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Associated Press News	2025-05-14 12:41:46+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Joe Biden", "NVIDIA Corp.", "Brad Smith", "Artificial intelligence", "Semiconductor manufacturing", "U.S. Department of Commerce", "International trade", "China", "Tariffs and global trade", "Business", "Technology", "Politics", "Microsoft Corp.", "United States government", "Jeffery Kessler", "Thomas Regnier", "Advanced Micro Devices", "Inc." ]	# Trump administration rescinds curbs on AI chip exports to foreign markets May 14th, 2025, 12:41 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Responding to complaints from the tech industry and other countries, the U.S. Department of Commerce has rescinded a Biden-era rule due to take effect Thursday that placed limits on the number of artificial intelligence chips that could be exported to certain international markets without federal approval. "These new requirements would have stifled American innovation and saddled companies with burdensome new regulatory requirements," the Commerce Department stated in its guidance. President Joe Biden established the export framework shortly before he left office in an attempt to balance national security concerns about the technology with the economic interests of producers and other countries. While the United States had already restricted exports to adversaries such as China and Russia, some of those controls had loopholes and the rule would have set limits on a much broader group of countries, including Middle Eastern countries that President Donald Trump is visiting this week. The Biden rule's sorting more than 100 countries into different tiers of export restrictions drew strong opposition from those countries, as well as U.S. chipmakers like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices. They argued the restrictions could actually push some countries to turn to China instead of the U.S. for their AI technology. What Biden's rule did "was send a message to 120 nations that they couldn't necessarily count on us to provide the AI they want and need," said Brad Smith, Microsoft's president, at a U.S. Senate hearing last week. Commerce Undersecretary Jeffery Kessler said Tuesday that President Donald Trump's administration will work to replace the now-rescinded rule to pursue AI with "trusted foreign countries around the world, while keeping the technology out of the hands of our adversaries." The administration said a replacement rule is coming in the future but hasn't said what the new rule will say. The European Commission welcomed the change, said spokesperson Thomas Regnier, arguing that the Biden rule, if it took effect, would "undermine U.S. diplomatic relations with dozens of countries by downgrading them to second-tier status." European Union countries should be able to buy advanced AI chips from the U.S. without limitations, Regnier said. "We cooperate closely, in particular in the field of security, and represent an economic opportunity for the U.S., not a security risk," he said in a statement.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 05:48:25+00:00	[ "Europe", "Donald Trump", "Protests and demonstrations", "Jean-Luc Melenchon", "Labor", "Mahmoud Khalil", "Istanbul", "Taipei", "Diversity", "equity and inclusion", "Los Angeles", "United States government", "Philadelphia", "Government policy", "United States", "New York City Wire", "Ekrem Imamoglu", "Andrew Wilks", "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention", "Carlos Wang", "Business", "Economic policy", "Prabowo Subianto", "Race and ethnicity", "Latrina Barnes", "Jaimie Ding", "Carolyn Thompson", "Politics", "April Verrett", "Masha Macpherson", "Suman Naishadham", "Veronica Salama" ]	# May Day demonstrations in US and around the globe protest Trump agenda By Yuri Kageyama, Sophia Tareen, and Thomas Adamson May 1st, 2025, 05:48 AM --- CHICAGO (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. and around the world rallied Thursday in May Day protests that united many in anger over President Donald Trump's agenda from aggressive tariffs that are stoking fears of global economic turmoil to his administration's immigration crackdowns. In the United States, organizers framed this year's International Workers' Day protests as a pushback against what they see as the administration's sweeping assault on labor protections, diversity initiatives and federal employees. Protesters lined streets in many cities from New York to Philadelphia to Los Angeles and held a boisterous rally outside the White House in Washington. ## Huge turnout as US May Day protests focus on Trump In Chicago, thousands of people rallied in a West Side park before marching through downtown to the lakefront. Some played drums and danced while others chanted "No justice, no peace!" The crowd included union workers, immigrant rights advocates, pro-Palestinian activists and students calling for better-funded public schools. "We need to stand up and fight back," said Latrina Barnes, a 48-year-old certified nurses assistant, adding that worries Medicaid and Medicare might be affected under the Trump administration inspired her to protest in a May Day rally for the first time. Some rallygoers used humor to protest, displaying a Trump puppet, an inflatable Trump baby chicken and a Trump pinata shaped like a bull. Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke outside Philadelphia's City Hall during a rally after which the crowd marched in the streets. Dozens sat in an intersection wearing signs reading "Workers over billionaires," and police began taking some of them into custody, leading them to nearby buses. In downtown Los Angeles, thousands of demonstrators marched, hoisting signs saying "Immigrants make America great," "Migration is beautiful" and "It's not the time to be silent." With bands playing and flags waving, the gathering had the feel of a celebration. "We're bringing the fight to the billionaires and politicians who are trying to divide us with fear and lies," said April Verrett, president of the Service Employees International Union, which represents 2 million workers. A number of speakers demanded elected officials protect workers' and immigrants' rights. With the slogan "One Struggle, One Fight — Workers Unite," the event was organized by the Los Angeles May Day Coalition, made up of labor unions and community-based groups. In Atlanta, hundreds gathered at a downtown park across from the state Capitol. The crowd included some retired U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention workers. The CDC is headquartered in Atlanta and is expected to lose around 2,400 employees due to cuts by the Trump administration. "We really want to stand up for all of our fellow laborers who were laid off or just fired with no real reason," said Deblina Datta, who worked on global immunization efforts before retiring in 2023. "We really want to make a cry that without the CDC, bad things will happen." In New York City, hundreds of lawyers and their supporters gathered near courthouses in Lower Manhattan for a "National Rule of Law Day" rally to decry what some called the Trump administration's disrespect of the legal system. Hours later, a few thousand people were back in the same public square for a May Day march with labor activists, union members and others carrying LGTBQ flags and signs condemning Trump's crackdown on immigrants. The arrest of Columbia University graduate student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil sent a message "that anyone who disagrees with this president will face consequences," Veronica Salama, the New York Civil Liberties Union lawyer representing him, told the crowd. "This is about all of us in the face of escalating repression," Salama said. "We recognize the interconnectedness of our struggles." ## European rallies target trade policies, rise of far-right French union leaders condemned the "Trumpization" of world politics, saying demonstrations throughout the country were fueled by anger over U.S. military and trade influence in Europe. Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused the U.S. of pushing Europe toward conflict and economic subservience. "If the North Americans don't want our goods anymore, we can just sell them to others," he said. In Germany, union leaders warned that extended workdays and rising anti-immigrant sentiment were dismantling labor protections. In Bern, Switzerland, thousands marched behind banners denouncing fascism and war — part of a wider backlash against the global surge of hard-right politics. In Spain, thousands marched in Madrid, Barcelona and other cities, with demands ranging from a shorter workweek to answers for a historic power outage that blacked out the Iberian Peninsula earlier this week. Trump's name also surfaced. "The world has changed a bit with Trump's arrival," said Ángel López, 56, a worker from Madrid. "The arrival of the far right to a country like the United States is a major global shift." ## Trump-fueled economic fears raised in Asia protests Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te cited the new U.S. tariffs under Trump as he promoted a sweeping economic package aimed at shoring up jobs and industry. In the Philippines, protest leader Mong Palatino warned that "tariff wars and policies of Trump" threatened local industries and people's livelihoods. Some 2,500 union members marched from the Taiwanese presidential office in Taipei, warning that Trump's tariffs could lead to job losses. "This is why we hope the government can propose plans to protect the rights of laborers," said union leader Carlos Wang. In Manila, thousands of Filipino workers rallied near the presidential palace, where police blocked access with barricades. Protesters demanded wage hikes and stronger protections for local jobs and small businesses. In Jakarta, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto addressed a cheering crowd at the National Monument Park. "The government that I lead will work as hard as possible to eliminate poverty from Indonesia," he said. ## Istanbul mayor's arrest is focus of protests in Turkey In Turkey, May Day served as a platform not only for labor rights but for broader calls to uphold democratic values. Tens of thousands gathered on Istanbul's Asian shore where some protested the jailing of Istanbul's opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu. His imprisonment in March sparked the country's largest protests in more than a decade. Authorities blocked access to central Istanbul and shut down transit lines. Istanbul governor's office said 384 people had been detained. ___ Adamson reported from Paris, and Kageyama reported from Tokyo. Contributing to this report were Associated Press journalists Suman Naishadham in Madrid, Nicolas Garriga and Masha Macpherson in Paris, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Joeal Calupitan in Manila, Philippines, Andrew Wilks in Istanbul, Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles, Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta, Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York, Tassanee Vejpongsa in Philadelphia and Taijing Wu in Taipei, Taiwan.
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 04:06:31+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "China", "United States government", "Colleges and universities", "Schools", "United States", "Education", "Clay Harmon", "Education costs", "Gabriel Miller", "Politics", "Activism", "Austin Ward", "Canada", "Immigration", "School curricula", "George Kacenga", "Lindsey Lpez", "Mike Henniger" ]	# Trump crackdown on colleges tests US appeal for international students By Annie Ma, Makiya Seminera, and Jocelyn Gecker May 12th, 2025, 04:06 AM --- As he finishes college in China, computer science student Ma Tianyu has set his sights on graduate school in the United States. No country offers better programs for the career he wants as a game developer, he said. He applied only to U.S. schools and was accepted by some. But after the initial excitement, he began seeing reasons for doubt. First, there was President Donald Trump's trade war with China. Then, China's Ministry of Education issued a warning about studying in America. When Ma saw the wave of legal status terminations for international students in the U.S., he realized he needed to consider how American politics could affect him. The recent developments soured some of his classmates on studying in the U.S., but he plans to come anyway. He is ready "to adapt to whatever changes may come," he said. American universities, home to many programs at the top of their fields, have long appealed to students around the world hoping to pursue research and get a foothold in the U.S. job market. The durability of that demand faces a test under the Trump administration, which has taken actions that have left international students feeling vulnerable and considering alternate places to study. "All of the Trump administration's activities have been sending a message that international students are not welcome in the U.S.," said Clay Harmon, executive director of AIRC, a professional association for international enrollment managers at colleges. ## Competitors see an opening to carve into US dominance Around 1.1 million international students were in the U.S. last year. A large decline in their ranks could cripple school budgets that rely on tuition from foreign students, who are ineligible for federal student aid and often pay full price to attend. It's too early to quantify any impact from the administration's crackdown, which has included new scrutiny of student visas and efforts to deport foreign students for involvement in pro-Palestinian activism. But many fear the worst. "Students and their families expect and need certainty," said Fanta Aw, executive director and CEO of NAFSA, an association of international educators. "And they do not function well in a volatile environment like the one we have currently." The U.S. has been rebounding from a decline in international enrollment that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. As top competitors such as Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom rolled back recruiting efforts and made immigration policies less welcoming, the U.S. appeared ready to bring in far more students. Now, a few months into the Trump administration, industry experts say it's unlikely the U.S. will be able to capitalize. "The U.S. was so perfectly positioned to become the far and away, clear first-choice destination for international students," said Mike Henniger, CEO of Illume Student Advisory Services. His company works with colleges in the U.S., Canada and Europe to recruit international students. "Then it just went out the door." In Canada, where colleges saw enrollment increases during the first Trump administration, they are hoping for another bounce. In a letter following the recent election, a member organization for Canadian universities urged the new Liberal government to address immigration policies that have affected recruitment of foreign students. "This is a moment of real opportunity for the country to attract international talent," said Gabriel Miller, president of Universities Canada. ## America's appeal as a place to start a career remains resilient The U.S. holds strong appeal for students prioritizing career outcomes, in part because of the "optional practical training" program, which allows foreign students to stay on their student visas and work for up to three years, said Lindsey López of ApplyBoard, an application platform for students seeking to study abroad. Graduates earning this post-college work experience were among the foreigners whose legal status or visas were terminated this spring. Still, the diversity and size of the U.S. job market could help American schools stay ahead of the competition, López said. "The U.S. is the largest economy in the world," she said. "It's just the vastness and also the economic diversity that we have in the U.S., with a whole variety of different industries, both public and private, for students to choose from." William Paterson University, a public institution of 10,000 students in New Jersey, typically has around 250 international students. It expects an increase in foreign students in the fall, according to George Kacenga, vice president for enrollment management. The school has focused on designing programs around STEM majors, which appeal to international students because they open access to OPT programs. Students have expressed concern about securing visas, but most of the school's international students are from India and report they are getting appointments, he said. In Shanghai, many students in Austin Ward's 12th grade class have either committed to attending U.S. colleges or are considering it. Ward teaches literature in a high school program offering an American Common Core curriculum for Chinese students. Ward said he avoids discussing politics with his students, but some have asked him about the U.S. government's termination of students' legal statuses, signaling their concern about going to the U.S. To Ward's knowledge, the students who planned to attend American colleges have not changed their minds. Frustrated with the stress the situation has caused, Ward said he wrote a letter to his U.S. representative on the need to protect international students. His students are coming to America to "expand their horizons," he said, not threaten the country. "If my students have to worry about that, and if students are losing their visas, then America is not going to have that strength of being an academic center," he said. ___ The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 17:45:13+00:00	[ "JD Vance", "Donald Trump", "Vladimir Putin", "Iran", "District of Columbia", "Barack Obama", "Joe Biden", "International agreements", "Politics", "Volodymyr Zelenskyy", "Russia Ukraine war" ]	# Vance says Russia was 'asking for too much' in initial Ukraine peace offer By Michelle L. Price May 7th, 2025, 05:45 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that Russia was "asking for too much" in its initial peace offer as the United States looks to bring about an end to the war in Ukraine. The vice president, speaking at a Washington meeting hosted by the Munich Security Conference, did not elaborate on Moscow's terms, but said he was not pessimistic about the possibility of a peace deal. That is a more sanguine assessment than President Donald Trump's recent skepticism that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to end the war that begin in February 2022 when Russia invaded. "I wouldn't say that the Russians are uninterested in bringing this thing to a resolution," Vance said. "What I would say is right now: the Russians are asking for a certain set of requirements, a certain set of concessions in order to end the conflict. We think they're asking for too much," he said. Trump, when asked later Wednesday about the vice president's comments, told reporters at the White House, "Well, it's possible that's right." He seemed to imply that Vance had details that he did not have because he was preoccupied with other matters. "We are getting to a point where some decisions are going to have to be made. I'm not happy about it," Trump said of the peace effort. Vance did not repeat any of the criticisms of Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Vance had aired during an Oval Office blowup in February with the Ukrainian leader, and he made a point of saying the U.S. appreciated Ukraine's willingness to have a 30-day ceasefire. But the Republican vice president, citing Russia's unwillingness on that point, said the U.S. would like to move past that and have the Russian and Ukrainian leaders sit down directly to negotiate a long-term settlement that would end the fighting. "What the Russians have said is, 'A 30-day ceasefire is not in our strategic interests.' So we've tried to move beyond the obsession with the 30-day ceasefire and more on the, what would a long-term settlement look like," Vance said. Vance's talk at the conference event followed his appearance at the organization's February summit in Germany, where he ruffled feathers for his comments that free speech is "in retreat" across Europe. Vance addressed that Wednesday and said his comments applied to the U.S. under Democratic President Joe Biden's administration, just as they did to Europe. "It's not 'Europe bad, America good.' It's that I think that both Europe and the United States, we got a little bit off track, and I encourage us all to get back on track together," he said. On the Middle East, Vance did not shed light on the timing of planned talks between the U.S. and Iran over Iran's nuclear program. He said the Trump administration felt the inspection and enforcement provisions in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal negotiated under Democratic President Barack Obama were "incredibly weak" and "allowed Iran to sort of stay on this glide path toward a nuclear weapon if they flip the switch and press go." "We think that there is a deal here that would reintegrate Iran into the global economy, that would be really good for the Iranian people, but would result in the complete cessation of any chance that they can get a nuclear weapon. And that's what we're negotiating toward," Vance said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-11 09:40:47+00:00	[ "Iran", "Donald Trump", "Steve Witkoff", "Iran government", "Ali Khamenei", "Middle East", "Oman", "Tehran", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Esmail Baghaei", "Islam", "Politics", "Badr al-Busaidi", "War and unrest", "Oman government", "Muscat" ]	# Iran, US conclude fourth round of nuclear talks in Oman By Jon Gambrell May 11th, 2025, 09:40 AM --- DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and the United States held a fourth round of negotiations Sunday over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, just ahead of a visit by President Donald Trump to the Middle East this week. The talks ran for some three hours in Muscat, the capital of Oman, which has been mediating the negotiations, said a U.S. official. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei also said the talks took place that long and that a decision on the next round of talks is under discussion. Baghaei called the talks "difficult but useful." The U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations, offered a little bit more, describing them as being both indirect and direct. "Agreement was reached to move forward with the talks to continue working through technical elements," the U.S. official said. "We are encouraged by today's outcome and look forward to our next meeting, which will happen in the near future." Iran insisted they only took place indirectly — possibly over internal political pressures within the Islamic Republic. The talks seek to limit Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the U.S. has imposed on the Islamic Republic, closing in on half a century of enmity. Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran's program if a deal isn't reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. Meanwhile, Israel has threatened to strike Iran's nuclear facilities on their own if it feels threatened, further complicating tensions in the Mideast already spiked by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. ## The fourth round comes ahead of Trump's trip The talks again saw Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff lead the negotiations. They have met and spoken face-to-face but the majority of the negotiations appear to have been indirect, with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi shuttling messages between the two sides. "The discussions included useful and original ideas reflecting a shared wish to reach an honorable agreement," al-Busaidi wrote afterward on the social platform X. Iran has insisted that keeping its ability to enrich uranium is a red line for its theocracy, with Araghchi before the talks describing Iran's program as springing from "the blood of our nuclear scientists." Israel is widely suspected of carrying out assassinations targeting the program's scientists. "From our viewpoint, enrichment is a subject that should definitely continue and there is no room for compromise on that," Araghchi told Iranian state television after the talks. "It is possible that we consider some limits on its dimensions, amount and level for trust building, similar to the past." Witkoff has muddied the issue by first suggesting in a television interview that Iran could enrich uranium at 3.67%, then later saying that all enrichment must stop. "An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again," Witkoff told the right-wing Breitbart news site in a piece published Friday. "That's our red line. No enrichment. That means dismantlement, it means no weaponization, and it means that Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan — those are their three enrichment facilities — have to be dismantled." Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers capped Tehran's enrichment at 3.67% and reduced its uranium stockpile to 300 kilograms (661 pounds). That level is enough for nuclear power plants, but far below weapons-grade levels of 90%. Since the nuclear deal's collapse in 2018 with Trump's unilateral withdrawal of the U.S. from the accord, Iran has abandoned all limits on its program and enriched uranium to up to 60% purity — a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels. There have also been a series of attacks at sea and on land in recent years, stemming from the tensions even before the Israel-Hamas war began. ## Iran faces pressures at home as talks continue Iran also faces challenges at home, exacerbated by sanctions. Its troubled rial currency, once over 1 million to $1, has strengthened dramatically due to the talks alone to around 830,000 to $1. However, the two sides still appear a long way from any deal, even as time ticks away. Iranian media broadly reported a two-month deadline imposed by Trump in his initial letter sent to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump said he wrote the letter on March 5, which made it to Iran via an Emirati diplomat on March 12 — putting the deadline in theory as Monday when Trump takes off from Washington for his trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Iran's internal politics are still inflamed over the mandatory hijab, or headscarf, with women still ignoring the law on the streets of Tehran. Rumors also persist over the government potentially increasing the cost of subsidized gasoline in the country, which has sparked nationwide protests in the past. Meanwhile, the last round of talks in Oman on April 26 took place as an explosion rocked a southern Iranian port, killing dozens of people and injuring over 1,000 others. Iran still hasn't explained what caused the blast at the Shahid Rajaei port, which has been linked to a shipment of missile fuel components to the Islamic Republic. ____ Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 22:39:15+00:00	[ "Bryan Kohberger", "Crime", "Homicide", "Idaho", "Legal proceedings", "Internet", "Ethan Chapin", "Law enforcement", "Kaylee Goncalves" ]	# Idaho judge wants an investigation of information leaks in Bryan Kohberger's quadruple-murder case By Rebecca Boone May 15th, 2025, 10:39 PM --- BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The judge overseeing Bryan Kohberger's upcoming quadruple-murder trial says he wants to identify anyone who may have violated a gag order by leaking information from the investigation to news organizations or anyone else not directly involved with the case. Fourth District Judge Steven Hippler ordered prosecutors and defense attorneys on Wednesday to give him a list of everyone — including staffers, law enforcement officers and defense consultants — who might have had access to the previously unreported information about Kohberger's internet search history and other details that were featured in an NBC "Dateline" episode that aired May 9. The judge said he would be open to appointing a special prosecutor to track down the leak, which likely violated a gag order that has been in place since 2023. Kohberger, 30, a former graduate student in criminal justice at nearby Washington State University, is charged in the stabbing deaths of University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves. The four were found dead in a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022. A not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf, and the trial is expected to start in August. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted. Hippler wrote in court documents that it appeared likely that someone associated with law enforcement or the prosecution team violated the court's gag order. The leak will potentially make it harder to seat an impartial jury, drawing out an already long and complicated court case and costing taxpayers more money, Hippler wrote. "Importantly such violations potentially frustrate the ability to ensure both sides receive a fair trial," he wrote. "Accordingly, the Court finds it is imperative to attempt to see that the source of such leak is identified and held to account." Hippler also ordered everyone who has worked directly or indirectly on the case to keep all records of any communications they have had with journalists or other people outside of law enforcement about Kohberger or the investigation into the killings. Hippler appeared to have discussed the matter with prosecutors and defense attorneys during a closed portion of Wednesday's pretrial hearing. But he also referenced the Dateline episode and the possible gag order violation during open portions of the hearing — at one point remarking that after the day the episode aired he decided to impanel additional alternate jurors for the trial. Later he told the attorneys he expected them to file a formal request to have the matter investigated.
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 16:24:08+00:00	[ "Bucharest", "Romania government", "Romania", "Marcel Ciolacu", "Run-off elections", "Europe", "Global elections", "Politics", "Elections", "Voting", "Cristian Andrei", "George Simion" ]	# Romanian premier resigns after his coalition's candidate fails to advance in presidential runoff By Stephen Mcgrath May 5th, 2025, 04:24 PM --- BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced his resignation on Monday, a day after the governing coalition's joint candidate failed to advance to the runoff in the closely watched rerun of the presidential election. The coalition's candidate, Crin Antonescu, was third in Sunday's first round, far behind top finisher hard-right nationalist George Simion and pro-Western reformist Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan. "Rather than let the future president replace me, I decided to resign myself," the prime minister told reporters after a meeting at the headquarters of his Social Democratic Party, or PSD. Sunday's rerun underscored strong anti-establishment sentiment among Romanians and signaled a power shift away from traditional mainstream parties. It also renewed the political turmoil that has gripped the European Union and NATO member country. The rerun took place months after a top court annulled the previous race following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow has denied. The unprecedented decision plunged Romania into its worst political crisis in decades. The prime minister had said one aim of forming the coalition last December — after the failed election — was to field a common candidate to win the presidency. After Sunday's vote, he said, the coalition now "lacks any credibility." It is made up of the leftist PSD, the center-right National Liberal Party, the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party and national minorities. Ciolacu said his party would not officially support either candidate in the final presidential vote on May 18. "Every PSD supporter will vote as they wish, according to their own conscience," he said. An interim prime minister will be selected from the current Cabinet of ministers and appointed by interim President Ilie Bolojan, who noted Ciolacu's resignation and is expected to make an appointment on Tuesday. Sunday's vote was the second time in Romania's post-communist history, including the voided election cycle, that the PSD party did not have a candidate in the second round of a presidential race. As in many EU countries, anti-establishment sentiment is running high in Romania, fueled by high inflation, a large budget deficit and a sluggish economy. Observers say the malaise has bolstered support for nationalist and far-right figures like Calin Georgescu, who won the first round in the canceled presidential election. He is under investigation and barred from the rerun. Cristian Andrei, a Bucharest-based political consultant, says Ciolacu may have resigned to give his party "negotiation options" for a future coalition after the runoff. "The decision can defuse some anti-coalition sentiment before the presidential runoff," he said, but added that any negotiations to form a new Cabinet would "increase the sentiment that the older political parties are struggling to keep control of power." Simion, the 38-year-old frontrunner in Sunday's vote and the leader of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, will face Dan in a runoff that could reshape the country's geopolitical direction. In 2019, Simion founded the AUR party, which rose to prominence in a 2020 parliamentary election by proclaiming to stand for "family, nation, faith, and freedom." It has since become Romania's second-largest party in the legislature. Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician and former anti-corruption activist who founded the Save Romania Union party in 2016, ran on a pro-EU ticket. He told the media early Monday that "a difficult second round lies ahead, against an isolationist candidate."
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 17:13:27+00:00	[ "Los Angeles", "California", "Charley Boorman", "Lifestyle", "Law enforcement", "Ewan McGregor", "Entertainment" ]	# 'Long Way Home' has Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman riding in Europe By Mark Kennedy May 8th, 2025, 05:13 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — The last time Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman went on a motorcycle adventure, they rode cutting-edge, electric Harley-Davidsons. For their latest trip, they took a trip back in time. The British best friends and actors chose to use vintage bikes this time as they ride through 17 European countries for Apple TV+'s "Long Way Home," the fourth installment of their popular road trip docuseries. It starts airing Friday. McGregor picked a 1974 Moto Guzzi Eldorado, which was used as a patrol bike by the Los Angeles Police Department and California Highway Patrol. Boorman picked a rusted-out BMW R75/5 and scrambled to make it road worthy. "I guess there's just sort of nowhere else to go other than backwards," says McGregor. "We felt that we hadn't done a trip on old bikes. I've always loved old bikes." ## A trip to see their neighbors The duo start at McGregor's home in Scotland — they leave serenaded by a bagpipe band and, naturally, rain — into Holland, up through the Nordics, Arctic Circle, down to the Baltics before going through the Alps and France. Unlike the Harleys or BMWs they've ridden before, using older bikes gave McGregor and Boorman a nostalgic feeling and something practical: The ability to get them back on the road should disaster strike. "They're fixable," says McGregor. "At the side of the road, you can pretty much — with a bit of sandpaper and a screwdriver and a hammer — you could probably pretty much get them running again. Whereas with something like the electric bike, if something happens — if something goes wrong, as we learned in Central America — it's catastrophic." Series highlights include the duo donning Viking costumes and axe throwing in Norway, camping at a windmill near Amsterdam and kayaking alongside a glacier in the Arctic Circle, "It's so Mad Max everywhere" says McGregor beside the icy water. The duo spend the longest day of the year on a beach with a bonfire on an island off the Norwegian coast, try logrolling in Finland, get tattoos in Poland, paraglide in the Alps and spend the night in the northern-most cabin in the world. "One of the great things about it is seeing the planet that we live on off the back of a motorcycle when you're sort of part of the environment. If it's cold, you're cold. If it's wet, you're wet. It's a very real experience," says McGregor. They spent about two months on the road before finishing at Boorman's home in England, taking time to enjoy the scenery more this time and reducing their speed. "We were doing a loop of Europe. We weren't covering days and days getting across far eastern Russia, where the landscape barely changes. On those BMWs, we could ride at 80 miles an hour, 90 miles an hour," says McGregor. "We didn't need to do that on this loop. So riding at 60, 65 is a nice speed to go at," he adds. ## Fourth time out there The series marks the 20-year anniversary of the first series, 2004's "Long Way Round," which saw the pair drive from London through Europe, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia, across the Pacific to Alaska, then down through Canada and America. They also paired up in 2007 for "Long Way Down," a 15,000-mile journey from Scotland to the southernmost tip of South Africa, and in 2019 for "Long Way Up" through 13 South and Central American countries. This time, tents blow inside out and age takes its toll. "My arse is so numb, oh my gosh" says McGregor at one point. The food is not very fussy, ranging from Swedish seaweed gathered from the sea to a wheel of gouda in Amsterdam and packaged fish paste and crackers in the snow. The irony this time was that while McGregor and Boorman were riding 50-year-old bikes, they and their team were using the latest technology — GPS, GoPros, drones and Insta360 cameras. "You're embracing these beautiful old motorcycles, but at the same time using whatever is around you to be able to enhance the story," says Boorman. "When we look back at the TV show, there were bits where I remember exactly where we were, but when you pull out with the drone, I didn't realize there was a big river running beside us or a big mountain. So we get to experience a little bit as well. I like to embrace the technology." While it's endlessly fun watching the duo banter while zooming through the landscape, there are moments more sobering, like when McGregor and Boorman visit UNICEF's massive hub in Copenhagen and when they see for themselves the impact of global warming on glaciers. McGregor, 54, who despite riding thousands of miles and seeing dozens of countries, suggests there's still so much for he and Boorman to see. "I always remind myself we've ridden around the world and up and down and sideways, but we only saw a couple of hundred yards from either side of our bike," he says. "There's a lot left to discover yet."
Associated Press News	2025-05-10 13:15:30+00:00	[ "Bashar Assad", "Syria", "Bahrain", "Donald Trump", "Ahmad al-Sharaa", "Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa", "Politics", "Emmanuel Macron" ]	# Syria's president visits Bahrain and discusses regional affairs with the king May 10th, 2025, 01:15 PM --- BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's president flew to Bahrain Saturday where he discussed mutual relations and regional affairs with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on his latest trip abroad since taking office in January. Syria's state news agency, SANA, said President Ahmad al-Sharaa is heading a high-ranking delegation to Bahrain, a gulf nation that had relations with former President Bashar Assad until his removal from power in early December. Bahrain's news agency said the two leaders discussed mutual relations and ways of boosting them, as well as regional affairs and ways of backing Syria's security and stability. Al-Sharaa's visit to Bahrain comes days before U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit the region for talks with leaders of gulf Arab nations. Since taking office, al-Sharaa has visited Arab and regional countries including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Turkey. Earlier this week, he made his first trip to Europe where he met French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and announced that his country is having indirect talks with Israel. After Assad's fall, Syria and its neighbors have been calling for the lifting of Western sanctions that were imposed on Assad during the early months of the country's conflict that broke out in March 2011. The lifting of sanctions would open the way for oil-rich Arab nations to take part in funding Syria's reconstruction from the destruction caused by the conflict that has killed nearly half a million people. The United Nations in 2017 estimated that it would cost at least $250 billion to rebuild Syria. Some experts now say that number could reach at least $400 billion. In April, Saudi Arabia and Qatar said they will pay Syria's outstanding debt to the World Bank, a move likely to make the international institution resume its support to the war-torn country. Since the fall of Assad, a close ally of Iran, Syria's new leadership has been improving the country's relations with Arab and western countries.
Associated Press News	2025-05-10 11:18:36+00:00	[ "Sicily", "Italy", "Boat and ship accidents", "Palermo", "Marcus Cave", "Mike Lynch", "United Kingdom", "Morgan Stanley", "Business" ]	# The recovery of superyacht off Sicily is suspended after a diver dies By Giada Zampano May 10th, 2025, 11:18 AM --- ROME (AP) — The recovery of a superyacht that sank last year off the Sicilian coast was temporarily halted Saturday following the death of a specialist diver while working underwater, the company overseeing the operation said. U.K. tech magnate Mike Lynch, his daughter and five others died in August after a powerful storm slammed the Bayesian. The luxury vessel has since been 49 meters (160 feet) underwater. British-based TMC Marine said in an emailed statement that the suspension of work "is necessary for the investigations to be completed and to allow all salvage and associated teams to mourn the tragic loss of a highly respected salvage diver" on Friday. The Palermo Port Authority, which is overseeing the investigation, declined to comment on the cause of death when contacted by The Associated Press. Marcus Cave, head of naval architecture and a TMC Marine director, said the salvage team was providing "full cooperation to the authorities in their investigations." The local prosecutor's office has sealed off the area where the 39-year-old Dutch diver died, local media reported. Marine salvage experts began work in early May to refloat the ship off the Sicilian port of Porticello, bringing in one of the most powerful maritime cranes in Europe. The plan was to cut the yacht's 75-meter (246-foot) aluminum mast — the second tallest in the world — to allow the hull to be brought to the surface more easily. It was thought initially the salvage operation would take 20 to 25 days. The 56-meter (183-foot)-long, 473-ton yacht sank during what appears to have been a sudden downburst, or localized powerful wind from a thunderstorm that spreads rapidly after hitting the surface. Prosecutors are investigating the captain and two crew members for possible responsibility in the sinking. In addition to Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy, attorney Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda, and the ship's cook, Recaldo Thomas, died. Investigators are focusing on how a sailing vessel deemed "unsinkable" by its manufacturer, Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank while a nearby sailboat remained largely unscathed.
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 08:05:44+00:00	[ "Phoenix", "Shootings", "Damien Anthony Sproule", "Law enforcement", "Gun violence", "Lupe Rodriguez", "Christopher Juaquin Sproule", "Crime", "Jose Santiago" ]	# 3 dead and 5 injured after a fight led to a shooting at a crowded event in suburban Phoenix By Associated Press May 5th, 2025, 08:05 AM --- GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — A fight between groups of people with a history of "bad blood" escalated Sunday night into a shooting outside a concert and car show at a suburban Phoenix restaurant, leaving three dead including a teenager and five others injured, police said. The shooting outside El Camaron Gigante Mariscos & Steakhouse was an "isolated incident," and authorities believe more than one person fired shots, said Glendale Police Department spokesperson Jose Santiago. Between 200 and 300 people were in attendance at the outdoor venue when the shooting broke out. Santiago said multiple people were being questioned Monday, but no arrests had been made and police are still searching for other possible suspects. "Our detectives are trying to narrow down the scope of how many shooters we are dealing with," Santiago said. The police department identified the dead as brothers Damien Anthony Sproule, 17, and Christopher Juaquin Sproule, 21, as well as Milo Christopher Suniga, 21. The wounded included a 16-year-old boy who was critically injured and required surgery overnight, but Santiago said he was expected to survive. Other people between the ages of 20 and 23 were injured. In a statement Monday, the restaurant said it was cooperating with the police investigation while trying to make sense of a "heartbreaking event." "Our hearts go out to the victims, their families, and all affected by this senseless violence," the statement said. Social media videos shared by the restaurant earlier Sunday before the shooting showed people dancing near a stage with a DJ booth. Santiago said event organizers removed a group of people from the venue after they started fighting near the stage. They began shooting at each other just outside of the event, Santiago said. Bystander Lupe Rodriguez said he ran to safety when he heard the gunshots. He was shaken, but said he was grateful that he and his friends survived. "There was a man on the ground, and it didn't look like he made it," Rodriguez said. "His father was yelling out his name." ___ This story has been updated to correct that the age of both the deceased brother and the other adult victim is 21, not 29, based on new information from the Glendale Police Department.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 04:13:39+00:00	[ "Hawaii", "Access to health care", "Gerhardt Konig", "Hiking", "Honolulu", "Thomas Otake", "Paul Wong", "Indictments", "Law enforcement", "Joel Garner", "Crime", "Health" ]	# Hawaii doctor accused of trying to kill his wife on a hiking trail denied bail By Jennifer Sinco Kelleher May 13th, 2025, 04:13 AM --- A judge on Tuesday denied a Maui anesthesiologist's request to be released on bail while he fights an attempted murder charge on allegations that he tried to kill his wife on a Honolulu hiking trail. Gerhardt Konig previously pleaded not guilty. His wife wrote in a petition for a temporary restraining order against him that they were hiking in Honolulu in March when he grabbed her, pushed her toward the edge of a cliff, attempted to inject her with a syringe and then bashed her head with a rock. Konig suggested they go on the hike while the couple were on a trip to celebrate the wife's birthday, the petition said. In denying the motion for bail, Judge Paul Wong said there's evidence that Konig hid from police, presents a serious flight risk and is a danger to the victim. She has since filed for divorce. An attorney representing her is asking a judge to withhold the divorce case, filed earlier this month, from the public to protect the privacy of the couple's young children and because of the "significant and arguably intrusive media coverage regarding the underlying events which precipitated this divorce." The Associated Press does not name people who are victims of domestic violence unless they consent to be identified or decide to tell their stories publicly. What is known as "Pali Puka" trail is closed because the route is unsafe, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources said. Hikers often enter through a small clearing near a popular lookout point that offers stunning views despite a warning: "Area Closed! Do not go beyond this sign." At one point, Konig grabbed her by her upper arms and started pushing her toward the cliff's edge while yelling that he was sick of her, she said. They began wrestling, and she screamed and pleaded for him to stop, fearing for her life, the petition said. During the struggle, she said he took a syringe from his bag and tried to inject her with something. She said that she bit his arm in an attempt to defend herself. He appeared to calm down, but then grabbed a nearby rock and "began bashing me repeatedly on the head with it," she said. Konig's wife suffered major cuts to her head — from the jagged, softball-sized lava rock — and required surgery, prosecutors said. While the couple were in Oahu, the two young sons stayed home on Maui with a nanny and family, according to the wife's petition filed in family court. A judge signed an order saying Konig must stay away from her and their children. Prosecutors, in opposing the bail request, said Konig "faces a realistic prospect of life imprisonment." He tried to flee after the attack and called his adult son, who he told he "tried to kill your stepmom" and told him he would turn off his phone so that police could not locate him, prosecutors said in a court filing. He also hid in the bushes until nightfall, even though the attack happened in the morning, and led police on a search, prosecutors said. When he was apprehended, he said, "Wait, she's not dead?" according to prosecutors. Defense attorney Thomas Otake called it a "very small rock" and argued doctors said there wasn't a substantial risk of death or a concussion from the wife's injuries. During Tuesday's hearing, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joel Garner said Konig was stashing lethal drugs at home, tried three different ways to kill his wife and has ties to South Africa, where he was born. The petition for a restraining order said that in December, Konig accused his wife of having an affair. In a court document filed Monday, prosecutors said Konig was storing at home syringes, needles and vials labeled anesthesia medication. On March 27, a few days after the alleged attack and when his wife was preparing to fly back to Honolulu for his grand jury proceedings, she discovered a fanny pack belonging to her husband that contained several syringes and several vials of what appeared to be drugs, the filing said. "That's not unusual that a doctor who practices medicine would have drugs," Otake said, noting that none of the drugs were found on Oahu where the attack took place. Konig has been held without bail since his indictment on March 28. In a motion seeking "bail at a reasonable amount," his defense attorneys said Konig, 46, has no prior criminal convictions. In court, Otake suggested bail between $100,000 and $200,000, arguing that while the divorce is pending he doesn't have access to marital assets. Otake said his client intends to go to trial: "This is going to be a 'he said, she said' trial." ___ This version corrects the date the wife found syringes and vials at home. Prosecutors say she found them on March 27, not May 27. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE: This story includes discussion of domestic violence. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the national domestic violence hotline: 1-800-799-7233 in the U.S.
Associated Press News	2025-05-04 09:34:31+00:00	[ "Houston", "Texas", "Patricia Cantu", "Shootings", "Law enforcement", "Gun violence", "Fires" ]	# At least 1 dead after 16 people shot at a Houston family party, police say May 4th, 2025, 09:34 AM --- HOUSTON (AP) — Sixteen people were shot and at least one was killed Sunday during a large party at a home in Houston, where police said gunfire broke out after an uninvited guest was asked to leave. An 18-year-old man was pronounced dead at the hospital, and the injured ranged in age from 16 to 40, the Houston Police Department said in a statement Sunday evening. No suspect is currently in custody, though several people were detained, questioned and then released. The department began receiving calls reporting shots fired around 12:50 a.m. at a home in southeast Houston, Assistant Police Chief Patricia Cantu said during a news briefing earlier Sunday. Officers reported hearing gunshots when they arrived minutes later, Cantu said. They saw multiple people wounded in the area outside the home. Cantu said a family party was taking place and an uninvited guest was asked to leave the home. That person is believed to have started shooting, she said, which prompted others to draw guns and return fire. News video from the shooting scene showed officers outside the home, where folding chairs and tables had been set up beneath a carport and a party tent outside. At least two tables had been overturned. Others had bottles of water and slices of cake on them. The Houston Fire Department responded and began treating victims in the parking lot of a nearby restaurant. At least one person was confirmed dead, Cantu said, and multiple people among the wounded were in critical condition and in surgery. She said some victims transported themselves to area hospitals. "It's still very complicated," Cantu told reporters. "It was chaotic from the get-go." The police department said Sunday evening that it did not have an update on the conditions of the injured and isn't releasing the identity of the man who was killed until his family has been informed.
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 21:39:57+00:00	[ "California", "Waste management", "California state government", "Jane Williams", "Politics", "Climate and environment", "Melissa Bumstead", "Fires", "Alexis Strauss Hacker", "Angela Johnson Meszaros" ]	# Board stops California toxic waste regulators from weakening a hazardous waste rule By Dorany Pineda May 16th, 2025, 09:39 PM --- CYPRESS, Calif. (AP) — California shouldn't weaken hazardous waste rules to allow local landfills to accept toxic dirt that currently goes to two specialized disposal sites in the Central Valley and hazardous facilities in other states, the state Board of Environmental Safety voted Thursday. The vote went against a proposal by the Department of Toxic Substances Control that had prompted fierce opposition from environmental groups. "I think they have been really listening to the community," said Melissa Bumstead with the advocacy group Parents Against the Santa Susana Field Lab. California's hazardous waste laws are stricter than the federal government's, and the state has long transported much of the waste it considers hazardous to other states with more lenient rules. The Department of Toxic Substances Control said disposing more waste in state would likely reduce costs and truck emissions. But environmental advocates worried the plan could have exposed already vulnerable communities to contaminated waste and set the precedent for more rules to be weakened. "I don't think that municipal waste landfills were ever designed to accept this kind of waste, and to deregulate it ... puts those landfill communities" at risk, said Jane Williams, executive director of California Communities Against Toxics. California only has two hazardous waste landfills — Buttonwillow and Kettleman Hills in the San Joaquin Valley — which are expected to reach capacity by 2039, according to a report by the department. An estimated 47% of California's hazardous waste is trucked across state borders. Contaminated soil, waste oil and mixed oil are the state's three largest annual sources of hazardous waste. On average, more than 567,000 tons (514,373 metric tons) of toxic soil are produced every year. ## Los Angeles wildfires raised awareness of the issue The hearing comes months after wildfires in Los Angeles incinerated cars, homes and everything in them, turning ordinary objects into hundreds of tons of hazardous waste requiring specialized cleanup. It was the largest wildfire hazardous materials cleanup in the EPA's history. The infernos have also raised concerns about toxic ash and soil. Just this week, the Pasadena Unified School District published soil testing results showing high levels of arsenic or brain-damaging lead in nearly half its schools. After the fires, hazardous waste was sent to temporary sites to be separated and packaged before most of it was trucked to Utah, Arizona, Nebraska and Arkansas. Two facilities were in California — in Wilmington, near the port of Long Beach, and Buttonwillow. The type and amount of waste deposited in them varies by site, but it includes oil, radioactive materials, paint residue, asbestos, controlled substances and fluorescent lamps. "I think that the fires have really brought to the fore some long-standing issues," said Angela Johnson Meszaros with the environmental law group Earthjustice. "And one of them is, how are we going to deal with cleanup, right? Because fires are not the only thing that cause soil to be hazardous." A state law passed in 2021 set out to reform the Department of Toxic Substances Control. In March, the department released a draft plan of sweeping proposals that would guide state and local hazardous management. The board is expected to make a final decision in the summer. Board member Alexis Strauss Hacker recalled how concerned people were about the proposal during their March meeting in Fresno. The fear, she said, was "so palpable." Although California has decreased its hazardous waste by more than 40% since 2000, lithium-ion batteries and other types of waste are expected to increase, the report says, and the state currently lacks the capacity to manage them. Lithium-ion batteries are found in common items such as electronic vehicles, cellphones and laptops. Decades of industrial environmental pollution can accumulate, too. ## The issue is personal for one activist Bumstead has lived near the heavily polluted Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Southern California, once a site for rocket testing and nuclear reactor development. Her 15-year-old daughter is a two-time cancer survivor, and Bumstead was born with three spleens. She believes her family's health issues are linked to pollution from the nearby site. So when she heard that California environmental regulators wanted to weaken hazardous waste disposal rules in a bid to dump toxic soil into local landfills, she was very concerned. The Los Angeles fires have made more people realize that toxic materials could end up in their backyard, Bumstead said. "The more we see climate change, the more we see wildfires, the more this is going to become a front line issue," she told the board. "This is an opportunity not just for hazardous waste that is manufactured, but also hazardous waste that is created by wildfires on how to create a plan that is going to protect Californians in the future." ——— The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP's environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment.
Associated Press News	2025-05-03 01:51:53+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "John Ratcliffe", "U.S. Central Intelligence Agency", "Diversity", "equity and inclusion", "U.S. National Security Agency", "United States government", "Labor", "United States", "CIA", "Race and ethnicity", "Politics", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# CIA and other spy agencies set to shrink workforce under Trump plan By Mary Clare Jalonick and David Klepper May 3rd, 2025, 01:51 AM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House plans to cut staffing at the CIA and other intelligence agencies, including the National Security Agency, Trump administration officials told members of Congress, The Washington Post reported Friday. A person familiar with the plan but not authorized to discuss it publicly confirmed the changes to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The administration plans to reduce the CIA workforce by 1,200 over several years, and cut thousands of positions at the NSA and other intelligence agencies. The Post reported that the reductions at the CIA include several hundred people who have already opted for early retirement. The rest of the cuts would be achieved partly through reduced hirings and would not likely necessitate layoffs. In response to questions about the reductions, the CIA issued a statement saying CIA Director John Ratcliffe is working to align the agency with Trump's national security priorities. "These moves are part of a holistic strategy to infuse the Agency with renewed energy, provide opportunities for rising leaders to emerge, and better position CIA to deliver on its mission," the agency wrote in the statement. A spokesperson for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Gabbard's office oversees and coordinates the work of 18 agencies that collect and analyze intelligence. The CIA and NSA have already offered voluntary resignations to some employees. The CIA also has said it plans to lay off an unknown number of recently hired employees. The new administration has also eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion programs at intelligence agencies, though a judge has temporarily blocked efforts to fire 19 employees working on DEI programs who challenged their terminations. Trump also abruptly fired the general who led the NSA and the Pentagon's Cyber Command. Ratcliffe has vowed to overhaul the CIA and said he wants to boost the agency's use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China. ___
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 08:46:54+00:00	[ "United Arab Emirates", "Sudan", "The Hague", "International Court of Justice", "Courts", "Sudan government", "United Arab Emirates government", "Crime", "Genocide", "United Nations", "War and unrest", "Africa" ]	# The UN's top court dismisses Sudan's genocide case alleging the UAE funded Sudanese paramilitary By Molly Quell May 5th, 2025, 08:46 AM --- THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The top United Nations court on Monday dismissed a case brought by Sudan accusing the United Arab Emirates of breaching the genocide convention by arming and funding the rebel paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the deadly Sudanese civil war. Judges found that the International Court of Justice lacked the authority to continue the proceedings. While both Sudan and the UAE are signatories to the 1948 genocide convention, the United Arab Emirates has a carveout to the part of the treaty that gives The Hague-based court jurisdiction. "The violent conflict has a devastating effect, resulting in untold loss of life and suffering, in particular in West Darfur. The scope of the case before the court is, however, necessarily circumscribed by the basis of jurisdiction invoked in the application," Yuji Iwasawa, the court's president said, reading out the decision. Both Sudan and the UAE are signatories to the 1948 genocide convention. The UAE, however, has a caveat to part of the treaty which legal experts said would make it unlikely that the case would proceed. The UAE applauded the decision. "The court's finding that it is without jurisdiction affirms that this case should have never been brought forward," Reem Ketait, a senior official at the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters after the hearing ended. Around a dozen pro-Sudanese protestors gathered outside the court, shouting as Ketait spoke. In March, Sudan asked the International Court of Justice for several orders, known as provisional measures, including telling the UAE to do all it could to prevent the killings and other crimes targeting the Masalit people. In a hearing last month the UAE argued the court had no jurisdiction. Sudan descended into a deadly conflict in mid-April 2023 when long-simmering tensions between its military and rival paramilitary forces broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread to other regions. Both the Rapid Support Forces and Sudan's military have been accused of abuses. The UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula which is also a U.S. ally, has been repeatedly accused of arming the RSF, something it has strenuously denied despite evidence to the contrary.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 13:43:30+00:00	[ "Immunizations", "Medication", "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.", "Clinical trials", "U.S. Food and Drug Administration", "Tracy Beth Hoeg", "Bill Cassidy", "Health", "Peter Marks", "Science", "Business", "Moderna", "Inc.", "Marty Makary", "Vinay Prasad", "Jake Scott", "Novavax" ]	# RFK Jr. pledged not to upend US vaccine system, but big changes are underway By Matthew Perrone and Lauran Neergaard May 19th, 2025, 01:43 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. clinched the political support needed to become the nation's top health official by pledging to work within the decades-old federal system for approval and use of vaccines. Yet his regulators are promising big changes that cloud the outlook for what shots might even be available. The Food and Drug Administration will soon "unleash a massive framework" for how vaccines are tested and approved, according to Commissioner Marty Makary. Details aren't yet public but the plan is being overseen by the agency's new vaccine chief, Dr. Vinay Prasad, an outspoken critic of the FDA's handling of COVID-19 boosters. Makary and other Trump administration officials already have taken unprecedented steps that raise uncertainty about next fall's COVID-19 vaccinations, including delaying FDA scientists' full approval of Novavax's shot — and then restricting its use to people at higher risk from the virus. They've also suggested seasonal tweaks to match the latest circulating virus strains are new products requiring extra testing. The changes cross multiple health agencies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn't yet acted on an influential advisory panel's recent recommendations on use of a new meningitis shot or broader RSV vaccination. A meeting of Kennedy's "Make America Healthy Again" allies was recently told to expect an end to COVID-19 booster recommendations for children — something that vaccine advisory panel was supposed to debate in June. And researchers around the country lost National Institutes of Health funding to study vaccine hesitancy. "I think you have to assume that RFK Jr.'s intention is to make it harder for vaccines to come to market," said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a vaccine expert at Johns Hopkins University. The changes are "looked at suspiciously because this is someone with a proven track record of evading the value of vaccines." ## Raising doubts about vaccines In a Senate health committee hearing last week, Kennedy wrongly claimed that the only vaccines tested against a placebo, or dummy shot, were for COVID-19. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican who chairs the committee, briefly interrupted the hearing to say, "For the record, that's not true" — pointing to placebo-controlled studies of the rotavirus, measles and HPV vaccines. Concerned by rhetoric about how vaccines are tested, a group of doctors recently compiled a list of more than 120 vaccine clinical trials spanning decades, most of them placebo-controlled, including for shots against polio, hepatitis B, mumps and tetanus. "It directly debunks the claim that vaccines were never tested against placebo," said Dr. Jake Scott, a Stanford University infectious disease physician who's helping lead the project. Antivaccine groups argue that some substances scientists call a placebo may not really qualify, although the list shows simple saline shots are common. Sometimes a vaccine causes enough shot-site pain or swelling that it's evident who's getting the vaccine and who's in the control group — and studies might use another option that slightly irritates the skin to keep the test "blinded," Scott explained. And when there's already a proven vaccine for the same disease, it's unethical to test a new version against a placebo, he said. "We can't always expect placebo-controlled trials," Scott said. "It's imperative that be communicated clearly to the public, but it's challenging especially when there's so much noise in social media and so much misinformation." ## Trump officials held up vaccine decision The administration's promise of a new vaccine framework comes ahead of a Thursday meeting where FDA advisers will discuss updating COVID-19 shots for this fall and winter. The FDA's credibility has long rested on the independence of its scientific decisions. While the agency is led by a handful of political appointees, approval decisions are almost always handled by career scientists. But that standard appears to be shifting. FDA staffers were poised to approve Novavax's vaccine early last month but the decision was delayed by administration officials, including Makary, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss agency matters. The shot was approved late Friday with unusual restrictions. Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg — a political appointee serving as Makary's special assistant — was involved in the unprecedented demand that Novavax conduct a new clinical trial of its shot after approval, according to the people. The requirement came shortly after the agency's longtime vaccine chief, Dr. Peter Marks, was forced to resign. Hoeg — along with Makary and Prasad — spent much of the COVID-19 pandemic criticizing the FDA's handling of booster shots, particularly in children and young adults. All three were co-authors of a 2022 paper stating that requiring booster shots in young people would cause more harm than benefit. Novavax isn't the only vaccine manufacturer already affected by changing attitudes at FDA. Earlier this month, Moderna pushed back the target date for its new COVID-and-flu combination vaccine to next year after the FDA requested additional effectiveness data. ## COVID-19 booster critics are in control As the FDA's top official overseeing vaccines, Prasad is now in position to reverse what he recently called "a number of missteps" in how the FDA assessed the benefits and risks of COVID-19 boosters. He questioned how much benefit yearly vaccinations continue to offer. In a podcast shortly before assuming his FDA job, Prasad suggested companies could study about 20,000 older adults in August or September to show if an updated vaccine prevented COVID-related hospitalizations. There is "legitimate debate about who should be boosted, how frequently they should be boosted and the value of boosting low-risk individuals," said Hopkins' Adalja. But he stressed that CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has the proper expertise to be making those decisions. And other experts say simply updating the strain that a COVID-19 vaccine targets doesn't make it a new product — and real-world data shows each fall's update has offered benefit. "The data are clear and compelling" that vaccination reduces seniors' risk of hospitalization and serious illness for four to six months, said Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota infectious disease researcher. Nor could that kind of study be accomplished quickly enough to get millions of people vaccinated before the yearly winter surge, said Dr. Jesse Goodman of Georgetown University, a former FDA vaccine chief. "You'd always be doing clinical trials and you'd never have a vaccine that was up to date," he said. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Associated Press News	2025-05-03 11:29:17+00:00	[ "Prince Harry", "King Charles III", "United Kingdom", "Royalty", "United Kingdom government", "Lawsuits", "Legal proceedings", "Camilla", "the queen consort", "Arts and entertainment", "Anthony Seldon", "Law enforcement", "Joe Little", "Queen Elizabeth II", "Entertainment" ]	# Prince Harry's raw TV interview: What to know By Jill Lawless May 3rd, 2025, 11:29 AM --- LONDON (AP) — The rift between Prince Harry and his family has burst into the open again with the prince's raw television interview after losing a court case over his security. In a long and at times emotional conversation, the 40-year-old prince said he wants reconciliation, while re-airing grievances against the royal family, the U.K. government and the media. Here are key takeaways from Friday's BBC interview: ## A security feud has deepened the royal rift Harry said his father, King Charles III, won't speak to him because of "this security stuff" – a legal wrangle over protection for the prince when he is in Britain. "This, at the heart of it, is a family dispute," he said. Harry has been estranged from his family since he and his wife Meghan quit royal duties in 2020 and moved to the United States, alleging hostility and racist attitudes by the press and royal establishment. Harry's tell-all 2023 memoir "Spare," stuffed with private details and embarrassing revelations, made things worse. But Harry said what's souring the relationship now is a decision to remove his police protection detail after he stopped being a working royal. On Friday the Court of Appeal in London rejected Harry's bid to restore the protection, saying a government committee was justified in deciding that security should be assessed on a case-by-case basis whenever Harry visits the U.K. Harry blamed the palace, alleging that the decision to withdraw his security had been made at the direction of royal officials, who sit on the committee alongside police and government representatives. He said they were "knowingly putting me and my family in harm's way," hoping that the sense of threat "would force us to come back." He suggested his father was part of the problem, saying he'd asked the king "to step out of the way and let the experts do their job." ## Harry highlighted health concerns about the king King Charles, 76, has been treated for an undisclosed cancer for more than a year. Buckingham Palace has given infrequent updates, and has not disclosed what form of cancer the king has. Harry, who has met his father only once, briefly, since his diagnosis early last year, said "I don't know how much longer my father has." He held out little hope of another meeting soon. "The only time I come back to the U.K., is, sadly, for funerals or court cases," he said. After taking several months off last year, Charles has returned to a full slate of public duties. This week he told a reception for cancer charities that being diagnosed was "a daunting and at times frightening experience." He added: "I can vouch for the fact that it can also be an experience that brings into sharp focus the very best of humanity." ## Harry fears for his life and safety Harry has well-founded concerns for the safety of himself and his family. He is fifth in line to the throne, behind his brother William and William's three children. He spent 10 years in the British army, serving two tours of duty in Afghanistan. Harry's lawyer said in court papers that al-Qaida had published a document that said Harry's assassination would please Muslims. Harry said that before 2020 he was placed in the highest tier of at-risk royals, alongside his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth II. Since then, he has been stripped of taxpayer-funded police protection, and also denied permission to pay for it himself, leaving private security his only option. He said that is not as good as police protection, which is provided for life to "people who leave public office," such as former prime ministers. "I can never leave the royal family," he said. "I was born into those risks, and they've only increased over time." He claimed that "some people want history to repeat itself," an apparent reference to the death of his mother Princess Diana. She was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi. ## He worries his children will lose part of their heritage Harry, Meghan and their children Archie, 5, and 3-year-old Lilibet, currently live in California, and Harry said he "can't see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the U.K." The prince said he loves Britain and "it's really quite sad that I won't be able to show my children my homeland." Harry claimed that he and his family are endangered when visiting Britain because of hostility aimed at him and Meghan on social media and through relentless hounding by news media. ## Harry wants reconciliation with his family – but it may not be imminent Harry's explosive memoir "Spare" scattered bitterness and blame at Charles, Queen Camilla – Harry's stepmother – and his elder brother William. In the interview, he said he could forgive his family, and even the British press that he reviles and has repeatedly sued. "I would love reconciliation with my family. There's no point in continuing to fight anymore," Harry said. Historian Anthony Seldon said Harry had chosen his words deliberately to signal he "wants to make a new start." "There will be no more spiteful books," Seldon told Sky News. "He has signaled he wants to be back in a way that needs to be worked out." But Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty Magazine, said it's hard to see how reconciliation can happen. "He clearly feels aggrieved at the outcome of this legal action, but there is a great deal to be gained by maintaining a dignified silence," Little said. "Sadly, as we know from past events, this isn't Harry's way of doing things."
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 17:27:17+00:00	[ "Los Angeles", "Jennifer Aniston", "Law enforcement", "Celebrity", "Accidents", "Entertainment", "Crime", "Jeff Lee" ]	# Man arrested after ramming car into front gate of Jennifer Aniston's Los Angeles home May 6th, 2025, 05:27 PM --- LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man was arrested after crashing a car into the front gate at Jennifer Aniston's home in Los Angeles, authorities said Tuesday. Police told KABC-TV that the "Friends" star was home at the time of the crash. The incident occurred around 12:20 p.m. Monday on the 900 Block of Airole Way in the wealthy Bel Air neighborhood, according to Officer Jeff Lee of the LA Police Department. Online property records show a home on that block owned by a trust run by Jennifer Aniston's business manager. Private security guards apprehended the driver and held him until police arrived. Lee described the suspect as a white middle-aged man. He has not been identified, and no charges had been filed as of Tuesday morning, Lee said. "He used his vehicle to ram a gate to the residence," Lee said. Messages were left Tuesday with representatives and attorneys for Aniston. Aniston, currently starring in Apple TV's "Morning Show," purchased the midcentury mansion on a 3.4-acre lot for about $21 million in 2012, according to reporting by Architectural Digest.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 04:02:52+00:00	[ "Taxes", "California", "Voting", "Berkeley", "Carina Moreno", "Business", "John Maa", "Steven Maviglio", "The Coca-Cola Co.", "PepsiCo", "Inc.", "San Francisco" ]	# Northern California town's sugary soda tax is first to defy state ban By Janie Har May 1st, 2025, 04:02 AM --- SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A tax on sugary drinks takes effect Thursday in the beachside community of Santa Cruz, seven years after California banned its cities and counties from implementing local grocery taxes as part of a reluctant deal with the powerful beverage industry. The 2-cent-per-ounce tax, approved by voters in November, is the first in the state since lawmakers approved the 2018 deal. The American Beverage Association spent heavily to campaign against the ballot measure in the small city of 60,000, and in court called the tax illegal and likely to strain city resources. Santa Cruz officials are prepared to challenge the state's preemption law in court, and despite the legal uncertainty, hope their new tax will spur other states and cities to act. The measure aims to reduce sugar consumption, especially among children and teens, and raise money for health programs and other community initiatives. "It's about democracy and and standing up to special interests," said Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson, vice mayor of the Santa Cruz City Council. "It's about having the independence to generate revenue for our community." The trade organization representing Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and others said in a statement Wednesday that it is assessing next steps. The tax was opposed by a broad coalition, including labor unions and small businesses, "as an unfair burden on working families struggling with record-high prices," said Steven Maviglio, a spokesperson for the American Beverage Association. Health advocates have been fighting for more than a decade to tax sugar-sweetened beverages, saying higher prices would curb consumption of a product that increases the risk of obesity, heart disease and stroke. Opponents say the regressive tax disproportionately impacts low-income families who can least afford it and hurts local businesses. Berkeley, a nearby city similar to Santa Cruz, in 2014 passed the country's first tax aimed specifically at sugar-sweetened beverages. A handful of other cities followed, including nearby San Francisco, Oakland and Albany, as well as Philadelphia; Seattle and Boulder, Colorado. No state has approved a sweetened beverage tax at the state level, although some have tried. In 2018, California lawmakers reluctantly passed the Keep Groceries Affordable Act, banning local taxes on soda and other sugary drinks until 2031. In exchange, the advocacy group California Business Roundtable withdrew a beverage industry-backed ballot measure that would have made it much harder for cities and counties to increase any taxes. The deal forced Santa Cruz to abandon its plans to bring a sugary drink tax to a vote. But city leaders didn't give up. That same year, a city councilmember and health advocacy nonprofit sued, arguing that the Groceries Act's penalty provision unlawfully targeted voter-approved charter cities from exercising its authority over local affairs. Under the act, a charter city that pursued a local tax on sweetened drinks could be penalized by losing its sales tax revenue. In 2023, however, a state appeals court struck down the penalty provision as unconstitutional, but did not rule on the preemption itself. In June, the Santa Cruz City Council placed a tax measure on the ballot and in November, nearly 32,000 voters approved it by a margin of 52 to 48. The "no" side spent $2.8 million; the "yes" side spent under $100,000. The 2-cent-per-ounce tax applies to sodas, ice teas, sports drinks and any other non-alcoholic beverage that contains an added caloric sweetener and has 40 calories or more per 12 fluid ounces of drink. There is an exemption for small businesses with less than $500,000 in gross receipts a year. Carina Moreno opposed the tax measure and said she will have to raise prices at her restaurant, Tacos Moreno. "I was really disappointed when I heard that it did pass," she said in an email. "We already pay high prices for sugar drinks." But tax advocates say the Santa Cruz win is stunning given how much money the opposition spent. Dr. John Maa, a San Francisco surgeon and chair of the American Heart Association's advisory committee in California, said the future of sugary drinks taxes may lie in smaller communities where advocates can mobilize grassroots support. "This is a big week for the soda tax movement," he said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 10:30:39+00:00	[ "American Automobile Association", "Travel and tourism", "Newark", "District of Columbia", "DC Wire", "New York City Wire", "Casandra Matej", "Business", "Lifestyle", "Hayley Berg", "Michael Woody", "Traffic", "Aviation safety", "Donald Trump", "Nick Novella", "National parks", "Tara Humphreys" ]	# Despite economic concerns, Americans are set on getting away for Memorial Day weekend By Jamie Stengle May 19th, 2025, 10:30 AM --- DALLAS (AP) — Whether it's a road trip to a nearby lake or jumping on a plane to explore a big city, Americans are expected to get away in record numbers over the long Memorial Day weekend even as economic and technical worries rattle the U.S. travel industry. Over 45 million people — 1.4 million more than last year — will venture at least 50 miles from their homes between Thursday and next Monday, with the vast majority going by car, auto club organization AAA predicts. The holiday's previous domestic travel record was set 20 years ago. AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz said the analysts who prepared the forecast weren't sure when they started their research if concerns about the economy would cause fewer U.S. residents to plan getaways for the unofficial start of summer, but it doesn't seem to be the case. "People are still feeling pretty good about travel," Diaz said, adding that some households and individuals may just opt to spend less money on their trips. ## Hitting the (hopefully) open road Like last year, about 87% of travelers are driving to their Memorial Day destinations, AAA said. About 39 million people, or 1 million more than last year, are expected to take road trips, which Diaz noted many families find easier and cheaper than flying. "You leave whenever you want," she said. "You can pack as much as you want in the car, make stops along the way." AAA's fuel tracker shows motorists can expect to pay less for gasoline this year; the U.S. average price on Sunday was $3.18 for a gallon of regular gas compared to $3.60 a year ago. Renting a vehicle and staying in a hotel also may cost less, according to the most recent Consumer Price Index. Transportation-data firm INRIX anticipates the worst holiday traffic will be in the afternoons and evenings. It said drivers hitting the road on Thursday should leave before 12 p.m., and those planning Friday departures should leave before 11 a.m. On Memorial Day itself, the firm predicts the most congested time on roads will be 4 p.m.-7 p.m. ## What's up with air travel? In 2024, the Friday before Memorial Day was among the record-setting days for the number of airline passengers screened at U.S. airports. While airports should be busy again this Friday, the outlook for air travel this year is unclear. Air safety has been on the minds of travelers after the deadly midair collision in January of a passenger jet and a U.S. Army helicopter above Washington, D.C. In recent weeks, flight delays and cancellations stemming from an air traffic controller shortage and equipment failures at a facility that directs aircraft in and out of the Newark, New Jersey, airport have also made some people wonder whether to get on a plane. Most major U.S. airlines said they planned to reduce their scheduled domestic flights this summer, citing an ebb in economy passengers booking leisure trips. Bank of America reported this month that its credit card customers were spending less on flights and lodging. But an analysis by aviation data provider Cirium of Memorial Day weekend tickets bought through online travel sites found an increase of about 3% across two dozen U.S. airports compared to last year. Bookings were down 10% for flights at Washington Dulles International Airport and down 9% for flights at Newark Liberty International Airport, according to Cirium's data. AAA said the weekend isn't expected to set a passenger volume record, but the organization estimates that 3.6 million residents are set to fly over the holiday, nearly 2% more than last year. Airfares cost an average of 7.9% less last month than they did a year earlier, according to government price data. The U.S. travel and tourism industry will watching during the weekend and the weeks ahead to see what might be in store for the summer travel season. Tourism industry experts have warned that anger about the Trump administration's tariffs and rhetoric, and concern about tourist detentions at the U.S. border, have made citizens of some other countries less interested in traveling to the U.S. The national statistics agency of Canada reported last week that the number of residents making return trips by air from the U.S. fell 20% in April compared to the same month a year earlier, while return trips by car were down 35%. ## From big city lights to starry nights Across Texas, reservations for day passes and camping spots were filling up at state parks for the weekend, said Tara Humphreys, director of interpretation with Texas State Parks. Stargazing parties were among events planned at parks across the state. Bolstered by its theme parks and nearby cruise ports, Orlando, Florida, tops AAA's list of most popular domestic destinations for the weekend. The grand opening of the city's newest theme park, Universal's Epic Universe, is scheduled for Thursday. "A lot of schools are out those days prior to Memorial Day weekend and so it's just another opportunity for them to enjoy the destination," Visit Orlando President and CEO Casandra Matej said. Long weekends are a good time to hop on a short flight to a big city, said Hayley Berg, lead economist at the travel site Hopper. She said top searches for the weekend on the site included New York, Miami and Las Vegas. "Typically, we see over three-day weekends travelers look for destinations that are a quick flight away, so maybe like a couple hour flight at most," she said. Seattle is another top destination, according to AAA booking data, with Memorial Day weekend kicking off the peak Alaska cruise season. Michael Woody, Visit Seattle's senior vice president and chief strategy officer, said that visitors can take in what the city has to offer and also fit in some time in nature. AAA is also projecting about 2 million people will travel by train, bus or cruise ship over the weekend, an 8.5% increase over last year. Weather conditions may factor into travel plans and holiday celebrations in some areas. Nick Novella, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center, said parts of the Western U.S. were expected to see soaring temperatures over the holiday weekend, while there's a possibility of heavy rain in parts of the East Coast.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 15:41:47+00:00	[ "Pakistan", "Mohammad Malghani", "South Asia", "Military and defense", "Wasim Baig" ]	# 1 killed, 10 wounded in grenade attack on pro-army rally in Pakistan May 14th, 2025, 03:41 PM --- A suspected militant on a motorcycle threw a hand grenade at participants of a pro-army rally in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least one person and wounding 10 others, police and hospital officials said. The attack occurred in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, said local police chief Mohammad Malghani. He said about 150 people in cars and on motorcycles were heading to a hockey ground in the city for a government-organized event to celebrate the military's recent retaliatory strikes inside India when the man threw a grenade at them. Wasim Baig, a spokesman at the Civil Hospital, said at least two of those wounded were in critical condition. No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist group that has waged a years-long insurgency in the province. Pro-army rallies have been held across Pakistan since Sunday, when the United States brokered a cease-fire between Pakistan and India, which were engaged in one of their most serious confrontations in decades.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 20:44:49+00:00	[ "Jay Bratt", "Florida", "U.S. Department of Justice", "Politics", "Jack Smith", "Constitutional law", "United States government", "Subpoenas", "Peter Carr", "National security", "District of Columbia", "Donald Trump", "Legal proceedings", "Ed Martin" ]	# Prosecutor in Trump classified files case takes 5th Amendment before Congress By Eric Tucker May 14th, 2025, 08:44 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — A key prosecutor on the classified documents case against President Donald Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a congressional interview Wednesday, declining to answer questions because of concern about the Trump administration's willingness to "weaponize the machinery of government" against perceived adversaries, a spokesman said. Jay Bratt had been subpoenaed to appear before the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee for a closed-door interview but did not answer substantive questions because of his Fifth Amendment constitutional right to remain silent. Bratt spent more than three decades at the Justice Department before retiring in January, just weeks before Trump took office. He was a key national security prosecutor on special counsel Jack Smith's team, which in 2023 charged Trump with illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and with obstructing the government's efforts to recover them. "He did not choose to investigate Mar-a-Lago; rather, the facts and evidence of a serious breach of law and national security led him there," Peter Carr, a spokesman for Justice Connection, a network of Justice Department alumni, said on behalf of Bratt. "This administration and its proxies have made no effort to hide their willingness to weaponize the machinery of government against those they perceive as political enemies," Carr added. "That should alarm every American who believes in the rule of law. In light of these undeniable and deeply troubling circumstances, Mr. Bratt had no choice but to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights." The statement describes Bratt as someone who spent his career in public service "protecting our nation from some of the gravest national security threats—including spies, murderers, and other criminal actors—always without fear or favor." A Trump-appointed federal judge in Florida dismissed the prosecution last year after concluding that Smith had been illegally appointed to the special counsel role. The Justice Department's appeal of that decision was pending at the time of Trump's presidential win in November. Weeks later, Smith's team abandoned that case and a separate prosecution charging Trump with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Since taking office, Trump has engaged in a far-reaching retribution campaign against officials he regards as adversaries. His administration has issued executive orders aimed at punishing major law firms, including some with current or past associations with prosecutors who previously investigated him. The Justice Department, meanwhile, has fired lawyers who served on Smith's team and also established a "weaponization working group" aimed at reviewing actions taken during the Biden administration. That group is led by Ed Martin, whose nomination to be the top federal prosecutor in Washington was pulled by the White House last week. ___
Associated Press News	2025-05-11 04:08:28+00:00	[ "Alaska", "Mark Austin", "Climate and environment", "Lifestyle", "Anchorage", "Oddities", "Greenland", "Alex Trebek", "Insects", "Animals", "Climate" ]	# An Alaska Mother's Day tradition: Mingling with ice age survivors on a farm By Mark Thiessen May 11th, 2025, 04:08 AM --- PALMER, Alaska (AP) — It is one of Alaska's favorite Mother's Day traditions, getting up close and personal with animals that have survived the ice age. All moms get a daisy and free admission Sunday at the Musk Ox Farm in Palmer, about an hour's drive north of Anchorage. Once inside they will have the chance to view 75 members of the musk ox herd, including three young calves just getting their feet under them. Also a draw is an old bull named Trebek, named after the late "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek, a benefactor of the facility. "Who doesn't want to celebrate Mother's Day with a musk ox mom and the most adorable calf you're ever going to find in your life?" said Mark Austin, the farm's executive director. Mother's Day is the traditional start of the summer season for the farm, which traces its roots back to 1964 and at several locations before moving in 1986 to Palmer. That move put it on Alaska's limited road system, provided easier access to grazing land than in tundra communities and it to incorporate educational opportunities at the farm facility, which is dwarfed by the the Talkeetna and Chugach mountain ranges. "When we opened the doors here, we started doing Mother's Day as a grand opening every year," Austin said. He called it a natural decision, celebrating mothers with cute, newborn baby musk oxen on the grounds. So far this year, three baby musk oxen have been born and are on display, and more could be on the way. Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year, attracting more than 1,500 visitors. It is a tradition that now stretches over three generations. "It's a huge, just kind of rite of passage for a lot of people," Austin said. "If we ever talked about not doing it, there'd be a riot." Musk oxen are ice age survivors. "They were running around with saber-toothed tigers and mastodons, and they're the ones that lived," Austin said. The herd members all have diverse personalities, he added, and they are crafty, smart and inquisitive. Their closest relatives to animals of today would be Arctic goats. Mature musk ox bulls can stand 5 feet (about 1.5 meters) tall and weigh as much as 800 pounds (about 360 kilograms), while female cows are smaller at about 4 feet (about 1.2 meters) and up to 500 pounds (about 230 kilograms), according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's website. They are stocky, long-haired animals with a slight hump in their shoulder, a short tail and horns, the website says. The Inupiat call musk ox "itomingmak," which means "the animal with skin like a beard," for its long hair hanging nearly to the ground. The mammals once roamed across northern Europe, Asia, Greenland and North America before they began to die off. By the 1920s the last remaining ones were in Greenland and Canada. Efforts to reintroduce the musk ox to Alaska started in 1934, when 34 were delivered to Fairbanks from Greenland. Since then, the wild population has grown to about 5,000, located throughout the nation's largest state, Austin said. The nonprofit farm welcomes donations from visitors on Sunday. Some people will make a beeline for the baby musk oxen, while others will throw a $100 bill on the counter first. "We do like to see the donation, but we truly offer this as an event to the community, as a thank you," Austin said. "It really gives us a chance to give something back."
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 04:01:34+00:00	[ "Nevada", "Rupert Murdoch", "Reno", "Courts", "Lachlan Murdoch", "New York City Wire", "Entertainment", "Nevada state government", "Business", "Associated Press", "Adam Streisand" ]	# Nevada high court weighs public access to secretive legal spat over control of Murdoch media empire By Rio Yamat May 7th, 2025, 04:01 AM --- LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada's high court is weighing whether to open up courtroom access and unseal records in the secretive legal dispute over who will control Rupert Murdoch's powerful media empire after he dies. The case has been unfolding behind closed doors in state court in Reno, with most documents under seal. But reporting by The New York Times, which said it obtained some of the documents, revealed Murdoch's efforts to give control to just one of his sons to ensure that Fox News maintains its conservative editorial slant. The Nevada Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on a bid by media outlets including the Times and The Associated Press to let the public in on the Murdochs' legal spat. The court said it will issue its decision at a later date. Murdoch's media empire, which also includes The Wall Street Journal and New York Post, spans continents and helped to shape modern American politics. Lachlan Murdoch has been the head of Fox News and News Corp since his father stepped down in 2023. The issue at the center of the case is Rupert Murdoch's family trust that would divide control of the company equally among four of his children — Lachlan, Prudence, Elisabeth and James — after his death. Irrevocable trusts are typically used to limit estate taxes, among other reasons, and can't be changed without permission from the beneficiaries or a court order. Rupert Murdoch has attempted to alter the trust. But Prudence, Elisabeth and James have united to try to stop that, according to the Times. James and Elisabeth are both known to have less conservative political views than their father or brother, potentially complicating the media mogul's desire to keep Fox News' political tone. The dispute has had many twists and turns, including a probate commissioner ruling against Rupert Murdoch in December. In a 96-page opinion, the commissioner characterized the plan to change the trust as a "carefully crafted charade" to "permanently cement Lachlan Murdoch's executive roles" inside the empire "regardless of the impacts such control would have over the companies or the beneficiaries" of the family trust, according to the Times. Adam Streisand, a lawyer for Rupert Murdoch, told the newspaper at the time that they were disappointed with the ruling and intended to appeal. Another evidentiary hearing is scheduled for this month.
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 17:06:53+00:00	[ "Wisconsin", "Ohio", "Shootings", "Kent Lovern", "Samuel Sharpe", "Law enforcement", "Gun violence", "Crime", "Politics", "Elaine Bryant", "U.S. Republican Party" ]	# Milwaukee prosecutor clears Ohio police of wrongdoing in fatal shooting near GOP convention May 5th, 2025, 05:06 PM --- MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin prosecutor cleared police officers from Ohio of any criminal liability Monday in a fatal shooting last summer near the Republican National Convention. Officers from Columbus, Ohio, were among thousands of officers from multiple jurisdictions providing extra security for the July convention in Milwaukee. According to a letter Milwaukee County District Attorney Kent Lovern sent Columbus Division of Police Chief Elane Bryant on Monday, a group of 14 Columbus officers had gathered in a park near the convention arena for a briefing on July 16 when they saw 43-year-old Samuel Sharpe approaching another man with a knife in each hand. The officers opened fire after Sharpe refused to drop his knives and lunged at the man. The shooting was not connected to the convention, but people in the neighborhoods around the park questioned how out-of-state police could justify killing a Wisconsin resident. Lovern wrote in the letter that Wisconsin law allows someone to use deadly force to protect someone else if that person believes it's necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm. The five officers who fired on Sharpe told investigators they believed Sharpe meant to seriously injure or kill the other man, Lovern wrote. Officers could be heard on body camera footage before the shooting identifying themselves as police and ordering Sharpe to drop his knives, but Sharpe ignored them and continued toward the man, Lovern said. A voicemail left with the Columbus Division of Police's public information office seeking comment on Lovern's decision wasn't immediately returned.
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 11:14:10+00:00	[ "Oscar", "Czech Republic", "Emilie Schindler", "Daniel Lw-Beer", "Europe", "Prisons", "European Union", "Steven Spielberg", "Religion", "Business", "Nazism", "Rena Finder", "Germany government" ]	# A museum opens at a former factory in the Czech Republic where Oskar Schindler saved 1,200 Jews By Karel Janicek May 12th, 2025, 11:14 AM --- BRNENEC, Czech Republic (AP) — A dilapidated industrial site in the Czech Republic where German businessman Oskar Schindler saved 1,200 Jews during the World War II is coming back to life. The site, a former textile factory in the town of Brněnec, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) east of Prague, was stolen by the Nazis from its Jewish owners in 1938 and turned into a concentration camp. This weekend it welcomed the first visitors to the Museum of Survivors dedicated to the Holocaust and the history of Jews in this part of Europe. The opening was timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. It was also in May 1945 that Schindler received a golden ring from grateful Jewish survivors, made with gold taken from their teeth. The ring was inscribed with the Hebrew words from Talmud, saying "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire." Schindler's story was told in Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning movie, "Schindler's List." Daniel Löw-Beer was a driving force behind the project. His predecessors lived in this part of Czech Republic for hundreds of years, acquiring the plant in Brnenec in 1854 and turning it into one of Europe's most important wool factories. "We had to flee for our lives, lost a bit of our history, so putting a little bit of history back to a place and hopefully bringing out as well the history of Oskar Schindler and the village is what we're doing today," Löw-Beer told The Associated Press. Today, his family members are scattered around the world. "I'm pleased to put a little bit, of course emotionally, of my family back in the place because they were survivors. My grandfather lived here, my father lived here, and then the world was shattered one day in 1938," he said. ## Glass wall separates past and present The museum, housed in part of a renovated spinning mill, displays the history of Schindler, his wife Emilie, the Löw-Beer family and others linked to the area, together with the testimonies of Holocaust survivors. It includes a space for exhibitions, lectures, film screenings and concerts, as well as a café. A transparent glass wall between this part and the bigger, still ruined area behind it separates the present and history. "It's a universal place of survivors," Löw-Beer said. "We want those stories to be told and people to make their own opinions." In 2019 Löw-Beer set up the Arks Foundation to buy the warehouse and turn it into a museum, investing money and renewing a partnership with the local community to revive the neglected site. The regional government contributed funds, while a grant from the European Union brought children from five European countries to Brněnec to come up with ideas that helped shape the museum design. The official opening on the weekend completed the first step but a lot remains to be done. The remaining buildings are still waiting to be fully restored. They include Schindler's office where the town hall plans to create an information center, the barracks of the SS troops, which will provide more exhibition spaces, and the entire building of Schindler's Ark where the Jewish prisoners lived and worked. Currently, the museum is not open on a daily basis and focuses on education activities for schools. Previous projects to restore the site failed due to a lack of funds. In contrast, the Arks Foundation took a step-by-step approach. When skeptical local residents could see something was really happening this time, they offered help. A firm came with a big truck loaded with bricks, dropped them and just went off, Löw-Beer said. "We wanted to show that you have to do something for something else to happen," said Milan Šudoma of the foundation. If organizers had waited until they had secured all the necessary funding, nothing would likely be done by now, he said. "Oskar and Emilie Schindler are proof that one person can make a difference," the museum quotes Rena Finder, one of the Schindler's Jews, as saying. "Everybody said there was nothing I could do. And that's a lie because there is always something you can do." ## A man of contradictions who saved hundreds of lives Schindler, an unlikely hero, was born in the nearby town of Svitavy (Zwittau in German) in what was then the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, with a German-speaking majority and a substantial Jewish population. A Svitavy museum said Schindler was a mass of contradictions: a troublemaker, a womanizer, a spy for the Germans, a Nazi but also a man who saved people from the Holocaust. After the war broke out in 1939, Schindler moved from Svitavy to Krakow, now Poland, where he ran an enamel and ammunition plant and treated Jewish workers well. With the Red Army approaching in 1944, he created a list of Jewish workers he claimed were needed to resettle the plant in Brněnec. When a transport with 300 women was diverted to the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, Schindler managed to secure their release. Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial center in Jerusalem, said it's the only known case "that such a large group of people were allowed to leave alive while the gas chambers were still in operation." In another bold act, Emilie Schindler led an effort to save more than 100 Jewish male prisoners who arrived at a nearby train station in sealed cattle wagons in January 1945. In 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Emilie and Oskar Schindler as Righteous Among the Nations, the honor awarded to those who rescued Jews from the Holocaust.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 21:33:55+00:00	[ "JD Vance", "Donald Trump", "Nayib Bukele", "Hillary Clinton", "Rocco Palmo", "United States government", "Catholic Church", "El Salvador", "Maryland", "Government policy", "United States", "Pope Leo XIV", "Kilmar Abrego Garcia", "Meg Kinnard", "Jos Gomez", "Helen Prejean", "Religion and politics", "Timothy Dolan", "Romano Prodi", "Immigration", "Pope Francis", "Politics", "Chicago", "Religion", "Robert Prevost" ]	# Pope Leo has shared criticism of Trump and Vance on social media By Meg Kinnard May 8th, 2025, 09:33 PM --- Elected Thursday as the Catholic Church's first global leader to hail from the United States, Pope Leo XIV is in a new job that will have many crossovers into politics — a realm not entirely unknown to the Chicago-born priest, whose social media history includes sharing criticism of Trump administration policies and of comments by Vice President JD Vance. President Donald Trump has wished the new pope well in his role, calling Leo's election "such an honor for our country." But it comes days after Trump posted an artificial intelligence-generated image of himself dressed as pope amid days of official mourning for Pope Francis. That act raised eyebrows at the Vatican and was denounced by former Italian Premier Romano Prodi as indecent political interference in matters of faith. And last month, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced the end of a half-century of partnerships with the federal U.S. government to serve refugees and migrant children, saying the "heartbreaking" decision followed the Trump administration's abrupt halt to funding. The majority of Leo's posts on the X platform are related to or in support of Catholic news and church initiatives. He rarely writes original content, but a look back through his social media timeline shows numerous posts sharing viewpoints opposed to moves aimed at restricting acceptance of migrants and refugees in the U.S. ## Leo has recently criticized U.S. Vice President JD Vance Vance, a convert to Catholicism, is the most high-profile Catholic in American politics. He's drawn attention from the man who now leads the global church, prompting Leo to return to X after a nearly two-year absence to share criticism of the vice president's views. In early February, Leo shared an article from a Catholic publication with the headline, "JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others." It came days after Vance — in discussing critiques of the Trump administration's immigration policies — in a Fox News interview had referenced a Christian tenet "that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world." In response to online criticism of his position, Vance posted on X, "Just google 'ordo amoris.' Aside from that, the idea that there isn't a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense." "Ordo amoris," a historic Catholic tenet, translates to "order of love." Ten days after his initial post, Leo shared another piece from a Jesuit publication, titled, "Pope Francis' letter, JD Vance's 'ordo amoris' and what the Gospel asks of all of us on immigration." Prior to his first February post, Leo had been dormant on X since July 2023. After Leo's election Thursday, Vance posted congratulations on X, adding, "I'm sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church. May God bless him!" ## His last post before becoming pope was critical of the Trump administration The pope's final post as Cardinal Robert Prevost was a recirculation on April 14 of a post by church chronicler Rocco Palmo about Trump's Oval Office meeting with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele. Bukele said it was "preposterous" for his country to bring a Maryland man who was wrongly deported there in March back to the U.S., despite a Supreme Court ruling calling on the administration to "facilitate" Kilmar Abrego Garcia's return. Leo reposted Palmo's link to an article by Washington-area Bishop Evelio Menjivar — who was born in El Salvador — asking, "Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?" ## His sharing of critiques dates back nearly a decade As Trump's campaign ramped up in July 2015, Leo posted to X a Washington Post op-ed by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, with the headline, "Why Donald Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric is so problematic." In the wake of Trump's first election in 2016, Leo reposted a homily in which Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez — characterizing the fear among many, including schoolchildren who "think the government is going to come and deport their parents, any day now" — said that America is "better than this." Days later, Leo also posted an article by a Catholic outlet quoting Democrats as saying that, in her loss, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton "ignored pro-lifers at her own peril." In September 2017, months into Trump's first term, Leo recirculated a post by author-activist Sister Helen Prejean saying she stands "with the #Dreamers and all people who are working toward an immigration system that is fair, just, and moral." He also reposted church chronicler Rocco Palmo's piece with the teaser, "Saying Trump's 'bad hombres' line fuels 'racism and nativism,' Cali bishops send preemptive blast on DACA repeal." ___ Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 05:12:28+00:00	[ "South Korea", "Plane crashes", "Law enforcement", "Lee So-Ah", "Kim Da-hye" ]	# Families of victims in South Korea plane crash file complaint against 15 officials By Hyung-Jin Kim May 14th, 2025, 05:12 AM --- SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Families of victims of December's devastating plane crash in South Korea have filed a complaint against 15 people including the transport minister and the airline chief who they believe are responsible for the disaster that killed all but two of the 181 people on board. Police and government officials have already been investigating the Jeju Air crash, so the complaint is largely seen as a symbolic step calling for a swifter and more thorough probe. Many bereaved families complain of what they see as a lack of meaningful progress in efforts to determine what caused the disaster and who is responsible. On Tuesday, 72 bereaved relatives submitted the complaint to the Jeonnam Provincial Police agency in southern South Korea, according to their lawyers and police. The 15 people cited in the complaint include the transport minister, Jeju Air's president and airline officials handling maintenance and safety issues, along with officials at Muan International Airport who are responsible for preventing bird strikes, air traffic control and facility management, according to a statement from a lawyers' group supporting the relatives. The statement said the crash was "not a simple accident but a grave public disaster caused by negligent management of risks that must be prevented." "Four months after the disaster, we can't help feeling deep anger and despair over the fact that there has been little progress" in the investigation, Kim Da-hye, a bereaved family member, said in the statement. Lawyer Lee So-Ah said Wednesday the complaint would formally require police to brief bereaved families of their investigation, though police have so far only voluntarily done so. The Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air skidded off the runaway at the Muan airport on Dec. 29 after its landing gear failed to deploy, slamming into a concrete structure and bursting into flames. Authorities have since said they found traces of bird strike in the plane's engines and that the plane's two black boxes stopped recording about 4 minutes before the crash. Many analysts said the concrete structure, which housed a set of antennas called a localizer that guides aircraft during landings, should have been built with lighter materials that could break more easily upon impact. But no exact cause of the crash has been announced and no one has been legally persecuted yet over the crash, the country's deadliest aviation disaster since 1997. Jeonnam Provincial Police agency officials said they've been investigating the accident. They suggested a complex incident like the Jeju Air crash would require a lengthy investigation but declined to say when they expect to wrap up their probe.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 20:27:20+00:00	[ "Illinois", "George Ryan", "Rod Blagojevich", "Fidel Castro", "Robert Gessner", "Corruption", "National", "Notable Deaths", "U.S. Republican Party", "Ben Angelo", "Politics", "George W. Bush", "Scott Willis" ]	# Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan dies at 91. He halted executions and went to prison for corruption By John O'Connor and Christopher Wills May 2nd, 2025, 08:27 PM --- SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, disgraced by a corruption scandal that landed him in prison yet heralded by some for clearing the state's death row, has died. He was 91. Kankakee County Coroner Robert Gessner, a family friend, said Ryan died Friday afternoon at his home in Kankakee, where he was receiving hospice care. Ryan started out a small-town pharmacist but wound up running one of the country's largest states. Along the way, the tough-on-crime Republican experienced a conversion on the death penalty and won international praise by halting executions as governor and, eventually, emptying death row. He served only one term as governor, from 1999 to 2003, that ended amid accusations he used government offices to reward friends, win elections and hide corruption that played a role in the fiery deaths of six children. Eventually, Ryan was convicted of corruption charges and sentenced to 6½ years in federal prison. During his more than five years behind bars, Ryan worked as a carpenter and befriended fellow inmates, many of whom addressed him as "governor." He was released in January 2013, weeks before his 79th birthday, looking thinner and more subdued. He'd been defiant heading to prison. The night before he went in, Ryan insisted he was innocent and would prove it. But when Ryan asked President George W. Bush to grant him clemency in 2008, he said he accepted the verdict against him and felt "deep shame." "I apologize to the people of Illinois for my conduct," Ryan said at the time. Ryan was still serving his sentence when his wife, Lura Lynn, died in June 2011. He was briefly released to be at her deathbed but wasn't allowed to attend her funeral. On the day he left prison and returned to the Kankakee home where he and his wife had raised their children, one of his grandchildren handed him an urn containing his wife's ashes. Born in Iowa and raised in Kankakee, Ryan married his high school sweetheart, followed his father in becoming a pharmacist and had six children. Those who knew Ryan described him as the ultimate family man and a neighbor's neighbor, someone who let local kids use his basketball court or rushed to Dairy Queen to buy treats when they missed the ice cream truck. "He's even offered to deliver the papers," newspaper delivery boy Ben Angelo said when Ryan was running for governor. "He was serious." In 1968, Ryan was appointed to fill an unexpired term on the county board, beginning a quick rise in politics. Eventually, he served as speaker of the Illinois House, lieutenant governor, secretary of state and, finally, governor. A glad-handing politician from the old school, Ryan emphasized pragmatism over ideology. He worked with officials from both parties and struck deals on the golf course or during evenings of cigars and booze. Ryan helped block the Equal Rights Amendment in the early 1980s during his term as speaker of the Illinois House, triggering some of the most heated demonstrations ever seen at the Capitol. "They wrote my name in blood on the floor in front of the House, in front of the governor's office," Ryan said. "They were trying, hectic times, frankly." His willingness to set aside party orthodoxy sometimes put him at odds with more conservative Republicans. He led a failed effort in 1989 to get the General Assembly to restrict assault weapons. He backed gambling expansion. He became the first governor to visit Cuba since Fidel Castro took power. And in 2000, after signing off on the execution of one killer, he decided not to carry out any more. He imposed a moratorium on executions and began reviewing reforms to a judicial system that repeatedly sentenced innocent men to die. Ultimately, Ryan decided no reforms would provide the certainty he wanted. In virtually his last act as governor, he emptied death row with pardons and commutations in 2003. "Because the Illinois death penalty system is arbitrary and capricious — and therefore immoral — I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death," Ryan said. Ryan found himself mentioned as a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize at the same time federal prosecutors were closing in. Before year's end, he would be charged with taking payoffs, gifts and vacations in return for steering government contracts and leases to cronies, as well as lying to investigators and cheating on his taxes. Much of the illegal activity took place during Ryan's two terms as Illinois secretary of state, including the 1994 deaths of six children. They burned to death after their minivan struck a part that had fallen off a truck whose driver got his license illegally from Ryan's office. Federal investigators found that Ryan had turned the secretary of state's office into an arm of his political campaign, pressuring employees for contributions — some of which came through bribes from unqualified truck drivers for licenses. After the children's deaths, Ryan also gutted the part of his office responsible for rooting out corruption. Then as governor, he steered millions of dollars in state leases and contracts to political insiders who in turn provided gifts such as trips to a Jamaican resort and $145,000 loans to his brother's struggling business, investigators found. He was convicted on all charges April 17, 2006. The father of the six dead children criticized Ryan's attitude at the time. "There was no remorse in George Ryan after the verdict. That didn't surprise me. That's Ryan's same attitude, a chip on the shoulder," said the Rev. Scott Willis. "It makes it a little easier to feel elation. His attitude confirms the verdict was right." Anger at Ryan weakened Republicans for years and energized the gubernatorial campaign of a charismatic young Democrat who promised to clean up Springfield — Rod Blagojevich. Later, as federal investigators probed his own conduct, Blagojevich would call for Ryan to be granted clemency and released from prison. ___ Wills, a former Associated Press staffer, was the principal writer of this obituary.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 21:26:09+00:00	[ "Israel", "Gaza Strip", "United Nations", "Foreign aid", "Israel government", "War and unrest", "Israel-Hamas war", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Hamas", "Famine", "Humanitarian crises", "Tommy Pigott", "Politics", "United Nations Security Council", "Antoine Renard", "Riyad Mansour" ]	# UN humanitarian chief blasts Israel for blocking aid to Gaza By Farnoush Amiri and Edith M. Lederer May 13th, 2025, 09:26 PM --- UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations' top humanitarian official blasted Israel on Tuesday for "deliberately and unashamedly" imposing inhumane conditions on Palestinians, including the risk of famine — one of the strongest condemnations by a high-ranking U.N. official during the war in Gaza. Tom Fletcher, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, briefed the Security Council, describing this work as a "grim undertaking" since Israel began blocking all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza more than 10 weeks ago. He went as far as saying that the council must "act now" to "prevent genocide," a claim that Israel vehemently denied. "I ask you to reflect — for a moment — on what action we will tell future generations we each took to stop the 21st century atrocity to which we bear daily witness in Gaza," said Fletcher, a longtime British diplomat who took up the U.N. post in November. "It is a question we will hear, sometimes incredulous, sometimes furious — but always there — for the rest of our lives." In response to Fletcher's remarks, the Israeli mission to the U.N. said that "Israel will not accept a humanitarian mechanism that props up the Hamas terror organization that butchered our people in their homes and communities." Before the blockade, the U.N. and other international aid agencies handled moving aid into the enclave. The U.N. World Food Program's director for Gaza, Antoine Renard, told The Associated Press that a quarter of Gaza's population is at risk of famine. That's despite all the food needed to feed the territory's population sitting in warehouses in Israel, Egypt, and Jordan — and most of it is not even 25 miles (40 kilometers) away, he said. Renard said WFP warehouses in Gaza are empty, and the agency has gone from providing meals for 1 million people at the end of April to producing only 250,000 meals daily. The meals they can serve are "meaningless, compared to people's requirements," he said. "Soon, we're going to speak about the fact that people don't even have access to a meal," Renard warned. "Is that where we need to go to actually raise the alarm? It's now that we need to act." The warnings come after food security experts said Monday that Gaza will likely fall into famine if Israel doesn't lift its blockade and stop its military campaign. Nearly half a million Palestinians are facing possible starvation, living in "catastrophic" levels of hunger, and 1 million others can barely get enough food, according to findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises. "Israel has been openly and brazenly blocking humanitarian aid for over two months now — this is engineered starvation," Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, told the Security Council. "It is the most inhumane form of torture and killing." Amid Israel's blockade, AP obtained a proposal from a newly created group backed by the U.S., the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, to implement a new aid distribution system based on plans similar to those designed by Israel. Israel has cited aid diversions by Hamas as reason for a new plan. The U.N. and aid groups have rejected Israel's moves to control aid distribution. "It is a cynical sideshow. A deliberate distraction. A fig leaf for further violence and displacement," Fletcher said about the proposal, adding that it would exclude the disabled, women, children and the elderly. Asked Tuesday when aid would get into Gaza, a spokesperson for the State Department repeated Israeli rhetoric that Hamas "bears responsibility" for the humanitarian conditions in Gaza. It's a claim that aid officials have continuously disputed. "I will reiterate that we are supportive of creative solutions to get aid in there but also in a way that the aid is not falling into the hands of Hamas, that it actually reaches the people that need it," deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott told reporters. Renard said "criminal gangs," not Hamas, had stripped WFP trucks of supplies between October and early January. He said some taking of food recently was not by gangs but people with nothing to eat. Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in a surprise Oct. 7, 2023, attack in southern Israel. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 52,800 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants or civilians. Israel says it has killed thousands of militants, without giving evidence. The Israeli military on Tuesday struck what it said was a Hamas "command and control center" located beneath a hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. "I can tell you from having visited what's left of Gaza's medical system, that death on this scale has a sound and a smell that does not leave you," the U.N.'s Fletcher said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 08:48:31+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "International trade", "Europe", "Japan", "European Union", "Government policy", "North Korea", "Economic policy", "China", "United States government", "United States", "Tariffs and global trade", "JD Vance", "Tobias Gehrke", "Japan government", "Business", "Taxes", "Government and politics", "Politics" ]	# Trump's trade demands go beyond tariffs to target perceived unfair practices By David Mchugh, Christopher Rugaber, and Yuri Kageyama May 5th, 2025, 08:48 AM --- FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The Trump administration says the sweeping tariffs it unveiled April 2, then postponed for 90 days, have a simple goal: Force other countries to drop their trade barriers to U.S. goods. Yet President Donald Trump's definition of trade barriers includes a slew of issues well beyond the tariffs other countries impose on the U.S., including some areas not normally associated with trade disputes. Those include agricultural safety requirements, tax systems, currency exchange rates, product standards, legal requirements, and red tape at the border. He's given countries three months to come up with concessions before tariffs ranging from 10% to more than 50% go into effect. Tariffs on China are already in effect. On many issues it will be difficult, or in some cases impossible, for many countries to make a deal and lower their tariff rates. In addition, many trade officials from targeted countries say privately that it isn't always clear what the Trump administration wants from them in the negotiations. Vice President JD Vance announced that India has agreed to the terms of trade talks with the United States, but other countries are still trying to set the contours for any negotiations. The White House has highlighted conflicting goals for its import taxes: It's seeking to raise revenues and bring manufacturing back to the U.S., but it also wants greater access to foreign markets and massive changes to other nations' tax and regulatory policies. Here are several non-tariff areas the administration is targeting: CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES Trump has accused Germany, China and Japan of "global freeloading" by — in his view — devaluing their currencies to make their exports cheaper. The European Central bank has been cutting interest rates to support growth. That could also weaken the euro, which has strengthened sharply against the dollar since Trump took office. The ECB says it doesn't target the exchange rate. In Japan's case, the Bank of Japan has been gradually raising rates anyway after keeping them at zero or in negative territory for years, which should drive the yen up against the dollar. The U.S. dollar has fallen recently to 140-yen levels, down from about 160 yen last summer. Shrikant Kale, a strategist at Jefferies, believes the dollar will fall to 120 yen over the next 18 months. FARM PRODUCTS Agricultural safeguards against importing pests or health hazards have been a sticking point with U.S. trade partners for years. They include Japan's restrictions on rice and potato imports, the EU's ban on hormone-treated beef or chlorine-disinfected chickens and Korea's ban on beef from cows more than 30 months old. Yet changes face stiff political resistance from voters and farm lobbies in those countries. For years, U.S. potato growers have sought access to Japan's potential $150 million market for table potatoes. Japan has engaged in talks but taken years simply to supply a list of concerns to U.S. negotiators. The delay is "pure politics," intended to protect domestic growers, says National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles. If Japanese politicians perceive the pain from Trump's tariffs might be worse than from their own potato growers, "that makes it more likely to make a deal," Quarles said. But "if they perceive the pain domestically will be worse than the Trump administration can bring to them ... we're going to be stuck where we are." Korea's beef restrictions started as a measure to keep out bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease. The 30-month rule has been maintained in the wake of mass protests in 2008, even as the U.S. has become the largest beef exporter to Korea. "It's still politically controversial because of the scar at the time in 2008. I think the government will be very cautious," said Jaemin Lee, professor of law at Seoul National University and an expert on trade issues. TAXATION Trump has railed against value-added tax as a burden to U.S. companies, although economists say this kind of tax is trade-neutral because it applies equally to imports and exports. Value-added tax, or VAT, is paid by the end purchaser at the cash register but differs from sales taxes in that it is calculated at each stage of the production process. Trump's view could mean higher tariffs for Europe, where individual countries levy VAT of 20% or more depending on the type of good, and for the more than 170 countries that use this kind of tax system. The U.S. is an outlier in that it doesn't use VAT; instead, individual states levy sales taxes. There's little chance countries will change their tax systems for Trump. The EU for one has said VAT is off the table. "The domestic taxation system has not been a conventional topic in trade negotiation because domestic taxation is directly related to national sovereignty or the domestic economic regime," trade expert Lee said. "It's very hard to understand why VAT has become an important topic in the trade discussion." PRODUCT STANDARDS U.S. officials have complained about Japan's non-recognition of U.S vehicle safety standards and its different testing procedures for car equipment. Japan also provides subsidies for the Japanese-designed ChaDeMo plug standard for electric cars, requiring foreign makers to use an outdated technology if they want the subsidy. BUREAUCRACY Concerns about excessive or baffling bureaucratic procedures to get goods into a country are mentioned repeatedly in the administration's latest trade assessment. The U.S. has complained about expensive delays getting permission to export seafood to Japan. Meanwhile, Japan requires wheat imports to be sold to a government entity and has "highly regulated and intransparent" quota system that keeps rice imports from the U.S. to a minimum. Most of these issues are years old, raising questions about whether 90 days is enough to make a deal over them. U.S. pharmaceutical companies have complained about Korea's system for drug imports, while automakers say environmental equipment standards are unclear and expose only importers to criminal penalties in case of violations. BUY AMERICAN Analysts say that despite the long list of non-tariff issues, the administration's main focus may lie elsewhere: on Trump's desire to reduce trade deficits, cases where a country sells more to the U.S. than it buys. And the solution may be other countries buying more U.S. products, from energy to soybeans, and builingd more plants in the U.S. U.S. energy is already a major export to Europe. Trump has mentioned a figure of $350 billion for potential EU gas imports. The EU does need imported gas. But Trump's figure would be a stretch given that last year's exports of liquefied natural gas to the EU were around $13 billon, and that Europe is seeking to reduce its use of fossil fuels over the longer term. THE HEART OF THE MATTER? Discussions about non-tariff issues may simply be leverage to underpin Trump's stiff tariff levels. "It's just a thing that's there to justify my tariffs," said Tobias Gehrke, senior policy fellow at the European Council of Foreign Relations. While lower level trade officials and industry representatives are acutely aware of non-tariff issues like agricultural safety, "Trump and his cabinet... don't really care about chlorinated chicken regulations in Europe and food standards," Gehrke said. "They have much bigger thinking." "They want to have European companies significantly move production to America... and to export from America to Europe. That would change the trade balance." "And if that's the main logic, then there's no real deal to be had on non-tariff barriers." ___ Rugaber contributed from Washington DC and Kageyama from Tokyo.
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 21:45:25+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Internal Revenue Service", "Taxes", "Melanie Krause", "Immigration", "United States government", "Privacy", "United States", "Elon Musk", "Alan Butler Morrison" ]	# Judge refuses to block IRS from sharing tax data to identify and deport people illegally in U.S. By The Associated Press May 12th, 2025, 09:45 PM --- A federal judge on Monday refused to block the Internal Revenue Service from sharing immigrants' tax data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the purpose of identifying and deporting people illegally in the U.S. In a win for the Trump administration, U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich denied a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by nonprofit groups. They argued that undocumented immigrants who pay taxes are entitled to the same privacy protections as U.S. citizens and immigrants who are legally in the country. Friedrich, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, had previously refused to grant a temporary order in the case. The decision comes less than a month after former acting IRS commissioner Melanie Krause resigned over the deal allowing ICE to submit names and addresses of immigrants inside the U.S. illegally to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records. "The plaintiffs are disappointed in the Court's denial of our preliminary injunction, but the case is far from over. We are considering our options," Alan Butler Morrison, the attorney representing the nonprofit groups, wrote in an email. He noted that the judge's ruling made it clear that the Department of Homeland Security and the IRS can't venture beyond the strict limitations spelled out in the case. "So far, DHS has not made formal requests for taxpayer data and plaintiffs will be keeping a close watch to be sure that the defendants carry out their promises to follow the law and not use the exception for unlawful purposes," Morrison said. The IRS has been in upheaval over Trump administration decisions to share taxpayer data. A previous acting commissioner announced his retirement earlier amid a furor over Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency gaining access to IRS taxpayer data. The Treasury Department says the agreement with ICE will help carry out President Donald Trump's agenda to secure U.S. borders and is part of his larger nationwide immigration crackdown, which has resulted in deportations, workplace raids and the use of an 18th century wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants. The acting ICE director has said working with Treasury and other departments is "strictly for the major criminal cases." Advocates, however, say the IRS-DHS information-sharing agreement violates privacy laws and diminishes the privacy of all Americans. In her ruling, Friedrich said the agreement doesn't violate the Internal Revenue Code, so the IRS hasn't substantially changed the way it handles taxpayer information. Instead, the Trump administration has decided to use already existing "statutorily authorized tools" to help with criminal investigations, Friedrich wrote. Federal law allows the IRS to release some taxpayer information to other agencies if the information may assist in criminal enforcement proceedings, and the requesting agency meets certain criteria, the judge said. Still, that doesn't mean that all the information the IRS holds can be turned over, Friedrich said. First, the investigating agency has to already have the name and address of the person whose information is being sought. Then the agency has to provide that information to the IRS, along with the time span for which the information relates, the law that allows the information to be released and the reason why any IRS-disclosed information would be relevant to the investigation. "In other words, the IRS can disclose information it obtains itself (such as through audits), but not information it obtains exclusively from the taxpayer (such as a tax return filed by the taxpayer)," Friedrich wrote. She noted the law contains a significant exception — a taxpayer's identity, including the individual's name, address or taxpayer identifying number, isn't considered part of the protected tax return information.
Associated Press News	2025-05-11 08:32:26+00:00	[ "Emmanuel Macron", "Russia", "Turkey", "Volodymyr Zelenskyy", "Vladimir Putin", "Donald Trump", "Ukraine", "Recep Tayyip Erdogan", "International agreements", "Keir Starmer", "Donald Tusk", "Dmitry Peskov", "Russia government", "Poland government", "Germany government", "Russia-Ukraine war", "Poland", "Telegram", "Politics", "Friedrich Merz", "Ukraine government", "Alexander Khinshtein", "Russia Ukraine war" ]	# Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskyy challenges Putin to meet him personally in Turkey By Samya Kullab and Dasha Litvinova May 11th, 2025, 08:32 AM --- KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday challenged Russia's President Vladimir Putin to meet him personally in Turkey on Thursday, the latest move in a weekend-long exchange of proposals from both sides on the next steps in the U.S.-led peace effort. Zelenskyy said that he still hopes for a ceasefire with Russia starting Monday, and that he will "be waiting for Putin" in Turkey "personally" after U.S. President Donald Trump insisted Ukraine accept Russia's latest offer — to hold direct talks in Turkey on Thursday. Ukraine, along with European allies, had demanded Russia accept an unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting Monday before holding talks, but Moscow effectively rejected the proposal and called for direct negotiations instead. It was not clear if Zelenskyy was conditioning his presence in Turkey on the Monday ceasefire holding, and there was no immediate comment from the Kremlin on whether Putin would go. In 2022, the war's early months, Zelenskyy repeatedly called for a personal meeting with the Russian president but was rebuffed, and eventually enacted a decree declaring that holding negotiations with Putin had become impossible. "We await a full and lasting ceasefire, starting from tomorrow, to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy. There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in (Turkey) on Thursday. Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses," Zelenskyy wrote on X on Sunday. Trump said in a social media post earlier Sunday that Ukraine should agree to Putin's peace talks proposal "IMMEDIATELY." "At least they will be able to determine whether or not a deal is possible, and if it is not, European leaders, and the U.S., will know where everything stands, and can proceed accordingly!" Trump wrote, adding: "HAVE THE MEETING, NOW!!!" ## Ukraine, allies insist on a ceasefire French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Saturday and issued a coordinated call for a 30-day truce starting Monday. The plan has received backing from both the European Union and Trump. The leaders pledged tougher sanctions on Russia if Putin did not accept the proposal. Putin in remarks to the media overnight effectively rejected the offer and proposed restarting direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday instead "without preconditions." He did not specify whether the talks on Thursday would involve Zelenskyy and himself personally. He said a ceasefire might be agreed on during the negotiations — but stressed that the Kremlin needs a truce that would lead to a "lasting peace" instead of one that would allow Ukraine to rearm and mobilize more men into its armed forces. Zelenskyy said on X on Sunday morning that it was a "positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war," but insisted on a ceasefire first. Putin and Zelenskyy have only met once — in 2019. After repeated unsuccessful calls for a personal meeting with the Russian leader early on in the war, and following the Kremlin's decision in September 2022 to illegally annex four regions of Ukraine, Zelenskyy enacted a decree declaring that holding negotiations with Putin had become impossible. Macron said Sunday that Putin's offer of direct negotiations with Ukraine is "a first step, but not enough," signaling continued Western skepticism toward Moscow's intentions. "An unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations," Macron told reporters at the Polish-Ukrainian border, according to French media, adding that Putin is "looking for a way out, but he still wants to buy time." ## Moscow presses on with peace talks offer. Turkey says it's ready to host Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in comments aired by Russian state TV on Sunday, called Putin's proposal "very serious," aimed at eliminating "the root causes of the conflict," and said it "confirms a real intention to find a peaceful solution." Without directly mentioning Moscow's proposal, Trump said in a social media post several hours after Putin's overnight remarks that it was "a potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine!" "Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end," Trump wrote. "I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens. The USA wants to focus, instead, on Rebuilding and Trade. A BIG week upcoming!" he added. In another post on Sunday, the U.S. president said Ukraine should accept Putin's offer "to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH." He added, however, that he was "starting to doubt that Ukraine will make a deal with Putin." Putin spoke Sunday to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who expressed readiness to host the talks, the Kremlin said. According to the Kremlin's readout of the phone call, Erdogan "fully supported the Russian proposal" and was ready to provide a platform for the talks and assistance in organizing them. In a separate phone call to Macron on Sunday, Erdogan said that a "historic turning point" had been reached in efforts to end the war, according to a statement from the Turkish presidential communications office. ## Questions over next steps persist as attacks continue Zelenskyy in his nightly video address on Sunday said he still expected a ceasefire to take hold on Monday, and that he was still waiting for a "clear answer" from Russia about it. Zelenskyy said he was also waiting to see reaction from Western allies who on Saturday promised robust sanctions against Russia if Putin did not abide by the Monday truce. "We have repeatedly heard from partners that they are ready to strengthen sanctions against Russia if Putin refuses a ceasefire. We will see," he said. He reiterated he would be present in Turkey on Thursday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press asking for a comment. Meanwhile, Russia resumed mass drone attacks in Ukraine early on Sunday, after its self-declared three-day pause expired. Russia launched 108 attack drones and simulator drones from six different directions, Ukraine's air force said. It said 60 drones were shot down and another 41 simulator drones failed to reach targets due to Ukrainian countermeasures. The Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday accused Ukraine of "violating" Moscow's three-day ceasefire more than 14,000 times. Ukraine, which did not agree to the May 8-10 ceasefire, has also accused Russia of violating its own truce, with the Ukrainian foreign minister calling it a farce. A Russian official on Sunday evening also accused Ukrainian forces of a missile strike on a town in Russia's Kursk region that borders Ukraine. Acting Gov. Alexander Khinshtein said on Telegram that the strike "seriously damaged" a hotel in Rylsk, a town east of the Ukrainian border, and wounded three people. —— Litvinova reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Thomas Adamson-Koumbouzis in Paris contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 11:03:32+00:00	[ "Public opinion", "Donald Trump", "Elon Musk", "Joe Biden", "Government programs", "Frank Bisignano", "United States government", "U.S. Republican Party", "U.S. Social Security Administration", "Michigan", "United States", "Associated Press", "Linda Seck", "Government and politics", "Steven Peters", "Health", "Dennis Riera", "Department of Government Efficiency", "Joe Rogan", "Timothy Black", "Politics" ]	# Social Security a concern for rising share of older Americans: AP-NORC poll By Fatima Hussein and Amelia Thomson-Deveaux May 8th, 2025, 11:03 AM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — As the Social Security Administration undergoes massive changes and staffing cuts ushered in by the Trump administration, an increasing share of older Americans — particularly Democrats — aren't confident the benefit will be available to them, a poll shows. The share of older Americans who are "not very" or "not at all" confident has risen somewhat since 2023, according to the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted in April. In the poll, about 3 in 10 U.S. adults age 60 or older are "not very" or "not at all" confident that Social Security benefits will be there for them when they need it, up from about 2 in 10 in an AP-NORC poll conducted in 2023. That shift looks very different depending on older Americans' political party, though. There has been a substantial decrease in confidence among older Democrats. About half of Democrats age 60 or older are "not very" or "not at all confident" that Social Security will be there for them when they need it, a sizable swing from 2023, when only about 1 in 10 said they were "not very" or "not at all" confident. Older Republicans, on the other hand, have become more confident that Social Security will be there for them. In contrast with older Democrats, about 6 in 10 Republicans age 60 or older are "extremely" or "very" confident that Social Security will be there when they need it, up from only about one-quarter who thought this in 2023. ## There's a partisan divide over Social Security The findings point to a partisan divide in the ongoing debate over the benefits program, which serves millions of people. When the 2023 poll was conducted, a Democratic president, Joe Biden, was in the White House, which may have contributed to older Democrats' confidence in the program. Now, large changes including mass federal worker layoffs, cuts to programs and office closures are being ushered in by Republican President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire adviser Elon Musk. A planned cut to nationwide Social Security phone services was eventually walked back. Musk, who recently said he is preparing to wind down his role with the Trump administration, garnered widespread condemnation when, in March, he said on a podcast interview with Joe Rogan that the Social Security program is a "Ponzi scheme." Those comments have caused some voters to feel less confident in the future of the program. Dennis Riera, a 65-year-old Republican in Huntington Beach, California, says Musk's comments have made him feel very worried. "It's really a shame that something that so many people have relied on for so many generations is being looked at as a Ponzi scheme," Riera said. He has not yet retired from his job as a security official in the entertainment sector and doesn't know when he will be able to. "What is their purpose in trying to undermine this institution?" he said. But Linda Seck, a 78-year-old Republican and retired nurse from Saline Township in Michigan, says she's very confident about the future of Social Security. "When I was in college, financial planners were telling us not to depend on Social Security, but here we are more than 50 years later and it's still going," she said. ## A focus of Democrats as midterms approach Voters in recent weeks have flooded town halls to express their displeasure with the cuts, and both political parties expect Social Security to emerge as a key issue in next year's midterm elections. The upheaval has made Social Security a major focus of Democrats, including Biden, who said Trump has "taken a hatchet" to the program. Timothy Black, a 52-year-old Democrat who lives in San Diego, receives Social Security Disability Insurance payments to manage his chronic illness. He said his concern is not only for the retirement portion of Social Security but also for the agency's disability benefits arm. "If anything happens to Social Security it would really impact me," he said, listing the bills and expenses he has to pay to survive. "If SSDI doesn't keep up with the cost of living, my medical expenses are only going to grow and I could end up homeless." ## Worries that Social Security could go broke The Social Security Administration has for decades moved closer toward its go-broke date, when it will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035, according to the 2024 Social Security and Medicare trustees report. Social Security would then only be able to pay 83% of benefits. A common misconception is that Social Security would be completely unable to pay benefits once it reaches its go-broke date. Roughly 72.5 million people, including retirees and children, receive Social Security benefits. Older Americans are generally more confident that Social Security will be available to them than younger adults are, according to the poll. About half of U.S. adults under age 30 are "not very" or "not at all" confident that Social Security will be there for them, which is unchanged from 2023. That skepticism transcends party loyalty. Younger Republicans aren't sure, on the whole, whether Social Security will be around to benefit them. Only about 2 in 10 Republicans under age 60 are "extremely" or "very" confident that Social Security will be available to them when they need it. But younger people's confidence in Social Security was low when Biden was president, too. Steven Peters, a 42-year-old independent from White House, Tennessee, says for years he's heard warnings about the program's precarious finances. "I'm not confident at all that its going to be available," he said. "I can't say its related to the current administration, though." The Senate confirmed a new SSA leader, Wall Street veteran Frank Bisignano, on Tuesday on a 53 to 47 vote. Bisignano was sworn in on Wednesday. ___ The AP-NORC poll of 1,260 adults was conducted April 17-21, using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 12:51:17+00:00	[ "Baltimore", "Fires", "John Marsh", "Building collapses", "Amtrak", "Accidents", "DC Wire", "New York City Wire", "James Wallace", "District of Columbia", "Business", "Evacuations", "Transportation" ]	# More than 200 firefighters battle massive warehouse blaze in Baltimore. No injuries reported May 13th, 2025, 12:51 PM --- BALTIMORE (AP) — More than 200 firefighters battled a massive blaze that broke out at a west Baltimore warehouse, disrupting Amtrak service in the area and prompting officials to move dozens of area residents. Commuter rail service was canceled Tuesday amid fears the building could collapse onto railroad tracks. Firefighters were dispatched to the multistory mattress warehouse at Edmondson Avenue and Bentalou Street around 7 p.m. Monday and found heavy fire, the Baltimore City Fire Department said in a social media post. About 30 residents of nearby homes were temporarily evacuated. By Tuesday morning, the fire had been contained to the building, but firefighters were chasing hot spots and a deep-seated fire in multiple locations, fire department spokesperson John Marsh said. No injuries had been reported. The cause has not been determined, and officials were still working to figure out where the fire started, Fire Chief James Wallace said at a news conference Tuesday. City and state officials will investigate, and Wallace said he has asked for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to take the lead, he said. "The ATF brings a ton of resources for us, and given the size and scope of the fire, the fact that we disrupted rail service, it's very appropriate that we bring all hands on deck to investigate the cause of this fire," he said. Officials believe that part of the building may have been in use and part may have been vacant, but they didn't have information about the building's history, he said. "It's been years since we've had a fire of that magnitude — seven alarms," Wallace said. But it was necessary to bring in additional resources, including aerial ladders and a heavier water flow, he said. The warehouse backs up to railroad tracks. Amtrak service was stopped for a time between Wilmington, Delaware, and Washington, D.C., Amtrak said in a social media post. Service was restored by Tuesday morning, but was still restricted to one track and Amtrak warned that delays were expected for the rest of the day along the Northeast Corridor. The Maryland Transit Administration canceled MARC commuter rail service on its Penn line on Tuesday morning because of the fire and concerns that the structure may collapse onto the tracks. Service was restored midday on a Saturday schedule, but extended delays were expected.
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 21:40:32+00:00	[ "Utah", "Douglas Stewart Carter", "Eva Olesen", "Richard Mack", "Courts", "Legal proceedings", "Capital punishment", "Law enforcement", "George Pierpont", "Police brutality", "Homicide", "Derek Brown", "Juries", "Eric Zuckerman", "Trials", "Derek Pullan", "Wayne Watson", "Constitutional law" ]	# Utah Supreme Court orders new trial for man on death row after police misconduct surfaces By Hannah Schoenbaum May 15th, 2025, 09:40 PM --- SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah Supreme Court ruled Thursday that "numerous constitutional violations" during the trial and sentencing of a man who spent decades on death row merit a new trial. Justices affirmed the ruling of a lower court judge who had ordered a new trial for Douglas Stewart Carter after finding issues with how police and prosecutors handled his case. Carter, 69, was sentenced to death in 1985 after a jury found him guilty of murdering Eva Olesen, the aunt of a former Provo police chief who was found stabbed a dozen times and shot in the head. While no physical evidence linked him to the crime scene, prosecutors convicted Carter, a Black man, based on a written confession and two witnesses who said he had bragged about killing Olesen, a white woman. Carter has argued his confession was coerced. In 2019, the Utah Supreme Court sent Carter's case back to a lower court for review after the witnesses — two immigrants without legal status — said police and prosecutors offered to pay their rent, coached them to lie in court and threatened to deport them or their son if they did not implicate Carter. Judge Derek Pullan ordered a new trial in 2022, saying the witness testimonies and police misconduct prejudiced the original trial. The Utah Attorney General's office appealed, leading to the high court's decision Thursday. "There is no question that these numerous constitutional violations — suppressing evidence, suborning perjury, and knowingly failing to correct false testimony — prejudiced Carter at both his trial and sentencing," Justice Paige Petersen wrote in the high court's opinion. It's rare, she added, to see a case involving "multiple instances of intentional misconduct" by two police officers, including the lead investigator, and a prosecutor. Provo Police Lt. George Pierpont had obtained the confession from Carter, and Officer Richard Mack gathered witness statements. The postconviction court also found that prosecutor Wayne Watson was present when police directed a witness to lie, and that he did not correct the false testimony during trial. Carter remains in prison while he awaits a new trial, said his attorney, Eric Zuckerman. "Mr. Carter has spent more than forty years behind bars because of an unconstitutional conviction rooted in police and prosecutorial misconduct — including the suborning of perjury before a jury of his peers," Zuckerman said in a statement. "We are gratified that both the trial court and the Utah Supreme Court have validated Mr. Carter's claims. But no ruling can restore the four decades of freedom the state of Utah unjustly took from him." Carter is among several inmates involved in a separate lawsuit challenging Utah's execution methods and protocols. Olesen's family has repeatedly expressed frustration that the decades-old murder case is ongoing. "We extend our hearts and sympathies to the family of Eva Olesen, who have sought justice for her murder the last 40 years," said Madison McMicken, a spokesperson for Utah Attorney General Derek Brown. "We are disappointed the Olesen family does not yet have a resolution in this case."
Associated Press News	2025-05-04 04:05:11+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Arizona", "Doug Burgum", "Energy industry", "Utilities", "Climate change", "Climate and environment", "Doug Henderson", "Business", "Government regulations", "Andrea Hobson", "Todd Snitchler", "Scott Segal", "Government and politics", "Artificial intelligence", "Politics", "Climate" ]	# Arizona towns bank on Trump's push for coal to ensure they're not forgotten By Susan Montoya Bryan May 4th, 2025, 04:05 AM --- JOSEPH CITY, Ariz. (AP) — Brantley Baird never misses a chance to talk history, from how his great-grandmother helped settle the town of Snowflake long before Arizona was granted statehood to tales of riding to school bareback and tethering his horse outside the one-room schoolhouse. His family worked the land and raised livestock, watching the railroad come and go and cattle empires rise and fall. Then came the coal-fired power plants, built throughout northern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico to power progress in distant Western cities. The plants would play their own role in the history of the region and could wind up at the center of its uncertain future. The Cholla Power Plant stands just down the road from where Baird, 88, has been building a museum to showcase covered wagons, weathered farm implements and other remnants of frontier days. For years the plant powered the local economy, providing jobs and tax revenues for the unincorporated community of Joseph City, its schools and neighboring towns, but now the vapors from its stacks have dissipated. These days, change is in the air. Cholla is the latest in a long line of U.S. coal-fired plants to retire, shutting down in March. Arizona Public Service said it had become too costly to operate due to strict environmental regulations. The mandates were aimed at reining in coal-burning utilities, long viewed by scientists as major contributors to warming the planet. Last month, however, President Donald Trump reversed course, signing new executive orders aimed at restoring " beautiful, clean coal " to the forefront of U.S. energy supplies. He urged his administration to find ways to reopen Cholla and delay the planned retirements of others. As part of his push toward energy independence, Trump has pledged to tap domestic sources — coal included — to fuel a new wave of domestic manufacturing and technology, namely innovations in artificial intelligence. In the West, where the vision of far-off politicians sometimes crashes against reality, Baird and many of his neighbors were encouraged that Trump put Cholla in the spotlight, but there's some skepticism about what the utilities will do with the plants. "As many jobs as it gives people, as much help just to our school district right here that we get out of there, we're hoping that it will come back, too," said Baird, who used to work at the Cholla plant and has served on the Joseph City School Board. Yet, he and others wonder if it's too late for coal. ## Coal-burning plants retiring Just weeks before Trump announced his plans, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected a 65% increase in retirements of coal-fired generation in 2025 compared with last year. The largest plant on that list is the 1,800-megawatt Intermountain Power Project in Utah. It's being replaced by a plant capable of burning natural gas and hydrogen. Utilities, already looking to increase capacity, aren't sure Trump's orders will lead them back to coal. "I think it's safe to say that those plants that are scheduled or slated to retire are probably still going to move in that direction, for a couple of reasons," said Todd Snitchler, CEO of the Electric Power Supply Association, which represents power plant owners. "One of which is it's very difficult to plan multimillion- or billion-dollar investments for environmental retrofits and other things on an executive order versus a legislative approach." Last month, Republicans in the Arizona Legislature sent a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum warning that the economic fallout from the 2019 closure of the Navajo Generating Station is still reverberating. The stacks were demolished, and the mine that supplied the plant closed. At the San Juan Generating Station in northwestern New Mexico, operations ended in 2022. Stuck in the middle are Joseph City and other communities where life revolves around a power plant. Residents hope Trump can help keep them in the energy race for another generation. From Joseph City to Springerville, they've been preparing to absorb major hits to the job market, tax rolls and school enrollment. Options are slim in Apache and Navajo counties — two of Arizona's poorest. Utility executives told Arizona regulators recently that reopening Cholla would be costly for customers and that they plan to push ahead with renewable energy. The plant's infrastructure would be preserved as a possible site for future nuclear or gas-fired power generation, and the Springerville Generating Station could be repurposed once the last units are retired in 2032. The utility that runs the coal-fired Coronado Generating Station, just 30 miles (48 kilometers) away in St. Johns, also has plans to convert to natural gas. ## Wind resistance In Springerville, the idea of spoiling the surrounding grasslands and ancient volcanic fields with 112 wind turbines — with blades standing taller than Seattle's Space Needle — provokes outrage. Banners and posters objecting to the proposal are plastered around town. "They all know that this won't work, that we can't rely on wind and solar," said Doug Henderson, a Springerville plant retiree who now sits on the town council. He says coal-fired generation can accommodate swings in demand, regardless of whether there's sunshine or wind. Springerville Mayor Shelly Reidhead and others are fighting to keep the wind farm from happening, saying repurposing the Springerville coal plant would mean more jobs and preserve the surrounding landscape. "We also survive on tourism and people don't want to come here and look at that," Reidhead said of the turbines. The Western Drug and General Store is adorned with tiny American flags tacked up outside. A sign advertises canning supplies, but locals joke that you can get anything here — from slippers to rifles. Andrea Hobson works the register and knows everyone by name. She moved to Springerville about 20 years ago from California and says it's hard to imagine the community without the power plant. "It would be a ghost town. It really would," she said. "That's the heart of this town." ## Filling the economic void Springerville's leaders have lost sleep trying to figure out what industries might fill the void. At stake are about 350 jobs, dozens of contract employees and the businesses they support — from the general store and the new frozen yogurt shop to the hospital and local churches. Some workers drive an hour to the Springerville plant every day, meaning other communities also will lose out, said Randel Penrod, a former crew manager at the plant. With retirement looming, the plant has trimmed its workforce. Henderson, the Springerville town council member, fears it could take years to permit a new plant. Reidhead is more hopeful after attending meetings with members of Arizona's congressional delegation and utility executives. She thinks the Trump administration can reduce the "red tape" and get new plants up and running. The development of artificial intelligence and its thirst for power gives the mission a sense of urgency. "I think our politicians at a state level have realized with AI's need for the power, that if we don't get on board and get on board soon we're going to be left behind," she said. Some energy analysts say Trump's support of coal is mostly symbolic, since utilities hold the keys. Others say diversifying energy sources is a must as the U.S. sees increases in power demand predicted for the first time in decades. "AI may be artificial, but the electricity it needs is very real — and in some regions, coal still keeps the lights on when other sources may blink," said Scott Segal, a partner with the Washington D.C.-based firm Bracewell LLP. He said power markets don't care about politics — just reliability, affordability and sustainability. Just outside of Joseph City, crews are building what will be one of the largest solar and battery storage projects in Arizona. The solar panels will be installed on leased private land, including Baird's sprawling ranch. While not a fan of all the dust being kicked up, Baird knows the advent of solar is just another of many changes he has seen in his lifetime — and he has no idea what the next 100 years might look like. "Hell, who knows?" he said. "You know, when it comes right down to it, we'll just wait and see." ___ Associated Press writer Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-04 16:19:29+00:00	[ "Israel", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Hamas", "Lebanon", "Beirut", "War and unrest", "Hassan Nasrallah", "Hezbollah", "Saleh Arouri", "Military and defense" ]	# Militant suspected of firing rockets into Israel is handed over to Lebanese army by Hamas By Associated Press May 4th, 2025, 04:19 PM --- BEIRUT (AP) — Hamas has handed over a militant suspected of firing rockets into northern Israel, the Lebanese Army said on Sunday. The Palestinian group turned over the suspect, who the Lebanese military only identified by the initials M.G., at the entrance of the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp, in the southern city of Sidon. The army says the militant was suspected of being involved in two rocket launches into Israel in March. The Mediterranean country's top military body Friday warned Hamas that it would face the "harshest measures" if it carried out any attacks from Lebanon, weeks after several Lebanese and Palestinians were detained on suspicion of firing rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel. Both attacks, months after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal went into effect last November, were met with widespread Israeli airstrikes across southern Lebanon and in southern Beirut. Since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023, the Palestinian militant group has carried out several attacks against Israel from Lebanon, where it has an armed presence. Israel has since carried out airstrikes that have killed several Hamas officials, including senior military chief Saleh Arouri in Beirut. The low-level fighting in southern Lebanon between the Hezbollah group and Israel escalated months later, with Israel assassinating much of the Hezbollah leadership, including long-time secretary general Hassan Nasrallah. More than 4,000 people were killed in Lebanon. Israel still controls five hilltop points in southern Lebanon and has been critical of Hezbollah not being fully disarmed yet, and claims the group is trying to rearm in the south. Hezbollah says its military presence in southern Lebanon has subsided as per the ceasefire agreement, and has criticized Israel for its continued strikes in the area.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 12:04:44+00:00	[ "Philanthropy", "Bill Gates", "Melinda French Gates", "Warren Buffett", "Donald Trump", "Medical research", "Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation", "Seattle", "Linsey McGoey", "Berkshire Hathaway", "Inc.", "Mark Suzman", "Health", "Business", "Microsoft Corp.", "Amy Patterson", "David McCoy" ]	# How the Gates Foundation changed global health and philanthropy By Thalia Beaty May 8th, 2025, 12:04 PM --- SEATTLE (AP) — In its first 25 years, the Gates Foundation became one of the world's largest charitable foundations and one of the most powerful institutions in global health — an accomplishment that carried both accolades and controversy. Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates had grand ambitions for their foundation, but little experience in global health or philanthropy. They were moved by stories like those written by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof about children dying from diseases caused by a lack of sanitation. In characteristic Gates style, they tackled these problems with rigor, data and close oversight. As a result, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — formed in 2000 by the merger of two family foundations and funded by Gates' Microsoft wealth and later, by tens of billions from investor Warren Buffett — inserted itself into the architecture of global health. Along the way, the foundation's leaders redefined what it means to be philanthropists. "As I was learning about what children die of, you know, HIV and diarrhea and pneumonia, were all things that I was stunned how little was going into helping the poor countries," Gates said in an interview with The Associated Press. He responded in a way few others could, by pouring billions into the foundation, which spent $100 billion in its first 25 years, with about half going toward global health. Thanks to its largesse, as well as the expertise of its employees, its connections to governments and companies, and the profile of its founders, the Gates Foundation now garners at least the same influence, if not more, in almost any global health forum as many countries. That era now has an end date. Gates announced Thursday that the foundation will close in 2045, pledging that he plans to donate 99% of his remaining fortune, which would be $107 billion today, to the nonprofit by then. Gates said the foundation can maintain its culture and workforce over that time. "We'll be showing that we're doing the most we can and give a lot of predictability to the field by (saying,) 'We'll be here all of those 20 years, but not thereafter,'" he said. ## With great power, comes much scrutiny The foundation's influence over global health policy and its partnerships with companies and other private sector actors have long drawn questions. Researcher Linsey McGoey, a professor of sociology at the University of Essex, who wrote the book "No Such Thing as a Free Gift " about the foundation, asks how charitable it is to "give away" money to a foundation the donor controls. Others like Anuj Kapilashrami, global health professor at the University of Essex, argue the foundation's preference for low-cost treatments and interventions does not inherently help build the capacity of health systems. "We do not tackle the causes, the underlying drivers of what is producing ill-health, but we choose areas and health issues where we can just push these magic bullets: commodities, drugs (and) bed nets," she said. Mark Suzman, who has been with the foundation for 18 years and CEO since 2020, said close supervision of grantees and the foundation's data-driven processes are key to its success. "We are not a 'write the check, call us in three years and let us know what it looks like,'" kind of funder, Suzman said. "We'll be calling you up probably every week, and we'll have some opinions. But we want your opinions back." The foundation is proud of the many vaccines, medical devices and treatment protocols it has helped develop. It is optimistic about a pipeline of innovations, including potential vaccines for malaria and HIV, as possible accomplishments in its remaining 20 years. David McCoy, a physician who was then at the University College London, argued back in 2009 that only a small portion of the foundation's spending went directly to organizations located in the countries where they work, with most going to international organizations like the World Health Organization or to groups located in the U.S. and Europe. Suzman said he has been an internal champion of shifting more of the foundation's work from Seattle to in-country offices. ## Lifting private partnerships in global health The foundation's flagship issue, and the main way it measures its success, is in reducing preventable childhood deaths. The Gates Foundation helped establish two major public-private partnerships: Gavi, the vaccine alliance that funds and distributes vaccines for children, and the Global Fund, which, along with governments, funds the treatment and control of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. The foundation says the two organizations have saved tens of millions of lives and are some of the most important examples of its impact. However, Amy Patterson, politics professor at The University of the South, Sewanee, says public-private partnerships like Gavi and the Global Fund diminish the power of civil society groups and citizens compared to public health systems. "It certainly has moved us from thinking about health as a state responsibility, which raises questions about accountability and participation," said Patterson, who has researched the management of AIDS in African countries, including the role of civic groups. "That is not to discount the millions of lives saved, or children immunized, or women who have access to reproductive health, or the innovations that have brought efficiency," Patterson said. "But if you think about the social contract between states taking care of their people, how do we have that same kind of accountability in this type of a system?" ## Championing philanthropy and setting the bar for billionaires A huge moment in the early history of the foundation came in 2006 when Buffett pledged to donate a percentage of his Berkshire Hathaway shares annually, almost doubling the foundation's resources. Buffett teamed with Gates and French Gates again in 2010 to launch a new commitment for billionaires: to give away more than half their money in their lifetimes or at the time of their death. The Giving Pledge now has more than 240 people agreeing to those terms, far exceeding Gates' expectations. However, certainly not every billionaire has. Gates hopes others will surpass his giving. "I'd love to be beat in all of this work," he said. "Somebody should try and pay more taxes than I did, and save more lives than I did, and give more money than I did, and be smarter than I've been." He acknowledged that cuts to foreign aid and health funding under President Donald Trump's current administration, wars, and economic turmoil significantly challenge the foundation's hopes of eradicating polio, controlling malaria, and reducing the number of child and maternal deaths in the next 20 years. "The metric that we should be measured against is the success of the whole global health field. Did we draw people in? Did we keep governments engaged, and therefore, do we get childhood death rates down from the 5 million to cut it in half again?" he said. "I can't promise you we will, because without the partners, that's not doable. And the current trend line is not positive for that." ___ The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce and in statehouses from Melinda French Gates' organization, Pivotal Ventures. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 19:29:52+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Mahmoud Khalil", "United States government", "Activism", "Vermont", "United States", "New York City Wire", "Immigration", "Colombia", "Prisons", "Politics", "Louisiana", "Education" ]	# Freed from ICE custody, Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi graduates from Columbia to cheers By Jake Offenhartz May 19th, 2025, 07:29 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Less than three weeks after his release from an immigration jail, the Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi strode across the graduation stage at Columbia University on Monday morning, savoring a moment the Trump administration had fought to make impossible. Draped in a keffiyeh, Mahdawi, 34, paused to listen to the swell of cheers from his fellow graduates. Then he joined a vigil just outside Columbia's gates, raising a photograph of his classmate Mahmoud Khalil, who remains in federal custody. "It's very mixed emotions," Mahdawi told The Associated Press. "The Trump administration wanted to rob me of this opportunity. They wanted me to be in a prison, in prison clothes, to not have education and to not have joy or celebration." Mahdawi, a 34-year-old legal resident of the U.S., was detained during an April 14 citizenship interview in Vermont, part of the widening federal crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists. He was released two weeks later by a judge, who likened the government's actions to McCarthyist repression. Federal officials have not accused Mahdawi of committing a crime, but argued that he and other student activists should be deported for beliefs that may undermine U.S. foreign policy. For Mahdawi, who earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Columbia's School of General Studies, the graduation marked a bittersweet return to a university that he says has betrayed him and other students. "The senior administration is selling the soul of this university to the Trump administration, participating in the destruction and the degradation of our democracy," Mahdawi said. He pointed to Columbia's decision to acquiesce to the Trump administration's demands — including placing its Middle Eastern studies department under new leadership — as well as its failure to speak out against his and Khalil's arrest. He said Columbia's leadership had denied his pleas for protection prior to his arrest, then ignored his attorney's request for a letter supporting his release from jail. A spokesperson for Columbia University did not return an emailed inquiry. Mahdawi was born in a refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and moved to the United States in 2014. At Columbia, he organized campus protests, led a Buddhist association and co-founded the Palestinian Student Union with Khalil. Khalil would have received his diploma from a Columbia master's program in international studies later this week. He remains jailed in Louisiana as he awaits a decision from a federal judge about his possible release. As he prepares for a lengthy legal battle, Mahdawi faces his own uncertain future. He was previously admitted to a master's degree program at Columbia, where he planned to study "peacekeeping and conflict resolution" in the fall. But he is reconsidering his options after learning this month that he would not receive financial aid. For now, he said, he would continue to advocate for the Palestinian cause, buoyed by the support he says he has received from the larger Columbia community. "When I went on the stage, the message was very clear and loud: They are cheering up for the idea of justice, for the idea of peace, for the idea of equality, for the idea of humanity, and nothing will stop us from continuing to do that. Not the Trump administration nor Columbia University," he said. The School of General Studies graduation comes two days before Columbia's university-wide commencement, as colleges across the country are bracing for possible disruptions. Last week, New York University announced it would withhold the diploma of a student speaker who criticized Israel's attacks on Palestinians in his graduation speech.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 20:55:31+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Jeff Landry", "Production facilities", "Louisiana", "New Orleans", "United States government", "Pollution", "Mississippi River", "Baton Rouge", "Health care costs", "United States", "Climate and environment", "Denka Co.", "Ltd.", "Business", "George Eisenhauer", "U.S. Environmental Protection Agency", "Black experience", "Robert Thomas Taylor", "DuPont de Nemours", "Inc.", "Climate" ]	# Louisiana plant at the center of an environmental justice fight halts operations By Jack Brook May 14th, 2025, 08:55 PM --- NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A petrochemical plant in Louisiana accused of increasing cancer risks for a majority Black community indefinitely suspended operations largely due to the high cost of reducing toxic pollution. Japanese firm Denka announced Tuesday that its synthetic rubber facility hemorrhaged more than $109 million in the past year. The company cited weakening demand, staffing challenges and rising costs as reasons why "improving profitability in the near term would be difficult." Denka also attributed much of its financial woes to what it has described as "unfair and targeted" pollution control measures. Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency sought to rein in dangerous chemical emissions from hundreds of facilities including Denka's. The Biden administration's environmental justice campaign spotlighted Denka's plant, located about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of New Orleans in St. John the Baptist Parish. Under the Trump administration, the EPA withdrew a federal lawsuit against Denka alleging it exposed a predominantly Black population to unacceptable cancer risk — the highest nationwide — from the facility's emissions of chloroprene. Last year, officials shut down a nearby elementary school due to concerns about emissions exposure. "I am elated that we are waking up every day now with no chloroprene in our air," said Tish Taylor, a local environmental activist. She added that she was under no illusion that the company was concerned about its impact on her community's health: "The petrochemical industry around us doesn't care about human beings. They care about their bottom line." ## The cost to reduce pollution Denka produces Neoprene, a synthetic rubber used in wetsuits, laptop sleeves and other common products. In suspending operations, Denka cited the "significant cost" of "pollution control equipment to reduce chloroprene emissions," which the company said it "did not anticipate" when it purchased the facility from DuPont in 2015. The company also cited "a shortage of qualified staff necessary to operate new pollution control equipment and implement other emission reduction measures." In court filings last year, Denka said it had spent more than $35 million on equipment to reduce emissions by 85% since 2017. But harmful emissions consistently remained higher than federal guidelines. Denka said it remains "deeply grateful" to Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, who supported the company last year as it fought an EPA rule mandating the facility swiftly reduce chloroprene emissions. While the Trump administration has pledged to rewrite this policy, the company noted the outcome remains uncertain. Denka said it is working with Landry's administration to consider "all options," including "a potential sale of the business or its assets." But no decision had been made regarding a "permanent closure" of the facility or "workforce reductions." Landry did not respond to a request for comment. ## A market 'slowdown' Denka said it "faces a sustained slowdown in the global market demand for Neoprene, along with increases in energy prices, raw materials, and repair work that have been exacerbated by inflation." The company's statement noted "rising energy costs," "weakening global economic environment for chloroprene" and "supply chain disruptions" as other factors. The Denka facility needed large amounts of chlorine to produce chloroprene, said George Eisenhauer, an analyst with commodities consulting company Argus Media. It costs more than twice as much to purchase and import chlorine into the U.S. as it does in other leading chloroprene production sites like Europe, Japan and China, he said. The costs rose over the past few years after a major U.S. chlorine producer shut down, Eisenhauer added. Trump's tariff policies have not significantly affected the price because chlorine is typically imported into the U.S. through Mexico or Canada. ## Local activists remain wary Denka's facility is in the 85-mile (137-kilometer) stretch of the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge officially called the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor and commonly referred to by environmental groups as "Cancer Alley." Robert Taylor, 84, and other environmental activists warily celebrated Denka's announcement. Taylor, who lives near the facility, pushed for stronger environmental regulations, only to watch the Trump administration roll them back. "They have given these guys all the protection they need from advocacy groups like mine," he said, referring to the Trump administration. "So that's why I am a bit puzzled by the action they (Denka) are taking now." He wondered whether the company would eventually resume operations or sell the plant to a company that could restart production. "I think the community needs to be on guard and be prepared to continue our advocacy for our clean air and safe environment." ___ Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 13:24:19+00:00	[ "Caribbean Sea", "Lady Gaga", "Ariana Cubillos", "South America", "Associated Press", "Mexico", "Caribbean", "Diego Silveti" ]	# AP Week in Pictures: Latin America and Caribbean By The Associated Press May 9th, 2025, 01:24 PM --- May 2-8, 2025 Congregants attended an Indigenous blessing ceremony for Communion wafers in Chiapas state, Mexico. Fans packed the shore of Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro to attend a free Lady Gaga concert. Mexican bullfighter Diego Silveti smiled at fans after a bullfight in Aguascalientes, Mexico. People searched for recyclable items in trash bins in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published in the past week by The Associated Press from Latin America and the Caribbean. The selection was curated by AP photographer Ariana Cubillos, based in Caracas, Venezuela. ___ Follow AP visual journalism: AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews X: http://twitter.com/AP_Images
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 22:27:28+00:00	[ "Chicago", "Pope Leo XIV", "Pope Francis", "Laurel Legler", "Papal conclave", "Gregory Sakowicz", "Religion", "Barbara Reid", "Raul Raymundo", "Linda Eickmann", "Mary Perrotti", "John Doughney" ]	# Catholics in Chicago celebrate election of native son Pope Leo XIV By Christine Fernando and Melina Walling May 8th, 2025, 10:27 PM --- CHICAGO (AP) — After white smoke billowed Thursday from the Sistine Chapel, signaling that a pope had been chosen, students in every classroom at The Frances Xavier Warde School in Chicago had their eyes glued to TV screens. As the image of the new pope, Chicago native Cardinal Robert Prevost, appeared onscreen, cheers erupted through the hallways. Children jumped out of their seats, pumping their hands in the air. "Our students are just beside themselves," said Mary Perrotti, director of advancement at the school. "They're beyond excited and can't believe a Chicagoan is their new pope. They were in awe." Prevost, 69, took the name Leo XIV and replaced Pope Francis, who died last month. The first American elected pontiff, Pope Leo XIV was born and raised in Chicago before undertaking his ministry in Peru. Catholic Chicagoans gathered in churches and celebrated from their homes as the historic decision was announced. "Our young people have a model now of a leader with justice and compassion at the heart of his ministries — and who is from their home," Perrotti said. "It's such a deep feeling of connection for them." Prevost was born in 1955 in the south side Chicago neighborhood of Bronzeville and grew up in suburban Dolton, near St. Mary of the Assumption, where he attended Mass and elementary school. He later studied theology at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago in Hyde Park and taught in local Catholic schools, including at St. Rita High School, according to the school. "We are overjoyed that someone who is beloved and known to us is now the beloved leader of the whole entire church," said Barbara Reid, a Dominican sister and president of the Catholic Theological Union. ## Classmates reflect on new pope's hometown connection John Doughney, a fellow St. Mary's grade school graduate from 1969, remembers Prevost as a "friend to everyone" and a "kind, caring, compassionate young man." "Even when he was 12 and 13, it was apparent to all of us that he knew what his calling was," he said. "It would've shocked all of us if he didn't go into the priesthood. We're so proud of him." Linda Eickmann, 62, was also born and raised in Dolton and attended St. Mary's. When she saw the news of the new pope on TV, she screamed with joy. "How cool is that?" she said. "A pope from my elementary school, from my town. It's unreal." Eickmann remembered Prevost's family as being so deeply involved in the St. Mary's community that everyone knew their names. They ran sloppy joe sales to raise money for the school, and all their sons were altar boys, including Prevost. Raul Raymundo, co-founder of a local community advocacy group called the Resurrection Project, said Thursday was a proud day for Chicagoans and he hoped Pope Leo XIV will "continue Pope Francis' legacy and Chicago's legacy of social justice and compassion, especially in welcoming immigrants." "There's tears of joy, of hope, of motivation to rise to this moment and leave this world better than we found it," said Raymundo, an immigrant from Mexico who grew up in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. ## Chicagoans gather in churches, share memes to celebrate Pope Leo XIV At Holy Name Cathedral, about two dozen people gathered to pray as light filtered in through the stained glass windows. Kneeling in a pew, Laurel Legler said she isn't Catholic or even Christian but felt she had to be there after the new American pope's election was announced. She called it a "profound moment." Zoë Poehlman, a nurse who moved from Kansas City to Chicago a few months ago, described the mood as exciting and hopes there will be citywide celebrations. "It was just so crazy," she said. Father Gregory Sakowicz, the cathedral's rector, said that when the new pope was announced, the sun came out — a coincidence he described as "God's way of remaining anonymous." He said he was "happily shocked," and that he had a burning question: Whether the new Pope was a White Sox fan? When a journalist in the crowd said she'd heard Pope Leo XIV is a Cubs fan, Sakowicz chuckled. "God bless him," he said. It turns out he's a Sox fan. On social media, people swapped memes about Chicago staples — deep-dish and tavern-style pizza, the Chicago liqueur Malört and baseball, reflecting the civic pride of Chicago residents as they claimed the pope as one of their own. Google search traffic for "Da Pope" skyrocketed, and a local T-shirt company announced it would sell "Da Pope" shirts with a blue-and-orange Bears-themed design. Chicagoans overlayed Chicago Bulls intro music to video of the pope exiting the Vatican. Some joked about replacing communion wafers and wine with tavern-style pizza and Malört. And the Chicago fast food chain Portillo's jested about shipping its Italian beef to Vatican City. Many users also proclaimed hope the new pope would represent Chicago's history of social justice. "For Catholic Chicagoans, to have a native son who has been born and raised in a city where support and care of all has always been central to who we are as a city, it really speaks volumes," Perrotti said. "I truly believe his upbringing in Chicago informs his ministries, his compassion and sense of justice. Now, he can give the world a sense of who we are as a city." ___ This story corrects spelling of Laurel Legler's last name from Legle to Legler
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 01:06:55+00:00	[ "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.", "West Virginia", "Irene Berger", "Morgantown", "Lung disease", "Lawsuits", "Richard Nixon", "Sam Brown Petsonk", "Health", "Legal proceedings", "Harry Wiley" ]	# Judge orders restoration of jobs in health program for West Virginia coal miners By John Raby May 14th, 2025, 01:06 AM --- CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday ordered the restoration of a health monitoring program for coal miners in West Virginia and rescinded layoffs the federal government implemented in a unit of a small U.S. health agency. U.S. District Judge Irene Berger issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by a coal miner who was diagnosed with a respiratory ailment commonly known as black lung disease. Nearly 200 workers at a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health facility in Morgantown were told last month that their jobs were being terminated as part of restructuring within Health and Human Services. Berger ordered that jobs be restored within NIOSH's respiratory health division in Morgantown, although her ruling didn't specify a number. The division is responsible for screening and reviewing medical exams to determine whether there is evidence that miners have developed black lung. Federal law mandates that regular health screenings be made available to coal miners. Those diagnosed with black lung also are given the option to transfer to other positions in a mine to protect them from continued dust exposure without a pay reduction. Berger said the defendants "lack the authority to unilaterally cancel" the Coal Workers Health Surveillance Program within NIOSH. She ordered both the surveillance and job transfer programs to be restored, saying that "there be no pause, stoppage or gap in the protections and services" mandated by the federal Mine Safety and Health Act. Poisonous silica dust has contributed to the premature deaths of thousands of mine workers from black lung disease. Plaintiff Harry Wiley, a West Virginia mine electrician who has worked in coal mines for 38 years, was diagnosed with early-stage black lung last November. Canceling the health surveillance program would "cost lives," Berger wrote. "Remaining in a dusty job may reduce the years in which Mr. Wiley can walk and breathe unassisted, in addition to hastening his death. It is difficult to imagine a clearer case of irreparable harm." The judge gave Kennedy 20 days to show the federal government is complying with her order. An email seeking comment from Health and Human Services wasn't immediately returned Tuesday night. Wiley's attorney, Sam Brown Petsonk, said the preliminary injunction "had to happen, and the public, I think, understands the absolute necessity of this program. It cannot be hindered. It cannot be whittled away. It's essential because it saves the lives of some of he hardest-working people in this entire world." NIOSH was created under a 1970 law signed by President Richard Nixon. It started operations the following year and grew to have offices and labs in eight cities, including Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Morgantown, and Spokane, Washington.
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 10:00:07+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Chicago", "Labor", "Columbus", "Sam Barraza", "Diversity", "equity and inclusion", "Government budgets", "Ohio", "United States government", "National", "United States", "Brian Turmail", "Race and ethnicity", "Business", "U.S. Department of Labor", "Politics", "Matthew Kennelly", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Trump's anti-DEI battle threatens nonprofits trying to fill critical labor gaps By Claire Savage and Alexandra Olson May 12th, 2025, 10:00 AM --- CHICAGO (AP) — Recruiting women into construction has been a painstaking but broadly popular effort, with growing bipartisan and industry support amid persistent labor shortages. But President Donald Trump's aim to stamp out diversity and inclusion programs threaten to cripple community-based organizations that have been critical to that goal. The Trump administration has moved swiftly to cut off federal funding to dozens of community groups that implement programs on the ground, including apprenticeship readiness programs designed for women, anti-harassment training, and child care and transportation support for workers who need them. The overhaul stems from a pair of anti-DEI executive orders, which direct federal agencies to cancel all "equity-related" grants, and require government contractors and recipients of federal funds to certify, under threat of severe financial penalties, that they do not operate DEI programs that violate anti-discrimination laws. The orders have set off a scramble among many corporations, universities, law firms and major philanthropies to figure out how to adapt their DEI policies to avoid losing federal funding. But for nonprofits whose very mission involves providing services to historically marginalized communities, the executive orders pose an existential threat, driving several lawsuits alleging Trump's orders are impossible to comply with because they are so vague about what constitutes "illegal" DEI. Stakeholders in the construction industry are closely following a lawsuit filed by Chicago Women in Trades, an organization founded in 1981 to help women enter the skilled trades. Other similar groups said they were considering litigation after the Department of Labor yanked their grants last week. About 40% of Chicago Women in Trades' stems from federal funding, according to court filings. As the lawsuits play out, Chicago Women in Trades Executive Director Jayne Vellinga said hiring and future programming has stalled because the ultimate fate of the organization's funding is unclear. Current programs are continuing under a cloud of uncertainty. The sound of whirring drills filled the Ironworkers Local 63 training center just outside Chicago during one exploratory training program that is reliant on state and federal funds. About two dozen women donned hard hats, work gloves and safety glasses to practice assembling windows as an instructor looked on. Two groups raced each other to see how quickly they could perfect each assembly. Another practices caulking nearby. During the 10-week program, participants spend a week exploring different trades with experienced carpenters, electricians and iron workers. About 70% of the participants successfully move on to apprenticeships. Sam Barraza, 24, joined the program after struggling with an office job due to ADHD. During a rotation with the Bricklayers Union, Barraza was hired as an apprentice in tuck pointing, a masonry repair process used to restore older buildings. But Barraza, who is nonbinary, said they would never have understood how to get a foothold in the industry without a program like Chicago Women in Trades. "There are so many insider things that, if your uncle was in the trades, or your dad did it, whatever, you would know," Barraza said. "It's the first time I've been excited for a career instead of like, 'I just have to work to live.'" Government agencies, construction companies and labor unions have invested billions of dollars to expand apprenticeships and other programs to draw younger generations into the skilled trades, an effort that accelerated as the Biden administration ramped up investment in infrastructure and the semiconductor industry. Part that effort has been programming to make worksites more welcoming to women, racial minorities and LGBTQ people who have long faced bias and harassment in an industry that is majority white and overwhelmingly male. Progress has been slow but steady. Women, for instance, comprise only 4% of skilled trade workers, but that's a nearly 30% increase since 2018 and a record high, according to U.S. labor statistics that have been celebrated by both women's advocacy groups and industry associations. Advocates say recruiting more women and minorities to well-paid skilled jobs helps alleviate pay gaps while addressing labor shortages. Far from being a target during the first Trump administration, Chicago Women in Trades received two grants in 2019 and 2020 under the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations program, known as WANTO, which dates back to a 1992 Congressional act signed by President George H.W. Bush. The first Trump administration increased funding for WANTO, providing more than $8.5 million in grants to 17 community organizations that served more than 3,500 women. Funding for WANTO surged under the Biden administration, which awarded nearly $18 million in grants to more than 20 organizations. But the future of WANTO is in limbo. Last week, the Labor Department sent termination notices to many of the grants recipients, saying their focus on gender equity and diversity no longer aligns with the administration's priorities, several of the organizations told The Associated Press. Rhoni Basden, executive director of Vermont Works for Women, said the loss of its $400,000 WANTO grant imperils a new apprenticeship readiness program aimed at building a pipeline of workers in semiconductor manufacturing in the state. The program, using curriculum developed with the industry group Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center, had been scheduled to launch in the spring. Chicago Women in Trades' WANTO grant is protected for now under a preliminary injunction issued last month by Judge Matthew Kennelly of the U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois, who ruled that canceling the grant would violate the separation of powers. However, Kennelly declined to protect the organization's four other federal grants, or to extend his protective order to other WANTO grantees. The Labor Department did not reply to multiple emails seeking clarity about its intentions for WANTO or other similar federal initiatives. In his 2026 fiscal year budget request, Trump pledged to keep investing in the expansion of apprenticeship opportunities while eliminate funding to "progressive non-profits" that focus on DEI. Instead, the administration proposed sending funding to states and localities to decide how to spend them. The Trump administration argues that many DEI policies pressure employers to hire based on race or gender, or unfairly shut out some workers from training and funding opportunities. Another WANTO grantee, Maryland Center for Construction Education & Education, said the impact of losing its federal funding will force the suspension of programs to help women enter construction and other industries that are "facing a severe labor shortage — tens of thousands of skilled workers are needed across Maryland in the next few years alone." "These are not abstract losses. These are missed paychecks, shuttered training programs, and stalled progress for communities that need it most," the group said in statement, adding that it was exploring "legal and legislative avenues to fight back." Construction firms have supported outreach programs to women out of sheer need: The industry is seeking more than 400,000 new workers this year to meet anticipated demand, according to trade group Associated Builders and Contractors. "We need all of the talent and resources that we can get," said Vanessa Jester, community and citizenship director for Turner Construction in Columbus, Ohio, where construction worker shortages are especially acute. The company has partnered with Chicago Women in Trades and other community groups to expose women and girls to the construction industry. "If these young girls can't see it, feel it, touch it and see that there's an opportunity, we're not going to be able to grow," Jester added. Turner Construction is one of 800 firms that have joined the "Culture of Care" program launched in 2019 by the Associated General Contractors of America to address harassment, hazing and bullying that has long plagued in the industry. The association, which has 27,000 member firms, says on its website that Trump's executive orders on DEI have prompted a review of its initiative and resources "to ensure continued compliance with the law." Brian Turmail, the association's vice president of Public Affairs & Workforce, said that while the language of some guidance might be changed, the organization plans to double down on "Culture of Care," saying it's about preventing discrimination that drives away many women and racial minorities from the field. "There isn't any other way for the industry to be viable," he said. ________ This story corrects the spelling of Sam Barraza's last name. ______ The Associated Press' women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 09:08:46+00:00	[ "Germany government", "Angela Merkel", "Donald Trump", "Germany", "Islam", "JD Vance", "Nancy Faeser", "Radicalism", "Constitutional law", "Alice Weidel", "Government surveillance", "Elon Musk", "Politics", "Tino Chrupalla", "Democracy" ]	# Alternative for Germany is listed as a 'right-wing extremist' party by domestic intelligence agency By Jamey Keaten and Kirsten Grieshaber May 2nd, 2025, 09:08 AM --- BERLIN (AP) — The German domestic intelligence service said Friday it has classified the Alternative for Germany party, which placed second in national elections in February, as a "right-wing extremist" organization — making it subject to greater and broader surveillance of its activities. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution described the party, known as AfD, as a threat to the country's democratic order, saying it "disregards human dignity" — in particular by what it called "ongoing agitation" against refugees and migrants. Germany's move to classify the AfD as a right-wing extremist group means its officials can now use informants and other tools such as audio and video recordings to monitor its activities nationwide. But it also risks fueling the party's claims of political persecution. Far-right parties have been gaining ground across Europe and the AfD attracts international attention, including support from tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is a close ally of President Donald Trump. Party leaders Alice Weidel — who met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance after the February elections — and Tino Chrupalla condemned the move as "a severe blow to German democracy," given that the party has grown into one of the country's most popular political forces. They alleged that it was politically motivated, a claim the government denies. "The AfD will continue to legally defend itself against these democracy-endangering defamations," they said. AfD was formed in 2013 and has moved steadily to the right over the years. Its platform initially centered on opposition to bailouts for struggling eurozone members, but its vehement opposition to then-Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to allow large numbers of refugees into Germany in 2015 established the party as a significant political force. The state domestic intelligence offices in Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt had already classified the respective AfD state associations as "proven right-wing extremist" groups. In its ruling, the intelligence service said that AfD's understanding of German identity as being based on ethnicity is "incompatible with the free democratic basic order." "It aims to exclude certain population groups from equal participation in society, subject them to unconstitutional discrimination, and thus assign them a legally devalued status," it said. "Specifically, for example, the AfD does not consider German citizens with a migration history from predominantly Muslim countries to be equal members of the German people, as defined ethnically by the party." It added that the party's political positions have underpinned "continuous agitation" against minorities and stirred fear and hostility toward them. "This is evident in the numerous xenophobic, anti-minority, anti-Islamic, and anti-Muslim statements continually made by leading party officials," it said. The party had already come under scrutiny from the BfV for its links to extremists and its ties to Russia. Of the 38,800 far-right extremists counted by the agency last year, more than 10,000 are members of the party. Nancy Faeser, the interior minister, said in a statement that the classification was "clear and unambiguous" and had resulted from a 1,100-page "comprehensive and neutral audit" that had no political influence. Under the move, any surveillance of AfD activities must abide by a "principle of proportionality" under German law. The measure does not amount to a ban of the party, which can only take place through a request by either of parliament's two chambers or the federal government through the Federal Constitutional Court. ___ Keaten reported from Geneva. Vanessa Gera contributed from Rome.
Associated Press News	2025-05-11 23:17:19+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Prescription drugs", "Health care costs", "Medicare", "Government programs", "District of Columbia", "United States government", "Politics", "Health", "U.S. Department of Health and Human Services" ]	# Trump to sign executive order to cut prices of medicines By Will Weissert and Amanda Seitz May 11th, 2025, 11:17 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he'll sign an executive order on Monday that, if implemented, could bring down the costs of some medications — reviving a failed effort from his first term on an issue he's talked up since even before becoming president. The order Trump is promising will direct the Department of Health and Human Services to tie what Medicare pays for medications administered in a doctor's office to the lowest price paid by other countries. "I will be instituting a MOST FAVORED NATION'S POLICY whereby the United States will pay the same price as the Nation that pays the lowest price anywhere in the World," the president posted Sunday on his social media site, pledging to sign the order on Monday morning at the White House. "Our Country will finally be treated fairly, and our citizens Healthcare Costs will be reduced by numbers never even thought of before," Trump added. His proposal would likely only impact certain drugs covered by Medicare and given in an office — think infusions that treat cancer, and other injectables. But it could potentially bring significant savings to the government, although the "TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS" Trump boasted about in his post may be an exaggeration. Medicare provides health insurance for roughly 70 million older Americans. Complaints about U.S. drug prices being notoriously high, even when compared with other large and wealthy countries, have long drawn the ire of both parties, but a lasting fix has never cleared Congress. Under the planned order, the federal government would tie what it pays pharmaceutical companies for those drugs to the price paid by a group of other, economically advanced countries — the so-called "most favored nation" approach. The proposal will face fierce opposition from the pharmaceutical industry. It was a rule that Trump tried to adopt during his first term, but could never get through. He signed a similar executive order in the final weeks of his presidency, but a court order later blocked the rule from going into effect under the Biden administration. The pharmaceutical industry argued that Trump's 2020 attempt would give foreign governments the "upper hand" in deciding the value of medicines in the U.S.. The industry has long argued that forcing lower prices will hurt profits, and ultimately affect innovation and its efforts to develop new medicines. Only drugs on Medicare Part B — the insurance for doctor's office visits — are likely to be covered under the plan. Medicare beneficiaries are responsible for picking up some of the costs to get those medications during doctor's visits, and for traditional Medicare enrollees there is no annual out-of-pocket cap on what they pay. A report by the Trump administration during its first term found that the U.S. spends twice as much as some other countries in covering those drugs. Medicare Part B drug spending topped $33 billion in 2021. More common prescription drugs filled at a pharmacy would probably not be covered by the new order. Trump's post formally previewing the action came after he teased a "very big announcement" last week. He gave no details, except to note that it wasn't related to trade or the tariffs he has announced imposing on much of the world. "We're going to have a very, very big announcement to make — like as big as it gets," Trump said last week. He came into his first term accusing pharmaceutical companies of "getting away with murder" and complaining that other countries whose governments set drug prices were taking advantage of Americans. On Sunday, Trump took aim at the industry again, writing that the "Pharmaceutical/Drug Companies would say, for years, that it was Research and Development Costs, and that all of these costs were, and would be, for no reason whatsoever, borne by the 'suckers' of America, ALONE." Referring to drug companies' powerful lobbying efforts, he said that campaign contributions "can do wonders, but not with me, and not with the Republican Party." "We are going to do the right thing," he wrote.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 16:52:40+00:00	[ "Harvey Weinstein", "Assault", "New York City Wire", "Legal proceedings", "New York", "MeToo", "Miriam Haley", "Manhattan", "Indictments", "Sexual assault", "Entertainment", "Jessica Mann", "Kaja Sokola" ]	# Ex-model testifies Weinstein sexually assaulted her at 16 and 19, says 'my soul was removed from me' By Michael R. Sisak and Jennifer Peltz May 8th, 2025, 04:52 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — A former model tearfully testified Thursday that Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her when she was 16 years old, calling it the most "horrifying thing I ever experienced" to that point. Four years later, she said, Weinstein assaulted her again. Kaja (KEYE'-ah) Sokola detailed the allegations in front of a jury for the first time as she testified at Weinstein's #MeToo retrial. She is the second of three accusers to testify, and the only one who wasn't part of the onetime Hollywood honcho's first trial in 2020. Weinstein faces a criminal sex act charge based on the later allegation — forcibly performing oral sex on Sokola at a Manhattan hotel in 2006, just before her 20th birthday. The earlier alleged assault was beyond legal time limits for a potential criminal charge. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty and denies sexually assaulting anyone. His lawyers are due to start questioning Sokola on Friday. They have said that all of the former movie studio boss' accusers consented to sexual encounters in hopes of advancing their careers. The Polish-born Sokola began modeling at 14 and was soon flying around the world for photo shoots and fashion shows. But she told jurors she was always more interested in acting, so she was hopeful when she was introduced to Weinstein at a New York nightclub in 2002 and he invited her to lunch to talk about acting. Instead, he steered her to his Manhattan apartment and told her to take her clothes off, saying that actors had to be comfortable disrobing in films, she testified. Sokola took off her blouse and followed him into a bathroom because, she said, "I was 16 years old, and I was alone with a man for the first time, and I didn't know what else to do." She said that she told Weinstein she objected to what was happening, but that he put his hand inside her underwear and made her touch his genitals. Sokola said she saw Weinstein's eyes — "black and scary" — staring at her in a bathroom mirror as it happened. Afterward, she said, he told her to keep quiet, saying he'd made Hollywood careers and could help her acting dreams come true. "I felt stupid and ashamed and like it's my fault for putting myself in this position," Sokola testified through sobs, bringing a tissue to her face, as riveted jurors scribbled notes. Weinstein, 73, looked down and away as she spoke, pressing his left thumb and index finger against his face like a shield. Sokola, now 39, became emotional again as questioning turned to the 2006 allegation. She said she had stayed in touch with Weinstein because of her acting dreams. "I never wanted anything else from Harvey Weinstein other than to honestly say if I have a chance to be an actress or no," said Sokola, who eventually became a psychotherapist. She vowed that she had "absolutely not" ever had any romantic or sexual interest in him. In 2006, Weinstein arranged for her to be an extra for a day in the film "The Nanny Diaries," and he separately agreed to meet Sokola and her visiting elder sister. After the three chatted, Sokola said, Weinstein told her he had a script to show her in his hotel room, and she went up with him. There, she said, Weinstein pushed her onto a bed and stripped off her boots, her stockings, her underwear, and something indelible. "My soul was removed from me," Sokola testified. She said he held her down while ignoring her pleas of "please don't, please stop, I don't want this." Sokola said she tried to push him away but was no match against Weinstein's physical heft. She rejoined her sister but said nothing about being assaulted, both siblings testified. Sokola said she didn't want to tell her sister that Weinstein had treated her with such disrespect. Sokola went to authorities a few days into Weinstein's first trial. Prosecutors halted their investigation after Weinstein was convicted, but revived it when New York's highest court reversed the verdict last year. She first detailed the 2002 allegation in a lawsuit a few years ago, after a chorus of public accusations against Weinstein emerged in 2017 and fueled the #MeToo movement. Sokola eventually received $3.5 million in compensation. Another accuser, Miriam Haley, testified last week that Weinstein forced oral sex on her in 2006. The third accuser in the case, Jessica Mann, is expected to testify later. She alleges Weinstein raped her in 2013. The Associated Press generally does not name sexual assault accusers without their permission, which Haley, Mann and Sokola have given.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 19:48:56+00:00	[ "Alabama", "Kay Ivey", "Texas", "Juneteenth", "Legislation", "Holidays", "Rick Rehm", "Galveston", "Robert E. Lee", "Politics", "Alabama state government", "Martin Luther King Jr.", "Race and ethnicity", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Alabama lawmakers vote to make Juneteenth an official state holiday May 7th, 2025, 07:48 PM --- MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers on Wednesday gave final passage to legislation that will make Juneteenth, the day that commemorates the end of slavery after the Civil War, an official state holiday. The Alabama Senate voted 13-5 for the legislation that now goes to Gov. Kay Ivey for her to sign or veto. Ivey, for the last four years, has used her executive powers to designate Juneteenth as a state holiday. The legislation will make the designation permanent. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned from Union soldiers that they were free. The news came two months after the end of the Civil War. Juneteenth has been a federal holiday since 2021. If signed into law, state offices will close on June 19 for the Juneteenth holiday as they do for other state holidays. The bill, which cleared the House of Representatives last month by an 85-4 vote, was sponsored by Republican Rep. Rick Rehm. Alabama senators approved the bill without debate. However, many Republicans in the 35-member chamber opted not to vote on the legislation. Alabama has three Confederate-related state holidays that close state offices. Alabama marks Confederate Memorial Day in April and the birthday of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in June. The state jointly observes Robert E. Lee Day with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 13:29:29+00:00	[ "Meteors and meteorites", "JWD-evergreen", "Space", "Shauna Edson", "Science", "Bill Cooke" ]	# How to catch the Eta Aquarid meteor shower, debris of Halley's comet By Christina Larson May 2nd, 2025, 01:29 PM --- Halley's comet swings near Earth every 75 years. But debris left by the comet leads to two major meteor showers every year including the Eta Aquarids. When this meteor shower lights up the night sky, "you'll know that Earth is crossing the path of the most famous comet," said Shauna Edson of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. The Eta Aquarids are "pretty fast meteors" said NASA's Bill Cooke. During Tuesday morning's peak, expect to see 10 to 15 meteors per hour in ideal viewing conditions, said Cooke. However, the moon will be nearly two-thirds full, which will likely reduce visibility. Viewing lasts until May 28. Here's what to know about the Eta Aquarids and other meteor showers. ## What is a meteor shower? As the Earth orbits the sun, several times a year it passes through debris left by passing comets and sometimes asteroids. The source of the Eta Aquarids is debris from Halley's comet. When these fast-moving space rocks enter Earth's atmosphere, the debris encounters new resistance from the air and becomes very hot, eventually burning up. Sometimes the surrounding air glows briefly, leaving behind a fiery tail — the end of a "shooting star." You don't need special equipment to see the various meteor showers that flash across annually, just a spot away from city lights. ## How to view a meteor shower The best time to watch a meteor shower is in the early predawn hours when the moon is low in the sky. Competing sources of light — such as a bright moon or artificial glow — are the main obstacles to a clear view of meteors. Cloudless nights when the moon wanes smallest are optimal viewing opportunities. And keep looking up, not down. Your eyes will be better adapted to spot shooting stars if you aren't checking your phone. ## When is the next meteor shower? The next major meteor shower, the Southern Delta Aquarids, peaks in late July. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 21:53:48+00:00	[ "District of Columbia", "Donald Trump", "United States government", "Lawsuits", "United States", "DC Wire", "James Bredar", "William Alsup", "Caroline Van Zile", "Supreme Court of the United States", "Legal proceedings", "Courts", "Politics", "Sarah Welch" ]	# Judge expresses sympathy for fired federal workers but unsure about remedy By Brian Witte May 6th, 2025, 09:53 PM --- A federal judge expressed sympathy on Tuesday for thousands of federal employees who were suddenly fired by the Trump administration earlier this year, but he also voiced skepticism about whether reinstating them to their jobs was a proper remedy and questioned what the courts could ultimately do. Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson made the comments during a hearing in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, as part of a lawsuit brought by 19 states and the District of Columbia. The suit alleges the states were harmed by the mass firings of probationary workers, because states did not have warnings required by law to help them prepare for the unemployed. "Part of me thinks that the voters may be the ones to render a final verdict on this," Wilkinson said. "There are limits to what the courts can do, but there are also gigantic political costs to throwing out so many employees, and in one sense the final verdict may be one for the voters to render. I'm not saying that's the whole answer, but maybe it's a part of it." While a federal judge in Baltimore issued an order in March to require the federal government to reinstate the employees, the federal appeals court halted it. The states are seeking further review as the lawsuit plays out, but Wilkinson said full reinstatement of the employees sounded like an overly broad remedy during Tuesday's hearing. Caroline Van Zile, the solicitor general of the District of Columbia, argued that the District of Columbia and states have been harmed due to the lack of 60 days' notice and information about layoffs required in the law when the federal government conducts a reduction in force. The time and information was set by Congress to help states respond, she said. "They have made us the ones responding to unemployment crises like this, not the federal government — the states," Van Zile said. "We are the ones left holding the bags by statute, and that's exactly why they gave us this right to information." But Sarah Welch, an attorney for the appellants, said information has been provided, and she also contended that the probationary employees in question were not dismissed due to what's known as a reduction in force, which triggers the 60-day warning and information requirements that the states say they did not receive. "These agencies did not conduct (reductions in force.) They haven't eliminated positions, and there's been not a shred of evidence that agencies through the terminations of probationary employees that are challenged here have eliminated a single position or changed their agency functions, which would be the calling cards of a RIF," Welch said. Probationary workers have been targeted for layoffs across the federal government because they're usually new to the job and lack full civil service protection. While expressing sympathy for the workers, Wilkinson said "there seems to be a disconnect between the harm alleged and the remedy imposed." "The remedy has to be tailored to the violation, and here the remedy is very broad, and much broader than the actual violation, and as just as a basic matter of equity, that's a difficult proposition," the judge said. But Van Zile said she believed U.S. District Judge James Bredar got it right in his order, when he said that agencies can't engage in far-reaching illegal activity "and then complain that the remedy is too burdensome." "They are the ones who terminated 24,000 employees in a single go," Van Zile said. "That harm was wrought on the states. We had no agency, no way to avoid that harm." Bredar was one of two judges appointed by Democratic presidents who found that the Trump administration violated federal laws in carrying out the terminations at 20 agencies in the states that sued. The Supreme Court blocked another order from U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco, finding that nonprofit groups lacked legal standing to sue over the firing of probationary workers. During Tuesday's hearing, Wilkinson also questioned whether reinstating the employees would give states too much influence over the composition of the federal workforce. While the judge said he has sympathy for how individuals have been affected, "there's a real question here of what the federal remedy could be that wouldn't really significantly damage the federal government's control over the composition of its own workforce." The states suing the Trump administration in the Baltimore case are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin, along with Washington, D.C.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 18:22:00+00:00	[ "Gaza Strip", "Israel", "Middle East", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Israel government", "Foreign aid", "Hamas", "Children", "Health", "Humanitarian crises", "Gavin Kelleher", "Business", "Philanthropy", "Israel-Hamas war", "Amjad Shawwa", "War and unrest", "Blockades", "Mustafa Ashour" ]	# Desperate children and adults in Gaza struggle to get food as Israel blocks aid By Mohamed Jahjouh and Julia Frankel May 2nd, 2025, 06:22 PM --- KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Screaming in anguish as the desperate crowd crushes them against a barrier, young children and adults frantically wave pots and pans at charity workers, begging for a portion of some of the last food aid left in Gaza: Rice. The chaos at the community kitchen in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Friday was too overwhelming for Niveen Abu Arar. She tried and tried, but the 33-year-old mother of eight didn't get to the front of the crowd in time. She left with her pot empty, and her eyes full of tears. "Until when will life be like that? We're slowly dying. We haven't eaten bread for a month and a half. There is no flour. There is nothing," said Abu Arar, whose ninth child, a 1-year-old boy, was killed in an Israeli strike near their home at the start of the war in 2023. "We don't know what to do … We don't have money. What do we get for them?" She cradled a toddler in her lap as she spoke. With no milk to provide, she poured water into a baby bottle and pressed it into her youngest daughter's mouth, hoping to stave off the baby's hunger pangs. With Israel blocking any form of aid — including food and medicine – into Gaza for the past two months, aid groups have warned that Gaza's civilian population is facing starvation. Israel has said that the blockade and its renewed military campaign aim to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages it still holds and to disarm. Aid groups stress that blocking humanitarian aid is a form of collective punishment and a violation of international law. Israeli authorities didn't immediately respond when asked about accusations that starvation was being used as a weapon of war, but in the past they have accused the Hamas militant group governing Gaza of stealing aid. In an emergency call with reporters on Friday to discuss Gaza's humanitarian crisis, aid groups described a territory nearly out of food, water and fuel, with prices for the meager supplies remaining skyrocketing beyond the reach of many. With nearly the entire population reliant on humanitarian aid, according to the United Nations, warehouses are empty, community kitchens are closing down, and families are skipping meals. A 25-kilogram (55-pound) bag of flour now goes for 1,300 shekels ($360), said Ghada al Haddad, Oxfam's media coordinator in Gaza. "Mothers in Gaza now feed their children one meal per day, dinner, so they don't wake up and complain they are starving," she said. Amjad Shawwa, the director of the Palestinian NGO network, said that more than 70 of their community kitchens inside Gaza would close within the week if the Israeli blockade continues. Israeli airstrikes have also taken out large swaths of Gaza's agricultural land and livestock, making it nearly impossible for the territory to produce its own food, said Gavin Kelleher, a humanitarian manager with the Norwegian Refugee Council who recently left Gaza. Even fisherman have been targeted, he said, killed in small fishing boats by Israeli naval forces. "Israel has engineered a situation where Palestinians cannot grow their own food or fish for their own food," he said. Kelleher, whose organization coordinates the provision of shelter to Gaza, said that not a single aid group has any tents left to distribute — as 1 million people inside Gaza remain in need of shelter given the devastation caused by the nearly 19-month war. In Khan Younis, Mustafa Ashour said he had walked for an hour to get to the charity community kitchen, and waiting for another two hours before he managed to get food. "The situation is hard in Gaza. The crossings are closed. It's a full siege," said Ashour, who was displaced from the southern city of Rafah. "There is no food. There is no water. There are no life necessities. The food being sold is expensive and very little." As for Abu Arar and her family — left without a handout from the charity kitchen — another family in a neighboring tent took pity, and shared their own meager portions of rice. Keller of the NRC said that if Israel continues its blockade, "thousands of people will die, there will be a complete breakdown of order, telecommunication networks will come down and we will struggle to understand the situation because it will be unfolding in the dark." ___ Julia Frankel reported from Jerusalem. Fatma Khaled contributed to this report from Cairo.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 18:16:31+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Maryland", "Wes Moore", "Labor", "DC Wire", "Government budgets", "Moodys Corp.", "Politics", "Indictments", "Business", "Steve Hershey", "Government policy" ]	# Maryland loses triple-A bond rating from Moody's rating agency By Brian Witte May 14th, 2025, 06:16 PM --- ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland lost its triple-A bond rating from Moody's on Wednesday, a rating the state has cited for more than 50 years as a sign of strong fiscal stewardship. Moody's downgraded the state's credit rating to Aa1. Maryland had received a triple-A bond rating from Moody's since 1973. The state has benefitted from the higher rating by paying the lowest rates when it sells bonds to pay for infrastructure, likes roads and schools. "The downgrade was driven by economic and financial underperformance compared to Aaa-rated states, which is expected to continue given the state's heightened vulnerability to shifting federal policies and employment, and its elevated fixed costs," Moody's said. Gov. Wes Moore and other leading Maryland Democrats blamed President Donald Trump's mass layoffs of federal workers, which is having a big impact on the region. The District of Columbia also recently received a credit-rating downgrade. "To put it bluntly, this is a Trump downgrade," Moore said in statement made jointly by the presiding officers of the state's legislature, Comptroller Brooke Lierman and Treasurer Dereck Davis, who are all Democrats. "Over the last one hundred days, the federal administration's decisions have wreaked havoc on the entire region, including Maryland." Maryland Republicans described the downgrade as "a harsh indictment of the state's current direction under Governor Wes Moore." "Donald Trump didn't downgrade Maryland's bond rating — Annapolis Democrats did. And now they're scrambling for someone else to blame," Republican Sen. Steve Hershey, the Senate minority leader, said in a statement. "This is the result of reckless spending, bloated budgets, and an economy that's been hollowed out by overregulation and overreliance on the federal government." Moody's had noted earlier this year that federal cuts pose a greater threat to Maryland than any other state. Maryland lawmakers recently concluded a challenging legislative session to balance the state's budget. They closed a $3.3 billion budget deficit for the next fiscal year with a combination of tax increases, budget cuts and fund transfers. Maryland lawmakers also directed the governor's budget office to keep track of the impact of federal cuts, alert them if it reaches $1 billion and make recommendations on how to deal with the impact. The Democrats' statement noted that Moody's acknowledged that the state had closed its budget gap, even as it remains exposed to the economic consequences of federal funding cuts and layoffs. "Maryland still holds one of the highest possible credit ratings in the nation," the joint statement said, "and as we have for decades, we will always pay our debts."
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 17:50:02+00:00	[ "U.S. Food and Drug Administration", "Algae", "Healthy eating", "Public health", "Marty Makary", "Health" ]	# FDA will allow three new color additives made from minerals, algae and flower petals By Jonel Aleccia May 9th, 2025, 05:50 PM --- U.S. regulators said Friday that they would allow three new color additives made from natural sources to be used in the nation's food supply. It comes after health officials pledged a sweeping phase-out of petroleum-based dyes widely used in foods from cereals to sports drinks to boost health — though action is still pending. The Food and Drug Administration said it is granting petitions to allow galdieria extract blue, a blue color derived from algae; calcium phosphate, a white color derived from a naturally occurring mineral; and butterfly pea flower extract, a blue color made from dried flower petals. The colors will be approved for use in a range of foods from fruit drinks and yogurt to pretzels, ready-to-eat chicken and candies. The move "will expand the palette of available colors from natural sources for manufacturers to safely use in food," FDA officials said in a statement. Health advocates have long called for the removal of artificial dyes from foods, citing mixed studies indicating the dyes can cause neurobehavioral problems for some children, including hyperactivity and attention issues. The FDA has maintained for decades that the approved dyes are safe and that "the totality of scientific evidence shows that most children have no adverse effects when consuming foods containing color additives." The new color approvals include a 2021 petition from the French company Fermentalg to allow galdieria extract blue; a 2023 petition from Innophos Inc. of Cranbury, New Jersey, to allow calcium phosphate; and a 2024 petition from Sensient Colors LLC of St. Louis, Missouri, to allow butterfly pea flower extract. The approvals are set to be published in the federal register on May 12 and would take effect in June. In April, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary announced that they would take steps to eliminate synthetic food dyes in the U.S. food supply by the end of 2026, largely through voluntary efforts from the food industry. The officials also said they would revoke authorization for two little-used artificial dyes, Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B, and accelerate the timeline to remove Red 3, a food color banned in January because of a link to cancer in laboratory rats. The FDA plans to initiate the process to revoke those colors "within the coming months," a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 20:17:34+00:00	[ "Financial markets", "Donald Trump", "Business", "Palantir Technologies", "Inc." ]	# How major US stock indexes fared Tuesday, 5/6/2025 By The Associated Press May 6th, 2025, 08:17 PM --- U.S. stocks closed lower on Wall Street as AI mania loses more steam and as more companies pull their financial forecasts because of uncertainty created by President Donald Trump's tariffs. The S&P 500 fell 0.8% Tuesday. The drop came a day after the index broke a nine-day winning streak, its longest such run in more than 20 years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.9%. Palantir Technologies was one of the heaviest weights on the market, even though the AI company reported a profit for the latest quarter that met analysts' expectations. On Tuesday: The S&P 500 fell 43.47 points, or 0.8%, to 5,606.91. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 389.83 points, or 0.9%, to 40,829. The Nasdaq composite fell 154.58 points, or 0.9%, to 17,689.66. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 21.07 points, or 1.1%, to 1,983.19. For the week: The S&P 500 is down 79.76 points, or 1.4%. The Dow is down 488.43 points, or 1.2%. The Nasdaq is down 288.07 or 1.6%. The Russell 2000 is down 37.55 points, or 1.9%. For the year: The S&P 500 is down 274.72 points, or 4.7%. The Dow is down 1,715.22 points, or 4%. The Nasdaq is down 1,621.13 or 8.4%. The Russell 2000 is down 246.97 points, or 11.1%.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 22:02:51+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Joe Biden", "Law and order", "District of Columbia", "Robert Mueller", "Anthony Fauci", "Pam Bondi", "Charles Kushner", "Jared Kushner", "U.S. Department of Justice", "DC Wire", "Ed Martin", "Jack Smith", "Jeanine Pirro", "Government and politics", "United States government", "Politics" ]	# Trump's new pardon attorney says he will scrutinize Biden's final pardons By Michael Kunzelman May 13th, 2025, 10:02 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Ed Martin Jr., who will be the Justice Department's new pardon attorney after President Donald Trump pulled his nomination to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, said Tuesday that he plans to scrutinize pardons that former President Joe Biden issued on his way out of the White House. "These are big moments, and so they have to be able to withstand scrutiny," Martin told reporters on Tuesday, his last full day as acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Biden pardoned his siblings and their spouses in January on his last day in office. He also pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. None of them had been charged with any crime. The pardons were designed to guard against possible retribution by President Donald Trump. Trump pulled Martin's nomination last week amid bipartisan opposition and replaced him with Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, who is expected to be sworn into office on Wednesday. Instead, Martin will serve as an associate deputy attorney general and pardon attorney. In his new role, Martin also will be director of the "weaponization working group" at the Justice Department. Attorney General Pam Bondi called for creating that group in February to investigate the work of former special counsel Jack Smith, who led two federal prosecutions of Trump that were ultimately abandoned, and other examples of what Republicans claim to be unfair targeting of conservatives during Biden's administration. In announcing his last-minute pardons, Biden said his family had been "subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me — the worst kind of partisan politics." "Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end," he said on the day of Trump's second inauguration. Martin told reporters that he believes Biden's pardons "need some scrutiny." "They need scrutiny because we want pardons to matter and to be accepted and to be something that's used correctly. So I do think we're going to take a hard look at how they went and what they did," he said. The Constitution grants broad pardon powers to presidents and their clemency actions cannot be undone by courts or other officials. It's not clear what action, if any, Martin believes he would be able to take regarding Biden's pardons. Martin said the U.S. Attorney's office under his leadership already had been "taking a look at some of the conduct surrounding the pardons and the Biden White House." Trump also has used the president's sweeping pardon powers to benefit those close to him. In his final weeks of his first term, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in law, Jared Kushner, as well as multiple allies convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. On the first day of his second term, Trump pardoned nearly all of the 1,500 people charged with crimes in the Capitol riot, freeing from prison dozens of people convicted of assaulting police. Trump appointed Martin as acting U.S. Attorney during his first week back in the White House. Martin oversaw the dismissal of hundreds of Capitol riot cases after Trump's Jan. 6 pardons. But his hopes of keeping the job faded amid questions about his lack of prosecutorial experience and his divisive politics. Trump yanked Martin's nomination two days after a key Republican senator said he could not support Martin for the job due to his defense of Capitol rioters. "Ultimately, the president decided we didn't want to keep going forward," Martin said. "The president of the United States said we have other battles to do, and so I'm excited about that." ___ Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 00:21:39+00:00	[ "South Carolina state government", "South Carolina", "Henry McMaster", "Legislation", "Hate crimes", "Drug crimes", "Utilities", "Curtis Loftis", "Politics", "Shane Massey", "Marijuana", "Brad Hutto" ]	# South Carolina General Assembly ends regular 2025 session By Jeffrey Collins May 9th, 2025, 12:21 AM --- COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina General Assembly wrapped up its regular 2025 session Thursday with a few accomplishments, but a number of things like the fate of the state treasurer and radical changes in the state's tax code are still up in the air. In a flurry of action over the final days, the Republican-dominated legislature passed a bill they hope will reduce skyrocketing insurance rates for restaurants and clubs that serve liquor, and another measure that utilities said was necessary for them to meet the growing demand for power as the state's population booms. And by the end of the year, it will likely be illegal for drivers to hold their cellphones in their hands. Lawmakers also passed a bill allowing parents to spend public money on private schools. The General Assembly passed a similar voucher program in 2023 but it was struck down by the state Supreme Court. Republicans are confident they made just enough changes that the justices won't rule again that it violates the state constitution by directly benefiting private schools. Republican Gov. Henry McMaster has either signed or is expected to sign all those proposals. This is the first of the two-year session, so all pending bills will remain where they are until January when the 2026 session begins. But since the 2024 elections created a Republican supermajority in the Senate and locked in the one in the House, issues like a hate crimes law or medical marijuana measure that have been building support fell off the radar this session. "In the big picture, we didn't do any momentous legislation this year that's going to be remembered long after this year other than potentially the voucher bill if it is somehow found to be constitutional," Democratic Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto said. ## Big wins The liquor liability proposal keeps the requirement for restaurants and bars that serve alcohol to have $1 million in liability insurance. But they can reduce the amount of coverage they must carry by doing things like closing early, having scanners to confirm IDs or showing less than 40% of their sales come from alcohol. Lawmakers discussed tackling other issues with civil lawsuits, but mostly punted that to next year. On energy, lawmakers decided to allow private Dominion Energy and publicly-owned Santee Cooper to work together on a large power plant run on natural gas that both utilities say is needed to meet growing energy needs. The bill also requires regulators to review permits for utility projects quicker. The compromise did not include any limits on data centers, which can use massive amounts of power, or protections some lawmakers wanted for when utilities want to take private land to build pipelines, power lines or substations. "You're going to regret this," said Republican Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, who several times invoked problems utilities created with too much operational freedom, such as losing billions of dollars on nuclear reactors that were never completed. ## Wait 'til next year The House passed a bill that would substantially alter the state's income tax system after their original plan was criticized for raising taxes for up to 60% of filers in its first year. The new plan would leave two rates — 1.99% on the first $30,000 of taxable income and 5.39% on everything above that. The current highest rate will likely be dropped to 6% this summer. Republicans said their goal is to slowly drop the higher rate until everyone pays 1.99%. When initially put in place, about 24% of taxpayers will pay more. The Senate didn't take up the bill. The Senate voted to remove Republican Treasurer Curtis Loftis from office for his role in a $1.8 billion accounting error that required millions of dollars by forensic accounts to determine it didn't involve actual money, just bad entries in the state's ledgers. Loftis remains in office because the proposal needed a two-thirds vote from the House as well, and Republican Speaker Murrell Smith said nothing will happen next year — when Loftis plans to run for reelection — because most of the party doesn't think that is an appropriate punishment. "We need to let the voters decide if they want to keep him in office," Smith said. ## Never mind Two perennial issues in the General Assembly — a hate crimes bill and a proposal allowing medical use of marijuana — didn't get much traction in 2025. After passing a bill that would make South Carolina the 49th state with a hate crime laws in previous sessions, the House ignored it in 2025. The effort has failed continuously in the Senate, and Massey said he doesn't expect that to change any time soon because he sees no need for it. Medical marijuana has passed the Senate twice in recent years but couldn't quite get through the House. This year it failed to get a hearing in either chamber.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 18:34:23+00:00	[ "Crime", "Aaron Thomas", "Juries", "Indictments", "Sexual assault", "Assault", "Rhode Island", "John MacDonald", "Education", "Peter Neronha", "Sexual abuse", "Legal proceedings", "Child abuse" ]	# High school coach who did naked fat tests found not guilty of child molestation, sexual assault By Kimberlee Kruesi May 19th, 2025, 06:34 PM --- PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A jury has found a former Rhode Island high school basketball coach not guilty of second-degree child molestation and second-degree sexual assault after he spent decades asking hundreds of male student-athletes if they were "shy or not shy" before asking them to get naked so he could check their body fat. Instead, the 12 jurors found Aaron Thomas guilty of a lesser charge, misdemeanor battery, in their verdict handed down Monday. In the final days of the trial, attorneys agreed that the jury could consider convicting Thomas of misdemeanor battery rather than the harsher charges originally issued against the coach. Throughout the nearly six-week trial, defense attorneys for Thomas argued that the so-called naked fat tests conducted by the once-beloved coach at North Kingstown High School were wrong but not a crime. The defense said Thomas didn't touch the boy athletes for sexual gratification or arousal, a key requirement under the charges he faced. "We'd like to thank the jury for their attention, their hard work, and for their verdict. We are very satisfied that the jury saw the case as we saw it, no sexual intent whatsoever," defense attorney John MacDonald told reporters outside the court. Prosecutors maintained Thomas created and implemented a program that allowed him to have unfettered access to young naked boys for decades. "Above all else, this case is about the victims who suffered greatly behind closed doors," said Attorney General Peter Neronha in a statement. "And despite what the defendant and his defense would have you believe, pseudo-science is not an excuse for abuse, nor is winning more important than well-being. We believe that what took place here was not just bad judgment, it was, and always has been, criminal conduct." Neronha added that the statute of limitations on second-degree assault in Rhode Island is three years, a limit that he has pushed to increase to 10 years and would have allowed him to pursue more charges. Under Rhode Island law, misdemeanor battery carries a maximum one-year prison sentence and a possible fine as high as $1,000. Sentencing for Thomas will take place June 26. Although Thomas performed the tests on multiple students over many years, the charges related to just two former students, including one who was under 14 at the time, in September 2000 and February 2002. Thomas' attorneys argued that these former students' testimony were unreliable — pointing out one of the boy's mental health struggles — and stressed that they really wanted a monetary payment under a separate civil lawsuit. During his testimony, Thomas told the jury that he likely saw more than 600 students throughout his career, with "roughly 80%" of them taking their underwear off during the test. The tests involved Thomas pinching various areas of their bodies, including near the groin and buttocks. The tests were conducted behind closed doors, first in a small closet-like room and then eventually in Thomas' office. Thomas acknowledged while on the stand that removing the underwear was not necessary, while body fat composition experts said pinching near the groin was not backed by science as a way to determine body fat. More than a dozen students testified throughout the trial, as well as law enforcement officers, body composition experts and former school officials.
Associated Press News	2025-05-17 08:36:29+00:00	[ "Israel", "Yuval Raphael", "Country music", "Music", "Eurovision Song Contest", "Austria", "Gaza Strip", "Classical music", "Eurocopa 2024", "Rebecca Laes-Kushner", "Lifestyle", "Erika Vikman", "Christian Stocker", "Lucio Corsi", "Joost Klein", "Johannes Pietsch", "Opera", "Pop music", "Entertainment", "Tommy Cash", "Israel-Hamas war", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Dean Vuletic", "Martin Green", "Hamas" ]	# Austria's JJ wins Eurovision Song Contest with pop-opera song 'Wasted Love.' Israel comes 2nd By Jill Lawless May 17th, 2025, 08:36 AM --- BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — Classically trained Austrian singer JJ won the 69th Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland on Saturday with "Wasted Love," a song that combines operatic, multi-octave vocals with a techno twist. Israeli singer Yuval Raphael came second at an exuberant celebration of music and unity that was shadowed by the Gaza war and rattled by discord over Israel's participation. JJ, whose full name is Johannes Pietsch, was Austria's third Eurovision winner, and the first since bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst in 2014. The 24-year-old countertenor, who sings at the Vienna State Opera, has called Wurst a mentor. "This is beyond my wildest dreams. It's crazy," said the singer after being handed the microphone-shaped glass Eurovision trophy. JJ won after a nail-biting final that saw Raphael scoop up a massive public vote from her many fans for her anthemic "New Day Will Rise." But she also faced protests from pro-Palestinian demonstrators calling for Israel to be kicked out of the contest over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza. At a post-victory press conference, JJ said the message of his song about unrequited romance was that "love is the strongest force on planet Earth, and love persevered. "Let's spread love, guys," said JJ, who added that he was honored to be the first Eurovision champion with Filipino heritage, as well as a proudly queer winner. He said his message was "acceptance and equality for everyone." Political leaders in Austria, which will host the contest next year, congratulated JJ on his win. "What a great success - my warmest congratulations on winning #ESC2025! JJ is writing Austrian music history today!" Chancellor Christian Stocker posted on X. ## Eclectic and sometimes baffling The world's largest live music event, which has been uniting and dividing Europeans since 1956, reached its glitter-drenched conclusion with a grand final in Basel that offered pounding electropop, quirky rock and outrageous divas. Acts from 26 countries — trimmed from 37 entrants through two elimination semifinals — performed to some 160 million viewers for the continent's pop crown. No smoke machine, jet of flame or dizzying light display was spared by musicians who had 3 minutes to win over millions of viewers who, along with national juries of music professionals, picked the winner. Estonia's Tommy Cash came third with his jokey mock-Italian dance song "Espresso Macchiato." Swedish entry KAJ, who had been favorite to win with jaunty sauna ode "Bara Bada Bastu," came fourth. Several highly praised singers who had been tipped to win fell short, including French chanteuse Louane and soulful Dutch singer Claude. The show was a celebration of Europe's eclectic, and sometimes baffling, musical tastes. Lithuanian band Katarsis delivered grunge rock, while Ukraine's Ziferblat channeled prog rock and the U.K.'s Remember Monday offered country pop. Italy's Lucio Corsi evoked 1970s glam rock, while Icelandic duo VAEB rapped about rowing, Latvia's six-woman Tautumeitas offered gorgeous, intertwined harmonies and leather-clad Finn Erika Vikman belted out the innuendo-filled electro-pop song "Ich Komme." There were divas aplenty, including Spain's Melody, Poland's Justyna Steczkowska, participating in Eurovision for a second time after a 30-year gap,, and Malta's outrageous Miriana Conte, who performed the saucy "Serving" on a set including a glitter ball and giant lips. Dean Vuletic, an expert on the history of Eurovision, said the competition has become more diverse over the years, and the days are gone when the key to winning was "a catchy, innocuous pop song, usually in English." "An entry needs to be memorable and it needs to be authentic in order to succeed these days," he said. ## The war in Gaza clouded the contest This year's contest was roiled for a second year by disputes over Israel's participation. Raphael — a survivor of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on a music festival in southern Israel that triggered the Gaza war — was met by a mix of cheers and boos as she sang. Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR said a man and woman were stopped as they tried to climb over a barrier to the stage at the end of her song. It said a crew member was hit by paint thrown by the pair. Raphael's team said she was left "shaken and upset." Dozens of former Eurovision competitors, including last year's winner Nemo of Switzerland, have called for Israel to be excluded, and several of the broadcasters that fund Eurovision sought a review of the country's participation. The Oct. 7 cross-border attacks by Hamas militants killed 1,200 people, and roughly 250 were taken hostage into Gaza. More than 52,800 people in Gaza have been killed in Israel's retaliatory offensive, according to the territory's health ministry. Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protests both took place in Basel, though on a much smaller scale than at last year's event in Sweden, where thousands marched in the streets and tensions spilled over backstage, leading to the expulsion of Dutch contestant Joost Klein. Hundreds of people marched through Basel just before the competition, waving Palestinian flags and chanting "Boycott Israel." Earlier, a group of Israel supporters gathered in Basel's cathedral square to root for Raphael and to show that "Jews belong in public spaces in Switzerland," Zurich resident Rebecca Laes-Kushner said. She said that "it would be such a strong statement against antisemitism," if Raphael won. "This is supposed to be about music, not about hate," she said. The European Broadcasting Union, or EBU, which runs Eurovision, tightened the contest's code of conduct this year, calling on participants to respect Eurovision's values of "universality, diversity, equality and inclusivity" and its political neutrality. Eurovision director Martin Green told reporters that the organizers' goal was to "re-establish a sense of unity, calm and togetherness this year in a difficult world." He said all 37 national delegations "have behaved impeccably." ## ___ Hilary Fox and Kwiyeon Ha in Basel, Maria Sherman in New York, Sylvia Hui in London, Stefanio Dazio in Berlin and Stephanie Liechtenstein in Vienna contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 18:31:54+00:00	[ "Health disparities", "Medical research", "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.", "Autism", "Health", "Helen Tager-Flusberg", "U.S. Department of Health and Human Services", "Politics", "Donald Trump", "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention" ]	# HHS to probe data from autistic Medicare, Medicaid enrollees, RFK Jr. says By Amanda Seitz May 7th, 2025, 06:31 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a plan Wednesday to use medical data and records from people on Medicaid and Medicare to help study autism although experts say it's unlikely to help reveal the condition's root causes. The program will involve a data sharing agreement between the National Institutes of Health, the government's health research arm, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which has access to claims data from nearly 150 million Americans across the country. "We're using this partnership to uncover the root causes of autism and other chronic diseases," Kennedy said in a statement. The agreement will be "consistent with applicable privacy laws to protect Americans' sensitive health information," the HHS statement said. The health department did not respond to additional questions about the program. Using the data, the agency said researchers will focus on autism diagnosis trends, health outcomes from medical or behavioral treatment, access to care based on demographics and geography as well the economic burden of autism on families and health care systems. The problem is that this isn't the kind of data needed to answer questions about autism's causes, said Helen Tager-Flusberg, professor emerita at Boston University who leads a new Coalition of Autism Scientists pushing back on Kennedy's characterizations of the condition. "Enough research has been done at this point to know there is no simple magic bullet," she said, cautioning that this type of dataset won't help with the type of research most needed — into genetics and other prenatal, preconception and early infancy factors. Kennedy has directed the health department to undertake a far-reaching research effort to identify the causes of autism, a complex disorder that impacts the brain. Announcing his plans last month, Kennedy said he plans to provide answers as to what causes autism by September. He has since said the department will determine at least "some" of the causes. His research directive comes as autism rates in the U.S. are rising, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention releasing a report that an estimated 1 in 31 U.S. children have autism, a marked increase from 2020. Scientists and researchers who study autism have said that increase in diagnoses is the result of increased awareness about the disorder, especially among people who exhibit milder symptoms of autism. Kennedy has rejected that explanation in public appearances, instead describing autism as a "preventable disease" that is caused by environmental factors. Autism is not considered a disease but a complex brain disorder. Those who have spent decades researching autism have found no single cause, although genetic factors are associated with it. In addition to genetics, scientists have identified various possible factors, including the age of a child's father, the mother's weight and whether she had diabetes or was exposed to certain chemicals. Kennedy's comments have sparked alarm among autism researchers and advocates, who fear he will use the study to support a discredited theory that vaccines cause autism. Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic, has pushed that theory before, although decades of research has found no link between vaccines and autism. President Donald Trump has also suggested that vaccines could be to blame for autism rates. The new platform that HHS plans to launch around autism will be a "pilot," that will be used to study chronic conditions and treatments, the agency said. —- Associated Press writer Lauran Neergaard contributed reporting.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 18:34:31+00:00	[ "North Carolina", "Donald Trump", "Raleigh", "Mike Johnson", "District of Columbia", "Mike Pence North Carolina", "Government policy", "Economic policy", "International trade", "Business", "Politics", "Government programs", "Legislation", "Government budgets", "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.", "Conservatism", "United States government", "John Locke", "U.S. Republican Party", "Taxes" ]	# Pence speaks in North Carolina against broad Trump tariffs and praises House on tax bill By Gary D. Robertson May 19th, 2025, 06:34 PM --- RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence spoke Monday in North Carolina against the Trump administration's zealous efforts to impose tariffs on trading partners worldwide — another effort that shows his willingness to split at times with his former boss. The education arm of Pence's political advocacy group kicked off in Raleigh a series of events nationwide that was also billed as building support to extend individual income tax reductions enacted by Trump and fellow Republicans in 2017 but set to expire at year's end. In a brief interview with The Associated Press, Pence praised congressional Republicans for pushing ahead President Donald Trump's bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, saying "there should be no higher domestic priority" than making permanent the tax cuts passed in Trump's first term. But much of the meeting focused on Pence and key conservative business leaders in North Carolina opposing Trump's recent tariff efforts. Monday's event marked another step by Pence to try to distinguish himself among the small group of Republicans in Washington willing to publicly criticize policies sought by the second Trump administration. Pence and others said protectionism would ultimately harm the U.S. economy in the form of higher prices and employment losses. "It is ultimately for the most part American consumers that will pay the price of higher tariffs," Pence said at the event assembled by Pence's Advancing American Freedom Foundation and the Raleigh-based John Locke Foundation. The massive 1,116-page budget bill, which also contains additional tax breaks that Trump campaigned for in the 2024 election — as well as spending reductions and beefed-up border security — initially failed to pass the House Budget Committee late last week. A handful of conservatives who voted against the bill want further cuts to Medicaid and green energy tax breaks. House Speaker Mike Johnson aims to send the bill to the Senate by Memorial Day. The bill cleared the committee in a rare Sunday night meeting, but Johnson told reporters afterward that negotiations were ongoing. "I'm encouraged," Pence told the AP after Monday's event. "I'm grateful that conservatives in the House have been pressing for more common sense reforms in Medicaid." Three days ago, Moody's Ratings mentioned the 2017 tax cuts as it stripped the U.S. government of its top credit rating, citing the inability of policymakers to rein in debt. Conservatives see the tax cuts as providing fuel for the economy while putting more money in taxpayers' pockets. Democrats say the wealthiest Americans benefit the most from them. Pence told the AP the larger issue is the unwillingness of politicians to consider "commonsense, compassionate" entitlement reforms for Medicare and Social Security that would address the nation's nearly $37 trillion of debt and "set us back on a path of fiscal integrity." Pence said at the roundtable that he's proud of Trump's first-term efforts to use the tariff threat to reach new free-trade agreements with trading partners. And Pence agreed that China is an exception for retaliatory tariffs, citing intellectual property theft and dumping products like steel onto world markets. But Trump's second-term effort, seeming to make tariffs large and permanent, are very different and misguided, he said. Trump has said broad tariffs on foreign goods are needed to narrow the gap with taxes other countries place on U.S. goods. Trump said that countries "have to pay for the right to sell here," Pence said in recalling first-term conversations. "Any time I'd remind him that actually it's American importers that pay the tariff, he would look a little annoyed at me from time to time and say, 'I know how it works.' And then he'd say, 'but they have to pay.'" While the former Indiana governor and U.S. House member refused to break with Trump during their time serving together, the two had a falling out over his refusal to go along with Trump's efforts to remain in office after losing the 2020 election. Trump had tried to pressure Pence to reject election results from swing states where the Republican president falsely claimed the vote was marred by fraud. A 2024 presidential campaign by Pence — and potentially against Trump — ended early. He committed to invigorating Advancing American Freedom by promoting conservative principles as Trump's brand of populism has taken hold in the GOP. Pence's group spent nearly $1 million on ads opposing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. And Pence also has spoken in favor of Trump standing with long-standing foreign allies.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 20:11:44+00:00	[ "Colorado Springs", "Juan Gabriel Orona", "Colorado", "Denver", "Donald Trump", "Drug crimes", "Law enforcement", "U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration", "Immigration", "Garreth Winstead", "Courts", "Jonathan Pullen", "Government policy", "Josh Lilley" ]	# Soldier at a Colorado nightclub during an immigration raid charged with distributing cocaine By Colleen Slevin May 1st, 2025, 08:11 PM --- DENVER (AP) — A soldier present at an after-hours nightclub where more than 100 immigrants suspected of being in the U.S. illegally were taken into custody appeared in court Thursday to face charges that he distributed cocaine. Staff Sgt. Juan Gabriel Orona-Rodriguez, who is assigned to Fort Carson, an Army post near the illegal club in Colorado Springs, was arrested Wednesday evening, the FBI said. He allegedly sold cocaine to an undercover agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration days before the raid and is accused of working with others to distribute the drug since around September, according to his arrest affidavit. Orona-Rodriguez — a member of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team in the 4th Infantry Division — was dressed in camouflage pants and a khaki T-shirt and held court documents in his handcuffed hands during his brief court hearing. He listened as the magistrate judge explained his rights and agreed to appoint a public defender to represent him. At the request of Assistant U.S. Attorney Garreth Winstead, Orona-Rodriguez will continue to be held until a hearing to discuss his detention on Tuesday. His lawyer, Josh Lilley, did not address the allegations against him during the hearing and declined to comment after the hearing, citing the public defenders' policy against speaking to the media. More than 300 law enforcement officers and officials from multiple agencies participated in Sunday's operation at the nightclub, which had been under investigation for months, said Jonathan Pullen, special agent in charge of the DEA's Rocky Mountain Division. Cocaine was among the drugs found, Pullen said at a news conference in Colorado Springs, whose leaders have declared that it is not a "sanctuary city" for migrants. Orona-Rodriguez was one of about 17 active-duty U.S. Army service members who were at the club, known as Warike, when it was raided early Sunday, the affidavit said. He appears to have held a leadership role in a business that provides armed security at nightclubs, including at Warike, according to the document. However, it did not say whether he was working security there at the time of the raid. It notes that he had been warned by his commanding officer this spring that he could not work for the security company. According to the arrest affidavit, police received 911 calls related to the club "citing a wide variety of alleged crimes, including weapons violations, assault, narcotics, and other violent crime." Two people wanted in connection with criminal misdemeanor cases were also arrested during the raid, Colorado Springs police said. Colorado Springs mayor Yemi Mobolade, a political independent and Nigerian immigrant, has expressed support for the operation, which he said was the "result of clear evidence of serious criminal conduct." "Our residents deserve to live in a city where the rule of law is upheld and where illegal behavior is met with firm and decisive action," he said in a statement. President Donald Trump posted a link to the DEA video of the raid on his social media site, Truth Social. "A big Raid last night on some of the worst people illegally in our Country — Drug Dealers, Murderers, and other Violent Criminals, of all shapes and sizes," the president wrote. Rodriguez received more than a dozen Army awards during his almost nine years in service, including an Army Commendation Medal with combat device, which is earned during a deployment where the soldier was "performing meritoriously under the most arduous combat conditions," according to Army descriptions of the award. Of the 17 soldiers who were at the venue at the time of the raid, 16 were patrons and one was working there in a security role, a U.S. official said on the condition of anonymity to provide details not yet made public. Sixteen of the soldiers there were assigned to Fort Carson, the official did not know where the seventeenth was assigned. Investigators suspect Orona-Rodriguez was getting cocaine from an unidentified Mexican citizen who is "unlawfully present in the United States without admission," according to the affidavit. Orona-Rodriguez was charged with two drug-related counts, including conspiracy to distribute cocaine. _____ Associated Press writer Tara Copp in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 01:05:09+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Philippines", "Joe Biden", "Jeanine Pirro", "Lawsuits", "Philippines government", "Courts", "Legal proceedings", "Bribery", "Corporate crime", "Voting", "New York City Wire", "Erik Connolly", "Rudolph Giuliani", "Fraud", "Indictments", "Corruption", "Sidney Powell", "Elections" ]	# Fox News can get Smartmatic records about Philippines bribery case, court rules By Jennifer Peltz May 14th, 2025, 01:05 AM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News can get access to some internal documents at the voting-technology company Smartmatic as part of its effort to defend itself against a $2.7 billion civil defamation lawsuit over its coverage of claims of voting fraud during the 2020 presidential election, a New York appeals court ruled Tuesday. The documents concern a U.S. corruption case about Smartmatic's dealings in the Philippines. The opinion reversed a lower-court judge's repeated denials of Fox requests to peer into the company's records about the federal inquiry, which led to criminal charges against Smartmatic co-founder Roger Piñate and two other executives. Smartmatic says the suit is a world away from the criminal case, which alleges the executives conspired to pay over $1 million in bribes to a Filipino official between 2015 and 2018 to secure business there. Piñate and at least one co-defendant have pleaded not guilty. It's unclear from court records whether the third executive has entered a plea or has an attorney who can comment on the charges. Smartmatic itself isn't charged and put the defendants on leave. Florida-based Smartmatic says its business was decimated when Fox aired false claims that the election-tech company helped rig the 2020 voting. Under pressure from Smartmatic, Fox eventually interviewed an election technology expert who refuted the allegations. The network says it simply reported on newsworthy allegations made by President Donald Trump and his allies, and that Smartmatic is vastly overstating its purported losses. A five-judge state Appellate Division panel said Fox can get some documents about how the Philippines corruption indictment affected Smartmatic's business, reasoning that the information is "plainly relevant to its current and future lost profits." In court filings and a recent hearing, lawyers for Fox News and Smartmatic disputed how much relevant material already was turned over. Hailing Tuesday's ruling, the network said in a statement that evidence "shows that Smartmatic's business and reputation were badly suffering long before any claims by President Trump's lawyers on Fox News." Smartmatic lawyer Erik Connolly said Fox's "campaign of lies was the number-one cause of Smartmatic's injuries." Smartmatic is suing the network and some current and former on-air hosts, including Jeanine Pirro, newly tapped as top federal prosecutor for the nation's capital. The lawsuit involves shows in which Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell portrayed Smartmatic as part of a broad conspiracy to steal the 2020 vote from Trump. The Republican was then in his first term. Federal and state election officials, exhaustive reviews in battleground states and Trump's own then-attorney general found no widespread fraud that could have changed the outcome of the election, which was won by Democrat Joe Biden. Nor did they uncover any credible evidence that the vote was tainted. Dozens of judges, including some whom Trump had appointed, rejected his fraud claims.
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 07:48:01+00:00	[ "South Korea", "Theft", "Buddhism", "South Korea government", "Japan government", "Entertainment" ]	# A Buddhist statue stolen from a Japanese temple nearly 13 years ago is returned from South Korea By Mari Yamaguchi May 12th, 2025, 07:48 AM --- TOKYO (AP) — A 14th century Korean Buddhist statue stolen from a Japanese temple nearly 13 years ago was returned on Monday, following a yearslong legal battle between Japan and South Korea over its ownership that had further strained sensitive ties between the two Asian neighbors. Dozens of temple members and local residents standing by the roadside applauded to welcome the statue as a truck carrying a wooden container with it arrived at Kannonji, a temple on Japan's western island of Tsushima. The statue is expected to be kept at a local museum following a ceremony at the temple later in the day. The gilt bronze statue Bodhisatva — worshipped for mercy and compassion — is depicted in a sitting position and measures about 50 centimeters (20 inches) in height. It has been designated a cultural asset of the region and was one of two statues stolen in 2012 from Kannonji by thieves who were looking to sell them in South Korea. The South Korean government had returned the other statue to the Japanese temple soon after the authorities recovered it from the thieves, who were arrested and charged. But the Bodhisatva got trapped in legal dispute after Buseoksa, a South Korean temple in the western coastal city of Seosan, filed a lawsuit, claiming it as the rightful owner. South Korea's Supreme Court in 2023 ruled in favor of the Japanese temple, ordering the South Korean temple to return the statue. After all the paperwork was completed in January, the statue remained on a 100-day loan to the South Korean temple for a farewell exhibit. The temple in South Korea said it was saddened by the statue's return and insisted it was the rightful owner. "All our faithful ... feel like crying," Woonou, the temple's chief monk, told The Associated Press over the phone. He insisted that Japan "plundered" the statue from Korea and deserves "international condemnation." Sekko Tanaka, a former head monk at Kannonji, told reporters that the handover ceremony at the South Korean temple on Saturday was "truly amicable and we shook hands." "A calm after a storm," he said, adding that he felt relieved to see the dispute resolved while he is still alive. Tanaka said he hoped South Koreans would visit Tsushima and discover its centuries-old cultural ties with Korea, though there will now be higher security around the statue. Japan and South Korea have long had disputes over Japanese atrocities during its 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula, though their ties improved due to shared concern over regional security. ___ Associated Press writer Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 11:59:56+00:00	[ "Florida", "Animals", "Boat and ship accidents", "U.S. Coast Guard", "Rachel Miller", "Miami" ]	# 32 people rescued from yacht that began sinking off Miami Beach May 5th, 2025, 11:59 AM --- MIAMI (AP) — Thirty-two people were safely rescued when a Lamborghini yacht began sinking off Miami Beach over the weekend, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The 63-foot (19-meter) boat began taking on water off Monument Island late Saturday afternoon. Crews from the Coast Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and marine patrol units from local police agencies responded to calls for help. The people were taken to the Miami Beach Marina and checked out by Miami Beach Fire Rescue. "We saw, like, a bunch of cop boats, like police boats, and there was another yacht that was flipped over, completely vertical in the water," Rachel Miller, who witnessed the incident, told Miami television station WSVN. Authorities said they don't yet know why the yacht began taking on water. It was later pushed out of the channel and did not pose a threat to boaters, the Coast Guard said. The fish and wildlife agency will lead an investigation. Monument Island is near Star Island, home to many celebrities. It was a busy weekend in South Florida, with an air and sea show drawing large crowds to the beach in Fort Lauderdale and the Miami Grand Prix in nearby Miami Gardens.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 07:54:12+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Joe Biden", "Bill Gates", "Smoking", "War and unrest", "World Health Organization", "United States government", "Government budgets", "International agreements", "United States", "Matthew Kavanagh", "Health", "Politics", "Michael Ryan", "United Nations", "Geneva", "Pandemics", "Disease outbreaks", "COVID-19 pandemic", "Sebastian Lukomski", "Marketing and advertising" ]	# After US cuts funding, WHO chief defends $2.1B budget request by comparing it with cost of war By Jamey Keaten May 19th, 2025, 07:54 AM --- GENEVA (AP) — Stripped of U.S. funding, the World Health Organization chief on Monday appealed to member countries to support its "extremely modest" request for a $2.1 billion annual budget by putting that sum into perspective next to outlays for ad campaigns for tobacco or the cost of war. After nearly 80 years of striving to improve human lives and health –- which critics say it has done poorly or not enough -- the U.N. health agency is fighting for its own after U.S. President Donald Trump in January halted funding from the United States, which has traditionally been WHO's largest donor. "Two-point-one billion dollars is the equivalent of global military expenditure every eight hours," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. "Two-point-one billion dollars is the price of one stealth bomber, to kill people." "And $2.1 billion is one-quarter of what the tobacco industry spends on advertising and promotion every single year. Again, a product that kills people," he told the WHO's annual assembly. "It seems somebody switched the price tags on what is truly valuable in our world." Tedros made no specific reference to the U.S. cuts but has said previously the U.S. pullout was a "mistake" and urged Washington to reconsider. A State Department spokesperson, in an email, confirmed Monday that "The United States will not field a delegation to participate in the World Health Assembly." WHO has presented a budget for the next two years that is 22% less than originally planned, largely in response to U.S. and other Western funding cuts, and says it has landed commitments for about 60% of that. But it still faces a budget gap of $1.7 billion. "We know that in the current landscape, mobilizing that sum will be a challenge. We are not naive to that challenge," Tedros said. "But for an organization working on the ground in 150 countries with a vast mission and mandate that member states have given us, $4.2 billion for two years — or $2.1 billion a year — is not ambitious. It's extremely modest," he said. ## Cuts that could cost lives As a result of the cuts, the U.N. health agency this year has seen a plunge in its ability to carry out its sweeping mandate to do everything from recommend reductions in sugar levels in soft drinks to head the global response to pandemics like COVID-19 or outbreaks like polio or Ebola. Tedros and his team have been grappling with a response to the U.S. cuts as well as reduced outlays from wealthy European countries that are worried about an expansionist Russia and are putting more money toward defense, and less toward humanitarian and development aid. Matthew Kavanagh, the director of Georgetown University's Center for Global Health Policy and Politics, said other countries have used the U.S. cut in aid "as cover to do their maneuvering, with many countries in Europe reducing aid." "The WHO faces an existential crisis that goes well beyond a budget gap to the question of whether this sort of multilateralism can succeed in addressing global health in this new era of nationalism and misinformation," he said, alluding to discord between many countries that could cost lives. "Literally millions will likely die needlessly on the current trajectory and the world's health ministers do not seem capable of a coherent response," Kavanagh added. ## Pandemic preparedness on the agenda On tap for the nine-day World Health Assembly are two major advances that are aimed to buttress WHO's financial strength and bolster the world's ability to cope with future pandemics. Member countries are expected to agree to raise annual dues, known as "assessed contributions," by 20% to support WHO finances and reduce dependency on governments' voluntary contributions — which change each year and make up over half of the budget. They are also expected to agree to a hard-wrought " pandemic treaty " that was born of a desire to avoid any replay of the patchy, unequal response to COVID-19 when the next — and inevitable, most experts say — pandemic hits. Among other things, the treaty would guarantee that countries that share critical samples of viruses will receive any resulting tests, medicines and vaccines and give WHO up to 20% of such products to make sure poorer countries can have access to them. "Every World Health Assembly is significant, but this year's is especially so," Tedros said. "This is truly a historic moment." The treaty's effectiveness will face doubts when the U.S. — which poured billions into speedy work by pharmaceutical companies to develop COVID-19 vaccines — is sitting out, and because countries face no penalties if they ignore it, a common issue in international law. Kavanagh said passage of the treaty "could be a significant victory — evidence that the U.S. government may no longer be indispensable in global health" and could offer an opportunity for developing nations in the "global South" over the longer term. ## Management shake-up as critics blast WHO Trump has long derided WHO, including back in his first term when he pulled the United States out over its alleged kowtowing to China and other alleged missteps in the Covid pandemic. President Joe Biden put the U.S. back in. On his first day back in office in January, Trump signed an executive order to pause future transfers of U.S. government funds to the WHO, recall U.S. government staff working with it, and announce a formal pullout by next January — under a one-year timetable required under U.S. law. Other opponents continue to lash out at WHO. CitizenGo, an activist group that supports right-to-life and religious liberty issues, protested Monday against the pandemic treaty outside the U.N. compound in Geneva where WHO's meeting was taking place. The rally included a balloon sculpture in the shape of the world and a banner inveighing against "globalist elites" and showing an image of Tedros and billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, a major WHO supporter, shaking hands while surrounded by dollars. "In the aftermath of Covid, the WHO got together and thought was a good idea to centralize even more power," said CitizenGo campaigner Sebastian Lukomski, accusing WHO of an effort to "remove more fundamental freedoms and not learn from the mistakes that were taking place during COVID." In the run-up to the assembly, WHO has been cleaning house and cutting costs. At a meeting on its budget last week, Tedros — a former Ethiopian health and foreign minister – announced a shake-up of top management that included the exit of key adviser Dr. Michael Ryan from the job as emergencies chief. Tedros said last week that the loss of U.S. funds and other assistance have left the WHO with a salary gap of more than $500 million.
Associated Press News	2025-05-03 16:42:46+00:00	[ "Scott Kirby", "Newark", "Donald Trump", "Sean Duffy", "New York City", "Federal Aviation Administration", "Finance Business", "New York City Wire", "Aviation safety", "Business", "Finance", "Traffic", "United States government" ]	# United Airlines cuts 35 daily flights at Newark airport, citing shortage of air traffic controllers By Stan Choe May 3rd, 2025, 04:42 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Passengers with flights to or from Newark Liberty International Airport encountered long delays and cancellations Saturday due to an air traffic controller shortage, a nationwide problem the Trump administration has pledged to fix. The busy airport outside New York City experienced disruptions all week. Faulting the Federal Aviation Administration's alleged failure to address "long-simmering" challenges related to the air-traffic control system, United Airlines cut 35 daily flights from its Newark schedule starting Saturday. United CEO Scott Kirby said the technology used to manage planes at the New Jersey airport failed more than once in recent days. The flight delays, cancellations and diversions the equipment problems caused were compounded when more than one-fifth of Newark's traffic controllers "walked off the job," he said. "This particular air traffic control facility has been chronically understaffed for years and without these controllers, it's now clear — and the FAA tells us — that Newark airport cannot handle the number of planes that are scheduled to operate there in the weeks and months ahead," Kirby wrote in a letter to customers. Airport status reports from the FAA said staffing issues were causing average delays of nearly two hours and ones as long as five hours for flights scheduled to arrive at Newark on Saturday morning. Departures were delayed by an average of 45 minutes. , and average delays of 45 minutes for departures on Saturday morning, according to the status reports. By late afternoon, arriving flights were running more than three hours behind schedule, while the delay for departing flights had shortened to a half-hour on average. The "misery map" maintained by flight tracking company FlightAware showed the ripple effect on airports in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, Dallas and other cities. United Airlines operates the most flights out of Newark by far, and 35 flights represents about 10% of the round-trip domestic schedule operated by the carrier and its regional United Express network, according to information on the company's website. Newark Liberty International Airport pointed to both staffing issues and "construction" when it warned travelers about delays on Thursday. The Trump administration says it's been trying to "supercharge" the air traffic controller workforce and make moves to address the nation's shortage of controllers. The U.S. transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, on Thursday announced a program to recruit new controllers and give existing ones incentives not to retire. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, a workers' union, said at the time that those moves could help address staffing shortages, but it also said the system is " long overdue for technology and infrastructure upgrades." Duffy said on Friday that he visited with "our hard working air traffic controllers as we work to fix these equipment outages caused by outdated technology." United's decision to pare back its flight schedule in Newark come at an already uncertain time for U.S. airlines. Potential customers across the industry are reconsidering whether to fly for work or for vacation given all the unknowns about what President Donald Trump's trade war will do to the economy. Uncertainty is so high that United recently made the unusual move to offer two separate forecasts for how it could perform financially this year: one if there were a recession, and one if not. From Newark, United flies to 76 U.S. cities and 81 international destinations.
Associated Press News	2025-05-18 05:21:35+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Government budgets", "Hawaii", "Gulf of Mexico", "Oceanography", "South Carolina", "Washington", "Michigan", "National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration", "Melissa Iwamoto", "Politics", "Climate and environment", "Science", "Ed Enos", "Jack Barth", "Climate" ]	# Trump budget would cut ocean monitoring system used for navigation By Todd Richmond May 18th, 2025, 05:21 AM --- Capt. Ed Enos makes his living as a harbor pilot in Hawaii, clambering aboard arriving ships in the predawn hours and guiding them into port. His world revolves around wind speeds, current strength and wave swells. When Enos is bobbing in dangerous waters in the dark, his cellphone is his lifeline: with a few taps he can access the Integrated Ocean Observing System and pull up the data needed to guide what are essentially floating warehouses safely to the dock. But maybe not for much longer. President Donald Trump wants to eliminate all federal funding for the observing system's regional operations. Scientists say the cuts could mean the end of efforts to gather real-time data crucial to navigating treacherous harbors, plotting tsunami escape routes and predicting hurricane intensity. "It's the last thing you should be shutting down," Enos said. "There's no money wasted. Right at a time when we should be getting more money to do more work to benefit the public, they want to turn things off. That's the wrong strategy at the wrong time for the wrong reasons." ## Monitoring system tracks all things ocean The IOOS system launched about 20 years ago. It's made up of 11 regional associations in multiple states and territories, including the Virgin Islands, Alaska, Hawaii, Washington state, Michigan, South Carolina and Southern California. The regional groups are networks of university researchers, conservation groups, businesses and anyone else gathering or using maritime data. The associations are the Swiss army knife of oceanography, using buoys, submersible drones and radar installations to track water temperature, wind speed, atmospheric pressure, wave speeds, swell heights and current strength. The networks monitor the Great Lakes, U.S. coastlines, the Gulf of Mexico, which Trump renamed the Gulf of America, the Gulf of Alaska, the Caribbean and the South Pacific and upload member data to public websites in real time. ## Maritime community and military rely on system data Cruise ship, freighter and tanker pilots like Enos, as well as the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard, use the information directly to navigate harbors safely, plot courses around storms and conduct search-and-rescue operations. The associations' observations feed into National Weather Service forecasts. The Pacific Northwest association uses tsunami data to post real-time coastal escape routes on a public-facing app. And the Hawaii association not only posts data that is helpful to harbor pilots but tracks hurricane intensity and tiger sharks that have been tagged for research. The associations also track toxic algal blooms, which can force beach closures and kill fish. The maps help commercial anglers avoid those empty regions. Water temperature data can help identify heat layers within the ocean and, because it's harder for fish to survive in those layers, knowing hot zones helps anglers target better fishing grounds. The regional networks are not formal federal agencies but are almost entirely funded through federal grants through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The current federal budget allocates $43.5 million for the networks. A Republican bill in the House natural resources committee would actually send them more money, $56 million annually, from 2026 through 2030. ## Cuts catch network administrators by surprise A Trump administration memo leaked in April proposes a $2.5 billion cut to the Department of Commerce, which oversees NOAA, in the 2026 federal budget. Part of the proposal calls for eliminating federal funding for the regional monitoring networks, even though the memo says one of the activities the administration wants the commerce department to focus on is collecting ocean and weather data. The memo offered no other justifications for the cuts. The proposal stunned network users. "We've worked so hard to build an incredible system and it's running smoothly, providing data that's important to the economy. Why would you break it?" said Jack Barth, an Oregon State oceanographer who shares data with the Pacific Northwest association. "What we're providing is a window into the ocean and without those measures we frankly won't know what's coming at us. It's like turning off the headlights," Barth said. NOAA officials declined to comment on the cuts and potential impacts, saying in an email to The Associated Press that they do not do "speculative interviews." ## Network's future remains unclear Nothing is certain. The 2026 federal fiscal year starts Oct. 1. The budget must pass the House, the Senate and get the president's signature before it can take effect. Lawmakers could decide to fund the regional networks after all. Network directors are trying not to panic. If the cuts go through, some associations might survive by selling their data or soliciting grants from sources outside the federal government. But the funding hole would be so significant that just keeping the lights on would be an uphill battle, they said. If the associations fold, other entities might be able to continue gathering data, but there will be gaps. Partnerships developed over years would evaporate and data won't be available in a single place like now, they said. "People have come to us because we've been steady," Hawaii regional network director Melissa Iwamoto said. "We're a known entity, a trusted entity. No one saw this coming, the potential for us not to be here." ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 21:35:36+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "District of Columbia", "2021 United States Capitol riot", "Shootings", "Law enforcement", "Lawsuits", "United States government", "Legal proceedings", "United States", "DC Wire", "Capitol siege", "Gun violence", "Government and politics", "U.S. Department of Justice", "Riots", "Politics" ]	# US to pay nearly $5M to Ashli Babbitt's family By Eric Tucker and Michael Kunzelman May 19th, 2025, 09:35 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has agreed to pay just under $5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit that Ashli Babbitt's family filed over her shooting by an officer during the U.S. Capitol riot, according to a person with knowledge of the settlement. The person insisted on anonymity to discuss with The Associated Press terms of a settlement that have not been made public. The settlement would resolve the $30 million federal lawsuit that Babbitt's estate filed last year in Washington, D.C. On Jan. 6, 2021, a Capitol police officer shot Babbitt as she tried to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door leading to the Speaker's Lobby. The officer who shot her was cleared of wrongdoing by the U.S. Attorney's office for the District of Columbia, which concluded that he acted in self-defense and in the defense of members of Congress. The Capitol Police also cleared the officer. Settlement terms haven't been disclosed in public court filings. On May 2, lawyers for Babbitt's estate and the Justice Department told a federal judge that they had reached a settlement in principle but were still working out the details before a final agreement could be signed. Justice Department spokespeople and two attorneys for the Babbitt family didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran from San Diego, was unarmed when she was shot by the officer. The lawsuit alleges that the plainclothes officer failed to de-escalate the situation and did not give her any warnings or commands before opening fire. The suit also accused the Capitol Police of negligence, claiming the department should have known that the officer was "prone to behave in a dangerous or otherwise incompetent manner." "Ashli posed no threat to the safety of anyone," the lawsuit said. The officer said in a televised interview that he fired as a "last resort." He said he didn't know if the person jumping through the window was armed when he pulled the trigger. Thousands of people stormed the Capitol after President Donald Trump spoke to a crowd of supporters at his Jan. 6 "Stop the Steal" rally near the White House. More than 100 police officers were injured in the attack. In January, on his first day back in the White House, Trump pardoned, commuted the prison sentences or ordered the dismissal of charges for all of the more than 1,500 people charged with crimes in the riot. ___ Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 19:04:33+00:00	[ "Wes Moore", "Maryland", "Legislation", "California", "New York City", "Anthony Muse", "Politics", "Carl Snowden", "Maryland state government", "Racism", "Race and ethnicity", "Harriet Tubman", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Supporters of a bill to study reparations for slavery urge Maryland Gov. Moore to sign the measure By Brian Witte May 9th, 2025, 07:04 PM --- ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Supporters of a measure to create a commission to study potential reparations for slavery in Maryland rallied by the governor's residence on Friday, calling on Gov. Wes Moore to sign the legislation. Speakers at the rally said they were optimistic Maryland's first Black governor would sign the bill, but they wanted to underscore how significant the legislation is to them, days before Moore's fourth bill signing ceremony and possibly the last of the year. State Sen. C Anthony Muse, who sponsored the measure, emphasized that it only provides for a study — not "a mandate to make anyone do anything." "When is it the wrong time to study something? We need to study it, and we need to do it now, and we're asking again in this context and especially in the time in which we are living now in this country: sign the bill and make it happen," said Muse, a Democrat from the suburbs of the nation's capital. Moore, a Democrat who is the nation's only Black governor currently in office, has repeatedly noted the lingering impact of racism when asked about the legislation. But he has yet to say publicly whether he would sign the bill. "I have said and long stated that the history of racism in this state is real," the governor told reporters as the bill neared passage, adding that the impacts "are still very much being felt, and they've been structurally felt within the state of Maryland." But the governor also has noted the state's fiscal constraints in a very challenging budget year. Carl Snowden, who is the convener for the Caucus of African-American Leaders, said Friday at the rally that he believed Moore would sign the bill. "I think there are political advisers who are telling the governor the politics of signing the bill, pro and con, and I think he's taking his time, measuring how he should respond," Snowden said in an interview. "But I'm very confident that the bill will come into effect, either as a result of his signing it or allowing it just to become law." The governor could opt to not sign the measure, and it would become law without his signature. The governor's office did not immediately return an email seeking comment Friday. The bill passed with strong support in the General Assembly, which is controlled by Democrats. The House voted 101-36 for the bill, and the Senate approved it 32-13. Both chambers approved the measure with margins large enough to override a veto. Potential reparations outlined in the bill include official statements of apology, monetary compensation, property tax rebates, social service assistance, as well as licensing and permit fee waivers and reimbursement. Reparations also could include assistance with making a down payment on a home, business incentives, childcare, debt forgiveness and tuition payment waivers for higher education. At the rally, Wanika Fisher, who is a member of the Prince George's County Council and is a former Maryland House member, noted a nearby statute of former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall that faces the governor's residence and is steps away from the Maryland State House. The Baltimore native was denied entry into the University of Maryland Law School in 1930 because of his race, but he went on to become the nation's first Black Supreme Court justice. "It really speaks to why this commission is so vital to address the root causes of structural racism and slavery that occurred here in Maryland," Fisher, a Democrat, said, also noting the state's rich Black history and birthplace of renowned abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. Last year, California lawmakers passed some of the nation's most ambitious legislation aimed at atoning for a legacy of racist policies that drove racial disparities for Black people. None of the bills provided widespread direct payments to Black Americans. Instead, California lawmakers approved the return of land or compensation to families whose property was unjustly seized by the government, and issuing a formal apology. New York City lawmakers approved legislation last year to study the city's significant role in slavery and consider reparations to descendants of enslaved people.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 22:52:40+00:00	[ "Tunisia", "Judaism", "Rene Trabelsi", "Religion" ]	# Jewish jeweler hospitalized after axe attack in Tunisia May 8th, 2025, 10:52 PM --- DJERBA, Tunisia (AP) — The Jewish owner of a jewelry store in Tunisia was hospitalized Thursday after an axe attack on the island where Africa's oldest synagogue is located. The 50-year-old man was admitted to a hospital in Djerba, where many of Tunisia's remaining 1,500 Jews reside, community leader Rene Trabelsi told The Associated Press. The attack comes one week before Jewish pilgrims are expected in Djerba for the holiday Lag B'Omer. Across the island and at the 26-century-old El-Ghriba synagogue, Jews welcome thousands each year for three days of festivities. Trabelsi, who is Jewish and served as Tunisia's tourism minister from 2018 to 2020, said little was known about the attacker, adding he did not assume it had to do with religion or the holiday, but would await findings from Tunisian authorities about potential motives. "We fully trust Tunisian authorities because we're Tunisian too," he said. Trabelsi said that the store owner was expected to be released from the hospital on Friday after sustaining defensive wounds. Tunisian police have expanded security on the island, Trabelsi said. Two years ago, a 30-year-old Tunisian national guardsman killed two Jewish pilgrims and three security officers during the festival. Events were scaled back last year. Tunisian authorities have not commented on reports of the attack.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 04:50:03+00:00	[ "Russia", "North Korea", "North Korea government", "Vladimir Putin", "Asia", "Asia Pacific", "Mikhail Mishustin", "War and unrest", "Politics" ]	# North Korea and Russia begin building their first road link By Hyung-Jin Kim May 1st, 2025, 04:50 AM --- SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea and Russia have begun building their first road link, the two countries announced, hailing the construction of a bridge over a border river as a major development that will further expand their booming ties. Russia's Tass news agency reported that the bridge would be 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) long and its construction is expected to take 1 ½ years. North Korea's Korean Central News Agency said Thursday the bridge would expand cross-border travel of people, tourism and circulation of commodities. Relations and exchange programs between the two countries have been flourishing in recent years, with North Korea supplying ammunitions and troops to support Russia's war against Ukraine. North Korea has been receiving Russian tourists since February 2024 amid slowly easing pandemic curbs, but Chinese group tours, which made up more than 90% of visitors before the pandemic, remain stalled. In 2023, about 97% of North Korea's external trade was with China, while 1.2% was with Russia. There are currently at least 17 active road and rail links across the long, porous border between North Korea and China, according to South Korea's Unification Ministry. One railway bridge and air service already connect North Korea and Russia, and in June 2024 the two countries agreed to construct a bridge for automobiles over the Tumen River, which runs along North Korea's borders with Russia and China. On Thursday, North Korea and Russia simultaneously held a ground-breaking ceremony for the bridge's construction in their respective border cities, according to the two countries' state media agencies. The agencies said North Korean Premier Pak Thae Song and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin attended the ceremony via video links. Pak said the bridge's construction would be remembered as "a historic monument" in bilateral ties, KCNA reported Thursday. "This is a big milestone for Russian-Korean relation," Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said, according to Tass. "We are creating a reliable basis for closer cooperation between our two countries, a road for an open and fruitful dialogue." On Monday, North Korea confirmed for the first time that it has sent combat troops to Russia to help it reclaim parts of the Kursk region that Ukraine forces seized in a stunning incursion last year. Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked North Korea and promised not to forget the sacrifices of North Korean soldiers for Russia. According to a South Korean government intelligence assessment shared with lawmakers on Wednesday, North Korea has sent about 15,000 soldiers to Russia, and 4,700 of them have been killed or wounded. In return for North Korea's supply of conventional arms, Russia has given it air defense missiles, electronic warfare equipment, drones and technology for spy satellite launches, according to the South Korean assessment.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 20:29:17+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Department of Government Efficiency", "Government programs", "Elon Musk", "Maryland", "Courts", "United States government", "Legal proceedings", "United States", "DC Wire", "U.S. Supreme Court", "John Sauer", "Ellen Hollander", "Politics", "Business", "Elizabeth Laird", "Government budgets" ]	# Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow DOGE into Social Security systems By Lindsay Whitehurst May 2nd, 2025, 08:29 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to clear the way for Elon Musk 's Department of Government Efficiency to access Social Security systems containing personal data on millions of Americans. The emergency appeal is the first in a string of applications to the high court involving DOGE's swift-moving work across the federal government. It comes after a judge in Maryland restricted the team's access to Social Security under federal privacy laws. The agency holds personal records on nearly everyone in the country, including school records, bank details, salary information and medical and mental health records for disability recipients, according to court documents. The government says the team needs access to target waste in the federal government. Musk, now preparing to step back from his work with DOGE, has been focused on Social Security as an alleged hotbed of fraud. The billionaire entrepreneur has described it as a " Ponzi scheme " and insisted that reducing waste in the program is an important way to cut government spending. Solicitor General John Sauer argued Friday that the judge's restrictions disrupt DOGE's important work and inappropriately interfere with executive-branch decisions. "Left undisturbed, this preliminary injunction will only invite further judicial incursions into internal agency decision-making," he wrote. He asked the justices to block the order from U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander in Maryland as the lawsuit plays out. An appeals court previously refused to immediately to lift the block on DOGE access, though it split along ideological lines. Conservative judges in the minority said there's no evidence that the team has done any "targeted snooping" or exposed personal information. The lawsuit was originally filed by a group of labor unions and retirees represented by the group Democracy Forward. The Supreme Court asked them for a response to the administration's appeal by May 12. More than two dozen lawsuits have been filed over DOGE's work, which has included deep cuts at federal agencies and large-scale layoffs. Hollander found that DOGE's efforts at Social Security amounted to a "fishing expedition" based on "little more than suspicion" of fraud. Her order does allow staffers to access data that has been made anonymous, but the Trump administration has said DOGE can't work effectively with those restrictions. Elizabeth Laird with the nonprofit group Center for Democracy and Technology said wide-ranging access to sensitive personal data poses a serious threat. "If DOGE gets a hold of this information, it opens the floodgates on a host of potential harms. It also normalizes a very dangerous practice for other federal agencies," she said. The nation's court system has been ground zero for pushback to President Donald Trump's sweeping conservative agenda, with about 200 lawsuits filed challenging policies on everything from immigration to education to mass layoffs of federal workers. Among those that have reached the Supreme Court so far, the justices have handed down some largely procedural rulings siding with the administration but have rejected the government's broad arguments in other cases.
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 13:52:26+00:00	[ "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention", "JWD-evergreen", "Lifestyle", "Erik Svendsen", "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.", "Lee Ann Jaykus", "Donald Schaffner", "Health", "Air quality" ]	# How cruise ship passengers can stay safe from the latest version of norovirus By Jonel Aleccia May 5th, 2025, 01:52 PM --- For Americans planning cruise ship vacations this spring or summer, there could be reason to worry about more than rough seas, experts say. Recent government cuts included top staff at the Vessel Sanitation Program, which is run by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and conducts inspections and investigates illnesses. The reductions, part of larger Trump administration cuts, come amid a surge in cruise ship outbreaks fueled by a new strain of norovirus. So far this year, there have been 16 illness outbreaks reported on cruise ships in the CDC's jurisdiction, mostly from norovirus, compared with 18 outbreaks in all of 2024 and 14 in 2023, VSP reports show. U.S. officials conducted nearly 200 inspections of 150 ships last year. "Certainly it's something that would be on my mind if was getting ready to get on that cruise ship," said Donald Schaffner, a food science expert at Rutgers University. Here's what you need to know about staying safe on board: ## What happened to the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program? U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched a broad restructuring of the nation's health agencies in April. The move eliminated the CDC's Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice, which housed the cruise ship vessel program, along with others focused on asthma, air quality, lead exposure in children and other issues. Four full-time CDC staff, including scientists, were dismissed, said Erik Svendsen, the division's fired former director. The program also employed 12 U.S. Public Health Service commissioned officers, who remain. The officers, however, lack the expertise of the scientists who were let go, Svendsen said. In addition, the program was already understaffed, he said. "It's going to put them back many months before they're really functional again," he said. A CDC spokesperson said in a statement that the VSP work "has not stopped." "Critical programs in the CDC will continue under Secretary Kennedy's vision to streamline HHS to better serve Americans," the statement said. ## How often do cruise passengers get sick? About 18 million people board cruises in North America each year, part of nearly 32 million passengers worldwide, according to the Cruise Lines International Association, an industry trade group. Cruise industry officials say the chance of contracting a gastrointestinal illness is far greater on land than on a ship. Norovirus is the most common ailment tracked on ships, though other outbreaks do occur. Of the 19 million to 21 million norovirus illnesses that occur each year in the U.S., less than 1% are tied to cruises, said Lee-Ann Jaykus, a North Carolina State University food microbiologist and virologist who has studied norovirus. But even that fraction of cases can mean misery for many hundreds of people on ships who come down with symptoms that include sudden onset of vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain that can last three days, according to the CDC. Norovirus is highly contagious, often spread by food or on surfaces, particularly in crowded conditions. It is a short-lived illness for many people, but it can be dangerous for people with underlying health conditions, young children and those aged 65 and older. ## What about this new strain of norovirus? There are many different types of norovirus, but typically one dominant strain causes illness outbreaks, Jaykus said. This year, a new epidemic strain has emerged, called GII.17. This version has circulated at low levels for years, but it was behind a surge in U.S. norovirus outbreaks this past winter. Between Aug. 1 and April 9, more than 2,400 suspected or confirmed norovirus outbreaks were reported to a CDC monitoring system, roughly double for the same period a year earlier. The GII.17 strain has been responsible for nearly 80% of them, the CDC reported. "It's new to the population," Jaykus said, which means most people don't have immunity to the germ, so it can spread more widely. ## I booked a cruise! How can I keep from getting sick? People infected with norovirus typically shed "literally billions of viral particles," said Schaffner, the food safety expert. And it only takes a few viral particles to make someone sick. The first rule should be for sick people to stay home, he said. That's not possible on a cruise. If people get sick on a cruise ship, they're required to report the illness and isolate themselves, but many fail to do so. "You spent all this money for a fancy cruise and you're feeling a little bit under the weather, so you tough it out," Schaffner said. "But in the meantime, now you spread the virus." Passengers should be alert for signs of illness, even in other travelers. Vomit, for instance, can spread norovirus particles into the air, Schaffner noted. "If you're in a situation where you see someone vomit, immediately walk away from them, ideally into the wind," he said. Washing hands frequently is key, especially after using the bathroom or before eating and drinking. Using soap and water is best; wash for at least 20 seconds, scrubbing well. Hand sanitizer alone doesn't work well against norovirus, the CDC notes. Cruise lines have extensive sanitation protocols in place that are monitored through the CDC's vessel program, which is paid for by industry through inspection and other fees that total tens of thousands of dollars per ship per year. It remains to be seen how cuts to the program will affect inspections and outbreak investigations in the future, Schaffner said. "If you want to have no disease outbreaks, all you have to do is fire all the epidemiologists," he said. "And there'll be no one there to investigate." ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 15:24:26+00:00	[ "London", "United Kingdom", "Russia", "Criminal punishment", "Legal proceedings", "Dan Jarvis", "Law enforcement", "Ivan Stoyanov", "Anthony Metzer", "Jan Marsalek", "Jackie Chan", "Katrin Ivanova", "Nicholas Hilliard", "Vanya Gaberova", "Jean-Claude van Damme", "Fraud" ]	# 6 Bulgarians convicted in UK of spying for Russia get prison terms up to nearly 11 years By Brian Melley May 12th, 2025, 03:24 PM --- LONDON (AP) — Six Bulgarians convicted of carrying out a sophisticated spying operation for Russia were sentenced by a London judge Monday to prison terms up to nearly 11 years. The group that used Hollywood code names discussed kidnapping or killing Kremlin opponents as they targeted reporters, diplomats and Ukrainian troops in the U.K., Germany Austria, Spain and Montenegro between 2020 and 2023, prosecutors said. No one was physically harmed but the group put lives in jeopardy, prosecutors said. "It is self-evident that a high price attaches to the safety and interests of this nation," Justice Nicholas Hilliard, said. "The defendants put these things at risk by using this country as a base from which to plan the various operations. ... Anyone who uses this country in that way, in the circumstances of this case, commits a very serious offense." Ringleader Orlin Roussev, who operated out of a former guesthouse in the English seaside resort town of Great Yarmouth, was given the stiffest sentence — 10 years and 8 months in prison — for being involved in all six operations discovered by police. He and the others faced up to 14 years behind bars. Roussev worked for alleged Russian agent Jan Marsalek, an Austrian national who is wanted by Interpol for fraud and embezzlement after the 2020 collapse of German payment processing firm Wirecard, prosecutors said. His whereabouts are unknown. ## Stiff sentences send a message Security Minister Dan Jarvis said the case sends a warning to other foes that Britain will use its "full range of tools" to "detect, disrupt, and deter malicious acts from hostile states and protect the public." Roussev, 47, and his lieutenant Biser Dzhambazov, 44, pleaded guilty in London's Central Criminal Court last year to espionage charges and having false identity documents. Dzhambazov was sentenced to 10 years and 2 months in prison. Roussev called himself Jackie Chan and Dzhambazov was dubbed Mad Max, or Jean-Claude Van Damme. Their underlings were dubbed "Minions" from the animated "Despicable Me" franchise. Police said their fanciful pseudonyms masked a deadly serious gang. In one operation, members tried to lure a journalist who uncovered Moscow's involvement in the 2018 Novichok poisoning of a former Russian spy in Salisbury, England, into a "honeytrap" romance with another member of the group, Vanya Gaberova. The spies followed Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian researcher for the online publication Bellingcat, from Vienna to a conference in Valencia, Spain, and the gang's ringleaders discussed robbing and killing him, or kidnapping him and taking him to Russia. "Learning only in retrospect that foreign agents have been monitoring my movements, communications and home, surveying my loved ones over an extended period — has been terrifying, disorientating and deeply destabilizing," Grozev said in a statement read during the four-day sentencing hearing. "The consequences have not faded with time — they have fundamentally changed how I live my daily life and how I relate to the world around me." ## Ringleader claimed he was 'no James Bond' In another operation, members of the group conducted surveillance on a U.S. air base in Germany where they believed Ukrainian troops were training. After police raided his house and arrested Roussev, he denied doing anything on behalf of any government. "I would be thrilled to see how on God's earth there is a connection between me and Russia or any other state because I haven't been a spy or government agent," Roussev said in a police interview. "No James Bond activity on my end, I guarantee you." Messages to Marsalek, however, showed him talking about his "Indiana Jones warehouse" of spy equipment and said he was becoming like "Q," the mastermind behind Bond's gadgets. Roussev's house was loaded with spy tech. He had equipment used to jam Wi-Fi and GPS signals, along with eavesdropping devices and car trackers. Cameras were hidden in sunglasses, pens, neckties and cuddly toys, including one in a Minion doll. A selfie of Marsalek wearing a Russian uniform was found on Roussev's phone. Three of the so-called minions were convicted at trial in March of spying for an enemy state. Katrin Ivanova, 33, was sentenced to 9 years and 8 months in prison; Gaberova, 30, was sentenced to 6 years and 8 months; and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, was sentenced to 8 years. Ivan Stoyanov, 33, a mixed martial arts fighter who pleaded guilty to spying for Russia, was sentenced to 5 years and 3 weeks. Each convict faces deportation after they are released from prison. ## Spy ring contains love triangle Both women had claimed during the trial that they had been deceived and manipulated by Dzhambazov. Dzhambazov, who worked for a medical courier company but claimed to be an Interpol police officer, was in a relationship with both women — his laboratory assistant and longtime partner Ivanova and beautician Gaberova. Gaberova had ditched painter-decorator Ivanchev for the "ugly" Dzhambazov, who took her to a Michelin-starred restaurant and stayed with her in a five-star hotel during a surveillance mission. When police arrested the suspects in February 2023, they found Dzhambazov naked in bed with Gaberova rather than at home with Ivanova. Defense lawyer Anthony Metzer said Gaberova was naive and her case was tragic as she "slipped into criminality" under Dzhambazov's romantic spell. But the judge said she knew what she was doing was for Russia. "You found what you were doing exciting and glamorous, as demonstrated by the film you took of yourself wearing surveillance glasses in Montenegro," Justice Hilliard said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 21:37:23+00:00	[ "Mississippi", "Lawsuits", "Legal proceedings", "Politics", "Joe Spraggins", "Climate and environment", "Business", "Climate" ]	# Fishermen sue Mississippi over plan to lease oyster reefs By Sophie Bates May 5th, 2025, 09:37 PM --- JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A group of more than 20 fishermen, led by Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United Inc., a nonprofit trade organization, are suing the state over its attempts to lease historically public oyster reefs in the Mississippi Sound. In a statement, MSCFU cited a 2024 bill that allows private individuals and companies to lease up to 80% of Mississippi's natural oyster reefs. "Over the past several years, the Mississippi State Legislature has attempted to implement an unconstitutional private leasing regime," the statement read. "These vague and discriminatory acts, if implemented, would unjustly exclude our current oyster fishing families from their direct access to harvest from reefs that they rely upon for their livelihoods." The lawsuit, filed in Harrison County on Thursday, also names the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and its Executive Director Joe Spraggins as defendants. When reached for comment, MDMR referred The Associated Press to the Mississippi Attorney General's office, which said it could not comment on active litigation. MDMR frames the leasing plan as a way to increase oyster production "while ensuring compliance and environmental and conservation requirements." The lawsuit comes as the state's oyster industry is recovering after massive freshwater flooding, released through Louisianna's Bonnet Carré Spillway, killed almost all the oysters on Mississippi's most productive reefs in 2019.
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 11:38:22+00:00	[ "Europe", "United Kingdom", "Vladimir Putin", "Russia", "Brussels", "European Union", "Sanctions and embargoes", "Russia government", "War and unrest", "Eurocopa 2024", "David Lammy", "Politics", "Energy industry", "Kaja Kallas", "Russia Ukraine war", "Business" ]	# New EU and UK sanctions target Russia's shadow fleet of tankers illicitly transporting oil May 20th, 2025, 11:38 AM --- BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Tuesday agreed to impose fresh sanctions on Russia, notably targeting almost 200 ships from the shadow fleet illicitly transporting oil to skirt Western restrictions put in place over Moscow's war in Ukraine. The 27-nation bloc targeted 189 ships in all, and imposed asset freezes and travel bans on several officials as well as on a number of Russian companies. The measures were endorsed by EU foreign ministers in Brussels. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that while President Vladimir "Putin feigns interest in peace, more sanctions are in the works. Russia's actions and those who enable Russia face severe consequences." Russia uses its " shadow fleet " of ships to transport oil and gas, or to carry stolen Ukrainian grain. The EU has now targeted almost 350 of the ships in total. The new measures are not obviously linked to Russian delays in agreeing to a ceasefire. Work on the measures began in the days after the last package was finalized three months ago. Ukrainian officials have said that the shadow fleet involves around 500 aging ships of uncertain ownership and safety practices that are dodging sanctions and keeping the oil revenue coming. Ratings agency S&P Global and the Kyiv School of Economics Institute, a think tank, have put the number at over 400 ships that can transport oil, or products made from crude such as diesel fuel and gasoline. Vessels from the shadow fleet have also come under suspicion of damaging undersea cables, particularly in the Baltic Sea. Finnish police on Dec. 26 seized the Eagle S, a tanker they said was part of the dark fleet, on suspicion it used its anchor to damage the Estlink 2 undersea power cable that supplies electricity from Finland to Estonia. The EU also said that it targeted people and companies, including an insurer, that make it possible for the shadow fleet to operate, hitting interests in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Hong Kong. In parallel, the U.K. targeted the shadow fleet in a raft of 100 new sanctions that it said are aimed at "ramping up pressure" on the Kremlin. In a statement Tuesday, Britain's Foreign Office said the sanctions will hit entities supporting Russia's military, energy exports and information war, as well as financial institutions helping to fund its war against Ukraine. It added that the sanctions will target the supply chains of Russian weapons, including Iskander missiles which have been fired into civilian areas in Ukraine during the war. The U.K. will also sanction 18 more ships in the "shadow fleet" carrying Russian oil. "Putin's latest strikes once again show his true colors as a warmonger," Foreign Secretary David Lammy said. "We urge him to agree a full, unconditional ceasefire right away so there can be talks on a just and lasting peace." The EU has slapped several rounds of sanctions on Russia since President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Around 2,400 officials and "entities" — often government agencies, banks and organizations — have been hit.
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 20:05:49+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Samuel Alito", "Clarence Thomas", "Brett Kavanaugh", "Courts", "Supreme Court of the United States", "Immigration", "District of Columbia", "United States government", "Legal proceedings", "United States", "U.S. Supreme Court", "Politics", "Stephanie Haines", "Texas", "Alabama Education Association" ]	# Supreme Court says Trump can't use old law to quickly deport Venezuelans By Mark Sherman May 16th, 2025, 08:05 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday barred the Trump administration from quickly resuming deportations of Venezuelans under an 18th-century wartime law enacted when the nation was just a few years old. Over two dissenting votes, the justices acted on an emergency appeal from lawyers for Venezuelan men who have been accused of being gang members, a designation that the administration says makes them eligible for rapid removal from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The court indefinitely extended the prohibition on deportations from a north Texas detention facility under the alien enemies law. The case will now go back to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which declined to intervene in April. President Donald Trump quickly voiced his displeasure. "THE SUPREME COURT WON'T ALLOW US TO GET CRIMINALS OUT OF OUR COUNTRY!" he posted on his Truth Social platform. The high court action is the latest in a string of judicial setbacks for the Trump administration's effort to speed deportations of people in the country illegally. The president and his supporters have complained about having to provide due process for people they contend didn't follow U.S. immigration laws. The court had already called a temporary halt to the deportations, in a middle-of-the-night order issued last month. Officials seemed "poised to carry out removals imminently," the court noted Friday. ## Several cases related to the old deportation law are in courts The case is among several making their way through the courts over Trump's proclamation in March calling the Tren de Aragua gang a foreign terrorist organization and invoking the 1798 law to deport people. The high court case centers on the opportunity people must have to contest their removal from the United States — without determining whether Trump's invocation of the law was appropriate. "We recognize the significance of the Government's national security interests as well as the necessity that such interests be pursued in a manner consistent with the Constitution," the justices said in an unsigned opinion. At least three federal judges have said Trump was improperly using the AEA to speed deportations of people the administration says are Venezuelan gang members. On Tuesday, a judge in Pennsylvania signed off on the use of the law. ## The legal process for this issue is a patchwork one The court-by-court approach to deportations under the AEA flows from another Supreme Court order that took a case away from a judge in Washington, D.C., and ruled detainees seeking to challenge their deportations must do so where they are held. In April, the justices said that people must be given "reasonable time" to file a challenge. On Friday, the court said 24 hours is not enough time but has not otherwise spelled out how long it meant. The administration has said 12 hours would be sufficient. U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines ordered immigration officials to give people 21 days in her opinion, in which she otherwise said deportations could legally take place under the AEA. The Supreme Court on Friday also made clear that it was not blocking other ways the government may deport people. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented, with Alito complaining that his colleagues had departed from their usual practices and seemingly decided issues without an appeals court weighing in. "But if it has done so, today's order is doubly extraordinary," Alito wrote. In a separate opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said he agreed with the majority but would have preferred the nation's highest court to jump in now definitively, rather than return the case to an appeals court. "The circumstances," Kavanaugh wrote, "call for a prompt and final resolution."
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 17:00:14+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Louisiana", "U.S. Department of Justice", "Black experience", "Harmeet Dhillon", "Joe Biden", "United States government", "South Carolina", "Education funding", "Alabama", "Civil rights", "Mississippi River", "Courts", "Mississippi", "Human rights", "United States", "Liz Murrill", "Politics", "Leo Terrell", "Robert Westley", "Race and ethnicity", "Education", "Johnathan Smith", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Justice Department ends school desegregation order in Louisiana By Collin Binkley May 1st, 2025, 05:00 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — When the Justice Department lifted a school desegregation order in Louisiana this week, officials called its continued existence a "historical wrong" and suggested that others dating to the Civil Rights Movement should be reconsidered. The end of the 1966 legal agreement with Plaquemines Parish schools announced Tuesday shows the Trump administration is "getting America refocused on our bright future," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said. Inside the Justice Department, officials appointed by President Donald Trump have expressed desire to withdraw from other desegregation orders they see as an unnecessary burden on schools, according to a person familiar with the issue who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Dozens of school districts across the South remain under court-enforced agreements dictating steps to work toward integration, decades after the Supreme Court struck down racial segregation in education. Some see the court orders' endurance as a sign the government never eradicated segregation, while officials in Louisiana and at some schools see the orders as bygone relics that should be wiped away. The Justice Department opened a wave of cases in the 1960s, after Congress unleashed the department to go after schools that resisted desegregation. Known as consent decrees, the orders can be lifted when districts prove they have eliminated segregation and its legacy. ## The small Louisiana district has a long-running integration case The Trump administration called the Plaquemines case an example of administrative neglect. The district in the Mississippi River Delta Basin in southeast Louisiana was found to have integrated in 1975, but the case was to stay under the court's watch for another year. The judge died the same year, and the court record "appears to be lost to time," according to a court filing. "Given that this case has been stayed for a half-century with zero action by the court, the parties or any third-party, the parties are satisfied that the United States' claims have been fully resolved," according to a joint filing from the Justice Department and the office of Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill. Plaquemines Superintendent Shelley Ritz said Justice Department officials still visited every year as recently as 2023 and requested data on topics including hiring and discipline. She said the paperwork was a burden for her district of fewer than 4,000 students. "It was hours of compiling the data," she said. Louisiana "got its act together decades ago," said Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department, in a statement. He said the dismissal corrects a historical wrong, adding it's "past time to acknowledge how far we have come." Murrill asked the Justice Department to close other school orders in her state. In a statement, she vowed to work with Louisiana schools to help them "put the past in the past." Civil rights activists say that's the wrong move. Many orders have been only loosely enforced in recent decades, but that doesn't mean problems are solved, said Johnathan Smith, who worked in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division during President Joe Biden's administration. "It probably means the opposite — that the school district remains segregated. And in fact, most of these districts are now more segregated today than they were in 1954," said Smith, who is now chief of staff and general counsel for the National Center for Youth Law. ## Desegregation orders involve a range of instructions More than 130 school systems are under Justice Department desegregation orders, according to records in a court filing this year. The vast majority are in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, with smaller numbers in states like Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina. Some other districts remain under separate desegregation agreements with the Education Department. The orders can include a range of remedies, from busing requirements to district policies allowing students in predominately Black schools to transfer to predominately white ones. The agreements are between the school district and the U.S. government, but other parties can ask the court to intervene when signs of segregation resurface. In 2020, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund invoked a consent decree in Alabama's Leeds school district when it stopped offering school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic. The civil rights group said it disproportionately hurt Black students, in violation of the desegregation order. The district agreed to resume meals. Last year, a Louisiana school board closed a predominately Black elementary school near a petrochemical facility after the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund said it disproportionately exposed Black students to health risks. The board made the decision after the group filed a motion invoking a decades-old desegregation order at St. John the Baptist Parish. ## Closing cases could lead to legal challenges The dismissal has raised alarms among some who fear it could undo decades of progress. Research on districts released from orders has found that many saw greater increases in racial segregation compared with those under court orders. "In very many cases, schools quite rapidly resegregate, and there are new civil rights concerns for students," said Halley Potter, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation who studies educational inequity. Ending the orders would send a signal that desegregation is no longer a priority, said Robert Westley, a professor of antidiscrimination law at Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. "It's really just signaling that the backsliding that has started some time ago is complete," Westley said. "The United States government doesn't really care anymore of dealing with problems of racial discrimination in the schools. It's over." Any attempt to drop further cases would face heavy opposition in court, said Raymond Pierce, president and CEO of the Southern Education Foundation. "It represents a disregard for education opportunities for a large section of America. It represents a disregard for America's need to have an educated workforce," he said. "And it represents a disregard for the rule of law." ___ Associated Press writer Sharon Lurye contributed from New Orleans. ___ This story has been corrected to reflect the group that invoked desegregation orders in other Louisiana districts is the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, not the NAACP. ___ The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 17:45:25+00:00	[ "Michael Fournier", "Wildfires", "California", "Los Angeles Area wildfires", "Andrew Robb", "Fires", "National Transportation Safety Board" ]	# Family of a helicopter pilot killed in a California wildfire reaches a $15 million settlement By The Associated Press May 9th, 2025, 05:45 PM --- LOS ANGELES (AP) — The family of a helicopter pilot who died when his helicopter crashed in 2020 while fighting a wildfire in Southern California reached a $15 million settlement with the company that maintained the aircraft, their attorneys said Friday. Michael Fournier was making water drops on Aug. 19, 2020 over hilly, rugged terrain when his bright red Bell UH-1H copter suddenly plunged into a hillside as he was helping battle the Hills Fire burning 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of the small Central Valley town of Coalinga. Fournier worked for a private Southern California company that contracts with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, and other agencies to provide firefighting aircraft and other services. "The Fournier family's lawsuit sought answers and accountability, and this result does just that," said Andrew Robb, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit. Robb said the family would not be making any public comments. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board's concluded that the helicopter crashed because of "a hydraulic system failure." Moments before the crash Fournier radioed to air traffic control that he was having trouble with the helicopter's hydraulics, Robb said. Fournier was working with Guardian Helicopters, which is based in Fillmore, California and at the time had a contract with Cal Fire to provide emergency services. The settlement was paid by Rotorcraft Support, Inc., the company that maintained the helicopter. A phone message left with the helicopter maintenance company was not immediately returned Friday. Fournier's copter went down in a remote, hilly, smoke-filled area that took a Fresno County Sheriff's Department search and rescue team nearly four hours to reach. Fourteen team members in five Jeeps traveled for miles through soft dirt under smoke-filled skies, finally abandoning the vehicles to walk the last several hundred yards to the crash site. There, they carefully wrapped the body in an American flag and carried it to one of the vehicles.
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 15:03:49+00:00	[ "Utah", "Spencer Cox", "Ron DeSantis", "Oral health", "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.", "Water quality", "Public health", "Food safety", "Stephanie Gricius", "Elaine Oaks", "South Carolina state government", "Health", "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention", "Sasha Harvey", "James Bekker" ]	# Utah dentists prepare for the first statewide fluoride ban By Hannah Schoenbaum May 6th, 2025, 03:03 PM --- SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — With Utah's first-in-the-nation ban on fluoride in public drinking water set to take effect Wednesday, dentists who treat children and low-income patients say they're bracing for an increase in tooth decay among the state's most vulnerable people. Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed the law against the recommendation of many dentists and national health experts who warn removing fluoride will harm tooth development, especially in young patients without regular access to dental care. Florida is poised to become the second state to ban fluoride under a bill that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday he would sign soon. The Ohio and South Carolina legislatures are considering similar measures. Supporters of states' efforts to ban fluoride said they did not dispute that it could have some benefits but thought people should not be given it by the government without their informed consent. "It really shouldn't be forced on people," DeSantis said. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has applauded Utah for being the first state to enact a ban and said he plans to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation nationwide. ## Many patients not in the know A majority of Utah water systems already did not add fluoride. The state ranked 44th in the nation for the percentage of residents receiving fluoridated water, with about 2 in 5 receiving it in 2022, according to CDC data. The law will impact about 1.6 million people in Salt Lake City and elsewhere in northern Utah who are losing fluoridation, state officials say. Dentists in Salt Lake City over the past week said many patients were unaware of the upcoming ban, and most did not realize the city had been adding fluoride to their drinking water for nearly two decades. "I did not know about a ban," said Noe Figueroa, a patient at Salt Lake Donated Dental Services, a clinic that provides free or heavily discounted dental treatment to low-income residents. "Well, that's not good. I don't think that's good at all." At Donated Dental, providers expect their monthslong waitlist for children's procedures to grow significantly and their need for volunteer dentists to skyrocket. The effects of the ban in children's teeth will likely be visible within the next year, said Sasha Harvey, the clinic's executive director. "Fluoridated water is the great equalizer," Harvey said. "It really benefits everybody, regardless of your age, gender, your ethnicity, your education level, your income level — it helps everyone." ## A public health achievement under scrutiny The fluoridation process involves supplementing the low levels of fluoride that occur naturally in most water to reach the 0.7 milligrams per liter recommended by the CDC for cavity prevention. Water treatment plants dump fluoride into the water in liquid or powder form and often use dosing pumps to adjust the levels. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population receives fluoridated drinking water, according to health officials. It was long considered among the greatest public health achievements of the last century. Fluoride fortifies teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the CDC. It's especially important to children whose teeth are still developing. For some low-income families, public drinking water containing fluoride may be their only source of preventative dental care. Some supporters of the Utah law pointed to studies linking high levels of fluoride exposure to illness and low IQ in kids. The National Institutes of Health says it's "virtually impossible" to get a toxic dose from fluoride added to water or toothpaste at standard levels. Elaine Oaks, a Bountiful resident and trustee of her local water district, said it's not the role of government to decide that the entire population should receive fluoride in their drinking water. Individuals and parents should be able to make that decision for themselves, she said. Before signing the bill, Cox said there is no difference in health outcomes between communities with and without fluoride — a statement Utah dentists say is false. "Any dentist can look in someone's mouth in Utah and tell exactly where they grew up. Did you grow up in a fluoridated area or a non-fluoridated area? We can tell by the level of decay," said Dr. James Bekker, a pediatric dentist at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. ## Barriers to fluoride supplements The law shifts responsibility to individuals, meaning all Utah residents will need to be proactive about their oral health, Harvey said. Most patients at her clinic only come in when a toothache becomes unbearable, and many cannot spare the few dollars a month needed to buy fluoride supplements to add to their drinking water at home. Figueroa, the free dental clinic patient, said other expenses take priority. Fluoride toothpaste alone is insufficient for children because it doesn't penetrate the tooth's outer layer, Bekker said. When a person regularly ingests fluoridated water, their saliva bathes the teeth in fluoride throughout the day and makes them stronger. Bekker said he recommends Utah parents add fluoride supplements to their children's drinking water. But for families who don't visit doctors regularly, that may prove difficult. Fluoride tablets require a prescription from a doctor or dentist. Utah providers are working to make the supplement accessible over the counter, but Bekker said that change may be months or years away.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 09:28:06+00:00	[ "Russia", "Grigory Melkonyants", "Courts", "Ukraine", "Politics", "Mikhail Biryukov", "Elections", "Ella Pamfilova", "Indictments", "Moscow", "Criminal punishment" ]	# Russian court jails prominent election monitoring activist for 5 years By Dasha Litvinova May 14th, 2025, 09:28 AM --- A court in Moscow on Wednesday convicted one of the leaders of a prominent independent election monitoring group on charges of organizing the work of an "undesirable" organization and sentenced him to five years in prison. Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russia's leading election watchdog Golos, has rejected the charges as politically motivated. The case against him is part of the monthslong crackdown on Kremlin critics and rights activists that the government ratcheted up after invading Ukraine in 2022. After a judge of the Basmanny District Court delivered the verdict, Melkonyants, 44, told several dozen supporters and journalists from the glass defendant's cage: "Don't worry, I'm not despairing. You shouldn't despair either!" Golos has monitored for and exposed violations in every major election in Russia since it was founded in 2000. Over the years, it has faced mounting pressure from the authorities. In 2013, the group was designated as a "foreign agent" — a label that implies additional government scrutiny and carries strong pejorative connotations. Three years later, it was liquidated as a non-governmental organization by Russia's Justice Ministry. Golos has continued to operate without registering as an NGO, exposing violations in various elections, and in 2021 it was added to a new registry of "foreign agents," created by the Justice Ministry for groups that are not registered as a legal entity in Russia. It has not been designated as "undesirable" — a label that under a 2015 law makes involvement with such organizations a criminal offense. But when it was an NGO, it was a member of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations, or ENEMO, a group that was declared "undesirable" in Russia in 2021, and the charges against Melkonyants stemmed from that. In his closing statement to the court on Monday, published in full by independent news outlets Mediazona and Meduza, Melkonyants talked about how rights and freedoms often are taken for granted but look very different from "behind bars," and it's clear how much one must constantly "protect and defend" them. The defense argued that when ENEMO was outlawed in Russia, Golos wasn't a member, and Melkonyants had nothing to do with it. The renowned election expert and lawyer by training was arrested in August 2023 and has been in custody ever since. Ella Pamfilova, chair of Russia's Central Election Commission, the country's main election authority, spoke out in his support at the time, telling Russian business daily Vedomosti about the case: "I would really like to hope that they will handle this objectively. Because his criticism, often professional, helped us a lot sometimes." Independent journalists, critics, activists and opposition figures in Russia have come under increasing pressure from the government in recent years that intensified significantly amid the war in Ukraine. Multiple independent news outlets and rights groups have been shut down, labeled as "foreign agents" or outlawed as "undesirable." Hundreds of activists and critics of the Kremlin have faced criminal charges. Melkonyants' defense team said after the verdict that they will appeal. Lawyer Mikhail Biryukov told reporters that "there is no evidence" in the case that he and others on the defense team consider "politically motivated, pretentious." "We will fight for Grigory's freedom, because an illegal, unjust verdict should not exist. It should not stand (in the appeal proceedings). We all hope that the law will prevail," Biryukov said. With the time Melkonyants has already spent in detention taken into account, he will have to serve less than half of the term he was handed down, according to Mediazona. Memorial, Russia's prominent human rights group that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, has designated Melkonyants as a political prisoner.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 16:53:46+00:00	[ "Nicolas Maduro", "Diosdado Cabello", "Colombia", "Venezuela", "Venezuela government", "Mara Corina Machado", "Gustavo Petro", "Colombia government", "Elections", "Legal proceedings", "Politics", "Marco Rubio", "Voting", "Human rights" ]	# Venezuela bans arrival of flights from Colombia following arrests in an alleged anti-government plot By Regina Garcia Cano May 19th, 2025, 04:53 PM --- CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela on Monday banned the arrival of flights from neighboring Colombia after authorities detained more than 30 people who were allegedly plotting activities to destabilize the country ahead of Sunday's election. The arrests were announced just as an independent panel of experts backed by the Organization of American States released a report documenting serious human rights abuses in Venezuela as the government tightened its grip on dissent after the July 28 presidential election. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello on state television said the flight ban was "immediate" and would last beyond Sunday, when voters across the country are expected to elect governors and National Assembly members. But Colombia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said Venezuela's government had notified it that flights would resume the day after the election. Cabello said the anti-government plans involved placing explosives at embassies and other facilities in Venezuela. He said authorities had detained 21 Venezuelans and 17 foreigners, some of whom hold Colombian, Mexican and Ukrainian citizenship. Cabello, without offering any evidence, said the group included experts in explosive devices, human smugglers and mercenaries, and was working with members of Venezuela's political opposition. "The scenario they want to present is that there are no conditions in Venezuela for holding an election," Cabello said, referring to the opposition. Colombia's Foreign Ministry in a statement said it had not received any information from Venezuela's government regarding the detention of Colombian citizens. President Gustavo Petro, Colombia's first leftist president, resumed his country's diplomatic relations with Venezuela after taking office in 2022 and becoming an ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Maduro, during a televised meeting with leaders of the military and state security forces, alleged that members of an Albanian crime organization involved in drug trafficking in Ecuador were also linked to the alleged plot and added that an investigation into the group's plans is ongoing. The arrests come nearly two weeks after members of the opposition left the country after having lived at a diplomatic compound in Venezuela's capital, Caracas, for more than a year to avoid arrest. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the faction of the opposition led by María Corina Machado described the departure as an international rescue operation, but Cabello said they left Venezuela through a negotiation with Maduro's government. Machado has called on Venezuelans to boycott the election scheduled for Sunday, almost 10 months since the presidential contest that electoral authorities claimed Maduro won despite credible evidence to the contrary. Several countries do not recognize Maduro's victory and have broken diplomatic relations with his government, disrupting commercial air travel. Five of the six people who sheltered at the diplomatic compound were part of Machado's staff. Dozens of people affiliated with her movement, including its lawyer, as well as opposition leaders, activists and others detained before and after the presidential election remain behind bars. The panel of experts backed by the Organization of American States on Monday reported that the post-election period has seen "the most severe and sophisticated phase of political repression in Venezuela's modern history." This included the execution of unarmed protesters, enforced disappearances and an increase in arbitrary detentions. The panel also reported that the state expanded its repression targets beyond political opponents and human rights defenders by going after poll workers, election witnesses, relatives of opposition members, minors and others. ___ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 06:41:21+00:00	[ "Pope Francis", "Vatican City", "Papal conclave", "Catholic Church", "Rome", "Religion", "Roberto Regoli", "Pope John Paul II Paul VI", "Albino Luciani", "Scandals", "Natalia Imperatori-Lee", "Europe" ]	# The new pope's name could signal his priorities By Colleen Barry May 6th, 2025, 06:41 AM --- ROME (AP) — The first clue of the next pope's direction will be the name the winner chooses. The announcement "Habemus Papam" — "We have a pope" — from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica is followed first by the revelation of the new pontiff's baptismal name, in Latin, followed by his papal name, wrought with meaning. A Pope Francis II would signify continuity with the late pontiff's pastoral legacy and his prioritizing of the marginalized. Francis himself quipped that his successor would be John XXIV, after the progressive Vatican II-era pope. The most popular papal name of the 20th century, Pius, would be a clear signal that a traditionalist is taking back the throne of St. Peter. "In the deepest recesses of their mind, when they start the conclave, everyone will walk in there with a name in their head," said Natalia Imperatori-Lee, chair of religious studies at Manhattan University. ## History of papal names For most of the Catholic Church's first millennium, popes used their given names. The first exception was the 6th century Roman Mercurius, who had been named for a pagan god and chose the more appropriate name of John II. The practice of adopting a new name became ingrained during the 11th century, a period of German popes who chose names of early church bishops out of "a desire to signify continuity," said the Rev. Roberto Regoli, a historian at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University. For many centuries, new popes tended to choose the name of the pope who had elevated them to cardinal. John was the most popular, chosen by 23 popes, followed by Benedict and Gregory, each with 16. Only starting in the mid-20th century did new popes begin to choose names signaling the aim of their papacy, Regoli said. "Even now, as we are waiting for the new pope, the name with which he will present himself will help us to understand the horizon towards which he wants to proceed," Regoli said. Some names have been out of use for centuries, like Urban or Innocent. "I don't think anyone will pick Innocent,″ Imperatori-Lee said, given the abuse and other scandals that have rocked the church. "I don't think that would be the right choice." ## Recent names FRANCIS: Pope Francis, elected in 2013, took the name of St. Francis of Assisi, known for his humility, life of poverty and love of all creatures. With it, Francis signaled a papacy focused on those who are often seen as outsiders, including the poor, prisoners and the LGBTQ+ community, while promoting peace, brotherhood and care of the environment. BENEDICT: Last chosen by German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, elected in 2005. Pope Benedict XVI said he wanted to pay homage to Benedict XV, who led the church during World War I and dedicated himself to healing the rifts of war, and to the 6th century St. Benedict, founder of Western monasticism, who helped spread Christianity throughout Europe. One of Benedict XVI's priorities was trying to revive the faith in Europe. "If we get a Benedict, then we will know that the cardinals chose to see Francis as an anomaly," Imperatori-Lee said. JOHN PAUL: The papacy's first composite name was chosen by Cardinal Albino Luciani in 1978 to honor Pope John XXIII, who opened the Vatican Council II process that reformed the Catholic Church, and Paul VI, who closed it. The name signaled a commitment to reforms, including sidelining the Latin Mass in favor of local languages and opening to other faiths, most significantly Judaism. John Paul I's papacy lasted just 33 days. Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, who succeeded him, chose the name John Paul II. JOHN: Chosen 23 times by popes, most recently in 1958 by Pope John XXIII. John can refer to St. John the Apostle, one of Jesus' 12 apostles and the author of one of the Gospels, or St. John the Baptist, the prophet who baptized Jesus. "John the XXIII was a pope that no one expected a lot from, but had a colossal impact on the church," Imperatori-Lee said. "So that could be a sign of what they want their pontificate to be like." PAUL: Chosen six times, most recently in 1963 by Paul VI. St. Paul the Apostle spread the teachings of Jesus in the 1st century. PIUS: It is associated with popes known for their traditionalist, anti-reform bent. Pius IX ordered the kidnapping of the Jewish boy Edgardo Mortara in 1858 and raised him Catholic in the Vatican after learning he had been secretly baptized by a housekeeper; Pius X was the early 20th century anti-modernist who inspired the anti-Vatican II schismatic group, the Society of St. Pius X; Pius XII was the World War II-era pope criticized for not speaking out sufficiently about the Holocaust. "It is now a name that is hostage to some Catholic groups that can be considered traditionalists," Regoli said. ## New directions A new pope is free to choose a name never used before, as Francis did. "This would open a new season and could mean that his program is not in line with any of his predecessors, so an even more personalized program," Regoli said. Imperatori-Lee suggested another name that might signal a continuation of Francis' legacy: Ignatius, for the founder of Francis' Jesuit order. "It would be interesting," she said. "We've never had one of those."
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 10:37:35+00:00	[ "El Salvador", "Donald Trump", "Tim Kaine", "Kilmar Abrego Garcia", "Voting", "U.S. Democratic Party", "United States government", "Chris Van Hollen", "Joe Biden", "U.S. Republican Party", "United States Senate", "Government policy", "United States", "Government and politics", "Maxine Waters", "Immigration", "Jeff Merkley", "Politics" ]	# Democrats will force vote on transparency for El Salvador deportations By Mary Clare Jalonick May 1st, 2025, 10:37 AM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats plan to force a vote in the coming weeks on a resolution to require more transparency from President Donald Trump's administration about deportations to El Salvador. The resolution announced by Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine on Thursday comes after two votes on Democratic resolutions challenging Trump's tariffs. It is part of a larger strategy by Democrats to continue using mechanisms under the law to take floor time from majority Republicans and vote on reversing parts of Trump's agenda. "These votes are all about curbing executive power," said Kaine, who was also a lead sponsor on the two tariff bills. "That is a unifying theme." The new resolution would force Trump's Republican administration to report to Congress about what steps it is taking to comply with courts that have determined the U.S. government wrongfully deported immigrants to El Salvador. Democrats have highlighted the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to the Central American country and who a Maryland judge has said should be returned to the U.S. Kaine said that Democrats want to put Republicans on record on that case and others while also pressuring the government of El Salvador, which is working with the Trump administration. The resolution would also require the Trump administration to reveal more information about money paid to El Salvador and assess the country's human rights record. Leaders in El Salvador will have to deal with the United States long past Trump's tenure, Kaine said, and "we're going to have a very long memory about this." Democrats have been under pressure from base voters to use their limited powers in the minority to fight Trump on all fronts. While the resolution is unlikely to get a vote in the House even if it passes the Senate, Democrats say it is about bringing attention to issues and forcing Republicans to go on record where they are reluctant to speak out publicly against Trump. "We have limited tools, but this is an effective tool," said Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who is backing the resolution and visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador two weeks ago. Democrats have already forced a handful of votes on the Senate floor, including the two tariff votes last month. The Senate in early April passed a resolution that would have have thwarted Trump's ability to impose tariffs on Canada, but Republicans this week narrowly blocked a similar resolution that would have stalled Trump's global tariffs announced several weeks ago. Four Republicans voted with Democrats on the first tariff measure, and three Republicans voted with them on the second resolution. The Democrats are forcing the votes under different statutes that allow so-called "privileged" resolutions — legislation that must be brought up for a vote whether majority leadership wants to or not. The resolution being introduced Thursday is under the Foreign Assistance Act, which allows any senator to force a vote to request information on a country's human rights practices. Senate Republicans pulled similar maneuvers during President Joe Biden's administration under the Congressional Review Act, which allows lawmakers to force votes on rescinding regulations. In addition to forcing votes, Democrats would like to expand the Congressional Review Act to help them reverse Trump's mass firings at federal agencies. Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and California Rep. Maxine Waters introduced bills in the Senate and House on Thursday that would make any president's federal workforce reductions subject to that law and eligible for automatic votes on Capitol Hill if Congress wants to reverse them. It is unclear if any Republicans would vote with Democrats on the El Salvador resolution. Most Republicans have enthusiastically embraced Trump's border policies, even if some are wary of the administration's defiance of court orders and as some Americans think Trump has gone too far. While symbolic, Kaine said he hopes the votes on the resolutions will force Republicans to feel pressure — and potentially slow down future actions by Trump. "It's a way of shining a spotlight on this issue," Kaine said. ___ Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 06:43:21+00:00	[ "Pope Francis", "Vatican City", "Voting", "Papal conclave", "Elections", "Religion", "Scandals", "Raffaella Petrini", "Simona Brambilla", "Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib", "Fernando Filoni" ]	# Vatican firefighters install a chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel for the papal election By Nicole Winfield May 2nd, 2025, 06:43 AM --- VATICAN CITY (AP) — Preparations for the conclave to find a new pope accelerated Friday with the installation of the chimney out of the Sistine Chapel that will signal the election of a successor to Pope Francis. Vatican firefighters were seen on the roof of the Sistine Chapel installing the chimney, a key moment in the preparation for the May 7 conclave. After every two rounds of voting in the Sistine Chapel, the ballots of the cardinals are burned in a special furnace to indicate the outcome to the outside world. If no pope is chosen, the ballots are mixed with cartridges containing potassium perchlorate, anthracene (a component of coal tar) and sulfur to produce black smoke. But if there is a winner, the burning ballots are mixed with potassium chlorate, lactose and chloroform resin to produce the white smoke. The white smoke came out of the chimney on the fifth ballot on March 13, 2013, and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was introduced to the world as Pope Francis a short time later from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica. Francis, history's first Latin American pope, died April 21 at age 88. The chimney installation took place as cardinals arrived in the Vatican for another day of pre-conclave discussions about the needs of the Catholic Church going forward and the type of pope needed to run it. These consultations include all cardinals, including those over age 80 who are ineligible to vote in the conclave itself. In recent days, they have heard reports about the Vatican's dire financial situation, and have had the chance to speak individually about priorities going forward and problems they identified in Francis' pontificate. Francis was a somewhat divisive pope, beloved by some for his focus on the poor and marginalized, but criticized by others who accused him of sowing confusion among the faithful on issues of morality and church law. These conservatives and traditionalists, who are not believed to have a majority among the 135 cardinal electors, are hoping a new pope will reassert core church teachings and act as a stabilizing figure in the Vatican bureaucracy. Cardinal Beniamino Stella, who headed the Vatican office for clergy under Francis until his retirement in 2021, has been among the older, non-voting cardinals who has spoken during the pre-conclave sessions. According to America, the magazine of the U.S. Jesuits, Stella this week strongly criticized Francis' reform of the Vatican bureaucracy that allowed women and lay people to head Holy See offices rather than clergy. That reform, contained in a 2022 constitution, overhauled the Vatican bureaucracy and fulfilled a key mandate Francis received from cardinals going into the 2013 conclave that elected him pope. But some have criticized the reform, which was nine years in the works and sought to make the Holy See more service-oriented and efficient. Francis named two laymen to head the Vatican communications operation and the economy ministry. More significantly, he named two nuns to head two of the most important Vatican offices: Sister Simona Brambilla as head of the Vatican office responsible for all the world's Catholic religious orders, and Sister Raffaella Petrini as head of the Vatican City State administration. In that position, Petrini runs the city state and is responsible for everything from the Vatican Museums that provide the Holy See with most of its revenue, to the firefighters who installed the chimney on the Sistine Chapel Friday. Their appointments were tangible evidence of Francis' belief that women should have a greater decision-making role in church governance. But Stella, according to unnamed cardinals cited by America, objected to Francis' decision to separate the power of governance in the church from the priesthood. It is unclear what influence older cardinals such as Stella, who at age 83 will not actually cast a vote, will have on the younger cardinal electors. In general, cardinals of the more conservative old guard have stresesed the need for unity over pursuing Francis' more radical legacy. "The pope has to ensure the unity of all of the church," said Cardinal Fernando Filoni, the retired head of the Vatican's evangelization office. "This is first and foremost. Everything else comes after," the 79-year-old cardinal said as he arrived Friday for the pre-conclave discussions. Cardinal Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib, the 68-year-old archbishop of Santiago, Chile, said the variety of points of view was useful in the pre-conclave meetings. Francis made Chomali a cardinal in December after appointing him to head the Chilean church through the continued fallout of the clergy sexual abuse scandal. "For me, that I come from Chile, a far away country, hearing such different experiences is an enrichment, not only for me but for all of the church," he said as he entered Friday.
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 13:34:05+00:00	[ "Narendra Modi", "Keir Starmer", "United Kingdom", "India government", "Donald Trump", "Boris Johnson", "India", "International trade", "United Kingdom government", "International agreements", "South Asia", "Tariffs and global trade", "Jonathan Reynolds", "Mark Kent", "Business", "Politics" ]	# UK and India sign a 'landmark' trade agreement after years of tough negotiations By Jill Lawless and Rajesh Roy May 6th, 2025, 01:34 PM --- LONDON (AP) — Britain and India announced Tuesday that they have agreed on a hard-wrought free trade agreement that will slash tariffs on products including Scotch whisky and English gin shipped to India and Indian food and spices sent to the U.K. The deal comes more than three years after negotiations started — and stalled — under a previous British government. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X that the deal was "ambitious and mutually beneficial." British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it a "landmark." "This is the biggest trade deal that we the U.K. have done since we left the EU, and it's the most ambitious trade deal that India has ever done," Starmer said. The U.K. government said the deal will reduce Indian import taxes on British goods including whisky, cosmetics, medical devices, cars, airplane parts and lamb. Whisky and gin tariffs will be halved from 150% to 75% before falling to 40% by year 10 of the deal. Automotive tariffs will fall from over 100% to 10% under a quota. India's Trade Ministry said 99% of Indian exports would face no import duty under the deal, which applies to products including textiles, marine products, leather, footwear, toys, gems and jewelry. "This brings us closer to our goal of becoming a global economic powerhouse. It protects our core interests while opening doors to India's greater participation in global value chains," Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said. Modi's office said the agreement covered trade in both goods and services, and would "unlock new potential for the two nations to jointly develop products and services for global markets." Britain said the deal is expected to increase bilateral trade by 25.5 billion pounds ($34 billion) a year from 2040 and add almost 5 billion pounds ($6.7 billion) a year to the British economy. Mark Kent, chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, said the deal would be "transformational" for the industry. India, a country of 1.4 billion people, is the world's largest whisky market, and Kent said the agreement had "the potential to increase Scotch whisky exports to India by 1 billion pounds over the next five years." The issue of visas for Indian nationals was a sticking point in the talks. The British government is under pressure to cut immigrant numbers — pressure heightened by the success of anti-immigrant party Reform UK in local elections in England last week. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the trade deal had "no impact on the immigration system," but made "modest changes to business mobility." The agreement adds Indian musicians, chefs and yoga instructors to the groups who can apply for U.K. visas, and includes a three-year exemption from British social security contributions for Indian workers in the U.K. The same exemption will apply to British workers in India. The deal, which must be ratified by both countries, comes as countries around the world scramble to strike trade deals to make up for tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on America's trading partners. Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of employers' organization the Confederation of British Industry, said the trade deal between India and Britain — the world's fifth- and sixth-largest economies — was a "beacon of hope amidst the specter of protectionism." U.K.-India trade negotiations began long before Trump's re-election. Formal talks began in 2022 on a free trade agreement that then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed as a key goal after Britain's departure from the European Union in 2020. Johnson famously promised to have a deal done by Diwali in October of that year. The two countries held 13 rounds of negotiations without a breakthrough before talks were suspended while both nations held general elections in 2024. Modi was re-elected, and Britain replaced the Conservative government with one led by Starmer's Labour Party. The two leaders spoke by phone on Tuesday, and Modi said he had invited Starmer to visit India soon. Starmer's office said he would go there "at the earliest opportunity." ___ Roy reported from New Delhi.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 13:34:12+00:00	[ "Shootings", "Evette Jeffrey", "Bronx", "Teens", "Law enforcement", "New York", "Gun violence", "New York City Wire", "Vanessa Gibson", "New York City", "Joseph Kenny" ]	# Teen 'innocent bystander' fatally shot during a fight near a New York City school May 13th, 2025, 01:34 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — A 16-year-old girl was killed by a stray bullet near a Bronx high school and a 14-year-old suspect was taken into custody, police said Tuesday. The girl, Evette Jeffrey, was shot in the head Monday after a fistfight broke out between two rival gangs. A 14-year-old fired three rounds into a crowd of other teens, apparently trying to hit a person who had punched him, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a news conference. "Evette Jeffrey was not involved in this dispute. She was an innocent bystander who was simply trying to take cover behind a brick wall and was struck in the head by one of the rounds," Kenny said. Jeffrey was taken to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The other 14-year-old, who was not identified by police, was apprehended late Tuesday morning as he was trying to get into a taxi. There were no charges filed against the teen as of midday, Kenny said. Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson said Monday that the girl's mother is inconsolable. "She got the worst phone call that no parent should ever get — ever — that her child was shot," Gibson said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 11:30:54+00:00	[ "Media and entertainment industry", "Jimmy Pitaro", "Streaming media", "Amusement parks", "Hospitality and leisure industry", "California", "Movies", "Business", "Donald Trump", "Entertainment", "The Walt Disney Co.", "James Gorman", "Morgan Stanley", "Netflix", "Inc.", "Mike Proulx", "Abu Dhabi", "Robert Iger", "Hugh Johnston" ]	# Disney parks thrive in second quarter and company adds 1.4 million new streaming subscribers By Michelle Chapman May 7th, 2025, 11:30 AM --- Disney posted solid profits and revenue in the second quarter as its domestic theme parks thrived and the company added well over a million subscribers to its streaming service. The company also boosted its profit expectations for the year, sending shares up 11% Wednesday. Disney also announced that it will build a seventh theme park in Abu Dhabi. For the three months ended March 30, Disney earned $3.28 billion, or $1.81 per share. The Burbank, California, company lost $20 million, or a penny per share, a year earlier. Removing one time charges or benefits, earnings were $1.45 per share, easily topping the $1.18 that Wall Street was expecting, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research. Revenue rose 7% to $23.62 billion, also topping projections. Revenue for Disney Entertainment, which includes the company's movie studios and streaming service, climbed 9%, while revenue for the Experiences division, its parks, increased 6%. Recent box office hits include "Moana 2" and "Mufasa: The Lion King." Its latest film, "Thunderbolts(asterisk)," is currently sitting atop the box office. CEO Bob Iger and Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston said in prepared remarks that they're confident in this year's movie slate, which includes "Lilo & Stitch," "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" and "Avatar: Fire and Ash." Disney, however, faces potential ramifications from the trade war launched by President Donald Trump. Other U.S. corporations have noted blowback by consumers in overseas markets and on Monday, Trump opened a new salvo in his tariff war, targeting films made outside the U.S. Trump on Monday said that he had he authorized a 100% tariff "on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands." Disney is already under scrutiny by the Trump administration. In March the head of the Federal Communications Commission said that he was opening an investigation into Disney and its ABC television network to determine if they are "promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination." As of now, Disney's streaming business continues to grow. Its direct-to-consumer business, which includes Disney+ and Hulu, posted quarterly operating income of $336 million compared with $47 million in the prior-year period. Revenue increased 8%. The Disney+ streaming service had a 2% increase in paid subscribers domestically, which includes the U.S. and Canada. There was a 1% rise internationally, which excludes Disney+ HotStar. Total paid subscribers for Disney+ edged up 1% in the quarter to surprising 126 million subscribers, from 124.6 million in the first quarter. The Walt Disney Co. previously said that it expected a modest decline in Disney+ subscribers in the second quarter when compared with the first three months of the year. Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions totaled 180.7 million, up 2.5 million from the first quarter. "A perfect cocktail of content helped Disney deliver a better than expected quarter as the company's streaming business continues to grow profitability," Mike Proulx, Forrester vice president and research director said in an email. "As Disney eyes investments in local international content, it could be a sign that it's trying to more directly take on Netflix which is known for its strong international slate." Disney has benefited doubly from success at the box office as those productions become content for its growing streaming service. "Moana 2" has more than 139 million hours streaming since hitting Disney+ on March 12, making it the biggest Walt Disney Animation Studios' premiere on the platform since "Encanto," Iger and Johnston said. The first "Moana" film remains the most watched movie on Disney+ with more than 1.4 billion hours streamed. The Moana franchise also drives traffic at Disney's properties, with character meet and greets at theme parks and on cruise ships and the Journey of Water at Epcot at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The Experiences division, which includes Disney's six global theme parks, its cruise line, merchandise and videogame licensing, reported operating income rose 9% to $2.5 billion. Operating income climbed 13% at domestic parks. Operating income dropped 23% for international parks and Experiences, due to softness at its Shanghai and Hong Kong theme parks. While Disney continues to pull levers to successfully manage all of the different components of its business, it also continues to work on its search for a successor to Iger, the face of Disney for most of the past two decades. Disney created a succession planning committee in 2023, but the search began in earnest last year when the company enlisted Morgan Stanley Executive Chairman James Gorman to lead the effort. Disney does have some time, as Iger agreed to a contract extension that keeps him at the company through the end of 2026. Disney is looking at internal and external candidates. The internal candidates are widely believed to include the chairman of Disney-owned ESPN, Jimmy Pitaro, Chairperson of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Josh D'Amaro, Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman and Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Dana Walden. Disney is projecting full-year adjusted earnings of $5.75 per share, which is better than the $5.43 per share that analysts polled by FactSet are looking for. The company's previous guidance was for high-single digit adjusted earnings per share growth for fiscal 2025.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 04:40:13+00:00	[ "Pakistan", "South Asia", "JWD-evergreen", "Lifestyle", "Peshawar", "Muhammad Ashfaq", "Entertainment" ]	# Pakistani truck art elevates heavy transport into mobile masterpieces By Anjum Naveed May 1st, 2025, 04:40 AM --- RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) — Trucks thunder along Pakistan's dusty highways and through bustling city streets, like rolling canvases ablaze with color and poetry, transforming heavy transport into mobile masterpieces and offering a window into the country's folk culture. The roots of Pakistani truck art go back to British colonial rule, when owners began adorning their vehicles with intricate floral patterns, calligraphy, and cultural motifs. What started as modest embellishments has evolved into artistry. Painters, welders, electricians, and metalworkers collaborate to elevate commercial trucks into personalized symbols of pride and regional identity. There are camel bone inlays in Balochistan, intricate wood carvings in Peshawar, and disco-inspired detail in Rawalpindi. Muhammad Ashfaq, a 55-year-old from Rawalpindi, has been painting trucks for over four decades. "Each client comes with their own vision and budget," said Ashfaq. "We ask which style they prefer: Peshawar, Hazara, Swat, Pindi, Mandi Bahauddin, or Karachi." Pindi style is considered the most flamboyant, characterized by vivid colors, elaborate stickers, mirror work, and dense layering of design elements. "Pindi style is like a bride getting ready for her wedding," says Farrukh Sana, a truck driver who recently upgraded his vehicle with the vibrant design. "We feel happy when people admire our truck. It's a symbol of hard work and beauty." Styles vary according to cost and components, as well as color and complexity. A full refurbishment of a truck can cost between 2 to 5 million rupees (about $7,000 to $17,790), depending on the materials used and if major elements like the tires and the chassis are replaced. But, beyond mere decoration, the trucks also bear poetry, religious messages, and personal slogans, reflecting the aspirations, humor, and emotions of their drivers. Truck art has transcended cargo vehicles, finding its way onto rickshaws, buses, and even household decor. It first caught global attention in the 1970s, when foreign tourists started photographing the unusually bright vehicles. Since then, truck art has inspired international exhibitions and influenced contemporary fashion and product design. The distinctly South Asian tradition endures despite Pakistan's economic hardships. Artisans like Ashfaq remain devoted to the craft, while drivers like Sana view their trucks as more than a livelihood. They are seen as roving cultural ambassadors. "Every driver dreams of making his truck look unique," Sana says with pride. "When we drive it out and people turn their heads, we know we've created something special."
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 00:30:14+00:00	[ "Adam Sandler", "Comedy", "Jay Leno", "Animals", "Movies", "Colorado", "Arts and entertainment", "Jay Young", "Alligators and Crocodiles", "Steve Irwin" ]	# Alligator that starred in 'Happy Gilmore' dies of old age in Colorado By Thomas Peipert May 15th, 2025, 12:30 AM --- DENVER (AP) — An alligator that appeared in numerous TV shows and films over three decades, most notably the 1996 Adam Sandler comedy "Happy Gilmore," has died at a gator farm in southern Colorado. Based on his growth rate and tooth loss, Morris the alligator was at least 80 years old when he died, the Colorado Gator Farm said in a Facebook post Sunday. He was nearly 11 feet (3.3 meters) long and weighed 640 pounds (290 kilograms). "He started acting strange about a week ago. He wasn't lunging at us and wasn't taking food," Jay Young, the farm's owner and operator, said in a video as he tearfully stroked Morris' head in an animal enclosure. "I know it's strange to people that we get so attached to an alligator, to all of our animals. ... He had a happy time here, and he died of old age," he said. Morris, who was found in the backyard of a Los Angeles home as an illegal pet, started his Hollywood career in 1975 and retired in 2006, when he was sent to the Colorado Gator Farm in the tiny town of Mosca. He appeared in several films, including "Interview with the Vampire," "Dr. Dolittle 2" and "Blues Brothers 2000." He also appeared on "Coach," "Night Court" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" featuring the late wildlife expert Steve Irwin. But his most famous role was in "Happy Gilmore," a film about a failed and ill-tempered hockey player who discovers a talent for golf. The title character played by Sandler confronts Morris after hitting a golf ball that ends up in the gator's mouth. Sandler posted a tribute to Morris on Instagram on Wednesday. "We are all gonna miss you. You could be hard on directors, make-up artists, costumers — really anyone with arms or legs — but I know you did it for the ultimate good of the film," Sandler wrote. "The day you wouldn't come out of your trailer unless we sent in 40 heads of lettuce taught me a powerful lesson: never compromise your art." The Colorado Gator Farm, which opened to the public in 1990, said it plans to preserve Morris' body. "We have decided to get Morris taxidermied so that he can continue to scare children for years to come. It's what he would have wanted," the farm posted on Facebook on Monday.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 23:20:07+00:00	[ "Philanthropy", "Florida", "Donald Trump", "Bill Gates", "Government budgets", "Joe Deitch", "The Walt Disney Co.", "Abigail Disney", "Politics", "Business", "Tommy Marcus", "United States government", "Roy Disney" ]	# Abigail Disney urges donors to be braver about their giving and shouldering more risk By Glenn Gamboa May 13th, 2025, 11:20 PM --- MIAMI BEACH, Florida (AP) — Activist and philanthropist Abigail Disney urged donors and the leaders of major foundations and nonprofits to be braver with their giving, especially at a time when more are fearful about speaking their minds. "The people who speak up against their own self-interest are becoming very, very important," Disney said Tuesday at the opening panel of The Elevate Prize Foundation's Make Good Famous Summit in Miami Beach, Florida. "The people in philanthropy are the people who need to be speaking up … What we are experiencing is nothing compared to the risk that people of color, Indigenous people, immigrants are experiencing every single day in this country." Disney told The Associated Press in an interview before the panel that she planned to be more outspoken because "everyone has been so quiet since the election." Many question why major donors and foundations have not reacted faster to the Trump administration's cuts to foreign aid and federal funding to nonprofits, though some organizations, like the Marguerite Casey Foundation, have opted to scale up donations dramatically. "When people see each other act, it becomes easier for them to act," said Disney, who joked that she inspired Bill Gates to spend all of the Gates Foundation's assets and shut down the nonprofit by 2045. Disney, whose grandfather Roy Disney co-founded The Walt Disney Co., announced in December that her Daphne Foundation would spend its assets and soon shut down. Disney represented only one segment of philanthropists convened by The Elevate Prize Foundation to pledge action. "We are gathering at a time of real consequence," said Joe Deitch, the foundation's founder and chairman. "The challenges we face on the planet and as a people are daunting. We're witnessing a level of political and social division that often feels insurmountable." The foundation took its own action by awarding international human rights organization Equality Now $1 million in unrestricted funds for its work, which will help the group expand its work. Tommy Marcus, also known as Quentin Quarantino on Instagram where his 1.1 million followers have donated more than $30 million to charities he supports, said action makes him feel optimistic. "I get hope from knowing — for the wonderful things that I really care about and I just feel obligated to do something about — that there's just so many good people who will say, 'You know, Tommy, I wasn't thinking about this, but here's $30'," he said. "I think the future of fundraising, the future of charity, is in community." Marcus said in an interview that he found such support "flattering and a little scary," and that he takes the responsibility of that support very seriously. And he plans to continue to use his platform to draw attention to causes his followers can support. "Unfortunately, there's plenty of reasons to be a bit demotivated and deflated," he said. "At the same time, I take inspiration from my community and the unique things that we band together for or the way we just help an individual do something." Tynesha McHarris, co-founder of the Black Feminist Fund, said that this is a frightening time and there will be setbacks as they fight Trump administration policies that she says target Black women, but there will also be opportunities. "We are in this moment in time where we have to respond against one of the most lethal threats globally, that is trying to come for everything that is possible," she said. "I get to be alongside a cadre of people that stand in their way. That is a gift. Take it. Even if it makes your hands sweat or your stomach hurt. It is a gift to be amongst a community and a country and a coalition who would rather choose freedom over fascism, freedom over fear." Disney told the panel she would like to eliminate the words "tireless" and "fearless" from the English language, "No one is tireless or fearless," she said. "Courage is working through fear, in spite of fear. I've never had a moment in my life when I wasn't fearful. The trick is to hold on to your values through fear." _____ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and non-profits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 06:17:25+00:00	[ "Kurdistan Workers Party", "Abdullah Ocalan", "Recep Tayyip Erdogan", "Turkey", "Antonio Guterres", "Hakan Fidan", "Islam", "Iraq", "Syria", "Istanbul", "Disarmament", "Politics", "Selahattin Demirtas", "Ekrem Imamoglu", "Stephane Dujarric", "Rebellions and uprisings", "Devlet Bahceli" ]	# Kurdish PKK will disband and disarm as part of peace initiative with Turkey By Suzan Fraser May 12th, 2025, 06:17 AM --- ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Kurdish militant group PKK announced Monday that it is disbanding and renouncing armed conflict as part of a new peace initiative with Turkey, ending four decades of hostilities. The decision by the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers' Party, promises to end one of the longest insurgencies in the Middle East and could have significant impact in Turkey, Syria and Iraq. It was announced by the Firat News Agency, a media outlet close to the group, days after the PKK convened a party congress in northern Iraq. In February, PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul since 1999, urged his group to convene a congress and formally decide to disband and disarm. The call by Ocalan, 76, who continues to wields significant influence in the Kurdish movement despite his 25-year imprisonment, marked a pivotal step toward ending the decades-long conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the 1980s. Building on the momentum, the PKK announced a unilateral ceasefire on March 1 but attached conditions, including the creation of a legal framework for peace negotiations. The conflict between Turkey and the PKK has spilled over into northern Iraq and northern Syria, with Turkey carrying out numerous incursions into the neighboring regions. The PKK is listed as a terror group by Turkey and its Western allies. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the PKK's latest announcement, saying it would lead to stronger security and regional peace. "We have crossed another critical threshold in the process toward a terror-free Turkey," he said. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the PKK announcement, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. "This decision, if implemented, represents another important step towards the peaceful resolution of a long-standing conflict." ## PKK says group has completed its 'historical mission' In a statement carried by Firat, the PKK announced its decision to end its "organizational structure" and suggested that its armed struggle has successfully challenged policies that sought to suppress Kurdish rights. The congress assessed that the PKK's struggle had "brought the Kurdish issue to the point of resolution through democratic politics, thus completing its historical mission," according to the statement. "As a result, activities carried out under the name 'PKK' were formally terminated," the statement said. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan described the decision as "historic," but said the government would closely monitor the steps the group takes. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said the peace agreement "will also contribute to the stability of the region." ## Turkey says decision should apply to all PKK affiliates Erdogan said the declaration should apply to all PKK-affiliated groups: "We consider this announcement to encompass all of the organization's branches, including those in northern Iraq, Syria and Europe." Kurdish fighters in Syria have ties to the PKK and have been involved in intense fighting with Turkish-backed forces there. The leader of the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces previously said Ocalan's call for a dissolution does not apply to his group in Syria. The group then reached an agreement with the central government in Damascus for a nationwide ceasefire and its merger into the Syrian army. Details of the PKK's peace initiative have not been made public. The future of its fighters remains uncertain, including whether they may be relocated to third countries. Some analysts have suggested the Kurdish movement could potentially receive concessions including improvement in Ocalan's prison conditions, release or amnesty for jailed Kurdish politicians — including Selahattin Demirtas, the former leader of the country's pro-Kurdish party — and guarantees against the removal from office of Kurdish mayors. Previous peace efforts between Turkey and the group — most recently in 2015 — ended in failure. Dozens of people gathered Monday outside a mosque in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, celebrating the announcement with a traditional dance. "The people of this region are tired of this war," said resident Tekin Ergin. "The PKK's decision to disband is the right decision and a timely decision." ## Why is the peace initiative happening now? In recent years, the PKK has been limited to isolated attacks inside Turkey as the Turkish military, backed by armed drones, has pushed its insurgents increasingly across the mountainous border into Iraq. The latest peace initiative was launched in October by Erdogan's coalition partner, Devlet Bahceli, a far-right politician who suggested that Ocalan could be granted parole if his group renounces violence and disbands. Some believe the main aim of the reconciliation effort is for Erdogan's government to garner Kurdish support for a new constitution that would allow him to remain in power beyond 2028, when his term ends. Bahceli has called for a new constitution, saying it is essential for Turkey's future that Erdogan remain in power. Erdogan and Bahceli are reportedly seeking parliamentary support from the pro-Kurdish People's Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM. The PKK's declaration could mark a major gain for Erdogan, whose government is grappling with political tensions following the arrest of Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on corruption charges. Many see the imprisonment of the mayor, who is the opposition's strongest challenger to Erdogan's more than two-decade rule, as politically motivated. The government insists Turkey's judiciary operates independently. Sinan Ulgen, director of the Istanbul-based Edam think tank, cited both domestic and international drivers for the new peace initiative. "The domestic driver can be explained by Erdogan's aspiration to secure additional support in parliament in order to pave the path to his potential candidacy for the next round of presidential elections," Ulgen said. Internationally, Ulgen said, factors such as the change of administration in Syria and Iran's weakening after being targeted by Israel, had left the PKK "more vulnerable than in the past." ## Could the PKK splinter? "This does not mean that the road is clear of all hurdles," Ulgen added, warning of possible splits within the PKK. "We've seen this sort of dynamics around the world," Ulgen said. "Whether it is IRA or other entities that have decided to lay down arms, there is the prospect of a split, with one wing being in compliance with the objective, but the more radical wing continuing with the fight." Bahceli said he hoped "the bloody chapter will be closed forever, never to be reopened." The politician called for careful consideration of the steps to follow, including the timing and method of arms collection, monitoring the possible transitions of PKK members into groups in Syria, distinguishing members involved in criminal activities from those who were not, and deciding the appropriate course action concerning the group's leadership. ___ Associated Press writers Cinar Kiper in Bodrum, Turkey, Mucahit Ceylan in Diyarbakir, Turkey, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 16:42:26+00:00	[ "Florida", "Law enforcement", "Kentucky", "James S. Farthing", "Linda Grizzle", "Crime" ]	# Kentucky man who won Powerball jackpot lands in Florida jail days later By Dylan Lovan May 2nd, 2025, 04:42 PM --- LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky Powerball winner was arrested and charged with kicking a police officer in Florida days after he won a $167 million jackpot. James S. Farthing, who goes by Shannon, found out Sunday that he won the state's biggest ever jackpot after his mother called him, according to a media release from the Kentucky Lottery. The lottery said Farthing and his mother were splitting the winnings. But Farthing, 50, was in a Florida jail by midweek, according to media reports. He has been charged with battery of a police officer and resisting arrest after a Pinellas County Sheriff's deputy was attempting to break up a fight between Farthing and another person in a hotel when Farthing kicked the officer in the face, according to a police report written Tuesday. The officer told Farthing to turn around put his hands behind his back, but Farthing attempted to flee, the police report said. Farthing was booked into jail early Wednesday morning and remained in custody Friday, according to the county's online jail records. Farthing went to lottery headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday with his mother, Linda Grizzle, to claim their winnings. "It's going to be a good Mother's Day," Grizzle told lottery officials. "This is going to pay off my debt." Grizzle said she called her son Sunday saying she thought they had the winning ticket. They rushed to the gas station where he bought the ticket to confirm it, the lottery said. "I would have never dreamed it. It hasn't sunken in yet," she said. In an interview with WKYT-TV that Sunday, Farthing said the winnings would help his mother. "I've caused a lot of stress on her, you know, I've made some bad decisions in life and, you know, God's been good because I've kept my faith and done right," he told the news station. The winning numbers were 1-12-14-18-69 and the Powerball was 2. The family was told they could take a cash option of $77.3 million or receive 30 graduated annual payments for the winnings. Lottery officials said the total was the largest Powerball jackpot ever won in Kentucky, topping a $128 million jackpot in 2009. Online court records in Kentucky show Farthing has been arrested several times in recent years on various charges, including assault and domestic violence. An attorney for Farthing listed in court records did not immediately respond to an email message Friday.
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 13:44:04+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Cory Booker", "Adam Schiff", "Endangered species", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "United States government", "United States", "Associated Press", "Health", "Animals", "U.S. Department of the Interior", "Science", "Elon Musk", "Florida", "Politics", "Climate and environment" ]	# Democratic senators press Trump administration on how it will protect endangered species By Tammy Webber May 5th, 2025, 01:44 PM --- Three Democratic U.S. senators are asking the Trump administration to explain how it analyzed a proposed rule to eliminate habitat protections for endangered and threatened species and whether industry had a hand in drafting it. Senators Adam Schiff, Sheldon Whitehouse and Cory Booker sent a letter Monday to the departments of Interior and Commerce that also asks how the administration plans to protect species if the rule is changed. At issue is a long-standing definition of "harm" in the Endangered Species Act, which has included altering or destroying the places those species live — the No. 1 cause of extinction. Last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service proposed a rule that says habitat modification shouldn't be considered harm because it isn't the same as intentionally targeting a species, called "take." Environmentalists argue that the definition of "take" has always included actions that harm species, and the definition of "harm" has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Under the new interpretation, industry, developers and others could simply say they didn't intend to harm an endangered species, environmentalists say, which could lead to the extinction of critically endangered species like the Florida panther and spotted owl. The proposal could threaten progress made to save species that once were endangered, including bald eagles, gray wolves, Florida manatees and humpback whales, they said. The senators said it "represents an end run around the Endangered Species Act." "It is widely understood that a species cannot live without a safe place to call home," the letter reads. They also asked the administration to explain how it could enforce the act at all amid efforts by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to fire federal staff and cut agencies' funding. The proposal is in the middle of a 30-day public comment period. Environmentalists have vowed to challenge it in court if it's adopted. The Department of Interior said in an email that it would not comment on the letter but carefully reviews all correspondence from Congress. The Department of Commerce did not respond to an email sent Monday seeking comment. ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Associated Press News	2025-05-10 13:08:06+00:00	[ "Autism", "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.", "Health", "David Amaral", "Science" ]	# Experts call Kennedy's plan to find autism's cause unrealistic By Lauran Neergaard May 10th, 2025, 01:08 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — For many experts, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 's promise for "pulling back the curtain" to find autism's causes in a few months is jarring — and unrealistic. That's because it appears to ignore decades of science linking about 200 genes that play a role — and the quest to understand differences inside the brain that can be present at birth. "Virtually all the evidence in the field suggests whatever the causes of autism — and there's going to be multiple causes, it's not going to be a single cause — they all affect how the fetal brain develops," said longtime autism researcher David Amaral of the UC Davis MIND Institute. "Even though we may not see the behaviors associated with autism until a child is 2 or 3 years old, the biological changes have already taken place," he said. Kennedy on Wednesday announced the National Institutes of Health would create a new database "to uncover the root causes of autism and other chronic diseases" by merging Medicaid and Medicare insurance claims with electronic medical records and other data. He has cited rising autism rates as evidence of an epidemic of a "preventable disease" caused by some sort of environmental exposure and has promised "some of the answers by September." ## What is autism? Autism isn't considered a disease. It's a complex brain disorder better known as autism spectrum disorder, to reflect that it affects different people in different ways. Symptoms vary widely. For some people, profound autism means being nonverbal and having significant intellectual disabilities. Others have far milder effects, such as difficulty with social and emotional skills. Autism rates are rising — not among profound cases but milder ones, said autism expert Helen Tager-Flusberg of Boston University. That's because doctors gradually learned that milder symptoms were part of autism's spectrum, leading to changes in the late 1990s and early 2000s in diagnosis guidelines and qualifications for educational services, she said. ## What's the state of autism research? The link between genes and autism dates back to studies of twins decades ago. Some are rare genetic variants passed from parent to child, even if the parent shows no signs of autism. But that's not the only kind. As the brain develops, rapidly dividing cells make mistakes that can lead to mutations in only one type of cell or one part of the brain, Amaral explained. Noninvasive testing can spot differences in brain activity patterns in babies who won't be diagnosed with autism until far later, when symptoms become apparent, he said. Those kinds of changes stem from alterations in brain structure or its neural circuitry — and understanding them requires studying brain tissue that's available only after death, said Amaral, who's the scientific director of a brain banking collaborative called Autism BrainNet. The bank, funded by the nonprofit Simons Foundation, has collected more than 400 donated brains, about half from people with autism and the rest for comparison. ## What about environmental effects? Researchers have identified other factors that can interact with genetic vulnerability to increase the risk of autism. They include the age of a child's father, whether the mother had certain health problems during pregnancy including diabetes, use of certain medications during pregnancy, and preterm birth. Any concern that measles vaccinations could be linked to autism has been long debunked, stressed Tager-Flusberg, who leads a new Coalition of Autism Scientists pushing back on administration misstatements about the condition. ## What about Kennedy's database plan? The U.S., with its fragmented health care system, will never have the kind of detailed medical tracking available in countries like Denmark and Norway — places with national health systems where research shows similar rises in autism diagnoses and no environmental smoking gun. Experts say Kennedy's planned database isn't appropriate to uncover autism's causes in part because there's no information about genetics. But researchers have long used insurance claims and similar data to study other important questions, such as access to autism services. And the NIH described the upcoming database as useful for studies focusing on access to care, treatment effectiveness and other trends. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 18:14:56+00:00	[ "French Guiana", "Prisons", "France", "Guyana", "Latin America", "France government", "Drug crimes", "Jean-Paul Fereira", "Grald Darmanin", "Jean Victor Castor", "Alfred Dreyfus" ]	# France's plan to build a maximum security prison wing in French Guiana angers local officials By Dánica Coto May 19th, 2025, 06:14 PM --- SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — France plans to build a maximum-security prison wing for drug traffickers and Islamic militants near a former penal colony in French Guiana, sparking an outcry among residents and local officials. The wing would form part of a $450 million prison announced in 2017 that is expected to be completed by 2028 and hold 500 inmates. The prison would be built in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, a town bordering Suriname that once received prisoners shipped by Napoleon III in the 1800s, some of whom were sent to the notorious Devil's Island off the coast of French Guiana. French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin announced plans to build the high-security wing during an official visit to French Guiana on Saturday. He said in a Facebook post that 15 of the wing's 60 spaces would be reserved for Islamic militants. Darmanin was quoted by Le Journal du Dimanche, a French weekly newspaper, as saying that the prison also aims to keep suspected drug traffickers from having any contact with their criminal networks. "We are seeing more and more drug trafficking networks," he told reporters in French Guiana. "We must react." French media, quoting the Justice ministry, reported that people from French Guiana and French Caribbean territories would be sent in priority to the new prison. The announcement angered many across French Guiana, an overseas French department located in South America. It was once an infamous colony known for holding French political prisoners, including Army Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, who was accused of being a spy. Dreyfus was incarcerated on Devil's Island, a penal colony that operated for a century and was featured in the best-selling French novel "Papillon," which later was made into two movies. Jean-Paul Fereira, acting president of French Guiana's territorial collective, an assembly of 51 lawmakers that oversees local government affairs, said they were taken aback by the announcement since the plan to build a high-security wing was never discussed with them ahead of time. "It is therefore with astonishment and indignation that the elected members of the Collectivity discovered, together with the entire population of Guiana, the information detailed in Le Journal Du Dimanche," he wrote in a statement posted Sunday on social media. Fereira said the move was disrespectful and insulting, noting that the agreement French Guiana signed in 2017 was for the construction of a new prison meant to alleviate overpopulation at the main prison. "While all local elected officials have long been calling for strong measures to curb the rise of organized crime in our territory, Guiana is not meant to welcome criminals and radicalized people from (mainland France)," he wrote. Also decrying the plan was Jean-Victor Castor, a member of Parliament in French Guiana. He said he wrote directly to France's prime minister to express his concerns, noting that the decision was taken without consulting local officials. "It's an insult to our history, a political provocation and a colonial regression," Castor wrote in a statement issued Sunday as he called on France to withdraw the project. A spokesperson for France's justice minister did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 05:06:35+00:00	[ "Fatima El Alami", "Fatima Zahra Bermaki", "Weather", "JWD-evergreen", "Flowers", "Agriculture", "Lifestyle", "Mohammed Ait Hamed", "Fairs and festivals", "Morocco", "Deserts" ]	# The desert blooms, roses perfume the air and a Moroccan town comes to life By Sam Metz May 16th, 2025, 05:06 AM --- KALAAT M'GOUNA, Morocco (AP) — Gloved and armed with shears, women weave through thorny brambles, clipping and tossing their harvest into wheelbarrows. "Thank God for the rain," said rose picker Fatima El Alami. "There are roses elsewhere, but there's nowhere like here." She's right. Mild temperatures, steady sunlight and low humidity make the fields around Kalaat M'Gouna a perfect cradle for growing its signature flower: the Damask rose. Abundant precipitation and several desert downpours this year have bestowed Morocco with an exceptional yield of the flower, used for rosewater and rose oil. Pink and pungent, the roses are set to come in at 4,800 tons this year, a bloom far beyond the 2020-2023 average, according to the Regional Office for Agricultural Development, in nearby Ouarzazate. The small town in the High Atlas mountains comes to life each year during the International Rose Festival, now in its 60th year. From the rose-shaped monuments at Kalaat M'Gouna's entrances to the Pepto Bismol pink taxis, nearly everything here adheres to the theme. Teenagers sell heart-shaped rose dashboard ornaments along the roadside where wild briars bloom into pink tangles. Children whirl around a rose-themed carousel. Roadside placards advertise rose products in at least six languages: English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Japanese and Amazigh, a tongue indigenous to the region. Outside the town, roses span 1,020 hectares (2,520 acres) across the region this year. One hectare (2.5 acres) of roses requires little water and provides more than 120 days of work in a local economy where opportunities are scarce. Regional officials say the rose industry is a prime example of sustainable development because the flowers are well-adapted to the climate and rooted in the culture — music, dance and celebrations like weddings. "Roses here are perfectly adapted to the region and to the conditions we're living in now," said Abdelaziz Ait Mbirik, director of the local Agricultural Development Office, referencing Morocco's prolonged drought conditions. The value of a kilogram of roses is five to six times higher than it was several years ago. And unlike some other agricultural products that Morocco exports, Kalaat M'Gouna's roses are largely grown by small-scale farmers and nourished with drip irrigation. Though roses are broadly considered a lifeblood to the local economy, women toiling in the fields make an average of 80-100 Moroccan dirhams a day ($8-10) during harvest season. From the fields where they labor, the roses are bundled into potato sacks and sold to local distilleries like Mohammed Ait Hamed's. There, they are are splayed onto tables, sorted and ultimately poured into copper cauldrons known as alembic stills, where they're steamed and filtered into fragrant water and precious oil. The two are packaged into pink bottles, tiny glass vials or spun into soaps or lotions. Long seen as a natural remedy for a variety of ails in Morocco, rose-based products are increasingly in high demand worldwide. Rosewater and oil are often incorporated into perfumes, toners or facial mists and marketed for their sweet and soothing smell as well as their anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties. Elixirs, tonics and balms were flying off the shelves last week at booths staffed by local cooperatives from throughout the region. The demand has spurred local officials to find ways to incentivize farmers to expand rose production in the upcoming years. At the festival parade, as drummers tapped their sticks in cadence, Fatima Zahra Bermaki, crowned this year's Miss Rose, waved from a float draped in petals. She said she hoped the world could one day know the beauty of Kalaat M'Gouna and its desert roses. But amid the commotion, she remembered something: "The ladies who pick the flowers are the important ones in all of this. If they weren't here none of this would be," she said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 18:50:01+00:00	[ "Fashion", "Apparel and accessories manufacturing", "Lifestyle", "Business", "Arts and entertainment", "Valentino Garavani", "Pierpaolo Piccioli", "Entertainment" ]	# Balenciaga has a new creative director: Pierpaolo Piccioli May 19th, 2025, 06:50 PM --- PARIS (AP) — Pierpaolo Piccioli, who left Valentino last year, is the new creative director of the iconic fashion house Balenciaga, parent company Kering announced Monday. He replaces Demna, who joined Balenciaga in 2015 and has since moved to Gucci in a shake-up of Kering's creative stable. Gucci is also owned by Kering. Piccioli takes over at Balenciaga on July 10. "What I am receiving is a brand full of possibilities that is incredibly fascinating. I must first and foremost thank Demna; I've always admired his talent and vision. I couldn't ask for a better passing of the torch," Piccioli said in a company statement. He will head womenswear, menswear, accessories and couture at the Paris-based house. Demna, who goes by one name, was not without controversy, often taking on political and social issues of the day. Piccioli is viewed as more of a romantic than a disrupter.

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