24/7 News: The Latest
The Latest: 01/25/2025 11:59am ET
This is your 24/7 news update, the latest views this hour at just four minutes. Four female soldiers held captive by Hamas for 15 months are now back in Israel. Correspondent Rob Sanchez says the soldiers are currently at an Israeli hospital undergoing medical examinations. A battery of tests for their physical health, but also ongoing support for their mental health for their psychological well-being. In return, Israel released 200 Palestinian prisoners. The IDF says the four women are being reunited with their parents. The exchange brings the number of Israelis released to seven, including the three civilians released last weekend under the new agreement. Vice President J.D. Vance casts the tie-breaking vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as defense secretary. Here's Jim Forbes. A tense vote in the Senate Friday night ended in a tie after three Republicans voted against his confirmation. Vice President Vance had to act as a tie-breaker and voted Hegseth in. On this vote, the Yays are 50 and the Nays are 50. The Senate being equally divided, the Vice President votes in the affirmative and the nomination is confirmed. This is only the second time in history that a Vice President has had to act as a nomination tie-breaker. Republican senators Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Mitch McConnell voted against the former Fox News host. Hegseth has faced allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking on the job. Target is the latest big company to end its diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The Minneapolis-based retailer announced the decision in a memo to employees on Friday. According to CNBC, the memo cited the importance of staying in step with the evolving landscape to help drive growth and serve its millions of customers. With the move, Target joins companies like Walmart, Meta and McDonald's in dropping DEI pledges and goals. However, in prior years, Target had said the murder of George Floyd in the company's hometown of Minneapolis motivated it to strengthen its DEI programs. I'm Lisa Carton. Cash Patel will appear before the Senate next week for his FBI director confirmation hearing. Patel will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. He has said he would shut down FBI headquarters on his first day and send those employees out across the country to "chase down criminals." The top Democrat on the committee, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, has already said he will oppose Patel's confirmation. The Department of Justice says it will stop prosecuting people who keep women from accessing reproductive health care. It's currently illegal for protesters to block entrances, damage property or threaten patients in front of reproductive health clinics. On Friday, the Department of Justice said it will now reflect President Trump's position on abortion access and will reduce efforts to charge protesters who keep women from going into places like Planned Parenthood. The CDC is releasing new flu data. That despite the Trump administration putting a halt this week on virtually all scientific communication coming from the federal health agencies. The new data was not reported as it usually is on a CDC webpage called FluView. Instead, the latest flu numbers are in a section that focuses generally on respiratory illness. The data shows flu activity remains high and is on the rise in many parts of the country. Earlier this week, the Trump administration instructed all federal health agencies to temporarily stop public messaging pending a review. I'm Jim Forbes. Monday marks 80 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. Here's Rob Martier, survival Michael Bornstein, who is returning to Auschwitz for the anniversary, was just four years old when he was held there. I remember going out looking at trash cans to find moldy potato skins. More than a million people including Bornstein's father and brother lost their lives at Auschwitz. About 50 survivors along with delegations from dozens of countries are expected to attend the commemoration ceremony. I'm Lisa Carton.