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Columbia University said Wednesday it will pay $200 million to the US government after President Donald Trump threatened to pull federal funding over what he said was its unwillingness to protect Jewish students.In a sweeping deal that will restore the prestigious New York institution’s federal monies, Columbia has pledged to obey rules that bar it from taking race into consideration in admissions or hiring, among other concessions.”Columbia University has reached an agreement with the United States government to resolve multiple federal agency investigations into alleged violations of federal anti-discrimination laws,” a statement said, adding that the $200 million would be paid over three years.The university will also pay $21 million to settle investigations brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it said.”Under today’s agreement, a vast majority of the federal grants which were terminated or paused in March 2025 will be reinstated and Columbia’s access to billions of dollars in current and future grants will be restored,” the statement said.The promise of the federal funding spigot reopening offers relief for the university, which was under growing financial pressure, despite a comfortable endowment and a reputation it can bank on.The agreement also represents a victory for Trump, who has repeatedly claimed elite universities brainwash students against his nationalist ideas with left-wing bias.Thanking Columbia for “agreeing to do what is right,” Trump warned in a social media post that “numerous other Higher Education Institutions that have hurt so many, and been so unfair and unjust… are upcoming.”The centuries-old Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is also in a fight with the administration over Trump’s threats to rip away federal funding, and Wednesday’s carefully worded agreement — in which Columbia admitted no wrongdoing — could offer a framework for future deals.”This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,” Columbia’s acting president Claire Shipman said.”The settlement was carefully crafted to protect the values that define us and allow our essential research partnership with the federal government to get back on track. “Importantly, it safeguards our independence, a critical condition for academic excellence and scholarly exploration, work that is vital to the public interest.”- Disciplinary actions -Under the settlement, Columbia will maintain a security force to prevent demonstrations in academic spaces, such as those that rocked the campus last year when pro-Palestinian protestors clashed with law enforcement and occupied university buildings. The school also agreed to “promptly provide” federal authorities with any requested information on “disciplinary actions involving student visa-holders resulting in expulsions or suspensions, and arrest records that Columbia is aware of for criminal activity, including trespass or other violation of law.”Columbia found itself at the center of a firestorm last year over claims of anti-Semitism triggered by campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.Some Jewish students claimed they were intimidated and that authorities did not act to protect them.The school announced a wave of various student punishments on Tuesday, including expulsions and degree revocations, against nearly 80 students involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement that has called on the university to divest from Israel.”Our institution must focus on delivering on its academic mission for our community,” Columbia said in a statement about student protests on its campus. “Disruptions to academic activities are in violation of University policies and rules, and such violations will necessarily generate consequences.” While the university appears to be acquiescing to the Trump administration’s demands to quash student protest, one of the most prominent leaders of the US pro-Palestinian campus protests is still raising his voice.Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate active in campus demonstrations, has sued the Trump administration for $20 million over his arrest and detention by immigration agents.Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the United States who is married to a US citizen, missed the birth of his son while being held in a federal immigration detention center in Louisiana. He called the lawsuit a “first step towards accountability.”

The power company whose lines are suspected of starting one of the deadly fires that ravaged Los Angeles this year said Wednesday it would compensate victims even without any formal finding it was at fault.Southern California Edison — which faces multiple costly lawsuits over the huge blazes — said it would establish a fund that would offer payouts to those who lost their homes or whose health was affected.It gave no figure for the size of the fund, and no precise timeline, but such a system could allow the company to avoid some of the bumper legal battles it is expected to face.Two enormous fires that erupted in January killed 31 people and destroyed more than 16,000 homes and buildings around Los Angeles. Investigations are still ongoing to determine the causes of two separate blazes that ravaged the affluent neighborhood of Pacific Palisades and parts of Malibu, and the city of Altadena, a more modest suburb located in the mountains to the northeast.For several months, the finger of blame has been pointing at a Southern California Edison (SCE) powerline as the root of the Eaton Fire that consumed Altadena. Several videos and witness accounts suggest that the equipment produced sparks that could have caused the fast-moving conflagration.Victims “shouldn’t have to wait for the final conclusions in the Eaton Fire investigation to get the financial support they need to begin rebuilding,” said Pedro Pizarro, president and CEO of Edison International, SCE’s parent company. “Even though the details of how the Eaton Fire started are still being evaluated, SCE will offer an expedited process to pay and resolve claims fairly and promptly.”This allows the community to focus more on recovery instead of lengthy, expensive litigation.”The fund will cover homeowners and tenants whose homes were damaged or destroyed, as well as business owners whose property was damaged or whose business was interrupted, a statement said.It will also pay out for personal injuries and offer compensation to family members of those who died in the fire.California’s changing climate — a result of humanity’s unchecked use of fossil fuels over the last 150 years — is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme events, including wildfires.But SCE’s powerlines have frequently been pinpointed as the source of ignition in large blazes.That has included the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which killed three people and ravaged the mountains behind Malibu.Last May, the utility also agreed to pay $82.5 million to settle lawsuits related to the Bobcat Fire, a blaze that burned nearly 116,000 acres (47,000 hectares) in the San Gabriel Mountains in 2020. 

Robyn Bedell Zalewa grew up and spent all her adult life in the United States, but is part of a little-known chapter of Greek history — the adoption of some 4,000 infants during the Cold War.Always knowing she came from Greece, she rediscovered her long-lost sister Sophia, who lives in the Athens area, and regained her Greek nationality two years ago.Connecticut-based Robyn goes by the name of Joanna when in Greece.There’s just one snag.Her sister Sophia only speaks Greek, so the siblings communicate through an online translator tool.”What hurts me the most is not being able to have a conversation with Sophia,” the 68-year-old told AFP.At the close of the Second World War and a brutal occupation by Nazi Germany, Greece was consumed by civil strife between royalists and communists that saw fighting continue until 1949.With thousands of Greek families plunged into disaster and poverty, an adoption movement gained momentum in the 1950s and 1960s, which saw babies and children sent abroad for adoption, mainly in the United States.Gonda Van Steen, director of the Centre for Hellenic Studies at King’s College London, told AFP that Greece “was the main country of origin of children adopted in the US in the early 1950s”.”American childless couples were willing to pay any price for a healthy white newborn,” said Van Steen, who has conducted extensive research and authored a book on the subject.Greek-American Mary Cardaras campaigned for years so that children born in Greece, who are now in their sixties or seventies, could retrieve their birth nationality.”What followed (the first adoptions in Greece) was a tsunami of international adoptions,” she said, citing in particular China, Vietnam, Russia and especially South Korea, where at least 140,000 children were adopted by foreign parents between 1955 and 1999.- ‘A better life’ -In Greece, the biological mothers of adopted children were often impoverished widows, some of whom had been raped, or faced social stigmatisation for having a child out of wedlock.”They saw no other solution than to give the child away for him or her to have ‘a better life’,” Van Steen said.Greece simplified in May the process of obtaining birth documents to specifically enable individuals adopted until 1976 to regain Greek nationality.On the terrace of an Athens café, Bedell Zalewa proudly pulls her Greek passport and identity card from her handbag.Even though she had her adoption certificate — not all children did — she began the process well before new regulations were implemented and had to wait a long time before regaining Greek citizenship.”I always knew I had been adopted in Greece,” said the pensioner who was born in Messini, in the Peloponnese region, before being adopted in Texas.”What I’ve wanted my entire life is to find my family,” said Bedell Zalewa, her eyes welling up.Her story is one of a tenacious search for one’s roots.Bedell Zalewa found her brothers and sister and even met her biological mother before she passed away.As the youngest of five, she was apparently given up for adoption because her widowed mother was too poor to raise her.The ties she has forged in Greece encourage her to stay there whenever she can.Cardaras, the retired journalist who was adopted in the Chicago area and lived for a long time in California, also always knew that she was of Greek origin.She kept her Greek birth passport, which was originally revoked when she left the country as a baby.- Faces on the street -When she returned to her native country for the first time on a summer vacation in 1972, she remembers looking “at every woman’s face” on the street.”I wondered… if she was my mother,” she said.Everything felt familiar to her: “The smells, the atmosphere, I was completely at home.””But it was only when my (adoptive) parents died that I really began to question the first months and years of my life,” Cardaras said.Now settled in Athens, she is taking Greek classes and is making progress in understanding her native language.Better access to Greek nationality constitutes a deeply emotional breakthrough for adoptees with fragmented backgrounds.One of them recently shared their experience on social media.”At 12:47 PM Greek time, I received a message announcing that I am now reinstated as a Greek citizen! I am overwhelmed with emotion, thrilled, and on cloud nine!” Stephanie Pazoles wrote on Facebook.

US President Donald Trump will head to Scotland on Friday for a visit melding diplomacy and golf, a sport that is both his favorite pastime and of financial interest to his family.The 79-year-old billionaire will stay at two luxury seaside golf resorts owned by the Trump family’s holding company: at Turnberry in the west, and in the eastern port city of Aberdeen.Trump is set to meet with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his trip across the pond, although exact details are not yet confirmed, before an expected return on Tuesday.Starmer will hope to gauge Trump’s intentions for trade with the United Kingdom, which has so far managed to avoid the punishing tariffs unleashed by Trump on dozens of other economies around the globe.The United States and Britain announced a trade agreement in May, but Trump said earlier this month that he hopes to “refine the trade deal that we’ve made,” stoking concerns in London.Starmer, who is more of a football fan than golfer, has nevertheless managed to place himself in Trump’s good graces.During his visit to the White House, he charmed Trump with a letter from King Charles III, inviting him for a second state visit from September 17 to 19.The Scotland trip will also allow Trump to put some distance between himself and an ongoing controversy involving his ties with Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased financier and sex offender, and anger among his supporters over failures to release case files.In a sign of how sensitive the issue is, the White House excluded the Wall Street Journal from press pool traveling with Trump this weekend, following an article in the newspaper about a “bawdy” letter he allegedly sent to Epstein in 2003.- Unwelcome visitors -Trump has always proclaimed his love for Scotland, where his mother is from, though the feeling is not necessarily mutual.Protests are planned to take place Saturday in Aberdeen and Edinburgh in response to his visit, with a large police operation planned.In March, the Trump resort in Turnberry was vandalized, with the message “GAZA IS NOT 4 SALE” sprayed across the grass, a reaction to Trump’s suggestion of relocating Palestinians and turning the Gaza Strip into luxury real estate.The Trump Organization is also set to open a new golf course in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, in the northeast of Scotland, sparking discontent among locals and environmentalists.The visit is yet another example of how Trump has blurred the line between his official duties as president and promoting the family business since returning to power in January.The US advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) in May cited 21 Trump-branded development projects that would be carried out internationally during his second term.CREW also noted that the Trump Organization’s ethics guidelines published in January did not prohibit the business from launching projects abroad with private interests, in sharp contrast to a self-imposed moratorium of such deals during Trump’s first term in office.

Comic-Con kicks off Thursday in San Diego, California, with expectations running high among devoted fans keen to catch a glimpse of George Lucas at his first-ever appearance at the convention.Other expected highlights of the gathering — one of the world’s biggest celebrations of pop culture — include the world premiere of the prequel series “Alien: Earth.” Comic-Con began holding events in San Diego in 1970, as a low-key and rather niche huddle, but has now grown to an annual get-together that attracts 130,000 people eager to hear behind-the-scenes tidbits from Hollywood stars and directors unveiling their latest projects. This year’s edition will be marked by the presence of legendary filmmaker Lucas, who has never visited the convention before despite Comic-Con culture being deeply rooted in his “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” franchises.In a session on Sunday set to be moderated by Queen Latifah, Lucas will discuss the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art with Mexican director Guillermo del Toro and Oscar-winning artist Doug Chiang, who has shaped the iconic “Star Wars” universe for decades. The museum, scheduled to open in Los Angeles next year, will be dedicated to illustrated narratives and will house the Lucas archive. “Nearly five decades ago, Star Wars made one of its earliest public appearances at our convention, along with a booth featuring (comic book artist) Howard Chaykin’s now legendary Star Wars poster as a promotional item,” said David Glanzer, Chief Communications and Strategy Officer.”Now, to have Mr. Lucas… is a true full-circle moment. His lifelong dedication to visual storytelling and world-building resonates deeply with us and our community.”- Alien, Predator, and the End of the World -Marvel Studios will have a smaller presence at the convention this year, skipping its eagerly awaited annual presentation in Hall H. According to Variety, changes to the premiere of the new “Avengers” installment complicated logistics for the studio, whose cast is currently filming in Britain.Despite this notable absence, events at coveted Hall H still promise great excitement for fans of science fiction, a core genre of the convention. On Friday, it will host the world premiere of the pilot episode of the prequel “Alien: Earth,” directed by Noah Hawley and slated to hit streaming platforms in August. The series takes place a couple of years before the events depicted in Ridley Scott’s 1979 film “Alien,” offering an expansion of the venerated franchise. Another fan favorite that will have its moment in the spotlight is “Predator: Badlands,” with a panel Friday set to include director Dan Trachtenberg, who revitalized the brand with “Prey” (2022). Joining him will be stars Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, who plays the predator Dek. The panel is expected to reveal more from the production, which centers the predator as prey, not hunter, for the first time. On Saturday, award-winning actor Ryan Gosling and directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (behind the new “Spider-Verse” trilogy) will present their “Project Hail Mary,” which is due in theaters next year. The film, based on the book by Andy Weir (“The Martian”), follows Ryland Grace (Gosling), a former science teacher who wakes up on a spaceship to discover he’s on a mission to save the Earth.Another buzzed-about presentation is for the highly anticipated second season of “Peacemaker,” in which James Gunn (“Superman”) and his cast are expected to offer sneak peeks. But it won’t all be deadly serious — thousands of those in attendance will come dressed as princesses, warriors, aliens and other characters from the pantheon of pop culture.Comic-Con runs from Thursday to Sunday, July 27. 

Google-parent Alphabet on Wednesday reported quarterly profits that topped expectations, saying artificial intelligence has boosted every part of its business.Alphabet’s second-quarter profit of $28.2 billion — on $96.4 billion in revenue — came with word that the tech giant will spend $10 billion more than it previously planned this year on capital expenditures, as it invests to meet growing demand for cloud services.”We had a standout quarter, with robust growth across the company,” said Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai.”AI is positively impacting every part of the business, driving strong momentum.”Revenue from search grew double digits in the quarter, with features such as AI Overviews and the recently launched AI mode “performing well,” according to Pichai.Ad revenue at YouTube continues to grow along with the video platform’s subscription services, Alphabet reported.Alphabet’s cloud computing business is on pace to bring in $50 billion over the course of the year, according to the company.”With this strong and growing demand for our cloud products and services, we are increasing our investment in capital expenditures in 2025 to approximately $85 billion and are excited by the opportunity ahead,” Pichai said.Alphabet shares were up nearly 2 percent in after-market trades that followed the release of the earnings figures.Investors have been watching closely to see whether the tech giant may be pouring too much money into artificial intelligence and whether AI-generated summaries of search results will translate into fewer opportunities to serve up money-making ads.The internet giant is dabbling with ads in its new AI Mode for online search, a strategic move to fend off competition from ChatGPT while adapting its advertising business for an AI age.The integration of advertising has been a key question accompanying the rise of generative AI chatbots, which have largely avoided interrupting the user experience with marketing messages.However, advertising remains Google’s financial bedrock.”Google is doing well despite tariff headwinds and rising AI competition in search,” said eMarketer principal analyst Yory Wurmser.”It’s also successfully monetizing AI Overviews and AI Mode, a good sign for the future.”Google and rivals are spending billions of dollars on data centers and more for AI, while the rise of lower-cost model DeepSeek from China raises questions about how much needs to be spent.- Antitrust battles -Meanwhile the online ad business that generates the cash Google invests in its future could be neutered due to a defeat in a US antitrust case.During the summer of 2024, Google was found guilty of illegal practices to establish and maintain its monopoly in online search by a federal judge in Washington.The Justice Department is now demanding remedies that could transform the digital landscape: Google’s divestiture from its Chrome browser and a ban on entering exclusivity agreements with smartphone manufacturers to install the search engine by default.District Judge Amit Mehta is considering “remedies” in a decision expected in the coming days or weeks.In another legal battle, a different US judge ruled this year that Google wielded monopoly power in the online ad technology market, another legal blow that could rattle the tech giant’s revenue engine.District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that Google built an illegal monopoly over ad software and tools used by publishers.Combined, the courtroom defeats have the potential to leave Google split up and its influence curbed.Google said it is appealing both rulings.

Tesla reported another drop in quarterly profits Wednesday as CEO Elon Musk warned the company could face a few “rough” quarters following the elimination of federal tax credits for electric vehicles under President Donald Trump’s big fiscal package.Musk, on an earnings conference call with analysts and investors, reiterated that Tesla’s technology advantages position it for significant long-term profitability, but suggested the company’s recent slump would continue or worsen in a difficult interim period until new autonomous transport ventures can be monetized.At issue is the period after the $7,500 federal tax credit for EV purchases expires on September 30, among the green tax credits zeroed out by Trump’s sweeping package approved earlier this month. “We probably could have a few rough quarters. I’m not saying we will, but we could,” Musk said of a period that immediately follows the expiration of the US tax credit for EVs.”But once you get to autonomy at scale” by the second half of 2026, “I’d be surprised if Tesla economics are not very compelling,” said Musk.His comments acknowledge more short-term pain following Wednesday’s results, its third straight quarter of lower profitability as the company faces intensifying electric vehicle competition and deals with backlash due to Musk’s political activities.Tesla reported second-quarter profits of $1.2 billion, down 16 percent from the year-ago level. The company in a press release emphasized ongoing efforts to lead in artificial intelligence and robotics.Revenues fell 12 percent to $22.5 billion.Lower profits had been expected after Tesla earlier this month disclosed a decline in auto deliveries. Results were also impacted by a fall in average vehicle selling prices and higher operating expenses driven by AI and other research and development projects.Tesla did not offer an outlook on full-year vehicle production, citing shifting global trade and fiscal policies, as well as factors such as “the broader macroeconomic environment, the rate of acceleration of our autonomy efforts and production ramp at our factories.” – ‘Top pick’ -The results come on the heels of Tesla’s launch last month of a robotaxi service in the Texas capital Austin, Musk’s first fully autonomous offering after pushing back the timeframe many times.Musk has heavily touted Tesla’s autonomous driving program, as well as the company’s “Optimus” humanoid robot, which employs artificial intelligence technology.But analysts have criticized Tesla’s sluggishness in unveiling new autos, while questioning Musk’s commitment to an earlier goal of launching a state-of-the-art electric vehicle priced at around $25,000 to bolster the odds of mass deployment.On the call, Musk reiterated his desire for a lower priced vehicle. Tesla’s press release said the company began building “a more affordable model” in June, with volume set to rise in the second half of 2025.Tesla executives said they had pushed back the ramp-up on the new vehicle in order to maximize production of the company’s current generation of autos before the federal tax credit expires.The worsening near-term outlook for EV sales is one reason analysts at JPMorgan Chase call Tesla’s stock price “completely divorced from increasingly deteriorating fundamentals.”But analysts at Morgan Stanley rate the company a “top pick” in light of its leadership in robotics and artificial intelligence, although a recent note warned Musk’s political activity “may add further near-term pressure” to shares.- Political controversies -Disagreements over Trump’s fiscal package have been a factor in Musk’s recurring feud with the president, whose name was not mentioned during the 60-minute conference call.The billionaire donated huge sums to Trump’s successful 2024 presidential campaign and then joined the administration to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency,” which cut thousands of government jobs, sparking boycotts and vandalism that tarnished the Tesla brand.Musk left the White House in May.After their bitter falling out, Musk warned Trump’s legislation would bankrupt the country. On July 5 the tech mogul announced he was launching a new political party in the United States, the “America Party.”Trump dismissed the launch as “ridiculous,” and has also threatened to look at deporting Musk and to revoking his government contracts.Shares of Tesla fell 4.1 percent in after-hours trading.

The White House pulled out all the stops Wednesday to promote claims that Barack Obama headed a “treasonous conspiracy” against Donald Trump, seeking to redirect public attention from uproar over its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein affair.Trump’s intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard told a White House press briefing there had been a “years-long coup” by Obama.The extraordinary narrative essentially rehashed Trump’s longstanding argument that investigations into Russia’s multi-layered attempts to disrupt the 2016 election, where he beat Hillary Clinton, were a “hoax” against him.Gabbard touted newly declassified intelligence that she said provided “irrefutable evidence” that Obama had ordered intelligence assessments to be manipulated to accuse Russia of election interference to help Trump.The Justice Department announced the formation of a “Strike Force” to examine the allegations with “utmost seriousness.”But Gabbard’s findings run up against four separate criminal, counterintelligence and watchdog probes between 2019 and 2023 — each of them concluding that Russia did interfere and did, in various ways, help Trump.As a way to distract from the intensifying speculation over Trump’s handling of the case against the late sex offender and reputed pedophile pimp to the powerful Epstein, the Obama accusations had some effect.White House journalists at the briefing barely asked about Epstein, focusing instead on Gabbard’s claims, and Fox News heavily promoted the Obama story to its right-wing audience.However, the Epstein scandal quickly roared back, showing just how hard it is for 79-year-old Trump to maintain his usual mastery of driving news agendas — even within his fervently loyal “MAGA” base.- Trump’s name in files -Epstein was a financier and friend to numerous high-profile people — for years, including Trump — who was convicted of sex crimes and then imprisoned pending trial for allegedly trafficking underage girls.His 2019 prison cell death — ruled a suicide — supercharged a conspiracy theory long promoted by many of Trump’s supporters that Epstein had run an international pedophile ring and that elites wanted to make sure he never revealed their secrets.After Trump came to power for a second term this January, his administration promised to release Epstein case files.But when US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on July 7 that she had nothing to release, Republicans were furious — and Trump has been attempting to control the scandal ever since.Things got even more complicated for him after The Wall Street Journal last week reported that Trump had written a lewd birthday letter to Epstein in 2003. Trump denies this and has sued the Journal.On Wednesday, the Journal dropped a new story, saying Bondi had informed Trump in May that his name appeared several times in the Epstein files, even if there was no indication of wrongdoing.Trump spokesman Steven Cheung called this “fake news” and said Trump had long ago broken with Epstein and “kicked him out of his club for being a creep.”However, the drip-drip of reminders of Trump’s close former relationship with Epstein is proving hard to stop.Several of Trump’s most effective promoters over the years — including new FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino — made careers of fanning the rumors about Epstein.Democrats are piling on the pressure. Republican leaders in the House of Representatives sent lawmakers home early for a six-week summer break Wednesday to avoid being forced into holding politically awkward votes on the affair.But some lawmakers on the “MAGA” right have indicated they are in no mood to let Epstein drop, and several bids for transparency are in the works.Just before the declared recess, Democrats on a House subcommittee panel forced a vote on subpoenaing the Justice Department for documents regarding Epstein.The measure passed with bipartisan support.In another bid to satisfy his base, Trump had told Bondi to release “credible” Epstein information and to seek release of grand jury transcripts from the 2005 and 2007 investigations of Epstein.But on Wednesday a judge rejected this, citing legal secrecy protocols.

Too much moose meat and a set of antlers strapped to a wing brought a small plane down in Alaska, killing its pilot, according to a crash report published this week.Eugene Peltola died hours after his aircraft — carrying over 500 pounds (225 kilograms) of moose meat — plunged into mountains near St Mary’s in southwest Alaska in September 2023.A report released Tuesday by the US National Transportation Safety Board found the hefty meat cargo meant the plane was more than 100 pounds over its takeoff weight when it left a remote airstrip in the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. The presence of a pair of moose antlers on the right wing strut of the plane — a common practice in Alaska — would likely have made flight even trickier, the report said, because of their effect on aerodynamics.Clint Johnson, the Alaska Region Chief for NTSB, was cited by local media as saying there were three main factors that contributed to the crash of the Piper PA 18-150 Super Cub.”Number one was, obviously, the overweight condition — no ifs, ands, or buts there,” he said, according to the website Alaskanewssource.com.”The parasitic drag from the antlers that were attached to the right wing, and then also the last thing would be the wind, the mechanical wind turbulence at the end of the takeoff area, which unfortunately, led to this accident.”If you would have been able to take one of those items out, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation. But those things all in combination led to this tragic accident.”Peltola was the husband of former US Representative Mary Peltola, the first Alaska Native to sit in Congress.The Democrat beat former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in a 2022 special election, but lost her re-election bid in November last year.

A Salvadoran man who was wrongly deported and then returned to the United States to face human smuggling charges should be released pending trial and not be immediately taken into immigration custody, federal judges said Wednesday.Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was summarily deported in March along with more than 200 other people to a prison in El Salvador as part of US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on migrants.His case has become a key test of Trump’s hardline immigration policies.Most of those sent to El Salvador were alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which the Trump administration has designated a foreign terrorist organization.Justice Department lawyers later admitted that Abrego Garcia — a resident of Maryland who is married to a US citizen — was wrongly deported due to an “administrative error.”Abrego Garcia had been living in the United States under protected legal status since 2019, when a judge ruled he should not be deported because he could be harmed in his home country.He was returned to the United States in June and immediately arrested on human smuggling charges in the southern state of Tennessee.Abrego Garcia’s release pending trial has been repeatedly delayed at the request of his lawyers amid fears he would be picked up by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and deported again.District Judge Waverly Crenshaw in Tennessee ordered Abrego Garcia’s release on bail on Wednesday ahead of his January 27 trial date, and a district judge in Maryland simultaneously blocked ICE from immediately taking him into custody.District Judge Paula Xinis said Abrego Garcia should be brought back to Maryland and ordered the administration to provide at least three days notice before attempting to deport him again.Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, criticized the ruling.”The fact this unhinged judge is trying to tell ICE they can’t arrest (Abrego Garcia)… under federal law is LAWLESS AND INSANE,” McLaughlin said on X.It was not immediately clear when Abrego Garcia would be released.Federal prosecutors have opposed his release and warned that he may be deported once again if he is released from custody.Abrego Garcia is charged in Nashville, Tennessee, with smuggling undocumented migrants around the United States between 2016 and 2025. He has pleaded not guilty.