Category: Security

Swarms of Russian drones attacked Ukraine’s major cities overnight as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared to join European leaders for a meeting in Paris aimed at reinforcing Kyiv’s position in any peace settlement.

The Ukrainian air force reported downing and jamming most of 86 explosive-laden drones and decoys fired by Russia in the barrage. But those that evaded air defenses did some serious damage in Ukraine’s second- and third-largest cities of Kharkiv and Dnipro respectively.

President Vladimir Putin’s forces targeted Kharkiv, situated close to the Russian border, with drones late on Wednesday, injuring 11 people in the city and at least seven in the nearby town of Zolochiv, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said on Telegram.

Drones also hit the central part of Dnipro overnight, injuring three and damaging apartment blocks as well as infrastructure, regional governor Mykola Lukashuk said. The drones also damaged Potyomkin Palace, the 18th-century building erected as a symbol of Russia’s imperial might which now houses a center for creative youth, city mayor Borys Filatov said on Telegram.

The attacks happened with Zelenskyy in France for an impromptu defense summit where more than 30 leaders will try to assert their priorities even as U.S. President Donald Trump sidelines Europe in his quest for a fast-track resolution of the war sparked by Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who met with Zelenskyy ahead of the summit, announced a new defense aid package of €2 billion ($2.2 billion) for Kyiv. Macron plans to use the meeting to discuss potential deployment of a European peacekeeping force in strategic locations across Ukraine to prevent a new attack from Russia after any peace deal is reached.

Strikes have continued despite an agreement by Ukraine and Russia to halt attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure. Russian air defenses downed just one Ukrainian drone during the night over the Bryansk region, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said on Telegram Thursday.

Ukrainians’ trust in Zelenskyy increased to 69%, up 2 percentage points from early March, according to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) released on the eve of the summit.

Zelenskyy’s popularity peaked after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 as citizens rallied round the flag, and then steadily declined until his public standoff with Trump at the White House.

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© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

President Donald Trump’s administration’s ban on transgender individuals serving in the U.S. military was denied again on Wednesday by a judge appointed by former President Joe Biden. The transgender military ban had been scheduled to take effect at the Pentagon on Friday prior to the judge’s ruling.

According to Fox News, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, who was appointed by Biden, ruled against the Trump administration’s ban on transgender individuals serving in the military on Wednesday after requesting last week that the Department of Defense delay its original plan to implement the ban on Friday. The judge’s request came after she issued a preliminary injunction to block the Pentagon from moving forward with the transgender military ban.

Fox News reported that the Trump administration filed a motion last Friday to dissolve the Biden-appointed judge’s injunction. The Trump administration argued that the Pentagon’s policy “turns on gender dysphoria – a medical condition – and does not discriminate against trans-identifying persons as a class.”

The Trump administration also requested that the court stay the preliminary injunction pending a potential appeal if the court denied the administration’s motion to dissolve the injunction.

Reyes ruled on Wednesday that while the Military Department Identification Guidance was a new guidance, the Trump administration’s argument defending the transgender military ban was not new, according to Fox News.

READ MORE: Trump transgender military ban blocked by Biden judge

“Defendants re-emphasize their ‘consistent position that the [Hegseth] Policy is concerned with the military readiness, deployability, and costs associated with a medical condition,’” Reyes stated. “Regulating gender dysphoria is no different than regulating bipolar disorder, eating disorders, or suicidality. The Military Ban regulates a medical condition, they insist, not people. And therein lies the problem.”

Reyes added, “Gender dysphoria is not like other medical conditions, something Defendants well know. It affects only one group of people: all persons with gender dysphoria are transgender and only transgender persons experience gender dysphoria.”

According to Fox News, the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia following Wednesday’s ruling by Ryes.

Expressing criticism of the preliminary injunction Reyes previously issued to block the Trump administration’s transgender military ban, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth released a statement Saturday on X, saying, “Since ‘Judge’ Reyes is now a top military planner, she/they can report to Fort Benning at 0600 to instruct our Army Rangers on how to execute High Value Target Raids…after that, Commander Reyes can dispatch to Fort Bragg to train our Green Berets on counterinsurgency warfare.”

North Korea has sent at least another 3,000 soldiers to Russia, reaffirming its support for Moscow in the war against Ukraine. This was reported by the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, quoted by CNN, while Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko confirmed – according to Tass – that a visit to Russia by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is being prepared. At the same time, ”the possibility of a visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Pyongyang is being considered to continue the strategic dialogue with our North Korean friends,” Rudenko added, according to Tass.

Since the beginning of the conflict, Pyongyang has sent about 11,000 troops in support of Moscow, suffering in combat at least 4,000 dead and wounded. In addition to soldiers, North Korea has supplied Russia with a large quantity of short-range ballistic missiles, about 220 170 mm self-propelled howitzers and 240 240 mm multiple rocket launchers. The South Korean government has warned that Pyongyang’s military aid to Moscow could increase depending on the course of the conflict.

Talks between Russia and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia have led to an agreement to stop attacks in the Black Sea and on energy infrastructure, but Moscow has set stringent conditions for a broader agreement, calling for the lifting of sanctions on its banking and energy sectors. Meanwhile, relations between Kim and Vladimir Putin have consolidated following the defence pact signed in 2023, which provides for immediate military assistance in the event of an attack on either nation.

The United States fears that Russia could transfer advanced space and satellite technology to North Korea, as well as training and weapons. US sources claim that North Korea has sent large quantities of ammunition to Russia, and Moscow’s forces have notoriously already used North Korean missiles in Ukraine. Pyongyang has treated hundreds of wounded Russian soldiers, while Moscow has provided Kim with coal, food and medicine. The two countries are also strengthening cooperation on education, with exchange programmes for students and trips for the children of Russian soldiers killed in the war.

North Korea is continuing to test new AI-powered attack drones, and has unveiled a reconnaissance drone that could contain Russian technology. Drone attacks have become a key weapon in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and Moscow has exponentially increased their use. Despite ongoing discussions on a possible truce, fighting continues: on Wednesday night, a Russian drone attack on Kharkiv injured at least nine people. “No country should have to go through all this,” commented Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukraine and Russia have not hit each other’s energy facilities since Tuesday, March 25, the day the White House, the Kremlin and the Kiev government released agreements reached in talks in Saudi Arabia. A senior Ukrainian official told AFP.

“Since March 25, we have not seen any direct attacks by Russia on the energy sector, so we have not hit them,” the official said.

”Russia is categorically opposed” to the deployment of peacekeeping forces in Ukraine, ”a kind of peacekeeping mission that masks the plans of London and Paris for their military intervention”. This was stated by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

Russian and American experts ”are now discussing a new Black Sea agreement. I can also say that consultations between experts from the Russian and US delegations will continue,” Zakharova added at a press conference.

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© 2025 GMC S.A.P.A. di G. P. Marra.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Roberta “Randy” Tidmore was waiting at a bus terminal in Chicago more than 80 years ago on her way back to Rockford, Illinois, when a group of handsome young men in the U.S. Marine Corps walked past.

For the 21-year-old, then serving in Rockford as a Rosie the Riveter — one of thousands of women who worked in factories and shipyards during World War II to support the U.S. war effort — it was the push she needed to join the Marines herself.

“They looked so nice, and I thought, ‘Gee, that looks good,’” Tidmore told The San Diego Union-Tribune with a smile Tuesday at the Women’s Museum of California in Balboa Park, where about 150 people gathered to celebrate her recent 103rd birthday, officially March 19.

Tidmore’s sense of humor and energy are evident. But she also has a life of service under her belt that suggests her interest in joining the U.S. Marines wasn’t just because of the men already enlisted.

As one of the last remaining Rosie the Riveters, Tuesday’s celebration honored Tidmore’s legacy in the military and her lifelong volunteer efforts — including work with groups such as the Women Marines Association and the now-defunct San Diego Globe Guilders, which raised funds for the Old Globe Theatre.

The event included a screening of an episode of “Trailblazing Women,” part of the Women’s Museum of California’s video series, that focused on Tidmore’s life and career.

And Tidmore was presented with a surprise birthday gift: a package of 10 miniature bottles of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, a favorite of hers.

“We are celebrating a woman who embodies history,” said Laura Mitchell, the executive director of the museum and the vice president of programs at the San Diego History Center.

In her 103 years, Tidmore has witnessed and been a part of key moments in U.S. history.

She became a Rosie in 1943 after a few years of college at the University of Iowa — including a stint at nursing school, which wasn’t for her.

As a Rosie, Tidmore was assigned to help build B-26 airplane wings for the war effort at a manufacturer in Rockford before she decided to enlist in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve.

There, she became one of about 23,000 women who served in the Marines during World War II and took on jobs such as mechanics, clerks and aerial gunnery instructors.

For Tidmore’s part, she served as a driver, transporting military officers from the Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia to Washington, D.C. Later, she drove a garbage truck around Quantico — a job she especially loved.

Tidmore’s eyes light up when she talks about driving, and how much she loves it. “I don’t know why, but I do, and I’ve driven all over the United States,” she says.

It wasn’t easy work, though. She even temporarily had her driver’s license suspended after she crossed an intersection in her garbage truck in front of a general’s marked car.

And at times she faced discrimination as a woman. She described in the “Trailblazing Women” episode that, while working in San Diego, she was refused food and drinks by the Red Cross, which was providing support to military personnel during the war.

“It’s not a piece of cake to come into the Marine Corps,” Jim Gruny, the community liaison officer for Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, told the audience Tuesday. “In 1944, when you were female, it was almost unheard of.”

Tidmore was discharged in August 1946, after attaining the rank of sergeant, and went on to work for United Airlines as a flight attendant. In 1960, she married her late husband, Terry Tidmore, and the two moved to Baja California to start a tomato farm. She later moved to San Diego.

But she was never too far removed from the Marines and her contributions to the service.

She was honored by the Retired Marine Chapter in Chula Vista in 2016, and at the Veterans Museum in Balboa Park the following year. She was part of the 2016 Honor Flight, which honors veterans with a visit to Washington, D.C. And in 2021, she was named a woman of dedication by the Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary of San Diego County.

And while women like Tidmore weren’t allowed to serve in combat during World War II, they helped pave the way for future generations, said Julie Roland, a naval aviator based in Coronado, who also spoke at the event.

Roland flies an MH 60 Romeo, a helicopter used on missions for anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, medical evacuation and search and rescue.

“I have been an officer for 10 years … and still, I’m often the only woman in the room,” Roland said. “But on tough days at work, I remind myself that I’m continuing the work that women like Randy started. Like them, my presence and performance proved to my male colleagues and to the world that I belong.”

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© 2025 The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Earlier this month, the Claremont Police Department received a chilling 911 report: A caller said they were holding someone captive inside a Claremont McKenna College restroom, carrying a bomb and preparing to shoot anyone they saw on campus.

The call triggered a massive deployment of law enforcement and SWAT team members and sent waves of panic coursing through campus as students scrambled to find cover.

But the crisis was fake, the result of a “swatting” call, a hoax 911 report made in the hope of generating a large law enforcement response. The incident took place one day after a similar threat prompted a lockdown of Loma Linda University’s Children’s Hospital.

Swatting is a growing problem across the state and country. But California law can make it challenging to hold people accountable for the chaos their threats cause.

Although falsely reporting an emergency to 911 is a misdemeanor offense, lawmakers are seeking tougher penalties for threats that cause mass disruption and target vulnerable populations such as schoolchildren or hospital patients.

Under current law, threats are only considered to be a crime when they are made against an individual — not an institution, such as a school or hospital. Now, state legislators are backing new legislation to close that loophole.

“Right now, California law falls short,” state Sen. Susan Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, said in a statement. “Unless a threat names a specific individual, officials have limited options, even when the danger is clear.”

Rubio is the author of Senate Bill 19, known as the Safe Schools and Places of Worship Act, which would allow prosecutors to charge individuals who make credible threats of mass violence against schools and places of worship, even if they don’t name a specific person. The goal is to hold people accountable for making intentional threats, recognizing that even hoax threats can cause mass panic, school closures and expensive law enforcement responses.

Assemblymember Darshana R. Patel, D-San Diego, has proposed similar legislation, Assembly Bill 237, which would close the same loophole and also apply to threats made against day-care centers, hospitals and workplaces.

“AB 237 will make it clear that threats against schools and religious institutions and hospitals and other locations will not be taken lightly and there are consequences,” Chula Vista Police Chief Roxana Kennedy said at a recent news conference to promote the legislation. “This bill empowers law enforcement to hold individuals accountable for wasting valuable resources and instilling fear in schools and in our community.”

A major motivator for both proposed bills was an incident involving Shoal Creek Elementary School in San Diego.

A 38-year-old man sent hundreds of emails threatening a mass shooting at the school, but a judge dismissed the case against him because the threats didn’t target a specific person, even though a gun and a map of the school were found at his home. Prosecutors have since refiled the case, naming the school principal as the target of the threats.

“The claim that you cannot threaten an entity is beyond false,” said Shoal Creek parent Jenny Basinger while testifying on behalf of AB 237. “We are the entity. We are Shoal Creek Elementary. The students, the staff, and the community are the ones left picking up the pieces of the threat.”

Rubio said she focused her bill on schools and places of worship because these are the most frequently threatened institutions; the senator said she also supported Patel’s more expansive bill. Should both bills pass, legislators would work together to combine them into a single law, she said.

The FBI reported in January 2024 that agents opened investigations into more than 100 separate threats targeting more than 1,000 institutions in 42 states during a one-month period.

Synagogues and Jewish community centers constituted the largest category of targeted institutions, with more than 400 saying they’d been threatened during that period. The second most frequent target was schools and school districts, followed by hospitals and hospital networks.

“These incidents cause fear and potentially dangerous interactions with law enforcement,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a 2024 bulletin. “Swatting calls and hoax threats are a daily occurrence, often come in clusters across the U.S., and are typically made to harass, intimidate, and/or retaliate against their intended target.”

Last month, a Lancaster teen was sentenced to four years in prison after making more than 375 hoax calls that included threats to detonate bombs, conduct mass shootings and “kill everyone he saw,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice. However, many of the cases were difficult to prosecute under current state law.

Bevin Handel, a spokesperson for the city of Claremont, said it is the city Police Department’s goal to file charges against the perpetrator of the Claremont McKenna College call, but there are several challenges.

“The biggest hurdle in holding perpetrators of swatting calls accountable is determining their identities,” she said. “Advances in technology allow callers to mask their voices, phone numbers or IP addresses (‘spoofing’) or make their false 911 calls sound more credible.”

In addition, she said, current state law makes it challenging to file charges against swatters that “truly reflect the magnitude of the response and the fear and trauma they can cause.”

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© 2025 Los Angeles Times.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

At a probable cause and detention hearing in U.S. District Court, the government alleged that former Minnesota state Sen. Justin Eichorn was familiar with soliciting for sex on the internet and he tried to have his wife clean his St. Paul apartment of a gun, laptop and cell phone before FBI agents could search it.

Those allegations were heavily contradicted by Eichorn’s lawyers before Special Magistrate Judge Shannon Elkins ordered Eichorn released from federal jail to a halfway house to await trial on charges of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor after a prostitution sting orchestrated by the Bloomington Police Department last week.

Eichorn’s lawyer, Charles Hawkins, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office was cherry picking statements from jail phone calls between Eichorn and his wife where they were discussing that he had her work computer at his St. Paul apartment and she wanted to pick it up.

The Eichorns, who live in Grand Rapids, manage 138 apartment units in five buildings.

FBI agents were sitting on Justin Eichorn’s St. Paul apartment last week waiting for a search warrant to be signed when Brittany Eichorn approached asking if she could get inside to get her computer. She was denied access. Over the weekend, prosecutors asked that he remain jailed after FBI agents found a gun during their search. A brief filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office with the court alleged that Eichorn had lied to a probation officer about having the gun.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Bobier said Wednesday that Eichorn “thought his wife would get there and clean out the apartment” before the FBI arrived.

In ordering Eichorn released to the halfway house, Elkins said that government had failed to meet their burden to keep him detained.

“The evidence presented here today is much less clear than the government’s brief,” Elkins said. She said the discussion between Eichorn and his wife was more gray than the government alleged and could have been about their business workings, which is why she went to St. Paul to try and retrieve her laptop.

“Time will tell,” if a crime was committed, Elkins said, now that the government has the laptop.

Elkins decided there was probable cause for the arrest of Eichorn but that previously ordered conditions of release — including his stay at a halfway house with GPS monitoring — were enough to ensure public safety and that Eichorn was not a flight risk.

It capped a morning of testimony that provided a robust view of the circumstances leading up to Eichorn’s arrest.

Matthew Vogel, a special agent with the FBI field office in Minnesota, was the only witness to testify. He provided a line-by-line reading of the entire text exchange over several days between Eichorn and an undercover agent with the Bloomington Police Department who was posing as a sex worker.

That agent was part of a sting with a human trafficking task force.

Vogel testified that Eichorn communicated with the agent using a Voice over Internet Protocol that is common for people trying to mask their identity on the internet. He also said Eichorn was familiar with the slang and shorthand of online ads for sex workers — and that he knew how to try and discern whether an advertisement was fake or part of a police operation.

“He understands the lingo of these kind of interactions, the idioms,” Vogel said on the witness stand.

Bobier said it, “shows some familiarity, is that fair?”

Vogel said it was.

Officers had placed ads on websites that are known for sex trafficking, those ads were then picked up by additional websites. Members of the Bloomington Police Department then worked as “chatters” to communicate with people who engaged with the advertisement.

Eichorn allegedly first made contact with an undercover agent posing as an 18-year-old girl and asked, “What’s a guy gotta do to get with the hottest girl online tonight?” The next day he texted again, asking to meet for a quick visit and a half hour of sex. The undercover officer responded with rates between $80 and $120.

One day later, Eichorn asked how old the supposed sex worker was and the undercover agent responded, “im 17 sry don’t want u 2 b mad.”

Eichorn continued messaging and the undercover agent once again brought up being underage. Eichorn said he believed the age of consent in Minnesota was 16 so he wasn’t worried.

While the government sought to position Eichorn as soliciting a minor, Hawkins argued that Eichorn never once negotiated a price or suggested a price for the transaction and that the ad itself — with photos and body measurements — was being used to entice his client. He noted that Eichorn asked the undercover agent to verify that everything was legal.

“The indication is that he’s concerned about making sure this young woman is of legal age,” Hawkins said.

The government countered that the undercover officer provided price information, types of sexual acts allowed and whether or not a condom was needed and said multiple times she was 17. Once, when Eichorn said her photo looked like someone in her 20s, she responded: “I can assure you I am 17. If you aren’t interested…bye.”

Eichorn responded he was interested and driving to meet up now.

On March 17, Eichorn showed up as planned to meet the undercover officer. The officer told Eichorn where to park and verified that Eichorn was wearing a black t-shirt and walking around a parking lot. Eichorn said yes. Then the arrest happened.

Hawkins argued that until Eichorn saw the girl or exchanged money or consummated the sex act, it was impossible to know his intentions.

“You don’t know what he intended to do when he arrived there!” he emphatically asked Vogel.

When Bobier was given a chance to question Vogel after that exchange, he asked the FBI agent if anyone was alleging that Eichorn had sex with a minor. Vogel said no, only that he was attempting to.

Eichorn was arrested and his truck was towed. A search found two cellphones, condoms and around $130 in cash.

Elkins ruled that all of that collective evidence left no doubt there was probable cause to arrest and charge Eichorn.

“An attempt to offer a minor anything in exchange for a sexual act is a violation of the law,” she said.

The discussion around the role Brittany Eichorn might have played in all of this was raised by Bobier and Vogel but the U.S. Attorney’s Office tried to keep her identity off the record, calling her Individual A. There were multiple jail phone calls between Eichorn and his wife that centered around her laptop, their business and the need to get to the apartment to retrieve it.

Vogel said FBI agents were stationed at the apartment because he was “concerned about potential destruction or loss of evidence.” They also requested to question her, which she declined.

Hawkins did not hesitate to identify Brittany Eichorn on the record. He argued the computer was hers and the entire conversation around the contents of the computer had to do with their business dealings and the need to finalize lease agreements and locate tax documents.

Hawkins also said that Justin Eichorn had provided the U.S. Attorney with the password to the computer so they could access it.

Eichorn was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2017, but his life and career have unraveled in the wake of the arrest.

He resigned from the Senate last week just hours before members were set to vote to expel him from the chamber. Shortly thereafter he was removed as chair of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board. Brittany Eichorn filed for divorce Monday in Itasca County and has requested that the file be sealed, according to online court records.

Eight other men were arrested in the sting, so far Eichorn is the only suspect being charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, rather than state authorities. A conviction on the federal count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor carries a mandatory 10-year prison sentence.

In announcing the federal charges, a statement from Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick said that her office “has no tolerance for public officials who violate federal law — particularly those laws meant to protect children.”

As he left the courthouse, Hawkins was asked if he had any comment about his client being the only person charged federally in the sting.

“I’m not ready to talk about that yet,” said Hawkins.

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© 2025 The Minnesota Star Tribune.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

There has been a shift in what moves California.

Electric vehicle charging ports now outnumber gas nozzles across the Golden State, a sign of the increasing number of zero-emission vehicles on the road. But the milestone arrives as the federal government has moved to deprioritize the shift away from gasoline-powered cars.

California has steadily amassed its EV charging network with both public and private charging ports over the last few years. In 2024, California boasted 178,500 total EV ports compared to around 120,000 estimated gas nozzles, according to the California Energy Commission.

The number of accessible chargers across California has nearly doubled since 2022. Just since August, the last time these figures were publicly updated, the state has recorded roughly 26,000 additional publicly accessible EV chargers.

The commission estimates that more than 162,000 chargers are Level 2, which can provide roughly 14 to 35 miles of range per hour of charging, and nearly 17,000 are considered fast chargers — which juice up a vehicle in minutes. Many hybrid vehicles are not equipped to work with fast chargers, however.

More than 700,000 Level 2 chargers are installed across the state in single-family homes, according to state estimates.

All of this expansion is taking place as California aims to ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles in the state by 2035 — though those plans have come under fire by the Trump administration and congressional Republicans.

“The California EV driver experience is getting better by the day,” CEC Chairman David Hochschild said in a statement. “The state will continue to heavily invest in EV infrastructure, with particular emphasis in hard-to-reach areas, making these vehicles an easy choice for new car buyers.”

Part of the dramatic increase in the statewide tally is due to new data sources that track operational chargers, though there has also been a large increase in new chargers installed, the agency said. Roughly 73,500 chargers were incorporated into the state’s data in 2024, but only approximately 38,000 of those were newly installed chargers.

Nationwide, the EV market now has to tangle with a major obstacle: the White House. The Trump administration has signaled fierce opposition and taken steps to reverse policies enacted by former President Joe Biden that were intended to bolster the EV market and phase out gas-powered vehicles — including the goal for EVs to make up half of new cars sold in the U.S. by 2030.

The federal government has paused a $15-million grant to expand Oregon’s EV charging network, according to the Portland Business Journal, and the Miami Herald reports a similar pattern for Florida’s plans to build more EV charging ports.

In August, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded 29 states, eight federally recognized tribes and the District of Columbia $521 million to expand the nation’s EV charging network. California received nearly $150 million for the construction of more than 9,200 EV charging ports, with $15 million meant to go toward building them in underserved communities in Los Angeles County.

Across the country and Puerto Rico, there are more than 77,300 EV charging stations and roughly 216,400 public ports, according to the latest federal data from the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation.

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© 2025 Los Angeles Times.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The United States military confirmed on Thursday that recovery efforts for the four missing U.S. soldiers and the submerged M88 Hercules armored vehicle that was found near Pabradė, Lithuania, remain ongoing.

In a Thursday press release, U.S. Army Europe and Africa announced that “efforts continue” by both U.S. and Lithuanian personnel as the four U.S. Army soldiers still remain missing.

“We are leveraging every available U.S. and Lithuanian asset to coordinate for and provide the required resources for this effort,” U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, commanding general of the 1st Armored Division, said.

U.S. Army Europe and Africa noted that the four U.S. soldiers, who are all from the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, have been “missing since the early hours of March 25 while conducting a maintenance mission to recover another U.S. Army vehicle in the training area during scheduled unit training.” Officials confirmed that search and recovery efforts for the missing soldiers have “continued without pause” despite initial reports that the four soldiers died during a training mission.

According to Thursday’s press release, the M88 Hercules armored vehicle was found Wednesday morning “submerged in a body of water” following a search by the U.S. Army, the Lithuanian Armed Forces, and other Lithuanian officials.

READ MORE: 4 US soldiers missing in Lithuania amid reports they died in training mission

U.S. Army Europe and Africa explained that the recovery of the submerged military vehicle has been “complicated” due to “the challenges presented by the water, thick mud and soft ground around the site.” Officials noted that the recovery effort has required “specialized equipment to drain water from the side and stabilize the ground.”

“Due to the terrain, this is an incredibly complex engineering effort. The team on the ground is working to remove enough water and mud for rescue teams to safely reach, stabilize, and access the vehicle,” Maj. Robin Bruce, 1st Armored Division Engineer, said.

“Lithuanian and U.S. Army engineers are currently pumping water and excavating mud from the site and making improvements to the surrounding area to support the heavy equipment needed for recovery,” Burce added. “The team is exploring every available option to speed up this process.”

Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene told ABC News on Thursday that the M88 Hercules armored vehicle could be roughly five meters below the surface of the water and that recovery crews have been faced with a “a mix of muddy water and sludge.”

“Hundreds of people are working around the clock — American armed forces, our rescue services and private companies,” Sakaliene added. “We have helicopters in the air, divers, firefighters, canal excavation machines — hundreds and hundreds of people.”

A video and pictures shared on X, formerly Twitter, show the challenging recovery efforts for the M88 Hercules armored vehicle.

– Four U.S. soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division remain missing in Lithuania after their M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle was discovered submerged at the Pabrade training ground, 15 kilometers from Belarus, during a tactical exercise on Tuesday.… pic.twitter.com/kIjNHmsc1B

— The Informant (@theinformant_x) March 28, 2025

Law enforcement officials arrested a suspect on Tuesday after a babysitter discovered a “monster” under a child’s bed in Kansas.

In a Wednesday press release, the Barton County Sheriff’s Office said that sheriff’s deputies were dispatched outside Great Bend, Kansas, at roughly 10:40 p.m. on Monday due to a “reported disturbance call.”

“Upon arrival the deputies contacted the victim who stated she was babysitting children at the residence. When putting the children to bed, one child complained there was a ‘monster’ under their bed,” the Barton County Sheriff’s Office stated. “When the victim attempted to show the child there was nothing under the bed, she came face-to-face with a male suspect who was hiding there. An altercation ensued with the babysitter and one child was knocked over in the struggle. The suspect then fled the scene before deputies arrived.”

The Barton County Sheriff’s Office identified the “monster” discovered under the child’s bed as 27-year-old Martin Villalobos Junior. Law enforcement officials noted that the suspect previously lived at the residence but had a “protection from abuse order issued against him to stay away from the property.”

READ MORE: Child molesters to face death penalty under new bill in Idaho

Wednesday’s press release explained that after responding to the residence, the sheriff’s deputies searched the area but were not able to locate the 27-year-old suspect.

“The next morning on March 25, 2025, deputies were in the area still looking for the suspect,” the Barton County Sheriff’s Office stated. “The suspect was seen in the 2000 block of Patton Road at which point he attempted to flee from law enforcement. After a short foot pursuit, the suspect was captured.”

According to the Barton County Sheriff’s Office, the 27-year-old suspect was arrested and booked at the Barton County Jail on charges of child endangerment, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery, aggravated burglary, felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer, and violation of a protection from abuse order. Junior currently remains in custody on a $500,000 bond.

A picture of the 27-year-old suspect was shared Thursday on X, formerly Twitter.

A Kansas woman was putting the children she babysat to bed when one child “complained there was a ‘monster’ under their bed,” according to authorities.https://t.co/Q7xXmEGeAn

— Globalnews.ca (@globalnews) March 27, 2025

President Donald Trump’s Department of Education launched an investigation on Thursday into the California Department of Education for allegedly violating the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act and “hiding minors’ ‘gender identity’ from parents.” 

In a Thursday press release, the Department of Education stated, “The California Department of Education has allegedly abdicated the responsibilities FERPA imposes due to a new California state law that prohibits school personnel from disclosing a child’s ‘gender identity’ to that child’s parent.”  

The Education Department added, “SPPO has reason to believe that numerous local educational agencies (LEAs) in California may be violating FERPA to socially transition children at school while hiding minors’ ‘gender identity’ from parents.”

In a letter obtained by The Daily Wire, Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) on Thursday that the department would be assisting the Education Department with its investigation of the Democrat-led state.

The letter obtained by The Daily Wire noted that the Department of Agriculture had been directed by the 47th president to conduct “a review of its research and other education-related funding in California for compliance with the Constitution, federal laws including Titles VI and IX, and the priorities of the Trump Administration.”

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In her letter to Newsom, Rollins emphasized that her department would support the Education Department’s investigation into California’s alleged violations of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, specifically with regard to the state’s law preventing parents from being informed about their child’s “gender identity.”

“USDA will support ED’s investigation and efforts to vigorously protect parents’ rights and ensure that students do not fall victim to a radical transgender ideology that often leads to family alienation and irreversible medical interventions,” Rollins wrote. She added, “Similarly, we will be reviewing our federal funding with respect to other related matters under investigation.”

In Thursday’s press release, Education Secretary Linda McMahon argued against California Assembly Bill 1955, stating that school teachers and counselors “should not be in the business of advising minors entrusted to their care on consequential decisions about their sexual identity and mental health.”

“That responsibility and privilege lies with a parent or trusted loved one,” McMahon added. “It is not only immoral but also potentially in contradiction with federal law for California schools to hide crucial information about a student’s wellbeing from parents and guardians.”