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Associated Press News	2025-05-01 21:55:15+00:00	[ "Mike Waltz", "JD Vance", "Donald Trump", "South Carolina", "Joe Biden", "Doug Burgum", "Leon Topalian", "Marco Rubio", "Government policy", "United States government", "Economic policy", "United States", "Nucor Corp.", "U.S. Republican Party", "International trade", "Business", "United Nations", "Nancy Mace", "Government and politics", "Politics" ]	# Vance hails 'industrial renaissance' while touring South Carolina steel plant By Meg Kinnard May 1st, 2025, 09:55 PM --- HUGER, S.C. (AP) — Vice President JD Vance visited a steel plant in South Carolina on Thursday as he heralded the launch of an "industrial renaissance" in the U.S., in part due to President Donald Trump's moves to boost domestic industry. Vance made the trip to Nucor Steel in Huger as part of the administration's events marking Trump's first 100 days in office. "I hope every single one of you, you guys in front me, feel a sense of pride, because these are the products that actually make America work," Vance told several hundred guests and Nucor steel workers gathered on a gravel lot outside one of the buildings at the company's sprawling facility. "These are the products that make our citizens' lives better." Nucor's corporate leaders have cheered Trump's tariff policies, which have shaken the global economy and proved less popular with other business leaders. The company's stock rose 6% when the Trump administration announced new tariffs on imported steel, though the price has fluctuated since. After an earnings call this week, Nucor CEO Leon Topalian said on CNBC that the company's backlog of orders, which its leaders have said is 25% higher than last year at this time, served as a signal of "improving signs coming through the economy." It was Vance's first visit to South Carolina, an industry-rich state that also plays a pivotal role in national politics. Trump won the state's first-in-the-South GOP primary in 2016, which helped cement Trump's role as a frontrunner that year, and he's remained popular in the state ever since. From the stage, Vance shouted out two of the state's elected Republicans in attendance, Lt. Gov. Pam Evette and Rep. Nancy Mace. Both have been supporters of Trump and Vance, and both are expected to vie for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in the state next year. Vance, who was accompanied on the visit and factory tour by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, said the 100-day mark for the administration also signaled "energy dominance," adding that there needed to be "no tension" between ramping up domestic manufacturing and safeguarding the environment. "We have started drill, baby, drilling," Vance said. "It means cheaper gas, and it means an America that is self-reliant." Drilling off South Carolina's coast has long been a controversial issue in the state, which has 187 miles (300 kilometers) of coastline along the Atlantic Ocean. Trump signed a memorandum in 2020 directing the interior secretary to prohibit drilling in the waters off both Florida coasts, and off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina, until 2032. President Joe Biden in January moved to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling in most U.S. coastal waters, a last-minute effort to block possible action by the incoming Trump administration to expand offshore drilling. After taking office, Trump said he had directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to undo Biden's ban on future offshore oil drilling on the East and West coasts, saying the last-minute action "viciously took out" more than 625 million acres (2.5 million square kilometers) offshore that could contribute to the nation's "net worth." Vance's remarks came shortly after news broke that Mike Waltz, the former GOP congressman from Florida, was out as Trump's national security adviser, weeks after it was revealed that he had added a journalist to a Signal chat being used to discuss military plans. Subsequently, Trump posted on social media that he would be tapping Waltz to serve as ambassador to the United Nations and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would take over Waltz's former duties, in addition to serving as the chief U.S. diplomat. Vance mentioned neither development in his remarks. Zeldin did not know about the U.N. appointment until an Associated Press reporter asked for his reaction to it afterward. He thanked the reporter for being the "bearer of great news" and said he felt Waltz "would do a tremendous job" in the role. ___ Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 16:19:41+00:00	[ "Homicide", "Crime", "Law enforcement", "Rio de Janeiro" ]	# Brazilian police arrest 4 suspected of quadruple homicide on a soccer pitch By Associated Press May 7th, 2025, 04:19 PM --- RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian police arrested three young adults and one 15-year-old who are suspected of killing four people during a shootout on a soccer pitch in the northeastern city of Fortaleza, authorities said Wednesday. The quadruple homicide occurred late on Tuesday in the same area where two sisters who were influencers were killed on May 1. Local media have reported a series of violent episodes in reaction to their deaths, including another shootout on a soccer field with no fatalities, a vandalized bus, protests and shuttered schools. Tuesday's victims were playing soccer when armed people invaded the pitch and fired dozens of shots, killing two on site. The other two later died from their injuries, local news outlet G1 reported. Military police later arrested three individuals aged 18, 19 and 22, with prior convictions for attempted murder, robbery and drug trafficking, the secretariat for public safety and social defense said in a statement. They now face charges of homicide, being part of a criminal organization, illegal possession of a firearm and corruption of a minor. A 15-year-old was also taken into custody. An investigation is underway. The secretariat said the military police will increase its presence in the area for an indefinite period. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Associated Press News	2025-05-04 02:36:16+00:00	[ "Fairs and festivals", "Eduardo Guadalupe", "Photography" ]	# Panama town reckons with dark history of colonialism in Festival of Devils and Congos By Matias Delacroix May 4th, 2025, 02:36 AM --- PORTOBELO, Panama (AP) — Red bathed the small Panamanian town of Portobelo on Saturday in a celebration meant to represent a fight between good and evil, and the resistance of slaves and Spanish colonizers. Every year, hundreds in the town, which sits wedged between the Caribbean Sea and the region's tropical jungles, take to the streets for the Festival of Devils and Congos. The festival uses dramatic imagery and bright colors characteristic of Caribbean celebrations to capture the historic struggle between slaves during the time of colonization. Marchers dress with intricate red and black masks, which merges imagery of the devil and Spanish colonizers. Slaves are dressed in color and, protected by angles dressed in white, chase the devils as they dance, eventually converting their oppressors to good. It's the culture of memory, the devil representing the culture of the oppressor, or in this case, the white man during times of slavery toward the Blacks, known as Congos, said 34-year-old Eduardo Guadalupe. He said he celebrated in a large black mask, with what appeared to be red and black dotted flames flaring out of the top and the sides.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 23:17:23+00:00	[ "Reba McEntire", "Texas", "Entertainment", "Photography" ]	# AP PHOTOS: Red carpet fashion at the Academy of Country Music Awards By The Associated Press May 8th, 2025, 11:17 PM --- FRISCO, Texas (AP) — The 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards are taking place Thursday at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, just north of Dallas. This year marks the 60th annual edition of the ceremony and Reba McEntire will once again host. For more AP ACM Awards coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/academy-of-country-music-awards ___ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 12:40:43+00:00	[ "Government programs", "Labor", "Meta Platforms", "Inc.", "Donald Trump", "Economic policy", "Economy", "District of Columbia", "China", "Switzerland", "Beijing", "Elon Musk", "U.S. Department of Labor", "Business", "Department of Government Efficiency", "Southwest Airlines Co.", "Jerome Powell", "Federal Reserve System", "Starbucks Corp.", "United States government", "China government" ]	# US applications for jobless benefits fall last week despite elevated uncertainty over Trump tariffs By Matt Ott May 8th, 2025, 12:40 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week despite heightened uncertainty about how President Donald Trump's tariffs will impact the U.S. and global economies. Jobless claim applications fell by 13,000 to 228,000 for the week ending May 3, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's in line with the 229,000 new applications analysts forecast. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs, and have mostly bounced around a healthy range between 200,000 and 250,000 since COVID-19 decimated the economy and wiped out millions of jobs. Even though Trump has paused or pulled back on many of his tariff threats, concerns remain about a global economic slowdown that could upend the U.S. labor market, which has been a pillar of the American economy for years. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve held its benchmark lending rate at 4.3% for the third straight meeting, after cutting it three times in a row at the end of last year. Fed chair Jerome Powell said the risks of both higher unemployment and inflation have risen, an unusual combination that complicates the central bank's dual mandate of controlling prices and keeping unemployment low. Powell said that tariffs have dampened consumer and business sentiment but that data has not yet shown significant harm to the economy. There have been trade developments this week, with the U.S. and Britain expected to announce the framework for trade deal later Thursday. No new deals have been reached with America's largest trading partners, including Canada, Mexico and China. Trump has left the highest tariffs in place on China, heightening tensions between the world's two largest economies. Washington and Beijing are sending officials to Switzerland this weekend for an initial round of trade talks. Trump is attempting to reshape the global economy by dramatically increasing import taxes to rejuvenate the U.S. manufacturing sector. A contraction has already begun in the U.S., where the economy shrank at a 0.3% annual pace from January through March as Trump's trade wars disrupted business. First-quarter growth was slowed by a surge in imports as companies in the United States tried to bring in foreign goods before Trump's massive tariffs went into effect. It was the first quarterly GDP decline in three years. Like his pledge to institute tariffs, Trump's promise to drastically downsize the federal government workforce has occupied much of the early weeks of his presidency and is still in motion. It's not clear when the job cuts ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency — or "DOGE," spearheaded by Elon Musk — will surface in the weekly layoffs data. However, the federal government staff reductions are already being felt, even outside of the Washington, D.C. area. Despite showing some signs of weakening during the past year, the labor market remains robust with plentiful jobs and relatively few layoffs. Last week the government reported that U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 177,000 jobs in April. The unemployment rate held at a historically healthy 4.2%, however, many economists anticipate that a negative impact from trade wars will materialize this year for American workers. Companies that have announced job cuts this year include Workday, Dow, CNN, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines and Facebook parent company Meta. The Labor Department reported that the four-week average of claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week gyrations, inched up by 1,000 to 227,000. The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week of April 26 fell to 1.88 million, a decrease of 29,000.
Associated Press News	2025-05-11 03:33:19+00:00	[ "Ricardo Martinelli", "Colombia", "Panama", "Jos Ral Mulino", "Gustavo Petro", "Daniel Ortega", "Colombia government", "Latin America", "Asylum", "Legal proceedings", "International agreements", "Politics", "Money laundering" ]	# Former Panamanian president Martinelli leaves Nicaraguan embassy for asylum in Colombia May 11th, 2025, 03:33 AM --- PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) — Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli left the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama City where he had sought refuge more than a year ago after the courts upheld a money laundering sentence against him and headed to Colombia where he has received political asylum, the government said late Saturday. Panama's foreign ministry said in a statement that Colombian President Gustavo Petro sent Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino a formal note saying that he had granted Martinelli asylum and that Panama had granted the former president safe passage to Colombia. "The Republic of Colombia is a State that has historically recognized with the utmost respect, compliance, and promotion the institutions of International Law, including the asylum system within the Inter-American system," the statement said. Martinelli, 73, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for money laundering in July 2023 in connection with the purchase of a publishing group. Following the confirmation of that sentence, the former president sought refuge in the Nicaraguan diplomatic mission in Panama after President Daniel Ortega's government granted him asylum. He had remained inside the embassy for more than a year. Martinelli is a businessman and supermarket magnate who governed Panama from 2009 to 2014, a period of rapid economic growth driven by the construction of major projects such as the first metro in Central America and the expansion of the interoceanic canal. But his government was tainted by accusations of bribery and cost overruns. He was sanctioned by the United States for corruption in January 2023. Martinelli maintains that his prosecution was politically motivated as he sought to run for a second term of office. In 2023, he won his party's nomination to seek the presidency again. However, he was convicted of money laundering, and after the Supreme Court denied his appeal, he was ineligible to run. Ultimately, Martinelli supported his running mate, current President Mulino. Nicaragua granted Martinelli political asylum in February 2024. Panama had refused to grant Nicaragua permission to move Martinelli to Nicaragua. The Colombian government had not previously commented on the matter.
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 15:57:07+00:00	[ "Apple", "Inc.", "Mobile apps", "European Union", "Technology", "Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers", "Consumer electronics manufacturing", "Gaming", "Business", "Europe" ]	# Fortnite says it's offline on Apple's iOS around the world By Wyatte Grantham-Philips and Michael Liedtke May 16th, 2025, 03:57 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Fortnite says it's now unavailable on Apple's iOS globally because the tech giant blocked a bid to rerelease the popular video game for iPhone users in the U.S. and Europe — marking the latest twist in a yearslong feud. Apple pulled Epic Games-owned Fortnite from its app store back in 2020, just two years after the widely-popular, multiplayer survival game had launched on iOS and garnered millions of users. iPhone players in the U.S. have been locked out since, although Apple users in the EU had been able to download the game through an alternative store over the last nine months. Following years of a tense litigation, a recent court ruling was set to clear the way for Fortnite to finally return to iOS users in the U.S., too. But the video game said early Friday that a move from Apple has prevented that — and, as a result, Fortnite says it's now dark on iOS globally. "Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission so we cannot release to the U.S. App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union," Fortnite wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "Sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it." In a statement sent to The Associated Press, Apple said it had asked Epic Sweden to resubmit the app update "without including the U.S. storefront of the App Store so as not to impact Fortnite in other geographies." Sweden is where Epic's developer account for its alternative app store is based. But, Apple added, it "did not take any action to remove the live version of Fortnite from alternative distribution marketplaces." Epic did not immediately respond to a request for further comment. In the U.S., Epic filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple back in 2020, alleging the technology trendsetter was illegally using its power to gouge game makers. After a monthlong trial in 2021, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled against most of Epic's claims, but ordered Apple to loosen its previously-exclusive control over the payments made for in-app commerce and allow links to alternative options in the U.S. for the first time — threatening to undercut sizable commissions that Apple had been collecting from in-app transactions for over a decade. After exhausting an appeal that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, Apple last year introduced a new system that opened the door for links to alternative payment options while still imposing a 27% commission on in-app transactions executed outside its own system. Epic fired back by alleging Apple was thumbing its nose at the legal system, reviving another round of court hearings that lasted nearly a year before Gonzalez Rogers delivered a stinging rebuke last month — which held Apple in civil contempt and banned the company from collecting any commission on alternative payment systems. That ruling cleared the way for Epic to finally return to the iPhone app store in the U.S., a reinstatement the video game maker was anticipating before Apple's latest move. Fortnite's availability in the EU, meanwhile, is under an alternative store for iPhone users — now called the Epic Games Store. Apple cleared the way for this last year under new regulatory pressures. Prior to Friday, Fortnite and other Epic games had been available for download on iPhones using this store in the EU since August 2024. Before the companies' prolonged legal battle, Epic launched Fortnite on iOS in April 2018. Between then and its August 2020 removal, 116 million users accessed Fortnite on iOS devices, company filings note — raking in a daily average of about 2.5 million players, which represented about 10% of Fortnite's total daily traffic at the time. _______ Liedtke reported from San Francisco.
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 05:08:06+00:00	[ "Germany", "Europe", "War and unrest", "Germany government", "Adolf Hitler" ]	# AP PHOTOS: 80 years after World War II, Germany is still searching for its fallen soldiers By Markus Schreiber, Ebrahim Noroozi, and Czarek Sokolowski May 6th, 2025, 05:08 AM --- HALBE, Germany (AP) — In a forest near Berlin, the remains of 107 fallen Wehrmacht soldiers were ceremoniously interred last week. High school students placed white gerbera daisies on small black coffins, and then German soldiers lowered them respectfully into a large, freshly dug grave as a military band played a solemn tune. Hundreds of villagers and relatives of fallen soldiers watched silently, some wiping tears off their cheeks, as the soldiers who died in one of the last large battles of World War II fighting for Adolf Hitler's army got their final resting place. The gestures of remembrance are part of a long, complicated — and sometimes controversial — effort to bring the German dead to rest, 80 years after a war that Nazi Germany started. It's still not the end — much work remains to identify the dead and notify any surviving family members. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Associated Press News	2025-05-10 11:10:20+00:00	[ "Sudan", "Sudan government", "Republican Sinn Fein", "Khartoum", "Drones", "Prisons", "Prisoners of war", "Activism", "War and unrest", "Government programs" ]	# At least 20 people killed in Sudan after a suspected drone strike hits a prison By Samy Magdy May 10th, 2025, 11:10 AM --- CAIRO (AP) — A suspected drone strike launched by Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces hit a prison in the southern region of Kordofan on Saturday and killed at least 20 inmates, authorities said. Fifty other detainees were wounded in the attack on the main prison in Obeid, the capital city of North Kordofan, Information Minister Khalid Aleiser said in a statement. Aleiser, who is also the spokesman of the military-allied government, accused the Rapid Support Forces for the attack, which came as the militia escalates drone strikes on the military-held areas across the country. Sudan plunged into civil war on April 15, 2023, when simmering tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open warfare in the capital Khartoum and other parts of the country. Obeid is 363 kilometers (225 miles) south of Khartoum. There was no immediate comment from the RSF, which earlier this month launched multi-day drone attack on Port Sudan, the Red Sea city serving as an interim seat for the Sudanese government. The strikes hit the city's airports, maritime port and other facilities including fuel storages. The military earlier struck Nyala airport in South Darfur, where the RSF receives foreign military assistance, including drones. Local media say dozens of RSF officers were killed in last week's strike. In the western region of Darfur, an artillery attack by the RSF on Friday on a camp for displaced people killed at least 14, according to the Emergency Room, an activist group tracking the war. The dead included two parents, their eight children and the children's grandmother, the group said. The RSF has launched nearly daily attacks on the camp and the nearby city of el-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur, which the paramilitaries have attempted to seize for more than a year. Last month the RSF rampaged through Sudan's largest camp for displaced, Zamzam, killing more than 400 people. The militia took control of the camp, pushing its population to flee. The war has killed at least 24,000 people, though the number is likely far higher. It has driven about 13 million people from their homes, including 4 million who crossed into neighboring countries. Parts of the country have been pushed into famine. The fighting has been marked by atrocities including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in Darfur, according to the U.N. and international rights groups.
Associated Press News	2025-05-10 11:34:48+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "District of Columbia", "George Floyd", "Joe Biden", "Voting rights", "United States government", "Immigration", "New York", "Afghanistan", "Vietnam", "Racial injustice", "United States", "Legal proceedings", "Lawsuits", "William Penn", "Politics", "Protests and demonstrations", "Activism", "George Fox", "Religion", "Jess Hobbs Pifer", "Max Goodman", "Ross Brubeck", "Christianity", "Casey Oware" ]	# Quakers march against Trump's crackdown on immigrants carrying on their long faith tradition By Luis Andres Henao May 10th, 2025, 11:34 AM --- PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — A group of Quakers are marching more than 300 miles from New York City to Washington, D.C., to demonstrate against the Trump administration's crackdown on immigrants. The march extends a long tradition of Quaker activism. Historically, Quakers have been involved in peaceful protests to end wars and slavery, and support women's voting rights in line with their commitment to justice and peace. Far more recently, Quakers sued the federal government earlier this year over immigration agents' ability to make arrests at houses of worship. Organizers of the march say their protest seeks to show solidarity with migrants and other groups that are being targeted by President Donald Trump's administration. "It feels really daunting to be up against such critical and large and in some ways existential threats," said Jess Hobbs Pifer, a 25-year-old Quaker and march organizer, who said she felt "a connection" to the faith's long history of activism. "I just have to put one foot in front of the other to move towards something better, something more true to what Quakers before us saw for this country and what people saw for the American Experiment, the American dream," she said. Their goal is to walk south from the Flushing Quaker Meeting House — across New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania — to the U.S. Capitol to deliver a copy of the "Flushing Remonstrance" — a 17th century document that called for religious freedom and opposed a ban on Quaker worship. Quakers say it remains relevant in 2025 as a reminder to "uphold the guiding principle that all are welcome." "We really saw a common thread between the ways that the administration is sort of flying against the norms and ideals of constitutional law and equality before the law," said Max Goodman, 28, a Quaker, who joined the march. "Even when they aren't breaking rules explicitly, they're really engaging in bad faith with the spirit of pluralism, tolerance and respect for human dignity that undergirds our founding documents as Americans and also shows up in this document that's really important in New York Quaker history." ## A Quaker history of resistance The Religious Society of Friends — best known as the Quakers — originated in 17th century England. The Christian group was founded by George Fox, an Englishman who objected to Anglican emphasis on ceremony. In the 1640s, he said he heard a voice that led him to develop a personal relationship with Christ, described as the Inner Light. Fox taught that the Inner Light emancipates a person from adherence to any creed, ecclesiastical authority or ritual forms. Brought to court for opposing the established church, Fox tangled with a judge who derided him as a "quaker" in reference to his agitation over religious matters. Following the faith's core beliefs in nonviolence and justice, Quakers have demonstrated for the abolition of slavery, in favor of the suffrage movement, against both World Wars, and the U.S. role in the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan, said Ross Brubeck, 38, one of the Quaker march organizers. They also joined protests against the World Trade Organization in Seattle and the Black Lives Matter protests after the 2020 killing of George Floyd. "Within the DNA of Quakerism is actions speaking out against authority," said Brubeck, who was marching along a trail in New Jersey with companions waving an upside-down American flag — intended to serve as a signal of distress. "Quakers have had a central role in opposition to repression within the United States since its founding," Brubeck said. The basic unit of Quaker organization is the weekly meeting, which corresponds to the congregation in other churches. Quakers gather for silent worship in meeting houses, where they wait for a message from God to move through them until they speak. When Brubeck and his group reached downtown Princeton, they were met by members of the local Quaker group, who praised them for their effort and guided them to their meeting house. After taking their shoes off their blistery feet, some rested on wooden pews and later prayed in silence, holding hands in a circle in preparation for another long walk. "I felt humbled by their presence knowing what a long way they've been walking," said Casey Oware, a member of the Princeton Friends Meeting. "And also a sense of connection knowing that we're fighting for the same thing." Her friend, Marae McGhee, a retired teacher and member of the local Quaker group, agreed: "It's such a disturbing time and I think a lot of people feel that there's little they can do. But these folks are doing it — they're giving their feet and their energy." ## Quaker beliefs and a lawsuit challenge to Trump Quaker practices and beliefs vary from a more Bible-centered Christianity, with pastors as worship leaders, to a more liberal approach with less structured worship and a wide range of teachings. One the most well-known Quakers was William Penn, who founded Pennsylvania following the faith's emphasis on religious tolerance; the group became influential in cities like Philadelphia. But members of the group have also faced scorn for refusing to join wars due to their belief in pacifism and nonviolence. Some were persecuted and even killed for trying to spread their religious beliefs. Earlier this year, five Quaker congregations filed a lawsuit challenging a Trump administration move giving immigration agents more leeway to make arrests at houses of worship. The Quaker groups were later joined by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and a Sikh temple. Following that, more than two-dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans — ranging from the Episcopal Church and the Union for Reform Judaism to the Mennonites — filed a similar lawsuit, but a federal judge ruled against them last month. During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump insisted that immigrants were an existential threat to America. Immigration into the U.S., both legal and illegal, surged during President Joe Biden's administration, and Trump assailed that influx in ways that proved powerful with voters. Since returning to the White House, Trump has launched a campaign of immigration enforcement that has pushed the limits of executive power and clashed with federal judges trying to restrain him. "Immigrants are the ones experiencing the most acute persecution in the United States," Brubeck said. "The message to Trump is that the power is not his to make." __ 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	2025-05-19 04:16:42+00:00	[ "European Union", "Keir Starmer", "United Kingdom", "Europe", "Ursula Von Der Leyen", "United Kingdom government", "Business", "Government policy", "John Swinney", "Economic policy", "International trade", "Lorne Cook", "Legal proceedings", "Politics", "Conservatism", "David Henig", "Military and defense", "Economy", "Elspeth Macdonald" ]	# The UK and the EU hail a new chapter as they sign fresh deals 5 years after Brexit By Sylvia Hui May 19th, 2025, 04:16 AM --- LONDON (AP) — Britain and the European Union hailed a new chapter in their relationship Monday after sealing fresh agreements on defense cooperation and easing trade flows at their first formal summit since Brexit. Five years after the U.K. left the EU, ties were growing closer again as Prime Minister Keir Starmer met European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other senior EU officials in London for talks. The deals will slash red tape, grow the British economy and reset relations with the 27-nation trade bloc, Starmer said, while von der Leyen called the talks a "historic moment" that benefits both sides. "Britain is back on the world stage," Starmer told reporters. "This deal is a win-win." He hailed Monday's agreements — the third package of trade deals struck by his government in as many weeks following accords with the U.S. and India — as "good for jobs, good for bills and good for our borders." But Britain's opposition parties slammed the deals as backtracking on Brexit and "surrendering" anew to the EU. "We're becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again," Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said. Here are the main takeaways from the summit: ___ ## Cutting red tape on food trade Officials said they will remove some routine border checks on animal and plant products and align with EU regulations, which will reduce costs on food imports and exports and make it easier for goods to flow freely across borders. Businesses have complained about trucks waiting for hours at borders with fresh food that cannot be exported to the EU because of laborious post-Brexit certifications. The changes will mean the U.K. can sell products like raw British burgers, sausages and seafood to the EU again, officials said. The benefits will apply also to movements between the British mainland and Northern Ireland, where post-Brexit customs checks have been a thorny issue for years. While the EU is the U.K.'s largest trading partner, the government said the U.K. has been hit with a 21% drop in exports since Brexit because of more onerous paperwork and other non-tariff barriers. ## Defense procurement pact A new security and defense partnership will pave the way for the U.K. defense industry to access a new EU loan program worth 150 billion euros ($170 billion.) That will allow Britain to secure cheap loans backed by the EU budget to buy military equipment, in part to help Ukraine defend itself. The EU has said that the loan program will help boost the readiness of European defense as well as enable more coordinated support for Ukraine. ## Fishing rights The deal included a 12-year extension of an agreement allowing EU fishing vessels to operate in U.K. waters until 2038, which angered U.K. fishermen and their supporters. While economically minor, fishing has long been a sticking point and symbolically important issue for the U.K. and EU member states such as France. Disputes over the issue nearly derailed a Brexit deal back in 2020. Elspeth Macdonald, head of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation, called the agreement a "horror show for Scottish fishermen" that was granted in order to secure other objectives. Scottish First Minister John Swinney said the deal was "the direct opposite of what was promised by Brexit." ## Easing movement for young people Post-Brexit visa restrictions have hobbled cross-border activities for professionals such as bankers or lawyers, as well as academic and cultural exchanges, including touring bands. The U.K. and EU said they agreed to co-operate on a youth mobility plan that's expected to allow young Britons and Europeans to live and work temporarily in each other's territory, though no details were provided. British officials insisted that numbers would be capped and stays would be time-limited. The free movement of people remains a politically touchy issue in the U.K., with the youth mobility plan seen by some Brexiteers as inching back toward completely free movement for EU nationals to move to the U.K. The U.K. has similar youth mobility arrangements with countries including Australia and Canada. ## Cutting airport waits British passport holders will be able to use e-gates at more European airports as part of the deal. Since Brexit, many British travelers cannot use automated gates when they arrive at EU airports. The new measure will end "the dreaded queues at border control," officials said. ## Opposition objects to a 'surrender' Britain's opposition parties have criticized Starmer's bid to reset relations with the EU. The pro-Brexit and anti-immigration Reform U.K. party, which recently won big in local elections, and the Conservatives have called the trade-offs in the deals a betrayal of Brexit. Starmer is "taking us backwards. We left the European Union. That was settled, we drew a line under that," said Badenoch, the Conservative leader. "This deal is taking us to the past and that is why we call it surrender." Starmer stressed that he did not violate his "red lines": The U.K. won't rejoin the EU's frictionless single market and customs union, and will not agree to the free movement of people between the U.K. and the EU. David Henig, a U.K. trade policy expert at the European Centre for International Political Economy, suggested that while some will continue to argue against agreeing to EU regulations, most Britons likely believe it's time to move forward. "Simply following EU rules in some areas is going to be controversial to those who thought that Brexit means casting off all influence from the EU entirely," he said. "That wasn't realistic for a trading nation like the UK., where 50% of our trade is with the EU." ___ Pan Pylas and Jill Lawless in London and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed reporting.
Associated Press News	2025-05-03 21:01:36+00:00	[ "Warren Buffett", "Berkshire Hathaway", "Inc.", "Apple", "Financial services", "Nebraska", "Charlie Munger", "Bank of America Corp.", "JPMorgan Chase Co.", "Business", "Wang Chanfu", "Technology", "Omaha", "Amazon.com", "Alphabet", "Production facilities", "The Coca-Cola Co.", "Consumer electronics manufacturing", "Microsoft Corp.", "Financial markets", "American Express Co.", "Wells Fargo Co." ]	# Warren Buffett's best and worst investments in his 60 years leading Berkshire Hathaway By Josh Funk May 3rd, 2025, 09:01 PM --- OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Saturday that he wants to step down as chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year. The revelation came as a surprise because the 94-year-old had previously said he did not plan to retire. Buffett, one of the world's richest people and most accomplished investors, took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 when it was a textiles manufacturer. He turned the company into a conglomerate by finding other businesses and stocks to buy that were selling for less than they were worth. His success made him a Wall Street icon. It also earned him the nickname "Oracle of Omaha," a reference to the Nebraska city where Buffett was born and chose to live and work. Here are some of his best and worst investments over the years: ## Buffett's Best — National Indemnity and National Fire & Marine: Purchased in 1967, the company was one of Buffett's first insurance investments. Insurance float — the premium money insurers can invest between the time when policies are bought and when claims are made — provided the capital for many of Berkshire's investments over the years and helped fuel the company's growth. Berkshire's insurance division has grown to include Geico, General Reinsurance and several other insurers. The float totaled $173 billion at the end of the first quarter. — Buying blocks of stock in American Express, Coca-Cola Co. and Bank of America at times when the companies were out of favor because of scandals or market conditions. Collectively, the shares are worth over $100 billion more than what Buffett paid for them, and that doesn't count all the dividends he has collected over the years. — Apple: Buffett long said that he didn't understand tech companies well enough to value them and pick the long-term winners, but he started buying Apple shares in 2016. He later explained that he bought more than $31 billion worth because he understood the iPhone maker as a consumer products company with extremely loyal customers. The value of his investment grew to more than $174 billion before Buffett started selling Berkshire Hathaway's shares. — BYD: On the advice of his late investing partner Charlie Munger, Buffett bet big on the genius of BYD founder Wang Chanfu in 2008 with a $232 million investment in the Chinese electric vehicle maker. The value of that stake soared to more than $9 billion before Buffett began selling it off. Berkshire's remaining stake is still worth about $1.8 billion. — See's Candy: Buffett repeatedly pointed to his 1972 purchase as a turning point in his career. Buffett said Munger persuaded him that it made sense to buy great businesses at good prices as long as they had enduring competitive advantages. Previously, Buffett had primarily invested in companies of any quality as long as they were selling for less than he thought they were worth. Berkshire paid $25 million for See's and recorded pretax earnings of $1.65 billion from the candy company through 2011. The amount continued to grow but Buffett didn't routinely highlight it. — Berkshire Hathaway Energy: Utilities provide a large and steady stream of profits for Berkshire. The conglomerate paid $2.1 billion, or about $35.05 per share, for Des Moines-based MidAmerican Energy in 2000. The utility unit subsequently was renamed and made several acquisitions, including PacifiCorp and NV Energy. The utilities added more than $3.7 billion to Berkshire's profit in 2024, although Buffett has said they are now worth less than they used to be because of the liability they face related to wildfires. ## Buffett's Worst — Berkshire Hathaway: Buffett had said his investment in the Berkshire Hathaway textile mills was probably his worst investment ever. The textile company he took over in 1965 bled money for many years before Buffett finally shut it down in 1985, though Berkshire did provide cash for some of Buffett's early acquisitions. Of course, the Berkshire shares Buffett began buying for $7 and $8 a share in 1962 are now worth $809,350 per share, so even Buffett's worst investment turned out OK. — Dexter Shoe Co.: Buffett said he made an awful blunder by buying Dexter in 1993 for $433 million, a mistake made even worse because he used Berkshire stock for the deal. Buffett says he essentially gave away 1.6% of Berkshire for a worthless business. — Missed opportunities. Buffett said that some of his worst mistakes over the years were the investments and deals that he didn't make. Berkshire easily could have made billions if Buffett had been comfortable investing in Amazon, Google or Microsoft early on. But it wasn't just tech companies he missed out on. Buffett told shareholders he was caught "sucking his thumb" when he failed to follow through on a plan to buy 100 million Walmart shares that would be worth nearly $10 billion today. — Selling banks too soon. Not long before the COVID pandemic, Buffett seemed to sour on most of his bank stocks. Repeated scandals involving Wells Fargo gave him a reason to start unloading his 500 million shares, many of them for around $30 per share. But he also sold off his JP Morgan stake at prices less than $100. Both stocks have more than doubled since then. — Blue Chip Stamps: Buffett and Munger, Berkshire's former vice chairman, took control of Blue Chip in 1970 when the customer rewards program was generating $126 million in sales. But as trading stamps fell out of favor with retailers and consumers, sales steadily declined; in 2006, they totaled a mere $25,920. However, Buffett and Munger used the float that Blue Chip generated to acquire See's Candy, Wesco Financial and Precision Castparts, which are all steady contributors to Berkshire.
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 23:01:37+00:00	[ "Colombia", "Gustavo Petro", "Alvaro Leyva", "Miguel Uribe", "Indictments", "Colombia government", "Mario Daz-Balart", "United States government", "Politics" ]	# Colombia president warns of plot to remove him as former ally calls him a drug 'addict' By Manuel Rueda May 6th, 2025, 11:01 PM --- BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — President Gustavo Petro said Tuesday that an "international plot" to oust him from office is underway after his former foreign minister accused him of being a drug "addict" for the second time in three weeks. Alvaro Leyva published a seven-page letter on the social platform X calling for Petro's resignation and alleging that he is "dependent on substances that affect emotional and mental equilibrium." Petro, who was elected in 2022 and has a year left in office, vehemently denied the accusation during a speech in Bogota, saying he is a "revolutionary" who will not be "enslaved" by drugs. Leyva, a seasoned politician and former presidential candidate, first leveled the accusation against Petro in a letter published April 22, in which he said the president "went missing" for two days during a state visit to Paris and attributed that to purported drug use. Petro replied that he had taken time off to visit relatives in France. Leyva doubled down Tuesday, saying Petro also failed to show up at meetings during a 2023 visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as well as a high-profile visit to Chile's Supreme Court while on an official trip to that country. "You must recognize, President, that your disappearances and inexplicable behaviors are the result of your sickly condition" Leyva said in the new letter. "The president of Colombia, the country of coca, has fallen into the trap of vice." Petro's unpredictable schedule and unexplained absences from official events have long been a source of debate, with the Colombian opposition accusing him of being erratic and unreliable. On multiple occasions lawmakers have urged Petro, who once said in a televised Cabinet meeting that cocaine "is no worse than whiskey," to undergo medical examination to prove he is not consuming illegal substances. Also Tuesday, Sen. Miguel Uribe drafted a petition calling on the Senate to create a commission of three medical specialists who can investigate Petro's health and help determine whether he "has a permanent physical incapacity," a move that could eventually lead to his removal from office. The petition has not been discussed on the Senate floor so far. Petro said the opposition and Leyva, a former ally, are out to oust him and called it "an attempt to undermine Colombia's sovereignty, its democracy and the freedom of Colombians." The president also accused U.S. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, a Florida Republican, of being a leader of the purported plot, but without providing evidence. "Don't try to overthrow the President of Colombia" Petro said in a message on X. "Or you will unleash the Colombian revolution." Díaz-Balart replied on the same platform, writing in Spanish that Petro is "an embarrassment." "I hope that with professional help you can fight your addiction and get better," Díaz-Balart said. Leyva, who long worked to facilitate negotiations between the Colombian government and rebel groups, supported Petro during his presidential campaign and became foreign minister in August 2022. He was removed from his position in February 2024 after the Inspector General's office found him guilty of illegally interfering with a contract for a company to print passports. Petro said Tuesday that Leyva is "bitter" about his ouster. "The Inspector General removed him," he said. "But he is trying to take it out on me."
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 22:11:35+00:00	[ "Ryan Wesley Routh", "Donald Trump", "Florida", "Attempted assassination of Donald Trump", "Shootings", "West Palm Beach", "Legal proceedings", "Law enforcement", "Gun violence", "Gun politics", "Christopher Browne", "John Shipley", "Trials", "United States government", "Politics", "Renee Sihvola", "Assassinations", "Indictments", "Aileen Cannon" ]	# Man accused of Trump assassination attempt in Florida seeks dismissal of some gun charges By Stephany Matat May 14th, 2025, 10:11 PM --- FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys for a man awaiting trial on federal charges of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump last year at his Florida golf course asked a judge on Wednesday to dismiss the gun-related charges against him and bar a witness identification as "unreliable." Ryan Routh appeared in a Fort Pierce courtroom as Sowmya Bharathi, an assistant federal public defender, went before a judge. Bharathi said two charges Routh faces — possession of a firearm and ammunition and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number — should be dropped under his 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Routh was convicted of felonies in North Carolina in December 2002 and March 2010, according to court records cited previously by the Department of Justice in a statement announcing his indictment. Bharathi, however, cited a "deep split" in circuit courts over whether "felons could be wholesale disenfranchised from their 2nd Amendment rights." "The government has not shown that this prior conviction would allow Congress to permanently disarm him," Bharathi told U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. Bharathi continued that even without a serial number on a gun, that does not take away the ability to possess a firearm. John Shipley, an assistant U.S. attorney, countered by saying the law clearly shows an "absolute consensus" that a firearm with an obliterated serial number is "not a weapon with any lawful purpose." "The law is clear with that," Shipley said. "I don't think there's any precedent at all for the position they are asking you to take." Routh is also facing charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer. Routh's trial is set for September. If convicted, he could face a sentence of life in prison, federal officials have said. Prosecutors have said Routh methodically plotted to kill Trump for weeks before aiming a rifle through the shrubbery as Trump played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach country club. Before Trump came into view, Routh was spotted by a Secret Service agent. Routh allegedly aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and flee without firing a shot. Law enforcement obtained help from a witness who prosecutors said informed officers that he saw a person fleeing. The witness was then flown in a police helicopter to a nearby interstate where Routh was arrested and the witnesses confirmed it was the person he saw, prosecutors have said. But Renee Sihvola, a Routh defender, argued that the witness identification is "not reliable" to be used by the government in a jury trial. Sihvola told the judge that the witness did not have a clear view of the fleeing person and initially told officers the suspect was a man in his 20s. Routh is 59 years old. Sihvola said there's no information on what conversations officers had with the witness, and said the mounting pressure to find the suspect led to the witness being flown to a closed-off turnpike where Routh was arrested. Sihvola noted that the witness was asked to identify Routh at the time of arrest, two hours afterward and again with an FBI agent showing the witness a photograph six hours later. "Those two identification procedures are both suggestive," Sihvola said. "This should not be presented to the jury at all because it's unreliable." Christopher Browne, an assistant U.S. attorney, said the witness was no mere "passerby" and had clearly seen a fleeing person and even sought a closer look at the person and the vehicle they were driving. "There is zero potential for misidentification in this case," Browne added.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 07:46:48+00:00	[ "Nairobi", "Kenya government", "Kenya", "Politics", "Raila Odinga", "Shootings" ]	# Kenyan opposition MP is killed in 'targeted' shooting May 1st, 2025, 07:46 AM --- NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A Kenyan opposition legislator was shot dead in the capital Nairobi in what police have described as a "targeted and premeditated" crime. MP Charles Were was shot on Wednesday night after his car stopped at a roundabout on a busy major road. President Willian Ruto urged police to conduct a "through investigation" and said Thursday that those responsible "must be held to account." Were was in the company of his driver and bodyguard when a motorcycle taxi approached their car, and a passenger disembarked and approached their car before firing at the MP, police said in a statement. The legislator was reelected in 2022 to represent Kasipul constituency in western Kenya for the Orange Democratic Movement party. Opposition leader Raila Odinga described Were as a "gallant son of the soil." Odinga was President Ruto's main challenger in the 2022 general election. Political tensions in Kenya have simmed down since last year, when the country saw a series of opposition-backed anti-government protests during which dozens of people died. Ruto later appointed members of Odinga's party to the cabinet and the two leaders signed a political pact in March this year.
Associated Press News	2025-05-03 16:23:52+00:00	[ "Damascus", "Syria government", "Bashar Assad", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Palestinian territories government", "Politics", "Israel-Hamas war", "Yasser Zafari" ]	# Syria detains Damascus-based leader of prominent Palestinian faction By Bassem Mroue May 3rd, 2025, 04:23 PM --- BEIRUT (AP) — Syria on Saturday detained a prominent Damascus-based Palestinian official whose group was close to the government of ousted president Bashar Assad. Talal Naji, 79, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, or PFLP-GC, was detained Saturday morning shortly after he left his house with a driver and two guards, a Palestinian official told The Associated Press. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, added that shortly after Naji was detained near his home in the Mazze neighborhood, security officials came to his home and questioned two unarmed guards for about an hour. A Syrian government official told the AP that Naji was taken for questioning and should be released later. The official spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The PFLP-GC became known for dramatic attacks against Israel, including the hijacking an El Al jetliner in 1968 and the machine gunning of another airliner at Zurich airport in 1969. In 1970, it planted a bomb on a Swissair jet that blew up on a flight from Zurich to Tel Aviv, killing all 47 on aboard. Naji's arrest comes nearly two weeks after Syrian authorities detained two members of the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. The group identified the two officials arrested at the time as its leader in Syria Khaled Khaled and another senior official Yasser Zafari. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that triggered the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Under Assad, several Palestinians factions were based in Syria and some of them remained after the fall of his 54-year Assad family in December.
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 07:08:53+00:00	[ "Pope Francis", "Mexico", "Papal conclave", "Religion", "Juan Prez Gmez" ]	# Photos: Indigenous deacon in Mexico echoes late pope's call to defend rights and Mother Earth By Isabel Mateos May 5th, 2025, 07:08 AM --- SIMOJOVEL, Mexico (AP) — Deacon Juan Pérez Gómez helps tend to his small Tsotsil Catholic community in Mexico. He was ordained a deacon in 2022, during the papacy of the late Pope Francis. At a recent service in the remote southern Mexican community of Simojovel, Catholic and Mayan symbols mingled at the altar as Pérez Gómez, 57, read the Gospel in his native Tsotsil and echoed Francis' call to defend human rights, justice, and care for Mother Earth.
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 17:16:25+00:00	[ "San Diego", "Drownings", "Border security", "Boat and ship accidents", "Immigration", "Adam Gordon", "Crime" ]	# 5 people charged after migrant boat capsized, killing 3, including 14-year-old boy from India By Julie Watson May 6th, 2025, 05:16 PM --- SAN DIEGO (AP) — Federal officials filed charges Tuesday against five people in connection to a boat carrying migrants that capsized a day earlier off San Diego's Pacific coast, killing three people, including a 14-year-old boy from India. The boy's 10-year-old sister is still missing at sea and is presumed dead, the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Diego said in a statement. Their parents were among four people who were injured and taken to the hospital, including the father, who is in a coma. The other two killed were from Mexico, including an 18-year-old boy and another man, according to the Mexican consulate. The 18-year-old's girlfriend, who is 16, remains hospitalized after water filled her lungs, the consulate said. The consulate is working with the families in Mexico to repatriate the bodies of those who died. Nine people were initially reported missing. All but the 10-year-old girl were found late Monday by Border Patrol agents conducting operations in the San Diego area, officials said. The search efforts by the U.S. Coast Guard stopped late Monday. Crews combed the area via helicopter and a cutter for hours after the boat flipped shortly after sunrise about 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of the Mexico border. Officials described the skiff as a panga, a small wooden open-air boat used to fish but also commonly used by smugglers to bring people into the U.S. from Mexico. Two Mexican citizens were arrested at the beach near where the boat overturned. They were charged with human smuggling resulting in death, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of death or life in prison. Border Patrol agents found eight migrants after they managed to make it to shore. The agents also identified vehicles with drivers who were waiting to pick up the migrants as part of the smuggling scheme, according to court documents. U.S. authorities arrested the three drivers, all Mexican citizens, and charged them with unlawfully transporting migrants, according to court documents. One had been deported in 2023 from the U.S. It was unclear if any of the defendants had defense attorneys, and they could not be reached for comment. The Mexican consulate said they have not been contacted by any of the accused yet to ask for legal help. Seven of the eight migrants are also from Mexico and were interviewed by the consular staff. "The drowning deaths of these children are a heartbreaking reminder of how little human traffickers care about the costs of their deadly business," U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said. "We are committed to seeking justice for these vulnerable victims, and to holding accountable any traffickers responsible for their deaths." Migrants are increasingly turning to the risky alternative offered by smugglers to travel by sea to avoid heavily guarded land borders, including off California's coast. Pangas leave the Mexican coast in the dead of night. In 2023, eight people were killed when two migrant smuggling boats approached a San Diego beach in heavy fog. One capsized in the surf. It was one of the deadliest maritime smuggling cases in waters off the U.S. coast. A federal judge sentenced a San Diego man to 18 years in prison in 2022 for piloting a small vessel overloaded with 32 migrants that smashed apart in powerful surf off San Diego's coast, killing three people and injuring more than two dozen others.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 00:32:29+00:00	[ "Homicide", "Crime", "Jesse Figueroa", "Los Angeles", "California", "Shootings", "School shootings", "Gun violence", "Chris Becker", "Education", "James Butts" ]	# Man charged with murder in the death of LA-area technical college dean By Jaimie Ding May 7th, 2025, 12:32 AM --- LOS ANGELES (AP) — A security guard was charged Tuesday with murder in the shooting death of the dean of a small technical college near Los Angeles, officials said. The dean of student affairs, Cameisha Denise Clark, died at the hospital Monday after being shot Friday afternoon at the Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology campus in Inglewood, according to family. Another female employee was wounded in the shooting. Jesse Figueroa, 40, was charged with murder, attempted murder and several counts for possessing a firearm as a felon. He also faces gun sentencing enhancements, which can lead to additional penalties when a gun is used during a crime. Figueroa will appear in court May 29 and faces a maximum sentence of life in state prison if convicted as charged. His public defender did not respond to request for comment. The technical college's campus president, Chris Becker, said Figueroa worked for a company that provides security to the school. Inglewood Mayor James Butts said last week it appeared to be an incident of workplace violence, but charging documents did not lay out a possible motive. Clark's family said she had been recently promoted to dean at the school. "Cameisha uplifted everyone fortunate enough to cross her path," her family said in a statement to KNBC. "Her leadership, integrity, and deep sense of purpose helped shape futures of countless students from the campus of Clark Atlanta University to Spartan College. She believed in the potential of others even when they could not yet see it in themselves."
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 15:30:21+00:00	[ "Germany government", "Friedrich Merz", "Olaf Scholz", "Marco Rubio", "Germany", "Cologne", "Alice Weidel", "Radicalism", "Government surveillance", "Legal proceedings", "Immigration", "Politics" ]	# German spy agency suspends 'extremist' designation of far-right AfD party By Associated Press May 8th, 2025, 03:30 PM --- BERLIN (AP) — Germany's domestic intelligence agency said Thursday it will await a court ruling before moving forward with plans to classify the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party as a " right-wing extremist " movement, a step that could subject the party to broader surveillance and scrutiny of its activities. The announced pause comes after the party, known as AfD, filed a lawsuit in the western city of Cologne against the move by the intelligence service and the party's supporters alleged a politically motivated crackdown. German officials have denied that allegation and have faulted what they called the party's "ongoing agitation" against refugees and migrants. The AfD's co-leaders, Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel, responded in a joint statement saying the intelligence service's decision Thursday was "a first important step" that would help "counter the accusation of right-wing extremism." The pause by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution means that it cannot move forward with previous plans to use enhanced tools like video and audio surveillance, and use of informants, to scrutinize the activities of the AfD, which came second in parliamentary elections in February. It does not mean that the intelligence agency has dropped those plans for good. The decision, months in the making, came days before the new German government led by conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz took office on Tuesday — replacing the outgoing coalition led by the Social Democrats' Olaf Scholz. The intelligence agency cited a number of pronouncements by AfD officials, including statements like, "Every additional foreigner in this country is one too many," the German news agency DPA reported. The U.S. administration has criticized the decision by the intelligence service, prompting a retort from the German Foreign Ministry. In a social media post last week, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Germany to undo the classification, saying the move to give new powers to the spy agency to watch the opposition amounted to "tyranny in disguise." The German Foreign Ministry responded by saying the decision resulted from an independent investigation to protect Germany's Constitution and the rule of law.
Associated Press News	2025-05-11 16:50:19+00:00	[ "South Africa", "Johannesburg", "Politics", "Miriam Makeba", "Emanuel Mcotheli", "Kyle Schutte", "Arts and entertainment", "Dale De Ruig", "Renata Lawton-Misra", "Government programs", "South Africa government", "Entertainment" ]	# A jazz club in Johannesburg plays its last songs and laments downtown's decline By Louise Dewast May 11th, 2025, 04:50 PM --- JOHANNESBURG (AP) — On a Friday evening in downtown Johannesburg, a world away from the genteel suburbs that include some of Africa's wealthiest neighborhoods, groups of men huddle on a dark street as a security patrol whizzes past. Around the corner, popular jazz venue the Marabi Club is hosting its last Friday night show before closing down – another victim of the city center's decay and the jarring inequality in post-apartheid South Africa. "It's devastating. This is such an iconic space in the inner city and now we have one more reason not to come downtown. It's a true sign of the city's decline," said Renata Lawton-Misra, 34, a climate change consultant, attending the concert with her husband, Kyle Schutte. For Schutte, the reasons behind the closure are clear. "Safety concerns," said the 38-year-old financial consultant who said he wouldn't normally set foot in the area. Downtown is now known for rampant crime and dilapidated infrastructure after an exodus of white people to the suburbs after the apartheid system of racial segregation ended in 1994. "True or not, perception is the issue." The Marabi Club had been part of a wave of investments designed to reinvigorate downtown, in particular the Maboneng district, about a decade ago. It was founded in 2017 by TJ Steyn, son of the late South African insurance magnate Douw Steyn, and Dale De Ruig. The club attracted visitors including Jay Z and Beyonce. "Look at what we created here with amazing food and music," said waiter Emanuel Mcotheli, pointing to the packed room of mainly Black urban professionals. The club was named after marabi, a jazz movement that emerged in the 1920s, to honor South Africa's rich musical heritage. Back then, miners and day laborers would congregate downtown and were drawn into illegal shebeens (taverns) by the sound of marabi, repetitive and improvisational keyboard tunes. The genre gained popularity through bands like the Jazz Maniacs and influential artists such as Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba. "I grew up singing marabi," said the club's resident vocalist Mbalizethu Siluma, 40, who sings soul and R&B, inviting the snappily dressed guests to dance after dinner. Despite the attention the club has received, South Africa's strict COVID-19 lockdown severely hit it and other businesses that hoped to reshape parts of downtown Johannesburg. A succession of short-lived mayors, eight in five years, made things worse as essential public works went undone. The neglect of downtown Johannesburg was exposed to international attention in 2023 when a fire in an overcrowded apartment building left unregulated by authorities killed 76 people. "We knew it wasn't the perfect place to open a jazz club but we were hopeful that it was on an upward move," De Ruig told The Associated Press. "Ultimately, it was a bit of a false start." He said the city has provided almost "almost no support" and basic requests for better lighting, security and cleaning in the area were ignored. The city's government said it could not comment on the reasons behind a private venue shutting its doors, but spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane said it was "unfortunate for the creative economy." For Lusanda Netshitenzhe, a member of the steering committee for the Joburg Crisis Alliance, a coalition working to end corruption and improve city government services, the Marabi Club's closing represents a broader issue. "People unfortunately don't feel safe getting to Maboneng," Netshitenzhe said. The area "once celebrated ... is unfortunately no longer doing well due to continued deep systemic issues, poor urban governance and lack of leadership in the city of Johannesburg." Mayor Dada Morero said in his State of the City address this month that "drastic times call for drastic measures" and vowed to intensify efforts to revitalize the inner city, including rehabilitating abandoned buildings and installing public lighting. Any plans for reviving the area come too late for the club and its musicians. "Maybe there's something better coming … look at how this place is, Marabi isn't dying," Siluma said before hitting the stage. De Ruig and his partner are considering moving the club to Steyn City, a gated commercial and residential estate owned by the Steyn family, 32 kilometers (20 miles) north of Johannesburg's city center. Downtown is left to those who can't afford to leave. ___ More AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 15:04:10+00:00	[ "Public Broadcasting Service", "Public media", "Children", "Television", "New York City Wire", "Arts and entertainment", "Lifestyle", "Sal Perez", "Technology", "Childrens entertainment", "Paula Kerger", "Business" ]	# 'Sesame Street' finds a new home on Netflix May 19th, 2025, 03:04 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix has thrown "Sesame Street" a safety net with a new streaming deal that offers the popular children's staple a broad reach while keeping it on its long-standing home, PBS, at the same time, the companies announced Monday. Starting later this year, new episodes will run on Netflix, PBS and the PBS Kids app on the same day. No specific premiere date was immediately announced. Select past episodes will be available on Netflix worldwide. The change for the more than 50-year-old show comes after Warner Bros. Discovery — which had aired the show since 2016 — last year decided not to renew its deal for new episodes that air on HBO and Max, though episodes will remain there until 2027. "This unique public-private partnership will enable us to bring our research-based curriculum to young children around the world with Netflix's global reach, while ensuring children in communities across the U.S. continue to have free access on public television to the 'Sesame Street' they love," Sesame Workshop said in its press release. Sal Perez, the show's executive producer and a Sesame Workshop vice president, told The Associated Press recently that segments on the new season will be longer and "really focused on character," while also focusing on its audience's emotional well-being and development. For Season 56, episodes will revolve around one 11-minute story, the Netflix release said. "The more kids want to hang out with our characters on 'Sesame Street,' the more they're going to take in those lessons," said Perez, adding that there would also be updates to the show's look and feel. The new season will also feature more exploration of the "Sesame Street" neighborhood and a look inside the legendary two-story brownstone at 123 Sesame Street that houses Elmo, Bert and Ernie and more. "I strongly believe that our educational programming for children is one of the most important aspects of our service to the American people, and 'Sesame Street' has been an integral part of that critical work for more than half a century," said Paula Kerger, president and CEO of PBS. "We're proud to continue our partnership in the pursuit of having a profound impact on the lives of children for years to come." "Sesame Street" has been shown in more than 150 countries, amassing more than 200 Emmys in addition to Grammy and Peabody awards and a Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime artistic achievement. Its fan-favorite characters like Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird and the Cookie Monster will now reside along the likes of Ms. Rachel, Blippi and the residents of "CoComelon Lane." Netflix says "Kids and Family" programming makes up 15% of the streamer's total viewing.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 04:16:54+00:00	[ "Rome", "Italy", "JWD-evergreen", "Adolph Hohenstein", "Anna Biagiotti", "Fashion", "Michele Mariotti", "Entertainment", "Giacomo Puccini", "Lifestyle", "Danilo Mancini" ]	# Artists in this former pasta factory are preserving Italian opera traditions By Francesca Primavilla and Trisha Thomas May 2nd, 2025, 04:16 AM --- ROME (AP) — Behind a rusty gate near Rome's Circus Maximus is a building passed daily by hordes of tourists. They're oblivious to the fact that behind its faded, flaking paint is a hive of activity sustaining one of Italy's grandest cultural institutions. It was a pasta factory until almost a century ago, when the Rome Opera House transformed the four-story building into a sprawling warehouse and workshop. It is home to a trove of scenic backdrops and 70,000 costumes from over a century of performances. Even more are being created — the traditional way. For this year, the opera house's costume designers, tailors and seamstresses have been scouring archives and working to reconstruct the original outfits of Giacomo Puccini's Opera "Tosca." It is a tale of passion, cruelty and deception set in Rome in the 1800s, featuring a dark-haired beauty forced to commit murder to protect her dignity and the man she loves. This year marks the 125th anniversary of its first-ever performance. "Fortunately, all the sketches for each costume exist and are very detailed and we have reconstructed them, respecting as much as possible the taste of the time from the point of view of the fabrics, the shapes and all the materials used," Anna Biagiotti, the opera house's costume director, said in an interview inside the warehouse. Behind each sketch Biagotti found detailed notes. She compiled a binder her team refers to as "the bible," filled with copies of the originals. To help her roughly 30 tailors, Biagotti painstakingly transcribed the tightly scrawled cursive notes of then-lead costume designer Adolph Hohenstein into legible, capital letters. They work in a cramped space above the opera house — sewing, pinning, stitching, cutting, ironing. Each year, they churn out some 700 costumes for opera and ballet performances, which are later stored in the warehouse, hanging inside plastic dry cleaning covers. There is no digitalized system to track them once there; they can only be located by the designers and tailors who have spent their lives in the trade. And on the warehouse's top floor, set designers in a giant loft space walk atop a canvas, dragging grey wagons loaded with buckets of paint. On April 10, they used brushes with handles so long they looked like brooms to paint ancient doors, archways, statues and frescoes to conjure a three-dimensional Roman palazzo upon the flat surface. An overhead walkway provided a view to ensure the optical illusion was coming out just right. It's a dying craft, said Danilo Mancini, director of set production. In other places, painted sets have been replaced by LED walls, projections and back-lit screens — but not at the Rome Opera House. For Tosca, set designers also worked off Hohenstein's sketches for the original show. Both Mancini and music director Michele Mariotti credit Puccini for keeping their passions alive. "Puccini was a genius, not only in terms of the beauty of the music, but precisely because of the theatrical and cinematographic flair he gives to his works," said Mariotti. "If we are all here, we must be grateful to him, not so much for the rebirth of the work, but for its survival. Because he understood that if it was not regenerated in some way, opera would have disappeared."
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 10:55:06+00:00	[ "Crime", "O.J. Simpson", "Tina Marie Cribbs", "Florida", "Ron DeSantis", "Capital punishment", "Homicide", "Los Angeles", "Legal proceedings", "Sandra Gallagher", "Indictments", "Glen Rogers", "Ron Goldman", "Serial murder", "Anthony Wainwright", "Child abuse", "Donald Trump" ]	# Florida executes suspected serial killer once eyed for possible link to the OJ Simpson case By Curt Anderson May 15th, 2025, 10:55 AM --- STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A suspected serial killer once scrutinized for a possible link to the O.J. Simpson case that riveted the nation in the 1990s was executed Thursday in Florida for the murder of a woman found dead in a Tampa motel room. Glen Rogers, 62, received a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke and was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m., authorities said. He was convicted in Florida of the 1995 murder of Tina Marie Cribbs, a 34-year-old mother of two he had met at a bar. He also had drawn a separate death sentence in California for the 1995 strangulation killing of Sandra Gallagher, a mother of three whom he had met at a bar in Van Nuys in that state. That killing came weeks before the Cribbs murder. Rogers was stopped after a highway chase in Kentucky while driving Cribbs' car soon after her death. In a final statement, Rogers thanked his wife, who visited him earlier in the day at the prison, according to visitor logs. He also somewhat cryptically said that "in the near future, your questions will be answered" without going into detail. He also said, "President Trump, keep making America great. I'm ready to go." Then the lethal injection began, and he lay quietly through the procedure. The entire execution took just 16 minutes. Once it began, Rogers hardly moved, only lying still with his mouth slightly open. At one point, a staff member grasped him by the shoulders, shook him and yelled, "Rogers, Rogers" to see if he was conscious. No family members of the Florida victim spoke to the press afterwards. Rogers was named as a suspect but never convicted in several other slayings around the country, once telling police he had killed about 70 people. He later recanted that statement, but had been the subject of documentaries, including one from 2012 called "My Brother the Serial Killer" that featured his brother Clay and a criminal profiler who had corresponded extensively with Rogers. The documentary raised questions about whether Rogers could have been responsible for the 1994 stabbing deaths of Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. During a 1995 murder trial that drew intense media attention, the former football star and celebrity Simpson was acquitted of all charges. Los Angeles police and prosecutors subsequently said after the documentary's release that they didn't think Rogers had any involvement in the Simpson and Goldman killings. "We know who killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. We have no reason to believe that Mr. Rogers was involved," the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement at the time. Simpson had always professed innocence but was later found liable for the deaths in a separate civil case, and subsequently served nine years in prison on unrelated charges. The 76-year-old Simpson died in April 2024 after battling cancer. Rogers, originally from Hamilton, Ohio, had also been labeled the "Casanova Killer" or "Cross Country Killer" in various media reports. Some of his alleged and proven female victims had similar characteristics: ages in their 30s, a petite frame and red hair. The U.S. Supreme Court had denied Rogers' final appeals on Wednesday without comment. Rogers' lawyers have filed several unsuccessful appeals with state and federal courts. One argument was that newly enacted state legislation authorizing the death penalty for trafficking in young children makes clear that the abuse he suffered as a child is now taken seriously and should result in a life prison sentence for Rogers. That argument was rejected. Florida uses a three-drug cocktail for its lethal injection: a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Corrections Department. Rogers became the fifth inmate put to death in Florida this year. Anthony Wainwright is the next Florida inmate scheduled for execution — on June 10 — under a death warrant signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Wainwright, 54, was convicted of kidnapping a woman from a supermarket parking lot in Lake City in 1994 and raping and killing her.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 22:25:02+00:00	[ "Memphis", "Tyre Nichols", "Curtis Chapman", "Law enforcement", "COVID-19 pandemic", "COVID-19", "Homicide", "Brian Jang", "Pandemics", "Race and ethnicity", "Nate Spates Jr.", "Indictments", "Police brutality", "Angelina Paxton", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Tyre Nichols remembered as beautiful soul with creative eye By Adam Beam, Travis Loller, and Claire Galofaro May 7th, 2025, 10:25 PM --- On most weekends, Tyre Nichols would head to the city park, train his camera on the sky and wait for the sun to set. "Photography helps me look at the world in a more creative way. It expresses me in ways I cannot write down for people," he wrote on his website. He preferred landscapes and loved the glow of sunsets most, his family has said. "My vision is to bring my viewers deep into what I am seeing through my eye and out through my lens," Nichols wrote. "People have a story to tell, why not capture it." Nichols, a 29-year-old father, was on his way home from taking pictures of the sky on Jan. 7, 2023, when police pulled him over. He was just a few minutes from the home he shared with his mother and stepfather, when he was brutally attacked by five Memphis police officers. He died three days later at a hospital, and the officers were charged with second-degree murder and other offenses and fired. Two of the officers previously pleaded guilty in both state and federal court. The three others were acquitted Wednesday of all state charges, including second-degree murder. The trio still face the prospect of years in prison after they were convicted of federal charges, though they were acquitted of the most serious charges there, too. "Nobody's perfect, nobody. But he was damn near," his mother, RowVaughn Wells, said at a news conference in 2023, moments after she watched the video of her son being beaten. "He was damn near perfect." He was the baby of their family. He had a 4-year-old son and worked hard to better himself as a father, his family said. He was an avid skateboarder from Sacramento, California, and came to Memphis just before the coronavirus pandemic and got stuck. But he was fine with it because he was with his mother, and they were incredibly close, Wells said. He had her name tattooed on his arm. Friends at a memorial service in 2023 described him as joyful and lovable. "This man walked into a room, and everyone loved him," said Angelina Paxton, a friend who traveled to Memphis from California for the service. Growing up in Sacramento, Nichols spent much of his time at a skate park on the outskirts of the city. It could be a rough place sometimes for younger kids. But when Niko Chapman was 10 years old, his parents would let him walk to the park alone as long as they knew Nichols was there. "You remember people that are really kind to you, and Tyre was just a really kind person," Chapman said. "He just always made me feel really welcome." Chapman's dad, Curtis Chapman, ran a youth group at a local church that would often meet at the skate park for pizza. Nichols quickly became a regular, bringing his energetic spirit and quick wit. But away from the group, Nichols would often show up at the Chapman house to talk about life — including coming to grips with being a young parent. "What drew me to Tyre was just — he's real," Curtis Chapman said. "He would talk about being a dad and wanting to be a good dad and seeking advice." There was a Bible study on Thursdays that Nichols would attend with his friend Brian Jang. One day, the group watched a sermon about how the world is filled with distractions. Jang said Nichols was so moved by it that he pulled out his flip phone and dropped it in a cup of water. "I thought it was awesome, just seeing his growth and his commitment," Jang said. The last time Jang saw Nichols was in 2018 at the food court in a local mall. The two hadn't seen each other in awhile, but Jang said Nichols came up behind him and gave him a big hug as the two caught up. "It's honestly pretty devastating to see such a good human go through such unnecessary brutality, such unnecessary death," Jang said. His mother said she raised him to love everyone openly — until they give you a reason not to. So Nichols was quick to make friends. In Memphis, Nichols went to Starbucks every morning, and Nate Spates Jr. would hang out with him there. They chatted about sports or life. Spates was with his wife once when they ran into Nichols there, and they all talked for a couple of hours. Afterwards, Spates said his wife commented, "He's got such a good spirit and soul and calm presence." Nichols worked second shift at FedEx with his stepfather. Every day, they'd come home together on their break at 7 p.m., and his mother would have a meal waiting for them. Wells said she'd offered to buy her son Jordans, the popular athletic shoes, but he didn't want them. "He was just his own person," she said. "He didn't follow what anyone else was doing." When he wasn't working, he went to the park to skateboard and take pictures. His website, called This California Kid, starts with an invitation: "Welcome to the world through my eyes." He included a gallery of what he considered his masterpieces: bridges and railroad tracks rendered in black and white, the neon lights of Beale Street at night. He took pictures of pink flowers, sunsets over the Mississippi River, fields of grass, statues of Elvis. He highlights a quote from another photographer: "A good photographer must love life," it begins. After she watched the video of her son's death, she stood with her family and their lawyers at a lectern, shaking, to convey what the world lost. A lawyer described the beating shown in the video — "he was a human piñata" — and Wells turned her head away, burying her face into her hands. In the video footage, which was released to the public, Nichols is heard saying he just wants to go home, family lawyers said. He was less than 100 yards from his mother's house. Lawyers described the last words Nichols is heard saying — calling for his mom, three times. "Oh my God," she wailed as they spoke. "Oh my God." She still finds herself waiting for him to walk in the door every day at 7 p.m. "It's not even real to me right now. I don't have any feelings right now," she said. "I know my son Tyre is not here with me anymore. He will never walk through that door again." ___ AP reporter Adrian Sainz contributed from Memphis, and AP researcher Rhonda Shafner from New York. Loller reported from Nashville, Beam from Sacramento, California, and Galofaro from Louisville, Kentucky.
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 10:00:24+00:00	[ "Brian P. Kemp", "Atlanta", "Keisha Lance Bottoms", "Joe Biden", "George Floyd", "Michael Thurmond", "Stacey Abrams", "Rayshard Brooks", "Jason Esteves", "U.S. Democratic Party", "Racial injustice", "Killer Mike", "U.S. Republican Party", "Politics", "Kasim Reed", "Automotive accidents", "Voting", "Chris Carr", "Protests and demonstrations", "Donald Trump", "T.I.", "Elections" ]	# Former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms launches bid for Georgia governor By Jeff Amy May 20th, 2025, 10:00 AM --- ATLANTA (AP) — Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms says her single term as Atlanta mayor gave her "battle-tested executive leadership" that she can offer to Georgia voters as she runs for governor. Bottoms, 55, officially launched her campaign Tuesday, becoming the second well-known Democrat to jump into the 2026 race. State Sen. Jason Esteves of Atlanta announced his campaign in April. "As we are facing the uncertainty and the anxiety that's being created in Washington right now, I'm running to be a fighter for Georgia," Bottoms told The Associated Press on Monday. "I want to be able to fight and deliver for our communities, whether it's from expanding Medicaid, to delivering for our small businesses, to making sure that people have a pathway to vocational and career training or college," she said. Bottoms and Esteves hope to succeed Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who can't run again at the end of his second term. On the Republican side, Attorney General Chris Carr kicked off his campaign in December, while Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is expected to announce that he's running sometime this summer. Among other Democrats, former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond has expressed interest, and two-time candidate Stacey Abrams could choose to run again. Also running as a Democrat is the Rev. Olujimi "Olu" Brown, a Methodist minister. A lawyer and former magistrate judge, Bottoms won election to the Atlanta City Council in 2009 and was reelected in 2013 before outgoing Mayor Kasim Reed endorsed her as his successor. Bottoms narrowly was elected and served one term that was defined by the pandemic. Every Atlanta mayor since World War II had sought a second term before the day in 2021 when Bottoms shocked Georgia's political establishment by saying she would not. But she says that didn't reflect a lack of desire for public service. "Not having the energy to do the job, that was not the case. In fact, I ran through the tape," Bottoms said, arguing she continued to accomplish things until the end of her term. As an early supporter of former President Joe Biden, Bottoms was among those considered to be his vice president. After stepping down as mayor, she joined the Biden administration as director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. Bottoms said she's not worried about being associated with an unpopular Biden. She also said she thinks her record on crime and public safety is a positive one, even though her administration struggled with the same COVID-19 era rise in murders as did other cities nationwide. "As mayor I gave our police and firefighters a historic pay raise. I actually supported the building of the public safety (training) center in Atlanta that's servicing people across the region," Bottoms said. "So I have a very strong record when it comes to public safety." Proponents say the $118 million project, now complete, was sorely needed to replace outdated facilities. One early night of Atlanta protests following the death of George Floyd in 2020 ended with the burning of a police car and broken windows downtown that were broadcast worldwide. Bottoms won national praise that night for ordering protesters to "go home" as she stood alongside Atlanta hip-hop stars Killer Mike and T.I. But weeks after Floyd's death, Rayshard Brooks, a Black man, was killed by an Atlanta police officer after a struggle following a field sobriety test. Atlanta's police chief resigned hours later. After two officers were charged, Atlanta police officers called in sick in waves. Later, protesters burned down the Wendy's where Brooks died and an 8-year-old girl, Secoriea Turner, was killed when the car she was riding in was shot at near the restaurant. The turmoil led then-President Donald Trump and Kemp to repeatedly attack Bottoms' leadership. But Bottoms is betting that it's Trump that Democratic voters will view as the chaos agent. "My record has been one of providing steady leadership during chaotic times," Bottoms said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 21:10:22+00:00	[ "Tina Marie Key", "California", "Crime", "Victorville", "Child abuse", "Louise Turpin" ]	# Southern California couple charged with torture of 6 foster children May 14th, 2025, 09:10 PM --- VICTORVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Three members of a Southern California family were charged Wednesday with torturing six foster children between the ages of 4 and 16 over a span of years, prosecutors said. Kenneth Michael Key and Tina Marie Key, both 60, and their 23-year-old daughter Katlynn Marresa Key were arrested this week in Victorville, according to the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office. It wasn't immediately known if they have lawyers. Messages were sent to the county public defender's office asking if its attorneys are representing the defendants. The investigation began Feb. 13 when authorities received a tip from a child abuse hotline, said sheriff's spokesperson Mara Rodriguez. The children were immediately removed from the home, Rodriguez said. Prosecutors say the Keys subjected all six children to years of physical, emotional and mental abuse. "The abuse included daily beatings, strangulation to the point of unconsciousness, and punishments of withholding food and water from the children for a period of days," the District Attorney's office said in a statement. All three defendants are charged with torture and child abuse. They are being held in lieu of $1 million bail each. Authorities haven't said how the alleged abuse went on for years without being detected. Messages were left for San Bernardino County Children and Family Services, which oversees the foster family programs. The investigation was reminiscent of the case of David and Louise Turpin, the California couple who pleaded guilty in 2019 to torture and years of abuse that included shackling some of their 13 children to beds and starving them to the point they stopped growing.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 11:10:08+00:00	[ "Espionage", "Greece", "Law enforcement", "Legal proceedings", "NATO", "Crime", "Politics", "North Atlantic Treaty Organization" ]	# Greek man accused of spying at NATO transit hub has been charged and jailed pending trial May 2nd, 2025, 11:10 AM --- THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — A man was charged in Greece Friday with espionage-related offences and jailed pending trial after allegedly photographing and videotaping military operations at the strategic port of Alexandroupolis in northeastern Greece. The port serves as a key logistics hub for U.S. and NATO operations, facilitating the movement of military equipment and personnel in support of Ukraine and NATO member states in eastern Europe. The suspect, who has not been named, was arrested earlier this week in a joint operation by the police and Greece's National Intelligence Service. Authorities said he was "acting on behalf of another individual" and had sent the recordings to that person using an encrypted messaging app, but provided no further details. According to state television, citing Greek law enforcement officials, the suspect is a 59-year-old Greek citizen born in Georgia and is under investigation for potential ties to Russian security services through a contact in Lithuania. Escorted by police officers on Friday, the suspect appeared before a magistrate in Alexandroupolis for a preliminary hearing as part of the ongoing judicial investigation. Judicial authorities said he denied all charges, adding that no trial date has been set.
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 19:27:24+00:00	[ "Morgan Wallen", "Taylor Swift", "Nashville", "Music", "Country music", "Music Reviews", "Arts and entertainment", "Britney Spears", "Garth Brooks", "Maria Sherman", "Celebrity" ]	# Morgan Wallen Music Review: 'I'm The Problem' By Maria Sherman May 16th, 2025, 07:27 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Morgan Wallen says he's the problem. And soon, he'll be yours. The country megastar's fourth studio album, "I'm the Problem," will be everywhere imminently if it isn't already — just like his earlier records, the last of which outsold Taylor Swift. It is a collection of earworm hooks and twangy big belts about whiskey and women, the kind that has made Wallen unignorable. The 32-year-old's incredible popularity is at least partially due to the hybridity of his style. Bro country and dirt-rock evolved into his final form, which embraces hallmarks of hip-hop: trap high hats and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony-inspired vocal phrasing. That appears throughout the gargantuan "I'm The Problem," everywhere from the "Interlude," "Kiss Her in Front of You" and "Miami" to tracks like "What I Want," featuring the Gen-Z Britney Spears Tate McRae. The latter marks his first time featuring a woman vocalist on one of his songs, no doubt a bucking of country duet tradition but also a doubling down of his vocal style — warm, muscular, masculine. The album is never revelatory, but there are surprises: like the Bon Iver-channeling "Smile." Wallen's also a traditionalist — in the weeping guitars of "Falling Apart," the backroads balladry of "Skoal, Chevy, and Browning," where chewing tobacco and hunting gear has never sounded so ... romantic? Most of his songs deal with heartbreak and self-deprecation with lyrical specificity and a total lack of pretension, appealing to both a fluid listenership and country radio loyalists looking for something familiar enough. In full, "I'm The Problem" is 37-tracks, running nearing two hours long. It's exhaustive but only exhausting for the active listener — just like his last two, which also topped 30 tracks. His style hasn't detoured too much from his previous work, giving new credence to not fixing what isn't broke. The album plays out like a soundtrack to a road trip, effortless and pleasant background music. Then, of course, is the financial incentive: Longer albums equate to more streams, and streams often account for far more of an album's chart position than downloads and purchases. It's good business. All that aside, everything Wallen does, including the release of this new album, is inextricable from his controversies. Despite them — or perhaps, partially because of, for a certain subset of listeners interested in bad boys with real talent — Wallen has become one of the biggest performers in the United States, underestimated by a mainstream music media that often regionalizes country music culture. And there have been a number of controversies. In 2020, he was arrested on public intoxication and disorderly conduct charges after being kicked out of Kid Rock's bar in downtown Nashville. In 2021, after video surfaced of him using a racial slur, he was disqualified or limited from several award shows and received no Grammy nominations for his bestselling "Dangerous: The Double Album." He's currently under supervised probation after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment for throwing a chair from the rooftop of a six-story bar in Nashville and nearly hitting two police officers with it. Regardless, his last album, "One Thing at a Time," was certified seven-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 100 for 16 weeks in 2023. That's just over 30% of the year. "One Thing at a Time" then reemerged in 2024 to hold the spot for three additional weeks in 2024. Presented another way, the album broke Garth Brooks' record for longest running No. 1 country album. In that respect, Wallen is not just a superstar in his chosen genre, but any genre. Redemption is a theme across "I'm The Problem," which is given additional weight by Wallen's extramusical behaviors. Earned or otherwise, when Wallen sings he does so with the wisdom of a wizened man. Like in "Superman," written for Wallen's son Indigo, which directly references the father's past indiscretions. "One day you're gonna see my mugshot from a night when I got a little too drunk," he opens the song. "Hear a song about a girl that I lost from the times when I just wouldn't grow up." It's unclear if that growth has happened. (And considering the rest of the album's hungover revelations and soured relationships, subjects Wallen knows intimately and has made a career off writing to, it seems unlikely.) But if Wallen is singing to his son in the future, he's singing to himself and the millions who will be listening in the present. And clearly, they're willing to take the journey with him.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 22:39:43+00:00	[ "Shootings", "Solomon Henderson", "Nashville", "Tennessee", "Gun violence", "Education" ]	# Nashville school shooter who killed 1 student and himself had brandished a box cutter at school By Travis Loller and Jonathan Mattise May 2nd, 2025, 10:39 PM --- NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Nashville high school student who fatally shot a classmate before killing himself in January was on probation after threatening a student with a box cutter months earlier, according to juvenile court files obtained through an open records request. Solomon Henderson, who was 17 at the time, was charged with carrying a weapon on school property with intent and reckless endangerment with a weapon after a confrontation on Oct. 24, 2024. The victim said she was walking to lunch with a group when she said "hey" to Solomon. When he did not respond, she said "hey" again. Solomon, who is Black, then turned around and told her to get away, using an expletive, and called her the N-word, the victim told police. He pulled a box cutter out of his pocket and exposed the blade before walking to a table in the cafeteria and sitting down. When an administrator confronted Solomon, "he became upset saying stuff like I'll cut anyone that walks up on him," according to the court filings. He also said he believed that the victim and her friends were going to jump him. As part of his probation, he was not allowed to possess guns. Solomon's juvenile record also includes charges from November 2023, when he was 16 years old, for downloading and distributing sexual images of minors. The record does not give any indication of the ages of the minors in the images. In that case, he was released to his parents with strict conditions including no use of social media, a cellphone, the internet, or a computer, with the exception of school work. Juvenile court records have been unavailable to the public in Tennessee until recently. Citing the Antioch High School shooting and a desire to know more about the shooter's history, Tennessee lawmakers this year passed a bill that allows someone's juvenile court records to be made public if the person committed a homicide on school grounds and has died. The records released to The Associated Press on Friday show that Solomon was given judicial diversion after his arrest for brandishing the box cutter. Court documents from the day after the incident indicated he was to have no contact with the victim and that his mother was planning to homeschool him. It is unclear exactly when he returned to Antioch High School, but on Jan. 22, Solomon shot and killed Josselin Corea Escalante, who was 16 and Hispanic, in the school's cafeteria before turning the gun on himself. Another student who was grazed by a bullet was treated and released from the hospital the same day. Police said Henderson fired 10 shots from a 9 mm pistol within 17 seconds of entering the cafeteria. The pistol was loaded with nine rounds when recovered by police. The gun was bought by someone in Arizona in 2022, and it was not reported stolen, police said. The gun's origins are still under investigation. Although the name of the victim in the box-cutter incident is redacted from the juvenile records, police have previously said they could not establish a connection between Solomon and the victims in the shooting. They have said the gunfire may have been random. Not long after the shooting, anti-hate analysts quickly identified dozens of pages believed to have come from Henderson, filled with calls for violence and racist comments, including neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideologies, expressions of shame that he was Black and praise for specific people who carried out well-known shootings. The writings also include plans for the school shooting, but they do not name Escalante as a target. Police and the FBI have been investigating two documents totaling more than 300 pages combined that they believe Henderson created. "It is clear that Henderson was significantly influenced by web-based material," especially on "non-traditional sites that most would find harmful and objectionable," police said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-04 20:57:19+00:00	[ "Iran", "Benjamin Netanyahu", "Aziz Nasirzadeh", "Donald Trump", "Pete Hegseth", "Iran government", "Nuclear weapons", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Politics", "Israel government", "Houthis", "Military and defense", "United States government", "United States Congress" ]	# Iran unveils new solid-fueled ballistic missile, state TV reports May 4th, 2025, 08:57 PM --- TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's defense ministry Sunday unveiled the country's latest solid-fueled ballistic missile, state TV reported, against a backdrop of threats from the United States over its nuclear program. TV showed the "Qassem Basir" ballistic missile during an interview with Defense Minister Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh. He said it includes improvements in both guidance and maneuverability to overcome layers of defense and easily bypass anti-ballistic defense systems. The missile was most recently tested on April 17. TV described the missile as having at least a 1,200-kilometer (745-mile) range. It also said the missile can identify and strike a designated target among multiple ones without GPS guidance and with pinpoint accuracy. In reaction to a May 1 comment by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on the platform X, in which he warns Iran about its support for the Houthis in Yemen, Nasirzade said if war is initiated by the U.S. or Israel, Iran will strike their interests, bases and forces "wherever they are and whenever necessary." Nasirzadeh added: "We have no hostility toward neighboring countries and seek brotherly relations, but in the event of an attack, U.S. bases in the region will be considered legitimate targets." Regarding a recent missile attack by Yemen's Houthis on Israel, Nasirzadeh said Yemen is an independent nation making its own decisions, and rejected U.S. attempts to link Iran to the conflict there. Tehran created its ballistic missile program after suffering through Iraqi Scud missile attacks in the Iran-Iraq war — and as a hedge against its Western-armed neighbors as embargos have kept it from accessing modern attack aircraft. The missile announcement comes amid escalating tensions following the strike on Israel's Ben Gurion Airport by the Houthis. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed significant retaliation against both the Houthis and their Iranian supporters. The incident marks a significant escalation in regional hostilities. Meanwhile, indirect talks between Iran and the United States, which were scheduled for May 3 in Rome, were suspended last week. Iran's Foreign Ministry said the postponement came at the request of Oman's foreign minister, who has been mediating the negotiations. A new date has yet to be announced. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran's program if a deal isn't reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 15:33:21+00:00	[ "International agreements", "Israel", "Danny Danon", "Israel government", "Foreign aid", "United Nations", "Marco Rubio", "Gaza", "Crime", "United Nations Security Council", "Genocide", "War and unrest", "Israel-Hamas war", "Gaza Strip", "Jake Wood", "Politics", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars" ]	# UN aid chief defends using 'genocide' in Gaza remarks that Israel rejects By Farnoush Amiri May 15th, 2025, 03:33 PM --- UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations' humanitarian chief has defended using the term "genocide" to describe what aid workers are trying to prevent in Gaza, saying the world should not make the same mistakes seen in past violations of international law, when it wasn't "called out soon enough." Tom Fletcher, in an interview with The Associated Press, said his forceful speech this week to the U.N. Security Council was meant to highlight what he views as the "eroding" of a rules-based order in Israel's bombardment of Gaza and monthslong blockade of lifesaving aid. He also blasted a new U.S.-backed proposal to deliver aid to Palestinians amid the 19-month-long war as "dehumanizing." "I'm not a lawyer. I'm a humanitarian. My job is to get the aid in, to get the attention of the world, to help create the conditions to get that aid in and save as many lives as possible before it's too late," Fletcher said Wednesday. "But I also want to make sure that we aren't making the mistake that was made with previous massive breaches of international law, where it hasn't been called out soon enough," he added. Fletcher is the first U.N. official to use the term "genocide" concerning Israel's war in Gaza, a charge that Israel vehemently denies and that many in the international community have been hesitant to make, even as criticism of Israel has come to a head in recent weeks. "Instead of admitting that the existing distribution system has failed, the U.N. insists on preserving Hamas' supply pipeline," Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon said Tuesday to the Security Council. "This is not neutrality — this is support for terrorism. Israel will not cooperate with a mechanism that strengthens those who kidnapped, murdered, raped and tortured our citizens." United Nations spokespeople have stressed repeatedly that only a court can make a determination that genocide has been committed. Fletcher, a longtime British diplomat, has spent the last several weeks in meetings with Israeli officials, lobbying for them to allow back into Gaza food, fuel, medicine and all other supplies that have been blocked since March. It's worsened a humanitarian crisis for 2.3 million Palestinians, with experts saying this week that nearly half a million Palestinians are facing possible starvation and 1 million others can barely get enough food. Israel says that the blockade aims to pressure Hamas to release the hostages it still holds and that it won't allow aid back in until a system is in place that gives it control over distribution. "We have these very, very robust procedures, distribution points, oversights and so on to keep (aid) away from Hamas," Fletcher said. "We have the best plan to save millions of lives that is out there. There's no better plan for that. And we want to get in and do that." U.S. and Israeli officials, however, have been pushing the U.N. to assist with a new organization, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, that is set to implement an aid distribution system based on plans similar to those designed by Israel. But on Thursday, Israel sought to distance itself from the efforts, saying that it will not be funding those efforts or be in charge of dispensing the aid. "We will facilitate them. We will enable them. You know, some of them will have to cross through territory that we operate, but we will definitely not fund them," Danon said. Many in the aid community, including Fletcher, believe the new system is meant to supplant the distribution system now run by the U.N. and other international aid agencies. "What I have heard is a system that to me feels very dehumanizing," Fletcher said, noting that people would be "moved out of their own locations, deliberately displaced into holding pens, expected to show ID and so on in a very dehumanizing way that isn't based on humanitarian need." He said U.N. lawyers and nonprofit partners have warned that if the U.N. were to agree to this proposal, "we would be undermining our humanitarian principles" and opening the door for other occupying powers to determine who gets aid and how it is distributed. The U.S.-backed foundation said it expects to begin operations before the end of the month. Foundation executive director Jake Wood, a U.S. military veteran and co-founder of an existing disaster relief group called Team Rubicon, indicated that Israeli officials had agreed to allow the foundation to deliver aid through existing systems in Gaza temporarily while the group builds new distribution sites that Israel has demanded for aid. The Israelis also have agreed to allow more sites to be constructed to allow aid distribution in all of Gaza and to look for ways to get aid to those too malnourished, injured by fighting, too old or too young to travel long distances to one of the aid sites, a foundation's statement said Wednesday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio endorsed the plan Thursday, saying that while it has been criticized, the U.S. will "continue to work towards that in ways that we think are constructive and productive." Fletcher said he's not convinced from his meetings "that there is the will to find a way to ensure this complies with basic humanitarian law." ___ Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Antalya, Turkey, and Edith Lederer contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 10:51:26+00:00	[ "Rumeysa Ozturk", "Louisiana", "William Sessions", "Massachusetts", "Turkey", "Prisons", "Immigration", "National", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Law enforcement", "Michael Drescher", "Asthma", "Israel-Hamas war", "Jessie Rossman", "Legal proceedings" ]	# Turkish Tufts University student released from Louisiana immigration detention center By Kathy Mccormack May 9th, 2025, 10:51 AM --- A Tufts University student from Turkey was released from a Louisiana immigration detention center Friday, more than six weeks after she was arrested walking on the street of a Boston suburb. U.S. District Judge William Sessions in Burlington ordered the release of Rumeysa Ozturk pending a final decision on her claim that she's been illegally detained following an op-ed she co-wrote last year that criticized the school's response to Israel's war in Gaza. A photo provided by her legal team showed her outside, smiling with her attorneys in Louisiana, where the immigration proceedings will continue. "Despite an 11th hour attempt to delay her freedom by trying to force her to wear an ankle monitor, Rumeysa is now free and is excited to return home, free of monitoring or restriction," attorney Mahsa Khanbabai said. Even before her release, Ozturk's supporters cheered the decision, punctuating an earlier news conference held by her attorneys with chants of "She is free!" "What we heard from the court today is what we have been saying for weeks, and what courts have continued to repeat up and down through the litigation of this case thus far," Jessie Rossman, legal director at the ACLU of Massachusetts, told reporters. "There's absolutely no evidence that justifies detaining Ozturk for a single day, let alone the six and a half weeks that she has been detained, because she wrote a single op-ed in her student newspaper exercising her First Amendment right to express an opinion." Appearing by video for her bail hearing, Ozturk, 30, detailed her growing asthma attacks in detention and her desire to finish her doctorate degree focusing on children and social media while appearing remotely at her bail hearing from the Louisiana center. She and her lawyer hugged after hearing the judge's decision. "Completing my Ph.D. is very important to me," she testified. She had been on track to finish her work in December when she was arrested. Ozturk was to be released on her own recognizance with no travel restrictions, Sessions said. He said she is not a danger to the community or a flight risk, but that he might amend his release order to consider any specific conditions by ICE in consultation with her lawyers. Sessions said the government had offered no evidence about why Ozturk was arrested other than the op-ed. "This is a woman who is just totally committed to her academic career," Sessions said. "This is someone who probably doesn't have a whole lot of other things going on other than reaching out to other members of the community in a caring and compassionate way." A message seeking comment was emailed Friday afternoon to the U.S. Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review. Sessions told Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Drescher he wants to know immediately when she is released. Sessions said Ozturk raised serious concerns about her First Amendment and due process rights, as well as her health. She testified Friday that she has had 12 asthma attacks since her detention, starting with a severe one at the Atlanta airport. "I was afraid, and I was crying," she said. Immigration officials surrounded Ozturk in Massachusetts on March 25 and drove her to New Hampshire and Vermont before putting her on a plane to a detention center in Basile, Louisiana. Her student visa had been revoked several days earlier, but she was not informed of that, her lawyers said. Ozturk's lawyers first filed a petition on her behalf in Massachusetts, but they did not know where she was and were unable to speak to her until more than 24 hours after she was detained. A Massachusetts judge later transferred the case to Vermont. Ozturk was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in the campus newspaper, The Tufts Daily, last year criticizing the university's response to student activists demanding that Tufts "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide," disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel. Ozturk said Friday that if she is released, Tufts would offer her housing and her lawyers and friends would drive her to future court hearings. She is expected to return to New England on Saturday at the earliest. "I will follow all the rules," she said. A State Department memo said Ozturk's visa was revoked following an assessment that her actions "'may undermine U.S. foreign policy by creating a hostile environment for Jewish students and indicating support for a designated terrorist organization' including co-authoring an op-ed that found common cause with an organization that was later temporarily banned from campus." A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in March, without providing evidence, that investigations found that Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group. "When did speaking up against oppression become a crime? When did speaking up against genocide become something to be imprisoned for?" Khanbabai asked. "I am thankful that the courts have been ruling in favor of detained political prisoners, like Rumeysa." ____ Associated Press writers Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire, and Michael Casey in Boston, contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 22:33:48+00:00	[ "Arizona", "Katie Hobbs", "New Mexico", "Arizona state government", "Emily Pike", "North Dakota", "Michelle Lujan Grisham", "Legislation", "Indigenous people", "Teresa Martinez", "Politics", "Amber Alerts", "Teens", "Activism", "Race and ethnicity", "Kelly Armstrong", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Arizona governor signs 'Emily's Law' to alert when Native Americans go missing By Sejal Govindarao and Susan Montoya Bryan May 13th, 2025, 10:33 PM --- PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona's governor on Tuesday signed legislation to create an alert system for Native Americans who have gone missing in the state, a measure that won unanimous approval from lawmakers in the wake of the disappearance and death of a San Carlos Apache teen. With Gov. Katie Hobbs' signature, Arizona becomes the latest state to join a movement that began in 2022 in Washington state to use alert systems to quickly share information about cases involving Native Americans. Colorado, California and other states have adopted their own versions of such systems. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham recently signed what is known as "turquoise alert" legislation, and North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong approved a "feather alert." The alerts take their names from items that hold spiritual and cultural significance to Native Americans. Arizona's "turquoise alert" legislation is also referred to as "Emily's Law" to honor Emily Pike, whose remains were found Feb. 14 more than 100 miles (161 kilometers) from a group home she left in Mesa, Arizona, in late January. Pike's death spurred a resurgence of activism aimed at bringing more awareness to the disproportionate number of disappearances and violent deaths that have gripped Native American communities for decades, and prompted lawmakers to amend the bill to recognize her. "It breaks my heart that we, the state of Arizona, didn't even go looking for this little girl. No one looked for her," said bill sponsor Rep. Teresa Martinez while on the House floor last week. "We cannot let children go missing without somebody being alerted." Martinez's great niece is a member of the Gila River Indian Community. The Federal Communications Commission voted last year to establish a new national alert code for delivering messages to the public via television, radio and wireless phones about missing and endangered persons cases. The commission reported that in 2023, more than 188,000 people who fall outside of the criteria for Amber Alerts went missing, noting that the new code will be particularly beneficial to Native American, Alaska Native and Black communities. Those groups constitute 40% of missing people in the U.S. despite each making up much smaller percentages of the overall population, according to the commission. States have various alert programs that cover cases that can include children, specific minorities, people with disabilities and older adults. California in 2024 rolled out "ebony alerts" to inform the public about missing Black youths. Supporters say there have been successful outcomes with that system but that law enforcement could be issuing more alerts for those cases that meet the requirements. The Arizona legislation creates a rapid response system for issuing and coordinating alerts for people reported missing under the age of 65, including those who are members of federally recognized tribes, if law enforcement finds the individual could be in danger or missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances. "Like my sister says, even though she's not here with us, she's still making a difference," Pike's uncle, Allred Pike Jr., said in an interview Friday. Pike's mother, Steff Dosela, has told reporters that it took a week for her to hear about her daughter's disappearance from the group home. Lawmakers in the Arizona Senate are looking into Arizona Department of Child Services' group home regulations. The FBI announced last week that it was offering a $75,000 reward for information that would identify the person or people responsible for the disappearance and killing of Pike, whose remains were recovered by Gila County sheriff's deputies on state land near the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. The reward is in addition to the $75,000 already being offered by the San Carlos Apache Tribe. ___ Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 19:08:08+00:00	[ "Luis Abinader", "Dominican Republic", "Censorship", "Privacy", "Protests and demonstrations", "Jaime Rincn", "Raquel Pea" ]	# Journalists in the Dominican Republic decry erosion of press freedom By Martín Adames May 13th, 2025, 07:08 PM --- SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Dozens of people, including prominent journalists, marched Tuesday through the Dominican Republic 's capital to decry a bill that critics warn could lead to government censorship. The bill, which is expected to be approved, calls for the creation of an independent regulator that would oversee content published on social media and digital news sites, focusing especially on anything that would violate the privacy of children or someone's dignity. But critics say such a regulator could overreach. However, some journalists have publicly supported the bill, noting that it protects freedom of expression without prior censorship and calls for the respect of public criticism. Opponents of the bill say it is the latest measure under the administration of President Luis Abinader that appears aimed at stifling the media in the Caribbean country of more than 11 million people. Under Abinader, a newsroom located inside the National Palace in Santo Domingo was closed and journalists are now required to request access to press conferences and other events up to a week in advance. Under previous presidents, access was automatically granted to the palace with a verified press identification. Journalists also complain that government security has become more aggressive during press conferences. "We have seen how politicians repeatedly want to curtail the freedoms we have," Jaime Rincón, a reporter with El Nuevo Diario newspaper, told The Associated Press. "We are marching today for that reason, but also for the repeated abuse we have seen against our colleagues." During the march, journalists held signs and chanted, "No to censorship! Freedom of press!" Rincón said the bill not only affects journalists' freedom of speech: "It is a freedom that all Dominicans have, because with the internet, you can express yourself through any social network." Rosalba Escalante, a reporter with ACD Media, who was recently pushed and stepped on by the security detail of Vice President Raquel Peña, who publicly apologized for the incident, also participated in Tuesday's march. "Stealthily, access to the presidential press is becoming increasingly limited," she told the AP. Abinader has not responded to the journalists' allegations, although when asked about the bill during a press conference on Monday he said he was not involved in its creation. "I didn't even add a comma," he said. The protest march ended at the National Palace where a manifesto was presented calling for proper access to public records and elected officials, as well as an end to "harassment, censorship or reprisals" against journalists, among other things.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 21:46:13+00:00	[ "Sean Duffy", "Newark", "Donald Trump", "United States government", "Government budgets", "United States", "DC Wire", "New York City Wire", "Elon Musk", "District of Columbia", "Aviation safety", "Federal Aviation Administration", "Internet", "Business", "Philadelphia", "Technology" ]	# Officials plan to revamp the US air traffic control system. Here's a breakdown by the numbers By Josh Funk May 8th, 2025, 09:46 PM --- The Trump administration on Thursday announced an ambitious three-year plan to replace the United State's aging air traffic control system. Officials did not provide an exact cost estimate but said it would require billions of dollars to put in place. They said a $12.5 billion budget proposal that a House committee drafted last week represents a solid "down payment" on the plan, which was developed after the deadly midair collision over Washington, D.C., in January. Here are some of the key numbers of improvements in the plan: ## Thousands of internet connections The plan calls for installing 4,600 high-speed network connections for data and communications across the air traffic control system at airports and radar control centers and other facilities across the country. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there is a desperate need to upgrade the Federal Aviation Administration's communications network because part of it still operates on outdated copper wires. Some of the shortcomings of the current system have been on display at the Newark, New Jersey, airport over the past two weeks. The air traffic control center in Philadelphia that directs planes in and out of Newark lost its radar signal for between 30 and 90 seconds on April 28, meaning air traffic controllers couldn't tell where planes were temporarily. The FAA subsequently slowed down traffic at the Newark airport, which forced airlines to cancel or delay hundreds of flights, leaving travelers stranded. It appears that the source of the problem was a breakdown in the lines carrying radar data from a facility in New York to the air traffic controllers in Philadelphia. The FAA is already working on replacing those lines with fiber optic ones and training more controllers to improve the situation in Newark. Duffy said that fiber optic lines will be the priority in the upgrades nationwide, but in some cases the government may look at satellite or cellular technology. Duffy said he is "agnostic" about whether Elon Musk's Starlink or any other company should get the contracts and will let the bidding process play out. ## Hundreds of new radar systems The plan calls for replacing 618 radar systems countrywide. Duffy said many of the existing radar systems at airports date back to the 1980s or even 1970s, so they need to be replaced. When repairs are needed, some of the antiquated components can be hard to find, so Duffy said the government sometimes resorts to buying parts on eBay to maintain its systems. ## 6 new control centers The plan proposes creating six new air traffic control centers, a significant number since one hasn't been built since the 1960s. Duffy said the goal would be to consolidate hard-to-staff facilities whenever possible. ## 15 new towers The FAA would build 15 new towers combined with Terminal Radar Approach Control facilities at airports across the country. ## 25,000 radios The FAA relies on aging radio equipment to allow air traffic controllers to talk to pilots. Some of those radios are more than 30 years old. Newer digital equipment should be more reliable and offer more clarity than the old radios, as well as make the system more secure. ## Broad support The plan to modernize the nation's air traffic control system has drawn support from 55 groups across the aviation industry. The new Modern Skies Coalition includes major unions, trade groups, airplane manufacturers and other associations. Representatives of those groups attended the plan's announcement Thursday. ## 200 new ground location systems Only about 44 of the most complex airports currently have high-tech systems installed to help controllers keep track of where planes are on the ground. Two hundred more airports would get these systems, allowing controllers to accurately track planes' positions instead of just using binoculars from the tower window. But even after these upgrades, 200 more airports would remain without these ground systems that help keep taxiing planes from running into each other.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 19:38:08+00:00	[ "Alaska", "Lawsuits", "Legal proceedings", "Mike Dunleavy", "Access to health care", "Medical technology", "Criminal punishment", "Sam Curtis", "Prisons", "American Civil Liberties Union", "Betsy Holley" ]	# Lawsuit alleges people imprisoned in Alaska receive inadequate health care May 2nd, 2025, 07:38 PM --- JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A federal lawsuit filed on behalf of people imprisoned in Alaska alleges the state Department of Corrections provides inadequate medical, mental health and dental care, calling it a systemic issue that goes back years. The class action lawsuit filed Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska and ACLU National Prison Project names as defendants Gov. Mike Dunleavy and corrections officials. Corrections spokesperson Betsy Holley declined comment Friday, saying the agency had not yet seen a copy of the lawsuit. The Alaska Department of Law also had not been served, spokesperson Sam Curtis said. At any one time, about 4,400 people are in Department of Corrections custody, including people who are being detained before trials, according to the lawsuit. It says the state "routinely" denies medical services to incarcerated people based on their pre-trial status and says people often end up for years in corrections facilities while awaiting trial due to court system delays in handling criminal cases. The lawsuit cites as examples individuals who it says were denied needed eye surgery or dental treatment other than tooth extraction because of their pretrial status. The lawsuit also claims the state fails to provide "timely or adequate" access to health care and specialty care, denies access to assistive devices and doesn't have enough health care staff. It asks a judge to order the state to develop and implement a plan addressing the concerns.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 19:01:02+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Richard Grenell", "Pam Bondi", "Usha Vance", "Susie Wiles", "District of Columbia", "Lee Greenwood", "Issa Rae", "Rhiannon Giddens", "Entertainment", "Politics", "George W. Bush", "JD Vance", "Ronald Reagan" ]	# Trump hosts the Kennedy Center board at the White House By Will Weissert May 19th, 2025, 07:01 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump hosted the Kennedy Center 's leadership at the White House on Monday night, reinforcing how much attention he's devoting to remaking a premier cultural center as part of a larger effort to overhaul the social and ideological dynamics of the national arts scene. The meeting of the center's board in the State Dining Room followed Trump firing its previous members and announcing in February that he'd serve as the board's chair. The new board, which unanimously approved Trump as its chair, is stocked with loyalists. They include White House chief of staff Susie Wiles; Attorney General Pam Bondi; Usha Vance, the wife of Vice President JD Vance; and Lee Greenwood, whose song "God Bless the USA," plays at Trump rallies as well as many official events, including during his trip to the Middle East last week. Trump called it a "hot board." "We're gonna turn it around," Trump told dinner attendees of the center. He said of running the board, "When I said, 'I'll do this,' I hadn't been there" and joked, "That's the last time I'll take a job without looking at it." Trump has called the center's past programming "woke" and "terrible," while more broadly seeking to slash federal funding for the arts — complaining that too much programming promotes leftist ideology and political correctness. In his view, molding the Kennedy Center to his own liking can go a long way toward creating a new arts and social culture nationwide. The Kennedy Center announced its upcoming lineup on Monday, which includes performances of "Chicago," "Moulin Rouge" and "Back to the Future: The Musical." The offerings for kids includes a theatrical version of the cartoon hit "Bluey." The center previously abandoned a week's worth of July events celebrating LGBTQ+ rights as part of this summer's World Pride festival in Washington. The White House has further moved to cancel millions in previously awarded federal humanities grants to arts and culture groups. And Trump's budget framework has proposed eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities altogether. Trump told the dinner that congressional Republicans have pushed for more than $250 million for repairs and maintenance at the Kennedy Center, and said that, over the past decade, "tremendous amounts of money" was spent there. "I don't know where they spent it," he said. "They certainly didn't spend it on wallpaper, carpet or painting." Richard Grenell, a Trump envoy for special missions who is interim head of the Kennedy Center, said a previous budget included "$26 million in phantom revenue." He suggested the behavior could be a criminal matter for prosecutors and that Bondi, in addition to being on the center's board, heard the details at a meeting earlier Monday. "She heard the details, and this is unacceptable," Grenell said. Trump said the center would raise funds but added of the building's state that it's "falling apart" He said previous "programming was out of control with rampant political propaganda" and featured "some very inappropriate shows" including a "Marxist anti-police performance" and "Lesbian-only Shakespeare." "Who thinks of these ideas, really?" Trump cried, drawing loud laughs from those present. Trump also visited the Kennedy Center in March to preside over a meeting of its board, and complained then of "tremendous disrepair" to the building. The president has decried a recent expansion of the complex, known as "The Reach," which features studios, rehearsal spaces and meeting facilities, and has suggested he would move to close up the spaces because they lack windows. He said Monday that he'd rather see an open-air performance space on the Potomac. The president's changes drew pushback from a variety of artists. The musical Hamilton responded to Trump's hands-on approach by canceling performances it had planned in March and April. Other performers — including actress and producer Issa Rae and musician Rhiannon Giddens — have similarly scrapped planned appearances. And with Trump planning to attend a performance of Les Miserables at the Kennedy Center on June 11, the show announced that many understudies may be performing then due to boycotts by cast members. The Kennedy Center opened in 1971 and for decades was seen as an apolitical celebration of the arts. Presidents typically nominate members of the Kennedy Center's board in consultation with members of Congress. After that, they often don't have a lot of contact with the center's leadership, except to attend the annual Kennedy Center Honors. "You're one of America's most renowned living playwrights, and you're still writing strong," Republican President Ronald Reagan said in 1984, addressing Author Miller, who was among that year's Kennedy Center honorees. It was an example of a Cold War commander in chief praising a writer who had well-known associations with communist-aligned groups. In 2019, the center hosted an exhibit of former Republican President George W. Bush's paintings. Trump became the first president to routinely skip attending the honors ceremony in his first term. Since returning to the White House, he's been far more aggressive and proactive — as he has on many policy and political fronts. He cited some drag show performances at the center as a reason to transform it entirely. "Instead of putting forward programming that tears our country down and tears our country apart," Trump said, "the Kennedy Center should be the nation's premier venue for lifting up the best of our country and lifting up the American arts, music and culture." ___ Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Washington and Hillel Italie in New York contributed.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 14:26:00+00:00	[ "Portugal", "Europe", "Political and civil unrest", "Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa", "International", "Global elections", "Pedro Nuno Santos", "Portugal government", "Voting", "European Union", "Politics" ]	# Portugal's election result falls short of ending political instability. Here's what to know By Barry Hatton May 19th, 2025, 02:26 PM --- LISBON (AP) — Portugal's third general election in three years has failed to deliver the result that could break the worst spell of political instability for decades in the European Union country of 10.6 million people. Sunday's vote delivered another minority government for the center-right Democratic Alliance, which will be at the mercy of opposition parties. The significant rise in support for the hard-right populist party Chega (Enough) adds more uncertainty. ## Why was there an early election? The Democratic Alliance, led by the Social Democratic Party, lost a vote of confidence in parliament in March as opposition lawmakers teamed up against it. That triggered an election, which had been due in 2028. The confidence vote was sparked by a political storm around potential conflicts of interest in the business dealings of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's family law firm. Montenegro, who is poised to become prime minister again, has denied any wrongdoing. ## What was the outcome of Sunday's ballot? The Democratic Alliance captured at least 89 seats in the 230-seat National Assembly. Chega collected the same number of seats as the center-left Socialists — 58 — and could yet claim second place when four remaining seats decided by voters abroad are attributed in coming days. Chega competed in its first election just six years ago, when it won one seat, and has fed off disaffection with the more moderate traditional parties. Its success shook up the traditional balance of power in a trend already witnessed elsewhere in Europe with parties such as France's National Rally, the Brothers of Italy, and Alternative for Germany, which are now in the political mainstream. For the past 50 years, the Social Democrats and the center-left Socialist Party have alternated in power in Portugal. The Socialists, meanwhile, are without a leader after Pedro Nuno Santos said he was standing down following the party's worst result since 1987. Smaller parties got the other seats. ## What are the issues? Corruption scandals have dogged Portuguese politics in recent years, helping fuel the rise of Chega. Chega owes much of its success to its demands for a tighter immigration policy that have resonated with voters. Portugal has witnessed a steep rise in immigration. In 2018, there were fewer than a half-million legal immigrants in the country, according to government statistics. By early this year, there were more than 1.5 million, many of them Brazilians and Asians working in tourism and farming. Thousands more lack the proper documents to be in Portugal. A housing crisis has also fired up debate. House prices and rents have been soaring for the past 10 years, due in part to an influx of white-collar foreigners who have driven up prices. The problem is compounded by Portugal being one of Western Europe's poorest countries. The average monthly salary last year was around 1,200 euros ($1,340) before tax, according to the statistics agency. The government-set minimum wage this year is 870 euros ($974) a month before tax. ## What happens now? Portugal's head of state convened the country's political parties for consultations. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has no executive power, was consulting with parties before inviting the election winner to form a government, in line with the constitution.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 14:13:19+00:00	[ "Ecuador", "South America", "Courts", "Climate and environment", "Human rights", "Nataly Yepes", "Climate" ]	# Ecuador to host Indigenous summit seeking enforcement of court's human rights rulings By Steven Grattan May 19th, 2025, 02:13 PM --- Indigenous leaders from across Latin America will meet this week for talks on how to enforce legal rulings designed to enforce their rights to justice and territorial protection. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, a regional tribunal that holds governments accountable for upholding human rights, has made decisions backing Indigenous peoples' rights — including to their ancestral lands, which they consider essential to preserve their culture and way of life — which are not being implemented by Latin America governments. There is growing concern that without stronger legal protections, government enforcement and adequate resources, the Costa Rica-based court's rulings will remain largely symbolic. Leaders from across the region will gather for a summit from May 21-25 in Quito, Ecuador, to discuss the obstacles to enforcing Inter-American Court rulings. The main aim will be to issue a collective statement calling on governments and institutions to ensure justice and territorial protection. "This is very important for us because there are constitutional guarantees that favor Indigenous peoples. Even so, there has not been full compliance with the rulings," Tulio Renato Viteri Gualinga, head of international relations for the Sarayaku Indigenous community, told The Associated Press. Nataly Yepes, a legal advisor for Amazon Watch, an organization that works to protect the rainforest, said the summit, which will be hosted by the Kichwa community of Sarayaku, marks a rare and valuable moment where Indigenous knowledge will inform discussions on strengthening justice systems across Latin America. "What we hope is that this won't just be a one-off event, but rather the first step toward building an alternative and critical approach to traditional justice systems," Yepes said, adding that that in times of democratic, institutional, and climate crises, Indigenous wisdom offers essential perspectives for more inclusive and resilient legal systems. Indigenous peoples, who in many cases have successfully managed and protected lands for millennia, have long argued that ensuring territorial rights is a climate solution. That argument has gained traction in international climate circles in recent years, though respective governments are sometimes slow or simply opposed to granting more territorial rights. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights rules on human rights violations across Latin America and the Caribbean. Its decisions are legally binding for member states of the Organization of American States, but enforcement often depends on political will at national level. Last month, the court condemned Ecuador for failing to protect the Tagaeri and Taromenane peoples in Yasuní National Park. In 2017, it ruled against Colombia for allowing oil exploration on U'wa ancestral lands without proper consultation. Other countries — including Nicaragua, Paraguay, Suriname, Argentina and Honduras — have also faced similar rulings, though enforcement across the region has often been slow or incomplete due to lack of political will, bureaucratic delays, and weak institutions. ___ 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	2025-05-08 05:01:25+00:00	[ "Pope Francis", "Robert Prevost", "Peru", "Catholic Church", "Chicago", "Vatican City", "Lima", "Rome", "Papal conclave", "Pope Leo XIV", "Isabel Panez", "Natalia Imperatori-Lee", "John Prevost", "Francis of Assisi", "Religion", "Matteo Bruni", "Donald Trump", "Bernard Hebda", "Alessandra Jarrett" ]	# Conclave elects Robert Prevost to be Pope, the first American pontiff By Nicole Winfield and Vanessa Gera May 8th, 2025, 05:01 AM --- VATICAN CITY (AP) — Catholic cardinals broke with tradition Thursday and elected the first U.S. pope, making Chicago-born missionary Robert Prevost the 267th pontiff to lead the Catholic Church in a moment of global turmoil and conflict. Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious order who spent his career ministering in Peru, took the name Leo XIV. In his first words as Pope Francis' successor, uttered from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica, Leo said, "Peace be with you," and emphasized a message of "a disarmed and disarming peace" dialogue and missionary evangelization. He wore the traditional red cape and trappings of the papacy — a cape that Francis had eschewed on his election in 2013 — suggesting a return to some degree of tradition after Francis' unorthodox pontificate. But in naming himself Leo, the new pope could also have wanted to signal a strong line of continuity: Brother Leo was the 13th century friar who was a great companion to St. Francis of Assisi, the late pope's namesake. "Together, we must try to find out how to be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges, establishes dialogue, that's always open to receive — like on this piazza with open arms — to be able to receive everybody that needs our charity, our presence, dialogue and love," Leo said in near-perfect Italian. Prevost had been a leading candidate for the papacy, but there had long been a taboo against a U.S. pope, given the geopolitical power the country already wields. But Prevost was seemingly eligible because he's also a Peruvian citizen and had lived for years in Peru, first as a missionary and then as bishop, and cardinals may have thought the 21st century world order could handle a U.S.-born pope. Francis, history's first Latin American pope, clearly had his eye on Prevost and in many ways saw him as his heir apparent. He sent Prevost to take over a complicated diocese in Peru, then brought him to the Vatican in 2023 to serve as the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations from around the world, one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church. Earlier this year, Francis elevated Prevost into the senior ranks of cardinals, giving him prominence going into the conclave that few other cardinals had. Since arriving in Rome, Prevost has kept a low public profile but was well-known to the men who count. Significantly, he presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms Francis made, when he added three women to the voting bloc that decides which bishop nominations to forward to the pope. Prevost's brother, John Prevost, described his brother as being very concerned for the poor and those who don't have a voice, saying he expects him to be a "second Pope Francis." "He's not going to be real far left and he's not going to be real far right," he added. "Kind of right down the middle." ## Celebrating the new pope The crowd in St. Peter's Square erupted in cheers Thursday when white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel shortly after 6 p.m. on the second day of the conclave, the most geographically diverse in history. Priests made the sign of the cross and nuns wept as the crowd shouted, "Viva il papa!" Waving flags from around the world, tens of thousands of people waited for more than an hour to learn who had won and were surprised an hour later, when the senior cardinal deacon appeared on the loggia, said "Habemus Papam!" — "We have a pope!" in Latin — and announced the winner was Prevost. He spoke to the crowd in Italian and Spanish, but not English, honoring Pope Francis and his final salute to the crowd on Easter Sunday. "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 in Spanish. U.S. President Donald Trump said it was "such an honor for our country" for the new pope to be American. "What greater honor can there be?" he said. The president added that "we're a little bit surprised and we're happy." The last pope to take the name Leo was Leo XIII, an Italian who led the church from 1878 to 1903. That Leo softened the church's confrontational stance toward modernity, especially science and politics and laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought. His most famous encyclical, Rerum Novarum of 1891, addressed workers' rights and capitalism at the beginning of the industrial revolution and was highlighted by the Vatican in explaining the new pope's choice of name. ## An Augustinian pope Vatican watchers said Prevost's decision to name himself Leo was particularly significant given the previous Leo's legacy of social justice and reform, suggesting continuity with some of Francis' chief concerns. "He is continuing a lot of Francis' ministry,'' said Natalia Imperatori-Lee, the chair of religious studies at Manhattan University in the Bronx. But Imperatori-Lee also said his election could send a message to the U.S. church, which has been badly divided between conservatives and progressives, with much of the right-wing opposition to Francis coming from there. "I think it is going to be exciting to see a different kind of American Catholicism in Rome,'' Imperatori-Lee said. Archbishop Bernard Hebda, of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, told reporters he never thought he would see an American pope, given the questions of how an one would navigate dealing with a U.S. president, especially Trump. "How is it that the Holy Father is able to deal with President Trump, for example — whoever our American president? Would those ties be too close or too distant?" he said. "And so I just never imagined that we would have an American pope, and I have great confidence that Pope Leo will do a wonderful job of navigating that." Leo was expected to celebrate Mass with cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on Friday, planned to deliver his first Sunday noon blessing from the loggia of St. Peter's and lined up an audience with the media Monday in the Vatican auditorium, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said. Beyond that, he has a possible first foreign trip at the end of May: Francis had been invited to travel to Turkey to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, a landmark event in Christian history and an important moment in Catholic-Orthodox relations. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, welcomed Leo's election and said he hoped he would join the anniversary celebration. The new pope was formerly the prior general, or leader, of the Order of St. Augustine, which was formed in the 13th century as a community of "mendicant" friars — dedicated to poverty, service and evangelization. Vatican News said Leo is the first Augustinian pope. Prevost's election thrilled American students studying in Rome who happened to be in St. Peter's Square to witness history. "That's the first American pope in history. How exciting!" said Alessandra Jarrett, a 21-year-old political science student at Rome's John Cabot university. "Crazy that we're able to be here and see it, and this was even our last day in school." Sister Bernadette, a 50-year-old nun from Houston, Texas, was studying spirituality in Rome at the same university where Prevost did graduate studies, the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, known as the Angelicum. "He touched the heart of everyone, and he acknowledged the great work of Francis, which he wants to continue embracing the world and embracing all of our brothers and sisters in Christ," she said. ## The past of Pope Leo Francis moved Prevost from the Augustinian leadership back to Peru in 2014 to serve as the administrator and later bishop of Chiclayo. He remained in that position, acquiring Peruvian citizenship in 2015, until Francis brought him to Rome in 2023 to assume both the bishops' dossier and the presidency of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. In that job he would have kept in regular contact with the Catholic hierarchy in the part of the world that counts the most Catholics. Counting North, Central and South America, the region had 37 cardinal electors going into the conclave. The bells of the cathedral in Peru's capital of Lima and at Holy Name Cathedral in downtown Chicago tolled after Prevost's election was announced. People outside the Lima cathedral said they wanted Prevost to visit. "For us Peruvians, it is a source of pride that this is a pope who represents our country," said elementary school teacher Isabel Panez, who happened to be near the cathedral when the news was announced. "We would like him to visit us here in Peru." ___ Giada Zampano, Helena Alves in Rome, Franklin Briceno in Lima, Peru and Colleen Barry in Schiavon, Italy contributed to this report. ___ 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. ___ This story has corrected the number of Augustinian popes. Vatican News says Pope Leo XIV is the first Augustinian pope, not the seventh.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 13:06:16+00:00	[ "Chris Miller", "Rihanna", "Movies", "Jamie Lee Curtis", "Animation and comics", "John Goodman", "Kurt Russell", "Lindsay Lohan", "Octavia Spencer", "Entertainment", "Nick Offerman", "Paul Dergarabedian", "Pam Brady", "Amy Sedaris", "Lifestyle", "Dean DeBlois", "Trey Parker", "Nico Parker", "Neil Patrick Harris", "Dan Levy", "Dean Fleischer Camp", "Matt Stone" ]	# Smurfs, dragons and aliens: Family movies lean into magic and wonder this summer By Lindsey Bahr May 2nd, 2025, 01:06 PM --- "How to Train Your Dragon" filmmaker Dean DeBlois has heard the "remake fatigue" concerns. In Hollywood's quest to get family audiences to movie theaters, the industry has often opted to re-package something familiar, lately in the form of a live-action, or hybrid remake. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. That's part of the reason why DeBlois, who directed the animated movies, wanted to also be the person behind the live action remake, coming to theaters June 25. He knew how to do it, and how to do it well. "We were careful," DeBlois said. "We wanted to make sure that if we were going to do it, we wanted to do with a lot of integrity and love and make sure there's nothing cynical about it." Several of this summer's family friendly options have come from a personal place including the Rihanna-produced "Smurfs" (July 18) and the Hawaii-shot "Lilo & Stitch" (May 23). And a lot of them are PG-rated, including "The Bad Guys 2" (Aug. 1); "Freakier Friday" (Aug. 8); And the new Pixar movie "Elio" (June 20), about a space fanatic kid whose dream of being abducted by aliens comes true. The PG rating is having a bit of a resurgence in box office cred after years of being the "uncool" little sibling to PG-13. Last year PG movies made up 1/3 of the annual box office, led by "Inside Out 2." ## Smurfs nostalgia and Rihanna Rihanna and the Smurfs might seem like an odd match, but the Grammy-winning megastar is "steeped in Smurfs knowledge," according to director Chris Miller. She told Miller that growing up in Barbados, her family's television had one channel, and that channel played the Hanna-Barbera show constantly. It's why she wanted to produce and star as Smurfette in "Smurfs," a hybrid reboot that takes the little blue creatures on a rescue mission to save Papa Smurf. There have been other attempts (including two with Neil Patrick Harris), but for this one Miller wanted to do something different that drew on the original comics by Belgian artist Peyo. "I thought, let's make a contemporary version and a real immersive visual experience but reference those drawings," Miller said. They also had a sharp, witty script from Pam Brady, best known for her collaborations with Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Plus, Rihanna would contribute music too. This, Miller thought, could be really fun. "Rihanna's performance is so great," he said. "She's really funny and gets to the heart and soul of everything." Practically everyone in the starry voice cast (which includes Kurt Russell, John Goodman, Nick Offerman, Octavia Spencer, Amy Sedaris and Dan Levy) had some nostalgia for the Hanna-Barbera show. But no one needs a degree in "smurfology" to take a chance on the film. Offerman said it reminds him of "The Lego Movie." "It has a freshness and a sass that I think makes it appealing and kind of imperative for everybody to see," Offerman said. ## Making the dragons real The animated "How To Train Your Dragon" films already leaned into a live-action sensibility, but DeBlois took it to the next level for the new version, creating an immersive world where the dragons felt credible, and mythology that went deeper in telling this story of the unlikely friendship between a Viking boy Hiccup (Mason Thames) and a dragon named Toothless. "It aspires to be and does deliver on the promise of being a crowd pleaser," DeBlois said. "It has thrills and it has adventure and it has wonder, which I think is kind of rare and important." Nico Parker, who plays the aspiring dragon hunter Astrid, was in awe of the level of detail the production put into the sets and atmosphere in making the isle of Berk feel real, from actual fire to "horrible" ambient fish smells. The dragons too all have animal kingdom counterparts to add to the authenticity — with the exception of Toothless, who they kept a little more fantastical. "Even though Toothless' eyes are huge and there's no animal on earth, not even a blue whale that has eyes that big, we went with it because the smaller we made the eyes, the less Toothless-like he was," DeBlois said. "We had to make sure that we weren't just creating photoreal dragons, but we were maintaining the personalities." For as popular as the books and films (which have made over $1.6 billion) are, there are also plenty of people who aren't familiar with the stories. This version might be the thing that draws newcomers in (they've already announced a sequel). "For those who do know the stories and have seen the animated films, it is a bit of nostalgia," DeBlois said. "It's a way of returning to that world and seeing it through a new lens and maybe sharing that experience, perhaps with their own kids now." ## Finding something for the whole family The struggle to find something the whole family wants to watch is real. Jamie Lee Curtis, who reunited with her on-screen daughter Lindsay Lohan for "Freakier Friday," wrote in an email that theirs is a "big spectacle film" with "all the bells and whistles that a big comedy should have" and "deep emotional resonance." "Elio" filmmaker Domee Shi also promised a blend of a wacky sci-fi adventure and "also a deep and poignant story about loneliness, looking for connection, and finding it where you least expect." And no matter how many options are available for kids to watch on streaming services and YouTube, out of the home options remain a compelling draw. The box office backs it up: Last year PG movies outgrossed PG-13 movies for the first time in many years. "PG movies really punch above their weight," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. "These films could represent a huge part of the summer box office," "Lilo & Stich" director Dean Fleischer Camp thinks the big screen experience remains important for young moviegoers. "I fell in love with the movies, seeing them in theaters as a kid," he said. "I don't think there's yet any substitute for it. ___ For more coverage of this summer's upcoming films, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/movies
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 21:30:04+00:00	[ "Andy Beshear", "Addiction and treatment", "Kentucky", "Mitch McConnell", "Russell Coleman", "Opioids", "Health" ]	# Overdose deaths in Kentucky dropped by nearly a third last year, Gov. Beshear says By Bruce Schreiner May 1st, 2025, 09:30 PM --- The number of overdose deaths in Kentucky last year dropped by 30.2% — down to 1,410 lives lost — giving state leaders a surge of confidence that prevention and treatment efforts are making progress against an addiction epidemic they say is shattering families across the state. This was the third straight yearly decrease in drug overdose deaths for the state, although prior declines were substantially smaller. Kentucky has long been plagued by high rates of addiction to opioid painkillers, and fatal overdoses surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, when treatment was hard to get and people were socially isolated. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who announced the latest overdose statistics on Thursday, called the results a "watershed moment" reflecting years of painstaking work to combat the spread and use of drugs. "This is what we have been hoping for and praying for," Beshear said. "What we're seeing here ought to give everyone who's worked so hard to get to this point ... hope that we can do even more." State Attorney General Russell Coleman, a Republican, said Kentuckians should "rejoice in every life saved from this scourge," but warned that powerful illicit drugs like fentanyl continue to pose a threat. "As little as one pill can and is killing our sons and daughters," Coleman said in a statement. Fentanyl and methamphetamine continued to be the most prevalent drugs contributing to overdose deaths in Kentucky. Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who has steered huge sums of federal funding to his home state to combat its addiction woes, said he was encouraged by the gains in combating the drug crisis, from stemming the flow of illicit drugs to offering treatment services in communities. "I've always worked to keep Kentucky at the forefront of our national response to the drug crisis," McConnell said in a statement. "We are finally making progress in restoring the Southern Border, but there's still a lot of work left to do in the commonwealth to help those struggling with addiction." Kentucky's drop reflected broader gains achieved in the U.S. There were about 97,000 U.S. overdose deaths in the 12 months that ended last June 30, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That was down 14% from the estimated 113,000 for the prior 12-month period. Overdose death rates nationwide began steadily climbing in the 1990s because of opioid painkillers, followed by waves of deaths led by other opioids like heroin and more recently fentanyl. Beshear, seen as a potential candidate for the White House in 2028, said plenty of groups were deserving of credit for Kentucky's big decline in overdose deaths. He praised law enforcement efforts to remove dangerous drugs from circulation and the work of addiction treatment centers and other recovery services. And he credited those Kentuckians battling addiction who reached out for help. "Whether it's your first, fifth or 10th attempt, we want to stand behind you," the governor said. "We want to provide you the best help that we can." Other factors, he said, include the distribution of Narcan, which can reverse overdoses of opioids, as well as the availability of addiction services through Medicaid and the work of syringe exchange programs. "Regardless of what the politics say, syringe exchange programs work," Beshear said. "They help us get to know people and they help us to save lives." Meanwhile, Coleman has rolled out a youth-focused initiative aimed at keeping young people away from deadly substances. With all those efforts, the challenge now is to continue driving down fatal overdoses, Beshear said. "It ought to tell us that an epidemic that arose in our time, we should be able to defeat in our time," the governor said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 12:58:39+00:00	[ "Newcastle", "Adam Carruthers", "Juries", "Andrew Gurney", "Courts", "Christina Lambert", "Indictments", "Kevin Costner", "Daniel Graham", "Richard Wright" ]	# Deliberations begin in UK trial of men accused of felling Sycamore Gap tree By Brian Melley May 8th, 2025, 12:58 PM --- LONDON (AP) — Jurors in the case of two men charged with cutting down the Sycamore Gap tree that once stood along the ancient Hadrian's Wall in northern England did not reach a verdict Thursday after several hours of deliberations. Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, have pleaded not guilty to two counts each of criminal damage. The former friends each testified that they were at their separate homes that night and not involved. Justice Christina Lambert told jurors in Newcastle Crown Court to take as long as they need to reach unanimous verdicts in the trial that began April 28. Jurors began deliberations just before noon and were sent home a little more than four hours later without reaching a verdict. They resume deliberations Friday. The tree was not Britain's biggest or oldest, but it was prized for its picturesque setting along the ancient wall built by Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 122 to protect the northwest frontier of the Roman Empire. The tree was long known to locals but achieved international fame in Kevin Costner's 1991 film "Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves." It sat symmetrically between two hills along the historic wall and was a draw for tourists, landscape photographers and those taking selfies for social media. Prosecutors said the tree's value exceeded 620,000 pounds ($830,000) and damage to the wall, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was assessed at 1,100 pounds ($1,460). Prosecutor Richard Wright told jurors in his closing argument that the men cut the tree down for "a bit of a laugh" in the dark of night during a blustery storm on Sept. 28, 2023, but had failed to realize the outrage they would spark in the "arboreal equivalent of mindless thuggery." "They woke up the morning after and soon realized — as the news media rolled in, as the outrage of the public became clear — it must have dawned on them that they couldn't see anyone else smiling," Wright said. "Far from being the big men they thought they were, everyone else thought that they were rather pathetic." The two men had once been best friends. But during the trial Graham blamed Carruthers and another man for cutting down the tree, saying they tried to frame him by taking his car to the scene of the crime and using his phone to shoot video of the tree being cut down. Andrew Gurney, a lawyer for Carruthers, said Graham's story didn't add up and he was projecting his guilt on his former friend. "Is that a plausible chain of events or is that the desperate story of a man caught out?" Gurney said. Wright mocked the duo's defense, saying common sense and a trail of evidence should lead jurors to convict them for their "moronic mission." Prosecutors showed grainy video from Graham's phone of the tree being cut down — a video sent shortly afterward to Carruthers' phone. Metadata showed it was taken at the tree's location in Northumberland National Park. Data showed Graham's Range Rover had traveled there. Wright said he couldn't say who cut the tree and who held the phone, but the two were the only people in the world who had the video on their devices. Text and voice messages exchanged the following day between Carruthers and Graham captured their excitement as the story went viral.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 18:01:06+00:00	[ "JWD-evergreen", "Science", "Jarod Hutson", "Germany" ]	# Ancient wooden spears found in Germany may have been wielded by Neanderthals, new study suggests By Adithi Ramakrishnan May 9th, 2025, 06:01 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — A set of ancient wooden spears may be younger than scientists thought and wielded by Neanderthals instead of their ancestors. The complete spears made of spruce and pine are among the oldest known hunting weapons. They were discovered in a coal mine over two decades ago in the German town of Schöningen along with the remains of nearly 50 horses. Previous estimates dated the spears to 300,000 years ago so scientists thought the weapons belonged to a group of early humans called Homo heidelbergensis — thought to be the last common ancestor between humans and Neanderthals. But the new analysis using a different dating technique suggests the spears are younger, placing them about 200,000 years old. The new age means the hunting weapons may have been used by Neanderthals instead, according to research published Friday in the journal Science Advances. Recent work has suggested that some Neanderthals mixed and mated with early humans. The balanced, well-crafted spears could help scientists understand what Neanderthals were capable of and how they worked together to hunt. The spears are "pretty sophisticated for something that old," said study co-author Jarod Hutson with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. But it's not yet clear why the new dating disagrees with previous estimates. Archaeologist Thomas Terberger with the University of Göttingen said more research is needed to be sure of the spears' age and who used them to hunt. "For the moment, I find the arguments interesting, but not absolutely convincing," said Terberger, who had no role in the new study. ___ 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	2025-05-05 21:12:30+00:00	[ "Michigan", "Amir Makled", "Ann Arbor", "Protests and demonstrations", "Crime", "National", "Israel", "Indictments", "Law enforcement", "Courts", "Dana Nessel", "Human rights", "Civil rights", "Education", "Censorship" ]	# Michigan drops charges against pro-Palestinian campus protesters May 5th, 2025, 09:12 PM --- ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — State prosecutors dropped felony charges Monday against seven people accused of trespassing and resisting police a year ago during the break-up of a pro-Palestinian camp at the University of Michigan. Attorney General Dana Nessel said she believed the cases were strong but suggested her office was worn down by criticism and other factors. She noted that a judge in Washtenaw County still hadn't decided whether to send the cases to a trial court despite multiple hearings. "Baseless and absurd allegations of bias have only furthered this divide," said Nessel, a Democrat, who added that "distractions and ongoing delays have created a circus-like atmosphere." The camp on the Diag, a traditional site for campus protests, was cleared by police in May 2024 after a month. The university said the camp had become a threat to safety, with overloaded power sources and open flames. Defense attorney Amir Makled said Nessel was trying to turn free speech into a crime. "We sent a clear message to both Lansing and to Washington, that the people still rule, and that public pressure compels the rule of law to be upheld," Makled said Monday. Protesters had demanded that the school's endowment stop investing in companies with ties to Israel. The university insisted it has no direct investments and less than $15 million placed with funds that might include companies in Israel.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 16:54:40+00:00	[ "Michael Pitt", "Crime", "Brooklyn", "Steve Buscemi", "Jason Goldman", "Indictments", "New York", "New York City Wire", "Associated Press", "Sexual abuse", "Henry Parker", "New York City", "Arts and entertainment", "Law enforcement", "Jimmy Darmody", "Gus van Sant", "Michael Pitt-Arrest", "Sexual assault", "Kurt Cobain", "Eric Gonzalez", "Entertainment" ]	# Actor Michael Pitt charged with sex abuse, assault of ex-girlfriend in New York By Dave Collins May 7th, 2025, 04:54 PM --- Actor Michael Pitt, known for his TV roles on "Boardwalk Empire" and "Dawson's Creek," is accused of sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend, choking her, and attacking her with a cinder block and a piece of lumber at his New York City home, according to a grand jury indictment. Pitt, 44, whose lawyers denied the allegations, was arrested Friday on nine counts, including first-degree sexual abuse, criminal sexual acts, assault, attempted assault and strangulation. The indictment cites four incidents between April 2020 and August 2021 at Pitt's home in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez's office declined to comment Wednesday beyond the allegations listed in the indictment. Pitt's lawyer, Jason Goldman, said he already had exonerating evidence and expected the case to be dismissed. "Unfortunately, we live in a world where somebody like Mr. Pitt — an accomplished professional who would never so much as contemplate these crimes — can be arrested on the uncorroborated word of an unreliable individual," Goldman said in a text message to The Associated Press. He added, "In reality, this baseless claim is suspiciously raised some four or five years after the alleged incident, from a time when the two parties were in a completely consensual relationship." Pitt pleaded not guilty to the charges on Friday and posted $100,000 bail, Goldman said. He is due back in court in Brooklyn on June 17. The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, which the woman in Pitt's case has not done. The indictment alleges Pitt forcibly touched his ex-girlfriend sexually in April 2020. In August 2020, the grand jury alleges Pitt forced oral sex on the woman and assaulted her with a 4-inch-by-4-inch (10-centimeter-by-10-centimeter) piece of lumber. The indictment also says Pitt attacked her with a cinder block twice in June 2021 and choked her in August 2021. TMZ reported in 2022 that Pitt was arrested in Brooklyn for allegedly punching a man after taking his phone and, two months later, was brought to a hospital under police escort after a public outburst in New York. Pitt, who grew up in West Orange, New Jersey, played the character Jimmy Darmody for two seasons on HBO's "Boardwalk Empire," with the cast led by Steve Buscemi winning Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2011 and 2012 for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series. The show also won a Golden Globe for best drama series in 2011. His first major role came in the 2001 film "Hedwig and the Angry Inch." In 2005, he starred in "Last Days," director Gus Van Sant's film about a fictional rock star inspired by Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. He also played Henry Parker in one season of The WB's "Dawson's Creek" in 1999-2000.
Associated Press News	2025-05-11 23:13:19+00:00	[ "Fires", "Milwaukee", "Aaron Lipski", "National", "Eddie Edwards", "James Rubinstein" ]	# Residents jump from windows during Milwaukee apartment fire that kills 4 May 11th, 2025, 11:13 PM --- MILWAUKEE (AP) — Residents jumped from the windows of a four-story apartment building in Milwaukee during a Mother's Day fire that killed four people, critically injured four others and grew so intense that the blaze outmatched the first firefighters to arrive, authorities said. Ladder trucks were used to rescue other residents from windows while some firefighters inside the burning building crawled on hands and knees to get people out, Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said Sunday. In all, about 30 people were rescued. Authorities have not said how the fire might have started. Lipski said the building did not have a sprinkler system and was built in 1968, predating a law that would have required one, according to the fire chief. "If we had sprinklers in the buidling we would have stopped the fire very, very small. We would not of had to have people jumping out of windows," he said. Several other residents were treated for lesser injuries in the fire that began sometime before 8 a.m. The blaze rendered the 85-unit building uninhabitable, displacing an estimated 200 people. James Rubinstein, a resident in the building, said he jumped to the ground floor. "There was so much smoke. I climbed out the courtyard with my cat in my backpack," Rubinstein told television station FOX6 Milwaukee. Emergency operaters received calls that people were trapped and jumping to escape. The first firefighters to arrive were "far, far outmatched" by intense flames, Lipski said. Authorities did not immediately release the identities or ages of the victims. Lipski said the fire began in a common area and spread to multiple floors. Eddie Edwards, another resident of the building, said he also jumped to escape. "I wasn't thinking about nothing but getting away," he told Milwaukee television station WISN. "Getting out and saving everyone's life. It was a scary moment."
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 19:15:24+00:00	[ "Alabama", "Kay Ivey", "Steve Marshall", "Legal proceedings", "Legislation", "Violence", "Sarah Stewart", "Homicide", "Trials", "Walt Harris", "Katherine Robertson", "Ibraheem Yazeed" ]	# Alabama governor signs speedy trial bill into law, seeking to speed prosecution of violent crimes May 13th, 2025, 07:15 PM --- MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation Tuesday to allow visiting judges to be brought in to handle violent criminal cases to get them to trial more quickly. The law known as the Speedy Trial Act allows the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court to appoint a sitting or retired judge to preside over a specific case or cases involving a violent offense. Under the act, the attorney general or a district attorney must request the appointments. On the same day the bill was signed, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall asked Chief Justice Sarah Stewart to appoint a visiting judge to handle the case of the man accused of the 2019 kidnapping and killing of college student Aniah Blanchard, 19. Her disappearance from an Auburn gas station drew national attention. Marshall wrote in the letter to Stewart that "our entire state has watched the repeated delays in this case with angst and frustration." Blanchard, a Southern Union student and stepdaughter of prominent UFC fighter Walt Harris, was last seen on Oct. 23, 2019. Her remains were discovered about a month later in a wooded area of Macon County. A trial date has not been set for Ibraheem Yazeed, the man accused of killing Blanchard. He has pleaded not guilty to capital murder charges. Recently, Marshall's office had urged lawmakers to pass the legislation. "There are significant bottlenecks in certain circuits in our state where violent crime cases are not moving quickly and victims are getting frustrated," Katherine Robertson, who serves as chief counsel for Marshall, said last week after lawmakers approved the bill. Ivey also referred to the Blanchard case while signing the legislation into law.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 16:44:23+00:00	[ "United Kingdom", "Hezbollah", "Crime", "BBC", "Lebanon", "Courts", "Criminal punishment" ]	# Art expert pleads guilty to selling works to suspected Hezbollah financier May 9th, 2025, 04:44 PM --- LONDON (AP) — An art expert who appeared on the BBC's Bargain Hunt show pleaded guilty Friday to failing to report that he sold pricey works to a suspected financier of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group. Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, was charged with failing to disclose art sales between October 2020 and December 2021. He pleaded guilty in Westminster Magistrates' Court to eight offences under a section of the Terrorism Act 2000. Ojiri sold about 140,000 pounds ($185,000) of artworks to Nazem Ahmad, a diamond and art dealer sanctioned by the U.K. and U.S. as a Hezbollah financier. The sanctions were designed to prevent anyone in the U.K. or U.S. from doing business with Ahmad or his businesses. U.S. prosecutors said Ahmad acquired more than $160 million (120 million pounds) in artwork and diamond services by using a complex web of companies to evade sanctions. Prosecutor Lyndon Harris said Ojiri knew about the sanctions against Ahmad because he had searched for news reports about his status and discussed it with others. "There is one discussion where Mr. Ojiri is party to a conversation where it is apparent a lot of people have known for years about his terrorism links," Harris said. Ahmad was sanctioned in 2019 by the U.S. Treasury, which said he was a prominent Lebanon-based money launderer involved in smuggling blood diamonds, which are mined in conflict zones and sold to finance violence. Two years ago, the U.K. Treasury froze Ahmad's assets because he financed the Iranian-backed Shiite militant organization that has been designated an international terrorist group. Ojiri, who also appeared on the BBC's Antiques Road Trip, faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced June 6 in the Central Criminal Court.
Associated Press News	2025-05-04 12:00:07+00:00	[ "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.", "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention", "Public health", "Associated Press", "Milwaukee", "Pregnancy and childbirth", "Health", "Mike Totoraitis", "Thomas Simon", "Patrick Breysse", "Richard Miech", "Donald Trump" ]	# Cuts have eliminated more than a dozen US government health-tracking programs By Mike Stobbe May 4th, 2025, 12:00 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s motto is " Make America Healthy Again," but government cuts could make it harder to know if that's happening. More than a dozen data-gathering programs that track deaths and disease appear to have been eliminated in the tornado of layoffs and proposed budget cuts rolled out in the Trump administration's first 100 days. The Associated Press examined draft and final budget proposals and spoke to more than a dozen current and former federal employees to determine the scope of the cuts to programs tracking basic facts about Americans' health. Among those terminated at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were experts tracking abortions, pregnancies, job-related injuries, lead poisonings, sexual violence and youth smoking, the AP found. "If you don't have staff, the program is gone," said Patrick Breysse, who used to oversee the CDC's environmental health programs. Federal officials have not given a public accounting of specific surveillance programs that are being eliminated. Instead, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman pointed the AP to a Trump administration budget proposal released Friday. It lacked specifics, but proposes to cut the CDC's core budget by more than half and vows to focus CDC surveillance only on emerging and infectious diseases. Kennedy has said some of the CDC's other work will be moved to a yet-to-be-created agency, the Administration for a Healthy America. He also has said that the cuts are designed to get rid of waste at a department that has seen its budget grow in recent years. "Unfortunately, this extra spending and staff has not improved our nation's health as a country," Kennedy wrote last month in The New York Post. "Instead, it has only created more waste, administrative bloat and duplication." Yet some health experts say the eliminated programs are not duplicative, and erasing them will leave Americans in the dark. "If the U.S. is interested in making itself healthier again, how is it going to know, if it cancels the programs that helps us understand these diseases?" said Graham Mooney, a Johns Hopkins University public health historian. The core of the nation's health surveillance is done by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. Relying on birth and death certificates, it generates information on birth rates, death trends and life expectancy. It also operates longstanding health surveys that provide basic data on obesity, asthma and other health issues. The center has been barely touched in layoffs, and seems intact under current budget plans. But many other efforts were targeted by the cuts, the AP found. Some examples: ## Pregnancies and abortion The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, which surveys women across the country, lost its entire staff — about 20 people. It's the most comprehensive collection of data on the health behaviors and outcomes before, during and after childbirth. Researchers have been using its data to investigate the nation's maternal mortality problem. Recent layoffs also wiped out the staffs collecting data on in vitro fertilizations and abortions. Those cuts are especially surprising given that President Donald Trump said he wants to expand IVF access and that the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 playbook for his administration called for more abortion surveillance. ## Lead poisoning The CDC eliminated its program on lead poisoning in children, which helped local health departments — through funding and expertise — investigate lead poisoning clusters and find where risk is greatest. Lead poisoning in kids typically stems from exposure to bits of old paint, contaminated dust or drinking water that passes through lead pipes. But the program's staff also played an important role in the investigation of lead-tainted applesauce that affected 500 kids. Last year, Milwaukee health officials became aware that peeling paint in aging local elementary schools was endangering kids. The city health department began working with CDC to test tens of thousands of students. That assistance stopped last month when the CDC's lead program staff was terminated. City officials are particularly concerned about losing expertise to help them track the long-term effects. "We don't know what we don't know," said Mike Totoraitis, the city's health commissioner. ## Environmental investigations Also gone is the staff for the 23-year-old Environmental Public Health Tracking Program, which had information on concerns including possible cancer clusters and weather-related illnesses. "The loss of that program is going to greatly diminish the ability to make linkages between what might be in the environment and what health might be affected by that," Breysse said. ## Transgender data In some cases, it's not a matter of staffers leaving, but rather the end of specific types of data collection. Transgender status is no longer being recorded in health-tracking systems, including ones focused on violent deaths and on risky behaviors by kids. Experts know transgender people are more likely to be victims of violence, but now "it's going to be much more challenging to quantify the extent to which they are at higher risk," said Thomas Simon, the recently retired senior director for scientific programs at the CDC's Division of Violence Prevention. ## Violence The staff and funding seems to have remained intact for a CDC data collection that provides insights into homicides, suicides and accidental deaths involving weapons. But CDC violence-prevention programs that acted on that information were halted. So, too, was work on a system that collects hospital data on nonfatal injuries from causes such as shootings, crashes and drownings. Also going away, apparently, is the CDC's National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. The system is designed to pick up information that's not found in law enforcement statistics. Health officials see that work as important, because not all sexual violence victims go to police. ## Work injuries The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which tracks job-related illnesses and deaths and makes recommendations on how to prevent them, was gutted by the cuts. Kennedy has said that 20% of the people laid off might be reinstated as the agency tries to correct mistakes. That appeared to happen last month, when the American Federation of Government Employees said that NIOSH workers involved in a black lung disease program for coal miners had been temporarily called back. But HHS officials did not answer questions about the reinstatement. The AFGE's Micah Niemeier-Walsh later said the workers continued to have June termination dates and "we are concerned this is to give the appearance that the programs are still functioning, when effectively they are not." There's been no talk of salvaging some other NIOSH programs, including one focused on workplace deaths in the oil and gas industries or a research project into how common hearing loss is in that industry. ## Smoking and drugs The HHS cuts eliminated the 17-member team responsible for the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, one of the main ways the government measures drug use. Also axed were the CDC staff working on the National Youth Tobacco Survey. There are other surveys that look at youth smoking and drug use, including the University of Michigan's federally funded "Monitoring the Future" survey of schoolkids. But the federal studies looked at both adults and adolescents, and provided insights into drug use by high school dropouts. The CDC also delved into specific vaping and tobacco products in the ways that other surveys don't, and was a driver in the federal push to better regulate electronic cigarettes. "There was overlap among the surveys, but each one had its own specific focus that the other ones didn't cover," said Richard Miech, who leads the Michigan study. ## Data modernization and predictions Work to modernize data collection has been derailed. That includes an upgrade to a 22-year-old system that helps local public health departments track diseases and allows CDC to put together a national picture. Another casualty was the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics, which tries to predict disease trends. The center, created during the COVID-19 pandemic, was working on forecasting the current multi-state measles outbreak. That forecast hasn't been published partly because of the layoffs, according to two CDC officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss it and fear retribution for speaking to the press. Trump hasn't always supported widespread testing of health problems. In the spring of 2020, when COVID-19 diagnoses were exploding, the president groused that the nation's ability to do more testing was making the U.S. look like it had a worse problem than other countries. He called testing "a double-edged sword." Mooney, the Johns Hopkins historian, wonders how interested the new administration is in reporting on health problems. "You could think it's deliberate," he said. "If you keep people from knowing, they're less likely to be concerned." ___ 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	2025-05-13 15:09:14+00:00	[ "Justin Trudeau", "Donald Trump", "Dominic LeBlanc", "Canada government", "Canada", "Anita Anand", "Franois Philippe Champagne", "Bill Blair", "Mlanie Joly", "David McGuinty", "International", "The Goldman Sachs Group", "Inc.", "Royalty", "Evan Solomon", "King Charles III", "Politics", "Mark Carney", "Business", "Tim Hodgson" ]	# Canadian Prime Minister Carney names a new foreign minister in a Cabinet shake-up By Rob Gillies May 13th, 2025, 03:09 PM --- TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a major Cabinet shakeup, including a new foreign minister, Tuesday as he shapes a newly reelected Liberal government. Carney, who replaced Justin Trudeau earlier this year and won election last month, named Anita Anand foreign minister, replacing Mélanie Joly, who becomes the minister of industry. Anand's previous roles include defense minister. François-Philippe Champagne retains his job as finance minister, while Dominic LeBlanc remains minister of U.S. trade at a time of a trade war between Canada and the United States. Carney won the job of prime minister by promising to confront the aggression toward Canada shown by U.S. President Donald Trump, while preserving the calm demeanor of an economist who has led the central banks of both Canada and the United Kingdom. "Canadians elected this new government with a strong mandate to define a new economic and security relationship with the United States and to build a stronger economy for all Canadians," Carney said. Carney noted that King Charles III will deliver a speech outlining the Canadian government's priorities on May 27, when Parliament resumes. Charles is the head of state in Canada, which is a member of the British Commonwealth of former colonies. Carney has emphasized Canada's founding nations, the United Kingdom and France, and has said the old relationship with the U.S. based on steadily increasing integration is over. More than 10 people were dropped from the new Cabinet, including former defense minister Bill Blair. David McGuinty goes from public safety to defense. Carney named former Goldman Sachs Canada CEO Tim Hodgson as natural resources minister. Carney, who worked for 14 years at Goldman Sachs, has said he wants to build Canada into an energy "superpower" and prioritize big, "nation building" projects. Former journalist Evan Solomon is among the new ministers, serving in the new post of minister of artificial intelligence. Women make up half of the Cabinet, as they did in Trudeau's Cabinet. Carney said the new Cabinet is built to deliver the change Canadians want and need. The Liberal government is in its fourth term.
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 06:14:06+00:00	[ "Gaza Strip", "Benjamin Netanyahu", "Israel", "Israel government", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "War and unrest", "Keir Starmer", "Foreign aid", "Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani", "Humanitarian crises", "Oren Marmorstein", "Palestinian territories government", "Religion", "Jens Laerke", "Stphane Dujarric", "Military and defense", "Yair Golan" ]	# Israeli strikes kill at least 85 in Gaza By Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy, and Tia Goldenberg May 20th, 2025, 06:14 AM --- DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel pressed ahead Tuesday with its new military offensive in Gaza despite mounting international criticism, launching airstrikes that health officials said killed at least 85 Palestinians. Israeli officials said they also allowed in dozens more trucks carrying aid. Two days after aid began entering Gaza, the desperately needed new supplies have not yet reached people in Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade for nearly three months, according to the United Nations. Experts have warned that many of Gaza's 2 million residents are at high risk of famine. Under pressure, Israel agreed this week to allow a "minimal" amount of aid into the Palestinian territory after preventing the entry of food, medicine and fuel in an attempt to pressure the Hamas militant group. U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that although the aid has entered Gaza, aid workers were not able to bring it to distribution points where it is most needed, after the Israeli military forced them to reload the supplies onto separate trucks and workers ran out of time. COGAT, the Israeli defense body that oversees humanitarian aid, said five trucks entered Monday and 93 trucks entered Tuesday. But Dujarric said the U.N. confirmed only a few dozen trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday. The aid included flour for bakeries, food for soup kitchens, baby food and medical supplies. The U.N. humanitarian agency said it is prioritizing baby formula in the first shipments. But none of that aid actually reached Palestinians, according to the U.N. Dujarric described the new security process for getting aid cleared to warehouses as "long, complex, complicated and dangerous." He said Israeli military requirements for aid workers to unload and reload the trucks are hindering efforts to distribute the aid. COGAT did not immediately comment on the new procedures. The United Nations humanitarian agency received approval for about 100 trucks to enter Gaza, spokesman Jens Laerke said, which is far less than the 600 that entered daily during the latest ceasefire that Israel ended in March. Israel's Foreign Ministry said dozens are expected to enter each day. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he decided to let in limited aid after pressure from allies, who told him they couldn't support Israel while devastating images of starvation were coming out of Gaza. ## U.K. suspends trade negotiations and sanctions settler movement But some close allies say the limited aid is not enough. The British government on Tuesday said it was suspending free trade negotiations with Israel and was leveling new sanctions targeting settlements in the occupied West Bank. The move came a day after the U.K, France and Canada condemned Israel's handling of the war in Gaza and its actions in the West Bank and threatened to take action. "I want to put on record today that we're horrified by the escalation from Israel," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Parliament. Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein called the new sanctions "unjustified and regrettable" and claimed Israel and the U.K. had not been talking about free trade. The U.K. leveled sanctions against three settlers and a number of organizations, including settler leader Daniella Weiss and the movement she heads. In response, Weiss said hundreds of families are ready to build Jewish settlements in Gaza. Israel launched its new military operation in Gaza over the weekend, saying it aims to return dozens of hostages held by Hamas and destroy the militant group. More than 300 people have been killed in Gaza during the latest onslaught, according to health officials. ## Israeli politician criticizes killing 'babies as a hobby' Criticism against Israel's conduct in Gaza also came at home. A leader of center-left politics said Tuesday that Israel was becoming an "outcast among nations" because of the government's approach to the war. "A sane country doesn't engage in fighting against civilians, doesn't kill babies as a hobby and doesn't set for itself the goals of expelling a population," Yair Golan, a retired general and leader of the opposition Democrats party, told Reshet Bet radio. His comments were rare criticism from inside Israel of its wartime conduct in Gaza. Many Israelis have criticized Netanyahu throughout the war, but that has been mostly limited to what opponents argue are his political motives to continue the war. Criticism over the war's toll on Palestinian civilians has been almost unheard. Netanyahu swiftly slammed Golan's remarks, calling them "wild incitement" against Israeli soldiers and accusing him of echoing "disgraceful antisemitic blood libels" against the country. Golan, who donned his uniform during Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack to join the fight against the militants, previously sparked an uproar when as deputy military chief of staff in 2016, he likened the atmosphere in Israel to that of Nazi-era Germany. At an evening news conference, Golan said he refused to be silent "because the meaning of silence is to join in the abandonment of the IDF and the abandonment of the hostages and the abandonment of the State of Israel." He called on the opposition to band together to oppose the government's plans for Gaza. ## Strikes pound Gaza as Netanyahu recalls negotiating team In the latest assaults, two strikes in northern Gaza hit a family home and a school-turned-shelter, killing at least 22 people, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas command center and warned civilians ahead of time. A strike in the central city of Deir al-Balah killed 13 people, and another in the nearby built-up Nuseirat refugee camp killed 15, according to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Two strikes in Khan Younis killed 10 people, according to Nasser Hospital. Israel said it was targeting militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because the group operates in densely populated areas. On Tuesday, Netanyahu said he was recalling his high-level negotiating team from the Gulf state of Qatar after a week of ceasefire talks failed to bring results. A working team will remain in the Qatari capital of Doha. Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said a "fundamental gap" remained between the two parties and that none of the proposals were able to bridge their differences. Hamas said no real ceasefire talks have taken place since Saturday in Doha. The group accused Netanyahu of "falsely portraying participation" and attempting to "mislead global public opinion" by keeping Israel's delegation there without engaging in serious negotiations. The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 others. The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's retaliatory offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. ___ Magdy reported from Cairo and Goldenberg from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, and Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 06:01:01+00:00	[ "United Kingdom government", "United Kingdom", "Donald Trump", "Keir Starmer", "Economy", "Metals and mining", "Government policy", "Auto industry", "International trade", "Financial services", "Andrew Bailey", "Luke Bartholomew", "Politics", "Economic policy", "Business", "Voting" ]	# Bank of England cuts interest rates and welcomes word of US-UK trade deal By Pan Pylas May 8th, 2025, 06:01 AM --- LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England cut its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.25% amid concerns over the potential shock to global growth emanating from the tariff policies of the Trump administration. The decision Thursday was widely expected, though there was an array of opinion on the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee, with two voting for a bigger half-point cut to 4%, and two voting to hold rates. Bank Gov. Andrew Bailey said inflationary pressures have continued to ease, paving the way for the fourth quarter-point rate cut since August. "The past few weeks have shown how unpredictable the global economy can be," he said. "That's why we need to stick to a gradual and careful approach to further rate cuts." The decision is the first since U.S. President Donald Trump made his tariff announcement in early April. Though most tariffs were paused for 90 days following the ensuing market turmoil, including the 10% baseline tariff applied to U.K. goods entering the U.S., the backdrop for the global economy remains highly uncertain, particularly if the U.S.-China trade war persists. Some of that uncertainty, with regard to the British economy, lifted Thursday when both Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer separately outlined details of a trade deal between the U.S. and the U.K. Though Trump kept the 10% baseline tariffs on U.K., he agreed to reduce the levies on British autos, steel and aluminum. Ahead of the announcement, Bailey welcomed the prospect of a deal while cautioning that as a "very open economy," with global connections, the British economy would still be affected by tariffs applied to other economies. "I say that because I hope the UK agreement, if it is the case this afternoon, will be the first of many," he said. "This will be good news all around, including the U.K. economy." The rate cut comes despite expectations that inflation will rise further above the bank's 2% target over coming months, from the current 2.6% as a result of a raft of price increases in April, such as domestic energy and water bills, and firms passing on tax rises to consumers. "While headline inflation is expected to rise in the near-term, we do not expect that to persist," said Bailey, adding that it will be back around target in two years time. Unlike the Bank of England, and the European Central Bank, which last month cut interest rates too, the U.S. Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged Wednesday as its policymakers wait to see how Trump's tariffs affect the U.S. economy before making any moves. Most economists think the Bank of England will continue to lower borrowing rates over the coming months, though admitted that the three-way split in the voting may complicate its messaging. "We still think the Bank will cut rates at least twice more later this year, but much like the Fed's message yesterday, U.K. policy makers will want to see more data on how tariffs and domestic tax increases are being digested by the economy before moving decisively" said Luke Bartholomew, deputy chief economist at asset management firm Aberdeen.
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 11:29:49+00:00	[ "Berkshire Hathaway", "Inc.", "Warren Buffett", "Greg Abel", "Omaha", "Massachusetts", "Financial services", "Charlie Munger", "Pat Egan", "Todd Combs", "Morningstar", "Business", "Ajit Jain", "Recessions and depressions", "Financial markets", "Howard Buffett", "Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation", "Bob Miles" ]	# Buffett will remain chairman at Berkshire Hathaway when new CEO takes over in 2026 By Bernard Condon and Josh Funk May 5th, 2025, 11:29 AM --- OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — When Greg Abel becomes Berkshire Hathaway's new CEO next year he will of course take on additional responsibilities, but with Warren Buffett remaining as chairman, the surprise change announced at the annual meeting over the weekend is in some ways just another milestone in the company's succession plans. Shareholders have been worrying about how to replace the world's greatest investor for decades — even before the 94-year-old hit a typical retirement age. So years ago, Berkshire's board started devoting part of every meeting to the succession question. Then in 2018, Buffett began publicly handing over the reins when he put Abel in charge of all of Berkshire's dozens of manufacturing, retail, railroad and utility businesses. Fellow Vice Chairman Ajit Jain was given responsibility for the insurance companies including Geico, while Buffett kept responsibility for investing Berkshire's billions. Berkshire confirmed that Abel would be Buffett's successor in 2021 after former Vice Chairman Charlie Munger let it slip at a shareholder meeting. Starting next year, Abel will have the final say on all of Berkshire's companies and investments, but he will also still have Buffett, Jain and two investment managers — Ted Weschler and Todd Combs — coming to the office every day to help. And the CEOs of Berkshire's many different subsidiaries handle all the day-to-day operations. "Greg's already been doing it for a couple of years, so his job really doesn't change. His title does, but his job's not really changing that much," said Bob Miles, who has taught a course about Buffett and Berkshire at the University of Nebraska-Omaha for 15 years. Berkshire's board approved the 62-year-old Abel's promotion to CEO and kept Buffett as chairman on Sunday. Berkshire Class B shares fell more than 5% Monday in response to the news after hitting an all-time high Friday, but many investors praised the plan. "I think it gives Warren a little more bandwidth instead of running this conglomerate," Macrae Sykes, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It gives Greg more transparency on the opps with also Warren still being his mentor as chairman," ## Unmatched track record of success In six decades at the helm, Buffett turned a Massachusetts textile company into a sprawling but nimble conglomerate that owns everything from Daily Queen and See's Candies to BNSF Railway and massive insurance and utility companies. As the company grew, Buffett's reputation grew with it as shares of Berkshire Hathaway climbed steadily, exceeding major indexes by wide margins and returning an average 19.9% each year to investors versus 10.4% for the Standard & Poor's 500. The decision to continue with the Oracle of Omaha, as Buffett is known, as head of the board differs from the succession plans laid out in the event of Buffett's death. The billionaire has long said that Howard Buffett, the second-born of his three children, should become chairman when he is gone to protect Berkshire's culture. Abel will take over in a precarious time as the U.S. launches trade wars against friend and foe alike, which Buffett has called a mistake. But that could also create investment opportunities for Berkshire if there is a crisis. ## So much money, so few places to put it Then there is Berkshire's $348 billion in cash. Buffett says he doesn't see many bargains to invest that money in now, not even Berkshire's own stock, but he assured some of the estimated 40,000 attendees of the company's annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, over the weekend that one day the company would be "bombarded with opportunities." Abel, a low-key Canadian with a love a hockey who makes it a priority to coach his kids' teams, said Saturday that he wouldn't change Berkshire's approach to investing, which he learned from Buffett. Maintaining Berkshire's fortress-like balance sheet will always be a priority, he said. Eventually, Berkshire might have to consider paying a dividend, which Buffett always resisted because he believed he could deliver better returns by reinvesting the cash. For now, Buffett and Abel want to keep building cash, so they are prepared when opportunities arise. ## High praise for Abel Buffett endorsed Abel, vowing to keep all of his shares that give him control of 30% of Berkshire Hathaway. Abel is a more hands-on manager than Buffett, asking managers tough questions and encouraging them to collaborate with other subsidiaries when it makes sense. "It's way better with Greg than with me because I didn't want to work as hard as he works and I can get away with it because we've got a basically good business -- a very good business — and I wasn't in danger of you firing me by virtue of the ownership and the fact that we could do pretty well," Buffett said. "The fact that you can do pretty well doesn't mean you couldn't do better, and Greg can do better at many things," he said. The CEOs of Berkshire subsidiaries who report to Abel have praised his management style of personal accountability, but also autonomy. See's Candy CEO Pat Egan worked with Abel at Berkshire's utility unit for years before he took over the candymaker six years ago and said Abel makes sure he's considered every contingency. "He's allowed me to make a lot of decisions that he may or may not have agreed with, but he'll support us at the end of the day, no matter what as long as we're operating with integrity and principles and the long game," Egan said. But Morningstar analyst Greggory Warren wrote that Buffett's succession announcement left him with plenty of questions and Abel will have to prove himself. "Abel, in our view, will be held to a different standard than Buffett, with a greater focus on how well Berkshire is performing—especially with it being likely that there will be some churn in the company's shareholders as we move past the end of an era for the firm," Warren said. ## Buffett's philanthropy continues Buffett has always delegated the decisions about how to distribute his fortune, worth nearly $160 billion, to others through annual share donations to the Gates Foundation and four family foundations run by his children. The Gates Foundation has received the biggest donations worth more than $40 billion since he started giving away his fortune in 2006. He said last summer that his three children will decide how to distribute his remaining fortune after his death, but donations to the Gates Foundation will end. Buffett has said he expects it to take a decade to give away all his shares after his death, ensuring extended support for Abel from the family. ____ AP Business writer Bernard Condon is in New York City. AP Business Writer Michelle Chapman contributed to this report from New York City.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 15:57:27+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Kentucky", "Lexington", "Colleges and universities", "National", "JWD-evergreen", "Diversity", "equity and inclusion", "Kristopher Washington", "Pierre PetitFrere", "Education funding", "Race and ethnicity", "Politics", "Christian Adair", "David Wirtschafter", "Eli Capilouto", "Education", "LGBTQ", "Jay Blanton", "Keiron Perez", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Trump's anti-DEI push doesn't stop Black Kentucky grads from holding an off-campus celebration By Bruce Schreiner May 8th, 2025, 03:57 PM --- LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — President Donald Trump's push to eliminate diversity initiatives on college campuses didn't stop minority students from staging their own celebration after the University of Kentucky canceled ceremonies to honor its graduates who are Black or from other historically marginalized groups. Chalk it up as a lesson learned on how to think strategically to get a desired result. Several dozen students, adorned in graduation caps and gowns, basked in the limelight Wednesday as their families and friends cheered them at the off-campus celebration. The graduates were honored for their years of academic work, and they received specialty regalia such as stoles and cords that they can wear at the schoolwide commencement later this week. Speakers offered words of encouragement to the graduates, while steering clear of the fallout over federal and state Republican efforts to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs. "You are charged with standing on our shoulders and doing bigger and better things," said Christian Adair, executive director of the Lyric Theatre, the acclaimed cultural center for Lexington's Black community where the celebration was held. The "Senior Salute" program was organized after Kentucky's flagship university recently called off celebrations for minority graduates. The school said it would no longer host "identity-based or special-interest graduation celebrations," citing "federal and state policy changes and directives." That's when members of the historically Black fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha stepped up and became the driving force behind organizing the replacement celebration. "The message that I wanted to send is that if you want something to happen, then you can just go make it happen yourself," said fraternity member Kristopher Washington, a key organizer of the new event and who is among the graduating students. "There's no waiting for somebody else to do it for you." UK's actions were disappointing, but not surprising, Washington said. "I already understood that the institution would likely look out for their own financial well-being before considering to do something ... for the students," he said. Most of the new graduates and audience members Wednesday were Black, though the event was billed as multicultural and open to an array of students — including those who are LGBTQ+ or among the first in their families to finish college. Ushers included David Wirtschafter, a Lexington rabbi who wanted to show his support for the students and who praised them for refusing to accept the loss of a cherished celebration. "Kudos to them for taking the initiative and leadership when these unfortunate circumstances unfolded, to organize this event for themselves," he said. Around the country, universities have come under increasing pressure to get in line with the political agenda of Trump's administration, which already has frozen billions of dollars in grants for Harvard University, Columbia University and other colleges over allegations they haven't done enough to counter what the administration feels is antisemitism. Trump's calls to eliminate any program that treats students differently because of their race have brought new scrutiny of affinity graduation ceremonies. The Education Department directed colleges to distance themselves from DEI with a letter in February. It said a 2023 Supreme Court decision outlawing the use of racial preferences in college admissions also applied to areas such as hiring, scholarships and graduation ceremonies. Kentucky's Republican-dominated Legislature passed legislation this year to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at public universities. In a recent video defending the cancellations, university President Eli Capilouto said the decision came at a time when "every part of our university is under stress and scrutiny." The school said in a separate statement that it will celebrate all new graduates at its official commencement ceremonies. "We have made tough decisions — decisions that, in and of themselves, cause concern and in some cases, hurt," Capilouto said in the video. "Canceling celebrations for people on our campus who haven't always seen themselves reflected in our broader community is one example. "We have taken that action because we believe that's what is required, and we believe complying with the law is the best way to protect our people and our continued capacity to support them," he added. But its cancellation of the smaller celebrations to honor LGBTQ+, Black and first-generation graduates drew criticism from some students and relatives Wednesday. The events have long been seen as a way to build community and recognize the achievements and unique experiences of students from historically marginalized groups in society. Brandy Robinson was one of many family members who cheered on her nephew, Keiron Perez, at Wednesday's ceremony. She said it was important for relatives to share in the moment and she denounced UK's severing of ties to such events as a "coward move." "To take those moments away from them out of fear, it's just really disappointing," Robinson said. Asked why the event was important to students, Alpha Phi Alpha's president, Pierre PetitFrere, said: "It gives the students something to remember and know that, even given the circumstances of what's going on around the world, they are still being recognized for their hard work and fighting through whatever many hardships they may have faced throughout their time in college." UK spokesman Jay Blanton said the school recognized "how meaningful these celebrations have been to many," and said student groups are welcome to host events. "While the university can't continue sponsoring these events, we will continue working to ensure all students feel seen, valued and supported," he said in a statement. But Marshae Dorsey, a graduating senior who took part in Wednesday's celebration, said UK decided to "roll over" to the anti-DEI push, calling it "kind of like a slap in the face because something like this is so harmless."
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 15:20:39+00:00	[ "James Webb", "Astronomy", "Aerospace technology", "Energy industry", "Planets", "Technology", "Science" ]	# Bright auroras on Jupiter are captured by Webb Space Telescope By Christina Larson May 12th, 2025, 03:20 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Jupiter's dazzling auroras are hundreds of times brighter than those seen on Earth, new images from the James Webb Space Telescope reveal. The solar system's largest planet displays striking dancing lights when high-energy particles from space collide with atoms of gas in the atmosphere near its magnetic poles, similar to how the northern lights are triggered on Earth. But Jupiter's version has much greater intensity, according to an international team of scientists who analyzed the photos from Webb taken on Christmas in 2023. Webb previously captured Neptune's glowing auroras in the best detail yet, many decades after they were first faintly detected during a flyby of the Voyager 2 spacecraft. ___ 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	2025-05-09 13:57:39+00:00	[ "The Hague", "Vladimir Putin", "Courts", "Ukraine", "Donald Trump", "Joe Biden", "International agreements", "Europe", "Luxembourg", "Russia", "War crimes", "International Criminal Court", "Russia-Ukraine war", "Kaja Kallas", "Dmitry Peskov", "Rudolf Hess", "Russia Ukraine war", "Ukraine government", "European Union", "Volodymyr Zelenskyy" ]	# What is the special tribunal for Ukraine that world leaders have backed? By Molly Quell and Samya Kullab May 9th, 2025, 01:57 PM --- KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Some 40 world leaders announced their support Friday for the creation of a new international court to prosecute those most responsible for Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The special tribunal aims to target senior Russian leaders for the "crime of aggression," which underpins the countless war crimes Ukraine accuses Russian forces of committing since the start of the war in 2022. Because Russia is not a member of the International Criminal Court, it cannot prosecute Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior leaders for starting the conflict. Ukrainian and European leaders came up with the special tribunal as an alternative way to hold Russian leaders to account. The court will be formed following a joint agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe, the continent's top human rights organization. ## What is the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine? Since early in the conflict, Kyiv has been pushing for the creation of a special tribunal that goes beyond prosecuting war crimes that Ukraine alleged Russian forces committed — including bombing civilian infrastructure, killing civilians, rape, taking hostages and torture. Russia denies those claims. "If we want true justice, we should not look for excuses and should not refer to the shortcomings of the current international law but make bold decisions that will correct those shortcomings that unfortunately exist in international law," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a visit to the Netherlands in 2023. Similar special tribunals were established after World War II, the Balkan wars sparked by the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia and the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The institution will be funded by the countries who back it, known as the Core Group, including the Netherlands, Japan and Canada. The United States had backed the project under former President Joe Biden, but President Donald Trump's administration did not support the initiative. On Friday, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a joint statement with foreign ministers from some 40 countries that technical legal work necessary to establish the tribunal is complete. It added that the court will be formalized at a Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Luxembourg later this month. The statement was agreed in the presence of EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in Lviv, in western Ukraine. Once established the tribunal will focus on prosecuting Russian leaders most responsible for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022. Kyiv has been pushing for the creation of a special tribunal since early in the conflict. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday Moscow "will not be reacting" to the tribunal announcement. The legal framework for the project was agreed on by leaders in February. ## What is the crime of aggression? The crime of aggression is the planning and execution of a large-scale military invasion of another country. "The crime of aggression is sometimes referred to as the 'mother of all other crimes' because it precedes all of the other crimes, war crimes, crimes against humanity, even genocide," Iva Vukusic, an international law expert at the University of Utrecht, told The Associated Press. "You don't prosecute foot soldiers for aggression," she added. The tribunal plans to pursue cases against around 20 to 30 high-ranking officials. A dozen Nazi leaders including Hermann Göring and Rudolf Hess were convicted of what was then called "a crime against peace" during the Nuremberg trials following WWII. That was the last time anyone has been convicted of aggression. ## Will the tribunal prosecute Putin? International law grants the so-called troika — consisting of a country's head of state, head of government and foreign affairs minister — immunity from prosecution while they are in office. However, the tribunal could initiate proceedings against Putin and wait until he leaves office to move forward with a trial. There is no statute of limitation on the crime of aggression. The court will have the power to hold trials in absentia, though anyone convicted without being in the custody of the tribunal would have the right to a retrial. ## Why can't the International Criminal Court prosecute these crimes? The move to create a special tribunal aims to fill a void created by limitations on the ICC. While The Hague-based court can go after Russian nationals for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, it cannot prosecute Russians for orchestrating the invasion itself. The 2002 Rome Statute which created the court was amended in 2010 to include the crime of aggression — but only for countries that have joined the court. The Russian Federation is not a member state. The court has issued an arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine, as well as five other officials. ## Where will the tribunal be established? The Hague, already home to the ICC, the top court of the United Nations and other judicial institutions, has been suggested as a location but a final decision has not yet been made. The city is already home to the International Center for Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression, which supports evidence-gathering and is overseen by the European Union's judicial cooperation agency, Eurojust. The Council of Europe-backed register of damages, which allows Ukrainian victims of war to catalog the financial harm they have suffered, is also based in the Netherlands. Backers are hopeful the institution will be up and running by early next year.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 05:43:44+00:00	[ "Israel", "Gaza Strip", "Israel government", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Famine", "Foreign aid", "Rachel Cummings", "Labor", "United Nations", "Humanitarian crises", "Mohammed Salha", "Hamas", "Blockades", "Mahmoud al-Saqqa", "Children", "Rana Soboh", "Associated Press" ]	# Aid workers feel helpless as Israel's blockade pushes Gaza towards famine By Sarah El Deeb May 19th, 2025, 05:43 AM --- BEIRUT (AP) — Two cases pushed nutritionist Rana Soboh to wits' end. First, a woman was rushed to a Gaza emergency room after fainting while she breastfed her newborn. She told Soboh she hadn't eaten in days. The next day at another medical facility, Soboh found a severely malnourished 1-year-old boy weighing 5 kilograms (11 pounds), less than half what's normal. He hadn't grown any teeth. He was too weak to cry. The mother was also malnourished, "a skeleton, covered in skin." When the mother asked for food, Soboh started crying uncontrollably. A feeling of powerlessness has overwhelmed her. Soboh said sometimes she gives a little money or a bit of her own food. But now she, too, is struggling. "This is the worst feeling, wanting to help but knowing you can't. I wished the earth would crack open and swallow me," she said. "What more cruel scenes does the world need to see?" After months of trying to raise alarm, humanitarian workers are overflowing with anger, frustration and horror over Israel's nearly three-month blockade of Gaza. The Associated Press spoke to over a dozen aid workers, some with years of experience in emergencies around the world and Palestinians who have worked through this and other wars. They say what is happening in Gaza is a catastrophe, among the worst they have ever seen. It's more painful, they say, because it's man-made, caused by Israel cutting off all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to the territory nearly 11 weeks ago. The world's top authority on food crises last week warned of famine unless the blockade ends. Almost the entire population of around 2.3 million is acutely malnourished, and one in five Palestinians are on the brink of starvation, it said. Israel on Sunday said it would allow a "basic" amount of food into Gaza, saying it didn't want a "starvation crisis" to jeopardize its new military offensive. The first few trucks entered Monday, as Israel acknowledged pressure from allies. It was not immediately clear how much would be allowed in, or when, or how. Israel says it imposed the blockade to force Hamas to release hostages, a decision that rights groups call a "starvation tactic" and a violation of international law. Aid workers are also wrestling with moves by Israel and the U.S. to impose a new aid system, despite their objections. The system would limit distribution to a few locations and put it under armed private contractors — to prevent theft by Hamas, Israel says. Humanitarian workers say it won't meet Gaza's needs and violates humanitarian principles. The U.N. denies that significant aid diversion takes place. The workers say they should be allowed to do their jobs. Some 170,000 metric tons of aid, including food, sits in trucks a few miles away, just inside Israel. "The humanitarian community is well-experienced and well-versed in terms of treating malnutrition," said Rachel Cummings, emergency coordinator for Save the Children in Gaza. But "we need food into Gaza and to stop this, by design, attack on the children across the whole of Gaza." ## Last lifelines are closing Community kitchens are the last lifeline for most people, but more than 60% have shut down as supplies run out. Those still working can only produce 260,000 meals a day. At his kitchen in Khan Younis, Nihad Abu Kush and 10 cooks prepare enough meals for about 1,000 people a day. More than 2,000 show up every morning, he said. There are no lines, just a sea of people terrified of being among the half who will miss out. They push and shove, waving pots for portions from the vats of lentils, beans or peas in tomato sauce. "I feel so helpless because the numbers grow every day," Abu Kush said. "I look at their faces and I am unable to do anything." On a recent day, he gave up his own portion after he locked eyes with a child with an empty pot. "I was among the 1,000 who didn't get any," Abu Kush said. ## A breaking point Soboh, a nutritionist with MedGlobal, said her team stretches supplies of malnutrition treatments. Each can of baby formula is divided among several mothers. Therapy food portions are reduced by half. They give supplements only to children up to a year old, no longer up to 2. But their fixes get overwhelmed in the rising need. Staff try to dissuade mothers too weak to breastfeed from giving newborns sugar water, which can cause deadly diarrhea and infections, Soboh said. But it's the mothers' only alternative. Flour sold in the markets is rotten, full of insects, devoid of nutrition and enormously expensive. Still, if they find the cash, parents take risky trips to get it just to fill their children's stomachs, she said. Aid groups distributing water have reduced daily allowances to 5 liters a day per person, a third of the minimum in emergency conditions. Families must choose between using water to drink, wash hands or to cook, risking infection. Mahmoud al-Saqqa, Oxfam's food security sector coordinator, said parents tell him their kids are dizzy from lack of food. They search through garbage for scraps. "We see the hunger in their eyes," he said. His group, like most, distributed its last food stocks weeks ago. One of Soboh's colleagues, Fady Abed, said desperate adults in his neighborhood ask him for the nutty-butter bars used to treat severely malnourished children to slake their own hunger. "You feel like you let them down" refusing them, Abed said. He struggles to feed his own family. "Fear of famine," he said, "is in every home." ## Pumping air for 72 hours Medical workers improvise alternatives as supplies run out and machines break down. Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza lacks fuel and oxygen cylinders, so staff use hand-pumped respirators to keep patients breathing, said hospital director Mohammed Salha. Staff took turns hand-pumping air for one patient for 72 hours straight. The patient still died. "People are dying ... because we simply don't have the basics," he said. At Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, doctors don't have drills, sealant or titanium plates to treat the many skull fractures from bombardment. They use expired gelatins to stop bleeding, but that doesn't stop spinal fluid from leaking, which can be deadly, said a foreign doctor volunteering with the aid group Medical Aid for Palestinians. Sometimes, there's nothing he can do. He has child patients whose cochlear implants are defective, but there's no way to replace them. Without them, "they will never be able to develop normal speech," he said. The doctor spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations from his organization to avoid reprisals from Israeli authorities. Israel has cut in half the number of foreign doctors allowed into Gaza since March. ## New aid system Israel imposed the blockade and resumed its military campaign in March, breaking a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of overseeing aid, did not comment to the AP. Israeli officials have said they track the calories in Gaza and assert that there is enough aid after an influx during the ceasefire. Israel and the United States are pressing the U.N. and aid groups to join the planned new distribution system. The U.N. and most aid groups say they can't join because it enables Israel to use aid as a weapon for its political and military goals. In particular, it would depopulate much of Gaza by forcing Palestinians to move to planned distribution hubs. "In the end, this is using food to humiliate, control and direct people," said al-Saqqa of Oxfam. "Every human being has the right to food." ___ Follow AP's war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 21:07:56+00:00	[ "Guyana", "Netherlands", "Venezuela", "Courts", "United Nations", "Territorial disputes", "Nicolas Maduro", "Elections", "International Court of Justice", "Politics" ]	# A UN top court orders Venezuela to halt election plans in Guyana By Bert Wilkinson May 1st, 2025, 09:07 PM --- GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — The United Nations' top court ordered Venezuela on Thursday to refrain from holding elections for officials who supposedly would oversee a resource-rich area in neighboring Guyana that both countries claim as their own. The ruling by the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands comes at the request of Guyana, which accused Venezuela of violating an earlier ruling by planning to hold elections on May 25 for a governor and other officials to administer the Essequibo region. Guyanese President Irfaan Ali said he welcomed the ruling. "Once again, Guyana's position has prevailed," he said. Venezuela's press office did not immediately return a message seeking comment. The Essequibo region represents two-thirds of Guyana and is rich in gold, diamonds, timber and other natural resources. It also is located close to massive offshore oil deposits, with current production averaging some 650,000 barrels daily. The dispute between the South American neighbors over Essequibo began more than a century ago, when an international tribunal in 1899 drew the border between them. In 2018, Guyana went to the International Court of Justice and asked judges to uphold the 1899 ruling. The case is still pending in court while tensions between the two countries keep rising. In late 2023, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro threatened to annex the region by force after holding a referendum asking voters if Essequibo should be turned into a Venezuelan state. Days later, Caribbean leaders, joined by Brazil and the U.N., held an emergency summit where Guyana and Venezuela agreed to refrain from using force. But the territorial dispute remained unresolved, and tensions have continued to escalate since the summit. In March, Guyana's president denounced an incursion by an armed Venezuelan naval vessel in disputed waters that are home to a major offshore oil deposit being developed by ExxonMobil. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez disputed Ali's claims and called ExxonMobil's oil installations "illegal." ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 22:14:56+00:00	[ "China", "Beijing", "Donald Trump", "E-commerce", "International trade", "Tariffs and global trade", "John Lash", "China government", "Business", "United States government", "Transportation and shipping" ]	# US-China deal to slash tariffs also eases burden on cheap packages By Didi Tang May 13th, 2025, 10:14 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Online shoppers in the U.S. will see a price break on their purchases valued at less than $800 and shipped from China after the Trump administration reached a truce with Beijing over sky-high tariffs. An executive order Monday from President Donald Trump said the tariffs on low-value parcels originating from China and coming through the U.S. Postal Service will be lowered to 54%, down from 120%. It also says a per-package flat rate — as an alternative to the value-based tariff — will be kept at $100, rather than being raised to $200 on June 1 as previously decreed. Packages shipped by commercial carriers are subject to the general tariff, which also has been cut. The new rules go into effect Wednesday. They are part of a broader agreement by the Trump administration to drastically lower import taxes on all Chinese goods from 145% to 30% following weekend talks in Switzerland with Chinese officials. China issued a public notice on Tuesday lowering its own tariffs on U.S. goods to 10%, down from 125%. However, the reductions are temporary, allowing the two sides to negotiate a longer-term deal in the next 90 days. Izzy Rosenzweig, founder and CEO of the logistic company Portless, said U.S. brands are "very excited" about the broader tariff cut. The import tax is still high, but not as prohibitive as when it was 145%, which amounted to a trade embargo. On the low-value shipments, online purchases had been coming into the U.S. duty-free for several years under the de minimis rule, which exempted them from the import tax. Popular shopping sites such as Shein and Temu that offer ultra-low prices took advantage of the duty-free rule by shipping directly from China to U.S. buyers, bypassing more cumbersome customs paperwork. President Donald Trump terminated the exemption on such parcels originating from China and Hong Kong on May 2, following criticism that it not only resulted in lost tariff revenue but also allowed illicit drugs and unsafe products to flow into the U.S. without adequate scrutiny. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said as many as 4 million low-value parcels were coming into the U.S. every day — many of which originated from China. Shortly before the exemption ended on May 2, prices on many items sold by Shein rose. Temu apparently halted shipments from China and tapped its existing inventory in the U.S. John Lash, group vice president of product strategy at the supply chain platform e2open, said he expected the volume of low-value packages would now rise but not back to previous levels. The $100 flat rate, he said, means that higher-value packages could get less of a hit, because the effective duty rate could be as low as 13%. Neither Shein nor Temu immediately responded to requests for comment Tuesday about the lower tariffs.
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 14:15:55+00:00	[ "Karim Khan", "Donald Trump", "International Criminal Court", "Indictments", "Israel government", "Womens rights", "Courts", "Sexual misconduct", "Danya Chaikel", "Politics", "Israel-Hamas war", "Hamas", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars" ]	# ICC prosecutor Karim Khan steps aside pending outcome of sexual misconduct investigation By Molly Quell May 16th, 2025, 02:15 PM --- BRUSSELS (AP) — The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has stepped down temporarily pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, the court announced Friday. Karim Khan has categorically denied accusations that he tried for more than a year to coerce a female aide into a sexual relationship and groped her against her will. The ICC's announcement was welcomed by women's rights groups, who had called for Khan to step down after the allegations emerged last year. "In any other professional setting, someone facing such serious allegations would have been expected to step down months ago," said Eimear Shine, a spokesperson for The Hague-based Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice. An investigation by The Associated Press last year found that two court employees, in whom the alleged victim confided, reported the alleged misconduct in May 2024 to the court's independent watchdog. That was a few weeks before Khan sought arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, his defense minister and three Hamas leaders on war crimes charges. The watchdog said it interviewed the woman and ended its inquiry after five days when she opted against filing a formal complaint. Khan himself wasn't questioned at the time. While the watchdog could not determine wrongdoing, it nonetheless urged Khan in a memo to minimize contact with the woman to protect the rights of all involved and safeguard the court's integrity. The ICC statement on Friday said Khan "communicated his decision to take leave until the end" of an external investigation being carried by the Office of Internal Oversight Services, the U.N. internal watchdog. The court's deputy prosecutors will be in charge of managing the prosecutor's office while Khan is on leave, the statement said. The work of the court will continue, according to Danya Chaikel, the ICC representative from the International Federation for Human Rights. "The cases and investigations have been carried out by professionals," she told the AP. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration filed sanctions against Khan in February in relation to his Israel warrants. The sanctions are hampering work on a broad array of investigations at the court.
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 10:09:22+00:00	[ "New Jersey", "New York City", "Phil Murphy", "Strikes", "Newark", "Transportation", "New Jersey Transit", "New York City Wire", "Kris Kolluri", "Tom Haas", "Telecommuting", "Business", "David Milosevich", "Mark Wallace", "Pam Watkins", "Shakira", "David Lopez", "Vishal Gondal" ]	# New Jersey Transit strike disrupts travel By Bruce Shipkowski May 16th, 2025, 10:09 AM --- Train engineers in New Jersey's huge commuter rail system went on strike early Friday, leaving its 100,000 daily riders either working from home or seeking other means to transit the state or cross the Hudson River into New York City. People who normally rely on New Jersey Transit took to buses, cars, taxis and boats for the morning rush hour after trains ground to a halt at a minute past midnight. Some left extra early to avoid problems. A few, unaware that the strike was underway, showed up and waited for trains that weren't going to arrive. Early indications were that the strike hadn't resulted in major traffic jams or epic lines to get onto buses. Friday's rail commute into New York from New Jersey is typically the lightest of the week. But there was some confusion and extra costs as passengers tried to figure out alternate routes in a system that, besides helping New Jerseyans get to work or into Manhattan to see a Knicks game or a Broadway show, also helps New Yorkers get to Newark Airport or concerts at the Meadowlands. David Milosevich, a fashion and advertising casting director, was on his way to a photo shoot in Brooklyn. At 1 a.m. he checked his phone and saw the strike was on. "I left home very early because of it," he said, grabbing the bus in Montclair, New Jersey, and arriving in Manhattan at 7 a.m. "I think a lot of people don't come in on Fridays since COVID. I don't know what's going to happen Monday." ## Strike comes after talks this week didn't result in a deal The walkout comes after the latest round of negotiations on Thursday didn't produce an agreement. It is the state's first transit strike in more than 40 years and comes a month after union members overwhelmingly rejected a labor agreement with management. "We presented them the last proposal; they rejected it and walked away with two hours left on the clock," said Tom Haas, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri appeared Friday alongside Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy at a news conference. They said they got close to what the union was seeking on wages but raised concerns about the longer-term fiscal health of the transit agency. "What's the point of giving you a pay raise if a couple of years from now your job is not going to exist?" Kolluri said. "That's sort of what we're talking about in the most plain and simple terms." Groups of picketers gathered in front of transit headquarters in Newark and at the Hoboken Terminal, carrying signs that said "Locomotive Engineers on Strike" and "NJ Transit: Millions for Penthouse Views Nothing for Train Crews." BLET National President Mark Wallace walked the picket line outside New York City's Penn Station, and he said the engineers are committed to staying on strike until they get a fair deal. Union members were nearly unanimous in authorizing a strike last summer, and 87% of them rejected the latest agreement. Wallace said NJ Transit needs to pay engineers a wage that's comparable to Amtrak and Long Island Railroad because engineers are leaving for jobs on those other railroads for better pay, The next talks are scheduled for Sunday with the help of federal mediators. The parties met Monday with a federal mediation board in Washington, and a mediator was present during Thursday's talks. The union has seen steady attrition in its ranks at NJ Transit as more of its members leave to take better-paying jobs at other railroads. The number of NJ Transit engineers has shrunk from 500 several months ago to about 400. The engineers are responsible for operating trains, ensuring safe and smooth transport between stations, ## Strike leaves some concerned, frustrated Many people were concerned not only with their morning commute but making sure they had a way to get home. "When I come back home to New Jersey what do I do?" nurse Pam Watkins, of Edison, asked an NJ Transit customer service helper on her way to work on Brooklyn on Friday morning. The worker helped her punch through a touch screen that would help her use her commuter ticket for the bus back. "I don't want to be figuring it out on my way home," she said. Some riders who were unaware of the strike learned what had happened as they waited at transit stations early Friday for trains that would not be coming. Others sought help to get to their destinations. "How do I get to Newark (Liberty Airport)?" entrepreneur Vishal Gondal, with a large red suitcase in tow, asked a reporter after trying to get a train ticket at an automated terminal. "It has kind of messed up my plans" he said, adding he was trying to get a flight to India. One frustrated commuter, who works on a in a train yard for a rail freight company, had no sympathy for the engineers on strike, who he called "greedy." "They are not appreciative of what they have," said David Lopez, a track worker in a train yard as he was, trotting off the PATH train from New Jersey. "Trains are never on time and they still complaining about funding," he said. Riders like him suffered the consequences of delays, he said, calling the striking workers "greedy, greedy, greedy." ## NJ governor says deal needs to be fair to employees and affordable Murphy said it was important to "reach a final deal that is both fair to employees and at the same time affordable to New Jersey's commuters and taxpayers." The announcement came after 15 hours of nonstop contract talks, according to the union. NJ Transit — the nation's third-largest transit system — operates buses and rail in the state, providing nearly 1 million weekday trips, including into New York City. The walkout halts all NJ Transit commuter trains, which provide heavily used public transit routes between Penn Station on one side of the Hudson River and communities in northern New Jersey on the other, as well as the Newark airport, which has grappled with unrelated delays of its own recently. The agency had announced contingency plans in recent days, saying it planned to increase bus service, but warned riders that the buses would only add "very limited" capacity to existing New York commuter bus routes in close proximity to rail stations and would not start running until Monday. Amid uncertainty ahead of the strike, the transit agency canceled train and bus service for Shakira concerts Thursday and Friday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. ___ Associated Press reporters Cedar Attanasio and Larry Neumeister in New York, Hallie Golden in Seattle and Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-03 05:08:24+00:00	[ "Gabriel Boric", "Chile", "Assisted suicide and euthanasia", "Chile government", "Death and dying", "Legislation", "Birth defects", "Political and civil unrest", "Michelle Bachelet", "Susana Moreira", "Irene Muoz Pino", "Health", "Politics", "Harry Potter" ]	# Chilean woman with muscular dystrophy becomes face of euthanasia debate as bill stalls in Senate By Nayara Batschke May 3rd, 2025, 05:08 AM --- SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — As a child, Susana Moreira didn't have the same energy as her siblings. Over time, her legs stopped walking and she lost the ability to bathe and take care of herself. Over the last two decades, the 41-year-old Chilean has spent her days bedridden, suffering from degenerative muscular dystrophy. When she finally loses her ability to speak or her lungs fail, she wants to be able to opt for euthanasia — which is currently prohibited in Chile. Moreira has become the public face of Chile's decade-long debate over euthanasia and assisted dying, a bill that the left-wing government of President Gabriel Boric has pledged to address in his last year in power, a critical period for its approval ahead of November's presidential election. "This disease will progress, and I will reach a point where I won't be able to communicate," Moreira told The Associated Press from the house where she lives with her husband in southern Santiago. "When the time comes, I need the euthanasia bill to be a law." ## A debate spanning more than 10 years In April 2021, Chile's Chamber of Deputies approved a bill to allow euthanasia and assisted suicide for those over 18 who suffer from a terminal or "serious and incurable" illness. But it has since been stalled in the Senate. The initiative seeks to regulate euthanasia, in which a doctor administers a drug that causes death, and assisted suicide, in which a doctor provides a lethal substance that the patients take themselves. If the bill passes, Chile will join a select group of countries that allow both euthanasia and assisted suicide, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Spain and Australia. It would also make Chile the third Latin American country to rule on the matter, following Colombia's established regulations and Ecuador's recent decriminalization, which remains unimplemented due to a lack of regulation. ## 'As long as my body allows me' When she was 8 years old, Moreira was diagnosed with shoulder-girdle muscular dystrophy, a progressive genetic disease that affects all her muscles and causes difficulty breathing, swallowing and extreme weakness. Confined to bed, she spends her days playing video games, reading and watching Harry Potter movies. Outings are rare and require preparation, as the intense pain only allows her three or four hours in the wheelchair. As the disease progressed, she said she felt the "urgency" to speak out in order to advance the discussion in Congress. "I don't want to live plugged into machines, I don't want a tracheostomy, I don't want a feeding tube, I don't want a ventilator to breathe. I want to live as long as my body allows me," she said. In a letter to President Boric last year, Moreira revealed her condition, detailed her daily struggles and asked him to authorize her euthanasia. Boric made Moreira's letter public to Congress in June and announced that passing the euthanasia bill would be a priority in his final year in office. "Passing this law is an act of empathy, responsibility and respect," he said. But hope soon gave way to uncertainty. Almost a year after that announcement, multiple political upheavals have relegated Boric's promised social agenda to the background. ## A change in mood Chile, a country of roughly 19 million inhabitants at the southern tip of the southern hemisphere, began to debate euthanasia more than ten years ago. Despite a predominantly Catholic population and the strong influence of the Church at the time, Representative Vlado Mirosevic, from Chile's Liberal Party, first presented a bill for euthanasia and assisted dying in 2014. The proposal was met with skepticism and strong resistance. Over the years, the bill underwent numerous modifications with little significant progress until 2021. "Chile was then one of the most conservative countries in Latin America," Mirosevic told the AP. More recently, however, public opinion has shifted, showing greater openness to debating thorny issues. "There was a change in the mood," Mirosevic said, citing the rising support for the euthanasia bill among Chileans. Indeed, recent surveys show strong public support for euthanasia and assisted dying in Chile. According to a 2024 survey by Chilean public opinion pollster Cadem, 75% of those interviewed said they supported euthanasia, while a study by the Center for Public Studies from October found that 89% of Chileans believe euthanasia should "always be allowed" or "allowed in special cases," compared to 11% who believed the procedure "should never be allowed." ## Suffering, 'the only certainty' Boric's commitment to the euthanasia bill has been welcomed by patients and families of those lost to terminal illnesses, including Fredy Maureira, a decade-long advocate for the right of choosing when to die. His 14-year-old daughter Valentina went viral in 2015, after posting a video appealing to then-President Michelle Bachelet for euthanasia. Her request was denied, and she died less than two months later from complications of cystic fibrosis. The commotion generated both inside and outside Chile by her story allowed the debate on assisted death to penetrate also into the social sphere. "I addressed Congress several times, asking lawmakers to put themselves in the shoes of someone whose child or sibling is pleading to die, and there's no law to allow it," said Maureira. Despite growing public support, euthanasia and assisted death remains a contentious issue in Chile, including among health professionals. "Only when all palliative care coverage is available and accessible, will it be time to sit down and discuss the euthanasia law," Irene Muñoz Pino, a nurse, academic and advisor to the Chilean Scientific Society of Palliative Nursing, said. She was referring to a recent law, enacted in 2022, that ensures palliative care and protects the rights of terminally ill individuals. Others argue that the absence of a legal medical option for assisted dying could lead patients to seek other riskier, unsupervised alternatives. "Unfortunately, I keep hearing about suicides that could have been instances of medically assisted death or euthanasia," said Colombian psychologist Monica Giraldo. With only a few months remaining, Chile's leftist government faces a narrow window to pass the euthanasia bill before the November presidential elections dominate the political agenda. "A sick person isn't certain of anything; the only certainty they have is that they will suffer," Moreira said. "Knowing that I have the opportunity to choose, gives me peace of mind." ___ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 04:14:56+00:00	[ "Portugal", "Portugal government", "Pedro Nuno Santos", "Donald Trump", "Global elections", "Socialism", "Politics", "Voting", "Andre Ventura", "Business", "Elections", "Corruption" ]	# Portugal headed for another minority government after vote won by incumbent center-right party By Barry Hatton and Helena Alves May 19th, 2025, 04:14 AM --- LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal was headed for yet another minority government after the incumbent center-right Democratic Alliance won a general election but failed to secure a majority in Parliament in a vote that saw surge by a hard-right populist party. Democratic Alliance leader Luis Montenegro, the incumbent prime minister, said he was willing to discuss solutions with other parties. Portugal's third general election in three years Sunday dashed hopes that the ballot could end the worst spell of political instability for decades in the European Union country of 10.6 million people. Adding uncertainty to Portugal's electoral climate, a surge in support for the Chega, or Enough, meant the hard-right party may yet claim second place with its focus on curbing immigration and cracking down on corruption, challenging the center-left socialists as Portugal's second-biggest party. With 99.2% of votes counted, the Democratic Alliance captured at least 89 seats in the 230-seat National Assembly, Portugal's Parliament. It had been in power for less than a year when it was ousted in a confidence vote in March. It collected 80 seats in last year's election and served as a minority government. ## Democratic Alliance leader open to deals Montenegro indicated he would be open to political deals with opposition parties. "We all have to be able to speak to each other and put the national interest first," he said in a post-election speech to supporters. Seven smaller parties also won seats. Without a majority of seats the Democratic Alliance, led by the Social Democratic Party, can try to recruit support from smaller parties, currently seen as unlikely, or take office as a minority government as it did during its last term. That leaves it at the mercy of opposition parties combining to bring it down, as happened two months ago. Public frustration with Portugal's main parties has brought an increasingly fragmented political landscape and defied efforts to unite behind policies on pressing national issues such as immigration, housing and the cost of living. In a dramatic demonstration of the changing complexion of Portuguese politics, support for the populist party Chega surged once again. It collected at least 58 seats, up from 50 seats last year, and is challenging the center-left socialists as Portugal's second-biggest party. Chega competed in its first election just six years ago, when it won one seat, and has fed off disaffection with the more moderate traditional parties. Campaigning under the slogan "Save Portugal," it describes itself as a nationalist party and has drawn on the popularity of its leader, lawyer and former soccer pundit Andre Ventura. "This is my moment," Ventura said. "It's a great victory for Chega." He opened the door to an understanding with the Democratic Alliance, saying the country needs stability. For the past 50 years, the Social Democrats and the Socialist Party have alternated in power. The socialists were contemplating possibly their worst result since 1987, also gaining 58 seats. Socialist leader Pedro Nuno Santos announced he was standing down. ## The center-right alliance led opinion polls The Democratic Alliance, which also includes the smaller Popular Party, lost a confidence vote in parliament in March after less than a year in power, as opposition lawmakers teamed up against it. That triggered an early election, which had been due in 2028. The confidence vote was sparked by a political storm around potential conflicts of interest in the business dealings of Social Democratic Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's family law firm. Montenegro has denied any wrongdoing and is standing for reelection. Corruption scandals have dogged Portuguese politics in recent years. That has helped fuel the rise of Chega, whose leader Ventura says he has "zero tolerance" for misconduct in office. But Chega has recently fallen foul of its own lawmakers' alleged wrongdoing. One is suspected of stealing suitcases from the Lisbon airport and selling the contents online, and another allegedly faked the signature of a dead woman. Both resigned. ## Immigration and housing are key issues Chega owes much of its success to its demands for a tighter immigration policy that have resonated with voters. Portugal has witnessed a steep rise in immigration. In 2018, there were fewer than a half-million legal immigrants in the country, according to government statistics. By early this year, there were more than 1.5 million, many of them Brazilians and Asians working in tourism and farming. Thousands more lack the proper documents to be in Portugal. The outgoing government announced two weeks before the election that it was expelling about 18,000 foreigners living in the country without authorization. Though such a step is routine, the timing drew accusations that it was trying to capture votes from Chega. Socialist leader Pedro Nuno Santos, who is also standing for prime minister, described the move as a "Trumpification" of Portuguese politics, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump's focus on immigration policies. A housing crisis has also fired up debate. House prices and rents have been soaring for the past 10 years, due in part to an influx of white-collar foreigners who have driven up prices. House prices jumped another 9% last year, said the National Statistics Institute, a government body. Rents in and around the capital Lisbon, where around 1.5 million people live, last year saw the steepest rise in 30 years, climbing more than 7%, the institute said. The problem is compounded by Portugal being one of Western Europe's poorest countries. The average monthly salary last year was around 1,200 euros ($1,340) before tax, according to the statistics agency.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 16:56:47+00:00	[ "Fashion", "New Mexico", "Santa Fe", "Patricia Michaels", "Phoenix", "Apparel and accessories manufacturing", "Entertainment", "Veronica Poblano", "April Allen", "Beatrice Deer", "Amber Dawn Bear Robe", "Jeremy Donavan Arviso", "Lifestyle" ]	# Indigenous fashion week in Santa Fe, New Mexico, explores heritage in silk and hides By Morgan Lee May 9th, 2025, 04:56 PM --- SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Fashion designers from across North America are bringing together inspiration from their Indigenous heritage, culture and everyday lives to three days of runway modeling that started Friday in a leading creative hub and marketplace for Indigenous art. A fashion show affiliated with the century-old Santa Fe Indian Market is collaborating this year with a counterpart from Vancouver, Canada, in a spirit of Indigenous solidarity and artistic freedom. A second, independent runway show at a rail yard district in the city has nearly doubled the bustle of models, makeup and final fittings. Elements of Friday's collections from six Native designers ran the gamut from silk parasols to a quilted hoodie, knee-high fur boots and suede leather earrings that dangled to the waste. Models on the Santa Fe catwalks include professionals, dancers and Indigenous celebrities from TV and the political sphere. Clothing and accessories rely on materials ranging from of wool trade cloth to animal hides, featuring traditional beadwork, ribbons and jewelry with some contemporary twists that include digitally rendered designs and urban Native American streetwear from Phoenix. "Native fashion, it's telling a story about our understanding of who we are individually and then within our communities," said Taos Pueblo fashion designer Patricia Michaels, of "Project Runway" reality TV fame. "You're getting designers from North America that are here to express a lot of what inspires them from their own heritage and culture." ## Santa Fe style The stand-alone spring fashion week for Indigenous design is a recent outgrowth of haute couture at the summer Santa Fe Indian Market, where teeming crowds flock to outdoor displays by individual sculptors, potters, jewelers and painters. Designer Sage Mountainflower remembers playing in the streets at Indian Market as a child in the 1980s while her artist parents sold paintings and beadwork. She forged a different career in environmental administration, but the world of high fashion called to her as she sewed tribal regalia for her children at home and, eventually, brought international recognition. At age 50, Mountainflower on Friday presented her "Taandi" collection — the Tewa word for "Spring" — grounded in satin and chiffon fabric that includes embroidery patterns that invoke her personal and family heritage at the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in the Upper Rio Grande Valley. "I pay attention to trends, but a lot of it's just what I like," said Mountainflower, who also traces her heritage to Taos Pueblo and the Navajo Nation. "This year it's actually just looking at springtime and how it's evolving. … It's going to be a colorful collection." More than 20 designers are presenting at the invitation of the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts. Fashion plays a prominent part in Santa Fe's renowned arts ecosystem, with Native American vendors each day selling jewelry in the central plaza, while the Institute for American Indian Arts delivers fashion-related college degrees in May. This week, a gala at the New Mexico governor's mansion welcomed fashion designers to town, along with social mixers at local galleries and bookstores and plans for pop-up fashion stores to sell clothes fresh off the fashion runway. ## International vision A full-scale collaboration with Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week is bringing a northern, First Nations flair to the gathering this year with many designers crossing into the U.S. from Canada. Secwépemc artist and fashion designer Randi Nelson traveled to Santa Fe from the city of Whitehorse in the Canadian Yukon to present collections forged from fur and traditionally cured hides — she uses primarily elk and caribou. The leather is tanned by hand without chemicals using inherited techniques and tools. "We're all so different," said Nelson, a member of the Bonaparte/St'uxwtéws First Nation who started her career in jewelry assembled from quills, shells and beads. "There's not one pan-Indigenous theme or pan-Indigenous look. We're all taking from our individual nations, our individual teachings, the things from our family, but then also recreating them in a new and modern way." April Allen, an Inuk designer from the Nunatsiavut community on the Labrador coast of Canada, presented a mesh dress of blue water droplets. Her work delves into themes of nature and social advocacy for access to clean drinking water. Vocal music accompanied the collection — layers of wordless, primal sound from musician and runway model Beatrice Deer, who is Inuit and Mohawk. ## Urban Indian couture Phoenix-based jeweler and designer Jeremy Donavan Arviso said the runway shows in Santa Fe are attempting to break out of the strictly Southwest fashion mold and become a global venue for Native design and collaboration. A panel discussion Thursday dwelled on the threat of new tariffs and prices for fashion supplies — and tensions between disposable fast fashion and Indigenous ideals. Arviso is bringing a street-smart aesthetic to two shows at the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts runway and a warehouse venue organized by Amber-Dawn Bear Robe, from the Siksika Nation. "My work is definitely contemporary, I don't choose a whole lot of ceremonial or ancestral practices in my work," said Arviso, who is Diné, Hopi, Akimel O'odham and Tohono O'odham, and grew up in Phoenix. "I didn't grow up like that. … I grew up on the streets." Arviso said his approach to fashion resembles music sampling by early rap musicians as he draws on themes from major fashion brands and elements of his own tribal cultures. He invited Toronto-based ballet dancer Madison Noon for a "beautiful and biting" performance to introduce his collection titled Vision Quest. Santa Fe runway models will include former U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland of Laguna Pueblo, adorned with clothing from Michaels and jewelry by Zuni Pueblo silversmith Veronica Poblano.
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 08:53:25+00:00	[ "Philippines", "Philipp Santiago" ]	# Expedition organizers say 2 climbers have died on Mount Everest May 16th, 2025, 08:53 AM --- KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — An Indian and a Filipino climber have died while climbing Mount Everest as hundreds of climbers are attempting to scale the world's highest peak, expedition organizers said Friday. The Indian climber, identified as Subrata Ghosh, died on Thursday just below the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) summit of the peak while he was returning from the top. The other climber, identified as Philipp Santiago, 45, from the Philippines, died Wednesday while he was headed to the summit. He had reached Camp 4, which is the highest camp on the mountain, and was preparing for the final bid to reach the summit. Bodha Raj Bhandari of the Nepal-based Snowy Horizon Trek and Expedition, which equipped and organized the expedition, said the bodies were still on the mountain and it was yet to be decided if and when they would be brought down. Retrieving bodies is both expensive and difficult as it takes many people to drag them down the icy slopes of the mountain. The spring climbing season began in March and ends at the end of May. May is the best month to climb the peak and climbers get only a few opportunities when the weather conditions improve, allowing just time for them to try attempt scale the peak. Everest was first climbed in 1953 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepali Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. More than 300 people have died on Everest since then.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 01:24:28+00:00	[ "Beijing", "China", "Donald Trump", "Scott Bessent", "International trade", "Economy", "Finance Business", "Tariffs and global trade", "Business", "Politics", "Julian Evans-Pritchard", "Government policy", "Financial services", "Morgan Stanley", "China government", "Lin Jian", "Subsidies", "Economic policy" ]	# China rolls out more stimulus and agrees to trade talks with the US as tariffs hit economy By Ken Moritsugu and Elaine Kurtenbach May 7th, 2025, 01:24 AM --- BEIJING (AP) — China announced a barrage of measures meant to counter the blow to its economy from U.S. President Donald Trump 's trade war, as the two sides prepared for talks later this week. Beijing's central bank governor and other top financial officials outlined plans Wednesday to cut interest rates and reduce bank reserve requirements to help free up more funding for lending. They also said the government would increase the amount of money available for factory upgrades and other innovation and for elder care and other service businesses. Trump's tariffs, set as high as 145% on imports from China, have begun to take a toll on its export-dependent economy at a time when it's already under pressure from a prolonged downturn in the property sector. China has retaliated with tariff hikes of up to 125% on U.S. goods and stopped buying most American farm products. Late Tuesday, China and the U.S. announced plans for talks between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng later this week in Geneva, Switzerland. The agreement to talk comes at a time when both sides have remained adamant, at least in public, about not compromising on the tariffs. "The U.S. has recently expressed a desire to negotiate with China. This meeting is being held at the request of the U.S. side," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing. "Any form of pressure or coercion against China will not work," Lin said. "China will firmly safeguard its legitimate interests and uphold international fairness and justice. Please stay tuned for the specific details of the dialogue." By easing credit, China's leaders are providing a "policy buffer" for exporters as Beijing prepares for the talks, economists at ANZ Research said in a report. "The authorities are prepared to have a protracted negotiation and hold a strong stance against protectionism," the report said. Both the U.S. and Chinese economies have been showing signs of strain, after a spurt of activity as companies and consumers rushed to beat the tariff hikes. The meetings in Switzerland could offer an opportunity for both sides to dial down the current prohibitively high level of tariffs, which Bessent has described as unsustainable, while they work on a deal. But the process is likely to take time. "A durable resolution remains elusive, in our view, given the wide scope of issues in the bilateral relationship," Morgan Stanley said in a commentary. The U.S. economy contracted by 0.3% in January-March. The Chinese economy grew at a 5.4% annual pace in the first quarter of the year, as factories ramped up production to fill a spike in orders. But economists question the validity of the statistics, and more recent reports show a deterioration in new export orders and business sentiment. Among the support measures announced by China on Wednesday: People's Bank of China Gov. Pan Gongsheng said China's reverse repo rate, the rate on commercial banks' deposits with the central bank, was reduced to 1.4% from 1.5%. The PBOC's lending rate to commercial banks was cut by 0.25 percentage points to 1.5%. The required reserve ratio, or portion of funds banks must hold in their reserves, was cut by 0.5%. Pan said that would free up 1 trillion yuan ($137.6 billion) in extra cash. The central bank also reduced interest rates on five-year housing loans. Financial markets have been reeling as the world's two largest economies remained embroiled in the trade standoff. The news of the extra boost for the economy and markets, plus the plans for China-U.S. trade talks, initially pushed share prices higher in Hong Kong and Shanghai early Wednesday. Shanghai's benchmark Composite index built on those gains, but the rally faded in Hong Kong. A key factor dragging on the economy is a lack of consumer and business demand, and easing lending conditions will not necessarily change that, Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a report, adding that "today's moves are no substitute for an expansion in fiscal support."
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 14:45:09+00:00	[ "Louisiana", "Fires", "Chris Daigle", "New Orleans", "Baton Rouge", "Ken Pastorick", "Dan Dyess" ]	# Fire destroys a sprawling mansion on a former Louisiana sugar plantation May 16th, 2025, 02:45 PM --- WHITE CASTLE, La. (AP) — Flames ripped through a massive mansion in Louisiana, destroying much of the historic structure that was used as a plantation house when it was completed in 1859, authorities said. The fire that engulfed the Nottoway Plantation House on Thursday devastated the building along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Iberville Parish President Chris Daigle said on social media. Nearly a dozen fire departments from surrounding towns battled the blaze, he said. No injuries were reported. Before the fire, it was a resort and event venue, and its website described it as "the South's largest remaining antebellum mansion." Daigle called it "a cornerstone of our tourism economy and a site of national significance." The 53,000-square-foot (4,924-square-meter) home on a former sugar plantation about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northwest of New Orleans had a three-story rotunda adorned with giant white columns and hand-carved Italian marble fireplaces, according to a description on its website. The mansion's owner, Louisiana attorney Dan Dyess, said in a written statement that the fire had led to a "total loss" after all the time and money he invested in the building. "We are devastated and heartbroken for this loss," he said. "This was my dream that has now been dashed." Photos from local news outlets showed a giant orange wall of fire consuming the upper portion of the rotunda and sending a plume of thick smoke into the sky. The fire has been contained, and no other properties were harmed, said Maj. Monty Migliacio of the Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office. Other structures on the grounds have been preserved, parish officials said. "We are at the beginning phases of the investigation, we don't know how the fire began and our objective is to determine how it started," Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal Public Affairs Director Ken Pastorick said. In a statement on Facebook, Daigle touched on the structure's history of racial injustice during a time when enslaved Black people helped build the home and operate the sugar plantation that surrounded it. In 1860, 155 enslaved people were held at the property, according to National Park Service records. "While its early history is undeniably tied to a time of great injustice, over the last several decades it evolved into a place of reflection, education, and dialogue," Daigle said. "Since the 1980s, it has welcomed visitors from around the world who came to appreciate its architecture and confront the legacies of its era," he added. "It stood as both a cautionary monument and a testament to the importance of preserving history — even the painful parts — so that future generations can learn and grow from it."
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 04:01:00+00:00	[ "Natasha Lyonne", "Vince Vaughn", "Blake Shelton", "Judy Blume", "Lou Kesten", "Cynthia Erivo", "John Mulaney", "Cate Blanchett", "Alicia Rancilio", "Marsha Thomason", "Vladimir Kara-Murza", "Movies", "Vladimir Putin", "Television", "SciFi and fantasy", "Documentaries", "The Stream", "Public Broadcasting Service", "John Anderson", "Brenda Vaccaro", "Entertainment", "Lifestyle", "Gwen Stefani", "James Jones", "Michael Fassbender", "Michael Cooper", "Technology", "Netflix", "Inc.", "Hardy", "Katie Holmes", "Susan Sarandon", "John Cho", "Steven Soderbergh", "Music", "John Le Carr", "Lorraine Bracco", "Jake Coyle", "Talia Shire", "Semiconductor manufacturing", "Maria Sherman", "George Strait", "Alexei Navalny", "Christopher Eccleston", "David Koepp", "Rian Johnson" ]	# Streaming in May 2025: 'Poker Face' and Blake Shelton By The Associated Press May 5th, 2025, 04:01 AM --- NEW YORK (AP) — The popular whodunit series "Poker Face" starring Natasha Lyonne returning for its second season and Steven Soderbergh's sleek and lean spy thriller "Black Bag" are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you. Also among the streaming offerings worth your time, as selected by The Associated Press' entertainment journalists: Blake Shelton releasing a new full-length album, gamers can fight off all sorts of gnarly wildlife in the sci-fi world of Revenge of the Savage Planet and there's a new Lifetime documentary series about the country music iconic family the Judds. ## New movies to stream from May 5-11 — Steven Soderbergh's sleek and lean spy thriller "Black Bag" (streaming now on Peacock), stars Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett as married British intelligence operatives whose agency has a mole that needs ferreting out. In my review, I praised the third collaboration between Soderbergh and screenwriter David Koepp (" Presence,""Kimi" ): "Their movie adopts the air of menace and suspicion of a John Le Carré novel, yet hinges on the sturdiness of its married couple, like a super spy version of Nick and Nora from 'The Thin Man' or a more cerebral 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith.'" — In "Nonnas" (Friday, May 9 on Netflix), Vince Vaughn stars as Jody "Joe" Scaravella, an MTA worker who, after the death of his mother, opens up a traditional Italian restaurant to honor her memory. He hires only grandmothers — played by Lorraine Bracco, Talia Shire, Susan Sarandon and Brenda Vaccaro — to do the cooking. — James Jones' documentary "Antidote," playing as part of PBS' "Frontline," follows the Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev, a prominent reporter on the imprisonment and death of Alexei Navalny, and Evgenia Kara-Murza, the wife of activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was poisoned twice and sentenced to 25 years in a Russian prison. The film, debuting May 6 on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS app, details the lives of opponents to Russian President Vladimir Putin. — If the end of season three of "White Lotus" has you down, a new film series on the Criterion Channel collects some brilliant tales of trouble in seaside locales. The series, dubbed "Coastal Thrillers" includes gems like "Key Largo" (1948), "The Breaking Point" (1950) and "The Ghost Writer" (2010). — AP Film Writer Jake Coyle ## New music to stream from May 5-11 — After four years, country star Blake Shelton will release a new full-length album, "For Recreational Use Only." It kicked off with the rocking, George Strait-referencing immediate radio hit "Texas," followed by the HARDY-penned ballad "Let Him In Anyway." This is classic Shelton, with a few notable collaborations: with John Anderson, Craig Morgan and his wife, Gwen Stefani. — Regional Mexican music — a catchall term that encompasses mariachi, banda, corridos, norteño, sierreño and other genres — has become a global phenomenon over the last few years. Hitmakers Grupo Firme are at least partially responsible for the growth. On Thursday, May 8, the Sinaloan norteño banda will release "EVOLUCIÓN," their first new album in three years. — On Saturday, May 10, a new Lifetime documentary series, "The Judd Family: Truth Be Told" will premiere, becoming available to stream the following day. The show promises to peek behind the curtain, getting at the heart of the family's triumphs and tragedies. — Music Writer Maria Sherman ## New television to stream from May 5-11 — An ex cop gets asked by a former colleague to let a family in danger hide out in his guesthouse. What could go wrong? A lot, apparently. Christopher Eccleston (also remembered as the ninth doctor in BBC's "Doctor Who,") stars alongside Marsha Thomason. "Safe House" premieres Monday, May 5 on Acorn TV. It's part of its first Murder Mystery May where they're streaming crime dramas and whodunits all month long. — The popular whodunit, "Poker Face," starring Natasha Lyonne returns to Peacock for its second season Thursday, May 8. Lyonne stars as Charlie, a woman with an innate ability to know when someone is lying. "Knives Out" director Rian Johnson is the creator and executive producer. The show's second season has more than 30 big name guest stars appearing including Cynthia Erivo, John Mulaney, Katie Holmes and John Cho, to name a few. — Judy Blume's 1975 novel "Forever" about teenage sexuality is the inspiration for a new Netflix series of the same name from Mara Brock Ali, who created acclaimed shows like "Girlfriends" and "Being Mary Jane." This "Forever" features a predominantly Black cast in a love story between two teens living in Los Angeles at its center. Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper Jr. star. It drops Thursday, May 8. — Alicia Rancilio ## New video games to play week of May 5-11 — The goofy sci-fi shooter Journey to the Savage Planet didn't get the audience it deserved in 2020, thanks to some unfortunate corporate maneuvers that left its developers out in the cold. But they held onto the idea and started a new studio called Raccoon Logic, and now they're unleashing Revenge of the Savage Planet. You've been dumped on a faraway rock, and you'll need to explore every inch and fight off all sorts of gnarly wildlife before you can "get revenge on your former employer" (ahem). You can play solo or join forces with a friend online or on the couch. Blast off Thursday, May 8, on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC. — Potboy? Sure, I knew a guy like that in high school. But that's not the Potboy who stars in The Midnight Walk — this poor kid has a lantern for a head, and he can use its flame to keep warm or fend off ghouls. It's the debut title from Swedish studio MoonHood, whose founders are best-known for 2021's eerie Lost in Random, and it has creepy stop-motion animation reminiscent of "The Nightmare Before Christmas." The hike begins Thursday, May 8, on PlayStation 5 and PC. — Lou Kesten
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 02:43:21+00:00	[ "Tacoma", "Washington", "Sean Boyle", "Joni McAnally", "Shootings", "Lawsuits", "Legal proceedings", "Gun violence", "Angus Lee", "Holly Troupe", "Law enforcement", "Kevin Peterson", "Police brutality" ]	# Family of Black man fatally shot by Washington sheriff's deputy settles lawsuit for $3.5 million May 16th, 2025, 02:43 AM --- VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — Family members of a Black motorist fatally shot by a deputy in southwestern Washington state during a traffic stop have settled their wrongful death lawsuit for $3.5 million. The Clark County Council agreed Wednesday to make the payment in the 2021 death of 30-year-old Jenoah Donald, The Columbian reported. Donald lived in the city of Battle Ground, Washington, and died Feb. 12, eight days after he was shot in the head by Sean Boyle, a deputy with the Clark Sounty Sheriff's Office. The family filed the federal lawsuit in 2022 in U.S. District Court in Tacoma alleging wrongful death, assault and battery, negligence and deprivation of civil rights. Trial was set to start June 9. Attorneys for the Donald family said in a statement that the settlement provides accountability and closure. "This outcome honors Jenoah Donald's life and underscores a simple truth: When officers ignore their training and resort to needless lethal force, they will be held accountable," attorney Angus Lee said in the statement. The county "continues to deny liability for this unfortunate incident," county spokeswoman Joni McAnally told the newspaper. Prosecuting attorneys from outside Clark County examined the shooting and found it was justified in protecting the deputies. Deputies that night responded to a call about two cars suspiciously driving around a neighborhood and pulled over Donald's car for what they described as a faulty rear light. Lawyers for Donald's family argued in the lawsuit that was an unlawful stop, citing a 1999 Washington Supreme Court case that found it is unconstitutional for police to use a traffic stop as an excuse to investigate suspected criminal activity. The family's attorneys said Donald was cooperative initially. The situation escalated after another deputy, Holly Troupe, said she saw a sharp object inside Donald's vehicle, which investigators later said was a screwdriver. A struggle ensued as Boyle and Troupe tried to pull Donald out of the car, an outside investigation showed. Boyle fired twice when Donald ignored commands to let him go as the car lurched forward with the deputy partially inside, according to investigators. One bullet hit and killed Donald. Donald was on the autism spectrum and prone to withdrawal in stressful situations, his lawyers have said. Donald was the second Black man killed by deputies in four months. On Oct. 29, a law enforcement task force attempted a drug sting involving 21-year-old Kevin Peterson Jr. It ended with three deputies firing at Peterson as he ran away while carrying a gun. Peterson's family, represented by the same attorneys, sued the county in 2022. The county later agreed to pay his family $1.25 million to settle the lawsuit. That shooting also was deemed justified by prosecutors.
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 04:02:40+00:00	[ "Gretchen Whitmer", "Detroit", "Jocelyn Benson", "Michigan", "Donald Trump", "Pregnancy loss", "Mike Duggan", "Reproductive rights", "Access to health care", "Entertainment", "Health", "John James", "Chris Swanson", "U.S. Republican Party", "Pregnancy and childbirth", "Planned Parenthood", "U.S. Democratic Party", "Elections", "Mike Cox", "Politics" ]	# Michigan governor candidate says miscarriage prompted her to prioritize reproductive health access By Isabella Volmert May 6th, 2025, 04:02 AM --- LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Ahead of a nationally watched bid to become Michigan's next governor, Democrat Jocelyn Benson is releasing a memoir this month that includes her first public discussion of a miscarriage she had about eight years ago — an experience she says will shape her commitment to increasing access to reproductive healthcare in the swing state. Benson, Michigan's secretary of state, is part of a crowded field seeking to succeed Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and she's the only woman in the running so far. In an interview with The Associated Press ahead of Tuesday's release of her political memoir entitled, "The Purposeful Warrior," Benson said miscarrying made her value easy access to reproductive health care in an emotional and difficult situation, something she wants to deliver for the state if elected. "It opened my eyes to the need to not just protect reproductive freedom and rights, but actually make sure they're real," said Benson. ## Personal stories shaping policy In a chapter entitled "Grit and Grace," Benson describes finding out she was pregnant shortly after her son's first birthday and shortly before she launched her bid for secretary of state in 2017. Waves of worry over the timing and elation over becoming a mother of two ensued. But just a day later, she began to miscarry. She writes about the doctor's appointment during her eighth week of pregnancy where she learned about her options: surgery, medication or stillbirth and what to expect as her miscarriage continued. By the following morning, she had miscarried on her own. "The emotional impact of that stays with you for your whole life," she told AP. Benson said she struggled with shame and guilt, emotions she has learned many women experience. "I want to tell my story to say it's OK to tell yours as well," she said. In the years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, women seeking public office have shared personal stories of miscarriages and abortions. Democrats and Republicans alike have spoken about their pregnancies as reproductive and maternal health care became a central concern for Americans. In Michigan, voters approved a ballot measure in 2022 to protect abortion access, in an election that also saw Democrats sweep statewide and legislative elections. But Benson said that protection isn't enough. Step one is to incentivize talented physicians to work in Michigan, she said. Step two is to bolster reproductive health care in rural Michigan, she said, suggesting mobile clinics that can reach remote areas. She noted the recent closure of three Planned Parenthood locations in Michigan, including its only location in the Upper Peninsula. Some Planned Parenthood locations provide abortions in addition to services such as birth control, disease screenings and miscarriage management. Planned Parenthood of Michigan leaders cited financial challenges exacerbated by a freeze of federal dollars for the closures. Federal law already prohibited taxpayer dollars from paying for most abortions. ## A governor's race watched nationally Centering reproductive rights in the 2026 primary will be another test of the issue's importance to Democratic voters. Benson will face Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson in the gubernatorial primary. Whitmer, who is term limited, has said she does not plan to endorse in the race. On the Republican side, U.S. Rep. John James, state Senate Minority Leader Aaric Nesbitt and former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox are vying for the nomination and likely also the endorsement of President Donald Trump. And the twist — Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a longtime Democrat, is pursuing the office as an independent. The move comes as Democrats lost considerable ground in the 2024 election. The state swung back to Trump in the 2024 election and Republicans gained a majority in the state House of Representatives, splitting control of the legislature. Among anecdotes from her memoir that include her tenure as the state's chief election official during the 2020 election and her law career before, Benson took a swing at Duggan over his handling of the 2018 primary election for governor. She criticized him for not supporting Whitmer early in the race and encouraging other Democrats, who are men, to pursue a run, citing reporting in the New Yorker years later. "I will never forget the message those efforts sent to women across our state," Benson wrote. She noted that her own primary campaign became tied to Whitmer's by gender. "The argument went something like, surely we can't have more than one woman on the ticket at the same time," Benson wrote. Benson's memoir comments on Duggan were first reported by the Detroit News. A spokesperson for Duggan's campaign told the publication that the Detroit mayor endorsed Whitmer in the Democratic primary over two men. ___ The Associated Press' women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. 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	2025-05-08 02:13:37+00:00	[ "John Fetterman", "Donald Trump", "Joe Biden", "Walter Reed", "Bill Maher", "Pennsylvania", "Bernie Sanders", "U.S. Democratic Party", "Harrisburg", "Depression", "Government and politics", "Aaron Chapin", "Joe Rogan", "Adam Jentleson", "Stroke", "David Williamson", "Kamala Harris", "Mental health" ]	# Fetterman raises alarms with outburst at union meeting, AP sources say By Marc Levy May 8th, 2025, 02:13 AM --- HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was meeting last week with representatives from a teachers union in his home state when things quickly devolved. Before long, Fetterman began repeating himself, shouting and questioning why "everybody is mad at me," "why does everyone hate me, what did I ever do" and slamming his hands on a desk, according to one person who was briefed on what occurred. As the meeting deteriorated, a staff member moved to end it and ushered the visitors into the hallway, where she broke down crying. The staffer was comforted by the teachers who were themselves rattled by Fetterman's behavior, according to a second person who was briefed separately on the meeting. The interaction at Fetterman's Washington office, described to The Associated Press by the two people who spoke about it on the condition of anonymity, came the day before New York Magazine published a story in which former staff and political advisers to Fetterman aired concerns about the senator's mental health. That story included a 2024 letter, also obtained by the AP, in which Fetterman's one-time chief of staff Adam Jentleson told a neuropsychiatrist who had treated Fetterman for depression that the senator appeared to be off his recovery plan and was exhibiting alarming behavior, including a tendency toward "long, rambling, repetitive and self-centered monologues." Asked about the meeting with teachers union representatives, Fetterman said in a statement through his office that they "had a spirited conversation about our collective frustration with the Trump administration's cuts to our education system." He also said he "will always support our teachers, and I will always reject anyone's attempt to turn Pennsylvania's public schools into a voucher program." Fetterman earlier this week brushed off the New York Magazine story as a "one-source hit piece and some anonymous sources, so there's nothing new." Asked by a reporter in a Senate corridor what he would say to people who are concerned about him, Fetterman said: "They're not. They're actually not concerned. It's a hit piece. There's no news." Reached by telephone, Aaron Chapin, the president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association who was in the meeting with Fetterman, said he didn't want to discuss what was a private conversation. ## Surviving a stroke, battling depression The teachers union encounter adds to the questions being raised about Fetterman's mental health and behavior barely three years after he survived a stroke on the 2022 campaign trail that he said almost killed him. That was followed by a bout with depression that landed him in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for six weeks, barely a month after he was sworn into the Senate. The scrutiny also comes at a time when Fetterman, now serving third year of his term, is being criticized by many rank-and-file Democrats in his home state for being willing to cooperate with President Donald Trump, amid Democrats' growing alarm over Trump's actions and agenda. Fetterman — who has been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, in which the heart muscle becomes weakened and enlarged, and auditory processing disorder, a complication from the stroke — has talked openly about his struggle with depression and urged people to get help. In November, he told podcast host Joe Rogan that he had recovered and fended off thoughts of harming himself. "I was at the point where I was really, you know, in a very dark place. And I stayed in that game and I am staying in front of you right now and having this conversation," Fetterman said. But some who have worked closely with Fetterman question whether his recovery is complete. In the 2024 letter to Dr. David Williamson, Jentleson warned that Fetterman was not seeing his doctors, had pushed out the people who were supposed to help him stay on his recovery plan and might not be taking his prescribed medications. Jentleson also said Fetterman had been driving recklessly and exhibiting paranoia, isolating him from colleagues. "Overall, over the last nine months or so, John has dismantled the early-warning system we all agreed upon when he was released," Jentleson wrote. "He has picked fights with each person involved in that system and used those fights as excuses to push them out and cut them off from any knowledge about his health situation." Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where Williamson works, declined to make him available for an interview, citing privacy and confidentiality laws protecting patient medical information. ## A lone wolf in the Senate Fetterman has long been a wild card in the political realm, forging a career largely on his own, independently from the Democratic Party. As a small-town mayor in Braddock, the plainspoken Fetterman became a minor celebrity for his bare-knuckled progressive politics, his looks — he's 6-foot-8 and tattooed with a shaved head — and his unconventional efforts to put the depressed former steel town back on the map. He endorsed the insurgent Democrat Bernie Sanders in 2016's presidential primary and ran from the left against the party-backed Democrat in 2016's Senate primary. In 2020, when he was lieutenant governor, he became a top surrogate on cable TV news shows for Joe Biden's presidential bid and gathered a national political following that made him a strong small-dollar fundraiser. Elected to the Senate in 2022, he has made waves with his casual dress — hoodies and gym shorts — at work and at formal events and his willingness to chastise other Democrats. Fetterman returned to the Senate after his hospitalization in 2023 a much more outgoing lawmaker, frequently joking with his fellow senators and engaging with reporters in the hallways with the assistance of an iPad or iPhone that transcribes conversations in real time. Yet two years later, Fetterman is still something of a loner in the Senate. He has separated himself from many of his fellow Democrats on Israel policy and argued at times that his party needs to work with, not against, Trump. He met with Trump and Trump's nominees — and voted for some — when other Democrats wouldn't. He has stood firmly with Democrats in other cases and criticized Trump on some issues, such as trade and food aid. One particularly head-scratching video of Fetterman emerged earlier this year in which he was on a flight to Pittsburgh apparently arguing with a pilot over his seatbelt. Despite fallout with progressives over his staunch support of Israel in its war in Gaza, Fetterman was still an in-demand personality last year to campaign in the battleground state of Pennsylvania for Biden and, after Biden dropped his reelection bid, Vice President Kamala Harris. Since Trump won November's election — and Pennsylvania — things have changed. Many one-time supporters have turned on Fetterman over his softer approach to Trump and his willingness to criticize fellow Democrats for raising alarm bells. It nevertheless brought Fetterman plaudits. Bill Maher, host of the political talk show "Real Time with Bill Maher," suggested that Fetterman should run for president in 2028. Conservatives — who had long made Fetterman a target for his progressive politics — have sprung to Fetterman's defense. Still, Democrats in Pennsylvania say they are hearing from people worried about him. "People are concerned about his health," said Sharif Street, the state's Democratic Party chairman. "They want to make sure he's OK. People care about him. There's a lot of love for him out there." ___ Associated Press reporter Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report. Follow Marc Levy on X at https://x.com/timelywriter.
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 19:53:14+00:00	[ "Democratic Republic of the Congo government", "Democratic Republic of the Congo", "Rwanda", "Kinshasa", "Disarmament", "Myriam Favier", "Politics", "Donald Trump", "Humanitarian crises" ]	# Red Cross escorts over 1,000 disarmed Congolese soldiers from rebel-controlled city to capital By Justin Kabumba and Mark Banchereau May 15th, 2025, 07:53 PM --- GOMA, Congo (AP) — Over a thousand disarmed Congolese soldiers and police officers, along with their families, have safely been transferred from the rebel-controlled city of Goma in eastern Congo to the capital over the last two weeks, the International Committee of the Red Cross announced Thursday. The soldiers and police officers had been taking refuge at the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Congo's base since January, when the decades-long conflict in eastern Congo escalated as the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels advanced and seized the strategic city of Goma. The Red Cross said in a statement it helped escort the 1,359 disarmed members of the government forces and their families from Goma to the capital Kinshasa between April 30 and May 15th, traveling nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) and across a front line. The ICRC said it accompanied several convoys on the road, while transport by helicopter and plane was carried out by the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in Congo and the country's armed forces. "The operation has been a success, it has enabled those transported to Kinshasa to get back in touch with their families and, we hope, will reduce tensions in the city of Goma," Myriam Favier, head of the ICRC's sub-delegation in Goma, said. The transfer of the government forces was the result of an agreement reached between the Congolese government, the rebels, the U.N. mission and the ICRC, which was called upon as a neutral intermediary, the Red Cross said, adding that it made sure that all the individuals had consented to being transported in the convoys. For security reasons, no media outlets were allowed to film or photograph the operation. The news of the successful transfer comes amid persistent tensions in eastern Congo, where fighting between Congo's army and M23 continues, despite both sides having agreed to work toward a truce last month. Eastern Congo has been in and out of crisis for decades. Dozens of armed groups are vying for territory in the mining region near the border with Rwanda. The conflict has created one of the world's largest humanitarian crises with more than 7 million people displaced, including 100,000 who fled homes this year. The M23 rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts, and at times have vowed to march as far as Congo's capital, Kinshasa, about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the west. On Thursday, Congolese authorities accused Rwanda's army and M23 of having killed dozens and abducted thousands in eastern Congo. Last week, Congo and Rwanda submitted a draft peace proposal as part of a U.S.-led process, with the Trump administration eyeing access to critical minerals in the resource-rich region. ——- Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal.
Associated Press News	2025-05-04 12:40:39+00:00	[ "Financial markets", "Donald Trump", "International trade", "Government policy", "U.S. Department of the Treasury", "Economic policy", "Federal Reserve System", "Tariffs and global trade", "Meta Platforms", "Inc.", "Chris Zaccarelli", "China", "Politics", "Business", "Microsoft Corp.", "Trump Media Technology Group" ]	# How the stock market made back all its losses after Trump escalated the trade war By The Associated Press May 4th, 2025, 12:40 PM --- It felt much longer, but the U.S. stock market needed just a few weeks to roar all the way back to where it was on President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day." That's when he shocked Wall Street by announcing much steeper tariffs than expected on nearly all U.S. trading partners. Those tariffs unveiled on April 2 were so severe that they raised fears Trump did not worry about causing a recession in his attempt to reshape the global economy. Within just four days, the S&P 500 fell about 12%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 4,600 points, or about 11%. This past Friday, though, the S&P 500 rallied 1.5% for a ninth straight gain and pulled back to where it was on April 2. Of course, the index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts is still more than 7% below its all-time high set earlier this year. And stocks could easily fall again as uncertainty remains high about what Trump's tariffs will ultimately do to the economy. But the run for U.S. stocks back upward has been just as wild and unexpected as its fall. Here's a look at what happened: ## The pause On April 9, Trump announced on social media a "90-day PAUSE" for most of the tariffs he'd announced a week earlier, except those against China. The S&P 500 soared 9.5% for one of its best days ever. Even that good news came with a bit of controversy, however: hours before he announced the pause, Trump proclaimed on Truth Social that "this is a great time to buy." ## De-escalation The weeks after the pause were a roller coaster. Trump talked about negotiating tariffs with the trading partners while also using tariffs to force companies to move manufacturing to the U.S., two goals seemingly at odds with one another. The market did find relief in what the Treasury secretary referred to as de-escalation between the U.S. and China. Investors also welcomed Trump's moves to ease tariffs on autos as well as smartphones and other electronics. ## Bonds and the buck The severity of the U.S. stock market's fall after Liberation Day surprised some market watchers. They had assumed Trump would backtrack on policies that hurt the Dow Jones Industrial Average. This is a president, after all, who crowed repeatedly during his first term about how the Dow was doing. But it was fear in other financial markets that may have forced Trump's hand. Tumbling prices for U.S. government bonds raised worries that the U.S. Treasury market was losing its status as the world's safest place to keep cash. The value of the U.S. dollar also sank in another signal of diminishing faith in the United States as a safe haven for investors. Trump himself said he had noticed how bond investors were "getting a little queasy" before he paused his tariffs. ## The economy Economists and investors had to reconcile contradictory signals about the economy. Surveys of consumers showed declining confidence, largely due to the uncertainty created by the Trump trade policy. But what investors call "hard data," such as employment numbers, indicated the economy was still doing OK. As of Friday, when the government said employers had added 177,000 jobs in April, the hard numbers appeared to have a advantage over the weak sentiment. ## The Fed The Federal Reserve cut rates three times at the end of 2024, but then implemented a pause of its own by keeping rates steady, in part to assess the impact of the Trump trade policy. The strong jobs report seemed to give the Fed clearance to keep rates where they are for now — despite Trump repeating his call for cuts — but the market is still looking for 3 cuts before the end of the year. ## Plenty of profits Through all the market's tumult, U.S. companies have continued to deliver profit reports for the start of the year that have topped analysts' expectations. Stock prices tend to follow profits over the long term, and that's given the market a notable boost. Three out of every four companies in the S&P 500 have beaten analysts' expectations for profits in recent weeks, including such market heavyweights as Microsoft and Meta Platforms. They're on track to deliver growth of nearly 13% from a year earlier, according to FactSet. ## To be sure Even as companies have delivered fatter profits than expected, many have also warned they're unsure whether it can last. CEOs have been either lowering or withdrawing their financial forecasts for the year given all the uncertainty around how Trump's tariffs will end up. United Airlines even made the unusual move of offering two separate forecasts for the year: one if there's a recession, and one if not. Trump's off-again-on-again approach to tariffs had made this the most volatile period for the market since the onset of the pandemic. The pause is in its fourth week and the administration has yet to announce an agreement with any of U.S. trading partners. Based on his recent comments, Trump is still all-in on tariffs, so the pause could prove to be just that. "We've already seen how financial markets will react if the administration moves forward with their initial tariff plan, so unless they take a different tack in July when the 90-day pause expires, we will see market action similar to the first week of April," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Northlight Asset Management.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 08:34:29+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Middle East", "Gaza Strip", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "War and unrest", "Saudi Arabia" ]	# Photos: Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill dozens of people By Jehad Alshrafi May 14th, 2025, 08:34 AM --- Jabalia, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least 22 children were killed in Gaza overnight Tuesday and early Wednesday in a punishing series of Israeli airstrikes on homes in northern Gaza, according to local hospitals. The strikes killed at least 48 people, the Indonesian Hospital in Jabaliya reported. The strikes came a day after Hamas released an Israeli-American hostage in a deal brokered by the United States, and as President Donald Trump was visiting Saudi Arabia. It was unclear of the numbers would increase. -This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 08:11:10+00:00	[ "Labor", "Photography Lead", "Donald Trump" ]	# AP PHOTOS: Across the globe, workers observe May Day By The Associated Press May 1st, 2025, 08:11 AM --- People across Asia kicked off May Day celebrations with big marches and protests, many of which focused on U.S. President Donald Trump's policies and fears of global economic uncertainty. The holiday, also known as International Workers' Day or Labor Day, marks the struggles and achievements of workers and the labor movement around the world. Thousands of people are expected to attend rallies and demonstrations calling for stronger protections for workers, higher wages, greater equality and more. ____ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 08:29:29+00:00	[ "Ivan Espinosa", "Yokohama", "Auto industry", "Donald Trump", "Japan", "Labor", "Japan government", "China", "Earnings", "Yuri Kageyama", "International trade", "Business", "Nissan Motor Co.", "Ltd.", "Jeremie Papin" ]	# Nissan slashes 15% of its global work force as the Japan automaker sinks into losses By Yuri Kageyama May 13th, 2025, 08:29 AM --- TOKYO (AP) — Nissan is slashing about 15% of its global work force, or about 20,000 employees, as the Japanese automaker reported a loss Tuesday for the fiscal year that just ended amid slipping vehicle sales in China and other nations, and towering restructuring costs. Nissan Motor Corp. said it will reduce the number of its auto plants to 10 from 17, under what it called its recovery plan to carry out "decisive and bold actions to enhance performance and create a leaner, more resilient business that adapts quickly to market changes." It did not say which plants were being closed but confirmed the closures will include factories in Japan. "We have a mountain to climb," its Chief Executive Ivan Espinosa told reporters, stressing the task will not be easy, requiring discipline and team work. "Starting today, we build the future for Nissan." The job cuts to be done by March 2028 include the 9,000 head count reduction announced last year. Nissan also previously announced the scrapping of plans to build a battery plant in Japan. Espinosa, who took the helm earlier this year, said the latest plans followed a careful review of operations, to align production with demand, including coming up with market and product strategies. Nissan will also leverage its partnerships such as the one with Renault SA of France in Europe and Dongfeng Nissan in China, he said. The Yokohama-based automaker said U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on auto imports also hurt its results. Nissan racked up a loss of 670.9 billion yen ($4.5 billion) for the fiscal year through March, down from a 426.6 billion yen profit recorded the previous fiscal year. For the latest quarter through March, Nissan recorded red ink totaling 676 billion yen ($4.6 billion). It also said its recovery plan includes trying to reduce costs by 500 billion yen ($3.4 billion) compared to current costs. "As new management, we are taking a prudent approach to reassess our targets and actively seek every possible opportunity to implement and ensure a robust recovery," Espinosa said. "All employees are committed to working together as a team to implement this plan, with the goal of returning to profitability by fiscal year 2026," he said. But Nissan Chief Financial Officer Jeremie Papin acknowledged the automaker faces serious challenges. Nissan did not give a profit projection for the fiscal year through March 2026, citing uncertainties. ___ Yuri Kageyama is on Threads:
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 17:53:02+00:00	[ "Cannes Film Festival", "Bella Hadid", "Bianca Censori", "Fairs and festivals", "Kendall Jenner", "Thierry Frmaux", "Entertainment", "Lifestyle", "Naomi Campbell", "Oddities" ]	# Cannes bans nudity on its red carpet May 12th, 2025, 05:53 PM --- CANNES, France (AP) — The Cannes Film Festival red carpet is perhaps the most rigidly controlled red carpet in the world. Now, the festival has added a new stipulation: no nudity. While nudity was never previously endorsed at the festival, Cannes updated its dress policy on the eve of its 78th edition to read that "nudity is prohibited on the red carpet, as well as in any other area of the festival." While a no-shirt-no-service policy is standard in places far less glamorous than Cannes, the policy tweak sparked widespread attention Monday because of the recent trend of sheer and "nude dresses, " such as Bianca Censori's Grammys appearance. Asked for clarity on the policy, Cannes press officers said the festival "made explicit in its charter certain rules that have long been in effect." "The aim is not to regulate attire per se, but to prohibit full nudity on the red carpet, in accordance with the institutional framework of the event and French law," it said. Cannes also noted that "voluminous outfits, in particular those with a large train, that hinder the proper flow of traffic of guests and complicate seating in the theater are not permitted." Still, skin has often been flashed at the French Riviera festival by celebrities like Bella Hadid, Naomi Campbell and Kendall Jenner, and dress policies have long been flouted by celebrities. For evening premieres at the Palais' Grand Théâtre Lumière, black tie and evening wear is required. Though not in recent years, Cannes security officials have sometimes turned away women for not wearing heels. The festival also banned selfies in 2018 — Cannes director Thierry Frémaux called them "grotesque" — but A-listers sometimes snap a quick photo on the Palais steps. The festival kicks off Tuesday. ___ For more on the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, visit https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 12:59:37+00:00	[ "Naruhito", "Japan", "Lifestyle", "Business" ]	# Japan's imperial palace fires an employee for stealing cash from the household By Mari Yamaguchi May 1st, 2025, 12:59 PM --- TOKYO (AP) — Japan 's Imperial palace said Thursday that it has fired an employee for stealing cash totaling 3.6 million yen ($24,900) from Emperor Naruhito and his family over more than a year. The Imperial Household Agency identified the suspect as an employee in their 20s who was one of about 80 attendants assigned to the palace or the agency building to serve daily needs of Naruhito and his family. The theft is an embarrassment for the royal household and its officials said it's been unheard of in modern history. The case surfaced in March during an internal investigation by the IHA that started in January when an assistant manager of the department noticed a discrepancy between the cash in the safe and the accounting book. When an agency official detected the loss of 30,000 yen ($207) in late March, the suspect who just ended an overnight duty was asked about it and admitted stealing cash, citing financial difficulty, the agency said. In all, the suspect admitted to stealing a total of 3.6 million yen in a number of occasions from November 2023 to late March this year, and later returned the money by mid-April, it said. The money was part of 324 million yen ($2.24 million) annual budget allocated as living expenses for the emperor, his wife Masako, their daughter Princess Aiko and Naruhito's parents — former Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. The IHA said it had filed a criminal complaint to the palace police and formally dismissed the employee. The assistant manager in his 40s, who initially noticed the cash irregularity in January, was given a one-month salary cut over his lax accounting management, the IHA said. IHA chief Yasuhiko Nishimura said the theft by the employee as a public servant and a staff serving the Imperial family was "unthinkable" and "extremely regrettable," and apologized to the emperor and his family, NHK public television reported. He pledged to tighten discipline among the palace staff, according to media reports.
Associated Press News	2025-05-20 08:40:36+00:00	[ "Taiwan", "Taiwan government", "Military and defense", "China government", "Democracy" ]	# Forget China's navy, Chinese small boats landings on Taiwan are a new source of concern May 20th, 2025, 08:40 AM --- TAIPEI (AP) — China has long sought to intimidate Taiwan with its massive navy, air force and the world's largest standing army, but it's mere dinghies that are now causing the most consternation. Taiwan's coast guard has documented five cases totaling 38 Chinese citizens crossing the 160-kilometer (100-mile) wide Taiwan Strait separating the self-governing island democracy from the authoritarian Chinese mainland, according to the body's deputy director-general Hsieh Ching-chin. That includes at least one case posted to Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, in which a man speaking with a strong mainland Chinese accent is seen planting a Chinese flag on what he says is a Taiwanese beach. Scenes in the background appear to show a stretch of coastline south of the capital Taipei. China claims Taiwan as its own territory, to be conquered by force if necessary. The man has not been found or publicly identified, and Taiwanese authorities are seeking to ascertain whether he received help from anyone on the island. Another case involved a father and son who were apprehended shortly after reaching land, along with a man who came ashore at a fishing port in a popular tourist area north of Taipei. The small size of the boats, some just inflatables for having fun at the beach, makes it difficult for Taiwan's radar to pick them up. More cameras and other detection devices and manpower would be needed to cover the vast spaces of inhospitable coastline surrounding the island, but the terrain would make a Chinese D-Day-type landing highly challenging. While such cases are not unheard of, they come amid a rise in tensions between the sides, with Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te designating China as an enemy to be defended against, and China holding frequent military exercises seen as a rehearsal for an invasion or boycott of Taiwan. Those entering Taiwan illegally are liable to a fine of 500,000 Taiwan dollars ($16,666) and five years in prison, but such penalties are usually waived as long as no one is hurt and there is no property damage. In the 1990s, there was a wave of hijackings by Chinese to Taiwan, but the perpetrators were sent home after serving brief prison terms in Taiwan. In addition to facing China's formidable military, Taiwan faces a range of so-called "gray area" strategies, including in the media and among entertainers hoping to grab a share of the massive Chinese market. Taiwan has also deported the Chinese wives of Taiwanese men for posting videos supporting a takeover of the island. The small boat landings may be a further attempt to confuse and undermine confidence among the public, Hsieh said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 04:02:32+00:00	[ "Country music", "Academy of Country Music Awards", "Alan Jackson", "Miranda Lambert", "Lainey Wilson", "Cody Johnson", "Eric Church", "Keith Urban", "Riley Green", "Ella Langley", "Wynonna Judd", "Joe Bonsall", "Carrie Underwood", "Clint Black", "Arts and entertainment", "Kris Kristofferson", "Chris Stapleton", "George Strait", "Reba McEntire", "Kelsea Ballerini", "Texas", "Zach Top", "Megan Moroney", "LeAnn Rimes", "Merle Haggard" ]	# Lainey Wilson rules the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards once again By Maria Sherman May 8th, 2025, 04:02 AM --- NEW YORK (AP) — It was her night once again. Lainey Wilson took home the top prize at the 60th annual Academy of Country Music Awards — the title of entertainer of the year — for a second year in a row. And that was after she cleaned house, taking home trophies for both female artist and album of the year. "I really do have the best fans in the world," she said in her final acceptance speech, admitting to experiencing impostor syndrome. "I dreamed about entertaining. ... Country music has given me more than I deserve." Beyond Wilson's dominance, the 2025 ACM Awards were packed with celebration. Earlier, first-time and leading nominee Ella Langley's duet with Riley Green, the ubiquitous "You Look Like You Love Me," was named single and music event of the year. Both Langley and Green used their first acceptance speech to shout out classic country — songs with talking in them — that inspired their modern hit. A revisitation of the past might have been a theme Thursday night, evidenced right at the top of the ceremony: a 14-minute medley of six decades of country classics, performed by giants of the genre. Host Reba McEntire launched into Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee," followed by Clint Black with Glen Campbell's "Rhinestone Cowboy" and Wynonna Judd with The Judds' "Why Not Me." LeAnn Rimes returned to the ACM Awards stage for her 1997 ballad "Blue." Little Big Town tackled their 2014 track "Girl Crush" and Dan + Shay delivered their "Tequila." It was an exciting way to kick off the ACM Awards, live from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, just north of Dallas. And it was a show highlight, rivaled only by the introduction of the ACM Alan Jackson Lifetime Achievement Award, the inaugural trophy given to its namesake, Jackson, after he performed "Remember When." In his acceptance speech, he joked that a fan named a dog after him. Having an award named after him? That isn't half bad, either. The first trophy of the night, the coveted song of the year, was awarded to Cody Johnson for his radio hit "Dirt Cheap." Performances followed, fast and furious. McEntire, Wilson and Miranda Lambert teamed up for the world premiere of their new single "Trailblazer," celebrating women in country music. Eric Church performed his brand-new single "Hands of Time," succeeded by the most awarded artist in the history of the award show, Lambert with "Run." She was then joined by Langley to duet "Kerosene" from Lambert's 2005 debut album of the same name. Zach Top stripped things down for "Use Me." Blake Shelton channeled the great George Strait for his new single "Texas," followed by Wilson with "Whirlwind." Kelsea Ballerini performed atop her "Baggage." Johnson rocked "The Fall," before performing "Red Dirt Road" with Brooks & Dunn. Chris Stapleton and his wife, Morgane, harmonized on "It Takes a Woman." Jelly Roll and Shaboozey joined forces for their collaboration, "Amen." "It's Shaboozey's birthday," Jelly Roll said. "We wanna thank y'all and we wanna thank God." Backstreet Boys and Rascal Flatts closed the show. The Oak Ridge Boys gave the group of the year award to Old Dominion. It was a moving gesture; in 2024 the Oak Ridge Boys' Joe Bonsall, a Grammy award winner and celebrated tenor, died from complications of the neuromuscular disorder Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Another tearjerker: McEntire leading the audience in a sing-along of the late Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee." Male artist of the year went to Stapleton. Duo of the year was awarded to Brooks & Dunn. Megan Moroney covered Keith Urban's "Stupid Boy" and Stapleton did "Blue Ain't Your Color" ahead of the Australian superstar's reception of the coveted ACM Triple Crown Award, marking the first time an artist has received the trophy on stage since Carrie Underwood was honored in 2010. If anything, the 60th ACM Awards proved the show is at its best when it celebrates new acts and legends in equal measure. The ACM Awards streamed on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch Live. No Prime membership was required to view the livestream. ___ For more coverage of this year's ACM Awards, visit https://apnews.com/hub/academy-of-country-music-awards
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 21:56:06+00:00	[ "Torres", "Boston", "Massachusetts", "Indictments", "Law enforcement", "Mental health", "Assault", "Legal proceedings", "Judith Dein", "Airport security" ]	# Massachusetts man pleads guilty to attacking a flight attendant with a broken spoon May 13th, 2025, 09:56 PM --- BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty Tuesday to attacking a flight attendant with a broken metal spoon and attempting to open an airliner's emergency door on a cross-country flight. Francisco Severo Torres, of Leominster, pleaded guilty to one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon in the March 2023 disturbance on United Airlines Flight 2609 from Los Angeles to Boston. According to prosecutor and witness accounts, Torres went on a midair rant and tried to stab a crew member with a modified metal spoon. The plane was about 45 minutes from Boston when the crew received an alarm that a side door on the aircraft was disarmed, according to court documents. One flight attendant noticed the door's locking handle had been moved. Another saw Torres near the door and believed he had moved the handle. Cabin pressure during flight prevents airplane doors from opening. Torres started loudly rambling that his father was Dracula, that he wanted to be shot so he could be reincarnated and that he would kill everyone on board, another passenger said. He punched a male flight attendant, who felt the metal spoon in Torres' hand hit him on his shirt collar and tie three times, according to court documents. No one was injured. Torres was eventually subdued and restrained by other passengers. He was arrested when the flight landed at Boston Logan International Airport, authorities said. Torres could be sentenced up to life in prison. A lawyer for Torres could not be reached for comment. Torres has spent time in mental health facilities, according to court records. The police chief in his hometown said officers have dealt with him several times since 2014, mostly over family issues and mental health episodes. During one court appearance after his arrest, a federal judge ruled that Torres was not competent to stand trial and that he needed additional treatment. Magistrate Judge Judith Dein based her decision on a mental health evaluation of Torres and her own observations.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 02:06:50+00:00	[ "Alabama", "Donald Trump", "Louisiana", "Indictments", "Immigration", "Prisons", "Sama Ebrahimi Bajgani", "United States government", "Legal proceedings", "U.S. Department of State", "Politics", "Government programs", "Race and ethnicity", "David Rozas", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Iranian student in Alabama to self-deport despite withdrawal of initial charge behind his arrest By Safiyah Riddle May 9th, 2025, 02:06 AM --- MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An Iranian mechanical engineering student at the University of Alabama has decided to self-deport after six weeks in a Louisiana detention center despite the government dropping a charge behind his initial arrest, his lawyer and fiancee said. Alireza Doroudi was detained by immigration officials in March as part of President Donald Trump's widespread immigration crackdown and has been held at a facility in Jena, Louisiana, over 300 miles (480 kilometers) from where he lived with his fiancee in Alabama. At the time the State Department said Doroudi posed "significant national security concerns." Doroudi's lawyer, David Rozas, said the government has not offered any evidence to support that claim, however. Doroudi's visa was revoked in June 2023. Officials did not give a reason and ignored numerous inquiries from him that year, according to his fiancee, Sama Ebrahimi Bajgani. Back then the University of Alabama advised Doroudi that he was legally allowed to stay but would not be allowed to re-enter if he left, Bajgani added. This spring the government filed two charges against Doroudi to justify deporting him, saying his visa was revoked and he was not "in status" as a student, Rozas said. On Thursday a U.S. government attorney withdrew the first of those and said the visa revocation was "prudential," meaning it would not go into effect until after he leaves the country — in line with what the university told Doroudi earlier. Rozas said he has submitted evidence disputing the remaining accusation, that he is not an active student. A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on the case, including Rozas' characterization of the initial arrest as an error. The judge in the case, Maithe Gonzalez, gave both sides until the end of May to refile motions and denied Doroudi's request to redetermine eligibility for bond. Doroudi decided to give up rather than continue to fight deportation. "He told me that if they let him to go out, there was a good chance that he would have fought his case for the sake of other students and for the sake of himself," Bajgani said afterward by phone. "They just want to make him tired so he can deport himself." Bajgani, who drove 11 hours round-trip to attend the hourlong hearing, echoed Rozas' confusion about why Doroudi was targeted for deportation, saying he has no criminal record, entered the country legally and was not politically outspoken like other students who have been targeted. She affectionately described her fiance as a "nerd" and "a really big thinker" who spent long days in the lab and enjoys anime. He does not deserve what happened to him, she said, and now the life they built in Alabama is over. "I am not happy about the whole thing that happened to us, and I need time to grieve for what I am going to put behind and leave," Bajgani said. "All the dreams, friendships and dreams we had with each other." In a letter to Bajgani from behind bars in April, Doroudi called his detention a "pure injustice." "I didn't cause any trouble in this country," he said. "I didn't enter illegally. I followed all the legal paths." Rozas said he has not seen such a case in his 21 years as an immigration attorney. He accused authorities of denying his client due process and forcing him to choose between indefinite detention and self-deporting. "I'm absolutely devastated," Rozas said, "and I think it's a travesty of justice." ___ 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	2025-05-01 16:57:52+00:00	[ "Harvey Weinstein", "Miriam Haley", "Jennifer Bonjean", "Legal proceedings", "Assault", "New York City Wire", "Entertainment", "Cannes Film Festival", "Mimi Haleyi", "Jessica Mann", "Kaja Sokola", "MeToo", "Sexual assault", "Trials" ]	# Harvey Weinstein's lawyers get their turn to question accuser Miriam Haley at #MeToo retrial By Jennifer Peltz and Michael R. Sisak May 1st, 2025, 04:57 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein 's lawyers got their turn Thursday to question a woman who alleges the one-time Hollywood heavyweight held her down and forced oral sex on her nearly two decades ago. Miriam Haley, testifying for a third day at Weinstein's rape retrial, was grilled about details of her recollections — such as exactly how she once propped open an apartment building door — and the bigger picture of her story. Defense lawyer Jennifer Bonjean underscored that Haley, who was then looking for entertainment production work, stayed in touch with Weinstein despite feeling humiliated when he complimented her legs and asked for a massage at a meeting a few months before the alleged 2006 assault. "You understood these were sexual overtures?" Bonjean asked. Haley said she did. "You rebuffed them, and he still gave you his phone number, right?" "Yes," said Haley, who got a short gig on the Weinstein-produced "Project Runway" shortly after that meeting, which happened in his company's hotel suite during the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Haley has repeatedly testified that she was pursuing only job opportunities, nothing else, from Weinstein. Bonjean also sparred with the witness over her decision to get a lawyer and hold a press conference airing her allegations as the #MeToo movement exploded in October 2017, fueled by other women's claims that the Oscar-winning producer had sexually assaulted or harassed them. Weinstein, 73, has pleaded not guilty and denies sexually assaulting anyone. His lawyers argue that all of his accusers consented to sexual encounters in hopes of getting work in show business. Haley, who has also gone by the name Mimi Haleyi, is the first of three accusers expected to testify at the retrial. She is reprising and adding some new details to testimony that led to Weinstein's since-overturned 2020 conviction. She testified Wednesday that Weinstein assaulted her after inviting her to his apartment for what she expected to be a friendly, professional meeting. She said he pushed her onto a bed, ignoring her pleas of: "No, no — it's not going to happen." She and two friends testified that she told them soon after that Weinstein had sexually assaulted her. Haley testified that she took a prearranged flight to Los Angeles on Weinstein's dime the next day, and a few weeks later agreed to meet him at a Manhattan hotel. She said she had expected to talk in the lobby, but was instead directed to his room, where she says she had unwanted, but not forced, sex with him. Even after that, Haley testified, she kept in touch, sometimes sending emails signed "Lots of love" to Weinstein and his assistant. She said that she was still trying to capitalize professionally on knowing Weinstein and that she "suppressed a lot of things" to cope with them. Bonjean pointed out Thursday that when Haley went public in 2017, she didn't mention her subsequent sexual encounter with Weinstein, nor their continued contact. "You told the press only part of the story, correct?" Bonjean asked. "I told the part that was relevant to what I was trying to share," Haley said. She denied Bonjean's suggestion that she spoke out in hopes of suing Weinstein, though she later sued and got a roughly $475,000 settlement. Focusing on the Cannes meeting, Bonjean pressed Haley on what to make of the fact that she had secured a meeting with a top producer while she had limited experience herself. "So, as somebody in my position, I should have turned it down, is what you're saying?" Haley shot back. "I'm not saying you should have done anything," Bonjean replied. She will step away from Weinstein's defense team to attend to another trial after she finishes questioning Haley, who is due back on the stand Friday. Weinstein's retrial includes charges related to Haley and another accuser from the original trial, Jessica Mann, who alleges Weinstein raped her in 2013. He's also being tried, for the first time, for allegedly forcing oral sex on former model Kaja Sokola in 2006. Mann and Sokola also are expected to testify. The Associated Press generally does not name people who allege they've been sexually assaulted unless they give permission for their names to be used. Haley, Mann and Sokola have done so.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 04:04:19+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Rumeysa Ozturk", "Mahmoud Khalil", "Protests and demonstrations", "United States government", "Colleges and universities", "Israel-Hamas war", "Israel", "Vermont", "Law enforcement", "United States", "New York City Wire", "Israel government", "Prisons", "Education", "Race and ethnicity", "Hamas", "Courts", "War and unrest", "Democracy", "Government and politics", "Immigration", "Claire Shipman", "Politics", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Freed Palestinian student accuses Columbia University of inciting violence By Holly Ramer and Amanda Swinhart May 9th, 2025, 04:04 AM --- MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A Palestinian student arrested as he was about to finalize his U.S. citizenship accused Columbia University on Thursday of eroding democracy with its handling of campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war. Mohsen Mahdawi, 34, who led anti-war protests at the Ivy League school in New York in 2023 and 2024, spent 16 days in a Vermont prison before a judge ordered him released on April 30. On Friday, an appeals court in New York denied the government's request to halt that order, saying the Trump administration's jurisdictional arguments were unlikely to succeed and that it hadn't shown that Mahdawi's release has caused irreparable harm. "Individual liberty substantially outweighs the government's weak assertions of administrative and logistical costs," wrote the three-judge panel at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Trump administration has said Mahdawi should be deported because his activism threatens its foreign policy goals, but the judge who released him on bail ruled that he has raised a "substantial claim" that the government arrested him to stifle speech with which it disagrees. Mahdawi spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday, a day after pro-Palestinian protestors clashed with campus security guards inside the university's main library. At least 80 people were taken into custody, police said. Mahdawi said instead of being a "beacon of hope," the university is inciting violence against students. "Columbia University is participating in the destruction of the democratic system," Mahdawi said in the interview. "They are supporting the initiatives and the agenda of the Trump administration, and they are punishing and torturing their students." A spokesperson for Columbia University, which in March announced sweeping policy changes related to protests following Trump administration threats to revoke its federal funding, declined to comment Thursday beyond the response of the school's acting president to Wednesday's protests. The acting president, Claire Shipman, said the protesters who had holed up inside a library reading room were asked repeatedly to show identification and to leave, but they refused. The school then asked police in "to assist in securing the building and the safety of our community," she said in a statement Wednesday evening, calling the protest actions "outrageous" and a disruption to students for final exams. Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident, was born in a refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and moved to the United States in 2014. At Columbia, he organized campus protests and co-founded the Palestinian Student Union with Mahmoud Khalil, another Palestinian permanent resident of the U.S. and graduate student who was arrested in March. On April 14, Mahdawi had taken a written citizenship test, answered verbal questions and signed a document about the pledge of allegiance at an immigration office in Colchester when his interviewer left the room. Masked and armed agents then entered and arrested him, he said. Though he had suspected a trap, the moment was still shocking, he said, triggering a cascade of contrasting emotions. "Light and darkness, cold and hot. Having rights or not having rights at all," he said. Immigration authorities have detained college students from around the country since the first days of the Trump administration, many of whom participated in campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war. Mahdawi was among the first to win release from custody after challenging his arrest. In another case, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in favor of Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk, upholding an order to transfer her from a Louisiana detention center back to New England to determine whether her rights were violated and if she should be released. Mahdawi said his message to the Turkish student and others was "stay positive and don't let this injustice shake your belief in the inevitability of justice." "People are working hard. Communities are mobilizing," he said. "The justice system has signaled to America with my case, and with Rumeysa's yesterday with the Second Circuit, that justice is functioning and checks and balances is still in function." Mahdawi's release, which is being challenged by the government, allows him to travel outside of his home state of Vermont and attend his graduation from Columbia in New York later this month. He said he plans to do so, though he believes the administration has turned its back on him and rejected the work of a student diplomacy council he served on alongside Jewish, Israeli and Lebanese students. "I plan to attend the graduation because it is a message," he said. "This is a message that education is hope, education is light, and there is no power in the world that should take that away from us."
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 16:24:08+00:00	[ "Democratic Republic of the Congo", "Rwanda", "Tanzania", "Democratic Republic of the Congo government", "South Africa government", "Military and defense", "South Africa", "Olivier Nduhungirehe", "Rebellions and uprisings" ]	# South Africa says its peacekeeping troops are withdrawing from rebel-held eastern Congo May 1st, 2025, 04:24 PM --- CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The South African armed forces said Thursday they had begun withdrawing their peacekeeping troops from rebel-controlled eastern Congo. The South African National Defense Force said the troops began moving out earlier this week and would travel through neighboring Rwanda to Tanzania and fly home from there. Peacekeeping troops from Malawi and Tanzania have also started withdrawing from Congo. The three countries contributed soldiers to a southern African peacekeeping force but they had been left trapped in eastern Congo after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels launched an offensive in late January and took control of the strategic city of Goma. Fourteen South African and three Malaiwan soldiers were killed in fighting with M23 in January. The southern African regional body decided in March to end its peacekeeping mission early and bring the troops home. Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said on X that his country was providing safe passage and an escort for the peacekeepers and their equipment. On Wednesday, hundreds of stranded Congolese government soldiers and police officers, along with their families, were also starting to be transferred from Goma back to the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which was escorting them. M23 controls Goma and a second major city in eastern Congo and is supported by around 4,000 troops from Rwanda, according to experts from the United Nations. Congo and Rwanda have held talks mediated by Qatar and supported by the United States and say they are working toward a peace agreement. ___ AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 06:51:44+00:00	[ "Poland", "Donald Tusk", "Andrzej Duda", "Military and defense", "Poland government", "Global elections", "Conservatism", "Legislation", "Elections", "Politics", "Voting", "Government policy", "Business" ]	# A look at the leading candidates for Poland's next president By Vanessa Gera May 14th, 2025, 06:51 AM --- WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland holds a presidential election Sunday as the conservative incumbent Andrzej Duda nears the end of his second and final term. If none of the 13 candidates wins at least 50% of the vote, a runoff will be held June 1 between the top two. All signs indicate it will be a showdown between Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski and conservative historian Karol Nawrocki. While much of the power in Poland lies with the prime minister and legislature, the presidency is far more than ceremonial, with influence over foreign policy and military affairs and the ability to veto legislation. Here is a look at the top four candidates: ## Rafał Trzaskowski, the liberal mayor of Warsaw Trzaskowski, a political ally of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, has been leading in polls with support just above 30% — a clear edge over his two main rivals, both conservative nationalists. Supporters of the 53-year-old praise his pro-European stance and his role in modernizing Warsaw, which has seen significant infrastructure and cultural investment during his tenure. However, Poland remains a largely conservative, Catholic country. Trzaskowski's liberal views — particularly his support for LGBTQ+ rights and participation in Pride parades — alienate some voters outside urban centers. He also faces criticism over local governance, including allegations of inefficiency, controversial real estate management and perceived wasteful spending. In a runoff, he could expect the bulk of right-wing voters to coalesce behind the other candidate. Trzaskowski could also be vulnerable to voter apathy among centrists and progressives who are frustrated with Tusk's inability to deliver on key campaign promises, such as loosening Poland's strict abortion law. This is the second presidential campaign for Trzaskowski after Duda narrowly defeated him five years ago. ## Karol Nawrocki, a conservative histo Nawrocki, 42, is the candidate representing Poland's conservative Law and Justice party. The historian currently heads the Institute of National Remembrance, where he angered Russia with efforts to topple Soviet-era memorials. He previously directed the Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk, putting his national conservative stamp on the institution. His academic work has focused on anti-communist resistance and organized crime in communist-era Poland. He is not a party member, and his candidacy represents the Law and Justice party's strategy to present a fresh face as it aims to regain influence. The party ruled for eight years but lost power to Tusk's coalition in 2023. Nawrocki's campaign has been marred by controversies. Journalists revealed that in 2018, under the pseudonym "Tadeusz Batyr," he published a book on a notorious gangster. In a television interview, Batyr — with his face blurred and his voice altered — praised Nawrocki's work without disclosing they were the same person. Separately Nawrocki, using his real identity, praised Batyr's work. Nawrocki has also been linked to a scandal involving the acquisition of a Gdansk apartment from an elderly pensioner named Jerzy. Allegations suggest Nawrocki promised to care for Jerzy in return but failed to fulfill the commitment, leading the man to end up in a city-funded retirement home. Journalists uncovered the story after Nawrocki claimed in a debate that he owned only one home, and the explanations he has given to explain the existence of his second apartment have shifted — creating a clear impression of impropriety that his competitors have seized on. ## Sławomir Mentzen, a far-right firebrand and beer entrepreneur At 38, Sławomir Mentzen has emerged as a prominent figure in the presidential race, leveraging his savvy use of social media platforms to connect with younger voters. His sleek videos and populist messaging have resonated with many young people, especially men. Mentzen also has been actively touring the country, aiming to broaden his appeal to older demographics. The rise of his Confederation party coincides with a broader surge of populist right-wing movements across Europe. However, Mentzen's political journey has not been without controversy. In 2019, he made headlines with a statement saying: "We don't want Jews, homosexuals, abortion, taxes or the European Union." While he later said the remark was taken out of context, it has continued to shadow him. Although the Confederation party has emphasized its free-market positions and distanced itself from some extreme elements, many Poles remain wary of Mentzen's past statements. He experienced an early surge in the polls that faded after he advocated for the introduction of tuition fees at state universities, a stance that proved unpopular given Poland's tradition of free higher education. He also has taken a hard-line position on abortion, opposing it even in cases of rape — a view that for many went too far. Mentzen is also a successful entrepreneur. He has degrees in economics and physics and owns a brewery in the central city of Torun that has produced beers with names such as "White IPA Matters," "Hate Speech" and "Bitcoin." The "White IPA Matters" beer had a marketing campaign featuring a Black bartender, triggering controversy. In a personal revelation, Mentzen disclosed in 2024 that he has autism. He shared that while he possesses strong concentration skills, he sometimes struggles with interpreting others' emotions. ## Szymon Hołownia, parliament speaker with a showman's flair Szymon Hołownia, 48, is a former television personality who transitioned into politics, bringing charisma and a fresh face to the political scene. Once a seminary student, he became widely known as the co-host of Poland's version of "Got Talent." His political journey began in earnest with his candidacy in the 2020 presidential election, where he secured nearly 14% of the vote to finish third. In 2020, Hołownia founded the Poland 2050 movement, which evolved into a political party. In the 2023 election, the party joined forces with the conservative agrarian Polish People's Party to create the Third Way coalition, which then joined Tusk's coalition. Hołownia was elected as the speaker of the Sejm, Poland's lower house of parliament. His showman's flair energized Poles hungry for new faces in a political scene dominated by many of the same figures for decades, including Tusk. Captivated citizens began watching live sessions of parliament online, drawn by his energy and wit. Some analysts say his decision to join Tusk's government, however, has undermined his image as a refreshing outsider.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 07:03:04+00:00	[ "Homicide", "Pakistan", "Crime", "Law enforcement", "Islam", "South Asia", "Amir Mahmood", "Pakistan government" ]	# Pakistani police search for the suspect in the killing of an Ahmadi minority doctor May 19th, 2025, 07:03 AM --- LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police stepped up their search Monday for the suspect in the killing of a doctor from the country's tiny Ahmadi minority, the latest in a string of deadly attacks targeting the community. The physician was gunned down at a private hospital where he worked in the eastern city of Sargodha on Friday; the gunman fled the scene. The Ahmadi religion is an offshoot of Islam but Pakistan declared Ahmadis non-Muslims in 1974. There are about 500,000 Ahmadis in Pakistan, a nation of 250 million. No one claimed responsibility for Friday's killing but supporters of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, a radical Islamist party, have carried out many of the attacks on Ahmadis, accusing them of blasphemy. Blasphemy carries the death penalty in Pakistan and even just rumors or allegations of insulting Islam can incite mobs to deadly violence. Sargodha police official, Sikandar Ali, said the motive behind the killing of Dr. Sheikh Mahmood remains unclear. An investigation is ongoing, he said. Mahmood's killing was the third attack on Ahmadis in Pakistan in since April, said Amir Mahmood, a spokesman for the Ahmadi community. He urged the government to protect Ahmadis, whose places of worship and even graveyards are also often desecrated by extremist Sunni groups.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 11:39:35+00:00	[ "Antonio Guterres", "United Nations", "Donald Trump", "Cyprus", "South Sudan", "Lebanon", "Politics", "Kosovo", "Johann Wadephul", "Democratic Republic of the Congo" ]	# UN chief pleads with countries to pay their share for peacekeeping, points to financial problems May 13th, 2025, 11:39 AM --- BERLIN (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres told countries that the world body's peacekeeping operation is "only as strong as member states' commitment to it" as he pleaded with them Tuesday to pay their share. The United Nations' peackeeping department currently leads 11 operations, in countries including Congo, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Lebanon, Cyprus and Kosovo. The budget for nine of those operations during the fiscal year that ends on June 30 totals $5.6 billion, 8.2% lower than a year earlier. Each of the U.N.'s 193 member countries is legally obliged to pay its share toward peacekeeping. Guterres argued that, with a budget "representing a tiny fraction of global military spending — around one half of one per cent — U.N. Peacekeeping remains one of the most effective and cost-effective tools to build international peace and security." "But it's only as strong as member states' commitment to it," he added at the opening of a two-day, German-hosted conference of ministers to discuss the future of peacekeeping. "Unfortunately, peacekeeping operations have been facing serious liquidity problems. It is absolutely essential that all member states respect their financial obligations, paying their contributions in full and on time." Guterres didn't offer details of the problems, but acknowledged that "these are tough times for the financing of our work across the board." More broadly, the U.N. has been scrambling to respond to funding cuts for aid operations from its biggest donor, the United States, under President Donald Trump's administration. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that his country, like many others, "is prepared to pledge additional resources" for peacekeeping. But he said there should also be an effort to make missions "more efficient and more focused" through clearer mandates, cutting back on bureaucracy and avoiding duplication. ___ This version corrects the figure in the second paragraph to billion instead of million.
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 20:22:34+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Joe Biden", "U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation", "United States government", "Government surveillance", "United States", "Civil rights", "Government and politics", "Human rights", "United States Congress" ]	# Report finds big drop in FBI's use of intelligence database to search for information on Americans By The Associated Press May 6th, 2025, 08:22 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — New federal statistics show a steep decrease in the number of times the FBI searched a vast foreign intelligence repository for information about Americans and others in the United States last year. The number of "U.S. person queries" plunged from 57,094 in 2023 to 5,518 in 2024, according to the report published Monday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The report details the use of a surveillance program, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, that allows the U.S. government to collect without a warrant the communications of targeted foreigners located in other countries — including when they are in contact with Americans or other people inside the U.S. National security officials have said the program is vital to protecting the country, but civil liberties advocates have condemned it as a violation of Americans' privacy. The report concludes that the decrease is due in large part to the adoption of tighter rules governing the program, including a requirement that the FBI enter a justification for a database query about an American before conducting it. The numbers have dropped consistently in recent years. In 2022, the FBI racked up nearly 120,000 U.S. person queries. Former President Joe Biden signed legislation reauthorizing the surveillance law last year after debates over civil liberty protections nearly forced the statute to lapse. A key source of concern — uniting an unusual alliance of far-right Republican supporters of President Donald Trump with Democratic champions of civil liberties — is that FBI analysts have repeatedly run improper or unjustified database queries about people in the U.S. The surveillance tool was first authorized in 2008. The latest figures are included in an annual report, mandated by law, that provides statistical data about a broad array of the U.S. government's surveillance powers. The FBI had no immediate comment on the report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-18 15:32:24+00:00	[ "Boat and ship accidents", "Eric Adams", "Charles Schumer", "Baltimore", "New York", "New York City Wire", "Mara del Rosario Hernndez Jacome", "Sal Mercogliano", "Donald Trump" ]	# Turbulent waters may have contributed to ship's crash into Brooklyn Bridge By Joshua Goodman and Susan Haigh May 18th, 2025, 03:32 PM --- When a Mexican navy tall ship crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge, it was maneuvering in turbulent waters. The tide had just turned, and a fast current was heading up the East River as a 10 mph wind set in. While such hazards are easily handled by an experienced captain, mistakes can be costly in the heavily transited New York harbor, where narrow, curvy channels, winds howling off the jagged Manhattan skyline and whirlpool-like eddies can combine to make for difficult passage. In the case of the 300-foot (90-meter) Cuauhtemoc, two sailors were killed and 19 were injured Saturday evening when the training ship struck the iconic bridge, toppling the vessel's three masts like dominoes as it drifted toward a crowded pier. It's unknown what caused the collision, and an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board is likely to take months. But footage of the collision shot by horrified onlookers show the ship hurtling into the bridge in reverse at full speed, suggesting the captain lost control of the engine. There are also questions about whether a tugboat escort peeled away too soon and should have been rigged to the ship or stayed with it until it headed out to sea. Similar tugboat concerns emerged when a large cargo vessel crashed into a bridge in Baltimore last year. Sal Mercogliano, a former merchant mariner who has powered multiple ships through the New York harbor, said all those "worst-case scenarios" — the ship's height, a strong current, heavy wind and the absence of a more controlled tugboat escort — all contributed to the tragedy. "The prudent thing would've been to leave two hours earlier, when the tide was going out. That would've been the ideal time," said Mercogliano, who writes a widely followed shipping blog. "But I don't think they ever envisioned that their engine would've propelled them into the bridge." Still, he said an even deadlier catastrophe was avoided by the ship's steel rigging, which prevented the masts from falling into the water, as well as the fact that the crew stayed harnessed in position rather than taking the risk that some members could tumble from a 12-story height as they scrambled down the rat lines. "You could have had guys strapped in drowning in the river," he said. "This could have been a lot worse." Mexican authorities told the family of América Yamilet Sánchez that the 20-year-old sailor died after falling from one of the Cuauhtemoc's masts, her aunt María del Rosario Hernández Jacome said Sunday at the family's home in Xalapa in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Earlier in the day Saturday, Sánchez, who was studying engineering at the Mexican naval academy, had spoken with her mother and excitedly told her that the ship's next stop would be Iceland. Her parents traveled to Mexico City on Sunday to arrange for the return of their daughter's body, Hernández said. Relatives and friends arrived at the family's home carrying flowers. A small altar was set up on the patio with a photograph of Sánchez and candles. ## Ship was on a goodwill tour The Cuauhtemoc visited New York as part of a 15-nation global goodwill tour and was departing when it struck the bridge at around 8:20 p.m., briefly halting traffic atop the span. Mayor Eric Adams said the 142-year-old bridge escaped major damage, but at least 19 of the 277 sailors aboard the ship needed medical treatment. Two of the four people who suffered serious injuries later died. The Cuauhtemoc sailed for the first time in 1982. It is almost 300 feet long and its main mast has a height of 160 feet (50 meters), about 30 feet (9 meters) higher than the span of the Brooklyn Bridge. The vessel, which arrived in New York on May 13, backed out from the tourist-heavy South Street Seaport, where it had been docked for several days welcoming visitors. It's unknown if the Mexican captain requested a dock pilot to assist with the unmooring, but a harbor pilot was on board to sail it through the harbor, as required. Tracking data from Marine Traffic and eyewitness videos show that an 1,800-horsepower tugboat, the Charles D. McAllister, gently nudged the vessel as it backed astern into the channel but dropped off before the vessel turned. Seconds later, as the ship continued drifting in the wrong direction, the tugboat tried to overtake the vessel but arrived too late to wedge itself between the fast-moving ship and the Brooklyn riverbank. McAllister Towing, the company that would have operated the tug and been responsible for any docking pilot aboard, declined to comment. Following last year's crash in Baltimore, Mercogliano said, port authorities there tightened rules to require a tug escort and slower speeds for vessels sailing through the harbor entrance past the partially collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge. The ship in that crash, the MV Dali, was a 95,000-ton container ship about 50 times heavier than the Cuauhtemoc. ## Some vessels avoid harbor because of low bridges Accidents in New York harbor are rare because large cargo ships and modern warships generally avoid the area due to the low height of the bridges. But in July 2026, the harbor is expected to play host to the largest-ever flotilla of tall ships from around the world to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. Mercogliano said investigators will evaluate whether the Mexican crew performed the recommended safety checks prior to their departure. Typically that involves testing the engine's propellers, rudder and propulsion six to 12 hours in advance to make sure everything is working properly and nothing is left to chance. "It's not like your car where you're just throwing your shifter," he said. On Sunday, the damaged ship was moored at Pier 35 in lower Manhattan. A stream of people, including those who appeared to be investigators and crew, could be seeing getting on and off the vessel. The Coast Guard said damage to the Cuauhtémoc was being assessed. The Coast Guard established a 50-yard (46-meter) safety zone around the ship as the investigation by both the U.S. and Mexican governments got underway. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat and the Senate minority leader, said any investigation should look into whether the Trump administration's federal hiring freeze affected the U.S. Coast Guard's staffing levels, safety procedures and accident-response readiness. "After being fully briefed on last night's Brooklyn Bridge accident, one thing is predominantly clear: There are more questions than answers as it relates to exactly how this accident occurred," Schumer said. ___ Associated Press Writer Alba Alemán in Xalapa, Mexico, contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 10:53:41+00:00	[ "Workplace culture", "Jobs and careers", "Be Well", "Lisa Grouette", "Stephanie Strausser", "Amanda Szmuc", "Business", "Jennifer Tosti-Kharas", "Health", "Alana Atchison", "Lifestyle" ]	# What to do if you're in a toxic workplace By Cathy Bussewitz May 15th, 2025, 10:53 AM --- NEW YORK (AP) — One week into a new job, Lisa Grouette discovered something missing come Sunday night: the sinking feeling of dread she used to experience before going to work every Monday. Groutte spent 10 years at an insurance agency with a boss whom she alleges screamed at her, slammed his hands on the desk, insulted her appearance and punched things. He falsely accused her of taking money and threatened to withhold an employment recommendation if she quit, she says. Fearing she wouldn't land another job if she left the toxic workplace, she stayed. "It was this implied, 'You're stuck,'" Grouette, 48, recalled. But eventually, she found a way out. When a full-time job opened up at a newspaper where she worked a part-time photography job, she resigned from the insurance agency. The new position paid $400 less per month, but Grouette reduced her expenses to make it work. "You can't put a price tag on it," she said. "It was the best 400 bucks a month I've ever spent, worth every penny. I was a little tight at first, but it didn't matter because I was happy." ## Growing intolerance of toxic behavior As mental health awareness increases, so are conversations about about what constitutes unhealthy behavior and the kinds of treatment people will not — or should not — tolerate for a steady paycheck. "We're developing language now around things like toxic workplaces," said Jennifer Tosti-Kharas, a professor of organizational behavior at Babson College in Massachusetts. Younger generations entering the workforce, including millennials and members of Generation Z, are less willing to endure bullying behavior from colleagues and managers, and better at establishing boundaries, she said. At the start of her own career, "if I encountered toxicity in the workplace, I had more of a 'Suck it up' attitude," said Tosti-Kharas, who identifies as a member of Generation X. "I don't think we were as vocal about taking care of our mental health as we should have been." ## How do you identify a toxic work environment? Conflicts and difficult relationships may be inevitable in any work environment. But there's a difference between an occasional disagreement and persistent abuse. "What makes something toxic: it's more pervasive, more consistent over time," Tosti-Kharas said. "You may have tried some things and it's not getting better. ... It's very deeply entrenched." Possible indications of an emotionally harmful workplace include a widespread lack of trust and fear of being shot down if you speak up, she said. Loud screamers aren't the only kind of toxic co-workers and supervisors. There are quieter forms of toxicity, such as passive-aggressive behavior by leaders who use sarcasm, backhanded compliments, indirect criticism and exclusion to control their employees, according to Alana Atchison, a clinical psychologist based in Chicago. "It is a relationship where you can't communicate clearly or directly, so you have to silence yourself. You can't say truly what you need to say and feel safe," Atchison said. To spot a potentially toxic environment when applying for a new job, follow your gut instincts and consider warning signs. For example, frequent ads for the same position may reflect high turnover resulting from a negative environment. You can also search employee reviews online. "I'm reading Glassdoor reviews like crazy to see what the environment is like, what the culture is like, on anyplace I'm applying to, because I can't lose my hair again over a job," said Grouette, who recently was laid off after several successful years at the newspaper. ## What might explain toxic behavior? When on the receiving end of toxicity, consider whether the offending behavior says more about the person perpetuating it than the recipient. "It's almost like a smokescreen to hide their deficits," Atchison said. "If someone feels insecure about their role or fears being overshadowed, they might resort to undermining others, gossiping or sabotaging projects to regain a sense of control or safety." Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Atchison's clients have increasingly complained about toxic work environments. She attributes that in part to the social isolation that accompanied lockdowns and restrictions on public activities. "Socializing is a skill set, and that skill set has declined," she said. ## Voice your concerns If you find yourself in a toxic work situation, talking about it with a trusted friend or professional therapist can help you process what is happening and develop a plan to deal with it, instead of letting it fester in your mind. Stephanie Strausser, 42, a video production manager, said she sought support from friends and family members when she worked under an extreme micromanager who made her feel unsafe and whose decisions she considered unethical. "Don't hide it or keep it in. Talk to people. Even if you're talking to ChatGPT," Strausser advises those who find themselves in similar circumstances. "Don't internalize it. And don't take someone's perception as fact." Amanda Szmuc, a Philadelphia lawyer who considers some of her past work environments to have been toxic, recommends documenting your concerns in case it becomes necessary to escalate them. Writing down the details of troubling interactions as they happen and keeping copies of inappropriate messages or approved meeting recordings may come in handy if the human resources department gets involved, for example. Maintaining a record may also help you avoid gaslighting and reinforce your determination to protect yourself. ## Set boundaries If leaving a toxic environment isn't financially possible or you want to try to make your circumstances more bearable, think about exploring ways to limit your interaction with the difficult party may be an option. Possibilities may include negotiating a role that puts distance between you and the toxic person, such as working different shifts or on different projects, Tosti-Kharas said. You can also set deadlines for yourself to keep things from deteriorating, according to Szmuc. Examples: "I'm going to give this two weeks. Is there any improvement?" she said. "Is there a way internally where I can maybe change my circumstances or get someone else's opinion?" ## Find a way out Ideally, an employee who feels mistreated could appeal to someone from human resources or the offending employee's manager with evidence to show a pattern of conduct violations and disciplinary action would be taken, Tosti-Kharas said. But that doesn't always happen, leaving the reporting party in close proximity with the person they reported. "In the real world, you may realize they are unlikely to go anywhere, and it's you who has to go somewhere," Tosti-Kharas said. In extreme situations, it's best to look for another job, she said. If an inspector found radon in your house, "you wouldn't say, 'Let me try to work with the radon,' or 'How can I keep it there but maybe lessen the effects?'" she said. "You would get the toxin out of the situation or you would get yourself out of the situation." Most people can't afford to leave their jobs without another one lined up. Carving out time to apply for different jobs is difficult when you feel under assault but also is empowering and may lead to a better situation. "If somebody gives you an impression that you're not able to leave this job, that's just not true," Grouette said. "Those sorts of people don't have the reach or respect that they claim to have, because if they're volatile to you, they're volatile to others." ____ Share your stories and questions about workplace wellness at [email protected]. Follow AP's Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 13:59:11+00:00	[ "Audra McDonald", "Jasmine Amy Rogers", "Jennifer Simard", "Jon Michael Hill", "George Clooney", "Daniel Dae Kim", "Louis McCartney", "Jamie Lloyd", "Laura Donnelly", "Bob Odenkirk", "David Cumming", "Sam Mendes", "Tony Awards", "Danya Taymor", "Sadie Sink", "Felix Hagan", "Sarah Snook", "Cynthia Erivo", "David Cromer", "Christopher Gattelli", "Musicals", "New York City Wire", "Marco Pennette", "Conrad Ricamora", "Marco Ramirez", "Mia Farrow", "LaTanya Richardson", "Natalie Venetia Belcon", "Erik Della Penna", "Noel Carey", "Sam Pinkleton", "Francis Jue", "Darren Criss", "Taylor Trensch", "Gabriel Ebert", "Tod Williams", "Michael Arden", "Tom Francis", "Glenn Davis", "Will Aronson", "Gracie Lawrence", "Tony Award-Nominations-List", "Jonathan Groff", "Arts and entertainment", "Jeremy Jordan", "Megan Hilty", "James Monroe", "Jeb Brown", "Nicole Scherzinger", "Jerry Mitchell", "David Yazbek", "Justina Machado", "Joy Huerta", "Joshua Bergasse", "Brooks Ashmanskas", "Andrew Durand", "Music", "Harry Lennix", "Joy Woods", "Danny Burstein", "Benjamin Velez", "Julia Knitel", "Camille A. Brown", "Jessica Hecht", "Entertainment" ]	# The nominees for 2025 Tony Awards By The Associated Press May 1st, 2025, 01:59 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Tony Award nominations have been announced, and the five shows competing for best musical are "Buena Vista Social Club," "Dead Outlaw," "Death Becomes Her," "Maybe Happy Ending" and "Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical." The best new play category is made up of "English," "The Hills of California," "John Proctor Is the Villain," "Oh, Mary!" and "Purpose." The leading lady in a musical category is fierce, with Megan Hilty, Audra McDonald, Jasmine Amy Rogers, Nicole Scherzinger and Jennifer Simard facing off. As is the leading actor in a play category, which has George Clooney, Cole Escola, Jon Michael Hill, Daniel Dae Kim, Harry Lennix and Louis McCartney. The Tony Awards will be handed out June 8 at Radio City Music Hall during a telecast hosted by "Wicked" star and Tony winner Cynthia Erivo. Here are select nominations for the 2025 Tony Awards, announced Thursday: ## Best Musical "Buena Vista Social Club"; "Dead Outlaw"; "Death Becomes Her"; "Maybe Happy Ending"; "Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical" ## Best Play "English"; "The Hills of California"; "John Proctor Is the Villain"; "Oh, Mary!"; "Purpose" ## Best Revival of a Play "Eureka Day"; "Romeo + Juliet"; "Thornton Wilder's Our Town"; "Yellow Face" ## Best Revival of a Musical "Floyd Collins"; "Gypsy"; "Pirates! The Penzance Musical"; "Sunset Blvd." ## Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play George Clooney, "Good Night, and Good Luck"; Cole Escola, "Oh, Mary!"; Jon Michael Hill, "Purpose"; Daniel Dae Kim, "Yellow Face"; Harry Lennix, "Purpose"; Louis McCartney, "Stranger Things: The First Shadow" ## Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play Laura Donnelly, "The Hills of California"; Mia Farrow, "The Roommate"; LaTanya Richardson Jackson, "Purpose"; Sadie Sink, "John Proctor Is the Villain"; Sarah Snook, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" ## Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical Darren Criss, "Maybe Happy Ending"; Andrew Durand, "Dead Outlaw"; Tom Francis, "Sunset Blvd."; Jonathan Groff, "Just in Time"; James Monroe Iglehart, "A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical"; Jeremy Jordan, "Floyd Collins" ## Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical Megan Hilty, "Death Becomes Her"; Audra McDonald, "Gypsy"; Jasmine Amy Rogers, "Boop! The Musical"; Nicole Scherzinger, "Sunset Blvd."; Jennifer Simard, "Death Becomes Her" ## Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical Natalie Venetia Belcon, "Buena Vista Social Club"; Julia Knitel, "Dead Outlaw"; Gracie Lawrence, "Just in Time"; Justina Machado, "Real Women Have Curves: The Musical"; Joy Woods, "Gypsy" ## Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical Brooks Ashmanskas, "Smash"; Jeb Brown, "Dead Outlaw"; Danny Burstein, "Gypsy"; Jak Malone, "Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical"; Taylor Trensch, "Floyd Collins" ## Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play Tala Ashe, "English"; Jessica Hecht, "Eureka Day"; Marjan Neshat, "English"; Fina Strazza, "John Proctor Is the Villain"; Kara Young, "Purpose" ## Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play Glenn Davis, "Purpose"; Gabriel Ebert, "John Proctor Is the Villain"; Francis Jue, "Yellow Face"; Bob Odenkirk, "Glengarry Glen Ross"; Conrad Ricamora, "Oh, Mary!" ## Best Direction of a Play Knud Adams, "English"; Sam Mendes, "The Hills of California"; Sam Pinkleton, "Oh, Mary!"; Danya Taymor, "John Proctor Is the Villain"; Kip Williams, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" ## Best Direction of a Musical Saheem Ali, "Buena Vista Social Club"; Michael Arden, "Maybe Happy Ending"; David Cromer, "Dead Outlaw"; Christopher Gattelli, "Death Becomes Her"; Jamie Lloyd, "Sunset Blvd." ## Best Choreography Joshua Bergasse, "Smash"; Camille A. Brown, "Gypsy"; Christopher Gattelli, "Death Becomes Her"; Jerry Mitchell, "Boop! The Musical"; Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, "Buena Vista Social Club" ## Best Book of a Musical "Buena Vista Social Club," Marco Ramirez; "Dead Outlaw," Itamar Moses; "Death Becomes Her," Marco Pennette; "Maybe Happy Ending," Will Aronson and Hue Park; "Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical," David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts ## Best Original Score "Dead Outlaw" (Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna); "Death Becomes Her" (Music & Lyrics: Julia Mattison and Noel Carey); "Maybe Happy Ending" (Music: Will Aronson, Lyrics: Will Aronson and Hue Park); "Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical" (Music & Lyrics: David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts); "Real Women Have Curves: The Musical" (Music & Lyrics: Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez) ___ Online: http://tonyawards.com
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 15:08:56+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Public media", "Public Broadcasting Service", "National Public Radio", "DC Wire", "John F. Kennedy", "Pat Harrison", "Katherine Maher", "Corporation for Public Broadcasting", "U.S. Department of Education", "Arts and entertainment", "Paula Kerger", "Josh Shepperd", "Tim Graham", "Politics", "Entertainment" ]	# Public broadcasting frets about the future after Trump executive order By David Bauder May 2nd, 2025, 03:08 PM --- The nation's public broadcasting system — decades-long home to Big Bird, Ken Burns documentaries and "All Things Considered" — faces the biggest crisis in its nearly 60-year history with President Donald Trump's order to slash federal subsidies. A court fight seems inevitable, with the heads of PBS, NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting all suggesting Friday that Trump's order is illegal. "We will vigorously defend our right to provide essential news, information and life-saving services to the American public," said Katherine Maher, NPR's president and CEO. "We will challenge this executive order using all means available." Her counterpart at PBS, Paula Kerger, said Trump's order was blatantly unlawful. The public broadcasting system dates back to the late 1960s, devised as an educational and public service-oriented alternative to commercial broadcasters available at the time. In his order, Trump said the system has become politically biased and time has passed it by. "Today the media landscape is filled with abundant, diverse and innovative news options," the president said in his order, issued just before midnight Thursday. "Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary, but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence." ## The focus is on news, but there could be other casualties Trump's order concentrates on news, and between PBS' "NewsHour" and a robust reporting corps at NPR, that's an important part of their operations. But public broadcasting also has entertainment programming, educational children's shows and Burns' historical documentaries. PBS and NPR get about a half-billion dollars a year in public funding funneled through the private Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Roughly 70% of that goes directly to the 330 local PBS outlets and 246 NPR stations. On average, PBS says 15% of its stations' budgets come from public funding. But there are wide variations; stations in larger markets usually get more money through philanthropy and fund drives, while smaller stations depend much more on the government. Besides Trump's order, Congress has been considering future funding levels for the public broadcasters, and the Federal Communications Commission is questioning public broadcasting efforts at corporate underwriting, said Josh Shepperd, author of the 2023 book "Shadow of the New Deal: The Victory of Public Broadcasting." "It's a three-pronged effort that is frankly very smart in its institutional understanding," Shepperd said. "They're not just going after programs that they don't like. They're going after the operations and the infrastructure that makes it possible to even air the programming." ## A ripple effect is possible, and could be local Trump's order instructs the CPB and other government agencies to "cease Federal funding" for PBS and National Public Radio and further requires that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing. Separate from the CPB grant, for example, PBS gets a grant from the U.S. Department of Education for programming that helps build the reading, math and science skills for children age 2 to 8, particularly in poor areas. The administration's plan might not threaten your favorite program — Burns gets plenty of corporate and philanthropic support — but it may impact local programming and potential growth, Shepperd said. Congressional Republicans aired some of their grievances about public broadcasting to Kerger and Maher at a public hearing in March. Such complaints have been common over the years, but the broadcasters have avoided funding cuts, in large part because members of Congress don't want to be seen as responsible if a station in their district shuts down. Who wants to be the public official who killed "Sesame Street"? Also, public pressure from constituents is minimized because most Republicans don't watch PBS or listen to NPR, said Tim Graham, director of media analysis at the conservative Media Research Center. "I have this morning habit of listening to NPR on my commute," Graham said. "I yell at the radio." For years, Graham's group has issued reports with examples of what it says is bias against conservatives. For example, during an 18-month period that ended last November, his researchers counted 162 examples of PBS journalists or contributors making reference labeling some politicians "far right" or some variation, with only six called "far left." He said he's not trying to shut down these stations, but resists them receiving public money. "Let the people who listen to it do the funding," Graham said. ## Bias concerns are taken seriously, officials say At a board meeting Friday, CPB president and CEO Pat Harrison said her agency has taken bias concerns seriously. It has increased investments in fact-based local journalism, and provided a grant to NPR to make changes in its newsroom to address issues of bias. The court fight over public broadcasting has already begun. The president earlier this week said he was firing three of the five remaining CPB board members — threatening its ability to do any work — and was immediately sued by the CPB to stop it. The executive order is also the latest move by Trump and his administration to utilize federal powers to control or hamstring institutions whose actions or viewpoints he disagrees with — particularly those related to media. Since taking office in January for a second term, Trump has ousted leaders, placed staff on administrative leave and cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to artists, libraries, museums, theaters and others, through takeovers of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Trump has also pushed to withhold federal research and education funds from universities and punish law firms unless they agree to eliminate diversity programs and other measures he has found objectionable. The move against PBS and NPR comes as Trump's administration works to dismantle the U.S. Agency for Global Media, including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which were designed to model independent news gathering globally in societies that restrict the press. Those efforts have faced pushback from federal courts, which have ruled in some cases that the Trump administration may have overstepped its authority in holding back funds appropriated to the outlets by Congress. ___ AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 03:25:35+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Public media", "Public Broadcasting Service", "Russell Vought", "National Public Radio", "Government budgets", "United States government", "Executive orders", "District of Columbia", "United States", "Paula Kerger", "Government and politics", "John F. Kennedy", "Corporation for Public Broadcasting", "Entertainment", "Lisa Mascaro", "Taxes", "Politics" ]	# Trump orders federal funding cuts to PBS and NPR May 2nd, 2025, 03:25 AM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aiming to slash public subsidies to PBS and NPR as he alleged "bias" in the broadcasters' reporting. The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies "to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS" and further requires that that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations. The White House, in a social media posting announcing the signing, said the outlets "receive millions from taxpayers to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as 'news.'" It's the latest move by Trump and his administration to utilize federal powers to control or hamstring institutions whose actions or viewpoints he disagrees with. Since taking office, Trump has ousted leaders, placed staff on administrative leave and cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to artists, libraries, museums, theaters and others, through takeovers of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Trump has also pushed to withhold federal research and education funds from universities and punish law firms unless they agreed to eliminate diversity programs and other measures Trump has found objectionable. The broadcasters get roughly half a billion dollars in public money through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and have been preparing for the possibility of stiff cuts since Trump's election, as Republicans have long complained about them. Paula Kerger, PBS' CEO and president, said in a statement last month that the Trump administration's effort to rescind funding for public media would "disrupt the essential service PBS and local member stations provide to the American people." "There's nothing more American than PBS, and our work is only possible because of the bipartisan support we have always received from Congress," she said. "This public-private partnership allows us to help prepare millions of children for success in school and in life and also supports enriching and inspiring programs of the highest quality." The Corporation for Public Broadcasting sued Trump earlier this week over his move to fire three members of its five-person board, contending that the president was exceeding his authority and that the move would deprive the board of a quorum needed to conduct business. Just two weeks ago, the White House said it would be asking Congress to rescind funding for the CPB as part of a $9.1 billion package of cuts. That package, however, which budget director Russell Vought said would likely be the first of several, has not yet been sent to Capitol Hill. The move against PBS and NPR comes as his administration has been working to dismantle the U.S. Agency for Global Media, including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which were designed to model independent news gathering globally in societies that restrict the press. Those efforts have faced pushback from federal courts, who have ruled in some cases that the Trump administration may have overstepped its authority in holding back funds appropriated to the outlets by Congress. — AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed.
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 13:32:20+00:00	[ "Europe", "Friedrich Merz", "Germany", "Donald Trump", "Germany government", "Olaf Scholz", "European Union", "Voting", "Economy", "Politics", "Business", "Pandemics", "Elections", "Carsten Brzeski", "Andrea Roemmele", "Franziska Palmas", "National debt", "International trade" ]	# Merz's stumble casts shadow over hopes for rebooting Germany's struggling economy By David Mchugh May 6th, 2025, 01:32 PM --- FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Friedrich Merz's unprecedented failure to win election as German chancellor in the first round of voting in parliament — though he won in the second — raised doubts about his new government's ability to carry through on plans to push Europe's largest economy out of stagnation. Tuesday's stumble at the start of his new coalition government between his Union bloc and the Social Democrats added uncertainty around the future of an economy that hasn't seen significant growth since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Above all, Merz had been expected to end the squabbling over spending and budgets that plagued predecessor Olaf Scholz's unruly three-party coalition that collapsed in November. His Feb. 23 election win and coalition deal seemed to provide assurance that his government could end policy paralysis and confront challenges including lagging investment in pro-growth projects, choking bureaucracy and a lack of skilled labor. But the first-round flop in parliament raised questions about how solid Merz's majority would be and whether it can pass reforms to raise growth after two years of shrinking output. The outgoing government predicted zero growth for this year. "The failed vote, and fact that it came out of the blue, have already weakened Merz significantly," said Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics. "His promise to run a much more efficient and conflict-free government ... looks much less credible now. And delivering on his economic proposals, including a big increase in defense and infrastructure spending, corporate tax cuts, bureaucracy cuts and digitalization, will be more difficult than expected," Palmas added. Merz's coalition has 328 members in the new parliament. The fact that he received only 310 votes on the first secret ballot — when he needed a majority of 316 out of 630 votes — led to speculation that some fiscally conservative legislators are resisting his post-election decision to loosen Germany's constitutional limit on deficit spending and set up a 500 billion euro fund to spend on infrastructure such as bridges, schools and rail lines. Those measures were passed in the outgoing parliament. Merz won election with 325 votes on the second try, but significant damage has been done. He is taking office "with two black eyes and shaky knees," said Andrea Roemmele, professor of communications in politics and civil society at Berlin's Hertie School. Hope that the government will quickly push ahead with new investments and reforms "has been shattered," said Carsten Brzeski, global chief of macro at ING bank: "Today's events show that not everyone seems to have understood the sense of urgency and the need to have a functioning government." For years, the debt limits constrained spending on infrastructure and was ultimately blamed for slowing growth. On top of that, China has gone from a lucrative export market for German companies to a competitor in German specialties such as autos and industrial machinery. Extensive permissions processes are blamed for slowing new business projects, while the loss of cheap Russian natural gas due to the invasion of Ukraine has raised energy costs for businesses. While the vote was "a bad surprise," some of the tough decisions on spending and the debt limit were already taken care of in the outgoing parliament, said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg bank. "The extra fiscal space exists ... today's upset will probably not affect the way the additional money for defense and infrastructure is allocated in a major way." Schmieding noted that most votes in parliament are not by secret ballot, which could prevent some of the coalition members who spurned Merz from voting against bills in parliament. The decision to set up the infrastructure fund outside the debt limit had raised hope for more government spending and an exit from stagnation. Those hopes were dampened April 2 when U.S. President Donald Trump announced a slew of new tariffs on almost all U.S. trading partners, including a 20% tariff on goods from the European Union. That immediately added to the headwinds for Germany's export-dominated economy, amid uncertainty over whether EU officials can negotiate a lower tariff rate during the 90-day pause institute by Trump before the tariffs take effect.
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 19:21:38+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Todd Blanche", "Library of Congress", "Karoline Leavitt", "James Billington", "Paul Perkins", "United States government", "United States", "DC Wire", "Shira Perlmutter", "Legal proceedings", "Entertainment", "Politics", "Robert Randolph Newlen", "Archibald MacLeish", "Carla Hayden", "Ada Limon", "Black experience", "Barack Obama", "District of Columbia" ]	# The 225-year-old Library of Congress has never had a moment like this By Hillel Italie May 15th, 2025, 07:21 PM --- The Library of Congress, a 225-year-old Washington institution, has never had a moment like this. A week ago, the Trump administration fired the longtime librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden. The man appointed by President Donald Trump to be interim librarian, Todd Blanche, may not actually be the interim librarian. And Hayden's ouster may not even be legal. Here's more about the library, Hayden's ouster and the mystery of who's in charge now: ## What is the Library of Congress? The country's oldest federal cultural institution, the Library of Congress was founded in 1800 under legislation by President John Adams and has traditionally enjoyed bipartisan backing. In addition to its billing as "the largest library in the world," it could also be called the country's unofficial memory bank. It contains more than 100 million books, recordings, images and other artifacts and offers a vast online archive, and its contents span three buildings on Capitol Hill. Each year, the library's National Film Registry chooses 25 movies "showcasing the range and diversity of American film heritage." The National Recording Registry selects for preservation sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The library also manages the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, which responds to tens of thousands of requests from Congress each year. Communications are confidential from disclosure under the "speech or debate" clause of the U.S. Constitution. Library of Congress events include an annual book festival, tours, films, exhibits and conferences. The Library of Congress is not a traditional circulating library but is instead a research library. No one under 16 can get a reader card to access the collection. Those 16 and 17 require a parent's permission. ## What does the librarian of Congress do? The librarian has a wide range of responsibilities, from overseeing the Library of Congress' collections to selecting the country's poet laureate to awarding the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song and the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. Librarians serve 10-year terms, and Hayden's was scheduled to end in 2026. Her predecessors include James Billington, Daniel Boorstin and Archibald MacLeish. ## Who was fired? Who was hired? Late last week, the Trump administration abruptly fired Hayden, the first Black person and the first woman to hold the position. Hayden, nominated by President Barack Obama in 2015 and confirmed 74-18 by the Republican-led Senate the following year, was informed via email that "your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service." More upheavals quickly followed. The White House fired U.S. Copyright Office head Shira Perlmutter, whom Hayden had appointed in 2020. The Justice Department then announced that Blanche, the deputy attorney general, had been named acting librarian of Congress and that Paul Perkins, an associate deputy attorney general and veteran Justice Department attorney, was acting director of the Copyright Office. Blanche was a member of Trump's defense team in his New York hush money trial, which ended last year in a conviction on 34 felony counts. ## Why was Hayden fired? The White House cited no specific reason in its email to her, although Trump has been purging officials he believes opposed to him and his policies. The conservative American Accountability Foundation had alleged she was promoting children's books with "radical content," and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that she was "putting inappropriate books in the library for children." A copy of virtually every book published in the U.S. during a given year is given to the Copyright Office, with the Library of Congress deciding whether to include it in the main collection. Hayden's firing was denounced by Democrats, librarians, educators and others, including the outgoing U.S. poet laureate, Ada Limón. Appointed by Hayden in 2022, Limón called her the "kindest, brightest, most generous Librarian of Congress we could have hoped for as a nation." ## Did the White House have the legal right to fire her? Despite being nominated by the president, the librarian of Congress is a legislative branch employee and appoints leaders to other positions under it, such as the assistant librarian and the director of the Copyright Office. That's why a dispute between Congress and the White House has erupted as Republican leaders sort out how much authority the president -- the head of the executive branch -- has in tapping an acting librarian. Usually, if that position is vacant, an interim librarian is chosen from the current ranks of the Library of Congress. ## Who is in charge right now? Although Blanche was announced as acting librarian, he has yet to turn up at the Library of Congress offices, according to a person with knowledge of internal operations. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The library is currently being run by Robert Randolph Newlen, the person says. Newlen had been principal deputy librarian, and, per library regulations, was in line to succeed the librarian of Congress in case of absence or temporary unavailability. ___ Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report from Washington.
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 21:44:31+00:00	[ "Water shortages", "Jorge Luis Quijano", "Protests and demonstrations", "Panama Canal", "Panama City", "Panama", "Iris Gallardo" ]	# Planned water reserve intended to ease shortages in the Panama Canal fuels river protest By Alma Solís May 16th, 2025, 09:44 PM --- PANAMA CITY (AP) — Dozens of boats carrying around 200 people, mostly farmers waving Panamanian flags, traveled along the country's central Indio River on Friday to protest a planned reservoir in the Panama Canal intended to solve water shortages in the waterway that have threatened international trade flow. The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) says building the reservoir is the best way to provide an additional water source for over 2 million people in Panama City and to ensure the canal operates efficiently in the coming decades. The canal, which needs around 189 million liters (50 million gallons) of freshwater for each ship crossing, faced severe water shortages in 2023 due to lack of rain, forcing authorities to cut crossings by 20% and delay traffic. The proposed reservoir, which would take four years and $1.6 billion to build, could allow 12 to 13 more ship crossings per day and support new water treatment facilities being built, authorities say. But protesters say building the reservoir using the Indio River, in the canal's watershed, would also force 2,000 people to be relocated from their homes because their communities would be flooded. Other areas downstream could also be affected by reduced river flow. Iris Gallardo, a teacher from the Guasimo community and a member of the "No to Reservoirs" movement, was among the group of mostly farmers waving Panamanian flags. She told the Associated Press they held the boat protest to show their rejection of the project and forced relocations. "We are demanding that the multipurpose reservoir proposed by the ACP not be built without consulting and getting permission from the affected communities," Gallardo said. Instead, protestors suggest using the nearby Bayano Lake, located east of the capital. Authorities dismissed that idea due to logistical, legal challenges and cost, and said that such a project would displace 200,000 people – far more than the current plan. They said the project would also offer jobs to communities and that the resettlement plan is being developed with the community. Former Panama Canal administrator Jorge Luis Quijano said opponents of the project don't understand how serious the water problem is. "The only way to have water is to store it," he said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 20:30:38+00:00	[ "South Africa", "Animal cruelty", "Cape Town", "Business" ]	# Thousands of chickens euthanized in South Africa after they were left starving and eating each other May 6th, 2025, 08:30 PM --- CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Animal welfare officers faced the grisly task of euthanizing more than 350,000 chickens by hand after they were left starving and cannibalizing each other when a South African state-owned poultry company ran out of money to feed them, officials said Tuesday. The National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or NSPCA, said it wasn't able to say for certain how many other chickens had already died by the time its officers reached several neglected poultry farming sites because of the "mass cannibalism" that took place among the birds. The NSPCA managed to save more than 500,000 chickens, it said. "It was a harrowing scene," the NSPCA said in a statement. "Skeletal chickens huddled together, chickens eating one another, feeding lines stripped bare." The chickens were owned by Daybreak Foods, a major poultry supplier owned by South Africa's state asset management company Public Investment Corp. NSPCA officers were first alerted to a crisis at one farm on April 30. The organization uncovered at least five other farms in northern South Africa with multiple sites on each farm where birds had been left to starve, it said. Daybreak Foods was denied permission to take the birds to a slaughterhouse because they were too small. There was no immediate response to an email message seeking comment from Daybreak Foods late Tuesday. Company spokesperson Nokwazi Ngcongo told the Daily Maverick news outlet that the birds went unfed for a period of time due to financial challenges affecting feed delivery. She said efforts had been made to limit animal suffering as much as possible. Nazareth Appalsamy, the manager of the NSPCA's farm animal protection unit, told The Associated Press that the mass culling began last Wednesday and was only completed on Monday. Around 75 animal protection officers were tasked with euthanizing the chickens that weren't able to recover one by one, Appalsamy said. "Culling took a real toll on the staff, being exposed to such extreme measures," he said. The NSPCA said the chickens hadn't been fed for more than a week and pledged to file a court case against Daybreak Foods under animal protection laws for abandoning its responsibilities. The South African government said it is in talks with Daybreak Foods leadership over its financial troubles. ___ AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

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