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Associated Press News	2025-05-07 13:01:27+00:00	[ "Shannon Brook Farms", "Agriculture", "Climate change", "New York", "Future of food", "Organic farming", "Government programs", "Jeremy Brown", "Animals", "Climate and environment", "Frank Mitloehner", "Walter Adam", "Business", "U.S. Department of Agriculture", "Shannon Ratcliff", "Aaron Swindle", "John Bolton", "Climate" ]	# Organic acreage is shrinking in America By Caitlyn Daproza Of Rochester Institute Of Technology and Patrick Whittle Of The Associated Press May 7th, 2025, 01:01 PM --- SKANEATELES, N.Y. (AP) — Farmer Jeremy Brown taps the nose of a young calf. "I love the ones with the pink noses," he says. This pink-nosed animal is just one of about 3,200 cattle at Twin Birch Dairy in Skaneateles, New York. In Brown's eyes, the cows on the farm aren't just workers: "They're the boss, they're the queen of the barn." Brown, a co-owner at Twin Birch, is outspoken on the importance of sustainability in his operation. The average dairy cow emits as much as 265 pounds (120 kilograms) of methane, a potent climate-warming gas, each year. Brown says Twin Birch has worked hard to cut its planet-warming emissions through a number of environmentally sound choices. "Ruminants are the solution, not the problem, to climate change," he said. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is a collaboration between Rochester Institute of Technology and The Associated Press. ___ Wearing a weathered hoodie and a hat promoting a brand of cow medicine, Brown was spending a windy Friday morning artificially inseminating some of the farm's massive Jerseys and Holsteins. He stepped over an electric manure scraper used to clean the animals' barn. The electric scraper means the dairy doesn't have to use a fuel-burning machine for that particular job. Twin Birch also recycles manure for use on crops, cools its milk with water that gets recirculated for cows to drink and grows most of its own feed. Despite all that, the farm has no desire to pursue a U.S. Department of Agriculture organic certification, Brown said. Doing so would add costs and require the farm to forego technology that makes the dairy business, and ultimately the customer's jug of milk, more affordable, he said. He raises a question many farmers have been asking: Is organic farming just a word? ## Declining enthusiasm for the organic certification An increasing number of American farmers think so. America's certified organic acreage fell almost 11% between 2019 and 2021. Numerous farmers who implement sustainable practices told The Associated Press that they have stayed away from the certification because it's costly, doesn't do enough to combat climate change and appears to be losing cachet in the marketplace. Converting an existing farm from conventional to organic agriculture can cost tens of thousands of dollars and add labor costs. The rules governing the National Organic Program were published in 2000, and in the years after, organic farming boomed to eventually reach more than 5 million acres. But that has been declining in recent years. Any downward trend is significant, as organic farms make up less than 1% of the country's total acreage, and organic sales are typically only a tiny share of the nationwide total. Shannon Ratcliff, a farmer and co-owner of organically certified Shannon Brook Farms in Watkins Glen, New York, attributes the decline to a 2018 fraud case in Iowa involving a farmer selling grain mislabeled as certified organic. "The whole thing went crazy — work requirements for farmers ramped up and inspection levels were higher," she said. It's also just a tough business, Ratcliff said. Her co-owner, Walter Adam, also thinks younger generations' interest in farming of any kind is also declining. "It takes six months to learn everything," Adam said. "We can't find anybody as willing to work on the farm." Adam drives to Manhattan each week to sell their meat and eggs at markets, and spends Sunday mornings helping Ratcliff with business at the Brighton Farmers Market in Brighton, New York. Frank Mitloehner, a professor in animal science in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at University of California Davis, said lack of flexibility and efficiency are driving farmers away from organic in an era of rising prices for farmers. He said organic standards need to be overhauled or the marketplace risks organic going away completely. "I am in awe that so many organic farmers were able to produce that way for that long," he said. "It seems that they are losing consumer base in these financially troubling times." ## But the label still matters to some buyers Still, there are consumers determined to buy organic. Aaron Swindle, a warehouse employee at a chain supermarket, spends every Sunday morning shopping for organic groceries at the Brighton Farmers Market. "The taste quality is different when it's growing nearby," Swindle said. He calls the Finger Lakes of New York a "trifecta," a region that contributes dairy, produce, and meat for its residents. John Bolton, owner of Bolton Farms in Hilton, New York, said he has some reservations about organic certification, but he's pursuing it for his hydroponic farm, which grows produce in nutrient-rich water instead of soil. It produces greens such as kale and chard and is popular as a supplier for restaurants in western New York, and draws waves of regular customers at the Rochester Public Market on weekends. Bolton doesn't use pesticides. On a chilly day this spring, he was at his greenhouse unloading 1,500 ladybugs to do the work of eliminating the operation's aphids. That's the kind of practice organic farms use to earn the certification, he said. He said his operations aren't immune to the dangers posed by climate change. Abnormally hot days affect their greenhouse, he said: "It's devastating to not only the people but the plants." But Bolton described the organic certification as economically and environmentally beneficial to his farm. Getting the certification will carry an expense, but he is confident it will be worth the price. "It helps with sales. And you feel good about it – you're doing the right practices," Bolton 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	2025-05-05 07:30:45+00:00	[ "Europe", "Netherlands", "Donald Tusk", "Donald Trump", "Vladimir Putin", "Germany government", "War and unrest", "Poland government", "Veterans", "Poland", "Netherlands government", "Dick Schoof", "Mervyn Kersh", "Nick Janicki", "Politics", "Ruben Brekelmans" ]	# Polish leader Tusk appeals for unity as Netherlands marks 80th anniversary of WWII liberation By Mike Corder May 5th, 2025, 07:30 AM --- WAGENINGEN, Netherlands (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk made an impassioned plea for European and transatlantic unity Monday in a speech marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands from World War II German occupation. "The experience gained 80 years ago tells us that only when (we) stand together can we overcome," Tusk said. He added that "in the face of the threat posed by (President Vladimir) Putin's Russia we need to deepen our European and transatlantic life, and we need genuine solidarity." Tusk spoke at a Dutch Liberation Day ceremony where WWII veterans were given a standing ovation by crowds who lined streets to watch a military parade as modern and wartime aircraft flew overhead. Polish troops were among Allied forces who helped liberate the Netherlands. Festivities in Wageningen centered on a square outside the Hotel de Wereld, where German top brass signed papers on May 5, 1945, that formally ended the brutal five-year occupation as the war drew to a close across Europe. A small group of veterans, their chests decorated with medals and legs covered in blankets, sat on the front row watching the ceremony. More veterans took part in the parade, some saluting, others blowing kisses to the crowds. Some held tulips and other flowers. Germany finally surrendered on May 8, now known as Victory in Europe Day. Liberation Day in the Netherlands is celebrated on May 5, a day after the country observes two minutes of silence to honor its war dead. Like Tusk, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans used the occasion to call for renewed efforts to nurture peace. "War and aggression are back in Europe and it is up to us to protect peace," he said. Brekelmans' speech was briefly disturbed by a small group of protesters who shouted "Free free Palestine!" Police detained five people as Brekelmans continued to address the crowd, some of whom booed at the demonstrators as they were led away. Later Monday, a smoke canister was thrown onto a festival stage in Wageningen where Tusk and his Dutch counterpart Dick Schoof were standing. There no immediate reports of arrests. On Sunday, Dutch King Willem-Alexander and others laid wreaths at the national monument in Amsterdam, and two veterans lit a Liberation Fire in Wageningen hours later. Mervyn Kersh, a 100-year-old veteran from Britain, and Nick Janicki, 101, from Canada, ignited the flame in Wageningen's central May 5 Square. The country's southern regions were freed in 1944 but the populous western towns and cities had to wait months and endure a devastating famine known as the Hunger Winter that killed thousands. Events across Europe marking the end of the 1939-45 war come as the traditional friendly links with the United States, whose forces helped liberate the Netherlands and much of the continent, are fraying. The European Union and the administration of President Donald Trump are now embroiled in a trade war. Tusk appealed for unity at a time of global insecurity. "Genuine solidarity between people and nations that will prevent the evil from shaping our present and future," he said. "The time of Europe's carefree comfort, joyous unconcern is over. Today is the time of European mobilization around our fundamental values and our security."
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 10:42:23+00:00	[ "Lebanon", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Israel", "Mahmoud Abbas", "Hamas", "Beirut", "War and unrest", "Israel government", "Saleh Arouri", "Mohammed Al-Mustafa", "Hezbollah", "Politics" ]	# Lebanon warns Hamas not to carry out any attacks from its territories By Bassem Mroue May 2nd, 2025, 10:42 AM --- BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese authorities warned the Hamas group Friday that it would face the "harshest measures" if it carried out any attacks from Lebanon. The warning by the Higher Defense Council, Lebanon's top military body, came weeks after several Lebanese and Palestinians were detained on suspicion of firing rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel. "Hamas and other factions will not be allowed to endanger national stability," the council said. "The safety of Lebanon's territories is above all." "The harshest measures will be taken to put a complete end to any act that infringes on Lebanon's sovereignty," according to a statement that was read by Brig. Gen. Mohammed al-Mustafa. Hamas officials did not immediately respond to requests by The Associated Press for comment. Since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023, the Palestinian militant group has carried out several attacks against Israel from Lebanon, where it has an armed presence. Israel has since carried out airstrikes that killed Hamas officials including one of its top military chiefs, Saleh Arouri, in Beirut. Lebanese authorities are seeking to establish their authority throughout the country, mainly in the south near the border with Israel after the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war that ended in late November with the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. Authorities last month detained several people, including a number of Palestinians, who were allegedly involved in firing rockets toward Israel in two separate attacks in late March that triggered intense Israeli airstrikes on parts of Lebanon. Lebanon's Hezbollah group denied at the time that it was behind the firing of rockets. The meeting of the Higher Defense Council was attended by senior officials including the country's president, prime minister, army commander and heads of security services. The council's statement quoted Prime Minister Nawaf Salam as saying that all "illegal weapons" should be handed over to the state. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to visit Lebanon later this month. Despite the ceasefire deal with Israel in November, Israel is continuing with near-daily airstrikes on Lebanon that have left dozens of civilians and Hezbollah members dead. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli drone fired three missiles Friday morning at a gas station in the southern village of Houla, wounding five people. On Thursday, Israel said it killed an official with Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force in a drone strike in south Lebanon.
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 16:37:06+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Oregon", "Department of Government Efficiency", "Lawsuits", "Portland", "Elon Musk", "National Endowment for the Humanities", "Legal proceedings", "Trump lawsuits", "New York City Wire", "Executive orders", "Politics", "Amy Gleason", "Diversity", "equity and inclusion" ]	# Humanities groups sue Trump administration over DOGE cuts By Gary Fields May 16th, 2025, 04:37 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — A humanities federation and a state council have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to reverse local funding cuts made by Trump adviser Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon, by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Oregon Council for the Humanities, names DOGE, its acting administrator, Amy Gleason, and the NEH among the defendants. The plaintiffs ask the court to "stop this imminent threat to our nation's historic and critical support of the humanities by restoring funding appropriated by Congress." It notes the "disruption and attempted destruction, spearheaded by DOGE," of a partnership between the state and the federal government to support the humanities. The lawsuit, filed Thursday, maintains that DOGE and the National Endowment for the Humanities exceeded their authority in terminating funding mandated by Congress. DOGE shut down the funding and laid off more than 80% of the staff at the NEH in April as part of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump. The humanities is just one of many areas that have been affected as Trump's Republican administration has targeted cultural establishments including the Smithsonian Institution,the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment of the Arts. The moves are part of Trump's goals to downsize the federal government and end initiatives seen as promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, which he calls "discrimination." The humanities groups' lawsuit said DOGE brought the core work of the humanities councils "to a screeching halt" this spring when it terminated its grant program. The filing is the most recent lawsuit filed by humanities groups and historical, research and library associations to try to stop funding cuts and the dissolution of federal agencies and organizations. The funding freeze for the humanities comes when state councils and libraries have been preparing programming for the summer and beginning preparations for celebrations meant to commemorate next year's 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. In a separate filing this week in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Historical Association and the Modern Language Association asked for a temporary injunction to stop dismantling of the NEH on the grounds that it violates the separation of powers, among other challenges. Requests for comment Friday from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the White House were not immediately returned.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 19:38:34+00:00	[ "Newark", "Ras Baraka", "Donald Trump", "Robert Menendez", "Protests and demonstrations", "Phil Murphy", "Law enforcement", "Prisons", "Immigration", "Matthew J. Platkin", "David Donahue", "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement", "Legal proceedings", "Politics", "Lawsuits", "Ned Cooper", "Alina Habba", "Bonnie Coleman", "Linda Baraka", "United States House of Representatives" ]	# Newark mayor Baraka arrested at immigration detention center he has been protesting By Jake Offenhartz and Claudia Lauer May 9th, 2025, 07:38 PM --- Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested Friday at a new federal immigration detention center he has been protesting against and was held in custody for several hours. Baraka was released around 8 p.m. after being accused of trespassing and ignoring warnings to leave the Delaney Hall facility. Stepping out of an SUV with flashing emergency lights, he told waiting supporters: "The reality is this: I didn't do anything wrong." The mayor said he could not speak about his case, citing a promise he made to lawyers and the judge. But he voiced full-throated support for everyone living in his community, immigrants included. "All of us here, every last one of us, I don't care what background you come from, what nationality, what language you speak," Baraka said, "at some point we have to stop these people from causing division between us." Baraka, a Democrat who is running to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, has embraced the fight with the Trump administration over illegal immigration. He has aggressively pushed back against the construction and opening of the 1,000-bed detention center, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues. Linda Baraka, the mayor's wife, accused the federal government of targeting her husband. "They didn't arrest anyone else. They didn't ask anyone else to leave. They wanted to make an example out of the mayor," she said, adding that she had not been allowed to see him. Alina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, said on the social platform X that Baraka trespassed at the detention facility, which is run by private prison operator Geo Group. Habba said Baraka had "chosen to disregard the law." Video of the incident showed that Baraka was arrested after returning to the public side of the gate to the facility. ## Witnesses describe a heated argument Witnesses said the arrest came after Baraka attempted to join three members of New Jersey's congressional delegation, Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman, in attempting to enter the facility. When federal officials blocked his entry, a heated argument broke out, according to Viri Martinez, an activist with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. It continued even after Baraka returned to the public side of the gates. "There was yelling and pushing," Martinez said. "Then the officers swarmed Baraka. They threw one of the organizers to the ground. They put Baraka in handcuffs and put him in an unmarked car." The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that the lawmakers had not asked for a tour of Delaney Hall, which the agency said it would have facilitated. The department said that as a bus carrying detainees was entering in the afternoon "a group of protestors, including two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility." Watson Coleman spokesperson Ned Cooper said the three lawmakers went there unannounced because they planned to inspect it, not take a scheduled tour. "They arrived, explained to the guards and the officials at the facility that they were there to exercise their oversight authority," he said, adding that they were allowed to enter and inspect the center sometime between 3 and 4 p.m. Watson Coleman later said the DHS statement inaccurately characterized the visit. "Contrary to a press statement put out by DHS we did not 'storm' the detention center," she wrote. "The author of that press release was so unfamiliar with the facts on the ground that they didn't even correctly count the number of Representatives present. We were exercising our legal oversight function as we have done at the Elizabeth Detention Center without incident." ## Video shows the mayor standing on the public side of the gate In video of the altercation shared with The Associated Press, a federal official in a jacket with the logo of the Homeland Security Investigations can be heard telling Baraka he could not enter the facility because "you are not a congress member." Baraka then left the secure area, rejoining protesters on the public side of the gate. Video showed him speaking through the gate to a man in a suit, who said: "They're talking about coming back to arrest you." "I'm not on their property. They can't come out on the street and arrest me," Baraka replied. Minutes later several ICE agents, some wearing face coverings, surrounded him and others on the public side. As protesters cried out, "Shame," Baraka was dragged back through the gate in handcuffs. Several civil rights and immigration reform advocates, as well as government officials, condemned Baraka's arrest. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, whose office is defending a state law barring private immigration detention facilities, criticized the arrest during a seemingly peaceful protest and said no state or local law enforcement agencies were involved. Rep. Menendez said in a statement that as members of Congress, they have the legal right to carry out oversight at DHS facilities without prior notice and have done so twice already this year. But on Friday, "Throughout every step of this visit, ICE attempted to intimidate everyone involved and impede our ability to conduct oversight." ## The detention center The two-story building next to a county prison formerly operated as a halfway house. In February, ICE awarded a 15-year contract to The Geo Group Inc. to run the detention center. Geo valued the contract at $1 billion, in an unusually long and large agreement for ICE. The announcement was part of President Donald Trump's plans to sharply increase detention beds nationwide from a budget of about 41,000 beds this year. Baraka sued Geo soon after the deal was announced. Geo touted the Delaney Hall contract during an earnings call with shareholders Wednesday, with CEO David Donahue saying it was expected to generate more than $60 million a year in revenue. He said the facility began the intake process May 1. Hall said the activation of the center and another in Michigan would increase capacity under contract with ICE from around 20,000 beds to around 23,000. DHS said in its statement that the facility has the proper permits and inspections have been cleared. ___ Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed.
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 19:22:26+00:00	[ "Newark", "Cory Booker", "Corruption", "Notable Deaths", "Sharpe James", "Kenneth Gibson", "Politics" ]	# Former longtime New Jersey mayor who was convicted in corruption probe dies at 89 By Bruce Shipkowski May 12th, 2025, 07:22 PM --- NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Sharpe James, the charismatic longest-serving mayor of Newark whose political accomplishments were marred by a corruption conviction, has died. He was 89. James died Sunday evening, according to his son, John Sharpe James, a former Newark City Council member. After entering politics, James never lost an election. The Democrat was first elected to public office in 1970, winning a Newark City Council seat. He won the mayor's seat in 1986 by beating Kenneth Gibson, who had held the post for 16 years. James was reelected four times, serving 20 years overall as mayor before deciding not to run in 2006 after initially saying he would. That decision came four years after his contentious but successful mayoral run against then-City Councilman Cory Booker, which was chronicled in the Oscar-nominated documentary film "Street Fight." As James' political career wound down, he became the focus of a federal investigation and was convicted in 2008 on charges that he abused his mayoral office by steering city-owned land to his girlfriend. He served 18 months in federal prison. Booker, now a U.S. senator, replaced James as Newark's mayor. "Sharpe James was a beloved pillar of our shared community, serving the City of Newark for two decades as mayor and giving nearly four decades of his life to public service. I am deeply saddened by his passing," Booker said in a statement. As mayor, James became a larger-than-life figure and one of the state's most powerful politicians. He led high-profile efforts to attract development to downtown Newark and supported building an arena in Newark. The arena plan eventually came to fruition when the Prudential Center opened in 2007. Critics called James flamboyant, citing his brash behavior and desire to draw attention to himself. They also claimed that he lived a lavish lifestyle at the expense of taxpayers, noting accusations that he racked up thousands of dollars on city credit cards for personal expenses and travels. James strongly denied claims that he led a corrupt political machine. He had repeatedly faced allegations of questionable campaign tactics, including alleged use of the police force for his own purposes and intimidating supporters of his opponents. While still serving as mayor, James was appointed to the New Jersey Senate in 1999 following the death of Sen. Wynona Lipman. He won an election later that year to complete her unexpired term and went on to win two full terms. James remained as Newark's mayor while serving in the Legislature. Supporters noted that holding the two posts was allowed under state law. ___ Associated Press reporter John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 21:02:30+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Libya", "Khalifa Hifter", "United States government", "Immigration", "Africa", "United States", "Politics", "Libya government", "Courts", "Brian E. Murphy", "Human rights", "Kristi Noem", "Prisons", "Abdul Hamid Dbeibah" ]	# US must give migrants a chance to contest deportations to Libya, judge says By Rebecca Santana, Lindsay Whitehurst, and Samy Magdy May 7th, 2025, 09:02 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. authorities informed some migrants of plans to deport them to Libya, a country they are not from and that has a history of human rights violations, attorneys said Wednesday. A judge said they can't be deported without a chance to challenge such a move in court. The legal scramble comes as the Trump administration is pushing forward with plans to carry out mass deportations, including efforts to send migrants to a country where they are not a citizen. The most controversial example of so-called third-country removals has been sending Venezuelans to a notorious El Salvador prison. Sending deportees to Libya, a country with a documented history of migrant abuse, would mark a major escalation of the administration's push for third countries to take in people being removed from the United States. A U.S. official said earlier Wednesday there were plans to fly migrants to Libya on a military plane but did not have details on the timing of the C-17 flight. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations. Immigration attorneys say some of their clients, including people from Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines, were told by immigration enforcement agents that they were going to be deported to Libya. Some were told they were going to Saudi Arabia, they said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers gathered six people who are detained in southern Texas in a room early Tuesday and told them that they needed to sign a document agreeing that they would be removed to Libya, immigration attorneys representing people from Vietnam said in a court filing, citing reports from relatives of those in detention. "When they all refused, they were each put in a separate room and cuffed in (basically, solitary) in order to get them to sign it," the lawyers wrote. In another example, a lawyer for a man from the Philippines wrote to ICE in San Antonio saying his client had learned he was going to be sent to Libya. The attorney wrote that his client "fears being removed to Libya and must therefore be provided with an interview before any removal occurs." ## Judge says migrants must get a chance to contest deportations The attorneys went to court Wednesday asking U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts to intervene. Murphy has been overseeing a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its practice of deporting people to countries where they are not citizens. He ruled in March that even if people have otherwise exhausted their legal appeals, they can't be deported away from their homeland before getting a "meaningful opportunity" to argue that it would jeopardize their safety. On Wednesday, he said any "allegedly imminent" removals to Libya would "clearly violate this Court's Order." He also ordered the government to hand over details about the claims. In addition to the Venezuelans sent to El Salvador, the administration has deported people to Panama and Costa Rica who were not citizens of those countries. Sending someone to a country that is not their own has raised a host of questions about due process and, particularly in the case of El Salvador, whether they are going to be subject to further abuse. Outside of those three Central American nations, the Trump administration has said it's exploring other third countries for deportations. Asked Wednesday about whether Libya was one of those countries, the administration had little to say. President Donald Trump directed questions to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said during a news conference in Illinois that she "can't confirm" media reports of plans to send people to Libya. The State Department said it does not "discuss the details of our diplomatic communications with other governments." ## Libya denies reports of a deportation deal The Tripoli-based government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah said in a statement Wednesday that there was "no deal or coordination" with the U.S. to receive migrants. However, it said "some parallel parties" could have agreed to receive them. That appears to refer to its rival administration in east Libya, which is controlled by powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter. Libya has been split for years between rival administrations in the east and west, each backed by armed groups and foreign governments. The Hifter-led Libya National Army, which controls eastern and southern Libya, also released a statement, denying any deal or understanding to receive migrants from the U.S. "There won't be any acceptance or reception of them (the migrants) on the territories secured by the Libyan Armed Forces whatever the reasons and justifications are," it said. Abuses against migrants in detention in Libya have been widely documented, with U.N. investigators saying they had evidence of possible crimes against humanity, including accounts of murder, torture, enslavement, extrajudicial killings and rape. Migrants have told The Associated Press about repeated beatings and torture while ransoms were demanded of their families. Their bodies showed traces of old and recent injuries, and signs of bullet and knife wounds on their backs, legs, arms and faces. ___ Magdy reported from Cairo. AP writers Lolita C. Baldor and Seung Min Kim in Washington and John O'Connor in Springfield, Illinois, contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 16:16:00+00:00	[ "Celebrity", "Floyd Collins", "Lizzy McAlpine Broadway", "Tina Landau", "Music", "Musicals", "Theater", "Arts and entertainment", "Adam Guettel", "New York", "Entertainment" ]	# Singer-songwriter Lizzy McAlpine makes her Broadway debut By Mark Kennedy May 6th, 2025, 04:16 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Lizzy McAlpine is surrounded by music these days. She's making her Broadway debut in a daring stage musical, and when she retreats to her dressing room, her own songs demand attention. "When the inspiration hits, I've got to write. I've got to have a guitar there or else I'll go crazy," she says. "I just kind of have to wait for them. I can't really force a song." The folk-pop singer-songwriter is following-up last year's release of her third album, "Older," with a role in "Floyd Collins," a musical about life, death and fame. She calls it perfect timing. "I was starting to feel like I wanted to do something new, and this kind of came at the perfect time. It's the first and only Broadway show that I've ever auditioned for," she says. McAlpine has been building a sonic reputation for raw, stripped-down tracks and intimate, deeply reflective lyrics. Her single "Ceilings" went viral on TikTok, and "Older" has been hailed by critics. Broadway made sense for a woman who grew up watching shows in New York and who has an "ability to infuse each song with character, as if acting," the AP said in a review of "Older." "I feel like all of my music has musical theater in it because I have loved theater for so long," she says. "I saw my first Broadway show and I was like 8, and so, it just kind of seeps into my music whether I am conscious of it or not." ## 'In her own world' "Floyd Collins," which just earned six Tony Award nominations, tells the tale of a hapless explorer who gets himself trapped in a Kentucky cave in 1925, triggering the first modern media frenzy. McAlpine plays Floyd Collins' sister, a woman who doesn't fit in. "She is strange, definitely, but it's just because she's in her own world, and she sees the world differently than everyone else. She sees the beauty in it. She's like a sponge. She picks up everything that everyone is throwing out. She's just different. Not necessarily in a bad way," McAlpine says. "It explores being a young woman in the 1920s and being misunderstood and not listened to and not heard, and that's like been a theme in my life because I'm working in the music industry. I'm surrounded by men all the time." McAlpine, 25, didn't know much about "Floyd Collins" — it deputed off-Broadway in 1996 — but was a fan of its composer and lyricist, Adam Guettel, who created "The Light in the Piazza," one of her favorite musicals. "I saw his name and I was like, 'Oh, I love him.' So I listened to the cast recording on Spotify from the original production and immediately was just hooked," she says. "It just sounded like nothing that was on Broadway now. It was just so unique, and I love that kind of stuff." ## Broadway lured her McAlpine, who was raised in a suburb of Philadelphia and attended the Berklee College of Music, did theater in high school. Her grandparents would take her and her siblings to Broadway every year, and her mom would sing "Wicked" in the car. During the pandemic, she livestreamed Broadway covers on Instagram. "She had a kind of unaffected directness and purity and honesty in how she approached the reading of the role, to say nothing of the singing," says Tina Landau, who directed "Floyd Collins" as well as supplied the book and some lyrics. "I really felt that there was something in how unfettered and organic and unadorned her approach to it was that was perfect for the character, because Nellie just speaks truth." McAlpine remembers seeing "My Fair Lady" at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center — the same theater she graces in "Floyd Collins." "Sometimes I'm on stage and I'm just thinking about I was in the audience one time, and it is just so crazy." After the musical, she plans on another album, and the music that's coming out has been touched by the show. "It feels like it's becoming more complex because I'm singing these songs that are so complex every day," she says. After that, she's open to ideas, even to more theater. "It has to be the right thing. This felt like it came to me at the exact right time in my life, and this was the exact right show for me. And so, if something else comes along, it would have to be the exact set of circumstances." If that sounds like a singer-songwriter who is taking charge of her career, McAlpine would agree. She's done, for example, with an unhealthy pace to her tours. "I'm finally at a place in my career where I can make decisions and do things that really align with myself. There was a while there before my last album where I was kind of just being pulled along, and I was just doing things because that's how everyone does them," she says. "I feel like I am now more sure of myself, and I know what I have to do to make myself feel comfortable. Even if it's outside of the norm or what other people do in the industry, I'm going to do it anyway."
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 04:01:27+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Maine", "Government regulations", "Animals", "Fisheries", "National", "Business", "Dustin Delano", "Agriculture", "Virginia Olsen", "Climate and environment", "Don McHenan", "Zoology", "Matt Wiebe", "Politics", "Patrice McCarron", "Climate" ]	# Fishermen debate what Trump order will do to American seafood By Patrick Whittle and Robert F. Bukaty May 9th, 2025, 04:01 AM --- STONINGTON, Maine (AP) — Virginia Olsen has pulled lobsters from Maine's chilly Atlantic waters for decades while watching threats to the state's lifeblood industry mount. Trade imbalances with Canada, tight regulations on fisheries and offshore wind farms towering like skyscrapers on open water pose three of those threats, said Olsen, part of the fifth generation in her family to make a living in the lobster trade. That's why she was encouraged last month when President Donald Trump signed an executive order that promises to restore American fisheries to their former glory. The order promises to shred fishing regulations, and Olsen said that will allow fishermen to do what they do best — fish. That will make a huge difference in communities like her home of Stonington, the busiest lobster fishing port in the country, Olsen said. It's a tiny island town of winding streets, swooping gulls and mansard roof houses with an economy almost entirely dependent on commercial fishing, some three hours up the coast from Portland, Maine's biggest city. Olsen knows firsthand how much has changed over the years. Hundreds of fish and shellfish populations globally have dwindled to dangerously low levels, alarming scientists and prompting the restrictions and catch limits that Trump's order could wash away with the stroke of a pen. But she's heartened that the livelihoods of people who work the traps and cast the nets have become a priority in faraway places where they often felt their voices weren't heard. "I do think it's time to have the conversation on what regulations that the industry does need. We're fishing different than we did 100 years ago," she said. "If everything is being looked at, we should be looking at the regulations within the fishing industry." ## A question of sustainability and competitiveness But if fishing and lobstering interests finally have a seat at the table, the questions become how much seafood can be served there — and for how long. Trump's April 17 order, called "Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness," promises an overhaul of the way America fishes, and cites a national seafood trade deficit of more than $20 billion as the reason to do it. The order calls on the federal government to reduce the regulatory burden on fishermen by later this month. It arrives at a time when conservation groups and many marine scientists say the ocean needs more regulation, not less. One oft-cited 2020 study led by a scientist at the University of British Columbia looked at more than 1,300 fish and invertebrate populations and found that 82% were below levels that can produce maximum sustainable yields. The university said the study "discovered global declines, some severe, of many popularly consumed species." Trump's order prioritizes commerce over conservation. It also calls for the development of a comprehensive seafood trade strategy and a review of existing marine monuments, which are underwater protected zones, to see if any should be opened for fishing. At least one, the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, has already been reopened. Many commercial fishermen and fishing trade groups lauded the order. Members of the industry, one of the oldest in the country, have long made the case that heavy regulations — many intended to protect the health of fish populations — leave the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage to the fleets of countries that don't bear the same kind of burden. That disadvantage is a big piece of why America imports more than two-thirds of its seafood, they argue. "The president's executive order recognizes the challenges our fishing families and communities face, and we appreciate the commitment to reduce burdensome regulations and strengthen the competitiveness of American seafood," said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen's Association. Some fishermen, including Maine lobsterman Don McHenan, said they're looking forward to members of the industry being able to fish in areas of the ocean that have been closed off to them for years. McHenan said he's also hopeful the pace of new regulations will slow. "As long as they don't put any more onto us," McHenan said. "We'll see — time will tell." ## Not all fishermen are on board But the support for deregulation is not unanimous among fishermen. Some say strong conservation laws are critical to protecting species that fishermen rely on to make a living. In Alaska, for example, Matt Wiebe said the executive order "terrifies" him. A commercial fisherman with more than 50 years of experience fishing for salmon, he said the order could potentially harm the Bristol Bay sockeye salmon fishery, which has received praise from sustainability organizations for careful management of the fish supply. Absent that management, he said the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery could go the way of the New England cod fishing business, which collapsed due in large part to overfishing and has never recovered. "Since New England fishers lost their cod fishery due to overfishing, many other fisheries came to respect and depend on conservation efforts," Wiebe said. "We fish because it's what we do, and conservation efforts mean we and our kids can fish into the future." The executive order arrived at a time when America's commercial fishermen are coping with environmental challenges and the decline of some once-marketable species. Maine's historic shrimp fishery shuttered more than a decade ago, California's salmon industry is struggling through closures and the number of fish stocks on the federal overfished list has grown in recent years. There is also the looming question of what Trump's trade war with major seafood producers such as Canada and China will mean for the U.S. industry — not to mention American consumers. To many in Maine's lobster and fishing business, the answer is clear: Cut regulations and let them do their thing. "We definitely feel the industry is over-regulated as a whole," said Dustin Delano, a fourth-generation Maine lobsterman who is also chief operating officer of the New England Fishermen's Stewardship Association. "We hope that this will help for sure. It does seek to initiate that America-first strategy in the fishery." ___
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 09:57:30+00:00	[ "Europe", "Berlin", "Tom Curley", "Josef Stalin", "Germany government", "London", "Germany", "United Kingdom government", "Nazism", "Government and politics", "United States government", "Parties and entertaining", "Edward Kennedy" ]	# AP WAS THERE: Journalists chronicled the Nazi surrenders and end of World War II in Europe May 7th, 2025, 09:57 AM --- REIMS, France (AP) — When Allied forces brought World War II in Europe and the Holocaust to an end 80 years ago this week, AP reporters and photographers were there, chronicling the Nazis' historic defeat. Here are excerpts of AP news reports that momentous week: ___ EDITORS' NOTE: On May 7, 1945, AP's Edward Kennedy witnessed the German surrender in a French schoolhouse, and was the first to announce it to the Allied public, defying authorities who wanted to delay the news. The news was broadcast unofficially over German radio, but U.S. President Harry Truman and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had agreed to suppress news of the capitulation for a day, in order to allow Soviet leader Josef Stalin to stage a second surrender ceremony in Berlin. Kennedy published anyway, angering U.S. authorities. Kennedy was called home by AP and later fired. AP issued a public apology in 2012, saying Kennedy "did everything just right," because the embargo was for political reasons, not to protect the troops. "The world needed to know," AP's then-President and CEO Tom Curley said. Kennedy "stood up to power." ___ REIMS, France, May 7 (Delayed) FLASH: ALLIES OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED GERMANS SURRENDERED UNCONDITIONALLY ___ Through an iron-faced Prussian general, speaking after he had finished signing the unconditional surrender of the Nazis, Germany today pleaded for mercy for the German people. On the wall behind his back was a huge chart tabulating Allied casualties. He was Col-Gen. (Alfred) Jodl, chief of staff of the German Army. He was standing in a room of a red school house in Reims, where Gen. Eisenhower had his advanced headquarters. On a big wooden table in front of him lay four identical documents to which he had just affixed his signature — one each for the United States, Britain, France and Russia. ... Seventeen correspondents were present at the signing and heard Jodl's plea. After he had signed the four instruments of surrender, and after the military representatives of the four Powers had signed them, Jodl asked for permission to speak. He was told that he might. He held himself stiffly erect. His voice was low and soft. He said: "With this signature, the German people and armed forces are, for better or worse, delivered in the victors' hands. In this war which has lasted more than five years, both have achieved and suffered more than perhaps any other people in the world. I express the hope that the victor will treat generously with them.'' His face was expressionless. So were the faces of the American, British, Russian and French generals who represented the Allies. All had seen the German murder camps and all knew the furious cruelty of German occupying forces. Jodl finished speaking and sat down. A moment passed in dead silence. Then the German representatives were taken down the hall to meet Gen. Eisenhower. .... Again, there was a moment of heavy silence. Then Eisenhower spoke. He was brief and terse as always. His voice was cold and stern. His steel blue eyes were hard. In a few clipped sentences, he made it plain that Germany was a defeated nation and that henceforth all orders to the German people would come from the Allies. He said they would be obeyed. Then the Germans filed out. It was over. Nazi Germany has ceased to exist. The war had ended. ___ The great bells of St. Peter's Basilica rang out over Rome soon after the Associated Press report that peace had come to Europe, while several Allied capitals proclaimed V-E holidays for today, and Tokyo announced continuation of "The Sacred War." Many of the world's cities went wild at the news, and even neutral capitals were bedecked and filled with celebrating crowds. Masses of people gathered in front of loudspeakers and newspaper offices, which were frantically answering inquiries and rolling out extras. Only in the unnatural calm of the European fronts was the news reported to have been taken soberly, by soldiers who had seen the fighting taper off in one sector after another for the past two weeks. ___ War-scarred London burst into jubilant celebration of the end of the war in Europe today, its millions of citizens unable to wait for the government's official V-E Day proclamation tomorrow. Millions surged into the streets, from Buckingham Palace to the sedate East End. The Picadilly Circus, Whitehall and Westminster areas filled with a laughing, shouting throng. Some old-timers said the scene eclipsed those of the 1918 armistice. Pubs were jammed, Champagne was brought up from deep cellars and long-hoarded whisky and gin came out from hiding. The great bells of Big Ben tolled the hours of the historic day. ___ In Washington, crowds gathered in Lafayette Square across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House in anticipation of an announcement by President Truman to proclaim Allied V-E Day. A dispatch from the United States 9th Army front said withdrawal of American troops toward a previously established line of demarcation between them and the Russians had begun, with the first-move evacuation of the Yanks from their bridgehead of the banks of the Elbe River. The Elbe became the temporary line between the Allied armies. ___ BERLIN, May 10, 1945: By HAROLD KING, former Moscow bureau chief This town is a city of the dead. As a metropolis, it has simply ceased to exist. Every house within miles of the center seems to have had its own bomb. … The scene beggars description. I have seen Stalingrad; I have lived through the entire London blitz. I have seen a dozen badly damaged Russian towns, but the scene of utter destruction, desolation and death which meets the eye in Berlin as far as the eye can rove in all directions is something that almost baffles description. Dozens of well-known thoroughfares, including the entire Unter den Linden from one end to the other, are wrecked beyond repair. The town is literally unrecognizable. The Alexander Platz, in the east end, where the Gestapo headquarters were, is a weird desert of rubble and gaping, smoke blackened walls. From the Brandenberg Gate, everything within a radius of two to five miles is destroyed. There does not appear to be one house in hundred which is even useful as a shelter. ... The only people who look like human beings in the streets of what was Berlin are the Russian soldiers. There are two million inhabitants in this town, the Russian authorities told me, but they are mostly in the remoter suburbs. In the center part of the town, you only see a few ghostlike figures of women and children — few men — queuing up to pump water. If Stalingrad, London, Guernica, Rotterdam, Coventry wanted avenging, they have had it, and no mistake about it. The Red flag, or rather several red flags, fly on top of the Reichstag which is burned hollow. The Tiergarten opposite the Reichstag looks like a forest after a big fire. There was heavy street fighting here. ... The population and the Red Army soldiers are attempting to clear some of the main streets. The Russian command has already erected at all main squares and crossings huge sketch maps without which it would be impossible to find one's way about. Except for an occasional Russian army car or horses drawing Russian army carts, there is a complete silence over the city, and the air filled with rubble dust. One sign of life, however, are the interminable columns of displaced persons of all European nationalities who seem to be marching through Berlin in various directions, carried forward by a homing instinct more than any clear idea where they are going. These columns of freed slaves are sometimes a mile long. ___ Follow AP's coverage marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II at https://apnews.com/WorldWarII
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 21:51:39+00:00	[ "Lake Michigan", "Manitowoc", "Christopher Thuss", "JWD-evergreen", "Tamara Thomsen", "Climate and environment", "Science", "Climate" ]	# Angler fishing in Lake Michigan fog discovers remains of abandoned tugboat J.C. Ames By Todd Richmond May 16th, 2025, 09:51 PM --- MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin angler fishing in the fog this week discovered the wreck of an abandoned tugboat submerged in the waters of Lake Michigan for more than a century, state officials announced Friday. Wisconsin Historical Society Maritime Archaeologist Tamara Thomsen said that the society confirmed that Christopher Thuss found the wreck of the J.C. Ames. Thuss was fishing in Lake Michigan off the city of Manitowoc in foggy conditions on Tuesday when he noticed the wreckage in nine feet of water off a breakwater, she said in a message to The Associated Press. The society said that according to the book "Green Bay Workhorses: The Nau Tug Line," the Rand and Burger shipbuilding company in Manitowoc built the J.C. Ames in 1881 to help move lumber. The tug was one of the largest and most powerful on the Great Lakes, with a 670-horsepower engine. The tug served multiple purposes beyond moving lumber, including transporting railway cars. It eventually fell into disrepair and was scuttled in 1923, as was the practice then when ships outlived their usefulness, Thomsen said. The ship had been buried in the sand at the bottom of the lake for decades before storms this winter apparently revealed it, Thomsen said. A lack of quagga mussels attached to the ship indicates it was only recently exposed, she said. Historians are racing to locate shipwrecks and downed planes in the Great Lakes before quagga mussels destroy them. Quagga have become the dominant invasive species in the lower lakes over the last 30 years, attaching themselves to wooden shipwrecks and sunken aircraft in layers so thick they eventually crush the wreckage. "These kinds of discoveries are always so exciting because it allows a piece of lost history to resurface. It sat there for over a hundred years and then came back on our radar completely by chance," Thomsen said in a statement. "We are grateful that Chris Thuss noticed the wreck and reported it so we can share this story with the Wisconsin communities that this history belongs to."
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 16:46:41+00:00	[ "Tom Cruise", "Cannes Film Festival", "Jerry Seinfeld", "Movies", "Sacha Baron Cohen", "Jack Black", "T.J. Miller", "Entertainment", "Business", "Jeffrey Katzenberg", "Jake Coyle" ]	# Cannes promotional stunts go missing By Jake Coyle May 16th, 2025, 04:46 PM --- CANNES, France (AP) — You can get nostalgic about almost anything at the Cannes Film Festival, even Jerry Seinfeld on a zip line in a bumblebee costume. For many years, Cannes has played host not just to an endless stream of artistically ambitious movies, but also to some of Hollywood's most extreme promotional gambits. With so many films packed into the 12-day festival, and with much of the world watching, there are high stakes to standing out in Cannes. But in recent years, the Cannes marketing stunt has turned into an endangered species. Hopes that Tom Cruise might revive a dormant tradition passed with the relatively sedate premiere Wednesday of "Mission: Impossible — Final Reckoning." Would Cruise parachute into the Palais? Could he ride an airplane wing to the premiere? Nothing so elaborate came to pass. Cruise and company walked the red carpet while serenaded by an orchestra playing the "Mission: Impossible" theme. Along the Croisette this year, there's a noticeable lack of the kind of grand advertisements Hollywood has often trotted out for the festival. Paramount Pictures has a "Mission: Impossible" installation outside the Carlton Hotel, but — as has been true for several years — Hollywood rarely still seeks to make big marketing splashes in Cannes. Even though Apple Studios' upcoming Formula One action drama "F1," distributed by Warner Bros., might seem like a natural fit, with the Monaco Grand Prix just days away, "F1" — at least so far — has made no pit stop in Cannes. Things could change. Cannes runs until May 24. Someone might yet arrive by parasail over the Mediterranean, as T.J. Miller did in 2017 for "The Emoji Movie," or do ninja kicks with a troupe of giant pandas, as Jack Black did in 2008 for "Kung Fu Panda." But for years, the circus-like quality of Cannes has been in decline. That's owed partly to budgetary constraints and shifting marketing priorities for major studios. For Cruise and "Final Reckoning," Cannes was just one stop on a worldwide tour. Plus, some of those who were most devoted to bringing Hollywood entertainment to Cannes are no longer regulars here. While head of DreamWorks Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg made sure his films left a mark in Cannes, whether with models wearing "Trolls" wigs or Seinfeld's "Bee Movie" zip line. Is the absence of such things anything to lament? Probably not, but they did add to the crazy-things-will-happen nature of Cannes, giving the festival the feel of big tent extravaganza. It could be counted as one small, superficial way that movies aren't quite the carnivalesque show they once were. For now, though, we can say we'll always have when Sacha Baron Cohen, for "The Dictator," rode a camel down the Croisette. Ah, the memories. ___ This story has been corrected to report "F1" is from Apple Studios, not Universal. ___ For more coverage of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, visit https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival.
Associated Press News	2025-05-04 18:20:40+00:00	[ "Puerto Rico", "San Juan", "Mara Vega Pagn", "Miguel Romero Lugo", "Jos D. Seplveda Snchez", "Politics", "Landslides and mudslides", "Yesenia Daz Pacheco" ]	# Heavy rains continue to pound Puerto Rico, flooding streets and causing 2nd death May 4th, 2025, 06:20 PM --- SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Heavy rains continued to lash Puerto Rico and flash flood warnings persisted across the U.S. territory, submerging streets, stranding families and causing at least one death this weekend, authorities said on Sunday. A 44-year-old man was killed and a 43-year-old woman hospitalized when a tree fell on their car as they were driving in the northern town of Toa Baja at 8:10 p.m. local time on Saturday, police said the next day, as the fierce rains that have pounded Puerto Rico for two weeks triggered a landslide. That brings the total death toll from the rains over the past weeks to two, after a man who tried to drive his car through floodwaters was swept away and killed last Monday. Authorities said Saturday's landslide sent a tree crashing into a highway in Toa Baja, and onto the hood of Febus Padilla's car. The woman in the passenger seat, Yesenia Díaz Pacheco, was in stable condition on Sunday, they said. At least five municipalities across the island declared a state of emergency. In the the capital of San Juan, Mayor Miguel Romero Lugo visited families who had lost belongings to the flood waters and oversaw the delivery of aid that included mattresses and gas stoves. In Vega Alta, on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, the town estimated that recent floods had already inflicted $7 million in damages. In the central town of Cidra, local authorities reported $3 million in damages to roads, infrastructure and drainage systems and said they would tap the first $100,000 disbursement of the governor's emergency reserve funds for expenses related to the rains. "This has been an odyssey. A daily challenge that continues to grow and shows no signs of stopping," said María Vega Pagán, Vega Alta's mayor, appealing to the island's governor for more resources as heavy storm runoff threatened to submerge neighborhoods along the beach. "The municipality will not be able to afford the damage." In Aguas Buenas, a mountain town outside San Juan, the rains that were forecast to continue Sunday flooded streets, opened a sinkhole and cut 26 families off from their homes. Local authorities said they delivered groceries and non-perishable goods to the hardest-hit neighborhood there, which also was experiencing problems with water service. Officers worked to reroute traffic and close roads that quickly filled with rippling layers of murky brown water Sunday. "These families are not only isolated, but also face precarious conditions in terms of access to basic drinking water services," said Mayor Karina Nieves Serrano. In the eastern coastal city of Ceiba, water authorities said they were trying to fix a pipeline that had collapsed in a landslide. The broken pipeline led to disruptions in drinking water service and prompted the authorities to deploy trucks to supply stranded areas with water tanks. "We are facing a critical situation that requires immediate attention," said José D. Sepúlveda Sánchez, a regional director in the Department of Water and Sewage. Another ruptured water pipe caused problems in Caguas, a town south of San Juan, where operations had also stopped at the town's major water filtration plant, which cleaned the local groundwater of chemicals, toxins and bacteria. Authorities rushing to clean the town's fresh-water reservoir said they hoped restore service in some 12 hours but asked residents to boil water even afterward.
Associated Press News	2025-05-17 04:09:45+00:00	[ "Kenya", "Nairobi", "Africa", "Agriculture", "Urban farming", "Future of food", "AFRICA PULSE", "Children", "Ben Njoki", "Jeffrey Okoro", "Shootings", "Moses Nyoike", "Jobs and careers" ]	# From guns to gardens: Ex-gangsters fight hunger in Kenya By Jack Denton and Desmond Tiro May 17th, 2025, 04:09 AM --- MATHARE, Kenya (AP) — Joseph Kariaga and his friends once lived the "gangster life" in Nairobi's Mathare slum, snatching phones, mugging people and battling police. But when Kariaga's brother was shot dead by police, the young men took stock. "We said, 'We cannot live like this. We are going to lose our lives.' Many of our friends had died," said Kariaga, now 27. "I reflected on my life. I had to change." Now the men are farmers with a social mission. Nearly a dozen of them founded Vision Bearerz in 2017 to steer youth away from crime and address food insecurity in one of Kenya's poorest communities. Despite challenges, Vision Bearerz makes a modest but meaningful community impact, including feeding over 150 children at lunches each week. Some residents praise the group and call the men role models. Amid cuts to foreign funding by the United States and others, experts say local organizations like this may be the future of aid. Vision Bearerz works on an urban farm tucked away in the muddy streets and corrugated-metal homes that make up Mathare, one of Africa's most populous slums. Estimates say about a half-million people live in this neighborhood of less than two square kilometers. Some 2 million people, or 60% of Nairobi's population, live in informal settlements, according to CFK Africa, a non-governmental organization that runs health and poverty reduction programs in such neighborhoods and is familiar with Vision Bearerz' work. Lack of infrastructure is a key challenge in these communities, which are growing amid sub-Saharan Africa's rapid urbanization and booming youth population, said Jeffrey Okoro, the group's executive director. Poverty pushes youth into crime, Okoro added. "Most folks in slums such as Mathare are not able to earn enough to buy a decent meal, and kids who are under 5 are twice as likely to be malnourished," he said. "One of the other major challenges affecting young people is gangs, and the promise of making a quick buck." The farmers of Vision Bearerz know this well. "When you are born from this land, there is not much you have inherited, so you have to make it yourself," said Ben Njoki, 28, whose face tattoos are reminders of a gang-affiliated past. "You have to use violence." In 2017, not long after Kariaga's brother was killed, Njoki and other young men made a plan to change. More than a dozen people they grew up with had been killed, and they realized they would follow if they did not find an alternative to crime, said Moses Nyoike, 32, the chair of Vision Bearerz. To keep busy, the group began collecting garbage and would split profits from trading vegetables, buying produce in another county and reselling it locally. They noticed a gap in the supply of vegetables to Mathare, and with permission from authorities they cleaned up a garbage dump and began planting. Polluted soil, and water rationing, made it a tough start. Then, inspired by a TikTok account that showcased farming in a Colombian slum, Vision Bearerz tried their hand at hydroponics. With the help of an NGO that supports community enterprises, Growth4Change, they were able to get materials and training in urban farming methods. Today, Vision Bearerz grows vegetables, raises pigs and farms tilapia in a small pond. They sell a portion of what they produce, with revenue also coming from running a car wash and public toilet. With the earnings, the group buys maize flour to make ugali, a dough-like staple food, and beans, which supplement produce from their farm in weekly lunches for children. Vision Bearerz also runs outreach programs to warn against drug use and crime, and has sessions where women teach girls about feminine health. "The life I was living was a lie. It didn't add up to anything. We just lost people. Now, we are winning people in the community," Njoki said. Davis Gichere, 28, another founding member, called the work therapeutic. Challenges remain. Joining Vision Bearerz requires a pledge to leave crime behind, and there have been instances of recidivism, with at least one member arrested. Lingering criminal reputations have led to police harassment in the past, and finding money to buy food for Saturday feedings is a weekly struggle. Funding cuts across the development space, including the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development, make the prospect of new financing dim. At least one other group in Nairobi's Kibera slum, Human Needs Project, does similar work of urging youth away from crime and addressing food insecurity through urban farming. It's a model that can be scaled up or copied elsewhere, said Okoro of CFK Africa. "The future of development is locally led organizations," he said, noting they are best suited to understanding the needs of their communities. Kariaga still feels the pain of his brother's death, but is proud of his new job. "Farming can change the world," he said, a silver-capped tooth glinting in the sun. ___ For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The 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 14:07:44+00:00	[ "Mali", "Democracy", "Bamako", "Protests and demonstrations", "Activism", "Mali government", "Politics" ]	# Mali's military government is suspending political parties' activities, state TV says May 7th, 2025, 02:07 PM --- BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali 's military government has suspended political party activities in the West African country "until further notice," state media said Wednesday, days after the first pro-democracy rally since soldiers took power by force almost four years ago. The decree signed by the transitional president, Gen. Assimi Goita, cites "reasons of public order," national television reported. The decision, which also applies to political associations, followed a meeting of the Council of Ministers. Hundreds of activists last weekend defied threats from the military government and demonstrated in the capital, Bamako, against the bill to dissolve political parties — the latest decision to restrict political activities. Police had cordoned off the area to avoid clashes with pro-military youths who tried to prevent the rally. Another protest had been expected this week. "I'm not surprised, I expected this because this is their way of preventing us from carrying out our activities, but we will continue to defend democracy in Mali. We are a people committed to democracy," Cheick Oumar Doumbia, one of the leaders of the weekend demonstration, told The Associated Press. Goita seized power following coups in 2020 and 2021. Last week, a national political conference said he should be installed as president for a renewable five-year term. On Sunday, civil society figures, political parties and labor leaders held a press conference to call for "a rapid and credible return to constitutional order through the organization of transparent, inclusive and peaceful elections." Police made them leave the scene, citing the risk of confrontation with government supporters. "With this decision, the government has not chosen to calm the political climate in Mali, and the political parties have not yet announced their strategy for making their voices heard, but we expect confrontations with pro-democracy groups in the streets in the future," said Cheick Oumar Konaré, a political analyst and lawyer. This is not the first time the military government has suspended the activities of political parties on the eve of important decisions. In April 2024, the government announced a suspension ahead of an "inter-Malian dialogue" that called for the transition period from a military government to be extended from two to five years. Mali's military leaders have cut diplomatic ties and military cooperation with traditional Western partners and forged new partnerships with Russia. Mali for more than a decade has faced attacks by armed groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State organization, and the threat has been growing.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 23:34:24+00:00	[ "Religion", "Brazil" ]	# AP PHOTOS: Brazilian Order of the Sunrise gather for their annual May 1st ceremony By Eraldo Peres May 1st, 2025, 11:34 PM --- PLANALTINA, Brazil (AP) — Order of the Sunrise followers gathered for their annual May 1st ceremony known as the "Day of the Spiritual Indoctrinator," at their lakeside temple in Planaltina. The Brazilian spiritual community is a blend of influences, including Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Incan, and Afro-Brazilian religions, along with a belief in extraterrestrial life and reincarnation. ____ Follow AP visual journalism: AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 04:03:07+00:00	[ "Grard Depardieu", "Fanny Ardant", "Juliette Binoche", "France", "Cannes Film Festival", "Legal proceedings", "International", "Gerard Depardieu", "Europe", "Paris", "Carine Durrieu Diebolt", "Arts and entertainment", "Courts", "Indictments", "Criminal punishment", "Vincent Perez", "MeToo", "Assault", "Charlotte Arnould", "Sexual assault", "Jrmie Assous", "Entertainment" ]	# Gérard Depardieu found guilty of sexual assault By Sylvie Corbet May 13th, 2025, 04:03 AM --- PARIS (AP) — French movie star Gérard Depardieu was convicted Tuesday of sexually assaulting two women on a set and received an 18-month suspended prison sentence in a case that was widely seen as a post-#MeToo test for the country's film industry. The 76-year-old Depardieu, one of the most prominent figures in French cinema for decades, must also pay both accusers a total of 29,040 euros (around $32,350) in fines, and the court ordered that his name be listed in the national sex offender database. The actor was convicted of groping a 54-year-old woman responsible for decorating the set and a 34-year-old assistant during the filming of "Les Volets Verts" ("The Green Shutters") in 2021. Depardieu, who has denied the accusations, did not attend the hearing in Paris. His lawyer said that his client would appeal the decision. ## Accuser praises the verdict The case offered a fresh assessment of how French society and its filmmakers would handle sexual misconduct allegations against a top actor in the wake of the #MeToo movement. One of the accusers, the set dresser, said she was "very much satisfied" with the verdict. "I'm very moved," she told reporters. "That's a victory for me, really, and a big progress, a step forward. I feel justice was made." Her lawyer, Carine Durrieu Diebolt, said "it is the victory of two women, and it is the victory of all women beyond this trial." "Today we hope to see the end of impunity for an artist in the world of cinema," Durrieu Diebolt said. "I think that with this decision, we can no longer say that he is not a sexual abuser. And today, as the Cannes Film Festival opens, I'd like the film world to spare a thought for Gérard Depardieu's victims." A suspended sentence means that Depardieu does not have to go to prison unless he commits another offense. Suspended sentences are common in France for a wide range of crimes. The court said it took into account Depardieu's age, his poor health and his criminal record, which included one prior unrelated conviction, although the court offered no details. ## Other misconduct allegations arose Depardieu's long and storied career — he told the court that he's made more than 250 films — has turned him into a French movie giant. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1991 for his performance as the swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac. In recent years, the actor has been accused publicly or in formal complaints of misconduct by more than 20 women, but so far only the sexual assault case has proceeded to court. Some other cases were dropped because of a lack of evidence or an expired statute of limitations. During the four-day trial in March, Depardieu rejected the accusations, saying he's "not like that." He acknowledged using vulgar and sexual language on the film set and that he grabbed the set dresser's hips during an argument, but denied that his behavior was sexual. The court, composed of a panel of three judges, concluded that Depardieu's explanations in court were "unpersuasive" and "not credible" and stressed both accusers' "constant, reiterated and substantiated declarations." The court also said that both plaintiffs have been faced with an "aggressive" defense strategy "based on comments meant to offend them." The judges therefore concluded that comments by Depardieu's lawyer in court aggravated the harm to the accusers and justified higher fines. Depardieu lawyer Jérémie Assous regretted that the court "considered that questioning the accusations is an additional assault ... which means that now the defense, even in this type of trial, is no longer accepted." ## The two accusers testified in court The set dresser, whose duties could include choosing the furniture and paintings that will appear in a movie, said the actor used his legs as pincers to hold her as she squeezed past him in a narrow corridor. She said he grabbed her hips then started groping her behind and "in front, around." She ran her hands near her buttocks, hips and pubic area to show where she was touched. She said he then grabbed her chest. The woman also testified that Depardieu used an obscene expression to ask her to touch his penis and suggested he wanted to rape her. She told the court that the actor's calm and cooperative attitude during the trial bore no resemblance to his behavior at work. The other plaintiff, an assistant, said Depardieu groped her buttocks and breasts during three separate incidents on the film set. The Associated Press does not identify by name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they consent to be named. Neither woman has done so in this case, although one has agreed to be pictured. ## Some expressed support for Depardieu Some figures in the French cinema world have expressed their support for Depardieu. Actors Vincent Perez and Fanny Ardant were among those who took seats on his side of the courtroom. French media reported last week that Depardieu was shooting a film directed by Ardant in the Azores archipelago, in Portugal. The actor may have to face other legal proceedings soon. In 2018, actor Charlotte Arnould accused him of raping her at his home. That case is still active, and in August 2024 prosecutors requested that it go to trial. For more than a half-century, Depardieu stood as a towering figure in French cinema, a titan known for his commanding physical presence, instinct, sensibility and remarkable versatility. A bon vivant who overcame a speech impediment and a turbulent youth, Depardieu rose to prominence in the 1970s and became one of France's most prolific and acclaimed actors, portraying a vast array of characters, from volatile outsiders to deeply introspective figures. In recent years, his behavior toward women has come under renewed scrutiny, including after a documentary showed him repeatedly making obscene remarks and gestures during a 2018 trip to North Korea. Actor Juliette Binoche, who presides over the jury for the 78th Cannes Film Festival, said Tuesday that Depardieu is "apparently no longer sacred," adding "it makes us reflect on the power some people have." ___ Associated Press journalists Samuel Petrequin, Catherine Gaschka and Yesica Brumec contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 07:19:43+00:00	[ "Australia", "Mark Dreyfus", "Israel", "Tony Burke", "Ed Husic", "Australia government", "Anthony Albanese", "Richard Marles", "Bilal Rauf", "Michelle Rowland", "Anne Aly", "Hamas", "Islam", "Politics", "Tim Ayres", "Alex Ryvchin", "Elections", "Israel government" ]	# Australian prime minister names new Cabinet that drops Israel critic By Rod Mcguirk May 12th, 2025, 07:19 AM --- MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced his new Cabinet on Monday after former minister Ed Husic blamed his demotion on his own criticism of Israel's war in Gaza. Albanese named the 30 lawmakers who will fill Cabinet and outer-ministry positions after his center-left Labor Party won a landslide victory in the May 3 elections. Labor has claimed 92 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties need a majority to form government. As vote counting continues, Albanese said his government could hold as many as 95 seats. Labor had never held more seats since the first Parliament sat in 1901, he said. "I'm deeply humbled by the trust that was put into my government with the election and we certainly won't take it for granted," Albanese told reporters at Parliament House. While Labor prime ministers allocate the ministerial portfolios, the party's factional leaders pick the 30 lawmakers who will get them based on the proportion of seats each faction won. The factional leaders dropped former Industry and Science Minister Husic, who was born in Sydney to Bosnian Muslim immigrants, and former Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, who is Jewish. Husic, who after the 2022 election became Australia's first federal minister to be sworn into office on a Quran, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Sunday that Albanese should have intervened to keep him and Dreyfus in Cabinet. Husic said his demotion was in part punishment for his views on how Israel has waged war in Gaza. "I think it's been a factor in there. Would I do things differently? I don't think so," Husic told ABC. "You can't celebrate diversity and then expect it to sit in a corner and be silent. You need to speak up … for the communities that you care about," Husic added. Albanese did not directly answer when asked whether he had fought for either Husic or Dreyfus to remain in Cabinet. "We have a process in the Labor Party caucus. You've been watching it for some time," Albanese told reporters. Albanese said he had a "constructive discussion" with Husic on Monday morning. "What I've done is to allocate portfolios. That's the system that's there. It's one that Ed and others have supported for a long period of time," Albanese said. Bilal Rauf, an adviser to the Australian National Imams Council, called for Albanese to explain whether Husic's demotion was due to his views on Gaza. "I think at a minimum, some explanation is warranted. We can't just leave it at explanations about factionalism," Rauf said. "If Ed says that's a factor, I have no reason to discount that," Rauf said. "It's hard to deny that it likely is a factor." Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said his advocacy group had enjoyed good relations with both Dreyfus and Husic. Husic had made statements after Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that were "very troublesome for the community." "He levelled accusations at Israel which we fundamentally disagree with but again reasonable people will differ on these things and we wish Ed Husic all the best," Ryvchin said. Husic said two weeks after the Hamas attacks: "I feel very strongly that Palestinians are being collectively punished … for Hamas' barbarism." Husic said on Sunday the Israeli government had "atrociously managed this." Egypt-born Anne Aly has been promoted to Cabinet, making her the government's most senior Muslim. She is minister for small business, international development and multicultural affairs. Albanese's second-term administration is the first Australian government since 2010 to have no Jewish Cabinet minister. Most of the government's most senior ministers have portfolios that are unchanged or slightly varied. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles remained defense minister. Home Affairs Tony Burke's portfolio has been expanded to include the Australian Federal Police and the nation's main domestic spy agency, Australian Security Intelligence Organization. Tim Ayres, the former assistant trade minister, was promoted to Cabinet to take Husic's portfolio. Dreyfus was replaced by Michelle Rowland, who had been communications minister in the government's first term.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 15:20:23+00:00	[ "Flu", "Children", "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.", "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention", "Immunizations", "Health", "Sean OLeary" ]	# CDC reports 216 child deaths this flu season, the most in 15 years By Mike Stobbe May 2nd, 2025, 03:20 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — More U.S. children have died this flu season than at any time since the swine flu pandemic 15 years ago, according to a federal report released Friday. The 216 pediatric deaths reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eclipse the 207 reported last year. It's the most since the 2009-2010 H1N1 global flu pandemic. It's a startlingly high number, given that the flu season is still going on. The final pediatric death tally for the 2023-2024 flu season wasn't counted until autumn. "This number that we have now is almost certainly an undercount, and one that — when the season is declared over, and they compile all the data — it's almost certain to go up," said Dr. Sean O'Leary, of the American Academy of Pediatrics. There are likely several contributors to this season's severity, but a big one is that fewer children are getting flu shots, added O'Leary, a University of Colorado pediatric infectious diseases specialist. The flu vaccination rate for U.S. children has plummeted from about 64% five years ago to 49% this season. Flu vaccinations may not prevent people from coming down with symptoms, but research shows they are highly effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths, O'Leary said. The season has not only been hard on children. CDC officials have described it as " highly severe," and estimate that so far there have been at least 47 million illnesses, 610,000 hospitalizations and 26,000 deaths this season. CDC officials have information about underlying conditions on nearly 5,200 adults who were hospitalized with flu this season, and 95% had at least one existing health problem. But among 2,000 hospitalized children with more detailed health information, only about 53% had an underlying condition — including asthma and obesity. The CDC report did not say how many of the children who died were vaccinated. The agency did not make an expert available to talk about the flu season. The good news is that flu indicators have been waning since February, and last week all 50 states were reporting low or minimal flu activity. The season has seen more of a mix of flu strain circulating than in many other years, with two different Type A strains — H1N1 and H3N2 — causing a lot of infections. But CDC data released earlier this year suggested flu shots were doing a pretty good job at preventing deaths and hospitalizations. The CDC continues to recommend that everyone ages 6 months and older get an annual flu vaccine. Childhood vaccinations in general have been declining, driven by online misinformation and the political schism that emerged around COVID-19 vaccines. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also echoed some of the rhetoric of antivaccine activists since taking over as the nation's health secretary. But there may be other reasons fewer children got flu shots this year, O'Leary said. Many pediatricians offices are understaffed and are not holding as many after-hours vaccination clinics as in the past. Also, more Americans are getting their vaccinations at pharmacies, but some drugstores don't vaccinate children, he said. "My hope is that this season will be a bit of wake up call for folks that we actually do need to vaccinate our kids against influenza," O'Leary said. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 23:52:29+00:00	[ "Alabama", "Crime", "Karen Lane", "Kay Ivey", "Gregory Hunt", "Capital punishment", "Legal proceedings", "Courts" ]	# Alabama sets a June date for its 5th execution using nitrogen gas May 8th, 2025, 11:52 PM --- MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama plans to carry out another execution by nitrogen gas and has set a June execution date for a man convicted of the 1988 killing of a woman. Gregory Hunt is scheduled to be put to death June 10 for the 1988 beating death of Karen Lane. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Wednesday announced the execution date following authorization by the Alabama Supreme Court. Alabama last year became the first state to carry out an execution with nitrogen gas. Nitrogen has now been used in five executions — four in Alabama and one in Louisiana. The method involves using a gas mask to force a person to breathe pure nitrogen gas, depriving them of the oxygen needed to stay alive. If the execution goes forward, Hunt would be the sixth person put to death by the new execution method. Lane was found dead on Aug. 2, 1988, in the Cordova apartment she shared with another woman. Hunt had been dating the victim, Lane, for about one month before her death, according to court records. Prosecutors said Hunt broke into her apartment and killed her. A physician who performed an autopsy testified that Lane had sustained some 60 injuries, including 20 to the head. A jury in 1990 convicted Hunt of capital murder and recommended by a vote of 11-1 that he receive a death sentence. The Alabama attorney general's office, in a motion seeking the execution date, wrote there was no doubt about his guilt and said that Hunt had admitted to his cellmate that he killed Lane. Lawyers for Hunt had asked the court to wait on an execution date. They argued that a February U.S. Supreme Court decision could be applicable to his longstanding claim that his conviction was unconstitutionally obtained by false or misleading evidence. Hunt had named nitrogen as his preferred method. The selection was made before Alabama had developed procedures for using gas. Alabama also allows to choose lethal injection or the electric chair. If the execution goes forward, it would be the third execution in Alabama this year.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 14:29:33+00:00	[ "Tom Cruise", "Ethan Hunt", "Angela Bassett", "Hannah Waddingham", "Movies", "Film Reviews", "Hayley Atwell", "Media", "Christopher McQuarrie", "Rolf Saxon", "Erika Sloane", "Arts and entertainment", "Ving Rhames", "Esai Morales", "Rebecca Ferguson", "Erik Jendresen", "Simon Pegg", "Lindsey Bahr", "Madonna", "Paris" ]	# 'Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning' review: Tom Cruise goes for broke By Lindsey Bahr May 19th, 2025, 02:29 PM --- Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt is getting a bit of a god complex. It's not exactly his fault after defying death and completing impossible missions time and time again. But in "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning," out Friday, there's a breathlessness to the naive trust from his growing band of disciples, including the U.S. president (the formerly skeptical Erika Sloane of "Fallout," played by Angela Bassett ), and Paris (Pom Klementieff), the once delightfully fun maniac assassin who has been reduced to brooding French philosopher. In a series that has often been best when it's not taking itself too seriously, these dour developments start to feel a little unintentionally silly. And, for at least the first hour, it's all we have to hang onto. Perhaps this is part of the point in pitting a human man against a parasitic artificial intelligence set on inciting nuclear extinction, something we're meant to believe has been brewing in some way since the beginning of the franchise. You can almost see the behind-the-scenes wheels turning: Gravity is kind of a prerequisite when this much is on the line, and when so much pain has been taken to link 30 years and seven movies that were certainly never meant to be connected by anything other than Ethan Hunt. But we don't come to "Mission: Impossible" movies for the bigger picture, and definitely not to learn what the rabbit's foot was in the third movie. We come to be awed by the thrills and Cruise's execution, whether he's speeding through Paris on a motorbike, driving one-handed through Rome in a tiny old Fiat, or hanging on the outside of an airbus, or bullet train, or helicopter, or the Burj Khalifa. And unlike, say, the "Fast & Furious" movies, which long ago jumped the shark, the "Mission" stunts have always felt grounded in some reality and playfulness. It's not just Cruise's willingness to tether himself to all forms of high-speed transportation for our enjoyment. His reactions — surprise, panic, doubt — are unparalleled. Ethan Hunt is never too cool to look unsure. "Final Reckoning," Christopher McQuarrie's fourth "Mission" movie in the director's chair, does deliver two truly unforgettable sequences. One is in a long-defunct submarine at the bottom of the sea that will have you squirming; another involves two classic biplanes careening at 170 miles per hour (274 kilometers per hour) over lush South African landscapes. Though they may induce vertigo on IMAX, these are the things that make the trip to the theater worth it. But be warned: It takes a good long while of labored exposition, manic flashbacks and Oscar broadcast-ready greatest-hits montages to get there. McQuarrie, who co-wrote the script with Erik Jendresen, might have learned the wrong lessons from the past decade of overly interconnected franchise filmmaking. Or perhaps it still seemed like the right call when this two-part finale was put into motion seven years ago. Not only does realizing one previously enjoyable character is related to and motivated by a character from the past do little to raise the stakes, it also bogs everything down. "Final Reckoning" also overstuffs the cast with faces that are almost distracting (like Hannah Waddingham as a U.S. Navy officer, though her American accent is quite good). Maybe it's overcompensating for the movie's flesh-and-bone villain Gabriel (Esai Morales), who seems to be there because Ethan needs someone to chase. There are some fun additions to the lot: "Severance's" Tramell Tillman as a submarine captain, as well as Lucy Tulugarjuk and Rolf Saxon, for anyone wondering what became of the poor guy in the Langley vault. Simon Pegg, as the capably flustered tech wiz Benji, is still great, Ving Rhames gets to flex emotionally, and Bassett really makes you believe she's chosen a U.S. city to destroy as an offering to "The Entity." But many get lost in the unnatural, one-size-fits-all dialogue, which is especially true in the bizarrely sweaty Situation Room where everyone is always finishing each other's sentences. Maybe when you have a larger-than-life movie star, you need larger-than-life character actors. Besides, everyone knows they're there as side players supporting the Cruise show — no one more so than Hayley Atwell as Grace, the once inscrutable pickpocket turned wide-eyed Madonna supporting and tending to Ethan. The loss of Rebecca Ferguson is acutely felt here. The "Mission: Impossible" movies, even when they're mediocre, remain some of the most effortlessly enjoyable cinematic experiences out there, a pure expression of "let's put on a show." There's nothing else quite like it and maybe they've earned this self-important victory lap, though it seems to have gone to the characters' heads. Saving the showstopper for last will certainly leave audiences exiting the theater on a happy high note. But it's hard to shake the feeling that in attempting to tie everything together, "Mission: Impossible" lost the plot. "Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning," a Paramount Pictures release in theaters Friday, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for "bloody images, action, brief language, and sequences of strong violence." Running time: 179 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 22:32:51+00:00	[ "John Prevost", "Pope Leo XIV", "Chicago", "Associated Press", "National", "Indianapolis", "Religion", "Obed Lamy", "Illinois", "Catholic Church", "Rome" ]	# The pope is on the line: AP is there for pontiff's call to his brother in Chicago By Obed Lamy May 9th, 2025, 10:32 PM --- NEW LENOX, Ill. (AP) — It was one of the most surreal phone calls I've experienced. A few hours earlier, John Prevost had watched the TV in stunned disbelief as his younger brother emerged on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica and was named Pope Leo XIV. Journalists quickly showed up at the older brother's front door in suburban Chicago to learn everything they could about the new pontiff. I was one of them. I had arrived at Prevost's home in New Lenox in the early evening after packing up and driving three hours from Indianapolis, where I am based. After walking by other media and news equipment outside, I knocked on the door. Prevost let me come in. As we talked, a ringing came from the basement. Prevost hurried to a tablet downstairs and I followed, my camera on. "That might be the pope," he said. He found he had a few missed phone calls from his brother. He called the pope back, using a speaker to play the audio out loud. The pope picked up. I got the shot — the new pontiff's voice speaking to his older brother, asking him why he hadn't been answering his calls. I was shaking. "Well, first you need to know you're on the air right now," the older brother responded. "This is the first time I'm hearing that this thing rang." The conversation went on for just a few minutes. They talked about the news of the day and discussed making plans for the older brother to come to Rome sometime this week. They talked like regular siblings. During the rest of the interview, Prevost and I spoke about the new pope and the brothers' family. We talked about their childhood in Chicago and the pope's favorite food, which is steak. Prevost told me they FaceTime almost every day and they play The New York Times' game Wordle. He said the last time he had spoken with his brother was Tuesday before the conclave began. I couldn't help but replay over and over in my mind the call, a human moment from one of the world's most divine figures. The pope called his brother, and the brother called back.
Associated Press News	2025-05-11 04:22:35+00:00	[ "Sri Lanka", "Colombo", "Automotive accidents" ]	# Passenger bus skids off a cliff in Sri Lanka, killing 21 people and injuring 35 By Bharatha Mallawarachi May 11th, 2025, 04:22 AM --- COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A passenger bus skidded off a cliff in Sri Lanka's tea-growing hill country on Sunday, killing 21 people and injuring 35 others, a police spokesman said. The accident occurred in the early hours of Sunday near the town of Kotmale, about 140 kilometers (86 miles) east of Colombo, the capital, in a mountainous area of central Sri Lanka, police said. Police spokesman Buddhika Manathunga said 21 people died and another 35 were being treated in hospitals. Local television showed the bus lying overturned at the bottom of a precipice while workers and others helped remove injured people from the rubble. The driver was injured and among those admitted to the hospital for treatment. At the time of the accident, nearly 50 people were traveling on the bus. Manathunga said police launched an investigation to ascertain whether the driver's recklessness or a technical fault of the bus caused the accident. The bus was operated by a state-run bus company, police said. Deadly bus accidents are common in Sri Lanka, especially in the mountainous regions, often due to reckless driving and poorly maintained and narrow roads.
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 23:51:09+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Kristi Noem", "James Comey", "James Blair", "Middle East", "United States government", "U.S. Department of Homeland Security", "U.S. Secret Service", "U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation", "United States", "Attempted assassination of Donald Trump", "Jr.", "Government and politics", "Kash Patel", "Violence" ]	# Secret Service is investigating Comey's '86 47' social media post May 15th, 2025, 11:51 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday that federal law enforcement is investigating a social media post made by former FBI Director James Comey that she and other Republicans suggest is a call for violence against President Donald Trump. In an Instagram post, Comey wrote "cool shell formation on my beach walk" under a picture of seashells that appeared to form the shapes for "86 47." Numerous Trump administration officials, including Noem, said Comey was advocating for the assassination of Trump, the 47th president. "DHS and Secret Service is investigating this threat and will respond appropriately," Noem wrote. Merriam-Webster, the dictionary used by The Associated Press, says 86 is slang meaning "to throw out," "to get rid of" or "to refuse service to." It notes: "Among the most recent senses adopted is a logical extension of the previous ones, with the meaning of 'to kill.' We do not enter this sense, due to its relative recency and sparseness of use." The post has since been deleted. Comey subsequently wrote, "I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message. I didn't realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. "It never occurred to me," Comey added, "but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down." Comey's original post sparked outrage among conservatives on social media, with Donald Trump Jr. accusing Comey of calling for his father's killing. Current FBI Director Kash Patel said he was aware of the post and was conferring with the Secret Service and its director. James Blair, White House deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs, noted that the post came at a delicate time given that Trump is traveling in the Middle East. "This is a Clarion Call from Jim Comey to terrorists & hostile regimes to kill the President of the United States as he travels in the Middle East," Blair wrote on X. Comey, who was FBI director from 2013 to 2017, was fired by Trump during the president's first term amid the bureau's probe into allegations of ties between Russian officials and Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Comey wrote about his career in the best-selling memoir "A Higher Loyalty." He is now a crime fiction writer and is promoting his latest book, "FDR Drive," which is being released on Tuesday.
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 14:25:23+00:00	[ "HIV and AIDS", "Donald Trump", "South Africa", "South Africa government", "Desmond Tutu", "Aaron Motsoaledi", "U.S. Agency for International Development", "Linda Gail Bekker", "United States government", "Health", "Politics" ]	# South Africa says Trump's aid cuts stripped more than 8,000 health workers from its HIV program By Michelle Gumede May 15th, 2025, 02:25 PM --- JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The Trump administration's dismantling of USAID has put more than 8,000 health workers in South Africa's national HIV program out of work, the country's health minister said Thursday, as he outlined the impact of U.S. funding cuts on the biggest AIDS treatment project in the world. The cuts have also closed down 12 specialized HIV clinics that were run by non-governmental organizations in South Africa and funded by the United States Agency for International Development through the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi told reporters. He said health authorities are now registering the more than 60,000 patients who were served by those clinics at state health facilities to continue their life-saving treatment. South Africa has nearly six million people on HIV medication, more than any other country in the world. The clinics that were defunded by the U.S. were largely treating what are known as "key populations," Motsoaledi said. They include gay men and sex workers who are considered at higher risk of HIV infection and who sometimes face stigma at public health facilities. Motsoaledi said the Trump administration had terminated around $436 million annually in funding for HIV treatment and prevention in South Africa, which made up part of the $2.5 billion a year program. The South African government and other donors fund the rest. Viral load testing — which measures how much the HIV virus is present in the blood of patients on treatment — had decreased by 21% since the aid cuts began to take effect in February, the health minister said. He didn't give figures on how the testing program to find those who are HIV positive had been affected. Dr. Linda-Gail Bekker, the CEO of the at Desmond Tutu Health Foundation. said medical professionals are deeply concerned about the possibility of undoing the progress gained in HIV treatment and the loss of healthcare worker jobs. "We know these services have stopped and we are starting to see worrying signs that testing rates are down and other early warning signs that there are gaps," said Bekker. "It would be really helpful if the ministry acknowledged the gaps created and articulated a plan to ensure the gap will be filled at least partially." HIV treatment and prevention is one of the areas that has been impacted most by the termination of U.S. foreign aid, especially in sub-Sahara Africa. The head of the United Nations AIDS agency told The Associated Press in February that the number of new HIV infections globally could jump more than six times by 2029 because of the funding cuts. Motsoaledi denied South Africa's national program was on the brink of collapse, but outlined significant problems like personnel shortages, funding shortfalls, and the difficulties in locating HIV positive persons that need to start treatment. U.S. President Donald Trump's move to terminate more than 90% of foreign aid through the USAID agency has undermined a near 20-year effort to stop HIV deaths in the country worst-hit by the disease. U.S. funding has been critical for South Africa's efforts to stop people dying of AIDS, largely through helping provide free antiretroviral medication that stops the virus replicating in the body. "We must put it categorically clear that under no circumstances will we allow this massive work performed over a period of more than a decade and a half to collapse and go up in smoke because President Trump has decided to do what he has done," Motsoaledi said. South Africa has around 7.7 million people living with HIV, according to the U.N. AIDS agency. Not all of them are on treatment despite it being free. South Africa has recently embarked on a drive to get 1 million more people on treatment. The 8,061 health workers who lost their jobs make up more than half of the health workers funded by USAID through PEPFAR, Motsoaledi said. He said South Africa still has more than 250,000 health workers in the HIV program paid by the government and other donors. While South Africa still has donors like the Global Fund providing financial assistance for its HIV program, Motsoaledi said it was lobbying other governments and aid agencies for assistance, but no new funding had been secured. ___ More AP news on the Trump administration's foreign aid cuts: https://apnews.com/hub/us-agency-for-international-development
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 16:12:25+00:00	[ "Labor", "Jobs and careers", "Marty Makary", "Business", "Chicago", "Medical devices", "Health" ]	# FDA to rehire fired staffers who booked inspection trips, but other workers remain in limbo By Matthew Perrone May 1st, 2025, 04:12 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — For the second time in recent months, the Food and Drug Administration is bringing back some recently fired employees, including staffers who handle travel bookings for safety inspectors. More than 20 of the agency's roughly 60 travel staff will be reinstated, according to two FDA staffers notified of the plan this week, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential agency matters. Food scientists who test samples for bacteria and study potentially harmful chemicals also have been told they will get their jobs back, but have yet to receive any official confirmation. The same uncertainty hangs over employees who process agency records for release to lawyers, companies and journalists under the Freedom of Information Act. About 100 of those staffers were recently eliminated, according to an agency official with direct knowledge of the situation. But in recent days the FDA has missed multiple court-ordered deadlines to produce documents, which could result in hefty fines. That's prompted plans to bring back a significant number of those staffers. The apparent reversals are the latest examples of the haphazard approach to agency cuts that have shrunk FDA's workforce by an estimated 20%, or about 3,500 jobs, in addition to an unspecified number of retirements, voluntary buyouts and resignations. In February, the FDA laid off about 700 provisional employees, including food and medical device reviewers, only to rehire many of them within days after pushback from industry, Congress and other parties. The Department of Health and Human Services hasn't detailed exactly which positions or programs were cut in the mass layoffs. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has repeatedly said that no FDA scientists were fired as part of the reductions. But at least two dozen food scientists who worked in a San Francisco testing laboratory and a Chicago research center were let go in March. An HHS spokesperson suggested the apparent mix-up was due to "the fractured, outdated HR infrastructure we inherited from the Biden administration and are now actively overhauling." The spokesperson did not respond to specific questions about which employees are being reinstated but said the administration will "streamline operations and fix the broken systems left to us." About 15 scientists working in FDA's Division of Food Processing Science and Technology in Chicago were told last week they be will reinstated, according to a staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential agency matters. But a week later there has been no written confirmation and the scientists have not returned to the office. The group's research includes studying ways to prevent harmful bacteria from growing on produce and preventing the spread of microplastics and other particles from food packaging. "I hope Commissioner Makary continues to assess these ill-informed cuts and works to bring back impacted employees expeditiously," said Susan Mayne of Yale University, the FDA's former food director. "His legacy as commissioner is on the line." With more than 15,000 employees remaining across various U.S. and foreign offices, the FDA's core responsibilities are reviewing new drugs, medical products and food ingredients as well as inspecting thousands of factories. Makary has said no inspectors or medical reviewers were fired as part of the recent reductions. But current and former FDA officials note that those frontline employees are often supported by teams of administrative staff. FDA inspectors, for example, have long relied on travel bookers to coordinate trips to India and other countries that often involve visa permissions, security measures, ground transportation, tech support, translation services and other logistics. Inspectors can spend up to half the year traveling, a grueling workload that makes recruiting and retaining staff a challenge. For a brief period last month, inspectors were told they would be booking their own travel. The FDA set up a hotline to assist with making the arrangements. Then, agency leaders developed a plan to hire an outside contractor to perform the work. On Monday, staffers were informed that about a third of the fired staff who performed the work would be returning. ___ AP reporter JoNel Aleccia 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. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 20:16:18+00:00	[ "Dallas", "Texas", "Eugene Escobar Jr." ]	# A Texas suburb that saw its population jump by a third is the fastest-growing city in the US By Jamie Stengle May 16th, 2025, 08:16 PM --- DALLAS (AP) — The fastest-growing city in the U.S. last year was a Dallas suburb that saw its population jump by nearly a third. The number of residents in Princeton, located about 46 miles (74 kilometers) north of Dallas, increased from about 28,000 to 37,000 from 2023 to 2024, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday. The growth has come so quickly that the city — which more than doubled its population since 2020 — has struggled to build roads and infrastructure fast enough as it transforms from a farming community. Princeton Mayor Eugene Escobar Jr. said that when he first moved to the area over a decade ago, there were just two stoplights, and they had to do their shopping in the next town over. Princeton now has several stoplights and a Walmart, he said, but has had to implement a temporary moratorium on new home construction so infrastructure can keep pace. Cities of all sizes grew on average from 2023 to 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 estimates, with New York City, Houston and Los Angeles seeing the greatest numeric gains and some cities in the Northeast and Midwest marking their first population increase in recent years. The U.S. Census Bureau said that two cities in that time period crossed the 1 million-population threshold: Fort Worth, Texas, and Jacksonville, Florida. Fort Worth now joins three other Texas cities topping that mark: Dallas with a population of about 1.3 million, San Antonio at about 1.5 million and Houston at about 2.4 million. Escobar said affordability has been the main draw to Princeton, which still has a small-town feel even as housing developments have blanketed the area. "It's still cheaper to commute and live in Princeton than maybe live closer to work," Escobar said. Median home values there, according to a news release from the city, are around $325,000, which is much lower than nearby suburbs. In addition to Princeton, three other cities in Collin County — Celina, Anna and Melissa — were also among the 15 fastest-growing cities in the U.S. Over the last decade or so, major companies have flocked to Dallas' booming suburbs, fueling a rapid transformation.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 09:03:21+00:00	[ "Germany", "Daniil B.", "Switzerland", "Ukraine", "Cologne", "Crime", "Russia government", "Law enforcement", "Herbert Reul", "Fires", "Arson", "Stefanie Hubig" ]	# Germany and Switzerland arrest 3 over suspected plans to send explosive parcels to Ukraine By Geir Moulson May 14th, 2025, 09:03 AM --- BERLIN (AP) — Three Ukrainian nationals have been arrested in Germany and Switzerland on suspicion of agreeing to send parcels containing explosive or incendiary devices from Germany to Ukraine, apparently at the behest of people acting for Russia, German prosecutors said Wednesday. The men are suspected of acting as secret agents for the purpose of sabotage, as well as agreeing to commit arson and bring about an explosion, federal prosecutors said in a statement. The alleged plans fit a pattern in which Western officials have accused Russia and its proxies of staging dozens of attacks and other incidents across Europe since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago. Two of the men — identified only as Vladyslav T. and Daniil B. in line with German privacy rules — were arrested in different parts of Germany on Friday and Saturday respectively. The third, identified as Yevhen B., was arrested in Tuesday in the northern Thurgau region of neighboring Switzerland. The suspects are accused of telling "one or more people suspected to be acting on behalf of Russian state agencies" around March that they were prepared to carry out attacks on freight transport in Germany, prosecutors said. The alleged plan was for the men to send packages that would explode or catch fire while being transported to Ukraine. One of the suspects, Vladyslav T., dispatched two "test packages" in Cologne at the end of March that contained GPS trackers to scope out possible means of transport, according to prosecutors. He was allegedly tasked with doing so by Yevhen B., who is accused of providing the contents of the packages via Daniil B. German prosecutors did not elaborate further on what was in the packages or on how and where they were dispatched. Herbert Reul, the top security official in North Rhine-Westphalia state, where Cologne is located, said he didn't believe the test packages had contained explosives or fuel. Of the suspects, he said: "The first impression is of low-level agents — people who ... are recruited for not much money and who then do the job for the Russian state." In a previous case last year, Western security officials suspect Russian intelligence was behind a plot to put incendiary devices in packages on cargo planes headed to North America, including one that caught fire at a courier hub in Germany and another that ignited in a warehouse in the U.K. "We know that Russia is trying by all means to destabilize Western democracies, including with deliberate sabotage and perfidious intelligence methods," German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig said following the latest arrests.
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 08:43:41+00:00	[ "Taliban", "Afghanistan", "Abdullah Khan", "Protests and demonstrations", "Seniors" ]	# Thousands protest after a suspected drone strike kills 4 children in northwest Pakistan By Riaz Khan May 20th, 2025, 08:43 AM --- PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A suspected drone strike killed four children and wounded five others in northwest Pakistan, prompting thousands of residents to stage a protest by placing the children's bodies on a main road to demand justice, local elders said on Tuesday. It wasn't immediately clear who was behind Monday's attack in Mir Ali, which has been a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, and there was no comment from the army. "We are not blaming anyone, but we want justice, and the government should tell us who killed our children," local tribal elder Mufti Baitullah said. He warned that the protest, currently staged at one regional roadblock, could expand if authorities fail to answer. "We will not bury the bodies until we are told who is responsible for killing our innocent children," he said, as people chanted "we want justice." There have been civilian casualties in military strikes in some parts of the country in recent years. In March, 11 people, including women and children, were killed when a drone attack targeted a house in the northwestern city of Mardan. A statement by the provincial government at the time had only said that there was "collateral damage" in an operation that was conducted to target militants in a remote village. Residents in March also rallied until the government agreed to compensate the victims' families. Abdullah Khan, the managing director of the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies think tank, said Tuesday that militants also have been using quadcopters to target troops, but it still was unclear who was responsible for the drone attack in Mir Ali. The latest civilian casualties came amid ongoing military operations against the Pakistani Taliban, which have a strong presence in Mir Ali, a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, are a separate insurgent group from the Afghan Taliban, and they often target troops in the region. Nayak Muhammad Dawar, a provincial minister, condemned the attack in a statement Tuesday. He said that investigations were ongoing. Mir Ali and nearby districts located near Afghanistan were long a base for the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups. The TTTP have stepped up attacks in the region in recent months. ___ Rasool Khan contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 17:04:39+00:00	[ "Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud", "Joe Biden", "Saudi Arabia", "Donald Trump", "Jane Fraser", "Jamal Khashoggi", "Royalty", "NVIDIA Corp.", "Jensen Huang", "Politics", "Elon Musk", "United States government", "Ruth Porat", "Saudi Arabia government", "Stephen Schwarzman", "Government policy", "Scandals" ]	# Saudi Arabia greets Trump with lavish royal welcome By Chris Megerian May 13th, 2025, 05:04 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — The fist bump seems so long ago. Three years after Joe Biden's cursory greeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Donald Trump luxuriated in an extravagant royal welcome as he arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Concerns about human rights and fossil fuels in the oil-rich autocracy were nowhere on the agenda. Instead the day was all about cutting deals and celebrating a personal relationship that has endured through scandal and political turmoil. "I really believe we like each other a lot," Trump said as they sat on golden chairs under elaborate chandeliers in the royal palace. During a speech later in the day, the president described Prince Mohammed as an "incredible man" and "my friend." The feeling was clearly mutual. The crown prince addressed his guest as "my dear President Trump," and the Saudis played his campaign anthems — "God Bless the U.S.A." and " YMCA " — during his appearance at an investment forum. For the U.S. Republican president, the visit was a return to the international stage after his comeback election victory (Exactly one year ago, he was on trial in a hush money case and listening to his former lawyer testify against him in a New York City courtroom.) Although Trump recently attended the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, Saudi Arabia was originally intended to be his initial overseas destination, just like in his first term. It served as a gilded debut for a foreign policy focused on securing cash infusions for American businesses. Trump pumped his fist as he stepped out of Air Force One, then descended the stairs to shake hands with Prince Mohammed, who greeted his guest on the tarmac in a rare display of respect. The crown prince, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, has been eager to rehabilitate his global image after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which U.S. intelligence officials accused him of ordering. He's also seeking an economic revival for the kingdom to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, and the occasion was an opportunity to demonstrate that the floodgates for investment were open again. The guest list for an elaborate luncheon was stuffed with corporate executives, including Ruth Porat of Google, Stephen Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group, Jane Fraser of Citicorp, Alex Karp of Palantir and Jensen Huang of NVIDIA. Also attending was Elon Musk, the world's richest person and a top adviser to Trump. As Air Force One approached Riyadh, Saudi pilots in six American-made F-15 fighter jets escorted the plane. After a traditional coffee ceremony inside the royal terminal at the airport, Trump's limousine was flanked by riders on white Arabian horses carrying American and Saudi flags. A honor guard was lined up with golden swords. (Missing from the visit was the orb, a glowing sphere a little bigger than a bowling ball that Trump memorably posed for photos with during his trip to Riyadh in his first term.) Trump has downplayed traditional American alliances in Europe, and often expressed exasperation with the country's trading and defense partners. But there was no such hesitation in Riyadh, and he said the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia "has been a bedrock of security and prosperity," Biden received little of the same pomp when he visited three years ago. He had previously criticized Saudi Arabia as a "pariah" but decided to travel to the kingdom anyway in an implicit acknowledgement that it was too influential of a global player to ignore. The crown prince greeted the Democratic president at the palace, which is where the two leaders exchanged their fist bump. Their only other joint public appearance was all business, as they sat across from each other at a large conference table, flanked by top advisers. Later that year, OPEC+ announced it would reduce oil production in a blow to Biden, whose political fortunes were being battered by inflation. The Democratic president acknowledged that it was "a disappointment, and it says that there are problems" in the U.S.-Saudi relationship. But there was no such friction during Trump's visit. In his speech, the president flattered Saudi Arabia for its economic development and suggested that foreign leaders shouldn't be "giving you lectures on how to live and how to govern your own affairs." "You achieved a modern miracle the Arabian way," Trump said. Prince Mohammed, sitting in the audience, placed his right hand on his heart and beamed.
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 21:31:49+00:00	[ "Lee Adams", "Casey Nicholaw", "Carol Burnett", "Vanessa Williams", "Alan Jay Lerner", "Tony Award", "Dick van Dyke", "Celebrity", "Classical music", "Movies", "Ohio", "Celebrity deaths", "New York City Wire", "Notable Deaths", "Mike Ockrent", "Charles Strouse", "Stephen Schwartz", "Ann-Margret", "Entertainment", "Nadia Boulanger", "New York City", "Jay-Z", "Edward Padula", "Quvenzhane Wallis", "Lukas Graham", "Dorothy Loudon", "New York", "Michael Stewart", "Lauren Bacall", "Conrad Birdie", "Jenn Thompson", "Andrea McArdle", "Clifford Odets", "Aaron Copland", "Thomas Meehan", "Jason Alexander", "Susan Birkenhead" ]	# Broadway composer of 'Annie' Charles Strouse dies By Mark Kennedy May 15th, 2025, 09:31 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Three-time Tony Award-winner Charles Strouse, Broadway's industrious, master melody-maker who composed the music for such classic musical theater hits as "Annie," "Bye Bye Birdie" and "Applause," died Thursday. He was 96. Strouse died at his home in New York City, his family said through the publicity agency The Press Room. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Strouse wrote more than a dozen Broadway musicals, as well as film scores and "Those Were the Days," the theme song for the sitcom "All in the Family." Strouse turned out such popular — and catchy — show tunes as "Tomorrow," the optimistic anthem from "Annie," and the equally cheerful "Put on a Happy Face" from "Bye Bye Birdie," his first Broadway success. "I work every day. Activity — it's a life force," the New York-born composer told The Associated Press during an interview on the eve of his 80th birthday in 2008. "When you enjoy doing what you're doing, which I do very much, I have something to get up for." Deep into his 90s, he visited tours of his shows and met casts. Jenn Thompson, who appeared in the first "Annie" as Pepper and directed a touring version in 2024, recalls Strouse coming to auditions and shedding a tear when a young girl sang "Tomorrow." "He was tearing up and he put his hand on mine," she recalled. "And he leaned in to me and very quietly said, 'That was you. That used to be you.' And I thought I would die. I thought my heart would drop out of my shoes." She added: "He's so gorgeously generous and kind. He has always been that way." ## 'By Bye Birdie' lifts him up His Broadway career began in 1960 with "Bye Bye Birdie," which Strouse wrote with lyricist Lee Adams and librettist Michael Stewart. "Birdie," which starred Dick Van Dyke and Chita Rivera, told the tale of an Elvis Presley-like crooner named Conrad Birdie being drafted into the Army and its effect on one small Ohio town. Strouse not only wrote the music, but he played piano at auditions while Edward Padula, the show's neophyte producer, tried to attract financial backers for a production that would cost $185,000. "We never stopped giving auditions — and people never gave money at all. The idea of using rock 'n' roll — everybody was so turned off," Strouse said. Finally, Padula found Texas oilman L. Slade Brown. When he heard the score, he said, in a Texas twang, "I like those songs," pushed Strouse aside and picked out the tune of "Put on a Happy Face" on the piano. Brown then said, "How much do you fellas need?" and wrote out a check for $75,000 to cover the start of rehearsals. "Suddenly, the world turned Technicolor," Strouse remembered. The popularity of "Birdie" spawned a film (with Van Dyke, Janet Leigh and Ann-Margret) in 1963 and a television adaptation with Jason Alexander and Vanessa Williams in 1995. ## He helped others shine Strouse and Adams gave several non-musical theater stars, including Sammy Davis Jr. and Lauren Bacall, stage successes. For "Golden Boy" (1964), based on the Clifford Odets play, Strouse and Adams had to get Davis' OK for everything. "His agents would not let him sign the contract until he approved every word and note that Lee and I wrote," the composer told the AP. "Which meant that we had to, at great expense to the producer, follow Sammy all over the world. ... We spent three years of our lives, a week or so each month, out in Las Vegas, playing songs for him." "Applause" (1970) was adapted from the Mary Orr short story that became the cinema classic "All About Eve." It was Bacall's musical-theater debut, and the actress won a Tony for her performance, as did Strouse and Adams for their score. But it was "Annie" (1977) that proved to be Strouse's most durable — and long-running — Broadway hit (over 2,300 performances). Chronicling the Depression-era adventures of the celebrated comic strip character Little Orphan Annie, the musical featured lyrics by Martin Charnin and a book by Thomas Meehan. It starred Andrea McArdle as the red-haired moppet and Dorothy Loudon, who won a Tony for her riotous portrayal of mean Miss Hannigan, who ran the orphanage. The musical contained gems such as "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" and "It's the Hard Knock Life." The 1982 film version, which featured Carol Burnett in Loudon's role, was not nearly as popular or well-received. A stage sequel called "Annie Warbucks" ran off-Broadway in 1993. The show was revived on Broadway in 2012 and made into a film starring Quvenzhané Wallis in 2014. NBC put a version on network TV in 2021 called "Annie Live!" ## Jay-Z was a fan Strouse and Charnin, who both won Grammy Awards for the "Annie" cast album, found shards of their work included in Jay-Z's 1998 Grammy-winning album "Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life." "Tomorrow" has been heard on soundtracks from "Shrek 2″ to "Dave" to "You've Got Mail." In 2016, Lukas Graham used parts of the chorus from "Annie" for his "Mama Said" hit. Strouse had his share of flops, too, including two shows — "A Broadway Musical" (1978) and "Dance a Little Closer," a 1983 musical written with Alan Jay Lerner, that closed after one performance. Among his other less-than-successful musicals were "All-American" (1962), starring Ray Bolger, "It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman" (1966), directed by Harold Prince, and "Bring Back Birdie" (1981), a sequel to "Bye Bye Birdie." Yet even his flops contained impressive music, particularly "Rags" (1986), with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and "I and Albert" (1972), a musical about Queen Victoria that had a three-month run in London and was one of Strouse's personal favorites. "All-American" also had a memorable ballad, "Once Upon a Time." Among Strouse's film scores were the music for "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) and "The Night They Raided Minsky's" (1968). One of Strouse last musicals was "Minsky's." A love story set against the backdrop of the fabled burlesque empire, it was the brainchild of English director Mike Ockrent, who died of leukemia in 1999 before the project was completed. By then, Strouse and lyricist Susan Birkenhead had written some dozen songs. "Minsky's" languished until Birkenhead ran into director-choreographer Casey Nicholaw, who asked Bob Martin, star and one of the authors of "The Drowsy Chaperone," to write a new book. It opened in Los Angeles in 2009 but never made it to Broadway. ## How he got his start Strouse always wanted to be a composer and studied very seriously — first in the late 1940s at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, with composer Aaron Copland at the Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts and with composer, conductor and music professor Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Theater beckoned when he and Adams got a chance in the early 1950s to write songs for weekly revues at an Adirondacks summer camp called Green Mansions. Such camps were the training ground for dozens of performers and writers. "I would write a song and I would orchestrate it and copy the parts," he said in the AP interview. "And rehearsal was the next day at nine, so at four in the morning, I am crossing the lake with the parts still wet. I just loved it. I never was happier." His wife, Barbara, died in 2023. He is survived by four children, Ben, Nick, Victoria and William.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 17:12:29+00:00	[ "Henry Cuellar", "Texas", "Laredo", "Chris Flood", "Celia Choy", "Lee Rosenthal", "Houston", "Azerbaijan", "Legal proceedings", "Crime", "Bribery", "Trials", "Colin Strother", "Juries", "Politics", "Juan A. Lozano", "Indictments", "Imelda Cuellar" ]	# Judge denies effort by US Rep Cuellar of Texas to move bribery trial to hometown of Laredo By Juan A. Lozano May 2nd, 2025, 05:12 PM --- HOUSTON (AP) — A judge on Friday denied an effort by lawyers for U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas to move his trial on federal bribery and conspiracy charges from Houston to his hometown of Laredo, Texas. During a Zoom court hearing, Chris Flood, one of Cuellar's lawyers, had argued that Houston is more than 300 miles (482 kilometers) from Laredo, where many of the alleged crimes the congressman is accused of committing took place. Flood also pushed back against claims prosecutors would face difficulties trying Cuellar in Laredo, where he is well known. Federal authorities have charged Cuellar, 69, and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, with accepting thousands of dollars in exchange for the congressman advancing the interests of an Azerbaijan-controlled energy company and a bank in Mexico. Cuellar has said he and his wife are innocent. Celia Choy, a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Justice Department, argued moving the trial would further delay it and she questioned if an unbiased jury could be picked in Cuellar's hometown. U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal cited the prominence Cuellar and his wife have in Laredo as well as having a larger jury pool in the Houston area as some of the reasons for not moving the trial to Laredo. "Houston can handle this case easily, very easily," Rosenthal said. The judge also denied a request by Cuellar's attorneys to push back the start of the trial. The trial for Cuellar and his wife is set to begin Sept. 22. Cuellar and his wife appeared during Friday's Zoom hearing but didn't speak. Since Cuellar's indictment in April 2024, three people have pleaded guilty in connection with the case: Colin Strother, one of Cuellar's top former aides; Florencio Rendon, a Texas political and business consultant; and Irada Akhoundova, who was director of a Texas affiliate of an Azerbaijan energy company. ___ Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 18:21:52+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Weather", "Climate change", "National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration", "Climate and environment", "Science", "Elon Musk", "Associated Press", "Jeff Masters", "United States government", "Kim Doster", "Kristina Dahl", "Climate" ]	# US will stop tracking the costs of extreme weather fueled by climate change By Alexa St. John May 8th, 2025, 06:21 PM --- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will no longer track the cost of climate change-fueled weather disasters, including floods, heat waves, wildfires and more. It is the latest example of changes to the agency and the Trump administration limiting federal government resources on climate change. NOAA falls under the U.S. Department of Commerce and is tasked with daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings and climate monitoring. It is also parent to the National Weather Service. The agency said its National Centers for Environmental Information would no longer update its Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database beyond 2024, and that its information — going as far back as 1980 — would be archived. For decades, it has tracked hundreds of major events across the country, including destructive hurricanes, hail storms, droughts and freezes that have totaled trillions of dollars in damage. The database uniquely pulls information from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's assistance data, insurance organizations, state agencies and more to estimate overall losses from individual disasters. NOAA Communications Director Kim Doster said in a statement that the change was "in alignment with evolving priorities, statutory mandates, and staffing changes." Scientists say these weather events are becoming increasingly more frequent, costly and severe with climate change. Experts have attributed the growing intensity of recent debilitating heat, Hurricane Milton, the Southern California wildfires and blasts of cold to climate change. Assessing the impact of weather events fueled by the planet's warming is key as insurance premiums hike, particularly in communities more prone to flooding, storms and fires. Climate change has wrought havoc on the insurance industry, and homeowners are at risk of skyrocketing rates. One limitation is that the dataset estimated only the nation's most costly weather events. The information is generally seen as standardized and unduplicable, given the agency's access to nonpublic data, and other private databases would be more limited in scope and likely not shared as widespread for proprietary reasons. Other datasets, however, also track death estimates from these disasters. Jeff Masters, a meteorologist for Yale Climate Connections, pointed to substitutes from insurance brokers and the international disaster database as alternative sources of information. Still, "The NOAA database is the gold standard we use to evaluate the costs of extreme weather," Masters said, "and it's a major loss, since it comes at a time when we need to better understand how much climate change is increasing disaster losses." These moves also don't "change the fact that these disasters are escalating year over year," Kristina Dahl, vice president of science at nonprofit climate organization Climate Central. "Extreme weather events that cause a lot of damage are one of the primary ways that the public sees that climate change is happening and is affecting people." "It's critical that we highlight those events when they're happening," she added. "All of these changes will make Americans less safe in the face of climate change." The move, reported Thursday by CNN, is yet another of President Donald Trump's efforts to remove references to climate change and the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the weather from the federal government's lexicon and documents. Trump has instead prioritized allies in the polluting coal, oil and gas industries, which studies say are linked or traced to climate damage. The change also marks the administration's latest hit overall to the weather, ocean and fisheries agency. The Trump administration fired hundreds of weather forecasters and other federal NOAA employees on probationary status in February, part of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency efforts to downsize the federal government workforce. It began a second round of more than 1,000 cuts at the agency in March, more than 10% of its workforce at the time. At the time, insiders said massive firings and changes to the agency would risk lives and negatively impact the U.S. economy. Experts also noted fewer vital weather balloon launches under NOAA would worsen U.S. weather forecasts. More changes to the agency are expected, which could include some of those proposed in the president's preliminary budget. The agency's weather service also paused providing language translations of its products last month — though it resumed those translations just weeks later. ___ Read more of AP's climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment. ___ Data journalist Mary Katherine Wildeman contributed from Hartford, Connecticut. ___ Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at [email protected]. ___ 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	2025-05-16 19:51:52+00:00	[ "Workplace culture", "Strikes", "Donald Trump", "Gender", "Texas", "Joe Biden", "Discrimination", "Matthew J. Kacsmaryk", "Ken Paxton", "Liz Theran", "Associated Press", "Jonathan Segal", "Kevin Roberts", "Politics", "Duane Morris", "Brittany Panuccio", "Andrea Lucas", "Tiffany Stacy", "Business" ]	# Federal judge strikes down workplace protections for transgender workers By Claire Savage May 16th, 2025, 07:51 PM --- A federal judge in Texas struck down guidance from a government agency establishing protections against workplace harassment based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Thursday determined that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission exceeded its statutory authority when the agency issued guidance to employers against deliberately using the wrong pronouns for an employee, refusing them access to bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity, and barring employees from wearing dress code-compliant clothing according to their gender identity because they may constitute forms of workplace harassment. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects employees and job applicants from employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. The EEOC, which enforces workplace anti-discrimination laws, had updated its guidance on workplace harassment in April of last year under President Joe Biden for the first time in 25 years. It followed a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that gay, lesbian and transgender people are protected from employment discrimination. Texas and the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind Project 2025, in August challenged the guidance, which the agency says serves as a tool for employers to assess compliance with anti-discrimination laws and is not legally binding. Kacsmaryk disagreed, writing that the guidance creates "mandatory standards ... from which legal consequences will necessarily flow if an employer fails to comply." The decision marks the latest blow to workplace protections for transgender workers following President Donald Trump's Jan. 20 executive order declaring that the government would recognize only two "immutable" sexes — male and female. Kacsmaryk, a 2017 Trump nominee, invalidated all portions of the EEOC guidance that defines "sex" to include "sexual orientation" and "gender identity," along with an entire section addressing the subject. "Title VII does not require employers or courts to blind themselves to the biological differences between men and women," he wrote in the opinion. Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts commended the decision in an emailed statement: "The Biden EEOC tried to compel businesses — and the American people — to deny basic biological truth. Today, thanks to the great state of Texas and the work of my Heritage colleagues, a federal judge said: not so fast." He added: "This ruling is more than a legal victory. It's a cultural one. It says no — you don't have to surrender common sense at the altar of leftist ideology. You don't have to pretend men are women." Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also touted the victory against "Biden's 'Pronoun Police' Rule" in a Friday press release, saying: "The federal government has no right to force Texans to play along with delusions or ignore biological reality in our workplaces." The National Women's Law Center, which filed an amicus brief in November in support of the harassment guidance, blasted the decision in an emailed statement. "The district court's decision is an outrage and blatantly at odds with Supreme Court precedent," said Liz Theran, senior director of litigation for education and workplace justice at NWLC. "The EEOC's Harassment Guidance reminds employers and workers alike to do one simple thing that should cost no one anything: refrain from degrading others on the job based on their identity and who they love. This decision does not change the law, but it will make it harder for LGBTQIA+ workers to enforce their rights and experience a workplace free from harassment." Kacsmaryk offered a more narrow interpretation of Bostock v. Clayton County, the landmark Supreme Court case that established discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ workers, saying in his decision that the Supreme Court "firmly refused to expand the definition of 'sex' beyond the biological binary," and found only that employers could not fire workers for being gay or transgender. Employment attorney Jonathan Segal, a partner at Duane Morris who advises companies on how best to comply with anti-discrimination laws, emphasized that legal minds may disagree on the scope of Bostock, and Kacsmaryk's decision is just one interpretation. "If you assume that a transgender employee has no rights beyond not being fired for transgender status, you are likely construing their rights too narrowly under both federal and state law," which would put employers in a risky position, Segal said. And regardless of whether explicit guidance is in place, employers still need to address gender identity conflicts in the workplace, according to Tiffany Stacy, an Ogletree Deakins attorney in San Antonio who defends employers against claims of workplace discrimination. "From a management perspective, employers should be prepared to diffuse those situations," Stacy said. The EEOC in fiscal year 2024 received more than 3,000 charges alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and 3,000-plus in 2023, according to the agency's website. The U.S. Department of Justice and the EEOC declined to comment on the outcome of the Texas case. EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas, a Trump appointee, voted against the harassment guidelines last year but has been unable to rescind or revise them after Trump fired two of the three Democratic commissioners, leaving the federal agency without the quorum needed to make major policy changes. But earlier this month, Trump tapped an assistant U.S. attorney in Florida, Brittany Panuccio, to fill one of the vacancies. If Panuccio is confirmed by the Senate, the EEOC would regain a quorum and establish a Republican majority 2-1, clearing the path to fully pivot the agency toward focusing on Trump's priorities. "It is neither harassment nor discrimination for a business to draw distinctions between the sexes in providing single-sex bathrooms," Lucas wrote in a statement expressing her dissent to that aspect of the guidelines. In her four-month tenure as Acting Chair, Lucas has overhauled the agency's interpretation of civil rights law, including abandoning seven of its own cases representing transgender workers alleging they have experienced discrimination, and instructing employees to sideline all new gender identity discrimination cases received by the agency. ________ The Associated Press' women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 14:21:28+00:00	[ "Joe Biden", "Mens health", "Donald Trump", "Prostate cancer", "Cancer", "Political debates", "Health", "Politics" ]	# Nodule found in Joe Biden's prostate during exam May 13th, 2025, 02:21 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — A small nodule was found in the prostate of former President Joe Biden during a routine physical exam, a spokesperson said Tuesday. A short statement said the finding "necessitated further evaluation," but it was not clear whether that had already taken place or the outcome of the examination. The detection of nodules in the prostate generally requires a further exam by a urologist to rule out prostate cancer. These kinds of abnormal growths can be caused by cancer or by less serious conditions, including inflammation or an enlarged prostate. Biden is 82. His age and concerns about his health were cited by Democratic leaders who pressed him to abandon his reelection bid in 2024 following a disastrous debate performance last June. But as recently as last week, Biden rejected concerns about his age, saying the broader party didn't buy into that, and instead blaming the Democratic leadership and "significant contributors." President Donald Trump repeatedly raised questions about Biden's physical and mental capacity during the campaign. In February 2023, Biden had a skin lesion removed from his chest that was a basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer. And in November 2021, he had a polyp removed from his colon that was a benign, but potentially pre-cancerous lesion.
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 21:16:29+00:00	[ "Joe Biden", "Newark", "Pete Buttigieg", "Sean Duffy", "Donald Trump", "Federal Aviation Administration", "New York City Wire", "Aviation safety", "Chris Meagher", "Business", "Kristen Alsop", "Technology" ]	# Software update keeps Newark airport radar online but network concerns and flight limits remain By Josh Funk May 12th, 2025, 09:16 PM --- A new software update prevented a third radar outage in the last two weeks at New Jersey's busy Newark airport when a telecommunications line failed again over the weekend, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday. At a news conference, Duffy also said the recent problems that have led to hundreds of cancellations and delays in Newark could have been avoided had action been taken by President Joe Biden's administration to better equip the air traffic control facility in Philadelphia — particularly after issues with the hardware in October and November that should have set off alarms. The delays continued at Newark Liberty International Airport on Monday evening with average backups of more than 1 1/2 hours. This time it wasn't caused by technical failures, but a shortage of air traffic controllers that has been made worse because several of them went on leave due after the first radar outage under a 45-day trauma leave, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Kristen Alsop. The FAA had already restricted traffic into Newark after the first incident due to the staffing shortages. Those limits, designed to keep flights safe, combined with an ongoing runway construction project in Newark, has created lingering cancellations and delays. Later this week, the FAA will meet with all the airlines to discuss making those limits last into the summer. Duffy said the update the Federal Aviation Administration installed Friday night helped ensure the backup system worked on Sunday when there was another problem with the primary line coming into the air traffic control facility in Philadelphia. When a similar issue happened Friday and on April 28, the radar and communications systems went offline briefly, leaving controllers unable to see or talk to the planes. Even though the radar system stayed online Sunday, controllers were worried because of the two previous outages, so Duffy said they stopped all traffic at Newark airport for about 45 minutes as a precaution. Duffy said he will request an investigation into last year's move of Newark air traffic controllers from New York to Philadelphia to determine why more wasn't done to ensure there wouldn't be problems. Philadelphia is about 85 miles (137 kilometers) southwest of Newark. "The Biden-Buttigieg FAA bungled this move without properly hardening the telecom lines feeding the data, which was already well-known to be error-prone," Duffy said. "Without addressing the underlying infrastructure, they added more risk to the system." Duffy also said the FAA should have set up a new radar system for Newark in Philadelphia instead of piping the signal in from New York for controllers. Duffy and President Donald Trump have said that the problems in Newark are a prime example of why they developed a multibillion-dollar plan to overhaul that nation's air traffic control system, unveiled last week. Duffy blames the Biden administration for failing to do that, but those problems go back decades, even before the first Trump administration. An adviser to former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Duffy should spend more time trying to deal with the nation's problems, and he defended the Biden administration's efforts to bolster air traffic controller hiring and make a down payment on dealing with some of the infrastructure problems. "Secretary Duffy has a tough job. But he needs to spend more time doing what the American people are paying him to do — fix problems — and less time blaming others," said Chris Meagher. Duffy laid out an extensive plan to replace the nation's outdated air traffic control system last week, including installing 4,600 new high-speed data connections and replacing 618 radars, but didn't put a price tag on the plan other than to say it will cost billions. The FAA has installed new fiber optic lines at Newark airport and New York's Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports to replace old copper wires since the first outage, but plans to spend the next two weeks testing those new lines out before switching over to them.
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 05:18:27+00:00	[ "Romania", "Europe", "Romania government", "Maia Sandu", "Viktor Orban", "European Union", "Global elections", "Censorship", "Siegfried Muresan", "Run-off elections", "Elections", "North Atlantic Treaty Organization", "Alexandra Bejinariu", "Politics", "Belgium government", "Andrei Grajdeanu", "Voting", "Nationalism", "George Simion" ]	# Romania braces for crossroads presidential runoff viewed as a choice between East or West By Stephen Mcgrath May 16th, 2025, 05:18 AM --- BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — As Romania braces for a high-stakes presidential runoff this weekend between two starkly different candidates, 25-year-old medical resident Alexandra Bejinariu is anxious about which direction her European Union nation will choose in the closely watched vote. Like many voters, the young medic views Sunday's ballot between hard-right nationalist frontrunner George Simion and pro-Western reformist and incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan as a choice for the country's geopolitical future. It's a choice between "East or West," she told The Associated Press in Bucharest. "It has divided my family, my relatives, my friends," she said. Romania is gripped by a deep political crisis after a top court voided the previous election in which the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped the first round, following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow has denied. ## A nation divided by election crisis Deep societal divisions have been exposed during Romania's chaotic election cycle, and Bejinariu said she fears that a Simion presidency would undermine Romania's long-standing Western alliances. "I think it's a big risk," she said. "It has to change, but I don't know in what direction it will change," she added. "I hope that our future will be good … it really gives me anxiety this election." After coming fourth in last year's canceled race, Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, backed Georgescu who was banned in March from standing in the redo. Simion then surged to frontrunner in the May 4 rerun after becoming the standard-bearer for the hard right. Years of endemic corruption and growing anger toward Romania's political establishment has fueled a surge in support for nationalist figures, reflecting a broader pattern seen across Europe. The AUR party says it stand for "family, nation, faith, and freedom" and rose to prominence in a 2020 parliamentary election. It has since grown to become the second-largest party in the Romanian legislature. To his critics, Simion is a pro-Russian extremist who threatens Romania's longstanding alliances in the European Union and NATO. But in an AP interview last week, he rejected the accusations, saying Russia is his country's biggest threat, and that he wants Romania to be treated as "equal partners" in Brussels. "Some fake news were saying that we want to exit the European project," he said. "Tough luck." ## Local surveys indicate a tight race Most recent local surveys indicate the runoff has narrowed to a near tie, after earlier ones showed Simion holding a lead over Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician who rose to prominence as a civic activist fighting against illegal real estate projects. Dan founded the reformist Save Romania Union party in 2016 but later left, and is running independently on a pro-EU ticket, reaffirming Western ties, support for Ukraine, and fiscal reform. At a rally in Bucharest on Sunday, he also addressed the growing tensions. "How did it come to this, that in a country with hardworking, decent people, there is so much hatred and division, that families and circles of friends are torn apart over political opinions," he said. "We need to project hope." Simion, also a former activist who campaigned for reunification with neighboring Moldova, says he would focus on reforms: slashing red tape, reducing bureaucracy and taxes. But he insists that his main goal is to restore democracy. "My platform is to return to democracy, to the will of the people," he said. The presidential role carries a five-year term and significant decision-making powers in national security and foreign policy. Voting stations set up in other countries opened on Friday. ## A choice for geopolitical future Siegfried Muresan, a Romanian member of the European Parliament, told the AP that Sunday's vote is the first election since communism ended in which Romania's geopolitical orientation is at stake. "The election is about choosing between the European model, the European way of life, which is based on democracy, freedom of expression, freedom of press, rule of law, development, unity, solidarity," he said. "And the Russian model, which is the exact opposite — it's more than just the presidential election." In a local televised debate last week, Simion railed against EU officials whom he called the "globalists in Brussels," and voiced admiration for Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a longtime critic of the 27-nation bloc. "That is precisely why many of his positions, not all … will be state policy in Romania," said Simion, who opposes further military aid to neighboring Ukraine or sending troops from NATO countries to protect any peace agreements, fearing escalation. Simion's activities in Moldova led to allegations he was trying to destabilize the country and a ban on his entry there. He is also banned from entering Ukraine for "systemic anti-Ukrainian" activities. Moldova's pro-Western President Maia Sandu posted a public message this week in support of Dan, saying Moldovans understand the value of being "part of the European family," and urged Moldovans with dual Romanian citizenship to vote to "protect what Romania has already achieved, but which is now under threat." Hours after voting opened on Friday, Simion accused the Moldovan government of election fraud, claims that were quickly rejected by Moldovan and Romanian authorities. "These statements are intended to sow distrust and hostility, with the aim of influencing the election process," Romania's foreign ministry said in a statement. ## Turnout could decide vote outcome In the first round on May 4, Simion won a massive 61% of Romania's large diaspora vote, with his calls to patriotism resonating with Romanians who moved abroad in search of better opportunities. Claudiu Tufis, an associate professor of political science at the University of Bucharest, says Sunday's result will likely boil down to turnout, which is often higher in the second round vote. "Turnout will be the key," he said. He added that Simion lacks adequate experience for high office and fears he would quickly target civil society organizations. "That is a significant problem," he said. "What is driving him is his focus on identity politics. He has absolutely no experience when it comes to foreign policy ... economy, and no experience when it comes to public administration." For energy sector worker Rares Ghiorghies, 36, Simion represents a new form of patriotic conservatism that he feels is needed to overhaul an outdated political class. "I think about freedom, dignity, equal rights for everyone, prosperity, and healthy principles, not what we have now: manipulation, censorship, and incompetence in everything related to the state system," he said. "We need a role model, a patriot who knows that you can achieve more with your heart than with your brain," Ghiorghies said. Tensions in society are being further amplified online, where networks of coordinated disinformation have emerged as a pervasive force through the entire election cycle. ## Disinformation deluge ramps up for runoff Cyabra, an AI-powered platform that studies online influence campaigns, analyzed hundreds of comments on both candidates' official X accounts after the first round, and concluded that a large percentage came from fake accounts. Those posts reached a peak on the day of the election and the day after in what appeared to be a synchronized campaign, the group said, with most of them criticizing Dan using rhetoric such as "foreign puppet," or praising Simion with slogans such as "Well done, Romania!" Andrei Grajdeanu, a 34-year-old dental technician, says he feels Romanians were long divided but that social media has exposed the division. "I think everybody needs to go to the vote to express their opinion, and that's it," he said. "Don't fight with family, friends, or each other."
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 20:13:33+00:00	[ "Dementia", "Alzheimers disease", "U.S. Food and Drug Administration", "District of Columbia", "Medication", "Health", "Business", "Michelle Tarver" ]	# FDA OKs first blood test that can help diagnose Alzheimer's disease By Matthew Perrone May 16th, 2025, 08:13 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials on Friday endorsed the first blood test that can help diagnose Alzheimer's and identify patients who may benefit from drugs that can modestly slow the memory-destroying disease. The test can aid doctors in determining whether a patient's memory problems are due to Alzheimer's or a number of other medical conditions that can cause cognitive difficulties. The Food and Drug Administration cleared it for patients 55 and older who are showing early signs of the disease. More than 6 million people in the United States and millions more around the world have Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia. The new test, from Fujirebio Diagnostics, Inc., identifies a sticky brain plaque, known as beta-amyloid, that is a key marker for Alzheimer's. Previously, the only FDA-approved methods for detecting amyloid were invasive tests of spinal fluid or expensive PET scans. The lower costs and convenience of a blood test could also help expand use of two new drugs, Leqembi and Kisunla, which have been shown to slightly slow the progression of Alzheimer's by clearing amyloid from the brain. Doctors are required to test patients for the plaque before prescribing the drugs, which require regular IV infusions. "Today's clearance is an important step for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis, making it easier and potentially more accessible for U.S. patients earlier in the disease," said Dr. Michelle Tarver, of FDA's center for devices. A number of specialty hospitals and laboratories have already developed their own in-house tests for amyloid in recent years. But those tests aren't reviewed by the FDA and generally aren't covered by insurance. Doctors have also had little data to judge which tests are reliable and accurate, leading to an unregulated marketplace that some have called a "wild west." Several larger diagnostic and drug companies are also developing their own tests for FDA approval, including Roche, Eli Lilly and C2N Diagnostics. The tests can only be ordered by a doctor and aren't intended for people who don't yet have any symptoms. ___ AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard contributed to this story ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 19:44:20+00:00	[ "Colman Domingo", "James Corden", "Anne Hathaway", "Fashion", "Met Gala", "Carolina Herrera", "Thom Browne", "Anna Wintour", "Halle Berry", "Madonna", "Apparel and accessories manufacturing", "Marc Jacobs", "Entertainment", "Claire Stern Milch", "Race and ethnicity", "Zendaya", "Valentino Garavani", "Brandon Tan", "Mindy Kaling", "Ozwald Boateng", "Alessandro Michele", "Ayo Edebiri", "Tom Marchitelli", "Tracee Ellis Ross", "Henry Golding", "Sergio Hudson", "Rosa Parks", "Tessa Thompson", "Andr Leon Talley", "LaQuan Smith", "Saquon Barkley", "Rikki Byrd", "Lewis Hamilton", "Kevin Huynh", "Marie Claire", "Jalen Hurts", "Holly Alford", "Lifestyle", "Walton Goggins", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Who were the best and worst dressed at the Met Gala? By Beatrice Dupuy and Leanne Italie May 6th, 2025, 07:44 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Pinstripes. All Ways. Hats galore. Pantsuits. Gown suits. Zoot suits. Canes. A single cigar (looking at you Madonna) — and expert displays of tailoring. The Met Gala crowd, for the most part, did the Black dandy menswear theme proud at fashion's biggest party of the year. "Those that researched the moment and pulled inspiration from history made it modern and their own. I loved it," said Holly Alford, assistant dean and an associate professor in the fashion and merchandising program at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts. Among her favorites: Colman Domingo's homage to dandy icon André Leon Talley. It was one of many that honored the towering fashion figure, a rare Black fashion editor in a largely white industry. And among others in odes to Talley, who died in 2022, were Anne Hathaway in a Carolina Herrera dress she picked specifically for him. "We wanted André Leon Talley to look down from heaven and scream 'GLAMOUR,'" Hathaway said on the Vogue livestream Monday night. ## Inventive glamour energy of the night A glamorous night it was, and an inventive one at that amid a broad White House siege on DEI programs and protections that serve immigrants, LGBTQ+ people and myriad others. What does that have to do with fashion and the theme this year? Everything, in terms of Black power, ownership, heritage and, most importantly, freedom. What, exactly, was the suggested dress code? It was "Tailored for You," inspired by Black dandyism through time, the subject of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's spring show at its Costume Institute. On the blue carpet, a bit soggy from drenching rain, guests played with the fundamentals of fashion to make their looks their own with the help of designers and stylists. And many honored their heritages in special touches like the cowrie shells on the cuffs of Lewis Hamilton's Wales Bonner jacket. The shells pay homage to Black diasporic culture, to spirituality, to memory, said Rikki Byrd, assistant professor of visual culture studies at the University of Texas at Austin and founder of the Black Fashion Archive. Tessa Thompson honored Talley with a fan adorned with his image. "It's representative of a church fan and André Leon Talley often talked about his first introduction to fashion was through his church," Byrd said. Teyana Taylor was a standout for Shantrelle P. Lewis, author of "Dandy Lion: The Black Dandy and Street Style." With her cane, in her red velvet cape, "she understood the assignment," Lewis said. Taylor's cape was emblazoned with her nickname in honor of her home turf: "Harlem Rose." And she, like Swizz Beatz, donned a durag. ## Some underwhelmed by how guests did Lewis, who has been seminal in understanding dandyism, said the attire on the carpet was generally underwhelming. "The lack of color, the lack of African print, even the absence of African designers. I said, 'Where is the Black dandyism?'" she said. "No sartorial risks were taken." Big risks? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Brandon Tan, fashion director for Cosmopolitan, was satisfied. "A classic silhouette can be completely reimagined by something as simple as the color and fabrication of the textile, as seen on Henry Golding," he said. "Inversely, a very classic gray wool can be totally remixed by the cut and silhouette like Walton Goggins' kilt look by Thom Browne." ## Who missed the boat altogether? A few simply showed up in comparatively routine black tuxedos (hello James Corden) and questionable spins on the theme (Sorry, Halle Berry, but that was a lot of skin in the crotch area). Coattails of varying lengths were a huge trend amid the sea of hats and head pieces anticipated ahead of the gala that brought together A-listers from the worlds of sports, entertainment, music, art, literature, politics and more to raise money for the Costume Institute. Black and white looks carried the night, with enough pops of color to keep it interesting. ## Colman Domingo and his many fans Kevin Huynh, InStyle's fashion director, also praised Domingo, who wore a huge Talley-esque collared blue cape first, then ditched the cape to reveal a pearled window-pane jacket he wore with dot accessories. "As the undisputed king of the red carpet, his regal look was beyond appropriate for the night's theme," Huynh said. "He fully embodied the spirit of dandyism in not one but two statement-making looks from Valentino, and he aced it in terms of being unapologetically bold and flawlessly fanciful." That "fearlessness and individuality," he said, is what the night was all about. "After a marathon awards season run, his Met Gala red carpet reveal was well worth the wait. From the moment he stepped out of The Carlyle draped in a jewel-toned Valentino cape, it was clear that more was coming," said Claire Stern Milch, Elle's digital director. "And when he finally arrived on the steps, his custom three-piece zoot suit, also designed by Alessandro Michele, was a playful and sophisticated nod to the theme," she added. Milch called Domingo's oversized polka dot flower on one lapel undoubtedly the highlight. The look, she said, was the "perfect marriage of classic tailoring and avant-garde flair." Nikki Ogunnaike, editor-in-chief of Marie Claire, noted that suiting of all kinds wasn't a huge surprise, considering the style guidance from Vogue's Anna Wintour, who puts the gala together each year. "My favorites included Ayo Edebiri in Ferragamo, Tracee Ellis Ross in Marc Jacobs, Zendaya and Lisa in Louis Vuitton, Colman Domingo in Valentino and Mindy Kaling in Harbison, all of whom interpreted dandyism and suiting in their own unique way," she said. ## Athletes turned out at 2025 Met Gala Athletes, meanwhile, also took the spotlight. Tailoring for them is a special craft that Tom Marchitelli, custom menswear designer and stylist, takes into consideration with all the suits he creates for NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball players. "These guys have these superhero builds, as I like to say, and they can't walk into any store on Fifth Ave, in Rodeo, anywhere and just pick out a suit off the rack to fit them," he said. Marchitelli said he appreciated the clean form-fitting looks on Philadelphia Eagles players Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley. "To have this many athletes showcased, I think that says a lot about how important sport is to culture, pop culture in America, how influential the athletes are," he said. ## Black designers represented The night's vibe was inspired by the exhibit called "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style." It's the first Costume Institute show to focus exclusively on Black designers, and the first in more than 20 years devoted to menswear. Big-time Black designers and smaller brands of creatives of color were represented on the carpet. They included Sergio Hudson, LaQuan Smith and Ozwald Boateng, a former wunderkind of Savile Row. ## Others who were not so much So who are some others who blew it, or didn't even try to spin the theme? Blackpink's Lisa might have walked the line in her look by Vuitton, a gala sponsor. She went pantless with little faces on black undies to go with her matching jacket and LV logo sheer stockings. Some on social media thought the faces were Rosa Parks. They weren't, a representative told The Cut, explaining they were "portraits of figures who have been a part of the artist's life." OK. So it goes. Undie portraits might not be a good idea in general. As for Corden, The Cut posted a video of him in his mere mortal look and viewers threw some barbs, including one who called him "James Boredon" giving "a total snooze fest per usual." Ouch, James. ___ For more coverage of the 2025 Met Gala, visit https://apnews.com/hub/met-gala.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 14:41:22+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Kilmar Abrego Garcia", "Maryland", "El Salvador", "United States government", "Paula Xinis", "United States", "DC Wire", "Immigration", "Politics" ]	# Trump administration invokes state secrets privilege in Abrego Garcia case May 8th, 2025, 02:41 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is invoking the " state secrets privilege " in an apparent attempt to avoid answering a judge's questions about its mistaken deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis disclosed the government's position in a two-page order on Wednesday. She set a Monday deadline for attorneys to file briefs on the issue and how it could affect Abrego Garcia's case. Xinis also scheduled a May 16 hearing in Greenbelt, Maryland, to address the matter. The Republican administration previously invoked the same legal authority to cut off a judge's inquiry into whether it defied an order to turn around planes deporting Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador. Abrego Garcia, 29, has been imprisoned in his native El Salvador for nearly two months. His mistaken deportation has become a flash point for President Donald Trump's immigration policies and his increasing friction with the U.S. courts. Trump has said he could call El Salvador's president and have Abrego Garcia, who was living in Maryland, returned to the United States. Instead, Trump has doubled down on his claims that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang. Police in Maryland had identified Abrego Garcia as an MS-13 gang member in 2019 based off his tattoos, Chicago Bulls hoodie and the word of a criminal informant. But Abrego Garcia was never charged. His lawyers say the informant claimed Abrego Garcia was in an MS-13 chapter in New York, where Abrego Garcia has never lived. The administration has balked at telling Xinis what, if anything, it has done to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return to the U.S. The judge ruled that his lawyers can question several Trump administration officials under oath about the government's response to her orders. In a court filing Wednesday, his lawyers said they already have conducted depositions of three officials and are "still in the dark" about the government's efforts to free Abrego Garcia. They are asking for permission to depose a more officials, possibly including one from the White House.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 17:56:22+00:00	[ "Tampa", "Money laundering", "U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration", "Colombia government", "Jos Irizarry", "Omar Ambuila", "Corporate crime", "Colombia", "Crime", "Legal proceedings", "Virginia M. Hernandez Covington", "Diego Marn", "Courts", "Joseph Palazzo", "Victor D. Martinez" ]	# Ex-Colombian official sentenced to 12 years in money laundering case tied to DEA misconduct By Joshua Goodman and Jim Mustian May 8th, 2025, 05:56 PM --- TAMPA, Florida (AP) — A federal judge sentenced a former Colombian customs worker on Thursday to more than 12 years in prison for taking more than $1 million in bribes in a money laundering conspiracy involving a corrupt U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent. Omar Ambuila, 64, pleaded guilty on the second day of a trial this year that had been expected to shed new light on a misconduct scandal in which more than a dozen U.S. federal agents were quietly disciplined or ousted from their jobs. Among the would-be witnesses was José Irizarry, a DEA agent now serving a 12-year prison sentence for skimming millions of dollars from money laundering stings to fund a decade's worth of luxury overseas travel, fine dining, top seats at sporting events and frat house-style debauchery. Prosecutors said Ambuila deserved a harsh sentence for abusing his trust as one of the highest-ranking officials at the Colombian port of Buenaventura, a major transit point for U.S.-bound cocaine. At one point, prosecutors said, Ambuila held himself out as a retired soccer player while buying a Lamborghini to conceal "the corrupt nature" of his wealth. Prosecutor Joseph Palazzo told a judge in Tampa federal court that Ambuila had made a series of "particularly obscene purchases" in Miami, including the luxury vehicle and rental waterfront properties. "This is not about someone from extremely deprived or humble beginnings going down a wayward path reluctantly," Palazzo said. "This was a calculated crime." U.S. District Court Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington called the corruption "heartbreaking." "This is a person who was a public official engaged in very serious misconduct," she said. Prosecutors had previously offered Ambuila a sentence of about three years — or time served dating to his 2021 arrest — followed by deportation to Colombia. The scheme involved more than two dozen bank accounts and 30,000 audio files from wiretapped conversations. But he rejected that earlier. Ambuila's attorney, Victor D. Martinez, asked for leniency, arguing Ambuila was less culpable than Irizarry. "Greed born from association with a corrupt DEA agent shattered Mr. Ambuila's vision for his future," Martinez wrote in a court filing. Ambuila, he added, "is deeply repentant and tortures himself every day questioning his conduct and regretting his lack of moral fortitude." The Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of Homeland Security first suspected Ambuila after his daughter posted photos of herself carrying designer handbags, taking luxury vacations to Paris and driving a $330,000 red Lamborghini. That lavish lifestyle didn't match the 20-something University of Miami graduate's modest income as a social media influencer or that of her father, who earned about $2,000 a month. A chunk of the funds used to pay for the Lamborghini Huracan Spyder originated in an account controlled by Jhon Marín, whom an IRS criminal investigator described at trial as the Florida-based nephew of a "known contraband smuggler in Colombia." An Associated Press investigation previously identified Marin's uncle as Diego Marín, a longtime DEA informant known to investigators as Colombia's "Contraband King" for allegedly laundering money through imported appliances and other goods. Marín has not been charged in the U.S. But prosecutors in Colombia last year requested his extradition from Spain, where he was living, to face criminal charges. His attorneys declined to comment. In Tampa federal court Thursday, Ambuila apologized to the United States and said he pleaded guilty midway through trial. "I was thinking about my daughter and how it would impact her," he said. "I was thinking I'd get a sentence of time served." —- Mustian reported from New Orleans.
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 05:00:11+00:00	[ "Damascus", "Syria", "Bashar Assad", "Water shortages", "Syria government", "Water quality", "Bassam Jbara", "Politics", "Ahmad Darwish", "War and unrest", "Ahmad al-Sharaa", "Hassan Bashi", "Climate and environment", "Tarek Abdul Wahed" ]	# Syria's driest winter in nearly 7 decades triggers a severe water crisis in Damascus By Ghaith Alsayed and Omar Sanadiki May 20th, 2025, 05:00 AM --- BARADA VALLEY, Syria (AP) — Inside a mountain above the Syrian capital, Hassan Bashi walked through tunnels that used to be filled with water from a spring famous for its pure waters. The spring rises inside the ruins of a Roman temple in the Barada Valley and flows toward Damascus, supplying the city with drinking water for thousands of years. Normally, during the winter flood season, water fills all the tunnels and washes over much of the temple. Now, there is only a trickle of water following the driest winter in decades. Bashi, who is a guard but also knows how to operate the pumping and water filtration machines in the absence of the engineer in charge, displayed an old video on his cell phone of high waters inside the ruins. "I have been working at the Ein al-Fijeh spring for 33 years and this is the first year it is that dry," Bashi said. The spring and the Barada River that it feeds are the main source of water for 5 million people, supplying Damascus and its suburbs with 70% of their water. As the city suffers its worst water shortages in years, many people now rely on buying water from private tanker trucks that fill from wells. Officials are warning that the situation could get worse in the summer and urge residents to use water sparingly while showering, cleaning or washing dishes. "The Ein al-Fijeh spring is working now at its lowest level," said Ahmad Darwish, head of the Damascus City Water Supply Authority, adding that the current year witnessed the lowest rainfall since 1956. The channels that have been there since the day of the Romans two millennia ago were improved in 1920 and then again in 1980, he said. Darwish said the spring water comes mainly from rainfall and melted snow off the mountains along the border with Lebanon, but because of this year's below-average rainfall, "it has given us amounts that are much less than normal." There are 1.1 million homes that get water from the spring, and in order to get through the year, people will have to cut down their consumption, he said. The spring also feeds the Barada River, which cuts through Damascus and which is also mostly dry this year. In the city's eastern area of Abbasids, Bassam Jbara is feeling the shortage. His neighborhood only gets water for about 90 minutes a day, compared with previous years when water was always running when they turned on the taps. Persistent electricity cuts are making the problem worse, he said, as they sometimes have water but no power to pump it to the tankers on the roof of the building. Jbara once had to buy five barrels of undrinkable water from a tanker truck that cost him and his neighbors $15, a large amount of money in a country where many people make less than $100 a month. "From what we are seeing, we are heading toward difficult conditions regarding water," he said, fearing that supplies will drop to once or twice a week over the summer. He is already economizing. "The people of Damascus are used to having water every day and to drinking tap water coming from the Ein al-Fijeh spring, but unfortunately the spring is now weak," Jbara said. During Syria's nearly 14-year civil war, Ein al-Fijeh was subjected to multiple shellings, changing between forces of then- President Bashar Assad and insurgents over the years. In early 2017, government forces captured the area from insurgents and held it until December, when the five-decade Assad dynasty collapsed in a stunning offensive by fighters led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, of current President Ahmad al-Sharaa. Tarek Abdul-Wahed returned to his home near the spring in December, nearly eight years after he was forced to leave with his family. He is now working on rebuilding the restaurant he had once owned — it was blown up by Assad's forces after Abdul-Wahed left. He looked at the parched region that used to be filled with tourists and Syrians who would come in the summer to enjoy the cool weather. "The Ein al-Fijeh spring is the only artery to Damascus," Abdul-Wahed said as reconstruction work was ongoing in the restaurant, which had helped 15 families in the area make a living in addition to the employees who came from other parts of Syria. "Now it looks like a desert. There is no one," he said. "We hope that the good old days return with people coming here."
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 09:30:41+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Department of Government Efficiency", "Elon Musk", "Pete Hegseth", "Marco Rubio", "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.", "Florida", "District of Columbia", "Antonio Gracias", "Government budgets", "Politics", "Business" ]	# Elon Musk defends his work as he prepares to wind down at DOGE By Michelle L. Price May 1st, 2025, 09:30 AM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk, preparing to step back from his work leading the Department of Government Efficiency, had a request of the reporters gathered at the White House to interview him: Before he would answer any questions, he wanted someone to tell him a joke. The tech billionaire's request in the Roosevelt Room on Wednesday underscored the surreal and idiosyncratic presence of the world's richest man at the highest echelons of American power. Over the past few months, his work of downsizing the workforce has sent shocks through the federal government and drawn intense pushback, including protests of his electric vehicle company, Tesla. Musing about his and DOGE's incongruous role in the U.S. government, he said, "It is funny that we've got DOGE." "Doesn't the absurdity of that seem, like, like, are we in a simulation here or what's going on? But, like, it was a meme coin at one point," he said, laughing. "How did we get here?" Musk, clad in all black but missing the two hats he had worn at Wednesday's earlier Cabinet meeting, defended DOGE's work as he prepares to scale back his government role and spend more time at his businesses. But he gave hazy answers about the work he'd been doing and DOGE's future, and he seemed taken aback by the intense backlash he'd encountered. "Being attacked relentlessly is not super fun," he said. "Seeing cars burning is not fun," he added, referring to the instances of Tesla cars being smashed or set on fire. "In the grand scheme of things, I think we've been effective. Not as effective as I'd like. I think we could be more effective," Musk said. "But we've made progress." DOGE's large-scale slashings have been met with dozens of lawsuits. DOGE's attempts to access sensitive government information, including Social Security data, has similarly met resistance in court. And Democrats this week unveiled an online tracker tallying the federal funds approved by Congress that DOGE has blocked, setting up a constitutional struggle between two branches of government. Musk wouldn't offer examples of anything he'd do differently, though DOGE is nowhere near its original savings goal and has overstated its progress. DOGE had sought to cut spending by $1 trillion. Musk estimates he's cut $160 billion so far and acknowledged it would be hard to get anywhere close to $1 trillion. "It's sort of, how much pain is the Cabinet and the Congress willing to take?" Musk said. "It can be done, but it requires dealing with a lot of complaints." Musk didn't detail any of those complaints and said he has a good relationship with President Donald Trump's Cabinet. But when asked about clashes with certain members, particularly Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Musk said, "at times, there will be some disagreements with the Cabinet." He defended DOGE's attempts to access Americans' personal data, dismissing concerns about a potential "surveillance state" by quipping, "Don't we already have a surveillance state?" He said DOGE needs to access the systems in its hunt for fraud, and said, "There has to be some way to reconcile the improper payments." He said DOGE has referred cases of suspected fraud to the Justice Department, though he offered few details, including how many referrals were made. Antonio Gracias, a Musk investor working for DOGE, pointed to the indictment last week of an Iraqi man living in New York on charges he illegally voted in the 2020 election. U.S. prosecutors said DOGE assisted in the investigation. A Justice Department spokesperson said DOGE "is working closely with DOJ to identify potential fraud." Musk acknowledged there were some instances in which they had to restore the jobs of government workers who, in his words, were "accidently let go," like "some people that were doing important regulatory work or taking care of national parks." When asked if he's found any areas where he'd recommended efficiencies beyond cuts, Musk veered into the nation's military strategy and said he has repeatedly recommended to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that he should be spending more money on hypersonic missiles and long-range drones instead of on crewed systems. Musk said DOGE is also working on improving connectivity for the nation's air traffic control system and reviewing plans to improve its software, but DOGE's primary goal is "trying to stop wasteful and fraudulent spending." But on other points, he was vague. Who will lead DOGE when he leaves? "DOGE is a way of life," he said. "Like Buddhism." Will he retain the title of senior adviser to the president? "I guess." Will DOGE wrap up its work by July 2026, as originally stated? "If the president wants us to stick to that date, we'll stick to that date." How many of the roughly 100 DOGE employees will stay on the job while he winds down? "Some will stay on. Some will not. So it's up to them. This is basically a volunteer organization." Is DOGE winding down? "No, I think it will gain momentum." Musk struck up a friendship with Trump during the 2024 campaign and spent nearly $300 million on the election — the bulk of which went toward helping the Republican reclaim the White House. He has since become a constant presence with Trump for much of the first 100 days of the administration, regularly traveling with the president to his home in Florida on the weekends. Musk said Wednesday that he was working on DOGE seven days a week during the first months of the administration, at times sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom at Trump's invitation. He declined to say just how many times he had slept at the White House but said the president had implored him to try the caramel ice cream from the kitchen. "Don't tell RFK," Musk joked, referring to Trump's Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Musk described it as an "intense period" during which he was trying to understand and map out the federal government. "It's a startup, effectively. A new administration is like a startup," he said. But he said he is now scaling back his work on DOGE, spending one to two days a week on it, and he plans to be in Washington less. "Now we're getting more of a rhythm so the amount of time that's necessary for me to spend here is much less," he said. He also pointed to the limitation on his status as a special government employee, which means he can only work 130 days in a 365-day time period. He said he will keep his "tiny" office on the second floor of the West Wing that he said has "a view of nothing" — a feature, he then remarked, that keeps him safe. "It's harder to shoot me," he said. "There's not a good line of sight." ___ Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 14:21:09+00:00	[ "Dakota Johnson", "Chris Evans", "Pedro Pascal", "Movies", "New York", "New York City Wire", "Entertainment", "Celine Song" ]	# Dakota Johnson and Celine Song on love, dating and 'Materialists' By Lindsey Bahr May 1st, 2025, 02:21 PM --- Before Celine Song was an Oscar-nominated filmmaker, she was a playwright in New York who needed day jobs to pay rent. That's how she found herself as a professional matchmaker. What may have begun as a purely transactional gig, a way for her to keep making her art in an expensive city, taught her more about people's wants and needs and the true contents of their hearts than she could have ever imagined. "I always wanted to write something about it because there seemed to be a story in it that is massive and very epic in proportion," Song said. "It affects every human being on Earth." And while waiting for her breakout film "Past Lives" to debut, she did. That film is "Materialists," a modern-day New York love story starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans that's heading to theaters on June 13. Johnson is the matchmaker presented with two different types of men for herself—and the internet has already started drawing battle lines. But, like "Past Lives" wasn't really about a love triangle, "Materialists" is about something more than who she ends up with. Song and Johnson spoke with The Associated Press about the film, falling in love and the modern marketplace of dating. Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity. ## AP: How did you find each other? SONG: We met up thinking that we were just going to get to know each other and be friends and I walked away from that conversation — this is just from my perspective — but I think I was still sitting there when I texted my producers and the studio being like, "I think I've found my Lucy." That's how casting works for me, it's always about falling in love. It's very connected to what we talk about in the film. Like, there's no mathematical anything. It just the feeling that you get talking to someone and you're like, oh I just know. JOHNSON: I knew you had this movie that you were about to start making. I was basically told it was too late. I was like, but I really want to meet her because she's so smart, and I've seen interviews and obviously had seen "Past Lives." I just wanted talk and get to know her as an artist and a person and so I went into this being like there's no chance that I'll be in this movie, but maybe she'll make another one. We just had such a good time talking, I didn't even know that I was someone she was thinking about. A few weeks later we spoke. It was very romantic. ## AP: Where do we meet Lucy in life? JOHNSON: She's sort of at the top of her game in her work and is very disconnected from her heart and focused on being a perfectionist and getting people to get married. On the surface, you see her as a very transactional person and not really invested in people's souls, but she actually is and really does want the best for them. She's also on her own journey of trying to figure out what it is she wants for herself in this life, and, essentially, do you fight for the thing that you think you want, or do you fight for that thing that you know you need? Is that right, Celine? SONG: That's so good. ## AP: What are you trying to say through the two men who come into her life? SONG: It was never going to be a conversation about which flavor of a person. It's actually so much more about this marketplace of dating that all of us live in if you're single, and also the marketplace that Dakota's character is navigating. She knows the math better than anyone else in the film. She's an excellent matchmaker. Pedro plays somebody who is probably, in straight dating, someone of the highest possible value. Chris' character, in the spectrum in the marketplace of values of dating, is someone who is of the lowest value possible. I find them to be such adorable characters, very worthy of an adoration. Lucy knows exactly where they fall in the in the stock market of men. It's actually about the way that the math around that is going to blow up. JOHNSON: Celine speaks so eloquently about the marketplace of dating and I glitch at those words because I'm like, you can't explain love that way. But that's actually how people are. Marriage used to be a business deal. It was like, my father wants your cows and my mother needs your wheat and whatever. It was a trade-off. But now there's all these books about how we expect our partner to fulfill every single aspect of our needs. And the world being dominated by social media, people don't meet in real life anymore. They don't behave normally in public. People are in a very strange place in evolution, and I think the difference between these two characters and these two men, sure they are different ends of the spectrum in terms of like technical value, materialistic value. But also each of them have the opposite in terms of psycho-spiritual value and emotional value and what they can offer the other person in terms of soul evolution and growth. Perhaps because she works in this world of trying to understand people and what they want, she's forced to go more inward and really interrogate herself and say, what do I really want and what is actually important in this life? Is it how much money I have or is it how truly loved I am? SONG: To me, it's about this contradiction, right? It's this thing of how we talk about what we want in our partner, when we're asked to use language to describe it, and how we literally, spiritually fall in love. The gap between those two things is terrifyingly big. To me, that's where the mystery of the film is. ___ For more on this year's summer movie season, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/movies
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 21:35:51+00:00	[ "District of Columbia", "Donald Trump", "Joe Biden", "United States government", "United States", "Business", "Moodys Corp.", "SP Global", "Inc.", "Economy" ]	# Moody's strips U.S. government of top credit rating, citing Washington's failure to rein in debt By Paul Wiseman May 16th, 2025, 09:35 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Moody's Ratings stripped the U.S. government of its top credit rating Friday, citing successive governments' failure to stop a rising tide of debt. Moody's lowered the rating from a gold-standard Aaa to Aa1 but said the United States "retains exceptional credit strengths such as the size, resilience and dynamism of its economy and the role of the U.S. dollar as global reserve currency.'' Moody's is the last of the three major rating agencies to lower the federal government's credit. Standard & Poor's downgraded federal debt in 2011 and Fitch Ratings followed in 2023. In a statement, Moody's said: "We expect federal deficits to widen, reaching nearly 9% of (the U.S. economy) by 2035, up from 6.4% in 2024, driven mainly by increased interest payments on debt, rising entitlement spending, and relatively low revenue generation.'' Extending President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts, a priority of the Republican-controlled Congress, Moody's said, would add $4 trillion over the next decade to the federal primary deficit (which does not include interest payments). A gridlocked political system has been unable to tackle America's huge deficits. Republicans reject tax increases, and Democrats are reluctant to cut spending. On Friday, House Republicans failed to push a big package of tax breaks and spending cuts through the Budget Committee. A small group of hard-right Republican lawmakers, insisting on steeper cuts to Medicaid and President Joe Biden's green energy tax breaks, joined all Democrats in opposing it.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 07:18:11+00:00	[ "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Benjamin Netanyahu", "Donald Trump", "Emmanuel Macron", "Middle East", "War and unrest", "Israel government", "Israel-Hamas war", "Gaza Strip", "Israel", "Mohammed Sinwar", "Yahya Sinwar", "Hamas", "Humanitarian crises", "Religion", "Palestinian territories government" ]	# Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill 70 people, including 22 children, health officials say By Wafaa Shurafa and Melanie Lidman May 14th, 2025, 07:18 AM --- DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes pounded northern and southern Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 70 people, including almost two dozen children, according to hospitals and health officials, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was "no way" he would halt Israel's offensive in the Palestinian territory before Hamas is defeated. At least 50 people, including 22 children, were killed in strikes around Jabaliya in northern Gaza alone, according to hospitals and Gaza's Health Ministry. The strikes came after Hamas on Monday released an Israeli-American hostage, a gesture that some thought could lay the groundwork for a ceasefire, and as U.S. President Donald Trump visited Saudi Arabia during a multi-day trip to Gulf countries. Israel's military refused to comment on the strikes. It warned Jabaliya residents to evacuate late Tuesday, citing militant infrastructure in the area, including rocket launchers. In Jabaliya, rescue workers smashed through collapsed concrete slabs using hand tools, lit by the light of cellphones, to remove children's bodies. ## Israel threatens to escalate operations in Gaza In comments released by Netanyahu's office Tuesday, the prime minister said Israeli forces were days away from a promised escalation of force and would enter Gaza "with great strength to complete the mission ... It means destroying Hamas." There had been widespread hope that Trump's visit to the Middle East could usher in a ceasefire deal or renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza. An Israeli blockade of the territory is now in its third month. The war began when Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in a 2023 intrusion into southern Israel. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 52,928 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. Almost 3,000 have been killed since Israel broke a ceasefire on March 18, the ministry said. Israel's offensive has obliterated vast swathes of Gaza's urban landscape and displaced 90% of the population, often multiple times. Israeli media reported that one target in a strike on a hospital in Khan Younis on Tuesday was Mohammed Sinwar, younger brother of the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli forces last October. The military would not comment beyond saying it had targeted a Hamas "command and control center" which it said was located beneath the European Hospital. Mohammed Sinwar is believed to be Hamas' top military leader in Gaza. Israel has tried to assassinate him multiple times over the past decades. A senior health official in Gaza said Wednesday that ambulances were no longer able to reach the hospital due to damage from the strike, which had also forced the facility to suspend surgical operations. Dr. Marwan al-Hams, director general of Field Hospitals at Gaza's Health Ministry, said the strike had severely damaged the hospital's water and sewage systems, as well as its courtyard. He added that the Israeli military hit a bulldozer brought in by hospital authorities to repair the area to allow ambulances reach the building. "Until these damages are fixed, we will have to shut down most departments of the hospital," he said, adding that he had no information about Israel's claimed target of the strike. ## France condemns Israeli blockade of aid International food security experts warned earlier this week that Gaza will likely fall into famine if Israel doesn't lift its blockade and stop its military campaign. Nearly half a million Palestinians are facing possible starvation while 1 million others can barely get enough food, according to findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises. French President Emmanuel Macron strongly denounced Netanyahu's decision to block aid as "a disgrace" that has caused a major humanitarian crisis. "I say it forcefully, what Benjamin Netanyahu's government is doing today is unacceptable," Macron said Tuesday evening on TF1 national television. "There's no medicine. We can't get the wounded out. Doctors can't get in." Macron, who visited injured Palestinians in Egypt last month, called for the reopening of the Gaza border to humanitarian convoys. "Then, yes, we must fight to demilitarize Hamas, free the hostages and build a political solution," he said. Netanyahu retorted that Macron was "echoing the false propaganda" of an extremist militant organization. Gaza's population of around 2.3 million people relies almost entirely on outside aid to survive. Israel's 19-month-old military campaign has wiped away most capacity to produce food in the territory. Markets are empty of most items, and prices for what remains have skyrocketed. ## Blockades force charity kitchens to close The United Nations says the number of meals that charity kitchens are providing in Gaza has plunged to around 260,000 under Israel's blockade, down from more than 1 million a day in late April. Charity kitchens are the last lifeline for most of Gaza's population, but they are rapidly shutting down because supplies are running out. In the first two weeks of May, at least 112 kitchens – more than 60% of the total – closed, the U.N. humanitarian office said Wednesday. Only 68 kitchens still operate. The World Health Organization said it has only enough stocks to treat 500 children with acute malnutrition, a fraction of the need. Thousands of children have been diagnosed with malnutrition in recent weeks. Israel says the blockade is aimed at pressuring Hamas to release remaining hostages and disarm. Israeli officials have asserted there is enough food in the territory after a surge in aid entered during the recent two-month ceasefire. ___ Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Fatma Khaled and Lee Keath in Cairo and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 13:03:40+00:00	[ "Buffalo", "Weather", "Climate change", "New York City Wire", "Jon Randall", "Climate and environment", "Associated Press", "Hispanics", "Droughts", "Utilities", "Byron W. Brown", "Los Angeles Area wildfires", "Malik Evans", "Climate" ]	# New York's Rochester draws residents fleeing extreme weather By Toni Duncan Of Rochester Institute Of Technology and Nadia Lathan Of The Associated Press May 14th, 2025, 01:03 PM --- ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — In 2020, following ferocious wildfires across Southern California, Jasmin Singer and her wife, Moore Rhys, decided they had had enough of Los Angeles. They packed their bags and moved to New York state. They debated between Ithaca and Geneva before finally picking Rochester, about a six-hour drive northwest from New York City. Rochester won out in part because of a more stable climate and progressive policies aimed at combating climate change, caused by the burning of fuels like gasoline and coal. "We were all kinds of nutty about climate," said Singer about picking Rochester. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is a collaboration between The Associated Press and the Rochester Institute of Technology. ___ One of America's first boomtowns and a former manufacturing hub, Rochester has captured the eye of some people looking to escape extreme weather events. Other midcentury industrial urban centers such as Buffalo, an hour's drive from Rochester, and Duluth, Minnesota, have garnered attention in recent years for being known as climate havens. That is because they are less likely to experience events fueled and exacerbated by climate change, such as droughts, hurricanes and wildfires. Far from coasts, cities like Rochester, Buffalo and Duluth don't face hurricanes or storm surges. At the same time, they are connected to large lakes, giving them an ample water supply and helping insulate against drought impacts. Still, while anecdotes abound of people who are moving to such cities for climate reasons, there isn't yet evidence of a large demographic shift. "There hasn't been a clear signal that people are leaving to climate (friendly) regions, or regions with an abundant water resource," said Alex de Sherbinin, director and senior researcher at the Center for Integrated Earth System Information at Columbia University. That is expected to change in coming decades, as climate will increasingly be a factor driving migration. It already is many places around the world, particularly developing nations that lack the infrastructure and resources to withstand climate shocks. Each year, natural disasters force more than 21 million people from their homes, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. ## Rochester has many draws Originally from New Jersey, Singer said Rochester also appealed to her for a few reasons, even though she had never visited the city before the move — affordable housing, its move toward increasing renewable energy use and proximity to eastern coastal cities, among them. It was also important to be somewhere culturally diverse and friendly toward LGBTQ people, Singer said. For Jon Randall, wildfires that hit the Bay Area in 2022 pushed him to leave California. "For six weeks you couldn't go outside," said Randall of the fires, adding that he and his wife searched online for potential places to live and retire. They picked Rochester, in part to be closer to family in Long Island, where he is originally from. The average annual temperature in Rochester, which has 200,000 residents, hovers around 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius), warmer than that in the summer and colder in the winter. The city is home to the University of Rochester, a private research institution, and the Rochester Institute of Technology, which sits in the southwest suburbs. Rochester is also known for its "garbage plates" — French fries covered in hamburger meat and baked beans, a favorite local comfort food. The city has adopted several progressive climate plans in recent years, including an initiative to reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2030. It's part of a statewide push to build cleaner infrastructure, such as expanding its electric vehicle charging network. In 2019, the city launched an initiative that gives up to $9,000 to new resident homebuyers. ## Climate is often one of many factors in decision to move Studies have found that people rarely choose where they move based on climate reasons alone. They also weigh other factors such as affordability, family ties and job opportunities. People move where they think they can maintain a certain quality of life, and Rochester — with its freshwater resources — can make for a more attractive destination compared to other cities, de Sherbinin said. Duluth garnered a climate-friendly reputation after commissioning an economic development package to attract newcomers in 2019. That same year, Buffalo mayor Byron Brown called the city a "climate refuge" in a speech. No such proclamations have been made by local officials recently, including in Rochester. Mayor Malik Evans' office did not respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment for this story. ## Rochester has a large Latino population Rochester has welcomed a steady increase of Latinos over the last several years. Today, 61,000 residents in Monroe Country, the largest in the Rochester area, identify as Latino or Hispanic, with 70% Puerto Rican, according to a 2019 report by the Center for Governmental Research, a Rochester-based consulting firm. Arelis Gomez moved to Rochester in 2016 from Puerto Rico in search of work opportunities and better education for her children, following her brother who had moved to New York City a few years prior. Arelis Ayala, her mother, followed her daughter in 2019, finally making the move after wanting to leave since Hurricane Jorge in 1998, which hammered many parts of the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico. "It was a really hard decision," Ayala said about her move to be closer to her daughter. Ayala and her daughter hope to eventually bring the rest of the family to Rochester. Jonathan Gonzalez and his then pregnant wife moved to Rochester after another major storm, Hurricane Maria, pummeled Puerto Rico in 2017. "It was pretty difficult to live in Puerto Rico those days," Gonzalez said, adding that everything, including hospitals, were closed because of no electricity. His mother already had a home in Rochester, which made it a natural place to go. Starting over was hard, though Gonzalez feels at home now. "I love Rochester," 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	2025-05-15 20:59:01+00:00	[ "Dallas", "George W. Bush", "Laura Bush", "Tony Blair", "George W. Bush Presidential Center", "Ronald Reagan", "United Kingdom government", "Politics", "Teresa Lenling", "Vladimir Putin", "Russia government", "Dalai Lama", "Entertainment", "Barack Obama" ]	# Former President George W. Bush draws inspiration close to his Dallas home in his latest paintings By Jamie Stengle May 15th, 2025, 08:59 PM --- DALLAS (AP) — Former President George W. Bush didn't need to look too far for inspiration for his newest works of art. The 78-year-old has brushed portraits of world leaders and people who immigrated to the U.S. But his newest collection draws on scenes much closer to home: his presidential library in Dallas. The exhibit opened Thursday at the George W. Bush Presidential Center on the campus of Southern Methodist University. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush moved to Dallas after he left the White House in 2009, and he took up oil painting a few years later. The 35 new works are an ode not only to life at the center but also to SMU. The exhibit called "A Shining City on the Hilltop" is both a nod to SMU's nickname — The Hilltop — and former President Ronald Reagan's famous use of the phrase "shining city upon a hill" to refer to America, said Teresa Lenling, director of the presidential museum. "This features not just the places around the SMU campus but it really takes a look at the people that are the heart of this campus and the community," said Lenling, adding that Bush composed the paintings from photos taken around the center and campus. One of the paintings comes from the center's opening in 2013, when then-President Barack Obama and all of the still-living former presidents, including Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, posed in front of the new building. Devon Yarbrough, who works at the center, said she was "very surprised" but pleased to spot herself in one of the paintings. She's depicted reading a book on her lunch break while sitting on a bench under a tree in the center's 15-acre park. This is the fifth exhibit of George W. Bush's art to be featured at the center. His first exhibit was a collection of portraits of world leaders including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Dalai Lama. He's also done a collection of paintings of military veterans, which were featured in his book "Portraits of Courage," and painted portraits of people who immigrated to the U.S., which are compiled in his book "Out of Many, One." The exhibit is on display through Oct. 19.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 10:24:08+00:00	[ "Russia", "Amnesty International", "Russia government", "Ukraine", "Activism", "Moscow", "Human rights", "Politics", "Grigory Melkonyants", "Legal proceedings", "Russia Ukraine war", "Andrei Pivovarov", "Agns Callamard", "Mikhail Khodorkovsky", "International agreements", "Natalia Zviagina", "Prisoner exchange" ]	# Russia outlaws Amnesty International in latest crackdown on dissent and activists By The Associated Press May 19th, 2025, 10:24 AM --- The Russian authorities on Monday outlawed Amnesty International as an "undesirable organization," a label that under a 2015 law makes involvement with such organizations a criminal offense. The decision by the Russian Prosecutor General's office, announced in an online statement, is the latest in the unrelenting crackdown on Kremlin critics, journalists and activists that intensified to unprecedented levels after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The designation means the international human rights group must stop any work in Russia, and it subjects those who cooperate with it or support it to prosecution, including if anyone shares Amnesty International's reports on social media. Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International's secretary general, said the move was part of the Russian government's efforts to silence dissent and isolate civil society. "The authorities are deeply mistaken if they believe that by labeling our organization 'undesirable,' we will stop our work documenting and exposing human rights violations – quite the opposite," she said in a statement. "We will not give in to the threats and will continue undeterred to work to ensure that people in Russia are able to enjoy their human rights without discrimination." Callamard said Amnesty International "will continue to work relentlessly to ensure that all those who are responsible for committing grave human rights violations, whether in Russia, Ukraine, or elsewhere, face justice." Russia's list of "undesirable organizations" currently covers 223 entities, including prominent independent news outlets and rights groups. Among those are prominent news organizations like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty or Russian independent outlet Meduza, think tanks like Chatham House, anti-corruption group Transparency International, and Open Russia, an opposition group founded by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an exiled tycoon who became an opposition figure. After Open Russia was declared undesirable in 2021 and disbanded to protect its members, its leader, Andrei Pivovarov, was arrested and convicted on charges of carrying out activities of an undesirable organization. He was sentenced to four years in prison and released in 2024 in the largest prisoner exchange with the West since Soviet times. Amnesty International was launched in 1961. The group documents and reports human rights violations around the globe and campaigns for the release of those it deems unjustly imprisoned. It has released reports on Russia's war in Ukraine, accusing Moscow of crimes against humanity, and has spoken out against the Kremlin's crackdown on dissent that has swept up thousands of people in recent years. Amnesty International's recent statements on Russia included decrying a prison sentence handed to prominent election monitoring activists Grigory Melkonyants as a "brazen and politically motivated clampdown on peaceful activism." It also spoke out against a series of arrests of publishing professionals in Russia last week over alleged "LGBTQ+ propaganda" in books. "This shameless heavy-handed use of state apparatus against literature is as absurd as it is terrifying," said Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International's Russia director. In its statement, the Prosecutor General's office accused the group of running "Russophobic projects" and activities aimed at Russia's "political and economic isolation."
Associated Press News	2025-05-17 16:41:14+00:00	[ "Kristen Stewart", "Cannes Film Festival", "Movies", "Lidia Yuknavitch", "Imogen Poots", "Arts and entertainment", "James Belushi", "Jake Coyle", "Media", "Ken Kesey", "Michael Epp", "Entertainment" ]	# Kristen Stewart was always ready to direct By Jake Coyle May 17th, 2025, 04:41 PM --- CANNES, France (AP) — Kristen Stewart has been talking about directing as long as she's been acting. Not many people encouraged it. "I spoke to other actors when I was really little because I was always like: 'I want to direct movies!'" Stewart recalls. "I was fully set down by several people who were like, 'Why?' and 'No.' It's such a fallacy that you need to have an unbelievable tool kit or some kind of credential. It really is if you have something to say, then a movie can fall out of you very elegantly." You wouldn't necessarily say that Stewart's feature directing debut, "The Chronology of Water," elegantly fell out of her at the Cannes Film Festival. She arrived in Cannes after a frantic rush to complete the film, an adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch's 2011 memoir, starring Imogen Poots. Sitting on a balcony overlooking the Croisette, Stewart says she finished the film "30 seconds before I got on an airplane." "It was eight years in the making and then a really accelerated push. It's an obvious comparison but it was childbirth," says Stewart. "I was pregnant for a really long time and then I was screaming bloody murder." Yet however dramatic was the arrival of "The Chronology of Water," it was emphatic. The film, an acutely impressionistic portrait of a brutal coming of age, is the evident work of an impassioned filmmaker. Stewart, the director, turns out to be a lot like Stewart, the actor: intensely sensitive, ferociously felt. For Stewart, the accomplishment of "The Chronology of Water," which is playing in the sidebar Un Certain Regard and is up for sale in Cannes, was also a revelation about the mythology of directing. "It's a such a male f------ thing," she says. "It's really not fair for people to think it's hard to make a movie insofar as you need to know things before going into it. There are technical directors, but, Jesus Christ, you hire a crew. You just have a perspective and trust it." "My inexperience made this movie." Stewart's first steps as a director came eight years ago with the short "Come Swim," which she also premiered in Cannes, in 2017. The festival, she says, generates the kind of questions she likes around movies. It was around then that Stewart began adapting Yuknavitch's memoir. In it, Yuknavitch recounts her life, starting with sexual abuse from her father (an architect played by Michael Epp in the film). Competitive swimming is one of her only escapes, and it helps get her away from home and into college. Blissful freedom, self-lacerating addiction and trauma color her years from there, as does an inspirational writing experience with Ken Kesey (Jim Belushi in the film). Stewart calls the book "a lifesaver — like, actually, a flotation device." "The book was this call to arms invitation to listen to your own voice, which, if you're walking around in a girl body, is really hard to do," says Stewart. "It fragments in a way that feels truer to my internal experience than anything I've ever read." "I really wanted to make something that wasn't about what happened to this person, it's about what she did with what happens to her, and what writing can do for you," adds Stewart. "It's like the most meta, crazy experience to have also cracked myself open at the same time." That goes for Poots, too, the 35-year-old British actor who, in "The Chronology of Water," gives one of her finest, most wide-ranging performances. "It's Lydia's life story and the cards that were dealt her, but in terms of the reactive nature, that's the female experience," says Poots. "How you're surveilled, how you're supposed to respond, conform, how that's repulsive, and how you sabotage something good — all of these things are just very, very female." Together, Stewart and Poots have been clearly bonded by the experience. Stewart calls Poots "a sibling now." In Stewart's best experiences with directors, she says, it becomes such a back-and-forth exchange that the separate jobs disintegrate, and, she says, "You're kind of sharing a body." "But I'm positive I said nothing useful to her ever, and I talked way too much," says Stewart. Poots immediately disagrees: "That's not true, Kristen!" "Kristen is incredibly present but at the same has this ability, like a plant or something, to pick up on a slight shift in the atmosphere where it's like: 'Wait a minute,'" Poots says, causing Stewart to laugh. "There is this insane brain at play and it's a skill set that comes in the form of an intense curiosity." That curiosity, now, includes directing more movies. "The Chronology of Water" may signal not just a new chapter for one of American movies' most intrepid actors, but an ongoing artistic evolution. "Our production was a shipwreck, so basically we had to put the boat back together," Stewart says of the editing process. That reassembling, Stewart believes helped make "The Chronology of Water" something less predetermined, where "the emotional, neurological tissue that occurred between images was real." "There was no way to make this movie under more normal circumstances," says Stewart, "because then it would have been more normal." ___ For more coverage of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, visit https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 21:20:55+00:00	[ "Bryan Kohberger", "Legal proceedings", "Steven Hippler", "Trials", "Homicide", "Crime", "Idaho", "Ethan Chapin", "Kaylee Goncalves" ]	# Judge says Bryan Kohberger's family can attend upcoming trial in University of Idaho killings May 7th, 2025, 09:20 PM --- BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Bryan Kohberger's immediate family members may attend his upcoming quadruple-murder trial in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, even if they might be called to testify, a judge ruled in an order made public Thursday. Witnesses in criminal cases are sometimes excluded from attending trials to prevent them from shaping their testimony in response to what other witnesses have said or what evidence has been presented. But Judge Steven Hippler wrote that Kohberger's Sixth Amendment right to a public trial also entitles him to have his parents and siblings present if they want to attend. "Courts recognize that having defendant's family members present at trial advances the values served by the right to public trial, i.e., ensuring fair proceedings; reminding the prosecutor and judge of their grave responsibilities; discouraging perjury; and encouraging witnesses to come forward," Hippler wrote. Kohberger, 30, a former graduate student in criminal justice at nearby Washington State University, is charged in the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022. Prosecutors have said they intended to seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted at his trial, which is set to begin in August. Hippler said the court must balance Kohberger's right to a public trial with the state's interest in obtaining forthright testimony from witnesses. But, he added, there is little risk of Kohberger's family members shaping what they might say from the witness stand in response to what they observe at the trial: The scope of their proposed testimony is narrow, and they have previously given recorded interviews that will help guard against them altering what they say. Hippler previously ruled that family members of the victims may attend the trial.
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 17:50:16+00:00	[ "Utah", "Florida", "Ron DeSantis", "Florida state government", "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.", "Water quality", "Public health", "Utilities", "Government programs", "Daniella Levine Cava", "Politics", "Oral health", "Utah state government", "Joseph Ladapo" ]	# DeSantis signs a bill making Florida the 2nd state to ban fluoride from its water system By Stephany Matat and Kate Payne May 15th, 2025, 05:50 PM --- WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a measure Thursday prohibiting local governments from adding fluoride to their water systems, making it the second state in the country after Utah to implement a statewide ban on the mineral. DeSantis signed the bill at a public event in Dade City, Florida, over the concerns of dentists and public health advocates. "Yes, use fluoride for your teeth, that's fine, but forcing it in the water supply is basically forced medication on people," DeSantis said Thursday. "They don't have a choice, you're taking that away from them." State lawmakers approved the bill last month, requiring the mineral and some other additives be removed from water sources across the state. Utah was the first state to ban fluoride in late March, and its prohibition went into effect last week, while Florida's provision is effective July 1. Some local governments in Florida have already voted to remove fluoride from their water, ahead of the statewide ban. Earlier this month, Miami-Dade County commissioners voted to override a veto by Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and move forward with plans to remove fluoride from the county's drinking water. "Water fluoridation is a safe, effective, and efficient way to maintain dental health in our county – and halting it could have long-lasting health consequences, especially for our most vulnerable families," Levine Cava said in a statement defending her veto. Some Republican-led states have sought to impose bans following a push by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to stop fluoridating water. Earlier this month, DeSantis pledged to sign the bill and was flanked by the state's surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, who has attracted national scrutiny over his opposition to policies embraced by public health experts, including COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Fluoride is a mineral that has been added to drinking water for generations to strengthen teeth and reduce cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century. Excess fluoride intake has been associated with streaking or spots on teeth. And studies also have traced a link between excess fluoride and brain development. —- Payne, who reported from Tallahassee, Florida, 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	2025-05-06 19:39:14+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Tulsi Gabbard", "Nicolas Maduro", "Venezuela government", "United States government", "Joaquin Castro", "United States", "Venezuela", "Alexa Henning", "Politics", "Plants", "Daniel Ellsberg", "Lauren Harper", "Alvin Hellerstein", "James Himes", "Immigration" ]	# Trump's claims tying gang to Venezuelan government contradicted by US memo By David Klepper May 6th, 2025, 07:39 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — A newly declassified U.S. intelligence assessment confirms that analysts at American spy agencies found no coordination between Tren de Aragua and the Venezuelan government, contradicting statements the Trump administration used to justify invoking the Alien Enemies Act and deporting Venezuelan immigrants. The redacted memo from the National Intelligence Council said there was no indication that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro or other senior government officials are directing the actions of Tren de Aragua, a gang that originated in a prison in Venezuela. That is even as some mid- to low-level Venezuelan officials may have ties to the gang for financial gain, the document says. "While Venezuela's permissive environment enables TDA to operate, the Maduro regime probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States," the memo reads. "Furthermore, most of the IC judges that intelligence indicating that regime leaders are directing or enabling TDA migration to the United States is not credible." Trump has invoked the Alien Enemies Act to speed the deportations of people his administration has labeled members of the gang. The 18th century wartime law was created to give the president the power to imprison or deport noncitizens in a time of war. It has been used three times, most recently when Japanese Americans were detained during World War II. Tren de Aragua has been linked to a series of kidnappings, extortion and other crimes throughout the Western Hemisphere. Those activities are tied to a mass exodus of millions of Venezuelans as their country's economy unraveled over the past decade. The National Intelligence Council helps coordinate the work of the nation's intelligence services, and its conclusions reflect the findings of individual agencies. While the assessment found no evidence of significant coordination between Maduro and the gang, it noted that FBI analysts had reason to believe some Venezuelan officials may have helped some gang members move to the U.S. and other countries "to advance what they see as the Maduro regime's goal of destabilizing governments and undermining public safety," according to the assessment. A spokesperson for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard rejected claims that the assessment contradicted the White House and noted that it did find some ties between mid- and low-level officials in Maduro's government and the gang. Gabbard wrote on social media last month that her office, which oversees and coordinates the work of the nation's 18 intelligence agencies, "fully supports the assessment that the foreign terrorist organization, Tren De Aragua, is acting with the support of the Maduro Regime, and thus subject to arrest, detention and removal as alien enemies of the United States." Gabbard's spokesperson, Alexa Henning, referenced the post Tuesday in response to questions about the assessment. The memo, which includes significant redactions, was released this week after the Freedom of the Press Foundation filed an open records request, and it was first reported by The New York Times. The Associated Press reported on the assessment's findings last month. Lauren Harper, who holds the Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy at the foundation, said it is critical to push for government transparency, especially as the Trump administration signals it may subpoena reporters to investigate government leakers. "The public deserves to read this document," Harper said of the assessment. Two federal judges have found that Trump is improperly using the Alien Enemies Act and barred the administration from removing immigrants under it. District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in New York said Tuesday that the 1798 law cannot be used against Tren de Aragua because it is not attacking the United States. "TdA may well be engaged in narcotics trafficking, but that is a criminal matter, not an invasion or predatory incursion," Hellerstein wrote. Democrats in Congress welcomed the assessment's release and questioned why Gabbard has supported Trump's justification for deportations, given her knowledge of the assessment. In a statement, Reps. Jim Himes of Connecticut and Joaquin Castro of Texas said Gabbard needs to explain why her public comments don't match the assessment of her own agencies. "The most basic responsibility of the director of national intelligence is to speak truth to power and, where possible, the American people," said the lawmakers, who both serve on the House Intelligence Committee. "Misrepresenting intelligence in public causes grave damage." ___ Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 09:39:37+00:00	[ "Angola", "Gabon", "Ali Bongo Ondimba", "Joao Lourenco", "Omar Bongo", "Brice Oligui Nguema", "African Union", "Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze", "Angola government", "Politics" ]	# Overthrown Gabon President Bongo and his family arrive in Angola, officials say May 16th, 2025, 09:39 AM --- CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The former president of Gabon, who was ousted in a 2023 coup, has been allowed to leave the country and has flown to Angola with his family, the Angolan leader's office said Friday. The Angolan presidency posted photos on its official Facebook page of Ali Bongo Ondimba arriving in the Angolan capital, Luanda. It said the release of Bongo, his wife and their son came after an agreement between Angolan President Joao Lourenco and new Gabon leader Gen. Brice Oligui Nguema, who overthrew Bongo nearly two years ago and was declared the winner of an election last month. Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, the former prime minister of Gabon and a spokesperson for Bongo, said the Bongo family had been detained illegally and were released after "international demands." The African Union had called for the Bongo family's release and Angola's Lourenco was acting in his capacity as the chairperson of the AU when he facilitated the agreement, his office said. Bongo was placed under house arrest after the coup in August 2023, but was freed a week later due to health concerns, according to Gabon authorities. His supporters denied he was free and said his movements were still being restricted. His wife Sylvia Bongo and son Noureddin Bongo Valentin had been detained in a prison in the capital, Libreville since 2023 on money laundering and corruption charges. Ali Bongo himself was not charged. The coup by Oligui Nguema, the former head of the country's Republican Guard, ended 54 years of Bongo family rule in Gabon, a nation of 2.3 million people on the Atlantic coast in central Africa. Ali Bongo's father Omar Bongo Ondimba was president from 1967 until his death in 2009. Ali Bongo succeeded him. ___ AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 04:02:19+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Kristi Noem", "Mississippi", "Josh Hawley", "Federal Emergency Management Agency", "Disaster planning and response", "Government programs", "Politics", "Brian Lowery", "Sarah Huckabee Sanders", "Cameron Hamilton", "Susan Cutter", "David Richardson", "Cindy Hyde-Smith", "Climate and environment", "Michael Guest", "Business", "Bobby McGinnis", "Royce McKee", "Tate Reeves", "Natural disasters", "Mike Kehoe", "Climate" ]	# Mississippi tornado survivors await help from FEMA By Sophie Bates May 20th, 2025, 04:02 AM --- TYLERTOWN, Miss. (AP) — More than two months after a tornado demolished his Mississippi home, Brian Lowery still sifts through the rubble, hoping to find a tie clip his mother gave him, made from the center stone of her wedding band. "I still have hope," Lowery said. He, his wife and 13-year-old son made it to safety before the tornado ripped apart their trailer home of 15 years during a severe weather outbreak in mid-March. But the recovery since has been slow and painful. Mississippi's request for federal aid is still pending before the Federal Emergency Management Agency, meaning badly needed assistance has not yet made it to his hard-hit community of Tylertown. "I don't know what you got to do or what you got to have to be able to be declared for a federal disaster area because this is pretty bad," Lowery said. "We can't help you because, whatever, we're waiting on a letter; we're waiting on somebody to sign his name. You know, all that. I'm just over it." It is not unusual for weeks to pass before FEMA approves a declaration. President Donald Trump has pointed to these waits as a reason he is considering dismantling the agency, calling FEMA "very bureaucratic" and "very slow." The wait offers a glimpse of what could be in store for communities around the country as the summer storm season arrives and FEMA is mired in turmoil. States including Kentucky, Missouri and Oklahoma have already been battered with tornadoes this week, setting the stage for more disaster requests to FEMA. And the Atlantic hurricane season is just around the corner. FEMA is able to respond quite effectively in many ways, but "getting the resources to those communities after the fact has been slowed," said Susan Cutter, a Carolina Distinguished Professor of Geography at the University of South Carolina and co-director of the Hazards Vulnerability & Resilience Institute. In coming disasters, Cutter said, she anticipates seeing slower progress in getting needed resources to communities in a timely manner. FEMA acting chief David Richardson has pushed back on claims that FEMA is ill-prepared for severe weather this summer. In an agencywide town hall last week, he said FEMA was "to some degree, to a great degree, ready for disaster season '25." ## March storms left 7 dead and wrecked hundreds of homes In Mississippi, nearly 20 tornadoes tore through the state on March 14 and 15, leaving seven people dead and hundreds of homes destroyed or damaged. Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves asked the Trump administration for a major disaster declaration on April 1. Such a declaration would allow access to an array of FEMA resources, including financial aid for individuals and for government agencies still removing debris and repairing infrastructure. "We don't have a declaration yet. People are still hurting," said Royce McKee, emergency management director for Walthall County, which includes Tylertown. Walthall County was especially hard hit by the massive storm system that tore across multiple states. The storm spawned two significant tornadoes in the county, where four people died. McKee said the county has sunk an estimated $700,000 into the cleanup, but it can't afford more. It has halted recovery operations while awaiting federal assistance. "We need federal help, and we need it desperately, and we need it now," said Bobby McGinnis, a Tylertown resident and firefighter. "I know President Trump said that — America first, we're going to help our American folks first. But we haven't seen the federal folks down here." ## Requests for help come at a time of upheaval for FEMA Mississippi's request comes at a time of upheaval for FEMA. Its acting administrator, Cameron Hamilton, was recently ousted after he publicly disagreed with Trump's proposal to get "rid of FEMA." Richardson, FEMA's new acting administrator, has committed himself to executing Trump's vision for the agency. He also previewed potential policy changes, saying there could be "more cost-sharing with states" and that FEMA would coordinate federal assistance "when deemed necessary." While Mississippi has been waiting, a similar major disaster declaration request out of Arkansas after the storms was initially denied. The decision was then appealed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and finally approved on May 13. ## In Missouri, there are frustrations about the federal response to March storms In Missouri, the federal response to earlier storms is being criticized as residents pick up the pieces after a recent EF3 tornado. Packing winds of up to 150 mph (240 kph), it slammed into parts of St. Louis on Friday. U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, told Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday that the need was urgent, and she responded by vowing to expedite Gov. Mike Kehoe's request for an emergency disaster declaration so the state can get money to clean up the ruble. "That is one of the failures that FEMA has had in the past is that people who incur this kind of damage and lose everything sit there for months and sometimes years and never get the promised critical response that they think or that they believe they should be getting from the federal government," Noem said. After touring the damage Monday, Hawley began publicly demanding help and expressed frustration over the federal response in March, saying, "We cannot wait months. I'm not happy about the fact we're still waiting from all of that damage two months ago." ## Mississippi lawmakers press federal officials about assistance Mississippi lawmakers continue to press for federal help. At a congressional hearing in early May, Republican Mississippi Rep. Michael Guest asked Noem to push forward the request. "I would ask you if you could make sure that you could do everything to expedite that request," Guest said. "It is impacting my local jurisdictions with debris cleanup. It is impacting people as they seek to recover." Republican Mississippi U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith also asked Noem about FEMA assistance and the administration's new approach to the agency. "President Trump has been very clear that he believes that the way that FEMA exists today should not continue," Noem responded. "He wants to make sure that those reforms are happening where states are empowered to do the response and trained and equipped, and then the federal government would come in and support them and financially be there when they need them on their worst day." ___ Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, and Seth Borenstein in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 14:21:04+00:00	[ "Cayman Islands", "Andr Ebanks", "United Kingdom government", "Global elections", "Elections", "Politics" ]	# New coalition government will lead Cayman Islands after tight election race May 2nd, 2025, 02:21 PM --- SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The Cayman Islands will be led by a new coalition government after no single party clinched a majority following a general election this week. André Ebanks will be the new premier of the wealthy British territory, according to a government statement late Thursday. He'll lead a coalition of three independent candidates and two new political parties — the Cayman Islands National Party, founded by a former manager at Ernst & Young, and The Caymanian Community Party, established by Ebanks and other members of the dissolved United People's Movement. The two parties won four seats each in Wednesday's parliamentary election. Meanwhile, the People's Progressive Movement won seven seats, but was three short of a majority. The territory's Parliament has a total of 21 seats, two of which are appointed. Ebanks has pledged to stabilize the territory's finances and address what he described as a cost of living crisis. During the election, voters also approved in a referendum decriminalizing the possession and consumption of small amounts of marijuana and creating a national lottery. But they rejected a proposal to develop cruise berthing infrastructure, which environmentalists have opposed.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 14:09:36+00:00	[ "Movies", "China", "Film Reviews", "Arts and entertainment", "Jia Zhangke", "Documentaries", "Entertainment" ]	# 'Caught By the Tides' review: History's sweep in Jia Zhangke's film By Jake Coyle May 7th, 2025, 02:09 PM --- Jia Zhangke's "Caught by the Tides" is less than two hours long and yet contains nearly a quarter-century of time's relentless march forward. Few films course with history the way it does in the Chinese master's latest, an epic collage that spans 21 years. Jia undertook the film during the pandemic, assembling a mix of fiction and documentary, including images from his earlier films as well as newly shot scenes. That might sound like a mishmash kind of moviemaking. But for Jia, the preeminent cinematic chronicler of 21st century China, it's a remarkably cohesive, even profound vessel for capturing what has most interested him as a filmmaker: the tidal wave-sized currents of technological progress and social transmutation that wash over a lifetime. The high-speed upheavals of modern China are, of course, a fitting setting for such interests. Jia's films are often most expressed in their surroundings — in vistas of infrastructure that dwarf his protagonists. Fans of Jia will recognize some from his previous films. For me, there's never been a more moving backdrop from him than the rubble and mass displacement of the Three Gorges Dam project (seen here, as in his 2008 film "Still Life"). "Caught by the Tides" is ostensibly about Qiaoqiao (Zhao Tao, Jia's wife and muse) and her lover Bin (Li Zhubin), whom she searches for years after a row sent them in different directions. But in "Caught by the Tides," these characters are more like life rafts bobbing in expansive waters, making their way aimlessly. The poetry of "Caught by the Tides" comes from a grander arc. In one of the film's opening scenes, shot on grainy digital film, women in a Datong city room laugh together, singing old, half-remembered songs. The film's final scenes, set more than two decades later in the southern city of Zhuhai, are more crisply photographed and depict a more impersonal world of smartphones, robots and QR codes. For a moment, Jia even adopts the perspective of a surveillance camera. Another moment: a shot, from pre-digital times, drifting down a street with men looking back at us, smoking and mildly curious. Cut then to what might be the same street years later, where a woman parades as a model in front of a sprawling shopping mall. In "Caught by the Tides," these changes go unexplained and unspoken. But the evolutions they chart are deeply familiar to anyone who has lived through even some of these years, in China or elsewhere. We see how people once moved differently, spoke differently and sang differently. Progress and loss exist together as one. Zhao and Li age through the film, leaving them weathered, too, by time. A song late in the film goes: "I can't grasp the warmth we once shared." "Caught by the Tides," a Sideshow and Janus Films release, is unrated by the Motion Picture Association. In Mandarin. Running time: 116 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 20:10:51+00:00	[ "Georgia", "Pregnancy and childbirth", "Health disparities", "Adriana Smith", "Abortion", "Atlanta", "Black experience", "Philadelphia", "North Dakota", "Mississippi", "Chris Carr", "Georgia Right", "Kavita Arora", "Health", "April Newkirk", "David S. Cohen" ]	# Adriana Smith's case in Georgia sparks questions on abortion laws and fetal rights By Kate Brumback, Sudhin Thanawala, and Geoff Mulvihill May 16th, 2025, 08:10 PM --- ATLANTA (AP) — The case of a pregnant woman in Georgia who was declared brain dead and has been kept on life support for three months has given rise to complicated questions about abortion law and whether a fetus is a person. Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old nurse and mother, was about two months pregnant on Feb. 19 when she was declared brain dead, according to an online fundraising page started by her mother. Doctors said Georgia's strict anti-abortion law requires that she remain on life support until the fetus has developed enough to be delivered, her mother wrote. The law, one of a wave of measures enacted in conservative states after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, restricts abortion once cardiac activity is detected and gives personhood rights to a fetus. Smith's mother says it has left her family without a say in a difficult situation, and with her due date still months away, the family is left wondering whether the baby will be born with disabilities or can even survive. Some activists, many of them Black women like Smith, say it raises issues of racial equity. ## What does the law say? Emory Healthcare, which runs the hospital, has not explained how doctors decided to keep Smith on life support except to say in a statement they considered "Georgia's abortion laws and all other applicable laws." The state adopted a law in 2019 to ban abortion after cardiac activity can be detected, about six weeks into pregnancy, that came into effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned. That law does not explicitly address Smith's situation, but allows abortion to preserve the life or physical health of the pregnant woman. Three other states have similar bans that kick in around the six-week mark and 12 bar abortion at all stages of pregnancy. David S. Cohen, a professor at Drexel University's Thomas R. Kline School of Law in Philadelphia, said the hospital might be most concerned about part of the law that gives fetuses legal rights as "members of the species Homo sapiens." Cohen said Emory may therefore consider Smith and the fetus as two patients and that once Smith was on life support, they had a legal obligation to keep the fetus alive, even after she died. "These are the kind of cases that law professors have been talking about for a long time when they talk about fetal personhood," he said. State Rep. Nabilah Islam Parkes, an Atlanta-area Democrat, said Friday that she sent a letter to state Attorney General Chris Carr asking for a legal opinion on how Georgia's abortion law applies when a pregnant woman is brain dead. ## Personhood divide within anti-abortion movement Anti-abortion groups are divided over whether they should support personhood provisions, which are on the books in at least 17 states, according to the advocacy group Pregnancy Justice. Some argue that fertilized eggs, embryos and fetuses should be considered people with the same rights as those already born. This personhood concept seeks to give them rights under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says a state can't "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process or law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Some saw personhood as politically impractical, especially after personhood amendments to state constitutions were rejected by voters in Colorado, Mississippi and North Dakota between 2008 and 2014. Those who steered away sought laws and restrictions on abortion that stopped short of personhood, although they were often informed by the concept. Personhood proponents argue this lacks moral clarity. Some personhood proponents have been sidelined in national anti-abortion groups; the National Right to Life Committee cut ties with its Georgia Right to Life affiliate in 2014 after the state wing opposed bills that restricted abortion but allowed exceptions for rape and incest. ## Unequal access to care for Black women The Associated Press has not been able to reach Smith's mother, April Newkirk. But Newkirk told Atlanta TV station WXIA that her daughter went to a hospital complaining of headaches and was given medication and released. Then, her boyfriend awoke 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. It's not clear what Smith said when she went to the hospital or whether the care she was given was standard for her symptoms. But Black women often complain their pain isn't taken seriously, and an Associated Press investigation found that health outcomes for Black women are worse because of circumstances linked to racism and unequal access to care. Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong, the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Georgia's abortion law, said: "Black women must be trusted when it comes to our health care decisions." "Like so many Black women, Adriana spoke up for herself. She expressed what she felt in her body, and as a health care provider, she knew how to navigate the medical system," Simpson said, noting that by the time Smith was diagnosed "it was already too late." It's unclear whether the clots in Smith's brain were related to her pregnancy. But her situation is undoubtedly alarming for those seeking solutions to disparities in the maternal mortality rate among Black women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women had a mortality rate of 50.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023. That's more than three times the rate for white women, and it is higher than the rates for Hispanic and Asian women. ## What is Smith's current situation? While Smith is on a ventilator and likely other life-support devices, being declared brain dead means she is dead. Some experts refer to "life support" as "maintenance measures," "organ support" or "somatic support," which relates to the body as distinct from the mind. Emory has not made public what is being done to allow Smith's fetus to continue to develop. In another case in Florida, doctors successfully delivered the baby of a 31-year-old woman who was declared brain dead while 22 weeks pregnant, but not without weeks of sustained monitoring, testing and medical care. The woman's family wanted to keep the fetus, physicians with the University of Florida College of Medicine said in a 2023 paper. On her first day of admission, doctors administered hormones to raise her blood pressure and placed a feeding tube. After she was transferred to an intensive care unit, an obstetric nurse stayed by her bedside continuously to monitor the fetus' heart rate and movements. She was on a ventilator, regularly received steroids and hormones, and needed multiple antibiotics to treat pneumonia. Her medical team encompassed multiple specialties: obstetrics, neonatology, radiology and endocrinology. Doctors performed surgery to remove the fetus at 33 weeks when its heart rate fell, and the baby appeared to be in good health at birth. "We don't have great science to guide clinical decision making in these cases," said Dr. Kavita Arora, an obstetrician and gynecologist in North Carolina who raised concerns about the effect of prolonged ventilator use on a fetus. "There simply aren't a lot of cases like this." The 2023 paper warned that "costs should not be underestimated." It is not clear whether Smith, whose mother said she was a nurse at Emory University Hospital, had health insurance. But JoAnn Volk, a professor, founder and co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University, said that that for people with health insurance, it's generally up to the insurer to determine whether care is medically necessary and covered under the plan. While it is unclear how much it will cost to keep Smith on life support until the fetus can be delivered, or who will be responsible for that cost, her mother's GoFundMe page mentions Smith's 7-year-old son and notes that the baby could have significant disabilities as it aims to raise $275,000. ___ Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Associated Press reporter Jeff Amy in Atlanta contributed.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 05:11:00+00:00	[ "Muhammad Yunus", "Bangladesh", "Sheikh Hasina", "Bangladesh government", "South Asia", "Violence", "Elections", "Rebellions and uprisings", "Politics", "Protests and demonstrations" ]	# Bangladesh's interim government strips former ruling party of registration, barring it from polls By Julhas Alam May 13th, 2025, 05:11 AM --- DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh's Election Commission has cancelled the registration of the former ruling party of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, preventing it from participating in the next national election, which is expected to be held by June next year. The decision on Monday came hours after the country's interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus issued an official notification banning the Awami League party and its affiliated bodies from conducting activities online and elsewhere. Monday's formal notification from the Ministry of Home Affairs was issued two days after the interim Cabinet decided to ban all activities of the party under the country's Anti-Terrorism Act until a special tribunal concludes a trial for the party and its leaders. In the notification, the government said it outlawed all activities "including any kind of publication, media, online and social media" as well as "any kind of campaign, procession, meeting, gathering (or) conference until the trial of the leaders and activists … is completed." It said the decision was effective immediately. Separately, the Election Commission said Monday it would not allow the Hasina-led party to contest the next election. Political parties must be registered with the Election Commission to take part in elections. A government adviser said Monday that anyone who posts comments online in support of the Awami League party would face arrest. On Sunday, the Awami League accused the interim government of "stoking division" and trampling on "democratic norms" by banning its activities. It said in a statement that the ban "stoked division within society, strangled democratic norms, fueled ongoing pogrom against dissenters and strangled inclusivity, all undemocratic steps." The Awami League is one of two major parties in Bangladesh, which has a fractious parliamentary democracy with a violent history of coups and political assassination. Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh's independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, fled the country on Aug. 5 last year and has been in exile in India since then along with many senior party colleagues and former Cabinet minsters and lawmakers. They have been accused of killing protesters during an uprising against Hasina's 15-year rule in July-August last year. 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. But the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner of Human Rights recommended in a report 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 Awami League, which led a nine-month war against Pakistan for independence in 1971, has been under severe pressure since Hasina's ouster. Protesters have attacked and torched many of its offices including its headquarters in Dhaka. It accuses the interim government of sponsoring mobs to attack the homes and businesses of their activists and leaders. It said thousands of its supporters have been arrested across the country and that many have been killed. Yunus has said the next election will likely be held either in December or in June next year.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 21:51:01+00:00	[ "Michigan", "Abortion", "Gretchen Whitmer", "Michigan state government", "Health" ]	# Judge overturns Michigan's 24-hour waiting period before an abortion By Ed White May 13th, 2025, 09:51 PM --- DETROIT (AP) — A judge on Tuesday struck down Michigan's 24-hour waiting period before an abortion, saying it conflicts with a voter-approved amendment that locked abortion rights in the state constitution in 2022. "Michiganders have the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including the right to abortion care, and the state cannot deny, burden or infringe upon this freedom barring a compelling state interest to protect the health of the individual seeking care," Judge Sima Patel said. The waiting period had been in place for years, though Patel temporarily blocked it earlier in litigation in 2024. The judge said a mandatory 24-hour delay "exacerbates the burdens that patients experience seeking abortion care." Patel also overturned a regulation that required abortion providers to provide a fetal development chart and information about alternatives, declaring them "coercive and stigmatizing." The judge stopped a requirement that only a physician, not other health professionals, can perform an abortion. The lawsuit was filed by Northland Family Planning Centers and a group called Medical Students for Choice. Michigan's attorney general and health director agreed that the challenged regulations were unconstitutional, though state attorneys were assigned to defend them in court. Abortion rights were added to the state constitution by nearly 57% of voters in 2022, months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Patel's ruling "reaffirms that Michigan is a state where you can make your own decisions about your own body with a trusted health care provider, without political interference," Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 11:16:50+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "United States", "Children", "District of Columbia", "Courts", "Immigration", "United States government", "Supreme Court of the United States", "New Hampshire", "Boston", "John Coughenour", "Politics", "John Marshall", "Roger Gregory", "Danielle Forrest", "Joseph Laplante", "David Barron", "Deborah Boardman", "Leo Sorokin", "Paul Niemeyer" ]	# What judges have said about birthright citizenship May 15th, 2025, 11:16 AM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal courts have uniformly blocked President Donald Trump's order seeking to end birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to someone in the country illegally. The Supreme Court is hearing arguments Thursday in appeals of three of those orders that prevented the Trump administration's citizenship restrictions from taking effect anywhere in the United States. At issue are both the meaning of the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment and the authority of individual judges to universally block policies rather than apply them just to the people and organizations that sued. In dozens of pages of opinions, four federal judges have explained why they believe Trump's birthright citizenship executive order, signed on his first day in office, is unconstitutional. Nine appellate judges also have weighed in over whether to narrow or pause those rulings while the administration appeals. Here are excerpts from their opinions, as well as the 1898 Supreme Court case, United States v. Wong Kim Ark, that the judges have cited as the clearest precedent for their rulings: ## Supreme Court ruled 127 years ago in favor of a child born in San Francisco to Chinese parents Justice Horace Gray wrote the majority opinion in the 6-2 decision that Wong was a citizen by virtue of his birth on American soil. "The real object of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, in qualifying the words 'all persons born in the United States' by the addition 'and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,' would appear to have been to exclude, by the fewest and fittest words (besides children of members of the Indian tribes, standing in a peculiar relation to the national government, unknown to the common law), the two classes of cases, — children born of alien enemies in hostile occupation, and children of diplomatic representatives of a foreign state." "... The fourteenth amendment affirms the ancient and fundamental rule of citizenship by birth within the territory, in the allegiance and under the protection of the country, including all children here born of resident aliens, with the exceptions or qualifications (as old as the rule itself) of children of foreign sovereigns or their ministers, or born on foreign public ships, or of enemies within and during a hostile occupation of part of our territory, and with the single additional exception of children of members of the Indian tribes owing direct allegiance to their several tribes. "The amendment, in clear words and in manifest intent, includes the children born within the territory of the United States of all other persons, of whatever race or color, domiciled within the United States. In dissent, Chief Justice Melville Fuller wrote that Wong could not be a citizen because his parents still owed their allegiance to the Chinese emperor and could not be fully "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States. Justice John Marshall Harlan joined the dissent. ## 4 federal judges have said the changes likely violate the Constitution and 3 have blocked them nationally "I've been on the bench for over four decades. I can't remember another case where the question presented was as clear as this one is. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order," U.S. District Judge John Coughenour said at a hearing in his Seattle courtroom. In his written order, Coughenour said, "The plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their claim that the order violates the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment ... Indeed, the court need only look to its text. The Citizenship Clause is clear: 'All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.' In other words, any individual who is born in the territorial United States or properly naturalized according to federal procedures is a citizen of this country. "The government for its part relies on the provision of the Citizenship Clause that conditions citizenship upon being 'subject to the jurisdiction' of the United States. That is, the government argues that 'children born in the United States of illegal aliens or temporary visitors' are not 'subject to the jurisdiction thereof' and therefore cannot be considered birthright citizens ... But the government accords more meaning to the phrase 'subject to the jurisdiction' than those words or precedent support." U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston said the Wong Kim Ark decision resolved the current case. "The rule and reasoning from that decision were reiterated and applied in later decisions, adopted by Congress as a matter of federal statutory law in 1940, and followed consistently by the Executive Branch for the past 100 years, at least. A single district judge would be bound to apply that settled interpretation, even if a party were to present persuasive arguments that the long-established understanding is erroneous. The defendants, however, have offered no such arguments here. "The loss of birthright citizenship — even if temporary, and later restored at the conclusion of litigation — has cascading effects that would cut across a young child's life (and the life of that child's family), very likely leaving permanent scars. The record before the court establishes that children born without a recognized or lawful status face barriers to accessing critical healthcare, among other services, along with the threat of removal to countries they have never lived in and possible family separation. That is irreparable harm." In Greenbelt, Maryland, a Washington suburb, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman wrote that "the Supreme Court has resoundingly rejected and no court in the country has ever endorsed" Trump's interpretation of birthright citizenship. The children targeted by Trump's order don't fit into any of the exceptions the high court recognized in 1898, Indian tribes, foreign diplomats or occupying forces. "They are children whose citizenship by birth has been recognized in this country since the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. When the children described in the Executive Order are born, they will be United States citizens under the Fourteenth Amendment and long-standing Supreme Court precedent. The President does not have the authority to strip them of their constitutional right to citizenship by birth," she wrote. Boardman also explained why she issued a nationwide injunction. One of the groups that sued, ASAP, has more than 680,000 members. "Because ASAP's members reside in every state and hundreds of them expect to give birth soon, a nationwide injunction is the only way 'to provide complete relief' to them," she wrote. "It also is necessary because the policy concerns citizenship—a national concern that demands a uniform policy." In New Hampshire, U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante blocked the citizenship order only in the state. "The court need not presume the Executive Order's constitutionality. 'A legislative enactment carries with it a presumption of constitutionality.' The defense has not argued, or cited binding or persuasive authority, that executive orders enjoy a similar presumption, and the court does not know of any," Laplante wrote. ## 3 federal appeals courts have refused to let the citizenship changes take effect while Trump appeals In the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Danielle Forrest, a Trump appointee, wrote to explain why she voted against an emergency stay of Coughenour's ruling. "To constitute an emergency under our Rules, the Government must show that its inability to implement the specific policy at issue creates a serious risk of irreparable harm within 21 days," Forrest wrote. "The Government has not made that showing here. Nor do the circumstances themselves demonstrate an obvious emergency where it appears that the exception to birthright citizenship urged by the Government has never been recognized by the judiciary and where executive-branch interpretations before the challenged executive order was issued were contrary." In the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge David Barron wrote for a unanimous panel. "The Government expressly declines to make any developed argument that it is likely to succeed on appeal in showing that the Executive Order is either constitutional or compliant with" federal law, Barron wrote. The three-judge panel in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals split 2-1 to deny the administration's emergency appeal, focused on nationwide, or universal, injunctions. "We are of course aware of separate writings by Supreme Court Justices, emphasized by the government, that express concerns about the propriety of universal injunctions and an interest in taking up that question. But notwithstanding these reservations, the Supreme Court has allowed most universal injunctions to remain in effect during the course of litigation, even in cases in which the Court has ultimately reversed on the merits," Judges Pam Harris and Roger Gregory wrote. "No decision of the Supreme Court has superseded our precedent in this area, and we have no reason to think the Court will soon announce a change in course." They also forecast "confusion and upheaval" if the restrictions were allowed to take effect. "Even for children born to two citizen parents, a standard birth certificate will no longer suffice to prove citizenship – not under the Executive Order, and not for any other purpose. Existing administrative systems will fail, states and localities will bear the costs of developing new systems for issuing birth certificates and verifying citizenship, and anxious parents-to-be will be caught in the middle." In dissent, Judge Paul Niemeyer wrote that administration "only seeks to stay the effort by the district court to impose its injunction nationwide to afford relief to persons beyond the District of Maryland." The legality of the Trump order was not before the court, Niemeyer wrote. "Rather, it is whether the court was entitled, in the circumstances of this case, to extend its injunction to apply 'throughout these United States' — to persons not before the court nor identified by the court. I would grant the government's modest motion, which seeks only to cabin the order's inappropriate reach," he wrote.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 02:03:38+00:00	[ "Associated Press" ]	# The top photos of the day by AP's photojournalists By The Associated Press May 13th, 2025, 02:03 AM --- May 12, 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	2025-05-05 21:31:01+00:00	[ "China", "Mattel", "Inc.", "Donald Trump", "Financial performance", "Business", "International trade", "Compensation and benefits", "Government policy", "Economic policy", "Ynon Kreiz", "Production facilities" ]	# Toy maker Mattel says US price increases are in store due to tariffs By Anne D'Innocenzio May 5th, 2025, 09:31 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Mattel Inc., the maker of Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels cars and other popular toys, said Monday that it would have to raise prices for some products sold in the U.S. "where necessary" to offset higher costs related to President Donald Trump's tariffs. The El Segundo, California-based company said the increases are necessary even though it is speeding up its plans to diversify its manufacturing base away from China. Trump imposed a 145% tariff on most Chinese-made products. Company executives told analysts on a conference call that China currently accounts for 40% of Mattel's global production. The company plans to move roughly 500 products this year from manufacturers in China to sources in other countries, compared to 280 products last year. For some highly sought after toys, Mattel said it would enlist factories in more than one country. To prevent possible shortages, the company said it was focusing on getting products to stores without interruptions. The company said that even with price increases it expects 40% to 50% of its toys will cost customers $20 or less. "The diversified and flexible supply chain in global commercial organizations are clear advantages to Mattel in this period of uncertainty," CEO and Chairman Ynon Kreiz told analysts. Citing the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the president's trade policies, however, Mattel withdrew its annual earnings forecast on Monday. The company said it would be "difficult to predict" consumer spending and the company's U.S. sales for the remainder of the year without more information. Mattel reported larger-than expected first-quarter sales but also a wider loss. Mattel said sales rose 2% to $827 million for the quarter that ended March 31. The company's loss expanded to $40.3 million, or 12 cents per share, in the quarter. That compares with a loss of $28.3 million, or 8 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Analysts expected a loss of 10 cents on sales of $786.1 million for the first quarter, according to FactSet. Mattel's shares were down less than 1% in after markets trading.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 04:07:54+00:00	[ "Vladimir Putin", "Soviet Union", "Russia", "War and unrest", "Russia government", "Politics", "Russia Ukraine war", "Volodymyr Zelenskyy", "Xi Jinping", "China government", "Nikolai Petrov", "Stepan Bandera", "Ukraine government" ]	# How Putin uses the USSR's victory in World War II to rally support for him and the war in Ukraine By The Associated Press May 8th, 2025, 04:07 AM --- Hardly any other country marks the end of World War II with the same fanfare and fervor as Russia, for which the victory over Nazi Germany 80 years ago remains a source of immense pride and a defining moment of history. Victory Day, celebrated on May 9, is Russia's most important secular holiday, reflecting its wartime sacrifice. But it's also used by the Kremlin to bolster patriotism and regain the superpower prestige it lost when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. President Vladimir Putin, who has ruled Russia for 25 of those 80 years, has turned Victory Day into a key pillar of his tenure and has tried to use it to justify his 3-year-old invasion of Ukraine. He has also sought to underline the failure of Western efforts to isolate Moscow by inviting Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders to the festivities, which this year have been overshadowed by reports of Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow and severe disruptions at the capital's airports, as well as cellphone internet outages on Wednesday. A look at why Victory Day is so important for Russia and Putin: ## The Soviet sacrifice of World War II The Soviet Union lost a staggering 27 million people in what it calls the Great Patriotic War from 1941-45. That sacrifice left a deep scar in the national psyche. Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, and quickly overran the western part of the country. They got as close as 30 kilometers (under 19 miles) from Moscow by October of that year, but the Red Army rebounded and routed the invaders. Soviet troops dealt crushing defeats to Germany in 1943 in Stalingrad and Kursk. and then drove the Nazi forces back across the western Soviet Union all the way to Berlin. Putin has noted that every seventh Soviet citizen was killed, while the United Kingdom lost one out of every 127 and the United States one out of 320. "The Soviet Union and the Red Army, no matter what anyone is trying to prove today, made the main and crucial contribution to the defeat of Nazism," Putin wrote in 2020. ## A Putin family story from World War II Putin is deeply emotional to the history of World War II, saying "we will always remember the high price the Soviet people paid for the victory." He often invokes stories from his parents, Vladimir and Maria, in the war, and the death of his 2-year-old brother, Viktor, known as "Vitya," during the 2 1/2-year Nazi siege of his home of Leningrad, now called St. Petersburg. "It was the place where my mother miraculously managed to survive," Putin wrote. "My father, despite being exempt from active duty, volunteered to defend his hometown." He also recalled in a magazine article how his father talked about a scouting mission behind Nazi lines when his comrades were killed and he survived by hiding in a swamp and breathing through a reed while German soldiers walked a few steps away. Putin's father was badly wounded. After leaving the hospital, he walked home on crutches to see morgue workers taking his wife's body away for burial. "He came up to her and it seemed to him that she was breathing, and he said to the orderlies, 'She's still alive!'" Putin's father recounted to his son. The morgue workers replied, "She'll die on the way, she won't survive." But Putin said his father pushed them away with crutches and forced them to carry her back to their apartment. ## World War II's role in Kremlin policies Putin's emphasis on World War II history reflects not only his desire to showcase Russia's military might but also his effort to rally the country behind his agenda. 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. Victory Day parades are a massive show of its armed forces, with thousands of troops and scores of heavy equipment, including mobile launchers carrying nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles, rolling across Red Square, and flyovers of dozens of warplanes. Military parades, fireworks and other festivities are held in cities across the country. Authorities also encourage May 9 demonstrations featuring what is known as the "Immortal Regiment," in which people carry photos of relatives who fought in World War II. Putin joined those rallies for several years, carrying a picture of his father. ## Using World War II to justify the invasion of Ukraine When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Putin declared it was aimed at the "demilitarization" and "denazification" of its neighbor, falsely alleging that neo-Nazi groups were shaping Ukraine's politics under President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is Jewish. The claims were vehemently dismissed by Kyiv and its Western allies. Putin tried to cast Ukraine's veneration of some of its nationalist leaders who cooperated with the Nazis in World War II as a sign of Kyiv's purported Nazi sympathies. He regularly made references to Ukrainian nationalist figures such as Stepan Bandera, who was killed by a Soviet spy in Munich in 1959, as an underlying justification for the Russian military action in Ukraine. "The Kremlin has mixed those issues and used the victory over Nazi Germany as a foundation for building anti-Ukrainian narratives," said political analyst Nikolai Petrov. "In Putin's mind and in the Kremlin's plans, the victory over Nazis rhymes with the victory over the Ukrainian neo-Nazism as they put it."
Associated Press News	2025-05-04 12:21:43+00:00	[ "Lebanon", "Beirut", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Hassan Nasrallah", "Hezbollah", "Middle East", "Global elections", "Public opinion", "Elections", "International agreements", "Voting", "Mohammad Awali", "Politics" ]	# Battered by war and economic crisis, Lebanon holds first local elections in almost 10 years By Ali Sharafeddine and Kareem Chehayeb May 4th, 2025, 12:21 PM --- HARET HREIK, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanese voted Sunday in the country's first local elections in almost a decade, months after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire ended a war between Israel and Hezbollah. The first round of voting, which is taking place by region, was in the Mount Lebanon districts including Beirut's battered southern suburbs, where Hezbollah headquarters are located and much of their leadership including veteran leader Hassan Nasrallah were killed in Israeli airstrikes during the 14-month war. The polls for mayors and municipal councils, though not as significant as Lebanon's parliamentary election set for 2026, are a barometer of how much the devastating war that left over 4,000 people dead and entire neighborhoods destroyed has impacted support for politicians and parties, especially in the south where Hezbollah and allies are strong. Hezbollah and fellow Shitte party the Amal Movement are expected to win most votes for municipal councils and mayors in Beirut's southern suburbs. Flags of the parties and members wearing green and yellow paraphernalia were present outside the polling stations, assisting supporters wanting to cast their vote for the parties' candidates. The voting also took place in public schools near the wreckage of buildings destroyed in Israeli airstrikes. Lebanon's cash-strapped government has been scrambling to secure international funds for the reconstruction, which the World Bank estimates at over $11 billion. Municipal elections were supposed to have taken place years ago but the government had postponed them three times, including once over budgetary constraints. Voters said they were especially concerned with rebuilding their homes and livelihoods. Mohammad Awali, a candidate running for the Haret Hreik municipality, said his local council "has a great responsibility, especially given the extensive destruction that occurred in our area."
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 18:14:43+00:00	[ "Europe", "Vladimir Putin", "European Union", "Dan Jrgensen", "Russia", "International trade", "Ukraine", "Tariffs and global trade", "Eurocopa 2024", "Business", "Politics", "Russia Ukraine war" ]	# The EU seeks to halt Russian gas imports by the end of 2027 and ban new contracts already this year By Lorne Cook and Sam Mcneil May 6th, 2025, 06:14 PM --- BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union should halt imports of Russian natural gas by the end of 2027 to deprive President Vladimir Putin of revenue that helps fuel his war on Ukraine, the bloc's executive branch said Tuesday. Under a detailed plan to be presented next month, the European Commission would seek to ban new gas contracts with Russia by the end of this year and phase out existing ones still in use in the 27-nation EU by the end of 2027. "Putin has shown that he doesn't mind weaponizing gas," EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said as he outlined the plan. "We do not want to fill up his war chest and support his war economy because who knows which countries will be next." Jørgensen said the EU had completely cut coal purchases from Russia and drastically lowered oil and gas imports since the war on Ukraine began in 2022, but that 1.8 billion euros ($2 billion) in energy revenue still reached Moscow every month last year. "I am a little bit embarrassed that last year we still paid 23 billion euros ($26 billion) to Russia whilst they are in war with our friends in Ukraine," Jørgensen told reporters in Strasbourg, France. The EU says it has cut gas imports from 45% to 19%, and oil from 27% to 3%, of its prewar levels. But that still makes it Russia's biggest gas client, with pipelines in operation across the Black Sea, Belarus, and Turkey, according to the Energy and Clean Air think tank. Ten countries continue to import energy from Russia. Those that still take its gas via pipelines include Greece, Hungary and Slovakia. Austria, Poland and the Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – have phased out their imports. Hungary and Slovakia – whose leaders are considered to be Putin's closest allies in Europe – have blocked EU military assistance to Ukraine, and are sure to oppose the commission's gas plans. However, the EU's executive branch appears determined not to let them veto the plan and is ready to propose a system that would only have to be endorsed by about two-thirds of the 27 member countries, and possibly by the European Parliament. Jørgensen said that by the end of this year, each country would be required to submit plans showing how they intend to stop imports of Russian energy and that existing spot market contracts would be banned, measures that would eliminate one-third of imports. He conceded that the plan would face challenges but said that it would be introduced "in a gradual, coordinated way," with EU support being provided if needed to those countries that are hardest hit. "Russia is a threat to all of us. Therefore, we must act," Jørgensen said. ___ McNeil contributed to this report from Barcelona, Spain.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 17:29:53+00:00	[ "Animals", "Oregon", "National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration", "Crime", "Seals and sea lions", "Science", "Pacific Ocean", "Climate and environment", "Michael Milstein", "Climate" ]	# Baby seal stabbed on Oregon coast prompts search for suspect May 7th, 2025, 05:29 PM --- NESKOWIN, Ore. (AP) — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is searching for the person who stabbed a baby seal multiple times on a beach in Oregon. The seal survived the March attack in a cove in the small town of Neskowin, which sits along the Pacific Ocean, NOAA said Monday. The administration's marine stranding team was able to move it to a more secluded beach in Washington state last month. Its wounds were healing, it had grown to about 300 pounds and there were no signs that the stabbing was going to have "lasting effects," Michael Milstein, a spokesperson for NOAA Fisheries West Coast region, said in an email. The agency's law enforcement office, which is investigating the attack, was searching for a "person of interest" spotted by a witness. Officials were also looking for the owner of a vehicle seen in a parking lot near the cove behind a condominium building that may be connected with the Sunday evening attack, according to NOAA. Officials are asking anyone with information on the person of interest, vehicle owner or attack to call NOAA's enforcement hotline. In the spring and summer, juvenile elephant seals will often drag themselves onto Oregon's beaches to spend weeks shedding their hair and skin, according to Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute. Adult elephant seals are rarely seen in the state. The seal that was stabbed likely left its mother very recently and was on its own to learn to hunt, Milstein said. Once it had grown a bit more, it would have likely made its way back to breeding areas around the Channel Islands off Southern California The federal Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits harassing, harming, killing or feeding wild elephant seals and other marine mammals. Violators can face criminal penalties of up to $100,000 in fines and up to 1 year in jail.
Associated Press News	2025-05-04 17:55:30+00:00	[ "Haiti", "Port-au-Prince", "Protests and demonstrations", "Politics", "Eric Jean", "Marc tienne", "Violence", "United Nations", "War and unrest" ]	# Protesters in Haiti demand new government as they condemn violent gangs By Evens Sanon and Dánica Coto May 4th, 2025, 05:55 PM --- PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Dozens of protesters marched up the hills of Haiti's capital on Sunday demanding an end to persistent gang violence as they called on the country's prime minister and transitional presidential council to resign. It's the latest protest to reflect growing anger and frustration over a surge in violence as gangs try to seize full control of Port-au-Prince. "The only thing the Haitian people are asking for is security," said Eric Jean, a 42-year-old bus driver with a large Haitian flag tied around his neck. "We're losing more neighborhoods, more people are dying, more people are fleeing their homes." Also joining the protest was Marc Étienne, who blamed gangs for raiding his small business and leaving him homeless. The 39-year-old now lives in a squalid, makeshift camp like tens of thousands of others forced to flee their homes after gangs razed their communities. Étienne called for a new government as he blamed the current leaders for the ongoing violence and an increase in the number of children joining gangs. "Haiti cannot be run among friends," he said. "The city is dying because the (council) is not doing anything to make it better." ## A vow to fight gangs Sunday's demonstration comes a day after hundreds of people gathered in Port-au-Prince to honor several community leaders killed in recent clashes with gangs. "Freedom or death!" the mourners shouted on Saturday as the leaders of the Canapé-Vert neighborhood entered a small stadium where the memorial was held. Videos posted on social media showed the leaders carrying automatic weapons and wearing black T-shirts emblazoned with pictures of those killed. Many wore balaclavas to cover their faces and protect themselves from possible retaliation by gangs. Clad in white, the mourners raised their fists and clutched hands in the air as a man on stage roared in Haitian Creole, "The blood is not going to be shed in vain! The fight is what?" "Just beginning!" the crowd answered in unison. The unidentified man on stage said the community would never forget the slain leaders as he condemned gang violence. "People are dying, and they don't even know why they're dying," he said. Canapé-Vert is one of the few neighborhoods that has yet to fall to gangs that control at least 85% of the capital. It also is known for having one of Port-au-Prince's most powerful neighborhood organizations, led in part by frustrated police officers. In early April, Canapé-Vert leaders organized a large protest that became violent as they, too, demanded that Haiti's prime minister and its transitional presidential council resign. ## Attacks of 'indiscriminate and brutal nature' Sunday's demonstration and other recent protests have decried the country's spiraling crisis, with more than 1,600 people killed and another 580 injured from January to March. In mid-March, hundreds of people armed with sticks and machetes, accompanied by members of an armed environmental brigade, successfully ousted more than 100 suspected gang members that had seized control of a Catholic school, according to a new report issued by the U.N. political mission in Haiti. But the ouster is only one of a handful of successful fights against powerful gangs backed by certain politicians and some of Haiti's elite. Last year, more than 5,600 people across Haiti were killed, according to the U.N. Gang violence also has left more than one million people homeless in recent years. Gunmen in recent months have targeted once peaceful neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince that would give them easy access to Pétion-Ville, a residential area where banks, embassies and other institutions are located. In a February attack on Delmas 30, gunmen "indiscriminately fired on the population in the neighborhood, killing 21 men and injuring eight others," according to the U.N. report. In a separate attack on a nearby neighborhood where the French embassy is located, at least 30 people were killed, many of whom were traveling in small colorful buses known as tap taps, according to the report. Other victims include at least 15 people who were family members of police officers. Gangs also have attacked multiple communities in Haiti's central Artibonite region, killing adults and small children as they fled. "The indiscriminate and brutal nature of some of these attacks shows the gang's strategy to spread panic and reduce the resistance of the local population," according to the BINUH report. Meanwhile, Haiti's National Police, bolstered by a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police, has struggled in its fight against gangs as the mission remains underfunded and understaffed, with only 1,000 personnel of the 2,500 envisioned. In a push to crack down on gangs, the U.S. government on Friday officially designated Viv Ansanm, a powerful gang coalition, and Gran Grif, the largest gang to operate in Haiti's central region, as foreign terror organizations. Critics warn the move could affect aid organizations working in Haiti at a critical time, since many are forced to negotiate with gangs to supply people with basic goods including food and water. ___ Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 20:46:07+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Barack Obama", "Courts", "Immigration", "United States government", "United States", "U.S. Supreme Court", "San Francisco", "U.S. Department of Justice", "Government and politics", "Edward Chen", "Texas state government", "Politics" ]	# Trump administration asks Supreme Court to strip legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelan migrants By Mark Sherman and Lindsay Whitehurst May 1st, 2025, 08:46 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to strip temporary legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially exposing them to being deported. The Justice Department asked the high court to put on hold a ruling from a federal judge in San Francisco that kept in place Temporary Protected Status for the Venezuelans that would have otherwise expired last month. The status allows people already in the United States to live and work legally because their native countries are deemed unsafe for return due to natural disaster or civil strife. A federal appeals court had earlier rejected the administration's request. President Donald Trump's administration has moved aggressively to withdraw various protections that have allowed immigrants to remain in the country, including ending TPS for a total of 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians. TPS is granted in 18-month increments. The emergency appeal to the high court came the same day a federal judge in Texas ruled illegal the administration's efforts to deport Venezuelans under an 18th-century wartime law. The cases are not related. The protections had been set to expire April 7, but U.S. District Judge Edward Chen ordered a pause on those plans. He found that the expiration threatened to severely disrupt the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and could cost billions in lost economic activity. Chen, who was appointed to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama, found the government hadn't shown any harm caused by keeping the program alive. But Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote on behalf of the administration that Chen's order impermissibly interferes with the administration's power over immigration and foreign affairs. In addition, Sauer told the justices, people affected by ending the protected status might have other legal options to try to remain in the country because the "decision to terminate TPS is not equivalent to a final removal order." Congress created TPS in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters or civil strife.
Associated Press News	2025-05-03 11:06:42+00:00	[ "Religion", "Vatican City", "Pope Francis" ]	# PHOTO COLLECTION: Vatican Conclave May 3rd, 2025, 11:06 AM --- This is a photo collection curated by AP photo editors.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 19:51:37+00:00	[ "District of Columbia", "Muriel Bowser", "Donald Trump", "Hispanics", "Immigration", "DC Wire", "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement", "Politics" ]	# DC's Hispanic community fighting fear as ICE crackdown rumors swirl By Ashraf Khalil, Jacquelyn Martin, and Nathan Ellgren May 8th, 2025, 07:51 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Word spread, and fast — as it does in so many moments of rumor and fear. Early Tuesday morning, dozens of concerned parents and staff members gathered outside of Mundo Verde, one of Washington's most prominent bilingual schools, bracing for a crackdown. A flurry of rumors and unconfirmed media reports had fueled fears that agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be descending on area schools that were known to have large Hispanic immigrant populations. The group tensed up as a black SUV slowly cruised past the school twice, then parked up the block. "I think it's happening," one parent said. The man who emerged turned out to be a television news cameraman. People laughed in relief — for the moment. ## Washington's sanctuary city status in limbo It was a rare moment of levity in the middle of several days of tension and fear as Washington's Hispanic community waits for President Donald Trump's pledge of an immigration crackdown to take shape in the nation's capital. It mirrors, in some ways, similar fears around the country. The reports of a crackdown on bilingual schools in the District turned out to be a false alarm that day — but only partially false. While the schools were on high alert, ICE agents reportedly raided several local restaurants, including Millie's in northwest Washington. On Wednesday, staffers at Millie's were reluctant to discuss the incident, with one manager — who did not give a name — saying the restaurant had been descended upon by "fascists." Staff at Millie's referred all questions to owner Bo Blair, who did not respond to an emailed request for comment. ICE also did not immediately respond to a request for details on what establishments had been raided and whether anyone had been detained. The ambient fear among Washington's robust Hispanic community, though, remains. It is exacerbated by concerns that the city government will not help them. Washington, D.C., declared itself a sanctuary city in 2020 via the Sanctuary Values Act. Among the most prominent aspects of that declaration is a "prohibition on cooperation with federal immigration agencies" by city officials and agencies. But Mayor Muriel Bowser has publicly distanced herself from that status ever since Trump was elected to a second term. Bowser has worked hard to maintain a positive relationship with Trump and with congressional Republicans, who hold significant power over the District of Columbia. In February, she publicly characterized the sanctuary city designation as "an expression of our values," but not a binding legal concept. The city and its agencies, she said, would not hinder or defy any federal immigration enforcement efforts. "I think it's misleading to suggest to anyone that … this is a place where you can violate immigration laws," Bowser said. "The city is not an immigration enforcement agency. No city is. The federal government is." ## How the community prepares for ICE raids Washington's Hispanic community, and the schools and charities that serve it, have spent months quietly preparing for the worst-case scenario. "My community is really scared," said one senior official at a local bilingual school, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect her students, parents and staff. "We have a whole crisis management plan if ICE was to come to the door." That plan includes posting "private property" signs all around the school perimeter and running special trainings for staff members on how to handle the arrival of ICE agents. Parents have been advised to sign "custody agreements" stipulating who would be authorized to take care of their children if they were suddenly detained. The administrator estimated that as much as 35% of the school's student body "could be undocumented." In February, a collection of bilingual charter schools hosted a "Know Your Rights" training session for parents conducted by an immigration attorney. Dozens of families attended, although many were afraid to attend in person and participated via Zoom. The attorney, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect her clients, said requests for "Know Your Rights" training sessions have surged in the past six months, "Anybody who was anything less than a full citizen is going, 'Oh my God, what does this mean for me?'" The attorney said that "managing this culture of fear" has become a steadily increasing part of her job. And for clients who are undocumented, "I don't really have advice for them other than to just stay off the radar." At Mundo Verde this week, parents set up tables on the sidewalk so they could work on their laptops and stay all day, just in case. Another school, Oyster-Adams Bilingual School, established a volunteer escort network to help bring students safely to and from the school building. Rio Sigala, a Mundo Verde parent, praised the immediate rallying of physical support from the school's non-Hispanic parents and community. "As a Latina, seeing how many parents are out here in solidarity makes you feel less alone," Sigala said. "You walk around kind of scared and to see everyone come out, it feels hopeful."
Associated Press News	2025-05-11 05:13:00+00:00	[ "Pope Francis", "Catholic Church", "Italy", "Vatican City", "Papal conclave", "Religion", "Pope Benedict XVI", "Christianity" ]	# What is the traditional Sunday blessing that popes deliver in St. Peter's Square? By Giovanna Dell'Orto May 11th, 2025, 05:13 AM --- VATICAN CITY (AP) — For thousands of Catholic pilgrims in Rome, it's the unmissable Vatican appointment: the midday Sunday blessing the pope delivers from a window overlooking St. Peter's Square. The new pope, Leo XIV, is scheduled to deliver his first such prayer on Sunday from the loggia where he first appeared in public after being elected three days ago. His most recent predecessors delivered Sunday blessings, including their first, from a window in the Apostolic Palace overlooking the square. Here is a look at the history, meaning and memorable moments from Sunday blessings of popes past. ## The history of the pope's Sunday blessing In 1954, which he had declared a special year of veneration to the Virgin Mary, Pope Pius XII started reciting in public a traditional Catholic midday prayer to her. He first delivered it from the pope's summer residence, just outside Rome, at Castel Gandolfo. Back at the Vatican, he kept it up from a window facing St. Peter's Square at the Apostolic Palace, the 16th-century building where the papal apartments are. Pope Francis broke with tradition by living at a Vatican guest house instead, but still maintained the Sunday prayer tradition from the palace. It's become a chance for ordinary faithful to see the pope relatively up close. Especially since the papacy of St. John Paul II – from 1978 to 2005 – popes have added short messages touching on different topics of the day. When a pope misses the weekly occasion, as Francis did earlier this year during his hospitalization, it makes global news. The Vatican announced Leo would deliver his first such prayer on Sunday, which is coincidentally Mother's Day in Italy and the United States, among other countries. ## The prayer to Mary The Angelus is the short prayer to Mary that many Catholics recite daily. Often prayed before Mass, but traditionally accompanied by the tolling of bells at dawn, midday and early evening, it references the moment when the Gospels say the Archangel Gabriel told Mary she would become the mother of God, and she accepted. "Angelus" is Latin for angel, and the prayer's first verse is "The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary." The faithful then answer, "And she conceived of the Holy Spirit," followed by a Hail Mary and a few more verses and prayers. This "annunciation" scene is so pivotal in Christian dogma that it's been represented by some of the most celebrated painters for centuries. Some artists have also portrayed the faithful reciting the Angelus, a practice that is believed to have started in the Middle Ages. During Eastertime – the current liturgical season, spanning 50 days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost – the prayer is substituted with another devotion to Mary, the Regina Coeli (also spelled Caeli, Latin for "Queen of Heaven") that encourages rejoicing in Christ's resurrection. ## Memorable Sunday prayer moments Looking frail, St. John Paul II appeared at his hospital window for his last Angelus prayer less than three weeks before he died in 2005. He didn't speak, only blessing the crowd with an olive branch. An archbishop delivered his message, with the trademark exhortation to young people not to be afraid to follow Jesus. Tens of thousands of people packed St. Peter's Square when Pope Benedict XVI gave his final Sunday prayer in 2013 before becoming the first pope in 600 years to resign. They cheered him on as he reassured the faithful he wasn't abandoning the church, but rather turning to prayer because of his advancing age. At his first Angelus in 2013, Francis introduced a key motif of his papacy: mercy. "A bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just," he told the crowd. More recently, Francis used the Sunday blessings to call for peace, especially in Ukraine and Gaza. But he also would close his blessings with the down-to-earth phrase: "Have a good lunch." ___ 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	2025-05-15 23:47:59+00:00	[ "San Antonio", "Texas", "Terrorism", "Law enforcement", "School shootings", "William P. McManus", "Joseph Appelt", "Nick Suplina", "Michael Wynne", "Phil King", "James Crumbley" ]	# Texas mother accused of terrorism over claims she bought ammo, gear for son planning mass violence By Juan A. Lozano May 15th, 2025, 11:47 PM --- HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas mother has been charged with a terrorism-related crime after being accused of buying her 13-year-old son ammunition and tactical gear as he allegedly planned mass violence at his middle school, authorities said Thursday. The boy, who was also charged with terrorism, had shown up to the school this week wearing a mask and tactical gear but left shortly after, according to San Antonio police. He was later detained off campus. In recent years, parents of children who committed school shootings around the U.S. have been taken to court, though in this case no attack happened. The gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety said it had not found a similar case in which a parent was charged when violence did not occur. Authorities in San Antonio said the boy's mother had previously been contacted by police, her son's school and Child Protective Services with concerns about her son. "She appeared to be dismissive and unconcerned with her son's behavior," San Antonio police Chief William P. McManus said at a news conference. "Her behavior is not only dangerous, it's abhorrent, especially as a parent." The mother has been charged with aiding in the commission of terrorism. She is free on a $75,000 bond. The Associated Press does not normally identify juveniles in criminal cases and is not naming the mother to avoid identifying the 13-year-old boy, who is being held in juvenile detention. Joseph Appelt, the mother's attorney, said he was unable to comment as he had just been appointed to the case Thursday and was still learning about it. Michael Wynne, a Houston-based criminal defense attorney not connected to the case, said he believes laws and prosecutions of parents over allegations they played some sort of role in a school shooting or plans for one "are headed in this direction … because of the tragic consequences that can ensue if a parent continues to neglect their responsibilities." "What we've had in place so far clearly has not worked," Wynne said. "We have to do something else because the consequences are so tragic and so dire." Around October, Child Protective Services reported its concerns about the boy's family to police. In January, he was found in his school drawing violent pictures and in April he was suspended after researching mass shootings on a school computer, McManus said. He was allowed to return to campus earlier this month. On Sunday, a family member saw the boy with a bullet, McManus said. "He claimed his mother bought him the bullet and tactical gear," McManus said. "The next day, the family member found loaded magazines and an improvised explosive device and immediately contacted police." Police say the mother provided her son with gun magazines and ammunition for them. McManus said "some very disturbing things" were found inside the mother's home, including "Nazi swastikas and things like that." The mother was charged under a law passed by the Texas Legislature in 2023 that detailed a specific criminal charge of terrorism, and a state registry for anyone convicted of a crime conducted for the purpose of terrorizing the public. Republican state Sen. Phil King, who authored the bill, had said it was aimed at helping law enforcement identify suspects when investigating threats. Nick Suplina, senior vice president of law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety, said parents and gun owners have the responsibility to prevent kids from accessing deadly weapons without supervision. "Parental culpability cases are not one-size-fits-all, but this one stands out for such utter disregard for warning signs that it begs for criminal charges to be brought, even if, thankfully, a major tragedy was avoided here," he said in a statement. In Michigan last year, Jennifer and James Crumbley were the first U.S. parents held criminally responsible for a mass school shooting committed by a child. They are serving 10-year prison terms for involuntary manslaughter. ___ Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report. ___ Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70
Associated Press News	2025-05-17 05:18:29+00:00	[ "Barcelona", "Spain", "Spain government", "Marta Cecilia Crdenas", "Homelessness", "Adolfo Surez Madrid-Barajas Airport", "Recessions and depressions", "Luca Martn", "Politics", "Business" ]	# In Spain, a homelessness crisis unfolds in Madrid's airport By Suman Naishadham May 17th, 2025, 05:18 AM --- MADRID (AP) — Every morning at 6 a.m., Teresa sets out in search of work, a shower and a bit of exercise before she returns home. For the past six months, that has been Terminal 4 of Madrid's international airport. Teresa, 54, who didn't want her full name to be used because of safety concerns, is one of the estimated hundreds of homeless people sleeping in the Spanish capital's airport amid a growing housing crisis in Spain, where rental costs have risen especially fast in cities like Madrid, the country's capital, and Barcelona. She and others sleeping at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport — the third-busiest airport in Europe in 2023, according to Eurostat — described a situation where for months, authorities have neither helped them find other living arrangements nor have they kicked them out from the corners of the airport that they have occupied with sleeping bags unfurled on the floor as well as blankets, luggage carts and bags. Soon, things could change. ## Limits on entry Spain's airport operator AENA this week said that it would start limiting who can enter Madrid's airport during low-travel hours by asking visitors to show their boarding passes. AENA said that the policy would take effect in the next few days, but didn't specify exactly when. It said that exceptions would be made for airport workers and anyone accompanying a traveler. Teresa, a Spanish-Ecuadorian who said she has lived in Spain for a quarter-century, told The Associated Press on Thursday that she hadn't heard of the new policy. She and her husband would be forced to sleep outside on park benches and other public spaces if they aren't allowed back in. "We can't make demands. We're squatters," Teresa said, using a controversial term common in Spain. "Squatters in what is private property. We are aware of that. We want help from authorities, but not a single one has come here." ## Political blame game For months, a political blame game between officials at different levels of government has meant that the homeless encampments in the airport have largely gone unaddressed. In recent weeks, videos on social media and news reports of the airport's homeless population put a spotlight on the issue. Madrid's city council on Thursday said that it had asked Spain's national government to take charge and come up with a plan to rehabilitate every homeless individual sleeping in the airport. Spanish airports are overseen by AENA, a state-owned publicly listed company. A city council spokesperson said that Madrid's city government had recently called for a meeting with officials from AENA, the regional government of Madrid and several national ministries that declined. "Without them, there is no possible solution," said Lucía Martín, a spokesperson for Madrid's city council division of social policies, family and equality. She said that the national ministries of transport, interior, inclusion, social rights and health declined to participate in a working group. A day earlier, AENA accused Madrid's city authorities of providing inadequate help and said that the city government's statements about the unfolding situation confirmed its "dereliction of duty" and abandonment of the airport's homeless individuals. "It's like a dog chasing its tail," said Marta Cecilia Cárdenas of the long list of authorities she was told could help her. Cárdenas, a 58-year-old homeless woman originally from Colombia, said that she had spent several months sleeping in Madrid's airport. ## Exact numbers are unknown It's not known how many people are sleeping in Madrid's airport, through which 66 million travelers transited last year. Spain's El País newspaper reported that a recent count taken by a charity group identified roughly 400 homeless people in the airport, many of whom, like Teresa, had previously lived in Madrid and were employed in some capacity. AP wasn't able to confirm that number. Madrid city council officials, meanwhile, said that the Spanish capital's social service teams had helped 94 individuals in April with ties to the city, 12 of whom were rehabilitated into municipal shelters, addiction treatment centers or independent living. ## Word of mouth Teresa said she had heard about sleeping in the airport by word of mouth. Before she lost her job, she said she lived in an apartment in Madrid's Leganés neighborhood, earning a living taking care of older people. She currently earns 400 euros ($450) per month, working under the table caring for an older woman. With the earnings, Teresa said she maintains a storage unit in the neighborhood that she used to live in. Though the work is sporadic, she said it was still enough to also cover fees for the gym in which she showers daily, pay for transportation, and purchase food. Over the last decade, the average rent in Spain has almost doubled, according to real estate website Idealista, with steeper increases in Madrid and Barcelona. Spain also has a smaller public housing stock than many other European Union countries. ## Hope for the future Teresa said that she hopes to find a job soon and leave the airport, whatever authorities may force her to do in the coming days and weeks. She and her husband keep to themselves, avoiding others sleeping in the brightly-lit hallway dotted with sleeping bags who were battling mental health problems, addiction and other issues, she said. "You end up adjusting to it a bit, accepting it even, but never getting used to it," Teresa said over the constant din of airline announcements. "I hope to God that it gets better, because this is not life."
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 02:29:16+00:00	[ "Prabowo Subianto", "Indonesia", "Bill Gates", "Microsoft Corp.", "Medical technology", "Medication", "Immunizations", "Tuberculosis", "Business", "Adoption", "Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation", "Pneumonia", "Children", "Health", "Fashion", "Death rates", "Nutrition" ]	# Bill Gates meets Indonesian leader to discuss health and sustainable development initiatives By Niniek Karmini and Achmad Ibrahim May 7th, 2025, 02:29 AM --- JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Bill Gates was in Indonesia on Wednesday to discuss health and sustainable development initiatives with the leader of the world's fourth most populous country. Gates met President Prabowo Subianto at the colonial-style Merdeka palace in Jakarta to discuss global health, nutrition, financial inclusion and public digital infrastructure, Indonesia's presidential office said in a statement ahead of the meeting. The co-founder of Microsoft and Gates Foundation praised Indonesia's adoption of vaccines like Rotavirus for diarrhea and Pneumococcus for pneumonia and the country's efforts in reducing child mortality. He said ten million children under the age of five worldwide died when his foundation launched in 2000, with 90% of the deaths due to diarrhea, pneumonia or malaria. That number has now been cut in half to below five million, Gates said. "It's been an amazing time period. And there's many new tools coming," he told the meeting, which was also attended by prominent Indonesian businesspeople and philanthropists. Gates' foundation is currently developing a tuberculosis vaccine that's planned to be tested in Indonesia, Subianto said. "This is crucial because TB is still a deadly disease in the country," he said. Gates said that because rich countries don't have tuberculosis, "it just doesn't get hardly any money for diagnostics or drugs or vaccines." Gates has granted more than $159 million to Indonesia since 2009. Much of it was allocated to the health sector, especially for vaccine procurement, Subianto said. Thanks to the funds, Subianto said Biofarma, a state-run pharmaceutical company, now can produce two billion doses of its polio vaccine every year, benefiting more than 900 million people in 42 countries. The Gates Foundation is also planning to roll out a micronutrient supplement for pregnant women in Indonesia in coming months. Subianto said that Gates will receive Indonesia's highest honor in New York during the U.N. General Assembly in September for his services to the country. During his first in-person visit to the Indonesian capital, Gates is also scheduled to visit a primary school in eastern Jakarta where more than 500 students were taking part of the program. The United Nations Children's Fund estimates that one in 12 Indonesian children younger than 5 suffers from low weight, while one in five is shorter than normal. Both conditions are caused by malnourishment. Indonesia launched an ambitious project this year to fight malnutrition that aims to feed nearly 90 million children and pregnant women. The program is expected to cost 450 trillion rupiah ($28 billion) through 2029. Critics question whether it is affordable. Investors and analysts have questioned the burden on state finances and the economy, and the project's ties with the interests of industrial lobby groups.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 22:11:27+00:00	[ "New Mexico", "Texas", "Donald Trump", "Pete Hegseth", "Immigration", "United States government", "National security", "Military and defense", "United States", "Gregory Wormuth", "Criminal punishment", "Rebecca Sheff", "Indictments", "Politics", "Ryan Ellison", "U.S. Department of Justice" ]	# New militarized border zone spurs national security charges against hundreds of immigrants By Morgan Lee May 14th, 2025, 10:11 PM --- SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Several hundred immigrants have been charged with unauthorized access to a newly designated militarized zone along the southern U.S. border in New Mexico and western Texas since the Department of Justice introduced the new approach in late April. President Donald Trump's administration has transferred oversight of a strip of land along the U.S.-Mexico border to the military while authorizing U.S. troops to temporarily detain immigrants in the country illegally — though there's no record of troops exercising that authority as U.S. Customs and Border Protection conducts arrests. The designated national defense areas are overseen by U.S. Army commands out of Fort Bliss in the El Paso area in Texas and Fort Huachuca in Arizona. The novel national security charges against immigrants who enter through those militarized zones carry a potential sentence of 18 months in prison on top of a possible six month sentence for illegal entry. The full implications are unclear for migrants who pursue legal status through separate proceedings in federal immigration court. The Trump administration is seeking to accelerate mass removals of immigrants in the country illegally and third-country deportations, including Venezuelans sent to an El Salvador prison amid accusations of gang affiliation. The administration has deployed thousands of troops to the border, while arrests have plunged to the lowest levels since the mid-1960s. The federal public defender's office in Las Cruces indicates that roughly 400 cases had been filed in criminal court there as of Tuesday as it seeks dismissal of the misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor charges for violating security regulations and entering restricted military property. Court records show that federal prosecutors in Texas — where a National Defense Area extends about 60 miles (97 kilometers) from El Paso to Fort Hancock — last week began filing the military security charges as well. Las Cruces-based federal Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth is asking for input from federal prosecutors and public defense attorneys on the standard of proof for the trespassing charges "given the unprecedented nature of prosecuting such offenses in this factual context." Public defenders say there needs to be proof that immigrants knew of the military restrictions and acted "in defiance of that regulation for some nefarious or bad purpose." New Mexico-based U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison, appointed in April, says hundreds of "restricted area" signs have been posted in Spanish and English to warn that entry is prohibited by the Department of Defense, along New Mexico's nearly 180-mile (290-kilometer) stretch of border. In a court filings, Ellison has said there's no danger of ensnaring innocent people when it comes to immigrants who avoid ports of entry to cross the border in willful violation of federal law — and now military regulations. ACLU attorney Rebecca Sheff said basic freedoms are at risk as the government flexes its power at the border and restricts civilian access. "The extension of military bases ... it's a serious restriction, it's a serious impact on families that live in the border area," she said. The Department of Justice has warned Wormuth against issuing an advisory opinion on legal standards for trespassing in the military area. "The New Mexico National Defense Area is a crucial installation necessary to strengthen the authority of servicemembers to help secure our borders and safeguard the country," Ellison said in a court briefing. Democratic U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico expressed concern Wednesday in a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that anyone may be stopped and detained by U.S. Army soldiers for entering a 170-square-mile (440-square-kilometer) area along the border previously overseen by the Department of Interior and frequently used for recreation and livestock ranching. Hegseth has emphasizing a hard-line approach to enforcement. "Let me be clear: if you cross into the National Defense Area, you will be charged to the FULLEST extent of the law," he said in a post on the social platform X. ___ Associated Press reporter Valerie Gonzalez contributed from McAllen, Texas.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 20:06:47+00:00	[ "Burkina Faso", "Africa", "Ibrahim Traore", "John Jerry Rawlings", "Coups detat", "United States government", "United States", "Nigeria government", "Richard Alandu", "Thomas Sankara", "Michael Langley" ]	# Burkina Faso's Traore captivates young Africans despite worsening security crisis By Dulue Mbachu May 13th, 2025, 08:06 PM --- ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — As news emerged this week about hundreds of Burkina Faso citizens killed separately by both jihadi groups and government forces, images of Burkina Faso's junta leader Capt. Ibrahim Traore were plastered over Russian state media speaking about pan-Africanism and liberating the minds of the continent's youths. Traore, who was in Moscow for the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, is Africa's youngest leader at 37, a strong appeal for the continent's young population that is used to much older leaders. Since coming to power in September 2022 after the country's second coup that year, he has dwelt on a rhetoric of self-reliance and independence from the West, particularly former colonial ruler France — a message that often resonates with young Africans and the diaspora. ## Why is Traore trending The latest Traore frenzy reached a new peak late April with a solidarity march in the country's capital, Ouagadougou, following an alleged coup attempt and comments by Gen. Michael Langley, the head of U.S. military in Africa, accusing the Burkina Faso leader of misusing the country's gold reserves. Following the 2022 coup that brought him to power, Traore promised to end the country's decadeslong deadly security crisis and leverage its rich mineral resources for the benefit of its 24 million citizens. Alongside the coup-hit nations of Niger and Mali, Burkina Faso has since severed ties with the regional bloc of ECOWAS — criticized by many young Africans as representing the interest of leaders and not the citizens — as well as longstanding Western allies such as France, whose military provided security support to the government for many years to help its security crisis. Analysts and locals suggest that these factors, combined with his youth, have contributed to Traore's appeal among young Africans. "There is a growing consciousness among African youth at home and abroad that they need to do something about the continent's lack of progress," said Richard Alandu, a Ghanaian living near the border with Burkina Faso. "It appears Traore has become the face of that consciousness." ## How has Traore fared as Burkina Faso's junta leader The security crisis that Traore vowed to resolve has worsened instead, slowing the country's overall economic development and preventing most citizens from benefiting from its mineral wealth, according to analysts and researchers' data. "There has been no real progress on the ground" in Burkina Faso, said Gbara Awanen, a professor of international relations and security studies at Nigeria's Baze University, who specializes in West Africa. "A lot of it is just sleek propaganda." Data from the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, or ACLED, shows that while 2,894 people were killed by both government and armed groups during the year before the 2022 coup, the number has more than doubled to at least 7,200 in the last year. Analysts say the attacks have worsened to the point that Ouagadougou is now increasingly threatened, with more than 60% of the country outside of government control. At least 2.1 million people have lost their homes as a result of the violence, and almost 6.5 million need humanitarian aid to survive, conservative estimates show. ## Propaganda rhythms Babacar Ndiaye, a senior fellow at the Senegal-based Timbuktu Institute for Peace Studies, attributes the current frenzy surrounding Traore primarily to his popularity — and Russia-driven propaganda Despite Burkina Faso's worsening security crisis, Traore still has "so much resonance and interest simply because of propaganda," Ndiaye said. "In Africa, there is deep frustration with the traditional leadership, so there is polarized anger towards a scapegoat that is the west." West Africa, meanwhile, has a history of young men seizing power as exemplified by John Jerry Rawlings in Ghana, Samuel Doe in Liberia and Thomas Sankara in Burkina Faso, all in the 1980s. That history, placed against the perceived failure of Western-style democracy in Africa, has helped to create conditions for idolizing the likes of Traore. Still, allegations of propaganda do not adequately explain the excitement that has built up around Africa's youngest ruler, according to Chidi Odinkalu, an Africa analyst and professor at Tufts University. "Traore articulates a revolutionary message that is appealing to a young population frustrated by the thievery of what passes for 'democracy' in their own countries," said Odinkalu. ____ Follow AP's Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 11:59:56+00:00	[ "Greece", "Michael OFlaherty", "Immigration", "Human rights", "Asylum", "Migration", "Greece government", "Politics", "Political refugees", "International agreements", "Government policy" ]	# Europe's human rights watchdog urges Greece to end summary deportation of migrants By Derek Gatopoulos May 6th, 2025, 11:59 AM --- ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece was urged Tuesday to implement stronger legal safeguards at its borders and adopt a "zero-tolerance approach to summary returns" as reports of illegal deportations of migrants continue despite mounting international criticism. Michael O'Flaherty, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, issued the recommendations following a visit to Greece in February. "The commissioner is concerned about the allegations received during his visit regarding persistent practices of summary returns — also referred to as 'pushbacks' or 'informal forced returns' — at both land and maritime borders," the Council of Europe memorandum said. "Returning people without carrying out an individual identification procedure prevents member states from establishing whether they may be sending them back to human rights abuses," it added. It said O'Flaherty noted that the number of allegations had dropped in recent months. Athens has consistently denied the pushback allegations, maintaining that its border control measures comply with international law. In a written response to the commissioner, the Greek Police said its officers are involved only in the "lawful prevention of illegal border crossings while migrants are still in Turkish territory and have not yet reached Greece." The pushback allegations gained legal significance after the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Greece in January, finding that Athens had violated European human rights conventions by systematically expelling migrants without due process. The Greek government is tightening its migration policies. Migration Minister Makis Voridis has announced plans to extend the maximum detention period for rejected asylum seekers from 18 month to 24 months. "The illegal migrant whose asylum application is rejected and who nevertheless does not leave for his country will face a much more unfavorable institutional environment than exists today — essentially to encourage voluntary departure," Voridis told the Action 24 TV news channel. On Tuesday, the coast guard reported rescuing 158 migrants from three dinghies south of the island of Crete, with assistance from nearby commercial vessels and Frontex, the European Union's border protection agency. Founded in 1949 and headquartered in Strasbourg, France, the Council of Europe is an international organization dedicated to promoting human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. It has 46 member states.
Associated Press News	2025-05-03 04:11:19+00:00	[ "Sean Diddy Combs", "Indictments", "Legal proceedings", "Manhattan", "Florida", "New York City Wire", "Arts and entertainment", "Crime", "Sexual misconduct", "Juries", "New York", "Human trafficking", "Lawsuits", "Casandra Ventura", "Corporate crime", "Trials", "Marc Agnifilo", "Entertainment" ]	# What to know ahead of Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial By Larry Neumeister May 3rd, 2025, 04:11 AM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Hip-hop impresario Sean "Diddy" Combs once presided like a prince over his White Parties in the Hamptons, attracting A-list celebrities, gossip columnists and photographers. But at a trial starting Monday, prosecutors will cast the entertainer as a criminal sexual deviant who exploited his fame to abuse women at gatherings held far out of public view. For over two decades, prosecutors allege, the Bad Boy Records founder used the power and prestige he'd gained in building a hip-hop empire to destroy young lives. He faces an indictment that includes descriptions of "Freak Offs," drugged-up orgies in which women were forced to have sex with male sex workers while Combs filmed them. Numerous witnesses have come forward to accuse Combs of terrorizing people into silence by choking, hitting, kicking and dragging them, often by the hair, prosecutors say. Once, the indictment alleges, he even dangled someone from a balcony. Combs' lawyers contend prosecutors are trying to police consensual sexual activity. And while Combs, 55, has acknowledged one episode of violence — the caught-on-camera beating of his former girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie — his lawyers say other allegations are false. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday at a federal courthouse in Manhattan. Testimony will likely start the following week. If convicted on all charges, which include racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transporting people across state lines to engage in prostitution, Combs faces a possible sentence of decades in prison. ## Investigation followed Cassie lawsuit Although dozens of men and women have alleged in lawsuits that Combs abused them, this trial will highlight the claims of four women. One of them is Cassie, who filed a lawsuit in late 2023 saying Combs had subjected her to years of abuse, including beatings and rape after they met in 2005. The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, did. Her lawsuit, which offered the first public account of the Freak Offs described in the indictment, was settled in a day. Four months later, though, federal investigators raided Combs homes in Los Angeles and Miami and confronted him at a private airport in Florida, seizing 96 electronic devices. They also found three AR-15-style rifles with defaced serial numbers. The three-time Grammy winner was indicted last September. He has since been held in a federal jail in Brooklyn after judges ruled that he would be a threat to intimidate witnesses and victims if released. The 17-page indictment against Combs accuses him of using employees of his business endeavors — including record labels, a recording studio, an apparel line, an alcoholic spirits company, a marketing agency, a television network and a media company — to facilitate his crimes through acts that included kidnapping, arson and bribery. Prosecutors plan to show jurors travel records, text messages and emails, hotel records and videos to supplement testimony and support their claims about what they call "Freak Off activity." Jurors will also see security camera video showing Combs punching, kicking and then dragging Cassie in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. After the video aired on CNN last year, Combs apologized, saying, "I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. I'm disgusted now." ## Defense says Freak Offs were consensual Combs' attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said at a bail hearing that Combs wrote "a very large check" to Cassie after she filed her lawsuit. The lawyer said the payout motivated others to come forward with false claims. Agnifilo said Combs was "not a perfect person" and that there had been drug use and toxic relationships, but he said the rapper was undergoing therapy before his arrest. He said Cassie and Combs were in a 10-year relationship that was "very loving at times" and sometimes chose to bring a third person into their intimacy. "That was their thing," he said. "It was a sought-after, special part of their relationship." The trial is not Combs' first. In 2001, he was acquitted of bringing an illegal handgun into a crowded Manhattan dance club where three people were wounded by gunfire. A rapper in Combs' entourage, Jamal Barrow, who performed under the name Shyne, was convicted in the shooting and served nearly nine years in prison. At a pretrial conference Thursday, Combs confirmed to a judge that he turned down a plea offer that would have carried a lesser penalty than what he might face if he is convicted at his upcoming trial. Just before he left the courtroom after the hearing, he defiantly shook his fist in the air.
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 04:01:50+00:00	[ "Florida", "Shootings", "Pensacola", "Breonna Taylor", "Roger Fortson", "Michael Brown", "Ben Crump", "Lawsuits", "Legal proceedings", "Homicide", "Gun violence", "Eddie Duran", "Race and ethnicity", "Fort Walton Beach", "Eric Aden", "Police brutality", "George Floyd", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# What to know about a lawsuit filed over a Florida deputy's shooting of a US airman May 6th, 2025, 04:01 AM --- FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against a former Florida sheriff's deputy and others for the May 2024 shooting death of 23-year-old U.S. Senior Airman Roger Fortson. Former Okaloosa County Sheriff's Deputy Eddie Duran shot and killed Fortson, who was Black, at the door of Fortson's apartment. Duran has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. That criminal case is pending. Crump outlined the lawsuit during a news conference Tuesday afternoon with Fortson family members in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. ## What is the lawsuit about? Crump says his lawsuit contends that Duran used "excessive and unconstitutional deadly force" in the shooting. It also outlines what it calls failures of training and supervision at the sheriff's office and claim the apartment complex where Fortson was shot provided "misleading, unverified information" that led to the violent response. ## How did the shooting unfold? Authorities say Duran had been directed to Fortson's Fort Walton Beach apartment in response to a domestic disturbance report that turned out to be false. After repeated knocking, Fortson opened the door while holding his handgun at his side, pointed down. Authorities say Duran shot him multiple times before telling Fortson to drop the gun. ## Who is Eddie Duran? Duran, 39, began his law enforcement career as a military police officer in the Army. An Oklahoma police department hired him in 2015 after his military discharge. He joined the Okaloosa County sheriff's office in 2019, resigned two years later and then rejoined the sheriff's office in 2023. Okaloosa Sheriff Eric Aden fired Duran after Fortson's death because an internal investigation concluded Duran's life was not in danger when he opened fire. Duran identifies as Hispanic, according to his voter registration. ## Who was Roger Fortson? Fortson grew up in Atlanta and joined the Air Force in 2019, the year he graduated from high school. The apartment complex where Fortson lived is about 8 miles (13 kilometers) from Hurlburt Field. He was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron as a special missions aviator, where one of his roles was to load a gunship's 30 mm and 105 mm weapons. His death was one of a growing list of killings of Black people by law enforcement in their own homes. It also renewed debate over Florida's "stand your ground" law. ## What is the status of the criminal case against Duran? The case is in the pretrial hearing phase, with a hearing on motions set for May 20. Duran is out of jail on bond. ## Who is Ben Crump? Crump, 55, is a well-known Black attorney based in Tallahassee, Florida, who has worked on numerous high-profile civil right cases and wrongful death lawsuits. His cases have included those involving other Black people who have been killed by law enforcement, including Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Michael Brown.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 15:16:26+00:00	[ "New York City", "New York", "U.S. Democratic Party", "Courts", "Lawsuits", "Legislation", "New York City Wire", "U.S. Republican Party", "Politics", "Constitutional law", "Elections" ]	# Appeals court upholds New York law shifting local elections to even-numbered years May 8th, 2025, 03:16 PM --- ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A mid-level appeals court in New York has upheld a law that shifts many local elections to even-numbered years — a policy meant to align county and town elections with statewide and federal races but that has led to pushback from Republicans. Democrats argue that the law, which was approved two years ago, would result in increased turnout in local races. Republicans sued to block it, saying it violates the state constitution and that it could give Democrats a partisan advantage in higher-turnout election years. On Wednesday, a panel of appeals court judges ruled that the law can take effect and that there is no need to delay its implementation until the 2027 election cycle. The decision overturned a lower court's ruling last year that struck down the law. New York City elections aren't affected by the law.
Associated Press News	2025-05-10 02:23:43+00:00	[ "Hawaii", "Medication", "Lawsuits", "Legal proceedings", "Prescription drugs", "Hawaii state government", "Josh Green", "James Ashford", "Business", "Anne Lopez", "Health" ]	# Drug companies to pay Hawaii $700 million to settle Plavix blood thinner lawsuit May 10th, 2025, 02:23 AM --- HONOLULU (AP) — Pharmaceutical companies have agreed to pay Hawaii $700 million to settle its lawsuit over the efficacy and safety of the blood thinner Plavix, the state attorney general's office announced Friday. A court ruling last year ordered Bristol Myers Squibb Company and three U.S.-based subsidiaries of French pharmaceutical company Sanofi to pay a combined $916 million. But before an appeal was decided, a settlement was reached for the lower amount, the attorney general's office said. In a joint statement, the companies said they "are pleased to resolve this litigation, and to continue their companies' focus on discovering, developing, and delivering innovative medicines to patients." "Plavix has helped millions of people with cardiovascular disease around the world for nearly 30 years and it continues to be endorsed as a first-line therapy by leading treatment guidelines across the globe," the statement added. First Circuit Court Judge James Ashford found that there was a risk that about 30% of patients, particularly non-Caucasians, might have a "diminished response" to Plavix but the companies did not update their labels, Attorney General Anne Lopez said last year. Neither company has admitted wrongdoing. Gov. Josh Green called it a "landmark settlement" and a "major victory" for the state. The settlement divides the $700 million equally between Bristol Myers Squibb and Sanofi, with the funds to be paid by wire transfer by June 9, the attorney general's office said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 18:06:43+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Prisons", "Teaching", "Labor", "William K. Marshall III", "Government and politics", "California", "Aaron McGlothin", "Associated Press", "United States government", "Business", "Elon Musk", "Politics" ]	# Bureau of Prisons freezes some hiring amid Trump cuts By Michael R. Sisak May 8th, 2025, 06:06 PM --- The Trump administration is halting some hiring at the federal Bureau of Prisons, the crisis-plagued agency where chronic understaffing has led to long overtime shifts and the use of prison nurses, teachers, cooks and other workers to guard inmates. The move, which coincides with President Donald Trump's aggressive campaign to cut the cost and size of the federal government, was announced Thursday by the agency's newly appointed director, William K. Marshall III. Some union officials characterized the move as a "hiring freeze," though the agency denied that, saying some positions would continue to be filled. The Bureau of Prisons will maintain current staffing levels at least through the end of the fiscal year, Sept 30, Marshall wrote in an email to staff titled "Staffing and Hiring Decisions." The agency will still work to fill critical positions, such as correctional officers and medical clinicians, and will honor job offers that are currently pending on an accelerated timeline. The change comes days after Trump ordered the Bureau of Prisons to reopen Alcatraz, the fabled former penitentiary in San Francisco Bay that last held inmates more than six decades ago. The dilapidated facility, now a popular museum and tourist attraction, will likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild at a time when the federal prison system is facing a $3 billion repair backlog and myriad other woes. Marshall said this week that the cash-strapped agency will conduct "an immediate assessment to determine our needs and the next steps" on Trump's Alcatraz directive. Since mid-March, 11 federal prison inmates have died. Last week, an inmate in Miami tested positive for tuberculosis, while others were diagnosed with COVID-19. In February, a Bureau of Prisons official told Congress that more than 4,000 beds within the system — the equivalent of at least two full prisons — are unusable because of dangers like leaking or failing roofs, mold, asbestos or lead. In his announcement Thursday, Marshall told employees that changing the Bureau of Prisons' hiring practices are necessary to "avoid more extreme measures" as it navigates budgetary challenges. The plan will "maintain stability and protect the livelihood of our workforce to the fullest extent possible," he wrote. The hiring freeze is likely to exacerbate a staffing crisis at the agency, which has more than 4,000 unfilled positions, union officials said. The administration previously eliminated some pay bonuses that were credited with retaining and attracting new staff. In one example of staffing problems, a federal jail in Brooklyn had more than 150 vacancies despite a hiring surge that increased staffing by about 20%. Before that, the facility was operating at about 55% of full staffing, according to court filings. "We're already severely understaffed, they took our retention pay, they have been literally stripping all the things away from us that matter," said Aaron McGlothin, union president at the federal prison in Mendota, California. "Freezing an already severely understaffed agency will lead to tragic consequences, we are tired of doing more with less." Trump suspended hiring across many parts of the federal bureaucracy when he took office in January, but initially spared the Bureau of Prisons and other law enforcement agencies. At the same time the administration and billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency cut probationary workers and offered buyouts to hundreds of thousands of workers across the government. Trump previously imposed a hiring freeze at the Bureau of Prisons during his first term, in 2017. That freeze was blamed for accelerating the glut of vacancies and overtime spending — a trend that has continued for years as the agency has struggled to hire and retain employees. Some correctional officers have been pressed into duty for 16-hour shifts and 80-hour weeks. "Staff are mentally and physically exhausted from the do more with less directives," McGlothin said, noting a wave of retirements in the wake of Trump's actions. "Nothing ever good comes from these situations and I pray no one is injured or killed over these senseless decisions." An ongoing investigation from The Associated Press has uncovered deep, previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons, an agency with more than 30,000 employees, 158,000 inmates, 122 facilities and an annual budget of about $8 billion. AP reporting has revealed rampant misconduct, including staff-on-inmate sexual abuse, dozens of escapes, chronic violence, deaths and severe staffing shortages that have hampered responses to emergencies, including inmate assaults and suicides. In December, the agency announced it was permanently closing its women's prison in Dublin, California, in the wake of rampant sexual abuse by employees, including the warden. It addition, it idled six prison camps across the country, moves it said were done to address "significant challenges, including a critical staffing shortage, crumbling infrastructure and limited budgetary resources."
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 04:12:02+00:00	[ "Mark Geragos", "Los Angeles", "Legal proceedings", "Courts", "Nathan Hochman", "Kitty Menendez", "Sexual assault", "George Gascn", "Shootings", "Erik Menendez", "Michael Jesic", "Criminal punishment" ]	# Judge sets dates for Menendez brothers' resentencing hearings By Jaimie Ding May 9th, 2025, 04:12 AM --- LOS ANGELES (AP) — Resentencing hearings for Erik and Lyle Menendez will move forward next week after a series of delays. The brothers were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for fatally shooting their entertainment executive father, Jose Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home. The brothers were 18 and 21 at the time of the killings. Defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, while prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance. LA County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic on Friday set the hearings for next Tuesday and Wednesday. The hearing was supposed to be about the defense attorneys' request to remove the Los Angeles district attorney's office from the case, but defense attorneys withdrew their motion. Prosecutors, meanwhile, tried again to withdraw the resentencing petition set under the prior district attorney. Jesic rejected their efforts. Here's what to know: ## Resentencing hearings on May 13 and 14 Next week, the judge will hear arguments on the crucial question: Have Erik and Lyle Menendez been rehabilitated during 30 years in prison? The brothers' attorneys say yes. Since their conviction, the brothers have gotten an education, participated in self-help classes and started various support groups for their fellow inmates. The extended Menendez family, with the exception of an uncle who died last month, has said they fully forgive the brothers for what they did and want them to be freed. Their cousins have said the brothers worked hard over the decades to better themselves and give back to the prison community. Defense attorney Mark Geragos said he plans to call seven family members to testify at the hearings. If the brothers are resentenced, they could become immediately eligible for parole. The state parole board would ultimately rule on whether to release them from prison. ## LA prosecutors oppose the brothers' resentencing Former LA County District Attorney George Gascón had opened the door to possible freedom for the brothers in October by requesting their sentences be reduced to 50 years with the possibility of parole. His office said the case would've been handled differently today due to modern understandings of sexual abuse and trauma, and the brothers' rehabilitation during their 30 years in prison. But current district attorney Nathan Hochman reversed course and opposed the brothers' resentencing. He's argued the brothers have not taken full responsibility for their crimes because they have not admitted to lies told during their trials. "They're not ready" to be resentenced, Hochman told the judge Friday. The state parole board made available last month the preliminary results of risk assessments for Erik and Lyle Menendez conducted by a forensic psychologist. While the reports have not been made public, Hochman cited them as the reason why he could not support resentencing. According to Hochman, the reports said the brothers had recently broken prison rules by smuggling cellphones inside, which he argued demonstrated an inability to regulate their own behavior. It came to the conclusion that they were "moderately more likely" to engage in violence in the community, Hochman said. But Jesic disagreed. "I don't see anything new," he said. "He's (Erik Menendez) had cellphones throughout the time he's been in custody." Geragos had filed a motion to remove the case from Hochman's office, arguing that Hochman has a bias against the brothers. But he withdrew that motion Friday. Hochman has said he has done nothing wrong and simply disagrees with the defense attorneys and their arguments as to why the brothers should be resentenced. ## Clemency from go The Menendez brothers are still waiting for the full results of a state parole board risk assessment ordered by Gov. Gavin Newsom 's office. The final hearing, scheduled for June 13, will influence whether Newsom grants the brothers clemency. While parts of the risk assessment were disclosed in court Friday that could be unfavorable to the brothers' case, Geragos emphasized they were only one component of the parole board's evaluation, not meant to be made public and could still change.
Associated Press News	2025-05-18 20:13:09+00:00	[ "Mens health", "Joe Biden", "Prostate cancer", "Kamala Harris", "Barack Obama", "Donald Trump", "Jill Biden", "Cancer", "District of Columbia", "Alex Thompson", "Government and politics", "Health", "Matthew Smith", "Politics" ]	# Biden has been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer By Josh Boak May 18th, 2025, 08:13 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, his office said Sunday. The finding came after the 82-year-old reported urinary symptoms, which led doctors to discover a nodule on his prostate. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer on Friday, with the cancer cells having spread to the bone. "While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management," his office said. "The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians." In a post on X on Monday morning, Biden posted a photo of himself and his wife, Jill Biden, and wrote: "Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support." Prostate cancers are graded for aggressiveness using what's known as a Gleason score. The scores range from 6 to 10, with 8, 9 and 10 prostate cancers behaving more aggressively. Biden's office said his score was 9, suggesting his cancer is among the most aggressive. When prostate cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it often spreads to the bones. Metastasized cancer is much harder to treat than localized cancer because it can be hard for drugs to reach all the tumors and completely root out the disease. However, when prostate cancers need hormones to grow, as in Biden's case, they can be susceptible to treatment that deprives the tumors of hormones. Outcomes have improved in recent decades and patients can expect to live with metastatic prostate cancer for four or five years, said Dr. Matthew Smith of Massachusetts General Brigham Cancer Center. "It's very treatable, but not curable," Smith said. "Most men in this situation would be treated with drugs and would not be advised to have either surgery or radiation therapy." Many political leaders sent Biden their wishes for his recovery. President Donald Trump, a longtime political opponent, posted on social media that he was saddened by the news and "we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery." Biden's vice president, Kamala Harris, said on social media that she was keeping him in her family's "hearts and prayers during this time." "Joe is a fighter — and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership," Harris wrote. Former President Barack Obama said his thoughts and prayers were with Biden, his former vice president, lauding his toughness. "Nobody has done more to find breakthrough treatments for cancer in all its forms than Joe, and I am certain he will fight this challenge with his trademark resolve and grace," Obama wrote on social media. The health of Biden was a dominant concern among voters during his time as president. After a calamitous debate performance in June while seeking reelection, Biden abandoned his bid for a second term. Harris became the nominee and lost to Trump, a Republican who returned to the White House after a four-year hiatus. But in recent days, Biden rejected concerns about his age despite reporting in the new book "Original Sin" by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson that aides had shielded the public from the extent of his decline while serving as president. In February 2023, Biden had a skin lesion removed from his chest that was a basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer. And in November 2021, he had a polyp removed from his colon that was a benign, but potentially pre-cancerous lesion. In 2022, Biden made a "cancer moonshot" one of his administration's priorities with the goal of halving the cancer death rate over the next 25 years. The initiative was a continuation of his work as vice president to address a disease that had killed his older son, Beau, who died from brain cancer in 2015. His father, when announcing the goal to halve the cancer death rate, said this could be an "American moment to prove to ourselves and, quite frankly, the world that we can do really big things." ___ Associated Press writer Jon Fahey in New York contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 13:02:01+00:00	[ "Elon Musk", "Donald Trump", "Wisconsin", "Scott Walker", "Courts", "Rebecca Bradley", "Tony Evers", "Abortion", "Wisconsin state government", "Chris Taylor", "Politics", "Liberalism", "Susan Crawford", "Elections", "Brian Schimming" ]	# Judge who previously fought for abortion rights wants to join Wisconsin Supreme Court By Scott Bauer May 20th, 2025, 01:02 PM --- MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin appeals court judge who was an outspoken supporter of abortion rights in the state Legislature announced Tuesday that she is running for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, taking on an incumbent conservative justice who sided with President Donald Trump in his failed attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss. Wisconsin Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor, 57, becomes the first liberal candidate to enter the 2026 race. The election next year won't be for control of the court in the battleground state because liberals already hold a 4-3 majority. The race is for a seat held by conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley, who said last month she is running for reelection. Liberals won the majority of the court in 2024 and they will hold it until at least 2028 thanks to the victory in April by Democratic-backed Susan Crawford over a conservative candidate supported by Trump and billionaire Elon Musk. Musk spent at least $3 million on this year's Wisconsin Supreme Court race himself and groups he funds spent nearly $19 million more. But Musk said Tuesday he will be spending less on political campaigns in the future, which could mean less money for Bradley. That race broke spending records and became an early litmus test for Trump and Musk in the presidential swing state that Trump won in 2024 and 2016, but lost in 2020. Crawford won by 10 percentage points, marking the 12th victory out of 15 races for a Democratic-backed statewide candidate in Wisconsin. Liberals have a chance to expand their majority on the court next year to 5-2. If Bradley wins, the 4-3 liberal majority would be maintained. In an interview Monday with The Associated Press, Taylor said she is running "to make sure that people get a fair shake, that the judiciary remains independent and impartial and that people have confidence in the judiciary." She accused Bradley of prioritizing a right-wing agenda, noting her siding with Trump in his unsuccessful attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss. Bradley did not immediately respond to an email Tuesday seeking comment. But Wisconsin Republican Party Chair Brian Schimming called Taylor a "radical" and said she will have to answer for her "extremely partisan record in the legislature and on the bench." Taylor was an outspoken supporter of abortion rights, gun control and unions while representing Wisconsin's liberal capital city of Madison as a Democrat in the Legislature from 2011 to 2020. Before that, she worked as an attorney and as public policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. Her past comments and positions will almost certainly be used by conservatives to argue that Taylor is biased and must not hear cases involving many topics including abortion, redistricting and union rights. Taylor said her record as a judge over the past five years shows she can be objective. "There is no room for partisanship in the judiciary," she said. Taylor said she would not step aside from a case just because it dealt with abortion, union rights or redistricting. Whether to recuse would be a case-by-case decision based on the facts, she said. "There are cases where, if you do not feel you can be impartial, you need to recuse and I have done that," Taylor said. "But whole topics? I would say no." The Wisconsin Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling within weeks in one challenge it heard last year to the state's 1849 abortion ban law. It has agreed to hear another case brought by Planned Parenthood that seeks to make abortion a constitutional right, but has yet to schedule a date for oral arguments. That case most likely will be heard before the winner of next year's election takes their seat in August 2026. Taylor was outspoken in opposition to then-Gov. Scott Walker's signature law, known as Act 10, that effectively ended collective bargaining rights for most public workers. A Dane County circuit judge struck down most of the law as unconstitutional in December and the Supreme Court is considering whether to hear an appeal. The Wisconsin Supreme Court faces a number of other high-profile cases, including a pair filed earlier this month seeking to overturn the state's Republican-drawn congressional maps. Taylor was appointed to the Dane County Circuit Court in 2020 by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. She won election to the state appeals court in 2023. Bradley, the incumbent, was appointed to the Supreme Court by Walker in 2015 and won election to a full term in 2016.
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 14:51:58+00:00	[ "Disease outbreaks", "Poisoning", "California", "Nevada", "National", "Health", "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention", "Business", "Washington", "Arizona" ]	# What to know about food poisoning illnesses caused by listeria By The Associated Press May 12th, 2025, 02:51 PM --- A listeria outbreak linked to ready-to-eat sandwiches and snacks has sickened at least 10 people in the U.S., and a producer is voluntarily recalling dozens of products sold to retail stores, hospitals, hotels, airports and airlines, federal officials said. The products were made by Fresh & Ready Foods LLC and were sold in Arizona, California, Nevada and Washington. Those who fell ill and were hospitalized were in California and Nevada. The outbreak has been simmering for many months: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said cases date to December 2023. Listeria poisoning is caused by a particularly resilient type of bacteria that can survive and grow even during refrigeration. About 1,600 people are infected with it — and 260 die — each year in the U.S., according to the CDC. Here's what you need to know: ## What was recalled? The voluntary recall covers more than 80 specific products distributed between April 18 and April 25. The products have "Use By" dates from April 22 to May 19. Brand names include: Fresh & Ready Foods, City Point Market Fresh Food to Go and Fresh Take Crave Away. Federal officials say anyone with the products should throw them away or return them. They also suggest cleaning any surfaces that touched the recalled foods. ## Where does listeria come from? Listeria bacteria thrive in moist environments, including soil and water and decaying vegetation and are carried by some animals. The hardy germs are typically spread when food is harvested, processed, transported or stored in places that are contaminated with the bacteria. When the bacteria get into a food processing plant, they can be tough to eradicate. ## What are the symptoms of listeria? Foods contaminated with the bacteria can make people sick. Symptoms can be mild and include fever, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. More serious illness can include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions. Listeria poisoning is tricky because symptoms can start quickly, within a few hours or days after eating contaminated food. But they also can take weeks or up to three months to show up. Those most vulnerable to getting sick include the very young, people older than 65 and those with weakened immune systems or who are pregnant. ## Does cooking kill listeria? Listeria can survive and grow in refrigerated food. It can be killed by heating foods to "steaming hot," or 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius), the CDC says. But that's not always possible — or palatable — for foods that are made to be eaten cold. Because listeria can survive under refrigeration, it's important to clean and sanitize any surfaces, including refrigerator drawers and shelves, that may have come in contact with the products. ___ 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	2025-05-14 14:45:47+00:00	[ "West Virginia", "Maryland", "Patrick Morrisey", "Wes Moore", "Virginia", "Weather", "Schools", "Climate and environment", "Anna Stuck", "Jordan Sims", "Evacuations", "Deval Patrick", "Storms", "Chris Lafferty", "Dan Eggleston", "Climate" ]	# Virginia boy swept away as heavy rains and flooding hit several states By Gene Puskar and Sarah Brumfield May 14th, 2025, 02:45 PM --- WESTERNPORT, Md. (AP) — Officials found the body of a 12-year-old boy who was swept away by rushing water on a Virginia roadway during a storm system that also forced a dozen students to stay overnight at a Maryland high school due to heavy rains that led to flooding in several states. A 911 caller reported Tuesday night that the boy was walking outside when he was swept away by water that overtook the roadway from a nearby creek, Albemarle County Fire Rescue said in a social media post. What is believed to be the body of Jordan Sims was found by crews searching for him about 8:45 a.m. Wednesday, the county agency stated. He will be taken a medical examiner's office in Richmond for positive identification. "This is a heartbreaking outcome, and our hearts are with the Sims' family and loved ones," Albemarle County Fire Rescue Chief Dan Eggleston said in a statement. "We are incredibly grateful to our local and regional partners who supported this search effort with urgency, professionalism, and care." In far western Maryland's Allegany County, officials said about 150 students and 50 adults were evacuated Tuesday afternoon from Westernport Elementary School as floodwaters breached the second floor. Crews used rescue boats to transport the children to higher ground. The small rural community of Westernport saw its downtown completely inundated for the first time in decades. Rapidly rising waters caught residents by surprise when a rainy day suddenly turned into an emergency situation. "We went from just kind of puddles on the street to the whole town underwater in at most an hour," said Chris Lafferty, deputy chief of Tri-Towns EMS in Westernport. "It turned basically all of downtown into a river." With a population under 2,000 people, Westernport is located in the far corner of western Maryland. Its modest downtown took shape in a valley where Georges Creek flows into the North Branch Potomac River. People were also forced to relocate at two other county schools on Tuesday. Allegany County Public Schools said 12 students stayed overnight at Mountain Ridge High School before being picked up Wednesday morning. County schools were closed Wednesday. Emergency officials said no one had been reported missing or injured, but residents were urged to stay home anyway because several secondary roads had been washed out. The Potomac River remained within its banks, with only minor flooding reported and conditions generally improving, officials said. Crews were assessing damage after water receded in the Georges Creek area. By Wednesday afternoon, the sun was shining and many residents had already spent hours scraping, shoveling and hauling massive quantities of mud. Crews used heavy equipment to clear mud from the streets and carted it away by dump truck. They started cleaning out the town's library and a fire station, where receding floodwaters left behind a thick layer of sludge. From backhoes to mops, people grabbed whatever they could find and pitched in. "Everybody's coming together just trying to clean up," Lafferty said. Much of Allegany County received about 3 to 5 inches (8 to 13 centimeters) of rain Tuesday. Rainfall records were broken in some spots of the region, said Anna Stuck, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Baltimore/Washington International Airport broke a rainfall record for the day, as did the city of Martinsburg, West Virginia. More rain was on the way Wednesday, and while not as much was expected as on Tuesday, people should tune in for warnings, watches and advisories, Stuck said. "Because of the rain yesterday, it won't take much," she said. "It will take less precipitation for it to flood because the ground is so saturated." Maryland's Department of Emergency Management activated its emergency operations center to coordinate the state's response. Roads in both Allegany and Garrett counties were closed because of flooding, according to state officials. Allegany County officials reported that floodwaters have caused washouts and gas line leaks. "We remain in close contact with local officials and continue to coordinate resources as the rain continues to fall," Gov. Wes Moore said in a press release. "I urge all Marylanders to remain vigilant, heed warnings from local officials, and prioritize safety during this time." In West Virginia, Gov. Patrick Morrisey declared a state of emergency Tuesday night in Mineral County, near Maryland, because of heavy rains and flash flooding, allowing the state to send resources. ___ Associated Press reporters Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia, and Lea Skene in Baltimore contributed.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 19:36:56+00:00	[ "Pope Leo XIV", "Peru", "Pope Francis", "Ecuador", "Lima", "Papal conclave", "Christmas", "Alonso Alarcn", "Garcia Cano", "Hugo Prez", "Chicago", "Jorge Milln", "Religion", "Dina Boluarte", "Jos Feliciano", "Alejandro Bazalar", "Mildred Camacho", "Ricardo Ulloque" ]	# Pope Leo XIV was known as Padre Prevost in Chiclayo, Peru By Regina Garcia Cano and Franklin Briceño May 9th, 2025, 07:36 PM --- CHICLAYO, Peru (AP) — The people of northern Peru call him el obispo. Sometimes he is also Padre Prevost. Maybe when the shock wears off, they will get used to his new title, Pope Leo XIV. Waiters, taxi drivers, teachers and others — faithful or otherwise — saw the Rev. Robert Prevost around their communities for 20 years, eating ceviche, singing Christmas songs and partaking in everyday activities. But he also walked through flooded streets to reach the needy and drove to remote villages to hand out blankets. Many sat a few feet away from him while he delivered succinct sermons. They can all now say they know the pope. "He's a very simple man," said Alejandro Bazalar, whose feet Leo washed during a Holy Week ceremony in the city of Chiclayo, where Leo lived for nine years. "We Chiclayanos never imagined that God's representative on Earth would live among us." Chiclayo, with more than 800,000 people, plays a vital role as the main commercial hub of Peru's northern Pacific coast, with highways linking it to the Andes mountains and Amazon region. The two-story homes near its main square are painted in shades of cream or white and the narrow streets are jammed at midday. Low-income neighborhoods rise a few miles away. Leo, 69 and born in the United States, arrived in the city in 2014, serving as administrator and then bishop until his predecessor, Pope Francis, summoned him to Rome in 2023. After he was introduced to the world as Leo XIV, he introduced Chiclayo to the world. "Greetings ... to all of you, and in particular, to my beloved diocese of Chiclayo in Peru, where a faithful people have accompanied their bishop, shared their faith," he said Thursday in Spanish, standing on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica for his first speech as the leader of the Catholic church. Ricardo Ulloque on Friday remembered Leo singing into a microphone "I wanna wish you a merry Christmas" – the verse in José Feliciano's bilingual song "Feliz Navidad" – accompanied by a small band during a youth gathering in 2017. Waiter Alonso Alarcón recalled the time Leo visited a restaurant and ate ceviche, Peru's staple dish of lemon-marinated fish. And cab driver Hugo Pérez said he saw the pope several times driving around Chiclayo, 9 miles (14 kilometers) from the coast. The Rev. Jorge Millán, a priest who lived with Leo and other brothers in Chiclayo, said the new pope had a "mathematical mindset, he was orderly and punctual." He washed his own dishes, he said, and liked to fix cars, searching YouTube for solutions when he was stumped. The front pages of Friday's newspapers in Peru showed the newly elected pope. In the capital, Lima, street vendors were already selling T-shirts with photos and memes of Leo, including one that read "the pope is Peruvian." Leo's time in Chiclayo was the third period he lived in Peru. Ordained in 1982, he was sent to work in a mission in the northern part of the country, near the border with Ecuador, between 1985 and 1986. He returned in 1988 and remained in the region until he returned to the U.S. in 1999. The Chicago native became a Peruvian citizen in 2015. He would often tell Peruvians that he had "come from Chicago to Chiclayo; the only difference is a few letters." Peruvian President Dina Boluarte on Thursday said Leo's election was a "historic moment" for Peru and the U.S. "He chose to be one of us, to live among us, and to carry in his heart the faith, culture, and dreams of this nation," she said in a video message in which she also recalled that Leo chose to become a Peruvian citizen "as an expression of his profound love for Peru." Once or twice a month, Millán said, Prevost played tennis at the Jockey Club in Chiclayo, and when Peru qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, he cheered on his adopted country's victory from a couch with other priests. In the city of Chulucanas, about 270 kilometers north of Chiclayo, Mildred Camacho, 28, remembers Leo in a more personal way — he is her godfather, she said. When he left for Rome, Camacho said, the two kept in touch, and he even sent her a photo showing him working with then-Pope Francis. "When I saw he was elected," she said, "I ran to my father shouting, 'Daddy, my godfather has become the pope!'" ___ Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City.
Associated Press News	2025-05-03 04:06:54+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Louisiana", "Alabama", "Politics", "Race and ethnicity", "Education", "David Rozas", "Immigration", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# University of Alabama student from Iran faces deportation By Safiyah Riddle May 3rd, 2025, 04:06 AM --- TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Sama Ebrahimi Bajgani and her fiance, Alireza Doroudi, had just spent an evening celebrating the Persian new year at the University of Alabama when seven armed immigration officers came to their apartment before dawn and arrested Doroudi. In a moment, the young couple's life was upended. "I was living a normal life until that night. After that nothing is just normal," Bajgani said. Details about Doroudi's detention spread through the small Iranian community in Tuscaloosa, where Bajgani and Doroudi are doctoral students. Other Iranian students say they have been informally advised by faculty to "lay low" and "be invisible" — instilling fear among a once vibrant cohort. Doroudi is among students across the U.S. who have been detained in recent weeks as part of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Bajgani said the couple does not know why Doroudi — who has no criminal record or public political views — faces deportation, adding that Trump's recent visit to the school made her feel like the university was "ignorant of our crisis." One Iranian civil engineering student and close friend to Doroudi said he has lost over 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) due to stress and depression in the six weeks since Doroudi was detained. "It's like all of us are waiting for our turn. It could be every knock, every email could be deportation," said the student, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of concerns about losing his legal status. He now avoids unnecessary trips outside. When he was in a car crash last month, he begged the other driver not to call the police, even though he wasn't at fault, because he didn't want to draw attention to himself. ## 'I stayed with their permission' Bajgani said Doroudi, 32, is an ambitious mechanical engineering student from Shiraz, Iran. He entered the United States legally in January 2023 on a student visa. Bajgani said he often worked 60-hour weeks while still making time to run errands for loved ones. "If someone like him doesn't get to the place he deserves, there is nothing called the American dream," she said. Doroudi's visa was revoked in June 2023, but the embassy didn't provide a reason and ignored his inquiries, Bajgani said. The university told him he could stay as long as he remained a student but that would not be allowed to reenter the U.S. if he left, she said. He was operating under that guidance when immigration officers came to the couple's door in March. The University of Alabama didn't comment on Doroudi's case, but said it offers resources to help immigrants on campus comply with federal law. It also offers guidance to students whose visas are revoked. "Our international students are valued members of our campus community," university spokesperson Monica Watts said in a statement. Doroudi told Bajgani he spent three days in a county jail, sleeping on a tile floor and feeling panicked. He is now in a Louisiana immigration detention facility over 300 miles (480 kilometers) from Tuscaloosa while he awaits a deportation hearing scheduled for next week. At least one other high-profile international student is there. "I didn't deserve this. If they had just sent me a letter asking me to appear in court, I would've come, because I didn't do anything illegal. I stayed with their permission," Doroudi said in a letter he dictated to Bajgani over the phone to provide his perspective to others. "What was the reason for throwing me in jail?" ## Trump's immigration crackdown More than 1,000 international students across the U.S. have had their visas or legal status revoked since late March, according to an Associated Press review of university statements and correspondence with school officials. They included some who protested Israel's war in Gaza. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has since reversed those revocations, including those of four University of Alabama students. "University staff closely monitors changes that could affect them and has communicated updates related to new protocols and procedures," Watts said. A Louisiana judge who denied Doroudi bond in mid-April said he didn't sufficiently prove that he wasn't a national security threat, Doroudi's lawyer, David Rozas said. Rozas said he was "flabbergasted" because the government hasn't presented evidence that Doroudi is a threat, though that is what the Department of Homeland Security has alleged. ## A familiar sense of fear International students make up over 13% of the statewide University of Alabama graduate program, according to the school's website. Over 100 Iranian students attend the university, according to an estimate from the Iranian Student Association. Every year, many gather for a picnic to celebrate Sizdah Bedar, the thirteenth day of the Persian new year, which begins with spring. This year, the typically festive holiday "felt like a funeral service," one Iranian doctoral student said. At one point, silence fell over the group as a police car passed. "It's becoming too hard to be living here, to be yourself and thrive," said the student, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she fears retaliation. She has criticized the Iranian regime since arriving in the United States over five years ago, so she suspects she is no longer safe in her home country. Now, she has those same doubts in Alabama. "All of a sudden it feels like we're returning back to Iran again," she said. ____ Riddle is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 05:00:24+00:00	[ "Pope Francis", "Pope Leo XIV", "Donald Trump", "South America", "Papal conclave", "Religion", "Christianity", "Pietro de Cristofaro", "Catholic Church", "Timothy Dolan", "Peru", "Race and ethnicity", "Vatican City", "Reinhard Marx", "Fernando Natalio Chomal Garib", "Chicago" ]	# Pope Leo XIV celebrates first Mass as Francis' successor By Nicole Winfield May 9th, 2025, 05:00 AM --- VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV said Friday that his election was both a cross to bear and a blessing as he celebrated his first Mass and details began to emerge of how votes swiftly coalesced to make him history's first American pope. Freed from their conclave, cardinals began describing the hours leading up to the final ballot Thursday afternoon that brought Leo past the two-thirds majority needed. Many marveled that the Chicago-born Augustinian missionary Robert Prevost reached the threshold so quickly, given the vast diversity of voters and the traditional taboo against a U.S. pope because of the secular power the country wields. "It is a miracle of the Holy Spirit," said Cardinal Fernando Natalio Chomalí Garib, archbishop of Santiago, Chile. He noted that 133 men who barely knew one another from 70 countries came to an agreement in just over 24 hours. A miracle, he said, "and also an example for all our countries where nobody comes to an agreement." Leo presided over his first Mass before those same cardinal electors Friday morning, speaking off-the-cuff in English in the Sistine Chapel. He acknowledged the great responsibility they had placed on him before delivering a brief but dense homily in Italian on the need to joyfully spread Christianity in a world that often mocks it. "You have called me to carry that cross and to be blessed with that mission, and I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me as we continue as a church, as a community, as friends of Jesus, as believers, to announce the good news, to announce the Gospel," he said. Leo on Saturday meets with cardinals formally. On Sunday, he is set to deliver his first noon blessing from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica while his formal installation Mass was set for May 18. ## The Americans share some details There seemed to be mixed messages coming from a briefing with American cardinals who saw one of their own become the 267th pope. Before they arrived, the auditorium at the U.S. seminary up the hill from the Vatican blasted "Born in the U.S.A." and "American Pie." But more conservative cardinals seemed to distance Leo from both his citizenship and the political polemics of the Trump administration back home. They pointed to the decades Prevost spent as a missionary in Peru and said, regardless, he has a new identity now. "Where he comes from is sort of now a thing of the past," said New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who had been President Donald Trump's pick for pope. "Robert Francis Prevost is no longer around. It's now Pope Leo." But Cardinal Joseph Tobin, an old friend of Prevost's who repeatedly called him "Bob," said he expected the pope would be true to himself. He said that was the advice conveyed to all the electors by the retired preacher of the papal household, Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, who delivered a meditation in the Sistine Chapel before they took their first vote. Tobin revealed that he had warned Prevost of his real chances of winning in the days before the voting began. But Tobin recounted the moment when saw it had sunk in for Prevost himself: Tobin had just cast his ballot before Michelangelo's "The Last Judgment'" and was returning to his seat when he saw Prevost. "And he had his head in his hands," Tobin said. "And I was praying for him because I couldn't imagine what happens to a human being when you're facing something like that." "And then when he accepted it, it was like he was made for it," Tobin said. ## A papal Mass The cardinals urged the public and faithful to give Leo time to get used to his new role before trying to understand what kind of pope he will be. But some clues were already apparent. Two women delivered the readings of Scripture at the start of Leo's Mass, perhaps an indication of an intention to continue Francis' focus on expanding women's role in the church. As a cardinal, Leo put into practice one of Francis' most revolutionary reforms by having three women serve on the Vatican board that vets bishop nominations. Speaking in near-perfect Italian, Leo lamented that the Christian faith in many parts of the world is "considered absurd," mocked or opposed in the face of temptations such as money, success and power. He complained that in many places Jesus is misunderstood, "reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman." "This is true not only among nonbelievers but also among many baptized Christians, who thus end up living, at this level, in a state of practical atheism," he said. "A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society." The cardinals applauded as the Mass concluded. Leo was seen wearing simple black shoes — eschewing, as Francis did, the red loafers of the papacy preferred by some traditionalist popes. In another signal he might break with tradition, Leo spent his first night as pontiff in his residence in the Sant'Uffizio Palace, and not the Apostolic Palace where popes traditionally reside, Vatican News reported. Francis chose to live in an apartment in the Santa Maria guesthouse. ## How did it happen? English helped Cardinals revealed that they got to know Prevost during the preconclave discussions, not because he made some showstopping speech like Pope Francis did in 2013. Then, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio spoke about the need for the church to go to the "existential peripheries" to find wounded souls and was elected a short time later. "It wasn't that he got up and made some overwhelmingly convincing speech that just wowed the body," said Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the retired archbishop of Washington, D.C. This time, Prevost made an impression with his manner, in small groups. Although Italian had always been the primary language of past conclaves, this time English seemed to prevail, participants said. German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, a close adviser of Francis, said he took note of the man who would become pope — an American with deep experience in Latin America, strong linguistic and cultural fluency, and a history of leadership as superior of the Augustinians. "That convinced me to say this could be a possibility," Marx told reporters Friday. "I can tell you, I'm very happy." Marx also recalled meeting the future pope last year and being struck by his temperament. "We had a very good conversation," he said. "I realized he's a man who listens, takes arguments seriously, weighs them. You can't just place him into one camp — he really tries to build bridges. I liked that very much." ___ Vanessa Gera and Pietro de Cristofaro contributed. ___ 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	2025-05-08 07:39:53+00:00	[ "Turkey", "Istanbul", "Ekrem Imamoglu", "Recep Tayyip Erdogan", "Turkey government", "Courts", "Law and order", "National security", "Technology", "Corruption", "Politics", "Law enforcement", "Censorship", "X Corp.", "Elon Musk", "Indictments" ]	# X gives in to Turkey's request, restricts jailed mayor's account By Suzan Fraser May 8th, 2025, 07:39 AM --- ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The social media platform X said Thursday it has blocked access to jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu 's account in Turkey, complying with a Turkish court order — the latest measure targeting a key rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. However, Elon Musk's X said that while the company abided by the order, it disagrees with it and is legally challenging it. It said X complied to avoid severe punishments, such as the throttling of the whole platform in Turkey. "X has been and will continue to object to removal orders including government requests in courts to protect users when those requests do not align with principles of free expression, due process, or other local laws," the company said on its Global Government Affairs account. The statement said X maintains that "keeping the platform accessible in (Turkey) is vital to supporting freedom of expression and access to information." Imamoglu, seen as the main opposition challenger to Erdogan's 22-year rule, was arrested on March 19 and jailed on corruption charges. He was nominated as his Republican People's Party, or CHP's presidential candidate while in custody. His arrest has been widely viewed as politically motivated although the government insists Turkey's judiciary is independent and free of political influence. It triggered widespread demonstrations calling for his release and an end to Turkey's democratic backsliding under Erdogan. According to Engelli Web, a website that that tracks and reports internet censorship in Turkey, X restricted Imamoglu's account in Turkey complying with a legal request by Turkish authorities who cited national security and public order concerns. A notice that appears on Imamoglu's account, which has 9.7 million followers, says it has been "withheld in TR in response to a legal demand." The account remains accessible outside of Turkey. Gonenc Gurkaynak, a lawyer representing X in Turkey, said he had filed an appeal on behalf of the platform against the decision blocking the account. He said he had submitted a 27-page petition and hundreds of pages of supporting documents to the court. The Turkish presidency's Center for Countering Disinformation said the court decision followed an investigation into a post by Imamoglu on X, which prosecutors assessed to be an incitement to commit a crime. Authorities also ruled that because Imamoglu is currently detained, his account is not directly managed by him and therefore poses a threat to public order. On Thursday, CHP's leader Ozgur Ozel welcomed X's decision to challenge the court order but said the platform should have resisted complying with it. "X should not impose this restriction, which contradicts universal freedoms and the company's own principles," he said and urged Imamoglu's supporters to follow the mayor's international account and re-share his posts. Ozel also criticized Erdogan's administration saying that "there probably is no other government that uses its judicial power so unfairly against its opponent." Despite his detention, Imamoglu had remained active on social media. Supporters criticized the restriction as an assault on free speech in Turkey. They showed solidarity with the mayor by replacing their profile pictures with Imamoglu's image.
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 11:17:08+00:00	[ "Europe", "Ursula Von Der Leyen", "Donald Trump", "Emmanuel Macron", "Diversity", "equity and inclusion", "European Union", "United States government", "United States", "Eurocopa 2024", "Science", "Politics", "Race and ethnicity", "Anna Kelly", "Business", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Europe launches a drive to attract scientists and researchers after Trump freezes US funding By Catherine Gaschka and Lorne Cook May 5th, 2025, 11:17 AM --- PARIS (AP) — The European Union launched a drive on Monday to attract scientists and researchers to Europe with offers of grants and new policy plans, after the Trump administration froze U.S. government funding linked to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. "A few years ago, no one would have imagined that one of the biggest democracies in the world would cancel research programs under the pretext that the word diversity was in this program," French President Emmanuel Macron said at the "Choose Europe for Science" event in Paris. "No one would have thought that one of the biggest democracies in the world would delete with a stroke the ability of one researcher or another to obtain visas," Macron said. "But here we are." Taking the same stage at the Sorbonne University, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU's executive branch would set up a "super grant" program aimed at offering "a longer-term perspective to the very best" in the field. She said that 500 million euros ($566 million) will be put forward in 2025-2027 "to make Europe a magnet for researchers." It would be injected into the European Research Council, which already has a budget of more than 16 billion euros ($18 billion) for 2021-2027. Von der Leyen said that the 27-nation EU intends "to enshrine freedom of scientific research into law" with a new legal act. As "the threats rise across the world, Europe will not compromise on its principles," she said. The White House responded by describing DEI as "an inherently discriminatory policy." "If the European Union wants to embrace policies that divide, rather than focus on real scientific discovery, they should not be surprised when U.S. innovation continues to outpace Europe," said spokesperson Anna Kelly. "America will continue to attract and cultivate the best talent in science, research, and beyond." Macron said that the French government would also soon make new proposals to beef up investment in science and research. Last month, hundreds of university researchers in the United States had National Science Foundation funding canceled to comply with U.S. President Donald Trump's order to end support to research on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as the study of misinformation. More than 380 grant projects have been cut so far, including work to combat internet censorship in China and Iran and a project consulting with Indigenous communities to understand environmental changes in Alaska's Arctic region. Some terminated grants that sought to broaden the diversity of people studying science, technology and engineering. Scientists, researchers and doctors have taken to the streets in protest. While not mentioning the Trump administration by name, von der Leyen said that it was "a gigantic miscalculation" to undermine free and open research. "We can all agree that science has no passport, no gender, no ethnicity, no political party," she said. "We believe that diversity is an asset of humanity and the lifeblood of science. It is one of the most valuable global assets and it must be protected." Von der Leyen's drive to promote opportunities in Europe in the field of science and take advantage of U.S. policy shifts dovetails with the way that she has played up the potential for trade deals with other countries since Trump took office in January and sparked a tariff war last month. The former German defense minister, and trained doctor, vowed that the EU would also address some of the roadblocks that scientists and researchers face, notably excessive red tape and access to businesses. Macron said that science and research must not "be based on the diktats of the few." Macron said that Europe "must become a refuge" for scientists and researchers, and he said to those who feel under threat elsewhere: "The message is simple. If you like freedom, come and help us to remain free, to do research here, to help us become better, to invest in our future." ___ Lorne Cook reported from Brussels. Associated Press writer Chris Megerian contributed from Washington.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 01:10:41+00:00	[ "Ahmedabad", "Heat waves", "Asia", "Asia Pacific", "Be Well", "Health", "Medical research", "Lifestyle", "Climate change", "Associated Press", "Climate and environment", "Mayank Yadav", "Weather", "Priya Bhavsar" ]	# In Ahmedabad, reflective paint and bus stop sprinklers offer relief from killer heat By Sibi Arasu May 14th, 2025, 01:10 AM --- AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — For 20-year-old Mayank Yadav, riding a crowded bus in the summer months in this western Indian city can be like sitting in an oven. That makes it a treat when he steps off and into a bus stop outfitted with sprinklers that bathe overheated commuters in a cooling mist. "Everyone is suffering from the heat," Yadav said. "I hope they do more of this across the city." Rising heat is a problem for millions of people in India. In Ahmedabad, temperatures this year have already reached 42 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit), a level usually not seen for several more weeks, prompting city officials to advise people to stay indoors and stay hydrated. And yet, coping with that heat is a familiar challenge in Ahmedabad. After a 2010 heat wave killed more than 1,300 people, city and health officials rushed to develop South Asia's first heat action plan. The plan, rolled out in 2013 and now replicated across India and South Asia, includes strategies for hospitals, government officials and citizens to react immediately when temperatures rise beyond human tolerance. Public health officials said it's helped save hundreds of lives every summer. City officials, with help from climate and health researchers, have implemented two simple yet effective solutions to help those affected most by heat: the poor and those who work outdoors. By painting tin-roofed households with reflective paint, they've reduced indoor temperatures, which otherwise might be up to 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than outside. More recently, the city hung curtains woven of straw and water sprinklers at one bus stop so commuters can get relief from the sun and heat. Officials said they plan to expand the idea to other bus stops in the city. Residents said both measures have been a relief even as they brace for at least three more months of sweltering summer. ## A simple coat of paint makes all the difference Throughout the city's low-income neighborhoods, hundreds of tin-roofed homes have been painted with reflective paint that helps keep the indoors cooler. Residents said their houses were so hot before the roofs were painted that they would spend most of their time outdoors under any shade they could find. "Earlier, it was really difficult to sleep inside the house," said Akashbhai Thakor, who works as a delivery van driver and lives with his wife and three-month-old child in Ahmedabad. Thakor's roof was painted as part of a research project that is trying to measure the impact of the so-called cool roofs. Early results have been promising. "After the roof was painted, the house is much cooler, especially at night," said Thakor. People like Thakor are much more vulnerable to extreme heat because their houses aren't insulated and, since most of them depend on a daily wage, they must work regardless of the weather, said Priya Bhavsar of the Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar, who is working on the project. Bhavsar said low-cost solutions could be the only respite for thousands of people in the city who can't afford to buy an air conditioner. Veer Vanzara, who lives in the same area as Thakor and works in a nearby garment factory, said the heat makes his job much worse, especially since his factory has no ventilation. So his family is grateful for the cool roofs. "The evenings and night are much cooler than before inside our house," he said. ## A bus stop that's become an oasis from the heat In Ahmedabad's city center, a 25-meter stretch of a bus stop has been draped with mats made of straw which, when sprinkled with water, immediately cool the hot wind. Sprinklers installed on the bus stop roof lightly spray cool water on the commuters below, providing instant relief from the blazing heat just a step away. "When nothing like this was here, it was really hot. What they've done is really good. Senior citizens like me can get some cooling from the heat," said 77-year-old Ratilal Bhoire, who was waiting under the sprinklers with his daughter. Bhoire said when he was younger, Ahmedabad was hot, but it was still possible to walk many kilometers without feeling dizzy, even at the height of summer. "Nowadays you can't do that," he said. Heat is the city's biggest problem and heat waves — continuous days of extreme heat — are increasing, said Dr. Tejas Shah of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, who oversees the city's heat action plan. "We are in the period of climate change, and it has already shown its effect," said Shah. Shah and other city officials said the onset of summer has become a testing time and efforts such as cool roofs and cool bus stops are reducing heat-related illness and deaths. As climate projections predict only hotter and longer summers for his city, Shah said being prepared is the only thing to do. "It (the heat) needs to be addressed in the proper way," he said. ___ Follow Sibi Arasu on X at @sibi123 ___ 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	2025-05-09 19:13:29+00:00	[ "Shootings", "Jeffrey Rupnow", "Natalie Rupnow", "Wisconsin", "Crime", "Madison", "Gun violence", "Scott McAndrew", "Bruce Davey", "Ismael Ozanne" ]	# Bail for Wisconsin school shooter's father facing 3 felonies set at $20K By Todd Richmond May 9th, 2025, 07:13 PM --- MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The father of a 15-year-old girl who killed a fellow student and a teacher at a private school in Wisconsin had his bail set at $20,000 on Friday at his first court appearance on charges that he allowed her access to guns. Prosecutors charged Jeffrey Rupnow, 42, on Thursday with two felony counts of intentionally giving a dangerous weapon to a minor causing death and one felony count of contributing to the delinquency of a child. Rupnow would face up to 18 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Jeffrey Rupnow's daughter, Natalie Rupnow, opened fire at her school, Abundant Life Christian School, in Madison in December. She killed teacher Erin Michelle West and 14-year-old student Rubi Bergara and injured six others before she killed herself. Jeffrey Rupnow's attorney, Bruce Davey, said in court that his client would not be able to post $20,000 in bail, saying "he's not a wealthy man." Davey noted that he has no prior criminal history, cooperated with the investigation, has lived in the area his whole life and needs to work at his job to pay his bills and keep his house. "There's no reason to hold him in jail," Davey said. Davey asked for him to be released on a signature bond, which requires the posting of no money. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne had asked for $100,000, noting the seriousness of the shooting and the pending charges. He mentioned that a victim from the shooting was in the courtroom. He did not name the victim. The proceedings were held in a jail courtroom and viewable only via a Zoom teleconference. The victim was not visible on camera. "This is unprecedented and we do have two deceased," Ozanne said. "We have multiple gunshot victims. It's the defendants actions, inactions, that contributed to this incident." Court Commissioner Scott McAndrew said he did not want to set a cash bail so high that Rupnow could not pay it but wasn't comfortable with a signature bond given the seriousness of the offenses. He ordered that if Rupnow posts $20,000 and is released, he will be fitted with a GPS monitoring device, not be allowed to have contact with anyone at Abundant Life Christian School, purchase or possess firearms or go to the block where the school is located. He said the cash amount could be reviewed later and set a status hearing for June 9. McAndrew did not allow reporters into the courtroom, telling them through bailiffs that they could watch the proceeding on Zoom. Asked outside the courtroom after the proceeding had ended whether the cash bail was high enough, Ozanne said the commissioner made his decision and his office will move forward. He then stepped into an elevator and left. Davey told reporters he did not think the bail amount was fair. Rupnow has been free since the shooting and has not caused any problems, he said. Rupnow's mother was also turned away at the courtroom door and had to listen to the Zoom teleconference by holding her cellphone next to her ear in the lobby. She declined to comment on the case. According to a criminal complaint, Jeffrey Rupnow told investigators his daughter was struggling to cope with her parents' divorce in 2022. He bought the two handguns she brought into the school for her as a way to bond with her, he told investigators. He added that he told her the access code to the safe where he stored her guns in case she ever needed them, the complaint said. Rupnow also told investigators he wasn't sure whether he put one of the guns back in the safe after his daughter cleaned it the day before the school attack. Investigators found writings in Natalie Rupnow's room saying she hated people who smoked marijuana and drank as much as they can like her father. She also wrote that her mother wasn't in her life, that she admired a number of school shooters and that she obtained her guns "by lies, manipulation, and my fathers stupidity." Jeffrey Rupnow sent a message to police in the days after the shooting saying the biggest mistake he made was teaching his daughter how to handle guns safely. He urged police to warn people to change their gun safe combinations every two to three months because "kids are smart and they will figure it out." Rupnow is the latest in a line of parents of school shooters who have been held criminally liable for their children's actions in recent years. ___ Associated Press writer Scott Bauer contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 11:30:38+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Don Bacon", "Mike Johnson", "Cory Booker", "U.S. Republican Party", "Paul Ryan", "Hakeem Jeffries", "Joe Biden", "Government programs", "United States House of Representatives", "Tucson", "Arizona", "Congress", "Health", "Juan Ciscomani", "Government policy", "Business", "Economic policy", "Nick LaLota", "Nicole Malliotakis", "Rebellions and uprisings", "Renewable energy", "Legislation", "Brendan Buck", "Taxes", "Politics", "Elon Musk" ]	# GOP centrists decry deep cuts to Medicaid and other programs in Trump budget By Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking May 8th, 2025, 11:30 AM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — When it comes to Medicaid, Rep. Juan Ciscomani is telling fellow Republicans he won't support steep cuts that could hit thousands of residents in his Arizona district — "my neighbors, people my kids go to school with" — who depend on it. Republican Rep. Don Bacon, who represents the liberal-leaning "blue dot" of Omaha, Nebraska, is trying to protect several Biden-era green energy tax breaks. He's warning colleagues that "you can't pull the rug out from under" businesses that have already sunk millions of dollars into renewable developments in Nebraska and beyond. And for Republican Rep. Nick LaLota of New York, it's simple: "No Salt. No Deal. For Real." He wants to revive — and bump up — what's known as the SALT deduction, which allows taxpayers to write off a portion of their state and local taxes. Capping the deduction at $10,000 hurt many of his Long Island constituents. "Governing is a negotiation, right?" said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York, another Republican who is also involved in the talks. "I think everybody is going to have to give a little." As GOP leaders draft President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" of some $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $1.5 trillion in spending cuts by Memorial Day, dozens of Republicans from contested congressional districts have positioned themselves at the center of the negotiating table. While it's often the most conservative members of the House Freedom Caucus driving the legislative agenda — and they are demanding as much as $2 trillion in cuts — it's the more centrist-leaning conservatives who could sink the bill. They have been hauled into meetings with Trump at the White House, some have journeyed to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, and many are huddling almost daily with House Speaker Mike Johnson. And they are not satisfied, yet. "To get everybody politically and policy-wise on the same page is going to require more conversations," said LaLota, who is among five Republicans pledging to withhold their support unless changes to the SALT deduction are included. ## Republicans wrestle with what to put in — and what to leave out Diving into the gritty details of the massive package, the GOP leaders are running into the stubborn reality that not all the ideas from their menu of potential tax breaks and spending cuts are popular with voters back home. Moreover, their work of compiling the big package is not happening in a vacuum. It comes amid growing economic unease rippling across the country as Trump has fired thousands of federal workers, including some of their own constituents, and as his trade war sparks concerns of empty store shelves and higher prices. Brendan Buck, a former adviser to an earlier House speaker, Paul Ryan, warned in an op-ed Wednesday that all the party's energy is being poured into one bill, with questionable returns. "Many Republicans are hoping that the tax bill can blunt the economic damage caused by the Trump tariffs," Buck wrote in The New York Times, "but that is highly unlikely." Democrats are ready for the fight, warning that Trump and his fellow Republicans are ripping away health care and driving the economy into the ditch — all to retain tax breaks approved during Trump's first term that are expiring at year's end. "What we see from Donald Trump and the Republicans is they are actually crashing the economy in real time," said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. "Why," the Democratic leader asked, "are Republicans jumping through hoops" to try to reduce Medicaid and food stamps used by millions of Americans? "It's all in service of enacting massive tax breaks for their millionaire donors like Elon Musk," he said. ## GOP leaders search for consensus Johnson has projected a calm confidence, insisting that House Republicans are on track to deliver on Trump's agenda. The speaker's office has become a waystation with a revolving door of Republicans privately laboring to piece together the massive package. So far, GOP leaders have signaled they are walking away from some, but not all, of the steep Medicaid cuts. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said the proposals could result in millions of people losing their coverage. Instead, what appears to still be on the table are tougher work requirements for those receiving Medicaid and food stamp assistance and more frequent eligibility tests for beneficiaries. That's not enough for the conservatives, who also number in the dozens and are insisting on deeper reductions. ## Centrists drawing red lines Ciscomani, in his second term, signed onto a letter with Bacon and others warning House Republican leadership he cannot support a bill that includes "any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations." "Our point is that we understand the need for reform," Ciscomani said. "But anything that goes beyond that and starts jeopardizing rural hospitals in my district and their existence overall, then we're running into an area where it will be very difficult to move forward. I think it's very important they know that." Bacon, Ciscomani and others joined on a separate letter raising concerns about eliminating clean-energy tax credits, including those passed under President Joe Biden, a Democrat. "Go with a scalpel. Go pick out some things," Bacon told The Associated Press. He and the others warned that companies are already investing millions of dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act's incentives to green energy. "You just can't do a wholesale throw it out," Bacon said. ## Democrats track the vote with an eye on next year's midterms Democrats are also applying political pressure in Ciscomani's district and beyond. As Republicans decline to hold town halls on the advice of their leaders, Democrats are stepping in to warn constituents about what could happen to programs they rely on for health coverage and to put food on the table. Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Cory Booker of New Jersey visited Ciscomani's Tucson-based district last month to offer harsh condemnations. Kelly asked how many in the room were represented by Ciscomani, and then he warned about how scores of residents in the district could lose their health care coverage. "And for what? It is so Donald Trump could give a big, giant tax cut to the wealthiest Americans. It is not fair," Kelly said. Booker, fresh off his 25-hour speech on the Senate floor, was even more pointed, saying just three House Republicans have to change their mind to upend the GOP's effort in the House, with its narrow majority. "I believe one of them has to be in this district right here," Booker said. "Either he changes his mind or this district changes congresspeople. It's as simple as that." ___ Associated Press writer Leah Askarinam contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 20:21:58+00:00	[ "Helicopter crashes", "National Transportation Safety Board", "New York City", "New York", "New York City Wire", "Business", "Justin Green", "Technology" ]	# New report shows NYC helicopter breaking apart in midair before crash that killed 6 By Philip Marcelo May 7th, 2025, 08:21 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Federal officials on Wednesday released images of a doomed New York City sightseeing helicopter as it broke apart in midair last month, killing six people. The series of still photographs taken from surveillance camera video shows the fuselage, containing the engine and rotors, separating from the helicopter's tail. The rotor blades and the transmission then detach from the cabin that's carrying the passengers and the pilot. The images were included in the preliminary report about the flight released by the National Transportation Safety Board. "Several witnesses described hearing several loud 'bangs' emanating from the helicopter before it broke up and descended into the river," the report says. Justin Green, an aviation lawyer and former Marine helicopter pilot, said the sequence of images shows the helicopter yawing severely and the tail boom failing, suggesting it was most likely struck by the aircraft's main rotor blades during flight. "It's clear that some mechanical issue precipitated the breakup," he said. The initial report, which runs about six pages, does not address the initial cause of the breakup. That, Green said, will likely be determined by a forensic examination of the wreckage itself, including the rotor blades, the engine and transmission. "A tail strike could be caused by a pilot not handling a loss of power emergency and allowing the rotor rpm to decay, which makes the rotors flap up and down more and that can cause a strike," he said. The aircraft, a Bell 206L-4 built in 2004, also appeared to be fairly old and well used, according to Green. At the time of the crash, the helicopter had operated about 50 hours since its last inspection on Feb. 27, according to the NTSB report. The helicopter's airframe accrued nearly 13,000 total hours of operation, and the engine accrued more than 23,000 hours. Federal Aviation Administration records also show the aircraft had a maintenance issue last September involving its transmission assembly. "The NTSB will be looking at the overhaul and maintenance records to make sure everything is up to date," Green said. The NTSB said previously that the aircraft, operated by tour company New York Helicopter, was not equipped with any video or data recording devices. But on Wednesday, it said photos taken beforehand show that the pilot, Seankese Johnson, was wearing computer-augmented sunglasses, which would have had video and audio recording capability. The glasses have not been recovered. Johnson, a 36-year-old former Navy SEAL, received his commercial pilot's license in 2023 and had logged 790 hours of flight time, the NTSB report said. But he didn't appear to be particularly experienced flying a Bell 206L-4, observed Al Yurman, a retired NTSB investigator. The agency said in its report Johnson had fewer than 50 hours of flight in that type of aircraft. "It's quite sophisticated for that type of work," Yurman said. "I would prefer to have someone more experienced, but we'll know more when the full report comes out." The report said Johnson worked a "10 days on/10 days off schedule" and the April 10 flight was his first day back after 10 days off. The flight was also the eighth that day for the pilot and the helicopter. The aircraft was on a typical tour, departing from the downtown heliport by Wall Street around 3 p.m. and flying north along the Manhattan skyline before heading south toward the Statue of Liberty. Less than 18 minutes into the flight, witnesses saw the tail and main rotor break away and smoke pouring from the spinning helicopter. In recent years New York Helicopter, the tour company, went through bankruptcy and faced ongoing lawsuits over alleged debts. The company has said it is cooperating with authorities in the investigation. No one answered the phone at its office or responded to an email seeking comment on Wednesday. The crash was among a recent string of aircraft disasters and close calls that left some people worried about the safety of flying in the U.S. It also revived concerns about the popular and costly aerial tours over New York City. Five commercial sightseeing helicopters have gone down in the rivers around Manhattan since 2005 as a result of mechanical failure, pilot error or collision, killing 20 people. The April 10 crash killed a prominent family from Barcelona, Spain: Agustín Escobar, 49; Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39; and their children Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10. Officials have said Escobar, global CEO of rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, was in the New York area on business. Montal, who worked for Siemens Energy and was the granddaughter of a former president of the famous Barcelona FC soccer club, flew in with their children to meet him.
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 14:31:25+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Shirley Temple Black", "National Endowment for the Arts", "National Endowment for the Humanities", "Government programs", "DC Wire", "New York City Wire", "Howard Sackler", "Jane Alexander", "Robert Mapplethorpe", "Lifestyle", "Brian Weaver", "Arts and entertainment", "George Washington", "Marie Howe", "Pulitzer Prize Awards", "Robert Alexander", "Philanthropy", "James Earl Jones", "Theater", "Jack Johnson", "Russell Krumnow", "Talia Corren", "Government and politics", "Zelda Fichandler", "Entertainment", "Politics" ]	# Arts community reels from Trump administration's cuts in federal programs By Hillel Italie May 12th, 2025, 02:31 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Poet Marie Howe, one of this year's winners of the Pulitzer Prize, says being a writer is often less a career than a vocation. You rely on teaching and other outside work and seek support from foundations or from a government agency, like the National Endowment for the Arts. "Everybody applies for an NEA grant, year after after year, and if you get it, it's like wow — it's huge," says Howe, a Pulitzer winner for "New and Selected Poems" and a former NEA creative writing fellow. "It's not just the money. It's also deep encouragement. I just felt so grateful. It made a big, big difference. It gives you courage. It says to you, 'Go on, keep doing it.'" Behind so many award-winning careers, high-profile productions, beloved institutions and in-depth research projects there is often a quieter story of early support from the government — the grants from the NEA or National Endowment for the Humanities that enable a writer to complete a book, a community theater to stage a play, a scholar to access archival documents or a museum to organize an exhibit. For decades, there has been a nationwide artistic and cultural infrastructure receiving bipartisan support, including through the first administration of Donald Trump. Now that is changing — and drastically. ## The new administration is taking a hard line Since returning to office in January, the president has alleged that federal agencies and institutions such as the NEA, NEH, PBS, the Kennedy Center and the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) were advancing a "woke agenda" that undermined traditional values. Trump has ousted leaders, cut or eliminated programs and dramatically shifted priorities: At the same time the NEH and NEA were forcing out staff members and canceling grants, they announced a multimillion-dollar initiative to support statues for Trump's proposed "National Garden of American Heroes," from George Washington to Shirley Temple. "All future awards will, among other things, be merit-based, awarded to projects that do not promote extreme ideologies based upon race or gender, and that help to instill an understanding of the founding principles and ideals that make America an exceptional country," reads a statement on the NEH website. Individuals and organizations across the country, and across virtually every art form, now find themselves without money they had budgeted for or even spent, anticipating they would be reimbursed. Electric Literature, McSweeney's and n+1 are among dozens of literary publications that received notices their grants have been rescinded. Philadelphia's Rosenbach Museum & Library had to halt a project to create an online catalog after losing a near-$250,000 grant from the IMLS. The Stuttering Association for the Young, which manages a summer music camp, has a $35,000 gap. "Our fundraising allows kids to attend our summer camp at a greatly reduced cost so the lost funds make it harder to fulfill that commitment," says the association's director, Russell Krumnow, who added that "we planned our programming and made decisions with those funds in mind." "Government money ought to be consistent. It ought to be reliable," says Talia Corren, co-executive director of the New York-based Alliance of Resident Theatres, which assists hundreds of nonprofit theater companies. "You need to make decisions based on that money." ## Institutions have a history of more than a half century The NEA, NEH and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting were among the institutions established 60 years ago, during the height of President Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" domestic programs. At various times, they have faced criticism for supporting provocative artists, such as photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the 1980s. But they have endured, in part, because of their perceived economic benefits, distributed through as many congressional districts as possible. Arts advocates contend that, like other forms of federal aid, the importance of an NEA or NEH grant isn't just the initial money, but the "ripple" or "mutliplier" effect. Government backing often carries the kind of prestige that makes a given organization more desirable to private donors. The millions of dollars channeled through state arts and humanities councils in turn support local projects. Funding for a theater production helps generate jobs for the cast and crew, brings in business for neighboring restaurants and bars and parking garages and spending money for the babysitter hired by parents having a night out. Actor Jane Alexander was just beginning her stage career when the endowment helped fund the 1967 Arena Stage production of Howard Sackler's drama about boxer Jack Johnson, "The Great White Hope," which starred Alexander and James Earl Jones and eventually won the Pulitzer Prize. Alexander, who headed the NEA in the 1990s, remembered how Arena co-founder Zelda Fichandler worried that the endowment might hurt business by supporting other theaters in Washington. "And I remember my late husband (Robert Alexander) who was artistic director of the Living Stage Theatre Company at the time, saying to her, 'No, it doesn't work that way. A rising tide floats all boats," she says. In the short term, organizations are seeking donations from the general public and philanthropists are attempting to fill in fiscal holes. The Mellon Foundation recently announced an "emergency" $15 million fund for state humanities councils. At the Portland Playhouse in Oregon, artistic director Brian Weaver says that donors stepped in after the theater lost a $25,000 NEA grant just a day before they were to open a production of "Joe Turner's Come and Gone," But Weaver and others say private fundraising alone isn't a long-term solution, if only because individuals incur "donor fatigue" and philanthropists change their minds. Jane Alexander remembers when the Arena theater in Washington founded a repertory company, supported in part by the Rockefeller Foundation. "It was like the National Theatre in Britain," she says. '"We felt so proud that we can have a repertory company of 30 players rotating players through the season. It was very, very exciting. And we had, you know, voice lessons, we had fencing lessons. We were going to become the great company. And guess what happened? Rockefeller's priorities changed."
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 13:15:17+00:00	[ "Raoul Peck", "Cannes Film Festival", "Movies", "Tom Cruise", "Ari Aster", "Brazil", "Joaquin Phoenix", "Pedro Pascal", "Richard Linklater", "Kleber Mendonca Filho", "Soviet Union", "Myanmar", "Damian Lewis", "Recife", "Wes Anderson", "George Orwell", "Wagner Moura", "Ugo Bienvenu", "United States government", "Arts and entertainment", "Sergei Loznitsa", "Ted Garcia", "Mascha Schilinski", "Joe Cross", "Georgy Demidov", "Oliver Laxe", "Jake Coyle" ]	# It's the end of the world and the Cannes Film Festival does not feel fine By Jake Coyle May 19th, 2025, 01:15 PM --- CANNES, France (AP) — "Is this what the end of the world feels like?" So asks a character in one of the most-talked about films of the 78th Cannes Film Festival: Oliver Laxe's "Sirât," a Moroccan desert road trip through, we come to learn, a World War III purgatory. It's well into "Sirât," a kind of combination of "Mad Max" and "The Wages of Fear," that that reality begins to sink in. Our main characters — Luis (Sergi López) and his son Esteban (Brúno Nuñez) — have come to a desert rave in search of Luis' missing daughter. When the authorities break it up, they join up with a bohemian troupe of ravers who offroad toward a new, faraway destination. Thumping, propulsive beats abound in "Sirât," not unlike they do at Cannes' nightly parties. In this movie that jarringly confronts the notion of escape from harsh reality, there are wild tragedies and violent plot turns. Its characters steer into a nightmare that looks an awful lot like today's front pages. "We wanted to be deeply connected to this day and age," Laxe said in Cannes. As much as Cannes basks in the Côte d'Azur sunshine, storm clouds have been all over its movie screens at the festival, which on Monday passed the halfway point. Portents of geopolitical doom are everywhere in a lineup that's felt unusually in sync with the moment. Tom Cruise, in "Mission: Impossible – Final Awakening," has battled the AI apocalypse. Raoul Peck, in "Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5," has summoned the author's totalitarianism warnings for today. Even the new Wes Anderson ("The Phoenician Scheme") is about an oligarch. If the French Riviera has often served as a spectacular retreat from the real world, this year's Cannes abounds with movies urgently reckoning with it. It's probably appropriate, then, that many of those films have been particularly divisive. "Sirât" is laudable for its it's-time-to-break-stuff attitude to its characters, even if that makes for a sometimes punishing experience for the audience. This is a love-or-hate-it movie, sometimes at the same time. Ari Aster's "Eddington," perhaps the largest American production in recent years to sincerely grapple with contemporary American politics, was dismissed more than it was praised. But for a good while, "Eddington" is breathtakingly accurate in its depiction of the United States circa 2020. In "Eddington," the conservative, untidy sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) runs for mayor against the liberal incumbent, Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal), partly over disagreements on mask mandates. But in Aster's small-town satire, both left and right are mostly under the sway of a greater force: social media and a digital reality that can wreak havoc on daily lives. "I wrote this film in a state of fear and anxiety about the world," Aster said in Cannes. "I wanted to try and pull back and just describe and show what it feels like to live in a world where nobody can agree on what is real anymore." ## Reflecting a world running on a 'new logic' It's been striking how much this year's Cannes has been defined by anxious, if not downright bleak visions of the future. There have been exceptions — most notably Richard Linklater's charming ode to the French New Wave "Nouvelle Vague" and Anderson's delightful "The Phoenician Scheme." But seldom has this year's festival not felt like an ominous big-screen reflection of today. That's been true in the overall chatter around the festival, which got underway with the new threat of U.S. tariffs on foreign-produced films on the minds of many filmmakers and producers. Rising geopolitical frictions led even the typically very optimistic Bono, in Cannes to premiere his Apple TV+ documentary "Bono: Stories of Surrender," to confess he had never lived at a time where World War III felt closer at hand. Other films in Cannes weren't as overtly about here and now as "Eddington," but many of them have been consumed with the recurring traumas of the past. Two of the most lauded films from the beginning of the festival — Mascha Schilinski's "Sound of Falling" and "Two Prosecutors," by the Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa — contemplated intimate cases of history repeating itself. "Two Prosecutors," set in Stalin's Russia, captures the slow-moving crawl of bureaucratic malevolence by adapting a story by the dissident author and physicist Georgy Demidov, who spent 14 years in the gulag. Loznitsa said his film is "not a reflection of the past. It's a reflection of the present." In the period political thriller "The Secret Agent," Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho turns to not a real historical tale but a fictional one, set in 1977 during Brazil's military dictatorship. Wagner Moura brings a natural movie-star cool to the role of Marcelo, a technology expert returning to his hometown of Recife where government corruption is rife and hitmen are on his tail. Vividly textured, with absurdist touches (the hairy leg of a corpse plays as a colorful metaphor for the dictatorship), "The Secret Agent" seeks, and sometimes finds, its own logic of political resistance. "I really believe that some of the most heartfelt texts come not necessarily from fact but from the logic of what is happening," Filho said in an interview. "Right, now the world seems to be running on some kind of new logic. Ten or 15 years ago, some of these ideas would be completely dismissed, even by the most conservative politicians. I think 'The Secret Agent' is a film full of mystery and intrigue but it does seem to have a certain logic which I associate with my country, Brazil." ## Finding the rays of hope In nonfiction filmmaking, no one may be better today than Peck ("I Am Not Your Nego," last year's "Ernest Cole: Lost and Found" ) in connecting historical dots. "Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5" marries George Orwell's words (narrated by Damian Lewis) on totalitarian states that demand "the disbelief of objective truth" with the actions of contemporary governments around the world, including Russia, Myanmar and the United States. Images of a bombed-out Mariupol in 2022 runs with its official description: "Peacekeeping operations." It's not just geopolitical tremors quaking on movie screens in Cannes. Climate change and natural disasters are on the minds of filmmakers, too, sometimes in the most unlikely of movies. The French animated film "Arco," by illustrator Ugo Bienvenu, is about a boy from the distant future who lives on a "Jetsons"-like platform in the clouds. He travels back in time to another future-time, 2075, where homes are bubbled to protect them from fire and storm, and robots do all of the parenting for working parents who appear to their children only as digital projections. It's a grim future, particularly so because it feels quite plausible. But the strange charm of "Arco," a brightly colored movie with a whole lot of rainbows, is that is offers a younger generation a dream of a future they might make. A relationship between the boy from the future and a girl who finds him in 2075 sparks not just a friendship but a nourishing vision of what's possible. "Arco," in that way, is a reminder that the most moving movies about our current doom offer a ray of hope, too. "People are feeling disenchanted with the world, so we have to re-enchant them," said Laxe, the "Sirât" director. "Times are tough but they're very stimulating at the same time. We'll have to look deeply into ourselves. That's what we're forced to do because it's a tough world now." ___ For more coverage of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 13:20:01+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Tehran", "Iran", "Iran government", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Pete Hegseth", "Benjamin Netanyahu", "War and unrest", "United States government", "United States", "Sanctions and embargoes", "Esmail Baghaei", "Politics", "Kaja Kallas", "Bashar Assad", "Russia Ukraine war", "Military and defense", "Abbas Araghchi", "Aziz Nasirzadeh" ]	# AP Analysis: Iran talks tough with US while seeking nuclear deal By Jon Gambrell May 5th, 2025, 01:20 PM --- DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran is talking tough — while still wanting to talk more with the United States over a possible nuclear deal. In the last days, Tehran has backed an attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels that slipped through Israel's missile defenses to strike near Ben-Gurion International Airport. It aired footage of its own ballistic missile test while defense minister called out threats by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth against the Islamic Republic. And an organization linked to its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard unveiled a new mural with a map of Israel overlaid by possible missile targets in the shape of a Yemeni jambiyya, an ornamental dagger worn by Yemeni men. But all the while, Iran maintains it wants to reach a nuclear deal with the U.S. after talks scheduled to take place last weekend in Rome didn't happen. That's even as Trump administration officials continue to insist that Tehran must give up all its ability to enrich uranium in order to receive sanction relief — something Iran repeatedly has said is a nonstarter for the negotiations. ## Israel-Hamas war changes equation for Iran All this together can feel contradictory. But this is the position where Iran now finds itself after having been ascendant in the Mideast with its self-described "Axis of Resistance," countries and militant groups finding common cause against Israel and the U.S. That changed with the attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed some 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage back to the Gaza Strip. Israel launched a devastating war on Hamas in Gaza that rages on even today — and may be further escalating after Israel approved plans Monday to capture the entire Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified amount of time. Israel's war has killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials, who do not distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count. In the course of the war, Hamas, Lebanon's Hezbollah and other Iran-backed militants have been beaten back by Israeli attacks. Syrian President Bashar Assad, long backed by Iran, saw his family's over 50-year rule end in December as rebels swept the country. That's left Iran with just Yemen's Houthi rebels, though they too now face an intensified campaign of strikes by the Trump administration. ## Iran carefully applauds Houthi strike on Israel The strike Sunday on Ben-Gurion repeatedly earned highlights in Iranian state media. However, Iran's Foreign Ministry made a point to insist that the attack had "been an independent decision" by the group. Expert opinion varies on just how much influence Iran wields over the Houthis. However, Tehran has been instrumental in arming the Houthis over Yemen's decadelong war in spite of a United Nations arms embargo. "The Yemeni people, out of their human feelings and religious solidarity with the Palestinians, and also to defend themselves in the face of continuous aggression by America, have taken some measures," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Monday. Meanwhile, Iranian Defense Minister Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh called out comments by his American counterpart who had warned that Iran would "pay the CONSEQUENCE" for arming the Houthis with weapons. "I advise the American threatening officials, especially the newcomer defense minister of the country, to read the history of Iran in the recent four decades," the general said. "If they read, they will notice that they should not speak to Iran using the language of threats." Iran has not, however, responded to Israeli airstrikes targeting its air defenses and ballistic missile program in October. ## Nuclear deal remains a top Iranian priority But getting to a new nuclear deal with the U.S., which could see Tehran limit its enrichment and stockpile of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions, remains a priority for Iran. Its troubled rial currency, once over 1 million to $1, has strengthened dramatically on just the talks alone to 840,000 to $1. The two sides still appear a long way from any deal, however, even as time ticks away. Iranian media broadly described a two-month deadline imposed by President Donald Trump in his initial letter sent to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump said he wrote the letter on March 5, which made it to Iran via an Emirati diplomat on March 12. Meanwhile, the U.S. campaign on Yemen and Israel's escalation in Gaza continues to squeeze Tehran. That's on top of American officials including Trump threatening sanctions on anyone who buys Iranian crude oil, as well as following a new, harder line saying Iran shouldn't be able to enrich uranium at all. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who strongly encouraged Trump to unilaterally withdraw American in 2018 from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, also has been pushing for the same. Iran likely has been trying to get messages to America despite last weekend's planned talks in Rome being postponed. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi flew to Islamabad to meet his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar. A readout from Pakistan's Foreign Ministry acknowledged the men discussed the nuclear negotiations. Araghchi got a colder reception from Kaja Kallas, the foreign policy chief of the European Union. While European nations have had warmer ties to Iran in the past, Tehran's arming of Russia in its war on Ukraine has angered many in the EU. I called on Iran to stop military support to Russia and raised concerns over detained EU citizens and human rights," Kallas wrote Monday on the social platform X. "EU-Iran ties hinge on progress in all areas." ___ Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Riazat Butt in Islamabad contributed to this report. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE — Jon Gambrell, the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press, has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the Mideast and wider world since joining the AP in 2006.

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