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Visitors caught off guard by Smithsonian Museum closures

By Melissa Howell

WASHINGTON — Walking along the National Mall, Bryan Alcaraz and Jacqueline Laurente-Alcaraz had big plans for Wednesday, including a stop at the Museum of African American History and Culture. It’s the Florida couple’s first time visiting the D.C. area together, but due to the government shutdown, their plans to check out the museums won’t be happening. “I was just mentioning to her about the museums we could stop by, it’s kind of disappointing actually,” said Alcaraz. It would’ve been Jacqueline’s first time visiting any of the Smithsonian Museums. “I don’t know when I’m going to come back here to come see any of this,” said Laurente-Alcaraz. The news of the museums closing also came as a surprise for Daniel Yee and Benedict Ng, students visiting from the University of California, Berkeley in California. They had hoped to stop by the National Air and Space Museum. “I’m still processing the information right now,” said Ng. The National Zoo and Smithsonian research centers also are closed. The National Gallery of Art will remain open until Wednesday since it closed New Year’s Day while other museums remained open. So for now, visitors like Yee will have to plan accordingly. “Just changing the schedule a bit, I guess it’s not too bad,” Yee said.

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US-Iran conflict enters new phase as Saudi Arabia helps hit proxies and diplomacy stalls again

By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The stop-start fighting between the United States and Iran appears to have entered a new phase as Saudi Arabia has publicly joined military escalations against Tehran-backed proxies. At the same time, an already untenable diplomatic effort to end the war has faltered once again as mistrust deepens between the longtime adversaries. Despite several days of relative calm, both sides carried out military strikes in the last 24 hours that once again risk a return to all-out war — and further expansion in the region — while little is clear about what strategy, if any, American or Iranian officials have for a path forward. While President Donald Trump and his allies have spent recent days arguing that Iran is begging to return to the negotiating table, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said Tuesday that his country has made no requests to restart the diplomatic track in more than two weeks. Following a thwarted attack on the U.S. base in Jordan, Trump turned back to threats Wednesday even while sustaining the prospect of continued talks.
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