CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Six Americans who had been detained in Venezuela in recent months were freed by the government of President Nicolás Maduro after he met Friday with a Trump administration official tasked with urging the authoritarian leader to take back deported migrants who have committed crimes in the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump and his envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, announced the release of the six men on social media. The visit by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/richard-grenell-secretary-of-state-trump-5e7410edd659870307a5eba762f8136c">Grenell</a>&nbsp;came as a shock to many Venezuelans who hoped that Trump would continue the “maximum pressure” campaign he pursued against Maduro during his first term.

Grenell’s hours long trip to Venezuela, according to the White House, was focused on Trump’s efforts to deport Venezuelans back to their home country, which currently does not accept them, and on the release of the detained Americans.

“We are wheels up and headed home with these 6 American citizens,” Grenell posted on X along with a photo showing him and the men aboard an aircraft. “They just spoke to @realDonaldTrump and they couldn’t stop thanking him.”

The meeting in Venezuela's capital took place less than a month after Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term despite credible evidence that he lost last year's election. The U.S. government, along with several other Western nations, does not recognize Maduro's claim to victory and instead points to tally sheets collected by the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-machado-biden-gonzalez-a625eb01979bc9cf5570d03242f198b1">opposition coalition</a>&nbsp;showing that its candidate,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-edmundo-opposition-presidential-election-reward-arrest-5b6bf23e53642db059304bef14d2f4ff">Edmundo González</a>, won by a more than a two-to-one margin.

Venezuelan state television aired footage of Grenell and Maduro speaking in the Miraflores Palace and said the meeting had been requested by the U.S. government.

Signing an executive order in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump was asked if Grenell being filmed meeting with Maduro lent legitimacy to a government that the Trump White House does not officially recognize.

“No. We want to do something with Venezuela. I’ve been a very big opponent of Venezuela and Maduro,” Trump responded. “They’ve treated us not so good, but they’ve treated, more importantly, the Venezuelan people, very badly."

Maduro, appearing on state television after Grenell had left Venezuela, said the visit yielded “initial agreements” but did not provide any details.

“I have seen three U.S. presidents pass before me," Maduro said. "This is the fourth term, and our message has been one: We want to build relationships of respect for Venezuela’s sovereignty, for Venezuela’s democratic life, for international law and for our Latin American region.”

“This is terrible timing," said Elliott Abrams, who served as special envoy to Venezuela and Iran during the first Trump administration. "A meeting with Maduro will be used by him to legitimize his rule and show that the Americans recognize him as president. If the purpose is to deliver a tough message about migration issues, the president could’ve done that himself. There was no need to send someone to Caracas.”

The dispute over the election results sparked&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-machado-biden-gonzalez-elections-protests-d6e70bd88ee9511298a4850c224a12e2">nationwide protests</a>. More than 2,200 people were arrested during and after the demonstrations.

Among those detained&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-detained-americans-maduro-inauguration-trump-e53e88838f5f06a7f207d0d090d5212b">are as many as 10 Americans</a>&nbsp;who the government has linked to alleged plots to destabilize the country. Neither the White House nor Maduro's government immediately released the names of the six who were freed Friday.

A nonprofit group that had advocated for the release of a detainee said David Estrella, a 62-yer-old who was last heard from in September, was among those on their way back to the U.S. Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello had accused Estrella of being part of an alleged plot to assassinate Maduro.

The Trump administration has taken a slew of actions to make good on promises to crack down on illegal immigration and carry out the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-day-1-priorities-deportations-drilling-ukraine-6747c6e64b0440978f59450b928f61d1">largest mass deportation effort</a>&nbsp;in U.S. history.

Those measures include the revocation earlier this week of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/el-salvador-tps-biden-immigration-temporary-protected-status-f423f4f3cdbac535af35337ebda314f0">a Biden administration decision</a>&nbsp;that would have protected roughly 600,000 people from Venezuela from deportation, putting some at risk of being removed from the country in about two months.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Friday that Trump had instructed Grenell to “identify a place and ensure that repatriation flights" carrying Venezuelans, including members of the Tren de Aragua criminal organization, "land in Venezuela.” She said Trump also ordered Grenell to “ensure that all U.S. detainees in Venezuela are returned home.”

More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left their home country since 2013, when its economy unraveled and Maduro first took office. Most settled in Latin America and the Caribbean, but after the pandemic, migrants increasingly set their sights on the U.S.

Venezuelans’ desire for better living conditions and their rejection of Maduro are expected to keep pushing people to emigrate.

Ahead of the presidential election last year, a nationwide poll by Venezuela-based research firm Delphos showed about a quarter of the population thinking about emigrating if Maduro was re-elected.

Grenell has reached out to Maduro before on Trump’s behalf to secure the release of imprisoned Americans only to come home empty handed.

In 2020, he traveled with Erik Prince, the founder of controversial security firm Blackwater, to Mexico City for a secret meeting with a top Maduro aide. The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-venezuela-miami-arrests-mexico-city-080bf19aa627f731c065a33a410ae2f1">backchannel talks</a>&nbsp;centered on Maduro’s offer to swap eight Americans then imprisoned in Venezuela for businessman&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-colombia-caribbean-miami-nicolas-maduro-f6d107240cd8085f54d192b9f7b549f3">Alex Saab</a>, a close ally of the president charged in the U.S. with money laundering, The Associated Press previously reported.

No deal was struck and Grenell’s demand that Maduro step down was dismissed by the Venezuelan president’s envoy. Grenell has always denied he was negotiating a hostage swap.

Later, in December 2023, the Biden administration&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-saab-detained-americans-biden-d7148a34dd009d5bab3d5f50c28ed93e">exchanged Saab for 10 Americans</a>&nbsp;as part of a policy to re-engage Maduro ahead of presidential elections.

Goodman reported from Miami. Associated Press writer Will Weissert contributed to this report from Washington.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Six Americans who had been detained in Venezuela in recent months were freed by the government of President Nicolás Maduro after he met Friday with a Trump administration official tasked with urging the authoritarian leader to take back deported migrants who have committed crimes in the United States.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">We are home. 🇺🇸 God bless these Americans. <a href="https://t.co/L36mNkvEom">pic.twitter.com/L36mNkvEom</a>&mdash; Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) <a href="https://twitter.com/RichardGrenell/status/1885567024795132035?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>U.S. President Donald Trump and his envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, announced the release of the six men on social media. The visit by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/richard-grenell-secretary-of-state-trump-5e7410edd659870307a5eba762f8136c">Grenell</a>&nbsp;came as a shock to many Venezuelans who hoped that Trump would continue the “maximum pressure” campaign he pursued against Maduro during his first term.Grenell’s hours long trip to Venezuela, according to the White House, was focused on Trump’s efforts to deport Venezuelans back to their home country, which currently does not accept them, and on the release of the detained Americans.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/ltyGcGiiKR">pic.twitter.com/ltyGcGiiKR</a>&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1885740072705650821?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>“We are wheels up and headed home with these 6 American citizens,” Grenell posted on X along with a photo showing him and the men aboard an aircraft. “They just spoke to @realDonaldTrump and they couldn’t stop thanking him.”<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">We are wheels up and headed home with these 6 American citizens. They just spoke to <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> and they couldn’t stop thanking him. <a href="https://t.co/sCvCO4HQQv">pic.twitter.com/sCvCO4HQQv</a>&mdash; Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) <a href="https://twitter.com/RichardGrenell/status/1885482064050610536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">“Hello. I’m an American diplomat sent by President Trump and I’m here to bring you home.” <a href="https://t.co/mMJ7nDu88s">pic.twitter.com/mMJ7nDu88s</a>&mdash; Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) <a href="https://twitter.com/RichardGrenell/status/1885540197879714064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The meeting in Venezuela's capital took place less than a month after Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term despite credible evidence that he lost last year's election. The U.S. government, along with several other Western nations, does not recognize Maduro's claim to victory and instead points to tally sheets collected by the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-machado-biden-gonzalez-a625eb01979bc9cf5570d03242f198b1">opposition coalition</a>&nbsp;showing that its candidate,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-edmundo-opposition-presidential-election-reward-arrest-5b6bf23e53642db059304bef14d2f4ff">Edmundo González</a>, won by a more than a two-to-one margin.Venezuelan state television aired footage of Grenell and Maduro speaking in the Miraflores Palace and said the meeting had been requested by the U.S. government.Signing an executive order in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump was asked if Grenell being filmed meeting with Maduro lent legitimacy to a government that the Trump White House does not officially recognize.“No. We want to do something with Venezuela. I’ve been a very big opponent of Venezuela and Maduro,” Trump responded. “They’ve treated us not so good, but they’ve treated, more importantly, the Venezuelan people, very badly."Maduro, appearing on state television after Grenell had left Venezuela, said the visit yielded “initial agreements” but did not provide any details.“I have seen three U.S. presidents pass before me," Maduro said. "This is the fourth term, and our message has been one: We want to build relationships of respect for Venezuela’s sovereignty, for Venezuela’s democratic life, for international law and for our Latin American region.”Some Republicans criticized the visit.“This is terrible timing," said Elliott Abrams, who served as special envoy to Venezuela and Iran during the first Trump administration. "A meeting with Maduro will be used by him to legitimize his rule and show that the Americans recognize him as president. If the purpose is to deliver a tough message about migration issues, the president could’ve done that himself. There was no need to send someone to Caracas.”The dispute over the election results sparked&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-machado-biden-gonzalez-elections-protests-d6e70bd88ee9511298a4850c224a12e2">nationwide protests</a>. More than 2,200 people were arrested during and after the demonstrations.Among those detained&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-detained-americans-maduro-inauguration-trump-e53e88838f5f06a7f207d0d090d5212b">are as many as 10 Americans</a>&nbsp;who the government has linked to alleged plots to destabilize the country. Neither the White House nor Maduro's government immediately released the names of the six who were freed Friday.A nonprofit group that had advocated for the release of a detainee said David Estrella, a 62-yer-old who was last heard from in September, was among those on their way back to the U.S. Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello had accused Estrella of being part of an alleged plot to assassinate Maduro.The Trump administration has taken a slew of actions to make good on promises to crack down on illegal immigration and carry out the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-day-1-priorities-deportations-drilling-ukraine-6747c6e64b0440978f59450b928f61d1">largest mass deportation effort</a>&nbsp;in U.S. history.Those measures include the revocation earlier this week of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/el-salvador-tps-biden-immigration-temporary-protected-status-f423f4f3cdbac535af35337ebda314f0">a Biden administration decision</a>&nbsp;that would have protected roughly 600,000 people from Venezuela from deportation, putting some at risk of being removed from the country in about two months.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Friday that Trump had instructed Grenell to “identify a place and ensure that repatriation flights" carrying Venezuelans, including members of the Tren de Aragua criminal organization, "land in Venezuela.” She said Trump also ordered Grenell to “ensure that all U.S. detainees in Venezuela are returned home.”More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left their home country since 2013, when its economy unraveled and Maduro first took office. Most settled in Latin America and the Caribbean, but after the pandemic, migrants increasingly set their sights on the U.S.Venezuelans’ desire for better living conditions and their rejection of Maduro are expected to keep pushing people to emigrate.Ahead of the presidential election last year, a nationwide poll by Venezuela-based research firm Delphos showed about a quarter of the population thinking about emigrating if Maduro was re-elected.Grenell has reached out to Maduro before on Trump’s behalf to secure the release of imprisoned Americans only to come home empty handed.In 2020, he traveled with Erik Prince, the founder of controversial security firm Blackwater, to Mexico City for a secret meeting with a top Maduro aide. The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-venezuela-miami-arrests-mexico-city-080bf19aa627f731c065a33a410ae2f1">backchannel talks</a>&nbsp;centered on Maduro’s offer to swap eight Americans then imprisoned in Venezuela for businessman&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-colombia-caribbean-miami-nicolas-maduro-f6d107240cd8085f54d192b9f7b549f3">Alex Saab</a>, a close ally of the president charged in the U.S. with money laundering, The Associated Press previously reported.No deal was struck and Grenell’s demand that Maduro step down was dismissed by the Venezuelan president’s envoy. Grenell has always denied he was negotiating a hostage swap.Later, in December 2023, the Biden administration&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-saab-detained-americans-biden-d7148a34dd009d5bab3d5f50c28ed93e">exchanged Saab for 10 Americans</a>&nbsp;as part of a policy to re-engage Maduro ahead of presidential elections.___Goodman reported from Miami. Associated Press writer Will Weissert contributed to this report from Washington.

Trump envoy brings home 6 Americans detained in Venezuela for months

BY&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/eric-tucker">ERIC TUCKER</a>&nbsp;AND ALANNA DURKIN RICHER

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Friday fired a group of prosecutors involved in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/projects/january-6-cases/">Jan. 6 criminal cases</a>&nbsp;and demanded the names of FBI agents involved in those same probes so they can possibly be ousted, moves that reflect a White House determination to exert control over federal law enforcement and purge agencies of career employees seen as insufficiently loyal.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered the firings of the Jan. 6 prosecutors days after President Donald Trump's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-jan-6-pardons-trump-justice-department-8ce8b2a8f8cb602d5eaf85ac7b969606">sweeping clemency action</a>&nbsp;benefiting the more than 1,500 people charged in the U.S. Capitol attack, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press. About two dozen employees at the U.S. attorney's office in Washington were terminated, said a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss personnel issues.

A separate memo by Bove identified more than a half-dozen FBI senior executives who were ordered to retire or be fired by Monday, and also asked for the names, titles and offices of all FBI employees who worked on investigations into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot — a list the bureau’s acting director said could number in the thousands. Bove, who has defended Trump in his criminal cases before joining the administration, said Justice Department officials would then carry out a “review process to determine whether any additional personnel actions are necessary.”

“As we've said since the moment we agreed to take on these roles, we are going to follow the law, follow FBI policy, and do what's in the best interest of the workforce and the American people — always,” acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll wrote in a letter to the workforce.

The prosecutors fired in the D.C. U.S. attorney's office had been hired for temporary assignments to support the Jan. 6 cases, but were moved into permanent roles after Trump's presidential win in November, according to the memo obtained by the AP. Bove, the acting deputy attorney general, said he would not “tolerate subversive personnel actions by the previous administration."

Any mass firings at the FBI would be a major blow to the historic independence from the White House of the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency but would be in keeping with Trump’s persistent resolve to bend the law enforcement and intelligence community to his will. It would be part of a startling pattern of retribution waged on federal government employees, following the forced ousters of a group of senior FBI executives earlier this week as well as a broad termination by the Justice Department of prosecutors on special counsel Jack Smith’s team who&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-special-counsel-trump-046ce32dbad712e72e500c32ecc20f2f">investigated Trump.</a>

The FBI Agents Association said the reported efforts to oust agents represented “outrageous actions by acting officials" that were "fundamentally at odds with the law enforcement objectives outlined by President Trump and his support for FBI Agents.”

“Dismissing potentially hundreds of Agents would severely weaken the Bureau’s ability to protect the country from national security and criminal threats and will ultimately risk setting up the Bureau and its new leadership for failure,” the association said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear what recourse any fired agent might take, but the bureau has a well-defined process for terminations and any abrupt action that bypasses that protocol could presumably open the door to a legal challenge.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-fbi-patel-senate-f3465219e265df1598e15da3ad0e8a07">When pressed during his confirmation hearing Thursday</a>, Trump’s pick for FBI director, Kash Patel, said he was not aware of any plans to terminate or otherwise punish FBI employees who were involved in the Trump investigations. Patel said if he was confirmed he would follow the FBI’s internal review processes for taking action against employees.

Asked by Democratic Sen. Cory Booker whether he would reverse any decisions before his confirmation that don’t follow that standard process, Patel said, “I don’t know what’s going on right now over there, but I’m committed to you, senator, and your colleagues, that I will honor the due process of the FBI.”

Before he was nominated for the director’s position,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/patel-fbi-trump-maralago-january-6-2db2b3a27adb295df30a9ffa72208688">Patel had remarked on at least one podcast appearance</a>&nbsp;about what he called anti-Trump “conspirators” in the government and news media who he said needed to be rooted out.

Trump has for years expressed fury at the FBI and Justice Department over investigations that shadowed his presidency, including an inquiry into ties between Russia and his 2016 campaign, and continued over the last four years. He fired one FBI director, James Comey, amid the Russia investigation and then&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chris-wray-fbi-farewell-trump-patel-partisanship-afe159a6e112e68dd5319ceac905d517">replaced his second, Christopher Wray,</a>&nbsp;just weeks after his win in November.

Asked at the White House on Friday if he had anything to do with the scrutiny of the agents, he said: “No, but we have some very bad people over there. It was weaponized at a level that nobody’s never seen before. They came after a lot of people — like me – but they came after a lot of people.”

He added, “If they fired some people over there, that’s a good thing, because they were very bad.”

The FBI and Smith’s team investigated Trump over his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-debb59bb7a4d9f93f7e2dace01feccdc">efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election</a>&nbsp;and his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-justice-department-indictment-classified-documents-miami-8315a5b23c18f27083ed64eef21efff3">hoarding of classified documents</a>&nbsp;at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Both of those cases resulted in indictments that were withdrawn after Trump’s November presidential win because of longstanding Justice Department policy prohibiting the federal prosecution of a sitting president.

The Justice Department also charged&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/projects/january-6-cases/">more than 1,500 Trump supporters</a>&nbsp;in connection with the Capitol riot, though Trump on his first day in office&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-riot-trump-pardons-jan-6-f6e23bcd84eaed672318c88f05286767">granted clemency</a>&nbsp;to all of them — including the ones convicted of violent crimes — through pardons, sentence commutations and dismissals of indictments.

This week, the Justice Department fired more than a dozen prosecutors who worked on Smith investigations, and a group of senior FBI executives — including several executive assistant directors and agents in charge of big-city field offices — have been told to either resign or retire or be fired Monday.

Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Michael Kunzelman, Byron Tau and Jim Mustian contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1737026821027.png" alt="File photo courtesy White House" />
 <figcaption>File photo courtesy White House</figcaption>
 </figure>BY&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/eric-tucker">ERIC TUCKER</a>&nbsp;AND ALANNA DURKIN RICHERWASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Friday fired a group of prosecutors involved in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/projects/january-6-cases/">Jan. 6 criminal cases</a>&nbsp;and demanded the names of FBI agents involved in those same probes so they can possibly be ousted, moves that reflect a White House determination to exert control over federal law enforcement and purge agencies of career employees seen as insufficiently loyal.Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered the firings of the Jan. 6 prosecutors days after President Donald Trump's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-jan-6-pardons-trump-justice-department-8ce8b2a8f8cb602d5eaf85ac7b969606">sweeping clemency action</a>&nbsp;benefiting the more than 1,500 people charged in the U.S. Capitol attack, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press. About two dozen employees at the U.S. attorney's office in Washington were terminated, said a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss personnel issues.A separate memo by Bove identified more than a half-dozen FBI senior executives who were ordered to retire or be fired by Monday, and also asked for the names, titles and offices of all FBI employees who worked on investigations into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot — a list the bureau’s acting director said could number in the thousands. Bove, who has defended Trump in his criminal cases before joining the administration, said Justice Department officials would then carry out a “review process to determine whether any additional personnel actions are necessary.”“As we've said since the moment we agreed to take on these roles, we are going to follow the law, follow FBI policy, and do what's in the best interest of the workforce and the American people — always,” acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll wrote in a letter to the workforce.The prosecutors fired in the D.C. U.S. attorney's office had been hired for temporary assignments to support the Jan. 6 cases, but were moved into permanent roles after Trump's presidential win in November, according to the memo obtained by the AP. Bove, the acting deputy attorney general, said he would not “tolerate subversive personnel actions by the previous administration."Any mass firings at the FBI would be a major blow to the historic independence from the White House of the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency but would be in keeping with Trump’s persistent resolve to bend the law enforcement and intelligence community to his will. It would be part of a startling pattern of retribution waged on federal government employees, following the forced ousters of a group of senior FBI executives earlier this week as well as a broad termination by the Justice Department of prosecutors on special counsel Jack Smith’s team who&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-special-counsel-trump-046ce32dbad712e72e500c32ecc20f2f">investigated Trump.</a>The FBI Agents Association said the reported efforts to oust agents represented “outrageous actions by acting officials" that were "fundamentally at odds with the law enforcement objectives outlined by President Trump and his support for FBI Agents.”“Dismissing potentially hundreds of Agents would severely weaken the Bureau’s ability to protect the country from national security and criminal threats and will ultimately risk setting up the Bureau and its new leadership for failure,” the association said in a statement.It was not immediately clear what recourse any fired agent might take, but the bureau has a well-defined process for terminations and any abrupt action that bypasses that protocol could presumably open the door to a legal challenge.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-fbi-patel-senate-f3465219e265df1598e15da3ad0e8a07">When pressed during his confirmation hearing Thursday</a>, Trump’s pick for FBI director, Kash Patel, said he was not aware of any plans to terminate or otherwise punish FBI employees who were involved in the Trump investigations. Patel said if he was confirmed he would follow the FBI’s internal review processes for taking action against employees.Asked by Democratic Sen. Cory Booker whether he would reverse any decisions before his confirmation that don’t follow that standard process, Patel said, “I don’t know what’s going on right now over there, but I’m committed to you, senator, and your colleagues, that I will honor the due process of the FBI.”Before he was nominated for the director’s position,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/patel-fbi-trump-maralago-january-6-2db2b3a27adb295df30a9ffa72208688">Patel had remarked on at least one podcast appearance</a>&nbsp;about what he called anti-Trump “conspirators” in the government and news media who he said needed to be rooted out.Trump has for years expressed fury at the FBI and Justice Department over investigations that shadowed his presidency, including an inquiry into ties between Russia and his 2016 campaign, and continued over the last four years. He fired one FBI director, James Comey, amid the Russia investigation and then&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chris-wray-fbi-farewell-trump-patel-partisanship-afe159a6e112e68dd5319ceac905d517">replaced his second, Christopher Wray,</a>&nbsp;just weeks after his win in November.Asked at the White House on Friday if he had anything to do with the scrutiny of the agents, he said: “No, but we have some very bad people over there. It was weaponized at a level that nobody’s never seen before. They came after a lot of people — like me – but they came after a lot of people.”He added, “If they fired some people over there, that’s a good thing, because they were very bad.”The FBI and Smith’s team investigated Trump over his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-debb59bb7a4d9f93f7e2dace01feccdc">efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election</a>&nbsp;and his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-justice-department-indictment-classified-documents-miami-8315a5b23c18f27083ed64eef21efff3">hoarding of classified documents</a>&nbsp;at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Both of those cases resulted in indictments that were withdrawn after Trump’s November presidential win because of longstanding Justice Department policy prohibiting the federal prosecution of a sitting president.The Justice Department also charged&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/projects/january-6-cases/">more than 1,500 Trump supporters</a>&nbsp;in connection with the Capitol riot, though Trump on his first day in office&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-riot-trump-pardons-jan-6-f6e23bcd84eaed672318c88f05286767">granted clemency</a>&nbsp;to all of them — including the ones convicted of violent crimes — through pardons, sentence commutations and dismissals of indictments.This week, the Justice Department fired more than a dozen prosecutors who worked on Smith investigations, and a group of senior FBI executives — including several executive assistant directors and agents in charge of big-city field offices — have been told to either resign or retire or be fired Monday._____Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Michael Kunzelman, Byron Tau and Jim Mustian contributed to this report.

Trump admin. fires prosecutors involved in Jan. 6 cases, moves to oust FBI agents

Farm to Early Care and Education Opportunity for Kansas Licensed Early Child Care Facilities&nbsp;

MANHATTAN, Kan. — The Kansas Department of Agriculture, in partnership with the Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom, is now accepting applications from Kansas licensed early child care facilities to participate in a program to increase child nutrition knowledge and consumption of local fruits and vegetables.

The program, titled “Our Earliest Eaters: Bringing the Farm to Kansas Licensed Early Child Care Facilities,” will provide Kansas licensed early child care facilities with age-appropriate curriculum about Kansas specialty crops and reimbursements for purchasing locally grown fruits and vegetables. Through a competitive application process, 50 facilities will be selected to receive agricultural education activities and resource kits developed by the Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom at no cost. Upon demonstration of teaching the provided curriculum, the selected facilities will receive reimbursement of up to $250 per growing season to cover the costs of purchasing fruits and vegetables grown by Kansas farmers and producers to use in the provided educational activities as well as serve in their meal programs.

KDA will help the selected licensed early child care facilities identify farmers and producers local to their facility to purchase healthy fruits and vegetables from. By building relationships between licensed early child care facilities and local farmers and producers, this program will increase nutrition knowledge and consumption of specialty crops in our earliest eaters, while creating new market outlets for Kansas specialty crop producers.

Applications are due to KDA no later than 5:00 p.m. CT on Friday, February 28, 2025. For more information, please visit “Our Earliest Eaters at:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/http:%2F%2Fwww.agriculture.ks.gov%2Fgrants%3Futm_medium=email%26utm_source=govdelivery/1/01000194b8626ccb-d2a73d2f-961d-438f-a7c4-9e9c5a89380f-000000/g-ARz3NSe83ttmfeu0a_K_BBD3SWpyn6c7sWkw4befs=390">www.agriculture.ks.gov/grants</a>.

Funding for this program was made possible by the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service.

The vision of the Kansas Department of Agriculture is to provide an ideal environment for long-term, sustainable agricultural prosperity and statewide economic growth. The agency will achieve this by advocating for sectors at all levels and providing industry outreach.

<a target="_blank" href="https://email.em.audience.io/CSB/Public/Form.aspx?fid=1950312&amp;ac=grno">CLICK HERE TO GET DAILY UPDATES!</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1738428107869.jpeg" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>Kansas Department of Agriculture<h2>Farm to Early Care and Education Opportunity for Kansas Licensed Early Child Care Facilities&nbsp;</h2>MANHATTAN, Kan. — The Kansas Department of Agriculture, in partnership with the Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom, is now accepting applications from Kansas licensed early child care facilities to participate in a program to increase child nutrition knowledge and consumption of local fruits and vegetables.The program, titled “Our Earliest Eaters: Bringing the Farm to Kansas Licensed Early Child Care Facilities,” will provide Kansas licensed early child care facilities with age-appropriate curriculum about Kansas specialty crops and reimbursements for purchasing locally grown fruits and vegetables. Through a competitive application process, 50 facilities will be selected to receive agricultural education activities and resource kits developed by the Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom at no cost. Upon demonstration of teaching the provided curriculum, the selected facilities will receive reimbursement of up to $250 per growing season to cover the costs of purchasing fruits and vegetables grown by Kansas farmers and producers to use in the provided educational activities as well as serve in their meal programs.KDA will help the selected licensed early child care facilities identify farmers and producers local to their facility to purchase healthy fruits and vegetables from. By building relationships between licensed early child care facilities and local farmers and producers, this program will increase nutrition knowledge and consumption of specialty crops in our earliest eaters, while creating new market outlets for Kansas specialty crop producers.Applications are due to KDA no later than 5:00 p.m. CT on Friday, February 28, 2025. For more information, please visit “Our Earliest Eaters at:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/http:%2F%2Fwww.agriculture.ks.gov%2Fgrants%3Futm_medium=email%26utm_source=govdelivery/1/01000194b8626ccb-d2a73d2f-961d-438f-a7c4-9e9c5a89380f-000000/g-ARz3NSe83ttmfeu0a_K_BBD3SWpyn6c7sWkw4befs=390">www.agriculture.ks.gov/grants</a>.Funding for this program was made possible by the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service.The vision of the Kansas Department of Agriculture is to provide an ideal environment for long-term, sustainable agricultural prosperity and statewide economic growth. The agency will achieve this by advocating for sectors at all levels and providing industry outreach.<a target="_blank" href="https://email.em.audience.io/CSB/Public/Form.aspx?fid=1950312&amp;ac=grno">CLICK HERE TO GET DAILY UPDATES!</a>

Farm to Early Care and Education Opportunity for Kansas Licensed Early Child Care Facilities

WYANDOTTE COUNTY —Law enforcement continue asking for the public’s assistance in locating 39-year-old Jason Keith, a homeless man believed to have stolen a firearm from a Kansas City, Kansas retailer, according to a media release from the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department.

On January 10, video surveillance at the Bass Pro Shop, 10300 Cabela Drive in Kansas City, Kansas, captured Keith taking a firearm and walking out of the store with it concealed in a tan, backpack-style rifle bag.

 He then boarded a Metro Bus and was last seen in the area or 12th and Main Street in Kansas City, Missouri. 

Keith is described as a white male, blue eyes, 5-foot-9 and 135 pounds. He was wearing a green utility jacket, black hooded sweatshirt, blue pants, a beanie, and neon-colored athletic shoes with black laces on the left shoe and yellow laces on the right shoe. 

While Keith is believed to be homeless, his last known address was in Peculiar, Missouri.

If you believe you have seen Keith, or know of his whereabouts, please call 911 or the CrimeStoppers Tips Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1736686363226.png" alt="Photos KCK Police" />
 <figcaption>Photos KCK Police</figcaption>
 </figure>WYANDOTTE COUNTY —Law enforcement continue asking for the public’s assistance in locating 39-year-old Jason Keith, a homeless man believed to have stolen a firearm from a Kansas City, Kansas retailer, according to a media release from the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department.On January 10, video surveillance at the Bass Pro Shop, 10300 Cabela Drive in Kansas City, Kansas, captured Keith taking a firearm and walking out of the store with it concealed in a tan, backpack-style rifle bag. He then boarded a Metro Bus and was last seen in the area or 12th and Main Street in Kansas City, Missouri. Keith is described as a white male, blue eyes, 5-foot-9 and 135 pounds. He was wearing a green utility jacket, black hooded sweatshirt, blue pants, a beanie, and neon-colored athletic shoes with black laces on the left shoe and yellow laces on the right shoe. While Keith is believed to be homeless, his last known address was in Peculiar, Missouri.If you believe you have seen Keith, or know of his whereabouts, please call 911 or the CrimeStoppers Tips Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

Search continues for suspect who stole firearm from Bass Pro Shop

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/annaspoerre/">ANNA SPOERRE</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

A Jackson County judge previously allowed certain regulations, such as mandatory pelvic exams for medical abortion, to remain in place

Nearly two months after<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/12/05/abortion-lawsuit-planned-parenthood-amendment-3-missouri-jackson-county/">&nbsp;a voter-approved constitutional amendment legalizing abortion</a>&nbsp;went into effect, the procedure remains inaccessible in Missouri.&nbsp;

On Friday, a Jackson County judge heard arguments over whether to grant an injunction requested by Planned Parenthood that would permit the organization to offer abortion services almost immediately.&nbsp;

Last month, Jackson County Judge Jerri Zhang&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/12/20/missouri-amendment-3-abortion-regulations-trap-laws/">struck down a number of “targeted regulation of abortion provider” statutes,</a>&nbsp;better known as TRAP laws.&nbsp;

Laws mandating a 72-hour waiting period for an abortion and a requirement that physicians performing the procedure have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals were put on hold.&nbsp;

But other regulations the judge allowed to remain — such as state licensing requirements and a mandate to receive a pelvic exam before being prescribed the pill used in medication abortion — have left clinics unable to perform the procedure in Missouri.

On Friday afternoon, Zhang again listened to arguments from Planned Parenthood and the Missouri Attorney General’s Office during the hearing in downtown Kansas City.&nbsp;

“We have still not been able to restore abortion access in Missouri,” Eleanor Spottswood, an attorney with Planned Parenthood, argued Friday.

Zhang asked how Planned Parenthood clinics would be regulated if she were to strike down the current licensing requirements from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Spottswood said that like other outpatient practices, the facility would not require a license, but the providers would need to meet their own professional licensing requirements through the Missouri Board of Healing Arts.&nbsp;

Planned Parenthood is currently held to a much higher threshold of regulations, she said.

Pottswood said if the judge strikes down the remaining TRAP laws, it’s Planned Parenthood’s intention to offer medication abortions at all nine clinics across the state within a week The organization hopes it can hire and train the necessary staff to also begin performing surgical abortions at its clinics in St. Louis and Kansas City.&nbsp;

The state previously asked that the case be dismissed, arguing that because abortion is still accessible by mail or by leaving the state, Planned Parenthood didn’t have the standing to ask for a temporary ruling.

Much of Friday’s hearing revolved around pelvic exams, which Planned Parenthood’s attorneys maintained are “invasive and unnecessary” ahead of prescribing abortion medication. Instead, Pottswood said, the clinics use other methods to determine if the pregnancy is at risk of being ectopic, meaning the fertilized egg has implanted itself outside the uterus.&nbsp;

Taking abortion medication to end an ectopic pregnancy can be dangerous.

Missouri Solicitor General Joshua Divine argued that pelvic exams ahead of any procedure are “routine care,” and should remain in place.&nbsp;

Zhang asked if hospitals can perform abortions following passage of Amendment 3 last year, seemingly attempting to determine whether the current pelvic exam law is discriminatory against abortion clinics or if it would also be required at hospitals.&nbsp;

Pottswood said they presumably can, but a question remains of whether any will. Divine agreed that while he believes hospitals can now provide abortions, it is “very, very rare” that they do so in Missouri … so there’s not much need to regulate.”

Without a broader injunction, Pottswood argued, “the state will enforce the law in the most obstructive way possible” and “treat abortion providers differently and worse than other providers.”&nbsp;

This interferes with patients rights, she said, which is in violation of&nbsp;<a href="https://moconstitutionalfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Missourians-for-Constitutional-Freedom-Amendment.pdf" target="_blank">Amendment 3, which states in part&nbsp;</a>that “the right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, interfered with, delayed, or otherwise restricted unless the government demonstrates that such action is justifiable by a compelling governmental interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”&nbsp;

A decade ago, more than 5,000 abortions were performed in Missouri, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. By 2020, when abortions were still legal, that number fell to 167, a drop that abortion providers attributed to the state’s growing list of regulations.

Divine questioned why the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis hadn’t reapplied for a license, since they were the only clinic in the state that still met licensing requirements when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. He called the lack of access a “purely self-inflicted injury.”

Missouri’s trigger law banning all abortions with limited exceptions for medical emergencies went into effect the same day, ending the procedure at the St. Louis clinic.

Assuming that the state would grant the license, Pottswood said by limiting patients’ choices to one clinic in the state, “the licensing law inserts the state between the patient and the provider.”

The hearing, which lasted four hours, also discussed the state’s continued objection to the Jackson County prosecutor, formerly Jean Peters Baker and currently Melesa Johnson, being named as the defendants representing all county prosecutors in the case.&nbsp;

The attorney general’s office argues Johnson, who was endorsed by the advocacy arm of Planned Parenthood, does not appropriately represent all statewide prosecutors.

Zhang previously denied the state’s request to remove the Jackson County prosecutor as a representative for the defendant class and move the case to Cole County, where last summer a judge attempted to strike the abortion-rights amendment from the ballot.&nbsp;

On Friday, the prosecutors from Wright, Texas, Franklin and Saline counties showed up in court to continue to object, arguing that because there isn’t a Planned Parenthood clinic in any of their counties, all county prosecutors shouldn’t necessarily be a party in the case.&nbsp;

Zhang said her concern centers around the possibility that residents in any county could be prescribed abortion medication at a clinic before returning to their home counties. She also noted that three of the four counties have emergency rooms where women experiencing any abortion complications could be admitted.

“There could be a risk of prosecution across the state because of telemedicine,” she said.

No specific examples of what cases could be prosecuted were entertained. Tyrrell added that if he did prosecute an abortion case, he was confident he’d quickly find himself again sitting across from Planned Parenthood in a courtroom.

“I won’t swear I won’t and I won’t swear I will prosecute,” Wright County ProsecutorJohn Tyrrell told Zhang. “ … but the likelihood is very, very low.”

Zhang gave both parties one week to file additional briefings. Her decision is expected after that. The bench trial, at which point the judge will make a permanent ruling, has been set for January 2026.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1738417012018.png" alt="A recovery room at the Planned Parenthood Great Plains office is pictured on June 21, 2024, in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption>A recovery room at the Planned Parenthood Great Plains office is pictured on June 21, 2024, in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/annaspoerre/">ANNA SPOERRE</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a><h2>A Jackson County judge previously allowed certain regulations, such as mandatory pelvic exams for medical abortion, to remain in place</h2>Nearly two months after<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/12/05/abortion-lawsuit-planned-parenthood-amendment-3-missouri-jackson-county/">&nbsp;a voter-approved constitutional amendment legalizing abortion</a>&nbsp;went into effect, the procedure remains inaccessible in Missouri.&nbsp;On Friday, a Jackson County judge heard arguments over whether to grant an injunction requested by Planned Parenthood that would permit the organization to offer abortion services almost immediately.&nbsp;Last month, Jackson County Judge Jerri Zhang&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/12/20/missouri-amendment-3-abortion-regulations-trap-laws/">struck down a number of “targeted regulation of abortion provider” statutes,</a>&nbsp;better known as TRAP laws.&nbsp;Laws mandating a 72-hour waiting period for an abortion and a requirement that physicians performing the procedure have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals were put on hold.&nbsp;But other regulations the judge allowed to remain — such as state licensing requirements and a mandate to receive a pelvic exam before being prescribed the pill used in medication abortion — have left clinics unable to perform the procedure in Missouri.On Friday afternoon, Zhang again listened to arguments from Planned Parenthood and the Missouri Attorney General’s Office during the hearing in downtown Kansas City.&nbsp;“We have still not been able to restore abortion access in Missouri,” Eleanor Spottswood, an attorney with Planned Parenthood, argued Friday.Zhang asked how Planned Parenthood clinics would be regulated if she were to strike down the current licensing requirements from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Spottswood said that like other outpatient practices, the facility would not require a license, but the providers would need to meet their own professional licensing requirements through the Missouri Board of Healing Arts.&nbsp;Planned Parenthood is currently held to a much higher threshold of regulations, she said.Pottswood said if the judge strikes down the remaining TRAP laws, it’s Planned Parenthood’s intention to offer medication abortions at all nine clinics across the state within a week The organization hopes it can hire and train the necessary staff to also begin performing surgical abortions at its clinics in St. Louis and Kansas City.&nbsp;The state previously asked that the case be dismissed, arguing that because abortion is still accessible by mail or by leaving the state, Planned Parenthood didn’t have the standing to ask for a temporary ruling.Much of Friday’s hearing revolved around pelvic exams, which Planned Parenthood’s attorneys maintained are “invasive and unnecessary” ahead of prescribing abortion medication. Instead, Pottswood said, the clinics use other methods to determine if the pregnancy is at risk of being ectopic, meaning the fertilized egg has implanted itself outside the uterus.&nbsp;Taking abortion medication to end an ectopic pregnancy can be dangerous.Missouri Solicitor General Joshua Divine argued that pelvic exams ahead of any procedure are “routine care,” and should remain in place.&nbsp;Zhang asked if hospitals can perform abortions following passage of Amendment 3 last year, seemingly attempting to determine whether the current pelvic exam law is discriminatory against abortion clinics or if it would also be required at hospitals.&nbsp;Pottswood said they presumably can, but a question remains of whether any will. Divine agreed that while he believes hospitals can now provide abortions, it is “very, very rare” that they do so in Missouri … so there’s not much need to regulate.”Without a broader injunction, Pottswood argued, “the state will enforce the law in the most obstructive way possible” and “treat abortion providers differently and worse than other providers.”&nbsp;This interferes with patients rights, she said, which is in violation of&nbsp;<a href="https://moconstitutionalfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Missourians-for-Constitutional-Freedom-Amendment.pdf" target="_blank">Amendment 3, which states in part&nbsp;</a>that “the right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, interfered with, delayed, or otherwise restricted unless the government demonstrates that such action is justifiable by a compelling governmental interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”&nbsp;A decade ago, more than 5,000 abortions were performed in Missouri, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. By 2020, when abortions were still legal, that number fell to 167, a drop that abortion providers attributed to the state’s growing list of regulations.Divine questioned why the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis hadn’t reapplied for a license, since they were the only clinic in the state that still met licensing requirements when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. He called the lack of access a “purely self-inflicted injury.”Missouri’s trigger law banning all abortions with limited exceptions for medical emergencies went into effect the same day, ending the procedure at the St. Louis clinic.Assuming that the state would grant the license, Pottswood said by limiting patients’ choices to one clinic in the state, “the licensing law inserts the state between the patient and the provider.”The hearing, which lasted four hours, also discussed the state’s continued objection to the Jackson County prosecutor, formerly Jean Peters Baker and currently Melesa Johnson, being named as the defendants representing all county prosecutors in the case.&nbsp;The attorney general’s office argues Johnson, who was endorsed by the advocacy arm of Planned Parenthood, does not appropriately represent all statewide prosecutors.Zhang previously denied the state’s request to remove the Jackson County prosecutor as a representative for the defendant class and move the case to Cole County, where last summer a judge attempted to strike the abortion-rights amendment from the ballot.&nbsp;On Friday, the prosecutors from Wright, Texas, Franklin and Saline counties showed up in court to continue to object, arguing that because there isn’t a Planned Parenthood clinic in any of their counties, all county prosecutors shouldn’t necessarily be a party in the case.&nbsp;Zhang said her concern centers around the possibility that residents in any county could be prescribed abortion medication at a clinic before returning to their home counties. She also noted that three of the four counties have emergency rooms where women experiencing any abortion complications could be admitted.“There could be a risk of prosecution across the state because of telemedicine,” she said.No specific examples of what cases could be prosecuted were entertained. Tyrrell added that if he did prosecute an abortion case, he was confident he’d quickly find himself again sitting across from Planned Parenthood in a courtroom.“I won’t swear I won’t and I won’t swear I will prosecute,” Wright County ProsecutorJohn Tyrrell told Zhang. “ … but the likelihood is very, very low.”Zhang gave both parties one week to file additional briefings. Her decision is expected after that. The bench trial, at which point the judge will make a permanent ruling, has been set for January 2026.

Planned Parenthood asks judge to block remaining Missouri abortion regulations

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is readying orders for the deployment of at least 1,000 additional active duty troops to bolster President Donald Trump’s expanding crackdown&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/refugees-flights-trump-immigration-border-resettlement-33ebaa34bc4d0c069a22ee7aa5f8ff6d">on immigration</a>, U.S. officials said Friday.

They said roughly 500 more soldiers — largely a headquarters unit from the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum in New York — will be sent to the southwest border. And about 500 Marines will go to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where some of the detained migrants will be held.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because announcements have not been made, said there have been ongoing discussions about the deployments and the numbers could increase if additional details are worked out.

The Pentagon has been scrambling to put in motion Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-deportation-immigration-homan-asylum-inauguration-ac10480dc636b758ab3c435b974aeb19">executive orders</a>&nbsp;signed shortly after he took office on Jan. 20. The first group of 1,600 active duty troops deployed to the border last week.

The deployments reflect Trump’s determination to expand the military’s role in his campaign to shut down the border and send detained migrants back to their home countries.

Troops going to the border are expected to help put in place concertina wire barriers and provide needed transportation, intelligence and other support to the Border Patrol. Troops going to Guantanamo could help prepare the facility for an influx of migrants and do other support duties.

Speaking on “Fox and Friends” on Friday morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he believes the U.S. can get “thousands of individuals in tents, secured in places at Guantanamo Bay.”

But he also said there’s the possibility that hardened criminals or violent gang members could also be housed there. As a result, he said the Defense Department is preparing detention facilities at Guantanamo “that are basically supermax prisons” to be used to hold them temporarily.

Officials have been saying all week that there are likely to be additional troop deployments to help secure the southern border — potentially rolling out rapidly in the coming days. The eventual total deployed could be as many as 10,000.

Before Trump returned to the White House, there were already about 2,500 Guard and Reserve forces consistently deployed to the border. Officials noted that given the length of the nearly 2,000-mile border with Mexico, it will take additional forces to help put large rolls of concertina wire barriers in place and provide support to the Border Patrol.

The roughly 1,100 Army soldiers and 500 Marines ordered to deploy to the border last week have all arrived in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, and many have already begun work.

Separately, the U.S. military is providing military aircraft for Department of Homeland Security deportation flights for more than 5,000 detained migrants. At least some of those are expected to go to the detention center at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay.

Trump on Wednesday said his administration planned to send the “worst criminal aliens” to Guantanamo. He ordered the Pentagon to prepare to hold up to 30,000 migrants. He said some of the migrants can’t be trusted to stay in their home countries once they are sent back.

“Some of them are so bad that we don’t even trust the countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back, so we’re gonna send ’em out to Guantanamo,” Trump said.

This is not the first time migrants would be held at Guantanamo. U.S. authorities have detained migrants intercepted at sea at a facility known as the Migrant Operations Center, including people from Haiti and Cuba.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1733783218449.png" alt="File photo -Kansas U.S. Senator Roger Marshall with then Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth during a meeting in December&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>File photo -Kansas U.S. Senator Roger Marshall with then Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth during a meeting in December&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is readying orders for the deployment of at least 1,000 additional active duty troops to bolster President Donald Trump’s expanding crackdown&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/refugees-flights-trump-immigration-border-resettlement-33ebaa34bc4d0c069a22ee7aa5f8ff6d">on immigration</a>, U.S. officials said Friday.They said roughly 500 more soldiers — largely a headquarters unit from the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum in New York — will be sent to the southwest border. And about 500 Marines will go to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where some of the detained migrants will be held.The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because announcements have not been made, said there have been ongoing discussions about the deployments and the numbers could increase if additional details are worked out.The Pentagon has been scrambling to put in motion Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-deportation-immigration-homan-asylum-inauguration-ac10480dc636b758ab3c435b974aeb19">executive orders</a>&nbsp;signed shortly after he took office on Jan. 20. The first group of 1,600 active duty troops deployed to the border last week.The deployments reflect Trump’s determination to expand the military’s role in his campaign to shut down the border and send detained migrants back to their home countries.Troops going to the border are expected to help put in place concertina wire barriers and provide needed transportation, intelligence and other support to the Border Patrol. Troops going to Guantanamo could help prepare the facility for an influx of migrants and do other support duties.Speaking on “Fox and Friends” on Friday morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he believes the U.S. can get “thousands of individuals in tents, secured in places at Guantanamo Bay.”But he also said there’s the possibility that hardened criminals or violent gang members could also be housed there. As a result, he said the Defense Department is preparing detention facilities at Guantanamo “that are basically supermax prisons” to be used to hold them temporarily.Officials have been saying all week that there are likely to be additional troop deployments to help secure the southern border — potentially rolling out rapidly in the coming days. The eventual total deployed could be as many as 10,000.Before Trump returned to the White House, there were already about 2,500 Guard and Reserve forces consistently deployed to the border. Officials noted that given the length of the nearly 2,000-mile border with Mexico, it will take additional forces to help put large rolls of concertina wire barriers in place and provide support to the Border Patrol.The roughly 1,100 Army soldiers and 500 Marines ordered to deploy to the border last week have all arrived in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, and many have already begun work.Separately, the U.S. military is providing military aircraft for Department of Homeland Security deportation flights for more than 5,000 detained migrants. At least some of those are expected to go to the detention center at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay.Trump on Wednesday said his administration planned to send the “worst criminal aliens” to Guantanamo. He ordered the Pentagon to prepare to hold up to 30,000 migrants. He said some of the migrants can’t be trusted to stay in their home countries once they are sent back.“Some of them are so bad that we don’t even trust the countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back, so we’re gonna send ’em out to Guantanamo,” Trump said.This is not the first time migrants would be held at Guantanamo. U.S. authorities have detained migrants intercepted at sea at a facility known as the Migrant Operations Center, including people from Haiti and Cuba.

Pentagon to deploy more troops to bolster Trump’s immigration crackdown

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Police boats combed the banks of the Potomac River on Friday, slowly scanning the shoreline under rainy skies as investigators sought clues into the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-aircraft-crash-9d79051a9e535bd855df5a4e5553b2e9">midair collision that killed 67 people</a>&nbsp;and raised questions about air traffic safety around the nation’s capital.

No one survived the Wednesday night collision between the commercial airliner and an Army helicopter. The remains of 41 people had been pulled from the river as of Friday afternoon, including 28 that had been positively identified, Washington, D.C., Fire Chief John Donnelly Sr. said at a news conference. He said next of kin notifications had been made to 18 families, and that he expects the remains of all 67 people who died to eventually be recovered.

The wreckage of the plane's fuselage will probably have to be pulled from the water to get all the bodies, he said.

“This is heartbreaking work,” Donnelly said, noting that more than 300 responders were taking part in the effort at any one time, including teams of divers and two U.S. Coast Guard cutters, at least one of which carries a crane. “It’s been a tough response for a lot of our people.”

It was unclear how long the recovery operation would take.

“We’re working as fast as we can,” he said. "We need your patience.”

Although Ronald Reagan National Airport has reopened, two of its three runways remain closed to keep aircraft from flying over the crash scene while taking off or landing, said Terry Liercke, the airport's vice president and manager. Roughly 100 flights were canceled Friday.

Officials also heavily restricted helicopter traffic around the airport, an official said, hours after President Donald Trump claimed in a social media post that the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-collision-black-hawk-bombardier-potomac-2b151f42ba09602bade7b82abe8b995f">Army Black Hawk</a>&nbsp;had been flying higher than its allowed limit.

Investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder of the American Airlines jetliner, which struck the chopper as the plane was coming in for a landing at the Washington-area airport. Officials are scrutinizing a range of factors in what&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/national-transportation-safety-board-dc-helicopter-crash-e6f43d112e9fa48f7a2ead01a6a61d27">National Transportation Safety Board</a>&nbsp;Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy has called an “all-hands-on-deck event.”

Investigators are examining the actions of the military pilot as well as air traffic control, after the helicopter apparently flew into the jet's path. Air crash investigations normally take 12-18 months, and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-62adba7fb1f546b4cf1716e42b86482b">investigators told reporters Thursday</a>&nbsp;that they wouldn't speculate on the cause.

Authorities were still looking for the helicopter's black box recorder, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday on Fox News Channel. Other factors in the crash, including the helicopter’s altitude and whether the crew was using its night vision goggles, are still under investigation, he said.

Although some airspace had already been restricted following the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration decided to indefinitely bar most helicopters from using the low-to-the-ground routes that run under or parallel to the airport’s flightpaths, an official told The Associated Press on Friday. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

Military aircraft frequently conduct such flights in and around the nation’s capital for familiarization with routes they would fly in case of a major catastrophe or an attack on the U.S. that would require relocating key government officials.

The plane&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-plane-collision-victims-ee829891574aa35a30d8262b7e07e638">carried 60 passengers</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/plane-crash-kansas-dc-american-airlines-army-4fb9cd89ef9023fa848fc2331b24ee8e">four crew members</a>. The remains of one of the three soldiers who were aboard the helicopter have been recovered.

Officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet arrived from Wichita, Kansas, carrying, among others, nine students and parents from Fairfax County, Virginia schools,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dc-helicopter-jet-crash-figure-skaters-391a4c7bd0e617a08d9532a8faab206b">a group of elite young figure skaters</a>, their parents and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vadim-naumov-evgenia-shishkova-dc-jet-crash-c4788cb6f3e123f0caff83e57347a00d">coaches</a>&nbsp;and a group of hunters.

Details have been emerging about others who died in the crash, including Danasia Elder, a flight attendant on the American Airlines flight, WSOC-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina, reported.

Her brother-in-law, Brandon Payne, said she was married with two children and had dreamed of getting the airline job.

“She would want y’all to do the same thing she did. Chase your dreams, no matter what. Don’t let nothing scare you, push you away. Just believe in yourself, believe in God, and follow the path,” Payne said.

Debris from the crash has drifted miles (kilometers) downriver.

Dean Naujoks, who routinely patrols the Potomac for the environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance, on Thursday found floating debris that had been pushed by the wind and current into a pair of shallow coves along the Maryland shore.

The wreckage included pages from a flight manual, part of the plane’s cabin wall, a woman’s sweater, dozens of sugar packets with the American Airlines logo and what appeared to be the cushion from a pilot’s seat. Naujoks, who had law enforcement permission to take his motorboat to the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, about 2 miles (roughly 3 kilometers) downriver from the crash site, turned the items over to the FBI.

“Everything is covered in jet fuel,” Naujoks said Friday. “The sugar packets made me think of the flight attendants. I’m thinking of the people these things belonged to and it’s a punch to the gut. It’s just a sad day on the river.”

One air traffic controller was responsible for coordinating helicopter traffic and arriving and departing planes when the collision happened, according to an FAA report obtained by the AP. Those duties are often divided between two people, but the airport typically combines the roles at 9:30 p.m., once traffic begins to slow down. On Wednesday, the tower supervisor directed that they be combined earlier.

“The position configuration was not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” the report said.

A person familiar with the matter, however, said the tower staffing that night was at a normal level. The positions are regularly combined when controllers need to step away from the console for breaks, during shift changes or when air traffic is slow, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal procedures.

The FAA has long struggled with a shortage of air traffic controllers.

Jonathan Koziol, chief of staff for Army aviation, said the helicopter crew was “very experienced” and familiar with the congested flying that occurs daily around the city.

The helicopter's maximum allowed altitude at the time was 200 feet (about 60 meters), Koziol said. It was not immediately clear whether it exceeded that limit, but Hegseth said altitude seemed to be a factor in the collision.

A day after he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-crash-reagan-washington-buttigieg-diversity-biden-ef1e07684bbc845e9e7981c1ae060af2">questioned the helicopter pilot’s actions</a>&nbsp;and blamed diversity initiatives for undermining air safety, Trump said in a Friday post on Truth Social that the helicopter was “flying too high” at the time of the crash.

“It was far above the 200 foot limit. That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???” Trump said.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-air-collision-video-footage-b444f2c4015fee7266e8a38716ec4ef6">Wednesday's crash</a>&nbsp;was the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-crashes-history-washington-ee55776ea0c5f9e322fc77ea1ea452d1">deadliest in the U.S.</a>&nbsp;since Nov. 12, 2001, when a jet slammed into a residential area of Belle Harbor, New York, just after takeoff from Kennedy Airport, killing all 260 people aboard and five people on the ground.

Experts often highlight that plane travel is overwhelmingly safe, but the airspace around Reagan National&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/american-airlines-5342-blackhawk-reagan-national-airport-81a43f2ba5cc59cbe9273fa593f1e9cf">can challenge even the most experienced pilots</a>. They must navigate hundreds of other commercial planes, military aircraft and restricted areas around sensitive sites.

Gomez Licon reported from Miami. AP writer Lea Skene contributed to this report. Writers Lolita C. Baldor, Tara Copp, Meg Kinnard, Chris Megerian, Aamer Madhani and Michael Biesecker contributed from Washington. Sarah Brumfield reported from Cockeysville, Maryland.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738343782845.png" alt="Photo U.S. Coast Guard" />
 <figcaption>Photo U.S. Coast Guard</figcaption>
 </figure>ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Police boats combed the banks of the Potomac River on Friday, slowly scanning the shoreline under rainy skies as investigators sought clues into the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-aircraft-crash-9d79051a9e535bd855df5a4e5553b2e9">midair collision that killed 67 people</a>&nbsp;and raised questions about air traffic safety around the nation’s capital.No one survived the Wednesday night collision between the commercial airliner and an Army helicopter. The remains of 41 people had been pulled from the river as of Friday afternoon, including 28 that had been positively identified, Washington, D.C., Fire Chief John Donnelly Sr. said at a news conference. He said next of kin notifications had been made to 18 families, and that he expects the remains of all 67 people who died to eventually be recovered.The wreckage of the plane's fuselage will probably have to be pulled from the water to get all the bodies, he said.“This is heartbreaking work,” Donnelly said, noting that more than 300 responders were taking part in the effort at any one time, including teams of divers and two U.S. Coast Guard cutters, at least one of which carries a crane. “It’s been a tough response for a lot of our people.”It was unclear how long the recovery operation would take.“We’re working as fast as we can,” he said. "We need your patience.”Although Ronald Reagan National Airport has reopened, two of its three runways remain closed to keep aircraft from flying over the crash scene while taking off or landing, said Terry Liercke, the airport's vice president and manager. Roughly 100 flights were canceled Friday.Officials also heavily restricted helicopter traffic around the airport, an official said, hours after President Donald Trump claimed in a social media post that the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-collision-black-hawk-bombardier-potomac-2b151f42ba09602bade7b82abe8b995f">Army Black Hawk</a>&nbsp;had been flying higher than its allowed limit.Investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder of the American Airlines jetliner, which struck the chopper as the plane was coming in for a landing at the Washington-area airport. Officials are scrutinizing a range of factors in what&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/national-transportation-safety-board-dc-helicopter-crash-e6f43d112e9fa48f7a2ead01a6a61d27">National Transportation Safety Board</a>&nbsp;Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy has called an “all-hands-on-deck event.”Investigators are examining the actions of the military pilot as well as air traffic control, after the helicopter apparently flew into the jet's path. Air crash investigations normally take 12-18 months, and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-62adba7fb1f546b4cf1716e42b86482b">investigators told reporters Thursday</a>&nbsp;that they wouldn't speculate on the cause.Authorities were still looking for the helicopter's black box recorder, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday on Fox News Channel. Other factors in the crash, including the helicopter’s altitude and whether the crew was using its night vision goggles, are still under investigation, he said.Although some airspace had already been restricted following the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration decided to indefinitely bar most helicopters from using the low-to-the-ground routes that run under or parallel to the airport’s flightpaths, an official told The Associated Press on Friday. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.Military aircraft frequently conduct such flights in and around the nation’s capital for familiarization with routes they would fly in case of a major catastrophe or an attack on the U.S. that would require relocating key government officials.The plane&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-plane-collision-victims-ee829891574aa35a30d8262b7e07e638">carried 60 passengers</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/plane-crash-kansas-dc-american-airlines-army-4fb9cd89ef9023fa848fc2331b24ee8e">four crew members</a>. The remains of one of the three soldiers who were aboard the helicopter have been recovered.Officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet arrived from Wichita, Kansas, carrying, among others, nine students and parents from Fairfax County, Virginia schools,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dc-helicopter-jet-crash-figure-skaters-391a4c7bd0e617a08d9532a8faab206b">a group of elite young figure skaters</a>, their parents and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vadim-naumov-evgenia-shishkova-dc-jet-crash-c4788cb6f3e123f0caff83e57347a00d">coaches</a>&nbsp;and a group of hunters.Details have been emerging about others who died in the crash, including Danasia Elder, a flight attendant on the American Airlines flight, WSOC-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina, reported.Her brother-in-law, Brandon Payne, said she was married with two children and had dreamed of getting the airline job.“She would want y’all to do the same thing she did. Chase your dreams, no matter what. Don’t let nothing scare you, push you away. Just believe in yourself, believe in God, and follow the path,” Payne said.Debris from the crash has drifted miles (kilometers) downriver.Dean Naujoks, who routinely patrols the Potomac for the environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance, on Thursday found floating debris that had been pushed by the wind and current into a pair of shallow coves along the Maryland shore.The wreckage included pages from a flight manual, part of the plane’s cabin wall, a woman’s sweater, dozens of sugar packets with the American Airlines logo and what appeared to be the cushion from a pilot’s seat. Naujoks, who had law enforcement permission to take his motorboat to the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, about 2 miles (roughly 3 kilometers) downriver from the crash site, turned the items over to the FBI.“Everything is covered in jet fuel,” Naujoks said Friday. “The sugar packets made me think of the flight attendants. I’m thinking of the people these things belonged to and it’s a punch to the gut. It’s just a sad day on the river.”One air traffic controller was responsible for coordinating helicopter traffic and arriving and departing planes when the collision happened, according to an FAA report obtained by the AP. Those duties are often divided between two people, but the airport typically combines the roles at 9:30 p.m., once traffic begins to slow down. On Wednesday, the tower supervisor directed that they be combined earlier.“The position configuration was not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” the report said.A person familiar with the matter, however, said the tower staffing that night was at a normal level. The positions are regularly combined when controllers need to step away from the console for breaks, during shift changes or when air traffic is slow, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal procedures.The FAA has long struggled with a shortage of air traffic controllers.Jonathan Koziol, chief of staff for Army aviation, said the helicopter crew was “very experienced” and familiar with the congested flying that occurs daily around the city.The helicopter's maximum allowed altitude at the time was 200 feet (about 60 meters), Koziol said. It was not immediately clear whether it exceeded that limit, but Hegseth said altitude seemed to be a factor in the collision.A day after he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-crash-reagan-washington-buttigieg-diversity-biden-ef1e07684bbc845e9e7981c1ae060af2">questioned the helicopter pilot’s actions</a>&nbsp;and blamed diversity initiatives for undermining air safety, Trump said in a Friday post on Truth Social that the helicopter was “flying too high” at the time of the crash.“It was far above the 200 foot limit. That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???” Trump said.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-air-collision-video-footage-b444f2c4015fee7266e8a38716ec4ef6">Wednesday's crash</a>&nbsp;was the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-crashes-history-washington-ee55776ea0c5f9e322fc77ea1ea452d1">deadliest in the U.S.</a>&nbsp;since Nov. 12, 2001, when a jet slammed into a residential area of Belle Harbor, New York, just after takeoff from Kennedy Airport, killing all 260 people aboard and five people on the ground.Experts often highlight that plane travel is overwhelmingly safe, but the airspace around Reagan National&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/american-airlines-5342-blackhawk-reagan-national-airport-81a43f2ba5cc59cbe9273fa593f1e9cf">can challenge even the most experienced pilots</a>. They must navigate hundreds of other commercial planes, military aircraft and restricted areas around sensitive sites.___Gomez Licon reported from Miami. AP writer Lea Skene contributed to this report. Writers Lolita C. Baldor, Tara Copp, Meg Kinnard, Chris Megerian, Aamer Madhani and Michael Biesecker contributed from Washington. Sarah Brumfield reported from Cockeysville, Maryland.

‘Heartbreaking’ search for those killed in DC aircraft collision takes its toll

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas militants freed three male hostages held for more than a year in the Gaza Strip on Saturday and Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in the fourth such exchange of a ceasefire deal that has halted 15 months of intense fighting.

Militants handed Yarden Bibas and French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon to Red Cross officials in the southern city of Khan Younis, while American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel, looking pale and thin, was released to the Red Cross later Saturday morning in Gaza City to the north.

All three were abducted during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war. Their release brings to 18 the number of hostages released since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19.

The releases were quick and orderly, in contrast to chaotic scenes that unfolded on Thursday when armed militants appeared to struggle to hold back a crowd during a hostage release. In both of Saturday’s releases, masked and armed militants stood in lines as the hostages walked onto a stage and waved before being led off and handed over to the Red Cross.

In Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, thousands of people gathered to watch the releases being transmitted live on a large screen, waving signs and cheering.

Shortly after Siegel arrived in Israel, a bus departed Ofer Military Prison with some 32 prisoners bound for the West Bank. Crowds of well-wishers greeted the bus, cheering and hoisting the released prisoners on their shoulders in scenes of jubilation.

The Israeli Prison Authority said all 183 Palestinian prisoners slated for release Saturday had been freed. Most, including 111 arrested after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack, were released to Gaza. Just over two dozen returned to cheering crowds in the occupied West Bank. Another seven serving life sentences were transferred to Egypt ahead of their deportation.

Ceasefire brings respite to battered Gaza

The ceasefire is aimed at winding down the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">deadliest and most destructive war</a>&nbsp;ever fought between Israel and Hamas. The deal has held for two weeks, allowing for increased aid to flow into the tiny coastal territory and for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the remnants of their homes in the north of the strip.

During the truce's six-week first phase, a total of 33 Israeli hostages are to be freed in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel says it has received information from Hamas that eight of those hostages were either killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack or have died in captivity.

Also on Saturday, a group of 50 sick and wounded Palestinian children&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/7330b0f2a30855cd5ae69b5a32b218df">left Gaza for treatment</a>&nbsp;through the Rafah border crossing to Egypt, in the first opening of the enclave's sole exit since Israel captured it nine months ago. A European Union civilian mission was deployed Friday to prepare for the reopening.

The reopening of Rafah marked another key step in the first phase of the ceasefire.

Israel and Hamas are set next week to begin negotiating a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gaza-israel-palestinians-ceasefire-war-cb56a3da64e144492decfffc40c589cf">second phase</a>&nbsp;of the ceasefire, which calls for releasing the remaining hostages and extending the truce indefinitely. The war could resume in early March if an agreement is not reached.

Israel says it is still committed to destroying Hamas, even after the militant group&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-ceasefire-hostages-militants-rule-93da074c251d0fcaa395503749e2849e">reasserted its rule over Gaza</a>&nbsp;within hours of the latest ceasefire. A key far-right partner in Netanyahu’s coalition is calling for the war to resume after the ceasefire’s first phase.

Hamas says it won’t release the remaining hostages without an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Families and neighbors celebrate return of hostages

Siegel, 65, originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was taken hostage from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, along with his wife, Aviva Siegel. She was released during a brief 2023 ceasefire and has waged a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hostages-gaza-tunnels-hamas-israel-war-d8ecb415268e911cea09518acdaf7ba2">high-profile campaign</a>&nbsp;to free Keith and other hostages.

There were sighs of relief and cheers in a living room where members of the kibbutz watched Siegel's release. Many of those in the room were family friends, who applauded upon seeing Siegel, while some teared up.

Meanwhile, the release of Bibas, 35, brought renewed attention to the fate of his wife, Shiri, and their two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, who were 4 years old and 9 months old when they were abducted. All four were captured from Kibbutz Nir Oz.

Kfir was the youngest of about 250 people taken captive on Oct. 7, and his plight quickly came to represent the helplessness and anger the hostage-taking stirred in Israel, where the Bibas family has become a household name.

Hamas has said Shiri and her sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike, but Israel has not confirmed that. Gal Hirsch, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s special coordinator for returning the hostages, said Israel has “grave concern for the lives” of Shiri and her sons, and pleaded with negotiators to provide information on their situation.

Kalderon, 54, was also captured from Kibbutz Nir Oz.

In Kfar Saba, north of Tel Aviv, Kalderon's family hugged and cheered as they saw the images of him climbing onto the stage in Khan Younis and being transferred to the Red Cross.

“Ofer is coming home!” they said, arms lifted to the sky.

Kalderon’s two children, Erez and Sahar, were abducted alongside him and released during the November 2023 ceasefire. Family members said they weren’t able to recover from their ordeal until their father returned.

“We are sorry it took so long, Ofer,” said Eyal Kalderon. “We will soon be a whole family again. We hope other families will soon feel like this, until the last family.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said France “shares in the relief and joy” of Kalderon's return after 483 days of “unimaginable hell,” adding that France would continue doing all it can to secure the release of another French Israeli hostage still being held in Gaza.

More than 100 of the hostages abducted on Oct. 7 were released during the weeklong Nov. 2023 ceasefire. About 80 more remain in Gaza, at least a third of them believed dead.

In the Oct. 7 attack that started the war, some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed. More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory air and ground war, over half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were militants.

The Israeli military says it killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because its fighters operate in residential neighborhoods.

Isseid contributed from Beitunia, West Bank. Moshe Edri at Reim military base, Israel and Paz Bar in Kfar Saba, Israel, contributed.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1738411065227.png" alt="Siegel is 64 and a native of North Carolina-photo Hostage and Missing Families Forum." />
 <figcaption>Siegel is 64 and a native of North Carolina-photo Hostage and Missing Families Forum.</figcaption>
 </figure>KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas militants freed three male hostages held for more than a year in the Gaza Strip on Saturday and Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in the fourth such exchange of a ceasefire deal that has halted 15 months of intense fighting.Militants handed Yarden Bibas and French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon to Red Cross officials in the southern city of Khan Younis, while American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel, looking pale and thin, was released to the Red Cross later Saturday morning in Gaza City to the north.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/drmrdSVrfZ">pic.twitter.com/drmrdSVrfZ</a>&mdash; Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1885735692321292408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>All three were abducted during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war. Their release brings to 18 the number of hostages released since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19.The releases were quick and orderly, in contrast to chaotic scenes that unfolded on Thursday when armed militants appeared to struggle to hold back a crowd during a hostage release. In both of Saturday’s releases, masked and armed militants stood in lines as the hostages walked onto a stage and waved before being led off and handed over to the Red Cross.In Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, thousands of people gathered to watch the releases being transmitted live on a large screen, waving signs and cheering.Shortly after Siegel arrived in Israel, a bus departed Ofer Military Prison with some 32 prisoners bound for the West Bank. Crowds of well-wishers greeted the bus, cheering and hoisting the released prisoners on their shoulders in scenes of jubilation.The Israeli Prison Authority said all 183 Palestinian prisoners slated for release Saturday had been freed. Most, including 111 arrested after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack, were released to Gaza. Just over two dozen returned to cheering crowds in the occupied West Bank. Another seven serving life sentences were transferred to Egypt ahead of their deportation.<h2>Ceasefire brings respite to battered Gaza</h2>The ceasefire is aimed at winding down the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">deadliest and most destructive war</a>&nbsp;ever fought between Israel and Hamas. The deal has held for two weeks, allowing for increased aid to flow into the tiny coastal territory and for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the remnants of their homes in the north of the strip.During the truce's six-week first phase, a total of 33 Israeli hostages are to be freed in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel says it has received information from Hamas that eight of those hostages were either killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack or have died in captivity.Also on Saturday, a group of 50 sick and wounded Palestinian children&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/7330b0f2a30855cd5ae69b5a32b218df">left Gaza for treatment</a>&nbsp;through the Rafah border crossing to Egypt, in the first opening of the enclave's sole exit since Israel captured it nine months ago. A European Union civilian mission was deployed Friday to prepare for the reopening.The reopening of Rafah marked another key step in the first phase of the ceasefire.Israel and Hamas are set next week to begin negotiating a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gaza-israel-palestinians-ceasefire-war-cb56a3da64e144492decfffc40c589cf">second phase</a>&nbsp;of the ceasefire, which calls for releasing the remaining hostages and extending the truce indefinitely. The war could resume in early March if an agreement is not reached.Israel says it is still committed to destroying Hamas, even after the militant group&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-ceasefire-hostages-militants-rule-93da074c251d0fcaa395503749e2849e">reasserted its rule over Gaza</a>&nbsp;within hours of the latest ceasefire. A key far-right partner in Netanyahu’s coalition is calling for the war to resume after the ceasefire’s first phase.Hamas says it won’t release the remaining hostages without an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.<h2>Families and neighbors celebrate return of hostages</h2>Siegel, 65, originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was taken hostage from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, along with his wife, Aviva Siegel. She was released during a brief 2023 ceasefire and has waged a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hostages-gaza-tunnels-hamas-israel-war-d8ecb415268e911cea09518acdaf7ba2">high-profile campaign</a>&nbsp;to free Keith and other hostages.There were sighs of relief and cheers in a living room where members of the kibbutz watched Siegel's release. Many of those in the room were family friends, who applauded upon seeing Siegel, while some teared up.Meanwhile, the release of Bibas, 35, brought renewed attention to the fate of his wife, Shiri, and their two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, who were 4 years old and 9 months old when they were abducted. All four were captured from Kibbutz Nir Oz.Kfir was the youngest of about 250 people taken captive on Oct. 7, and his plight quickly came to represent the helplessness and anger the hostage-taking stirred in Israel, where the Bibas family has become a household name.Hamas has said Shiri and her sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike, but Israel has not confirmed that. Gal Hirsch, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s special coordinator for returning the hostages, said Israel has “grave concern for the lives” of Shiri and her sons, and pleaded with negotiators to provide information on their situation.Kalderon, 54, was also captured from Kibbutz Nir Oz.In Kfar Saba, north of Tel Aviv, Kalderon's family hugged and cheered as they saw the images of him climbing onto the stage in Khan Younis and being transferred to the Red Cross.“Ofer is coming home!” they said, arms lifted to the sky.Kalderon’s two children, Erez and Sahar, were abducted alongside him and released during the November 2023 ceasefire. Family members said they weren’t able to recover from their ordeal until their father returned.“We are sorry it took so long, Ofer,” said Eyal Kalderon. “We will soon be a whole family again. We hope other families will soon feel like this, until the last family.”French President Emmanuel Macron said France “shares in the relief and joy” of Kalderon's return after 483 days of “unimaginable hell,” adding that France would continue doing all it can to secure the release of another French Israeli hostage still being held in Gaza.More than 100 of the hostages abducted on Oct. 7 were released during the weeklong Nov. 2023 ceasefire. About 80 more remain in Gaza, at least a third of them believed dead.In the Oct. 7 attack that started the war, some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed. More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory air and ground war, over half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were militants.The Israeli military says it killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because its fighters operate in residential neighborhoods.___Isseid contributed from Beitunia, West Bank. Moshe Edri at Reim military base, Israel and Paz Bar in Kfar Saba, Israel, contributed.

After 484 days Hamas releases American hostage Keith Siegel

POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY —One person died in an accident just before 9p.m. Friday in Pottawatomie County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a westbound train in the&nbsp;100 Block of North 1st Street in Saint Marys struck a pedestrian identified as&nbsp; 45-year-old Virginia Marie Enockson of St. Marys. She was standing on the tracks facing southbound at the time of the incident.

Enockson was pronounced dead at the scene and was later transported to&nbsp; Piper Funeral Home.&nbsp;&nbsp;

POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY —One person died in an accident just before 9p.m. Friday in Pottawatomie County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a westbound train in the&nbsp;100 Block of North 1st Street in Saint Marys struck a pedestrian identified as&nbsp; 45-year-old Virginia Marie Enockson of St. Marys. She was standing on the tracks facing southbound at the time of the incident.Enockson was pronounced dead at the scene and was later transported to&nbsp; Piper Funeral Home.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Kansas woman dies after struck by a train

ATCHISON —Law enforcement are investigating two suspects on multiple allegations after a chase in stolen trucks.

Just before 9a.m. on Thursday police responded to the Walmart parking lot at 1920 U.S.73 to investigate the theft of a 2005 Ford pick-up truck that a 59 year old victim had reported was stolen while he was inside the store, according to Police Chief Mike Wilson.

Within minutes it was determined that a white box truck was involved in the theft of the pick-up truck. An Atchison County Sheriff’s deputy observed the stolen pickup and the white box truck on U.S. 73 south of Atchison. 

Both vehicles were southbound but ended up heading northbound. The deputy pursued the pick-up truck and Atchison Police pursued the box truck as it entered the city’s south end. Atchison Police pursued the box truck that eventually ended up westbound on U.S.73 into the western part of Atchison County and into Jackson County where Kansas Highway Patrol troopers took over the pursuit. 

That pursuit ended in Nemaha County where troopers took James A. Shoot, 42, of Belton Missouri, into custody. Atchison County deputies took Jason A. Smith, 40, of Olathe Kansas into custody in southern Atchison County. &nbsp; 

Smith is being held in Atchison County on requested charges for the theft of the pickup truck from the parking lot.&nbsp; Shoot is being held in Nemaha County on requested charges that&nbsp; include felony fleeing and eluding.&nbsp; The box truck had been stolen earlier on Thursday morning in Kansas City, Missouri. Law enforcement recovered both vehicles.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738335678672.png" alt="Smith photo Atchison County" />
 <figcaption>Smith photo Atchison County</figcaption>
 </figure>ATCHISON —Law enforcement are investigating two suspects on multiple allegations after a chase in stolen trucks.Just before 9a.m. on Thursday police responded to the Walmart parking lot at 1920 U.S.73 to investigate the theft of a 2005 Ford pick-up truck that a 59 year old victim had reported was stolen while he was inside the store, according to Police Chief Mike Wilson.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738336088437.png" alt="Shoot photo Nemaha County" />
 <figcaption>Shoot photo Nemaha County</figcaption>
 </figure>Within minutes it was determined that a white box truck was involved in the theft of the pick-up truck. An Atchison County Sheriff’s deputy observed the stolen pickup and the white box truck on U.S. 73 south of Atchison. Both vehicles were southbound but ended up heading northbound. The deputy pursued the pick-up truck and Atchison Police pursued the box truck as it entered the city’s south end. Atchison Police pursued the box truck that eventually ended up westbound on U.S.73 into the western part of Atchison County and into Jackson County where Kansas Highway Patrol troopers took over the pursuit. That pursuit ended in Nemaha County where troopers took James A. Shoot, 42, of Belton Missouri, into custody. Atchison County deputies took Jason A. Smith, 40, of Olathe Kansas into custody in southern Atchison County. &nbsp; Smith is being held in Atchison County on requested charges for the theft of the pickup truck from the parking lot.&nbsp; Shoot is being held in Nemaha County on requested charges that&nbsp; include felony fleeing and eluding.&nbsp; The box truck had been stolen earlier on Thursday morning in Kansas City, Missouri. Law enforcement recovered both vehicles.&nbsp;

Stolen vehicle suspects captured after 3 county Kan. chase

GOVE COUNTY&nbsp;–&nbsp;The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) is investigating a fatal officer-involved shooting that occurred Friday morning in Grainfield, Kansas.

GOVE COUNTY&nbsp;–&nbsp;The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) is investigating a fatal officer-involved shooting that occurred Friday morning in Grainfield, Kansas.At around 7:45 a.m., the Gove County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to disturbance call at 517 W. 3rd&nbsp;Street in Grainfield, according to a media release. When the deputy arrived, he entered the residence to find two men in a heated argument.The deputy determined that Ty Kaiser, 30, had hit his 63-year-old male relative in the face. The deputy gave commands for Kaiser to get down. He initially complied, but then stood back up and attempted to leave the scene, ignoring the deputy. The deputy deployed a Taser, which was ineffective, and angered Kaiser further. Kaiser then charged toward the deputy, hitting him in the head, face, and body. The deputy pulled out his firearm, and fired one round striking Kaiser.The deputy attempted life-saving measures until EMS arrived and transported Kaiser to Gove County Medical Center where he was pronounced deceased. The deputy and relative were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The deputy was released from the hospital Friday afternoon, after evaluation and is recovering from his injuries. The 63-year-old was transferred to the hospital in Hays for further treatment.This independent investigation aims to discover all events leading up to the officer-involved shooting. In police use of force cases, the KBI releases details to the public as soon as possible. This information is preliminary in nature, and is based on evidence collected and early statements of the parties involved, witnesses, medical personnel and others. It does not represent final or thorough findings which take several weeks to complete.When this investigation concludes, case findings will be presented to the Gove County Attorney.&nbsp; Ty Kaiser has three previous drug convictions in Wallace County and a conviction for&nbsp;Arranging sale/purchase using communication facility in Russell County in 2016, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.-----------GOVE COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a fatal officer-involved shooting in Gove County.The incident, that also sent a Gove County sheriff's deputy to the hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, occurred just before 8a.m. in Grainfield, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.Check the Post for additional details as they become available.