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Associated Press News
|
2025-05-15 22:26:14+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Pete Hegseth",
"Gender",
"Sean Parnell",
"Military and defense",
"District of Columbia",
"United States government",
"U.S. Department of Defense",
"Government and politics",
"Politics"
] |
# Military commanders will be told to send transgender troops to medical checks
By Lolita C. Baldor
May 15th, 2025, 10:26 PM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — Military commanders will be told to identify troops in their units who are transgender or have gender dysphoria, then send them to get medical checks in order to force them out of the service, officials said Thursday.
A senior defense official laid out what could be a complicated and lengthy new process aimed at fulfilling President Donald Trump's directive to remove transgender service members from the U.S. military.
The new order to commanders relies on routine annual health checks that service members are required to undergo. Another defense official said the Defense Department has scrapped — for now — plans to go through troops' health records to identify those with gender dysphoria.
Instead, transgender troops who do not voluntarily come forward could be outed by commanders or others aware of their medical status. Gender dysphoria occurs when a person's biological sex does not match up with their gender identity.
The defense officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of the new policy. The process raises comparisons to the early "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which at times had commanders or other troops outing gay members of the military who — at the time — were not allowed to serve openly.
Active-duty troops will have until June 6 to voluntarily identify themselves to the Defense Department, and troops in the National Guard and Reserve have until July 7.
The department is offering a financial incentive to those who volunteer to leave. They will receive roughly double the amount of separation pay than those who don't come forward.
Initially, officials said the Defense Department would begin going through medical records to identify anyone who did not come forward voluntarily. That detail was not included in the new guidance released Thursday.
While the department believes it has the authority to review medical records, it would rather go through a more routine health assessment process, the defense official said. Traditionally, all service members go through a health assessment once a year to determine if they are still medically able to serve.
A new question about gender dysphoria is being added to that assessment. Active-duty troops who do not voluntarily come forward would have to acknowledge their gender dysphoria during that medical check, which could be scheduled months from now.
A unit commander could expedite the health assessment.
Under the new policy, "commanders who are aware of service members in their units with gender dysphoria, a history of gender dysphoria, or symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria will direct individualized medical record reviews of such service members to confirm compliance with medical standards."
The defense official said it is the duty of the service member and the commander to comply with the new process. The department is confident and comfortable with commanders implementing the policy, and it does not believe they would use the process to take retribution against a service member, the senior defense official said.
It comes after the Supreme Court recently ruled that the Trump administration could enforce the ban on transgender people in the military while other legal challenges proceed. The court's three liberal justices said they would have kept the policy on hold.
Officials have said that as of Dec. 9, 2024, there were 4,240 troops diagnosed with gender dysphoria in the active duty, National Guard and Reserve. But they acknowledge the number may be higher.
There are about 2.1 million total troops serving.
In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said earlier this month that about 1,000 troops already have identified themselves and "will begin the voluntary separation process" from the military. That can often take weeks.
Trump tried to ban transgender troops during his first term, while allowing those currently serving to stay on. Then-President Joe Biden overturned the ban.
The new policy does not grandfather in those currently serving and only allows for limited waivers or exceptions.
Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allege that troops with gender dysphoria don't meet military standards. Hegseth has tied his opposition to a campaign to rid the department of "wokeness."
"No More Trans @ DoD," Hegseth wrote in a post on X. In a recent speech to a special operations conference, he said: "No more dudes in dresses. We're done with that s---."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-02 01:11:03+00:00
|
[
"Singapore",
"Lee Hsien Loong",
"Lawrence Wong",
"Donald Trump",
"Global elections",
"Politics",
"Lee Kuan Yew",
"Political and civil unrest",
"Voting",
"Eugene Tan",
"Singapore government",
"Elections"
] |
# Singapore's long-ruling party seeks stronger election victory in test for new prime minister
By Eileen Ng
May 2nd, 2025, 01:11 AM
---
SINGAPORE (AP) — Singaporeans will vote Saturday in a general election that is set to return to power the city-state's long ruling party, and it will be closely watched as a gauge of public confidence in Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's leadership.
The People's Action Party has won every election since the Asian financial hub gained independence in 1965. Wong, who took office last year, hopes to clinch a stronger mandate after the PAP suffered a setback in 2020 polls over voters' rising discontent with the government.
Here's what to know about the Singapore election.
## How does the vote work?
Singapore holds a general election every five years and voting is compulsory. Its electoral system involves single-member wards along with group representation constituencies (GRCs) where voters pick a team of up to six members rather than individual candidates. The team includes at least one member from a minority ethnic group.
The GRCs ensure minority representation in Parliament, but critics say they entrench the PAP and make it harder for the opposition to contest. Ethnic Chinese are the majority in Singapore, while Malays and Indians are in the minority.
Nearly 2.76 million voters are registered to elect 97 members of Parliament, but five seats have already been won uncontested by the PAP after the opposition failed to nominate candidates in a GRC. There are 33 constituencies, comprising 15 single-member wards and 18 GRCs.
Voting opens at 8 a.m. (OOOO GMT), runs for 12 hours, and results are expected the same night.
## What's at stake?
The election is the first test for Wong, 52, since he succeeded Lee Hsien Loong, who stepped down last year after two decades at the helm. Lee's departure marked the end of a family dynasty started by his father, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first leader, who built the former colonial backwater into one of the world's richest nations during 31 years in office.
Known for its clean and effective governance, the PAP is seen as a beacon of stability and prosperity. While it is assured of victory, its support is being chipped away by unhappiness over government control and a high cost of living. Widening income disparity, increasingly unaffordable housing, overcrowding caused by immigration and restrictions on free speech have also loosened the PAP's grip on power.
In 2020 polls, the PAP's share of popular support slipped to a near-record low of 61%, down from nearly 70% in 2015. The PAP kept 83 out of 93 parliamentary seats, but it ceded more seats to the opposition, which won 10 seats, the most ever.
The opposition has acknowledged it cannot unseat the PAP but is appealing to voters for a stronger voice in Parliament.
Wong, a U.S.-trained economist and finance minister, warned this would only weaken the government as it navigates economic turbulence following U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff hikes. The government has lowered its growth forecast, and warned of a possible recession.
"If the PAP has a weakened mandate, you can be sure there will be people tempted to push us around. It will be harder for us to advance Singapore's interest. But with a clear mandate from you, my team and I can speak up for Singapore confidently," Wong said while campaigning this week.
The PAP has fielded many new faces to refresh the party. Wong offered cash handouts, vouchers and other goodies in this year's national budget, and sought to engage younger voters in developing a more balanced and inclusive Singapore. A strong PAP performance would help seal Wong's leadership and determine whether the one-party dominance in Singapore could endure over the next decade.
"The ruling party has portrayed the ongoing tariffs war as a crisis for trade-reliant Singapore," said Eugene Tan, a law professor at Singapore Management University. "Will voters rally behind the PAP, or will they come to view the political system ... as being robust enough and can accommodate more political diversity and competition?"
## Who are the PAP's rivals?
The Workers Party, led by lawyer Pritam Singh, is the biggest opposition party and the only one with a presence in Parliament. Singh was named as Singapore's first opposition leader after the WP won 10 seats in the 2020 polls. But despite gaining ground over the years, the opposition still struggles with limited resources and talent, and fragmented support.
The WP is fielding only 26 candidates in this election. Singh has said even if the WP won all 26 seats, it wouldn't hamper the PAP but lead to a more balanced political system and greater accountability. The remaining seats are contested by nine smaller opposition parties and coalitions, as well as two independent candidates.
"The WP threat is taken seriously by the PAP and it will be a keener contest than in 2020. It remains to be seen how many more seats it will win. But even an additional seat won will add to the WP's standing and builds on the momentum to erode the one-party dominant system," said law professor Tan.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-16 10:46:10+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Mike Johnson",
"Joe Biden",
"Conservatism",
"U.S. Republican Party",
"United States House of Representatives",
"Government programs",
"U.S. Democratic Party",
"Voting",
"New York",
"Congress",
"Nick LaLota",
"Norman",
"Josh Brecheen",
"Business",
"Taxes",
"Health care costs",
"Andrew Clyde",
"Pramila Jayapal",
"Politics",
"Lloyd Smucker",
"United States government",
"Brendan Boyle",
"District of Columbia"
] |
# Conservatives block Trump's big bill in stunning setback
By Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking
May 16th, 2025, 10:46 AM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a setback, House Republicans failed Friday to push their big package of tax breaks and spending cuts through the Budget Committee, as a handful of conservatives joined all Democrats in a stunning vote against it.
The hard-right lawmakers are insisting on steeper spending cuts to Medicaid and the Biden-era green energy tax breaks, among other changes, before they will give their support to President Donald Trump's "beautiful" bill. They warn the tax cuts alone would pile onto the nation's $36 trillion debt.
The failed vote, 16-21, stalls, for now, House Speaker Mike Johnson's push to have the package approved next week. But the Budget Committee plans to reconvene Sunday to try again. Lawmakers vowed to negotiate into the weekend as Trump is returning to Washington from the Middle East.
"Something needs to change or you're not going to get my support," said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.
Tallying a whopping 1,116 pages, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, named with a nod to Trump, is teetering at a critical moment. Johnson is determined to resolve the problems with the package that he believes will inject a dose of stability into into a wavering economy.
With few votes to spare from his slim majority, the Republicans are trying to pass it over the staunch objections of Democrats who slammed the package as a "big, bad bill," or as Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., called it, "one big, beautiful betrayal."
Ahead of Friday's vote, Trump had implored his party to fall in line.
"Republicans MUST UNITE behind, 'THE ONE, BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL!'" the Republican president posted on social media. "We don't need 'GRANDSTANDERS' in the Republican Party. STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE!"
The Budget panel is one of the final stops before the package is sent to the full House floor for a vote, which is still expected sometime next week. Typically, the job of the Budget Committee is more administrative as it compiles the work of 11 committees that drew up various parts of the big bill.
But Friday's meeting proved momentous even before the votes were tallied.
The conservatives, many from the Freedom Caucus, had been warning they would block the bill, as they holdout for steeper cuts. At the same time, GOP lawmakers from high-tax states including New York are demanding a deeper tax deduction, known as SALT, for their constituents.
Four Republican conservatives initially voted against the package — Roy and Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia. Then one, Rep. Lloyd Smucker of Pennsylvania, switched his vote to no in a procedural step so it could be reconsidered later, saying afterward he was confident they'd "get this done."
Norman insisted he was not defying the president — "this isn't a 'grandstand,'" he said — as he and the others push from Trump's priorities.
In their quest for deeper reductions, the conservatives are particularly eyeing Medicaid, the health care program for some 70 million Americans. They want new work requirements for aid recipients to start immediately, rather than on Jan. 1, 2029, as the package proposes.
Democrats emphasized that millions of people would lose their health coverage and food stamps assistance if the bill passes while the wealthiest Americans would reap enormous tax cuts. They also said it would increase future deficits.
"That is bad economics. It is unconscionable," said Rep. Brendan Boyle, the top Democratic lawmaker on the panel.
At the same time, talks are also underway with the New Yorkers have been unrelenting in their demand for a much larger SALT deduction than what is proposed in the bill, which could send the overall cost of the package skyrocketing.
As it stands, the bill proposes tripling what's currently a $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction, increasing it to $30,000 for joint filers with incomes up to $400,000 a year.
Rep. Nick LaLota, one of the New York lawmakers leading the SALT effort, said they have proposed a deduction of $62,000 for single filers and $124,000 for joint filers.
The conservatives and the New Yorkers are at odds, each jockeying as Johnson labors to pass the package from the House by Memorial Day and send it onto the Senate.
At its core, the sprawling package extends the existing income tax cuts that were approved during Trump's first term, in 2017, and adds new ones that the president campaigned on in 2024, including no taxes on tips, overtime pay and some auto loans.
It increases some tax breaks for middle-income earners, including a bolstered standard deduction of $32,000 for joint filers and a temporary $500 boost to the child tax credit, bringing it to $2,500.
It also provides an infusion of $350 billion for Trump's deportation agenda and to bolster the Pentagon.
To offset more than $5 trillion in lost revenue, the package proposes rolling back other tax breaks, namely the green energy tax credits approved as part of President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. Some conservatives want those to end immediately.
The package also seeks to cover the costs by slashing more than $1 trillion from health care and food assistance programs over the course of a decade, in part by imposing work requirements on able-bodied adults.
Certain Medicaid recipients would need to engage in 80 hours a month of work or other community options to receive health care. Older Americans receiving food aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, would also see the program's current work requirement for able-bodied participants without dependents extended to include those ages 55-64. States would also be required to shoulder a greater share of the program's cost.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates at least 7.6 million fewer people with health insurance and about 3 million a month fewer SNAP recipients with the changes.
While Republicans insist the package will pay for itself, partly with economic growth, outside budget analysts are skeptical and say it will add trillions of dollars to the nation's deficits and debt.
___
This story has been corrected to show the package looks to offset $5 trillion, not $5 million, in lost revenue.
___
Associated Press writer Leah Askarinam contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-19 14:29:14+00:00
|
[
"Crime",
"Kidnapping",
"Dominican Republic",
"District of Columbia",
"Juries",
"Criminal punishment",
"Haiti",
"Port-au-Prince",
"Law enforcement",
"Joseph Wilson",
"Organized crime"
] |
# US jury convicts once powerful Haitian gang leader dubbed 'King'
May 19th, 2025, 02:29 PM
---
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A U.S. jury has found a once powerful Haitian gang leader guilty of organizing the kidnapping of 16 U.S. citizens in 2021 and holding them hostage for more than two months.
Germine Joly, whom authorities said led the 400 Mawozo gang in Haiti, will be sentenced later this year following Friday's conviction at a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C.
Joly, who has denied involvement with the gang, was sentenced to 35 years in prison last year after pleading guilty to weapons smuggling and the laundering of ransom related to the mass kidnapping.
Haitian police arrested Joly in 2014, and he was sentenced to life in prison in 2018. Authorities said he still directed gang operations from prison, including the October 2021 kidnapping of 16 Americans, including five children, and a Canadian who worked with the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries. The children were ages 6 and 3 and 8 months old.
The gang initially demanded $1 million each for the hostages or, alternatively, the release of Joly from prison. The first hostages were released in November 2021, with a $350,000 ransom eventually paid for the release of the remaining captives.
The Haitian government extradited Joly in 2022.
Joly, known as "Yonyon," was co-leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, which translates roughly to "400 simpletons." It controls part of Croix-des-Bouquets, a neighborhood in the eastern region of the Port-au-Prince capital and surrounding areas. The gang also operates along a route that connects the capital with the border city of Jimaní in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
The gang is still led by Joseph Wilson, best known as "Lanmò San Jou," which means "death has no date," and it is an ally of G-Pep, a gang federation that is now part of a powerful gang coalition known as "Viv Ansanm."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-12 16:00:44+00:00
|
[
"China",
"Amazon.com",
"Inc.",
"Ralph Lauren",
"China government",
"International trade",
"Tariffs and global trade",
"Business",
"Best Buy Co.",
"Delta Air Lines",
"Ralph Lauren Corp.",
"Dicks Sporting Goods",
"Government policy",
"Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.",
"United States Congress",
"Under Armour",
"NIKE",
"Economic policy",
"American Airlines Group",
"United States government",
"Abercrombie Fitch Co.",
"Foot Locker"
] |
# Here's a look at the sectors getting a boost from the truce in the US-China trade war
By Michelle Chapman
May 12th, 2025, 04:00 PM
---
Shares of many companies that source at least some of their goods from China are surging on Monday as U.S. and Chinese officials announced that they had reached a deal to roll back most of their recent tariffs and called a 90-day truce in their trade war to allow for more talks on resolving their trade disputes.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. agreed to drop its 145% tariff rate on Chinese goods by 115 percentage points to 30%, while China agreed to lower its rate on U.S. goods by the same amount to 10%.
There's still big challenges remaining in the negotiations between China and the United States, but the mood nevertheless was ebullient across Wall Street on Monday, and gains were widespread.
Here's a look at some of the sectors impacted by the U.S.-China tariff announcement.
## Footwear and Athletic Gear
Many of these companies have some of their production in China and elsewhere in Asia. About 97% of the clothes and shoes purchased in the U.S. are imported, predominantly from Asia, the American Apparel & Footwear Association said last month, citing its most recent data.
Nike, up 6.7%
Foot Locker, up 10.1%
Dick's Sporting Goods, up 11.4%
Under Armour, up 6.9%
## Apparel Companies
Similar to footwear companies, many clothing companies make at least some of their items in China and other parts of Asia. In March companies like Abercrombie & Fitch began to caution about their full-year sales potential as American shoppers began to pull back on their spending.
Lululemon Athletica, up 7.7%
Gap, up 7.7%
Ralph Lauren, up 5.2%
Abercrombie & Fitch, up 5.8%
## Retail
Retailers that sell a variety of goods are feeling some market relief because the announced trade deal means these companies won't have to pass on high costs caused by tariffs to their own customers.
Before the agreement was announced, many consumers were fearful of the potential additional costs. Amazon even came out and said that it was not planning to display added tariff costs next to product prices on its site. And Target cautioned in March that there would be "meaningful pressure" on its profits to start the year because of tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China and other costs.
Best Buy, up 5.7%
Amazon, up 7.2%
Target, up 2.9%
## Travel Companies
Shares of travel companies are climbing on hopes that lower tariffs will encourage more customers to fly and feel comfortable enough to spend on trips. Prior to the U.S.-China tariff announcement, major U.S. airlines were reducing their flight schedules and revising or withdrawing their profit outlooks for the year due to less domestic travel demand as sentiment about the national and global economies soured.
Carnival, up 8.3%
Norwegian Cruise Line, up 6.6%
Royal Caribbean Cruises, up 3.4%
American Airlines Group, up 5.4%
Delta Air Lines, up 6%
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-14 21:00:50+00:00
|
[
"Alabama",
"Politics",
"Alabama state government",
"Children",
"Ron Bolton",
"Clay Redden"
] |
# Alabama lawmakers end legislative session with jest: handing out the 'deadest bill' award
May 14th, 2025, 09:00 PM
---
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama legislators honored a long-standing tradition on Wednesday with their annual award for the "deadest bill" of the session, bringing levity to an otherwise politically polarized Statehouse.
The winner was a bill that would require a booster seat for children who weigh less than 65 pounds, up from 40 pounds, introduced by Republican Rep. Ron Bolton.
"One size fits all, rarely, if ever, applies to children, much less House members," the House of Representatives public information officer, Clay Redden, said on Wednesday. "This bill would have made it nearly impossible" for some legislators "to drive themselves to work," Redden continued.
Legislators laughed and cheered at Redden's remarks.
The award, known as the "Shroud," has been given out since 1979 as a "high-profile public burial" for one piece of legislation. Winners are given an empty suit framed in a cardboard box.
Bolton's bill read more like "chapters from a pediatrician's anatomy book or an instruction manual and manual of how to operate a nuclear reactor," Redden said.
Bolton smiled and posed on the House floor to accept his award.
The legislation won the award over a bill that would have created a sales tax exemption for firearms and ammunition on Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, among other runners-up.
"The fiscal note on the bill suggested there would be little, if any, impact on state revenue, since most gun owners in Alabama already have enough weapons and ammunition to fight World Wars three, four and five," Redden said.
Some previous winners of the "Shroud" award have been reintroduced in later years and passed into law.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-16 13:26:28+00:00
|
[
"Gender",
"Iowa",
"Stephen Locher",
"United States government",
"Brenna Bird",
"Thomas Story",
"Education"
] |
# Judge OKs Iowa limits on K-6 gender identity, sexual orientation teaching but not elective programs
By Hannah Fingerhut
May 16th, 2025, 01:26 PM
---
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa can continue to restrict instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in schools up through the sixth grade, a federal judge said, but has to allow nonmandatory programs related to the topics.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher offered a split decision late Thursday, siding in part with a LGBTQ advocacy organization, teachers and students who sued the state. Attorney General Brenna Bird said in a statement Friday that she is committed to defending Iowa's law protecting children and her office is "looking at next steps, including appeal."
In a separate ruling in March, Locher again temporarily blocked another disputed component of the law, which would prohibit school libraries from carrying books that depict sex acts. Iowa has asked the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn that decision.
Republican majorities in the Iowa House and Senate passed the law in 2023, intending to reinforce what they consider to be age-appropriate education in kindergarten through 12th grades. It's been a back-and-forth battle in the courts in the two years since. The provisions of the law that are being challenged were temporarily blocked by Locher in December 2023, just before they became enforceable.
That decision was overturned in August by the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, meaning the law had been enforceable for most of the current school year. The appellate court told the lower court that it failed to apply the correct analysis in determining whether to temporarily block the law.
An attorney for the LGBTQ students, teachers and advocacy organization told Locher in February that the law is overly broad because it prohibits "any program, curriculum, test, survey, questionnaire, promotion, or instruction relating to gender identity or sexual orientation" in kindergarten through sixth grade. Opponents argued the law is vague enough to limit any information accessed or activity engaged in within the school.
Locher agreed in his decision that any "program" or "promotion" is broad enough to violate students' First Amendment rights and those provisions are therefore on hold. But restrictions on curriculum, tests, surveys, questionnaires or instruction can be interpreted in the way the state argues, as applying only to the mandatory school functions.
Locher laid out specifically what that means: "Students in grades six and below must be allowed to join Gender Sexuality Alliances ('GSAs') and other student groups relating to gender identity and/or sexual orientation." And the district, teachers and students "must be permitted to advertise" those groups.
On the other hand, teachers are not allowed to provide mandatory instruction that include "detailed explanations or normative views" on the issues, Locher said. "It does not matter whether the lessons or instruction revolve around cisgender or transgender identities or straight or gay sexual orientations. All are forbidden."
The state education agency's rules on the law say they will not take a neutral statement on gender identity and sexual orientation to be a violation of the law.
During a February hearing, Locher posed questions to the state's attorney asking, for example, how a teacher should decide whether a book featuring a same-sex couple is a neutral portrayal allowed under the law, or whether it is a positive or affirming portrayal.
The state often said the answers depend on context. Opponents of the law said that means the measure is too vague.
Locher's decision dictated that neutral references where sexual orientation or gender identity aren't the focus are allowed. That means books with characters of varying gender identities or sexual orientations are permitted, so long as those "are not the focus of the book or lesson."
Locher also said a teacher can refer to their partner, even if that partner is the same sex.
Attorneys for Iowa Safe Schools, students and teachers that sued the state said Friday that the ruling is a win.
"Under this order, Iowa teachers no longer can be disciplined simply because their classroom contains a Pride flag or their library contains books with LGBTQ+ characters," said Thomas Story, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa. "This law, with certain narrow exceptions, should no longer stand in the way of school districts supporting efforts to include and support their LGBTQ+ students."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-15 10:18:56+00:00
|
[
"Cannes Film Festival",
"Fairs and festivals",
"Arts and entertainment"
] |
# Photos: Highlights from Day 3 of the Cannes Film Festival
May 15th, 2025, 10:18 AM
---
CANNES, France (AP) — Much of the cinema world has descended on the Cannes Film Festival as the French Riviera extravaganza holds its 78th edition.
This gallery features daily highlights from the Cannes Film Festival curated by Associated Press photo editors.
___
For more coverage of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, visit https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-12 20:20:47+00:00
|
[
"China",
"Financial markets",
"Donald Trump",
"Federal Reserve System",
"International trade",
"Economy",
"Tariffs and global trade",
"China government",
"Business"
] |
# How major US stock indexes fared Monday, 5/12/2025
By The Associated Press
May 12th, 2025, 08:20 PM
---
U.S. stocks leapt after China and the United States announced a 90-day truce in their trade war.
The S&P 500 jumped 3.3% Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 1,100 points, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 4.3%.
Hopes for an economy less encumbered by tariffs also sent crude oil prices higher. The U.S. dollar strengthened against other currencies, and Treasury yields jumped on expectations the Federal Reserve won't have to cut interest rates so deeply this year in order to protect the economy.
Analysts warned conditions could still quickly change, as has so often happened in President Donald Trump's trade wars.
On Monday:
The S&P 500 rose 184.28 points, or 3.3%, to 5,844.19.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,160.72 points, or 2.8%, to 42,410.10.
The Nasdaq composite rose 779.43 points, or 4.3%, to 18,708.34.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 69.12 points, or 3.4%, to 2,092.20.
For the year:
The S&P 500 is down 37.44 points, or 0.6%.
The Dow is down 134.12 points, or 0.3%.
The Nasdaq is down 602.45 or 3.1%.
The Russell 2000 is down 137.96 points, or 6.2%.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-13 18:43:22+00:00
|
[
"Crime",
"Homicide",
"Rachel McCarthy James",
"Book Reviews",
"Entertainment",
"Lizzie Borden",
"Fernanda Figueroa"
] |
# 'Whack Job' review: How a survival tool turned murder weapon
By Fernanda Figueroa
May 13th, 2025, 06:43 PM
---
From the murder of a Neanderthal-like man to the infamous Lizzie Borden, "Whack Job: A History of Axe Murder" provides a sarcastic, witty and quirky look at the history of a rather simple tool often found at the scene of a crime: an axe.
Rachel McCarthy James spends each chapter of "Whack Job" detailing an instance where "axe murder" has occurred, but for true crime fans the book might not make the cut.
Instead of looking at the gory details and dramatizing events, James examines the social-economic, political issues and human nature that caused these individuals to befall their fate to an axe. As such, the book, while having a true crime element, is ultimately a history crash course on the axe's evolution — from a survival tool in 430,000 BCE to a modern-day weapon of murder.
Still, this is what makes the book intriguing — even if, like me, you were hoping it would dive deeper into the axe murder itself.
James has fun with the topic, describing what makes the axe the perfect weapon in each instance, keeping the true crime fan in me thoroughly engaged.
A book such as this, focused on history and facts, could become tedious to a casual reader, but James knows how to disarm readers with properly timed humor and quippy theories.
True crime fan or not, James' book is a great primer of "axe murder" in all its shapes and forms
___
AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-15 20:15:02+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Immigration",
"Supreme Court of the United States",
"United States",
"Constitutional law",
"Politics",
"Health",
"Ilya Somin",
"Courts",
"Library of Congress",
"Mexico"
] |
# Trump claims US is only country with birthright citizenship. It's not
By Melissa Goldin
May 15th, 2025, 08:15 PM
---
As the Supreme Court prepared to hear arguments Thursday on whether to allow President Donald Trump's restrictions on birthright citizenship to take effect, he falsely claimed on Truth Social that the United States is the only country that offers such a right.
Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20, the first day of his second term, that would deny citizenship to children who are born to people who are living in the U.S. illegally or temporarily. It has been put on nationwide holds by lower court orders.
The administration is now appealing, on an emergency basis, the authority of individual judges to issue these rulings, known as nationwide, or universal, injunctions. The constitutionality of the executive order itself is not yet before the court.
Here's a closer look at the facts.
TRUMP, discussing birthright citizenship in a Truth Social post: "The United States of America is the only Country in the World that does this, for what reason, nobody knows."
THE FACTS: This is not true. About 30 countries, including the U.S., offer unconditional birthright citizenship, according to the CIA World Factbook and the Library of Congress. Birthright citizenship was enshrined in the Constitution after the Civil War to ensure that formerly enslaved people would be citizens.
"The statement is pretty obviously wrong," said Ilya Somin, a professor of law at George Mason University who is an expert on constitutional law and migration rights. "Many countries have birthright citizenship, though in some of them the rules are different from those in the US."
Birthright citizenship is a principle known as jus soli or "right of the soil." It bases citizenship on a person being born within a country's territory. In contrast, the principle of jus sanguinis or "right of blood" determines citizenship based on the citizenship of one's parents or other ancestors.
Citizenship is granted to anyone born in the U.S., regardless of the parents' immigration status. Only children of diplomats, who have allegiance to another government, and of enemies present in the U.S. during hostile occupation do not qualify. Those born to parents of sovereign Native American tribes were also excluded until the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.
Most countries with unconditional birthright citizenship, among them Canada and Mexico, are concentrated in the Americas. The rest are in Africa and Asia. Some countries offer citizenship to those born in their territory to noncitizen parents only under certain conditions, such as the legal status of their parents or the age of the person applying for citizenship based on place of birth.
The first sentence of the Constitution's 14th Amendment, often referred to as the Citizenship Clause, guarantees birthright citizenship. It states: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
This clause effectively overturned the notorious Dred Scott decision of 1857, in which the Supreme Court held that Black people, no matter whether or not they were enslaved, were not citizens. It was ratified, along with the rest of the 14th Amendment, in 1868 after it was passed by the Senate in 1866. The Civil War ended in 1865.
Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship conflicts with a Supreme Court decision from 1898 that held that the Citizenship Clause made citizens of all children born on U.S. soil with narrow exceptions that are not at issue in the case currently before the court.
The justices are also considering appeals from the Trump administration on several other issues, many related to immigration.
____
Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-15 19:39:52+00:00
|
[
"Iran",
"Donald Trump",
"South Africa",
"Cyril Ramaphosa",
"Marco Rubio",
"Nelson Mandela",
"South Africa government",
"Genocide",
"United States government",
"Group of 20",
"Hamas",
"Diversity",
"equity and inclusion",
"United States",
"G-20 Summit",
"Government policy",
"International Court of Justice",
"Race and ethnicity",
"Racism",
"Politics",
"Courts",
"Race and Ethnicity"
] |
# Trump's stance against South Africa is not just about white farmers. It's also about Hamas and Iran
By Gerald Imray
May 15th, 2025, 07:39 PM
---
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump's claim this week that there is an unreported "genocide" happening against white farmers in South Africa was his harshest accusation yet against a country he moved to punish over a range of issues soon after returning to office.
Trump's criticism has focused mostly on his allegations that South Africa's government is fueling anti-white racism in the majority Black country, leading to the killing of white farmers. That has been denied by the South African government.
But Trump has also strongly criticized South Africa's foreign policy, and especially its decision to take Israel to the United Nations' top court and accuse it of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Trump has cited that case against a U.S. ally as an example of what he referred to as a larger anti-American position from South Africa. The U.S. president has now accused South Africa, once a key partner in Africa, of the same crime of genocide.
## Israel and Hamas
South Africa launched its highly contentious genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in early 2024, putting a developing nation that's not a diplomatic heavyweight at the forefront of the pro-Palestinian movement at an especially divisive time. South Africa's decision caused tensions with the U.S. under the Biden administration and other Western countries, which rejected the accusation that Israel was committing genocide.
But Trump's reaction has been much stronger, citing the case against Israel in an executive order on Feb. 7 that sanctioned South Africa and stopped all U.S. aid and assistance. The order said South Africa had taken "aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies" and the case showed its support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The U.S. government under Trump has also cracked down on pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel protests at home.
South Africa has long been a supporter of the Palestinian people and a critic of Israel. But while the government has attempted to draw a line between that and any support for Hamas, the distinctions have become blurred, like when the grandson of former South African President Nelson Mandela hosted Hamas officials on a visit to South Africa in 2023.
Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., the European Union, the U.K. and others.
## Ties with Iran
Trump's executive order also accused South Africa of strengthening its ties with Iran through commercial, military and nuclear arrangements. South Africa holds diplomatic ties with Iran but said it does not have any agreements with Iran over nuclear weapons, though it is allowing Iran to bid, alongside other countries, for a commercial contract to build a nuclear reactor to provide electricity.
South Africa's Institute for Security Studies, a nonprofit research institute, said that Trump was "overreacting" to South Africa's relationship with Iran, but South Africa "also shouldn't be surprised if they are judged by the company they keep."
## Boycotting South Africa's G20 presidency
The U.S. has decided to effectively boycott South Africa's presidency of the Group of 20 developed and developing nations this year, the first time an African nation has held the rotating presidency.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio skipped a G20 foreign ministers meeting in Johannesburg in February, saying South Africa's theme of "solidarity, equality and sustainability" was effectively DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) and climate change and he wouldn't waste American taxpayer money on it. The Trump administration has moved to dismantle DEI programs in the U.S.
Shortly after Rubio skipped the meeting, the Trump administration suspended all cooperation with South Africa related to its hosting of G20 events, according to a U.S. official.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration deliberations, said the decision was because Trump does not support South Africa's G20 agenda. The official said the move would not affect the U.S.'s presidency of the G20 next year.
The rebuff by the U.S. will likely undermine South Africa's efforts to make progress on issues it has prioritized for its presidency.
## White farmers
The Trump administration brought more than 50 white South Africans to the U.S. this week as refugees, saying they are members of the minority Afrikaner group and are being persecuted by their Black-led government and exposed to race-based violence.
South Africa says it condemns the relatively small number of killings of white farmers, but the cause is being mischaracterized and they are a result of its problems with violent crime and not racially motivated.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has not criticized Trump directly but said the U.S. president is being fed false information by some Afrikaner lobby groups in South Africa and some conservative commentators in the U.S. who have elevated the issue.
Ramaphosa's office said he will meet with Trump at the White House next week in an attempt to "reset" the countries' relationship.
___
Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed to this story from Washington.
___
More AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-13 08:16:51+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Toshihiro Mibe",
"Hybrid vehicles",
"Japan",
"Economic policy",
"Government policy",
"Tokyo",
"Finance Business",
"Business",
"Honda Motor Co.",
"Ltd.",
"China",
"Mexico",
"Compensation and benefits",
"Yuri Kageyama",
"Auto industry",
"Nissan Motor Co.",
"Mitsubishi Motors Corp."
] |
# Japan's Honda projects plummeting profits due to Trump's tariffs
By Yuri Kageyama
May 13th, 2025, 08:16 AM
---
TOKYO (AP) — Honda's profit for the fiscal year through March slipped 24.5% from the previous year, as its vehicle sales in China dropped, and the Japanese automaker warned Tuesday that President Donald Trump's tariffs will worsen its earnings.
Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co., which dropped talks to integrate its business with Japanese rival Nissan Motor Corp. earlier this year, said its annual profit totaled 835.8 billion yen ($5.6 billion), down from 1.1 trillion yen in the previous fiscal year.
Annual sales edged up 6.2% to nearly 21.69 trillion yen ($147 billion).
Research and development costs hurt, despite Honda's record global motorcycle sales for the fiscal year, which topped 21 million motorcycles.
Hybrid vehicle sales also did well, especially in the U.S., and Honda's profitability per vehicle was also improving, according to the maker of the Accord sedan and CR-V sports-utility vehicle.
Executive Vice President Noriya Kaihara acknowledged that Trump's tariffs were likely to hurt, erasing 650 billion yen ($4.4 billion) from its operating profit for the fiscal year through March 2026. That's mainly because of U.S. tariffs on vehicles from Canada and Mexico. Honda's vehicle shipments from Japan to the U.S. are negligible.
Officials stressed major uncertainties remain, but said they felt it was important to give a realistic projection, no matter how pessimistic it might be.
Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe said Honda will do its best to minimize the impact from tariffs. In the long term, Honda will transfer auto production to U.S. plants and rethink its investment plans. All decisions will be made "very carefully," Mibe told reporters.
He also said Honda was sticking to its plans to produce more electric vehicles.
Various automakers have said they are baffled by Trump's opposition to EVs and his tariffs, and some companies are trimming back their ambitious electrification plans.
Honda is projecting a 70% nose-dive in profit for the fiscal year through March 2026, at 250 billion yen ($1.7 billion), on 20.3 trillion yen ($137 billion) in sales, down 6%.
Honda and Nissan announced in December they were going to hold talks to set up a joint holding company. Mitsubishi Motors Corp., another Japanese automaker, had said it was considering joining that group. But the plans quickly unraveled, with Nissan saying it wanted out because it would be at a disadvantage.
Nissan, which has slipped into red ink lately, reports financial results later Tuesday.
___
Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-14 21:10:22+00:00
|
[
"Joe Biden",
"Donald Trump",
"Jeff Merkley",
"Lisa Murkowski",
"Jon Ossoff",
"U.S. Environmental Protection Agency",
"Ronald Reagan",
"United States House of Representatives",
"Alaska",
"Green technology",
"Renewable energy",
"Congress",
"Pollution",
"Government regulations",
"Elon Musk",
"Thomasville",
"Government budgets",
"Climate and environment",
"Climate change",
"Georgia",
"Government and politics",
"Politics",
"Climate"
] |
# EPA chief Zeldin faces bipartisan anger in Senate
By Matthew Daly
May 14th, 2025, 09:10 PM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Environmental Protection Agency came under bipartisan criticism Wednesday over his agency's actions to cancel billions of dollars in congressionally approved spending to address chronic pollution in minority communities and jump-start clean energy programs across the country.
Nearly 800 grants were awarded by former President Joe Biden's administration under the 2022 climate law, which directed the EPA to spend $3 billion on grants to help low-income and minority communities improve their air and water and protect against climate change. The law allocated another $20 billion under a so-called green bank program to finance clean energy and climate-friendly projects nationwide.
Funding for both programs was abruptly terminated by the Trump administration in actions that Democrats have denounced as illegal and unconstitutional.
Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has illegally withheld, or impounded, climate-law funding despite a decades-old law that explicitly prohibits such actions by the executive branch. Repeated court rulings, including by the Supreme Court, support the power of Congress to set federal spending levels.
Zeldin's budget maneuvers "endanger communities by making it harder to address pollution and climate chaos," Merkley said at a hearing Wednesday.
## Varied approaches to questioning the EPA chief
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, chair of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the environment, also criticized Zeldin, saying funding freezes approved by his agency — including to grants intended for rural communities in Alaska — were "somewhat indiscriminate.″
Murkowski questioned whether severe budget cuts proposed by President Donald Trump were "serious." Many of the proposals, such as an 88% cut to a state revolving fund for clean water, are likely to be reversed by Congress, she said.
The EPA's approach under Zeldin is "problematic," Murkowski added. "EPA has not adhered to our guidelines and has been largely unresponsive to questions," she said.
Zeldin told Murkowski she has a special phone number for his office and can call him any time.
His exchanges with Democrats were less friendly.
"So you understand that when you impound funds, you're violating the law?" Merkley asked Zeldin, a former New York congressman who took over at EPA in January.
"No, Senator, we are going to follow all statutory obligations,'' Zeldin replied. "We absolutely disagree with you very strongly.''
Asked under what authority the money was being withheld, Zeldin cited "policy priorities" under Trump that differ from Biden-era views.
"But it wasn't the Biden administration that passed this law. It was Congress,'' Merkley shot back. "And so, this is in the law as written, and it's signed by the president, and yet you're defying it.''
Zeldin said he rejected Merkley's premise, adding, "We couldn't possibly disagree more strongly with what you're saying.''
If he can't follow his oath of office, Zeldin should resign, Merkley said, a suggestion Zeldin immediately rejected.
## Accused of trying to 'burn it down'
Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state said Zeldin and Trump shared an approach when it comes to EPA: "Burn it down.''
Money being withheld by EPA would pay for things like heat pumps to reduce energy costs and pollution, wildfire preparedness and infrastructure upgrades to protect drinking water from floods and earthquakes, Murray said. "Blocking this funding is hurting communities everywhere,'' she said.
Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff asked Zeldin why he had canceled a $19.8 million grant to Thomasville, Georgia, to replace a wastewater collection system and build a community health clinic.
"Is a new health clinic for Thomasville woke?" Ossoff asked, noting that the grant was approved under an environmental justice program the EPA has terminated.
Zeldin again cited policy priorities before Ossoff, a Democrat, cut him off. "You hurt my constituents,'' he said.
Zeldin later said grants to Thomasville and towns in Alaska and Washington state may be restored if language about environmental justice and diversity is removed, in accordance with an executive order by Trump.
Zeldin declined to provide specific goals for EPA staffing under his tenure, but appeared to acknowledge claims by Merkley and Murray that staff totals could return to a level last seen under former President Ronald Reagan. The EPA had fewer than 11,000 employees in 1983, compared to more than 15,100 in 2024.
The agency has laid off hundreds of employees and offered voluntary retirement or deferred resignations to thousands more as part of a broader effort by Trump and adviser Elon Musk to downsize the federal workforce.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-19 08:57:43+00:00
|
[
"Airbus SE",
"Badr Mohammed al-Meer",
"Dubai",
"Middle East",
"Earnings",
"The Boeing Co.",
"COVID-19 pandemic",
"Business",
"Aerospace and defense industry"
] |
# Qatar Airways earns $2.15 billion profit in fiscal year
By Jon Gambrell
May 19th, 2025, 08:57 AM
---
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The holding company that owns Qatar Airways reported Monday it earned a $2.15 billion profit in its last fiscal year, its highest-ever profit off the back of record passenger numbers as global aviation bounces back after the coronavirus pandemic.
The state-owned carrier reported revenues of $23.4 billion overall in the results, up from $22.1 billion the year before. Its fiscal year profits in the prior reporting period were $1.6 billion.
"These record-breaking results are a testament to the hard work, skill and dedication of teams across all of Qatar Airways Group," said group CEO Badr Mohammed al-Meer in a statement.
Qatar Airways, along with Abu Dhabi-based Emirates and Dubai's Emirates, are long-haul carriers that link East-West travel. Their location on the Arabian Peninsula between Europe and Asia have made them a key link in global transit. Qatar Airways also got a boost when the small, energy-rich nation hosted soccer's 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Qatar Airways reported carrying 43.1 million passengers, up from the prior financial year's 40 million. Its fleet includes over 230 aircraft, which is a mix of Airbus and Boeing long-haul and medium-range planes.
The Qatar Airways Group includes the airline, its cargo service, the country's airport operator and Qatar Duty Free. Its financial year runs from April 1 to March 31.
The announcement follows long-haul carrier Emirates earlier this month saying that it earned annual profits of $5.2 billion, with the state-owned firm declaring itself the world's most profitable airline.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-08 20:21:54+00:00
|
[
"Pope Leo XIV",
"Religion",
"Robert Prevost"
] |
# The world reacts to a new pope
By The Associated Press
May 8th, 2025, 08:21 PM
---
From the St. Peter's Basilica to his native Chicago to his diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, Catholic faithful around the world greeted the election of Robert Prevost as the new pope. Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious order, took the name Leo XIV. Peruvians, in particular, were elated by the selection of a Catholic cardinal who spent years guiding the faithful there and they saw as one of their own.
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-09 16:31:21+00:00
|
[
"Larry Ray Henderson Jr.",
"Ryan Hinton",
"Cincinnati",
"Rodney Hinton Jr.",
"Ohio",
"Law enforcement",
"Homicide",
"Police brutality",
"Funerals and memorial services",
"Crime"
] |
# Funeral held for Ohio deputy who authorities say was intentionally run over
May 9th, 2025, 04:31 PM
---
CINCINNATI (AP) — An Ohio deputy sheriff killed by a driver accused of intentionally running him over was remembered Friday as a dedicated officer who regularly volunteered for the most dangerous assignments.
Deputy Larry Ray Henderson Jr. was mourned by a sea of police officers, the governor and others inside the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, where he spent decades working for the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.
Speakers described him as a selfless colleague and dedicated public servant known for keeping his uniform in top order and for a sharp sense of humor.
Henderson, a native of Mariemont, Ohio, was directing traffic near the University of Cincinnati on May 2, graduation day, when he was hit by a car that drove into an intersection, police have said.
Authorities have accused Rodney Hinton Jr., 38, of running down the deputy on purpose, charging him with aggravated murder. Henderson was killed a few hours after Hinton and other family members watched police body camera footage showing an officer fatally shoot Hinton's son, Ryan Hinton, 18.
Hinton's attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf Tuesday and said Hinton was not in his right frame of mind at the time of the crash.
The Cincinnati officer who shot Ryan Hinton twice told investigators that he had pointed a gun at him, according to Cincinnati's police chief. Police have said a semiautomatic handgun was found on Ryan Hinton and that a second gun was recovered from the car. Police had been responding to a stolen car report.
One officer could be heard in body camera video released by police saying "he's got a gun, he's got a gun" before the shooting — authorities have said there is no indication Ryan Hinton fired at police.
The obituary for Henderson, 57, said he served the sheriff's office in many roles, including corrections officer, patrol officer and dive team supervisor. He retired in December after 37 years but continued working as a special deputy. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and was an avid outdoorsman. Survivors include his wife and five children.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-07 17:31:35+00:00
|
[
"Jerusalem",
"Israel government",
"Israel",
"Schools",
"Middle East",
"2024-2025 Mideast Wars",
"Political refugees",
"Children",
"United Nations",
"Education",
"Palestinian territories government",
"War and unrest",
"Ahmad Shweikeh"
] |
# Palestinian children in east Jerusalem could lose their schools as Israeli-ordered closures loom
By Julia Frankel
May 7th, 2025, 05:31 PM
---
JERUSALEM (AP) — Standing in the east Jerusalem school he attended as a young boy, Palestinian construction worker Ahmad Shweikeh studies his son's careful penmanship. This classroom may be closed Friday, leaving 9-year-old Laith with nowhere to study.
Shweikeh, 38, says he wants Laith — a shy boy, top of his class — to become a surgeon.
"I never expected this," Shweikeh said. "I watched some of my classmates from here become engineers and doctors. I hoped Laith would follow in their footsteps."
The school is one of six across east Jerusalem run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees called UNRWA. Israeli soldiers in riot gear showed up at the schools last month and ordered them to shut down within 30 days. Now parents worry that their children will lose precious opportunities to learn. And they fret for their children's safety if they are made to enroll in Israeli schools.
The closure orders come after Israel banned UNRWA from operating on Israeli soil earlier this year, the culmination of a long campaign against the agency that intensified following the Hamas attacks on Israel Oct. 7, 2023.
UNRWA is the main provider of education and health care to Palestinian refugees across east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. While UNRWA schools in the Israeli-occupied West Bank have not received closing orders, the closures have left in limbo the nearly 800 Palestinian students in first through ninth grade in east Jerusalem. Israel has annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city its unified capital.
## Israel says it will reassign students to other schools
The Israeli Ministry of Education says it will place the students into other Jerusalem schools. But parents, teachers and administrators caution that closing the main schools for the children of Palestinian refugees in east Jerusalem promises a surge in absenteeism.
For students in the Shuafat refugee camp, like Laith, switching to Israeli schools means crossing the hulking barrier that separates their homes from the rest of Jerusalem every day.
Some students aren't even eligible to use the crossing, said Fahed Qatousa, the deputy principal of the UNRWA boys' school in Shuafat. About 100 students in UNRWA schools in Shuafat have West Bank identifications, which will complicate their entry past the barrier, according to Qatousa.
"I will not in any way send Laith to a school where he has to go through a checkpoint or traffic," Shweikeh said.
In a statement to The Associated Press, the Israeli Ministry of Education said it was closing the schools because they were operating without a license. The agency promised "quality educational solutions, significantly higher in level than that provided in the institutions that were closed." It said that it would "ensure the immediate and optimal integration of all students."
Qatousa fears the students will lose their chance to be educated.
"Israeli schools are overcrowded and cannot take a large number of students. This will lead to a high rate of not attending schools among our students. For girls, they will marry earlier. For boys, they will join the Israeli job market," Qatousa said.
Laith remembers the moment last month when the troops entered his school.
"The soldiers talked to the schoolteachers and told them that they were going to close the school," Laith said. "I don't want the school to close. I want to stay here and continue to complete my education."
His teacher, Duaa Zourba, who has worked at the school for 21 years, said teachers were "psychologically hurt" by Israel's order.
"Some of the teachers panicked. They started crying because of the situation, because they were very upset with that, with the decisions. I mean, how can we leave this place? We've been here for years. We have our own memories," Zourba said.
## Israel claims U.N. schools teach antisemitic ideas
Israel claims that UNRWA schools teach antisemitic content and anti-Israel sentiment. An UNRWA review of textbooks in 2022-2023 found that just under 4% of pages contained "issues of concern to U.N. values, guidance, or position on the conflict."
An independent panel reviewed the neutrality of UNRWA after Israel alleged that a dozen of its employees in Gaza participated in Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks. The panel issued a series of recommendations, including that UNRWA adopt a "zero-tolerance policy" on antisemitic views or hate speech in textbooks.
The Israeli Education Ministry says parents have been directed to register their children at other schools in Jerusalem. Parents told the AP they have not done so.
Zourba said she still plans to hold exams as scheduled for late May. UNRWA administrators pledged to keep the schools open for as long as possible — until Israeli authorities force them to shut down.
The day AP reporters visited the school, Israeli police fired tear gas into the school's front yard as boys played soccer outside. The gas billowed through the hallways, sending children sprinting indoors, drooling, coughing and crying.
Police spokesperson Mirit Ben Mayor said the forces were responding to rock-throwing inside the camp but denied targeting the school specifically.
As gas filtered through the school, Zourba donned a disposable mask and ran to check on her students.
"As teachers in Shuafat, our first job has always been to ensure the protection and the safety of our kids," she said. "Whenever there's a raid, we close windows. We close doors so that they don't smell very heavy tear gas."
"The goal," she said, "is for the kids to always think of this school as a safe place, to remember that there's a place for them."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-07 21:09:12+00:00
|
[
"Racism",
"Black experience",
"NAACP",
"Race and ethnicity",
"Minnesota",
"Children"
] |
# A woman who called a Black child a slur has raised a backlash but also thousands of dollars
By Terry Tang and Sarah Raza
May 7th, 2025, 09:09 PM
---
___
NOTE CONTENTS: This story contains a term that refers to a racial slur.
___
A video showing a Minnesota woman at a playground last week openly admitting to using a racist slur against a Black child has garnered millions of views. Maybe equally viral has been a crowdfunding effort that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help the woman now relocate her family.
In the video, a man in Rochester, a city roughly 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of Minneapolis, confronts the woman for calling a 5-year-old boy the N-word. The woman appears to double-down on the racist term and flips off the man confronting her with both of her middle fingers.
The woman, who could not be reached for comment, has since amassed over $700,000 through Christian fundraising platform GiveSendGo for relocation expenses because of threats she received over the video. The fundraising page said she used the word out of frustration because the boy went through her 18-month-old child's diaper bag. The Associated Press has not verified this assertion.
"I called the kid out for what he was," she wrote, adding that the online videos have "caused my family, and myself, great turmoil."
The flurry of monetary contributions has reignited multiple debates, from whether racist language and attacks are becoming more permissible to the differences between "cancel culture" and "consequence culture." Many want to see the woman face some sort of comeuppance for using a slur, especially toward a child. Others say despite her words, she does not deserve to be harassed.
The NAACP Rochester chapter started its own fundraising campaign for the child's family. The GoFundMe page had raised $340,000 when it was closed Saturday per the wishes of the family, who want privacy, said the civil rights organization. It was speaking on behalf of the family of the child, who the organization said was on the autism spectrum.
"This was not simply offensive behavior—it was an intentional racist, threatening, hateful and verbal attack against a child, and it must be treated as such," the NAACP Rochester chapter said in a statement.
The Rochester Police Department investigated and submitted findings to the Rochester City Attorney's Office for "consideration of a charging decision," spokesperson Amanda Grayson said in a statement Monday.
GiveSendGo did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
## Some say defending the woman defends racism
The donations did and did not surprise Dr. Henry Taylor, director for the Center of Urban Studies at the University at Buffalo.
But shifts in the political and cultural climate have emboldened some people to express racist and bigoted views against people of color or those they consider outsiders. A more recent backlash, from the White House to corporate boardrooms, against diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives have amplified those feelings.
The racism "hovering beneath the surface" comes from blame, Taylor said. "People are given someone to hate and someone to blame for all of the problems and challenges that they are facing themselves," Taylor said.
The volume of monetary contributions in the Rochester case is reminiscent of the surge of support for individuals like Kyle Rittenhouse, Daniel Penny and George Zimmerman. Rittenhouse, Penny and Zimmerman were cleared of wrongdoing or legally found to have acted in self-defense or in defense of others — Penny and Zimmerman after the death of a Black victim and Rittenhouse after fatally shooting two white protesters at a racial justice demonstration against police.
## Backlash against 'cancel culture' persists
In the woman's case, a contingent of supporters just want to fight cancel culture, said Franciska Coleman, an assistant professor of law at University of Wisconsin Law School, who has written about cancel culture and social regulation of speech. For some it can include donating to anyone who people are trying to "cancel," Coleman said.
Some people are focused on how "it just seems too much that this mother of two young kids is getting death threats and rape threats," Coleman said.
Conservative commentators have gone online to applaud her for not capitulating to angry internet mobs while acknowledging she used a hateful word. "No one's excusing it. But she didn't deserve to be treated like a domestic terrorist," conservative podcast host Matt Walsh said in a Facebook post.
## Some fight over justifications and consequences
There's an important distinction, Coleman said, between "cancel culture" and "consequence culture." The latter is about holding people accountable for actions and words that cause injury such as with "this poor child."
That is what many people want to see in this Rochester woman's case. Because a formal system of punishment may not impose consequences for the woman's racist behavior, people who support cancel culture believe that they "have to do it informally," Coleman said.
She and Taylor agree that, in conventional societal thinking, using racist slurs against someone who has frustrated or even provoked you is never acceptable. Those who think otherwise, even now, are seen as being on the fringes.
But donors on the woman's GiveSendGo page unabashedly used racist language against the boy, prompting the site to turn off the comments section. Others excused her behavior as acting out of aggravation. There are communities where the racial slur is only unacceptable in "racially mixed company," Coleman said.
Social media websites and crowdfunding platforms have helped people around the world speak with each other and with their wallets. It's intensified by the anonymity these platforms allow.
"Feeling that no one will know who you are enables you to act on your feelings, on your beliefs in an aggressive and even mean-spirited way that you might not do if you were exposed," Taylor said.
___
This story was first published on May 7, 2025. It was updated on May 8, 2025, to make clear that Franciska Coleman, an assistant professor of law, was expressing an opinion of a certain group, not her own, when she said people who support cancel culture feel they have to informally impose consequences.
___
Tang reported from Phoenix. Raza reported from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-03 18:42:59+00:00
|
[
"Tyre Nichols",
"Memphis",
"Law enforcement",
"Don Cameron",
"Indictments",
"Homicide",
"Marco Ross",
"Martin Zummach",
"Justin Smith",
"Legal proceedings",
"Paul Hagerman",
"Race and ethnicity",
"Police brutality",
"Race and Ethnicity"
] |
# Expert testifies that repeated strikes to Tyre Nichols' head were unnecessary and excessive
By Adrian Sainz
May 3rd, 2025, 06:42 PM
---
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A police training expert testifying Saturday as a defense witness in the trial of three former Memphis officers charged in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols acknowledged that kicks and punches to Nichols' head were unnecessary and excessive.
Don Cameron took the stand in the trial of Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, who have pleaded not guilty to state charges including second-degree murder. They already face the prospect of years in prison after they were convicted of federal charges last year.
Cameron and a series of other witnesses testified before defense lawyers rested their case late Saturday. The three officers did not testify in their own defense. The trial resumes Monday with jury instructions and closing arguments.
Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, fled a January 2023 traffic stop after he was yanked out of his car, pepper-sprayed and hit with a Taser. Five officers who are also Black caught up with him and punched, kicked and hit Nichols with a police baton, struggling to handcuff him as he called out for his mother near his home.
Footage of the beating captured by a police pole camera also showed the officers milling about, talking and laughing as Nichols struggled. His death led to nationwide protests, calls for police reforms in the U.S., and intense scrutiny of police in Memphis, a majority-Black city.
The officers are charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. Prosecutors have argued that the officers used excessive force in trying to handcuff Nichols. The officers also had a duty to intervene and stop the beating and tell medical personnel that Nichols had been struck in the head, but they failed to do so, prosecutors say.
Former Memphis officers Desmond Mills Jr. and Emmitt Martin also were charged in the case. They have agreed to plead guilty to the state charges and are not standing trial. They also pleaded guilty in federal court, where sentencing for all five officers is pending.
Defense attorneys have sought to chip away at accusations that the officers used unnecessary force to subdue Nichols. They have argued that Nichols was actively resisting arrest by running away and failing to give his hands to officers so that he could be handcuffed. They also have argued that their use of force complied with police department policies.
Cameron was called to the stand by the defense lawyer for Haley, who was at the traffic stop and arrived at the location of the beating after Martin kicked and punched Nichols in the head as Nichols was being held by Smith and Bean.
Cameron said Nichols had not yet been handcuffed and Haley used proper force in kicking Nichols once in the arm. The veteran police trainer said Haley kicked Nichols in order to facilitate the handcuffing of Nichols by the other officers.
However, under cross-examination by prosecutor Paul Hagerman, Cameron acknowledged that the punches and kicks by Martin to Nichols' head were unnecessary, excessive and an example of deadly force. Officers who saw those head blows had a duty to intervene and stop the beating at that point, Cameron said.
The prosecutor also asked Cameron about Haley's comment to "beat that man" as he got out of his car and approached Nichols. Cameron said he believed Haley made the comment in order to get Nichols to comply with being handcuffed after Nichols repeatedly ignored expletive-laced orders to do so.
The defense has said that the officers' vision was impaired because of the repeated deployment of pepper spray. Martin Zummach, Smith's lawyer, asked Cameron if officers have a duty intervene if they don't actually see unnecessary force being applied.
"If they can't see it, they can't intervene," Cameron said.
Mills, who hit Nichols three times with a police baton, testified Tuesday that he regrets his failure to stop the beating, which led to Nichols' death three days later from blunt-force trauma. Dr. Marco Ross, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy, testified Wednesday that Nichols suffered tears and bleeding in the brain.
The five officers were part of a crime suppression team called the Scorpion Unit that since has been disbanded. The team targeted drugs, illegal guns and violent offenders with the goal of amassing arrests, while sometimes using force against unarmed people
The trial comes months after the U.S. Justice Department said in December that a 17-month investigation found that the Memphis Police Department uses excessive force and discriminates against Black people.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-08 17:17:48+00:00
|
[
"Jeffrey Rupnow",
"Crime",
"Shootings",
"Melissa Rupnow",
"Natalie Rupnow",
"School shootings",
"Madison",
"John Patterson",
"Wisconsin",
"Indictments",
"Gun violence"
] |
# Father of 15-year-old who killed 2 at Wisconsin religious school faces felony charges
By Scott Bauer and Todd Richmond
May 8th, 2025, 05:17 PM
---
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin prosecutors have charged the father of a teenage girl who killed a teacher and fellow student in a school shooting last year with allowing her access to the semiautomatic pistols she used in the attack.
The criminal complaint against 42-year-old Jeffrey Rupnow of Madison details how his daughter, 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, struggled with her parents' divorce, showing her anger in a written piece entitled "War Against Humanity." Her father tried to bond with her through guns, the complaint said, even as she meticulously planned the attack, including building a cardboard model of the school and scheduling the shooting to end with her suicide.
Prosecutors filed the complaint Wednesday but didn't unseal it until after Jeffrey Rupnow was arrested Thursday and taken to the Dane County Jail. He faces two counts of intentionally giving a dangerous weapon to a person under 18 causing death and contributing to the delinquency of a child. All of the charges are felonies.
He was scheduled to make his initial court appearance Friday. Online court records did not list an attorney for him. Acting Madison Police Chief John Patterson said he was cooperative throughout the investigation. No one returned voicemails left at possible telephone listings for him and his ex-wife, Melissa Rupnow.
## Attack left 2 dead, 6 injured
Natalie Rupnow entered Abundant Life Christian School, a religious school in Madison that offers prekindergarten through high school classes, on Dec. 16 and opened fire in a study hall. She killed teacher Erin Michelle West and 14-year-old student Rubi Bergara and injured six others before she killed herself.
According to the complaint, investigators recovered 20 shell casings from the study hall where she opened fire.
They also recovered a 9 mm Glock handgun that Jeffrey Rupnow had purchased for her from the room and a .22-caliber Sig Sauer pistol from a bag the girl was carrying, the complaint says. Jeffrey Rupnow had given that gun to her as a Christmas present in 2023, the complaint says.
Also in the bag were three magazines loaded with .22 ammunition and a 50-round box of 9 mm ammunition. She wore a black T-shirt emblazoned with a bull's-eye during the attack.
## Natalie Rupnow had been struggling with parents' divorce
Jeffrey Rupnow told investigators that his daughter lived with him but had been struggling with his divorce from her mother in 2022, saying she hated her life and wanted to kill herself. He said she used to cut herself to the point where he had to lock up all the knives in his house.
She had been in therapy to learn how to be more social until the spring before the attack, he told investigators. Her mother, Melissa Rupnow, told detectives that the therapist told her that Natalie was suffering post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from the divorce. One of Natalie's friends told investigators that Jeffrey Rupnow was "frequently verbally aggressive" with Natalie and that she had told him that her father was a "drinker," according to the complaint.
Jeffery Rupnow told investigators that took Natalie shooting with him on a friend's land about two years before the Abundant Life attack. She enjoyed it, and he came to see guns as a way to connect with her. But he was shocked at how her interest in firearms "snow balled," he told investigators.
He kept Natalie's pistols in a gun safe, telling her that if she ever need them the access code was his Social Security number entered backward. About 10 days before the school attack, he texted a friend and said that Natalie would shoot him if he left "the fun safe open right now," according to the complaint.
The day before the school attack he took the Sig Sauer out of the safe so Natalie could clean it. But he got distracted and wasn't sure if he put the weapon back in the safe or locked it, according to the complaint.
## 'War Against Humanity'
A search of Natalie's room netted a six-page document the girl had written entitled "War Against Humanity." She started the piece by describing humanity as "filth" and saying she hated people who don't care and "smoke their lungs out with weed or drink as much as they can like my own father."
She wrote about how she admired school shooters, how her mother was not in her life and how she obtained her weapons "by lies and manipulation, and my fathers stupidity."
Investigators also discovered maps of the school and a cardboard model of the building, along with a handwritten schedule that detailed how she would being the attack at 11:30 a.m. and wipe out the first and second floors of the school by 11:55 a.m. She planned to end the attack by 12:10 p.m. with a notation "ready 4 Death."
She had been communicating online with people around the world about her fascination with school shootings and weapons, Acting Madison Police Chief John Patterson said Thursday.
## Father calls teaching her gun safety 'biggest mistake'
Jeffery Rupnow sent a message to a detective two weeks after the school shooting saying that his biggest mistake was teaching Natalie how to handle guns safely and urging police to warn people to change their gun safe combinations every two to three months, the complaint said.
"Kids are smart and they will figure it out," he wrote. "Just like someone trying to hack your bank account. I just want to protect other families from going through what I'm going through."
According to the complaint, after learning that Natalie was the shooter while talking to a police officer, Melissa Rupnow began breathing very quickly through her nose and yelled something, to the effect of, "I'm going to kill him, I'm going to kill him," apparently referring to her ex-husband.
## Charges are latest in string of cases against parents in school shootings
Jeffrey Rupnow is the latest parent of a school shooter to face charges associated with an attack.
Last year, the mother and father of a school shooter in Michigan who killed four students in 2021 were each convicted of involuntary manslaughter. The mother was the first parent in the U.S. to be held responsible for a child carrying out a mass school attack.
The father of a 14-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting four people at a Georgia high school was arrested in September and faces charges including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter for letting his son possess a weapon.
In 2023, the father of a man charged in a deadly Fourth of July parade shooting in suburban Chicago pleaded guilty to seven misdemeanors related to how his son obtained a gun license.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-04 07:41:18+00:00
|
[
"United Kingdom",
"Yvette Cooper",
"Law enforcement",
"Crime",
"Counterterrorism",
"Terrorism",
"National security",
"Ken McCallum",
"Iran government",
"Dominic Murphy",
"Assault",
"Kyle Warren"
] |
# UK police arrest Iranian men over alleged attack plot in major counterterror operation
By Jill Lawless
May 4th, 2025, 07:41 AM
---
LONDON (AP) — British counterterrorism officers arrested four Iranian men over an alleged plot to attack an unspecified target and three others over a national security threat, police said Sunday. The government called them the biggest "counter state threat and counterterrorism" operations for years.
The Metropolitan Police force said five men aged between 29 and 46 were detained Saturday in various parts of England under the Terrorism Act on suspicion of preparing "a terrorist act."
Four are Iranian citizens and the nationality of the fifth was still being established.
Police said the attack plot targeted a single location that was not being named "for operational reasons." It said the premises was being given "advice and support."
All the suspects were being questioned at police stations and have not been charged. Police said they are searching several properties in London, the Manchester area of northwest England and Swindon in western England.
Forensic officers in blue overalls were photographed at a house in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, where one of the men was detained. Three of the counterterror arrests took place in the Greater Manchester area, one in London and one in Swindon.
Rochdale resident Kyle Warren told Sky News he "heard a massive bang" and saw "20 or 30 police with guns" drag a man from a neighboring house.
"We've seen a man getting pulled out from the back, basically got dragged down the side entry and thrown into all the bushes and then handcuffed," he said.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the force's Counter Terrorism Command, said police are still working to establish a motive "as well as to identify whether there may be any further risk to the public."
Separately, three other Iranian men, aged 39, 44 and 55, were arrested in London on suspicion of a national security offense as part of an unrelated investigation, police said.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said "these were two major operations that reflect some of the biggest counter-state threat and counterterrorism operations that we have seen in recent years."
Britain's domestic intelligence service has warned of a growing threat from attackers linked to Tehran. Cooper said "the ongoing investigation is immensely important" to determine whether the arrests were connected to the Iranian state. She said "this reflects the complexity of the kinds of challenges to our national security that we continue to face."
In October, the head of the MI5 domestic security service, Ken McCallum, said his agents and police have tackled 20 "potentially lethal" plots backed by Iran since 2022, most aimed at Iranians in the U.K. who oppose the country's authorities.
He said at the time there was the risk "of an increase in, or broadening of, Iranian state aggression in the U.K." if conflicts in the Middle East deepened.
In March 2024, Pouria Zeraati, a presenter at a Farsi-language television station critical of the Iranian government, was stabbed in the leg outside his home in London. Two men were later arrested in Romania and charged over the attack.
The U.K.'s official terror threat level stands at "substantial," the middle of a five-point scale, meaning an attack is likely.
___
A previous version of this story said the alleged target was in London. Police have not specified its location.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-14 21:00:08+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Prescription drugs",
"Robert F. Kennedy Jr.",
"Health care costs",
"Financial performance",
"Fact-checking",
"Health",
"Executive orders",
"United States government",
"Government and politics",
"Courtney Yarbrough",
"Associated Press",
"Geoffrey Joyce",
"Mariana Socal",
"Production facilities",
"United States Congress",
"Politics"
] |
# Trump incorrectly blames other countries for high US drug prices
By Melissa Goldin
May 14th, 2025, 09:00 PM
---
President Donald Trump incorrectly placed the blame for high prescription drug prices in the U.S. on foreign nations, making the comments Monday when signing an executive order intended to lower their cost.
The order sets a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to electively lower prices in the U.S. or face new limits in the future over what the government will pay. If favorable deals are not reached, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be tasked with developing a new rule that ties prices the U.S. pays for medications to lower prices paid by other countries.
Here's a closer look at the facts.
CLAIM: "We were subsidizing others' healthcare, the countries where they pay a small fraction of what — for the same drug that what we pay, many, many times more for, and will no longer tolerate profiteering and price gouging from Big Pharma. But again, it was really the countries that forced Big Pharma to do things that frankly, I'm not sure they really felt comfortable doing. But they've gotten away with it, these countries. European Union has been brutal, brutal."
THE FACTS: This is misleading. Prices for most prescription drugs — unbranded generics are the exception — are higher in the U.S. than they are in other high-income countries. But, experts say, it is in large part the way drug prices are negotiated in the U.S. that drives up costs.
"There are structural differences in the way that we price drugs in the United States and in the way that other developed, industrialized countries price drugs," said Mariana Socal, an associate professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins University who studies the U.S. pharmaceutical market. "And those differences really are the ones that account for these differences in price that we see at the end of the day."
A 2024 report published by the RAND research organization found, using 2022 data, that prices in the U.S. were 2.78 times higher than those in 33 comparable countries across all drugs. Brand-name drugs represented the largest gap. The U.S. made up 62% of sales out of $989 billion of total drug spending among the countries studied, according to the report, but only 24% of volume.
According to experts, drug companies in the U.S. are generally able to price medications higher in the U.S. because the country's drug market operates as a fragmented system where companies negotiate with individual insurers or pharmacy benefit managers, commonly known as PBMs. Many countries with lower costs have one regulatory agency that negotiates prices on behalf of the entire population, a significant bargaining chip given that drug companies can't divide and conquer as they can in the U.S. If a regulator walks away, the company loses out on profits entirely — in other words, something is better than nothing.
"Anything you can do to kind of bring more bargaining power to the table against the drug companies by making a decision for more beneficiaries, or more patients, that's going to put more downward pressure on drug prices," said Courtney Yarbrough, an assistant professor of health policy and management at Emory University.
As it stands, drug costs in the U.S. and other countries are not directly linked, though they can affect each other. Trump's executive order establishes a "most favored nation" pricing model should drugmakers not voluntarily lower costs. This means that the U.S. would peg the cost of prescription drugs to the lowest prices in comparably developed countries. It's unclear what — if any — impact the order will have on millions of Americans who have private health insurance. The federal government has the most power to shape the price it pays for drugs covered by Medicare and Medicaid.
But the U.S. paying less for prescription drugs doesn't mean other countries will automatically pay more. For example, Yarbrough explained that instead of agreeing to higher prices, other countries could simply enter into secret arrangements for increased discounts and then hide what they actually pay.
"We're not in a static global pharmaceutical market," she said.
Manufacturers, wholesalers, PBMs and other members of the supply chain also have a motivation to maximize profits, not lower costs for consumers. In this spirit, manufacturers often use patents to make it impossible for cheaper versions of drugs to come to market. Although he repeatedly defended pharmaceutical companies at Monday's news conference, Trump simultaneously threatened the companies with federal investigations into their practices.
"There are no saints in this industry, these are all for-profit companies," said Geoffrey Joyce, director of health policy at the University of Southern California's Schaeffer Center. "Their incentives are all wrong. Everybody makes more money off of higher list prices, so they just push list prices up."
___
Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-09 11:01:46+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Colleges and universities",
"Education funding",
"Public opinion",
"Government budgets",
"Columbus",
"New Orleans",
"Georgia",
"New York City Wire",
"Associated Press",
"United States government",
"Government and politics",
"Freddy Ortega",
"Race and ethnicity",
"Charles Jolivette",
"U.S. Republican Party",
"Education",
"U.S. Democratic Party",
"Politics",
"Race and Ethnicity"
] |
# Most Americans disapprove of Trump's treatment of colleges, new poll finds
By Jocelyn Gecker and Linley Sanders
May 9th, 2025, 11:01 AM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — A majority of U.S. adults disapprove of President Donald Trump's handling of issues related to colleges and universities, according to a new poll, as his administration ramps up threats to cut federal funding unless schools comply with his political agenda.
More than half of Americans, 56%, disapprove of the Republican president's approach on higher education, the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds, while about 4 in 10 approve, in line with his overall job approval.
Since taking office in January, Trump has tried to force change at universities he says have become hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism. The spotlight most recently has been on Harvard University, where Trump's administration has frozen more than $2.2 billion in federal grants, threatened to strip the school's tax-exempt status, and demanded broad policy changes.
The Trump administration also has cut off money to other elite colleges, including Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University, over issues including the handling of pro-Palestinian activism and transgender athletes' participation in women's sports. Harvard has framed the government's demands as a threat to the autonomy that the Supreme Court has long granted American universities.
The poll shows a disconnect between the Trump administration's targeting of universities and an American public that sees them as key to scientific research, new ideas and innovative technology. About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say colleges and universities make more of a positive contribution to medical and scientific research than a negative one, and a similar share favors maintaining federal funding for scientific research.
"Let's talk about Harvard for a minute," said Freddy Ortega, 66, a Democrat and a retired military veteran in Columbus, Georgia. "The way he took away all that money in funding, impacting things that Harvard has been working on for the betterment of the world."
"One man should not have that much power," Ortega continued. "This is something for Congress to deal with."
Ortega, who's Hispanic, also said he's concerned about Trump's attempts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs across U.S. society. "I came up in the military. I know the good that those programs do," he said. "It changes the direction that people's lives are going to take."
## Republicans are divided on cuts to colleges' federal funding
Trump's stance on higher education resonates more strongly with Republicans, most of whom see college campuses as places where conservatives are silenced and liberal ideas run unchecked. About 8 in 10 Republicans approve of how Trump is handling issues related to colleges and universities — which, notably, is higher than the share of Republicans, 70%, who approve of his handling of the economy — and about 6 in 10 say they're "extremely" or "very" concerned about liberal bias on campus.
Republicans are more divided, however, on withholding federal funding from schools unless they bow to Trump's demands. About half are in favor, while about one-quarter are opposed and a similar share are neutral.
"I'm all for it," said Republican voter Hengameh Abraham, 38, a mother of two in Roseville, California. She supports cutting federal funds and opposes DEI programs, saying she emigrated to America from Iran as a teenager and worked hard to get ahead in school without the help of affirmative action programs.
"Your racial identity, nationality and background should not be a factor in getting accepted to college or getting a job," said Abraham. She supports Trump's focus on campus antisemitism. When pro-Palestinian protests swept U.S. colleges last year, some of the demonstrators' messaging was anti-U.S., she said.
"I do not think if you have any kind of anti-American agenda or slogan that you should be allowed on a university campus in the United States," she said.
In Harvard's case, Trump has threatened to remove its tax-exempt status, and his administration has implemented funding cuts. Those measures are divisive among the general public: Nearly half oppose withholding federal funding as a punitive action, while about one-quarter favor it. About one-quarter are neutral.
Charles Jolivette, 43, a college career counselor who lives in New Orleans, sees Trump's education policies as an attack on free speech and people of color.
"Not only is the president going after anyone he feels is an opponent and anyone who is not compliant, but he's attacking some of the most important elements of our society," said Jolivette, a Democrat. "It's rampant bullying from the president of the United States, who is supposed to be crossing the aisle."
## The cost of tuition far outweighs other concerns
A top concern of most Americans is the cost of a college degree. About 6 in 10 U.S. adults are "extremely" or "very" concerned about the cost of tuition. That concern is shared by majorities of Democrats and Republicans and far outweighs concerns about antisemitism and liberal bias on campuses among the general public.
"College costs a lot more than it needs to. To get an education, you should not have to break your pocketbook," said Eunice Cortez, 68, a Republican near Houston.
Cortez, who's originally from Mexico, did not go to college, but she made sure her U.S.-born children did and is proud that her grandchildren are getting college degrees. She supports Trump but is concerned that some of his policies, including funding cuts, will make it harder for people who need tuition aid to get an education. She sees it as the government "getting in the way" of an educated society.
The poll shows a divide between college-educated Americans and those without college degrees, highlighting a possible cultural rift that Trump has seized on in the past.
Most Americans with a college degree, 62%, are opposed to withholding funding from universities that don't comply with the president's requirements, while those without a college degree are split, with about 3 in 10 in favor, a similar share opposed, and about 4 in 10 saying they don't have an opinion.
Kara Hansen, 40, a registered independent in Seminole, Oklahoma, is a few credits shy of a college degree. She supports the idea of dismantling the Education Department to shake things up. But she said she's concerned by what she calls Trump's "authoritarian tendencies" and a growing fear on college campuses to speak up and voice opinions.
"It feels like everybody has a muzzle on," Hansen said. "They can't fully express themselves because they're afraid of getting in trouble, and afraid of Trump."
About 3 in 10 U.S. adults say students or professors can freely speak their minds "a lot" on college and university campuses. About 4 in 10 say they can do this to "some" extent. Republicans feel their views are stifled: About 8 in 10 say liberals can speak their minds "a lot" or "some" on campus, but fewer than half say the same about conservatives.
___
Gecker reported from San Francisco.
___
The AP-NORC poll of 1,175 adults was conducted May 1-5, 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 4 percentage points.
___
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
|
2025-05-15 19:15:32+00:00
|
[
"Vatican City",
"Ukraine",
"Pope Francis",
"Donald Trump",
"Volodymyr Zelenskyy",
"Pope Leo XIV",
"Catholic Church",
"Prisoner exchange",
"International",
"Russia-Ukraine war",
"Religion",
"JD Vance",
"Pietro Parolin"
] |
# Pope meets with head of Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine, who invites him to Kyiv
May 15th, 2025, 07:15 PM
---
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV met Thursday at the Vatican with the head of the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine, in one of his first audiences as pontiff that reaffirmed his appeal for a peaceful, negotiated end to Russia's war.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk said he invited Leo to visit Ukraine and presented the pope with a list of prisoners held by Russia. The Vatican under Pope Francis had worked for prisoner exchanges, as well as for the return of Ukrainian children taken to live in Russian-occupied territories.
The Vatican didn't release any statement after the audience, one of the first private audiences held by Leo since his election May 8.
In his first Sunday noon blessing as pope, and again during an audience with pilgrims from eastern rite churches this week, Leo has appealed for an end to the war and expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
"I carry in my heart the sufferings of the beloved Ukrainian people. Let everything possible be done to achieve genuine, just and lasting peace as soon as possible. May all the prisoners be freed, and may the children return to their families," he said Sunday.
The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said it was "premature" to think of a possible papal visit to Kyiv, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had also suggested during a first phone call with Leo on Monday.
The Vatican has a tradition of diplomatic neutrality. Leo has vowed "every effort" to try to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table. "The Holy See is always ready to help bring enemies together, face to face, to talk to one another, so that peoples everywhere may once more find hope and recover the dignity they deserve, the dignity of peace," he said on Wednesday.
Leo is to be formally installed at a Mass on Sunday; Zelenskyy and U.S. Vice President JD Vance are expected to attend.
Zelenskyy met with President Donald Trump in St. Peter's Basilica on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral last month.
___
Associated Press religion coverage 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.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-14 18:19:45+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Wisconsin",
"Hannah Dugan",
"Immigration",
"Bill Clinton",
"Juries",
"United States government",
"Eduardo Flores-Ruiz",
"Legal proceedings",
"Indictments",
"Kenneth Gales"
] |
# Wisconsin judge argues prosecutors can't charge her with helping a man evade immigration agents
By Todd Richmond
May 14th, 2025, 06:19 PM
---
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge charged with helping a man who is in the country illegally evade U.S. immigration agents who were trying to detain him at her courthouse filed a motion to dismiss the case Wednesday, arguing that there's no legal basis for it.
Attorneys for Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan argue in their motion that her conduct on the day in question amounted to directing people's movement in and around her courtroom, and that she enjoys legal immunity for official acts she performs as a judge. They cite last year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling in President Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case that found that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts that fall within their "exclusive sphere of constitutional authority" and are presumptively entitled to immunity for all official acts.
"The problems with the prosecution are legion, but most immediately, the government cannot prosecute Judge Dugan because she is entitled to judicial immunity for her official acts," the motion says. "Immunity is not a defense to the prosecution to be determined later by a jury or court; it is an absolute bar to the prosecution at the outset."
The judge overseeing her case is Lynn Adelman, a former Democratic state senator. Former President Bill Clinton appointed him to the bench in 1997.
Kenneth Gales, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office in Milwaukee, declined to comment on the motion.
Federal prosecutors charged Dugan in April with obstruction and concealing an individual to prevent arrest. A grand jury indicted her on the same charges on Tuesday. She faces up to six years in prison if convicted of both counts.
Her attorneys insist Dugan is innocent. She's expected to enter a not guilty plea at her arraignment Thursday.
Dugan's arrest has escalated a clash between the Trump administration and Democrats over the Republican president's sweeping immigration crackdown. Democrats contend that Dugan's arrest went too far and that the administration is trying to make an example out of her to discourage judicial opposition to the crackdown.
Dugan's case is similar to one brought during the first Trump administration against a Massachusetts judge, who was accused of helping a man sneak out a courthouse back door to evade a waiting immigration enforcement agent. That case was eventually dismissed.
According to prosecutors, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz illegally reentered the U.S. after being deported in 2013. He was charged in March with misdemeanor domestic violence in Milwaukee County and was in Dugan's courtroom for a hearing in that case on April 18.
Dugan's clerk alerted her that immigration agents were in the courthouse looking to arrest Flores-Ruiz, prosecutors allege in court documents. According to an affidavit, Dugan became visibly angry at the agents' arrival and called the situation "absurd." After discussing the warrant for Flores-Ruiz's arrest with the agents, Dugan demanded that they speak with the chief judge and led them away from the courtroom.
She then returned to the courtroom, was heard saying something to the effect of "wait, come with me," and then showed Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a back door, the affidavit says. The immigration agents eventually detained Flores-Ruiz outside the building following a foot chase.
Dugan's dismissal motion also accuses the federal government of violating Wisconsin's sovereignty by disrupting a state courtroom and prosecuting a state judge.
"The government's prosecution here reaches directly into a state courthouse, disrupting active proceedings, and interferes with the official duties of an elected judge," the motion states.
The state Supreme Court suspended Dugan from the bench last month, saying the move was necessary to preserve public confidence in the judiciary. A reserve judge is filling in for her.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-20 13:54:06+00:00
|
[
"Elizabeth Karmel",
"Recipes",
"Lifestyle",
"Food and drink"
] |
# The top 9 grilling mistakes and how to fix them
By Elizabeth Karmel
May 20th, 2025, 01:54 PM
---
I love to grill, and barbecue, and I have devoted my career to outdoor cooking for more than two decades. In that time, I've seen a lot of mistakes, and people tend to make them over and over. So I put together a list of the biggest grilling don'ts and how to avoid them. Print this list and refer to it the next time you get ready to grill!
## Never oil the grill
Many people oil the cooking grates — big blunder! Follow my mantra: "Oil the food, not the grates!" If you brush oil on hot cooking grates (and a lit grill), you run the risk of a big flare-up. The oil that you have brushed on will instantly burn, leaving a sticky residue that will "glue" your food to the grates, making it stick, break apart and dry out_like dehydrating food. If you oil the food, it will stay juicy and promote caramelization_those great grill marks! And help to prevent "stickage."
## Don't put food on a cold grill
Always preheat a gas grill with all burners on high, or wait until charcoal briquettes are covered with a white-gray ash. Preheating also burns off residue and makes it easier to clean the grill. Contrary to popular belief, you don't ever need to cook on a grill that is hotter than 550 F. The hotter the grill, the more likely you will burn the outside of the food before the inside is cooked.
## Clean that dirty grill
An outdoor grill is like a cast-iron skillet. It gets better and better the more you use it, but you do need to clean it every time you use it. Clean the grill grates twice every cookout with a stiff, metal-bristle grill cleaning brush — before and after you cook. If you do this, it will never be a big job to clean your grill. If you don't have a grill cleaning brush, crumble a ball of heavy-duty aluminum foil and hold it in a pair of 12-inch locking chef tongs to use to clean the grill.
## Know the difference between direct and indirect heat
The most frequent mistake is to choose the wrong cooking method. To be a good griller, you must know the difference between direct, indirect or combo grilling and when to use them. Direct grilling means that the food is set directly over the heat source — similar to broiling in your oven. Indirect grilling means the heat is on either side of the food and the burners are turned off under the food — similar to roasting and baking in your oven. Combo grilling means that you sear the food over direct heat (i.e., to sear a tenderloin, or large steak) before moving it to indirect heat to finish the cooking process. Remember this general rule of thumb: If the food takes less than 20 minutes to cook, use the DIRECT METHOD. If the food takes more than 20 minutes to cook, use the INDIRECT METHOD.
## The right way to deal with flare-ups
Never use a water bottle to extinguish a flare-up. Spraying water on a hot fire can produce steam vapors which may cause severe burns. The water can also crack the porcelain-enamel finish, resulting in damage to your grill. Fire loves oxygen, so cook with the lid down and don't peek. Repeatedly lifting the lid to "peek" and check the food while it's cooking lengthens cooking time. If you have a full-on fire, turn all the burners off, remove the food and extinguish the flames with kosher salt or baking soda. In a worst-case scenario, use a fire extinguisher, but know that it will ruin your grill.
## Avoid frequent flipping
If you are cooking food by the direct method (hamburgers, hot dogs, boneless chicken breasts, small steaks, vegetables, etc.), flip only once halfway through the cooking time. All protein will stick to the grates as soon as it makes contact with the hot grill grates. As it cooks, it will naturally release itself, and that is when you can turn it over with a pair of tongs. Just remember to oil the food, not the grates!
## Dodge cross-contamination
One of the most common mistakes backyard cooks make is using the same tongs for raw and cooked foods. This creates cross-contamination and can result in food-borne illness. It's easy to fix this problem. I have been color-coding my 12-inch locking chef tongs with red and green duct tape for as long as I have been grilling. The different colors help me to remember which pair of tongs I used for raw food (red), like chicken, and which are safe to use for the cooked food (green). And remember to use a separate clean platter for your cooked food, too.
## Don't sauce too soon
If I had a dime for every time I saw someone pour thick sweet barbecue sauce on bone-in-chicken pieces or a whole rack of ribs while they were raw, I would be a very wealthy griller! All barbecue sauces have a lot of sugar in them and sugar burns quickly, almost always burning the outside of the food before the inside cooks. Generally I only brush food with sauce during the final 10-15 minutes of cooking time. With ribs that cook 2-3 hours, I will brush with a diluted sauce (1/2 beer and 1/2 sauce) for the final 30 minutes of cooking time.
## Resist testing for doneness by cutting
Cutting your food to test for doneness is another common way people bungle their food. When you cut any protein, you are letting the precious juices escape, and if the food is under-cooked, the area where it was cut will be over-cooked when you put it back on the grill. Use an instant-read meat thermometer to test for doneness, and always let your food rest for at least 5 minutes before cutting into it.
___
EDITOR'S NOTE: Elizabeth Karmel is grilling, barbecue and Southern foods expert, a media personality and the author of four cookbooks, including " Steak and Cake ."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-08 09:48:14+00:00
|
[
"Israel government",
"Israel",
"Jerusalem",
"United Nations",
"Political refugees",
"2024-2025 Mideast Wars",
"Israel-Hamas war",
"Education",
"Philippe Lazzarini",
"Schools",
"International agreements"
] |
# Israel closes 6 UN schools for Palestinians in east Jerusalem
May 8th, 2025, 09:48 AM
---
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel permanently closed six U.N. schools in east Jerusalem on Thursday, forcing Palestinian students to leave early and throwing the education of more than 800 others into question.
Last month, heavily armed Israeli police and Education Ministry officials ordered six schools in east Jerusalem to close within 30 days. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, runs the six schools. UNRWA also runs schools in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which continue to operate.
The closure orders come after Israel banned UNRWA from operating on its soil earlier this year, the culmination of a long campaign against the agency that intensified following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel that ignited the war in Gaza. Israel claims that UNRWA schools teach antisemitic content and anti-Israel sentiment, which UNRWA denies.
UNRWA is the main provider of education and health care to Palestinian refugees across east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel has annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city its unified capital.
"When I said goodbye to the teachers, and when I went to hug the teachers, I started crying because I don't know which school I will go to, and where we will study," said Layan Ramadan Nataheh, a student at Shufat Basic Girls School, one of the UNRWA schools ordered shut.
"The presence of soldiers inside a school scares the girls, and the decision to close the school has affected their spirits and their future because they have nowhere to go," said Shujan Abu Remailah, a resident of the Shufat refugee camp.
The Israeli Ministry of Education says it will place the students into other Jerusalem schools. But parents, teachers and administrators caution that closing the main schools in east Jerusalem will force their children to go through crowded and dangerous checkpoints daily, and some do not have the correct permits to pass through.
In a previous statement to The Associated Press, the Ministry of Education said it was closing the schools because they were operating without a license. UNRWA administrators pledged to keep the schools open for as long as possible.
Farhan Haq, the U.N. deputy spokesperson, on Thursday stressed the "inviolability" of U.N. facilities, quoting the statement from Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA Commissioner-General, saying that "storming schools and forcing them shut is a blatant disregard of international law."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 07:14:26+00:00
|
[
"India government",
"Pakistan",
"India",
"Kashmir",
"Pakistan government",
"Bangladesh",
"Donald Trump",
"War and unrest",
"International agreements",
"Asia",
"Asia Pacific",
"South Asia",
"Military and defense",
"Voting rights"
] |
# India and Pakistan faced a new crisis. Here's a look at their history of armed conflict
May 1st, 2025, 07:14 AM
---
NEW DELHI (AP) — After days of intense firefights, Indian and Pakistani authorities said on Monday there were no reported incidents of firing overnight along the heavily militarized region between their countries, the first time in recent days that the two nations were not shooting at each other.
India and Pakistan on Saturday reached an understanding to stop all military actions on land, in the air and at the sea, in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire to stop escalating hostilities between the two nuclear-armed rivals that threatened regional peace.
Within hours of the ceasefire announcement, however, militaries in both the countries accused each other of violations, raising fears if the agreement would hold.
The militaries of India and Pakistan have been engaged in one of their most serious confrontations in decades since last Wednesday, when India struck targets inside Pakistan it said were affiliated with militants responsible for the massacre of 26 tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir last month.
Pakistan denies any role in backing the militants who carried out the massacre.
The incident first led to a spat of tit-for-tat diplomatic measures by both the nations, sending their bilateral relations to a near historic low. The two expelled each other's diplomats, shut their airspace, land borders and suspended a crucial water treaty.
After India's Wednesday's strikes in Pakistan, both sides exchanged heavy fires along their de facto border in restive Kashmir region followed by missile and drone attacks into each other's territories, mainly targeting military installations and air bases.
Senior military officials of India and Pakistan will speak over phone later Monday to asses where the ceasefire stands. As the world awaits what unfolds further, here's a look at multiple conflicts between the two countries since their bloody partition in 1947:
___
1947 — Months after British India is partitioned into a predominantly Hindu India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan, the two young nations fight their first war over control of Muslim-majority Kashmir, then a kingdom ruled by a Hindu monarch. The war killed thousands before ending in 1948.
1949 — A U.N.-brokered ceasefire line leaves Kashmir divided between India and Pakistan, with the promise of a U.N.-sponsored vote that would enable the region's people to decide whether to be part Pakistan or India. That vote has never been held.
1965 — The rivals fight their second war over Kashmir. Thousands are killed in inconclusive fighting before a ceasefire is brokered by the Soviet Union and the United States. Negotiations in Tashkent run until January 1966, ending in both sides giving back territories they seized during the war and withdrawing their armies.
1971 — India intervenes in a war over the independence of East Pakistan, which ends with the territory breaking away as the new country of Bangladesh. An estimated 3 million people are killed in the conflict.
1972 — India and Pakistan sign a peace accord, renaming the ceasefire line in Kashmir as the Line of Contro. Both sides deploy more troops along the frontier, turning it into a heavily fortified stretch of military outposts.
1989 — Kashmiri dissidents, with support from Pakistan, launch a bloody rebellion against Indian rule. Indian troops respond with brutal measures, intensifying diplomatic and military skirmishes between New Delhi and Islamabad.
1999 — Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri fighters seize several Himalayan peaks on the Indian side. India responds with aerial bombardments and artillery. At least 1,000 combatants are killed over 10 weeks, and a worried world fears the fighting could escalate to nuclear conflict. The U.S. eventually steps in to mediate, ending the fighting.
2016 — Militants sneak into an army base in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least 18 soldiers. India responds by sending special forces inside Pakistani-held territory, later claiming to have killed multiple suspected rebels in "surgical strikes." Pakistan denies that the strikes took place, but it leads to days of major border skirmishes. Combatants and civilians on both sides are killed.
2019 — The two sides again come close to war after a Kashmiri insurgent rams an explosive-laden car into a bus carrying Indian soldiers, killing 40. India carries out airstrikes in Pakistani territory and claims to have struck a militant training facility. Pakistan later shoots down an Indian warplane and captures a pilot. He is later released, de-escalating tensions.
2025 —Militants attack Indian tourists in the region's resort town of Pahalgam and kill 26 men, most of them Hindus. India blames Pakistan, which denies it. India vows revenge on the attackers as tensions rise to their highest point since 2019. Both countries cancel visas for each other's citizens, recall diplomats, shut their only land border crossing and close their airspaces to each other. New Delhi also suspends a crucial water-sharing treaty.
Days later, India strikes what it calls nine terror hideouts across Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir with precision missiles. Islamabad retaliates and fires missiles and swarms of drones across multiple northern and western Indian cities, targeting military installations and air bases. India then targets Pakistan's multiple air bases, radar systems and military installations. As the situation intensifies, U.S. holds talks with leadership of the two countries, and President Donald Trump announces a ceasefire has been reached.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-14 20:16:18+00:00
|
[
"District of Columbia",
"James OKeefe",
"Donald Trump",
"Lawsuits",
"Legal proceedings",
"Jamie Mannina",
"U.S. Department of Defense",
"U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation",
"Conservatism",
"Trump lawsuits",
"DC Wire",
"Mark Zaid",
"United States government",
"Politics"
] |
# Ex-FBI agent and Pentagon contractor sues over secret recording showing him criticizing Trump
By Eric Tucker
May 14th, 2025, 08:16 PM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI agent and Pentagon contractor has sued the founder of a conservative nonprofit known for its hidden camera stings over secretly recorded videos showing the contractor criticizing President Donald Trump to a woman he thought he had taken on a date.
Jamie Mannina says in his lawsuit that he was misled by a woman he met on a dating website who held herself out as a politically liberal nurse but who was actually working with the conservative activist James O'Keefe in a sting operation designed to induce Mannina into making "inflammatory and damaging" remarks that could be recorded, "manipulated" and posted online.
Clips from their January conversations were spliced together to make it appear that Mannina was "essentially attempting to launch an unlawful coup against President Trump," and articles released online with the videos defamed Mannina by painting him as part of a "deep state" effort with senior military officials to undermine Trump's presidency, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington.
Mannina does not deny in the lawsuit making the comments but says his words were taken out of context, edited and pieced together in a manner designed to paint him in a false light, including in a written description on YouTube that accompanied the publication of one of the recordings.
O'Keefe founded Project Veritas in 2010 but was removed from the organization in 2023 amid allegations that he mistreated workers and misspent funds. He has continued to employ similar hidden camera stings as part of a new organization he established, O'Keefe Media Group, which also is named in the lawsuit along with the woman who pretended to be on dates with Mannina. Her identity is not known, the lawsuit says.
O'Keefe told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Mannina "voluntarily" offered up the comments in the recording and that it was important for the public to hear Mannina's remarks. O'Keefe pointed out that the District of Columbia requires the consent of only one party, not both, for a conversation to be recorded. He called the lawsuit an "attack on the First Amendment" and said he was prepared to fight it all the way to an appeals court if necessary.
"He said what he said. We did not take him out of context. The words that we reported came out of his mouth," O'Keefe said, adding, "We stand by our reporting."
The lawsuit includes claims of defamation, false light, fraudulent misrepresentation and violations of the federal Wiretap Act. Though the lawsuit acknowledges that D.C.'s consent law for recording conversations, it asserts that the law nonetheless prohibits "the interception and recording of a communication if it was for the purposes of committing a tortious act."
The complaint arises from a pair of dates that Mannina had in January with the woman and a series of videos that O'Keefe released in the following days. During their first date, the lawsuit alleges, the woman expressed her distaste for Trump and repeatedly pressed Mannina on his political views and about his work with the government. Mannina told her that included working as a "spy catcher" several years earlier when he was an FBI counterintelligence agent.
A recording that O'Keefe released shows Mannina being asked at one point by the woman, whose name was not disclosed in the lawsuit, about his "overall assessment of Trump."
"He's a sociopathic narcissist who's only interested in advancing his name, his wealth and his fame," Mannina can be heard saying. Asked in the recording whether there was anything he could do to "protect the American people," Mannina replied that he was in conversation with some retired generals to explore what could be done.
The lawsuit says Mannina and the woman met for a second date over lunch, and as they left the restaurant, a man with a microphone approached Mannina and said: "Jamie, you're a spy hunter, you say. Well, I'm a spy hunter, too, but I'm evidentially a better spy hunter than you." The man was O'Keefe, the lawsuit says.
Mannina was swiftly fired from Booz Allen, where he worked as a contractor, after O'Keefe contacted the press office and presented at least parts of the video of the two dates.
The lawsuit was filed by Mark Zaid, a prominent Washington lawyer who routinely represents government officials and whistleblowers. Zaid himself sued Trump last week after the president revoked his security clearance.
"Lying or misleading someone on a dating app, which no doubt happens all the time, is not what this lawsuit seeks to address," Zaid said in a statement to the AP. "The creation of a fake profile for the specific purposes of targeting individuals for deliberately nefarious and harmful purposes is what crosses the line."
The lawsuit says the O'Keefe Media Group painted Mannina in a false light by misconstruing his words and his title, including in an article published on its website that said, "BREAKING VIDEO: Top Pentagon Advisor Reveals On Hidden Camera Conversation 'with a Couple of Retired Generals to Explore What We Can Do' to 'Protect People from Trump.'"
According to the lawsuit, the characterization of Mannina as a "top Pentagon adviser," when he was actually "one of a countless number of defense contractors," was intended to support "fabricated claims that Mr. Mannina was essentially attempting to launch an unlawful coup against President Trump."
The lawsuit does not directly say why Mannina was targeted, but it does note that in 2017, when he was working at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, he published three articles in the Huffington Post and The Hill newspaper that were critical of Trump.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-16 19:07:20+00:00
|
[
"Sam Altman",
"Scott Wiener",
"Brad Smith",
"Artificial intelligence",
"John Cornyn",
"Mike Rounds",
"Donald Trump",
"U.S. Republican Party",
"Cynthia Lummis",
"Ted Cruz",
"California",
"San Francisco",
"United States House of Representatives",
"South Carolina",
"United States government",
"Government regulations",
"Congress",
"United States",
"Bernie Moreno",
"Technology",
"OpenAI Inc",
"Microsoft Corp.",
"Politics",
"United States Senate",
"Business",
"Alan Wilson"
] |
# House Republicans include a 10-year ban on US states regulating AI in 'big, beautiful' bill
By Matt Brown and Matt O'Brien
May 16th, 2025, 07:07 PM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans surprised tech industry watchers and outraged state governments when they added a clause to Republicans' signature " big, beautiful " tax bill that would ban states and localities from regulating artificial intelligence for a decade.
The brief but consequential provision, tucked into the House Energy and Commerce Committee's sweeping markup, would be a major boon to the AI industry, which has lobbied for uniform and light touch regulation as tech firms develop a technology they promise will transform society.
However, while the clause would be far-reaching if enacted, it faces long odds in the U.S. Senate, where procedural rules may doom its inclusion in the GOP legislation.
"I don't know whether it will pass the Byrd Rule," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, referring to a provision that requires that all parts of a budget reconciliation bill, like the GOP plan, focus mainly on the budgetary matters rather than general policy aims.
"That sounds to me like a policy change. I'm not going to speculate what the parliamentarian is going to do but I think it is unlikely to make it," Cornyn said.
Senators in both parties have expressed an interest in artificial intelligence and believe that Congress should take the lead in regulating the technology. But while lawmakers have introduced scores of bills, including some bipartisan efforts, that would impact artificial intelligence, few have seen any meaningful advancement in the deeply divided Congress.
An exception is a bipartisan bill expected to be signed into law by President Donald Trump next week that would enact stricter penalties on the distribution of intimate "revenge porn" images, both real and AI-generated, without a person's consent.
"AI doesn't understand state borders, so it is extraordinarily important for the federal government to be the one that sets interstate commerce. It's in our Constitution. You can't have a patchwork of 50 states," said Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican. But Moreno said he was unsure if the House's proposed ban could make it through Senate procedure.
The AI provision in the bill states that "no state or political subdivision may enforce any law or regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems." The language could bar regulations on systems ranging from popular commercial models like ChatGPT to those that help make decisions about who gets hired or finds housing.
State regulations on AI's usage in business, research, public utilities, educational settings and government would be banned.
The congressional pushback against state-led AI regulation is part of a broader move led by the Trump administration to do away with policies and business approaches that have sought to limit AI's harms and pervasive bias.
Half of all U.S. states so far have enacted legislation regulating AI deepfakes in political campaigns, according to a tracker from the watchdog organization Public Citizen.
Most of those laws were passed within the last year, as incidents in democratic elections around the globe in 2024 highlighted the threat of lifelike AI audio clips, videos and images to deceive voters.
California state Sen. Scott Wiener called the Republican proposal "truly gross" in a social media post. Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, authored landmark legislation last year that would have created first-in-the-nation safety measures for advanced artificial intelligence models. The bill was vetoed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a fellow San Francisco Democrat.
"Congress is incapable of meaningful AI regulation to protect the public. It is, however, quite capable of failing to act while also banning states from acting," Wiener wrote.
A bipartisan group of dozens of state attorneys general also sent a letter to Congress on Friday opposing the bill.
"AI brings real promise, but also real danger, and South Carolina has been doing the hard work to protect our citizens," said South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, a Republican, in a statement. "Now, instead of stepping up with real solutions, Congress wants to tie our hands and push a one-size-fits-all mandate from Washington without a clear direction. That's not leadership, that's federal overreach."
As the debate unfolds, AI industry leaders are pressing ahead on research while competing with rivals to develop the best — and most widely used —AI systems. They have pushed federal lawmakers for uniform and unintrusive rules on the technology, saying they need to move quickly on the latest models to compete with Chinese firms.
Sam Altman, the CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, testified in a Senate hearing last week that a "patchwork" of AI regulations "would be quite burdensome and significantly impair our ability to do what we need to do."
"One federal framework, that is light touch, that we can understand and that lets us move with the speed that this moment calls for seems important and fine," Altman told Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a Wyoming Republican.
And Sen. Ted Cruz floated the idea of a 10-year "learning period" for AI at the same hearing, which included three other tech company executives.
"Would you support a 10-year learning period on states issuing comprehensive AI regulation, or some form of federal preemption to create an even playing field for AI developers and employers?" asked the Texas Republican.
Altman responded that he was "not sure what a 10-year learning period means, but I think having one federal approach focused on light touch and an even playing field sounds great to me."
Microsoft's president, Brad Smith, also offered measured support for "giving the country time" in the way that limited U.S. regulation enabled early internet commerce to flourish.
"There's a lot of details that need to be hammered out, but giving the federal government the ability to lead, especially in the areas around product safety and pre-release reviews and the like, would help this industry grow," Smith said.
It was a change, at least in tone, for some of the executives. Altman had testified to Congress two years ago on the need for AI regulation, and Smith, five years ago, praised Microsoft's home state of Washington for its "significant breakthrough" in passing first-in-the-nation guardrails on the use of facial recognition, a form of AI.
Ten GOP senators said they were sympathetic to the idea of creating a national framework for AI. But whether the majority can work with Democrats to find a filibuster-proof solution is unclear.
"I am not opposed to the concept. In fact, interstate commerce would suggest that it is the responsibility of Congress to regulate these types of activities and not the states," said Sen. Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican.
"If we're going to do it state by state we're going to have a real mess on our hands," Rounds said.
——————
O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island. AP writers Ali Swenson in New York, Jesse Bedayn in Denver, Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, and Trân Nguyễn in Sacramento, California contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-10 04:33:14+00:00
|
[
"Newark",
"Ras Baraka",
"Donald Trump",
"Robert Menendez",
"Tricia McLaughlin",
"Phil Murphy",
"Prisons",
"Protests and demonstrations",
"Immigration",
"National",
"Law enforcement",
"U.S. Democratic Party",
"United States House of Representatives",
"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement",
"Ned Cooper",
"Bonnie Coleman",
"Alina Habba",
"David Donahue",
"Politics"
] |
# Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka released after arrest at immigration detention center
By Jake Offenhartz, Claudia Lauer, and Bruce Shipkowski
May 10th, 2025, 04:33 AM
---
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka on Saturday denied trespassing at a new federal immigration detention center during a confrontation that led to his arrest while the Democrat was at the facility with three members of Congress.
Baraka, who has been protesting the center's opening this week, was released around 8 p.m. Friday after spending several hours in custody. He was accused of trespassing and ignoring warnings to leave the Delaney Hall facility.
Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary for public affairs with the Department of Homeland Security, said in an interview with CNN on Saturday that the investigation was ongoing, and the department also released more video of the confrontation. McLaughlin also accused Baraka, who is seeking his party's nomination for governor, of playing "political games."
"I'm shocked by all the lies that were told here," Baraka said, who said he had been invited there for a press conference. "No one else arrested, I was invited in, then they arrested me on the sidewalk."
Baraka, who is running to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, has embraced the fight with the Trump administration over illegal immigration. He has aggressively pushed back against the construction and opening of the 1,000-bed detention center, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues.
Alina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, said on the social platform X that Baraka trespassed at the detention facility, which is run by private prison operator Geo Group.
Habba said Baraka had "chosen to disregard the law."
Video of the incident showed that Baraka was arrested after returning to the public side of the gate to the facility.
## Witnesses describe a heated argument
Witnesses said the arrest came after Baraka attempted to join three members of New Jersey's congressional delegation, Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman, in attempting to enter the facility.
When federal officials blocked his entry, a heated argument broke out, according to Viri Martinez, an activist with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. It continued even after Baraka returned to the public side of the gates.
"There was yelling and pushing," Martinez said. "Then the officers swarmed Baraka. They threw one of the organizers to the ground. They put Baraka in handcuffs and put him in an unmarked car."
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that the lawmakers had not asked for a tour of Delaney Hall, which the agency said it would have facilitated. The department said that as a bus carrying detainees was entering in the afternoon "a group of protesters, including two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility."
Ned Cooper, a spokesperson for Watson Coleman, said the three lawmakers went there unannounced because they planned to inspect it, not take a scheduled tour.
"Contrary to a press statement put out by DHS we did not 'storm' the detention center," Watson Coleman said in a statement. "The author of that press release was so unfamiliar with the facts on the ground that they didn't even correctly count the number of Representatives present. We were exercising our legal oversight function as we have done at the Elizabeth Detention Center without incident."
## Video shows the mayor standing on the public side of the gate
In video of the altercation shared with The Associated Press, a federal official in a jacket with the logo of Homeland Security Investigations can be heard telling Baraka he could not enter the facility because "you are not a Congress member."
Baraka then left the secure area, rejoining protesters on the public side of the gate. Video showed him speaking through the gate to a man in a suit, who said: "They're talking about coming back to arrest you."
"I'm not on their property. They can't come out on the street and arrest me," Baraka replied.
Minutes later several ICE agents, some wearing face coverings, surrounded him and others on the public side. As protesters cried out, "Shame," Baraka was dragged back through the gate in handcuffs.
Rep. Menendez said in a statement that as members of Congress, they have the legal right to carry out oversight at DHS facilities without prior notice and have done so twice already this year. But on Friday, "Throughout every step of this visit, ICE attempted to intimidate everyone involved and impede our ability to conduct oversight."
In an interview Saturday with MSNBC, Baraka recounted being put in a cell, getting his fingerprints taken and being the subject of a mug shot. He said he would continue to try to gain entry to the detention facility. "We don't know what's going on in there," said Baraka, who has a court date scheduled for Thursday.
## The detention center
The two-story building is next to a county prison formerly operated as a halfway house.
In February, ICE awarded a 15-year contract to The Geo Group Inc. to run the detention center. Geo valued the contract at $1 billion, in an unusually long and large agreement for ICE.
The announcement was part of President Donald Trump's plans to sharply increase detention beds nationwide from a budget of about 41,000 beds this year.
Baraka sued Geo soon after the deal was announced.
Geo touted the Delaney Hall contract during an earnings call with shareholders Wednesday, with CEO David Donahue saying it was expected to generate more than $60 million a year in revenue. He said the facility began the intake process May 1.
Hall said the activation of the center and another in Michigan would increase capacity under contract with ICE from around 20,000 beds to around 23,000.
DHS said in its statement that the facility has the proper permits and inspections have been cleared.
___
Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-08 17:52:46+00:00
|
[
"Pope Francis",
"Peru",
"Robert Prevost",
"Lima",
"Rome",
"Manhattan",
"United States",
"Papal conclave",
"Pope Leo XIV",
"Franz Klein",
"Fidel Purisaca Vigil",
"Religion",
"Natalia Imperatori-Lee",
"Catholic Church",
"Isabel Panez",
"Trisha Thomas",
"Alexander Lam",
"COVID-19 pandemic"
] |
# Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, is a Chicago native who spent years in Peru
By Franklin Briceño and Nicole Winfield
May 8th, 2025, 05:52 PM
---
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Robert Prevost may have made history Thursday by becoming the first pope from the United States. But in Peru, he is known as the saintly missionary who waded through mud after torrential rains flooded the region, bringing help to needy people, and as the bishop who spearheaded the life-saving purchase of oxygen production plants during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"He worked so hard to find help, that there was not only enough for one plant, but for two oxygen plants," said Janinna Sesa, who met Prevost while she worked for the church's Caritas nonprofit in Peru.
"He has no problem fixing a broken-down truck until it runs," she added.
Pope Francis, history's first Latin American pope, clearly saw something in Prevost early on.
He first sent him to Chiclayo in 2014, then brought him to the Vatican in 2023 as the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations, one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church.
On Thursday, Prevost ascended to become Pope Leo XIV — the first pontiff from the United States.
Prevost, 69, had to overcome the taboo against an American pope, given the geopolitical power already wielded by the U.S. in the secular sphere.
The Chicago native is also a Peruvian citizen and lived for years in Peru, first as a missionary and then as bishop.
He evoked his broad missionary experience in his first public remarks as pope, speaking in Italian, then switching to Spanish — and saying not a word in English as he addressed the crowd in St. Peter's Square.
"Together, we must try to find out how to be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges, dialogues, that's always open to receive — like on this piazza with open arms — to be able to receive everybody that needs our charity, our presence, dialogue and love," he said.
The new pope had prominence going into the conclave that few other cardinals have.
Prevost was twice elected prior general, or top leader, of the Augustinians, the 13th century religious order founded by St. Augustine.
After Francis sent him to Chiclayo, he acquired Peruvian citizenship in 2015, until Francis brought him to Rome in 2023 to assume the bishops' office and presidency of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. In that job he would have kept in regular contact with the Catholic hierarchy in the part of the world that counts the most Catholics and presumably was crucial to his election Thursday.
The Rev. Alexander Lam, an Augustinian friar from Peru who knows the new pope, said he was beloved in Peru for his closeness to his people, especially poor people. He said he was a champion of social justice issues and environmental stewardship.
"Even the bishops of Peru called him the saint, the Saint of the North, and he had time for everyone," Lam said in an interview with The Associated Press in Rome. "He was the person who would find you along the way. He was this kind of bishop."
He said that when Francis travelled to Peru in 2018, Prevost camped out with his flock on the ground during the vigil before Francis' Mass. "Roberto has that style, that closeness. Maybe they are not great institutional gestures, but are in human gestures."
Ever since arriving in Rome, Prevost has kept a low public profile, but he is well known to the men who count.
Significantly, he presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms Francis made, when he added three women to the voting bloc that decides which bishop nominations to forward to the pope. In early 2025, Francis again showed his esteem by appointing Prevost to the most senior rank of cardinals.
The selection of a U.S.-born pope could have profound impact on the future of the U.S. Catholic Church, which has been sharply divided between conservatives and progressives. Francis, with Prevost's help at the help of the bishop vetting office, had embarked on a 12-year project to rein in the traditionalist tendencies in the United States.
Prevost's election "is a deep sign of commitment to social issues. I think it is going to be exciting to see a different kind of American Catholicism in Rome,'' said Natalia Imperatori-Lee, a professor of religious studies at Manhattan University in New York City.
The bells of the cathedral in Peru's capital of Lima tolled after Prevost's election was announced. People outside the church expressed their desire for a papal visit at one point.
"For us Peruvians, it is a source of pride that this is a pope who represents our country," said elementary school teacher Isabel Panez, who happened to be near the cathedral when the news was announced. "We would like him to visit us here in Peru."
The Rev. Fidel Purisaca Vigil, the communications director for Prevost's old diocese in Chiclayo, remembers the cardinal rising each day and having breakfast with his fellow priests after saying his prayers.
"No matter how many problems he has, he maintains good humor and joy," Purisaca said in an email.
Born in Chicago in 1955, Prevost joined the Order of St. Augustine in 1977. He attended Villanova University near Philadelphia, where he received a Bachelor of Science in 1977, and he got a Master of Divinity degree from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago in 1982.
In Rome, at the Augustinian headquarters just off St. Peter's Square, the mood was festive.
The Rev. Franz Klein, treasurer general of the Augustinian order, said he was shocked by the news.
"For us, the Augustinian order, this is one of the biggest moments in history," he said. "I'm surprised and very happy."
___
Associated Press religion coverage 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.
___
Briceño reported from Lima, Peru. Francesca Primavilla and Trisha Thomas contributed.
___
This story has been amended to correct that Prevost was a bishop in Peru.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-18 23:20:49+00:00
|
[
"Mens health",
"Prostate cancer",
"Joe Biden",
"Health",
"Matthew Smith",
"Politics"
] |
# Biden's sudden diagnosis of aggressive prostate cancer is unfortunately all too common
By Carla K. Johnson
May 18th, 2025, 11:20 PM
---
Former President Joe Biden's office said Sunday that he has been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer and is reviewing treatment options with his doctors.
Biden, 82, was having increasing urinary symptoms and was seen last week by doctors who found a prostate nodule. On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and the cancer cells have spread to the bone, his office said in a statement.
"It's a very common scenario," said Dr. Matthew Smith of Massachusetts General Brigham Cancer Center. Men can "feel completely well and a diagnosis of metastatic prostate cancer could come as quite a surprise."
Guidelines recommend against prostate cancer screening for men 70 and older so Biden may not have been getting regular PSA blood tests, Smith said. What's more, while the PSA test can help flag some cancers in some men, it does not do a great job of identifying aggressive prostate cancer, Smith said.
When caught early, prostate cancer is highly survivable, but it is also the second-leading cause of cancer death in men. About one in eight men will be diagnosed over their lifetime with prostate cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
Here are some things to know about prostate cancer that has spread.
## What is the prostate gland?
The prostate is part of the reproductive system in men. It makes fluid for semen. It's located below the bladder and it wraps around the urethra, the tube that carries urine and semen out through the penis.
## How serious is Biden's cancer?
Biden's cancer has spread to the bone, his office said. That makes it more serious than localized or early-stage prostate cancer.
Outcomes have improved in recent decades and patients can expect to live with metastatic prostate cancer for four or five years, Smith said.
"It's very treatable, but not curable," he said.
## What are the treatment options?
Prostate cancer can be treated with drugs that lower levels of hormones in the body or stop them from getting into prostate cancer cells. The drugs can slow down the growth of cancer cells.
"Most men in this situation would be treated with drugs and would not be advised to have either surgery or radiation therapy," Smith said.
## What is a Gleason score?
Prostate cancers are graded for aggressiveness using what's known as a Gleason score. The scores range from 6 to 10, with 8, 9 and 10 prostate cancers behaving more aggressively. Biden's office said his score was 9, suggesting his cancer is among the most aggressive.
## Should older men get screened?
Screening with PSA blood tests can lead to unnecessary treatment with side effects that affect quality of life. Guidelines recommend against PSA screening for men 70 and older.
The PSA test looks for high levels of a protein that may mean cancer but can also be caused by less serious prostate problems or even vigorous exercise.
For men aged 55 to 69 the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says screening "offers a small potential benefit of reducing the chance of death from prostate cancer in some men." The task force adds that "many men will experience potential harms of screening, including false-positive results that require additional testing and possible prostate biopsy; overdiagnosis and overtreatment; and treatment complications, such as incontinence and erectile dysfunction."
## Is late-stage diagnosis more common in older men?
Yes. Of all men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 2017 and 2021 whose cancer staging was recorded, men 75 and older were more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage disease compared to those younger than 75.
One in five men 75 and older with prostate cancer were diagnosed with cancer that had metastasized, compared to just 6.3% of men under 75, according to an AP analysis of federal data from the U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group.
Between 2017 and 2021, 90,551 men were diagnosed with late-stage prostate cancer, representing around 8.8% of prostate cancer diagnoses. More than 40% of them were 75 or older. ___
AP data journalist Kasturi Pananjady contributed to this report.
___
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
|
2025-05-15 15:08:03+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Theo Von Qatar",
"Qatar",
"Tom Segura",
"Theo Von",
"United States government",
"District of Columbia",
"United States",
"Russell Peters",
"Politics",
"Dave Chappelle",
"Elections",
"Germany government",
"Tony Hinchcliffe",
"September 11 attacks",
"Entertainment"
] |
# Theo Von riffs on drugs and homosexuality before Trump speaks in Qatar
By Zeke Miller and Chris Megerian
May 15th, 2025, 03:08 PM
---
AL-UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar (AP) — When President Donald Trump addressed U.S. and Qatari troops at a military base in Qatar on Thursday, he assured the rank and file that "we don't care if you're politically correct."
Anyone needing proof of that could have watched comedian Theo Von's routine just a little earlier. Wearing a black T-shirt and backward baseball cap, the podcast host regaled the uniformed troops with jokes about drugs, developmental disabilities, homosexuality and their Qatari hosts.
He talked about snorting cocaine off a baby's back but said it was "a mixed baby" so the white powder was visible on the baby's skin.
Von acted out various disabilities, including Down syndrome, and he insulted the U.S. Navy as "gay." He also had a punchline about terrorism attacks, asking, "Where do you think the next 9/11 should happen?"
He joked about the lack of crime in Qatar, where he said it would be impossible to identify a perpetrator because everyone is named Mohammed and dresses in the same white robes. They were like a "Ku Klux Sandsman," Von said.
He later pointed to the Qatari troops in the audience and said "they don't like me."
The jokes drew laughter and some groans from the service members at the base, home to the forward headquarters of the U.S. military's Central Command.
There was no acknowledgment from Qatar about the comedy routine and its topics. U.S. and Qatari service members and a small number of journalists following Trump heard the set, which was also available to American television networks.
The wealthy Gulf nations that Trump has visited have increasingly welcomed a burgeoning standup scene at home and acts from abroad as they promote themselves as global entertainment destinations, and there are fewer red lines than one might expect in the socially conservative region. When Russell Peters performed in Saudi Arabia and Dave Chappelle in Abu Dhabi last year, both told a number of sexually explicit jokes and playfully mocked aspects of local culture, like the heavy reliance on foreign workers.
The only no-go zones appear to be criticism of Islam or the countries' autocratic rulers.
"You can't talk about the royals, and you can't talk about religion," comedian Tom Segura said on his podcast last year, describing restrictions imposed on a comedy tour he made to the United Arab Emirates.
Von connected with Trump during last year's presidential campaign, hosting the Republican candidate for an extended conversation that helped him reach young male voters who were important to his victory.
Trump wasn't present for Von's routine at the al-Udeid Air Base, which houses about 8,000 troops. When Trump took the stage in a hangar on the Qatari side of the installation, he praised Von and talked about how his son Barron encouraged him to sit down with the comedian.
"Dad, you've got to do an interview with a guy named Theo Von," Trump said. "I said, 'Who the hell is Theo Von?'"
"We had a good time," he added.
This isn't the first time a warm-up act has stirred controversy for Trump. Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage" during a Madison Square Garden rally near the end of the campaign.
Trump delivered his own free-wheeling remarks during Thursday's event, telling the troops that "I have nothing else to do, so let's have a little fun."
He talked about plans for an upcoming military parade in Washington, falsely said that he won three presidential elections, joked about people who want him to run for another term and said France would be "speaking German" if it wasn't for American help during World War II.
Trump talked about his administration's efforts to thin the military's top ranks, saying "we let a lot of four-stars go."
There's long been friction between Trump and some top generals, and he's been more emboldened to remake the command structure.
He described people who doubted his military instincts as "freaking losers," talking up the campaign against the Islamic State group in his first term.
Trump ended his speech in his customary way, dancing to his campaign anthem of "YMCA."
Von's "This Past Weekend" is the fifth-most-popular podcast in the U.S. among weekly podcast listeners age 13 or older, according to recent rankings from Edison Podcast Metrics. The mullet-sporting 45-year-old is one of the burgeoning voices of the so-called manosphere, a rising online community of hyper-masculine influencers and comedians who rebuff cancel culture and offer crudeness in its place. Von has interviewed people across the political spectrum and in industries from artificial intelligence to entertainment and sports.
____ Megerian reported from Washington. AP writer Joseph Krauss contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 13:01:42+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Gender",
"Robert F. Kennedy Jr.",
"Jay Bhattacharya",
"Scott Leibowitz",
"Shannon Minter",
"American Academy of Pediatrics",
"Politics",
"Health",
"United States government",
"Jamie Bruesehoff",
"Jack Drescher",
"Susan Kressly"
] |
# Trump's HHS transgender review urges therapy, not gender-affirming medical care
By Geoff Mulvihill, Carla K. Johnson, and Amanda Seitz
May 1st, 2025, 01:01 PM
---
President Donald Trump's administration released a lengthy review of transgender health care on Thursday that advocates for a greater reliance on behavioral therapy rather than broad gender-affirming medical care for youths with gender dysphoria.
The 409-page Health and Human Services report questions standards for the treatment of transgender youth issued by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and is likely to be used to bolster the government's abrupt shift in how to care for a subset of the population that has become a political lightning rod.
Major medical groups and those who treat transgender young people sharply criticized the new report as inaccurate.
This "best practices" report is in response to an executive order Trump issued days into his second term that says the federal government must not support gender transitions for anyone under age 19.
"Our duty is to protect our nation's children — not expose them to unproven and irreversible medical interventions," National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said in a statement. "We must follow the gold standard of science, not activist agendas."
The report questions the ethics of medical interventions for transgender young people, suggesting that adolescents are too young to give consent to life-changing treatments that could result in future infertility. It also cites and echoes a report in England that reinforced a decision by its public health services to stop prescribing puberty blockers outside of research settings.
## The report's focus on therapy alone troubles advocates
The report accuses transgender care specialists of disregarding psychotherapy that might challenge preconceptions, partly because of a "mischaracterization of such approaches as 'conversion therapy,'" a discredited practice that seeks to change patients' sexual orientation or gender identification. About half the states have banned conversion therapy for minors.
The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry has said evidence shows conversion therapies inflict harm on young people, including elevated rates of suicidal thoughts.
HHS said its report does not address treatment for adults, is not clinical guidance and does not make any policy recommendations. However, it also says the review "is intended for policymakers, clinicians, therapists, medical organizations, and importantly, patients and their families," and it declares that medical professionals involved in transgender care have failed their young patients.
The report could create fear for families seeking care and for medical providers, said Shannon Minter, the legal director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights. "It's very chilling to see the federal government injecting politics and ideology into medical science," Minter said.
"It's Orwellian. It is designed to confuse and disorient," Minter added.
Child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Scott Leibowitz, a co-author of the influential WPATH standards for youth, said the new report "legitimizes the harmful idea that providers should approach young people with the notion that alignment between sex and gender is preferred, instead of approaching the treatment frame in a neutral manner."
## Major medical groups did not contribute; the administration won't say who did
While Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly pledged to practice "radical transparency," his department did not release any information about who authored the document. The administration says the new report will go through a peer-review process and will only say who contributed to the report after "in order to help maintain the integrity of this process."
The report contradicts American Medical Association guidance, which urges states not to ban gender-affirming care for minors, saying that "empirical evidence has demonstrated that trans and non-binary gender identities are normal variations of human identity and expression."
It also was prepared without input from the American Academy of Pediatrics, according to its president, Dr. Susan Kressly.
"This report misrepresents the current medical consensus and fails to reflect the realities of pediatric care," Kressly said. She said the AAP was not consulted "yet our policy and intentions behind our recommendations were cited throughout in inaccurate and misleading ways."
Dr. Jack Drescher, a New York psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who works on sexual orientation and gender identity issues, said the report is one-sided and "magnifies the risks of treatments while minimizing benefits."
## Talk therapy is already a prominent part of treatments
The Trump administration's report says "many" U.S. adolescents who are transgender or are questioning their gender identity have received surgeries or medications. In fact, such treatments remain rare as a portion of the population. Fewer than 1 in 1,000 adolescents in the U.S. received gender-affirming medication — puberty blockers or hormones — according to a five-year study of those on commercial insurance released this year. About 1,200 patients underwent gender-affirming surgeries in one recent year, according to another study.
Gender-affirming care for transgender youth under standards widely used in the U.S. includes developing a plan with medical experts and family members that includes supportive talk therapy and can — but does not always — involve puberty blockers or hormone treatment. Many U.S. adolescents with gender dysphoria may decide not to proceed with medications or surgeries.
Jamie Bruesehoff, a New Jersey mom, said her 18-year-old daughter, who was assigned male at birth, identified with girls as soon as she could talk. She began using a female name and pronouns at 8 and received puberty blockers at 11 before eventually beginning estrogen therapy.
"She is thriving by every definition of the word," said Bruesehoff, who wrote a book on parenting gender-diverse children. "All of that is because she had access to this support from her family and community and access to evidence-based gender-affirming health care when it was appropriate."
## Politics looms over doctor's offices
A judge has blocked key parts of Trump's order, which includes denying research and educational grants for medical schools, hospitals and other institutions that provide gender-affirming care to people 18 or younger. Several hospitals around the country ceased providing care. The White House said Monday that since Trump took office, HHS has eliminated 215 grants totaling $477 million for research or education on gender-affirming treatment.
Most Republican-controlled states have also adopted bans or restrictions on gender-affirming care. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling is pending after justices heard arguments in December in a case about whether states can enforce such laws.
The Jan. 28 executive order is among several administration policies aimed at denying the existence of transgender people. Trump also has ordered the government to identify people as either male or female rather than accept a concept of gender in which people fall along a spectrum, remove transgender service members from the military, and bar transgender women and girls from sports competitions that align with their gender. This month, HHS issued guidance to protect whistleblowers who report doctors or hospitals providing gender-affirming care. Judges are blocking enforcement of several of the policies.
This latest HHS report, which Trump called for while campaigning last year, represents a reversal in federal policy. The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which is part of HHS, found that no research had determined that behavioral health interventions could change someone's gender identity or sexual orientation. The 2023 update to the 2015 finding is no longer on the agency's website.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-11 17:28:07+00:00
|
[
"California",
"U.S. Food and Drug Administration",
"Nevada",
"Food safety",
"Medication",
"Business",
"Arizona",
"Health",
"Washington"
] |
# At least 10 hospitalized after listeria outbreak in California and Nevada
May 11th, 2025, 05:28 PM
---
SAN FERNANDO, Calif. (AP) — At least 10 people in the U.S. have been sickened in a listeria outbreak linked to ready-to-eat food products, and a producer is voluntarily recalling several products, federal officials said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Saturday that federal, state and local officials are investigating the outbreak linked to foods produced by Fresh & Ready Foods LLC of San Fernando, California. The FDA says the 10 people who fell ill were in California and Nevada, and required hospitalization.
The agency said the products were sold in Arizona, California, Nevada and Washington at locations including retailers and food service points of sale, including hospitals, hotels, convenience stores, airports and by airlines.
Listeria symptoms usually start within two weeks of eating contaminated food. Mild cases can include fever, muscle aches, nausea, tiredness, vomiting and diarrhea, while more severe symptoms may include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions.
Federal officials said they started investigating the recent outbreak last year but didn't have enough evidence to identify a source of the infections. They said the investigation was reopened in April when FDA investigators found listeria in samples collected from Fresh & Ready Foods that matched the strain from the outbreak.
Fresh & Ready Foods said in a news release that it took immediate corrective actions including removing equipment to address the issue.
The FDA found that six of the 10 people who got sick had been hospitalized before becoming ill with listeria. The FDA found that items made by Fresh & Ready Foods had been served in at least three of the health care facilities where the patients had been previously treated.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the test samples from sick patients were collected from December 2023 to September 2024.
Fresh & Ready voluntarily recalled several products, which can be identified by "use by" dates ranging from April 22 to May 19 of this year under the brand names Fresh & Ready Foods, City Point Market Fresh Food to Go and Fresh Take Crave Away.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-14 00:49:14+00:00
|
[
"Megan Thee Stallion",
"Crime",
"Tory Lanez",
"Prisons",
"Legal proceedings",
"Kylie Jenner",
"Santino Casio",
"Homicide",
"California",
"Los Angeles",
"Assault",
"Criminal punishment",
"Entertainment",
"Pedro Calderon Michel",
"Sexual assault"
] |
# Rapper Tory Lanez's alleged prison attacker is man with previous conviction for assault on inmate
By Andrew Dalton
May 14th, 2025, 12:49 AM
---
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities said Tuesday that a man who attacked rapper Tory Lanez in a California prison is an inmate serving a life sentence for second-degree murder who was previously convicted for an in-prison assault with a deadly weapon.
Lanez was in fair condition a day after the attack in a housing unit at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, where he's serving a 10-year sentence for shooting hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion in the feet, Pedro Calderon Michel, spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said in an email.
Authorities did not specify how Lanez was attacked, but a message posted on the rapper's Instagram account Monday evening said Lanez was stabbed 14 times and both his lungs collapsed.
Prison officials identified the alleged attacker as Santino Casio, 42. He has been put in restricted housing pending an investigation by the prison and the Kern County District Attorney's Office.
Casio has been in the facility since 2004, after he was sentenced to life, with parole possible, for convictions of second-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder. In 2008, he was sentenced to six more years for assault by a prisoner with a deadly weapon, and in 2018 he was sentenced to two more years for possession and manufacture of a deadly weapon by a prisoner.
An email seeking comment sent to an attorney who previously represented Casio was not immediately answered.
The prison is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Los Angeles in the mountains of the Mojave Desert and houses about 1,700 medium- and maximum-security inmates.
In December 2022, Lanez was convicted of three felonies: assault with a semiautomatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
Megan, whose legal name is Megan Pete, testified during the trial that in July 2020, after they left a party at Kylie Jenner's Hollywood Hills home, Lanez fired the gun at the back of her feet and shouted for her to dance as she walked away from an SUV in which they had been riding.
She had bullet fragments in both feet that had to be surgically removed. It wasn't until months after the incident that she publicly identified Lanez as the person who had fired the gun.
A judge rejected a motion for a new trial from Lanez's lawyers, who are appealing his conviction. They had no immediate comment after the attack.
Megan recently alleged that Lanez was harassing her from prison through surrogates, and in January a judge issued a protective order through 2030 ordering him to stop any such harassment or any other contact.
The 32-year-old Canadian Lanez began releasing mixtapes in 2009 and saw a steady rise in popularity, moving on to major label albums, two of which reached the top 10 on Billboard's charts.
The Monday Instagram post on Lanez's status said he was "talking normally, in good spirits, and deeply thankful to God that he is pulling through."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-02 13:53:03+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Ron Wyden",
"Massachusetts",
"Colleges and universities",
"District of Columbia",
"Government policy",
"Mike Kaercher",
"Subsidies",
"Politics",
"Race and ethnicity",
"Heather Hill",
"Education",
"Charles Schumer",
"United States government",
"Education funding",
"Internal Revenue Service",
"Activism",
"Elizabeth Warren",
"Edward Markey"
] |
# Trump again threatens Harvard's tax-exempt status
By Seung Min Kim
May 2nd, 2025, 01:53 PM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday re-upped his threat to strip Harvard University of its tax-exempt status, escalating a showdown with the first major college that has defied the administration's efforts to crack down on campus activism.
He's underscoring that pledge even as federal law prohibits senior members of the executive branch from asking the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or an investigation. The White House has said any IRS actions will be conducted independently of the president.
"We are going to be taking away Harvard's Tax Exempt Status," Trump wrote on his social media site Friday morning from Palm Beach, Florida, where he is spending the weekend. "It's what they deserve!"
The president has questioned the fate of Harvard's tax-exempt status — which a majority of U.S. colleges and universities have — ever since the school refused to comply with the administration's demands for broad government and leadership changes, revisions to its admissions policy, and audits of how diversity is viewed on the campus. That prompted the administration to block more than $2 billion in federal grants to the Cambridge, Massachusetts, institution.
Harvard stressed Friday that there is "no legal basis" to revoke its tax-exempt status.
"Such an unprecedented action would endanger our ability to carry out our educational mission," the school said in a statement. "It would result in diminished financial aid for students, abandonment of critical medical research programs, and lost opportunities for innovation. The unlawful use of this instrument more broadly would have grave consequences for the future of higher education in America."
The Treasury Department directed a senior official at the Internal Revenue Service to begin the process of revoking Harvard's tax-exempt status shortly after a social media post from Trump in mid-April questioning it, although the White House has suggested that the tax agency's scrutiny of Harvard began before Trump's public comments targeting the school.
Democrats say Trump's actions against Harvard are purely political. The Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, along with Massachusetts' two Democratic senators, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, and the Senate Finance Committee chairman, Ron Wyden of Oregon, called for an inspector general investigation into Trump's attempts to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status.
Trump's move "raises troubling constitutional questions, including whether the president is trying to squelch Harvard's free speech rights and whether the revocation of its tax-exempt status will deprive the university of its due process rights," the senators wrote in a letter Friday to Heather Hill, the acting Treasury inspector general for tax administration.
Mike Kaercher, deputy director of NYU's Tax Law Center, said: "Overwhelming bipartisan majorities in Congress have enacted laws making it a crime for the President and his staff to request an audit or investigation of a particular taxpayer."
An IRS representative did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment.
Trump's battle against Harvard is part of a broader campaign the administration is framing as an effort to root out antisemitism on college campuses. But the White House also sees a political upside in the fight, framing it as a bigger war against elite institutions decried by Trump's loyal supporters.
The "next chapter of the American story will not be written by The Harvard Crimson," Trump said Thursday night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he delivered the commencement address at the University of Alabama. "It will be written by you, the Crimson Tide."
The Harvard Crimson is that school's student newspaper. The Crimson Tide refers to the Alabama school's football program.
In addition to threatening Harvard's tax-exempt status and halting federal grants, the Trump administration wants to block Harvard from being able to enroll international students.
___
Associated Press writer Fatima Hussein contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-07 23:32:36+00:00
|
[
"Brasilia",
"Courts",
"Brazil",
"Gender",
"Nancy Andrighi"
] |
# Brazilian court allows gender neutral designation in documents for the first time
May 7th, 2025, 11:32 PM
---
SAO PAULO (AP) — A high court in Brazil on Wednesday allowed a person to identify as gender neutral on official documents, an unprecedented decision that could still be reviewed.
The ruling was made by a panel of the Superior Court of Justice in the capital city of Brasilia in the case of a person seeking a gender-neutral designation on their birth certificate.
The authorization applies to a person who initially requested to be described as male following a hormone treatment, but later regretted this and appealed to the court.
The case is currently sealed, the Superior Court of Justice said in a statement.
Nancy Andrighi, one of the judges in the panel and the case rapporteur, described the issue as dramatic in her ruling.
"This human being must be suffering greatly. To undergo surgery, take hormones, become what she thought would be good for her and then realize it was not the case," Andrighi wrote. All other four judges of the panel agreed.
___
Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-17 04:07:43+00:00
|
[
"Oregon",
"Retail and wholesale",
"Homelessness",
"Business",
"Tom McCall",
"Chris Grass",
"Oregon state government",
"Kristofer Brown",
"Climate and environment",
"Politics",
"Climate"
] |
# Oregon's bottle redemption law may change due to drugs and homelessness concerns
By Claire Rush
May 17th, 2025, 04:07 AM
---
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Monica Truax has lived in her Portland home since 1992, on a cul-de-sac she described as a close-knit community. But since a bottle redemption center opened next door several years ago, her block has struggled with drug dealing, garbage and fights in the middle of the night, she said.
"It's just all completely changed," she said. "But the people are all still here, you know, all the residents are here still, and still raising their families."
After more than five decades, Oregon's first-in-the-nation "bottle bill" — now replicated in nine other states — faces a potential overhaul, with lawmakers considering new time restrictions on bottle redemption sites that some say have become magnets for drugs and homelessness.
The trailblazing law to reduce littering by incentivizing recycling helped cement the state's reputation as a leader in the emerging environmental movement. It has also become a financial security net for many, including those experiencing homelessness.
The legislation echoes calls to modernize the bottle bill, with some saying changes are needed to address unintended consequences.
"He did not envision this," Truax said of former Oregon Gov. Tom McCall, who signed the bottle bill into law. "It's just a mess."
## How does the bottle bill work?
Consumers originally paid a 5-cent deposit on each eligible bottle or can, then collected the deposit when they redeemed the empty container at a retailer, such as a supermarket or convenience store.
Over the years, the program has expanded accepted containers and increased the deposit to 10 cents. Twenty-seven centers exclusively for returns have been opened across the state.
California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Vermont and the U.S. territory of Guam followed Oregon in adopting the concept, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
In Oregon, people can sign up for accounts in which their refunds are deposited or choose cash redemptions. Some stores count containers by hand. Other sites have counting machines or areas where account holders can drop off bags of containers.
The deposit has not kept pace with inflation — 5 cents in 1971 would be equal to 40 cents today, according to the Consumer Price Index's inflation calculator — but many low-income residents rely on it.
## Why are critics upset?
Stores must accept container returns when they are open, and owners of all-night convenience stores, particularly in Portland, say they're concerned about employee safety.
In an op-ed for The Oregonian/OregonLive last year, Jonathan Polonsky, president and CEO of the Plaid Pantry chain of convenience stores, wrote that fentanyl was selling for less than $1 a pill and "a small number of cans add up to enough to buy drugs."
People redeeming containers at night "may be belligerent and intimidating, presenting a major safety risk to our store associates who have no choice under Oregon's Bottle Bill to handle returns at that hour," he wrote.
Truax, who lives with her husband in northeast Portland, said homeless encampments and people relieving themselves in public were among the many things she had witnessed on her block.
"I've seen it all," she said, describing the scourge of fentanyl as "the cherry on the sundae."
"It's just sad," she added.
## Environmentally friendly income source
At the bottle redemption center near Truax's home, Chris Grass waited with his father and girlfriend in the long line outside the door. They each redeemed the maximum amount of 350 containers per person per day for $105 in cash to help pay for gas and provide some extra money for things like cigarettes and coffee while he's unemployed, he said.
"A lot of people don't like people that go out and can," he said. "But it's actually good for the environment."
In 2023, roughly 87% of eligible containers were returned for redemption, according to the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. That was the highest rate in the nation that year, according to the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative, which operates the bottle bill program on behalf of its distributor members.
## What would the legislation do?
The bill being considered by lawmakers would allow stores across the state to refuse container returns after 8 p.m.
In Portland, it would allow for "alternative" redemption sites, including possible mobile sites such as trucks that travel to different neighborhoods. Nonprofits would run the alternative sites for people who redeem containers every day, relieving the pressure on retailers, particularly downtown.
Stores in an area with an alternative drop site could limit or refuse hand-counted returns, with convenience stores specifically allowed to stop them at 6 p.m.
The proposal is supported by retailers as well as groups like the Ground Score Association, whose members include "canners" and waste pickers who collect containers for income. The association operates a Portland redemption center under a bridge called The People's Depot that processes some 38,000 containers daily, according to its website.
It has pushed back against claims that the bottle bill fuels the fentanyl crisis and says most people redeeming bottles need the money to make ends meet.
"Since becoming manager of The People's Depot, I'm learning how polarizing The Oregon Bottle Bill is," the depot's operational manager Kristofer Brown said in written testimony supporting the bill.
## Do the proposed changes go far enough?
Unlike in some other states, Oregon's bottle bill program is run by the private beverage industry rather than state government. The Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative retains unredeemed deposits, which topped $30 million in 2019, according to a 2020 state audit of the bottle bill.
The audit recommended several changes, including having some or all unredeemed deposits go to the state to help fund environmental programs.
Consolidated Oregon Indivisible Network, a progressive advocacy group, said in written testimony supporting the bill that "money is piling up in the bottle deposit fund" and called for another government audit.
The OBRC says unredeemed refunds go toward operating expenses for the beverage container redemption system.
The Legislature has until late June to approve the bill, which received overwhelming approval in the Senate and is now in the House.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-18 17:00:53+00:00
|
[
"Guy Edward Bartkus",
"California",
"Bombings",
"Palm Springs",
"Crime",
"U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation",
"Akil Davis",
"Terrorism",
"Abortion"
] |
# Suspect in Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing left 'anti-pro-life' writings
By Sarah Raza and Eric Tucker
May 18th, 2025, 05:00 PM
---
A 25-year-old man the FBI believes was responsible for an explosion that ripped through a Southern California fertility clinic left behind "anti-pro-life" writings before carrying out an attack investigators called terrorism, authorities said Sunday.
Guy Edward Bartkus of Twentynine Palms, California, was identified by the FBI as the suspect in the apparent car bomb detonation Saturday that damaged the clinic in the upscale city of Palm Springs in the desert east of Los Angeles. His writings seemed to indicate anti-natalist views, which hold that people should not continue to procreate, authorities said.
The blast gutted the American Reproductive Centers fertility clinic and shattered the windows of nearby buildings along a palm tree-lined street. Witnesses described a loud boom followed by a chaotic scene, with people screaming in terror and glass strewn along the sidewalk and street.
Investigators said Barktus died in the blast, which a senior FBI official called possibly the "largest bombing scene that we've had in Southern California." A body was found near a charred vehicle outside the clinic.
Bartkus attempted to livestream the explosion and left behind writings that communicated "nihilistic ideations" that were still being examined to determine his state of mind, said Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles field office. U.S. Attorney Bilal "Bill" Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in the area, called the message "anti-pro-life."
"This was a targeted attack against the IVF facility," Davis said Sunday. "Make no mistake: we are treating this, as I said yesterday, as an intentional act of terrorism."
The bombing injured four other people, though Davis said all embryos at the facility were saved.
"Good guys one, bad guys zero," he said.
Authorities were executing a search warrant in Twentynine Palms, a city of 28,000 residents about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Palm Springs, as part of the investigation.
"Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients," Dr. Maher Abdallah, who leads the clinic, told The Associated Press in a phone interview Saturday.
___
Associated Press writer Christopher Weber contributed from Los Angeles.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-15 20:52:56+00:00
|
[
"Florida",
"Abortion",
"Courts",
"Kate Payne",
"Constitutional law",
"Health",
"Supreme Court of the United States",
"Brian Lambert",
"Florida state government"
] |
# Florida appeals court strikes down law letting minors get an abortion without parents' consent
By Kate Payne
May 15th, 2025, 08:52 PM
---
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida appeals court ruled Wednesday that a state law that allows minors to get an abortion without their parents' consent is unconstitutional.
A three-judge panel of the Fifth District Court of Appeal found that the state's judicial waiver law violates parents' Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process, citing the state's parental rights laws, a recent ruling by the Florida Supreme Court and the landmark 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that stripped away federal abortion rights.
"Whatever asserted constitutional abortion rights may have justified Florida's judicial-waiver regime in the past unequivocally have been repudiated by both the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court," reads the appeals court opinion penned by Judge Jordan Pratt and joined by Judges John MacIver and Brian Lambert.
For years, anti-abortion activists and Republican state lawmakers have worked to unravel minors' rights to petition a judge to access the procedure in Florida, which bans most abortions after six weeks, before many women even know they are pregnant.
The appeals panel flagged the case as "a question of great public importance" for the Florida Supreme Court, which ruled in 2024 that a privacy clause in the Florida Constitution does not guarantee a right to an abortion.
The three-judge panel sided with arguments made by state Attorney General James Uthmeier and ruled against a 17-year-old girl who is nearly six weeks pregnant and seeking an abortion without the knowledge or consent of her father.
The appeals court affirmed a lower court ruling that the girl, who is only identified as Jane Doe, lacks the "requisite maturity" to make the decision without a parent or legal guardian involved.
The opinion said the decision was based on her lack of "emotional development and stability, her credibility and demeanor as a witness, her ability to accept responsibility, and her ability to assess the immediate and long-range consequences of her choices."
___ Kate Payne 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
|
2025-05-04 08:15:10+00:00
|
[
"China",
"Russia",
"Xi Jinping",
"Vladimir Putin",
"Volodymyr Zelenskyy",
"Russia government",
"China government",
"Politics",
"Aerospace and defense industry",
"Military occupations",
"Russia Ukraine war"
] |
# China's Xi Jinping to pay official visit to Russia, alongside Victory Day celebrations
May 4th, 2025, 08:15 AM
---
MOSCOW (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping will pay an official visit to Russia from May 7–10, the Kremlin confirmed Sunday.
Xi was already among the leaders set to attend the Victory Day Parade in Moscow on May 9.
The Kremlin said Xi was visiting at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin and, as well as taking part in Victory Day celebrations, the leaders would discuss "further development of relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction" and "issues on the international and regional agenda."
Putin and Xi will sign a number of bilateral documents, it said.
Xi's visit to Russia will be his third since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin's contentions that Russia's action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for weapons production.
Xi last visited Russia in September 2024 for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies. He also paid a state visit to Russia in March 2023 and Putin reciprocated with his own trip to China in October that year. The two leaders have since also met in Beijing in May 2024, where Putin took the first foreign trip of his fifth presidential term, and in Kazakhstan in July.
After launching what the Kremlin insists on calling a "special military operation" in Ukraine, Russia has become increasingly dependent economically on China as Western sanctions cut its access to much of the international trading system. China's increased trade with Russia has helped the country mitigate some of the worst blows from the sanctions.
Moscow has diverted the bulk of its energy exports to China and relied on Chinese companies to import high-tech components for Russian military industries to circumvent Western sanctions.
The leaders of Russia and China have developed strong personal ties that helped boost the relations between Moscow and Beijing.
Moscow accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Saturday of threatening the safety of dignitaries attending Victory Day celebrations after he dismissed Russia's unilateral 72-hour ceasefire. Zelenskyy said that Ukraine cannot provide security assurances to foreign officials planning to visit Russia around May 9, warning that Moscow could stage provocations and later attempt to blame Ukraine.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-07 20:47:11+00:00
|
[
"Utah",
"Rudolf Peters",
"Hiking",
"Government programs",
"National Park Service",
"Germany"
] |
# Hiker dead after fall at Utah's Arches National Park
By Jesse Bedayn
May 7th, 2025, 08:47 PM
---
A 77-year-old man from Germany has died after falling on a hike at Arches National Park in Utah, authorities said Wednesday.
Rudolf Peters, from the town of Haltern am See in western Germany, was hiking in a rough section of a trail called The Windows Loop when he fell Tuesday, the National Park Service said in a statement.
Bystanders attempted to resuscitate Peters before rangers arrived, along with responders from the sheriff's office and county emergency medical services. But he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The park service is investigating along with the sheriff's office. Its statement did not offer more details about the fall.
The park service reminded visitors to Arches, which is known for its graceful stone formations, to consider uneven surfaces, changing weather and their own health conditions when deciding to hike.
___
Bedayn 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
|
2025-05-13 22:49:40+00:00
|
[
"Kim Kardashian",
"Crime",
"Michael Rhodes",
"Paris",
"Theft",
"France",
"Legal proceedings",
"Entertainment",
"Simone Harouche"
] |
# Kim Kardashian testifies about trauma of Paris jewelry robbery
By Thomas Adamson, John Leicester, and Nicolas Vaux-Montagny
May 13th, 2025, 10:49 PM
---
PARIS (AP) — Defiant in diamonds, Kim Kardashian appeared in a Paris courtroom Tuesday to testify in the trial over the 2016 armed robbery that upended her life. The reality star and business mogul gave emotional, at times harrowing, testimony about the night masked men tied her up at gunpoint and stole more than $6 million in jewelry.
Here's what she revealed — and what's still to come.
## A night that changed everything
Kardashian said she was starting to doze off in bed in the early hours when she heard stomping on the stairs. She assumed it was her sister Kourtney returning from a night out. "Hello? Hello? Who is it?" she called.
Moments later, two masked men burst in. They dragged the concierge in handcuffs. They were dressed as police.
"I thought it was some sort of terrorist attack," she said.
She grabbed her phone but froze — "I didn't know what 911 was (in France)." She tried to call her sister and her bodyguard, but one man grabbed her hand to stop her. They threw her on the bed, bound her hands and held a gun to her back.
"I have babies," she recalled telling the robbers. "I have to make it home. They can take everything. I just have to make it home."
Her robe fell open — she said she was naked underneath — as one man pulled her toward him. "I was certain that was the moment that he was going to rape me," Kardashian said.
One attacker leaned in and told her, in English, she'd be OK if she stayed quiet. He taped her mouth shut, and took her to the bathroom.
Kardashian later managed to free her hands by rubbing the tape against the bathroom sink. She hopped downstairs, ankles still bound, and found her friend and stylist, Simone Harouche. Fearing the men might return, the women climbed onto the balcony and hid in bushes. While lying there, Kardashian called her mother.
The men took a diamond ring she'd worn that night to a Givenchy show and rifled through her jewelry box. They took items including a watch her late father had given her when she graduated high school. "It wasn't just jewelry. It was so many memories," she said.
## A changed life and constant fear
Investigators believe the attackers followed Kardashian's digital breadcrumbs — images, timestamps, geotags — and exploited them with old-school criminal methods.
The robbery reshaped Kardashian's sense of safety and freedom. "This experience really changed everything for us," she said. "I started to get this phobia of going out."
She often rents adjoining hotel rooms for protection and no longer stores jewelry at home, and now has up to six security guards at home.
"I can't even sleep at night" otherwise, she said.
She also said she no longer makes social media posts in real time unless at a public event. Her Los Angeles home was robbed shortly after the Paris heist in what she believes was a copycat attack.
## A letter and an unexpected moment of grace
In a powerful courtroom moment, the chief judge read aloud a letter from one of the accused, who is too ill to testify. The letter said he had seen Kardashian's tears on television and expressed regret. Kardashian was visibly moved.
"I'm obviously emotional," she said in response.
"I do appreciate the letter, for sure," she added. "I forgive you for what had taken place. But it doesn't change the emotion, the trauma, and the way my life is forever changed."
Kardashian, who is studying to become a lawyer, added that she regularly visits prisons. "I've always believed in second chances," she said.
## Diamonds, defiance and public image
Kardashian made a fashion statement in court, wearing a $1.5 million necklace by Samer Halimeh New York. The jeweler's press release for the necklace came out even as she was on the witness stand, a reminder that visibility remains currency, even if the rules have grown more complicated.
The choice reflected defiance and the reclaiming of the image and luxury once used against her. "Kim is Kim," her lawyer Michael Rhodes told Entertainment Tonight outside the Palais de Justice.
Kardashian said Paris had once been a sanctuary, a place where she would walk at 3 or 4 a.m., window shopping, sometimes stopping for hot chocolate. It "always felt really safe," she said. "It was always a magical place."
## What's next
Twelve suspects were originally charged. One has died. One was excused due to illness. The French press dubbed the group les papys braqueurs — "the grandpa robbers" — but prosecutors say they were no harmless retirees.
The defendants face charges including armed robbery, kidnapping and gang association. If convicted, they could face life in prison.
Kardashian said she was grateful for the opportunity to "tell my truth" in the packed Paris courtroom.
"This is my closure," she said. "This is me putting this, hopefully, to rest."
The trial is expected to conclude May 23.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-15 21:08:43+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Seattle",
"Joe Biden",
"United States government",
"United States",
"Courts",
"Politics",
"Lawsuits",
"United States Congress"
] |
# Seattle judge rescinds order directing Trump administration to admit 12,000 refugees
By Gene Johnson
May 15th, 2025, 09:08 PM
---
SEATTLE (AP) — A judge on Thursday rescinded an order that would have required the Trump administration to admit some 12,000 refugees into the United States.
U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead in Seattle issued the order earlier this month, following instructions from a federal appeals court that said the government must process refugees who before Jan. 20 already had "arranged and confirmable" travel plans to enter the U.S. That's the day President Donald Trump took office and suspended the nation's refugee admissions program.
But last Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals clarified the order: Refugees should be admitted on a case-by-case basis, if they could show they had relied on promises from the U.S. before Jan. 20 that they would be able to travel to America.
As an example of who should be admitted, the appeals court noted the case of one plaintiff, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo who sold his family's belongings and gave up the lease on their home because he, his wife and their child were supposed to fly to the U.S. on Jan. 22 before the administration canceled their travel.
In his order Thursday, Whitehead said the government should admit 160 refugees who had plans to come to the U.S. within two weeks of Jan. 20.
"The Government must process, admit, and provide statutorily mandated resettlement support services to these Injunction Protected Refugees immediately," he wrote.
Thousands of other refugees who had plans to arrive after that would need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, Whitehead said. He said he would appoint a special master to conduct those assessments, and he asked lawyers for refugee assistance groups who brought the lawsuit and the Justice Department to suggest potential candidates for that role.
The refugee program, created by Congress in 1980, is a form of legal migration to the U.S. for people displaced by war, natural disaster or persecution — a process that often takes years and involves significant vetting. It is different from asylum, by which people newly arrived in the U.S. can seek permission to remain because they fear persecution in their home country.
Upon beginning his second term on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump issued an executive order suspending the program.
That triggered a lawsuit by individual refugees whose efforts to resettle in the U.S. have been halted as well as major refugee aid groups, who argued that they have had to lay off staff. The groups said the administration froze their funding for processing refugee applications overseas and providing support, such as short-term rental assistance for those already in the U.S.
Whitehead, a 2023 appointee of former President Joe Biden, blocked enforcement of Trump's order, saying it amounted to an "effective nullification of congressional will" in setting up the nation's refugee admissions program.
The 9th Circuit Court largely put Whitehead's decision on hold in March, finding that the administration was likely to win the case given the president's broad authority to determine who is allowed to enter the country.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-09 10:29:55+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Stockholm",
"Barcelona",
"Belgium",
"United States government",
"Diversity",
"equity and inclusion",
"Government policy",
"United States",
"Race and ethnicity",
"Sweden government",
"Jan Valeskog",
"Politics"
] |
# Stockholm City Council rejects US Embassy demands to end DEI programming
May 9th, 2025, 10:29 AM
---
STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Stockholm City Council has rejected the U.S. Embassy's demands that it comply with the Trump administration's rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
It's the latest in U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to terminate such programs within the federal government — and beyond — in what he described in his inauguration speech as a move to end efforts to "socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life."
Countries and cities across Europe have received similar outreach from U.S. embassies, including France, Belgium and the city of Barcelona, all of which lashed out at the U.S. efforts to expand its anti-DEI policies to the continent.
In an email to the city's planning office, dated April 29, the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm asked that Stockholm officials sign a certification that their contractors do not operate any programs promoting DEI that would violate U.S. anti-discrimination law.
The city council said Friday that it will not comply with the embassy's demands or respond officially.
"We were really surprised, of course," Jan Valeskog, vice mayor for city planning, told The Associated Press. "We will not sign this document at all, of course not."
Valeskog said that while the city wants to continue its good relationship with the embassy, it will follow Swedish law and city policies to include DEI practices.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-05 04:11:11+00:00
|
[
"Washington",
"Daniel Jones",
"Virginia",
"Georgia",
"Seattle",
"Bob Ferguson",
"New York City Wire",
"Ted Smith",
"Virginia state government",
"United States government",
"Sammy Cohen Eckstein",
"Matilda Wilcoxson",
"Patrick Hope",
"Eloise Wilcoxson",
"Ken Denton",
"Teens",
"Politics",
"Legislation",
"Andrea Hudson",
"Amy Cohen",
"Business",
"Technology"
] |
# States approve speed limiters for reckless drivers
By Jeff Mcmurray
May 5th, 2025, 04:11 AM
---
A teenager who admitted being "addicted to speed" behind the wheel had totaled two other cars in the year before he slammed into a minivan at 112 mph (180 kph) in a Seattle suburb, killing the driver and three of the five children she was transporting for a homeschool co-op.
After sentencing Chase Daniel Jones last month to more than 17 years in prison, the judge tacked on a novel condition should he drive again: His vehicle must be equipped with a device that prevents accelerating far beyond the speed limit.
Virginia this year became the first state to agree to give its judges such a tool to deal with the most dangerous drivers on the road. Washington, D.C., already is using it and similar measures await governors' signatures in Washington state and Georgia. New York and California also could soon tap the GPS-based technology to help combat a recent national spike in traffic deaths.
"It's a horror no one should have to experience," said Amy Cohen, who founded the victims' advocacy group Families for Safe Streets after her 12-year-old son, Sammy Cohen Eckstein, was killed by a speeding driver in front of their New York home more than a decade ago.
## Turning tragedy into activism
Andrea Hudson, 38, the minivan driver who was killed when Jones ran a red light, was building a backyard greenhouse with her husband to help educate several kids who shuttle between homes during the school day, her father, Ted Smith, said.
Also killed in the March 2024 crash near Hudson's home in Renton, Washington, were Boyd "Buster" Brown and Eloise Wilcoxson, both 12, and Matilda Wilcoxson, 13. Hudson's two children were sitting on the passenger side and survived, but they spent weeks in a hospital.
"You always hear of these horrific accidents, and it's always far away, you don't know anybody. But all of a sudden, that's my daughter," Smith said. "This guy did not swerve or brake. And it was just a missile."
Smith knew Washington state Rep. Mari Leavitt, who reached out to offer condolences and tell him she was sponsoring legislation to mandate intelligent speed assistance devices as a condition for habitual speeders to get back their suspended licenses.
Leavitt predicts it will have an even more powerful impact than revoking driving privileges, citing studies showing around three-quarters of people who lose their licenses get behind a wheel anyway.
Between 2019 and 2024, the state saw a 200% increase in drivers cited for going at least 50 mph (80 kph) over the speed limit, according to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.
"I guess I don't understand why someone is compelled to want to drive that fast," Leavitt said. "But if they choose to drive that fast with the speed limiter, they can't. It's going to stop them in their tracks."
The measure, which Washington legislators passed last month and Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson is expected to soon sign, is called the BEAM Act, using the first letters of the names of the four victims: Buster, Eloise, Andrea and Matilda.
Because Jones, 19, didn't receive a speeding ticket in his two previous crashes, he likely wouldn't have been required to use the speed-limiter ahead of the fatal one. And because it could be 2029 before the law takes effect, the judge's requirement at sentencing only applies to his time on probation after being released from prison, Smith said.
## Evolution of a safety tool
Competing tech companies that joined forces to lobby for ignition interlock requirements for drunken drivers have been working in unison again the last few years to pitch intelligent speed assistance.
Brandy Nannini, chief government affairs officer at one manufacturer, Grapevine, Texas-based Smart Start, said fleet vehicles including school buses in the nation's capital have been trying it out for years.
But it took a lot of refinement before the GPS technology could instantly recognize speed limit changes and compel vehicles with the devices installed to adjust accordingly.
"We've got a lot more satellites in the sky now," said Ken Denton, a retired police officer who is the chief compliance officer at Cincinnati-based LifeSafer, part of the coalition of companies.
When court-mandated, the devices would prevent cars from exceeding speed limits or whatever threshold regulators set. An override button allows speeding in emergencies, but states can decide whether to activate it and authorities would be alerted any time the button is pushed.
A more passive version, which beeps to alert drivers when they are going too fast, is required for new cars in the European Union. California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar proposal last year, explaining vehicle safety requirements are set by the federal government and he was concerned a patchwork of state laws could stir confusion.
## Parents take up the cause
Before Del. Patrick Hope agreed to sponsor the proposal in the Virginia Legislature, he tried out the device in Nannini's car, which was calibrated to not go more than 9 mph (14 kph) over the speed limit.
"That was my first question: Is it safe?" Hope said.
Not only did he come away convinced it is, Hope is now pondering whether to install it on the cars of his three children, all of whom are new drivers.
For those mandated by a court, the price could be hefty: $4 per day and a $100 installation fee. The fee would be less for low-income offenders.
Cohen with Families for Safe Streets, which provides support services to the loved ones of crash victims, knows firsthand the kind of impact slowing down speeders can make. A year after her son was struck and killed in front of their New York apartment, another boy was injured in the same spot.
By then, the road's speed limit had been lowered.
"That boy lived when he was hit, and mine did not," she said. "When you are going a few miles slower, there's more time to stop. And when you hit somebody, it's much less likely to be deadly."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-15 16:03:41+00:00
|
[
"Mortgages",
"Federal Reserve System",
"Finance Business",
"Business",
"FinancialBusiness"
] |
# Average rate on a US 30-year mortgage rises to 6.81%, its highest level since late April
By Alex Veiga
May 15th, 2025, 04:03 PM
---
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. edged above 6.8% this week, returning to where it was just three weeks ago.
The rate increased to 6.81% from 6.76% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 7.02%.
Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also rose. The average rate ticked up to 5.92% from 5.89% last week. It's down from 6.28% a year ago, Freddie Mac said.
Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including global demand for U.S. Treasurys, the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy decisions and bond market investors' expectations about the economy and inflation.
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage has remained relatively close to its high so far this year of just above 7%, which it set in mid-January. The average rate's low point so far was five weeks ago, when it briefly dropped to 6.62%.
The elevated mortgage rates, which can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, have discouraged home shoppers, leading to a lackluster start to the spring homebuying season, even as the inventory of homes on the market is up sharply from last year. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in March, posting the largest monthly drop since November 2022.
The recent swings in mortgage rates reflect volatility in the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.
The yield, which had mostly fallen this after climbing to around 4.8% in mid-January, surged last month to 4.5% amid a sell-off of government bonds, triggered by investor anxiety over the Trump administration's trade war.
The yield eased in the weeks since, but climbed above 4.5% earlier this week after the U.S. and China agreed to a 90-day truce in their trade dispute. That raised expectations that the Federal Reserve won't have to cut interest rates as deeply as expected this year in order to shield the economy from the damage of tariffs.
The 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.45% in midday trading Thursday.
Economists expect mortgage rates to remain volatile in coming months, though they generally call for the average rate on a 30-year mortgage to remain above 6.5% this year.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-05 01:31:54+00:00
|
[
"Ben Sasse",
"Florida",
"Kent Fuchs",
"Diversity",
"equity and inclusion",
"Colleges and universities",
"Schools",
"Rahul Patel",
"Education",
"Associated Press",
"Race and ethnicity",
"Donald Trump",
"Race and Ethnicity"
] |
# University of Florida plans to hire president Santa Ono from University of Michigan
May 5th, 2025, 01:31 AM
---
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The University of Florida plans to hire school president Santa Ono away from the University of Michigan.
Ono was recommended as the search committee's only finalist to be considered by the board of trustees on Sunday night.
"Dr. Ono's proven record of academic excellence, innovation and collaborative leadership at world-class institutions made him our unanimous choice," said Rahul Patel, chair of the school's presidential search committee.
The school's board selects the president and the appointment is subject to confirmation by the Florida Board of Governors, per state law.
Ono is expected to be on campus Tuesday for a series of opportunities to connect with students, faculty, and administrators.
"Few moments in higher education are as exciting as this one at the University of Florida," Ono said. "No other public university combines UF's momentum, its role as the flagship of one of the nation's most important states, the extraordinary support from state leaders, and a shared vision across its entire community."
Ono is set to replace Kent Fuchs, who became the school's interim president last summer after ex-U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse stepped down. Sasse left the U.S. Senate, where he represented Nebraska, to become the university's president in 2023.
Sasse announced in July he was leaving the job to focus on his family after his wife was diagnosed with epilepsy.
Soon thereafter, there were reports that Sasse gave six former staffers and two former Republican officials jobs with salaries that outstripped comparable positions and spent over $1.3 million on private catering for lavish dinners, football tailgates and extravagant social functions in his first year on the job.
The amount was about double the spending of his predecessor, Fuchs, who was brought back to head the university on a temporary basis.
"If I could select a dream candidate for the University's next president, it would be Santa Ono," Fuchs said. "His demonstrated record of success at the best universities, his leadership style, and caring personality have allowed him to work effectively with faculty, students, alumni, staff and other stakeholders everywhere he has been."
Nearly three years ago, the University of Michigan hired Ono after he led the University of British Columbia. He previously served as president of the University of Cincinnati and senior vice provost and deputy to the provost at Emory University in Georgia.
As U.S. colleges pull back on diversity, equity and inclusion practices as they respond to the Trump administration's orders against diversity practices, the University of Michigan was among the first schools to make major DEI rollbacks to avoid federal scrutiny. Ono had said the school will find other ways to support students, including an expansion of scholarships for low-income students.
___
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 20:42:47+00:00
|
[
"Oddities",
"Sofia",
"Sophie Kihm",
"U.S. Social Security Administration"
] |
# Top baby names — Liam and Olivia — dominate again
By Fatima Hussein
May 9th, 2025, 08:42 PM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — Liam and Olivia dominate. Still.
The two names have, for a sixth year together, topped the list of names for babies born in the U.S. in 2024.
The Social Security Administration annually tracks the names given to girls and boys in each state, with names dating back to 1880. In time for Mother's Day, the agency on Friday released the most popular names from applications for Social Security cards.
Liam has reigned for eight years in a row for boys, while Olivia has topped the girls' list for six. Also, for the sixth consecutive year, Emma took the second slot for girls, and Noah for boys.
The girls' name Luna slipped out of the Top 10 and was replaced by Sofia, which enters at number 10 for the first time.
After Liam, the most common names for boys are, in order: Noah, Oliver, Theodore, James, Henry, Mateo, Elijah, Lucas and William.
After Olivia, the most common names for girls are Emma, Amelia, Charlotte, Mia, Sophia, Isabella, Evelyn, Ava and Sofia.
Sophie Kihm, editor-in-chief of nameberry, a baby naming website, said the latest data showcases how American parents are increasingly choosing names that have cross-cultural appeal. Kihm's first name shows up in two variations on the annual list.
"A trend we're tracking is that Americans are more likely to choose heritage choices," Kihm said, including names that work "no matter where you are in the world."
"More families in the U.S. come from mixed cultural backgrounds and I hear parents commonly request that they want their child to travel and have a relatively easy to understand name."
The Social Security Administration's latest data show that 3.61 million babies were born in the U.S. in 2024. That's a slight increase from last year's 3.59 million babies, representing an overall increase in the American birthrate.
Social media stars and popular television shows are having some impact on the rising popularity of certain names, Social Security says.
Among those rising in popularity for girls: Ailany, a Hawaiian name that means "chief," topped the list. The boys' name Truce, an Old English name meaning "peace," rose 11,118 spots from last year's position to rank 991.
The complete, searchable list of baby names is on the Social Security website.
__
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-06 09:40:56+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Gaza Strip",
"Israel government",
"Edan Alexander",
"2024-2025 Mideast Wars",
"Israel",
"Gaza",
"Israel-Hamas war",
"Hamas",
"War and unrest",
"International agreements",
"Bombings",
"Hostage situations",
"Politics",
"Sara Younis",
"Humanitarian crises",
"Moshe Lavi",
"Adi Alexander",
"Omri Miran",
"Palestinian territories government"
] |
# An Israeli plan to seize the Gaza Strip is met with alarm
By Wafaa Shurafa and Melanie Lidman
May 6th, 2025, 09:40 AM
---
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli plan to seize the Gaza Strip and expand the military operation has alarmed many in the region. Palestinians are exhausted and hopeless, pummeled by 19 months of heavy bombing. Families of Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza are terrified that the possibility of a ceasefire is slipping further away.
"What's left for you to bomb?" asked Moaz Kahlout, a displaced man from Gaza City who said many resort to GPS to locate the rubble of homes wiped out in the war.
Israeli officials said Monday that Cabinet ministers approved the plan to seize Gaza and remain in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time — news that came hours after the military chief said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers.
Details of the plan were not formally announced, and its exact timing and implementation were not clear. It may be another measure by Israel to try to pressure Hamas into making concessions in ceasefire negotiations.
The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Israel says 59 captives remain in Gaza. U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that three more hostages have been confirmed dead, leaving 21 still believed alive.
Israel's ensuing offensive has killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials, who don't distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count.
"They destroyed us, displaced us and killed us," said Enshirah Bahloul, a woman from the southern city of Khan Younis. "We want safety and peace in this world. We do not want to remain homeless, hungry, and thirsty."
Some Israelis are also opposed to the plan. Hundreds of people protested outside the parliament Monday as the government opened for its summer session. One person was arrested.
Families of hostages held in Gaza are afraid of what an expanded military operation or seizure could mean for their relatives.
"I don't see the expansion of the war as a solution — it led us absolutely nowhere before. It feels like déjà vu from the year ago," said Adi Alexander, father of Israeli-American Edan Alexander, a soldier captured in the Oct. 7 attack.
The father is pinning some hopes on Trump's visit to the Middle East, set for next week. Israeli leaders have said they don't plan to expand the operation in Gaza until after Trump's visit, leaving the door open for a possible deal. Trump isn't expected to visit Israel, but he and other American officials have frequently spoken about Edan Alexander, the last American-Israeli held in Gaza who is still believed to be alive.
Moshe Lavi, the brother-in-law of Omri Miran, 48, the oldest hostage still believed to be alive, said the family was concerned about the plan.
"We hope it's merely a signal to Hamas that Israel is serious in its goal to dismantle its governmental and military capabilities as a leverage for negotiations, but it's unclear whether this is an end or a means," he said.
Meanwhile, every day, dozens of Palestinians gather outside a charity kitchen that distributes hot meals to displaced families in southern Gaza. Children thrust pots or buckets forward, pushing and shoving in a desperate attempt to bring food to their families.
"What should we do?" asked Sara Younis, a woman from the southernmost city of Rafah, as she waited for a hot meal for her children. "There's no food, no flour, nothing."
Israel cut off Gaza from all imports in early March, leading to dire shortages of food, medicine and other supplies. Israel says the goal is to pressure Hamas to free the remaining hostages.
Aid organizations have warned that malnutrition and hunger are becoming increasingly prevalent in Gaza. The United Nations says the vast majority of the population relies on aid.
Aid groups have expressed concerns that gains to avert famine made during this year's ceasefire have been diminishing.
Like most aid groups in Gaza, Tikeya has run out of most food and has cooked almost exclusively pasta for the past two weeks.
Nidal Abu Helal, a displaced man from Rafah who works at the charity, said that the group is increasingly concerned that people, especially children, will die of starvation.
"We're not afraid of dying from missiles," he said. "We're afraid that our children will die of hunger in front of us."
___
Lidman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Samy Magdy contributed from Cairo.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-16 02:19:28+00:00
|
[
"Afghanistan",
"Australia",
"Ben Roberts-Smith",
"Courts",
"Legal proceedings",
"Veterans",
"Indictments",
"War crimes",
"Martin Hamilton-Smith",
"Nick McKenzie",
"Anthony Besanko",
"Homicide",
"Anthony Albanese",
"Kerry Stokes",
"Richard Marles",
"David McBride",
"War and unrest",
"Oliver Schulz"
] |
# Decorated Australian veteran loses his defamation appeal over killings in Afghanistan
By Rod Mcguirk
May 16th, 2025, 02:19 AM
---
Australia's most decorated living war veteran, Ben Roberts-Smith, on Friday lost his appeal of a civil court ruling that blamed him for unlawfully killing four unarmed Afghans. Meanwhile a veterans' advocate called on prosecutors to speed up their investigations of war crime allegations in Afghanistan that have left innocent soldiers under a cloud of suspicion.
Three federal court judges unanimously rejected his appeal of a judge's ruling in 2023 that Roberts-Smith was not defamed by newspaper articles published in 2018 that accused him of a range of war crimes.
Justice Anthony Besanko had ruled that the accusations were substantially true to a civil standard and Roberts-Smith was responsible for four of the six unlawful deaths of noncombatants he had been accused of.
## Veteran says he'll appeal
Roberts-Smith later said he would immediately seek to appeal the decision in the High Court, his final appeal option.
"I continue to maintain my innocence and deny these egregious, spiteful allegations," Roberts-Smith said in a statement.
"Sunlight is said to be the best disinfectant, and I believe one day soon the truth will prevail," he added.
Tory Maguire, an executive of Nine Entertainment that published the articles Roberts-Smith claimed were untrue, welcomed the ruling as an "emphatic win."
"Today is also a great day for investigative journalism and underscores why it remains highly valued by the Australian people," Maguire said.
The marathon 110-day trial is estimated to have cost 25 million Australian dollars ($16 million) in legal fees that Roberts-Smith will likely be liable to pay.
Roberts-Smith has been financially supported by Australian billionaire Kerry Stokes whose media business Seven West Media is a rival of Nine Entertainment.
## Reporter calls for the veteran to be criminally charged
Reporter Nick McKenzie, who was personally sued, said Roberts-Smith must be held accountable before the criminal justice system.
Roberts-Smith has never faced criminal charges, which must be proven to the higher standard of beyond reasonable doubt.
Only one Australian veteran of the Afghanistan campaign has been charged with a war crime, former Special Air Service Regiment soldier Oliver Schulz.
Schulz has been charged with murdering an unarmed Afghan, Dad Mohammad, in May 2012 by shooting him three time as the alleged victim, aged in his mid-20s, lay on his back in long grass in Uruzgan province.
## Former soldier denies murder charge
Schulz was charged in March 2023. He has pleaded not guilty but has yet to stand trial. Schulz is currently taking part in a committal hearing that will decide whether prosecutors have sufficient evidence to warrant a jury trial.
An Australian military report released in 2020 found evidence that Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners and civilians. The report recommended 19 current and former soldiers face criminal investigation. It's not clear whether Roberts-Smith was one of them.
Police are working with the Office of the Special Investigator, an Australian investigation agency established in 2021, to build cases against elite SAS and Commando Regiments troops who served in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.
## Veterans advocate calls for time limit on special investigator
The Australian Special Air Service Association, which advocates for veterans, has called for the government to establish a time limit for the Office of the Special Investigator rather than allow the allegations to drag on for decades.
"The whole process of dealing with these allegations needs to be completed at best speed," the association's chairman Martin Hamilton-Smith said.
The single criminal charge laid so far suggested that evidence behind many allegations was not credible, he said.
Defense Minister Richard Marles, who is acting prime minister in Anthony Albanese's absence, did not immediately respond on Friday to a request for comment.
## Whistleblower the only Australian jailed over Afghanistan war crime allegations
Rights activists have noted that the only Australian to be jailed in relation to war crimes in Afghanistan is whistleblower David McBride.
The former army lawyer was sentenced a year ago to almost six years in prison for leaking to the media classified information that exposed allegations of Australian war crimes.
Roberts-Smith, 46, is a former SAS corporal who was awarded the Victoria Cross and Medal for Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan. Around 39,000 Australians soldiers served in Afghanistan and 41 were killed.
His SAS colleagues are among those calling for him to become the first of Australia's Victoria Cross winners to be stripped of the highest award for gallantry in battle.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-06 16:34:35+00:00
|
[
"Retail and wholesale",
"Bankruptcy",
"Recessions and depressions",
"Finance Business",
"Business",
"CVS Health Corp.",
"California",
"Pennsylvania",
"FinancialBusiness",
"Neil Saunders",
"Health",
"New York"
] |
# What customers can expect as Rite Aid closes or sells all its drugstores
By Tom Murphy
May 6th, 2025, 04:34 PM
---
Rite Aid customers can expect their local store to close or change ownership in the next few months, as the struggling drugstore chain goes through another bankruptcy filing.
The company plans to sell customer prescription files, inventory and other assets as it closes distribution centers and unloads store locations. Stores will remain open for now, but the company isn't buying new inventory so bare shelves are likely become more common.
"I think what we'll progressively see is the stores will become more and more spartan," said retail analyst Neil Saunders.
The company runs 1,245 stores in 15 states, according to its website. It has a heavy presence in New York, Pennsylvania and California, which alone has 347 locations.
Here's what customers can expect next.
## How long will stores remain open?
Rite Aid says a few months for most of its stores. All locations will eventually close or be sold to a new owner.
Until then, customers will still be able to fill prescriptions, get immunizations and shop in the stores or online.
Rite Aid has said that it will stop issuing customer rewards points for purchases. It also will no longer honor gift cards or accept returns or exchanges starting next month.
## What will happen to my prescription records?
Rite Aid will try to sell them to another drugstore, grocer or retailer with a pharmacy. The company says it is working to put together a "smooth transfer" of customer prescriptions to other pharmacies.
But there's no guarantee those files will wind up at a retailer near the location that is closing.
That may be challenging because some Rite Aid stores are in rural areas, miles away from another pharmacy, noted Saunders, managing director of the consulting and data analysis firm GlobalData.
Prescription files can be valuable assets because they can connect the acquiring drugstore with a regular customer if that person sticks with the new store.
## How did Rite Aid get to this point?
Philadelphia-based Rite Aid had been closing stores and struggling with losses for years before its first bankruptcy filing in 2023. The company says its "only viable path forward" is a return to Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
The company said in letter to vendors that it has been hit with several financial challenges that have grown more intense.
Rite Aid and its competitors have been dealing with tighter profits on their prescriptions, increased theft, court settlements over opioid prescriptions and customers who are drifting to online shopping and discount retailers.
Walgreens, which has more than six times as many stores as Rite Aid, agreed in March to be acquired by the private equity firm Sycamore Partners.
CVS Health also has closed stores.
____
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
|
2025-05-15 06:49:26+00:00
|
[
"Israel",
"Yuval Raphael",
"Protests and demonstrations",
"Gaza Strip",
"Eurovision Song Contest",
"2024-2025 Mideast Wars",
"Hamas",
"Israel-Hamas war",
"Music",
"Celebrity",
"Eurocopa 2024",
"Germany government",
"Entertainment",
"Lea Kobler",
"Israel government",
"Domenica Ott",
"Wolfram Weimer"
] |
# Israel's presence still roils Eurovision a year after major protests over the war in Gaza
By Jill Lawless
May 15th, 2025, 06:49 AM
---
BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — Most contestants at the Eurovision Song Contest are seeking as much publicity as possible.
Israel's Yuval Raphael is keeping a low profile.
The 24-year-old singer has done few media interviews or appearances during Eurovision week, as Israel's participation in the pan-continental pop music competition draws protests for a second year.
Raphael performed Thursday in the second semifinal at the contest in the Swiss city of Basel, securing enough votes from viewers to secure a place in Saturday's final with her anthemic song "New Day Will Rise." Oddsmakers make Raphael, a survivor of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on a music festival in southern Israel that started the Gaza war, one of the favorites to win the contest.
But some would prefer she was not here. A handful of protesters attempted to disrupt a rehearsal by Raphael on Thursday with "oversized flags and whistles," contest organizers said. Videos on social media appeared to show a large Palestinian flag being extended in the crowd across several people.
Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR, which is organizing the event, said "security personnel were able to quickly identify those involved and escort them out of the hall."
Raphael's semifinal performance passed without disruption.
Israel has competed in Eurovision for more than 50 years and won four times. But last year's event in Sweden drew large demonstrations calling for Israel to be kicked out of the contest over its conduct in the war against Hamas in Gaza.
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.
About 200 people, many draped in Palestinian flags, protested in central Basel on Wednesday evening, demanding an end to Israel's military offensive and the country's expulsion from Eurovision. They marched in silence down a street noisy with music and Eurovision revelry.
Many noted that Russia was banned from Eurovision after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
"It should be a happy occasion that Eurovision is finally in Switzerland, but it's not," said Lea Kobler, from Zurich. "How can we rightfully exclude Russia but we're still welcoming Israel?"
Others have criticized hostility toward the Israeli contestant. Israel's public broadcaster KAN complained to Swiss police about an alleged threatening gesture made toward Raphael by a pro-Palestinian protester during the opening Eurovision parade on Sunday.
German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer told parliament on Wednesday that "the boycott calls, the threats, also the verbal attacks on the singer from Israel, who herself only survived Hamas' mass murder at the Nova music festival because she hid under corpses, are from my point of view an intolerable scandal."
Last year, Israeli competitor Eden Golan received boos when she performed live at Eurovision. Raphael told the BBC that she expects the same and rehearsed with background noise so she won't be distracted.
"But we are here to sing and I'm going to sing my heart out for everyone," she said.
A demonstration in support of Israel and against antisemitism was held in central Basel on Thursday.
Anti-Israel protests in Basel have been much smaller than last year in Malmo. Another pro-Palestinian demonstration is planned for Saturday in downtown Basel, 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the contest venue, St. Jakobshalle arena.
But concern by some Eurovision participants and broadcasters continues.
More than 70 former Eurovision contestants signed a letter calling for Israel to be excluded. Several of the national broadcasters that fund Eurovision, including those of Spain, Ireland and Iceland, have called for a discussion about Israel's participation.
Swiss singer Nemo, who brought the competition to Switzerland by winning last year, told HuffPost UK that "Israel's actions are fundamentally at odds with the values that Eurovision claims to uphold — peace, unity, and respect for human rights."
At Wednesday's protest, Basel resident Domenica Ott held a handmade sign saying "Nemo was right."
She said the nonbinary singer was "very courageous."
"If Russia couldn't participate, why should Israel?" she said.
The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, pointed out that Israel is represented by broadcaster KAN, not the government. It has called on participants to respect Eurovision's values of "universality, diversity, equality and inclusivity" and its political neutrality.
___
Associated Press journalists Hilary Fox and Kwiyeon Ha in Basel and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-04 19:09:14+00:00
|
[
"Met Gala",
"Black experience",
"Karl Lagerfeld",
"Jacques Agbobly",
"Grace Wales Bonner",
"Colman Domingo",
"Fashion",
"Louisiana",
"New York City Wire",
"William Whipper",
"Metropolitan Museum of Art",
"Apparel and accessories manufacturing",
"Arts and entertainment",
"Ozwald Boateng",
"Lifestyle",
"Charles James",
"Brooklyn",
"Associated Press",
"Frederick Douglass",
"Max Hollein",
"George C. Wolfe"
] |
# Met Gala 2025: Highlights from exhibit of Black style and designers
By Jocelyn Noveck and Gary Gerard Hamilton
May 4th, 2025, 07:09 PM
---
NEW YORK (AP) — When the email came from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jacques Agbobly at first didn't quite believe it.
The Brooklyn-based fashion designer had only been in the business for five years. Now, one of the world's top museums was asking for two of his designs to be shown in "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," the exhibit launched by the starry Met Gala.
"I was just floored with excitement," Agbobly said in an interview. "I had to check to make sure it was from an official email. And then the excitement came, and I was like … am I allowed to say anything to anyone about it?"
Agbobly grew up in Togo, watching seamstresses and tailors create beautiful garments in part of the family home that they rented out. Studying fashion later in New York, the aspiring designer watched the Met Gala carpet from afar and dreamed of one day somehow being part of it.
"Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" is the first Costume Institute exhibit to focus exclusively on Black designers, and the first in more than 20 years devoted to menswear. Unlike past shows that highlighted the work of very famous designers like Karl Lagerfeld or Charles James, this exhibit includes a number of up-and-coming designers like Agbobly.
"The range is phenomenal," says guest curator Monica L. Miller, a Barnard College professor whose book, "Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity," is a foundation for the show.
"It's super exciting to showcase the designs of these younger and emerging designers," says Miller, who took The Associated Press through the show over the weekend before its unveiling at Monday's Met Gala, "and to see the way they've been thinking about Black representation across time and across geography."
Miller also spoke about the exhibit at a press preview Monday morning, at which the Met's CEO, Max Hollein, announced the gala had raised a record $31 million — the first time the fundraiser for the museum's Costume Institute has crossed the $30 million mark and eclipsing last year's haul of more than $26 million.
Also appearing was actor and gala co-chair Colman Domingo, who spoke with emotion about the family members — a stepfather, a father, a brother — who introduced him to style. Resplendent in a purple suit by designer Ozwald Boateng, he shared a favorite quote from director and playwright George C. Wolfe: "God created Black people, and Black people created style."
## Defining dandyism
The exhibit covers Black style over several centuries, but the unifying theme is dandyism, and how designers have expressed that ethos through history.
For Agbobly, dandyism is "about taking space. As a Black designer, as a queer person, a lot of it is rooted in people telling us who we should be or how we should act … dandyism really goes against that. It's about showing up and looking your best self and taking up space and announcing that you're here."
The exhibit, which opens to the public May 10, begins with its own definition: someone who "studies above everything else to dress elegantly and fashionably."
Miller has organized it into 12 conceptual sections: Ownership, presence, distinction, disguise, freedom, champion, respectability, jook, heritage, beauty, cool and cosmopolitanism.
## How clothing can dehumanize, but also give agency
The "ownership" section begins with two livery coats worn by enslaved people.
One of them, from Maryland, looks lavish and elaborate, in purple velvet trimmed with gold metallic threading. The garments were intended to show the wealth of their owners. In other words, Miller says, the enslaved themselves were items of conspicuous consumption.
The other is a livery coat of tan broadcloth, likely manufactured by Brooks Brothers and worn by an enslaved child or adolescent boy in Louisiana just before the Civil War.
Elsewhere, there's a contemporary, glittering ensemble by British designer Grace Wales Bonner, made of crushed silk velvet and embroidered with crystals and the cowrie shells historically used as currency in Africa.
There's also a so-called "dollar bill suit" by the label 3.Paradis — the jacket sporting a laminated one-dollar bill stitched to the breast pocket, meant to suggest the absence of wealth.
## How dress can both disguise and reveal
The "disguise" section includes a collection of 19th-century newspaper ads announcing rewards for catching runaway enslaved people.
The ads, Miller notes, would often describe someone who was "particularly fond of dress" — or note that the person had taken large wardrobes. The reason was twofold: The fancy clothes made it possible for an enslaved person to cloak their identity. But also, when they finally made it to freedom, they could sell the clothing to help fund their new lives, Miller says.
"So dressing above one's station sometimes was a matter of life and death," the curator says, "and also enabled people to transition from being enslaved to being liberated."
The contemporary part of this section includes striking embroidered jackets by the label Off-White that purposely play with gender roles — like displaying an ostensibly "male" jacket on a female mannequin.
## Views of an emerging Black middle and upper-middle class
Stopping by a set of portraits from the early 19th century, as abolitionism was happening in the North, Miller explains that the subjects are Black men who were successful, well off enough to commission or sit for portraits, and dressed "in the finest fashions of the day." Like William Whipper, an abolitionist and wealthy lumber merchant who also founded a literary society.
They represent the beginnings of a Black middle and upper middle class in America, Miller says. But she points out a group of racist caricatures in a case right across from the portraits.
"Almost as soon as they are able to do this," she says, referring to the portraits, "they are stereotyped and degraded."
## Projecting respectability: W.E.B. Du Bois and Frederick Douglass
W.E.B. Du Bois, Miller points out, was not only a civil rights activist but also one of the best-dressed men in turn-of-the-century America. He traveled extensively overseas, which meant he needed "clothing befitting his status as a representative of Black America to the world."
Objects in the display include receipts for tailors in London, and suit orders from Brooks Brothers or his Harlem tailor. There is also a laundry receipt from 1933 for cleaning of shirts, collars, and handkerchiefs.
Also highlighted in this section: Frederick Douglass, the abolitionist, writer, and statesman and also "the most photographed man of the 19th century."
The show includes his tailcoat of brushed wool, as well as a shirt embroidered with a "D" monogram, a top hat, a cane and a pair of sunglasses.
## Designers reflecting their African heritage
One of Miller's favorite items in the heritage section is Agbobly's bright-colored ensemble based on the hues of bags that West African migrants used to transport their belongings.
Also displayed is Agbobly's denim suit embellished with crystals and beads. It's a tribute not only to the hairbraiding salons where the designer spent time as a child, but also the earrings his grandmother or aunts would wear when they went to church.
Speaking of family, Agbobly says that he ultimately did tell them — and everyone — about his "pinch-me moment."
"Everyone knows about it," the designer says. "I keep screaming. If I can scream on top of a hill, I will."
___
For full coverage of the Met Gala, visit https://apnews.com/hub/met-gala.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-03 20:05:49+00:00
|
[
"Warren Buffett",
"Berkshire Hathaway",
"Inc.",
"Greg Abel",
"Corporate management",
"Mergers and acquisitions",
"Retail and wholesale",
"Troy Bader",
"Charlie Munger",
"Omaha",
"Business",
"Ron Olson"
] |
# Who is Greg Abel, the executive picked to be successor to Warren Buffett?
By Josh Funk
May 3rd, 2025, 08:05 PM
---
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — When Warren Buffett announced at his annual shareholder meeting Saturday that he is stepping down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year, he elevated a low-key 62-year-old Canadian executive named Greg Abel who has long been one of his top lieutenants.
For the past seven years, Abel has been overseeing Berkshire's BNSF railroad and its treat makers See's Candies and Dairy Queen along with dozens of other manufacturing and retail businesses that Buffett acquired over the years.
He grew up in Canada as a hockey player and learned the value of hard work as he redeemed discarded bottles and worked for a small company filling fire extinguishers. Now he finds himself at the top of the food chain in the investment world.
Berkshire confirmed Abel as Buffett's successor in 2021 after former Vice Chairman Charlie Munger let it slip at the annual meeting. Since then, Abel has largely remained in Buffett's shadow although shareholders have had a chance to get to know him a bit when he appeared alongside Buffett at the annual meetings and in interviews.
Berkshire's board will now vote on whether to formally approve Abel as the new CEO to take over at the end of 2025. At the annual meeting in Omaha, Buffett said he expects that to occur by a unanimous vote.
Abel will step forward to take responsibility for all of Berkshire's eclectic assortment of businesses with their nearly 400,000 employees and the conglomerate's massive stock portfolio. Buffett and members of Berkshire's board who for years have devoted much of their time to finding Buffett's successor have praised Abel's brilliance and knack for understanding all kinds of businesses.
Buffett once said Berkshire is "so damn lucky" to have Abel ready to take over, but he will have trouble coming close to Buffett's remarkable track record of outpacing the market. Whereas Buffett grew Berkshire over the decades by making well-timed deals and stock investments at attractive prices, Berkshire's massive size has made it that much harder lately to find anything big enough to change the conglomerate's bottom line.
Abel has big shoes to fill, but no one expects him to match the accomplishments of Buffett that made him a billionaire many times over and one of the wealthiest investors of the past century. Longtime Berkshire board member Ron Olson said two days before the announcement that he believed Abel was ready to take over.
"Is he another Warren Buffett? No, there is no other Warren Buffett that I know. But he has so many of the fundamentals of Warren," Olson said. "He is for sure high integrity. He is a hard worker. He is a strategic thinker."
Buffett has said for years that Abel's main job when he becomes CEO will be to preserve Berkshire's unique decentralized culture built on independence, integrity and trust. In fact, Munger's comment that gave away Abel's future role was that "Greg will keep the culture."
Executives at a diverse mix of Berkshire subsidiaries, including sneaker maker Brooks Running, flooring giant Shaw and Borsheims jewelry have said they all turn to Abel whenever they face tough questions in their businesses related to strategy or operating details, and he's always available when they need him though he will challenge them.
"When I think about Greg, he not only has high business acumen, but he has really high business instincts," Dairy Queen CEO Troy Bader said Friday. "The intuition is really important. And, you know, Warren has that intuition, but Greg has a lot of it as well."
Abel has never done many interviews, though he put his detailed business knowledge on display at the Berkshire meetings when discussing utilities and the railroad. But he did offer a glimpse into his background to the Horatio Alger Association when that group honored him in 2018.
Abel's family-oriented upbringing in Edmonton, Alberta, and lessons in hard work and perseverance were similar to what Buffett learned while working in his grandfather's Omaha grocery store as a kid.
"I think hard work leads to good outcomes. In my schooling, in sports, and in my business positions, I learned that if I put in a lot of work and was well-prepared, then success would be more likely," Abel said in 2018.
Abel lives about two hours from Buffett's hometown in Des Moines, Iowa, where he has led Berkshire Hathaway Energy since 2011 and helped coach his kids' hockey and soccer teams. He is expected to continue living there because Berkshire is so decentralized that there is little reason to move to its Omaha headquarters. Buffett only had a couple dozen people working in his office as he spent his days reading business reports and making the occasional phone call.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-03 18:41:28+00:00
|
[
"Gaza Strip",
"Israel",
"2024-2025 Mideast Wars",
"Israel-Hamas war",
"Blockades",
"Israel government",
"Hamas",
"Humanitarian crises",
"United Nations",
"Photography"
] |
# Photos show children facing malnutrition and hunger as blockade enters its third month
By The Associated Press
May 3rd, 2025, 06:41 PM
---
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Malnutrition and hunger are becoming increasingly prevalent in the Gaza Strip as Israel's total blockade enters its third month. A shortage of food and supplies has driven the territory toward starvation, according to aid agencies. Supplies to treat and prevent malnutrition are depleted and quickly running out as documented cases of malnutrition rise.
The price of what little food is still available in the market is unaffordable for most in Gaza, where the United Nations says more than 80% of the population relies on aid.
Israel's longest blockade on Gaza, which began March 2, has sparked a growing international outcry. But that has failed to convince Israel to open the borders. More groups accuse Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war. Israel, for its part, insists the blockade is necessary to pressure Hamas to release the hostages it still holds. Of the 59 hostages still in Gaza, 24 are believed to be still alive.
Israeli authorities did not immediately respond when asked to comment on accusations that Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war, but have previously said Gaza had enough aid after a surge in distribution during a two-month ceasefire, and accuse Hamas of diverting aid for its purposes. Humanitarian workers deny there is significant diversion, saying the U.N. monitors distribution strictly.
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-05 22:34:20+00:00
|
[
"Ford Motor Co.",
"General Motors Co.",
"Tesla",
"Inc.",
"Government policy",
"Economic policy",
"International trade",
"Tariffs and global trade",
"Business",
"Donald Trump",
"Jim Farley",
"Auto industry",
"Financial performance",
"United States government",
"Kumar Galhotra"
] |
# Ford says its Q1 profit fell by two-thirds and it expects a $1.5 billion hit from tariffs this year
By Associated Press
May 5th, 2025, 10:34 PM
---
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford Motor Co. says it expects to take a $1.5 billion hit to its operating profit from tariffs this year and is withdrawing its full-year financial guidance due to the uncertainty created by the Trump administration's evolving trade policy.
Ford said Monday that its net income fell by about two-thirds in the first quarter to $473 million, or 12 cents per share, from $1.33 billion, or 33 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue dropped 5% to $40.66 billion.
The results topped the expectations of analysts surveyed by FactSet, who forecast earnings per share for the quarter would be flat. Revenue was forecast to be $38.02 billion. Still, the stock fell more than 2% in after-hours trading.
Last week, General Motors said it is bracing for a potential impact from auto tariffs as high as $5 billion in 2025. Ford and Tesla are expected to see a smaller impact from tariffs than GM and other automakers because they assemble more of their cars in the U.S. Still, what impact they do see won't be insignificant.
Ford originally forecast 2025 earnings before interest and taxes in a range of $7 billion to $8.5 billion, but on Monday the company said the risks associated with tariffs "make updating full year guidance challenging right now given the potential range of outcomes."
Ford CEO Jim Farley has been touting the advantage that higher domestic production gives his company and he did so again Monday, while acknowledging that the shake-up to the industry from tariffs is still in its early stages.
"It's too early to gauge the related market dynamics, including the potential industrywide supply chain disruptions," said Farley said on an earnings call with analysts. "Automakers with the largest U.S. footprint will have a big advantage, and, boy, that is that true for Ford. It puts us in the pole position."
President Donald Trump says one goal of his trade policy is to move more manufacturing of products such as autos back to the U.S. Last week Trump signed executive orders to relax some of his 25% tariffs on automobiles and auto parts in a move the president said would allow automakers more time to transition their manufacturing operations.
Automakers and independent analyses have indicated that the tariffs could raise prices, reduce sales and make U.S. production less competitive worldwide.
The potential impact of tariffs dominated Ford's earnings calls, with one executive noting how just a little trouble with a few parts could have a dramatic effect.
"The rare earth materials from China, for example, how they are imported, not just for us, but for the entire industry, has become rather complicated over the last few weeks," said Chief Operating Officer Kumar Galhotra. "It would take only a few parts to potentially cause some disruption into our production."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-14 05:11:40+00:00
|
[
"Mark Geragos",
"Anne Bremner",
"Michael Jesic",
"Erik Menendez",
"Legal proceedings",
"Los Angeles",
"Kitty Menendez",
"Robert F. Kennedy",
"Sirhan Sirhan",
"David Ring",
"Entertainment",
"Courts"
] |
# The Menendez brothers are now eligible for parole. What's next?
By Jaimie Ding and Christopher Weber
May 14th, 2025, 05:11 AM
---
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge's ruling made Lyle and Erik Menendez eligible for parole, but they still face multiple hurdles in their fight to be released from prison nearly three decades after they were convicted of murdering their parents in 1989.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic reduced the brothers' sentences from life without parole to 50 years to life on Tuesday, making them eligible for parole under California's youthful offender law. The law gives people convicted of crimes committed under the age of 26 the opportunity to be considered for release if they have shown they have matured and been rehabilitated.
The brothers could present their case before a parole board as soon as next month. That's because they already had a hearing before the board scheduled for June 13 in a clemency petition they had submitted to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
It's likely that June appearance will also serve as their formal parole hearing, according to David Ring, a Los Angeles trial attorney who's not involved with the Menendez case.
If parole is granted, it would be up to the governor to approve or deny it.
"And that's why it kind of merges with the clemency request, because that's also Newsom's decision," Ring said.
The governor hasn't indicated how he might decide if parole is granted. He said Wednesday that he needs to see what the board recommends but noted that he's rejected parole in the past. He also said it's still to be determined whether everything will be combined on June 13.
The shotgun killings of the entertainment executive, Jose Menendez, and his wife, Kitty, in their wealthy Beverly Hills neighborhood were brutal. Their older son, Lyle Menendez, was the one who called 911, with the brothers initially claiming the killing was Mafia-related or connected to their father's business dealings.
The brothers have argued that they committed the crimes in self-defense after years of abuse by their father.
Here's a look at what comes next:
## What happened at the resentencing?
The brothers' lawyers turned to family members and those who knew the brothers since their conviction to speak to their character and rehabilitation in prison in front of Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic.
The family called for their release and the judge said he was especially moved by a letter from a prison official who supported resentencing, which the official hadn't done for any other incarcerated person during his 25-year career.
"I'm not saying they should be released; it's not for me to decide," Jesic said. "I do believe they've done enough in the past 35 years that they should get that chance."
Prosecutors, who opposed the brothers' resentencing, did not call any witnesses. They argued that the brothers haven't taken full responsibility for their crimes.
## Who might testify at the parole hearing?
Ring said it will likely be a "one-side parole hearing in their favor," because all surviving family members want them to be released.
Typically, it's relatives of the crime victims, or even the victims themselves, who argue that an inmate should remain behind bars. But there's nobody related to Jose and Kitty Menendez who want to keep the brothers locked up.
"In this case, it might just be the D.A. who's saying they should not be released. And the D.A. may not even take that position. They may just sit on the sidelines," he said.
Anne Bremner, a trial lawyer in Seattle, said the brothers will still have some pressure on them to impress upon the board that they should be freed.
"My guess is the parole board has been watching this and of course they've done these risk assessments already," she said. They know "who these two are, what their alleged crimes were and what they've done since the time that they were incarcerated until today."
## What happens if parole is denied or granted?
If they are denied at their first parole hearing, they will continue to receive subsequent hearings until they are granted release.
If the board grants parole, Newsom could still override the board as he did in 2022, when a two-person panel of parole commissioners granted parole to Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. At the time, Newsom said the killer remains a threat to the public and hadn't taken responsibility for a crime that altered American history.
Newsom earlier this year ordered the state parole board to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment for him to determine the danger to the public if the brothers are released.
If he lets the parole decision stand, the brothers could be released from prison within weeks or months. The brothers would be subject to the conditions of their release, including regular meetings with their parole officers.
The brothers' attorney Mark Geragos said they have already submitted a "robust parole plan" to the court.
It's unlikely that they would be sent to a halfway house or required to take part in some other type of reentry program, Ring said. They would be free to live their lives, as long as they follow parole protocols.
## Could one brother remain in prison while the other is released?
The brothers have separate hearings and will be evaluated independently of each other.
If one brother was "a troublemaker" in prison and the other wasn't, it's conceivable that one could stay locked up while the other is freed, Ring said. But that's unlikely.
"I think everyone just assumes that they're a matched pair and it's either both of them or neither of them," Ring said. "Because they both have similar records in prison. They appear to have been pretty model citizens. I think they're both going to be rated as low risk to society."
## What other avenues do they have for release?
In May 2023, the brothers' attorneys also filed a petition for habeas corpus to the court, asking for a new trial in light of new evidence of their sexual abuse. LA prosecutors have filed a motion opposing that petition, and the defense's reply is due in about a week, Geragos said. After that, it's up to the court.
___
Associated Press writer Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-13 15:33:28+00:00
|
[
"North Carolina",
"Raleigh",
"Voting",
"Allison Riggs",
"Donald Trump",
"Roy Cooper",
"Courts",
"2024 United States presidential election",
"Voting rights",
"Richard Myers",
"Legal proceedings",
"U.S. Republican Party",
"North Carolina state government",
"Anita Earls",
"Politics",
"Isaac Jenkins",
"Elections"
] |
# North Carolina justice sworn in after long battle over result
By Gary D. Robertson
May 13th, 2025, 03:33 PM
---
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs was sworn in to a new term on Tuesday after the Democrat won a monthslong fight against her Republican rival's challenges to thousands of ballots.
The State Board of Elections earlier Tuesday issued an election certificate to Riggs based on the incumbent's 734-vote victory over GOP candidate Jefferson Griffin from over 5.5 million ballots cast. The board was complying with a federal judge's order last week against Griffin, who conceded rather than appeal.
The Associated Press declared over 4,800 winners in the 2024 general election, but the Supreme Court election was the last nationally that was undecided.
"Thank you for your trust and unwavering support," Riggs told family and supporters after she was sworn in to an eight-year term in the old House chamber. "You chose a path forward where power stays in the hands of people, not politicians. You demanded accountability and used your voices to speak out for our constitutional rights."
The victory builds Democratic hopes that they can take over the highest court in the ninth-largest state later this decade. Associate Justice Anita Earls — the other Democrat on the seven-member court — delivered the oath to Riggs and is seeking reelection in 2026. The conservative majority in place since early 2023 has issued opinions favoring Republicans on redistricting, photo voter identification and even this race.
After two recounts, the result remained in the air for months, as Griffin protested the eligibility of over 65,000 ballots. Court decisions whittled the potential ballots at issue down to no more than roughly 7,000.
Riggs' Democratic allies said Griffin and the state Republican Party were trying to overturn a fair and legal election by removing ballots that legally should be counted. Some of Griffin's challenges only applied to a handful of Democratic-leaning counties.
There was "immeasurable damage done to our democracy" as a result of the challenge, Riggs said. "Voters should not have to fight tooth and nail to have their lawful votes counted."
The State Board of Elections dismissed Griffin's protests in December. But by April state appeals courts — including the high court — ruled against counting votes from people who never lived in North Carolina but whose parents had. And they declared ballots ineligible if they were cast by military and overseas voters who didn't provide copies of photo identification or an ID exception form.
A Republican majority of justices also agreed that those people who cast ballots without an ID or form — perhaps several thousand — should have 30 days to provide additional information so their choices could still count.
Riggs, who recused herself from her court's deliberations, went to federal court to block the removal of votes. U.S. District Judge Richard Myers, an appointee of President Donald Trump, sided with Riggs on May 5, agreeing the "retroactive invalidation" of ballots cast by military and overseas voters would violate the due process rights of voters. And Myers wrote the lack of a process for people mistakenly declared nonresidents also was unconstitutional.
Griffin's challenges in part had been about "making sure that every legal vote in an election is counted," he said last Wednesday as he announced he wouldn't appeal.
Republican officials contend the six-month challenge brought to light errors by the State Board of Elections that threatened election integrity and will be addressed by a newly appointed Republican-majority board. But many voters whose ballots were challenged described Griffin's efforts as a disturbing attempt to steal an election and lamented the rulings of other Republican state judges over the ballot protests.
"It's very distasteful that he did challenge," said Isaac Jenkins, 76, of Aberdeen, who was on the list of those who cast ballots questioned by Griffin, which also included Riggs' parents. "It put a bad spotlight on the Republican Party and on the courts."
Myers' order, however, did not invalidate for future North Carolina elections the state courts' decisions on military and overseas voters who don't provide ID information as well as those who have never been residents in the state. They can vote in North Carolina elections for federal offices only, the elections board said this week.
Riggs, who was appointed to the court in September 2023 by then-Gov. Roy Cooper, now serves in a full associate justice's term that lasts through late 2032. Griffin remains a state Court of Appeals judge.
__
Associated Press writer Makiya Seminera contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-13 06:14:47+00:00
|
[
"Germany government",
"Germany",
"Berlin",
"Peter Fitzek",
"Business",
"Politics",
"Alexander Dobrindt"
] |
# Germany bans the far-right 'Kingdom of Germany' group and arrests 4 of its leaders
By Kirsten Grieshaber
May 13th, 2025, 06:14 AM
---
BERLIN (AP) — The German government on Tuesday banned the far-right organization "Kingdom of Germany" as a threat to the country's democratic order and arrested four of its leaders in raids across several states.
The group is part of the country's so-called Reich Citizen, or Reichsbürger, movement that claims the historical German Reich still exists and refuses to recognize the current democratic government or its parliament, laws and courts. Members also refuse to pay taxes or fines.
About 800 police officers launched raids Tuesday on the group's properties and the homes of its leading members throughout the country.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, in announcing the ban on the group, said its members have underpinned their claims to power using antisemitic conspiracy narratives that cannot be tolerated.
"The members of this association have created a 'counter-state' in our country and built up economic criminal structures," Dobrindt said. "We will take decisive action against those who attack our free democratic basic order."
Among those arrested Tuesday was the group leader Peter Fitzek. He proclaimed the "Kingdom of Germany" in the eastern town of Wittenberg in 2012 and says it has around 6,000 followers, though the Interior Ministry says it has about 1,000 members The group claims to have seceded from the German federal government.
"This is not about harmless nostalgia, as the title of the association might suggest, but about criminal structures, criminal networks," the minister told reporters later in Berlin. "That's why it's being banned today."
The group's online platforms will be blocked and its assets will be confiscated to ensure that no further financial resources can be used for extremist purposes, Dobrindt said.
The group gave no immediate public comment, and generally declines to interact with media outlets.
It's not the first time that Germany has acted against the Reichsbürger movement.
In 2023, German police officers searched the homes of about 20 people in connection with investigations into the far-right Reich Citizens scene, whose adherents had similarities to followers of the QAnon movement in the United States.
Last year, the alleged leaders of a suspected far-right plot to topple Germany's government went on trial on Tuesday, opening proceedings in a case that shocked the country in late 2022.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-05 12:02:12+00:00
|
[
"Jos Manuel Balmaceda",
"Chile",
"Augusto Pinochet",
"Emilia del Valle",
"Socialism",
"Chile government",
"Mario Vargas Llosa",
"Carmen Balcells",
"Isabel Allende",
"Spain government",
"Politics",
"Angelita Ayalef",
"Suicide",
"Arts and entertainment"
] |
# Isabel Allende's new novel inspired by Chilean civil war and a president's death by suicide
By Berenice Bautista
May 5th, 2025, 12:02 PM
---
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A bloody civil war and the tragic death by suicide of an ousted president served as inspiration for Isabel Allende's new novel, "My Name is Emilia del Valle."
The story centers on Emilia del Valle, a young Californian journalist who is dispatched to Chile to report on the confrontation between congressmen and those loyal to President José Manuel Balmaceda in 1891.
"I was always curious about that civil war," Allende, 82, said in a video interview. "More Chileans died there than in the four years of the war against Peru and Bolivia and they killed each other like beasts."
From her home in Belvedere, California, the Chilean-American writer said that Balmaceda's fate in Chile echoes that of her uncle, President Salvador Allende, in 1973; both were progressive leaders, faced fierce resistance from the right and Congress and died by suicide.
Salvador Allende killed himself during Gen. Augusto Pinochet's coup in 1973, which established a 17-year dictatorship and left more than 40,000 victims.
To tell the story of Balmaceda in the book — available in English on Tuesday, with a Spanish edition following on May 20 — Allende was interested in a character who was neither a congressman nor a member of the government, so Emilia del Valle emerged, a curious and adventurous 25-year-old. Fluent in Spanish with Chilean roots from her biological father (born out of wedlock), Emilia travels to Chile to report on the war — but also to find her roots.
"Despite everything that happens to her, she falls in love with the country," said Allende, who once again intertwines California and Chile in her narrative. "It's very easy for me to write about Chile, even though I haven't lived there for so many years."
On the battlefield, Emilia meets Angelita Ayalef, a Mapuche woman who is part of the so-called "cantineras" (bartenders), women who followed the army to feed and cure soldiers, among other functions.
"When doing research for a book, what matters are the questions," Allende said. "Who were these women, the cantineras? History doesn't give them a voice, they don't have personality, there are no names, but they fulfilled a function equal to that of the soldier, and they died like soldiers."
## 'Twice as much effort as any man'
Growing up with an Irish Catholic mother and a stepfather of Mexican descent, Emilia is no stranger to religion and carries a Virgin of Guadalupe medal with her all the time. Emilia affectionately calls her stepfather Papo.
"It's a tribute to my own stepfather, I didn't know my father either, like Emilia, but I had a fantastic stepfather and so this is a tribute to him," Allende said.
With love but brutal honesty, Papo says to Emilia: "Remember, princess, that you will have to make twice as much effort as any man to get half the recognition."
Being a woman, has Allende ever faced this?
The author recalled sending her newly completed manuscript of "The House of the Spirits" to Carmen Balcells, the renowned Barcelona literary agent who championed the so-called "boom," or new wave of Latin American writers of the 1960s and 1970s.
Allende recalls Balcells' blunt assessment: "'This is a good novel, and I'll publish it, but that doesn't mean you're a writer. And as a woman, you're going to have to make twice as much effort as any man'... And that was the bible, because that has been my life, twice the effort to get respect, recognition for the work I do."
Balcells is present in another way in the novel as an inspiration for the character of Paulina del Valle, a successful, autonomous and brutally direct businesswoman who is the aunt of Emilia and introduces her to Chilean high society. Paulina also appears in Allende's "Daughter of Fortune" (1999) and "Portrait in Sepia" (2000).
"When Carmen read the manuscripts (of those novels) she told me 'this is me!' she recognized herself immediately," Allende said. Balcells passed away in 2015.
Through Emilia's eyes, Allende immerses the reader in the brutal realities of the hand-to-hand war, the cannon fires and the repression against Balmaceda's followers.
"The battles of that time were hand-to-hand, face-to-face, but fewer people died than die now, because they were killed one by one, they were not killed en masse as they are killed now," she said. "Today, someone in Texas pushes a button and a bomb explodes in Iraq, and it doesn't matter how many people die, they are just numbers."
Allende dedicates the book to her brother Juan, who helped her with the historical research of the novel.
## Recovering the lost memory
Although Allende is not religious, she lamented the death of Pope Francis, whom she described as a "wonderful, simple, humble, intelligent man."
"I adored him, not because he was pope, but because he went to revolutionize a church that was already completely old," she said.
She also mourned the death of Peruvian Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa, whose passing sparked mixed reactions between those who celebrated him for his literary work and those who criticized his political positions, especially in his last years.
"The legacy is immortal, and I think that within literature he is a very important character," Allende said. "His political position, that is another story, but what remains is not his political position, what remains is the work."
Allende said that she has not seen the upcoming "The House of the Spirits" Prime Video series so she said it will be a complete surprise for her. What she does know is that her next book will be another memoir, done with the help of the extensive collection of daily letters she sent daily to her mother since she turned 16.
"Writing a memoir is much harder than a novel," she said. "It turns out I have forgotten 90% of what has happened to me and the 10% that I remember did not happen like that ... but then when I see the letters, day by day, I recover the lost memory and I recover the emotion of the moment."
Allende is grateful to be able to continue doing what she loves most: "My head still works, as long as I can pay attention, remember, not repeat myself, I will be able to continue writing, but there will come a day when it will not be possible."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-02 09:31:32+00:00
|
[
"Australia government",
"Australia",
"China",
"Peter Dutton",
"United States government",
"Donald Trump",
"Conservatism",
"Global elections",
"United States",
"Political refugees",
"Anthony Albanese",
"Politics",
"Border security",
"International agreements",
"Government policy",
"Elections",
"Asylum"
] |
# Australia election: Who is Peter Dutton?
By Rod Mcguirk
May 2nd, 2025, 09:31 AM
---
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia's conservative opposition leader Peter Dutton is a former police detective who gained a reputation during his years in government for his tough stance on border security and as a vocal critic of China.
If he becomes prime minister at general elections on Saturday, it will be the first time since 1931 — amid the economic turmoil of the Great Depression — that an Australian government has been ousted after a single three-year term.
A major factor in his success or failure is likely to be his pledge to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 with nuclear power instead of the government's reliance on renewable energy sources.
His Liberal Party was been remarkably united behind him since he became their leader after their government was defeated at elections in 2022.
During his party's three years out of power, Dutton has evolved into a less confrontational and more responsive political leader, said Monash University political expert Zareh Ghazarian.
"He presented himself as a tough leader. But the more he's spent time in opposition, the more he has built his leadership repertoire," Ghazarian said.
Dutton has signaled that his international priorities would differ from those of recent prime ministers if his party wins elections.
Australian prime ministers are expected to make their first overseas trips to Asia, usually heading to Indonesia to underscore the importance of that bilateral relationship with a near neighbor; Dutton has said he plans to go first to the United States to meet President Donald Trump and secure preferential trade terms.
"I do believe that if there's a change of government, I will be able to work with the Trump administration mark 2 to get better outcomes for Australians," Dutton told the Lowy Institute international policy think tank in Sydney in March.
## Conflict with China
Dutton received a rebuke from Beijing in 2019 when he accused the Chinese Communist Party of directing cyberattacks, stealing intellectual property and suppressing free speech.
"We categorically reject Mr. Dutton's irrational accusations against China, which are shocking and baseless," the Chinese Embassy in Australia said in a statement.
China-Australia relations have improved since current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government was elected in 2022. China has lifted a series of official and unofficial trade barriers that cost Australian exporters 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year in the final years of the previous conservative government. Beijing also lifted a ban on minister-to-minister contacts.
'We will cooperate where we can, disagree where we must and engage in the national interest," Albanese often says of his administration's relationship with Beijing.
But Dutton says he would improve Australia's relations with Beijing even further with a tough and uncompromising approach.
"I don't believe that President Xi (Jinping) with the strength of his leadership respects a weak and incompetent Australian prime minister," Dutton said.
Dutton has accused Albanese of "self-censorship" in dealing with China. He described Albanese's reaction to three Chinese warships virtually circumnavigating Australia in February in a show of China's military reach as the "weakest, most limp-wristed response you could see from a leader."
Australia complained the Chinese gave insufficient notice of live-fire exercises off the Australian coast that forced commercial airline flights between Sydney and New Zealand to divert.
Beijing responded that Australia had made "unreasonable accusations" and said the naval exercise had complied with international law.
## Record in government
Dutton, 54, belongs to the most conservative faction of his conservative Liberal Party. Since he was first elected to the Federal Parliament in 2001, he has held several ministerial roles including the key security portfolios of defense and home affairs, in which he established a public image as an uncompromising and confrontational politician.
As minister for immigration and border protection from 2014, Dutton oversaw Operation Sovereign Borders, a military-run blockade of Australia's northern ocean approaches that largely ended the trafficking of asylum-seekers by people smugglers in dilapidated fishing boats.
Australia has been accused of shirking its obligation to resettle such refugees by sending boat arrivals to Australian-funded immigration camps on the poor island nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru.
Dutton has said his political outlook is shaped by almost a decade working in the Queensland state police force, which he joined at 19. He worked in the drug and sexual crime squads.
"I think it's a bit of a police trait and it's dealing with a problem that's before you and then moving on to the next one and trying to deal with it efficiently," Dutton told a TV profile in 2023.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-08 13:55:18+00:00
|
[
"Arizona",
"Gabriel Paul Horcasitas",
"Christopher Pelkey",
"JWD-evergreen",
"Todd Lang",
"Shootings",
"Courts",
"Gary Marchant",
"Jason Lamm",
"Technology",
"Jessica Gattuso",
"Stacey Wales",
"Ann Timmer",
"Legal proceedings"
] |
# AI-generated video gave victim a voice at his killer's sentencing in Arizona
By Matt York, Rio Yamat, and Sejal Govindarao
May 8th, 2025, 01:55 PM
---
CHANDLER, Ariz. (AP) — There were dozens of statements submitted to the court by family and friends of Christopher Pelkey when it came time to sentence the man convicted of fatally shooting him during a road rage incident. They provided glimpses of Pelkey's humor, his character and his military service.
But there was nothing quite like hearing from the victim himself — even if it was a version generated by artificial intelligence.
In what's believed to be a first in U.S. courts, Pelkey's family used AI to create a video using his likeness to give him a voice. The AI rendering of Pelkey told the shooter during the sentencing hearing last week in Phoenix that it was a shame they had to meet that day in 2021 under those circumstances — and that in another life, the two of them probably could have been friends.
"I believe in forgiveness and in God who forgives. I always have and I still do," Pelkey's avatar told Gabriel Paul Horcasitas.
The AI version of Pelkey went on to encourage people to make the most of each day and to love each other, not knowing how much time one might have left.
While use of AI within the court system is expanding, it's typically been reserved for administrative tasks, legal research and case preparation. In Arizona, it's helped inform the public of rulings in significant cases.
But using AI to generate victim impact statements marks a new — and legal, at least in Arizona — tool for sharing information with the court outside the evidentiary phases.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Todd Lang, who presided over the case, said after watching the video that he imagined Pelkey, who was 37 at the time of his killing, would have felt that way after learning about him. Lang also noted the video said something about Pelkey's family, who had expressed their anger over his death and had asked for Horcasitas to receive the maximum sentence.
"Even though that's what you wanted, you allowed Chris to speak from his heart as you saw it," Lang said.
Horcasitas, 54, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10.5 years in prison.
Horcasitas' lawyer, Jason Lamm, told The Associated Press they filed a notice to appeal his sentence within hours of the hearing. Lamm said it's likely the appeals court will weigh whether the judge improperly relied on the AI video when handing down the sentence.
The shooting happened the afternoon of Nov. 13, 2021, as both drivers were stopped at a red light. According to records, Pelkey was shot after getting out of his truck and walking toward Horcasitas' car.
Pelkey's sister, Stacey Wales, raised the idea of her brother speaking for himself after struggling to figure out what she would say. She wrote a script for the AI-generated video, reflecting that he was a forgiving person.
In Arizona, victims can give their impact statements in any digital format, said victims' rights attorney Jessica Gattuso, who represented the family.
Wales, a software product consultant, took the AI idea to her husband, Tim. He and his friend, who have work experience creating humanlike AI avatars. Using a video clip of Pelkey, they aimed to replicate his voice and speech patterns. They generated Pelkey's likeness through a single image of him, digitally manipulating it to remove glasses and a hat logo, edit his outfit and trim his beard.
Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ann Timmer didn't address the road rage case specifically in an interview Wednesday. But she said the rise in popularity and accessibility to AI in recent years led to the creation of a committee to research best practices in the courts.
Gary Marchant, a member of the committee and a law professor at Arizona State University, said he understands why Pelkey's family did it. But he warned the use of this technology could open the door to more people trying to introduce AI-generated evidence into courtrooms.
"There's a real concern among the judiciary and among lawyers that deepfake evidence will be increasingly used," he said. "It's easy to create it and anyone can do it on a phone, and it could be incredibly influential because judges and juries, just like all of us, are used to believing what you see."
Marchant pointed to a recent case in New York, where a man without a lawyer used an AI-generated avatar to argue his case in a lawsuit via video. It took only seconds for the judges to realize that the man addressing them from the video screen didn't exist at all.
In the Arizona case, Wales said the AI-generated video worked because the judge had nearly 50 letters from family and friends that echoed the video's message.
"Everybody knew that Chris would forgive this person," Wales said.
___
Yamat reported from Las Vegas. Associated Press reporter Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-08 18:59:36+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Rosa DeLauro",
"Federal Emergency Management Agency",
"Kristi Noem",
"Cameron Hamilton",
"David Richardson",
"Pete Hegseth",
"Disaster planning and response",
"U.S. Department of Homeland Security",
"Politics"
] |
# Trump replaces FEMA's acting administrator
By Chris Megerian and Gabriela Aoun Angueira
May 8th, 2025, 06:59 PM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency faced fresh upheaval Thursday just weeks before the start of hurricane season when the acting administrator was pushed out and replaced by another official from the Department of Homeland Security.
The abrupt change came the day after Cameron Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL who held the job for the last few months, testified on Capitol Hill that he did not agree with proposals to dismantle an organization that helps plan for natural disasters and distributes financial assistance.
"I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency," he said Wednesday.
President Donald Trump has suggested that individual states, not the federal government, should take the lead on hurricanes, tornadoes and other crises. He has been sharply critical of FEMA's performance, particularly in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene.
David Richardson, a former Marine Corps officer who served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa, will run FEMA for the time being. He does not appear to have any experience in managing natural disasters. He currently serves as the Department of Homeland Security's assistant secretary for countering weapons of mass destruction.
The administration made no statement about any potential permanent nominee. Nor did the White House answer questions about Richardson's background, the impact of Hamilton's testimony or whether the president personally ordered his dismissal.
An administration official, who requested anonymity to discuss a personnel matter, said Hamilton was offered another government job that would be a better fit for him, but did not say what that job would be.
FEMA staff were notified of the change in leadership through a brief email.
Through a January executive order, Trump established a review council tasked with "reforming and streamlining the nation's emergency management and disaster response system," according to Homeland Security. The 13-member council is chaired by Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
During Hamilton's appearance before a House Appropriations subcommittee Wednesday, he shared concerns about how FEMA assistance is administered. He also said the agency had "evolved into an overextended federal bureaucracy, attempting to manage every type of emergency no matter how minor."
But when Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, asked Hamilton how he felt about plans to eliminate FEMA, Hamilton said he did not believe the agency should be eliminated.
"Having said that," Hamilton continued, "I'm not in a position to make decisions and impact outcomes on whether or not a determination such as consequential as that should be made. That is a conversation that should be had between the president of the United States and this governing body."
In a statement Thursday afternoon, DeLauro expressed support for Hamilton and accused the Republican president of firing "anyone who is not blindly loyal to him."
"The Trump administration must explain why he has been removed from this position," said DeLauro. "Integrity and morality should not cost you your job."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-06 17:59:29+00:00
|
[
"Houthis",
"2024-2025 Mideast Wars",
"Donald Trump",
"Israel",
"Joe Biden",
"Lindsey Graham",
"Badr al-Busaidi",
"Steve Witkoff",
"Mike Waltz",
"Bombings",
"Sanaa",
"War and unrest",
"Yemen",
"Gaza Strip",
"Business",
"Aerospace and defense industry",
"Politics",
"Mark Carney",
"Yemen government",
"International agreements",
"Gregory Brew",
"Harry S. Truman"
] |
# Trump says the US will stop bombing Yemen's Houthis
By Will Weissert
May 6th, 2025, 05:59 PM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he's ordering a halt to nearly two months of U.S. airstrikes on Yemen's Houthis, saying the Iran-backed rebels have indicated that "they don't want to fight anymore" and have pledged to stop attacking ships along a vital global trade route.
"We're going to stop the bombing of the Houthis, effective immediately," Trump said at the start of his Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
That likely means an abrupt end to a campaign of airstrikes that began in March, when Trump promised to use "overwhelming lethal force" after the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli vessels sailing off Yemen in response to Israel's mounting another blockade on the Gaza Strip.
At the time, they described the warning as affecting the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Arabian Sea.
Trump said the Houthis had indicated to U.S. officials that "they don't want to fight anymore. They just don't want to fight. And we will honor that, and we will stop the bombings."
His announcement came the same day that Israel's military launched airstrikes against the Houthis that it said fully disabled the international airport in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. Israel's attacks were its second round of airstrikes on targets in Yemen in retaliation for a Houthi missile strike Sunday on Israel's international airport.
A U.S. official said the administration had not notified Israel of the agreement with the Houthis before Trump talked about it publicly.
Israel, according to this official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic talks, was irked by the unexpected news — particularly because the Houthis have continued to launch attacks on Israel proper and other Israeli targets.
Israel does not appear to be covered by the U.S.-Houthi agreement.
Appearing before reporters again later Tuesday, this time for the swearing-in of senior adviser and special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump was asked about the possibility that the Houthis would continue to attack Israel and responded, "I don't know about that, frankly."
"But I know one thing, they want nothing to do with us," Trump said. "And they've let that be known through all of their surrogates and very strongly."
## Trump calls ending airstrikes 'positive'
In his comments during the earlier meeting with Carney, Trump said the Houthis had "capitulated but, more importantly, we will take their word that they say they will not be blowing up ships anymore. And that's what the purpose of what we were doing."
"I think that's very positive," Trump added. "They were knocking out a lot of ships."
Asked how the Houthis had communicated that they were looking to stop being targeted by U.S. bombs, Trump offered few details, saying only with a chuckle that the information came from a "very good source."
Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, confirmed that the U.S. bombing campaign was ending, posting on X that discussions involving the U.S. and Oman, as well as negotiators in Yemen, "have resulted in a ceasefire agreement between the two sides."
"In the future, neither side will target the other, including American vessels, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping," he wrote, calling the agreement a "welcome outcome."
In a statement, the Houthis said that its position toward Gaza hadn't changed and its "initial understanding" with the U.S. would not impact its support for the Palestinians. It wasn't clear in the statement whether it was on board with the agreement with the U.S.
## Costs of U.S. operation against the Houthis
The costs of the U.S. munitions used against Houthi rebel targets in Yemen in daily attacks since March 15 have totaled more than $750 million, another U.S. official said. The Trump administration has dropped more than 2,000 munitions on more than 1,000 targets, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide additional details on the strikes.
The total is only a fraction of the total costs of the operation. It doesn't account for the costs of operating two aircraft carriers, their accompanying warships or the flight hours of the aircraft.
It also doesn't include the Houthis destroying seven U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones, at a cost of more than $30 million apiece, or the loss of an F/A-18 fighter jet and tug from the carrier USS Harry S. Truman when it maneuvered to avoid a Houthi missile and the jet fell off the carrier.
Despite Trump's framing of the deal as a way to reopen the Red Sea to commercial shipping without fear of Houthi attack, "the Houthis have not fired on a commercial ship since December," Gregory Brew, a senior analyst with the Eurasia Group risk-analysis firm, said on X.
"They are likely, however, to continue shooting at Israel," Brew noted.
"As to the Houthis continuing to attack Israel - they do so at Iran's own peril," Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on social media.
## Houthi attacks on shipping
The Houthis had been waging persistent missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group's leadership has described as an effort to end Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
From November 2023 until January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually.
The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the U.S. launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March.
Those strikes Trump had ordered were similar to ones carried out against the Houthis multiple times by the administration of his predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden.
The Trump administration actions gained a higher profile in the public consciousness when The Atlantic revealed that Hegseth had texted sensitive plans for a military strike against the Houthis on a group chat in the messaging app Signal that mistakenly included the magazine's editor-in-chief.
Trump stood by Hegseth and downplayed the breach as a "glitch." But national security adviser Mike Waltz, who created the group chat on Signal, left his post last week and has been nominated by Trump to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
___
Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, Tara Copp and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-09 03:35:03+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Sonia Sotomayor",
"John Roberts",
"Supreme Court of the United States",
"Diversity",
"equity and inclusion",
"Courts",
"Politics",
"Sexual assault",
"Executive orders"
] |
# Sotomayor says lawyers should stand up and fight
By Lindsay Whitehurst
May 9th, 2025, 03:35 AM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Thursday that lawyers should stand up and fight in battles faced by the nation's legal system, comments that come amid attacks on federal judges and President Donald Trump's targeting of elite law firms in executive orders.
"Our job is to stand up for people who can't do it themselves. And our job is to be the champion of lost causes," she said. "But right now, we can't lose the battles we are facing. And we need trained and passionate and committed lawyers to fight this fight."
Sotomayor didn't mention the president as she spoke at an event in the nation's capital hosted by a section of the American Bar Association, which has also been targeted by Trump.
The liberal justice's remarks come a day after conservative Chief Justice John Roberts defended judicial independence as necessary to "check the excesses of the Congress or the executive" at an appearance in Buffalo, New York.
Last week, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson forcefully condemned attacks on judges in her own speech. She did not mention Trump by name, but called the threats and harassment "an attack on democracy."
The nation's highest court is weighing a growing number of emergency appeals from the Trump administration as his sweeping conservative agenda faces pushback in lower courts.
The president and his allies have railed at judges who have blocked parts of Trump's agenda, sometimes with highly personal attacks. Trump has also targeted elite law firms over work he disagrees with, leading some to fight back in court and others to strike deals with him.
The ABA has sued Trump over federal grant terminations and Trump has threatened the organization's role in accrediting law schools over its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-03 11:16:14+00:00
|
[
"Sheikh Hasina",
"Bangladesh",
"Womens rights",
"Islam",
"South Asia",
"Religion",
"Bangladesh government",
"Politics"
] |
# Thousands of Islamists rally in Bangladesh against proposed changes to women's rights
May 3rd, 2025, 11:16 AM
---
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Thousands of supporters of an Islamist group rallied in Bangladesh's capital on Saturday to denounce proposed recommendations for ensuring equal rights, including ones related to property, for mainly Muslim women.
Leaders of the Hefazat-e-Islam group said the proposed legal reforms are contradictory to the Sharia law. More than 20,000 followers of the group rallied near the Dhaka University, some carrying banners and placards reading "Say no to Western laws on our women, rise up Bangladesh."
The group threatened to organize rallies on May 23 across the country if the government didn't meet their demands.
Mamunul Haque, a leader of the group, demanded that the interim government's reforms commission be abolished and its members punished for the proposed changes. He said they hurt "the sentiments of the majority of the people of this country" by labeling the religious laws of inheritance as the main cause of inequality between men and women.
The group's leaders also demanded that the interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad punus ban the Awami League party led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August. Hasina's opponents accuse her government of killing hundreds of students and others during the uprising that ended her 15-year rule. Hasina has been in exile in India since her ouster.
Islamist groups in Bangladesh have increased their visibility since Hasina's ouster, and minority groups have complained of being intimidated.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-16 16:21:27+00:00
|
[
"Guy Ritchie",
"Paul Reubens",
"Joe Jonas",
"Natalie Portman",
"Nicole Kidman",
"John Krasinski",
"Gia Coppola",
"Pamela Anderson",
"Stanley Tucci",
"Reese Witherspoon",
"Lou Kesten",
"Alicia Rancilio",
"Movies",
"Music",
"Documentaries",
"The Stream",
"Dave Bautista",
"Arts and entertainment",
"King Princess",
"Technology",
"Henry Golding",
"Associated Press",
"Lifestyle",
"Nathalie Kelley",
"Murray Bartlett",
"Annie Murphy",
"Domhnall Gleeson",
"Melissa Collazo",
"Christine Baranski",
"Michael Cimino",
"Matt Wolf",
"Maria Sherman",
"Eugene McQuacklin",
"Reggae",
"Wellness",
"Jake Coyle",
"Ryan Phillippe",
"Dave Casper",
"Entertainment"
] |
# Streaming in May 2025: Joe Jonas and Nicole Kidman
By The Associated Press
May 16th, 2025, 04:21 PM
---
NEW YORK (AP) — Joe Jonas' sophomore solo album Work It Out" and John Krasinski and Natalie Portman searching for immortality in Guy Ritchie's adventure movie "Fountain of Youth" are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time, as selected by The Associated Press' entertainment journalists: Paul Reubens shines in the documentary "Pee-wee as Himself," Nicole Kidman returns as a shady wellness guru in "Nine Perfect Strangers" and Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping offers gamers a chance to test their de-duck-tive skills.
## New movies to stream from May 19-25
— Matt Wolf's two-part documentary "Pee-wee as Himself" (out Friday, May 23 on Max and HBO) is one of the most intimate portraits of Paul Reubens, the man many know as Pee-wee Herman. Wolf crafted his film from some 40 hours of interviews conducted with Reubens before he died of cancer in 2023. In "Pee-wee as Himself," Reubens discusses the ups and downs of his career, how he crafted the Pee-wee persona and how it came to dwarf his own self.
— Guy Ritchie's adventure movie "Fountain of Youth" (Friday, May 23 on Apple TV+) stars John Krasinski and Natalie Portman as a pair of siblings hunting for the fabled Fountain of Youth. The film, which also stars Eiza González, Domhnall Gleeson and Stanley Tucci, is the latest from the fast-working Ritchie, whose recent films include 2024's "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" and 2023's "The Covenant."
– Last fall, "The Last Showgirl" (out Friday, May 23 on Hulu) proved a poignant showcase for Pamela Anderson, long after her "Baywatch" heyday. In Gia Coppola's indie drama, she plays a Las Vegas performer in the twilight of her career. Dave Bautista co-stars.
— Film Writer Jake Coyle
## New music to stream from May 19-25
— In the first single released from Joe Jonas' forthcoming sophomore solo album, "Work It Out," the boy band brother breaks the fourth wall in the third person. "Come on, Joe, you got so much more to be grateful for," he sings in a rare moment of pop candor. His characteristic cheekiness soon follows. "Even baddies get saddies and that's the hardest truth," he sings atop cheery pop-synth. The album, titled "Music For People Who Believe In Love" promises more alt-pop – with country and rock flair thrown in for good measure.
— Good news for cool people with interesting taste: the Anglo-French avant-pop band Stereolab returns with their first new album in 15 years, since 2010's "Not Music" arrived after the group announced an indefinite hiatus. That came to an end in 2019, when Stereolab announced remastered reissues, tour dates and a set at Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona. The latest news arrives in the form of this new album, titled "Instant Holograms on Metal Film," and it sounds as if no time has passed.
— Pachyman, the Puerto Rican-born, Los Angeles-based musician Pachy Garcia, has charmed audiences with his vintage gear and deep appreciation for dub reggae. That continues on his fifth album, "Another Place," out Friday, with its dreamy, psychedelic indie. It's the kind of stuff that would be at least partially labeled "vaporwave" or "chillwave" a few years ago. Now, it's a kaleidoscope of influences only Pachyman could put together in such a fluid package.
— Music Writer Maria Sherman
## New television to stream from May 19-15
— With hits like "Maxton Hall" and "The Summer I Turned Pretty," Prime Video is investing in its YA content. In the new series "Motorheads," a mother (Nathalie Kelley) returns to her blue-collar hometown with her teenage twins (played by Michael Cimino of "Love, Victor" and Melissa Collazo.) They move in with their uncle (Ryan Phillippe) who is haunted by the disappearance of his younger brother. Fun fact: Phillippe's son, Deacon, with Reese Witherspoon, plays that younger brother in flashback scenes. Besides the expected coming-of-age storyline about first love and fitting in at school, there's also a greater mystery at play, plus street racing! It premieres Tuesday.
— At the end of season one of Hulu's "Nine Perfect Strangers," we saw Nicole Kidman's Russian wellness guru, Masha, high tailing it out of town after her unorthodox practices included sneaking psychedelics into her patients' smoothies. In season 2, debuting Wednesday, Masha has relocated to the Austrian Alps with two new business partners and they're welcoming a new group of people to a retreat. "I invited you all here because sometimes you shouldn't deal with pain gently," Masha says in the trailer. The cast includes Annie Murphy, Christine Baranski, Murray Bartlett, Henry Golding, Dolly de Leon and musician King Princess in her first acting role.
— Alicia Rancilio
## New video games to play week of May 19-25
— Winston Green, a high-strung courier in small-town America in the late 1950s, has one motto: Deliver At All Costs. If that means wrecking other cars or plowing through buildings, so be it. And as the cargo gets weirder — judging from the screenshots, UFOs may be involved — Winston "spirals downward into the depths of insanity." The result, from Swedish studio Far Out Games by way of Konami, looks somewhat like the original Grand Theft Auto with a retro "Happy Days" glow. Hit the gas Thursday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.
— Duck Detective: The Secret Salami was once of last year's cleverest surprises, introducing us to down-on-his-luck gumshoe Eugene McQuacklin in an animal-world parody of film noir. My only complaint was that it was just a few hours long — but the good news is that Germany's Happy Broccoli Games is already back on the case with Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping. This time, McQuacklin investigates a mystery at a luxury campsite. If you enjoy brain-teasers, another chance to test your de-duck-tive skills arrives Thursday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch and PC.
— Lou Kesten
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-08 05:01:41+00:00
|
[
"India",
"India government",
"Pakistan",
"Lahore",
"Pakistan government",
"Shesh Paul Vaid",
"Marco Rubio",
"Fires",
"Military and defense",
"Drones",
"War and unrest",
"South Asia",
"Mohammad Iftikhar",
"Hinduism",
"Power outages",
"Mohammad Rizwan",
"Ahmad Sharif",
"Vikram Misri"
] |
# India and Pakistan trade fire and accusations as fears of a wider military confrontation rise
By Babar Dogar, Munir Ahmed, Sheikh Saaliq, and Aijaz Hussain
May 8th, 2025, 05:01 AM
---
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — India fired attack drones into Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least two civilians, the Pakistani military said. India, meanwhile, accused its neighbor of attempting its own attack, as tensions soared between the nuclear-armed rivals.
India acknowledged that it targeted Pakistan's air defense system, and Islamabad said it shot down several of the drones. India said it "neutralized" Pakistan's attempts to hit military targets. It was not possible to verify all of the claims.
The exchanges came a day after Indian missiles struck several locations in Pakistan, killing 31 civilians, according to Pakistani officials. New Delhi said it was retaliating after gunmen killed more than two dozen people, mostly Hindu tourists, in India-controlled Kashmir last month. India accused Pakistan of being behind the assault. Islamabad denies that.
Both sides have also traded heavy fire across their frontier in disputed Kashmir, and Pakistan claimed it killed scores of Indian soldiers. There was no confirmation from India.
Late Thursday, in Indian-controlled Kashmir, residents of the city of Jammu reported explosions and sirens, followed by a blackout.
India's Headquarters of the Integrated Defence Staff, a central coordinating arm for all Indian armed forces, said military stations in Jammu, Udhampur and Pathankot were targeted by Pakistan using missiles and drones. It said the attacks were repelled and no casualties were reported.
Shesh Paul Vaid, the region's former director-general of police, told The Associated Press that the Jammu Airport likely was also under attack and that some of the 50 loud explosions he heard likely were because "our defense system is at work."
Jammu and Udhampur are close to the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan. Pathankot is in India's Punjab state.
Sirens were also heard in some parts of the region's main city of Srinagar, residents said. It was followed by a blackout in the city and other parts of the region.
Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement rejected the Indian claims that Pakistan launched attacks on Pathankot, Jaisalmer and Srinagar, saying "these claims are entirely unfounded, politically motivated, and part of a reckless propaganda campaign aimed at maligning Pakistan".
It added that "such actions not only further endanger regional peace but also reveal a disturbing willingness to exploit misinformation for political and military ends".
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has vowed to avenge the deaths in India's missile strikes, raising fears that the two countries could be headed toward another all-out conflict. Leaders from both nations face mounting public pressure to show strength and seek revenge, and the heated rhetoric and competing claims could be a response to that pressure.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke Thursday to the Pakistani prime minister and India's External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, urging both sides to de-escalate the situation, the U.S. State Department said.
The relationship between countries has been shaped by conflict and mutual suspicion, most notably in their dispute over Kashmir. They have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region, which is split between them and claimed by both in its entirety.
With tensions high, India evacuated thousands of people from villages near the highly militarized frontier in the region. Tens of thousands of people slept in shelters overnight, officials and residents said Thursday.
About 2,000 villagers also fled their homes in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
Mohammad Iftikhar boarded a vehicle with his family on Thursday as heavy rain lashed the region. "I am helplessly leaving my home for the safety of my children and wife," he said.
## India fires drones at Pakistan
India fired several Israeli-made Harop drones at Pakistan overnight and into Thursday afternoon, according to Pakistani army spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif, who said 29 were shot down. Two civilians were killed and another wounded when debris from a downed drone fell in Sindh province.
One drone damaged a military site near the city of Lahore and wounded four soldiers, and another fell in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near the capital, according to Sharif. "The armed forces are neutralizing them as we speak," he told state-run Pakistan Television.
In Lahore, local police official Mohammad Rizwan said a drone was downed near Walton Airport, an airfield in a residential area about 25 kilometers (16 miles) from the border with India that also contains military installations.
India's Defense Ministry said its armed forces "targeted air defense radars and systems" in several places in Pakistan, including Lahore.
## Blackout in Gurdaspur district
New Delhi, meanwhile, accused Pakistan of attempting "to engage a number of military targets" with missiles and drones along the Line of Control that divides Kashmir and elsewhere along their border. "The debris of these attacks is now being recovered from a number of locations," it said.
At a news briefing, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday rejected India's claim that Islamabad carried out any attack in Indian Punjab. "These accusations are an attempt to incite anti-Pakistan sentiment among the Punjabi Sikh population in India," he said.
Seated alongside Dar, the military spokesperson, Sharif said Pakistan shot down 29 Indian drones after they violated its airspace.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told parliament that so far Pakistan has not responded to India's missiles attacks, but there will be one. Later Thursday, Indian authorities ordered a night-time blackout in Punjab's Gurdaspur district, which borders Pakistan.
The Harop drone, produced by Israel's IAI, is one of several in India's inventory, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance report.
According to IAI, the Harop combines the capabilities of a drone and a missile and can operate at long ranges.
The two sides have also exchanged heavy fire over the past day.
Tarar said that the country's armed forces have killed 40 to 50 Indian soldiers in the exchanges along the Line of Control. India has not commented on that claim. Earlier, the army said one Indian soldier was killed by shelling Wednesday.
## Sikh Temple in Kashmir
Tarar denied Indian accusations that Pakistan had fired missiles toward the Indian city of Amritsar, saying in fact an Indian drone fell in the city. Neither claim could be confirmed.
India's Foreign Ministry has said that 16 civilians were killed Wednesday during exchanges of fire across the de facto border.
Pakistani officials said six people have been killed near the highly militarized frontier in exchanges of fire over the past day.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri denied that New Delhi has targeted civilians and a key dam, as Pakistan has alleged. He, in turn, accused Pakistani forces of targeting civilians, including at a Sikh Temple in Kashmir, where he said three Sikhs were killed.
Flights remained suspended at over two dozen airports across northern and western regions in India, according to travel advisories by multiple airlines. Pakistan resumed flights nationwide after a suspension at four airports, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.
___
Ahmed reported from Islamabad; Saaliq reported from New Delhi and Hussain reported from Srinagar, India. Associated Press writers Rajesh Roy in New Delhi, and Ishfaq Hussain and Roshan Mughal in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-07 03:01:25+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Afghanistan",
"Qatar",
"Shawn VanDiver",
"Political refugees",
"United States government",
"Pakistan government",
"Afghanistan government",
"Government and politics",
"Taliban",
"U.S. Department of State",
"Politics"
] |
# After Trump order, Afghan refugees stuck in Qatar wait for a way forward
By Rebecca Santana and Farnoush Amiri
May 7th, 2025, 03:01 AM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — Negina Khalili's family sold their house and possessions in Afghanistan and flew to a U.S. base in Qatar in January, preparing for the last step in emigrating to America. Thirteen days later, the Trump administration took office — and suspended the refugee program that would have let them in.
Now they are among a small group of Afghans who advocates say are waiting at a camp in Qatar for permission to one day come to America.
"If they send them back to Afghanistan," Khalili said, "that will be a huge risk for my family."
When President Donald Trump returned to the White House, among the numerous immigration-related executive orders he signed was one suspending the country's refugee program. Thousands of people around the world suddenly found their path cut off — people who had been hoping to emigrate to America through a program that over decades has helped people fleeing war, persecution and strife to come to the United States.
Now they wait and hope.
## For those waiting in Qatar, clarity fades
For a small group of Afghans in Qatar, it was especially jarring. They had traveled there before Trump took office, then found themselves stuck with little clarity on what would happen to them in the future, advocates and sources familiar with the situation say.
Shawn VanDiver, the head of #AfghanEvac, an advocacy group that works to help Afghans who offered assistance during America's two-decade-long war in Afghanistan emigrate to America, said about 1,200 Afghan refugees are at the base in Qatar. That figure was confirmed by a State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
"We brought them there. And it's on us to figure out what to do with them next. The only right answer is to follow through on what was promised," VanDiver said.
When the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the U.S. airlifted out tens of thousands of Afghans who'd supported the American efforts. It was a chaotic withdrawal: Desperate Afghans thronged Kabul's airport hoping for a way out. In the years that followed, as the issue fell from the headlines, the Biden administration continued to relocate tens of thousands of Afghans right up until Biden left office.
There are two main ways Afghans can emigrate to America. The classic example is the military translator who worked directly for the U.S. government and qualifies for the special immigrant visa. Afghans who don't meet those guidelines but who assisted America's efforts in Afghanistan and are at risk for it can be referred to refugee programs.
They usually come to the United States through a network of "lilypads" set up under the Biden administration in a few countries around the world. Afghans who passed key steps in a lengthy process to emigrate would travel to these "lilypads" to finish their processing and eventually journey onward to the United States.
In Qatar, they're housed in a former U.S. military base now run by the State Department. They can't go off the base unless escorted by a U.S. official.
## Many refugees are now shut out
Since Trump returned to office, Afghans can still come through the special immigrant visa process, although they have to pay their own way or get help. But Afghan refugees have been shut out after Trump suspended the program. In Qatar, that has meant waiting and worrying. Similar concerns are playing out in Pakistan, where the Pakistani government has been aggressively pushing Afghan refugees to return home.
One of those in Qatar is Saliha. She's an Afghan lawyer and part of a generation of women who grew up after the U.S. invasion. These women could go to school and college, and get jobs that took them out into the world.
She opened her own law firm and helped abused women get divorces. After the Taliban retook control, she and her family went into hiding, and she was referred to the refugee program two years ago. Around that time, the Taliban had been going around to her father's house, trying to find her and saying: "Your daughter helped our wives leave us." Saliha gave only her first name out of concern for her safety if she and her family were to return to Afghanistan.
She and her family arrived in the Qatar camp in January, hopeful they'd soon be in America. Then came the refugee program suspension.
Saliha said there are classes for the Afghan children, and a park where the kids can play. The men go to the gym together and play soccer; the women often gather to socialize.
She tries to be positive, although she's heard about other Afghans whose resettlement applications were denied and were given a month to leave the base. That hasn't happened to her and her family, and she says they're well-treated. But as they wait for progress, she's worried.
"We worked hard and sacrificed a lot. We did nothing wrong," Saliha said. "Our only sin is helping the women of Afghanistan, defend women who had been abused and raped."
## The program is suspended indefinitely, for now
It's not clear if the Trump administration will resume the refugee program. Right now, it's suspended indefinitely. Trump requested a report looking at whether to resume it, but those results haven't been made public.
Advocates for the Afghan refugees stress how much vetting they go through before actually getting to America, and what they did to contribute to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. VanDiver said within that group of 1,200 in Qatar are 200 relatives of U.S. service members.
Groups that help to resettle refugees have sued to restart the refugee program. An appeals court said the government was within its authority to suspend it, but that a small subset of already-approved refugees should be allowed in.
The administration argued that the already-approved number amounted to only about 160 people worldwide. But Monday, a judge put the number at roughly 12,000 and ordered the government to admit them. It's not clear how many Afghans are included in this group or how quickly the government will move to comply.
In a statement, the State Department said it was "actively considering the future of our Afghan relocation program" as well as the office specifically tasked with coordinating Afghan relocation efforts.
"No final decisions have been made," the department said. It also said it continues to provide support to "Afghan allies and partners" overseas.
In the meantime, Afghans trying to get to the United States — and those waiting for them here — wait and worry.
Khalili, a former prosecutor in Afghanistan, fled in the 2021 withdrawal. She worries about what will happen to her father, brother and stepmother and whether they'll be forced back to Afghanistan. They message back and forth daily.
"They are facing a lot of depression and they don't know what will happen," she said. "Every day, I am thinking about my family."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 08:12:06+00:00
|
[
"Pope Francis",
"Rome",
"Papal conclave",
"Lifestyle",
"Vatican City",
"Lorenzo Gammarelli",
"Pope Benedict XVI",
"Religion"
] |
# Who will tailor the pope's robes outfits
By Bernat Armangué, Gregorio Borgia, and Francisco Seco
May 1st, 2025, 08:12 AM
---
ROME, Italy (AP) —
As cardinals gather in Rome for the start next week of the conclave, where they will vote for the successor to Pope Francis, two longtime papal tailors are also pondering the transition.
There are no clear frontrunners for pontiffs — unsurprisingly, given the secretive nature of a process that is supposed to be more about inspiration from the Holy Spirit than politicking.
And the tailors said they haven't received orders yet to make different-sized cassocks.
Raniero Mancinelli, who's been working on papal vestments since the early 1960s, said he's prepped three robes — sizes small, medium and large — to donate to the Vatican anyway.
He recalled that the very quality of the fabric depends on a pope's preference.
"Francis preferred things that were much simpler and practical," Mancinelli said inside his shop, just down the street from one of the Vatican's main entrance gates. "Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) liked slightly more choice fabrics."
Lorenzo Gammarelli, the sixth-generation owner of an ecclesiastical tailor shop in downtown Rome, recalled the family lore that when John XXII was elected, the cassock was too small.
"So they had to intervene in the background, use pins to take it out so he could appear on the balcony," Gammarelli said.
___
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 20:12:13+00:00
|
[
"South Dakota",
"Iowa",
"Kim Reynolds",
"Voting",
"Sabrina Zenor",
"Business",
"Government budgets",
"Jack Whitver",
"Politics",
"Kevin Alons",
"Climate and environment",
"Iowa state government",
"Steven Holt",
"U.S. Republican Party",
"Climate"
] |
# Midwest carbon dioxide pipeline could face new hurdle as some Iowa lawmakers question eminent domain
By Hannah Fingerhut
May 1st, 2025, 08:12 PM
---
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A proposed carbon-capture pipeline that would traverse through several Midwestern states could face more hurdles in Iowa as a dozen Republican state senators try to force the issue to a vote.
Summit Carbon Solutions already will likely have to readjust plans for their estimated $8.9 billion, 2,500-mile (4,023-kilometer) project after South Dakota's governor signed a ban on the use of eminent domain — the government seizure of private property with compensation — to acquire land for carbon dioxide pipelines.
Now, after several proposals advanced through the Republican-controlled Iowa House, 12 GOP state senators have told their Republican leaders that they will not vote on any budget, which the Legislature is constitutionally required to approve, until they bring a pipeline bill to the floor.
"The people of South Dakota emphatically stated that eminent domain will never be granted for this pipeline to cross South Dakota, and it is past time for lowa to do the same," the senators wrote in a joint letter, saying they believe "addressing eminent domain is more important than the budget or any other priority for the 2025 session."
It's unclear if the demands will be met or what a measure that passes the full chamber would look like, given the wide range of views on the issue among the 34 Senate Republicans, who hold a supermajority in the chamber.
The proposed 2,500-mile pipeline would carry carbon emissions from ethanol plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota to be stored underground permanently in North Dakota.
By lowering carbon emissions from the plants, the pipeline would lower their carbon intensity scores and make them more competitive in the renewable fuels market. The project would also allow ethanol producers and Summit to tap into federal tax credits.
The project received permit approvals in Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota, but it does face various court challenges, and its application was rejected in South Dakota last month.
"Summit Carbon Solutions has invested four years and nearly $175 million on voluntary agreements in Iowa, signing agreements with more than 1,300 landowners and securing 75% of the Phase One route," Summit spokesperson Sabrina Zenor said in a statement. "We are committed to building this project, committed to Iowa, and remain focused on working with legislators — including those with concerns."
Some Midwest farmers, despite loyalty to the ethanol industry, have voiced strong opposition to the pipeline since its inception, objecting to its presence on or near their land and questioning the safety of having the pipeline in their backyards.
Then, a slew of eminent domain legal actions in South Dakota to obtain land provoked a groundswell of opposition in the state, sending the issue to the governor's desk. Lee Enterprises and The Associated Press reviewed hundreds of cases, revealing the great legal lengths the company went to get the project built.
Iowa state Sen. Kevin Alons said the senators who are forcing the issue want an amendment to the bill that mimics South Dakota's new law, but it remains to be seen what provisions, if any, would be included in a final version or whether Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds would give it her signature.
"A number of Republican Senators are working on policy surrounding eminent domain and pipeline issues and I am optimistic we will find a legislative solution," Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver said in a statement.
The Iowa House has sent several proposals to the Senate. During debate on the House floor, state Rep. Steven Holt expressed plenty of disappointment that the Senate had not taken up the issue in the past.
"Regardless of whether the Senate's gonna pass it or not, we're going to fight for it here because it's the right thing to do," Holt said.
"You chose to try to trample on the rights of citizens of Iowa and South Dakota," he added of Summit, "and now the chickens are coming home to roost."
___
Associated Press reporters Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota, and Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-15 14:27:40+00:00
|
[
"New Jersey",
"Phil Murphy",
"Newark",
"Transportation",
"Kris Kolluri",
"Strikes",
"New Jersey Transit",
"New York City Wire",
"Shakira",
"Business",
"Tom Haas"
] |
# New Jersey Transit strike leaves 350,000 commuters in the lurch
By Bruce Shipkowski
May 15th, 2025, 02:27 PM
---
New Jersey Transit train engineers went on strike Friday, leaving an estimated 100,000 commuters in New Jersey and New York City to seek other means to reach their destinations or consider staying home.
The walkout comes after the latest round of negotiations on Thursday didn't produce an agreement. It is the state's first transit strike in more than 40 years and comes a month after union members overwhelmingly rejected a labor agreement with management.
"We presented them the last proposal; they rejected it and walked away with two hours left on the clock," said Tom Haas, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.
NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri described the situation as a "pause in the conversations."
"I certainly expect to pick back up these conversations as soon as possible," he said late Thursday during a joint news conference with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. "If they're willing to meet tonight, I'll meet them again tonight. If they want to meet tomorrow morning, I'll do it again. Because I think this is an imminently workable problem. The question is, do they have the willingness to come to a solution."
Murphy said it was important to "reach a final deal that is both fair to employees and at the same time affordable to New Jersey's commuters and taxpayers."
"Again, we cannot ignore the agency's fiscal realities," Murphy said.
The announcement came after 15 hours of non-stop contract talks, according to the union. Picket lines are expected to start at 4 a.m. Friday.
NJ Transit — the nation's third-largest transit system — operates buses and rail in the state, providing nearly 1 million weekday trips, including into New York City. The walkout halts all NJ Transit commuter trains, which provide heavily used public transit routes between New York City's Penn Station on one side of the Hudson River and communities in northern New Jersey on the other, as well as the Newark airport, which has grappled with unrelated delays of its own recently.
The agency had announced contingency plans in recent days, saying it planned to increase bus service, but warned riders that the buses would only add "very limited" capacity to existing New York commuter bus routes in close proximity to rail stations and would not start running until Monday. The agency also will contract with private carriers to operate bus service from key regional park-and-ride locations during weekday peak periods.
However, the agency noted that the buses would not be able to handle close to the same number of passengers — only about 20% of current rail customers — so it urged people who could work from home to do so if there was a strike.
Even the threat of it had already caused travel disruptions. Amid the uncertainty, the transit agency canceled train and bus service for Shakira concerts Thursday and Friday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
The parties met Monday with a federal mediation board in Washington to discuss the matter, and a mediator was present during Thursday's talks. Kolluri said Thursday night that the mediation board has suggested a Sunday morning meeting to resume talks.
Wages have been the main sticking point of the negotiations between the agency and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen that wants to see its members earn wages comparable to other passenger railroads in the area. The union says its members earn an average salary of $113,000 a year and says an agreement could be reached if agency CEO Kris Kolluri agrees to an average yearly salary of $170,000.
NJ Transit leadership, though, disputes the union's data, saying the engineers have average total earnings of $135,000 annually, with the highest earners exceeding $200,000.
Kolluri and Murphy said Thursday night that the problem isn't so much whether both sides can agree to a wage increase, but whether they can do so under terms that wouldn't then trigger other unions to demand similar increases and create a financially unfeasible situation for NJ Transit.
Congress has the power to intervene and block the strike and force the union to accept a deal, but lawmakers have not shown a willingness to do that this time like they did in 2022 to prevent a national freight railroad strike.
The union has seen steady attrition in its ranks at NJ Transit as more of its members leave to take better-paying jobs at other railroads. The number of NJ Transit engineers has shrunk from 500 several months ago to about 450 today.
___
Associated Press reporters Hallie Golden in Seattle and Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.
—-
This story has been updated to correct the daily affected ridership to 100,000 instead of 350,000.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-07 07:07:19+00:00
|
[
"Federal Reserve System",
"Financial markets",
"Economy",
"Economic policy",
"International trade",
"Switzerland",
"Finance Business",
"Tariffs and global trade",
"Stocks and bonds",
"Financial services",
"Donald Trump",
"Business",
"FinancialBusiness",
"United States",
"The Walt Disney Co."
] |
# Wall Street climbs in choppy trading after Fed warns of rising risks for economy, holds rates steady
By Damian J. Troise and Stan Choe
May 7th, 2025, 07:07 AM
---
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks ticked higher Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left its main interest alone, as was widely expected, but also warned about rising risks for the U.S. economy.
The S&P 500 gained 0.4%, coming off a two-day losing streak that had snapped its nine-day winning run. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 284 points, or 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%.
Indexes swiveled repeatedly through the day, and the Dow briefly climbed as many as 400 points on hopes that the United States and China may be making the first moves toward a trade deal that could protect the global economy. The world's two largest economies have been placing ever-increasing tariffs on products coming from each other in an escalating trade war, and the fear is that they could cause a recession unless they allow trade to move more freely.
The announcement for high-level talks between U.S. and Chinese officials this weekend in Switzerland helped raise optimism, but some of that washed away after President Donald Trump said he would not reduce his 145% tariffs on Chinese goods as a condition for negotiations. China has made the de-escalation of the tariffs a requirement for trade negotiations, which the meetings are supposed to help establish.
Such on-and-off uncertainty surrounding tariffs has helped create sharp swings within the U.S. economy, including a rush of imports in the hopes of beating tariffs. Underneath those swings, as well as surveys showing U.S. households are growing much more pessimistic about the future, the Fed said it continues to see the economy running "at a solid pace" at the moment.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that gives the central bank time to wait before making any potential moves on interest rates, even if Trump has been lobbying for quicker cuts to juice the economy.
"There's so much that we don't know," Powell said. So like the rest of Wall Street and the world, the Fed is waiting to see what will actually end up happening in Trump's trade war and whether his tariffs, which were much stiffer than expected, will hit as proposed.
That's particularly the case after the trade war seems to be entering "a new phase," Powell said, where the United States is conducting more talks on trade with other countries.
To be sure, the Fed also said it appreciates that risks to the economy are rising because of tariffs, which could both weaken the job market and push inflation higher.
"If the large increases in tariffs that have been announced are sustained, they are likely to generate a rise in inflation, a slowdown in economic growth and an increase in unemployment," Powell said.
That could ultimately put the Fed in a worst-case scenario called "stagflation," where the economy is stagnating while inflation remains high. Such a combination is hated because the Fed has no good tools to fix it. If the Fed were to try to cut interest rates to bolster the economy and job market, for example, it could raise inflation further. Raising rates would have the opposite effect.
In the meantime, big U.S. companies continue to produce fatter profits for the start of 2025 than analysts expected.
The Walt Disney Co. jumped 10.8% after easily beating analysts' profit targets, raising its profit forecast and adding more than a million streaming subscribers.
Companies, though, are also continuing to warn about how uncertainty in the economy is making it more difficult for them to forecast their own finances.
Chipmaker Marvell Technology slumped 8% after it postponed its investor day from June to an undetermined date because of uncertainty over the economy.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 24.37 points to 5,631.28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 284.97 points to 41,113.97, and the Nasdaq composite gained 48.50 to 17,738.16.
In the bond market, Treasury yields fell following the Fed's announcement. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.27% from 4.30% late Tuesday.
Markets in Europe mostly lost ground, while markets in Asia rose. Indexes rose 0.1% in Hong Kong and 0.8% in Shanghai after Beijing rolled out interest rate cuts and other moves to help support the Chinese economy and markets as higher tariffs ordered by Trump hit the country's exports.
___
AP business writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-09 16:14:23+00:00
|
[
"Harvey Weinstein",
"Mike Cibella",
"Kaja Sokola",
"Assault",
"Teens",
"Indictments",
"New York City Wire",
"Sexual assault",
"New York",
"Crime",
"Sexual misconduct",
"Legal proceedings",
"Entertainment"
] |
# Harvey Weinstein's lawyers grill ex-model who says he sexually assaulted her in her teens
By Michael R. Sisak and Jennifer Peltz
May 9th, 2025, 04:14 PM
---
NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein 's lawyers sought Friday to raise doubts about an ex-model's allegation that he sexually assaulted her in her teens, portraying her as a wannabe actor who tried to leverage the former studio boss.
"You believed that if you had consensual sex with Mr. Weinstein, you'd get your foot in the door and become a movie star," defense lawyer Mike Cibella said.
"No, that's not what happened," Kaja Sokola responded. "I never had a consensual relation with Mr. Weinstein."
Throughout a day of questioning, Cibella sought to suggest that Sokola hadn't told the full story of her interactions with Weinstein. At one point, Cibella repeatedly asked whether she invited Weinstein up to a New York apartment — and into the bedroom — where she was staying in 2005. She denied it.
"I didn't want any shortcuts from Mr. Weinstein. I wanted him to be honest with me," Sokola testified at a later point, her voice growing heated.
She said the Oscar-winning producer promised to help her fulfill her acting ambitions but instead "broke my dreams, and he broke my self-esteem."
The Polish psychotherapist has accused Weinstein of repeatedly sexually abusing her when she was a teenage fashion model. Some of those allegations are beyond the legal time limit for criminal charges, but Weinstein faces a criminal sex act charge over Sokola's claim that he forced oral sex on her in 2006.
Prosecutors added the charge to the landmark #MeToo case last year, after an appeals court overturned Weinstein's 2020 conviction. The guilty verdict pertained to allegations from two other women, who also have testified or are expected at the retrial.
Weinstein, 73, has pleaded not guilty and denies ever sexually assaulting anyone.
The Polish-born Sokola, 39, had a jet-setting modeling career as a teen. She testified earlier this week that Weinstein exploited her youthful interest in an acting career to subject her to unwanted sexual advances, starting days after they met in 2002, while she was a 16-year-old on a modeling trip to New York.
She told jurors that four years later, when she was 19, Weinstein lured her to a hotel room by saying he had a script for her to see, then pinned her down on a bed and performed oral sex on her as she implored him not to.
Sokola never got a full-fledged role in a Weinstein movie, though he did arrange for her to be an extra in 2007's "The Nanny Diaries." Her scene ultimately got cut, she said.
His company also wrote her a recommendation letter to an acting school. She said she hadn't been able to afford it.
Sokola sued Weinstein several years ago over the alleged 2002 incident, and she ultimately received about $3.5 million in compensation. Her suits never mentioned the alleged 2006 assault. She testified Thursday that she'd had a tougher time coming to terms with it than she did with the alleged 2002 sex abuse.
Cibella underscored the omission, and he suggested that she sued to gain financial independence and be able to leave her now-estranged husband. On the contrary, she said, she was working two jobs and out-earning him.
Cibella also pointed to differences in some details of Sokola's testimony this week and what she told a grand jury last year, including the month of the alleged 2002 sexual abuse. The attorney further noted that Sokola is pursuing various legal pathways to stay in the U.S. long-term, and her involvement in the criminal case could help with one of them.
Sokola is expected to continue testifying next week.
The Associated Press generally does not name people who allege they have been sexually assaulted, but Sokola has given her permission to be identified.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-16 04:27:12+00:00
|
[
"Asylum",
"Donald Trump",
"Joe Biden",
"Political refugees",
"Immigration",
"San Diego",
"United States government",
"District of Columbia",
"Eritrea",
"California",
"United States",
"Trump lawsuits",
"Russia government",
"Barney Frank",
"Bella Mosselmans",
"Politics"
] |
# Asylum-seekers left in limbo after Trump's crackdown
By Tim Sullivan
May 16th, 2025, 04:27 AM
---
They arrive at the U.S. border from around the world: Eritrea, Guatemala, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ghana, Uzbekistan and so many other countries.
They come for asylum, insisting they face persecution for their religion, or sexuality or for supporting the wrong politicians.
For generations, they had been given the chance to make their case to U.S. authorities.
Not anymore.
"They didn't give us an ICE officer to talk to. They didn't give us an interview. No one asked me what happened," said a Russian election worker who sought asylum in the U.S. after he said he was caught with video recordings he made of vote rigging. On Feb. 26, he was deported to Costa Rica with his wife and young son.
On Jan. 20, just after being sworn in for a second term, President Donald Trump suspended the asylum system as part of his wide-ranging crackdown on illegal immigration, issuing a series of executive orders designed to stop what he called the "invasion" of the United States.
What asylum-seekers now find, according to lawyers, activists and immigrants, is a murky, ever-changing situation with few obvious rules, where people can be deported to countries they know nothing about after fleeting conversations with immigration officials while others languish in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
Attorneys who work frequently with asylum-seekers at the border say their phones have gone quiet since Trump took office. They suspect many who cross are immediately expelled without a chance at asylum or are detained to wait for screening under the U.N.'s convention against torture, which is harder to qualify for than asylum.
"I don't think it's completely clear to anyone what happens when people show up and ask for asylum," said Bella Mosselmans, director of the Global Strategic Litigation Council.
## Restrictions face challenges in court
A thicket of lawsuits, appeals and countersuits have filled the courts as the Trump administration faces off against activists who argue the sweeping restrictions illegally put people fleeing persecution in harm's way.
In a key legal battle, a federal judge is expected to rule on whether courts can review the administration's use of invasion claims to justify suspending asylum. There is no date set for that ruling.
The government says its declaration of an invasion is not subject to judicial oversight, at one point calling it "an unreviewable political question."
But rights groups fighting the asylum proclamation, led by the American Civil Liberties Union, called it "as unlawful as it is unprecedented" in the complaint filed in a Washington, D.C., federal court.
Illegal border crossings, which soared in the first years of President Joe Biden's administration, reaching nearly 10,000 arrests per day in late 2023, dropped significantly during his last year in office and plunged further after Trump returned to the White House.
Yet more than 200 people are still arrested daily for illegally crossing the southern U.S. border.
Some of those people are seeking asylum, though it's unclear if anyone knows how many.
Paulina Reyes-Perrariz, managing attorney for the San Diego office of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, said her office sometimes received 10 to 15 calls a day about asylum after Biden implemented asylum restrictions in 2024.
That number has dropped to almost nothing, with only a handful of total calls since Jan. 20.
Plus, she added, lawyers are unsure how to handle asylum cases.
"It's really difficult to consult and advise with individuals when we don't know what the process is," she said.
## Doing 'everything right'
None of this was expected by the Russian man, who asked not to be identified for fear of persecution if he returns to Russia.
"We felt betrayed," the 36-year-old told The Associated Press. "We did everything right."
The family had scrupulously followed the rules. They traveled to Mexico in May 2024, found a cheap place to rent near the border with California and waited nearly nine months for the chance to schedule an asylum interview.
On Jan. 14, they got word that their interview would be on Feb 2. On Jan. 20, the interview was canceled.
Moments after Trump took office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced it had scrubbed the system used to schedule asylum interviews and canceled tens of thousands of existing appointments.
There was no way to appeal.
The Russian family went to a San Diego border crossing to ask for asylum, where they were taken into custody, he said.
A few weeks later, they were among the immigrants who were handcuffed, shackled and flown to Costa Rica. Only the children were left unchained.
## Turning to other countries to hold deportees
The Trump administration has tried to accelerate deportations by turning countries like Costa Rica and Panama into "bridges," temporarily detaining deportees while they await return to their countries of origin or third countries.
Earlier this year, some 200 migrants were deported from the U.S. to Costa Rica and roughly 300 were sent to Panama.
To supporters of tighter immigration controls, the asylum system has always been rife with exaggerated claims by people not facing real dangers. In recent years, roughly one-third to half of asylum applications were approved by judges.
Even some politicians who see themselves as pro-immigration say the system faces too much abuse.
"People around the world have learned they can claim asylum and remain in the U.S. indefinitely to pursue their claims," retired U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, a longtime Democratic stalwart in Congress, wrote last year in the Wall Street Journal, defending Biden's tightening of asylum policies amid a flood of illegal immigration.
## An uncertain future
Many of the immigrants they arrived with have left the Costa Rican facility where they were first detained, but the Russian family has stayed. The man cannot imagine going back to Russia and has nowhere else to go.
He and his wife spend their days teaching Russian and a little English to their son. He organizes volleyball games to keep people busy.
He is not angry at the U.S. He understands the administration wanting to crack down on illegal immigration. But, he adds, he is in real danger. He followed the rules and can't understand why he didn't get a chance to plead his case.
He fights despair almost constantly, knowing that what he did in Russia brought his family to this place.
"I failed them," he said. "I think that every day: I failed them."
___
This story has been corrected to show that illegal border crossings peaked in late 2023, instead of late 2024.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-14 22:03:49+00:00
|
[
"Movies",
"Film Reviews",
"Entertainment",
"Associated Press",
"Kaitlyn Santa Juana",
"Adam B. Stein",
"Horror",
"Mary Poppins",
"Jocelyn Noveck"
] |
# 'Final Destination Bloodlines' review: Murderous mayhem, with some humor
By Jocelyn Noveck
May 14th, 2025, 10:03 PM
---
A blender. A lawn mower. A ceiling fan. A garden rake. A vending machine. An MRI scanner.
These mundane items are supposed to ease us through life, helping us eat, clean, keep cool, stay healthy. They're not supposed to be evil.
But in "Final Destination Bloodlines," as in the entire 25-year franchise, ordinary objects become fearsome tools of murderous mayhem. And they do it through intricate sequences akin to Rube Goldberg machines — those contraptions that make simple tasks complex through elaborate chain reactions. We doubt Goldberg intended for a nose ring to interact with a ceiling fan in quite the way seen here, but whatever.
There's some ingenious chaos cooked up here by co-directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, who said at the film's premiere this week that they hope people will be watching this, the franchises's sixth installment (and 14 years after the last), through their fingers — but with smiles on their faces.
To which I must confess I muttered to myself: "No way I'm going to be smiling." I braced to feel jumpy and miserable for two hours.
But sure enough I was soon smiling, even giggling. Turns out, horror films are a lot easier to handle when they're funny. Even more so when they're witty. A spoonful of wit, as Mary Poppins might say, helps the bloody mayhem go down.
Part of the fun in these movies is that we all know what we know. The surprise is not whether people will die. Death is not to be cheated. The issue is HOW, and that's where creativity comes in.
The action starts with probably the most impressive sequence in the movie — an opening scene set in 1969 at the so-called Skyview tower, looking very much like the Space Needle (but filmed in Vancouver). It's opening night at the luxurious restaurant up top.
Lovely young Iris (Brec Bassinger) is brought here by her beau for a romantic evening and, though she doesn't know it, a proposal. In the elevator, Iris tries to calm her nerves. It doesn't help when the elevator guy boasts the project was completed months ahead of schedule.
Once upstairs, Iris' nerves persist, but she tries to quell them. When she nicks her finger and a bit of blood seeps out, she says with a smile, "I'll live."
Ha!
Soon enough, rivets are popping and the place is crumbling. Then people start dropping dead on the ground, to the befuddlement of parking valets listening to "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" — written in 1969! — one of many musical jokes here.
And then a present-day college student wakes up.
Turns out this has all been a recurring nightmare of Stefani, who's in danger of flunking out because all she can think of is Skyview. Her sleep-deprived roommate urges her to go home and figure things out.
Which Stefani (an appealing Kaitlyn Santa Juana) does, determined to learn who Iris is. Turns out the woman is her grandmother. Uncle Howard tells her to stay away from the madwoman who years ago lost custody of her children.
Stefani suspects there's more to it. She tracks Iris down in the remote cabin where the reclusive woman has spent decades. She learns that Iris indeed survived a Skyview calamity — but thanks to her premonition, she actually saved many lives.
There's a catch, though. Every person who survived — thanks to Iris — ended up dying later. That's because they cheated Death, and became marked men and women. Their offspring are marked too — hence the movie's title — because they were never supposed to exist. "Death is coming for our family," Iris warns.
What does this mean for Stefani? It means she has to save everyone. And that everyday life becomes very dangerous.
A family barbecue starts off happily, but then we see the spiked rake lodged just under the trampoline, and the huge glass shard in the blender. Someone will die. But who, and how?
And that's how the movie continues, upping the ante with each kill. A tattoo parlor hosts one of the more creative Goldberg-ian catastrophes. Even wilder is a scene with an MRI scanner. You know that giant magnet? Yeah, that.
Just as important are the non-deaths — the times you're sure something terrible will happen, but it doesn't. I found this silly phrase scrawled later on my notepad: "Actually he doesn't die."
Some people hate horror films of any kind. They're not the intended audience here. But for those who don't, or are mixed, it's true: You may watch "Final Destination Bloodlines" through fingers covering your face. But chances are high you'll be smiling, too.
"Final Destination: Bloodlines," a Warner Bros release, has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association "for strong violent/grisly accidents, and language." Running time: 110 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-05 19:36:22+00:00
|
[
"Branden Jacobs-Jenkins",
"Marie Howe",
"Books and literature",
"Percival Everett",
"Theater",
"Pulitzer Prize Awards",
"Fiction",
"Celebrity",
"New York City Wire",
"Benjamin Nathans",
"Entertainment",
"Met Gala",
"National Endowment for the Arts",
"Nonfiction",
"Susie Ibarra",
"Tony Awards",
"Tessa Hulls",
"Kathleen DuVal",
"Jason Roberts"
] |
# Novelist Percival Everett and playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins among Pulitzer winners in the arts
By Hillel Italie
May 5th, 2025, 07:36 PM
---
NEW YORK (AP) — Percival Everett's novel "James," his radical reimagining of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" from the perspective of the enslaved title character, has won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. "Purpose," Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' drawing-room drama about an accomplished Black family destroying itself from within, won for drama. It also earned six Tony Award nominations last week.
Everett's Pulitzer confirmed the million-selling "James" as the most celebrated and popular U.S. literary novel of 2024, and accelerated the 68-year-old author's remarkable rise after decades of being little known to the general public. Since 2021, he has won the PEN/Jean Stein Award for "Dr. No," was a Pulitzer finalist for "Telephone" and on the Booker shortlist for "The Trees." Before Monday, "James" had already won the National Book Award, the Kirkus Prize and the Carnegie Medal for fiction. His racial and publishing satire "Erasure," released in 2001, was adapted into the Oscar-nominated 2023 film "American Fiction."
The Pulitzer citation called "James" an "accomplished reconsideration" that illustrates "the absurdity of racial supremacy and provide a new take on the search for family and freedom." Everett said in a statement that he was "shocked and pleased, but mostly shocked. This is a wonderful honor."
"Purpose" was praised in its citation as "a skillful blend of drama and comedy that probes how different generations define heritage." Jacobs-Jenkins had been twice nominated for a drama Pulitzer, for "Everybody" in 2018 and "Gloria" in 2016. He won the Tony Award for best play revival last year for "Appropriate," a work centered on a family reunion in Arkansas where everyone has competing motivations and grievances. He is on the host committee of this year's Met Gala.
Also Monday, Pulitzer officials announced that Jason Roberts won the biography award for "Every Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life" and Benjamin Nathans' "To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement" had been cited for general nonfiction. Two books were announced as history winners, both of them, like "James" and "Purpose," explorations of race in U.S. history and culture: Edda L. Fields-Black's "Combee: Harriet Tubman, The Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom During the Civil War" and Kathleen DuVal's "Native Nations: A Millennium in North America."
Marie Howe's "New and Selected Poems" won for poetry, and composer-percussionist Susie Ibarra's "Sky Islands," an eight-piece ensemble inspired by the rainforest habitats of Luzon, Philippines, was awarded the Pulitzer for music. The Pulitzer for autobiography went to Tessa Hulls' multigenerational "Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir," her first book.
The Pulitzers were announced at a time when the National Endowment for the Arts, which has provided support for thousands of writers and literary organizations, was cutting back funding and pushing staff members to leave. Howe and Everett are both past recipients of NEA creative writing fellowships.
____
AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-13 09:35:59+00:00
|
[
"Libya",
"Tripoli",
"War and unrest",
"Military and defense",
"Abdul Hamid Dbeibah",
"Ahmed Ammer",
"Libya government",
"Mahmoud Hamza"
] |
# A warlord and 6 other people killed as militia infighting rocks Libya's capital, officials say
By Samy Magdy
May 13th, 2025, 09:35 AM
---
CAIRO (AP) — Clashes between heavily armed militias rocked the Libyan capital, with gunfire and explosions heard across the city following the killing of a powerful warlord, officials said. At least six people were killed, they said.
The hourslong clashes, which involved heavy weapons, took place Monday evening into the early hours of Tuesday and centered in Tripoli's southern neighborhood of Abu Salim, the officials said.
The fighting stemmed from the killing of Abdel-Ghani al-Kikli, commander of the Stabilization Support Authority, SSA, on Monday by a rival militia, a senior government and health official said.
The SSA is an umbrella group of militias that rose to become one of the most powerful groups in western Libya, which has a history of atrocities and rights abuses during the country's long-running conflict. Al-Kikli, who was known as "Gheniwa," has been accused by Amnesty International of war crimes and other serious rights violations over the past decade.
Al-Kikli was killed in a facility run by the 444 Brigade, a militia commanded by Mahmoud Hamza, a warlord close to Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, one of the officials said.
Hamza's militia and their allies then attacked the offices of SSA across the capital, seizing their assets and detaining dozens of SSA fighters, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity for their safety.
The Health Ministry's Ambulance and Emergency Services said in a statement that at least six people were killed in the vicinity of Abu Salim, the SSA stronghold. It said it helped evacuate many families trapped in the clashes.
Residents reported heavy clashes and explosions in multiple areas in the capital, with dozens of vehicles carrying fighters affiliated with different militias in the streets.
"It was a nightmare," said Ahmed Ammer, who lives in the city center, adding that the clashes were reminiscent of the civil war that engulfed the North African country following the 2011 overthrow and killing of longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi.
He said the clashes subsided early Tuesday morning, but the situation has been tense with many fighters in the streets.
Classes in the capital's schools were suspended on Tuesday, according to the Tripoli-based Education Ministry. The University of Tripoli also said it suspended studies, exams and administrative work until further notice.
Dbeibah's government posted on its social media platforms early Tuesday that its forces carried out a military operation in Abu Salim and took full control of the area. It didn't provide further details.
In a statement, the U.N. mission in Libya expressed alarm about the "intense fighting with heavy weaponry in densely populated civilian areas" and warned that "attacks on civilians and civilian objects may amount to war crimes."
The clashes were the latest bout of violence in the largely lawless Mediterranean country, which has been plunged into chaos and division since 2011. Amid the chaos, militias grew in wealth and power, particularly in Tripoli and the western part of the country.
Libya has been divided for years between rival administrations in the east and west, each backed by armed groups and foreign governments. Currently, it is governed by Dbeibah's government in the west and by the administration of Prime Minister Ossama Hammad in the east.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-15 10:41:20+00:00
|
[
"Europe",
"European Union",
"Finance Business",
"Eurocopa 2024",
"Elections",
"Technology",
"Misinformation",
"Business"
] |
# European Union accuses TikTok of breaching digital rules with lack of transparency on ads
By Kelvin Chan
May 15th, 2025, 10:41 AM
---
LONDON (AP) — European Union regulators accused TikTok on Thursday of breaching digital content rules because it's not being transparent enough about ads shown to users of the video sharing app.
TikTok's ad repository isn't up to the standards required by the bloc's Digital Services Act, known as the DSA, the 27-nation EU's executive Commission said in preliminary findings from its investigation.
The Commission said ad databases are vital for researchers to detect scam ads as well as so-called hybrid threat campaigns, coordinated information operations and fake ads, "including in the context of elections."
The DSA is a wide-ranging rulebook that aims to clean up social media platforms and protect users from risks including election-related disinformation. Platforms have to be transparent about digital ads, including informing users why they're being shown a specific advertisement and who paid for it.
The Commission said TikTok doesn't provide necessary information about the content of ads, the users targeted, and who pays for them. The database doesn't allow for a comprehensive search for ads based on this information, "thereby limiting the usefulness of the tool," it said.
TikTok said it's reviewing the Commission's findings and remains committed to meeting its DSA obligations.
"While we support the goals of the regulation and continue to improve our ad transparency tools, we disagree with some of the Commission's interpretations and note that guidance is being delivered via preliminary findings rather than clear, public guidelines," the company said in a statement.
The ad database's shortcomings prevent a "full inspection" of the risks posed by its ad targeting systems, said Henna Virkkunen, the commission's executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy.
"Transparency in online advertising — who pays and how audiences are targeted — is essential to safeguarding the public interest," Virkkunen said. "Whether we are defending the integrity of our democratic elections, protecting public health, or protecting consumers from scam ads, citizens have a right to know who is behind the messages they see."
TikTok now has a chance to reply before the Commission issues its final decision, which could result in a fine of up to 6% of the company's annual global revenue.
TikTok is being scrutinized in a separate EU investigation into whether it failed to deal with risks to Romania's presidential election, which was thrown into turmoil last year over allegations of electoral violations and Russian meddling.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-11 04:03:26+00:00
|
[
"Los Angeles",
"Donald Trump",
"Financial markets",
"Metals and mining",
"Business",
"Edwin Feijoo",
"Jeff Clark",
"Sam Nguyen",
"Government and politics",
"Alberto Hernandez",
"Lifestyle",
"Olivia Kazanjian",
"Politics"
] |
# Customers trade in family heirlooms for cash as gold prices soar
By Jaimie Ding
May 11th, 2025, 04:03 AM
---
LOS ANGELES (AP) — At the biggest jewelry center in the United States, Alberto Hernandez fired up his machine on a recent day and waited until it glowed bright orange inside before shoveling in an assortment of rings, earrings and necklaces weighing about as much as a bar of soap: just under 100 grams, or 3.2 troy ounces.
Minutes later, the bubbling liquid metal was cooling in a rectangular cast the size of a woman's shoe. An X-ray machine determined it was 56.5% gold, making it worth $177,000 based on the price of gold that day.
As gold prices soar to record highs during global economic jitters, hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of gold are circulating through the doors of St. Vincent Jewelry Center in downtown Los Angeles on any given day.
Many of the center's 500 independent tenants, which include jewelers, gold refiners and assayers, say they have never seen such a surge in customers.
"Right now, we're seeing a lot of rappers and stuff melting their big pieces," said Alberto's nephew, Sabashden Hernandez, who works at A&M Precious Metals. "We're getting a lot of new customers who are just getting all of their grandfather's stuff, melting it down pretty much."
Gold's current rally comes as President Donald Trump issues ever-changing announcements on tariffs, roiling financial markets and threatening to reignite inflation.
In response, people across the country are flocking to sell or melt down their old jewelry for quick cash, including middlemen like pawn shop owners. Others, thinking their money might be safer in gold than in the volatile stock market, are snapping it up just as fast.
Los Angeles jeweler Olivia Kazanjian said people are even bringing in family heirlooms.
"They're melting things with their family's wedding dates and things from the 1800s," Kazanjian said.
She recently paid a client for a 14-karat gold woven bracelet with intricate blue enamel work that could be turned into a brooch. The customer walked away with $3,200 for the amount of gold contained in the piece measured in troy ounces, the standard for precious metals equivalent to 31 grams.
But Kazanjian doesn't plan to melt the piece. The real artistic and historical value was a lot more, she said.
"It's just stunning … and you won't see that kind of craftsmanship again," Kazanjian said, adding she has persuaded some customers to change their minds about melting items. "It's a piece of history, and if you're lucky enough to inherit it, it's a piece of your family."
Businesses on the sales side of the action, offering gold bars and other material, also are working hard to keep up with the frenzy.
"Stuff comes in and it goes right out," said Edwin Feijoo, who owns Stefko Cash for Gold in Pennsylvania and receives shipments from customers across the U.S. looking to sell their gold. "Everybody's busy right now."
Business hasn't been good for everyone, though.
For some jewelers who source their products from places abroad like Italy, Turkey and China, the combination of high gold prices and added tariffs have cut into profit margins and hurt demand.
"Our profit margins are so razor thin here," said Puzant Berberian, whose family founded V&P Jewelry inside St. Vincent in 1983. Berberian said he recently paid an extra $16,000 on a package from overseas.
Customers also are feeling "sticker shock" when they can't afford the things they used to. A chunky, 14-karat gold bracelet weighing about 10 grams (0.32 troy ounces) might have sold for around $600 last year, but now it's closer to $900, Berberian said.
Some believe those trends could continue, both for consumers and businesses.
Customers hoping to buy bullion "think gold will go up" even more, according to Sam Nguyen, whose business, Newport Gold Post Inc., has bought and sold gold and other precious metals at St. Vincent for five years. While gold has cooled from its record high of $3,500 per troy ounce, Nguyen thinks it could reach $4,000 to $5,000 by year's end.
Jeff Clark agrees. The founder of The Gold Advisor, which provides investment advice, said he wouldn't be surprised if gold prices continue rising since the metal is considered a haven for people to park their money when there is anxiety about a possible recession.
"History shows it has gone much higher in the past," Clark said, referring to a frenzy in the 1970s when the average price of gold increased 17-fold amid double-digit inflation rates. "If the fear and uncertainty continues in the general populace, the prices are going to keep going up."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 18:22:18+00:00
|
[
"Oklahoma",
"Oklahoma City",
"Weather",
"Storms",
"Automotive accidents",
"Climate and environment",
"John Teas",
"Dale Thompson",
"Droughts",
"Jennifer Thompson",
"Gary McManus",
"Climate"
] |
# Heavy rainfall sets records and washes out roadway in rural Oklahoma
By Sean Murphy
May 1st, 2025, 06:22 PM
---
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A steady line of slow-moving thunderstorms that battered Oklahoma in recent weeks set multiple rainfall records across the state and helped ease drought conditions.
But the saturated ground and torrential rains also came with a heavy price, including the deaths of multiple people who became trapped in their vehicles in rising floodwaters.
On Thursday, a road washed away in a rural community south of Oklahoma City, stranding about 10 families whose only way out of their homes is a mile-and-a-half walk around a washed-out pond that broke through a retaining wall.
"I've never wanted a Sonic cheeseburger so bad in my life, but that's just because I can't go and get one," said John Teas, who was stranded with his wife and 17-year-old son at their home in Blanchard, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Oklahoma City. "I'll probably go out to my wood shop and see if I can get some work done."
The Blanchard Fire Department received a call early Thursday morning from one of Teas's neighbors who had rising floodwater in his home. On their way, they discovered the only road into that part of the county had completely washed away.
"The fire department went door to door," Grady County Emergency Management Director Dale Thompson said. "They had to walk through the fields to let them know what was going on."
Oklahoma experienced multiple rounds of thunderstorms characterized by their long, circular structure and prolonged rainfall in recent weeks, said Jennifer Thompson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
"Tonight and tomorrow morning we're concerned about another round of severe weather and potential flooding," Thompson said Thursday.
At least seven Oklahoma cities, including capital Oklahoma City, set April rainfall records, said Oklahoma State Climatologist Gary McManus. The statewide average rainfall totaled 8.74 inches, surpassing the previous April record of 8.32 inches set in 1942, according to data kept since 1895, McManus said.
The record rainfall comes just four months after Oklahoma set an all-time rainfall record in November.
The wet weather did result in some good news: Drought conditions that covered 48% of the state dropped to a little more than 14% through April, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Only parts of the Oklahoma Panhandle and the far northwestern corner of the state remained in drought conditions on Thursday.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-06 16:55:32+00:00
|
[
"Seattle",
"Protests and demonstrations",
"Donald Trump",
"U.S. Department of Education",
"Colleges and universities",
"District of Columbia",
"Israel",
"Eric Horford",
"Education",
"Gaza Strip",
"United States government",
"Israel-Hamas war",
"Victor Balta",
"Engineering",
"The Boeing Co.",
"2024-2025 Mideast Wars",
"War and unrest"
] |
# Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested after occupying University of Washington building
May 6th, 2025, 04:55 PM
---
SEATTLE (AP) — Police arrested about 30 pro-Palestinian protesters who occupied a University of Washington engineering building and demanded the school break ties with Boeing.
Students from the group Super UW moved into the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building in Seattle on Monday evening and unofficially renamed it after Shaban al-Dalou, a teenage engineering student who was killed along with his mother after an Israeli airstrike caused an inferno outside of a Gaza hospital.
The students demanded that the university sever all ties with Boeing, including returning any Boeing donations and barring the company's employees from teaching at or otherwise influencing the school.
Boeing has donated over $100 million to UW since 1917, including $10 million for the engineering building, The Seattle Times reported. Because of Boeing's donation, the aviation manufacturer was granted naming rights for the building's second level.
Boeing is a key supplier to the Israeli Defense Forces, and the country has received more military aid from the U.S. than any other country since World War II.
"We're hoping to remove the influence of Boeing and other manufacturing companies from our educational space, period, and we're hoping to expose the repressive tactics of the university," Super UW spokesperson Eric Horford told KOMO News.
People dressed in black blocked the front of the building with furniture and used dumpsters to block a nearby road, university officials said.
UW police worked with Seattle police to clear the building at around 10:30 p.m., UW spokesperson Victor Balta said in a statement. The people were taken into custody on charges of trespassing, property destruction and disorderly conduct, he said. Their cases have been referred to the King County prosecutors.
Any students identified will be referred to the Student Conduct Office, Balta said.
The U.S. Department of Education said in a statement Tuesday that the incident will be investigated.
"The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism appreciates the university's strong statement condemning last night's violence and applauds the quick action by law enforcement officers to remove violent criminals from the university campus," the statement said. "While these are good first steps, the university must do more to deter future violence and guarantee that Jewish students have a safe and productive learning environment."
The Trump administration has argued universities have allowed antisemitism to go unchecked at campus protests against Israel's war in Gaza and has opened investigations at colleges, frozen federal funding and detained and deported several foreign students with ties to pro-Palestinian protests.
Additionally, Israel's government on Monday approved plans to seize the Gaza Strip and to stay in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time, a move that, if implemented, would vastly expand Israel's operations there and likely draw fierce international opposition.
The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Israel says 59 captives remain in Gaza. Twenty-one of them are still believed to be alive.
Israel's ensuing offensive has killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials, who don't distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-02 15:00:16+00:00
|
[
"Animal attacks",
"Animals",
"Snakes",
"Tim Friede",
"JWD-evergreen",
"Wisconsin",
"Science",
"Nicholas Casewell",
"Health",
"Peter Kwong"
] |
# How the blood of a man who was bitten by hundreds of snakes could help save lives
By Adithi Ramakrishnan
May 2nd, 2025, 03:00 PM
---
NEW YORK (AP) — Tim Friede has been bitten by snakes hundreds of times — often on purpose. Now scientists are studying his blood in hopes of creating a better treatment for snake bites.
Friede has long had a fascination with reptiles and other venomous creatures. He used to milk scorpions' and spiders' venom as a hobby and kept dozens of snakes at his Wisconsin home.
Hoping to protect himself from snake bites — and out of what he calls "simple curiosity" — he began injecting himself with small doses of snake venom and then slowly increased the amount to try to build up tolerance. He would then let snakes bite him.
"At first, it was very scary," Friede said. "But the more you do it, the better you get at it, the more calm you become with it."
While no doctor or emergency medical technician — or anyone, really — would ever suggest this is a remotely good idea, experts say his method tracks how the body works. When the immune system is exposed to the toxins in snake venom, it develops antibodies that can neutralize the poison. If it's a small amount of venom the body can react before it's overwhelmed. And if it's venom the body has seen before, it can react more quickly and handle larger exposures.
Friede has withstood snakebites and injections for nearly two decades and still has a refrigerator full of venom. In videos posted to his YouTube channel, he shows off swollen fang marks on his arms from black mamba, taipan and water cobra bites.
"I wanted to push the limits as close to death as possible to where I'm just basically teetering right there and then back off of it," he said.
But Friede also wanted to help. He emailed every scientist he could find, asking them to study the tolerance he'd built up.
And there is a need: Around 110,000 people die from snakebite every year, according to the World Health Organization. And making antivenom is expensive and difficult. It is often created by injecting large mammals like horses with venom and collecting the antibodies they produce. These antivenoms are usually only effective against specific snake species, and can sometimes produce bad reactions due to their nonhuman origins.
When Columbia University's Peter Kwong heard of Friede, he said, "Oh, wow, this is very unusual. We had a very special individual with amazing antibodies that he created over 18 years."
In a study published Friday in the journal Cell, Kwong and collaborators shared what they were able to do with Friede's unique blood: They identified two antibodies that neutralize venom from many different snake species with the aim of someday producing a treatment that could offer broad protection.
It's very early research — the antivenom was only tested in mice, and researchers are still years away from human trials. And while their experimental treatment shows promise against the group of snakes that include mambas and cobras, it's not effective against vipers, which include snakes like rattlers.
"Despite the promise, there is much work to do," said Nicholas Casewell, a snakebite researcher at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in an email. Casewell was not involved with the new study.
Friede's journey has not been without its missteps. Among them: He said after one bad snake bite he had to cut off part of his finger. And some particularly nasty cobra bites sent him to the hospital.
Friede is now employed by Centivax, a company trying to develop the treatment and that helped pay for the study. He's excited that his 18-year odyssey could one day save lives from snakebite, but his message to those inspired to follow in his footsteps is simple: "Don't do it," 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
|
2025-05-15 12:16:37+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Metals and mining",
"China government",
"International trade",
"Joe Biden",
"U.S. Department of Commerce",
"United States government",
"Beijing",
"United States",
"Tariffs and global trade",
"China",
"Technology",
"Business",
"NVIDIA Corp.",
"District of Columbia"
] |
# China blasts new US rule banning use of Huawei's Ascend advanced computer chips
By Elaine Kurtenbach
May 15th, 2025, 12:16 PM
---
China has blasted a new U.S. rule against use of Ascend computer chips made by Huawei Technologies anywhere in the world, chafing Thursday against the limitations of a temporary truce in the trade war between the two biggest economies.
Beijing moved ahead, however, with fulfilling its promise to lift retaliatory measures it imposed after U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his trade war, raising tariffs on Chinese products to as high as 145%. One key action was to remove a ban on exports to the United States of minerals known as rare earths that are used in many high-tech products.
Despite the deal struck last weekend in Geneva, frictions remain.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security issued guidance saying that Huawei's Ascend semiconductors are subject to U.S. export controls, on the basis that they are thought to employ U.S. technology.
"These chips were likely developed or produced in violation of U.S. export controls," it said in a statement on its website, adding that "the use of such PRC advanced computing ICs risks violating U.S. export controls and may subject companies to BIS enforcement action."
China's Commerce Ministry responded that the move was "not conducive to long-term, mutually beneficial, and sustainable cooperation and development between the two countries. The Chinese side urges the U.S. side to immediately correct its erroneous practices," said ministry spokesperson He Yongqian.
Huawei's Ascend chip is central to China's effort to build its own capacity to build leading edge computer chips and other technologies. Analysts say use of the chip in China's DeepSeek artificial intelligence effort reflects a potential challenge for Nvidia in the global AI market.
He also lashed out against U.S. tariffs on imports of Chinese steel and aluminum, which have not gotten a reprieve after Beijing and Washington agreed to their pause in many tariff increases.
She said the U.S. should give up its use of Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which gives the president power to impose tariffs on other countries on national security grounds.
In February, Trump drew on that authority to restore 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum that he had imposed during his first term in office.
Speaking at a weekly ministry briefing, He urged the US to end the higher tariffs "as soon as possible."
The 30% levy that America is now imposing on Chinese goods includes an existing 20% tariff intended to pressure China into doing more to prevent the the synthetic opioid fentanyl from entering the United States. It also includes the same 10% "baseline'' tariff Trump has slapped on imports from most of the world's countries. The 30% tax comes on top of other levies on China, including some left over from Trump's first term and kept by former President Joe Biden.
China is imposing a 10% tariff on U.S. products during the 90-day negotiating period.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-14 18:37:48+00:00
|
[
"Mauritania",
"Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani",
"Counterterrorism",
"Legal proceedings",
"Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz",
"Politics",
"Money laundering",
"Corruption",
"Corporate crime"
] |
# Mauritania's former president is sentenced to 15 years in prison after appealing a 5-year verdict
By Ahmed Mohamed
May 14th, 2025, 06:37 PM
---
NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (AP) — An appeals court in Mauritania handed down a 15-year prison sentence and a $3 million fine to former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz on Wednesday after he appealed a five-year sentence.
Aziz helped lead two coups before serving two terms as president of the northwest African country and becoming a counterterrorism partner to Western nations.
He was sentenced in 2023 after being found guilty of money laundering and self-enrichment. According to investigators, he accumulated over $70 million in assets while in power. He has been in custody since the verdict.
The trial marked a rare instance in which an African leader was tried for corruption. Aziz's lawyers have framed the trial as score-settling between him and current President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani.
Wednesday's verdict cleared six senior officials from the former president's administration, but sentenced Aziz's son-in-law to two years in prison for influence peddling. The court also ordered the dissolution of the "Errahma" (Mercy) Foundation led by Aziz's son and the seizure of his assets.
Ghazouani and Aziz were allies until Ghazouani became president in 2019 in the country's first peaceful transfer of government since independence. They fought over Aziz's attempts to take over a major political party after leaving office. A parliamentary commission opened a corruption inquiry against Aziz and 11 others in 2020.
Mauritania is rich in natural resources including iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, gold, oil and natural gas. Yet almost 60% of the population lives in poverty, according to the United Nations, working as farmers or employed informally. With few economic opportunities for young people, many are attempting to reach Europe, and some are trying to reach the United States through Mexico.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-16 04:02:35+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Joe Kent",
"Marie Gluesenkamp Perez",
"U.S. Democratic Party",
"Jaime Herrera Beutler",
"Bob Ferguson",
"Maria Cantwell",
"Voting",
"Rebellions and uprisings",
"2020 United States presidential election",
"Liz Oxford",
"Patty Murray",
"Brent Hennrich",
"Carol Brock",
"Elections",
"Kamala Harris",
"Bob Guenther",
"Politics",
"Voting rights",
"U.S. Republican Party",
"Jay Inslee",
"Tina Podlodowski",
"Liberalism",
"Sandeep Kaushik"
] |
# She won a Trump district as a Democrat. Now she faces ire from the left
By Gene Johnson
May 16th, 2025, 04:02 AM
---
CENTRALIA, Wash. (AP) — Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez gave Democrats a rare win last fall when she defeated a MAGA diehard in a Republican district in southwestern Washington state.
Hailed by some as a model for winning back blue-collar voters who abandoned the Democratic Party in last year's elections, the auto repair shop owner shunned partisanship, refused to engage in culture wars, and concentrated on helping people in her district — preserving VA clinics, for example, or backing funding for vocational shop classes.
Whether the second-term congresswoman's strategy succeeds will be decided by voters in next year's midterm elections. But for some progressives in her district, it is proving inadequate to counter the authoritarian tilt of President Donald Trump's second term in the White House.
At two town halls she hosted recently, crowds shouted questions or chanted, "Vote her out!" Many vowed to support a more liberal primary challenger.
"It's a really bad time to be a centrist," said Liz Oxford, a 39-year-old stay-at-home mom from Centralia. "She just keeps on coming down as one of the few Democrats to side with Republicans, and that is a really hard thing to accept right now. It's like, look, you ran as a Democrat, and right now Democrats have to draw a hard line."
## Is she in danger?
Hundreds of people showed up at her town halls last month. Many were furious over her recent votes to censure Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green for disrupting Trump's speech to Congress and for a measure that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote.
How well Gluesenkamp Perez, 36, navigates the criticism could help determine whether Democrats can retake the House next year. But in a largely rural, red district, some say a bashing from leftist voters might actually help her.
"In a district like Washington 3, you win or lose by being able to get independents and moderate Republicans to cross over the vast chasm that has opened up between the parties and vote for you," said Sandeep Kaushik, a Seattle-based political consultant who worked on Gluesenkamp Perez's first campaign in 2022. "And Marie has been almost uniquely successful in doing that in her first two campaigns."
Gluesenkamp Perez is the only Democrat running for federal or statewide office to carry the district in at least a decade, Kaushik noted. Even Democratic Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, former Gov. Jay Inslee and newly elected Gov. Bob Ferguson failed there despite winning big statewide.
Gluesenkamp Perez's predecessor, six-term Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler, did not make it out of the 2022 primary. Right-wing constituents angry about her vote to impeach Trump cast their lot with Joe Kent, a former U.S. Army special operations soldier who promoted Trump's lie that the 2020 election was stolen and touted conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by his supporters.
In the general election that year, Gluesenkamp Perez beat Kent by less than a percentage point, flipping the seat for Democrats.
Heading into a rematch with Kent last fall, she was considered one of the most vulnerable members of Congress — but won by nearly 4 points and outperformed both Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
So far, one Democrat, Brent Hennrich, has announced a primary challenge. On his website, the former movie theater operations manager who filed to run this week dismissed Gluesenkamp Perez's moderation as the wrong approach for the moment.
"With our nation in crisis, Democrats in Congress must do everything in their power to block the radical Trump agenda, but our incumbent has been far too willing to compromise on bills that threaten our rights, our prosperity, and our health," Hennrich wrote.
## What does she stand for?
Analysts across the country have pointed to the congresswoman's nuts-and-bolts approach to governing — what she describes as a "positive policy agenda" — as a remedy for Democratic woes. For her, that's meant securing money for shop programs at vocational colleges, pressing the VA to reopen a clinic in Chehalis so veterans don't have to drive to Olympia, and pushing to allow loggers to thin forests to create jobs and reduce wildfire risks.
"Political polarization has been really destructive to our democracy," Gluesenkamp Perez told The Associated Press in an interview. "If you're trying to build a policy agenda that is popular, if you're trying to build a bigger sense of democracy, it's not, in my view, prudent to start excluding people. It's about building a bigger team, just being more useful to more people."
Constituents across the political spectrum have praised her work on local issues. But at her recent town halls, anger over some of her votes was obvious.
Those include a vote for the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship for anyone registering to vote. Critics call it a voter-suppression tool meant to hype the notion that illegal immigrants vote in U.S. elections — an exceptionally rare occurrence. The bill could make it harder for women who have taken their husband's last name or transgender people whose names don't match their birth certificates to vote.
Gluesenkamp Perez called the bill flawed but said making sure only citizens vote is a popular idea in her district. She also said she knew it wouldn't pass in the Senate.
That enraged Carol Brock, the former chairwoman of the Lewis County Democrats.
"I'm all for working across the aisle. I live in Lewis County — there's more Republicans here than there is grass," Brock said after the town hall in Centralia. "It doesn't mean I give up my values. If you don't believe in it, why did you vote for it?"
Tina Podlodowski, the former three-term chair of the state Democratic Party, posted on Facebook after the SAVE Act vote, "Democrats can and must do better in WA3 than Marie Gluesenkamp Perez."
This week, Pacific County Democrats began considering whether to call on the state party to refrain from endorsing Gluesenkamp Perez as long as another Democrat is challenging her.
## Supporters urge her to pick her battles
Gluesenkamp Perez said she has spoken up against Republicans when their actions have real effects on people in her district: cutting funding for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration buoys relied on by fishermen, cutting support to wildland firefighters, gutting hunger relief programs, or proposing Medicaid cuts that she said "are going to kill people."
"There's a lot of consternation and anger and rage about things that don't have the force of law," she said. "It's really important that we're not torching social capital on things that will not be experienced by most people — or any people."
Perhaps no one has enjoyed the mounting criticism of Gluesenkamp Perez more than Republicans, who say she is being "abandoned" by Democrats.
"Vulnerable Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is getting primaried and no one's shocked," the National Republican Congressional Committee said in a statement. "She's too weak for the far left, too radical for Washington's families, she doesn't belong anywhere."
Some of her supporters say Gluesenkamp Perez must pick her battles — and Democrats in her district should, too.
"We are cutting our nose off to spite our face, to make statements about throwing her out of office," said Bob Guenther, a Lewis County labor activist. "We've got to be thoughtful. We've got to flip the Congress or we're in trouble."
___
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-06 07:50:09+00:00
|
[
"Bucharest",
"Romania",
"Europe",
"Marcel Ciolacu",
"Romania government",
"Global elections",
"Voting",
"European Union",
"Elections",
"Run-off elections",
"Politics"
] |
# Romania appoints an interim prime minister after the coalition's defeat in the presidential race
By Stephen Mcgrath
May 6th, 2025, 07:50 AM
---
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania's interim president appointed a new prime minister on Tuesday, a day after Marcel Ciolacu stepped down following the failure of his coalition's candidate to make the runoff in a rerun of the presidential election.
Ilie Bolojan signed a decree to appoint the serving interior minister, Catalin Predoiu of the National Liberal Party, to take the helm of the government until a new one can be formed. The interim post can be held for a maximum of 45 days, during which they have limited executive powers.
The shake-up comes after the coalition's candidate, Crin Antonescu, came third in Sunday's first round presidential vote, far behind the top finisher, hard-right nationalist George Simion, and pro-Western reformist Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan.
After Predoiu took office on Tuesday, the 56-year-old veteran politician said that Romania "must remain a resilient democracy, a country whose development objectives remain anchored in Euro-Atlantic values."
Romania held the rerun 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.
Sunday's vote underscored strong anti-establishment sentiment among voters, and signaled a power shift away from traditional mainstream parties. It also renewed the political uncertainty that has gripped the European Union and NATO member country.
Ciolacu, who came third in last year's voided presidential race, told reporters Monday outside the headquarters of his Social Democratic Party, or PSD, "Rather than let the future president replace me, I decided to resign myself."
He added that 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 result, he said that 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.
Sunday's vote was the second time in Romania's post-communist history, including the voided election cycle, that the PSD party didn't 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.
Simion, the 38-year-old front-runner in Sunday's vote and the leader of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, will face Dan in a runoff on May 18 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 platform. He told the media early Monday that "a difficult second round lies ahead, against an isolationist candidate."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 15:26:23+00:00
|
[
"Thailand",
"Crime",
"Paul Chambers",
"Indictments",
"Censorship",
"Education",
"United States government",
"Military and defense",
"Law enforcement",
"Thailand government"
] |
# Prosecutors in Thailand say they won't pursue royal defamation case against US scholar
May 1st, 2025, 03:26 PM
---
BANGKOK (AP) — State prosecutors in Thailand announced Thursday that they don't intend to press charges against an American academic arrested for royal defamation, an offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
The arrest last month of Paul Chambers, a political science lecturer at Naresuan University in the northern province of Phitsanulok, had drawn concern from the academic community, especially from Asian studies scholars around the world, as well as the U.S. government
The decision not to prosecute the 58-year-old Oklahoma native doesn't immediately clear him of the charge of insulting the monarchy— also known as "lèse majesté" — or a related charge of violating the Computer Crime Act, which covers online activities.
The announcement said that the Phitsanulok provincial prosecutor will request the provincial court to drop the charges and forward the case file and nonprosecution order to the commissioner of Provincial Police Region 6, covering Phitsanulok, who may review and contest the decision.
Chambers, a 58-year-old Oklahoma native with a doctorate in political science from Northern Illinois University, was arrested in early April on a complaint made by the northern regional office of the army's Internal Security Operations Command.
He has studied the power and influence of the Thai military, which plays a major role in politics. It has staged 13 coups since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932, most recently 11 years ago.
The army's Internal Security Operations Command told a parliamentary inquiry that it filed the complaint based on a Facebook post that translated words from a website operated by ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, a think tank in Singapore, about a webinar on Thai politics that included Chambers as a participant.
Chambers' supporters said that the blurb for the webinar, which was cited in his charge sheet as evidence, wasn't written by him.
He had been jailed in April for two nights after reporting himself to the Phitsanulok police, and then granted release on bail, with several conditions, including wearing an ankle monitor. A court on Tuesday allowed him to take off the device.
Chambers' visa was revoked at the time of his arrest on the basis of an immigration law barring entry to foreigners who are deemed likely to engage in activities contrary to public order or good morals, prostitution, people smuggling and drug trafficking. It wasn't immediately clear whether the revocation will stand.
"This case reinforces our longstanding concerns about the use of lèse majesté laws in Thailand," a U.S. State Department statement said after Chambers' arrest. "We continue to urge Thai authorities to respect freedom of expression and to ensure that laws are not used to stifle permitted expression."
Thailand's lèse majesté law calls for three to 15 years imprisonment for anyone who defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir apparent or the regent. Critics say it's among the harshest such laws anywhere and also has been used to punish critics of the government and the military.
The monarchy has long been considered a pillar of Thai society and criticizing it used to be strictly taboo. Conservative Thais, especially in the military and courts, still consider it untouchable.
However, public debate on the topic has grown louder in the past decade, particularly among young people, and student-led pro-democracy protests starting in 2020 began openly criticizing the institution.
That led to vigorous prosecutions under the previously little-used law. The legal aid group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights has said that since early 2020, more than 270 people — many of them student activists — have been charged with violating the law.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-10 12:47:12+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Saudi Arabia",
"Iran",
"Christopher Wright",
"Persian Gulf",
"Joe Biden",
"Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud",
"United States government",
"United States",
"Energy industry",
"Robert Einhorn",
"Business",
"Royalty",
"Nuclear weapons",
"Hasan Alhasan",
"Jon Alterman",
"Saudi Arabia government",
"Politics"
] |
# What to know about the prospect of Saudi-US nuclear cooperation
By Ellen Knickmeyer
May 10th, 2025, 12:47 PM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — Saudi Arabia wants U.S. help developing its own civil nuclear program, and the Trump administration says it is "very excited" at the prospect. U.S.-Saudi cooperation in building reactors for nuclear power plants in the kingdom could shut the Chinese and Russians out of what could be a high-dollar partnership for the American nuclear industry.
Despite that eagerness, there are obstacles, including fears that helping the Saudis fulfill their long-standing desire to enrich their own uranium as part of that partnership would open new rounds of nuclear proliferation and competition. Saudi Arabia's pursuit of a nuclear agreement is likely to play into the ever-evolving bargaining on regional security issues involving the U.S., Iran and Israel.
This coming week, Republican President Donald Trump will make his first trip to Saudi Arabia of his second term. Here's a look at key issues involved in the Saudi request.
## The US is eager to show it's working toward Saudi Arabia's nuclear ambitions
Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who traveled to Saudi Arabia before Trump's trip, said the world can expect to see "meaningful developments" this year on helping the kingdom build a commercial nuclear power industry. Wright said the U.S. was "very excited" about it.
That does not necessarily mean there will be any big breakthroughs on Trump's trip, said Jon Alterman, head of the Mideast program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Something smaller that still signals to the Saudis and the Iranians — with whom Trump is pushing for an agreement limiting Tehran's nuclear program — that Washington is interested in cooperating on Saudi efforts could be the U.S. aim for now.
"There would be a lot of ways to show progress toward an agreement on a Saudi nuclear program without fully committing to a partnership on it," Alterman said.
## Solid reasons for a Saudi civilian nuclear power program
Saudi Arabia is a global oil giant, but it is also largely a desert. Running all those air conditioners uses a lot of petroleum that the kingdom would rather be exporting. The Saudis' own oil consumption burns up one-third of what the country produces.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also is pushing to build up Saudi Arabia's mining and processing of its own minerals. That includes Saudi reserves of uranium, a fuel for nuclear reactors.
For the Trump administration, any deal with Iran that lets Tehran keep its own nuclear program or continue its own enrichment could increase Saudi pressure for the same.
That's even though Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have toned down their enmity toward Iran in recent years and are supporting the U.S. efforts to limit Iran's nuclear program peacefully.
For the U.S., any technological help it gives the Saudis as they move toward building nuclear reactors would be a boon for American companies.
Internationally, there is support for U.S. efforts to strike a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, given that the Saudis could turn to the Chinese and Russians for help developing a nuclear industry, with fewer safeguards.
The feeling is "if the U.S. doesn't provide it, then someone else will," said Hasan Alhasan, a senior fellow in Bahrain for the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
## Possibility that nuclear weapons are a Saudi goal
"Without a doubt, if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we would follow suit as soon as possible," Prince Mohammed said in 2018, at a time of higher tension between Arab states and Iran.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states stress better relations and diplomacy with Iran now. But Prince Mohammed's comments — and other Saudi officials said similar — have left open the possibility that nuclear weapons are a strategic goal of the Saudis.
## Saudi Arabia's desire to enrich its own uranium
The Saudis long have pushed for the U.S. to build a uranium enrichment facility in the kingdom as part of any nuclear cooperation between the two countries. That facility could produce low-enriched uranium for civilian nuclear reactors. But without enough controls, it could also churn out highly enriched uranium for nuclear bombs.
Trump administration officials cite the Saudis' desire to make use of their country's uranium deposits. The kingdom has spent tens of millions of dollars, with Chinese assistance, to find and develop those deposits. But the uranium ore that it has identified so far would be "severely uneconomic" to develop, the intergovernmental Nuclear Energy Agency says.
It has been decades since there has been any state-sanctioned transfer of that kind of technology to a nonnuclear-weapon state, although a Pakistani-based black-market network provided enrichment technology to Iran, North Korea, Libya and possibly others about 20 years ago, Robert Einhorn noted for the Brookings Institute last year.
Allowing Saudi Arabia — or any other additional country — to host an enrichment facility would reverse long-standing U.S. policy. It could spur more nuclear proliferation among U.S. allies and rivals, Einhorn wrote.
## The effect on regional security
Under Democratic President Joe Biden, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia had looked at nuclear cooperation as just one part of broader negotiations that also involved Saudi desires for U.S. arms and security guarantees and for a satisfactory long-term deal on behalf of Palestinians. The U.S., meanwhile, had tied the cooperation to Saudi Arabia agreeing to normalize relations with Israel.
The Trump administration seems to have unpacked some of that big bundle.
But the administration may still see holding off on any major civil nuclear agreement as leverage in brokering what would be historic diplomatic relations between the kingdom and Israel, Alterman noted. Getting to that agreement, part of what's known as the Abraham Accords between Arab states and Israel, has been a chief goal for Trump.
After Wright's trip, some Israelis expressed their opposition to allowing Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium, and Iran and Saudi Arabia are both carefully watching the other's talks with the U.S. on their nuclear issues.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-12 17:41:57+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Illinois",
"Michigan",
"United States government",
"United States",
"Politics",
"Climate and environment",
"U.S. Army Corps of Engineers",
"Government budgets",
"Fish",
"Climate"
] |
# Great Lakes' $7 billion fishing industry fights invasive carp
By Todd Richmond
May 12th, 2025, 05:41 PM
---
A stalemate between President Donald Trump and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker that threatened a $1.2 billion plan to keep invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes appears to have been settled after the Trump administration offered assurances it will cover its share of the costs.
After a delay that has stretched on since February, Illinois officials are set to resume closing on property they need to continue work on a project that will generate vast bubble curtains to deter the carp, stun them with electrical fields and play sound frequencies to disorient them.
Here's what to know:
## The project has been on the drawing board for years
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers along with state officials in Illinois and Michigan have been planning since 2020 to install a gantlet of technologies in the Des Plaines River near Joliet, Illinois, to deter invasive carp from entering Lake Michigan.
The Corps and the states signed a deal in 2024 to work together on the project using $226 million allocated through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. And elements of the Water Resources Development Act adopted last year call for the federal government to cover 90% of operating and maintenance costs.
## Pritzker demands assurances from Trump
Construction on the project began in January. Pritzker's administration was set to close in February on a parcel of property for the project and transfer it to the Corps.
Everything appeared on track until late January, when the Trump administration froze federal grants and loans as it reviewed whether spending aligned with Trump's priorities on issues such as climate change and diversity. The administration rescinded the freeze less than two days later but questions persist about the federal government's spending commitments.
Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel empire and a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, is one of Trump's fiercest critics. He has described the early months of the Trump administration as "true villainous cruelty by a few idiots."
Days before Illinois was to finalize a property deal for the carp project, Pritzker hit pause and demanded assurances that the federal government would honor its spending commitment. Site preparation has continued since then, but substantial work to install technology has been on hold.
## Trump signals the project is a priority
The White House issued a memo late Friday saying the Trump administration recognized the threat invasive carp pose to Great Lakes recreation and fishing and that it's committed to protecting the lakes.
The federal government is prepared to do its part so long as states cooperate, according to the memo, which calls on Illinois to complete the property deal by July 1 and promises the federal government will streamline permitting and environmental reviews.
"My Administration fully supports preventing the spread of invasive carp," the memo said. "The State of Illinois, where the (project) is located, must cease further delay in cooperating with this effort, for the sake of its own citizens and economy and for the sake of all of the Great Lake States."
Pritzker's office issued a news release late Friday evening saying the governor was satisfied.
Work on the project isn't slated to finish until 2032, but Joel Brammeier, president and CEO of the nonpartisan Alliance for the Great Lakes, said Monday that prospects suddenly look dramatically better than they did last week.
"We're back to business as usual. That's a good thing," he said.
## Why the carp would be bad news for the Great Lakes
Four species of carp were imported to the U.S. from Asia in the 1960s and 1970s to clear algae from sewage ponds and fish farms in the Deep South. They escaped into the Mississippi River and have moved north into dozens of tributaries in the central U.S.
Government agencies, advocacy groups and others have long debated how to prevent the fish from reaching the Great Lakes, where scientists say they could out-compete native species for food and habitat in waterways where the fishing industry is valued at $7 billion.
A shipping canal that forms part of the link between the Mississippi and Lake Michigan has a network of fish-repelling barriers, which the Corps says is effective, but critics consider inadequate.
The new project at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam on the Des Plaines River near Joliet will provide another layer of protection at a downstream choke point between the Illinois River, which is infested with invasive carp, and Lake Michigan.
"I'm hopeful everyone is taking this project seriously now and we're not going to see any more delays," Brammeier said.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-09 17:18:02+00:00
|
[
"Blake Shelton",
"Gwen Stefani",
"Music",
"Country music",
"Music Reviews",
"Arts and entertainment",
"George Strait",
"Josh Anderson",
"Nashville",
"Maria Sherman",
"Craig Morgan",
"Entertainment"
] |
# 'For Recreational Use Only': Blake Shelton returns to his roots
By Maria Sherman
May 9th, 2025, 05:18 PM
---
Blake Shelton's 13th studio album opens with a fitting declaration for both his latest project and the current state of his career: "Stay Country or Die Tryin'."
It would be more accurately phrased like a question.
At this stage, Shelton is a longtime veteran of Hollywood on "The Voice" stage with a pop superstar wife in Gwen Stefani, far removed from his Nashville roots, all while maintaining the position of one of the most high-profile country stars of the current moment. But if country is a lifestyle and an image beyond its musical forms — saying nothing of the opening track's arena-sized rock elements — is he staying true to some ethos? Is Shelton speaking diaristically when he sings "Boots ain't never seen easy street" in the album's opening verse?
Perhaps not. In 2025, he performs between worlds, but no matter. He's long dedicated himself to big country radio hits and returns to those roots across "For Recreational Use Only." The songs here concern themselves with lived-in bars ("Cold Can") and backroad acuity ("Some things we all gotta get through/'Til it's goin', goin', gone in the big rear view," Shelton sings on "Life's Been Comin' Too Fast.")
"The Keys" is haunted by past lives, or at least, achingly sentimental in his jukebox country style; "Don't Mississippi" offers whiskey wisdom: "You might die from a broken heart," he sings. "But you ain't gonna die of thirst."
Charms are found across the release, like in the honky-tonk happy "Texas," and its cheerful reference to George Strait's classic "All My Ex's Live In Texas," or the big-hearted and big-voiced ballad on God and grief, "Let Him In Anyway."
Collaborations are few and pointed. Shelton and Stefani harmonize beautifully on "Hanging On'"; he does the same with Craig Morgan on "Heaven Sweet Home," an affecting meditation of mortality. He taps Josh Anderson for the slow-burn closer "Years."
Shelton might live a very different life than the characters found in his songs, as is often true of any larger-than-life celebrity performer. But make no mistake, this is a giant pop country record, with limitless potential for radio ubiquity.
___
For more AP reviews of recent music releases, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/music-reviews
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-09 18:44:15+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Karoline Leavitt",
"Barack Obama",
"District of Columbia",
"Ada Limon",
"Black experience",
"Thomas Jefferson",
"Joy Harjo",
"Politics",
"Entertainment",
"United States government",
"Library of Congress",
"Tracy K. Smith",
"Carla Hayden"
] |
# US poets laureate criticize Trump's firing of the librarian of Congress
By Hillel Italie
May 9th, 2025, 06:44 PM
---
NEW YORK (AP) — Outgoing U.S. poet laureate Ada Limón and her two immediate predecessors, Joy Harjo and Tracy K. Smith, are condemning President Donald Trump's firing of Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who had appointed each of them to their positions.
"Dr. Carla Hayden is the kindest, brightest, most generous Librarian of Congress we could have hoped for as a nation," Limón, who last month completed a three-year run as poet laureate, said in a statement on Friday.
"She promoted books, libraries, and curiosity while dedicating herself to serving both sides of the aisle with genuine grace. I am heartbroken as the cruelty of this administration continues with seemingly no end in sight. She is the best of us and deserves the utmost respect. I hope people are paying attention. What we once feared is already happening."
The library, an outgrowth of Thomas Jefferson's personal book collection, holds a vast archive of the nation's books and history.
Hayden, whose 10-year term was scheduled to end next year, was notified late Thursday that she had been fired, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press.
On Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Hayden "did not meet the needs of the American people."
"There were quite concerning things at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI, and putting inappropriate books in the library for children," Leavitt told reporters during a briefing. "And we don't believe she was serving the interest of the American taxpayer well, so she has been removed from her position, and the president is well within his rights to do that."
Confirmed by the Senate in 2016, Hayden was the first woman and the first African American to be the librarian of Congress. U.S. poets laureate are employees of the Library of Congress, generally serve one to three years in the role and may not "take political positions in their official capacity while serving as laureate," according to the library's website.
Hayden had been expected to announce a new poet laureate over the summer.
Hayden, appointed by President Barack Obama, had been labeled by the conservative American Accountability Foundation as "woke" and "anti-Trump." Her ouster continues the Trump administration's wave of actions against Washington cultural institutions, from the Kennedy Center to the National Endowment for the Arts.
Harjo, the laureate from 2019 to 2022, called her firing "shocking news" and added that she "found her to be steadfast with good humor as she took excellent care of an institution established close to the founding of the country as a resource for all of its citizens."
"Her reputation will stand through time," Harjo wrote in an email to the AP.
Smith, who served from 2017 to 2019, told the AP in an email that Hayden had sought poets such as herself who "engage communities nationwide with the joys and the power of poetry in all its forms."
"Her abrupt firing suggests a desire to tamp down the ceiling on our collective remembering and deprive the collective imagination of vital resources," Smith wrote.
___
Associated Press writer Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-13 20:52:07+00:00
|
[
"Maryland",
"Wes Moore",
"West Virginia",
"Schools",
"Evacuations",
"Climate and environment",
"Aaron Stallings",
"Education",
"Deval Patrick",
"Judy Hamilton",
"Floods",
"Climate"
] |
# Flash flooding forces evacuation of elementary school in western Maryland
By Lea Skene
May 13th, 2025, 08:52 PM
---
BALTIMORE (AP) — Flooding in rural western Maryland forced the evacuation of an elementary school Tuesday afternoon as water began to breach the second floor, according to local officials.
Homes and businesses in downtown Westernport were also inundated with floodwaters after hours of heavy rain.
Officials reassured the public that students and staff were safe as concerned parents and other community members posted on social media wondering how long the emergency situation would last at Westernport Elementary School.
Allegany County spokesperson Kati Kenney said responders used rescue boats to safely evacuate the school. About 150 students and 50 adults were evacuated during 15 boat trips.
Kenney said additional evacuations were underway in nearby areas, with reports of people trapped in cars and houses, but no injuries had been reported as of late Tuesday afternoon. She said emergency crews from surrounding counties were helping with the response in the small community near the West Virginia line.
Another elementary school was also evacuated, and students at a middle school were sheltering in place, the Allegany County Department of Emergency Services said Tuesday evening. Officials said three emergency shelters had been opened across the county.
Aaron Stallings, rushed to Westernport Elementary to pick up his little sister earlier Tuesday afternoon, but he soon realized his car wouldn't make it. Stallings said he hopped a fence and made his way on foot through the shin-deep water.
"I knew my car was not going to get through, so I had to find an alternate route," he said.
Stallings said children were being kept on the second and third floors when he made his way inside. Minutes after he located his sister with the help of the principal, the water level on the first floor had already risen again to his knees and was rushing under the school doors.
Once he waded back outside with his sister, Stallings turned around to capture video of the scene, where parked cars and a dumpster were floating through the school's parking lot.
Alley Wade also left work early when she heard about flooding downtown. She and her husband hoped to pick up their two sons, ages 8 and 10, but they couldn't get to the school because roads were already closed. Instead, they spent most of the afternoon standing around in the rain anxiously watching the floodwaters rise.
"It was stressful because I felt so helpless," Wade said.
The family was finally reunited after the students had been evacuated. Wade said there were a lot of crying kids, but thankfully everyone was safe.
Roads throughout the area were closed due to flooding, including major arteries, according to the Allegany County Sheriff's Office.
Westernport Mayor Judy Hamilton said the town has been prone to severe flooding in the past, but they weren't expecting it today.
"It just seemed to happen all at once," she said. "My heart is breaking."
She said the evacuated students were taken to higher ground and sheltered in a church building, where they would be kept safe by teachers and staff until their parents could pick them up.
With a population under 2,000 people, Westernport is located in the far corner of western Maryland. Its downtown took shape in a valley where Georges Creek flows into the North Branch Potomac River.
The National Weather Service reported widespread flash flooding in the area Tuesday afternoon.
"We are closely monitoring the flood conditions that are present across Western Maryland due to heavy rainfall, especially in Allegany County," Gov. Wes Moore said in a social media post, adding that the state and local authorities were actively responding to the inundation.
Hamilton said the last time Westernport suffered from devastating floods was in 1996.
"But we're strong and we always build back," she said.
In West Virginia, Gov. Patrick Morrisey declared a state of emergency Tuesday night in Mineral County, along the Maryland border, due to severe storms and heavy rains that resulted in flash flooding. The declaration allows the state to mobilize personnel and resources to the area.
___
Associated Press newsgathering producer Beatrice Dupuy in New York and reporter John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed to this story.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-15 18:19:37+00:00
|
[
"Louisiana",
"Massachusetts",
"Gregory Romanovsky",
"Immigration",
"Prisons"
] |
# Harvard researcher charged with trying to smuggle frog embryos asks for transfer to Massachusetts
May 15th, 2025, 06:19 PM
---
MONROE, La. (AP) — A lawyer for a Russian-born scientist and Harvard University researcher charged with trying to smuggle frog embryos asked Thursday that she be brought back to Massachusetts, three months after she was taken to a Louisiana immigration detention center.
Kseniia Petrova, 30, was already facing deportation. She was charged Wednesday with smuggling goods into the United States, shortly after a federal district court judge had set a hearing on her release. A judge in Louisiana went over the charges during a hearing Thursday.
"She has requested a transfer to Massachusetts, where the complaint was filed," her lawyer, Gregory Romanovsky, said in a statement. "We expect federal authorities to transfer her to Massachusetts in the next few weeks."
If convicted, Petrova faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Petrova had been vacationing in France, where she stopped at a lab specializing in splicing superfine sections of frog embryos and obtained a package of samples to be used for research.
As she passed through a U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoint in Boston Logan International Airport, Petrova was questioned about the samples. Petrova told The Associated Press in an interview last month that she did not realize the items needed to be declared and was not trying to sneak in anything. After an interrogation, Petrova was told her visa was being canceled.
Romanovsky said Customs and Border Protection officials had no legal basis for canceling Kseniia's visa and detaining her. He called her transfer from ICE to criminal custody "an attempt by the government to justify its outrageous and legally indefensible position that this scientist working for the U.S. on cures for cancer and aging research has somehow become a danger to the community."
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on the social platform X that Petrova was detained after "lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country." They allege messages on her phone "revealed she planned to smuggle the materials through customs without declaring them."
Harvard said in a statement that the university "continues to monitor the situation."
Petrova told the AP she left her country to avoid conflict or possible political repression. She fled after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, marking the start of a bloody three-year war.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-09 18:15:18+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Karoline Leavitt",
"Cameron Hamilton",
"David Richardson",
"Pete Hegseth",
"Federal Emergency Management Agency",
"U.S. Department of Homeland Security",
"Iraq",
"Africa",
"U.S. Marine Corps",
"Disaster planning and response",
"Kristi Noem",
"Government and politics",
"Afghanistan",
"Politics"
] |
# New acting head of FEMA talks tough with staff and promises change
By Gabriela Aoun Angueira and Rebecca Santana
May 9th, 2025, 06:15 PM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — The new head of the federal agency tasked with responding to disasters across the country warned staff in a meeting Friday not to try to impede upcoming changes, saying that "I will run right over you" while also suggesting policy changes that would push more responsibilities to the states.
David Richardson, a former Marine Corps officer who served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa, was named acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Thursday just after Cameron Hamilton, who'd been leading the agency, also in an acting role, was fired.
Richardson has been the Department of Homeland Security's assistant secretary for countering weapons of mass destruction. He does not appear to have any experience in managing natural disasters, but in an early morning call with the entire agency staff he said that the agency would stick to its mission and said he'd be the one interpreting any guidance from President Donald Trump.
Prefacing his comments with the words "Now this is the tough part," Richardson said during the call with staffers across the thousands-strong agency that he understands people can be nervous during times of change. But he had a warning for those who might not like the changes — a group he estimated to be about 20% of any organization.
"Don't get in my way if you're those 20% of the people," he said. "I know all the tricks."
"Obfuscation. Delay. Undermining. If you're one of those 20% of the people and you think those tactics and techniques are going to help you, they will not because I will run right over you," he said. "I will achieve the president's intent. I am as bent on achieving the president's intent as I was on making sure that I did my duty when I took my Marines to Iraq."
## He previewed what might be ahead
Richardson also reminded staff that FEMA is part of the Department of Homeland Security: "Don't forget that."
In a preview of what might be coming in terms of changes in policy, Richardson also said there would be more "cost-sharing with the states."
"We're going to find out how to do things better, and we're going find out how to push things down to the states that should be done at the state level. Also going to find out how we can do more cost sharing with the states," he said.
This issue — how much states, as opposed to the federal government, should pay for disaster recovery — has been a growing concern, especially at a time of an increasing number of natural disasters that often require Congress to repeatedly replenish the federal fund that pays for recovery.
But states often argue that they are already paying for most disaster recoveries on their own and are only going to the federal government for those events truly outside of their ability to respond.
Richardson did not take questions from the staff members, saying he wanted them to first read memos he was going to be sending out later Friday. He planned a town hall next week, when he will take questions from the staff.
## A 'mission analysis' is planned for FEMA
In the memos obtained by The Associated Press, Richardson told the agency it would be conducting a "Mission Analysis" of the organization to identify "redundancies and inefficiencies" while also clarifying the organization's "core" mission and "deterring mission creep."
He also listed tasks to be accomplished in the coming weeks — including providing internal assessments of the agency's preparedness for 2025; a list of all known gaps "in preparedness or core capabilities"; a list of lessons learned from past disasters; and an overview of "disaster aid before FEMA's existence and the role of states and the federal government coordinating disaster management."
He said he was honored to be in the role, leading an organization he described as an "unwieldy beast."
Richardson arrives at FEMA at a time of immense turmoil and as it prepares for hurricane season, an extremely busy time for the agency.
Trump, a Republican, has suggested abolishing FEMA and providing money directly to states to manage. He has established a review council tasked with "reforming and streamlining the nation's emergency management and disaster response system." The 13-member council is chaired by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Homeland Security has not said specifically why Hamilton was removed from his position. But his dismissal came one day after he appeared before a House subcommittee where he was asked about plans to eliminate FEMA and said he did not believe the agency should be eliminated.
"Having said that," Hamilton continued, "I'm not in a position to make decisions and impact outcomes on whether or not a determination such as consequential as that should be made. That is a conversation that should be had between the president of the United States and this governing body."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked Friday about Hamilton's firing and suggested it was related to his congressional testimony, but didn't specify exactly what it was that he said that led to his dismissal.
"This individual testified saying something that was contrary to what the president believes and the goals of this administration in regards to FEMA policy. So of course we want to makes sure that people in every position are advancing the administration's goals," she said.
___
Associated Press writer Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this story.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-06 14:35:43+00:00
|
[
"David Attenborough",
"Book Reviews",
"Entertainment",
"Rob Merrill",
"Algae",
"Mangroves",
"Colin Butfield",
"Coral reefs",
"Climate and environment",
"Arctic",
"Oceans",
"Forests",
"Climate"
] |
# 'Ocean: Earth's Last Wilderness' review: David Attenborough looks at the seas
By Rob Merrill
May 6th, 2025, 02:35 PM
---
British biologist Sir David Attenborough will celebrate his 99th birthday two days after the publication of his latest book, "Ocean: Earth's Last Wilderness," co-written with long-time BBC collaborator Colin Butfield. And I'm willing to bet instead of a cake or any gifts, he'd appreciate it if every nation would sign on to the U.N. High Seas Treaty and stop exploiting the ocean for short-term gains.
"Ocean" is the complementary book to a National Geographic film of the same name available on the Disney family of streaming services. It will no doubt be an amazing look at the watery world that makes up two-thirds of this planet's surface and "99% of its habitable area." But if you don't want to wait for the main course -— Attenborough's dulcet tones narrating over stunning high-definition images from the deep blue — the book serves as a fine appetizer.
Covering eight unique salt-water habitats, "Ocean" transports readers to coral reefs, the deep, open ocean, kelp forests, the Arctic, mangroves, oceanic islands and seamounts, and the Southern Ocean. Attenborough begins each chapter with a story from his lifetime of exploration, including his first scuba dive in 1957. ("I was so taken aback by the spectacle before me that I momentarily forgot to breathe.") Butfield picks up the baton from there, offering a wealth of scientific facts and history about each habitat.
Trivia buffs or people who just like to learn new stuff will delight in all the data. The end of each chapter can prompt a fun game of "Did You Know?" with friends and family. For example: The average depth of the ocean is 3,500 meters (11,483 feet), phytoplankton absorb 40% of the carbon dioxide produced by human activity, and a blue whale's tongue weighs two tons.
Despite detailing the impact of global warming throughout the ocean ecosystem, the book is not all doom and gloom. The authors present a case study in hope near the end of most chapters, like the coral reefs of Cabo Pulmo, off the coast of Baja California. Once teeming with life, unrestricted commercial fishing decimated the region in the 1980s. But after a local fisherman teamed up with a marine professor to convince the Mexican government to declare a no-fishing zone and create a marine preserve, Cabo Pulmo recovered over the next decade, a sign, they write, that "simply leaving parts of the ocean alone creates the capacity for it to regenerate."
Here's hoping that reading or watching "Ocean" will help raise the level of global awareness required to protect this last wilderness.
___
AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews
|
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