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In the news today: President Trump signs an executive order targeting transgender athletes; Baltic nations are ending electricity ties to Russia; and a second type of bird flu has been detected in U.S. dairy cows. Also, AI helps decipher scrolls carbonized by a volcanic eruption 2,000 years ago.

President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

U.S. NEWS

Trump signs executive order intended to bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday intended to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. Read more.

Why this matters:

• The order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” gives federal agencies wide latitude to ensure entities that receive federal funding abide by Title IX in alignment with the Trump administration’s view, which interprets “sex” as the gender someone was assigned at birth.
  
  

• Trump found during the campaign that the topic resonated beyond the usual party lines. More than half the voters surveyed by AP VoteCast said support for transgender rights in government and society has gone too far.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• US officials now say Trump only wants to displace Palestinians from Gaza temporarily

   

• Israel begins preparations for Gaza exodus as Egypt lobbies against Trump plan

   

• Pro-Trump Arab American group changes its name after the president’s Gaza ‘Riviera’ comments

   

• Democratic senators protest after they say Trump gives Musk’s staff access to classified info

   

• Democrats sue GOP county executive over armed volunteer unit they say amounts to an illegal militia

   

• US to seize Venezuelan president’s plane held in Dominican Republic during Rubio visit

   

• Trump unleashes a supercharged MAGA agenda and Republicans come aboard

   

• Justice Dept. official accuses FBI chief of ‘insubordination,’ tamps down talk of revenge on agents

   

• Is it real or is it a trick? Federal workers debate legitimacy of buyout offer as deadline nears

   

• Scott Turner confirmed as Trump’s HUD secretary

   

• What to know about the court cases over President Trump’s birthright citizenship order

   

• Companies scaling back DEI goals include McDonald's, Target, Ford, Walmart and Google
  
  

• Fox News hires president’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump for weekend show on network

WORLD NEWS

Baltic nations count final hours before ending electricity ties to Russia

Nearly 3 1/2 decades after leaving the Soviet Union, the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania this weekend will flip a switch to end electricity-grid connections to neighboring Russia and Belarus and turn to their European Union allies. Read more.

Why this matters:

• On Saturday, all remaining transmission lines between the nations and Russia, Belarus and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad will be switched off one by one. The severing of electricity ties to oil- and gas-rich Russia is steeped in geopolitical and symbolic significance. Work toward it sped up after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine three years ago, battering Moscow’s EU relations.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• Ukraine wants partner countries to join in postwar development worth billions
  
  
• An EU fund to help troops move quickly is too small and poorly managed, auditors say

HEALTH

Second type of bird flu detected in US dairy cows

Dairy cattle in Nevada have been infected with a new type of bird flu that’s different from the version that has spread in U.S. herds since last year, Agriculture Department officials said Wednesday. The detection indicates that distinct forms of the virus known as Type A H5N1 have spilled over from wild birds into cattle at least twice Read more.

Why this matters:

• A version of H5N1, known as D1.1, was confirmed in Nevada cattle on Friday. It was detected in milk collected as part of a surveillance program launched in December. The D1.1 variant was linked to the first U.S. death tied to bird flu. At least 67 people in the U.S. have been infected with bird flu, mostly those who work closely with dairy or cattle, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• Wisconsin couple sues Walgreens and Optum Rx, saying son died after $500 price rise for asthma meds
  
  
• VA nurses are in short supply. Unions say Trump’s deferred resignation plan could make things worse
  
  
• San Francisco grants new mayor ‘unprecedented’ powers to battle fentanyl crisis

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IN OTHER NEWS

READ

Death penalty: Alabama set to execute a man with nitrogen gas for 1991 murder and rape

New Year’s Eve party: Honolulu records 6th death from massive explosion of fireworks

Philadelphia plane crash: Boy who protected sister from plane crash debris is making ‘miraculous’ recovery

Pennsylvania: The heist of 100,000 eggs becomes a whodunit that police have yet to crack

Today in History: In 1952, Queen Elizabeth II acceded to the throne

WATCH

Mount Washington rescue: Freezing hikers stuck in waist-deep snow rescued during whiteout

AP explains: Earthquakes keep rattling Santorini, Greece, every few minutes

Seattle airport: Parked Delta plane apparently struck by Japan Airlines plane that was taxiing

A CHANGE OF PACE

A papyrus scroll interior. (Vesuvius Challenge via AP)

AI and scientists unite to decipher scrolls charred by the Vesuvius volcano
Scientists hope a mix of artificial intelligence and human expertise will help decipher ancient scrolls carbonized by a volcanic eruption 2,000 years ago.

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