Alabama food banks worry about Congress proposing billions in cuts to food aid program
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — A coalition of the largest food banks in Alabama is warning that cuts being considered by Congress to the SNAP food assistance program could have devastating consequences.
According to multiple reports, the U.S. House of Representatives is considering cutting $230 billion from the program and shifting more of the cost from the federal government to the states.
State sales tax on diapers, formula, feminine hygiene products ends Sept. 1
But the food bank coalition Feeding Alabama tells News 19 the cuts come at a time when other federal dollars for food banks and school nutrition programs are also being cut, and hunger problems are not declining. There are food banks in every county in the state, but Feeding Alabama officials say a major cut to SNAP would be very difficult to make up elsewhere.
Congress on Tuesday was beginning its debate on the proposed $230 billion, 10-year SNAP benefit cut. The initial proposals would shift more costs to states, expand qualifying requirements and increase work demands on older recipients.
But advocates say SNAP in Alabama has an economic impact of $1.80 for every program. They said SNAP recipients include several people every year in Alabama who need temporary food assistance as they navigate a crisis brought on by a job loss or medical problems.
The goal, advocates say, is to provide a temporary source of reliable food to help allow them to get back on their feet and resume productive lives. Feeding Alabama says the program benefits farmers, small grocery stores and rural communities, and the impact is widespread. Feeding Alabama's network includes the Food Bank of North Alabama and food banks across the state, including the Gulf Coast.
'Over 700,000 folks in Alabama turn to SNAP at one time or another in any given year,' said Michael Ledger, CEO of Feeding the Gulf Coast. 'And it's a vital program, for every pound of food we put out in the food bank, SNAP can provide nine.''The vast majority of the people getting SNAP are either seniors or children that are benefiting from this. And these are two population segments, we know, the choices they have are limited. A child is not really going to be able to affect their circumstances. A senior who is on a fixedincome is not going to be able to affect their circumstances and so reducing that could have a real dramatic impact,' Ledger added.
Feeding Alabama also estimates that 23,000 veterans in Alabama are using SNAP benefits.
The proposed cuts are part of a House GOP-led budget and tax cut overhaul.
News 19 has reached out to North Alabama U.S. Representatives Dale Strong and Robert Aderholt regarding their views of the proposed SNAP cuts. So far, neither congressman has responded.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The rise in ‘crypto kidnapping' on the streets of France
It is an arrest that will trigger immense, if perhaps short-lived, relief among French cryptocurrency investors and authorities alike. A suspected mastermind behind a raft of kidnappings of executives who own hoards of bitcoins and other crypto-coins was arrested in Tangiers, Morocco, on Tuesday. His Interpol Red Notice profile photo shows one of France's 10 most wanted in the world, a pale, green-eyed 24-year-old with long hair and a beard. The shadow of Badiss Mohamed Amide Bajjou looms large over the spate of ultra-violent for-ransom kidnappings of French 'crypto millionaires', or members of their family or entourage, across the country. Two of the kidnappings took place in the heart of Paris. Bajjou is suspected of orchestrating the kidnapping of David Balland, co-founder of cryptocurrency firm Ledger, and his wife in central France, and ordering a gang to chop off the businessman's finger as part of a €10 million (£8.4million) ransom in January. The French-Moroccan national is also accused of being involved in the attempted abduction of the pregnant daughter of a French crypto platform's chief executive, and the kidnapping of a businessman who had his finger chopped off in May. His arrest will offer some respite to the government of Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, and in particular to Bruno Retailleau, the interior minister who is jockeying to run for France's top job in elections in 2027 with a tough-on-crime approach. With the kidnappings becoming a security embarrassment, Mr Retailleau last month met privately with crypto entrepreneurs to discuss their safety and pledged extra safety measures, such as priority access to emergency services and police checks of their home security. However, given the rising number of cryptocurrency entrepreneurs targeted, many are not comforted by the government's pledges, with some already fleeing. One who has already done so is Benjamin Cohen, 31, founder and chief executive of Le Crypto Daily, a YouTube channel and newsletter, who left France for Canada after a series of scares. 'I'm Jewish and I received an anti-Semitic letter threatening to steal my cryptocurrencies and attack me and my family,' he told The Telegraph. 'I was terrified for my loved ones. I realised how unprotected they were here.' Mr Cohen had his drink spiked while at a crypto event at a bar in Paris in which he was showcasing a new ring that doubled up as a 'crypto wallet' containing virtual currency. 'A group of young guys started asking a lot of questions. All of a sudden, the room started turning. I had the good sense to call a taxi despite their offers to drive me home,' he said. 'When I got there, I was out for the count for six hours.' Despite the Morocco arrest, he says he has no intention of returning full time after leaving France in 2022. Mr Cohen said France is seeing a 'rather unsettling era', in which for two, three or five thousand euros 'you can hire a hitman to kill', referring to a series of recent murders involving teenagers who were recruited by a Marseille-based drugs mafia. 'These same for-hire henchmen are apparently now being used for crypto extortion,' said Mr Cohen, who dismissed French government pledges of extra security as 'a bit ridiculous and frankly too light'. But moving abroad does not give Mr Cohen total peace of mind. Last month, his wife woke him at 3am to show him viral footage of a couple desperately fending off a gang who sought to drag the woman into a delivery van until a nearby shopkeeper scared them off with a fire extinguisher. For a few minutes, he thought the target was from his own entourage until it emerged it was the pregnant daughter of Pierre Noizat, chief executive of the Paymium bitcoin exchange. 'For criminals it's a no-brainer to reason that this or that person who has been in crypto for 20 years probably has loads of money and quite often, I'm afraid, it turns out to be the case,' said Mr Cohen. 'It doesn't surprise me at all that there are foreign masterminds, it's the safest option. They call on young accomplices who are barely adults for tiny sums, hundreds of euros, to do their dirty work.' Credit: Reuters A legal source close to the kidnapping cases said: 'It appears the phenomenon of drug trafficking hitmen recruited for small sums via social media, sometimes by high-ranking criminals in detention, is for the first time turning its attention to extortion in the world of crypto around France.' He pointed to the plethora of young recruits prepared to carry out abductions or specific logistical tasks. Some 25 people, including six minors, were charged in Paris over various recent kidnappings, prosecutors said last Saturday. None were over the age of 23. Most of the suspects were born in France and others in Senegal, Angola and Russia. 'These people receive requests on social networks and some heed the call,' said Moad Nefati, lawyer for a 20-year-old suspect. 'They are told it's a simple task, take equipment or transport people, make sure someone is supplied. It doesn't sound like a problematic operation, they are paid very little – between one and four thousand euros – and are not necessarily aware of the risks and stakes, except those directly involved in the abduction. 'For the defence of these young suspects, it's very important that these masterminds are identified.' Bajjou was one of those alleged masterminds wanted for 'abduction, kidnapping or arbitrary detention of a hostage to obtain the execution of an order or condition, committed by an organised gang'. Described as 'extremely determined,' a police source told Le Monde that Bajjou 'has no qualms about violence and is not afraid to use it without warning'. But while Bajjou may be a key player, police suspect he did not command alone. According to Le Parisien, another Franco-Moroccan man in his forties is thought to also have co-operated with Bajjou. Reportedly identified through analysis of cryptocurrency ransom transfer flows, he remains at large. Police are also exploring possible links to other kidnappings or attempted abductions in Paris and western France over the past few weeks. 'Criminals go to where the money is, and we're seeing a huge rise in the price of bitcoin,' said Ari Redbord, global head of policy and government affairs at TRM Labs, a crypto tracing firm. 'Before, you needed sophisticated cyber capabilities to hack someone, but now you can be a violent criminal who can beat [the password] out of someone,' he told CBS. These so-called 'wrench attacks' have prompted several top entrepreneurs to warn of the 'Mexicanisation of France'. While there have been spectacular recent crypto hostage dramas abroad, 14 out of the 50 attacks that took place over the past year around the world targeting people involved in cryptocurrency were in France, according to Eric Larchevêque, a co-founder of Ledger who was contacted during the Balland hostage drama to send the ransom. Out of the 50 abductions that took place across the globe last year, in which people involved in crypto were targeted, 14 took place in France. 'There's a real problem,' he told broadcaster RTL. In the meantime, Mr Cohen has stepped up security, telling The Telegraph: 'I don't announce publicly when I'm going to turn up to an event, I make sure it's a safe place and don't stay long. I've told my wife to only post a social media story after we've left a venue.' His crypto transfers must be confirmed via video calls above a relatively low amount. 'I've also set a time limit for withdrawing more than £10,000,' he said. Owen Simonin, alias 'Hasheur', one of France's top crypto influencers who has more than 760,000 subscribers on YouTube, concurred. 'There are enough problems in the world of crypto not to have to worry about one's personal safety,' he told The Telegraph. In 2022, he was attacked in his home by an armed stranger who had found his address and tried to extort crypto from him. He pounced on the assailant whose gun turned out to be fake and who later turned himself to police. 'In our world, the threat is no longer virtual.' 'I always try to be accompanied by someone discreet and trained to intervene if necessary,' he recently told Le Parisien. 'Digital hygiene' – leaving no trace of his address or possessions online – is essential. 'While measures can be put in place to reduce fear, it should not exist. Not here. Not in France. It should not weigh on our colleagues, our families and our own lives. Leaving should not be our only option.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
Trump aims to slash Pell Grants, which may limit low-income students' college access
For many students and their families, federal student aid is key for college access. And yet, the Trump administration's budget proposal for fiscal year 2026 calls for significant cuts to higher education funding, including reducing the maximum federal Pell Grant award to $5,710 a year from $7,395, as well as scaling back the federal work-study program. The proposed cuts would help pay for the landmark tax and spending bill Republicans in the U.S. Congress hope to enact. Roughly 40% of undergraduate students rely on Pell Grants, a type of federal aid available to low-income families who demonstrate financial need on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Work study funds, which are earned through part-time jobs, often help cover additional education expenses. More from Personal Finance:Social Security gets break from student loan collectionsIs college still worth it? It is for most, but not allWhat to know before you tap your 529 plan President Donald Trump's "skinny" budget request said changes to the Pell Grant program were necessary due to a looming shortfall, but top-ranking Democrats and college advocates say cuts could have been made elsewhere and students will pay the price. "The money we invest in post-high school education isn't charity — it helps Americans get good jobs, start businesses, and contribute to our economy," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told CNBC. "No kid's education should be defunded to pay for giant tax giveaways for billionaires." Nearly 75% of all undergraduates receive some type of financial aid, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. "Historically the Pell Grant was viewed as the foundation for financial support for low-income students," said Lesley Turner, an associate professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and a research fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research. "It's the first dollar, regardless of other types of aid you have access to." Under Trump's proposal, the maximum Pell Grant for the 2026-2027 academic year would be at its lowest level in more than a decade. "The Pell reduction would impact the lowest-income families," said Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, a nonprofit. More than 92% of Pell Grant recipients in 2019-2020 came from families with household incomes below $60,000, according to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. If the president's cuts were enacted and then persisted for four years, the average student debt at graduation will be about $6,500 higher among those with a bachelor's degree who received Pell Grants, according to Kantrowitz's own calculations. "If adopted, [the proposed cuts] would require millions of enrolled students to drop out or take on more debt to complete their degrees — likely denying countless prospective low- and moderate-income students the opportunity to go to college altogether," Sameer Gadkaree, president and CEO of The Institute for College Access & Success, said in a statement. Already, those grants have not kept up with the rising cost of a four-year degree. Tuition and fees plus room and board for a four-year private college averaged $58,600 in the 2024-25 school year, up from $56,390 a year earlier. At four-year, in-state public colleges, the average was $24,920, up from $24,080, according to the College Board. The Pell program functions like other entitlement programs, such as Social Security or Medicare, where every eligible student is entitled to receive a Pell award. However, unlike those other programs, the Pell program does not rely solely on mandatory funding that is set in the federal budget. Rather, it is also dependent on some discretionary funding, which is appropriated by Congress. The Congressional Budget Office projected a shortfall this year in part because more students now qualify for a Pell Grant due to changes to the financial aid application, and, as a result, more students are enrolling in college. Although there have been other times when the Pell program operated with a deficit, slashing the award amount is an "extreme" measure, according to Kantrowitz. "Every past shortfall has been followed by Congress providing additional funding," he said. "Even the current House budget reconciliation bill proposes additional funding to eliminate the shortfall." However, the bill also reduces eligibility for the grants by raising the number of credits students need to take per semester to qualify for the aid. There's a concern those more stringent requirements will harm students who need to work while they're in school and those who are parents balancing classes and child care. "These are students that could use it the most," said the University of Chicago's Turner. "Single parents, for example, that have to work to cover the bills won't be able to take on additional credits," Mayotte said. "If their Pell is also reduced, they may have to withdraw from school rather than complete their degree," Mayotte said.
The Intercept
an hour ago
- The Intercept
Top U.S. General in Africa Paints Grim Picture of U.S. Military Failures in Africa
President George W. Bush created a new command to oversee all military operations in Africa 18 years ago. U.S. Africa Command was meant to help 'bring peace and security to the people of Africa.' The Trump administration now has AFRICOM on the chopping block as part of its sweeping reorganization of the military. According to the general leading the command, its mission is far from accomplished. Gen. Michael Langley, the head of AFRICOM, offered a grim assessment of security on the African continent during a recent press conference. The West African Sahel, he said last Friday, was now the 'epicenter of terrorism' and the gravest terrorist threats to the U.S. homeland were 'unfortunately right here on the African continent.' The embattled four-star general — who noted his days were numbered as AFRICOM's chief — was speaking from a conference of African defense chiefs in Kenya, where he had been imploring ministers and heads of state to help save his faltering command. 'I said: 'OK, if we're that important to [you], you need to communicate that,'' he explained, asking them to have their U.S. ambassadors make entreaties on behalf of AFRICOM. Current and former defense officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide candid assessments, were divided on whether Langley deserves a measure of blame for the dire straits the command finds itself in. One former defense official spoke highly of Langley, calling him 'an effective and transformational leader' who 'rapidly grew into the job and developed strong, fruitful relationships with members of Congress.' A current official, however, said almost the opposite, calling the four-star general a 'marble mouth' who did a poor job of making a case for his command, 'fumbled' relations with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and diminished AFRICOM's standing with legislators. Asked by messaging app if the latter assessment was accurate, a former Africa Command official sent a laughing emoji and replied 'no comment' followed by 'but yes.' (The official said he could be quoted as such.) Before 2008, when the command began operations, U.S. military activities in Africa were handled by other combatant commands. AFRICOM's creation reflected rising U.S. national security interests on the continent and a desire for a single command to oversee a proliferation of post-9/11 counterterrorism activities, predominantly in the West African Sahel and Somalia. Since U.S. Africa Command began operations, the number of U.S. military personnel on the African continent — as well as programs, operations, exercises, bases, low-profile Special Operations missions, deployments of commandos, drones strikes, and almost every other military activity — has jumped exponentially. AFRICOM 'disrupts and neutralizes transnational threats' in order to 'promote regional security, stability and prosperity,' according to its mission statement. That hasn't come to pass. Throughout all of Africa, the State Department counted 23 deaths from terrorist violence in 2002 and 2003, the first years of U.S. counterterrorism efforts in the Sahel and Somalia. By 2010, two years after AFRICOM began operations, fatalities from attacks by militant Islamists had already spiked to 2,674, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a Pentagon research institution. The situation only continued to deteriorate. There were an estimated 18,900 fatalities linked to militant Islamist violence in Africa last year, with 79 percent of those coming from the Sahel and Somalia, according to a recent analysis by the Africa Center. This constitutes a jump of more than 82,000 percent since the U.S. launched its post-9/11 counterterrorism efforts on the continent. 'The Sahel — that's where we consider the epicenter of terrorism — Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger are confronted with this each and every day; they're in crisis. The terrorist networks affiliated with ISIS and al-Qaeda are thriving, particularly in Burkina Faso,' said Langley. During his tenure, the U.S. was largely kicked out of the region, forced to abandon key nodes of its archipelago of West African bases and many secret wars across the Sahel that were largely unknown to members of Congress as they played out. Langley noted that, since the U.S. left Niger in September of last year, AFRICOM has observed a rise in violence across the Sahel. He neglected to mention that terrorism increased exponentially during the years of heaviest U.S. military involvement, leading to instability and disenchantment with the U.S. He also failed to note, despite having been previously grilled about it during congressional testimony, that the military juntas that booted the U.S. from West Africa were made up of U.S.-supported officers who overthrew the governments the U.S. trained them to protect. As violence spiraled in the region over the past decades, at least 15 officers who benefited from U.S. security assistance were key leaders in 12 coups in West Africa and the greater Sahel during the war on terror — including the three nations Langley emphasized: Burkina Faso (in 2014, 2015, and twice in 2022), Mali (in 2012, 2020, and 2021), and Niger (in 2023). At least five leaders of the 2023 coup d'état in the latter country, for example, received American assistance. U.S. war in Somalia which has ramped up since President Donald Trump retook office, also got top billing. The U.S. 'is actively pursuing and eliminating jihadists,' said the AFRICOM chief. 'And at the request of the Somali Government, this year alone AFRICOM has conducted over 25 airstrikes — double the number of strikes that we did last year.' The U.S. military is approaching its 23rd year of operations in Somalia. In the fall of 2002, the U.S. military established Combined Joint Task Force–Horn of Africa to conduct operations in support of the global war on terror in the region, and U.S. Special Operations forces were dispatched to Somalia. They were followed by conventional forces, helicopters, surveillance aircraft, outposts, and drones. By 2007, the Pentagon recognized that there were fundamental flaws with U.S. military operations in the Horn of Africa, and Somalia became another post-9/11 stalemate, which AFRICOM inherited the next year. U.S. airstrikes in Somalia have skyrocketed when Trump is in office. From 2007 to 2017, under the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the U.S. military carried out 43 declared airstrikes in Somalia. During Trump's first term, AFRICOM conducted more than 200 air attacks against members of al-Shabab and the Islamic State. By the end of his first term, Trump was ready to call it quits on the sputtering conflict in Somalia, ordering almost all U.S. troops out of the country in late 2020. But President Joe Biden reversed the withdrawal, allowing the conflict to grind on — and now escalate under Trump. The Biden administration conducted 39 declared strikes in Somalia over four years. The U.S. has already carried out 33 airstrikes in Somalia in 2025, according to AFRICOM public affairs. At this pace, AFRICOM is poised to equal or exceed the highest number of strikes there in the command's history, 63 in 2019. Despite almost a quarter-century of conflict and billions of taxpayer dollars, Somalia has joined the ranks of signature forever-war failures. While fatalities from Islamist attacks dropped in Somalia last year, they were still 72 percent higher than 2020, according to the Africa Center. AFRICOM told The Intercept that the country's main militant group, al-Shabab, is now 'the largest al Qaida network in the world.' (Langley called them 'entrenched, wealthy, and large.') The command called ISIS-Somalia 'a growing threat in East Africa' and said its numbers had tripled from 500 to an estimated 1,500 in the last 18 months. The U.S. recently conducted the 'largest airstrike in the history of the world' from an aircraft carrier on Somalia, according to Adm. James Kilby, the Navy's acting chief of naval operations. That strike, by 16 F/A-18 Super Hornets, unleashed around 125,000 pounds of munitions. Those 60 tons of bombs killed just 14 ISIS members, according to AFRICOM. At that rate, it would take roughly 13,000,000 pounds of bombs to wipe out ISIS-Somalia and about 107,000,000 pounds to eliminate al-Shabab, firepower roughly equivalent to four of the atomic bombs the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Troubles loom elsewhere on the continent as well. 'One of the terrorists' new objectives is gaining access to West Africa coasts. If they secure access to the coastline, they can finance their operations through smuggling, human trafficking, and arms trading,' Langley warned, not mentioning that U.S. counterterrorism failures in the Sahel led directly to increased attacks on Gulf of Guinea nations. Togo — which sits due south of Burkina Faso — saw a 45 percent increase in terrorist fatalities in 2024, according to the Africa Center. Langley also referenced trouble in Africa's most populous nation. 'We're observing a rise in attacks by violent extremist organizations, not only in Niger but across the Sahel to include Nigeria,' Langley warned. He offered a somewhat garbled plan of action in response: 'The scale and brutality of some of these incidents are really troubling. So we're monitoring this closely and these events, and offering of sharing intel with the Nigerian and also regional partners in that area remains constant. We are committed to supporting one of the most capable militaries in the region, in Nigeria.' U.S. support to the Nigerian military has been immense, and Nigerian people have suffered for it — something else that Langley left unsaid. Between 2000 and 2022, alone, the U.S. provided, facilitated, or approved more than $2 billion in security aid to the country. In those same years, hundreds of Nigerian airstrikes killed thousands of Nigerians. A 2017 attack on a displaced persons camp in Rann, Nigeria, killed more than 160 civilians, many of them children. A subsequent Intercept investigation revealed that the attack was referred to as an instance of 'U.S.-Nigerian operations' in a formerly secret U.S. military document. A 2023 Reuters analysis of data compiled by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a U.S.-based armed violence monitoring group, found that more than 2,600 people were killed in 248 airstrikes outside the most active war zones in Nigeria during the previous five years. That same year, an investigation by Nigeria's Premium Times called out the government for 'a systemic propaganda scheme to keep the atrocities of its troops under wraps.' In his conference call with reporters, held as part of the 2025 African Chiefs of Defense Conference, Langley took only written, vetted questions, allowing him to skirt uncomfortable subjects. AFRICOM failed to provide answers to follow-up questions from The Intercept. During the call, Langley offered a farewell and a pledge. 'This will likely be my last, final Chiefs of Defense Conference as the AFRICOM commander. A nomination for my successor is expected soon,' Langley told The Intercept and others. 'But no matter who holds this position, the AFRICOM mission remains constant. AFRICOM will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with African partners into the future.' Langley's pleas at the conference suggested less certainty. For years, AFRICOM — and Langley in particular — has been paying lip service to a preference for 'African solutions for African challenges' or as Langley put it last week: 'It's about empowering African nations to solve African problems, not just through handouts but through trusted cooperation.' But he has seemed less than enamored with African solutions that include severing ties with the United States. In April, before the Senate Armed Services Committee, he accused Burkina Faso's leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, of misusing the country's gold reserves 'to protect the junta regime.' Langley partially walked back those comments last week and appeared to seek reconciliation. 'We all respect their sovereignty,' he said. 'So the U.S. seeks opportunities to collaborate with Burkina Faso on counterterrorism challenges.' For more than two decades, the U.S. was content to pour billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars into failed counterterrorism policies as deaths mounted across the continent. Today, the dangers of terrorism loom far larger, and the U.S. finds itself shunned by former partners. 'I've been charged by the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to mitigate threats to the U.S. homeland posed by terrorist organizations,' said Langley. 'It's about the mutual goal of keeping our homeland safe, and it's about long-term capacity, not dependence.' The current Pentagon official said that Langley had used up what good will he once had. 'I don't think many will be sad to see him go,' he told The Intercept. Langley's tenure may not have sown the seeds of AFRICOM's dissolution, he said, but if the command is ultimately folded into European Command — as some have proposed — he likely helped to hasten it. 'He's been part of this problem,' the official said. 'Maybe him leaving could be one solution.'
