This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Crowds confront security forces on Tehran's Jomhouri Street, forcing units to retreat from the area. Protests spread across Iran on Tuesday after President Donald Trump and other administration officials voiced support for demonstrators. Speaking Monday, Trump pointed to Iran's economic collapse and long-standing public discontent while stopping short of calling for regime change. Inside Iran, demonstrations entered a third consecutive day, expanding beyond the capital's commercial center. The exiled opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reported widespread strikes and student protests across Tehran and multiple provincial cities, describing clashes with security forces and anti-government chants. A video obtained by the NCRI appears to show protesters pushing back security forces, forcing them to leave the scene on Tehran's Jomhouri Street. Security forces tightened entry controls at campuses and reinforced offices linked to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Mobile phone traders gathered outside major shopping centers after closing their stores. Speaking at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, Trump said he was "not going to talk about overthrow of a regime." Instead, he focused on Iran's deteriorating economy and the state's violent response to protests. He said that when Iranians gather to protest, the regime responds with lethal force. Nooses with red roses are displayed during the Anglo-Iranian community rally to support the Iranian people's push for a new revolution. "Every time they have a riot or somebody forms a group, little or big, they start shooting people," Trump said. All of a sudden people start getting shot and that group disbanded pretty quickly." Trump said he has watched the unrest build for years, describing Iran's leadership as brutal. "I've watched this for years — there is tremendous discontent," he said. His remarks came as protests intensified following the collapse of Iran's currency to historic lows. The rial fell to roughly 1.45 million per U.S. dollar on the open market, triggering strikes and demonstrations centered on Tehran's Grand Bazaar and spreading to other major cities, according to Iran International's live reporting. Videos and eyewitness accounts described heavy security deployments, clashes with demonstrators and the use of tear gas as unrest widened. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz issued a direct message of support. "The people of Iran want freedom," Waltz wrote on X. "We stand with Iranians in the streets of Tehran and across the country as they protest a radical regime that has brought them nothing but economic downturn and war." A parallel statement from the U.S. government's Persian-language account, @USAbehFarsi, said Washington supports the Iranian people's efforts "to make their voices heard," urging the Islamic Republic to respect fundamental rights rather than suppress protests. Reuters reported that government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said Tehran recognizes protests and that officials would set up a mechanism to engage with protest leaders. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian directed his interior minister to address protesters' "legitimate demands" and engage in dialogue with their representatives. Independent analysts warned the unrest reflects deeper structural strains. The OSINT research group SpecialEurasia said in an assessment on Tuesday that Iran's internal stability has reached a "critical threshold," citing the convergence of currency collapse, renewed international sanctions and chronic water and energy shortages. NCRI's claims reflect opposition reporting and cannot be independently verified due to restrictions on access inside Iran. Protesters march in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. Cameron Khansarinia, vice president of the National Union for Democracy in Iran, said the latest demonstrations underscore a growing shift in public sentiment. "Iranians have once again taken to the streets." Citing President Donald Trump's remarks this week, he added that "each time they do, the regime tries to crush it," but argued that "Iranians' desire to be free is increasingly becoming greater than their fear of the regime." Khansarinia claimed that chants in support of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi have been growing in the protests, saying the protesters showed "remarkable bravery." As protests continue, verification of casualties and arrests remains limited, but the scale and spread of the unrest underscore mounting pressure on Iran's leadership amid economic free fall and growing public defiance. Efrat Lachter is an investigative reporter and war correspondent. She is a recipient of the 2024 Knight-Wallace Fellowship for Journalism. Lachter can be followed on X @efratlachter. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Eurostar blamed “overhead power supply issues in the Channel Tunnel” and what it said was a failed train operated by LeShuttle, which transports vehicles and their passengers by rail through the tunnel between the ports of Calais, France, and Folkestone, England. (AP video and production by Alexander Turnbull) Travelers queue for Eurostar services at St Pancras International station in London, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. The screen board displays the trains' arrival status at St Pancras International train station in London, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025 after Eurostar asked train customers not to travel because of disruption in the Channel Tunnel. Travellers queue for Eurostar services at St Pancras International station in London, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025 after Eurostar asked train customers not to travel because of disruption in the Channel Tunnel. Travellers wait for Eurostar services at St Pancras International station in London, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. PARIS (AP) — Power problems and a stuck train interrupted rail services through the undersea Channel Tunnel connecting the United Kingdom and continental Europe on Tuesday, operators said, stranding passengers during the busy end-of-year holidays. At Paris' Gare du Nord station, Jamie and Issy Gill scrambled to find a flight back to the U.K. after their Eurostar train to London was canceled, desperate to be reunited with their baby boy after a getaway in the French capital. “We came for my 30th birthday,” Issy Gill said, wiping away tears. On Tuesday afternoon, Eurostar said the tunnel was partially reopening but with only one of its two train lines, allowing Eurostar services to resume in the evening — although with expected continued delays and longer journey times than usual. It advised passengers to rebook their journeys on other days. The 50-kilometer (32-mile) Channel Tunnel, more than half of it undersea, has revolutionized U.K.-Europe rail travel since its inauguration in 1994. But because it's the only fixed cross-English Channel rail link, train services tend to be vulnerable to severe disruptions. The Gare du Nord station heaved with frustrated passengers trying to book plane or bus tickets. “I'm disgusted, disheartened,” said Sarah Omouri, a French traveler whose plans to celebrate the New Year in London were dashed. Now we're told that everything is fully booked for several days. In London, would-be traveler John Paul had expected to enjoy a romantic river cruise in Paris and a trip to the Eiffel Tower with his partner, Lucy, but their Eurostar got turned back before reaching the continent. “They kept telling us that the driver was trying to fix the brakes on this other train and that the other trains were then backed up,” he said. The Channel Tunnel's operator, Eurotunnel, said that the power supply problem started overnight Monday in part of the tunnel, impacting passenger and vehicle travel by rail in both directions.

PARIS (AP) — Call them Monsieur and Madame Clooney. France's government says that George Clooney, his wife Amal and their twins Ella and Alexander have been awarded French citizenship. The government notice indicated that human rights lawyer Amal Clooney was naturalized under her maiden name, Amal Alamuddin. It also noted that George Clooney's middle name is Timothy. “I was worried about raising our kids in L.A., in the culture of Hollywood,” he told the magazine. “I don't want them to be walking around worried about paparazzi. I don't want them being compared to somebody else's famous kids.” Growing up away from the spotlight in France, “they're not on their iPads, you know?” he said. Representatives for George Clooney did not respond to The Associated Press' request for comment Monday. It wasn't clear whether he retained his American citizenship. The 8-year-old twins were born in London. The French government's Interior Ministry did not explain why the Clooneys were entitled to French citizenship but said in a statement to the AP that the couple “followed a rigorous procedure” with security checks and interviews required as part of the naturalization process. Non-French residents of France have multiple possible routes to becoming naturalized, including if they are deemed to have abilities and talents that would enable them to render what the government describes as “important services to France.” In recent media interviews when he was promoting “Jay Kelly,” Clooney said that he is trying to teach himself French using a language-learning app but that it remains “horrible, horrible.” He said that his wife and children speak the language perfectly. “They speak French in front of me so that they can say terrible things about me to my face and I don't know,” he joked, speaking to French broadcaster Canal+. French media have reported that the Clooneys live part-time in their luxury 18th-century villa outside the town of Brignoles in southern France, where they can keep a lower profile and their children are protected from unauthorized photographs by French privacy laws. Brignoles Mayor Didier Brémond told broadcaster BFMTV on Tuesday that the Clooneys are “a very simple and very accessible family” and noted that the actor shops in town and attended the opening of its cinema. Their decision to become French citizens testified to “his love for our country,” the mayor said. Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Maria Sherman in New York contributed to this report.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Fox News Flash top headlines are here. U.S. Central Command announced on Tuesday that the U.S. and partner forces have terminated or captured nearly 25 ISIS figures since a December 19 strike in Syria. "U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and partners across Syria killed at least seven ISIS members and captured the remainder during 11 missions conducted Dec. 20-29. "These recent missions followed the launch of Operation Hawkeye Strike on Dec. 19 when U.S. and Jordanian forces struck over 70 targets with more than 100 precision munitions. The massive strike executed by dozens of fighter aircraft, attack helicopters and artillery destroyed ISIS infrastructure and weapons sites across central Syria," the article explained. President Donald Trump, alongside Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, holds a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 2, 2025. The U.S. and partner forces in Syria have carried out activity in the last 12 months that led to more than 300 terrorists getting detained and more than 20 being killed, according to CENTCOM. The CENTCOM post noted that this year, there have been "at least 11 plots or attacks against targets in the United States" that were inspired by ISIS. President Donald Trump salutes as he observes the return of the remains of two Iowa National Guard members and a translator killed in an attack in Syria during a ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Dec. 17, 2025. "We will not relent," CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said in a statement. "Continuing to hunt down terrorist operatives, eliminate ISIS networks, and work with partners to prevent an ISIS resurgence makes America, the region, and the world safer," Cooper added. Two Iowa Army National Guard soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed earlier this month in Syria. The soldiers were later identified as Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Sgt. Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital. By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. founder Corey Brooks says people are 'hungry for authenticity' and 'rejecting groupthink' in the new year while calling on Americans to form opinions based on truth. I have now made it from New York to the great state of Georgia on my Walk Across America, a million-step effort to raise funds for Project H.O.O.D. 's Leadership and Economic Opportunity Center in Chicago. I realized last week that I will be spending this New Year's Day here and, with 2026 fast approaching, I've been reflecting on what our nation needs the most as we begin a new year. For years, I have watched as brave individuals from the hip-hop community, the R&B world, pop stars, movie actors and even everyday folks come under fierce attack for simply voicing what they believe. You have Justine Bateman out in California going against the grain with her criticisms of the political happenings there. You have Azealia Banks, who has been fierce in her defense of Israel and other issues. And you have artists like Nicki Minaj, who have faced backlash for speaking out on matters close to their hearts, whether it's faith, family values or questioning the mainstream narrative. CEO and Chair of the Board of Turning Point USA Erika Kirk (left) speaks with U.S. rapper Nicki Minaj (right) during Turning Point's annual AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 21, 2025. I know I am leaving countless people out, but this is what we need more of in the New Year: people stepping forward, refusing to stay silent, and arguing from principle and Judeo-Christian morality. The fact that we've had wave upon wave of these brave individuals tells me something powerful: America is waking up. MY WALK ACROSS AMERICA IS A LESSON IN GRATITUDE AND GIVING THANKSI don't mean to give the impression that I'm focusing just on celebrities here. Just this week I had the pleasure of having Wenyuan Wu joining our walk in Athens, Georgia, along with my friend and fellow pastor, Sean Seay. Wenyuan is the executive director of the Californians for Equal Rights Foundation (CFER) and she fights daily for equal rights, merit-based policies and parental rights for all Americans. She came to this country as an immigrant, but as we walked together, I found myself marveling at how deeply American she is. She is a woman of God who believes with all her strength in the individual. And she has been speaking out for years. This, my friends, is where true freedom begins — in the mind. He didn't create us as clones marching in lockstep. He made us unique, with the ability to reason, question and seek truth. Aren't we then, in a sense, betraying the gift that God has bestowed upon us as Americans? That is why, in this coming year, we cannot be afraid to stand apart from the norm. If your convictions — rooted in faith, common sense and personal experience — differ from the popular opinion, hold fast. I've seen this play out in small and big ways. If your friends turn their backs on you because you vote differently, or because you speak up for biblical truth, they were never true friends. They're rejecting groupthink and embracing personal conviction. Read widely, pray deeply, listen to opposing views — but decide for yourself based on truth and principle. In 2026, let's make it the year of more and more of us standing up for what's right. After all, God does extraordinary things through ordinary people who dare to use the minds He gave them. Pastor Corey Brooks, known as the "Rooftop Pastor," is the founder and Senior Pastor of New Beginnings Church of Chicago and the CEO of Project H.O.O.D. (Helping Others Obtain Destiny), the church's local mission. He gained national attention for his 94-day and 343-day rooftop vigils to transform the notorious "O-Block," once known as Chicago's most dangerous block, into #OpportunityBlock. By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Eurostar blamed “overhead power supply issues in the Channel Tunnel” and what it said was a failed train operated by LeShuttle, which transports vehicles and their passengers by rail through the tunnel between the ports of Calais, France, and Folkestone, England. (AP video and production by Alexander Turnbull) Travelers queue for Eurostar services at St Pancras International station in London, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. The screen board displays the trains' arrival status at St Pancras International train station in London, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025 after Eurostar asked train customers not to travel because of disruption in the Channel Tunnel. Travellers queue for Eurostar services at St Pancras International station in London, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025 after Eurostar asked train customers not to travel because of disruption in the Channel Tunnel. Travellers wait for Eurostar services at St Pancras International station in London, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. PARIS (AP) — Power problems and a stuck train interrupted rail services through the undersea Channel Tunnel connecting the United Kingdom and continental Europe on Tuesday, operators said, stranding passengers during the busy end-of-year holidays. At Paris' Gare du Nord station, Jamie and Issy Gill scrambled to find a flight back to the U.K. after their Eurostar train to London was canceled, desperate to be reunited with their baby boy after a getaway in the French capital. “We came for my 30th birthday,” Issy Gill said, wiping away tears. On Tuesday afternoon, Eurostar said the tunnel was partially reopening but with only one of its two train lines, allowing Eurostar services to resume in the evening — although with expected continued delays and longer journey times than usual. It advised passengers to rebook their journeys on other days. The 50-kilometer (32-mile) Channel Tunnel, more than half of it undersea, has revolutionized U.K.-Europe rail travel since its inauguration in 1994. But because it's the only fixed cross-English Channel rail link, train services tend to be vulnerable to severe disruptions. The Gare du Nord station heaved with frustrated passengers trying to book plane or bus tickets. “I'm disgusted, disheartened,” said Sarah Omouri, a French traveler whose plans to celebrate the New Year in London were dashed. Now we're told that everything is fully booked for several days. In London, would-be traveler John Paul had expected to enjoy a romantic river cruise in Paris and a trip to the Eiffel Tower with his partner, Lucy, but their Eurostar got turned back before reaching the continent. “They kept telling us that the driver was trying to fix the brakes on this other train and that the other trains were then backed up,” he said. The Channel Tunnel's operator, Eurotunnel, said that the power supply problem started overnight Monday in part of the tunnel, impacting passenger and vehicle travel by rail in both directions.

Ahead of a detention hearing Tuesday for the man accused of placing two pipe bombs near the Republican and Democratic National Committee buildings in 2021, defense attorneys argue their client should be released from jail while awaiting trial, in part because the bombs never detonated. Attorneys for the 30-year-old Virginia man, Brian Cole Jr., said he has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder – listing those as the first two factors in arguing for pre-trial release. “The question is whether there is a present danger—a contention the government never actually makes, and something belied by the past four years in which Mr. Cole has lived without incident,” Cole's attorneys argued in their filing, adding, “No device detonated, no person was injured, and no property was damaged.” But it could be difficult to convince a federal judge to release Cole amid the evidence prosecutors have already presented in court filings, more of which could be revealed during Tuesday's hearing. In an earlier filing arguing for Cole's detention, prosecutors laid out a detailed list of the bomb-making materials they said he purchased in 2018 through 2020 and used to make the pipe bombs left outside the Washington, DC-based RNC and DNC in January 2021. Hardware purchases and location data: How the FBI says it made an arrest in the DC pipe bomb case, nearly five years later While Cole initially denied during an initial interview with investigators that he had placed the bombs, prosecutors say Cole later changed his tune after being shown a still image of himself on surveillance video around the time the bombs were planted. “The defendant asked for time to process things,” prosecutors wrote. Cole then proceeded to explain in detail how he had built the bombs, including how “he learned to make the black powder from a video game that listed the ingredients” and also watched “various science-related videos on YouTube to assist him in creating the devices,” the filing states. Cole, when asked about why he placed the bombs, said that “something just snapped” after “watching everything, just everything getting worse,” according to prosecutors. He also said his interest in history spurred the idea to use pipe bombs, specifically their use during the Troubles in Ireland, the court document states.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Former Deputy National Security Advisor Victoria Coates reacts to President Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and Iran's declaration of a 'full-scale war' with the U.S., Israel and Europe. Sunday's meeting between Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy produced no dramatic announcements, sweeping declarations or signed peace deal. After nearly four years of war, diplomacy was never going to turn on a single press conference or photo opportunity. President Trump himself struck a measured tone afterward, saying, "I think we'll get it done," while acknowledging that the effort "can go poorly." Zelenskyy, for his part, described the talks as constructive and serious, emphasizing that Ukraine remains committed to a just peace that ensures long-term security. According to reporting by Reuters and The Wall Street Journal, the purpose of the Trump–Zelenskyy talks was not to finalize peace, but to close gaps on a developing framework — often described as a 20-point plan — before Trump engages directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin. That framework emphasizes Ukrainian sovereignty, enforcement mechanisms and security guarantees, while leaving the most sensitive issues — territory and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — unresolved. President Donald Trump greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at his Mar-a-Lago club on Dec. 28, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. In other words, diplomacy has entered a more serious phase. Europe is strained under economic and security pressures. But optimism without realism would be dangerous. The central question hanging over Sunday's meeting is not whether a framework exists — it does — but whether it is built on a false assumption that still dominates much Western thinking: that Vladimir Putin is a rational actor who can be satisfied with partial concessions. Even as peace efforts accelerated this week, Russia continued launching missile and drone strikes across Ukraine — a fact confirmed by media outlets. Either Putin intends to continue the war outright, or he is deliberately shaping the diplomatic environment by force — creating urgency, fear and pressure for Ukrainian concessions. That reality should sober any discussion of "land for peace." Territorial concessions dominate headlines because maps are tangible and emotionally charged. But land is not the decisive variable. Multiple outlets have reported that Ukraine is seeking what officials describe as "Article 5–like" security guarantees — binding commitments from the United States and its allies to respond to future Russian aggression. Zelenskyy has even indicated openness to halting Ukraine's NATO membership bid if such guarantees are credible. That alone underscores how existential this question is for Kyiv. Ukraine has learned the hard way that vague assurances are worthless. The 1994 Budapest Memorandum did not stop Russia. Agreements without enforcement did not stop Russia. Any peace that trades Ukrainian territory for promises without teeth is not peace — it is a pause before the next assault. Security guarantees must therefore be specific, automatic and enforceable. Not committees that deliberate while missiles fall. Not sanctions that require months of political wrangling to reassemble. Reuters has reported that the draft framework under discussion includes monitoring mechanisms and penalties for violations — an encouraging sign, if they are implemented seriously. This is where President Trump's role becomes decisive. Trump possesses leverage that few leaders do, precisely because he is willing to combine pressure with negotiation. He can tighten sanctions enforcement and close evasion pathways that blunt existing measures. He can impose snap-back penalties that activate immediately upon violation. He can maintain military assistance sufficient to raise the cost of renewed Russian offensives. And he can offer a conditional off-ramp — economic relief or diplomatic reengagement — only after verified compliance. The objective is not to persuade Putin of Western goodwill. It is to change his cost calculus. Putin has repeatedly shown that he will absorb pain — economic, military, diplomatic — if he believes time and fear are on his side. What he has not shown is a willingness to retreat in the face of strength. This war is not solely about Ukraine. It is a test of whether borders in Europe can once again be changed by force. A settlement that assumes Putin can be "managed" through compromise alone will not stabilize the continent; it will invite the next crisis. History is unkind to illusions of restraint when dealing with expansionist regimes. The most realistic takeaway from Sunday's meeting is this: diplomacy has not failed — but neither has it yet proven itself. If President Trump proceeds to speak with Putin armed with a unified framework, clear red lines and credible enforcement tools, then this effort has a chance. If not — if peace is pursued without strength, enforcement and clarity — then Sunday's meeting will be remembered not as the beginning of the end, but as another moment when the West mistook words for power. But only if we abandon the comforting fiction that Vladimir Putin can be satisfied with half-measures — and build an agreement that makes renewed aggression unmistakably costly. Robert Maginnis is a retired U.S. Army officer and the author of 13 books. His latest is "AI for Mankind's Future." This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Local Dutch residents who care for the graves, children of U.S. soldiers and Dutch officials are outraged. Seventy-nine-year-old Cor Linssen, son of a Black WWII soldier and a White mother, shows a picture of his father on his mobile phone during an interview in Roermond, Netherlands, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. MARGRATEN, Netherlands (AP) — Ever since a U.S. military cemetery in the southern Netherlands removed two displays recognizing Black troops who helped to liberate Europe from the Nazis, visitors have filled the guestbook with objections. The move came after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs. “Our country will be woke no longer,” Trump said in an address to Congress in March. “The signs at Margraten are not intended to promote an agenda that criticizes America,” he wrote on social media following a visit to the cemetery after the controversy had erupted. Popolo declined a request for comment. One display told the story of 23-year-old George H. Pruitt, a Black soldier buried at the cemetery, who died attempting to rescue a comrade from drowning in 1945. Some 1 million Black soldiers enlisted in the U.S. military during the war, serving in separate units, mostly doing menial tasks but also fighting in some combat missions. Cor Linssen, the 79-year-old son of a Black American soldier and a Dutch mother, is one of those who opposes the removal of the panels. Linssen grew up some 30 miles (50 kilometers) away from the cemetery and although he didn't learn who his father was until later in life, he knew he was the son of a Black soldier. “When I was born, the nurse thought something was wrong with me because I was the wrong color,” he told The Associated Press. “I was the only dark child at school.” Linssen together with a group of other children of Black soldiers, now all in their 70s and 80s, visited the cemetery in February 2025 to see the panels. “It's an important part of history,” Linssen said. “They should put the panels back.” After months of mystery around the disappearance of the panels, two media organizations — the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) and online media Dutch News — this month published emails obtained through a U.S. Freedom of Information Act request showing that Trump's DEI policies directly prompted the commission to take down the panels. The American Battle Monuments Commission did not respond to queries from AP about the revelations. It also said that the panel about Pruitt was “rotated” out. The replacement panel features Leslie Loveland, a white soldier killed in Germany in 1945, who is buried at Margraten. He told AP it is “strange” that the U.S. commission feels the panels are not in their mission, as they placed them in 2024. “Something has changed in the United States,” he said. People who adopt a grave visit it regularly and leave flowers on the fallen soldier's birthday and other holidays. The responsibility is often passed down through Dutch families, and there is a waiting list to adopt graves of the U.S. soldiers. In November a Dutch television program recreated the panels and installed them outside the cemetery, where they were quickly removed by police. The show is now seeking a permanent location for them. The Black Liberators is also looking to find a permanent location for a memorial for the Black soldiers who gave their lives to free the Dutch. On America Square, in front of the Eijsden-Margraten city hall, there is a small park named for Jefferson Wiggins, a Black solider who, at age 19, dug many of the graves at Margraten when he was stationed in the Netherlands. In his memoir, published posthumously in 2014, he describes burying the bodies of his white comrades who he was barred from fraternizing with while they were alive. When Black soldiers came to Europe in the Second World War, ''what they found was people who accepted them, who welcomed them, who treated them as the heroes that they were. And that includes the Netherlands,″ said Linda Hervieux, whose book “Forgotten” chronicles Black soldiers who fought on D-Day and segregation they faced back home.

When you buy an annual membership or give a one-time contribution, we'll give a membership to someone who can't afford access. We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today? This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Every year at the Oscars, attendees leave with gift bags so elaborate they have to be reported as income to the IRS. Luxury skincare, personal training sessions, designer apples that never brown, and extravagant trips are standard issue. But in 2025, Academy Award guests also received a grimmer gift: a yearlong subscription to a white-glove disaster recovery service called Bright Harbor, which has grown popular in the wake of the wildfires that devastated Los Angeles last January. Under this level of stress, navigating the Federal Emergency Management Agency's byzantine requirements for recovery assistance quickly becomes “a full-time job,” according to Bright Harbor's chief growth officer, Emily Bush. Bright Harbor helps clients freeze their mortgage payments, apply for FEMA aid, navigate seemingly endless paperwork, and secure low-interest small business loans. Bush acknowledged that the company's luxury services, which can significantly ease the financial burden of disasters, do not come at a cost that all victims can afford to front. (Services started at $300 per month for individuals when the company launched in 2024, but Bright Harbor now sells directly to companies — who purchase coverage for their employees.) “To be clear,” she said, “I think the government should pay for this.” But even before President Donald Trump took office with an eye toward diminishing the agency, recovery funds couldn't keep up with victims' needs. Now, as the administration slashes FEMA funding, withholds aid, and puts more of the onus of recovery onto individual states, victim-assistance organizations feel that they've been left totally unprepared, with too few case managers to go around. But as climate change accelerates and hammers the United States with more billion-dollar catastrophes than ever before, privatization has become more common — and complicated. Private interests can quickly mobilize huge volunteer networks, giving campaigns, and rebuilding efforts in the wake of extreme weather. But, whatever their intentions, such measures are a consequence — and sometimes a cause — of the corrosion of public institutions originally intended to safeguard Americans. The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that would go on to draft Trump's Project 2025 policies, held a meeting on disaster relief in New Orleans just two weeks after the storm in 2005. The group recommended suspending wage laws for recovery contractors, replacing public schools with privately managed charter schools, and halting environmental regulations to reestablish oil and gas production that had been stalled by the storm. The vision they set forth would shape disaster recovery for decades. In New Orleans, public housing was demolished, the public hospital was shuttered, and the federal government rapidly took over the public school system and set about turning it over to a charter network funded largely through private philanthropy. Over 7,000 teachers and staff members were fired, forcing veteran educators to reapply for their jobs, competing against a flood of Teach for America recruits who were largely whiter, less experienced, and from outside the city. Many residents saw this as a mercenary response to the storm, made possible by decades of disinvestment in city services, but they weren't unilaterally opposed to the charter system. “I think it's important to avoid romanticizing the system pre-Katrina,” said Jesse Chanin, a professor of sociology at Tulane University and the author of Building Power, Breaking Power: The United Teachers of New Orleans, 1965-2008. Before Katrina, the school district was so underfunded that teachers didn't have enough books and desks for their students. “A teacher told me the other day, ‘Once, I was walking and my foot just went right through the floor,'” said Chanin. But while the charter network was an improvement in many ways — private philanthropy poured money into the new schools and test scores and graduation rates markedly improved — it was also marked by instability. The system ran on a portfolio model: Schools that performed well received increased funding, while schools that struggled were shuttered, their students transferred elsewhere. Because there was such a strong incentive to keep test scores up, struggling students were often pushed out of the best schools into charters that would quickly fold. Critics say that all of this has allowed charter schools to pay employees poorly, eliminate transparency, and provide uneven and inequitable education in exchange for moderately improved test scores. “I think it's really hard to attribute test score success to the model of charter schools and not to the incredible influx of money and resources into the district,” Chanin said. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) shut public housing residents out of their buildings shortly after the storm. Protests erupted, but pleas for help fell on deaf ears. “This is a horrible opportunity to do things that we couldn't do under normal conditions.” Seventy percent of public housing was ultimately destroyed and replaced with mixed-income developments built by private developers. “'Recovery' has become kind of a misnomer,” said Luis Miron, the former director of Loyola University's Institute for Quality and Equity in Public Education. More than 20 years later and 2,000 miles away, disaster capitalism is picking up steam in Puerto Rico. Jenniffer González Colón held a press conference announcing a new law that would allow more residents of the archipelago to obtain property titles to their homes. Land in Puerto Rico is often passed down through individual families without any formal documentation. This caused a crisis after Hurricane Maria struck in 2017, as many residents couldn't prove they owned the land they'd lived on for years, and therefore could not collect disaster relief funds. Puerto Rico's electrical grid was in bad shape before Maria, but blackouts have become routine in the years since the storm. Maria hit Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 155 miles per hour, destroying the archipelago's power grid, knocking out power for 80 percent of residents, and setting off the largest blackout in United States history. PREPA was later embroiled in a number of bribery scandals, plus instances in which it extorted customers in exchange for reconnecting them to power after Maria and bought low-quality oil while charging ratepayers high-quality oil prices for roughly three decades. “My grandmother used to say, ‘When people are so desperate, they will drink sand if someone markets it the right way. Ricardo Rosselló announced that the transmission and distribution of electricity, along with the reconstruction of the grid, would be handed off to a company called Luma — a Canadian-American company that has thus far failed to fulfill its promises to deliver reliable electricity. Blackouts and power surges (which often destroy electrical devices) are common. “The pollution levels of generators are really high — not only air pollution, which is the main concern, but also noise. “But, my god — LUMA could not suck more if they tried.” Luma took control with a vow to decentralize the grid and incorporate more renewable energy, keeping generation in line with Puerto Rico's 2019 Energy Policy Act, which set a goal of 40 percent renewables by 2025. According to PREPA's most recent fiscal plan, performance has grown steadily worse over the past few years, with customers seeing approximately 15 percent more service interruptions and 21 percent longer outages in December 2024 compared to March 2023. In June 2016, former President Barack Obama signed into law the Puerto Rico Oversight and Management Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), which would essentially lead the territory through a court-supervised bankruptcy process. Charter schools, previously shut out of Puerto Rico, began to make inroads; the water system was nearly privatized; and toll roads were sold off to multinational corporations like Goldman Sachs. “There's a debt crisis, so there's no public funds to fix anything,” said Marisol Lebron, an associate professor at the University of California Santa Cruz, and the author of Aftershocks of Disaster: Puerto Rico Before and After the Storm. While major cities and territories are lucrative targets for private interests, disasters often devastate remote regions, where asset values are low and labor is hard to come by. “For small towns, the private sector is not going to step in if it's not a money-making business,” said Divya Chandrasekhar, a professor of city and metropolitan planning at the University of Utah, adding that depopulating areas in particular struggle to attract private investment. In remote parts of California, for instance, an alarming firefighting staffing crisis has left many small towns without adequate protection. Offers of private firefighting services — hired by insurance companies to protect their assets, or the very wealthy to protect their property — have risen accordingly. Critics, including city and state firefighters, have called for the regulation of these private services, arguing that they can hamper rescue efforts and pull badly needed water from public hydrants. During the Los Angeles fires in January, billionaire Rick Caruso hired a private company to protect the Palisades Village mall, which he owns, while nearby homes burned. While climate change is poised to exacerbate familiar inequities like these, experts point to the opacity of privatized public services as a cause for growing concern. As more companies begin to incorporate artificial intelligence into their daily operations, it's important for municipalities to look very carefully at the restrictions being placed on contractors and public-private partnerships. I mean, that could be really problematic,” said Shahrzad Habibi, the research and policy director at In the Public Interest, a nonprofit that studies public goods and services. “I just think there's an interesting philosophical underpinning on all of this. What do we, as a society, think everybody should be entitled to? And when do we, as a society, think you're on your own?” The Great Smoky Mountains are famous for their blue smoke, but to truly appreciate them you have to look beyond the haze. Let's fix the two massive efficiency sinks in American life.

Omar, however, herself failed to follow congressional norms by not disclosing the value of her assets and potentially underrepresenting her husband's investment positions. Omar's rapidly-acquired wealth has drawn renewed scrutiny amid reports about widespread fraud in the Somali community she helps represent in Congress. Her financial disclosure forms suggest she and her husband are worth at least $6 million and as much as $30 million, which has raised eyebrows because the couple said they were worth a maximum of $158,000 just two years ago. Media organizations have used this filing to produce reports claiming that Omar is worth up to $30 million, an assertion the congresswoman flatly denies. Omar has personally used this explanation to dismiss critics, calling her husband one of “several partners” in the two firms. California business records, however, show that Timothy Mynett, Omar's husband, is one of just two individuals named as a partner on the winery's statement of organization. The other is its CEO, former top Democratic operative William Hailer. While it's possible the winery has added more partners or diluted Mynett's stake since the winery was founded in 2020, it's impossible to know for certain because Omar hasn't disclosed how much her husband's share of the seven-figure venture is currently worth. But on paper, the winery business appears to have boomed, although not without some controversy. And the value of Mynett's venture capital firm, Rose Lake Capital, seems to have exploded even more dramatically in the past two years. Omar's refusal to disclose the value of her husband's stakes in the winery and venture capital firm breaks with congressional norms. A Washington Examiner review of congressional financial disclosures shows that a number of Omar's colleagues in the House also have partial interests in privately held companies, either directly or through their spouses, and disclose the value of their stakes specifically rather than the ventures as a whole. Even Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL), who is embroiled in several ethics scandals, managed to report the seven-figure value of his 49% stake in the security firm Pacem Solutions International. Reps. April McClain Delaney (D-MD), Bradley Schneider (D-IL), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), and Sara Jacobs (D-CA) all have partial stakes in private equity firms, hedge funds, and real estate ventures for which they provide specific valuation ranges. Although Omar has not disclosed her net worth, the congresswoman has denied allegations that she became wealthy while in Congress, pointing out her student loan debt and noting that her husband's winery generated relatively little income in 2024. Omar has faced renewed scrutiny in the press amid reports of Minnesota's Somali community running a variety of fraud schemes in the state. Omar's office did not return a request for comment.

With Vice President JD Vance as a tiebreaker, Democrats would need to net four seats. That means defending all three of their competitive races in New Hampshire, Michigan, and Georgia while also flipping all three of the Republican-held seats in Maine, North Carolina, and Ohio, in addition to capturing a long-shot seat such as Texas or Iowa. Here's where the six most competitive 2026 Senate races stand based on early survey averages from RealClear Polling. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) is seeking a second term as the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent this cycle. Georgia Republicans are in the midst of a crowded and messy primary that has yet to see President Donald Trump become heavily involved. The contest is considered a toss-up by nonpartisan election forecasters. Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), the GOP front-runner based on recent surveys, has tied or slightly trailed Ossoff by an average of just over two points in head-to-head matchups. Buddy Carter (R-GA) is losing by slightly more, an average of 3.5 points, and former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley trails by roughly six points. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) is retiring at the end of his second term. Former Michigan GOP Rep. Mike Rogers, who lost in 2024 to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) is running another campaign and is the presumptive Republican nominee. But the Democratic side remains a contentious three-way contest between Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, and former Wayne County Health Director Abdul El-Sayed. Early polling shows Stevens with a slight primary lead, followed by McMorrow, then El-Sayed. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) is retiring at the end of her third term from a seat that forecasters say leans Democratic. Chris Sununu, and Scott Brown, a former Massachusetts senator. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the GOP's most vulnerable incumbent, is seeking reelection to a sixth term for her toss-up seat. Janet Mills are locked in a competitive two-person primary, where the establishment-backed governor maintains an average single-digit edge over the more liberal outsider. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) is retiring at the end of his second term. The race is considered a toss-up and is likely to feature a general election between former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley and former North Carolina Gov. Cooper maintains a single-digit lead over Whatley by an average of about 4.7 points. Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) is running for reelection in a special election to serve the remainder of Vance's term that ends in early 2028. Husted was appointed to the seat earlier in 2025 by Gov. Former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who was ousted by Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), is the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Back in 2017, when my husband was still in the Army, we learned he was unexpectedly deploying right as we were going to start trying to get pregnant. Military families get accustomed to this pattern: You plan and the United States Armed Forces makes you go back to the drawing board. Inconveniently, he had pre-deployment work travel pop up while I was ovulating, which is how we found ourselves explaining to the staff at a local fertility clinic that we needed to freeze my husband's sperm so I could do an intrauterine insemination while he was away. It was like the clinic had never dealt with a couple in our situation. It covered only fertility issues related to “a serious or severe illness or injury while on active duty.” My employer-provided insurance did, though it was more expensive but significantly cheaper than paying for IVF out of pocket. I should note that having the choice of two insurance options is something many military spouses do not have. Military spouses have an unemployment rate four to five times the national average. TRICARE is often their only choice for medical coverage. More than eight years after my failed IUI, as federal employees have seen an expansion in their fertility benefits, TRICARE still doesn't offer fertility coverage. A couple of weeks ago, it really looked like it would, which is why as we ring in 2026, I am thinking of the military families struggling to have a baby, for whom this new year will be off to a bitter start. They were banking on a provision in the massive defense bill signed into law by President Donald Trump just before the holidays that would have given them the same kind of access to fertility coverage that other federal employees have. But as the bill was buffed and polished into a final version for both chambers to pass and send to Trump's desk, the IVF provision was stripped from the measure just days before a vote. It was devastating for military family members like Courtney Deady and her husband, a member of the Ohio Air National Guard, who have been trying to have a baby for a decade. They've spent $100,000 on multiple attempts to conceive by intrauterine insemination and in vitro fertilization. “There's so many other things, such as cryopreservation” of embryos. After all, Trump campaigned on making IVF more accessible, and this was the first National Defense Authorization Act he would sign after he reentered the White House. On the trail in 2024, Trump had pledged that “under the Trump administration, your government will pay for, or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for, all costs associated with IVF treatment.” Deady voted for Trump, sold on his IVF promises. She was buoyed by the executive order he signed in February to ease the financial burdens of fertility treatment and deflated when he signed a defense bill this month that did nothing to ease the financial burdens of IVF for military families. “It honestly feels, for lack of better terms, more of a slap in the face to a lot of our community when our Congress is receiving a lot of those benefits that we so desperately would love to have on our end,” she told CNN. Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a combat wounded veteran who battled infertility and ultimately conceived two children through IVF, was the Senate sponsor of the TRICARE coverage provision. Duckworth blames House Speaker Mike Johnson for removing it last minute from the bill. There's nobody opposing this other than Speaker Johnson and his religious views,” she told CNN's Dana Bash on “State of the Union.” Duckworth sent a letter to Trump with a handwritten note: “Speaker Johnson wants you to become the deadbeat dad of IVF,” a reference to Trump's description of himself as “the father of IVF.” Louisiana is the only state to prohibit patients and clinics from disposing of unused embryos, requiring they be shipped out of state. The Speaker has clearly and repeatedly stated he is supportive of access to IVF when sufficient pro-life protections are in place, and he will continue to be supportive when it is done responsibly and ethically,” they said in a statement. Deady, who also works as the community support director of Building Military Families Network, a nonprofit for military families experiencing difficulties with fertility, rejects the position. “When we've — all of our families — have really thought logically and we've prayed about it or we've done the research to figure out what, ethically, this journey looks like for us and to not have that, it goes to show that there's a … lack of education when it comes to this realm of reproductive medicine,” she told CNN. There was bipartisan disappointment in the last-minute yanking of the IVF provision and, in the House, a group of veterans and lawmakers representing significant military communities has already reintroduced IVF coverage in TRICARE. Republican Rep. Nick LaLota of New York, a Navy veteran, is among them. Now, Congress should expand access to IVF, as many civilian employers already do, to build on that progress and help ensure America maintains the most lethal fighting force the world has ever known,” he said in a statement. Republican Rep. Jennifer Kiggans, who represents a large number of military families in her Virginia district, which includes Virginia Beach and areas around Norfolk, the largest naval base in the country, said that “Military families already sacrifice so much in service to our nation. Access to IVF and fertility care shouldn't depend on financial means.” After it, my husband returned home from his work trip but deployed before I expected to ovulate again. A few weeks after, another sonogram showed I had what's called “a vanishing twin.” The second embryo had failed to develop. We made it through a large subchorionic hemorrhage of my placenta and a few other difficult moments, including my water breaking a month early while my husband was in Asia on a graduation trip for his eldest child not long after returning from his deployment. Somehow, he made it back for the final minutes of my labor to see our son born. Not even a year later, my husband deployed again, for longer this time. Military family life was a lot for me to manage, caring for a baby and my young stepson as well, but I can't imagine not having the chance. Being a military spouse has been one of the best experiences of my life, but nothing surpasses being a mom. For many military families struggling with infertility, choosing between the two feels like a sacrifice they shouldn't have to make.

More than a dozen members of the heavily armed cohort — many of whom have already admitted guilt — allegedly lured law enforcement officers outside and opened fire on them from various vantage points. Since then, nearly half of the codefendants have taken plea deals, admitting in exchange that they belong to a highly sophisticated antifa cell based in the Dallas area. Here's where the case currently stands, as a slate of holdouts head to trial in January while the others who pleaded out await sentencing. Morgan and Kent both admitted to joining a support network that mobilized to ensure Song's escape, which then triggered a multistate manhunt involving the FBI, after learning of the antifa cell's large-scale assassination attempt at the Alvarado detention center. Morgan confessed to picking up Song in a “handoff” at a Home Depot parking lot in Dallas and supplying him with clothes, food, and shelter. She admittedly harbored Song at her apartment, the cell's designated hideout at the time, where she concealed him from law enforcement for approximately a week. The plan was to continually move Song around between safe houses. An antifa blog post denouncing Kent's arrest said she was “actively” involved in the DFW Support Committee, a group raising funds for the Alvarado suspects on GiveSendGo. Unlike their other codefendants, who had pleaded guilty before them, Morgan and Kent only confessed to assisting the cell, not being members. Kent, however, admitted that she is “aware of Antifa beliefs” and that “many members of the [Socialist Rifle Association], including co-defendants, consider themselves ‘antifascist. One week prior, the Department of Justice secured guilty pleas from five other coconspirators. Seth Edison Sikes, Joy Abigail Gibson, Lynette Read Sharp, Nathan Josiah Baumann, and John Phillip Thomas all entered guilty pleas on Nov. 19, 2025, to the same charge of providing material support to terrorists. Throughout these admission statements, the codefendants divulged in great detail antifa's organizational framework, tactical strategies, and operational objectives. They prepared for the surprise attack on the Alvarado compound by conducting reconnaissance; donning “black bloc,” antifa's universal uniform, to shroud their identities; and coordinating over Signal, an encrypted messaging application, according to a summary of events that Gibson agreed is true. Thomas was the one who drove Song to the Home Depot parking lot while Sharp provided a change of clothes for him, face coverings, and a wig to wear. Their confessions, which laid bare antifa's modus operandi, undercut claims propagated by the political Left that antifa is a leaderless movement lacking organizational structure, on-the-ground operations, and an identifiable member base. Capital Research Center president Scott Walter said their admissions “should destroy the lie that antifa doesn't exist as organized groups.” “This is an unprecedented case,” Walter previously told the Washington Examiner. “They have gone on the record, saying, ‘Here's how we operated. Here are the other people I was working with. Sikes, Gibson, Sharp, Baumann, and Thomas, like Morgan and Kent, each face up to 15 years in federal prison, instead of the decades they could have spent behind bars had they been convicted at trial. On Nov. 26, 2025, nine recently indicted codefendants tied to the Alvarado shooting pleaded not guilty at their federal arraignments in Fort Worth. Among them are Song, Zachary Jared Evetts, Savanna Sue Batten, Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Andrea Soto, Ines Houston Soto, Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada, and two transgender co-defendants, Cameron James Arnold, also known as “Autumn Hill,” and Bradford Winston Morris, alias “Meagan Elizabeth.” If convicted on all counts, the nine suspects could spend life in prison. According to ICE, Sanchez-Estrada was given a green card under the Biden administration in 2024. Sanchez-Estrada originally gained temporary protection from deportation through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, an Obama-era policy that protected illegal immigrants who entered the country as children. The seven who pleaded guilty in their federal case are still awaiting state-level criminal proceedings. Two other state defendants, though they were not federally charged, are being prosecuted by the Johnson County District Attorney's Office in connection with the case. Dario Emmanuel Sanchez, a teacher in the Dallas Independent School District, was indicted in August 2025 by a Texas grand jury on tampering charges for allegedly deleting texts from Signal and Discord showing the cell's attack plans. Sanchez was bailed out of Johnson County Jail soon after; however, he was re-arrested days later on suspicion of hindering the prosecution of terrorism and then bailed out again on a reduced bond, lowered from $1 million to $150,000. The federal terrorism case came after President Donald Trump designated antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, directing all appropriate agencies to “investigate, disrupt, and dismantle” criminal networks operating under the banner of antifa, including taking prosecutorial action against antifa's financial backers.

A Georgia judge on Monday ordered a temporary pause to a December execution that was already put on hold, saying questions about the state's clemency process must be addressed before Stacey Humphreys' death sentence could be carried out. He was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in the 2003 shooting deaths of Cyndi Williams, 33, and Lori Brown, 21, at the real estate office where they worked in Cobb County, northwest of Atlanta. At issue: Humphreys' lawyers contend that two members of Georgia's parole board have conflicts of interest which would taint their participation in a clemency hearing. Humphreys' lawyers earlier this month filed a petition asking a judge to order the two members of the parole board to recuse themselves from considering his clemency petition. The lawyers said one of those board members, Kimberly McCoy, was previously a victim advocate with the Cobb County district attorney's office at the time of Humphreys' trial and was assigned to work with victims in the case. Another board member, Wayne Bennett, was the sheriff in Glynn County, where the trial was moved because of pretrial publicity. Humphreys' lawyers say Bennett oversaw security for the jurors and Humphreys himself during the case. In an order filed Monday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote that “pressing ‘pause' on the execution machinery until we answer the non-frivolous question raised by Petitioner concerning the proper composition of the Board for his clemency hearing is the correct course of action.” He ordered lawyers for both sides to file additional legal briefs on the issue by Jan. 19. Additionally, the judge wrote in his order that Humphreys deserves to have the conflict of interest question researched and argued thoroughly so that a parole board free of conflicts of interest can decide his case at a clemency hearing.