WLBT, BETH ISRAEL CONGREGATION, US DISTRICT COURT, CNN

By Zoe Sottile, CNN

(CNN) — It’s the oldest synagogue in Mississippi, a thriving religious center that has served Jackson’s small but vibrant Jewish community for more than half a century.

Now, the Beth Israel synagogue is indefinitely closed, its historic interiors blackened with ash, after authorities say a man set a fire in the building’s library in the early hours of Saturday morning. The FBI says the suspect confessed to attacking the historic synagogue “due to (the) building’s Jewish ties.”

This is the second time the synagogue, which serves a congregation first established in Jackson in 1860, has been attacked with fire, according to its website. In 1967, the building was bombed by members of the Klu Klux Klan, who also bombed the rabbi’s home just months later. The building is also home to the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life, which supports Jewish communities in 13 southern states.

The 19-year-old suspect in Saturday’s attack was arrested at a hospital after his father called the FBI, saying his son confessed to him. Location data from a family tracking app helped corroborate his confession.

No one else is believed to have been inside the building and no injuries have been reported from the fire.

Who is the suspect?

Stephen Spencer Pittman has been charged with “arson of property used in interstate commerce or used in an activity affecting interstate commerce,” according to a criminal complaint filed Monday.

Pittman’s father contacted the FBI Saturday and told the agency his son had confessed to setting the building on fire, says the complaint.

The suspect was found at a local hospital with non-life-threatening burn injuries, Charles Felton, chief of investigations for the Jackson Fire Department’s Arson Investigation Division said.

A public defender was appointed to represent the 19-year-old at his first court appearance Monday afternoon. He appeared in federal court via video call from his hospital bed, with both his hands visibly bandaged, according to The Associated Press.

He said he had graduated high school and attended three semesters of college, reports the AP.

Pittman was released to the custody of the US Marshals Service and is scheduled to appear in court again on January 20, court records show.

If Pittman is convicted, he could face anywhere between five and 20 years in prison, the Department of Justice said in a news release. He acted alone, according to the DOJ.

CNN has reached out to Pittman’s public defender for comment.

How did the fire unfold?

CCTV footage shows someone started a fire inside the synagogue early Saturday morning, according to the criminal complaint. The document includes an image showing a “hooded individual” seen “walking in the interior of the building pouring contents from what appeared to be a gas container.”

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - Harry's Plaza Cafe was packed with student-athletes as the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table luncheon returned after several weeks off for winter break.

Five awards were handed out at the luncheon.

San Marcos High School girls water polo star Charlotte Raisin is the Female Athlete of the Week while Dos Pueblos High School senior guard Evan Pinsker is the Male Athlete of the Week.

Raisin scored 17 goals to lead the Royals to a fifth place finish in the prestigious Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions.

(The USC-bound senior Raisin led all players at the tournament in goals but also drew 12 exclusions and had close to 10 assists as the Royals went 3-1 in the tournament).

Pinsker drilled seven 3-pointers and had 26 points in a dramatic two-point win over crosstown rival San Marcos, the Chargers first victory over the Royals since 2017.

(Pinsker totaled 66 points in three games during the week).

Over the winter break Carpinteria High School basketball player Jamaica Cook and Cate High School soccer player George Marin earned Athlete of the Week honors.

Cook recorded three double-doubles for the Warriors girls basketball team including a 15 point, 22 rebound performance.

Marin scored a total of 8 goals in two wins for the Rams.

Carpinteria High School honored senior Vivian Huskins as the Warriors Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

(Huskins with award sponsor Marc Gamberdella)

She carries a 4.8 GPA and excels in soccer, track and field and also does cheer for the Warriors.

At the Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table luncheon at Giovanni's in Orcutt, three awards were given to student-athletes.

Santa Ynez High School boys basketball player Lucal Ollenburger, Santa Ynez girls soccer player Hannah Ricci and Santa Maria High School boys basketball player Jordan Medina all were honored.

Ollenburger averaged 1

CNN

By Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump said on Monday that countries that do business with Iran will face a new 25% tariff. The announcement appears to mean goods from China, a major trading partner of both Iran and the United States, would become significantly more expensive to import.

“Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday. “This Order is final and conclusive,” he added.

The White House declined to share additional information on the tariff and how the Trump administration plans to implement it, referring CNN to the president’s post.

Trump did not define what qualifies as “doing business” with Iran. The post raised a number of questions, including how these additional tariffs could work, which countries would be targeted and whether services and not just goods would face higher duties.

Trump’s announcement comes as he has floated US military intervention to “rescue” anti-government protesters in Iran, hundreds of whom have been killed. An ongoing communications shutdown, imposed by authorities on Thursday, has mostly isolated people in the country from the outside world.

The new tariff could mean a minimum 45% tariff rate on goods from China versus the current rate of 20%.

China’s foreign ministry decried the move on Tuesday.

“China’s position on tariffs is very clear: there are no winners in a tariff war, and China will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters.

In the first 11 months of 2025, China exported $6.2 billion worth of goods to Iran and imported $2.85 billion, according to Chinese customs data.

That’s before accounting for oil purchases, which China doesn’t publicly disclose. Analysts estimate that China has accounted for more than 90% of Iran’s oil trade in recent years, imported through intermediaries.

A trade war between the United States and China last year rocked global markets, with Trump raising tariffs on Chinese goods to a peak of 145% last year. The current tariff rate came about after lengthy negotiations.

In addition to China, India, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey are considered major trading partners with Iran.

Trump doubled duties on goods from India this summer to a minimum 50% tariff, seeking to punish the country for buying Russian oil. He threatened to impose similar tariffs on other countries that purchase Russian oil, including China, its largest customer.

Throughout Trump’s s

By Hilary Whiteman, CNN

Brisbane, Australia (CNN) — A much-loved annual literary festival has been canceled after more than 180 writers quit the program to protest the dumping of a Palestinian Australian author, whose invitation was withdrawn due to “cultural sensitivities” following the Bondi Beach terror attack.

Adelaide Writers’ Week has been mired in controversy since late last week when the board announced Randa Abdel-Fattah, a prominent critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, was no longer invited to attend “given her past statements.”

“Whilst we do not suggest in any way that Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah’s or her writings have any connection with the tragedy at Bondi, given her past statements we have formed the view that it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi,” said the statement issued on January 8.

Following the statement, three board members quit, plus its chair and director, and a slew of high-profile participants including British novelist Zadie Smith, American Pulitzer-prize winning author Percival Everett, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and popular Australian authors Helen Garner and Trent Dalton.

As the backlash grew, the organizers of Adelaide Writers’ Week released a statement Tuesday saying it regretted the “distress” the decision had caused and apologized to Abdel-Fattah for how it “was represented.”

“This is not about identity or dissent but rather a continuing rapid shift in the national discourse around the breadth of freedom of expression in our nation following Australia’s worst terror attack in history,” the statement said.

Abdel-Fattah, a Future Fellow in the Department of Sociology at Macquarie University, with an expertise in Islamophobia and the author of 12 books, rejected the apology in a post on X.

“Once again, the Board citing the ‘national discourse’ for an action that specifically targets me, a Palestinian Australian Muslim woman, is explicitly articulating that I cannot be part of the national discourse, which is insulting and racist in the extreme,” she said.

The furor highlights the tensions in Australia as the government scrambles to unite the country after two gunmen targeted a Jewish gathering at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 14, killing 15 people in an attack the Jewish community said was a direct result of the government’s failure to stamp out antisemitism.

After the attack, authorities in New South Wales (NSW) drew a link between the mass shooting and pro-Palestinian protests held weekly since Israel launched retaliatory attacks on Hamas in Gaza for its murderous assault on Israelis on October 7, 2023.

The Australian Palestine Advocacy Network slammed any conflation of the protests and the attacks as “irresponsible and misleading,” and said the government’s move to tighten protest laws in its wake “represents a serious and dangerous erosion of democratic rights.”

Abdel-Fattah had been booked to speak at Adelaide Writers’ Week about her new book “Discipline,” which charts the lives of two characters – an academic and a journalist – in Australia during the Gaza war.

Its description reads: “Silence is complicity, and the cost of speaking up is everything… ‘Discipline’ tallies the price we all pay when those with privilege choose to remain silent.”

Abdel-Fattah has previously angered some members of th

Por Karina Tsui, CNN

El Departamento de Seguridad Nacional modificó su versión de un tiroteo relacionado con la aplicación de la ley de inmigración en un suburbio de Baltimore en la víspera de Navidad después de que los detalles de su declaración inicial fueran contradichos por la policía local.

El 24 de diciembre, el DHS emitió un comunicado diciendo que los oficiales de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas “dispararon defensivamente” contra una camioneta ocupada por dos inmigrantes indocumentados durante una operación de cumplimiento de la ley en Glen Burnie, Maryland, después de que el conductor embistiera vehículos de ICE mientras intentaba huir y “luego condujo su camioneta directamente hacia los oficiales de ICE, intentando atropellarlos”.

El conductor recibió un disparo y resultó herido, y el pasajero se lesionó cuando la camioneta se estrelló segundos después, según la declaración original del DHS.

El departamento ahora afirma que el hombre herido no estaba en la camioneta sino que “era un pasajero en uno de los vehículos de ICE que fue embestido”, según una nueva declaración a CNN de la secretaria adjunta del DHS, Tricia McLaughlin.

El cambio de versión se produce en un momento en que el DHS se enfrenta a un mayor escrutinio por el tiroteo fatal de una mujer de Minneapolis por parte de un agente de ICE la semana pasada, y más ampliamente por la veracidad de la información que el departamento presenta sobre las acciones de los funcionarios federales mientras llevan a cabo la ofensiva inmigratoria a nivel nacional del presidente Donald Trump.

El nuevo detalle del tiroteo de ICE en Maryland fue anunciado por primera vez el jueves por el Departamento de Policía del Condado de Anne Arundel, que está investigando el incidente.

“Para aclarar la información preliminar publicada públicamente sobre el tiroteo que involucró a agentes de ICE en Glen Burnie, Maryland, el 24 de diciembre de 2025: un detenido de ICE que resultó herido durante el incidente ya estaba bajo custodia en un vehículo de ICE, y el otro individuo herido fue alcanzado por disparos mientras conducía un vehículo separado”, informó el departamento de policía.

La policía del condado de Anne Arundel comunicó que su investigación sobre el incidente está en curso y enfatizó que sus oficiales no hacen cumplir la ley de inmigración ni realizan operaciones de ICE.

Los agentes de ICE estaban llevando a cabo “una operación de control inmigratorio dirigida” en Glen Burnie cuando se enfrentaron a la camioneta, indicó McLaughlin.

Los dos inmigrantes indocumentados fueron identificados como Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins, un hombre portugués que conducía la camioneta, y el ciudadano salvadoreño Solomon Antonio Serrano-Esquivel, la persona que las autoridades ahora dicen que estaba en un vehículo de ICE.

Los funcionarios se acercaron a la camioneta y le pidieron a Sousa-Martins que apagara el motor, pero él se negó e intentó abandonar la escena, embistiendo a los vehículos de ICE y “luego (conduciendo) su camioneta directamente hacia los oficiales de ICE”, indicó McLaughlin.

“Temiendo por sus vidas y la