Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. Iâm Bill Thomas, itâs the start of a brand new month, we have some pressing stories to share with you right now, and hereâs whatâs happening nationally and around the world.
Additional details emerge in the investigation of the deadly midair crash over Washington; a number of U.S. hospitals react to President Donald Trumpâs executive order banning transgender surgeries for minors, and our nationâs top diplomat says that the White House is very serious about buying the largest island in the world.
Also, one branch of the U.S. military warns service members about using a popular new Chinese AI app, and a federal court issues a critical ruling concerning handgun sales, adults under the age of 21, and the U.S. Constitution.
More Details Emerge in Deadly Midair Collision
Military personnel, figure skaters, and many others were among the 67 people who died when an American Airlines flight en route to Reagan National Airport from Wichita, Kansas, collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter, with both aircraft crashing into the Potomac River.Within hours of the accident, officials said there were no survivors, and they began their recovery mission to find the bodies of the victims.
We now know that the soldiers who were on board the helicopter at the time of the crash were from the 12th Aviation Battalion out of Davison Army Airfield in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and that the helicopter was reportedly taking part in a routine training exercise.
Additionally, the American Airlines flight was carrying 14 members of the figure skating community who were returning from the U.S. national championships in Wichita. They include a number of teenage skaters, their mothers, and a pair of former world champions from Russia.
Also reportedly on board the passenger jet were four members of a plumbing and pipefitting union, a pair of Chinese nationals, and people from both Germany and the Philippines.
By the way, the crash was our countryâs deadliest aviation-related incident in nearly 25 years, and it remains under investigation by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, which has not yet revealed a cause.
Some Hospitals Stop Transgender Surgeries on Children After Trumpâs Order
A number of hospitals in Colorado, Virginia, and the nationâs capital say theyâre stopping all transgender procedures for youth while they evaluate Trumpâs executive order regarding this highly controversial issue.A spokesperson for Denver Health in Colorado says that in order to comply with the order and to continue receiving federal funding, theyâve completely stopped providing transgender-related surgeries such as breast removal for people under the age of 19.
However, itâs not clear whether or not that particular hospital will continue to provide other transgender procedures and medicine for youth, including puberty blockers.
Meanwhile, in Virginia, VCU Health and Childrenâs Hospital of Richmond says theyâve suspended all transgender medication and surgical procedures for people under the age of 19.
Additionally, Childrenâs National Hospital in Washington says they are pausing their prescriptions of both puberty blockers and hormone therapy to comply with the directive while they assess the situation. Prior to the order, that hospital did not perform transgender surgeries on minors.
In case you missed it, earlier this week Trump signed an order that says it is now official U.S. policy not to fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support âthe so-called âtransition' of a child from one sex to another.â The directive also says that the federal government will ârigorously enforceâ all laws that prohibit what they call âdestructive and life-alteringâ procedures.
By the way, after the order was signed, a number of other hospitals said that their current practices regarding the procedures will continue as before. This includes one Chicago hospital, which says its team will continue to fight for access to all âmedically necessary careâ for the patient-families they serve.
Rubio: Trump Buying Greenland âNot a Jokeâ
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is doubling down on the presidentâs recent remarks about buying Greenland, and he says the issue is ânot a joke.âRubio says that buying the island is in the best interest of our nation, that the problem needs to be solved, and that itâs not simply about âacquiring land.â He says that with the ice melting, shipping lanes through the Arctic are going to become increasingly navigable, and that we need to be able to defend those routes from foreign adversaries like China.
You may recall that just last month, Trump said that taking control of Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark, is necessary for âprotecting the free world.â Also, he did not rule out using either military force or economic coercion to achieve the goal.
Meanwhile, the United States government has raised a number of concerns about Greenland as the Chinese communist regime steps up its efforts to bolster commercial and military capabilities in the Arctic. Additionally, the island houses a U.S. military base that plays a key role in both missile defense and satellite communication.
Rubio went on to point out that we already have multiple agreements with Denmark to protect Greenland from military threats, and that if weâre âalready on the hookâ for having to do that, we might as well have more control over what happens there.
By the way, Trump also recently sounded the alarm about Chinese influence over the Panama Canal, which will be one of the first stops on Rubioâs trip to Central America that begins today.
US Navy Warns Service Members Against Using DeepSeek App
The U.S. Navy is now telling all of its members to avoid using artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, including the Chinese-made DeepSeek app.A Navy spokesperson tells The Epoch Times that their branch has recommended that their personnel should not use any publicly accessible, open-source AI programs or systems for their official work. The spokesperson went on to say that DeepSeek was mentioned as the most recent example of how that policy applies.
So you know, the Navy sent out an email to all of its personnel warning that DeepSeek should not be used âin any capacityâ due to âpotential security and ethical concernsâ associated with both the modelâs origin and its usage.
By the way, the Navy first released guidance regarding the security vulnerabilities of AI back in 2023. At that time, they said that certain AI models can execute a number of tasks with unprecedented speed and efficiency, but that in order to take full advantage of that potential, they must be âcomplemented by human expertise.â
Meanwhile, DeepSeekâs privacy policy points out that the app collects user information such as date of birth, email address, text and audio input, chat history, and keystroke patterns, which it stores in China-based servers.
Fed Ban on Handgun Sales to Adults Under 21 Violates Constitution, Court Rules
A federal appeals court has just ruled that a decades-old government ban on handgun sales by licensed firearm dealers to adults under the age of 21 is unconstitutional.The courtâs decision was made in light of a pair of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that have set a higher bar for restricting a citizenâs Second Amendment rights, and it reversed a district courtâs prior ruling that had upheld the ban.
Additionally, the key to the judgesâ conclusion was a consideration of the text of the Second Amendment, and whether or not its mention of âthe peopleâ who have the right to bear arms included adults under the age of 21.
By the way, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives was the defendant in the case, and the governmentâs position was that the limited ban was not an infringement on Second Amendment rights. It argued that the young-adult age group was not among âthe peopleâ protected by those rights.
However, the judges rejected those points and said that the government had produced âscant evidenceâ that the firearm rights of adults under 21 were similarly restricted during the founding era.
One of the plaintiffs in the case praised the decision, saying that the ruling is another critical win against what they call an âimmoral and unconstitutional age-based gun ban.â Meanwhile, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives did not respond to our request for comment.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so weâre gonna call it a wrap for the Saturday edition of the Epoch Times News Brief.
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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 Carol Burnett, who said:
âWhen you have a dream, youâve got to grab it and never let go.â
Burnett is an American comedian, actress, and singer, and we all recall her well from âThe Carol Burnett Show.â She also starred in the movie âAnnie,â which came out in 1982.
For all of us here at the Epoch Times News Brief, Iâm 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 weâll see you right back here next time for another edition of the Epoch Times News Brief.
For now, itâs imperative that we all continue to watch out for one another and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.