2025

By Mike Stone and Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) -The administration of President Joe Biden has notified Congress of a proposed $8 billion arms sale to Israel, a U.S. official said on Friday, with Washington maintaining support for its ally whose war in Gaza has killed tens of thousands.

The deal would need approval from the House of Representatives and Senate committees and includes munitions for fighter jets and attack helicopters as well as artillery shells, Axios reported earlier. The package also includes small-diameter bombs and warheads, according to Axios.

The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Protesters have for months demanded an arms embargo against Israel, but U.S. policy has largely remained unchanged. In August, the United States approved the sale of $20 billion in fighter jets and other military equipment to Israel.

The Biden administration says it is helping its ally defend against Iran-backed militant groups like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

Facing international criticism, Washington has stood by Israel during its assault on Gaza that has displaced nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million population, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide accusations that Israel denies.

The Gaza health ministry puts the death toll at over 45,000 people, with many additional feared buried under rubble.

Diplomatic efforts have so far failed to end the 15-month-old Israeli war in Gaza that was triggered after an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants that killed 1,200 and in which about 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Washington, Israel’s biggest ally and weapons supplier, has also previously vetoed U.N. Security Council resolutions on a ceasefire in Gaza.

Democrat Biden is due to leave office on Jan. 20, when Republican President-elect Donald Trump will succeed him. Both are strong backers of Israel.

(Reporting by Mike Stone, Kanishka Singh and Costas Pitas; Editing by Sandra Maler, Cynthia Osterman and Sonali Paul)

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By Ned Randolph

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – In the days since a U.S. Army veteran drove a truck into dozens of New Year’s Day revelers, normalcy has begun to return to a stricken yet defiant New Orleans, where music is again streaming from clubs and restaurants are filled with tourists.

After leaving flowers at an impromptu memorial, Mayor LaToya Cantrell on Thursday led a traditional New Orleans brass-band parade down Bourbon Street, where the FBI says a Texas man carried out an attack that was inspired by Islamic State.

At least 15 people were killed, including the attacker.

Dinner reservations are coming back quickly at the historic Galatoire’s restaurant in the French Quarter, the city’s Creole-flavored historic district where tourists throng.

Caroline Rodrigue, a 31-year-old hostess at the restaurant, saw Cantrell’s parade, one of the normally frequent processions known locally as second lines that accompany funerals, celebrations and community events.

“It was very emotional,” she said. “It’s time for resiliency and coming together. I would definitely rather be here together than sitting at home wondering.”

Restaurant staff and patrons said they were reassured to see many police officers and other camouflage-outfitted patrols prominent on Bourbon Street, which is often busy into the night with partying tourists.

The city, nicknamed the Big Easy for its usually relaxed mood, has weathered many storms, including catastrophic Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which killed more than 1,300 in and around New Orleans.

“There’s a lot of talk of use of the word ‘resilience,’” said Walt Leger, head of New Orleans & Company, the city’s tourism marketing office. “You get stronger and stronger each time and so yes, we’ve had our fair share of challenges, but this one is now added to that list.”

The mayor has said security will remain heightened in the city, which is readying for major events in the coming weeks. The New Orleans area depends on its tourism and conference industries and attracted 17.8 million visitors in 2023, according to state data.

U.S. President Joe Biden plans to visit on Monday to meet with officials and victims’ families. Next month, the city will host the National Football League’s Super Bowl. And in a few days, New Orleans kicks off its famed multi-week Mardi Gras celebrations.

‘EVERYONE LOVES A PARADE’

By the Mississippi River on Friday, designers and builders put the finishing touches on Mardi Gras floats inside a hangar at Kern’s Mardi Gras World, a workshop and tourist attraction, ahead of an opening parade next week.

Tour guide Lee Curran showed visitors around and said the festive period, known for its many parades replete with costumes, celebrity marshals and bead throwing, was a touchstone for the city’s residents.

“It’s Mardi Gras, right? It definitely raises the spirits,” he said. “If it doesn’t happen, it’s not good for the economy not good for morale. Everyone loves a parade.”

In the hangar, Emma Duhe, 19, was carefully applying blue paint to a large marlin model that will adorn a “super float” in a blowout parade on March 2 by the Krewe of Bacchus, one of New Orleans’ best-known parade organizations.

“It makes me feel like I’m doing something for the city, where I’ve spent my whole life,” said Duhe, a graphic design student at Louisiana State University.

Back in the French Quarter at the Bourbon House seafood restaurant, 40-year-old Chad Weaver was shucking oysters for customers and said New Orleanians wouldn’t let fear alter the city’s upbeat vibe after this week’s frightening events.

“You can’t predict that, someone wanting to do you harm,” he said. “There’s nothing you really can do except beef up security.”

Outside the Bourbon House, a crowd gathered around the One Way Brass Band, undeterred by Wednesday’s assault.

Embracing the city’s tradition of joyful music is “a big middle finger to ISIS,” said Danna Crary, referring to Islamic State, as she watched the band with her miniature Schnauzer.

“This is how it should be. It’s hard for the families, but I’m not going to let them take away our spirit.”

Not everyone was so sanguine. At Felix’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar, a waitress, who did not want to give her name, said she was scared and kept a nervous eye on people.

Terry Cooney, manager of Ticklers bar, said he could have used another day off work to deal with the fear and uncertainty caused by the mass attack.

“I hope this is the end of it. I pray to God,” said the 53-year-old.

(Reporting by Ned Randolph in New Orleans; Additional reporting by Julio-Cesar Chavez in New Orleans; Editing by Jonathan Allen and Cynthia Osterman)

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LONDON (AP) — A senior British politician pushed back Friday on Elon Musk’s criticism of the government’s handling of a historic child grooming scandal.

In recent days, Musk has shared and reacted to posts on his X platform that have been critical of the British government after it rejected a call for a public inquiry into the grooming scandal in the north of England town of Oldham.

Though Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Musk’s views were was “misjudged and certainly misinformed,” he urged the world’s richest man and close confidant of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to work with the government on tackling the issue of child sexual exploitation.

The government has argued that Oldham must follow in the footsteps of other towns and commission its own inquiry into the historical abuse of mainly girls.

A 2022 report into safeguarding measures in Oldham between 2011 and 2014 found that children were failed by local agencies, but that there was no cover-up despite “legitimate concerns” that the far-right would capitalize on “the high-profile convictions of predominantly Pakistani offenders across the country.”

Musk has also targeted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who he claimed had failed to bring what many term “rape gangs” to justice when he was the director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013. The scandals, Musk said Friday, represent a “massive crime against humanity.”

Streeting told ITV News that the government took child sexual exploitation “incredibly seriously” and that it was supportive of an inquiry into the Oldham scandal, but that it should be led locally.

“Some of the criticisms that Elon Musk has made, I think are misjudged and certainly misinformed, but we’re willing to work with Elon Musk, who I think has got a big role to play with his social media platform to help us and other countries to tackle this serious issue,” Streeting said. “So if he wants to work with us and roll his sleeves up, we’d welcome that.”

Musk has been, it seems, taking a keen interest in the U.K. political scene since the left-of-center Labour Party won a landslide election victory in July 2024, to bring an end to 14 years of Conservative rule.

Musk has retweeted criticism of Starmer and the hashtag TwoTierKeir – shorthand for an unsubstantiated claim that Britain has “two-tier policing,” with far-right protesters treated more harshly than pro-Palestinian or Black Lives Matter demonstrators.

Musk has also compared British attempts to weed out online misinformation to the Soviet Union, while during summer anti-immigrant violence across the U.K. he tweeted that “civil war is inevitable.”

Musk also backed calls Friday for a U.K. general election, barely six months after the last one. “The people of Britain do not want this government at all. New elections,” he wrote.

He has also recently expressed his support for Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the founder of the far-right English Defense League, who is better known as Tommy Robinson and who is serving an 18-month jail term for contempt of court.

As well as offering his thoughts, Musk is apparently interested in putting his money where his mouth is by funding Reform U.K., a right-wing party led by Nigel Farage, who is Trump’s highest-profile British champion, to the tune of 100 million pounds ($124 million).

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