You may have read my colleague’s story about about lobster carcasses washing up on a San Clemente beach, and suspicions that the Almost-Christmas Crustacean Massacre may have been tied to the release of wastewater — with traces of radioactivity — from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

These “liquid batch releases,” as they’re called in official parlance, have been happening about a mile offshore from the San Onofre plant for more than a half-century. And they’re far less common in today’s tear-down phase (several times a year) than they were (just about daily) when the plant was still splitting atoms.

About 35,000 gallons of wastewater were released in December — roughly enough to fill a junior Olympic-sized swimming pool halfway. Combined with the other four releases last year, the total radiation dose was about  0.000592 millirem, well under the “Annual Whole Body Dose Limit” for radiation set by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, according to San Onofre’s operator, Southern California Edison.

Now, there are sensible folks who don’t believe there’s any “safe” level of man-made radiation spewed into the environment.

And we certainly would not want to drink that 35,000 gallons of wastewater.

But at the risk of the wrath from never-nukers (who regularly bash this humble scribe for not crying “We’re all going to die!” every time we utter the words “San Onofre”) we’ll point out that a) correlation is not causation; stress again that b) wastewater releases much bigger than these have been happening for more than 50 years without Godzilla rising from the depths to devour us; and note that c) we are all going to die, but probably not from San Onofre.

Does living near an active nuclear power plant translate to more cancer cases? Ah. Good question. European studies have suggested that kids are, indeed, at higher risk. But the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission killed a study that would have explored that question in this country. (That’s literally another story, which we wrote in 2017. We’d still love to see the study done and get an answer.)

Anyway, officials from California State Parks and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said there’s nothing unusual about the lobster carcasses washing up on the beach. But as official proclamations are often met with deep skepticism in these parts, we turned to Disinterested Experts for their take.

‘Unlikely’

“While I can’t know for sure without seeing or testing the lobsters myself, in my professional opinion it is unlikely that radioactive releases have caused deaths in the local lobster population, and that there are other more plausible explanations,” said Amy Henry, Ph.D., a marine ecologist, researcher and lecturer at UCI Irvine.

“First, the radiation released becomes diluted very quickly in the large volume of the ocean, and the amount an individual lobster would be exposed to is not very much. While it hasn’t been studied in California spiny lobsters, I found a study of the effects of radiation on European lobsters. The closely related lobsters in this study did not die from the much higher and more frequent doses they tested (though they had lowered reproductive capacity), so its unlikely the California lobsters would be hundreds of times more susceptible,” she said.

“In addition, if the radiation were enough to kill lobsters, it would also be killing many, many more species of marine life. The effects of radioactive pollution on other marine life is better studied and extremely variable.”

Studies done after the unprecedented Fukushima disaster in 2011 found elevated levels of radioactive contamination in marine life in the harbor. But studies also found that within a few years the vast majority of seafood caught off the Northeast Coast of Japan was below Japan’s strict radiation limits.

The local carcasses may simply be a run-of-the-mill lobster molt. California spiny lobsters shed their exoskeletons once a year, in the fall. Large waves from winter storms may have washed the molts onto the beach, Henry said — something observed in Dana Point in 2024, San Diego and Imperial Beach in 2023, Strands Beach in 2022, etc.

“The shell can look quite intact but clean inside after it’s discarded, though often the main carapace (the body shell from the eyes to the tail) pops off. The feathery-looking gills also molt and remain attached inside near the legs. If there isn’t actually lobster tissue still in the tail or legs, and it doesn’t smell overwhelmingly bad, its much more likely that this is a molt.”

There are a few other possible explanations, especially if the dead lobsters are stinky, she said. Yes, lobsters can get sick, but California spiny lobsters rarely get sick all at once. That’s because they’re relatively solitary creatures and avoid one other, (not unlike news editors), reducing disease transmission compared to other lobster species.

“Other pollutants such as pesticides or heavy metals don’t usually kill adult lobsters, and they can avoid areas during low salinity events, such as after large rainstorms. Its possible one or more of these stressors weakened some adult lobsters and they got washed up on the shore by the waves,” Henry said.

“Without examining them myself, I can’t say anything about these lobsters definitively. But based on past observations and what we know about both lobsters and radioactivity, it is likely that this is nothing to worry about in the grand scheme of ocean health.”

We also checked with the Surfrider Foundation, which didn’t feel it had enough information to comment. And we asked Garry Brown, founder and president of Orange County Coastkeeper and Inland Empire Waterkeeper. Brown has inquired about batch releases from San Onofre and learned that the quality of the wastewater is high, actually meeting drinking water standards. He wasn’t clear that there was any actual connection between the lobster carcasses and the batch release.

‘No logical threat’

And there isn’t, Edison said. The company has found no evidence that the releases have affected marine life.

“We check batches of wastewater prior to release and can confirm they meet drinking water standards — so there is no logical threat to the marine environment,” said spokesman Jeff Monford.

Edison had divers in the ocean inspecting the offshore conduits near the plant from Dec. 15-19, and they saw no issues as they sampled sediment and refurbished buoys in front of the plant, he said.

There’s also radiological environmental monitoring of the area, as per U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements, and gauging whether radiation is concentrating over time.

“We sample and monitor ocean water, ocean bottom sediment, shoreline sediment, kelp, and marine species at several beach locations north and south of the plan to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the community. The (Nuclear Regulator Commission) sets strict limit guidelines for commercial nuclear plants. Through this monitoring, we have seen no detrimental impact from (San Onofre) on the local environment,” he said.

Edison has been addressing skepticism about the batch releases for years, and made a video to explain its processes that you can find at http://bit.ly/49p4bOw.

There were five batch releases last year (on Jan. 14, Jan. 29, Feb. 6, March 20 and Dec. 11), totaling 469,661 gallons and the aforementioned 0.0000445 millirem, Edison said.

The NRC sets release limits, and the annual allowance for San Onofre is 6 millirem from liquid effluents. Natural sources of radiation — the sun, our food — contribute about 300 millirem per year for the average person, while man-made sources — think X-rays — contribute another 300 millirem a year.

Edison notifies the public 48 hours before batch releases, which will continue through the plant’s dismantlement (slated to wrap up in 2028-ish). Since all the water from the spent fuel cooling pools has been released, future releases will be largely water that accumulates from natural rainfall and water used for dust suppression during demolition, Monford said.

Releases have averaged about 25,000 gallons, last some four to six hours, and use the Unit 2 conduit, which extends more than 8,000 feet into the ocean. The actual discharge occurs in the diffuser section, about 6,000 feet (1.1 mile) from shore.

“Swimming and surfing at San Onofre is safe,” Monford said. “Treated water releases have no measurable impact on people. The radiation dose is already extremely small, and once released, it’s diluted by the vast Pacific Ocean, dropping to levels too low to detect.

“Human exposure depends on pathways, and for liquid releases the only meaningful one would be eating seafood (e.g., fish, crustaceans) that accumulates radioactivity… It’s important to know, too, that decades of monitoring around SONGS show no such accumulation. There’s also no drinking‑water pathway because no potable water sources exist near the site.”

We hope this clears up some of the Almost-Christmas Crustacean Massacre mystery. Lobster bake, anyone?

The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in early trading, coming off its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 18 points, or less than 0.1%, to its own record set the day before, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time.

Moves were relatively quiet across the U.S. stock market, including for Warner Bros. Discovery after it again rejected a buyout bid from Paramount and told its shareholders to stick with a rival offer from Netflix.

Warner Bros. Discovery was flat, while Paramount Skydance slipped 0.4% and Netflix rose 1.1%.

In the oil market, crude prices fell after President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Venezuela would provide 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude dropped 1.1% to $56.52. Brent crude, the international standard, fell a more modest 0.4% to $60.42 per barrel.

Prices for oil have swung through the week following Trump’s weekend move against Venezuela, which is likely sitting on some of the largest deposits of oil in the world.

Any additional oil flowing from Venezuela into the global system would push down on crude prices by increasing their supplies. Oil prices had already earlier fallen back to where they were in 2021 because of expectations of plentiful supplies. But to pull much more oil from the Venezuelan ground would likely require big investments to improve aging infrastructure.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after a report suggested employers outside of the government added 41,000 more jobs last month than they cut. That’s a return to growth for the survey by ADP, but Wall Street often waits for the U.S. Labor Department’s more comprehensive monthly numbers to fully react. That will come on Friday.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.13% from 4.18% late Tuesday.

The hope on Wall Street is that the job market remains solid enough for the economy to avoid a recession but not so strong that it keeps the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates. The Fed cut its main interest rate three times last year to shore up the slowing job market, but it’s indicated fewer cuts may be ahead because inflation stubbornly remains above its 2% target.

Lower interest rates can worsen inflation, while also giving the economy and investment prices a boost.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed among some sharp moves across Europe and Asia.

Indexes dropped 0.8% in London, 0.9% in Hong Kong and 1.1% in Tokyo, while rising 0.6% in Seoul.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) — Families whose loved ones died in the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school massacre sobbed in court while listening to frantic 911 calls during the first day of testimony in the trial of a police officer accused of failing to protect the children by not doing enough to stop the attack.

A prosecutor told jurors Tuesday that former school officer Adrian Gonzales arrived outside the school just before the teenage gunman went inside but didn’t make a move to stop him even when a teacher pointed to where he was firing in a parking lot.

The officer went into Robb Elementary only “after the damage had been done,” special prosecutor Bill Turner said during opening statements.

The judge overseeing the case and attorneys warned jurors that the testimony and images will be emotional and difficult to process. Among those expected to testify will be some of the victims’ families.

Tissue boxes were brought to the families as the testimony began. Some shook their heads as they listened to audio from the first calls for help. Their cries grew louder as the horror unfolded on the recordings.

Defense attorneys disputed that Gonzales — one of two officers charged in the 2022 attack — did nothing, saying he radioed for more help and evacuated children as other police arrived.

“The government makes it want to seem like he just sat there,” said defense attorney Nico LaHood. “He did what he could, with what he knew at the time.”

Prosecutors focused sharply on Gonzales’ steps in the minutes after the shooting began and as the first officers arrived. They did not address the hundreds of other local, state and federal officers who arrived and waited more than an hour to confront the gunman, who was eventually killed by a tactical team of officers.

Gonzales has pleaded not guilty to child abandonment or endangerment and could be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison if convicted.

Witness testimony will resume Thursday morning.

Students grabbed scissors to confront attacker

Defense attorneys said Tuesday that Gonzales was focused on assessing where the gunman was while also thinking he was being fired on without protection against a high-powered rifle.

“This isn’t a man waiting around. This isn’t a man failing to act,” defense attorney Jason Goss said.

Gonzales and former Uvalde schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo are the only two officers to face criminal charges over the response. Arredondo’s trial has not been scheduled.

Gonzales, a 10-year veteran of the police force, had extensive active shooter training, the special prosecutor said.

“When a child calls 911, we have a right to expect a response,” Turner said, his voice trembling with emotion.

As Gonzales waited outside, children and teachers hid inside darkened classrooms and grabbed scissors “to confront a gunman,” Turner said. “They did as they had been trained.”

Families question why more officers weren’t charged

It’s rare for an officer to be criminally charged with not doing more to save lives.

“He could have stopped him, but he didn’t want to be the target,” said Velma Lisa Duran, sister of teacher Irma Garcia, who was among the 19 students and two teachers who were killed.

Some families of the victims have voiced anger that more officers were not charged given that nearly 400 federal, state and local officers converged on the school soon after the attack.

An investigation found 77 minutes passed from the time authorities arrived until they breached the classroom and killed Salvador Ramos, who was obsessed with violence and notoriety leading up to the shooting.

Reviews found many failures with police response

State and federal reviews of the shooting cited cascading problems in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology, and questioned why officers waited so long.

The officer’s attorneys told jurors that there was plenty of blame to go around — from the lack of security at the school to police policy — and that prosecutors will try to play on their emotions by showing photos from the scene.

“What the prosecution wants you to do is get mad at Adrian. They are going to try to play on your emotions,” Goss said.

“The monster who hurt these children is dead,” he said.

Prosecutors likely will face a high bar to win a conviction. A Florida sheriff’s deputy was acquitted by a jury after being charged with failing to confront the shooter in the Parkland, Florida, school massacre in 2018 — the first such prosecution in the U.S. for an on-campus shooting.

Vertuno reported from Austin, Texas. Associated Press journalists Nicholas Ingram in Corpus Christi, Texas; Juan A. Lozano in Houston; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has seized two sanctioned oil tankers linked to Venezuela in back-to-back actions in North Atlantic and Caribbean, officials revealed early Wednesday morning.

U.S. European Command announced the seizure of the merchant vessel Bella 1 for “violations of U.S. sanctions” in a social medial post. The U.S. had been pursuing the tanker since last month after it tried to evade a U.S. blockade on sanctioned oil vessels around Venezuela.

Then, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem revealed that U.S. forces also took control of the tanker Sophia in the Caribbean in a social media post. Noem said both ships were “either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it.”

The U.S. military seized the Bella 1 and subsequently handed over control of it to law enforcement officials, said a U.S. official, who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.

The ship was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2024 for allegedly smuggling cargo for a company linked to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran. The U.S. Coast Guard attempted to board it in the Caribbean in December as it headed for Venezuela. The ship refused boarding and headed across the Atlantic.

During this time, the Bella 1 was renamed Marinera and flagged to Russia, shipping databases show. The U.S. official also confirmed that the ship’s crew had painted a Russian flag on the side of the hull.

Earlier Wednesday, open-source maritime tracking sites showed its position as between Scotland and Iceland, traveling north. The U.S. official also confirmed the ship was in the North Atlantic.

U.S. military planes have flown over the vessel, and on Tuesday a Royal Air Force surveillance plane was shown on flight-tracking sites flying over the same area.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said before the seizure that it was “following with concern the anomalous situation that has developed around the Russian oil tanker Marinera.”

The ministry’s statement, which was carried by the official Tass news agency, added that “for several days now, a U.S. Coast Guard ship has been following the Marinera, even though our vessel is approximately 4,000 km from the American coast.”

In a post to social media, U.S. European Command confirmed that the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Munro tracked the ship ahead of its seizure “pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court.”

The military command went on to say that the seizure supported President Donald Trump’s proclamation on targeting sanctioned vessels that “threaten the security and stability of the Western Hemisphere.” The tanker’s seizure comes just days after U.S. military forces conducted a surprise nighttime raid on Venezuela’s capital of Caracas and captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

In the wake of this raid, officials in Trump’s Republican administration have said that they intended to continue to seize sanctioned vessels connected to the country.

“We are enforcing American laws with regards to oil sanctions,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on NBC on Sunday. “We go to court. We get a warrant. We seize those boats with oil. And that will continue.”

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A series of mild eruptions at the most active volcano in the Philippines has prompted the evacuation of nearly 3,000 villagers in a permanent danger zone on its foothills, officials said Wednesday.

Authorities raised the 5-step alert around Mayon Volcano in the northeastern province of Albay to level 3 on Tuesday after detecting intermittent rockfalls, some as big as cars, from its peak crater in recent days along with deadly pyroclastic flows — a fast-moving avalanche of super-hot rock fragments, ash and gas.

Alert level 5 would indicate a major explosive eruption, often with violent ejections of ash and debris and widespread ashfall, is underway.

“This is already an eruption, a quiet one, with lava accumulating up the peak and swelling the dome, which cracked in some parts and resulted in rockfalls, some as big as cars,” Teresito Bacolcol, the country’s chief volcanologist, told The Associated Press.

He said it is too early to tell if Mayon’s restiveness would worsen and lead to a major and violent eruption given the absence of other key signs of unrest, like a spike in volcanic earthquake and high levels of sulfur dioxide emissions.

Troops, police and disaster-mitigation personnel helped evacuate more than 2,800 villagers from 729 households inside a 3.7-mile radius from the volcano’s crater that officials have long designated a permanent danger zone, demarcated by concrete warning signs, Albay provincial officials said.

Another 600 villagers living outside the permanent danger zone have evacuated voluntarily to government-run emergency shelters to be safely away from the volcano, Claudio Yucot, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, said.

Entry to the permanent danger zone in the volcano’s foothills is prohibited, but thousands of villagers have flouted the restrictions and made it their home or maintained farms on and off for generations. Lucrative businesses, such as sand and gravel quarrying and sightseeing tours, have also thrived openly despite the ban and the mountain’s frequent eruptions — now 54 times since record began in 1616.

The 8,007-foot volcano is one of the Philippines’ top tourism draws because of its near-perfect cone shape. But it’s also the most active of the country’s 24 restive volcanoes.

A terrifying symbol of Mayon’s deadly fury is the belfry of a 16th-century Franciscan stone church which protrudes from the ground in Albay. It’s all that’s left of a baroque church that was buried by volcanic mudflow along with the town of Cagsawa in an 1814 eruption which killed about 1,200 people, including many who sought refuge in the church, about 8 miles from the volcano.

The thousands of people who live within Mayon’s danger zone reflect the plight of many impoverished Filipinos who are forced to live in dangerous places across the archipelago — near active volcanoes like Mayon, on landslide-prone mountainsides, along vulnerable coastlines, atop earthquake fault lines, and in low-lying villages often engulfed by flash floods.

Each year, about 20 typhoons and storms batter the Philippines, which lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of fault lines along the Pacific Ocean basin often hit by volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

“I hate those memories,” Pastor Rev. Matthew Hardin told the group assembled at the Brentwood Presbyterian Church, which has served as their temporary home since spring. “I really do. I hate them. And I was really not looking forward to this anniversary because I knew it was going to stir up those memories.”

• Also see: Live Coverage of 1-year anniversary of Jan. 7 wildfire

Hardin recounted the morning he was called from a meeting at the church to view the smoke rising from the hills where his home had been. He described getting the preschool evacuated and then running on foot a half-mile to Marquez Elementary School because the traffic was so backed up, in order to fetch his own children.

Hardin remembered seeing his church burning on the news, and then later the arduous struggles of dealing with the aftermath — grief and loss, struggles with insurance, and just trying to keep his congregation connected after many left the area.

He said that while many people now wear a t-shirt with the phrase “Palisades Strong” upon it, he fantasizes about getting a shirt that says “Palisades Exhausted.”

“It’s OK to feel both at the same time,” Hardin told the congregation. “It’s OK to not know what t-shirt to put on each day … It’s OK to be honest about what the fire has done to us.”

Hardin said that every person he has met who has gone through this situation has been remarkably strong.

“We are all stronger than we thought,” he said.

Associate Pastor Rev. Grace Park said that while details are still far from settled, the intention is to rebuild their church on the campus at 15821 Sunset Blvd.

“We have the spirit to rebuild, that’s what I’m telling people, but as everyone knows there’s a lot to consider,” Park said, including cost and a long list of logistics.

She said that while it’s been an emotionally charged year, they’ve also been overwhelmed by support presented from all over the world.

“It’s been a very difficult and challenging year … but also a year of hope,” Park said, “because we’re teaching ourselves and we’re reminding ourselves that a church is not just a building, it is a group of people that come together with faith and hope.”

Cynthia Block, an elder in the church for 23 years, described the bond of the Palisades congregation in particular.

“That was always one of the hallmarks of the Pali Pres family, that it was a family and people hung on and it was generational and families grew up there, so we want to get that back,” Block said.

Sharon Browning, a Palisades resident, became teary in describing the connection among her fellow parishioners with PPPC, as well as its loss.

“It has been a challenge for us,” Browning said. “If you’re a person of faith and you choose to have faith, then you care not only about yourself but you care about everybody else that’s a part of your family, so that’s really hard when you see the pain.”

Consequently, she said, it’s been hard to see displaced congregants no longer participating with PPPC.

“We are trying to keep in touch with them (but) we are blessed that Brentwood has welcomed us as warmly as they have and just done more than we could have imagined,” Browning said.

“That’s one of the angels that has come to us,” she said.

Jarret Liotta is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and photographer.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s opposition supporters have long hoped for the day when Nicolás Maduro is no longer in power — a dream that was fulfilled when the U.S. military whisked the authoritarian leader away. But while Maduro is in jail in New York on drug trafficking charges, the leaders of his repressive administration remain in charge.

The nation’s opposition — backed by consecutive Republican and Democratic administrations in the U.S. — for years vowed to immediately replace Maduro with one of their own and restore democracy to the oil-rich country. But U.S. President Donald Trump delivered them a heavy blow by allowing Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, to assume control.

Meanwhile, most opposition leaders, including Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, are in exile or prison.

“They were clearly unimpressed by the sort of ethereal magical realism of the opposition, about how if they just gave Maduro a push, it would just be this instant move toward democracy,” David Smilde, a Tulane University professor who has studied Venezuela for three decades, said of the Trump administration.

The U.S. seized Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores in a military operation Saturday, removing them both from their home on a military base in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. Hours later, Trump said the U.S. would “run” Venezuela and expressed skepticism that Machado could ever be its leader.

“She doesn’t have the support within, or the respect within, the country,” Trump told reporters. “She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”

Ironically, Machado’s unending praise for the American president, including dedicating her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump and her backing of U.S. campaigns to deport Venezuelan migrants and attack alleged drug traffickers in international waters, has lost her some support at home.

The rightful winner of Venezuela’s presidential election

Machado rose to become Maduro’s strongest opponent in recent years, but his government barred her from running for office to prevent her from challenging — and likely beating — him in the 2024 presidential election. She chose retired ambassador Edmundo González Urrutia to represent her on the ballot.

Officials loyal to the ruling party declared Maduro the winner mere hours after the polls closed, but Machado’s well-organized campaign stunned the nation by collecting detailed tally sheets showing González had defeated Maduro by a 2-to-1 margin.

The U.S. and other nations recognized González as the legitimate winner.

However, Venezuelans identify Machado, not González, as the winner, and the charismatic opposition leader has remained the voice of the campaign, pushing for international support and insisting her movement will replace Maduro.

In her first televised interview since Maduro’s capture, Machado effusively praised Trump and failed to acknowledge his snub of her opposition movement in the latest transition of power.

“I spoke with President Trump on Oct. 10, the same day the prize was announced, not since then,” she told Fox News on Monday. “What he has done as I said is historic, and it’s a huge step toward a democratic transition.”

Hopes for a new election

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday seemed to walk back Trump’s assertion that the U.S. would “run” Venezuela. In interviews, Rubio insisted that Washington will use control of Venezuela’s oil industry to force policy changes, and called its current government illegitimate. The country is home to the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves.

Neither Trump nor Rodríguez have said when, or if, elections might take place in Venezuela.

Venezuela’s constitution requires an election within 30 days whenever a president becomes “permanently unavailable” to serve. Reasons listed include death, resignation, removal from office or “abandonment” of duties as declared by the National Assembly. That electoral timeline was rigorously followed when Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, died of cancer in 2013.

On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally who traveled with the president on Air Force One on Sunday, said he believes an election will happen but did not specify when or how.

“We’re going to build the country up – infrastructure wise – crescendoing with an election that will be free,” the South Carolina Republican told reporters.

But Maduro loyalists in the high court Saturday, citing another provision of the constitution, declared Maduro’s absence “temporary” meaning there is no election requirement. Instead, the vice president — which is not an elected position — takes over for up to 90 days, with a provision to extend to six months if approved by the National Assembly, which is controlled by the ruling party.

Challenges lie ahead for the opposition

In its ruling, Venezuela’s Supreme Court made no mention of the 180-day limit, leading to speculation that Rodríguez could try to cling to power as she seeks to unite ruling party factions and shield it from what would certainly be a stiff electoral challenge.

Machado on Monday criticized Rodríguez as “one the main architects of torture, persecution, corruption, narco-trafficking … certainly not an individual that can be trusted by international investors.”

Even if an election takes place, Machado and González would first have to find a way back into Venezuela.

González has been in exile in Spain since September 2024 and Machado left Venezuela last month when she appeared in public for the first time in 11 months to receive her Nobel Prize in Norway.

Ronal Rodríguez, a researcher at the Venezuela Observatory in Colombia’s Universidad del Rosario, said the Trump administration’s decision to work with Rodríguez could harm the nation’s “democratic spirit.”

“What the opposition did in the 2024 election was to unite with a desire to transform the situation in Venezuela through democratic means, and that is embodied by María Corina Machado and, obviously, Edmundo González Urrutia,” he said. “To disregard that is to belittle, almost to humiliate, Venezuelans.”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s army chief threatened preemptive military action Wednesday over the “rhetoric” targeting the Islamic Republic, likely referring to U.S. President Donald Trump’s warning that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the United States “will come to their rescue.”

The comments by Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami come as Iran tries to respond to what it sees as a dual threat posed by Israel and the United States, as well as the protests sparked by its economic woes that have grown into a direct challenge to its theocracy.

Seeking to halt the anger, Iran’s government began Wednesday paying the equivalent of $7 a month to subsidize rising costs for dinner table essentials like rice, meat and pastas. Shopkeepers warn prices for items as basic as cooking oil likely will triple under pressure from the collapse of Iran’s rial currency and the end of a preferential subsidized dollar-rial exchange rate for importers and manufacturers — likely fueling further popular anger.

“More than a week of protests in Iran reflects not only worsening economic conditions, but longstanding anger at government repression and regime policies that have led to Iran’s global isolation,” the New York-based Soufan Center think tank said.

Army chief’s threat

Hatami spoke to military academy students. He took over as commander in chief of Iran’s army, known by the Farsi word “Artesh,” after Israel killed a number of the country’s top military commanders in June’s 12-day war. He is the first regular military officer in decades to hold a position long controlled by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

“The Islamic Republic considers the intensification of such rhetoric against the Iranian nation as a threat and will not leave its continuation without a response,” Hatami said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

He added, “I can say with confidence that today the readiness of Iran’s armed forces is far greater than before the war. If the enemy commits an error, it will face a more decisive response, and we will cut off the hand of any aggressor.”

Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have been responding to Trump’s comments, which took on more significance after the U.S. military raid that seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a longtime ally of Tehran, over the weekend. But there’s been no immediate public sign of Iran preparing for an attack in the region.

New subsidy payment begins

Iranian state television reported on the start of a new subsidy of the equivalent of $7, put into the bank accounts of heads of households across the country. More than 71 million people will receive the benefit, which is 10 million Iranian rials, it reported. The rial now trades at over 1.4 million to $1 and continues to depreciate.

The subsidy is more than double than the 4.5 million rial people previously received. But already, Iranian media report sharp rises in the cost of basic goods, including cooking oil, poultry and cheese, placing additional strain on households already burdened by international sanctions targeting the country and inflation.

Iran’s vice president in charge of executive affairs, Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah, told reporters on Wednesday that the country was in a “full-fledged economic war.” He called for “economic surgery” to eliminate rentier policies and corruption within the country.

More protests

Iran has faced rounds of nationwide protests in recent years. As sanctions tightened and Iran struggled after the June war with Israel, its rial currency sharply fell in December. Protests began soon after on Dec. 28. They reached their 11th day on Wednesday and didn’t appear to be stopping.

Social media videos purported to show new cities like Bojnourd, Kerman, Rasht, Shiraz and Tabriz, as well some smaller towns, joining the demonstrations on Wednesday.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency offered the latest death toll of 36 for the demonstrations. It said 30 protesters, four children and two members of Iran’s security forces have been killed. Demonstrations have reached over 310 locations in 28 of Iran’s 31 provinces. More than 2,100 people have been arrested, it said.

The group, which relies on an activist network inside of Iran for its reporting, has been accurate in past unrest.

Events across the region are taking place all day at schools, local businesses, houses of worship and burned down local landmarks in various stages of rebuilding.

Some will be simple gatherings, where survivors and neighbors will reflect. Some events will be more ceremonial, where the memories of lives losts and survivors will be honored. In still other moments today, local leaders and survivors plan to weigh in on the recovery process and call for accountability over the causes and responses to the blazes.

Also see: Our Eaton and Palisades fires ongoing recovery and rebuilding coverage

What you need to know one year later:

• The two fires, which sparked eight hours apart, combined to kill at least 31 people, destroy more than 15,000 structures and burn nearly 40,000 acres.
• This past fall a 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of lighting the fire that officials say eventually swelled into the Palisades fire.
• Altadena awaits the official cause of the Eaton fire, but survivors and plaintiff attorneys in hundreds of lawsuits point to the public utility Southern California Edison as being at fault for its equipment and mismanagement sparking the blaze in the foothills above the town.

Our team of reporters and photographers are out in both communities today covering several remembrance events taking place throughout the day.

Remembrances begin in a context of prayer, reflection

Remembrances, reflections in both fire footprints began in earnest on Tuesday night.

About 400 people gathered under big white tent on North Altadena Drive, the first time Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center congregants have been together at the site. It’s where the synagogue once stood, before the Eaton fire burned it down on its path through Altadena, Pasadena and Sierra Madre.

“This space is for all of us to mourn together, pay tribute to those we lost, and acknowledge the depth of our sorrow,” the temple’s Rabbi Joshua Ratner said.

The temple’s original building was constructed in 1941. About 15 member families lost their homes in the blaze, and many remain displaced.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who received an award at the event, acknowledged today’s anniversary will be a difficult one for her, even as she thanked the Jewish community for making her a better leader.

“Tonight, I look at this as a time of hope, of what can be done when we work together,” she said.

In the Palisades late Tuesday, in a service juxtaposing grief and hope, the displaced congregation of the Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church met  for a bittersweet gathering that marked the one-yearanniversary of the fire that destroyed their church.

“I hate those memories,” Pastor Matthew Hardin told the group assembled at theBrentwood Presbyterian Church, which has served as their temporary home since spring. “Ireally do. I hate them. And I was really not looking forward to this anniversary because I knew itwas going to stir up those memories.”

A look at the future at LAUSD’s impacted campuses

One year after the Palisades fire destroyed or damaged three school campuses, Los Angeles Unified School District officials have announced that Palisades Charter High School will reopen its campus in two weeks, while permanent rebuilding of two elementary schools is expected to be completed by fall of 2028.

The January 2025 fire forced the evacuation and relocation of thousands of students at Marquez Charter Elementary, Palisades Charter Elementary and Palisades Charter High School, triggering the most widespread school disruptions in the nation’s second-largest school district since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are here today to celebrate one year, to memorialize the tragedy, the sacrifice, the anger, the pain suffered by the Palisades community a year ago as a result of these unprecedented, devastating fires,” Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said. “But like the phoenix, we cannot be kept down. We are flying high.”

Denmark and Greenland are seeking a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio after the Trump administration doubled down on its intention to take over the strategic Arctic island, a Danish territory.

Tensions escalated after the White House said Tuesday that the “U.S. military is always an option,” even as a series of European leaders rejected President Donald Trump’s renewed calls for the U.S. to take over Greenland, citing strategic reasons.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned earlier this week that a U.S. takeover would amount to the end of the NATO military alliance.

“The Nordics do not lightly make statements like this,” Maria Martisiute, a defense analyst at the European Policy Centre think tank, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “But it is Trump, whose very bombastic language bordering on direct threats and intimidation, is threatening the fact to another ally by saying ‘I will control or annex the territory.’”

The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom joined Frederiksen in a statement Tuesday reaffirming that the mineral-rich island “belongs to its people.”

Their statement defended the sovereignty of Greenland, which is a self-governing territory of Denmark and thus part of NATO.

Trump has floated since his first term the idea of acquiring Greenland, arguing that the U.S. needs to control the world’s largest island to ensure its own security in the face of rising threats from China and Russia in the Arctic.

This weekend’s U.S. military action in Venezuela has heightened fears across Europe, and Trump and his advisers in recent days have reiterated the U.S. leader’s desire to take over the island, which guards the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America.

“It’s so strategic right now,” Trump told reporters Sunday.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, have requested the meeting with Rubio in the near future, according to a statement posted Tuesday to Greenland’s government website. Previous requests for a sit-down were not successful, the statement said.

While most U.S. Republicans have supported Trump’s statement, Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis, the Democratic and Republican co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate NATO Observer Group, blasted Trump’s rhetoric in a statement Tuesday.

“When Denmark and Greenland make it clear that Greenland is not for sale, the United States must honor its treaty obligations and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” the statement said. “Any suggestion that our nation would subject a fellow NATO ally to coercion or external pressure undermines the very principles of self-determination that our Alliance exists to defend.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said he spoke by phone Tuesday with Rubio, who dismissed the idea of a Venezuela-style operation in Greenland.

“In the United States, there is massive support for the country belonging to NATO – a membership that, from one day to the next, would be compromised by … any form of aggressiveness toward another member of NATO,” Barrot told France Inter radio Wednesday.

Asked if he has a plan in case Trump does claim Greenland, Barrot said he won’t engage in “fiction diplomacy.”

Associated Press journalists Geir Moulson in Berlin and Mark Carlson in Brussels contributed to this report.