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Associated Press News	2025-05-09 20:13:48+00:00	[ "Alabama", "Steve Perkins", "Law enforcement", "Black experience", "Police brutality", "Shootings", "Protests and demonstrations", "Legal proceedings", "Race and ethnicity", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Alabama ex-officer insists he had 'stand your ground' right when he shot an armed Black man By Safiyah Riddle May 9th, 2025, 08:13 PM --- MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A former Alabama police officer who shot an armed Black man is trying to win back his claim to self-defense before his upcoming murder trial, and appealed a judge's pretrial decision as a "gross abuse of discretion." The appeal hinges on Alabama's " stand your ground " law, which grants immunity from prosecution to anyone who uses deadly force as long as they reasonably believe they're in danger and are somewhere they're rightfully allowed to be. Mac Marquette, 25, is charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Steve Perkins shortly before 2 a.m. in September 2023. Marquette and two other officers were accompanying a tow-truck driver to repossess Perkins' pickup truck at his home in Decatur. When Perkins emerged from his house with a gun, Marquette fired 18 bullets less than two seconds after identifying himself as law enforcement, according to body camera footage. Court documents filed on Thursday said the judge erroneously ruled against Marquette based on his assessment that Marquette didn't sufficiently prove he had a right to be on Perkins' property. Alabama allows judges to determine if someone acted in self defense before a case goes to trial. The judge said Alabama law requires a court order for law enforcement to be involved in a vehicle repossession — which the officers didn't have. Marquette's lawyers say the judge should have given more weight to the fact that Perkins pointed his gun at the officer before he was shot. They say Marquette reasonably felt that running away from Perkins would've put him in more danger than standing his ground. The defense also says the officers had a legitimate reason to be there, based on the "custom, pattern, and practice of the Decatur Police Department" and because their supervisor authorized it. Both officers who were with Marquette testified they weren't there to assist in the repossession, but were instead there to "keep the peace" and to "investigate" Perkins for pulling a gun on the tow-truck driver in an earlier repossession attempt. The state agent who investigated Perkins' death testified in March that the way that the officers set up wasn't standard for either of those tasks, but also said that Marquette had a reason to fear for his life. All parties in the case are prohibited from speaking to the media. The hearing comes on the heels of two years of intense protest about Perkins' death in the northern Alabama city of approximately 60,000 people. A Black man experiencing a mental health crisis died in Decatur Police Department custody in April. Body camera footage showing police officers punching and tasing him repeatedly reignited debate over police misconduct in the area. Marquette's attorneys requested a postponement of the trial originally set for June, and a chance to present oral arguments in front of the Alabama Criminal Court of Appeals. ___ 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	2025-05-13 21:38:21+00:00	[ "South Carolina", "Crime", "Mikal Mahdi", "Henry McMaster", "Neal Collins", "Prisons", "Capital punishment", "Legal proceedings", "Law enforcement", "Theft", "Brandon Charochak", "Shootings", "Jonathan Arden", "Jonathan Groner", "Brad Sigmon", "James Myers", "Stephen Stanko", "U.S. Democratic Party" ]	# Lawmakers seek investigation into South Carolina's firing squad execution By Jeffrey Collins May 13th, 2025, 09:38 PM --- COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Two South Carolina legislators have requested an investigation into the state's firing squad execution last month after lawyers for the inmate said his autopsy showed the shots nearly missed his heart and left him in extreme pain for up to a minute. The Democratic and Republican representatives asked the governor, the prison system and leaders in the state House and Senate for an independent and comprehensive review of the April 11 execution of Mikal Mahdi. They also want the firing squad removed from the methods of execution that an inmate can choose until an investigation is complete. Condemned prisoners in South Carolina can also choose lethal injection or the electric chair. Reps. Justin Bamberg and Neal Collins wrote in their letter that the request doesn't diminish the crimes Mahdi was convicted of, nor was it rooted in sympathy for the 42-year-old inmate. Mahdi was put to death for the 2004 shooting of an off-duty police officer during a robbery. "This independent investigation is to preserve the integrity of South Carolina's justice system and public confidence in our state's administration of executions under the rule of law," they wrote. Bamberg, a Democrat, and Coillins, a Republican, are deskmates in the South Carolina House. ## Prison officials say the execution was conducted properly Prison officials said they thought the execution was properly conducted. House and Senate leaders did not respond. Republican Gov. Henry McMaster said he sees no need to investigate. "The governor has high confidence in the leadership of the Department of Corrections. He believes the sentence of death for Mr. Mahdi was properly and lawfully carried out," wrote spokesman Brandon Charochak in an email. Even without an investigation, what happened at Mahdi's execution may get hashed out in court soon. A possible execution date for Stephen Stanko, who has two death sentences for murders in Horry County and Georgetown County, could be set as soon as Friday. He would have to decide two weeks later how he wants to die. Mahdi had admitted he killed Orangeburg Public Safety officer James Myers in 2004, shooting him at least eight times before burning his body. Myers' wife found him in the couple's Calhoun County shed, which had been the backdrop to their wedding 15 months earlier. ## Just one autopsy photo The autopsy conducted after Mahdi's execution raised several questions that the lawmakers repeated in their letter. The only photo of Mahdi's body taken at his autopsy showed just two distinct wounds in his torso. A pathologist who reviewed the results for Mahdi's lawyers said that showed one of the three shots from the three prison employee volunteers on the firing squad missed. The pathologist who conducted the autopsy concluded that two bullets entered the body in the same place after consulting with an unnamed prison official who said that had happened before in training. Prison officials said all three guns fired and no bullets or fragments were found in the death chamber. "Both bullets traveling on the exact same trajectory both before and after hitting a target through the same exact entrance point is contrary to the law of physics," Bamberg and Collins wrote. ## Shots appeared to have hit low In the state's first firing squad execution of Brad Sigmon on March 7, three distinct wounds were found on his chest and his heart was heavily damaged, according to his autopsy report. The shots barely hit one of the four chambers of Mahdi's heart and extensively damaged his liver and lungs. Where it likely takes someone 15 seconds to lose consciousness when the heart is directly hit, Mahdi likely was aware and in extreme pain for 30 seconds to a minute, said Dr. Jonathan Arden, the pathologist who reviewed the autopsy for the inmate's lawyers. Witnesses said Mahdi cried out as the shots were fired at his execution, groaned again some 45 seconds later and let out one last low moan just before he appeared to draw his final breath at 75 seconds. ## Little documentation at the autopsy Bamberg and Collins said Mahdi's autopsy itself was problematic. The official autopsy did not include X-rays to allow the results to be independently verified; only one photo was taken of Mahdi's body, and no close-ups of the wounds; and his clothing was not examined to determine where the target was placed and how it aligned with the damage the bullets caused to his shirt and his body. "I think it is really stretching the truth to say that Mikal Mahdi had an autopsy. I think most pathologists would say that he had 'an external examination of the body,'" said Jonathan Groner, an expert in lethal injection and other capital punishments and a surgeon who teaches at Ohio State University. Sigmon's autopsy included X-rays, several photos and a cursory examination of his clothes Prison officials have used the same company, Professional Pathology Services, for all its execution autopsies, Corrections Department spokeswoman Chrysti Shain said. They provide no instructions or restrictions to the firm for any autopsy, she said. The pathologist who conducted the autopsy refused to answer questions from The Associated Press. Bamberg and Collins also want the state to allow at least one legislator to attend executions as witnesses. State law is specific about who can be in the small witness room: prison staff, two representatives for the inmate, three relatives of the victim, a law enforcement officer, the prosecutor where the crime took place, and three members of the media.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 12:06:07+00:00	[ "Bill Gates", "Philanthropy", "Melinda French Gates", "Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation", "Microsoft Corp.", "Business" ]	# In his own words: Bill Gates on giving away the remainder of his wealth By Thalia Beaty May 8th, 2025, 12:06 PM --- INDIAN WELLS, Ca. (AP) — Bill Gates is pledging 99% of his remaining fortune to the Gates Foundation, which will spend it all within 20 years. The funds will be delivered over time and will allow the foundation to spend another $200 billion by the time it closes in 2045. "There's still a little bit more that goes to the kids and some portion that, you know, I won't be wanting for anything for my consumption," Gates said. Even his climate-related investments, "all of the profits that come from that work go into the Gates Foundation." In interviews with The Associated Press, Gates spoke about the foundation's past work and future goals. His responses have been edited for length. ## On making one of the largest pledges in the history of U.S. philanthropy: "I hope other people wallop me. Even today, there's probably a dozen people richer than I am, because I don't count the money that I've already got in the foundation. I have just a bit over $100 billion outside of the foundation. I'd love to be beat in all of this work. Somebody should try and pay more taxes than I did, and save more lives than I did, and give more money than I did, and be smarter than I've been." ## On closing the foundation in 2045, earlier than had been planned: "I think 20 years is the right balance between giving as much as we can to make progress on these things and giving people a lot of notice that now this money will be gone. It will be spent. Hopefully, many of these diseases are eradicated, so nobody even knows, 'What was malaria? What was polio?' in the years ahead. You know, some foundations, if they've been around 50 or 60 years, who knows how their work relates to the intent of the person who started that foundation? And I do think there'll be more rich people in the future than there are today. So yes, it will create a vacuum in 20 years, and we're letting people know way in advance that's what this will look like." ## On investor Warren Buffett's annual gifts to the foundation: "It's by some measures the most generous gift ever given and a real vote of confidence from Warren, who's a great friend and has always given me phenomenal advice and is very driven by these inequity issues. And that was in 2006, and so it's two years later that I give up my full-time work at Microsoft, and I move over. And I've been full time at the foundation since 2008 for the rest of my life. It's my final, second career. You know, Warren, it's hard to overstate the impact he's had on me." ## On the Giving Pledge, a commitment for billionaires to give away more than half their wealth, that Gates, Buffett and Melinda French Gates founded in 2010: "That was a big hope, that the societal expectation for anybody who has a lot of money would be that they give the majority of it away, and that basically everyone would join into that. Now, we're not at that level, but I think year by year, people are saying, 'Hey, the fairness of this system, the legitimacy of this system really benefits if those who both through skill and luck, the system has rewarded them, that they put a lot of their resources and even, some of their time and energy into improving society.'" ## On cuts to health and foreign aid funding by the U.S. and other countries: "Many things now are making it less clear how much progress we'll make in these 20 years we have remaining. The donors are being somewhat less generous as they feel squeezed by an aging population and demands for Ukraine, both refugee costs, defense costs, a lot of things. And so telling the story of the success and the moral and geopolitical value of taking 1% of rich country budgets and saying, 'No, this is to save lives for very, very, very little money.' We're going to have to renew people's understanding and prioritization of these things in order to keep that piece. We have a lot of things we're optimistic about because we have new tools, new ways of protecting women from getting HIV, new ways of killing mosquitoes... And so it's incredible to come up with these low-cost things and tragic if we can't get them out to everyone who needs them. So, it's going to require renewing that commitment of those who are well off to help those who are in the greatest need." ## On Melinda French Gates stepping down from the Gates Foundation last year: "Melinda has made a phenomenal contribution to the foundation, helping us pick the right people and being in partnerships, traveling the world, bringing her perspective to things. I can't say enough good things about how she got us off on the right track. When we divorced, we hoped — I hoped — that she would choose to stay. She stayed for a period of time, continued to do great work, and then chose to do the philanthropy on her own." ## On criticism of the foundation's power and the lack of a formal mechanism to incorporate public feedback: "Our work is for saving children's lives. So it's true, if they have other priorities, it's hard to influence my commitment to not having mothers bleed to death or kids not dying from malaria. To be honest, the number of civil society actors that are in here trying to influence the work we do is so tiny. It's unbelievable. I mean, I could almost list their names on one piece of paper. Where are these people? We want more people second-guessing our work, criticizing our work. I mean, what's their idea about malnutrition? What's their idea on how to deal with these funding cuts? What do they want us to do?" ____ The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce and in statehouses from Melinda French Gates' organization, Pivotal Ventures. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 15:44:03+00:00	[ "Memphis", "Tyre Nichols", "Indictments", "Legal proceedings", "Law enforcement", "Homicide", "Juries", "Violence", "Race and ethnicity", "Paul Hagerman", "Steve Mulroy", "Ben Crump", "Crime", "Marco Ross", "James Jones Jr.", "Trials", "Courts", "Martin Zummach", "Police brutality", "Justin Smith", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# 3 former Memphis officers acquitted in fatal beating of Tyre Nichols By Adrian Sainz and Kristin M. Hall May 7th, 2025, 03:44 PM --- MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Three former Memphis officers were acquitted Wednesday of all state charges, including second-degree murder, in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols after he ran away from a traffic stop, a death that sparked nationwide protests and prompted renewed calls for police reforms in the U.S. An out-of-town jury from a majority-white county took about 8 1/2 hours over two days to find Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith not guilty on all charges after a nine-day trial in state court in Memphis, which is majority-Black. After the jury's verdict was read, the defendants hugged their lawyers as relatives of the former officers cried. Outside the courtroom, one relative yelled, "Thank you, Jesus!" Martin Zummach, Smith's attorney, told The Associated Press by text: "It's easy to defend a good person. It's nerve racking to represent an innocent man. " The three defendants 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. Two other former officers previously pleaded guilty in both state and federal court, including Emmitt Martin, who defense attorneys blamed for the majority of the violence. Bean and Smith are out on bond and under house arrest after their federal convictions. Haley is being held in federal prison. Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, fled a traffic stop after he was yanked out of his car, pepper-sprayed and hit with a Taser. Five officers who are also Black caught up with him and punched, kicked and hit him with a police baton, struggling to handcuff Nichols as he called out for his mother just steps from his home. Nichols died Jan. 10, 2023, three days after the beating. Footage of the beating captured by a police pole camera also showed the officers milling about, talking and laughing as Nichols struggled with his injuries, video that prompted intense scrutiny of police in Memphis. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Nichols' family, issued a statement expressing outrage at the outcome of the trial. "Today's verdicts are a devastating miscarriage of justice," the statement reads. "The world watched as Tyre Nichols was beaten to death by those sworn to protect and serve." Memphis District Attorney Steve Mulroy said he respects the jury but thinks the evidence was there for every charge that prosecutors brought. "Was I surprised that there wasn't a single guilty verdict on any of the counts or any of the lesser-included offenses, given the overwhelming evidence that we presented? Yes, I was surprised. Do I have an explanation for it? No." He said he spoke to Nichols' family briefly and, "They were devastated. ... I think they were outraged, and we can understand why they would be outraged, given the evidence." ## Defense attorneys said Martin was responsible for the most violence Former Memphis officers Desmond Mills Jr. and Martin, who were also involved in the beating, did not stand trial in state court after they agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors. They also pleaded guilty in federal court, where sentencing for all five officers is pending. At trial, defense attorneys emphasized that Martin kicked and punched Nichols several times in the head. The defense also seemed to score points with their use-of-force experts, who testified that the three officers on trial acted in compliance with police department policies and widely accepted law enforcement standards. Attorneys for Bean and Smith called character witnesses who testified that the men were good officers who did their job the right way. Mills testified for the prosecution, saying he regrets his failure to stop the beating, which led to Nichols' death from blunt force trauma. Nichols suffered tears and bleeding in the brain, Dr. Marco Ross, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy, said in court testimony. The officers had been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. In addition to beating Nichols, prosecutors also said the officers failed to intervene and failed to tell medical personnel that Nichols had been hit repeatedly in the head. ## The defense argued that Nichols was resisting arrest Mills acknowledged on the stand that he had a duty to intervene, but didn't. He admitted Nichols never punched or kicked any of the officers. But Mills also bolstered the defense's case when he said Nichols was actively resisting arrest and not complying with orders to present his hands to be cuffed. Under cross-examination, he indicated he would not have struck Nichols if Nichols had put his hands behind his back. He also agreed that an officer is not safe until a suspect is handcuffed and searched for a weapon. Zummach noted in closing arguments that credit and debit cards that did not belong to Nichols were found in his car when it was searched after the beating and said it was likely why Nichols ran from the traffic stop. Defense lawyers have argued that the fatal beating would not have taken place if Nichols had just allowed himself to be handcuffed. "This is Emmitt Martin's and Tyre Nichols' doing," Zummach said. The jury for the state trial was chosen in Hamilton County, which includes Chattanooga, after Judge James Jones Jr. ordered the case be heard from people outside of Shelby County, which includes Memphis. Defense lawyers for the officers had argued that intense publicity made seating a fair jury difficult. Prosecutor Paul Hagerman told reporters outside the courtroom that the Chattanooga area was chosen for jury selection after the city was shown in a study to have the least amount of pre-trial publicity among Tennessee's largest cities. In December, the U.S. Justice Department said a 17-month investigation showed the Memphis Police Department uses excessive force and discriminates against Black people. The five officers, the city of Memphis and the police chief are being sued by Nichols' family for $550 million. A trial has been scheduled for next year. ___ Associated Press reporters Jonathan Mattise and Travis Loller in Nashville contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 04:04:44+00:00	[ "Banksy", "Maria Georgiadis", "Organ donation", "Brooklyn", "Coping with grief", "New York City Wire", "JWD-evergreen", "Entertainment", "American Heart Association", "Business", "Ulrich Blanch", "Lifestyle", "Philip Marcelo", "New York", "Heart attack", "Oddities", "Arlan Ettinger", "New York City" ]	# Banksy's 'Broken Heart' painting defaced on a Brooklyn wall is up for sale By Philip Marcelo May 2nd, 2025, 04:04 AM --- NEW YORK (AP) — When the enigmatic street artist Banksy spray-painted a heart-shaped balloon covered with a Band-Aid on the wall of a Brooklyn warehouse, the nondescript brick building was instantly transformed into an art destination and the canvas of an unlikely graffiti battle. Almost as soon as Banksy revealed the piece back in 2013, an anonymous tagger brazenly walked up and spray painted the words "Omar NYC" in red beside the balloon, to the dismay of onlookers. Days later, someone stenciled "is a little girl" in white and pink beside Omar's tag, followed by a seemingly sarcastic phrase in black: "I remember MY first tag." Some think it was Banksy himself who secretly returned to the scene to add the rejoinder. The apparent graffiti battle didn't end there. Another tagger also attempted to leave his mark but was stymied by security guards. Today the phrase "SHAN" is still visible in light purple paint. Maria Georgiadis, whose family owned the now-demolished warehouse and ultimately removed the section of wall to preserve the artwork, says the graffiti pastiche is quintessentially New York. "It looks like a war going on," she said recently. "They're literally going at it on the wall." ## Artwork up for auction The preserved wall, dubbed "Battle to Survive a Broken Heart," will be going up for sale May 21 at Guernsey's, the New York auction house. Georgiadis, a Brooklyn schoolteacher, says the sale is bittersweet. Her father, Vassilios Georgiadis, ran his roofing and asbestos abatement company from the warehouse adorned with the balloon. He died four years ago at age 67 from a heart attack, which is why some of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to the American Heart Association. "It's just very significant to us because he loved it and he was just so full of love," Maria Georgiadis said on a recent visit to the art warehouse where the piece was stored for more than a decade. "It's like the bandage heart. We all have love, but we've all went through things and we just put a little Band-Aid over and just keep on moving, right? That's how I take it." The nearly 4-ton, 6-foot-tall (3.6-metric ton, 1.8-meter-tall) wall section is one of a number of guerrilla works the famously secretive British artist made during a New York residency in 2013. At the time, Banksy heralded the work by posting on his website photos and an audio track recorded partly in a squeaky, helium-induced voice. ## Banksy may not have painted response to tagger Guernsey auction house President Arlan Ettinger said it is impossible to know for certain because Banksy works clandestinely. But he said the neat stenciling and wording "strongly suggest that this was a gentle way for Banksy to put the other artist in his place." Ulrich Blanché, an art history lecturer at Heidelberg University in Germany, called the piece a "very well executed" stencil notable partly because of Banksy's decision to place it in Brooklyn's port area of Red Hook. "This part of NYC was not easy to reach at that time," he said by email. "Banksy wanted people to go to places in NYC they never have seen and love them as well." But Blanche questioned whether the additional stenciled text was truly the work of Banksy, saying the word choice and design don't appear to comport with the artist's style at the time. "To call a graffiti guy a 'girl' is not something Banksy would do in 2013. This is misogynic and immature in a sexist way," he wrote. "Three different fonts that do not match and three colors — why should he do that? Too unnecessarily elaborated without reasons. So I think this was added by someone else." Blanché also said he is ambivalent about the pending sale, noting Banksy usually doesn't authorize his street pieces for sale. At the same time, he understands the burden placed on property owners to protect and maintain them. "Banksy's works should be preserved, but for the community they were made for," he said. "They should not be turned into goods. They are made and thought for a specific location. Not portable. Not sellable." Spokespersons for Banksy declined to comment Friday. ## Difficult to determine price Maria Georgiadis' brother, Anastasios, said his father had also hoped to keep the piece in Red Hook after having cut it out of the wall and framed in thick steel for safekeeping. The elder Georgiadis, he said, envisioned the work as the centerpiece of a retail and housing development on the property, a dream he didn't realize. The property has since been sold off by the family. Ettinger said it is difficult to say what the piece might fetch. There is little precedent for a sale of a Banksy piece of this size, he said. In 2018, a canvas that was part of Banksy's "Girl With Balloon" series sold in London for 1.04 million pounds ($1.4 million), only to famously self-destruct in front of a stunned auction crowd. Maria Georgiadis said she hopes whoever buys the "Broken Heart" finds the same beauty and meaning her father drew from the piece. When Banksy painted it, the family business had been recovering from destructive floods caused by Hurricane Sandy the prior year. Georgiadis recalls her father had no idea who Banksy was but was moved by the simple image. "My dad had it in his head that Banksy knew what we went through," she said. "He goes, 'Can you believe it Maria? It's a heart.' " ___ Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 17:28:33+00:00	[ "Ontario", "Canada", "Bill Gates", "Donald Trump", "Canada government", "Nuclear power", "Climate and environment", "Technology", "Engineering", "Associated Press", "Renewable energy", "Business", "Stephen Lecce", "Energy industry", "Green technology", "Peter Bethlenfalvy", "GE Vernova", "Inc.", "Climate" ]	# Ontario begins construction of 1st small reactor as it aims to lead in new nuclear technology By Jennifer Mcdermott May 8th, 2025, 05:28 PM --- Ontario has begun building the first of four new, small nuclear reactors, as Canada seeks to lead the Group of Seven industrialized nations in developing next-generation nuclear technology. Ontario Energy Minister Stephen Lecce announced Thursday at the site that the government approved Ontario Power Generation's plan to begin construction. Behind Lecce, workers were already excavating the land for the first reactor and grading the site for the others. "We are protecting Ontario by building the most resilient energy future any country has ever seen," Lecce said. "We are taking our true place as a global clean energy superpower and a leader in nuclear innovation and technology." A number of countries are speeding up efforts to license and build a new generation of nuclear reactors to meet a surging demand for electricity and supply it carbon-free. Canada's first commercial small modular reactor should be connected to the electrical grid by the end of 2030, Lecce said, putting them ahead of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. In the U.S., Bill Gates' energy company is preparing a site in Wyoming for a next-generation nuclear power plant while the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviews its application for a construction permit. Kairos Power is building a low-power demonstration reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Russia and China are the only countries that are already operating advanced reactors. Electricity demand in Ontario is expected to soar by 75% by 2050, primarily due to demand from industry and large data centers. Ontario Power Generation picked a boiling water reactor design from GE Vernova for the Darlington New Nuclear Project in Clarington, Ontario. When constructed, each reactor will provide enough electricity to power 300,000 Toronto homes, at 10% the size and complexity of a traditional boiling water reactor, according to GE Vernova. The first will cost $6.1 billion, along with $1.6 billion in costs for systems and services common to all four, Lecce said. The cost is expected to decline with each subsequent reactor. Canada has historically been a net exporter of electricity, sending significant amounts of hydropower to the United States. In the fall of 2023, the electricity trade between the two countries became more balanced because of drought conditions that reduced the amount of hydropower available and lower natural gas prices in the United States that made U.S. electricity more competitive, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Now with a trade war and U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly saying that Canada should be the 51st U.S. state, Canadians are feeling like the alliance is broken. Ontario's Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy alluded to that at Thursday's nuclear announcement, saying their traditional relationship with the United States isn't going to be the same and Canada needs new, clean energy. "The world economy is changing," he said, "and it's important that Canada be self-reliant." ___ 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	2025-05-14 11:23:22+00:00	[ "Cannes Film Festival", "Fairs and festivals", "Photography Lead", "Arts and entertainment", "Tom Cruise" ]	# AP PHOTOS: A look at the second day of the Cannes Film Festival May 14th, 2025, 11:23 AM --- CANNES, France (AP) — Much of the cinema world has descended on the Cannes Film Festival as the French Riviera extravaganza kicks off its 78th edition. Three years after flying into the Cannes Film Festival with "Top Gun: Maverick," Tom Cruise returned to the Croisette on Wednesday with "Mission: Impossible — Final Reckoning." This gallery features daily highlights from the festival, curated by Associated Press photo editors. ___ For more coverage of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, visit https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival.
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 04:01:33+00:00	[ "Joe Biden", "Donald Trump", "Pete Buttigieg", "Kamala Harris", "U.S. Democratic Party", "Jill Biden", "Virginia", "Illinois", "Public opinion", "Jake Tapper", "Government and politics", "Janet Stumps", "Robert Hur", "Voting", "Patricia McEnerney", "Elections", "Political debates", "Alex Thompson", "Douglas MacArthur", "Abigail Spanberger", "Rick Wilson" ]	# Joe Biden's mental acuity becomes a Democratic litmus test By Jonathan J. Cooper May 16th, 2025, 04:01 AM --- PHOENIX (AP) — Joe Biden's time in public office is now behind him, but his age and mental acuity have become a litmus test for the next leaders in his party. Audio was published Friday from portions of interviews Biden gave to federal prosecutors in 2023, the latest in a stream of reports putting questions about Biden's health back in the spotlight. Months after former Vice President Kamala Harris lost to President Donald Trump, a new book alleges that White House aides covered up Biden's physical and mental decline. Several potential Democratic contenders for the 2028 nomination have been asked in recent days whether they believe Biden was declining in office or whether he should have sought reelection before a disastrous debate performance led to his withdrawal. Many Democrats would prefer to focus on Trump's second term. Trump has done his best to prevent that — mentioning Biden's name an average of six times per day during his first 100 days in office, according to an NBC News analysis — and Republicans have followed his lead, betting that voters frustrated by Trump's policy moves will still prefer him over memories of an unpopular presidency. In the race for Virginia governor, one of this year's highest-profile contests, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is running a pair of digital ads tying Democrat Abigail Spanberger to Biden, with images of the two hugging and the former president calling her a friend. "The stench of Joe Biden still lingers on the Democratic Party," Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett said. "We have to do the hard work of fixing that, and I think that includes telling the truth, frankly, about when we were wrong." Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told Politico this week that "there's no doubt" that Biden, now 82, experienced cognitive decline as president. Pete Buttigieg, the former transportation secretary, wasn't nearly as blunt but still stopped short of defending Biden's decision to run. He responded "maybe" when asked Tuesday whether the Democratic Party would have been better off if Biden hadn't tried to run for a second term. "Right now, with the advantage of hindsight, I think most people would agree that that's the case," Buttigieg told reporters during a stop in Iowa. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said he didn't see signs of mental or physical decline in his meetings with Biden. "I saw him a few times," he told CNN this week. "I certainly went to the White House whenever there was an opportunity for me to make the case for something for people in my state. And I never had the experience of anything other than a guy who brought to the table a lot of good ideas about how to solve problems." The book "Original Sin," by journalists Jake Tapper of CNN and Alex Thompson of Axios, revives a core controversy of Biden's presidency: his decision to run for a second term despite voters, including Democrats, telling pollsters that he should not run again. Biden would have been 86 at the end of a second term had he won in November. A spokesperson for Biden did not respond to a request for comment. "We continue to await anything that shows where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or where national security was threatened or where he was unable to do his job," the spokesperson has told many media outlets in response to the book. Late Friday, Axios published portions from audio recordings of Biden's six hours of interviews with prosecutors investigating his handling of classified documents after his term as vice president ended in 2017. The Biden administration had already released transcripts of the interviews, but the recordings shed light on special counsel Robert Hur's characterization of Biden as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" and appeared to validate his claim that the then-president struggled to recall key dates, including the year his son Beau died of cancer in 2015. Biden and his aides pushed back aggressively against Hur's report, which they characterized as a partisan hit. Biden was at that time — early 2024 — still planning to run for a second term and fending off accusations that he was too old for another four years in the job. The recordings released by Axios include Biden's discussion of his son's death. His responses to some of the prosecutors' questions are punctuated by long pauses, and his lawyers at times stepped in to help him recall dates and timelines. Before he dropped his reelection bid last summer, Biden faced widespread doubts within his own party, even as Democratic leaders dismissed both a series of verbal flubs and Republican allegations about his declining acuity. In January 2022, just a year into Biden's first term, an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that only 48% of Democrats wanted him to seek reelection. That fell to 37% of Democrats in an AP-NORC poll conducted in February 2023. Three-quarters of Americans — and 69% of Democrats — said in August 2023 that they believed Biden was too old to serve as president for another four-year term. And shortly after his debate flop, nearly two-thirds of Democrats said Biden should withdraw from the race. Biden and former first lady Jill Biden appeared on ABC's "The View" in a preemptive defense of his health and decision-making before the first excerpts of "Original Sin" were published. He said he's responsible for Trump's victory but attributed Harris' loss, at least in part, to sexism and racism. He maintained that he would have won had he remained the Democratic nominee. Both Bidens rejected concerns about his cognitive decline. Patricia McEnerney, a 74-year-old Democrat in Goodyear, Arizona, said Biden should not have tried to run again. "I think it's sad the way it ended," she said. She compared him to Douglas MacArthur, the World War II and Korean War general famously dismissed by President Harry Truman. "I think he needs to stop giving interviews. I think that would help," McEnerney said. "Like MacArthur said, generals just fade away." Janet Stumps, a 66-year-old Democrat also from Goodyear, a Phoenix suburb, had a different view. "I don't think it's going to hurt the Democrats," Stumps said. "I feel badly that he feels he has to defend himself. I don't think he has to. Everybody ages. And the fact that he did what he did at his age, I think he should be commended for it." Hackett, the Democratic strategist, predicted Biden won't be a major factor in the 2026 midterms or the 2028 presidential primaries. But he said Democrats who want voters to trust them would be well-served "by telling the truth about the mistakes that our party made in the run-up to 2024." "Those mistakes were largely driven by Joe Biden, and I think any Democrat not willing to say that is not really prepared to face the voters, who want the truth and they want authenticity," Hackett said. Rick Wilson, a former GOP strategist who co-founded the anti-Trump group the Lincoln Project, said Republicans want to talk about Biden to avoid defending Trump. But he said the strategy is folly. Besides "political nerds," he said, "no one else cares." ___ This story has been corrected to reflect that Kamala Harris is a former vice president, not a former president. ___ Associated Press writer Thomas Beaumont contributed to this report from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 12:22:09+00:00	[ "Human trafficking", "Lithuania", "Belarus", "International Court of Justice", "Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya", "Courts", "International agreements", "United Nations", "European Union", "Migration", "Politics", "Belarus government" ]	# Lithuania takes Belarus to top UN court over alleged smuggling of migrants May 19th, 2025, 12:22 PM --- VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuania is asking the International Court of Justice to rule that Belarus breached its obligations by allegedly organizing the smuggling of migrants to its territory and award compensation. The Foreign Ministry in Vilnius said Lithuania filed its case to the court in The Hague on Monday. It revolves around alleged breaches by Belarus of its obligations under the U.N. Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air. The number of migrants arriving at the borders of European Union member countries from Belarus increased sharply last year, and European authorities have accused Belarus of helping migrants to get across. In December, the EU gave a green light to Poland and other countries on its eastern flank to temporarily suspend asylum rights when they believe that Belarus and Russia are "weaponizing" migrants to destabilize the bloc. Lithuania said evidence it has collected confirms the direct involvement of Belarus in organizing migrant flows, including an increase in flights from the Middle East and elsewhere by Belarusian state-owned enterprises. It alleges that after arriving in Belarus many migrants were escorted to the Lithuanian border by Belarusian security forces and forced to cross illegally. It added that Belarus' border services refused to work with Lithuania to stop illegal crossings. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Vilnius is appealing to the ICJ to hold Belarus accountable under international law for violations of the migrant-smuggling protocol. Its claims include full compensation for the damage allegedly caused, including the cost of reinforcing the border. It did not specify a figure. There was no immediate reaction from the Belarusian government. Lithuania, which pointed to an influx of migrants dating back to 2021, said it made its move after bilateral negotiations failed to resolve the dispute. "We are taking this case to the International Court of Justice to send a clear message: No state can use vulnerable people as political pawns without facing consequences under international law," Justice Minister Rimantas Mockus said. Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled to Vilnius under pressure from Belarusian authorities in 2020, welcomed Lithuania's lawsuit and said the move "should stop Minsk from putting pressure on Europe." "By weaponizing the most vulnerable, the regime shows total disregard for human life", Tsikhanouskaya told The Associated Press. "This violation of international law must end."
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 04:13:24+00:00	[ "Social media", "Oliver Widger", "Oregon", "Hawaii", "Hawaii Rainbow Warriors", "National", "JWD-evergreen", "Jesse Harms", "Technology", "Lifestyle", "Climate and environment", "Business", "Climate" ]	# Man quits job to sail from Oregon to Hawaii with his cat Phoenix after diagnosis By Jennifer Sinco Kelleher May 16th, 2025, 04:13 AM --- HONOLULU (AP) — Midway while sailing across the Pacific with just his cat named Phoenix, Oliver Widger reflected on why he thinks his many followers — more than a million on TikTok and Instagram — are drawn to his story of quitting his 9-to-5 job and embarking on a journey from Oregon to Hawaii. "The world kind of sucks and, like, I don't think I'm alone in how I felt with my work," Widger, 29, told The Associated Press on Wednesday via Zoom. "You can be making $150,000 a year and you still feel like you're just making ends meet, you know what I mean? And I think people are just tired of that and working really hard for nothing and want a way out." People are inspired by someone who found a way out, said Widger, who is among a growing number of people who have undertaken such voyages in recent years. Being diagnosed four years ago with a syndrome that carried a risk of paralysis made him realize he hated his job as a manager at a tire company, a job requiring him to be clean-shaven and wear pressed shirts. He heard about people who sailed from California to Hawaii and decided that was the life for him. He abruptly quit his job with "no money, no plan" and $10,000 of debt. "I knew one thing: I'm buying a sailboat," he recalled. "I'm sailing around the world." He liquidated his retirement savings, taught himself to sail mostly via YouTube and moved from Portland to the Oregon coast, where he spent months refitting the $50,000 boat he bought. Now, Widger is harnessing the power of social media to fund his round-the-world sailing dream. Since he set sail in April, followers have been tuning into his "Sailing with Phoenix" social media posts to view videos of him and his feline first mate battling the waves and bouts of seasickness, enjoying dazzling sunsets, recounting tricky boat repairs or just reflecting on life at sea. As he discussed his journey with the AP, a netted bag carrying bottled water and snacks swung wildly over his head as the boat rocked. He recalled highlights of the voyage so far, including marveling at the speed dolphins cut through the water and finding flying fish on the deck. There have been stretches when there were no birds in sight for days. It can be a struggle to sleep when the boat is creaking while being buffeted by waves or to steady a boiling pot for the MREs he has been subsisting on. There have been harrowing moments like when a rudder failed and the boat tilted sideways in the surf for three hours as he made repairs, and the time he locked himself in the engine compartment and pried his way out with a wrench. Widger acknowledged he is relatively inexperienced as a sailor, but he has implemented safety measures and communication backup plans, including a satellite phone and an emergency beacon. Lt. Cmdr. Jesse Harms of the U.S. Coast Guard in Hawaii hasn't been following the journey closely, but said he is relieved to hear Widger has the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, known as an EPIRB. It's a critical tool for rescuers to locate a mariner's position during an emergency, especially in the Pacific, the largest ocean, Harms said. Widger's journey provides a good opportunity to educate the public about sailing safety, such as the importance of wearing a personal flotation device whenever topside on the boat, monitoring the weather closely and registering emergency tools like the EPIRB, Harms said. "That's a really critical piece for anybody that's getting motivated by his story to go set off on their own adventure," Harms said. Until his arrival, likely in Honolulu, Widger is making sure everything is in place to avoid Phoenix having to undergo Hawaii's animal quarantine. A mobile vet will sign off on Phoenix's health when they arrive, he said. In addition to managing the practicalities of daily life on a boat, he is coping with going viral in the middle of the ocean by creating social media content and making decisions about merch his fans want to buy. He credits it all to his neck issue, which "shook up my world and it changed my perspective on everything." He also hopes he can be an inspiration for anyone who's in a rut. "Everything I've done I thought was impossible," Widger said. "Sailing around the world is such a ridiculous dream. Whatever your dream is, just go, just do it."
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 13:21:39+00:00	[ "Aerospace technology", "Nichole Ayers", "Anne McClain", "National Aeronautics and Space Administration", "Space exploration", "Spacecraft", "Aerospace and defense industry", "JWD-evergreen", "Jessica Meir", "Science", "Takuya Onishi" ]	# NASA astronauts step outside space station to perform the 5th all-female spacewalk By Marcia Dunn May 1st, 2025, 01:21 PM --- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An astronaut who missed out on the first all-female spacewalk because of a spacesuit sizing issue got her chance six years later on Thursday. NASA's Anne McClain emerged from the International Space Station alongside Nichole Ayers. Both military officers and pilots, they launched to the orbiting lab in March to replace NASA's two stuck astronauts, who are now back home. Minutes before floating out, McClain noticed strands of string on the index finger of her right glove. Mission Control briefly delayed the start of the spacewalk to make sure her glove was safe. Outside for nearly six hours, the spacewalkers prepared the station for another new set of solar panels and moved an antenna on the 260-mile-high (420-kilometer-high) complex. They were welcomed back inside by the space station's commander, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi. "We are so happy to have you back, and your dinner is ready so don't worry about it," Onishi said. The space station had to be raised into a slightly higher orbit Wednesday evening to avoid space junk: part of a 20-year-old Chinese rocket. McClain, an Army colonel and helicopter pilot, should have taken part in the first all-female spacewalk in 2019, but there weren't enough medium-size suits. The first women-only spacewalk was by Christina Koch and Jessica Meir. The latest was the fifth all-female spacewalk in 60 years of spacewalking. Koch soon will become the first woman to fly to the moon. She and three male astronauts will fly around the moon without landing next year under NASA's Artemis program, the successor to Apollo. Men still outnumber women in NASA's astronaut corps. Of NASA's 47 active astronauts, 20 are women. And of the seven astronauts currently living at the space station, McClain and Ayers are the only women. It was the first spacewalk for Ayers, an Air Force major and former fighter pilot, and the third for McClain. ___ 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	2025-05-04 10:38:27+00:00	[ "Dieter Bohlen Germany Toetensen", "Celebrity", "Germany", "Music", "Hamburg", "Entertainment", "Social media", "Pop music" ]	# Did you steal the sign? German pop star asks his fans to return hometown symbol May 4th, 2025, 10:38 AM --- TOETENSEN, Germany (AP) — Did you steal the sign? German pop star Dieter Bohlen is asking his fans to return a sign spelling out the name of his hometown of Toetensen. The village in northern Germany outside Hamburg is famous, well, because of Bohlen. He's a singer, music producer, judge on Germany's version of "American Idol" and formerly half of German pop duo Modern Talking. Bohlen believes the sign was taken by a fan as memorabilia, according to German news agency dpa. He posted a video on Instagram Saturday where he stood in front of the empty signpost and promised a reward of a ticket to one of his concerts this fall for its return. One fan's suggestion? Rename the town: Bohlensen.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 02:23:39+00:00	[ "Associated Press" ]	# The top photos of the day by AP's photojournalists By The Associated Press May 7th, 2025, 02:23 AM --- May 6, 2025 From front-page news to powerful moments you may have missed, this gallery showcases today's top photos chosen by Associated Press photo editors. ____Follow AP visual journalism: AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 10:32:30+00:00	[ "Iran", "Donald Trump", "Steve Witkoff", "Middle East", "Iran government", "Abbas Araghchi", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Badr al-Busaidi", "Politics" ]	# Trump says Iran has US proposal on nuclear talks By Zeke Miller and Jon Gambrell May 16th, 2025, 10:32 AM --- ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran has an American proposal over its rapidly advancing nuclear program as negotiations between the two countries go on. Trump's remarks represent the first time he's acknowledged an American proposal is with Tehran after multiple rounds of negotiations between U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Negotiations have gotten into the "expert" level — meaning the two sides are trying to see if they can reach any agreement on the details of any possible deal. But one major sticking point remains Iran's enrichment of uranium, which Tehran insists it must be allowed to do and the Trump administration increasingly insists the Islamic Republic must give up. ## Trump discusses proposal on Air Force One Trump made the comment aboard Air Force One as he ended his trip to the United Arab Emirates, the last stop on his three-nation tour of the Middle East that also included Saudi Arabia and Qatar. At nearly every event he attended in the region, he insisted that Iran could not be allowed to obtain a nuclear bomb — something American intelligence agencies assess Tehran is not actively pursuing though its program is on the cusp of being able to weaponize. A reporter asked Trump: "On Iran, has the U.S. given them a formal proposal? Has Steve Witkoff handed that over?" "They have a proposal," Trump responded. "But most importantly, they know they have to move quickly, or something bad is going to happen." Trump did not elaborate on the substance of the proposal and Iran did not immediately acknowledge having it. On Thursday, Araghchi spoke to journalists at the Tehran International Book Fair and said that Iran did not have any proposal from the Americans yet. Araghchi also criticized what he called conflicting and inconsistent statements from the Trump administration, describing them as either a sign of disarray in Washington or a calculated negotiation strategy. Witkoff at one point suggested that Iran could enrich uranium at 3.67%, then later began saying that all Iranian enrichment must stop. Friday night, Araghchi wrote on the social platform X: "Iran has not received any written proposal from the United States, whether directly or indirectly." "In the meantime, the messaging we—and the world—continue to receive is confusing and contradictory," he added. "Mark my words: there is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to enrichment for peaceful purposes." ## Talks have been held in Oman and Rome Iranian and American officials have been in Oman and Rome for the negotiations, always mediated by Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, a trusted interlocutor between the two nations. The talks seek to limit Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the U.S. has imposed on the Islamic Republic, closing in on half a century of enmity. Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran's program if a deal isn't reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. Meanwhile, Israel has threatened to strike Iran's nuclear facilities on their own if it feels threatened, further complicating tensions in the Mideast already spiked by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. ___ Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 13:20:17+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "China", "Robert Greenberg", "Corporate management", "Mergers and acquisitions", "Economic policy", "John Vandemore", "Financial services", "Government policy", "Business", "International trade" ]	# Skechers to be acquired for $9 billion by 3G Capital By Matt Ott May 5th, 2025, 01:20 PM --- The shoe company Skechers is being acquired for more than $9 billion to be taken private by the investment firm by 3G Capital. The deal comes amid growing uncertainty over how U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on foreign goods will affect companies who make their products overseas, particularly in China. Athletic shoe makers have invested heavily in production in Asia. The offer of $63 per share represents a premium of 30% to Skechers' 15-day volume-weighted average stock price. The deal was unanimously approved by Skechers' board. Skechers shares jumped nearly 25% Monday, to $61.56. In a press release announcing the deal, the companies did not mention the potential impacts of Trump's tariffs on its business going forward. However, Skechers says that about two-thirds of its revenue comes from sales outside of the U.S. China accounts for 15% of the company's revenue, according to the data firm FactSet. The deal comes at a precarious time with Trump's ongoing, on-again-off-again tariff announcements. Like many other companies increasingly have done since Trump's widespread tariff announcements, Skechers did not issue guidance when it released its first quarter earnings in April. Chief Financial Officer John Vandemore told investors that the "current environment is simply too dynamic from which to plan results with a reasonable assurance of success." Executives also said they would be looking to minimize products going to the U.S. from "high-cost locations," including the impact of tariffs. The company did not immediately provide a breakdown of foreign production, but many of their shoes come with a "Made in China" stamp. Trump raised the tariff on Chinese imports to 125% in early April, hours after China boosted the duty on American goods to 84% in an escalating battle that threatens to disrupt trade between the world's two largest economies. Skechers executives said last month that the company had several "levers" it could pull to deal with tariffs, including cost sharing with vendors, sourcing optimization, and price adjustments. "We're looking at how we optimize the global cost of tariffs in all markets when we look to move production around," Vandemore said last month. "Obviously, with an effective tariff rate at about 159%, products from China to the U.S. are prohibitively expensive." Skechers has about 5,300 retail stores worldwide, about 1,800 company-owned. About 97% of the clothes and shoes purchased in the U.S. are imported, predominantly from Asia, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association. Using factories overseas has kept labor costs down for U.S. companies, but neither they nor their overseas suppliers are likely to absorb price increases due to new tariffs. When the deal closes, the company will be led by Skechers Chairman and CEO Robert Greenberg and his management team. Its headquarters will remain in Manhattan Beach, California, where it was founded more than three decades ago. Skechers reported a record $9 billion in revenue in 2024 with net earnings of $640 million. The deal with 3G Capital is expected to close in the third quarter this year.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 15:21:13+00:00	[ "Syria", "Donald Trump", "Bashar Assad", "Sanctions and embargoes", "Syria government", "Earthquakes", "Mathieu Rouquette", "Political refugees", "Poverty", "Ahmad al-Sharaa", "Politics", "George W. Bush" ]	# What are the US sanctions on Syria and what would lifting them mean? By Kareem Chehayeb and Bassem Mroue May 14th, 2025, 03:21 PM --- BEIRUT (AP) — President Donald Trump's announcement that the U.S. will ease sanctions on Syria could eventually facilitate the country's recovery from years of civil war and transform the lives of everyday Syrians. But experts say it will take time, and the process for lifting the sanctions — some of which were first introduced 47 years ago — is unclear. "I think people view sanctions as a switch that you turn on and off," said Karam Shaar, a Syrian economist who runs the consultancy firm Karam Shaar Advisory Limited. "Far from it." Still, the move could bring much-needed investment to the country, which is emerging from decades of autocratic rule by the Assad family as well as the war. It needs tens of billions of dollars to restore its battered infrastructure and pull an estimated 90% of population out of poverty. And Trump's pledge has already had an effect: Syrians celebrated in streets across the country, and Arab leaders in neighboring nations that host millions of refugees who fled Syria's war praised the announcement. ## What are the US sanctions on Syria? Washington has imposed three sanctions programs on Syria. In 1979, the country was designated a "state sponsor of terrorism" because its military was involved in neighboring Lebanon's civil war and had backed armed groups there, and eventually developed strong ties with the powerful militant Hezbollah group. In 2003, then-President George W. Bush signed the Syria Accountability Act into law, as his administration faced off with Iran and Tehran-backed governments and groups in the Mideast. The legislation focused heavily on Syria's support of designated terror groups, its military presence in Lebanon, its alleged development of weapons of mass destruction, as well as oil smuggling and the backing of armed groups in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion. In 2019, during Trump's first term, he signed the Caesar Act, sanctioning Syrian troops and others responsible for atrocities committed during the civil war. Caesar is the code name for a Syrian photographer who took thousands of photographs of victims of torture and other abuses and smuggled them out of the country. The images, taken between 2011 and 2013, were turned over to human rights advocates, exposing the scale of the Syrian government's brutal crackdown on political opponents and dissidents during countrywide protests. ## What has been the impact of US sanctions on Syria? The sanctions — along with similar measures by other countries — have touched every part of the Syrian economy and everyday life in the country. They have led to shortages of goods from fuel to medicine, and made it difficult for humanitarian agencies responding to receive funding and operate fully. Companies around the world struggle to export to Syria, and Syrians struggle to import goods of any kind because nearly all financial transactions with the country are banned. That has led to a blossoming black market of smuggled goods. Simple tasks like updating smartphones are difficult, if not impossible, and many people resort to virtual private networks, or VPNs, which mask online activity, to access the internet because many websites block users with Syrian IP addresses. The impact was especially stark after a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and northern Syria in February 2023, compounding the destruction and misery that the war had already brought. Though the U.S. Treasury issued a six-month exemption on all financial transactions related to disaster relief, the measures had limited effect since banks and companies were nervous to take the risk, a phenomenon known as over-compliance. Interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa — who led the insurgency that ousted President Bashar Assad — has argued the sanctions have outlived their purpose and are now only harming the Syrian people and ultimately preventing the country from any prospect of recovery. Trump and al-Sharaa met Wednesday. Washington eased some restrictions temporarily in January but did not lift the sanctions. Britain and the European Union have eased some of their measures. ## What could lifting the sanctions mean for Syria? After Trump's announcement, Syria's currency gained 60% on Tuesday night — a signal of how transformational the removal of sanctions could be. Still, it will take time to see any tangible impact on Syria's economy, experts say, but removing all three sanctions regimes could bring major changes to the lives of Syrians, given how all-encompassing the measures are. It could mean banks could return to the international financial system or car repair shops could import spare parts from abroad. If the economy improves and reconstruction projects take off, many Syrian refugees who live in crowded tented encampments relying on aid to survive could decide to return home. "If the situation stabilized and there were reforms, we will then see Syrians returning to their country if they were given opportunities as we expect," says Lebanese economist Mounis Younes. The easing of sanctions also has an important symbolic weight because it would signal that Syria is no longer a pariah, said Shaar. Mathieu Rouquette, Mercy Corps' country director for Syria, said the move "marks a potentially transformative moment for millions of Syrians who have endured more than 13 years of economic hardship, conflict, and displacement." But it all depends on how Washington goes about it. "Unless enough layers of sanctions are peeled off, you cannot expect the positive impacts on Syria to start to appear," said Shaar. "Even if you remove some of the top ones, the impact economically would still be nonexistent."
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 11:09:48+00:00	[ "Hanoi", "Vietnam government", "Vietnam", "Thailand", "Politics", "Business", "Renewable energy" ]	# Vietnam and Thailand upgrade relations to strategic partnership By Aniruddha Ghosal May 16th, 2025, 11:09 AM --- HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam and Thailand have upgraded their ties to strategic partnership, state media said Friday. Vietnam now treats Thailand the same way as it does the U.S., China and Russia, its main strategic partners. The announcement was made after Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra's visit to Hanoi and meeting with her Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Minh Chinh. The closer ties aims to enhance political, defense and security cooperation, boost trade to $25 billion and increase tourism and green energy cooperation, state media said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 04:24:28+00:00	[ "Colorado Springs", "Denver", "Racism", "Fraud", "Indictments", "Juries", "Courts", "Britt Cobb", "Elections", "Black experience", "Legal proceedings", "Ashley Blackcloud", "Deanna West", "Regina M. Rodriguez", "Race and ethnicity", "Politics", "Tyrone Glover", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Trial begins over staged cross burning in front of campaign sign for Black candidate By Colleen Slevin and Jesse Bedayn May 19th, 2025, 04:24 AM --- DENVER (AP) — In the run-up to the 2023 mayoral election in Colorado Springs, a racial slur was scrawled across a Black candidate's sign and a cross set on fire in front of it. It was a stunt to generate sympathy and support for the Black candidate, Yemi Mobolade, prosecutors have said, and on Monday the two people accused of staging it went on trial, charged with making a threat against him. Mobolade, the city's first Black mayor, took the stand as a victim. "It felt very targeted against me, that symbol of hate, that history of the Ku Klux — KKK — was now directed toward me," said Mobolade, who appeared to get emotional in the courtroom when seeing the defaced campaign sign. One of the defendant's attorneys argued their alleged actions were political theater — free speech protected by the Constitution and not meant to cause harm. "The cross burning was not a true threat; it was a stunt to draw attention to racism in Colorado Springs and mobilize voters for Mr. Mobolade," said Britt Cobb, who's representing defendant Ashley Blackcloud. Blackcloud has claimed Mobolade himself was a participant in the plan, telling The Associated Press "this was a hoax in every sense of the word." She said Mobolade knew in advance about their plans to burn the cross, but Blackcloud would not comment further, citing a court order that bars discussing information in the case before the trial. Blackcloud, who is indigenous and Black, said the stunt was not intended to hurt anyone. Assistant U.S. Attorney Candyce Cline argued Monday that, "to the rest of the world, and to the man whose name is on that sign, this is exactly what it appears to be, a threat, a true threat, a threat that violence is to come." Mobolade has denied any knowledge of the defendants' plans and testified Monday that he learned about the cross burning after it happened. He's expected to face questions from defense attorneys on Tuesday. The second defendant — Blackcloud's husband, Derrick Bernard, who jail records identify as Black — is serving a life sentence after being convicted last year of ordering the killing of a rapper in Colorado Springs. The man charged with carrying out the killing was recently acquitted, and Bernard is appealing his conviction. "Derrick Bernard was not present at the cross burning, he did not plan it, and he did not direct it," said his attorney, Tyrone Glover, in opening statements. Cobb in court pointed out that the cross was set on fire in the middle of the night, which no one other than the defendants apparently saw. They are, however, accused of spreading word about it in emails to the media and others that include images of the scene. They are each charged with using interstate commerce — the internet and email — to make a threat and convey false information about an attempt to intimidate Mobolade with a fire. They are also both charged with being part of a conspiracy to do that. They have pleaded not guilty. For Bernard and Blackcloud to be found guilty, prosecutors must prove they intended Mobolade to fear that violence would result from their actions, according to jury instructions in the case. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Regina M. Rodriguez ruled that the alleged actions are not clearly protected by the First Amendment, which would have required her to dismiss the case. "It is up to the jury to determine whether the cross burning was a true threat or merely political speech," she wrote. A third person indicted in the alleged scheme, Deanna West, pleaded guilty in March to one count of being part of a conspiracy to set the fire and then spread false information about it, under a plea agreement with prosecutors. According to that agreement, West's lawyer and government prosecutors agreed that the conspiracy's goal was to interfere in the campaign of Mobolade's opponent and create the belief that Mobolade was being discouraged from running because of his race. West is also scheduled to testify for the government. According to the indictment, Bernard communicated with Mobolade before the cross burning on April 23, 2023, and after Mobolade won the election in a May 6, 2023, runoff. About a week before the cross burning, Bernard told the then-candidate in a Facebook message that he was "mobilizing my squadron in defense and for the final push. Black ops style big brother. The klan cannot be allowed to run this city again." They spoke for about five minutes on the telephone three days after the incident. In a video statement posted on social media in December, Mobolade said he had fully cooperated with the investigation and had been truthful with law enforcement. "I fully and truthfully cooperated throughout this investigation. I had no knowledge, warning or involvement in this crime," he said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 23:42:21+00:00	[ "John Roberts", "Donald Trump", "Courts", "Supreme Court of the United States", "Elon Musk", "Impeachment", "Daniel Anderl", "Legal proceedings", "Stephen Miller", "Politics", "Pam Bondi", "Kash Patel", "Esther Salas", "Richard Durbin" ]	# Roberts defends judicial independence as federal judges come under attack By Mark Sherman May 7th, 2025, 11:42 PM --- BUFFALO (AP) — Amid attacks on federal judges who have slowed President Donald Trump's agenda, Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday defended judicial independence as necessary to "check the excesses of the Congress or the executive." "Judicial independence is crucial," Roberts, the leader of the Supreme Court and the entire federal judiciary, said at a gathering of judges and lawyers in his hometown. He described the creation of three co-equal branches of government as the Constitution's one innovation. "That innovation doesn't work if the judiciary is not independent," he said. The 70-year-old chief justice largely repeated things he has said previously. But his comments, in response to questions from another federal judge, drew applause from the 600 people who gathered to mark the 125th anniversary of federal courts in the Western District of New York. Asked about comments from Trump and his allies supporting the impeachment of judges because of their rulings, Roberts largely repeated the statement he issued in March. "Impeachment is not how you register disagreement with a decision," he said. Roberts also said he has no plans to retire as he nears the 20th anniversary of his confirmation to the nation's highest court. His appearance in the city where he was born followed — by less than a week — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's forceful condemnation of attacks on judges. In a speech to a conference of judges and lawyers in Puerto Rico, Jackson talked about "the relentless attacks and disregard and disparagement that judges around the country, and perhaps many of you, are now facing on a daily basis." Jackson, in remarks posted on the court's website, described the attacks as "the elephant in the room" in the course of a talk that did not once mention Trump. The president, senior aide Stephen Miller and billionaire Elon Musk have railed at judges who have blocked parts of Trump's agenda, sometimes with highly personal attacks. Trump called the judge who temporarily halted deportations using an 18th century wartime law a "radical left lunatic." There also have been unsettling attempts at intimidation in the form of unwanted pizza deliveries to the homes of judges and their children. Some of those deliveries have been sent in the name of Daniel Anderl, the son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas. Anderl was shot dead at the family home by a disgruntled lawyer in 2020. "These deliveries are threats intended to show that those seeking to intimidate the targeted judge know the judge's address or their family members' addresses," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., wrote Tuesday in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel. Trump has largely spared the high court, which is weighing several emergency appeals of lower court rulings that have gone against him. The president has a mixed record in front of the justices so far. On Tuesday, the court's conservative majority revived the administration's ban on transgender military service members while court challenges to the policy continue. The three liberal justices dissented. But the court also has temporarily halted some deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members under an 18th century wartime law. And the justices also said deportations can't take place without giving people a chance to challenge them in court. Next week, the court is hearing arguments over Trump's executive order that would deny citizenship to American-born children of people who are in the country illegally. The Justice Department wants the court to narrow lower court orders so that the restrictions could be enforced in more than half the country, while the cases continue. ___
Associated Press News	2025-05-10 14:19:38+00:00	[ "Mike Johnson", "Donald Trump", "Joe Biden", "U.S. Republican Party", "Taxes", "Barack Obama", "Government policy", "Economic policy", "Government programs", "United States government", "United States House of Representatives", "California", "New Jersey", "Congress", "United States", "Newt Gingrich", "Renewable energy", "Rich McCormick", "August Pfluger", "Lloyd Smucker", "Politics", "Business", "Grover Norquist" ]	# Tax the rich? Republicans wrestle with their economic priorities in the Trump era By Lisa Mascaro May 10th, 2025, 02:19 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — What, exactly, the Republican Party stands for in terms of economic policy in the second Trump administration is a question reaching an inflection point. Is it the party that promotes free-market prosperity or a 21st-century populism? Does it stick with the "No new taxes" pledge that has been GOP political orthodoxy for decades or do Republicans tax the rich, as President Donald Trump suggests? Roll back the Obama-era's health care expansion and the President Joe Biden's green energy investments or protect the federal flow of investment dollars generating jobs in the states? Slash deficit spending or spike the nation's now $36 trillion debt load? Free trade or Trump's tariffs? As House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Republicans race to draft Trump's "big, beautiful bill" of $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, the final product will set the party on a defining path. It's still a work in progress. "This idea of the American dream where we are the best country in the world — which I believe we are – will be gone and it'll be our fault, so we have to do something right now to address it," said Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga. "And everybody wants to say, 'Oh, yeah, we should do something,' but nobody's willing to say what that hard choice is." The GOP is shape-shifting its economic policy priorities in real time, transforming from a party that once put a premium on lower taxes and smaller government into something more reflective of the interests of the working-class coalition that depends on the federal safety net and put Trump in the White House. On the one side, there's the old-school Republican stalwarts who have guided policy thinking for years. Among them are former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist, who says tax increases would be "stupid, destructive" and the influential Club for Growth, which pours millions into political campaigns. But a rising neo-populist power center with proximity to Trump carries clout, with Steve Banon and others who reject the traditional trickle-down economic policies and propose a new direction that more benefits Americans. Divisions run strong within the Republican Party, which holds the majority on Capitol Hill, and is bulldozing past Democratic objections to push its package forward on its own. GOP lawmakers are under mounting pressure to set aside their differences by Johnson's Memorial Day deadline, especially as Trump's tariffs stoke unease, and they are eager to signal that the economy is under control on their watch. "This is a once in a generation bill," said Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a large group of House conservatives. He said not only would the emerging package extend the tax breaks and cut spending, "it also gives us a mentality just to settle the markets, to give some predictability, to give everybody in our country the ability to go, hey, our economy is going to be strong." This weekend, Republican leaders are working to finish the 11 separate sections that will make up that big package before potential public hearings in the coming week. But the final three — on tax policy, Medicaid and green energy programs, and food stamp assistance — have proved to be the most difficult, posing the biggest political risks. Moderate conservative Republicans in the House have signed on to letters opposing steep cuts to Medicaid, which provides health care to more than 70 million Americans. The Medicaid program has expanded in the 15 years since the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, became law, as more states signed up for federal cost-sharing allotments, and people benefited from enhanced federal credits to pay their insurance premiums. Republicans who pledged to "repeal and replace" the health law during Trump's first term are now insisting they only want to target what they say is waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid, as many fight to save its more popular parts. Many of those same moderate GOP lawmakers also oppose rolling back the green energy tax breaks that Democrats approved under Biden as companies invest in wind, solar and other renewable energy development. At the same time, the more conservative Republicans are roaring back, insisting on deep cuts. Some 30 Republicans said the party must hold to the original GOP budget framework of up to $2 trillion in spending cuts, which they argue are needed to prevent the tax cuts from piling on annual deficits that are fueling the nation's debt load. The cost of the tax cuts, first approved by Republicans in 2017, during Trump's first term, is expected to grow if Republicans add other priorities, including no taxes on tipped wages or Social Security income. Estimates put the final costs beyond $7 trillion. "We must hold that line on fiscal discipline to put the country back on a sustainable path," wrote Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., and colleagues. Meanwhile, Johnson is negotiating with a core group of five Republicans from the highest tax regions in New York, New Jersey and California who claim they will not vote for any plan unless it reinstates a bigger state and local tax deduction, called SALT, for their constituents. They called the latest proposal to triple the cap on state and local tax deductions, which is now $10,000 a year, to $30,000 "insulting." Trump himself has waded into the debate in uneven ways. The president told Johnson this past week that he wanted to see a higher tax rate on incomes of $2.5 million for single filers, or $5 million for couples, only to sort of back off the idea Friday. "Republicans should probably not do it, but I'm OK if they do!!!" Trump wrote on social media. With Republicans going it alone, over the objections of Democrats in the House and Senate critical of the tax package as a giveaway to the rich that will hurt Americans who depend on federal services, leaders will need almost every Republican on board. One Republican, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, implored his colleagues not to worry about the politics of the next midterm election and to stick to party principles. "How about we do the job we got elected 5 months ago to do and see where the chips fall," he posted on social media. "Cut Spending. Shrink the Deficit. Cut Taxes. Lead." __ Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Leah Askarinam contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 21:23:21+00:00	[ "Alabama", "Black experience", "Voting", "Courts", "Voting rights", "Alabama state government", "Steve Marshall", "Politics" ]	# Court rules Alabama violated Voting Rights Act in drawing congressional lines By Kim Chandler May 8th, 2025, 09:23 PM --- MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Federal judges ruled Thursday that Alabama intentionally diluted the voting strength of Black residents when it drew congressional lines and said the state must continue using a court-ordered map that led to the election of the state's second Black congressman. A three-judge panel permanently blocked Alabama from using a state-drawn map that they said flouted their directive to draw a plan that was fair to Black voters. The decision was not a surprise because the panel ruled against the state twice previously and put a new map in place for last year's elections. The judges said that the map drawn by the Alabama Legislature in 2023 violated the Voting Rights Act, just like the one previously drawn by the state. "The long and short of it is that the 2023 Plan unlawfully dilutes Black voting strength by consigning it to one majority-Black district," the judges wrote, adding that Alabama should have a second district with a substantial percentage of Black voters. The judges chided what it called Alabama's "deliberate decision to ignore" their order to draw a second district where Black voters had an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choosing. "The Legislature knew what federal law required and purposefully refused to provide it, in a strategic attempt to checkmate the injunction that ordered it," they wrote. The Thursday ruling came after a February trial over the state map. "Today's decision is a testament to the persistence and resilience of Black voters in Alabama, including our clients," said Deuel Ross, deputy director of litigation at the Legal Defense Fund. "Alabama's unprecedented defiance of the Supreme Court and the lower court orders harkens back to the darkest days of American history." Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall's office did not immediately issue a comment on the decision. The state is expected to appeal. Judges scheduled a hearing on plaintiffs' request to again make Alabama subject to the preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act. The long-running case began in 2021. Black voters and civil rights groups sued over Alabama's congressional map. Black residents account for about 27% of the state's population but were the majority in just one of the state's seven congressional districts. The lawsuits accused Alabama of packing Black voters into a single majority-Black district and splintering other Black communities to limit their influence elsewhere. In a joint statement, the plaintiffs called the win "a testament to the dedication and persistence of many generations of Black Alabamians who pursued political equality at great cost." U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures last year won election to Alabama's 2nd Congressional District, giving the state a second Black representative in its congressional delegation for the first time in its history.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 13:41:53+00:00	[ "War and unrest", "India", "Pakistan", "South Asia", "Pakistan government", "Bashir Mughal", "India government", "Lifestyle" ]	# The threat of a war with India empties a scenic Pakistani valley of summer tourists By Ishfaq Hussain May 1st, 2025, 01:41 PM --- MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Neelum Valley in northern Pakistan attracts some 300,000 tourists each summer who marvel at its natural beauty. But the threat of war with nearby India has emptied its hotels. Gunmen last week killed 26 people in the Indian resort town of Pahalgam, fueling tensions between the nuclear-armed nations after India blamed Pakistan for the attack, a charge Pakistan denies. Neelum Valley is less than 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides the disputed region of Kashmir, making it vulnerable to any military activity. Hotel owner Rafaqat Hussain said Thursday the crisis has hit the tourism industry hard. "Most tourists have left and returned to their cities because there is a risk of war." Authorities in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir temporarily shuttered dozens of tourist resorts following the attack as a precaution. No such order has come from Pakistani authorities. Bazaars in the Pakistani border town of Chakothi were open for business, although people were concerned. "First of all, our prayer is for peace, as war always affects civilians first," shop owner Bashir Mughal told The Associated Press, saying he would fight alongside the army in the event of conflict. Pakistan used to help residents to build bunkers near their homes during periods of intense cross-border firing. But the population has grown and some homes lack shelters. "Local casualties could be devastating if war breaks out," Mughal warned. Saiqa Naseer, also from Chakothi, shuddered at the childhood memories of frequent firing across the border. "Now, as a mother, I find myself facing the same fears," she said. She remembered Indian shells striking the picturesque valley when the two countries came close to war in 2019. She has a bunker at her home. "If war comes, we will stay here. We won't run away," she said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 04:51:25+00:00	[ "Bangladesh", "Sheikh Hasina", "Khaleda Zia", "Muhammad Yunus", "London", "South Asia", "Bangladesh government", "Politics", "Elections", "Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani", "Rebellions and uprisings" ]	# Bangladesh's ex-premier Khaleda Zia returns, adding pressure for elections By Julhas Alam May 6th, 2025, 04:51 AM --- DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh's ailing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia returned to the country from London on Tuesday after four months of medical treatment, adding to pressure for its interim leaders to hold elections. The South Asian country has been under a government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a students-led mass uprising in August last year. Zia, Hasina's archrival, and her Bangladesh Nationalist Party have been pushing Yunus' government to hold a national election in December to return the country to democratic rule. Under Hasina, many opposition political parties including Zia's BNP had either boycotted the polls or accused the authorities of rigging them. Many welcomed Hasina's overthrow as a chance to return to democratic elections, but suspicion and uncertainty have surfaced in recent months about the new government's commitment to hold elections soon. It has said the next election will be held in either December or by June next year, depending on the extent of reforms in various sectors. Her elder son, Tarique Rahman, leads the party as acting chief from exile in London. After Zia landed at 10:43 a.m., she was greeted by senior party leaders at Dhaka's main airport. Zia, sitting in a wheelchair, smiled as she repeatedly raised her right hand to receive greetings. Crowds gathered outside Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to welcome the returning leader, amid tight security. Thousands of supporters, many carrying Bangladesh and BNP flags, waited along about a 9-kilometer stretch of road leading to her house in Dhaka's upscale Gulshan area. Accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, Zia arrived on a special air ambulance arranged by Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who also arranged her transport to London in January. Zia suffers from various serious health conditions and she has not attended any public gatherings. Zia's physical presence in the country has huge symbolic value for her party while Hasina is in exile in India. Ahead of her arrival, BNP secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said Tuesday her return will help Bangladesh restore the democratic process. "This is a joyous moment for us and the nation. At this crucial time for democracy, her presence marks a significant day for the country. We believe that Khaleda Zia's return will facilitate the path to democratic transition," Fakhrul told reporters. Zia and Hasina have alternately ruled the country as prime ministers since 1991 when the country returned to a democracy after the ouster of authoritarian President H.M. Ershad. Zia served the country as prime minister three times, twice for full five-year terms and once for just a few months. During Hasina's 15 years in power, Zia was tried and jailed for 17 years in two corruption cases. Her party said the charges against Zia were politically motivated, an allegation Hasina's government denied. Later, Zia was released from jail on condition that she not leave the country. Zia is the widow of former military chief-turned-president Ziaur Rahman, who was assassinated in 1981. Hasina is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led Bangladesh's independence struggle against Pakistan in 1971.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 20:32:41+00:00	[ "Robert Benton", "Dustin Hoffman", "Sally Field", "Movies", "Meryl Streep", "Texas", "New York City Wire", "Notable Deaths", "Sallie Rendigs", "Richard Russo", "Jeff Bridges", "David Newman", "Avery Corman", "E.L. Doctorow", "Paul Newman", "Robert Towne", "Philip Roth", "Mark Harris", "Ellery Douglass Benton", "Arthur Penn", "Arts and entertainment", "John Benton", "Faye Dunaway", "Gloria Steinem", "Jean-Luc Godard", "Bonnie Parker", "Warren Beatty", "Entertainment" ]	# Robert Benton, Oscar-winning filmmaker of 'Kramer vs. Kramer,' dead at 92 By Hillel Italie May 13th, 2025, 08:32 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Robert Benton, the Oscar-winning filmmaker who helped reset the rules in Hollywood as the co-creator of "Bonnie and Clyde," and later received mainstream validation as the writer-director of "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Places in the Heart," has died at age 92. Benton's son, John Benton, said that he died Sunday at his home in Manhattan of "natural causes." During a 40-year screen career, the Texas native received six Oscar nominations and won three times: for writing and directing "Kramer vs. Kramer" and for writing "Places in the Heart." He was widely appreciated by actors as attentive and trusting, and directed Oscar-winning performances by Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Sally Field. Although severe dyslexia left him unable to read more than a few pages at a time as a child, he wrote and directed film adaptations of novels by Philip Roth, E.L. Doctorow and Richard Russo, among others. Benton was an art director for Esquire magazine in the early 1960s when a love for French New Wave movies and old gangster stories (and news that a friend got $25,000 for a Doris Day screenplay) inspired him and Esquire editor David Newman to draft a treatment about the lives of Depression-era robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, imagining them as prototypes for 1960s rebels. Their project took years to complete as Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard were among the directors who turned them down before Warren Beatty agreed to produce and star in the movie. "Bonnie and Clyde," directed by Arthur Penn and starring Beatty and Faye Dunaway, overcame initial critical resistance in 1967 to the film's shocking violence and became one of the touchstones of 1960s culture and the start of a more open and creative era in Hollywood. The original story by Benton and Newman was even more daring: they had made Clyde Barrow bisexual and involved in a 3-way relationship with Bonnie and their male getaway driver. Beatty and Penn both resisted, and Barrow instead was portrayed as impotent, with an uncredited Robert Towne making numerous other changes to the script. "I honestly don't know who the 'auteur' of 'Bonnie and Clyde' was," Benton later told Mark Harris, author of "Pictures at a Revolution," a book about "Bonnie and Clyde" and four other movies from 1967. ## Oscar-winning triumphs Over the following decade, none of Benton's films approached the impact of "Bonnie and Clyde," although he continued to have critical and commercial success. His writing credits included "Superman" and "What's Up, Doc?" He directed and co-wrote such well-reviewed works as "Bad Company," a revisionist Western featuring Jeff Bridges, and "The Late Show," a melancholy comedy for which his screenplay received an Oscar nomination. His career soared in 1979 with his adaptation of the Avery Corman novel "Kramer vs. Kramer," about a self-absorbed advertising executive who becomes a loving parent to his young son after his wife walks out, only to have her return and ask for custody. Starring Hoffman and Streep, the movie was praised as a perceptive, emotional portrait of changing family roles and expectations and received five Academy Awards, including best picture. Hoffman, disenchanted at the time with the film business, would cite "Kramer vs. Kramer" and Benson's direction for reviving his love for movie acting. Five years later, Benton was back in the Oscars race with a more personal film, "Places in the Heart," in which he drew upon family stories and childhood memories for his 1930s-set drama starring Fields as a mother of two in Texas who fights to hold on to her land after her husband is killed. "I think that when I saw it all strung together, I was surprised at what a romantic view I had of the past," Benton told The Associated Press in 1984, adding that the movie was in part a tribute to his mother, who had died shortly before the release of "Kramer vs. Kramer." ## A lifelong movie fan Benton was born in Waxahachie, Texas, outside of Dallas. He owed his early love for movies to his father, telephone company employee Ellery Douglass Benton, who, instead of asking about homework, would take his family to the picture shows. The elder Benton would also share memories of attending the funerals of outlaws Barrow and Parker, Texas natives who grew up in the Dallas area. Robert Benton studied at the University of Texas and Columbia University, then served in the U.S. Army from 1954 until 1956. While at Esquire, Benton helped start the magazine's long-standing Dubious Achievement Award and dated Gloria Steinem, then on staff at the humor magazine Help! He married artist Sallie Rendigs in 1964. They had one son. Between hits, Benton often endured long dry spells. His latter films included such disappointments as the thrillers "Billy Bathgate," "The Human Stain" and "Twilight." He had much more success with "Nobody's Fool," a wry comedy released in 1994 and starring Paul Newman, in his last Oscar-nominated performance, as a small-town troublemaker in upstate New York. Benton, whose film was based on Russo's novel, was nominated for best adapted screenplay. "Somebody asked me once when the Academy Award nominations came out and I'd been nominated, 'What's the great thing about the Academy Awards?'" Benton told Venice magazine in 1998. "I said 'When you go to the awards and you see people, some of whom you've had bitter fights with, some of whom you're close friends with, some people you haven't seen in ten years, some people you just saw two days before — it's your family.' It's home. And home is what I've spent my life looking for."
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 23:53:23+00:00	[ "Jennifer Aniston", "Jimmy Wayne Carwyle", "Los Angeles", "Nathan Hochman", "Accidents", "Vandalism", "Crime", "Entertainment" ]	# Man charged with stalking Jennifer Aniston and vandalism after crashing car through her front gate By Andrew Dalton May 7th, 2025, 11:53 PM --- LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors said Wednesday that a Mississippi man who harassed Jennifer Aniston for two years before crashing his vehicle through the front gate of the "Friends" star's Los Angeles home has been charged with felony stalking and vandalism. Jimmy Wayne Carwyle, 48, of New Albany, Mississippi, also faces an aggravating circumstance of the threat of great bodily harm, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said. Carwyle, who has been held in jail since his arrest Monday, is set to be arraigned on Thursday. His bail has been set at $150,000. It was not immediately clear if he has retained an attorney. Carwyle is accused of repeatedly harassing Aniston — referred to by the district attorney only as Jennifer A. — by sending her unwanted voicemail, email and social media messages starting in 2023. Then early Monday afternoon in LA's wealthy Bel Air neighborhood, Carwyle crashed his vehicle through her front gate, causing major damage, prosecutors said. A security guard stopped him in her driveway before police arrived and arrested him. Police said Aniston was at home at the time. There were no reports of anyone being injured. Messages left with her representatives seeking comment were not immediately answered. Carlyle could get up to three years in prison if he is convicted as charged. "My office is committed to aggressively prosecuting those who stalk and terrorize others, ensuring they are held accountable," Hochman said in a statement. Aniston bought the midcentury mansion on a 3.4-acre lot for about $21 million in 2012, according to reporting by Architectural Digest. She became one of the biggest stars in television in her 10 years on NBC's "Friends." Aniston won an Emmy Award for best lead actress in a comedy for the role, and she has been nominated for nine more. She currently stars in "The Morning Show" on Apple TV+.
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 08:58:30+00:00	[ "Vatican City", "Pope Leo XIV", "Pope Francis", "Catholic Church", "Europe", "Marriage", "Religion" ]	# Pope Leo XIV affirms family is based on union between a man and a woman, unborn has inherent dignity By Nicole Winfield May 16th, 2025, 08:58 AM --- VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV affirmed Friday that the family is founded on the "stable union between a man and a woman," and that the unborn and elderly enjoy dignity as God's creatures, articulating clear Catholic teaching on marriage and abortion at the start of his pontificate. Leo, the first American pope, also called for reviving multilateral diplomacy and promoting dialogue between religions in the search for peace, in his first meeting with the Vatican diplomatic corps. The audience was private, but the Vatican released Leo's prepared text and that of the dean of the diplomatic corps. The encounter is one of the protocol requirements after a conclave, allowing a new pope to greet representatives of world governments ahead of his formal installation Mass this Sunday. The Holy See is a sovereign state under international law, has diplomatic relations with over 180 countries and enjoys observer status at the United Nations. Leo, a member of the Augustinian religious order, has emphasized peace as a priority of his pontificate, from the first words he uttered on the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica after his May 8 election, "Peace be with you all." In his remarks, he said the search for peace was one of the pillars of the papacy. He insisted that peace isn't just the absence of conflict but a "gift" that requires work, from an end to the production of weapons to choosing words carefully. "For words too, not only weapons, can wound and even kill." He said it was up to governments to build peaceful societies "above all by investing in the family, founded upon the stable union between a man and a woman." "In addition, no one is exempted from striving to ensure respect for the dignity of every person, especially the most frail and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike," he said. Pope Francis strongly reaffirmed core Catholic teaching opposing abortion and euthanasia, saying they were evidence of today's "throwaway culture." But he also made reaching out to LGBTQ+ Catholics a hallmark, insisting they are welcome in the church. He never changed church doctrine defining marriage as a union between man and woman and homosexual acts as "intrinsically disordered." As the then-head of the Augustinian order, the Rev. Robert Prevost in 2012 criticized the "homosexual lifestyle" and the role of mass media in promoting acceptance of same-sex relationships that conflicted with Catholic doctrine. A decade later, during Francis' pontificate, he acknowledged Francis' call for a more inclusive church, and said he didn't want people excluded just on the basis of their lifestyle. ___ 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	2025-05-06 04:01:05+00:00	[ "Friedrich Merz", "Germany government", "Germany", "Donald Trump", "Europe", "Volodymyr Zelenskyy", "Angela Merkel", "JD Vance", "Marco Rubio", "Olaf Scholz", "Conservatism", "Global elections", "Politics", "Volker Resing", "Jens Spahn", "Alice Weidel", "Government policy", "Economic policy", "Voting" ]	# Merz wins on second ballot to become Germany's chancellor By Stefanie Dazio and Kirsten Grieshaber May 6th, 2025, 04:01 AM --- BERLIN (AP) — Conservative leader Friedrich Merz succeeded Tuesday in becoming Germany's next chancellor, drawing applause and a palpable sense of relief in the parliament chamber after a historic loss in the first round of voting threatened the new government's promises of stability. No other postwar candidate for German chancellor has failed to win on the first ballot. The stunning but short-lived defeat sent shock waves throughout Europe and dragged down the stock market. The DAX, the index of major German companies, fell by 1.8% at one point. The first round of voting, which was conducted by secret ballot, could affect Merz's prospects for success and bring trouble to his coalition's agenda, which includes reviving a stagnant economy and dealing with the rise of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party. As the most populous member state of the 27-nation European Union and the continent's biggest economy, Germany is Europe's diplomatic and economic heavyweight. Many had hoped Merz's ascension would help the continent navigate the war in Ukraine and the confrontational trade policy of U.S. President Donald Trump. "The whole of Europe, perhaps even the whole world, is watching this second round of elections," Jens Spahn, the head of the center-right Union bloc in the German parliament, said before the final vote. ## The aftermath Merz had been expected to easily win the vote to become Germany's 10th chancellor since World War II, but the first ballot in the lower house of parliament unexpectedly left him with 310 votes — well short of the 328 seats held by his coalition. Hours later in the second round, he earned 325 votes, surpassing the 316 needed to pass in the 630-seat Bundestag. Because the votes were cast secretly, it was not immediately clear — and might never be — who defected from Merz's camp. Merz's coalition is led by his center-right Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union. They are joined by the center-left Social Democrats led by outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who lost the national election in February. Volker Resing, Merz's biographer, said Merz and his new ministers must now focus on the day-to-day business of running the country. "Tomorrow, this government must work, and it must make people forget how it started," he told The Associated Press. "It must now show that it can get the economy going again. ... It must show that it can get illegal migration under control, and it must show that there is leadership again in Europe, especially in light of the threat from the east." Merz did not directly address his first-round loss Tuesday evening in his first speech after being sworn in, saying only that he was grateful to be elected "in the second round of voting." "So here we go. I am looking forward to the new task, and I am looking forward to working with you all in this house in a spirit of trust," he said. ## 80th anniversary of World War II Tuesday's voting came on the eve of the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender in World War II. The ballots were cast in the restored Reichstag building, where graffiti left by victorious Soviet troops has been preserved at several locations. The shadow of the war in Ukraine also loomed over the vote. Germany is the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine, after the United States. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he seeks more European and transatlantic leadership from Germany following Merz's win. "Ukraine is deeply grateful for the support of Germany and its people," Zelenskyy wrote on social platform X. "Your helping hand has saved thousands and thousands of Ukrainian lives." Overall, Germany is the fourth-largest defense spender in the world, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which studies trends in global military expenditures. Only the U.S., China and Russia are ahead. Germany rose to that rank thanks to an investment of 100 billion euros ($107 billion) for its armed forces, a measure passed by lawmakers in 2022. Defense spending rose again earlier this year, when parliament loosened the nation's strict debt rules. The move has been closely watched by the rest of Europe as the Trump administration has threatened to pull back from its security commitment to the continent. ## Germany and the Trump administration The U.S. administration has bashed Germany repeatedly since Trump's inauguration in January. Trump, who has German roots, often expressed his dislike of former Chancellor Angela Merkel during his first term. This time around, Trump's lieutenants are at the forefront — tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk has supported AfD for months. He hosted a chat with co-leader Alice Weidel that he livestreamed on X earlier this year to amplify her party's message. AfD is the biggest opposition party in Germany's new parliament after it placed second in February's elections. Despite its historic gains, it was shut out of coalition talks due to the so-called "firewall" that mainstream German political parties have upheld against cooperating with far-right parties since the end of the war. Vice President JD Vance, during the Munich Security Conference in February, assailed the creation of the firewall and later met with Weidel, a move that German officials heavily criticized. Last week, the German domestic intelligence service said it has classified AfD as a "right-wing extremist" organization, making it subject to greater and broader surveillance. The decision by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution prompted blowback from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vance over the weekend. Germany's Foreign Ministry hit back at Rubio after he called on the country to drop the classification. The domestic intelligence service's measure does not amount to a ban of the party, which can only be imposed through a request by either of parliament's two chambers or by the federal government through the Federal Constitutional Court. Merz has not commented publicly on the intelligence service's decision. ___ Associated Press writer David Keyton and videojournalist Fanny Brodersen in Berlin and writer David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 17:04:58+00:00	[ "Sean Duffy", "Donald Trump", "Newark", "DC Wire", "New York City Wire", "Politics", "Wireless technology", "District of Columbia", "Aviation safety", "Plane crashes", "Technology", "Traffic", "United States government", "Sam Graves", "Business", "Federal Aviation Administration", "Accidents" ]	# White House proposes major overhaul of outdated US air traffic control system By Josh Funk and John Seewer May 8th, 2025, 05:04 PM --- The Trump administration on Thursday proposed a multibillion-dollar overhaul of a U.S. air traffic control system that it said still relies on floppy disks and replacement parts found on eBay and has come under renewed scrutiny in the wake of recent deadly plane crashes and technical failures. The plan calls for six new air traffic control centers, along with an array of technology and communications upgrades at all of the nation's air traffic facilities over the next three or four years, said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. "We use radar from the 1970s," said Duffy, who compared the proposal with upgrading from a flip phone to a smartphone. "This technology is 50 years old that our controllers use to scan the skies and keep airplanes separated from one another." How much it will all cost wasn't immediately revealed. Duffy said he'll work with Congress on the details. "It's going to be billions, lots of billions," he said. The plan has an aggressive timeline, calling on everything to be finished by 2028 — although Duffy said it may take another year. Demands to fix the aging system that handles more than 45,000 daily flights have increased since the midair collision in January between an Army helicopter and a commercial airliner that killed 67 people over Washington, D.C. That crash — and a string of other crashes and mishaps — showed the immediate need for these upgrades, Duffy said in front of airline officials, union leaders and family members of those who died in the crash near Reagan National Airport. The proposal sets out to add fiber, wireless or satellite technology at more than 4,600 locations, replace 618 radars and more than quadruple the number of airports with systems designed to reduce near misses on runways. Six new air traffic control centers also would be built under the plan, and new hardware and software would be standardized across all air traffic facilities. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week budgeted $12.5 billion to overhaul the system, but that estimate came out before the Transportation Department revealed its plan. Duffy said the final price tag will be higher. U.S. Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri, who heads the House transportation committee, called the amount only a "down payment." To build the system quickly, as planned, Duffy said Congress must give the Federal Aviation Administration all the money up front and streamline the permitting process. "The system we have here? It's not worth saving. I don't need to preserve any of this. It's too old," Duffy said. Trump said Thursday that the plan will revolutionize flying. "The new equipment is unbelievable what it does," he said from the Oval Office. He began to say it may even alleviate the need for pilots before adding, "In my opinion, you always need pilots. But you wouldn't even have to have pilots." The newly revealed proposal appears to have wide support across the aviation industry — from airline CEOs to the unions representing controllers and pilots — but this is just the beginning and many details haven't been revealed. Duffy quickly said the plan will not involve privatizing the air traffic control system, as Trump had supported in his first term. Following the midair crash near Washington, Trump promised to fix what he called "an old, broken system" and to tackle the nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers while blaming the previous Biden administration for both problems. But the weaknesses within the air traffic control system have been highlighted for years in hearings before Congress and government reports. The struggles to keep up with increasing air traffic has been recognized since the 1990s — long before either Trump or Biden took office. The Trump administration's overhaul plan will need enough funding to be more effective than previous reform efforts during the last three decades. Already more than $14 billion has been invested in upgrades since 2003 but none have dramatically changed how the system works. The FAA has been working since the mid-2000s to make upgrades through its NextGen program. One of the biggest challenges with a massive upgrade is that the FAA must keep the current system operating while developing a new system and then find a way to seamlessly switch over. That's partly why the agency has pursued more gradual improvements in the past. The shortage of controllers and technical breakdowns came to the forefront in the last two weeks when a radar system briefly failed at the Newark, New Jersey, airport, leading to a wave of flight cancellations and delays. Without the planned upgrades, those breakdowns will be repeated around the nation, Duffy said. "Newark has been a prime example of what happens when this old equipment goes down," he said. ___ Associated Press reporter Will Weissert in Washington contributed.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 16:20:17+00:00	[ "Nicolas Maduro", "Donald Trump", "Caracas", "Venezuela", "Richard Grenell", "Venezuela government", "United States government", "Immigration", "United States", "Kidnapping", "Politics", "Cilia Flores" ]	# 2-year-old girl reunites with her mother in Venezuela after US deportation May 14th, 2025, 04:20 PM --- CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A 2-year-old girl arrived Wednesday in Caracas to reunite with her mother after she was separated from her parents when they were deported from the U.S. in what Venezuela denounced as a kidnapping. Maikelys Espinoza arrived at an airport outside the capital, Caracas, along with more than 220 deported migrants. Footage aired by state television showed Venezuela's first lady Cilia Flores carrying Maikelys at the airport. Later, Flores was shown handing the girl over to her mother, who had been waiting for her arrival at the presidential palace along with President Nicolás Maduro. "Here is everyone's beloved little girl. She is the daughter and granddaughter of all of us," Maduro said. The U.S. government had claimed the family separation last month was justified because the girl's parents allegedly have ties to the Venezuelan-based Tren de Aragua gang, which U.S. President Donald Trump designated a terrorist organization earlier this year. The girl's mother was deported to Venezuela on April 25. Meanwhile, U.S. authorities sent her father to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador in March under Trump's invocation of an 18th-century wartime law to deport hundreds of immigrants. For years, the government of Maduro had mostly refused the entry of immigrants deported from the U.S. But since Trump took office this year, hundreds of Venezuelan migrants, including some 180 who spent up to 16 days at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been deported to their home country. The Trump administration has said the Venezuelans sent to Guantanamo and El Salvador are members of the Tren de Aragua, but has offered little evidence to back up the allegation. Maduro on Wednesday thanked Trump and his envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, for allowing Maikelys to reunite with her mother in a "profoundly humane" act. Grenell met with Maduro in Caracas shortly after Trump took office. "There have been and will be differences, but it is possible, with God's blessing, to move forward and resolve many issues," Maduro said, alluding to the deep divisions between his and Trump's governments. "I hope and aspire that very soon we can also rescue Maikelys' father and the 253 Venezuelans who are in El Salvador." ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 07:45:08+00:00	[ "Vladimir Putin", "Volodymyr Zelenskyy", "Ukraine", "Donald Trump", "Russia", "Hakan Fidan", "Russia government", "Ulf Kristersson", "Keir Starmer", "Recep Tayyip Erdogan", "Dmitry Peskov", "Europe", "London", "Italy", "United Kingdom government", "Russia-Ukraine war", "United States government", "Ukraine government", "Sweden government", "Politics", "Pope Leo XIV", "Russia Ukraine war", "Antonina Metko", "David Lammy" ]	# Russian drones attack Ukraine after Kremlin turns down a ceasefire proposal By Illia Novikov and Dmytro Zhyhinas May 12th, 2025, 07:45 AM --- KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched more than 100 Shahed and decoy drones at Ukraine in nighttime attacks, the Ukrainian air force said Monday, after the Kremlin effectively rejected an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in the more than three-year war, but reiterated it would take part in possible peace talks later this week without preconditions. There was no direct response from the Kremlin, meanwhile, to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's challenge for Russian leader Vladimir Putin to meet him for face-to-face peace talks in Turkey on Thursday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to say who might travel to Istanbul from the Russian side. "Overall, we're determined to seriously look for ways to achieve a long-term peaceful settlement. That is all," Peskov said. The United States and European governments are making a concerted push to stop the fighting, which has killed tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides, as well as more than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians. Russia's invading forces have taken around one-fifth of Ukraine in Europe's biggest conflict since World War II. U.S. President Donald Trump said he's optimistic about the Istanbul talks. There is "the potential for a good meeting" between Putin and Zelenskyy, Trump said in Washington, adding that he was "thinking about flying over" to the talks from his visit to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates that day. Zelenskyy supported the prospect of Trump attending the negotiations. "I supported President Trump with the idea of direct talks with Putin. I have openly expressed my readiness to meet," he said. "And of course, all of us in Ukraine would appreciate it if President Trump could be there with us at this meeting in Turkey." In a flurry of diplomatic developments over the weekend, Russia shunned the ceasefire proposal tabled by the U.S. and European leaders, but offered direct talks with Ukraine on Thursday. Ukraine, along with European allies, had demanded that Russia accept a ceasefire starting Monday before holding peace talks. Moscow effectively rejected that proposal and instead called for direct negotiations in Istanbul. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had discussed Russian-Ukrainian peace efforts in separate calls with Zelenskyy, Putin and Trump. Erdogan said "a new window of opportunity has emerged for peace," and claimed that previous talks hosted by Turkey in 2022 came close to success but were derailed by "war barons." "We support my dear friend Trump's determination to resolve active conflicts through dialogue and diplomacy," he said. ## West increases pressure on Putin Trump insisted that Ukraine accept the Russian offer of talks. Zelenskyy went a step further Sunday and put pressure on Putin by offering a personal meeting. France added its voice to that offer Monday, with Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot urging Putin to accept — though Barrot repeated the European position that a truce must be in place before the talks. Russia's failure to join the ceasefire offered by Ukraine would bring further sanctions on Moscow, European leaders say. Germany on Monday reminded Russia of that intention. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, said the pressure on Russia was increasing. "Everybody wants peace now. Ukraine wants peace, Europe wants peace, the US wants peace,'' he told The Associated Press during an interview in London. "Now Russia needs to make up their mind whether they also want peace or not, an unconditional ceasefire." Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said that giving ultimatums to Russia was "unacceptable" and wouldn't work. "You cannot talk to Russia in this language," he told reporters. Also on Monday, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy was hosting in London senior diplomatic officials from France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Poland and the European Union to discuss how best to fight back against Russian aggression. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said he expected the two sides to reach a compromise in the coming days that might break the deadlock over whether talks could begin without a truce in place. Russian and Ukrainian officials are mindful of public opinion in their countries and are trying to secure the support of the United States for their stances, he said in explaining the delay. ## Ukrainians react to peace prospects In Kyiv, residents expressed a mixture of hope and despondency at the latest peace efforts. Putin doesn't want a truce to halt the war, because "it will mean that he has lost," Antonina Metko, 43, told The Associated Press. "That is why they are postponing it. And everything will continue in the same way. Unfortunately." Vladyslav Nehrybetskyi, 72, was more upbeat, saying that "the seeds" of a peace agreement are being sown, even though "a difficult process" lies ahead. "So let's hope." Ukraine's government has tried to keep up the momentum for a peace deal started by the Trump administration. "Ukraine wants to end this war and is doing everything for this," Zelenskyy said on Telegram. "We expect appropriate steps from Russia." The Ukrainian leader said that he told Pope Leo XIV about peace efforts during his first phone conversation with the new pontiff. Ukraine is counting on the Vatican's help in securing the return of thousands of children that the government says have been deported by Russia, Zelenskyy said, adding that he had invited the pope to visit Ukraine. In his first Sunday noon blessing as pontiff, Leo called for a genuine and just peace in Ukraine. "I carry in my heart the sufferings of the beloved Ukrainian people," he said. In 2022, in the war's early months, Zelenskyy repeatedly called for a personal meeting with Putin but was rebuffed, and eventually enacted a decree declaring that holding negotiations with him had become impossible. Putin and Zelenskyy have only met once, in 2019. Trump says that "deep hatred" between the sides has made it difficult to push peace efforts forward. ___ Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Danica Kirka in London, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Geir Moulson in Berlin, contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 19:02:18+00:00	[ "Buffalo", "New York", "Shane Cronin", "Kidnapping", "Michael Keane", "Child abuse", "Education", "Law enforcement", "Jeffrey Hammond", "Daniel Dubois" ]	# Man charged with trying to kidnap a child from a school in Buffalo, New York By Carolyn Thompson May 7th, 2025, 07:02 PM --- BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — An Illinois man tried to kidnap a student from a school in Buffalo, New York, and fled after punching and shoving an employee who confronted him, prosecutors said Wednesday. Shane Cronin, 30, of Lombard, Illinois, was arrested a short time later near the school. He pleaded not guilty Wednesday to attempted kidnapping, burglary, attempted assault and other charges, and was ordered to be held without bail. Cronin entered the Dr. Charles R. Drew Science Magnet school without permission Feb. 11 and approached two children he did not know in a hallway, authorities said. He was attempting to lure and abduct one of them when a school employee saw him and directed him to leave, District Attorney Michael Keane said. Cronin punched the employee and shoved her to the ground before a security guard intervened and Cronin ran from the building, the prosecutor said. The school is adjacent to the Buffalo Museum of Science. Cronin's attorney said his client may have been in the midst of a severe mental health crisis when he legally entered the science museum and from there "was somehow able to gain access to" the attached school. "By all accounts, most of the employees did what they were supposed to do upon making contact with any person not authorized to be on the school premises," attorney Daniel DuBois said in an email. Cronin didn't have any tools or weapons on him or in his vehicle, which was searched by police, DuBois said. A spokesman for Buffalo Public Schools declined to respond to questions about how the intruder gained access to the school and what security protocols may have been breached. The school includes students in grades three through eight. The Buffalo Board of Education last month authorized an independent investigation after a veteran Buffalo police detective discussed the case on an April 26 podcast and accused the district of cover-ups. "Due to ongoing investigations and to not compromise the integrity of the investigation, the district will not make a comment at this time," district spokesman Jeffrey Hammond said. Keane said he is aware of the detective's comments. "My office has been conducting an investigation. We are committed to upholding the law, pursuing justice for victims, and preserving the integrity of the investigative process," he said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 14:15:32+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Iran", "Marco Rubio", "Steve Witkoff", "Pete Hegseth", "Iran government", "Sanctions and embargoes", "Government and politics", "X Corp.", "Oman government", "Badr al-Busaidi", "Abbas Araghchi", "Pope Francis", "International trade", "United States government" ]	# Trump threatens sanctions against buyers of Iranian oil By Jon Gambrell May 1st, 2025, 02:15 PM --- DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened sanctions on anyone who buys Iranian oil, a warning that came after planned talks over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program were postponed. Trump wrote on social media, "All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW!" He said any country or person who buys those products from Iran will not be able to do business with the United States "in any way, shape, or form." It was unclear how Trump would implement such a ban as he threatened to levy secondary sanctions on nations that import Iranian oil. But his statement risked further escalating tensions with China — Iran's leading customer — at a time when the relationship is severely strained over the U.S. president's tariffs. Based on tanker tracking data, the U.S. Energy Information Administration concluded in a report published last October that "China took nearly 90% of Iran's crude oil and condensate exports in 2023." Trump has separately placed 145% tariffs on China as a way to raise federal revenues and rebalance global trade. Trump's social media threat came after Oman announced planned nuclear negotiations for this coming weekend had been postponed. Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi made the announcement in a post on the social platform X. "For logistical reasons we are rescheduling the US Iran meeting provisionally planned for Saturday May 3rd," he wrote. "New dates will be announced when mutually agreed." Al-Busaidi, who has mediated the talks through three rounds so far, did not elaborate. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also blamed "logistical and technical reasons" for the postponement. "On Iran's part, there is no change in our determination to secure a negotiated solution," he wrote on X. "We are more determined than ever to achieve a just and balanced deal: guaranteeing an end to sanctions, and creating confidence that Iran's nuclear program will forever remain peaceful while ensuring that Iranian rights are fully respected." U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, newly tapped to take over the duties of national security adviser in addition to his current role as America's top diplomat, reiterated that if Iran wants nuclear power plants, it can import enriched uranium. "Iran simply needs to say, 'We've agreed to no longer enrich,'" Rubio said on Fox News Channel's "Hannity" on Thursday night. About the talks, he added, "This is the best opportunity they're going to have." Meanwhile, a person familiar with the U.S. negotiations said America "had never confirmed its participation" in a fourth round of talks in Rome. However, the person said the U.S. expected the talks to occur "in the near future." The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations. Rome will see the Vatican begin its conclave next week to pick a new pope after the death of Pope Francis. Two other rounds of U.S.-Iran talks have been held in Muscat, the capital of Oman. The talks seek to limit Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the U.S. has imposed on the Islamic Republic closing in on a half-century of enmity. The negotiations have been led by Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. 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. The U.S. president with his threat on social media would be going after Iran's major economic resource. It produced an average of 2.9 million barrels a day in 2023 of crude oil, according to the Energy Information Administration. Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers did limit Tehran's program. However, Trump unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018, setting in motion years of attacks and tensions. The wider Middle East also remains on edge over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the U.S. continues an airstrike campaign, called "Operation Rough Rider," that has been targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels, who long have been backed by Iran. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth early Thursday warned Iran over the rebels. "Message to IRAN: We see your LETHAL support to The Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing," he wrote. "You know very well what the U.S. Military is capable of — and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing." Last Saturday's round of talks, which included experts drilling down into the details of a possible deal, also took place as an explosion rocked an Iranian port, killing at least 70 people and injuring more than 1,000 others. ___ Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Matthew Lee and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 04:04:02+00:00	[ "Florida", "Ron DeSantis", "Donald Trump", "Law enforcement", "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement", "Immigration", "Greg Abbott", "United States government", "United States", "U.S. Department of Homeland Security", "Jessica Ramrez", "Politics", "Barack Obama", "Katie Blankenship", "Lena Graber", "Bill Smith", "Florida state government" ]	# Immigration officials join Florida's DeSantis in promoting record number of arrests By Gisela Salomon and Kate Payne May 1st, 2025, 04:04 AM --- MIRAMAR, Fla. (AP) — A record 1,120 people accused of being in the U.S. illegally were arrested in less than a week during sweep orchestrated by federal, state and local authorities in Florida, an operation officials credited on Thursday to the burgeoning number of local police departments and state agencies that have joined President Donald Trump's drive for mass deportations. That cooperation was on display Thursday when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis joined officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to tout the arrests. "We will continue to engage in broad interior enforcement efforts," said DeSantis at a joint press conference with federal officials. "This is just the beginning." Local police can make immigration arrests and detain people for immigration violations under specific agreements. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had 135 agreements across 21 states in December. That number has since jumped to 517 deals across 39 states, with an additional 74 agencies pending approval. As the Trump administration ramps up cooperation with state and local agencies, it is moving to retaliate against those that limit helping immigration authorities. On Monday, the president signed an executive order to publish a list of "sanctuary" jurisdictions and reiterated threats of criminal charges against state or local officials who thwart federal policy. Advocates who oppose local officials getting into immigration enforcement say the practice violates a clause in the U.S. Constitution that makes federal, not state, authorities responsible for it. "This is finding methods to terrorize communities," said Katie Blankenship, an immigration attorney and co-founder of Sanctuary of the South, adding that local law enforcement officers aren't trained to handle immigration issues "in any sort of just manner." ## Trumps deportation goals may be too big for ICE alone ICE, which has about 6,000 deportation officers, needs help achieving Trump's goal of deporting many of the roughly 11 million people in the country illegally, a conservative estimate. Texas, whose Republican governor, Greg Abbott, has closely allied himself with Trump on immigration, has 76 enforcement agreements on record, the second-largest number of any state. They include one inked April 10 with the state National Guard. Texas has also signed an agreement with U.S. Customs and Border Protection for its National Guard to arrest people at the border. Georgia and North Carolina have also joined Trump's cause, but no state approaches Florida's cooperation, with agencies from all 67 counties signing on. Some participating institutions appear to have little, if anything, to do with immigration enforcement, including the Florida Department of Lottery Services and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. No such agreements were signed during the Biden administration. Many of the new pacts adhere to a "task force model" under which police arrest immigrants on the streets and in communities, as opposed to a "jail enforcement model" under which ICE takes custody of people only when they are put in state and local jails or prisons. Lena Graber, a senior staff attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, which advocates for immigrants, said the Obama administration phased out the task force model in 2012 over widespread concern that law enforcement organizations authorized under it were racially profiling people when making arrests. ## Details about those arrested are slim On Thursday, DeSantis and federal officials offered some details of "Operation Tidal Wave," the multiagency law enforcement operation that, according to ICE, culminated with arresting the largest number of people in the U.S. illegally in a single state in one week since the agency was created in 2003. "While this may be the first ... operation of its kind, thanks to the governor, it's not going to be the last," said Madison Sheahan, ICE deputy director. "We will not stop," she said, "because there's no tolerance for criminal, illegal aliens." Federal officials said the 1,120 people arrested included many subject to final orders of removal and who had criminal convictions on their records, gang members from organizations like Tren de Aragua and MS-13, sex offenders and fugitives from justice. Most of the arrested were from Guatemala (437) and Mexico (280). Officials provided few details about the people arrested, how they were arrested or where. They identified eight people by name whom they alleged had criminal records beyond being in the country illegally. The Florida Immigrant Coalition, an organization with more than 80 members across the state, said authorities showed no evidence that those they detained had committed crimes against the public. "DeSantis and ICE are dodging the truth," said Renatta Bozzetto, deputy director at FLIC. "The story they are not telling is that they are ignoring due process, ripping families apart." Florida officials say many local agencies are still waiting for federal training to aid in future immigration actions. The latest ICE arrests show how state and local roles may grow. One operation involved about 80 state troopers from the Florida Highway Patrol and targeted people in Jacksonville, Orlando and Tallahassee, as well as in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, said Bill Smith, president of FHP's chapter of the Florida Police Benevolent Association. A spokesperson for Florida Highway Patrol did not respond to questions. Some immigrant advocates said most arrests were by local police officers and state highway patrol troopers, not ICE. People were detained during traffic stops or when leaving work. Some had no criminal records and were seeking asylum, or had work permits, advocates said. ## One family is suddenly torn apart Jessica Ramírez, general coordinator at the Florida Farm Workers Association, said that most of those arrested were men. In some cases, though not many, ICE officials knocked on the door of immigrants' houses, she said. "People are extremely afraid to go out and drive, afraid of the police," said Ramírez. "The recommendation is to drive carefully, follow the rules, and not give the police a reason to stop them." Chica, a 25-year-old Guatemalan woman who asked to be identified only by her first name for fear of being detained, said her partner Fernando, the father of her 3-month-old baby, was detained Friday morning as he was riding in a car with three other immigrants to his construction job. Chica hasn't heard from him since. "Honey, the police caught us," Fernando, a 20-year-old Guatemalan, texted her Friday at 7:47 a.m. Chica said he had a pending asylum application and a work permit. Police asked the driver of the car to show his license but he did not have one. Officers then detained all four, including Fernando, who came to the U.S alone in 2020. "I'm really worried. I can't believe they caught him," said Chica, who is now considering going back to Guatemala. "I'm afraid they'll deport him and I'll be left here without anyone's help." ___ Payne reported from Tallahassee, Florida. Rebecca Santana contributed from Washington.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 04:01:06+00:00	[ "Philanthropy", "Government programs", "New York City Wire", "Tricia McLaughlin", "David Just", "Vince Hall", "Kim Dennis", "Houston", "United States government", "Megan Betz", "Business", "U.S. Department of Agriculture", "Brian Greene", "Brooklyn" ]	# Funding cuts threaten to deepen hunger crisis as rising costs send more families to food banks By James Pollard May 1st, 2025, 04:01 AM --- NEW YORK (AP) — The Campaign Against Hunger was already struggling to feed thousands of families a week when the Trump administration pulled more than $1.3 million in grants. Demand has only increased at the New York nonprofit since the city emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and the related economic insecurity. In a first for the pantry, however, it isn't just the jobless lining up for its fresh produce and meats. It's working people, too. Food banks typically see the most need during periods of high unemployment and yet the U.S. is facing down a hunger crisis during a relatively resilient labor market. The latest U.S. Department of Agriculture research showed there were one million more food insecure households in 2023 than 2022. Now, income stagnation and rising living costs are sending wage earners to food banks across the country — all as the federal government shuts off funding streams that provide millions with healthier, harder-to-get groceries. The squeeze comes as Republicans discuss budget plans that hunger relief groups fear will deepen the crisis by slashing food stamp spending. "We were already in a bad state. But now we have been plunged head down into a crisis that should never have been," said Melony Samuels, chief executive officer of The Campaign Against Hunger. "If major cuts like these continue, I would imagine that our doors will close." ## Higher food costs mean longer lines Funding cuts began threatening food availability in March. The USDA halted $500 million of expected food deliveries and cut another $1 billion for hunger relief programs supporting local producers. The Department of Homeland Security also rescinded Federal Emergency Management Agency grants for local governments and nonprofits — including The Campaign Against Hunger — to shelter and feed newly arrived noncitizen migrants after their release. "Secretary Noem has directed FEMA to implement additional controls to ensure that all grant money going out is consistent with law and does not go to fraud, waste or abuse, as in the past," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. Samuels said her nonprofit is limiting normally bimonthly food distributions to once a month due to the lost funds, which are being withheld amid what she called "baseless allegations" from DHS that the nonprofit might have broken laws against transporting migrants in the country illegally. That means fewer nutritious options for the dozens of people — some holding babies, many pushing carts — who recently waited to shop inside The Campaign Against Hunger's Brooklyn mock-store on an overcast weekday in April. Longtime Brooklyn resident Kim Dennis has noticed the uptick in need. On top of her Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, the 65-year-old retiree visits The Campaign Against Hunger twice each month for groceries like potatoes and pork chops that are more difficult to find at other food banks often filled with canned goods. "The lines are getting a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot," Dennis said, partially due to recent immigration waves. "Everything is going up and a lot of us cannot afford." Over half of responding food banks told Feeding America they served more neighbors this February than the same month last year. Christiana Santamaria said she visits a local food bank in Alameda, California each week to feed herself, her husband and their daughter. They struggle to cover food costs, internet bills and car payments with a monthly household income of nearly $3,000. "I mean, my husband, he works full-time. He has a quote-unquote 'good job.' But I mean, it's the military. And if even the military can't afford things, that's sad," she said. ## Food banks face deficits The country's largest hunger-relief network is also strained. Feeding America has more than 200 member food banks whose assistance is often easier to obtain than government benefits, including SNAP which some advocates say require burdensome applications. Many families put dinner on the table through a combination of the two — a strategy food bank leaders say could be upended if Republican lawmakers cut SNAP allotments or expand work requirements. Houston Food Bank CEO Brian Greene expects his organization, which operates the largest distribution among Feeding America partners, to lose somewhere around $4 million this year. The government pullbacks amp up that pressure. If the cuts stay, Greene said, the projected losses include $3 million for food storage and distribution, $7 million supporting local farmers and producers, and 40 tractor trailer loads a month carrying key produce and protein. Greene is trying to make up the difference through donations. But he's realistic. Surveys consistently place American philanthropy around 2% of GDP and social services receive just a sliver of that. Even if charitable contributions spiked, he said, they couldn't replace federal support. That makes SNAP availability even more critical to alleviating hunger. Cutting the program by 11%, he said, would be the equivalent of wiping out every food bank in the United States. ## Less predictability and variety Food purchases are funded through the Farm Bill. Trump's trade war has also generated more money for USDA to buy food commodities under a 1935 program that dedicates tariff collections toward "bonus" food purchases. What concerns hunger relief groups, however, is that the suspended purchases are covered by a different funding pot that allows the USDA great discretion when responding to economic disruptions. The first Trump administration put more than $2 billion of those funds toward The Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP. However, USDA is now reviewing $500 million allocated last fall for the program. Federal commodities programs provide some of the most reliable supplies of proteins. Vince Hall, who leads government relations for Feeding America, said TEFAP-purchased foods account for more than 20% of everything distributed by the entire network. That number rises in rural communities — where the cost of reaching distant populations is higher and donated products are less available. The impact trickles down to smaller pantries that rely on larger food banks. Mother Hubbard's Cupboard is bracing for about 25% food reductions from a Feeding America partner in Bloomington, Indiana, if TEFAP cuts distributions. "What we're likely to see then would be a dip in what are really the nutritional staples that we expect in the pantry," said Mother Hubbard's Cupboard President Megan Betz. A 2022 study measuring food pantries' value suggests participating families obtain between $600 and $1000 annually from them. That's equivalent to a couple months of food for some low-income households, according to co-author David Just, an applied economics professor at Cornell University. The centers helped cushion families from the pandemic's economic shocks. But food insecurity started rising as the government rolled back its pandemic-era assistance. Need has surpassed the height of COVID-19, according to Alameda County Community Food Bank Executive Director Regi Young. The weight of the Oakland nonprofit's annual food distributions has doubled its pre-pandemic totals. Food insecurity nationwide is the highest it's been in about a decade, according to Just, making it "potentially a really difficult time to start cutting food assistance through the pantries." "This could cause some pretty significant pain," he said. "And I don't know that we're delivering something more efficient in the end." ___ Associated Press journalist Terry Chea in San Francisco contributed to this report. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
Associated Press News	2025-05-17 00:12:58+00:00	[ "Kei Ishikawa", "Cannes Film Festival", "Books and literature", "Movies", "Taika Waititi", "Movie premieres", "Fiction", "Lifestyle", "Arts and entertainment", "Kazuo Ishiguro", "Jake Coyle", "Akira Kurosawa", "Entertainment" ]	# Kazuo Ishiguro: 'When you go from book to film, that's a fireside moment' By Jake Coyle May 17th, 2025, 12:12 AM --- CANNES, France (AP) — Kazuo Ishiguro 's mother was in Nagasaki when the atomic bomb was dropped. When Ishiguro, the Nobel laureate and author of "Remains of the Day" and "Never Let Me Go," first undertook fiction writing in his 20s, his first novel, 1982's "A Pale View of Hills" was inspired by his mother's stories, and his own distance from them. Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki but, when he was 5, moved to England with his family. "A Pale View of Hills" marked the start to what's become one of the most lauded writing careers in contemporary literature. And, now, like most of Ishiguro's other novels, it's a movie, too. Kei Ishikawa's film by the same name premiered Thursday at the Cannes Film Festival in its Un Certain Regard section. The 70-year-old author has been here before; he was a member of the jury in 1994 that gave "Pulp Fiction" the Palme d'Or. "At the time it was a surprise decision," he says. "A lot of people booed." Ishiguro is a movie watcher and sometimes maker, too. He penned the 2022 Akira Kurosawa adaptation "Living." Movies are a regular presence in his life, in part because filmmakers keep wanting to turn his books into them. Taika Waititi is currently finishing a film of Ishiguro's most recent novel, "Klara and the Sun" (2021). Ishiguro likes to participate in early development of an adaptation, and then disappear, letting the filmmaker take over. Seeing "A Pale View of Hills" turned into an elegant, thoughtful drama is especially meaningful to him because the book, itself, deals with inheritance, and because it represents his beginning as a writer. "There was no sense that anyone else was going to reread this thing," he says. "So in that sense, it's different to, say, the movie of 'Remains of the Day' or the movie of 'Never Let Me Go.'" Remarks have been lightly edited. ## AP: Few writers alive have been more adapted than you. Does it help keep a story alive? ISHIGURO: Often people think I'm being unduly modest when I say I want the film to be different to the book. I don't want it to be wildly different. But in order for the film to live, there has to be a reason why it's being made then, for the audience at that moment. Not 25 years ago, or 45 years ago, as in the case of this book. It has to be a personal artistic expression of something, not just a reproduction. Otherwise, it can end up like a tribute or an Elvis impersonation. Whenever I see adaptations of books not work, it's always because it's been too reverential. Sometimes it's laziness. People think: Everything is there in the book. The imagination isn't pushed to work. For every one of these things that's made it to the screen, there's been 10, 15 developments that I've been personally involved with that fell by the wayside. I always try to get people to just move it on. ## AP: You've said, maybe a little tongue in cheek, that you'd like to be like Homer. ISHIGURO: You can take two kind of approaches. You write a novel and that's the discrete, perfect thing. Other people can pay homage to it but basically that's it. Or you can take another view that stories are things that just get passed around, down generations. Even though you think you wrote an original story, you've put it together out of other stuff that's come before you. So it's part of that tradition. I said Homer but it could be folktales. The great stories are the ones that last and last and last. They turn up in different forms. It's because people can change and adapt them to their times and their culture that these stories are valuable. There was a time when people would sit around a fire and just tell each other these stories. You sit down with some anticipation: This guy is going to tell it in a slightly different way. What's he going to do? It's like if Keith Jarrett sits down and says he's going to play "Night and Day." So when you go from book to film, that's a fireside moment. That way it has a chance of lasting, and I have a chance of turning into Homer. ## AP: I think you're well on your way. ISHIGURO: I've got a few centuries to go. ## AP: Do you remember writing "A Pale View of Hills?" You were in your 20s. ISHIGURO: I was between the age of 24 and 26. It was published when I was 27. I remember the circumstances very vividly. I can even remember writing a lot of those scenes. My wife, Lorna, was my girlfriend back then. We were both postgraduate students. I wrote it on a table about this size, which was also where we would have our meals. When she came in at the end of the day, I had to pack up even if I was at the crucial point of some scene. It was no big deal. I was just doing something indulgent. There was no real sense I had a career or it would get published. So it's strange all these years later that she and I are here and attended this premiere in Cannes. ## AP: To me, much of what the book and movie capture is what can be a unbridgeable distance between generations. ISHIGURO: I think that's really insightful what you just said. There is a limit to how much understanding there can be between generations. What's needed is a certain amount of generosity on both sides, to respect each other's generations and the difference in values. I think an understanding that the world was a really complicated place, and that often individuals can't hope to have perspective on the forces that are playing on them at the time. To actually understand that needs a generosity. ## AP: You've always been meticulous at meting out information, of uncovering mysteries of the past and present. Your characters try to grasp the world they've been born into. Did that start with your own family investigation? ISHIGURO: I wasn't like a journalist trying to get stuff out of my mother. There's part of me that was quite reluctant to hear this stuff. On some level it was kind of embarrassing to think of my mother in such extreme circumstances. A lot of the things she told me weren't to do with the atomic bomb. Those weren't her most traumatic memories. My mother was a great oral storyteller. She would sometimes have a lunch date and do a whole version of a Shakespeare play by herself. That was my introduction to "Hamlet" or things like that. She was keen to tell me but also wary of telling me. It was always a fraught thing. Having something formal — "Oh, I'm becoming a writer, I'm going to write up something so these memories can be preserved" — that made it easier. ## AP: How has your relationship with the book changed with time? ISHIGURO: Someone said to me the other day, "We live in a time now where a lot of people would sympathize with the older, what you might call fascist views." It's not expressed overtly; the older teacher is saying it's tradition and patriotism. Now, maybe we live in a world where that's a good point, and that hadn't occurred to me. It's an example of: Yes, we write in a bubble and make movies in a kind of a bubble. But the power of stories is they have to go into different values. This question of how you pass stories on, this is one of the big challenges. You have to reexamine every scene. Some things that might have been a very safe assumption only a few years ago would not be because the value systems are changing around our books and films just as much as they're changing around us. ___ For more coverage of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 22:49:36+00:00	[ "Crime", "West Virginia", "Steven Nicholas Wimmer", "Jim Justice", "Chad Lester", "Prisons", "Assault", "Criminal punishment", "Law enforcement", "Lisa Johnston", "Legal proceedings", "Counsel Phil Sword", "Phil Sword", "Indictments", "Lawsuits", "Water shortages" ]	# Former West Virginia jail supervisor sentenced in coverup of assault that led to inmate's death By John Raby May 15th, 2025, 10:49 PM --- CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — An ex-jail supervisor in West Virginia was sentenced Thursday to more than 17 years in federal prison for his role in the coverup of an assault by other corrections officers that led to an inmate's death. Former Lt. Chad Lester was convicted in January of three felony obstruction of justice charges related to the March 2022 attack on Southern Regional Jail inmate Quantez Burks. Burks, 37, was a pretrial detainee who died less than a day after he was booked into the jail in Beaver on a wanton endangerment charge. According to court documents, Burks tried to push past an officer to leave his housing unit. Burks then was escorted to an interview room where officers hit him while he was restrained and handcuffed. Prosecutors said Lester gave false statements to investigators and told subordinate officers to do the same. Lester also threatened officers with violence and retaliation and added false statements to several officers' reports. A jury convicted Lester on charges of giving false statements, witness tampering and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses. "On the defendant's watch, correctional officers killed an inmate, and the defendant conspired with them to cover up their crimes," Lisa Johnston, acting U.S. attorney for West Virginia's southern district, said in a statement. "The defendant violated the public's trust in the law enforcement system he had sworn to uphold." Seven other correctional officers have pleaded guilty in connection with the assault. Several testified against Lester during his trial. Officer Steven Nicholas Wimmer was sentenced last week to nine years in prison for conspiring to use unreasonable force against Burks. Four others face sentencing on the same charge later this year. Two other officers are set for sentencing next month for their guilty pleas to violating the civil rights of Burks by failing to intervene in the assault. The state medical examiner's office attributed Burks' primary cause of death to natural causes, prompting his family to have a private autopsy conducted. The family's attorney revealed at a news conference in late 2022 that the second autopsy found Burks had multiple areas of blunt force trauma on his body. The case drew scrutiny to conditions and deaths at the jail, where news outlets had reported there were more than a dozen deaths in 2022. In November 2023, West Virginia agreed to pay $4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by inmates who described conditions at the jail as inhumane. The lawsuit cited such complaints as a lack of access to water and food at the facility, as well as overcrowding and fights that were allowed to continue until someone was injured. The administration of then-Gov. Jim Justice fired former Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Executive Officer Brad Douglas and Homeland Security Chief Counsel Phil Sword after a federal magistrate judge cited the "intentional" destruction of records in recommending a default judgment in the lawsuit. That followed a hearing in October 2023 in which former and current corrections officials, including some defendants in the lawsuit, said no steps had been taken to preserve evidence at the jail, including emails and documents.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 13:33:00+00:00	[ "Brazil", "Amazon River", "Luiz Incio Lula da Silva", "Climate change", "Climate and environment", "United Nations", "Environmental science", "Associated Press", "Roberta Rodrigues", "Business", "Climate" ]	# The construction of a road in Brazil draws criticism before first-ever climate talks in the Amazon By Fabiano Maisonnave May 8th, 2025, 01:33 PM --- BELEM, Brazil (AP) — In the run-up to the annual U.N. climate conference, set to take place in Brazil's Amazon in November, the construction of a road is drawing attention, with critics arguing it will lead to environmental degradation. Before the talks, called COP30, the state government of Para is building a 13-kilometer (8-mile) avenue designed to ease traffic on a major highway that runs parallel. The road was planned long before Belem, a metropolitan area of 2.5 million people that sits on the edge of the Amazon, was chosen as conference host. That hasn't spared it sharp criticism, however, because the road is expected to cut across the last remnants of rainforest in Belem. Road building in the Amazon, which historically has often led to deforestation and development of surrounding areas, also stands in stark contrast to a central aim of climate conferences, and in particular this one: conservation of biodiversity. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has made the slowing of deforestation a central focus of his administration, has frequently boasted that this will be the first such conference in the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon is key to regulating the climate, because trees absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that heats the planet when released into the atmosphere. "We will hold the best COP in history because the topic of all the ones held in other countries was the Amazon," Lula said while visiting Belem worksites in February. "This one will be in the Amazon." An official project map shows a straight line dividing a green area through the city's outskirts. This protected area is slightly larger than Manhattan. It was designated in 1993 to protect two lakes, a river basin and to restore a degraded rainforest. However, its rules allow private properties, government-approved deforestation and public works. Two university campuses are located within its limits. "Even with measures to reduce the damage, there are tough issues to address," said Roberta Rodrigues, a professor of architecture at the Federal University of Para. "It's hard to imagine a road being built along the banks of the Guama River without it leading to illegal development. It may lead to the end of this protected area." The project dates back to 2020. Construction began in mid-2024, despite criticism over its impact on one of the city's few remaining green areas. The project drew wider attention in March, when the BBC reported that the avenue was "being built for COP30." As the story was picked up by news outlets around the world, Brazil's government issued a statement saying the avenue wasn't among the 33 infrastructure projects planned for COP30. In a statement to The Associated Press, the state government of Para said that the avenue, named Liberdade, or Freedom, will be an expressway and development around it won't be permitted. The chaotic growth of Brazilian cities, however, suggests it's a promise that will be hard to keep. Countless public areas have been occupied for the irregular construction of housing — from modest structures to luxury condos — with the expectation that they will eventually be legalized, which often ends up happening. Belem is the capital of Para, which is run by Gov. Helder Barbalho, a politician from a traditional family who is an ally of Lula. Both support oil drilling in the nearby mouth of the Amazon River, likely a point of contention during COP30. The road is scheduled to be inaugurated just before the conference kicking off on Nov. 10. ___ 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	2025-05-18 11:45:11+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Daniel Bongino", "Mike Davis", "Amy Coney Barrett", "John Roberts", "Kilmar Abrego Garcia", "Joe Biden", "Supreme Court of the United States", "United States government", "Courts", "Government budgets", "Maryland", "El Salvador", "United States", "Immigration", "Justin Levitt", "George W. Bush", "Legislation", "James E. Boasberg", "David Noll", "Politics", "Barack Obama", "Steve Vladeck", "Legal proceedings", "Ketanji Brown Jackson", "Nick Parrillo", "Criminal punishment", "Paula Xinis", "Law enforcement", "Sonia Sotomayor", "U.S. Department of Justice" ]	# Trump's tussles with the courts could lead the nation into uncharted waters By Nicholas Riccardi May 18th, 2025, 11:45 AM --- DENVER (AP) — Tucked deep in the thousand-plus pages of the multitrillion-dollar budget bill making its way through the Republican-controlled U.S. House is a paragraph curtailing a court's greatest tool for forcing the government to obey its rulings: the power to enforce contempt findings. It's unclear whether the bill can pass the House in its current form — it failed in a committee vote Friday — whether the U.S. Senate would preserve the contempt provision or whether courts would uphold it. But the fact that GOP lawmakers are including it shows how much those in power in the nation's capital are thinking about the consequences of defying judges as the battle between the Trump administration and the courts escalates. Republican President Donald Trump raised the stakes again Friday when he attacked the U.S. Supreme Court for its ruling barring his administration from quickly resuming deportations under an 18th-century wartime law: "THE SUPREME COURT WON'T ALLOW US TO GET CRIMINALS OUT OF OUR COUNTRY!" Trump posted on his social media network, Truth Social. ## Trump vs. the district courts The most intense skirmishes have come in the lower courts. One federal judge has found that members of the administration may be liable for contempt after ignoring his order to turn around planes deporting people under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Trump's administration has scoffed at another judge's ruling that it "facilitate" the return of a man wrongly deported to El Salvador, even though the Supreme Court upheld that decision. In other cases, the administration has removed immigrants against court orders or had judges find that the administration is not complying with their directives. Dan Bongino, now Trump's deputy director of the FBI, called on the president to "ignore" a judge's order in one of Bongino's final appearances on his talk radio show in February. "Who's going to arrest him? The marshals?" Bongino asked, naming the agency that enforces federal judges' criminal contempt orders. "You guys know who the U.S. Marshals work for? Department of Justice." ## Administration walking 'close to the line' The rhetoric obscures the fact that the administration has complied with the vast majority of court rulings against it, many of them related to Trump's executive orders. Trump has said multiple times he will comply with orders, even as he attacks by name judges who rule against him. While skirmishes over whether the federal government is complying with court orders are not unusual, it's the intensity of the Trump administration's pushback that is, legal experts say. "It seems to me they are walking as close to the line as they can, and even stepping over it, in an effort to see how much they can get away with," said Steve Vladeck, a Georgetown law professor. "It's what you would expect from a very clever and mischievous child." Mike Davis, whose Article III Project pushes for pro-Trump judicial appointments, predicted that Trump will prevail over what he sees as hostile judges. "The more they do this, the more it's going to anger the American people, and the chief justice is going to follow the politics on this like he always does," Davis said. The clash was the subtext of an unusual Supreme Court session Thursday, the day before the ruling that angered the president. His administration was seeking to stop lower courts from issuing nationwide injunctions barring its initiatives. Previous administrations have also chafed against national orders, and multiple Supreme Court justices have expressed concern that they are overused. Still, at one point, Justice Amy Coney Barrett pressed Solicitor General D. John Sauer over his assertion that the administration would not necessarily obey a ruling from an appeals court. "Really?" asked Barrett, who was nominated to the court by Trump. Sauer contended that was standard Department of Justice policy and he assured the nation's highest court the administration would honor its rulings. ## 'He's NOT coming back' Some justices have expressed alarm about whether the administration respects the rule of law. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown-Jackson, both nominated by Democratic presidents, have warned about government disobedience of court orders and threats toward judges. Chief Justice John Roberts, nominated by a Republican president, George W. Bush, issued a statement condemning Trump's push to impeach James E. Boasberg, the federal judge who found probable cause that the administration committed contempt by ignoring his order on deportations. Even after the Supreme Court upheld a Maryland judge's ruling directing the administration to "facilitate" the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the White House account on X said in a post: "he's NOT coming back." Legal experts said the Abrego Garcia case may be heading toward contempt. U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis has complained of "bad faith" from the administration as she orders reports on what, if anything, it's doing to comply with her order. But contempt processes are slow and deliberative, and, when the government's involved, there's usually a resolution before penalties kick in. ## What is contempt of court? Courts can hold parties to civil litigation or criminal cases in contempt for disobeying their orders. The penalty can take the form of fines or other civil punishments, or even prosecution and jail time, if pursued criminally. The provision in the Republican budget bill would prohibit courts from enforcing contempt citations for violations of injunctions or temporary restraining orders — the two main types of rulings used to rein in the Trump administration — unless the plaintiffs have paid a bond. That rarely happens when someone sues the government. In an extensive review of contempt cases involving the government, Yale law professor Nick Parrillo identified only 67 where someone was ultimately found in contempt. That was out of more than 650 cases where contempt was considered against the government. Appellate courts reliably overturned the penalties. But the higher courts always left open the possibility that the next contempt penalties could stick. "The courts, for their part, don't want to find out how far their authority goes," said David Noll, a Rutgers law professor, "and the executive doesn't really want to undermine the legal order because the economy and their ability to just get stuff done depends on the law." ## 'It's truly uncharted territory' Legal experts are gaming out whether judges could appoint independent prosecutors or be forced to rely on Trump's Department of Justice. Then there's the question of whether U.S. marshals would arrest anyone convicted of the offense. "If you get to the point of asking the marshals to arrest a contemnor, it's truly uncharted territory," Noll said. There's a second form of contempt that could not be blocked by the Department of Justice –- civil contempt, leading to fines. This may be a more potent tool for judges because it doesn't rely on federal prosecution and cannot be expunged with a presidential pardon, said Justin Levitt, a department official in the Obama administration who also advised Democratic President Joe Biden. "Should the courts want, they have the tools to make individuals who plan on defying the courts miserable," Levitt said, noting that lawyers representing the administration and those taking specific actions to violate orders would be the most at risk. There are other deterrents courts have outside of contempt. Judges can stop treating the Justice Department like a trustworthy agency, making it harder for the government to win cases. There were indications in Friday's Supreme Court order that the majority didn't trust the administration's handling of the deportations. And defying courts is deeply unpopular: A recent Pew Research Center poll found that about 8 in 10 Americans say that if a federal court rules a Trump administration action is illegal, the government has to follow the court's decision and stop its action. That's part of the reason the broader picture might not be as dramatic as the fights over a few of the immigration cases, said Vladeck, the Georgetown professor. "In the majority of these cases, the courts are successfully restraining the executive branch and the executive branch is abiding by their rulings," he said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 21:01:24+00:00	[ "Kate Woodworth", "Climate change", "Harry Richardson", "Books and literature", "Celebrity", "Animals", "Book Reviews", "Entertainment", "Tom Estabrook", "Anita Snow", "Lobsters", "Climate and environment", "Maine", "Climate" ]	# 'Little Great Island' review: A town struggles with environmental change By Anita Snow May 13th, 2025, 09:01 PM --- Mari McGavin is on the run from a powerful religious cult and her controlling husband, fleeing with her young son back to the tiny island in Maine where she grew up. On Little Great Island, she crosses paths with an old friend from her childhood, Harry Richardson, who is fleeing his own demons, in his case grief and painful memories after his wife's death. Harry is so bereft he can barely function as he returns to sell the home where his family spent summers when he was kid. In her novel "Little Great Island," author Kate Woodworth explores the relationship between the two as they navigate pain and loss, as well as their connections to an island being reshaped by global warming. Harry reluctantly allows Mari, who lived for years in a religious farming community in South Carolina, to plant a vegetable garden on his family's property while he clears out its contents and readies it for sale. They grow closer as Harry helps Mari and her 6-year-old son, Levi, with gardening chores and he slowly starts absorbing his loss. Distinguished retired diplomat Tom Estabrook, who knew Mari and Harry as children, is also a key character in the book released this month by Sybilline Press. Estabook, who spent many summers on Little Great Island, worries over its future as the ocean around it heats up, lobsters and clams die from shell disease and monarch butterflies on land largely disappear. Mari's father bemoans that his daily lobster catch is now just around 60, down from an average of 400 or 500. In Woodworth's skillful hands, Little Great Island itself emerges as a leading character, with vibrant mentions of the natural world that range from an osprey's hunting sound to lobster mating habits. As Little Great Island and its way of life are increasingly threatened, year-round and summer residents are struggling over the future. Some permanent residents are considering whether to move to the mainland and get a regular job in an office or shop. Others can't decide if a developer should be allowed to build an executive retreat center that could harm the environment and forever change the island's character. Mari believes organic farming could provide a sustainable way to save the island and its character. But in the end, as tension builds over a decisive vote, it's up to the permanent islanders to decide their path forward. ___ AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 05:43:34+00:00	[ "Xi Jinping", "South America", "Donald Trump", "China", "Colombia", "International trade", "China government", "Gustavo Petro", "Shigeru Ishiba", "Japan government", "World Trade Organization", "Government policy", "Tariffs and global trade", "Business", "Politics" ]	# China seeks a united front with Latin America in countering Trump's trade war By Simina Mistreanu May 13th, 2025, 05:43 AM --- TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China is moving to strengthen its alliances with other countries as a counterweight to President Donald Trump's trade war, presenting a united front with Latin American leaders a day after China and the U.S. agreed to a 90-day truce in their tariffs stalemate. China's leaders have positioned the world's second-largest economy as a reliable trade and development partner, in contrast to the uncertainty and instability from Trump's tariff hikes and other policies. On Monday, Beijing and Washington announced their breakthrough on tariffs after weekend talks in Geneva, Switzerland, where they agreed to cut sky-high import duties on both sides for 90 days to allow for negotiations. Still, Beijing's ire over the trade war remains apparent. Speaking to officials from China and Latin America on Tuesday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping reiterated Beijing's stance that nobody wins a trade war and that "bullying or hegemonism only leads to self-isolation." Having moved to defuse antagonisms with the U.S., Xi said China stands ready to "join hands" with Latin countries "in the face of seething undercurrents of pure political and bloc confrontation and the surging tide of unilateralism and protectionism." "There are no winners in tariff wars or trade wars," Xi said, reiterating a phrase China has used repeatedly when referring to Trump's policies. When Trump began raising tariffs on Chinese products during his first term in office, China retaliated by diversifying its purchases of key farm products, such as soybeans and beef, away from U.S. suppliers. Brazil and other Latin American countries have benefited from that strategy. Also Tuesday, the head of the World Trade Organization appealed to Japan to fight disruptions to world commerce from Trump's fast-changing tariffs and other policies. "Trade is facing very challenging times right now and it is quite difficult," Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the Geneva-based WTO, told Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba while on a visit to Tokyo. Japan, as "a champion of the multilateral trading system" must help maintain, strengthen and reform the WTO, the Japanese Foreign Ministry cited her as saying. Japan is among many countries yet to reach a deal with the Trump administration on hikes to U.S. tariffs, including those on autos, steel and aluminum. The WTO played a pivotal role in past decades as the U.S. and other major economies crusaded for the more open markets that facilitated the growth of global supply chains, many of which are anchored in China. By dismantling many protectionist barriers to trade, it has aided the ascent of Japan and China, and many other countries, as export manufacturing hubs. Since taking office for a second time, Trump has prioritized higher tariffs to try to reduce U.S. imports and compel companies to locate factories in the United States, doubling down on a trade war that he launched during his first term. The realities of Trump's global trade offensive overshadowed an initial burst of optimism over the China-U.S. deal among investors, as rallies in stocks and oil prices faded on Tuesday. Speaking to the China-CELAC, or Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Forum, Xi, the Chinese leader, announced plans to build closer ties with Latin America through political, economic, academic and security exchanges. He promised to boost imports from the region, to encourage Chinese companies to increase their investments, and said Beijing plans to expand cooperation in clean energy, 5G telecommunications and artificial intelligence. He also announced a new 66 billion yuan ($9.2 billion) credit line to support Latin American and Caribbean financing. China's trade with the region has been growing rapidly, exceeding $500 billion for the first time last year, as it imported more farm products such as soybeans and beef, energy resources such as crude oil, iron ore, and critical minerals. Beijing's investments in the region through Xi's Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI, have included installing 5G networks and building ports and hydropower plants. Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced Monday that his country would formally join the BRI – in a vote of confidence after several Chinese projects in Latin America hit snags in recent months. In other pledges, Beijing plans to invite 300 members from Latin American political parties to China annually for the next three years and facilitate 3,500 government scholarships and various other types of exchanges. Five Latin American countries will receive visa exemptions for travel to China, with more to follow, Xi said. It was not immediately clear which countries would become visa exempt. ___ Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed from Tokyo.
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 14:26:24+00:00	[ "Joe Biden", "Donald Trump", "Missouri", "Financial Wellness", "Labor", "NerdWallet", "Inc.", "Betsy Mayotte", "Associated Press", "Business", "Kate Wood", "Physical therapy", "Education", "Sarah Austin", "The Charles Schwab Corp.", "Personal finance", "Charles Schwab" ]	# A guide to student loans as the Education Department begins collections By Adriana Morga May 16th, 2025, 02:26 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Between collections resuming, courts blocking student loan programs and layoffs at the Education Department, borrowers might be confused about the status of their student loans. Recently, the Education Department announced it would start involuntary collections on defaulted loans, meaning the roughly 5.3 million borrowers who are in default could have their wages garnished by the federal government. At the center of the turmoil are the government's income-driven repayment plans, which reduce monthly payments for borrowers with lower incomes. Those plans were temporarily paused after a federal court blocked parts of the plans in February. "There's so much confusion, they've made it very complicated," said Natalia Abrams, president and founder of the Student Debt Crisis Center. At the same time, some borrowers are struggling to get their loan servicers on the phone, making it hard to find answers to their questions, said Abrams. If you're a student loan borrower, here are some answers to your questions. ## What if I want to enroll in an income-driven repayment plan? Applications for income-driven repayment plans are open, but they're taking longer than usual to process. The applications were temporarily shut down earlier this year after a federal court in Missouri blocked the SAVE plan, a Biden administration plan that offered a faster path to loan forgiveness. The judge's order also blocked parts of other repayment plans, prompting the Education Department to pause income-driven applications entirely. Amid pressure from advocates, the department reopened the applications on May 10. Borrowers can apply for the following income-driven plans: the Income-Based Repayment Plan, the Pay as You Earn plan and the Income-Contingent Repayment plan. Abrams expects applications will continue to be approved but at a slower pace than before the application pause. Borrowers currently enrolled in an income-driven plan should be receiving notifications about recertification, said Khandice Lofton, counsel at the Student Borrower Protection Center. Recertification is required annually to update information on family size and income, and dates are different for each borrower. To review income-driven repayment plans, you can check the loan simulator at studentaid.gov. ## What if I applied to the SAVE plan? Borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan have been placed in forbearance while a legal challenge is resolved. That means they don't have to make payments and interest is not accruing. Time in forbearance normally does not count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The Education Department will notify borrowers with updates on payments and litigation. "We don't know for sure when the SAVE forbearance is going to end," Abrams said. While the future of the SAVE plan is decided in court, Abrams encourages borrowers to explore their eligibility for other income-driven repayment plans. ## What if I want to consolidate my student loans? The online application for loan consolidation is available again, at studentaid.gov/loan-consolidation. If you have multiple federal student loans, you can combine them into one with a fixed interest rate and a single monthly payment. The consolidation process typically takes around 60 days to complete. You can only consolidate your loans once. ## What if my loan was forgiven? It would be difficult for the Education Department to reinstate loans that were canceled during President Joe Biden's administration. So far, it isn't believed to be happening, Abrams said. ## What about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program? Nothing has changed yet. President Donald Trump wants to change the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program to disqualify workers of nonprofit groups deemed to have engaged in "improper" activities. He signed an executive order to that effect, but it has yet to be enforced. Borrowers enrolled in PSLF should keep up with payments to make progress toward loan forgiveness, said Sarah Austin, policy analyst at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. "There could be some changes coming in regards to PSLF but at this current time PSLF is still functioning and there is still loan forgiveness being processed under the PSLF provision," said Austin. An income-driven repayment tracker has disappeared from the federal student loan website for many borrowers, said Abrams. For keeping track of their status, Abrams is recommending that borrowers take screenshots of their payments. ## What if I can't get a hold of my loan servicer? Contacting your loan servicer is crucial to managing and understanding your student loans. Due to the large number of people trying to get answers or apply for programs, loan servicers are taking longer than usual to respond. Abrams recommends borrowers prepare for long wait times. "We've heard borrowers being in hold for three or four hours, then being transferred to a supervisor and then being hung up on, after all that wait time. It's incredibly frustrating," Abrams said. ## What can I do if I'm delinquent on my student loans? If you're delinquent, try to get back on track. Borrowers who don't make their payments for 270 days go into default, which has severe consequences. "If you're delinquent but have not defaulted yet, do whatever you can do to avoid going default," said Kate Wood, a student loans expert at NerdWallet. Borrowers who are delinquent on their student loans take a massive hit on their credit scores, which could drop 100 points or more, Wood said. A delinquency stays on your credit report for seven years. Wood recommends contacting your servicer to ask for options, which can include forbearance, deferment or applying for an income-driven repayment plan. ## What if I'm in default on my student loans? The Education Department is recommending borrowers visit its Default Resolution Group to make a monthly payment, enroll in an income-driven repayment plan or sign up for loan rehabilitation. Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute for Student Loan Advisors, recommends loan rehabilitation. Borrowers in default must ask their loan servicer to be placed into such a program. Typically, servicers ask for proof of income and expenses to calculate a payment amount. Once a borrower has paid on time for nine months in a row, they are taken out of default, Mayotte said. A loan rehabilitation can only be done once. ## What happened to Fresh Start? The Fresh Start program was a one-time temporary program that helped borrowers get out of default. This program ended Aug. 31, 2024. ___ The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.
Associated Press News	2025-05-10 15:16:03+00:00	[ "Barcelona", "Fires", "Industrial accidents", "Chemicals manufacturing", "Climate and environment", "Business", "Climate" ]	# Fire at chemical plant in northeastern Spain keeps thousands indoors May 10th, 2025, 03:16 PM --- BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A fire at a chemical factory in northeastern Spain forced emergency services to issue health warnings to 150,000 local residents and stay-indoors orders for five nearby towns, authorities said Saturday. Health services said that medics attended to four people who had reported breathing problems. The fire broke out early on Saturday inside a warehouse at the plant near the town of Vilanova i la Geltrú. The warehouse housed 70 tons of chlorine for use in swimming pools, firefighters said. The stay-indoors order stayed in effect for seven hours for the nearest municipalities in the area between Barcelona and Tarragona on the Mediterranean coast. Firefighters said that by Saturday afternoon that the fire was under control.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 16:01:56+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "India government", "Pakistan", "India", "Narendra Modi", "Kashmir", "United States government", "International agreements", "United States", "South Asia", "War and unrest", "Politics", "Randhir Jaiswal", "JD Vance", "Marco Rubio" ]	# India disputes Trump's claim that trade incentives led to the India-Pakistan ceasefire By Rajesh Roy May 13th, 2025, 04:01 PM --- NEW DELHI (AP) — The Indian government on Tuesday disputed U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that the U.S.-mediated ceasefire between India and Pakistan came about in part because he had offered possible trade concessions. Addressing a weekly news conference, Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesman for India's foreign ministry, said top leaders in New Delhi and Washington were in touch last week following the Indian military's intense standoff with Pakistan, but that there was no conversation on trade. "The issue of trade didn't come up in any of these discussions," Jaiswal said, referring to the conversations held between U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Indian counterpart, S. Jaishankar. Following Saturday's understanding between India and Pakistan to stop military action on land, in the air and at sea, Trump told reporters on Monday that he had offered to help both nations with trade if they agreed to de-escalate. "I said, come on, we're going to do a lot of trade with you guys. Let's stop it. Let's stop it. If you stop it, we'll do a trade. If you don't stop it, we're not going to do any trade,'" Trump said. "And all of a sudden, they said, I think we're going to stop," Trump said, crediting trade leverage for influencing both the nations' decision. "For a lot of reasons, but trade is a big one," he said. The militaries of India and Pakistan had been engaged in one of their most serious confrontations in decades since last Wednesday, when India struck targets inside Pakistan it said were affiliated with militants responsible for the massacre of 26 tourists last month in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan has denied any links to the attackers. After India's strikes in Pakistan, the two sides exchanged heavy fire along their de facto borders, followed by missile and drone strikes into each other's territories, mainly targeting military installations and airbases. The escalating hostilities between the nuclear-armed rivals threatened regional peace, leading to calls by world leaders to cool down tempers. Trump said he not only helped mediate the ceasefire, but also offered mediation over the simmering dispute in Kashmir, a Himalayan region that both India and Pakistan claim in entirety but administer in parts. The two nations have fought two wars over Kashmir, which has long been described as the regional nuclear flashpoint. New Delhi also declined Trump's offer for mediation on Tuesday. "We have a longstanding national position that any issues related to the federally controlled union territory of Jammu and Kashmir must be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally. There has been no change to the stated policy," Jaiswal said. Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said late Tuesday that Pakistan was expelling a staff member of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, accusing him of unspecified inappropriate activity and giving him 24 hours to leave the country. In a tit-for-tat move last month, India and Pakistan reduced each other's diplomatic presence in Islamabad and New Delhi. So far, none of the expelled diplomats have returned. Pakistan and India routinely expel each other's diplomats over allegations of espionage. ___ Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed contributed to this story from Islamabad.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 16:02:18+00:00	[ "Geneva", "Donald Trump", "Scott Bessent", "China", "Beijing", "U.S. Department of the Treasury", "Vladimir Putin", "Jamieson Greer", "International trade", "Tariffs and global trade", "Karin Keller Sutter", "Switzerland government", "Politics", "Pope Leo XIV", "United States government", "Business", "Joe Biden" ]	# Swiss president hopes 'Holy Spirit' might guide US-China weekend talks in Geneva over tariffs By Jamey Keaten May 9th, 2025, 04:02 PM --- GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland's president lamented "disappointing" talks Friday with U.S. President Donald Trump's treasury secretary that did not ease stiff U.S. tariffs on Swiss goods, but expressed hope for a solution to a more consequential U.S.-China face-off on tariffs in Geneva this weekend. Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter, who also serves as finance minister, said she was nonetheless encouraged by the talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as Switzerland tries to wriggle out of hefty 31% U.S. tariffs of Swiss goods as part of Trump's sweeping "reciprocal" tariffs on countries around the globe. Their meeting was only an appetizer for the potentially market-moving talks Saturday and Sunday between Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Geneva. Keller-Sutter also met with the Chinese envoy, but said it was merely a courtesy. As for the U.S.-China talks, the Swiss leader alluded to the election of the first U.S.-born pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, and quipped: "I said to Secretary Bessent that apparently the Holy Spirit was in Rome yesterday, and I hope that he will come to Geneva over the weekend." The talks have been shrouded in secrecy and the Chinese and U.S. sides have declined to specify where they will take place other than somewhere in Geneva, which hosted U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2021 — before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While the U.S. administration has temporarily suspended the most severe tariffs against every target country except China, the 31% rate — if restored — would put Switzerland in a worse position than its neighbors in the European Union, which are to face 20% U.S. tariffs on EU goods. The Swiss government said its talks Friday with Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were "convivial and constructive" and were aimed to lay out the guidelines for a deal on the issue of customs duties to be discussed again in coming weeks. On April 9 — a week after Trump announced the U.S. "reciprocal" tariffs — he spoke with Keller-Sutter by phone and later announced a pause in their implementation for 90 days and capped the additional U.S. tariffs at 10% for most countries, with the notable exception of China. "Of course, it is disappointing," Keller-Sutter said when asked about the lack of a deal in talks with Bessent, before alluding to her earlier phone conversation with Trump. "I also told President Trump that this was not fair. But on the other hand, you know, I mean, we're not looking back, we are looking forward." "And we're really encouraged by the talks we had that we're going to find a solution, and the U.S. side really engaged with Switzerland also to find a swift solution," she told reporters. Keller-Sutter trumpeted Swiss investment in the United States, saying it has created 400,000 jobs and "average salary $130,000, which is a lot" in the United States. She said she didn't know whether her call with Trump on April 9 convinced him to ease back on the tariffs, before adding with a laugh: "He should listen to women." Going into the weekend talks between Bessent and He, the U.S. slapped 145% tariffs on Chinese goods, and Beijing has responded with 125% tariffs on U.S. goods. Earlier Friday, Trump floated the prospect that those could be lowered sharply in a social media post. "80% Tariff on China seems right!" Trump wrote on his social media account, before alluding to Bessent. "Up to Scott B."
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 20:35:35+00:00	[ "Immunizations", "Medication", "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention", "Pain management", "Health", "U.S. Food and Drug Administration" ]	# US health officials advise older travelers not to get a chikungunya vaccine By Mike Stobbe May 12th, 2025, 08:35 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government advised American travelers age 60 and older not get a chikungunya vaccine as it investigates possible side effects. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration posted notices late last week on the vaccine, Valneva's Ixchiq. Chikungunya, spread by the bites of infected mosquitoes, is a debilitating tropical illness marked by fever and joint pain. About 100 to 200 cases are reported annually among U.S. travelers. Last year, the government began recommending the vaccine, which is made with weakened chikungunya virus, to U.S. adults who travel to countries where chikungunya is a problem. But last month, a panel of vaccine experts who advise the CDC heard about an investigation into six people 65 and older — most of them with other medical problems — who became ill with heart or brain symptoms less than a week after vaccination. More than 10 other similar cases have been reported in people from other countries. European regulators are also looking into the issue. The U.S. advisers voted to issue a precaution for people 65 and older about getting the vaccine. They also recommended that a second chikungunya vaccine — Bavarian Nordic's Vimkunya — be made available for people age 12 and older who are traveling to countries where outbreaks of the mosquito-borne illness are occurring. CDC officials have not yet announced whether they will accept those recommendations. ___ 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 03:35:50+00:00	[ "Apple", "Inc.", "Berkshire Hathaway", "Financial markets", "Financial services", "Stocks and bonds", "Federal Reserve System", "China", "Donald Trump", "Business", "Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi", "International trade", "Tesla", "Government policy", "OPEC", "Amazon.com", "Exxon Mobil Corp.", "Trump Media Technology Group", "Deckers Outdoor Corp.", "Netflix", "Economic policy", "Crocs" ]	# Wall Street loses ground, breaking a 9-day winning streak, and crude oil prices tumble By Damian J. Troise May 5th, 2025, 03:35 AM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed lower on Wall Street Monday, breaking a nine-day winning streak, as oil prices hit a four-year low after the OPEC+ group announced plans to increase output. The losses came amid a relatively calm day of mostly mixed trading. They follow several weeks of gains that helped the market wipe away its losses since the ongoing trade war began. The S&P 500 fell 36.29 points, or 0.6%, to 5,650.38. The decline broke the benchmark index's longest winning streak since 2004. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 98.60 points, or 0.2%, to 41,218.83. The Nasdaq composite fell 133.49 points, or 0.7%, to 17,844.24. Technology companies and other big stocks were among the heaviest weights on the market. Apple slumped 3.1%, while Amazon fell 1.9% and Tesla slipped 2.4%. Berkshire Hathaway fell 5.1%. Legendary investor Warren Buffett announced over the weekend that he would step down as CEO by the end of the year after six decades at the helm. Buffett will still be chairman of the board of directors. The OPEC+ group of eight oil producing nations announced over the weekend that it will raise its output by 411,000 barrels per day as of June 1. U.S. crude oil prices fell 2% to $57.13 per barrel. Many producers can no longer turn a profit once oil falls below $60. Prices are down sharply for the year over worries about an economic slowdown. The energy sector led the losses within the S&P 500. Exxon Mobil shed 2.8%. Markets have been absorbing the shock of tariffs and the growing trade war. President Donald Trump has imposed import taxes on a wide range of imports, prompting retaliation from global trading partners. Many of the more severe tariffs that were supposed to go into effect in April were delayed by three months, with the notable exception of tariffs against China. The delays have provided some relief to Wall Street, though uncertainty about the impact from current and future tariffs continues to hang over markets and the economy. "Uncertainty remains elevated and economic data will likely weaken in the coming months, meaning further bouts of volatility are likely," said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, chief investment officer of global equities at UBS Global Wealth Management. That uncertainty will overshadow the Federal Reserve's meeting this week. The Fed is expected to hold its benchmark interest rate steady on Wednesday. It cut the rate three times in 2024 before taking a more cautious stance. The central bank was concerned that inflation, while easing, was still stubbornly hovering just above its target rate of 2%. Concerns about inflation reigniting have only grown amid the global trade war sparked by Trump's tariff policy. The economy has shown some signs that it is feeling the impact from tariffs and the uncertainty over Trump's policy. The U.S. economy shrank 0.3% in the first quarter, marking the first drop in three years. The economy is still showing signs of resilience, however. Consumers have grown more cautious, but still continue to spend. Economic activity in the services sector continued expanding in April, according to a survey from the Institute for Supply Management. The services sector survey and the latest consumer confidence updates also reflect growing concerns over the economy's direction. Trump's rapidly shifting policies on trade have kept the Fed and markets on edge. Tariffs have been imposed, only to be pulled or delayed, sometimes on a daily basis. The on-again-off-again approach has left businesses, households and economists at a loss in trying to forecast where the economy might be headed and planning accordingly. The latest salvo in the trade war from Trump came Sunday night in a post on his Truth Social platform. He said he has authorized a 100% tariff on movies that are produced outside of the U.S. The impact is unclear, as it is common for films to include production at multiple locations around the world. Netflix slumped 1.9% and Warner Bros. Discovery fell 2%. Shoemakers posted gains following the announcement that Skechers is being acquired for $9 billion and taken private by the investment firm by 3G Capital. Skechers jumped 24.3%, while Crocs rose 3.4%. Deckers Outdoor, which owns the Ugg and Teva brands, rose 1.2%. Treasury yields rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.35% from 4.31% late Friday. ___ AP business writers Jiang Junzhe and Matt Ott contributed to this story.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 18:24:22+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Tom Homan", "Tony Evers", "Wisconsin", "Wisconsin state government", "Immigration", "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement", "Calvin Callahan", "Politics", "Hannah Dugan" ]	# Wisconsin governor says he's not afraid after Trump official suggests possible arrest By Scott Bauer May 2nd, 2025, 06:24 PM --- MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said Friday that every American should be concerned about "chilling" suggestions from President Donald Trump's top border adviser that he could be arrested over guidance the Democrat issued to state employees about what to do if confronted by federal immigration agents. "I'm not afraid," Evers said in the extraordinary video posted on YouTube. "I've never once been discouraged from doing the right thing and I will not start today." At issue is guidance Evers' administration issued last month in response to state workers who asked what they should do if agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement show up at their offices. Evers' guidance advised them to contact an attorney immediately and ask the officers to return if an attorney is unavailable. The memo also advises state workers not to turn over paper files or give ICE officers access to computers without first consulting the state agency's attorney and not to answer questions from the agents. The recommendations are similar to guidance that Connecticut's Democratic governor issued in January. The guidelines also mirror what the National Immigration Law Center and other advocacy groups have said should be done when immigration officials show up at a workplace. Republican critics argued that the guidance was an order from Evers not to cooperate with ICE agents, an accusation the governor vehemently denied in Friday's video. The goal of the guidance was to give state employees "clear, consistent instructions" to ensure they have a lawyer present to help them comply with all applicable laws, Evers said. He accused Republicans of lying about the guidance and spreading misinformation to fuel a "fake controversy of their own creation." "I haven't broken the law," Evers said. "I haven't committed a crime and I've never encouraged or directed anyone to break any laws or commit any crimes." Tom Homan, Trump's top border adviser, was asked about the Evers memo by reporters outside the White House on Thursday. Homan said, "Wait to see what's coming," when asked about the memo. "You cannot support what we're doing, and you can support sanctuary cities if that's what you want to do, but if you cross that line to impediment or knowingly harboring and concealing an illegal alien, that's a felony and we're treating it as such," Homan said. Some Republicans embraced the possibility of Evers being arrested. Republican Wisconsin state Rep. Calvin Callahan posted a fake image on social media showing Trump in a police uniform behind a grim-faced Evers in handcuffs outside of the state Capitol. The comments from Homan and Evers' response come a week after Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested at the courthouse on two felony charges. She is accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities by escorting him and his attorney out of her courtroom through the jury door last week after learning that federal officers were seeking his arrest.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 13:15:02+00:00	[ "Patrick Lyoya", "Michigan", "Christopher Schurr", "Shootings", "Grand Rapids", "Juries", "Law enforcement", "Homicide", "Gun violence", "Race and ethnicity", "Eric Winstrom", "Chris Becker", "Legal proceedings", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Michigan officer on trial tells jurors he feared for his life before killing African immigrant By Isabella Volmert and Ed White May 2nd, 2025, 01:15 PM --- GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan police officer who killed a man with a shot to the back of the head testified in his own defense Friday, telling jurors at his second-degree murder trial that he was "running on fumes" and fearing for his life after losing his Taser during an intense fight. "I believed that if I hadn't done it at that time, I wasn't going to go home," said Christopher Schurr, who fired the single fatal shot as he pinned Patrick Lyoya facedown on the ground in an effort to subdue him. Schurr, 34, wiped his eyes and sniffed as video from that day was played for the jurors. His testimony was his first public explanation of what happened following a routine traffic stop on a cold, rainy spring morning in Grand Rapids in 2022. The shooting stunned the public after the Grand Rapids police chief released video of the killing, which was recorded by a man who was accompanying Lyoya that day. There also was police car video and images from Schurr's body camera. Schurr told the jury that it was "important to get my side of the story out." Jurors must decide whether Schurr, who was patrolling alone, could have reasonably feared that he could suffer great bodily harm or be killed after Lyoya got control of his Taser, a weapon that fires electrically charged probes to temporarily subdue an aggressor. Lyoya, a Black man, failed to produce a driver's license after Schurr pulled him over for driving a car with a mismatched license plate. Then he ran, and the officer chased and tackled him. As they physically struggled to exhaustion for more than two minutes, Schurr was heard desperately asking for officers to rush to the scene. "I'm running on fumes," he explained to the jury. Video shows the confrontation finally ended when Schurr fired into Lyoya's head after repeatedly demanding that Lyoya stop resisting and give up the Taser, which the officer had lost control of in the fight. It's not known why Lyoya was trying to flee. Records show his driver's license was revoked at the time and there was an arrest warrant for him in a domestic violence case, though Schurr didn't know it. An autopsy revealed his blood-alcohol level was three times above the legal limit for driving, according to testimony. During cross-examination, prosecutor Chris Becker tried to highlight inconsistencies between Schurr's testimony and his statements to investigators three years ago, particularly his physical condition at the time. Becker also noted that the officer was on top of Lyoya before the fatal shot, suggesting that he had an advantage. "He never said he was going to kill you, right? Never said he was going to hit you. Never said he was going to kick your butt or do anything bad to you," the prosecutor said. Schurr earlier testified that he had a Taser used on him during police training and knew it could cause "excruciating pain." "I shot him because I believed he was going to use it on me," Schurr told Becker. "He started to turn up towards me. I felt if I didn't respond at that time, I wouldn't be here." "Sure, but he's not here, is he?" Becker shot back, referring to Lyoya's death. "No, he's not," Schurr replied. Outside the courthouse Friday, a crowd waved "thin blue line" flags in support of Schurr while standing along a busy downtown street. Inside, his wife sat in a front row of the courtroom while Lyoya's parents, who brought their family to the U.S. from Congo in 2014, sat in a front row on the opposite side. The jury late in the day also heard testimony from Lewis "Von" Kliem, a lawyer and former officer who analyzes instances of force across the U.S. He said Schurr's decision to shoot Lyoya can be seen as reasonable "as tragic as it is." "What is particularly relevant is that Mr. Lyoya did not just take the (Taser) and throw it away. He took the weapon, transitioned hands and held it in a position capable of being utilized," said Kliem, a defense witness. Schurr was fired by city officials at the recommendation of police Chief Eric Winstrom after he was charged in 2022. At the time, Winstrom said his recommendation was based on video of the encounter, the prosecutor's review of a state police investigation and Schurr's interview with internal investigators. The trial has mostly been a battle of experts. Use-of-force experts testifying for the prosecutor said deadly force was not necessary to end the conflict. But several senior Grand Rapids officers, summoned by defense lawyers, said Schurr was at great risk when Lyoya got ahold of the Taser. ___ White reported from Detroit.
Associated Press News	2025-05-11 17:08:04+00:00	[ "Peshawar", "Law enforcement", "Masood Khan", "Bombings", "Crime", "Taliban" ]	# Bomb targeting a vehicle carrying police killed 2 officers in northwest Pakistan May 11th, 2025, 05:08 PM --- PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A powerful bomb exploded near a vehicle carrying police officers in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing at least two officers and injuring three others, police said. The attack happened near a roadside open market in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a local police chief, Masood Khan, said. He said the dead and wounded were transported to a nearby hospital. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, who often target security forces and civilians. TTP is a separate group but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021. Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuaries and have even been living openly in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, which also emboldened the Pakistani Taliban.
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 13:15:56+00:00	[ "Gaza Strip", "Israel-Hamas war", "Israel", "2024-2025 Mideast Wars", "Donald Trump", "War and unrest", "Israel government", "Hamas", "Foreign aid", "Humanitarian crises", "United Nations", "Politics" ]	# Gaza aid dries up as Israeli blockade enters a third month By Julia Frankel and Phil Holm May 6th, 2025, 01:15 PM --- JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has blockaded all entrances to the Gaza Strip since March. While pummeling the strip with airstrikes, it has banned any food, water, shelter or medication from being trucked into the Palestinian territory, where the U.N. says the vast majority of the population is reliant on humanitarian aid to survive. Israel says the blockade aims to pressure Hamas to release the hostages it still holds. Of the 59 captives remaining in Gaza, 21 are believed to still be alive, U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday, revealing that three had died. Here's a look at the humanitarian crisis spiraling in Gaza, through key statistics and charts: The current blockade has lasted longer than any previous Israeli halt in aid to Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began. Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and Israel froze aid to Gaza for two weeks. Now, Gaza is entering its third month without supplies. Thousands of trucks queue along the border of the territory, waiting to be let in. Community kitchens are closing down and bakeries are running out of fuel. Families spend hours waiting in line for small portions of rice. In their desperation, Palestinians have begun scavenging warehouses and stores for anything left. Aid groups report a rise in looting incidents over the last week. At least some have been looted by armed groups. Meanwhile, Israel is moving forward with plans to seize all of Gaza and to stay in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time. It says it will expand operations there, defying calls for an immediate renewal of a ceasefire from families whose relatives are still held hostage in Gaza. Israel's offensive has displaced more than 90% of Gaza's population and, Palestinian health officials say, killed more than 52,000 people, many of them women and children. Palestinian officials do not distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count.
Associated Press News	2025-05-03 04:43:47+00:00	[ "Sachi Schmidt-Hori", "John Lewis", "Crime", "Gaming", "JWD-evergreen", "Lifestyle", "Race and ethnicity", "Education", "Business", "Black experience", "Japan", "Technology", "Kate Mays", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Assassin's Creed gamers harassed a professor over a 'woke' character. She fought back with kindness By Holly Ramer May 3rd, 2025, 04:43 AM --- HANOVER, N.H. (AP) — Sachi Schmidt-Hori has never played Assassin's Creed Shadows, but facing an onslaught of online harassment from its fans, she quickly developed her own gameplay style: confronting hate with kindness. Schmidt-Hori, an associate professor of Japanese literature and culture at Dartmouth College, worked as a narrative consultant on the latest installment in the popular Ubisoft video game franchise. The game launched March 20, but the vitriol directed at Schmidt-Hori began in May 2024 with the release of a promotional trailer. "Once I realized that I was by myself — nobody was defending me — I just decided to do what I knew would work," she said. "It's very difficult to hate someone up close." ## Ancient history sparks modern-day harassment Set in 16th century Japan, the game features Naoe, a Japanese female assassin, and Yasuke, a Black African samurai. Furor erupted over the latter, with gamers criticizing his inclusion as "wokeness" run amok. They quickly zeroed in Schmidt-Hori, attacking her in online forums, posting bogus reviews of her scholarly work and flooding her inbox with profanity. Many drew attention to her academic research into gender and sexuality. Some tracked down her husband's name and ridiculed him, too. "Imagine that! Professional #WOKE SJW confirms fake history for Ubisoft," one Reddit user said, using an acronym for "social justice warrior." Another user called her a "sexual degenerate who hate humanity because no man want her." Learning Yasuke was based on a real person did little to assuage critics. Asian men in particular argued Schmidt-Hori was trying to erase them, even though her role involved researching historical customs and reviewing scripts, not creating characters. "I became the face of this backlash," she said. "People wanted to look for who to yell at, and I was kind of there." Ubisoft told her to ignore the harassment, as did her friends. Instead, she drew inspiration from the late civil rights leader and congressman John Lewis. "I decided to cause 'good trouble,'" she said. "I refused to ignore." ## Turning the tables on the trolls Schmidt-Hori began replying to some of the angry emails, asking the senders why they were mad at her and inviting them to speak face-to-face via Zoom. She wrote to an influencer who opposes diversity, equity and inclusion principles and had written about her, asking him if he intended to inspire the death threats she was getting. "If somebody said to your wife what people are saying to me, you wouldn't like it, would you?" she asked. The writer didn't reply, but he did take down the negative article about Schmidt-Hori. Others apologized. "It truly destroyed me knowing that you had to suffer and cancel your class and received hate from horrible people," one man wrote. "I feel somehow that you are part of my family, and I regret it. I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart." Anik Talukder, a 28-year-old south Asian man living in the United Kingdom, said he apologized at least 10 times to Schmidt-Hori after accepting her Zoom invitation to discuss his Reddit post about her. On May 16, feeling surprised and disappointed about Yasuke as a protagonist, he posted a screenshot that included photos of Schmidt-Hori, her professional biography from the Dartmouth website and a description of a book she wrote. "I felt like maybe they were doing too much of like racial inclusion and changing things," he said in an interview. "An Asian male could have been the role model for so many people." Though he didn't criticize Schmidt-Hori directly, others responded negatively and the image was picked up and shared in other forums. He was shocked the professor reached out to him and hesitant to speak to her at first. But they ended up having a thoughtful conversation about the lack of Asian representation in Western media and have stayed in touch ever since. "I learned a massive lesson," he said. "I shouldn't have made this person a target for no reason whatsoever." ## Ubisoft defends choices and commends its consultant Ubisoft officials declined to be interviewed about the criticism of the game or the harassment Schmidt-Hori faced. In a statement, the company said it carefully researches historical settings and collaborates with internal and expert witnesses, but the games remain works of fiction and artistic liberties are taken. "We do not condone harassment or bullying in any form," the company said. "We are committed to creating a supportive and collaborative environment and we're constantly learning how we can improve this process. We commend and appreciate Sachi Schmidt-Hori for addressing these topics directly and are grateful for her approach and expertise." Unlike the professor at Dartmouth, in Hanover, New Hampshire, most people who become the target of online hate end up retreating to protect themselves, said Kate Mays, an assistant professor of public communication at the University of Vermont. Online forums allow people to post anonymously without seeing how their words are received and algorithms boost more aggressive content, she said, creating a "perfect storm" for people to become hateful. "The intervention that she did was pretty brilliant in terms of sort of stopping that toxic train in its tracks and putting another spin on how people are engaging with her," Mays said. "She's sort of breaking the spell of that online disinhibition community involvement and forcing people to address her as a human and an individual." ____ Associated Press video journalist Amanda Swinhart contributed to this report from Burlington, Vermont.
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 08:32:29+00:00	[ "Ursula Von Der Leyen", "Europe", "European Union", "Courts", "Vladimir Putin", "Email and messaging", "Eurocopa 2024", "Albert Bourla", "Immunizations", "Politics", "European Commission", "Shari Hinds", "Daniel Freund", "Pfizer Inc.", "Pandemics", "Nicole Taylor", "Peter Szijjarto", "Business", "COVID-19 pandemic" ]	# Court rules in favor of The New York Times over texts between the EU chief and a pharma boss By Sam Mcneil May 14th, 2025, 08:32 AM --- BRUSSELS (AP) — A top European court ruled on Wednesday that the European Commission failed to provide a credible explanation for refusing The New York Times access to text messages sent between its President Ursula von der Leyen and a pharmaceutical boss during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case highlights questions about transparency at the commission, which insists that text messages and other "ephemeral" electronic communications do not necessarily constitute documents of interest that should be saved or made public. "Today's decision is a victory for transparency and accountability in the European Union, and it sends a powerful message that ephemeral communications are not beyond the reach of public scrutiny," Nicole Taylor, a spokesperson for The New York Times, said after the court annulled the commission's decision. According to a statement from the EU's General Court in Luxembourg, the U.S. newspaper's lawyers "succeeded in rebutting the presumption of non-existence and of non-possession of the requested documents." The statement said that "the commission cannot merely state that it does not hold the requested documents but must provide credible explanations enabling the public and the court to understand why those documents cannot be found." It said the commission had failed to explain "in a plausible manner" why the messages did not contain important information. It also said the commission "has not sufficiently clarified whether the requested text messages were deleted and, if so, whether the deletion was done deliberately or automatically or whether the president's mobile phone had been replaced in the meantime." The commission said it would study the ruling and decide on "next steps," which could refer to an appeal before the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the EU's top court. It is unclear if the text messages in question still exist, and if so, who has access to them. Von der Leyen was responsible for deciding whether the texts constituted documents of value. Transparency advocates argue that the EU's increasingly powerful executive branch should maintain a paper trail of all its dealings and release documents when asked. "This should serve as a catalyst for the commission to finally change its restrictive attitude to freedom of information," said Shari Hinds, a policy officer for Transparency International, an anti-corruption group. Païvi Leino-Sandberg, a law professor at the University of Helsinki who has a pending legal challenge before the same court about the commission's internal documentation rules, called the news "a huge victory for transparency." "The commission lost so completely (in this ruling) and on every possible ground that overturning this in the ECJ seems extremely unlikely," she said. The New York Times said text messages were exchanged between von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla as COVID-19 ravaged communities from Portugal to Finland and the EU scrambled to buy billions of vaccines. Von der Leyen was under intense scrutiny, especially after AstraZeneca stumbled to deliver vaccine doses to the 27-nation bloc. Amid fierce international competition for access to the vaccines, von der Leyen was praised for her leading role during the pandemic. But she also faced sharp criticism for the opacity of the negotiations to quickly gather 2.7 billion euros ($2.95 billion) to place an order for more than a billion doses. At the same time as she was reported to be exchanging messages directly with the Pfizer boss, von der Leyen was publicly praising the company as " a reliable partner." Von der Leyen was appointed to head the commission for a second five-year term last July. Critics say the 66-year-old former German defense minister dislikes having her decisions questioned, and that she centralized power at the commission's headquarters, where she lives when in Brussels. During her first term, von der Leyen not only led the EU's pandemic response but also helped to rapidly wean the bloc off its dependency on Russian energy, after President Vladimir Putin used natural gas as a lever to undermine European support for Ukraine. "It is simply untrue that the commission president does not use text messages to conduct political business," said Daniel Freund, a lead anti-corruption EU lawmaker and a German Green Party member. "This ruling is a clear defeat for Ursula von der Leyen and a clear rejection of her practice of concealing or hiding her text messages." Hungary's populist government, which licensed a contested Russian vaccine early in the pandemic and was separately later taken to court by the commission over democratic backsliding, used the ruling to take aim at von der Leyen. In a post on social media, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó alleged that she "lectures us on transparency while hiding her shady Pfizer deals." He called for the text messages to be made public and said: "Why were vaccines delayed? Why did Europe overpay? Enough with the excuses. We want answers." ___ Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 01:11:39+00:00	[ "National Transportation Safety Board", "Alvin Brown", "Donald Trump", "Philadelphia", "Jacksonville", "Florida", "District of Columbia", "Rail accidents", "Joe Biden", "Jeff Guzzetti", "Baltimore Key Bridge collapse", "Jennifer Homendy", "Politics" ]	# Vice chair of the NTSB is unexpectedly removed from position By Hallie Golden May 7th, 2025, 01:11 AM --- The vice chair of the National Transportation Safety Board has been abruptly removed from his position, the White House confirmed Tuesday, a rare move that comes as the federal agency charged with investigating aviation disasters juggles more than 1,000 cases. The Trump administration removed Alvin Brown a little more than a year after he was sworn in for a term that was expected to end in 2026. The White House didn't say why he was removed and Brown has not publicly commented. The decision comes as NTSB investigates nearly 1,250 active cases across the U.S., while supporting more than 160 foreign investigations, according to March testimony by NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy. The investigations include the deadly midair collision between a passenger jet and Army helicopter in Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people in January and the medical transport plane that plummeted into a Philadelphia neighborhood that same month, killing eight people. It's also investigating the catastrophic collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in March 2024, which killed six construction workers. Jeff Guzzetti, a former NTSB and FAA accident investigator, said he has never seen an administration remove a member of the board. Board members have been known to stay on after their term is over if the administration hasn't appointed anyone yet and then they leave once the next administration selects someone else, he said. "That happens a lot over the years, but that's normal and expected because you served your term and now it's time for someone else to serve in there," he said. "But this wasn't that. This was just more abrupt and directly from the administration, and I don't know what the impetus is." By Tuesday evening, Brown's photo and biography had already been removed from NTSB's website. The agency includes five board members who serve five year terms, according to the NTSB website. They are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The chairman and vice chairman are both designated by the president and serve for three years. By Tuesday evening, the website only showed four members of the board. Brown was sworn in as a member of the board in April 2024 after being nominated by then-President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate to fill one of two vacancies. His term was expected to run through 2026, according to an NTSB press release at the time. He was the only Black member of the board. He was the mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, from 2011 to 2015 and joined the board after serving as senior adviser for community infrastructure opportunities for the U.S. Department of Transportation, according to the release. The NTSB is an independent federal agency responsible for investigating all civil aviation accidents as well as serious incidents in the U.S. involving other modes of transportation, such as railroad disasters and major accidents involving motor vehicles, marine vessels, pipelines and even commercial space operators. It typically works on about 2,200 domestic and 450 foreign cases each year, according to Homendy. She said she expects "the number of cases annually to remain high and continue to increase in complexity." The agency has been excluded from the deferred resignation program and probationary employee cuts to downsize the federal workforce. Homendy often presents NTSB as a lean agency "that plays a vital role in ensuring public safety and protection of life and property," although she did ask for modest budget increases last year and this year. ___ Associated Press writer Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-18 23:01:55+00:00	[ "New Jersey", "Phil Murphy", "Newark", "New York City", "Transportation", "Mass transit", "New Jersey Transit", "Strikes", "Labor unions", "Travel", "New York City Wire", "Kris Kolluri", "Business", "Mark Wallace", "Jamie Horwitz", "Tom Haas", "Telecommuting" ]	# New Jersey Transit train engineers reach tentative deal to end strike that halted NYC routes By Bruce Shipkowski and Christopher Weber May 18th, 2025, 11:01 PM --- NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Transit's train engineers reached a tentative deal Sunday to end their three-day strike that had halted service for some 100,000 daily riders, including routes to Newark airport and across the Hudson River to New York City. The union said its members would return to work on Tuesday, when trains would resume their regular schedules. The walkout that began Friday was the state's first transit strike in over 40 years, forcing people who normally rely on New Jersey Transit to take buses, cars, taxis and boats instead or consider staying home. The main sticking point had been how to accomplish a wage increase for the engineers without creating a financially disastrous domino effect for the transit agency. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen initially announced regular train service would begin again Monday, but moments later, union spokesperson Jamie Horwitz said NJ Transit informed them that it would be Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. instead. A transit agency statement said the Tuesday start was necessary because "it takes approximately 24 hours to inspect and prepare the infrastructure before returning to full scheduled service." A union statement sent by email said the terms of the agreement would be sent to the union's 450 members who work as locomotive engineers or trainees at the passenger railroad. "While I won't get into the exact details of the deal reached, I will say that the only real issue was wages and we were able to reach an agreement that boosts hourly pay beyond the proposal rejected by our members last month and beyond where we were when NJ Transit's managers walked away from the table Thursday evening," said Tom Haas, the union's general chairman at NJ Transit. He added that the union was able to show management "ways to boost engineers' wages ... without causing any significant budget issue or requiring a fare increase." The union statement also said the deal would be submitted for a ratification vote by the national union and would require a vote of the New Jersey Transit board at its next regularly scheduled meeting on June 11. NJ Transit's board also has to approve the deal. "To offer the understatement of the year, this is a very good outcome," New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said at a Sunday evening news conference. He commended the two sides for finding an agreement that is "both fair to NJ Transit's employees while also being affordable for our state's commuters and taxpayers." NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri didn't provide details of the deal, but said it was "fair and fiscally responsible." He thanked the union for negotiating in good faith. "The deal itself reflects a series of concessions that came together by way of a work bill that will eventually end up paying for this fair wage that the union has asked for," Kolluri said at the news conference. Buses would be provided on Monday, but Murphy and Kolluri both urged commuters, if possible, to work from home for one more day. "Please do that tomorrow so we can move essential employees through the system," Kolluri said. A month earlier, members of the union had overwhelmingly rejected a labor agreement with management. 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 halted all NJ Transit commuter trains, which provide heavily used public transit routes between New York City's Penn Station on one side of the Hudson River and communities in northern New Jersey on the other, as well as the Newark airport, which has grappled with unrelated delays of its own recently. Mark Wallace, the union's national president, had said NJ Transit needs to pay engineers a wage that's comparable to Amtrak and Long Island Railroad because some are leaving for jobs on those other railroads for better pay. The union had said its members have been earning an average salary of $113,000 a year and it wanted to see an agreement for an average salary of $170,000. NJ Transit leadership, though, disputed the union's data, saying the engineers have average total earnings of $135,000 annually, with the highest earners exceeding $200,000. ___ Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writer Josh Funk contributed from Omaha, Nebraska.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 19:04:29+00:00	[ "Government budgets", "Tony Evers", "Donald Trump", "Wisconsin", "U.S. Republican Party", "Marijuana", "Howard Marklein", "Politics", "Mark Born" ]	# Wisconsin Republicans kill marijuana legalization and tax increases for millionaires By Scott Bauer May 8th, 2025, 07:04 PM --- MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature voted Thursday to kill most of the top spending priorities of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, including legalizing marijuana, even as both sides negotiate a tax cut. The Legislature's Republican-controlled budget committee voted along party lines to kill more than 600 budget proposals put forward by Evers, including spending more state money on child care providers, expanding Medicaid and raising taxes on joint tax filers those who earn more than $1 million. Republicans did the same thing in each of Evers' previous three budgets and had said they were going to do it again. Some of the killed ideas, like allowing absentee ballots to be processed before polls open on Election Day, have had bipartisan support in the past and could return in another form. The cuts come amid uncertainty about how much federal money the state will get as President Donald Trump's administration moves to drastically reduce government spending. Evers' budget as introduced would have spent about $119 billion money over two years, a 20% increase in spending. Evers and Republicans have been talking about a tax cut plan they both could support but have not released details. Republicans argue that most of the state's roughly $4 billion surplus should be returned as tax cuts rather than used to support spending on K-12 schools, the University of Wisconsin and other state programs. Evers proposals stripped from the budget on Thursday include: eliminating the tax on tips; increasing funding to combat what some people call forever chemicals or PFAS; targeted property tax cuts for veterans, seniors and people with disabilities; spending $128 million on new financial aid targeting low-income college students and adding gender-neutral language such as "person inseminated" to state law. "Republicans talk a lot about what they're against, but not what they're for," Evers said in a statement. "There are pressing challenges facing our state. Wisconsinites are sick and tired of having a do-nothing Legislature. Republicans must get serious about getting things done." Republican Sen. Howard Marklein, co-chair of the budget committee, said "popular items" could return as separate bills. Co-chair Rep. Mark Born said just because the committee was rejecting Evers' approach to various issues facing the state doesn't mean they won't be addressed in other ways. The vote gutting the governor's spending plan marks the first step in what will be a weekslong process of slowly rebuilding the two-year budget to include more Republican priorities. Evers can make more changes with his broad veto power once the Legislature passes a budget, which typically happens in late June or early July. However, Republicans have talked about taking longer to pass a budget this year, or passing only certain top priority spending bills, in reaction to a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling upholding a line-item budget veto Evers made in 2023 that extended a K-12 spending increase for 400 years. That ruling affirmed the governor's power to veto digits from a budget bill, allowing him to create new amounts and years not envisioned by lawmakers. The court noted in its ruling, however, that the Legislature could rein in the governor's veto powers in several ways. That includes passing a constitutional amendment that's under consideration curbing a governor's veto power and drafting budget bills in a way to prevent a governor from making such a sweeping veto.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 22:51:10+00:00	[ "Joe Arpaio", "Arizona", "Donald Trump", "Thomas Galvin", "Phoenix", "Hispanics", "Mexico", "Immigration", "Jerry Sheridan", "Business", "Race and ethnicity", "Raul Pia", "Racism", "Law enforcement", "Politics", "Christine Wee", "Courts", "Mexico government", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Taxpayers in metro Phoenix still footing the bill for Joe Arpaio's immigration crackdowns By Jacques Billeaud May 19th, 2025, 10:51 PM --- PHOENIX (AP) — Twenty years ago, when Arizona became frustrated with its porous border with Mexico, the state passed a series of immigration laws as proponents regularly griped about how local taxpayers get stuck paying the education, health care and other costs for people in the U.S. illegally. Then-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio gladly took up the cause, launching 20 large-scale traffic patrols targeting immigrants from January 2008 through October 2011. That led to a 2013 racial profiling verdict and expensive court-ordered overhauls of the agency's traffic patrol operations and, later, its internal affairs unit. Eight years after Arpaio was voted out, taxpayers in Maricopa County are still paying legal and compliance bills from the crackdowns. The tab is expected to reach $352 million by midsummer 2026, including $34 million approved Monday by the county's governing board. While the agency has made progress on some fronts and garnered favorable compliance grades in certain areas, it hasn't yet been deemed fully compliant with court-ordered overhauls. Since the profiling verdict, the sheriff's office has been criticized for disparate treatment of Hispanic and Black drivers in a series of studies of its traffic stops. The latest study, however, shows significant improvements. The agency's also dogged by a crushing backlog of internal affairs cases. Thomas Galvin, chairman of the county's governing board, said the spending is "staggering" and has vowed to find a way to end the court supervision. "I believe at some point someone has to ask: Can we just keep doing this?" Galvin said. "Why do we have to keep doing this?" Critics of the sheriff's office have questioned why the county wanted to back out of the case now that taxpayers are finally beginning to see changes at the sheriff's office. ## Profiling verdict Nearly 12 years ago, a federal judge concluded Arpaio's officers had racially profiled Latinos in his traffic patrols that targeted immigrants. The patrols, known as "sweeps," involved large numbers of sheriff's deputies flooding an area of metro Phoenix — including some Latino neighborhoods — over several days to stop traffic violators and arrest other offenders. The verdict led the judge to order an overhaul of the traffic patrol operations that included retraining officers on making constitutional stops, establishing an alert system to spot problematic behavior by officers and equipping deputies with body cameras. Arpaio was later convicted of criminal contempt of court for disobeying the judge's 2011 order to stop the patrols. He was spared a possible jail sentence when his misdemeanor conviction was pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2017. Several traffic-stop studies conducted after the profiling verdict showed deputies had often treated Hispanic and Black drivers differently than other drivers, though the reports stop short of saying Hispanics were still being profiled. The latest report, covering stops in 2023, painted a more favorable picture, saying there's no evidence of disparities in the length of stops or rates of arrests and searches for Hispanic drivers when compared to white drivers. But when drivers from all racial minorities were grouped together for analysis purposes, the study said they faced stops that were 19 seconds longer than white drivers. While the case focused on traffic patrols, the judge later ordered changes to the sheriff's internal affairs operation, which critics alleged was biased in its decision-making under Arpaio and shielded sheriff's officials from accountability. The agency has faced criticism for a yearslong backlog of internal affairs cases, which in 2022 stood around 2,100 and was reduced to 939 as of last month. ## Taxpayers pick up the bill By midsummer 2026, taxpayers are projected to pay $289 million in compliance costs for the sheriff's office alone, plus another $23 million on legal costs and $36 million for a staff of policing professionals who monitor the agency's progress in complying with the overhauls. Galvin has criticized the money spent on monitoring and has questioned whether it has made anyone safer. Raul Piña, a longtime member of a community advisory board created to help improve trust in the sheriff's office, said the court supervision should continue because county taxpayers are finally seeing improvements. Piña believes Galvin's criticism of the court oversight is politically driven. "They just wrote blank checks for years, and now it makes sense to pitch a fit about it being super expensive?" Piña said. ## Ending court supervision Christine Wee, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney representing the plaintiffs, said the sheriff's office isn't ready to be released from court supervision. Wee said the plaintiffs have questions about the traffic-stop data and believe the internal affairs backlog has to be cleared and the quality of investigations needs to be high. "The question of getting out from under the court is premature," Wee said. The current sheriff, Jerry Sheridan, said he sees himself asking the court during his term in office to end its supervision of the sheriff's office. "I would like to completely satisfy the court orders within the next two years," Sheridan said. But ending court supervision would not necessarily stop all the spending, the sheriff's office has said in court records. Its lawyers said the costs "will likely continue to be necessary even after judicial oversight ends to sustain the reforms that have been implemented."
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 20:22:51+00:00	[ "Financial markets", "Donald Trump", "Economic policy", "Federal Reserve System", "Economy", "Stocks and bonds", "Business" ]	# How major US stock indexes fared Thursday, 5/15/2025 By The Associated Press May 15th, 2025, 08:22 PM --- Most U.S. stocks drifted higher following a mixed set of reports on the U.S. economy. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% Thursday, enough to extend its winning streak to a fourth day and to pull within 3.7% of its record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%. Stocks got a lift from easing Treasury yields in the bond market. They dropped after reports suggested the Federal Reserve may have more room to cut interest rates later this year if the U.S. economy weakens under the weight of President Donald Trump's tariffs. Oil prices also sank. On Thursday: The S&P 500 rose 24.35 points, or 0.4%, to 5,916.93. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 271.69 points, or 0.6%, to 42,322.75. The Nasdaq composite fell 34.49 points, or 0.2%, to 19,112.32. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 10.89 points, or 0.5%, to 2,094.69. For the week: The S&P 500 is up 257.02 points, or 4.5%. The Dow is up 1,073.37 points, or 2.6%. The Nasdaq is up 1,183.40, or 6.6%. The Russell 2000 is up 71.62 points, or 3.5%. For the year: The S&P 500 is up 35.30 points, or 0.6%. The Dow is down 221.47 points, or 0.5%. The Nasdaq is down 198.47, or 1%. The Russell 2000 is down 135.46 points, or 6.1%.
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 21:14:31+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Josh Hawley", "Mike Johnson", "Government programs", "U.S. Republican Party", "Taxes", "United States House of Representatives", "Legislation", "California", "Congress", "Politics", "United States government", "Nick LaLota", "Business", "District of Columbia", "Health" ]	# Trump's $4.9 trillion tax plan targets Medicaid to offset costs By Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking May 12th, 2025, 09:14 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans proposed sweeping tax breaks Monday in President Donald Trump's big priority bill, tallying at least $4.9 trillion in costs so far, partly paid for with cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and green energy programs used by millions of Americans. The House Ways and Means Committee named its package "THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL'' in all capital letters, a nod to Trump himself. It seeks to extend the tax breaks approved during Trump's first term — and boost the standard deduction, child tax credit and estate tax exemption — while adding new tax breaks on tipped wages, overtime pay, Social Security benefits and auto loans that Trump promised during his campaign for the White House. There's also a tripling of the state and local tax deduction, called SALT, from $10,000 up to $30,000 for couples, which certain high-tax state GOP lawmakers from New York and California already rejected as too meager. Private universities would be hit with hefty a new tax on their endowments, as much as 21%, as the Trump administration goes after the Ivy League and other campuses. And one unusual provision would terminate the tax-exempt status of groups the State Department says support "terrorists," which civil society advocates warn is a way to potentially punish those at odds with the Trump administration. Overall, the package is touching off the biggest political debate over taxes, spending and the nation's priorities in nearly a decade. Not since 2017 has Congress wrestled with legislation as this, when Republicans approved the Trump tax cuts but also failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The cost assessments are only preliminary, and expected to soar. "Republicans need to UNIFY," Trump posted on social media before departing for a trip to the Middle East. Trump said when he returns to Washington, "we will work together on any and all outstanding issues, but there shouldn't be many — The Bill is GREAT. We have no alternative, WE MUST WIN!" But one key Republican, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, implored his party not to impair Medicaid, arguing that cutting health care to pay for tax breaks is both "morally wrong and politically suicidal." "If Republicans want to be a working-class party — if we want to be a majority party — we must ignore calls to cut Medicaid and start delivering on America's promise for America's working people," Hawley wrote in The New York Times. Late Monday, the House Agriculture Committee released its proposals — cutting $290 billion from federal nutrition programs, in part by shifting costs to the states and requiring able-bodied adults without dependents to fulfill work requirements until they are 64 years old, rather than 54, to qualify for food aid. ## Round-the-clock work ahead As Republicans race toward House Speaker Mike Johnson's Memorial Day deadline to pass Trump's big bill, they are preparing to flood the zone with round-the-clock public hearings starting Tuesday and stitch the various sections together in what will become a massive package. The politics ahead are uncertain. The bipartisan Joint Committee on Taxation said Monday that tax breaks would reduce revenue by $4.9 trillion over the decade — and that was before Trump's new tax breaks were included. Texas Rep. Chip Roy, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, warned the price tag could climb to $20 trillion, piling onto the deficits and debt. "I sure hope House & Senate leadership are coming up with a backup plan," Roy posted on social media, "…. because I'm not here to rack up an additional $20 trillion in debt over 10 years." House Republicans have been huddling behind closed doors, working out final provisions in the 389-page tax portion of the package. The legislation proposes to boost the standard deduction many Americans use by $2,000, to $32,000 per household, and increase the child tax credit from $2,000 to $2,500 for four years. It adds a new requirement focused on preventing undocumented immigrants from benefiting from the credit even if the children are U.S. citizens, which the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank, estimates would affect 4.5 million children who are U.S. citizens or lawful residents. It would also increase the estate tax exemption, which is now $14 million, to $15 million and index future increases to inflation. As for the president's promises, the legislation includes Trump's "no taxes on tips" pledge, providing a deduction for those workers in service industry and other jobs that have traditionally relied on tips. It directs the Treasury secretary to issue guidance to avoid businesses gaming the system. The package also provides tax relief for automobile shoppers with a temporary deduction of up to $10,000 on car loan interest, applying the benefit only for those vehicles where the final assembly occurred in the United States. The tax break would expire at the end of Trump's term. For seniors, there would be a bolstered $4,000 deduction on Social Security wages for those with adjusted incomes no higher than $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for couples. But one hard-fought provision, the deduction for state and local taxes known as SALT, appears to be a work in progress. The legislation proposes lifting the cap to $15,000 for single filers and $30,000 for couples, but with a reduction at higher incomes — about $200,000 for singles and $400,000 for couples. "Still a hell no," wrote Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., on social media. ## Battle over Medicaid, food aid Meanwhile, dozens of House Republicans have told Johnson and GOP leaders they will not support cuts to Medicaid, which provides some 70 million Americans with health care, nor to green energy tax breaks that businesses back home have been relying on to invest in new wind, solar and renewable projects. All told, 11 committees in the House have been compiling their sections of the package as Republicans seek at least $1.5 trillion in savings to help cover the cost of preserving the 2017 tax breaks, which are expiring at the end of the year. The final section from the Agriculture Committee proposed cutting the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, known as SNAP, by expanding work requirements, limiting future expansions of the program and forcing states to shoulder more of the cost. Along with new work requirements for older Americans, it would also require some parents of children older than 7 to work to qualify, down from 18 years old. Only areas with unemployment rates over 10% would be eligible for waivers. Some Republicans have already balked at the increased costs to the states, which be required to contribute at least 5% of the cost of SNAP allotments beginning in 2028. At the same time, the legislation would invest $60 billion in new money for agriculture programs, sending aid to farmers. On Sunday, House Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee unveiled the cost-saving centerpiece of the package, with at least $880 billion in cuts largely to Medicaid to help cover the cost of the tax breaks. While Republicans insist they are simply rooting out "waste, fraud and abuse" to generate savings with new work and eligibility requirements, Democrats warn that millions of Americans will lose coverage. In the 15 years since Obamacare became law, Medicaid has only expanded as most states have tapped into federal funds. A preliminary estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the proposals would reduce the number of people with health care by 8.6 million. To be eligible for Medicaid, there would be new "community engagement requirements" of at least 80 hours per month of work, education or service for able-bodied adults without dependents. People would also have to verify their eligibility to be in the program twice a year, rather than just once. There are substantial cuts proposed for green energy programs and tax breaks, rolling back climate-change strategies from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act. ___ Associated Press writers Amanda Seitz, Leah Askarinam and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 04:42:47+00:00	[ "Pope Francis", "Donald Trump", "Vatican City", "John Paul I", "Dominican Republic", "Syria", "Catholic Church", "Scandals", "Global elections", "Papal conclave", "Peter Erdo", "Luis Antonio Tagle", "Diego Ravelli", "Religion", "Mario Zenari", "Italy government", "Voting", "Gabriel Capry", "Romano Prodi", "Lisette Herrera", "Pietro Parolin", "Timothy Dolan", "Giovanni Battista Re" ]	# Black smoke indicates conclave hasn't elected a new pope By Nicole Winfield May 7th, 2025, 04:42 AM --- VATICAN CITY (AP) — Black smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney on Wednesday, signalling that no pope had been elected as 133 cardinals opened the secretive, centuries-old ritual to choose a new leader of the Catholic Church. The cardinals participating in the most geographically diverse conclave in the faith's 2,000-year history took just one round of voting Wednesday evening. After failing to find a winner on the first ballot, they retired for the night and will return to the Sistine Chapel on Thursday morning to try to find a successor to Pope Francis. They had opened the conclave Wednesday afternoon, participating in a rite more theatrical than even Hollywood could create, a wash of red-robed cardinals, Latin chants, incense and solemnity that underscored the seriousness of the moment. Outside in St. Peter's Square, the scene was festive, as thousands of people flocked to the piazza to watch the proceedings on giant video screens, applauding when the Sistine Chapel's doors slammed shut and the voting began. They waited for hours, watching screens that showed just a skinny chimney and occasional seagull. After the vote dragged on to dinnertime, some left in frustration, but those who stayed cheered when the smoke finally billowed out. "My hope is that cardinals will choose a man who can be a peacemaker and could reunify the church," said Gabriel Capry, a 27-year-old from London. ## A diverse group of cardinals Hailing from 70 countries, the cardinals were sequestered Wednesday from the outside world, their cellphones surrendered and airwaves around the Vatican jammed to prevent all communications until they find a new pope. Francis named 108 of the 133 "princes of the church," choosing many pastors in his image from far-flung countries like Mongolia, Sweden and Tonga that had never had a cardinal before. His decision to surpass the usual limit of 120 cardinal electors and include younger ones from the "global south" — often marginalized countries with lower economic clout — has injected an unusual degree of uncertainty in a process that is always full of mystery and suspense. Many cardinals hadn't met until last week and lamented they needed more time to get to know one another, raising questions about how long it might take for one man to secure the two-thirds majority, or 89 ballots, necessary to become the 267th pope. "Wait and see, a little patience, wait and see," said Cardinal Mario Zenari, the Vatican's ambassador to Syria. ## The oath and "Extra omnes" The cardinals had entered the Sistine Chapel in pairs, chanting the meditative "Litany of the Saints" as Swiss Guards stood at attention. The hymn implores the saints to help the cardinals find a leader of the 1.4 billion-strong church. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the 70-year-old secretary of state under Francis and himself a leading contender to succeed him as pope, assumed the leadership of the proceedings as the senior cardinal under age 80 eligible to participate. He stood before Michelangelo's vision of heaven and hell, "The Last Judgment," and led the other cardinals in a lengthy oath. Each one followed, placing his hand on the Gospel and promising in Latin to maintain utmost secrecy. Earlier in the day, the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, presided over a morning Mass in St. Peter's Basilica urging the voters to set aside all personal interests and find a pope who prizes unity. He prayed for a pope who could awaken the conscience of the world. He reminded the cardinals that the awesomeness of the Sistine Chapel's frescoes is meant to remind the cardinals of the weighty responsibility they bear. In his regulations for the conclave, Re recalled, St. John Paul II wrote that in the Sistine Chapel, "everything is conducive to an awareness of the presence of God." After the cardinals took their oaths, the master of papal liturgical ceremonies, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, called out "extra omnes," Latin for "all out" and anyone not eligible to vote left before the chapel doors closed. An elderly cardinal remained to deliver a meditation, but after he finished, he too, had to leave since he was too old to vote. While cardinals this week said they expected a short conclave, it will likely take at least a few rounds of voting. For much of the past century, it has taken between three and 14 ballots to find a pope. John Paul I — the pope who reigned for 33 days in 1978 — was elected on the fourth ballot. His successor, John Paul II, needed eight. Francis was elected on the fifth in 2013. ## Lobbying before the conclave The cardinals are supposed to resist any "secular" influences in their choice of pope, but such lobbying abounded in Rome in the days before the conclave as various groups reminded cardinals of what ordinary Catholics want in a leader. Young Catholics penned an open letter reminding cardinals that there is no church without young people, women and the laity. Conservative Catholic media slipped cardinals copies of a glossy book containing their assessments of contenders. Survivors of clergy sexual abuse warned cardinals that they would be held accountable if they failed to find a leader who will crack down on decades of abuse and cover-up. Advocates for women's ordination sent pink smoke signals Wednesday over the Vatican to demand that women be allowed to be priests and participate in a conclave. Even the White House got involved, posting a photo of President Donald Trump dressed as a pope. Trump said it was a joke, but the gesture was denounced by former Italian Premier Romano Prodi as "indecent" political interference in matters of faith that hark back to times when secular rulers intervened in conclaves. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, said there was also plenty of lobbying going on among cardinals themselves. "You invite each other out," Dolan said on SiriusXM's The Catholic Channel before the conclave began. "And you're pretty blunt. Now, we're not, you know, we're not horse trading here. We're saying, 'Tell me about this guy. You're from Latin America. Go through the list of bishops. Tell me some of these fellas. Am I right to be enchanted by this guy?'" Lisette Herrera, a 54-year-old tourist from the Dominican Republic, was deeply moved to find herself by chance in Rome as the conclave began. She decided Wednesday morning to skip the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain and pray instead in St. Peter's Square. "I'm praying to the Holy Spirit for a young pope who would stay with us for a long time," she said. "I don't believe in conclave politics, I just feel that the Holy Spirit is here and that's all we need to know." ## Challenges facing a new pope Many challenges await the new pope and weigh on the cardinals — above all whether to continue and consolidate Francis' progressive legacy on promoting women, LGBTQ+ acceptance, the environment and migrants, or roll it back to try to unify a church that became more polarized during his pontificate. The clergy sex abuse scandal hung over the pre-conclave talks. Since Francis chose 80% of the voters, continuity is likely, but the form it might take is uncertain and identifying front-runners has been a challenge. But some names keep appearing on lists of "papabile," or cardinals having the qualities to be pope. In addition to Parolin, they include: — Filipino Cardinal Luis Tagle, 67, a top candidate to be history's first Asian pope. He headed the Vatican's evangelization office responsible for the Catholic Church in much of the developing world. — Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo, 72, the archbishop of Budapest, is a leading candidate representing the more conservative wing of the church. ___ For AP's full coverage of the conclave, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/papal-conclave ___ AP reporters Giada Zampano and Vanessa Gera contributed. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 20:34:05+00:00	[ "Abdullah Ahmad Badawi", "Classical music", "Music", "Massachusetts", "Ron Nessen", "Gene Hackman", "Alan Simpson", "Carl Dean", "Joan Plowright", "Anne Marie Hochhalter", "Sam Nujoma", "Richard Williamson", "Hip hop and rap", "United Kingdom", "San Diego", "Mississippi", "Year in Review", "New York City Wire", "Notable Deaths", "Jim Morrison", "Angie Stone", "Joe Fusco", "Mario Vargas Llosa", "Steve McMichael", "Lincoln Diaz-Balart", "Malaysia government", "John F. Kennedy", "Wayne Osmond", "Dolly Parton", "James Arthur Ray", "Laurence Olivier", "Peru government", "Nancy Leftenant-Colon", "Roy Ayers", "United States House of Representatives", "Rosita Missoni", "Mary J. Blige", "Jean-Marie Le Pen", "Tony Award", "Peter Yarrow", "Dr. Dre", "Entertainment", "Ice Cube", "Valrie Andr", "Samuel David Moore", "David Childs", "David Johansen", "David Lynch", "Nita Lowey", "Eddie Jordan", "Cecile Richards", "Elvis Presley", "George Foreman", "Politics", "Mauricio Funes", "George Lowe", "Kitty Dukakis", "Michael Dukakis", "Joey Molland", "Kim Shin-jo", "Pope Benedict XVI", "Dick Button", "Mia Love", "Marianne Faithfull", "Richard Chamberlain", "Muhammad Ali", "Oleg Gordievsky", "Karim Al-Husseini", "Octavio Dotel", "Nora Aunor", "Ral M. Grijalva", "Ashanti", "Bob Filner", "Virginia McCaskey", "Prince Andrew", "Tony Roberts", "Robert G. Clark", "Woody Allen", "Theodore McCarrick", "Jeffrey Epstein", "Tom Brown", "Tom Robbins", "Vince Lombardi", "Barbie Hsu", "Wayne Wiggins", "Bob Uecker", "Virginia Giuffre", "Bobby Fischer", "James Harrison", "David Lodge", "Clint Hill", "milie Dequenne", "Dick Barnett", "George Halas", "Roberta Flack", "Horst Khler", "Michelle Trachtenberg", "Pope Francis", "Jay North", "Boris Spassky", "Val Kilmer" ]	# Noteworthy and influential people who've died this year By Bernard Mcghee May 2nd, 2025, 08:34 PM --- The month of April saw the death of history's first Latin American pope. Known for his embrace of the downtrodden, Pope Francis, who died of a stroke, signaled a different tone for the papacy, stressing humility over hubris. His funeral was attended by presidents and princes who came from around the world to pay their final respects. The month also saw the death of actor Val Kilmer, whose numerous roles included playing a fan-favorite character in "Top Gun" and portraying musician Jim Morrison in "The Doors." The intensity Kilmer brought to his roles also gave him a reputation of being hard to work with. Other notable death in April include basketball Hall of Famer Dick Barnett, "Dennis the Menace" star Jay North, former Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, Blondie drummer Clem Burke and football player Steve McMichael. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who have died in the first four months of this year (cause of death cited, if available): ___ JANUARY ___ Wayne Osmond, 73. A singer, guitarist and founding member of the million-album-selling family act The Osmonds, who were known for such 1970s teen hits as "One Bad Apple," "Yo-Yo" and "Down By the Lazy River." Jan. 1. David Lodge, 89. A witty and prolific British novelist and critic who gently satirized academia, religion and even his own loss of hearing in such highly praised narratives as the Booker Prize finalists "Small World" and "Nice Work." Jan. 1. Rosita Missoni, 93. The matriarch of the iconic Italian fashion house that made colorful zigzag-patterned knitwear high fashion and helped launch Italian ready-to-wear. Jan. 1. James Arthur Ray, 67. A self-help guru whose multimillion-dollar business toppled after he led a sweat lodge ceremony in Arizona that left three people dead. Jan. 3. Costas Simitis, 88. A former prime minister of Greece and the architect of the country's joining the common European currency, the euro. Jan. 5. Jean-Marie Le Pen, 96. The founder of France's far-right National Front was known for fiery rhetoric against immigration and multiculturalism that earned him staunch supporters and widespread condemnation. Jan. 7. Peter Yarrow, 86. The singer-songwriter best known as one-third of Peter, Paul and Mary, the folk music trio whose impassioned harmonies transfixed millions as they lifted their voices in favor of civil rights and against war. Jan. 7. Nancy Leftenant-Colon, 104. The first Black woman to join the U.S. Army Nurse Corps after the military was desegregated in the 1940s. Jan. 8. Sam Moore, 89. The surviving half and higher voice of the 1960s duo Sam & Dave, which was known for such definitive hits of the era as "Soul Man" and "Hold On, I'm Comin.'" Jan. 10. José "Cha Cha" Jiménez, 76. A prominent Civil Rights figure in Chicago who advocated for Puerto Rican rights, founded the Young Lords and co-founded the Rainbow Coalition. Jan. 10. David Lynch, 78. The filmmaker celebrated for his uniquely dark and dreamlike vision in such movies as "Blue Velvet" and "Mulholland Drive," and the TV series "Twin Peaks." Jan. 16. Bob Uecker, 90. He parlayed a forgettable playing career into a punch line for movie and TV appearances as "Mr. Baseball" and a Hall of Fame broadcasting tenure. Jan. 16. Joan Plowright, 95. An award-winning British actor who, with her late husband Laurence Olivier, did much to revitalize the U.K.'s theatrical scene in the decades after World War II. Jan. 16. Cecile Richards, 67. A national leader for abortion access and women's rights who led Planned Parenthood for 12 tumultuous years. Jan. 20. Mauricio Funes, 65. A president of El Salvador who spent the final years of his life in Nicaragua to avoid various criminal sentences. Jan. 21. Valérie André, 102. A French aviator and parachutist who became the first woman to become a general officer in France. Jan. 21. Garth Hudson, 87. The Band's virtuoso keyboardist and all-around musician who drew from a unique palette of sounds and styles to add a conversational touch to such rock standards as "Up on Cripple Creek," "The Weight" and "Rag Mama Rag." Jan. 21. Richard Williamson, 84. An ultra-traditionalist Catholic bishop whose denial of the Holocaust created a scandal in 2009 when Pope Benedict XVI rehabilitated him and other members of his breakaway society. Jan. 29. Dick Button, 95. He was one of the most accomplished men's figure skaters in history, and one of his sport's great innovators and promoters. Jan. 30. Marianne Faithfull, 78. The British pop star, muse, libertine and old soul who inspired and helped write some of the Rolling Stones' greatest songs. and endured as a torch singer and survivor of the lifestyle she once embodied. Jan. 30. ___ FEBRUARY ___ Horst Köhler, 81. A onetime head of the International Monetary Fund who became a popular German president before stunning the country by resigning abruptly in a flap over comments about the country's military. Feb. 1. Barbie Hsu, 48. A Taiwanese actress who starred in the popular TV drama "Meteor Garden" that once swept Asia. Feb. 2. Pneumonia triggered by the flu. The Aga Khan, 88. He became the spiritual leader of the world's millions of Ismaili Muslims at age 20 as a Harvard undergraduate, and poured a material empire built on billions of dollars in tithes into building homes, hospitals and schools in developing countries. Feb. 4. Kultida Woods, 80. The Thai-born mother of Tiger Woods, whom he credits with instilling in him a dominant spirit and encouraging him to wear a red shirt on Sunday as his power color. Feb. 4. Irv Gotti, 54. A music mogul who founded Murder Inc. Records and was behind major hip-hop and R&B artists such as Ashanti and Ja Rule. Feb. 5. Virginia McCaskey, 102. She inherited the Chicago Bears from her father, George Halas, but avoided the spotlight during more than four decades as the team's principal owner. Feb. 6. Tony Roberts, 85. A versatile, Tony Award-nominated theater performer at home in plays and musicals and who appeared in several Woody Allen movies — often as Allen's best friend. Feb. 7. Sam Nujoma, 95. The fiery, white-bearded freedom fighter who led Namibia to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990 and served as its first president for 15 years, coming to be known as the father of his nation. Feb. 8. Tom Robbins, 92. The novelist and prankster-philosopher who charmed and addled millions of readers with such screwball adventures as "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" and "Jitterbug Perfume." Feb. 9. Anne Marie Hochhalter, 43. She was partially paralyzed in the Columbine High School shooting but found strength to forgive and to heal her soul after bonding with another family devastated by the tragedy. Feb. 16. Gene Hackman, 95. The Oscar-winning actor whose studied portraits ranged from reluctant heroes to conniving villains and made him one of the industry's most respected and honored performers. Feb. 17. Found dead with his wife, who had died a week earlier, in their home. Paquita la del Barrio, 77. A Mexican musical legend known for her powerful voice and fierce defense of women. Feb. 17. James Harrison, 88. An Australian man credited with saving 2.4 million babies through his record-breaking blood plasma donations over six decades. Feb. 17. Souleymane Cissé, 84. The Malian filmmaker was a pioneer of African cinema with a career spanning 50 years. Feb. 19. Mabel Staton, 92. The Black track and field standout who broke through racial barriers and became the only woman to compete for the United States in the long jump at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Feb. 20. Clint Hill, 93. The Secret Service agent who leaped onto the back of President John F. Kennedy's limousine after the president was shot, then was forced to retire early because he remained haunted by memories of the assassination. Feb. 21. Joe Fusco, 87. A College Football Hall of Fame coach who won four NAIA Division II national championships in 19 years at Westminster College. Feb. 22. Roberta Flack, 88. The Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose intimate vocal and musical style made her one of the top recording artists of the 1970s and an influential performer long after that. Feb. 24. Michelle Trachtenberg, 39. A former child star who appeared in the 1996 "Harriet the Spy" hit movie and went on to co-star in two buzzy millennial-era TV shows — "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Gossip Girl." Feb. 26. Boris Spassky, 88. A Soviet-era world chess champion who lost his title to American Bobby Fischer in a legendary 1972 match that became a proxy for Cold War rivalries. Feb. 27. David Johansen, 75. The wiry, gravelly-voiced singer and last surviving member of the glam and protopunk band the New York Dolls who later performed as his campy, pompadoured alter ego, Buster Poindexter. Feb. 28. ___ MARCH ___ Angie Stone, 63. The Grammy-nominated R&B singer was a member of the all-female hip-hop trio The Sequence and known for the hit song "Wish I Didn't Miss You." March 1. Car crash. Joey Molland, 77. A guitarist with the Welsh pop-rock band Badfinger that was known for such 1970s hits as "No Matter What" and "Day After Day." March 1. George Lowe, 67. The voice behind the irreverent animated superhero on Adult Swim's "Space Ghost Coast to Coast." March 2. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, 70. A Cuban American who fought tirelessly for a free Cuba and who spent 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives as a member of a politically powerful South Florida family. March 3. Carl Dean, 82. Dolly Parton's devoted husband of nearly 60 years who avoided the spotlight and inspired her timeless hit "Jolene." March 3. Oleg Gordievsky, 86. A Soviet KGB officer who helped change the course of the Cold War by covertly passing secrets to Britain. March 4. Roy Ayers, 84. A legendary jazz vibraphonist, keyboardist, composer and vocalist known for his spacy, funky 1976 hit "Everybody Loves the Sunshine" that has been sampled by such R&B and rap heavyweights as Mary J. Blige, N.W.A., Dr. Dre, 2Pac, Mos Def and Ice Cube. March 4. Robert G. Clark, 95. He was elected in 1967 as Mississippi's first Black lawmaker of the 20th century and rose to the second-highest leadership role in the state House of Representatives. March 4. D'Wayne Wiggins, 64. A founding member of the Grammy-nominated group Tony! Toni! Tone! behind the classic songs "Anniversary," "It Never Rains (In Southern California)" and (Lay Your Head on My) Pillow." March 7. Junior Bridgeman, 71. A basketball standout who led Louisville to a Final Four, starred for the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and then launched an even more successful career as a businessman with stakes in restaurants, publishing and the Bucks franchise. March 11. Ron Nessen, 90. A veteran broadcast journalist who was press secretary for President Gerald Ford and sought to restore the integrity that the position had lost during the Nixon administration. March 12. Raúl M. Grijalva, 77. The Democratic congressman was a champion of environmental protections and progressive ideals who took on principled but often futile causes during a two-decade career in Congress. March 13. Alan Simpson, 93. The former U.S. senator was a political legend whose quick wit bridged partisan gaps in the years before today's political acrimony. March 14. Nita Lowey, 87. The former congresswoman was a long-serving New York Democrat who was the first woman to chair the powerful House Appropriations Committee. March 15. Émilie Dequenne, 43. The Belgian actor who won a top Cannes Film Festival prize for her breakout role in "Rosetta." March 16. Cancer. Eddie Jordan, 76. An ex-Formula 1 team owner and media personality whose humor, strong opinions and often extravagant dress sense made him a popular pundit on TV after selling the team in 2005. March 20. George Foreman, 76. The fearsome heavyweight boxer who lost the "Rumble in the Jungle" to Muhammad Ali before his inspiring second act as a 45-year-old world champion and a successful businessman. March 21. Kitty Dukakis, 88. The wife of former Massachusetts governor and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, who spoke openly about her struggles with depression and addiction. March 21. Paul "Greg" House, 63. He spent two decades on Tennessee's death row before he was finally freed, and later campaigned against the death penalty. March 22. Mia Love, 49. A daughter of Haitian immigrants who became the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress. March 23. Brain cancer. David Childs, 83. The lead architect of the One World Trade Center skyscraper that rose from the site where the Twin Towers collapsed in New York City during the 9/11 attacks. March 26. Richard Chamberlain, 90. The handsome hero of the 1960s television series "Dr. Kildare" who found a second career as an award-winning "king of the miniseries." March 29. ___ APRIL ___ Val Kilmer, 65. The brooding, versatile actor who played fan favorite Iceman in "Top Gun," donned a voluminous cape as Batman in "Batman Forever" and portrayed Jim Morrison in "The Doors." April 1. Pneumonia. Theodore McCarrick, 94. A once-powerful Catholic cardinal who was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019 after a Vatican investigation determined he had molested adults and children. April 3. Jay North, 73. He starred as the towheaded mischief-maker on TV's "Dennis the Menace" for four seasons starting in 1959. April 6. Clem Burke, 70. His versatile drumming propelled the iconic rock group Blondie during its decades performing everything from new-wave punk to disco-infused tunes. April 6. Cancer. Rubby Pérez, 69. Known for songs such as "Volveré," "El Africano" and "Tu Vas a Volar," he devoted his long career to merengue, the signature musical style of the Dominican Republic. April 8. Died after a roof collapse at a nightclub in the Dominican Republic. Octavio Dotel, 51. He pitched for 13 major league teams in a 15-year career and won a World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals. April 8. Died after a roof collapse at a nightclub in the Dominican Republic. Kim Shin-jo, 82. A prominent ex-North Korean commando who resettled in South Korea as a pastor after his daring mission to assassinate then-South Korean President Park Chung-hee in 1968 failed. April 9. Mario Vargas Llosa, 89. The Peruvian author was a Nobel literature laureate and a giant of Latin American letters. April 13. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, 85. The former Malaysian prime minister was a moderate who extended the country's political freedoms but was criticized for lackluster leadership. April 14. Wink Martindale, 91. The genial host of such hit game shows as "Gambit" and "Tic-Tac-Dough" who also did one of the first recorded television interviews with a young Elvis Presley. April 15. Nora Aunor, 71. She became one of the biggest stars of Philippine cinema during a career that spanned seven decades. April 16. Bob Filner, 82. A 10-term U.S. congressman whose long political career ended abruptly after he was elected mayor of San Diego and driven from office amid sexual misconduct allegations. April 20. Pope Francis, 88. History's first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change. April 21. Stroke. Steve McMichael, 67. A star defensive tackle on the Chicago Bears' famed 1985 Super Bowl championship team whose larger-than-life personality made him a fixture in the Windy City for decades and a natural for professional wrestling. April 23. ALS. Tom Brown, 84. The two-sport star whose interception sealed the 1966 NFL title game for Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers. April 23. Virginia Giuffre, 41. She accused Britain's Prince Andrew and other influential men of sexually exploiting her as a teenager trafficked by financier Jeffrey Epstein. April 25. Dick Barnett, 88. A basketball Hall of Famer who played on both New York Knicks NBA championship teams after being part of a historic college powerhouse at Tennessee A&I. April 27.
Associated Press News	2025-05-18 11:40:23+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Joe Biden", "Barack Obama", "George H.W. Bush", "Elon Musk", "Marco Rubio", "Jimmy Carter", "Department of Government Efficiency", "Florida", "United States government", "Virginia", "United States", "Ulysses S. Grant", "Abraham Lincoln", "Franklin D. Roosevelt", "Trudy Huskamp Peterson", "Government and politics", "Timothy Naftali", "Donald McGahn", "William Fischer", "Thomas Jefferson", "Lindsay Chervinsky", "Sandy Berger", "Scott Amey", "Edward Kennedy", "John F. Kennedy", "Martin Luther King Jr.", "Bill Clinton", "George Washington", "Jason R. Baron", "Politics" ]	# Trump could leave less documentation behind than any previous president By Will Weissert May 18th, 2025, 11:40 AM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — For generations, official American documents have been meticulously preserved and protected, from the era of quills and parchment to boxes of paper to the cloud, safeguarding snapshots of the government and the nation for posterity. Now, the Trump administration is scrubbing thousands of government websites of history, legal records and data it finds disagreeable. It has sought to expand the executive branch's power to shield from public view the government-slashing efforts of Elon Musk's team and other key administration initiatives. Officials have used apps such as Signal that can auto-delete messages containing sensitive information rather than retaining them for recordkeeping. And they have shaken up the National Archives leadership and even ordered the rewriting of history on display at the Smithsonian Institution. All of that follows President Donald Trump discouraging note-taking at meetings, ripping up records when he was done with them, refusing to release White House visitor logs and having staffers sign nondisclosure agreements during his first term — then being indicted for hauling to Florida boxes of sensitive documents that he was legally required to relinquish. To historians and archivists, it points to the possibility that Trump's presidency will leave less for the nation's historical record than nearly any before it and that what is authorized for public release will be sanitized and edited to reinforce a carefully sculpted image the president wants projected, even if the facts don't back that up. How will experts and their fellow Americans understand what went on during Trump's term when those charged with setting aside the artifacts documenting history refuse to do so? ## How to piece together a history of truth and accuracy? The administration says it's the "most transparent in history," citing the Republican president's penchant for taking questions from reporters nearly every day. But flooding the airwaves, media outlets and the internet with all things Trump isn't the same as keeping records that document the inner workings of an administration, historians caution. That's especially true given the president's propensity for exaggerating, particularly when it comes to bolstering his own image and accomplishments. "He thinks he controls history," says Timothy Naftali, a presidential historian who served as founding director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California. "He wants to control what Americans ultimately find out about the truth of his administration, and that's dangerous. Because, if he believes that he can control that truth, he may believe that there is nothing that he can do that would have consequences." Watchdog groups are most immediately worried about what the administration is doing in real time with little oversight or accountability. They point to Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and other top officials seeking to obscure sweeping efforts to remake government, the economy and large swaths of the nation's civil and cultural fabric. "With this administration's history of tearing up records, storing them in unsecured facilities in Florida, its use of Signal," said Scott Amey, general counsel of the Project on Government Oversight, which has sued DOGE seeking greater access to records. "At that point, there are a lot of questions about how's DOGE operating, and is it operating within the law?" Trump has made concealing even basic facts part of his political persona. He long refused to release his tax returns despite every other major White House candidate and president having done so since Jimmy Carter. Today, White House stenographers still record every word Trump utters, but many of their transcriptions are languishing in the White House press office without authorization for public release. That means no official record — for weeks, if at all — of what the president has said. "You want to have a record because that's how you ensure accountability," said Lindsay Chervinsky, executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library in Mount Vernon, Virginia. "You can't hold people accountable if you don't actually know what happened." ## The law says Trump must maintain records Presidents are legally obligated to keep up the historical record. After the Watergate scandal forced Nixon to resign in 1974, he tried to take documents home to California. Congress approved a law requiring document preservation that applied only to Nixon. Four years later, the Presidential Records Act extended similar rules to all commanders in chief. It mandates the preservation, forever, of White House and vice presidential documents and communications. It deems them the property of the U.S. government and directs the National Archives and Records Administration to administer them after a president's term. A separate measure, the Federal Records Act of 1950, is meant to safeguard for the historical record the actions of other officials. It says their communications should be preserved, sent to the National Archives, whose headquarters is down the street from the White House, and are generally subject to requests for information under Freedom of Information Act. The Presidential Records Act affords presidents the exclusive responsibility for the custody and management of their records while in office, and says the National Archives plays no role except when a president wants to dispose of such materials. Further, it protects some presidential records from Freedom of Information requests for five years after a president leaves office, and can even block release of some records for up to a dozen years after a president's term is up. Presidents also can evoke executive privilege to further limit certain types of communication from release. Once an administration is over, however, there are rules about what even the president must retain for the public. The Presidential Records Act also prohibits presidents from taking records home. That's best evidenced by Trump's 2022 federal indictment for mishandling classified documents. Rather than turn them over the National Archives, Trump hauled boxes of potentially sensitive documents from his first term to his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, where they ended piled up in his bedroom, a ballroom and even a bathroom and shower. The FBI raided the property to recover them. The case was later thrown out, though, and then abandoned altogether after Trump won back the White House last November. Trudy Huskamp Peterson, acting Archivist of the United States from 1993 to 1995, said keeping such records for the public is important because "decision-making always involves conflicting views, and it's really important to get that internal documentation to see what the arguments were." ## Early presidents often sought to preserve their place in history The push toward preservation of the historical record predates Nixon and even the United States itself. American colonists decried the secrecy around the British Parliament, leading early leaders to install transparency safeguards, including initially rejecting the notion of a presidential Cabinet at the Constitutional Convention. Instead, they endorsed requirements that the president receive advice in writing from department secretaries, so that there would be a written record, said Chervinsky, also author of "The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution." In 1796, Washington asserted what today might be called executive privilege, arguing that some diplomatic conversations had to be private given their sensitive nature. But the following year, the nation's first president wrote about the need to build a library to house his papers for historians and researchers, Chervinsky said. Many early presidents kept meticulous records, including John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both of whom wanted to "be seen as a positive figure in history," Chervinsky said. Others, like Abraham Lincoln, had advisers who understood the importance of the era and documented history carefully. Other presidents often did not prioritize recordkeeping. Ulysses S. Grant, who left office in 1877, famously wrote, "The only place I ever found in my life to put a paper so as to find it again was either a side coat-pocket, or the hands of a clerk more careful than myself." And it wasn't until 2014 when the Library of Congress, finally clear of legal battles that raged 50 years earlier with Warren G. Harding's family, released correspondence between the 29th president and his mistress, Carrie Fulton Phillips. Federally authorized presidential libraries did not exist until 1941, when Franklin D. Roosevelt opened his while still in office, although a mostly privately funded library established for Rutherford B. Hayes, who left the presidency in 1881, served as a model. Roosevelt also installed a White House tape recorder to capture conversations, a practice that mostly continued until Nixon's Oval Office tapes upended his presidency. After President John F. Kennedy's assassination, many of his presidential recordings were taken by his family and National Archives officials had to negotiate with Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., for public access, Peterson said. President Lyndon B. Johnson recorded phone calls that have informed historians for decades, including his 1964 lament about the Vietnam War: "It just worries the hell out of me." Naftali said that in his role at the Nixon library, he saw drafts materials — and the notes used to compile them — that survived among presidential papers, even when the finished documents were shredded in Watergate cover-up efforts. "You should want accountability whether you're a Republican or a Democrat or an independent," Naftali said. "You want to know what people did in your name." ## Presidential clashes with archivists predate Trump Even after new laws saw Nixon's White House tapes turned over to authorities, it fell to archivists to separate official and political material from the personal, which was potentially subject to more privacy protections. They also had to deal with voice-activated devices clicking on while Oval Office cleaning crews worked. More recently, President George H.W. Bush's administration destroyed some informal notes, visitor logs and emails. After President Bill Clinton left office, his former national security adviser, Sandy Berger, pleaded guilty to taking copies of a document about terrorist threats from the National Archives by stuffing them down his pants leg. President George W. Bush's administration disabled automatic archiving for some official emails, encouraged some staffers to use private email accounts outside their work addresses and lost 22 million emails that were supposed to have been archived, though they were eventually uncovered in 2009. The younger Bush also signed an executive order seeking to limit the scope of the Presidential Records Act for himself and past presidents. His successor, President Barack Obama, rescinded that. Obama's administration nonetheless moved to block release of White House visitor logs, something Trump continued in his first term. Congress updated the Presidential Records Act and the Federal Records Act in 2014 to encompass electronic messaging, including commercial email services known to be used by government employees to conduct official business. But back then, use of auto-delete apps like Signal was far less common. "A decade ago, we were still in a Gmail, Yahoo, and AOL world," said Jason R. Baron, a professor at the University of Maryland and former director of litigation at the National Archives. "The point is, it's far easier to copy — or forward — a commercial email to a dot-gov address to be preserved, than it is to screenshot a series of messages on an app like Signal." Further complicating matters is Trump's routinely answering cellphone calls, including from reporters. Guidance dating back decades suggests documenting, through ordinary note-taking, the substance of conversations where significant decisions are made, Baron said. But he also noted that the rules are less clear than those around written communications, including texts. Such communications have already been at the center of advocates' work to preserve records around DOGE's work. The administration has argued DOGE's efforts are subject to the Presidential Records Act which would potentially shield it from Freedom of Information Act rules. Amey's Project on Government Oversight sued, maintaining that Musk's initiative should be covered by the Federal Records Act. Other advocacy groups have also sued DOGE over compliance with Freedom of Information Act requests, prompting the administration to file a one-page record retention policy in March that was revealed in court filings. It requires DOGE staffers to preserve all work-related communications and records, regardless of format — which, if applied completely across the board, would include apps like Signal. ## Relying on 'an honor system' There were efforts during the first Trump administration to safeguard transparency, including a memo issued through the Office of White House counsel Don McGahn in February 2017 that reminded White House personnel of the necessity to preserve and maintain presidential records. Trump's 2017-2021 administration also established a system to capture messages the president posted to Twitter even after he deleted them. When Trump frequently ripped up briefing papers and other documents when he was finished with them during his first term, record analysts working across the street from the White House later would gather them up and tape them back together as best they could. Experts and advocates say no such guidance memo has been issued from the White House this time, though William Fischer, the National Archives acting chief records officer, released a memo this month reminding agencies about rules for maintaining federal records created on apps such as Signal and recommending using "automated tools to comply" with the Federal Records Act. Trump has recently talked about his place in history, and officials around the president have discussed building a presidential library — potentially in Florida — when he leaves the White House for good. But Trump also long exaggerated his right to keep documents for personal use rather than turn them over to archivists. "Under the Presidential Records Act, I'm allowed to do all this," Trump wrote on his social media site in June 2023 after the FBI seized boxes of documents from Mar-a-Lago — an assertion the indictment against him disputed. The White House says Trump was "unjustly prosecuted" on "fake charges" during that case. It points to having recently ordered the declassification of bevies of historical files, including records related to the assassinations of Kennedy, his brother Robert and Martin Luther King. The administration says it fulfilled records requests from Congress that the administration of his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, ignored, and offered instructions that federal agencies should clear out backlogged Freedom of Information Act requests. It says it ended the Biden-era practice of staffers using Microsoft Teams, where chats were not captured by White House systems. The Biden administration had more than 800 users on Teams, meaning an unknown number of presidential records might have been lost, Trump officials now say, though that is something Biden representatives did not confirm. But the White House did not answer questions about the possibly of drafting a new memo on record retention like McGahn's from 2017. Nor did it comment about whether nondisclosure agreements remain in use for White House staffers this term, or speak to Trump's past habit of tearing up documents. Chervinsky, of the George Washington Presidential Library, said Congress, the courts and even the public often don't have the bandwidth to ensure records retention laws are enforced, meaning, "A lot of it is still, I think, an honor system." "There aren't that many people who are practicing oversight," she said. "So, a lot of it does require people acting in good faith and using the operating systems that they're supposed to use, and using the filing systems they're supposed to use." Angered by the role the National Archives played in his documents case, meanwhile, Trump fired the ostensibly independent agency's head, Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan, and named Secretary of State Marco Rubio as her acting replacement. Peterson, the former acting national archivist, said she still believes key information about the Trump administration will eventually emerge, but "I don't know how soon." "Ultimately things come out," she said. "That's just the way the world works." ___ Will Weissert covers the White House for The Associated Press.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 18:37:00+00:00	[ "Haiti", "Crime", "Ariel Henry", "Organized crime", "Marco Rubio", "Humanitarian crises", "United Nations", "Romain Le Cour", "U.S. Department of State", "Jake Johnston" ]	# US designates Haitian gangs as a foreign terror organization as aid groups fret By Dánica Coto May 2nd, 2025, 06:37 PM --- SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. on Friday officially designated a powerful gang coalition in Haiti as a foreign terrorist organization, raising concerns the move could deepen the country's humanitarian crisis at a critical time. The Viv Ansanm coalition, which means "Living Together," joins a list of eight Latin American criminal organizations under that category. Gran Grif, the biggest gang to operate in Haiti's central Artibonite region, also was added to the list, as reported by The Associated Press on Tuesday. "The age of impunity for those supporting violence in Haiti is over," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement Friday. The U.S. Department of State warned that "persons, including American citizens, that engage in certain transactions or activities with these entities, or these individuals may expose themselves to sanctions risk." But it's nearly impossible for aid groups and others to avoid dealing with gangs in Haiti. The Viv Ansanm coalition controls at least 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince. This forces nonprofits and other groups to negotiate with gangs so they can gain access to communities to provide food, water and other critical supplies. "The first consequences (of the designation) will be on the humanitarian and international cooperation, which is basically the only thing preventing the people in Haiti from starving," said Romain Le Cour, with Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. The designation comes as Haiti faces record hunger, with more than half of its nearly 12 million inhabitants expected to experience severe hunger through June, and another 8,400 people living in makeshift shelters projected to starve. Those who do business in Haiti also could be affected by the new designation. Gangs control the areas surrounding a key fuel depot and the country's biggest and most important port, as well as the main roads that lead in and out of the capital, where they charge tolls. "It could function as a de facto embargo," said Jake Johnston, international research director at the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research. "The gangs exercise tremendous control over the commerce of the country," he said. "Doing any kind of business with Haiti or in Haiti is going to carry much greater risk." ## Persistent violence The designation comes as gang violence surges in Haiti. More than 1,600 people have been killed from January to March, and another 580 were injured, according to the U.N. political mission in Haiti. The violence also has left more than a million people homeless. "Despite numerous casualties within their ranks (936 individuals), gangs intensified their efforts to expand their territorial control in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area and its surroundings," according to a new U.N. report. Leading the recent attacks is Viv Ansanm. The coalition that represents more than a dozen gangs was created in September 2023, bringing together two fierce rivals, G-9 and G-Pèp. It was reactivated in late February 2024, with gunmen storming police stations and Haiti's two largest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates. The coalition also forced the closure of Haiti's main international airport for nearly three months, a move that prevented former Prime Minister Ariel Henry from returning after an official visit to Kenya. The government declared a state of emergency, and Henry, who was never able to return to Haiti, resigned in April 2024. ## A designation under scrutiny Viv Ansanm has launched recent attacks in once peaceful communities on the outskirts of Haiti's capital, killing hundreds of people. Meanwhile, Gran Grif has raided several cities and towns in Haiti's central region. In October, the gang was blamed for killing more than 70 people in Pont-Sondé, the biggest massacre in Haiti's recent history. It also recently seized control of parts of Mirebalais and has continued to attack surrounding communities in a bid to control more access to the border with the neighboring Dominican Republic, according to a U.N. report. Le Cour, of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, warned that using the designation to directly target gangs in Haiti wouldn't work. "If this designation is intended to put pressure on them, you have to build up capacity ... that allows you to actually go after the gang leaders and arrest them in Haiti," he said. The violence has overwhelmed Haiti's National Police and a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police that is struggling in its fight against gangs as it remains underfunded and under-resourced. And even if gang members are arrested, Haiti's judicial system is barely functional. A U.N. report that found that "many courthouses remain destroyed, non-operational, or located in inaccessible areas, effectively barring judicial personnel and lawyers from accessing them." "The designation is more of a blanket policy approach that is deeply insufficient, that risks overlooking the realities on the ground today," Le Cour said. He said the designation should be used against those in the U.S. who smuggle firearms to Haiti and the network that keeps ammunition and weapons flowing to the country.
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 12:13:57+00:00	[ "Greece", "Children", "Government programs", "Mobile apps", "Europe", "European Union", "Greece government", "Kyriakos Mitsotakis", "Politics", "Education", "Technology" ]	# Greece is helping parents with age gating, monitoring kids' screen time with a government app By Derek Gatopoulos May 5th, 2025, 12:13 PM --- ATHENS, Greece (AP) — In a country celebrated for its ancient wisdom, Greece is offering a modern solution to a pressing household challenge: empowering parents to oversee their children's online activity. On Monday, the government launched a state-operated mobile app, marking one of Europe's most assertive steps toward digital age verification. Kids Wallet, now available on iOS and Android, gives parents tools to verify their children's ages on digital platforms and monitor their browsing activity, officials said. "This is an application that Greece — and Europe — needs to confirm children's ages when they use social media," said Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou. "It will also serve as an identification tool for upcoming initiatives." Unlike stricter approaches adopted in some European countries, Greece has made the app's use voluntary, though officials argue it offers more powerful controls. The initiative aligns with broader EU-wide efforts to standardize age verification across member states. The app is integrated with Greece's government services platform, already widely used to pay taxes, navigate bureaucracy, and even buy soccer tickets, and works with existing digital ID systems for adults. Parents will log in using their online tax identification credentials. The general age of digital consent has been set at 15, and officials have invited major digital platforms to collaborate on the rollout. "Dear platforms, we ask for your cooperation so that together we can protect children at a vulnerable age," Papastergiou said. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis voiced support for the initiative, expressing concern over technology's impact on family life. "You see families in restaurants where parents and children are all on their phones, and you wonder when they actually talk to each other," he said. A 2024 survey by Greek research organization KMOP found that 76.6% of children aged 9–12 have internet access via personal devices, 58.6% use social media daily, and 22.8% have encountered inappropriate content. The app's launch is part of a broader set of government measures aimed at curbing youth violence and aligns with EU plans to strengthen online protections for minors.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 20:50:30+00:00	[ "Colombia", "Gustavo Petro", "Referendums", "Bogota", "Colombia government", "Global elections", "Protests and demonstrations", "Politics", "Sandra Borda", "Javier Garay", "Voting" ]	# Colombia's president sends congress referendum proposal that could overhaul labor laws May 1st, 2025, 08:50 PM --- BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Thursday pressed on with his struggling plan to overhaul the country's labor laws, sending Congress a referendum proposal whose questions for voters include whether workdays should be limited to eight hours and whether workers should receive double pay if they work during holidays. With much of his agenda repeatedly blocked by Congress, Petro is now betting that the same lawmakers who twice rejected his labor reform will allow voters to decide whether they want his proposed changes. Congress has one month to approve or reject the 12-question referendum. Petro, Colombia's first ever leftist president, sought to rally support for his project by participating in a union demonstration in the capital, Bogota, marking May Day. "The people of Colombia want to vote for their fundamental rights, for their dignity," Petro said before thousands of demonstrators, asking them to not vote to reelect any lawmaker who votes against the referendum. If approved by lawmakers, Petro will have to issue a decree summoning Colombians to the polls within three months. Questions for voters would include whether daytime workdays should end at 6 p.m. and whether open-ended contracts should be offered to workers to prioritize job stability. But overcoming Congress is not Petro's only concern in seeing his project become a reality. He needs referendum participation to exceed 13 million – that's more than the number of votes he obtained to become president – and more than half of those votes must be in favor of his proposal. Analysts agree that Petro has the upper hand in several scenarios, even if Congress does not approve the referendum or if he fails to obtain the necessary votes at the polls. In the former scenario, Sandra Borda, political science professor at the University of the Andes, said lawmakers would give Petro's government the tools to "play the victim" and strengthen its rhetoric against Congress. "The message the government has constantly tried to send is that Congress is no longer an entity that represents the interests of the people... but rather defends the interests, as they call them, of the private sector oligarchies," Borda said. On the other hand, if voters end up going to the polls, the government could consider itself the winner by securing support from its electoral base, said Javier Garay, a political science professor at the Externship University of Colombia. He noted that the referendum's underlying purpose is to test the government's electoral support ahead of the 2026 presidential election. Union members who were among the thousands of people demonstrating Thursday in Bogota expressed support for the referendum. "The referendum is a vindication of workers' rights, which have been a struggle for decades and were taken away from us by previous far-right governments," said Jesús Parra, 53, one of the protesters. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 20:26:34+00:00	[ "Texas", "JWD-evergreen", "Mint", "Inc. Ltd.", "Business", "Oddities" ]	# Cha-ching! Millions of dimes spill onto Texas highway after truck rolls May 1st, 2025, 08:26 PM --- ALVORD, Texas (AP) — Talk about some serious coin. Millions of coins spilled onto a Texas highway this week after a tractor-trailer hauling $800,000 in dimes rolled over in an accident, authorities said. The spillage led to the closure of a portion of the southbound lanes of U.S. 287 in Alvord for about half a day as workers got on their hands and knees to pick up the coins in addition to using brooms and shovels and large industrial vacuums. The tractor-trailer rolled onto its side at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday after veering off the road and overcorrecting, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. The highway reopened at about 7 p.m. that day, DPS said. The driver and a passenger were transported to a hospital with injuries that were not life threatening, DPS said. Alvord is located about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Dallas. The tractor-trailer appears to be part of the fleet of trucks operated by Western Distributing Transportation Corporation, which has a division that moves cargo for the government in armored vehicles with armed personnel. A person answering the phone at the company Thursday said they had no comment. The U.S. Mint says on its website that it's the nation's sole manufacturer of legal tender coins. A message left with the agency on Thursday was not immediately returned.
Associated Press News	2025-05-03 11:47:10+00:00	[ "Drug crimes", "Crime", "Marseille", "Prisons", "Paris", "Laure Beccuau", "France", "Drug cartels", "Law enforcement" ]	# A notorious drug gang is in the crosshairs of a French police investigation of prison attacks May 3rd, 2025, 11:47 AM --- PARIS (AP) — Anti-organized crime specialist investigators probing a wave of attacks on prisons and prison staff in France are looking at the possible involvement of a notorious drug cartel, the Paris prosecutor said Saturday. The so-called DZ Mafia is suspected of being one of the main narco-trafficking networks working out of the southern French port city of Marseille, which has a long history as a hub for the drug trade and banditry associated with it. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said at a news conference Saturday that one of the suspected organizers of last month's prison attacks claims to have ties with the DZ Mafia. She said police investigators will examine "the real or supposed influence of the DZ Mafia" in the violence. Several prisons were targeted by gunfire and arson, including attacks on prison workers' homes and on cars at a prison service school, in the Paris area and elsewhere, the prosecutor said. The letters "DDPF" were graffitied on some targets, believed to stand for "défense des prisonniers français," which translates as "defense of French prisoners." The Paris prosecutor said 21 people detained for suspected involvement in the violence have been handed preliminary charges for attempted murder and other alleged crimes. French authorities in recent months have stepped up policing against drug trafficking, concerned about growing cocaine use in France and violence associated with the trafficking of that and other drugs.
Associated Press News	2025-05-04 12:20:37+00:00	[ "France", "Paris", "Kidnapping", "Law enforcement", "Hostage situations", "Technology", "Crime" ]	# Kidnappers in France target cryptocurrency entrepreneurs for ransom May 4th, 2025, 12:20 PM --- PARIS (AP) — French police rescued the father of a wealthy cryptocurrency entrepreneur in a nighttime raid after he was taken hostage for ransom, the latest alleged criminal effort in France to extort people involved in the management of digital assets. The man was kidnapped Thursday morning in Paris, the prosecutor's office said Sunday. "The victim turned out to be the father of a man who made his fortune in cryptocurrencies, and the incident was accompanied by a ransom demand," its statement said, without giving their names or other specifics about their identities. Police investigators located the hostage in a house in the Essonne region south of Paris, from which he was rescued on Saturday night, the prosecutor's office said. It said he was treated for injuries but gave no details. French media reported that the alleged hostage-takers cut off one of the man's fingers. Police detained 5 people — four were in or close to the house where the man was held captive, while the fifth was at the wheel of a vehicle thought to have been used for the alleged abduction, the prosecutor's office said. It said the police investigation is looking at an array of possible criminal charges, including kidnapping "with torture or a barbaric act." In January, police said a co-founder of French crypto-wallet firm Ledger, David Balland, was also kidnapped with his wife from their home in the region of Cher of central France. Police said they made 10 arrests and that the alleged kidnappers demanded a ransom in cryptocurrency from another of Ledger's co-founders. A raid by France's elite National Gendarmerie Intervention Group unit that specializes in hostage situations freed Balland the next day, followed the day after that by the liberation, again by the GIGN, of his wife, found tied up in a vehicle, police said.
Associated Press News	2025-05-04 15:48:07+00:00	[ "Ohio", "Cleveland", "Aliza Sherman", "Texas", "Gregory J. Moore", "Jennifer Sherman", "Homicide", "Crime", "Divorce", "Prisons", "Adam Fried", "Harry Czinn", "Indictments" ]	# Authorities announce arrest in 2013 cold case murder of Cleveland nurse By Associated Press May 4th, 2025, 03:48 PM --- CLEVELAND (AP) — Ohio authorities said they've solved the more than decade-old fatal stabbing of a Cleveland Clinic nurse, announcing recent murder charges against her former divorce attorney who already served jail time for lying to police during the investigation. Friday's arrest of 51-year-old Gregory J. Moore marks the latest twist in a cold case that has eluded Ohio authorities since 2013. Aliza Sherman was stabbed more than 10 times, her body found on a downtown Cleveland sidewalk near where she was set to meet Moore to discuss her divorce. Moore was indicted on charges for murder, aggravated murder, kidnapping and conspiracy, according to documents unsealed Friday. He was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Texas, where he remained in custody Sunday, according to online records. "The Sherman family has waited over a decade for answers regarding their mother's homicide," said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley in a statement Friday. "Through the tenacious work of multiple law enforcement agencies, evidence was accumulated that paints the unmistakable picture that Gregory Moore orchestrated and participated in the brutal murder of Aliza Sherman." Moore was not a stranger to authorities. In 2017, he pleaded guilty to falsification for statements he made to police about his whereabouts during Sherman's killing. He also admitted to calling in bomb threats in 2012 as a way to delay trials. His law license was suspended in 2017 and he resigned it the following year. He served six months in jail. At the time, he said that he regretted his past actions. According to Friday's indictment, Moore allegedly planned to kidnap Sherman as a delay tactic for her upcoming divorce trial. The unsealed documents include messages between Moore and Sherman showing how he called her to the office, which was locked. She arrived and waited over an hour before deciding to return to her car, according to the indictment. "During this timeframe, an individual who was either Moore or an unknown co-conspirator approached Sherman … circled behind her, chased her … and then stabbed her over 10 times," the indictment reads. Moore swiped into the office later that evening and messaged Sherman to mislead investigators, according to the indictment. Moore did not respond to an email message Sunday. Court records did not list an attorney. A defense attorney who previously represented Moore did not respond to a phone message Sunday. Moore was expected to be arraigned at a later date, according to prosecutors who said teamwork with the FBI led to the arrest. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation took over the cold case in 2021. Sherman, 53, was a mother of four and has been remembered as a beloved fertility nurse. Rallies and vigils to honor her memory have been held on the anniversary of her death. Her daughter, Jennifer Sherman, thanked authorities "for their unwavering dedication in seeking justice for Aliza," according to a Sunday statement issued through her attorney, Adam Fried. "This is an exceptionally difficult time for the family, and we kindly request privacy during this period." Harry Czinn, Aliza Sherman's brother, didn't immediately return a message Sunday. "I'm in shock because after 12 years, you don't expect it," Czinn, told Cleveland Jewish News . "The best word to sum up my feelings at this point would be bittersweet — glad they got the person, but the memories are painful."
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 14:02:27+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Beto ORourke", "Joe Biden", "Alabama", "Tuscaloosa", "National", "Stuart Bell", "U.S. Democratic Party", "Sophie Best", "Indictments", "Aidan Meyers", "LGBTQ", "Gender", "Protests and demonstrations", "Emily Appel", "Nick Saban", "Politics", "Doug Jones" ]	# Trump addresses University of Alabama's graduating class By Kim Chandler and Michelle L. Price May 1st, 2025, 02:02 PM --- TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — President Donald Trump offered some encouraging words and advice for graduating students at the University of Alabama on Thursday in a speech interspersed with impressions of transgender weightlifters, accusations that judges were interfering with his agenda and attacks on his predecessor, Joe Biden. The Republican's jolting speech was standard fare for Trump and well received by the crowd in deep-red Alabama, which backed him in all three of his presidential runs. "You're the first graduating class of the golden age of America," the president told the graduates. But he quickly launched into a campaign-style diatribe, saying that the U.S. was being "ripped off" before he took office and that the last four years, when he was out of power, "were not good for our country." "But don't let that scare you," he said. "It was an aberration." The president of the University of Alabama, Stuart Bell, told graduates before Trump took the stage that Thursday night's event was all about them. "This special ceremony offers a meaningful opportunity for you, for I, to reflect on the important connection between academic inquiry, civic leadership, and public service," Bell said. Trump mostly went in a different direction. He did a grunting impression of a female weightlifter as he criticized the participation of transgender women in sports. He bragged about how tech moguls have warmed up to him, saying, "They all hated me in my first term, and now they're kissing my ass." And he falsely claimed that the 2020 election, which he lost, was "rigged." But after talking up his tariff plans, sharing his successes from his first 100 days in office and bashing the media, Trump turned back to the graduates, offering 10 pieces of advice drawn from his life and career, such as "Think of yourself as a winner," "Be an original" and "Never, ever give up." He told them they were never too young to be successful and described how he worked on his first hotel development deal in his 20s. "Now is the time to work harder than you've ever worked before," he said. "Find your limits and then smash through everything." Although Trump described the speech as a commencement address, it is actually a special event that was created before graduation ceremonies that begin Friday. Graduating students had the option of attending the event. Former Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban also spoke, regaling the audience with a story about visiting the Oval Office in 2018 during Trump's first term. Saban said Trump was a gracious host. In his remarks Thursday, Trump noted that he was marking his 100th day in office and touted the plummeting levels of arrests at the southern U.S. border as evidence that his immigration policies were working. But he accused the courts of trying to stop him from fulfilling the promises he made on the campaign trail. "Judges are interfering, supposedly based on due process," he said. "But how can you give due process to people who came into our country illegally?" Trump has a long history of injecting such rhetoric into his remarks at venues where traditional political talk was seen as unseemly. On his first full day in office in 2017, he used a speech at a memorial for fallen CIA agents to complain about journalists and defend the size of his crowd at the inauguration. Later that year, he drew backlash for talking about politics at a Boy Scouts gathering. And earlier this year, he delivered a grievance-filled speech at the Justice Department where he threatened to "expose" his enemies. Ahead of Trump's arrival, Emily Appel, a 22-year-old advertising major from Norcross, Georgia, called Trump's appearance at her school "a cherry on top" of her college years. She said she hoped he had a message to share that was "positive about us being able to work in the real world and for our future." Sophie Best, who is graduating with a communications degree, said, "I don't think that we could have had a greater person come to speak." The 21-year-old from Cartersville, Georgia, said she attended Trump's first presidential inauguration in 2017 when she was a freshman in high school, along with her father, who she said loves Trump. "I think that no matter what political party or whatever you believe in, I think that it's super cool that we get to experience and make history and be a part of this," she said. At a park a mile away, hundreds of people gathered at a counter-rally hosted by College Democrats. One-time presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke of Texas and former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, the last Democrat to hold statewide office in Alabama, addressed the attendees at their event, called a "Tide Against Trump" — a play on the university's nickname. Aidan Meyers, a 21-year-old junior studying biology at the university, said he was upset by the decision to let Trump speak at a graduation-related event. "I felt betrayed that the university was willing to put up with someone who has made it clear that they hate academia, essentially holding funding above universities' heads as a bargaining chip, unless they bow down to what he wants, which is kind of a hallmark sign with fascist regime," Meyers said. O'Rourke told the rally that Trump was trying to make the students' graduation "all about him, true to form." He urged students and others gathered to go out and use their voices to "win America back." "The power of people works in this country, even against Donald Trump," O'Rourke said. Jones told the crowd they were there "not just as a protest, but as a movement." "You are here today because you're concerned, you're afraid. You understand that this country's great democracy is teetering right now with what we're seeing going on," the former senator said. Trump's presence also drew criticism from the Alabama NAACP, which said his policies are hurting universities and students, particularly students of color. After his stop in Alabama, Trump is scheduled to travel to Florida for a long weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Later this month, he is scheduled to give the commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. ___ Associated Press writers Bill Barrow in Atlanta and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 09:19:53+00:00	[ "Pope Francis", "Pope Leo XIV", "Rome", "Jannik Sinner", "Censorship", "Civil rights", "Human rights", "Papal conclave", "Religion", "Catholic Church" ]	# Pope Leo XIV urges release of imprisoned journalists, affirms gift of free speech and press By Nicole Winfield May 12th, 2025, 09:19 AM --- VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Monday called for the release of imprisoned journalists and affirmed the "precious gift of free speech and the press" in an audience with some of the 6,000 journalists who descended on Rome to cover his election as the first American pontiff. Leo received a standing ovation as he entered the Vatican auditorium for his first meeting with representatives of the general public. The 69-year-old Augustinian missionary, elected in a 24-hour conclave last week, called for journalists to use words for peace, to reject war and to give voice to the voiceless. He expressed solidarity with journalists around the world who have been jailed for trying to seek and report the truth. Drawing applause from the crowd, he asked for their release. "The church recognises in these witnesses — I am thinking of those who report on war even at the cost of their lives — the courage of those who defend dignity, justice and the right of people to be informed, because only informed individuals can make free choices," he said. "The suffering of these imprisoned journalists challenges the conscience of nations and the international community, calling on all of us to safeguard the precious gift of free speech and of the press." Leo opened the meeting with a few words in English, joking that if the crowd was still awake and applauding at the end, it mattered more than the ovation that greeted him. Turning to Italian, he thanked the journalists for their work covering the papal transition and urged them to use words of peace. "Peace begins with each one of us: in the way we look at others, listen to others and speak about others," he said. "In this sense, the way we communicate is of fundamental importance: we must say 'no' to the war of words and images, we must reject the paradigm of war." After his brief speech, in which he reflected on the power of words to do good, he greeted some of the journalists in the front rows and then shook hands with the crowd as he exited the audience hall down the central aisle. He signed a few autographs and posed for a few selfies. Journalists later shared some of the few words they exchanged with him, including hints that Vatican plans are going ahead for Leo to travel to Turkey to commemorate an important event in Catholic-Orthodox relations: the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea, Christianity's first ecumenical council. Other tidbits emerged: Journalists offered to play doubles in tennis, or to organize a charity match. Leo, a regular tennis player, seemed game "but we can't invite Sinner," he joked, referring to the world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who is playing just up the Tiber at the Italian Open. It was in the 2013 audience with journalists who covered the election of history's first Latin American pope that Pope Francis explained his choice of name, after St. Francis of Assisi, and his desire for a "church which is poor and for the poor!" During his 12-year pontificate, Francis too spoke about the value of journalism and as recently as January, he appealed for the release of imprisoned journalists during a Holy Year event with the media.
Associated Press News	2025-05-01 07:01:37+00:00	[ "South Australia", "Queensland", "Fish", "Science", "Tony Dew", "Vanessa Pirotta" ]	# Australians rescue a 10-foot great white shark stranded in shallow water By Rod Mcguirk May 1st, 2025, 07:01 AM --- MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Tourist Nash Core admits he felt some fear when he and his 11-year-old son waded into the ocean off the Australian coast to help rescue a 3-meter (10-foot) great white shark stranded in shallow water. Three local men managed to return the distressed animal from a sand bank into deeper water after an almost hour-long rescue effort on Tuesday near the coastal town of Ardrossan in South Australia state. "It was either sick or … just tired," said Core, who was visiting with his family from Gold Coast in Queensland state. "We definitely got it into some deeper water, so hopefully it's swimming still." Core came across the unusual human-shark interaction while traveling around Australia with his wife Ash Core and their sons Parker, 11, and Lennox, 7. Nash Core used his drone to shoot video of the writhing shark before he and Parker decided to help the trio who were struggling to move the shark into deeper water. ## 'My heart's pounding' "To be honest, I did have some thoughts about, oh, why am I going out here?" Core recalled on Thursday. "As we were going out, my young son, Parker, turned to me and said ... 'My heart's pounding.' I said, 'Yeah, mine's beating pretty fast too,'" Core added. The three men had used crab rakes — a garden rake-like tool for digging small crabs from sand — to move the shark into deeper water by the time the father and son arrived. Core said he decided against pushing the shark himself. "They … got it into deeper water where I thought it's probably not a good idea to go any further. That's its territory and I'll stay back," he said. One of the rescuers, Tony Dew, said the shark was last seen moving slowly. "We were in about waist-deep water so if it wasn't going to survive, I didn't want to stand there and watch it and if it did recover, I really wanted to be back on the beach," Dew told Seven Network televison. "I hope it did survive. We did what we could," Dew added. Core said the rescuers later told him they'd never seen a beached shark before. ## 'Human safety comes first' Macquarie University wildlife scientist Vanessa Pirotta said while shark strandings were not common, they were becoming more visible through social media. There could be a number of reasons why marine animals like sharks might strand, including illness and injury. The shark could also have chased prey into the shallows, Pirotta said. "If you see something like this, human safety comes first and foremost," Pirotta said. "You can contact environmental authorities … who will get someone appropriate to come and assist."
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 15:14:56+00:00	[ "Pete Townshend", "Concerts", "Celebrity", "Music", "North America", "Florida", "Los Angeles", "Roger Daltrey", "John Entwistle", "New York", "Entertainment", "Las Vegas" ]	# 'All good things must come to an end': The Who announce North America farewell tour dates By Pan Pylas May 8th, 2025, 03:14 PM --- LONDON (AP) — British rock band The Who are to say their final goodbye to North America this summer. Singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend confirmed Thursday that they will perform hits from six-decade career during "The Song Is Over North America Farewell Tour," named after the band's 1971 hit. The band, which by the 1970s had become one of the world's biggest touring bands, easily filling the largest U.S. stadiums, will play their first gig in Florida on Aug. 16, with further dates in cities including New York, Toronto, Los Angeles and Vancouver, before a final date in Las Vegas on Sept. 28. "Every musician's dream in the early '60s was to make it big in the U.S. charts," Daltrey said. "For The Who, that dream came true in 1967 and our lives were changed forever." The band went from performing club shows to headlining the Woodstock festival in the U.S. and becoming one of the biggest box-office draw in the world. The band were inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall Of Fame in 1990. Daltrey, 81, and Townshend, two years his junior, have been one of rock's most prolific double acts, surviving the deaths of drummer Keith Moon in 1978 and bass guitarist John Entwistle in 2002. "Today, Roger and I still carry the banner for the late Keith Moon and John Entwistle, and, of course, all of our long-time Who fans," Townshend said. "I must say that although the road has not always been enjoyable for me, it is usually easy: the best job I could ever have had. I keep coming back." Though Daltrey didn't write songs, he was able to channel Townsend's many and complicated moods — defiance and rage, vulnerability and desperation. Together, they forged some of rock's most defining sounds: the stuttering, sneering delivery of "My Generation," the anguished cry of "They're all wasted!" from "Baba O'Reilly," and the all-time scream from "Won't Get Fooled Again." Two albums — "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia" — were also adapted into successful films in 1975 and 1979, respectively. Ticket pre-sales will run from May 13 ahead of the general sale beginning May 16. "Well, all good things must come to an end. It is a poignant time," Townshend said. "For me, playing to American audiences and those in Canada has always been incredible." Daltrey, who said a throat specialist has told him he should have a "day off" after every gig he performs, and Townshend also revealed there are no plans at the moment for a farewell tour of the U.K. "Let's see if we survive this one," Daltrey said. "I don't want to say that there won't be (a U.K. farewell tour), but equally I'm not confident in saying there will be."
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 22:07:22+00:00	[ "New Haven", "George Floyd", "Connecticut", "Racial injustice", "Race and ethnicity", "Vandalism", "Robert Greenberg", "Entertainment", "Chris Columbus", "Robert Bonanno", "Christopher Columbus", "Race and Ethnicity" ]	# Columbus statue removed from a Connecticut city in 2020 finally finds a home at a new museum May 9th, 2025, 10:07 PM --- NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A Christopher Columbus statue removed in 2020 amid a climate of racial reckoning after the police killing of George Floyd has finally found a home in a new museum dedicated to preserving the history of New Haven, Connecticut. Mayor Justin Elicker and other officials on Friday announced an "art loan agreement" has been reached with the Lost in New Haven Museum, which plans to display the 1892 monument to the 15th century explorer as part of its wide-ranging collection. "It is a privilege to be entrusted with the stewardship of New Haven's Christopher Columbus Memorial, an important artifact in the city's history," said Robert Greenberg, the museum's founder. He said the museum is dedicated to celebrating the immigrants who built the New Haven while recognizing the city was developed on unceded land of the indigenous Quinnipiac people. "We are committed to presenting this history in its entirety," he said in a statement. The New Haven Parks Commission decided to take down the statue after it was vandalized multiple times. Many residents demanded its removal, but the decision to do so was controversial. Those who wanted the statue gone condemned the 15th-century Italian explorer as a white supremacist who touched off centuries of European oppression and the decimation of Indigenous peoples. Columbus supporters, meanwhile, called the statue an important symbol of Italian-American heritage. It was located for generations in Wooster Square, which is surrounded by an historically Italian neighborhood. Demonstrators from both sides briefly skirmished with each other when the statue was taken down. An Italian-American group in 2022 sued unsuccessfully to force the statue to be moved back. There was also some discussion about locating the memorial in the Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven but nothing materialized. Robert Bonanno, president of the Greater New Haven Italian American Heritage Committee, said he was pleased the statue will now be located in the museum. "I grew up in Wooster Square, and the Columbus Memorial is an important part our community's history," he said in a statement "I am very happy that the statue will be going to the Lost in New Haven museum and that it will be displayed so that people will be able to continue to see it in an appropriate setting." Last year, the city dedicated a new monument to immigrants to replace the Columbus statue.
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 12:13:03+00:00	[ "Romania", "Bucharest", "Europe", "George Simion", "Donald Trump", "European Union", "Activism", "Run-off elections", "Race and ethnicity", "Marcel Ciolacu", "Politics", "Corruption", "Government policy", "Romania government", "Nationalism" ]	# Who is Nicusor Dan, the pro-EU centrist who beat a nationalist in Romania's tense presidential race? By Stephen Mcgrath May 19th, 2025, 12:13 PM --- BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Nicusor Dan, the former civic activist and pro-European Union centrist politician who defied the odds to decisively defeat a hard-right nationalist in Romania's critical presidential race, has emerged as a counterforce to the right-wing populist wave sweeping across Europe. Final results from the presidential race showed Dan, the mayor of Bucharest, winning 53.6% of the vote over the hard-right candidate George Simion, who had been considered the favorite in the run-off, boosted in the first round by his nationalist messaging. Sunday's final vote was held months after the annulment of the previous election plunged Romania into its worst political crisis in decades, following the surprise first-round success of far-right outsider Calin Georgescu. In an emotional speech after he secured the presidency, Dan told thousands of supporters gathered outside his headquarters near Bucharest City Hall that "Romania begins a new chapter, and it needs every one of you." "It needs experts to get involved in various public policies, it needs people in civil society, it needs new people in politics," the 55-year-old said. "We have a Romania to build together, regardless of political choices." ## Who is Nicusor Dan? Born in 1969 in Romania's central town of Fagaras, Dan discovered "a passion" for mathematics in middle school and excelled academically. In the late 1980s, he won gold medals at the International Mathematics Olympiad, and in 1998 he obtained a doctorate in mathematics from Paris' prestigious Sorbonne University. In the late 90s, he returned to Romania, saying he was convinced his country needed him. "I started organizing meetings with Romanian students in Paris in which we discussed what we could do to ensure that Romania took the right path as a country," he states on his official website. He then worked as a mathematics researcher at the Romanian Academy, the country's supreme scientific body, and later founded a school in Bucharest to meet the needs of Romanian students at an international level. Dan first rose to public prominence as a civil activist with his Save Bucharest Association. That was tasked with saving built heritage and fighting against illegal real estate projects in green spaces, in a system he described as a "real estate mafia." He won hundreds of lawsuits. He has two children with his partner, and is fluent in English and French. ## What does Dan stand for? More than a decade ago, Dan joined a protest movement against a controversial gold mining project by a Canadian company in a mountainous western region of Romania that contains some of Europe's largest gold deposits. He also joined a wave of anti-corruption protests that gripped Romania through the mid-2010s. In 2016, he then founded the reformist Save Romania Union party — at the time largely viewed as an anti-corruption party — but later left. In 2020, he successfully secured the mayorship of Bucharest and was elected for a second term last year. He has tackled some key infrastructure projects, such as modernizing Bucharest's ailing residential heating systems, which previous mayors have been accused of neglecting. In the presidential election rerun, Dan ran independently on an "Honest Romania" ticket, reaffirming Western ties, support for Ukraine, and fiscal reform. He has also been vocal against endemic corruption and promised fiscal reforms. Romania's chaotic election cycle has exposed deep societal divisions, and Dan reached out in his speech Sunday evening to those who favored Simion. "We have a Romania to build together, regardless of political choices," he said. After Dan is sworn in as president, he will face the challenge of nominating a prime minister who can garner the support necessary to form a government, no small task in a country whose political landscape is now fragmented. ## Does he have the right experience? As winner of Sunday's race, Dan will be charged with nominating a new prime minister after Marcel Ciolacu stepped down following the failure of his coalition's candidate to advance to the runoff. The presidential role carries a five-year term and significant decision-making powers in national security and foreign policy. Many observers saw Sunday's vote as crucial to maintaining Romania's place within Western alliances, especially as the war continues in neighboring Ukraine and the continent scrambles to arm itself as the United States' commitment to European partners has waned under US President Donald Trump. While Dan is a staunch advocate for Romania's strong membership of the EU and NATO, his civic and political background means he has limited foreign policy experience. Claudiu Tufis, an associate professor of political science at the University of Bucharest, says what makes Dan unique in Romania is that he's "not taken the traditional route to being a politician, he's coming from the civil society." "There are certain advantages, but there are also certain disadvantages," he told The Associated Press. "He doesn't really have any foreign affairs experience. I am not sure that he actually paid a lot of interest to what was happening outside Romania." "What I know for sure is that … even though he may not be the best, he's probably the best of what we had in front of us."
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 16:08:52+00:00	[ "Benjamin Netanyahu", "Cyprus", "Israel", "Israel government", "George Papanastasiou", "Narendra Modi", "Renewable energy", "Energy industry", "Business", "Cyprus government", "Politics", "Technology" ]	# Cyprus and Israel seek to quickly establish an electricity linkup via an undersea cable By Menelaos Hadjicostis May 5th, 2025, 04:08 PM --- NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus and neighboring Israel are seeking to swiftly establish an electricity linkup via an undersea cable that would eliminate their respective energy isolation, an official said Monday. Energy Minister George Papanastasiou said that Israel is particularly keen to ensure that it can rely on Cypriot energy reserves from both conventional and renewable sources to power the country if the need ever arises. Pananastasiou told The Associated Press that Cyprus would soon have the capacity to generate around four gigawatts of electricity from fossil fuels as well as solar and wind sources, while consuming only 0.5 GW. Wind turbines and photovoltaics generate 1 GW of electricity, but licenses have been issued for construction of new wind and solar energy parks with a capacity of 2.8 GW. Conventional fuels generate 1.4 GW. The shared commitment for an electricity cable link was affirmed Sunday when Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a daylong visit to Israel and Ramallah, West Bank. Both leaders said that the electricity link would showcase the two countries' geographical location as the natural gateways between Europe and the Middle East. Papanastasiou said given this geographical advantage, the two leaders agreed to pursue the potential benefits from the establishment of a trade, energy and digital connectivity corridor between India, the Middle East and Europe. The corridor, known as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, or IMEC, was unveiled at the India-hosted Group of 20 summit of the world's leading rich and developing nations in 2023. Netanyahu said Sunday that he had recently spoken with Indian counterpart Narendra Modi about IMEC, which he said was "a very revolutionary and transformative development that we want to bring into place." Separately, an electricity cable project to link Greece with Cyprus is already underway. The 1.94 billion-euro ($2.19 billion) Great Seas Interconnector, or GSI, is partly funded by the European Union to the tune of 800 million euros ($903 million). Progress has been slowed because of Turkish objections over the cable's course. Turkey says the project can't proceed without its consent because the cable would pass through waters it claims are under its jurisdiction.
Associated Press News	2025-05-06 15:47:18+00:00	[ "Europe", "Donald Trump", "HIV and AIDS", "Johannesburg", "Nairobi", "United States", "Kenya government", "Asia", "Politics", "Charlotte Sector", "South Africa government", "United Nations", "United States government", "Health" ]	# UNAIDS to slash workforce by more than half as funding by US and other big donors disappears By Jamey Keaten May 6th, 2025, 03:47 PM --- GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. agency that fights HIV plans to slash its workforce by more than half and move many posts to cheaper locations as a result of drastic funding cuts from longtime donors in the United States, Asia and Europe, the agency and staffers told The Associated Press on Tuesday. UNAIDS said "the overall global AIDS response is facing a severe shock and many of the gains made in the past few decades are at risk of being reversed." It said the restructuring follows an independent panel's recommendations calling for "downsizing" its secretariat in Geneva while continuing to "prioritize the most essential functions." It said it would maintain its presence in 36 countries. Drastic U.S. cuts in assistance under the current Trump administration, part of wider cuts for global health, strike perhaps the biggest blow ever to the world's efforts to fight HIV. UNAIDS had previously warned that unless support to its HIV efforts are restored soon, more than 6 million additional people could die in the next four years and an additional 2,000 people per day could become infected with the virus that causes AIDS. Employees were told at an internal town hall Tuesday that staff will be reduced to about 280 to 300 from about 600 currently, participants said. UNAIDS officials were considering plans to move many posts to lower-cost locations where it already has offices: in Bonn, Germany; Nairobi, Kenya; or Johannesburg, South Africa — the country with the world's highest number of AIDS cases, agency spokesperson Charlotte Sector told the AP. The agency was created in 1996, largely to address shortcomings in global HIV policy by another U.N. health agency, the World Health Organization, which continues to partially fund UNAIDS. The United States, under the second Trump administration, has sharply reduced or paused international funding and support for many U.N.-related organizations. In an interview with the AP in February in response to the U.S. cuts, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said HIV infections could jump more than six times by 2029 if American support of the biggest AIDS program is dropped. She warned that more resistant strains of the disease could emerge. Byanyima acknowledged some valid criticism regarding how HIV aid has been delivered and called it "an opportunity to rethink and develop more efficient ways of delivering life-saving support." According to its website, support from the United States contributed more than 40% of the UNAIDS core program and non-core activities that totaled about $214 million in 2023, the most recent year listed. Other top contributors included the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. ___ AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 20:43:15+00:00	[ "Artificial intelligence", "Elon Musk", "Donald Trump", "Sam Altman", "South Africa", "Genocide", "Finance Business", "X Corp.", "Technology", "Finance", "South Africa government", "Business", "Jen Golbeck", "OpenAI Inc" ]	# Why was Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok preoccupied with South Africa's racial politics? By Matt O'Brien May 15th, 2025, 08:43 PM --- Much like its creator, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot Grok was preoccupied with South African racial politics on social media this week, posting unsolicited claims about the persecution and "genocide" of white people. The chatbot, made by Musk's company xAI, kept posting publicly about "white genocide" in response to users of Musk's social media platform X who asked it a variety of questions, most having nothing to do with South Africa. One exchange was about streaming service Max reviving the HBO name. Others were about video games or baseball but quickly veered into unrelated commentary on alleged calls to violence against South Africa's white farmers. Musk, who was born in South Africa, frequently opines on the same topics from his own X account. Computer scientist Jen Golbeck was curious about Grok's unusual behavior so she tried it herself, sharing a photo she had taken at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show and asking, "is this true?" "The claim of white genocide is highly controversial," began Grok's response to Golbeck. "Some argue white farmers face targeted violence, pointing to farm attacks and rhetoric like the 'Kill the Boer' song, which they see as incitement." The episode was the latest window into the complicated mix of automation and human engineering that leads generative AI chatbots trained on huge troves of data to say what they say. "It doesn't even really matter what you were saying to Grok," said Golbeck, a professor at the University of Maryland, in an interview Thursday. "It would still give that white genocide answer. So it seemed pretty clear that someone had hard-coded it to give that response or variations on that response, and made a mistake so it was coming up a lot more often than it was supposed to." Musk and his companies haven't provided an explanation for Grok's responses, which were deleted and appeared to have stopped proliferating by Thursday. Neither xAI nor X returned emailed requests for comment Thursday. Musk has spent years criticizing the "woke AI" outputs he says come out of rival chatbots, like Google's Gemini or OpenAI's ChatGPT, and has pitched Grok as their "maximally truth-seeking" alternative. Musk has also criticized his rivals' lack of transparency about their AI systems, but on Thursday the absence of any explanation forced those outside the company to make their best guesses. "Grok randomly blurting out opinions about white genocide in South Africa smells to me like the sort of buggy behavior you get from a recently applied patch. I sure hope it isn't. It would be really bad if widely used AIs got editorialized on the fly by those who controlled them," prominent technology investor Paul Graham wrote on X. Graham's post brought what appeared to be a sarcastic response from Musk's rival, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. "There are many ways this could have happened. I'm sure xAI will provide a full and transparent explanation soon," wrote Altman, who has been sued by Musk in a dispute rooted in the founding of OpenAI. Some asked Grok itself to explain, but like other chatbots, it is prone to falsehoods known as hallucinations, making it hard to determine if it was making things up. Musk, an adviser to President Donald Trump, has regularly accused South Africa's Black-led government of being anti-white and has repeated a claim that some of the country's political figures are "actively promoting white genocide." Musk's commentary — and Grok's — escalated this week after the Trump administration brought a small number of white South Africans to the United States as refugees Monday, the start of a larger relocation effort for members of the minority Afrikaner group as Trump suspends refugee programs and halts arrivals from other parts of the world. Trump says the Afrikaners are facing a "genocide" in their homeland, an allegation strongly denied by the South African government. In many of its responses, Grok brought up the lyrics of an old anti-apartheid song that was a call for Black people to stand up against oppression and has now been decried by Musk and others as promoting the killing of whites. The song's central lyrics are "kill the Boer" — a word that refers to a white farmer. Golbeck believes the answers were "hard-coded" because, while chatbot outputs are typically very random, Grok's responses consistently brought up nearly identical points. That's concerning, she said, in a world where people increasingly go to Grok and competing AI chatbots for answers to their questions. "We're in a space where it's awfully easy for the people who are in charge of these algorithms to manipulate the version of truth that they're giving," she said. "And that's really problematic when people — I think incorrectly — believe that these algorithms can be sources of adjudication about what's true and what isn't."
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 11:23:22+00:00	[ "Pope Leo XIV", "Rome", "Papal conclave", "Poverty", "Gabriele Pedicino", "Religion", "Christianity" ]	# Pope Leo XIV visits the headquarters of his Augustinian order By Paolo Santalucia May 13th, 2025, 11:23 AM --- ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass and had lunch with members of his Augustinian religious order on Tuesday, slipping into the congregation's headquarters outside St. Peter's Square where he served for 12 years as superior. "The atmosphere was of great fraternity," said the Rev. Gabriele Pedicino, head of the Augustinians' Italian branch. "You really always have to practice and remember that he is now the pope, because he puts you at ease and has this closeness that always impresses me." Leo was seen arriving in a black vehicle at around lunchtime at the Augustinianum, the pontifical institute that also serves as the Rome-based residence and headquarters of the Order of St. Augustine. Leo left shortly before 3 p.m. The ethos of the order, which includes a contemplative spirituality, communal living and service to others, is traced to the fifth-century St. Augustine of Hippo, one of the theological and devotional giants of early Christianity. The former Rev. Robert Prevost, history's first American pope, was twice elected superior of the order, serving as general prior from 2001-2013. The order was formed in the 13th century as a community of mendicant friars — dedicated to poverty, service and evangelization and inspired by the saint. Ever since his May 8 election, Leo has repeatedly emphasized that he's a "son of St. Augustine" and quoted from the saint. He visited an Augustinian-run Marian sanctuary south of Rome on Saturday in his first outing as pope, and during his first greeting to the world, Leo wore a pectoral cross given to him by his order that contained relics of St. Augustine. Leo, the first Augustinian pope, has also kept as his papal coat of arms and motto "In Illo uno unum." The words were pronounced by St. Augustine in a sermon to explain that "although we Christians are many, in the one Christ we are one." The emblem on the coast of arms is that of the Augustinian order: a pierced flaming heart and a book, representing the Scriptures. Pedicino said that he expected Leo to apply Augustine's teaching about communion and unity in diversity in his new ministry as pope. "Diversity isn't a danger or something negative," he said of Augustine's teaching. "So I think the pope will work so that inside the church and out, the 'other' is increasingly seen not as a danger if different, but as someone to love and who enriches our life and makes it more beautiful." ___ 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	2025-05-17 04:08:40+00:00	[ "Maine", "Heather Donahue", "Movies", "Augusta", "Recall elections", "Botany", "Forests", "Horror", "Entertainment", "Lifestyle", "Sandy Pond", "Government budgets", "Oddities", "Tyler Hadyniak", "Bob Kanzler" ]	# 'Blair Witch Project' star at the center of a Maine road argument By Patrick Whittle May 17th, 2025, 04:08 AM --- FREEDOM, Maine (AP) — Heather Donahue is walking through the woods once again. The star of the successful low-budget horror movie " The Blair Witch Project " has an on-screen history of getting into scary situations in a forest. But this time she is merely picking up an old soda can someone carelessly left on a trail. And she wouldn't want to be anywhere else. "For me, reading fairy tales, I always wanted to live in the forest," said Donahue, 51, who moved on from acting long ago and now lives in rural Maine. "It is absolutely as magical as it seemed in those storybooks." But the last several months of Donahue's time in the Maine woods have been anything but magical, or peaceful. In a twist of fate harkening back to her movie career, Donahue has been embroiled in a spat with locals in her tiny, 700-resident town of Freedom that hinges on her marking trees with the kind of orange blazes that help people find their way in the dense forests. Donahue had been a member of the town's governing body, its Select Board, but lost a recall election recently after a controversy about whether a rural road that cuts through the woods is public or private. The matter remains unresolved, with the town and abutting landowners fighting it out in court. ## The road at the center of the dispute The road in question is Beaver Ridge Road, a narrow, partially hilly stretch flanked by wild plants and songbirds that goes from paved to gravel to dirt as it stretches deeper into the forest. Several abutters of the road say the unimproved section is private and to use it for activities such as all-terrain vehicle riding constitutes trespassing. Donahue, and the town itself, hold that the entire road is public. Donahue painted the orange blazes using historical maps to show what she holds is the center of a public easement. Abutting property owners were incensed and the first successful recall petition drive in the town's 212-year history followed. Donahue was removed in April and an election to pick her successor is planned for next month. Tyler Hadyniak, one of the abutting property owners, said the recall wasn't just about the orange blazes or the woodland trail. He said it addressed a pattern of behavior by Donahue that chafed longer-established residents in the year since she took office. "I was relieved that the recall was successful. I thought Heather's demeanor and behavior toward others was just unbecoming of a town official," Hadyniak said. ## Life after 'The Blair Witch Project' Donahue, who is originally from Pennsylvania and has spent long stretches of time living in California and traveling abroad, said she is aware of her status as what she called "a lady from away." She arrived in Maine after a winding journey in which she struggled with alcoholism, left acting, became a medical marijuana farmer and wrote a memoir. Donahue said she came to the Pine Tree State eight years ago, overcame her addiction and bought land in Freedom in 2020. Recently, she has worked as a life coach and shared her passions for gardening and medicinal plants with anyone who will listen. She isn't especially interested in reliving the glory of starring in "The Blair Witch Project," which was released in 1999 and is one of the most successful independent movies of all time. The film sparked a resurgence of interest in "found footage" style horror movies, wowed critics and polarized audiences with its homespun take on terror. It also led Donahue to years of legal wrangling over compensation and the right to her likeness. Donahue makes occasional tongue-in-cheek references to the movie in passing, but also said it struck her several years ago that her life was inseparable from the film in ways that weren't entirely comfortable: "I had this really difficult moment of realizing my obituary was written for me when I was 25." Ordinarily, the hottest gossip in Freedom concerns the peskiness of the local blackflies or the quality of the fishing on Sandy Pond. But the row over the road has become the talk of the sleepy town some 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of the state capital of Augusta. Donahue has defenders in town, including Bob Kanzler, who served on a local roads committee and agrees the disputed path is public. "Heather has done a wonderful job in researching these discontinued roads in town," Kanzler said. "I know the road is public." Despite the ongoing battle over the road, Donahue said she has found peace in Maine. And she's not going anywhere. "I mean, this is where humans flourish," she said of the Freedom woods. "I've figured out a way to do a lot with very little. That was all kind of centered around being able to walk in the woods."
Associated Press News	2025-05-12 06:48:38+00:00	[ "Guillaume Depardieu", "Grard Depardieu", "Paris", "Movies", "France", "Gerard Depardieu", "Trending Photo", "Vladimir Putin", "Sexual assault", "Marguerite Duras", "Assault", "Entertainment", "Dominique Strauss-Kahn", "Media", "Jean-Luc Godard", "Cannes Film Festival", "Charlotte Arnould", "Martin Guerre", "Maurice Pialat", "Bertrand Blier" ]	# A timeline of the rise and fall of French movie star Gérard Depardieu By The Associated Press May 12th, 2025, 06:48 AM --- For over half a century, Gérard Depardieu stood as a towering figure in French cinema, a titan known for his commanding physical presence, instinct, sensibility and remarkable versatility. A bon vivant who overcame a speech impediment and a turbulent youth, Depardieu rose to prominence in the 1970s and became one of France's most prolific and acclaimed actors, portraying a vast array of characters, from volatile outsiders to deeply introspective figures. In recent years, however, Depardieu's illustrious career had been overshadowed by multiple allegations of misconduct. His fall from grace was completed Tuesday when a a Paris court found him guilty of sexually assaulting two women on the set of a movie in which he starred in 2021. Here is a timeline of key moments in Depardieu's rise and fall: Dec. 27, 1948: Born in Châteauroux, in a modest family of six children. His youth is tumultuous. Depardieu lives close to an American military base and rubs shoulders with small-time hoodlums, smuggling all kinds of goods. 1960s: Depardieu arrives in Paris. He takes acting classes and discovers all the great classics of literature while undergoing therapy to correct his speech difficulties. 1967: Depardieu makes his screen debut in the short film "Le Beatnik et le Minet" and appears in his first stage play. 1972: Features in "Nathalie Granger," directed by Marguerite Duras. 1974: First big hit in France with "Les Valseuses," ("Going Places"), Bertrand Blier's classic farce about two wandering thugs. 1980s: Depardieu becomes the most sought-after French actor. Maurice Pialat casts him in "Loulou," the highly acclaimed "Police," for which he won an acting prize at the 1985 Venice Film Festival, and "Under Satan's Sun," a provocative tale about a monk's encounter with the devil which won Cannes' Palme d'Or in 1987. Depardieu stars in many hits: "The Woman Next Door," "Jean de Florette," "The Last Metro," "Danton," "The Return of Martin Guerre.″ 1991: Depardieu receives a nomination for the best actor Oscar for his performance in "Cyrano de Bergerac." But controversy ensues after Time magazine carries an affirmation by Depardieu that he took part in a rape as a 9-year-old. The movie suffers a bloody nose at the Oscars. Depardieu categorically denies saying he took part in rape. "It's outrageous at 9 years old or at any age," he told the French newspaper Le Monde. "Yes, one can say I had sexual experiences when I was very young, but a rape, never. I respect women too much." 1990s: Depardieu's career is unaffected in France. He stars in Jean-Luc Godard's "Hélas pour moi." Meanwhile, Depardieu reinforces his popularity with mass audiences with the Astérix & Obélix film series. 1998: Depardieu crashes his motorcycle. His blood-alcohol limit is five times the legal level. He escapes with leg and face injuries. The incident was one of several encounters with the law for Depardieu, who also grabbed headlines when he urinated in the aisle of a plane before takeoff on a Paris to Dublin flight, and when he was detained for allegedly driving drunk on his scooter. 1999: Depardieu returns to the French stage for the first time in 13 years as a guilt-ravaged emperor in a murder-mystery. 2000: Depardieu undergoes successful coronary bypass surgery. Oct. 13, 2008: Death of his son Guillaume Depardieu. 2013: After sparring with his native country over taxes, Depardieu is granted Russian citizenship by Vladimir Putin. 2014: Depardieu plays the leading role in "Welcome to New York," the film inspired by the life of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former director of the International Monetary Fund who was accused in 2011 of sexually assaulting a hotel maid. 2018: Prosecutors in Paris open a preliminary investigation after actor Charlotte Arnould accused Depardieu of raping her at his home. That case is still active, and in August 2024 prosecutors requested that it go to trial. 2023: His wax figure is removed from Paris' most famous wax museum following negative reactions from visitors over allegations about his conduct with women. The decision to remove the figure from the Grevin Museum followed a TV documentary showing him repeatedly making obscene remarks and gestures during a 2018 trip to North Korea. 2025: Depardieu goes on trial in Paris on charges of sexually assaulting two women on a movie set. He is accused of having groped a 54-year-old set dresser and a 34-year-old assistant during filming in 2021 of "Les Volets Verts." May 13, 2025: Depardieu is found guilty of sexually assaulting the two women and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence. He is also fined a total of 29,040 euros (around $32,350), and the court requests that he be registered in the national sex offender database. Depardieu's lawyer says he will appeal.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 14:58:08+00:00	[ "Vatican City", "Pope Francis", "John Paul I", "Pope Benedict XVI", "Catholic Church", "Global elections", "Papal conclave", "Pope Leo XIV", "Religion", "Voting" ]	# This conclave to choose a new pope was short -- but not the shortest ever By Colleen Barry May 8th, 2025, 02:58 PM --- VATICAN CITY (AP) — How long does it take to choose a pope? In this case, it took only two days for Catholic cardinals to elect a successor to Pope Francis. That's among the shortest conclaves in recent decades, but not the shortest ever. It's hard to be precise, since the Vatican doesn't publish official data on the number of votes or tallies in past conclaves, and sources compiling their own data are not in complete agreement. But historical figures provide a few clues. Before 1274, there were times when a pope was elected the same day as the death of his predecessor. After that, however, the church decided to wait at least 10 days before the first vote. Later that was extended to 15 days to give all cardinals time to get to Rome. The quickest conclave observing the 10-day wait rule appears to have been the 1503 election of Pope Julius II, who was elected in just a few hours, according to Vatican historian Ambrogio Piazzoni. In more recent times, Pope Francis was elected in 2013 on the fifth ballot, Benedict XVI won in 2005 on the fourth and Pope Pius XII won on the third in 1939. The longest conclave since the 20th century began took 14 rounds of balloting across five days, ending with the election of Pius XI in 1922. The shortest was the conclave that elected Pius XII in 1939, which took three ballots in two days. Cardinals must reach a two-thirds majority to elect a pope. That was somewhat easier in conclaves past: In 1922 there were just 53 voting cardinals, and until 1978 there were fewer than 100 each time. This year there are 133, so 89 votes were needed.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 14:47:07+00:00	[ "Gulf of Mexico", "Donald Trump", "Marjorie Taylor Greene", "Mexico", "Legislation", "Virginia Foxx", "Don Bacon", "Hakeem Jeffries", "U.S. Republican Party", "Voting", "United States House of Representatives", "U.S. Democratic Party", "Congress", "Mary Gay Scanlon", "George Latimer", "Politics", "Associated Press", "Lisa McClain" ]	# House approves bill to change the Gulf of Mexico to 'Gulf of America' By Kevin Freking May 8th, 2025, 02:47 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-led House passed a bill Thursday that would rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and direct federal agencies to update their documents and maps to incorporate the new name. President Donald Trump already signed an executive order during his first day in office to rename the Gulf. House Republicans are looking to show their support, though it is unclear whether he Senate will go along. The bill passed by a vote of 211-206. The body of water has shared borders between the United States and Mexico. Trump's order only carries authority within the U.S. Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognize the name change. Democrats said the vote demonstrated that Republicans are not focusing on the priorities of most Americans. New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House's top Democrat, asked Democrats to vote against this "silly, small-minded and sycophantic piece of legislation." "It's easy to mock this legislation because it's so inane and embarrassing — and we have," said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa. "But its very existence and the fact that House Republicans have chosen to waste time and taxpayer dollars to bring it up for a vote, is worth considering." Republicans said the nomenclature of the Gulf extended back to a time before the U.S. existed and when Spanish influence over Central American and the Caribbean was at its zenith. But now, it is the U.S. that dominates economic activity in the Gulf. "In short, this legislation recognizes the strategic influence America has over this geography, not to mention the existing economic, cultural, and commercial might that we passively exert on the Gulf," said Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a Trump ally and an influential voice in the Republican conference who wore a red "Make American Great Again" hat during last year's State of the Union address. "The Gulf of America is one of the most important things we can do this Congress," Greene said, adding that it promotes pride in the country. Only one lawmaker broke party ranks on the measure. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., joined with Democrats in voting against the bill. The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years. The Associated Press refers to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen. The White House moved in February to block the AP from being among the small group of journalists to cover Trump in the Oval Office or aboard Air Force One, with sporadic ability to cover him at events in the East Room. The AP sued three Trump administration officials over access to presidential events, citing freedom of speech in asking a federal judge to stop the blocking of its journalists. A federal judge ordered the White House last month to restore The AP's full access to cover presidential events, affirming on First Amendment grounds that the government cannot punish the news organization for the content of its speech. The GOP leadership in the House promoted the legislation during a news conference earlier in the week. "The American people are footing the bill to protect and secure the Gulf of America. It's only right that it's named appropriately," said House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain of Michigan. Several Democrats spoke out against the bill on the House floor. Rep. George Latimer, D-N.Y., said that "instead of mind-bending tariffs, giveaways to billionaires, and renaming bodies of water, we should be voting on bills that lower costs for the average family." "No one is clamoring for a newly named body of water," Latimer said. "They want lower grocery bills."
Associated Press News	2025-05-10 00:26:20+00:00	[ "Pakistan", "Kashmir", "India government", "Wang Yi", "India", "Donald Trump", "Pakistan government", "Vikram Misri", "International agreements", "War and unrest", "Marco Rubio", "South Asia", "Mohammad Fateh", "Shahzad Iqbal", "JD Vance", "Omar Abdullah", "Raghu R. Nair", "Zulfikar Ali", "Sofiya Qureshi", "Trump Media Technology Group", "Paul Staniland", "Zubaida Bibi" ]	# The Latest: India accuses Pakistan of ceasefire breaches in Kashmir By The Associated Press May 10th, 2025, 12:26 AM --- India accused Pakistan of repeatedly violating the ceasefire agreed earlier on Saturday in the disputed territory of Kashmir. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said late on Saturday that "there had been repeated violations of the understanding arrived between the two countries" on ceasing fire and accused Pakistan of breaching the agreement. Pakistan's foreign ministry blamed Indian forces for initiating the ceasefire violation and said Islamabad remained committed to the agreement. Earlier, the two sides reached a ceasefire deal following US mediation after they fired volleys of missiles across their borders on Saturday. It was the most serious increase in hostilities so far in a conflict triggered by a gun massacre last month, for which India blames Pakistan. Here is the latest: ## Pakistan blames India for violating ceasefire Pakistan's Foreign Ministry on Saturday night blamed Indian forces for initiating the ceasefire violation. In a statement, it said Pakistan remains committed to the ceasefire agreement and said Pakistani forces were handling the situation with responsibility and restraint. "We believe that any issues in the smooth implementation of the ceasefire should be addressed through communication at appropriate levels," the ministry said. "The troops on the ground should also exercise restraint." ——— ## Pakistan says positive response to ceasefire is in the interest of peace Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Saturday that Islamabad has responded positively to a proposed ceasefire with India in the larger interest of peace in the region, and hoped all the outstanding issues with India, including the Kashmir dispute, would be resolved through peaceful dialogue. He made his remarks in a televised address to the nation, hours after Pakistan and India agreed to the ceasefire following a sudden escalation in tensions, which had raised fears for a wider conflict. Sharif thanked U.S. President Donald Trump, China, and other friendly countries like Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey for their role in defusing tensions. He praised the armed forces, saying Pakistan's military made a fitting response when India launched missile attacks overnight. "Our pilots silenced the Indian military's guns within hours," Sharif said. ——— ## India accuses Pakistan of repeatedly violating ceasefire Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said late Saturday that "there had been repeated violations of the understanding arrived between the two countries" on ceasing fire and accused Pakistan of breaching the agreement. "We call upon Pakistan to take appropriate steps to address these violations and deal with the situation with seriousness and responsibility," he said at a news conference in New Delhi. Misri said the Indian army was "retaliating" for what he called a "border intrusion." ——— ## Cross-border exchanges of fire heard in Kashmir Pakistani and Indian troops on Saturday exchanged fire in Bhimber, a town along the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing the two sides in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, residents said. While such cross-border skirmishes are common, the latest exchange occurred just hours after the two countries agreed to a ceasefire. Residents in Pakistan-administered Kashmir reported that Indian artillery fire resumed after a pause of several hours in some areas. Shahzad Iqbal, a local resident, said shells landed near villages, though he was not aware of any damage. ## Explosions rock two cities in Indian-administered Kashmir Multiple explosions were heard in two big cities of Indian-controlled Kashmir Saturday, hours after India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire deal following the U.S.-led talks to end the most serious military confrontation between the nuclear-armed rivals in decades. Residents said the loud explosions in Srinagar and Jammu were followed by a blackout in the two cities. Omar Abdullah, the region's top elected official, said in a post on social media: "What the hell just happened to the ceasefire? Explosions heard across Srinagar!!!" In another post, he said: "This is no ceasefire. The air defence units in the middle of Srinagar just opened up." Cross-border shelling and gunfire were also reported from at least five places along the Line of Control, a de-facto frontier that divides disputed Kashmir between two nuclear-armed nations. Visuals shot by AP photojournalists in Srinagar showed red projectiles going up from the ground and colliding with objects flying over the sky and emitting red flares. There were no immediate reports of casualties. ## Drone spotted over Pakistani city of Peshawar A drone was spotted over the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Saturday night, prompting authorities to activate the air defense system, according to residents. There was no immediate comment from the military or government. An Associated Press reporter heard anti-aircraft gunfire, but it remained unclear who operated the drone. ## Pakistan thanks Trump for facilitating ceasefire Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on X: "We thank President Trump for his leadership and proactive role for peace in the region. Pakistan appreciates the United States for facilitating this outcome, which we have accepted in the interest of regional peace and stability. "We also thank Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for their valuable contributions for peace in South Asia. "Pakistan believes this marks a new beginning in the resolution of issues that have plagued the region and prevented its journey toward peace, prosperity and stability." ——— ## Pakistan confirms its agreement to ceasefire Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that Islamabad and New Delhi have agreed to a ceasefire understanding following a recent escalation in tensions. In a statement, the ministry said Pakistan was compelled to retaliate after what it described as "unprovoked and unlawful Indian aggression," alleging that India launched missile strikes across multiple locations along the international border, resulting in civilian casualties. "Despite facing blatant Indian aggression and persistent provocations, Pakistan exercised great restraint," the statement said. It said Pakistan's response targeted only those locations from where its airbases had come under missile attack. The ministry emphasized that Pakistan remains open to constructive diplomacy and comprehensive dialogue with India to resolve all outstanding issues, including the Kashmir dispute. ——— ## China reaffirms support for Pakistan, ministry says Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, to reaffirm Beijing's continued support for Islamabad, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. It said Wang commended Pakistan for exercising restraint and praised its responsible approach during a period of heightened tension with India. "He reaffirmed that China, as Pakistan's All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partner and ironclad friend, will continue to stand firmly by Pakistan in upholding its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national independence," the statement quoted Wang as saying. It was not immediately clear whether the conversation took place before or after Pakistan and India agreed to a ceasefire following a recent spike in hostilities. ——— ## Ceasefire gives both countries a chance to draw back, expert says Paul Staniland, south Asia expert and a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, told The Associated Press that the ceasefire is "a clear signal of de-escalation and will hopefully end the direct fighting for the near future." "Ideally, this leads to a new period of relative stability and quiet in the region," he said, adding that "it is certainly possible the ceasefire will hold since the two countries had entered risky and costly territory that they will probably not be in a hurry to revisit quickly." Staniland said India would largely resist crediting the Trump administration for the truce and ignore broad talks on issues like Kashmir. ——— ## Indian military says it remains vigilant Raghu R. Nair, an Indian navy commodore, told a news conference Saturday that the Indian armed forces will adhere to the understanding reached on the ceasefire, but they "remain fully prepared, ever vigilant and committed to defending the sovereignty and integrity of the motherland." "Every misadventure by Pakistan has been met with strength. And every future escalation will invite a decisive response. We remain fully operationally ready to launch whatever operations may be required in defense of the nation," said Nair. ——— ## Many in Pakistan greet news of the ceasefire with relief and joy Chanting slogans of "Long Live Pakistan," people in many cities welcomed the ceasefire with India, calling it a moment of national pride and relief after days of heightened tension. "This is a big day for Pakistan," said Mohammad Fateh, a young man in the city of Lahore. "Our forces responded with strength, and India had no choice but to agree to a ceasefire." In Islamabad, Zubaida Bibi, a 45-year-old housewife, expressed joy at the restoration of peace with India, saying, "War brings nothing but suffering. We are happy that calm is returning. It feels like Eid to me. We have won." In the northwest of Pakistan, in the city of Peshawar and tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, some people fired guns in the air to celebrate the ceasefire. In Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, residents welcomed the ceasefire, hoping it would bring long-awaited relief to a region that has borne the brunt of recurring conflict. "For us, peace means survival," said Zulfikar Ali, a resident. "We've suffered enough. I'm glad that both Pakistan and India have made a sensible decision." ——— ## Pakistan fully reopens airspace Pakistan has fully reopened its airspace for all types of flights, the country's airports authority said Saturday. In a statement, it said: "All airports across the country are now available for regular flight operations." ___ ## Ceasefire comes into effect Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced the ceasefire on Geo News. He said Saudi Arabia and Turkey played an important role in facilitating the deal, which came into effect at 4.30 p.m. local time (1130GMT). ___ ## Trump says India and Pakistan have agreed to a ceasefire U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire after U.S.-mediated talks. On his Truth Social platform, Trump said he was pleased to announce that India and Pakistan had agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire. "Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" India and Pakistan confirmed the ceasefire deal following US mediation. ___ ## G7 foreign ministers call for 'immediate de-escalation' Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven major industrialized democracies have issued a statement calling for the "immediate de-escalation'' of hostilities between India and Pakistan. The ministers condemned the April 22 attack by militants in the Indian-controlled section of Kashmir that triggered the current outbreak of violence, while warning that further escalation threatened regional stability. "We are deeply concerned for the safety of civilians on both sides," the ministers said in a joint statement released on Saturday. "We call for immediate de-escalation and encourage both countries to engage in direct dialogue towards a peaceful outcome." The G7 members are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, along with the European Union. ___ ## Srinagar quiet after overnight explosions Most shops and businesses were open but traffic was thin on the roads in Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir, which was rattled by multiple loud explosions Saturday. Government forces, wearing body armor and carrying automatic rifles, erected additional checkpoints on the main road leading to the city's airport, a part of which also serves as an Indian air force station. Many residents living close to the airport fled in fear of attacks. The Indian military said it was among three air bases that came under Pakistani attack early Saturday. Local resident Munir Ahmed and his family fled their home as they didn't feel safe, he said. "We did not want to take any chances as my daughter is in her late pregnancy," Ahmed said. Authorities have already closed schools and other educational institutions across the region until Tuesday. Most shops and businesses were shut in the region's Jammu city, which witnessed Pakistan's Saturday strike and drone attacks for the past two nights. Anxious residents said police drove through some neighborhoods and asked shopkeepers to close businesses and stay indoors as a precautionary measure ___ ## Pakistan official says at least 11 killed and 56 wounded in artillery exchanges near Line of Control A Pakistan official says at least 11 people were killed and 56 others wounded in what he said was Indian shelling in several areas near the Line of Control in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. Mazhar Saeed, the information minister for Pakistan-administered Kashmir, said Saturday that the casualties occurred overnight following an intense exchange of fire between Pakistani and Indian forces. He accused Indian troops of deliberately targeting civilians, saying artillery fire destroyed about 200 homes between Friday night and Saturday morning. The wounded were being treated at various hospitals, he added. There was no way to independently confirm the figures. ___ ## Pakistan has given its response, prime minister says Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday told the country's political leaders in separate calls that "we have given India a befitting response and avenged the blood of our innocent citizens" following what he said were repeated Indian strikes on civilians. India has denied hitting civilian targets. In a statement, his office said Sharif said Pakistan had shown "extreme restraint" in the face of Indian provocations. He said Pakistan responded after India's overnight missile attacks at air bases and other places. ___ ## Pakistan's Foreign minister says his country will consider de-escalation if India reciprocates Pakistan's foreign minister said on Saturday that his country would consider de-escalation if India stopped any further attacks. However, Ishaq Dar warned that if India launched any further strikes, "our response will follow." Dar told Pakistan's Geo News that he also conveyed this message to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he contacted him after speaking to New Delhi. "We responded because our patience had reached its limit. If they stop here, we will also consider stopping," he said. ___ ## Indian military says it's committed to non-escalation if Pakistan reciprocates Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, who was also present at the news conference, said India was committed to "non-escalation," if Pakistan reciprocates. However, Pakistani ground forces were observed mobilizing towards forward areas, she said, "indicating offensive intent to further escalate the situation." "Indian armed forces remain in a high state of operational readiness," she added. Singh said Indian armed forces carried out "precision strikes only at identified military targets in response to Pakistani actions." "All hostile actions have been effectively countered and responded proportionately," she said. ___ ## India says it targeted Pakistani bases after Islamabad fired high-speed missiles at Punjab India has said that it targeted Pakistani military bases after Islamabad fired several high-speed missiles at multiple air bases in India's Punjab state early Saturday. Indian Col. Sofiya Qureshi, at a news conference in New Delhi, said Pakistan also targeted health facilities and schools at its three air bases in Indian-controlled Kashmir. "Befitting reply has been given to Pakistani actions," she said. The Pakistani army's actions were "provocation" and India's response was "measured," foreign secretary Vikram Misri said. ___ ## Indian Border Security Force reports cross-border firing in Jammu India's Border Security Force in a statement Saturday said that Pakistani troops resorted to "unprovoked" firing along the International Border in the Jammu region overnight. The BSF said it responded to the firing and destroyed what it called a "terror launch pad" at Looni in Pakistan's Sialkot district, adding that Indian troops caused "widespread damage to the posts and assets" of Pakistan border guards. It offered a video footage to support its claim. The incident couldn't be independently verified. ___ ## Indian air force denies destruction of S-400 air defense system in Punjab A spokesman for the Indian air force, Wing Commander Jaideep Singh, denied the claims made by Pakistan that it had destroyed an S-400 air defense system in Adampur, Punjab, using hypersonic missiles. "Its fake. A fact-check will be up soon by the Press Information Bureau," he told AP. Pakistan earlier said one of it air force JF-17 Thunder aircraft launched hypersonic missiles and had destroyed the site. There was no way to independently verify the attack.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 22:37:19+00:00	[ "Cleveland", "Pennsylvania", "Donald Trump", "Illinois", "Business", "Cleveland-Cliffs", "Inc." ]	# Steelmaker Cleveland Cliffs to idle 3 steel plants in Pennsylvania and Illinois May 2nd, 2025, 10:37 PM --- HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs will indefinitely idle three steel plants this summer, saying Friday that it is being buffeted by sluggish demand and pricing for some products, including high carbon steel sheets. The company said the idling of two Pennsylvania plants, one in Steelton and one in Conshohocken, and one in Riverdale, Illinois, is due to "insufficient demand and pricing" and nothing to do with President Donald Trump's tariffs. "These temporary, indefinite idles are a necessary response to insufficient demand and pricing for the products the affected facilities produce, including rail, specialty plate, and high-carbon sheet; all of which fall outside of Cliffs' core business focus," the company said. The idlings will be indefinite, and start around June 30, at the end of a 60-day notice period required by federal law. About 950 workers will be out of work during the shutdowns, Cleveland Cliffs said. It said its flat-rolled steel production levels will not be affected. Cleveland Cliffs in recent weeks had announced that it will idle or partially idle two iron ore mines in Minnesota, affecting 630 workers. It also said in March that it will idle a steel plant in Dearborn, Michigan, affecting about 600 workers, citing "weak automotive production in the United States." "We believe that, once President Trump's policies take full effect and automotive production is re-shored, we should be able to resume steel production at Dearborn," it said. Cleveland Cliffs did say, however, that it plans to resume operation at its blast furnace in Cleveland, which was idled last year.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 11:14:01+00:00	[ "Antonio Costa", "Aleksandar Vucic", "Serbia", "Europe", "Russia", "European Union", "Vladimir Putin", "War and unrest", "Business", "Politics", "European Council", "Russia Ukraine war", "Rail accidents" ]	# European Council president says Serbia's leader has vowed to stay on the EU path despite Russia trip By Ivana Bzganovic May 13th, 2025, 11:14 AM --- BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — European Council President António Costa on Tuesday criticized Serbia populist president's trip to Russia's Victory Day ceremonies last week, but said that he received assurances that the troubled Balkan nation nonetheless will remain on the path toward European Union accession. Costa said in Belgrade — at the start of his tour of six Western Balkan membership hopefuls — that "a lot of people asked me not to come" to Serbia. But he said that he decided to come, and that he wanted to "clarify" President Aleksandar Vucic's visit to Moscow last week. Vucic, Costa said, "explained to me it was a moment to celebrate an event from the past." "We cannot rewrite the history, and (we) fully understand that Serbia celebrates (its) liberation" by Soviet troops, Costa said, before referring to the Russia-Ukraine war. "But we cannot celebrate the liberation 80 years ago and don't condemn an invasion of another country today." Now, Costa said, "we can reaffirm, and it's important to hear from him (Vucic) to publicly reaffirm, that he is fully committed with the European Union and with the accession path." Vucic, a former extreme nationalist criticized at home and abroad over alleged increasingly authoritarian ways, has maintained close relations with both Russia and China while formally saying that he wants Serbia to join the EU. Vucic has said his decision to attend Russian President Vladimir Putin's military parade marking the World War II victory over Nazi Germany, was part of efforts to maintain "traditional friendships" — Russia is a fellow Slavic and Orthodox Christian nation —while seeking EU entry. Serbia, which relies almost fully on Russia for energy, has refused to join Western sanctions on Russia over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and hasn't supported most EU statements condemning the aggression. Belgrade instead has backed a U.N. resolution criticizing Russia's attack. Costa warned that "a clear condemnation of the Russian brutal invasion of Ukraine" is a key element of EU's security and foreign policy, and that Serbia must fully align in order to join the bloc. Vucic said that he expected "reaction and attacks" over the Moscow trip at an upcoming European Political Community summit in Albania. He pledged that Serbia will soon pass media and anti-corruption laws needed to move forward in the accession process. Serbia, he said, "sees itself now and in the future as on the EU path and as a member of the European Union." Vucic also has been under pressure at home following six months of major anti-corruption protests that erupted after a train station tragedy in Serbia's north that killed 16 people and which many in the country blamed on graft in infrastructure construction. A group of Serbian university students — who have been a key force behind the protests — were in Brussels this week after running a relay-style marathon there to draw EU attention to their struggle for justice and the rule of law that they say has been dismantled under Vucic's tight rule in the country. Costa later also met with Serbia's opposition politicians, who said that they informed him about government repression and demanded the EU's clear support for protesting citizens. Politician Marinika Tepic said that Costa's meeting with Vucic could be viewed as EU support for him. From Belgrade, Costa will travel later on Tuesday to Bosnia-Herzegovina where separatist policies of a Serb-run entity's president have revived ethnic tensions long after a 1992-95 war, and stalled pro-EU reforms. Montenegro and Albania have been at the forefront of the membership path while Serbia, Bosnia, Kosovo and North Macedonia are lagging behind. The EU's willingness to accept new members has grown since the all-out war in Ukraine started on Feb. 24, 2022, fearing the conflict could fuel instability in the volatile Balkans.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 19:25:37+00:00	[ "Paul Rudd", "Tim Robinson", "Andrew DeYoung", "Movies", "Film Reviews", "Charlie Kaufman", "Mark Kennedy", "Larry David", "Entertainment", "Craig Waterman", "Kate Mara", "Associated Press", "Austin Carmichael" ]	# 'Friendship' review: A dark bromance with Paul Rudd By Mark Kennedy May 7th, 2025, 07:25 PM --- Craig Waterman is a suburban dad in middle age who favors extremely puffy jackets, yearns to see the new Marvel movie and is so uncool that he lobbies his town to have speed bumps installed. Naturally, he has no friends. That changes one day when a misdirected package arrives in the mail and he trots off to hand deliver it to his new neighbor, Austin Carmichael, who has a '70s vibe — a mustache, soul patch and a neckerchief. He's a TV weatherman and fronts a punk band. Naturally, he has a tight group of male friends. So begins Andrew DeYoung's auspicious debut feature "Friendship," which tackles modern masculinity and male loneliness with biting satire and humor, taking detours into horror and the surreal. Craig (Tim Robinson, at his awkward best) is instantly smitten — platonically — by Austin (Paul Rudd, at his charismatic best) and why would he not? The neighbor is everything Craig is not. Craig is like one of those loser characters in the Progressive Insurance commercials about not becoming your parents. "It's a school night for me!" he'll announce when the party is just getting started. "Might be nice to have a pal, a bud," suggests Craig's wife, a wonderful Kate Mara, who is drifting away from her husband. His teenage son is, too. You would be as well if your dad ended a conversation with "Stay curious!" Craig soon comes under Austin's spell — the pair smoking, going on an adventure to an aqueduct at night, looking at his collection of early human tools, foraging for mushrooms, some light boxing and singing along with his friends to an an impromptu a cappella version of "My Boo" by Ghost Town DJ's. Craig falls hard, fantasizing about joining his neighbor's band and back slapping with his new band of brothers. "You make me feel so free," he confesses to his cool neighbor. But he doesn't have the skills to play it cool. As the kids today say, he has no rizz. DeYoung is at his best here, exploring the slippery notions of masculinity, both tender and muscular, and the difficulty of joining a circle of guys with their own idiosyncratic and iron laws. "Friendship" shows Craig aping his man-crush and failing terribly — and bringing down the object of his bromance at the same time. It's as if Larry David remade "Single White Female." Most impressive is that DeYoung has not created a collection of connected "SNL" skits. Each part cleverly feeds to another, with echoes throughout the script. If a muscle car is mentioned at the top, you'll know you'll find a muscle car by the end. Same with a lick or sliding doors. DeYoung also has things to say about our commercial-saturated times, where even Craig's desperate attempt to get super high and escape his disintegrating life ends with a pedestrian hallucination where he just orders from a fast food joint. Craig orders his clothes from a catalogue bizarrely called "Ocean View Dining" — "The only brand of clothes that fit me just right," he crows — and his adoration of Marvel shows a lowest-common denominator thinking. (The fact that the object of his love-jealousy is played by Ant-Man — a member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — is a remarkable piece of kismet.) But there's also a feeling in the second half of the movie that DeYoung isn't sure how to end this slide into insanity and the movie gets unmoored from its satirical look at bromances and just follows Craig as a one man wrecking machine, like the movie was hijacked by Charlie Kaufman. Not to take anything away from DeYoung's debut, which is a hoot. Do us all a favor and see it with your buddies. And if you see a guy there all alone, maybe reach out? "Friendship," a A24 release that is in select theaters Friday and goes wider May 23, is rated R for "language and some drug content." Running time: 100 minutes. Three stars out of four.
Associated Press News	2025-05-15 22:24:36+00:00	[ "Law enforcement", "Shootings", "California", "Crime", "Gun violence", "Geoffrey Alpert", "Mike Parsons" ]	# Man wrestled gun away from California police officer before another fatally shot him, video shows By Jaimie Ding May 15th, 2025, 10:24 PM --- A video released by a Southern California police department showed a man wrestling a gun away from an officer and getting into her police car before another officer shot and killed him. An officer said "he has my gun. He has my gun. Please don't shoot me. Please don't shoot me," in body camera video released Wednesday by the Fountain Valley Police Department. She got out of her car and hid behind a mail truck before another officer arrived and shot through the cruiser's window, breaking it before shooting and killing the suspect. The suspect in the Jan. 24 shooting was identified as Osean McClintock, 26, of Fountain Valley. Officers were responding to a report of a "disturbed" man trying to open the door of a car occupied by a woman as she was leaving a middle school, Lt. Mike Parsons of the Fountain Valley Police Department said in a briefing posted online with the video footage. The caller noted the woman appeared "visibly shaken." A male officer first approached McClintock on the side of the road. The video showed McClintock repeating "In Jesus' name, I pray forever. Amen" before running away. The officer chased him on a charge of resisting arrest but lost sight of him and radioed to colleagues to "just let him go" if he ran again. Another officer radioed that she copied and turned on her camera when she saw him in front of her car, which delayed her video's audio. As she got out of the car holding her gun, McClintock tried to grab it and she ended up on the ground in the scuffle. McClintock repeated, "You're saved in Jesus' name forever." as he fought for the gun. When the second officer arrived, McClintock was standing in the street holding the gun. The officer shouted, "Put it down, dude! Put it down!" McClintock then entered the police vehicle and shut the door as the officer began firing. Bullets broke the window and hit McClintock as the officer radioed in the shooting. Police performed CPR on the man, but he was pronounced dead by the Fountain Valley Fire Department. Both officers involved were unharmed, according to radio traffic. Their names were not released because of the ongoing administrative investigation, Parsons said. The shooting is being investigated by the Orange County District Attorney's office. Geoffrey Alpert, an expert on deadly force and professor at University of South Carolina, said it was extremely rare for a suspect to get ahold of an officer's gun. Exiting her vehicle with the gun like that put the officer in a "very vulnerable situation" but it is important to hear what the officer's reasons were for drawing her weapon, he said. If the first officer said "let him go," Alpert said, "I don't blame her for trying to apprehend him, but why with a gun?" He also said it was important to question what the imminent threat was to the officer or anyone for the male officer to pull the trigger. "Is he shooting because he perceives the guy is pointing the gun at him? Or is he shooting because he doesn't want the guy to get away with a stolen gun and a stolen vehicle," Alpert said. Fountain Valley, a city of about 55,000, is located in Orange County and approximately 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.
Associated Press News	2025-05-16 05:15:37+00:00	[ "Keir Starmer", "Volodymyr Zelenskyy", "Donald Trump", "Vladimir Putin", "Ursula Von Der Leyen", "Emmanuel Macron", "Friedrich Merz", "United Kingdom", "Albania", "Poland", "Mark Rutte", "Giorgia Meloni", "International agreements", "United Kingdom government", "Ukraine", "Eurocopa 2024", "European Union", "Sanctions and embargoes", "Germany government", "Lorne Cook", "Italy government", "Russia Ukraine war", "Business", "Politics", "Turkey government", "Ukraine government" ]	# European leaders consult Trump, then agree joint response to Russian foot-dragging in truce talks By Llazar Semini and Lorne Cook May 16th, 2025, 05:15 AM --- TIRANA, Albania (AP) — European leaders agreed on Friday to press ahead with joint action against Russia over the failure to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, after consultations with U.S. President Donald Trump. Starmer spoke from Albania's capital, Tirana, where leaders of dozens of European countries were gathered for the European Political Community, or EPC, summit attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "We just had a meeting with President Zelenskyy and then a phone call with President Trump to discuss the developments in the negotiations today, and the Russian position is clearly unacceptable," Starmer told reporters. "As a result of that meeting with President Zelenskyy, under discussion with President Trump, we are now closely aligning and coordinating our responses and will continue to do so," he said. Starmer said that he and the leaders of France, Germany and Poland had consulted Trump. He didn't say what the response might involve, but some European leaders pressed for new sanctions. The European Union is likely to adopt a new round of measures as soon as Tuesday. Russia and Ukraine held their first first direct peace talks since the early weeks of Moscow's full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. The talks, which were held in Turkey on Friday, ended after less than two hours, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry and a Ukrainian official. French President Emmanuel Macron said it was "unacceptable that, for a second time, Russia hasn't responded to the demands made by the Americans, supported by Ukraine and the Europeans. No ceasefire, and therefore no meeting at a decision-making level. And no response." Macron added: "We will continue to coordinate with our European partners — the coalition of the willing — and the United States. There will be new contacts and feedback in the coming hours." German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said: "The diplomatic efforts that we have made so far have unfortunately failed because of Russia's lack of readiness to take the first steps in the right direction now." "But we will not give up; we will continue and we will coordinate well on the European side, together with the Americans," Merz said. ## 'The world must respond' Earlier, Zelenskyy had said that Ukraine is committed to ending the war, but urged the European leaders to ramp up sanctions if Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to play for time in talks aimed at securing a truce. "Ukraine is ready to take all realistic steps to end this war," Zelenskyy said. But he warned: "If it turns out that the Russian delegation really is just theatrical and can't deliver any results today, the world must respond." That reaction, he said, should include "sanctions against Russia's energy sector and banks." ## 'Putin made a mistake' Zelenskyy's remarks came after Putin declined to attend face-to-face talks in Istanbul. "I think Putin made a mistake by sending a low-level delegation," NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said as he arrived for the summit under a steady drizzle. "The ball is clearly in his part of the field now, in his court. He has to play ball. He has to be serious about wanting peace." European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that it was clear that "President Zelenskyy was ready to meet but President Putin never showed up, and this shows his true belief. So we will increase the pressure." Von der Leyen said that the EU is preparing a new package of sanctions. She said that the measures would target the shadow fleet of aging cargo vessels that Russia is using to bypass international sanctions and the Nord Stream pipeline consortium. Russia's financial sector would also be targeted, she said. EU envoys have been working on the new sanctions package for several weeks, and the bloc's foreign ministers could enact them as soon as Tuesday. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni stressed that efforts to reach a deal on Ukraine must continue. "I think ... that we must not throw in the towel. I think we must insist, we must insist for an unconditional ceasefire and a serious peace agreement that includes guarantees of security for Ukraine," she said. ___ Lorne Cook reported from Brussels.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 11:39:51+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "China", "Scott Bessent", "Jamieson Greer", "International trade", "Beijing", "China government", "Karoline Leavitt", "United States government", "United States", "Tariffs and global trade", "Trump Media Technology Group", "Cheng Zhengren", "Barack Obama", "Government and politics", "Business", "Financial markets", "Louise Loo", "Lin Jian", "Jeff Moon", "Craig Singleton", "Jens Eskelund", "Politics" ]	# Trump floats cutting China tariffs from 145% to 80% ahead of meeting By Paul Wiseman and Didi Tang May 9th, 2025, 11:39 AM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — The way President Donald Trump sees it, beating China in a trade war should be easy. After all, his logic goes, the Chinese sell Americans three times as much stuff as Americans sell them. Therefore, they have more to lose. Inflict enough pain, like the combined 145% taxes he slapped on Chinese imports last month, and they'll beg for mercy. Trump's treasury secretary, Scott Bessent has confidently compared Beijing to a card player stuck with a losing hand. "They're playing with a pair of twos,'' he said. Somebody forgot to tell China. So far, the Chinese have refused to fold under the pressure of Trump's massive tariffs. Instead, they have retaliated with triple-digit tariffs of their own. "All bullies are just paper tigers,'' the Chinese Foreign Ministry declared in a video last week. "Kneeling only invites more bullying.'' The stakes are high between the world's two biggest economies whose trade topped $660 billion last year. Bessent and Trump's top trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer, are heading to Geneva this weekend for initial trade talks with top Chinese officials. Trump suggested Friday that the U.S. could lower its tariffs on China, saying in a Truth Social post that "80% Tariff seems right! Up to Scott.″ While businesses and investors welcome any easing of tensions, the prospects for a quick and significant breakthrough appear dim. "These are talks about talks, and China may be coming to assess what's on the table — or even just to buy time," said Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at the Washington-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies. "There's no shared roadmap or clear pathway to de-escalation." But if the two countries eventually agree to scale back the massive taxes — tariffs — they have slapped on each other's goods, it would relieve world financial markets and companies on both sides of the Pacific Ocean that depend on U.S.-China trade. "The companies involved in this trade on both sides just cannot afford waiting anymore," said economist John Gong of the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. In a worst-case scenario, China could walk away from the negotiations if it feels the U.S. side isn't treating China as an equal or isn't willing to take the first step to deescalate, Gong said. "I think if (Bessent) doesn't go into this negotiation with this kind of mindset, this could be very difficult," he said. For now, the two countries can't even agree on who requested the talks. "The meeting is being held at the request of the U.S. side,'' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Wednesday. Trump disagreed. "They ought to go back and study their files," he said. ## Trump's faith in tariffs meet economic reality What seems clear is that Trump's favorite economic weapon — import taxes, or tariffs — has not proved as mighty as he'd hoped. "For Trump, what's happened here is that the rhetoric of his campaign has finally had to face economic reality," said Jeff Moon, a trade official in the Obama administration who now runs the China Moon Strategies consultancy. "The idea that he was going to bring China to its knees in terms of tariffs was never going to work.'' Trump views tariffs an all-purpose economic tool that can raise money for the U.S. Treasury, protect American industries, lure factories to the United States and pressure other countries to bend to his will, even on issues such as immigration and drug trafficking. He used tariffs in his first term and has been even more aggressive and unpredictable about imposing them in his second. He's slapped a 10% tariff on almost every country in the world, blowing up the rules that had governed global trade for decades. But it's his trade war with China that has really put markets and businesses on edge. It started in February when he announced a 10% levy on Chinese imports. By April, Trump ratcheted up the taxes on China to a staggering 145%. Beijing upped its tariff on American products to 125%. Trump's escalation sent financial markets tumbling and left U.S. retailers warning that they might run out of goods as U.S.-China trade implodes. U.S. consumers, worried about the prospect of empty shelves and higher prices, are losing confidence in the economy. "This was not very well planned,'' said Zongyuan Zoe Liu, senior fellow in China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. "I don't think he intended to have the tariffs escalate into this chaos.'' ## China was ready for a rematch When Trump hit Chinese imports with tariffs during his first term, he charged that Beijing used unfair tactics, including cybertheft, to give its technology firms an edge. The two countries reached a truce — the so-called Phase One agreement — in January 2020; China agreed to buy more U.S. products, and Trump held off on even higher tariffs. But they didn't resolve the big issues dividing them, including China's subsidies of homegrown tech firms. China was ready for a rematch when Trump returned to the White House. It had worked to reduce its dependence on America's massive market, cutting the U.S. share of its exports to 15% last year from more than 19% in 2018, according to Dexter Roberts of the Atlantic Council. Beijing is confident that the Chinese people are more willing than Americans to endure the fallout from a trade war, including falling exports and shuttered factories. "For China, it's painful, but it's also imperative to withstand it, and it's prepared to cope with it,'' said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center. ## Dependency works both ways In addition to miscalculating Chinese resolve, the Trump administration may have underestimated how much America relies on China. For decades, Americans have come to depend on Chinese factories. They produce 97% of America's imported baby carriages, 96% of its artificial flowers and umbrellas, 95% of its fireworks, 93% of its children's coloring books and 90% of its combs. "Without us, what do they have to sell?" Chinese toymaker Cheng Zhengren told Beijing News. "Their shelves would be empty." The showerhead company Afina last month reported on an experiment suggesting that American consumers have little willingness to pay more for American-made products. Afina makes a filtered showerhead in China and Vietnam that retails for $129. Making the same product in America would lift the price to $239. When customers on the company's website were given a choice between them, 584 chose the cheap Asian one; not one opted for the costlier U.S.-made version. And it's not just consumers who depend on China. America's own factories do, too. The National Association of Manufacturers calculates 47% of U.S. imports from China in 2023 were "manufacturing inputs'' — industrial supplies, auto parts and capital equipment that American manufacturers used to make other their own products domestically. So Trump's tariffs risk raising costs and reducing supplies that U.S. factories rely on, making them less competitive. Louise Loo, China economist at Oxford Economics, a consulting firm, said that China's ability to reduce its dependence on the U.S. market in recent years means "they're probably likely to be able to find substitutes for buyers, much easier than the U.S. side will be able to find suppliers." Still, China won't emerge from a trade war unscathed either. Citing the impact of the trade war, the International Monetary Fund last month downgraded the outlook for the Chinese economy this year and next. "China needs the United States of America," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at Friday's news briefing. "They need our markets. They need our consumer base. And Secretary Bessent knows that he's going to Switzerland this weekend with the full support and confidence and trust of the president here at home." Indeed Moon, who also served as a diplomat in China, noted the tariffs cut both ways: "Both of them are highly dependent on bilateral trade. They have put themselves in a corner.'' Jens Eskelund, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, expressed relief that U.S. and Chinese officials were meeting. "So good,'' he said, pointing to the Vatican conclave that just picked a new pope as inspiration. "Lock them in a room and then hopefully white smoke will come out." ___ AP Staff Writers Christopher Rugaber, Seung Min Kim and Josh Boak in Washington, Ken Moritsugu in Beijing and Simina Mistreanu in Taipei contributed to this story.
Associated Press News	2025-05-07 20:00:14+00:00	[ "Belarus", "Alexander Lukashenko", "Donald Trump", "Europe", "Law and order", "Activism", "Protests and demonstrations", "Prisons", "Belarus government", "Sanctions and embargoes", "Valery Karbalevich", "Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya", "Pavel Sapelka", "Politics", "Ales Bialiatski" ]	# Belarus' authoritarian leader pardons 42 imprisoned activists By Yuras Karmanau May 7th, 2025, 08:00 PM --- TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday announced the granting of pardons to 42 imprisoned opposition activists, in what analysts say is an effort at rapprochement with the West. Belarus was rocked by unprecedented mass protests in 2020, after a disputed election that handed Lukashenko his sixth consecutive term in office. Authorities unleashed a violent crackdown on demonstrators and government critics. More than 65,000 people were arrested by the authorities, according to human rights advocates, and hundreds of thousands fled the country, fearing prosecution. The United States and the European Union responded with a flurry of crippling sanctions, pushing the country further into the orbit of its powerful neighbor Russia. Belarus depends on Russia for loans and cheap energy, and Lukashenko supported Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since last year, however, the Belarusian leader has been regularly pardoning small numbers of imprisoned government critics in what analysts saw as a signal that Minsk was seeking to ease tensions with the West. Between July 2024 and January 2025, Lukashenko pardoned 258 political prisoners. After Donald Trump was sworn into office, he also pardoned three jailed Americans, including Yuras Zyankovich, who was accused of plotting a coup. Zyankovich was released last week in what political analyst Valery Karbalevich sees as "a present for Trump's 100 days in office." "Right now the Belarusian leader hopes to unfreeze relations with the U.S. first and foremost, in order to ease Western sanctions," Karbalevich said. He tied the new wave of pardons to "Minsk's desire to start the dialogue with the West." According to Viasna, Belarus' oldest and most prominent rights group, there are currently 1,177 political prisoners behind bars in the country, including the group's founder Ales Bialiatski, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. At least six political prisoners died behind bars. Lukashenko said Wednesday the new pardons were granted to mark the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. A total of 14 of the pardoned activists suffer from chronic health conditions and disabilities, 10 are over the age of 50, according to the authorities. All 42 activists, convicted on the charges of extremism, "admitted guilt and repented," officials said. Lukashenko on Wednesday also announced a sweeping amnesty for 8,000 people convicted on criminal charges. Most political prisoners, however, will not be eligible for it, according to Pavel Sapelka, a rights activist with Viasna. Belarusian rights advocates have given the authorities a list of 202 political prisoners that need urgent medical care and should be released, including 28 people in critical condition. Sapelka said "the authorities are creating torturous conditions for political prisoners, depriving them of medical care, care packages and the possibility to talk to their lawyers or families." "Lukashenko makes humanitarian gestures, trying to get the West's attention, and it gives hope that as many political prisoners as possible could be released," Sapelka added. Belarusian opposition leader in exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya welcomed the news of the new pardons, but stressed that "we shouldn't rest until all (political prisoners) will be freed."
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 22:09:25+00:00	[ "Donald Trump", "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.", "Tammy Baldwin", "United States government", "Children", "United States", "Associated Press", "Government and politics", "Education", "U.S. Department of Health and Human Services", "Politics" ]	# Kennedy assures Congress funding for Head Start will not be cut By Moriah Balingit May 14th, 2025, 10:09 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday told Congress the Trump administration would not cut funding for Head Start, after layoffs at the agency and funding freezes raised fears the six-decade-old program would be radically downsized. In an appearance before a Senate subcommittee, Kennedy said the administration would "emphasize healthy eating in Head Start, and ensure the program continues to serve its 750,000 children and parents effectively." The early education program, which serves children from low-income and homeless families around the country, grapples with staffing shortages and many centers operate in a perpetual state of financial precarity. While the program has been spared from elimination, Kennedy has laid off a significant number of employees who helped the program operate and shuttered half its regional offices. Providers have experienced repeated funding delays since President Donald Trump took office, forcing some to briefly close. In a tense exchange, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, pressed Kennedy on why the federal government delayed sending funding to a Head Start operation outside Milwaukee, forcing it to close. "What would you say to a parent who shows up for ... Head Start and the doors are closed?" she asked him. "I would be very sad," Kennedy said. "I fought very hard to make sure Head Start gets all of its funding next year." Asked what was causing the delays, Kennedy said he did not know, but suggested the problem came from employees "who wanted to make the Trump administration look bad." Backers of Head Start had been fretting after a leaked Trump administration proposal suggested defunding it, but earlier this month a senior White House official told reporters there would be no changes to the program. ___ The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Associated Press News	2025-05-02 22:26:57+00:00	[ "Lee Zeldin", "Donald Trump", "U.S. Environmental Protection Agency", "Activism", "Kyla Bennett", "Pollution", "Water quality", "Climate and environment", "Science", "Government budgets", "Ronald Reagan", "Molly Vaseliou" ]	# EPA announces broad reorganization that includes shuffle of scientific research By Michael Phillis May 2nd, 2025, 10:26 PM --- The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday announced a broad reorganization as part of the Trump administration's drive to cut costs that some activists worry will harm the agency's independent scientific research. Administrator Lee Zeldin announced changes that included creating a new unit within his office "to align research and put science at the forefront of the agency's rulemakings." He said the overall reorganization would boost efficiency and save at least $300 million annually, though he didn't detail how the money would be saved. Though Zeldin didn't mention it by name, some scientists and activists saw it as an attack on EPA's Office of Research and Development, which has long provided the scientific underpinnings for EPA's mission to protect the environment and human health. The agency said it would shift "its scientific expertise and research efforts to program offices" that focus on major issues like air and water. Separately on Friday, President Donald Trump unveiled a proposed budget to cut that office's funding by $235 million. Trump's budget said the cut would put "an end to unrestrained research grants, radical environmental justice work, woke climate research, and skewed, overly-precautionary modeling that influences regulations — none of which are authorized by law." Agency researchers have improved air pollution monitoring, found high levels of PFAS in drinking water sources, provided flood prevention resources and made more information available on chemical safety. EPA's possible plans to lay off as many as 1,155 staffers in the office — as much as three-fourths of its workers — became public in March. Those cuts are part of a broader push by Zeldin to cut EPA's budget by about two-thirds. The Office of Research and Development has 10 facilities across the country. It was designed to be insulated from politics so it can produce essential science. Camden Weber, climate and energy policy specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity, said, "is a textbook move from the authoritarian playbook." "By gutting key institutions and driving away experts, this attack will endanger public health, clean air, and environmental progress, while undermining independent scientific research in America," Weber said. "This is a reorganization, not a reduction in force," EPA spokeswoman Molly Vaseliou said. Zeldin's announcement also included the creation of the Office of State Air Partnerships to work "with, not against" states and other agencies to handle plans for pollution reduction by states. The EPA has long had authority to impose its own plan if states were seen as not doing enough to cut pollution. The EPA said that change would make sure states get consistent treatment no matter their geography. "The problem is that some areas of the country have much worse air pollution, and it cannot be treated as a one-size-fits-all," said Kyla Bennett, director of science policy at the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a nonprofit that supports public employees who raise issues of environmental ethics or science integrity. The new office for scientific review will be called the Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions. EPA said it would "gain more than 130" experts in science and other fields to to complete long-delayed reviews of hundreds of chemicals and thousands of pesticides. "When finalized, EPA expects to have staffing levels near those seen when President Ronald Reagan occupied the White House," Zeldin said. EPA had about 15,000 employees before cuts began. The agency's employment during the Reagan years ranged from roughly 11,000 to around 14,400 people. ___ This story has corrected its description of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility to show it is a nonprofit that supports public employees who raise issues of environmental ethics or science integrity, not a union. ___ Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed reporting. ___ The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP's environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
Associated Press News	2025-05-19 18:20:21+00:00	[ "Pope Leo XIV", "Donald Trump", "Bob Prevost", "Bruce Springsteen", "United States", "Chicago", "Peru", "JWD-evergreen", "Abraham Lincoln", "John Baick", "Andrew Jackson", "Lifestyle", "Greta Garbo", "Jon Stewart", "Grace Kelly", "George III of the United Kingdom", "George W. Bush", "Jimmy Fallon", "Franklin D. Roosevelt", "Politics", "David Gibson", "Royalty", "Catholic Church", "Ted Anthony", "Danielle Lindemann", "John F. Kennedy", "Religion", "Bill Clinton", "Ronald Reagan" ]	# Americans try to cast the new pope as just another regular guy from Chicago By Ted Anthony May 19th, 2025, 06:20 PM --- WASHINGTON (AP) — By the middle of last week, it became clear that something odd was happening. It was about the time that the fake video started circulating about the woman purporting to recount the "situationship" she'd had with Robert Prevost, the new American pope, decades ago when he was just another guy from Chicago. We'd already seen Topps, the baseball-card company, issue a new card of Pope Leo XIV that was all over eBay. We'd heard about his affinity for the White Sox and seen a glimpse of him in the crowd at the 2005 World Series. And in the wake of online speculation over whether he favored the Chicago beef sandwich or Chicago-style hot dogs, we'd seen Portillo's, a local eatery, name a sandwich after him — ""a divinely seasoned Italian beef, baptized in gravy and finished with the holy trinity of peppers." Then there was the Instagram video featuring two guys outlining the ways the new pontiff was a product of his upbringing: "The pope's a Midwesterner. Bread and wine is now cheese and beer," says one. Retorts the other: "The pope's a Midwesterner. Collection baskets now accept Kohl's cash." Popes: They're just like us? Not exactly. The former Bob Prevost is hardly just another guy from Chicago. But you wouldn't know that by the burst of American fanfare surrounding the newly minted Pope Leo XIV. He has been called out for his eating proclivities (Jimmy Fallon: "deep-dish communion wafers?"), for his sports affiliations, for his lively sibling relationships and more. Fake videos of him weighing in on basketball and Donald Trump in classic Midwestern ways are proliferating. Why are we so focused on making sure the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church is also a regular guy from the Midwest? Some of it is pride, you betcha. But another answer lies in Americans' peculiar and complex relationship with fame and power that goes way back to the founding of the nation itself. ## American 'regular guy-ism' began with the nation itself When the United States became the United States in 1776, it rejected King George III, the crown's taxes and the ornate accoutrements and sensibilities that surrounded royalty. In its place grew democracy, effectively the cult of the regular guy. As the decades passed, the sensibility of "effete" royalty from back east — whether "back east" was England or, ultimately, Washington — became scorned. By the time Andrew Jackson's form of populism began to flourish in the 1830s, the "regular guy" in the rising democratic republic became a revered trope. Thus the tales of Abraham Lincoln growing up in a log cabin and splitting rails just like the rest of us — or, at least, the 19th-century rural American "rest of us." "Our culture is one that is based on the rejection of monarchy and class distinctions and yet is fascinated by monarchies and those who we see as set above and apart," says David Gibson, director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University. "We want these figures to look up to but also to sit down with." And it has stayed that way, politically and culturally, right up until today. Think about how the ideal presidential candidate has evolved from the time of, say, Franklin D. Roosevelt, an effete Easterner who favored a long cigarette holder, to today. Ronald Reagan talked in the homespun language of hearth and home. Bill Clinton played a sax and answered the time-honored question of "boxers or briefs." George Bush, now a nondrinker, became "a guy you'd want to have a beer with." (Jon Stewart famously shot that down by saying: "I want my president to be the designated driver.") This down-to-Earth sensibility was evident in the press conference that American cardinals held after Leo was elevated. No intense church music accompanied their entrance; instead, it was "American Pie" and Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" — foundational pillars of popular culture, with an emphasis on "popular." The message: This is not a "back east" pope. "Popes have always been alien — strangers," says John Baick, an American historian at Western New England University. "We like and trust that he is one of us. The Midwest is the place of hard work, the place of decency, the place of listening, the place of manners. This is the person you want to sit on the other side of that diner on a Sunday morning." He places Leo's ascension as a bookend to John F. Kennedy's election in 1960 — a resounding signal, this time globally, that Catholicism is compatible with Americanism. But as for the "he's one of us" approach, that says more about the people watching Leo than about the actual pope. "He has done none of this himself," Baick says. "The connections are things that we have desperately created. We are so desperate for normalcy, for a regular guy." ## This guy is far more than the pope next door And yet ... Americans famously adored Princess Diana, "the people's princess." People like the Kennedys and Grace Kelly — before she became an actual princess — were referred to as "American royalty." And even though we're a long way from the days of Bogie, Bacall and Greta Garbo — a generation into the "Stars: They're Just Like Us" era — Americans still love to put people on pedestals and bring them back down, sometimes at the same time. The latest iteration of this is tied to reality TV, which took regular people and turned them into personalities, figures, commodities. "This country is positioned as a place where anybody can succeed. It plays directly into that — the regular person who succeeds on a large scale," says Danielle Lindemann, author of "True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us." "We're kind of obsessed with this everyday Joe who is plucked from obscurity and becomes famous. In the United States, that's a salient and dominant narrative," says Lindemann, a professor of sociology at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. "We almost feel like we have relationships with these people. We're getting so much personal information about him, and it facilitates that sense of closeness." Prevost, of course, is not your average Midwesterner. His Spanish, among other tongues, is fluent. He spent two decades in Peru, where he also holds citizenship (and where, it must be said, there is footage of him singing "Feliz Navidad" into a microphone at a Christmas party). And there's that small matter that he is now the head of a global church of 1.4 billion souls. So a new era begins for both the United States and the Catholic Church — an age-old hierarchy and a society that demands egalitarianism, or the appearance of it, from the people it looks up to. And at the intersection of those two principles sits Robert Prevost, Pope Leo XIV, an accomplished man in his own right but also an empty vessel into which broad swaths of humanity will pour their expectations — be they about eternity or simply the South Side of Chicago. "Popes want to connect with people, and the church wants that as well. But the peril is that such familiarity breeds not so much contempt as disobedience," Gibson says. "The pope is not your friend. He is not going to sit down and have a beer with you," he says. "If you think the pope is your pal, will you feel betrayed when he reminds you of your religious and moral duties, and chides you for failing to follow them?" ___ Ted Anthony, director of new storytelling and newsroom innovation for The Associated Press, has been writing about American culture since 1990. ___ 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	2025-05-06 19:51:57+00:00	[ "New York City", "Texas", "Donald Trump", "Crime", "Immigration", "Law enforcement", "New York City Wire", "Protests and demonstrations", "Politics", "Government policy", "Prisons", "Jessica Tisch", "Money laundering", "Associated Press", "Corporate crime", "Education", "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement", "Arthur Ago", "Palestinian territories government" ]	# NYPD launches probe into why it gave a record of a Palestinian woman's sealed arrest to ICE By Jake Offenhartz May 6th, 2025, 07:51 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — Police in New York City are investigating whether the department violated policy by sharing a report with federal immigration authorities that included internal records of a Palestinian woman's arrest at a protest. The probe follows reporting by The Associated Press on the cooperation between the NYPD and President Donald Trump's administration, which is seeking to deport Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian resident of New Jersey, as part of its widening crackdown on noncitizens who participated in protests against the war in Gaza. The report shared by police with the federal government included Kordia's name, address and birthday, as well as an NYPD officer's two-sentence summary of her arrest for protesting outside Columbia University last spring. That charge — a summons for disorderly conduct — was dismissed and the case sealed, meaning it should not have been accessible for law enforcement purposes, according to legal experts. "How it is that summons information was provided that is associated with a sealed arrest is what we are looking into now," the city's police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, said Tuesday in response to the AP's questions. "This is under internal investigation and review." Kordia, a 32-year-old waitress living in Paterson, New Jersey, was detained during a March 13 check-in with immigration officials, then sent to an immigration jail in Texas, where she remains. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced her arrest the following day, citing an expired visa and her role in "pro-Hamas protests." The four-page NYPD report on Kordia was generated the same day and is now being used as evidence by the federal government in its bid to deport her. "We still don't know how she became the focus of the Department of Homeland Security," said Arthur Ago, an attorney for Kordia. "If they did get information from the NYPD about a sealed citation that was dismissed in the interest of justice, that would be highly disturbing." Under city law, police are generally prohibited from assisting federal authorities in civil immigration enforcement, though there are exceptions for criminal investigation. Tisch said the department received a request from Homeland Security Investigations, a division of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as part of a criminal investigation into Kordia. "The member said they were seeking information on this person related to a money laundering investigation, and that is fairly standard for us, so the information was provided," Tisch said. "That was all done according to procedure." Kordia's attorney said he was not aware of any investigation related to money laundering. He said she was born in Jerusalem, grew up in the West Bank and arrived in New Jersey in 2016 to live with her mother, a U.S. citizen. In Kordia's immigration case, the federal government has referenced both her past arrest at Columbia and a $1,000 payment she made to a relative in the West Bank as evidence of potential dangerousness, the attorney said. "They keep hinting and insinuating some sort of nefarious action by Ms. Kordia in terms of just sending money to family in Palestine," Ago said. "There's nothing there. Sending money home to a relative is what immigrants do in this country." A DHS spokesperson said Kordia was taken into custody for immigration violations but would not say if she was facing criminal investigation. In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the New York City Council called the police commissioner's lack of explanation "troubling." "The people of our city should be able to trust that the mayoral administration will comply with local laws and not hand over their information without legal justification for its use by ICE," the statement continued.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 05:25:11+00:00	[ "George Floyd", "Memphis", "Tyre Nichols", "Bill Lee", "Law enforcement", "Benjamin Crump", "Black experience", "Racism", "Racial injustice", "Race and ethnicity", "Andre Johnson", "Steven Mulroy", "Thaddeus Johnson", "Martin Luther King Jr.", "Justin Smith", "Derrick Johnson", "Police brutality" ]	# Police reform called for after officers acquitted in Tyre Nichols' death By Adrian Sainz, Jonathan Mattise, and Graham Lee Brewer May 8th, 2025, 05:25 AM --- MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — After three former Memphis police officers were acquitted Wednesday in the beating death of Tyre Nichols, community and civil rights leaders expressed outrage over another disappointment in the long push for police reform. Nichols' death at a traffic stop more than two years ago sparked nationwide protests and renewed calls for systemic change as the first post-George Floyd case that revealed the limits of an unprecedented reckoning over racial injustice in Black America. Now, Wednesday's acquittals again show the need for reforms at the federal level, civil rights leaders said. "Tyre and his family deserve true justice — not only in the courtroom, but in Congress, by passing police reform legislation once and for all," NAACP President Derrick Johnson posted on social media. "Traffic stops should never be a death sentence, and a badge should never— ever — be a shield to accountability." The Rev. Al Sharpton, who spoke Wednesday to Nichols' mother and stepfather, said they were outraged. "Justice can still be delivered," Sharpton added in a statement, referring to the officers' upcoming sentencing in a federal civil rights case. "Tyre's death was preventable, inexcusable, and tragic." ## Officers avoid a murder conviction Nichols, 29, was on his way home on Jan. 7, 2023, when he was stopped for an alleged traffic violation. He was pulled out of his car by officers, one of whom shot at him with a Taser. Nichols ran away, according to video footage that showed him brutally beaten by five officers. An autopsy found he died from blows to the head. An out-of-town jury from a majority-white county found Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith not guilty of all state charges, including second-degree murder, in the fatal beating. All five officers, the city of Memphis and the police chief are being sued by Nichols' family for $550 million. A trial has been scheduled for next year. "Let this be a rally and cry: We must confront the broken systems that empowered this injustice and demand the change our nation — and Tyre's legacy — deserves," said civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing the family in the lawsuit. ## Nichols' family, supporters rally in Memphis On Thursday, more than 100 supporters of Nichols' family joined them at a rally at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. The museum is built on the site of the former Lorraine Motel, where the Rev. Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968. Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, spoke to the crowd in the rain, covered by an umbrella, in front of the balcony where King was felled by a rifle bullet. Behind her, people held posters showing with a photo of a hospitalized Nichols, his face swollen and bruised. On the posters was the saying, "I Am a Man," the rallying cry for the sanitation workers' strike that brought King to the city. Wells said the verdict was a "devastating blow" to her family. She said the jury didn't care about her son. Jurors were brought in from the Chattanooga area after a judge's ruling that intense pre-trial publicity made it difficult to find an impartial jury. "They were allowed to come here and look at the evidence, but they didn't see the evidence," Wells said. "What they saw was a Black man running from the police. They didn't care that my son was afraid for his life." ## A push for police reform After Floyd's 2020 murder by a former Minneapolis police officer, states adopted hundreds of police reform proposals, creating civilian oversight of police, more antibias training and stricter use-of-force limits, among other measures. But federal reforms in the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act have been stuck in Congress without enough bipartisan support to get enacted during the Biden administration. The Nichols case sparked a 17-month federal investigation into the Memphis Police Department, which found a host of civil rights violations, including using excessive force, making illegal traffic stops and disproportionately targeting Black people. Last year, police traffic-stop reforms put in place in Memphis after Nichols' death were repealed by GOP Gov. Bill Lee, despite pleas from civil rights advocates. One of the ordinances had outlawed traffic stops for reasons unrelated to a motorist's driving, such as a broken taillight and other minor violations. Lee echoed arguments from Republican lawmakers who said Nichols' death needed to result in accountability for officers who abuse power, not new limits on traffic stops. Speaking after Wednesday's acquittal, Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy said: "Our office will continue to push for accountability for everybody who violates the law, including, if not especially, those who are sworn to uphold it." "If we're going to have any silver lining from this dark cloud of both the event itself and in my view today's verdict, it has to be that we need to reaffirm our commitment to police reform," he said. ## Memphis struggles with police accountability Thaddeus Johnson, a former Memphis police commander and a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, said Nichols' beating and Wednesday's acquittal compound wounds from generations of policing problems in the majority-Black city. "I do believe that reform is local, but I do believe this has kind of put a black eye on things," Johnson told The Associated Press. "People feel like police cannot be held accountable. Or they won't be held accountable." Andre Johnson, a pastor at Gifts of Life Ministries in Memphis and a community activist, said he was disappointed but not surprised at the verdict. "It is extremely difficult to convict officers even when they are on camera," he said, calling the acquittal "a loud and clarion acknowledgment that certain groups of people do not matter." "For a lot of people who have had engagement with police officers, the message is loud and clear: that even if we get you on camera, doing what you did to Tyre, that you cannot face justice," Johnson said. ____ Brewer reported from Norman, Oklahoma. Mattise reported from Nashville. Associated Press writer Travis Loller in Nashville contributed.
Associated Press News	2025-05-09 21:15:21+00:00	[ "Medication", "Immunizations", "Casey Means", "Donald Trump", "Genetically modified organisms", "Children", "Health", "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.", "Kristin Cavallari", "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention", "Diets and dieting", "Joe Rogan", "Politics", "Jay Shetty" ]	# Trump's surgeon general pick touts organics, questions vaccines on podcasts By Ali Swenson May 9th, 2025, 09:15 PM --- NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump's newest surgeon general nominee is a burgeoning health influencer who has shared her approach to health care through appearances on some of the nation's most popular wellness and right-wing podcasts. A sampling of Dr. Casey Means' comments from those interviews over the past year paints a picture of someone who could use the nation's most prominent health care position to focus on diet and lifestyle factors as a way to prevent chronic conditions, while raising questions about pharmaceutical interventions and the vaccine schedule for children. Means, 37, has said she devoted her career to studying the root causes of why Americans are getting sick after dropping out of her residency program. Here's a closer look at what Means' podcast appearances reveal about how she might approach the role as surgeon general: ## She believes we're treating chronic health conditions the wrong way Means argues that the cause of most health conditions — including cancer, Alzheimer's disease, obesity, erectile dysfunction and infertility — is the "toxic stew" of harmful products, air pollutants, food additives and technology overload that we are living in. She says those environmental impacts are "crushing" the body's metabolic system of breaking down food for energy, leading to chronic conditions that are rising significantly in the U.S. "When you go to the science with a root cause perspective, you go back to PubMed with a slightly different perspective, not how do I treat these diseases once they emerge, but why are they happening, you see a very obvious blaring answer," she told podcaster Joe Rogan on his show last October in a discussion about public health. "It's all caused by metabolic dysfunction, a term that I never learned in medical school." That root-cause philosophy aligns with Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.'s stated priorities for his job. He has promised exhaustive studies to identify any environmental factors that may cause autism. Means attributes a wide range of chronic diseases to those factors. She argued on "The Megyn Kelly Show" in September that COVID-19 "was really fundamentally a metabolic disease" that more seriously affected people who were compromised because of "lifestyle-related and food-related diseases." Her approach to health care also has made her critical of some popular pharmaceutical products, from birth control pills to GLP-1 receptor agonists such as Ozempic that treat obesity. On "The Tucker Carlson Show" last August, she said birth control pills have given women "liberation" but said they are being prescribed "like candy" and inhibit women from assessing important biomarkers related to their menstrual cycles. "It's a disrespect of things that create life," she said. While Means said taking obesity drugs such as Ozempic can help some people jumpstart their way to healthier lifestyles, she also called the drug "very dark" and said it has "a stranglehold on the U.S. population, almost like solidifying this idea that there is a magic pill." ## She advocates against pesticides, ultra-processed foods and seed oils Means argues that Americans should radically change their diets to improve their health, including sticking to organic fruits and vegetables that have not been genetically modified and avoiding highly processed foods and refined sugars. The 2020 to 2025 U.S. dietary guidelines recommend that added sugars make up less than 10% of Americans' diets. On Jay Shetty's "On Purpose" podcast last August, Means called for an executive order to reduce that number to zero, or at most 6%. She also said there should be no added sugars in federally funded school lunches. While Food and Drug Administration guidance currently says genetically modified fruits and vegetables are "as healthful and safe to eat as their non-GMO counterparts," Means disagrees, saying anything modified to withstand pesticides should not be ingested. "They wanted to be able to spray it with poison and not kill it," she said on reality TV star Kristin Cavallari's podcast "Let's Be Honest" in January. "That should set off some red alarms." Like Kennedy and some Republican lawmakers, Means has railed against seed oils, which include common cooking oils such as canola, soybean and corn. Nutrition scientists have pointed out that decades of research confirm the health benefits of consuming such oils, especially in place of alternatives such as butter or lard. Food scientists agree with Means that people should reduce their consumption of ultra-processed foods, which are linked to a host of negative health effects. But they say there's no evidence that the seed oils themselves are responsible for poor health outcomes. In her interview with Shetty, Means said the worst advice she's ever heard is "all good things in moderation." "There are things that we do not want in moderation in our bodies, in our temple, especially in our children's bodies," she said. ## She has criticized the children's vaccination schedule Asked by Cavallari about vaccines, Means said that's not her area of expertise but raised concerns about the national vaccination schedule for children. She highlighted the recommendation that newborns be vaccinated for hepatitis B, which spreads through contact with blood and other bodily fluids. "This is the one that was kind of, like, my gateway to being, like, asking a lot more questions," Means said. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the newborn dose is "an important part of preventing long-term illness in infants and the spread of hepatitis B in the United States." Means said she didn't think the vaccine needed to be given so widely to young infants when a test for the disease in pregnant mothers is a standard part of prenatal care. Means also said COVID-19 vaccine mandates "destroyed so many people's lives" and "broke something open" among American citizens. "People started to really see that maybe we shouldn't be, like, trusting the experts blindly," she said. "Maybe there is such deep, like, corporate capture of industry and honestly corruption of our medical data and information that like, we have to kind of question everything." ## She urges a spiritual approach to solving 'extinction-level' threat to health Means frequently references the current state of the nation's health as an emergency situation. "We're facing, I would say non-hyperbolically, extinction-level trends in our health right now," she said on "The Megyn Kelly Show" last November. She's repeatedly said "Rome is burning" when talking about the health care system and chronic illness. As a wellness influencer, she also takes a religious and spiritual approach to solving those problems. She urges people to trust their intuitions and view themselves as part of something bigger. "Do we want to believe that humans are, that life is a miracle, this universe is a miracle, our bodies are miracles, and we want to connect with God in this lifetime and we want to build and respect these temples that are interconnected with the Earth to do that, or do we not?" she asked Rogan last October. "That's the choice we have right now." ___ Associated Press writer Michelle R. Smith in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report. ___ The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about the AP's democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Associated Press News	2025-05-05 14:08:56+00:00	[ "Books and literature", "Barack Obama", "Chile", "Fiction", "Arizona", "Book Reviews", "Mexico", "Anita Snow", "Isabel Allende", "Entertainment", "Eric Whelan", "Emilia del Valle" ]	# 'My Name is Emilia del Valle' review: Isabel Allende celebrates journalism By Anita Snow May 5th, 2025, 02:08 PM --- Best-selling author Isabel Allende has been beloved for decades by millions of passionately loyal readers for her strong female protagonists and epic story lines stretching across the Americas. In novels such as "The House of the Spirits," "Eva Luna," and more recently, "Violeta," indomitable women take center stage and drive dramatic narratives conjured into being with a splash of magic realism by the writer who was born in Peru and raised in Chile. It's no different in Allende's latest book, "My Name is Emilia del Valle," which features an adventurous journalist in San Francisco during the late 1800s. Young Emilia is surprisingly intrepid for a female of her time, challenging and vaulting over gender barriers as she moves from writing cheap novels under a male pseudonym to pushing for her real byline — as a woman — to be published above her newspaper articles. Much of Emilia's intellectual curiosity and confidence comes from her stepfather, a Spanish speaking schoolteacher who marries her pregnant mother, a novice Catholic nun abandoned after a romance with a wealthy Chilean aristocrat. Although Allende initially sets her story in the United States, she gradually moves the action to Chile when Emilia persuades a newspaper editor to let her travel to the South American country to help cover Chile's civil war, emphasizing her Spanish language skills. She's dispatched along with fellow newspaper correspondent Eric Whelan, who will focus on the main news while she handles the features. Along with the professional challenge, Emilia wants to learn more about the father she has never known, and herself. Once in Chile, Emilia faces extreme dangers she has never imagined and questions where she came from and where she's going. It's a story likely to be appreciated by the legions of Allende fans who have ensured she's considered the world's most widely read Spanish-language author. Although the Chilean-American novelist is fluent in English, and has long lived in California, she writes in her native Spanish and her books are translated. The recipient of Chile's National Literature Prize in 2010, Allende is considered an American literary treasure as well. She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2004 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2014. Allende previous novel, "The Wind Knows My Name," published in 2023, was a departure from her familiar tales featuring strong women. In that book, she braided the stories of two young children traveling alone in different times and places – one during the brewing Holocaust in Europe and the other in modern day Arizona on the border with Mexico. But all of Allende's books, "My Name is Emilia del Valle" included, have the epic feel of a major Hollywood film, the kind of production that everyone will tell you must be seen on the big screen to be truly appreciated. Reading the book, you can almost see young Emilia on the steamboat headed south to Chile, the land at the foot of the volcanos that holds her roots, and her destiny. ___ AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews
Associated Press News	2025-05-14 04:08:44+00:00	[ "Tom Cruise", "Cannes Film Festival", "Movies", "Hannah Waddingham", "Movie premieres", "London", "Angela Bassett", "Entertainment", "Hayley Atwell", "Christopher McQuarrie", "Simon Pegg", "Brian Robbins", "Lalo Schifrin" ]	# Tom Cruise, once again, stokes a frenzy in Cannes By Jake Coyle May 14th, 2025, 04:08 AM --- CANNES, France (AP) — Three years after flying into the Cannes Film Festival with "Top Gun: Maverick," Tom Cruise again kicked up a storm on the Croisette with Wednesday's premiere of "Mission: Impossible — Final Reckoning." Christopher McQuarrie's latest "Mission: Impossible" installment was the biggest Hollywood tentpole wading ashore in Cannes this year. It, and Cruise, stirred a frenzy at the French Riviera festival, which again played eager host to the American movie star. Just his arrival outside the premiere, beamed onto the screen in the Grand Théâtre Lumière, drew a response. When Cruise stepped out his car, oohs and applause reverberated through the theater. Cruise spent several minutes signing autographs for fans lined up on the Croisette. Some had wondered whether Cruise might make a more daring arrival. When Cruise received an honorary Palme d'Or from the festival in 2022, the "Top Gun: Maverick" premiere included an impressively timed jet flyover. Instead, on Day 2 of the festival, he and the film's cast walked the red carpet accompanied by an orchestra performing Lalo Schifrin's "Mission: Impossible" theme on the Palais steps. "Bravo!" cheered Cruise. Though selfies are frowned upon on the Cannes red carpet, McQuarrie took several of the group, which included Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Angela Bassett and Hannah Waddingham. "Final Reckoning," the eighth "Mission: Impossible" movie and a follow-up to 2023's "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One," is again a heaping serving of outlandish stunts in a globe-trotting, world-saving plot that greatly relies on Cruise's sheer force of will to propel it. The film, which draws to a close McQuarrie's extended AI apocalypse tale, drew mostly good reviews following its screening and garnered a five-minute standing ovation. "To be here in Cannes and have these moments, as a kid when we were growing up, I really can't even dream about something like this happening," Cruise said, addressing the audience. "I'm very grateful for 30 years to be able to entertain you with this franchise." Throughout much of the "Mission: Impossible" parade in Cannes, Cruise and McQuarrie lavished praise upon one another. Cruise told McQuarrie, who took over directing the franchise with 2015's "Rogue Nation" that he looked forward to making "a bunch of other kind of movies with you." "When I was a kid growing up, I was one of those kids who didn't quite fit in. A lot of my life was imaginative play," said McQuarrie. "And I got to grow up and have my very own action figure, who was actually willing to do just about every crazy thing I could think of." Earlier in the day, Cruise joined McQuarrie midway through the director's masterclass talk. There was no press conference for the film, which meant Cruise and company faced no questions from reporters. But Cruise's surprise appearance allowed the 62-year-old star a moment to reflect on his 30 years with "Mission: Impossible." As to whether "Final Reckoning" is a last hurrah for him, he demurred, calling it "the culmination of three decades of work." "I'd rather just people see it and enjoy," Cruise said. Cruise, to no one's surprise, said he relishes the stunt work in "Mission: Impossible." "I don't mind encountering the unknown. I like the feeling. It's just an emotion for me. It's something that is not paralyzing," Cruise said. Cruise, McQuarrie and Paramount Pictures, which will release "Final Reckoning" in North American theaters on May 23, are hoping the installment returns the franchise to box-office heights. "Dead Reckoning Part One" was considered a box-office disappointment, though it ultimately grossed $571.1 million worldwide. Still, with production budgets close to $300 million for these films, a lot is riding on "Final Reckoning." Cruise has been traversing the world — with stops in Japan, South Korea and England in the run-up to Cannes — to drum up excitement. Paramount chief executive Brian Robbins also attended the Cannes premiere. Cruise and McQuarrie, as they did around the release of "Top Gun: Maverick" (which McQuarrie co-wrote and produced), have made themselves passionate pitchmen for the big-screen experience. McQuarrie on Wednesday granted: "I worry for the fate and survival of cinema." "Streaming is in danger of driving the industry into extinction," said McQuarrie. "The advantage a filmmaker has entering the world is that he doesn't have the pressure of an opening weekend." ___ For more coverage of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, visit https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival.
Associated Press News	2025-05-08 19:32:26+00:00	[ "Hawaii", "Honolulu", "Leslie Kobayashi", "Water quality", "Public health", "Legal proceedings", "Climate and environment", "Lawsuits", "Kristina Baehr", "Climate" ]	# Judge awards $680K to 17 families exposed to jet fuel-tainted water at Hawaii Naval base By Rebecca Boone May 8th, 2025, 07:32 PM --- A federal judge has awarded a total of more than $680,000 to 17 families who say they were sickened by a 2021 jet fuel leak into a Navy drinking water system in Hawaii. The bellwether cases set the legal tone for another 7,500 military family members, civilians and service members whose lawsuits are still awaiting resolution. U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi handed down the ruling Wednesday, awarding from $5,000 to more than $104,000 to each plaintiff. In her order, Kobayashi wrote that it was clear that even though the contaminated water could have caused many of the kinds of medical problems the military families experienced, there wasn't enough evidence to prove a direct link. The amount awarded to each of plaintiff was significantly smaller than the roughly $225,000 to $1.25 million that one of their attorneys, Kristina Baehr, requested during the two-week trial in federal court in Honolulu. As bellwether plaintiffs, the 17 were chosen because they were seen as representative of the thousands of other people whose cases are still pending. Baehr called the damage awards disappointing but said the families "prevailed against all odds against the U.S. Government." "These families can be proud that they helped prove to the world what truly happened when the Navy poisoned the water supply near Pearl Harbor and sickened so many," Baehr said in a press release. "The Court rejected the Government's argument that thousands of our clients were just psychosomatic and that there was not enough fuel to make anyone sick." Baehr said the legal team was reviewing options for resolving the thousands of remaining cases. The government admitted liability for the spill before the trial began, but its attorneys disputed whether the plaintiffs were exposed to enough jet fuel to cause the vomiting, rashes and other alleged negative health effects. The spill happened at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, a giant installation built in the early 1940s to supply the planes and ships crossing the Pacific Ocean. The installation includes a series of massive tanks — each roughly the height of a 25-story building, capable of holding 12.5 million gallons (47.3 million liters) — hidden inside caverns that the military excavated from a mountain ridge above Pearl Harbor. Underneath it all is an aquifer, equipped with wells that provided drinking water to the Navy and to the city of Honolulu. In May of 2021, a ruptured pipe allowed more than 20,000 gallons (75,700 liters) of fuel to spill into a fire suppression line. It remained unnoticed inside the sagging line for six months until a cart rammed the line, releasing the trapped fuel. Around Thanksgiving Day, much of that fuel flowed into a drain and drinking water well that supplied 90,000 people at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. A Navy investigation report released the following year found that military officials failed to immediately notify the state Department of Health, that the Navy missed four separate opportunities to activate emergency response plans to respond to the water contamination, and that the Navy told residents that the drinking water was safe without doing any laboratory analysis to confirm that was the case. Within a week of the spill, military families started complaining about health problems — including peeling skin, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea and other issues. The plaintiffs said they were left with ongoing health problems, including seizures, asthma, eczema and vestibular dysfunction. The spill sparked an outcry from lawmakers, environmental groups and residents, and the military eventually agreed to drain the tanks and close the facility. The tanks were drained last year.
Associated Press News	2025-05-13 21:03:27+00:00	[ "Mali", "Bamako", "Campaign finance", "Democracy", "Activism", "Politics", "Mali government", "Moussa Mara", "Protests and demonstrations" ]	# Mali's leader dissolves political parties and bans meetings of their members By Baba Ahmed May 13th, 2025, 09:03 PM --- BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — The president of Mali's transitional government signed a decree Tuesday dissolving political parties amid a backdrop of pro-democracy opposition, a minister in the government announced. The decision by Gen. Assimi Goita comes amid a surge in kidnappings of pro-democracy activists in the capital Bamako and just days after a demonstration by several hundred pro-democracy activists. "Political parties and organizations of a political nature are dissolved throughout the national territory," announced Mamani Nassire, the minister delegate to the prime minister in charge of political reforms and support for the electoral process. Nassire was reading from a decree signed by Goita on national TV. The decree was announced after an extraordinary council of ministers meeting Tuesday. The decree reads: "It is forbidden for members of dissolved political parties and political organizations to hold any meetings." For almost two weeks, political parties and pro-democracy activists have been demonstrating against the military government to prevent the signing of the decree. However, on Monday, the National Transition Council, Mali's transitional legislative body, voted in favor of the decree, which was adopted by the Council of Ministers last week. "This decision deals a severe blow to the reconciliation process that began last year," wrote Mali's former prime minister, Moussa Mara, on his X account. Mali has been under military rule since a 2021 coup d'état led by Goita. In recent days, arrests of pro-democracy activists have multiplied in response to demonstrations. However, some political figures are planning to appeal to the Constitutional Court to overturn the transition chief's decision. "Political parties are recognized by the Malian constitution, so we're going to take our case to the Constitutional Court to ensure our rights are upheld. In the meantime, we're going to continue our fight as a civil society and as citizens of this country for the country to run smoothly," said Nouhoum Togo, president of the Union for the Safeguard of the Republic party, which ceased to exist after the law dissolving political parties.

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