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The Philippines will provide the United States with expanded access to its military bases, the two countries said Thursday, providing US forces with a strategic footing on the southeastern edge of the South China Sea close to self-ruled Taiwan.

The newly announced deal will give the US access to four more locations under an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) dating to 2014, allowing the US to rotate troops to a total of nine bases throughout the Philippines.

The US has stepped up efforts to expand its Indo-Pacific security options in recent months, amid mounting concerns over China’s aggressive territorial posturing throughout the region.

Speaking during a visit to Manila Thursday, US Defense Secretary Llyod Austin said the US and the Philippines remained committed to strengthening their mutual capacities to resist armed attack.

“That’s just part of our efforts to modernize our alliance. And these efforts are especially important as the People’s Republic of China continues to advance its illegitimate claims in the West Philippine Sea,” said Austin, referencing China’s increased presence in waters close to the Philippines.

Austin did not give the location of the bases to which the US military will gain new access.

Thursday’s announcement follows a spate of high-profile US military agreements throughout the region, including plans to share defense technologies with India, and plans to deploy new US Marine units to Japanese islands.

The US Marine Corps also opened a new base on Guam last week, a strategically important US island east of the Philippines. The location, known as Camp Blaz, is the first new Marine base in 70 years and one day is expected to host 5,000 Marines.

Increased access to military bases in the Philippines would place US armed forces fewer than 200 miles south of Taiwan, the democratically ruled island of 24 million that the Chinese Communist Party claims as part of its sovereign territory despite never having controlled it.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has refused to rule out the use of military force to bring Taiwan under Beijing’s control, but the Biden administration has been steadfast in its support for the island as provided by the Taiwan Relations Act, under which Washington agrees to provide the island with the means to defend itself without committing US troops.

In November, US Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Philippines to discuss expanded US base access with the recently elected President Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos Jr. Some experts said her visit sent an unambiguous message to Beijing that the Philippines is moving closer to the US, reversing the trend under the previous president, Rodrigo Duterte.

Washington and Manila are bound by a mutual defense treaty signed in 1951 that remains in force, making it the oldest bilateral treaty alliance in the region for the United States.

In addition to the expansion of the EDCA, the US is helping the Philippines modernize its military and has included it as a pilot country in a maritime domain awareness initiative. The two countries also recently agreed to hold more than 500 activities together throughout the year.

Earlier this month, the Philippines announced that 16,000 Philippine and US troops would take part in the annual Balikatan exercise, which is set to take place from April 24 to April 27.

That exercise will include “a live fire exercise to test the newly acquired weapons system of the United States and the Philippines,” an announcement from the state-run Philippine News Agency said.

Formal US ties to the Philippines go back to 1898, when as part of the Treaty of Paris that ended the Spanish-American War, Madrid ceded control of its colony in the Philippines to the US.

The Philippines remained a US territory until July 4, 1946, when Washington granted it independence – but a US military presence remained in the archipelago nation.

The country used to be home to two of the US military’s largest overseas installations, Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Station, which supported the US war effort in Vietnam in the 1960s and early ’70s.

Both bases were transferred to Philippine control in the 1990s, after a 1947 military basing agreement between Washington and Manila expired.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia is removing the British monarchy from its bank notes.

The nation’s central bank said Thursday its new $5 bill would feature an Indigenous design rather than an image of King Charles III. But the king is still expected to appear on coins that currently bear the image of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

The $5 bill was Australia’s only remaining bank note to still feature an image of the monarch.

The bank said the decision followed consultation with the center-left Labor Party government, which supported the change. Opponents say the move is politically motivated.

The British monarch remains Australia’s head of state, although these days that role is largely symbolic. Like many former British coloniesAustralia is debating to what extent it should retain its constitutional ties to Britain.

Australia’s Reserve Bank said the new $5 bill would feature a design to replace the portrait of the queen, who died last year. The bank said the move would honor “the culture and history of the First Australians.”

“The other side of the $5 banknote will continue to feature the Australian parliament,” the bank said in a statement.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the change was an opportunity to strike a good balance.

“The monarch will still be on the coins, but the $5 note will say more about our history and our heritage and our country, and I see that as a good thing,” he told reporters in Melbourne.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton likened the move to changing the date of the national day, Australia Day.

“I know the silent majority don’t agree with a lot of the woke nonsense that goes on but we’ve got to hear more from those people online,” he told 2GB Radio.

Dutton said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was central to the decision for the king not to appear on the note, urging him to “own up to it.”

After taking office last year, Albanese started laying the groundwork for an Australian republic by creating a new position of assistant minister for the republic, but holding a referendum to sever constitutional ties with Britain has not been a first-order priority for his government.

The bank plans to consult with Indigenous groups in designing the $5 note, a process it expects will take several years before the new note goes public.

The current $5 will be issued until the new design is introduced and will remain legal tender even after the new bill goes into circulation.

The face of King Charles III is expected to be seen on Australian coins later this year.

One Australian dollar is worth about 71 cents in U.S. currency.

British currency began transitioning to the new monarch with the release of the 50 pence coin in December. It has Charles on the front of the coin while the back commemorates his mother.

This week, there were 208 million $5 notes in circulation worth AU$1.04 billion ($734 million), according to the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Australia’s smallest denomination accounts for 10% of the more than 2 billion Australian bank notes circulating.

Albanese’s center-left Labor Party is seeking to make Australia a republic with an Australian citizen as head of state instead of the British monarch.

After Labor won elections in May last year, Albanese appointed Matt Thistlethwaite as assistant minister for the republic. Thistlethwaite said in June there would be no change in the queen’s lifetime.

Australians voted in a 1999 referendum proposed by a Labor government to maintain the British monarch as Australia’s head of state.

When the queen died, the government had already committed to holding a referendum this year to acknowledge Indigenous people in the constitution. The government has dismissed adding a republic question to that referendum as an unwanted distraction from its Indigenous priority.

At one time, Queen Elizabeth II appeared on at least 33 different currencies, more than any other monarch, an achievement noted by Guinness World Records.

____

Perry contributed from Wellington, New Zealand.

NEW DELHI, Feb 2 (Reuters) – India’s Adani group shares sank on Thursday after market turmoil forced the conglomerate to axe a crucial $2.5 billion stock offer, deepening its market losses to more than $100 billion and sparking worries about the potential systemic impact.

The withdrawal of Adani Enterprises’ (ADEL.NS) share sale marked a dramatic setback for Gautam Adani, the school dropout-turned-billionaire whose fortunes rose rapidly in recent years, but have fast dwindled due to a U.S.-based short-seller’s critical research report released on Jan. 24.

The events are an embarrassing turn for the billionaire who has forged partnerships with foreign players and marquee investors in a global expansion of businesses that stretch from ports to mining to cement.

Adani late on Wednesday called off the share sale as a stocks rout sparked by short-seller Hindenburg’s criticisms intensified, despite the offer being fully subscribed on Tuesday. In the fallout of the attack, Adani also lost his title as Asia’s richest man.

The group’s flagship firm – Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) – plunged 10% after opening higher on Thursday. Other group companies – Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS), Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS), Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS) and Adani Transmission (ADAI.NS) – fell 10% each, while Adani Power (ADAN.NS) and Adani Wilmar (ADAW.NS) dropped 5% each.

Adani has slipped in the ranking of the world’s richest to 16th, as per Forbes’ list, down from third last week.

“The selling may intensify in the afternoon session, as we have seen before. Unless Adani is able to regain the confidence of institutional investors, stocks will be in freefall,” said Avinash Gorakshakar, head of research at Mumbai-based Profitmart Securities.

Adani’s plummeting stocks have raised concerns about the likelihood of a wider impact on India’s financial system.

India’s central bank has asked local banks for details of their exposure to the Adani group of companies, government and banking sources told Reuters on Thursday. CLSA estimates that Indian banks were exposed to about 40% of the 2 trillion rupees ($24.53 billion) of Adani group’s debt in the fiscal year to March 2022. read more

Citigroup’s (C.N) wealth unit has stopped extending margin loans to its clients against securities of Adani group and decided to cut the loan-to-value ratio for credit against Adani securities to zero on Thursday, said a source.

In New Delhi, opposition lawmakers submitted notices in the Indian parliament, demanding discussion on the U.S. short-seller’s report. The Congress party’s lawmaker, Manish Tewari, said he will demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee investigation into the matter, Reuters partner ANI reported.

ADANI VS HINDENBURG

Hindenburg’s report last week alleged an improper use of offshore tax havens and stock manipulation by the Adani group. It also raised concerns about high debt and the valuations of seven listed Adani companies.

The Adani group has denied the accusations, saying the short-seller’s allegation of stock manipulation has “no basis” and stems from an ignorance of Indian law. The group has always made the necessary regulatory disclosures, it added.

Earlier this week, the Adani group said it had the complete support of investors, but investor confidence has tapered in recent days.

As shares plunged after the Hindenburg report, Adani managed to secure the share sale subscriptions on Tuesday even though the stock’s market price was below the issue’s offer price. But on Wednesday, stocks plunged again.

In a late night announcement on Wednesday, Adani said he was withdrawing the share sale as the company’s “stock price has fluctuated over the course of the day. Given these extraordinary circumstances, the company’s board felt that going ahead with the issue will not be morally correct.”

Early on Thursday, Adani said in a video address the “interest of my investors is paramount and everything is secondary. Hence, to insulate the investors from potential losses we have withdrawn” the share sale.

Reporting by Chris Thomas, Aditya Kalra and Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The traditional National Signing Day headlined the college football calendar on Wednesday as some of the top uncommitted prospects in the 2023 recruiting cycle confirmed their destinations. While the heavy lifting largely took place in December when the early signing period opened, there were still a couple programs who had every reason to celebrate on Wednesday and a couple that were left wanting more.

Two upstart teams with fiery young head coaches in the SEC and Pac-12 were among those making the biggest splashes during the traditional National Signing Day, while two powerhouse programs from out west had uneven results as they targeted some of the top prospects available to help push them over the hump come the 2023 college football season.

Let’s have a look now and the biggest winners and losers from the traditional National Signing Day for the 2023 college football recruiting cycle.

Winners

Alabama & Georgia: The two teams who have won the last three national titles remained atop the rankings with most of their prospects having already enrolled on campus in early January. The Crimson Tide and Bulldogs were able to merely sit back and celebrate the finality of the cycle — especially Alabama, who signed the third-highest rated class in 247Sports history.

South Carolina: Shane Beamer had some big wins in Year 2, but none were bigger than the one on National Signing Day when Nyckoles Harborperhaps the biggest signee for the Gamecocks since Jadeveon Clowney in 2011, announced his commitment. The five-star athlete inked with Beamer amid a late push from Oregon as well heavy interest from Michigan and Maryland.

Arizona State: The long and winding roller coaster ride that was Jaden Rashada’s recruitment came full circle as the former Florida signee announced he would play for Arizona State. Rashada immediately becomes the signature recruit for first-year head coach Kenny Dillingham as he heads to play for his father Harlen’s alma mater.

Colorado: Sure, the Buffaloes were confident that five-star cornerback Cormani McClain was heading to Boulder, but remember, Miami believed it had him locked in before he abruptly opted not to sign with the Hurricanes on the day the early signing period opened. So when Deion Sanders and Colorado got the NLI from McClainfears of history repeating itself were put to rest.

Mississippi State: There was a dark cloud cast over Mississippi State’s early signing period after the unexpected death of head coach Mike Leach. Zach Arnett was bumped to interim head coach before ultimately being elevated to head coach of the Bulldogs.  His first true signing day couldn’t have gone any better, adding cornerback Will James and defensive lineman Jonathan Davis to bolster his inaugural class.

Won and lost

Oregon: While the Ducks believed there was a good chance they would land Harbor, South Carolina had always been a dark horse and it wasn’t until recently that Oregon made a surge. The same could have been said for four-star cornerback Rodrick Pleasantwith USC long thought to be the favorite. Oregon, however, was able to pluck him out of Southern California — just like they did Matayo Uiagalelei in December — and grabbed a player from a school (Gardena Serra) that has long been good to the Trojans. The California 100m and 200m champ may be the fastest player in high school football, and now the Ducks get him to both play cornerback and run sprints.

USC: USC losing out on Pleasant hurts a little bit, but they also came all the way back to land Top247 tight end Walker Lyonsthe one-time Stanford commit. The Trojans beat out Georgia, Utah and the Cardinal for Lyons, who will enroll in Fall 2024 after serving an LDS mission.

Losers

Maryland: At one time, the Terrapins were expected to land Harbor. They didn’t. It also looked as if they would get the packaged deal of twin brothers Andrew Harris and Michael Harris, both of whom are four-star linebacker prospects. But even that didn’t work out; they secured the commitment from Michael, but Andrew, the defensive MVP of the Polynesian Bowl, opted to sign with UCF.  What looked like a potential banner day turned out to be a bit underwhelming.

NIL collectives: Those promises you made — you better be keeping them but also ensure your bank account has the right numbers to back them up. Stop promising big numbers only to back away from that and look for outs.  Also, old boosters in the collectives who complain about the next generation — you guys are far worse on social media and your Twitter beefs dwarf those of than any teenager. Get your acts together, or you’ll become a national punchline.

A comet last in the solar system about 50,000 years ago should be visible in the Florida sky with a telescope this week, NASA reports.

The comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), a name that NASA acknowledges is a mouthful, is passing through the inner solar system. Here’s what you need to know.

When can I see the green comet?

The comet will be closest to Earth on Thursday, Feb. 2, and observers in the Northern Hemisphere will be able to see it in the morning sky, NASA says.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

How can I see the green comet?

All you’ll likely need to see the comet is a pair of binoculars, NASA says.

“Comets are notoriously unpredictable, but if this one continues its current trend in brightness, it’ll be easy to spot with binoculars, and it’s just possible it could become visible to the unaided eye under dark skies,” according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology.

What else should I know about the green comet?

The comet was first spotted in March 2021 when it was inside Jupiter’s orbit.

It was last in the solar system during the Upper Paleolithic era in the Ice Ages but whether it was visible from Earth then is not known. It could have passed outside the orbit of Jupiter, NASA says.

It was discovered by astronomers at the Zwicky Transient Facility with its wide-field survey camera.

“Since then the new long-period comet has brightened substantially and is now sweeping across the northern constellation Corona Borealis in predawn skies,” according to NASA.

In a telescopic image from Dec. 19, the comet’s brighter greenish coma or the cloud around its nucleus can be seen.

Hunter Biden’s legal team went on the offensive Wednesday, demanding state and federal investigations into the dissemination of his personal material — purported to be from his laptop — and threatening a defamation lawsuit against Fox News’ Tucker Carlson for allegedly failing to correct false statements.

The flurry of letters to the Delaware attorney general, the Department of Justice, the IRS and attorneys for Fox News and Carlson represent an aggressive new strategy for the president’s son, who is facing long-running federal criminal investigationsas well as new probes promised by congressional Republicansaccording to a source familiar with Biden’s approach.

“This marks a new approach by Hunter Biden and his team,” the source told CBS News. “He is not going to sit quietly by as questionable characters continue to violate his rights and media organizations peddling in lies try to defame him.”

Attorneys for Hunter Biden called for Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings and U.S. Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen to launch investigations into the actions of former computer repair shop owner John Paul Mac Isaac, former Trump advisers Rudy Giuliani and Stephen Bannon, their attorney Robert Costello and others “for whom there is considerable reason to believe violated various Delaware laws in accessing, copying, manipulating, and/or disseminating Mr. Biden’s personal computer data.”

Abbe Lowell, an attorney for Hunter Biden, said in a statement to CBS News that the letters “do not confirm Mac Isaac’s or others’ versions of a so-called laptop.”

“They address their conduct of seeking, manipulating and disseminating what they allege to be Mr. Biden’s personal data, wherever they claim to have gotten it,” Lowell said.

Brian Della Rocca, an attorney for John Paul Mac Isaac told CBS News, “Having not seen the letters until now, I haven’t had much of an opportunity to review them. After skimming the letters, the only thing I see is a privileged person hiring yet another high-priced attorney to redirect attention away from his own unlawful actions.” Della Rocca said he had no other comments at this time.

The Delaware Attorney General did not reply to a request for comment. The Justice Department declined to comment. CBS News has also reached out for comment to Fox News.

A spokesperson for Giuliani called the laptop “abandoned property under John Mac Isaac’s control.”

“Raising concerns now, after so many years, indicates just how devastating the texts and videos from Hunter’s laptop truly are,” said the spokesperson, Ted Goodman, who claimed Hunter Biden’s laptop had evidence of corruption and racketeering. “It’s an obvious attempt to silence America’s Mayor, a man who took down the mafia.”

According to Mac Isaac, Hunter Biden dropped off the computer at a store in Delaware for repairs in April 2019 and never returned to pick it up. He has said he waited the 90 days required by his store’s customer service policy before considering the laptop abandoned. In court filings, Mac Isaac stated that he turned over the computer to the FBI but also provided a copy of its contents to Costello.

Purported copies of the laptop were widely circulated by Republican operatives to attack then-candidate Joe Biden before the 2020 presidential election, and the New York Post published a series of stories from the computer data.

“This failed dirty political trick directly resulted in the exposure, exploitation, and manipulation of Mr. Biden’s private and personal information,” Lowell wrote in his letters to Jennings and Olsen.

Costello, an attorney for Giuliani and Bannon, has previously defended their efforts to publicize the laptop, and said Giuliani offered to provide its hard drive to FBI agents “on several occasions,  but the agents steadfastly declined.” In October 2020, Giuliani turned the drive over to Delaware authorities, who in turn handed it over to the FBI.

Costello said in an email to CBS News that Lowell’s letters to the Justice Department and Delaware Attorney General “constitute a frivolous legal complaint trying to intimidate.”

“The letters reek of desperation because they realize that Judgment Day is coming for the Bidens,” Costello said, adding that computer was abandoned by Hunter Biden and became Mac Isaac’s property.

The computer data that was turned over to the FBI showed no evidence of tampering or fabrication, according to an independent review commissioned by CBS News.

But Lowell cited media reports indicating “[m]ore recently, downstream recipients of what has been purported to be Mr. Biden’s hard drive have reported anomalies in the data, suggesting manipulation of it.”

Among those Hunter Biden wants investigated are Garrett Ziegler, a former Trump administration aide, who was also the subject of a letter sent by Lowell to Robert Malone, the IRS’ director of tax-exempt organizations. A limited liability corporation associated with Ziegler operates Marco Polo, a self-described nonprofit devoted to “exposing corruption” that has zeroed in on Biden’s laptop.

Lowell wrote that Marco Polo is “little more than a thinly disguised political operation to attack the Biden administration and the Biden family.”

Ziegler told CBS News in a statement that the “letter to the IRS about Marco Polo is full of speculations and basic misunderstandings about the case law surrounding 501(c)(3) organizations.” He called it a “desperate attempt by “Hunter and his family to get the attention off of their crimes.”

The IRS did not reply to a request for comment.

In another letter sent Wednesday, Biden attorney Bryan Sullivan demanded that Fox News and Tucker Carlson devote airtime to retracting statements made about Biden paying “rent” to his father, “in what Mr. Carlson implied was essentially a money laundering scheme to finance President Biden’s lifestyle prior to his election … and alluding to Mr. Biden having unauthorized access to classified documents because of his presence at President Biden’s house.” Sullivan writes that the claims were false, and even after others acknowledged as much, Carlson continued to make them.

The letter, which cites California’s defamation statute, notes that the Daily Caller website retracted an article that made similar claims.

SEOUL, Feb 2 (Reuters) – North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that drills by the United States and its allies have pushed the situation to an “extreme red-line” and threaten to turn the peninsula into a “huge war arsenal and a more critical war zone.”

The statement, carried by state news agency KCNA, said Pyongyang was not interested in dialogue as long as Washington pursues hostile policies.

“The military and political situation on the Korean peninsula and in the region has reached an extreme red-line due to the reckless military confrontational maneuvers and hostile acts of the U.S. and its vassal forces,” an unnamed ministry spokesperson said in the statement.

In Washington, the White House rejected the North Korean statement and reiterated a willingness to meet with North Korean diplomats “at a time and place convenient for them.”

“We have made clear we have no hostile intent toward the DPRK and seek serious and sustained diplomacy to address the full range of issues of concern to both countries and the region,” said a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council.

The North Korean statement cited a visit to Seoul this week by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. On Tuesday Austin and his South Korean counterpart vowed to expand military drills and deploy more “strategic assets,” such as aircraft carriers and long-range bombers, to counter North Korea’s weapons development and prevent a war.

“This is a vivid expression of the U.S. dangerous scenario which will result in turning the Korean peninsula into a huge war arsenal and a more critical war zone,” the North Korean statement said.

North Korea will respond to any military moves by the United States, and has strong counteraction strategies, including “the most overwhelming nuclear force” if necessary, the statement added.

More than 28,500 American troops are based in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War, which ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

“We reject the notion that our joint exercises with partners in the region serve as any sort of provocation. These are routine exercises fully consistent with past practice,” the White House statement said.

Last year, North Korea conducted a record number of ballistic missile tests, which are banned by United Nations Security Council resolutions. It was also observed reopening its shuttered nuclear weapons test site, raising expectations of a nuclear test for the first time since 2017.

In New York, South Korea’s foreign minister, Park Jin, met with the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday and called for the U.N.’s continued attention to North Korea’s recent provocations and efforts to implement sanctions on the reclusive regime.

Guterres said any resumption of nuclear testing by North Korea would deal a devastating blow to regional and international security, and reaffirmed support to build lasting peace on the Korean peninsula, according to Park’s office.

Park is on a four-day trip to the United States, which will include a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington on Friday.

On Wednesday the United States and South Korea carried out a joint air drill with American B-1B heavy bombers and F-22 stealth fighters, as well as F-35 jets from both countries, according to South Korea’s Defense Ministry.

“The combined air drills this time show the U.S.’ will and capabilities to provide strong and credible extended deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Reporting by Josh Smith; Additional reporting by Soo-hyang Choi and Steve Holland; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Bill Berkrot and Gerry Doyle

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Winter weather brought ice to a wide swath of the United States on Tuesday, canceling more than 1,700 flights nationwide and snarling highways. At least two people died on slick roads in Texas and two law officers in the state were seriously injured, including a deputy who was pinned under a truck, authorities said.

As the ice storm advanced eastward on Tuesday, watches and warnings stretched from the western heel of Texas all the way to West Virginia. Several rounds of mixed precipitation — including freezing rain and sleet — were in store for many areas through Wednesday, meaning some regions could be hit multiple times, the federal Weather Prediction Center warned.

Emergency responders rushed to hundreds of auto collisions across Texas and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott urged people to stay off the roads.

Authorities said one person in Austin was killed in a predawn pileup Tuesday. A 45-year-old man also died Monday night after his SUV slid into a highway guardrail near Dallas in slick conditions and rolled down an embankment, according to the Arlington Police Department.

More than 900 flights to or from major U.S. airport hub Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and more than 250 to or from Dallas Love Field were canceled or delayed Tuesday, according to the tracking service FlightAware. At Dallas-Fort Worth, more than 50% of Tuesday’s scheduled flights had been canceled by Tuesday afternoon.

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines canceled more than 560 flights Tuesday and delayed more than 350 more, FlightAware reported.

About 7,000 power outages in Texas were reported as of late Tuesday morning, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said following a briefing in Austin on the worsening conditions. He emphasized the outages were due to factors such as ice on power lines or downed trees, and not the performance of the Texas power grid that buckled for days during a deadly winter storm in 2021.

Fleets of emergency vehicles were fanned out among 1,600 roads impacted by the freeze.

In Texas, a sheriff’s deputy who stopped to help the driver of an 18-wheeler that went off an icy highway on Tuesday was hit by a second truck that pinned him beneath one of its tires, according to the Travis County Sheriff’s Office. About 45 minutes after the crash on State Highway 130, the deputy was freed from the wreckage and taken to a hospital, where he was in surgery Tuesday afternoon, officials said. The deputy is expected to survive, officials said.

In another wreck, a Texas state trooper was hospitalized with serious injuries after being struck by a driver who lost control of their vehicle, said Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

“The roadways are very hazardous right now. We cannot overemphasize that,” Abbott said.

As the ice and sleet enveloped Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis-Shelby County Schools announced that it will cancel classes Wednesday due to freezing rain and hazardous road conditions. The school system has about 100,000 students. The University of Memphis said it would announce plans for Wednesday classes by 6 a.m. tomorrow.

In Arkansas, Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency Tuesday because of the ice storm. In her declaration, Sanders cited the “likelihood of numerous downed power lines” and said road conditions have created a backlog of deliveries by commercial drivers.

One of the main thoroughfares through Arkansas — Interstate 40 — was ice-coated and “extremely hazardous” in the Forrest City area on Tuesday, according to the city’s fire department.

The department responded to two bad wrecks and about 15 other crashes Tuesday morning, Division Chief Jeremy Sharp said by telephone. In many of the crashes, the drivers pick up speed on the highway but run into trouble when they reach a bridge, he said.

“They hit the ice and they start wrecking,” he said.

“When I-40 shuts down like that, that can be hours of waiting,” said John Gadberry, who lives in Colt, Arkansas, not far from the highway. “I-40 is usually one of the first things that freezes over due to its slight elevation.”

By late Tuesday morning, I-40 was cleared and traffic had resumed, the Arkansas Department of Transportation announced. The interstate connects Little Rock, Arkansas, to Memphis, Tennessee.

The storm began Monday as part of an expected “several rounds” of wintry precipitation through Wednesday across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Marc Chenard.

“Generally light to moderate freezing rain resulting in some pretty significant ice amounts,” Chenard said.

“We’re expecting ice accumulations potentially a quarter inch or higher as far south as Austin, Texas, up to Dallas over to Little Rock, Arkansas, towards Memphis, Tennessee, and even getting close to Nashville, Tennessee,” according to Chenard.

The flight disruptions follow Southwest’s meltdown in December that began with a winter storm but continued after most other airlines had recovered. Southwest canceled about 16,700 flights over the last 10 days of the year, and the U.S. Transportation Department is investigating.

The weather service has issued a winter storm warning for a large swath of Texas and parts of southeastern Oklahoma and an ice storm warning across the midsection of Arkansas into western Tennessee.

A winter weather advisory is in place in much of the remainder of Arkansas and Tennessee and into much of Kentucky, West Virginia and southern parts of Indiana and Ohio.

Schools and colleges in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas planned to close or go to virtual learning Tuesday.

—-

Martin reported from Woodstock, Georgia. Associated Press writers Sarah Brumfield in Silver Spring, Maryland; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Ken Miller in Oklahoma City; Adrian Sainz in Memphis; and David Koenig in Dallas contributed.

CNN
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[Breaking news top, published at 8:xx p.m ET]

Two emperor tamarin monkeys missing from the Dallas Zoo were found in the closet of an abandoned home in a suburb south of Dallas after investigators received a tip, police said Tuesday.

“Dallas police received a tip the monkeys may be at an abandoned home in Lancaster,” the department said Tuesday evening. “Dallas police, with Lancaster police, went to the home and the home was empty and the monkeys were found in a closet.”

Police earlier tweeted a photo of a man they said they wanted to speak to in connection with the animals’ disappearance. Investigators still want to speak with that man, Dallas police spokesperson Kristin Lowman told CNN Tuesday night.

Police have not elaborated about why they want to speak to the man, and no arrests have been made.

Lancaster is a city roughly a 15-mile drive south of the zoo.

[Original story, published at 7:51 p.m. ET]

Two emperor tamarin monkeys missing from the Dallas Zoo were found Tuesday, the zoo said.

“We are thrilled beyond belief to share that our two emperor tamarin monkeys have been found,” the zoo said in a statement.

Dallas police located the animals early Tuesday evening, the zoo said, without immediately releasing details about how they were found. The zoo earlier said the animals were believed to have been stolen Monday.

Police “called our team to come secure and transport the tamarins back to the Zoo,” the zoo said. The monkeys will be evaluated by veterinarians Tuesday evening, according to the zoo.

Dallas police earlier said its preliminary investigation found the emperor tamarin monkeys’ habitat had been intentionally cut open and “it is believed the animals were intentionally taken from the enclosure.”

Police had also released surveillance video and a photo of an unidentified man they wanted to speak to in regard to the two missing tamarin monkeys. “Dallas police are looking for the public’s help in identifying the pictured individual,” they wrote.

In the surveillance video, the man can be seen walking slowly down a nearly empty zoo sidewalk, looking back and forth as he moves. A second person also can be seen in the background, but that person walks in the opposite direction.

In the still image, the man is wearing a navy blue hooded sweatshirt and a navy and red beanie cap and is eating a bag of Doritos.

The investigation comes after a series of suspicious animal incidents this month at the Dallas Zoo. The zoo said it believed two of its emperor tamarin monkeys were stolen after they were discovered missing from their enclosure Monday.

“Emperor tamarin monkeys would likely stay close to home – the Zoo searched near their habitat and across Zoo grounds and did not locate them,” the zoo said in a statement Monday.

Earlier Monday, the zoo said it would be closed for the day due to inclement weather. The closure was later extended through Wednesday due to an ice storm impacting the area, the zoo said.

This is the fourth time this month that the zoo has discovered its animals or their enclosures may have been tampered with, including the “unusual” circumstances surrounding the death of a vulture last week, according to the zoo.

The string of events began January 13 when a clouded leopard named Nova disappeared, prompting the zoo to close as they searched for the animal. Dallas police opened a criminal investigation after it was discovered that the fence around Nova’s enclosure had been “intentionally cut,” police said.

While the feline was found close to her habitat later that day, zoo personnel also found a similar cut had been made to the enclosure of some langur monkeys. Despite the new escape route, none of the monkeys left their habitat, the zoo said. Police said at the time that it was “unknown if the two incidents are related.”

Following the incidents, the zoo installed additional security cameras, more than doubled its overnight security personnel, increased its overnight staffing, and began limiting some animals’ ability to go outside overnight, President and CEO Gregg Hudson said.

But less than two weeks after the first discoveries, a vulture named Pin was found dead in his habitat. Hudson called the bird’s death “suspicious” and said “an unusual wound and injuries” indicated Pin did not die from natural causes.

The zoo is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of a suspect in the vulture’s death.

Dallas police are investigating all four incidents. A spokesperson said last week that the department is collaborating with US Fish and Wildlife on the investigations.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Actor Alec Baldwin and a weapons specialist have been formally charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on a New Mexico movie set, according to court documents filed by prosecutors Tuesday.

Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies filed the charging documents naming Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who supervised weapons on the set of the Western “Rust,” and outlined evidence that they deviated repeatedly from known safety standards.

Halyna Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during rehearsals at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza.

Prosecutors have said that Baldwin’s involvement as a producer and as the person who fired the gun weighed in the decision to file charges.

In recent weeks, Carmack-Altwies outlined two sets of involuntary manslaughter charges in connection with the shooting.

The manslaughter charge filed Tuesday against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed includes two alternative standards and sanctions.

One version would require proof of negligence, which is punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine under New Mexico law.

The second alternative is for reckless disregard of safety “without due caution and circumspection.” It carries a higher threshold of wrongdoing and includes a “firearm enhancement” that could result in a mandatory five years in prison because the offense was committed with a gun.

Prosecutors have said a jury may ultimately decide which definition of manslaughter to pursue.

A probable cause statement outlining evidence against Baldwin alleges many instances of “extremely reckless acts” or reckless failures to take precautions in the days and minutes leading up to the deadly shooting.

Investigators say that Baldwin drew a revolver from a holster, pointed it at Hutchins and fired the weapon when a plastic or replica gun should have been used by industry standards.

It says photos and videos of the rehearsal, including moments before the deadly shooting, showed Baldwin with his finger inside the trigger guard and on the trigger while “manipulating” the pistol’s hammer, and that an FBI analysis shows the pistol could not be fired without pressing the trigger.

Investigators say Baldwin failed to appear for mandatory firearms training prior to filming, and that he didn’t fully complete on-set training while distracted by phone calls to family. They also cite several breaches of required safety-checks and protocols as the gun was loaded and provided to Baldwin.

Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed maintain their innocence and have vowed to fight the charges.

Baldwin’s attorney Luke Nikas declined comment Tuesday and referred to his previous statement on the case, in which he called the charges a “terrible miscarriage of justice” that he and his client would fight and win.

“Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun – or anywhere on the movie set,” the statement said. “He relied on the professionals with whom he worked.”

Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney said they would release a statement later.

Prosecutors say that Baldwin, in his role as a producer of “Rust,” failed to account for Gutierrez-Reed’s relative inexperience as an uncertified armorer on her second film assignment. They allege that Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed skipped a critical safety check of the gun and its ammunition, and that Baldwin should have known better as an actor with extensive experience in films involving firearms.

“Standard protocol is the armorer is to show the actor the firearm, pull the bullets out in front of the actor, and demonstrate there are no live rounds (but dummies) in the firearm,” investigators said. “Hannah Gutierrez-Reed did not do this protocol in front of Baldwin. Baldwin did not object.”

Prosecutors also provided a new accounting of live ammunition on the set — noting that five additional live rounds were discovered by authorities, including a round in Baldwin’s holster as well as an ammunition box, a holster, a weapons cart and one live round seized from Gutierrez-Reed.

Hutchins’ death already has led to new safety precautions in the film industry.

Carmack-Altwies told The Associated Press in a Jan. 19 interview that the set was “really being run pretty fast and loose” and that Baldwin should have known there had been previous misfires on the set and that multiple people had brought up safety concerns.

Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed will be issued a summons to appear in court. Prosecutors will forgo a grand jury and rely on a judge to determine if there is sufficient evidence to move toward trial. It could take up to 60 days for decision.

Involuntary manslaughter can involve a killing that happens while a defendant is doing something lawful but dangerous and is acting negligently or without caution.

Prosecutors say that a proposed plea agreement signed by assistant director David Halls, who oversaw safety on set, has not yet been approved by a judge and cannot be published.

Prosecutors said previously that Halls has agreed to plead guilty in the negligent use of a deadly weapon. Prosecutors say Halls may have handled the gun improperly before it was given to Baldwin.

Heather Brewer, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, said in a statement Monday that prosecutors are “fully focused on securing justice for Halyna Hutchins” and “the evidence and the facts speak for themselves.”

Baldwin, also a co-producer on “Rust,” has described the killing as a tragic accident. The 64-year-old actor said he was told the gun was safe and has sought to clear his name by suing people involved in handling and supplying the loaded .45-caliber revolver.

In his lawsuit, Baldwin said that while working on camera angles with Hutchins, he pointed the gun in her direction and pulled back and released the hammer of the weapon, which discharged.

Defense attorney Jason Bowles, who represents Gutierrez-Reed, said the charges are the result of a “flawed investigation” and an “inaccurate understanding of the full facts.”

Defendants can participate remotely in many initial court proceedings or seek to have their first appearance waived.

The decision to charge Baldwin marks a stunning turn of events for an A-list actor whose 40-year career included the early blockbuster “The Hunt for Red October” and a starring role in the sitcom “30 Rock,” as well as iconic appearances in Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” and a film adaptation of David Mamet’s “Glengary Glen Ross.” In recent years, Baldwin was known for his impression of former President Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live.”

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AP Entertainment writer Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.