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While much remains unknown about the man who carried out an attack in New Orleans on New Year’s and another who died in an explosion in Las Vegas the same day, the violence highlights the increased role of people with military experience in ideologically driven attacks, especially those that seek mass casualties. In New Orleans, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a veteran of the U.S. Army, was killed by police after a deadly rampage in a pickup truck that left 14 others dead and injured dozens more. It’s being investigated as an act of terrorism inspired by the Islamic State group. In Las Vegas, officials say Matthew Livelsberger, an active duty member of the U.S. Army Special Forces, shot himself in the head in a Tesla Cybertruck packed with firework mortars and camp fuel canisters, shortly before it exploded outside the entrance of the Trump International Hotel, injuring seven people. On Friday, investigators said Livelsberger wrote that the explosion was meant to serve as a “wakeup call” and that the country was “terminally ill and headed toward collapse.” Service members and veterans who radicalize make up a tiny fraction of a percentage point of the millions who have honorably served their country. But an Associated Press investigation published last year found that radicalization among both veterans and active duty service members was on the rise and that hundreds of people with military backgrounds had been arrested for extremist crimes since 2017. The AP found that extremist plots they were involved in during that period had killed or injured nearly 100 people. The AP also found multiple issues with the Pentagon’s efforts to address extremism in the ranks, including that there is still no force-wide system to track it, and that a cornerstone report on the issue contained old data, misleading analyses and ignored evidence of the problem. Since 2017, both veterans and active duty service members radicalized at a faster rate than people without military backgrounds, according to data from terrorism researchers at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START, at the University of Maryland. Less than 1% of the adult population is currently serving in the U.S. military, but active duty military members make up a disproportionate 3.2% of the extremist cases START researchers found between 2017 and 2022. While the number of people with military backgrounds involved in violent extremist plots remains small, the … “New Orleans attack, Vegas explosion highlight extremist violence by active military and veterans” →

Her greatest fear, dormant for decades, came rushing back in an instant: had she adopted and raised a kidnapped child? Peg Reif’s daughter, adopted from South Korea in the 1980s, had sent her a link to a documentary detailing how the system that made their family was rife with fraud: documents falsified, babies switched, children snatched off the street and sent abroad. Reif wept. She was among more than 120 who contacted The Associated Press this fall, after a series of stories and a documentary made with Frontline exposed how Korea created a baby pipeline, designed to ship children abroad as quickly as possible to meet Western demand. The reporting shook adoption communities around the world with details about how agencies competed for babies — pressuring mothers, bribing hospitals, fabricating documents. Most who wrote were adoptees, but some were adoptive parents like Reif, horrified to learn they had supported this system. “I can’t stand the thought that somebody lost their child,” Reif said. “I can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t know how to make it right. I don’t know if I can.” Forty years ago, she was struggling with infertility. She and her husband pinned their dreams for a family on adopting a baby from Mexico, paid an agency thousands of dollars and waited for months. Then the agency’s directors were arrested, and they learned that those Mexican babies had been taken from their families against their will. Reif was heartbroken but recalls even now looking at her husband and saying, “Thank God we don’t have a child who was stolen.” But now she isn’t sure of that. Because then they adopted two Korean children, and brought them to their home in rural Wisconsin, first a son and then a daughter. The two were not biological siblings, but both arrived with strangely similar stories in their files: their young unmarried mothers worked in factories with fathers who disappeared after they got pregnant. Back then, Reif still believed the common narrative about foreign adoption: it saved children who might otherwise live the rest of their lives in an orphanage, die or be damned to poverty. “I don’t believe that anymore,” Reif said. “I don’t know what to believe.” Cameron Lee Small, a therapist in Minneapolis whose practice caters to adoptees and their families, said many are feeling an intense sense of betrayal. Individual adoptees had long shared stories of falsified … “Fraud allegations rock South Korean adoptees and families” →

NAIROBI, KENYA — Jimmy Carter was the first U.S. president to make a state visit to sub-Saharan Africa. He once called helping with Zimbabwe’s transition from white rule to independence “our greatest single success.” And when he died at 100, his foundation’s work in rural Africa had nearly fulfilled his quest to eliminate a disease that afflicted millions, for the first time since the eradication of smallpox. The African continent, a booming region with a population rivaling China’s that is set to double by 2050, is where Carter’s legacy remains most evident. Until his presidency, U.S. leaders had shown little interest in Africa, even as independence movements swept the region in the 1960s and ’70s. “I think the day of the so-called ugly American is over,” Carter said during his warm 1978 reception in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country. He said the official state visit swept aside “past aloofness by the United States,” and he joked that he and Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo would go into peanut farming together. Cold War tensions drew Carter’s attention to the continent as the U.S. and Soviet Union competed for influence. But Carter also drew on the missionary traditions of his Baptist faith and the racial injustice he witnessed in his homeland in the U.S. South. “For too long our country ignored Africa,” Carter told the Democratic National Committee in his first year as president. African leaders soon received invitations to the White House, intrigued by the abrupt interest from the world’s most powerful nation and what it could mean for them. “There is an air of freshness which is invigorating,” visiting Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda said. Carter observed after his first Africa trip, “There is a common theme that runs through the advice to me of leaders of African nations: ‘We want to manage our own affairs. We want to be friends with both of the great superpowers and also with the nations of Europe. We don’t want to choose up sides.’” The theme echoes today as China also jostles with Russia and the U.S. for influence, and access to Africa’s raw materials. But neither superpower has had an emissary like Carter, who made human rights central to U.S. foreign policy and made 43 more trips to the continent after his presidency, promoting Carter Center projects that sought to empower Africans to determine their own futures. As president, Carter focused on civil and political … “‘Our county ignored Africa,’ Jimmy Carter said. He didn’t” →

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” →