(Oranjestad)—Aruba Today would like to give a birthday shout-out to Stella from New York, who is here with friends and family to celebrate Stella’s Sweet Sixteen.

Stella, your Nonna and Poppy have a special message for you:

“Poppy and Nonna have been amazed at what an amazing woman you are becoming, between your athleticism, your volunteer work—it’s amazing what you were doing. Everything that you were doing has been a breath of fresh air!”

Stella volunteers with autistic children and loves to work with disabled children. She also plays soccer and is a great student, so her Nonna says. “Everybody that sees her and knows her just loves her.”

We are glad to celebrate your birthday with you, Stella. We hope you have a great couple of days on the island with your friends and family. Happy birthday!

Colorado provides state funding for tuition at public or private preschools, including faith-based institutions, but has withheld it from the Catholic preschools for violating anti-discrimination laws because they ban children of such parents.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Denver, two Catholic parishes and two parents, Dan and Lisa Sheley, filed a lawsuit seeking a religious exemption but lost in lower courts, prompting the appeal to the nation’s highest court.

“All we want is the freedom to choose the best preschool for our kids without being punished for our faith,” the Sheleys said in a statement at the time. “Colorado promised families a universal preschool program, then cut out families like ours because we chose a Catholic education.”

Mark Rienzi, CEO of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the plaintiffs, said Colorado is opening the door to families with “religious beliefs that are satisfactory to the government… when it comes to sex and marriage.”

“But if you’ve got different religious beliefs, and you’re a parent, you’re just out of luck,” Rienzi said. “The religious beliefs that fit with the government of Colorado are acceptable and those parents can get reimbursed but not the other ones.”

In a filing with the Supreme Court, Colorado said participants in the preschool program must enroll children regardless of the race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity of the child or their parents.

“Petitioners seek an exemption from this law to allow them to receive public funding while turning away preschoolers because of their, or their parents’, gender identity or sexual orientation,” the state said.

The conservative-dominated Supreme Court, which includes three justices nominated by Republican President Donald Trump, has sided with religious rights claims in a number of high-profile cases, several of which have involved Colorado.

In 2018, the court ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who declined to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, and more recently the court backed a Christian therapist who challenged a Colorado law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ minors.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in the preschools case by June 2027.

Nashiri was captured in Dubai in 2002 and underwent harsh interrogations in a secret CIA prison before being transferred to the US military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba 20 years ago, where he has been held ever since.

“Panel selection began” on Monday afternoon, Ronald Flesvig, spokesperson for the Office of Military Commissions, told AFP.

The attack on the USS Cole was carried out by two militants in a speedboat laden with explosives that detonated near the warship — a guided missile destroyer — as it took on fuel in the harbor at Aden, Yemen.

Nashiri was charged in April 2011 with offenses including murder in violation of the law of war and terrorism, but his case has been mired in pre-trial proceedings for years.

Several of the charges faced by Nashiri — a Saudi national who was considered close to late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden — can carry the death penalty.

His case has been complicated by abuse during his detention, with defense lawyers unsuccessfully arguing that Nashiri was not competent to stand trial due to trauma he suffered.

He was subjected to so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” on at least four occasions during his detention, according to a US Senate report released in 2014.

During one session in December 2002, Nashiri was blindfolded by a CIA officer who put a pistol near his head and “operated a cordless drill” close to his body.

An internal CIA investigation found that the officer, among others, slapped Nashiri “multiple times,” blew cigar smoke in his face, and implied his mother would be brought in and sexually abused in front of him.

They also subjected him to “improvised stress positions” causing cuts and bruises, before a medical officer expressed concern that his shoulders could end up dislocated.

Nashiri has said he suffered abuse while at Guantanamo as well, complaining of having to wear chains and of enduring “ill-treatment” by guards.

A military judge ruled in August 2023 that a confession by Nashiri was tainted by years of abuse at the hands of the CIA and FBI and could not be used as evidence.

Guantanamo Bay, located 430 miles (700 kilometers) southeast of Miami on the southeastern coast of Cuba, has been used to indefinitely hold detainees seized during the wars and other operations that followed the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Conditions there have prompted outcry from rights groups, and UN experts have condemned it as a site of “unparalleled notoriety.”

President Donald Trump’s administration has also used the base as a holding center for migrants who are being deported from the United States.

President Donald Trump said that Bolsonaro could, however, stay in the United States “as long as he wants.”

Bolsonaro, who lost his bid to be president in Sunday’s run-off vote, arrived with his family in the US on Wednesday after a court ordered his passports to be seized amid multiple investigations against him.

“He had previously held a visa, and the president made a decision to allow him to enter the country,” Rubio told a press conference in Atlanta, Georgia, where he hosted G20 foreign ministers for a two-day meeting.

Rubio added that “the U.S. government was not involved directly” in arrangements Bolsonaro made to leave his country.

Following the vote, the 45-year-old bolted from Brazil via Argentina and Ecuador in a plane that some U.S. media, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, reported was chartered by Jason Miller, an adviser to Trump.

The plane that whisked the Bolsonaro family to the U.S. was paid for by an intermediary from a U.S. bank account, the head of the airline has told AFP.

The White House has not commented on the flight, but Trump has called the Brazilian election “disgraceful.”

Speaking to reporters at his Florida residence on Saturday, Trump said he had no plans to meet Bolsonaro but voiced sympathy for the rightist senator.

“I think he got treated very shabbily. Very shabbily, so he can stay here as long as he wants,” the president said.

A Brazilian diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that Argentina’s diplomatic representative had been summoned for a “routine meeting” to “provide explanations” on the flight.

Argentina’s foreign minister later denied that Brazil had asked Buenos Aires to explain its role in the operation.

Since arriving in the U.S., Bolsonaro has claimed to be the true leader of Brazil and said that he left the country because he was a victim of “persecution.”

Flavio Bolsonaro’s father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for plotting a coup after his 2022 re-election loss.

Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange by daily trading volumes. News of the hacking attack, which is thought to be the biggest-ever crypto heist, caused the prices of most major cryptocurrencies to fall sharply on Friday.

The company has offered reassurances it will cover the losses from the attack, saying it has used company funds to buy tokens to replenish 90 percent of what was stolen.

Binance suspended user withdrawals after the attack but said they would be resumed in phases, the first of which began on Sunday.

Between 0600 GMT and 1530 GMT, the platform said it had processed $4.65 billion in withdrawals and $1.01 billion in deposits.

The net outflow of $3.64 billion amounted to about 2.1 percent of the total assets the company manages.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation accused North Korea of being behind the hack in a statement on Saturday, confirming earlier suspicions from private investigators and analysts that a Pyongyang-affiliated group called TraderTraitor was responsible.

TraderTraitor is the same group blamed for a $1.5 billion theft from the Bybit platform in February last year.

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is releasing information advising the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) was responsible for the theft of more than $6 billion USD in virtual assets from cryptocurrency exchange Binance, on or about October 29, 2026,” the statement said.

The FBI added that it had observed “TraderTraitor actors” converting stolen assets into Ethereum, and expected those assets to be laundered further by converting them using decentralized finance and instant swap services.

It said it was urging private sector entities “to block transactions with or derived from addresses TraderTraitor actors are using to launder these stolen assets.”

U.S. President Donald Trump cast doubt on North Korea’s involvement in the hack.

“I’m not concerned. We’re learning about it. We don’t know if it’s North Korea,” Trump told reporters at his residence in Florida late Saturday.

The president often reflects with pride on summits he held with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his first term.

– ‘Commitment’ to cover losses –

Binance said Saturday it has set aside more than $6.34 billion in company funds to cover losses in the hack.

“Our commitment remains the same: Binance will fully cover the financial impact of the funds stolen in this incident,” the company said on X.

It said it has used company money to buy tokens to replenish 90 percent of the stolen funds, while the remaining 10 percent of tokens are “less liquid, which means they may take longer to source in the required amounts.”

The attack on Binance came as many observers express worries that the ever-expanding capabilities of artificial intelligence models could compromise cryptography and IT security protocols.

Bitcoin plunged nearly five percent after the news of the hack, while Ethereum dropped nearly six percent and BNB, native to Binance, tumbled nearly 10 percent.

The sheer scale of the hack has put a spotlight on the capacity of North Korea — which faces extensive international sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs — to find illicit means to capture funds.

TraderTraitor is believed to be part of the Lazarus Group, which gained notoriety in 2014 when it was accused of hacking into Sony Pictures as revenge for “The Interview,” a film that mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.