By ZACH WENDLING <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/woman-who-shouted-shame-following-critical-gun-bill-passage-is-banned-from-nebraska-capitol/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — The University of Nebraska Board of Regents is poised to approve the next chancellor for its largest university, offering a 37% pay increase compared to the retiring chancellor.

The NU regents’ June 22&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://cdn.nebraska.edu/docs/agendas/Agenda%206-22-23%20with%20Materials.pdf">meeting agenda</a>&nbsp;was amended Wednesday morning to officially recommend Rodney Bennett as chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His base salary would be $720,000.

Chancellor Ronnie Green plans to retire at the end of the month —&nbsp;his&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://nebraska.edu/-/media/projects/unca/offices-policies/business-and-finance-office/docs/budget-salary-information/2022-2023/personnel-roster-2022-2023.pdf">base salary</a>&nbsp;was $525,300.

In addition to the 37% salary increase, Bennett’s proposed contract —&nbsp;currently being reviewed by NU’s legal counsel — will include the following perks:

NU President Ted Carter&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/priority-candidate-for-unl-chancellor-is-30-year-veteran-of-higher-ed-and-would-be-first-person-of-color-in-the-role/">announced</a>&nbsp;Bennett, the former University of Southern Mississippi president, as UNL’s priority candidate to succeed Green on May 22, setting out a 30-day public review period mandated by state law. That period ended Wednesday.

“The same qualities that I’ve seen in Dr. Rodney Bennett have resonated with Nebraskans —&nbsp;that he is a proven leader and skilled relationship-builder with a bold vision to move our university forward,” Carter said in a statement.

NU hosted nearly&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/public-forums-announced-june-5-9-for-university-of-nebraska-lincoln-chancellor-candidate/">20 public forums</a>&nbsp;June 5-9 for Bennett with at least 1,400 people attending in-person or via Zoom, according to the NU spokeswoman.

During those forums, Bennett described his desire for “translational science” and transferable&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/06/05/unl-chancellor-candidate-previews-research-economic-development-vision-for-nebraska/">research and economic development</a>; committed to continuing&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/06/06/unl-chancellor-candidate-addresses-diversity-equity-inclusion-at-tuesday-forum/">diversity, equity and inclusion</a>&nbsp;initiatives, which are in the political crosshairs nationwide at public universities; and told&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/unl-chancellor-priority-candidate-meets-with-nebraska-students/">students</a>&nbsp;they are the “fundamental reason” for his work.

Bennett is also no stranger to UNL or the NU system.

Former NU president Hank Bounds, while serving as commissioner of higher education in Mississippi, hired Bennett for the Southern Miss presidency in 2013.&nbsp;

Three years later, Bennett gave the keynote address for Bounds’ installation as NU president.

“We’ve just had this relationship, between me and Nebraska, for several years, and it just almost makes sense that I would apply to be chancellor here,” Bennett told the Nebraska Examiner.

Carter applauded Bennett’s appreciation of UNL’s&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://landgrant.unl.edu/">land-grant mission</a>&nbsp;of promoting education in “agriculture and mechanic arts” and for being “a passionate champion for student access and success.”

“He is the right person to lead UNL at this pivotal moment for higher education,” Carter said.

On Thursday, Regents will&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/nebraska-regents-to-meet-next-week-regarding-budget-husker-athletics-oversight/">also consider</a>&nbsp;NU’s budget, a proposal to move oversight of Husker Athletics to the NU president instead of the UNL chancellor and whether to permit alcohol at Memorial Stadium for UNL’s Volleyball Day in Nebraska Aug. 30 event.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1687401125497.png" alt="Rodney Bennett, priority candidate for chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, speaks at a public forum on Friday, June 9, 2023, in Lincoln, Neb. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>Rodney Bennett, priority candidate for chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, speaks at a public forum on Friday, June 9, 2023, in Lincoln, Neb. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>By ZACH WENDLING <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/woman-who-shouted-shame-following-critical-gun-bill-passage-is-banned-from-nebraska-capitol/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — The University of Nebraska Board of Regents is poised to approve the next chancellor for its largest university, offering a 37% pay increase compared to the retiring chancellor.The NU regents’ June 22&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://cdn.nebraska.edu/docs/agendas/Agenda%206-22-23%20with%20Materials.pdf">meeting agenda</a>&nbsp;was amended Wednesday morning to officially recommend Rodney Bennett as chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His base salary would be $720,000.Chancellor Ronnie Green plans to retire at the end of the month —&nbsp;his&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://nebraska.edu/-/media/projects/unca/offices-policies/business-and-finance-office/docs/budget-salary-information/2022-2023/personnel-roster-2022-2023.pdf">base salary</a>&nbsp;was $525,300.In addition to the 37% salary increase, Bennett’s proposed contract —&nbsp;currently being reviewed by NU’s legal counsel — will include the following perks:<ul>
 <li>A three-year term starting July 1.</li><li>An 11.5% deferred compensation package, setting aside that amount from his base salary to be paid later. An NU spokeswoman said this is the standard agreement also offered to Green, Carter and other NU chancellors.</li><li>Country club membership to a club of Bennett’s choosing.</li><li>Paid moving expenses —&nbsp;Bennett currently resides in Florida.</li>
 </ul>NU President Ted Carter&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/priority-candidate-for-unl-chancellor-is-30-year-veteran-of-higher-ed-and-would-be-first-person-of-color-in-the-role/">announced</a>&nbsp;Bennett, the former University of Southern Mississippi president, as UNL’s priority candidate to succeed Green on May 22, setting out a 30-day public review period mandated by state law. That period ended Wednesday.“The same qualities that I’ve seen in Dr. Rodney Bennett have resonated with Nebraskans —&nbsp;that he is a proven leader and skilled relationship-builder with a bold vision to move our university forward,” Carter said in a statement.NU hosted nearly&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/public-forums-announced-june-5-9-for-university-of-nebraska-lincoln-chancellor-candidate/">20 public forums</a>&nbsp;June 5-9 for Bennett with at least 1,400 people attending in-person or via Zoom, according to the NU spokeswoman.During those forums, Bennett described his desire for “translational science” and transferable&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/06/05/unl-chancellor-candidate-previews-research-economic-development-vision-for-nebraska/">research and economic development</a>; committed to continuing&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/06/06/unl-chancellor-candidate-addresses-diversity-equity-inclusion-at-tuesday-forum/">diversity, equity and inclusion</a>&nbsp;initiatives, which are in the political crosshairs nationwide at public universities; and told&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/unl-chancellor-priority-candidate-meets-with-nebraska-students/">students</a>&nbsp;they are the “fundamental reason” for his work.Bennett is also no stranger to UNL or the NU system.Former NU president Hank Bounds, while serving as commissioner of higher education in Mississippi, hired Bennett for the Southern Miss presidency in 2013.&nbsp;Three years later, Bennett gave the keynote address for Bounds’ installation as NU president.“We’ve just had this relationship, between me and Nebraska, for several years, and it just almost makes sense that I would apply to be chancellor here,” Bennett told the Nebraska Examiner.Carter applauded Bennett’s appreciation of UNL’s&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://landgrant.unl.edu/">land-grant mission</a>&nbsp;of promoting education in “agriculture and mechanic arts” and for being “a passionate champion for student access and success.”“He is the right person to lead UNL at this pivotal moment for higher education,” Carter said.On Thursday, Regents will&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/nebraska-regents-to-meet-next-week-regarding-budget-husker-athletics-oversight/">also consider</a>&nbsp;NU’s budget, a proposal to move oversight of Husker Athletics to the NU president instead of the UNL chancellor and whether to permit alcohol at Memorial Stadium for UNL’s Volleyball Day in Nebraska Aug. 30 event.

Nebraska Regents to vote on next UNL chancellor, 37% pay bump

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s remarks calling Chinese leader Xi Jinping a “dictator” and China a country with "real economic difficulties” drew fast condemnation from China on Wednesday, cracking open a new rift just after the two countries agreed to tentative steps to stabilize the relationship.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning condemned Biden's unusually pointed comments as “extremely absurd and irresponsible.”

The clash of words comes after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-china-blinken-beijing-rivalry-0b08a809f12b1bcdee92afa5491a9fbf">Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a visit to Beijing</a>&nbsp;on Monday that sought to break the ice in a relationship that has hit a historical low. While both sides saw those talks as productive, they did not result in any significant breakthroughs beyond an agreement to return to a broad agenda for cooperation and competition.

China's quick response to Biden, a president known for seemingly off-script remarks that venture beyond his administration's policies, raises questions whether his remarks would undo the limited progress that had been made in Blinken's carefully engineered trip or whether the two sides would move on.

Biden's characterization of China comes as the campaign for next year's presidential election is already taking off, with Republicans accusing him of being weak on China.

Biden also was preparing to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-modi-trump-state-visit-0b045d88deb69195dea7ef65557dc975">welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi</a>&nbsp;to Washington on Wednesday evening for a lavish state visit where a central theme will be a shared wariness of China.

Biden, at a fundraiser in California on Tuesday night, referred back to January and February's two-week overflight of what the U.S. says was a Chinese spy balloon. The balloon's surprise appearance over U.S. skies roiled relations and transfixed the American public.

Speaking to wealthy donors at the event for his 2024 reelection campaign, Biden depicted Xi as out-of-touch and embarrassed by the incident, which ended with the Air Force shooting down the balloon just off the East Coast.

“The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two box cars full of spy equipment is he didn’t know it was there," Biden told the crowd.

“No, I’m serious,” he added. "That was the great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn’t know what happened.“

Biden also played down trade competition from China, which is the world's second-biggest economy after the United States but struggling to emerge from COVID-era financial troubles.

“By the way, I promise you, don’t worry about China. Worry about China but don’t worry about China," Biden said. "I really mean it. China has real economic difficulties.”

Biden's remarks came hours after his secretary of state, in an interview with MSNBC, had called for the two countries to put the balloon incident behind them, saying it was a chapter that “should be closed.”

In Beijing on Wednesday, Mao told reporters that Biden's remarks "go totally against facts and seriously violate diplomatic protocol, and severely infringe on China’s political dignity.”

“It is a blatant political provocation,” Mao said.

Mao also reiterated China's version of the balloon episode, saying the balloon was for meteorological research and had been accidentally blown off course.

Administration officials signaled Wednesday that Biden had no intention of walking back his comments.

Biden and Blinken have made clear “we will continue to responsibly manage this relationship, maintain open lines of communication with the PRC,” Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesman, told reporters, using an abbreviation for the People's Republic of China.

“But that, of course, does not mean we will not be blunt and forthright about our differences,” including differences on the global competition between democracies and autocracies, Patel said.

U.S.-China tensions have mounted for years as rivalry builds over trade and global influence. Repeated flare-ups have helped escalate the tensions, including over the balloon, U.S. tariffs, sanctions on China, and self-ruled Taiwan.

The U.S. is pressing China to embrace direct communications between Biden, Xi and other senior U.S. and Chinese military and civilian leaders, as a channel to defuse tensions and keep incidents from escalating into open hostilities.

Despite the administration's diplomatic efforts to soothe relations, analysts point to the Republican political pressure, and note Biden regularly seems to go off-script to criticize Xi.

Bonnie Glaser, Asia director of the George Marshall Fund of the United States, pointed Wednesday to Biden's state of the union address in February, soon after the balloon flight, as Republican lawmakers in the audience heckled him over China and other issues. Waving a finger in the air, Biden cried out, “Name me a world leader who’d change places with Xi Jinping! Name me one! Name me one!"

For Biden, “he’s under a lot of criticism from the right. He doesn’t want to be seen as soft on China. He views Xi Jinping as a dictator," Glaser said.

“And he’s not very good ... at differentiating what should be said in public and what should be said in private,” Glaser said. "And the relationship pays a price for it. There’s no doubt about it.”

Xi was likely upset by the claim that he hadn’t been fully informed about the balloon incident, said Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at the London University School of Oriental and African Studies and a longtime observer of Chinese politics.

“My sense is that Xi may not want to overreact and put the relationship back on ice again,” Tsang said in an email.

The initial Republican response to Biden's remarks was approving. “It’s an appropriate description of their system of government,” Sen. Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said.

While Xi heads a country formally named the People’s Republic of China, he faces no limits on his terms as head of state, commander of the military and leader of the ruling Communist Party, which brooks no challenges to its authority.

In California, Biden had told donors that Xi “wants to have a relationship again.”

Blinken “went over there ... did a good job, and it's going to take time," he said.

BEIJING (AP) — China on Wednesday called comments by U.S. President Joe Biden referring to Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a dictator “extremely absurd and irresponsible,” as a new rift threatened to upset tentative efforts to stabilize the relationship between the two countries.

The clash of words comes just over a day after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-china-blinken-beijing-rivalry-0b08a809f12b1bcdee92afa5491a9fbf">Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a visit to Beijing</a>&nbsp;that sought to break the ice in a relationship that has hit a historical low. While both sides saw those talks as productive, they did not result in any significant breakthroughs beyond an agreement to return to a broad agenda for cooperation and competition.

Biden, at the fundraiser on Tuesday night, said Xi was embarrassed over recent tensions surrounding a suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by the Air Force over the East Coast.

“That’s a great embarrassment for dictators. When they didn’t know what happened,” Biden said.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, responding to a question about Biden’s remarks, said the comments at a fundraiser in California “go totally against facts and seriously violate diplomatic protocol, and severely infringe on China’s political dignity.”

“It is a blatant political provocation. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and opposition,” Mao said at a daily briefing.

“The U.S. remarks are extremely absurd and irresponsible,” Mao said.

Mao reiterated China's contention that the balloon was for meteorological research and had been accidentally blown off course.

“The U.S. should have handled it in a calm and professional manner,” she said. "However, the U.S. distorted facts and used forces to hype up the incident, fully revealing its nature of bullying and hegemony.”

Biden has previously used the term dictator, along with war criminal, to refer to Russian President Vladimir Putin over his country's invasion of Ukraine.

While Xi heads a country formally named the People's Republic of China, he faces no limits on his terms as head of state, commander of the military and leader of the ruling Communist Party, which brooks no challenges to its authority.

Blinken’s visit, during which he met with Xi, was aimed at easing tensions between the two superpowers.

The trip was originally scheduled for February but was put on hold after the balloon incident. While the visit marked a return to high-level contacts between the sides, China continues to refuse talks between their militaries.

In recent days, the U.S. says Chinese warplanes and naval ships have maneuvered in ways that threaten their U.S. counterparts in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, despite agreements between them on protocols for avoiding such incidents.

During Blinken's visit, China reiterated its strong objections to U.S. support for the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory. The U.S. has also sought to block China's access to cutting-edge computer chip manufacturing technology that could be used for military purposes and accused Beijing of stealing American intellectual property.

In his comments at the fundraising event for his 2024 re-election campaign, Biden said he believed the balloon incident had caught Xi unaware.

“That’s what’s a great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn’t know what happened. That wasn’t supposed to be going where it was. It was blown off course up through Alaska and then down through the United States. And he didn’t know about it,” Biden said. “When it got shot down, he was very embarrassed. He denied it was even there.”

Despite their sharp political divide, the countries continue to have deep economic and cultural links. Bilateral trade passed $690 billion last year and an estimated 300,000 Chinese are believed to be studying in the U.S., shoring up American institutions that have come under financial pressure.

After meeting with Xi on Monday, Blinken acknowledged entrenched differences. “We have no illusions about the challenges of managing this relationship. There are many issues on which we profoundly, even vehemently, disagree,” he said.

Xi sounded a similar note but suggested the rivalry could be overcome.

“The competition among major countries is not in line with the trend of the times and cannot solve the problems of the United States itself and the challenges facing the world,” he told Blinken. “China respects the interests of the United States and will not challenge or supplant the United States. Similarly, the United States should also respect China and not harm its legitimate rights and interests.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1687169037256.png" alt="U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Monday, June 19, 2023. (Leah Millis/Pool Photo via AP)" />
 <figcaption>U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Monday, June 19, 2023. (Leah Millis/Pool Photo via AP)</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s remarks calling Chinese leader Xi Jinping a “dictator” and China a country with "real economic difficulties” drew fast condemnation from China on Wednesday, cracking open a new rift just after the two countries agreed to tentative steps to stabilize the relationship.In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning condemned Biden's unusually pointed comments as “extremely absurd and irresponsible.”The clash of words comes after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-china-blinken-beijing-rivalry-0b08a809f12b1bcdee92afa5491a9fbf">Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a visit to Beijing</a>&nbsp;on Monday that sought to break the ice in a relationship that has hit a historical low. While both sides saw those talks as productive, they did not result in any significant breakthroughs beyond an agreement to return to a broad agenda for cooperation and competition.China's quick response to Biden, a president known for seemingly off-script remarks that venture beyond his administration's policies, raises questions whether his remarks would undo the limited progress that had been made in Blinken's carefully engineered trip or whether the two sides would move on.Biden's characterization of China comes as the campaign for next year's presidential election is already taking off, with Republicans accusing him of being weak on China.Biden also was preparing to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-modi-trump-state-visit-0b045d88deb69195dea7ef65557dc975">welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi</a>&nbsp;to Washington on Wednesday evening for a lavish state visit where a central theme will be a shared wariness of China.Biden, at a fundraiser in California on Tuesday night, referred back to January and February's two-week overflight of what the U.S. says was a Chinese spy balloon. The balloon's surprise appearance over U.S. skies roiled relations and transfixed the American public.Speaking to wealthy donors at the event for his 2024 reelection campaign, Biden depicted Xi as out-of-touch and embarrassed by the incident, which ended with the Air Force shooting down the balloon just off the East Coast.“The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two box cars full of spy equipment is he didn’t know it was there," Biden told the crowd.“No, I’m serious,” he added. "That was the great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn’t know what happened.“Biden also played down trade competition from China, which is the world's second-biggest economy after the United States but struggling to emerge from COVID-era financial troubles.“By the way, I promise you, don’t worry about China. Worry about China but don’t worry about China," Biden said. "I really mean it. China has real economic difficulties.”Biden's remarks came hours after his secretary of state, in an interview with MSNBC, had called for the two countries to put the balloon incident behind them, saying it was a chapter that “should be closed.”In Beijing on Wednesday, Mao told reporters that Biden's remarks "go totally against facts and seriously violate diplomatic protocol, and severely infringe on China’s political dignity.”“It is a blatant political provocation,” Mao said.Mao also reiterated China's version of the balloon episode, saying the balloon was for meteorological research and had been accidentally blown off course.Administration officials signaled Wednesday that Biden had no intention of walking back his comments.Biden and Blinken have made clear “we will continue to responsibly manage this relationship, maintain open lines of communication with the PRC,” Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesman, told reporters, using an abbreviation for the People's Republic of China.“But that, of course, does not mean we will not be blunt and forthright about our differences,” including differences on the global competition between democracies and autocracies, Patel said.U.S.-China tensions have mounted for years as rivalry builds over trade and global influence. Repeated flare-ups have helped escalate the tensions, including over the balloon, U.S. tariffs, sanctions on China, and self-ruled Taiwan.The U.S. is pressing China to embrace direct communications between Biden, Xi and other senior U.S. and Chinese military and civilian leaders, as a channel to defuse tensions and keep incidents from escalating into open hostilities.Despite the administration's diplomatic efforts to soothe relations, analysts point to the Republican political pressure, and note Biden regularly seems to go off-script to criticize Xi.Bonnie Glaser, Asia director of the George Marshall Fund of the United States, pointed Wednesday to Biden's state of the union address in February, soon after the balloon flight, as Republican lawmakers in the audience heckled him over China and other issues. Waving a finger in the air, Biden cried out, “Name me a world leader who’d change places with Xi Jinping! Name me one! Name me one!"For Biden, “he’s under a lot of criticism from the right. He doesn’t want to be seen as soft on China. He views Xi Jinping as a dictator," Glaser said.“And he’s not very good ... at differentiating what should be said in public and what should be said in private,” Glaser said. "And the relationship pays a price for it. There’s no doubt about it.”Xi was likely upset by the claim that he hadn’t been fully informed about the balloon incident, said Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at the London University School of Oriental and African Studies and a longtime observer of Chinese politics.“My sense is that Xi may not want to overreact and put the relationship back on ice again,” Tsang said in an email.The initial Republican response to Biden's remarks was approving. “It’s an appropriate description of their system of government,” Sen. Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said.While Xi heads a country formally named the People’s Republic of China, he faces no limits on his terms as head of state, commander of the military and leader of the ruling Communist Party, which brooks no challenges to its authority.In California, Biden had told donors that Xi “wants to have a relationship again.”Blinken “went over there ... did a good job, and it's going to take time," he said.___BEIJING (AP) — China on Wednesday called comments by U.S. President Joe Biden referring to Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a dictator “extremely absurd and irresponsible,” as a new rift threatened to upset tentative efforts to stabilize the relationship between the two countries.The clash of words comes just over a day after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-china-blinken-beijing-rivalry-0b08a809f12b1bcdee92afa5491a9fbf">Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a visit to Beijing</a>&nbsp;that sought to break the ice in a relationship that has hit a historical low. While both sides saw those talks as productive, they did not result in any significant breakthroughs beyond an agreement to return to a broad agenda for cooperation and competition.Biden, at the fundraiser on Tuesday night, said Xi was embarrassed over recent tensions surrounding a suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by the Air Force over the East Coast.“That’s a great embarrassment for dictators. When they didn’t know what happened,” Biden said.Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, responding to a question about Biden’s remarks, said the comments at a fundraiser in California “go totally against facts and seriously violate diplomatic protocol, and severely infringe on China’s political dignity.”“It is a blatant political provocation. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and opposition,” Mao said at a daily briefing.“The U.S. remarks are extremely absurd and irresponsible,” Mao said.Mao reiterated China's contention that the balloon was for meteorological research and had been accidentally blown off course.“The U.S. should have handled it in a calm and professional manner,” she said. "However, the U.S. distorted facts and used forces to hype up the incident, fully revealing its nature of bullying and hegemony.”Biden has previously used the term dictator, along with war criminal, to refer to Russian President Vladimir Putin over his country's invasion of Ukraine.While Xi heads a country formally named the People's Republic of China, he faces no limits on his terms as head of state, commander of the military and leader of the ruling Communist Party, which brooks no challenges to its authority.Blinken’s visit, during which he met with Xi, was aimed at easing tensions between the two superpowers.The trip was originally scheduled for February but was put on hold after the balloon incident. While the visit marked a return to high-level contacts between the sides, China continues to refuse talks between their militaries.In recent days, the U.S. says Chinese warplanes and naval ships have maneuvered in ways that threaten their U.S. counterparts in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, despite agreements between them on protocols for avoiding such incidents.During Blinken's visit, China reiterated its strong objections to U.S. support for the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory. The U.S. has also sought to block China's access to cutting-edge computer chip manufacturing technology that could be used for military purposes and accused Beijing of stealing American intellectual property.In his comments at the fundraising event for his 2024 re-election campaign, Biden said he believed the balloon incident had caught Xi unaware.“That’s what’s a great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn’t know what happened. That wasn’t supposed to be going where it was. It was blown off course up through Alaska and then down through the United States. And he didn’t know about it,” Biden said. “When it got shot down, he was very embarrassed. He denied it was even there.”Despite their sharp political divide, the countries continue to have deep economic and cultural links. Bilateral trade passed $690 billion last year and an estimated 300,000 Chinese are believed to be studying in the U.S., shoring up American institutions that have come under financial pressure.After meeting with Xi on Monday, Blinken acknowledged entrenched differences. “We have no illusions about the challenges of managing this relationship. There are many issues on which we profoundly, even vehemently, disagree,” he said.Xi sounded a similar note but suggested the rivalry could be overcome.“The competition among major countries is not in line with the trend of the times and cannot solve the problems of the United States itself and the challenges facing the world,” he told Blinken. “China respects the interests of the United States and will not challenge or supplant the United States. Similarly, the United States should also respect China and not harm its legitimate rights and interests.”

Biden in trouble for 'absurd' comment on Chinese leader

WASHINGTON (AP) —For the first time, U.S. regulators on Wednesday approved the sale of chicken made from animal cells, allowing two California companies to offer “lab-grown” meat to the nation's restaurant tables and eventually, supermarket shelves.

The Agriculture Department gave the green light to Upside Foods and Good Meat, firms that had been racing to be the first in the U.S. to sell meat that doesn't come from slaughtered animals — what's now being referred to as “cell-cultivated" or “cultured” meat as it emerges from the laboratory and arrives on dinner plates.

The move launches a new era of meat production aimed at eliminating harm to animals and drastically reducing the environmental impacts of grazing, growing feed for animals and animal waste.

“Instead of all of that land and all of that water that's used to feed all of these animals that are slaughtered, we can do it in a different way," said Josh Tetrick, co-founder and chief executive of Eat Just, which operates Good Meat.

The companies received approvals for federal inspections required to sell meat and poultry in the U.S. The action came months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration deemed that products from both companies are safe to eat. A manufacturing company called Joinn Biologics, which works with Good Meat, was also cleared to make the products.

Cultivated meat is grown in steel tanks, using cells that come from a living animal, a fertilized egg or a special bank of stored cells. In Upside's case, it comes out in large sheets that are then formed into shapes like chicken cutlets and sausages. Good Meat, which already sells cultivated meat in Singapore, the first country to allow it, turns masses of chicken cells into cutlets, nuggets, shredded meat and satays.

But don’t look for this novel meat in U.S. grocery stores anytime soon. Cultivated chicken is much more expensive than meat from whole, farmed birds and cannot yet be produced on the scale of traditional meat, said Ricardo San Martin, director of the Alt:Meat Lab at University of California Berkeley.

The companies plan to serve the new food first in exclusive restaurants: Upside has partnered with a San Francisco restaurant called Bar Crenn, while Good Meat dishes will be served at a Washington, D.C., restaurant run by chef and owner Jose Andrés.

Company officials are quick to note the products are meat, not substitutes like the Impossible Burger or offerings from Beyond Meat, which are made from plant proteins and other ingredients.

Globally, more than 150 companies are focusing on meat from cells, not only chicken but pork, lamb, fish and beef, which scientists say has the biggest impact on the environment.

Upside, based in Berkeley, operates a 70,000-square-foot building in nearby Emeryville. On a recent Tuesday, visitors entered a gleaming commercial kitchen where chef Jess Weaver was sauteeing a cultivated chicken filet in a white wine butter sauce with tomatoes, capers and green onions.

The finished chicken breast product was slightly paler than the grocery store version. Otherwise it looked, cooked, smelled and tasted like any other pan-fried poultry.

“The most common response we get is, ‘Oh, it tastes like chicken,’” said Amy Chen, Upside’s chief operating officer.

Good Meat, based in Alameda, operates a 100,000-square-foot plant, where chef Zach Tyndall dished up a smoked chicken salad on a sunny June afternoon. He followed it with a chicken “thigh” served on a bed of potato puree with a mushroom-vegetable demi-glace and tiny purple cauliflower florets. The Good Meat chicken product will come pre-cooked, requiring only heating to use in a range of dishes.

Chen acknowledged that many consumers are skeptical, even squeamish, about the thought of eating chicken grown from cells.

“We call it the ‘ick factor,’” she said.

The sentiment was echoed in a recent poll conducted by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Half of U.S. adults said that they are unlikely to try meat grown using cells from animals. When asked to choose from a list of reasons for their reluctance, most who said they'd be unlikely to try it said “it just sounds weird.” About half said they don’t think it would be safe.

But once people understand how the meat is made, they’re more accepting, Chen said. And once they taste it, they're usually sold.

“It is the meat that you’ve always known and loved," she said.

Cultivated meat begins with cells. Upside experts take cells from live animals, choosing those most likely to taste good and to reproduce quickly and consistently, forming high-quality meat, Chen said. Good Meat products are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/166346/download">created from</a>&nbsp;a master cell bank formed from a commercially available chicken cell line.

Once the cell lines are selected, they’re combined with a broth-like mixture that includes the amino acids, fatty acids, sugars, salts, vitamins and other elements cells need to grow. Inside the tanks, called cultivators, the cells grow, proliferating quickly. At Upside, muscle and connective tissue cells grow together, forming large sheets. After about three weeks, the sheets of poultry cells are removed from the tanks and formed into cutlets, sausages or other foods. Good Meat cells grow into large masses, which are shaped into a range of meat products.

Both firms emphasized that initial production will be limited. The Emeryville facility can produce up to 50,000 pounds of cultivated meat products a year, though the goal is to expand to 400,000 pounds per year, Upside officials said. Good Meat officials wouldn't estimate a production goal.

By comparison, the U.S. produces about 50 billion pounds of chicken per year.

It could take a few years before consumers see the products in more restaurants and seven to 10 years before they hit the wider market, said Sebastian Bohn, who specializes in cell-based foods at CRB, a Missouri firm that designs and builds facilities for pharmaceutical, biotech and food companies.

Cost will be another sticking point. Neither Upside nor Good Meat officials would reveal the price of a single chicken cutlet, saying only that it’s been reduced by orders of magnitude since the firms began offering demonstrations. Eventually, the price is expected to mirror high-end organic chicken, which sells for up to $20 per pound.

San Martin said he’s concerned that cultivated meat may wind up being an alternative to traditional meat for rich people, but will do little for the environment if it remains a niche product.

“If some high-end or affluent people want to eat this instead of a chicken, it's good,” he said. "Will that mean you will feed chicken to poor people? I honestly don't see it."

Tetrick said he shares critics' concerns about the challenges of producing an affordable, novel meat product for the world. But he emphasized that traditional meat production is so damaging to the planet it requires an alternative — preferably one that doesn't require giving up meat all together.

“I miss meat," said Tetrick, who grew up in Alabama eating chicken wings and barbecue. “There should be a different way that people can enjoy chicken and beef and pork with their families."

WASHINGTON (AP) —For the first time, U.S. regulators on Wednesday approved the sale of chicken made from animal cells, allowing two California companies to offer “lab-grown” meat to the nation's restaurant tables and eventually, supermarket shelves.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fgoodmeat%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0114d5rGCnk48cEZR848wMs58K9WnD55tTqPXEmghghAiDg2eY758Jwfd7eHqJpidl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="732" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>The Agriculture Department gave the green light to Upside Foods and Good Meat, firms that had been racing to be the first in the U.S. to sell meat that doesn't come from slaughtered animals — what's now being referred to as “cell-cultivated" or “cultured” meat as it emerges from the laboratory and arrives on dinner plates.The move launches a new era of meat production aimed at eliminating harm to animals and drastically reducing the environmental impacts of grazing, growing feed for animals and animal waste.“Instead of all of that land and all of that water that's used to feed all of these animals that are slaughtered, we can do it in a different way," said Josh Tetrick, co-founder and chief executive of Eat Just, which operates Good Meat.The companies received approvals for federal inspections required to sell meat and poultry in the U.S. The action came months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration deemed that products from both companies are safe to eat. A manufacturing company called Joinn Biologics, which works with Good Meat, was also cleared to make the products.Cultivated meat is grown in steel tanks, using cells that come from a living animal, a fertilized egg or a special bank of stored cells. In Upside's case, it comes out in large sheets that are then formed into shapes like chicken cutlets and sausages. Good Meat, which already sells cultivated meat in Singapore, the first country to allow it, turns masses of chicken cells into cutlets, nuggets, shredded meat and satays.But don’t look for this novel meat in U.S. grocery stores anytime soon. Cultivated chicken is much more expensive than meat from whole, farmed birds and cannot yet be produced on the scale of traditional meat, said Ricardo San Martin, director of the Alt:Meat Lab at University of California Berkeley.The companies plan to serve the new food first in exclusive restaurants: Upside has partnered with a San Francisco restaurant called Bar Crenn, while Good Meat dishes will be served at a Washington, D.C., restaurant run by chef and owner Jose Andrés.Company officials are quick to note the products are meat, not substitutes like the Impossible Burger or offerings from Beyond Meat, which are made from plant proteins and other ingredients.Globally, more than 150 companies are focusing on meat from cells, not only chicken but pork, lamb, fish and beef, which scientists say has the biggest impact on the environment.Upside, based in Berkeley, operates a 70,000-square-foot building in nearby Emeryville. On a recent Tuesday, visitors entered a gleaming commercial kitchen where chef Jess Weaver was sauteeing a cultivated chicken filet in a white wine butter sauce with tomatoes, capers and green onions.The finished chicken breast product was slightly paler than the grocery store version. Otherwise it looked, cooked, smelled and tasted like any other pan-fried poultry.“The most common response we get is, ‘Oh, it tastes like chicken,’” said Amy Chen, Upside’s chief operating officer.Good Meat, based in Alameda, operates a 100,000-square-foot plant, where chef Zach Tyndall dished up a smoked chicken salad on a sunny June afternoon. He followed it with a chicken “thigh” served on a bed of potato puree with a mushroom-vegetable demi-glace and tiny purple cauliflower florets. The Good Meat chicken product will come pre-cooked, requiring only heating to use in a range of dishes.Chen acknowledged that many consumers are skeptical, even squeamish, about the thought of eating chicken grown from cells.“We call it the ‘ick factor,’” she said.The sentiment was echoed in a recent poll conducted by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Half of U.S. adults said that they are unlikely to try meat grown using cells from animals. When asked to choose from a list of reasons for their reluctance, most who said they'd be unlikely to try it said “it just sounds weird.” About half said they don’t think it would be safe.But once people understand how the meat is made, they’re more accepting, Chen said. And once they taste it, they're usually sold.“It is the meat that you’ve always known and loved," she said.Cultivated meat begins with cells. Upside experts take cells from live animals, choosing those most likely to taste good and to reproduce quickly and consistently, forming high-quality meat, Chen said. Good Meat products are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/166346/download">created from</a>&nbsp;a master cell bank formed from a commercially available chicken cell line.Once the cell lines are selected, they’re combined with a broth-like mixture that includes the amino acids, fatty acids, sugars, salts, vitamins and other elements cells need to grow. Inside the tanks, called cultivators, the cells grow, proliferating quickly. At Upside, muscle and connective tissue cells grow together, forming large sheets. After about three weeks, the sheets of poultry cells are removed from the tanks and formed into cutlets, sausages or other foods. Good Meat cells grow into large masses, which are shaped into a range of meat products.Both firms emphasized that initial production will be limited. The Emeryville facility can produce up to 50,000 pounds of cultivated meat products a year, though the goal is to expand to 400,000 pounds per year, Upside officials said. Good Meat officials wouldn't estimate a production goal.By comparison, the U.S. produces about 50 billion pounds of chicken per year.It could take a few years before consumers see the products in more restaurants and seven to 10 years before they hit the wider market, said Sebastian Bohn, who specializes in cell-based foods at CRB, a Missouri firm that designs and builds facilities for pharmaceutical, biotech and food companies.Cost will be another sticking point. Neither Upside nor Good Meat officials would reveal the price of a single chicken cutlet, saying only that it’s been reduced by orders of magnitude since the firms began offering demonstrations. Eventually, the price is expected to mirror high-end organic chicken, which sells for up to $20 per pound.San Martin said he’s concerned that cultivated meat may wind up being an alternative to traditional meat for rich people, but will do little for the environment if it remains a niche product.“If some high-end or affluent people want to eat this instead of a chicken, it's good,” he said. "Will that mean you will feed chicken to poor people? I honestly don't see it."Tetrick said he shares critics' concerns about the challenges of producing an affordable, novel meat product for the world. But he emphasized that traditional meat production is so damaging to the planet it requires an alternative — preferably one that doesn't require giving up meat all together.“I miss meat," said Tetrick, who grew up in Alabama eating chicken wings and barbecue. “There should be a different way that people can enjoy chicken and beef and pork with their families."

U.S. approves the nation's first 'lab-grown' meat

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon said Tuesday that it overestimated the value of the weapons it has sent to Ukraine by $6.2 billion over the past two years — about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-costs-war-russia-weapons-884a9eefe32eee9ec611771cfe2a4642">double early estimates</a>&nbsp;— resulting in a surplus that will be used for future security packages.

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said a detailed review of the accounting error found that the military services used replacement costs rather than the book value of equipment that was pulled from Pentagon stocks and sent to Ukraine. She said final calculations show there was an error of $3.6 billion in the current fiscal year and $2.6 billion in the 2022 fiscal year, which ended last Sept. 30.

As a result, the department now has additional money in its coffers to use to support Ukraine as it pursues its counteroffensive against Russia. And it come as the fiscal year is wrapping up and congressional funding was beginning to dwindle.

“It’s just going to go back into the pot of money that we have allocated” for the future Pentagon stock drawdowns," said Singh.

The revelation comes as Ukraine moves ahead with the early stages its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-nuclear-plant-reactor-dam-flooding-a961ad87eff34fa0bc7cfbb7223cb422">counteroffensive</a>, in an effort to dislodge the Kremlin’s forces from territory they’ve occupied since a full-scale invasion in February 2022. The counteroffensive has come up against heavily mined terrain and reinforced defensive fortifications, according to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces.

Russia, meanwhile, has been bombarding the Kyiv region with dozens of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-iran-military-cooperation-d982dd3faf78fbb17dfc8b9c1cb9dae7">Shahed exploding drones</a>, in an assault that has exposed gaps in the country’s air protection after almost 16 months of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">war</a>. Officials said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-air-defenses-3f0a918c617534251e53da4a93121c42">Ukrainian air defenses</a>&nbsp;downed 32 of 35 drones that were launched by Russia early Tuesday.

The Pentagon has repeatedly used presidential drawdown authority to pull weapons, ammunition and other equipment off the shelves, so that it can get to Ukraine far more quickly than going through a purchase process.

Based on previous estimates announced June 13, the U.S. had committed more than $40 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded. Using the new calculation, the U.S. has actually provided less than $34 billion in aid.

Officials have not been able to give exact totals for the amount of money that remains for the drawdowns or for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which provides longer-term funding to purchase weapons, including some of the larger air defense systems.

The U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-us-republican-party-texas-michael-mccaul-114e61bdd752d387a3df813638dab68a">has approved four rounds of aid</a>&nbsp;to Ukraine in response to Russia’s invasion, totaling about $113 billion, with some of that money going toward replenishment of U.S. military equipment that was sent to the frontlines. Congress&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kevin-mccarthy-nancy-pelosi-ed54dbd327c4362ee052f851f497fcd4">approved the latest round of aid</a>&nbsp;in December, totaling roughly $45 billion for Ukraine and NATO allies. While the package was designed to last through the end of the fiscal year in September, much depends upon events on the ground, particularly as the new counteroffensive ramps up.

President Joe Biden and his senior national security leaders have repeatedly stated that the United States will help Ukraine&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/putin-zelenskyy-washington-4d5fc23be5518e689fbbcac334769d59">“as long as it takes”</a>&nbsp;to repel the Russian forces. Privately, administration officials have warned Ukrainian officials that there is a limit to the patience of a narrowly divided Congress — and American public — for the costs of a war with no clear end.

Members of Congress have repeatedly pressed Defense Department leaders on how closely the U.S. is tracking its aid to Ukraine to ensure that it is not subject to fraud or ending up in the wrong hands. The Pentagon has said it has a “robust program” to track the aid as it crosses the border into Ukraine and to keep tabs on it once it is there, depending on the sensitivity of each weapons system.

Singh said the accounting mistake won't affect the ongoing delivery of aid to Ukraine.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1687304849422.png" alt="Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said a detailed review of the accounting error found that the military services used replacement costs rather than the book value of equipment-photo Defense Dept." />
 <figcaption>Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said a detailed review of the accounting error found that the military services used replacement costs rather than the book value of equipment-photo Defense Dept.</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon said Tuesday that it overestimated the value of the weapons it has sent to Ukraine by $6.2 billion over the past two years — about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-costs-war-russia-weapons-884a9eefe32eee9ec611771cfe2a4642">double early estimates</a>&nbsp;— resulting in a surplus that will be used for future security packages.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">LIVE: <a href="https://twitter.com/DepPentPressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DepPentPressSec</a> Sabrina Singh holds a news briefing at the Pentagon. <a href="https://t.co/0TLRhX6OQQ">https://t.co/0TLRhX6OQQ</a>&mdash; Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeptofDefense/status/1671220904695562242?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said a detailed review of the accounting error found that the military services used replacement costs rather than the book value of equipment that was pulled from Pentagon stocks and sent to Ukraine. She said final calculations show there was an error of $3.6 billion in the current fiscal year and $2.6 billion in the 2022 fiscal year, which ended last Sept. 30.As a result, the department now has additional money in its coffers to use to support Ukraine as it pursues its counteroffensive against Russia. And it come as the fiscal year is wrapping up and congressional funding was beginning to dwindle.“It’s just going to go back into the pot of money that we have allocated” for the future Pentagon stock drawdowns," said Singh.The revelation comes as Ukraine moves ahead with the early stages its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-nuclear-plant-reactor-dam-flooding-a961ad87eff34fa0bc7cfbb7223cb422">counteroffensive</a>, in an effort to dislodge the Kremlin’s forces from territory they’ve occupied since a full-scale invasion in February 2022. The counteroffensive has come up against heavily mined terrain and reinforced defensive fortifications, according to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces.Russia, meanwhile, has been bombarding the Kyiv region with dozens of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-iran-military-cooperation-d982dd3faf78fbb17dfc8b9c1cb9dae7">Shahed exploding drones</a>, in an assault that has exposed gaps in the country’s air protection after almost 16 months of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">war</a>. Officials said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-air-defenses-3f0a918c617534251e53da4a93121c42">Ukrainian air defenses</a>&nbsp;downed 32 of 35 drones that were launched by Russia early Tuesday.The Pentagon has repeatedly used presidential drawdown authority to pull weapons, ammunition and other equipment off the shelves, so that it can get to Ukraine far more quickly than going through a purchase process.Based on previous estimates announced June 13, the U.S. had committed more than $40 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded. Using the new calculation, the U.S. has actually provided less than $34 billion in aid.Officials have not been able to give exact totals for the amount of money that remains for the drawdowns or for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which provides longer-term funding to purchase weapons, including some of the larger air defense systems.The U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-us-republican-party-texas-michael-mccaul-114e61bdd752d387a3df813638dab68a">has approved four rounds of aid</a>&nbsp;to Ukraine in response to Russia’s invasion, totaling about $113 billion, with some of that money going toward replenishment of U.S. military equipment that was sent to the frontlines. Congress&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kevin-mccarthy-nancy-pelosi-ed54dbd327c4362ee052f851f497fcd4">approved the latest round of aid</a>&nbsp;in December, totaling roughly $45 billion for Ukraine and NATO allies. While the package was designed to last through the end of the fiscal year in September, much depends upon events on the ground, particularly as the new counteroffensive ramps up.President Joe Biden and his senior national security leaders have repeatedly stated that the United States will help Ukraine&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/putin-zelenskyy-washington-4d5fc23be5518e689fbbcac334769d59">“as long as it takes”</a>&nbsp;to repel the Russian forces. Privately, administration officials have warned Ukrainian officials that there is a limit to the patience of a narrowly divided Congress — and American public — for the costs of a war with no clear end.Members of Congress have repeatedly pressed Defense Department leaders on how closely the U.S. is tracking its aid to Ukraine to ensure that it is not subject to fraud or ending up in the wrong hands. The Pentagon has said it has a “robust program” to track the aid as it crosses the border into Ukraine and to keep tabs on it once it is there, depending on the sensitivity of each weapons system.Singh said the accounting mistake won't affect the ongoing delivery of aid to Ukraine.

U.S. accounting error provides extra $6.2 billion for Ukraine military aid

LINCOLN —&nbsp;Western Nebraska may soon offer casino gambling with a move announced Tuesday to transfer a racing license in Hastings to Ogallala.

Hastings Exposition and Racing, Inc., which possesses the racing license, announced it has submitted an application to the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission surrounding the move.&nbsp;

Brian Jorde, spokesman for the Hastings company, said they are excited for the commission to “get that teed up and approved so we can get going.”

The Hastings company said it plans to establish a multi-track quarter horse racing circuit and partner with Elite Casino Resorts. Elite Casino owns the Grand Island Casino resort and would invest $100 million in the racetrack and casino —&nbsp;these are referred to as ”racinos.”

The 174-acre site would be called the Lake Mac Casino Resort and Racetrack, potentially capitalizing on tourism to Lake McConaughy.

Jorde said the move is “doing everyone a favor” by moving away from the Grand Island racino and spreading out into the Panhandle.

“Western Nebraska always gets shut out,” Jorde said. “Our plan is to get this up and going in Ogallala and then get up and going in Gering and have a Quarter Horse circuit between the two locations.”

Hastings Exposition and Racing, operated by Brian Becker, spent much of last year trying to encourage the Hastings City Council to approve plans for a racino on the north edge of town, according to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.newschannelnebraska.com/story/49103549/hastings-racing-license-owner-plans-to-move-license-to-ogallala-ending-plans-for-hastings-casino-and-horse-track">News Channel Nebraska</a>.

The council&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://central.newschannelnebraska.com/story/46065476/hastings-city-council-denies-proposed-horse-track-and-casino">rejected</a>&nbsp;those plans in March 2022 but approved an&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://central.newschannelnebraska.com/story/47699007/hastings-city-council-approves-plans-for-proposed-casino-and-horse-track">altered plan</a>&nbsp;in November without a game partner. The Chickasaw Nation was originally proposed as a gaming partner.

Nebraska voters overwhelmingly approved casino gambling in 2020 for the state’s licensed racetracks in Omaha, Lincoln, Columbus, Grand Island, Hastings and South Sioux City.&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/racino-bill-advances-with-initial-limit-at-six-racetracks/">Other communities</a>, such as Kimball, Gering, North Platte, Norfolk and Bellevue, had expressed interest in racinos, too.

Later this week, WarHorse Casino Lincoln will offer sports betting for the first time in the state.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/9/1569530951374.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By ZACH WENDLING <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/woman-who-shouted-shame-following-critical-gun-bill-passage-is-banned-from-nebraska-capitol/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN —&nbsp;Western Nebraska may soon offer casino gambling with a move announced Tuesday to transfer a racing license in Hastings to Ogallala.Hastings Exposition and Racing, Inc., which possesses the racing license, announced it has submitted an application to the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission surrounding the move.&nbsp;Brian Jorde, spokesman for the Hastings company, said they are excited for the commission to “get that teed up and approved so we can get going.”The Hastings company said it plans to establish a multi-track quarter horse racing circuit and partner with Elite Casino Resorts. Elite Casino owns the Grand Island Casino resort and would invest $100 million in the racetrack and casino —&nbsp;these are referred to as ”racinos.”The 174-acre site would be called the Lake Mac Casino Resort and Racetrack, potentially capitalizing on tourism to Lake McConaughy.Jorde said the move is “doing everyone a favor” by moving away from the Grand Island racino and spreading out into the Panhandle.“Western Nebraska always gets shut out,” Jorde said. “Our plan is to get this up and going in Ogallala and then get up and going in Gering and have a Quarter Horse circuit between the two locations.”Hastings Exposition and Racing, operated by Brian Becker, spent much of last year trying to encourage the Hastings City Council to approve plans for a racino on the north edge of town, according to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.newschannelnebraska.com/story/49103549/hastings-racing-license-owner-plans-to-move-license-to-ogallala-ending-plans-for-hastings-casino-and-horse-track">News Channel Nebraska</a>.The council&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://central.newschannelnebraska.com/story/46065476/hastings-city-council-denies-proposed-horse-track-and-casino">rejected</a>&nbsp;those plans in March 2022 but approved an&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://central.newschannelnebraska.com/story/47699007/hastings-city-council-approves-plans-for-proposed-casino-and-horse-track">altered plan</a>&nbsp;in November without a game partner. The Chickasaw Nation was originally proposed as a gaming partner.Nebraska voters overwhelmingly approved casino gambling in 2020 for the state’s licensed racetracks in Omaha, Lincoln, Columbus, Grand Island, Hastings and South Sioux City.&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/racino-bill-advances-with-initial-limit-at-six-racetracks/">Other communities</a>, such as Kimball, Gering, North Platte, Norfolk and Bellevue, had expressed interest in racinos, too.Later this week, WarHorse Casino Lincoln will offer sports betting for the first time in the state.

Western Nebraska casino possible as plans announced for a racing license in Ogallala

JACKSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a woman for alleged theft.

Just before 8p.m. Sunday, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office had a report of an individual driving a beige Toyota allegedly opening mailboxes in southern Jackson County near Hoyt, according to Sheriff Tim Morse. 

A short time later, Sheriff's Deputies located a vehicle matching the description near 126th and Q. Road.

 Deputies determined the vehicle, a 2007 Toyota Corolla had been reported stolen out of Omaha, Nebraska. The driver was identified as 28-year-old Tehya Rose Wright, of Mason City, Iowa. 

 Wright was arrested by deputies and remains in the Jackson County Jail on requested theft charges.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1687225951388.png" alt="Wright-photo Jackson County" />
 <figcaption>Wright-photo Jackson County</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a woman for alleged theft.Just before 8p.m. Sunday, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office had a report of an individual driving a beige Toyota allegedly opening mailboxes in southern Jackson County near Hoyt, according to Sheriff Tim Morse. A short time later, Sheriff's Deputies located a vehicle matching the description near 126th and Q. Road. Deputies determined the vehicle, a 2007 Toyota Corolla had been reported stolen out of Omaha, Nebraska. The driver was identified as 28-year-old Tehya Rose Wright, of Mason City, Iowa. Wright was arrested by deputies and remains in the Jackson County Jail on requested theft charges.

Suspect in car stolen in Omaha was opening mailboxes in Kansas

WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/robert-hunter-biden">President Joe Biden’s son Hunter</a>&nbsp;has been charged with failing to pay federal income tax and illegally possessing a weapon and has reached an agreement with the Justice Department, according to&nbsp;a letter filed in U.S. District Court&nbsp;in Delaware.

As part of the agreement, made public Tuesday, Hunter Biden will plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses and is expected to reach an agreement with prosecutors on the felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user. It is somewhat unusual to resolve a federal criminal case at the same time the charges are filed in court, though it is not totally unheard of.

The deal ends a long-running Justice Department investigation into Biden’s second son, who has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother Beau Biden. It also averts a trial that would have generated days or weeks or distracting headlines for a White House that has strenuously sought to keep its distance from the Justice Department.

Christopher Clark, a lawyer for the younger Biden, said in a statement that it was his understanding that the five-year investigation had now been resolved.

“I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life," Clark said. “He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward.”

The news comes as congressional Republicans pursue their own investigations into nearly every facet of Hunter Biden’s business dealings, including examining foreign payments and other aspects of his finances. It also comes days after a 37-count indictment came down against former President Donald Trump for mishandling classified documents on his Florida estate, another case with even more dramatic political implications.

Joe Biden has also faced questions about his son’s business dealings and drug addiction.

The gun charge states that Hunter Biden possessed a handgun, a Colt Cobra 38 special, despite knowing he was a drug user for 11 days in October 2018. The count carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, but the Justice Department says Hunter Biden has reached a pretrial agreement on that charge. Full details were not immediately available.

The White House had no immediate comment on the case.

WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/robert-hunter-biden">President Joe Biden’s son Hunter</a>&nbsp;has been charged with failing to pay federal income tax and illegally possessing a weapon and has reached an agreement with the Justice Department, according to&nbsp;a letter filed in U.S. District Court&nbsp;in Delaware.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1687268829862.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>As part of the agreement, made public Tuesday, Hunter Biden will plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses and is expected to reach an agreement with prosecutors on the felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user. It is somewhat unusual to resolve a federal criminal case at the same time the charges are filed in court, though it is not totally unheard of.The deal ends a long-running Justice Department investigation into Biden’s second son, who has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother Beau Biden. It also averts a trial that would have generated days or weeks or distracting headlines for a White House that has strenuously sought to keep its distance from the Justice Department.Christopher Clark, a lawyer for the younger Biden, said in a statement that it was his understanding that the five-year investigation had now been resolved.“I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life," Clark said. “He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward.”The news comes as congressional Republicans pursue their own investigations into nearly every facet of Hunter Biden’s business dealings, including examining foreign payments and other aspects of his finances. It also comes days after a 37-count indictment came down against former President Donald Trump for mishandling classified documents on his Florida estate, another case with even more dramatic political implications.Joe Biden has also faced questions about his son’s business dealings and drug addiction.The gun charge states that Hunter Biden possessed a handgun, a Colt Cobra 38 special, despite knowing he was a drug user for 11 days in October 2018. The count carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, but the Justice Department says Hunter Biden has reached a pretrial agreement on that charge. Full details were not immediately available.The White House had no immediate comment on the case.

President Biden's son reaches plea deal on tax, gun charges

By&nbsp;AARON SANDERFORD <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/04/21/massive-pipeline-spill-caused-by-crack-created-during-installation-third-party-review-concludes/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — A push for the nation’s next farm bill came Monday to East Campus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, as part of a rare joint visit by all five members of the state’s congressional delegation.&nbsp;&nbsp;

University leaders pressed the need for the bill to invest in agricultural research, as the five members, all Republicans, spoke to students and watched their ag robots work. Farmers and ranchers shared what they want to see in the bill, which is scheduled to be renewed every five years.

Farmers, who met the delegation off-campus without reporters present, said they want to protect federal crop insurance from cuts in funding or changes that would damage a safety net program that planters rely on to survive volatile weather, including two straight years of drought, lawmakers said afterward.&nbsp;

“The main thing people were saying is that they want to preserve it,” U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, who serves on the House Agriculture Committee, said about crop insurance after meeting with a group of farmers and ranchers. “The farmers are being made whole right now, or they’d be selling their farms.”

The need to negotiate an agreement that addresses both rural and urban concerns could push the new bill into 2024, said Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., who serves on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. She said it might take months to hammer out the specifics of a deal.

“It’s not my first rodeo,” Fischer said of the farm bill. “We’ve gotten an early deal, and then if we need to do an extension, we’ll try and get the things we need for the people here in the state of Nebraska.”&nbsp;

House Republicans and some GOP senators have been pressing for discretionary spending cuts during and after recent debt ceiling negotiations. Some deficit hawks have targeted the 2018 farm bill, which cost taxpayers an estimated $800 billion over a decade, according to a Washington Post estimate.

Much of that money pays for nutrition programs, including school lunches and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, which help secure urban support for farm programs. All five members of Nebraska’s delegation were asked how they square their support of spending cuts with support for farm programs.

Several said that while they want to cut federal spending, they would prefer to cut programs that they consider less effective. U.S. Rep. Mike Flood said the farm bill has helped keep food costs lower for Americans and boosts the ability of U.S. exports to compete for international customers.

“Sometimes we take our food security for granted,” said Flood. “Sometimes we take the fact that we use less than 10% of our annual income to pay for our food, which is a lower number than almost any other country on earth.”

Rep. Adrian Smith said he wants to make sure the next farm bill keeps farmers and ranchers nimble enough economically to respond to the demands of consumers.

“We want the agility for producers to be able to innovate for the future and hopefully smooth things out economically for themselves,” Smith said.

Continued investments in research are a big part of that future, Smith said.

Santosh Pitla, a UNL professor of biological systems engineering, showed the delegation a student-led robotics project aimed at helping farmers hunt and kill more weeds with fewer chemicals. Others shared research projects that would grow food using less fertilizer, reducing pollution.&nbsp;

Sen. Pete Ricketts, Nebraska’s former governor, said it was a shift to see the University of Nebraska’s funding needs for research from the federal perspective. He said he appreciated research that could keep more nitrates out of drinking water.

“One of the cool things that all these folks are working on is how can we make sure we can do more with less,” Ricketts said. “How can we increase our production and use fewer inputs, fewer resources, so that we can feed a growing world and have less of an impact?”&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1687266678101.png" alt="Nebraska’s congressional delegation gets a briefing from a University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate about his research. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>Nebraska’s congressional delegation gets a briefing from a University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate about his research. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>By&nbsp;AARON SANDERFORD <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/04/21/massive-pipeline-spill-caused-by-crack-created-during-installation-third-party-review-concludes/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — A push for the nation’s next farm bill came Monday to East Campus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, as part of a rare joint visit by all five members of the state’s congressional delegation.&nbsp;&nbsp;University leaders pressed the need for the bill to invest in agricultural research, as the five members, all Republicans, spoke to students and watched their ag robots work. Farmers and ranchers shared what they want to see in the bill, which is scheduled to be renewed every five years.Farmers, who met the delegation off-campus without reporters present, said they want to protect federal crop insurance from cuts in funding or changes that would damage a safety net program that planters rely on to survive volatile weather, including two straight years of drought, lawmakers said afterward.&nbsp;“The main thing people were saying is that they want to preserve it,” U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, who serves on the House Agriculture Committee, said about crop insurance after meeting with a group of farmers and ranchers. “The farmers are being made whole right now, or they’d be selling their farms.”<h2>Debate could stretch into 2024</h2>The need to negotiate an agreement that addresses both rural and urban concerns could push the new bill into 2024, said Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., who serves on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. She said it might take months to hammer out the specifics of a deal.“It’s not my first rodeo,” Fischer said of the farm bill. “We’ve gotten an early deal, and then if we need to do an extension, we’ll try and get the things we need for the people here in the state of Nebraska.”&nbsp;House Republicans and some GOP senators have been pressing for discretionary spending cuts during and after recent debt ceiling negotiations. Some deficit hawks have targeted the 2018 farm bill, which cost taxpayers an estimated $800 billion over a decade, according to a Washington Post estimate.Much of that money pays for nutrition programs, including school lunches and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, which help secure urban support for farm programs. All five members of Nebraska’s delegation were asked how they square their support of spending cuts with support for farm programs.Several said that while they want to cut federal spending, they would prefer to cut programs that they consider less effective. U.S. Rep. Mike Flood said the farm bill has helped keep food costs lower for Americans and boosts the ability of U.S. exports to compete for international customers.“Sometimes we take our food security for granted,” said Flood. “Sometimes we take the fact that we use less than 10% of our annual income to pay for our food, which is a lower number than almost any other country on earth.”<h2>Research matters</h2>Rep. Adrian Smith said he wants to make sure the next farm bill keeps farmers and ranchers nimble enough economically to respond to the demands of consumers.“We want the agility for producers to be able to innovate for the future and hopefully smooth things out economically for themselves,” Smith said.Continued investments in research are a big part of that future, Smith said.Santosh Pitla, a UNL professor of biological systems engineering, showed the delegation a student-led robotics project aimed at helping farmers hunt and kill more weeds with fewer chemicals. Others shared research projects that would grow food using less fertilizer, reducing pollution.&nbsp;Sen. Pete Ricketts, Nebraska’s former governor, said it was a shift to see the University of Nebraska’s funding needs for research from the federal perspective. He said he appreciated research that could keep more nitrates out of drinking water.“One of the cool things that all these folks are working on is how can we make sure we can do more with less,” Ricketts said. “How can we increase our production and use fewer inputs, fewer resources, so that we can feed a growing world and have less of an impact?”&nbsp;

Nebraska delegation hears from farmers, ranchers, researchers on the next farm bill

BOSTON (AP) — In early June, sporadic but serious service disruptions plagued Microsoft's flagship office suite — including the Outlook email and OneDrive file-sharing apps — and cloud computing platform. A shadowy hacktivist group claimed responsibility, saying it flooded the sites with junk traffic in distributed denial-of-service attacks.

Initially reticent to name the cause, Microsoft has now disclosed that DDoS attacks by the murky upstart were indeed to blame.

But the software giant has offered few details — and did not immediately comment on how many customers were affected and whether the impact was global. A spokeswoman confirmed that the group that calls itself Anonymous Sudan was behind the attacks. It claimed responsibility on its Telegram social media channel at the time. Some&nbsp;<a href="https://www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/blogs/spiderlabs-blog/anonymous-sudan-religious-hacktivists-or-russian-front-group/">security researchers</a>&nbsp;believe the group to be Russian.

Microsoft’s explanation in a&nbsp;<a href="https://msrc.microsoft.com/blog/2023/06/microsoft-response-to-layer-7-distributed-denial-of-service-ddos-attacks/">blog post Friday evening</a>&nbsp;followed a request by The Associated Press two days earlier. Slim on details, the post said the attacks “temporarily impacted availability” of some services. It said the attackers were focused on “disruption and publicity” and likely used rented cloud infrastructure and virtual private networks to bombard Microsoft servers from so-called botnets of zombie computers around the globe.

Microsoft said there was no evidence any customer data was accessed or compromised.

While DDoS attacks are mainly a nuisance — making websites unreachable without penetrating them — security experts say they can disrupt the work of millions if they successfully interrupt the services of a software service giant like Microsoft on which so much global commerce depends.

It's not clear if that's what happened here.

“We really have no way to measure the impact if Microsoft doesn’t provide that info,” said Jake Williams, a prominent cybersecurity researcher and a former National Security Agency offensive hacker. Williams said he was not aware of Outlook previously being attacked at this scale.

“We know some resources were inaccessible for some, but not others. This often happens with DDoS of globally distributed systems,” Williams added. He said Microsoft's apparent unwillingness to provide an objective measure of customer impact “probably speaks to the magnitude.”

Microsoft dubbed the attackers Storm-1359, using a&nbsp;<a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/intelligence/microsoft-threat-actor-naming?view=o365-worldwide">designator it assigns to groups</a>&nbsp;whose affiliation it has not yet established. Cybersecurity sleuthing tends to take time — and even then can be a challenge if the adversary is skilled.

Pro-Russian hacking groups including Killnet — which the cybersecurity firm Mandiant says is Kremlin-affiliated — have been bombarding government and other websites of Ukraine's allies with DDoS attacks.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-atlanta-680cf93f7eb0300127448c35299ad66e">In October</a>, some U.S. airport sites were hit. Analyst Alexander Leslie of the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future said it's unlikely Anonymous Sudan is located as it claims in Sudan, an African country. The group works closely with Killnet and other pro-Kremlin groups to spread pro-Russian propaganda and disinformation, he said.

Edward Amoroso, NYU professor and CEO of TAG Cyber, said the Microsoft incident highlights how DDoS attacks remain “a significant risk that we all just agree to avoid talking about. It’s not controversial to call this an unsolved problem.”

He said Microsoft's difficulties fending of this particular attack suggest “a single point of failure.” The best defense against these attacks is to distribute a service massively, on a content distribution network for example.

Indeed, the techniques the attackers used are not old, said U.K. security researcher Kevin Beaumont. “One dates back to&nbsp;<a>2009</a>,” he said.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/outlook-microsoft-outage-down-ee5430f6a4636b297c64f0c0b695cfc3">Serious impacts</a>&nbsp;from the Microsoft 365 office suite interruptions were reported on Monday June 5, peaking at 18,000 outage and problem reports on the tracker Downdetector shortly after 11 a.m. Eastern time.

On Twitter that day,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/MSFT365Status/status/1665744417783775232?s=20">Microsoft said</a>&nbsp;Outlook, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business were affected.

Attacks continued through the week, with Microsoft confirming on June 9 that its Azure&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/azuresupport/status/1667206178210816002?s=46">cloud computing platform</a>&nbsp;had been affected.

On June 8, the computer security news site BleepingComputer.com&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/BleepinComputer/status/1666873449908776961?s=20">reported</a>&nbsp;that cloud-based OneDrive file-hosting was down globally for a time.

Microsoft said at the time that desktop OneDrive clients were not affected, BleepingComputer reported.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1674062921987.jpeg" alt="Microsoft Visitor Center in Redmond, Wash. / AP Photo, Ted S. Warren" />
 <figcaption>Microsoft Visitor Center in Redmond, Wash. / AP Photo, Ted S. Warren</figcaption>
 </figure>BOSTON (AP) — In early June, sporadic but serious service disruptions plagued Microsoft's flagship office suite — including the Outlook email and OneDrive file-sharing apps — and cloud computing platform. A shadowy hacktivist group claimed responsibility, saying it flooded the sites with junk traffic in distributed denial-of-service attacks.Initially reticent to name the cause, Microsoft has now disclosed that DDoS attacks by the murky upstart were indeed to blame.But the software giant has offered few details — and did not immediately comment on how many customers were affected and whether the impact was global. A spokeswoman confirmed that the group that calls itself Anonymous Sudan was behind the attacks. It claimed responsibility on its Telegram social media channel at the time. Some&nbsp;<a href="https://www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/blogs/spiderlabs-blog/anonymous-sudan-religious-hacktivists-or-russian-front-group/">security researchers</a>&nbsp;believe the group to be Russian.Microsoft’s explanation in a&nbsp;<a href="https://msrc.microsoft.com/blog/2023/06/microsoft-response-to-layer-7-distributed-denial-of-service-ddos-attacks/">blog post Friday evening</a>&nbsp;followed a request by The Associated Press two days earlier. Slim on details, the post said the attacks “temporarily impacted availability” of some services. It said the attackers were focused on “disruption and publicity” and likely used rented cloud infrastructure and virtual private networks to bombard Microsoft servers from so-called botnets of zombie computers around the globe.Microsoft said there was no evidence any customer data was accessed or compromised.While DDoS attacks are mainly a nuisance — making websites unreachable without penetrating them — security experts say they can disrupt the work of millions if they successfully interrupt the services of a software service giant like Microsoft on which so much global commerce depends.It's not clear if that's what happened here.“We really have no way to measure the impact if Microsoft doesn’t provide that info,” said Jake Williams, a prominent cybersecurity researcher and a former National Security Agency offensive hacker. Williams said he was not aware of Outlook previously being attacked at this scale.“We know some resources were inaccessible for some, but not others. This often happens with DDoS of globally distributed systems,” Williams added. He said Microsoft's apparent unwillingness to provide an objective measure of customer impact “probably speaks to the magnitude.”Microsoft dubbed the attackers Storm-1359, using a&nbsp;<a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/intelligence/microsoft-threat-actor-naming?view=o365-worldwide">designator it assigns to groups</a>&nbsp;whose affiliation it has not yet established. Cybersecurity sleuthing tends to take time — and even then can be a challenge if the adversary is skilled.Pro-Russian hacking groups including Killnet — which the cybersecurity firm Mandiant says is Kremlin-affiliated — have been bombarding government and other websites of Ukraine's allies with DDoS attacks.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-atlanta-680cf93f7eb0300127448c35299ad66e">In October</a>, some U.S. airport sites were hit. Analyst Alexander Leslie of the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future said it's unlikely Anonymous Sudan is located as it claims in Sudan, an African country. The group works closely with Killnet and other pro-Kremlin groups to spread pro-Russian propaganda and disinformation, he said.Edward Amoroso, NYU professor and CEO of TAG Cyber, said the Microsoft incident highlights how DDoS attacks remain “a significant risk that we all just agree to avoid talking about. It’s not controversial to call this an unsolved problem.”He said Microsoft's difficulties fending of this particular attack suggest “a single point of failure.” The best defense against these attacks is to distribute a service massively, on a content distribution network for example.Indeed, the techniques the attackers used are not old, said U.K. security researcher Kevin Beaumont. “One dates back to&nbsp;<a>2009</a>,” he said.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/outlook-microsoft-outage-down-ee5430f6a4636b297c64f0c0b695cfc3">Serious impacts</a>&nbsp;from the Microsoft 365 office suite interruptions were reported on Monday June 5, peaking at 18,000 outage and problem reports on the tracker Downdetector shortly after 11 a.m. Eastern time.On Twitter that day,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/MSFT365Status/status/1665744417783775232?s=20">Microsoft said</a>&nbsp;Outlook, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business were affected.Attacks continued through the week, with Microsoft confirming on June 9 that its Azure&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/azuresupport/status/1667206178210816002?s=46">cloud computing platform</a>&nbsp;had been affected.On June 8, the computer security news site BleepingComputer.com&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/BleepinComputer/status/1666873449908776961?s=20">reported</a>&nbsp;that cloud-based OneDrive file-hosting was down globally for a time.Microsoft said at the time that desktop OneDrive clients were not affected, BleepingComputer reported.

Microsoft: Disruptions to Outlook, cloud platform were cyberattacks

By JENNIFER SHUTT&nbsp; <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/30/u-s-judge-rules-insurers-dont-have-to-cover-many-free-preventive-health-services/">States Newsroom</a>

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans outlined&nbsp; how they would cut $130 billion from the dozen annual government funding bills — a total that is significantly lower than the level both parties agreed to in the debt limit deal just two weeks ago.

The spending levels likely set up a stalemate later this year between the GOP House and Democratic Senate that could lead to a partial government shutdown.

Contentious policy riders added by Republicans — such as a ban on funding for the teaching or promotion of critical race theory and a proposal that would eliminate pharmacies’ ability to dispense the abortion pill after receiving a prescription — likely won’t make it into the final versions of spending bills, though they will add hurdles to the process.

Appropriations Committee Chair Kay Granger, a Texas Republican, said during the markup that Congress has “no choice but to reduce spending where we can.”

Granger also contended that the debt limit agreement set a ceiling, not a floor, on government spending.

“The allocations before us reflect the change members on my side of the aisle want to see by returning spending to responsible levels,” Granger said.

“They also fulfill our commitment to focus our limited resources on the core responsibilities of the federal government — national security, veterans, and border security are our priorities,” Granger added.

Connecticut Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the committee’s ranking member, said the change in spending levels shows Republicans “have no desire to govern in anything resembling a serious manner.”

“These Republican allocations, secretly leaked to the press before they were shared with members of this committee, are a complete affront, an abrogation of the deal your speaker just reached with the president of the United States,” DeLauro said.

“These allocations are either an attempt to appease the same reckless faction that would rather have us default than uphold our constitutional duty, or they are evidence that the same Republican members who voted for the debt deal no longer support it,” she added.

The committee, in a sign of significant tension, abruptly adjourned Wednesday evening before voting to adopt&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/republicans.appropriations.house.gov/files/documents/FY24%20House%20Subcommittee%20Allocations%206.13.23_0.pdf">the spending levels.&nbsp;</a>

By JENNIFER SHUTT&nbsp; <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/30/u-s-judge-rules-insurers-dont-have-to-cover-many-free-preventive-health-services/">States Newsroom</a>WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans outlined&nbsp; how they would cut $130 billion from the dozen annual government funding bills — a total that is significantly lower than the level both parties agreed to in the debt limit deal just two weeks ago.The spending levels likely set up a stalemate later this year between the GOP House and Democratic Senate that could lead to a partial government shutdown.Contentious policy riders added by Republicans — such as a ban on funding for the teaching or promotion of critical race theory and a proposal that would eliminate pharmacies’ ability to dispense the abortion pill after receiving a prescription — likely won’t make it into the final versions of spending bills, though they will add hurdles to the process.Appropriations Committee Chair Kay Granger, a Texas Republican, said during the markup that Congress has “no choice but to reduce spending where we can.”Granger also contended that the debt limit agreement set a ceiling, not a floor, on government spending.“The allocations before us reflect the change members on my side of the aisle want to see by returning spending to responsible levels,” Granger said.“They also fulfill our commitment to focus our limited resources on the core responsibilities of the federal government — national security, veterans, and border security are our priorities,” Granger added.Connecticut Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the committee’s ranking member, said the change in spending levels shows Republicans “have no desire to govern in anything resembling a serious manner.”“These Republican allocations, secretly leaked to the press before they were shared with members of this committee, are a complete affront, an abrogation of the deal your speaker just reached with the president of the United States,” DeLauro said.“These allocations are either an attempt to appease the same reckless faction that would rather have us default than uphold our constitutional duty, or they are evidence that the same Republican members who voted for the debt deal no longer support it,” she added.The committee, in a sign of significant tension, abruptly adjourned Wednesday evening before voting to adopt&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/republicans.appropriations.house.gov/files/documents/FY24%20House%20Subcommittee%20Allocations%206.13.23_0.pdf">the spending levels.&nbsp;</a><h2>No reductions for defense</h2>The funding levels apply to the discretionary spending in the dozen annual appropriations bills, which include about one-third of all federal spending.The allocations would reduce funding across broad swaths of the federal government, with the more substantial cuts hitting the Financial Services, Interior-Environment and State-Foreign Operations bills. That means funding for everything from national parks to housing to climate initiatives could be affected.Republicans aren’t proposing spending cuts for the Defense, Homeland Security or Military Construction-VA spending bills.The total funding level is lower than<a target="_blank" href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-sends-biden-debt-limit-legislation-ahead-monday-default-deadline">&nbsp;the spending agreement Speaker Kevin McCarthy brokered during debt limit negotiations&nbsp;</a>with the Biden administration.That decision is expected to inflict headaches later in the year when the Republican House and Democratically controlled Senate negotiate conferenced bills that can pass both chambers.That bipartisan spending agreement set defense discretionary spending at $886 billion and approved $704 billion for nondefense accounts during the fiscal year set to begin Oct. 1.But conservative Republicans have pressed for what McCarthy promised them behind closed doors in order to secure the speaker’s gavel in January — last year’s spending levels.The White House signaled Tuesday it’s not open to renegotiating the debt limit agreement.“We made a deal, and we will uphold our end of this deal. And so they need to uphold theirs. And so I’ll just leave it there,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.Senate Majority Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said Tuesday he doesn’t expect the spending levels will “have much support in the Senate among Democrats or Republicans.”Here’s a look at the broad plans by House Republicans on the Appropriations Committee for spending during fiscal 2024:Agriculture:&nbsp;Republicans proposed $17.8 billion in discretionary spending for the bill that funds the Agriculture Department as well as the Food and Drug Administration. That’s a decrease from the $25.48 billion Congress approved for the current fiscal year.Commerce-Justice-Science:&nbsp;The House bill for fiscal 2024 would provide $58.7 billion for the departments of Commerce and Justice, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation. That’s a decrease from $83.85 billion in current funding.Defense:&nbsp;House Republicans plan to give the Pentagon $826.4 billion during the upcoming fiscal year, an increase from $797.7 billion.Energy-Water:&nbsp;The $52.4 billion in funding would mark a decrease from the enacted level of $54.65 billion. The bill funds the Energy Department as well as more than a dozen agencies, including the Appalachian Regional Commission, Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, Denali Commission, Great Lakes Authority, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Tennessee Valley Authority.Financial Services and General Government:&nbsp;GOP lawmakers on the spending panel approved $11.3 billion for fiscal 2024, a major decrease from the current funding level of $27.7 billion.The measure provides funds for the Treasury Department and the federal judiciary as well as dozens of other offices, including the Executive Office of the President, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, National Archives and Records Administration and the Securities and Exchange Commission.Homeland Security:&nbsp;The annual funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Customs and Border Protection, totals $62.8 billion in discretionary spending. That’s an increase from $60.7 billion in current funding.Interior-Environment:&nbsp;House Republicans plan to appropriate $25.4 billion for the annual funding bill for the Interior Department, Environmental Protection Agency, Forest Service, Indian Health Services, Smithsonian Institution and a couple dozen other federal programs. The proposed funding level would mark a big decrease from the current spending level of $40.45 billion.Labor-Health and Human Services-Education:&nbsp;House Republicans proposed a cut to the funding level for the largest nondefense spending bill. The party’s allocation sets a $147.1 billion topline for the bill, compared to its current level of $209.9 billion in base discretionary funding. The measure includes funding for the departments of Education, Health and Human Services and Labor.The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, National Labor Relations Board and Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission are among the smaller agencies funded within the bill.Legislative Branch:&nbsp;The bill that funds congressional operations — including the U.S. Capitol Police, the Government Accountability Office, the Library of Congress and more — would get $6.8 billion under the House GOP proposal. That’s a decrease from the current funding level of $6.9 billion.Military Construction-VA:&nbsp;House GOP appropriators will direct $155.7 billion in discretionary spending to the bill that covers the costs of the Veterans Affairs Department as well as military construction projects. The proposed spending level is an overall increase from the enacted level of $135.2 billion in discretionary funding.State-Foreign Operations:&nbsp;The spending bill for the State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, Peace Corps and several other programs would get $41.4 billion, a decrease from the $61.76 billion current funding level.Transportation-HUD:&nbsp;Republicans on the Appropriations Committee approved spending $65.2 billion to fund the Housing and Urban Development and Transportation departments during the upcoming fiscal year. That represents a decrease from the current funding level of $90.96 billion.The bill funds other smaller federal agencies as well, including the Federal Maritime Commission, National Transportation Safety Board and United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.<h2>Battles ahead</h2>The House Appropriations Committee will include more details about how much Republicans want to spend on specific departments, agencies and programs that make up each bill as the legislation moves through committee in the weeks ahead.The legislation will likely change when the committee debates the bills and during House floor debate.The Senate Appropriations Committee is taking a different approach to its fiscal 2024 funding process than colleagues across the Capitol.Chair Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, and Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, plan to release and debate bipartisan bills later this month.“We have to show there is a bipartisan vision to strengthen our nation’s competitiveness and security by investing in American leadership across the board and across the world — and a bipartisan will to get it done,” Murray and Collins said in a joint statement released in May. “We are determined to show that commitment exists through the Senate appropriations process.”After the House and Senate each debate their dozen appropriations bills, they’ll head to conference later this year.If Republicans and Democrats from both chambers agree on spending levels and policy during those closed-door meetings, the final bills will head back to the floors for votes before heading to President Joe Biden for his signature.If they cannot agree by Oct. 1, they’ll need to pass a short-term funding patch or begin a partial government shutdown.Congress needs to pass all of the spending bills before 2024, or a new provision from the debt limit deal will implement a 1% across the board cut until they become law.