exploration will last until 2034.

“Ocean worlds like Europa are not only unique because they might be habitable, but they might be habitable today,” NASA’s Gina DiBraccio said on the eve of launch.

If conditions are found to be favorable for life at Europa, then that opens up the possibility of life at other ocean worlds in our solar system and beyond, according to scientists. With an underground ocean and geysers, Saturn’s moon Enceladus is another top candidate. 
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OCEAN CITY, N.J. — For generations of vacationers heading to Ocean City, the towering “Giant Wheel” was the first thing they saw from miles away.

The sight of the 140-foot-tall (42-meter) ride let them know they were getting close to the Jersey Shore town that calls itself “America’s Greatest Family Resort,” with its promise of kid-friendly beaches, seagulls and sea shells, and a bustling boardwalk full of pizza, ice cream and cotton candy.

And in the heart of it was Gillian’s Wonderland Pier, an amusement park that was the latest in nearly a century-long line of family-friendly amusement attractions operated by the family of Ocean City’s mayor.

But the rides were to fall silent and still Sunday night, as the park run by Ocean City’s mayor and nurtured by generations of his ancestors, closed down, the victim of financial woes made worse by the lingering aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic and Superstorm Sandy.

Gillian and his family have operated amusement rides and attractions on the Ocean City Boardwalk for 94 years. The latest iteration of the park, Wonderland, opened in 1965.

“I tried my best to sustain Wonderland for as long as possible, through increasingly difficult challenges each year,” Mayor Jay Gillian wrote in August when he announced the park would close. “It’s been my life, my legacy and my family. But it’s no longer a viable business.”

Gillian did not respond to numerous requests for comment over the past week.

Sheryl Gross was at the park for its final day with her two children and five grandchildren, enjoying it one last time.

“I’ve been coming here forever,” she said. “My daughter is 43 and I’ve been coming here since she was 2 years old in a stroller. Now I’m here with my grandchildren.”

She remembers decades of bringing her family from Gloucester Township in the southern New Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia to create happy family memories at Wonderland.

“Just the excitement on their faces when they get on the rides,” she said. “It really made it feel family-friendly. A lot of that is going to be lost now.”

There were long lines Sunday for the Giant Wheel, the log flume and other popular rides as people used the last of ride tickets many had bought earlier in the year, thinking Wonderland would go on forever.

A local non-profit group, Friends of OCNJ History and Culture, is raising money to try and save the amusement park, possibly under a new owner who might be more amenable to buying it with some financial assistance. Bill Merritt, one of the non-profit’s leaders, said the group has raised over $1 million to help meet what could be a $20-million price tag for the property.

“Ocean City will be fundamentally different without this attraction,” he said. “This town relies on being family-friendly. The park has rides targeted at kids; it’s called ‘Wonderland’ for a reason.”

The property’s current owner, Icona Resorts, previously proposed a $150-million, 325-room luxury hotel elsewhere on Ocean City’s boardwalk, but the city rejected those plans.

The company’s CEO, Eustace Mita, said earlier this year he would take at least until the end of the year to propose a use for the amusement park property.

He bought it in 2021 after Gillian’s family was in danger of defaulting on bank loans for the property.

At a community meeting last month, Gillian said Wonderland could not bounce back from Superstorm Sandy in 2012, the pandemic in 2020 and an increase in New Jersey’s minimum wage that doubled his payroll costs, leaving him $4 million in debt.

Mita put up funds to stave off a sheriff’s sale of the property, and gave the mayor three years to turn the business around. That deadline expired this year.

Mita did not respond to requests for comment.

Merritt said he and others can’t imagine Ocean City without Wonderland.

“You look at it with your heart, and you say ‘You’re losing all the cherished memories and all the history; how can you let that go?’” he said. “And then you look at it with your head and you say, ‘They are the reason this town is profitable; how can you let that go?’”
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STOCKHOLM — The Nobel memorial prize in economics was awarded Monday to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson for research into reasons why some countries succeed and others fail. 

The Nobel memorial prize in economics was awarded Monday to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson for research into differences in prosperity between nations. 

The three economists “have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for a country’s prosperity,” the Nobel committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said at the announcement in Stockholm. 

“Societies with a poor rule of law and institutions that exploit the population do not generate growth or change for the better. The laureates’ research helps us understand why,” it added. 

Acemoglu and Johnson work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Robinson conducts his research at the University of Chicago. 

“Reducing the vast differences in income between countries is one of our time’s greatest challenges. The laureates have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for achieving this,” Jakob Svensson, Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences, said. 

He said their research has provided “a much deeper understanding of the root causes of why countries fail or succeed.” 

Reached by the academy in Athens, Greece, where he is due to speak at a conference, Acemoglu said he was surprised and shocked by the award. 

“You never expect something like this,” he said. 

The economics prize is formally known as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The central bank established it in 1968 as a memorial to Nobel, the 19th-century Swedish businessman and chemist who invented dynamite and established the five Nobel Prizes. 

Though Nobel purists stress that the economics prize is technically not a Nobel Prize, it is always presented together with the others on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death in 1896. 

Nobel honors were announced last week in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace. 
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Since 2019 the state of California officially celebrates Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of the federally recognized Columbus Day, which falls on every second Monday in October. VOA’s Genia Dulot visited the celebration at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, that drew around 2,000 people.
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WASHINGTON — The world’s 26 poorest countries, home to 40% of the most poverty-stricken people, are more in debt than at any time since 2006 and increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters and other shocks, a new World Bank report showed on Sunday.

The report finds that these economies are poorer today on average than they were on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic, even as the rest of the world has largely recovered from COVID and resumed its growth trajectory.

Released a week before World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings get underway in Washington, the report confirms a major setback to efforts to eradicate extreme poverty and underscores the World Bank’s efforts this year to raise $100 billion to replenish its financing fund for the world’s poorest countries, the International Development Association (IDA).

The 26 poorest economies studied, which have annual per-capita incomes of less than $1,145, are increasingly reliant on IDA grants and near-zero interest rate loans as market financing has largely dried up, the World Bank said. Their average debt-to-GDP ratio of 72% is at an 18-year high and half of the group are either in debt distress or at high risk of it.

Two-thirds of the 26 poorest countries are either in armed conflicts or have difficulty maintaining order because of institutional and social fragility, which inhibit foreign investment, and nearly all export commodities, exposing them to frequent boom-and-bust cycles, the report said.

“At a time when much of the world simply backed away from the poorest countries, IDA has been their lifeline,” World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill said in a statement. “Over the past five years, it has poured most of its financial resources into the 26 low-income economies, keeping them afloat through the historic setbacks they suffered.”

IDA normally is replenished every three years with contributions from World Bank shareholding countries. It raised a record $93 billion in 2021, and World Bank President Ajay Banga is aiming to exceed that with over $100 billion in pledges by Dec. 6.

Natural disasters also have taken a greater toll on these countries over the past decade. Between 2011 and 2023, natural disasters were associated with average annual losses of 2% of GDP, five times the average among lower-middle-income countries, pointing up the need for much higher investment, the World Bank said.

The report also recommended that these economies, which have large informal sectors operating outside their tax systems, do more to help themselves. This includes improving tax collections by simplifying taxpayer registration and tax administration and improving the efficiency of public spending.
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On Sunday, President Joe Biden visited areas affected by Hurricane Milton in Florida and announced a half-billion dollars in new funding to improve electric grid resilience. But even as relief and recovery efforts continue, officials warn that misinformation is spreading rapidly as Election Day draws near. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias has the details, with reporting from Patrick Bresnan in North Carolina.
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