ALEX BLOG

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Crews pushed through mountainous wilderness near Lake Tahoe during a snowstorm to rescue six backcountry skiers who survived an avalanche but were trapped by its snow and ice. Nine others from their tour group remained missing.

Two of the six were taken to a hospital for treatment, said Ashley Quadros, a spokesperson for the Nevada County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office said Tuesday night that there were 15 skiers on the trip — not 16 as initially believed.

Search and rescue crews were dispatched to Frog Lake in the Castle Peak area, northwest of Lake Tahoe, after a 911 call reporting an avalanche and people buried. Apowerful winter stormwas moving through California at the time.

Extreme conditions in the Northern California mountains slowed the rescue effort. It took crews several hours to reach the skiers and take them to safety, where they were evaluated by the Truckee Fire Department.

The sheriff's office said it would provide another update on rescue efforts at a news conference Wednesday morning.

A three-day ski trip

The skiers were on the last day of a three-day backcountry skiing trek, said Steve Reynaud, a Tahoe National Forest avalanche forecaster with the Sierra Avalanche Center, which had contact with people on the ground in the area. He said the skiers spent two nights at huts on a trip that required navigating "rugged mountainous terrain" for up to 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) while bringing along all food and supplies.

Nevada County Sheriff Capt. Russell Greene said authorities were notified about the avalanche by the ski tour company that led the expedition, Blackbird Mountain Guides, and by emergency beacons the skiers were carrying. Rescuers made their way cautiously toward the scene of the avalanche because of the danger of more avalanches.

Blackbird Mountain Guides said in a statement on its website that it was coordinating with authorities on the rescue operation.

Dangerous backcountry conditions

California is being walloped this week by a powerful winter storm bringing treacherous thunderstorms, high winds and heavy snow in mountain areas.

"It's particularly dangerous in the backcountry right now just because we're at the height of the storm," said Brandon Schwartz, Tahoe National Forest lead avalanche forecaster at the Sierra Avalanche Center, based in Truckee.

The center issued an avalanche warning for the area in the Central Sierra Nevada, including the Greater Lake Tahoe region, starting at 5 a.m. Tuesday with large slides expected into Wednesday.

The town of Soda Springs, near where the avalanche took place, recorded at least 30 inches (76 centimeters) of snow during a 24-hour period, according to the Soda Springs Mountain Resort.

The dangerous conditions were caused by rapidly accumulating snow piling on fragile snowpack layers coupled with gale-force winds.

The storm wreaked havoc on roads from the Sierra Nevada to Sonoma County. Traffic was halted temporarily in both directions on I-80 over and around Donner Summit due to spinouts and crashes, the authorities reported.

Several Tahoe ski resorts were fully or partially closed due to the weather. Resorts along highways have avalanche mitigation programs and were not expected to be at as high of a risk as the backcountry, where travel in, near or below avalanche terrain was strongly discouraged, the center said.

Area has dark history

Castle Peak, a 9,110-foot (2,777-meter) mountain north of Donner Summit, is a popular backcountry skiing destination. The summit, which can be perilous in snow, is named for the infamous Donner Party, a group of pioneers who resorted to cannibalism after getting trapped there in the winter of 1846-1847.

In January an avalanche in the region buried asnowmobilerin snow and killed him, authorities said. Each winter, 25 to 30 people die in avalanches in the U.S., according to the National Avalanche Center.

Training in avalanche assessment and rescue and safety equipment is highly recommended for backcountry skiing, also known as off-piste skiing, involves venturing deep into the wilderness far outside the confines of a resort. Backcountry skis are wider and heavier and have other features to handle going up and down ungroomed terrain, unlike cross-country skis, which are narrower and designed for flat, more groomed trails.

Watson reported from San Diego. Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed.

By Munsif Vengattil

NEW DELHI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - An Indian university has been asked to vacate its stall at the country's flagship AI summit after a ‌staff member was caught presenting a commercially available robotic dog made in China ‌as its own creation, two government sources said.

"You need to meet Orion. This has been developed by the Centre ​of Excellence at Galgotias University," Neha Singh, a professor of communications, told state-run broadcaster DD News this week in remarks that have since gone viral.

But social media users quickly identified the robot as the Unitree Go2, sold by China's Unitree Robotics for about $2,800 and widely used ‌in research and education globally.

The episode ⁠has drawn sharp criticism and has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on India's artificial intelligence ambitions.

The embarrassment was amplified by IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, ⁠who shared the video clip on his official social media account before the backlash. The post was later deleted.

Both Galgotias and Singh have subsequently said the robot was not a university creation ​and ​the university had never claimed otherwise.

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The stall remained ​open to visitors as of Wednesday ‌morning with university officials fielding questions from media about accusations of plagiarism and misrepresentation.

Galgotias has yet to receive any communication about being kicked out from the event, a representative at the booth said.

The India AI Impact summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, which runs until Saturday, has been billed as the first major AI gathering hosted in the Global ‌South. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Google's Sundar Pichai, OpenAI's ​Sam Altman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei will address ​the gathering on Thursday.

The event has also ​faced broader organisational difficulties since opening, with delegates reporting overcrowding and ‌logistical issues.

That said, there has been more ​than $100 billion of investment ​in India AI projects pledged during the summit, including investments from the Adani Group conglomerate, tech giant Microsoft and data centre firm Yotta.

India's biggest opposition party, Congress, ​was amongst those expressing outrage.

"The ‌Modi government has made a laughing stock of India globally with regard to ​AI," it said on social media, citing the robot incident.

(Reporting by Munsif ​Vengattil in New Delhi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

By Diana Novak Jones

Feb 17 (Reuters) - Bayer said on Tuesday its Monsanto unit had reached an agreement worth as much as $7.25 billion to resolve tens of thousands of current and future lawsuits claiming that its Roundup weedkiller caused cancer.

The move marks a major step for the German firm, which has spent years tackling legal risks tied ‌to Roundup, acquired as part of its $63 billion purchase of agrochemical company Monsanto in 2018.

The German company said the proposed nationwide settlement, filed on Tuesday in state court in St. ‌Louis, Missouri, would establish a long-term claims program funded by capped annual payments over up to 21 years.

The company is facing claims over Roundup from approximately 65,000 plaintiffs in U.S. state and federal courts.

The plaintiffs say they developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other ​forms of cancer after using the weedkiller, either at home or on the job.

Following the announcement, Bayer shares rose as much as 7.7% to reach their highest level since September 12, 2023.

"Bayer's move will significantly reduce the legal risks. Although the settlement is very costly, it is to be welcomed as it covers future claims," Ingo Speich of Bayer investor Deka Investment said.

Bayer said it expects its provisions and litigation liabilities to rise from 7.8 billion euros ($9.24 billion) to 11.8 billion euros. It anticipates around 5 billion euros in litigation-related payouts in 2026, and now expects negative free cash flow for the year.

PROPOSED SETTLEMENT AIMED AT HEADING OFF ‌FUTURE LAWSUITS

Roundup is among the most widely used weedkillers in the United ⁠States. Bayer has said decades of studies have shown Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate, are safe for human use.

The deal covers the bulk of the lawsuits, but requires a judge's approval and a minimum number of plaintiffs to opt in. It does not require Bayer to admit liability or wrongdoing and allows ⁠the company to back out if too many plaintiffs decline to participate.

It is also designed to head off future lawsuits, and allows people who can prove they have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and were exposed to Roundup prior to Tuesday to file claims to receive a portion of the settlement up to 21 years from now.

The agreement was negotiated with Motley Rice, Seeger Weiss and other law firms that would represent a nationwide class ​of ​plaintiffs, if the court allows the deal to proceed.

Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said on a call with investors and ​reporters that he is confident the proposed class action settlement will resolve the ‌vast majority of the claims.

Attorneys who negotiated on behalf of the plaintiffs said the deal represents the best path forward. Payouts will be determined by a tiered system that considers exposure, age at diagnosis and cancer type. Individuals could receive up to $198,000 or more, according to attorney Eric Holland.

The company said it had separately reached confidential settlements to resolve other Roundup cases with specific law firms, although the company would not name the firms or specify the amount of those deals.

SUPREME COURT TO HEAR APPEAL

Tuesday's proposed settlement comes after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal in a case that Bayer argues will sharply limit its liability in the litigation.

The company said the Supreme Court case, scheduled for oral arguments at the end of April, remains essential to resolving the Roundup litigation.

Bayer is arguing that consumers ‌should not be able to sue it under state law for failing to warn that Roundup increases cancer risk ​because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found no such risk and requires no such warning. Bayer argued that federal ​law does not allow it to add any warning to the product beyond the EPA-approved ​label.

Markus Manns, portfolio manager at Bayer shareholder Union Investment, cautioned Tuesday's proposal was "not yet the breakthrough that many investors had hoped for."

"The settlement buys Bayer time, but ‌without a win in the Supreme Court, a new wave of lawsuits could ​roll over Bayer in a few years," he said.

COMPANY ​PAID OUT $10 BILLION TO SETTLE PREVIOUS LAWSUITS

The company had previously paid about $10 billion to settle most of the Roundup lawsuits that were pending as of 2020, but failed to get a settlement then covering future cases.

It has had a mixed record with cases that have gone to trial. It prevailed in a series of Roundup trials, but has been hit with large ​jury awards in the past few years, including a $2.1 billion verdict in ‌a case in the U.S. state of Georgia in March.

The verdicts shattered both investor confidence and company hopes that the worst of the Roundup litigation was over, and put ​pressure on Bayer to find a comprehensive solution to the lawsuits.

($1 = 0.8445 euros)

(Reporting by Diana Jones and Kirsti Knolle; Additional reporting by Dietrich Knauth, Sabine Wollrab and Christoph ​Steitz; Writing by Linda Pasquini and Friederike Heine; Editing by Alexander Smith, Alexia Garamfalvi and Jan Harvey)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Crews pushed through mountainous wilderness near Lake Tahoe during a snowstorm to rescue six backcountry skiers who survived an avalanche but were trapped by its snow and ice. Nine others from their tour group remained missing.

Two of the six were taken to a hospital for treatment, said Ashley Quadros, a spokesperson for the Nevada County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office said Tuesday night that there were 15 skiers on the trip — not 16 as initially believed.

Search and rescue crews were dispatched to Frog Lake in the Castle Peak area, northwest of Lake Tahoe, after a 911 call reporting an avalanche and people buried. Apowerful winter stormwas moving through California at the time.

Extreme conditions in the Northern California mountains slowed the rescue effort. It took crews several hours to reach the skiers and take them to safety, where they were evaluated by the Truckee Fire Department.

The sheriff's office said it would provide another update on rescue efforts at a news conference Wednesday morning.

A three-day ski trip

The skiers were on the last day of a three-day backcountry skiing trek, said Steve Reynaud, a Tahoe National Forest avalanche forecaster with the Sierra Avalanche Center, which had contact with people on the ground in the area. He said the skiers spent two nights at huts on a trip that required navigating "rugged mountainous terrain" for up to 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) while bringing along all food and supplies.

Nevada County Sheriff Capt. Russell Greene said authorities were notified about the avalanche by the ski tour company that led the expedition, Blackbird Mountain Guides, and by emergency beacons the skiers were carrying. Rescuers made their way cautiously toward the scene of the avalanche because of the danger of more avalanches.

Blackbird Mountain Guides said in a statement on its website that it was coordinating with authorities on the rescue operation.

Dangerous backcountry conditions

California is being walloped this week by a powerful winter storm bringing treacherous thunderstorms, high winds and heavy snow in mountain areas.

"It's particularly dangerous in the backcountry right now just because we're at the height of the storm," said Brandon Schwartz, Tahoe National Forest lead avalanche forecaster at the Sierra Avalanche Center, based in Truckee.

The center issued an avalanche warning for the area in the Central Sierra Nevada, including the Greater Lake Tahoe region, starting at 5 a.m. Tuesday with large slides expected into Wednesday.

The town of Soda Springs, near where the avalanche took place, recorded at least 30 inches (76 centimeters) of snow during a 24-hour period, according to the Soda Springs Mountain Resort.

The dangerous conditions were caused by rapidly accumulating snow piling on fragile snowpack layers coupled with gale-force winds.

The storm wreaked havoc on roads from the Sierra Nevada to Sonoma County. Traffic was halted temporarily in both directions on I-80 over and around Donner Summit due to spinouts and crashes, the authorities reported.

Several Tahoe ski resorts were fully or partially closed due to the weather. Resorts along highways have avalanche mitigation programs and were not expected to be at as high of a risk as the backcountry, where travel in, near or below avalanche terrain was strongly discouraged, the center said.

Area has dark history

Castle Peak, a 9,110-foot (2,777-meter) mountain north of Donner Summit, is a popular backcountry skiing destination. The summit, which can be perilous in snow, is named for the infamous Donner Party, a group of pioneers who resorted to cannibalism after getting trapped there in the winter of 1846-1847.

In January an avalanche in the region buried asnowmobilerin snow and killed him, authorities said. Each winter, 25 to 30 people die in avalanches in the U.S., according to the National Avalanche Center.

Training in avalanche assessment and rescue and safety equipment is highly recommended for backcountry skiing, also known as off-piste skiing, involves venturing deep into the wilderness far outside the confines of a resort. Backcountry skis are wider and heavier and have other features to handle going up and down ungroomed terrain, unlike cross-country skis, which are narrower and designed for flat, more groomed trails.

Watson reported from San Diego. Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed.

By Simon Lewis

WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet told Reuters on Tuesday that Thai forces are occupying Cambodian territory after fighting last year despite a peace accord brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump, and called on Thailand to allow a joint boundary commission to begin working on their disputed border.

In his first interview with international media, ‌Hun Manet, who took over power from his father in 2023, hailed warmer ties with Washington and said his government was working to address cyber scam centers that have proliferated in the ‌country.

Hun Manet traveled to Washington to attend a meeting of Trump's Board of Peace this week, and said he hoped the new body could play a role in de-escalating the situation on the border, which he described as "fragile" despite a December ceasefire that ​ended renewed fighting.

The board was created to oversee a Gaza peace plan, but Trump has said it could take on a broader role.

Thailand has said it is maintaining troop positions as part of de-escalation measures and has denied it is occupying territory.

"We are adhering to the joint statement, which agreed to maintain existing troop deployments. There has been no reinforcement," Thailand's Defense Ministry spokesperson, Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, told Reuters.

'VIOLATION OF OUR SOVEREIGNTY'

The comments from Cambodia's leader on the border conflict underscore the risk that the conflict could reignite once again despite Trump continuing to promote the success of the peace deal.

The worst fighting in more than a decade, which broke out in July, ‌has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and disrupted trade across the ⁠508-mile (817-km) border.

An October peace accord signed with Trump and Malaysia's prime minister broke down within a matter of weeks before a new ceasefire was reached on December 27.

"We still have Thai forces occupy(ing) deep into Cambodian territory in many areas. This is further beyond even Thailand's own unilateral claim… border line," Hun Manet told Reuters.

He said ⁠Thai troops had laid shipping containers and barbed wire inside what Thailand had long recognized as Cambodian territory and residents were unable to return home.

"This is not an accusation but it's a statement of the facts on the ground," he said.

Cambodia could not accept what he called a "violation of our sovereignty or territorial integrity," he said.

"The only way to verify that is using the technical mechanism that we have, based on treaties, based on all the agreements we have. So ​we ​hope that Thailand will agree and start to allow the JBC (joint boundary commission) to work as early as possible," Hun ​Manet said.

He added that Thailand had cited its February 8 election as a reason not ‌to begin demarcation work. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul rode a wave of nationalism in the election in the wake of the border conflict.

"Now the election is done, we hope that Thailand can start, at least on a technical level, to start measuring, start demarcating in the hot zone, so that we can go back to life," Hun Manet said.

A JBC can convene when a new government is formed, Thai defense ministry spokesperson Surasant said.

WEST POINT GRADUATE

Cambodia's long-ruling leader Hun Sen announced that he would hand over power to his son, Hun Manet, after elections held in 2023 in which his ruling Cambodian People's Party ran virtually unopposed.

Hun Manet, 48, is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. His ascension, followed by Trump's involvement in the border dispute, has ushered in warmer ties between Washington and Phnom Penh, which had for years been ‌moving closer to China.

Manet said relationships with China and the U.S. were "not mutually exclusive" and said Cambodia had "nothing to hide" ​on the Ream naval base that was upgraded by China.

"As for Cambodia, to choose (a) relationship … China or U.S. or U.S. over China, ​is not our choice," he said. "We are a sovereign country. We pursue the policy of friends ​with our countries."

Past U.S. administrations have pushed Cambodia to address issues of human rights and democracy before ties could improve.

Hun Manet said human rights in Cambodia had gotten ‌a lot of attention but his country had maintained strong ties in other ​areas like security cooperation with Washington.

"Democracy is not just ​defined by political party expression, but health, education, freedom of press and others," Manet said.

Reporters Without Borders last year ranked Cambodia 161 out of 180 countries in its World Press Freedom Index, citing detentions of journalists.

The U.S. Treasury Department last year imposed sanctions on scores of people involved in running compounds in Cambodia from which massive amounts of fraud, including online romance scams, were perpetrated on ​people around the world.

Hun Manet said his government was cracking down on ‌cyber scams and was drafting a law to tackle the issue, and argued online scams were not only a problem stemming from Cambodia.

"Yes, they exist. They have been existing. Does ​that mean that we allow them, we endorse them or we not do anything? No," he said, citing efforts to deport people working at the scam centers and close the ​compounds.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Additional reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat in Bangkok; Editing by Ethan Smith and Lincoln Feast)

TOKYO (AP) — Last week Japanese Prime MinisterSanae Takaichiwon a landslideelectionthat she hopes will allow her to move her nation's policies hard right. On Wednesday she will be reappointed as prime minister by the parliament and form her second Cabinet.

It's a formality, but Takaichi will look to use the symbolism of the day to further boost her Liberal Democratic Party as it looks to capitalize on a two-thirds supermajority in the lower house, the more powerful of Japan's two parliamentary chambers.

Her goals include an increase in military power, more government spending and strengthened conservative social policies.

The power of a supermajority

Having two-thirds control of the 465-seat lower house allows Takaichi's party to dominate top posts in house committees and push through bills rejected bythe upper house, the chamber where the LDP-led ruling coalition lacks a majority.

Takaichi wants to bolsterJapan's militarycapability and arms sales, tightenimmigration policies, pushmale-only imperial succession rulesand preserve a criticized tradition that pressures women into abandoning theirsurnames.

Her ambition to revise the U.S.-drafted postwar pacifist Constitution might have to wait, for now, as she is facing pressure to deal with rising prices, a declining population and worries about military security.

Addressing rising prices

Her first urgent task is to address rising prices and sluggish wages and pass a budget bill to fund those measures, delayed by the election.

Takaichi proposes a two-year sales tax cut on food products to ease household living costs.

Experts caution that her liberal fiscal policy could drive up prices and delay progress on trimming Japan's huge national debt.

Courting Trump

Takaichi is maneuvering for a crucial summit next month with U.S. President Donald Trump, who will visit Beijing in April.

The U.S. president endorsed Takaichi ahead of the Japanese election, and hours before Takaichi's reappointment as prime minister, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced Japan will provide capital for three projects under a$550 billion investment packagethat Japan pledged in October.

Japan is committed to the $36 billion first batch of projects — a natural gas plant in Ohio, a U.S. Gulf Coast crude oil export facility and a synthetic diamond manufacturing site.

Japan is also under pressure to increase annual defense spending.

"Japan will keep spending more and more for the U.S. ... The question is whether the public wants her to speak out against Trump or be obedient to ensure Japanese security," said Masato Kamikubo, a Ritsumeikan University professor of policy science. "For China, it's simple. Japanese people want her to be tough."

A hawk on China

Takaichi in November suggested possible Japanese action if China makes a military move against Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own. That has led toBeijing's diplomatic and economic reprisals.

Many Japanese, frustrated by China's growing assertiveness, welcomed her comments on Taiwan.

Emboldened by the big election win, Takaichi could take a more hawkish stance with China, experts say.

Takaichi, soon after the election, said she is working to gain support for a visit to Tokyo's controversialYasukuni Shrine. Visits to the shrine are seen by Japan's neighbors as evidence of a lack of remorse for Japan's wartime past.

A stronger military that spends more and sells more

Takaichi has pledged torevise security and defense policiesby December to bolster Japan's military capabilities, lifting a ban on lethal weapons exports and moving further away from postwar pacifist principles. Japan is also considering the development of a nuclear-powered submarine to increase offensive capabilities.

Takaichi wants to improve intelligence-gathering and establish a national agency to work more closely with ally Washington and defense partners like Australia and Britain.

She supports a controversial anti-espionage law that largely targets Chinese spies. Some experts say it could undermine Japanese civil rights.

Stricter on immigration and foreigners

Takaichi has proposed tougher policies on immigration and foreigners, something that resonates with a growing frustration in Japan.

Her government in January approved tougher rules on permanent residency and naturalization as well as measures to prevent unpaid tax and social insurance.

Promoting traditional family values

Takaichi supports the imperial family's male-only succession and opposes same-sex marriage.

She is also against a revision to the 19th-century civil law that would allow separate surnames for married couples so that women don't get pressured into abandoning theirs.

In a step that rights activists call an attempt to block a dual-surname system, Takaichi is calling for a law to allow the greater use of maiden names as aliases instead.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Conservation organizations and an Iñupiat group filed legal challenges Tuesday to theTrump administration's renewed pushfor oil and gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and an upcoming lease sale that they say improperly makes available ecologically sensitive lands that have been long protected.

At least two lawsuits challenging the March 18 lease sale were filed. One, in federal court in Alaska, was brought by Earthjustice on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Earth. Another, in federal court in the District of Columbia, was filed by The Wilderness Society and Grandmothers Growing Goodness, a group seeking to draw attention to the impacts of oil and gas development on Iñupiat communities.

The sale would be the first in the reserve since 2019 and the first under a law passed by Congress last year calling for at least five lease sales there over a 10-year period. The reserve covers an area on Alaska's North Slope that's roughly the size of Indiana and provides habitat for an array of wildlife, including caribou, bears, wolves and millions of migratory birds.

Both lawsuits list as defendants the U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Bureau of Land Management and top agency officials. The Earthjustice complaint additionally includes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. An email seeking comment was sent Tuesday to an Interior Department spokesperson. The land management and fish and wildlife agencies fall under Interior.

This is the latest in a long-running debate overhow much of the reserve should be openfor development. A plan adopted by the Trump administration would make about 80% of the reserve available for oil and gas leasing.

Supporters say the petroleum reserve's name suggests it's a place where drilling should occur, while critics argue the law balances allowances for drilling with a need to protect sensitive areas. There also are differing views among Alaska Natives about development. A group representingmany North Slope leadershas supported drilling in the reserve, while others have raised concerns that projects could negatively impact communities.

The lawsuits say next month's planned lease sale includes tracts of lands in areas near Teshekpuk Lake and the Colville River previouslydesignated as specialfor their wildlife, subsistence or other values. They say sales notices provide no rationale for why those tracts were included and no acknowledgment by the Bureau of Land Management of prior findings that lands in those areas should be off limits to leasing.

The case filed by Earthjustice said a management plan for the reserve underpinning the lease sale "unlawfully removes lands from the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area and eliminates the Colville River Special Area." A longstanding federal law pertaining to oil and gas development in the reserve gives the Interior secretary authority "to designate special areas for maximum protection of identified significant resource values," the lawsuit states. "Congress has not authorized the Secretary to remove lands from or eliminate special areas, especially where those lands still contain the significant resource values that supported their designation."

Teshekpuk Lake is the largest lake in Alaska's arctic region. The Colville River and associated wetlands provide habitat for nesting raptors and supports subsistence activities for residents on Alaska's North Slope, the lawsuit says.

It asks a judge to invalidate any leases issued in the upcoming sale and to block future sales based on what the plaintiffs argue are flawed environmental reviews and land management plans.

The other lawsuit asks a judge to declare as arbitrary and improper a decision by an Interior Department official canceling a right-of-way issued during the Biden administration that was aimed at protecting the Teshekpuk caribou herd and habitat across roughly 1 million acres within the special area. It also challenges the validity of the tracts offered for lease that fall within the now-canceled right of way and other tracts nearby that overlap with caribou habitat and that the Bureau of Land Management has classified as having high oil and gas development potential.