Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some pressing stories to share with you right now, and here’s what we know.
Devastating wildfires in Southern California leave death and destruction in their wake, the outgoing FBI director issues an alarming warning with regard to our nation’s greatest foreign threat, and the U.S. government makes a significant decision regarding critical technology and our country’s national security.
Also, Poland is backing up President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to make NATO member nations contribute more to the cause, and the schedule for the upcoming presidential inauguration has just been announced—a day-by-day breakdown leading up to the swearing-in ceremony.
Deadly Fires Continue to Ravage LA
According to officials, two deadly blazes in the Los Angeles area have claimed at least 24 lives, and those numbers are expected to climb as rescue personnel conduct searches of destroyed homes with cadaver dogs.Between the two largest fires—the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades and the Eaton Fire in Altadena, which is near Pasadena—more than 12,000 structures have been destroyed and over 37,000 acres of land have already been scorched.
The Palisades Fire is by far the larger of the two, and 5,000 courageous firefighters are battling that blaze; however, as of yesterday, it was only 14 percent contained.
Meanwhile, 3,000 personnel are fighting the Eaton Fire, which is 33 percent contained.
Strong Santa Ana wind conditions continue to create what the National Weather Service is calling a “particularly dangerous situation.” Fierce winds of up to 70 miles per hour are forecast to return to the region today.
Last week, extremely strong winds forced a number of crucial firefighting aircraft to remain grounded, limiting their containment efforts, and officials are concerned that similar conditions could impact those efforts in the next 24 hours.
In case you missed this, the state National Guard has been deployed to parts of the city, a number of looters have been arrested, and the causes of the fires remain under investigation.
It’s a tragic story that is still unfolding, and we’ll continue to provide you with any additional updates as they become available.
FBI Director Issues Warning on China’s Threat to US
Wray says he believes that right now, the Chinese communist regime is the greatest long-term threat facing our country, and that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is actively working on its ability to take out critical U.S. infrastructure.In a recent interview, the FBI director said that China’s cyber program is “far and away” the largest in the world, that it’s bigger than that of every major nation combined, and that it’s already stolen more American personal and corporate data than all the other nations combined.
Wray says that so-called Chinese malign actors have been pre-positioning themselves within critical civilian infrastructure in our country. He went on to say that right now, they’re lying in wait on those networks, and that they’re in a position to both “wreak havoc” and “inflict real-world harm” on our country at the time and place of their choosing.
He warned that CCP-linked groups have already placed malware inside water treatment plants, transportation systems, the power grid, and natural gas pipelines.
Wray also pointed out that recently, these China-linked groups targeted our telecommunications systems. He said that in some cases, they’ve been able to collect the content and the actual communications of some key officials in our federal government.
Also in his interview, the outgoing FBI director explained that he’s stepping down as President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20 because he cares deeply about the FBI’s mission. He said that Trump made it clear he intended to make a change, and that Wray thought the best thing for the bureau was to manage the transition in an orderly way.
By the way, during his first term, Trump appointed Wray to become the FBI director, but more recently, he’s been highly critical of the bureau, and so you know, Trump has named former U.S. intelligence official Kash Patel to lead the agency.
US Government Announces New Export Restrictions on AI Tech
The federal government has just issued a new regulation that limits the distribution of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology to our country’s biggest foreign adversaries, including Russia and China.Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says that as of now, the United States leads the world in both AI development and AI chip design, and that it’s absolutely critical we keep it that way. She also says that “as AI becomes more powerful, the risks to our national security become even more intense.”
She went on to say that although many commercial applications now use AI, our adversaries can also use it “to run nuclear simulations, develop bioweapons, and advance their militaries.”
Additionally, the regulation seeks to address concerns that in the wrong hands, AI could also enable the development of weapons of mass destruction, support powerful cyber operations, and aid in human rights abuses, including mass surveillance.
So you know, this new rule focuses on our most sophisticated AI technologies, and there are no restrictions regarding advanced chip sales to 20 of our key allies and partners. However, the rule encourages them to make their purchases from trusted vendors who meet strong security standards.
By the way, just last week, an AI computing company called Nvidia criticized the Biden administration for imposing a number of last-minute rules, which it says will only harm the U.S. economy, set America back, and play into the hands of our adversaries.
Poland Backs Trump’s Call to Up NATO Defense Spending
Poland is now backing Trump’s proposal that NATO member countries increase their defense spending to 5 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is the total amount of goods and services produced in those individual nations each year.Right now, just 24 out of the 32 member nations meet the current spending level of 2 percent of GDP. However, the eastern European country that shares a border with Ukraine now says 5 percent should be the goal moving forward, even if it takes some NATO member nations a decade to reach it.
Poland’s defense minister says that if a country can afford to go into debt to rebuild after the COVID-19 pandemic, it should be able to find the money to protect itself from war.
Just last week, Trump reiterated his belief that NATO countries should contribute more to the alliance’s defense; however, we should also point out that his proposed 5 percent target is more than any NATO member, including the United States, currently spends on defense.
Right now, Poland is the closest, with just over 4 percent of its GDP going to defense in 2024. By comparison, the United States spent just over 3-and-a-third percent of our GDP on defense in 2024, but in real terms, we’re by far the biggest spender in the alliance.
Last year, we spent nearly $1 trillion on our country’s defense, while the defense spending of all of the other members combined was just over $500 billion.
Meanwhile, officials from a number of NATO member nations agree that defense spending needs to rise. A new target is likely to be agreed upon later this year, at an upcoming NATO summit in the Netherlands.
Trump’s Inauguration Schedule Released
The activities kick off this Saturday, when a reception and dinner will be held for Cabinet nominees at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. The event will be hosted by Vice President-elect JD Vance.The next day, Trump will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, where members of the military are laid to rest. In the afternoon, he’ll hold a victory rally in downtown Washington at Capital One Arena, before later hosting a candlelight dinner.
Inauguration Day on Monday, Jan. 20, begins with a service at St. John’s Church, followed by tea at the White House with outgoing President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.
At noon, Trump will take the oath of office at the U.S. Capitol before holding a signing ceremony near the Senate chamber, where he’s expected to officially affirm the selections for his Cabinet nominations.
Following lunch, the incoming president will review the troops before parading down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, where he’ll hold another signing ceremony, this one dealing with a flurry of executive orders.
To close out the day, Trump will attend three inaugural balls—the Commander in Chief’s Ball, the Liberty Inaugural Ball, and the Starlight Ball. The next morning, he’ll attend the National Prayer Service, which brings to an end his inaugural activities.
Before we go, a few more headlines we’re following closely in the News Brief newsroom:
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Tuesday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
Don’t forget the News Brief Motto: We’re portable, affordable, and we’re always on-demand.
And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from the great Louis Armstrong, who said: “If I don’t practice for a day, I know it. If I don’t practice for two days, the critics know it. And if I don’t practice for three days, the public knows it.”
Armstrong was nicknamed “Satchmo,” “Satch,” and “Pops,” and he was a legendary American trumpeter and vocalist.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.
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Enjoy the remainder of your day, and we’ll see you right back here tomorrow for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
For now, it’s imperative that we all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.
