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Two Federal Reserve policymakers said Saturday they feel the U.S. central bank’s job on taming inflation is not yet done, but also signaled they do not want to risk damaging the labor market as they try to finish that job.  The remarks, from Governor Adriana Kugler and San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, highlight the delicate balancing act facing U.S. central bankers this year as they look to slow their pace of rate cutting. The Fed lowered short-term rates by a full percentage point last year, to a current range of 4.25%-4.50%.  Inflation by the Fed’s preferred measure is well down from its mid-2022 peak of around 7%, registering 2.4% in November. Still, that’s above the Fed’s 2% goal, and in December policymakers projected slower progress toward that goal than they had earlier anticipated.  “We are fully aware that we are not there yet — no one is popping champagne anywhere,” Kugler said at the annual American Economic Association conference in San Francisco, California. “And at the same time … we want the unemployment rate to stay where it is” and not increase rapidly.  In November, unemployment was 4.2%, consistent in both her and colleague Daly’s view with maximum employment, the Fed’s second goal alongside its price stability goal.  “At this point, I would not want to see further slowing in the labor market — maybe gradually moving around in bumps and chunks on a given month, but certainly not additional slowing in the labor market,” said Daly, who was speaking on the same panel.  The policymakers were not asked, nor did they volunteer their views, about the potential impact of incoming President-elect Donald Trump’s economic policies, including tariffs and tax cuts, which some have speculated could fuel growth and reignite inflation.   …

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and his family were given tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from foreign leaders in 2023, according to an annual accounting published by the State Department on Thursday, with first lady Jill Biden receiving the single most expensive present: a $20,000 diamond from India’s leader. The 7.5-carat diamond from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was easily the most costly gift presented to any member of the first family in 2023, although she also received a brooch valued at $14,063 from the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States and a bracelet, brooch and photograph album worth $4,510 from the president and first lady of Egypt. The U.S. president himself received a number of expensive presents, including a commemorative photo album valued at $7,100 from South Korea’s recently impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol , a $3,495 statue of Mongolian warriors from the Mongolian prime minister, a $3,300 silver bowl from the sultan of Brunei, a $3,160 sterling silver tray from the president of Israel, and a collage worth $2,400 from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Federal law requires executive branch officials to declare gifts they receive from foreign leaders and counterparts that have an estimated value of more than $480. Many of the gifts that meet that threshold are relatively modest, and the more expensive ones are typically — but not always — transferred to the National Archives or put on official displays. The $20,000 diamond was retained for official use in the White House East Wing, according to a State Department document, while the other gifts to the president and first lady were sent to the archives. Vanessa Valdivia, a spokesperson for Jill Biden, said the diamond will be turned over to the archives after they leave office. She did not say what it was being used for. Ukraine’s ambassador, Oksana Markarova, said Friday on Facebook that a Ukrainian designer fashioned the brooch from the remains of a Russian rocket and that the piece was made from inexpensive materials, so its “true value … lies in its symbolism.” The embassy’s spokesperson, Halyna Yusypiuk, said U.S. officials provided the assessed value. Recipients have the option to purchase the gift from the U.S. government at its market value, although that is rare, particularly with high-end items. According to the State Department’s Office of Protocol, which compiles the list that will be published in Friday’s edition of the Federal Register, … “Jill Biden gets priciest gift from foreign leader in 2023 — a $20,000 diamond” →

LONDON — Prince William expressed his shock and sadness Saturday at the news of the death of his former nanny’s stepson in the New Year’s truck attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people. London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed Saturday that they are supporting the family of 31-year-old Edward Pettifer, including helping them through the process of returning his body to the United Kingdom. Pettifer, who is from west London, is the final victim to be identified. In a statement on social media, the Prince of Wales said he and his wife, Catherine, were “shocked and saddened by the tragic death of Ed Pettifer. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the Pettifer family and all those innocent people who have been tragically impacted by this horrific attack.” Pettifer was the stepson of Tiggy Legge-Bourke, who was the nanny for William and his brother, Prince Harry, between 1993 and 1999, which included the time after the death of their mother, Princess Diana, in 1997. Legge-Bourke, who is also known as Alexandra Pettifer, was regularly photographed with Diana. British media also reported that King Charles III is said to be deeply saddened by the news and that he has sent his condolences to Pettifer’s family. In a statement, Pettifer’s family said they were “devastated at the tragic news of Ed’s death” and described him as “a wonderful son, brother, grandson, nephew and a friend to so many.” “We will all miss him terribly. Our thoughts are with the other families who have lost their family members due to this terrible attack,” the family added. Authorities say 14 people were killed and about 30 were injured in the attack early Wednesday by Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a former U.S. Army soldier who posted several videos on his Facebook account hours before the attack previewing the violence he would unleash and proclaiming his support for the Islamic State militant group. The coroner’s office listed the cause of death for all 14 victims as “blunt force injuries.” Jabbar, 42, was fatally shot in a firefight with police at the scene of the deadly crash on Bourbon Street, famous worldwide for its festive vibes in New Orleans’ historic French Quarter. …

WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department has informed Congress of a planned $8 billion weapons sale to Israel, U.S. officials say, as the American ally presses forward with its war against Hamas in Gaza. Some of the arms in the package could be sent from current U.S. stocks, but the majority would take a year or several years to deliver, according to two U.S. officials Saturday who spoke on condition of anonymity because the notification to Congress hasn’t been formally sent. The sale includes medium-range air-to-air missiles to help Israel defend against airborne threats, 155 mm projectile artillery shells for long-range targeting, Hellfire AGM-114 missiles, 500-pound bombs and more. The weapons package would add to a record of at least $17.9 billion in military aid that the U.S. has provided Israel since the Hamas terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023, launched the war. The United States, Britain and other Western nations designate Hamas as a terror group. The Biden administration has faced criticism over the mounting number of deaths of Palestinian civilians. There have been demonstrations on college campuses and unsuccessful efforts in Congress by Senator Bernie Sanders and some Democrats to block sales of offensive weapons to Israel. The United States paused a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel in May over concerns about civilian casualties if the bombs were to be used during an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The Biden administration has demanded that Israel increase humanitarian aid into the enclave. But in November, citing some limited progress, it declined to limit arms transfers as it threatened to do if the situation did not improve. In recent days, Israel has been conducting airstrikes in Gaza that have killed dozens of people, adding to the tens of thousands of deaths since the war began more than a year ago. The Israeli army said Friday that it had struck dozens of Hamas gathering points and command centers throughout Gaza. Israel’s military says it targets only militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in dense residential areas. The war has caused widespread destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, many of them multiple times. Winter has now arrived, and hundreds of thousands are sheltering in tents near the sea. The informal notice to Congress isn’t the final notification before a sale. Now the leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee … “Biden notifies Congress of planned $8 billion weapons sale to Israel” →

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA — The man who rammed a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans had suspected bomb-making materials at his home and reserved the vehicle used in the deadly attack more than six weeks earlier, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press on Friday. Federal authorities searching the home of Shamsud-Din Jabbar in Houston found a workbench in the garage and hazardous materials believed to have been used to make explosive devices, according to law enforcement officials familiar with the search. The officials were not authorized to speak about the ongoing inquiry and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity. The FBI investigation also revealed that Jabbar purchased a cooler in Vidor, Texas, hours before the attack and gun oil from a store in Sulphur, Louisiana, the officials said. Authorities also determined Jabbar booked his rental of the pickup truck on Nov. 14, suggesting he may have been plotting the attack for more than six weeks. Authorities say 14 people were killed and some 30 were injured in the attack early Wednesday by Jabbar, a former Army soldier who posted several videos on his Facebook hours before the attack previewing the violence he would unleash and proclaiming his support for the Islamic State militant group. The coroner’s office listed the cause of death for all 14 victims as “blunt force injuries.” Jabbar, 42, was fatally shot in a firefight with police at the scene of the deadly crash on Bourbon Street, famous worldwide for its festive vibes in New Orleans’ historic French Quarter. Authorities found crude bombs that had been planted in the neighborhood in an apparent attempt to cause more carnage. Two improvised explosive devices left in coolers several blocks apart were rendered safe at the scene, officials said. Other devices were determined to be nonfunctional. Investigators recovered from Jabbar’s rental truck a transmitter intended to trigger the two bombs, the FBI said in a statement Friday. It also said authorities found bomb-making materials at the New Orleans home Jabbar rented prior to the attack. Jabbar tried to burn the house down by setting a small fire in a hallway and placing accelerants to help spread it, the FBI said. The flames burned out before firefighters arrived. Authorities on Friday were still investigating Jabbar’s motives and how he carried out the attack. They say he exited the crashed truck wearing a … “New Orleans attacker had suspected bomb materials at home, officials say” →

WASHINGTON — The U.S. congressional joint session to count electoral votes on Monday is expected to be much less eventful than the certification four years ago that was interrupted by a violent mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump who tried to stop the count and overturn the results of an election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. This time, Trump is returning to office after winning the 2024 election that began with Biden as his party’s nominee and ended with Vice President Kamala Harris atop the ticket. She will preside over the certification of her own loss, fulfilling the constitutional role in the same way that Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, did after the violence subsided on Jan. 6, 2021. Usually a routine affair, the congressional joint session on Jan. 6 every four years is the final step in reaffirming a presidential election after the Electoral College officially elects the winner in December. The meeting is required by the Constitution and includes several distinct steps. What happens when Congress meets? Under federal law, Congress must meet on Jan. 6 to open sealed certificates from each state that contain a record of their electoral votes. The votes are brought into the chamber in special mahogany boxes that are used for the occasion. Bipartisan representatives of both chambers read the results out loud and do an official count. The vice president, as president of the Senate, presides over the session and declares the winner. The Constitution requires Congress to meet and count the electoral votes. If there is a tie, then the House decides the presidency, with each congressional delegation having one vote. That hasn’t happened since the 1800s and won’t happen this time because Trump’s electoral win over Harris was decisive, 312-226. How has it changed since the last time? Congress tightened the rules for the certification after the violence of 2021 and Trump’s attempts to usurp the process. In particular, the revised Electoral Count Act passed in 2022 more explicitly defines the role of the vice president after Trump aggressively pushed Pence to object to the Republican’s defeat — an action that would have gone far beyond Pence’s ceremonial role. Pence rebuffed Trump and ultimately gaveled down his own defeat. Harris will do the same. The updated law clarifies that the vice president does not have the power to determine the results on Jan. 6. Harris and Pence were not … “How Congress will certify Trump’s electoral college victory” →

ATLANTA, GEORGIA — Six days of funeral observances for former President Jimmy Carter begin Saturday in Georgia, where he died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100. The first events reflect Carter’s climb up the political ladder, from the tiny town of Plains, Georgia, to decades on the global stage as a humanitarian and advocate for democracy. Here is what to know about the initial ceremonies and what happens next: Start honors Carter’s roots in rural Georgia The proceedings are scheduled to begin at 10:15 a.m. Saturday with the Carter family arriving at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus. Former Secret Service agents who protected Carter will serve as pallbearers, walking alongside the hearse as it exits the campus on its way to Plains. James Earl Carter Jr. lived more than 80 of his 100 years in and around the town, which still has fewer than 700 people, not much more than when he was born on October 1, 1924. Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton also grew up in rural settings, but Carter stands out for returning and remaining in his birthplace for his long post-presidency. The motorcade will move through downtown Plains, which spans just a few blocks, passing near the girlhood home of first lady Rosalynn Smith Carter, who died in November 2023 at the age of 96, and near where the couple operated the family peanut warehouses. The route also includes the old train depot that served as Jimmy Carter’s 1976 presidential campaign headquarters and the gas station once run by Carter’s younger brother Billy. The motorcade will then pass by the Methodist church where the Carters married in 1946, and the home where they lived and died. The former president will be buried there alongside Rosalynn. The Carters built the one-story house, now surrounded by Secret Service fencing, before his first state Senate campaign in 1962 and lived out their lives there with the exception of four years in the Governor’s Mansion and four more in the White House. A stop at Carter’s boyhood home The military-run schedule calls for a 10:50 a.m. stop in front of Carter’s family farm and boyhood home in Archery, outside Plains, after passing the cemetery where the former president’s parents, James Earl Carter Sr. and Lillian Carter, are buried. The farm now is part of the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park. The National Park Service will ring … “Jimmy Carter’s state funeral starts Saturday. Here is what to know” →

WASHINGTON — The highly decorated Special Forces soldier who died by suicide in a Cybertruck explosion on New Year’s Day confided to a former girlfriend who had served as an Army nurse that he faced significant pain and exhaustion that she says were key symptoms of traumatic brain injury. Green Beret Matthew Livelsberger, 37, was a five-time recipient of the Bronze Star, including one with a V device for valor under fire. He had an exemplary military record that spanned the globe and a baby born last year. But he struggled with the mental and physical toll of his service, which required him to kill and caused him to witness the deaths of fellow soldiers. Livelsberger mostly bore that burden in private but recently sought treatment for depression from the Army, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not been made public. He also found a confidant in the former nurse, who he began dating in 2018. Alicia Arritt, 39, and Livelsberger met through a dating app while both were in Colorado Springs. Arritt had served at Landstul Regional Medical Center in Germany, the largest U.S. military medical facility in Europe, where many of the worst combat injuries from Iraq and Afghanistan were initially treated before being flown to the United States. There she saw and treated traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs, which troops suffered from incoming fire and roadside bombs. Serious but hard to diagnose, such injuries can have lingering effects that might take years to surface. “I saw a lot of bad injuries. But the personality changes can happen later,” Arritt said. In texts and images he shared with Arritt, Livelsberger raised the curtain a bit on what he was facing. “Just some concussions,” he said in a text about a deployment to Helmand Province in Afghanistan. He sent her a photo of a graphic tattoo he got on his arm of two skulls pierced by bullets to mark lives he took in Afghanistan. He talked about exhaustion and pain, not being able to sleep and reliving the violence of his deployment. “My life has been a personal hell for the last year,” he told Arritt during the early days of their dating, according to text messages she provided to The Associated Press. “It’s refreshing to have such a nice person come along.” On Friday, Las Vegas law enforcement officers … “Cybertruck soldier told ex-girlfriend of pain, exhaustion after Afghanistan” →

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE — Just days after Tennessee announced it had a new manual for executing death row inmates, the state’s top prison officials said they aren’t going to release the document to the public. The Tennessee Department of Correction had told The Associated Press to file a public records request to obtain a copy of the latest execution manual, known as a protocol. However, the agency this week denied the AP’s request, saying it needs to keep the entire document secret to protect the identities of the executioner and other people involved. The decision to maintain secrecy differs from how the state has handled similar requests in the past, but mirrors efforts across the U.S. to suppress public access surrounding executions, especially after anti-death penalty activists used records to expose problems. Here’s what to know: What is an execution protocol? The protocol is typically a detailed set of procedures describing how the state executes death row inmates. Tennessee had been operating under a 2018 protocol that included directions on selecting execution team staff and the training they should undergo. It explained how lethal injection drugs should be procured, stored and administered. It gave instructions on the inmate’s housing, diet and visitation in the days leading up to execution. It provided directions on how to choose media witnesses. For lethal injection, the 2018 protocol required a series of three drugs administered in sequence. The new version unveiled last week requires only a single dose of pentobarbital. But that is all that is known about the revised protocol. What reason does Tennessee give for not releasing the new protocol? In an email sent Monday, Tennessee correction spokesperson Kayla Hackney told the AP the “protocol is not a public record” and cited a Tennessee statute that makes the identities of the people carrying out executions confidential. However, that same statute says the existence of confidential information in a record is not a reason to deny access to it, noting that the confidential information should be redacted. What has Tennessee done in the past? In 2018, Tennessee’s correction agency provided a redacted copy of the protocol to an AP reporter over email. In 2007, a previous version of the protocol was treated as a public record and provided to the AP after former Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, announced a surprise halt to executions. A reporter’s review of that 100-page “Manual of Execution” found a … “US state of Tennessee refuses to release its new execution manual” →

honolulu — In recent years, occasions large and small — parties, Super Bowls, mixed martial arts fights, even Thanksgiving — have provided a reason for residents across Hawaii to set off illegal fireworks.  The increasingly sophisticated displays, loved by some and loathed by others, are so prevalent that some people consider them part of the state’s culture. They have rattled neighborhoods of tightly packed houses, started fires, terrorized pets and knocked a light fixture off the ceiling of an Associated Press reporter’s home, where it narrowly missed a child and shattered on the floor.  Each New Year’s Day, Honolulu officials publish a list of fireworks casualties from the night before, typically a litany of burns, shrapnel wounds or amputations. Sometimes there are deaths.  But none of the damage has matched Tuesday night’s tragedy, when a lit bundle of mortar-style aerials tipped over and shot into crates of unlit fireworks, causing a rapid-fire series of blasts that killed three women and injured more than 20 people, including children.  On Friday, the Honolulu medical examiner’s department identified two of the women as Nelie Ibarra, 58, and Jennifer Van, 23. The cause and manner of death for both were listed as pending. The identity of the third was not yet confirmed, the department said in a news release.  Another person was killed in an unrelated fireworks explosion on Oahu.  Authorities and residents alike are now wondering whether the toll will dissuade people from putting on such shows in the future, or whether it will prompt more effective efforts by police to crack down.  “This incident is a painful reminder of the danger posed by illegal fireworks,” Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi told a news conference. “They put lives at risk, they drain our first responders and they disrupt our neighborhoods.”  Efforts to crack down on contraband fireworks have had limited effect. In 2023, lawmakers created an illegal fireworks task force. Based on the ease with which it seized fireworks, including three shipping containers in its first few months in operation, the state Department of Law Enforcement concluded illegal fireworks are likely smuggled into Hawaii on a daily basis.  The task force has seized 227,000 pounds (about 103,000 kilograms) of fireworks in all, according to Governor Josh Green.  And yet, the Honolulu Fire Department reported Thursday that there were 30 fireworks-related blazes between Tuesday and Wednesday, a 30% increase from last New Year’s celebrations.  Representative Gregg … “Deadly accident has Hawaii officials pleading for end to amateur fireworks shows” →

ACCRA, GHANA — Flipping through a family album, Keachia Bowers paused on a photo of her as a baby on her father’s lap as he held the 1978 album “Africa Stand Alone” by the Jamaican reggae band Culture. “When I was 10 years old, I was supposed to come to Ghana with him,” she said. A day earlier, she had marked 10 years since her father’s death. Though he was a Pan-Africanist who dreamed of visiting Ghana, he never made it here. Bowers and her husband, Damon Smith, however, are among the 524 diaspora members, mostly Black Americans, who were granted Ghanaian citizenship in a ceremony in November. Bowers and Smith moved to Ghana from Florida in 2023 after visiting the region several times between them since the ’90s. They now run a tour business that caters to Black people who want to visit Ghana or elsewhere in West Africa, or like them have come to consider a permanent move. The November group was the largest one granted citizenship since Ghana launched the “Year of the Return” program, aimed at attracting the Black diaspora, in 2019. It marked 400 years since the first African slaves arrived in Virginia in 1619. Ghana’s Tourism Authority and the Office of Diaspora Affairs have extended the program into “Beyond the Return,” which fosters the relationship with diasporans. Hundreds have been granted citizenship, including people from Canada, the U.K. and Jamaica. Bowers said moving to Ghana gave her family a certain feeling of ease they didn’t have in the U.S. “When we see Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, all these stories of people being murdered just in their home, living in their home and being murdered at the hands of police brutality, hearing about it creates trauma,” she said. She also worried about her son Tsadik, 14. Tsadik towers over loved ones in the way that lanky teenage boys often do. He is shy but opens up around his younger sister Tselah, 11, and the family’s dog, Apollo. “In America, being a Black male with locs who’s very tall for his age, he is treated like a threat,” Bowers said. Americans face few obstacles to living in Ghana, with most people paying an annual residency fee. But Bowers said getting citizenship signified more than simply living in Ghana. “I didn’t need (citizenship) to tell me that I’m African. Anywhere that I go in the world and someone … “Ghana’s citizenship offer attracts some Black Americans” →

PLAINS, GEORGIA — Mourners are to begin paying their respects to Jimmy Carter on Saturday, kicking off a carefully choreographed six-day farewell for America’s longest-lived president. Flags have been flying at half-staff across the country since Carter died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100 in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. Carter’s state funeral officially begins on Saturday with Secret Service agents from his current and former protective detail carrying his casket to a hearse for a tour through Plains. The motorcade bearing his remains is to pause at Carter’s boyhood family peanut farm while a farm bell rings 39 times in honor of America’s 39th president. His body will then be taken to Atlanta for a brief stop at the Georgia Capitol, where Carter served as a state senator before becoming governor, and a moment of silence. From there, Carter will be escorted to the Carter Presidential Center where he will lie in repose from 7 p.m. on Saturday (0000 GMT Sunday) to 6 a.m. (1100 GMT) on Tuesday to allow the public to pay their respects. Carter’s remains will be flown on Tuesday morning from a military base in Georgia to Joint Base Andrews outside Washington on a U.S. Air Force plane dubbed Special Air Mission 39. A motorcade will then transport the body of the former commander-in-chief to the U.S. Navy Memorial. Carter, who attended the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946, and served on submarines, will be transferred from a hearse to a horse-drawn caisson for a funeral procession to the U.S. Capitol. Military pall bearers will carry his flag-draped casket to the rotunda of the Capitol where his body will lie in state until 7 a.m. (1200 GMT) on Thursday, surrounded by a guard of honor of service members. Carter will be the 13th former U.S. president to lie in state in the Capitol. Abraham Lincoln, assassinated in 1865, was the first. A national funeral service is to be held on Thursday at the National Cathedral, an Episcopal church in the nation’s capital that also hosted state funerals for former presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush. All four living former presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump — are expected to attend. President Joe Biden is to deliver the eulogy for his fellow Democrat, who served in the White House from 1977-81. Biden has … “National funeral service, flyover and 39 bells for Carter sendoff” →

DETROIT — U.S. new car sales in 2024 continued to rise from their pandemic lows, bolstered by replenished inventories, higher incentives and surging demand for hybrid vehicles, automakers reported on Friday. Sales of new vehicles finished at 15.9 million last year, according to Wards Intelligence, up 2.2% from the prior year, and the highest since 2019. Automakers are projecting strong sales will continue into 2025, although President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed automotive policies, such as removing tax credits for EVs, present a wild card. “We’re carrying significant momentum into 2025,” Rory Harvey, GM’s head of global markets, said in a release. The Detroit automaker defended its 2023 crown as the biggest U.S. carmaker by sales, selling 2.7 million vehicles last year, the company said on Friday, up 4.3% from 2023. Most automakers recorded solid sales results last year, as they adjusted to slowing demand for EVs and relied on their core business of gasoline-powered trucks and SUVs. Others capitalized on soaring consumer interest in hybrid vehicles. Sales of traditional hybrids increased 36.7% in 2024 compared with the previous year, Wards reported. ‘Hybrids, we’re sold out’ Toyota notched a 3.7% sales gain year-over-year in the U.S., boosted by steady increases of reliable smaller vehicles such as the Camry and RAV4 SUV, as well as significant gains for hybrid vehicles. Reuters reported last year that the automaker is potentially converting all of its lineup into hybrid-only models. “For hybrids, we’re sold out — customers want them. We can’t get enough of them,” said David Christ, head of sales and marketing for Toyota in North America. “Battery electric vehicles, even with the huge incentives we’re spending and the federal government’s incentives, are just not as in demand.” Ford Motor also benefited from an increase in hybrid sales, which helped the automaker’s total vehicle sales rise 4.2% in 2024. The Dearborn, Michigan, company’s total hybrid sales roughly doubled that of its EVs, with 187,426 hybrids sold and 97,865 EVs. Automakers have axed or changed lofty EV plans laid out when demand seemed much stronger than it turned out to be, but they are still aiming to attract new EV buyers. Ford said on Friday that to support EV sales, which were up 34.8% for the automaker in 2024, it would extend a program where EV buyers receive free chargers and installation at home through the end of March. U.S. sales of electric vehicles are expected to … “US new car sales hit 5-year high in 2024, helped by hybrids” →

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration announced Friday that it will allocate $306 million to bolster the nation’s bird flu response before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The new funding will support national, state and local preparedness and monitoring programs, as well as research into potential medical countermeasures against the H5N1 virus. “While the risk to humans remains low, we are always preparing for any possible scenario that could arise,” Health Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “Preparedness is the key to keeping Americans healthy and our country safe.” The United States has reported 66 human cases of bird flu since the start of 2024, though experts believe the true number could be higher, with cases potentially going undetected among cattle and poultry workers. While the virus has not been found to spread from person to person, the amount of bird flu circulating among animals and humans has alarmed scientists, because it might combine with seasonal influenza and mutate into a more transmissible form — potentially triggering a deadly pandemic. The funding announcement comes amid concern over how the incoming Trump administration will handle the threat. The president-elect told Time magazine recently he would abolish the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy established under Biden — though it is not clear if he has the authority to do so, since it was created by Congress. His pick for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is a vocal vaccine skeptic who has pledged to shake up the nation’s health agencies and promotes raw milk, thought to be a vector for bird flu. Biden’s administration has also faced criticism for what some consider a subpar bird flu response. The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, published a report last month citing an array of problems including “lagging data, incomplete surveillance, sluggish coordination, considerable mistrust, and insufficient planning and stockpiling of vaccines and therapies.” Given these shortcomings, infectious disease epidemiologist Meg Schaeffer of the SAS Institute told AFP: “In my opinion, avian influenza is going to become either a pandemic or a virus…  that will become a very widespread and significant health issue for us in the next one to two years.” She urged raw milk consumers in particular to “take a pause on that consumption.” Adding to concerns, a virus sample from a critically ill patient in Louisiana has shown signs of mutating to better … “US announces $306 million in new bird flu funding” →

washington — President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, will make his final visit to India next week to emphasize Washington’s partnership with New Delhi, the White House announced Friday. The visit will cap the Biden administration’s efforts to maximize ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, in its strategic focus to counter China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific. Strengthening ties with India has been a “real foreign policy priority and area of legacy achievement for the Biden administration,” a senior administration official said on condition of anonymity in a briefing to reporters Friday. Sullivan will visit New Delhi January 5-6 to discuss a range of issues, including civil nuclear partnership, China’s overcapacity on semiconductor and biopharma supply chains, strategic technology cooperation and other shared security priorities, a second administration official said. Sullivan’s visit comes as tension is brewing between India and China over Beijing’s plan to build what it calls the “world’s largest” hydro dam on the Yarlung Zangbo River on the eastern rim of the Tibetan plateau, which could affect millions downstream in India and Bangladesh. Sullivan is expected to discuss the dam along with other regional issues of concern, said the first administration official in response to VOA’s question. “What matters to us is that when it comes to water resources that have to be managed across countries, that those are being handled fairly and in an equitable way,” the official said. Technology initiative A key focus of the visit is the U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) – an effort that Biden and Modi announced in May 2022 to bolster their strategic technology partnership and defense-industrial cooperation between their governments, businesses and academic institutions across various domains, from AI to quantum computing, and from semiconductors to space. Sullivan’s visit will take place just two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump assumes office January 20. Many expect iCET to continue under his administration. “There is broad bipartisan support for some of the goals of iCET,” said the second administration official in response to VOA’s question. They include “strengthening the resilience of technology supply chains, working with allies and partners to position ourselves to offset PRC [People Republic of China’s] advancements in certain technologies, and efforts to dominate some of the supply chains.” The U.S. strategic partnership with New Delhi is “based upon a bet that India’s economic, technological and military rise is critical to pushing back and containing … “Biden’s top aide to make China-focused visit to India “ →

washington — Law enforcement and security agencies in and around Washington are bringing in reinforcements as they prepare to secure three high-profile events in the nation’s capital, following the New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans and the Cybertruck bombing in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. The first event will occur Monday, when Congress meets to certify results of the presidential election four years to the day since the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. The second will be the state funeral for the late President Jimmy Carter, starting with a ceremony and procession on Tuesday before wrapping up on Thursday. The last high-profile event will come Jan. 20, when President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated. “That has never happened before. We have three [National Special Security Events] over a 15-day period,” Matt McCool, U.S. Secret Service Washington Field Office special agent in charge, told reporters Friday. “But what I will tell you is we’re flexible. We’re adaptable. We’ve been working on these events for, in some cases, years,” he said. “So, we’re going to be prepared.” Despite concerns stemming from the New Orleans attack and the Las Vegas bombing, security officials are confident so far that the Washington events will proceed safely. “We are not tracking any credible or specific threats associated with these events,” said David Sundberg, assistant director in charge at the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The law enforcement and security agencies, however, are not taking any chances, acknowledging that the city and the region are operating in a heightened threat environment. The Secret Service said Friday that it was bringing in agents from across the country to boost staffing levels, which were already the highest they have been in three years. Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department said it has added to its ranks almost 4,000 officers from departments across the country. The capital’s National Guard Bureau confirmed it also has approved requests for additional support, including the provision of 500 guardsmen for the Jan. 6 election certification and liaison officers for the state funeral. An additional request for 7,800 National Guard soldiers and airmen to assist with security for the Trump inauguration is pending. Increased security measures, including barriers and fencing, are already up in parts of Washington and around the Capitol, but more are coming. “A multitude of seen and unseen security measures will operate in tandem to ensure a comprehensive and seamless security … “US capital in ‘heightened threat environment’ after New Year’s Day attacks “ →