JERUSALEM (AP) — Booms and air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem early Sunday after Iran launched dozens of drones and ballistic missiles toward Israel in an unprecedented revenge mission that pushed the Middle East ever closer to a regionwide war.

The attack marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Condemnation was swift, with France saying that “Iran has crossed a new threshold with regard to its destabilizing activities and is risking a potential military escalation.” Britain called the attacks “reckless.”

There was no immediate word from authorities on whether any explosions were an incoming attack. Air raid sirens were reported in numerous places, including northern Israel, southern Israel, the northern West Bank and the Dead Sea near the Jordanian border. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating a 10-year-old boy in critical condition in the Bedouin area in the Arad region but provided no details.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/The%20U.S.,%20with%20its%20large%20troop%20presence%20in%20the%20region,">U.S. forces</a>&nbsp;downed some of the Iran-launched drones flying toward Israel, according to a U.S. defense official and two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. The defense official said the effort to intercept the attack was ongoing.

Israel's military said over 100 drones had been fired. It didn't mention ballistic missiles, which are less easily shot down, but Iran said they were part of the attack.

“We are monitoring the threat,” the Israeli military’s spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, announced in a nationwide television address.

Iran had vowed revenge since an April 1&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-syria-airstrike-iranian-embassy-edca34c52d38c8bc57281e4ebf33b240">airstrike in Syria</a>&nbsp;killed two Iranian generals inside an Iranian consular building. Iran accused Israel of being behind the attack. Israel hasn’t commented on it.

Israel and Iran have been on a collision course throughout Israel’s six-month&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-gaza-war-oct-7-327bfeb7bfce5cb0de1568bf41a0ff06">war against Hamas militants</a>&nbsp;in the Gaza Strip. The war erupted after Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant groups backed by Iran, carried out a devastating cross-border attack on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others. An Israeli offensive in Gaza has caused widespread devastation and killed over 33,000 people, according to local health officials.

Almost immediately after the war erupted, Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group in Lebanon, began attacking Israel’s northern border. The two sides have been involved in daily exchanges of fire, while Iranian-backed groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen have launched rockets and missiles toward Israel.

In a statement carried late Saturday by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard acknowledged launching “dozens of drones and missiles towards the occupied territories and positions of the Zionist regime.”

In a later statement, the Revolutionary Guard issued a direct warning to the U.S.: “The terrorist U.S. government is warned any support or participation in harming Iran’s interests will be followed by decisive and regretting response by Iran’s armed forces."

IRNA also quoted an anonymous official saying ballistic missiles were part of the attack. A ballistic missile moves on an arch trajectory, heading up into space before gravity brings the weapon down at a speed several times faster than the speed of sound.

Israel has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-iran-missile-defense-iron-dome-arrow-bbf6330918da036f2e000360556a81f6">missile defense systems</a>&nbsp;capable of targeting ballistic missiles. However, in a massive attack involving multiple drones and missiles, the likelihood of a strike making it through is higher.

Iran has a vast arsenal of drones and missiles. Online videos shared by Iranian state television purported to show delta-wing-style drones resembling the Iranian Shahed-136s long used by Russia in its war on Ukraine. The slow-flying drones carry bombs. Ukraine has successfully used both surface-to-air missiles and ground fire to target them.

Israel has a multilayered air-defense network that includes systems capable of intercepting a variety of threats including long-range missiles, cruise missiles, drones and short-range rockets.

Hagari, the army spokesman, said Israel was “prepared and ready." But he cautioned that the air defenses are not 100% effective and urged the public to heed safety instructions.

The army ordered residents in the Golan Heights — near the Syrian and Lebanese borders — as well as the southern towns of Nevatim and Dimona and the Red Sea resort of Eilat “to stay near protective spaces until further notice.” Dimona is home to Israel’s main nuclear facility, and Nevatim has a major air base.

The army’s Home Front Command canceled school on Sunday and limited public gatherings to no more than 1,000 people. Israel closed its airspace and canceled all flights.

Earlier Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned: “Whoever harms us, we will harm them.”

In Washington, President Joe Biden cut short a weekend trip to his beach house in Delaware to return to the White House. He was set to convene a principals meeting of the National Security Council on Saturday to discuss the unfolding attack, the White House said.

“The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

Gen. Erik Kurilla, the head of the U.S. military’s Central Command, was in Israel over the weekend consulting with Israeli defense officials about the Iranian threat. The Central Command oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations issued a warning to both Israel and the U.S. “Should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe,” it wrote online. “It is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, from which the U.S. MUST STAY AWAY!”

For days, Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had threatened to “slap” Israel for its Syria strike.

In Iran’s capital, Tehran, witnesses saw long lines at gas stations early Sunday as people appeared worried about what may come next. Dozens of hard-liners demonstrated in support of the attack at Palestine Square.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported heavy Israeli airstrikes and shelling on multiple locations in south Lebanon following Iran's launch of drones. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it launched “dozens” of Katyusha rockets at an Israeli military site in the Golan Heights early Sunday. It was not immediately clear if there was any damage.

Countries in the region began to close their airspace.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden cut short a weekend stay at his Delaware beach house and was returning to the White House on Saturday to meet with his national security team and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-mideast-israel-hamas-syria-iran-a083ddef0db28cde2a6fdd84e0a56367">monitor the situation in the Middle East</a>&nbsp;as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-israel-retaliation-killed-general-b2e8625500409405c9dc88731063fa71">Iran launched an attack against Israel.</a>

Tensions are at their highest since the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">Israel-Hamas war</a>&nbsp;began six months ago after a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-syria-airstrike-iranian-embassy-edca34c52d38c8bc57281e4ebf33b240">suspected Israeli strike</a>&nbsp;this month on an Iranian consular building in Syria killed 12 people, including two senior Iranian generals in the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-israel-funeral-revolutionary-guard-e07df55596d48413fb87bf43711c9441">Iran has promised to retaliate</a>&nbsp;against Israel, and U.S. and Israeli officials have been bracing for an attack, raising concerns about the conflict escalating into a wider regional war.

Biden boarded the presidential helicopter from a park near his house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, to return to Washington Saturday afternoon shortly before Israeli officials confirmed that they had detected drones being launched toward their territory from Iran. He was set to convene a principals meeting of the National Security Council in the White House Situation Room to discuss the events and plan the U.S. response.

National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a Saturday statement that “Iran has begun an airborne attack against Israel.” She added: “The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran.”

The Pentagon reported that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken with his Israeli counterpart “to discuss urgent regional threats ... and made clear that Israel could count on full U.S. support to defend Israel against any attacks by Iran and its regional proxies." National security adviser Jake Sullivan also spoke with his counterpart to reinforce Washington's “ironclad commitment to the security of Israel.”

Biden on Friday said the United States was "devoted” to defending Israel and that “Iran will not succeed.” Asked by reporters what his message was for Iran, the president’s only reply was: “Don’t.”

He ignored a question about what would trigger a direct U.S. military response, and when asked how imminent an Iranian attack on Israel was, Biden said he did not want to get into secure information, “but my expectation is sooner than later.”

The U.S., along with its allies, have sent direct messages to Tehran to warn against further escalating the conflict.

During the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, there have been near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group along the Israel-Lebanon border. U.S. officials have recorded more than 150 attacks by Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria on U.S. forces at bases in those countries since war started on Oct. 7.

One attack in late January killed three U.S. service members in Jordan. In retaliation, the U.S. launched a massive air assault, hitting more than 85 targets at seven locations in Iraq and Syria.

Meantime, on Saturday,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/strait-of-hormuz-vessel-33fcffde2d867380e98c89403776a8ac">commandos from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard</a>&nbsp;rappelled from a helicopter onto an Israeli-affiliated container ship near the Strait of Hormuz and seized the vessel.

National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the U.S. strongly condemned the seizure and urged Iran to release the ship and crew immediately.

“We will work with our partners to hold Iran to account for its actions,” she said.

Also Saturday, the Israeli-occupied West Bank also saw some of the worst violence since Hamas' attack on Israel.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Commandos from Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard rappelled from a helicopter onto an Israeli-affiliated container ship near the Strait of Hormuz and seized the vessel Saturday in the latest attack between the two countries.

The seizure followed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-syria-airstrike-iranian-embassy-edca34c52d38c8bc57281e4ebf33b240">a suspected Israeli strike</a>&nbsp;this month on an Iranian consular building in Syria that killed 12 people, including a senior Guard general.

U.S. President Joe Biden cut short a weekend trip to his beach house in Delaware to return to the White House and monitor the situation in the Middle East, where&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-gaza-war-oct-7-327bfeb7bfce5cb0de1568bf41a0ff06">Israel's war on Hamas</a>&nbsp;in the Gaza Strip has inflamed decade-old tensions. With Iranian-backed forces like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Yemen's Houthi rebels also involved in the fighting, any new attack threatens to escalate that conflict into a wider regional war.

Iran's state-run IRNA said a special forces unit of the Guard's navy carried out the attack on the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries, a container ship associated with London-based Zodiac Maritime.

Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group. Zodiac declined to comment and referred questions to MSC. Geneva-based MSC acknowledged the seizure and said 25 crew members were on the ship.

“We are working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure their wellbeing, and safe return of the vessel,” MSC said.

White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the crew was made up of Indian, Filipino, Pakistani, Russian and Estonian nationals and urged Iran to release them and the vessel.

IRNA said the Guard would take the vessel into Iranian territorial waters.

A Middle East defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, provided video of the attack to The Associated Press in which Iranian commandos are seen rappelling onto a stack of containers on the vessel's deck.

A crew member can be heard saying: “Don’t come out.” He then tells his colleagues to go to the ship’s bridge as more commandos come down. One commando can be seen kneeling above the others to provide them potential cover fire.

The video corresponded with known details of the MSC Aries. The commandos rappelled from what appeared to be a Soviet-era Mil Mi-17 helicopter, which both the Guard and the Iranian-backed Houthis have used before to raid ships.

The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations described the vessel as being “seized by regional authorities” in the Gulf of Oman off the Emirati port city of Fujairah, without elaborating.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called on nations to list the Guard as a terrorist organization.

Iran “is a criminal regime that supports Hamas’ crimes and is now conducting a pirate operation in violation of international law,” Katz said.

For days, Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have threatened to “slap” Israel for its Syria strike.

The U.S., Israel’s main backer, has stood by the country despite growing concerns over Israel’s war on Gaza killing more than 33,600 Palestinians and wounding over 76,200 more. Israel’s war began after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw some 250 others taken hostage.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III told Israel's defense minister that the nation could count on U.S. support to defend against attacks by Iran, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Saturday.

Iran since 2019 has engaged in a series of ship seizures, and attacks on vessels have been attributed to it amid ongoing tensions with the West over its rapidly advancing nuclear program.

In previous seizures, Iran provided initial explanations about its operations to make it seem like the attacks had nothing to do with wider geopolitical tensions — though later acknowledging as much. In Saturday's attack, however, Iran offered no explanation other than to say the MSC Aries had links to Israel.

Iran has largely avoided directly attacking Israel, despite its targeted killings of nuclear scientists and sabotage campaigns on Iran's atomic sites. Iran has targeted Israeli or Jewish-linked sites through proxy forces.

In Iran on Saturday, officials publicly denied faked text messages sent in the name of civil defense authorities that urged the public to “prepare drinking water and dry food” due to the “emerging emergency situation.

The Gulf of Oman is near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all globally traded oil passes. Fujairah, on the United Arab Emirates’ eastern coast, is a main port for ships to take on new oil cargo, pick up supplies or trade out crew. Since 2019, the waters off Fujairah have seen&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/5484dc4a51644fa9839546e1cd7bf89f">a series of explosions and hijackings.</a>

Meanwhile, Lufthansa Group on Saturday extended its suspension of flights between Frankfurt and Tehran through Thursday and said its planes would avoid Iranian airspace. The German carrier also said that, until at least Tuesday, flights to and from Amman will be operated as “day flights” so crews won't spend a night in the Jordanian capital.

Dutch airline KLM said it will no longer fly over Iran or Israel, but will continue flights to and from Tel Aviv.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1713052204025.png" alt="On Saturday evening President Biden met with his national security team for an update on Iran’s attacks against Israel. "Our commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad," Biden wrote on social media-White House photo" />
 <figcaption>On Saturday evening President Biden met with his national security team for an update on Iran’s attacks against Israel. "Our commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad," Biden wrote on social media-White House photo</figcaption>
 </figure>JERUSALEM (AP) — Booms and air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem early Sunday after Iran launched dozens of drones and ballistic missiles toward Israel in an unprecedented revenge mission that pushed the Middle East ever closer to a regionwide war.The attack marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Condemnation was swift, with France saying that “Iran has crossed a new threshold with regard to its destabilizing activities and is risking a potential military escalation.” Britain called the attacks “reckless.”There was no immediate word from authorities on whether any explosions were an incoming attack. Air raid sirens were reported in numerous places, including northern Israel, southern Israel, the northern West Bank and the Dead Sea near the Jordanian border. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating a 10-year-old boy in critical condition in the Bedouin area in the Arad region but provided no details.<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/The%20U.S.,%20with%20its%20large%20troop%20presence%20in%20the%20region,">U.S. forces</a>&nbsp;downed some of the Iran-launched drones flying toward Israel, according to a U.S. defense official and two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. The defense official said the effort to intercept the attack was ongoing.Israel's military said over 100 drones had been fired. It didn't mention ballistic missiles, which are less easily shot down, but Iran said they were part of the attack.“We are monitoring the threat,” the Israeli military’s spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, announced in a nationwide television address.Iran had vowed revenge since an April 1&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-syria-airstrike-iranian-embassy-edca34c52d38c8bc57281e4ebf33b240">airstrike in Syria</a>&nbsp;killed two Iranian generals inside an Iranian consular building. Iran accused Israel of being behind the attack. Israel hasn’t commented on it.Israel and Iran have been on a collision course throughout Israel’s six-month&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-gaza-war-oct-7-327bfeb7bfce5cb0de1568bf41a0ff06">war against Hamas militants</a>&nbsp;in the Gaza Strip. The war erupted after Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant groups backed by Iran, carried out a devastating cross-border attack on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others. An Israeli offensive in Gaza has caused widespread devastation and killed over 33,000 people, according to local health officials.Almost immediately after the war erupted, Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group in Lebanon, began attacking Israel’s northern border. The two sides have been involved in daily exchanges of fire, while Iranian-backed groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen have launched rockets and missiles toward Israel.In a statement carried late Saturday by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard acknowledged launching “dozens of drones and missiles towards the occupied territories and positions of the Zionist regime.”In a later statement, the Revolutionary Guard issued a direct warning to the U.S.: “The terrorist U.S. government is warned any support or participation in harming Iran’s interests will be followed by decisive and regretting response by Iran’s armed forces."IRNA also quoted an anonymous official saying ballistic missiles were part of the attack. A ballistic missile moves on an arch trajectory, heading up into space before gravity brings the weapon down at a speed several times faster than the speed of sound.Israel has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-iran-missile-defense-iron-dome-arrow-bbf6330918da036f2e000360556a81f6">missile defense systems</a>&nbsp;capable of targeting ballistic missiles. However, in a massive attack involving multiple drones and missiles, the likelihood of a strike making it through is higher.Iran has a vast arsenal of drones and missiles. Online videos shared by Iranian state television purported to show delta-wing-style drones resembling the Iranian Shahed-136s long used by Russia in its war on Ukraine. The slow-flying drones carry bombs. Ukraine has successfully used both surface-to-air missiles and ground fire to target them.Israel has a multilayered air-defense network that includes systems capable of intercepting a variety of threats including long-range missiles, cruise missiles, drones and short-range rockets.Hagari, the army spokesman, said Israel was “prepared and ready." But he cautioned that the air defenses are not 100% effective and urged the public to heed safety instructions.The army ordered residents in the Golan Heights — near the Syrian and Lebanese borders — as well as the southern towns of Nevatim and Dimona and the Red Sea resort of Eilat “to stay near protective spaces until further notice.” Dimona is home to Israel’s main nuclear facility, and Nevatim has a major air base.The army’s Home Front Command canceled school on Sunday and limited public gatherings to no more than 1,000 people. Israel closed its airspace and canceled all flights.Earlier Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned: “Whoever harms us, we will harm them.”In Washington, President Joe Biden cut short a weekend trip to his beach house in Delaware to return to the White House. He was set to convene a principals meeting of the National Security Council on Saturday to discuss the unfolding attack, the White House said.“The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.Gen. Erik Kurilla, the head of the U.S. military’s Central Command, was in Israel over the weekend consulting with Israeli defense officials about the Iranian threat. The Central Command oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East.Iran’s mission to the United Nations issued a warning to both Israel and the U.S. “Should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe,” it wrote online. “It is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, from which the U.S. MUST STAY AWAY!”For days, Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had threatened to “slap” Israel for its Syria strike.In Iran’s capital, Tehran, witnesses saw long lines at gas stations early Sunday as people appeared worried about what may come next. Dozens of hard-liners demonstrated in support of the attack at Palestine Square.Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported heavy Israeli airstrikes and shelling on multiple locations in south Lebanon following Iran's launch of drones. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it launched “dozens” of Katyusha rockets at an Israeli military site in the Golan Heights early Sunday. It was not immediately clear if there was any damage.Countries in the region began to close their airspace.---------------WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden cut short a weekend stay at his Delaware beach house and was returning to the White House on Saturday to meet with his national security team and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-mideast-israel-hamas-syria-iran-a083ddef0db28cde2a6fdd84e0a56367">monitor the situation in the Middle East</a>&nbsp;as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-israel-retaliation-killed-general-b2e8625500409405c9dc88731063fa71">Iran launched an attack against Israel.</a>Tensions are at their highest since the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">Israel-Hamas war</a>&nbsp;began six months ago after a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-syria-airstrike-iranian-embassy-edca34c52d38c8bc57281e4ebf33b240">suspected Israeli strike</a>&nbsp;this month on an Iranian consular building in Syria killed 12 people, including two senior Iranian generals in the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-israel-funeral-revolutionary-guard-e07df55596d48413fb87bf43711c9441">Iran has promised to retaliate</a>&nbsp;against Israel, and U.S. and Israeli officials have been bracing for an attack, raising concerns about the conflict escalating into a wider regional war.Biden boarded the presidential helicopter from a park near his house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, to return to Washington Saturday afternoon shortly before Israeli officials confirmed that they had detected drones being launched toward their territory from Iran. He was set to convene a principals meeting of the National Security Council in the White House Situation Room to discuss the events and plan the U.S. response.National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a Saturday statement that “Iran has begun an airborne attack against Israel.” She added: “The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/5/1685236579953.png" alt="President Joe Biden cut short a weekend trip to his beach house in Delaware to return to the White House and monitor the situation in the Middle East, File photo -courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>President Joe Biden cut short a weekend trip to his beach house in Delaware to return to the White House and monitor the situation in the Middle East, File photo -courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>The Pentagon reported that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken with his Israeli counterpart “to discuss urgent regional threats ... and made clear that Israel could count on full U.S. support to defend Israel against any attacks by Iran and its regional proxies." National security adviser Jake Sullivan also spoke with his counterpart to reinforce Washington's “ironclad commitment to the security of Israel.”Biden on Friday said the United States was "devoted” to defending Israel and that “Iran will not succeed.” Asked by reporters what his message was for Iran, the president’s only reply was: “Don’t.”He ignored a question about what would trigger a direct U.S. military response, and when asked how imminent an Iranian attack on Israel was, Biden said he did not want to get into secure information, “but my expectation is sooner than later.”The U.S., along with its allies, have sent direct messages to Tehran to warn against further escalating the conflict.During the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, there have been near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group along the Israel-Lebanon border. U.S. officials have recorded more than 150 attacks by Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria on U.S. forces at bases in those countries since war started on Oct. 7.One attack in late January killed three U.S. service members in Jordan. In retaliation, the U.S. launched a massive air assault, hitting more than 85 targets at seven locations in Iraq and Syria.Meantime, on Saturday,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/strait-of-hormuz-vessel-33fcffde2d867380e98c89403776a8ac">commandos from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard</a>&nbsp;rappelled from a helicopter onto an Israeli-affiliated container ship near the Strait of Hormuz and seized the vessel.National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the U.S. strongly condemned the seizure and urged Iran to release the ship and crew immediately.“We will work with our partners to hold Iran to account for its actions,” she said.Also Saturday, the Israeli-occupied West Bank also saw some of the worst violence since Hamas' attack on Israel.___DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Commandos from Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard rappelled from a helicopter onto an Israeli-affiliated container ship near the Strait of Hormuz and seized the vessel Saturday in the latest attack between the two countries.The seizure followed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-syria-airstrike-iranian-embassy-edca34c52d38c8bc57281e4ebf33b240">a suspected Israeli strike</a>&nbsp;this month on an Iranian consular building in Syria that killed 12 people, including a senior Guard general.U.S. President Joe Biden cut short a weekend trip to his beach house in Delaware to return to the White House and monitor the situation in the Middle East, where&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-gaza-war-oct-7-327bfeb7bfce5cb0de1568bf41a0ff06">Israel's war on Hamas</a>&nbsp;in the Gaza Strip has inflamed decade-old tensions. With Iranian-backed forces like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Yemen's Houthi rebels also involved in the fighting, any new attack threatens to escalate that conflict into a wider regional war.Iran's state-run IRNA said a special forces unit of the Guard's navy carried out the attack on the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries, a container ship associated with London-based Zodiac Maritime.Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group. Zodiac declined to comment and referred questions to MSC. Geneva-based MSC acknowledged the seizure and said 25 crew members were on the ship.“We are working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure their wellbeing, and safe return of the vessel,” MSC said.White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the crew was made up of Indian, Filipino, Pakistani, Russian and Estonian nationals and urged Iran to release them and the vessel.IRNA said the Guard would take the vessel into Iranian territorial waters.A Middle East defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, provided video of the attack to The Associated Press in which Iranian commandos are seen rappelling onto a stack of containers on the vessel's deck.A crew member can be heard saying: “Don’t come out.” He then tells his colleagues to go to the ship’s bridge as more commandos come down. One commando can be seen kneeling above the others to provide them potential cover fire.The video corresponded with known details of the MSC Aries. The commandos rappelled from what appeared to be a Soviet-era Mil Mi-17 helicopter, which both the Guard and the Iranian-backed Houthis have used before to raid ships.The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations described the vessel as being “seized by regional authorities” in the Gulf of Oman off the Emirati port city of Fujairah, without elaborating.Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called on nations to list the Guard as a terrorist organization.Iran “is a criminal regime that supports Hamas’ crimes and is now conducting a pirate operation in violation of international law,” Katz said.For days, Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have threatened to “slap” Israel for its Syria strike.The U.S., Israel’s main backer, has stood by the country despite growing concerns over Israel’s war on Gaza killing more than 33,600 Palestinians and wounding over 76,200 more. Israel’s war began after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw some 250 others taken hostage.U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III told Israel's defense minister that the nation could count on U.S. support to defend against attacks by Iran, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Saturday.Iran since 2019 has engaged in a series of ship seizures, and attacks on vessels have been attributed to it amid ongoing tensions with the West over its rapidly advancing nuclear program.In previous seizures, Iran provided initial explanations about its operations to make it seem like the attacks had nothing to do with wider geopolitical tensions — though later acknowledging as much. In Saturday's attack, however, Iran offered no explanation other than to say the MSC Aries had links to Israel.Iran has largely avoided directly attacking Israel, despite its targeted killings of nuclear scientists and sabotage campaigns on Iran's atomic sites. Iran has targeted Israeli or Jewish-linked sites through proxy forces.In Iran on Saturday, officials publicly denied faked text messages sent in the name of civil defense authorities that urged the public to “prepare drinking water and dry food” due to the “emerging emergency situation.The Gulf of Oman is near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all globally traded oil passes. Fujairah, on the United Arab Emirates’ eastern coast, is a main port for ships to take on new oil cargo, pick up supplies or trade out crew. Since 2019, the waters off Fujairah have seen&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/5484dc4a51644fa9839546e1cd7bf89f">a series of explosions and hijackings.</a>Meanwhile, Lufthansa Group on Saturday extended its suspension of flights between Frankfurt and Tehran through Thursday and said its planes would avoid Iranian airspace. The German carrier also said that, until at least Tuesday, flights to and from Amman will be operated as “day flights” so crews won't spend a night in the Jordanian capital.Dutch airline KLM said it will no longer fly over Iran or Israel, but will continue flights to and from Tel Aviv.___

Biden cuts weekend trip short as Iran launches attack on Israel

LONDON (AP) — Instagram says it's deploying new tools to protect young people and combat sexual extortion, including a feature that will automatically blur nudity in direct messages.

The social media platform said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/new-tools-to-help-protect-against-sextortion-and-intimate-image-abuse">blog post</a>&nbsp;Thursday that it's testing out the features as part of its campaign to fight sexual scams and other forms of “image abuse,” and to make it tougher for criminals to contact teens.

Sexual extortion, or sextortion, involves persuading a person to send explicit photos online and then threatening to make the images public unless the victim pays money or engages in sexual favors. Recent high-profile cases include&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sexual-extortion-guilty-pleas-michigan-nigerian-brothers-25c1593410c9fa538d39539ca34363c0">two Nigerian brothers</a>&nbsp;who pleaded guilty to sexually extorting teen boys and young men in Michigan, including one who took his own life, and a Virginia sheriff’s deputy who&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-fires-california-virginia-riverside-c35722488c9c3dd20b7c04162d8b9425">sexually extorted and kidnapped</a>&nbsp;a 15-year-old girl.

Instagram and other social media companies have faced growing criticism for not doing enough to protect young people. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Instagram's owner Meta Platforms,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/video/social-media-meta-platforms-inc-children-x-corp-national-a98bac4cb6634acaaea4cf58ca28d3d2">apologized</a>&nbsp;to the parents of victims of such abuse during a Senate hearing earlier this year.

Meta, which is based in Menlo Park, California, also owns Facebook and WhatsApp but the nudity blur feature won’t be added to messages sent on those platforms.

Instagram said scammers often use direct messages to ask for “intimate images.” To counter this, it will soon start testing out a nudity-protection feature for direct messages that blurs any images with nudity “and encourages people to think twice before sending nude images.”

“The feature is designed not only to protect people from seeing unwanted nudity in their DMs, but also to protect them from scammers who may send nude images to trick people into sending their own images in return,” Instagram said.

The feature will be turned on by default globally for teens under 18. Adult users will get a notification encouraging them to activate it.

Images with nudity will be blurred with a warning, giving users the option to view it. They'll also get an option to block the sender and report the chat.

For people sending direct messages with nudity, they will get a message reminding them to be cautious when sending “sensitive photos." They'll also be informed that they can unsend the photos if they change their mind, but that there's a chance others may have already seen them.

As with many of Meta's tools and policies around child safety, critics saw the move as a positive step, but one that does not go far enough.

“I think the tools announced can protect senders, and that is welcome. But what about recipients?" said Arturo Béjar, former engineering director at the social media giant who is known for his expertise in curbing online harassment. He said 1 in 8 teens receives an unwanted advance on Instagram every seven days, citing internal research he compiled while at Meta that he presented in November&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/social-media-teens-meta-instagram-arturo-bejar-5f7fb7d55fb9f0da12cf3a57837fa0c5">testimony before Congress</a>. "What tools do they get? What can they do if they get an unwanted nude?”

Béjar said “things won’t meaningfully change” until there is a way for a teen to say they’ve received an unwanted advance, and there is transparency about it.

White House assistant press secretary Robyn Patterson also noted Thursday that President Joe Biden “has been outspoken about his belief that social media companies can do more to combat sexual exploitation online.”

Instagram said it's working on technology to help identify accounts that could be potentially be engaging in sexual extortion scams, “based on a range of signals that could indicate sextortion behavior.”

To stop criminals from connecting with young people, it's also taking measures including not showing the “message” button on a teen’s profile to potential sextortion accounts, even if they already follow each other, and testing new ways to hide teens from these accounts.

In January, the FBI warned of a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/sextortion">“huge increase” in sextortion</a>&nbsp;cases targeting children — including financial sextortion, where someone threatens to release compromising images unless the victim pays. The targeted victims are primarily boys between the ages of 14 to 17, but the FBI said any child can become a victim. In the six-month period from October 2022 to March 2023, the FBI saw a more than 20% increase in reporting of financially motivated sextortion cases involving minor victims compared to the same period in the previous year.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1712933938998.png" alt="Instagram" />
 <figcaption>Instagram</figcaption>
 </figure>LONDON (AP) — Instagram says it's deploying new tools to protect young people and combat sexual extortion, including a feature that will automatically blur nudity in direct messages.The social media platform said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/new-tools-to-help-protect-against-sextortion-and-intimate-image-abuse">blog post</a>&nbsp;Thursday that it's testing out the features as part of its campaign to fight sexual scams and other forms of “image abuse,” and to make it tougher for criminals to contact teens.Sexual extortion, or sextortion, involves persuading a person to send explicit photos online and then threatening to make the images public unless the victim pays money or engages in sexual favors. Recent high-profile cases include&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sexual-extortion-guilty-pleas-michigan-nigerian-brothers-25c1593410c9fa538d39539ca34363c0">two Nigerian brothers</a>&nbsp;who pleaded guilty to sexually extorting teen boys and young men in Michigan, including one who took his own life, and a Virginia sheriff’s deputy who&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-fires-california-virginia-riverside-c35722488c9c3dd20b7c04162d8b9425">sexually extorted and kidnapped</a>&nbsp;a 15-year-old girl.Instagram and other social media companies have faced growing criticism for not doing enough to protect young people. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Instagram's owner Meta Platforms,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/video/social-media-meta-platforms-inc-children-x-corp-national-a98bac4cb6634acaaea4cf58ca28d3d2">apologized</a>&nbsp;to the parents of victims of such abuse during a Senate hearing earlier this year.Meta, which is based in Menlo Park, California, also owns Facebook and WhatsApp but the nudity blur feature won’t be added to messages sent on those platforms.Instagram said scammers often use direct messages to ask for “intimate images.” To counter this, it will soon start testing out a nudity-protection feature for direct messages that blurs any images with nudity “and encourages people to think twice before sending nude images.”“The feature is designed not only to protect people from seeing unwanted nudity in their DMs, but also to protect them from scammers who may send nude images to trick people into sending their own images in return,” Instagram said.The feature will be turned on by default globally for teens under 18. Adult users will get a notification encouraging them to activate it.Images with nudity will be blurred with a warning, giving users the option to view it. They'll also get an option to block the sender and report the chat.For people sending direct messages with nudity, they will get a message reminding them to be cautious when sending “sensitive photos." They'll also be informed that they can unsend the photos if they change their mind, but that there's a chance others may have already seen them.As with many of Meta's tools and policies around child safety, critics saw the move as a positive step, but one that does not go far enough.“I think the tools announced can protect senders, and that is welcome. But what about recipients?" said Arturo Béjar, former engineering director at the social media giant who is known for his expertise in curbing online harassment. He said 1 in 8 teens receives an unwanted advance on Instagram every seven days, citing internal research he compiled while at Meta that he presented in November&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/social-media-teens-meta-instagram-arturo-bejar-5f7fb7d55fb9f0da12cf3a57837fa0c5">testimony before Congress</a>. "What tools do they get? What can they do if they get an unwanted nude?”Béjar said “things won’t meaningfully change” until there is a way for a teen to say they’ve received an unwanted advance, and there is transparency about it.White House assistant press secretary Robyn Patterson also noted Thursday that President Joe Biden “has been outspoken about his belief that social media companies can do more to combat sexual exploitation online.”Instagram said it's working on technology to help identify accounts that could be potentially be engaging in sexual extortion scams, “based on a range of signals that could indicate sextortion behavior.”To stop criminals from connecting with young people, it's also taking measures including not showing the “message” button on a teen’s profile to potential sextortion accounts, even if they already follow each other, and testing new ways to hide teens from these accounts.In January, the FBI warned of a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/sextortion">“huge increase” in sextortion</a>&nbsp;cases targeting children — including financial sextortion, where someone threatens to release compromising images unless the victim pays. The targeted victims are primarily boys between the ages of 14 to 17, but the FBI said any child can become a victim. In the six-month period from October 2022 to March 2023, the FBI saw a more than 20% increase in reporting of financially motivated sextortion cases involving minor victims compared to the same period in the previous year.__

Instagram deploying new tool to protect teens and fight sexual extortion

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted Friday to reauthorize and reform a key U.S. government surveillance tool following a dramatic showdown on the floor over whether the FBI should be restricted from using the program to search for Americans’ data.&nbsp; 

All three members of the Nebraska Congressional delegation Don Bacon, Mike Flood and Adrian Smith voted against requiring a warrant to spy on Americans.

The bill was approved on a bipartisan basis, 273-147, though it will have to clear the Senate to become law. The surveillance program is set to expire April 19 unless Congress acts.

Passage of the bill represented a much-needed victory for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who has been wrangling with conservative critics of the legislation for months. A group of 19 Republicans revolted to block the bill from coming to the floor earlier in the week, forcing Johnson to make late changes to secure their support.

The legislation approved Friday would extend the surveillance program two years, rather than the five first proposed. Johnson hoped that the shorter timeline would sway&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fisa-donald-trump-surveillance-congress-mike-johnson-623df444267e725ca8e313295052f09e">GOP critics</a>&nbsp;by pushing any future debate on the issue to the presidency of Donald Trump if he were to win back the White House in November.

Still, the legislation teetered precariously Friday morning as lawmakers voted on an amendment — vociferously opposed by Johnson, the White House and sponsors of the legislation — that would prohibit the warrantless surveillance of Americans.

One of his top critics, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said that Johnson’s vote against the warrant requirement was another strike against him.

“Basically, what’s the difference in Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi and Speaker Johnson and there’s not one," the Georgia lawmaker said.

The amendment failed by the narrowest of margins, in a 212-212 tie.&nbsp; Eighty-six&nbsp; Republicans including the Nebraska lawmakers who joined Congresswoman Ann Wagner and Sam Graves of Missouri and Congressmen Jake LaTurner and Ron Estes of Kansas voted against requiring a warrant to 'spy on Americans.'

 Supporters breathed a sigh of relief as the vote was gaveled to a close.

The vote on the amendment cut across party lines, uniting progressives and conservatives who agree on little else, but are skeptical of the government's surveillance powers.

Opponents of the legislation weren't giving up. In a surprise move after the vote was closed on the overall bill, a Republican made a procedural motion preventing the legislation from being sent to the Senate. An additional vote will be needed next week.

The legislation approved Friday would permit the U.S. government to collect, without a warrant, the communications of non-Americans located outside the country to gather foreign intelligence. The reauthorization is currently tied to a series of reforms aimed at satisfying critics who complained of civil liberties violations against Americans.

But far-right opponents have complained that those changes did not go far enough. The vocal detractors are some of Johnson’s harshest critics, members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, who have railed against the speaker the last several months for reaching across the aisle to carry out the basic functions of the government.

To appease some of those critics, Johnson also plans to bring forward next week a separate proposal that would close a loophole that allows U.S. officials to collect data on Americans from big tech companies without a warrant.

Though the program is technically set to expire next Friday, the Biden administration has said it expects its authority to collect intelligence to remain operational for at least another year, thanks to an opinion earlier this month from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which receives surveillance applications. But officials say that court approval shouldn’t be a substitute for congressional authorization, especially since communications companies could cease cooperation with the government.

First authorized in 2008, the spy tool has been renewed several times since then as U.S. officials see it as crucial in disrupting terror attacks, cyber intrusions and foreign espionage. It has also produced intelligence that the U.S. has relied on for specific operations.

But the administration’s efforts to secure reauthorization of the program have repeatedly encountered fierce, and bipartisan, pushback, with Democrats like Sen. Ron Wyden who have long championed civil liberties aligning with Republican supporters of former President Donald Trump, who in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday stated incorrectly that Section 702 had been used to spy on his presidential campaign.

“Kill FISA,” Trump wrote in all capital letters. “It was illegally used against me, and many others. They spied on my campaign.” A former adviser to his 2016 presidential campaign was targeted for surveillance over potential ties to Russia under a different section of the law.

A specific area of concern for lawmakers is the FBI’s use of the vast intelligence repository to search for information about Americans and others in the U.S. Though the surveillance program only targets non-Americans in other countries, it also collects communications of Americans when they are in contact with those targeted foreigners.

In the past year, U.S. officials have revealed a series of abuses and mistakes by FBI analysts in improperly querying the intelligence repository for information about Americans or others in the U.S., including about a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fisa-foreign-surveillance-fbi-3f7d4cc0ef413cdf20bc0b70548cde84">member of Congress</a>&nbsp;and participants in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-fbi-surveillance-75c466a64e838ab12eaef96f6335f3cd">racial justice protests of 2020</a>&nbsp;and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Those violations have led to demands for the FBI to have a warrant before conducting database queries on Americans, which FBI director&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/christopher-wray">Chris Wray</a>&nbsp;has warned would effectively gut the program's effectiveness and would also be legally unnecessary given that the information in the database has already been lawfully collected.

“While it is imperative that we ensure this critical authority of 702 does not lapse, we also must not undercut the effectiveness of this essential tool with a warrant requirement or some similar restriction, paralyzing our ability to tackle fast-moving threats,” Wray said in a speech Tuesday.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1712945565277.png" alt="House Speaker Mike Johnson-file photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>House Speaker Mike Johnson-file photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted Friday to reauthorize and reform a key U.S. government surveillance tool following a dramatic showdown on the floor over whether the FBI should be restricted from using the program to search for Americans’ data.&nbsp; All three members of the Nebraska Congressional delegation Don Bacon, Mike Flood and Adrian Smith voted against requiring a warrant to spy on Americans.The bill was approved on a bipartisan basis, 273-147, though it will have to clear the Senate to become law. The surveillance program is set to expire April 19 unless Congress acts.Passage of the bill represented a much-needed victory for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who has been wrangling with conservative critics of the legislation for months. A group of 19 Republicans revolted to block the bill from coming to the floor earlier in the week, forcing Johnson to make late changes to secure their support.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1712940108886.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The legislation approved Friday would extend the surveillance program two years, rather than the five first proposed. Johnson hoped that the shorter timeline would sway&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fisa-donald-trump-surveillance-congress-mike-johnson-623df444267e725ca8e313295052f09e">GOP critics</a>&nbsp;by pushing any future debate on the issue to the presidency of Donald Trump if he were to win back the White House in November.Still, the legislation teetered precariously Friday morning as lawmakers voted on an amendment — vociferously opposed by Johnson, the White House and sponsors of the legislation — that would prohibit the warrantless surveillance of Americans.One of his top critics, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said that Johnson’s vote against the warrant requirement was another strike against him.“Basically, what’s the difference in Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi and Speaker Johnson and there’s not one," the Georgia lawmaker said.The amendment failed by the narrowest of margins, in a 212-212 tie.&nbsp; Eighty-six&nbsp; Republicans including the Nebraska lawmakers who joined Congresswoman Ann Wagner and Sam Graves of Missouri and Congressmen Jake LaTurner and Ron Estes of Kansas voted against requiring a warrant to 'spy on Americans.' Supporters breathed a sigh of relief as the vote was gaveled to a close.The vote on the amendment cut across party lines, uniting progressives and conservatives who agree on little else, but are skeptical of the government's surveillance powers.Opponents of the legislation weren't giving up. In a surprise move after the vote was closed on the overall bill, a Republican made a procedural motion preventing the legislation from being sent to the Senate. An additional vote will be needed next week.The legislation approved Friday would permit the U.S. government to collect, without a warrant, the communications of non-Americans located outside the country to gather foreign intelligence. The reauthorization is currently tied to a series of reforms aimed at satisfying critics who complained of civil liberties violations against Americans.But far-right opponents have complained that those changes did not go far enough. The vocal detractors are some of Johnson’s harshest critics, members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, who have railed against the speaker the last several months for reaching across the aisle to carry out the basic functions of the government.To appease some of those critics, Johnson also plans to bring forward next week a separate proposal that would close a loophole that allows U.S. officials to collect data on Americans from big tech companies without a warrant.Though the program is technically set to expire next Friday, the Biden administration has said it expects its authority to collect intelligence to remain operational for at least another year, thanks to an opinion earlier this month from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which receives surveillance applications. But officials say that court approval shouldn’t be a substitute for congressional authorization, especially since communications companies could cease cooperation with the government.First authorized in 2008, the spy tool has been renewed several times since then as U.S. officials see it as crucial in disrupting terror attacks, cyber intrusions and foreign espionage. It has also produced intelligence that the U.S. has relied on for specific operations.But the administration’s efforts to secure reauthorization of the program have repeatedly encountered fierce, and bipartisan, pushback, with Democrats like Sen. Ron Wyden who have long championed civil liberties aligning with Republican supporters of former President Donald Trump, who in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday stated incorrectly that Section 702 had been used to spy on his presidential campaign.“Kill FISA,” Trump wrote in all capital letters. “It was illegally used against me, and many others. They spied on my campaign.” A former adviser to his 2016 presidential campaign was targeted for surveillance over potential ties to Russia under a different section of the law.A specific area of concern for lawmakers is the FBI’s use of the vast intelligence repository to search for information about Americans and others in the U.S. Though the surveillance program only targets non-Americans in other countries, it also collects communications of Americans when they are in contact with those targeted foreigners.In the past year, U.S. officials have revealed a series of abuses and mistakes by FBI analysts in improperly querying the intelligence repository for information about Americans or others in the U.S., including about a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fisa-foreign-surveillance-fbi-3f7d4cc0ef413cdf20bc0b70548cde84">member of Congress</a>&nbsp;and participants in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-fbi-surveillance-75c466a64e838ab12eaef96f6335f3cd">racial justice protests of 2020</a>&nbsp;and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.Those violations have led to demands for the FBI to have a warrant before conducting database queries on Americans, which FBI director&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/christopher-wray">Chris Wray</a>&nbsp;has warned would effectively gut the program's effectiveness and would also be legally unnecessary given that the information in the database has already been lawfully collected.“While it is imperative that we ensure this critical authority of 702 does not lapse, we also must not undercut the effectiveness of this essential tool with a warrant requirement or some similar restriction, paralyzing our ability to tackle fast-moving threats,” Wray said in a speech Tuesday.

3 Neb. lawmakers vote against requiring a warrant to spy on Americans

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is canceling student loans for another 277,000 borrowers as part of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loans-forgiveness-save-plan-debt-borrowers-313afd73cadc3cfc8ab3a6ee684fc3e4">new repayment plan</a>&nbsp;that offers a faster route to forgiveness.

The Education Department announced the latest round of cancellations Friday in an update on the progress of its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loans-debt-college-cancellation-forgiveness-34152bb5000128a413efd2287887a37a">SAVE Plan</a>. More people are becoming eligible for student loan cancellation as they hit 10 years of payments, a new finish line for some loans that’s a decade sooner than what borrowers faced in the past.

Casting a shadow over the cancellations, however, are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-debt-cancellation-college-forgiveness-f94b9706bd395b32e44d4d1b3f6ff051">two new lawsuits</a>&nbsp;challenging the plan's legality. Two groups of Republican-led states, fronted by Kansas and Missouri, recently&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-cancellation-debt-lawsuit-republicans-biden-b60d13539b2f2aef2869d56e63f33a3b">filed federal suits</a>&nbsp;arguing that the Biden administration overstepped its authority in creating the repayment option.

“From day one of my Administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “I will never stop working to cancel student debt — no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us.”

With the latest action, the Education Department has now approved cancellation for about 360,000 borrowers through the new repayment plan, totaling $4.8 billion.

The SAVE Plan is an updated version of a federal repayment plan that has been offered for decades, but with more generous terms.

Congress created the first income-driven repayment option in the 1990s for people struggling to afford payments on standard plans. It capped monthly payments to a percentage of their incomes and canceled any unpaid debt after 25 years. Similar plans were added later, offering cancellation in as little as 20 years.

Arguing that today's borrowers need even more help, the Biden administration merged most of those plans into a single repayment option with more lenient terms.

The SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) Plan allows more borrowers to pay nothing until their income rise above certain limits. It also lowers payments more than past plans, eliminates interest growth and cancels unpaid debt in as little as 10 years.

Biden&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-biden-plan-d9c8e18774a744187c9af634bf4eb728">announced the plan in 2022</a>&nbsp;alongside his broader proposal for a one-time cancellation of up to $20,000 for more than 40 million people. While the one-time cancellation was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-supreme-court-653c2e9c085863bdbf81f125f87669fa">struck down</a>&nbsp;by the Supreme Court, the SAVE Plan moved forward and initially escaped legal scrutiny.

The repayment plan opened for enrollment last fall, with certain provisions scheduled to be phased in later this year. The faster path to cancellation was among those slated to start this summer, but the Biden administration&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loans-cancellation-debt-forgiveness-biden-2630ec3d7cb06510c9d7248a86afb8ce">fast-tracked that benefit</a>&nbsp;early this year, announcing forgiveness for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-student-loan-forgiveness-2024-california-cc23ba93a733b583f3ee8963cdd02566">153,000 borrowers</a>&nbsp;who had hit 10 years of payments.

Almost 8 million Americans have enrolled in the plan, including 4.5 million who pay nothing because they have lower incomes.

In a call with reporters, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said the plan provides relief and prevents borrowers from falling behind on their loans.

“Now they have some money back in their pockets, instead of a bill that too often competed with basic needs like groceries and health care,” he said.

Under the plan, borrowers who originally borrowed $12,000 or less are eligible for forgiveness after 10 years. Those who took out more than $12,000 can get cancellation but on a longer timeline. For each $1,000 borrowed beyond $12,000, it adds an additional year of payments on top of 10 years.

The Biden administration says it's designed to help those who need it most. Counterintuitively, those with smaller student loan balances tend to struggle more. It’s driven by millions of Americans who take out student loans but don’t finish degrees, leaving them with the downside of debt without the upside of a higher income.

In two separate lawsuits, Republican attorneys general in 18 states are pushing to have the plan tossed and to halt any further cancellation. They say the SAVE Plan goes beyond Biden’s authority and makes it harder for states to recruit employees. They say the plan undermines a separate cancellation program that encourages careers in public service.

It’s unclear what the suits could mean for loans that have already been canceled. A court document filed by Kansas' attorney general says it's “unrealistic to think that any loan forgiveness that occurs during this litigation will ever be clawed back.”

The lawsuits don't directly address the question, and the attorneys general didn't immediately respond to an Associated Press request.

The Education Department says Congress gave the agency power to define the terms of income-driven payment plans in 1993, and that authority has been used in the past.

Along with the repayment plan, Biden is trying again at a one-time student loan cancellation. In a visit to Wisconsin on Monday, he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-student-loan-education-forgiveness-069d64e7e6fc4edd967adf6bc5f7e699">highlighted a proposal</a>&nbsp;to reduce or cancel loans for more than 30 million borrowers in five categories.

It aims to help borrowers with larges sums of unpaid interest, those with older loans, those who attended low-value programs, and those who face other hardships preventing them from repaying student loans. It would also cancel loans for people who are eligible for other forgiveness programs but haven't applied.

The Biden administration says it will accelerate parts of the proposal, with plans to start waiving unpaid interest for millions of borrowers starting this fall. Conservative opponents have threatened to challenge that plan, too.

On Friday the administration also said it's canceling loans for 65,000 borrowers who are enrolled in older income-driven repayment plans and hit the finish line for forgiveness. It also announced cancellation for another 5,000 borrowers through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

Through a variety of programs, the Biden administration says it has now provided loan relief to 4.3 million people, totaling $153 billion.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1712948481051.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is canceling student loans for another 277,000 borrowers as part of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loans-forgiveness-save-plan-debt-borrowers-313afd73cadc3cfc8ab3a6ee684fc3e4">new repayment plan</a>&nbsp;that offers a faster route to forgiveness.The Education Department announced the latest round of cancellations Friday in an update on the progress of its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loans-debt-college-cancellation-forgiveness-34152bb5000128a413efd2287887a37a">SAVE Plan</a>. More people are becoming eligible for student loan cancellation as they hit 10 years of payments, a new finish line for some loans that’s a decade sooner than what borrowers faced in the past.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">President Biden and I are proud to announce an additional $7.4 billion in student loan forgiveness for 277,000 more Americans. We have now forgiven $153 billion for 4.3 million borrowers — and we won’t stop there. To learn more visit <a href="https://t.co/5lP8EkFs1D">https://t.co/5lP8EkFs1D</a>. <a href="https://t.co/smFxD8Ztoy">pic.twitter.com/smFxD8Ztoy</a>&mdash; Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) <a href="https://twitter.com/VP/status/1778801631364014424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 12, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Casting a shadow over the cancellations, however, are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-debt-cancellation-college-forgiveness-f94b9706bd395b32e44d4d1b3f6ff051">two new lawsuits</a>&nbsp;challenging the plan's legality. Two groups of Republican-led states, fronted by Kansas and Missouri, recently&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-cancellation-debt-lawsuit-republicans-biden-b60d13539b2f2aef2869d56e63f33a3b">filed federal suits</a>&nbsp;arguing that the Biden administration overstepped its authority in creating the repayment option.“From day one of my Administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “I will never stop working to cancel student debt — no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us.”With the latest action, the Education Department has now approved cancellation for about 360,000 borrowers through the new repayment plan, totaling $4.8 billion.The SAVE Plan is an updated version of a federal repayment plan that has been offered for decades, but with more generous terms.Congress created the first income-driven repayment option in the 1990s for people struggling to afford payments on standard plans. It capped monthly payments to a percentage of their incomes and canceled any unpaid debt after 25 years. Similar plans were added later, offering cancellation in as little as 20 years.Arguing that today's borrowers need even more help, the Biden administration merged most of those plans into a single repayment option with more lenient terms.The SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) Plan allows more borrowers to pay nothing until their income rise above certain limits. It also lowers payments more than past plans, eliminates interest growth and cancels unpaid debt in as little as 10 years.Biden&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-biden-plan-d9c8e18774a744187c9af634bf4eb728">announced the plan in 2022</a>&nbsp;alongside his broader proposal for a one-time cancellation of up to $20,000 for more than 40 million people. While the one-time cancellation was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-supreme-court-653c2e9c085863bdbf81f125f87669fa">struck down</a>&nbsp;by the Supreme Court, the SAVE Plan moved forward and initially escaped legal scrutiny.The repayment plan opened for enrollment last fall, with certain provisions scheduled to be phased in later this year. The faster path to cancellation was among those slated to start this summer, but the Biden administration&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loans-cancellation-debt-forgiveness-biden-2630ec3d7cb06510c9d7248a86afb8ce">fast-tracked that benefit</a>&nbsp;early this year, announcing forgiveness for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-student-loan-forgiveness-2024-california-cc23ba93a733b583f3ee8963cdd02566">153,000 borrowers</a>&nbsp;who had hit 10 years of payments.Almost 8 million Americans have enrolled in the plan, including 4.5 million who pay nothing because they have lower incomes.In a call with reporters, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said the plan provides relief and prevents borrowers from falling behind on their loans.“Now they have some money back in their pockets, instead of a bill that too often competed with basic needs like groceries and health care,” he said.Under the plan, borrowers who originally borrowed $12,000 or less are eligible for forgiveness after 10 years. Those who took out more than $12,000 can get cancellation but on a longer timeline. For each $1,000 borrowed beyond $12,000, it adds an additional year of payments on top of 10 years.The Biden administration says it's designed to help those who need it most. Counterintuitively, those with smaller student loan balances tend to struggle more. It’s driven by millions of Americans who take out student loans but don’t finish degrees, leaving them with the downside of debt without the upside of a higher income.In two separate lawsuits, Republican attorneys general in 18 states are pushing to have the plan tossed and to halt any further cancellation. They say the SAVE Plan goes beyond Biden’s authority and makes it harder for states to recruit employees. They say the plan undermines a separate cancellation program that encourages careers in public service.It’s unclear what the suits could mean for loans that have already been canceled. A court document filed by Kansas' attorney general says it's “unrealistic to think that any loan forgiveness that occurs during this litigation will ever be clawed back.”The lawsuits don't directly address the question, and the attorneys general didn't immediately respond to an Associated Press request.The Education Department says Congress gave the agency power to define the terms of income-driven payment plans in 1993, and that authority has been used in the past.Along with the repayment plan, Biden is trying again at a one-time student loan cancellation. In a visit to Wisconsin on Monday, he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-student-loan-education-forgiveness-069d64e7e6fc4edd967adf6bc5f7e699">highlighted a proposal</a>&nbsp;to reduce or cancel loans for more than 30 million borrowers in five categories.It aims to help borrowers with larges sums of unpaid interest, those with older loans, those who attended low-value programs, and those who face other hardships preventing them from repaying student loans. It would also cancel loans for people who are eligible for other forgiveness programs but haven't applied.The Biden administration says it will accelerate parts of the proposal, with plans to start waiving unpaid interest for millions of borrowers starting this fall. Conservative opponents have threatened to challenge that plan, too.On Friday the administration also said it's canceling loans for 65,000 borrowers who are enrolled in older income-driven repayment plans and hit the finish line for forgiveness. It also announced cancellation for another 5,000 borrowers through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.Through a variety of programs, the Biden administration says it has now provided loan relief to 4.3 million people, totaling $153 billion.

Biden announces new student loan forgiveness plan

NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/robert-macneil">Robert MacNeil,</a>&nbsp;who created the even-handed, no-frills PBS newscast “The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour” in the 1970s and co-anchored the show for with his late partner,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/f8aeb6fc3fc76ef11bca1d6368afb4f9">Jim Lehrer,</a>&nbsp;for two decades, died on Friday. He was 93.

MacNeil died of natural causes at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, according to his daughter, Alison MacNeil.

MacNeil first gained prominence for his coverage of the Senate Watergate hearings for the public broadcasting service and began his half-hour “Robert MacNeil Report” on PBS in 1975 with his friend Lehrer as Washington correspondent.

The broadcast became the “MacNeil-Lehrer Report” and then, in 1983, was expanded to an hour and renamed the “MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour.” The nation's first one-hour evening news broadcast, and recipient of several Emmy and Peabody awards, it remains on the air today with Geoff Bennett and Amna Nawaz as anchors.

It was MacNeil’s and Lehrer’s disenchantment with the style and content of rival news programs on ABC, CBS and NBC that led to the program’s creation.

“We don’t need to SELL the news,” MacNeil told the Chicago Tribune in 1983. “The networks hype the news to make it seem vital, important. What’s missing (in 22 minutes) is context, sometimes balance, and a consideration of questions that are raised by certain events.”

MacNeil left anchoring duties at “NewsHour” after two decades in 1995 to write full time. Lehrer took over the newscast alone, and he remained there until 2009. Lehrer died in 2020.

When MacNeil visited the show in October 2005 to commemorate its 30th anniversary, he reminisced about how their newscast started in the days before cable television.

“It was a way to do something that seemed to be needed journalistically and yet was different from what the commercial network news (programs) were doing,” he said.

MacNeil wrote several books, including two memoirs “The Right Place at the Right Time” and the best seller “Wordstruck,” and the novels “Burden of Desire” and “The Voyage.”

“Writing is much more personal. It is not collaborative in the way that television must be,” MacNeil told The Associated Press in 1995. “But when you’re sitting down writing a novel, it’s just you: Here’s what I think, here’s what I want to do. And it’s me.”

MacNeil also created the Emmy-winning 1986 series “The Story of English,” with the MacNeil-Lehrer production company, and was co-author of the companion book of the same name.

Another book on language that he co-wrote, “Do You Speak American?,” was adapted into a PBS documentary in 2005.

In 2007, he served as host of “America at a Crossroads,” a six-night PBS package exploring challenges confronting the United States in a post-9/11 world.

Six years before the 9/11 attacks, discussing sensationalism and frivolity in the news business, he had said: “If something really serious did happen to the nation — a stock market crash like 1929, ... the equivalent of a Pearl Harbor — wouldn’t the news get very serious again? Wouldn’t people run from `Hard Copy’ and titillation?”

“Of course you would. You’d have to know what was going on.”

Born in Montreal in 1931, MacNeil was raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa in 1955 before moving to London where he began his journalism career with Reuters. He switched to TV news in 1960, taking a job with NBC in London as a foreign correspondent.

In 1963, MacNeil was transferred to NBC’s Washington bureau, where he reported on Civil Rights and the White House. He covered the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas and spent most of 1964 following the presidential campaign between Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon Johnson, and Republican Barry Goldwater.

In 1965, MacNeil became the New York anchor of the first half-hour weekend network news broadcast, “The Scherer-MacNeil Report” on NBC. While in New York, he also anchored local newscasts and several NBC news documentaries, including “The Big Ear” and “The Right to Bear Arms.”

MacNeil returned to London in 1967 as a reporter for the British Broadcasting Corp.’s “Panorama” series. While with the BBC, be covered such U.S. stories as the clash between anti-war demonstrators and the Chicago police at the 1968 Democratic Convention, and the funerals of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Sen. Robert Kennedy and President Dwight Eisenhower.

In 1971, MacNeil left the BBC to become a senior correspondent for PBS, where he teamed up with Lehrer to co-anchor public television’s Emmy-winning coverage of the Senate Watergate hearings in 1973.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1712944014693.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/robert-macneil">Robert MacNeil,</a>&nbsp;who created the even-handed, no-frills PBS newscast “The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour” in the 1970s and co-anchored the show for with his late partner,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/f8aeb6fc3fc76ef11bca1d6368afb4f9">Jim Lehrer,</a>&nbsp;for two decades, died on Friday. He was 93.MacNeil died of natural causes at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, according to his daughter, Alison MacNeil.MacNeil first gained prominence for his coverage of the Senate Watergate hearings for the public broadcasting service and began his half-hour “Robert MacNeil Report” on PBS in 1975 with his friend Lehrer as Washington correspondent.The broadcast became the “MacNeil-Lehrer Report” and then, in 1983, was expanded to an hour and renamed the “MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour.” The nation's first one-hour evening news broadcast, and recipient of several Emmy and Peabody awards, it remains on the air today with Geoff Bennett and Amna Nawaz as anchors.It was MacNeil’s and Lehrer’s disenchantment with the style and content of rival news programs on ABC, CBS and NBC that led to the program’s creation.“We don’t need to SELL the news,” MacNeil told the Chicago Tribune in 1983. “The networks hype the news to make it seem vital, important. What’s missing (in 22 minutes) is context, sometimes balance, and a consideration of questions that are raised by certain events.”MacNeil left anchoring duties at “NewsHour” after two decades in 1995 to write full time. Lehrer took over the newscast alone, and he remained there until 2009. Lehrer died in 2020.When MacNeil visited the show in October 2005 to commemorate its 30th anniversary, he reminisced about how their newscast started in the days before cable television.“It was a way to do something that seemed to be needed journalistically and yet was different from what the commercial network news (programs) were doing,” he said.MacNeil wrote several books, including two memoirs “The Right Place at the Right Time” and the best seller “Wordstruck,” and the novels “Burden of Desire” and “The Voyage.”“Writing is much more personal. It is not collaborative in the way that television must be,” MacNeil told The Associated Press in 1995. “But when you’re sitting down writing a novel, it’s just you: Here’s what I think, here’s what I want to do. And it’s me.”MacNeil also created the Emmy-winning 1986 series “The Story of English,” with the MacNeil-Lehrer production company, and was co-author of the companion book of the same name.Another book on language that he co-wrote, “Do You Speak American?,” was adapted into a PBS documentary in 2005.In 2007, he served as host of “America at a Crossroads,” a six-night PBS package exploring challenges confronting the United States in a post-9/11 world.Six years before the 9/11 attacks, discussing sensationalism and frivolity in the news business, he had said: “If something really serious did happen to the nation — a stock market crash like 1929, ... the equivalent of a Pearl Harbor — wouldn’t the news get very serious again? Wouldn’t people run from `Hard Copy’ and titillation?”“Of course you would. You’d have to know what was going on.”That was the case — for a while.Born in Montreal in 1931, MacNeil was raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa in 1955 before moving to London where he began his journalism career with Reuters. He switched to TV news in 1960, taking a job with NBC in London as a foreign correspondent.In 1963, MacNeil was transferred to NBC’s Washington bureau, where he reported on Civil Rights and the White House. He covered the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas and spent most of 1964 following the presidential campaign between Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon Johnson, and Republican Barry Goldwater.In 1965, MacNeil became the New York anchor of the first half-hour weekend network news broadcast, “The Scherer-MacNeil Report” on NBC. While in New York, he also anchored local newscasts and several NBC news documentaries, including “The Big Ear” and “The Right to Bear Arms.”MacNeil returned to London in 1967 as a reporter for the British Broadcasting Corp.’s “Panorama” series. While with the BBC, be covered such U.S. stories as the clash between anti-war demonstrators and the Chicago police at the 1968 Democratic Convention, and the funerals of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Sen. Robert Kennedy and President Dwight Eisenhower.In 1971, MacNeil left the BBC to become a senior correspondent for PBS, where he teamed up with Lehrer to co-anchor public television’s Emmy-winning coverage of the Senate Watergate hearings in 1973.___

Robert MacNeil, creator and first anchor of PBS 'NewsHour' dies at 93

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Arguments before a federal appeals court that is considering whether to reinstate Arkansas' first-in-the-nation ban on gender-affirming care for minors focused Thursday on whether it and similar restrictions adopted by two dozen states discriminate on the basis of sex.

Ten judges with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis heard arguments over a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/us-news/arkansas-gender-general-news-2a0d032f4e4f3195c180d879239e6521">judge's ruling</a>&nbsp;last year that struck down the ban as unconstitutional. The 2021 law would prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery to anyone under 18.

An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the law on behalf of four transgender youths and their parents, said the restriction infringes on the longstanding rights of parents to make decisions about their children's medical care.

“Arkansas believed that that government knew better than the loving parents in this case what was best for their minor children,” Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice for the ACLU’s LGBTQ and HIV Project, told the court. “That burdens that longstanding right of parents to direct the medical care of their children.”

At least 24 states have adopted laws&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-health-care-republican-legislatures-5d98832c0234de079263672c738e0631">restricting or banning</a>&nbsp;gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, and most of those face lawsuits. The restrictions on health care are part of a larger backlash against transgender rights, touching on everything from bathroom access to participation in sports.

The 43-minute hearing on the Arkansas law drew a packed audience that included the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/elliot-page">actor Elliot Page,</a>&nbsp;who has filed a brief asking the court to uphold last year's ruling.

Dylan Jacobs, the deputy solicitor general for Arkansas, argued that the law doesn't discriminate based on sex because it bans the treatments for a specific purpose.

“Minors may be prescribed testosterone for any purpose other than gender transition under this statute,” Jacobs said, adding that states have “wide-ranging authority” to regulate health, safety and medical ethics.

The case went before the full court rather than a three-judge panel after it granted a request by Republican Attorney General Tim Griffin. The move could speed up the case's march toward the U.S. Supreme Court, which has been asked to block similar laws in Kentucky and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tennessee-transgender-gender-affirming-care-ban-f58714b70298e2eb65ce833c2d4ae3b9">Tennessee</a>. All but one of the judges hearing arguments Thursday were appointed by Republican presidents.

Jacobs was repeatedly questioned by Judge Jane Kelly, who was appointed to the court by former President Barack Obama, about the state's arguments that the law doesn't discriminate based on sex.

Judge David Stras, who was appointed to the court by former President Donald Trump, asked attorneys on both sides whether gender identity is "fully fixed" before the end of puberty and whether that would be justification for a ban like Arkansas'.

Jacobs said the Legislature setting 18 as the cutoff age implies that was part of its reasoning. Strangio noted that none of the treatments banned by Arkansas are prescribed before the onset of puberty.

It’s unclear when the 8th Circuit will make a ruling. Chief Judge Steven Colloton said it will issue a decision “in due course.”

“This ongoing battle, in Arkansas and across the United States, is a stark reminder of the challenges we face in ensuring that everyone has the freedom to access the care they need and deserve,” the families challenging the law said in a statement after the hearing.

U.S. District Judge Jay Moody last year ruled that Arkansas' health care restrictions violated the due process and equal protection rights of transgender youths and families. He also ruled that it violated the First Amendment by prohibiting doctors from referring patients elsewhere for such care. Moody had temporarily&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-health-government-and-politics-arkansas-eb81755d293622d71ff832d8cbbea97d">blocked</a>&nbsp;the law before it could take effect in 2021.

The ACLU is also representing two medical providers of the care. Multiple medical groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have opposed Arkansas' ban and urged the 8th Circuit to uphold the decision against it. An attorney for Justice Department, which opposes Arkansas' ban, also appeared before the court.

The state has pointed to appeals court rulings allowing Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee's bans to be enforced. Arkansas’ attorneys have called the care “experimental,” a description that Moody’s ruling said was refuted by decades of clinical experience and scientific research. The state has argued that Moody's order creates a “novel new” right that parents can direct their children to receive medical care that the state does not find safe.

Judges’ orders are temporarily blocking enforcement of similar bans in Idaho and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/montana-youth-gender-affirming-care-ban-blocked-b042bea74b3f8e6be27e81572a771a8f">Montana</a>.

Arkansas' ban was enacted after the majority-GOP Legislature&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/arkansas-lawmakers-enact-transgender-youth-treatment-ban-dce1d5ca9450b255caabc18f547f7b9b">overrode</a>&nbsp;a veto by Asa Hutchinson, the Republican governor at the time. Current Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Hutchinson's successor and also a Republican, has said she would have approved the ban and last year signed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/huckabee-sanders-transgender-malpractice-lgbtq-arkansas-41b7cd39b167b3bf2f3796d8be37ecf6">legislation</a>&nbsp;making it easier to sue providers of such care for malpractice.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1710450578789.png" alt="File photo (AP Photo/John Hanna)" />
 <figcaption>File photo (AP Photo/John Hanna)</figcaption>
 </figure>ST. LOUIS (AP) — Arguments before a federal appeals court that is considering whether to reinstate Arkansas' first-in-the-nation ban on gender-affirming care for minors focused Thursday on whether it and similar restrictions adopted by two dozen states discriminate on the basis of sex.Ten judges with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis heard arguments over a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/us-news/arkansas-gender-general-news-2a0d032f4e4f3195c180d879239e6521">judge's ruling</a>&nbsp;last year that struck down the ban as unconstitutional. The 2021 law would prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery to anyone under 18.An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the law on behalf of four transgender youths and their parents, said the restriction infringes on the longstanding rights of parents to make decisions about their children's medical care.“Arkansas believed that that government knew better than the loving parents in this case what was best for their minor children,” Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice for the ACLU’s LGBTQ and HIV Project, told the court. “That burdens that longstanding right of parents to direct the medical care of their children.”At least 24 states have adopted laws&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-health-care-republican-legislatures-5d98832c0234de079263672c738e0631">restricting or banning</a>&nbsp;gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, and most of those face lawsuits. The restrictions on health care are part of a larger backlash against transgender rights, touching on everything from bathroom access to participation in sports.The 43-minute hearing on the Arkansas law drew a packed audience that included the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/elliot-page">actor Elliot Page,</a>&nbsp;who has filed a brief asking the court to uphold last year's ruling.Dylan Jacobs, the deputy solicitor general for Arkansas, argued that the law doesn't discriminate based on sex because it bans the treatments for a specific purpose.“Minors may be prescribed testosterone for any purpose other than gender transition under this statute,” Jacobs said, adding that states have “wide-ranging authority” to regulate health, safety and medical ethics.The case went before the full court rather than a three-judge panel after it granted a request by Republican Attorney General Tim Griffin. The move could speed up the case's march toward the U.S. Supreme Court, which has been asked to block similar laws in Kentucky and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tennessee-transgender-gender-affirming-care-ban-f58714b70298e2eb65ce833c2d4ae3b9">Tennessee</a>. All but one of the judges hearing arguments Thursday were appointed by Republican presidents.Jacobs was repeatedly questioned by Judge Jane Kelly, who was appointed to the court by former President Barack Obama, about the state's arguments that the law doesn't discriminate based on sex.Judge David Stras, who was appointed to the court by former President Donald Trump, asked attorneys on both sides whether gender identity is "fully fixed" before the end of puberty and whether that would be justification for a ban like Arkansas'.Jacobs said the Legislature setting 18 as the cutoff age implies that was part of its reasoning. Strangio noted that none of the treatments banned by Arkansas are prescribed before the onset of puberty.It’s unclear when the 8th Circuit will make a ruling. Chief Judge Steven Colloton said it will issue a decision “in due course.”“This ongoing battle, in Arkansas and across the United States, is a stark reminder of the challenges we face in ensuring that everyone has the freedom to access the care they need and deserve,” the families challenging the law said in a statement after the hearing.U.S. District Judge Jay Moody last year ruled that Arkansas' health care restrictions violated the due process and equal protection rights of transgender youths and families. He also ruled that it violated the First Amendment by prohibiting doctors from referring patients elsewhere for such care. Moody had temporarily&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-health-government-and-politics-arkansas-eb81755d293622d71ff832d8cbbea97d">blocked</a>&nbsp;the law before it could take effect in 2021.The ACLU is also representing two medical providers of the care. Multiple medical groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have opposed Arkansas' ban and urged the 8th Circuit to uphold the decision against it. An attorney for Justice Department, which opposes Arkansas' ban, also appeared before the court.The state has pointed to appeals court rulings allowing Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee's bans to be enforced. Arkansas’ attorneys have called the care “experimental,” a description that Moody’s ruling said was refuted by decades of clinical experience and scientific research. The state has argued that Moody's order creates a “novel new” right that parents can direct their children to receive medical care that the state does not find safe.Judges’ orders are temporarily blocking enforcement of similar bans in Idaho and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/montana-youth-gender-affirming-care-ban-blocked-b042bea74b3f8e6be27e81572a771a8f">Montana</a>.Arkansas' ban was enacted after the majority-GOP Legislature&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/arkansas-lawmakers-enact-transgender-youth-treatment-ban-dce1d5ca9450b255caabc18f547f7b9b">overrode</a>&nbsp;a veto by Asa Hutchinson, the Republican governor at the time. Current Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Hutchinson's successor and also a Republican, has said she would have approved the ban and last year signed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/huckabee-sanders-transgender-malpractice-lgbtq-arkansas-41b7cd39b167b3bf2f3796d8be37ecf6">legislation</a>&nbsp;making it easier to sue providers of such care for malpractice.___

Appeals court hears arguments on nation's first ban on gender-affirming care for minors

At approximately 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9th, 2024, a Kearney Police Department K-9 Officer was on routine patrol, when he observed a suspicious vehicle parked near a storage facility in the 1600 block of 30th Avenue and saw two adult male subjects standing outside the car. The officer recognized one of the male subjects as being Gino Main (age 32) and knew that Main had active warrants for his arrest from York County, Nebraska (Fail to Appear), and another warrant from Dawson County, Nebraska (Theft by Shoplifting).&nbsp;&nbsp;

During the arrest and subsequent search of Gino Main, officers located several items of drug&nbsp; paraphernalia, scales, marijuana, and a large quantity of methamphetamine (approximately&nbsp; one pound). He was also found to be in possession of a large amount of cash.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Main was arrested and transported to the Buffalo County Jail on the following charges: 1) Possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, 2) possession with intent to distribute marijuana, 3) possession of drug funds, and the two arrest warrants (Dawson County &amp; York County). Additionally, he was issued a citation for possession of drug paraphernalia.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1712747698257.jpeg" alt="Gino Main (Photo courtesy from Buffalo County Jail)" />
 <figcaption>Gino Main (Photo courtesy from Buffalo County Jail)</figcaption>
 </figure>Kearney Police DepartmentAt approximately 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9th, 2024, a Kearney Police Department K-9 Officer was on routine patrol, when he observed a suspicious vehicle parked near a storage facility in the 1600 block of 30th Avenue and saw two adult male subjects standing outside the car. The officer recognized one of the male subjects as being Gino Main (age 32) and knew that Main had active warrants for his arrest from York County, Nebraska (Fail to Appear), and another warrant from Dawson County, Nebraska (Theft by Shoplifting).&nbsp;&nbsp;During the arrest and subsequent search of Gino Main, officers located several items of drug&nbsp; paraphernalia, scales, marijuana, and a large quantity of methamphetamine (approximately&nbsp; one pound). He was also found to be in possession of a large amount of cash.&nbsp;&nbsp;Main was arrested and transported to the Buffalo County Jail on the following charges: 1) Possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, 2) possession with intent to distribute marijuana, 3) possession of drug funds, and the two arrest warrants (Dawson County &amp; York County). Additionally, he was issued a citation for possession of drug paraphernalia.&nbsp;&nbsp;

  Suspicious Vehicle Leads to Drug Arrest in Kearney

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/04/10/nebraska-property-tax-relief-plan-is-pared-back-more-advances-to-final-reading/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers further slimmed down a property tax relief plan sought by&nbsp;Gov. Jim Pillen before advancing it&nbsp;to final reading Wednesday evening.

The 28-14 passage of Legislative Bill 388 came after a long debate over the idea of raising some taxes to reduce others, namely property taxes, and whether a portion of the bill was unconstitutional.

New amendments announced Wednesday reduced some of the tax increases called for in LB 388, which offers about a 22% reduction in local property taxes, according to Pillen’s budget director, Lee Will.

But with the governor calling for an overall reduction of 40%, several senators said that almost assuredly, the Legislature will be back in special session this summer to seek new revenue sources to provide a greater shift away from local property taxes.

State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, who opposed LB 388, suggested that lawmakers should wait until then, so they can craft “a more thoughtful approach than rushing forward at this late stage.”

Conrad pointed out that major amendments to the bill weren’t released until late Tuesday night — the 57th day of the 60-day session — giving senators little time to digest them.

OpenSky Policy Institute:&nbsp;LB 388 is more transparent in that it “front loads” an existing state tax credit, instead of requiring taxpayers to claim it while filing income taxes.&nbsp;While 160,000 Nebraskans would be helped by the increase in the state’s earned income credit, cites and counties would be less able to respond to local needs because of the 3% revenue cap.

Platte Institute:&nbsp;A “sunset” provision should be applied to end, in five years, an aspect of the bill that devotes any state revenue above 3.5% to the new School Property Tax Credit Fund.&nbsp;That would “bind the hands” of future legislatures, preventing them from reducing sales and income taxes.

Americans for Prosperity:&nbsp;It was a “rushed and last minute” attempt to raise some taxes, while “punting on the worst tax hikes.”&nbsp;The proposal still raises costs for struggling families and businesses.

“How does this shake out for the average working person? Has anyone run the numbers?” Conrad asked. “If we don’t know, we shouldn’t move forward (tonight).”

State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, the main sponsor of the Pillen plan as chair of the Revenue Committee, pushed back on the idea that amendments to LB 388 were drawn up in the Capitol hallways.

She said that her committee had worked hard on property tax ideas this session.

Linehan portrayed the newest version of LB 388 as removing the most controversial aspect — a 1-cent increase in sales taxes — and reaching compromises on other provisions.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1712863517054.jpeg" alt=" State lawmakers worked into the night on Wednesday, debating major tax proposals. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption> State lawmakers worked into the night on Wednesday, debating major tax proposals. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>Paul Hammel<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/04/10/nebraska-property-tax-relief-plan-is-pared-back-more-advances-to-final-reading/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers further slimmed down a property tax relief plan sought by&nbsp;Gov. Jim Pillen before advancing it&nbsp;to final reading Wednesday evening.The 28-14 passage of Legislative Bill 388 came after a long debate over the idea of raising some taxes to reduce others, namely property taxes, and whether a portion of the bill was unconstitutional.New amendments announced Wednesday reduced some of the tax increases called for in LB 388, which offers about a 22% reduction in local property taxes, according to Pillen’s budget director, Lee Will.<h2>Senators expect special session</h2>But with the governor calling for an overall reduction of 40%, several senators said that almost assuredly, the Legislature will be back in special session this summer to seek new revenue sources to provide a greater shift away from local property taxes.State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, who opposed LB 388, suggested that lawmakers should wait until then, so they can craft “a more thoughtful approach than rushing forward at this late stage.”Conrad pointed out that major amendments to the bill weren’t released until late Tuesday night — the 57th day of the 60-day session — giving senators little time to digest them.<h2>Varied reactions</h2>Comments on advancement of the plan:OpenSky Policy Institute:&nbsp;LB 388 is more transparent in that it “front loads” an existing state tax credit, instead of requiring taxpayers to claim it while filing income taxes.&nbsp;While 160,000 Nebraskans would be helped by the increase in the state’s earned income credit, cites and counties would be less able to respond to local needs because of the 3% revenue cap.Platte Institute:&nbsp;A “sunset” provision should be applied to end, in five years, an aspect of the bill that devotes any state revenue above 3.5% to the new School Property Tax Credit Fund.&nbsp;That would “bind the hands” of future legislatures, preventing them from reducing sales and income taxes.Americans for Prosperity:&nbsp;It was a “rushed and last minute” attempt to raise some taxes, while “punting on the worst tax hikes.”&nbsp;The proposal still raises costs for struggling families and businesses.“How does this shake out for the average working person? Has anyone run the numbers?” Conrad asked. “If we don’t know, we shouldn’t move forward (tonight).”State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, the main sponsor of the Pillen plan as chair of the Revenue Committee, pushed back on the idea that amendments to LB 388 were drawn up in the Capitol hallways.She said that her committee had worked hard on property tax ideas this session.<h2>Sales tax increase abandoned</h2>Linehan portrayed the newest version of LB 388 as removing the most controversial aspect — a 1-cent increase in sales taxes — and reaching compromises on other provisions.Proposed excise taxes on skill games and hemp edibles were pared back to 5% and 25%, respectively, from initial increases of 20% and 100%.During debate, an extra tax on vaping products was raised to 20% on all products. Seward Sen. Jana Hughes argued that vaping taxes needed to be more in line with those on another harmful product, tobacco, although a 20% tax was still far smaller than the proposed $1 a pack tax on cigarettes.LB 388 continues to include new sales taxes on soda pop and candy, lottery tickets, self-storage fees and veterinary services on pets.The bill removed a proposed tax exemption on residential utility bills, but, in a compromise, provided an increase in the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit, from 10% to 15%.Dunbar Sen. Julie Slama mounted a challenge to one proposed new tax, on digital adversing, which is aimed at major websites such as Facebook and Amazon.Slama, an attorney, said the proposed 7.5% tax would hurt small businesses that rely on social media ads to sell their goods and services. Slama contended it was also likely unconstitutional, &nbsp;because it targeted digital ads but not local broadcast and print ads.Twenty lawsuits, the senator said, had been filed against a similar tax in Maryland, the only other state to adopt such a tax on digital ads.“I don’t think we’ll collect any dollars from this tax before a (court) injunction is filed,” Slama said.Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt, who runs a boutique that relies on online sales, said several small businesses would have to close given the higher taxes.She cited the example<a target="_blank" href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/04/09/proposed-digital-ads-tax-would-devastate-small-businesses-like-mine/">&nbsp;of eCreamery in Omaha’s Dundee area</a>, which was one of the first in the country to sell custom-churned ice cream via the internet. (The business recently&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/04/09/proposed-digital-ads-tax-would-devastate-small-businesses-like-mine/">wrote a commentary published</a>&nbsp;in the Examiner.)The Nebraska Chamber of Commerce also opposed the tax on digital ads.But an amendment to toss out the tax failed on an 18-18 vote, seven votes short of the 25 needed.<h2>Revenue caps retained</h2>There were also failed efforts to relax the 3% cap on revenue for fast-growing cities and counties so they could purchase law enforcement equipment, and to pare back LB 388 to remove all tax increases and instead include only the cap and “front loading” of the state’s existing income tax credit on property taxes paid.Fewer than half of Nebraskans, in some areas, don’t claim the income tax credit. Front loading the credit on property tax statements that go out in the fall, Pillen has argued, is fairer and ensures that people get their tax credit.Given the lack of time at the end of the session,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/04/03/legislators-advance-school-aid-changes-but-lb-1331-will-not-happen-unless-funds-can-be-found/">a companion bill to LB 388</a>&nbsp;that would use the revenue from the tax measure to lower tax levies in local school districts will not advance during the regular session. It might come up in a special session, however,Bayard Sen. Steve Erdman said he did the math and concluded that LB 388 provided only&nbsp;a 2% decrease in property taxes on a home in his Panhandle district, which he called a “band-aid on an amputation.”He also argued for putting off a major debate over tax policy until a special session could be called.“Then we can have a real conversation,” Erdman said.Final-round consideration of the bill is scheduled on April 18, the final day of the 2024 session.