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House passes defense bill to raise troop pay and overhaul weapons purchases

WASHINGTON — The House voted to pass a sweeping defense policy bill Wednesday that authorizes $900 billion in military programs, including a pay raise for troops and an overhaul of how the Department of Defense buys weapons.

The bill’s passage comes at a time of increasing friction between the Republican-controlled Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration over the management of the military.

The annual National Defense Authorization Act typically gained bipartisan backing, and the White House has signaled “strong support” for the must-pass legislation, saying it is in line with Trump’s national security agenda. Yet tucked into the more than-3,000-page bill are several measures that push back against the Department of Defense, including a demand for more information on boat strikes in the Caribbean and support for allies in Europe, such as Ukraine.

Overall, the sweeping bill calls for a 3.8% pay raise for many military members as well as housing and facility improvements on military bases. It also strikes a compromise between the political parties — cutting climate and diversity efforts in line with Trump’s agenda, while also boosting congressional oversight of the Pentagon and repealing several old war authorizations. Still, hard-line conservatives said they were frustrated that the bill does not do more to cut U.S. commitments overseas.

“We need a ready, capable and lethal fighting force because the threats to our nation, especially those from China, are more complex and challenging than at any point in the last 40 years,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, the GOP chair of the House Armed Services Committee.

Lawmakers overseeing the military said the bill would change how the Pentagon buys weapons, with an emphasis on speed after years of delay by the defense industry. It’s also a key priority for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the armed services panel, called the bill “the most ambitious swing at acquisition reform that we’ve taken.”

Still, Smith lamented that the bill does not do as much as Democrats would like to rein in the Trump administration but called it “a step in the right direction towards reasserting the authority of Congress.”

“The biggest concern I have is that the Pentagon, being run by Secretary Hegseth and by President Trump, is simply not accountable to Congress or accountable to the law,” he said.

The legislation next heads to the Senate, where leaders are working to pass the bill before lawmakers depart Washington for a holiday break.

Several senators on both sides of the aisle have criticized the bill for not doing enough to restrict military flights over Washington. They had pushed for reforms after a midair collision this year between an Army helicopter and a jetliner killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft near Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport. The National Transportation Safety Board has also voiced opposition to that section of the bill.

Here’s what the defense bill does as it makes its way through Congress:

Boat strike videos and congressional oversight

Lawmakers included a provision that would cut Hegseth’s travel budget by a quarter until the Pentagon provides Congress with unedited video of the strikes against alleged drug boats near Venezuela. Lawmakers are asserting their oversight role after a Sept. 2 strike where the U.S. military fired on two survivors who were holding on to a boat that had partially been destroyed.

The bill also demands that Hegseth allow Congress to review the orders for the strikes.

Reaffirm commitments to Europe, Korea

Trump’s ongoing support for Ukraine and other allies in Eastern Europe has been under doubt over the last year, but lawmakers included several positions meant to keep up U.S. support for countering Russian aggression in the region.

The defense bill requires the Pentagon to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment stationed in Europe unless NATO allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in U.S. interests. Around 80,000 to 100,000 U.S. troops are usually present on European soil. It also authorizes $400 million for each of the next two years to manufacture weapons to be sent to Ukraine.

Additionally, there is a provision to keep U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, setting the minimum requirement at 28,500.

Cuts to climate and diversity initiatives

The bill makes $1.6 billion in cuts to climate change-related spending, the House Armed Services Committee said. U.S. military assessments have long found that climate change is a threat to national security, with bases being pummeled by hurricanes or routinely flooded.

The bill also would save $40 million by repealing diversity, equity and inclusion offices, programs and trainings, the committee said. The position of chief diversity officer would be cut, for example.

Iraq War resolution repeal

Congress is putting an official end to the war in Iraq by repealing the authorization for the 2003 invasion. Supporters in both the House and Senate say the repeal is crucial to prevent future abuses and to reinforce that Iraq is now a strategic partner of the U.S.

The 2002 resolution has been rarely used in recent years. But the first Trump administration cited it as part of its legal justification for a 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Suleimani.

Lifting final Syria sanctions

Congress would permanently remove U.S. sanctions put on Syria after the Trump administration temporarily lifted many penalties.

Lawmakers imposed economically crippling sanctions on the country in 2019 to punish former leader Bashar Assad for human rights abuses during the nearly 14-year civil war. After Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa led a successful insurgency to depose Assad, he is seeking to rebuild his nation’s economy.

Advocates of a permanent repeal have said international companies are unlikely to invest in projects needed for the country’s reconstruction as long as there is a threat of sanctions returning.

Lack of IVF coverage

Democrats criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) for stripping a provision from the bill to expand coverage of in vitro fertilization for active duty personnel. An earlier version covered the medical procedure, known as IVF, which helps people facing infertility have children.

December 10, 2025
Foreigners allowed to travel to the U.S. without a visa could soon face new social media screening

WASHINGTON — Foreigners who are allowed to come to the United States without a visa could soon be required to submit information about their social media, email accounts and extensive family history to the Department of Homeland Security before being approved for travel.

The notice published Wednesday in the Federal Register said Customs and Border Protection is proposing collecting five years’ worth of social media information from travelers from select countries who do not have to get visas to come to the U.S. The Trump administration has been stepping up monitoring of international travelers and immigrants.

The announcement refers to travelers from more than three dozen countries who take part in the Visa Waiver Program and submit their information to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which automatically screens them and then approves them for travel to the U.S. Unlike visa applicants, they generally do not have to go into an embassy or consulate for an interview.

DHS administers the program, which currently allows citizens of roughly 40 mostly European and Asian countries to travel to the U.S. for tourism or business for three months without visas.

The announcement also said that CBP would start requesting a list of other information, including telephone numbers the person has used over the past five years or email addresses used over the past decade. Also sought would be metadata from electronically submitted photos, as well as extensive information from the applicant’s family members, including their places of birth and their telephone numbers.

The application that people are now required to fill out to take part in ESTA asks for a more limited set of questions such as parents’ names and current email address.

Asked at a White House event whether he was concerned the measure might affect tourism to the U.S., President Donald Trump said no.

“We want safety, we want security, we want to make sure we’re not letting the wrong people come into our country,” Trump said.

The public has 60 days to comment on the proposed changes before they go into effect, the notice said.

CBP officials did not immediately respond to questions about the new rules.

The announcement did not say what the administration was looking for in the social media accounts or why it was asking for more information.

But the agency said it was complying with an executive order that Trump signed in January that called for more screening of people coming to the U.S. to prevent the entry of possible national security threats.

Travelers from countries that are not part of the Visa Waiver Program system are already required to submit their social media information, a policy that dates back to the first Trump administration. The policy remained during Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration.

But citizens from visa waiver countries were not obligated to do so.

Since January, the Trump administration has stepped up checks of immigrants and travelers, both those trying to enter the U.S. as well as those already in the country. Officials have tightened visa rules by requiring that applicants set all of their social media accounts to public so that they can be more easily scrutinized and checked for what authorities view as potential derogatory information. Refusing to set an account to public can be considered grounds for visa denial, according to guidelines provided by the State Department.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services now considers whether an applicant for benefits, such as a green card, “endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused” anti-American, terrorist or antisemitic views.

The heightened interest in social media screening has drawn concern from immigration and free speech advocates about what the Trump administration is looking for and whether the measures target people critical of the administration in an infringement of free speech rights.

December 10, 2025
Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore is jailed, hours after he was fired due to an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with a staff member

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore was jailed on Wednesday, according to court records, hours after he was fired for what the university said was an “inappropriate relationship with a staff member.”

According to the Washtenaw County Jail, the 39-year-old Moore had been booked into the facility as of Wednesday evening. The jail’s records did not provide any information about why Moore was detained or whether any court appearances were scheduled.

In response to media inquires about Moore, the Pittsfield Township Police Department issued a statement that did not mention anyone by name. According to the statement, police were called to investigate an alleged assault in Pittsfield Township, a couple of miles south of Michigan Stadium, and took a person into custody.

The incident was not random and there was no ongoing threat to public safety, police said, and the person was jailed pending a review of charges by prosecutors.

“Given the nature of the allegations, the need to maintain the integrity of the investigation, and its current status at this time, we are prohibited from releasing additional details,” the statement said.

Michigan said it fired Moore for cause after finding evidence of his relationship with the staffer, ending an up-and-down, two-year tenure that saw the Wolverines take a step back on the field after winning the national championship and getting punished by the NCAA.

“This conduct constitutes a clear violation of university policy, and UM maintains zero tolerance for such behavior,” athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement.

The announcement did not include details of the alleged relationship. Moore, who is married with three young daughters, did not return a message from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Moore was 9-3 this year after going 8-5 in his debut season.

He signed a five-year contract with a base annual salary of $5.5 million last year. According to the terms of his deal, the university will not have to buy out the remaining years of Moore’s contract because he was fired for cause.

College football’s winningest program is suddenly looking for a third coach in four years, shortly after a busy cycle that included Lane Kiffin leaving playoff-bound Mississippi for LSU.

Moore, the team’s former offensive coordinator, was promoted to the lead the Wolverines after they won the 2023 national title. He succeeded Jim Harbaugh, who returned to the NFL to lead the Los Angeles Chargers.

The 18th-ranked Wolverines (9-3, 7-2 Big Ten) are set to play No. 14 Texas on Dec. 31 in the Citrus Bowl.

Biff Poggi, who filled in for Moore when he was suspended earlier this season, will serve as interim coach.

Moore, in his second season, was suspended for two games this year as part of self-imposed sanctions for NCAA violations related to a sign-stealing scandal. The NCAA added a third game to the suspension, which would have kept Moore off the sideline for next year’s opener against Western Michigan.

Moore previously deleted an entire 52-message text thread on his personal phone with former staffer Connor Stalions, who led the team’s sign-sealing operation. The texts were later recovered and shared with the NCAA.

Just a few years ago, Moore was Harbaugh’s top assistant and regarded as a rising star.

Moore, who is from Derby, Kansas, didn’t start playing football until his junior year of high school. He played for Butler County Community College in Kansas and as an offensive lineman for coach Bob Stoops at Oklahoma during the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

His coaching career began as a graduate assistant at Louisville before moving on to Central Michigan, where he caught Harbaugh’s attention. Harbaugh hired him in 2018 as tight ends coach.

Moore was promoted to offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator in 2021, when the Wolverines bounced back from a 2-4, pandemic-shortened season and began a three-year run of excellence that culminated in the school’s first national title in 26 years.

He worked his way up within the Wolverines’ staff and filled in as interim coach for four games during the 2023 championship season while Harbaugh served two suspensions for potential NCAA rules violations.

Moore also served a one-game suspension during that year related to a recruiting infractions NCAA case.

Earlier in the 2023 season, Michigan State fired coach Mel Tucker for cause after he engaged in what he described as consensual phone sex with an activist and rape survivor. In 2012, Arkansas fired coach Bobby Petrino due to a sordid scandal that involved a motorcycle crash, an affair with a woman who worked for him and being untruthful to his bosses.

December 10, 2025
Supreme Court wrestles with death penalty in cases of intellectual disabilities

The Supreme Court on Wednesday wrestled with whether to allow Alabama to execute a man with low cognitive function, a ruling that could set new rules for states to condemn those with borderline intellectual disabilities to death row.

Roughly two hours of intense arguments did not seem to produce a consensus among the justices over how states should assess IQ tests to determine mental disability.

In a landmark 2002 ruling Atkins v. Virginia, the court decided that sentencing a mentally disabled person to death violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on “cruel and unusual punishment,” but left it up to states to come up with standards for determining who is too disabled.

Since then, the rules states have used to determine who is ineligible for the death penalty have come before the court several times, in part because many death row inmates skirt the line of intellectual disability.

In the current case, Alabama is asking the court to cut back on protections that those previous rulings have given to those who have borderline intellectual disabilities. The case involves how lower courts weighed Alabama’s use of multiple IQ tests to decide Joseph Clifton Smith should face death for robbing and killing a man in 1997.

Under Alabama’s death penalty rules, a defendant is ineligible for the death penalty if he or she has an IQ at or below 70 and significant deficits in everyday skills and those issues occurred before adulthood. Many states have similar IQ thresholds.

In Wednesday’s argument, Robert Overing, deputy solicitor general for Alabama, told the justices that lower courts, which threw out Smith’s death sentence, had placed too much weight on a single low IQ score and additional evidence of impairment, rather than considering the cumulative results of five tests that placed Smith above the IQ cutoff. He said the latter was a more accurate yardstick for his abilities.

“He didn’t come close to proving an IQ of 70 or below … but the lower courts changed the rules,” Overing said.

The court’s three liberal justices expressed skepticism the law required lower courts to consider the cumulative effect of multiple scores as Overing suggested.

In previous rulings, the high court said defendants were permitted to offer additional evidence of cognitive impairment if IQ scores fell below the threshold, but Overing downplayed that idea. That drew rebukes from the liberals as well as questions from conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

“What you’ve done is shift this to be all about the IQ test, which is not supported by our case law,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson told Overing.

Kavanaugh asked at another point about additional evidence: “What’s the logic or the rationale or the sense behind not having a district court or a trial court or a state court have the ability in those circumstances to go on and look at more?” he asked.

Justice Neil Gorsuch floated the idea of a ruling that would allow states to set the threshold for a claim of mental disability, but not allow eligibility to turn solely on a single IQ test score. Any additional evidence of impairment would not be allowed to outweigh a low test score.

But there was little agreement among the justices as they groped for the proper standard.

Smith’s murder case began in 1997, while he was on work release from prison. Smith and an accomplice robbed a man of $140 and killed him. A jury convicted Smith of capital murder during a robbery and sentenced him to death.

After the court’s 2002 decision in the Atkins case, Smith filed a petition in federal court arguing his intellectual disability met the criteria to bar his execution. The case has gone back and forth in the lower courts ever since.

During an evidentiary hearing, testimony revealed Smith had scored 75, 74, 72, 78 and 74 on IQ tests over the course of his lifetime. Those were the scores Overing, the lawyer for Alabama, pointed to in arguing that the cumulative effect of the tests placed Smith slightly above the state’s IQ cutoff.

The federal district judge considering the case, however, pointed to the test on which Smith scored 72, saying it indicated his IQ could be as low as 69, since the test had a three-point error range. For that reason, the court allowed Smith to present additional evidence of his impairment to assess his cognitive function.

In seventh grade, Smith’s school classified him as “Educable Mentally Retarded,” meaning he had mild intellectual disability. Smith never consistently held a job, never had a bank account and had difficulty following laws, according to testimony in the lower court hearings. He also acted impulsively, and read and did math at a low level.

The court determined Smith’s “actual functioning” was comparable to someone who was intellectually disabled so he couldn’t be sentenced to death.

After an appeals court ruled in Smith’s favor, Alabama appealed to the Supreme Court. The high court vacated the decision, asking the appeals court to clarify whether its ruling was based solely on one low IQ score or had considered other evidence and expert testimony.

The appeals court once again found Smith was intellectually disabled and said its decision was based on a holistic approach that considered Smith’s deficits in everyday skills along with the IQ score of 72. Alabama again appealed to the Supreme Court, which agreed to take up the case it heard Wednesday.

Seth P. Waxman, an attorney for Smith, said the lower courts had not erred in their assessment of Smith and it was proper to consider additional evidence of his impairment.

“Every court in Alabama … this court and every other court in every other state that I am aware of understands that raw observed test scores is not the definition of true IQ,” Waxman said.

But Harry Graver, an attorney for the Trump administration, which backed Alabama’s position, said the lower court did not give proper weight to the multiple IQ scores.

“Even if you look at other evidence, you still need to circle back and see how that weighs against the evidence on the other side of the scale,” Graver said.

Smith’s case is not the first time the Supreme Court has tackled intellectual disability and the death penalty.

In a 2014 case from Florida and a 2019 case from Texas, the high court noted that IQ tests are not precise. In the 2019 case, the court specifically said that lower courts needed to consider the possible error range in IQ scores.

December 10, 2025
First of 30 oil lease sales planned for Gulf of Mexico draws $279 million

WASHINGTON — Oil companies offered $279 million for drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday in the first of 30 sales planned for the region under Republican efforts to ramp up U.S. fossil fuel production.

The sale came after President Donald Trump’s administration recently announced plans to allow new drilling off Florida and California for the first time in decades. That’s drawn pushback including from Republicans worried about impacts to tourism.

Wednesday’s sale was mandated by the sweeping tax-and-spending bill approved by Republicans over the summer. Under that legislation, companies will pay a 12.5% royalty on oil produced from the leases. That’s the lowest royalty level for deep-water drilling since 2007.

Thirty companies submitted bids, including industry giants Chevron, Shell and BP, federal officials said. The total amount of high bids was down by more than $100 million from the previous lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, under former Democratic President Joe Biden, in December 2023.

“This sale reflects a significant step in the federal government’s efforts to restore U.S. energy dominance and advance responsible offshore energy development,” said Laura Robbins, acting director of the Gulf region for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which is part of the Interior Department.

The administration’s promotion of fossil fuels contrasts sharply with its hostility to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind. A judge on Monday struck down an executive order from Trump blocking wind energy projects, saying it violated U.S. law.

Environmentalists said the fossil fuel sales would put wildlife in the Gulf at an higher risk of dying in oil spills. Spills occur regularly in the region and have included the 2010 Deepwater Horizon tragedy that killed 11 workers in an oil rig explosion and unleashed a massive spill.

“The Gulf is already overwhelmed with thousands of oil rigs and pipelines, and oil companies are doing a terrible job of cleaning up after themselves,” said Rachel Matthews with the Center for Biological Diversity.

Erik Milito with the National Ocean Industries Association, an industry group, said the takeaway from Wednesday’s sale was that the Gulf “is open.”

While results of individual lease sales may fluctuate, Milito added, “the real success is the resumption of a regular leasing cadence.”

“Knowing that (another lease sale) is coming in March 2026 allows companies to plan, study, and refine their bids, rather than being forced to respond to the uncertainty of a politically-driven multiyear pause,” he said.

At least two lease sales annually are mandated through 2039 and one in 2040.

The sales support an executive order by Trump that directs federal agencies to accelerate offshore oil and gas development, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement. He said it would unlock investment, strengthen U.S. energy security and create jobs.

But Earthjustice attorney George Torgun said the Trump administration conducted the sale without analyzing how it would expose the entire Gulf region to oil spills, how communities could be harmed by pollution and how it could devastate vulnerable marine life such as the endangered Rice’s whale, which numbers only in the dozens and lives in the Gulf of Mexico.

The environmental group has asked a federal judge to ensure that the lease sale and future oil sales better protect Gulf communities.

Only a small portion of parcels offered for sale typically receive bids, in areas where companies want to expand their existing drilling activities or where they foresee future development potential. It can be years before drilling occurs.

The drilling leases sold in December 2023 and during another sale in March 2023 are held up by litigation, according to Robbins. A federal court ruled this spring that Interior officials did not adequately account for impacts to planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions and the Rice’s whale.

December 10, 2025
Trump says the U.S. has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as tensions mount with the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

Using U.S. forces to seize an oil tanker is incredibly unusual and marks the Trump administration’s latest push to increase pressure on Maduro, who has been charged with narcoterrorism in the United States. The U.S. has built up the largest military presence in the region in decades and launched a series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. The campaign is facing growing scrutiny from Congress.

“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually,” Trump told reporters at the White House, later adding that “it was seized for a very good reason.”

Trump did not offer additional details. When asked what would happen to the oil aboard the tanker, Trump said, “Well, we keep it, I guess.”

The seizure was led by the U.S. Coast Guard and supported by the Navy, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The official added that the seizure was conducted under U.S. law enforcement authority.

The Coast Guard members were taken to that ship by helicopter from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, the official said. The Ford is in the Caribbean Sea after arriving last month in a major show of force, joining a fleet of other warships that have been increasing pressure on Maduro.

Video posted online by Attorney General Pam Bondi shows people fast-roping from one of the helicopters involved in the operation as it hovers just feet from the deck.

The Coast Guard members can be seen in later shots of the video moving throughout the superstructure of the ship with their weapons drawn.

Bondi wrote that “for multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.”

Half of ship’s oil is tied to Cuban importer

The U.S. official identified the seized tanker as the Skipper.

The ship departed Venezuela around Dec. 2 with about 2 million barrels of heavy crude, roughly half of it belonging to a Cuban state-run oil importer, according to documents from the state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., commonly known as PDVSA, that were provided on the condition of anonymity because the person did not have permission to share them.

The Skipper was previously known as the M/T Adisa, according to ship tracking data. The Adisa was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2022 over accusations of belonging to a sophisticated network of shadow tankers that smuggled crude oil on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group.

The network was reportedly run by a Switzerland-based Ukrainian oil trader, the U.S. Treasury Departmeny said at the time.

Hitting Venezuela’s sanctioned oil business

Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves and produces about 1 million barrels a day. Locked out of global oil markets by U.S. sanctions, the state-owned oil company sells most of its output at a steep discount to refiners in China.

The transactions usually involve a complex network of shadowy intermediaries, as sanctions have scared away more established traders. Many are shell companies, registered in jurisdictions known for secrecy. The buyers deploy so-called ghost tankers that hide their location and hand off their valuable cargoes in the middle of the ocean before they reach their final destination.

Maduro did not address the seizure during a speech before a ruling-party organized demonstration in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital. But he told supporters that the country is “prepared to break the teeth of the North American empire if necessary.”

Maduro, flanked by senior officials, said only the ruling party can “guarantee peace, stability, and the harmonious development of Venezuela, South America and the Caribbean.”

During past negotiations, among the concessions the U.S. has made to Maduro was approval for oil giant Chevron Corp. to resume pumping and exporting Venezuelan oil. The corporation’s activities in the South American country resulted in a financial lifeline for Maduro’s government.

Maduro has insisted the real purpose of the U.S. military operations is to force him from office.

Democrat says move is about ‘regime change’

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the U.S. seizing of the oil tanker cast doubt on the administration’s stated reasons for the military buildup and boat strikes in the region.

“This shows that their whole cover story — that this is about interdicting drugs — is a big lie,” the senator said. “This is just one more piece of evidence that this is really about regime change — by force.”

The seizure comes a day after the U.S. military flew a pair of fighter jets over the Gulf of Venezuela in what appeared to be the closest that warplanes had come to the South American country’s airspace. Trump has said land attacks are coming soon but has not offered more details.

The Trump administration is facing increasing scrutiny from lawmakers over the boat-strike campaign, which has killed at least 87 people in 22 known strikes since early September, including a follow-up strike that killed two survivors clinging to the wreckage of a boat after the first hit.

Some legal experts and Democrats say that action may have violated the laws governing the use of deadly military force.

Lawmakers are demanding to get unedited video from the strikes, but Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told congressional leaders Tuesday he was still weighing whether to release it. Hegseth provided a classified briefing for congressional leaders alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

It was not immediately clear Wednesday who owned the tanker or what national flag it was sailing under. The Coast Guard referred a request for comment to the White House.

December 10, 2025
Israel reopens Jordan crossing as pressure builds to advance Gaza truce

Trucks carrying goods from Jordan crossed into the West Bank for the first time in months on Wednesday, after Israel said it would reopen a key land bridge with its neighbor, including for aid and other cargo bound for the Gaza Strip.

It was unclear whether the first trucks out of the gate were transporting humanitarian supplies or commercial items, but a spokesperson for COGAT, the branch of the Israeli Defense Ministry that controls aid flows to Gaza, confirmed that the crossing, known as Allenby, was open for the passage of aid.

The move to restore Allenby as a transit point for relief comes as pressure builds on Israel to move a tenuous U.S.-backed ceasefire in Gaza into its second phase, and as the United Nations and other aid organizations have warned that nowhere near enough supplies are being allowed into the enclave to meet the needs of the Palestinian population, the majority of whom are displaced and living in makeshift shelters or tents.

Under the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, Israeli authorities are supposed to allow at least 600 trucks of aid to enter Gaza each day. But the United Nations and other aid agencies say they continue to face bottlenecks and other restrictions, including delays and denials of cargo, custom clearance challenges and limited routes inside Gaza for transporting humanitarian goods.

Israel closed the border in September after a Jordanian truck driver killed two Israeli soldiers at the crossing. An Israeli security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press, said Jordanian truck drivers would undergo stricter screening processes and that a dedicated security force had been assigned to monitor the terminal.

The reopening also coincided with a visit to Israel and Jordan by the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Mike Waltz, who met on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A statement from the U.S. mission to the U.N. said Waltz “welcomed Israel’s cooperation on expanding border crossings,” including Allenby. Waltz also met with Jordan’s King Abdullah on Sunday.

In recent days, both Israeli and Hamas officials have said that there will be no discussion of moving to the second phase of President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan until the first phase has been fully implemented. Both continue to point fingers at the other for not holding up their side of the deal. Israel has blamed Hamas for being slow to return the bodies of hostages, with one remaining in Gaza. Hamas has, in turn, pointed to the continued closure of border crossings for medical evacuations and aid and the daily fire that Israeli troops are carrying out in Gaza.

But as pressure from the U.S. and other mediators to push the deal into the next phase grows, Netanyahu said Sunday that the transition could happen “very shortly” and announced he will meet with Trump on Dec. 29. A Hamas official also told the Associated Press on Sunday that the group is open to “freezing or storing” its weapons arsenal as part of the ceasefire.

The second phase, which in theory would involve the disarmament of Hamas, withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory, and the formation of an international force to maintain security, is likely to be far more complicated to achieve than even the first phase. Any delays in reaching that second phase leaves open the prospect of a status quo being established in Gaza in which Israel continues to occupy half of the enclave.

One remaining step is the return of the remains of Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old Israeli police officer who was killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

“Without Gvili, Israel will not begin the talks over phase two,” said an Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

U.N. agencies have reported an increase in aid that has been allowed into Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect, but say the levels are still far below what is needed for a population trying to recover from widespread malnutrition, famine and infectious diseases with a decimated health care system.

Israel has allowed commercial operators and aid groups that bypass the U.N. system to scale up their operations more rapidly than other major relief organizations with long-running histories of assistance in Gaza. In particular, Israel has refused to allow UNRWA, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees, to deliver aid, despite its sprawling infrastructure in Gaza and decades-long presence in the territory.

“A shockingly high number” of children are still suffering from acute malnutrition, said Tess Ingram, a spokeswoman for UNICEF, the U.N. children’s agency, according to comments reported by Reuters.

Ingram also told reporters on Tuesday that opening the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza, which links it with Egypt, could help bring down the number of children suffering from malnutrition. “We really need to see all types of aid come in, particularly nutritious food through commercial routes as well,” Ingram said.

Israel said last week that it would reopen the crossing in the coming days, but only for the exit of Palestinians from Gaza.

Millions of shelter items have also been stuck in Jordan, Egypt and Israel while awaiting Israeli approval to enter, a consortium of humanitarian organizations focused on providing shelter aid said in November.

A severe winter storm landing in the region this week threatens 850,000 people sheltering in 761 displacement sites particularly vulnerable to flooding in the Gaza Strip, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. On Wednesday, there were reports of flooding in large parts of Gaza City, particularly low-lying areas.

“The entire services system is unable able to rescue displaced people due to the heavy rain and flooding,” said Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for Gaza Civil Defense, in a statement to reporters. “Rainwater has risen to more than one meter in some shelter centers.”

The storm, dubbed Byron, has already hit Greece and Cyprus and is expected to bring as much as eight inches of rain to Israel and Gaza.

“Low pressure fronts pose a major danger to displaced people and residents because of the destruction inflicted on the infrastructure,” Gaza municipality spokesman Hosni Mhanna told Al Araby TV on Wednesday.

December 10, 2025
EU enlargement chief: Ukraine’s membership ‘inevitable’

KYIV, Ukraine — The European Union’s enlargement chief said Wednesday she is confident Hungary will not derail Ukraine’s path to membership, which she described as “inevitable.”

“I’m not worried,” Commissioner Marta Kos told reporters while visiting a thermal power plant in Western Ukraine that was badly damaged by Russia’s campaign against civilian infrastructure. “I would be worried if there were real concerns.”

“On EU membership of Ukraine — which is inevitable — I see this as a political anchor of security guarantees,” she said, noting that “There has never been a war on the territory of the European Union.”

Ukraine hopes to join the bloc by the end of the decade and remains frustrated that its path to NATO membership looks uncertain.

Kyiv applied for EU membership in 2022 shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Now, Commissioner Kos is convening an informal meeting of European affairs ministers Thursday to prepare for the next stage of accession talks.

Kos hinted that the process could move even faster, saying “The quicker the reforms which are needed will be done, the quicker the process can be.”

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has opposed launching membership talks while the war continues. Yet, Kos dismissed his objections saying “We do not need Orbán to do the reforms which are necessary for Ukraine to become a member of the EU.”

The Slovenian diplomat toured the heavily damaged power plant, where heavy machinery was blackened, control panels melted and a giant hole gaped in the roof of one of the main buildings.

Andrii, a turbine operator on duty during a recent attack, described the chaos that followed.

“The first thing you feel is a huge rush of adrenaline. There’s heavy smoke, loud noise, pressure — you can’t hear your colleagues,” he said. “Damaged equipment means escaping steam and high-temperature feedwater. At first it’s very difficult to orient yourself in the smoke.”

Company officials asked that the plant’s location and the full names of employees not be published for security reasons.

The thermal power plant is one of six operated by private utility DTEK that have sustained major damage from relentless Russian drone and missile attacks in recent weeks.

Kos praised the resilience of power workers and Ukrainians in general.

“There is no other more resistant nation in the world which I know than the Ukrainians,” she said, recalling Russian President Vladimir Putin’s expectation of a quick victory. “Putin said it would take one week. But here we are and it’s been nearly four years, so you are already the winners.”

December 10, 2025
Ukraine to give revised peace plans to U.S. as Kyiv readies for more talks with its coalition partners

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine is expected to give its latest peace proposals to U.S. negotiators this week, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, ahead of his urgent talks with leaders and officials from about 30 other countries supporting Kyiv’s effort to end the war with Russia on acceptable terms.

As tension builds around a U.S. push for a settlement, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to President Donald Trump by phone Wednesday, according to officials.

Negotiations are at “a critical moment,” the European leaders said in official statements.

Trump said the men discussed Ukraine “in pretty strong terms.” He also said Zelensky “has to be realistic” about the war and that European leaders would like a meeting this coming weekend with both the U.S. and Ukraine.

“We’ll make a determination depending on what they come back with,” the president told reporters during a question-and-answer session at the White House.

Washington’s goal of a swift compromise to stop the fighting that followed Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 is reducing Kyiv’s room for maneuvering. Zelensky is walking a tightrope between defending Ukrainian interests and showing Trump he is willing to compromise, even as Moscow shows no public sign of budging from its demands.

Ukraine’s European allies are backing Zelensky’s effort to ensure that any settlement is fair and deters future Russian attacks, as well as accommodating Europe’s defense interests.

The French government said Ukraine’s allies — dubbed the “Coalition of the Willing” — will discuss the negotiations Thursday by video. Zelensky said it would include those countries’ leaders.

“We need to bring together 30 colleagues very quickly. And it’s not easy, but nevertheless we will do it,” he said late Tuesday.

Zelensky said discussions with the U.S. were scheduled later Wednesday to focus on a document detailing plans for Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction and economic development. Also, Ukraine is finalizing work on a separate, 20-point framework for ending the war. Zelensky said Kyiv expects to submit that document to Washington soon.

Zelensky says he’s ready for an election

After Trump called for a presidential election in Ukraine, Zelensky said his country would be ready for such a vote within three months if partners can guarantee safe balloting during wartime and if its electoral law can be altered.

Zelensky’s openness to an election was a response to comments by Trump in which he questioned Ukraine’s democracy and suggested the Ukrainian leader was using the war as an excuse not to stand before voters. Those comments echo similar remarks often made by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zelensky said late Tuesday he is “ready” for an election but needs help from the U.S. and possibly Europe to ensure its security. He suggested Ukraine could hold balloting in 60 to 90 days if that proviso is met.

“To hold elections, two issues must be addressed: primarily, security — how to conduct them, how to do it under strikes, under missile attacks; and a question regarding our military — how they would vote,” Zelensky said. “And the second issue is the legislative framework required to ensure the legitimacy of elections.”

Zelensky pointed out previously that balloting can’t legally happen while martial law — imposed due to Russia’s invasion — is in place. He has also asked how a vote could occur when civilian areas of Ukraine are being bombarded and almost 20% of the country is under Russian occupation.

Zelensky said he has asked lawmakers from his party to draw up legislative proposals allowing for an election while Ukraine is under martial law.

Ukrainians have on the whole supported Zelensky’s arguments, and have not clamored for an election. Under the law that is in force, Zelensky’s rule is legitimate.

Putin has repeatedly complained that Zelensky can’t legitimately negotiate a peace settlement because his five-year term that began in 2019 has expired.

U.S. seeks closer ties with Russia

A new U.S. national security strategy released Dec. 5 made clear that Trump wants to improve Washington’s relationship with Moscow and “reestablish strategic stability with Russia.” The document also portrays European allies as weak.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised Trump’s role in the Ukraine peace effort, telling the upper house of parliament that Moscow appreciates his “commitment to dialogue.” Trump, Lavrov said, is “the only Western leader” who shows “an understanding of the reasons that made war in Ukraine inevitable.”

Trump’s peace efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv.

The initial U.S. proposal was heavily slanted toward Russia’s demands. To counter that, Zelensky has turned to his European supporters.

Zelensky met this week with the leaders of Britain, Germany, and France in London, the heads of NATO and the European Union in Brussels, and then went to Rome to meet the Italian premier and Pope Leo XIV.

Military aid for Ukraine declines

Europe’s support is uneven, however, and that has meant a decrease in military aid since the Trump administration this year cut off supplies to Kyiv unless they were paid for by other NATO countries.

Foreign military help for Ukraine fell sharply over the summer, and that trend continued through September and October, a German body that tracks international help for Ukraine said Wednesday.

Average annual aid, mostly provided by the U.S. and Europe, was about 41.6 billion euros ($48.4 billion) between 2022–24. But so far this year Ukraine has received just 32.5 billion euros ($37.8 billion), the Kiel Institute said.

This year, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden have substantially increased their help for Ukraine, while Germany nearly tripled its average monthly allocations and France and the U.K. both more than doubled their contributions, the Kiel Institute said.

On the other hand, it said, Spain recorded no new military aid for Kyiv in 2025 while Italy reduced its low contributions by 15% compared with 2022–2024.

December 10, 2025
WTF? Embracing profanity is one thing both political parties seem to agree on

WASHINGTON — As he shook President Barack Obama’s hand and pulled him in for what he thought was a private aside, Vice President Joe Biden delivered an explicit message: “This is a big f— deal.” The remark, overheard on live microphones at a 2010 ceremony for the Affordable Care Act, caused a sensation because open profanity from a national leader was unusual at the time.

More than 15 years later, vulgarity is now in vogue.

During a political rally Tuesday night in Pennsylvania that was intended to focus on tackling inflation, President Donald Trump used profanity at least four times. At one point, he even admitted to disparaging Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries” during a private 2018 meeting, a comment he denied at the time. And before a bank of cameras during a lengthy cabinet meeting last week, the Republican president referred to alleged drug smugglers as “sons of bitches.”

Trump strays from script at Pennsylvania rally, calling affordability a ‘hoax’ and Pa. a ‘dumping ground’ for immigrants

While the Biden incident was accidental, the frequency, sharpness, and public nature of Trump’s comments are intentional. They build on his project to combat what he sees as pervasive political correctness. Leaders in both parties are seemingly in a race now to the verbal gutter.

Vice President JD Vance called a podcast host a “dips—” in September. In Thanksgiving remarks before troops, Vance joked that anyone who said they liked turkey was “full of s—.” After one National Guard member was killed in a shooting in Washington last month and a second was critically injured, top Trump aide Steven Cheung told a reporter on social media to “shut the f— up” when she wrote that the deployment of troops in the nation’s capital was “for political show.”

Among Democrats, former Vice President Kamala Harris earned a roar of approval from her audience in September when she condemned the Trump administration by saying “these motherf— are crazy.” After Trump called for the execution of several Democratic members of Congress last month, Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) said it was time for people with influence to “pick a f— side.” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the administration cannot “f— around” with the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who on Monday announced her Senate campaign in Texas, did not hold back earlier this year when asked what she would tell Elon Musk if given the chance: “F— off.”

The volley of vulgarities underscore an ever-coarsening political environment that often plays out on social media or other digital platforms where the posts or video clips that evoke the strongest emotions are rewarded with the most engagement.

“If you want to be angry at someone, be angry at the social media companies,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, said Tuesday night at Washington National Cathedral, where he spoke at an event focused on political civility. “It’s not a fair fight. They’ve hijacked our brains. They understand these dopamine hits. Outrage sells.”

Cox, whose national profile rose after calling for civility in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination in his state, approved an overhaul of social media laws meant to protect children. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the state law.

Tough political talk is nothing new

Tough talk is nothing new in politics, but leaders long avoided flaunting it.

Recordings from Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration, for instance, revealed a crude, profane side of his personality that was largely kept private. Republican Richard Nixon bemoaned the fact that the foul language he used in the Oval Office was captured on tape. “Since neither I nor most other Presidents had ever used profanity in public, millions were shocked,” Nixon wrote in his book In the Arena.

“Politicians have always sworn, just behind closed doors,” said Benjamin Bergen, a professor at the University of California-San Diego’s Department of Cognitive Science and the author of What the F: What swearing reveals about our language, our brains, and ourselves. “The big change is in the past 10 years or so, it’s been much more public.”

As both parties prepare for the 2026 midterm elections and the 2028 presidential campaign, the question is whether this language will become increasingly mainstream. Republicans who simply try to imitate Trump’s brash style do not always succeed with voters. Democrats who turn to vulgarities risk appearing inauthentic if their words feel forced.

For some, it is just a distraction.

“It’s not necessary,” said GOP Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who is retiring next year after winning five elections in one of the most competitive House districts. “If that’s what it takes to get your point across, you’re not a good communicator.”

There are risks of overusing profanity

There also is a risk that if such language becomes overused, its utility as a way to shock and connect with audiences could be dulled. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld has talked about this problem, noting that he used swear words in his early routines but dropped them as his career progressed because he felt profanity yielded only cheap laughs.

“I felt like well I just got a laugh because I said f— in there,” he said in a 2020 interview on the WTF podcast with fellow comedian Marc Maron. “You didn’t find the gold.”

White House spokesperson Liz Huston said Trump “doesn’t care about being politically correct, he cares about making America great again. The American people love how authentic, transparent, and effective the President is.”

But for Trump, the words that have generated the most controversy are often less centered in traditional profanity than slurs that can be interpreted as hurtful. The final weeks of his 2016 campaign were rocked when a tape emerged of him discussing grabbing women by their genitals, language he minimized as “locker room talk.” His “shithole” remark in 2018 was widely condemned as racist.

More recently, Trump called Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey “piggy,” comments that his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, defended as evidence of a president who is “very frank and honest.” Trump’s use of a slur about disabled people prompted an Indiana Republican whose child has Down syndrome to come out in opposition to the president’s push to redraw the state’s congressional districts.

Gov. Josh Shapiro says Kamala Harris’ descriptions of him were ‘blatant lies’ intended to sell books

On rare occasions, politicians express contrition for their choice of words. In an interview with The Atlantic published last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, dismissed Harris’ depiction of him in her book about last year’s presidential campaign by saying she was “trying to sell books and cover her a—.”

He seemed to catch himself quickly.

“I shouldn’t say ‘cover her a—,” he said. “I think that’s not appropriate.”

December 10, 2025