West Point disbands student clubs related to gender and race
Yana Paskova/For The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WEST POINT, N.Y.) — The U.S. Military Academy at West Point has disbanded a dozen clubs on campus related to gender and race, ABC News has confirmed.
The National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers Club, the Latin Cultural Club and the Native American Heritage Forum were among the clubs ordered to cease operations.
The changes were made “in accordance with recent Presidential Executive Orders, Department of Defense guidance, and the Department of the Army guidance,” according to a memo obtained by ABC News.
The memo, dated Tuesday, comes amid President Donald Trump’s sweeping eradication of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the federal government.
The directive “cancels all sections, meetings, events, and other activities associated with these clubs,” according to the memo.
Websites for the various clubs are no longer available online.
The memo also suggests a full review of other clubs on campus is underway.
West Point did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Tourism Emissions Project Team, University of Queensland
(NEW YORK) — The carbon footprint from the travel industry is growing at rates never seen before, according to new research.
An increasing demand for international travel over the past decade has led to higher rates of carbon dioxide emissions every year, according to a paper published in Nature Communications on Tuesday.
Greenhouse gas emissions from international tourism are growing at a rate of 3.5% every year — about twice as fast as the overall economy, Ya-Yen Sun, an associate professor at The University of Queensland in Australia and an author of the study, told ABC News.
In the top 20 countries associated with the highest tourism emissions, tourism may be growing “too fast” — up to 5% every year — which is causing those regions to expend more energy to provide services to more visitors, Sun said.
There are also disparities in per-capita tourism emissions, with the 20 highest-emitting countries — including the United States, China and India — contributing three-quarters of the total carbon footprint, the paper found.
Modes of transportation, including air and ground travel, are particular contributors to emissions given their carbon-intensive nature, according to the paper. Slow gains in the efficiency of technology have also contributed to the rise in emission rates from global tourism, the researchers said.
While travel halted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism came roaring back with a vengeance once the global health threat subsided, which has flooded the travel sector with even more rapid growth, Sun said.
Travel dropped by 60% during the pandemic, but tourism is expected to have fully recovered by the end of 2024, she added.
“We found this is something [that really needs] a lot of attention, because people just enjoy travel,” Sun said.
Carbon dioxide emissions from private planes have increased significantly in recent years, a separate paper published last month in the journal Communications Earth & Environment found.
Annual CO2 emissions from private aviation increased by 46% between 2019 and 2023, according to an analysis of flight tracker data from 18,655,789 private flights flown by 25,993 registered business jet-type private aircraft. Some individuals who regularly use private aviation may produce almost 500 times more CO2 in a year than the average individual, the paper found.
There were significant emissions peaks around certain international events, the study found. COP28 — the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Dubai — was associated with 644 private flights, which produced 4,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide, and the 2022 FIFA World Cup, also hosted in the United Arab Emirates, was associated with 1,846 private flights, producing an estimated 14,700 metric tons of CO2, the study found.
However, private aviation only accounts for about 7.9% of total aviation emissions, the paper found.
A previous study that Sun conducted in 2018 found that tourism contributes to about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. That number is likely much higher today, Sun said.
“The sector has not made much progress in terms of decarbonizing itself,” she said.
Sun described the findings of the new paper out Tuesday as “quite problematic” because it showcases that emissions from tourism are growing every year,
The paper highlighted the urgent need for effective policy measures to align the tourism sector with global climate goals, the researchers said.
In order to do this, countries will need to begin to monitor tourism emissions at the national level, something that only New Zealand and Denmark are currently doing, Sun said.
It is especially important considering tourism is one of the biggest economic sectors in the world, as people require transportation, food, accommodation and shopping when they travel, Sun said. The global tourism industry was worth an estimated $10 trillion in 2023, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.
“We found this is something really in need of a lot of attention, because people just enjoy travel,” Sun said.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge, in a ruling late Friday evening, has denied an effort to block the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing sensitive data from the Department of Labor.
In his ruling, federal Judge John D. Bates found that the five federal employee unions that alleged Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team sought to illegally access highly sensitive data, including medical records, failed to establish standing.
“Although the Court harbors concerns about defendants’ alleged conduct, it must deny plaintiffs’ motion at this time,” Judge Bates said in his ruling.
During the hearing, the plaintiffs’ attorneys argued that if DOGE accessed DOL data, it would cause irreparable harm to their clients.
However, in his ruling, Bates found that the plaintiffs did not show that “at least one particular member is substantially likely to suffer an injury at the hands of the defendant.”
During Friday’s hearing, attorneys for the five unions argued that access to the data would also violate the Privacy Act.
“We’ve demonstrated that by having access to these systems, the personal information in them is necessarily at harm with the disclosure of sensitive information,” one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys argued. “It’s unlawful.”
The Department of Justice argued that DOGE employees would have access to data needed to assist the Labor Department in improving its information technology and data systems. The DOJ attorney also argued that DOGE employees are authorized under the Privacy Act and that they would not share data with anyone outside the agency, including other DOGE employees.
Bates pushed back on the DOJ attorneys, saying they were asking him to have “a great deal of confidence in people who, according to public reports, are very young, who have never been in the federal government, who have never had any training with respect to the hands of confidential information.”
“[You] are asking me to just put absolute confidence in the fact that nothing will happen,” Bates said.
Attorneys for the unions said they planned to amend their complaint over the weekend to include three other federal agencies: Health and Human Services, the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
“Department of Labor employees have been told to unquestionably give DOGE operatives access to any system or information they request, or else face termination,” the lawsuit said, alleging that DOGE’s pattern of conduct has been “replete with violations of law.”
Musk’s private companies, including SpaceX and Tesla, have been investigated and fined by parts of the Department of Labor, and at least one of his companies is being actively investigated. Musk has denied all wrongdoing.
On Wednesday, in response to a lawsuit by several federal employee unions, lawyers with the Justice Department agreed to a temporary restraining order that would largely prohibit DOGE from accessing Treasury Department data.
As DOGE has, according to the suit, “zeroed in on and sought unprecedented access to sensitive information” from other federal agencies, including the Treasury Department and Department of Education, the lawsuit raised red flags about Musk’s intrusion into the Department of Labor because of the sensitivity of their records related to the administration of the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act.
According to the lawsuit, Labor Department records include injury reports for thousands of employees, medical records, claim forms, and personal information gathered during the administration of FECA claims.
The department also has records of at least 86,000 workers’ compensation claims from 2024 alone that could be breached by DOGE, the suit said.
“The threats to the Department of Labor that give rise to this action and application for emergency relief represent yet another iteration of what is fast becoming a pattern for DOGE: exceeding its narrow mission and exercising authority it does not (and cannot) possess by exerting control over agencies through personal attacks and threats of unlawful reprisals, and harming people and the stability of our nation in the process,” the lawsuit said.
In a court filing Thursday, Justice Department attorneys representing DOGE argued that the federal unions who brought the case failed to show how they would be harmed by the sharing of data between DOGE and the Labor Department, acknowledging that multiple DOGE representatives have already been sent to work for the department.
“Plaintiffs cannot establish standing, much less irreparable harm, to challenge the sharing of unstated categories of information from unidentified records systems to unknown individuals working in the Executive Branch,” their filing said.
The lawsuit further alleged that Musk — described as an “an unappointed, unelected, and temporarily serving official” — has sought to “run roughshod” over the Labor Department at the same time it has active investigations pending into his private companies.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration — which falls under the Labor Department — previously investigated and fined Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla for multiple safety incidents, including one in connection with a SpaceX employee’s death. OSHA also has multiple open investigations into Musk’s Boring Company.
“Mr. Musk would ordinarily be unable to access nonpublic information regarding those investigations,” the lawsuit said. “In light of the blanket instruction to provide DOGE employees with ‘anything they want,’ Mr. Musk or his associates will be able to access that information simply by asking DOL employees for it.”
The plaintiffs are asking the judge to issue a temporary restraining order that would prohibit the Department of Labor from sharing any records with DOGE.
Luigi Mangione is seen inside the police station in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Dec. 9, 2024/Obtained by ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson wasn’t a member of the insurer, a company spokesperson said.
“Brian Thompson’s killer was not a member of UnitedHealthcare,” the company told ABC News.
Prosecutors at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury as they work to secure an indictment against Mangione for the killing of Thompson, sources told ABC News.
The DA’s office declined to comment due to the secrecy surrounding grand jury matters.
An indictment could strengthen the case for extradition, which Mangione is fighting.
The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate remains in custody at a Pennsylvania state prison after a judge denied bail on Tuesday. His next court date in Pennsylvania is Dec. 30.
“He has constitutional rights and that’s what he’s doing” in challenging the interstate transfer, defense attorney Thomas Dickey told reporters on Tuesday.
Authorities are still looking to access a phone recovered by police in an alley following the shooting that is believed to be linked to the suspect, sources said Thursday. Police have obtained a search warrant for the phone, sources said.
At least two other search warrants have been issued so far in the New York case. They include to search the hostel where the suspect stayed in New York City, as well as the backpack containing Monopoly money and a jacket that was found in Central Park and is believed to belong to him, sources said.
Mangione was apprehended in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday after nearly one week on the run following the Dec. 4 slaying.
Three shell casings recovered outside the Midtown Manhattan hotel where Thompson was fatally shot match the gun allegedly found on Mangione when he was arrested, police announced Wednesday.
Fingerprints recovered from a water bottle and a Kind bar near the crime scene have also been matched to Mangione, police said.
In Pennsylvania, Mangione faces charges including allegedly possessing an untraceable ghost gun.
In New York, he faces charges including second-degree murder.
