UN Palestinian aid agency says Israeli police 'forcibly entered' compound in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police forcibly entered the compound of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem early Monday, escalating a campaign against an organization that has been banned fromoperating on Israeli territory.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, said in a statement that "sizeable numbers" of Israeli forces including police on motorcycles, trucks and forklifts entered the compound in the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah and cut communications to the compound.

"The unauthorized and forceful entry by Israeli security forces is an unacceptable violation of UNRWA's privileges and immunities as a U.N. agency," the agency said.

Photos taken by an Associated Press photographer show police cars on the street and an Israeli flag planted on the compound's roof. Photos provided by UNRWA staff show a group of Israeli police officers inside the compound.

Police said in a statement they entered for a "debt-collection procedure" spearheaded by Jerusalem's municipal government, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israel conducting long-running campaign against UNRWA

The raid was the latest action in Israel's campaign against the agency, which provides aid and services to some 2.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as 3 million more refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

The agency was established to help the estimated 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were driven out of what is now Israel duringthe 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation. UNRWA supporters say Israel hopes to erase the Palestinian refugee issue by dismantling the agency. Israel says the refugees should be permanently resettled outside its borders.

For more than a year of the Israel-Hamas war that began Oct. 7, 2023, UNRWA was the main lifeline for Gaza's population, which was largely reliant on aid because of humanitarian crisis unleashed by heavy Israeli bombardment and restrictions on the entry of goods.

Throughout the war, Israel has accused the agency of being infiltrated by Hamas, allegations the U.N. has denied. After months of mounting attacks fromPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuand his far-right allies, Israelformally bannedit from operating on its territory in January.

The U.S., formerly the largest donor to UNRWA, halted funding to the agency in early 2024.

UNRWA receives assistance from other agencies

UNRWA has since struggled to continue its work in Gaza, with other U.N. agencies including WFP and UNICEF stepping in to help compensate for a gap UNRWA says is unfillable.

"If you squeeze UNRWA out, what other agency can fill that void?" said Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA's director of external relations and communications, on the sidelines of theDoha Forumon Saturday.

The agency has been excluded from U.S.-led talks on Phase 2 of the ceasefire, she added.

UNRWA shut down its Jerusalem compound in May after far-right protesters, including at least one member of Israeli Parliament, overran its gate in view of the police. Israel's far-right has pushed to turn the compound into a settlement and the country's housing minister said last year he had instructed the ministry to "examine how to return the area to the state of Israel and utilize it for housing."

Josef Federman in Doha, Qatar, contributed to this report.

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UN Palestinian aid agency says Israeli police 'forcibly entered' compound in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police forcibly entered the compound of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees in Ea...

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Analysis-Silicon Valley-backed defense firms face growing pains after hot streak

By David Jeans, Mike Stone and Joe Brock

SIMI VALLEY, California, Dec 8 (Reuters) - U.S. defense technology companies have roughly doubled their share of Pentagon contracts over the past year, but they face growing pains as they try to evolve from hot startups into heavyweights capable of building weapons at scale.

Valuations for unlisted firms developing everything from unmanned "wingman" fighter jets, drone ​boats and AI-driven autonomous software have surged this year, alongside a rise in small Pentagon contracts, as the success of drones in Russia's war on Ukraine has intensified interest in next-generation weapons.

For ‌instance, drone boat manufacturer Saronic Technologies, which is building a shipyard in Louisiana, was valued at $4 billion in February. Anduril Industries, the drone and autonomous weapons startup led by Palmer Luckey, doubled its valuation to $30 billion in June. And in a funding round last ‌month, radars and sensors company Chaos Industries doubled its valuation to $4.5 billion.

Now, the Silicon Valley-backed companies face a bigger challenge: moving beyond research and prototype contracts to producing weapons at scale and competing with established defense firms, according to interviews and speeches by more than a dozen industry executives at this weekend's Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California.

"The defense tech space is booming, there are many people bringing commercial innovation to the defense area," said Christopher Calio, CEO of RTX, the defense giant behind the Patriot missile defense system and the engine that powers the F-35 fighter jet.

"I will say this, it's one thing to design and innovate. It's another thing to build ⁠a prototype, and then it's an entirely different ball game to then ‌scale manufacturing," Calio added.

SILICON VALLEY GETS LARGER SLICE OF PENTAGON PIE

Defense startups captured 1.3% of Pentagon contracts to defense firms in the first three quarters of this year, up from 0.6% a year earlier, according to data provided to Reuters by Govini, a Virginia-based defense analytics firm.

Meanwhile, the big defense "primes", which include Boeing (BA), Lockheed Martin (LMT), RTX and Northrop ‍Grumman, held steady at 92% of Pentagon contracts. European defense firms' share slipped to 6.6% from 7.4%.

"There will have to be more companies that have a shot at winning some of these larger contracts," Anduril Chairman Trae Stephens told Reuters. But, he added, "this is a hard, hard business. And the DOD (U.S. Department of Defense) is not going to create 10 new primes. There's not enough money to go around."

The annual Reagan forum was a collision of eras, where four-star generals and Washington ​defense CEOs in tailored suits mixed with baseball-cap-clad AI and drone company founders, debating how to scale new technologies for the battlefield against the backdrop of Simi Valley's rolling hills.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ‌said the Pentagon would move away from a "prime" dominated culture to a system where nimbler commercial companies would speed up weapons production to help counter China's rapidly growing military.

"Our objective is simple, if monumental," Hegseth said in his keynote speech. "Transform the entire acquisition system to rapidly accelerate the fielding of capabilities and focus on results."

HARD TO CHANGE PENTAGON CULTURE

Defense executives said delivering on Hegseth's vision will be tough given entrenched political interests, a backlog of Pentagon mega-projects, a bureaucracy wedded to old ways and powerful defense giants with lobbying muscle.

Most defense tech firms are a long way off transitioning from a prototype contract, which might be worth $10 million to $30 million, into a major program with production targets like those the Pentagon has awarded to big defense firms for decades, said Zach Shore, chief revenue officer at Hermeus, an Atlanta-based company developing an uncrewed hypersonic military jet.

"That ⁠next layer of bureaucracy, that's the next wall that a lot of companies are going to come up on," Shore ​told Reuters.

This year, the Pentagon awarded large swathes of major programs - including Ukraine military aid packages, an Air Force fighter jet initiative, ​and the $175 billion Golden Dome missile project - to legacy defense contractors.

Despite these challenges, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEOJamie Dimon, who announced $10 billion of direct equity investments in defense, manufacturing and tech companies in October, fired a warning shot at any legacy defense contractors who might be resting on their laurels.

"There's a valley of death for big companies too, who ‍go by the wayside, usually driven by complacency, arrogance, bureaucracy," ⁠he said on a panel at the summit.

NEWCOMERS AND OLD GUARD FORGE PARTNERSHIPS

Heeding this call, many of the old guard of the defense industry expressed a willingness to embrace partnerships with next-generation defense companies.

"As the defense industrial base surges to support the growth, we need to leverage the established companies and the new entrants," L3Harris Technologies CEO Chris Kubasik told Reuters.

In September, Shield AI, a ⁠San Diego-based software and drone firm, announced a partnership to build autonomous vessels with HII, America's largest military shipbuilder. Last month, Anduril and South Korea's HD Hyundai Heavy Industries said they were teaming up to build ships for commercial and military use.

Zach Mears, Anduril's ‌head of strategy, said the U.S. defense industry was approaching a tipping point after decades in which a small club of contractors dominated Pentagon deals.

"The light switch is in the ‌middle of being flipped," he said.

(Reporting by David Jeans, Mike Stone and Joe Brock; Editing by Jamie Freed)

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Analysis-Silicon Valley-backed defense firms face growing pains after hot streak

By David Jeans, Mike Stone and Joe Brock SIMI VALLEY, California, Dec 8 (Reuters) - U.S. defense technology comp...

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Congo battles worst cholera outbreak in 25 years, UNICEF says

Dec 8 (Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of the Congo is battling its worst cholera outbreak in 25 years which has ​killed almost 2,000 people since January, the U.N. children's agency ‌said on Monday.

In one case, a quarter of the children in a Kinshasa orphanage - ‌16 out of 62 - died days after the disease swept through, UNICEF added.

"Congolese children should not be so gravely affected by what is a wholly preventable disease," UNICEF spokesperson John Agbor said.

Cholera is a severe ⁠and potentially fatal diarrhoeal disease that ‌spreads quickly when sewage and drinking water are not adequately treated.

African health authorities last month raised the alarm ‍over a surge in the disease in Angola, Burundi and other parts of the continent, with an overall 30% increase on cases recorded last year.

In ​Congo, conflict and a lack of access to clean water were ‌exacerbating the crisis, and more funding was needed for sanitation, hygiene and health services, UNICEF said.

Since January, authorities have recorded 64,427 cases and 1,888 deaths, including 14,818 infections and 340 deaths among children, UNICEF said. Seventeen of the country's 26 provinces are currently impacted, the agency ⁠added.

Only 43% of people in Congo have ​access to at least basic water services, ​the lowest rate in Africa, and just 15% use basic sanitation, according to the statement.

The government has a cholera ‍elimination plan with ⁠a proposed budget of $192 million, but that remains severely underfunded, UNICEF said.

UNICEF is appealing for about $6 million in 2026 to sustain ⁠its rapid response work. "Without additional funds and coordinated action, many more lives could ‌be lost," Agbor said.

(Reporting by Sonia Rolley; Writing by Ayen ‌Deng Bior; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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Congo battles worst cholera outbreak in 25 years, UNICEF says

Dec 8 (Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of the Congo is battling its worst cholera outbreak in 25 years which has ​kill...

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Woman sentenced to 4 years in prison for blackmailing soccer star Son Heung-min

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A woman has been sentenced to four years in prison for blackmailing soccer star Son Heung-min, a South Korean court said Monday.

The woman, identified only as Yang, was charged with extorting 300 million won ($204,000) from Son in 2024 after sending him an ultrasound photo of a baby that she claimed was his and demanding money to stay silent.

She later conspired with a man, identified as Yong, to try to extort more money from Son.

The Seoul Central District Court on Monday said Yang "lied" to Son, although she hadn't confirmed whose child she was carrying.

The court said Yang denied the charges of extortion and attempted extortion. Yong, who confessed, was sentenced to two years in prison, according to the court.

The 33-year-old Son is among Asia's greatest players. After a decade at Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, the South Korean starjoined LAFC in August.

South Korean news agency, Yonhap, reported in May that a women in her 20s and a man in his 40s had beendetained on suspicion of attempting to blackmail Sonin June of last year while he was still at Tottenham.

AP soccer:https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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Woman sentenced to 4 years in prison for blackmailing soccer star Son Heung-min

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A woman has been sentenced to four years in prison for blackmailing soccer star Son Heung-min, ...

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3-year-old boy becomes world's youngest rated chess player

At the age of 3 years, 7 months and 20 days, a kindergartener from India has become theyoungest chess playerto earn an official rating from the sport's international governing body.

Sarwagya Singh Kushwaha, born in 2022, wasrated 1572in rapidchessby FIDE after beating opponents many times his age. The rating is considerably higher than the minimum 1400 required.

To be rated by the International Chess Federation, a player must score points against at least five already rated players at official events.

Sarwagya, who comes from the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, joins a growing list of young Indian players who have come to dominate the sport in recent years — a major shift from the Cold War era when Russians prevailed in the sport.

Sarwagya was about 30 months old when he started playing chess, his father, Siddharth Singh,told The Indian Express, an English-language newspaper in India.

"We pushed him into chess last year because we noticed his mind was a sponge and he would pick up things very quickly," Singh said.

"In a week of being taught chess he could name all the pieces accurately," he added.

Sarwagya plays chess for four to five hours a day, including one hour at a training center, the newspaper said.

His victories this year have included matches against Yogesh Namdev, 20, with a rating of 1696; Abhijeet Awasthi, 22 (1542); and Shubham Chourasiya, 29 (1559).

Sarwagya broke the record by almost a month, dethroning another Indian boy, Anish Sarkar, who last year was rated 1550 at the age of 3 years, 8 months and 19 days.

India's growing prowess culminated in an iconic moment in June, when Gukesh Dommaraju, 19, defeatedMagnus Carlsen, 35, who is widely considered one of the greatest players of all time and who ended the match by slamming his fist on the table.

Last year, Dommaraju became theyoungest-ever world champion.

Sarwagya could also train to become a grandmaster, his father said, following in the footsteps of Indian stars such as Dommaraju and five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand.

The record for youngest grandmaster is held by the American Abhimanyu Mishra, who in 2021 became one at the age of 12 years, 4 months and 25 days, three months earlier than Dommaraju.

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3-year-old boy becomes world's youngest rated chess player

At the age of 3 years, 7 months and 20 days, a kindergartener from India has become theyoungest chess playerto earn an official rating from...

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Big Boo Nation: Kentucky fans let Cats hear it, 3 teams have case for No. 1

When playing a neutral-site game, it's tough dealing with the opposing team fans taking over the arena, booing you endlessly. But it's much worse when that booing is coming from your own fan base.

That was the case in Nashville on Friday, Dec. 5, when Big Blue Nation was disgusted with what it witnessed. It tookKentuckynine minutes to make a shot. By the time that happened, Gonzaga was already up 19-5. The boos rained down for the majority of the night as theBulldogs routed the Wildcats by 35 points, the fourth-largest loss in program history.

Now Kentucky is in serious trouble.

The loss to Gonzaga came on the heels of the home collapse against short-handed North Carolina, when Kentucky went more than 10 minutes without a made shot to keep the Tar Heels alive. UNC took advantage and escaped Rupp Arena with a win.

The Wildcats are 5-4, and its an ugly record. The five wins all against mid-major competition. The four losses against ranked opponents, and three of them were hardly competitive.

It's already disaster time in Lexington and we're not even 10 games into the season. Mark Pope has to be feeling his seat getting warmer.

This is a team that was top-10 in recruiting and in the transfer portal, yet it can't shoot against good teams. This season, the Wildcats are shooting 47.4% from the field and 31.9% from deep. But against Power conference teams, they're just 38.2% from the field and 24.3% from 3-point land.

It all falls on Pope, and he's aware.

"All the boos that we heard tonight were incredibly well-deserved, mostly for me," Pope said after the Gonzaga loss.

Things have to change quickly because it won't get easier. Indiana and St. John's are still on the schedule before the SEC gauntlet starts.

The demise of the Wildcats headlines the past weekend of college hoops. Here's more that caught my eye:

Iowa State's emphatic statement

Not only didIowa State beat No. 1 Purdue, the Cyclones completely manhandled the Boilermakers. Iowa State continued its stellar offensive start to the season by going into Mackey Arena and beating Purdue by 23 points.

Coming into the game, the Cyclones shot a nation-leading 55% from the field and a 43.3% 3-point percentage. Against a stout defense, Iowa State wasn't slowed down at all with a 54.1% field goal percentage and 47.8% from deep. After starting the second half on a 13-2 run, Iowa State never let Purdue get within single digits and silenced one of the most hostile crowds in the country.

Given the circumstances, it's by far the best result of the season. Iowa State has been tough under TJ Otzelberger, but it felt like it wasn't being taken seriously. This team wins by an average of 30 points per game, the best in Division I. This should put the entire country, and especially the Big 12, on notice.

The Cyclones got star guard Tamin Lipsey back from injury, and this veteran-led squad is playing like one of the top teams in the country.

Who should be No. 1?

With Purdue's loss, a new No. 1 should emerge. The only problem is you can justify three teams getting the nod: Arizona, Michigan and Duke.

Let's start with the Wolverines, which followed upits dazzling in the Players Era Festival performancewith a 41-point romp over Rutgers. In the past four games, the Wolverines have two ranked wins and have won by an average margin of 37.7 points. They average 93.7 points per game, but did look shaky to start the season.

Then there's Arizona and its team full of playmakers. The Wildcats just stomped Auburn by 29 points for their fourth ranked win of the season, which includes a road win at Connecticut. Arizona hasn't been as dominant as Michigan, but the Wildcats have been consistent against all opponents.

Last but certainly not least is Duke. The Blue Devils went into Michigan State and left with a gritty win over the undefeated Spartans. That's the third straight ranked win and fourth overall on the season, and Cameron Boozer is playing like the best player in the country, averaging 23.6 points per game, second-most in the country.

So who should be No. 1? At this moment, it has to go to Arizona. The Wildcats have been more steady than Michigan, and the wins are more impressive than Duke. Arizona and Duke do share a common opponent in Florida, and the Gators nearly took down the Blue Devils. There isn't a wrong answer to this, especially when its still early December, but at this point, Arizona looks like the top team in the country.

Magic Johnson
college dominance: Led Michigan State to the 1979 NCAA Championship, defeating Larry Bird's Indiana State.
NBA: 5× NBA champion in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988 with the Los Angeles Lakers. 3× NBA Finals MVP in 1980, 1982 and 1987. 3× NBA Most Valuable Player in 1987, 1989 and 1990. 12× NBA All-Star: 1980, 1982-1992. 2× NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1990 and 1992. Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Carmelo Anthony college dominance: In his lone season (2003), led Syracuse to a national championship and earned Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors. Averaged 22.2 points and 10 rebounds per game as a freshman.
NBA: 10× NBA All-Star. 2012–13 NBA scoring champion, averaging 28.7 points per game.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

Before NBA glory: How Jordan, Bird, Magic and Curry ruled in college

Magic Johnsoncollege dominance:Led Michigan State to the 1979 NCAA Championship, defeating Larry Bird's Indiana State.NBA:5× NBA champion in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988 with the Los Angeles Lakers. 3× NBA Finals MVP in 1980, 1982 and 1987. 3× NBA Most Valuable Player in 1987, 1989 and 1990. 12× NBA All-Star: 1980, 1982-1992. 2× NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1990 and 1992. Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.

What's going on with Tennessee?

After beating Houston in the Players Era Festival, Tennessee has lost three consecutive games, the latest coming against Illinois thanks to a poor second half performance. It's strange because Rick Barnes' team looked so good in the first seven games, but it's been a mess since then.

It starts with the heavy load carried by guards Ja'Kobi Gillespie and Nate Ament. In the past three games, Tennessee has taken 186 shots, and the duo accounted for 48.4% of them. What's worse is the duo is shooting 30% during this stretch. The Volunteers need more production from the rest of the team. Tennessee has another test in Louisville coming up.

Star of the week: Hannes Steinbach

Much has been made of the stellar freshman class, but there's another newcomer making a name for himself.

Meet Washington forward Hannes Steinbach, who put on a show in his return from an ankle injury. Against UCLA, Steinbach scored a career-high 29 points and notched 10 rebounds, playing a big part in the near comeback against the Bruins. On Saturday, Dec. 7, the Huskies played Southern California and were down by as much as 18 points before Steinbach led a strong second half, propelling the Huskies for the come-from-behind win. He scored 14 points in the final 20 minutes and finished with 24 points and 16 rebounds, his fifth straight game with a double-double.

Steinbach is becoming a dominant force, and what's even scarier is he's deadly from 3-point land when he chooses to shoot. He averages 18.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game, which is second-most in the country. Don't be surprised to see more of Steinbach as conference play approaches, and the Huskies are a team to watch in the Big Ten.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:College basketball takeaways: Kentucky in trouble, who should be No. 1?

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Big Boo Nation: Kentucky fans let Cats hear it, 3 teams have case for No. 1

When playing a neutral-site game, it's tough dealing with the opposing team fans taking over the arena, booing you en...

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Turkish police officer dies from gunshot wounds suffered in Istanbul drug raid

ISTANBUL (AP) — A police officer died Monday after being shot and seriously wounded during an early morning drug raid in Istanbul, Turkish officials said.

Officer Emre Albayrak died of his wounds in a hospital. He was part of a special operations team carrying out the raid in the Cekmekoy district on Istanbul's Asian side.

"Our police officer Emre Albayrak, who was seriously injured in a narcotics operation in the Cekmekoy district, could not be saved despite all interventions in the hospital to which he was taken and became a martyr," Istanbul Governor's Office said in a statement.

The man who opened fire on police was killed and two other suspects were detained, the office said.

Turkey has experienced a rise in drug-related crime in recent years. There was a 23% rise in drug-related incidents last year compared to 2023, according to a National Police Counter-Narcotics Department report.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a social media post Monday that 970 suspects had been detained in nationwide counter-narcotics operations over the previous week.

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Turkish police officer dies from gunshot wounds suffered in Istanbul drug raid

ISTANBUL (AP) — A police officer died Monday after being shot and seriously wounded during an early morning drug raid in ...

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