Biden warns of dangers of ‘oligarchy’ of ultra-rich, ‘tech-industrial complex’ running country

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden used his farewell address to the nation Wednesday to warn of an “oligarchy” of the ultra-wealthy taking root in the country and of a “tech-industrial complex” that is infringing on Americans’ rights and the future of democracy.

Speaking from the Oval Office as he prepares to hand over power Monday to President-elect Donald Trump, Biden sounded alarm over the accumulation of power and wealth among a small few.

“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” Biden said, drawing attention to “a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few ultra-wealthy people. Dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked.”

Invoking President Dwight Eisenhower´s warnings about the military-industrial complex when he left office, he added, “I´m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers to our country as well.”

Biden sounded the alarm as some of the world´s richest individuals and titans of its technology industry have flocked to Trump´s side in recent months, particularly after his November victory. Billionaire Elon Musk spent more than $100 million on helping Trump get elected, and executives like Meta´s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon´s Jeff Bezos have donated to Trump´s inaugural committee and made pilgrimages to Trump´s private club in Florida for an audience with the president-elect.

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Mediators herald Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal. Israel says final details are in flux

DOHA, Qatar (AP) – Israel and Hamas have agreed to pause the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, mediators announced Wednesday, raising the possibility of winding down the deadliest and most destructive fighting between the bitter enemies.

The three-phase ceasefire deal promises the release of dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, and it will allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Gaza to return to what remains of their homes. It would also flood desperately needed humanitarian aid into the territory ravaged by 15 months of war, mediators say.

The prime minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said the ceasefire would go into effect on Sunday and that its success would depend on Israel and Hamas “acting in good faith in order to ensure that this agreement does not collapse.” He spoke in the Qatari capital of Doha, the site of weeks of painstaking negotiations.

U.S. President Joe Biden touted the deal from Washington, saying the ceasefire will stay in place as long as Israel and Hamas remain at the negotiating table over a long-term truce. Biden credited months of “dogged and painstaking American diplomacy” for landing the deal, noting that his administration and President-elect Donald Trump´s team had been “speaking as one” in the latest negotiations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Wednesday that the ceasefire agreement with Hamas is still not complete and final details are being worked out.

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What does the ceasefire agreement mean for Israel, Hamas and the wider Middle East?

Mediators said Israel and Hamas have agreed to pause the fighting in Gaza starting Sunday after 15 months of war and to begin exchanging dozens of hostages held there for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had yet to confirm on Tuesday that the deal had been finalized. But the ceasefire could eventually bring an end to the bloodiest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas, one that transformed the wider region and leaves the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the heart of the turmoil unresolved.

Israel can point to countless tactical victories in the war, from the assassination of top Hamas leaders to the blows it rained on Lebanon´s Hezbollah and Iran itself, which backs both groups.

But Israel fell short on two central aims: Hamas to date has survived, even if greatly weakened, and several hostages taken captive during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack died in captivity. Some were accidentally killed by Israeli forces, others by their Hamas captors as troops closed in.

Israelis see the return of captives as a sacred obligation, worth the agonizing price of releasing large numbers of imprisoned militants in lopsided deals. The inability to reach a deal through months of negotiations tore the country apart.

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Trump and Biden both claim credit for Gaza ceasefire deal

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump are both claiming credit for Israel and Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire deal in Gaza on Wednesday after the White House brought Trump’s Middle East envoy into negotiations that have dragged on for months.

Trump wasted no time in asserting he was the moving force behind the deal. Biden, meanwhile, stressed that the deal was reached under “the precise contours” of a plan that he set out in late May.

“This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies,” Trump wrote on social media. “I am thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home to be reunited with their families and loved ones.”

Trump added that his incoming Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff – who was participating in the talks in Doha, Qatar – would continue “to work closely with Israel and our Allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven.”

Biden said from the White House that “my diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done.”

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Trump’s outsider Cabinet picks are rapidly gaining support for confirmation

WASHINGTON (AP) – One by one, all the president-elect´ s men, and women, are falling into place in his Cabinet.

While Defense Secretary pick Pete Hegseth’s nomination was teetering toward collapse just weeks ago, he now appears on track for confirmation after a fiery Senate hearing that focused on his drinking, views of women in combat and lack of high-profile management experience for the top U.S. military job.

President-elect Donald Trump´s other nominees pushed Wednesday through a gauntlet of confirmation hearings with the help of allied Senate Republicans carrying them toward the finish line, despite Democratic objections. One of them, potential FBI director Kash Patel, popped into a private Senate GOP lunch Wednesday to say hello.

“These nominees are bold choices,” said Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the GOP whip, in earlier remarks.

He predicted the Senate will begin start voting on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, to confirm Trump’s picks.

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Winds, arsonists complicate fight against LA-area wildfires as crews report progress

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Firefighters reported significant gains Wednesday against the two massive wildfires burning around Los Angeles, while also extinguishing smaller blazes set by arsonists in recent days as a final round of windy, flame-fanning weather moved through Southern California.

A Particularly Dangerous Situation red-flag warning expired in the afternoon, but dry conditions and gusty winds were forecast to linger into Thursday. So much of the nation´s second-most populous metropolitan region remained on alert for new outbreaks and flareups from the fires, which have killed at least 25 people and destroyed thousands of homes.

Earlier Wednesday gusts whipped up to 50 mph (80 kph) in the mountains, though many areas saw relatively light winds late in the morning, according to the National Weather Service. Better conditions expected in the coming days should help fire crews make even more headway and allow residents to return to their neighborhoods to begin rebuilding.

Still, firefighters and police faced new challenges. Since the beginning of the wildfire outbreak last week, authorities have arrested about half a dozen people accused of setting new, small fires that were quickly knocked down.

One suspect admitted starting a fire in a tree “because he liked the smell of burning leaves,” Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said. Another said “she enjoyed causing chaos and destruction,” the chief said Wednesday.

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For LA water issues, misinformation spreads nearly as fast as the wildfires

A billionaire couple was accused of withholding water that could help stop Los Angeles’ massive wildfires. Democratic leadership was blamed for fire hydrants running dry and for an empty reservoir. Firefighters were criticized for allegedly using “women’s handbags” to fight the fires.

Those are just a few of the false or misleading claims that have emerged amid general criticism about California’s water management sparked by the fierce Los Angeles fires.

Much of the misinformation is being spread “because it offers an opportunity to take potshots at California Democratic leadership while simultaneously distracting attention from the real contributing factors, especially the role of climate change,” said Peter Gleick, senior fellow at the Pacific Institute, a nonprofit he co-founded that focuses on global water sustainability.

Social media users have claimed that Stewart and Lynda Resnick, co-owners of a massive agriculture company that has a majority stake in California´s Kern Water Bank, control California´s water and have refused to lend enough to firefighting efforts.

The water bank stores up to 1.5 million acre-feet of water underground for agricultural, municipal and industrial use during dry years. The water gets used by the Resnicks’ company, The Wonderful Company, known for such brands as Fiji Water and Wonderful Pistachios. It also serves Bakersfield and other farmers in Kern County.

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Supreme Court seems open to age checks for online porn, though some free-speech questions remain

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed open to a Texas law aimed at blocking kids from seeing online pornography, though the justices could still send it back to a lower court for more consideration of how the age verification measure affects adults’ free-speech rights.

Texas is among more than a dozen states with such laws aimed at blocking young children and teenagers from viewing pornography. The states argue the laws are necessary as online porn, including hardcore obscene material, has become almost instantaneous to access on smartphones online.

Chief Justice John Roberts, a member of the court’s conservative majority, raised similar concerns. “Technological access to pornography has exploded, right?” he said.

The Free Speech Coalition, an adult-entertainment industry trade group, says the Texas law wrongly affects adults by requiring them to submit personal identifying information online, making it vulnerable to hacking or tracking. The adult-content website Pornhub has stopped operating in several states, citing the technical and privacy hurdles in complying with the laws.

The Free Speech Coalition agrees that children shouldn’t be seeing pornography, but it argues the new law is so broadly written it could also apply to sexual education content or simulated sex scenes in movies.

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Trump adviser says president-elect is exploring options to ‘preserve’ TikTok

Trump´s pick for national security adviser, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, said in an interview on Wednesday that the president-elect is exploring options to “preserve” TikTok.

Waltz made the comment when Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked him about a report from The Washington Post that said Trump was considering an executive order to suspend enforcement of a federal law that could ban the popular platform nationwide by Sunday.

Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a legal challenge to the statute brought by TikTok, its China-based parent company ByteDance, and users of the app. The Justices seemed likely to uphold the law, which requires ByteDance to divest TikTok on national security grounds or face a ban in one of its biggest markets.

“If the Supreme Court comes out with a ruling in favor of the law, President Trump has been very clear: Number one, TikTok is a great platform that many Americans use and has been great for his campaign and getting his message out. But number two, he´s going to protect their data,” Waltz said.

“He´s a deal maker. I don´t want to get ahead of our executive orders, but we´re going to create this space to put that deal in place,” he added.

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What products contain Red 3 dye? Checking ingredient labels is the best way to find out

The Food and Drug Administration is ordering food and drug makers to remove a dye called Red 3 from the products U.S. consumers eat and drink.

The colorant was banned from cosmetics and non-oral medications decades ago because a study showed it caused cancer when eaten by rats. But it kept appearing on the ingredient lists of popular snack foods and other grocery products because it remained approved for use until now.

Consumer advocates monitor manufacturers that still include the additive, and companies often switch to less notorious alternatives. Shoppers should always check food labels to see if an item they want to buy includes Red 3, which is also known as erythrosine and FD&C Red No. 3.

These are some of the product categories where the dye is most likely to show up.

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