Part of our “News That Matters“ Series, “Weekend Update” is a weekly feature that offers brief overviews of important news that might have been overlooked in the course of a busy weekend. Here’s what you may have missed in the period January 24 through January 26,, 2025.
@WEATHER AND TRAVEL
Friday’s Storm in Ireland and Great Britain Surpassed the ‘Big Wind’ of 1839, Setting Record
The storm that hit Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland on Friday surpassed the so-called “big wind” storm of January 6, 1839. The ferocious storm tore through Ireland that night and as many as 800 people were killed. The big wind did have one positive outcome: It inspired Rev. Dr. John Thomas Romney Robinson of the Armagh Observatory to invent the Robinson four-cup anemometer, which uses four hemispherical cups and mechanical wheels to measure wind speed and direction as its cups spin around in the wind.
Heavy Snow, Severe Weather in U.S. Forecast
The next significant storm system in the United Staters is one that could produce feet of snow across portions of the Southwest and the Plains in the coming week. Meanwhile, severe weather could hit parts of the Southeast and Gulf Coast. Some parts of these regions are still recovering from last week’s historic blizzard.
The development of either of these storm systems is still a few days out so expect complete coverage from the Frequent Business Traveler/The Travelist meteorology team as we get closer to the weather event.
Sunset on January 11, 2025
@DEADLINE
TRUMP FREEZES ALL FOREIGN AID WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT
The Uniterd States announced a broad freeze on foreign aid after President Trump ordered a review of all foreign assistance. Trump ordered the pause to review if aid allocation was aligned with his foreign policy.
The U.S. State Department issued a “stop-work” order on Friday for all foreign aid, but current and future, based on instructions from Trump to Secretary of State Marcus Rubio.
Waivers were issued for military financing for Israel and Egypt according to a cable viewed by Frequent Business Traveler and The Travelist, but no other countries, but no other exceptions were mentioned in the cable.
The pause will impact multiple areas including health, education, and civil society projects. The United States is the single largest provider of such aid. The total amount of aid issued in 2023 was $72 billion.
Meanwhile, critics argue that the pause could weaken U.S. influence abroad.
The freeze will likely impact the work of PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, among other mission critical programs in the healthsphere. The program, created in 2003 by President George Bush, to help prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS.
Plaza de Mercado de Paloquemao, Bogotá, Colombia
U.S. BEGINS ARRESTING AND DEPORTING ILLEGAL CRIMINAL ALIENS
Federal law enforcement officials including agents from the United States Immigration and Customs arrested at least 500 undocumented migrants wanted for outstanding crimes in sanctuary cities, including three in New York.
In addition, on Sunday, the Trump administration launched an immigration enforcement blitz focused on the city of Chicago that includes several federal agencies that have been granted additional authorities to arrest undocumented immigrants in the United States, according to multiple sources.
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with federal partners, including the FBI, ATF, DEA, CBP and the U.S. Marshals Service, began conducting enhanced targeted operations today in Chicago to enforce U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities,” the statement reads.
The arrests have been largely effective in capturing MS-13 gang members and murder suspects but reports indicate that several U.S. citizens – including a military veteran – were also arrested.
TRUMP ANNOUNCES RETALIATORY MEASURES AFTER COLOMBIA BLOCKS DEPORTATION FLIGHTS
Colombia denied entry to two U.S. military deportation flights, a move which resulted in multiple threats from President Trump including retaliatory tariffs that would start at 25% and rise one week later to 50%.
The flights, which originated in California, were initially cleared for landing, until President Gustavo Petro suddenly revoked all diplomatic clearances for them, a U.S. official told a reporter.
In a statement later, Petro’s office wrote that the flights were halted not because he did not want to facilitate the return of Colombians back into his country but because the government was prioritizing “dignified conditions” for the return of the migrants.
@BRIEFLY NOTED
Man Charged in Death of Veteran American Airlines Flight Attendant
The man whom prosecutors said murdered a veteran American Airlines flight attendant, Celinda Levno, 71, and another person in the course of a stabbling spree during which two others were wounded, had been released on bond while being placed into a mental health program following numerous other offenses. Denver District Attorney John Walsh said that Elijah Caudill was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the stabbing deaths of Flight Attendant Levo and 34 year-old Nicholas Burkett in downtown Denver.
D.C. Welcomes Giant Pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao at National Zoo
Two giant pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao, made their long-awaited public debut at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Washington, D.C. The male and female, respectively, pandas departed their hometown in Sichuan Province and arrived in the U.S. capital city on October 15, 2024 but could not be presented to the public until completing a quarantine period.
U.K. Plans Digital Mobile ID
The UK government is going to launch an app to support digital mobile government-issued documents such as driver’s licenses and veterans cards. Science Secretary Peter Kyle announced the GOV.UK Wallet will be available for both Apple iOS- and Android-powered mobile devices. IDs on the government app will be accepted as proof of identity for voting, boarding domestic flights, and buying alcohol.
Detecting Alzheimer’s Before a Patient Becomes Symptomatic
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic said that a simple blood test can detect changes in the brain that predict Alzheimer’s Disease up to 15 years before the patient might experience any symptoms. Cognitive decline – what many typically view as the disease itself – is merely the illness’s denouement. “Dementia is a result. Dementia is a symptom,” explains Clifford R. Jack, Jr., a neuroradiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and chairman of the Alzheimer’s Association working group responsible for recent guidelines for the diagnosis of the condition based on underlying biology, not clinical presentation.
Timothy Perry, Jesse Sokolow, Jonathan Spira, Kurt Stolz, and Paul Riegler contributed to this issue of Weekend Update.
(Photos: Accura Media Group)
