Aurelia Butler

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    Devin Nunes, Pugnacious Trump Loyalist, to Lead Espionage Advisory Board

    As chair of the House Intelligence Committee, he attacked the Russia inquiry and Donald J. Trump’s first impeachment. Now, Mr. Nunes runs Mr. Trump’s social media company.President-elect Donald J. Trump announced on Saturday that he would appoint Devin Nunes, a former member of Congress who had used his role as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee to try to delegitimize the Trump-Russia investigation, to head an independent advisory board on espionage policy.The organization — the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board — dates back to the early Cold War and consists of private citizens with top-level security clearances who are supposed to help the White House analyze spy agency effectiveness and planning. Its members do not need Senate confirmation, so presidents can pick whomever they want for it.In a statement, Mr. Trump praised Mr. Nunes — who is currently the chief executive of the Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs the Truth Social platform — for his counterinvestigation into the Trump-Russia inquiry in 2017-18, when Mr. Nunes led the House Intelligence Committee as a Republican congressman from California.“While continuing his leadership of Trump Media & Technology Group, Devin will draw on his experience as former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and his key role in exposing the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, to provide me with independent assessments of the effectiveness and propriety of the U.S. Intelligence Community’s activities,” Mr. Trump wrote in his announcement.Some members of the advisory board also serve on a presidential Intelligence Oversight Board, which was created in the 1970s after a congressional investigation into abuses by national security agencies and which tries to ferret out illegal spying activities. That group typically includes the larger board’s chair, so it is likely that Mr. Nunes will participate in it as well.The work products of the two boards are usually kept secret. A rare exception came in 2023, when the Biden administration publicly released a report in which the two panels urged Congress to extend an expiring law that authorizes a warrantless surveillance program, but also called for new limits on the F.B.I.’s ability to use information gathered under the program.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    ABC to Pay $15 Million to Settle a Defamation Suit Brought by Trump

    The outcome of the lawsuit marks an unusual victory for President-elect Donald J. Trump in his ongoing legal campaign against national news organizations.ABC News is set to pay $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Donald J. Trump.The agreement was a significant concession by a major news organization and a rare victory for a media-bashing politician whose previous litigation efforts against news outlets have often ended in defeat.Under the terms of a settlement revealed on Saturday, ABC News will donate the $15 million to Mr. Trump’s future presidential foundation and museum. The network and its star anchor, George Stephanopoulos, also published a statement saying they “regret” remarks made about Mr. Trump during a televised interview in March.ABC News, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company, will pay Mr. Trump an additional $1 million for his legal fees.The outcome is an unusual win for Mr. Trump, who has frequently sued news organizations for defamation and frequently lost, including in litigation against CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post.Several experts in media law said they believed that ABC News could have continued to fight, given the high threshold required by the courts for a public figure like Mr. Trump to prove defamation. A plaintiff must not only show that a news outlet published false information, but that it did so knowing that the information was false or with substantial doubts about its accuracy.“Major news organizations have often been very leery of settlements in defamation suits brought by public officials and public figures, both because they fear the dangerous pattern of doing so and because they have the full weight of the First Amendment on their side,” said RonNell Andersen Jones, a professor of law at the University of Utah.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Trump Says He Supports an End to Daylight Savings Time

    President-elect Donald J. Trump said on social media that the time change is “inconvenient” and that the Republican Party would try to put an end to it.President-elect Donald J. Trump called daylight saving time “inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation” in a social media post on Friday and said the Republican Party would try to “eliminate” it, in the latest effort to end the twice-yearly time change.Most states change their time by one hour — in March, when clocks spring forward, and in November, when clocks fall back.Over the years, many elected officials, including Mr. Trump, have expressed support for ending the changes.“Making Daylight Saving Time permanent is OK with me!” Mr. Trump posted on social media in March 2019.He reiterated his support to end the time switches on Friday, posting on X, “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t!”On social media, there was support for Mr. Trump’s post.Many people called the time changes antiquated. Some noted that daylight saving time would most likely not be eliminated, as his post suggested, but rather would be made permanent, and the time changes would be eliminated.Ending the clock change would require the approval of Congress. There have been many bipartisan efforts to pass such a bill, but all have failed. In 2022, the Senate unanimously passed a bill to make daylight saving time permanent, but it died in the House. An effort to pass a similar bill in 2023 also failed.The idea behind daylight saving time is to move an hour of sunlight from the early morning to the evening, so that people can make more use of daylight.William Willet, an English builder, is credited with popularizing daylight saving time in the early 1900s, when he urged British lawmakers to shift the clocks to benefit the economy. Parliament rejected the proposal in 1909, but then embraced it a few years later under the pressures of World War I.Other countries followed suit in an effort to cut energy costs, including the United States starting in March 1918. But there is no consensus on whether daylight saving time actually does reduce energy use.Small-business owners say that when it stays light after work, people are more likely to go out and spend money. But many Americans consider the time switch a nuisance.Parents say it throws off bedtimes for their children. And no one likes losing an hour of sleep when clocks move forward in March.In 2020, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine called for an end to daylight saving time, saying that the change disrupts the body’s natural clock and can cause health issues. More

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    Strong Storm in San Francisco Brings a Tornado Warning

    Less than two weeks after a tsunami warning, residents were jolted awake before 6 a.m. to consider a new potential disaster scenario.Powerful storms swept through parts of Northern California on Saturday, knocking down trees, causing widespread power outages and prompting weather officials to issue what they said was the first-ever tornado warning for San Francisco.The warning blared from cellphones around 5:45 a.m., jolting residents across the city from their sleep and into the sudden realization that many had long prepared themselves for what to do in the case of a sudden earthquake, but not a tornado.And it came less than two weeks after a similar alert echoed across the Bay Area warning of a different kind of disaster scenario: an impending tsunami that forecasters worried could strike along a vast stretch of the Northern California coast.That warning had been spurred by an earthquake in the Pacific Ocean and briefly caused a panic as people sought to get to higher ground. The warning was canceled a little more than an hour after it was issued.The tornado warning on Saturday, which was in effect for about 30 minutes, was urgent: “Take shelter now in a basement or an interior room,” it read in part.“That is the first time that we’ve issued a tornado warning for San Francisco,” said Crystal Oudit, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in the Bay Area. She said the service had done so after seeing conditions that tend to favor tornadoes as the storm approached the city.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    After Weeks of Drone Sightings, New Jersey Remains on Edge

    In the Garden State, where the rash of sightings started a month ago, residents are looking to the skies, wondering why they still don’t have definitive answers from officials.The day after Thanksgiving, Susan and Lorelai Woodruff saw approximately 10 brightly lit objects banking and turning quickly in the night sky above their home in Elsinboro, in southern New Jersey.Every night since, they say, the objects have been back, emitting a strange, humming whir and flashing red, green and white.“I think it’s like an invasion,” said Lorelai Woodruff, 52. “I feel like our privacy is kind of invaded.”A month after reports of mysterious flying objects began spreading across the state, investigations by federal, state and local agencies into what they are and where they are coming from are ongoing. Many residents, like the Woodruffs, believe the objects are drones and have been left frustrated and perplexed at the lack of answers from authorities.Emily Ferguson, 49, said a rash of sightings near her home in Mendham, in northern New Jersey, had been the talk of the town, and that her three children had started asking questions about them that she could not answer.“The kids are all asking, ‘What’s going on?’ and ‘Why do we have to close all of our blinds?’ which is something we never do,” Ms. Ferguson said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Isak Andic, Founder of Mango Fashion Chain, Dies at 71

    Mr. Andic got his start by selling T-shirts in Barcelona in the mid-1980s. He died in a fall during a hike.Isak Andic, who built the fashion brand Mango from a Spanish storefront into a global giant with more than 2,000 stores on five continents, died in a fall while hiking near Barcelona on Saturday. He was 71.The death was announced by Toni Ruiz, the chief executive of Mango. The cause was confirmed by Glòria Torrent Caldas, a spokeswoman for the company.Mr. Andic, bespectacled and seen as relatively reclusive, started Mango in the mid-1980s by selling T-shirts in Barcelona. Over four decades, Mango grew into one of Spain’s leading international retailers, known for its creative, eclectic and ever-changing selection of affordable women’s wear.Mr. Andic, who held the title of nonexecutive chairman at Mango, had a net worth of roughly $4.5 billion at the time of his death, according to Forbes magazine.Mr. Ruiz said in a statement that Mr. Andic had dedicated his life to Mango, displaying “strategic vision” and “inspiring leadership.”“His legacy reflects the achievements of a business project marked by success and also by his human quality,” Mr. Ruiz said in the statement.Mango expanded beyond Spain in 1992 and opened its first U.S. location, in Los Angeles, in 2006. By 2008, it had launched a menswear line and opened an 8,000-square-foot store in the SoHo section of Manhattan. In 2011, it held its first fashion show outside Spain.Mango’s success, in part based on a nimble approach that involved frequently replacing its merchandise, led to its growth in more than 100 markets. Over the years, it has received some scrutiny for safety lapses along its supply chain.This year, Mango expanded its footprint in the United States, opening locations for the first time in Pennsylvania and in Washington, D.C., according to the company’s website. The company, which competes with fast fashion chains such as the Swedish-based H&M and the Spanish-based Zara, plans to have 40 American stores at year’s end, up from 10 in 2022.Mr. Andic’s death prompted tributes from Spanish leaders, including the country’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, who issued a statement praising Mr. Andic’s business acumen and offering condolences to his family.Isak Andic Ermay was born in 1953 in Istanbul. As a teenager, he moved with his family to Barcelona, and he worked in the wholesale and retail sectors before opening Mango.A full list of Mr. Andic’s survivors was not immediately available. But Jonathan Andic, his son, is an executive board member at Mango.Mr. Ruiz said in his statement that Mr. Andic’s death “leaves a huge void, but we are all, in some way, his legacy and the testimony of his achievements.“In these extremely difficult times,” Mr. Ruiz added, “we share the family’s pain as if it were our own.” More

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    Bob Fernandez, Who Survived Pearl Harbor as a Teenager, Dies at 100

    Mr. Fernandez was a 17-year-old sailor aboard the U.S.S. Curtiss when Japanese forces attacked. He had recently canceled a trip to Hawaii for the 83rd anniversary of the bombing.Robert Louie Fernandez, one of the last known American survivors of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, died on Wednesday, just days after the 83rd anniversary of the attack, in Lodi, Calif. He was 100.Mr. Fernandez, known as Uncle Bob to friends, family and even some strangers, died at the home of his nephew Joe Guthrie, who confirmed the death. “I promised him 10 years ago that he could die in my home, and that’s what he did,” said Mr. Guthrie, who became his uncle’s caretaker in 2022, after his dementia diagnosis. “He died loved and happy.” Born in San Jose, Calif., in 1924, Mr. Fernandez enlisted in the U.S. Navy in August 1941, when he was 17 years old. He was stationed aboard the U.S.S. Curtiss at the Pearl Harbor naval base on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, where he served as a mess cook and ammunition loader, according to military records. In a video biography filmed in 2016, Mr. Fernandez said he had joined the Navy to see the world. “I just thought I was going to go dancing all the time, have a good time,” he said, adding: “What did I do? I got caught in a war.”Mr. Fernandez had planned a trip to Hawaii for an event last Saturday commemorating the 83rd anniversary of the bombing, but his health started to deteriorate a few weeks ago, according to his family.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    No Evidence Drones in Northeast Are a Threat, Officials Say

    Numerous sightings of flying objects in recent weeks have raised alarm, but federal law enforcement officials say that at least some were manned aircraft, such as airplanes or helicopters.After reviewing thousands of tips, federal law enforcement officials on Saturday reaffirmed that mysterious drones spotted in the Northeast in recent weeks pose no national security threat and in most cases are not even drones.Investigators reviewing video footage and interviews with witnesses have so far determined that at least some of the roaming objects were manned aircraft, such as airplanes or helicopters, that were misidentified as drones, according to officials from the F.B.I., Department of Homeland Security and Federal Aviation Administration, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity on Saturday because they were not authorized to speak publicly.Federal officials have received nearly 5,000 tips on drone sightings in recent weeks and deemed only 100 of them worthy of further investigation, an F.BI. official said.The rise of the drone sightings have caused alarm in communities across the Northeast. Here, what appear to be multiple drones over Bernardsville, N.J., earlier this month.Brian Glenn, via Associated PressThe U.S. officials said they had confirmed drone sightings over military bases in New Jersey, including Picatinny Arsenal, but they had no evidence the devices were operated by a foreign government or authority. U.S. national security officials have not been able to identify the operators of the drones.The rise of the drone sightings have caused alarm in communities in the Northeast as residents have increasingly looked to the sky with a cellphone in hand, hoping to learn more about the floating devices. State and local leaders have accused the Biden administration of not taking the drone sightings seriously. The airborne devices have captured the attention of Americans 22 months after a giant Chinese spy balloon drifted over the United States, causing a diplomatic crisis. President Biden eventually ordered it shot down.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More