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Iran attacks add urgency to stalled congressional aid effort for Israel

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Iran attacks add urgency to stalled congressional aid effort for Israel


Iran’s drone and missile attacks on Israel this weekend added fresh urgency to the long-stalled congressional effort to secure more aid for a U.S. ally, but as the House returns to session on Monday, there is little clarity on what type of aid package Republicans will take up.

Sharp divisions within the Republican Party have kept a Senate-approved, bipartisan $95 billion national security package that includes aid to Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel from being taken up in the House. Although several lawmakers expressed optimism on Sunday that an Israel aid package will quickly pass in Congress, any legislation that is different from that version would have to go back to the Senate for approval. It’s unclear if such a new measure would garner enough support among a fractious House GOP conference and would likely face opposition in the Senate if passed via partisan margins, as it had before.

On Sunday morning, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) didn’t specify what kind of aid package the House would consider — whether the combined Senate package or a stand-alone Israel bill. He instead simply noted that Republicans are “going to try again this week” to pass some sort of aid package for Israel.

“The details of that package are being put together right now,” Johnson said on “Sunday Morning Futures” on Fox News Channel. “We’re looking at the options and all these supplemental issues.”

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House Democrats have said they would quickly help the speaker pass the Senate-approved supplemental package, but Johnson has been unequivocal against the House considering the Senate bill without also addressing border security and adding conditions to how Ukraine is funded — two issues that have greatly divided the GOP conference.

The uncertainty of how to address Ukraine funding — and the threat by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to oust Johnson from the speakership if he holds such a vote — is why Republicans began pushing for a stand-alone Israel bill. On Sunday, Johnson noted that one of his first acts as speaker was to pass an Israel funding bill with “offsets” including cuts to the IRS that a majority of House Republicans supported. Because of this provision, however, the Senate refused to take that bill up.

In a post rife with inflammatory language, Greene said “there should be separate bills.” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), echoed Greene, indicating the trouble Johnson could face if he tries to pass a supplemental package through the House Rules Committee that Massie and two far-right members sit on.

Johnson then tried to pass a straightforward Israel bill several months ago under suspension because the far-right members of his party opposed the lack of IRS cuts, but that effort failed to garner enough Democratic support because the bill did not include humanitarian aid. Democrats also did not want to lose leverage by passing an Israel-only bill and not have another mechanism to secure Ukraine funding.

National security Republicans, who will speak with Johnson late Sunday to brainstorm a path forward, broke with a majority of their colleagues by urging passage of bills aiding foreign allies facing immediate threats.

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“I think it will have overwhelming support — both the Ukraine, Israel and Asia packages — not just because of what’s happened with Iran escalating the conflict in the Middle East, but because these are allies that need and deserve our support,” House Intelligence Chairman Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio) said.

The House and Senate are in session for one more week before their next scheduled break from Washington, adding urgency to address the matter swiftly. Over the weekend, House Republicans appeared to be aware that time is running short.

In the wake of news of the attack, members of the Republican Study Committee, the largest faction of the five GOP ideological “families,” huddled during a previously scheduled retreat Saturday night to discuss the developments and how they could urgently address the matter. They agreed that the House must act immediately upon arriving back in Washington this week to pass a stand-alone Israel funding aid. That message was relayed to Johnson who, according to multiple people familiar with the meeting and conversations, was described as being in listening mode as he received feedback from all corners of the conference.

By Saturday evening, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said on X that the House would change its legislative schedule for the week to prioritize considering “legislation that supports our ally Israel and holds Iran and its terrorist proxies accountable,” but added that “details on the legislative items to be considered will be forthcoming.”

And Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told CBS News’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that he and the chairs of other national security-adjacent committees in the House will meet with Johnson on Sunday evening to draft out a course of action for the week. But his goals for the aid package diverge deeply from some of the hard line members of the GOP.

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McCaul remained adamant that the House must fund Ukraine’s war effort alongside Israel’s.

“What happened in Israel last night happens in Ukraine every night,” McCaul said.

Securing aid to Israel but punting on Ukraine would still mark a victory for Iran, a staunch ally of Russia who has supplied many of the drones Moscow is launching on Ukraine, McCaul said. Moreover, sending aid to Taiwan is imperative to counter China’s encroachment on the nearby democracy. The fight against one is the fight against the other, he argued.

“Would I need to educate my colleagues that they’re all tied together?” McCaul said. “I mean, Iran is selling this stuff to Russia. Guess who’s buying Iran’s energy? China.”

He added that Republicans can’t just say “Iran is bad, but Russia’s okay and China is bad.”

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“We can’t do that — they’re all in this together,” he said.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who has long opposed further aid for Ukraine, argued in a Sunday morning interview with CNN that the United States can’t “possibly support Ukraine and Israel and our own defense needs” in the way Democrats and some House Republicans demand.

“Israel’s a much closer ally, is a much more core American national security interest,” he said. “If we pass the Ukraine and Israel supplemental and send a ton of weapons to Ukraine that the Israelis need, we’re actually weakening Israel in the name of helping them.”

But the $95 billion supplemental bill is not mutually exclusive — it includes funding for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. The measure would provide about $60 billion in additional aid to Ukraine, much of which would come in the form of weapons, about $14 billion for Israel, $9 billion in humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and $5 billion to aid the Indo-Pacific.

House Democrats and senators from both parties have been urging the House take up the Senate proposal since its passage two months ago. Even before Iran’s attack on Israel, House Democrats publicly and a contingency of House Republicans privately have been saying that there is no way Johnson can strike an agreement that appeases a fractious GOP conference on such contentious issues, let alone in one week.

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Early Sunday morning, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said that the Senate-approved supplemental package should pass on Monday.

“The world is on fire. We should stand with our Democratic allies and push back against the enemies of freedom.” he posted on X. “The House must pass the bipartisan national security bill. Tomorrow.”

Even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — who has vowed to continue supporting Ukraine, earning him the moniker “Republican in Name Only” from Trump and other far-right Republicans — has signaled to Johnson that he should ignore the right-wing opposition within his conference and move ahead with the Senate-approval package.

“The national security supplemental that has waited months for action will provide critical resources to Israel and our own military forces in the region. It will provide overdue lethal assistance to Ukraine and equip vulnerable allies and partners in Asia,” McConnell said in a statement Saturday. “The Commander-in-Chief and the Congress must discharge our fundamental duties without delay. The consequences of failure are clear, devastating, and avoidable.”

House Democrats are largely united in their effort to pass the Senate package, launching a discharge petition last month that would override GOP leadership’s unwillingness to consider the legislation by forcing a vote on the measure if 218 lawmakers sign on.

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According to multiple Democrats familiar with the discussions, Democratic leadership aims to get at least 200 to sign on since some in the far-left faction will not back it in opposition to funding Israel. Former speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has personally taken the initiative to whip more support, getting four more Democrats — including three liberals — to reach 195 signatures.

Some Republicans have privately expressed signing onto the Democratic petition, as well as a bipartisan one that also includes border security measures, if far-right Republicans block the conference from backing whatever Johnson proposes.

Yet if Johnson moves on the Senate bill and Greene triggers the process to oust him from the speakership, Jeffries said at a Thursday news conference “that there are a reasonable number of Democrats who would not want to see the speaker fall as a result of doing the right thing.”





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Skeletal remains that washed up on Washington beach identified as Oregon mayor who vanished 20 years ago

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Skeletal remains that washed up on Washington beach identified as Oregon mayor who vanished 20 years ago


Skeletal remains that washed up on a Washington beach have been identified as those of a former Oregon mayor who vanished in 2006, ending a 20-year mystery with the help of genetic genealogy.

Edwin Asher, who previously was mayor of Fossil, Oregon, disappeared while he was crabbing in Tillamook Bay, on the northwest coast of Oregon, on Sept. 5, 2006, the Grays Harbor County coroner and Othram, a forensic genetic genealogy lab, said in news releases this week.

He was presumed to have drowned and was legally declared dead that same year, officials said.

In November 2006, skeletal remains washed ashore in Taholah, an unincorporated village on the Quinault Indian Reservation in Grays Harbor County, Washington, the coroner’s office said.

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Taholah is about 124 miles north of Tillamook Bay.

The local sheriff’s and coroner’s offices responded and collected evidence.

It was determined the remains were those of a man estimated to 20 to 60 years old or older, 5 feet, 9 inches tall and an estimated 170 to 180 pounds.

However, the man was never identified, and he became known as the “Grays Harbor County John Doe (2006).”

Last year, the Grays Harbor Coroner’s Office and the King County medical examiner submitted forensic evidence to Othram to try to identify John Doe.

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Scientists used genome sequencing to build a DNA profile for the man and genetic genealogy search to develop “new investigative leads.”

Investigators were led to potential relatives of the man, and reference DNA samples were collected from a relative and compared with those of John Doe.

Finally, it led to a positive identification: Grays Harbor John Doe was Clarence Edwin “Ed” Asher, born April 2, 1934.

He was 72 when he died.

Asher was born in Salem and raised in Astoria, and in 1952 he moved to Fossil, where he was a lineman technician for the Fossil Telephone Co. until he retired in 1995, according to his obituary. He also opened his own shop, Asher’s Variety Store, in 1965.

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He loved antique cars, fishing and boating, the obituary said.

He had served as mayor and also volunteered as a local fireman and ambulance driver.

He was survived by his wife of over 20 years, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. NBC News has reached out to the city of Fossil for comment.

Forensic genetic genealogy has grown in popularity in recent years and has helped solve decades-old cold cases.



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Aday Mara romps out west as Michigan basketball rolls in Washington

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Aday Mara romps out west as Michigan basketball rolls in Washington


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SEATTLE — Michigan basketball went to the Emerald City and struck gold … or maize.

On a night when Washington honored its national-champion men’s soccer team, brought back former star (and former Detroit Piston) Isaiah Thomas and introduced their incoming class of football recruits to the first sellout crowd in two seasons, the Huskies simply couldn’t hang with the Wolverines on Wednesday, Jan. 14.

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No. 3 Michigan battled on the boards, locked down on defense and got enough done on offense despite another lackluster shooting night to get back to its winning ways, beating Washington 82-72 in the first of two games on a Pacific Northwest swing.

Morez Johnson Jr., nicknamed “Junkyard Dog” by his teammates, showed his bite against the team with “Dawgs” across its chest, scoring 16 points and adding a career-high 16 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.

“As a coaching staff, we communicate throughout the game and there were anywhere between three and 300 instances where we said to each other ‘Rez is an absolute dog, Rez is an absolute beast’,” coach Dusty May said postgame. “We were very repetitive because he made so many plays that made us appreciate him.”

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He set the tone on the glass – a battle U-M won, 42-40, as part of its 50-28 scoring advantage in the paint. Meanwhile, U-M played a largely clean game, forcing 12 turnovers and only committing eight as it outscored U-Dub, 11-2, in points off turnovers.

Johnson was aided by his fellow bigs: Aday Mara scored a team-high 20 and Yaxel Lendeborg added 14 after a slow start.

The Wolverines will stay in the Pacific time zone for their next game, heading to Eugene, Oregon, to take on the Ducks in a nationally televised game Saturday (4 p.m. ET, NBC). The Ducks, a second-round NCAA Tournament team last season, have already nearly matched their 2024-25 losses (10) this season, at 8-9 overall and 1-5 in Big Ten play. Still, three of those five conference losses have come on the road, rather than at Matthew Knight Arena. Center Nathan Bittle leads Oregon with 16.3 points per game, plus 6.7 rebounds and two assists.

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Getting to the finish line

The Huskies fought back after a cold start – just seven makes in their first 26 shots – with 10 makes in their next 17 to get within five, 46-41, on a Hannes Steinbach putback.

But Michigan got hot. Lendeborg drilled a corner 3, Mara hit three straight baskets – a floater, a layup and a dunk –Lendeborg hit another hook in the lane and then Mara finished another slam on the baseline, for six straight makes.

Even so, the Huskies stuck with the Wolverines thanks to baskets on four straight possesssions. Johnson got an offensive rebound and putback off a Trey McKenney missed layup, but McKenney was then assessed with a technical foul for tripping a U-W player stepping over him. 

The Wolverines struggled to extend their lead until Mara swatted a hook shot near the rim and Roddy Gayle Jr. had a runout the other way for a coast-to-coast layup to go up 11 with 5:16 to go. He then found Lendeborg on the break on the following possession for an acrobatic layup, making it 76-63.

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The Wolverines weren’t perfect on offense – 17-for-23 on dunks or layups 15-for-46 on all other shots – but they did enough of the little things for coach Dusty May.

Marvelous Morez Johnson Jr.

Johnson led the way in that grinding mentality.

He dominated early on the boards with 10 in the first 15 minutes, including three on offense. The Wolverines didn’t shoot well on 3s – 5-for-23 (21.7%) – so extending possessions mattered.

“Elite,” Mara said of how he’d describe Johnson in a single word. “His ability to help us in rebounding is something I’ve never seen before. I think that was better than me scoring 20. For today’s game, one of the keys was rebounding and I think he did great.

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“It’s way easier when you have a player like this on your team.”

Johnson’s greatest highlight came off a missed Gayle jumper, as he came flying in through the paint and threw down a tip-slam between two defenders to put Michigan up, 28-18.

Johnson responded to May’s recent team-wide critiques of the energy level with perhaps the Wolverines’ most energetic performance this season. He wasn’t quite as dominant after halftime, but still added eight points and four rebounds.

Coming in waves

The Wolverines started slow; they didn’t score until 2:33 in, falling behind by three. That was followed by a 12-0 run in 4:14, with all of the points coming either in the paint or from the free throw line.

Michigan, which has struggled beyond the arc for a few weeks, missed its first 10 3-pointers, but a spurt from the reserves got the group going. It was 14-9 when McKenney buried the team’s first 3. Will Tschetter followed with one of his own less than a minute later, then added a follow under the bucket, as U-M’s reserves scored eight straight.

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Later, it was Lendeborg’s turn. He missed his first five attempts, then finally drilled a 3 from the left wing to get going. On the next possession he received a full-court pass from L.J. Cason and finished in the paint, then grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw and had a putback in traffic. That gave him seven straight points and extended U-M’s lead to 37-26.

Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.



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Widespread Verizon outage prompts emergency alerts in Washington, New York City

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Widespread Verizon outage prompts emergency alerts in Washington, New York City


Verizon said on Wednesday that its wireless service was suffering an outage impacting cellular data and voice services.

The nation’s largest wireless carrier said that its “engineers are engaged and are working to identify and solve the issue quickly.”

Verizon’s statement came after a swath of social media comments directed at Verizon, with users saying that their mobile devices were showing no bars of service or “SOS,” indicating a lack of connection.

Verizon, which has more than 146 million customers, appears to have started experiencing services issues around 12:00 p.m. ET, according to comments on social media site X.

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Two hours later, Verizon posted an update on social media, saying that its engineers were “continuing to address today’s service interruptions,” but did not say if a specific reason for the outage had been identified or when it could be resolved.

“We understand the impact this has on your day and remain committed to resolving this as quickly as possible,” the company said.

Despite those efforts, shortly after 4:00 p.m. ET, Verizon issued a third statement that contained little new information. The company said teams were “on the ground actively working to fix today’s service issue.”

Users had initially reported problems with Verizon’s competitors, T-Mobile and AT&T, as well. But both companies said they were not experiencing any service problems.

“T-Mobile’s network is keeping our customers connected, and we’ve confirmed that our network is operating normally and as expected,” a spokesperson told NBC News. “However, due to Verizon’s reported outage, our customers may not be able to reach someone with Verizon service at this time.”

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A spokeswoman for AT&T also said the company’s network was “operating normally.”

A Verizon store in New York City on Jan. 12, 2024.Angus Mordant / Bloomberg via Getty Images

In Washington, D.C., the District’s official emergency notification system sent out a message to residents saying that the Verizon outage was “nationwide.”

“If you have an emergency and can not connect using your Verizon Wireless device, please connect using a device from another carrier, a landline, or go to a police district or fire station to report the emergency,” the AlertDC system told recipients.

New York City’s Office of Emergency Management also said it was aware of the outage without mentioning Verizon by name. The city said it was “working closely with our partners” to review the outage and “assess any potential effects on city agencies & essential services.”



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