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Associated Press News
|
2025-05-19 13:46:12+00:00
|
[
"Haiti",
"Dominican Republic",
"Crime",
"Shootings",
"Gun violence",
"Drug crimes",
"Law enforcement"
] |
# Police say 5 killed in Dominican border town in suspected drug case
May 19th, 2025, 01:46 PM
---
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Five people were killed along the border that the Dominican Republic shares with Haiti in what authorities say is a suspected drug trafficking case.
Police said they are looking for three suspects accused of opening fire on the victims on Sunday and fleeing with an unknown amount of drugs and money.
Two others were injured in the shooting that occurred in the border town of Dajabón in the northwest Dominican Republic.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-06 23:02:59+00:00
|
[
"Pennsylvania",
"Josh Shapiro",
"Harrisburg",
"Fires",
"Crime",
"Homicide",
"Arson",
"Christopher Paris",
"Indictments",
"Jeffrey B. Miller",
"Law enforcement"
] |
# Pennsylvania governor's residence to get an 'anti-climb' fence
By Mark Scolforo
May 6th, 2025, 11:02 PM
---
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A barrier described as an "anti-climb fence" is in the works for the Pennsylvania governor's official residence, the state police chief said Tuesday, less than a month after a late-night intruder jumped the existing fence, broke into the home and started a damaging fire.
Col. Christopher Paris' letter to state lawmakers mentioned the fence as part of a series of changes to bolster security at the brick mansion that is the Harrisburg home of Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family.
The alleged intruder, an unemployed welder, faces charges that include attempted homicide and arson for the fire at about 2 a.m. on April 13. Shapiro and family members were awakened and evacuated, hours after participating in a Passover Seder in the residence. No one was hurt but the building's damage has been estimated to total millions of dollars.
Paris told lawmakers he does not intend to provide them with a security review conducted by consultant Jeffrey B. Miller, who led the state police about two decades ago.
Miller's findings and his agency's own investigation, Paris told the legislators, have changed procedures, including "more frequent security assessments," the establishment of a uniformed division to oversee building security at the residence and the installation of a no-climb fence.
Fences of metal and brick about 7-feet (2-meter) high already circle the residence along the Susquehanna River about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Capitol. Construction on the new fence did not appear to have begun Tuesday afternoon, although small marker flags along the property's perimeter indicated work is underway.
"While some of those improvements will be clearly visible to the public — such as the new anti-climb fence — many will not be," Paris wrote. He said Miller's report contained details about security operations that, if disclosed to the public, "would obviously risk jeopardizing the safety" of those the agency protects.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-15 19:14:38+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Tim Kaine",
"El Salvador",
"Kilmar Abrego Garcia",
"Chris Murphy",
"Marco Rubio",
"U.S. Republican Party",
"U.S. Democratic Party",
"United States Senate",
"Qatar",
"Voting rights",
"Immigration",
"United States government",
"District of Columbia",
"Voting",
"United States",
"Politics",
"Government policy",
"Edward Markey"
] |
# Senate rejects measure on deportations to El Salvador
By Mary Clare Jalonick
May 15th, 2025, 07:14 PM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans have blocked a Democratic resolution to require more transparency from the Trump administration about deportations to El Salvador.
The vote Thursday was the latest attempt by minority Democrats to force Senate votes disapproving of Trump administration policy. The Senate rejected, 45-50, the motion to discharge the resolution from committee and consider it immediately on the floor.
"This information is critical at a time when the Trump Administration has admitted to wrongfully deporting people to El Salvador, and after Trump has said he's also looking for ways to deport American citizens to the same terrible prisons," said Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, the lead sponsor of the resolution.
The resolution blocked by Republicans would force administration officials to report to Congress about what steps it is taking to comply with courts that have ruled on the deportations. Democrats have highlighted the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to the Central American country and who a Maryland judge has said should be returned to the U.S.
Democrats want to put Republicans on record on that case and others while also pressuring the government of El Salvador, which is working with the Trump administration. The resolution would also require the Trump administration to reveal more information about money paid to El Salvador and assess the country's human rights record.
It's just the latest example of Democrats using the legislative tools available to them in the minority to try to challenge Trump's agenda.
The Senate in early April passed a resolution that would have have thwarted Trump's ability to impose tariffs on Canada, and Republicans narrowly blocked a similar resolution later that month that would have stalled Trump's global tariffs. Four Republicans voted with Democrats on the first tariff measure, and three Republicans voted with them on the second resolution. No Republicans joined Democrats on Thursday's measure on El Salvador.
The Democrats are forcing the votes under different statutes that allow so-called "privileged" resolutions — legislation that must be brought up for a vote whether majority leadership wants to or not. The resolution rejected Thursday was under the Foreign Assistance Act, which allows any senator to force a vote to request information on a country's human rights practices.
Separately, a group of Democrats led by Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio Thursday to ask about the U.S. payment to El Salvador for the prisoners. The senators demanded a "detailed explanation from the Department of State as to whether, and if so how, it concluded that this payment was lawful."
The Democrats say they will continue to push for more votes. Also Thursday, Kaine and several other Democrats filed a joint resolution of disapproval to try to block a $1.9 billion arms sale to Qatar at the same time that the country is offering to donate a $400 million luxury jet as Trump's Air Force One. If the Senate Foreign Relations Committee does not consider the resolution, Democrats could force another vote on the Senate floor.
"Unless Qatar rescinds their offer of a 'palace in the sky' or Trump turns it down, I will move to block this arms sale," said Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, a member of the Foreign Relations panel who is leading the effort with Kaine and others.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-12 04:22:08+00:00
|
[
"Burkina Faso",
"Human Rights Watch",
"Military and defense",
"Politics",
"Islam",
"Ilaria Allegrozzi"
] |
# Burkina Faso forces killed at least 100 civilians in a March attack, Human Rights Watch says
By Wilson Mcmakin
May 12th, 2025, 04:22 AM
---
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — At least 100 civilians were killed by Burkina Faso government forces in March near the western town of Solenzo, Human Rights Watch said Monday.
According to victim testimony and videos shared on social media gathered by the rights group, the attackers were Burkina Faso special forces and members of a pro-government militia, the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland. The victims were all ethnic Fulani, a pastoralist community that is widespread across the region, which the government has long accused of supporting Muslim militants.
An earlier report from Human Rights Watch stated that the government's involvement was likely, because of video evidence on social media, although the findings were not definitive. The government issued a sharp denial when first reports surfaced, saying in a statement it "condemned the propagation, on social media, of images inducing hate and community violence, and fake information aimed at undermining social cohesion" in the country.
"The viral videos of the atrocities by pro-government militias near Solenzo sent shock waves through Africa's Sahel region, but they told only part of the story," said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Further research uncovered that Burkina Faso's military was responsible for these mass killings of Fulani civilians, which were followed by deadly reprisals by an Islamist armed group. The government needs to impartially investigate these deaths and prosecute all those responsible."
Burkina Faso authorities did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the group's new report.
The landlocked nation of 23 million people has symbolized the security crisis in the arid Sahel region south of the Sahara in recent years. It has been shaken by violence from extremist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, and the governments fighting them.
The military junta, which took power in 2022, failed to provide the stability it promised. According to conservative estimates, more than 60% of the country is now outside of government control, more than 2.1 million people have lost their homes and almost 6.5 million need humanitarian aid to survive.
The attack in the western Boucle du Mouhoun region, including Solenzo and other towns, began on Feb. 27 and lasted until April 2, involving hundreds of government troops and drones, according to eyewitnesses quoted in the report.
"The VDPs shot at us like animals, while drones were flying over our heads. Many women and children died because they could not run," said a Fulani herder, 44, from Solenzo, referring to the pro-government militias.
After the attack, hundreds of Fulani residents fled across the border into neighboring Mali, the report said.
"Today, in the whole province, there are no more Fulani — they all fled or were killed or taken hostage," said a 53-year-old man from Solenzo. "But the other (ethnic) communities remain."
After the government forces left, the report said that jihadist fighters from a group known as JNIM reentered the towns and carried out reprisal killings against residents, targeting the men whom it considered to be military collaborators.
"All the men had been executed in front of the health center," said a 60-year-old woman who witnessed JNIM abuses in Tiao village, a town to the northeast of Solenzo on April 5. "I counted up to 70 bodies."
According to analysts, the junta's strategy of military escalation, including mass recruitment of civilians for poorly trained militia units, has exacerbated tensions between ethnic groups.
It it impossible to get an accurate picture of the situation in the country since the military leadership has installed a system of de facto censorship, rights groups said, and those daring to speak up can be openly abducted, imprisoned or forcefully drafted into the army.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-02 05:04:25+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Volodymyr Zelenskyy",
"Vladimir Putin",
"Russia",
"Kyiv",
"Ukraine",
"Sergey Lavrov",
"Marco Rubio",
"Russia government",
"NATO",
"Russia-Ukraine war",
"North Atlantic Treaty Organization",
"Sam Greene",
"Sergey Radchenko",
"Steve Witkoff",
"Politics",
"JD Vance",
"Ukraine government",
"Russia Ukraine war",
"United States government"
] |
# Where things stand with US-led talks to end Russia-Ukraine war
By Dasha Litvinova
May 2nd, 2025, 05:04 AM
---
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The discussions have taken place in an ornate Kremlin hall, on the polished marble of St. Peter's Basilica and in a famously contentious session in the Oval Office of the White House.
What's emerged so far from the Washington-led effort to end the war in Ukraine suggests a deal that seems likely to be favorable to Russia: President Donald Trump has sharply rebuked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, echoed Kremlin talking points, and indicated Kyiv would have to surrender territory and forego NATO membership. What's more, he has engaged in a rapprochement with Moscow that was unthinkable months ago.
More recently, Trump has offered mixed signals — social media posts that perhaps Russian President Vladimir Putin is stringing him along — and a deal has yet to materialize.
While the optics so far have been in the Kremlin's favor, no proposals that were put forth have been cemented.
And on Wednesday, Washington and Kyiv signed an agreement granting American access to Ukraine's vast mineral resources that could enable continued military aid to the country under ongoing attacks from Russia.
Zelenskyy said Thursday the deal was the first result of his "truly historic" meeting with Trump at the Vatican before the funeral of Pope Francis.
## Dialogue and aligned vision
One gain for the Kremlin is that Washington is talking again to Moscow after years of extremely strained ties following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine — and not just about the war, said Nikolay Petrov, senior research fellow with the New Eurasian Strategies Centre think tank.
Russian officials and state media from the very start of discussions with Trump's officials sought to underscore that Ukraine was only one item on the vast agenda of the "two superpowers." Trump and Putin talked in March about Ukraine but also the Middle East, stopping the proliferation of strategic weapons and even organizing hockey games between the countries.
Russia's main state TV channel reported that the meeting between Putin and Trump envoy Steve-Witkoff showed that Moscow and Washington were building "a new structure of the world" together.
In this sense, "Putin already got a part of what he sought" — the optics of Russia as a country that is on par with the U.S., Petrov said.
Trump has said Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, "will stay with Russia," and outlines of a peace proposal his team reportedly presented to Kyiv last month apparently included allowing Russia to keep control of other occupied Ukrainian territories. Trump, who had a contentious meeting with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Feb. 28, lashed out at him for publicly rejecting the idea of ceding land, and also said that Kyiv was unlikely to ever join NATO.
All of these reflect Moscow's long-held positions, and Trump's echoing of them suggested his administration's vision was aligned with the Kremlin's.
Trump also seemingly puts more pressure on Kyiv than Moscow in trying to reach a peace deal and appears eager to return to a more normal relationship with Russia and its "big business opportunities," said Sam Greene of King's College London.
"Is there any part of this that doesn't look like a win for Russia? No," Greene adds.
## So far, it's only talk
But so far, all of this has remained nothing but rhetoric, with terms of a possible settlement still very much "in the air," says Sergey Radchenko, a historian and a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Moreover, there are still demands by both Russia and Ukraine that would be hard to reconcile in any kind of peace settlement.
Ukraine refuses to cede any land and wants robust security guarantees against future aggression, possibly involving a contingent of peacekeepers -– something a handful of European nations have been discussing and Russia publicly rejects as a nonstarter.
Russia, in turn, demands that it holds onto the territory it has seized as well as no NATO membership for Ukraine. It also wants Kyiv to "demilitarize," or significantly reduce its armed force.
Radchenko sees the latter as a major sticking point in peace talks, because a strong, viable army is important for Ukraine to defend itself.
"If there are restrictions on the kinds of weapons Ukraine can receive (from the West) or the size of the army, then it will be very difficult to get them to accept this sort of agreement," he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov seemingly raised the stakes further this week by saying that international recognition of regions annexed from Ukraine by Russia was "imperative" for a peace deal.
Achieving that remains unclear, given that dozens of countries have decried the annexations as violating international law.
## What if the US walks away?
Some analysts believe it is in Putin's interest to prolong the war and keep making gains on the battlefield.
Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have threatened to wash their hands of the peace effort if there is no progress soon.
Putin, in an apparent gesture of willingness to keep talking, announced this week a 72-hour ceasefire starting May 8 for Russia's Victory Day holiday that marks the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
Zelenskyy dismissed the gesture as a further attempt by Putin at "manipulation" to string along the U.S., saying a ceasefire should begin immediately and last longer.
Greene noted that the Russian ruble and markets have been doing better recently over expectations of a peace deal and U.S. businesses and investors coming back, "and there may be a price to be paid" for pulling out the rug from under that.
The larger question is what happens on the battlefield if the Trump administration withdraws from the peace effort.
"When the Trump administration says they'll walk away, we don't know what that means. Does that mean they walk away from negotiations and keep supporting Ukraine?" Greene said.
Greene says that Ukraine probably doesn't feel confident that the U.S. stepping back from the process means that Washington will keep supporting Kyiv, adding that Russia may not be sure of the Trump administration ending aid, either.
"I think it's very difficult for the Kremlin to calculate the risks of dragging this out," he said.
And U.S. Treasury Secretary Sctott Bessent said the mineral deal "signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term."
A lot depends on whether Europe can step up and fill any gaps in U.S. aid.
If Trump walks away from the peace effort and still pursues normalizing relations with Russia, lifting sanctions, "this will amount to a major breakthrough" for Putin, but it's not a given, Radchenko says.
That would be an uphill battle for Trump as "there's a lot of congressional sanctions that are predicated on the war in Ukraine," Greene notes.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-16 09:32:57+00:00
|
[
"Keir Starmer",
"Oxford",
"United Kingdom",
"Fires",
"Tim Metcalfe",
"Aerospace and defense industry",
"Rob MacDougall"
] |
# Fire at a former UK military base kills 2 firefighters and a civilian
May 16th, 2025, 09:32 AM
---
LONDON (AP) — Two firefighters and a civilian were killed in a blaze at a former British military base that is now used to commemorate the history of aviation and motor sports, officials said Friday. Two other firefighters were in hospital with serious injuries.
The fire broke out Thursday in a large warehouse at the former Royal Air Force base in Bicester, near Oxford. Giant plumes of smoke could be seen for miles and witnesses reported hearing explosions.
Oxfordshire's chief fire officer Rob MacDougall, in an emotional statement near the site, said he was "immensely proud" of the bravery shown by all emergency responders to the huge blaze. "It is with a very heavy heart that we today report the loss of two of our firefighters," MacDougall said.
The fire at Bicester Motion had prompted warnings for residents in the area to stay indoors and drew a response from 10 fire and rescue crews. The fire was under control Friday morning, but crews remained at the scene.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the news as "devastating" and paid tribute to the "astounding" bravery of the firefighters involved.
"Hoping those in hospital make a full and swift recovery," he added on X.
The local police force, Thames Valley Police, said it has launched an investigation into the cause of the fire, and that its officers will be able to carry out inquiries once the scene is safe.
"We have commenced an unexplained death investigation, led by our major crime team," said Assistant Chief Constable Tim Metcalfe. "This is currently not a criminal investigation, but we will follow the evidence as our inquiries continue."
Historic England, a charity that manages hundreds of historic sites, claims the airfield is "the most complete and strongly representative example of an RAF airbase" in Britain.
Members of the public started to lay flowers and tributes near the scene of the fire.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-03 00:26:26+00:00
|
[
"Gabriela Moncada",
"Colombia",
"Law enforcement",
"Bogota",
"Philanthropy",
"South America",
"Teens"
] |
# AP Photos show Colombia quinceañeras as dreams come true
May 3rd, 2025, 12:26 AM
---
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Their dreams of celebrating their "quinceañeras" seemed unattainable. Then a foundation, with the support of the police and some private companies, made it come true.
Twenty-four teenagers in Bogota, Colombia on Friday celebrated their 15th birthday — a traditional rite of passage, particularly for girls, in parts of Latin America - as part of an initiative by a foundation called "Sueños Hechos," or "Dreams come True."
"I'm very happy, very nervous," said Gabriela Moncada, who had wanted a party and to wear a jade-green ball gown, but her family didn't have the means to afford it. Then she was selected by the foundation.
"It's exactly how I dreamed it would be," she said, smiling after having makeup applied by volunteer stylists.
The 24 girls came to Bogota from different places around Colombia's capital.
They brought photographs of the hairstyles they wanted, and some got makeup for the first time in their lives. Then they were taken in limousines to a hall for the formal party, where police officers were waiting for them and raised their sabers to make a parade to honor them.
The foundation opened a call for applications, and about 100 people registered, and after a review they picked up 24.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 16:45:09+00:00
|
[
"Jean Alain Rodrguez",
"Dominican Republic",
"Law enforcement",
"Courts",
"Fraud",
"Corruption",
"Lawsuits",
"Crime",
"Animal poaching and smuggling",
"Legal proceedings"
] |
# Dominican court bans public use of nicknames for police operations and cases
May 1st, 2025, 04:45 PM
---
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The Dominican Republic's Constitutional Court has banned law enforcement in the Caribbean country from publicly bestowing nicknames on police operations or court cases, a common practice in the region.
Until recently, Dominican officials had used an array of colorful words to describe such cases in public: larva, medusa, falcon, chameleon and anti-octopus.
The name of the so-called "anti-octopus" case was born after a prosecutor investigating government corruption suggested that the brother of a former president had tentacles reaching into all government agencies.
The so-called "larva" and "falcon" operations centered around drug trafficking, while the case nicknamed "chameleon" was an investigation into allegations including fraud, embezzlement and identity theft.
Meanwhile, an operation nicknamed "medusa" focused on officials accused of corruption, including the country's former attorney general, Jean Alain Rodríguez.
Attorneys for Rodríguez recently asked that the court ban the public use of nicknames for cases and police operations, saying that it violated his dignity.
The Constitutional Court agreed in a ruling Wednesday, saying such nicknames should only be used as a secret strategy and not for public knowledge, adding that they violate a suspect's presumption of innocence and could affect a judge's impartiality.
____
Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-17 05:07:18+00:00
|
[
"Eurovision Song Contest",
"Celine Dion",
"Music",
"Classical music",
"Sweden",
"Eurocopa 2024",
"Europe",
"Yuval Raphael",
"Israel",
"United Kingdom",
"Arts and entertainment",
"Technology",
"Canada"
] |
# How to watch and vote in the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest
May 17th, 2025, 05:07 AM
---
BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — Sprinkle on the sequins or settle down on the sofa: It's time to find out who will be crowned champion at the 69th Eurovision Song Contest.
Acts from more than two dozen countries will take the stage in Basel, Switzerland on Saturday to vie for glory through a 3-minute pop song. Millions of people across Europe and beyond will be watching and voting for their favorites.
Here's how to join them.
## What time does Eurovision start?
In Europe, the grand final begins at 9 p.m. Central European Summer Time. In Britain, it airs at 8 p.m.
In the United States and Canada, the finale starts at 3 p.m. EDT.
## How can I watch Eurovision?
The competition will be aired by national broadcasters in participating nations — the Eurovision website includes a list.
In some territories, it'll be watchable on Eurovision's YouTube channel.
In the U.S., Eurovision will stream live on Peacock.
## How can I vote in Eurovision?
Viewers in participating countries can vote during the competition, and for about 40 minutes after, by phone, text message or the Eurovision app. Each viewer can vote up to 20 times, but not for their own nation's entry.
Voting is open all day Saturday for viewers in the U.S. and other nonparticipating countries, who can vote online at www.esc.vote or with the app. The combined "rest of the world" vote is given the weight of one individual country.
Countries are awarded points based on both viewers' votes and rankings from juries of music industry professionals. These are combined into a total score, and the country with the highest score wins.
## I'm new to Eurovision. What do I need to know?
At its simplest, Eurovision is an international pop music competition in which acts representing countries across Europe, and a few beyond it, compete on live television for the title of champion, and a crystal microphone trophy.
Launched in 1956 to foster unity after World War II and test new live-broadcast technology, Eurovision has grown into a feel-good celebration of pop music and international unity. It has grown from seven countries to 37, including non-European nations such as Israel and Australia. The number has been whittled down to 26 finalists through two semifinals this week.
Eurovision is known for electro-pop anthems and disco dancefloor-fillers — often paired with elaborate costumes and spectacular staging — and for a steady smattering of kooky novelty acts.
Past winners include ABBA, who won in 1974 with "Waterloo"; Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion, for Switzerland in 1988; and the Italian rock band Måneskin in 2021.
This year's favorites include KAJ, representing Sweden with their ode to sauna culture "Bara Bada Bastu"; Dutch singer Claude with soulful ballad "C'est La Vie"; Austrian singer JJ's pop-opera song "Wasted Love"; French singer Louane with "maman"; and Israel's Yuval Raphael, with her anthemic "New Day Will Rise."
Israel's participation has attracted protests by Palestinians and their supporters, who say the country should be excluded from the contest over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-11 09:30:41+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Beijing",
"Switzerland",
"Scott Bessent",
"Jamieson Greer",
"China",
"Kevin Hassett",
"Howard Lutnick",
"International trade",
"China government",
"United States government",
"United States",
"Tariffs and global trade",
"Business",
"Government and politics",
"Jake Werner",
"Economic indicators",
"Politics"
] |
# US touts 'substantial progress' in tariff talks with China
By Jamey Keaten, Christopher Bodeen, and Will Weissert
May 11th, 2025, 09:30 AM
---
GENEVA (AP) — The lead U.S. negotiator in trade talks with China cheered "a great deal of productivity" in resolving differences between the world's two leading economic powers, after officials wrapped two days of bargaining in Switzerland following President Donald Trump imposing steep tariffs and Beijing retaliating.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday there was "substantial progress" in the weekend sessions but offered scant information on exactly what negotiations entailed. He said more details would come at a briefing Monday.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer suggested that an agreement had been reached but provided no details. He and Bessent briefly addressed reporters once talks had wrapped at the stately villa that serves as the residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, but did not take questions.
"It's important to understand how quickly we were able to come to agreement, which reflects that perhaps the differences were not so large as far as maybe thought," Greer said. But he also stressed that a top Trump priority means closing the U.S. trade deficit with China, which came to a record $263 billion last year.
"We're confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to resolve, work towards resolving that national emergency," Greer said.
The White House subsequently issued a statement titled, "U.S. Announces China Trade Deal in Geneva" but offering only the same quotes by Bessent and Greer.
The Chinese delegation held a subsequent news conference where it described what occurred as "candid, in-depth and constructive dialogue." Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said both sides had agreed to "establishing a consultation mechanism" for further discussions on trade and economic issues.
China's negotiators also said that they and the U.S. team would be releasing a joint statement on Monday — though the timing was still uncertain.
"I think, no matter when this statement is released, it's going to be good news for the world," said Li Chenggang, the Chinese ambassador to the World Trade Organization.
Trump was anxious to declare the sessions a win. Even before the final day of talks opened on Sunday, the president posed on his social media site that "GREAT PROGRESS" was being made toward what he suggested could be a "total reset" on the tariffs that have put the global economy on edge.
Beijing, however, appeared largely more measured about the negotiations' overall direction, noting in a Saturday night editorial published before the second day of negotiations kicked off, that it would "firmly reject any proposal that compromises core principles or undermines the broader cause of global equity."
During the Sunday evening news conference, He said "global trade wars that were provoked or initiated by the U.S. have captured global attention" but "China's position towards this trade war has been clear and consistent, and that is: China doesn't want to fight a trade war, because trade wars produce no winners."
"But if the U.S. insists on forcing this war upon us, China will not be afraid of it and will fight to the end," the vice premier said, before adding: "We are ready to work together."
Negotiations could go a long way toward stabilizing world markets roiled by the U.S.-China standoff that has ships in port with goods from China unwilling to unload until they get final word on tariffs.
Trump last month raised U.S. tariffs on China to a combined 145%, and China retaliated by hitting American imports with a 125% levy. Tariffs that high essentially amount to the countries' boycotting each other's products, disrupting trade that last year topped $660 billion.
Still, top members of the Trump administration were following the president's lead in insisting that a hard reset of U.S.-China trade relations could be in the offing.
"Secretary Bessent has made clear that one of his objectives is to de-escalate," U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who wasn't in Geneva, said on "Fox News Sunday." He added that the U.S. and China have both imposed tariffs that are "too high to do business, but that's why they are talking right now."
"We are the consumer of the world. Everybody wants to sell their goods here," Lutnick said. So they need to do business with America and we're using the power of our economy to open their economy to our exporters."
Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, told Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures" that "what's going to happen in all likelihood is that relationships are going to be rebooted. It looks like the Chinese are very, very eager to play ball and to renormalize things."
"We're essentially starting over, starting from scratch with the Chinese," Hassett said "and they seem to think that they really want to rebuild a relationship that's great for both of us."
The talks mark the first time the sides have met face-to-face to discuss the issues. The prospects for a major breakthrough still appear slight, but even a small drop in tariffs — particularly if taken simultaneously — could help restore some confidence.
"Negotiations to begin de-escalating the growing US–China trade war are badly needed and it's a positive sign that both sides were able to gracefully move beyond their bickering over who had to call first," Jake Werner, director of the East Asia Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said in an email.
The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on countries worldwide, but its fight with China has been the most intense. Trump's import taxes on goods from China include a 20% charge meant to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States.
The remaining 125% involve a dispute that dates back to Trump's first term and comes atop tariffs he levied on China back then, which means the total tariffs on some Chinese goods can exceed 145%.
___
Bodeen reported from Taipei, Taiwan, and Weissert from Washington.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-08 07:47:28+00:00
|
[
"Gaming",
"Japan",
"Finance Business",
"Technology",
"Yuri Kageyama",
"Entertainment",
"Nintendo Co.",
"Ltd.",
"Business",
"Game consoles"
] |
# Nintendo promises stronger results with Switch 2 console going on sale in June
By Yuri Kageyama
May 8th, 2025, 07:47 AM
---
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese video-game maker Nintendo on Thursday reported a 43% decline in profit for the fiscal year through March, but promised a turnaround as its Switch console upgrade goes on sale in June.
Nintendo Co.'s profit for the fiscal year through March totaled 278.8 billion yen ($1.9 billion), down from 490 billion yen the previous fiscal year.
Annual sales slipped 30% to 1.16 trillion yen ($8 billion) from 1.67 trillion yen, according to the Kyoto-based maker of the Super Mario and Donkey Kong games.
The fortunes of game companies tend to decline somewhat as time passes after a new game machine goes on sale since many people have already bought the machine, although new hit software helps boost the results.
Much anticipation has been building over the rollout of the so-called Switch 2, which goes on sale June 5.
Nintendo said it expects to sell 15 million Switch 2 consoles for the fiscal year through March 2026.
Demand has dwindled for the current Switch, now in its eighth year after its debut. The number of Switch players around the world remains above 128 million people, according to Nintendo.
Nintendo said attractive software was coming for the Switch 2 later this year, including "The Legend of Zelda" games, a Pokemon title and a Kirby game, as well as offerings from outside software companies.
Also adding to the momentum is the opening of a Nintendo store in San Francisco and the Super Nintendo World amusement facility opening in Orlando, both set for this month, according to Nintendo.
Nintendo is projecting a 300 billion yen ($2.1 billion) profit for the fiscal year ending in March next year, a nearly 8% improvement from the fiscal year just ended, on sales of 1.9 trillion yen ($13 billion), up 63% on-year.
___
Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-19 17:39:17+00:00
|
[
"North Carolina state government",
"North Carolina",
"Donald Trump",
"Government budgets",
"Josh Stein",
"Helene Relief",
"Government programs",
"Hurricanes and typhoons",
"Politics",
"David Richardson",
"Hurricane Helene"
] |
# North Carolina governor urges state lawmakers to include more Helene aid in upcoming budget
By Makiya Seminera
May 19th, 2025, 05:39 PM
---
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein urged state lawmakers Monday to allocate hundreds of millions more dollars toward western North Carolina's ongoing recovery from Hurricane Helene instead of waiting on "uncertain federal assistance."
The money requested — $891 million — would go toward critical needs in Helene's aftermath, such as revitalizing local economies, repairing town infrastructure and providing housing assistance, Stein said during a news conference in still-recovering western North Carolina. Stein released the Helene proposal as the GOP-led North Carolina General Assembly prepares to finalize its state budget this summer.
More than 100 people died as Helene tore through western North Carolina in September, destroying homes, businesses and roadways. The storm's record-breaking devastation totaled $59.6 billion in damages and recovery needs. Recovery has been slow in parts of the region as some hard-hit mountain towns still appear ravaged by the storm nearly eight months later.
Navigating Helene recovery is one of the chief issues Stein has been tasked with handling upon his first few months in office. Some of the first actions his administration took focused on rehabilitating the western part of the state, as well as establishing the Governor's Recovery Office for Western North Carolina.
"This recovery is going to take a long time," Stein said Monday. "My administration, though, is in this for the long haul. I know that the legislature is as well."
In March, state lawmakers passed another Helene relief bill for $524 million — significantly less than the $1.07 billion Stein had requested the month before. That package added to more than $1.1 billion in Helene recovery activities appropriated or made available by the General Assembly the year prior, according to Stein's office.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved a $1.4 billion grant that would facilitate western North Carolina's long-term recovery. The Federal Emergency Management Agency — the federal organization responsible for addressing some of the immediate needs in Helene's aftermath — has also provided more than $700 million to state and local governments, as well as directly to North Carolinians.
Talks over FEMA's effectiveness have ushered western North Carolina's recovery process into the national spotlight as President Donald Trump has suggested the agency's dissolution. As a candidate, Trump continually disparaged the agency's work in the region, which garnered support from those frustrated with a sometimes slow and complicated recovery process. Just last week, the agency's acting chief David Richardson announced plans to shift disaster recovery responsibilities to states for the upcoming hurricane season.
Stein has called on the federal government to reform the agency but not to get rid of it, which he reiterated during his budget proposal announcement Monday.
More than a quarter of Stein's proposal would go toward restoring local economies and their tourism industries. Another quarter would fund infrastructure repairs, debris cleanup and resiliency projects to better protect the region from future storms. Other allocations include addressing recovery needs such as housing assistance, fixing waterways and farmlands, and food insecurity.
The state Senate has already approved its budget proposal and now awaits the House to release its plan this week. Then, state lawmakers can decide whether to incorporate some of Stein's requests on Helene aid as the two chambers work out differences, with the goal of having a final budget enacted by July 1.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-08 23:43:33+00:00
|
[
"Montana",
"Government programs",
"Legal proceedings",
"Public health",
"Health",
"Tracy McNew",
"Business",
"Corporate crime",
"Bankruptcy",
"Compensation and benefits",
"Lawsuits",
"Climate and environment",
"Mining accidents",
"Courts",
"Climate"
] |
# Asbestos clinic forced to close in Montana town where thousands have been sickened by dust
By Matthew Brown
May 8th, 2025, 11:43 PM
---
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — An asbestos screening clinic in a small Montana town where thousands have been sickened by toxic dust from a nearby mine has been abruptly shuttered by authorities following a court order to seize the clinic's assets to pay off a judgment to the railroad BNSF.
The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office closed on Wednesday the Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Libby, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the U.S.-Canada border. The town of about 3,000 people is near a mine that produced asbestos dust for decades, and the clinic has been at the forefront of efforts to help victims.
Courts in Montana have said BNSF contributed to the pollution when it brought contaminated material from the mine through town, and the railway separately faces numerous lawsuits from asbestos victims in Libby and surrounding communities.
But the Texas-based railway prevailed in a 2023 lawsuit alleging the clinic fraudulently made some patients eligible for government benefits when it knew they were not sick. The railway challenged the validity of over 2,000 diagnoses by the clinic and 337 were ruled false.
The railway brought the lawsuit on behalf of the federal government, which provides specialized Medicare services to Libby's asbestos victims. BNSF was entitled to a share of the $6 million judgment against the clinic, and after adding in attorney fees, court costs and interest, the railway says it's now owed $3.1 million.
"The judge determined the amount of damages to be repaid, and the process for recovery is set by law," BNSF spokesperson Kendall Kirkham Sloan said in a statement.
Clinic Executive Director Tracy McNew said the closure would have a broad impact on public health in the Libby area as fewer people are screened for asbestos-related health problems.
"CARD remains committed to its patients and the Libby community and will fight to reopen as soon as possible," McNew said in a statement.
The clinic for more than 20 years has provided health screenings, monitoring and treatment of patients with problems caused by asbestos exposure. It declared bankruptcy after the judgment in the fraud case was handed down. It kept operating and didn't pay the money under a settlement reached in bankruptcy court with the federal government that included BNSF.
CARD bankruptcy attorney James "Andy" Patten said the railway's attempts to collect on the fraud judgment violated the bankruptcy settlement, which was approved by a federal court.
Sloan declined to comment on the bankruptcy settlement.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-09 01:19:49+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Rosa DeLauro",
"Hakeem Jeffries",
"Martin Heinrich",
"United States government",
"District of Columbia",
"United States",
"DC Wire",
"Military and defense",
"Charles Schumer",
"U.S. Democratic Party",
"Black experience",
"Robert Newlen",
"Chicago",
"Library of Congress",
"Lizzo",
"Carla Hayden",
"Connecticut",
"Joseph Morelle",
"Government and politics",
"CQ Brown Jr.",
"Politics"
] |
# President Trump fires Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden
By Seung Min Kim, Zeke Miller, and Lisa Mascaro
May 9th, 2025, 01:19 AM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump abruptly fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden as the White House continues to purge the federal government of those perceived to oppose the president and his agenda.
Hayden was notified in an email late Thursday from the White House's Presidential Personnel Office, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. Confirmed by the Senate to the job in 2016, Hayden was the first woman and the first African American to be librarian of Congress.
"Carla," the email began. "On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service." A spokesperson for the Library of Congress confirmed that the White House told Hayden she was dismissed.
Hayden, whose 10-year term was set to expire next year, had come under backlash from a conservative advocacy group that had vowed to root out those standing in the way of Trump's agenda. The group, American Accountability Foundation, accused her and other library leaders of promoting children's books with "radical" content and literary material authored by Trump opponents.
"The current #LibrarianOfCongress Carla Hayden is woke, anti-Trump, and promotes trans-ing kids," AAF said on its X account earlier Thursday, just hours before the firing was made public. "It's time to get her OUT and hire a new guy for the job!"
All around the government, Trump has been weeding out officials who he believes don't align with his agenda, from the Justice Department to the Pentagon and beyond. At times, the firings come after conservative voices single out officials for criticism.
Earlier Thursday, the acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency was pushed out one day after he had testified that he did not agree with proposals to dismantle the organization. Trump has suggested that individual states, not FEMA, should take the lead on responding to hurricanes, tornadoes and other crises.
At the Pentagon, more than a half-dozen top general officers have been fired since January, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown Jr. The only two women serving as four-star officers, as well as a disproportionate number of other senior female officers, have also been fired.
The unexpected move Thursday against Hayden infuriated congressional Democrats, who initially disclosed the firing.
"Enough is enough," said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who called Hayden "a "trailblazer, a scholar, and a public servant of the highest order."
Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Hayden was "callously fired" by Trump and demanded an explanation from the administration as to why she was dismissed.
"Hayden, has spent her entire career serving people — from helping kids learn to read to protecting some of our nation's most precious treasures," said Rep. Joseph Morelle of New York, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee that oversees the Library.
"She is an American hero," he said.
The Library of Congress, with its stately buildings across from the U.S. Capitol, holds a vast collection of the nation's books and history, which it makes available to the public and lawmakers. It houses the papers of nearly two dozen presidents and more than three dozen Supreme Court justices.
It also has collections of rare books, prints and photographs, as well as troves of music and valuable artifacts — like a flute owned by President James Madison, which the singer and rapper Lizzo played in a 2022 performance arranged by Hayden.
The Democratic leaders praised Hayden, who had been the longtime leader of Baltimore's library system, for a tenure that helped modernize the Library and make it more accessible with initiatives into rural communities and online. She is a graduate of Roosevelt University and the University of Chicago.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., applauded Hayden as "an accomplished, principled and distinguished Librarian of Congress."
"Donald Trump's unjust decision to fire Dr. Hayden in an email sent by a random political hack is a disgrace and the latest in his ongoing effort to ban books, whitewash American history and turn back the clock," Jeffries said.
"The Library of Congress is the People's Library. There will be accountability for this unprecedented assault on the American way of life sooner rather than later," he said.
New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, the top Democrat on the Senate panel that oversees funding for the library, said the firing, which he said came at 6:56 p.m., was "taking his assault on America's libraries to a new level."
"Dr. Hayden has devoted her career to making reading and the pursuit of knowledge available to everyone," he said.
Robert Newlen, the principal deputy librarian, said he would serve as acting librarian of Congress "until further instruction" in a separate email seen by the AP.
"I promise to keep everyone informed," he wrote to colleagues.
Hayden spoke recently of how libraries changed her own life, and opened her to the world.
"Libraries are the great equalizer," she posted on X during National Library Week last month.
"And when you have a free public library in particular," she said, it's an "opportunity center for people all walks of life, and you are giving them the opportunity to make choices on which information, entertainment and inspiration means the most to them."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-07 12:03:08+00:00
|
[
"Tokyo",
"Rail accidents",
"Mass transit",
"Transportation"
] |
# A man with a knife slashes 2 people at a Tokyo subway station and is arrested
By Associated Press
May 7th, 2025, 12:03 PM
---
TOKYO (AP) — A man with a knife slashed two passengers on a train stopping at a Tokyo subway station during the evening rush on Wednesday, and their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, Japanese police and media reported.
The 43-year-old suspect was arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder, Tokyo's metropolitan police said. The suspect's motives and other details were not immediately known.
The suspect slashed a man in his 20s in the head as he got on a subway car. A passenger in his 30s had his finger slashed while he and nearby passengers seized the attacker, Japan 's NHK television reported.
A witness told NHK he saw the suspect brandishing a knife inside the car, but he did not resist when he was seized by other passengers. As the witness returned to the platform, the first victim, bleeding and slumped to the floor, asked for an ambulance, NHK said.
Trains on the line were temporarily suspended for "inspection" of subway cars, operator Tokyo Metro Co. said.
Though Japan is known for its safety, there has been a growing number of random attacks in public places using knives or homemade explosives in recent years.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-09 07:06:03+00:00
|
[
"Germany",
"Vladimir Putin",
"Russia",
"Robert Fico",
"Russia government",
"Luiz Incio Lula da Silva",
"Donald Trump",
"War and unrest",
"North Korea government",
"Ukraine",
"North Korea",
"Xi Jinping",
"Dmitry Peskov",
"Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi",
"Kaja Kallas",
"Politics",
"Ukraine government",
"Yuri Ushakov",
"Volodymyr Zelenskyy",
"Alexander Gabuev",
"Russia Ukraine war",
"Aleksandar Vucic"
] |
# Victory Day parade in Russia celebrates the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany
May 9th, 2025, 07:06 AM
---
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Friday celebrated the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, as President Vladimir Putin presided over a massive parade of tanks, missiles and troops through Red Square and welcomed over two dozen world leaders — the most since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.
Victory Day, which Russia marks on May 9, is the country's most important secular holiday. The parade and other festivities underline Moscow's efforts to project its global power and cement the alliances it has forged while seeking a counterbalance to the West amid the conflict in Ukraine that is grinding through a fourth year.
Friday's parade was the largest since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022 and drew the most global leaders to Moscow in a decade, including high-profile guests like Chinese President Xi Jinping, who sat next to Putin, and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Their attendance underscored how Putin has tried to emphasize the failure of the West to turn Russia into a global pariah.
"It's again showing that Russia is not isolated, that Russia is seen as a very legitimate victorious nation that is among victors in World War II," said Alexander Gabuev, director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.
"Russia is standing tall among the so-called global majority," Gabuev said, adding that the attendance of Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico showed that "Russia has allies even within the Western camp" and marked a major public relations victory for Putin.
World War II is a rare event in the nation's divisive history under Communist rule that is revered by all political groups, and the Kremlin has used that sentiment to encourage national pride and underline Russia's position as a global power.
The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in what it calls the Great Patriotic War in 1941-45, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche.
Addressing the crowd in Red Square, Putin praised Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, saying that "we are proud of their courage and determination, their spiritual force that always has brought us victory."
Putin, who has ruled Russia for 25 years, has turned Victory Day into a key pillar of his tenure and has tried to use it to justify his action in Ukraine.
For Putin, Victory Day celebrations have become "a civic religion that boosts patriotism, nationalism, nostalgia, and justifies both his repressive regime at home and Russia's increasingly expansionist foreign policy abroad, particularly including towards its neighbors," Gabuev said.
The parade featured over 11,500 troops and more than 180 military vehicles, including tanks, armored infantry vehicles and artillery used on the battlefield in Ukraine. As a reminder of Russia's nuclear might, huge Yars nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles launchers rolled across Red Square. Also among the weaponry on display were drones carried on military trucks, a tribute to their pivotal role in the conflict.
Fighter jets of Russian air force's aerobatic teams flew by in close formation, followed by jets that trailed smoke in the colors of the national flag.
Afterward, Putin shook hands with Russian generals who led the troops onto Red Square and spoke to medal-bedecked senior North Korean officers who watched the parade, hugging one of them.
Last month, Putin thanked North Korea for fighting alongside Russian troops against Ukrainian forces and hailed their sacrifices as Pyongyang confirmed its deployment for the first time.
The Russian and North Korean statements emphasized their expanding military partnership, especially after Russia said its troops have fully reclaimed the Kursk region, parts of which Ukrainian forces seized last year. Ukraine denied the Russian claim.
After the parade, Putin hosted foreign leaders at a Kremlin reception. He also held a number of bilateral meetings with some of them, including Brazil's Lula, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic and Slovakia's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has openly challenged the European Union's policies over Ukraine.
Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump exchanged "warm words" and "congratulations on the occasion of our common holiday" through their aides, the Russian leader's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told state Channel One TV.
Victory Day festivities this year were overshadowed by Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow and severe disruptions at the capital's airports. Aeroflot on Wednesday canceled more than 100 flights to and from Moscow, and delayed over 140 others as the military repelled Ukrainian drone attacks on the capital.
Russian authorities tightened security ahead of the parade and cellphone internet outages were reported amid electronic countermeasures aimed at foiling more potential drone attacks.
Military parades and other festivities were also held in scores of other cities across Russia amid tight security. As a historic tribute, Putin's hometown of St. Petersburg symbolically regained its Soviet-era name of Leningrad for a day Friday and Volgograd temporarily reverted to Stalingrad, as it was known during World War II. In the evening, massive fireworks lit the sky in multiple cities across Russia's 11 time zones.
Putin had declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting May 7 to coincide with the Victory Day celebrations, but warned that Russian troops would retaliate to any attacks. Moscow has been reluctant to accept a U.S.-proposed 30-day truce that Ukraine has accepted, linking it to a halt in Western arms supplies to Ukraine and Kyiv's mobilization effort, conditions Ukraine and its Western allies have rejected.
Ukrainian authorities reported scores of Russian strikes Friday that killed at least two people in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions and damaged buildings. A Russian drone also struck a civilian vehicle in Zaporizhzhia, critically injuring a man and also wounding his wife.
The Russian Defense Ministry on Friday said Kyiv's forces continued operations against Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, as well as conducting shelling and drone strikes on the battlefield. It also accused Ukraine of attempted cross-border attacks into Russia's Belgorod and Kursk regions.
As the parade and other festivities unfolded in Moscow, dozens of European officials met in Lviv, in western Ukraine, to endorse the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian officials accused of war crimes.
"Russia needs to feel our common and, most importantly, growing strength," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, addressing the Lviv meeting. He emphasized the need for Russia to be held accountable, adding that "this is the moral duty of Europe and of everyone in the world who values human life."
"I'm sure that this tribunal will allow for the fight against impunity against all war crimes that have been committed during this war of aggression of Russia against Ukraine," said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.
Russian authorities have fiercely denied allegations of war crimes. Asked about the tribunal on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow "will not be reacting to this."
Barrot also said European allies have agreed on another package of sanctions against Russia.
Standing alongside top Ukrainian government officials in Lviv, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the tribunal's launch will mean that "nobody can be left unpunished for the crimes committed."
Most of Europe marks the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II on May 8.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-08 20:15:54+00:00
|
[
"United Kingdom",
"Financial markets",
"Donald Trump",
"Business"
] |
# How major US stock indexes fared Thursday, 5/8/2025
By The Associated Press
May 8th, 2025, 08:15 PM
---
U.S. stocks rose after the United States and United Kingdom announced a deal on trade that would lower some tariffs and restrictions between the two countries.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% Thursday, marking its 11th gain in the last 13 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1.1%.
Stocks got a boost after President Donald Trump gave potentially encouraging updates on upcoming talks with China, but some of the gains faded late in the day. Bitcoin jumped above $101,000, crude oil prices climbed and the price of gold eased back as investors felt less need for safety.
On Thursday:
The S&P 500 rose 32.66 points, or 0.6%, to 5,663.94.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 254.48 points, or 0.6%, to 41,368.45.
The Nasdaq composite rose 189.98 points, or 1.1%, to 17,928.14.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 36.75 points, or 1.8%, to 2,026.41.
For the week:
The S&P 500 is down 22.73 points, or 0.4%.
The Dow is up 51.02 points, or 0.1%.
The Nasdaq is down 49.59 or 0.3%.
The Russell 2000 is up 5.68 points, or 0.3%.
For the year:
The S&P 500 is down 217.69 points, or 3.7%.
The Dow is down 1,175.77 points, or 2.8%.
The Nasdaq is down 1,382.65 or 7.2%.
The Russell 2000 is down 203.74 points, or 9.1%.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-12 20:44:01+00:00
|
[
"China",
"Donald Trump",
"Joe Biden",
"International trade",
"John Thune",
"Xi Jinping",
"Government policy",
"Economic policy",
"Tariffs and global trade",
"Barack Obama",
"Justin Wolfers",
"Mike Johnson",
"Federal Reserve System",
"Politics",
"United States government",
"China government",
"Kevin Rinz",
"Business",
"International agreements",
"Michael Starr"
] |
# What's next with Trump's trade war truce with China
By Josh Boak and Didi Tang
May 12th, 2025, 08:44 PM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's agreement with China to temporarily slash tariffs for 90 days offered the world a bit of welcome relief. But what persists is a sense of uncertainty and the possibility that some damage from the trade war could already be done.
The Trump administration agreed after talks this weekend in Switzerland to pare back its 145% in tariffs charged on imports from China to 30%. The Chinese government chose to reduce its retaliatory import taxes on U.S. goods from 125% to 10% while the sides continue to negotiate.
Trump declared the de-escalation of the trade war a victory, saying he would soon chat with Chinese President Xi Jinping about how to preserve the financial relationship between the world's two largest economies.
Regardless, the tariffs are now elevated from when Trump took office and the scramble to respond to the White House's mix of threats and olive branches might leave CEOs, investors and consumers uneasy and unwilling to take risks.
## Trump is going to keep tariffing
The global economy is not going to back to January 19, 2025, the day before Trump became president. Even if he routinely changes the tariff rates, the U.S. president and his aides have made it clear that most imports will be taxed at a minimum of roughly 10%.
The 10% figure has been Trump's baseline. He gave it to most countries for a 90-day negotiating period after his April 2 "Liberation Day" tariff rollout caused a panic in the financial markets. He kept the 10% rate as part of the framework with the United Kingdom announced last week. And Trump's new 30% tariff on Chinese goods includes 20% tied to China's role in fentanyl and the 10% baseline applied elsewhere.
"We have many deals coming down the line," Trump said on Friday. "But we always have a baseline of 10%."
But Trump has also hinted that there could be exceptions. Sectoral tariffs of 25% on autos, steel and aluminum are still in place, with Trump stressing that pharmaceutical drugs will also soon face import taxes.
Trump said Monday that he told House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune to include tariff revenues when looking at how to pay for their planned income tax cuts.
## Reality can now anchor negotiations
Taisu Zhang, a law professor who studies comparative legal and economic history at Yale University, said the chaos from last month probably was not for nothing. Both countries were testing their strengths, with Trump stressing the importance that foreign companies placed on accessing U.S. consumers and China emphasizing its resilience to an external shock.
"As recently as February, both sides probably harbored unrealistic assumptions about each other's economic or political weaknesses or intents," Zhang said. "The Americans had an exaggerated sense of their own bargaining power to begin with, and the Chinese may have had an exaggerated sense of their security from American economic pressure."
"The best thing to come out of this agreement, therefore, seems to be a stronger sense of reality on both sides," Zhang said. In that, Zhang said, it looks like the goals of the two countries align, with China consuming more and the U.S. manufacturing more.
## The stock market loved the news and could shape what happens next
The world has seen that Trump remains wary of getting on the wrong side of the financial markets. When his initial April 2 announcement of higher tariff rates fueled a selloff in stocks and rising interest rates on U.S. debt, he retreated by announcing his 90-day suspension of tariffs so that talks could proceed with nations other than China.
The S&P 500 stock index jumped 3.3% in Monday trading, helping validate the Trump administration's decision to lower tariff rates so that talks could proceed.
## Beware of the 'bullwhip' effect
If Trump's 145% tariffs caused fewer boats to leave for U.S. ports, the prospect of a slightly lower tariff rate might cause a stampede of shipping containers to flow across the ocean from China. The possibility of fewer ships from China had raised the risk of empty shelves at U.S. stores, a phenomenon last seen during the COVID-19 pandemic that led to spiking prices and voter frustration.
But with the fast pivot to a lower tariff rate, the freight sitting in warehouses and factories in Asia can now be hurried onto cargo ships, causing the price of transporting those goods to rise sharply and producing congestion at ports. There is "absolutely" going to be a bullwhip effect in which the shortages now turn into a rush of new supply as companies try to beat the prospect of higher tariffs returning, said Michael Starr, vice president of growth at the logistics company Zencargo.
"They can now start shipping for the holiday season," Starr said. "They're going to rush as many orders out in these 90 days as possible. And yes, the vessels cannot come back as quickly into service as the freight can."
## There's little to no certainty about what's ahead
University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers stressed that many people would see the 90-day talks as a short-term positive because "moving tariffs from prohibitive and insane to merely very high is good news." But over the course of the past four months of the Trump administration, the president has floated 100% import taxes on movies made overseas, threatened Canada and Greenland with annexation and shown a relative indifference to the possible financial pain from his actions.
"So if you were to look back over those last 120 days, you would say, for as much optimism as you might feel right now, it would be crazy to feel optimistic about anything," Wolfers said.
## The U.S. economy could still end up hurting
A problem for Trump is that businesses have already made plans for the 145% tariffs he announced earlier and might be hesitant to revise them until any permanent policies are set.
It's possible that a resilient job market can take the hits from tariffs without cracking much, just as it survived Federal Reserve rate hikes under Democratic President Joe Biden that were designed to bring down inflation. But 30% tariffs are still a cost for businesses and consumers to absorb — and that might prevent many companies from hiring and expanding their operations.
"Maybe some of those could live with 30%, at least for a while," said Kevin Rinz, a senior fellow at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. "But in 90 days, what are tariffs with China going to be? Will they go up or down from 30%? If up, how far? I have no idea, and if I were a firm that relies on imports from China, that would cause paralysis."
Rinz, who worked as an economist in the Obama and Biden administrations, tried to model the impact of the labor market based on Trump's own premise that any short-term pain from tariffs would eventually result in long-term gains. His analysis found a drop in hiring.
"It turns out, that scenario looks a lot like a recession over the next few years," Rinz said.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-12 08:10:50+00:00
|
[
"Scott Bessent",
"Donald Trump",
"China",
"Geneva",
"International trade",
"Joe Biden",
"Mark Williams",
"China government",
"Economic policy",
"Government policy",
"International agreements",
"Tariffs and global trade",
"United States government",
"Business",
"United States Congress",
"Switzerland government",
"Government and politics",
"Jay Foreman",
"Dani Rodrik",
"Craig Singleton"
] |
# US and China reach deal to roll back most tariffs for 90 days
By Jamey Keaten, David Mchugh, Elaine Kurtenbach, and Ken Moritsugu
May 12th, 2025, 08:10 AM
---
GENEVA (AP) — The United States and China agreed Monday to slash their massive recent tariffs, restarting stalled trade between the world's two biggest economies and setting off a rally in global financial markets.
But the de-escalation in President Donald Trump's trade wars did nothing to resolve underlying differences between Beijing and Washington. The deal lasts 90 days, creating time for U.S. and Chinese negotiators to reach a more substantive agreement. But the pause also leaves tariffs higher than before Trump started ramping them up last month. And businesses and investors must contend with uncertainty about whether the truce will last.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. agreed to drop the 145% tax Trump imposed last month to 30%. China agreed to lower its tariff rate on U.S. goods to 10% from 125%.
## A deal averts a total blockade
Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the tariff reductions at a news conference in Geneva.
The officials struck a positive tone as they said the two sides had set up consultations to continue discussing their trade issues. Bessent said that the triple-digit tariffs the two countries imposed on each other last month — in an escalation of tensions Trump started — amounted to "the equivalent of an embargo, and neither side wants that. We do want trade.''
The delegations, escorted around town and guarded by scores of Swiss police, met for at least a dozen hours on both days of the weekend at a sunbaked 18th-century villa that serves as the official residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.
At times, the delegation leaders broke away from their staffs and settled into sofas on the villa's patios overlooking Lake Geneva, helping deepen personal ties in the effort to reach a much-sought deal.
## Finally, a deal
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.
Trump had ratcheted the combined tariff to 145% last month, furious that China was retaliating, before backing down Monday.
China's Commerce Ministry called the agreement an important step for the resolution of the two countries' differences and said it lays the foundation for further cooperation.
"This initiative aligns with the expectations of producers and consumers in both countries and serves the interests of both nations as well as the common interests of the world," a ministry statement said.
China hopes the U.S. will stop "the erroneous practice of unilateral tariff hikes" and work with China to safeguard the development of economic and trade relations, injecting more certainty and stability into the global economy, the ministry said.
The joint statement by the two countries said China also agreed to suspend or remove other measures it has taken since April 2 in response to the U.S. tariffs. China has increased export controls on rare earths, including some critical to the defense industry, and added more American companies to its export control and unreliable entity lists, restricting their business with and in China.
## Markets rally as two sides de-escalate
The full impact on the complicated tariffs and other trade penalties enacted by Washington and Beijing remains unclear. And much depends on whether they will find ways to bridge longstanding differences during the 90-day suspension.
Bessent said in an interview with CNBC that U.S. and Chinese officials will meet again in a few weeks.
But investors rejoiced as trade envoys from the world's two biggest economies blinked.
Futures for the S&P 500 jumped 2.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2%. Oil prices surged more than $1.60 a barrel, and the dollar gained against the euro and the Japanese yen.
"This is a substantial de-escalation," said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics. But he warned "there is no guarantee that the 90-day truce will give way to a lasting ceasefire."
Dani Rodrik, an economist at Harvard University, said that the two countries had stepped back "from a needless trade war'' but that U.S. tariffs on China remain high at 30% "and will mainly hurt U.S. consumers.''
"Trump has obtained absolutely nothing from China for all the chaos he generated. Zilch,'' Rodrik wrote, posting on Bluesky.
Craig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the speed at which the agreement came about suggested that "both sides were more economically boxed in than they let on."
"For China, the economic pain was real: Rising unemployment, capital flight, and export orders falling at their fastest rate in nearly two years," Singleton said. "For Trump, markets mattered, and this deal gives him a win without abandoning leverage."
The announcement by the U.S. and China sent shares surging, with U.S. futures jumping more than 2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged nearly 3%, and benchmarks in Germany and France were both up 0.7%
"The drop from sky-high to merely high tariffs, along with the uncertainty about the path of future tariffs, will still serve as a constraint on trade and investment flows between the two economies," said Eswar Prasad, professor of trade policy at Cornell University.
"Nevertheless, it is a positive omen for the world economy that U.S. tariffs might eventually end up as significant trade barriers but not unsurmountable walls,'' he said.
Jay Foreman — CEO of Basic Fun, the Florida-based company behind such toys as Care Bears and Tonka trucks — said he was relieved to see the tariff rate on Chinese goods now down to 30%. But he wants that to drop to 10%.
Foreman said he'd just advised his team in China to release its toy shipments, which had been paused since early April. Before Monday's deal, he said, he thought he'd have to double prices — but they'll still go up, by 10% to 15% for the third and fourth quarters.
"It's like they tried to feed us a rotten egg sandwich and hope we're happy to drink spoiled milk instead," Foreman said.
___
McHugh reported from Frankfurt, Germany; Kurtenbach from Mito, Japan; and Moritsugu from Beijing. AP Writers Paul Wiseman and Didi Tang in Washington and AP Retail Writer Anne D'Innocenzio in New York contributed.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 18:47:58+00:00
|
[
"Alabama",
"Jack Williams",
"Health care costs",
"Missouri",
"Kay Ivey",
"Access to health care",
"Agriculture",
"Legislation",
"Future of food",
"Arthur Orr",
"Health care industry",
"Alabama state government",
"Politics",
"Health",
"Tony Luetkemeyer",
"Bobby Singleton"
] |
# Alabama lawmakers approve bill to let Alfa sell health benefit plans
May 1st, 2025, 06:47 PM
---
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — State lawmakers on Thursday approved legislation that will allow the Alabama Farmers Federation to sell health care plans to their members that can bypass federal requirements and turn people away for preexisting conditions.
The Alabama Senate voted 30-2 for the bill. The legislation now goes to Gov. Kay Ivey for her signature.
The bill would allow the Alabama Farmers Federation (Alfa) to sell health plans to farmers and anyone else who joins the organization. The bill specifies that the plans, even though they would provide benefits to pay for medical visits, hospitalizations, and other costs, are not classified as health insurance.
The plans would not have to comply with the Affordable Care Act requirements and could deny coverage to people because of preexisting conditions.
Republican Sen. Arthur Orr said the proposal provides an option for people who want to participate.
"Folks, for me this is a freedom of contract issue. This is for individuals and an organization being able to engage in a contract for health care and the government has no role, or a very limited role in that," Orr said.
Orr said 11 other states including Tennessee and Iowa have similar laws in place.
Similar legislation passed the Missouri Senate in March and is now pending in its House, with two weeks remaining in the legislative session.
Missouri Republican Senate Majority Leader Tony Luetkemeyer on Thursday touted the legislation as "a common sense health care solution" for organizations such as the Missouri Farm Bureau, which is backing the effort.
"It will be especially valuable for rural families who are self-employed in Missouri – small business owners who have been struggling with skyrocketing premiums," Luetkemeyer said.
Supporters said the bill provides a needed and less expensive option to farmers and others who are struggling with high health care costs. Opponents argued the plans will skirt federal requirements and create an unlevel playing field by allowing the group to refuse to sell plans to people with expensive medical conditions— something that traditional insurance plans cannot do.
Senate Democrats unsuccessfully pushed for amendments that would require Alfa to accept people with preexisting conditions and to give the Alabama Department of Insurance oversight over the plans.
Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton said the changes would ensure farmers get a health plan that will "really benefit them."
"We need to protect people on their preexisting conditions. These farmers work in dangerous conditions on a daily basis. Every farmer handles chemicals on a daily basis," Singleton said.
Orr countered that people will leave the plan if they are unhappy with the coverage. People who enroll would be required to sign a notice that the benefits "are not provided through an insurance policy."
Republican Sen. Jack Williams said farmers are struggling with insurance costs on top of the other financial pressures of running a farm. He said his 27-year-old grandson pays $2,400 monthly to buy insurance for his family.
"If we don't do something to help our young farmers out, we're not going to have any because they have to go to work somewhere else just to get insurance," Williams said.
Lawmakers earlier added several changes to the bill they said were aimed at boosting protections for consumers. Any monetary cap on benefits could not be less than $2 million per enrollee. The plans, while they could deny coverage to new applicants because of their health history, could not kick people off the plan or increase premiums because of an illness or medical event. People who have access to employer-sponsored plans would be ineligible to buy the plans.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-19 19:57:40+00:00
|
[
"Labor unions",
"SAG-AFTRA",
"Artificial intelligence",
"Jobs and careers",
"Entertainment",
"Technology",
"Movies",
"Business",
"Indictments"
] |
# SAG-AFTRA files unfair labor practice charge over use of AI to make Darth Vader's voice in Fortnite
By Sarah Parvini
May 19th, 2025, 07:57 PM
---
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood's actors' union filed an unfair labor practice charge against Llama Productions on Monday, alleging the company replaced actors' work by using artificial intelligence to generate Darth Vader's voice in Fortnite without notice.
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists said Llama Productions, a subsidiary of gaming giant Epic Games, "failed and refused to bargain in good faith with the union" in the last six months. The company made unilateral changes to the terms and conditions of employment "without providing notice to the union or the opportunity to bargain" by using AI-generated voices to replace bargaining unit work, SAG-AFTRA said.
Epic Games did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
SAG-AFTRA called a strike against major game companies in July after more than a year of negotiations around the union's interactive media agreement broke down over concerns around the use of unregulated artificial intelligence.
In a statement, SAG-AFTRA said the union supports the rights of members and their estates to control the use of their digital replicas.
"However, we must protect our right to bargain terms and conditions around uses of voice that replace the work of our members, including those who previously did the work of matching Darth Vader's iconic rhythm and tone in video games," the union said.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-15 19:33:53+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Israel",
"Logan Rozos",
"New York City Wire",
"Genocide",
"Colleges and universities",
"Education",
"John Beckman",
"Andrew Ross",
"Education funding",
"Religion"
] |
# NYU denies diploma to student who criticized Israel in commencement speech
By Jake Offenhartz
May 15th, 2025, 07:33 PM
---
NEW YORK (AP) — New York University said it would deny a diploma to a student who used a graduation speech to condemn Israel's attacks on Palestinians and what he described as U.S. "complicity in this genocide."
Logan Rozos's speech Wednesday for graduating students of NYU's Gallatin School sparked waves of condemnation from pro-Israel groups, who demanded the university take aggressive disciplinary action against him.
In a statement, NYU spokesperson John Beckman apologized for the speech and accused the student of misusing his platform "to express his personal and one-sided political views."
"He lied about the speech he was going to deliver and violated the commitment he made to comply with our rules," Beckman added. "The University is withholding his diploma while we pursue disciplinary actions."
Universities across the country have faced tremendous pressure to crack down on pro-Palestinian speech or risk funding cuts from President Donald Trump's administration, which has equated criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
But NYU, which is attended by Trump's son, Barron, has largely avoided the president's ire so far.
Rozos, an actor and member of the Gallatin Theater Troupe, was selected by fellow students to give the liberal art program's address. He said he felt a moral and political obligation to speak to the audience about what he called the atrocities in Palestine.
"The genocide currently occurring is supported politically and militarily by the United States, is paid for by our tax dollars and has been livestreamed to our phones for the past 18 months," he said.
The speech drew loud cheers from the crowd, along with a standing ovation from some graduating students.
But as video of the speech spread online, it was roundly denounced by pro-Israel groups, who accused NYU of creating an unsafe environment for Jewish students.
"No student — especially Jewish students — should have to sit through politicized rhetoric that promotes harmful lies about Israel during such a personal milestone," the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement.
The group #EndJewHatred suggested the speech — which did not mention Jewish people — would meet the university's newly-expanded definition of antisemitism, which includes certain criticism of Israel.
An emailed inquiry to Rozos was not returned.
As pro-Palestinian rallies roiled campuses across the country last spring, the 2024 commencement season was was marked by tensions and cancellations, and strict limits on what students could say.
With billions of dollars of funding at risk from the Trump administration, the stakes for universities are even higher this year, some faculty said.
"They are bending over backward to crack down on speech that runs counter to what the current administration in Washington espouses," said Andrew Ross, a professor of social and cultural analysis at NYU.
"Myself and many of my colleagues are frankly appalled at the decision that's being made to deny a student speaker his diploma," Ross added. "This is a very good example of an administration falling down on the job."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-08 15:12:04+00:00
|
[
"Plane crashes",
"Robert Stark",
"Florida",
"Transportation",
"Brooke Stark"
] |
# Pilot of small plane reported a rudder problem before crash that killed 3
May 8th, 2025, 03:12 PM
---
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — One of the pilots of a small plane that crashed last month in South Florida, killing all three people on board, reported only being able to make left turns with the rudder before the aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff, according to federal investigators.
The Cessna 310 veered to the left after taking off from Boca Raton Airport and then made up to nine full-circle turns to the left before crashing into trees in the middle of a road. The Tallahassee-bound plane burst into flames and then skidded 370 feet (115 meters) until it rested on railroad tracks, according to a preliminary report released Wednesday from the National Transportation Safety Board.
It was the first flight after the airplane's annual inspection had been completed.
News outlets reported that 17-year-old Delray Beach high school student Brooke Stark; her 54-year-old father, Stephen Stark; and her 81-year-old grandfather, Robert Stark, were killed in the April 11 crash. Both Stephen and Robert Stark were certified pilots, authorities said.
A person in a car on the ground suffered a minor injury.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-03 19:48:33+00:00
|
[
"Crime",
"Fires",
"Wildfires",
"New Jersey",
"Arson",
"Joseph Kling"
] |
# Second person charged with arson in New Jersey Pine Barrens fire
May 3rd, 2025, 07:48 PM
---
A second person has been charged with arson in the wildfire in New Jersey's Pine Barrens that has grown into the state's second-largest fire in nearly two decades.
Prosecutors said Friday that a 17-year-old was arrested and charged with arson, aggravated arson and hindering apprehension. His name was not released because he is a juvenile.
The fire that has been burning for nearly two weeks is 80% contained, according to the state Forest Fire Service. The blaze in southern New Jersey's Ocean County has spread across 24 square miles (62 square kilometers). No injuries have been reported.
A 19-year-old man from Waretown was charged with arson a week ago. Prosecutors say Joseph Kling set wood pallets on fire and left the area. On Friday, prosecutors said Kling and a few other people took the pallets from a recycling center, drove to a heavily wooded area and used gasoline to start the fire.
Kling's attorney said at a detention hearing Friday that Kling did not intend to set the wildfire or destroy any property.
The Pine Barrens sit between Philadelphia and the Atlantic coast, a region with quick-draining sandy soil and trees with still-developing leaves where winds can kick up, drying out the forest floor.
Firefighters have been contending with low humidity and the aftermath of a monthslong drought.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 17:03:59+00:00
|
[
"Donald Maier",
"Jeanette Maier",
"Milwaukee",
"Lawsuits",
"Prisons",
"Wisconsin",
"Crime",
"Legal proceedings",
"Kevin Hoffman",
"Addiction and treatment",
"Jared Hoy",
"Criminal punishment",
"Cameron Williams",
"Michael Steinle",
"Homicide",
"Courts"
] |
# Mother of dead inmate sues troubled Wisconsin prison where 7 have died since 2023
By Todd Richmond
May 1st, 2025, 05:03 PM
---
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The mother of an inmate who died of dehydration and malnutrition at Wisconsin's oldest maximum security prison last year has filed a federal lawsuit, marking the fourth action brought by relatives of inmates who have died at the troubled institution since 2023.
Donald Maier's mother, Jeanette Maier, filed her lawsuit Monday in federal court in Milwaukee alleging her son was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment at Waupun Correctional Institution. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and names state Department of Corrections Secretary Jared Hoy, former Waupun Warden Randall Hepp and multiple Waupun staffers as defendants.
Corrections spokesperson Kevin Hoffman declined to comment, saying the agency typically doesn't speak publicly about pending litigation. Hepp's attorney, Michael Steinle, didn't return an email Thursday.
Donald Maier, 62, was found dead in his cell in February 2024 at Waupun. The Dodge County medical examiner determined he died of dehydration and failure to thrive due to malnutrition. Investigators found that guards had repeatedly shut off the water to his cell during the week leading up to Maier's death after he flooded his cell, according to court documents.
Jeanette Maier's lawsuit alleges that Waupun staff failed to document the water shut-offs in violation of prison protocol, didn't tell him when the water was back on and didn't offer to get him any water themselves. He also didn't receive medication at Waupun, even though the state Corrections Department had designated him as suffering from a serious mental illness, according to the lawsuit.
The filing also alleges that staff shortages at Waupun have left workers exhausted and extra shifts have left them resentful of inmates who need help.
Waupun opened in 1854, making it Wisconsin's oldest maximum security prison. It's been plagued by a litany of problems in recent years.
Inmates filed a federal class-action lawsuit in October 2023 alleging inhumane conditions at the prison, but dropped it in August 2024 after a judge found eight of 10 plaintiff inmates hadn't exhausted an internal complaint process.
Seven inmates, including Maier, have died at the prison since 2023. Family members of three of them — Cameron Williams, Dean Hoffman and Tyshun Lemons — filed federal lawsuits last year. Those case are still pending.
Williams was found dead of a stroke in his cell in October 2023. His mother alleges no one helped him, even though he'd been throwing up blood and begging to go to the emergency room for head pain in the days before he died.
Hoffmann killed himself at the prison in June 2023. His daughter contends he went weeks without seeing any mental health care providers due to a lockdown and received medication only sporadically.
Lemons died of a fentanyl overdose at the prison in October 2023. His sister maintains that Corrections failed to prevent illegal drugs from entering the prison.
Federal investigators have been probing alleged smuggling at Waupun. The investigation has netted at least one former employee who pleaded guilty to smuggling cellphones and drugs in exchange for money.
Hepp, the former warden, was charged in June with felony misconduct in connection with Maier's death after investigators concluded that he failed to ensure his staff followed policy. He pleaded no contest Monday to a misdemeanor count of violating laws governing state or county institutions in a deal with prosecutors and walked away with a $500 fine.
Eight Waupun staffers were charged in June with abuse or misconduct in connection with either Maier or Williams' death. Charges have been dismissed against one of them and another was fined $250. The remaining cases are pending.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-17 12:08:06+00:00
|
[
"Oklahoma City",
"Donald Trump",
"Ryan Walters",
"Joe Biden",
"U.S. Republican Party",
"Conservatism",
"Voting",
"Dennis Prager",
"Legal proceedings",
"David Griffith",
"U.S. Democratic Party",
"Aaron Baker",
"Brendan Gillis",
"China government",
"Conspiracy theories",
"Politics",
"School curricula",
"Elections",
"Misinformation",
"Children",
"Mark Mann",
"Religion",
"School boards",
"Kevin Roberts"
] |
# New Oklahoma school standards promote misinformation about the 2020 vote
By Sean Murphy
May 17th, 2025, 12:08 PM
---
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma high school students studying U.S. history learn about the Industrial Revolution, women's suffrage and America's expanding role in international affairs.
Beginning next school year, they will add conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election.
Oklahoma's new social studies standards for K-12 public school students, already infused with references to the Bible and national pride, were revised at the direction of state School Superintendent Ryan Walters. The Republican official has spent much of his first term in office lauding President Donald Trump, feuding with teachers unions and local school superintendents, and trying to end what he describes as "wokeness" in public schools.
"The left has been pushing left-wing indoctrination in the classroom," Walters said. "We're moving it back to actually understanding history ... and I'm unapologetic about that."
The previous standard for studying the 2020 election merely said, "Examine issues related to the election of 2020 and its outcome." The new version is more expansive: "Identify discrepancies in 2020 elections results by looking at graphs and other information, including the sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities in key battleground states, the security risks of mail-in balloting, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters, and the unprecedented contradiction of 'bellwether county' trends."
The new standard raised red flags even among Walters' fellow Republicans, including the governor and legislative leaders. They were concerned that several last-minute changes, including the language about the 2020 election and a provision stating the source of the COVID-19 virus was a Chinese lab, were added just hours before the state school board voted on them.
A group of parents and educators have filed a lawsuit asking a judge to reject the standards, arguing they were not reviewed properly and that they "represent a distorted view of social studies that intentionally favors an outdated and blatantly biased perspective."
## GOP lawmakers can't muster enough support to reject the new standards
While many Oklahoma teachers have expressed outrage at the change in the standards, others say they leave plenty of room for an effective teacher to instruct students about the results of the 2020 election without misinforming them.
Aaron Baker, who has taught U.S. government in high schools in Oklahoma City for more than a decade, said he's most concerned about teachers in rural, conservative parts of the state who might feel encouraged to impose their own beliefs on students.
"If someone is welcoming the influence of these far-right organizations in our standards and is interested in inserting more of Christianity into our practices as teachers, then they've become emboldened," Baker said. "For me, that is the major concern."
Leaders in the Republican-led Oklahoma Legislature introduced a resolution to reject the standards, but there wasn't enough GOP support to pass it.
Part of that hesitation likely stemmed from a flurry of last-minute opposition organized by pro-Trump conservative groups such as Moms for Liberty, which has a large presence in Oklahoma and threatened lawmakers who reject the standards with a primary opponent.
"In the last few election cycles, grassroots conservative organizations have flipped seats across Oklahoma by holding weak Republicans accountable," the group wrote in a letter signed by several other conservative groups and GOP activists. "If you choose to side with the liberal media and make backroom deals with Democrats to block conservative reform, you will be next."
## Superintendent says his new standards 'encourage critical thinking'
After a group of parents, educators and other Oklahoma school officials worked to develop the new social studies standards, Walters assembled an executive committee consisting mostly of out-of-state pundits from conservative think-tanks to revise them. He said he wanted to focus more on American exceptionalism and incorporate the Bible as an instructional resource.
Among those Walters appointed to the review committee are Kevin Roberts, the president of The Heritage Foundation and a key figure in its Project 2025 blueprint for a conservative administration, and Dennis Prager, a radio talk show host who founded Prager U, a conservative nonprofit that offers "pro-American" educational materials for children that some critics say are not accurate or objective.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Walters defended teaching students about "unprecedented and historically significant" elements of the 2020 presidential election.
"The standards do not instruct students on what to believe; rather, they encourage critical thinking by inviting students to examine real events, review publicly available information, and come to their own conclusions," he said.
Recounts, reviews and audits in the battleground states where Trump contested his loss all confirmed Democrat Joe Biden's victory, and Trump lost dozens of court cases challenging the results.
Critics say Walters' new standard is filled with misleading phrasing that seeks to steer the discussion in particular direction.
Democrats characterized it as another political ploy by Walters, widely viewed as a potential candidate for governor in 2026, at the expense of school children.
"It's harmful posturing and political theater that our kids do not need to be subjected to," said Sen. Mark Mann, a Democrat from Oklahoma City who previously served on the school board for one of the state's largest districts.
## Concerns about politicizing school standards
National experts on education standards also expressed alarm, noting that Oklahoma has historically ranked highly among the states for its standards.
Brendan Gillis, the director of teaching and learning at the American Historical Association who oversaw a research project that analyzed standards in all 50 states, said Oklahoma's social studies standards had been "quite good" until the latest version.
In addition to concerns about election misinformation, Gillis added: "There was also a lot of biblical content that was sort of shoehorned in throughout the existing standards."
He said a lot of the references to Christianity and the Bible misinterpreted the history of the country's founding and lacked historical nuance.
David Griffith, a research director at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative-leaning education think-tank, said he was not aware of any other states that have tried to promote election misinformation in their curriculum standards.
He called the new standards an "unfortunate" departure from Oklahoma's traditionally strong social studies standards.
"It is just inappropriate to promote conspiracy theories about the election in standards," he said.
___
Associated Press writer Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-20 08:30:43+00:00
|
[
"Keir Starmer",
"United Kingdom",
"Stanislav Carpiuc",
"Fires",
"London",
"Indictments",
"Law enforcement",
"Arson"
] |
# A second man is charged over fires at properties linked to UK Prime Minister Starmer
May 20th, 2025, 08:30 AM
---
LONDON (AP) — A second man was charged Tuesday over a series of fires that targeted properties linked to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, police said.
Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, from Romford, east London, is accused of arson with intent to endanger life, the Metropolitan Police said. He had been arrested at Luton Airport, north of London, on Saturday.
He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday accused of conspiring to commit arson with intent to endanger life between April 17 and May 13.
The defendant, flanked by two police officers in the dock, spoke through a Russian interpreter to confirm his name and date of birth. Carpiuc, who was born in Ukraine, exercised his right to remain silent during police questioning following his arrest. But his lawyer said that he denies being present at the scene of any of the fires at Starmer's family home, a property where he once lived and a small SUV he had sold.
He was ordered to be held in custody until a further hearing at the Old Bailey on June 6, alongside Roman Lavrynovych, a Ukrainian national, who was arrested last week. Lavrynovych, 21, similarly didn't enter a plea on Friday at Westminster Magistrates' Court, but denied the charges in a police interview.
A 34-year-old man was also arrested on Monday in Chelsea, west London, on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life, police said. The suspect, whose name and nationality haven't been disclosed, remains in custody.
No injuries were reported from the fires, which occurred on three nights in north London between May 8 and May 12.
Starmer and his family had moved into the prime minister's official Downing Street residence after he was elected in July.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-09 12:16:05+00:00
|
[
"Papal conclave",
"Pope Leo XIV",
"Vatican City",
"Catholic Church",
"Pope Francis",
"Christianity",
"Robert Provost",
"Religion"
] |
# Highlights from Pope Leo XIV's first homily
By Vanessa Gera
May 9th, 2025, 12:16 PM
---
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV touched on faith, power and corruption in the homily of the first Mass he celebrated after being elected pontiff.
Here are some highlights.
## His first words in English as a pope
The first U.S.-born pope in history used Italian and Spanish in his blessing to the crowd on Thursday from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.
But at the start of his first Mass on Friday morning, he turned briefly to his native English to address the cardinals who elected him as the leader of the Catholic Church the day before. He began by quoting the responsorial psalm about praising the Lord for his wondrous works.
"I invite you to recognize the marvels that the Lord has done, the blessings that the Lord continues to pour out upon all of us," Leo told them. "Through the ministry of Peter, you have called me to carry that cross and to be blessed with that mission."
## On faith and missionary work
As Cardinal Robert Provost, the new pope did years of missionary work in Peru and he addressed the significance of missionary work in his homily.
In impeccable Italian, Leo decried that in today's world "there are many contexts in which the Christian faith is considered something absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent. Contexts where other certainties are preferred, such as technology, money, success, power, pleasure.
"These are environments where it is not easy to bear witness to, and announce, the Gospel, and where believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied. Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where mission is urgently needed. Because the lack of faith often carries with it tragedies such as the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, violations of human dignity in the most dramatic manners, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society."
## On Jesus as Savior, not superman
In another reference to the ills of today's world, Leo said: "Today, too, there are many contexts in which Jesus, although appreciated as a man, is reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman."
"This is true not only among non-believers but also among many of the baptized, who thus end up living at this level, in a state of practical atheism. This is the world that has been entrusted to us, a world in which, as Pope Francis taught us so many times, we are called to bear witness to joyful faith in Christ the Savior."
## On being called by God to help make the church 'an ark of salvation'
Leo told the cardinals that he felt he was called by God to become pope in order to be a "faithful administrator" to the Catholic church.
"He has done so in order that she (the church) may be ever more fully a city set on a hill, an ark of salvation sailing through the waves of history and a beacon that illumines the nights of this world. And this, not so much through the magnificence of her structures or the grandeur of her buildings — like the monuments in which we find ourselves — but rather through the holiness of her members."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-07 01:03:04+00:00
|
[
"India government",
"India",
"Fires",
"Pakistan",
"War and unrest",
"South Asia",
"Photography"
] |
# AP PHOTOS: India fires missiles on Pakistan
By The Associated Press
May 7th, 2025, 01:03 AM
---
India fired missiles at Pakistan early Wednesday, and Pakistan says the strikes have caused deaths.
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-08 12:03:43+00:00
|
[
"Bill Gates",
"Melinda French Gates",
"Philanthropy",
"Warren Buffett",
"Mark Suzman",
"Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation",
"Business",
"Berkshire Hathaway",
"Inc.",
"Microsoft Corp."
] |
# Bill Gates pledges his remaining fortune to the Gates Foundation by 2045
By Thalia Beaty
May 8th, 2025, 12:03 PM
---
SEATTLE (AP) — Bill Gates says he will donate 99% of his remaining tech fortune to the Gates Foundation, which will now close in 2045, earlier than previously planned. Today, that would be worth an estimated $107 billion.
The pledge is among the largest philanthropic gifts ever – outpacing the historic contributions of industrialists like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie when adjusted for inflation. Only Berkshire Hathaway investor Warren Buffett's pledge to donate his fortune — currently estimated by Forbes at $160 billion — may be larger depending on stock market fluctuations.
Gates' donation will be delivered over time and allow the foundation to spend an additional $200 billion over the next 20 years. The foundation already has an endowment of $77 billion built from donations from Gates, Melinda French Gates and Buffett.
"It's kind of thrilling to have that much to be able to put into these causes," Gates said in an interview with The Associated Press.
His announcement Thursday signals both a promise of sustained support to those causes, particularly global health and education in the U.S., and an eventual end to the foundation's immense worldwide influence. Gates says spending down his fortune will help save and improve many lives now, which will have positive ripple effects well beyond the foundation's closure. It also makes it more likely that his intentions are honored.
"I think 20 years is the right balance between giving as much as we can to make progress on these things and giving people a lot of notice that now this money will be gone," Gates said.
## In a league of its own
The pledge is "a welcome bit of boldness," at a time when optimism is in short supply said, Rhodri Davies, a philanthropy expert and author of the publication, "Public Good by Private Means."
"This announcement seems like yet more evidence that norms in foundation philanthropy might be shifting" away from a default of operating in perpetuity, he said.
The Gates Foundation has long been peerless among foundations — attracting supporters and detractors but also numerous unfounded conspiracy theories.
In addition to the $100 billion it has spent since its founding 25 years ago, it has directed scientific research, helped develop new technologies, and nurtured long-term partnerships with countries and companies.
About 41% of the foundation's money so far has come from Warren Buffett and the rest from the fortune Gates made at Microsoft.
Started by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates in 2000, the foundation plays a significant role in shaping global health policy and has carved out a special niche by partnering with companies to drive down the cost of medical treatments so low- and middle-income countries could afford them.
"The foundation work has been way more impactful than I expected," Gates said, calling it his second and final career.
The foundation's influence on global health — from the World Health Organization to research agendas — is both a measure of its success and a magnet for criticism. For years, researchers have asked why a wealthy family should have so much sway over how the world improves people's health and responds to crises.
Gates said, like any private citizen, he can choose how to spend the money he earns and has decided to do everything he can to reduce childhood deaths.
"Is that a bad thing? It's not an important cause? People can criticize it," he said, but the foundation will stick to its global health work.
The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce and statehouses from Melinda French Gates' organization, Pivotal Ventures.
## Major ambitions for the remaining 20 years
The foundation's most prized metric is the drop in childhood deaths from preventable causes by almost half between 2000 and 2020, according to United Nations figures. The foundation's CEO Mark Suzman is careful to say they do not take credit for this accomplishment. But he believes they had a "catalytic role" — for example, in helping deliver vaccines to children through Gavi, the vaccine alliance they helped create.
The foundation still has numerous goals — eradicating polio, controlling other deadly diseases, like malaria, and reducing malnutrition, which makes children more vulnerable to other illnesses.
Gates hopes that by spending to address these issues now, wealthy donors will be free to tackle other problems later.
The Gates Foundation had planned to wind down two decades after Gates' death, meaning today's announcement significantly moves up that timetable. Gates plans to stay engaged, though at 69, he acknowledged he may not have a say.
In its remaining two decades, the foundation will maintain a budget of around $9 billion a year, which represents a leveling off from its almost annual growth since 2006, when Buffett first started donating.
Suzman expects the foundation will narrow its focus to top priorities.
"Having that time horizon and the resources just puts an even greater burden on us to say, 'Are you actually putting your resources, your thumb down, on what are going to be the biggest, most successful bets rather than scattering it too thinly?'" Suzman said, which he acknowledged was creating uncertainty even within the foundation about what programs would continue.
## Gates is the only remaining founder
Major changes preceded the foundation's 25th year.
In 2021, Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates divorced, and Buffett resigned as the foundation's trustee. They recruited a new board of trustees to help govern the foundation, and in 2024, French Gates left to continue work at her own organization.
French Gates said she decided to step down partly to focus on countering the rollback of women's rights in the U.S. At the ELLE Women of Impact event in New York in April, she said she wanted to leave the foundation at a high point.
"I so trusted Mark Suzman, the current CEO," she said. "We had a board in place that I helped put in place, and I knew their values."
Even as the foundation's governance stabilizes, the road ahead looks difficult. Enduring conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, global economic turmoil and cuts to foreign aid forecast fewer resources coming to global health and development.
"The greatest uncertainty for us is the generosity that will go into global health," Gates said. "Will it continue to go down like it has the last few years or can we get it back to where it should be?"
Even facing these obstacles, Gates and the foundation speak, as they often do, with optimism, pointing to innovations they've funded or ways they've helped reduce the cost of care.
"It's incredible to come up with these low-cost things and tragic if we can't get them out to everyone who needs them," Gates said. "So it's going to require renewing that commitment of those who are well off to help those who are in the greatest need."
___
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-18 15:01:58+00:00
|
[
"Mexico City",
"Mexico government",
"Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador",
"Global elections",
"Elections",
"Voting",
"Courts",
"Silvia Delgado Garca"
] |
# Mexico will elect new judges on June 1 after a contentious process. A look at some of the candidates
By Fabiola Sánchez
May 18th, 2025, 03:01 PM
---
MEXICO CITY (AP) — What do an activist searching for missing Mexicans, an attorney who once represented a drug lord and a university professor trying out TikTok have in common?
They are all campaigning for positions in Mexico's first judicial election on June 1.
More than 2,600 contenders are vying for 881 positions from Mexico's Supreme Court down to district courts across the country. In 2027, another election is planned to elect 800 more judicial positions.
Those on the June 1 ballots won a lottery after being screened by committees made up of people from the three branches of government. In order to qualify, they had to have a law degree, at least five years of professional practice, write an essay and collect letters of recommendation from friends and colleagues.
Foreign governments, including the United States, and civil society organizations in Mexico criticized the change, warning that it would lead to a politicization of the judiciary and weaken its independence.
Electing judges was former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's way to root out corruption. Make them accountable to the people, he said. The contentious reform's passage was among the last major acts of his presidency last September.
Here are some of the candidates:
## Delia Quiroa
Age: 41
What's she known for? She is among the hundreds of Mexicans searching for a missing relative, in her case a brother who disappeared in 2014.
Candidate for: District judge in the western state of Sinaloa.
Quiroa's experience has been different to most other candidates' in that she's more accustomed to being on the victims' side.
After her brother disappeared in the northern border state of Tamaulipas, Quiroa began searching and eventually founded a collective called "March 10" for the day he vanished.
She quickly realized there was little legal help available to help searchers like herself, so she left her engineering career and began to study law while continuing her search.
Quiroa gained notoriety a couple years ago when she proposed criminal groups consider a peace treaty to make it safer to search for the missing and she began selling a "Searcher Barbie" to raise money for her group's activities.
Late last year, she decided to return to her native Sinaloa state to compete to be a judge.
Quiroa knows the risks of being a judge in the violent state, home to a powerful cartel of the same name, but she said that there need to be more judges who empathize with those searching for missing loved ones.
"If I become a judge, I'm not going to send legal documents and wait for authorities to answer when they feel like it," Quiroa said. "I'm going to go out and look for the missing people."
## Arístides Rodrigo Guerrero
Age: 40
What's he known for? He went viral as "Justice Pork Rinds."
Candidate for: Supreme Court.
Until the campaign started, Guerrero wasn't well-known outside of Mexico's National Autonomous University, where he has taught classes for more than a decade. He had also led Mexico City's public records agency and worked at the capital's electoral court.
But it was a homemade TikTok video that took off and launched Guerrero's campaign. In it, a student hands him a platter of a typical pork rind dish. Playing on the turn of phrase, he says he's "more prepared than a pork rind" to be a Supreme Court justice, before rolling into his qualifications.
Some grumps accused him of turning the race into a circus, but Guerrero said that his attempt at humor was far less harmful than having a corrupt justice on the highest court.
"You have to be colloquial sometimes in your use of language," he said, accepting that he has tried to run a "disruptive" campaign.
If elected, Guerrero said that he would push to have the court hold hearings around Mexico to have more contact with people.
## Silvia Delgado García
Age: 51
What's she known for? She represented drug kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán in 2016.
Candidate for: Criminal court judge in northern state of Chihuahua.
Nine years ago, Silvia Delgado García was a member of Sinaloa cartel leader Guzmán's legal team when he was temporarily held in a prison in Ciudad Juarez before being extradited to the United States. He was eventually tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison in the U.S.
She's still marked by the case.
Some critics of electing judges, and a human rights litigation group called Defensorxs, have labeled Delgado García "high risk," because "she defends alleged drug traffickers."
The group has also identified 17 other candidates that way for being prosecuted, being members of investigated organizations, for alleged human rights violations and deals with criminal groups.
"Everyone has a right to an effective defense," Delgado García said about her decision to represent Guzmán.
She notes that she only helped at one hearing where the power went out, and her job was to visit him in the Ciudad Juarez prison where he was being held.
"If they give me a client of that magnitude, in terms of resume that's going to help me," she said.
As a candidate, she highlights that she has been a litigator for 18 years and has a passion for criminal law.
"I am a citizen who believes in the law, and I am extremely prepared to carry out the job and I aim to be impartial in the decisions I hand down."
## Mauricio Tapia Maltos
Age: 30
What's he known for? He's a young lawyer at the Supreme Court who spends his free time campaigning in Mexico City's central square.
Candidate for: An administrative judge for two of Mexico City's boroughs.
Every afternoon, Monday to Thursday, Tapia Maltos finishes work at Mexico's Supreme Court where he has worked for 11 years and walks next door to Mexico City's sprawling central square. There, he sets up a small stand from which he hangs three papers on which he has handwritten his name, the position he seeks, his social platform handle and his ID number for the ballot.
Even though he frequently goes unnoticed by the multitude of street vendors, tourists and workers crossing the square each day, Tapia Maltos dressed in white shirt, tie and dark slacks, occasionally draws the attention of those curious enough to stop and read his papers. Some then ask how they can vote.
The simplicity of his campaign is its most noteworthy characteristic.
"I'm not trying to make a big production with videos, no dancing or anything like that ... Because what I'm trying to do is get to know people in an appropriate way."
He has worked for years behind the scenes inside the Supreme Court in preparing decisions. Now, thanks to the new judicial election, he says that he has found a way to achieve his dream of being a judge and bring new blood to a judiciary long criticized as corrupt.
____
Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-14 09:27:35+00:00
|
[
"Pope Francis",
"Christianity",
"Pope Leo XIV",
"Catholic Church",
"Middle East",
"Ukraine",
"Papal conclave",
"Religion",
"Donald Trump",
"India",
"Vatican City"
] |
# Pope vows every effort to work for peace in regions where Christians persecuted, forced to flee
By Nicole Winfield
May 14th, 2025, 09:27 AM
---
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV vowed to take "every effort" Wednesday to work for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine and to actively promote the spirituality and traditions of the eastern rite churches, those Catholic communities with origins in the Mideast and eastern Europe that have been decimated by years of conflict and persecution.
"The church needs you!" Leo told a Holy Year audience of eastern rite pilgrims.
Eastern-rite Catholics accept the authority of the pope but have many of their own rituals and liturgy. They include the Coptic, Chaldean, Maronite and Eritrean Catholic churches, as well as the Syro-Malabar church in India and Greek Catholic communities that are found across Eastern Europe and the Americas. Unlike Orthodox Christians, these Catholic churches fully recognize papal authority.
In his remarks, Leo acknowledged that many eastern rite Catholics have been forced to flee their homelands because of "war and persecution, instability and poverty." It was a reference to the exodus of Christians from the Middle East, Iraq and Syria especially, where entire communities have been displaced by years of Islamic extremist violence. Many of these communities in northern Iraq were some of the oldest of the faith, where the dialects of Aramaic — the language of Jesus — are still spoken.
Leo vowed to work for peace in those regions, citing in particular the Middle East and Ukraine, and said the Holy See was ready to "help bring enemies together, face to face."
"Who better than you can sing a song of hope even amid the abyss of violence?" he said. "From the Holy Land to Ukraine, from Lebanon to Syria, from the Middle East to Tigray and the Caucasus, how much violence do we see!"
In one of his first acts as pope, Leo spoke by telephone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who invited him to Ukraine and thanked him for his support. Leo has in the past called Russia's war in Ukraine "an imperialist invasion in which Russia wants to conquer territory for reasons of power given Ukraine's strategic location."
The Vatican under Francis was largely sidelined in any peace efforts, though the Holy See did work on prisoner exchanges and to reunite Ukrainian children who were taken to Russian territory back with their families.
Zelenskyy, who met with President Donald Trump in St. Peter's Basilica on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral, is expected in Rome for Leo's formal installation Mass on Sunday.
Leo praised those Christians who are working at reconciliation even in regions where they are persecuted minorities, and urged them to continue.
"I thank God for those Christians — Eastern and Latin alike — who, above all in the Middle East, persevere and remain in their homelands, resisting the temptation to abandon them," Leo said. "Christians must be given the opportunity, and not just in words, to remain in their native lands with all the rights needed for a secure existence."
The audience featured a mix of faithful from around the world, with Lebanese and Ukrainian flags and ululating pilgrims.
Leo recalled that his namesake, Pope Leo XIII, paid particular attention to the eastern rite churches. That Leo, who was pope from 1878 to 1903, penned the first specific document about the dignity of eastern rite churches and the need to preserve and celebrate their traditions in the west.
That Leo went so far as to threaten any Latin rite priest in the west with dismissal if he tried to bring an eastern rite Catholic over to the western traditions of the Latin rite.
The former Cardinal Robert Prevost lamented that today, these Catholics often find indifference among other Latin rite Catholics when they resettle in communities in the diaspora. They "risk losing not only their native lands, but also, when they reach the West, their religious identity," he said.
"As a result, with the passing of generations, the priceless heritage of the Eastern Churches is being lost," the pontiff said.
He urged the Vatican office that deals with eastern churches to define guidelines for Latin rite bishops to better support diaspora communities, saying the contribution that eastern churches can give the west is "immense."
"We have great need to recover the sense of mystery that remains alive in your liturgies, liturgies that engage the human person in his or her entirety, that sing of the beauty of salvation and evoke a sense of wonder at how God's majesty embraces our human frailty," he said.
___
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
|
2025-05-04 15:57:30+00:00
|
[
"Italy",
"Europe",
"Nicola Silvestri",
"Accidents",
"Mike Lynch",
"Sicily",
"United Kingdom"
] |
# Experts start complex recovery of a superyacht that sank off Sicily, killing 7
By Giada Zampano and Francesco Sportelli
May 4th, 2025, 03:57 PM
---
ROME (AP) — Marine salvage experts on Sunday began operations to recover from the seabed off Italy's Sicilian coast the British-flagged superyacht "Bayesian," which sank last summer, killing U.K. tech magnate Mike Lynch, his daughter and five others.
Operations will be conducted by two floating cranes: "Hebo Lift 2," which has remotely operated underwater equipment and vehicles, and "Hebo Lift 10," one of the most powerful maritime cranes in Europe, which docked Saturday in the Sicilian port of Termini Imerese after arriving from Rotterdam.
The Italian coast guard is supervising operations and patrolling the security perimeter to ensure the safety of personnel working on the recovery. It said that the overall operation to retrieve the Bayesian could take from 20 to 25 days. After the wreck is brought ashore, judicial authorities investigating the sinking will examine it.
Prosecutors are investigating the captain and two crew members for possible responsibility in connection with the Aug. 19, 2024, sinking. The 56-meter (183-foot)-long, 473-ton yacht sank during what appears to have been a sudden downburst, or localized powerful wind from a thunderstorm that spreads rapidly after hitting the surface.
The yacht's 75-meter (246-foot) aluminum mast -- the second tallest in the world — will be cut to allow the hull, which lies 49 meters (160 feet) below the surface, to be brought to the surface more easily, said coast guard Capt. Nicola Silvestri.
In addition to Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and wife Judy, attorney Chris Morvillo and wife Neda, and ship's cook Recaldo Thomas died in the shipwreck.
With the help of nearby vessels, 15 of the 22 people were rescued in the initial phase, one body was recovered, and six others reported missing. The bodies of the six missing people were found following long and complex search efforts, which continued until Aug. 23.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 16:40:30+00:00
|
[
"General Motors Co.",
"The Hershey Co.",
"McDonalds Corp.",
"International trade",
"Scott Bessent",
"Government policy",
"Tariffs and global trade",
"Church Dwight Co.",
"Inc.",
"Howard Lutnick",
"Business",
"Chris Kempczinski",
"Donald Trump",
"United States",
"Production facilities",
"Suzanne Clark",
"Medical devices",
"Metals and mining",
"Christopher DelOrefice",
"Becton",
"Dickinson Co."
] |
# Tariff turmoil prompts cloudy forecasts from General Motors, Harley-Davidson for the year ahead
By Damian J. Troise
May 1st, 2025, 04:40 PM
---
NEW YORK (AP) — Uncertainty continues to hang over the latest round of financial results and forecasts for companies both big and small as they try to navigate a global trade system severely shaken by a shift in U.S. policy.
Roughly half of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported their latest quarterly financial results, but the focus has been on how they will adjust to tariffs and any change in consumers' behavior. Here's a look a what companies are saying about tariffs and the potential impact:
## General Motors
General Motors expects tariffs to inflict between $4 billion and $5 billion in damage to its revenue for the year.
Auto companies like General Motors have operations spread out throughout North America, with auto parts and assembly steps often crossing multiple borders before a car is produced.
The company said that it expects full-year adjusted earnings before interest and taxes in a range of $10 billion to $12.5 billion. That's down from a previous range of $13.7 billion to $15.7 billion.
President Donald Trump signed executive orders Tuesday to relax some of his 25% tariffs on automobiles and auto parts.
## Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson withdrew its financial forecast for the year because of uncertainty over tariffs and the economy.
The iconic motorcycle maker is facing an impact from 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, along with other broader tariffs. It said it is focusing on productivity measures, supply chain management and cost controls to help deal with the impact from tariffs. The company gets just under 70% of its revenue from within the U.S., according to FactSet. That leaves a large chunk of its revenue exposed to retaliatory tariffs from other nations.
## U.S. Chamber of Commerce
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is asking the Trump administration for some relief on tariffs, particularly for small businesses that are the most affected.
The group is the world's largest business federation and represents 3 million businesses of all sizes. In a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, U.S. Chamber CEO Suzanne Clark said the group agrees with many of President Trump's policy goals, but said tariffs take time to work, and in the interim small businesses are being endangered by higher costs and a disrupted supply chain.
The Chamber is calling for automatic exclusions for any small business importer. It also wants to establish a process for businesses to apply for exclusions if they can show American employment is at risk from the tariffs, and asking for exclusions for all products that cannot be produced in the United States or are not readily available.
"Whether it is coffee, bananas, cocoa, minerals or numerous other products, the reality is certain things just can't be produced in the United States," said Clark. Providing some exclusions could help "stave off a recession," she added.
## Hershey
Hershey reaffirmed its financial forecasts for the year, which include assessments for tariff expenses as they currently stand.
The chocolate maker estimates the current tariff expenses to range from about $15 million to $20 million in the second quarter. Hershey and other chocolate makers are already dealing with cocoa supply issues that have helped push prices higher. More than 70% of the global cocoa supply comes from West Africa and the region has been dealing with stressed and damaged crops for years.
## Church & Dwight
Church & Dwight slashed its financial forecasts for the year as it faces the impact from tariffs and a potential slowdown in consumer spending.
The maker of Arm & Hammer and other household and personal care products now expects earnings to range from flat to 2% growth. It previously forecast earnings growth of up to 8%.
It estimated that its tariff exposure over the next 12 months is about $190 million. The company hopes to reduce that exposure by up to 80% with several measures, including no longer sourcing Waterpik flossers from China for the U.S. market. It will also potentially shut down or sell some of its brands.
## Becton Dickinson,
Becton Dickinson trimmed its earnings forecast for the year to account for a tariffs currently in effect.
The medical device maker and supplies company expects earnings between $14.06 and $14.34 per share and that includes a 25 cents-per-share tariff impact. But the company has not estimated the potential costs of any delayed or threatened tariffs.
"Obviously, the situation remains extremely fluid," said Chief Financial Officer Christopher DelOrefice, in a conference call with analysts. "We will see how the next few months play out as it relates to further tariff rates."
## McDonald's
McDonald's, like other fast-food operations and restaurants, is dealing with the economic uncertainty fueled by the tariffs.
The company reported that store traffic fell further than expected during the first quarter. Sales at locations open at least a year in the U.S. slumped 3.6%, marking the biggest decline for the company since 2020, when a pandemic shuttered stores and restaurants.
"We believe McDonald's can weather these difficult conditions better than most," said CEO Chris Kempczinski, in a conference call with investors. "However, we're not immune to the volatility in the industry or the pressures that our consumers are facing."
___
AP writers Michelle Chapman, Mae Anderson and Dee-Ann Durbin contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-08 12:07:25+00:00
|
[
"Melinda French Gates",
"Philanthropy",
"Bill Gates",
"Warren Buffett",
"Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation",
"New York City Wire",
"Microsoft Corp.",
"Business"
] |
# Melinda French Gates reflects on legacy of Gates Foundation as it announces it will close in 2045
By Thalia Beaty
May 8th, 2025, 12:07 PM
---
Melinda French Gates entered some of the most powerful circles while leading the foundation she co-founded with her ex-husband, Bill Gates.
She petitioned heads of state and convened other billionaires. Along with Gates, she won the trust of one of America's most admired investors, Warren Buffett, who has given more than $43 billion to the former couple's foundation.
French Gates, who studied computer science and worked at Microsoft, the company Gates created, exited the Gates Foundation last year to pursue philanthropy and investment through her own organization, Pivotal Ventures, which she started in 2015. The foundation changed its name from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation after her departure.
At an ELLE Women of Impact event in New York in April, which also launched her new memoir, French Gates said she left, in part, to respond to the U.S. rollback of women's rights.
"I thought, I want to be much more nimble than this, and I want to be able to set the agenda by myself without having to ask anybody else, and do it with my partners," she said.
French Gates offered written responses to The Associated Press' questions about the foundation's 25th anniversary and its decision to close in 2045. She said the former couple had always intended to spend down their resources.
"Ultimately, though," she wrote, "the timeline was Bill's decision to make with the board of trustees."
The following responses have been edited for length.
## Q: What do you hope the foundation's legacy will be?
A: To me, the greatest measure of success would be if long after the foundation closed, someone, somewhere, was living a life that looked different because we existed. We talked a lot there about unlocking virtuous cycles. I like to think that right now, the foundation's work is contributing to a child getting a vaccine or a woman opening her first bank account — and that decades from now, their families and communities are going to continue to look different, because of what that child and that woman unlocked for the people around them.
## Q: What specific areas did you influence at the foundation?
A: I was excited for us to launch the Giving Pledge because I believe that the most responsible thing to do with great wealth is give it away — and that you have an obligation to society to give it away as effectively as possible. I think it's important for people in that position to set norms around giving generously and to learn as much as possible from each other about how to be effective in their philanthropy.
(As for gender), for too long, global health and development efforts treated women and girls as secondary — if they were considered at all. Data wasn't collected on their experiences. Their specific health needs were often ignored.
There were so many questions that needed to be asked: What is the cost of all the unpaid labor women do at home? Will mobile banking make a difference if women don't have equal access to cellphones? Why are so many infectious diseases especially dangerous for women?
We opened a gender equality division, but not just that — we made gender equality a priority across all of our work. And we put a lot of resources into expanding access to contraception, starting with a big commitment we made in 2012.
## Q: Why did you invest in opening more offices in other countries?
A: When you're doing this kind of work, it doesn't take long to see that solutions that seem great on paper may not work in reality. We funded community toilets in India that people — especially women —wouldn't use because they were dangerous to go to at night. We funded vaccines in Vietnam that had to be kept cold, but came in packaging that didn't fit into the small refrigerators most people had there. We funded a simple pump to help East African farmers irrigate their land, but women — who account for half of all smallholder farmers — wouldn't buy it, because they didn't want to be seen swaying their hips in the way the pump required.
There are many ways to learn about the cultural norms and logistical issues that determine whether a solution is feasible — and they all boil down to engaging people with local knowledge and lived experience, and trusting what they tell you.
## Q: Some foundation goals — like eradicating polio and controlling malaria — depend on the generosity of other countries and donors. How can you accomplish those goals given recent cuts to international aid?
A: It's easy for people to forget — or maybe they didn't ever know — how hopeless the situation seemed around the year 2000, when malaria, tuberculosis and HIV were totally out of control. Since then, efforts funded, in large part, by development aid have saved more than 65 million lives from those diseases alone.
No doubt the work has just gotten a lot harder, but we never thought it was going to be easy. And we still have the key ingredients of success. The pipeline of innovations has never been stronger. More lower-income countries are taking a leading role. As some donors announce cuts, others are stepping up.
____
The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce and in statehouses from Melinda French Gates' organization, Pivotal Ventures.
___
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-05 17:39:48+00:00
|
[
"Puerto Rico",
"Disaster planning and response",
"Climate and environment",
"Climate"
] |
# State of emergency extended in Puerto Rico following deadly rainfall
May 5th, 2025, 05:39 PM
---
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Ten towns and cities across Puerto Rico are under a state of emergency following two weeks of heavy rain, with two people killed.
Three cities — Caguas, Lares and Vega Alta — were added to the list on Monday, according to a statement from the Department of Public Safety.
The 10 municipalities are expected to receive $100,000 each to help repair damaged infrastructure. The amount barely covers the estimated damage in some areas.
Officials have said the rain inflicted $7 million worth of damage in Vega Alta and $3 million in the town of Cidra.
The rains, which began on April 18, have caused landslides and widespread flooding.
Last week, a man died after trying to cross floodwaters in his car and was swept away. On Saturday, a tree fell in the town of Toa Baja, killing a 44-year-old man driving through the area.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-19 10:24:49+00:00
|
[
"Voting",
"Georgia",
"Donald Trump",
"Colorado",
"Politics",
"Dean Logan",
"Pamela Smith",
"United States government",
"Marilyn Marks",
"Brad Raffensperger",
"Technology",
"Lawrence Norden",
"Amanda Gonzalez",
"Kim Dennison",
"Victor Anderson",
"U.S. Republican Party"
] |
# Trump targets ballot barcodes, long a source of misinformation
By Charlotte Kramon
May 19th, 2025, 10:24 AM
---
ATLANTA (AP) — President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to overhaul how U.S. elections are run includes a somewhat obscure reference to the way votes are counted. Voting equipment, it says, should not use ballots that include "a barcode or quick-response code."
Those few technical words could have a big impact.
Voting machines that give all voters a ballot with one of those codes are used in hundreds of counties across 19 states. Three of them -- Georgia, South Carolina and Delaware -- use the machines statewide.
Some computer scientists, Democrats and left-leaning election activists have raised concerns about their use, but those pushing conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election have been the loudest, claiming without evidence that manipulation has already occurred. Trump, in justifying the move, said in the order that his intention was "to protect election integrity."
Even some election officials who have vouched for the accuracy of systems that use coded ballots have said it's time to move on because too many voters don't trust them.
Colorado's secretary of state, Democrat Jena Griswold, decided in 2019 to stop using ballots with QR codes, saying at the time that voters "should have the utmost confidence that their vote will count." Amanda Gonzalez, the elections clerk in Colorado's Jefferson County, doesn't support Trump's order but believes Colorado's decision was a worthwhile step.
"We can just eliminate confusion," Gonzalez said. "At the end of the day, that's what I want -- elections that are free, fair, transparent."
## Target for misinformation
Whether voting by mail or in person, millions of voters across the country mark their selections by using a pen to fill in ovals on paper ballots. Those ballots are then fed through a tabulating machine to tally the votes and can be retrieved later if a recount is needed.
In other places, people voting in person use a touch-screen machine to mark their choices and then get a paper record of their votes that includes a barcode or QR code. A tabulator scans the code to tally the vote.
Election officials who use that equipment say it's secure and that they routinely perform tests to ensure the results match the votes on the paper records, which they retain. The coded ballots have nevertheless become a target of election conspiracy theories.
"I think the problem is super exaggerated," said Lawrence Norden of the Brennan Center for Justice. "I understand why it can appeal to certain parts of the public who don't understand the way this works, but I think it's being used to try to question certain election results in the past."
Those pushing conspiracy theories related to the 2020 election have latched onto a long-running legal battle over Georgia's voting system. In that case, a University of Michigan computer scientist testified that an attacker could tamper with the QR codes to change voter selections and install malware on the machines.
The testimony from J. Alex Halderman has been used to amplify Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, even though there is no evidence that any of the weaknesses he found were exploited.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, has defended the state's voting system as secure. In March, the judge who presided over Halderman's testimony declined to block the use of Georgia's voting equipment but said the case had "identified substantial concerns about the administration, maintenance and security of Georgia's electronic in-person voting system."
## Can the executive order ban coded ballots?
Trump's election executive order is being challenged in multiple lawsuits. One has resulted in a preliminary injunction against a provision that sought to require proof of citizenship when people register to vote.
The section banning ballots that use QR or barcodes relies on a Trump directive to a federal agency, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which sets voluntary guidelines for voting systems. Not all states follow them.
Some of the lawsuits say Trump doesn't have the authority to direct the commission because it was established by Congress as an independent agency.
While the courts sort that out, the commission's guidelines say ballots using barcodes or QR codes should include a printed list of the voters' selections so they can be checked.
Trump's order exempts voting equipment used by voters with disabilities, but it promises no federal money to help states and counties shift away from systems using QR or barcodes.
"In the long run, it would be nice if vendors moved away from encoding, but there's already evidence of them doing that," said Pamela Smith, president of Verified Voting, a group that focuses on election technology and favors ending the use of QR and barcodes.
## Counties in limbo
Kim Dennison, election coordinator of Benton County, Arkansas, estimated that updating the county's voting system would cost around $400,000 and take up to a year.
Dennison said she has used equipment that relies on coded ballots since she started her job 15 years ago and has never found an inaccurate result during postelection testing.
"I fully and completely trust the equipment is doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing and not falsifying reports," she said. "You cannot change a vote once it's been cast."
In Pennsylvania's Luzerne County, voting machines that produce a QR code will be used in this year's primary. But officials expect a manufacturer's update later this year to remove the code before the November elections.
County Manager Romilda Crocamo said officials had not received any complaints from voters about QR codes but decided to make the change when Dominion Voting Systems offered the update.
The nation's most populous county, Los Angeles, uses a system with a QR code that it developed over a decade and deployed in 2020 after passing a state testing and certification program.
The county's chief election official, Dean Logan, said the system exceeded federal guidelines at the time and meets many of the standards outlined in the most recent ones approved in 2021. He said postelection audits have consistently confirmed its accuracy.
Modifying or replacing it would be costly and take years, he said. The county's current voting equipment is valued at $140 million.
## 'Train Wreck' in Georgia?
Perhaps nowhere has the issue been more contentious than Georgia, a presidential battleground. It uses the same QR code voting system across the state.
Marilyn Marks, executive director of the Coalition for Good Governance, a lead plaintiff in the litigation over the system, said her group has not taken a position on Trump's executive order but said the federal Election Assistance Commission should stop certifying machines that use barcodes.
The secretary of state said the voting system follows Georgia law, which requires federal certification at the time the system is bought. Nevertheless, the Republican-controlled legislature has voted to ban the use of QR codes but did not allocate any money to make the change — a cost estimated at $66 million.
Republicans said they want to replace the system when the current contract expires in 2028, but their law is still scheduled to take effect next year. GOP state Rep. Victor Anderson said there is no realistic way to "prevent the train wreck that's coming."
___
Associated Press writer Christina A. Cassidy contributed to this report.
___
Kramon 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. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-16 14:23:59+00:00
|
[
"Sebastian Yatra",
"Pope Leo XIV",
"Silvio Rodrguez",
"Manuel Turizo",
"Joan Manuel",
"Mexico City",
"Arts and entertainment",
"Pablo Milans",
"Music",
"Entertainment"
] |
# Sebastián Yatra releases new album 'Milagro' inspired by life's small miracles
By Berenice Bautista
May 16th, 2025, 02:23 PM
---
MEXICO CITY (AP) — For Colombian singer-songwriter Sebastián Yatra, life is full of small miracles that come from dance, family and freedom.
"I saw happiness as a child as my long-term goal, one day to be happy, but I saw it as something very far away, and now I feel it in everything I do," he said in a recent interview from Mexico City.
"What motivates me the most is to share that philosophy of life and that way of seeing things, and 'Milagro' is my way of expressing that perspective, that change of perspective that helps me to live everything from gratitude and love," he said.
"Milagro" is his fourth album and comes three years after his previous production, "Dharma."
"All these albums and these songs have accompanied me in a moment of very big growth that is from 18 or 19 to 30, where you live a lot of things, and you really end up defining much more, I don't know if who you are, but at least who you want to be," said the artist.
The name of the album came about, in part, from a phrase in a recent book by his brother Andrés who is a novelist: Life denies miracles until one realizes that everything is a miracle. Yatra stressed that changing his perspective on the world made it easier for him to find more and more miracles, from giving a hug and receiving a call from his parents to having a coffee in the morning.
"So, when you see everything as a miracle, you start to be grateful for every little thing in the universe and you find its magic."
The album includes songs that Yatra has previously released such as "Vagabundo" with Manuel Turizo and Beéle, "Los domingos" and "La pelirroja," but it also has surprises such as a cover of Silvio Rodríguez's "Óleo de mujer con sombrero" that Yatra performs with his father, Aníbal Obando Agudelo.
"I grew up listening to Silvio Rodríguez, Pablo Milanés, (Joan Manuel) Serrat, but I didn't grow up listening to them in their voices, I grew up listening to them in my father's voice, because I had, and still have, a great artist at home," he said. "With the guitar he did a lot of magic, and he still does, and in all the gatherings he was the one who animated any party and you were hooked listening to him."
Yatra confessed that he even thought of composing something in the style of Rodríguez and Milanés to perhaps perform it with his father, "but it is impossible to replicate that, there is no way."
The version of Rodríguez's song on the album was recorded at Yatra's family's farm in Medellín, Colombia. It is the last song on the album.
In "Templo de Piceas," he is joined by Mexican artist Humbe, and in "2AM," he performs with the Catalan artist Bad Gyal.
The Grammy-and Latin Grammy winner hopes his songs will give others the courage to "live love the way they want to live it."
If he could define the sound of his album, Yatra said it would be a heavenly experience, especially because of his track "Amen" (as in love each other in Spanish) in which he seeks union and universal love.
"It is the lyric that I have done in my entire life, in my career, that most proposes something different and that most unites and resignifies the word amen (as in a prayer written in Spanish 'amén')," he said.
Yatra said he grew up in a Catholic family and usually goes to the Basilica when he visits Mexico. He said he was excited by the recent election of Pope Leo XIV, previously known as Robert Prevost, the first American pope who spent many years serving in Peru.
"It's very exciting," he said. "It's something that comes from so many generations, that you feel like the emotion of years and years of people for whom that has meant a lot."
At the same time, he acknowledged the legacy of Pope Francis.
"I think he was a person who united a lot and was also not afraid to take away a little of the most closed rules of the Catholic religion, but he was open to the rest of the world to also accept all people for who they are, both people who have other spiritual visions, and people who live love from another place," he said.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-05 22:05:26+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Jeff Bezos",
"Ann Telnaes",
"Sally Buzbee",
"Protests and demonstrations",
"Pulitzer Prize Awards",
"DC Wire",
"Government and politics",
"Ruth Marcus",
"News media",
"Animation and comics",
"Freedom of the press",
"Arts and entertainment",
"Business",
"Kamala Harris",
"David Shipley",
"Politics",
"Entertainment"
] |
# Editorial cartoonist who quit Washington Post wins Pulitzer
By Lisa Baumann
May 5th, 2025, 10:05 PM
---
NEW YORK (AP) — A longtime editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post who quit in protest early this year after editors killed her sketch criticizing the Post owner and other media chief executives working to curry favor with Trump has won the Pulitzer Prize for illustrated reporting and commentary.
Ann Telnaes won for "delivering piercing commentary on powerful people and institutions with deftness, creativity – and a fearlessness that led to her departure from the news organization after 17 years," according to the Pulitzer announcement on Monday.
Her cartoon showed a group of media executives bowing before then President-elect Donald Trump while offering him bags of money, including Post owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Several executives, Bezos among them, had been spotted around that time at Trump's Florida club Mar-a-Lago. Telnaes accused them of having lucrative government contracts and working to eliminate regulations. Amazon also donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund.
When she quit the newspaper earlier this year, Telnaes that she'd never before had a sketch killed because of the point of view inherent in the cartoon's commentary. She called that a game-changer and dangerous for a free press.
"As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable," Telnaes wrote on the online platform Substack in early January. "For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job. So I have decided to leave the Post. I doubt my decision will cause much of a stir and that it will be dismissed because I'm just a cartoonist. But I will not stop holding truth to power through my cartooning, because as they say 'Democracy dies in darkness.'"
David Shipley, the newspaper's editorial page editor at the time, said in a statement after Telnaes quit that he decided to nix the cartoon because the paper had just published a column on the same topic. Shipley then resigned in late February after Bezos, in a major shift, directed that the Post narrow the topics covered by its opinion section to personal liberties and the free market.
The fallout continued in March when a longtime columnist, Ruth Marcus, quit after she said the newspaper's management decided not to run her commentary critical of Bezos' policy.
The Post, which made money during the first Trump administration, has been losing money in recent years, Its internal strife largely began last June when Sally Buzbee resigned as executive editor rather than accept a newsroom reorganization. Several prominent Post journalists have since left for other jobs.
Bezos' decision last fall that the Post would not endorse a presidential candidate — after the editorial staff had prepared to support Democrat Kamala Harris — led to an exodus of subscribers.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-14 21:55:05+00:00
|
[
"Elon Musk",
"Tesla",
"Inc.",
"Donald Trump",
"Stocks and bonds",
"Insider trading",
"Associated Press",
"Auto industry",
"Business",
"Corporate crime"
] |
# The chair of Tesla sold stock worth $230 million while profits at Elon Musk's carmaker plunged
By Bernard Condon
May 14th, 2025, 09:55 PM
---
NEW YORK (AP) — The chair of Tesla sold more than $230 million of company stock since Elon Musk's endorsement of Donald Trump triggered boycotts and protests against his cars, sending its profits and stock price plunging.
More than half of Robyn Denholm's cash haul came from sales in the first four months this year as Tesla stock fell by one-third, according to filings reviewed by The Associated Press. In total, she unloaded hundreds of thousands of shares — more than half her holdings as dictated by a pre-arranged selling plan filed with regulators as Musk began embracing right-wing politics.
Denholm filed that plan on July 25, the day Musk endorsed Trump for president.
Denholm's profits were likely outsized, too. That is because many of the shares she sold had been acquired through so-called options granted to her by Tesla years earlier that, given recent stock prices, allowed her to buy at a deep discount, according to data from research provider FactSet. Nearly a million shares acquired through options were bought for $25, less than a tenth of the market price for much of the last nine months.
The AP reached out to both Tesla and Denholm but did not receive an immediate reply.
A Denholm statement to The New York Times, which earlier reported on the insider sales, said that the share value of holdings by Tesla directors has jumped because the stock itself has soared, creating "outsized returns" for all shareholders.
It's not clear why Denholm decided to cash out so much of her stake.
Pre-determined selling schedules are used by executives and directors as a way of telling investors that their selling isn't based on insider information, which is illegal, or necessarily a sign that they have turned pessimistic about a company.
Denholm isn't the only Tesla insider who has been selling. The chief financial officer and other directors have unloaded $189 million in stock in the same nine-month period, according to FactSet data.
Tesla stock soared after Trump was elected in November on hopes that the president-elect's close relations with Musk would translate to less regulatory scrutiny and bigger profits.
But Musk's role as the government cost-cutting chief for Trump and his comments supporting extreme right-wing politicians in Europe have triggered a backlash among car buyers, and sales have sunk along with its stock.
Tesla reported last month that profits in the first three months of the year plunged 71%.
The stock soared again after Musk, the company's chief executive and biggest shareholder, said he would be stepping back from his Washington work to spend more time at the electric automaker.
Tesla closed at $347 a share Wednesday, up 4% for the day and more than 50% since its April low.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 11:17:01+00:00
|
[
"United Kingdom",
"Climate and environment",
"Swimming",
"Scotland",
"David Mather",
"Weather",
"London",
"Craig Carter",
"Climate"
] |
# UK sees hottest start to May, prompting warnings about open-water swimming after boy dies
By Pan Pylas
May 1st, 2025, 11:17 AM
---
LONDON (AP) — The U.K. saw its hottest start to May on record Thursday, prompting authorities to warn of the dangers of swimming in still-cold waters following the death of a 16-year-old boy in a lake.
The high was recorded at Kew Gardens in southwest London where the temperature hit 29.3 degrees Celsius (84.7 Fahrenheit). That beat the previous May 1 record high temperature of 27.4 C (81.3 F) in Moray in the northeast of Scotland in 1990.
The heat isn't expected to last, with cooler weather starting to drift in from the north on Friday — bad timing for those looking to bask in the sunshine over the coming three-day weekend. Monday is a public holiday in the U.K.
Forecasters said that the hot spell, which followed one of the warmest and driest Aprils on record, has been a result of the jet stream — which is hugely influential in determining U.K. weather — remaining stuck north of the country, allowing high pressure to settle.
Authorities urged people to be cautious if choosing to go swimming as the water temperature in lakes and the sea remains cold given the time of the year.
The warning came as the body of a 16-year-old boy was found in a lake late Wednesday in Nottingham.
"While work is now underway to understand how the boy came into difficulty, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight this case as a reminder of the devastating consequences of entering open water, regardless of whether people do so deliberately or inadvertently," Chief Inspector David Mather of Nottinghamshire Police said.
The London Fire Brigade also urged caution around open-water swimming after a 32% increase in water-related incidents last month compared with the same period last year.
"Even when the sun is shining, water temperatures can be dangerously cold," said Craig Carter, its assistant commissioner for prevention and protection. "Cold water shock can affect anyone, no matter how fit or experienced they are."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-19 14:39:36+00:00
|
[
"Emmanuel Macron",
"France",
"Paris",
"Scandals",
"Fraud",
"France government",
"Politics",
"Alexandre Ouizille",
"Food and beverage manufacturing",
"Alexis Kohler",
"Laurent Burgoa",
"Nestl SA",
"Waters Corp.",
"Business"
] |
# An inquiry says France's government covered up Nestle's illegal treatment of bottled water
By Sylvie Corbet
May 19th, 2025, 02:39 PM
---
PARIS (AP) — The government of French President Emmanuel Macron covered up decisions over the illegal treatment of mineral water by food industry giant Nestle, including the world-famous Perrier brand, a Senate inquiry commission said Monday.
Its report focused on Nestle's years of use of treatments to avoid bacterial or chemical contamination of water labeled as "natural mineral water" or "spring water" for brands also including Contrex, Vittel and Hépar. Such treatments are prohibited under French and European regulations.
The report concluded that France's government had concealed "illegal practices."
"In addition to Nestle Waters' lack of transparency, the French government's lack of transparency must also be highlighted," it said.
French media reported the banned treatments last year.
## Nestle paid a fine to avoid legal action
The report noted a "deliberate strategy" of concealment since the first government meeting on the issue in October 2021. Months later, authorities agreed to a Nestle plan to replace the banned treatments with microfiltering.
Nestle did not immediately respond to a request for comment. France's government did not immediately comment.
Last year, the Swiss company publicly acknowledged having used treatments on mineral waters and agreed to pay a 2 million euro fine ($2.2 million) to avoid legal action.
The inquiry commission interviewed more than 120 people including Nestle's CEO and top managers. One refused to speak to it: Alexis Kohler, then-secretary general of the Elysee presidential palace, who the report said has spoken several times with Nestle executives by phone or in person.
The commission concluded "that the presidency of the republic had known, at least since 2022, that Nestle had been cheating for years."
Asked about scandal in February, Macron said he was "not aware of these things ... There is no collusion with anyone."
## Fraud estimated to be worth over $3 billion
Alexandre Ouizille, the commission's rapporteur, said the total amount of the fraud has been estimated at over 3 billion euros ($3.38 billion) by France's agency in charge of fraud control.
Natural mineral water is sold about 100 to 400 times the price of tap water, he said, denouncing "misleading of consumers."
Ouizille described a Nestle plant in southern France the commission visited where there were "sliding cabinets behind which illegal treatments were carried out."
The report said Nestle argued there was a risk of job losses if the government did not authorize some kind of treatment or microfiltration, because its plants would have to close due to spring water being contaminated by bacteria like E. coli that can cause serious illness and death.
Laurent Burgoa, the president of the commission, said there has been no proven harm to the health of people who drank water sold by Nestle.
"Personally, I drank some Perrier ... But I didn't know what I was drinking, that's the problem," Burgoa said.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-03 13:00:06+00:00
|
[
"Joshua Williams",
"Medical research",
"Immunizations",
"Flu",
"Medication",
"Robert F. Kennedy Jr.",
"Denver",
"Children",
"Center",
"Black experience",
"Health",
"Science",
"Michael Osterholm"
] |
# A community rallied to share flu shot experiences. Then the government stopped the study
By Lauran Neergaard
May 3rd, 2025, 01:00 PM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some Denver parents got texts during this winter's brutal flu season with videos sharing why people in their neighborhoods chose flu shots for their kids, an unusual study about trust and vaccines in a historically Black community.
But no one will know how it worked out: The Trump administration canceled the project before the data could be analyzed -- and researchers aren't the only ones upset.
"For someone like me, from the Black community who income-wise is on the lower end, we don't often have a voice," said Denver mom Chantyl Busby, one of the study's community advisers. "Having this funding taken away from this project sends a horrible, horrible message. It's almost like telling us all over again that our opinions don't matter."
How to talk about vaccines with parents – or anyone – is taking on new urgency: At least 216 U.S. children died of flu this season, the worst pediatric toll in 15 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unvaccinated children are fueling one of the country's largest measles outbreaks in decades, and another vaccine-preventable disease — whooping cough — is soaring, too.
At the same time Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. questions vaccines long proven to be safe and effective. Moves by the Trump administration are making it increasingly uncertain that COVID-19 vaccines will be available this fall. And the administration has slashed funding for public health and medical research, including abruptly stopping studies of vaccine hesitancy.
"We need to understand what it is that is creating this challenge to vaccines and why," said Michael Osterholm, who directs the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and worries the country is entering "scientific dark ages."
At Denver Health, Dr. Joshua Williams is a pediatrician who every day has vaccine conversations with confused or worried parents. Some even ask if they'll get kicked out of his practice for refusing immunizations.
Nope, Williams says: Building trust takes time.
"The most satisfying vaccine-related encounters I have are the ones in families who had significant concerns for a long time, came to trust me over the years as I cared for broken arms and ear infections – and ultimately vaccinated their child," he said.
But in the TikTok age, Williams wondered if digital storytelling – seeing and hearing what led other families to choose vaccination – might help those decisions. He chose flu shots as the test case — just under half of U.S. children got one this season. And Black children are among those most at risk of getting seriously ill from influenza.
With a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Williams partnered with Denver's nonprofit Center for African American Health to host workshops bringing volunteers together to discuss how influenza and the flu vaccine had impacted their lives. Professionals helped those who wanted to go the extra step turn them into 2- to 3-minute polished videos.
After two years of community engagement, five of those videos were part of the pilot study sending text messages to 200 families who get care at two Denver Health clinics.
In one video, a mother described getting her first flu vaccination along with her young daughter, making her own health decisions after leaving a controlling relationship.
In another, a grandmother explained how she'll never again miss a vaccine appointment after her grandson spent his 4th birthday hospitalized with the flu.
Seeing "people that they look like, that they sound like, who have experiences they've been through that can go, 'Hey, I felt like you felt but this changed my life,'" is powerful, said Busby, who OK'd her kids' flu vaccinations after questioning Williams during multiple family checkups.
The study's sudden cancellation means Williams can't assess if the texted videos influenced families' vaccine decisions – lost data from more than two years of work and already-spent NIH dollars. It also jeopardizes the researchers' careers. While considering next steps, Williams has asked permission of community members to use some of the videos in his own practice as he discusses vaccination.
Williams gets personal, too, telling families that his kids are vaccinated and how his 95-year-old grandmother reminisces about the terror of polio during her own childhood before those vaccinations were developed.
"We've lost the collective memory about what it's like to have these diseases in our community," Williams said, ruefully noting the ongoing measles outbreak. "I think it's going to take a collective voice from the community saying this is important, to remind those in power that we need to be allocating resources to infection prevention and vaccine hesitancy research."
—-
AP video journalist Thomas Peipert 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
|
2025-05-12 19:28:11+00:00
|
[
"China",
"Donald Trump",
"International trade",
"Transportation and shipping",
"Holiday shopping",
"Tariffs and global trade",
"Matthew Shay",
"Government policy",
"Production facilities",
"Business",
"Eric Poses",
"Contracts and orders",
"Jeremy Rice",
"Jonathan da Silva Oliveira",
"Hasbro",
"Inc.",
"Retail and wholesale",
"Jim Umlauf"
] |
# US businesses that rely on Chinese imports express relief and anxiety over tariff pause
By Mae Anderson and Anne D'Innocenzio
May 12th, 2025, 07:28 PM
---
NEW YORK (AP) — American businesses that rely on Chinese goods reacted with muted relief Monday after the U.S. and China agreed to pause their exorbitant tariffs on each other's products for 90 days.
Importers still face relatively high tariffs, however, as well as uncertainty over what will happen in the coming weeks and months. Many businesses delayed or canceled orders after President Donald Trump last month put a 145% tariff on items made in China.
Now, they're concerned a mad scramble to get goods onto ships will lead to bottlenecks and increased shipping costs. The temporary truce was announced as retailers and their suppliers are looking to finalize their plans and orders for the holiday shopping season.
"The timing couldn't have been any worse with regard to placing orders, so turning on a dime to pick back up with customers and our factories will put us severely behind schedule," said WS Game Company owner Jonathan Silva, whose Massachusetts business creates deluxe versions of Monopoly, Scrabble and other Hasbro board games.
Silva said the 30% tariff on Chinese imports still is a step in the right direction. He has nine containers of products waiting at factories in China and said he would work to get them exported at the lower rate.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. agreed to lower its 145% tariff rate on Chinese goods by 115 percentage points, while China agreed to lower its retaliatory 125% rate on U.S. goods by the same amount. The two sides plan to continue negotiations on a longer-term trade deal.
National Retail Federation President and CEO Matthew Shay said the move was a "critical first step to provide some short-term relief for retailers and other businesses that are in the midst of ordering merchandise for the winter holiday season."
The news sent the stock market and the value of the dollar soaring, a lift that eluded business owners confronting another dizzying shift.
Marc Rosenberg, founder and CEO of The Edge Desk in Deerfield, Illinois, invested millions of dollars to develop a line of $1,000 ergonomic chairs but delayed production in China that was set to begin this month, hoping for a tariff reprieve.
Rosenberg said it was good U.S.-China trade talks were ongoing but that he thinks the 90-day window is "beyond dangerous" since shipping delays could result in his chairs still being en route when the temporary deal ends.
"There needs to be a plan in place that lasts a year or two so people can plan against it," he said.
Jeremy Rice, the co-owner of a Lexington, Kentucky, home-décor shop that specializes in artificial flower arrangements, said the limited pause makes him unsure how to approach pricing. About 90% of the flowers House uses are made in China. He stocked up on inventory and then paused shipments in April.
"Our vendors are still kind of running around juggling, not knowing what they're gonna do," Rice said. "We ordered in what we could pre-tariff and so there's stock here, but we're getting to the point now where there's things that are gone and we're going to have to figure out how we're gonna approach it."
"There's no relief," he added. "It's just kind of like you're just waiting for the next shoe to drop."
Before Trump started the latest U.S. tariff battle with China, Miami-based game company All Things Equal was preparing to launch its first electronic board game. Founder Eric Poses said he spent two years developing The Good News Is..., a fill-in-the-blank game covering topics like politics and sports. He plowed $120,000 into research and development.
When the president in February added a 20% tariff on products made in China, Poses started removing unessential features such as embossed packaging. When the rate went up to 145%, he faced two options: leave the goods in China or send them to bonded warehouses, a storage method which allow importers to defer duty payments for up to five years.
Poses contacted his factories in China on Monday to arrange the deferred shipments, but with his games still subject to a 30% tariff, he said he would have to cut back on marketing to keep the electronic game priced at $29.99. With other businesses also in a rush to get their products, he said he is worried he won't be able to his into shipping containers and that if he does, the cost will be much more expensive.
"It's very hard to plan because if you want to go back to production in a couple of months, then you're worried about what will the tariff rate be when it hits the U.S. ports after that 90-day period," Poses said.
Jim Umlauf's business, 4Knines, based in Oklahoma City, makes vehicle seat covers and cargo liners for dog owners and others. He imports raw materials such as fabric, coatings and components from China.
Umlauf said that even with a lower general tariff rate, it's hard for small businesses to make a profit. He thinks the U.S. government should offer small business exclusions from the tariffs.
"I appreciate any progress being made on the tariff front, but unfortunately, we're still far from a real solution — especially for small businesses like mine," Umlauf said. "When tariffs exceed 50%, there's virtually no profit left unless we dramatically raise prices — an option that risks alienating customers."
Zou Guoqing, a Chinese exporter who supplies molds and parts to a snow-bike factory in Nebraska as well as fishing and hunting goods to a U.S. retailer in Texas, also thinks the remaining 30% tariff is too high to take comfort in.
With the possibility Washington and Beijing will negotiate over the 20% tariff Trump imposed due to what he described as China's failure to stem the flow of fentanyl, Zou said he would wait until the end of May to decide when to resume shipments to the U.S.
Silva, of WS Game Company, said he planned to begin placing his holiday season orders this week but won't be as bold as he might have been if the ultra-high tariff had been suspended for more than 90 day.
"We will order enough to get by and satisfy the demand we know will be there at the increased pricing needed, but until we get a solid foundation of a long-term agreement, the risks are still too high to be aggressive."
___
Didi Tang in Washington contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-02 04:19:25+00:00
|
[
"Italy",
"Giacomo Puccini",
"Lifestyle",
"Arts and entertainment",
"Rome",
"Business",
"Entertainment"
] |
# AP PHOTOS: Artists in this former pasta factory preserve Italian opera traditions
By Andrew Medichini
May 2nd, 2025, 04:19 AM
---
ROME (AP) — A faded, four-story building that was once a pasta factory now houses the warehouse and bustling workshop of the Rome Opera House. The building is home to a trove of scenic backdrops and 70,000 costumes from over a century of performances.
This year, the opera house's costume designers, tailors and seamstresses have working to reconstruct the original outfits of Giacomo Puccini's Opera "Tosca." It is a tale of passion and deception set in Rome in the 1800s, featuring a dark-haired beauty forced to commit murder to protect her dignity and the man she loves. This year marks the 125th anniversary of its first-ever performance.
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-14 10:19:27+00:00
|
[
"New Zealand",
"Protests and demonstrations",
"New Zealand government",
"Global elections",
"Politics",
"Debbie Ngarewa-Packer",
"Race and ethnicity",
"Voting",
"International agreements",
"Gerry Brownlee",
"Judith Collins",
"Race and Ethnicity"
] |
# New Zealand's Parliament will debate suspending Māori lawmakers who performed a protest haka
By Charlotte Graham-Mclay
May 14th, 2025, 10:19 AM
---
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealand parliamentary committee has recommended the unprecedented suspensions of three Māori lawmakers for performing a protest haka in the debating chamber last year.
The haka is a chanting dance of challenge of great cultural importance in New Zealand, and the three lawmakers from Te Pāti Māori, the Māori party, performed one to oppose a controversial bill that would have redefined the country's founding document.
A committee Wednesday recommended record suspensions and severe censure — the harshest penalties ever assigned to New Zealand parliamentarians — after finding the trio in contempt of Parliament.
Government bloc lawmakers, who hold the majority, are expected to endorse the penalties in a vote Tuesday. But Parliament's Speaker Gerry Brownlee took the unusual step Thursday of saying he would first allow unlimited debate before the vote due to the severity of the proposed punishments.
The recommendations were the latest twist in the fraught saga over the bill, now defeated, that opponents said would have provoked constitutional havoc and reversed decades of progress for Māori, New Zealand's Indigenous people.
## Why were the Māori lawmakers suspended?
Video of the legislators in full cry drew global attention last November. The bill they opposed was vanquished at a second vote in April.
However, some lawmakers from the center-right government objected to the Māori Party legislators' protest during the first vote and complained to parliament's speaker. At issue was the way the trio walked across the floor of the debating chamber towards their opponents while they performed the haka.
"It is not acceptable to physically approach another member on the floor of the debating chamber," Wednesday's report said, adding that the behavior could be considered intimidating. The committee denied the legislators were being punished for the haka, which is a beloved and sacred cultural institution in New Zealand life, but "the time at and manner in which it was performed" during a vote, according to the findings.
The committee deciding the fate of the lawmakers has members from all political parties. The government's opponents disagreed with parts or all of the decision but were overruled.
"This was a very serious incident, and the likes of which I have never seen before in my 23 years in the debating chamber," said the committee's chair, Judith Collins.
## How did the suspended legislators respond?
The three legislators didn't appear before the committee when summoned in April because they said Parliament doesn't respect Māori cultural protocol and they wouldn't get a fair hearing.
"The process was grossly unjust, unfair, and unwarranted, resulting in an extreme sanction," Māori party spokesperson and lawmaker Mariameno Kapa-Kingi said in a statement. "This was not about process, this became personal."
The report recommended that Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, who at 22 is New Zealand's youngest lawmaker, be suspended from Parliament for seven days. The co-leaders of her political party, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, face 21-day bans.
Three days is the longest a lawmaker has been barred from the House before. Suspended legislators are not paid during their bans.
Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer, the leaders of the party that advocates Māori rights and holds six of Parliament's 123 seats, have lambasted the committee's process as intolerant of Māori principles and identity.
The pair received more severe sanctions than Maipi-Clarke because the younger lawmaker had written a letter of "contrition" to the committee, the report said.
## Why did a proposed law provoke the protest?
The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill sought to redefine New Zealand's founding document, the 1840 pact between the British Crown and Māori leaders signed during New Zealand's colonization.
The English and Māori language versions of the treaty differed, and the Crown immediately began to breach both, resulting in mass land thefts and generations of disenfranchisement for Māori, who remain disadvantaged on almost every metric. But in recent decades, Māori protest movements have wrought growing recognition of the Treaty's promises in New Zealand's law, politics and public life.
That produced billion-dollar land settlements with tribes and strategies to advance Indigenous language and culture. Such policies were the target of the bill, drawn up by a minor libertarian party who denounced what they said was special treatment for Māori as they tried to rewrite the treaty's promises.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 09:52:19+00:00
|
[
"London",
"United Kingdom",
"Northern Ireland",
"Keir Starmer",
"Conservatism",
"David Amess",
"Politics",
"Race and ethnicity",
"Genocide",
"Liam Og",
"Hezbollah",
"Counterterrorism",
"Hamas",
"Language",
"Entertainment",
"Jo Cox",
"United Kingdom government",
"Dave Pares",
"Paul Weller",
"Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival",
"Palestinian territories government"
] |
# UK counterterror police say they will investigate comments by Irish rap group Kneecap
By Jill Lawless
May 1st, 2025, 09:52 AM
---
LONDON (AP) — British counterterrorism detectives will investigate comments by Irish hip-hop group Kneecap, which has been criticized by U.K. politicians over statements about the Middle East and British politics, police said Thursday.
The Irish-language rappers from Northern Ireland were reported to police over footage from a 2024 concert in which a band member appeared to say: "The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP." Footage from another concert, in 2023, appears to show a member of the trio shouting "up Hamas, up Hezbollah" – both banned organizations in the U.K.
London's Metropolitan Police force said officers had concluded that "there are grounds for further investigation into potential offenses linked to both videos.
"The investigation is now being carried out by officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command and inquiries remain ongoing at this time," the force said in a statement.
The Belfast trio is known for satirical lyrics and use of symbolism associated with the Irish republican movement, which seeks to unite Northern Ireland, currently part of the U.K., with the Republic of Ireland.
More than 3,600 people were killed during three decades of violence in Northern Ireland involving Irish republican militants, pro-British Loyalist militias and the U.K. security forces. Kneecap takes its name from a brutal punishment, shooting in the leg, that was dealt out by paramilitary groups to informers and drug dealers.
The band has been praised for invigorating the Irish-language cultural scene in Northern Ireland, where the status of the language remains a contested political issue in a society still split between British unionist and Irish nationalist communities. It has also been criticized for lyrics laden with expletives and drug references.
Kneecap was not well known outside Northern Ireland before the release of a raucous feature film loosely based on the band's origins and fueled by a heavy mix of drugs, sex, violence, politics and humor. The group's members played themselves in "Kneecap," which won an audience award when it was screened at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. It was shortlisted for best foreign-language picture and best original song at this year's Academy Awards, though it didn't make the final cut.
Its success led to shows in the United States, including performances at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the California desert last month.
During a show there the band projected criticism of Israel on a screen behind them, accusing the country of committing genocide against the Palestinians, enabled by the U.S. government. The band led the audience in chants of "Free Palestine."
Kneecap was the subject of a heated debate in Britain's House of Commons this week, where government and opposition lawmakers criticized its comments and noted that two members of Parliament have been murdered since 2016.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesman, Dave Pares, said Thursday it was right that the "deeply offensive" comments were investigated.
"Political intimidation and abuse have no part in our society," he said.
In a statement on Instagram, band members Liam Og O Hannaidh, Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh apologized to the families of Labour Party lawmaker Jo Cox, who was killed in by a far-right attacker in 2016, and Conservative legislator David Amess, murdered in 2021 by an Islamic State supporter.
The group said "we never intended to cause you hurt."
Kneecap said it had "never supported Hamas or Hezbollah," and accused "establishment figures" of taking comments out of context to "manufacture moral hysteria" because of the band's criticism of Israel's attacks on Palestinians in Gaza.
Several Kneecap gigs have been canceled as a result of the controversy, and some British lawmakers have called on organizers of June's Glastonbury Festival to scrap a planned performance by the group.
Fellow musicians have come to the rappers' defense. Several dozen performers, including British rock group Primal Scream, Irish band Fontaines D.C. and mod singer Paul Weller have signed an open letter criticizing a "clear, concerted attempt to censor and ultimately deplatform" Kneecap and opposing "political repression of artistic freedom."
___
Associated Press writer Brian Melley contributed to this story.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-18 04:31:04+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Laura Bush",
"California",
"Maine",
"South Dakota",
"Government programs",
"United States government",
"Government budgets",
"United States",
"Politics",
"Cindy Hohl",
"Education",
"Spencer Davis",
"Nancy Van Der Weide",
"American Library Association",
"Tablets and e-readers",
"Rebecca Wendt",
"Legal proceedings",
"Erin Busbea",
"Department of Government Efficiency",
"COVID-19 pandemic",
"Liz Doucett",
"Subsidies"
] |
# Libraries are cutting back on staff and services after Trump's order to dismantle small agency
By Nadia Lathan
May 18th, 2025, 04:31 AM
---
Libraries across the United States are cutting back on e-books, audiobooks and loan programs after the Trump administration suspended millions of dollars in federal grants as it tries to dissolve the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Federal judges have issued temporary orders to block the Trump administration from taking any further steps toward gutting the agency. But the unexpected slashing of grants has delivered a significant blow to many libraries, which are reshuffling budgets and looking at different ways to raise money.
Maine has laid off a fifth of its staff and temporarily closed its state library after not receiving the remainder of its annual funding. Libraries in Mississippi have indefinitely stopped offering a popular e-book service, and the South Dakota state library has suspended its interlibrary loan program.
E-book and audiobook programs are especially vulnerable to budget cuts, even though those offerings have exploded in popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I think everyone should know the cost of providing digital sources is too expensive for most libraries," said Cindy Hohl, president of the American Library Association. "It's a continuous and growing need."
## Library officials caught off guard by Trump's cuts
President Donald Trump issued an executive order March 14 to dismantle the IMLS before firing nearly all of its employees.
One month later, the Maine State Library announced it was issuing layoff notices for workers funded through an IMLS grant program.
"It came as quite a surprise to all of us," said Spencer Davis, a library generalist at the Maine State Library who is one of eight employees who were laid off May 8 because of the suspended funding.
In April, California, Washington and Connecticut were the only three states to receive letters stating the remainder of their funding for the year was cancelled, Hohl said. For others, the money hasn't been distributed yet. The three states all filed formal objections with the IMLS.
Rebecca Wendt, California state library director, said she was never told why California's funding was terminated while the other remaining states did not receive the same notice.
"We are mystified," Wendt said.
The agency did not respond to an email seeking comment.
## Popular digital offerings on the chopping block
Most libraries are funded by city and county governments, but receive a smaller portion of their budget from their state libraries, which receive federal dollars every year to help pay for summer reading programs, interlibrary loan services and digital books. Libraries in rural areas rely on federal grants more than those in cities.
Many states use the funding to pay for e-books and audiobooks, which are increasingly popular, and costly, offerings. In 2023, more than 660 million people globally borrowed e-books, audiobooks and digital magazines, up from 19% in 2022, according to OverDrive, the main distributor of digital content for libraries and schools.
In Mississippi, the state library helped fund its statewide e-book program.
For a few days, Erin Busbea was the bearer of bad news for readers at her Mississippi library: Hoopla, a popular app to check out e-books and audiobooks had been suspended indefinitely in Lowndes and DeSoto counties due to the funding freeze.
"People have been calling and asking, 'Why can't I access my books on Hoopla?'" said Busbea, library director of the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System in Columbus, a majority-Black city northeast of Jackson.
The library system also had to pause parts of its interlibrary loan system allowing readers to borrow books from other states when they aren't available locally.
"For most libraries that were using federal dollars, they had to curtail those activities," said Hulen Bivins, the Mississippi Library Commission executive director.
## States are fighting the funding freeze
The funding freeze came after the agency's roughly 70 staff members were placed on administrative leave in March.
Attorneys general in 21 states and the American Library Association have filed lawsuits against the Trump administration for seeking to dismantle the agency.
The institute's annual budget is below $300 million and distributes less than half of that to state libraries across the country. In California, the state library was notified that about 20%, or $3 million, of its $15 million grant had been terminated.
"The small library systems are not able to pay for the e-books themselves," said Wendt, the California state librarian.
In South Dakota, the state's interlibrary loan program is on hold, according to Nancy Van Der Weide, a spokesperson for the South Dakota Department of Education.
The institute, founded in 1996 by a Republican-controlled Congress, also supports a national library training program named after former first lady Laura Bush that seeks to recruit and train librarians from diverse or underrepresented backgrounds. A spokesperson for Bush did not return a request seeking comment.
"Library funding is never robust. It's always a point of discussion. It's always something you need to advocate for," said Liz Doucett, library director at Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, Maine. "It's adding to just general anxiety."
___
Lathan 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
|
2025-05-16 21:11:24+00:00
|
[
"Massachusetts",
"Juan Francisco Mendez",
"Asylum",
"Ryan Sullivan",
"Immigration"
] |
# Immigrant released on bond in Massachusetts a month after ICE broke car window with hammer
By Leah Willingham
May 16th, 2025, 09:11 PM
---
BOSTON, Mass. (AP) — A man living in Massachusetts who U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained in April after smashing his car window with a hammer has been released, his lawyer said Friday.
Juan Francisco Mendez was released Thursday on a $1,500 bond after a month of being held at Strafford County Corrections in Dover, New Hampshire. He will also be required to wear a GPS ankle monitor while the U.S. government continues to pursue his deportation, said one of Mendez's attorneys, Ryan Sullivan.
Mendez, 29, was taken into custody by agents on April 14 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, as he drove to a dental appointment. The agents claimed they were looking for another man with a different name who lived in the same neighborhood before they dragged him and his wife out of the car.
The lawyers for Mendez, who is from Guatemala, said he was detained while in the process of applying for asylum status — something he is still pursuing. Mendez started the proceedings to gain asylum status last October, according to his attorneys.
He has no criminal record, and the government held him for weeks without initiating deportation proceedings against him, leading to his case being dismissed by an immigration judge on May 8. After that hearing, the U.S. government charged Mendez with being in the country illegally before a judge ordered his release on a minimum bond Thursday.
"They decided he was brown, so they stopped him, and because he couldn't prove he had status, they detained him," Sullivan told The Associated Press on Friday.
The incident, recorded on video by Mendez's wife, Marilu Domingo Ortiz, shows ICE agents using a hammer to smash the car window and then seize Ortiz.
Ortiz and her 9-year-old son have already been given protection under an asylum status over fears of facing persecution if they returned home to Guatemala. Mendez was in the process of applying for what is called derivative asylum, where you can get asylum if a family member already has it.
Another lawyer for Mendez's family, Ondine Galvez-Sniffin, told The Associated Press last month that when she arrived at the scene, Mendez's wife was crying and shaking, yelling "Help Me" in Spanish as he was driven away in handcuffs. The lawyer said last month that in almost 30 years of immigration work, the case was the first time she had seen "such violent drastic measures being taken."
A spokesperson for ICE did not return a phone or email message requesting comment on Friday afternoon.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-11 11:18:39+00:00
|
[
"Sheikh Hasina",
"Bangladesh",
"Muhammad Yunus",
"Bangladesh government",
"Protests and demonstrations",
"Rebellions and uprisings",
"South Asia",
"Politics",
"Khaleda Zia",
"Asif Nazrul"
] |
# Bangladesh's former ruling party slams government decision to ban all its activities
By Julhas Alam
May 11th, 2025, 11:18 AM
---
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh's former ruling party accused Sunday the interim government of "stoking division" and trampling on "democratic norms" by banning all of its activities.
The government, headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted following a deadly mass uprising, announced late Saturday the Awami League party can no longer be active online and elsewhere in the South Asian country under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The law affairs adviser, Asif Nazrul, said the ban would remain until a special tribunal completes a trial of the party and its leaders over the deaths of hundreds of students and other protesters during an anti-government uprising in July and August last year.
He also said the government has empowered the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal to try any political party for serious crimes.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the country's other main political party that is headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, had previously opposed the proposal to ban the Awami League party.
However, Salahuddin Ahmed, a senior BNP leader, welcomed on Sunday the Awami League trial over the protesters' death, calling it a "delayed but timely" response to a long-standing demand by his party, reported the English-language Daily Star newspaper.
The ban is expected to formally come into effect on Monday.
The Awami League's official account on X said Sunday: "People no more feel safe under Yunus," denouncing the ban that "stoked division within society, strangled democratic norms, fueled ongoing pogrom against dissenters and strangled inclusivity, all undemocratic steps under pretext of making trial of July-August violence and reform scheme."
The party also condemned the thousands who took to the streets for two days, including supporters of a newly formed political party by students and Islamists from various groups who later joined the protests, who called for the Awami League to be banned. It accused the gatherings of being "state-sponsored."
Thousands of protesters had issued an ultimatum to the government to ban the Awami League party by Saturday night.
Hasina, in exile in India since Aug. 5, and many of her senior party colleagues have been accused of murdering protesters after her ouster.
The United Nations human rights office said in a report in February that up to 1,400 people may have been killed during three weeks of anti-Hasina protests. In the report of the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner of Human Rights recommended to "refrain from political party bans that would undermine a return to a genuine multi-party democracy and effectively disenfranchise a large part of the Bangladeshi electorate."
The student-led uprising ended Hasina's 15 years of rule.
Bangladesh's politics is now at a crossroads.
The BNP wants an election in December and has demanded a clear-cut roadmap from the interim government, which has said the election would be held either in December or June next year, depending on the extent of reforms the government has taken up.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-13 20:25:43+00:00
|
[
"New York City",
"Eric Adams",
"Laura Taylor Swain",
"Prisons",
"New York City Wire",
"Benny Boscio",
"Debbie Greenberger",
"Lawsuits",
"Courts",
"Violence",
"Legal proceedings"
] |
# Judge strips NYC of full authority over Rikers Island, citing 'unprecedented' violence
By Jake Offenhartz
May 13th, 2025, 08:25 PM
---
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City will no longer fully control its jail system, including the long-troubled Rikers Island complex, after a federal judge found the city had failed to stem spiraling dysfunction and brutality against those in custody.
Instead, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain said she would appoint an outside manager to "take all necessary steps" toward restoring order inside the jails and bringing the city into compliance with previous court orders.
The official, known as a "remediation manager," will report directly to the court. While the city's corrections commissioner will remain responsible for much of the day-to-day operations of the jail system, the remediation manager will have broad powers to address long-standing safety problems, including authority over hiring and promotions, staff deployment and disciplinary action regarding the use of force
The extraordinary intervention, outlined Tuesday by Swain in a 77-page order, comes nearly a decade after the city's jail system was placed under federal oversight as part of a class-action lawsuit brought by detainees.
In the years since, rates of violence have continued to increase, creating a "grave and immediate threat" that violates the constitutional rights of those in custody, according to Swain.
"Worse still, the unsafe and dangerous conditions in the jails, which are characterized by unprecedented rates of use of force and violence, have become normalized despite the fact that they are clearly abnormal and unacceptable," Swain wrote Tuesday.
This past November, she found the city in contempt for failing to comply with 18 separate provisions of court orders pertaining to security, staffing, supervision, use of force and the safety of young detainees.
The contempt ruling opened the door to a federal receivership of Rikers Island, a remedy long supported by detainee advocates, strongly opposed by New York City Mayor Eric Adams and characterized by the court as an option of last resort.
In her order on Tuesday, Swain said the remedial manager would have "broad authority" similar to a federal receiver, but would be expected to work closely with the city-appointed commissioner of the Department of Correction to implement a reform plan.
At a press conference Tuesday, Adams said the city would follow the judge's order, while also suggesting the appointment of an outside manager was not necessary.
"Remediation manager? I don't know the definition of that," he said. "We have this oversight and that oversight. How much oversight are you going to do before you realize there are systemic problems?"
Benny Boscio, the president of the union that represents correction officers, said the union was willing to work with the outside manager, but it would maintain "our fierce advocacy for the preservation of our members' employment rights and improving their working conditions."
Advocates for detainees, meanwhile, celebrated the judge's order as a turning point in a decades-long effort at reform.
"This has the potential to finally change the culture of violence and brutality in the city's jails that we've seen for decades," said Debbie Greenberger, an attorney with the Emery Celli law firm, which represents detainees, along with the Legal Aid Society.
"Nothing is going to change overnight, but I'm more hopeful today that we have a path to transformational change," she added.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-07 18:25:04+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Benjamin Netanyahu",
"Hostage situations",
"Israel government",
"Gaza Strip",
"Israel",
"2024-2025 Mideast Wars",
"Israel-Hamas war",
"Elkana Bohbot",
"Politics",
"Foreign aid",
"Religion"
] |
# Mother of Gaza hostage is furious over mixed signals on how many captives are dead
By Melanie Lidman
May 7th, 2025, 06:25 PM
---
JERUSALEM (AP) — Ruhama Bohbot was at home watching the news when she heard U.S. President Donald Trump say something new: Three of the 24 hostages Israel considered to be alive in Gaza had probably died.
"As of today, it's 21, three have died," Trump said during a swearing-in ceremony for his special envoy to the Middle East.
Bohbot, who lives outside of Jerusalem, froze in terror — and then fury. Her 36-year-old son, Elkana, has been captive in Gaza since being abducted by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023.
No Israeli officials have reached out to the Bohbot family to say the number of hostages believed to be alive had changed. Yet Bohbot thought back to a public event last week, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said 24 of the hostages still in Gaza were alive. A mic picked up his wife, Sara, as she quietly said, "fewer."
Later, Netanyahu's office dismissed the moment as a slip of the tongue.
"So we're just continuing to live in hope that everything will be OK ... even amidst all of the things that are not OK. Because it's impossible to know," Bohbot said.
Netanyahu said late Wednesday Israel was confident that 21 of the 59 remaining hostages are still alive but that there was "doubt" about three others. An Israeli official said the three, who he did not identify, are considered alive until there is evidence proving otherwise. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.
If there is "new information being kept from us, give it to us immediately," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an advocacy group, said Wednesday.
Hamas militants killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 during their cross-border attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Elkana Bohbot and dozens of others were captured from a music festival, where more than 300 people were killed.
Israel's offensive has killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials. The officials do not distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count.
Hamas has published three videos of Elkana Bohbot in the past months which were filmed under duress. In the most recent video, from mid-April, Elkana holds a fake telephone conversation with his wife, Rivka; their son, Raem; his mother; and his brother — pleading with them to help him get out of Gaza.
While the videos were a sign of life, Bohbot knows that they don't guarantee that her son is still alive. Hearing the government's approval this week to expand operations in Gaza deepened her concern about the fate of her son and the other hostages. Israel is "failing so utterly" to rescue the hostages, she said.
Israel's decision to freeze all humanitarian aid likely meant her son also wasn't getting food, she said. Humanitarian aid is the primary food source for 80% of Palestinians in Gaza, the World Food Program said in its monthly report for April, though that figure has likely risen in the past month.
Israel stopped all humanitarian aid in March, the longest period there has been a freeze on humanitarian aid during the war, leading many organizations to warn of severe malnutrition and hunger in Gaza.
"I just want to imagine that he's holding on and that he's okay for now, that's my hope and that's my belief right now," she said.
Bohbot is desperately hoping that Trump's visit to the region next week may bring a breakthrough in ceasefire negotiations. Her family is still paying rent on a stall at a market in Tel Aviv, where Elkana had been planning to open a gourmet ice cream shop.
The family will mark Raem's fifth birthday next month – his second during his father's captivity. Raem has started saying things like "if my daddy comes home," to which the family gently corrects him – "your daddy is coming home, just wait a little bit longer," Bohbot said.
"He has binoculars that he made in kindergarten, he goes out occasionally and takes a look in the binoculars to look for his father," Bohbot said.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-11 13:01:33+00:00
|
[
"Newark",
"Sean Duffy",
"Scott Kirby",
"Donald Trump",
"New Jersey",
"Federal Aviation Administration",
"Traffic",
"Transportation",
"Business",
"Transportation and shipping",
"Department of Government Efficiency",
"Aviation safety",
"United States government"
] |
# Another issue disrupts Newark's airport
By The Associated Press
May 11th, 2025, 01:01 PM
---
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says he plans to reduce the number of flights in and out of Newark's airport for the "next several weeks" as it struggles with radar outages and other issues, including another Sunday that again slowed air traffic.
Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press" that aired Sunday, Duffy said he will meet this week with all major carriers flying through Newark Liberty International, New Jersey's largest airport. He said the number of flight cutbacks would fluctuate by time of day with most targeting afternoon hours when international arrivals make the airport busier.
In addition to equipment outages, the airport has been been beset by flight delays and cancellations brought on by a shortage of air traffic controllers.
"We want to have a number of flights that if you book your flight, you know it's going to fly, right?" he said. "That is the priority. So you don't get to the airport, wait four hours, and then get delayed."
The Federal Aviation Administration reported a "telecommunications issue" as the latest setback Sunday, impacting a facility in Philadelphia that directs planes in and out of Newark airport. An FAA statement said the agency briefly slowed air traffic to and from the airport while ensuring "redundancies were working as designed" before normal operations resumed.
Infrastructure issues are increasingly a key concern at airports around the country.
In an unrelated incident, hundreds of flights were delayed Sunday at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport — one of the world's busiest — because of a runway equipment issue. The FAA said in a statement that it temporarily slowed arrivals into Atlanta while technicians worked to address the problem.
In Newark, Sunday's disruptions came two days after radar at the Philadelphia facility went black for 90 seconds at 3:55 a.m. Friday, an episode that was similar to an incident on April 28.
The Trump administration recently proposed a multibillion-dollar overhaul of the U.S. air traffic control system, envisioning six new air traffic control centers and technology and communications upgrades at all of the nation's air traffic facilities over the next three or four years.
The FAA said last week that it slows the rate of arrivals into Newark to ensure safety whenever staffing or equipment issues arise. The agency also noted that frequent equipment and telecommunications outages can be stressful, prompting some air traffic controllers to take time off "to recover from the stress."
"While we cannot quickly replace them due to this highly specialized profession, we continue to train controllers who will eventually be assigned to this busy airspace," the FAA said in a May 5 statement.
On average, there had been 34 arrival cancellations per day since mid-April at Newark, according to the FAA, with the number of delays increasing throughout the day from an average of five in the mornings to 16 by the evening. The delays tended to last 85 to 137 minutes on average.
Duffy said in his TV appearance Sunday that he wants to raise the mandatory retirement age for air traffic controllers from 56 to 61, as he tries to navigate a shortage of about 3,000 people in that specialized position.
And he also spoke of wanting to give those air traffic controllers a 20% upfront bonus to stay on the job. However, he says many air traffic controllers choose to retire after 25 years of service, which means many retire around the age of 50.
"These are not overnight fixes," Duffy said. "But as we go up — one, two years, older guys on the job, younger guys coming in, men and women — we can make up that 3,000-person difference."
Adding more air traffic controllers is in contrast to a top priority of the Trump administration — slashing jobs in nearly all other federal agencies.
However, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that Duffy deserves credit for putting "caution tape" around FAA safety functions and separating those personnel from cost-cutting by Trump's Department of Government Efficiency — DOGE.
Kirby said United has already reduced its schedule at Newark and will meet with Duffy later this week. He expects a deeper cut in capacity to last until June 15 when construction work on one of Newark's runways is expected to be complete, though he thinks some reductions will last throughout the summer.
"We have fewer flights, but we keep everything safe, and we get the airplane safely on the ground," Kirby said. "Safety is number one, and so I'm not worried about safety. I am worried about customer delays and impacts."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-09 22:08:01+00:00
|
[
"Animals",
"Animal attacks",
"Florida",
"Robert Markel",
"National",
"Science",
"Climate and environment",
"Climate"
] |
# Lab tests connect black bear killed by Florida wildlife officers to fatal attack on man and his dog
May 9th, 2025, 10:08 PM
---
JEROME, Fla. (AP) — Lab results have connected one of three black bears killed by wildlife officers in southwest Florida to a fatal attack on a man and his dog a day earlier, officials said Friday.
Necropsy results revealed that a 263-pound (119-kilogram) male bear contained the partial remains of 89-year-old Robert Markel, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement. Testing showed that same bear's DNA was present on Markel's body, inside his home and on the dog's body.
Wildlife officials have not explicitly said that bear is the one that killed Markel, but a preliminary autopsy by the Collier County Medical Examiner found that Markel's cause of death is consistent with a bear attack.
Markel was attacked early Monday near his home in a rural area east of Naples, just south of Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area.
Wildlife officers set several traps and cameras. They killed three black bears in the area and sent their remains to a Gainesville lab. None of the animals tested positive for rabies, officials said.
Wildlife officials are still investigating the events that led to the attack.
Florida's black bears, which were once threatened, have increasingly wandered into neighborhoods and private property in recent years, especially in more rural areas of north and central Florida.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-14 22:39:44+00:00
|
[
"Ron DeSantis",
"Florida",
"Black experience",
"Donald Trump",
"Colleges and universities",
"Corporate management",
"Elijah Hooks",
"Associated Press",
"Kate Payne",
"Education",
"Taxes",
"Protests and demonstrations",
"Race and ethnicity",
"Rick Scott",
"School curricula",
"Politics",
"Larry Robinson",
"Race and Ethnicity"
] |
# Students at Florida's only public HBCU protest presidential candidate with DeSantis ties
By Kate Payne
May 14th, 2025, 10:39 PM
---
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida's only public historically Black university could soon be run by an ally of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has restricted the teaching of African American history and banned public colleges from using taxpayer money on diversity programs.
Marva Johnson, a lobbyist and executive for the telecom company Charter Communications and a former member of the state Board of Education, has been named one of the four finalists to be the next president of Florida A&M University. Students rallied against her candidacy on campus Wednesday, while she was interviewed by the school's board of trustees.
A core mission of FAMU — written into the law that established the school in 1887 — has been to educate African Americans.
The prospect that a DeSantis-aligned candidate could soon lead FAMU has alarmed students, faculty and alumni, who celebrate the university's legacy of Black excellence, social mobility and cultural pride.
Representatives for DeSantis did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Johnson has been appointed to state boards by DeSantis and then-Gov. Rick Scott and has been criticized for her lack of administrative experience in higher education. Before trustees on Wednesday, Johnson touted her skills in navigating the corporate world and the state Legislature.
"As the leader, I am championing resources. I am moving mountains if they get in your way," Johnson said. "I'm not going to be the best academian at this point in my career."
While Johnson fielded questions from trustees, dozens of students and alumni gathered at a rally across campus, praying for the future of the university that has lifted up the descendants of enslaved people and helped produce generations of lawyers, pharmacists, architects and engineers.
"We cannot go down in history saying that we had a responsibility and we lost the illustrious FAMU," said Quincy Griffin, a pastor and alumnus. "Not on my watch."
Elijah Hooks, a political science student at FAMU and chief of staff at the Florida Student Association, pointed to recent attempts by DeSantis allies to overhaul the University of West Florida and New College of Florida, in what critics called a hostile political takeover.
"They want students to not learn things such as Black studies," said Hooks. "They want them to be controlled by certain narratives and certain beliefs."
The efforts to "restrict what we can and cannot learn" is a spit in the face to his ancestors, Hooks said, leading the crowd in chants of "No MAGA Marva!", a reference to President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" agenda.
Supporters of the university, which hosts about 10,000 students at its campus a few blocks from the state capitol, have long argued the state has underfunded the school, sending more resources to predominantly white institutions like Florida State University, across the railroad tracks from FAMU.
The prospect of the DeSantis administration wresting more control over the HBCU plays into longstanding anxieties that the state could cut into some of the university's signature programs — or even merge the school with FSU, an idea lawmakers contemplated in the 1960s.
Backlash over FAMU's apparent failure to properly vet a multimillion-dollar donation from a dubious donor brought fresh scrutiny to the school's institutional governance last year. Then-president Larry Robinson later resigned, opening the door to new leadership at the school, at a time when DeSantis and his appointees have been exerting more influence over the state's public universities.
FAMU Trustee Deveron Gibbons, who chairs the presidential search committee, has defended the school's process as "transparent" and "inclusive" and applauded the four finalists.
"I'm grateful to my fellow trustees, who have approached this process with integrity and care every step of the way. Their commitment has been instrumental in stewarding a process that reflects the values and aspirations of the FAMU community," Gibbons said.
The school's Board of Trustees is scheduled to take a vote on the finalists on Friday. Their pick must then be confirmed by the state's Board of Governors.
___ 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
|
2025-05-07 15:24:24+00:00
|
[
"Vermont",
"Rumeysa Ozturk",
"Louisiana",
"Courts",
"Immigration",
"New York City Wire",
"Politics",
"Prisons",
"Esha Bhandari"
] |
# Appeals court orders ICE to return detained Turkish Tufts University student to Vermont
By Kathy Mccormack
May 7th, 2025, 03:24 PM
---
A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld a judge's order to bring a Turkish Tufts University student from a Louisiana immigration detention center back to New England for hearings to determine whether her rights were violated and if she should be released.
Denying a government request for a delay, the three-judge panel of the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Rumeysa Ozturk after hearing arguments at a hearing Tuesday. Ozturk has been in Louisiana for over six weeks following an op-ed she co-wrote last year that criticized the school's response to Israel's war in Gaza.
The court ordered Ozturk to be transferred to ICE custody in Vermont no later than May 14.
Immigration court proceedings for Ozturk, initiated in Louisiana, are being conducted separately and Ozturk can participate remotely, the court said.
A district court judge in Vermont had ordered that the 30-year-old doctoral student be brought to the state for hearings to determine whether she was illegally detained. Ozturk's lawyers say her detention violates her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process.
The original deadline was May 1. A hearing on her motion to be released on bail was scheduled in Burlington for Friday, followed by another hearing on May 22.
The Justice Department, which appealed that ruling, said that the immigration court in Louisiana has jurisdiction over Ozturk's case. The appeals court paused the transfer order last week as it considered an emergency motion filed by the government. But on Wednesday, the court did not agree to the request for a longer delay.
The appeals court disagreed that the Vermont court was the wrong place to handle Ozturk's plea for release. It also said the government didn't show "irreparable injury." It said Ozturk's interest in participating in person in the Vermont hearings outweighs administrative and logistical costs to the government.
"The government asserts that it would face difficulties in arranging for Ozturk to appear for her immigration proceedings in Louisiana remotely. But the government has not disputed that it is legally and practically possible for Ozturk to attend removal proceedings remotely," it said.
A message seeking comment was emailed to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Immigration officials surrounded Ozturk as she walked along a street in a Boston suburb March 25 and drove her to New Hampshire and Vermont before putting her on a plane to a detention center in Basile, Louisiana. Her student visa had been revoked several days earlier, but she was not informed of that, her lawyers said.
Ozturk's lawyers first filed a petition on her behalf in Massachusetts, but they did not know where she was and were unable to speak to her until more than 24 hours after she was detained. A Massachusetts judge later transferred the case to Vermont.
"The government now argues that this transfer was improper. The government is wrong," the appeals court wrote.
Ozturk was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in the campus newspaper, The Tufts Daily, last year criticizing the university's response to student activists demanding that Tufts "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide," disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel.
A State Department memo said Ozturk's visa was revoked following an assessment that her actions "'may undermine U.S. foreign policy by creating a hostile environment for Jewish students and indicating support for a designated terrorist organization' including co-authoring an op-ed that found common cause with an organization that was later temporarily banned from campus."
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in March, without providing evidence, that investigations found that Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group.
"No one should be arrested and locked up for their political views," Esha Bhandari, one of Ozturk's attorneys, said in a statement. "Every day that Rumeysa Ozturk remains in detention is a day too long. We're grateful the court refused the government's attempt to keep her isolated from her community and her legal counsel as she pursues her case for release."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-08 21:53:13+00:00
|
[
"Los Angeles",
"Miami",
"Alon Alexander",
"Oren Alexander",
"Tal Alexander",
"Human trafficking",
"Indictments",
"Crime",
"New York City Wire",
"Richard Klugh",
"Nicholas Biase",
"Business"
] |
# New charges brought against real estate brothers in sex trafficking case
May 8th, 2025, 09:53 PM
---
NEW YORK (AP) — Additional sex trafficking charges were brought Thursday in a New York court against two luxury real estate brokers and their brother.
The charges were contained in a rewritten indictment filed by federal prosecutors against Oren Alexander, Tal Alexander and Alon Alexander.
The three brothers are being held without bail in a case in which prosecutors in Manhattan have alleged that they have spoken to more than 60 people who allege they were raped by at least one of the brothers.
Oren Alexander and Tal Alexander were already charged with using their wealth and influence that they accumulated while selling high-end properties in New York City, Miami and Los Angeles to make it possible to rape and sexually abuse women from 2002 to 2021.
No date was immediately set for the men to be arraigned. They previously had pleaded not guilty.
The superseding indictment filed Thursday adds five new charges related to four alleged victims, including one female who had not yet reached adulthood when the offenses allegedly occurred.
Attorney Richard Klugh said in an email that the "new charges, like the government's first two factually and legally unfounded efforts, show nothing but prosecutorial overreach. It is simply another swing-and-a-miss by a government that has gone off the rails in an overzealous, unwarranted pursuit."
Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York, said: "We will decline to comment beyond our filings to the court. This is an ongoing investigation, anyone who may have information related to this case can please contact 1-800 CALL FBI or [email protected]."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-16 04:10:03+00:00
|
[
"Diversity",
"equity and inclusion",
"Donald Trump",
"Missouri",
"Greg Abbott",
"Brad Little",
"Joe Biden",
"West Virginia",
"Wyoming",
"Oklahoma",
"Idaho",
"Mike Braun",
"Race and ethnicity",
"Mike Kehoe",
"Paulette Granberry Russell",
"Associated Press",
"Politics",
"Education",
"West Virginia state government",
"Deval Patrick",
"Shaun Harper",
"United States government",
"Timothy Minella",
"Tennessee state government",
"Wyoming state government",
"Race and Ethnicity"
] |
# GOP states double efforts to stamp out DEI
By David A. Lieb
May 16th, 2025, 04:10 AM
---
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Republican-led states are accelerating efforts to stamp out diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, expanding from higher education to other government functions since President Donald Trump fully embraced the movement.
Governors and lawmakers this year have about doubled last year's actions targeting DEI initiatives, which had roughly doubled those of 2023, according to an Associated Press analysis aided by the bill-tracking software Plural.
The surge comes as Trump's executive orders seeking to halt DEI initiatives ripple through the federal government, universities and schools, despite legal challenges.
"The federal attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion from the Trump administration have further cleared the path for conservative state legislators," said Shaun Harper, a professor of education, business and public policy at the University of Southern California who founded the National DEI Defense Coalition.
"We are seeing the multiplication of the anti-DEI effort literally everywhere," Harper added.
Details vary by state, but many efforts contain at least some aspects of a four-pronged plan outlined two years ago by a pair of conservative think tanks. The legislative model promoted by the Manhattan Institute and the Goldwater Institute focused on higher education, seeking to abolish DEI offices and staff, end mandatory diversity training, ban compulsory diversity statements and outlaw racial or sexual preferences in hiring and admissions.
Now Republican-led states are using the same model to prohibit DEI initiatives in state and local governments.
"Despite the Trump administration taking action, the states cannot rely on the federal government to root out DEI for them," said Timothy Minella, senior fellow at the Goldwater Institute.
## What are DEI initiatives trying to address?
Efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion have existed for years in higher education institutions, businesses and government bureaucracies. Supporters say such initiatives benefit everyone by helping people navigate diverse societies and understand people's differing viewpoints and experiences. Their goal is to promote student bodies and workplaces where everyone feels valued.
That is why some DEI offices have tailored services to people of particular races, genders, sexual orientations and cultures and disabilities. Some institutions also have factored in equity goals when admitting students, providing scholarships or making employment decisions, to try to reflect society at large.
Findings in a poll conducted earlier this month by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research show that while "DEI" has become a politically toxic term for many Americans, some components of DEI programs have much less opposition.
The poll found about 4 in 10 Americans "strongly" or "somewhat" favor DEI programs in colleges and universities, while about 3 in 10 oppose those initiatives and about 3 in 10 are neutral.
Support is higher for courses on racism and scholarships for students of color, among other services designed to help students from underrepresented groups.
President Joe Biden's administration required diversity and equity goals in various government programs.
Trump has reversed those efforts, denouncing DEI policies as a form of discrimination that threatens merit-based decision-making. The Republican roll-back gained momentum after the Supreme Court in 2023 struck down racial affirmative action in college admissions. With Trump's return to the presidency, a growing number of businesses have voluntarily withdrawn their DEI programs.
## How are the new state laws defining DEI?
There is no universal definition about what's covered by those initiatives. But most state laws and gubernatorial orders focus on initiatives related to race, ethnicity, gender or sex.
Some measures, such bills passed in Oklahoma and Wyoming, further narrow their definition of DEI activities to those that grant preferential or differential treatment of individuals based on such factors.
The state measures don't typically mention people with disabilities, military veterans or those from lower-income households, even though they might also be included in an institution's equity efforts, said Paulette Granberry Russell, president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education.
"Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts extends well beyond race, gender and sexuality, but it has been framed in ways that targets those populations and demonize those populations," she said.
Some workers targeted by Trump's anti-DEI measures claim they are being used to justify firing people who happen to be minorities and women. One class-action complaint by federal workers alleges that Trump's anti-DEI executive orders discriminate against employees who aren't white men.
## Where are DEI efforts being targeted?
Limits on DEI initiatives in higher education recently approved by legislatures in Missouri and Oklahoma raise the total number of similar state laws and gubernatorial orders to two dozen since 2023. That includes bills passed earlier this year in Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wyoming. More are under consideration in additional states.
The Missouri measures show the growth of the movement. A provision limiting DEI in higher education got left out of the state budget last year. But it got included this year after new Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe issued an order barring executive agencies from using state funds on DEI positions and activities.
New laws in Tennessee, West Virginia and Wyoming target DEI initiatives in state and local governments as well as higher education.
## What have governors been doing?
More governors are issuing directives now.
On his first day in office in West Virginia in January, Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey ordered an end to DEI staff positions and activities that grant preferential treatment based on race, ethnicity or sex in executive departments and state-funded institutions. On his second day, Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Braun issued a similar order. Kehoe's anti-DEI order came in his second month as Missouri governor.
Texas was among the first states in 2023 to legislate against spending on DEI programs in higher education. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott expanded upon that this year, ordering all state agencies to "comply with the color-blind guarantee" of the U.S. and state constitutions. His executive order described DEI concepts as "blatant efforts to divide people" with "new forms of racism."
## What's next in the anti-DEI crosshairs?
A new Idaho law signed by Republican Gov. Brad Little not only bans DEI offices and programs in higher education but also addresses what's taught in the classroom. It prohibits colleges and universities from requiring students to take DEI-related courses to meet graduation requirements, unless they're pursuing degrees in race or gender studies.
It's the first such law nationally, according to the Goldwater Institute, which teamed up with Speech First to develop a model they describe as the "Freedom from Indoctrination Act." DEI opponents are hoping more states will soon follow.
"Our goal is to get rid of the DEI mandates for general education and programs in order to get a degree," Minella said.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 12:49:04+00:00
|
[
"Felix Tshisekedi",
"Democratic Republic of the Congo",
"Democratic Republic of the Congo government",
"Rebellions and uprisings",
"War crimes",
"Legal proceedings",
"Laurent Kabila",
"Humanitarian crises",
"Joseph Kabila",
"Indictments",
"Politics",
"Ferdinand Kambere"
] |
# Congo seeks to lift former President Kabila's immunity over war crimes allegations
By Mark Banchereau and Saleh Mwanamilongo
May 1st, 2025, 12:49 PM
---
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Authorities in Congo have asked the country's Senate to lift the immunity of former President Joseph Kabila so that he can face trial on charges of supporting a rebel insurgency in the country's east, the justice minister said.
Justice Minister Constant Mutamba told reporters in the capital Kinshasa on Wednesday evening that Congo has amassed clear evidence implicating the former president in "war crimes, crimes against humanity and massacres of peaceful civilians and military personnel" in the country's east.
Mutamba said the attorney general of Congo's army has asked the Senate to revoke the lifetime immunity from prosecution that Kabila enjoys as an ex-president and senator.
The former president is accused of "treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity and participation in an insurrectional movement," the justice minister added.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi last year alleged Kabila was supporting the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and "preparing an insurrection" in eastern Congo with them, a claim Kabila denies.
Kabila led Congo from 2001 to 2019, taking office at the age of 29 and extending his mandate by delaying elections for two years after his term ended in 2016. His father, former President Laurent Kabila, was assassinated in 2001.
Last month he returned to Congo after having left in 2023, in part due to deteriorating relations with the government of President Tshisekedi. He arrived in the rebel-held eastern city of Goma, where he was planning to "to participate in peace efforts," according to one of his associates.
Congo's decades-long conflict escalated in January, when the M23 rebels advanced and seized the strategic city of Goma, followed by the town of Bukavu, which they took in February. The fighting has killed some 3,000 people and worsened what was already one of the world's largest humanitarian crises, with around 7 million people displace.
M23 is one of about 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda. The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts.
Despite Congo's army and M23 having agreed to work toward a truce earlier this month, fighting continues in the eastern province of South-Kivu.
Ferdinand Kambere, the deputy secretary-general of Kabila's People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy, said the justice minister's actions amount to "relentless persecution."
"For us, these mistakes that those in power keep making against the former president — thinking they are humiliating or intimidating him — actually show that the regime is nearing its end. They have nothing left to use against Kabila," Kambere told The Associated Press.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-09 09:15:50+00:00
|
[
"Ukraine",
"Hungary",
"Espionage",
"Viktor Orban",
"Military and defense",
"Vladimir Putin",
"Peter Szijjarto",
"Hungary government",
"Russia-Ukraine war",
"Ukraine government",
"Politics",
"Russia Ukraine war",
"Justin Spike"
] |
# Ukraine expels 2 Hungarian diplomats over alleged espionage. Budapest responds in a tit-for-tat move
By Justin Spike and Illia Novikov
May 9th, 2025, 09:15 AM
---
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine said that it has expelled two Hungarian diplomats on Friday, hours after the country's main security agency said that it had arrested two people on suspicion of spying for Hungary by gathering intelligence on Ukraine's military in the west of the country.
The allegations of spying were met with anger in Budapest, where Hungary's Foreign Ministry expelled two Ukrainian diplomats for what it said were Ukraine's own espionage activities.
The Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, said in a statement that two suspects, both former members of the Ukrainian military, had been detained as members of a spying network, and that they each face charges of treason, which is punishable by life imprisonment. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha later said that two Hungarian diplomats were expelled.
It was the first time in Ukraine's history that a Hungarian espionage operation had been discovered, the statement said.
The activities of the suspected spies were focused on the western Ukraine region of Zakarpattia, which borders Hungary and is home to a sizeable Hungarian ethnic minority. Budapest and Kyiv have clashed over the rights of Hungarians in Zakarpattia, most of which was part of Hungary until the end of World War I.
Sybiha said in a statement that the spy network was tasked with collecting information about the military security of the region, search for vulnerabilities in the region's ground and air defenses and "study the sociopolitical views of local residents, in particular scenarios of their behavior if Hungarian troops enter the region."
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó didn't directly deny the allegations of a Hungarian espionage cell operating in the neighboring country, but stated that the SBU's claims could be classified as "anti-Hungarian propaganda" launched by Kyiv in retaliation for Hungary's refusal to assist Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
"We do not tolerate Ukraine's continuous launching of such defamatory actions against Hungary and the Hungarian people," Szijjártó said, adding that he had expelled "two spies working under diplomatic cover at the Embassy of Ukraine in Budapest" in response.
Hungary, a member of NATO and the European Union, has taken an adversarial approach to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion launched on Feb. 24, 2022, refusing to supply Kyiv with weaponry or to allow its transfer across Hungarian territory.
Hungary's government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has also threatened to block EU financial assistance to Ukraine, argued against sanctions on Russia and opposed Ukraine's EU membership hopes.
Orbán is widely seen as having the warmest relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin among EU leaders, though he has acknowledged that the war was a result of Russian aggression.
The SBU said that both suspected spies were overseen by a career officer of Hungarian military intelligence, whose identity also had been established. That officer supplied the network with cash and a special device for covert communication to support the operation, and had attempted to recruit other individuals into the network, the SBU said.
The Hungarian Defense Ministry and Military National Security Service didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
___
Justin Spike reported from Budapest, Hungary.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-12 15:32:15+00:00
|
[
"London",
"Keir Starmer",
"United Kingdom",
"Law enforcement",
"Fires",
"International",
"Politics",
"United Kingdom government",
"Dave Pares",
"Counterterrorism"
] |
# UK police investigate a fire at Prime Minister Keir Starmer's private house
May 12th, 2025, 03:32 PM
---
LONDON (AP) — British police on Monday were investigating an overnight fire at the London house where Prime Minister Keir Starmer lived before he was elected to lead the country.
Since taking office in July, Starmer has lived in the prime minister's official Downing Street residence, renting out the family home in the Kentish Town neighborhood.
The fire's cause was considered suspicious, and London's Metropolitan Police force said counterterrorism officers were involved in the investigation.
Firefighters were called to "a small fire" just after 1 a.m., the city's fire department said. Two engines responded, and the blaze was out within a half-hour.
Police said officers who responded to the scene found damage "to the property's entrance," but that nobody was hurt.
A cordon of police tape was visible outside the house Monday.
Starmer's house has attracted protesters in the past. Last year, three pro-Palestinian activists were arrested and charged with public order offenses after unfurling a banner covered in red handprints outside the building.
Starmer's spokesman, Dave Pares, said that "the prime minister thanks the emergency services for their work."
He said the fire "is subject to a live investigation, so I can't comment any further."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-13 19:12:04+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"U.S. Department of Agriculture",
"Climate change",
"Lawsuits",
"Agriculture",
"Environmental conservation",
"New York City Wire",
"Future of food",
"Health",
"Melina Walling",
"Courts",
"Climate and environment",
"Legal proceedings",
"Jeffrey Stein",
"Associated Press",
"Jeff Stein",
"United States government",
"Business",
"Renewable energy",
"Climate"
] |
# Facing lawsuit, USDA says it will restore climate change-related webpages
By Melina Walling
May 13th, 2025, 07:12 PM
---
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has agreed to restore climate change-related webpages to its websites after it was sued over the deletions in February.
The lawsuit, brought on behalf of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Working Group, argued that the deletions violated rules around citizens' access to government information.
The USDA's reversal comes ahead of a scheduled May 21 hearing on the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction against the agency's actions in federal court in New York.
The department had removed resources on its websites related to climate-smart farming, conservation practices, rural clean energy projects and access to federal loans related to those areas after President Donald Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration.
At the same time, the Trump administration was working to pause or freeze other funding related to climate change and agriculture, some of which was funded by the Biden-era 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
In a letter filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Justice Department said the USDA "will restore the climate-change-related web content that was removed post-inauguration" and that it "commits to complying with" federal laws governing its future "posting decisions."
The lawsuit was filed by Earthjustice and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.
Earthjustice attorney Jeffrey Stein said Tuesday scrubbing the websites of information relevant to programs it was undoing "made it really difficult for farmers to fight for the funding that they're owed, for advocates to educate the public and members of Congress about the specific impacts of freezing funding on ordinary Americans in their districts."
"I think that the funding freeze and the staff layoffs and the purging of information, they all intertwined as a dangerous triple whammy," Stein said.
A USDA spokesperson referred The Associated Press to the Department of Justice, which did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday.
Stein said USDA had committed to restoring most of the material within about two weeks. He said he hoped the agency's reversal would be a "positive sign" in other cases brought against the administration over agencies purging information from websites.
___
Follow Melina Walling on X @MelinaWalling and Bluesky @melinawalling.bsky.social.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-19 13:26:16+00:00
|
[
"Christopher Kimball",
"Recipes",
"JWD-evergreen",
"Lifestyle",
"Food and drink",
"Pearl Couscous"
] |
# Couscous gets the risotto treatment in this creamy springtime recipe
By Christopher Kimball
May 19th, 2025, 01:26 PM
---
Classic risotto is made with starchy medium-grain Italian rice, such as Arborio or carnaroli. This "risotto" uses pearl couscous (which actually is a pasta) and a simplified risotto cooking method to produce "grains" with a rich, creamy consistency.
In this recipe from our cookbook " Milk Street 365: The All-Purpose Cookbook for Every Day of the Year," the wheaty flavor of pearl couscous (sometimes called Israeli couscous or ptitim) is a perfect match for grassy, subtly sweet asparagus and the salty, nutty flavor of Parmesan cheese.
When cooking the onion, take care to not let it brown. The assertive bittersweet flavor of caramelized onion will easily overwhelm the other flavors in the dish. Cook only until it softens, then add the garlic and cook until fragrant.
Much as in a traditional risotto, white wine is used to deglaze the pan, balancing the richness with a hit of brightening acidity.
Don't use especially thick nor super slender asparagus for this recipe. Choose average, pencil-sized spears so the pieces are perfectly tender when the couscous is done. Make sure to reserve the stalk and tip pieces separately; they're added at different times because they cook at slightly different rates. Serve with Parmesan and fresh flat-leaf parsley.
Pearl Couscous "Risotto" with Asparagus
Start to finish: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
## Ingredients:
4 tablespoons (½ stick) salted butter, cut into 1-tablespoon pieces
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
3 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup pearl couscous
⅓ cup dry white wine
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut on the diagonal into ½-inch pieces; reserve the stalks and tips separately
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, finely grated (½ cup), plus more to serve
½ cup lightly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped, plus more to serve
## Directions:
In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter. Add the onion and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper, then cook, stirring, until it begins to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant. Add the couscous and cook, stirring often, until it begins to brown.
Pour in the wine and cook, stirring, until the pan is almost dry, about 1 minute. Add 3 cups water and ½ teaspoon salt, then cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Stir in the asparagus stalks and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, then stir in the asparagus tips. Continue to cook, stirring, until almost all the liquid has been absorbed and the asparagus is tender, about another 2 minutes.
Off heat, add the Parmesan, parsley and remaining 1 tablespoon butter, then stir until the butter melts. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with additional Parmesan and parsley.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For more recipes, go to Christopher Kimball's Milk Street at 177milkstreet.com/ap
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-09 10:26:28+00:00
|
[
"Pakistan",
"India",
"India government",
"Pakistan government",
"Kashmir",
"War and unrest",
"Drones",
"Asia",
"Asia Pacific",
"South Asia",
"Praveen Donthi",
"Plane crashes",
"Lisa Curtis",
"Military and defense",
"Ahmed Sharif",
"Misinformation"
] |
# India's clash with Pakistan sees use of Chinese missiles, French jets, Israeli drones and more
By David Rising
May 9th, 2025, 10:26 AM
---
BANGKOK (AP) — India's missile and bomb strikes on targets in Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir have spiked tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, with Pakistan's leader calling the attacks an act of war.
Claims about the initial attack and the aftermath have differed widely, with neither India nor Pakistan releasing many specific details. Making the ongoing conflict even more confusing, the internet has been "flooded with disinformation, false claims, and manipulated photos and videos," the Soufan Center think tank said.
"This information warfare is compounded by both sides' commitment to save face," it said.
With ongoing fighting, it has been impossible to independently verify many of the claims, but some information can be gleaned from official statements and paired with what is known to gain greater insight into the clash:
## Chinese aircraft, Russian defenses and rampant disinformation
Pakistan on Saturday said it launched hypersonic missiles from a JF-17 Thunder jet, an aircraft built by China in collaboration with Pakistan, and destroyed a Russian-built S-400 air defense system in India's border Punjab state.
India denied the site was hit, saying it would provide evidence later.
Praveen Donthi, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, said the two sides are "effectively at war" even though they have not yet called it that, and an "explosion of disinformation stemming from a lack of official confirmation" is causing panic among civilians, particularly among those living in border areas.
"It's become a remorseless race for military one-upmanship," he said.
Pakistan also said Saturday it used its Fatah-II missiles to target an Indian missile storage facility and two airbases, an attack acknowledged by Indian officials who said they targeted Pakistani military bases in retaliation.
It was not clear what damage was caused in either attack, though Pakistan claimed to have intercepted most of the Indian missiles and was, in turn, retaliating for India's retaliatory strike.
## Pakistan says it shot down 5 Indian planes involved in initial attack
Hours after India's attack early Wednesday, in retaliation for last month's massacre of tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir, Pakistan's military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif claimed the Pakistan air force had shot down five Indian attack aircraft: three French-made Rafales, a Russian-made SU30MKI and a Russian-made MiG-29.
Pakistan's air force suffered no casualties, and that all of its aircraft returned safely to base, he said.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif repeated the claim, saying the Pakistan air force had the opportunity to shoot down 10 Indian planes, but exercised restraint and downed only the five that had fired on Pakistani targets.
He told Parliament that overall 80 Indian planes had been involved in the attack.
India, meantime, has not acknowledged any losses, though debris from three aircraft came down in at least three areas.
## Events remain unclear without witness reports or video
India has all three types of jets among its more-than 700 combat capable fighter aircraft, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance report.
All three aircraft are fighters with the capability of carrying bombs or missiles for ground attacks.
Pakistan and India have both said their planes did not leave their home airspace, suggesting that if Pakistan's account is accurate, rather than a dogfight in the skies over Kashmir, Pakistani pilots fired multiple air-to-air missiles over a long distance to take down Indian planes.
Presuming India fired back, even though Pakistan said none of its planes were hit, the aerial skirmish would have been quite the show. But there have been no eyewitness reports or video to emerge on social media.
What is known for sure is that Indian planes were in the air and attacked at least nine targets and debris from three has been found.
It's also plausible Pakistan used surface to air missiles to hit Indian planes, which the war in Ukraine has shown to be very effective and would not have meant risking any of its own planes.
Pakistan has a wide range of such missiles, primarily Chinese-made.
## Events put Chinese tech to the test
Pakistan's air force includes U.S.-made F-16s, the French Mirage and the new Chinese-built J-10C, as well as the JF-17.
In addition to American air-to-air missiles, Pakistan also has several Chinese products in its arsenal, including the PL-12 and PL-15, both of which can be used to fire at targets beyond visual range.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told lawmakers it was the J-10C that shot down the Indian aircraft, raising the likelihood that Chinese-built missiles were also employed.
"It's interesting that Pakistan is saying it is using Chinese jets that it has imported from China to shoot down Indian aircraft," said Lisa Curtis, director of the Indo-Pacific security program at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank.
In 2019, during the rivals' previous military confrontation, "it was a Pakistani F-16 provided by the United States that was used to shoot down an Indian aircraft," Curtis said in a conference call. "It's interesting to see that Pakistan is relying more on its Chinese equipment than it did six years ago."
The news convinced traders with shares in AVIC Chengdu Aircraft, which builds both the J-10C and J-17, to post large gains Wednesday and Thursday on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
The stock of Dassault Aviation, the maker of the Rafale jet, which is among those Pakistan claims to have shot down, dropped sharply on Wednesday on the Paris Stock Exchange, though it had recovered by close on Thursday.
## Pieces of information issued by each country
India hasn't talked about what assets were involved in the attacks. The Indian Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted at least nine sites "where terrorist attacks against India have been planned."
India showed video of eight of the strikes at a briefing on Wednesday, four in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and four in Pakistan.
Pakistan has said 31 civilians were killed, including women and children, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the country's Punjab province, and that buildings hit included two mosques.
Both sides have talked about missile strikes, but it was clear from the video that bombs also were dropped on some targets, possibly from drones. In addition to claiming the five Indian aircraft shot down, Pakistan also said it downed an unspecified number of drones on Wednesday.
Indian officials said the strikes were precision attacks, and from the videos shown it appeared specific areas of installations were targeted with individual missiles or bombs, rather than widespread areas.
___
Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Aijaz Hussain and Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-15 17:47:00+00:00
|
[
"Georgia",
"Pregnancy and childbirth",
"Supreme Court of the United States",
"Abortion",
"Vincenzo Berghella",
"Kamala Harris",
"Food safety",
"Health",
"Adriana Smith",
"April Newkirk",
"Ed Setzler",
"Candi Miller",
"Thaddeus Pope",
"Lois Shepherd"
] |
# Georgia's anti-abortion law keeps brain-dead pregnant woman Adriana Smith on life support
By Jeff Amy, Geoff Mulvihill, and Sudhin Thanawala
May 15th, 2025, 05:47 PM
---
ATLANTA (AP) — A pregnant woman in Georgia who was declared brain dead after a medical emergency has been on life support for three months to let the fetus grow enough to be delivered, a move her family says a hospital told them was required under the state's strict anti-abortion law.
With her due date still more than three months away, it could be one of the longest such pregnancies. Her family is upset that Georgia's law that restricts abortion once cardiac activity is detected doesn't allow relatives to have a say in whether a pregnant woman is kept on life support.
Georgia's so-called "heartbeat law" is among the restrictive abortion statutes that have been put in place in many conservative states since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade three years ago.
Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old mother and nurse, was declared brain-dead — meaning she is legally dead — in February, her mother, April Newkirk, told Atlanta TV station WXIA.
Newkirk said her daughter had intense headaches more than three months ago and went to Atlanta's Northside Hospital, where she received medication and was released. The next morning, her boyfriend woke to her gasping for air and called 911. Emory University Hospital determined she had blood clots in her brain and she was declared brain-dead.
Newkirk said Smith is now 21 weeks pregnant. Removing breathing tubes and other life-saving devices would likely kill the fetus.
Northside did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. Emory Healthcare said it could not comment on an individual case because of privacy rules, but released a statement saying it "uses consensus from clinical experts, medical literature, and legal guidance to support our providers as they make individualized treatment recommendations in compliance with Georgia's abortion laws and all other applicable laws. Our top priorities continue to be the safety and wellbeing of the patients we serve."
## Georgia's abortion ban
Smith's family says Emory doctors have told them they are not allowed to stop or remove the devices that are keeping her breathing because state law bans abortion after cardiac activity can be detected — generally around six weeks into pregnancy.
The law was adopted in 2019 but not enforced until after Roe v. Wade was overturned in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling, opening the door to state abortion bans. Twelve states are enforcing bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy and three others have bans like Georgia's that kick in after about six weeks.
Like the others, Georgia's ban includes an exception if an abortion is necessary to maintain the woman's life. Those exceptions have been at the heart of legal and political questions, including a major Texas Supreme Court ruling last year that found the ban there applies even when there are major pregnancy complications.
Smith's family, including her five-year-old son, still visit her in the hospital.
Newkirk told WXIA that doctors told the family that the fetus has fluid on the brain and that they're concerned about his health.
"She's pregnant with my grandson. But he may be blind, may not be able to walk, may not survive once he's born," Newkirk said. She has not said whether the family wants Smith removed from life support.
## Who has the right to make these decisions?
Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong, the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Georgia's abortion law, said the situation is problematic.
"Her family deserved the right to have decision-making power about her medical decisions," Simpson said in a statement. "Instead, they have endured over 90 days of retraumatization, expensive medical costs, and the cruelty of being unable to resolve and move toward healing."
Thaddeus Pope, a bioethicist and lawyer at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, said while a few states have laws that specifically limit removing treatment from a pregnant woman who is alive but incapacitated, or brain dead, Georgia isn't one of them.
"Removing the woman's mechanical ventilation or other support would not constitute an abortion," he said. "Continued treatment is not legally required."
Lois Shepherd, a bioethicist and law professor at the University of Virginia, also said she does not believe life support is legally required in this case.
But she said whether a state could insist Smith remains on life support is uncertain since the overturning of Roe, which found that fetuses do not have the rights of people.
"Pre-Dobbs, a fetus didn't have any rights," Shepherd said. "And the state's interest in fetal life could not be so strong as to overcome other important rights, but now we don't know."
## What is the fetus' prognosis?
The situation echoes a case in Texas more than a decade ago when a brain-dead woman was kept on life support for about two months because she was pregnant. A judge eventually ruled that the hospital was misapplying state law, and life support was removed.
Brain death in pregnancy is rare. Even rarer still are cases in which doctors aim to prolong the pregnancy after a woman is declared brain-dead.
"It's a very complex situation, obviously, not only ethically but also medically," said Dr. Vincenzo Berghella, director of maternal fetal medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.
A 2021 review that Berghella co-authored scoured medical literature going back decades for cases in which doctors declared a woman brain-dead and aimed to prolong her pregnancy. It found 35.
Of those, 27 resulted in a live birth, the majority either immediately declared healthy or with normal follow-up tests. But Berghella also cautioned that the Georgia case was much more difficult because the pregnancy was less far along when the woman was declared brain dead. In the 35 cases he studied, doctors were able to prolong the pregnancy by an average of just seven weeks before complications forced them to intervene.
"It' s just hard to keep the mother out of infection, out of cardiac failure," he said.
Berghella also found a case from Germany that resulted in a live birth when the woman was declared brain dead at nine weeks of pregnancy — about as far along as Smith was when she died.
## A spotlight on Georgia's abortion law
Georgia's law confers personhood on a fetus. Those who favor personhood say fertilized eggs, embryos and fetuses should be considered people with the same rights as those already born.
Georgia state Sen. Ed Setzler, a Republican who sponsored the 2019 law, said he supported Emory's interpretation.
"I think it is completely appropriate that the hospital do what they can to save the life of the child," Setzler said. "I think this is an unusual circumstance, but I think it highlights the value of innocent human life. I think the hospital is acting appropriately."
Setzler said he believes it is sometimes acceptable to remove life support from someone who is brain dead, but that the law is "an appropriate check" because the mother is pregnant. He said Smith's relatives have "good choices," including keeping the child or offering it for adoption.
Georgia's abortion ban has been in the spotlight before.
Last year, ProPublica reported that two Georgia women died after they did not get proper medical treatment for complications from taking abortion pills. The stories of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller entered into the presidential race, with Democrat Kamala Harris saying the deaths were the result of the abortion bans that went into effect in Georgia and elsewhere after Dobbs.
___
Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Associated Press journalists Lisa Baumann, Kate Brumback, Sharon Johnson and Charlotte Kramon contributed.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-08 10:13:39+00:00
|
[
"Weather",
"Tennessee",
"Natural disasters",
"Arkansas",
"Storms",
"Climate change",
"Kentucky",
"Floods",
"Climate and environment",
"Randall Cerveny",
"Associated Press",
"Ben Clarke",
"Climate"
] |
# Deadly April rainfall in US South and Midwest was intensified by climate change, scientists say
By Isabella O'Malley
May 8th, 2025, 10:13 AM
---
Human-caused climate change intensified deadly rainfall in Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and other states in early April and made those storms more likely to occur, according to an analysis released Thursday by the World Weather Attribution group of scientists.
The series of storms unleashed tornadoes, strong winds and extreme rainfall in the central Mississippi Valley region from April 3-6 and caused at least 24 deaths. Homes, roads and vehicles were inundated and 15 deaths were likely caused by catastrophic floods.
The WWA analysis found that climate change increased rainfall intensity in the storms by 9% and made them 40% more likely compared to probability of such events in the pre-industrial age climate.
Some of the moisture that fueled the storms came from the Gulf of Mexico, where water temperatures were abnormally warm by 1.2°C (2.2°F) compared to pre-industrial temperatures. That warming was made 14 times more likely due to climate change, according to the researchers from universities and meteorological agencies in the United States and Europe.
Rapid analyses from the WWA use peer-reviewed methods to study an extreme weather event and distill it down to the factors that caused it. This approach lets scientists analyze which contributing factors had the biggest influence and how the event could have played out in a world without climate change.
The analysis found a rainfall event of April's intensity could occur in the central Mississippi Valley region about once every 100 years. Even heavier downpours are expected to hit the region in the future unless the world rapidly slashes emissions of polluting gases such as carbon dioxide and methane that causes temperatures to rise, the study said.
"That one in 100 years … is likely to go down to once every few decades," said Ben Clarke, a researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London and the study's lead author. "If we continue to burn fossil fuels, events like this will not only continue to occur, but they'll keep getting more dangerous."
Heavier and more persistent rainfall is expected with climate change because the atmosphere holds more moisture as it warms. Warming ocean temperatures result in higher evaporation rates, which means more moisture is available to fuel storms.
Forecast information and weather alerts from the National Weather Service communicated the risks of the April heavy rain days in advance, which the WWA says likely reduced the death toll. But workforce and budget cuts made by the Trump administration have left nearly half of NWS offices with 20% vacancy rates or higher, raising concerns for public safety during future extreme weather events and the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season that officially begins June 1.
"If we start cutting back on these offices or reducing the staff ... the unfortunate result is going to be more death. We're going to have more people dying because the warnings are not going to get out, the warnings are not going to be as fine-tuned as they are today," said Randall Cerveny, a climate professor at Arizona State University who was not involved in the study.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-07 14:30:28+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"United Arab Emirates",
"Abu Dhabi",
"Saudi Arabia",
"Qatar",
"Amusement parks",
"Hospitality and leisure industry",
"National parks",
"United Arab Emirates government",
"Business",
"Politics",
"Entertainment"
] |
# Disney to build its 7th theme park, this one in the United Arab Emirates
By Michelle Chapman
May 7th, 2025, 02:30 PM
---
Disney will build its seventh theme park, this one in the United Arab Emirates, the entertainment company said Wednesday.
The waterfront resort will be built on Yas Island on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, already home to Formula One's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Ferrari and Warner Bros. amusement parks, SeaWorld and a waterpark.
Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula. Home to 9 million people, it has leveraged its long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad Airways to bring in more tourists over the years. A real-estate boom and the city's highest-ever tourism numbers have made Dubai a destination as well as a layover.
Disney and Miral, the Abu Dhabi developer overseeing the project, hope to capitalize on the 120 million airline passengers that travel through Abu Dhabi and Dubai each year.
While long viewed as more buttoned up than the beaches and raucous nightlife in neighboring Dubai, Abu Dhabi also is home to the Louvre Abu Dhabi and there are more museums currently under construction.
The theme park announcement is being made ahead of a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump to the region next week. Trump has promised a series of business deals with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.
The theme park will be built and operated by Miral, but Disney will handle the design and development. Disney will also license its intellectual property and provide development and management services, according to a regulatory filing.
The California company will not be providing any capital for the project. It will earn royalties based on the resort's revenues. It will also earn service fees.
Miral has been involved in the development of almost all of the entertainment complexes built on the island.
A projected opening date has not been announced.
Shares of Disney, which also reported second-quarter financial results on Wednesday that beat Wall Street's expectations, jumped more than 9% in morning trading.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-14 15:16:18+00:00
|
[
"Detroit",
"Michigan",
"Shootings",
"U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation",
"Islamic State group",
"Gun violence",
"Jerome Gorgon Jr.",
"U.S. Army",
"New Orleans truck attack"
] |
# FBI says man was planning a mass shooting at Army site in suburban Detroit
By Ed White
May 14th, 2025, 03:16 PM
---
DETROIT (AP) — A 19-year-old man was arrested after spending months planning an attack against a U.S. Army site in suburban Detroit on behalf of the Islamic State group, authorities said Wednesday.
Ammar Said was planning to have another person commit a mass shooting at the Army's Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command in Warren, but he didn't know that two supposed allies were undercover FBI employees keeping track of every step, the government said.
Investigators recorded audio and video images of their meetings with Said, including handwritten diagrams of the site, which is known as TACOM and the Detroit Arsenal.
Said, a recent member of the Michigan Army National Guard, was arrested Tuesday shortly after launching a drone for a final look before an attack, the FBI said in a court filing.
"Helping ISIS or any other terrorist organization prepare or carry out acts of violence is not only a reprehensible crime — it is a threat to our entire nation and way of life," U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. said.
The FBI said Said planned to send one of the undercover agents into TACOM with Molotov cocktails and assault-style weapons.
The other undercover operative told Said that he would "be on the first plane to Syria" after an attack.
"That makes two of us," Said responded, according to the FBI.
Said, a Detroit-area resident, appeared in court Wednesday on charges of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization and distributing information related to a destructive device. He agreed to remain in custody without bond.
Senad Ramovic, a lawyer who represented Said during the brief appearance, declined to comment.
TACOM employs thousands of people and manages the Army's ground equipment supply chain. It says it is the only active-duty Army installation in Michigan.
Said was under investigation about a year ago when he told an undercover FBI employee about a "longstanding desire to engage in violent jihad," or war, either overseas or in the U.S., the FBI said.
Authorities last July performed a secret search of his phone, which he had turned over to National Guard personnel before boarding a military aircraft. The FBI said it found references to jihad and images of Islamic State flags.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-05 19:00:11+00:00
|
[
"Brian P. Kemp",
"Jon Ossoff",
"Marjorie Taylor Greene",
"Georgia",
"Donald Trump",
"David Perdue",
"Joe Biden",
"Hakeem Jeffries",
"U.S. Republican Party",
"Doug Collins",
"Kelly Loeffler",
"United States Senate",
"U.S. Democratic Party",
"Senate elections",
"Rich McCormick",
"Jordan Fuchs",
"John King Jr.",
"Politics",
"Maeve Coyle",
"Mike Collins",
"Buddy Carter",
"Joanna Rodriguez",
"Elections",
"Alec Ernst",
"Brad Raffensperger",
"Jimmy Carter",
"Ryan Mahoney",
"Raphael Warnock"
] |
# Georgia Republican Brian Kemp will not run for Senate against Jon Ossoff
By Jeff Amy
May 5th, 2025, 07:00 PM
---
ATLANTA (AP) — Brian Kemp, Georgia's Republican governor, announced Monday that he's not running for U.S. Senate in 2026 against Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff.
Kemp, who will leave the governor's chair in 2027 after eight years due to term limits, has long been at the top of the GOP's wish list to challenge Ossoff, whom Republican leaders have made their biggest target in next year's midterm elections. His decision not to run will likely result in a competitive primary among candidates who have never won a top statewide race.
"I spoke with President Trump and Senate leadership earlier today and expressed my commitment to work alongside them to ensure we have a strong Republican nominee who can win next November, and ultimately be a conservative voice in the US Senate who will put hardworking Georgians first," Kemp said in a statement.
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, who represents a district on Georgia's coast, is itching to run and is likely to jump in. Other possibilities could include U.S. Reps. Mike Collins and Rich McCormick, state Insurance Commissioner John King and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
A possible candidate with massive name recognition is U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a prolific fundraiser who may have gone as far as she can go in the House and was passed over for a position in the Trump administration. She has said she's considering running for Senate or governor in 2026, but her entry into either race would likely prompt internal opposition from more traditional Republicans, including those aligned with Kemp.
Some Democrats are eager for her to run, believing she's poison to a majority of voters. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, told reporters Monday that Republicans were "stuck" with Greene as their nominee.
Alec Ernst, a spokesperson for Greene, said he didn't know her future plans but "she is honored to have such positive support from the people of Georgia."
A number of top-tier Republicans appear to have excluded themselves by taking top positions in President Donald Trump's administration, including former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, currently secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs; former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, head of the Small Business Administration; and former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, ambassador to China.
Raffensperger, long a target of Trump because of his unwillingness to overturn Trump's 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden in Georgia, was noncommittal on Monday.
"All options are on the table," said Jordan Fuchs, a spokesperson for Raffensperger.
Mike Collins told The Associated Press he would defer to Trump.
"He'll pick the right person to get this thing done, and I'll be standing right behind," Collins said.
King, who was appointed by Kemp and has been a close ally, heaped praise on Kemp, calling him "the best governor in America" in a statement. Carter likewise praised Kemp, saying Georgia voters who backed Trump "deserve someone who is going to support him, and the will of the people, in the Senate."
Ryan Mahoney, a political adviser to McCormick, said "it's no surprise that hardworking Georgians from across the state are urging him to run for the United States Senate," adding that McCormick would decide "at the appropriate time."
National Republicans have already been advertising against Ossoff, who launched his reelection bid at a March rally where he proclaimed his defiance to Trump. They've also attacked Ossoff for saying in a town hall two weeks ago that he believed Trump had committed impeachable offenses in his second term.
"While Jon Ossoff is running to impeach President Trump, Republicans have a number of candidates who can build a winning coalition to add this seat to President Trump's Senate majority," Joanna Rodriguez of the National Republican Senatorial Committee said in a statement.
Democrats were gleeful at Kemp's exit.
"Brian Kemp's decision to not run for Senate in 2026 is yet another embarrassing Republican Senate recruitment failure as they face a building midterm backlash where every GOP candidate will be forced to answer for Trump's harmful agenda," Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Maeve Coyle said in a statement.
The 61-year-old Kemp hesitated for months about entering the race, seemingly reluctant to become one of 100 senators after years of charting his own course in executive office. That's especially true as Trump, who once regarded Kemp as an enemy, stands astride the Republican Party.
Kemp has harbored ambitions to run for president and had faced questions about whether it would be better to do so as a senator or to follow in the footsteps of fellow Georgian Jimmy Carter and run as a successful former governor. Losing a Senate race would probably extinguish such hopes, but staying out could leave the door open to run directly for the White House after he leaves office.
The election is likely to be closely contested and fantastically expensive. The twin Senate races in 2020, when Ossoff and Raphael Warnock narrowly won and flipped control of the body to Democrats, cost more than $900 million combined, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks political spending. Warnock's 2022 reelection over Republican Herschel Walker cost more than $470 million, OpenSecrets found.
—-
Associated Press writer Leah Askarinam contributed from Washington.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-16 11:10:46+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Joi Rogers",
"Government programs",
"United States government",
"Virginia",
"Afghanistan",
"Political refugees",
"Catholic Church",
"United States",
"Taliban",
"Fredericksburg",
"Philanthropy",
"Religion",
"Suraya Qaderi",
"Government budgets",
"Jake Rogers",
"Christianity",
"Politics",
"Associated Press"
] |
# Takeaways from AP's report on Afghan refugees in Virginia
By Tiffany Stanley
May 16th, 2025, 11:10 AM
---
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (AP) — The Trump administration's suspension of the federal refugee program has upended the lives of many Afghans who worked with the United States during wartime.
The upheaval is particularly poignant near Fredericksburg, Virginia, which boasts both strong ties to the military and to resettled Afghans, along with faith communities that serve both groups. The city and its surrounding counties are home to tens of thousands of veterans and active-duty personnel. Virginia also has resettled more Afghan refugees per capita than any other state.
Here are other takeaways from AP's reporting:
## Policy changes and uncertain futures
Refugee resettlement work is in peril. As part of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, his administration banned most incoming refugees in January and froze federal funds for the programs. Across the country, resettlement agencies have been forced to lay off staff or close their doors.
Many U.S.-based Afghans are still waiting for family members to join them — hopes that appear on indefinite hold. A subset of Afghans already in the U.S. may soon face deportation as the Trump administration ends their temporary protected status.
Kat Renfroe, the spouse of a retired Marine, supervises the Fredericksburg migration and refugee services office, part of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington.
"I think it's tough for military families, especially those who have served, to look back on 20 years and not feel as though there's some confusion and maybe even some anger about the situation," Renfroe said.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced in April that it was ending its decades-old partnership with the federal government to resettle refugees. The move came after the Trump administration halted the program's federal funding, which the bishops' conference channels to local Catholic Charities.
The Fredericksburg Catholic Charities office has continued aiding current clients and operating without layoffs thanks to its diocese's support and state funds. But it's unclear what the future of the local agency will be without federal funding or arriving refugees.
## A legacy of faith-based service
Religious groups have long been at the heart of U.S. refugee resettlement work. Until the recent policy changes, seven out of the 10 national organizations that partnered with the U.S. government to resettle refugees were faith-based. They were aided by hundreds of local affiliates and religious congregations.
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington has been working with refugees for 50 years, starting with Vietnamese people after the fall of Saigon. For the last 10 years, most of its clients have been Afghans, with an influx arriving in 2021 after the Taliban returned to power.
Area faith groups have been key to helping Afghan newcomers get on their feet. Volunteers from local congregations furnish homes, provide meals and drive families to appointments.
"As a church, we care deeply. As Christians, we care deeply," said Joi Rogers, who led the Afghan ministry at her Southern Baptist church. "As military, we also just have an obligation to them as people that committed to helping the U.S. in our mission over there."
Rogers' husband, Jake, a former Marine, is a pastor at Pillar, a network of 16 Southern Baptist churches that minister to military members. Their flagship location is near Quantico, the Marine base in northern Virginia, where nearly 5,000 Afghans were evacuated to after the fall of Kabul.
With Southern Baptist relief funds, Pillar Church hired Joi Rogers to work part time as a volunteer coordinator in the base's makeshift refugee camp in 2021. Her position was under the auspices of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which the government contracted to help run the camp.
## Christians called to care for refugees, politics aside
Veterans and members of the military tend to vote Republican. Most Southern Baptists are among Trump's staunch white evangelical supporters. For those reasons, Pillar founding pastor Colby Garman knows it may be surprising to some that his church network has been steadfast in supporting refugees.
"I totally understand that is the case, but I think that is a bias of just not knowing who we are and what we do," Garman said after a recent Sunday service.
Jake Rogers said, "We recognize that there are really faithful Christians that could lie on either side of the issue of refugee policy."
"Regardless of your view on what our national stance should be on this," he said, "we as Christ followers should have a heart for these people that reflects God's heart for these people."
## The last Afghan to arrive
Suraya Qaderi was the last client to arrive at Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington before the U.S. government suspended new arrivals.
She was in Qatar waiting to be cleared for a flight to the United States when the Trump administration started canceling approved travel plans for refugees. "I was one of the lucky last few," Qaderi said.
She arrived in Virginia on Jan. 24, the day the administration sent stop-work orders to resettlement agencies.
Qaderi worked for the election commission in Afghanistan, and she received a special immigrant visa for her close ties to the U.S. government. She was a child when her father disappeared under the previous Taliban regime.
The return of the Taliban government was like "the end of the world," she said.
___
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
|
2025-05-02 04:04:59+00:00
|
[
"Chicago",
"Hanan Shaheen",
"Joseph Czuba",
"Hate crimes",
"Israel",
"Illinois",
"Crime",
"Homicide",
"Criminal punishment",
"Ahmed Rehab",
"Legal proceedings",
"Amy Bertani-Tomczak",
"Michael Fitzgerald",
"Israel-Hamas war",
"Law enforcement",
"2024-2025 Mideast Wars",
"Associated Press",
"James Glasgow",
"Mahmoud Yousef",
"Hamas",
"Indictments"
] |
# Man sentenced to 53 years in prison in hate-crime attack on Palestinian American boy, mother
By Associated Press
May 2nd, 2025, 04:04 AM
---
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois landlord who killed a 6-year-old Muslim boy and severely injured the boy's mother in a brutal hate-crime attack days after the war in Gaza began was sentenced Friday to 53 years in prison.
Joseph Czuba, 73, was found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder and hate-crime charges in the death of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen.
Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak sentenced Czuba to 30 years in the boy's death and another 20 years consecutively for the attack on Shaheen. The judge also sentenced him to three years imprisonment for hate crimes. The length of the sentence makes it all but certain he will die behind bars.
"No sentence can restore what was taken, but today's outcome delivers a necessary measure of justice," said Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago. "Wadee was an innocent child. He was targeted because of who he was—Muslim, Palestinian, and loved."
Czuba did not speak during the sentencing. Czuba's attorney, Lenard, declined comment. Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow's office issued a statement calling Czuba a "morally reprehensible killer" and the impact of his actions "truly unfathomable."
The boy's great-uncle, Mahmoud Yousef, was the only family member who spoke during the hearing. He said that no matter the sentence length it wouldn't be enough. The boy's parents had plans for him and Czuba robbed them of that, he said.
Yousef asked Czuba to explain why he attacked the boy and his mother, asking him what news he heard that provoked him, but Czuba did not respond, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Czuba targeted them in October 2023 because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas, prosecutors said during the trial.
Evidence at trial included harrowing testimony from Shaheen and her frantic 911 call, along with bloody crime scene photos and police video. Jurors deliberated less than 90 minutes before handing in a verdict.
The family had been renting rooms in Czuba's home in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago when the attack happened.
Central to prosecutors' case was harrowing testimony from the boy's mother, who said Czuba attacked her before moving on to her son, insisting they had to leave because they were Muslim. Prosecutors also played the 911 call and showed police footage. Czuba's wife, Mary, whom he has since divorced, also testified for the prosecution, saying he had become agitated about the Israel-Hamas war, which had erupted days earlier.
Police said Czuba pulled a knife from a holder on a belt and stabbed the boy 26 times, leaving the knife in the child's body. Some of the bloody crime scene photos were so explicit that the judge agreed to turn television screens showing them away from the audience, which included Wadee's relatives.
"He could not escape," Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state's attorney, told jurors at trial. "If it wasn't enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy's body."
The jury deliberated for 90 minutes before returning a verdict.
The attack renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit particularly hard in Plainfield and surrounding suburbs, which have a large and established Palestinian community. Wadee's funeral drew large crowds and Plainfield officials have dedicated a park playground in his honor.
Shaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover.
She said there were no prior issues in the two years she rented from the Czubas, even sharing a kitchen and a living room. Then after the start of the war, Czuba told her that they had to move out because Muslims were not welcome. He later confronted Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and trying to break her teeth.
"He told me 'You, as a Muslim, must die,'" said Shaheen, who testified at trial in English and Arabic though a translator.
Police testified that officers found Czuba outside the house, sitting on the ground with blood on his body and hands.
Separately, lawsuits have been filed over the boy's death, including by his father, Odai Alfayoumi, who is divorced from Shaheen and was not living with them. The U.S. Department of Justice also launched a federal hate crimes investigation.
Yousef told reporters after the hearing that Czuba was a grandfather figure to Wadee and the family doesn't understand what "fake news" Czuba may have heard about the war in Gaza that caused him to attack the boy and his mother. People need to understand Muslims before judging them, he said.
"Some people are bringing this war to this country," Yousef said. "We cannot do that. We can't bring the war here. We cannot bring hatred to this country . . . we need that to stop."
___
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of 'Mahmoud.'
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-02 12:04:48+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Russell Vought",
"Mitch McConnell",
"Government programs",
"Government budgets",
"Elon Musk",
"Mike Johnson",
"Patty Murray",
"United States government",
"United States",
"Military and defense",
"Department of Government Efficiency",
"Government and politics",
"Business",
"Kristen Welker",
"Maya MacGuineas",
"District of Columbia",
"Politics"
] |
# White House pitches sharp spending cuts in Trump budget plan
By Lisa Mascaro and Josh Boak
May 2nd, 2025, 12:04 PM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House released President Donald Trump's 2026 budget proposal Friday, hoping to slash, if not zero out, spending on many government programs. It seeks a sweeping restructuring of the nation's domestic priorities, reflective of the president's first 100 days in office and sudden firing of federal workers.
Trump's plan aims for steep cuts to child care, disease research, renewable energy and peacekeeping abroad, many already underway through Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, all while pumping up billions for the administration's mass deportation agenda.
The budget drafters echo Trump's promises to end "woke programs," including preschool grants to states with diversity programs. And they reflect his vow to stop the "weaponization of government" by slashing the Internal Revenue Service, even as critics accuse him of using the levers of power to punish people and institutions he disfavors
Overall, it's a sizable reduction in domestic accounts — some $163 billion, or 22.6% below current year spending, the White House said.
At the same time, the White House said it is relying on Congress to unleash $375 billion in new money for for the Homeland Security and Defense departments as part of Trump's "big, beautiful bill" of tax cuts and spending reductions. His goal is to repel when he calls a "foreign invasion," though migrant arrivals to the U.S. are at all-time lows.
House Speaker Mike Johnson welcomed the proposal as "a bold blueprint that reflects the values of hardworking Americans and the commitment to American strength and prosperity."
Budgets do not become law, but serve as a touchstone for the coming fiscal year debates. Often considered a statement of values, this first budget since Trump's return to the White House carries the added weight of defining the Republican president's second-term pursuits, alongside his party in Congress.
It comes as Trump has unilaterally imposed what could be hundreds of billions of dollars in tax increases in the form of tariffs, setting off a trade war that has consumers, CEOs and foreign leaders worried about a possible economic downturn.
Trump, in an interview with NBC News' "Meet the Press" taped Friday, pushed back against recession talk.
Asked by Meet the Press host Kristen Welker about Wall Street analysts who have expressed concerns that the chances of a recession are increasing, Trump insisted the economy will do "fantastically."
"Well, you know, you say, some people on Wall Street say," Trump said. "Well, I tell you something else. Some people on Wall Street say that we're going to have the greatest economy in history."
Democrats assailed the budget as a devastating foreshadowing of Trump's vision for the country.
"President Trump has made his priorities clear as day: he wants to outright defund programs that help working Americans," said Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee. This, she said, "while he shovels massive tax breaks at billionaires like himself and raises taxes on middle-class Americans with his reckless tariffs."
The White House Office of Management and Budget, headed by Russell Vought, a chief architect of Project 2025 from the conservative Heritage Foundation, provided contours of a so-called skinny version of topline numbers only.
It covers only the federal government's discretionary spending, now about $1.83 trillion a year on defense and nondefense accounts. Trump's team drops that spending by $163 billion, to $1.69 trillion, a portion of the nation's nearly $7 trillion budget that includes far more programs and services.
Federal budgets have been climbing steadily, as have annual deficits that are fast approaching $2 trillion, with annual interest payments on the debt almost $1 trillion. That's thanks mostly to the spike in emergency COVID-19 pandemic spending, changes in the tax code that reduced revenues and the climbing costs of Medicare, Medicaid and other programs, largely to cover health needs as people age. The nation's debt load, at $36 trillion, is ballooning.
"We need a budget that tells the full story, and it should control spending, reduce borrowing, bring deficits down," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a fiscal watchdog group.
Among some of the White House's proposed highlights:
The State Department and international programs would lose 84% of their money and receive $9.6 billion, reflecting deep cuts already underway, including to the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The Health and Human Services Department would be cut by $33.3 billion and the Education Department's spending would be reduced by $12 billion. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health would all face steep reductions.
The Defense Department would get an additional $113.3 billion and Homeland Security would receive $42.3 billion more. Much of that is contingent on Congress approving Trump's big bill. That approach drew criticism from leading defense hawks, among them the former GOP Leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
McConnell called the proposed boost in defense money in the president's budget a "gimmick."
"America cannot expect our allies to heed calls for greater annual defense spending if we are unwilling to lead by example," McConnell said in a blistering statement. "Fortunately, Presidential budget requests are just that: requests. Congress will soon have an opportunity to ensure that American power – and the credibility of our commitments – are appropriately resourced."
It's Congress, under its constitutional powers, that decides the spending plans, approves the bills that authorize federal programs and funds them through the appropriations process. Often, that system breaks down, forcing lawmakers to pass stopgap spending bills to keep the government funded and avoid federal shutdowns.
Congress is already deep into the slog of drafting Trump's big bill of tax breaks, spending cuts and bolstered funds for the administration's mass deportation effort — a package that, unlike the budget plan, would carry the force of law.
Vought is also expected on Capitol Hill in the weeks ahead as the Trump administration presses its case.
Among the more skilled conservative budget hands in Washington, Vought has charted a career toward this moment. He served during the first Trump administration in the same role and, for Project 2025, wrote an extensive chapter about the remaking of the federal government.
Vought has separately been preparing a $9 billion package that would gut current 2025 funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which involves the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio. Trump signed an executive order late Thursday that instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and federal agencies to cease funding for PBS and NPR.
Vought has said that a package of so-called budget rescissions would be a first of potentially more, as the Trump administration tests the appetite in Congress for lawmakers to go on record and vote to roll back the money.
___
This story has been corrected to reflect that the administration is proposing to cut the Health and Human Services budget by $33.3 billion, not $33.3 trillion.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-16 16:31:03+00:00
|
[
"Peru",
"Indigenous people",
"Peru government",
"Olivia Bisa Tirko",
"Business",
"Climate and environment",
"Andrew Miller",
"Politics",
"Energy industry",
"Climate"
] |
# Amazonian communities in Peru rejoice as plan for oil drilling on ancestral land stalls
By Steven Grattan
May 16th, 2025, 04:31 PM
---
Peru 's state-run oil company failed to attract any bids to develop an oil field that overlaps ancestral territories of several Indigenous groups, prompting celebration by the communities and environmentalists on Friday.
The land parcel known as Block 64, which overlaps the ancestral territories of the Achuar, Wampis, and Chapra nations, has long been the focus of Indigenous resistance.
Thursday's failed tender by Petroperu marked a major blow to its plans to expand oil production in the region.
"It's great news amid so much hardship we've been experiencing — a relief, but we remain on alert," Olivia Bisa Tirko, president of the Chapra Nation's autonomous territorial government in Loreto, Peru, told The Associated Press by phone.
Petroperu told AP in a written statement that several companies were interested in Block 64 but withdrew at the last minute due to internal strategic shifts, not external pressure.
The company denied that Indigenous opposition played a role, asserting that local communities support oil development and are urging operations to begin. It also said that the block has the required community approval — known as a social license — which is seen as crucial for multinational oil and gas projects to proceed without conflict.
Since 1995, Indigenous groups have strongly opposed oil development in the area, blocking multiple companies due to environmental and rights concerns. In 2022, Petroperu took control of Block 64, which known as an oil concession where the government has granted rights to explore and extract oil within a specific territory.
¨It's been a fight ever since the Peruvian state granted the concession without consultation or consent (from Indigenous communities),¨ Bisa Tirko said. ¨For more than 25 years, we have been fighting and resisting to defend our right to live in a healthy and balanced environment.¨
The outcome underscores the mounting legal, environmental and reputational risks deterring investors from Amazon oil development.
Andrew Miller, advocacy director at Amazon Watch, an organization that works to protect the rainforest, says strong local opposition has deterred several multinational oil companies from developing Block 64 since 1995. He said that pollution from other oil blocks has harmed other communities in the Amazon.
"The history of their sister Indigenous communities in neighboring oil blocks is poisoned water sources, social division and impoverishment," Miller said. "Each day the oil doesn't flow is a day they can still use the rivers for their sustenance, as they always have."
Miller says despite multinational companies having invested tens of millions of dollars in past attempts to develop Block 64, none have seen a return, suggesting the industry now sees it as a costly financial dead end. Despite this, he believes the Peruvian government will keep searching for a way to encourage development of Block 64.
"Local communities and their allies will remain alert to this zombie project which has been killed multiple times but always attempts to return from the dead," he said.
——
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-11 22:23:59+00:00
|
[
"Brooke Rollins",
"Mexico",
"Julio Berdegu",
"Mexico City",
"Animals",
"Mexico government",
"Politics"
] |
# US suspends Mexican live cattle exports over screwworm pest
May 11th, 2025, 10:23 PM
---
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The United States will suspend Mexican exports of live cattle for 15 days to review the joint strategy in the fight against the screwworm, Mexico's Agriculture Secretary Julio Berdegué said on social media Sunday.
Berdegué said on social platform X that he had spoken with his U.S. counterpart, Brooke Rollins, who had informed him of the decision.
"We don't agree with this measure, but we're confident we'll reach an agreement sooner rather than later," Berdegué said.
The U.S. restricted Mexican cattle shipments in late November following the detection of the pest, but lifted the ban in February after protocols were put in place to evaluate the animals prior to entry into the country.
But there has been an "unacceptable northward advancement" of the screwworm, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement Sunday.
"Additional action must be taken to slow the northern progression of this deadly parasitic fly," the statement added.
The screwworm is a larva of the Cochliomyia hominivorax fly that can invade the tissues of any warm-blooded animal, including humans. The parasite enters animals' skin, causing severe damage and lesions that can be fatal.
Mexico's Health Ministry issued an epidemiological alert this month after the first human case of screwworm myiasis was confirmed on April 17 in a 77-year-old woman living in the southern state of Chiapas.
____
Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-05 17:45:04+00:00
|
[
"Rwanda",
"Olivier Nduhungirehe",
"Immigration",
"Migration",
"United States government",
"Politics"
] |
# Rwanda confirms early talks to host deported US migrants
By Ignatius Ssuuna
May 5th, 2025, 05:45 PM
---
KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Rwanda confirmed on Monday that discussions were "underway" with the United States regarding a potential agreement to host deported migrants.
Rwanda's Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe on Sunday told state media that the talks were in the "early stage." When asked by The Associated Press on Monday, he confirmed the talks.
Nduhungirehe did not disclose the specifics of the potential deal for Rwanda, but previous local media reports suggest that the U.S would likely fund a program to have migrants integrated into the society through stipends and job assistance initiatives.
The U.S. State Department declined to comment on a potential deal with Rwanda, but said that engagement with foreign governments is an important part of the U.S. government's policy to deter illegal migration.
This wouldn't be Rwanda's first time hosting deported migrants. The East African nation previously had an agreement with the U.K. to host migrants. Plans for the initiative, including prepared accommodations, were in the final stages but the deal collapsed after the Labour Party took office in 2024.
Rwanda has faced allegations of human rights abuses and is currently in the process of brokering a peace deal with the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have been behind attacks in the mineral rich eastern Congo region.
Nduhungirehe told state media on Sunday that Rwanda and Congo had already submitted their respective draft proposals, which will form the basis of a final peace agreement document expected to be signed in the U.S next month.
The minister said the migrant deal between Rwanda and the U.S was consistent with Rwanda's long-standing commitment to humanitarian cooperation and the pursuit of migration solutions. ____
Follow AP's Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 15:44:50+00:00
|
[
"Product safety",
"Injuries",
"Canada",
"Product recalls",
"Amazon.com",
"Inc.",
"SharkNinja",
"Lifestyle",
"Costco Wholesale Corp.",
"Business"
] |
# Over 2 million Ninja-branded pressure cookers are recalled after reports of serious burn injuries
By Wyatte Grantham-Philips
May 1st, 2025, 03:44 PM
---
NEW YORK (AP) — SharkNinja is recalling more than 2 million pressure cookers sold in the U.S. and Canada — after consumers reported over 100 burn injuries spanning from a hazard that can cause hot food to spew out.
According to a recall notice published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on Thursday, Ninja-branded "Foodi OP300 Series Multi-Function Pressure Cookers" have a lid that can be opened while the cooker is in use. That can cause hot contents to escape from the product, posing serious burn risks.
SharkNinja has received 106 reports of burn injuries in the U.S. — including more than 50 reports of second or third-degree burns to the face or body, per the CPSC, which adds that 26 lawsuits have been filed as a result. No additional injuries have been reported in Canada, an accompanying notice from Health Canada notes.
"The safety of our customers is a top priority for SharkNinja," the company said in a statement sent to The Associated Press, adding that it was conducting a recall to address related consumer reports.
Those in possession of the now-recalled cookers are urged to immediately stop using the pressure-cooking function and contact Massachusetts-based SharkNinja for a free replacement lid. But you can still use the cookers' other functions, including air frying, which are not affected by the recall.
To get a new lid, "you do not need to take your unit back to where you bought it," an FAQ on SharkNinja's website adds — noting that all recall replacements will be handled online.
The multiuse cookers were made in China and sold between early 2019 and the spring of 2025 at major retailers like Walmart, Costco, Sam's Club, Amazon and Target, as well as Ninjakitchen.com, for about $200. The products have the word "Ninja" printed on the front.
Consumers can also identify if their cooker is impacted by checking its product label. Impacted model numbers are listed on Thursday's recall notices. About 1,846,400 of these cookers were sold in the U.S. and 184,240 were sold in Canada, in addition to some lids that were previously distributed as replacement parts.
To request a free replacement lid and learn more information, consumers can visit SharkNinja's recall page here.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 22:59:06+00:00
|
[
"Mississippi",
"Richard Gerald Jordan",
"Capital punishment",
"Crime",
"Jeffrey Hutchinson",
"Charles Marter",
"Edwina Marter",
"Legal proceedings",
"Mississippi state government"
] |
# Mississippi sets an execution date for a man who's been on death row since 1976
By Sophie Bates
May 1st, 2025, 10:59 PM
---
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi's longest-serving death row inmate is set to be executed on June 25, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
Richard Gerald Jordan, 78, who was sentenced to death in 1976 for kidnapping and killing a woman, has filed multiple death sentence appeals, the most recent of which was denied in October.
The Mississippi ruling comes on the same day Army Combat veteran Jeffrey Hutchinson was scheduled to be executed in Florida. Before Thursday, 14 people had been executed in the U.S., including three in Florida.
The order did not specify the manner in which Jordan will be executed. Mississippi law allows death sentences to be carried out using lethal injection, nitrogen gas, electrocution or firing squad.
According to Mississippi Supreme Court records, Jordan kidnapped Edwina Marter in January 1976 and shot her to death in a forest in Harrison County. He then called her husband, Charles Marter, falsely claimed she was safe and asked for $25,000.
Records show that before the killing Jordan had traveled from Louisiana to Gulfport, Mississippi and called the Gulf National Bank, where Charles Marter worked as a loan officer. After he was told Marter could speak with him, he hung up, looked up the Marters' home address and went to the house posing as an electric company employee.
"After due consideration, the Court finds Jordan has exhausted all state and federal remedies for purposes of setting an execution," the ruling read.
Mississippi's last execution was in December 2022.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-02 01:57:43+00:00
|
[
"Associated Press"
] |
# The top photos of the day by AP's photojournalists
By The Associated Press
May 2nd, 2025, 01:57 AM
---
May 1, 2025
From front-page news to powerful moments you may have missed, this gallery showcases today's top photos chosen by Associated Press photo editors.
____
Follow AP visual journalism:
AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-02 14:07:18+00:00
|
[
"Ethel Caterham",
"Jeanne Calment",
"Lifestyle",
"England",
"London",
"United Kingdom"
] |
# 115-year-old British woman, now the world's oldest, gives her recipe to long life
May 2nd, 2025, 02:07 PM
---
LONDON (AP) — For Ethel Caterham, the trick to a long life — and in her case, it really has been — is not to argue.
Caterham, who is 115, became the world's oldest living person, according to the Gerontology Research Group, after Sister Inah Canabarro, a Brazilian nun and teacher, died on Wednesday at the tender age of 116.
"Never arguing with anyone, I listen and I do what I like," she said from her nursing home in Surrey, southwest of London, on the secret to her longevity.
She was born on Aug. 21, 1909, in the village of Shipton Bellinger in the south of England, five years before the outbreak of World War I. She was the second youngest of eight siblings.
Travel has been in her blood, it's clear. In 1927, at the age of 18, Caterham embarked on a journey to India, working as a nanny for a British family, where she stayed for three years before returning to England, according to the GRG.
She met her husband Norman, who was a major in the British army, at a dinner party in 1931, and they were stationed in Hong Kong and Gibraltar, the GRG said. They had two daughters whom they raised in the U.K. Norman died in 1976.
Hallmark Lakeview Luxury Care Home in Camberley, where Caterham is a resident, posted pictures of her cutting a cake and wearing a "115" tiara in a Facebook post on Thursday.
"Huge congratulations to Lakeview resident, Ethel on becoming the oldest person in the world! What an incredible milestone and a true testament to a life well-lived," it said in an accompanying statement. "Your strength, spirit, and wisdom are an inspiration to us all. Here's to celebrating your remarkable journey!"
The title of the oldest person ever is held by French woman Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122 years 164 days, according to Guinness World Records.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-19 11:01:58+00:00
|
[
"New York City",
"Nicole Gelinas",
"Robert Caro",
"James McBride",
"Books and literature",
"New York City Wire",
"Colson Whitehead",
"Philanthropy",
"Arts and entertainment",
"Howard Wolfson",
"John Wood",
"Ian Frazier",
"Andrea Ellott",
"Entertainment"
] |
# 2 books celebrating New York City culture and community win the Gotham Prize
By Hillel Italie
May 19th, 2025, 11:01 AM
---
NEW YORK (AP) — This year's winners of the Gotham Book Prize celebrate New York City as experienced on foot, bus and train.
Ian Frazier, author of "Paradise Bronx: The Life and Times of New York's Greatest Borough," and Nicole Gelinas, who wrote "Movement: New York's Long War to Take Back Its Streets from the Car," will split the $50,000 in prize money given for books that "encourage and honor writing about New York City," award officials announced Monday.
Philanthropists-political strategists Bradley Tusk and Howard Wolfson cofounded the Gotham prize in 2020 as a "way to uplift the creative community" during the pandemic.
In "Paradise Bronx," Frazier draws upon his years of walking about the New York City borough and weaves together everything from Revolutionary War history to baseball and hip-hop. Gelinas' "Movement" continues the tradition of such classics as Robert Caro's "The Power Broker" in documenting how New Yorkers have fought for the preservation and improvement of mass transit.
"This year, we are proud to award the Gotham Book Prize to two outstanding works of non-fiction that combine rigorous research with a unique point of view to illuminate the rich and complex history that makes New York City great," Tusk and Wolfson said in a statement.
## Previous notable Gotham Book Prize recipients
2021: James McBride, "Deacon King Kong."
2022: Andrea Ellott, "Invisible Child."
2023: John Wood Sweet, "The Sewing Girl's Tale," and Sidik Fofana, "Stories from the Tenant Downstairs."
2024: Colson Whitehead, "Crook Manifesto."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-19 19:05:22+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Melania Trump",
"Legislation",
"Ted Cruz",
"Amy Klobuchar",
"District of Columbia",
"Pornography",
"DC Wire",
"Technology",
"Business",
"Politics"
] |
# Trump and his wife Melania sign the 'Take It Down Act'
By Darlene Superville
May 19th, 2025, 07:05 PM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday signed into law the Take It Down Act, a measure that imposes penalties for online sexual exploitation that first lady Melania Trump helped usher through Congress, and he had her sign it, too, despite what sounded like a mild objection on her part.
"C'mon, sign it anyway," the president told his wife. "She deserves to sign it," he said.
After she added her signature, the president held up the document to show both of their names to the audience at the ceremony in the White House Rose Garden. Melania Trump's signature is merely symbolic since first ladies are not elected and they play no role in the enactment of legislation.
In March, Melania Trump used her first public appearance since resuming the role of first lady to travel to Capitol Hill to lobby House members to pass the bill following its approval by the Senate.
At a signing ceremony, she called the new law a "national victory" that will help protect children from online exploitation, including through the use of artificial intelligence to make fake images.
"AI and social media are the digital candy for the next generation, sweet addictive and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children," she said. "But unlike sugar, these new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs and, sadly, affect emotions and even be deadly."
The president said the proliferation of images made using AI means that "countless women have been harassed with deepfakes and other explicit images distributed against their will." He said what's happening is "just so horribly wrong."
"Today, we're making it totally illegal," Trump said.
The bill makes it a federal crime to "knowingly publish" or threaten to publish intimate images without a person's consent, including AI-created "deepfakes." Websites and social media companies will be required to remove such material within 48 hours after a victim requests it. The platforms must also take steps to delete duplicate content.
Many states have already banned the dissemination of sexually explicit deepfakes or revenge porn, but the Take It Down Act is a rare example of federal regulators imposing on internet companies.
The bill, introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., received overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress, passing the House in April by a 409-2 vote and clearing the Senate by unanimous consent.
But the measure isn't without critics. Free speech advocates and digital rights groups say the bill is too broad and could lead to censorship of legitimate images, including legal pornography and LGBTQ content. Others say it could allow the government to monitor private communications and undermine due process.
The first lady appeared at a Capitol Hill roundtable with lawmakers and young women who had explicit images of them put online, saying it was "heartbreaking" to see what teenagers and especially girls go through after this happens to them. She also included a victim among her guests for the president's address to a joint session of Congress the day after that meeting.
After the House passed the bill, Melania Trump said the bipartisan vote was a "powerful statement that we stand united in protecting the dignity, privacy and safety of our children."
Her advocacy for the bill represents a continuation of the Be Best campaign she started in the president's first term, focusing on children's well-being, social media use and opioid abuse.
In his speech to Congress in March, the president said he looked forward to signing the bill.
"And I'm going to use that bill for myself, too, if you don't mind," he said, adding, that there's nobody who "gets treated worse than I do online. Nobody."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-17 09:03:44+00:00
|
[
"Iran",
"Donald Trump",
"Masoud Pezeshkian",
"Iran government",
"2024-2025 Mideast Wars",
"United States government",
"United States",
"Nuclear weapons",
"Politics",
"Mohammad Eslami",
"Democracy",
"Islam"
] |
# Iran says it will continue nuclear talks with the US, shrugging off Trump's threats
May 17th, 2025, 09:03 AM
---
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's president said his country will continue talks with the United States over its rapidly advancing nuclear program but will not withdraw from its rights because of U.S. threats.
"We are negotiating, and we will negotiate. We are not after war but we do not fear any threat," President Masoud Pezeshkian said during a speech to navy officials broadcast by state television Saturday.
"It is not like if they threaten us we will give up our human right and definite rights," Pezeshkian said. "We will not withdraw, we will not easily lose honorable achievements in military, scientific and nuclear" fields and other areas.
The negotiations have reached the "expert" level, meaning the sides are trying to reach agreement on the details of a possible deal. But a major sticking point remains Iran's enrichment of uranium, which Tehran insists it must be allowed to do and the Trump administration increasingly insists the Islamic Republic must give up.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran's program if a deal isn't reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
Earlier on Friday, Trump said Iran received a proposal during the talks, though he did not elaborate.
During his trip to region this week, Trump at nearly every event insisted Iran could not be allowed to obtain a nuclear bomb, something U.S. intelligence agencies assess Tehran is not actively pursuing, though its program is on the cusp of being able to weaponize nuclear material.
Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran's atomic organization, stressed the peaceful nature of the program, saying it is under "continuous" monitoring by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, state TV reported Saturday.
"No country is monitored by the agency like us," Eslami said, adding that the agency inspected the country's nuclear facilities more than 450 time in 2024. "Something about 25% of all the agency inspections" in the year.
Meanwhile, Israel routinely has threatened to strike Iran's nuclear facilities if it feels threatened, further complicating tensions in the Mideast already spiked by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
In his first reaction to Trump's regional visit, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Trump wasn't truthful when he made claims about creating peace through power.
"Trump said that he wanted to use power for peace, he lied. He and the U.S. administration used power for massacre in Gaza, for waging wars in any place they could," Khamenei said Saturday during a meeting with teachers broadcast on state television.
The U.S. has provided Israel with 10-ton bombs to "drop on Gaza children, hospitals, houses of people in Lebanon and anywhere else when they can," Khamenei said.
Khamenei, who has the final say on all Iranian state matters, reiterated his traditional stance against Israel.
"Definitely, the Zionist regime is the spot of corruption, war, rifts. The Zionist regime that is lethal, dangerous, cancerous tumor should be certainly eradicated, and it will be," he said, adding that the U.S. has imposed a pattern on Arab nations under which they cannot endeavor without U.S. support.
"Surely this model has failed. With efforts of the regional nations, the U.S. should leave the region, and it will leave," Khamenei said.
Iran has long considered the U.S. military presence in the region as a threat on its doorstep, especially after Trump pulled the U.S. out of a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-20 04:08:38+00:00
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"U.S. Republican Party",
"Mike Johnson",
"Thomas Massie",
"Hakeem Jeffries",
"Steve Scalise",
"Government programs",
"Taxes",
"United States House of Representatives",
"United States Congress",
"District of Columbia",
"Congress",
"New York City Wire",
"Voting",
"Conservatism",
"Andrew Harris",
"Legislation",
"Renewable energy",
"Politics",
"Business",
"New York",
"Mike Lawler"
] |
# Trump implores GOP to get behind his 'big, beautiful' bill
By Lisa Mascaro, Kevin Freking, Leah Askarinam, and Joey Cappelletti
May 20th, 2025, 04:08 AM
---
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump implored House Republicans at the Capitol to drop their fights over his big tax cuts bill and get it done, using encouraging words but also the hardened language of politics over the multitrillion-dollar package that is at risk of collapsing before planned votes this week.
During the more than hour-long session Tuesday, Trump warned Republicans not to touch Medicaid with cuts, and he told New York lawmakers to end their fight for a bigger local tax deduction, reversing his own campaign promise. The president, heading into the meeting, called himself a "cheerleader" for the Republican Party and praised Speaker Mike Johnson. But he also criticized at least one of the GOP holdouts as a "grandstander" and warned that anyone who doesn't support the bill would be a "fool."
"We have unbelievable unity," Trump said as he exited. "I think we're going to get everything we want."
The president arrived at a pivotal moment. Negotiations are slogging along and it's not at all clear the package, with its sweeping tax breaks and cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and green energy programs, has the support needed from the House's slim Republican majority. Lawmakers are also being asked to add some $350 billion to Trump's border security, deportation and defense agenda.
Inside, he spoke privately in what one lawmaker called the president's "weaving" style and took questions.
The president also made it clear he's losing patience with the various holdout factions of the House Republicans, according to a senior White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting.
But Trump himself disputed that notion as well as reports that he used an expletive in warning not to cut Medicaid. Instead, he said afterward, "That was a meeting of love." He received several standing ovations, Republicans said.
Yet it was not at all clear that Trump, who was brought in to seal the deal, changed minds.
"We're still a long ways away," said Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., the chair of the House Freedom Caucus.
Conservatives are insisting on quicker, steeper cuts to federal programs to offset the costs of the trillions of dollars in lost tax revenue. At the same time, a core group of lawmakers from New York and other high-tax states want bigger tax breaks for their voters back home. Worries about piling onto the nation's $36 trillion debt are stark.
With House Democrats lined up against the package as a giveaway to the wealthy at the expense of safety net programs, GOP leaders have almost no votes to spare. A key committee hearing is set for the middle of the night Tuesday in hopes of a House floor vote by Wednesday afternoon.
"They literally are trying to take health care away from millions of Americans at this very moment in the dead of night," said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
In one surprise move, the Senate quickly approved one of Trump's top priorities, an end to taxation on certain tipped income, without objection from either party. The vote enables Democrats to try to claim victory on a potentially popular provision, even though they oppose the larger tax package. It also links them closer to Trump in ways that could be difficult once the Senate takes up the broader debate.
Trump has been pushing hard for Republicans to unite behind the bill, which has been uniquely shaped in his image as the president's signature domestic policy initiative in Congress.
Asked about one of the conservative Republicans, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Trump lashed out.
"I think he is a grandstander, frankly," the president continued. "I think he should be voted out of office."
But Massie, a renegade who often goes it alone and wears a clock lapel pin that tallies the nation's debt load, said afterward he's still a no vote.
Also unmoved was Rep. Mike Lawler, one of the New York Republicans leading the fight for a bigger state and local tax deduction, known as SALT: "As it stands right now, I do not support the bill. Period."
The sprawling 1,116-page package carries Trump's title, the " One Big Beautiful Bill Act," as well as his campaign promises to extend the tax breaks approved during his first term while adding new ones, including no taxes on tips, automobile loan interest and Social Security. There's also a higher standard deduction, of $32,000 for joint filers, and a bigger child tax credit.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog group, estimates that the House bill is shaping up to add roughly $3.3 trillion to the debt over the next decade.
Republicans criticizing the measure argued that the bill's new spending and tax cuts are front-loaded, while the measures to offset the cost are back-loaded.
In particular, the conservative Republicans are looking to speed up the new work requirements that Republicans want to enact for able-bodied participants in Medicaid. They had been proposed to start Jan. 1, 2029, but GOP Majority Leader Steve Scalise said on CNBC that work requirements for some Medicaid beneficiaries would begin in early 2027.
At least 7.6 million fewer people are expected to have health insurance under the initial Medicaid changes, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said last week.
Republican holdouts are also looking to more quickly halt green energy tax breaks, which had been approved as part of the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act, and are now being used for renewable energy projects across the nation.
But for every change Johnson considers to appease the hard-right conservatives, he risks losing support from more traditional and centrist Republicans. Many have signed on to letters protesting deep cuts to Medicaid and the rolling back of clean energy tax credits.
The New Yorkers are fighting for a larger state and local tax deduction beyond the bill's proposal. As it stands, the bill would triple 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. They have proposed a deduction of $62,000 for single filers and $124,000 for joint filers.
Trump, who had campaigned on fully reinstating the unlimited SALT deduction, now appears to be satisfied with the proposed compromise, arguing it only benefits "all the Democratic" states.
If the bill passes the House this week, it would then move to the Senate, where Republicans are also eyeing changes.
___
Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Seung Min Kim and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-04 07:44:45+00:00
|
[
"Lady Gaga",
"Rio de Janeiro",
"Entertainment",
"Madonna"
] |
# AP PHOTOS: Lady Gaga rocks Copacabana Beach with a free concert for more than 2 million fans
May 4th, 2025, 07:44 AM
---
Lady Gaga performed a free concert on Copacabana Beach on Saturday night, the second such show in as many years organized by Rio de Janeiro's City Hall. The show was the biggest of the pop star's career, as it was for Madonna who also turned the expansive stretch of sand into a massive dance floor last year.
Similar concerts are scheduled to take place every year in May at least until 2028. While the vast majority of attendees were from Rio, the event also attracted Brazilians from across the country and international visitors.
-This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-17 05:26:42+00:00
|
[
"Idaho",
"National parks",
"Animals",
"Ivana Wen"
] |
# Idaho police release the names of 6 killed in Yellowstone crash
May 17th, 2025, 05:26 AM
---
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho police on Friday released the names of six people from China, Italy and California killed when a pickup truck collided with their tour van in a fiery crash near Yellowstone National Park earlier this month.
Idaho State Police said Jianping Li, 71, of Guangxi, China, and Xiaoming Jiang, 66, of Guilin, China, died from the May 1 crash along with Ivana Wen, 28, of Milan.
Two of the deceased travelers were California residents: Li Nie, 64, and Aifeng Wan, 53, both of Arcadia. The van's 30-year-old driver Yu Zhang, of Eastvale, California, was also killed.
Idaho police earlier Friday listed Jian Shi, 56, of Shanghai, as among the dead but later corrected their statement to say Shi sustained injuries but survived the crash. Police said the first statement should have included Li as among the dead.
There were 14 people in the van. Of the 13 passengers, 12 had Chinese nationality and one was Italian, police said. Survivors were taken to nearby hospitals with injuries.
The truck's driver also died. Authorities earlier identified him as Isaih Moreno of Humble, Texas.
Investigators determined the Dodge Ram driven by Moreno crossed the center line and collided with the Mercedes van driven by Zhang. Police said they were continuing to investigate why the truck crossed the center line.
The highway where the crash happened south of West Yellowstone, Montana, offers a way to get between Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons in the spring before a north-south route is plowed and the park fully opens for summer.
Yellowstone is one of the largest national parks in the U.S. and draws millions of visitors each year. It is home to the iconic geyser Old Faithful and has wolves, bison and more than 50 other mammal species. It's primarily located in Wyoming but it also extends in parts of Montana and Idaho.
Seventeen percent of Yellowstone's visitors came from other countries in 2016, according to a park visitor use study with the most recent comprehensive data available. Of international visitors, 34% came from China and 11% from Italy.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-15 17:00:05+00:00
|
[
"Medical technology",
"Gene Editing",
"Memphis",
"Philadelphia",
"JWD-evergreen",
"Jude Children",
"Carlos Moraes",
"Pennsylvania",
"Health",
"Medication",
"Gene therapy",
"Birth defects",
"Health care costs",
"Nicole Muldoon",
"Science",
"Organ transplants",
"Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas"
] |
# Gene editing helped a desperately ill baby thrive. Scientists say it could someday treat millions
By Laura Ungar
May 15th, 2025, 05:00 PM
---
A baby born with a rare and dangerous genetic disease is growing and thriving after getting an experimental gene editing treatment made just for him.
Researchers described the case in a new study, saying he's among the first to be successfully treated with a custom therapy that seeks to fix a tiny but critical error in his genetic code that kills half of affected infants. Though it may be a while before similar personalized treatments are available for others, doctors hope the technology can someday help the millions left behind even as genetic medicine has advanced because their conditions are so rare.
"This is the first step towards the use of gene editing therapies to treat a wide variety of rare genetic disorders for which there are currently no definitive medical treatments," said Dr. Kiran Musunuru, a University of Pennsylvania gene editing expert who co-authored the study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The baby, KJ Muldoon of Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania, is one of 350 million people worldwide with rare diseases, most of which are genetic. He was diagnosed shortly after birth with severe CPS1 deficiency, estimated by some experts to affect around one in a million babies. Those infants lack an enzyme needed to help remove ammonia from the body, so it can build up in their blood and become toxic. A liver transplant is an option for some.
Knowing KJ's odds, parents Kyle and Nicole Muldoon, both 34, worried they could lose him.
"We were, like, you know, weighing all the options, asking all the questions for either the liver transplant, which is invasive, or something that's never been done before," Nicole said.
"We prayed, we talked to people, we gathered information, and we eventually decided that this was the way we were going to go," her husband added.
Within six months, the team at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine, along with their partners, created a therapy designed to correct KJ's faulty gene. They used CRISPR, the gene editing tool that won its inventors the Nobel Prize in 2020. Instead of cutting the DNA strand like the first CRISPR approaches, doctors employed a technique that flips the mutated DNA "letter" — also known as a base — to the correct type. Known as "base editing," it reduces the risk of unintended genetic changes.
It's "very exciting" that the team created the therapy so quickly, said gene therapy researcher Senthil Bhoopalan at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, who wasn't involved in the study. "This really sets the pace and the benchmark for such approaches."
In February, KJ got his first IV infusion with the gene editing therapy, delivered through tiny fatty droplets called lipid nanoparticles that are taken up by liver cells.
While the room was abuzz with excitement that day, "he slept through the entire thing," recalled study author Dr. Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas, a gene therapy expert at CHOP.
After follow-up doses in March and April, KJ has been able to eat more normally and has recovered well from illnesses like colds, which can strain the body and exacerbate symptoms of CPS1. The 9 ½-month old also takes less medication.
Considering his poor prognosis earlier, "any time we see even the smallest milestone that he's meeting – like a little wave or rolling over – that's a big moment for us," his mother said.
Still, researchers caution that it's only been a few months. They'll need to watch him for years.
"We're still very much in the early stages of understanding what this medication may have done for KJ," Ahrens-Nicklas said. "But every day, he's showing us signs that he's growing and thriving."
Researchers hope what they learn from KJ will help other rare disease patients.
Gene therapies, which can be extremely expensive to develop, generally target more common disorders in part for simple financial reasons: more patients mean potentially more sales, which can help pay the development costs and generate more profit. The first CRISPR therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, for example, treats sickle cell disease, a painful blood disorder affecting millions worldwide.
Musunuru said his team's work — funded in part by the National Institutes of Health — showed that creating a custom treatment doesn't have to be prohibitively expensive. The cost was "not far off" from the $800,000-plus for an average liver transplant and related care, he said.
"As we get better and better at making these therapies and shorten the time frame even more, economies of scale will kick in and I would expect the costs to come down," Musunuru said.
Scientists also won't have to redo all the initial work every time they create a customized therapy, Bhoopalan said, so this research "sets the stage" for treating other rare conditions.
Carlos Moraes, a neurology professor at the University of Miami who wasn't involved with the study, said research like this opens the door to more advances.
"Once someone comes with a breakthrough like this, it will take no time" for other teams to apply the lessons and move forward, he said. "There are barriers, but I predict that they are going to be crossed in the next five to 10 years. Then the whole field will move as a block because we're pretty much ready."
———-
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
|
2025-05-02 17:24:52+00:00
|
[
"Television",
"Diego Luna",
"Movies",
"Entertainment",
"Kyler Soller",
"Tony Gilroy",
"Kyle Soller",
"Ben Mendelsohn",
"Phoebe Fox",
"Kathryn Hunter",
"Denise Gough",
"Orson Krennic",
"Dedra Meero"
] |
# On 'Andor,' minor 'Star Wars' villains play major roles
By Andrew Dalton
May 2nd, 2025, 05:24 PM
---
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — In the galaxy of "Andor," "Star Wars" super villains are relegated to the shadows. The Disney+ series is more interested in what might be called supervisor villains: the bureaucrats, planners, schemers and petty functionaries who make tyranny possible.
Instead of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, we get Dedra Meero and Syril Karn, a pair of ambitious middle-managers who become an unlikely couple in their pursuit of Diego Luna's Cassian Andor.
"It's so nuanced, these villains are operating in a real gray zone, and they're representing a side of the empire that we have never seen before," said Kyle Soller, who plays Karn. "You're getting a real like cogs and nuts and bolts view of how the empire machine works, from the very bottom to the upper echelons."
In a joint interview with Soller for The Associated Press, Denise Gough, who plays Meero, added, "It can't just be brute force. An empire can't survive on brute force, it takes all these Machiavellian, tiny movements here, tiny movements there, ripple effects everywhere."
Gough is a 45-year-old Irish actor who is also currently starring in the thriller "The Stolen Girl" on Hulu. Soller is a 41-year-old Connecticut-born actor who has long lived in London with his wife, actor Phoebe Fox.
Their characters came together during Season 1 as each sought to collar the mysterious figure of Andor amid the burgeoning Rebel Alliance — Karn from the police side, Meero from the police-state side.
## The Ghorman problem, and a Nazi-style solution
In Season 2, Meero and Karn each become caught up in the exploitation of the powder-keg planet of Ghorman, a previously peaceful place where the Galactic Empire needs to gouge-mine a mineral essential to building the Death Star. The process is likely to kill or displace its residents, among whom a rebellion brews.
A group of imperial bureaucrats meet secretly in a conference room to plan the planet's destruction, in scenes that see the return of actor Ben Mendelsohn's Orson Krennic, the Death Star builder who was the chief antagonist of 2016's "Rogue One." ("Andor" is a prequel.) He's a senior leader but is still a functionary subject to the mercy and whims of the dictators he serves.
"Andor" creator Tony Gilroy said the meeting was his chance to make his version of the oft-dramatized Nazi Germany Wannsee Conference, what he calls a "PowerPoint meeting" of middle managers over lunch in 1942 to drily and practically plan the extermination of European Jews.
Krennic singles out Meero during a lunch break, seeing a strong thinker in counterintelligence. She smartly suggests encouraging the Ghorman rebellion to become violent.
"Propaganda will only get you so far," Meera says, in one of the season's key lines. "You need Ghorman rebels you can depend on to do the wrong thing."
The plotline pushes Karn and Meera, neither of them ideologues, out to moral cusps where it seems they may switch sides.
"You get to see how the empire is using its underlings," Soller said. "No matter how high up they achieve power, they're all being used, they're all pawns, and disposable."
Gough said the difference between the two sides is that of "a gang and a tribe."
"The empire is the gang and the rebellion is the tribe," she said. "The tribe has heart and loyalty and all of those things, and values all of those things, and the gang makes it seem like they do, but they don't, they disperse at the first sign of trouble, and they dispense when it's no longer needed."
## An awkward imperial romance
Meero and Karn's overlapping ambitions also lead them into a romantic coupling. That had Gough worried at the end of Season 1 that they would end up in an "insipid" world of common couple tropes, but she said "I couldn't have imagined how weird it would get."
"They've never had an example of love," Gough said. "They grew up in a controlled, cultlike environment. So actually the story we're telling is how do two people, when they grow up like that, how do they function in relationships?"
The domestic scenes between the two are both tense and awkward, especially with the large presence of Karn's tiny mother Eedy, played by the always-magnificently-odd actor Kathryn Hunter.
"You have this extraordinary meeting of these two women," Gough said, "and in the bedroom is the man that they're making a deal about."
These moments can feel tangential, but the duo's arcs through their personal lives, their moral compromises and their final choices become an essential part of the overall story.
"I think it's going to be really profound as you layer that into 'Rogue One' and into the original trilogy as well," Soller said. "You're just like, 'Oh wow I got like the complete history of the modern empire."
## How 'Andor' is being released and when its finale will will air
Season 2 of "Andor" is being released on Disney+ in a novel format. The episodes drop in clusters of three each Tuesday night at 9 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Pacific. The three-part series finale running May 13. Here's the whole schedule.
April 22: Episodes 1-3
April 29: Episodes 4-6
May 6: Episodes 7-9
May 13: Episodes 10-12
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-14 04:10:51+00:00
|
[
"Hiroki Totoki",
"Animation and comics",
"Movies",
"Comedy",
"Tokyo",
"Streaming media",
"Media and entertainment industry",
"Earnings",
"Travis Scott",
"Business",
"Martin Lawrence",
"Donald Trump",
"Technology",
"Japan",
"SZA",
"Entertainment",
"Beyonce Knowles",
"Yuri Kageyama",
"Sony Group Corp."
] |
# Sony racks up record profit on robust performance for music, movies and games
By Yuri Kageyama
May 14th, 2025, 04:10 AM
---
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology and entertainment company Sony logged an 18% rise in profit for the fiscal year through March on healthy results at its music and video-game operations.
Its chief executive, Hiroki Totoki, outlined the company's strategy for growth Wednesday, stressing that collaboration among Sony Corp.'s various segments, like animation and music, were crucial to deliver the "kando," or emotional engagement, that lies at the core of the company's vision and strength.
"Building on our momentum and results to date and working with a laser-like focus to realize our long-term Creative Entertainment Vision will be at the core of our corporate strategies moving forward," he told reporters.
Sony's movies division has strong offerings in the pipeline, including Spider-Man films and biopics about The Beatles, while animation remains a driver of growth centered around the popular anime streaming service Crunchyroll, Totoki said.
Tokyo-based Sony reported a record annual profit of 1.14 trillion yen ($7.8 billion), up from 970.6 billion yen in the previous fiscal year. Annual sales were virtually unchanged, inching down to 12.957 trillion yen ($88 billion) from 13.020 trillion yen.
One area that lagged among Sony's sprawling businesses was the financial segment, where revenue stalled. But its film division and its imaging and sensor solutions segment did well.
Sony officials said they were studying how to respond to President Donald Trump's tariffs, although that was a challenge because of uncertainties and constant changes. But they said the negative impact from U.S. trade policy will be kept to 10% of Sony's operating profit in the coming fiscal year by adjusting the allocation of shipments, among other measures.
Totoki stressed that Sony plans to leverage its content creating technology, like virtual reality and image sensors, to feed into its entertainment products, including working on immersive experiences. Sony also has powerful collaborative relations with various entertainment companies like Kadokawa, which includes publishing as well as films and animation, and Bandai Namco, a video game maker, he added.
Sony will emphasize the "diversity" of its workers, helping bring out people's creative potential, Totoki said.
Among the Sony movies that fared well at the box office for the fiscal year through March were "Venom: The Last Dance," featuring the Marvel Comics superhero, and "Bad Boys: Ride or Die," an action comedy, where Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return in their popular cop roles in the fourth installment in the series.
Sony, which makes the PlayStation console and game software played on that machine, also posted healthy results in the gaming business.
Its music operations, which also held up, include recordings, streaming services and music for games. The top-selling recorded music projects for the latest fiscal year globally was SZA's "SOS Deluxe: LANA," followed by Beyonce, Future & Metro Boomin and Travis Scott.
The top seller in its Japan music business was Kenshi Yonezu's "Lost Corner" album, followed by offerings from Stray Kids and Six Tones.
For the January-March quarter, Sony posted a 197.7 billion yen ($1.3 billion) profit, up 5% from 189 billion yen the same quarter in the previous fiscal year. Sales were 2.6 trillion yen ($17.7 billion), down 24% from 3.48 trillion yen.
Sony is forecasting a nearly 13% drop in profit for the fiscal year through March 2026, to 930 billion yen ($6.3 billion), on 11.7 trillion yen ($80 billion) sales, down 2.9% on-year.
Sony Group Corp. stocks, which fell in Tokyo morning trading, rebounded to finish 3.7% higher after its financial results were announced.
___
Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-09 08:11:33+00:00
|
[
"Australia government",
"Anthony Albanese",
"Penny Wong",
"Australia",
"Israel-Hamas war",
"Stephen Spencer",
"Politics",
"Katy Gallagher",
"Elections",
"Sydney Muslim",
"Richard Marles",
"Voting",
"Mark Bulter",
"Legislation",
"Anne Aly",
"Mark Dreyfus",
"Education costs",
"Ed Husic",
"2024-2025 Mideast Wars"
] |
# Australian prime minister says reducing student debt is his re-elected government's first priority
By Rod Mcguirk
May 9th, 2025, 08:11 AM
---
MELBOURNE, Austalia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told his government colleagues on Friday that reducing student debt would be the first legislative priority for his administration that was returned to power in the nation's first election in which the Baby Boomer generation was outnumbered by younger voters.
Albanese addressed a crowded room full of center-left Labor Party lawmakers in Parliament House for the first time since his government won an emphatic election victory on May 3.
The struggle a growing number of young Australians — particularly those burdened with student loans — face to buy their first home, due to soaring real estate prices and a lack of new housing construction was a major election issue.
Albanese said a bill to reduce student debt by 20% would be the first legislation to be introduced when Parliament resumes in late July.
## Australia committed to intergenerational equity
"I think that's important, not just in itself but for what it says about our commitment to intergenerational equity," Albanese said.
Baby Boomers are often defined as people born between World War II and 1964. Their needs have long dominated Australian election campaigns.
As vote counting continued on Friday, Labor was on track to win 88 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties need a majority to form government. The party held 78 seats in the last parliament.
The conservative opposition alliance of parties was likely to claim only 41 seats.
Albanese praised the diversity of Labor's elected lawmakers and said at least 57% of them are expected to be women once the vote counting is completed. The Australian population was 50.7% female at the last census in 2021.
"I … see people of different ethnicities, different backgrounds, different experiences, different faiths. I see a diverse group of people that are truly representative of our nation," Albanese told his government colleagues.
## Jewish and Muslim ministers dropped from Cabinet
But the government has been criticized for dropping Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, the government's most senior Jew, and Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic, the government's most prominent Muslim, from the new Cabinet that will be sworn in on Tuesday.
The government would be the first in Australia without a Jewish minister since 2010, Dreyfus staffer Stephen Spencer said. Dreyfus is one of three Jewish lawmakers in the government.
Cabinet ministers are decided by party factions that are entitled to a proportion of ministerial seats that reflects their share of government lawmakers.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Defense Minister Richard Marles, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher have been assured they will hold their portfolios. But Albanese has yet to announce the remainder of his ministers.
The meeting of Labor lawmakers on Friday endorsed the 30 appointments to the Cabinet and junior ministries.
Health Minister Mark Bulter said Anne Aly, a junior minister, was expected to be promoted to Cabinet next week which would mean a Muslim woman replacing Husic.
"It's a tough day for Ed and for Mark," Bulter told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
## Sydney Muslim leader calls for the prime minister to intervene
Sydney Muslim community leader Jamal Rifi called for Albanese to intervene to keep Husic, a Sydney lawmaker, in Cabinet.
"The prime minister needs to reflect on what sort of message he sends to all these people who worked hard in southwestern Sydney" for the government's re-election, Rifi said. Southwest Sydney has a large Muslim population.
Husic is one of the government's most vocal critics of how Israel has waged war on Hamas in Gaza.
Two weeks after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Husic said: "I feel very strongly that Palestinians are being collectively punished ... for Hamas' barbarism."
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-05 17:17:11+00:00
|
[
"Hong Kong",
"Fairs and festivals",
"JWD-evergreen",
"Lifestyle"
] |
# Crowds flock to celebrate the century-old Bun Festival in Hong Kong
By Chan Long Hei and Alice Fung
May 5th, 2025, 05:17 PM
---
HONG KONG (AP) — Crowds flocked to the outlying Cheung Chau Island in Hong Kong to celebrate the Bun Festival, held each year in a century-old tradition to ward off evil and pray for peace and blessings.
The festivities began with a parade of children in costumes, called "Piu Sik," which translates as "floating color." Children dressed as legendary deities or historic characters are carried on stands above the gathered crowds, meandering through the island's narrow lanes.
The highlight of the festival comes at midnight with a "bun-scrambling" competition, where climbers race up a tower covered with plastic buns. Whoever gets the most buns of greatest value wins the race. Buns near the top have higher value.
The competition was suspended for decades after an accident in 1978 when a bun tower collapsed and caused injuries. The tradition resumed in 2005.
Legend has it that the colorful custom began after a deadly plague devastated the island of Cheung Chau. Residents followed the local Taoist tradition of imploring the deities for help and used white steamed buns as offerings to drive away the evil spirits.
Nowadays, residents and visitors to the island eat the white steamed buns as part of the celebrations. They are called "Ping On Bao" in Cantonese, meaning "peace" buns, and are stamped with two red Chinese characters meaning "peace" and "safety."
—
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-15 12:37:09+00:00
|
[
"North Macedonia",
"Antonio Costa",
"Skopje",
"Edi Rama",
"European Union",
"Language",
"European Council",
"Politics",
"Constitutional law",
"Race and ethnicity",
"Race and Ethnicity"
] |
# North Macedonia's path toward full EU membership stalled by impasse with Bulgaria
By Konstantin Testorides
May 15th, 2025, 12:37 PM
---
SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — European Council President António Costa on Thursday called on North Macedonia to change its constitution to include protections for its Bulgarian minority as a way for the country to continue its path toward full European Union membership.
The EU started membership talks with Albania and North Macedonia in 2022, as the war in Ukraine forced a rethink of the bloc's enlargement process.
North Macedonia's bid was delayed by a dispute with Bulgaria over Balkan history, language and culture. To break the impasse, North Macedonia's previous center-left government accepted a Bulgarian demand to insert a reference to the Bulgarian ethnic minority in North Macedonia's constitution. However, that administration lacked the parliamentary majority to implement the change.
Costa said that the small Balkan country should now deliver what was previously agreed upon.
"I know how difficult it is to achieve. Now is the time to conclude the whole thing and open a new page," Costa told reporters at a news conference in the North Macedonian capital, Skopje, alongside the country's Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski.
Mickoski, for his part, said the bloc's enlargement must be based on merits, not bilateral issues. His conservative government, which came to power last year, has said it will only amend the constitution if Bulgaria first approves North Macedonia's EU membership.
"We have a problem, and it should be a two-way street. If only one side delivers, it is not realistic," he said.
Costa is visiting six Western Balkan countries, which are at different stages on their path to full EU membership. Montenegro and Albania have been at the forefront while Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and North Macedonia are lagging behind.
In Tirana, his last stop of the regional tour, Costa hailed Albania for being "on track to join the European Union."
"Keeping up the pace and intensifying work on European Union reforms is now key, particularly rule of law and fight against corruption," said Costa at a news conference with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Rama's Socialist Party says it can deliver EU membership in five years, an ambitious pledge as he confronts an opposition that argues Albania isn't ready for EU membership.
In Tirana, Costa will co-host the European Political Community, a forum that gathers 47 European leaders with the aim of boosting security and prosperity across the continent.
——
Associated Press correspondent Llazar Semini reported from Tirana, Albania.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 06:56:42+00:00
|
[
"Fires",
"Israel",
"Jerusalem",
"Wildfires",
"Farid Jubran",
"Tal Volvovitch",
"Climate and environment",
"Climate"
] |
# Several countries sending firefighting planes to Israel to help tackle major wildfire
By Melanie Lidman
May 1st, 2025, 06:56 AM
---
JERUSALEM (AP) — Several countries were sending firefighting aircraft to Israel on Thursday as crews battled for a second day to extinguish a wildfire that had shut down a major highway linking Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and sent drivers scrambling from their cars.
The fire broke out around midday in the hills outside Jerusalem on Wednesday, fueled by hot, dry conditions and fanned by strong winds that quickly whipped up the flames burning through pine forests. Several communities were evacuated as a precaution as the smoke turned the skies over Jerusalem gray. Many of the country's Independence Day celebrations were cancelled as security forces were diverted toward the fire.
The fire has burned about 5,000 acres (20 square kilometers) and is the most significant Israel has seen in the past decade, according to Tal Volvovitch, a spokesperson for Israel's fire and rescue authority. She said the fire has "miraculously" not damaged any homes.
Israel's fire and rescue authority warned the public to stay away from parks or forests, and to be exceptionally careful while lighting barbecues. Thursday was Israel's Independence Day, which is typically marked with large family cookouts in parks and forests.
At least 12 people were treated in hospitals on Wednesday, mainly due to smoke inhalation, while another 10 people were treated in the field, Magen David Adom Ambulance services said. Twenty firefighters have been lightly injured, Volvovitch said.
Italy, Croatia, Spain, France, Ukraine, and Romania were sending planes to help battle the flames, while several other countries, including North Macedonia and Cyprus, were also sending water-dropping aircrafts. Israeli authorities said 10 firefighting planes were operating on Thursday morning, with another eight aircraft to arrive during the course of the day.
Israel's fire and rescue authority lifted the evacuation order on approximately a dozen towns in the Jerusalem hills on Thursday.
Three Catholic religious communities who were forced to evacuate from their properties on Wednesday were also able to return on Thursday, said Farid Jubran, the spokesperson for the Latin Patriarchate. He said their agricultural lands, including vineyards and olive trees, suffered heavy damage, and some of the buildings were damaged. But there were no injuries, and historic churches were not affected.
The main highway linking Jerusalem to Tel Aviv reopened on Thursday, a day after the flames had encroached on the road, forcing drivers to abandon their cars and flee in terror. On Thursday morning, broad swathes of burned areas were visible from the highway, while pink anti-flame retardant dusted the top of burned trees and bushes. Smoke and the smell of fire hung heavy in the air.
Israel often sees fires in the summertime, but such strong fires this early in the year are unusual. Many of Israel's forests are planted rather than natural.
One of the organizations that manages Israel's forests said that the fires had perfect conditions to spread: a winter with little rain, hot and dry weather, and exceptionally strong winds that are shifting direction constantly.
Anat Gold, the director of Israel's central region for the Jewish National Fund, known by its Hebrew acronym KKL, which manages forests, plants trees, and promotes settlement in the Holy Land, said the fire was mostly contained. But she added that workers were struggling to plow buffer zones and fire breaks as the same spots ignited repeatedly in the quickly changing winds.
Gold said climate change, which has resulted in decreased rainfall in the region, contributed to the fire's ferocity. "Of course when there's a series of drought years, it's a fertile ground for fires," she said.
In 2010, a massive forest fire burned for four days on northern Israel's Mount Carmel, claiming 44 lives and destroying around 12,000 acres, much of it woodland.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-05 04:45:19+00:00
|
[
"Hun Manet",
"Cambodia",
"Hun Sen",
"Political and civil unrest",
"Phnom Penh",
"Courts",
"Vietnam",
"Politics",
"Indictments"
] |
# Cambodian court convicts prominent politician of incitement in latest legal move to stifle opponents
By Sopheng Cheang and David Rising
May 5th, 2025, 04:45 AM
---
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A Cambodian court on Monday convicted a prominent opposition politician of incitement and sentenced him to four years in prison, in the latest legal move to stifle criticism of the government of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
Rong Chhun, a top advisor to the newly formed Nation Power Party, was found guilty of inciting social unrest related to his political activity for meeting with villagers displaced by government construction projects, including the new Phnom Penh International Airport. In addition to the prison term, he was barred from running for office and from voting.
The 56-year-old had denied the incitement charge, saying all he did was post photos of himself with the villagers and comments on Facebook.
"This is not a law enforcement issue," Rong Chhun told reporters after the verdict. "It's about politics."
He remains free for a month with the opportunity to file an appeal during that time and said he would do so.
The U.S. Embassy, which has been critical of Cambodia's human rights record, had an observer at the hearing but did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Incitement allegations are frequently used by authorities in Cambodia against opponents. Rong Chhun was already sentenced to two years for incitement in 2021, on accusations he spread false information about Cambodia's border with Vietnam after meeting with farmers in the area. He was released later the same year by an appeals court.
Cambodia's government has long been accused of using the judicial system to persecute critics and political opponents. It insists it promotes the rule of law under an electoral democracy, but political parties seen as mounting strong challenges to the ruling Cambodian People's Party have been dissolved by the courts or had their leaders jailed or harassed.
Under almost four decades of autocratic former Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cambodia was widely criticized for human rights abuses that included suppression of freedom of speech and association. He was succeeded in August 2023 by his American-educated son, Hun Manet, but there have been few signs of political liberalization.
Late last year, the president of the Nation Power Party, Sun Chanthy, was himself convicted of inciting social disorder and sentenced to two years. Sun Chanthy had been a top leader of the former Cambodia National Rescue Party, which had been expected to present a strong challenge to Hun Sen's ruling party in 2018 elections, but was dissolved by the high court as part of a sweeping crackdown on opposition.
Sun Chanthy then joined the Candlelight Party, the successor to the Cambodia National Rescue Party, but it in turn was barred from competing in the 2023 general election on a technicality. He then helped form the Nation Power Party at the end of 2023, along with Rong Chhun and others.
After his conviction Monday, Rong Chhun said he was not surprised by the verdict and vowed to continue "actively to protect the constitution."
"We must hold to a path that is based on the truth," he said.
He urged members of the Nation Power Party to stay the course while he serves his sentence.
"Let's not lose heart," he said. "We must all be strong."
_____
Rising reported from Bangkok.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-06 22:27:06+00:00
|
[
"Puerto Rico",
"Donald Trump",
"Energy industry",
"Politics",
"Subsidies",
"Technology",
"Business",
"Climate and environment",
"Javier Ra Jovet",
"Hurricanes and typhoons",
"Associated Press",
"Solar power",
"U.S. Department of Energy",
"Climate"
] |
# Puerto Rico governor under fire as federal funds for solar projects stalled
By Dánica Coto
May 6th, 2025, 10:27 PM
---
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's governor came under fire Tuesday as her pledge to support the investment of millions of federal dollars in solar projects across the U.S. territory appeared to fade.
More than a week has passed since the U.S. Department of Energy missed a deadline to finalize contracts worth $365 million that would see battery-operated solar systems installed at health clinics and public housing units in Puerto Rico.
Since last month, the department has not been in communication with those awarded the grants, including the nonprofit Hispanic Federation.
"There's been deathly silence," said Javier Rúa Jovet, public policy director for Puerto Rico's Solar and Energy Storage Association.
The lack of communication by the federal government comes as Puerto Rico prepares for the Atlantic hurricane season, which starts June 1 and is predicted to be above average, with nine anticipated hurricanes, four of them major.
Puerto Rico already struggles with chronic power outages, including two island-wide blackouts that occurred on Dec. 31 and April 17.
"There are people who really need this help immediately," said Frankie Miranda, president and CEO of the Hispanic Federation.
Until recently, Gov. Jenniffer González, a Republican and supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, had backed more than $1 billion appropriated by Congress for solar projects in Puerto Rico, including the $365 million slated for public housing units and health centers, including those that provide dialysis.
But the governor's public affairs secretary, Hiram Torres Montalvo, told Radio Isla on Monday that the governor tried to defend the funds but ultimately withdrew her support for the grant. He said that González has proposed using the funds to improve the generation, transmission and distribution of power, and is focused on ensuring there's enough electricity for the summer months.
"We are extremely surprised and shocked over this development," Miranda said in a phone interview. "We want the governor to reconsider her position and continue to fulfill her word."
Miranda and others have noted that some $18 billion in federal funds is already slated for the grid.
Neither Torres nor a spokeswoman for the governor returned messages seeking comment.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Energy sent The Associated Press a statement saying that the agency was conducting a department-wide review of grant processes, and that it was working with Puerto Rico's governor and the White House to strengthen the island's grid and ensure that the island has "reliable, affordable and secure energy."
"In the wake of recent outages that impacted families, businesses, and critical infrastructure, the Department of Energy remains focused on advancing solutions that provide urgent relief, prevent future disasters, and restore long-term reliable energy access across the island," the agency said.
The department did not say whether Puerto Rico's government has formally requested that the funds be reassigned.
More than 60% of energy on the island is generated by petroleum-fired power plants, 24% by natural gas, 8% by coal and 7% by renewables, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The push for more renewable energy comes as crews continue to rebuild Puerto Rico's power grid after Hurricane Maria hit the island in September 2017 as a powerful Category 4 storm. But the grid was already weak before the storm hit given a lack of maintenance and investment for decades.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 16:30:46+00:00
|
[
"James Gunn",
"Adam Sandler",
"Movies",
"Celebrity",
"Mandy Moore",
"Ralph Macchio",
"Tim Burton",
"Animation and comics",
"Hawaii",
"Comedy",
"Television",
"Eva Victor",
"Ethan Cutkosky",
"Entertainment",
"Luke Skywalker",
"Mike Flanagan",
"Maia Kealoha",
"Hugh Jackman",
"Barry Jenkins",
"Sydney Elizebeth Agudong",
"Sutton Foster",
"Jackie Chan",
"Mark Hamill",
"Nico Parker",
"Ol Parker",
"Ben Wang",
"Benjamin Pajak",
"Thandie Newton",
"Daniel LaRusso"
] |
# Summer Movies: 11 breakout actors to watch
By Lindsey Bahr
May 1st, 2025, 04:30 PM
---
Many of the big movies this summer might come from familiar places — whether they're franchises, sequels or hybrid adaptations of beloved animated classics. But look closer and there are quite a few fresh faces making a splash with memorable characters new and old.
The Associated Press spoke to 10 of the actors about the roles.
## Sydney Elizebeth Agudong and Maia Kealoha in "Lilo & Stitch"
Maia Kealoha was 6 years old when she saw an advertisement for an open casting call for the new hybrid "Lilo & Stitch" movie and promptly told her parents that's what she wanted to do. Now 8, Kealoha, who was born on Hawaii's Big Island, is making her film debut as the spirited Lilo in Disney's new live-action adaptation, hitting theaters on May 23.
"It was so amazing," Kealoha said. "I was really proud of myself."
Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, who plays Lilo's older sister and caregiver Nani, praised her young co-star.
"It was amazing building a world with her," Agudong, 24, said. "It's a lot of CGI and we're working with aliens and such and she was full of imagination and creativity."
Hailing from Kaua'i, Agudong also came to the role from an open casting call. Being part of the film has been a special experience as a lifelong fan of the animated version and a proud Hawaii resident.
"Hawaii's very much like tough love and soft heart," Agudong said. "We truly created a family and hopefully people can see that."
## The Gilmore Boys in "Happy Gilmore 2"
Happy Gilmore is a dad in the sequel coming to Netflix on July 25. The Gilmore boys, played by Ethan Cutkosky ("Shameless"), Conor Sherry ("Shake Shack"), Maxwell Jacob Friedman (a pro wrestler) and newcomer Philip Schneider, "are just goons," Schneider said.
All came to the project strangers, though intimately familiar with a film they'd all grown up with. And everyone but Friedman, 29, had to prove they had a little skill on the ice.
"I looked like a goon so they just assumed I'd be fine on the rink," Friedman laughed.
The four actors quickly found their rhythm together on set in Jersey City playing the rambunctious, troublemaking Gilmore spawn during the four-month shoot.
"The fast pace of stupidity that we got to and what made us family was such an amazing thing," Cutkosky, 25, said. "It's really hard to come by."
Friedman added: "In between scenes, we could like look at each other and know what we were thinking and make each other laugh without talking."
Schneider, 24, attributed the atmosphere to their on-screen dad Adam Sandler, who made the whole set feel like a family. His genius, Schneider said, "is that he gets people he wants to work with and just sees what happens. He trusts the chemistry."
For Sherry, it was helpful so early in his career to get to see how Sandler could be both a giant in the industry and so humble.
"That's the dream, right? To balance both," Sherry, 24, said.
## Eva Victor in "Sorry, Baby"
One of the breakout films from Sundance was "Sorry, Baby," a poignant drama that's both funny and shattering about the aftermath of a traumatic event. It's the feature debut of triple threat Eva Victor, who wrote, directed and stars as Agnes, a graduate student at a New England school.
"I wanted to make a film that was about feeling stuck when everyone around you keeps moving that really didn't center any violence," said Victor, 31, who uses they/she pronouns.
Victor, who had a recurring role on "Billions," was making short comedy videos online and writing for the satirical website Reductress when Oscar-winning "Moonlight" filmmaker Barry Jenkins messaged them and asked if they had any scripts. Now, that script is going to be in theaters on June 27, through A24.
"I hope the film finds people when they need it," Victor said.
## Ben Wang in "Karate Kid: Legends"
Ben Wang didn't know he was up against some 10,000 people vying to play the new Karate Kid.
The 25-year-old actor, best known for his role on the Disney+ series "American Born Chinese," learned that after the fact. But it was a stressful month of not sleeping very well while waiting to hear if he got it, he said.
"Karate Kid: Legends" (out May 30) brings together Jackie Chan's Mr. Han and Ralph Macchio's Daniel LaRusso for this new entry, about a teenager at a new school, Wang's Li, who has to learn from both.
"It's a fun one to play," Wang said. "And I get to try to kick Jackie Chan, which is new and exciting for me."
## Nico Parker in "How to Train Your Dragon"
Nico Parker grew up with both the "How to Train Your Dragon" books and movies, so it was a dream come true when she got the chance to play Astrid in the new live-action adaptation (June 13).
"It's a difficult thing when there's already such a brilliant version of Astrid out there," Parker, 20, said. "The main thing that I really wanted to be prevalent in everything was how driven she is and how it doesn't come easy. It takes effort and skill and determination."
Parker, the daughter of actor Thandiwe Newton and director Ol Parker, has been on sets her whole life. She was only 11 when she filmed Tim Burton's "Dumbo." But this feels different, she said, because she really understands the scale and scope of being in a major franchise.
"To be older I feel as if I'm acknowledging way more what it means and doesn't mean," she said. "And I get much more stressed about it."
## Benjamin Pajak in "The Life of Chuck"
You can't blame filmmaker Mike Flanagan for assuming Benjamin Pajak was a skilled dancer. Pajak made his Broadway debut as Winthrop in "The Music Man" with Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. But ask Pajak, now 14, and he demurs that dancing is not exactly his strong suit.
But you would never guess that to see him waltzing and sambaing across the floor (thanks to Mandy Moore's choreography) in "The Life of Chuck" (out June 6).
"Film is so different from theater," Pajak said. "But there were just so many people kind of lifting me up and helping me throughout the process."
One of those was Mark Hamill, who plays his grandfather. Perhaps even more exciting than being in the movies? Sharing scenes with Luke Skywalker.
## Krypto in "Superman"
Superman's very good boy Krypto might be a computer-generated creation, but the inspiration was a very real dog: filmmaker James Gunn's rescue Ozu. It was difficult transition to life in a home — Ozu destroyed shoes, furniture and even his laptop. Gunn, who was at work writing "Superman," thought, "How difficult would it be if Ozu had superpowers?"
That was how Krypto came to be part of the newest "Superman" (out July 11), changing the story and the script. The white pup features prominently in the film's trailer. At the Puppy Bowl earlier this year, Gunn said that Krypto is lovable and mischievous and has all the powers of Superman — yes, he can fly too.
___
For more coverage of this summer's upcoming films, visit https://apnews.com/hub/movies.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-15 03:45:23+00:00
|
[
"Indonesia government",
"Prabowo Subianto",
"Australia",
"Indonesia",
"Anthony Albanese",
"Australia government",
"Humanitarian crises",
"Business",
"Politics",
"Pope Leo XIV"
] |
# Australian leader visits Indonesia seeking deeper economic and defense ties
By Niniek Karmini and Andi Jatmiko
May 15th, 2025, 03:45 AM
---
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Australia's newly reelected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Thursday in a visit aiming to strengthen his country's economic and defense ties with its closest major neighbor.
Albanese arrived in the capital, Jakarta, on Wednesday evening, a day after his new government was sworn in to a second three-year term following an emphatic election victory May 3.
"I am here in Indonesia because no relationship is more important to Australia than this one," Albanese said in a joint press statement with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto after a meeting,
Albanese did not comment on media reports that Russia had told Indonesia it wants to base its long-range warplanes in Papua, the most eastern Indonesian province, a plan that was raised as a security issue during the Australian election campaign. Indonesia has told Australia that no such Russian base would be allowed.
"This is the fastest growing region of the world in human history and Indonesia is central to that growth," Albanese said, adding that Indonesia is projected to be the fifth largest economy by the end of the next decade.
Subianto praised Australia's support for Indonesia to become member of The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Newly elected Australian prime ministers typically make their first bilateral visit to Asia, usually Indonesia.
In his first visit to Indonesia after his inauguration in 2022, Albanese also visited Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province with close ties to Indigenous Australians.
Given their geographical proximity, Indonesia and Australia have traditionally maintained close ties with each other, including in matters of security and defense, despite the fact that each country has chosen to respond differently to the rivalry between the U.S. and China in the region.
The two neighbors last year signed a historic Defense Cooperation Agreement, or DCA, that will allow more complex joint activities and exercises. Canberra hailed the agreement as the "deepest and most significant" defense deal in the two countries' bilateral ties.
"This is how we can build our shared prosperity and advance our national and regional security," Albanese said, "This treaty-level agreement, underpinned by the Lombok Treaty, will enable new cooperation in maritime security, counterterrorism, as well as humanitarian and disaster relief."
Albanese will head on to Rome on Friday morning to attend the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV on Sunday.
___
Associated Press writer Rod McGuirk in Melbourne contributed to this report.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-01 20:55:17+00:00
|
[
"Alabama",
"Black experience",
"Legislation",
"Politics",
"Randall Woodfin",
"Water shortages",
"Race and ethnicity",
"Utilities",
"Kay Ivey",
"Jim Carns",
"Neil Rafferty",
"Race and Ethnicity"
] |
# Bill overhauling Alabama's largest water utility heads to governor's desk despite local outcry
May 1st, 2025, 08:55 PM
---
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama legislators passed a bill on Thursday that would strip Birmingham of control over the state's largest water board and transfer power to the governor and surrounding suburbs, reigniting a decades-long, polarizing debate.
Proponents of the bill point to frequent rate hikes and say that the move will prevent catastrophic events that have happened in cities like Jackson, Mississippi, or Detroit, Michigan. Opponents of the bill say that it is a power grab that diminishes the power of Black residents in Birmingham, Alabama.
Birmingham city officials currently appoint six of the nine board members' seats, giving Birmingham leadership unrivaled influence over the decisions affecting the city's water. Board members approve rate hikes and manage infrastructure projects.
If signed into law, SB330 would make the board just seven people. The mayor of Birmingham and the Birmingham city council would appoint two board members, while the governor, lieutenant governor and three neighboring county commission presidents would each appoint one board member.
Five counties rely on the Birmingham Water Works Board, but over 40% of the utility's 770,000 customers are concentrated in the city of Birmingham, and 91% are in Jefferson County. The new system would give more weight to Birmingham's neighboring counties that house the reservoirs that supply the system.
Republican lawmakers from the Birmingham suburbs sponsored the bill, saying that it will improve the efficiency of the system. They say aging infrastructure and lack of investment means residents pay for water that just gets leaked out of old pipes.
"So many elected officials have been getting so many complaints, and I'm sure yours have too, about the quality and the price of Birmingham water," said Republican Rep. Jim Carns, who represents Blount County, one of the places that will now appoint a board member.
The water board had approximately $1 billion in debt in 2023, according to the most recent financial statements, and the board has the second highest credit score, according to bond rating agencies.
Carns said that the regional board would make the utility more frugal. AL.com reported that the utility has been accused of lacking transparency in recent years and has sometimes made costly errors in distributing bills. Trust in the board was further undermined in recent years after high-profile ethics scandals.
Many in Alabama's vocal Democratic minority conceded that the board wasn't perfect, but they also condemned the move as a political takeover that would wrest power from Birmingham's majority Black residents and redistribute it to customers in the city's mostly white suburbs.
"Frankly the language used today was insulting, with words like competence being thrown around as if the city of Birmingham is not growing by leaps and bounds," Democratic Rep. Kelvin Datcher of Birmingham said after the bill passed. He questioned how the new board's composition would address any of the bill sponsor's concerns about efficiency.
Democratic legislators also took issue with the fact that they were excluded from the overall process.
"Each of us in this chamber would be rightfully concerned if outside representatives attempted to dictate how water systems operate in our districts without consulting us or even including us at the table, or, hell, even the room where this legislation was created," Rep. Neil Rafferty of Birmingham said.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin joined Birmingham city council members for a press conference to echo those concerns.
"The ratepayers deserve to be at the forefront of this conversation, and they have not been," Woodfin said. "Let's call it what it is. This is a political power grab. This is not in the best interest of our citizens."
The bill passed along party lines 66 to 27. It now goes to Republican Gov. Kay Ivey's desk.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-10 11:54:01+00:00
|
[
"Nigeria",
"Law enforcement",
"Amnesty International",
"Shootings",
"Africa",
"Gun violence",
"Indictments",
"Simon Ekpa",
"Nigeria government",
"International agreements"
] |
# Amnesty International says at least 30 dead in separatist attack in southeastern Nigeria
By Dyepkazah Shibayan
May 10th, 2025, 11:54 AM
---
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — At least 30 people have been killed after gunmen attacked travelers on a major highway in the southeastern part of Nigeria, rights group Amnesty International said.
The rights group said Friday that more than 20 vehicles and trucks were set ablaze during the Thursday attack along the Okigwe-Owerri highway in Imo state. Police confirmed the attack but not the death toll.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but police suspect the Eastern Security Network, the paramilitary wing of the proscribed separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra.
The secessionist campaign in southeastern Nigeria dates back to when the short-lived Republic of Biafra fought and lost a civil war from 1967 to 1970 to become independent from the West African country. An estimated 1 million people died in the conflict, many from starvation.
The rights group said "international law requires the Nigerian government to promptly investigate unlawful killings with a view to bringing perpetrators to justice."
One suspect connected to the attack was killed in a joint operation by law enforcement agencies, police spokesperson Okoye Henry said in a statement.
"An intensive manhunt is ongoing to apprehend the fleeing suspects and bring them to justice," Henry said.
Two of the group's prominent leaders, Nnamdi Kanu and Simon Ekpa, are in custody in Nigeria and Finland, respectively.
Kanu is standing trial on a seven-count charge bordering on terrorism and treasonable felony. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Nigerian government said Friday it has not begun extradition proceedings but is in talks with Finnish authorities to ensure Ekpa is held accountable for his alleged actions.
For many years Nigeria — Africa's most populous nation with at least 210 million people — has been wracked by violence related to the activities of armed extremist groups.
|
Associated Press News
|
2025-05-05 20:48:31+00:00
|
[
"Retail and wholesale",
"Bankruptcy",
"Recessions and depressions",
"Neil Saunders",
"Philadelphia",
"E-commerce",
"Business"
] |
# Rite Aid returns to bankruptcy protection as it seeks to sell most assets
By Tom Murphy
May 5th, 2025, 08:48 PM
---
Rite Aid is again seeking bankruptcy protection as the struggling drugstore chain says it will try to sell substantially all of its assets.
The company said Monday that its stores will remain open as it returns to Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
The company said it will work to ensure that customer prescriptions are transferred to other pharmacies as it goes through the sale process. The drugstore chain has lined up from some of its lenders $1.94 billion in new financing which help fund it through the sale and bankruptcy proceedings.
The company initially filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2023, with plans to sell parts of its business and restructure. The company ran more than 2,300 stores in 17 states before the filing.
Rite Aid said then that its initial voluntary Chapter 11 filing would allow it to slash debt and resolve litigation. The company sold its relatively small pharmacy benefits management business, Elixir Solutions, for around $576 million.
Rite Aid emerged from Chapter 11 nearly a year later as a private company. The drugstore chain said in a statement that it came out of the process stronger, "with a rightsized store footprint, more efficient operating model, significantly less debt and additional financial resources."
Rite Aid's creditors took ownership of the chain, which shrank to 1,245 stores in 15 states, according to its website.
A spokeswoman said in March that the company was "laser focused" on its retail pharmacies, including restocking its stores.
But in early May, empty white shelves dotted a store that sits a few miles from Rite Aid's corporate headquarters in Philadelphia. The only rolls of wrapping paper in the store were some Christmas-themed offerings that leaned next to empty shelf space beneath a sign advertising "Great Value!"
The location also had a limited selection of profitable beauty products and drugstore staples such as Qtips and cotton balls.
Retail analyst Neil Saunders said such a look encourages shoppers not to return.
"They're actively pushing customers away," said Saunders, managing director of the consulting and data analysis firm GlobalData.
Rite Aid was attempting to turn around its business in a tough environment for drugstores. Major chains and independent pharmacies have been closing stores and struggling with several challenges.
Prescription profitability has grown tight. The chains also are dealing with increased theft, court settlements over opioid prescriptions and shoppers who are drifting more 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.
Philadelphia-based Rite Aid was founded in 1962 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, as Thrif D Discount Center. The company had struggled with debt, posted annual losses for several years and was cutting costs and closing stores well before its initial bankruptcy filing.
Rite Aid also explored sale offers.
Walgreens attempted to buy it for about $9.4 billion a decade ago, when Rite Aid ran more than 4,600 stores. But the larger drugstore chain eventually scaled back its ambition and bought less than half that total to get the deal past antitrust regulators.
In 2018, Rite Aid called off a separate merger with the grocer Albertsons.
___
Jonathan Poet contributed to this report from Philadelphia.
____
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
|
2025-05-03 07:24:19+00:00
|
[
"Volodymyr Zelenskyy",
"Russia",
"Ukraine",
"Kyiv",
"International agreements",
"Dmitry Medvedev",
"Vladimir Putin",
"Russia government",
"Donald Trump",
"War and unrest",
"Russia-Ukraine war",
"Dmitry Peskov",
"Andrey Kravchenko",
"Maria Zakharova",
"Ukraine government",
"Politics",
"Russia Ukraine war"
] |
# Russia and Ukraine clash over ceasefire proposals as fighting rages
By Hanna Arhirova and Elise Morton
May 3rd, 2025, 07:24 AM
---
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine and Russia are at odds over competing ceasefire proposals, as Moscow accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of threatening the safety of dignitaries attending Victory Day celebrations after he dismissed Russia's unilateral 72-hour ceasefire.
Zelenskyy instead renewed calls for a more substantial 30-day pause in hostilities, as the U.S. had initially proposed. He said the proposed ceasefire could start anytime as a meaningful step toward ending the three-year war. "Let's be honest — you can't agree on anything serious in three, five, or seven days," he said.
Zelenskyy said that Moscow's announcement of a 72-hour ceasefire next week in Ukraine to mark Victory Day in World War II is merely an attempt to create a "soft atmosphere" ahead of Russia's annual celebrations. "It looks unserious," he said, "so that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's guests on Red Square feel comfortable and safe."
## Ukraine won't guarantee safety for visitors to Russia
He 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.
Zelenskyy said that some governments had approached Kyiv seeking safety reassurance while their delegations are in Russia.
"Our position is very simple: we cannot take responsibility for what happens on the territory of the Russian Federation," he said. "They are the ones providing your security, and we will not be offering any guarantees."
Zelenskyy said he had instructed Ukraine's Foreign Ministry to advise against visiting Russia during this period. "We must tell those who approach us: we do not recommend visiting the Russian Federation from a security standpoint. And if you choose to do so, don't ask us — it's your personal decision."
The Ukrainian leader reiterated that Kyiv's military actions will remain "mirror-like," responding to Russia's moves. He acknowledged that implementing a complete front-line ceasefire without robust international monitoring remains nearly impossible, but emphasized that the 30-day window offers a credible start.
He confirmed ongoing efforts to convene the next round of negotiations with the U.S. He also expressed hope that it could happen in Ukraine, saying it was a "positive sign" that such a gathering is under discussion despite recent personnel changes in Washington.
## Russia wants Ukraine to 'de-escalate'
In response to Zelenskyy's comments, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that he had "unequivocally threatened the world leaders who are planning to arrive in Moscow on May 9."
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said Saturday that nobody could guarantee Kyiv's safety if Ukraine attacked Moscow celebrations on May 9.
"In the event of a real provocation on Victory Day, no one will guarantee that May 10 will come in Kyiv," he wrote on Telegram.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia expects Kyiv to take steps to de-escalate before Victory Day.
"We will, of course, expect (from) Kyiv not ambiguous, but final statements, and most importantly, actions aimed at de-escalating the conflict during the holidays," Peskov told journalists.
Russia's ceasefire proposals, he said, were meant to "test Kyiv's readiness to find ways for long-term sustainable peace between Russia and Ukraine."
## Russia and Ukraine exchange drone strikes
A Russian drone strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, wounded 47 people, officials said, and prompted another appeal from Zelenskyy for more decisive support from the country's allies.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said drones hit 12 locations across the city late Friday, hitting residential buildings, civilian infrastructure and vehicles.
The Kharkiv Prosecutor's Office said that Russian forces used drones with thermobaric warheads. In a statement on Telegram, it said thermobaric weapons create a powerful blast wave and a hot cloud of smoke, causing large-scale destruction. The prosecutor said its use may indicate a deliberate violation of international humanitarian law.
"While the world hesitates with decisions, nearly every night in Ukraine turns into a nightmare, costing lives. Ukraine needs strengthened air defense. Strong and real decisions are needed from our partners — the United States, Europe, all our partners who seek peace," Zelenskyy wrote on X.
Russia fired a total of 183 exploding drones and decoys overnight, Ukraine's air force said. Of those, 77 were intercepted and a further 73 lost, likely having been electronically jammed. Russia also launched two ballistic missiles.
Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 170 Ukrainian drones overnight. The ministry said eight cruise missiles and three guided missiles were also intercepted.
In southern Russia, five people, including two children, were injured in a drone strike on the Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk overnight, according to Mayor Andrey Kravchenko.
The latest wave of attacks comes after the U.S. and Ukraine on Wednesday signed an agreement granting American access to Ukraine's vast mineral resources. It finalizes a deal months in the making that could enable continued military aid to Kyiv amid concerns that President Donald Trump might scale back support in ongoing peace negotiations with Russia.
___
Morton reported from London. Associated Press writer Dmytro Zhyhinas contributed to this report.
___
Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
|
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